Beyond Co-Teaching Basics

Wendy W. Murawski and Wendy W. Lochner's book, Beyond Co-Teaching Basics, presents a method for evaluating and improving co-teaching skills. Their extensive compilations of rubrics reminds me of Danielson's teacher evaluation- too extensive to use in its entirety, but presented in such a way so as to make people think they must try. They do suggest focusing on key areas in need of improvement. Their list of skills is extensive. 

They open the book up with a review of co-teaching formats. These were identified by Marilyn Friend. What they add are teacher actions of co-teaching. This chart presents 17 suggestions for parallel work by teachers including lecturing- modeling note taking and facilitation a silent activity- circulation and checking for understanding (p 17). Perhaps this is the page the individual starting out as a co-teacher would find most useful.

I find challenge in the idea that in a level 3 program (top level of their rating system), you cannot differentiate between the general and special education teacher or students. If you cannot differentiate between the two, you are probably not leveraging individuals skills to the maximum. I want to know the difference between the subject matter expert (general education teacher) and the learning style and strategy expert (special education). Yes, they will teacher each other things, but assuming both teachers take responsibility for the learning of all the students, there is not a problem with the divide. Assuming there is no identifiable difference between the students, means someone is blind. ADHD students will be identifiable by their character traits (ex. extra movement, distractibility, and impulsiveness)  and perhaps the management strategies used to help them (ex. fidgets, different chairs, extra proximity). Students with sensory impairments may need extra large print, speech to text and FM systems that are not available to all students. Identifying differences is not, in and of itself, a problem. Holding different standards for the same results, treating students substandardly because of a disability is a problem.

They passionately argue for co-planning as a prerequisite of co-teaching. While they suggest that ideally a teacher only co-teaches with one person or at max two, they acknowledge that in many programs a single co-teacher works with a whole group of  general ed teachers. They do not suggest anything to help teachers in these programs other than to advocate for smaller ratios of special ed: general ed teachers. Since this is not fiscally possible in many places, there is a limited amount that a team can do. It means the general education teacher plans and the special education teacher modifies, often on the spot. Increased time working together may help ameliorate this problem, but time cannot be the only solution.

The book offers some great suggestions on how to improve skills, but since the focus is at the system level, the individual teacher may be left trying to do it alone with little support. The authors suggest starting small and demonstrating improvements in order to obtain buy in from others. 

Trying differently rather than harder

A parent was introducing her child's FASD to us and recommended Diane Malbin's book, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Trying Differently Rather Than Harder. Being the reader that I am, I went to Amazon and obtained my very own copy and read. The book has a couple of basic premises. One, any amount of alcohol during pregnancy runs the risk of FASD and the more that is drunk, the higher the risk. Two, FASD is the result of brain damage and should be treated like other more visible disabilities. We don't tell the blind person to try harder to read, we give him Braille or audiobooks. Similarly we should not expect individuals with FASD to be able to do tasks they cannot do. Three, we need to modify the environment to meet their needs. Interestingly, I find these last two principles similar to those we recommend with autism spectrum disorder.

The author identifies some primary behavioral characteristics. If these characteristics are not met appropriately, they result in secondary behaviors as the individual deals with the frustration of not having their needs met and being presented with unrealistic expectations. These primary characteristics include:

• dysmaturity
• slow processing speed
• impulsivity and distractibility
• memory problems
• difficulty generalizing
• difficulty abstracting and predicting
• over and under sensitivity
• limited ability to identify cause and effect.

Secondary behaviors include anxiety, fatigue, rigidity, shutting down, poor self-concept, social isolation, aggression, avoidance and depression. Unaddressed, these behaviors may result in trouble with authorities, self-injury, and addiction problems.

As a result of these children's lack of cause and effect understanding, poor generalization skills and memory issues, behavior modification techniques often are unsuccessful. Consequently, modifying the environment becomes the humanizing choice. Specific instructions and verbal and visual cues may become essential. Becoming extra aware of links between physical states (such as hunger or tiredness) and behavior is important. I remember realizing my son did not recognize hunger, but when he was hungry he was impossible. That meant I needed to get him to eat so that he could control his behavior. This sort of link is common in children with FASD as well.

We need to understand that when they learn something, it may not generalize. I knew how to use the graphic organizer for that assignment but need explicit instruction on how to use it on the next. What they were able to produce one day, may not be reproducible another, especially if the setting is different (school v. home; ELA room v. social studies room). Too much input is overwhelming. All those anchor charts around the room may help many students,  but distract and result in brain freeze for the child with FASD. The average kindergartener learns three step directions, but for a child with FASD that may not be possible until middle school and beyond.

The best businesses thrive because of managers. The best managers identify the strengths and talents of their teams and find ways for people to spend their time doing the things they do best. We need to emulate this behavior in schools and homes. We need to find the things our children do best and work to ensure that those things are the things they have time to do. This allows them to find flow and success. When a person spends the majority of their time doing things that are super hard and stressful, they cannot be their best. When they capitalize on those things they do well, they can excel. Creating this sort of environment is essential to our children with FASD's success

Understanding FASD

Chandra D. Zieff and Rochelle D. Schwartz-Bloom from Duke published Understanding FASD: A Comprehensive Guide for Pre-K-8 Educators https://sites.duke.edu/fasd/files/2016/04/FASD_Guide.pdf. This guide is a short, easy to read booklet that provides a wealth of information. The text opens with a description of what FASD is, and how drinking at different times relates to damage of different portions of the brain and body. The next part describes specific problems and educational interventions that can be used to address the cognitive and behavioral concerns. This part is written mostly in bullets to allow easy access. The behavioral chart on page 78 is particularly useful in framing inappropriate behavior in light of FASD. The last part is a pair of case studies which examines problems and IEP guidelines to address specific concerns.

Overall the thing that struck me most was how the concerns can be greatly described as executive function (EF) deficits. Problems with working memory, attention, abstract thinking, organization, self-regulation and time management all fall under the EF umbrella. Combine them with issues around social skills, weak reading comprehension and math skills and you have a student who will struggle in school. The booklet is an ideal resource because of its accessible format. A great place to start when learning about working with a student with FASD.

Black boys are more than inequity statistics

I am proud of myself. I just finished Educational Leadership and it only the 12th of the month. The issue is on trauma sensitive schools. It has many pertinent and high quality narratives on addressing trauma with out youth. In this era of COVID where students have been dealing with issues unique to the childhood experience, examining how our children are impacted and what we can do about it is critical. 

For me the article that hit me the most was "Black Boys are More Than Inequity Statistics" by Elena Aguilar. She describes sitting at a superintendent meeting where a host of statistics were given about the challenges of being a black boy in school where solutions were not offered. I felt like I had been at that meeting but on school violence or trauma. Her comment was about so what? What are we going to do about it? Usually the statistic filled presentations are followed with some generic panacea ideas- my favorite was that we needed to start respecting students. I know of no teacher who thinks they are disrespecting students intentionally, but I do know that individual experiences filter the way we experience the world and perceive respect. Some workshop where video clips of "typical" interactions are followed by student interpretations of the interactions and ten brainstorming how to become more sensitive to the concern might be useful. 

If you want teachers to understand cultural interaction patterns that differ from their home culture, you need to a) showcase the pattern and b) discuss ways to productively leverage them. Our teachers do not want to promote racism but they do it unconsciously. We need to reveal the unconscious bias and develop alternate patterns of behavior and speech.

It is not about saying Black Lives Matter-it is about how do we show it. How do we acknowledge our personal biases and consciously work to better treat all our children.

Winners, Losers & Microsoft

I d not know why I do it, but I did it again. I picked up an economics books and read it. I have thoroughly enjoyed Friedman's books. It seems like others should be able to write compelling texts on economic theory. Stan J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis's book, Winners, Losers and Microsoft: Competition and Antitrust in High Technology, is a two decade old book that found its way to my shelf and then my hands for reading. The authors were clearly penning for tenure. The book is somewhat patronizing, "Parts of the next three chapters may be a bit difficult..." (p. 47). It is very dry and loaded with economic theory.

The premise of the book is that the best products win. Best products are determined by the blending of quality, information and price. They passionately disabuse the reader of the concepts of monopolies protecting inferior products. Some of their theories ring true in the years since the publication. VHS tapes have been replaced with DVDs and streaming. MCI gave way to free long distance on cellular platforms.

In technology where new developments are constantly appearing, the existence of serial natural monopolies exist. They would argue that on-going concern about Microsoft in the marketplace is misplaced. As soon as a better product comes along they will be displaced.

I am not fully bought in to a system where the market best presents products to the people. The Flint, Michigan water story is a clear indicator that without checks and balances, a monopoly can do irreversible harm to the community. Does the size of Microsoft lead it to dominate the market in such a way that competitors are ineffective? Apple still offers strong competition. Open source browsing are still options for all. If people want, they can use alternative resources. For some reason we choose not to. Often it is because the big names are the perceived best.

If you can get through it, an interesting theory. Certainly thought provoking.  I might dig out my 150 year old book on the merits of free market society versus protectionism. It is a series of essays touting one side or the other by many illustrious people including Adam Smith and Henry Clay.

First, Break all the Rules

I love audiobooks and yet, they are so challenging to digest content rich material from. (Perhaps that is due to the fact that I listen to them while doing something else.) Marcus Buckingham, Curt Coffman and Jim Harter book First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently, summarizes decades of research from Gallop about what makes a company, or the division of a company great. They found that there were four items that mark the difference and the largest contributor was the supervisor of the people.

After focus group analysis, they were able to identify twelve questions whose answers differentiate great managers from others. Much of it comes down to employee engagement. Two of these telling questions were: Do you have the materials you need to accomplish your job and do you know what you are expected to be doing? When there is a perceived absence of resources and people feel guideless, they tend to be less engaged and less effective at their jobs. They do not help a company excel. Two other questions of note were: Do you have a best friend at work and do you receive feedback every week about how you are doing? These questions hint at the atmosphere that is created- are you around people you like and do you know what you do well.

Overall the best managers commented that people don't change. You can teach new skills, but the basic talents cannot be changed. If someone is highly empathetic they will be a better nurse than someone who is not. If you are excellent at taking responsibility, you will excel at jobs where independent work is essential. These are talents that describe who a person is at their core. They are the traits that should be used by hiring managers to fill positions. People without talents in the necessary areas should be let go.

People can learn skills. How to use a new computer program, the protocol for administering a new medication, how to run the new washing machines. These are things that are trainable. Employers and managers should totally put training in the hands of those that need it. Deciding what is a skill versus a talent is essential. The book's appendix provides a list of a dozen talents that a person can have.

The best managers identify the strengths of their team members and leverage them. If someone is excellent at completing paperwork, they might do more paperwork than someone who struggles with getting jazzed about paperwork. If someone is excellent at cleaning a room in a hotel, they should moved up to management, they should be offered advancement in the role they excel at. Creating overlapping zones of pay is one way to demonstrate that even "low level" skills are valued. In a hotel chain, the best housekeeping staff do not move to management, but get paid more than their direct manager (at least at the low end of the supervision chain). In order to not cap people out of jobs, they suggest such a plan so that management is not the natural next step. Not everyone has the talents to be a good manager. People should be allowed to grow in areas where they excel, not be shuffled off to management areas where they  do not get to do the things they are great at.

When I think about teaching, I see lots of areas for improvement. If a teacher has to wait between annual observations to be told how they are doing, they will not be able to maximize their skill sets. This is where walk throughs have value. This is also were team teaching and co-teaching provide opportunities for staff development. Teachers should be eligible for special opportunities in their areas of excellence. Perhaps that is mentoring other teachers, writing curriculum or managing restorative justice. All these areas need to be done and valued. The participants should receive feedback so that they know how things are going and support in growing in these areas. If you just focus on weaknesses, growth will be stunted. This is a lesson that we know about our students, but sometimes forget about our staff.

An interesting book. I wish I had a hard copy for paging through.

Education of the gifted and talented

Sylvia B. Rimm, Del Seigle and Gary Davis' book, Education of the Gifted and Talented, is a textbook. I started reading it with some others who were not very familiar with G/T information and they were overwhelmed. For those with little knowledge of the subject when they pick it up, plan extra processing time. It is very information dense.

Each chapter begins with a list of objectives, continues with the informational section and ends with a comprehensive summary. A chapters contain an appendix with forms discussed in the chapter. 49 pages of references demonstrate the thorough research that went into the writing. This comprehensive text covers issues from identification to types of interventions for G/T students to special topics (ex. underachievement, gender issues, and 2e) to parenting, counseling and program evaluation.

Snippets of the text would be good to share with stakeholders to garner buy in for a program, to develop or improve a program, and to help parents and teachers better deal with the challenges that G/T brings to the equation. As a textbook, it is expensive and suggesting stakeholders purchase individual copies may be unreasonable.

One important note the authors make is that evaluation should include more than standardized tests on which "culturally different learners … tend to score, on average, about one standard deviation... lower than middle-class students" (p. 43). While IQ and achievement tests should be used as a definite in, they should not be used as a definite barrier to G/T programing. Other tests, like creativity assessments, as well as teacher and parent referrals should also be included in determining who to provide services to.

The authors do a wonderful job of highlighting a variety assessments, programs and evaluations that can be looked at when building a program.

Overall a text with a wealth of information that was a slow read and an useful resource.

Cartoons of WWII

Years ago I read about an AP history teacher who discovered that his students struggled with understanding and interpreting political cartoons. His approach was to have the daily opening activity being interpreting a cartoon. With the expansion of reading into the content areas, understanding cartoons has become an important and often overlooked topic. Seemingly simple cartoons like Calvin and Hobbes are often written at a high level because the amount of background knowledge and vocabulary use require a lot from the reader. Calvin and Hobbes has the advantage of being contemporary. When it comes to political cartoons, however, the background knowledge to get them is much more challenging.

Tony Husband's collection, Cartoons of World War II, purports to present cartoons from both sides of the conflict. In truth the vast majority of the cartoons are from the Allied view point with a few from the viewpoints of the Axis powers. Captions around the cartoon identify characters, key symbols and topics that the reader may be unfamiliar with. (I did not know that ducks were a German symbol for lies.) He highlights a few of the more prolific cartoonists of the time with short biographies. If you wanted to do a gallery walk of cartoons as an introduction to the WWII unit, you would need to include actual photos of the key players and more from the Axis point of view. This would be an interesting approach to showcasing the war and working on understanding political cartoons. A simple chart like the one below might be helpful to guide the exploration of the cartoons.

Cartoon title	Who are the characters shown?
What symbols are present?	Allies, Axis or Resistance viewpoint
What is the message of the cartoon?	What do you wonder about as a result of the cartoon or about the cartoon?

An interesting book, but fails to deliver on presenting a balanced view of cartoons during the war.

Death by Meeting

Years ago a principal told me he would rather go to the dentist than a PTA meeting. Unfortunately the sentiment of almost anything is better than a meeting is not uncommon. Patrick Lencioni's book, Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable, takes on meetings. He says a meeting should be an interesting and exciting experience. So where do we all go wrong? First, we try to do too many things in a meeting.

He describes four types of meetings that can be used to make meetings more effective.

Daily Check-Ins- This is a meeting where people stand to help facilitate the short time frame. THey last 5-10 minutes and involve a quick update on what individuals are doing, what they need to accomplish the day's tasks. These meetings are not for PTAs and other groups that are not operating daily. For PTAs they could be modified by a quick phone call update on progress toward current projects perhaps on a weekly basis with a note of when the leader will be checking in next at the end.

Weekly tactical- This meeting has three distinct parts: Lightening round where each person quickly updates the progress and direction of the next week in a minute or less. Progress reviews (again a brief look at organizational goals and brief look at progress toward matrics), and a real-time agenda (after hearing what everyone is working on what are this week's priorities that need to be discussed? The goals are to resolve issues and reinforce clarity). From a PTA standpoint this would be the standard meeting.

Monthly strategic meetings where leaders "analyze, debate, and decide upon critical issues" (p. 241). It allows deep dives into a couple of issues. Sometimes issues emerge that require more immediate attention and ad hoc strategic meetings can be scheduled. These meetings have agendas and people should arrive prepared with the information and research they need to discuss the concerns. These meetings should involve lively debates not silent resistance or acquiescence.  In a PTA context, this could be a regular executive meeting or an open meeting focused on a specific issue of concern to the group (ex. how do we address the suicide or drug issue in our community or what can parents do to help maintain a safe reopening of school after the COVID closure, or how do we address the lack of bussing for our community).

The fourth meeting type is the quarterly off-site review. In these meetings there is a comprehensive strategy review, team review (how does the leadership team work), personnel review (high and low performers are evaluated for promotions, improvements and termination), and competitive and industry review. PTAs might have these annually at a transition or training meeting where they set goals for the upcoming year(s).

By limiting the scope of a meeting, you allow focus and enable fruitful discussion. One point that the author makes is that the leadership team is not looking for consensus. Everyone on the team needs to provide open and honest feedback, even if it steps on someone's sacred cow, and then the chief needs to make a call. After that the team needs to support the decision down through the ranks. I think it is critical that leaders do not find disrespect in disagreement or questions. These are avenues of growth. People in the ranks need to understand the rationales for making them and they need to feel heard.

Of importance is the idea that all of these meetings are not for the general assembly, but the leadership team. In a school, the place where I have experience, the staff meetings often involve professional development toward the goals and issues that the leadership team identified.

The book itself is a fast and easy read. The chapters are short so the book can be read in quick sessions. The fable format presents the ideas in a very relatable way.

Blindspot

I have long held that all of us are racist to some degree. The key is what we do with it. Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald explore this very topic in their text Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People. They start by exploring the idea that we all have blind spots- areas where our unconscious mind takes over.  These are present in an actual sense in our vision, but they also occur in our thinking. Our blind spots probably developed as a survival skill allowing us to identify members of our group and those of other groups who might endanger us. They are responsible for our innate skills in classifying things for better understanding. After all, it is important to identify the difference between the lion cub that might result in getting us mauled and the domesticated cat that will limit the number of rodents in our space.

They offer a series of implicit association tests (IATs) which are available online at their Harvard website. These can be used to explore biases around a variety of human characteristics such as race, age and disability status. What they have discovered is that these biases exist, are often based on cultural norms rather than membership in a particular group (blacks can be biased against blacks), and are difficult to shift. So what can you do? You don't want to behave in a biased manner, yet you unconsciously do so.

They suggest being aware of the bias is the first step. Then exposure to anti-bias messages can help make the bias more conscious and thus more readily countered. For example, many people believe that women are not as good at math as men. Exposure to women who are highly capable in math can help counter the unconscious idea. Movies and books like Hidden Figures, Math Equals: Biographies of Women Mathematicians, Women Who Count: Honoring African American Women Mathematicians, The Girl With a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague (Amazing Scientists),             

Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics

, and             

Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain

 highlight women mathematicians. Female math teachers and professors showcase people who succeed in fields dominated by men. Many of these books are either picture books or anthologies that could be easily used in a classroom to help develop awareness in children.

We all have hidden biases. Institutional racism is a current area showcased with the Black Lives Matter Movement. If we can become aware of our biases, we can overcome them. Dr. Seuss's book Horton Hears a Who says it well- "People are people, no matter how small." His message about biases still rings true today. We can overcome our biases, if we make the attempt.

Heightened anxiety in the wake of COVID

Cara Nissman's timely article, "Expect Heightened Anxiety, Behaviorial Issues in Returning Students," from this week's District Administration site provides some insightful ideas about coming back in the fall.

First she says we should review the curriculum. Her point is that sensitive topics might be wise to defer until later in the school year. Perhaps at least as important is that students have had a patchwork of school access this spring. We know they are coming in with a wider range of prerequisite skills. We will need to build in "review" and skill builder activities that we haven't in the past. Students who have been home for the last five months may need reassurance that school is something that they can handle again.

Second on her list is validate and reframe feelings. "It is common to be frustrated with adapting to the routine of school. We will all get through this together." Brainstorm possible ways to respond to whatever challenge the student may have.

Next is to focus on things an individual has control over. We cannot control whether someone on the bus is an asymptomatic carrier of COVID. We can wear face coverings, maintain physical distance (as much as possible), wash our hands, get enough sleep and eat a healthy diet. Switching focus to what you can control is a classic cognitive behavior strategy. If we can have our students focus on these things, it will have a myriad of benefits on their general health and academic performance- not just their anxiety.

Fourth is rethink breaks. A couple years ago I read someone talk about breaks as a test mod or academic intervention. They presented the challenge as students left the room- fixated on the challenge- and returned in the same or a worse place than they were before they left. When students need a break they need to be taught to shift their focus away from the anxiety producing activity. This could mean five minutes of listening to music, talking about their weekend (or pet or favorite thing) with a paraprofessional, doing some physical activity like jumping jacks while reciting something they know by rote like a nursery rhyme or song, or doing a puzzle. Another idea is to switch to an activity the child enjoys that is on the schedule later in the day. Then if they need extra time to complete the anxiety producing activity they can do it later in the day.

Misunderstandings from face coverings. As much 90% of communication is nonverbal. Face coverings do not mask it all, but a good bit is lost. Teachers of students with hearing impairments may need specialty masks or face shield to facilitate communication, but these provisions are unlikely to be available to everyone. Students on the spectrum often struggle with nonverbal components of communication. Thinking about the misunderstandings they have had and use it as a possible clue. Some students may struggle with identifying people because of masks. Become more explicit in your communication. Avoid sarcasm. Provide additional verbal clues. If you would have softened something with a smile- it will not translate through a mask. Be cognizant of the limitations of nonverbal clues and add more verbal ones.

Lastly, offer predictable positive attention. Using timers to regulate your behavior around checking in with students helps to ensure that it gets done. A smile at the door is no longer enough- more verbal greetings are needed. When students demonstrate attention-seeking behavior, recognize their need for connections and try to intervene early and provide the attention they need.

A great article. Nice work Cara.

Going broke by degree

Alas a book upon my shelf for an age, revealed why it sat unread for so long- dry uninspired reading full of statistical analyses. Richard Vedder's Going Broke By Degree: Why College Costs Too Much covers an interesting topic. His 230 page analysis is not an easy read. For a decent summation, the last chapter does a good job of summarizing the text.

College has increased in cost far faster than the rate of inflation, sometimes by as much as three times the rate of inflation. The portion of average family income needed to pay for college has dramatically risen as well. In the 50's it took 57 days of income. At the time the book was written (2004) it had increased to over 150 days. According to USA facts, the median household income in 2018 was $38,640. Tuition for the 2019-2020 year (not room board and other assorted fees) for a public institution averages $11,260 and $41,426 for a private institution (according to US News). That amounts to 106 days of income for a public institution and 391days (yes, more than a year) for a private institution. Again, that only accounts for tuition not the entire bill. It is no wonder Americans are concerned about the cost of college. Especially when the value is variable- students who graduate in 4 years with a technical degree like engineering or education earn considerably more over their lifetime than students with only a high school diploma. If you talk about liberal arts degrees, however, that assurance is far from guaranteed.

What drives the cost? The one that has been clear to me is in the uptick in "luxuries"- things like Wi-Fi all over campus, in room cable, doubles rather than quads for accommodations, lower students/bathroom ratios, and hugely improved food choices and quality in dining halls. As I explored campuses with my daughter I learned of other costly extras like multiple smartboards in every classroom, on campus tech support, free laundry, movies, and entrance to sporting events, and smaller student/ teacher ratios.

While he mentions the relationship between supply and demand- more students (parents) want a college degree so the cost of said degree can rise- he does not include it in the main reasons for increased cost. The author cites four main reasons for the increase in costs:

1. impact of third party payments- governments and donors provide funds such that consumers are less concerned about the price
2. price discrimination- the more money you have, the less sensitive you are to increased costs. Discounts in the form of need based financial aid or scholarships. (If you can get into Harvard- you owe nothing if your household income is less than $110,000.)
3. cross-subsidization- divert costs from instruction to other things- primarily research and luxuries.
4. lack of financial discipline- they have no incentive to be thrifty. Administration has increased in number of staff and budget at a significantly higher rate than faculty. Faculty teach relatively few  classes. Nontenure track staff (lecturers and adjunct professors) is increasing to take over teaching load. (p. 214)

Of important note is the rationale for the government aid to colleges. The oft cited reason is that it increases economic value of the community. One of the most interesting statistics Dr. Vedder presented was contrary to this conclusion. There appears to be an inverse relationship between a state's economic status and its investment in higher education. I would love to look into this phenomenon as it is contrary to our assumptions.  I would also like to see him reanalyze the data in terms of today. A decade and a half on, some of his predictions are surely proven out. Some of his predictions about ways to address the situation have been tried. Seeing an update would be valuable- but he should consider doing the presentation in a more reader friendly version.

GIfted advocacy

The June 2020 edition of Parenting for High Potential includes many essays and quotes by students who are gifted. They tell a remarkable tale of young people trying to make a difference. What struck me, however, is that they are from places where gifted programs are in place. They speak of being challenged, wanting diverse representation, and struggling to make friends. It is wonderful that these students find themselves in a personally and academically productive place. I would have liked to have heard from places where these programs do not exist. I would love to hear their voices in advocacy for programs designed to meet their needs.

Throughout the edition they talk about the value of having a group of peers of similar abilities. Many educators discount the importance of having ability peers. They fail to see the way these kids thrive when surrounded by other high ability peers. There is a belief that they will do fine in heterogenous groups. That they can really learn the material by teaching it to their struggling peers. That the only virtue is in learning to get along with others of varying abilities.

My child did not need to be bored through instruction because all kids were in the same group. She did not need to go over the test she scored a 99 on for a day. She did not need to practice skills she had before the year began. She is not trained to be a teacher and deserves to have a chance to learn, not just share what she knows. She lives in a house with a brother on the spectrum- she gets diversity. She longs for her peers- not age peers but intellectual peers. People who, as she says, "think as fast as [she] does."

The edition showcases some wonderful success stories of gifted programs. We just need more of them.

Graduate School

In New York State, where I live, a masters degree is required in order to teach beyond five years. As such masters of education programs are relatively simple to get into. This is not the case for every major or every state. My daughter is half way through her bachelor's degree and it seemed appropriate to start thinking about how graduate programs would be different for her than it was for me. I purchased, Dave G. Mumby's ebook Graduate School: Winning Strategies for Getting In, 2nd Edition. The book addresses many aspects of the process of  graduate school application. Dr. Mumby is a professor who serves on graduate admission committees and has completed research around this topic.

The book is a quick read, but one that a student could frequently go back through during the process. One of the first thing that is addressed in the book is the idea that most good (B) students can get into a graduate school. In order to accomplish the feat, he makes several recommendations. First is picking the right school. Highly selective schools are probably going to automatically eliminate students lacking superior grades. That being said, many other programs are available. He recommends clarifying personal career and research goals in order to pursue entrance to programs that fit nicely within a university's program and more specifically a researcher's area of interest.

He goes on to describe the time needed to carefully craft the various components of the application. This includes tips on how to select and request letters of recommendation, how to write a personal statement and cover letter, and how to make positive first impressions. He wraps up with a description of various types of financing available to pay for the program.

The test is a useful framework for getting ready to move forward. Dr. Mumby's experience in selecting graduate students shines through the text and his advice is solid, practical and well- Students should have an easy time following the guidelines he puts forth. I have sent the book on to my daughter to read during this summer so that she has a good idea of the process needs to follow as she moves on to the next stage of her education.

Teaching students to drive their brains

All that is old is new again. Decades ago, when I was in college, we talked about the importance of metacognition. The concept faded from the forefront of attention and is now coming back. Donna Wilson and Marcus Conyers' book Teaching Students to Drive their Brains: Metacognitive Strategies, Activities and Lesson Ideas, holds metacognition up as a critical component of learning.

Metacognition is thinking about your thinking. The authors breakdown teaching metacognition into a series of assets:

• Understanding metacognition
• exhibiting metacognition
• understanding neuroplasticity
• optimism
• establishing clear intent
• systematic planning
• selective attention
• working memory
• self-monitoring
• cognitive flexibility
• understanding others' points of view
• learning from experience
• finishing power

These are closely related and aligned with executive function skills. In fact, some authors I have read include metacognition in their list of executive function skills. The authors include many short vignettes about teaching these assets to students and the impact it has on the students. The book includes activities and sample lessons for students of a range of ages in order to introduce and teach these skills.

One place the authors take it up a notch is where they highlight how those skills are useful in teaching. It would be interesting if they had included some sample activities for teachers to do to practice and develop their skills.

Some segments of the book could be used to teach students to self-monitor reading while teaching about brain function. Giving students a couple of paragraphs to read and highlight the words/concepts that they are not familiar with and then going over them would be a good strategy. The first two paragraphs of chapter 2 (p. 24-5) explains some principles of neuroplasticity. The vocabulary is fairly intense. Once students have read it a first time, they can reread in groups or partners and see if rereading and discussion helps them to understand the passage. Then reread a third time in a whole group. Perhaps model using a dictionary to identify word meaning, word root analysis or context clues to help understand difficult words. Then hold a group discussion about the passage to figure out what it means and why it is important. Using a passage in this way both develops reading skills and knowledge of concepts that will enhance their learning throughout their life.

One thing the authors stress is the importance of students knowing why they are learning things. Much has been written about this topic. Their answer is different from that of many professionals and echoes an idea I fell in love with years ago. You are learning this to develop your brain and thinking skills. (The example I heard years ago was that you are learning this math to exercise your brain. You are correct- you may never be asked to factor an equation after you leave high school. You will, however, constantly be asked to systematically solve problems in your life using logical pathways.)

Throughout the text the authors use the metaphor of metacognition is like learning to drive. In order to be a good driver there are things you need to do- plan where you are going, make sure your equipment is in good condition, pay attention to what is going on around you, and address problems as they arise (things in the road, construction, etc.). Secondary students will definitely be able to connect with this metaphor, but so might elementary students. Or instead of driving a car, use riding a bike or skateboard. We know that metaphors are powerful tools for helping students understand and connect with material and it is a good one.

Degrees of Difference

If I was teaching a course on social justice, I would consider using Degrees of Difference: Women of Color on Graduate School, edited by Kimberly D. McKee and Denise A. Delgado. The text is a series of essays by women of color in graduate school programs , mostly in the liberal arts. The book was to highlight different voices and give advice to women of color as they proceed through graduate school. While some essays are useful productive statements, others seem to wallow in victimization.

One area that most authors commented on was the limited number of women of color in graduate school and working as professors. Aeriel Ashlee says, "none of the eleven scholars representing my new academic community- five doctoral students and six faculty members- look like me" (p. 135). She goes on to state that, "Not seeing myself represented in the scholars of my academic program at new student orientation was just one of many racial microaggressions I have endured in my graduate education" (p. 135). The theme of microaggressions carries out throughout the volume. The problem as I see it is that if there is no affront intended to view it all as an aggression and oppression is a heavy mantle. Amongst the 11 people in her program were there any blind people? Is that a microaggression against the visually impaired? In a group that small, people would be hard pressed to include a representation from all. The US census includes six groups- white, black or African American, Native American or Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or other.  Even getting representation from all of these broad and limited groups would be challenging in a group of eleven.

The concept of microaggressions includes the idea that unintended or perceived slights are act of aggression.  I think this takes things too far. There are enough outright aggressive acts to worry about. Putting unequal racial representation in a graduate program on the same level as mocking a person's accent (as one author does) is ridiculous. Saying that someone asking where you are from, in a graduate program is the same as adding work load because of the color of someone's skin makes the argument less strong. My daughter- a white girl- attends school in Georgia. She is frequently asked where she is from. This is not an affront or attempt to show that she does not belong. If we see ourselves as victims, we perceive the actions of others as hurtful independent of the intent.

It cannot be denied that women and people of color are discriminated against. While affirmative action has made some changes into the landscape of the professional world, it has also sparked backlash that representatives are not as good as others and only included because of quotas. This minimizes their contributions and continues the wall of prejudice. We need to hold a high bar for all people. Diversity is important and strengthens an organization, but we need to work toward diverse workplaces and learning places that foster respect for all.

The authors do offer excellent advice about finding mentors and support people who can help navigate the waters of a challenging academic program. They highlight the fallacy that a woman can do it all- raise a family, go to school, take care of the home- equally well; at times each task will take precedence and others need to be brought in to help. In the Epilogue the editors offer the following seven suggestions that apply to everyone:

1. "Be comfortable with sharing your writing early and often.
2.  Writing groups are critical.
3. External funding is not you against the world.
4. The job market is not for the faint of heart.
5. Collegiality is key.
6. Building networks with one another is critical.
7. Don't be afraid to discuss rejection." (p. 170)

This advice is pertinent to any graduate student and in the professional world, any employee.

A book that made me think about how I interact with others. Not an easy read- it was written as components of many graduate level publishing requirements. It does shine a light on white privilege that is worth considering.

Fun-Tastic Activities round 2

Going through my shelves I picked up Fun-Tastic Activities for Differentiating Comprehension Instruction Grades 2-6 by Sandra K. Athans and Denise Ashe Devine. I picked up the book in 2014 and blogged about it here where I pulled the ideas to secondary topics. Since then I have spent more time with elementary students and would like to comment on the application of their ideas there.

They present Literacy Bins as a component of a guided activities. Using the bins to reinforce content area information and strategy use, the students get to use choice to help develop their skills. They use a tic-tack-toe framework to present ideas. More modern approaches might call it a choice board and computerize it. Certainly adding additional technology based activities would be possible.

One idea they have is fact or fiction where they ask students to sort cards as presenting facts or fiction and using available resources to check their responses. Having students manipulate cards can be motivating. Self-check responses could be established. This concept would be useful to reinforce both the ELA goal and the social studies goal around identifying facts and providing evidence to support a claim. They present many drama, music and art ideas to inspire students. Using this sort of activity would require regular presentation time so that students could share what they learn.

The text presents many bin ideas, but then it also presents rubrics on how to assess success. These rubrics are both for teachers to assess student work and for students to assess their own progress. Since many personalized learning approaches stress both choice and self-reflection, this book can inform both areas.

An easy read that remains relevant. Enjoy.

Empire Builders

Years ago a friend gave me a pile of books that I am now working my way through. Burton W. Folsom, Jr.'s book Empire Builders: How Michigan Entrepreneurs Helped Make America Great is a text that could easily be used in high schools. The overarching message is an economic one- private ownership trumps government run business. A great set of case studies that could be placed side by side by others to look at that concept in an economics course.

The chapter that I really enjoyed, however, was on John Jacob Astor, a man I had never heard of, who was the richest man in the country at one point in his life. He created a fur trading empire that successfully competed with the federal government. John C. Calhoun worked against him. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was involved. It is an interesting snapshot of what was going on in the "wilderness" of the territory of Michigan. Both a cautionary tale and a rags to riches tale, it might inspire some students to pursue entrepreneurialship.

I would not be surprised to hear that people running Trump's 2016 campaign are referring to the text with their slogan- Make America Great Again. It definitely positively paints the ultra-wealthy businessmen as the path to greatness for a region. This would be an interesting enrichment project for a student looking to go into greater depth.

The book is an easy read. Each chapter stands well on its own. It offers a very positive glimpse of wealth in America. Sections would be an interesting contrast to the writings of Henry James or political cartoons from the Gilded Age.

If you can find the book, an interesting read.

Understanding Autism

I picked up the recent New York Times magazine Understanding Autism while waiting in line at the store. It has four major sections: child and family, autism and science, aiding the autistic and autism in our culture. While a couple of the articles are bout science, the majority of the text is a series of essays about living with autism. Some are from parents' point of views, others from siblings. Each captures a glimpse of the world of a person with autism.

Susan Dominus wrote about Ben Hirasuma in "An Office with Room for Understanding." Ben works for Auticon, a business in California that specialized in hiring people on the spectrum. The author comments on being the "norm in an office, rather than an exception, is an unqualified relief" (p. 48). Often I have heard expressed the relief and joy people with disabilities feel when then interact with others like them. While we push for integration into regular education programs and mainstreaming, we often fail to appreciate the importance in connecting with others like ourselves. Ben clearly finds peace in being the norm not the outlier. As parents we want our children with disabilities to be fully included into society and accepted as they are. When they are challenged, however, it is a relief for them to know that there are others out there like themselves. Finding support groups and social groups that connect us to others is normal for adults- there are cancer and other illness related support groups for individuals and their families, substance abuse support groups, and parents of children with disability groups. Rarely, however, do we see such groups at schools. Perhaps we should see more of them- and not push the members to make more connects with "normal" people.

Marie Myung-Ok Lee pens an essay, "The Trouble with Autism in Novels." She is a parent of a child on the spectrum, author and professor. She laments the way people on the spectrum are at as symbolic elements in literature. I lament the need of all literature professors to see symbolism where none exists. (In high school I penned an essay about the relationship between Zeena and her cat in Ethan Frome. No, I do not believe such a relationship exists, but I do believe we see what we ae looking for in our reading when we are closely looking to analyze text.) I am afraid that she is putting thoughts and generalizations into literature that were not intended by the author.

This text offers interesting glimpses into the world of people with autism. Such reading is important for others interacting with those on the spectrum- I mean everyone.

Power of Pull

The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davidson attempts to define a new business practice. The problem is that a) it is not new and b) the companies that he accuses of not using it do so. For years this book has been on my shelf- unread. Not so sure reading the entire thing was worth my time.

The authors delineate two opposite views of how business takes place- push and pull. The chart below articulates some of the key differences. Any good company uses the pull concept around innovation and once the key is determined, moves into a more push concept.

PUSH	PULL
·         Top-down ·         Knowledge stocks ·         Core business ·         Maintain status quo ·         Control social media ·         Defined roles and silos of responsibility ·         Goal of scalable efficiency ·         Training programs determined by bosses	·         Bottom-up ·         Knowledge flows ·         Edge of the technology plane ·         Innovation through connections ·         Open access to social media ·         Flexible roles ·         Innovation and passion ·         Use connections and challenge to develop  and make progress ·         Establish standards to facilitate working together

When you reshape the universe by innovation- you use pull: the agricultural revolution of the paleolithic age, the iron plow, the age of exploration, the cotton gin, the telephone, the car, and so on all were characterized by pull. They were revolutionizing the world. To think that this is a new function is outlandish. The fuzziness is seen in an analogy the authors make in the epilogue:

"we do this with a very different mindset from the engineer or technocrat who thinks in terms of detailed blueprints and a carefully designed path to realization of these  blueprint. Rather, we adopt the perspective of a gardener who seeds, feeds, and weeds his garden, carefully shaping the vegetation in ways that will create a more fulfilling experience for us." (p. 236)

If being married to a design engineer has taught me anything, it is that taking a concept and converting it into a thing is every bit like gardening. As a person with a garden, to think that the shaping of a garden is any different from designing a new thing is ridiculous. Business flows from pull to push and back again.

The  last chapter talks about the dominance of pull techniques. It appears that the authors are in favor of the business model of monopoly. It is the ultimately most productive organizational concept of business. Unfortunately, this end product is often not the best for the people it purports to serve and benefit.

Leaders Eat Last

My one page version of the book.

Simon Sinek has written multiple books about leadership. He has many YouTube postings about his work and several TED talks (see an example here). The second edition of his book Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't discusses what makes an effective leader. Above is my executive summary of his conclusions. Early in the book he makes this statement:

"Those who work hardest to help others succeed will be seen by the group as the leader or the "alpha" of the group. And being the alpha- the strong, supportive one of the group, the one willing to sacrifice time and energy so that others may gain- is a prerequisite for leadership." (p. 59)

He makes frequent comparisons to the structure of the family. In a functional family the parents are willing to sacrifice for their children. Sinek would argue that truly great leaders are the same. They see the people they lead as members of their family. When leaders fail to do this, "prioritizing performance over people," (p 116) he argues undermines the free market economy. He stands up against the Milton Freidman's concept that corporate structure is all about performing for the sake of the shareholders to argue that it is all about the employees and customers. When the shareholders are the people to impress, people get fired in the tight times, decreasing the company's long term ability to be successful. Now this is what our current culture seems to be all about- short term success. Why do we not provide intensive antenatal interventions when we know that it results in lower levels of special education referrals, drop outs and incarcerations? It costs money and will not reap rewards for years. We are willing to sacrifice long term success for the short term cost savings.

He sees the lie in the statement- it is all about the customer's safety when "if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence" (p. 164-5). On one level we know that it is not about the customer or the employee's health and well being. It is about the giant dollar sign in the sky. The problem with this program is that while it may lead to short term profit, it results in long term losses- people leave (willingly or unwillingly), they are not willing to put it all in, they back bite and sabotage each other, they break the rules and laws until they are caught and protest extensively instead of quickly owning mistakes before they are caught. Not a recipe for long term success. Look at Enron or the banking disaster of 2008. He quotes a general saying "taking responsibility for one's actions must happen at the time you perform your actions, not at the time you get caught" (p. 186). If you wait, your company loses, and sometimes someone goes to jaiap He sees the disaster of golden parachutes. If the CEO is paid what he is paid to make the company successful, then when things tank, he should leave with no severance. He has been paid for his work. Corporate contracts need to reflect success- not failure rewards.

"Leadership is not about being right all the time ...It is a responsibility that hinges almost entirely on character. Leadership is about integrity, honesty and accountability" (p. 187). When we look at things in this light. Our politicians tend to fall woefully short. They are in it to be reelected. They do not take a stance based on morals or what is good for their constituents. It is about money. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not make many constituents happy, but it was the right thing to do. Upstanding politicians were willing to take the hit for the greater good. How many of our current leaders would be willing to do so?

Finally a note on legacy.  When a leader leaves his organization- be it a governmental position, principalship or business leader- what shape do they leave it in. Can it carry on the good things that were happening? Good leaders train up their people to be good leaders. To seamlessly fill in when they leave. Responsibility and blame are shared. "A leader's legacy is only as strong as the foundation they leave behind that allows others to advance the organization in their name" (p. 211). Your legacy is your people, not your stuff.

Of note, Sinek talks about selfish and selfless neurotransmitters. He compares cell phones and social media to other addictive substances. They increase dopamine, a selfish neurotransmitter that makes you feel good. It is addictive. Problematically, however, if you are addicted to it, you are not likely to be successful at other things. We need to teach people to put it down and focus. I see this especially with our children. Parents think they should be able to be in touch with their children 24/7, but is that good for either the parent or the child? No. We need to teach some delay in response in order to increase our ability to interact with people and release selfless neurotransmitters that make us feel good because we are sharing, cooperating and helping others. Those are the ones that drive positive action in our society. He advocates having cell phone and digital device free meetings. Notes can be taken by hand (the better for processing and remembering) and transcribed if necessary. Enabling the entire team to focus without distractions is essential for maximizing success. No we are not, as a species, good at multitasking and we should not allow young people to promote that concept.

Forward of Leaders Ear Last

I just picked up Simon Sinek's Leaders Eat Last and read the forward, something I would not have done as a college student or young professional- a habit we should teach our youth. The forward of the book is slightly more than two pages written by Lieutenant General George Flynn of the Marines (not the Flynn who pleaded guilty to charges under President Trump). What he wrote made me really think about the leadership I have witnessed in the last few weeks as CoVid 19 has inundated our country.

Flynn explains that leaders are focused on people. He writes:

"These organizations have strong cultures and shared values, understand the importance of teamwork, create trust among their members, maintain focus, and, most importantly, understand the importance of people and relationships to their mission success."  (p. xi)

When I think about the press conferences given by our president and my governor (I live in New York), a stark difference emerges. Our President comments often must be stepped back by the team on the stage with him, he wants the focus to be solely on him and demonstrates limited acceptance of the vision of what success looks like. He has cast blame on the Chinese, the Democrats, the media, and the previous administration. Three years in, those approaches grow wearisome. His team must be cautious because they are all likely to be thrown under the bus.  He is focused on lets get the economy going in spite of the overwhelming health crisis we are going through. His metrics for reopening is in his head not with his team.

My governor said create social distancing and it was so on the stage. He talks about the metrics from the doctors and scientists and defers to the CDC. He presents a vision that while not rosy or pleasant, will be endured and survived. He trusts his people to do the hard work necessary for success. He put together a team of East Coast governors to look at reopening the economy and gave each of them equal time to speak on the call that introduced the idea. He leads, respects his team and trusts his people.

While my political leanings may not favor either man, I recognize the leadership game has been won.

Flynn recognizes that no "organization has been managed out of a crisis. Every single one of them was led" (p. xi). This worries me for the country, but I am lifted by the governors responses to it all. We will make it through this time with scars no matter what. Our leaders can help it to not be a catastrophe.

Sorry about the political commentary. It is just how this world is being seen and emphasized by my reading.

helping young people learn self regulation

Brad Chapin and Matthew Penner wrote Helping Young People Learn Self-Regulation: Lessons, Activities and Worksheets for Teaching the Essentials of Responsible Decision Making & Self-Control as a set of instructions to teach young people how to better manage their emotions and behaviors. The book is in three parts: a lengthy introduction that explains the purpose and intent of the text, a series of lesson plans with worksheets to address physical, and emotional strategies for self-regulation and an appendix. The book originally comes with a CD, but my used copy did not.

I appreciate the approach that the authors take- focusing on the progression from physical to emotional to cognitive strategies and the idea that you cannot really teach later skills before physical ones are in hand. Their strategies seem like they would be effective for young people. It is worksheet dependent. Students who cannot compose or read would need modifications to the tasks. They include instructions for using the approach with both individual and small group settings. Students with extreme issues would probably need more support than the 8 week cycle they present. Ideally if a child were going through the program, home and school would be notified of the skill that the child was working on, how to do it and reminders to practice it. This would be particularly important as children might not buy in and be willing to practice on their own.

The book is short, a mere 109 pages including the appendix and references. It is easily read and the instructions are spelled out well so that just about anyone could use the approach.

blogging about books

April's Educational Leadership contains an article by Jennifer Stewart-Mitchell "Blogging about Books." In trying to encourage student participation in meaningful discussion, Jennifer utilized blogs and a framework- 3C's and a Q. I was unfamiliar with this strategy and see lots of ways it could be used in a classroom.

• C- compliment
• C- comment
• C- connect
• Q question

Sentence stems could be made available to help guide a discussion. (An abundance of online sources of starters are available.)
Compliment:

• I liked how...
• You did a great job …
• Using that image/quote/video/etc really helped to showcase...

Comment:

• I agree that...
• I disagree about...
• You make a good point about..., but I want to point out that...
• We are in agreement that …. because …
• While …, it must be said that …
• One exception to that idea is...
• It should not be forgotten that...
• This brings us to another issue. …
• What makes … even worse is …
• From this we can conclude that …

Connect: (text to self, text to text, text to world, text to media)

• When you mentioned ..., it made me think about...
• When you say..., it reminds me of...
• I also have seen this when/where …
• Doesn't that make you think of …
• I understand how … felt because …
• If … happened to me, then I would do/feel/say...
• I am different from …, because I …

Question:

• Why do you think … so far?
• What do you mean when you say...?
• If that is the case then …?
• What evidence supports the idea that …?
• Since the characters said …, what do you think will happen next? Why?

This kind of framework would help student craft responses that are better than "He's right" or "Good job." They encourage continuation of the conversation. For students with executive function challenges, it provides a jumping point and sense of security because they know what is expected. The teacher should definitely model using the framework for students and have both hard copies and posted copies of sentence starters to use.

Understanding the Impact of Trauma on Behavior

This enforced time alone has me watching both archived and new webinars. This one by Barbara Kaiser through Early Childhood Investigations is particularly pertinent as it addresses trauma. The webinar is entitled Understanding the Impact of Trauma on Behavior and runs about 90 minutes. You can register and watch the webinar here. Many programs are now trying to be trauma sensitive or trauma informed. This is in recognition that the lives of many of our children are subject to incredible perceived challenges. Children who are exposed to these ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) tend to struggle in school. While the target audience is teachers and caregivers of preschool, the webinar is appropriate for everyone.

Before discussing trauma, she talks about the adults. Adults who care for or teach children need to build their personal resilience because it is hard to be around struggling youth. Common phrases we hear are compassion fatigue and secondary trauma stress. By opening with the importance of caring for yourself, she highlights that if you are not in a good emotional state, you will not be able to help children who are not in a good emotional state.

Some of the ACEs that Barbara describes include abuse, neglect and dysfunction such as divorce, parental (or other child) mental illness, substance abuse. Risk factors also include having a parent in jail, poverty and poor attachment. She gives a good description of an assortment of challenges that students may face and the way they react to them. She includes disaster effect in her description. CoVid19 certainly falls into the category of a disaster that has upended children's lives- school is canceled, day cares are closed, parents are working from home or are isolating.

One important consideration she discusses is how trauma and chronic stress change the brain and our genes. We like to think of our genes as stable and unchangeable. Yes, mutations may happen, but that is the exception. Random mutations do occur at the somatic cell level all the time, but this is not what we are talking about. When we expose cells to high levels of adrenaline and cortisol, they change how cells work over time. People become locked into the fight or flight cycle with the amygdala primed to be in charge. The thinking brain is turned off. Since we as teachers need to interact with the thinking brain in order to teach, we need to discover strategies to help students deescalate their stress.

She offers many suggestions for working with trauma exposed children including providing consistency and routines and being flexible. A child may truly be incapable of dealing with something and then safe alternatives need to be found. (I worked in a program where we visited Santa- some kids needed to be nowhere near Santa and that was ok.)

A great overview with many positive suggestions.

Driven by Data

Paul Bambrick-Santoyo's book, Driven by Data 2.0: A Practical Guide to Improve Instruction, describes the data meeting structure begun by Uncommon Schools. It involves highly structured plan that starts with unpacking a standard, examining exemplars to revise the what students need to know/do, student work to identify the gap, scripting a reteach, and then practicing it. Ideally this process is completed in under 30 minutes- a rigid time clock is utilized to make sure it does. For the leader of the group, be it a principal or team leader, they need to have prepared for the meeting by having unpacked the standard, gathered both exemplar and typical student work showing a gap, gathered video footage, named the gap in precise language, determined how to reteach the material to address the gap (model or discourse) and why, identified the when to reteach and thought about what that might look like. A half hour meeting might need more than a half hour to prep for, especially if the target subject is not an area of expertise of the leader. Expectations for the leader are huge.

A few years ago I was involved with a program that administered interim assessments every 10 weeks and then spent the nest three weeks going over them to identify data trends and action plans. The assessments utilized a program that collected the data and shared number of correct responses per question. This allegedly allowed staff to examine where students made errors and plan to remediate them. Ideal, right? Unfortunately the implementation was flawed. The responses were too general to provide real guidance on gaps. The assumption was that the staff knew the standards and their components well enough to target error patterns. If only one teacher taught a subject, they were a data team of one- not very effective. It was too loose to provide a path forward and no one was trained to run a data meeting. (Ah, the benefits of hindsight and increased training.)

I have been asked by many an interview team how I use data to inform instruction. I use it daily to determine if my students "got" what I presented. When I provide consultant teacher services I watch the errors my students made and then provide instruction in that area. This book allowed me to see how I might improve that process with formalizing it.

The book comes with a DVD of materials. It includes video clips of components of instruction and data meetings. Some of them are the same as those from Get Better Faster. The book utilizes it's tenet of concise language. It uses the see it, name it, do it strategy that they propose as a way to improve instruction. Very readable but somewhat repetitive. It presents a nice framework that schools could capitalize on to improve instruction.

Hacking School Discipline

Nathan Maynard and Brad Weinstein wrote Hacking School Discipline: 9 Ways to Create a Culture of Empathy & Responsibility Using Restorative Justice as a part of the Hack Learning Series. These books all describe a group of "hacks" around various educational issues. We may be familiar with the definitions of hack being to cut roughly or gain unauthorized access to data, but a less common definition: to manage or cope, is what the series producers are utilizing.

The books follow a formula for each hack: define the problem, describe the solution, what you can do tomorrow, a blueprint for full implementation, overcoming pushback, and the hack in action (vignette). The nine hacks the book describes are:

1. create a culture of communication
2. restorative circles
3. teach acceptance of responsibility
4. create, clear consistent expectations
5. foster a growth mindset
6. teach mindfulness
7. cultivate empathy
8. build restorative support
9. use data to track success, increase attention on important items and modify programs in response to need.

The authors clearly have successfully utilized the components of restorative justice for many years. The text would be a good overview for a staff book study when a building was contemplating adopting restorative as a behavior program. It provides some good information but is probably inadequate to independently support the implementation of a program, particularly since doing so is a culture shift which takes time, training and support. The authors agree that a slow measured roll out is the way to develop expertise and garner support.

I like the three building-wide expectations they set forth:

1. engage in productive work
2. maintain a safe and clean environment
3. share space effectively (p. 82).

Other restorative justice plans I have seen increase the number to 5. These three seem broad enough to incorporate most concerns. Other authors have spelled out examples of what these expectations look like in different settings (ex. the bus, cafeteria, hall, math class), but these authors do not. In order to clearly communicate to students and staff what these mean, I think some work spelling out those issues is important. After all, productive work is not accomplishing one math problem during independent work time and then watching videos on your phone.

Two codicils are mentioned toward the end of the book. "If data shows that a certain strategy is not as effective with a certain subset of students, then adjust!" (p. 154) A couple of years ago I worked with a program and they instituted a particular Tier 2 intervention with a couple of students whose behaviors actually increased under the intervention- in frustration, I collected the data and presented to the tier 2 committee 15 weeks into the intervention. It still required a huge push to get something else into place. Early in my career I attended a week long Elements of Instruction workshop whose key components was monitor and adjust. We need to do this for our programs so that we can ensure they are having the impact we want.

"All staff must be consistent and committed to the mission of the MTSS [multitiered system of supports] model and the embedded restorative practices for this to work" (p. 154). I have seen staff sabotage interventions because they so not believe in them. I have seen the results of inconsistent implementation. It is not pretty. A slow roll out with discussion at staff meetings about success and challenges as the process occurs is important. Teachers will buy in when they see success, but poorly articulated or clearly thought out programs will encourage rigidity. Lack of training will result in poorly implemented and ineffective programs. Let the naysayer see positive results with their kids in someone else's classroom. Instead of ignoring their concerns, address them. Restorative Justice programs have been shown to be highly effective if they are properly implemented. Poorly implemented, they often exacerbate problems.