Category: School based

School Based Activities

Where is the motivation in our schools structure?

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

Before children enter school, motivation comes naturally. Infants want to learn to walk, to get where they want to go. They learn to talk to communicate their needs. Motivation seems like a natural instinct. As 5 year-olds enter our schools they are self-motivated to learn, and explore. Discover in itself seems to engage and keeps students moving down the learning trail. Then out of nowhere students seem to loose the spark. Not all of them, but enough to make a noticeable difference. Teachers have to put on a “show” to engage learners, often struggling to hold their complete attention. It seems these students start loosing the fire for “School” learning around 4th grade and it stays un-sparked till high school. Why is this? Could it be school structure?

There are many reasons students, loose the desire for prescribed learning during these “middle” years of school. I am going to focus on ONE key reason that educators should examine for change. SCHOOL STRUCTURE: Here are a few questions to ponder:

1. Is it appropriate to place 9-14 year olds to sit in desks, quietly for an 8 hour day, expected to learn, surrounded by 30 of their peers? Do adults learn well in this environment?

No, not appropriate. Students need to have freedom to move around, get comfortable, socialize and have private spaces. Schools should look more like coffee shops or book stores, filled with comfortable seating and meeting places. Teachers should move freely among the students asking questions, checking in, giving feedback, while allowing students to learn at their on pace. Look at the office environments of Google and Mircosoft of inspiration here.

2. Would you work hard to learn, knowing you will move on to the next topic/level after a period of time?

After a couple of years in school, student realize that the they move on to the next level with or without effort. Grades might suffer but they are just LETTERS. Do any of us really like to work hard? (Well we do when we find passion) Students are still exploring for their passions, hard work always meets resistance at first. Schools need to foster passions, not force work towards the unknown. Students are turning off on subjects because they are hard before passion has a chance to set in. A current student told me he was bad at science. His passion was working as an audio technician at a teen night club. It took awhile but now he is excited to learn about sound and waves in science class. Schools structures make it too easy for student to sit back and arrive at the next level instead of earning it.

3. Should kids be told what is important to learn? or discover what is important to their lives?

The curriculum in schools is to defined. Requiring specific units of study, without giving students time to explore a topic based on their own interests. In my science curriculum we spend so much time studying the plant kingdom, heredity and genetics during our biology unit. Students always ask great questions about Animals. While I do answer their questions we don’t have time to explore the animal kingdom as much as students desire. Teachers are told to teach to students learning styles, isn’t their learning desires apart of their style? Curriculum needs to be more open ended. What students learn in school isn’t really important it is HOW they learn that is. Once a student learns how to learn anything will be accomplished.

Value of Educational Conferences

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

I recently read a post by Tom Whitby, titled “Are Educational Conferences Relevant?” His post made me think about the true value of educational conferences. As a teachers there are really 3-types of conferences we can attend. First the Un-conference: more commonly referred to as an Edcamp, Second: a state conference (Examples MRA, MAMSE or MACUL) and Third: The National Conference (Example: ISTE, NSTA or AMLE). All 3 types of conferences have benefits and drawbacks. The attendee really determines the ultimate value of any conference.

Over the past few months I have had the pleasure of attending all three types. (AMLE, MCTE, and EdcampOU) Here are the Pros and Cons I see.

Un-Conferences/Edcamps: These conferences rarely have predetermined schedule. Attendees vote with their feet by walking out of sessions that give them little value into other sessions. All of the sessions are lead by educators in the field working with students and building their craft. Conferences are manly free or low cost, on weekends. The value of un-conferences is in the attendees. A well attended Edcamp with eager presenters means the day will be enlightening. Poor attendance or reluctant presenters can lead to a long day (or early departures). Since the conference is “Free”, no vendors come to sell products. The sessions (if you call them sessions more like conversations) are intimate. 10-25 teachers in a room talking about a topic with passion. Everyone has a voice and feels empowered by the face to face meeting. In this day an age of slashed budgets, I feel the un-conferences will continue to rise in popularity.

State Conferences: Sessions are scheduled. Speakers are brought in from the “educational consulting” and “Edu-Author” realms. Most attendees planed to hear one or more of the “name” presenters. Often many of the teacher lead sessions are over looked due to the popularity of the Keynote/ out of state presenters. State level conferences often have a higher cost, therefore vendors are brought in to help cover the costs. To create a program of scheduled presenters, proposals are submitted 4-9 months ahead of the conference. School leaders and teachers attend to sit and get information. Some conferences have been adding hands-on and quick sessions to liven the conferences up. Some educators get lost in the size of the state level conferences, I find the connections invigorating. Focusing on the small conversations and not the large presentations.

National Conferences: Mirror the state conferences but on a grander scale. Proposals for sessions come 6-12 months before the conference. Every author and Ed-consultant in the field will be presenting to sell their services/books. The main difference at national conferences is the demographics of attendees. More administrators attend and less teachers, mainly due to the cost of travel to the conference. Vendors are present to subsidize costs.Some don’t like vendors at educational conferences, but where else will teachers get to know about their products?  At AMLE this year, the clear passion about Middle Level Education was evident everywhere. Sessions are larger than the other types of conferences. The conversations and connections with other attendees were wonderful, since they were from all over the world.

The most important part of any conference is what you take away. All conferences have value to educators. Find conferences you enjoy attending, where you make meaningful connections, and learn new ideas. Go where you feel comfortable and can afford to attend. Everyone will have different opinions about conferences, find ones that make you grow as an educator and add value to your classroom practice.

#MSchat: Ideas To Action Challenge

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

I have been moderating Middle School Chat now for a year and a half. The chat has re-energized my teaching career. I look forward to each Thursday night chat with so much anticipation. Wonder who will bring hot new ideas into the discussion? What ideas can I bring back to my classroom to enhance my students’ learning? I have been amazed at the incredible educators that join in each week.

In a recent conversation with a teaching colleague, I was challenged about the power of twitter chats. His argument was that twitter is just a echo-chamber where like minded teachers validate their common thinking. Disagreeing with this premise, I shared all the ways my teaching has changed since starting the chat. I was meet with a quick rebuttal, “Todd you like change and doing new things just like all the other teachers on Twitter. Most of us just want to teach like we were taught to do.” Having taught with this colleague for my entire career I knew he was right about me. I do like change. I do like trying new things, figuring it out and learning. Not everyone is of the same mindset. How can teachers help other teachers change teaching to meet the changing needs of our students?

After pondering this for a long time, My answer is one teacher at a time. So I am laying down a challenge to all of my #MSchat participants (Inspired by a conversation with my colleague and Colleen Skiles @cskiles80). During the month of February bring a “new” teacher into our chat conversation. Invite them over on a Thursday night, show them how the chat works, introduce them to the concept of twitter chats, and have them lurk while you participate. A twitter chat party if you will. Then debrief with your colleague to hear how their experience went.  Finally take the ideas learned from the chat back into your classrooms for your students’ benefit.

I plan on bringing my colleague into the chat and showing him as well as others that it can be so much more than an echo chamber. I will be writing here in my blog how I am trying to help my colleagues see the power of twitter. Not only by saying it to them, but by showing it to them.

Since many #MSchat participants are “chat” addicts like me, this challenge applies to any chat. Hopefully we can help other teachers see the power of collaboration on social media. I just ask that you share your experiences of doing it with me.

Can’t wait to hear about all the “CHAT” parties! We could have one every night of the week!

Snow days should = e-learning days everywhere!!

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

Winter 2014 is going to be one for the ages. Students will talk about this year to their children: “I remember the winter where we didn’t have school!” School is an important part of children’s lives. Attending school helps students develop socially, physically, emotionally and academically. States feel school is SO important that they have mandates for the total number of days (and/or hour) a K-12 student attends during a given school year. When weather inhibits students ability to attend school, the educational process is disrupted.

Current practice in most states is to build in a few “snow days” to the calendar. When the weather requires more cancellations that normal, districts have to be creative in making up missed time by adding minutes to the day or days to the calendar. Does this work? probably not! Adding a few minutes to the remaining school days, does not make up for a missed day of learning. By adding days to the end of the year or canceling breaks, districts run the risks of students not attending due to pre-planned vacations over the breaks. Teachers also make plans for school breaks, whether it is a vacation of their own or scheduling professional development.

One district in Illinois, has come up with a creative plan to make every day count to its fullest. Using today’s technology tools, schools can turn snow days into e-learning days. Many teachers are already using the technology to keep absent students up to speed. Shouldn’t we just extend the expectations to “snow days”? States need to recognize that learning is not school dependent. Educators need to foster their relationships with students and parents by communicating learning expectations for working from home. Parents want/need activities for their students to complete when at home. Just look by looking at parents’ comments on Facebook, one can quickly notice a need for a blended learning approach to “snow days”.

Educators need to let their legislature know that we can make everyday count, Even when the students are working from home.

Update:

Here is another example of a district using e-learning days!

Or when technology might not be at home Blizzard Bags are discussed here.

How the Common Core should be

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

As states debate if they will join the Common Core State Standards Initiative, districts are busy training teachers on how to implement the new standards. The standards have been created out of good intentions, with the goal for ALL American students to have the “same” educational standards. Many educators have spoken out against these standards for many reasons.One is due to the  feeling that the push has a hidden agenda of comparing teachers, schools, and states to each other in a rank and sort manner. The Common Core do have a broad reach and challenge students to reach a higher level of learning.

These new standards seem to broad for schools and miss out on the key elements society has expected schools to focus on in the past. We need to Focus on a few “Life” skills to make our students better citizens. Below is what the Common Core SHOULD look like!

A Teacher’s Common Core

Preparing Students for LIFE!

  1. Humility-a modest or low view of one’s own importance; humbleness.
  2. Compassion – sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
  3. Empathy – the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
  4. Honesty- the quality of being honest not lying.
  5. Integrity- the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
  6. Determination-firmness of purpose; resoluteness.
  7. Justice- seeking just behavior or treatment.
  8. Passion/love- showing or caused by strong feelings or a strong belief.
  9. Financial Literacy- the ability to understand how money works in the world
Men's Humor's photo.
10. Wonder- a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.
11. Reflection- serious thought or consideration.
By focusing on these simple 11 concepts as a common core, schools will create better American citizens. Our common core should be the values that our country was founded on, not concepts that aren’t essential.
Feel free to add additional Common Core ideas in the comments section, I am sure I missed something.

There should be talking in the classroom!

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

To exist as a social individual talk is needed. A classroom should be a place where dialogue is constant and flowing. Without this dialogue students may become isolated and will not perform at their optimal levels. In my experience, I have always performed better in a comfortable setting. Students can not feel comfortable if they are not involved in discussions. Our jobs as teachers is to involve our students, there is no better way to involve students in class than by conversations. How will teachers know if they are effective without the verbal feedback from students?

I remember sitting in so many classes in college feeling very uncomfortable. The professor is standing in front of the class preaching the lecture. Students afraid to answer the questions hurled down from the pulpit. Tension is created by professors who fail to develop a dialogue with the class. Students are afraid of how the professor  will respond to their answers, This situation occurs in classrooms on every level all over the country. Teachers need to create an environment in which students feel comfortable to answer questions and formulate their own questions. If students are afraid to respond they turn off to learning. Why do some teachers foster this stand-off environment?

To create a discussion based classroom, teachers need to move from the “lecture” mode. Create a conversation atmosphere in your class. From day on give ALL students an opportunity to share their voice. Promote discussions with interactive activities. Lectures can be boring and should be avoided. Students to participate in their learning. Answering questions and generating new ideas. All students input needs to be accepted and discussed. Students need to make decisions in regards to the direction the conversations head in class.  Students voice needs to be valued in decision making. Give them choices: Which book should we read? How should we complete the lab: hands on or virtually? Through empowerment students will gain motivation and participation will increase.

Discussions need to occur daily, ranging from current events, review of yesterdays lecture or just about how their school day is going. Students will feel valued. Learn how to converse with each other. Encounter disagreements and learn how to handle them appropriately. When I was growing up this all happened around our dinner table. Sadly many of our students don’t have this experience any more. When need to recreate it for them in our classrooms!

Create a “talking” classroom!!