In university, I remember one of my professors sharing an anecdote about a trip to Sierra Leone. He explained that the villagers (from one local area he visited), believed that neckties protected people from disease. Strange - yes; but the conclusion that they had formed derived from the fact that all the agency workers, professionals and outside visitors (most of whom wore a tie) were never sick or impacted by the diseases to which they were often succumb. None of the local villagers wore neckties, and therefore, it must be the lack of neckties which caused there succeptability. In turn, ties were associated with health, prosperity and safety.
What I think we need to take away from this interesting anecdote, as educators, is the importance of drawing appropriate (and rational) conclusions. Especially, when it is those same beliefs that drive our programming, instruction and assessment decisions.
What the villagers had come to believe makes sense when you look at the surface evidence. Yet, when we add in the other factors and forces at play in this situation - there is certainly more to it than meets the eye.
In terms of the learning that occurs in your classroom - what assumptions are you making and how are using those assumptions to plan and assess for student learning going forward?
What "ties" are you focused on as indicators of student learning and appropriate assessment strategies?
Through what lenses can you observe, track, assess and provide feedback - in order to program for future learning opportunities?
Ultimately, what key issues do we need to shine a more critical eye on, in order to support student well-being and success?
Teaching the joy of reading and the magic of learning is, I feel, our greatest gift as educators. As a parent, I have been witness to incredible moments of disbelief and awe when it comes to my own 2 sons, Liam and Bryce. They are, indeed, sponges as the saying goes, and my wife and I have tried to instill in them a love of reading that will build a foundation of learning success.
On the weekend, we took a trip to the Barrie Public Library - one of their favourite things to do. My wife came across a storybook called "Bony Legs" and remembered it from her own childhood. She put it into the bag of goodies to be signed out and we were homeward bound. She read the story to our youngest son, Bryce, twice in the next few days.
Bryce has entered the "pre-reading" stage and is constantly asking to "read" to us - or his 5-year-old brother, Liam. He uses the pictures as evidence and describes what he sees to us. He offers reactions like, "this is the funny part," and "isn't that weird?" He has already learned to interact with the text, use its features to improve his understanding and to celebrate and share in his "reading" to truly enjoy the experience.
He proudly carries out this adventure and is so delighted with himself, when he has us as a captivated audience. What a terrific thing to be a part of.
So, how can we make sure that we are "raising readers" in a positive and supportive manner? Here's what I think...
1. Celebrate everything in the stages of reading as worthy of your attention and feedback. "Wow, that's such an interesting ending." "What do you think will happen next?" "How do you feel when you read to mommy and daddy?" "I really like how you used the pictures to figure out what's happening!"
2. Recognize the process of reading. It doesn't happen overnight, and therefore, should be constantly done and discussed in order to progress. Our future readers are "reading" their world far before they sound out words and vocalize sentence structures.
3. Reading is life.This is a skill and talent that will carry your son, daughter, or student throughout their lives. They will dramatically improve given attention, support, feedback and questions. Frame each response and comment you make as an opportunity for them to dazzle you. Don't be satisfied with one word answers, dig deeper and find out what they think just as much as you expect to hear what they know.
In the end, this is one of the greatest journeys they will ever make...and you will hold their hand through it all and guide them into their potential for learning - and life.
How do you "raise" readers - whether your own children or students you teach?
I truly believe that I have chosen the single greatest job in the world (as an educator), but the climate and nature of the beast, indeed, challenges a person’s resolve and drive to do, not just what’s best for kids, but rather, what’s best for the future of our society.
Grandiose visions of perfect staffs and perfect supervisors are not only false – they are unrealistic. Change in schools – real, positive and lasting change – is only made possible through struggle and conflict. Inside ourselves, with our colleagues, with our supervisors, with our priorities – this change will bring us to our knees at some point and force us to choose action in the face of distress and uncertainty. If we were not the best choice for this esteemed position (teaching the future of our society), we wouldn't be faced with these kinds of personally-defining decisions – because we would have walked away and chose to do something else with our lives before it got real hard.
Being a leader is a lot like being on sale: you’re always in demand, people seem to think you’re never around when you’re needed, and you have the power to make others feel proud of themselves – heck, you could even make a difference in someone else’s life.
The context of being a principal has morphed dramatically from the manager of a staff to the manager of all things school. It’s not enough to be nice – you have to be accountable. It’s not enough to be smart – you have to be a visionary. It’s not enough to be consistent – you have to be progressive.
The system is in need of bold and ambitious goals. Those of us who indeed “go forward” shouldn’t just be accepting a new position – we are accepting a challenge. The middle doesn’t need holding – the top needs to be uncovered. Our students and communities will demand our best and settle for nothing less.
There are students in our rooms that need us and others that will be fine on their own. Those that need us can often be the most challenging to handle in terms of teaching and behavior - but that is why they need us. Somewhere along the line they have fallen victim to unfortunate circumstances. Whether these were experienced in utero or at the hands of a loved one; they have arrived in your class with this truth as baggage. Teachers are the people who can help shape a student's life in a single year. Every year that student is exposed to new routines, new ideas, new expectations and should emerge as a more well-rounded individual.
Unlike parents, students get to 'trade in' teachers annually. Without doubt, there are always teachers that have challenged us in both positive and negative ways. For myself, a brutal first-year university English professor deterred me from staying in the English Department at Queen's. Who knows where I would be or what I would be doing had I been timetabled into some other professor's English class? However, I feel that these glimpses into learning environments that don't work have allowed me to become a more well-rounded teacher myself. It is difficult to identify and truly enjoy the good, unless you have sampled the bad.
Students will always have things to say about their teachers. This incredibly inspirational speech given by Dalton Sherman with over 76, 000 views on YouTube is a testament to how profoundly teachers (and parents) can prepare and educate a child - especially in public speaking. I was first shown this during a Reading course that I was taking last year, and while watching it, I just kept picturing students that I have taught who might have been thinking the things that Dalton is saying.
How many of our students have the potential in them to deliver a speech like Dalton? How many of us teachers have helped to prepare students in our classes with the skills necessary to accomplish tremendous things? Every once in a while, remember Dalton's speech as a way of allowing yourself to take credit for the learning that you have inspired. Maybe one day it will be a former student of yours that is preparing a conference center full of teachers for another academic year.
One of the most challenging aspects of teaching today is covering the curriculum. To do this well requires a great deal of creativity and flexibility as a teacher. The growing trends of differentiated instruction and cross-curricular assignments provide a vehicle to deliver content in a new and efficient manner. Gone are the days when learning is compartmentalized as "Literacy," "Science," "Math," and "The Arts." Now we are becoming increasingly aware of the potential to capitalize on the centrality of literacy in all subjects (math too!). By incorporating literacy expectations into our social studies and other areas of the curriculum, not only are teachers able to cover more of the expectations underpinning their grade assignment; they are also able to assess students more readily in all facets of learning.
Students who were previously thought of as being weak in science or literacy, could have been weak in concentration at the part of the day that these subjects were being taught. Perhaps our 'social' students can benefit more from group work in math depending on the time it is delivered in many cases. Using a cross-curricular approach provides a path to learning that may seem unconventional in nature, but it resonates with many teachers as "learning environments" not unlike the 'common curriculum' days. One of the ways that a teacher can approach these 'environments' is to dedicate a whole school day to a theme that covers multiple curriculum areas. Instead of building formative tasks and assessments over a three-week period; try to build on these things over the course of one day and see what happens.
In my class, I have created a "History Day" before, during which students are given academic tasks for history that also touch on arts, math, literacy, gym and even social studies activities - all of which must be completed during the course of the day. It is incredible to observe how well students who struggle with transitions and separated lessons can excel during a day when you clearly state ALL of the learning expectations first thing in the morning and then give them the WHOLE DAY to complete them. The 'independent work' and 'self-regulation' themes emerge in students when they know the exact moment that work is due, and feel a sense of ownership for the product that is created by a fairness in the time-frame given. The work assigned can be worked on in any order that they prefer and some tasks that involve partners or groups have to be organized with the timeline in mind.
There are many things that 'learning environments' can offer you in meeting the demands of the curriculum - it is only a matter of plotting out your course and trying it. Only with new eyes can we recognize new solutions to old problems.
