tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57603709228631372072024-03-13T08:21:46.473-07:00Staying Strong in SchoolA Playbook for Parents Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-61432301081248053902016-07-08T07:33:00.001-07:002016-07-08T08:41:24.764-07:00Staying Strong in Chaotic World: Helping Children When Violent Events Occur<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBgDbQJUc8wGZp9KIAh_VZrfrKNtdnBgR0SEp1leJReq3jcpDeb1Zof4Z1ltF8qCeoTuCs6LJXgHyi1es2begVuW3OP2_H3oKtjIJczNx4B5tATB5t5T7bj6FKOrYdCG47vtrSwxwFyih/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBgDbQJUc8wGZp9KIAh_VZrfrKNtdnBgR0SEp1leJReq3jcpDeb1Zof4Z1ltF8qCeoTuCs6LJXgHyi1es2begVuW3OP2_H3oKtjIJczNx4B5tATB5t5T7bj6FKOrYdCG47vtrSwxwFyih/s320/boy+with+carrot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Listening to my friend Michael Soaries observe reactions to terrible events (one after another, as they're documented almost instantly) is like resting in the quiet eye of a hurricane. His reflections on how to talk to our children about violence are insightful and so helpful: Click on link below:<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/MichaelSoaries?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser">https://www.facebook.com/MichaelSoaries?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-44587706969553877852016-05-15T06:23:00.000-07:002016-05-15T08:23:46.397-07:00The PARCC Test: Exposed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzzegx94Dlqopm2_XGqANy96XVudoHofNoiipLuQEz93K_SAc3ekCWfXFr4oRUYBeMSWJe9yDb7jlyerVzvOs6wqjqWKu0dMWuQIJf524vHNki8WidfaHveNepBdJklkR0X268XyBUML7/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzzegx94Dlqopm2_XGqANy96XVudoHofNoiipLuQEz93K_SAc3ekCWfXFr4oRUYBeMSWJe9yDb7jlyerVzvOs6wqjqWKu0dMWuQIJf524vHNki8WidfaHveNepBdJklkR0X268XyBUML7/s400/boy+with+carrot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A teacher, <b>under legal threat from
PARCC,</b> describes how 4th graders were slammed with this year's off-the-rails
testing. PARCC: The secret (and mandated!) test<span class="textexposedshow">s
that no public school teacher can prepare students for -- because the content
is secret until the day of the test.</span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"We
can look carefully at one sample to examine the health of the entire system–
such as testing a drop of water to assess the ocean. So too, we can use these
three PARCC prompts to glimpse how the high stakes accountability system has
deformed teaching and warped learning in many public schools across the United
States."</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The PARCC Test: Exposed</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The author of this blog
posting is a public school teacher who will remain anonymous.</span></i></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I will not reveal my district or my
role due to the intense legal ramifications for exercising my Constitutional
First Amendment rights in a public forum. I was compelled to sign a security form
that stated I would not be “Revealing or discussing passages or test items with
anyone, including students and school staff, through verbal exchange, email,
social media, or any other form of communication” as this would be considered a
“Security Breach.” In response to this demand, I can only ask—whom are we
protecting?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">There are layers of not-so-subtle
issues that need to be aired as a result of national and state testing policies
that are dominating children’s lives in America. As any well prepared educator
knows, curriculum planning and teaching requires knowing how you will assess
your students and planning backwards from that knowledge. If teachers are
unable to examine and discuss the summative assessment for their students, how
can they plan their instruction? Yet, that very question assumes that this test
is something worth planning for. The fact is that schools that try to plan
their curriculum exclusively to prepare students for this test are ignoring the
body of educational research that tells us how children learn, and how to
create developmentally appropriate activities to engage students in the act of
learning. This article will attempt to provide evidence for these claims as a
snapshot of what is happening as a result of current policies.</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The PARCC test is
developmentally inappropriate</span></i></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">In order to discuss the claim that
the PARCC test is “developmentally inappropriate,” examine three of the most
recent PARCC 4th grade items.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">A book leveling system, designed by
Fountas and Pinnell, was made “more rigorous” in order to match the Common Core
State Standards. These newly updated benchmarks state that 4th Graders should
be reading at a Level S by the end of the year in order to be considered
reading “on grade level.” [Celia’s note: I do not endorse leveling books or
readers, nor do I think it appropriate that all 9 year olds should be reading a
Level S book to be thought of as making good progress.]</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The PARCC, which is supposedly a test
of the Common Core State Standards, appears to have taken liberties with regard
to grade level texts. For example, on the Spring 2016 PARCC for 4th Graders,
students were expected to read an excerpt from Shark Life: True Stories about
Sharks and the Sea by Peter Benchley and Karen Wojtyla. According to Scholastic,
this text is at an interest level for Grades 9-12, and at a 7th Grade reading
level. The Lexile measure is 1020L, which is most often found in texts that are
written for middle school, and according to <a href="http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/guidedreading/leveling_chart.htm"><span style="color: windowtext;">Scholastic’s own conversion chart</span></a> would be
equivalent to a 6th grade benchmark around W, X, or Y (using the same Fountas
and Pinnell scale).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Even by the reform movement’s own
standards, according to <a href="https://lexile.com/using-lexile/lexile-measures-and-the-ccssi/text-complexity-grade-bands-and-lexile-ranges/"><span style="color: windowtext;">MetaMetrics’ reference material on Text Complexity
Grade Bands and Lexile Bands</span></a>, the newly CCSS aligned “Stretch”
lexile level of 1020 falls in the 6-8 grade range. This begs the question, what
is the purpose of standardizing text complexity bands if testing companies do
not have to adhere to them? Also, what is the purpose of a standardized test
that surpasses agreed-upon lexile levels?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">So, right out of the gate, 4th
graders are being asked to read and respond to texts that are two grade levels
above the recommended benchmark. After they struggle through difficult texts
with advanced vocabulary and nuanced sentence structures, they then have to
answer multiple choice questions that are, by design, intended to distract
students with answers that appear to be correct except for some technicality.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Finally, students must synthesize two
or three of these advanced texts and compose an original essay. The ELA portion
of the PARCC takes three days, and each day includes a new essay prompt based
on multiple texts. These are the prompts from the 2016 Spring PARCC exam for
4th Graders along with my analysis of why these prompts do not reflect the true
intention of the Common Core State Standards.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">ELA 4th Grade Prompt #1</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Refer to the passage from “Emergency
on the Mountain” and the poem “Mountains.” Then answer question 7. </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Think about how the structural
elements in the passage from “Emergency on the Mountain” differ from the
structural elements in the poem “Mountains.”</span></b><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Write an essay that explains the
differences in the structural elements between the passage and the poem. Be
sure to include specific examples from both texts to support your response. </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The above prompt probably attempts to
assess the Common Core standard RL.4.5: <i>“Explain major differences
between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems
(e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings,
descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a
text.”</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">However, the Common Core State
Standards for writing do not require students to write essays comparing the text
structures of different genres. The Grade 4 CCSS for writing about reading
demand that students write about characters, settings, and events in
literature, or that they write about how authors support their points in
informational texts. Nowhere in the standards are students asked to write
comparative essays on the structures of writing. The reading standards ask
students to “explain” structural elements, but not in writing. There is a huge
developmental leap between explaining something and writing an analytical essay
about it. [Celia’s note: The entire enterprise of analyzing text structures in
elementary school – a 1940’s and 50’s college English approach called “New
Criticism” — is ridiculous for 9 year olds anyway.]</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The PARCC does not assess what it
attempts to assess</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">ELA 4th Grade Prompt #2</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Refer to the passages from “Great
White Shark” and Face the Sharks. Then answer question 20.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Using details and images in the
passages from “Great White Sharks” and Face to Face with Sharks, write an essay
that describes the characteristics of white sharks.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">It would be a stretch to say that
this question assesses CCSS W.4.9.B: <i>“Explain how an author uses
reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.”</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">In fact, this prompt assesses a
student’s ability to research a topic across sources and write a research-based
essay that synthesizes facts from both articles. Even <i>CCSS W.4.7, “Conduct
research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different
aspects of a topic,”</i> does not demand that students compile information from
different sources to create an essay. The closest the standards come to
demanding this sort of work is in the reading standards; CCSS RI.4.9 says: <i>“Integrate
information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about
the subject knowledgeably.”</i> Fine. One could argue that this PARCC prompt
assesses CCSS RI.4.9.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">However, the fact that the texts
presented for students to “use” for the essay are at a middle school reading
level automatically disqualifies this essay prompt from being able to assess
what it attempts to assess. (It is like trying to assess children’s math
computational skills by embedding them in a word problem with words that the child
cannot read.)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">ELA 4th Grade Prompt #3</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">In “Sadako’s Secret,” the
narrator reveals Sadako’s thoughts and feelings while telling the story. The
narrator also includes dialogue and actions between Sadako and her family.
Using these details, write a story about what happens next year when Sadako
tries out for the junior high track team. Include not only Sadako’s actions and
feelings but also her family’s reaction and feelings in your story.</span></b><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Nowhere, and I mean nowhere in the
Common Core State Standards is there a demand for students to read a narrative
and then use the details from that text to write a new story based on a prompt.
That is a new pseudo-genre called “Prose Constructed Response” by the PARCC
creators, and it is 100% not aligned to the CCSS. Not to mention, why are 4th
Graders being asked to write about trying out for the junior high track team?
This demand defies their experiences and asks them to imagine a scenario that
is well beyond their scope.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Clearly, these questions are poorly
designed assessments of 4th graders CCSS learning. (We are setting aside the
disagreements we have with those standards in the first place, and simply
assessing the PARCC on its utility for measuring what it was intended to
measure.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Rather than debate the CCSS we
instead want to expose the tragic reality of the countless public schools
organizing their entire instruction around trying to raise students’ PARCC
scores.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Without naming any names, I can tell
you that schools are disregarding research-proven methods of literacy learning.
The “wisdom” coming “down the pipeline” is that children need to be exposed to
more complex texts because that is what PARCC demands of them. So children are
being denied independent and guided reading time with texts of high interest
and potential access and instead are handed texts that are much too hard
(frustration level) all year long without ever being given the chance to grow
as readers in their Zone of Proximal Development (pardon my reference to those
pesky educational researchers like Vygotsky.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">So not only are students who are
reading “on grade level” going to be frustrated by these so-called “complex
texts,” but newcomers to the U.S. and English Language Learners and any student
reading below the proficiency line will never learn the foundational skills
they need, will never know the enjoyment of reading and writing from intrinsic
motivation, and will, sadly, be denied the opportunity to become a critical
reader and writer of media. Critical literacies are foundational for active
participation in a democracy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 11.5pt;">We can look carefully at one sample
to examine the health of the entire system– such as testing a drop of water to
assess the ocean. So too, we can use these three PARCC prompts to glimpse how the
high stakes accountability system has deformed teaching and warped learning in
many public schools across the United States.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-62305112059872830512015-05-04T10:07:00.002-07:002015-05-04T10:10:02.914-07:00John Oliver's Illustrative Investigation of the Standardized Testing Plague in the U.S...<br />
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Instructions
for teachers: "…If a student vomits on his or her test booklet…" and
more...<br />
<br />
John Oliver does a thorough investigation
on the testing plague in the U.S. A home run of an analysis as he describes who is paying the price, and who is making millions from this travesty.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJ6lyURyVz7k&h=lAQF3-p9U&enc=AZOJtMVPBuAGRuOedWhNnmabQkMtHL-vCKpnPQmj6ZnKFISAg9IsGfAJbTDvD4SIR_sKcP830mWcbEolcT1XdOOOUtLUDB5uS8hHDyD59IQZpH90haa6khy_Zmmcq2OQSLoukjMSZUNCz63GgfWYl1Hz0vkzaKO1iWVy61_4P9DAxgCCYde_WtdobGPpiVBFWkMX_0-ixzYIWYGqSmoRzgSJ&s=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6lyURyVz7k</a></div>
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<span class="_3c21"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6lyURyVz7k" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Standardized Testing (HBO)</a></span></div>
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<span class="_3c21">American
students face a ridiculous amount of testing. John Oliver explains how
standardized tests impact school funding, the achievement gap, how often
kids...</span></div>
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<span class="_3c21">youtube.com</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-88058435851012186142015-01-16T14:57:00.000-08:002015-01-16T14:57:31.535-08:00Governor Cuomo and Chancellor Tisch: Building a Bigger and Meaner APPR Monster....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvdDb3dcXVkadlE4H2qnTwfpVLB9aRGiLabDtjWpzjn-86a6lbTpCNkL4cE6bE41L_JUQ67iYmm3X5Wp22qc9XcQLoIj5Btmxe5sxb4kyn9S-UsSwI8OkC1PVXGgUJe3XHnZkasPnayot9/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvdDb3dcXVkadlE4H2qnTwfpVLB9aRGiLabDtjWpzjn-86a6lbTpCNkL4cE6bE41L_JUQ67iYmm3X5Wp22qc9XcQLoIj5Btmxe5sxb4kyn9S-UsSwI8OkC1PVXGgUJe3XHnZkasPnayot9/s1600/images-1.jpg" height="292" width="400" /></a></div>
<i>Eureka! This new APPR monster is truly awful! This will surely drive out teachers and bring forth the demise of the public education in our state, at last! </i>~ New York State Education Department<br />
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<span class="usercontent"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What an outrage! In 2014, too many public school teachers
received Effective or Highly Effective scores on the APPR that was rigged to
fail them in an effort to dissemble our public education system. They were
doing their jobs too well in s</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">pite of all the obstacles
that are regularly thrown in their paths. Just when it would seem that you
can't keep a good teacher down...</span></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Time to race to action Governor Cuomo and
Chancellor Tisch! There must be a more destructive method to trip up and drive
out those "upstart" teachers - especially those who so flaunt their
skill and talent at this time of "reform" chaos. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Eureka, that's it! Create an even more flawed APPR
system that eliminates principals' and local board of ed input. Teacher
evaluations controlled from Albany - what an invitation to disaster. What a
legacy.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Here is my New York State Resident evaluation of
Gov. Cuomo and Chancellor Tisch:</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span class="textexposedshow"> </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Leadership skills: <b>Highly Ineffective</b></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Honesty and Ethics: <b>Highly Ineffective</b></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">State Education Management: <b>Highly Ineffective</b></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Advocacy for our public school children: <b>Not there</b></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Intelligence: <b>Not developed</b></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Ability to gauge effects from risky behavior (full
development of Executive Functions): <b>Nope</b></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-90739470755641934622014-12-10T09:52:00.000-08:002014-12-16T05:56:34.489-08:00Standardized Tests are the Failures - Not Our Children<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>How Standardized Tests Do Not Assess Common Core Standards (Part 1 of 2 Parts)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Packaging "Wonder"</b><br />
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The PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) drives the current trend - the Common Core and its Standardized Tests, which bombard American public school children all through the school year. The College Board's David Coleman and a team of non- educators chiseled out these standards (as in chisel and stone). Coleman claims that this will be instrumental in"cultivating wonder" in every classroom across the country.<br />
<br />
The idea of cultivating wonder is a lofty notion. But "wonder" can't be mandated. In the Socratic Tradition, cultivating wonder requires thinking and discourse and investigation - none of which can be measured through standardized testing.<br />
<br />
So good luck to any teacher, student, administrator, or parent who tries to find the ways that these assessments actually connect to the standards themselves. Because there is none.<br />
<br />
Let's look at the description for the Close Reading standard:<br />
<br />
<i>College and Career readiness anchor Standard for reading</i><br />
<br />
<i>Key Ideas and details:</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. (www. corestandards.org)</i><br />
<br />
Despite the fact that this approach to reading feels like a joyless procedure, I tried to keep an open mind when working with my seventh graders. I have an arts background and would need to lean on imagination and problem solving to work to engage my students and to get them excited about looking at written language.<br />
<br />
Our English language is robust and evolved, often strangely, from other languages. New words find their place in our dialogues as they're appointed to everyday use. Our language is as organic as a rain forest; fluid and changing. I was eager to work with my students who are also fluid and changing: Seventh graders mostly love to talk and to challenge: We <i>could</i> have fun with this.<br />
<br />
This standard includes the study of connotation and detonation. Different words mean different things to a student - depending on gender, socioeconomic background, nationality, personality, cognitive development, and life's experience. Depending on who you are, the word HIT - might apply to baseball, a popular song, viewings on a viral You Tube item, or, a slap.<br />
<br />
<i>But,</i> there was no curriculum provided. So, burdened by no curriculum, or, re-frame this as <i>unburdened</i> by untried pre-processsed rigid bulleted CC lesson plans, I had a certain amount of freedom to seek out my own resources as I set about to "cultivate wonder" among my students.<br />
<br />
<b>No curriculum? Consult with a scholar.</b><br />
<br />
Before outlining lessons, I re-visited Francine Prose' <i>Reading Like a Writer</i>. I had read this book in grad school. A prolific writer of fiction and non-fiction, Prose is a university professor and a scholar of reading and language. I love this book - she discusses the explicit and the subtle, and relates how as a student, her English teacher guided her class through <i>King Lear</i> and <i>Oedipus Rex</i> to circle every reference to eyes, light, darkness and vision. Prose observes: <i>"And searching for every relevant word turned out to have an enjoyable treasure-hunt aspect, a 'Where's Waldo' detective thrill...(p. 4, Reading Like a Writer).</i><br />
<br />
Her book is organized sequentially in the way we approach reading: The chapters are as such: Close Reading, Words, Sentences, Paragraphs, Narration, Dialogue, Details, and the nuanced Gesture. She examines the literal, and how that may be interpreted. There is something for every reader of any age;<br />
plenty for a child who is a concrete thinker to grab onto - and plenty for a child who is moving into higher level thinking to ponder.<br />
<br />
Through the rest of her book, which I enthusiastically recommend for anybody who reads/writes and/or teaches <i>any subject</i> she encourages us to roll up our sleeves and immerse ourselves in language. I wanted to use Prose' book to light the way through this new reading unit, kind of like a powerful utility flashlight - so we could focus on words and phrases through her high beam.<br />
<br />
For starters, I brought a few words to the table: <i>Dove, Blood, Hit</i>, and <i>Fire.</i> Students wrote down their gut response. No correct or incorrect - purely subjective. (that is connotation)<br />
<br />
Then we discussed the literal meanings and created a mnemonic for <b>D</b>enotation = <b>D</b>ictionary <b>D</b>efinition.<br />
<br />
Students' connotations of the words were quite varied: Another mnemonic: Connotation - Connection: Emotional, Experience. For the word Dove: Dove=soap, Dove=bird, Dove=peace (symbolic, higher level thinking here), Dove-venturing bird from Noah's arc, Dove=shy and gentle.<br />
The responses were so individual, which what makes language study fascinating.<br />
<br />
Okay, so how does all this kind of reflection and discourse measure up on a standardized test? Before going there, there's another example of student responses to the word Blood.<br />
<br />
Blood=hospital, Blood-=relative, Blood=gory, Blood=loyalty, Blood=war<br />
<br />
There is no "right" answer for connotation if we have no context around it. But depending on the context, blood takes on a different shading. This is a skill to cultivate; it's higher level reflexive thinking -- a good reach for seventh graders.<br />
<br />
Later we examined the connotation of the word <i>rain </i>in the Longfellow poem <i>The Rainy Day</i>. In this poem, <i>rain </i>signifies sadness and loss. How different from the joyful <i>rain </i>Langston Hughes celebrates in his <i>April Rain Song.</i> We spent the rest of the year, until the tests, looking closely at the denotation and connotation of language in all that we read together.<br />
<br />
What I had learned to share with my students: <b>Attached to every word we know and use is our whole life's experience, and it's all rich. I wanted them to keep experimenting with reading and writing and speaking.</b> They wrote daily reflections, poems, short paragraphs and essays - these were how I checked in on where they were in their understanding.<br />
<br />
<b>Fast forward: Test time:</b><br />
<br />
Based on all the sound and fury around the goals of Coleman's Common Core, for some reason, I had<br />
anticipated that a whole new kind of test had been created - one that would suitably measure cultivated wonder. But on the first morning of the test week, as I flipped through the booklet, my heart sank. These tests resembled the earlier ones from Bush's failed <i>No Child Left Behind</i> mandate.<br />
These were zombie tests, rolled out from the closet of the undead.<br />
<br />
The reading was so voluminous, that many students were unable to complete it. There was no time to highlight or jot notes, as we had slavishly practiced in class. The writing section asked students to spit out answers - not to craft their writing. When time was up, my students were frustrated and some were tearful as they threw down their pencils. All the liveliness of our collective learning was yammered down flat - in a boring and insulting drill.<br />
<br />
It was as if I'd coached them to overdress for an upcoming event, when actually all this occasion called for was to dress in a standard uniform that didn't actually fit anyone.<br />
<br />
<b>Problem #1: And Now for Something Completely Different.</b><br />
<br />
If you've never perused a standardized ELA test, what you'll notice straight off is that the four or five reading passages have nothing to do wit;h each other. They are decontextualized. Students read first about the Klondike Gold Rush (content not covered in class - no curriculum provided for this test), answer the questions, then skip on to ingest an unrelated passage about Diamond Veins in Africa, then leap into a disembodied passage from Louisa May Alcott's <i>Jo's Boys</i> (an author and book not familiar to most seventh graders, and developmentally inappropriate for many).<br />
<br />
Because of the random quality of passages, students have just enough time to maybe develop a mild interest in the information, but then it's over, and they have to promptly move to the questions without time to process what they've just read. It's reminiscent of the old Monty Python sketches: <i>And Now For Something Completely Different</i> that roll along with clattering speed. Students have to constantly switch gears. It's impossible to pick up on the rhythms and choices the author has made, which are<br />
key points to reading closely, as Prose suggests.<br />
<br />
Students have no prior knowledge of the content, so they're immediately placed at a disadvantage. Ramp up the time pressure, and I can't think of a better way to teach students how to dread reading and writing.<br />
<br />
Important to note: The reading content (we're not asking for the questions) of these tests are kept secret and unattainable, kind of like the Holy Grail. (Monty Python context). That's how the test pushers keep a "leg up" on our kids, as they "race to the top."<br />
<br />
<b>Problem #2: But all the work we've done doesn't show here. </b><br />
<br />
As she guides us through careful word study, Prose provides us with 1 - 3 paragraphs <i>minimally</i> or<br />
even a full page from an author's story so that we are provided with abundant clues as we infer what the author wants us to pay attention to. It's similar to looking at an Impressionist painting: We need as much of the painting as possible to stand back and better understand how each brush stroke is part of a larger image.<br />
<br />
But the reading clues in standardized tests are stingy. There's no room for full-bodied interpretation of a passage. It's like giving the test taker a portion of a brush stroke and expecting him to "get" the full picture.<br />
<br />
Let's have a look at this excerpt from a standardized test passage (<i>2013 - Engage NY - 7th grade ELA exam)</i>:<br />
<br />
Passage excerpt from <i>Earth and Water and Sky </i>by Brian Bushemi<br />
(note: Brian Bushemi's novels are not on the touted CC Lexile that supposedly matches readers with books. Students are not familiar with him. He's not Walter Dean Myers or Jaqueline Woodson or Suzanne Collins - It is likely that Bushemi is a writer employee of Pearson, the British test materials company that has an enormous contract with PARCC. )<br />
<br />
My point: Kids are not being tested on authors that they actually <i>read</i>. So why are teachers required to choose books from the lexile? <br />
<br />
(lines 25 - 31)<br />
<br />
<b>"David stood up and continued toward the Thinking Pond. Suddenly, he heard a sharp, whining sound like the engine of a high-flying jet airplane. It was followed by a <i>crack!</i> like a whip being snapped, only a thousand times louder. Then a ball of fire roared overhead, followed by a searing gust of wind.</b><br />
<b> The shock wave knocked David to the ground, his ears ringing. A second later, he heard an explosive, hissing crash up ahead. A rush of air and hot steam billowed through the trees, and he covered his head as it washed over him."</b><br />
<br />
And the "close reading" questions: <br />
<br />
<b>Which sentence from the passage <u>best </u>shows how powerful the meteorite was?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>A "Suddenly, he heard a sharp, whining sound like the engine of a high-flying jet airplane."</b><br />
<b> (lines 25 and 26)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>B "Then a ball of fire roared overhead, followed by a searing gust of wind." (lines 27 and 28)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>C "The shock wave knocked David to the ground, his ears ringing." (line 29)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>D "A second later, he heard an explosive, hissing crash up ahead." (lines 29 and 30)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Using Prose' flashlight beam<b>,</b> it's evident that Bushemi spends many sentences<b> </b>describing the power of the meteorite<b>. </b>The test assumes that students know what a meteorite is; earlier in the passage the boy muses on what it <i>might be.</i><b> </b>A student who has no prior knowledge (we did not study meteorites in class), and thinks differently, might rightfully infer that it is an imaginary object, similar to A Thinking Pond as a magical notion.<b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Letter C shows that David is knocked to the ground (an idiom phrase - a challenge for an English Language Learner), but what exactly is a shock wave? Do meteorites emit shock waves that can knock people down?<b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
A, B and D are good answer candidates for showing the power of the object, if one closely reads the words sharp, ball of fire, searing, explosive, hissing crash. The connotation of all of those words is disturbance. But the students aren't really being asked to work with connotation here, nor denotation, even though the standards cite those as launches to wonder.<br />
<b><br /></b>
Keeping in mind that many seventh graders are literal thinkers, it's easy to get this one wrong. There aren't enough clues. The offerings here are stingy. Thinking needs to be tamped down to it right. It's about navigating tricks, test maker's bias, and splitting hairs. It not a scholarly exercise. Alas, the joke was on us because the game was <i>rigged.</i> (casino context)<b><br /></b><br />
<b> </b><br />
Neither does the reading of the other passages or questions bear any resemblance to reading with care. Many teachers like myself spent so much time "cultivating wonder" in the months before only to be astonished that none of that work can be measured by this test. <br />
<br />
<b>What happened?</b><br />
<br />
My students' test scores tanked.<b> </b><br />
<br />
In Coleman and company's zeal to reform public school, they created a slipshod and hackneyed way to measure learning. Paradoxically, these high stakes tests are insulting in design because the bar is so low. They don't in any way deliver on the high falutin' dreams of Coleman's Common Core, and<br />
their relationship to these standards is dysfunctional. Yet, they do have the power to predetermine a child's educational future, to determine which schools are "failing", and the power to destroy teachers' careers.<br />
<br />
They flatten what is individual in thinking, they degrade true scholarship, and discourage "thinking<br />
differently"; peculiar to a culture that allegedly emulates "thinking outside the box." (corporate context). Our children deserve better.<br />
<br />
It all demonstrates that Coleman, Gates and the rest of the "reformers" have no idea what they're doing. Let's reform this reform, for starters; <i>trash the tests.</i> They are failing our children, not the other way around.<br />
<br />
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****************<br />
<br />
Coming next: Part 2: Why conceptual thinking is the way of today and the future, and how standardized tests cannot measure this.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-55432825307322862882014-11-23T06:20:00.000-08:002014-11-23T06:37:03.874-08:00Big Brother and His Holding Company- John King and The New York State Education Department: Manipulating Student Information to Drive Agendas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2k7KsV6-PAXjOmltdM-ExD1jWMhSXms1aZDnNjo0UGvKlWOrNPoYjQkVtMnTENrxTPplOMnxgVBb5npblnezhgI2wFJGugs3-DcnrbgVNxW5lbvYFkZcC-Z-Ba6xGvoJqYbD3w9bQVwYd/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2k7KsV6-PAXjOmltdM-ExD1jWMhSXms1aZDnNjo0UGvKlWOrNPoYjQkVtMnTENrxTPplOMnxgVBb5npblnezhgI2wFJGugs3-DcnrbgVNxW5lbvYFkZcC-Z-Ba6xGvoJqYbD3w9bQVwYd/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" height="166" width="320" /></a></div>
Data mining embeds student information into the digital footprint forever - but worse -<br />
John King and company are manipulating this highly personal information to "demonstrate"<br />
that our public school system is "failing" our students. Carol Burris, principal of Southside High School, NY discovers egregiously inaccurate tracking of her students.<br />
<br />
" The list did not include the names of many former students who
were attending private and public colleges and universities, both in and
out of state. I began calling families to verify the report.
<b>There were 53 names that did not have a college listing. </b>By 5 p.m. that
day, I had spoken with 27 families. In 25 of the 27 cases, the students
were thriving in their third year of college. They were at Brown, Bard,
Cornell, Bentley, Notre Dame and Wesleyan."<br />
<br />
Read the rest of her article via Valerie Strauss' column in the Washington Post below:<br />
<br />
<h1>
Principal uncovers flawed data in her state’s official education reports</h1>
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<span class="pb-byline">By <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/valerie-strauss">Valerie Strauss</a></span> <span class="pb-timestamp">November 22 at 10:30 AM</span> <span class="pb-tool email"><a href="mailto:Valerie.Strauss@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20%27Principal%20uncovers%20flawed%20data%20in%20her%20state%E2%80%99s%20official%20education%20reports%27"><span class="fa fa-envelope"></span></a></span> <span class="tweet-authors"><span class="pb-twitter-follow"></span> </span> </div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="17b34c0cf2"></a> <img alt="New York State Education Commissioner John King, (Mike Groll/AP File Photo)" class="zoom-in" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/files/2014/01/john-king.jpg" style="max-width: 300px;" /> <br />
<div class="pb-caption" style="max-width: 300px;">
New York State Education Commissioner John King, (Mike Groll/AP File Photo)</div>
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</div>
</div>
<i>School
reformers talk nonstop about using “data” to drive policy, teaching and
just about everything else, which, you would think, would require that
the data being used be accurate. The following post exposes a troubling
problem with the push for “data-driven” everything — bad data. This
important piece was written by award-winning Principal Carol Burris of
South Side High School in New York, who was named New York’s 2013 High
School Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of
New York and the National Association of Secondary School Principals,
and in 2010, tapped as the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by
the School Administrators Association of New York State. Burris has been
exposing the botched school reform program in New York for years on
this blog, and it is worth reading. You can see some of her earlier
posts</i><br />
<br />
By Carol Burris<br />
<br />
The New York State
Education Department (NYSED) has once again demonstrated its uncanny
ability to forge ahead without regard for the facts.<br />
<br />
In its zest
to prove there is a crisis of college readiness, combined with a
sweetheart infatuation with big data, NYSED produced reports (SIRS
601-604) to track New York high school graduates’ college enrollment. A
few days before the public release of the reports, Deputy Commissioner
Ken Wagner sent a memo to districts. He explained that the department
had combined school data with that of the National Student Clearinghouse
to document which former high school students were enrolled in college
and whether they persisted in their studies.<br />
<br />
The memo informed
superintendents that after the Regents discussed the data, it would be
publicly released because it would be of interest to communities.<br />
<br />
Our
district data coordinator, who is my assistant principal, brought me
the SIRS report. It claimed that only 80 percent of our students from
the cohort of 2008 (Class of 2012) were enrolled in college. As soon
as I saw the number, I knew it was not correct. Ninety-eight percent of
the 2012 Class told us they were going to college and gave us the name
of the college they would attend. Might some have left after one
semester, or changed their minds? It’s possible. But I found it
difficult to believe that 18 percent had either not enrolled or quickly
dropped out.<br />
<br />
I asked my assistant principal to drill down to the
names in the SIRS report. Not only were the names given, the report
included which colleges and universities the students attended, their
race, special education status, whether or not they received free or
reduced priced lunch, and in many cases, their college major. This
massive collection of data on graduates made my jaw drop.<br />
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And then I looked at the names. The 2012 salutatorian wasn’t
on the list. I began a name by name comparison of the cohort against the
report. The list did not include the names of many former students who
were attending private and public colleges and universities, both in and
out of state.<br />
I began calling families to verify the report.
There were 53 names that did not have a college listing. By 5 p.m. that
day, I had spoken with 27 families. In 25 of the 27 cases, the students
were thriving in their third year of college. They were at Brown, Bard,
Cornell, Bentley, Notre Dame and Wesleyan. </article><article> </article><article>One student was in the Naval
Academy (which smartly and ironically is one of the few schools that
does not share data), and another at Tufts. One was at the University of
Florida and another at the University of Charleston. What was even more
bizarre was that some were in New York State public colleges governed
by NYSED—SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Stony Brook and
Queensborough Community College. One student had already graduated from a
technical school with a 3.84 GPA. Eighty percent had now become over 90
percent, and over the course of the next few days the percentage would
continue to climb. This was no small error.<br />
<br />
When calling, I asked
parents whether they had “opted out” of having their son’s or
daughter’s college enrollment data collected. They had not. One mom
said: “Honestly, if I knew about it, I would have opted out. It is not
John King’s<sup><sup>[1]</sup></sup> business where my son goes to college or what his major is.”<br />
<br />
The
error was not limited to Rockville Centre. Ken Mitchell, Superintendent
of Schools of the South Orangetown Central School District, discovered
that 80 of his 2012 graduates who were attending college were not on the
list of attendees. On the SIRS report, The New York State Education
Department gave a 62 percent college going rate for his district,
although the true number was 89 percent.<br />
<br />
In <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.lohud.com/story/news/education/2014/11/20/local-superintendents-say-state-data-wrong/70026968/?utm_medium=%5B%27%5B%22%5B%5C%27twitter%5C%27%5D%22%5D%27%5D&utm_source=%5B%27%5B%22%5B%5C%27dlvr.it%5C%27%5D%22%5D%27%5D">an article entitled</a></span>
“Educators livid over college ‘success’ report,” four other districts
reported error rates that ranged from 15 percent to 27 percent. Harrison
Schools’ Superintendent, Lou Wool, characterized the NYSED report as
“irresponsible” and said that it was part of an agenda designed to
convince the public “that public schools were failing.”<br />
<br />
From APPR
scores that do not add up, to a disastrous rollout of the Common Core
and its testing, the New York State Education Department has
inexplicably gotten a pass on a series of blunders. But there are
implications regarding this latest error that go well beyond New York.<br />
<br />
Apparently
one of the many “holes” in the Clearinghouse data, according to NYSED,
is that students who do not receive financial aid in some schools are
excluded .
No matter what the reasons for error, many of our schools’ highest
achievers—students who are likely to persist and who do not need
remediation were not reported. Other excluded students are those who
attend the military academies, who opt out of data collection, who
attend colleges outside of the United States, or who attend colleges
that do not share data. And of course there are always errors in
matching the databases.<br />
<br />
Because of all of the problems described,
it is reasonable to question the veracity of many of the national
claims regarding college readiness. We have been bombarded by “data” on
remediation and the lack of college readiness, and this “data” is used
to justify Common Core reform. In some cases, the data is pure
exaggeration as I have written about <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/03/17/are-american-students-grossly-unprepared-for-college/">here</a> and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/07/07/how-college-remediation-rates-are-distorted-and-why/">here</a> and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/07/21/why-college-remediation-needs-to-be-overhauled/">here</a>.
However, because NYSED created this report which allows us to “peek
inside,” we now know that there are serious problems at the very source.
In a news report, Deputy Commissioner Wagner claimed the error rate was
3 percent, because that was the error rate allegedly found by the New
York City public schools. This does not conform, however, with the very
large rates of error that individual districts are finding.<br />
Flawed
reports such as these reflect the mindset of those who are infatuated
with data, and who jump to use it when it confirms their belief that
schools are not doing a good job. NYSED included the results in a <a href="http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/pressRelease/20141117/WATN_Regents_Presentation_11-17-14.pdf">Powerpoint narrative</a>
of how unprepared our students are for college. Superintendent Donahue
of Byram Hills Schools referring to NYSED said that “once again, the
confidence that they put in data is misplaced.” That is a generous
understatement. What happened in New York should be a cautionary tale
for all.<br />
<br />
<sup><sup>[1]</sup></sup> John King is the New York State Commissioner of Education<br />
–<br />
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/11/22/principal-uncovers-flawed-data-in-her-states-official-education-reports/#"><span class="longname"></span></a></article></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-91381976182966569172014-11-12T19:28:00.000-08:002014-11-22T05:28:20.651-08:00Teachers protected under tenure's due process are best able to advocate for their students<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
<b>Tenure
does not mean "a job for life", but it does provide teachers with due
process, enabling them to act in the interest of their students without
fear of intimidation, recrimination or firing. In the article below,
Marla Kilfoyle and Melissa Tomlinson clearly outline the complexity of
teaching and why tenure is critical for cultivating sound pedagogy,
encouraging teacher advocacy for the multitude of student needs, and to
protect the careers of dedicated teachers <i>for stable school
environments.</i></b><br />
<br />
<h1 class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.badassteacher.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IsTenureJustified.jpg"><img alt="IsTenureJustified" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-257" src="http://www.badassteacher.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IsTenureJustified.jpg" height="150" width="500" /></a></h1>
<h1 class="western" style="text-align: center;">
TENURE – PLAIN AND SIMPLE</h1>
By: <i>Melissa Tomlinson & Marla Kilfoyle</i><br />
<div class="western">
Imagine you are charged with the job of making the
decisions that concern the life of a child, including the protection of
that child. If you are a parent, this is no stretch of the imagination.</div>
<div class="western">
Now imagine that you are prevented from doing this.
You are afraid to speak up and have opinions for fear of personal
recriminations that could affect yourself or other family members.
Consequences could include temporary loss of income, loss of a job, even
loss of a career. You become silenced, effectively opening the door to
the possibility of harmful decisions to be made regarding children that
are in your charge.</div>
<div class="western">
As a parent, you have power. You have legal
guardianship rights over the lives of your children until they turn 18.
For a large portion of that time a child attends school. While that
child is in school it is in the best interest of all children that
adults involved can advocate for the child. When you deny tenure rights
of teachers you are silencing that advocate.</div>
<div class="western">
We are 2 teachers and we are 2 mothers. Melissa has 2
boys and Marla has 1 boy. As teachers we understand the importance of
teacher tenure, which for the remainder of this article we will call due
process. First of all, a teacher’s right to due process does NOT
guarantee them a job for life. For example, in New York State any
tenured teacher can be dismissed under 3020a law.</div>
<h2 class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Here are some scenarios in which teachers would need due process to protect children.</b></h2>
<h3 class="western">
<span style="color: maroon;">Scenario #1</span></h3>
<div class="western">
Mrs. Smith goes to a meeting for Johnny, a special
education student that she has taught all year. She knows that Johnny
needs to have speech therapy and plans to recommend that he receive it
as soon as possible. Before the meeting Mrs. Smith is told via email
that she is NOT to recommend speech therapy for any more children
because the district does NOT want to pay for the services.</div>
<div class="western">
Mrs. Smith with NO due process rights – goes to the
meeting and doesn’t say a word in advocacy for Johnny because she is a
afraid to lose her job and/or goes to the meeting and advocates for him
and is fired by the district directly after the meeting is over.</div>
<div class="western">
Mrs. Smith with due process rights – goes to the
meeting and can ignore the district directive and recommend speech
therapy because that is what Johnny needs. The district cannot fire her
for ignoring this harmful directive without a due process hearing.</div>
<h3 class="western">
<span style="color: maroon;">Scenario #2</span></h3>
<div class="western">
Mr. Jones suspects that one of his students is being
beat up at home. The student in question, Mark, comes to school with a
black eye. Mr. Jones tells his department chair that he is calling Child
Protective Services on the parents. Mr. Jones gets an email from the
district telling him to NOT call CPS because they don’t want the bad
publicity.</div>
<div class="western">
Mr. Jones with NO due process rights – does NOT call
CPS because he is the sole breadwinner in his house and cannot lose his
job and/ or he calls CPS and is fired at the end of the week.</div>
<div class="western">
Mr. Jones with due process rights – calls CPS,
ignoring the district directive not to, and cannot be fired without a
due process hearing.</div>
<h3 class="western">
<span style="color: maroon;">Scenario #3</span></h3>
<div class="western">
Mrs. Davis is an award winning English teacher. She
has enjoyed teaching an amazing unit on To Kill A Mockingbird for her
entire 15 year career. In this unit she can teach children about social
justice and equality. In Mrs. Davis class is the new president of the
Board of Education’s daughter. When Mrs. Davis starts her To Kill a
Mockingbird unit the BOE President calls her up and expresses concern
that the book has rape in it. Mrs. Davis explains to the BOE President
that her focus on the book isn’t rape but social injustice. The next day
Mrs. Davis is called into her directors office and told she cannot
teach the book.</div>
<div class="western">
Mrs. Davis with NO due process rights does NOT teach
the book in fear of losing her job. She is the sole provider for her
mother and herself and/or Mrs. Davis teaches the book against the advice
of her director and is fired at the end of the year</div>
<div class="western">
Mrs. Davis with due process rights explains
respectfully to her director that she will teach the book as she has
done so successfully for 15 years. She further states that she will be
attending the BOE meeting to make a statement that the BOE President is
attempting to censor reading lists in the district for children. She
cannot be fired without a due process hearing.</div>
<h3 class="western">
<span style="color: maroon;">Scenario #4</span></h3>
<div class="western">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> Mr. Bryant has been a math
teacher at XYZ High School for 25 years. He is loved by his students and
parents in the community. He has been active in school and advises the
award winning Math Club. During Mr. Bryant’s 25<sup>th</sup> year as a
teacher the district hired a new Superintendent of Schools. This
Superintendent sought to trim the budget and decided to cut several
clubs, including Mr. Bryant’s award winning Math Club. Mr. Bryant made
an appointment with the new Superintendent to plead their case. The
meeting did not go well so Mr. Bryant rallied the community to raise
money to keep the club. This angered the new Superintendent who</div>
<div class="western">
Mr. Bryant with NO due process is fired immediately
and the new Superintendents nephew, a new math teacher, is hired to take
his place.</div>
<div class="western">
Mr. Bryant with due process is called up to the Superintendent’s office and given a hearing prior to an attempt to fire him.</div>
<div class="western">
The above scenarios are only a few that we can
provide to you. We could write a book but we hope that you get the
overall simple reason why teachers need due process rights. Many people
argue that no other job gets due process rights, and in many cases they
are correct, but NO other occupation deals with the complexity of
teaching children and making sure that the environment that they learn
in is free of cronyism, favoritism, safe, and free from personal bias. A
teacher’s right to due process provides a stable, safe, and productive
environment for children to learn and thrive. It gives teachers the
ability to advocate freely for children in their care without fear of
losing their jobs.</div>
<div class="western">
</div>
<hr />
<div class="western">
</div>
<h4 class="author-box-title" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.badassteacher.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/marla-melissa-300.jpg"><img alt="marla-melissa-300" class="alignleft wp-image-279 size-thumbnail" src="http://www.badassteacher.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/marla-melissa-300-150x150.jpg" height="150" style="margin-right: 6px;" width="150" /></a>About Marla Kilfoyle and Melissa Tomlinson</h4>
<div class="author-box-content">
Marla Kilfoyle is General Manager Badass Teachers Association and
Melissa Tomlinson is the Assistant General Manager of the Badass
Teachers Association.<br />
Marla Kilfoyle began her adventure into the Badass Teacher
Association by way of being a parent advocate on Long Island in such
groups as Parents and Teachers Against Common Core and LI Opt-Out. Marla
has been a teacher in the Social Studies Department at Oceanside High
School (NY) for 27 years. In addition, Marla coached the Oceanside
Girl’s Track and Field team for 15 years and runs her district’s social
science program.<br />
Marla is the mother of a 10-year-old son and wife of Allen, a retired
NYPD Detective. She continues her work as a parent advocate in LI
Opt-Out as a member of their leadership team.<br />
Melissa Tomlinson: A teacher of students with special needs at the
middle school level, realized that she was not alone in questioning the
role of standardized testing in schools when she found the Badass
Teachers Association. She was first pushed into the spotlight of
fighting the methods of corporate educational reform when she faced
Governor Chris Christie to ask about his public degradation of NJ
Schools when they were rated one of the top three in the nation. Along
with teaching and advocacy, Melissa runs the after school program in her
school building, providing a place for students to receive extra
educational assistance, exposure to career possibilities, and a safe
place to be after school hours.<br />
Melissa is the mother of two teenage sons and she fights for equitable education for all students, now and in the future.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-65440819229858028342014-08-05T11:09:00.000-07:002014-08-05T11:09:53.544-07:00Destroying Teacher Tenure in New York State Will Create A Tenuous Career for Teachers: Teachers as Temporary Staff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBfwT12Lq1c1KNyzLJD0HKVy5CXi3orgaEDramqIMzSJHGneAvl3oE5tAgjWPVLTAE9cleD4NqMYAGSFoiSo4gj5j3jSDkUHxBoWjMK-B3g447PaVuN63q_R6bFRlOUmkJQEo7UAt2f7M/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBfwT12Lq1c1KNyzLJD0HKVy5CXi3orgaEDramqIMzSJHGneAvl3oE5tAgjWPVLTAE9cleD4NqMYAGSFoiSo4gj5j3jSDkUHxBoWjMK-B3g447PaVuN63q_R6bFRlOUmkJQEo7UAt2f7M/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" height="207" width="400" /></a></div>
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New York State teacher tenure is now under attack by
Campbell Brown (ex CNN anchorwoman, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not
an educator</i>) and her base support group of Hedge Fund Managers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Wright v. NY).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Their rationale: Not all children are receiving equal high
quality educations because - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(to make
their long speciously reasoned story short)- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there are too many “ineffective” teachers in,
particularly - high need classrooms in impoverished districts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their rationale continues:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remove the tenure system and get rid of the
teachers they deem as ineffective, and education <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">outcomes-</i> that word they like to tout - will dramatically improve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They intend
to mask this as students’ civil rights, as that worked recently in removing
teacher tenure in California (Vergara v. California).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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These non-educators believe that standardized test returns
are primary indicators of a teacher’s abilities. </div>
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<br /></div>
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In the real world, a teacher’s job entails a rich knowledge
of her/his subject area, knowledge of developmental growth in her/his students,
classroom management skills, and the ability to navigate 30 or more students
with diverse and varying abilities – working to maintain and ignite students’
desires to do well, and at the very least – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to
stay with it</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teachers also do heavy
lifting with social interactions; with students, their students’ parents,
their administrators, other teachers. Additionally, each year, they meet an increased load of paperwork
and record keeping, not to mention day to day lesson planning, and their own
assessments as they fold into the day the increasingly overbearing requirements
of complying with the Common Core – curriculum invented by non-educators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Campbell’s data world, low standardized test scores would
inform unilateral removal of a teacher – no matter<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> that this teacher may accomplish all of the above. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If Campbell were an educator, she would understand that much
of what teachers accomplish is virtually invisible at the time – learning is
like that. Real learning is incremental and tends to show itself at a later
time, when learners have fully absorbed a concept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Campbell Brown is not a teacher.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tenure provides due process to ensure that frivolous firings
of teachers do not occur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What defines
frivolous?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are some
suggestions:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That a teacher is not teaching
the preferred content that a politically insulated board of education may
prefer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teacher Y may be teaching
evolution against several of the board’s members preferred beliefs in creationism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teacher W may call a student on plagiarism,
and may be threatened with a lawsuit by irate parents. (I saw this happen to a
colleague, who was fortunately protected by her tenure’s due process). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for a
sports-oriented district to frivolously fire a teacher who also coaches a team
– should that teacher not accrue enough wins for his/her team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those are only a few examples of what might
prompt frivolous firings. School boards are made up of ordinary citizens who may make rash decisions frequently based on bias, fear - or most commonly, misinformation. Due process protects teachers from emotionally driven decisions and power trip posturing. It is an arm of our Democratic process. </div>
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<br /></div>
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In other words, dissembling tenure opens a massive can of
worms that Campbell Brown and her deep-pocketed friend do not have the
capabilities to wrangle and put back in the can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s easy to make messes. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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Say that Campbell and friends are successful in burning down
teacher tenure in New York State, after which she and her pals zealously move
on to some other project:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s left?
What will the lay of the land look like in a typical urban, suburban or rural
public school?</div>
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<br /></div>
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When there is no tenure, and teachers are arbitrarily fired,
the union base will shrink until there are not enough members for the union to
sustain itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will shrink out of
existence.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Without tenure, teachers will be hired as temporary staff, where
they are not eligible for any benefits, and can be paid at the lowest salary
tier, despite the fact that they may have years of experience and more than one Masters Degree. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>As in many other industries, the day-worker
phenomenon is already present in certain districts where there is a proliferation
of “Leave Replacements”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These teachers
replace teachers who retire or are absent due to extended medical leaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frequently, teachers on medical or maternity
leave don’t return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s common practice
now for districts, in saving money, to eliminate those positions and re-shuffle
teachers, now a smaller work base. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leave Replacements may be called in to fill the gaps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave
Replacements are not eligible to be active union members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One can only be a full union voting member,
and participate in collective bargaining if one has tenure. Most Leave
Replacements do not attend union meetings. There is little incentive to stay in
step with the Union. They may only attend meetings as onlookers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a result of their day worker status, Leave Replacements
receive a paltry amount of benefits, if any.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are paid the lowest salary tier and receive no guarantee of a job
for the following year, even though they work the same hours, have the same
credentials, and carry the same full responsibilities as a “regular”
teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave Replacements may be eager
new teachers, or they may be experienced and talented, and may have been
previously laid off from a district bending under the Property Tax Cap –e.g. New
York State.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(In some circles, I’ve heard
teachers glowingly referred to as “candles lighting the way” – so this is an
example of burning the candle at both ends.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leave Replacements aren’t considered a legitimate member of
the school community, because nobody expects them to stay, and they must
proceed through a re-do of the hiring process (again!) – including an
interview, even though they may have received a Highly Effective performance
review by an administrator, because they are tied to the evaluation system. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that is no guarantee that they’ll be re-hired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With communities tapped out financially, the
incentive to hire a less experienced Leave Replacement for an even lower salary
is appealing to districts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Currently, </span>the
competition for positions is intense. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Also, because Leave Replacements are anxious to keep their
temporary positions, doing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more</i> with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">less</i> with the hope that they just might
be hired for yet another year – they are more vulnerable to being
exploited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(“We’ll hire you if you agree
also to coach the girl’s field hockey team and advise <i>The Art Club.</i>")</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Picture this for the future if tenure is abolished and union
busting is successful:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Schools filled
with independent and itinerant low paid teaching contractors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The art and science of Pedagogy, and
curriculum design, and teacher-created assessments<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are a thing of the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With no incentive to grow their careers,
teaching contractors will be encouraged to “phone it in” at every opportunity: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>distributing worksheets and administering
standardized tests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who could put their
heart into teaching under such circumstances?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are no opportunities for collaboration because each
teaching contractor doesn’t know if she or he will be teaching in that school
the following year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I used to share my lunch time with a talented Leave Replacement ESL teacher who, at the beginning of June, still didn't know if she would be invited to go through the interview process <b><i>again</i></b>, to possibly obtain <i><b>again</b></i>, in September, the position she had held this year. She didn't know if she would meet her mortgage payments. <b><i> </i></b>Each year she was hoping to gain a little traction, and each year was filled with no guarantee of a position. Three years is the normal probationary time for a teacher before being tenured. Christina had been holding the same Leave Replacement position for <b>four years. </b>Two science teachers, Leave Replacements in the same school, also had to tread water all year long until they both found themselves in the midst of further position shuffling - vying for the same Leave Replacement position for September. <i> </i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Additional potential fall-out in destroying tenure: </span>Children will need
to learn to view their teacher-contractor with a certain level of detachment,
not knowing if that teacher will continue as part of the staff: That teacher
they may connect with cannot be viewed as a long term resource and support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the most effective way to sabotage teacher-pupil
relationships and to destroy continuity, and school community. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Parents will warily wonder each year if their children's teachers/contractors
have the credentials and experience to reach their children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Under these conditions, who will choose to enter the
teaching profession? Why would <i>any </i>education students -- candidates for multiple Masters
or PhD degrees apply for the position?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
will our best and brightest be attracted to this profession?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How can a new teacher develop into an
innovative and thoughtful master teacher within such a tenuous career? Destroying tenure is a sure way to make a career rudderless.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-20900630609298369542014-07-30T19:04:00.000-07:002014-07-30T19:04:10.399-07:00Self acceptance: Powerful modeling for children and a courageous act...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4jpPwdaGmhfuThgF-zgbboSNfmXu9biniWKFXDYgYjVCIdesg3PnjOmqhkZHOIuVzYJts7jM3AcLBotsVK3igzvypcoanJ4QHuo_-qt8Cmlx1v5fjg0FMoVt5OaVLqIrSDdfBhE4-EJIc/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4jpPwdaGmhfuThgF-zgbboSNfmXu9biniWKFXDYgYjVCIdesg3PnjOmqhkZHOIuVzYJts7jM3AcLBotsVK3igzvypcoanJ4QHuo_-qt8Cmlx1v5fjg0FMoVt5OaVLqIrSDdfBhE4-EJIc/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" height="207" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Here is New York Times Columnist Charles Blow's straight-to-the heart
Op-Ed on Identity; accepting differences we perceive in others and --accepting
ourselves as we are:</span><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">"Self-acceptance, of all stripes, large
and small, is always an inherently political and profoundly revolutionary
act...</span></i><br />
<br />
<i>
</i><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">E.E. Cummings once put it: 'To be
nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to
make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human
being can fight; and never stop<span class="textexposedshow"> fighting.'”</span></span></i><br />
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">The Opinion Pages</span></a><u> </u>| Op-Ed
Columnist- Charles M. Blow</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;">
<i><b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Age
of Identity</span></b></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;">
<i><b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Hair is
political.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That was the
line that stuck with me when my 17-year-old daughter recently regaled me with
the minutiae of a lighthearted argument she’d had with a friend. It was about
my daughter’s staunch resistance to straightening or altering her hair in any
way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The friend had
insisted that such alterations were no big deal, to which my daughter took
umbrage and shot back, “Hair is political.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In my
daughter’s view, such alterations were a sign of suppressive concepts of worth
and beauty of which she would have no part. Presenting herself as nature made
her was an act of self-loving defiance that demanded not her alteration but the
alteration of others’ attitudes about how we expect people to bend in order to
belong, about how many destructive subliminal messages we’ve all absorbed and
how we must search ourselves for the truth of our own prejudices.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It reminded me
of the <a href="http://www.salon.com/2009/08/11/chris_rock_2/"><span style="color: windowtext;">profound commentary</span></a> on the subject by the
actress Tracie Thoms in Chris Rock’s 2009 documentary “Good Hair”: “To keep my
hair the same texture as it grows out of my head is looked at as revolutionary.
Why is that?”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But to me, my
daughter’s message was bigger than her, or hair, or a debate between teenagers.
It was a life lesson that we all have to learn, over and over: Self-acceptance,
of all stripes, large and small, is always an inherently political and
profoundly revolutionary act.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We are so
suffused in a mix of misogyny, patriarchy, racism, sexism, homophobia and
hetero-normative exclusionary idealism that we can easily lose sight of the
singular acts of ordinary bravery that each of us displays every time we choose
not to play along.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Life is an
endless negotiation with ourselves and with the world about who we are — the
truest truth of who we are — and whether we have the mettle to simply be us,
all of us, as we are, backlash notwithstanding.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And every time
we answer “yes” to the question of courage, we stand an inch taller and we rise
closer to the light.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In fact, <a href="http://www.promaxafrica.tv/speaker/michaela-angela-davis/234"><span style="color: windowtext;">Michaela Angela Davis</span></a>, a self-described
“image activist,” calls this the “Age of Identity and Intersections.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is a time
when more people are asserting themselves as nonconformists as they recognize
that there is a variety of intersections to subjugation. It’s a twist on the
idea of diversity: not simply honoring a variety of origins as positive, but
uniting under a banner that reminds us that the diminution of the very concept
of variance has been a historical tool of psychic violence against those deemed
“different.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is about
developing kinship and alliance among the historically alienated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is about
understanding that open hatred of — or even subtle, sometimes subconscious
devaluing of — women, minorities (racial, ethnic, religious or otherwise) and
people who don’t hew to sexual or gender norms are not discrete dysfunctions,
but are of a kind, a cousin of flawed consciousness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And when that
is understood, the fight against them all becomes more focused. You stop
hacking at the branches and start digging at the root.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sometimes,
when we are confronted by another overt act of intolerance in the news —
another racial epithet, a further effort to erode women’s access to a full
range of reproductive options, one more state attempting to hold on to its bans
against marriage equality, another manifestation of rape culture — it can seem
that we are going backward in this fight rather than forward.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But I don’t
think so. I think that, as the saying goes, it’s darkest before the dawn, that
these cases stand out not necessarily because they are growing, but because
they are so at odds with this country’s moral trajectory. (Although, it must be
said that there are increasing efforts, particularly in Republican-controlled
states, to restrict women’s health care.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Young people
in America are growing up in a country that is quickly becoming brown, where <a href="http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/05/stunning-college-degree-gap-women-have-earned-almost-10-million-more-college-degrees-than-men-since-1982/"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">women
outnumber men in colleges</span></a>, where acknowledgment of sexual identity
is increasingly met with shrugs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This doesn’t
mean that they are immune to bias, but it does give hope that bias will
diminish as difference becomes more mainstream, historical privileges become
more identified and gender roles become less rigid.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That is why I
greet with overwhelming optimism the continuous stream of people who refuse to
conform and who insist on acknowledgment of their own identities, as they are,
in all of their inherent glories and by way of their “revolutionary acts.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">E.E. Cummings
once put it: “To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best,
night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle
which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And when we understand
that that struggle against conformity and control is a shared, unifying
experience, the accomplishment is made a little bit easier — and a whole lot
sweeter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Truth is
political.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-44305846005374757962014-07-22T08:56:00.001-07:002014-07-22T08:59:41.153-07:00When Parents Become Activists and Advocate for their Children<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div id="header">
<div class="blog-name">
<a href="http://dianeravitch.net/"> From: Diane Ravitch's blog</a></div>
</div>
<div id="header">
<br /></div>
<div id="header">
This article describes why it is imperative for parents to advocate for their children.</div>
<div class="post-info">
<h1>
<a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2014/07/22/ira-shor-why-you-should-opt-out-your-children-from-state-testing/" rel="bookmark">Ira Shor: Why You Should Opt Out Your Children from State Testing</a></h1>
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<a href="http://dianeravitch.net/author/dianerav/" title="View all posts by dianeravitch">
By dianeravitch </a>
</div>
<div class="timestamp">
<a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2014/07/22/ira-shor-why-you-should-opt-out-your-children-from-state-testing/" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to Ira Shor: Why You Should Opt Out Your Children from State Testing">July 22, 2014</a> </div>
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Ira Shor is a professor at the Coty University of New York, where
he teaches composition and rhetoric. Shor understands that standardized
testing is the foundation on which the entire “reform” project rests.
Take away the test scores, and the data-driven teacher evaluation
collapses, along with the ambitious plans for privatization. <br />
Shor writes:<br />
<br />
“Opt-Out: The REAL Parent Revolution”<br />
We parents can stop the destruction of our public schools. We can
stop the looting of school budgets by private charters and testing
vendors. We can stop the abuse of our children by the relentless hours
of testing. We can stop the closings, the co-locations, the mass
firings, the replacement of veteran teachers with short-term TFA
newbies, the shameful indignity of public schools told they have 24
hours to clear out so a charter can seize their classrooms. To do this,
we have to opt-out our kids from the new testing regimes—refuse to let
the schools test our kids with PARCC or Smarter Balanced, boycott the
pointless and punitive tests which make the best years of our kids’
lives into a digital hell.<br />
<br />
I opted-out my 10-year-old son from all state tests this year and
will continue to do so when the useless and costly PARCC tests arrive
next year. I will encourage other parents to join me in boycotting such
standardized tests, which Diane Ravitch has rightly called “junk
science” because they cannot accurately report a student’s achievement,
learning process, or academic needs, or a teacher’s competence. For
commercial and political reasons, it pleases Duncan, Gates and Co. to
spread such tools from coast to coast, but they offer no evidence that
such tools can do the job they claim, despite the constant promotion
financed by Gates’s millions to the two teacher unions, to the national
PTA, to “Education Week” magazine, and other key players working on his
side.<br />
<br />
Neither CCSS nor PARCC can make our kids “college and career ready.”
This is impossible from the rigidly-defined, narrow CCSS skill-sets or
from the hours of standardized testing, which over-produce metrics that
don’t amount to teaching or learning. First, of course, I ask, Who can
predict what the job market will be like when my 10-year-old enters it?
Also, school curricula which narrowly focus on skills under-develop the
critical habits of mind and communication which children need to make
sense of the world as they find it. Employers, in fact, report that
narrow subject matter is not what they look for in candidates,
preferring instead future employees who have learned how to learn, how
to ask questions and to make sense of situations, how to ask for help,
how to work in groups, how to learn from others by example, and how to
communicate. Hours of standardized testing cannot lead to these
outcomes.<br />
<br />
The national CCSS-machine also ignores the most important factor in a
child’s test scores: family income(widely-discussed since 1966 and the
famous Coleman Report, reiterated again and again by social research.)
SAT/ACT/high-school and college graduation rates have always correlated
closely with family income. Because our society has the highest rate of
child poverty of any developed nation(about 35% of Black and Hispanic
kids, about 11% of white kids), our national averages on standardized
tests are pulled down. The strongest policy, then for raising average
scores would be an anti-poverty program, what Christopher Jencks 40
years ago called “an incomes policy,” that is, equalizing family
incomes. When he proposed equal izing incomes, policy in the U.S. tilted
towards the bottom 80%, especially the bottom 20% of families, as
research by Saez and Piketty and by Robert Reich have shown; in that
era, Black kids closed about 20% of the “achievement gap” with their
white peers(see Jencks’s “The Black-White Achievement Gap.”) CCSS and
its PARCC testing will fail just like NCLB and RTTT failed before them,
fail to close the achievement gap, fail to produce deep learning for the
vast majority of children, fail to close the huge income gap.<br />
<br />
Because our children are in this together, so are we. Because our
kids cannot defend themselves, we have to defend them. We parents must
step in to stop it. We should put our foot down and say, “Do it to your
own kids first before you experiment on ours!” Tell that to Bill Gates,
to Arne Duncan, to Eli Broad, to Daniel Coleman, to Michelle Rhee, to
Wendy Kopp, to Eva Moskowitz, to Govs. Cuomo and Christie, to the
hedge-funders in Democrats for Education Reform, who send their own kids
to test-exempt private schools with small classes, well-paid veteran
teachers, handsome campuses, and field trips so that their kids “feel at
home in the world,” as the elite prep of certain kids is sometimes
called.<br />
<br />
If we parents opt-out, we remove our kids from the commercial machine
invading and destroying public schools. We refuse to let our kids
become mass subjects tested to distraction. We insist that inspired
teaching and complex learning and rich arts should be at the center of
every school.<br />
Authorities count on our quiet compliance to cement their plans into
place. We need defiance instead, for the sake of the kids and for the
sake of the public sector without which democracy cannot survive. When
we opt-out we rescue our kids, our public schools, and our society at
the same time. Our opposition will force authorities to retreat, if we
stick together, get tough on behalf of our kids, and insist that public
schools belong to us for the public good, not to the private sector or
to the commercial parasites stealing our children’s futures.<br />
Go to <a href="http://unitedoptout.com/">United Opt Out and learn</a> more about how to join the cause.<br />
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This just arrived in my email from parents in Williamsburg, Brooklyn: &nbsp; This was sent to all D14 Principals and Parent Coordinators. Feel free to share in your districts. -----------&hellip;">Our Education Spring: The Parent-Led Opt Out Movement Grows in New York City</a></span><span class="jp-relatedposts-post-context">In "New York City"</span></div>
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 19, 2014 More information contact: Eric Mihelbergel (716) 553-1123; nys.allies@gmail.com Lisa Rudley (917) 414-9190; nys.allies@gmail.com NYS Allies for Public Education www.nysape.org Parents Outraged by APPR Albany&hellip;">New York: Parents Outraged by Cuomo's Deal on Tests: What About the Children?</a></span><span class="jp-relatedposts-post-context">In "Common Core"</span></div>
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Almost everyone agrees that high-stakes testing for little children is a huge mistake. The parents not only wrote their elected officials, they took direct action. More than 80% of the&hellip;">THIS IS HUGE!!! No Testing at This School! Parents Say NO!</a></span><span class="jp-relatedposts-post-context">In "Testing"</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-10557330829300004872014-07-22T05:45:00.001-07:002014-07-22T15:52:24.791-07:00Children Learn through Playing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5R85T1v2sgoOkWhcdpXTYy1D08WeJEF8jUNenP9onfHj3gttQieg2-y4AOFbAqIf2b-y5M-zDEiEumeMDytl7vQT06QfRgTd8_YJuyrNW7_mh3lgrR4TetsTRwZWSmDRieunfF9np_roy/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5R85T1v2sgoOkWhcdpXTYy1D08WeJEF8jUNenP9onfHj3gttQieg2-y4AOFbAqIf2b-y5M-zDEiEumeMDytl7vQT06QfRgTd8_YJuyrNW7_mh3lgrR4TetsTRwZWSmDRieunfF9np_roy/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" height="207" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Child's play is deeply formative with learning that cannot be measured or quantified. This is true of the ways that middle and high school students learn through play also. See my earlier post (April)<br />
"Yes, and...Embracing the Awkward" to read further about how play can influence different areas of learning.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZtfbwYfPHKextXSaLfXgA6VSaQ9JEuL0INU4uMgtD_cDm95YVUxdgJwJ57A4HjgxiSdzDvjtUju6kpaeKnOqUnb2SagmSWb_2fSQFXv_arH0S7SkiiHXLp_yBQiJiH5HXWru8JGV687x/s1600/10525847_1528516044035489_628624935004422829_n-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZtfbwYfPHKextXSaLfXgA6VSaQ9JEuL0INU4uMgtD_cDm95YVUxdgJwJ57A4HjgxiSdzDvjtUju6kpaeKnOqUnb2SagmSWb_2fSQFXv_arH0S7SkiiHXLp_yBQiJiH5HXWru8JGV687x/s1600/10525847_1528516044035489_628624935004422829_n-1.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
This is all the more reason for states to disgard the current Common Core and its blizzard of tests, worksheets, micro-managed reading and writing and overall <i>tedium. </i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-81934927647242934992014-06-16T06:25:00.000-07:002014-06-19T03:38:24.494-07:00Who are the brightest, happiest, most cooperative, most well-adjusted and resilient children...?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgujb1382T6KQ27htRSlee-3irM3-c2uDTscaE5ITQLE6p5FRI3_VIx7lf3ip7Fka3hMV2wfkxdkLipr5nvXVdtnYBx9MEHwxMXhFqpOMJ0Cua4x_dPL6s_VY-2pK1ZrRZ-wuWrqCmbEd9i/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgujb1382T6KQ27htRSlee-3irM3-c2uDTscaE5ITQLE6p5FRI3_VIx7lf3ip7Fka3hMV2wfkxdkLipr5nvXVdtnYBx9MEHwxMXhFqpOMJ0Cua4x_dPL6s_VY-2pK1ZrRZ-wuWrqCmbEd9i/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" height="207" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Dr. Peter Gray is an anthropologist who has spent decades studying the importance of play. In this <i>Ted Talk</i>, he shows us the ways that children who live in cultures that allow them to play freely develop into <b><i>socially skilled and emotionally stable adults.</i></b><br />
<br />
He also provides evidence that with the emphasis on school, standardized learning and organized sports, <b><i>our children are not being given the necessary freedom to play</i></b>, but are directed to "resume building" - and there is a greater increase in anxiety and depression.<br />
<br />
Dr. Gray encourages us to "<b><i>be brave enough to stand up to the continuous clamor of more school."</i></b><br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-92062765242528763642014-06-09T08:15:00.000-07:002014-06-09T08:21:09.633-07:00What misguided philanthropy looks like...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Taking the pins out of public education so that it collapses and serves his Microsoft interests is <i>complicated</i> and tentacled work for Bill Gates...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Separated by birth....?</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-74769814449960806112014-05-20T06:01:00.000-07:002014-05-20T06:36:24.868-07:00Teaching and Learning Despite the Common Core: An Inside Job<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today, I work again with one of the most extraordinary
students I’ve ever known. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am tutoring
“J”, and helping her to find her way around Juliet’s soliloquies in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Romeo and Juliet</i>, one of the plays read
in many 9<sup>th</sup> grade English classes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like many ninth graders, J finds Shakespeare’s language to
be challenging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But unlike other ninth
graders – she has not personally (yet) experienced love at first sight,
rebellion against parents and authorities, and difficult friendships- some of
the resonant themes in the play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Learning about the world through literature is perhaps more crucial for
J than other students: She is a captive audience. Her circumstances have made
this so. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
J has an infectious smile and a contagious laugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She laughs frequently, but she cannot speak. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is in a wheelchair as a result of an
illness that she contracted when she was three months old that has left her
paralyzed. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She has minimal ability to move her head…but --she does have
the full use of one shoulder, one arm, and one finger on her right hand. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This finger is usually painted with pink nail polish, and it
is long and tapered, and gracefully finds a key on the keyboard in a way that
my clumsy fingers can’t - I think of it as her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cinderella’s finger</i>, in the same way that only Cinderella’s foot
could fit into the coveted slipper offered up by the Prince.</div>
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As she cannot speak, I find myself doing my usual monologue-
or soliloquy is more appropriate-as we’re reading Shakespeare. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During these soliloquies, I ask her questions,
and make suggestions for what to do next. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is beginning work on an essay about
Juliet’s experience with romantic love. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
suddenly aware of the way my own voice sounds- and I try to temper the urgency
I hear in it, because we are always trying to “catch up” to the assignment
deadlines. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t want to begin this
session sounding stressed out already.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing
good comes from stress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My job is to
peel the layers from her packed assignments.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This assignment asks that she write a four-paragraph essay,
using passages to support her thesis and claims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This “boiler plate” essay requires
concentrated effort from a student without disabilities. I’ve taught and
coached many ninth graders through <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Romeo
and Juliet</i> essays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it frequently takes J twenty minutes to
compose three or four sentences. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She is in a Special Ed program at a New York City public
high school, on a local diploma graduation track, which is currently the only
option her parents have, as they navigate the tangled forest of red tape in
searching for a school that is a better fit for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime, J will stay in a holding
pattern until a better placement for her materializes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If </i>that
materializes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Public School Special Ed programs are now
cinched tightly to align with the demands of the rigid Common Core
Standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll remember here the
description of the implementation </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
of the CCSS by Karen Lewis, the Vice President of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Federation of Teachers</i>: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“We’re</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">flying the airplane as we’re building it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we’ll see. Who knows what it will bring?”</i>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Okay then, since the idea of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">more rigor</span></b> is touted by the
Common Core “airplane” –it looks like J and I are in a two person plane of our
own; maybe a little Cessna? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s a certain freedom in that, because students like J
are so out of the running in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Race to the
Top,” </i>she’ll set her own bar, with my help<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that doesn’t mean that rigor is not a part
of J’s learning: Because of that, concepts of rigor, and conversations about it
should be kept wide open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rigor is not a product of effort, and can’t be
pigeonholed into a business model, as privatizers are attempting to do with
standardization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rigor is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">process.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For one thing, rigor takes on an entirely differently form
for a student with J’s daunting challenges: In order to reach her curious mind,
the essay first needs to be broken down into human bites. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our process today, as with all days, is very slow.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We both need incentive here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I move myself into her sight level so we can make eye contact. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why do
we write essays?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Because she cannot speak, I answer my own question.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> “We write essays to invite people into the
way we see things…How does that sound to you?”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
She gets it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
she’s bored or disconnected, her eyes move away from me. But she’s looking
straight at me now. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her eyes send me
volumes of information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s true. Our
eyes are the windows to our souls. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve worked out a system to give J as many choices as I can
think of as we approach writing projects. But it’s also important not to
overwhelm her with choices: No more than two at a time. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Which of Juliet’s soliloquies do you want to use as your evidence?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Squeeze my hand once for the balcony scene.
Or - squeeze my hand twice for her Act 3 “gallop apace” speech.”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With her “good hand”, she squeezes twice. “ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Awesome choice. I love that one too.”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’re both motivated now.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her computer, her mechanical armrest, and the pillow tucked
into her left side to keep her sitting straight are all basic equipment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simultaneously present on her computer monitor
are layers of resources. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have moments
of flooding gratitude for those wise guys in Silicon Valley who wrote the
ancestor programs, eons ago, of what is presently on her touch-screen. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without this technology, J would have no
chance to interact with the world that is beyond her classroom and bedroom.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
The desktop is a collage of sites:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Juno</i>,
her homework program, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spark Notes</i>
with the play in Shakespeare’s language and in modern vernacular, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kurzweil,</i> (Thank you, Ray Kurzweil.)
which reads the characters’ lines back to her, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Word Docs</i>, in the wonderful case that J’s ideas are too big to fit
into the little Juno boxes, and, her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">PowerPoint
</i>project that we might need to draw from for this essay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The choices are breathtaking.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I ask her – “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Which
part of the “gallop apace” speech do you like the most?”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A moment or two pass. (I used to think that this indicated J
didn’t understand my question, and I’d rush in to move us along to the next step:
I’ve learned to wait.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, like a
conductor maestra in front of her orchestra of musicians, she lifts her finger
high, and gracefully brings it down to the screen, clicks shut the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Juno</i> program, and peruses with her
finger the multitude of other choices. She chooses the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spark Notes</i> so we can revisit Juliet’s pensive moments in the dark
as she awaits Romeo’s expected arrival. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On some days, this selection process may take J from 10-15
minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her mind, J is sorting and
organizing all the information in front of her. She is classifying her
choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This process cannot be measured
by any <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">big data</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quants<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.</b></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Based on her eye movements, I can see that her
mind moves faster than her finger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally,
lifting her finger, and swinging it down to click on the correct program is
often hit-or-miss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She frequently hits
the wrong one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But she usually
demonstrates an abundant amount of patience, and stays with it until she gets
it right. This invites a new definition of rigor, especially on days when her one
working shoulder aches from use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This next part is complicated, because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spark Notes</i> doesn’t read itself the way <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kurzweil</i> or a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kindle</i> can.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Whoops. I forgot, could
you copy and paste Juliet’s horse passage onto Kurzweil so we can hear it read?”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She nods, and, then gracefully conducts the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kurzweil</i> to open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She copies and pastes the soliloquy onto its
page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes I’ll read parts of the
play, and try to change my voice so J can tell when I’m reading for (peevish) Tybalt
or the (goofily effusive) Nurse. – <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I usually
cringe when hearing the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kurzweil</i> robot
woman reading Shakespeare in her stilted emphasis and inappropriate stress on
the wrong words - as if this “voice” is having her own issues in wading through
the molasses of Shakespeare’s language. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However -it’s important for J to have as much control and
choice as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She clicks the
robotic read-back - It highlights as it reads, and this is how we roll up our metaphorical
sleeves to wade around into the language of Shakespeare as read by this uptight
little entity in J’s computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let the
music begin:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We listen and follow along:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Give me my Romeo. And when I shall die,</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Take him and cut him out in little stars,</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And he will make the face of heaven so fine</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That all the world will be in love with night.”</span></i></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m astonished that the robot with all
her vocal limitations is still managing in her staccato to utter the passage in
all its beauty, urgency and energy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Wow. There’s your passage. You know what to do.” </span></i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With her Cinderella’s finger, she
swoops it, copies, and then pastes it onto her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Word Doc.</i> This is growing the essay from the roots up.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Terrific. Now give me a sentence or two that introduce that
passage.”</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Then, clicks up the touch screen
keyboard, which then magically appears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, with her tapered finger, taps out a sentence. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Juliet is thinking about Romeo</b>. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">She is waiting for him to come to her.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Great. That gives some context to the passage – You need to
carefully carry your readers so they can follow your thinking</span></i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.” I’m thinking that we have a long way to go with further
developing this paragraph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But she has
this work by herself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But J is not finished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a flourish, she highlights the sentence,
then changes the font to purple, her favorite color – this is her signature
style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These flourishes are sometimes
dangerous for me because when she swings her good arm up, her metal arm support
nearly hits me in the throat. I’ve learned to bob and weave as I sit next to
her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But at the moment, I’m flooded with
gratitude to Steve Jobs for thinking of adding color to his calligraphic fonts,
and this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">individual</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chance for Hello out there, I’m here! self-
expression </i>within a standardized technology.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Ah, purple! Well done</span></i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.”
Her eyes move to the clock, and then back to me, which tells me she knows we’re
done for today. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She’s produced half a paragraph to meet
the expectation of a four-paragraph essay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This took an hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a
rigorous session for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her arm hurts
more, and my side aches from leaning in.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Before I go, I want to know how you think you did today?
Did you stay on task or did you get distracted?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She pauses, and again, I wait. Dinner
aromas waft from the kitchen as her dad prepares the family meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She moves her finger to her touch screen and
calls up another instrument from her orchestra of programs - She opens her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Talking Device</i> – and, with her
Cinderella finger, taps out some words:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The robot cousin of the Kurzweil entity
reports stiltedly: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I am proud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am proud. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>J smiles.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I’m proud of you too.” </span></i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
find her hand with its curled fingers, and hold it up so we can do a fist
pound. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m always amazed at her spirited
perseverance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>No matter what a
student’s challenges or capabilities are – teaching is about starting with what
a student can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actually</i> do, and cultivating
those capabilities, as the student raises her own bar, creating her own standards.
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Educators,
parents, and anyone who works closely with children, understand that learning
cannot be wrestled down to the ground and pinned and standardized into a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">preferred outcome</i>, nor can it be
measured by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quants. </i>They know that
learning, with all its complexities and uncertainty, its three steps forward
and two steps back - is <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- an </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">inside
job</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>******************************</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 22.0pt;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Follow <i><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Staying Strong in School</span></b> </i>on <i>Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Staying-Strong-in-School-Jane-Nixon-Willis/</i></span></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>And on Twitter:</i></span><i> <a href="http://parentsplaybook/">@ParentsPlaybook</a></i></span></b></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-25382480391179977552014-05-15T06:13:00.002-07:002014-05-15T06:18:46.376-07:00When Local School Districts Are Financially Fragile, Within Communities That Are Financially Fragile...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ7SG9Wl66mMsXa_PSsPjl97Cjryz_xeBCa4ZfQTli-SUpMWPXDM0CVqmeHCdVZDFdOEjUh1wm2W4hgXIgVGcGaMK630wm467S7YNjZOPUGOLfq_OmiYDM7xFvCNupnws9anVcDDGKjo1t/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ7SG9Wl66mMsXa_PSsPjl97Cjryz_xeBCa4ZfQTli-SUpMWPXDM0CVqmeHCdVZDFdOEjUh1wm2W4hgXIgVGcGaMK630wm467S7YNjZOPUGOLfq_OmiYDM7xFvCNupnws9anVcDDGKjo1t/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" height="207" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Communities hardest hit by the Recession are having difficulty recovering due to slow job growth. Local school districts are especially vulnerable to privatizers. Some refer to them as Privateers...reminiscent of Pirateers...reminiscent of...Pirates. <br />
<br />
Here's Robert Rendo's extremely clear illustration of what it looks like when a school district cannot be sustained financially by its own community... Who takes control of our children's education then? The <i>"<b>Reformers.</b>" </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-mo6H_x8NkJYl5RAsk9Ytv0IVKskH6T1D_Mo0hXQnxvUepQ67g9oe4XPJWer9af62qGoP2UzA94cH5PPgUNAAD8qMcJwW1LHelsf_w8bQGd2maDHw5dCQ8vj2hnzzpt1mkSJQEoK65n7q/s1600/school+struggle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-mo6H_x8NkJYl5RAsk9Ytv0IVKskH6T1D_Mo0hXQnxvUepQ67g9oe4XPJWer9af62qGoP2UzA94cH5PPgUNAAD8qMcJwW1LHelsf_w8bQGd2maDHw5dCQ8vj2hnzzpt1mkSJQEoK65n7q/s1600/school+struggle.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i>
It's time for all school districts across the country to protect their schools, and their children's education, which these days is synonymous with <b>children's well-being, </b>which is synonymous with our future as a democracy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-59351569091704045862014-04-23T08:04:00.000-07:002014-05-20T13:14:21.079-07:00The Power Of Yes…In A Classroom Oasis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMNk2wvv4fyylqLjFn7LLTeP5cDGBWZ8Fk9YNkefHiefjQk8CnpK7dimRzDOXerQZnuJ70v8zsh1SicecA2WEJqlJeS4WcNEyGFe7KbwiTz_rjrMdiu-xUW_XFz7B6Cp2pFoD5oBEVydOm/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMNk2wvv4fyylqLjFn7LLTeP5cDGBWZ8Fk9YNkefHiefjQk8CnpK7dimRzDOXerQZnuJ70v8zsh1SicecA2WEJqlJeS4WcNEyGFe7KbwiTz_rjrMdiu-xUW_XFz7B6Cp2pFoD5oBEVydOm/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" /></a></div>
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Imogene Drummond is my guest blogger with her observations
on the work and play that she is doing with students at San Miguel Academy in Newburgh,
NY.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Far from the standardized
curriculum and tests that are being levied on public school students across the
country, in the classroom oasis that Imogene has created, she gives permission
to these special students to express their authentic intuitive selves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The results? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Non-quantifiable and…<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">breathtaking.</i><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimN6mgGPwCa4fvKymdAfQT_72yVTWlX_RO7lh16ICBSeq4dj7BTkNyXX_oaEgQy8VshG-awphwKSrjpj3KDnSU4HweVL_L78qRlfIpei8Mvbag4mVIhqAmGUL-5OmA7OiqOZzK79MRy5rC/s1600/+1.+Student+with+tear+painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimN6mgGPwCa4fvKymdAfQT_72yVTWlX_RO7lh16ICBSeq4dj7BTkNyXX_oaEgQy8VshG-awphwKSrjpj3KDnSU4HweVL_L78qRlfIpei8Mvbag4mVIhqAmGUL-5OmA7OiqOZzK79MRy5rC/s1600/+1.+Student+with+tear+painting.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Read more about how Imogene’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Divine Sparks</i></b> program
ignites these students’ creativity and greater self-awareness.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjpMzx7bF-7hVpwc-rInv1jO-93rgMivFgCBwhs5pqglBrOjClPW62uzkVbaZgk4kyJRJGSBtvLq-w7SGAElWwldVrIoVOE9KPQoL3YvdOApYNCPfe-rDPlLewO1EIgttxTezb_SGPKgM/s1600/+2.Imogene+Drummond+w+boys+at+San+Miguel+Academy,+photo+by+Kerry+DiMeo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjpMzx7bF-7hVpwc-rInv1jO-93rgMivFgCBwhs5pqglBrOjClPW62uzkVbaZgk4kyJRJGSBtvLq-w7SGAElWwldVrIoVOE9KPQoL3YvdOApYNCPfe-rDPlLewO1EIgttxTezb_SGPKgM/s1600/+2.Imogene+Drummond+w+boys+at+San+Miguel+Academy,+photo+by+Kerry+DiMeo.jpg" height="392" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">BLUE AND YOU</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; text-align: center;">
by
Imogene Drummond<span style="color: black;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">For me, there is no right or wrong, good or bad, art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My goal is to facilitate individual
creativity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Divine Sparks </i>creativity program<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">,
</i>i<span style="color: black;">t's important to leave criticism at the door and
experience the</span> <span style="color: black;">joy, freedom, and empowerment
that comes with expressing oneself creatively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I've
said this before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because a student
stated that he didn't like his painting, t<span style="color: black;">his is how
I began the third <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Divine Sparks</i> Film
+ Book session with the fifth-graders at San Miguel Academy in Newburgh,
NY.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it can be helpful to hear
this early and often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span> </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">We then watched the second chapter in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Divine Sparks</i> film, and I showed the class one of my paintings from
the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boys shared what they saw
in it:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a crescent moon, a face, water, a
flower--and pointed out those shapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They asked intriguing questions, such as how long did it take to paint,
and what did I have in mind when I painted it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I explained that I had no idea what I was going to paint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Before painting it, <span style="color: black;">I'd
been near the sea, and listening to the sound of the surf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The painting was a visual expression of my
experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I discovered </span>later <span style="color: black;">that the idea of aural inspiration resonated with some of
them deeply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGeSgRgWFS2s3ACkHHppaohC-mK2-NEl2yblbXRnf7CZ0w_s3Yb3M50TPVOLtPO9P8zqO74RN8RGA7Z3fwtWX299IOoBh2vd-X5OuM4Rf70cgGlTW8SFZiGJ3EnB4PChaoM7aPZBzOsqH/s1600/+5.DS+Guide+Blue+and+You+p+15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGeSgRgWFS2s3ACkHHppaohC-mK2-NEl2yblbXRnf7CZ0w_s3Yb3M50TPVOLtPO9P8zqO74RN8RGA7Z3fwtWX299IOoBh2vd-X5OuM4Rf70cgGlTW8SFZiGJ3EnB4PChaoM7aPZBzOsqH/s1600/+5.DS+Guide+Blue+and+You+p+15.jpg" height="640" width="492" /></a></div>
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-</style><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">We then discussed some ideas in this chapter of the film, "Blue and
You."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When asked what they thought
this chapter was about, one boy immediately said,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"It's about how blue can express
different </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">ideas
and <span style="color: black;">images."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Exactly!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm continually
impressed with how well these youngsters grasp the essence of a situation, and
articulate that essence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
discussing what blue means or symbolizes to them, and what some of their
favorite blue things are, we then discussed how the color blue makes them feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Calm," "alone,"
"alive" were some of the comments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One student said 'light blue makes him feel happy and dark blue makes
him feel sad.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That opened up a
discussion about the effects of various hues and shades of color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">It was then time to create individual art works about </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">what the color blue means to
them. <span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order
to help them personally </span>connect <span style="color: black;">with this
abstract idea, we did a short meditation exercise. The class quieted down as
the boys closed their eyes, and I asked them to think about what the color blue
means to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, I invited them to
open their eyes and make a painting or image using whatever materials they
chose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One boy asked, "Can I make a
sad painting?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Yes."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Can I make a river of tears?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Yes."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does it say about our culture that a
ten-year old needs permission to express his authentic self because he fears
his sadness may be received negatively?</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">
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</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Inspired by </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">the film and painting, <span style="color: black;">our
discussions, and their meditation, the boys </span>created wonderfully
individualized images.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They practically
dove into the abundant art supplies! <span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>A wide array of blue paint including a
silvery turquoise, marine blue with glitter (a big hit!), cobalt, and teal
blue, along with colored papers, and recycled magazines provided an enticing
selection of materials. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwhfDcV9RR_i-gGeZDE9vc_uM6zthwY8I5Gd6hTtvLQbQn6Sur-1GIugvgLErmfoIlU4pFNaNzq4-zH0Bh93s17h5UToIbosZL68yDJYfWV-75ljC2772lSJ2tVyC7g26jgPG77h1A4Xs/s1600/+3.+Budding+Artists+Painting+What+Blue+Means+to+Them.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwhfDcV9RR_i-gGeZDE9vc_uM6zthwY8I5Gd6hTtvLQbQn6Sur-1GIugvgLErmfoIlU4pFNaNzq4-zH0Bh93s17h5UToIbosZL68yDJYfWV-75ljC2772lSJ2tVyC7g26jgPG77h1A4Xs/s1600/+3.+Budding+Artists+Painting+What+Blue+Means+to+Them.jpg" height="400" width="386" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt;">
"George" <span style="color: black;">created a structural piece with an architectural-like
composition with </span>various blues in <span style="color: black;">rectangular
fields juxtaposed with circles--created by cleverly painting around the
diameter of </span>upside-down <span style="color: black;">plastic cups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Esteban"</span><span style="color: black;"> constructed a 3-D painting with three ridged rows of ocean
waves--made by cutting small pieces of blue paper and taping them together to
make longer pieces, which he then sculpted into rows of waves--which he said he
made because he likes the sounds that waves make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"</span>Henry" described his
painting as telling a story:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sailing on
a blue sea, with white clouds and the sun shining in a blue sky, splatters of
red paint in the sea indicated "new beginnings." </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">"Rodrigo" </span><span style="color: black;">covered his
paper "canvas" with blue paint, constructed waves with crumpled
turquoise tissue paper, then made a 3-D boat by folding white paper, glued it
on the waves, and added a vibrant upright red 3-D fish on the water!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJux1Nv4RmJkocs-xOQAG8UvTzBRT8GKUIwNtuH7eK77gUcy6mbRvV20PF65e1uWvekfy1irIzNZ8dGq6mjJvkj2psfXYIn2NoEffEOlwOXwm0dhHZn-VbJd7c_FcHMM9MO8qmXtXu_ZC/s1600/4.+Budding+artists+blue+sea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJux1Nv4RmJkocs-xOQAG8UvTzBRT8GKUIwNtuH7eK77gUcy6mbRvV20PF65e1uWvekfy1irIzNZ8dGq6mjJvkj2psfXYIn2NoEffEOlwOXwm0dhHZn-VbJd7c_FcHMM9MO8qmXtXu_ZC/s1600/4.+Budding+artists+blue+sea.jpg" height="330" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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--</style><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">"Kenny" painted a bold blue sea with a scalloped horizon line
and an orange sky at sunrise/set, and starfish in the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Guy"</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> painted two large
fields of green dissected by a blue river with fish in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This provided an opportunity to talk about
the importance of "negative shapes" in art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Emmanuel"</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> divided his piece
into two sections divided by a black line--on the right side, he painted
several archetypal spiral shapes, and on the left side, he painted a field of
dark blue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several boys put their names
in the work--some overtly, and some subtly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
<style>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Another
student painted a poignant (self-portrait?) image of a child with a big orange
face streaming large tears into a river below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I especially admire and respect this child's self-expression because it
took insight and courage to paint this, and to share it with the rest of the
class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is what I'm aiming for! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this youngster can find a suitable creative
outlet to express his pain, he has a greater chance to circumvent expressing
his feelings in destructive ways, and the possibility to create a more
satisfying, meaningful life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrkcewNfhdz2aajKSDhPO651Vy1sLL7fLWDZhqhqIomxRmrP4nMUQACDUYOqgCkIUjBjhXO7WUpuAzS7bMDrbRuP7PO0Z20j158jExXZS_VjKzFamLSMyHN2eRTUN8LitkOL8Jw2aeNax/s1600/+1.+Student+with+tear+painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrkcewNfhdz2aajKSDhPO651Vy1sLL7fLWDZhqhqIomxRmrP4nMUQACDUYOqgCkIUjBjhXO7WUpuAzS7bMDrbRuP7PO0Z20j158jExXZS_VjKzFamLSMyHN2eRTUN8LitkOL8Jw2aeNax/s1600/+1.+Student+with+tear+painting.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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</style> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I am deeply </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">fascinated and amazed by h<span style="color: black;">ow
a multi-component process of inspiration, discussion, affirmation, and
availability of art supplies in a safe and conducive environment results in
individually expressive, self-empowering work!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span>
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"> ****************</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; tab-stops: right 6.5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Imogene Drummond is an award-wining filmmaker, painter,
futurist, author of articles on cultural transformation, world traveler, and
former psychotherapist. Her experience, talent, and vision converge in Divine
Sparks. She has an M.F.A. from MICA (the Maryland Institute College of Art)—one
of the country’s premier art schools, and an M.S.W. from The Catholic
University of America. Due to her many painting expeditions around the world,
she was invited to join The Society of Woman Geographers.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman";">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Follow Imogene on Facebook:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.0pt;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.facebook.com/divinesparksbookfilm</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 22.0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Visit her Divine Sparks Website:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 22.0pt;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">divinesparks.com. </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman";">View her Divine Sparks Trailer:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 22.0pt;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VCDr0Ej1_I</span></span></div>
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<br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d;">*************************************</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Follow <i><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Staying Strong in School</span></b> </i>on <i>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Staying-Strong-in-School-Jane-Nixon-Willis/471874029607025">https://www.facebook.com/pages/Staying-Strong-in-School-Jane-Nixon-Willis/471874029607025</a></i></span></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>And on Twitter:</i></span><i> <a href="http://parentsplaybook/">@ParentsPlaybook</a></i></span></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-25900400246828911882014-04-07T18:09:00.000-07:002014-04-09T09:33:39.061-07:00Yes, And...Embracing the Awkward: Some thoughts on what rigor in school actually means<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI5ezt7NbyhDYSbqAJTuK4sz7_pa7IsEXdvD9oCdOlYzvibkGUdiS-P7qtE26FSshhC6ov_9YfrhOUFn9lGFk8FE-pGsvOYedo4orYWp9vg7FfjY90XjUadyTIhxJJWkKOkbx4OFZuN-aH/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI5ezt7NbyhDYSbqAJTuK4sz7_pa7IsEXdvD9oCdOlYzvibkGUdiS-P7qtE26FSshhC6ov_9YfrhOUFn9lGFk8FE-pGsvOYedo4orYWp9vg7FfjY90XjUadyTIhxJJWkKOkbx4OFZuN-aH/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" height="165" width="320" /></a></div>
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Improvisation is an edgy, spontaneous art form – and
completely unscripted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means that
you don’t know what will happen next, or what your co-players will do or come
up with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unscripted is the key
word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you engage with this, you’re
offering yourself up to be thrown off and disoriented, uncertain, and
inescapably awkward.</div>
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<br /></div>
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A while ago, I started an Improv Club with some energetic high school students
at their exurban high school. The school was surrounded by what were once cow pastures in
the furthest reaches of bucolic Westchester County, where kids have to make
their own fun.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The club’s numbers grew as kids found they could let off
steam in this after-school venue. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids
who had sat numbly in class all day got to bring their most daring and
“outlier” selves into room L207. But,
with the exception of the two self-appointed “presidents”, none of the kids had
any experience with improv, and had no clue as to how to play without a script.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I enlisted the help of my son, Zack, who is a professional
improviser.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sounds like an
oxymoron, but he does earn a living improvising and making people laugh. He
introduced the club to the most important principle: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, and… </i></b>This is the phrase you
keep in your head while your co-players verbally lob something at you. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The basic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, and</i></b>…game might go like this: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two students stand up:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Student 1 might say: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I just got back from Mars.</i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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And Student 2 says <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes and</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">…<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is that how come you have green
skin? …</b></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Student 1 says <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes and…their spaceship is right over there…</i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Student 2:<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yes, and…Can I go too?</b></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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At this point two more students may join in.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Student 3: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, and…This is my Mom and I would like to
send <u style="text-underline: double;">her</u> to Mars. </i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Student 4: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, and I’m his Mom. I packed a lunch and
weapons in case they’re not friendly…</i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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There’s an emphasis on speed: Too much “think” time, and the
game falls flat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, the second you
think or say “No”, the improv dies on the spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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<br />
Frequently kids would get tongue-tied and go blank, flail around, and
occasionally fall on the floor and groan – When it doesn’t fly, you blow your
cover and everybody sees that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But isn’t
that the true nature of learning something new?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s messy and unpredictable. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The members soon changed the club's name from “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Waxed Beans</i>” to “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Embrace the
Awkward.”</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Awkwardness? In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our </i>school?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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In spite of its omniscience, we don’t like to associate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Awkward</i> with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">School</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re surrounded by
the shrill rhetoric: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Succeed! Achieve!
Score High!... Stumbling and falling? Not in Our School.</i> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In reality, school is infused with awkwardness at every
turn. Growing bodies are awkward, teachers are awkward, technology does weird
things; the day is packed with socially confusing situations. Everybody did the
math wrong today and it’s only first period.</div>
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As students reach to learn something new, they hear <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wrong. Not it. You didn’t get it. Nope: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>The<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>daylong<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>incantations of bad news<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“No”</i>
stops the learning in its tracks and shuts the door, like a failed improv.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yet, we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i>
improvising as we learn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zack describes
how an improviser approaches the unknown:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He or she is somebody who is
willing to commit to a choice – If, say, I were to go onstage and do something
funny with my body. The audience might just stare for a bit. But I make a
commitment to keep doing that funny body thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They start to get it. They laugh. I then make it even more specific and
do it harder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I get past the fear
of not knowing what will happen next.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">All tangled up essays,
sciatica, and finding the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">snakes </i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This changed the way I taught writing because I wanted to
help my students get over their fear of writing something wrong, and to open up
what had been shut down over the years. But here of course, students aren’t
doing something funny with their bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They’re doing something “funny” with their writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Aside from a few exceptions, on the whole, my students’ essays
are filled with fragments, strange spelling, inconsistent paragraph spacing,
disconnected ideas, missing citations. They get all tangled up in words used
incorrectly and in the wrong context: It is a festival of awkward writing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">effort</i>
that students put into a labored-over essay is evident – and the sheer energy
of their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">effort</i> activates my sciatica
and fires up foot cramps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is something <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">committed</i> about their awkwardness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to Zack’s earlier description, this kind of
commitment is needed in order to push further into the unknown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to see writing in a new light, and
realized that my students were actually going way out on a limb to show me the
insides of their minds, and their thinking processes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What a gift to reframe my role in this way: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was my job to identify the mistakes, in the
same way it’s a herpetologist’s job to go up to the mountain and find
snakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Couldn’t we play with this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">no, wrong, you have a run-on</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sentence
here</i>, I learned to work with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, and</i></b> - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you have three thoughts going on here</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, and-</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> let’s separate those with commas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yes, and</b>- this idea is ready
for more development…<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yes, and</b>- this
essay is ready to be organized now…</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This became an energizing way to teach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students were writing more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teaching and writing became more interactive,
and more filled with possibilities – like a game. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The principle of improv had opened up the
playing field. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids were allowed to
commit to the “wrong kind” of writing, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yes, and</i></b> – I could guide them toward
more clarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It opened up our book
discussions too – Beginning with the obvious and uninspired student statement: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jay Gatsby was a rich guy… <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yes, and</b> – why was it important to him
to be a rich guy? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Odysseus took a long
time to get back home. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yes, and</b> –
what was Penelope doing that whole while? </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we’re willing to commit to putting it out there, even if
it’s wrong and awkward, we’re in a far better position to learn something new. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The opposite would mean to stay cautious, shut
down, and “safe.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Being willing to
commit to the unknown and play it harder is the rigor part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rigor can’t be thought of as an outcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a process. Even though it’s a noun, we
should think of it as a highly active verb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Instead of setting rigid and narrow specific <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">outcomes</i>, a rigorous curriculum should <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">invite</i> audacity, uncertainty and mistake making. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latter is a far more sustainable kind of learning
in terms of student and teacher energy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Without the awkwardness that accompanies new learning there’s
no forward movement.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’re probably engaged with rigor if part of our brain
wishes that we were doing something else that will provide some escape from the
present task.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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What if teachers applied <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, and</i></b>…to solving math
equations, the narrative of history, and science labs? In what ways would
teaching shift?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To become a better coach, I had to become a more patient
teacher, even though patience is not included in the criteria on the evaluation
forms that administrators fill out during Formal Observations. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, in conferences, I rarely hear parents or
teachers say – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, and – if we’re more
patient, we’re going to see Kevin understand this or that concept…Let’s give
him more room and time to play with this. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“Real life” messing
up</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not too long ago, I chatted with a friend who has been an
insurance attorney for years, but has decided to broaden her career in learning
about courtroom law. Similar to my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Embrace
the</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Awkward </i>club students, she is
deliberately throwing herself into an unscripted situation – or rather – it has
a script, but she doesn’t know what it is yet<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>And, similar to the improv
students, she has to field verbal lobs from other players, including the Judge,
on the courtroom floor.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I don’t know what I’m doing!”</i> She told
me. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I think the concepts are similar to
insurance law – but the language and terms are so different!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m shadowing another attorney, but he had to
leave the courtroom and when</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I
approached the</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bench, I was
scrambling for the right terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
standing there just sort of stammering… looking for my notes." </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I commented that learning new things, no matter how old we
are, is so uncomfortable. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I so get my fourth
grader now –“</i> She nodded. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I get what
my son goes through when he’s struggling in school, trying to get something
like the math.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Based on what I went
through this week, I understand now how hard school may be for him.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we adults are willing enough to stay in-tune with our own
awkward learning, like my attorney friend, we become sensitized to the peak and
valley experiences that our kids are having throughout their school day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently, I chatted with my lawyer friend again. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"How’s it going?"</i> She broke into a smile. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Much better!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m finding my way around…its making sense now."</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When we watch toddlers who are powered by the commitment to
take those first awkward steps, we cheer the falling down as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The falling down is part of the rigor in
learning how to walk. We praise, we snap pictures, and instantly zip them off
to everybody we know. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We shove the
furniture out of the way to give him more room to step forward and to fall
down.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can parents and teachers cheer on, with the same kind of
enthusiasm, our older kids as they sweat over essays and wrestle with math
equations and science labs? Are we courageous and open minded enough to push
aside our own “preferred learning outcomes” and instead, embrace the awkward in
learning? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s clear the space so they can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">play</i> with whatever is in front of them, and follow Zack’s
suggestions--<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Make the commitment, forget about what scares you and throw yourself
into it. </i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> ***************</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-70298789974107371582014-04-01T07:31:00.000-07:002014-04-01T09:15:26.782-07:00Transforming the School Experience for Students<span id="goog_664913442"></span><span id="goog_664913443"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dKnQ8A_e51x6G1HRdws3AYWYYzrAvmfpPfmsXbp9R-du6VYTRd0PR8i10hryGmFKZCA-xu2-oOui2wWa7mfAEHwMJrdNRQKKJ17hAcMdapQ6GjDaopFBWZQPJ0UjrvTcSg77nc7sS349/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dKnQ8A_e51x6G1HRdws3AYWYYzrAvmfpPfmsXbp9R-du6VYTRd0PR8i10hryGmFKZCA-xu2-oOui2wWa7mfAEHwMJrdNRQKKJ17hAcMdapQ6GjDaopFBWZQPJ0UjrvTcSg77nc7sS349/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" height="207" width="400" /></a></div>
So much energy is invested in Standards and Tests -- There's a <i>better way</i> to introduce our children to the art of higher level thinking. Parents and Educators need to remember that school can actually be a place of joy and creativity. What?...Yes - <b><i>School </i></b>can be <i><b>joyful</b></i>. Creativity opens the door to higher level and abstract thinking in a way that no standardized curriculum can.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVLzMgCf3G2C1x79VkyfBePB9SWBDCM0AdTNPoNiYkJW9IUH1Sf_jJo4As0z5swNswuNIVbynPEIltmF884_dhRZj1VWK4ujzbtRIS_GG0UJa4A5gGh1uNDw3KJgHSHcRyudYtKEHVvKg/s1600/Budding+Artists+at+San+Miguel+Academy+@+72+dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVLzMgCf3G2C1x79VkyfBePB9SWBDCM0AdTNPoNiYkJW9IUH1Sf_jJo4As0z5swNswuNIVbynPEIltmF884_dhRZj1VWK4ujzbtRIS_GG0UJa4A5gGh1uNDw3KJgHSHcRyudYtKEHVvKg/s1600/Budding+Artists+at+San+Miguel+Academy+@+72+dpi.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I wish that instead of taking State exams today, that our children were engaged with Imogene Drummond's <span style="color: blue;"><i>Divine Sparks</i></span> program, as these San Miguel students are in the photo above. She's my guest blogger today - and here she shares her experience working with at-risk students at <i>San Miguel Academy</i> in Newburgh, New York.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhwsOVEqc4qCIcxcPNXqp9GmDjveXcD42Yy1uHERtI4T1rZyulyC-aAgRfxKAHaW0QWwtGPYOoCFlUcwq38V0DN3bF9fXMLEFrzkucAjbzV5KIhSVWp8QKRQ5KZgmtRMIH4kwEaHT9O78/s1600/DS+GUIDE+FRONT+COVER+@72+dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhwsOVEqc4qCIcxcPNXqp9GmDjveXcD42Yy1uHERtI4T1rZyulyC-aAgRfxKAHaW0QWwtGPYOoCFlUcwq38V0DN3bF9fXMLEFrzkucAjbzV5KIhSVWp8QKRQ5KZgmtRMIH4kwEaHT9O78/s1600/DS+GUIDE+FRONT+COVER+@72+dpi.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
She demonstrates how Literacy and Creativity cultivate thinking and creative students.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbTF9tIbOUAuUGvt1miAAEqZ_lByN8rDal3j-B-RQcwFcER8-V05qCoKo7P5XBvvLYdsMLEGmsBz7gqlGJsXQVu1RwglqohySr1-UpfIBJVQP6hasYzkSFK9JOLt4GOJotxRu0dw40bXF/s1600/DS+VISUALIZE+ART+ACTIVITY+@+72+dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbTF9tIbOUAuUGvt1miAAEqZ_lByN8rDal3j-B-RQcwFcER8-V05qCoKo7P5XBvvLYdsMLEGmsBz7gqlGJsXQVu1RwglqohySr1-UpfIBJVQP6hasYzkSFK9JOLt4GOJotxRu0dw40bXF/s1600/DS+VISUALIZE+ART+ACTIVITY+@+72+dpi.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
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<i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">DIVINE SPARKS ARRIVES AT SAN MIGUEL ACADEMY</span></b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Sparking Empowerment through Creativity</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">by Imogene Drummond</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">My Divine Sparks journey
just got a little more exciting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Recently, I offered the first of ten Divine Sparks sessions to seventeen
fifth graders at San Miguel Academy of Newburgh, NY.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why is this exciting?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two reasons:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>because San Miguel is a visionary school, and because we share the same
goal--to empower young people. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">To understand my recent
experience, it’s important to understand San Miguel’s location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the fourth most impoverished urban center
in the U.S., and the ninth most violent, Newburgh was dubbed the “murder
capital of NY State” by New York Magazine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>San Miguel Academy, an independent, faith-based, fifth to eighth grade
middle school for boys from under-served families in the City of Newburgh, uses
education--and a thoughtful, nurturing, safe environment--to break the
pervasive cycle of poverty and violence in which these boys are raised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically, San Miguel Academy is trying to
keep these children from being used as drug mules, and to give them the skills
and opportunities for a totally different kind of life. This is big picture
stuff. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">To me, San Miguel is
special because its vision remains intact throughout its multi-layered
implementation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its president, board,
and faculty clearly are doing a lot of things right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their sharply-etched thoughtfulness
shows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, surrounding the
front door is printed in large, yellow and blue, capital letters “The Street
Stops Here.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To an artist who believes
in the ability of art, symbols, and design to create change, this signage is
powerful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That these words are written
on the “open” transparent medium of glass versus the opaque material of a
barrier, adds to the transformative experience of walking through the entrance.</span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Prior to my presentation
(during the lunch hour), I chatted in the hall with Fr. Mark Connell and Mrs.
Kerry DiMeo, San Miguel’s president and fifth grade teacher, respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An unusual thing happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On three separate occasions, a boy walked up
to me, reached out his right hand, looked me in the eye, and confidently said,
“Hello.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My name is [Angel, R.
N.].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Welcome to San Miguel.” and
briefly joined us three adults in conversation. Well!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was surprised and impressed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by these students’ politeness, confidence,
and assertiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being from the plug-and-play
generation, I was taught as a child not to speak to adults unless spoken to.
That San Miguel teaches its boys to speak up, be polite, positive, and
proactively welcoming, struck me--like the sign surrounding the door--as
significant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So, now you have an idea
of where Divine Sparks will be the next ten weeks!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me briefly introduce this innovative
multimedia that I wrote, directed, and produced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Divine Sparks Film + Book sparks empowerment
through creativity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three components
combine in this holistic project to ignite and nurture the child’s creative
spark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The award-winning 30-minute film
offers inspiring visual prompts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
colorful, interactive book delivers an exciting toolkit with stimulating ideas,
fun art activities, and delightful exercises that help students access their
inner artist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The project employs an
innovative approach often using one’s own story/history/personal mythology as
source material.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each session involves
three activities:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>View, Do, and
Discuss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In introducing Divine
Sparks to the students, I shared my goal to help them develop their individual
creativity, versus teach them art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First, we discussed what they think “creativity” is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their ideas ranged from “being about line and
shape,” to “thinking outside the box,” to “being about imagination.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was impressed by their ability to think abstractly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
led to a discussion about how creativity can help us be happier, more satisfied
with our lives, learn better, and sometimes even heal physically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In discussing how creativity can help us
become empowered and what “empowered” means, one boy said it means “helping us
develop as whole people.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I was
even more impressed with their abstract thinking!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">We then watched the
30-minute film, a whimsical story of transformation and wonder, followed by a Q
& A.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked my usual questions:
What were their favorite parts of the film?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What did they think the film was about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What did they think the sparks meant?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A dozen or more hands shot up after each question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the term is never used in the film,
when one boy said he thought the film was about “the creative spark in us,” I
just about levitated!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Inspired by the film, the
boys then did an art activity, “Visualize Words.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each student chose two favorite words (from a
page in the book--see photo), and painted one word as the background and one as
the subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A vigorous explosion of
activity ensued with lots of paint being drawn, brushed, swooshed, smeared, and
sponged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One child said woefully “I
messed up.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was my clue to share my
mantra: “There is no bad art, you can’t mess up.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But,” I quickly added, “you can start over.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To which he immediately said, “Can I start
over?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Several boys painted outer
space, making their backgrounds black--always a strong color!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others depicted snakes flying over waves, a
dark moon hanging above the ocean, and lyrical stars that look like lilies in
front of the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When discussing each
boy’s art work, one boy said he chose his two images because they were the only
two things he knew how to draw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hopefully, ten weeks from now, he won’t think that!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope he, and his fellow students, will come
to feel increasingly equipped to embark on new paths that are their life, as
they leave the street in their rear view mirror. </span><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">**************************************** </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<i>
</i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Imogene Drummond is an
award-winning filmmaker, painter, futurist, author of articles on cultural transformation,
world traveler, and former psychotherapist. Her experience, talent, and vision
converge in Divine Sparks. She has an M.F.A. from MICA (the Maryland Institute
College of Art )—one of the country’s premier art schools, and an M.S.W. from
The Catholic University of America. Due to her many painting expeditions around
the world, she was invited to join The Society of Woman Geographers.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Find her on Facebook:</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;">
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/divinesparksbookfilm"> https://www.facebook.com/divinesparksbookfilm</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-field-code: " HYPERLINK \0022https\:\/\/www\.facebook\.com\/divinesparksbookfilm\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022 ";">And her Divine Sparks Website:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-field-code: " HYPERLINK \0022https\:\/\/www\.facebook\.com\/divinesparksbookfilm\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022 ";">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-field-code: " HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/divinesparks\.com\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022 ";"></span><a href="http://divinesparks.com./">divinesparks.com. </a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">And her Divine Sparks Trailer...<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VCDr0Ej1_I">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VCDr0Ej1_I</a></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-25211075495471682332014-03-31T08:14:00.000-07:002014-03-31T08:44:45.082-07:00Standardized Tests: The recipe for creating passive and shut down students<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUuFP8ZVeIaW2aKahrmafjHygPYh9c5RNUi59BEvxG248EyuPsLMIHccofjEZ-9wZw2BJVkTjCPx-HV_dM7JdE8qRGgZFoZkWiZB7f-_3Dn62FHiUsJa-F93Uxqz6MFc17SbKF-15w7TrI/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUuFP8ZVeIaW2aKahrmafjHygPYh9c5RNUi59BEvxG248EyuPsLMIHccofjEZ-9wZw2BJVkTjCPx-HV_dM7JdE8qRGgZFoZkWiZB7f-_3Dn62FHiUsJa-F93Uxqz6MFc17SbKF-15w7TrI/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" height="166" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
In teaching writing to Middle and High School students, I've found that with growing frequency, students sitting with pencils or pens over sheets of paper will jot down a sentence, maybe two, then look up and ask "<b><i>Am I doing this right? Did I write the right thing?</i></b>" English teachers can't really <i>teach</i> writing, we can only guide kids to get in touch with their thoughts, get them down on paper and take steps to elaborate.<br />
<br />
Writing is hard work anyway, but when a student is immediately filled with doubt, and doesn't trust his own ideas or thought process - a teacher's task in helping a student coax those ideas out to deliver them to the page is extra arduous. The teaching becomes helping kids to first trust themselves to be willing to take a risk with a beginning sentence, before even approaching the craft of writing. I've turned into a writing therapist. <b><i>"Go ahead and write it, even if you think it's wrong. You've got to start somewhere. You can always edit that out later. Trust yourself."</i></b><br />
<br />
I find the same disturbing trend when we have Socratic Seminar or fishbowl discussions. We begin with student composed questions about the novel we are reading - I put the question out there, and the students, sitting in a circle, uncomfortably stare back, many, like deer caught in the headlights. I give appropriate "wait time" - then frequently, say: <i>"Somebody throw the first pitch. Offer up an idea. Don't worry about saying the wrong thing. Get it started!" </i>Finally, after a minute or so, a student steps up (often trepidly) and gets the discussion started. Clearly, we need to have more of these discussions, so I include them as a regular classroom practice, in spite of time constraints<i>, </i>to give as many students<i> </i>as possible to<i> </i>hear their own voices and often, once they begin, some of them are able to take the idea baton from another, and run with it. But, such an effort to get them to speak, and to write! Maybe an idea is well-grounded, maybe not, but offer it up kids, <i>say it. </i> Give us something to work with here.<br />
<br />
For students to collectively have such self-doubt at ages 12 and 13, an age where verve and an exploratory spirit are natural characteristics and <b>necessary to growth</b>- is a troubling symptom of something or someone putting that self doubt there.<br />
<br />
I sure didn't put the self-doubt there. Nor do most English teachers. <br />
<br />
<b>The <i>something </i>that invites a kid's self-doubt is the standardized testing culture that had accelerated with <i>No Child Left Behind</i> and is further amplified now with <i>Race to the Top</i>. </b> Even teachers and administrators who reject these tests as viable assessment tools find that the encroaching Culture for Testing is creeping into their schools and classrooms more insistently, like a paralyzing virus in a science fiction movie. <b> </b><br />
<br />
Tremendous energy and resources are fed to test prep and standardized tests, which are filled with the reading of passages that are in no remote way meaningful to students' experiences or prior knowledge. The questions invite no conceptual understanding, or even a gutsy try: They are focused on the scavenger hunt of finding micro-facts within the passage.<br />
<br />
Any child who happens to <i>think differently</i>, interprets a passage <i>differently</i>, or, has her own connotation of a word or phrase - runs the risk of getting the answer(s) wrong. (But wait a minute, doesn't our real life culture emulate those who "think different"? What kind of mixed message is being sent?)<br />
<br />
As one of the crustier, more voluminous passages in last year's ELA exam was all about striking gold in the Klondike - I watched my students, bent over this passage, puzzling over, I imagined, the word <i>Klondike</i>. To many 7th graders, the connotation of the word <i>Klondike</i> is, well...ice cream wrapped in a thin layer of chocolate. I got distracted myself, thinking about the package of <i>Klondikes</i> we had in our freezer at home. <br />
<br />
I'm going out on a limb here to "play" with this test passage topic: Hypothetically, if we were having a "regular" discussion about the Klondike gold rush - (a stretch, because it had nothing to do with the novels or contemporary social issues that we discussed and wrote about in my "regular" curriculum) as we were focusing on close reading - we'd approach the word <i>Klondike</i>, as my kids knew it. Ice cream. My question: In what ways does the <i>Klondike</i> gold rush connect to <i>Klondike</i> ice cream? Why do you think the people who created the ice cream bars chose the name <i>Klondike</i>?<br />
<br />
The Common Core touts what "it" refers to as "close reading" as a standard, and we had a number of sessions when as a group, we engaged with what that might mean. (I used Francine Prose's excellent book <i>Reading like a Writer</i> as a blueprint for approaching this.) We worked with denotation and connotation - and how our experience as individuals affects the way we might think of a word like <i>Klondike</i>. Once my students (by January) had mostly shed their fear of saying the wrong thing, we had great fun with word talks.<br />
<br />
But---back to the <b>test</b>: The actual Klondike passage was so long and onerous to read, that nobody had time to read it closely, or thoughtfully, <i>and</i> complete all the micro-fact answers. I'm willing to bet that lots of students had to try to back away from their distractions to be able to finish the test. Most of my students did not finish it.<br />
<br />
In spite of all our attention to close reading, from September to March, under my guidance, my students were not prepared for what awaited them.<b> </b>As a teacher,<b> </b>I didn't get it "right." For a few moments, I had a complete flash of identification with my 125 students who had felt the discouragement of not "getting IT right". Fortunately, I'm an adult with a Masters in Education and Arts (where "the right answer" doesn't exist) background, so that identification quickly passed and I went back to my usual quirky thinking patterns. I have empathy for new, young teachers who don't have the kind of resources or experience or backgrounds that veteran teachers have. These teachers are being conditioned to solicit the "right" answer from students. Their careers are at stake. <br />
<br />
To sum up this anecdote - there is no opportunity for authentic close reading on these tests. The tests lie, the CC "standards" lie. <br />
<br />
You can't get it "right" as a student or a teacher when the test game is
rigged this way. <b> You can never get it right when you have to leave who
you are and what you know at the door of the classroom on test day.</b><br />
<br />
When students are conditioned in this way, year after year after year to "get the correct answer" - is it any wonder that they are blocked in their writing, and afraid to throw an idea into the discussion circle? What are our students being groomed to be? <b>Compliance is now valued over originality and risk taking. </b><br />
<br />
Like my students, I felt demoralized after these tests were completed. Who wants to play this game anymore? <br />
<br />
The day when the last exam had been collected and packaged, one of my most conscientious and curious students approached me and said "<i>Ms. Willis, can we get back to our novel discussions now?"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I said<i> "You bet. It does seem a long time since we looked at the novel together."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"</i>Julie<i>" </i>sighed<i> and said "We're used to these tests. We've been doing the test prep and tests since 3rd grade."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
The resignation in her voice<i> </i>was haunting and something I will never forget<i>. </i>The growing sense of alarm I had felt over the passivity and compliance of most of my 125 students<i>- </i>was addressed in her comment. I understood that these kids had been conditioned just to get through the tests, and to put as little of themselves into the whole process as possible.<br />
<i><br /></i>
They have been taught over the years by the test culture<i> </i>that it's easier to be silent and comply than it is to take a risk and put some of your real self out there - in writing - or in discussions.<br />
<br />
For some kids, many kids, it's easier now, under this test cloud, to be invisible, or, just let somebody lead you through it. It's okay to be a sheep.<br />
<br />
This is frightening.<br />
<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-80030623118232119502014-03-29T07:57:00.002-07:002014-03-30T11:41:01.095-07:00New York City Parents Assert Themselves: Opting Kids out of Standardized Tests<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGa9XZ57ibi758oYm3XxdEbEYhBd6gdnl2glF2np7rvTLx139sD5HEKKH1mK8j1xgXEVTTuD88VPHno2EDUGj2GZVpHMbKFOeT_uSKHrwLDTx0XXE8rxuTpvISyNaJmr8AWPVyhlQanh-C/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGa9XZ57ibi758oYm3XxdEbEYhBd6gdnl2glF2np7rvTLx139sD5HEKKH1mK8j1xgXEVTTuD88VPHno2EDUGj2GZVpHMbKFOeT_uSKHrwLDTx0XXE8rxuTpvISyNaJmr8AWPVyhlQanh-C/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" height="166" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i></i></span><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The Carrot Seed </span></i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">by Ruth Krauss, picture by Crockett Johnson. Harper&Row 1945</span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><br />
<br />
"<i>We didn't know that we had the right</i>." says a mom from Brownsville, Brooklyn, who is opting her third grade son out of the state tests.<br />
<br />
Other parents from all NYC boroughs are now realizing and asserting their rights, and keeping the needs of their children front and center, as they opt their children out from these tests that are irrelevant, archaic, and skewed systems of measurement. Precious classroom energy and resources - (our teachers, their curriculum, and our children) are diverted from learning to weeks of mind-dulling test prep and the disruptive testing schedules. <br />
<br />
In the past, <i>The New York Times </i>seems to have taken an ambivalent posture about the problem of obsessive testing in our schools across the country during this past decade. This obsession has been ratcheted up with the introduction of the Common Core, and the same old rigid ELA tests, (that leave no room or time for thoughtful writing responses) with the same dull micro-fact reading passages -- leftovers from the failed <i>No Child Left Behind. </i>These are recycled now and being as passed off as "Common Core Assessments". <br />
<br />
At last, the <i>Times</i> is recognizing that parents and schools are demanding that discovery, passion and excitement that accompanies <i>concept learning</i> be <b>the</b> learning experience for children: Not these tests.<br />
<br />
Here's the article:<br />
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/nyregion/standing-up-to-testing.html?_r=0<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>follow me on twitter: parentsplaybook </i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-83127034714344365772014-03-25T07:35:00.000-07:002014-03-30T11:41:58.566-07:00Who are these new educational data companies really serving?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ebq-t9ejq1lPp8AUiBV07-ypb0Ony0nMo2lXt19lXylFeUIvDBokWlVLOvssOC5TWrWhYd947hQUeEwZd64c0QIUVWkU_7n-IiynI5mwxannBwoMXqYdPzrUK3Rmc87emqQSCgxgvoim/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ebq-t9ejq1lPp8AUiBV07-ypb0Ony0nMo2lXt19lXylFeUIvDBokWlVLOvssOC5TWrWhYd947hQUeEwZd64c0QIUVWkU_7n-IiynI5mwxannBwoMXqYdPzrUK3Rmc87emqQSCgxgvoim/s1600/boy+with+carrot.jpg" height="166" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The Carrot Seed </span></i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">by Ruth Krauss, picture by Crockett Johnson. Harper&Row 1945</span><br />
<br />
<br />
Remember when you were a kid and you first discovered that you could buy stuff? And your Mom or Dad would look at the thing you wanted to buy, and he or she would say <i>"Sweetie, I don't think you really need that. You should spend your allowance on something you really need and want."</i> <br />
<br />
It seems like the biggest growing industry in our country now is the selling of data packages - and it's linked arms with the education "reform" movement. And as school begins to imitate science fiction,<br />
here's something that resembles a Ray Bradbury invention: "Knewton" (How about that name? Catchy title? Calculated?...) calls itself "the world's leading adaptive learning company" (<i>"Mom, do schools really need this?")</i> They design and sell data systems to the education industry, so educators<br />
can "better measure student achievement." <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3iKip4O44ffMd5VA4WR06jH8WstdFNXFPov-nF_32rTTbb8nNAXiOXFgb-FrXPjBQHbSybJo8LF3WgOQHm-JtoSfhveXqfKRYv9ePJZv7WkGaRFPM-PpIK_NarrNP5sAf3TnjcH9wkw6q/s1600/Granular+understanding+of+knowledge.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3iKip4O44ffMd5VA4WR06jH8WstdFNXFPov-nF_32rTTbb8nNAXiOXFgb-FrXPjBQHbSybJo8LF3WgOQHm-JtoSfhveXqfKRYv9ePJZv7WkGaRFPM-PpIK_NarrNP5sAf3TnjcH9wkw6q/s1600/Granular+understanding+of+knowledge.tiff" height="173" width="320" /></a></div>
This chart or graph or thing shows "<i>granular understanding of knowledge</i>." The purveyors would like us to believe that this is the answer to everything. I don't understand how this chart shows how a human student is doing in class, but it <i>does</i> looks like something jokey from a Monty Python sketch that we would laugh really hard at.<br />
<br />
Who would benefit from this data measuring system? Administrators? Teachers? Parents? Kids?<br />
<br />
Oh! Right! <i>Knewton</i> would benefit.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>follow me on twitter: parentsplaybook</i></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-63154199946238434022014-03-24T06:30:00.000-07:002014-03-30T11:42:47.234-07:00Boys with Heroic Names<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFIW6MBBEKjosha13n4FrEEL0bvfvKDnAgwd6vkFlHRQTTsVdCtHa8Jzjd66FUk_Z8SQFjG1MFsDPlBQvJh91Zz-89RbxZSRcOChYIcAajreYNoPg9IN8SlxrBBXZdkAHE6LhMreaYXYhp/s1600/boy+with+carrot.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFIW6MBBEKjosha13n4FrEEL0bvfvKDnAgwd6vkFlHRQTTsVdCtHa8Jzjd66FUk_Z8SQFjG1MFsDPlBQvJh91Zz-89RbxZSRcOChYIcAajreYNoPg9IN8SlxrBBXZdkAHE6LhMreaYXYhp/s1600/boy+with+carrot.tiff" height="166" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The Carrot Seed </span></i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">by Ruth Krauss, picture by Crockett Johnson. Harper&Row 1945</span><br />
<br />
Deep in the Bronx today <i></i><br />
in<i> </i>a school mostly forgotten<i></i><br />
except at test time<br />
the third grade exam<br />
was administered<br />
to Tristan, Calvin and Axiom<br />
in the faculty room<br />
with its stained furniture,<br />
odors of discouraging<br />
Tupperware lunches, and<br />
teachers' frustrations over<br />
hazy causes and ancient battles lost-<br />
<br />
The whispers 'round school -<br />
<i>High Stakes </i><br />
<br />
Eight year old lives in the balance:<br />
to lose and hang with humiliation?<br />
Or to:<br />
slash the head off this test, only to have<br />
another grow back in its place?<br />
<br />
They say a true hero knows he's going down<br />
but goes there anyway -<br />
<br />
Legs dangling off the chairs<br />
these three<br />
pencils scratching in circles<br />
yawns - stoical chins<br />
and one runny nose<br />
Eyes on questions<br />
and passages aimed to trick<br />
and crush<br />
like the clashing cliffs<br />
Jason and his Argonauts twisted through -<br />
<br />
Then - pencils down -<br />
the tests are ziplocked, sealed.<br />
and carted away in unmarked vans<br />
like so much toxic waste.<br />
<br />
Ok now, palms up:<br />
the medals for Valor<br />
are awarded<br />
and they unwrap the foil<br />
from the melting Kisses<br />
that had softened in my pocket<br />
from the heat of the morning.<br />
<br />
~ <i>Jane Nixon Willis</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-73001054119738711132014-03-23T08:51:00.000-07:002014-03-30T11:44:15.816-07:00Helping Students Stay Strong during Standardized Test Time<style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdgCuQpVxYtULqMHxB9EHv6tySPO5vRMll8t0qYf7cMAx19fqbLcM20k_r_AiUhvn1PkvhH2csuCE1GEsc3rDBv8mrb9OndN5a9Xe4Ssc49XJzGEFFfHCqHvCSd_ndt1KZwqmZHymUaKTU/s1600/boy+with+carrot.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdgCuQpVxYtULqMHxB9EHv6tySPO5vRMll8t0qYf7cMAx19fqbLcM20k_r_AiUhvn1PkvhH2csuCE1GEsc3rDBv8mrb9OndN5a9Xe4Ssc49XJzGEFFfHCqHvCSd_ndt1KZwqmZHymUaKTU/s1600/boy+with+carrot.tiff" height="207" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The Carrot Seed </span></i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">by Ruth Krauss, picture by Crockett Johnson. Harper&Row 1945</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Unless you’ve opted your child out from taking these
- Common Core Standardized Tests loom on the horizon for public and charter
school kids. As crocuses and allergies bloom, English Language Arts and Math teachers
are expected to fill kids’ heads with strategies for taking the tests. Teachers
work diligently, as they are graded on the standardized returns, and with
consecutive low scores, careers are at stake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, preparing for the content of these mysterious and high stakes tests
is always guesswork because students are not being tested specifically on content
that has been taught in class. It’s all about thinking like the test
maker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Compassionate teachers try to
make prep time less tedious and as commonsensical as they can, but it’s likely
that your child may arrive home feeling toasted, stressed out and worried. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The test days arrive. Regular instruction is
suspended. Kids are shuffled around to any available rooms for testing. (Last
year, my ELA students were delegated to the tech room, -an unfamiliar setting -
where they sat on backless stools for 1½ hours at a time.) Walls are emptied. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guides to solving equations or writing a
paragraph are taken down or covered. Conference rooms are stacked with teacher
packets and bulky bundled tests that many trees gave their lives for, and where
many tax dollars are spent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think back
to the cupboard of dog-eared class novels, many of them falling apart, even
with best efforts to tape them back together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The tests, in comparison, are fresh off the press, in pristine
condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A monastic silence in the
halls is maintained, the regular schedules are disrupted, and the effect is
disorienting for everybody – even teachers and students who are normally
cheerful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These days are about getting
through these days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What you can do to help your child</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are the emotional settings that (specifically
younger) students tend verbalize as they get ready to while take these tests. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students in upper grades tend to internalize
these concerns more. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m not smart. I’m a “1”
or a “2”.</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I can’t remember
everything we did to prepare.</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I won’t do as well as
everybody else in class. </i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m afraid I’ll
disappoint my parents if I don’t do well.</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m afraid I’ll let (you)
my teacher down if I don’t do well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Occasionally a student will say: <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m just going to do my best</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">: <b>That’s all I can do</b>. </i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s pretty clear that a parent has proactively
cultivated that mind set. That student already has an advantage before coloring
in the first bubble with his number two pencil:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His parents have done the footwork in helping this child put the test
into perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s more relaxed and
is going to have more mental energy while taking the test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he’s probably not going to spend time
worrying about how he did when he completes it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">His parents have given him a
valuable life skill tool with this mantra, and he gets to practice using
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Keeping a Broad Perspective</b>:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Before distributing the test materials while looking
out at both sleepy and worried faces, I’d think through what I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wished</i> I could say: a disclaimer. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The test I am about</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to give you does not reflect your performance in my class</i>. But then
I’d need a disclaimer for my disclaimer<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact,</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">even though I’m a public school teacher standing here administering
them, I don’t buy into these tests at all, hang in there, and we’ll get back to
what we were doing in class</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What I’d actually tell students:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>This test has nothing to do with how smart a person you
are. </b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>This test doesn’t show all the talents that you may
have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>It doesn’t show that you are a good friend.</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>It doesn’t show the kind of learning style you have. </b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>It also doesn’t show how hard you may work as a student. </b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>If you want to know how you’re really doing, look at the
assignments that we’ve done together over the school year. </b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>This test is about just doing your best, just for today. </b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For all involved, it’s like spending a sweaty day down
at the quarry chipping rocks. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, when your child comes home from school after
prepping and testing, remember that lots of energy (and funding) is being spent
on something that is <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i></b> the
culmination of what he has learned from his teacher’s lessons.<b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>He might appreciate your invitation for
him to decompress from the intensity of the day by inviting him to talk about
it. Or, he may not want to, and who would blame him?</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">These unsolicited questions are not helpful:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How’d you do? (He probably doesn’t know or doesn’t want to
think about that right now.)</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Did you get a “3” or a “4”? (This is a reductive way to
look at the work a kid has put into something.)</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Did you finish on time? (The test is a done deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this really that important?)</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Did you answer all the questions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The test is a done deal. Is this really that
important?)</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Did you check your work? (The test is a done deal. Teachers
have already reminded students to do this.)</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Shouldn’t you spend time on review for tomorrow’s test? (…Really?....)</b></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If anything, these kinds of questions <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">reveal a parent’s anxiety, </i>so now<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>there are two stressed out people
sitting at the kitchen table<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i>In
showing your own anxiety, you also may be inadvertently showing your child that
you place value on this impersonal and inaccurate measuring device – over the
teacher’s day-to-day classroom<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>assessments
of your child’s progress<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i>Which is a
better indicator? Which form of assessment do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you </i>actually take stock in? </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">These tests in no way determine how successful a
child will be in the future<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i>But,
layered as they are, they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can</i> eat
away at a child’s self value, and make her question her capabilities, and that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">does</i> sabotage future success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most helpful comment that will
reverberate with your child during tomorrow’s test:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m
sure that you’re doing the best that you can. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Instead of spending time on a post-mortem--examining
the now dead body of the test, this is the time when it’s most beneficial to
invite kids to let their brains breathe and to encourage them relax and
replenish.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I was
trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering. ~Steven Wright </i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s a healthy
practice to help your child cultivate for herself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a culture, we don’t seem to value the
process of mind emptying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s all about
stuffing it with things. Although, many burnt-out adults fork out lots of money
to re-learn how to daydream or step back through self help classes; through
meditation or hiking classes to lower <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fight-or-flight</i>
cortisol levels, or some class that will help them channel switch from stress
and strokes. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When my eldest
was a four-year-old in preschool, the mom of one of his classmates wisely
introduced to the rest of us new moms the value of ‘stoop settin’ time’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had grown up in Brooklyn, and shared that
as a kid, when she and her friends got home from school, they’d set on the
stoop and hang out without any particular planned or structured activity; they
might play tag, or draw chalk people on the sidewalk, they might just chat; the
only time constraint being that they needed to go in for dinner in a couple of
hours.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We don’t give
ourselves much ‘stoop settin’ time’ until we’re old and we can’t move around
and we’re forced to sit and air out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it is key to mental health – we all need a breather in between.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although it’s within a young child’s nature
to stop and examine an ant colony, or, throw stones into a puddle, kids can be
further encouraged to decompress from a packed school day – to daydream, draw
pictures, play with the dog, listen to music, or play a simple game. It’s
relaxing to set time aside each day to do “nothing.” </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Relaxing and replenishing lead to
better endurance.</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If anything, the
tests measure a student’s endurance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
your child is taught the value of (unplugged) relaxing, and the importance of
replenishing her energy, anxiety over the next test will be more manageable,
and she’ll have more energy to continuing to sit for the tests, and then move
on to more meaningful activities. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
tension-filled rituals of preparing for the tests and the anxiety of everyone
involved can skew perspectives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sitting
outside, looking up at the sky or over at the horizon, playing a game,
daydreaming or puttering around are the best therapies for putting the
Standardized tests in their place. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Sit in
reverie and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle
seashore of the mind. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: blue;">Follow me on twitter: parentsplaybook</span> </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760370922863137207.post-47411680421796736162014-03-17T10:48:00.001-07:002014-03-20T10:56:11.088-07:00Writing to Reflect Real Life: Why the Personal Narrative is so Important to Students: Pre-K - 12th Grade<style>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As you grow up in this world you realize
people really don’t give a sh*t about what you feel or what you think. </span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">--David
Coleman at NY State Department of Education presentation, April 2011</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As one of the architects of the Common Core, which now
places emphasis on evidence-based writing and the synthesis of other peoples’
ideas (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">CC</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shift 5</i>), Mr. Coleman dismisses personal writing as frivolous. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His comment above is prefaced by his criticism
of the teaching of “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the presentation</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">of a personal matter”</i> in schools. On the
contrary, the personal narrative is a critical and relevant teaching tool for
students ranging from Preschool to 12<sup>th</sup> grade. To leave massive
populations of kids behind in devaluing the written expression of their personal
experiences, and to try to divorce public schools from a genre of expression that
our culture emulates- -doesn’t make sense. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The Common Core claims to aim students toward college and
employment readiness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, what’s
additionally peculiar here is that this also architect of the college
application process would “forget” that an applying student’s personal
narrative is the primary audition piece that Admissions Boards scrutinize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Devaluing or eliminating the personal narrative from an
English class in any grade runs counter to how students develop as writers and
thinkers, and, how our culture <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>learns
and instructs through the personal narrative form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s remember, Socrates urged all to “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Know Thyself</i>.”</span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For decades, the educational psyche has always encouraged
students to use their own lives for writing and communicating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many of us remember <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Show and Tell </i>as a social time to tell something about ourselves
which helped us to figure out who we were among those other kids in our first
schooling days?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This is the tomato I grew in our garden…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is my grandfather’s Yankee cap…</i></span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Through her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Writing
Project</i>, educator and writer Lucy Caulkins embraces the personal narrative
as a genre to help teachers help students with the writing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">process.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Caulkins’ program,
developed over decades with Columbia’s Teachers College, mandated by the Old
Standards and implemented in schools across the country, now appears to be stranded
with the onslaught of the New Standards. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Experienced teachers who know the value of
working with the personal narrative have been trying to calibrate it among the
new demands of more synthetic and evaluative writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is in danger of being choked out of
lesson plans.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">There are abundant reasons why the personal narrative
resonates with students of all ages and abilities across the socio-economic
school scape. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In working with urban middle school students living in
poverty or learning English, as well as with more affluent students, this type
of writing is developmentally appropriate because it solicits the grist of a
young student’s life as writing material. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Children at this age are appropriately egocentric: They
organize the world according where <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i>
are in relationship to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A child who
is just learning English, or a child with learning differences can first orally
tell about an event in his life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
partner transcribes the story. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once on
paper, the writer can further develop language and organize the story, as per
Caulkins’ drafting process. Other students can more directly deliver their
story straight to the page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most
enduring message that teachers of writing can deliver to students:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A writer’s thought process is as individual
as s/he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a writing template, the
personal narrative provides differentiation and invites diversity. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Next:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they gather
the facts around their own story, students are engaged with concrete thinking.
These, they categorize, as ideas are organized and developed around this chosen
life event. A student’s process is also scaffolded to more formal thinking as students
move from ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this or that happened to me’</i>
– to – ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">what this</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">means to me today’</i>, for reflective and
contemplative writing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Another way that the personal narrative form works is that
students without previous opportunities to obtain knowledge of novels, or a strong
background in reading, are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">first</i> invited
to look at their organically grown story, which is a solid way to establish
experiential knowledge of narrative structure <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> being asked to analyze other narratives in novels or
informational texts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More privileged
students who have been exposed to books are perhaps able to run more speedily
with this kind of writing assignment, and can be directed to aim for greater
scope and depth. Yet, ask any professional writer: The process is ongoing.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Moving to high school:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again, we have young individuals developing on the spectrum of
egocentricity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of them are still concrete
thinkers; others have developed into more formal thinkers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of them have even more stories to tell. With
critical life choices looming closer, this narrative form becomes even more
relevant to teach: College-bound high school juniors attack it with clear
intent: This is their audition piece for college applications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For students moving directly into employment,
it is a narrative that reflects and promotes their experience and values. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sharing personal narratives creates inclusion
and builds community: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We listen to the
student who reads his story about when, as a camp counselor, he ferried a
boatload of children across a lake when the motor suddenly died… The BOCES
student on a vocational path relates how he scaled a 60-foot tree…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another student shares how she learned to
navigate Celiac disease, and how it has piqued her interest in studying
nutrition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Students who have been encouraged to explore the landscape
of their own lives have a stronger foundation in thinking and writing from
which to approach, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">when it</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is developmentally appropriate in higher
grades</i>, more synthetic writing with its quest for, and, examination of, evidence
in informational or fictional narratives. Pushing students prematurely via the
demands of the Common Core toward this kind of writing with an “agenda” will
make writing seem even more difficult and inaccessible to kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an oddly Victorian approach to treat
children as miniature adults, and to ignore all of the research and studies
that reveal all of the complexity with which children actually learn. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As teachers, we continuously ask ourselves: What are we
teaching that will <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actually </i>prepare
our kids for the adult world? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Let’s look at the bigger picture: Our culture is saturated with
what Coleman refers to as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">personal matters.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>The personal narrative is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everywhere,</i> in long and short forms. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s on the last page of every <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New York Times</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Magazine</i> section, and in medicine, it is becoming more widely used
as a way to give doctors greater holistic knowledge of their patients. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a treatment tool in the Recovery
field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It won this year’s Academy Award:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">12
Years a Slave. </i>The shelves in physical and virtual bookstores are filled
with memoirs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People with a story can
now self-publish. The scientific story slam, where scientists relate their own
stories of set backs and discoveries is breaking new ground as an entertainment
and instructional venue. (See <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TED Talks</i>.)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Think of the impact if schools more
fully embrace the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">personal</i> in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">narrative</i> for aspiring STEM students. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Personal narratives enlighten, instruct and reflect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They invite identification with pain, joy,
hope, absurdity, determination and uncertainty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They offer escape into someone else’s world. It’s a form that began with
every ancient community and still creates bridges over perceived differences. It
mirrors the health of a culture that values memory, reflection, diversity, and
individuality.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">To eliminate this humane writing genre as a primary teaching
tool would be an attempt to sever schools from the real world, and make them
scarily Orwellian; narrow, colorless, and all pent up.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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-------------UPDATE-----------------</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />David Greene writes about how the Reform movement is endangering creativity in teaching. <a href="http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/03/17/how-common-core-standards-kill-creative-teaching">Read the article here.</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534621091745720871noreply@blogger.com1