The Language We Choose to Use with Students and Its Impact

Posted on April 29, 2013 by amcgrann

Last week, as part of our parent speaker series, my school hosted Dr. McCurry. A clinical child psychologist, his talk was titled: The Anxiety Dance: A Parent’s Guide. He spoke mainly about how we can either react or respond to behavior regardless of whether you were a parent or teacher. His talk provided us with several examples and strategies of how to help children who have anxiety whether or not it is clinically diagnosable.

A week before that, I attended part of Evergreen School’s speaker series’ presentation by Allison Master: Mindsets Revisited: Exploring the power of growth mindset and word choice in motivating children.

Every once in a while a book comes along that can be transformative. In terms of teaching, Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset was one of those for me. Master who has co-authored a few articles with Dweck, began with a quick introduction defining the two kinds of mindsets that have been researched, fixed and growth. The word “mindsets” is becoming overused and can describe a lot of things not related to Dweck’s theory, so if you’re unfamiliar with her work, search using the terms “fixed,” “growth,” and “mindset” and that should get you going in the right direction.

One of the most important things I’ve learned abo about helping students manage anxiety or fostering growth mindsets is the language we use with them. What we say as parents and educators can be so influential. The feedback we give can impact a child for years to come.

There’s a huge difference between saying to a child, “You’re a good drawer!” and “You put a lot of effort into that drawing.” The first places value on the ability. The latter places the value on the effort or process. Which one do you think privileges actual learning? The language we choose to use with our students influence mindsets profoundly. A healthy dose of anxiety is normal, but it too places value on the process rather than the event. You acknowledge the event and feelings with a timestamp, like, “I can right now that you’re frustrated…” Then give the child agency to make a decision to move away from a fixed idea of their frustration to one that will pass.

A great book our faculty is reading is called, Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Minds by Peter Johnston. It cites Dweck’s work and goes on to show how powerful the language we use can affect the way children perceive themselves. He uses the terms “fixed” and “dynamic” to describe the way we think about ourselves. Basically, learning is something that we can change and knowing that our brains are plastic and adaptable is important. When a child is having an, “I’m stupid,” moment, it’s imperative to help the child recognize that it’s just a moment, not a fixed idea. A child with a growth mindset is going to have less anxiety, learn throughout life, and develop resilience. As adults, it’s natural to want to rescue a child, but as an adult you have to know the difference between pushing a child out of the way of a speeding car and doing their homework for them.

Furthermore, both Master and Johnston show the evidence of how language influences social and moral agency. If we put a fixed label on ourselves, it becomes very different to find the value in others and develop the empathy needed to work with those with differing views.

This works for adults too. I can learn from my colleagues and they can learn from me, but only if we are willing to see that. The next time you’re giving feedback to a child (or a peer), instead of a simple, “Great Job!” be specific. For example, “I really like the choice of words in this paragraph.” If you can’t think of anything specific right away, at least praise the effort. “Wow! I can see you put a lot of work into that!”

I haven’t read McCurry’s book yet, but I highly recommend the other two. They might just change a life.

Who Chooses What We Teach?

Posted on January 25, 2012 by amcgrann

Another good ‘Room for Debate’ page in the NYTimes appeared again this week. This time the question is: Should Parents Control What Kids Learn at School?

My initial response would be that parents should know their child, how they learn best, what their strengths and challenges are, and work with the teachers in the development of the curriculum. Whatever it is that kids learn in school, there are basic fundamentals that children should learn like reading, writing, and arithmetic. Teachers and parents can certainly agree on those. What it is they read, however, may be up for debate. Social/emotional learning is very important too. I wonder, for example, if the social/emotional learning of the Italian captain of the cruise ship Costa Concordia had more to with the tragedy than the engineering and ship operational training he received.

I think the most important part in this debate is that all stakeholders start first by agreeing on what fundamentals ought to be taught in schools. For early primary, the academics are obvious, but the delivery and pedagogical methods may not be. Minor philosophies on homework, etc. will always exist, but the overall goals are similar. For example, regardless when people think the correct age may be, they can all agree that kids should be able to read.

Customizing the curriculum has always been how I’ve worked (public, parochial, or private). Every year the range of abilities changes with a new set of students, so why wouldn’t you adapt your curriculum to those different needs. With the new law in New Hampshire (which I haven’t read), it seems like what bothers most is that parents can make any demands on the content. I’ve never had any issues with any parents. Even with ideological or religious differences. I can think of one family years ago, who for their own religious reasons, did not want to participate in Halloween activities at school. While the school respected that family’s ideas and suggested alternatives and modifications, Halloween would still be celebrated at school.

I think it becomes a problem when parents have a different mindset than you about what is age-appropriate content, or if the content seems too ideologically radical for some. In elementary school, it’s possible to see how a simple biography project might go awry if a parent disagreed with the teacher on whether a child’s choice were appropriate. Is a biography about Anne Frank is suitable for an eight-year old? While the biography may be, some of the events surrounding it may be considered too much for a second grader. This actually happened with a student of mine last year. She chose Anne Frank after perusing the biography section in the school library. I was just as tentative as her mother in her choice, but we both agreed that she was a child who was ready to read about those horrific events. Both me and her parents just wanted what was best for her. It would have been different if it were a different child which is why knowing your students (and their families) is so important. If we are supposed to welcome diversity and embrace its benefits, than we cannot just go with the status quo, and we have to listen to everyone.

Will some abuse a law like New Hampshire’s? I’m sure some will try. Every once in a while, there will be a battle between the over-entitled parent and the extremely inflexible and obdurate teacher, and that is unfortunate. Like so many other things, there is often so much we have in common. A lot that we can come together and work with. If we start where our ideas and values overlap and recognize our differences as strengths to enhance those ideas and values, there is so much we can achieve.

Can an atheist enjoy Christmas carols and Islamic art?

Can someone who’s gay be a Republican?

Can someone working at Microsoft like the iPhone?

Can an epicure eat cereal for dinner one night and love it?

Of course they can, but too often lines are drawn in the sand instead of bridges being built. Rather than objecting to the curriculum, as one of the writers in the opinion page mentions, parents should use those areas as teachable moments. Teachers should too. I remember a child years ago asking me about the existence of Santa Clause. He just couldn’t see the plausibility of it all. I certainly wasn’t going to be the one to break the news to an 8-year old. What I told him was to think critically about it (I’m sure I used different words) and make that decision for himself. I didn’t defer it to his parents nor did I subject him to my thoughts. That was an example where he could make up his own mind. He could grapple with his own dilemma and reach his own conclusions.

Currently, I’m teaching a unit on penguins. What would be objectionable is if a parent insisted that I teach about emus and ostriches instead. There’s no reason why I couldn’t, but there’s no reason why I should either. A follow up question to this debate on whether parents should control what kids learn at school is if teachers can control what their students do at home?

Got Character?

Posted on September 18, 2011 by amcgrann

Cover of Today's New York Times Magazine

Today’s NYTimes Magazine is the Education Issue. Our Head of School forwarded one of the magazine’s featured articles to the faculty earlier this week: What if the Secret to Success is Failure? A Radical Re-thinking of how Students Should be Taught and Evaluated. It’s a thought provoking article, but if you’ve been following some of the changes in education over the past few years, it doesn’t seem all that radical.

Daniel Pink has explored zest, grit, and optimism in his work Drive along with empathy (social intelligence), play (curiosity) in his book A Whole New Mind.

Carol Dweck, in her book Mindsets discusses self-control as an important factor in developing growth mindsets.

Nel Noddings has been writing about the ethic of care for years.

I was able to catch a few of the TEDxLondon talks that were live-streamed this weekend, and there was definitely a call to spark curiosity in our students. Hopefully, the videos will air soon, but Ewan McIntosh posted the transcript of his talk about creating a generation of ‘problem finders’ on his blog. I encourage you to read his post.

Character Ed. isn’t new, but what I found compelling about the article was how they broke down the list of character traits into two categories ‘moral character’ and ‘performance character.’ I also liked how the article mentioned many of these character traits can backfire. “Too much grit…you start to lose your ability to have empathy for other people.”

I also liked the Head of Riverdale’s “philosophical issue with quantifying character.” It’s true that the last thing we need are people trying to game the system with test prep on character traits. Also, if too much of a certain trait can backfire, how would you measure what is best?

Another great question brought up in the article is: How do you teach these traits? I don’t know the answer, but it’s definitely one worth exploring. I know you can’t do it with carrots and sticks and you can’t do it simply by putting quotes around your school. You can start by modeling these traits (I’m 41 and I’m still learning how to grow some of these traits and moderate others), getting to know your students, and creating supportive relationships with their families. I suppose what’s radical is that more an more people and schools are thinking about these questions. It’s exciting to see some start to try new things.

I’m looking forward to hear what others at my school think, as our Mission and Values have both the moral and performance character traits we strive towards.

Connecting Through Storytelling

Posted on May 17, 2011 by amcgrann

At the TEDxEastsidePrep event I attended last week, there was one speaker told a very compelling story. Marcus Brotherton is an author, journalist, and, according to his speaker profile, an adventure motorcyclist.

He began talking about an earlier experience where, due to certain circumstances, he had to share a house with a crotchety 72-year old WWII vet for a landlord. It wasn’t until years later, when he had an assignment interviewing other WWII vets for his research, that he began to understand and reflect on what his landlord had taught him and perhaps why the old man behaved the way he did. Brotherton began to learn about developing empathy. He asked this question: How does one teach taking yourself beyond one’s self? Brotherton listed three things to develop:

Invite people to tell their stories.
Imagine the world through other people’s eyes.
Suspend judgement.

With many education leaders talking about the brewing change upon us, and the challenges that lie ahead if we don’t adapt, Brotherton reminded us of what I think is the most important element in education – the connection between a student and teacher (that teacher may be another student, a parent, or anyone willing to make that connection). Brotherton also demonstrated very well that storytelling is a very effective way to do this. Empathy is a 21st Century Skill. Our students need to develop it, and so do we. I’m still working on mine.

The TEDx event was driven by inquiry and asked the following essential questions:

What could education look like in the next 5-20 years? What paths must we follow to develop engaged citizens in a digitized age?

What assumptions about our current education systems no longer hold based on new capabilities, new insights and new developments in the fields of brain and behavioral research?
What essential attributes must remain in future incarnations of our education system to be successful?

I think we know which question this speaker addressed.

Meaningful Conversations

Posted on May 10, 2011 by amcgrann

I am still digesting an incredible evening of ideas thoughtful discourse on public education from a diverse panel of advocates for public school and change at Seattle University (Part of their Conversations in Education series). Each made one articulate point after the other. While their views all differed slightly, they were all passionate, and there were clear common themes that came through. The panel included the following people: Chester Finn, Kati Haycock, Tyrone Howard, Reverend Al Sharpton, Denise Pope, and Nicholas Hanauer.

The discussion was moderated by Joseph W. Scott (professor of Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Washington – and husband of one of my favorite profs at Seattle U.) He first asked each member to answer this question: Name the top two things on your list that you think is preventing achievement in public education.

Kati Haycock began and mentioned that we do not demand enough of our students. She also said we need to act on what we know. We know early childhood education makes a difference. Chester Finn mentioned that the state standards are too low, at least the Common Core curriculum seems to be better, he suggested, but warned that it only exists in math and reading and then reminded us again that the curricula is week. Tyrone Howard and Al Sharpton talked about the “New Racisim” which is saying to a child of color or poverty, “I understand your situation, so you don’t need to care as much, nor do I.” We need to become more comfortable talking about race and how education is not serving a significant part of the population. Denise Pope also agreed that our standards were too low, but particularly on authentic real-life skills. She mentioned that now we have doctors, who have aced every standardized test imaginable who cannot diagnose something because it doesn’t look “exactly like it does in the textbook!” She said there’s serious disengagement in school and kids are not healthy (both mentally and physically) – basically, she said (and I’m paraphrasing because I didn’t record it), “The curriculum is extremely broad, but about an inch deep and kids cannot think for themselves, collaborate in healthy ways.” Nick Hanauer (whose children I have taught), talked about bureaucracy, politics, and the need to distribute money equitably.

They were then asked to name one remedy they thought would work. It basically came down to proper distribution of funds, and shave away layers of bureaucracy.

Kati said, you cannot teach from a textbook – you need people who know HOW to teach, and you need to talk honestly and act.

Chester said we need to look at governance and strip away layers and have more leadership at all levels – not something that is hierarchical.

Tyrone said, use data and get effective teachers on board, incentivize them to go out to needy areas, include parents in the discussion, identify teachers that aren’t doing their jobs, try to remediate, if that fails – they should choose another profession.

Denise really spoke to the need for a strong Social / Emotional curriculum, and that the work kids need to do should be authentic, like the work we do. How many timed tests have you done lately? It’s like if my boss gathered all of us and gave us a timed test and those who didn’t score above a certain amount were fired. Many kids face high stakes testing daily, and we’re sending the wrong message to them. She said, kids need to know the value of being wrong, receiving redemption and leraning from it.

Nick spoke about allocating funds strategically and equitably and supporting legislators that support education. He gave concrete examples, like supporting arts programs in schools, and subject specialists. He also talked about the need to support early childhood education and all day kindergarten programs in public education.

Rev Al said, to change the culture, we have to create the culture, and to do that we have to have active engagement.

Active community engagement was on everybody’s list.

That was just the first part of the evening. There were three, but I couldn’t possibly try to summarize it all in one post, so I’m going to leave it there for tonight. I went with four colleagues, and I know one more who went separately. I just wish we could have had more people there , parents, board members, other leaders. It was an incredible and inspiring evening full of people modeling what they believe, taking action, and engaging in meaningful conversation.

What Can One Little Person Do?

Posted on April 19, 2011 by amcgrann

A couple of days before our spring break, our whole school went to Seward Park (a large Seattle park) as we had done for the past three years to steward a portion that we had committed to. Many teachers and I agree that it is one of our favorite days (even though this year it was very cold, muddy, and wet), as it brings the school together as a community to take responsibility in our civic duties. In the past, we had been charged of a few duties including the removal of invasive species, but this year there were no more to remove. I would definitely call that measurable progress. Our sole job was to plant and mulch trees for the future of the park. The kids enjoyed nature walks, outdoor games, and of course tree planting. Although, my favorite part of that day comes at the end, when the entire school forms a bucket brigade to deliver mulch from the main park road to the region of the park where trucks simply can’t get to. If you want a scene of a whole school working together with a common goal – the image of kindergarteners to fifth graders continuously handing each other buckets of mulch with teachers, administrators, and parents interspersed throughout that chain, is a very good example of one.

What I love about service learning is the ability for kids to see that one little person can indeed make an impact in the world (we had a coin drive for solar cookers in Chad earlier in the year – an idea from our fifth graders), or even in their own city. We also go to a local organization to help package food for those in need, not to mention the various ways kids help around their classroom and campus.

The planting of trees struck a chord with me as our Kinder and 2nd grade classes attended the Seattle Children’s Theatre’s production of The Man Who Planted Trees today. It’s a great story (albeit fabricated) about how one person can make a positive impact in the world. The Seattle Times was enchanted in their review. So was a parent in her parent review from Seattle’s Child magazine.

When we got back to class today, some children asked if were a true story, I read them the afterword to the book, which admits that its protagonist was in fact a work of fiction. I’m sure Oprah would have fun with this story. I also mentioned, however, that there are still plenty of examples of people who make a difference with the small but powerfully positive things they do. Jane Goodall, is one living example. Harriet Tubman another example from history. Then I then tried to link the play they attended to their own experience of planting trees a few weeks ago in the park as well as the recent planting they did in their school garden plot. I could physically see the bodies of many of the kids change taking pride in what they had done a few weeks ago.

Sometimes these coincidences just happen. This field trip was booked almost a year ago, with no idea what date we would get, whether the show would be any good, or how well it would tie in with our school’s theme of sustainability. While the story is magnificent, the book is a little dry for second graders. The Puppet State Theatre Company from Edinburgh that brought this production to Seattle, had the children hanging on every word. Aside being a wonderful piece of theater, being able to connect this story with the work the kids did a just before break was a really nice serendipitous teaching moment..

There’s a nice service learning article that appeared in the connected principals blog a couple of weeks ago that echo some of what I’ve said here.

Kids can have such a positive impact with the little things they do, I feel very lucky to be part of a school that gives them many opportunities to do so.

“Emotions are the Foundations of Reason”

Posted on March 14, 2011 by amcgrann

“Emotions are the foundations of reason,” says David Brooks in today’s TED talk, “because they tell us what to value.”

Mr. Brooks is one of my favorite columnists in the NYTimes. Articulate and smart, this TED talk shows that he is also very funny. It’s fascinating that he spent three years culling research about our need as humans to be social. He admits, that emotions are not something he is known for, but in his research has found that “reading and educating your emotions is one of the central activities of wisdom.”

He sums up what many colleagues have been saying for years – that EQ is just as important as IQ, if not more. We do, however, have to be reflective about our biases. By nature, humans need to be social, but according to Brook’s research, it’s the quality of the social connection that matters, not just the superficial connection.

I keep seeing these terms, ‘mindsight’; ‘theory of mind’; ‘sympathy’; ‘group IQ’ (although Brooks says it’s less about IQ than the quality of connections among the group) in most of the books I’ve read over the past couple of years. Learning how to empathize and using one’s emotions to drive one’s reasoning are extremely important skills to grow.

Early in his talk, Brooks mentions what many of my colleagues and I have said: we can build a fancy school building (and we did), but it’s the connections we make and the values we share with each other, the parents, and kids that make a great school. I’m lucky as we’ve got that too.

It’s been an exceptional year of TED talks and I highly recommend this one. Will you take the 18 minutes to watch it?

Pressure Cookers are Designed for Food, not Kids

Posted on January 25, 2011 by amcgrann

I just returned from a screening of the documentary film Race to Nowhere. If you didn’t get a chance to see it, I would recommend any teacher, parent, administrator, school policy maker, and high school student to see it. This link shows where the nearest screenings are in your area. It’d be great if our school were able to host a screening for parents, teachers, and anyone in our community who wished to view it. There’s a link on that page to request a community screening.

In this country, starting in the 80s with Nation At Risk, followed in the 2000s by No Child Left Behind, the pressure for all kids to perform at high levels on tests in order to get into colleges has had an adverse effect on our students health and their ability to think critically, find and solve problems, and work well together. After a seven hour day of school and three to four hours of extra curricular activities, should our kids then tackle five to six hours of homework each night? Many of the examples were those of middle and high school students, but it was painful to watch a family end what was probably already a taxing day arguing about homework. The film reiterated what I’ve read and tried to advocate at my school, that there is no evidence linking homework in elementary school to achievement. The correlation begins in middle school, but after an hour of homework, the correlation disappears. By high school the correlation becomes stronger, but again, after two hours of homework, the correlation drops off significantly.

Many of the AP tests don’t test for critical thinking skills, but rather for a bulk of content. One teacher mentioned there is too much content to realistically learn, so they speed it up. The results are kids relying on cramming and cheating. Sadly, there is an increase in all kinds of stress related disorders with the extreme being an increase in teen suicide. It’s hard enough to be a teenager. It was extremely sad to see a parent discuss the suicide of her 13 year-old daughter over a letter grade (the letter grade was a B).

Something I struggled with was watching a teacher who, through her words and tears, was passionate about teaching and cared deeply about her students, However, through the bureaucracy of the system, she couldn’t take it anymore and decided to resign. There are already too few passionate teachers that care so much about what they do. Yet the system is so broken that it makes them leave the profession.

What I liked about this film is that it showed many of the same kinds of pressures that kids face today to compete for a place in a ‘decent’ college regardless whether they came from an impoverished low-socio economic to wealthy suburban or private schools. The pressures trickle down from policy maker to school principal to teacher and to student. Not everyone needs to go to an Ivy league school, yet for many, they felt that it was the only choice if they wanted to be successful. What does being successful really mean anyway? The movie mentioned that in Singapore, they offer the top 20% of the graduating class free college tuition – and a stipend – to go into the teaching profession. Here we have to go an extra year and pay for it on our own just to get the basic credentials.

Schools differ in many ways and whether a specialized public charter school or an independent one, the film makes a great case for reducing the stress on kids. Some want to extend the school day, take away recess, art, in order to cram more content into their brain. I can still remember the quadratic equation and know what to use it for, but I’ve NEVER used it since learning it in high school. Some other things, like the chemical structure of amino acids, I have completely forgotten. Are either of those things useful to me today? Did they in some way help me think in different ways? Perhaps. Or maybe I was just figured out what was going to be on the test. If that’s the case, that’s not learning. Why bother teaching if you’re just going to follow a script.

It made me think of this list from Tony Wagner’s book The Global Achievement Gap. He listed seven essential skills all people need to learn:

Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving
Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence
Agility and Adaptability
Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
Effective Oral and Written Communication
Accessing and Analyzing Information
Curiosity and Imagination.

Are those things nurtured, taught, and fostered in schools? Are they tested?

The movie calls on all stakeholders to be brave and do what they care about, say what they believe in, and take the risk when what that is may break the rules, go against policy, or even seem radical to some. If your heart is in it, and you’re doing it for the students’ benefit (and for me, stays true to the school’s mission), then it’s worth that risk. Those with the power to make decisions shouldn’t expect their employees to interact with students a certain way until they model what that looks like and treat their teachers the same way.

Below are a few related videos including the film’s trailer, and a round panel from Stanford discussing the issues.

If you watch the latter, you will hear that students in Finland (who are one of the countries that consistently produce top scores) are involved in project based learning, and have their social and emotional needs honored. They don’t ‘cover’ content. Here are some interesting links.

Edutopia

Fair Test

NYTimes article about this film.

This screening was the first in a series of three parts hosted by Seattle University. I really liked what the Dean of Education said when introducing the film. The next in the series is the screening of the film “Waiting for Superman” – I can’t wait.

“I Believe We Can Be Better.”

Posted on January 12, 2011 by amcgrann

How many books about differentiation can Carol Ann Tomlinson write. Here is a list:

The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of all Learners (1999)
Leadership for Differentiating Schools and Classrooms
How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-ability Classrooms (2001)
Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom (2004)
Differentiation in Practice: A Resource Guide for Differentiated Curriculum (grades K-5/5-9)
Tomlinson, C.& Edison, C. (2003)
Differentiation in Practice: A Resource Guide for Differentiated Curriculum (grades K-5/5-9)
Tomlinson, C.& Edison, C. (2003)
Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design: Connecting Contents and Kid
The Differentiated School: Making Revolutionary Changes in Teaching and Learning (2008)

Well – she’s got a new one out called: Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom. At first I rolled my eyes and thought seriously, another one?

Differentiation continues to be a big buzz word in education these days and truly, you can go back to the title of her first book and see that differentiation is simply ‘responding to the needs of all learners.’ Those needs are going to vary a lot among students and change from year to year. Being able to adapt to your students’ learning needs is the essence of differentiation. Those of use who realize this, get it. Now what more could she possibly add. But then I opened the book and read the preface which began with this quote:

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. — Louisa May Alcott

For some reason, that resonated with me. It had “Growth Mindset” written all over it. The author then began to tell a story. An autobiographical account of her epiphanies (many which she didn’t even realize until much later in her career) regarding differentiated instruction. Some she realized on the spot. “… I understood at that moment that an effective teacher is not someone who just teaches content. He or she is someone who teaches content to human beings, and the classroom has to work in such a way that each individual in it has a legitimate opportunity to grow as much as possible from his or her starting point.” Classroom management is not about keeping kids in their seats but about giving good directions, providing an engaging curriculum, and adapting to individual and group needs. She ends the preface by saying that the book is an aspirational guide. “We have no illusions that any teacher — even the best among us — reads a book and emerges with radiclly different teaching style in tow. We do believe, however, that there are many teachers who aspire to grow as professionals every day.” And that was just in the preface.

Then, in chapter one she calls on classroom teachers to be leaders for change, and she says in order “to achieve such a level of leadership we must

Work from and aspire to an objective that is an improvement over the status quo.
Articulate this vision so that those who are asked to follow have a compelling reason to do so.
Move knowledgeably toward this vision while simultaneously attending to the voices and needs of those who will necessarily help enact it.
Be patient with and supportive of followers, yet impatient with artificial barriers to progress (I was so glad to see this as this describes me quite well – I thought my impatience with those barriers was a flaw. Woo Hoo! Carol Anne Tomlinson says it’s ok to be impatient with certain things).
Maintain a pace that consistently ensures visible progress without pushing the system beyond it’s capacity to change. (Well here’s where I could learn something – As a wise colleague once said to me, “It’s a marathon and you can’t sprint the entire race.”)
Monitor outcomes of the change and be willing to adapt, when necessary to achieve desirable outcomes and eliminate undesirable outcomes.

The rest of the book helps define what differentiation really is, uses it as a philosophy, clears up many misunderstandings about differentiation, discusses how to be a more reflective teacher, and how to begin that journey. The second half of the book focuses on the mechanics of managing an effective differentiated classroom. There are some excellent ideas posed. She then ends by responding to almost every possible resistance in order to go on this journey.

Perahaps that earlier quote resonated with me because earlier I was reading the president’s speech regarding the recent tragedy in Tucson. His words were simpler, but echoed the earlier quote of Louisa May Alcott. He said, “I believe we can be better.”

Maybe Carol Ann Tomlinson did have more to add on differentiation. Teachers can learn to differentiate well, adapt to the needs of their students, and continue to grow.

Looking Back at Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Posted on November 17, 2010 by amcgrann

It’s funny how Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences seemed like a ground breaking discovery at the time in the early eighties when his first book Frames of Mind came out. Now, I think most people take it for granted. Anyone who works with kids can tell you that they are unique and that their brains are all wired differently. they also all have different strengths and challenges. Because of this instruction needs to be tailored to the students’ needs.

While reading a couple of articles on Edutopia, one of my favorite education sites, they featured a look back at Gardner’s theory. You can read the article here. One thing I found very interesting was that his interview, taken in 1997 focused on the following which still feel very relevant today:

On the importance of engaging students actively in what they are studying.

On the characteristics of student-directed learning.

On the theory of multiple intelligences.

On technology and multiple intelligences.

On the need for fundamental change in the curriculum.

On how assessment in school differs from assessment in other arenas such as sports or music.

On the need for a new approach to assessment in schools.

On what needs to happen in order that long-standing change occurs in public education.

Those topics above were the main focus of his interview. What I wrote in red above really resonates with me even today. Students need to like what they are doing. They have to be motivated and engaged. Providing them with some autonomy is not a bad thing, it gives them a drive to do something interesting. I also truly believe that technology has the potential to increase student achievement, but it has to be done correctly. How many times have you sat through a presentation where someone just reads the bullet points off their slide? That’s not effective use of technology. If it doesn’t enhance your objective don’t use it. But often there are many ways in which technology does. Also, the curricula needs to change to some degree. When I first started teaching, there was little time to stop and work on social-emotional skills, for example. There’s no way to teach every objective written in the standards of every discipline without finding ways to integrate. Finally, assessments need to be mostly formative: simply a snapshot of where that child is. That information should be used to then inform you how you teach that child. I think that holds true with teacher evaluations, rather than the assessment be summative, it should be formative and used for opportunities of growth.

Below is the interview, and if you want to take a quick test to see your own learning style, you can click here. It doesn’t surprise me that intrapersonal learning is my strongest style and kinesthetic is my weakest. Years ago I sort of wrote his theory off as something that was simply obvious, but it’s good to reflect on the past sometimes as I think I learned something this time around. This reflection on our practice will help us attend to the needs of our kids more.

A Few More Web Tools

Posted on November 16, 2010 by amcgrann

Tech resources abound on the internet and like the presentation site Prezi, I highlighted the other day. I tried a new web-based presentation site called sliderocket.

Technology is a tricky thing as you have to take a chance and try it out and the learning curve can be steep for some things, but eventually it only takes minutes and the results can be quite good. Sometimes, it’s best to abandon the idea altogether with some sites. It’s hard to sift through all the stuff that’s out there (some for free), but if one takes the time, it’s amazing what one can find out there.

I was able to create a few slides using this website for the first time in about 30 minutes for a Second Step lesson on Peer Pressure. The curriculum would have you read the script from the back of a card with a fairly dull black and white photograph. One of the things I’ve been trying to do is make it a little more appealing to the kids.

You can click here to view the presentation. I don’t know if I’ll use it again, but it’s better than powerpoint 2003.

Here are some other great web resources for teachers.

wikispaces It’s a great way to create a group that can share what they’re learning in multiple ways. It’s a little tricky with 2nd graders, but I’m thinking of possibly having them share what they’re reading and write short book reviews. This of course can all be moderated by the teacher as well. Wikispaces would be a great site for an organization too to communicate and collaborate through various projects. And it’s very easy to use and learn.

Dabbleboard is a great online collaboration tool that allows users to use drawings as well as text to communicate their ideas.

Of course Microsoft and Google have their free Apps for Schools program that are both great (especially for kids and allowing their files to be stored in the cloud).

The list keeps growing as tech tools continue to proliferate on the web. Which ones will last and which are fads are hard to tell. But you need to try and play and some of these things will enhance your lesson significantly. Again, if it doesn’t enhance your lesson, engage your kids, or meet your objectives, don’t use the technology. Know your students and they will easily guide you as to their needs.

Image taken from an Australian news site The Age

One Way to Differentiate and Spiral Several Math Concepts

Posted on November 3, 2010 by amcgrann

It’s rare Seattle reaches 65 degrees in November, and on this beautiful fall day, the children went and harvested beans from a nearby garden. They worked in teams of 4 and 5, had different jobs and had to agree upon them before we left.

When they returned they did some estimating (how many beans in the pod), and began to measure the length of each bean. And some groups began to graph the length of their beans. Reviewing how to use a ruler, asking what is the difference between cm and inches and how do you know, creating a graph, as well as what a key tells us on a graph were some of the objectives laid out for them.

Tomorrow, they will continue by finishing their graphs and begin to weigh the beans they harvested. Again, they will get an opportunity to graph these beans by their weight. They will also use their graphs to generate word problems. Some will need templates, other children will be able to come up with very sophisticated problems that I probably would have never thought of myself. That’s the fun thing about open ended math activities.

Furthermore, we will tie it in with the story of the bean farmer and how the Pike Place Market started in 1907. We will also take the pods and compost them in our school garden’s compost that we started this year. If time permits, a story about Jack and Beanstalk should be included too, as the 2nd graders work on fractured fairy tales later in the year. Fairy tales are hard to fracture if you’ve never heard the original.

Next week the beans will be cooked and the children will follow a recipe (a little more measurement here too) to make bean dip, learn a little bit about nutrition, trying something delicious, and have a fun time doing it.

These are the kinds of lessons that are so important in elementary school so that math, language arts, social studies, science, etc. is not taught in a vacuum. Yes, they will need foundational skills to measure length and weight, and some may need more direct instruction for some at remembering how to create a bar graph. Whatever the skill, it’s important to assess how the kids are doing by getting right in there and using that assessment to guide your teaching so that, like the beans, the children can grow.

Some people think of spiraling as 10 questions at the bottom of a work page that asks questions that may include items one needs to review. The activity above has that all built in, but there are more places to differentiate in an activity like the one above.

Here are some examples how one can differentiate just through questioning:

How long was your longest bean? Use your graph.

If you put all the beans your team harvested end to end, what would the total length be?

If your team managed to harvest 3 times the amount you did, how many bean pods would you have?

Make up your own question using the words total, weight, and graph.

Multiple Perspectives

Posted on October 23, 2010 by amcgrann

I had the fortune to visit the Museé National Picasso in Paris years ago and perhaps aside from the Museé D’Orsay, it was by far my favorite museum. For a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was in a house and very intimate compared to the immense Louvre or Pompidou, and secondly, because it contained works from his own collection that he never sold, works that were personal to him. Also, these works spanned all the different periods this one artist had. Without a doubt, he was an innovator.

Well, as the museum in Paris undergoes some construction, Seattle, is one of the few cities that is showcasing this work and we are fortunate to take our kids to the exhibit in January. The SAM is an excellent resource for educators and they have put together a great website full of great resources including audio guides as well.

Today, there was a workshop for educators which included several activities, a tour of the exhibit, and learning how to integrate art into your curriculum. The Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art and Curator of European Painting and Sculpture, Chiyo Ishikawa provided a lecture on the man’s life and periods as well. I like hearing her speak about art at anytime.

I have to say that the education department at the Seattle Art Museum is excellent, as I didn’t just learn about the art and artist, but they also teach it using different strategies that one can bring back into the classroom easily.

It was a very different experience seeing the same work on large white walls, but I still was in awe of his constant pursuit of something new. When asked, how does this relate to your curriculum? The evidence was everywhere.

Relationships – besides his many female companions and muses, Picasso entered his blue period in part because of the suicide of a very close friend. This plays directly into our social and emotional curriculum. One teacher from another school, told my colleague, “You teach Second Step? – well use some of his images to elicit empathy from your kids.”

Identity and expressing oneself – we ask kids each day to look at themsleves and look at the differences that make them unique. What are their strengths? What are things they need/want to work on? An artist, writer, musician, or dancer, etc. often puts a lot of his or her emotions into their work and then displays it for all to see. Picasso was also moved to make political statements and his response to the German and Italian bombings of Guernica, his piece of the same name (not in this exhibit, but in Madrid), is a fine example of political and expressive art.

Growth mindsets – although Picasso was an art prodigy, he resisted the status quo and pushed himself to pursue what he believed in. He pursued excellence and worked hard. While he died a very rich man, he was not always so, and as studies suggest, effort more than ability, is what matters – and kids need to be praised for their efforts.

Innovation – This one is obvious. But innovators often go against the status quo, and it did not deter him from trying new things.

Those are just the big ideas, but the there were plenty of day to day curricular extensions. Social Studies, Science, Math and Language arts were the focus. I was with a group of lower elementary teachers whose task it was to create a math activity using one of his works. Geometry was an easy choice, but we picked a piece called Sacre Couer (which you can view here – due to strict copyright laws, they asked us to save certain images for class use and then view it online otherwise). We were given this lesson plan from the museum as a guide. We focused on the main objective being that kids would learn about 2D and 3D plane and solid shapes and how to do that on a flat surface. What struck me is that as some of use talked about using other global landmarks, or their own community landmarks to deconstruct, and started to think about some of the bigger ideas and concepts of critical thinking, problem solving, innovation, how to get kids working collaboratively, etc. a few teachers were very emphatic that those things didn’t get tested and therefore were not important. Their school would either be rewarded or punished if their kids did not perform well on a test. This sent shivers down my spine as I feel very strongly that skills beyond the basic recall of information, but that is the reality that some schools face. The museum even included a copy of the Global Competence Matrix in our package. You should check it out. It’s well worth it.

Anyway, the results from all the different groups produced some good lessons that were all adaptable and covered a wide range. One group who were high school teachers took a quote from Picasso, “Art is not made to decorate rooms. It is an offensive weapon in the defense against the enemy,” and used it as a way for kids to use art to make a statement. That same kind of thing could be done with younger kids and how it relates to bullying, for example.

My favorite quote was, “Painting is stronger than me. It makes me do what it wants.” I’d turn that around and ask can teaching be stronger than you? For me, the answer is yes. There are some days where the best laid plans go out the window and you try something new because your students are craving it and they couldn’t care less what was in your plan.

The theme of the day was multiple perspectives. Whether that is what you think of when you think of Picasso’s work, look at art in a mathematical way, or have personal and cultural perspectives of individuals influence a collaborative effort, Picasso can teach us and our students a lot. I have never seen the museum so busy before and am glad that this exhibit is a great success.

I’m looking forward to our field trip there in January.

Children Will Listen

Posted on October 17, 2010 by amcgrann

Earlier this week I went to a play called God of Carnage. Having won the Oliver in London for Best Comedy and the Tony for Best Play in 2009. I don’t know if it’s because bullying is such an important topic right now, but the play, even though it was a dark comedy, left little for me to laugh at.

I’m about to give away the premise of the play, so stop reading if you intend to see it.

It’s starts out with two couples who have gathered at one of the couple’s home to talk and resolve a conflict about one of the boys bullying the other. What happens over the course of the evening (a 90 minute one-act with no intermission) is that the adults end up bullying each other (including their own spouses) and devolve into child-like behavior themselves.

It reminds me of a song from South Pacific called “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught.”

Short and simple, but very powerful the lyrics (written by Hammerstein over 50 years ago) are as follows:

You’ve got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You’ve got to be taught
From year to year,
It’s got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff’rent shade,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You’ve got to be carefully taught!

I also happened to stumble across a post by a parent at my school who wrote about a personal story about what parents/teachers/adults teach our own kids. You can read it here at her website.

Schools cannot necessarily undo everything, but they can work at creating a climate of safety and make learning spaces ones where ALL children feel they are welcome, belong, and add value.

If you’re unfamiliar with the song, here’s a video of Mandy Patinkin recording it.

Being Welcome into Another’s Home

Posted on October 17, 2010 by amcgrann

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending my very first Bar Mitzfah, a former student of mine. Without ever stepping inside a temple before, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. And if you try to search the internet and do a little research, the variety is almost endless.

I think it’s a great growing experience to step outside ones familiar surroundings, and I think it varies what each person learns.

Detail of a window at the Temple Di Hirsch Sanai in Seattle

First, my anxiety was eased by a feeling of welcome. There was never a feeling of ‘you’re not one of us’. The synagog/temple was stunningly beautiful and did not look too different from some of the Catholic churches I grew up with.

Second, the ceremony was clearly a rite of passage steeped in thousands of years of tradition, and one that obviously involved a lot of preparation on the part of a 13-year-old.

What I really noticed was that all the passages and readings from the Torah (even if you took out the religious references) were ones that any human could relate to. Having faith in oneself to take risks, make good choices, and learn from mistakes were a common theme. Another message was that we strive to do good with the intention to leave the world a better place than how we found it. Yet, we are human and will sometimes make mistakes. In essence – we learn.

I was really touched throughout the ceremony, but mostly because I was very proud of my former student’s success and his mom’s as well.

Finally, the reason this experience is appearing here on this blog is because it reminds me of the importance of the tenets of multicultural and diversity education. Whether that diversity is in religious beliefs, culture, orientation, political ideology, the most important thing is to ensure a feeling of belonging. Today I was a little worried that I was going to be an outsider peering in, but I felt welcomed instantly.

Our schools, classrooms, and curriculum need to be places where everyone feels like they belong. The act of learning itself, from taking risks and making mistakes, or wanting to work to make this world a better place for future generations, are values that cross cultures and beliefs. The more we explore differences, it’s not surprising that we often find many similarities.

CS and MS thanks for always being so welcoming and including me in your special day. It was wonderful and I enjoyed every minute of it. You both should be very proud.

Shabbat Shalom!

Targeted Learning

Posted on October 10, 2010 by amcgrann

This weekend’s trip to Portland for the PNAIS conference was really good and validating to much of what we do at our school.

I was reading several articles from this month’s Ed. Leadership issue which focuses on ‘intervention’. There were several articles about RTI (Response To Intervention). Sadly, many schools use RTI to boost test scores and support only students on the bubble, or they see it as something mandated that is just added work. We need to support all students (whether they are high achieving already, or severely lagging behind) and make sure that they are receiving targeted instruction. At my school, we haven’t called it RTI, but we have been trying to target instruction or personalize it, as Yong Zhao suggested, for quite a while. There are some things that work with all children, and some children may need more help in one area and/or be given more challenging and meaningful work in another.

There are many who criticize rote learning, but it depends on what you’re learning. Author of Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina said that rote learning was crucial had a great metaphor in his talk this weekend. Think of a Jazz musician. He is going to have to have that circle of fifths memorized somewhere (learned by rote) before he can improvise upon it. This is the same with math facts, or knowing your vowels. Memorizing the capital city of every single country or all the major dates in French history may fun for some kids, but it won’t necessarily boost their performance in history or geography. Perhaps if you were going to be the Secretary of State or majoring in French history, those cities or dates would be very handy, but do elementary school children need to know this? We need to nurture both rote learning and improvisation. We need kids not only to be able to read and do basic arithmetic, but also who can dream, innovate, and be motivated intrinsically.

Medina also discussed how brains are all wired differently, and that sometimes there are gaps in a student’s learning. It is part of our job to discover those gaps, or make the students aware of those gaps, so that their instruction can be targeted or personalized. Whether those gaps are a math skill or an executive skill, learning about your student is key to their learning.

Finally, there was a session about mean girls, and there were a lot of great things offered by the presenter, Michelle Anthony (author of the book, Little Girls Can be Mean: Four Steps to Bully-Proof Girls in the Early Grades) that we are already doing at our school. Some of those things included teaching kids to differentiate between tattling and reporting, asking and validating kids when they come to a grown-up for help rather than dismissing it, and most importantly taking action. If we want kids to avoid being bystanders, the grown-ups can’t be bystanders as well.

Does that mean we can’t keep growing and improving? Of course not. There are still many areas in which we as a school can grow – perhaps a few gaps here and there – as all schools have their own areas of growth. I guess we need to be able to identify our own gaps, like we are doing with our social-emotional learning curriculum this year, and target our own instruction. We also need teachers and administrators who not only know their stuff, but can dream, innovate, and be motivated intrinsically.

Boys will be Boys…

Posted on October 2, 2010 by amcgrann

… or does this attitude perpetuate bullying? We have to be careful what those things are. With girls, it can be more subtle, but just as powerful. There is a huge difference between a little rough housing and purposefully picking on someone.

The story out of Rutgers this week is a tragic and pointless one, both for the victim and the perpetrators, and who knows if it could have been prevented. Nonetheless, it’s important to try.

Kids need adults to step in and stop anything that doesn’t look right. We have to help both the victims and the agressors.

At our school, from pre-K to 2nd we use the Committee for Children’s “Second Step” program, and from 3rd to 5th, their “Steps to Respect” program. Besides empathy training, impulse control and problem solving, and anger management, it also focuses on affirming, asking, assessing, and acting. That final piece is one that is crucial. Words are empty, if we don’t act. If we are to train our kids not be bystanders, we as parents and teachers also need to stop being bystanders.

It’s never too early to teach a kid empathy and how to be accepting. The classroom or school climate is one where every kid has to feel valued rather than isolated.

Below, Ellen Degeneres’s comments are touching and moving, but mostly an important public service announcement.

Last week I was at a fundraiser for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and although the Senator’s speech was great, and the main guest speaker’s talk was fun, it was the speech from a female minister of an accepting Christian church that talked about how children come to her door because their own families have shunned them. Many never find a resource and end their lives. You would think that doesn’t happen today, but it does.

A coworker brought to my attention some of the work the HRC is doing to help stop this cycle in schools. The resource is called “Welcoming Schools“.

It is not surprising that two of the journals I read have articles on cyberbullying in their first issue of the school year. Let’s not be bystanders and stop the senseless cycle.

Click here for an article from Instructor

Click here for an article in Teaching Tolerance.

August is Here …

Posted on August 3, 2010 by amcgrann

… which means my back to school panic mode has begun to set in. For those who don’t work in fields where they get their summer’s mostly off, every summer – just when you think that the slow pace of the long days is really the way we should live, the reminder that Labor Day is right around the corner comes as a bit of a jolt. The summer letters written to welcome the new class was due, meetings among faculty (not for social reasons) are starting to happen, my work email inbox is getting a little fuller, and I received my school’s Spring/Summer update. The latter reminded me that I’ll be moving to a brand new classroom in a building that will focus on sustainability. One of the key features will be that each grade will have its own raised garden bed to tend to each year. What do I know about gardening? First of all, I suppose I will have to build in time to the schedule so that the children can plant, water, fertilize (naturally, of course), create garden signage or art, learn about where food comes from, insects and animals, native and sustainable plants, just to name a few. Then of course, we would make sure to link and integrate math, reading and writing while we’re at it.

I borrowed this great book from the public library (but to be honest, it’s a little overwhelming for someone who only just learned how to prune roses – thanks, Susan!) called How To Grow A School Garden: A Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers. Blogging about it will force me to read and learn.

At least the first few chapters are straightforward.

Ch. 1 Why School Gardens?

They enhance academic achievement
They promote healthy lifestyles
They instill an environmental stewardship ethic
They encourage community and social development
They instill a sense of space

You can’t really argue with those, can you?

Ch. 2 Laying the Groundwork

Luckily, our lower school math teacher is also a master gardner and many of my co-teachers have the expertise to get us novices started. Those who were most interested, parents and teachers alike were consulted, and with a new school being built, I’m assuming that the garden will magically just appear at some point. And this chapter mentions the issue of funding (many thanks to our generous community who is supporting this and our development admin team).

Ch. 3 Getting the Most from Your Site

Who’s going to use it?
Who’s going to manage it?
Will there be a tool shed?
Will that shed contain clipboards, writing materials, gardening supplies, etc.
Can that shed double as a teaching area?
Are the pathways inviting for little ones?

Well that was also taken care of by the garden committee and architects, so again, my fingers are crossed.

Ch. 4. Groundbreaking, Budgeting, and Fundraising

I have always found fundraising a great “real world” way to involve kids, but since we are an entire school that tries to raise funds each year, fundraising as a class activity has been frowned upon. If you think of the math involved, the publicity and outreach, and the positive social learning, it can be a great learning opportunity.

The next part of the book is where I will be learning a lot. It focuses on curricular activities and ideas, including garden maintenance once you’ve got the garden going. There are some great web resources available too that I’ve stumbled upon:

Building Bridges

Posted on June 25, 2010 by amcgrann

This weekend Seattle celebrates gay pride. Like many cities in this country, the weekend in June is chosen to commemorate the Stonewall Riots which were a series of protests and demonstrations against a police raid that took place on June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. It is considered by many to be the catalyst that began the gay rights movement in the U.S.

Whenever a minority group is marginalized because of laws, it takes several brave souls to step forward and make their voice heard. I think about Susan B. Anthony and others in the women’s suffrage movement who never got to live to see the day women got to vote, or Martin Luther King Jr. who didn’t get a chance to witness Barack Obama’s inauguration. With any of these movements, it also takes the building of allies and learning that we are all better because of our differences. Men supported the suffrage movement, for example. My first reaction a few weeks ago to the news that Elton John had performed at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding was to be incredulous, but if finding common ground moves us all forward, then kudos to both of them.

What does this mean for educators? It means that we cannot be bystanders to name calling, bullying, or taunting for whatever reason. When kids single other kids out for being different, teachers need to stop and use that opportunity as a ‘teachable moment’, singling out the behavior. It means teaching kids to care enough to recognize whether they or their peers are treated fairly. Also, multicultural education and social/emotional education needs to be woven into our curricula. Of course, what this looks like for a 2nd grader will look very different to what it might look like for a 9th grader.

There are many organizations with rich resources to help educators and families. Here are a few:

Teaching Tolerance (a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center)

GLSEN (The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) – the group behind Gay Straight Alliances in high schools (by the way, this was a straight person’s idea)

Amercian Civil Liberties Union

Rethinking Schools

PFLAG (Parents, Families, Friends, or Lesbians and Gays)

Personally, I’d like to thank those in 1969 who stood up and began to speak out. My life may have been very different without them. I would also like to thank all my straight allies as well, without whom progress towards equality would be much slower. There are many other groups all over this country and the world who have it much worse. Let’s teach all our kids to build alliances. Happy Pride!