Yardsticks

VOICES IN THE WILDERNESS

Chip — 2010-01-08T10:31:05-05:00

If you work in the field of education, you may share the same troubling mental image I have as we enter the new decade and ponder the future of our children.

I see the beginning of a national marathon with teachers, administrators and state education officials all crowded at the starting line. There’s a giant banner over our heads. “RACE TO THE TOP,” it says. There are cash prizes to the winners of this race. The Secretary of Education has the starter gun in his hand. The President will make an appearance at the finish line in a large high school gymnasium filled with adoring students, parents, and teachers.

Many politicians and national educational experts think this is the race we must run to be the best educational system in the world. Governors, college presidents, educational researchers, economists are all in the grandstands, cheering. Some will even pass out water bottles and serve at check points along the marathon route. But those of us who continue to teach every day, or lead a school or school system, will be the ones who will actually run this race…along with our students, actually. It’s not a fair contest, particularly for those students, schools and districts that start the race at a distinct disadvantage.

Way back in 1964, civil rights leader Whitney Young, writing of the “discrimination gap” in his book To Be Equal (out of print; try your library or used book dealer), used a similar foot race analogy to state the obvious:

The situation is much like that of two men running the mile in a track meet. One is well-equipped, wears track shoes and runs on cinders. The other is barefoot and runs in sand. Seeing that one runner is out-distancing the other with ease, you then put track shoes on the second fellow and place him on the cinder track also. Seconds later it should surprise no one to see that the second runner is still yards behind and will never catch up unless something else is done to even the contest.

An achievement gap is certainly real in education. But under-resourced public schools cannnot close this gap for their students by being given a new pair of track shoes and then being asked to catch up. “Something else” must be done. Young called for a “domestic “Marshall Plan” in the sixties that was partially realized in President Johnson’s “Great Society” legislation. A similar moral and financial resolve is needed (at the level approaching that used to bail out the banking industry) if we are serious about equal educational opportunity for our neediest students. Focusing on our country being behind in a perceived global competition by raising standards, testing students more often, and closing failing schools is not the way to close our domestic achievement gap.

As “Race to the Top” draws near, I urge you to take the time to listen to a prophetic voice urging the President. the Secretary of Education, and all national policy makers to think carefully about the unintended consequences of running this race. Yong Zhao is a distinguished professor of education at Michigan State University and author of Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization. If you can’t get to the book right away, please read “Over the Top: Six Tips for Winning ‘Race to the Top’ Money,” in Education Week or read Zhao’s recent interview with Kappan.

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HUNTERS AND GATHERERS

Chip — 2009-12-22T10:50:47-05:00

A recent article in our local paper referenced a study from Brunel University in West London, England, released in 2005, that studied the shopping behaviors of men and women in some 14 different countries. It appears that what we may have all observed or experienced during this holiday shopping season does, in fact, mirror the ancient roles of male hunters and female gatherers. Women like to take their time, searching the choices carefully, looking for bargains and taking in all the nuances of the environment as they gather up the best deals. Men, on the other hand, spend as little time as possible on their shopping hunt. They’re on a mission. They move in swiftly for what is usually a single purchase, then get out of the store as quickly as possible.

This got me to thinking about my observations of our two grandchildren, Isaiah, the ten year old “hunter” and Lily, the five year old “gatherer.” It seems to me there is something to certain genetic predispositions being carried by gender, despite our clear intentions as parents and grandparents to “level the gender playing field.”

Before he was five, Isaiah knew how to make gun sound effects, use a stick as a sword or pistol, and talk like a pirate. Lily has happily focused on collections of fairies, baskets of flowers, household odds-and-ends, first writings of shopping lists and menus, and gathering friends, real and imaginary.

Even in the holiday shopping department, the trends do seem to begin early. Lily was delighted to construct her presents, gathered from her craft supplies…a bag for her Nana with her glue-down glitter, hand-lettered name splashed across it; a T-shirt with similar design elements for her other grandmother with her name on the front and angel wings ironed on the back—a good afternoon’s project with her mom. For Isaiah, one-stop shopping in the local farm store, with quick (and thoughtful) selections for all his family members, except for the grandfather who took him on his “hunting expedition.” (Isaiah is currently fascinated by knives and quickly picked out one that he was sure his dad would like…Isaiah liked it a lot.)

How our children and grandchildren will carry their roles into their futures remains to be seen. My hope is that some of the stereotypical roles will give way and melt together to make stronger leaders and followers in distant tomorrows.

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“OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS”

Chip — 2009-12-14T11:40:40-05:00

Holiday traditions are developing some new wrinkles as the wrinkles of the generation that carried the torch for their forbearers become more evident with age.

Case in point—a colleague who is the principal in one of the district’s elementary schools where I now serve as curriculum director related this tale to me. She happened to be in a third grade classroom recently where the language arts activity was to work with a partner to talk and think about what you would need to take on a long road trip, say if you were going to a grandparent’s house a ways away for the holidays—“over the river and through the woods,” perhaps. She sat down with a boy and a girl who were beginning their conversation and asked them what they do when they are in the car for a long time. The boy replied that he played with his electronic, handheld game device (the digitalized name of the gadget escaped the principal).

The principal casually mentioned to the kids that when her family went on a long road trip when she was a girl they would all sing in the car. She said the look from both children was one of stunned incredulity. When asked what she did on long trips, the girl replied that she just turned on a DVD she could watch from the back seat. The principal said in her family they would play games like counting license plates to see how many states they could find or play “I Spy with My Little Eye” out the window. Same incredulous looks of disconnect.

I notice the same “keep yourself entertained” (usually with electronics) on the part of my grandchildren as well. “Are we there yet?” is predictably asked only at the end of a game or show when we happen to be in the van on a long trip. Noticing the scenery might occur if I shouted, “Look, a bear!” (which can occur in our part of the country).

On short trips we often don’t allow electronics so we can play “I Spy” and other car games, so perhaps they will choose to pass on these quaint traditions some day to their own children. (They secretly seem to love these games, though they complain about not having their digital delights.)

Perhaps you’ve noticed too, how much children have conversations about virtual reality rather than real life. Because they spend so much time in these pursuits, their conversations focus on telling each other with great enthusiasm about how many whatevers they have bombed into obliteration on level such-and-such in a game with some war-related objective. Note how quickly you tune out of this conversation because you have no common experience, but the kids can easily follow the shared story line and carry on for some time, especially if they don’t have the game with them.

As kids get older, of course, they now graduate to texting and tweeting and other forms of instant messaging. What this all portends is hard to say. The older generation, myself included, bemoans the loss of time-honored traditions, forms of communication and conversation and reflection that seem deeper and more meaningful. But then I remember my parents thinking the world was in serious trouble when television and the Beetles emerged on the scene.

One thing for sure. In America, significant relationships and family ties are more fragile and disrupted than ever before in our history. Those of us who work in schools experience the impact of this every day. Traditions are golden threads that help weave a stronger fabric of connections for children as they grow and as families change. They are worth holding onto and passing on both in our families and in our special school traditions as well.

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HOLIDAY SEASON—LILY AND ISAIAH COUNT THE DAYS

Chip — 2009-12-03T15:50:38-05:00

Opening an Advent Calendar is a tradition in our household and yesterday, December 1st, was the day to begin taking turns for 5-year-old Lily and 10-year-old Isaiah. Our family calendar consists of 24 little boxes surrounding an empty manger. Each box has a number on it and contains a little magnetic surprise—a star or lamb, camel, wise man, etc., one for each day.

Last year Lily went first and Isaiah got to be the last opener on the 24th when the baby Jesus appears and is placed in the middle of the crowded Christmas scene. This year Lily was excited to put the calendar up again and wanted to go first. I reminded her how disappointed she was last year that Isaiah got to go last and what that meant. When Isaiah saw the calendar going up, he nonchalantly said he’d take the even numbers, easily predicting the final outcome of that strategy. I said that it was Isaiah’s turn to go first this year and that we would keep switching every year.

Lily has been counting the boxes around the calendar ever since, with special attention to the even numbers (the “brown ones”) and can’t wait to wake up each morning. Unlike last year, there was no fussing between the two grandchildren about taking turns this year. This acceptance is simple evidence of two consolidating and more centered periods of development for these children at fully five and fully ten years old than at four and nine. The peacefulness also reflects the children’s deeper cognitive appreciation for ritual and tradition.

Chanukah traditions are also part of our holiday attention and appreciation with the reading of the story, eating latkes, and playing dreidel. Chanukah begins this year on December 12th, so counting days ‘til then and counting each of the eight days of the miracle and the lighting of a candle each day on a menorah adds to the numbering of days and of blessings. The first day of Chanukah will come the day before the third Sunday of Advent, also a candle-lighting day. Kwanza also follows a tradition of candle lighting, each day after Christmas for seven days, and is part of our grandchildren’s heritage.

Lily especially loves a book we’ve read often throughout the past year: Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat: A Chanukah Story by Naomi Howland a very fun melding of fairy and folk tale that’s appropriate as a read-aloud for ages 4 and up and as a reader for ages 7 and up. It tells a delightful story of caring and sharing when there's not enough to go around. It's also a cautionary tale about what can happen when people try to take advantage of a precious gift without knowing how best to take care of it. Thanks to a strong and wise heroine, all ends well, and a Chanukah feast ensues.

Enjoy with your children and grandchildren whatever holiday traditions you will be engaged in this month, and may blessings of peace and light prevail.

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THE THANK YOU CIRCLE

Chip — 2009-11-24T09:06:00-05:00

An activity I always enjoyed facilitating in my classrooms as a teacher was the “Thank You” Circle. As a principal, I also led these circles with teachers and staff at staff meetings. The activity comes to mind in this season of thanksgiving.

We often appreciate what others do for us, but in our busy lives we have few opportunities to recognize or experience the accumulated power of small kindnesses. This is what the Thank You Circle makes possible.

I see my fifth grade class gathering for Morning Meeting on the rug. It’s Friday morning and it’s been a week with a mix of preadolescent drama and solid academic accomplishments. I wonder what they’ve noticed and felt about each other as they’ve worked together over the week. Thanksgiving is coming.

“This morning, after our greeting, we’re going to have a Thank You Circle,” I say. Eyes dart around the Morning Meeting circle. “Let’s begin with a silent greeting,” I whisper. The children concentrate and silently mouth “Good Morning” to someone across the circle until all have been greeted. Sometimes it’s hard to hold back a giggle, and there are lots of smiles.

“Remember with our thank you’s, “I say, breaking the delicious silence, “that this is not a time for the great big ones, like “Thank you for being the best teacher in the world” (they all laugh), or thanks for being my best friend. Remember to be specific. And we know from other thank you circles that maybe not everyone will get a thank you today, but we do appreciate everyone for their contributions in this class, and everyone who wants to gets to participate in the Thank You circle.

“I’ll go first,” Amanda says. “Thank you, Jolina, for walking with me to the office this morning.”

“You’re welcome,” Amanda responds with a smile.

“Thanks, Jermain,” for helping me on the map project. You’re a good drawer,” states Michael.

And so it goes as small, specific thank you’s pile up in the center of our circle…in our collective short-term memory…and we recognize the strength of our community, and sometimes places where we need to grow as we notice those who have not spoken or been spoken to.

In an occasional staff meeting at school, the Thank You Circle is equally powerful. It feels perhaps even more awkward for grownups at first than for the children.

“Thanks, Martha, for that cup of coffee this morning. I needed it and it was such an unexpected surprise.”

“Ken, I really appreciated your taking the time with my Phillip this morning after he came to your room to take a break.”

A professional learning community can be so much more than data teams.

Perhaps in some families the thank you exercise around the Thanksgiving table, or any meal, could be a rich dessert topping of simple appreciations.

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THE THANKFUL TREE

Chip — 2009-11-20T09:23:57-05:00

My five-year-old granddaughter Lily showed me the Thankful Tree at her preschool when I picked her up the other day, and by the time we got home she wanted to make one for her home, too. Out into the field we went with her wagon collecting a small branch, leaves, pinecones, tall grasses, an old pot, and a few rocks. We brought the treasure trove inside and Lily began decorating. Within a matter of minutes a new family tradition was born. I asked Lily what she was thankful for. With unwavering clarity she named every member of her family and extended family, including pets. That was it. We wrote these down on some paper, punched a hole in it and hung it with yarn from a branch of the Thankful Tree. I did the same for myself. My five-year-old mentor reminded me that relationships are everything. My paper had a long list of names.

If you google Thankful Tree, you’ll find there are many families who share this tradition at Thanksgiving time.

There’s so much about our children (and grandchildren and students) that we have to be thankful for, and I realized as I gazed at Lily’s tree how many times we may pass by an opportunity to let them know. I’m thankful for Lily’s smile and the way she lights up when we play together. I’m thankful for Isaiah’s sense of humor and how he makes me laugh. I’m thankful for the children in kindergarten who earnestly teach me about their story projects while also teaching me so much about how they learn. I’m thankful for one particular student’s courage to keep coming to school and for the many adults whose supports are making this possible…and then my thanksgiving turns to all the teachers and paraprofessionals and administrators I work with who give so unselfishly of their time and talent above and beyond the call of duty, to a higher calling of commitment and compassion.

Come to think of it, every classroom and teacher’s room could have a Thankful Tree just with the names of everybody in the class (or on the staff). What a nice reminder for the “thank you” we don’t want to forget. This could also extend to “Thank you Circles” in classrooms and staff meetings…another story…another blog post.

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HOPES AND DREAMS FOR PARENT—TEACHER CONFERENCES

Chip — 2009-11-06T14:38:28-05:00

Elementary school teachers using Responsive Classroom® practices take time at the beginning of the school year to have students identify their learning “hopes and dreams” for the academic year ahead. Many combine this activity with asking parents to identify one or two hopes and dreams that they have for their children in school.

The first parent—teacher conference, which often takes place in November, is an ideal time to revisit these global goals with students and parents and see if they can be narrowed a bit into more specific learning goals being covered in the curriculum.

A focused learning conference with each student before the parent—teacher conference can help every young learner first review their initial hopes and dreams and then identify the academic area they see as their strength and articulate a specific learning goal for the next few weeks. Then they can set a similar goal for an area they may be struggling with.

If a second grader’s hope and dream poster shows her working at her desk with numbers floating overhead and the words “I want to get better at math”, this area might be a strength of hers. Now she might say, “I want to learn to do harder subtraction problems.”

If a fourth grader’s hopes and dreams said, “I need to get better at spelling,” this may be a difficult skill for the child. The teacher can show him his most commonly misspelled words and the student can decide how many of these to try to master before the December break. “I am going to learn my fifteen hardest words before New Year’s Day!” might be one of their focused goals.

At the parent—teacher conference, the teacher can share the child’s focused goals with parents as they talk about the child’s work. The teacher can review the parents’ hopes and dreams and ask if they have a sense of a more focused goal for their child in this area.

For instance, if the parent’s initial goal for their child was “for her to have more friends in school,” the teacher can report on who the child seems to enjoy working or playing with at school. A natural goal for the parent might now become “to have Katie invite one of her new school friends over on a weekend.”

If teachers have not asked parents for their hopes and dreams for their children at the beginning of the school year, the parent—teacher conference is an ideal time for this exploratory conversation.

We all have big hopes and dreams, and we can move toward them by setting reasonable, short-term goals that we actually accomplish, helping us to feel stronger for having done so and helping us to accept new challenges in learning.

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PARENT PAGE

Chip — 2009-11-02T12:07:20-05:00

For the month of November, I’m reserving this particular page on the blog specifically for questions coming from parents about their children’s development, behavior, or school-related issues at any age from 4 through 14.

It’s sort of a trial balloon to see if there’s enough interest to establish a dedicated parent page on the blog—one where we could have sections for various ages or topics of special interest to parents.

Here are some concerns parents often ask about. Are any of these ones you might want to explore with me and other blog readers? Feel free to post a comment or a question and we’ll begin a dialogue!

—I’m seeing this behavior. Is this normal for this age?

—What can I do if my child is having trouble with…?

Bedtime

Homework

Friendships

Siblings

Chores

Eating

Sleeping

Technology time

Other things

—What can I do if my child is getting in trouble at school?

—What can I do if my child is bored at school?

—What can I do if …?

The more detail you can give about your situation, the more helpful the exchange is likely to be. If, however, you have a concern that needs more confidential advice, please contact your pediatrician or a school counselor or social worker. They are there to help you.

I hope this page will generate lots of useful feedback for parent readers!

After November, I’ll continue posting entries of general interest to parents, teachers, and other readers. If there are teachers out there with particular child development issues you’d like to explore, please let me know about these as well.

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PARENT AND TEACHER ALERT AND ADVANCE WARNING SYSTEM:

Chip — 2009-10-20T11:18:44-04:00

So, after a late night out Saturday, October 31^st, full of sugar and caffeine, we will dutifully try to get our children to bed Sunday night, November 1, an hour earlier as we return to the morning darkness of Daylight Savings Time and head back to school Monday, November 2. Whoever arranged these dates doesn’t have children or teach school!

The National Sleep Foundation recommends that children between the ages of 5 and 12 get 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night. At the same time, the foundation notes that children face increasing demands on their time from school (homework), sports, and other extracurricular and social activities. They also become more interested in TV, computers, the media, and the Internet as well as caffeine products (soda)—all of which can lead to trouble falling asleep as well as nightmares and other sleep disruptions. In particular, watching TV close to bedtime has been associated with bedtime resistance, trouble falling asleep, anxiety around sleep, and sleeping less.

Not surprisingly, then, children in this 5-to-12 age group often get poor or inadequate sleep, which can lead to mood swings, behavioral problems such as hyperactivity, and cognitive problems that affect children’s ability to learn in school.

SLEEP TIPS FOR SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN from the National Sleep Foundation

—Teach school-aged children about healthy sleep habits.

—Continue to emphasize the need for a regular and consistent sleep schedule and bedtime routine.

—Make child's bedroom conducive to sleep—dark, cool, and quiet.

—Keep TV and computers out of the bedroom.

—Avoid caffeine.

If you have doubts about these recommendations, read the chapter “The Lost Hour” in Nurtureshock, recently reviewed on this blog. Each year, new reports are emerging on the impact of sleep deprivation on our children’s growth and learning.

Plan-ahead parents, teachers and principals: Pass on this alert and think about making children’s bedtime 15 minutes earlier each night the week before Halloween to help adjust their internal circadian clocks. And good luck!

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“CHILDREN-FULL-OF-LIFE”

Chip — 2009-10-13T11:17:58-04:00

I want to recommend an eye- and heart-opening visit to an amazing teacher’s classroom.

You can visit Toshiro Kanamori’s fourth grade class in a primary school in Kanazawa, Japan, northwest of Tokyo, by watching a DVD called "Children-Full-of-Life." For a taste, go to YouTube to watch any of the five filmed segments. Or order the DVD from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (Because the price is high—$132—this would make a good school or grade-level purchase.)

This profound documentary was made in 2002, which means the students who are in the DVD are now approaching or have completed their secondary education. I wish we could talk with some of these students today about their experience in fourth grade.

I purchased the DVD and shared it recently with a group of principals whose work I’ve helped facilitate over the past two years. The discussion that followed drew all of us into a rich dialogue about the meaning of our work and the inner wisdom of children.

In this 45-minute DVD, we are privileged to follow the 35 children in this class and their teacher through the entire school year. We see the richness and rigor of the academic life of the classroom built through the teacher’s deep commitment to having his students not shy away from some of life’s most difficult challenges.

In an era where a laser focus on tough standards and global competition seems to be driving the educational agenda, this DVD offers a striking counterpoint for considering a more balanced view.

In the same vein, I commend ASCD for publishing the significantly revealing book: Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization by Yong Zhao. This book tells quite a different story about what is happening in the world of education that is quite different from the story the media and so many of our national education leaders would have us believe about our need to catch up to the rest of the world.

Here’s to keeping our eyes, minds, and hearts open to what many of us believe about “best practice” for our children.

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