Core of the Apple Series # 1

Accountability- a big word that holds a lot of meaning.  However, have you ever noticed that sometimes those who are screaming from the mountain tops and pointing fingers about accountability in education, are the very ones who have children in schools who don’t do homework, consider piano lessons and cub scouts more important than the actual education, and think it’s ok to bring their child to school tardy every day because “it’s just homeroom; who cares?”

BFF or PLOS

We’ve entered (a while ago actually) this age where parents are afraid to tell their kids what to do, or discipline them in any way that’s meaningful.  Even if a child does not have the emotional maturity to see the goal line (future), don’t you still want them to kick the ball in that general direction (make good choices)?  Or do you want to see it lolling around aimlessly in the stands (poor behavior, poor work ethics)?  Parents need to make a choice- either they are their child’s BFF or they are a PLOS (Parents Looking Over my Shoulder).  If parents take the time to explain the importance of good decisions, children are more likely to understand WHY parents want them to behave and interact a certain way.

Yes, teachers need to be held accountable, but what about parents?  Why is it ok for teachers to get raked across the coals because Johnny’s reading is still below grade level, yet parents aren’t “forced” to make their child read at night, follow up on daily concepts, or dish out any kind of discipline?

Ya Know What Really Grinds my Gears?  (<~~ a shameless reference to Family Guy)

When I assign a before-school detention to a student, I always contact the parents to discuss the details.  It grinds my gears (down to a fine shaving) when a parent tells me that the child can’t serve before school because they (the parents) have to be at work.  Are you kidding me?  EVERY parent has to be to work in the morning.  It is designed to be a non-school hours punishment and to inconvenience the parent so that a POINT is made at home about discipline.   Why are there no consequences for bad parenting?  Why is it ok for parents to run to district and state officials about what’s NOT working in education  when those who actually teach and know a child’s needs are penalized when a student doesn’t seem to be learning?

The Last Bite of the Apple to Take Away

A decade ago the problem with student achievement was not in this sad of a state.  What has changed?  ~Teachers quit teaching what matters in an engaging and effect manner?  No.  ~Students have become dumber?  No way.  I’ll tell you what a major chunk of it is: Parents have gotten busier and then in turn, lazier; yet, parents expect more and more from education in general and less of themselves.

Until government agencies realize that there is a lot more to educating a child than what takes place in the brick and mortar classrooms, then true assessment and evaluation is a lopsided formula.

What do you think?  Am I way off base or am I striking a chord of truth that many people don’t want to admit…?

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Don’t let 2012 be the year that consumes you-again.

1.  Stop worrying about what you cannot change; my momma always taught me that worrying is a useless emotion.  Is pay-for-performance coming soon in your district?  Yes, you say?  Can you change that?  No.  So stop worrying about it.  Make a plan of action on how you will succeed instead!

2.  Stop staying after school so late.  I learned a long time ago that I don’t necessarily feel that much better about the workload being done the next day.  Instead, I feel better when I get out of work, get some fresh air, and do things related to my personal life.  Too many teachers make school their life and that is not a good thing.  That doesn’t make you seem any more dedicated or honorable.  It makes you tired and more likely to catch the next bug going around!   Here’s another thought on this topic:  maybe it’s time to look at your organization and/or time management skills and see where you can improve getting tasks accomplished in shorter time frames…

3.  Stop fighting with those students:  The ones who must have the last word, the ones who pick a fight with every teacher in the building; the ones who admin. has a soft spot for and no one else can figure out why.  Just stop.  We know we must pick our battles, but many of us forget this.  It’s a new year and time to remember it.

4.  Stop being a pain in the a$$:  You know it if it’s you.  Are you the one constantly in the principal’s office sounding off the latest injustice you just saw in the cafeteria?  Are you the one constantly complaining about the dirty coffee pot in the lounge?  Are you that teacher who nit-picks at students in the hallways-all the time?  (Their dress code, the paper they just dropped, etc.)  Well, stop it!  Again, I refer you to # 3-choose your battles.

5.  Stop doing someone else’s workload.  I don’t mean helping someone out once in a while.  I actually find myself helping many people several times a week, but just not the same people.  (I’m nice like that! haha) Sometimes as teachers, we can become close with people who are great friends, but crappy co-workers.  I decided those two can’t go hand in hand.  If I am your friend it is because I respect you and because you respect your job enough to do it well.  Don’t pawn things off on me because you think we’re “friends” and I can just pick up your slack.  Now, if someone offers, that’s different though!   (-Ever notice how those with awesome time management skills get picked to “help” with everything because those people don’t ever really seem busy?)

6.  Stop being an annoying teacher-parent:  Teachers tend to cringe when they know they will be have a fellow teacher’s kid in one of their classes.  Why?  -Because some teacher parents expect favors, privileges, and “insider secrets” for their kid because they’re a colleague.  First of all, that’s unprofessional.  Second of all, your child is not the next protégé for educational greatness or for the next gifted poster.  As cute and well-mannered as they might be, I assure you they are probably just as normal and as special as the next kid.  I have two elementary children of my own and I don’t expect or accept any special preferences for them.  I know that they can be difficult and make mistakes just like anyone else.  I also then expect the teachers to discipline them as they would any other children.

7.   Stop second-guessing yourself:  95% of the teachers I know work their butts off every day trying to actually live up to the expectations of “making a difference in the life of a child.”  We work tirelessly to come up with new engaging lesson plans, technology integration, and differentiated methods to better meet the needs of our students.  Yet, so many times, teachers are frustrated that they’re not doing enough.  I resolved several years ago to this statement each day when I leave my building:  “I have done the best I can do-for today.  Tomorrow is another day.”   Let’s face it–just because a few students can’t pass the state standardized test or are not up to the current grade level in reading, doesn’t mean you aren’t doing everything you possibly can for that student.  We work miracles every day, but c’mon.  I’m a realist at heart, and I know (for my own sanity) that I won’t GET to every student successfully in one school year.  I am not going to bring a student with a 3rd grade reading level up to 8th grade.  It’s not possible; I may get him to 6th grade and that will be an achievement I can live with; can you?  Can you rationalize that there are students who are so far behind, or who truly don’t care (and never will), or who have no home support, or who have continually been passed along in school (and we have no control over that)…who may not make it?  –And that’s ok because that’s the reality in an educator’s world?   If you are one of those that doesn’t grasp this yet; you need to.  –A new year, a new understanding of what it means to be an educator in 2012-not your great-grandmother’s one room school house.

Educators are becoming more and more burnt out and frustrated over things we cannot immediately change.  I’m all for voicing concerns, ed reform,  and policy changing, but I know I’m not going to pole-vault continents either.  (Again, strong realist factor with me.) We also still have to live our lives (you know- spouses, family vacations, tax deadlines…) in the midst of rocking the boat that is our JOB.

Don’t let 2012 be the year that consumes you-again. (Keep repeating this…)

Happy New Year Educators Everywhere!

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One Size Does NOT Fit All

Are you familiar with the generic hospital socks with the little raised bumps on the bottoms so you don’t slip and fall on their slick floors?  Well, if you’ve ever actually worn these socks and your feet are not 27 inches long, they’re not the right size.   So, rather than preventing a problem, they simply exacerbate the potential for falling by giving us all socks to wear that don’t fit.  This is what’s happening in public education all too often.  When we think we’re trying to prevent issues from arising, we are actually making them worse by using the wrong type of lessons with the wrong types of students.

A Better Fitting Sock: UDL

UDL, or Universal Design for Learning, is slowly unfolding as an essential and critical component to curriculum and assessment designs.  It is not a new concept by any means though; UDL was first introduced in 1998.  However, as Ed Reform has reared its horns in recent years, UDL has gained more attention-as it should.  Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all education.  According to the NCES, as of 2009, 13% of our nation’s students were labeled as having a learning disability.   UDL concepts can help us better meet the needs of students-specifically students who have trouble accessing the curriculum through “traditional methods.”

CAST-Get to Know Them

A wonderfully dynamic organization called CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) provides multiple resources for learning and implementing the UDL models and are the pioneers behind this powerhouse.  Below is a basic explanation of the principles behind UDL as described by CAST:

UDL (courtesy of CAST.org)

 The little raised bumps on the bottom of UDL

The three main elements of UDL establish the grip in learning and then follow it through to maintain traction:

Recognition:  The What of Learning—When we present information in different modalities, we are reaching out to different types of learners and allowing choice for students to decide how they learn best.  For instance, students who are visually stimulated may need information presented differently than an auditory learner.

Strategic:  The how of learning—we know that none of us learns exactly the same way.  That being said, how students are allowed to interact with curriculum must also be varied.  Reading a story silently would be pure torture for a student with dyslexia for example.  On the other hand, giving that student an audio version to follow along with would be a great improvement and would open another strategy for HOW they interact with the information presented. Included in this module, should be the flexibility for students to show what they have learned in varying formats as well.

Affective: The why of learning-what keeps the students’ interests?  What challenges them? What drives them to be more deeply involved with the content?  This is the part of UDL where you can really see what makes your students tick.  We all know that if they are invested in the material, then they are definitely learning more also.

Is this another acronym rehashed to mean the same thing?

You may be thinking: this is just like differentiation, and scaffolding, and hey– a lot like creating choice boards…?  You’re right-to an extent.  However, the ideology behind CAST and UDL (in my opinion anyway) is that this type of curriculum implementation should not be an option and should be universally accepted and required as a means of reaching students.  It should be required that all K-12 curriculum (regardless of subject) should follow these principles to further individualize education.  –And this is especially true for standardized assessments.  Educators repeatedly express that assessments do not fairly or accurately measure our disabled students’ abilities due to the nature of the format.

A recent study found that assessment scores were significantly higher for disabled and ELL students on a UDL-designed test when compared in a question to question analysis.  Here’s more on that study if you’re interested: National Center for on Educational Outcomes

The Challenge

Naturally and obviously, this is much easier said than done.  Right now it would require extra attention on your part about learning styles and your students’ weaknesses (and strengths) to begin implementing UDL in your classroom.

Are you up for it?  Starting right now, begin to experiment with UDL lesson planning for your next curriculum unit.  I know you think you don’t have the time.  But each year, you have to tweak last year’s lessons just a little bit right?  You realized the lesson was a little shallow, or it’s become stale to you, or it may be too difficult/easy for this year’s group of students.  So, instead of tweaking it in your traditional manner (a different video, a different article to read, or different worksheet to enhance the lesson), try to incorporate the what, the how, and the why of UDL by providing different modalities for students; this will not only stimulate your lessons, but it will breathe new life into the interactions your curriculum will bring about.

A reminder about using UDL in your lesson plans

Marilyn Shank, Ph.D. (an advocate of UDL) states The UDL lesson plan is NOT a daily lesson plan. You can use a typical teacher lesson plan book to write your daily schedule. The UDL lesson plan addresses the activities, assessments, and accommodations you will need to enable all students to master (or in the case of students with severe disabilities, approximate) specific objectives.

Trust me.  I have taken the leap of faith, tried it in baby steps…and guess what?  It works!!  What could be more fabulous than ALL of your students being fully emerged, engaged, and enriched by your lessons?   Try it out and check out the resources I’ve linked to within this article!  Leave me a comment or ask me questions about UDL below!    Have you had much exposure to UDL?  What do you think about it?

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What Teachers Really Think...

NEW SERIES HERE AT DEDICATION2EDUCATION

“AT THE CORE OF THE APPLE:

                      WHAT TEACHERS REALLY THINK”

Do you have a unique perspective on educational topics?  Would you like to share thoughts and ideas with others in education?  Submit a guest post about the weekly “At the Core” topic then!  Why?  -Because educators have a strong voice but often hide in the shadows due to the politically correct and very public spotlight that shines down on us.

During each series (bi-weekly), I will showcase the posts submitted about the “At the Core” topic.   Once we get the series going, I will keep the next few upcoming topics and dates listed in my sidebar.  So, check in on my homepage to see if the next topic is one you would like to write an article about…  Have an idea for the series?  Awesome!  Email me (support(at)dedication2education(dot)com) and let me know!  I love suggestions that will benefit and engage all!

My goal here is to create a space for educators (and of course anyone else interested!) to gain exposure to their own blogs/sites, and to collaborate on educational topics and “hot spots” that most people don’t take the time to discuss openly!

For specific guest post guidelines, click HERE.

The first ever “At the Core of the Apple: What Teachers Really Think” topic

What School Administrators Really Need to Understand…

~~>for the Week of Jan. 16th (please submit by Fri. Jan. 13th

Take it where you think it needs to go!

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Musical Education?

Don’t you sometimes just hear a song and it reminds you of something in real life?  For some reason, I am magnetized right to thoughts of my teaching when I hear a Brad Paisley song!  I think because, like much of country music, it is about real life in some form or fashion.  Or, maybe I’m a closet redneck teacher.  Hmmm….

7 Brad Paisley songs that remind me of teaching…

1.  Whiskey Lullaby:  the title says it all doesn’t it?  Teachers need to fall asleep with a bottle of whiskey in their hands whilst humming “Rock a Bye Baby.”  -Not really, and I know the song is not a “nice and sweet” song, but you see how it fits my topic don’t you?

2.  Letter to Me:  discusses an adult sending a letter back to himself at 17 and explain that life will go on and that high school drama is not the end of the world.  I wish so many times that I could show my students their future and how the minute things they worry about are so inconsequential in the bigger picture.  The tween and teen years are a rough patch- you remember don’t you?

3.  Mud on the tires:  Sometimes you have to get a little dirty-simple truth.  Teachers, don’t be afraid to roll of up your sleeves and get involved with your students!  Take a pie in the face for charity or make a fool of yourself cheering at the football games.  Students remember these kinds of things and I’m sure you will too.

4.  Online:  Our students live in this world and many of them probably do feel more willing to share things in a ‘you-can’t-see-me kind of way.’  In fact, more and more online public schools are popping up all over this country.  Some students simply don’t enjoy the school atmosphere and opt to school at home through virtual courses.  I’m not sure how I feel about them missing out on some of the social aspects, but I can see that side of the coin for sure and support it as well…

5.  Water:  This song screams SUMMER SUN AND FUN.  –And what teacher doesn’t dream about summer time from about October on?   Let’s face it: Students and teachers look forward to the days when we have “nothing on, but water…”

6.  This is Country Music: “This is real, our lives in a song.”  Teaching is REAL LIFE magnified.  –I don’t mean that other careers are not real, but I think teachers see every variation of family units, what people are made of, and where people are coming from.  We see the good, bad, and ugly of kids each day (some of us 150 kids a day), year after year.  This is a glimpse into many different lives and the future of our nation.  (Sometimes it isn’t pretty, I’ll admit!)

7.  Camouflage:  In this latest hit, it discusses the big trend of camo.  Well, I know this won’t apply to everyone, but I teach in the south and it is part of just about everything around here; I know I have students who will say their favorite color is camouflage too-just like in the song.  Plus, it’s just a cute song (albeit a little cheesy) and makes me think of my students.  They tell me stories of hunting, four-wheeling, and camping-and somehow always manage to slip the word camouflage into their details somewhere!

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