Common “Cor” Standards—#4 of 10: Practice Makes Per … sistence

One of a series on the real “cor,” or heart,  of all good teaching.

No, no one is perfect, especially not in elementary and middle school. Learning counts on that fact. New learning requires risk-taking and mistake-making over and over again. This is the stuff of adventures and discoveries … in the pages of a book and in the lens of a magnifying glass.

Why do so many children learn how to fold an 8 ½” by 11” piece of paper over and over again until it takes flight? What do they learn through this repetitive behavior? Why do children draw and paint the same flower or face or kitten again and again, skip the same rope over and over, repeat the same rhymes, sing the same songs?

Such are the links in learning from one schema to another in the developing brain. Practice of any kind honors mistakes and growth and leads to a stronger mind and heart, willing to take on more challenges, to value achievement of all kinds, and learning the right amount of risk: One pull up at a time, the next move on the balance beam, the next page of writing, trying out a chapter book.

How will the child’s capacity to embrace the idea of practicing fit in an era of prescribed standards and external expectations? Will there be room for “habits of the heart” as well as of the head?

In a truly engaged classroom, practice work should be displayed—, not just the best work. Daily practice in writing and vocabulary development, math facts, drawing, and reading out loud create the foundation for learning more complex content and the capacity to represent what has been learned in meaningful ways.

As an adult learner, what daily practice enhances the work you do, adds joy and spaciousness to your life? Strengthens your persistence and makes you confident it’s OK not to be perfect? How can you pass on that knowledge to those you teach?

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Common “Cor” Standards—#3 of 10: Helping students develop their own standards for work nurtures critical thinkers

This “Standard of the Heart” is about creating the conditions for students to become self-motivated rather than just relying on your external expectations for how many sentences to write, how many problems to complete. (For a sense of what children are capable of at various grade levels, look into the chapter for your grade/age level in Yardsticks.)

When students start asking, “How long does this have to be?” they will keep asking right through high school and college. For a wonderful resource on the role of teacher scaffolding to create intrinsic motivation, read Tools of the Mind: The Vygotskian Approach to Early Childhood Education (2nd Edition) by Elena Bodrova and Deborah J. Leong. This is one of the better sources for understanding how to get students to reach up rather than settle for “that’s all she said we had to do.” Another is No More “I’m Done!”: Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades by Jennifer Jacobson. Both of these books contain pedagogy that extends well beyond the primary grades and will give teachers of upper grades plenty of ideas to extrapolate from.

Many teachers create rubrics to help students know what is expected for work completion with examples of meager, ok, pretty good, and excellent work or lists of what would be contained in work turned in at various levels. I think such rubrics work well for high achievers but actually help unmotivated students settle for less, because they do not yet aspire for themselves. I have known very bright students who will say, “If I get an ok, I’m not going to flunk.”

Some children do need “contracts” to “kick start” learning motivation. Such children may be “reluctant” learners or special education students. If you struggle to keep up with such contracts, see Ruth Charney’s Chapter 15 in Teaching Children to Care: Classroom Management for Ethical and Academic Growth, K–8.

In the end, critical thinking requires heartfelt motivation that comes from the choices and mistakes students make and our capacity as teachers to help them learn from those choices and mistakes. That both takes courage and builds courage.

 

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Common “Cor” Standards—#2 of 10: Teacher Knowledge Facilitates Student Knowledge

One of a series on the real “cor,” or heart,  of all good teaching.

“Teacher Knowledge Facilitates Student Knowledge”  seems like such an obvious overarching Common Core Standard. How does it relate to the Common “Cor” Standards I am introducing that inform the heart of teaching?

Teacher knowledge facilitates student knowledge when the teacher values every question any student asks. Valuing every question goes way beyond the overused, “There’s no such thing as a dumb question.” To value a question is to pause when it is asked and hold it in your heart for a split-second or two, rather than giving in to the temptation to ask a leading question. What could this question mean to this student? Where is it coming from? What is a good, honest, open question I could ask in return?

Teacher knowledge facilitates student knowledge when the teacher doesn’t answer every question herself. Would this be a good time to ask the class to pair up and discuss this child’s question and then facilitate a discussion about what the class comes up with?

Or maybe other students can handle this one: “That sounds like a great CQ (Conference Question). Your group might be able to really help you with that one. Bring that up as soon as you are in your group, OK?”

Teacher knowledge facilitates student knowledge when the teacher is prepared with adequate resources from which students can derive their own answers. Perhaps I have some ideas I’d like to give to the student privately rather than answer her right in front of everybody. “I have some ideas about how to explore that question. See me once everybody is working independently.”

What if I call a 5-minute research break, pass out index cards, and see what students can find by way of answers to the question in their literature anthologies, their dictionaries, on-line or elsewhere? What will our discussion be like after such a break?

Teacher knowledge facilitates student knowledge and is a combination of content knowledge and pedagogy. Pedagogy is artful knowledge applied with heart-full awareness. Mixed with rich content,the results are powerful.

 

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Common “Cor” Standards—#1 of 10: Learning Is Inside the Student, Not the Teacher

One of a series on the real “cor,” or heart,  of all good teaching.

Every student we teach is a learner. As teachers, we plan lessons and rubrics, convey concepts and content, assess what students know and understand at the beginning of a unit or lesson, along the way, and at the end. Our goal is to engage every student and be sure they can all demonstrate their learning.

We already have learned the basic content of what we are teaching. This gives us a particular vantage point from which to learn more about each of our students as we facilitate their learning. What we learn about each student and the class as a whole then allows us to adjust how we teach and how much more we need to teach a particular standard or set of standards to some students or the class as a whole. Out of such teaching, of course, ultimately comes deeper learning for the teacher, too. It’s what keeps us coming back for more because such teaching feeds our sense of autonomy and our professional capacity to teach creatively and dynamically.

In a breathtaking video that is an extraordinary example of Common “Cor” Standard #1, master teacher Sarah Brown Wessling, notes “I’m not the ultimate evaluator here. I’m really their coach.”

Please take the time to watch this amazing clip from Sarah’s high school English Lit Classroom. Note the Common Core linkages on the right side of the screen and sit back to see what Sarah calls “the Core at its best.” Then apply what you’ve learned to the next unit or lesson you’re planning, at whatever level you’re teaching. You have seen with your own eyes that learning is, indeed, inside the student.

 

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Common “Cor” Standards: What’s At the Heart of Your Teaching?

Parker J. Palmer’s most recent book, Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit,  eloquently delineates five “habits of the heart”—a phrase first used by Alexis de Tocqueville—that are needed in our society today to sustain democracy in life-giving ways.

In his prelude, Parker explains, “In this book the word heart reclaims its original meaning. ‘Heart’ comes from the Latin cor and points not merely to our emotions but to the core of the self, the center place where all our ways of knowing converge—intellectual, emotional, sensory, intuitive, imaginative, experimental, relational, and bodily, among others. The heart is where we integrate what we know in our minds with what we know in our bones, the place where our knowledge can become more fully human” (page 6).

Parker’s book has gotten me thinking a lot about educational standards and “what we know in our bones.” Teachers have long followed instructional standards for assessing student growth in relationship to the grade-level curriculum they’re required to impart to their students. Teachers have treated these standards as expectations that become habitual for students through daily practice, eventually forming lifelong habits that optimize growth and competence.

Years ago, in my book, Time to Teach, Time to Learn: Changing the Pace of School, I shared a set of personal standards informing practices I considered central to my teaching. Recently, when revisiting these in the light of Parker Palmer’s “habits of the heart,” I found that most were, in fact, habits of my own heart and mind that had provided a compass for me and my students over many years.

I noted then, some fourteen years ago, that “perhaps the most important outcomes of the standards movement at the state and federal level will be not only the actual manuals of standards created and distributed, tested and assessed, but also the opportunities provided for teachers and administrators to honestly examine the standards they hold essential to teaching. By comparing your own teaching and learning standards with state requirements, you can help define what is most important for the children, for you, and for your time together in school” (p. 290).

Over the next few weeks, I will revisit a number of my personal standards in this space in relation to the current needs of teachers and students, in the light of the Common Core. My hope is that by sharing the ideas and ideals that have guided me through my years as an educator, I might support you in deepening your own set of “cor” personal standards for the classroom.

 

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Educating America—A Review of a Great Book

If you are an elementary or middle school principal, teacher, or parent interested in increasing the amount of parent and/or volunteer participation in a classroom or school, I have a really excellent resource for you: Educating America: 101 Strategies for Adult Assistants in K-8 Classrooms by Paddy Eger, a clear expert on the matter.

The term “Adult Assistant,” in this case, refers to any adult other than the lead teacher in a classroom who is providing support, enrichment, tutoring, or a helping hand. Although Paddy is writing to those who will be volunteering or assisting in school, her book easily serves as a manual for anyone wanting to develop a robust volunteer program, complete with training and orientation. She  leaves no stone unturned, covering how to prepare adult assistants to enter classrooms, know the expectations and approaches of the teacher and the school, communicate effectively with students, handle misbehavior, and follow through responsibly with given tasks.

Educating America is based on years of experience creating such a program in a public school of choice in Washington state, a K–8 school with a waiting list that each year requires families to volunteer ninety hours of active support. The book forms the core of the training program that adult assistants must participate in before volunteering or working in classrooms.

Even if you are only looking to develop a set of workable guidelines and an orientation for a much more modest program in your school, you’ll certainly find lots of highly practical ideas to help you do so in this book. And you can also download lots of of useful forms and planning sheets (for free) from  Paddy’s website.

If you use Paddy’s book, tell us what you think. And if you know of any other great resources for classroom volunteering, please share!

 

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Part II—21st Century Technology & Child Development

A technology that is 5,000 years old could be an especially important development for students and teachers dealing with anxiety, screen fatigue, and overstimulation from electronic devices, media exposure, and technology classes.

Yoga for children, as well as adults, is gaining mainstream acceptance as a meaningful and accessible avenue to stress reduction, physical relaxation, and rejuvenation. Where yoga is used in classrooms, teachers find that children are more focused, centered, and calm throughout other parts of the day. And so are they!

At a recent Mindfulness in Education Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I had the opportunity to meet Lisa Flynn, founder of yoga4classrooms, a wonderfully organized and thoughtful program that is reaching classrooms nationwide through workshops for teachers and entire schools, online courses, and books and materials.

If you spend some time at her site, you not only can learn a lot about her program but also meet other yoga teachers involved in teaching yoga to children in many different settings. There you will also find access to blog interviews and articles that deal with some of the issues being raised by some parents who are concerned that teaching yoga in school is tantamount to offering religious instruction.

Other forms of mindfulness and stress reduction, of course, are also regularly used in schools, these include breathing exercises, “brain gym” type programs that teach relaxation techniques, and stimulating movement games that refresh the brain.

No matter which of these forms you prefer, here’s what I think is important to understand about the technological revolution we are all experiencing: Children’s overall development requires that we remember to pay attention to a healthy balance between academic, social, emotional, and physical growth.

We need to seek a daily schedule that honors time for each of these kinds of growth in both separate and integrated activities. School schedules that include adequate transition time, outdoor recess and play, and short breaks for energizers and relaxation support an overall commitment to school wellness. And that means healthier children and enhanced learning.

 

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Part I—21st Century Technology & Child Development

Two fascinating articles were sent to me this past week: one by a colleague and one by my daughter, who has a 13- and an 8-year-old, and a 6-month-old infant, all under her wing.

The first article, written by Michelle Roberts of the BBC, deals with the question of television viewing and its impact on children’s behavior, TV Time “Does Not Breed Badly Behaved Children.” This caught my attention: “Spending hours watching TV or playing computer games each day does not breed badly behaved children, say experts.”

However, that’s only part of this story from the BBC and from recent studies on both sides of the Atlantic. The British study findings are interesting, but the scientists there still caution, “limit screen time.” The BBC article notes, “This cautionary advice is because spending lots of time in front of the TV every day might reduce how much time a child spends doing other important activities such as playing with friends and doing homework, they say.”

Ah, there’s the rub, or is it?

The second article about “screen time” that really got me thinking was written by Hanna Rosin for The Atlantic and is titled The Touch-Screen Generation. Rosin poses this question: “Young children—even toddlers—are spending more and more time with digital technology. What will it mean for their development?”

This article is fascinating in that it deals with infant and toddler responses to all our new technology. You won’t believe some of this stuff (or maybe you will if you have an 18-month-old ahead of you in line playing on a tablet or smartphone). One conclusion suggested by Rosin is that, if you don’t limit access, young children will eventually kick the device of choice under the bed or only play with it once in a while, returning to more engaging opportunities to be found around the house.

Hmm, maybe the question still remains, “What are children not doing when they are on any kind of a screen at any age?”

I’d love your reactions to these two articles. And by the way, the essential question posited in this blog post can be carried over to the school setting: “What are children not doing when they are in front of screens prepping for standardized tests?”

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