"Mr. Spencer, we don't have enough breakfasts for the whole class," a kid complains. I double-check the numbers. Zero absent on Cocoa Puffs day, which means that unlike yogurt day, they're all having breakfast. 

A boy pulls me aside and points to a classmate."She took two." 

"But she doesn't even have one," I say. 

Reluctantly, I ask her about it. She tells me that she doesn't have one, because she hates Cocoa Puffs. I ask her to open the backpack. Sure enough, she has two breakfast bags. I take her outside and ask her to tell the whole story. 

She cries. "They're for my younger brothers. I really thought we had extra, I swear." 

It is in moments like this that I am tempted to say, "School doesn't matter when you're hungry" or "suddenly linear equations feel irrelevant." In moments like this, I have a tendency to let discipline slip or require a little less work on assignments.

However, I deliberately avoid this temptation. See, hunger is horrible, but that doesn't take away the value of an education. Instead of becoming more permissive or making excuses as a teacher, I will continue to treat her as a person who possesses an amazing mind. I will show empathy. I will talk to the administration and try to get her the help she needs. But I will also teach her linear equations and persuasive techniques and reading strategies. 

When she talks out of turn, I still correct her. When her work isn't up to her potential, I encourage her to revise it. I have a nagging sense that I should go easy. I second-guess myself. 

At the end of the day, she pulls me aside. "Thanks for treating me normal." 

I'm not suggesting teachers ignore hunger or the policies that influence it. Neither am I suggesting that teachers pretend that hunger doesn't affect behavior and learning. Instead, I'm suggesting that hungry students often want a chance to be normal and that's one of the best things a teacher can offer. 

The other day I was listening to a news program on the radio about national parks. The scientist on the show suggested that restrictive boundaries around park lands are not actually good for wildlife. Animals need corridors. If a particular species finds that existence in a certain region of a national park is threatened through food shortage, inclement weather, excess predators or other causes it will, if mobile, simply move to its comfort zone.

Unfortunately, kids do the same thing, but not for the same reasons as animals in national parks. Nine years ago, I co-founded a small charter high school. I suppose one could argue that this makes me a proponent of school choice. But I'm starting to rethink this. Each year we have a few students who choose to leave and go to other schools. Some of these kids will undoubtedly do better in other settings, but some are simply migrating away from what feels like a threatening situation; they want to be back in their comfort zone.

I remember a student during our second year. He was a junior and decided that he wanted to transfer to a large district high school. When asked why, he simply said "I want to be anonymous." A few years later, another student decided to leave. She had been kicked out of her neighborhood district school and had given us a semester's worth of a chance. Now she was heading back. Why? "You guys are always in my business," she explained.

Students in small schools often find themselves outside of their comfort zones. We know them well. We know what they are capable of, and we won't accept anything less. And yes, sometimes we are "in their business". Students that graduate from my small high school know what it means to be cared for. They learn to advocate for themselves and speak to adults effectively. They also know what it feels like to be held accountable or to have their bluffs called. Neither of these things are terribly comfortable, but they result in huge growth.

The ones that choose to leave, to migrate back to their comfort zones, are often the ones that stand to gain the most from remaining in what my colleagues and I call "their risk zone". But with the revolving door nature of charter schools, it is impossible to force a student to stay, even if it were in his/her best interest.

Am I proponent of school choice? It's complicated.

 

 

I recently read a post on Facebook…

A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: “How heavy is this glass of water?”

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.”

It’s important to remember to let go of your stresses. As early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night. Remember to put the glass down!

So the following week I started to think about all the things I carry with me all day and into the night. I thought about the upset parent who came in after dismissal. I thought about the teacher who was unhappy with the new safety policy. I thought about the parent who insisted on pushing her child across the street after I asked her to go to the crosswalk. I thought about the parent who was upset with the attendance policy and let everyone know it.

My mind instantly went to the negative.

I didn’t think about the parent who said thank you for caring about my child. I didn’t think about the teacher who cried because one of her students read 28 words. I didn’t think about the 5^th grader who called across the cafeteria to tell me, he rocked his Galileo test. Nope, I held onto the negative.

I wonder why is it we go right to the negative and not the positive? Maybe it’s just me. Does this happen to anyone else?

I teach high school, but my children are in elementary school. It amazes me how elementary school teachers ever find time to teach academic skills.  They carry the burden of socializing kids for school.  My kids had to learn to line up, sit with legs crossed, not touch each other constantly, restrain from potty talk, carry a folder back and forth from home to school...and on and on.  I am blown away by the skill, good nature and pedagogical knowledge of a skilled elementary teacher that go WAY beyond math facts and scientific method.

It is because of years of elementary-school socialization practice that my juniors are so compliant and relatively well-behaved as we head down to the auditorium third period the third week of school for the annual grade-level meeting. 

As students are settling, upbeat music plays in the background and our principal greets everyone and begins recognizing various groups on campus by having them stand and cheer:  volleyball players, football players, cross country runners, National Honor Society members, etc. The other administrators introduce themselves as well, and then a presentation begins by someone whom few of us will ever see again: a representative from Jostens. 

Many of us left our faculty meeting confused earlier in the week.  The man on stage talked at that meeting about the C2G program being implemented at our school (Commitment to Graduate). All I could determine was that it was made up of positive recognition for student achievement (a good thing) and propaganda designed to help students identify with their graduating class.  We previewed the slideshow that would be shared with students, and all of us were asked to sign a huge banner along with “Class of_____” indicating our high school class. 

On the day of the class meeting, the lights are lowered and the Jostens rep shares his experience on the first day of school and other personal details, and then explains to students why graduation is important, using the slideshow we previewed.  At the bottom corner of each slide is the Jostens logo. One of the slides is titled “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” in vibrant word art, and shows the average lifetime earnings of someone who earns a high school diploma versus a dropout.  I am sitting next to a colleague, and we turn and give each other a look and he says: “Where’s my million dollars?”  I respond, “Mortgage, taxes, groceries, gas....” We both agree it isn’t true that the students are likely to become true millionaires simply by graduating high school on time-- but that is the message they are given. 

The slide I find most troubling is the one that reads, simply, in huge letters, “The Tassel’s Worth the Hassle!” 

Really? I imagine my honors freshman classes who will see this presentation later today.  Three weeks into high school, and they will be herded into the auditorium to be told that school is a hassle, and that the payoff will be a tassel. To paraphrase the overall argument: “School is a series of meaningless hoops to jump through, and at the end you will receive a token of your compliance, and you can then trade that token in exchange for a million dollars.”  These bright-eyed honors students have recently written me benchmark essays about their reading experiences.  Many of them wrote five page narratives about books that have been important to them.  Books that represented relationships in their lives, books that got them through hard times.  I don’t know much about these kids, yet, but I know that i f I don’t screw things up too badly, we can be important to each other, and that school can be important for them. 

If I woke up each day and got ready for work mentally planning all the ways I could meaninglessly inconvenience my students, I would not have made it through 17 years of this, unless I were more of a sadist than I am. 

Shouldn’t teachers, counselors, families and peers be telling students that their education is important?  That their achievements are meaningful?  Do we really need cheerleaders from an outside corporation coming in to use their sophisticated marketing campaigns to convince students that finishing high school is worth it?  What does it say when the cheerleading of our school community is not enough?

Or, if we do need the propaganda, if there is a way that it could help us to create a school culture based on academic achievement and positive recognition, does it have to be based in lies and logical fallacies and messages that undermine the work we do each day?  Isn’t there enough truth that could have been used to make the same arguments?

If public schools really do want to partner with the business community to help kids succeed, there are so many opportunities for true partnerships.  However, Jostens sells diplomas, class rings, caps and gowns, tassels, letterman jackets and graduation announcements. I believe they have an exclusive relationship with our school for some of these items. All of those things come emblazoned with a graduation year.  Is it any surprise that Jostens would be motivated for students to develop a pride and identification with their high school and their class year?  The profit motive is just too direct for my taste. 

In fourth period, after the junior class meeting, I preview some of the messages my freshmen will be seeing during the presentation 5th period. We define a hassle (“something inconvenient,” “something annoying”).  I ask them how many of them feel that school was just a series of meaningless hassles.  Nobody raises a hand. I ask them what a millionaire is.

The following week at open house, I was a little too open with my opinion on the issue with a parent.  She said she was thrilled that Jostens was doing C2G with our school, because it came with generous discounts on many of the senior year expenses.  I held my ground, but did learn something from her perspective.  Senior year is expensive.

Still, I think there is a fine line between using marketing strategies to promote education and allowing for-profit companies access to our students in ways that directly affect their sales.

This experience and others has also left me asking the question:  Am I “The Man”?  Or is my job to teach future citizens to question “The Man”?  Sitting with 800 juniors at the Jostens presentation, I felt so dirtily like “The Man” I was compelled to equip my next class to question the messages they would be hearing. But was that professional behavior?  Is writing about this experience “professional”? It’s a question I would like to explore further.

*This was the slogan on the sign I taped on the outside of my classroom door after the assembly.  

During most recent days, I was drawn to ponder about my responsibility as an educator, an administrator, as a member of our school staff.  There are so many tasks which consume the day; greeting parents and students, attending meetings, responding to phone calls and emails, investigating situations, visiting classrooms, and so much more.  Yet, when parents send their most important possessions to us, what do they think I do?  What do they expect me to do?

I recognize students attend school to learn.  But, in order to learn, we all know a student must feel safe.  When students walk through our doors, we owe it to them to offer a sense of security.  Yes, that is our job.  No child should ever be afraid to enter the doors which will offer them a promising future.  But, I ask you, how far are you willing to go to ensure the safety of your students?  There is no doubt each of us care about our students and only want what is best for them.  But in the most critical time, are you willing to go the distance?

I have thought about it, and I embrace the responsibility.  I owe it to the kids, to their families who love them.  There are people in our communities who trust me each day, who trust I will do right by their children.  I am on campus to teach, but to protect.  When I became an educator, I thought I was becoming a teacher.  I learned quickly teachers are so, so much more.

Teachers and administrators, what kind of educator are you?  What do you do to let your students know you are willing to go the extra mile because they are worth it?

In the climate of less than stellar public perception and new teacher evaluation tools sprouting up across the state, I wondered if anyone would respond to the invitation, extended by the U.S. Department of Education (ED), to join a national conversation about teaching, at one of several gatherings across Arizona and provide feedback on some ideas that are being considered for transforming teaching in our country.

As an integral part of several major cross-stakeholder conversations that took place in Arizona early in December, I can tell you that stakeholders enthusiastically responded to the invitation. The dialogue proved powerful and enlightening as ED representatives sought feedback about the best ways to implement the most urgent components of RESPECT, and how to move that work forward in Arizona.

Before I share outcomes of a few of the conversations, let me put the visit in context.

ED chose four regions of the country to expressly speak to the needs of students and teachers in their area. The first stop on this four-region tour was the Southwest, specifically Arizona and New Mexico. Both states have similar successes and issues that uniquely position them to speak to teaching as reflected in their region.

Just as they are similar, Arizona and New Mexico are also very distinct in the way they conduct the business of education and the stakeholders involved in the process. It is also safe to say that when it comes down to the RESPECT document, they face many of the same challenges and opportunities as other states in the union.

RESPECT itself has undergone significant transformation since those first educators and the Department put pen to paper, over a year ago. What began as a 3-page proposal with six components has evolved into an 18-page, seven-component blueprint for transforming teaching. Key to the transformation was the voices of hundreds of educators via round tables who provided feedback on the fledgling RESPECT proposal that subsequently birthed the document we have today.

Today, RESPECT stands on the precipice of HOW and WHEN, as it seeks a broader audience of stakeholders, those who may not practice in a classroom nor lead schools but who can support implementation, foster capacity building, as well as sustainability in each state. Hence, the focus of the four-region tour is to listen to and garner support from cross-stakeholder groups.

The significance of this juncture is that ED fosters what we all know to be true- it takes a community to create effective and engaged schools. Educators and parents alone cannot hope to sustain the level of relevance and support required for students to be college or career ready, and to compete globally for jobs that do not yet exist. It takes all stakeholders including businesses, foundations, unions, guilds, and community centers to prepare our children for the challenges of the future.

During the U. S. Department of Education’s visit to Arizona this month, several such gatherings of cross-stakeholder groups met to suggest the best ways to implement the critical components of RESPECT, and how to move that work forward in Arizona. 

A summary of three of those conversations follows:

1. The Rodel Foundation of Arizona hosted a round table that included representatives from the Arizona Department of Education, Arizona Education Association, Arizona Educational Foundation, Arizona K-12 Center, Arizona State University, Expect More Arizona, Grand Canyon University, Helios Foundation, and Rodel. Participants indicated that this was the first time that they have engaged in a conversation with each other about transforming education and want the collaboration to continue. The issues they face include the public perception of educators, the alignment of teacher evaluation tools and teacher preparation with RESPECT. They also believe that Common Core Standards can be used to redefine education. “Common core= common language= common goals= common beliefs.”

2. The Dysart Unified School District gathered leaders from multiple communities to discuss the teaching profession in their district. Voices represented in the conversation were parents, students, educators, business and community leaders, council and school board members, charter schools, and the military. Some challenges include the professional development to sustain successful implementation of technology, and the limitations of the current school day/calendar to meet students’ needs. They believe that informed parents are strong advocates for teachers. “Teachers are my kids future. I need to know how we keep them if these concepts aren’t addressed.”

3. The Humboldt Unified School District also assembled leaders from multiple communities to discuss education. The group consisted of educators, administration, council and school board members, community and business leaders, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and Northern Arizona University. A few of their challenges are inequality in state funding and insufficient human capital and other resources due to a rural, low-income environment. They believe that shared resources means greater support for the school community, but that competitive funding undermines those efforts. “America was built on the fundamental right to equal education. Now we put competitive funding in there and it is no longer equitable and that’s not right.”

Regardless of the uncertainty of the times or perhaps because of it, stakeholders embraced the unique opportunity to provide insight on the opportunities and barriers that exist in Arizona around the implementation of RESPECT. To learn more about the project, and join the national conversation around how to begin the transformation in your area, go to The RESPECT Project.

The views expressed here represent those of Classroom Teaching Ambassador Fellow, Cheryl A. Redfield.

Many of us believe that the days of segregation in America are long past.

The reality is that today’s classroom is one of the most segregated places in our country.  Born before the Civil Rights movement, segregation stared me in the face, just like the pictures— testaments of struggles long ago—that lined the entryway of Munroe Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, where I visited in September.

 As a Teaching Ambassador Fellow for the U.S. Department of Education, I was a part of a team assigned to connect to the community of teachers when Secretary Duncan’s  “Education Drives America” bus tour rolled into town. Renowned for the landmark court case Brown v. Board of Education, Munroe Elementary served as a primary stop on the tour, with its legacy of hope and the promise of change. 

 But as I gazed at the pictures and the immortal words of Chief Justice Warren, “In the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal has no place; separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”, I knew that the promise of those words, composed nearly 60 years ago, have yet to be fully realized by every student.

 Today, many students are not solely segregated by race, but also by socioeconomics. Low socioeconomics means that students living in remote rural communities, subsidized urban housing, or southern border communities will suffer deficits in their education and contribute heavily to the rapidly growing drop-out rate, due to three main factors: teacher quality, community resources, and school funding.  Since each of these factors warrants individual focus, this article will limit its lens to the first— teacher quality.

 Teacher quality has long been the focus of debate and of some reform. But no matter how we decide as a country to define a highly qualified teacher, an abundance of less qualified teachers are in our poorest, low-performing schools, struggling with our neediest students. The problem is recursive and will remain a vicious cycle until we no longer ignore it.

 To redress years of systemic inequity means that as a nation, we must wrangle with the following questions:

• How do we attract the best teachers to these impoverished, sometimes dangerous school communities?
• How do we equip and support the teachers who are in high-needs, low-performing schools to meet the demands of their students when these teachers lack substantive teacher preparation?
• How do we rigorously prepare future teachers for the 21^st century classroom?

 These are just some of the questions we need to address, and quickly. By the year 2014, the U.S. Department of Education projects that up to one million new teaching positions will be filled by new teachers—novice teachers most of whom, if statistics remain the same, will end up in the neediest schools.

 These schools will never be able to adequately educate the students they serve if the best teachers are not in the schools leading the reform. The true story of the Mitchell 20 illustrates the power of a National Board Certified teacher who led the way to transforming a school and community.

There are plans in place to duplicate this kind of success,  to improve pay structures and provide incentives to highly qualified teachers to serve in schools that need them most. Many of these plans are subsidized by federal grants, and as such represent only a beginning. In the long-term, state and local education agencies will need to find ways to support these pay structures.

 Also, states are beginning to link teacher education programs to student outcomes, so there is a great push to improve programs that are currently “ill-equipped to prepare teachers for the realities of the 21st century classroom”.  Ill-equipped they may be, but I’m not sure linking programs to student outcomes on high stakes tests is the answer. I cannot imagine such a thing occurring in other professions, like medicine, law, or engineering.

 Arthur Levine, the former president of Teachers College, Columbia University, says changes at the university level may be slow because “we don't know what, where, how, or when teacher education is most effective." And if we don’t know, how can we effectively support those new recruits to the classroom who come by way of alternative programs and lack the pedagogical as well as clinical training? And how will this continue to adversely affect students?

 There are more questions than answers at the moment. But I believe that if we decide that teacher quality matters, and is one of the factors necessary to provide educational equity for all students in America, then together we can find the answers to address this issue.  As Secretary Duncan put it, “education is the civil rights issue of our generation.”

  If so, let’s come together as we did in the 60’s and create a new legacy of hope and promise.

A few years ago, I swiped a note as it passed from one first grade girl to another. I was curious. What could first grade girls possibly write about in a note?

I opened the note and immediately questioned my ability to teach writing.  It said, Nst Nst Nst. What? I called the girls over and asked them to read it.  With guilty eyes, they looked at each other, then to me, and in unison started techno rave music singing "nnst nnst nnst." I bit my tongue to hold back the laughter.

Something recently reminded me of the story as my family sat at the dinner table, and I shared.  I then asked my teenage stepson if he passed notes, and his response was priceless and made me feel old. "Nobody passes notes anymore. We text." And with the eye roll that preceded his statement, I tried to imagine what texting does to a classroom.

I work with elementary students, and we rarely if ever deal with cellphone drama.  Some colleagues tell me notes are found on occassion, but it is an ancient artform. What I hear from my middle and high school friends is that cellphones are the ultimate evil. I've seen videos and TV shows demonstrate speed texting without looking, but I don't believe it is done in class without being obvious. Really?

So I wonder..

• What's your policy on note passing, or is it just texting these days? 
• Do you even encounter notes anymore thanks to technology? 
• Are phones taken away? 
• How often does it occur?

Most importantly,

• How does it affect your teaching? 

Scarily, I know texting will eventually make it's way to the elementary classroom, so I appreciate the heads up advice.

 

I love the beginning of a new school year. Teachers are excited, kids are taller, and I get that feeling that this will be the year that I will finally figure out the secret to helping all kids meet their highest potential. I get that feeling every year. And after about 20 years in the business, I haven't yet cracked the code, but I'm still trying. And after all, isn't it about the journey anyway?

One of the things that I've noticed in my fellow educators at the start of the year is that we love our new journals, water bottles, planners, and pens. These supplies remind us that we need to take time to reflect and drink lots of water. But they also serve as important symbols of renewal.

Yes, we have all done this dance before. In fact, there's that kid walking in late on the very first day just like he did every day last year. And there's that mess in the corner of that space, the same mess that was there in June. And there's my stress level going up when I my class rosters keep changing and I don't have enough chairs. Indeed, each year could easily feel like one long annoying continuation of last year and the year before. A giant "here we go again." But we get that new water bottle and moleskine journal as a way of saying "No. This year is going to be different."

I'd like to invite my fellow educators to take it a step further. In addition to the new things that you've acquired to set the year off right, how about adopting a fresh new mind? The late Shunryu Suzuki, wrote a book entitled Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. In it, he posits that the "beginner's mind" is an open mind, that it holds the capacity for doubt AND possibility, and is able to see all things as fresh and new.

That kid who came late every day last year may really want to reinvent himself this year. Maybe he wants to be the kind of person that shows up on time, or even a little early. Maybe he just needs some help or encouragement. Our ability to see him with a new and fresh perspective will, at the very least, let him know that we believe he has the capacity for change.

Welcome to the first week of school!

Already my mind is rattling with ways to challenge my students to think critically, work collaboratively, and communicate effectively. As I examine strategies and measure them against desired outcomes, I realize that those same strategies might work well for me as a U.S. Deparmtment of Education (ED) Teaching Ambassador Fellow wading through federal policies and initiatives.

The responsibilities of a Teaching Ambassador Fellow include learning about national policy issues in education, and sharing that knowledge with other educators in my professional networks. This shared knowledge creates deeper understanding for us all, as well as broader input into federal policy and initiatives. The challenge becomes to read policy and make it pragmatic.

Getting “schooled” in the most recent education reforms, from NCLB to RESPECT is one thing, keeping the acronyms straight is yet another!

Take for instance NCLB. Enacted in 2001, No Child Left Behind made schools accountable for the achievement of all students no matter their race, income, proficiency nor disability. But it has its flaws. The emphasis on test scores as the primary measure of school achievement muted the curriculum and encouraged states to set low standards to make it easier for students to “achieve”.

To the rescue comes RTT. Enacted in 2009, Race to the Top is one of many recovery programs within ED deisnged to amend the flaws of NCLB by awarding incentives to states based on four core principles:

• Set high standards (hence the advent of Common Core)

• Longitudinal data collection

• Strengthen the teaching profession

• Turn around low-performing schools

But just like NLCB, RTT with its dynamic principles will be no more effective than the intentions of those who implement it. In the past, states looking for the reward, the financial gain of compliance, wooed a boatload of woe onto the American school system. Nearly ten short years after NCLB, we’ve become extremely proficient at mediocrity, according to a 2010 report on PISA results where the U.S. ranks 17th amongst the industrialized countries of the world.

It’s this tendency in us to want more for doing less, to reap without truly sowing that concerns me with regards to the success of the RESPECT initiative of 2011. It’s not yet become policy, but serves as the catalyst for national dialogue around education reform on a grand scale! This vision of what public education can look like in America is not new to other industrialized countries with exceptional education systems like Finland, Singapore, and China. But for us, it will take a paradigm shift to make this reform a reality.

Yet, this is a shift we must be prepared to make. As a nation we’re on the cusp of either a break through or a demise, according a 1983 report commissioned by President Reagan, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative For Educational Reform. The commission made 38 recommendations across five major categories: Content, Standards and Expectations, Time, Teaching, Leadership and Fiscal Support. Nearly 30 years later, the wisdom of the recommendations is still begging for life!

RESPECT: Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence, and Collaborative Teaching is the result of the U.S. Department of Education’s recent work with educators— teachers, school and district leaders, teachers’ associations and unions, and state and national education organizations— for the purpose of transforming education for the 21st century. It makes for some very constructive dialogue. But, it won’t breathe on its own. As a nation built on equality, we must find within ourselves the integrity to do the necessary, to do the difficult, to do what is right to create a highly competitive educational system for all students!

If you find the downward flux of our educational system disconcerting, join the national dialogue and let your voice be heard! There are round tables and town halls emerging across the country and you can also comment online at RESPECT.

It’s time we all got schooled!