I want to put in more concrete detail how this blog/forum will function. As for outreach, I will be creating a mass e-mail to advertise the blogs (I have two) to my own friends, families, and colleagues. I will also use Facebook as a method for advertising the blog and bringing in new followers/members. I will also be sending e-mails out to some education and child/adolescent development programs as well as schools so that we can bring in some relevant issues and research from the academic realm and from practicing educators and administrators. If you are interested in helping to create a diverse and informed community at each of our fingertips, then you too will pass this information and our blog's website on to people who you think may be interested or could add to our discussions.
I am interested in really providing a variety of outlooks on topics. What I mean is: I want to bring in the view points of students, teachers, parents, home schoolers, nannies, doctors, psychologists, community members, etc. It is important to be informed from a variety of perspectives, and to make sure we are viewing each issue from a multi-cultural perspective, and not just from the perspective of the mainstream dominant culture. We also need to stop thinking about children or students in terms of only their academics, or as only having one type of intelligence. Although much of our topics will cover the cognitive (thinking) side of development, it is important to think of the whole child (their social, emotional, physical, and linguistic development to name a few). If you want more information on the idea of "multiple intelligences", please google Howard Gardner (who popularized this theory). In terms we can all relate to, people are not something we can cut into parts... We deal with whole people, and although each of these areas of a person's development have separate characteristics, they must interact with each other. The nature, abilities, and way in which these separate areas interact determine who we are and how we behave as a whole person. Just think about it. When you contemplate how to feel or what to do in a certain situation, you weigh your own logic and reason as well as what other's think or do, how you feel or will feel later, what you are physically capable of, etc. If this is how we work, then shouldn't we be teaching in a way that respects this? What all too often occurs in today's classrooms as well as in our homes is only recognizing the cognitive (some would say intellectual) aspects of the children we teach - this is a heavy burden for those children who have amazing (but unrecognized) strengths in other areas.
I recently spoke with a high school social studies teacher about motivation in her classroom. She said it was hard to get the kids involved, and that if one student "got the class going", everything would fall apart. I asked this teacher what kinds of activities were being done in her class. Most of the work was seat work, where students were expected to sit alone in their seats and work quietly or listen to the teacher. There is room for discussion, but the students were not engaged and they would just sit there waiting for someone to speak. Now I am not professing to have all the answers. I am not a child development expert (yet), and am certainly not an adolescent development expert. But I do know (from child development theory and experiences) that children at that age are typically interested in (1) forming an identity for themselves, (2) identifying which social group they belong to, and (3) not looking stupid in front of peers. Not all children are like this, but it is safe to say that this is what the average teenager DOES go through. It is very much a stage of life. So I suggested that the class do more to become comfortable with one another by means of a really fun day in class dedicated to "ice breaker" type games, getting to know one another, and possibly bonding over a project that can make the teacher appear to be more a part of the group (this takes a teacher who can be humble, can make fun of him/herself, and who can get in touch with their inner teenager). Next I suggested that their activities be geared more towards small group work. This would allow the students a chance to relate to each other, and give them a much smaller and less threatening environment to test out expressing their ideas. Also, when planning the activities, we must think from the teen's perspective - let's provide adequate time for self-reflection and a safe environment in which to express what they have discovered or how they feel. They need time for this, and they may need an audience that they feel comfortable around to hash out their feelings so that they can better understand them. Maybe the groups can be self selected in the beginning so that the students feel more comfortable, then they could be assigned later to make sure the students get to hear varying opinions. Smaller class sizes and smaller schools in general really help to provide an environment where students feel less threatened and take more chances in expressing themselves - but the budget concerns are another, very real topic to discuss. I can go on like this forever, but the point is if we recognize the characteristics of the stages of life our students are in, and if we can see things from their perspective (we have all been there), then we can better set up the learning environment in a way that respects their opinions, is appropriate for their way of doing things, makes learning much more enjoyable, and actually increases the chance for student success. This is another quick point to keep in mind: The more a person experiences success in anything, the more likely they are to branch out, to do it again, and to take risks. This is how we learn, this is how we expand our thinking; but we cannot do it without confidence in ourselves and a safe environment to experiment in. We must have these if we want students to succeed.
This is just a jumping off point to start how we look at education. I may have said too much, and I do not want to completely control the direction of this forum, but I do want to bring up the wide spread complaints against our current ways of thinking, so that we can have a more critical eye when we examine topics. If anyone has anything to add, correct, or criticize, please feel free to do so.
Lastly, I would love to hear from you personally if you wish to make a contribution to this forum, and I hope you do. Remember, all of what was stated above applies to this forum. Talk with your friends and family first before writing, so you feel comfortable before you write. Not everyone will always agree, but there may be a very important part of what you say that each of us will carry on as we modify our thinking. We are all just people, trying to improve, and no one should feel scared or awkward in what they say. If you do, contact me personally and we can talk it through in a safe space. I will be acting as administrator, and if you have any topic you would like to write about, please e-mail me (dmcassetta@gmail.com). I have received one request so far to write about the lengthening of the school day and year, as well as the decrease in time for recess over the years. I will be conducting research on this and hopefully posting shortly. I will also be brainstorming topics, and may post a list of possible topics, including some background information and starter questions.
I am truly excited about getting this going, and I hope that it can be a resourceful tool for all of us as we continue to learn, grow, and improve our lives! As always, thank you for your time!
Danielle Cassetta
6 comments:
I believe it is a good thing for school days to be longer! Kids will be less likely to do things they shouldn't do after school.
And don't forget parent/guardian/ educator involvement is the most important thing in a child's life! When the parents/guardians/educators care about their child's education, the more likely he/she is going to succeed in school! The main goal is for the everyone to get involved in these kids' lives to achieve a life long love of learning and knowledge.
What I am teaching my teachers right now in a leadership course is that in the past educators focused on teaching. But teaching and learning are not two separate things, they have a relationship. The characteristics of one impact the other. The factors that define effective teaching and learning are the same for both the teacher and the student. For example the belief that everyone can learn held by the teacher and the student will lead to success.
Many different learning theories have come and gone, but now that we have so much information on how the brain works, we can focus on how a child learns. A teacher can't cause a child to learn, they can only create favorable conditions for a child to learn such as creating a safe environment, helping students connect what they already know about a topic to a new concept, providing slightly challenging lessons where students are actively involved and where there are lots of visuals which is what the brain remembers.
There are learning principles teachers should know:
The knowledge base the child enters school with matters. So the teacher needs to get to know their students and their interests and culture to make sure they can connect what they already know to new ideas. These connections are how the brain stores information. The teacher needs to model metacognition, thinking about your own thinking, what you are telling yourself as you problem solve.
The teacher needs to pay attention to their students' interests to cause self-motivation for learning. Also the teacher should let the student be the researcher, discovering information with the teacher setting up learning experiences such as Internet projects, and then guiding and coaching from the side. Students who have control of their learning are motivated to learn.
Every single student in your class room is different and so we need to provide differentation in lessons to match these differences.
Schools are social environments and students need to share ideas in small groups to think about what they are learning. Students can assess themselves daily if taught how using modeling, rubrics, etc.
So learning is making connections between neurons in the brain and that is what teachers have to help students do.
There are many strategies that help the brain do this connecting such as think, pair, share, using graphic organizers, and teaching someone else what you learned. If the student can't find a connection from what they already know, then the teacher can create an experience using a hands on real experience that uses many senses, such as a simulation. These days students can take a field trip on the internet without leaving the class room or view a virtual experiment or dissection. If the teacher puts the learning to music or rhyme and has students draw it and act it, they will remember the concept. They can become the person they are studying or learn about and debate the topic. Using analogies and predictions also reflects the way the brain learns. Using visualization and chunking material helps a student learn. So teachers can create a story with strong emotions to make content memorable.
To be literate in today's society is no longer just being able to read and write. Students need to know how to research their own information from reliable sites and how to organize that information in a way that they can present what they learned to others. They need to read from many sources from a set of product instructions to a food label.
In order to fully participate in our democratic society students need the background and skills that today's workplace requires such as collaborating, analyzing,
critically evaluating, etc.
Hello,
Thanks for your input sapwlp and zaylee. I appreciate your contribution. I do agree with sapwlp that what needs to change is not the quantity of instruction (longer school days), but the quality of instruction. If a medicine has not only no effect, but a bad effect, do we simply prescribe more of it - or do we make a change to a different medicine? I think there is much to explore when we look at the way in which our children are conditioned to be "passive learners"... Much of our research shows that children actually learn best when their interests are met, their backgrounds and strengths are recognized, and they are actively engaging in the process of building meaning. In short, when they make the discovery themselves and can store it in their "hard-drive" and make us of it/communicate it in their own unique way.
Danielle, I agree with you that the problem won't be solved by longer school days or years, it is that students aren't being actively involved in their learning. Many teachers are teaching the way they were taught or according to their learning preferences. Children of today were brought up with multi media and they don't learn in a linear fassion, they multitask and want to see visuals with text. They need to be actively connecting to information such as becoming the person they are studying or actively using information. When a teacher lectures, the student is passive. They need to be involved in group projects that make the learning a real life scenario where they author a presentation or product from the learning that they can share with others to teach others.
By the way, not sure why my name is appearing as SAPWLP, it is Sherry. I will try and change that.
I do agree with you, Zaylee that parents who set high expectations for their children and value education usually have children who work hard in school and plan to go on to college. And yes, a child doesn't care what the teacher knows, unless they know the teacher cares about them as a person.
Hi Sherry,
The topic of expectations we have for our children brings a thought to my mind. I often hear teachers evaluate children and their potential by comparing them, either to some external standard or to other children. A classic example is, "They are simply behind..."; or "they are just not as smart"...; or the ways in which our standardized test results show how they performed in terms of the rest of the country.
I think we need to stop thinking about intelligence and readiness in terms of comparing children, but to start to view each child as an individual chance to improve. Identify where they are, what concepts or content they show interest in, or don't quite understand, and work with that individual to bring them to a higher level of thinking or skill. This way, you see what you have to work on and you focus all your mental energy on simply doing the best you can for that student. Any other goal just divides our attention and adds unnecessary pressure. We all have ways to improve ourselves, and I find that when we compare children, even to a standard, the kids feel pressure and begin doing the work for the wrong reasons, which leads to ambivolous feelings about education and a sense of self that is rooted in other's evaluation of us.
I think this reliance of evaluation by others and amongst others leads to an even greater problem we have, which is not allowing ourselves the time and freedom to really get to know ourselves, our wants and dreams, our strengths and weaknesses... which is essential in finding true happiness and a clarity in what you believe in. Little Bobby, who is not as strong as the others in math, really feels the pressure to do better in it... thus overshadowing his natural inclination to design his own sign experiments, or build a skyscraper with blocks. Not only does it indirectly influence what they child will focus on, but the message it sends about the child's weaknesses rather than strengths negatively affects his self-esteem. It also goes against the idea that we all have multiple intelligences, and will always have differing strengths and weaknesses. To strive for all to be strong in each may actually be unnatural and unnecessary.
Looking forward to hearing more from you!
Danielle
Danielle, I agree with you that teachers shouldn't compare students, but instead should focus on brining each student from the level they entered their class room at to a higher level. The student should only be competing and challenging themself. In today's workplace people work together in teams to collaborate and problem solve. This is what students should do, work together to help each other learn, not compete with one another. All talents are needed and each child has different talents.
I believe that part of the problem of educating children effectively lies in teacher training. In the program I use, teachers learn strategies that are based on research of what is effective for learning and teachers see these strategies in use by model teachers and then immediately apply these strategies in their class rooms. They see immediate positive results and have support from their fellow class mates. In most teacher training programs teachers learn theory but don't get support to practice what they learn back in their class rooms. Other teachers who have not had renewal training get comfortable teaching the same way they always have, not realizing that they are doing a disservice to students by not thinking about their teaching and changing with the changes in society and in how their students have been raised.
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