It's that time of year again...

It is coming to that time of the school year again for many of us.  That time when goodbyes are being said, friends are moving on, graduates are taking the next step in their lives, people are making travel plans, and for the most part schools are buzzing with excitement.

Students are rushing around finalizing projects, finding their textbooks that they shoved in their lockers back in August and have forgotten about, filling out checkout forms, and worrying about whether all of their hard work they have put in all year will be negated by the final exam.  Questions about what is going to happen over the next several days loom in their heads.  What will be on the final exam?  What if I have two, or maybe three exams, in one day?  What do I do if my family wants to leave to go on vacation early? 

While the students are getting close to hitting their panic button, many teachers are scrambling like crazy to get those last tests in before grades are due.  Did I get all my content covered?  How can I get this covered before the exam?  Are my students going to read, do math, work on their Group 4 projects, write their Extended Essay, or are they going to take an SAT prep class?  What do I put on the exam?  When are grades due?  How many comments are "enough"?

Why do we do this to ourselves?  What is the point?  Why are we stressing out over these minuscule irritations and not focusing on what is really important...How have I made an impact on my students' learning this year?  How far have my students progressed in their learning?  Have my students truly benefited from our time together this year?  How have I grown as an educator this year?  

These are the important questions we should be asking.  These are the end of year assessment targets we should all be focusing on, not how well do our students remember the information we deem important for them to remember.  I am not against end of course assessments.  I am against end of course stress and chaos.  For nothing.  Make the assessment meaningful.  Make it useful.  Don't make it the ultimate measure of what your students have learned in their time with you.  An end of course assessment should be just that, an assessment at the end of the course.  It should be no different than any of the other assessments throughout your course.  It should measure what your students know at that point in time.  It should not "weigh" any more than any other assessment you have given already.  It should be included with all of the other assessments the student has already taken so that you can articulate an accurate measure of their learning for the course/year.  Not what the student was able to remember or regurgitate back to you on the day of the exam. 

  

So, why do we do this?  Why do we concentrate on these assessment tasks and not on our students?  Why do we stress our students and not celebrate their learning?  Why do we put so much emphasis on a single test at the end of a course and not on ones done throughout the course?  If you have an answer, I would love to hear it.

Porch Chats

It was a chilly, winter evening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia sitting around a fire on our back patio with my wife, Billie Jo, and our dear friends James and Susan, another teaching couple .  Some deep conversations and many problems of the world got solved by the four of us during what we refer to as Porch Chats. You know these chats.  When good friends get together around a fire on a porch, on a beach, in your kitchen, or even in a booth at a favorite pub with scribbles on a beverage napkin, these conversations are the best.  This one, however, has stuck with me and has now become a philosophy of sorts for me.  Why?  Because I cannot find the answer to the question.  Or at least an answer that is not superficial.

James, my wife and myself were all working in the same high school at the time of the conversation.  It was because of this that sometimes the conversations were a little heavy on the high school side.  This Porch Chat in particular was one of these times.  The three of us were talking pretty deeply about the content of courses, credit counts, preparing for university, or some other extremely important and very interesting things high school teachers talk about.  Whatever it was, I honestly do not even remember so that is how important it truly was at the time, it was consuming the three of us...until Susan, an elementary teacher and the voice of reality of this evening, spoke up and said "Since when did high school become harder than college?"  It was at this point that Billie Jo, James and I stopped talking and all stared at Susan.  The three of us couldn't speak for a moment so we just looked at her.  In the most perfect Susan way, she then went on to tell us that she was listening to everything we were saying and that she just couldn't believe that it was high school we were talking about.  We all just looked at each other and began to laugh because what Susan was saying was absolutely true.

I continually go back to this conversation, not just because I absolutely love our Porch Chats but because after five years, I still do not have an answer to Susan's question.  Why does high school have to be harder than college?  What are we doing in schools?  Are we pushing so far ahead and becoming that competitive that all of the pressures that were once associated with colleges & universities are now living in the high school world?  It used to be that the horror stories we would hear about education involved the incredibly long thesis papers, vastly complicated Calculus problems that spanned three or more chalkboards, interpretations of literary works that went so deep that entire courses were designated to a single author, or sometimes even a single piece of literature.  Several thousand word essays were due before each class.  Timeless experiments with accompanying, countless page, lab reports were done on a regular basis.  Sitting at a desk for 60, 90, 120 or even 180 minutes during a lecture and having to regurgitate everything the professor said for the exam. These portrayals about university academics, the depth and breadth of knowledge that university students were undertaking, was intimidating.

The problem is that the last few sentences of the paragraph above are no longer common place at universities.  They are what is going on in high school.  Yes, some of these things do still happen at the university level, but now they are far too often what you hear if you ask any high school student to describe their workload.  What happened to the fun?  What happened to building a passion for learning?  What happened to learning where your passions lie so that you can pursue them after you graduate from high school?  In short, when did high school become harder than college?

What is the typical scenario in a classroom around this time of year?  It is a mad rush to get the curriculum covered before the end of the year.  Or, frantically cover the material so the students are at least exposed to it before they sit for their final exams.  Teachers pile on projects, assessments, HW, quizzes, etc. in a mind blowing proportion.  Then we wonder why students, and teachers, are stressed?  Really?  Grade 12 teachers say they have to prepare students for university.  Grade 11 teachers say they have to prepare students for Grade 12.  And on down the assembly line to the point that Grade 5 teachers are stressing their already stressed out students about the intimidating halls of the middle school.  Even the kindergarten teachers are in on the game saying they have to prepare their students to enter first grade!  Let students find their passions.  Focus on fewer topics, but do them well.  Is there really a need to teach students in middle school about quadratics if they still have not mastered adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions?  Do we still have to use Shakespeare to teach literature?  What happened to looking forward to Science because you, the student, were actually doing an experiment?

Stop the madness, people!  Look around.  Why enter the mad dash when we could just as easily discuss with the next grade level teacher what it was that got covered and what did not get covered?  Our students are people, not robots.  They are not going to end up at the exact same point at the exact same time, so stop wasting energy trying to make this happen.  Bring the fun back into learning.

Why do we test students?

There are many answers and viewpoints to this question.  No matter which educator, parent, student, administrator or policy maker you ask, you get a slightly different answer.  Most of these answers can be summed up to essentially this..."to see what the students have learned."  To an extent, I can agree with this summation.  However, is that really what we are doing as teachers?  Sometimes.

Other times we are not testing to determine what our students have learned.  Sometimes we test our students because the school/district/State requires the assessment.  They gather the data from all students that took the test and behind some magical closed door session there comes an algorithm of some sort to rank our students based on the answers they had supplied.  (The "They" can be teachers, administrators, standardized assessment companies, school boards, etc. depending upon the test in question.)  The rank can come in the form of a letter grade, a number score, a percentile ranking, a placement on a given rubric, a t-score, a z-score, a pass/fail result, or in some cases, no feedback to the test taker at all.  These are the cases that are truly where the tail is wagging the dog.  It does not make sense and it is far too common that there is little to no benefit for the student.

Many school leaders talk about "doing what is right for our students", "standing behind our students", or "putting students at the forefront", and many other wonderful statements to their stakeholders.  I am not against these being said at all.  Quite the contrary.  I am absolutely behind each of these statements.  My concern is that many times the actions of our school leaders do not back up these statements, and testing is certainly one of these actions.  Why test students if there is no follow up to the test?  Why gather data just to gather data?  Why gather data simply to rank our students against one another?  What is the point?

Students are assessed on a regular basis in every aspect of their education.  Most of these are formative in nature.  Meaning, the results and/or feedback they receive (or do not receive) from these assessments informs their learning in some way or another.  These formative assessments can be class discussions, quizzes, projects, speeches, skits, games, exit tickets, presentations, or just about any other form you can think of that gives the student an opportunity to show their learning at any given point about any given learning target.  As teachers, we take the opportunity to gauge our students' learning against said learning targets and then adjust our teaching accordingly.  Then at a later point, hopefully after several other formative assessments and feedback have been taken and given, we give our students a summative assessment.  Sadly, this is where many assessment cycles stop...in schools.

However, students are also being formatively assessed by their peers on a regular basis.  They are constantly being assessed on how they dress, how they talk, who they sit with at lunch, who their friends are on social media, what they post on social media, what they like or don't like on social media, this list goes on further than we want to admit and in many cases these assessments mean more to the student than anything we do in the classroom.  These social assessments guide how each student approaches everything they do in and out of school.

The difference?  Immediate application of learning, reflection and feedback.  But why does this difference have to exist?  Why are we not giving more meaningful (to the student) assessments?  Why are we not giving time for students, and teachers, to reflect on learning and feedback to guide future lessons?  Why do we as teachers feel we need to be the guardians of the information at all times?  Let these things go.  Listen to our students.  They want our guidance, not our governance.  Find ways to spark their curiosity.  Find projects that put their learning into action.  Assess them in more ways than just paper and pencil.  Set the expectations high, give them the support they need, guide them in the right direction, let them use their past experiences and curiosity lead them to learn.

Stop testing students and start assessing learning.  We have the power and ability to do this within our classrooms.  What is stopping you?

"What's my motivation?"

I am not sure how many of you have seen it, or even paid attention to it if you did see it, but this quote was in a Sprite commercial a few years back.  It was not that special nor was it even the real focus of the commercial...come to think of it, do commercials now ever focus on the actual product they are promoting?  Either way, this quote has stuck in my head ever since the first time I had heard it come from the actors' mouth.  At first I mocked it because the actor used a completely false British accent and sounded out of place.  However, the more I thought about it over the years, the more it had an impact on me. I began thinking more deeply about the words in the question and took the question more seriously.  Maybe this was maturity, maybe this was life having a funny way of putting things in my face that I needed to acknowledge, maybe it was just my strange way of thinking about things that don't mean much during my alone time driving to and from work.  No matter what the reason, I began to take this question seriously, and still do today.

This simple quote also led me to another interesting curiosity...quotes in general.  I am fascinated with quotes.  I am enamored with quotes from famous athletes, actors, educators, philosophers, political figures, religious figures, etc.  I used to (when I had a single room that I called "mine") decorate my classroom walls and doors with the quotes that would strike me as a theme for each new school year.  I took it on as a sort of internal challenge.  I still find myself ending emails that I send to my team with motivational quotes pertaining to the challenge at hand.

My newest quote, and nearest to my heart, that I have made my mantra is from Thomas Wayne (and Alfred Pennyworth)..."And why do we fall Bruce?  So we can learn to pick ourselves up."  This simple, yet powerful, quote can be applied to many situations in life.  I was faced with a huge personal and professional challenge toward the end of 2016.  This quote helped me face the challenge head-on and overcome it at the same time.  I found a great picture of the quote with the Batman logo in the background and made it my background screen on my phone.  I looked at this numerous times a day and thought about constantly.  By doing this, I found myself metaphorically picking myself up and getting back on track.  By doing this, I reverted back to the Sprite quote and asked myself the question again.  I have now found a new motivation and am ready to take on new challenges proudly and without reservation.

What is the point of this post?  Take it as you will, but my intention is to prove that the words that come out of our mouths have power behind them that we may or may not have intended.  Words can help us find motivation, character, meaning, laughter or focus.  On the other side, words can also put stereotypes, hate, anger, and fear in the minds of others.  That being said, if you are reading this post be mindful of the words that you use.  You may not think much about them sometimes, but you never know who is listening and what impact they will have on that individual.

I leave you with this..."Words are, in my humble opinion, our most inexhaustible use of magic.  Capable of inflicting injury, and remedying it."  - Albus Dumbledore

What is our role as educators?

This question comes up many times in many different forms in every school around the world.  Surprisingly enough, the answer varies from region to region, school to school, and sometimes even educator to educator.  We are all, hopefully, in education because we want to make a positive difference in others' lives in one way or another.  This may look different for each of us, but at the root of it, we are all looking to achieve the same goal.

Yes, as a mathematics teacher I want my students to remember and be able to apply the Pythagorean Theorem, know all of the characteristics and applications of quadratics and how to use the Chain Rule to find the derivative of a function.  In a perfect world, my students would learn this, show their learning on some high stakes assessment, and go on to study mathematics at university.  In reality, I am happy to know that my students remember my name and horrible dad jokes after they leave my class.  Don't get me wrong, mathematics is important and vital to many careers but getting an "A" in mathematics, or any subject for that matter, is no determination of success and happiness in life.

Making a connection with our students on a level that is not content based is so much more meaningful.   Showing them that someone outside of their family is in their corner to pick them up no matter how many times they struggle or fall down is what they will remember.  Students carry around so much pressure to "do better" or "get an A" on every assessment that they cannot stop and value what surrounds them everyday.  As teachers, we get wrapped up in this pressure as well.  We constantly refer to highest marks possible on a test or in a course.  We only put comments on report cards for those students achieving below a certain level.  What about those students that are doing their best but are not getting those highest marks?  What are we indirectly telling them?  Why do we pull students from free time to sit and do homework that they were not able to do in the first place?  Not to mention that the homework assignment was not collected and feedback was not given, but just because they didn't do the assignment more value was put on the action and not the result.  What does this tell the students?  Nothing positive.

We as educators have to constantly evaluate ourselves and our positions and how these directly, or indirectly, effect our students.  We forget that in many cases, we spend more time per day/week with our students than their parents.  We are responsible for many of their actions, their beliefs, their choices but sadly this does not get acknowledged  most of the time by many of us.  Some teachers complain about duties, running clubs, being an advisor/mentor, doing pretty much anything outside of teaching.  Why?  This is what is important to our students.  This is the time they will remember 5, 10, 30 years from now.  Being that caring adult that is in their corner to build them up, pick them up when they fall, be their advocate, give them feedback (both positive and critical) on their performances, and maybe teach them a little content along the way.  This is why we are educators.  This is why we get up in the morning and come to work everyday. This is our role as educators.

Last Three Days

As I sit here at my desk with three days left of school, I had yet another pondering..."Why?"

Why do we have a schedule to see all eight blocks in one day?  Why do we have an entire day dedicated to an assembly and yearbook distribution?  Why do teachers have the same last day as students?  Why am I writing this blog?  While I don't have clear answers for all of these questions, and several more that are buzzing around in my head, I will offer some thoughts about each...at least from the desk of a High School Math Teacher.

To see all eight blocks.  This gives our students the opportunity to see each of their classmates and teachers one last time together as a unit to get some closure on the school year.  Meeting after taking the final exam (which has been graded and put into the almighty grade book) also gives an opportunity for students and teachers to discuss feelings about the final exam, which in turn also leads to questions about their final grade.

Day for assembly and Yearbook.  Being that we are an International School, we are a transient population.  We move a lot.  New people are here every year.  This closing ceremony is, again, a way to give closure to students, teachers and administrators.  Sometimes we laugh.  Sometimes we cry.  Sometimes we wonder "WHY?"  In the end, we all get to finish out the year together and that is important.

The same last day.  This is fairly common in International Schools so it is probably not even on many other people's radar, except mine.  Having teachers and students end on the same day is nothing less than chaotic.  Chaotic for the kids, chaotic for the teachers, chaotic for the parents.  This is simply because it is a mad race to try to get everything accomplished.  Is this what we have taught our students all year, rush like a demon to get your work done?  I hope not.  I think taking even one extra day after the kids leave for summer break would a huge relief to many teachers.  It would also allow teachers to concentrate on what is important on that last day, the kids not the paperwork.  The last day with your students should be special for both you and them so why ruin that by mixing in administrative paperwork and checkout processes with tears of joy, gifts, celebrations and all the happy memories of the school year?

As I am finishing this post, my students have started to come in my room.  It is at this point that I have realized that kids have an amazing way of seeing & feeling things as well as an uncanny way of summing things up with excellent viewpoints.  For example, I just heard this being said from one student to another "Want to tell me what the point of this is?  No one's going to be here."  This statement was not said in a nasty tone, it was actually said with honesty.  She was looking for an answer from her classmate.  They sat their books down, turned and walked back out of class to discuss many other things in the three minutes they had left before class.  They didn't have any idea that I could hear them talking, but I found it very interesting that they were discussing the same things I am writing about.  Think about how they will remember the last day of school.  Not as a time of closure.  Not as a time of getting resolution on an exam question.  Not as enjoying a celebration of another year of learning.  They will remember this day as "Why...", or maybe not.

Yes, I distributed my exams back to my students as expected by them and we discussed (very quickly) the results and I allowed them to ask questions.  Then I played my favorite beginning of summer song, Summertime by D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.  And yes, I sang along.  This is hopefully how my students will remember their last day with me as I will remember the looks on their faces as they watch and listen to me sing along.  This was my answer to the "WHY" question.  What is yours?

How do we measure success?

This is a very hot topic in education lately, as it should be.  And one that is being bounced around in many of our heads right now at the end of another school year.  Is every student scoring an A on every assessment success?  Or getting an A as a final grade in every class success?

If so, we have big problems!  If everyone gets an A, then I have to ask...were they challenged?  It is widely known that we learn from our failures, so why push for everyone to have an A?  I am not saying I wan't all failures either, so don't misunderstand what I am saying.  I am just a little concerned with how easily educators become happy with their teaching because their students are all receiving "good grades."  Parents are part of this problem as well.  Many parents only measure success by seeing how many A's are on the report card.  How many of us have had a conference with a parent, or student, and the statement about always having A's in the past is said?  Just because they don't have that A right now does not mean they are not finding success.  Does it?  

Admin is not removed from this equation either.  Usually the measure of a "good teacher" is from the grades of their students.  This gets interpreted many times as all A's = great teacher and no A's = bad teacher.  Where is the logic behind this thinking?  While at the same time, written in the mission statement of these same schools is something about taking risks.  Well, if we want students to take risks then we should expect them to not find success every time.  THIS IS OK.  The success will be measured by how the student reacts to not being successful at their first, second, or maybe even their fifth attempt.  Continuing to work through an issue/problem until they find the solution or answer the question is learning.  Learning = Success.

However, schools make this much more difficult.  Schools want to have grades to show students, parents, board members, universities and in some cases, other schools.  Why?  To show how great of a school they have?  To compare one school to another?  So, the giving of grades is a competition to see which school is the top school putting out the top students?  I hope not.  Many great schools graduate many wonderfully successful students that did not receive a 4.0+ G.P.A.  Does this mean they are not great schools filled with amazing teachers and wildly successful students?  NO!  Not every student that graduates from an Ivy League school does so with a 4.0.  In fact, not every teacher (especially the one writing this blog) had a 4.0 G.P.A. all the way through school.  Are we not successful?

The issue with this question is that there is not a one-size-fits-all answer.  Therein lies the issue.  Schools (and many teachers as well) want to be flexible and diverse when it comes to their students, but not so much when it comes to grades.  Saying that a student has successfully met all of the minimum standards to 'pass' a course is not good enough.  We need to put a letter grade or a numerical value stamp on it for some reason.  Until this idea changes, we will continue to argue with each other about what determines success.

Here is a little something to ponder....if a student comes to you at the beginning of the school year with limited abilities (reading, writing, arithmetic, artistic ability, not being able to throw a ball, not knowing how to play a guitar, shy and never performed on stage, not being able to speak a particular language, etc.) and leave your class in June having not mastered the skill but having progressed significantly, is this not success?