ADULT:
A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.
BEAUTY PARLOR:
A place where women curl up and dye.
CANNIBAL:
Someone who is fed up with people.
CHICKENS:
The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead.
COMMITTEE:
A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.
DUST:
Mud with the juice squeezed out.
EGOTIST:
Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.
HANDKERCHIEF:
Cold Storage.
INFLATION:
Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.
MOSQUITO:
An insect that makes you like flies better.
RAISIN:
Grape with a sunburn.
SECRET:
Something you tell to one person at a time.
SKELETON:
A bunch of bones with the person scraped off..
TOOTHACHE:
The pain that drives you to extraction.
TOMORROW:
One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.
YAWN:
An honest opinion openly expressed.
and MY Personal Favorite!
WRINKLES:
Something other people have, similar to my character lines
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Bridging the Character Education Achievement Gap
By Paul Sutton, Education Week February 26, 2009
Throughout his now-famous "Last Lecture," the late Carnegie Mellon University professor of computer science Randy Pausch talked about what he called the "head fake." It is the idea that learning and education work best when they work on the personal and general levels simultaneously. It’s clear what calculus can teach a high school student. But beyond that learning, a character education lesson on the dialogues between Socrates and Crito can teach critical-reading skills and democratic dialogue, while also teaching personal and social justice and integrity. The study of both calculus and Socrates demands intellectual rigor, and yet these subjects are not valued in the same way in our public high schools.
Character education as a discipline is losing the argument that it deserves the same resources as disciplines affirmed by an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate curriculum. And this is because we have been selling and teaching it wrong. We miss one of the most important aspects of character education, the cognitive head fake, when our obsession with advanced coursework becomes myopic and overshadows the strength both areas could have if working to complement each other in high schools.
As the demands of high-stakes testing grow and ever-expanding achievement gaps continue to ask more of public schools, character education is too often left behind. Money for staffing and programs dry up as budgets shrink. When forced to choose, schools will take academic rigor over team-building, future college success over human interrelatedness. Why? Because all they see in the latter is an intellectual void. Most schools value character education in principle, but choose to cut it first in a crisis because they see more-pressing instructional needs elsewhere.
And when extensive research, such as the "Smart & Good High Schools" study, suggests the need for more, and more-comprehensive, character education programs, most schools and districts will reject the recommendation, seeing it as yet another unnecessary strain on their already stretched school communities. Whole-school initiatives may be noble goals, but in reality, most schools don’t have the resources or the will to go for broke on character education—even if problems such as cheating, bullying, or harassment may be rapidly escalating.
The assumption that a broad-based character education initiative could flow easily from whole-school transformation ignores the reality that change in high schools happens slowly, if at all, and usually in small pockets, not as a whole school.
Educators should start small, allowing a successful "pocket" to expand within the school community. Character education could be taught, for example, through a fully articulated "student leadership" class—a class most schools already fund. Although they are largely underutilized and misused, these classes are dedicated to student activities. They also should have academic goals and expectations, and be open to all kids and valued by the school and the district just as AP or IB classes are—through a rigorous curricular review.
To be taken seriously in public secondary schools, character education must go beyond mission statements and explore ways to connect such goal-setting exercises to concrete learning objectives that challenge students with scholarly content and approaches. To survive, it must compete with advanced courses for full-time-equivalent teachers by embracing high expectations for all kids and proving its worth year in and year out.
As James Traub, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, has said: "[T]he issue is not whether we will have character education, but instead, what kind we will have and what relationship it will bear to the ongoing campaign to improve children's academic skills." Indeed, character education's very survival depends on its quantifiably improving students' academic skills.
A new character education model should be developed around principles that encourage college-level critical thinking and service to community. It should include the following elements:
1. We should teach dialogue and deliberation through Socratic seminars and consensus-building, so that students learn how to communicate with each other in a democratic setting and the ability to judge ideas on the strength of evidentiary support, not misinformed opinion.
2. We should teach core values and beliefs, so that students identify universal truths they are willing to speak for and work from that will guide the decisions they make as leaders and citizens of their communities.
3. We should teach historical models of leadership, so that students will understand that all great leaders are merely standing on the shoulders of others, and that the values of integrity and compassion don’t come easily. Figures taught could range from Gandhi and Lincoln, to the Bible’s King David, to the explorer Ernest Shackleton.
4. We should provide thoughtful teaching of inequity and inequality as they relate to race, gender, and class, so that students can learn how to speak to one another about diversity in a way that creates progress and does not reinforce stereotypes or systems of power and privilege. Students should be introduced to the writings of authors such as Peggy McIntosh, Cornel West, and James A. Banks.
5. We should teach democratic citizenship and leadership, so that students can learn how to use democratic systems to empower and give voice to all participants in a society to make communities more equal and just. Students should be introduced to scholars such as Walter Parker and historical documents such as the Federalist Papers and Washington’s Newburgh Address.
6. Since moral reasoning is integral to these pursuits, students should be taught to think their way through ethical and moral dilemmas and how to make choices that benefit all and that foster the strength of character to persevere through failures. Lawrence Kohlberg’s “stages of moral development” is a great place to start.
7. We should teach ethical and collaborative decision making and problem-solving, to empower students to change dysfunctional systems and communities. This should teach them that problem-solving is not the sole responsibility of one leader or group, but of a whole community working together.
8. We should give students opportunities for practical application of these precepts and practices, so they can test their new knowledge within the community and attempt to make positive improvements. These opportunities could be through schoolwide community-service projects, school philanthropy projects, and various other school improvement projects that encourage all students to participate.
Whether this kind of learning comes through a student leadership or character education class, schools should encourage students to register and attend. Several levels should be taught, becoming increasingly sophisticated and challenging. To maintain standards of academic achievement, students within such a program should be assessed on their ability to produce a high level of scholarly written work and to add quantifiably and positively to the school’s climate and culture through active leadership.
If we are bold enough to change our thinking and accept that character education must become a part of the academically rigorous landscape of public high schools, students taking these classes will benefit, along with the schools that offer them.
Throughout his now-famous "Last Lecture," the late Carnegie Mellon University professor of computer science Randy Pausch talked about what he called the "head fake." It is the idea that learning and education work best when they work on the personal and general levels simultaneously. It’s clear what calculus can teach a high school student. But beyond that learning, a character education lesson on the dialogues between Socrates and Crito can teach critical-reading skills and democratic dialogue, while also teaching personal and social justice and integrity. The study of both calculus and Socrates demands intellectual rigor, and yet these subjects are not valued in the same way in our public high schools.
Character education as a discipline is losing the argument that it deserves the same resources as disciplines affirmed by an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate curriculum. And this is because we have been selling and teaching it wrong. We miss one of the most important aspects of character education, the cognitive head fake, when our obsession with advanced coursework becomes myopic and overshadows the strength both areas could have if working to complement each other in high schools.
As the demands of high-stakes testing grow and ever-expanding achievement gaps continue to ask more of public schools, character education is too often left behind. Money for staffing and programs dry up as budgets shrink. When forced to choose, schools will take academic rigor over team-building, future college success over human interrelatedness. Why? Because all they see in the latter is an intellectual void. Most schools value character education in principle, but choose to cut it first in a crisis because they see more-pressing instructional needs elsewhere.
And when extensive research, such as the "Smart & Good High Schools" study, suggests the need for more, and more-comprehensive, character education programs, most schools and districts will reject the recommendation, seeing it as yet another unnecessary strain on their already stretched school communities. Whole-school initiatives may be noble goals, but in reality, most schools don’t have the resources or the will to go for broke on character education—even if problems such as cheating, bullying, or harassment may be rapidly escalating.
The assumption that a broad-based character education initiative could flow easily from whole-school transformation ignores the reality that change in high schools happens slowly, if at all, and usually in small pockets, not as a whole school.
Educators should start small, allowing a successful "pocket" to expand within the school community. Character education could be taught, for example, through a fully articulated "student leadership" class—a class most schools already fund. Although they are largely underutilized and misused, these classes are dedicated to student activities. They also should have academic goals and expectations, and be open to all kids and valued by the school and the district just as AP or IB classes are—through a rigorous curricular review.
To be taken seriously in public secondary schools, character education must go beyond mission statements and explore ways to connect such goal-setting exercises to concrete learning objectives that challenge students with scholarly content and approaches. To survive, it must compete with advanced courses for full-time-equivalent teachers by embracing high expectations for all kids and proving its worth year in and year out.
As James Traub, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, has said: "[T]he issue is not whether we will have character education, but instead, what kind we will have and what relationship it will bear to the ongoing campaign to improve children's academic skills." Indeed, character education's very survival depends on its quantifiably improving students' academic skills.
A new character education model should be developed around principles that encourage college-level critical thinking and service to community. It should include the following elements:
1. We should teach dialogue and deliberation through Socratic seminars and consensus-building, so that students learn how to communicate with each other in a democratic setting and the ability to judge ideas on the strength of evidentiary support, not misinformed opinion.
2. We should teach core values and beliefs, so that students identify universal truths they are willing to speak for and work from that will guide the decisions they make as leaders and citizens of their communities.
3. We should teach historical models of leadership, so that students will understand that all great leaders are merely standing on the shoulders of others, and that the values of integrity and compassion don’t come easily. Figures taught could range from Gandhi and Lincoln, to the Bible’s King David, to the explorer Ernest Shackleton.
4. We should provide thoughtful teaching of inequity and inequality as they relate to race, gender, and class, so that students can learn how to speak to one another about diversity in a way that creates progress and does not reinforce stereotypes or systems of power and privilege. Students should be introduced to the writings of authors such as Peggy McIntosh, Cornel West, and James A. Banks.
5. We should teach democratic citizenship and leadership, so that students can learn how to use democratic systems to empower and give voice to all participants in a society to make communities more equal and just. Students should be introduced to scholars such as Walter Parker and historical documents such as the Federalist Papers and Washington’s Newburgh Address.
6. Since moral reasoning is integral to these pursuits, students should be taught to think their way through ethical and moral dilemmas and how to make choices that benefit all and that foster the strength of character to persevere through failures. Lawrence Kohlberg’s “stages of moral development” is a great place to start.
7. We should teach ethical and collaborative decision making and problem-solving, to empower students to change dysfunctional systems and communities. This should teach them that problem-solving is not the sole responsibility of one leader or group, but of a whole community working together.
8. We should give students opportunities for practical application of these precepts and practices, so they can test their new knowledge within the community and attempt to make positive improvements. These opportunities could be through schoolwide community-service projects, school philanthropy projects, and various other school improvement projects that encourage all students to participate.
Whether this kind of learning comes through a student leadership or character education class, schools should encourage students to register and attend. Several levels should be taught, becoming increasingly sophisticated and challenging. To maintain standards of academic achievement, students within such a program should be assessed on their ability to produce a high level of scholarly written work and to add quantifiably and positively to the school’s climate and culture through active leadership.
If we are bold enough to change our thinking and accept that character education must become a part of the academically rigorous landscape of public high schools, students taking these classes will benefit, along with the schools that offer them.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Discovery
In a Classroom the teacher asks; Maria, go to the map and find North America
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America?
CLASS: Maria.
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America?
CLASS: Maria.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
'Virtues Project'
'Virtues Project' encourages students to find the good in themselves
Baltimore Sun, By Arin Gencer February 4, 2009
In a skit on the day's highlighted virtue, honesty, Shayna Falwell (second from right) plays a dishonest salesperson with other Kenwood High ninth-graders (from left) Alex Mehall, Walter Scott, Zuryna Smith and Stevie Slaughter. (Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis / November 26, 2008)
Standing in a locker room at Baltimore County's Kenwood High School, the teenage girl kept her cool when one of her peers passed by and hit her with a book bag. "Under normal circumstances, that would have been a major fight in our building," said teacher Nancy Hanlin, recounting the incident. Instead, Hanlin said, the girl told her classmate that she would have hit back "if I wasn't working on my virtues."
The fight that wasn't illustrates the changes that school officials say they are seeing at Kenwood, where a new character education initiative called the Virtues Project has begun altering the way teachers, administrators and students communicate with one another. The "virtues" are 52 good character traits, such as truthfulness, patience, responsibility and self-discipline.
"Our kids are so used to all of us telling them what they did wrong," said Hanlin, who, along with physical education and sports science chair Tammy Jackson, suggested trying the project. "Instead of looking at the behaviour, we're actually looking at the kids." Teachers use the virtues to acknowledge, guide and correct students, said Dara Feldman, director of education initiatives for the project and a former Montgomery County teacher who used its principles in her classroom.
Teachers might take a moment to thank someone for his honesty in returning a missing item or suggest a teen consider what traits she needs to call on to deal with a crisis, according to Jackson and Assistant Principal Allison Seymour. The State Department of Education encourages, but does not mandate, character education. Such initiatives vary throughout the state, and even within districts.
"We want students to become good students, but we also want them to become good citizens," said Paula McCoach, an education specialist in the state agency's youth development branch. "Character education ... has influences on the climate of the building and the school itself." Kenwood appears to be the first Baltimore County school to adopt the Virtues Project. Feldman has also trained educators in Anne Arundel, Howard and Montgomery counties and in Baltimore City, she said, but Kenwood has taken "a holistic, excellent approach."
The school draws students from the Essex and Middle River areas, which have many struggling families, said Paul D. Martin, the principal. Students come from "a tough environment," Hanlin said. "They just want to survive in their neighbourhood. They bring that into our building." Still, fighting at Kenwood has declined over the past several years, Martin said, and the project has helped even more.
"The virtues that are on that paper, all of us possess," Jackson said, referring to the list of character traits. "It just takes someone to verbalize that."
Among the educators' tools is a set of cards, each featuring a different virtue and providing a description of that trait. A virtue is spotlighted every month. "Basically, what it's all about is teaching social skills," said Tom Zirpoli, an education professor at McDaniel College who has written books about behaviour and classroom management and parenting.
Character education programs "teach kids, and they teach teachers, to focus on ethical behaviours - honesty, caring about other people ... judging right from wrong," Zirpoli said. Family involvement is key, he said, and such programs should be integrated throughout the curriculum. Yet implementation can be difficult at the high-school level, with so many other demands, such as tests and graduation requirements, said Lisa Boarman, coordinator of school counselling and related services for Howard County schools. There, dozens of schools use a framework highlighting 40 traits that are integral to success, she said.
In Anne Arundel and Carroll counties, and other areas, many schools follow a model called Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, or PBIS. Its goal is to promote safe and supportive schools and change behavior, said Virginia L. Dolan, an Anne Arundel schools facilitator on the state PBIS leadership team.
While schools in Baltimore County can choose their programs, the district is trying to "bring a more consistent character development program in our buildings," to ensure that everyone is "speaking the same language," said Glenda Myrick, coordinator of the office of safe and drug-free schools.
Baltimore Sun, By Arin Gencer February 4, 2009
In a skit on the day's highlighted virtue, honesty, Shayna Falwell (second from right) plays a dishonest salesperson with other Kenwood High ninth-graders (from left) Alex Mehall, Walter Scott, Zuryna Smith and Stevie Slaughter. (Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis / November 26, 2008)
Standing in a locker room at Baltimore County's Kenwood High School, the teenage girl kept her cool when one of her peers passed by and hit her with a book bag. "Under normal circumstances, that would have been a major fight in our building," said teacher Nancy Hanlin, recounting the incident. Instead, Hanlin said, the girl told her classmate that she would have hit back "if I wasn't working on my virtues."
The fight that wasn't illustrates the changes that school officials say they are seeing at Kenwood, where a new character education initiative called the Virtues Project has begun altering the way teachers, administrators and students communicate with one another. The "virtues" are 52 good character traits, such as truthfulness, patience, responsibility and self-discipline.
"Our kids are so used to all of us telling them what they did wrong," said Hanlin, who, along with physical education and sports science chair Tammy Jackson, suggested trying the project. "Instead of looking at the behaviour, we're actually looking at the kids." Teachers use the virtues to acknowledge, guide and correct students, said Dara Feldman, director of education initiatives for the project and a former Montgomery County teacher who used its principles in her classroom.
Teachers might take a moment to thank someone for his honesty in returning a missing item or suggest a teen consider what traits she needs to call on to deal with a crisis, according to Jackson and Assistant Principal Allison Seymour. The State Department of Education encourages, but does not mandate, character education. Such initiatives vary throughout the state, and even within districts.
"We want students to become good students, but we also want them to become good citizens," said Paula McCoach, an education specialist in the state agency's youth development branch. "Character education ... has influences on the climate of the building and the school itself." Kenwood appears to be the first Baltimore County school to adopt the Virtues Project. Feldman has also trained educators in Anne Arundel, Howard and Montgomery counties and in Baltimore City, she said, but Kenwood has taken "a holistic, excellent approach."
The school draws students from the Essex and Middle River areas, which have many struggling families, said Paul D. Martin, the principal. Students come from "a tough environment," Hanlin said. "They just want to survive in their neighbourhood. They bring that into our building." Still, fighting at Kenwood has declined over the past several years, Martin said, and the project has helped even more.
"The virtues that are on that paper, all of us possess," Jackson said, referring to the list of character traits. "It just takes someone to verbalize that."
Among the educators' tools is a set of cards, each featuring a different virtue and providing a description of that trait. A virtue is spotlighted every month. "Basically, what it's all about is teaching social skills," said Tom Zirpoli, an education professor at McDaniel College who has written books about behaviour and classroom management and parenting.
Character education programs "teach kids, and they teach teachers, to focus on ethical behaviours - honesty, caring about other people ... judging right from wrong," Zirpoli said. Family involvement is key, he said, and such programs should be integrated throughout the curriculum. Yet implementation can be difficult at the high-school level, with so many other demands, such as tests and graduation requirements, said Lisa Boarman, coordinator of school counselling and related services for Howard County schools. There, dozens of schools use a framework highlighting 40 traits that are integral to success, she said.
In Anne Arundel and Carroll counties, and other areas, many schools follow a model called Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, or PBIS. Its goal is to promote safe and supportive schools and change behavior, said Virginia L. Dolan, an Anne Arundel schools facilitator on the state PBIS leadership team.
While schools in Baltimore County can choose their programs, the district is trying to "bring a more consistent character development program in our buildings," to ensure that everyone is "speaking the same language," said Glenda Myrick, coordinator of the office of safe and drug-free schools.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Freedom helps fuel innovation
As South Charlotte Middle School Principal Christine Waggoner walks the eighth-grade hall, she finds five boys sprawled on the floor. No worries. They've just found a new place to work equations. Moving around is supposed to jump-start the male brain. Waggoner is among 48 Charlotte-Mecklenburg principals recently granted new academic freedom in what has been a top-down district. She made one of the boldest opening moves, launching single-sex classes.
The guys, who wear dress shirts and ties on “Manly Mondays,” get a little more noise and activity. The girls in the classroom next door have an array of coloured markers and decorated papers on their desks, which are arranged for face-to-face discussion. Teachers say both groups ask and answer questions more freely, without fear of looking dumb in front of the opposite sex. Public scrutiny often shines on failing schools. Leading a suburban school like South Charlotte – where gifted kids are abundant, test scores high, poverty rare and parents engaged – might seem like a breeze.
Not so, says Waggoner. Her challenge is to push the academic stars while helping a growing number of kids who left low-scoring urban schools for a better opportunity. She is driven not only by her own vision, but by district officials who scrutinize her data and parents who, in the words of the PTA president, “don't tolerate ‘adequate.'”
She was honoured to make Superintendent Peter Gorman's “freedom and flexibility” list last spring, a distinction granted to principals with a history of strong results. The goal: Unleash innovation and recognize that different schools have different needs. But Waggoner, a 62-year-old cancer survivor who believes her work keeps her healthy, didn't wait for permission to take charge of her school. In six years at South Charlotte, she has created electives that let students delve into World War II, develop leadership skills and design their own science experiments. She has kids researching such topics as disease in Africa. Separating girls and boys to see if they learn better is just the latest twist.
Waggoner is spurred by her belief, backed by recent research, that middle school sets adolescents on the path to success or failure. Her message to students is the same, regardless of their background: “If you do it our way, we can almost guarantee you will be successful when you get to ninth grade.”
‘Like a CEO'
Five days before school opened, parents poured into South Charlotte. While her bosses were still pondering single-sex classes, Waggoner had selected students, notified their parents and lined up a national expert to explain the concept. She wanted to try the technique with different types of kids. Some classes would tap top-scorers, others decent students who might flourish in a new setting. Some parents took umbrage at the letter explaining why their kids had been chosen. Were they being stigmatized?
PTA President Jill Balick describes South Charlotte families as “an academically motivated population,” where many can afford private school and expect public schools to be just as good. Parent involvement is a plus. The PTA is currently raising $50,000 to put Promethium boards, a high-tech interactive whiteboard, in every class. But it means Waggoner must always be ready to explain herself. She's known for giving parents candid answers, Balick says: “Whether they like her decisions or not, they respect her knowledge.” At the August meeting, Waggoner apologized for any confusion created by the letters, assured parents they could opt out of single-sex classes and let the expert make his pitch.
Sarah Murphy, whose daughter was picked for an all-girl class, asked to get her son into an all-boy equivalent. She, too, says Waggoner has parents' respect: “She is extremely warm and friendly with students and parents, but she's a bottom-line person, like a CEO.”
New kids, old standards
First semester, all South Charlotte seventh-graders wrote grant proposals for easing disease in Africa, a task that combined writing, math, science and geography. Jessica says friends at other schools don't do that kind of work.
“I feel challenged,” she says. “It's a good feeling.”
South Charlotte's 900-plus students include more than 100 who transferred in, mostly from the high-poverty Albemarle Road and Cochrane zones. This year's poverty level hit 16 percent – low by CMS standards, but up from 12 percent last year. Waggoner is chagrined to report that her 2008 pass rate on state exams dipped to 89.6 percent. It's a score most principals would kill for, but just shy of the usual “School of Excellence” label. Based on last year's scores, Waggoner has about 70 students at risk of failing this year's reading exams and 35 behind in math. They'll use that 45-minute extra period to beef up their skills.
For the first time this year, South Charlotte recruited mentors for struggling students, a common step at high-poverty schools. Here, the PTA stepped in and found about a dozen adults eager to help. No matter where kids come from, Waggoner says, they can meet high standards. She and the eighth-grade teachers are about to crack down on late work: After a week, there will be no credit, a move designed to prepare the kids for high school.
After Christmas break, a new student showed up in an oversized T-shirt and sagging pants. Waggoner told him he was welcome – after he went home to change clothes. “Do you know,” she recounted with a smile, “the mother thanked us!”
The guys, who wear dress shirts and ties on “Manly Mondays,” get a little more noise and activity. The girls in the classroom next door have an array of coloured markers and decorated papers on their desks, which are arranged for face-to-face discussion. Teachers say both groups ask and answer questions more freely, without fear of looking dumb in front of the opposite sex. Public scrutiny often shines on failing schools. Leading a suburban school like South Charlotte – where gifted kids are abundant, test scores high, poverty rare and parents engaged – might seem like a breeze.
Not so, says Waggoner. Her challenge is to push the academic stars while helping a growing number of kids who left low-scoring urban schools for a better opportunity. She is driven not only by her own vision, but by district officials who scrutinize her data and parents who, in the words of the PTA president, “don't tolerate ‘adequate.'”
She was honoured to make Superintendent Peter Gorman's “freedom and flexibility” list last spring, a distinction granted to principals with a history of strong results. The goal: Unleash innovation and recognize that different schools have different needs. But Waggoner, a 62-year-old cancer survivor who believes her work keeps her healthy, didn't wait for permission to take charge of her school. In six years at South Charlotte, she has created electives that let students delve into World War II, develop leadership skills and design their own science experiments. She has kids researching such topics as disease in Africa. Separating girls and boys to see if they learn better is just the latest twist.
Waggoner is spurred by her belief, backed by recent research, that middle school sets adolescents on the path to success or failure. Her message to students is the same, regardless of their background: “If you do it our way, we can almost guarantee you will be successful when you get to ninth grade.”
‘Like a CEO'
Five days before school opened, parents poured into South Charlotte. While her bosses were still pondering single-sex classes, Waggoner had selected students, notified their parents and lined up a national expert to explain the concept. She wanted to try the technique with different types of kids. Some classes would tap top-scorers, others decent students who might flourish in a new setting. Some parents took umbrage at the letter explaining why their kids had been chosen. Were they being stigmatized?
PTA President Jill Balick describes South Charlotte families as “an academically motivated population,” where many can afford private school and expect public schools to be just as good. Parent involvement is a plus. The PTA is currently raising $50,000 to put Promethium boards, a high-tech interactive whiteboard, in every class. But it means Waggoner must always be ready to explain herself. She's known for giving parents candid answers, Balick says: “Whether they like her decisions or not, they respect her knowledge.” At the August meeting, Waggoner apologized for any confusion created by the letters, assured parents they could opt out of single-sex classes and let the expert make his pitch.
Sarah Murphy, whose daughter was picked for an all-girl class, asked to get her son into an all-boy equivalent. She, too, says Waggoner has parents' respect: “She is extremely warm and friendly with students and parents, but she's a bottom-line person, like a CEO.”
New kids, old standards
First semester, all South Charlotte seventh-graders wrote grant proposals for easing disease in Africa, a task that combined writing, math, science and geography. Jessica says friends at other schools don't do that kind of work.
“I feel challenged,” she says. “It's a good feeling.”
South Charlotte's 900-plus students include more than 100 who transferred in, mostly from the high-poverty Albemarle Road and Cochrane zones. This year's poverty level hit 16 percent – low by CMS standards, but up from 12 percent last year. Waggoner is chagrined to report that her 2008 pass rate on state exams dipped to 89.6 percent. It's a score most principals would kill for, but just shy of the usual “School of Excellence” label. Based on last year's scores, Waggoner has about 70 students at risk of failing this year's reading exams and 35 behind in math. They'll use that 45-minute extra period to beef up their skills.
For the first time this year, South Charlotte recruited mentors for struggling students, a common step at high-poverty schools. Here, the PTA stepped in and found about a dozen adults eager to help. No matter where kids come from, Waggoner says, they can meet high standards. She and the eighth-grade teachers are about to crack down on late work: After a week, there will be no credit, a move designed to prepare the kids for high school.
After Christmas break, a new student showed up in an oversized T-shirt and sagging pants. Waggoner told him he was welcome – after he went home to change clothes. “Do you know,” she recounted with a smile, “the mother thanked us!”
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
School Morale, Pride and Spirit: Make a difference
Gene Klann says that when morale, pride and spirit are present in a team, productivity is high, relationships are strong and it’s fun to go to work. Without these traits, the situation is very different. Teams are dissatisfied, lethargic, negative and don’t co-operate. He says that teams that possess a strong sense of morale, pride and spirit will be able to multiply their energy, achievement, efficiency and productivity.
Morale he says is a reflection of the attitude or mental condition of an individual or team. “People with high morale are generally positive, optimistic, cooperative and supportive of the team’s vision and mission. They have a can-do attitude, persistence and a willingness and determination to do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission.”
People with Pride respect themselves and the other members of their team, they delight in the team’s achievements and believe that whatever they must face, they can collectively and successfully handle it. There is a justifiable belief by the team members in their personal work, as well as that of the team.
Spirit reveals itself in the vigor, energy, vivacity and courage of the team members. “Spirit is animating; it can be contagious, motivational and inspirational,” says Klann. It can be generated with encouraging words, hand clapping, backslapping etc.
Although a team with elevated morale, pride and spirit is likely to be more positive about their work and their co-workers more than other teams, happiness is not the end goal. The same sense of team morale, pride and spirit that makes work fun will create tangible benefits for the organization including satisfied customers, improved quality, increased productivity, improved safety, etc.
How does evidence of morale, pride and spirit manifest themselves in your school and school teams?
(Gene Klann authored Crisis Leadership in 2003.)
Morale he says is a reflection of the attitude or mental condition of an individual or team. “People with high morale are generally positive, optimistic, cooperative and supportive of the team’s vision and mission. They have a can-do attitude, persistence and a willingness and determination to do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission.”
People with Pride respect themselves and the other members of their team, they delight in the team’s achievements and believe that whatever they must face, they can collectively and successfully handle it. There is a justifiable belief by the team members in their personal work, as well as that of the team.
Spirit reveals itself in the vigor, energy, vivacity and courage of the team members. “Spirit is animating; it can be contagious, motivational and inspirational,” says Klann. It can be generated with encouraging words, hand clapping, backslapping etc.
Although a team with elevated morale, pride and spirit is likely to be more positive about their work and their co-workers more than other teams, happiness is not the end goal. The same sense of team morale, pride and spirit that makes work fun will create tangible benefits for the organization including satisfied customers, improved quality, increased productivity, improved safety, etc.
How does evidence of morale, pride and spirit manifest themselves in your school and school teams?
(Gene Klann authored Crisis Leadership in 2003.)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Test paper answers
This is a list of comments from test papers, essays, etc., submitted to science and health teachers by elementary, junior high, high school, and college students: It is truly astonishing what weird science our young scholars can create under the pressures of time and grades. The spellings are the original ones.
1. H2O is hot water, and CO2 is cold water.
2. To collect fumes of sulphur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube.
3. When you smell an odourless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide.
4. Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin.
Hydrogin is water and gin.
5. A super saturated solution is one that holds more than it can hold.
6. Liter: A nest of young puppies.
7. Magnet: Something you find crawling all over a dead cat.
8. Momentum: What you give a person when they are going away.
9. Vacuum: A large, empty space where the pope lives.
10. Artificial insemination is when the farmer does it to the cow instead of the bull.
11. The pistol of the flower is its only protection against insects.
12. A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is.
13. To remove dust from the eye, pull the eye down over the nose.
14. For a nosebleed: Put the nose much lower that the heart until the heart stops.
15. For head colds: use an agonizer to spray the nose until it drops in your throat.
16. Germinate: To become a naturalized German.
17. The tides are a fight between the Earth and moon. All water tends towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.
18. Blood flows down one leg and up the the other.
1. H2O is hot water, and CO2 is cold water.
2. To collect fumes of sulphur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube.
3. When you smell an odourless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide.
4. Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin.
Hydrogin is water and gin.
5. A super saturated solution is one that holds more than it can hold.
6. Liter: A nest of young puppies.
7. Magnet: Something you find crawling all over a dead cat.
8. Momentum: What you give a person when they are going away.
9. Vacuum: A large, empty space where the pope lives.
10. Artificial insemination is when the farmer does it to the cow instead of the bull.
11. The pistol of the flower is its only protection against insects.
12. A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is.
13. To remove dust from the eye, pull the eye down over the nose.
14. For a nosebleed: Put the nose much lower that the heart until the heart stops.
15. For head colds: use an agonizer to spray the nose until it drops in your throat.
16. Germinate: To become a naturalized German.
17. The tides are a fight between the Earth and moon. All water tends towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.
18. Blood flows down one leg and up the the other.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Exercise Seen as Priming Pump for Students’ Academic Strides
Case grows stronger for physical activity's link to improved brain function. Vol. 27, Educatiop Week : Issue 23, Pages 14-15
By Debra Viadero
Seven or eight years ago, studies offered mixed results on the question of whether exercise can boost brain function in children and adolescents. Experts are beginning to contend, however, that the case is getting stronger. “There’s sort of no question about it now,” said Dr. John J. Ratey, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “The exercise itself doesn’t make you smarter, but it puts the brain of the learners in the optimal position for them to learn.”
Range of Benefits
Dr. Ratey is the author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Education and the Brain, a book published last month by Little, Brown and Co. It draws together emerging findings from neuroscientific, biomedical, and educational research that correlate exercise with a wide range of brain-related benefits—improving attention, reducing stress and anxiety, and staving off cognitive decline in old age, for example. The interest in documenting a link between exercise and learning in children and adolescents comes as trends in physical activity seem to point in the opposite direction. Studies suggest that, with 30 percent of the nation’s schoolchildren classified as overweight, childhood obesity is reaching epidemic proportions.
Proponents of the educational benefits of exercise maintain that the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which puts pressure on schools to raise students’ test scores in core academic subjects, is prompting some schools to cut back on time for physical education classes and recess. Nationwide, Dr. Ratey writes in his book, only 6 percent of schools now offer PE five days a week. “At the same time,” he adds, “kids are spending 5.5 hours a day in front of a screen of some sort—television, computer, or hand-held device.”
With his university colleague Darla M. Castelli, Mr. Hillman assessed the physical-fitness levels of 239 3rd and 5th graders from four Illinois elementary schools. Their findings published last year, in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, show that children who got good marks on two measures of physical fitness—those that gauge aerobic fitness and body-mass index—tended also to have higher scores on state exams in reading and mathematics. That relationship also held true regardless of children’s gender or socieconomic differences.
‘Bowled Over’
Another study published last year, involving 163 overweight children in Augusta, Ga., found, in addition, that the cognitive and academic benefits of exercise seemed to increase with the size of the dose. For that study, a cross-disciplinary research team randomly assigned children to one of three groups. One group received 20 minutes of physical activity every day after school. Another group got a 40-minute daily workout, and the third group got no special exercise sessions.
At Naperville Central High School, ball playing is used to keep students alert in a special literacy class.
—John Zich for Education Week
After 14 weeks, the children who made the greatest improvement, as measured by both a standardized academic test and a test that measured their level of executive function—thinking processes, in other words, that involve planning, organizing, abstract thought, or self-control—were those who spent 40 minutes a day playing tag and taking part in other active games designed by the researchers. The cognitive and academic gains for the 20-minutes-a-day group were half as large. “I was frankly bowled over by the results,” said Catherine L. Davis, the lead author of the study, a preliminary version of which was published in December in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. “It’s like a staircase, which is considered strong evidence for causation,” added Ms. Davis, who is an associate professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.
PE Experiment
In the meantime, educators in Naperville District 203, a suburban district of 18,600 students just west of Chicago, have been conducting some informal experiments on their own. With advice from Dr. Ratey, the school instituted what is now called a “learning readiness” PE class where students such as Mr. Bray can choose from more than a dozen heart-pumping activities. The students wear heart monitors, which they check to maintain a heart rate of 160 to 190 beats a minute for 25-minute stretches at a time throughout the week. When the class started in the fall of 2004, it included about a dozen students who were targeted for extra help based on low test scores in reading and teacher recommendations. Reading teachers were also recruited to infuse a bit of literacy instruction into some of the activities. One game called for students to race around on scooters to match words with their definitions written on pieces of paper on the floor, said Paul Zientarski, the school’s instructional coordinator for physical education and health.
After their early-morning PE session, the students joined other struggling readers and writers in a special literacy class designed to give them extra academic help in those areas. At the end of one semester, Naperville educators found, students who took part in both the early-morning exercise program and the literacy class showed 1.34 of a year’s growth on standardized reading tests, according to Mr. Zientarski. The gain for the students in the literacy-only group, in comparison, was seven-tenths of a year. Naperville educators tried the same approach the following school year with an introductory algebra class for students having difficulty in mathematics and saw even more dramatic gains. Students who both exercised and took the extra-help math class increased their scores on a standardized algebra test by 20.4 percent. The gain for students in the control group was 3.87 percent, according to Mr. Zientarski.
The school did not get the same results, though, a year later when the “learning readiness” classes and the literacy classes were scheduled six hours apart. Students who had literacy lessons right after exercising did just as well, but improvements were smaller for students with afternoon literacy classes. That led Naperville Central’s guidance counsellors to recommend that all students schedule their toughest academic classes right after PE. “We now have three years of data showing what we have, and we really think we’re on to something,” Mr. Zientarski added. But district administrators would like to enlist university-based researchers to do more-formal studies before incorporating major scheduling changes districtwide. “We have so many different variables that could affect how we evaluate the course,” said Jody Wirt, the district’s associate superintendent for instruction. “Is it the class size? Or the teachers?”
Mental ‘Miracle-Gro’
Likewise, scientists are still not entirely sure how exercise primes the brain for learning. But, according to Dr. Ratey, they have some good ideas. Laboratory studies in mice and humans, for instance, show that exercise prompts the brain to produce greater amounts of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF, which Dr. Ratey likes to call “Miracle-Gro” for the brain. It encourages brain cells to sprout synapses, which are crucial to forming the connections the brain needs to make in order to learn. It also strengthens cells and protects them from dying out. Other research also suggests that exercise plays a role in neurogenesis, the production of new brain cells, in middle-aged and older adults and in laboratory animals.
“There’s no way to say for sure that improves learning capacity for kids, but it certainly seems to correlate to that,” Dr. Ratey said. What seems to continue to be important, though, is what gets put in those brain cells—in other words, whether students are given complex learning fodder to practice and master. It’s also not likely, Dr. Ratey said, that just any physical education curriculum will produce the kinds of benefits that Naperville saw with its “learning readiness” classes. At the instigation of former physical education teacher Phil Lawler, the Naperville district has been at the forefront of a national movement for the “new PE,’’ a philosophy that promotes teaching students how to be fit and lead healthy lives, rather than focusing on sports skills and game rules.
“No more getting picked last for basketball. No more climbing ropes or playing dodgeball,” said Mr. Lawler, who now works for a Kansas City, Mo.-based foundation, called PE4Life, that trains teachers and promotes the concept nationwide. Mr. Lawler and Mr. Zientarski, for instance, began using heart-rate monitors with all their classes more than a decade ago. They also raised money to install climbing walls and ropes courses in their schools and brought in kayaks and sophisticated exercise equipment that incorporates video games and virtual-reality technology to make exercise more engaging for students.
Traditional sports are still taught, but the games, such as three-on-three basketball, take place in smaller groups, Mr. Lawler said. “This isn’t just a few PE teachers with a wild idea anymore,” he said. “It’s combining what should go on in a quality physical education program with some of the highest-quality research in the world in neuroscience and cognitive science.”
By Debra Viadero
Seven or eight years ago, studies offered mixed results on the question of whether exercise can boost brain function in children and adolescents. Experts are beginning to contend, however, that the case is getting stronger. “There’s sort of no question about it now,” said Dr. John J. Ratey, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “The exercise itself doesn’t make you smarter, but it puts the brain of the learners in the optimal position for them to learn.”
Range of Benefits
Dr. Ratey is the author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Education and the Brain, a book published last month by Little, Brown and Co. It draws together emerging findings from neuroscientific, biomedical, and educational research that correlate exercise with a wide range of brain-related benefits—improving attention, reducing stress and anxiety, and staving off cognitive decline in old age, for example. The interest in documenting a link between exercise and learning in children and adolescents comes as trends in physical activity seem to point in the opposite direction. Studies suggest that, with 30 percent of the nation’s schoolchildren classified as overweight, childhood obesity is reaching epidemic proportions.
Proponents of the educational benefits of exercise maintain that the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which puts pressure on schools to raise students’ test scores in core academic subjects, is prompting some schools to cut back on time for physical education classes and recess. Nationwide, Dr. Ratey writes in his book, only 6 percent of schools now offer PE five days a week. “At the same time,” he adds, “kids are spending 5.5 hours a day in front of a screen of some sort—television, computer, or hand-held device.”
With his university colleague Darla M. Castelli, Mr. Hillman assessed the physical-fitness levels of 239 3rd and 5th graders from four Illinois elementary schools. Their findings published last year, in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, show that children who got good marks on two measures of physical fitness—those that gauge aerobic fitness and body-mass index—tended also to have higher scores on state exams in reading and mathematics. That relationship also held true regardless of children’s gender or socieconomic differences.
‘Bowled Over’
Another study published last year, involving 163 overweight children in Augusta, Ga., found, in addition, that the cognitive and academic benefits of exercise seemed to increase with the size of the dose. For that study, a cross-disciplinary research team randomly assigned children to one of three groups. One group received 20 minutes of physical activity every day after school. Another group got a 40-minute daily workout, and the third group got no special exercise sessions.
At Naperville Central High School, ball playing is used to keep students alert in a special literacy class.
—John Zich for Education Week
After 14 weeks, the children who made the greatest improvement, as measured by both a standardized academic test and a test that measured their level of executive function—thinking processes, in other words, that involve planning, organizing, abstract thought, or self-control—were those who spent 40 minutes a day playing tag and taking part in other active games designed by the researchers. The cognitive and academic gains for the 20-minutes-a-day group were half as large. “I was frankly bowled over by the results,” said Catherine L. Davis, the lead author of the study, a preliminary version of which was published in December in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. “It’s like a staircase, which is considered strong evidence for causation,” added Ms. Davis, who is an associate professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.
PE Experiment
In the meantime, educators in Naperville District 203, a suburban district of 18,600 students just west of Chicago, have been conducting some informal experiments on their own. With advice from Dr. Ratey, the school instituted what is now called a “learning readiness” PE class where students such as Mr. Bray can choose from more than a dozen heart-pumping activities. The students wear heart monitors, which they check to maintain a heart rate of 160 to 190 beats a minute for 25-minute stretches at a time throughout the week. When the class started in the fall of 2004, it included about a dozen students who were targeted for extra help based on low test scores in reading and teacher recommendations. Reading teachers were also recruited to infuse a bit of literacy instruction into some of the activities. One game called for students to race around on scooters to match words with their definitions written on pieces of paper on the floor, said Paul Zientarski, the school’s instructional coordinator for physical education and health.
After their early-morning PE session, the students joined other struggling readers and writers in a special literacy class designed to give them extra academic help in those areas. At the end of one semester, Naperville educators found, students who took part in both the early-morning exercise program and the literacy class showed 1.34 of a year’s growth on standardized reading tests, according to Mr. Zientarski. The gain for the students in the literacy-only group, in comparison, was seven-tenths of a year. Naperville educators tried the same approach the following school year with an introductory algebra class for students having difficulty in mathematics and saw even more dramatic gains. Students who both exercised and took the extra-help math class increased their scores on a standardized algebra test by 20.4 percent. The gain for students in the control group was 3.87 percent, according to Mr. Zientarski.
The school did not get the same results, though, a year later when the “learning readiness” classes and the literacy classes were scheduled six hours apart. Students who had literacy lessons right after exercising did just as well, but improvements were smaller for students with afternoon literacy classes. That led Naperville Central’s guidance counsellors to recommend that all students schedule their toughest academic classes right after PE. “We now have three years of data showing what we have, and we really think we’re on to something,” Mr. Zientarski added. But district administrators would like to enlist university-based researchers to do more-formal studies before incorporating major scheduling changes districtwide. “We have so many different variables that could affect how we evaluate the course,” said Jody Wirt, the district’s associate superintendent for instruction. “Is it the class size? Or the teachers?”
Mental ‘Miracle-Gro’
Likewise, scientists are still not entirely sure how exercise primes the brain for learning. But, according to Dr. Ratey, they have some good ideas. Laboratory studies in mice and humans, for instance, show that exercise prompts the brain to produce greater amounts of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF, which Dr. Ratey likes to call “Miracle-Gro” for the brain. It encourages brain cells to sprout synapses, which are crucial to forming the connections the brain needs to make in order to learn. It also strengthens cells and protects them from dying out. Other research also suggests that exercise plays a role in neurogenesis, the production of new brain cells, in middle-aged and older adults and in laboratory animals.
“There’s no way to say for sure that improves learning capacity for kids, but it certainly seems to correlate to that,” Dr. Ratey said. What seems to continue to be important, though, is what gets put in those brain cells—in other words, whether students are given complex learning fodder to practice and master. It’s also not likely, Dr. Ratey said, that just any physical education curriculum will produce the kinds of benefits that Naperville saw with its “learning readiness” classes. At the instigation of former physical education teacher Phil Lawler, the Naperville district has been at the forefront of a national movement for the “new PE,’’ a philosophy that promotes teaching students how to be fit and lead healthy lives, rather than focusing on sports skills and game rules.
“No more getting picked last for basketball. No more climbing ropes or playing dodgeball,” said Mr. Lawler, who now works for a Kansas City, Mo.-based foundation, called PE4Life, that trains teachers and promotes the concept nationwide. Mr. Lawler and Mr. Zientarski, for instance, began using heart-rate monitors with all their classes more than a decade ago. They also raised money to install climbing walls and ropes courses in their schools and brought in kayaks and sophisticated exercise equipment that incorporates video games and virtual-reality technology to make exercise more engaging for students.
Traditional sports are still taught, but the games, such as three-on-three basketball, take place in smaller groups, Mr. Lawler said. “This isn’t just a few PE teachers with a wild idea anymore,” he said. “It’s combining what should go on in a quality physical education program with some of the highest-quality research in the world in neuroscience and cognitive science.”
Monday, January 05, 2009
Saturday, January 03, 2009
School 1960 vs. School 2007
Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1960 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up mates.
2007 - Police are called, Armed Response Unit arrives and arrests Johnny and Mark. Mobiles with video of fight confiscated as evidence. They are charged with assault, ASBOs are taken out and both are suspended even though Johnny started it. Diversionary conferences and parent meetings conducted. Video shown on 6 internet sites.
Scenario: Jeffrey won't sit still in class, disrupts other students.
1960 - Jeffrey is sent to the principal's office and given 6 of the best. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. Counselled to death. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra funding because Jeffrey has a disability. Drops out of school.
Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbour's car and his Dad gives him the slipper.
1960 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. Psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mum has an affair with the psychologist. Psychologist gets a promotion.
Scenario: Mark, a college student, brings cigarettes to school .
1960 - Mark shares a smoke with the school principal out on the smoking area.
2007 - Police are called and Mark is expelled from School for drug possession. His car is searched for drugs and weapons.
Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers, puts them in a model plane paint bottle and blows up an anthill.
1960 - Ants die.
2007 - MI5 and police are called and Johnny is charged with perpertrating acts of terrorism. Teams investigate parents, siblings are removed from the home, computers are confiscated, and Johnny's dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.
Scenario: Johnny falls during break and scrapes his knee. His teacher, Mary, finds him crying, and gives him a hug to comfort him.
1960 - Johnny soon feels better and goes back to playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy. Becomes gay.
1960 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up mates.
2007 - Police are called, Armed Response Unit arrives and arrests Johnny and Mark. Mobiles with video of fight confiscated as evidence. They are charged with assault, ASBOs are taken out and both are suspended even though Johnny started it. Diversionary conferences and parent meetings conducted. Video shown on 6 internet sites.
Scenario: Jeffrey won't sit still in class, disrupts other students.
1960 - Jeffrey is sent to the principal's office and given 6 of the best. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. Counselled to death. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra funding because Jeffrey has a disability. Drops out of school.
Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbour's car and his Dad gives him the slipper.
1960 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. Psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mum has an affair with the psychologist. Psychologist gets a promotion.
Scenario: Mark, a college student, brings cigarettes to school .
1960 - Mark shares a smoke with the school principal out on the smoking area.
2007 - Police are called and Mark is expelled from School for drug possession. His car is searched for drugs and weapons.
Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers, puts them in a model plane paint bottle and blows up an anthill.
1960 - Ants die.
2007 - MI5 and police are called and Johnny is charged with perpertrating acts of terrorism. Teams investigate parents, siblings are removed from the home, computers are confiscated, and Johnny's dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.
Scenario: Johnny falls during break and scrapes his knee. His teacher, Mary, finds him crying, and gives him a hug to comfort him.
1960 - Johnny soon feels better and goes back to playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy. Becomes gay.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Crayons
by Mr Ivan
I busted up my crayons
Colorin' maps and doin' art,
So I keep the pieces in my pocket,
And I think that's pretty smart.
That way they're real handy
When I need them real quick.
I just peek into my pocket
And decide which one to pick.
I use magenta for my homework,
And for science I use green.
But for spelling I need yellow
So my mistakes are hardly seen.
Black is what I use in history…
All them men and wars and dates.
I also press down real hard
(It helps to keep things straight!)
Now, blue I save for numbers
'Cuz that is how I feel.
My math grade's always sorta low,
So blue's perfect…it's ideal.
I write stories in all colours,
Saving orange for nouns and such.
And brown I use for adverbs
'Cuz I don't understand them much.
My teacher mustn't like my work,
For he only shakes his head.
He takes my colourful papers,
Then he marks them up in RED!
I busted up my crayons
Colorin' maps and doin' art,
So I keep the pieces in my pocket,
And I think that's pretty smart.
That way they're real handy
When I need them real quick.
I just peek into my pocket
And decide which one to pick.
I use magenta for my homework,
And for science I use green.
But for spelling I need yellow
So my mistakes are hardly seen.
Black is what I use in history…
All them men and wars and dates.
I also press down real hard
(It helps to keep things straight!)
Now, blue I save for numbers
'Cuz that is how I feel.
My math grade's always sorta low,
So blue's perfect…it's ideal.
I write stories in all colours,
Saving orange for nouns and such.
And brown I use for adverbs
'Cuz I don't understand them much.
My teacher mustn't like my work,
For he only shakes his head.
He takes my colourful papers,
Then he marks them up in RED!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Answers
Below, are examples of sixth grade research projects.
1. Ancient Egypt was inhabited by mummies and they all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert. the climate of the Sarah is such that the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.
2. Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments. He died before he ever reached Canada. 3. Solomon had three hundred wives and seven porcupines.
4. The Greeks were a highly sculptured people and without them we wouldn't have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a female moth.
5. Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.
6. In the Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled biscuits, and threw the java.
7. Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out Tee hee, Brutus.
8. Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was canonized by Bernard Shaw.
1. Ancient Egypt was inhabited by mummies and they all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert. the climate of the Sarah is such that the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.
2. Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments. He died before he ever reached Canada. 3. Solomon had three hundred wives and seven porcupines.
4. The Greeks were a highly sculptured people and without them we wouldn't have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a female moth.
5. Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.
6. In the Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled biscuits, and threw the java.
7. Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out Tee hee, Brutus.
8. Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was canonized by Bernard Shaw.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Honour for first wind-powered school
By Richard Garner, Education Editor The Independent, London:
A village primary school was celebrating last night after bringing a new sense of pride to a former mining community devastated by a pit closure. The 107-pupil Cassop Primary School in Durham has become the first in the UK to be wind-powered through a wind turbine located in the school grounds. It also became the first to win an award for the country's greenest school as part of the prestigious National Teaching Awards – screened live on BBC2.
The school's dedication to teaching about the environment, which has led to a host of educationalists visiting from abroad to see what they can learn from it, stems from a biologist, Jim McManners, becoming its headteacher thirty years ago. At that time the local colliery was the main employer. It closed abruptly in 1983 – a year before the miners' strike – on safety grounds because of flood fears. "I thought there were great possibilities about using the environment because I thought it was something that people in the village could be proud of," said Mr McManners.
One of the school's first initiatives was to campaign for part of the pit heap to be turned into a nature reserve after pupils discovered its natural habitat was being destroyed by tipping. One pupil, Leanne Gott, wrote to the body left in charge of colliery land, saying: "I'm writing to say please would you help save the wildlife because a very cruel man is destroying important land and we need all the help we can get. The animals that are there are in great danger." The quarry is a now a nature area often visited by the children. The school introduced measures to save energy years before climate change and sustainability became major issues. It has solar panels on the roof for heating, while the school boiler uses recycled wood chips. It also has its own "green team" – pupils who make sure lights are turned off and energy is saved. A gadget also shows how much carbon dioxide is being produced by the school every hour – enabling the "green team" to watch the figure falling as they work.
A report last week produced by the Cambridge academic Professor Robin Alexander, noted that today's seven to 11-year-olds were anxious about climate change, but that in schools that involved them in tackling the energy crisis that fear evaporated. Mr McManners believes this is the right approach. "You don't want to frighten them to death so they think there's no point in doing anything," he said. The school also encourages the green team to come up with their own ideas – and one adopted recently has been to extend the school's recycling scheme to include papers.
Pupils are also being encouraged to grow their own vegetables at the school. Cassop Primary received its award at the London Palladium from Children, Schools and Families Secretary Ed Balls, who said: "We are lucky as a society to have such a talented group of people working to improve the lives of our children. The value they bring to our society is priceless." The school is even trying to persuade parents in the village to conserve energy. "One dad has made a wind turbine out of old car parts," said Mr McManners. It has also achieved another of the head's aims as the local community has something new to shout about. After the pit closure, pupil numbers plummeted. Now the school is oversubscribed and people are moving back into an area that is considered to be one of natural beauty.
A village primary school was celebrating last night after bringing a new sense of pride to a former mining community devastated by a pit closure. The 107-pupil Cassop Primary School in Durham has become the first in the UK to be wind-powered through a wind turbine located in the school grounds. It also became the first to win an award for the country's greenest school as part of the prestigious National Teaching Awards – screened live on BBC2.
The school's dedication to teaching about the environment, which has led to a host of educationalists visiting from abroad to see what they can learn from it, stems from a biologist, Jim McManners, becoming its headteacher thirty years ago. At that time the local colliery was the main employer. It closed abruptly in 1983 – a year before the miners' strike – on safety grounds because of flood fears. "I thought there were great possibilities about using the environment because I thought it was something that people in the village could be proud of," said Mr McManners.
One of the school's first initiatives was to campaign for part of the pit heap to be turned into a nature reserve after pupils discovered its natural habitat was being destroyed by tipping. One pupil, Leanne Gott, wrote to the body left in charge of colliery land, saying: "I'm writing to say please would you help save the wildlife because a very cruel man is destroying important land and we need all the help we can get. The animals that are there are in great danger." The quarry is a now a nature area often visited by the children. The school introduced measures to save energy years before climate change and sustainability became major issues. It has solar panels on the roof for heating, while the school boiler uses recycled wood chips. It also has its own "green team" – pupils who make sure lights are turned off and energy is saved. A gadget also shows how much carbon dioxide is being produced by the school every hour – enabling the "green team" to watch the figure falling as they work.
A report last week produced by the Cambridge academic Professor Robin Alexander, noted that today's seven to 11-year-olds were anxious about climate change, but that in schools that involved them in tackling the energy crisis that fear evaporated. Mr McManners believes this is the right approach. "You don't want to frighten them to death so they think there's no point in doing anything," he said. The school also encourages the green team to come up with their own ideas – and one adopted recently has been to extend the school's recycling scheme to include papers.
Pupils are also being encouraged to grow their own vegetables at the school. Cassop Primary received its award at the London Palladium from Children, Schools and Families Secretary Ed Balls, who said: "We are lucky as a society to have such a talented group of people working to improve the lives of our children. The value they bring to our society is priceless." The school is even trying to persuade parents in the village to conserve energy. "One dad has made a wind turbine out of old car parts," said Mr McManners. It has also achieved another of the head's aims as the local community has something new to shout about. After the pit closure, pupil numbers plummeted. Now the school is oversubscribed and people are moving back into an area that is considered to be one of natural beauty.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Is Your School's Culture Toxic or Positive?
By Dr Kent Peterson, professor, Department of Educational Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Every school has underlying assumptions about what staff members will discuss at meetings, which teaching techniques work well, how amenable the staff is to change, and how critical staff development is, adds Peterson. That core set of beliefs underlies the school's overall culture.
POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE?
In a school with a positive culture, Peterson says, "[T]here's an informal network of heroes and heroines and an informal grapevine that passes along information about what's going on in the school... [A] set of values that supports professional development of teachers, a sense of responsibility for student learning, and a positive, caring atmosphere" exist. On the other hand, in a toxic school environment, "teacher relations are often conflictual, the staff doesn't believe in the ability of the students to succeed, and a generally negative attitude" prevails, notes Peterson.
Staff and administrators in a positive school culture believe they have the ability to achieve their ambitions. Their counterparts operating in a negative school environment lack faith in the possibility of realizing their visions. School culture has a profound effect on staff development. "It affects attitudes toward spending time to improve instruction, motivation to attend workshops, and the [activities] people choose to participate in," Peterson says.
GANADO PRIMARY SCHOOL
In the article Positive or Negative? (Journal of Staff Development, Summer 2002), Peterson writes about the exemplary school culture at Ganado (Arizona) Primary School. Located in one of the poorest counties in the United States, the school has not always boasted a vibrant professional community. "Over time," Peterson wrote, "Sigmund Boloz, the principal, and his staff developed a strong, professional culture that supports staff and student learning."
In that article, Peterson described a school culture in which staff, students, principal, and community members are all seen as learners. All teachers have been trained in a reading intervention program called CLIP (Collaborative Literacy Intervention Project). Teachers are supported in their use of the program and are invited to regular "curriculum conversations" to discuss new ideas and share experiences.
At Ganado, "[T]he presence of a staff professional library symbolically communicates the importance of learning," Peterson continued. "The school has amassed 4,000 professional books and 400 videotapes on effective teaching and other professional issues." In addition, the school hosts an academy for parents each year to help enhance parenting abilities.
"Staff members feel responsible for improving their own skills and knowledge to help students learn," concluded Peterson. "They regularly recount stories of successfully using new ideas. The staff expects and encourages collaboration and sharing. In short, professional learning is valued in the culture."
CHANGING A TOXIC CULTURE
According to Peterson, schools with a negative, or toxic, culture
• lack a clear sense of purpose
• have norms that reinforce inertia
• blame students for lack of progress
• discourage collaboration
• often have actively hostile relations among staff.
In fighting such a negative culture, Peterson tells Education World, "to begin with, the staff must assess the underlying norms and values of the culture and then as a group activity, work to change them to have a more positive, supportive culture."
WHAT CAN ADMINISTRATORS DO?
Principals need to "read the school," Peterson suggests. They must talk to storytellers on the staff to discern what kind of history the school has. Staff and administrators need to examine what they have learned about the school culture, and then they must ask two questions:
• What aspects of the culture are positive and should be reinforced?
• What aspects of the culture are negative and harmful and should be changed?
In "Positive or Negative?" Peterson shared ways in which principals and staff leaders can nurture the school culture's positive aspects. They include the following:
• Celebrate successes in staff meetings and ceremonies.
• Tell stories of accomplishment and collaboration whenever there's an opportunity.
• Use clear, shared language created during professional development to foster a commitment to staff and student learning.
When administrators and staff collaborate in a strong push to foster an environment in which learning blooms, Peterson concluded, they will decrease such negatives as student misbehaviour and faculty grousing and create an overall positive school culture with a flourishing staff and students.
Every school has underlying assumptions about what staff members will discuss at meetings, which teaching techniques work well, how amenable the staff is to change, and how critical staff development is, adds Peterson. That core set of beliefs underlies the school's overall culture.
POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE?
In a school with a positive culture, Peterson says, "[T]here's an informal network of heroes and heroines and an informal grapevine that passes along information about what's going on in the school... [A] set of values that supports professional development of teachers, a sense of responsibility for student learning, and a positive, caring atmosphere" exist. On the other hand, in a toxic school environment, "teacher relations are often conflictual, the staff doesn't believe in the ability of the students to succeed, and a generally negative attitude" prevails, notes Peterson.
Staff and administrators in a positive school culture believe they have the ability to achieve their ambitions. Their counterparts operating in a negative school environment lack faith in the possibility of realizing their visions. School culture has a profound effect on staff development. "It affects attitudes toward spending time to improve instruction, motivation to attend workshops, and the [activities] people choose to participate in," Peterson says.
GANADO PRIMARY SCHOOL
In the article Positive or Negative? (Journal of Staff Development, Summer 2002), Peterson writes about the exemplary school culture at Ganado (Arizona) Primary School. Located in one of the poorest counties in the United States, the school has not always boasted a vibrant professional community. "Over time," Peterson wrote, "Sigmund Boloz, the principal, and his staff developed a strong, professional culture that supports staff and student learning."
In that article, Peterson described a school culture in which staff, students, principal, and community members are all seen as learners. All teachers have been trained in a reading intervention program called CLIP (Collaborative Literacy Intervention Project). Teachers are supported in their use of the program and are invited to regular "curriculum conversations" to discuss new ideas and share experiences.
At Ganado, "[T]he presence of a staff professional library symbolically communicates the importance of learning," Peterson continued. "The school has amassed 4,000 professional books and 400 videotapes on effective teaching and other professional issues." In addition, the school hosts an academy for parents each year to help enhance parenting abilities.
"Staff members feel responsible for improving their own skills and knowledge to help students learn," concluded Peterson. "They regularly recount stories of successfully using new ideas. The staff expects and encourages collaboration and sharing. In short, professional learning is valued in the culture."
CHANGING A TOXIC CULTURE
According to Peterson, schools with a negative, or toxic, culture
• lack a clear sense of purpose
• have norms that reinforce inertia
• blame students for lack of progress
• discourage collaboration
• often have actively hostile relations among staff.
In fighting such a negative culture, Peterson tells Education World, "to begin with, the staff must assess the underlying norms and values of the culture and then as a group activity, work to change them to have a more positive, supportive culture."
WHAT CAN ADMINISTRATORS DO?
Principals need to "read the school," Peterson suggests. They must talk to storytellers on the staff to discern what kind of history the school has. Staff and administrators need to examine what they have learned about the school culture, and then they must ask two questions:
• What aspects of the culture are positive and should be reinforced?
• What aspects of the culture are negative and harmful and should be changed?
In "Positive or Negative?" Peterson shared ways in which principals and staff leaders can nurture the school culture's positive aspects. They include the following:
• Celebrate successes in staff meetings and ceremonies.
• Tell stories of accomplishment and collaboration whenever there's an opportunity.
• Use clear, shared language created during professional development to foster a commitment to staff and student learning.
When administrators and staff collaborate in a strong push to foster an environment in which learning blooms, Peterson concluded, they will decrease such negatives as student misbehaviour and faculty grousing and create an overall positive school culture with a flourishing staff and students.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Homework
An interesting way to look at homework:
Teacher Valerie Grimes of Phoenix, Arizona, discovered a unique way to add interest to homework assignments and get parents involved. Whether it is cooking, shopping, or going on a trip, once per month students design their own assignments and report to the group about their activities. The kids say that this technique allows them to be creative and teaches them responsibility. Will it work in your classroom?
When Valerie Grimes saw that her fourth- and fifth-grade students were becoming disenchanted with the day-to-day homework assignments they were receiving in her classroom, she found a solution -- have the students design their own homework! "I started by sending home a letter to parents at the beginning of school explaining that once a month, in lieu of an assignment that I made, the students could instead bring in their own homework project,"
Grimes instructed her students at Creighton School in Phoenix, Arizona, to create assignments that "required some thought." The students also had to be prepared to share what they had learned through their self-designed activities. When they submitted their projects, the students received credit for a regular homework assignment of their choice.
"My primary goal was to help my students begin to think of school and home life as interwoven, and to view learning as a lifelong activity," said Grimes.
SUCCESS BY DESIGN
Most students loved these self-generated assignments more than the everyday homework, said Grimes. "I think they felt these were more meaningful. Generally speaking, the more creative and bright the youngster, the more he or she embraced the project."
In order to make the student-made projects as successful as possible, Grimes established a few guidelines:
• At least one piece of paper accompanied each assignment. The students were required to write a statement that described what they did and what they learned by doing it.
• A parental signature also had to be turned in with each assignment.
• Each time a student brought in a completed once-a-month homework assignment, he or she shared it with the whole class.
To share their projects, most students read the written compositions aloud to the class and answered any questions classmates or the teacher asked. To Grimes, this sharing was very important because it provided a constant flow of new ideas. Grimes was impressed with the variety of ideas her students dreamed up. "We would sometimes have long periods of repetition, and then suddenly something new and inspirational would be introduced," she explained. "The kids never failed to astonish me with the original ideas! I began putting a code in my grade book next to the first to introduce the idea."
Grimes has many favourites among the design-your-own homework assignments students completed. One of those was the family tree one student designed. He had been reading a book about the topic and spent a great deal of time in developing his own. He used the class's large whiteboard to illustrate it. "That whiteboard wasn't my own again for nearly a month as half the class scrambled to make their own family trees, and of course they all wanted the use of the whiteboard too! Somehow it became a tradition that the tree remained up all day. It was a lot of work to merely erase it a few minutes later!"
Wondering what some of the other student-created assignments were? See more of the projects in the endbar at the bottom of this story.
STUDENTS RESPOND TO MAKE-YOUR-OWN WORK
"What made the work different was that it was a choice, not an obligation," said Alice B. "Choice can mean a lot to a kid, since it often feels like we don't have any say. What I learned was to be responsible for what I do and that consequence always follows a choice you make." Through her self-designed homework, Alice discovered a passion for creative writing. Now she plans to be an author when she grows up! Other students plunged into science experiments. "My favourite assignment was when I dissected an Easter egg that had been left outside for three days," recalled Tana G. "It had experienced both rainy and sunny weather. I learned that the egg did not change much. Except for the colour. The sun had bleached the yellow colour out of the top. It tasted almost exactly like the eggs that come out of your refrigerator. The only difference was that it was warm, and it didn't have salt on it!"
Desiree K. appreciated the trust Grimes displayed by having the students implement their original activities. The opportunity provided freedom and responsibility at the same time. "My favourite assignment was when I wrote about playing video games with my brothers, and I had to always beat the total score," said Desiree. "I would add up the scores in my head before the computer on the screen. I got really good at mental math that year!
"I would recommend this assignment because it helped me learn math addition skills in a fun way," added Desiree. "But it also helps in other ways. Teachers can learn something. They learn how the students' minds work."
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?
While student-designed homework can give new life to class assignments, Grimes warns that it is possible to have too much of a good thing.
"One year when I attempted to do this more often, it kind of fell flat," she said. "The assignments became very uninspired and the kids themselves wanted to return to teacher-assigned homework. I went back to the once-a-month requirement." Grimes encourages teachers to give this type of assignment a chance on a monthly basis. She added, "I learned a great deal about my students from doing this, and it was an excellent home-school link to encourage parental participation."
Teacher Valerie Grimes of Phoenix, Arizona, discovered a unique way to add interest to homework assignments and get parents involved. Whether it is cooking, shopping, or going on a trip, once per month students design their own assignments and report to the group about their activities. The kids say that this technique allows them to be creative and teaches them responsibility. Will it work in your classroom?
When Valerie Grimes saw that her fourth- and fifth-grade students were becoming disenchanted with the day-to-day homework assignments they were receiving in her classroom, she found a solution -- have the students design their own homework! "I started by sending home a letter to parents at the beginning of school explaining that once a month, in lieu of an assignment that I made, the students could instead bring in their own homework project,"
Grimes instructed her students at Creighton School in Phoenix, Arizona, to create assignments that "required some thought." The students also had to be prepared to share what they had learned through their self-designed activities. When they submitted their projects, the students received credit for a regular homework assignment of their choice.
"My primary goal was to help my students begin to think of school and home life as interwoven, and to view learning as a lifelong activity," said Grimes.
SUCCESS BY DESIGN
Most students loved these self-generated assignments more than the everyday homework, said Grimes. "I think they felt these were more meaningful. Generally speaking, the more creative and bright the youngster, the more he or she embraced the project."
In order to make the student-made projects as successful as possible, Grimes established a few guidelines:
• At least one piece of paper accompanied each assignment. The students were required to write a statement that described what they did and what they learned by doing it.
• A parental signature also had to be turned in with each assignment.
• Each time a student brought in a completed once-a-month homework assignment, he or she shared it with the whole class.
To share their projects, most students read the written compositions aloud to the class and answered any questions classmates or the teacher asked. To Grimes, this sharing was very important because it provided a constant flow of new ideas. Grimes was impressed with the variety of ideas her students dreamed up. "We would sometimes have long periods of repetition, and then suddenly something new and inspirational would be introduced," she explained. "The kids never failed to astonish me with the original ideas! I began putting a code in my grade book next to the first to introduce the idea."
Grimes has many favourites among the design-your-own homework assignments students completed. One of those was the family tree one student designed. He had been reading a book about the topic and spent a great deal of time in developing his own. He used the class's large whiteboard to illustrate it. "That whiteboard wasn't my own again for nearly a month as half the class scrambled to make their own family trees, and of course they all wanted the use of the whiteboard too! Somehow it became a tradition that the tree remained up all day. It was a lot of work to merely erase it a few minutes later!"
Wondering what some of the other student-created assignments were? See more of the projects in the endbar at the bottom of this story.
STUDENTS RESPOND TO MAKE-YOUR-OWN WORK
"What made the work different was that it was a choice, not an obligation," said Alice B. "Choice can mean a lot to a kid, since it often feels like we don't have any say. What I learned was to be responsible for what I do and that consequence always follows a choice you make." Through her self-designed homework, Alice discovered a passion for creative writing. Now she plans to be an author when she grows up! Other students plunged into science experiments. "My favourite assignment was when I dissected an Easter egg that had been left outside for three days," recalled Tana G. "It had experienced both rainy and sunny weather. I learned that the egg did not change much. Except for the colour. The sun had bleached the yellow colour out of the top. It tasted almost exactly like the eggs that come out of your refrigerator. The only difference was that it was warm, and it didn't have salt on it!"
Desiree K. appreciated the trust Grimes displayed by having the students implement their original activities. The opportunity provided freedom and responsibility at the same time. "My favourite assignment was when I wrote about playing video games with my brothers, and I had to always beat the total score," said Desiree. "I would add up the scores in my head before the computer on the screen. I got really good at mental math that year!
"I would recommend this assignment because it helped me learn math addition skills in a fun way," added Desiree. "But it also helps in other ways. Teachers can learn something. They learn how the students' minds work."
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?
While student-designed homework can give new life to class assignments, Grimes warns that it is possible to have too much of a good thing.
"One year when I attempted to do this more often, it kind of fell flat," she said. "The assignments became very uninspired and the kids themselves wanted to return to teacher-assigned homework. I went back to the once-a-month requirement." Grimes encourages teachers to give this type of assignment a chance on a monthly basis. She added, "I learned a great deal about my students from doing this, and it was an excellent home-school link to encourage parental participation."
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Schools that work
[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 1, No. 16 15 - 29 October 2007 ]
Research shows size does matter
Bigger is often better when it comes to school performance, writes KATHERINE SMITH.
With VCE exams underway, the public’s attention turns not only to the results of individual students but also to the performance of Victoria’s secondary schools. News reports feature profiles of astonishingly smart teenagers winning valuable and competitive scholarships to prestigious universities.
But beneath the fascination with performance, a vast cache of research and analysis is attempting to document the qualities and contributing factors of excellent school outcomes for students, and the secret recipe for school performance. Associate Professor Stephen Lamb is a member of a research team from the University’s Centre for Post-compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning, based in the Faculty of Education, and has done extensive research into school performance for the Victorian government.
“One of our main findings,” he says, “is that the widely held belief that small schools are better able to nurture students and give them more attention is a mythology.” In fact, from research in Melbourne so far, it seems that size does matter and the opposite is true: bigger schools tend to be better performing schools.
Associate Professor Lamb says that among the key elements determining school performance, financial resources, the socio-economic background of students, strategies for staff placement across the school, and innovative school-based programs, are critical – but that the hierarchy of importance is debatable. “The relationship of size to achievement is one that educational policy-makers need to be very aware of,” says Associate Professor Lamb. “We need to acknowledge that schools below a certain size (about 600 students in an urban school) tend to struggle, and this needs to influence how we manage our schools. “Socio-economic status (SES) is widely accepted as having a big impact on outcomes for school students,” he says.
”And the location of a school within the SES distribution of Melbourne means lower SES schools tend to be in the west, north and outer east. “However, during the course of our research, we observed that some schools with students of lower SES were performing much better than we might have expected, given their overall circumstances, while some of higher SES weren’t doing so well.
“By looking at things like management and resource strategies in those schools that were ‘punching above their weight’, we knew we could identify at least some of the components that make schools work in an urban setting, beyond the SES determinant.” By definition, one of the key advantages that bigger schools have is a larger number of students and more teachers, resulting in a greater capacity to offer a much broader range of programs. But teacher numbers are not the only determining factor; it is how that rich resource is deployed, which is critical.
“More effective schools spread experienced teachers across year levels, paying special attention to student needs in year seven and year eight classrooms, which runs counter to the fairly common practice of focusing resources at VCE,” he explains. “These schools are also very aware of the critical transition from primary to secondary school – a make or break time when some kids can tune out of the educational experience. They also implement strategic intervention programs early, well before an achievement gap can become a chasm.”
Soula Bennett is the Head of Middle Years at Northcote High School, which draws 1320 secondary school students from across the inner north of Melbourne and has established a solid reputation. She says the school recognises the need to “put in the groundwork during the vital middle years, so that students can achieve the results they, and their families and teachers, want at VCE level”. Ms Bennett, who has been teaching mathematics and science for 17 years, says when students arrive in year seven they are curious and enthusiastic but still connecting with the school and need careful nurturing.
By year eight some of them have often become a bit more disengaged – with the school, their parents and teachers – although they still strongly identify with their community of friends. Ms Bennett says that by engaging with them through that time with appropriately friendly and fun but firm support, by year nine, the school can really start to work with them on looking at pathways for their education. Associate Professor Lamb says indicators that schools are effective include positive responses to student questionnaires on teaching and learning, which show them to be engaged both with their education and their school community. In effective schools a significant proportion of students continue beyond year 10; there are good performance outcomes for both Vocational Education and Training (VET) and VCE programs; and a large number of students go on to employment or further education and training after they finish school. Associate Professor Lamb is quick to emphasise that VCE results are not the only ones that matter.
“Schools in the west and north of Melbourne – some of which have typically ‘underperformed’ in VCE results, achieve other valuable outcomes,” he says. This includes students successfully completing school-based apprenticeships in VET programs, or studying for the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (a year 11 and 12 program aimed at preparing students for direct entry to the workforce). Significantly these programs tend to work best in larger schools where VCE is “part of the mix”, Associate Professor Lamb explains, with roll-on advantages for all students. Beyond individual student experience, larger issues about public policy and schooling emerge that go to the heart of what public education policy is all about: the chance for students to experience quality in education, no matter what their socio-economic background.
If financial resourcing is only one component of school performance, then the management strategies of schools in the public sector – typically funded up to two to three times less than many private schools according to Associate Professor Lamb – matter enormously, and present social justice challenges for policy-makers. “When we look at schools in the private sector that have demonstrated success, we can see they are almost always big schools,” he says. “We see that ‘funding per student’ is only one issue: also important is ensuring a critical mass of students and staff to ensure program choice and subject breadth, facilitating an education experience that suits the inclination and capacity of each student.”
The trend over the past three decades in Victoria, he explains, has been towards the privatisation and marketisation of public sector schools, in a way that encourages public schools to compete against one another and act like those in the private sector, with independent governing bodies, and a fair degree of freedom in how budgets are allocated and procedures managed. More importantly, zoning has all but disappeared from the public education platform, meaning parents have much greater choice in choosing a school for their child – or not choosing a local school, as the case may be. Many of the changes that have been made in public education over this time of ‘reform’ have been well-intentioned, attempts to purge mediocrity from the system and deliver practical and relevant education. But as in all complex policy choices, some of the impact has been unforeseen, and unfortunate.
“Large, high-performing schools use their ability to attract high-performing students as a platform to grow their success, while other schools experience residualisation,” Associate Professor Lamb says. “A smaller, less effective school loses its best students, ending up with the hardest-to-teach kids, and has to spread funds thinly across fewer programs. This restricts choice for students, who not surprisingly don’t do so well in subjects they’re not ¬really into, and the whole cycle goes around and is reinforced.” Some of the impetus behind government concern over school performance comes from a societal shift in expectations of education and the role of schools, alongside increased parental anxiety about their children’s future success, according to Associate Professor Julie McLeod, of the University’s Faculty of Education.
The extent to which schools provide genuine opportunities for social mobility, particularly for working class and low SES students to move up the social hierarchy, remains an ongoing concern. “Educational sociologists are now finding that growing numbers of parents today are increasingly concerned about the threat of downward mobility, and the possibility that their children will not fare as well or be as well off as they have been themselves,” she says. Parents want to protect themselves and their children from this trend, and ¬responses such as ‘value-adding’ to children’s education with extra out-of-school activities are commonplace.
Additionally, changes in the economy and the sorts of jobs that will be available in the future are unsettling for parents, and it becomes harder to assess where certain sorts of training and careers fit in the social hierarchy.
“Schools come under increasing pressure to solve these problems for parents, with education often becoming more and more focused on career outcomes and university entrance,” says Associate Professor McLeod. Although she says the same anxieties are not necessarily shared during their school years by students themselves, whom, she says, can be much more concerned with developing a sense of who they are and the interpersonal and relational dimensions of their schooling experiences. Associate Professor McLeod, with colleague Professor Lyn Yates, has been looking at how different school cultures can impact upon students’ sense of self and values – how schools contribute to the shaping of young people into adults.
She says that students on the whole have an “accumulating sense of self” which is developed over the length of schooling and through the full range of formal and informal curricula, including how home, community and school values do or don’t come together. “Students seem to feel better about themselves and their school when they have a strong sense of purpose about their education, and are not entirely results-driven – when they can see what the result is for, rather than seeing it as an end in itself,” she says.
Research shows size does matter
Bigger is often better when it comes to school performance, writes KATHERINE SMITH.
With VCE exams underway, the public’s attention turns not only to the results of individual students but also to the performance of Victoria’s secondary schools. News reports feature profiles of astonishingly smart teenagers winning valuable and competitive scholarships to prestigious universities.
But beneath the fascination with performance, a vast cache of research and analysis is attempting to document the qualities and contributing factors of excellent school outcomes for students, and the secret recipe for school performance. Associate Professor Stephen Lamb is a member of a research team from the University’s Centre for Post-compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning, based in the Faculty of Education, and has done extensive research into school performance for the Victorian government.
“One of our main findings,” he says, “is that the widely held belief that small schools are better able to nurture students and give them more attention is a mythology.” In fact, from research in Melbourne so far, it seems that size does matter and the opposite is true: bigger schools tend to be better performing schools.
Associate Professor Lamb says that among the key elements determining school performance, financial resources, the socio-economic background of students, strategies for staff placement across the school, and innovative school-based programs, are critical – but that the hierarchy of importance is debatable. “The relationship of size to achievement is one that educational policy-makers need to be very aware of,” says Associate Professor Lamb. “We need to acknowledge that schools below a certain size (about 600 students in an urban school) tend to struggle, and this needs to influence how we manage our schools. “Socio-economic status (SES) is widely accepted as having a big impact on outcomes for school students,” he says.
”And the location of a school within the SES distribution of Melbourne means lower SES schools tend to be in the west, north and outer east. “However, during the course of our research, we observed that some schools with students of lower SES were performing much better than we might have expected, given their overall circumstances, while some of higher SES weren’t doing so well.
“By looking at things like management and resource strategies in those schools that were ‘punching above their weight’, we knew we could identify at least some of the components that make schools work in an urban setting, beyond the SES determinant.” By definition, one of the key advantages that bigger schools have is a larger number of students and more teachers, resulting in a greater capacity to offer a much broader range of programs. But teacher numbers are not the only determining factor; it is how that rich resource is deployed, which is critical.
“More effective schools spread experienced teachers across year levels, paying special attention to student needs in year seven and year eight classrooms, which runs counter to the fairly common practice of focusing resources at VCE,” he explains. “These schools are also very aware of the critical transition from primary to secondary school – a make or break time when some kids can tune out of the educational experience. They also implement strategic intervention programs early, well before an achievement gap can become a chasm.”
Soula Bennett is the Head of Middle Years at Northcote High School, which draws 1320 secondary school students from across the inner north of Melbourne and has established a solid reputation. She says the school recognises the need to “put in the groundwork during the vital middle years, so that students can achieve the results they, and their families and teachers, want at VCE level”. Ms Bennett, who has been teaching mathematics and science for 17 years, says when students arrive in year seven they are curious and enthusiastic but still connecting with the school and need careful nurturing.
By year eight some of them have often become a bit more disengaged – with the school, their parents and teachers – although they still strongly identify with their community of friends. Ms Bennett says that by engaging with them through that time with appropriately friendly and fun but firm support, by year nine, the school can really start to work with them on looking at pathways for their education. Associate Professor Lamb says indicators that schools are effective include positive responses to student questionnaires on teaching and learning, which show them to be engaged both with their education and their school community. In effective schools a significant proportion of students continue beyond year 10; there are good performance outcomes for both Vocational Education and Training (VET) and VCE programs; and a large number of students go on to employment or further education and training after they finish school. Associate Professor Lamb is quick to emphasise that VCE results are not the only ones that matter.
“Schools in the west and north of Melbourne – some of which have typically ‘underperformed’ in VCE results, achieve other valuable outcomes,” he says. This includes students successfully completing school-based apprenticeships in VET programs, or studying for the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (a year 11 and 12 program aimed at preparing students for direct entry to the workforce). Significantly these programs tend to work best in larger schools where VCE is “part of the mix”, Associate Professor Lamb explains, with roll-on advantages for all students. Beyond individual student experience, larger issues about public policy and schooling emerge that go to the heart of what public education policy is all about: the chance for students to experience quality in education, no matter what their socio-economic background.
If financial resourcing is only one component of school performance, then the management strategies of schools in the public sector – typically funded up to two to three times less than many private schools according to Associate Professor Lamb – matter enormously, and present social justice challenges for policy-makers. “When we look at schools in the private sector that have demonstrated success, we can see they are almost always big schools,” he says. “We see that ‘funding per student’ is only one issue: also important is ensuring a critical mass of students and staff to ensure program choice and subject breadth, facilitating an education experience that suits the inclination and capacity of each student.”
The trend over the past three decades in Victoria, he explains, has been towards the privatisation and marketisation of public sector schools, in a way that encourages public schools to compete against one another and act like those in the private sector, with independent governing bodies, and a fair degree of freedom in how budgets are allocated and procedures managed. More importantly, zoning has all but disappeared from the public education platform, meaning parents have much greater choice in choosing a school for their child – or not choosing a local school, as the case may be. Many of the changes that have been made in public education over this time of ‘reform’ have been well-intentioned, attempts to purge mediocrity from the system and deliver practical and relevant education. But as in all complex policy choices, some of the impact has been unforeseen, and unfortunate.
“Large, high-performing schools use their ability to attract high-performing students as a platform to grow their success, while other schools experience residualisation,” Associate Professor Lamb says. “A smaller, less effective school loses its best students, ending up with the hardest-to-teach kids, and has to spread funds thinly across fewer programs. This restricts choice for students, who not surprisingly don’t do so well in subjects they’re not ¬really into, and the whole cycle goes around and is reinforced.” Some of the impetus behind government concern over school performance comes from a societal shift in expectations of education and the role of schools, alongside increased parental anxiety about their children’s future success, according to Associate Professor Julie McLeod, of the University’s Faculty of Education.
The extent to which schools provide genuine opportunities for social mobility, particularly for working class and low SES students to move up the social hierarchy, remains an ongoing concern. “Educational sociologists are now finding that growing numbers of parents today are increasingly concerned about the threat of downward mobility, and the possibility that their children will not fare as well or be as well off as they have been themselves,” she says. Parents want to protect themselves and their children from this trend, and ¬responses such as ‘value-adding’ to children’s education with extra out-of-school activities are commonplace.
Additionally, changes in the economy and the sorts of jobs that will be available in the future are unsettling for parents, and it becomes harder to assess where certain sorts of training and careers fit in the social hierarchy.
“Schools come under increasing pressure to solve these problems for parents, with education often becoming more and more focused on career outcomes and university entrance,” says Associate Professor McLeod. Although she says the same anxieties are not necessarily shared during their school years by students themselves, whom, she says, can be much more concerned with developing a sense of who they are and the interpersonal and relational dimensions of their schooling experiences. Associate Professor McLeod, with colleague Professor Lyn Yates, has been looking at how different school cultures can impact upon students’ sense of self and values – how schools contribute to the shaping of young people into adults.
She says that students on the whole have an “accumulating sense of self” which is developed over the length of schooling and through the full range of formal and informal curricula, including how home, community and school values do or don’t come together. “Students seem to feel better about themselves and their school when they have a strong sense of purpose about their education, and are not entirely results-driven – when they can see what the result is for, rather than seeing it as an end in itself,” she says.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
I don't agree
A student burst into his professor’s office and says; "Professor Stigler, I don't believe I deserve this F you've given me."
To which Stigler replied, "I agree, but unfortunately it is the lowest grade the University will allow me to award."
To which Stigler replied, "I agree, but unfortunately it is the lowest grade the University will allow me to award."
Friday, June 01, 2007
Positive Psychology
Positive Psychology is a relatively new branch of psychology that was founded by Professor Martin Seligman on the belief that people want more than just an antidote to depression. Rather waiting for depression to occur, and then treating the symptoms, Positive Psychology focuses on cultivating positive emotion, character traits and institutions. Prof. Seligman’s research, has demonstrated that it is possible to be happier and more positive regardless of one’s circumstances. He has also demonstrated that through positive psychology interventions, the symptoms of depression can be lastingly decreased.
Since 2000, Prof Seligman has been committed to promoting the field of Positive Psychology and in particular, training Positive Psychologists, individuals whose practice will make the world a happier place, in a way that parallels clinical psychologists having made the world a less unhappy place. In 2007, Prof. Seligman will be leading a team of trained Positive Psychologists to work with Geelong Grammar School to assist in the development of a programme that can be adopted by the School in 2008.
“Positive Psychology is founded on the belief that people want more than an end to suffering. People want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play. We have the opportunity to create a science and a profession that not only heals psychological damage but also builds strengths to enable people to achieve the best things in life.” For more information on Positive Psychology, visit Prof. Seligman’s website, Authentic Happiness.
Since 2000, Prof Seligman has been committed to promoting the field of Positive Psychology and in particular, training Positive Psychologists, individuals whose practice will make the world a happier place, in a way that parallels clinical psychologists having made the world a less unhappy place. In 2007, Prof. Seligman will be leading a team of trained Positive Psychologists to work with Geelong Grammar School to assist in the development of a programme that can be adopted by the School in 2008.
“Positive Psychology is founded on the belief that people want more than an end to suffering. People want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play. We have the opportunity to create a science and a profession that not only heals psychological damage but also builds strengths to enable people to achieve the best things in life.” For more information on Positive Psychology, visit Prof. Seligman’s website, Authentic Happiness.
Friday, May 25, 2007
How much?
On the first day of college, the Dean addressed the students:
"The female dormitory is out-of-bounds for all male students, and the male dormitory to the female students. Anybody caught breaking this rule will be fined $20 the first time. The second time you will be fined $60. A third time will cost you a fine of $180. Are there any questions?"
A male student inquired, "How much for a season pass?"
"The female dormitory is out-of-bounds for all male students, and the male dormitory to the female students. Anybody caught breaking this rule will be fined $20 the first time. The second time you will be fined $60. A third time will cost you a fine of $180. Are there any questions?"
A male student inquired, "How much for a season pass?"
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