Teaching Journal Issue 8

A fair amount of time has been spent this semester on assessments, and with this week’s reading again it is assessment. Both Ayers and Oakes devote a chapter of their respective books to the dilemma, it would seem, of evaluating learning. When do you know something? I will tell you from my experience I am not really sure sometimes. Case in point, my Biology class this past semester has been tons of watching lectures, labs, Internet research, midterms, finals and quizzes. I literally poured more information into my head than I thought was possible, and studied every day for a grade I will expect to be pretty good. But guess what, I am not sure that I comprehended 10% of what I was fed. Maybe it’s the subject matter, or words and processes I can’t pronounce or really understand. If someone was to assess my grade, they would undoubtedly say, “wow Kevin you nailed that course”, but in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. While I did learn some generalities of Biology, I would guess they would be fleeting memories a month or year from now. So what’s the point? The point is even when you get a grade, make the mark, or the proficiency level, have you really learned anything? Everybody is happy now. The teacher must have done his job well. The department head who hired the teacher must have done his job well. The curriculum and the program must have been well setup. All appear to be happy. I am not complaining, but the question is, did I really learn much?

In Pearlstein’s Tested, it’s all about the test. It doesn’t even border on ludicrous, it is ludicrous. What that school is put through, and how can the students be learning anything of substance with so much time devoted to preparation, anxiety, and pure torture . It seems to be a throwback to the turn of the century memorization and recitations that were the hallmark of these early education methods. Rather than spending the time enriching our children’s education in the wonder of discovery, science, history, music, among other subjects, too much valuable time is spent teaching how to take a test. A test that is made up and evaluated by who knows who. Now with that said, I know that reading, writing, and mathematics are so important to us, and they do open the door for richer enjoyment of other subjects, but to judge someone’s entire body of knowledge on testing is not fair to the student, and in the worst way, could put someone on a path to not realizing their full potential.

Are there easy answers to the question of assessment? If there were, people would not be writing about the problems, or we would not be reading about them. While it may now appear that I am against testing, I have to say that I am not. I do understand that testing can be a tool to improve teaching methods, uncover deficiencies in a students learning, and be a benchmark or baseline for monitoring progress. It has to be taken as a part of a much wider portfolio of learning, as Ayer’s might describe it. In his book, To Teach, he describes a portfolio that travels with students throughout their academic life. It is rich with projects that they have accomplished, life skills they have learned, community services they have performed, teacher’s observations, artwork, and their creativeness. It is a body of knowledge that would sit side by side with the more formal assessments, to give those that have to make decisions about tracks, and college admissions a much richer picture of the student’s life.

I have begun to think about how much I am going to miss the kids, and classes I have worked with this past year. It is amazing how you develop a bond with them on all levels, from the morning queue before entering the classroom, classroom instruction, helping at lunch, tying endless shoes, un-jamming jacket zippers, wiping noses, picking them up when they fall, singing with them at music, running with them at PE, and getting them to their bus. Some of that will go away as my life transitions to being a teacher, and my activities with them will undoubtedly keep me mostly in the classroom, but more opportunities will present themselves I am sure. I had case to reflect today on my working life, and I am truly blessed in that I worked for 30 some odd years for the same company, and loved nearly every one of those years. How many of us can say that? Now I embark again on a new career with what I feel will be more fulfilling than I can even imagine now. I will be good at this, I just know it, I know it, I know it.

Teaching Journal Issue 7

I have to say it was with some relief that I welcomed Hargreaves, The Emotional Practice of Teaching. While on one hand I knew that to choose this profession you have to certainly love children first and foremost, and to be effective in the classroom you have to have some degree of passion about what you are trying to impart to your students, beyond a simple change in your voices inflection. On the other hand somehow I began to believe that perhaps teachers suppress a deeper emotional feeling that they might otherwise have to their teaching techniques. Certainly, we have seen it in the movie presentations of that super teacher who somehow turns her class around through the most unorthodox methods imaginable. Somehow when the educational system has given up on these “low achieving”, hoodlums, and turned Rhodes scholars, its OK for the teacher to resort to any method that gets results. I guess what I am saying is that my generation grew up in an educational system that pretty much embodied neat lines of desks and the teacher taught while you listened.

As my educational biography would indicate, I was not the best student, and had very few recollections of teachers that impressed, or challenged me. I laid down last night knowing that I needed to journal, and I wanted to talk about emotion, and I tried to recall any positive teacher exhibited emotions that I could remember from my youth to no avail. Classrooms were not even closely as dynamic, colorful and dripping with visual stimuli as they are now. Granted, technology was non-existent, so classroom tools such as active boards, and the Internet were not even a dream yet. But even yet, we did not go on class trips to the zoo, or to a nearby pond to exam life. It was as I said before, some stodgy teacher lecturing for what seemed forever in this emotionless dialog. With that said and to be fair, I was not the most attentive student and there has been a fair amount of time that has passed so my memory may be a wee bit cloudy on passionate teachers that I never realized. In any case I loved Hargreaves, “emotions are at the heart of teaching”, and with immense relief I learned that emotion is in fact alive and well and should be the most part of everyone’s classroom. I think children can reflect yourself when you exhibit the enthusiasm that you feel for teaching, and they can buy-in to the joy of learning.

I believe, as does Hargreaves, that the classroom, devoid of color, stimuli, and a less than passionate teacher is a “barren and boring”, place. I believe also that it is imperative that we capture the imaginations and interests of our children from the very start. School must be a place where they eagerly want to come to, where discovery, adventure, social interaction, and fun are an intricate part of the educational process. As a teacher, what greater reward can you have then to here a student say that you made a difference in their life? Wow, powerful stuff to be sure, and we have the power to create that result, as Mary Anne Raywid would say. More and more I am feeling that we as teachers have a responsibility to all our students, regardless of whether some of them endear themselves to us or not to never give up trying to reach and connect with them on some level. To not do so I believe puts that individual at risk for caring less and less about school in general. I remember, I believe it was Ayers, and the story of how the teacher connected with the skateboarder who up to then was disinterested in school. It was the opening, the connection that the teacher discovered to at the very least engage the student in school being interesting to him. Raywid says that while its so much easier to be attracted to the eager, cooperative student, the greater challenge comes in being appealing and successful with the ones that are least eager, engaging and cooperative. I think we have to continually examine ourselves, and the role we play to each student. With this power to effect both good and bad outcomes comes the awesome responsibility of continually being aware of it, and mindful of how it could affect our students.

For some fifteen years I did living history portraying a Civil War soldier. In that first person role I portrayed in classrooms and at living history events, a common soldier caught up in the hardships of those times, and as you can imagine it was a passionate portrayal. (My wife has often commented that I am a frustrated actor, and somehow always looking for a stage to act on). Somehow I have always felt that often you need a connection to something tangible to demonstrate and to teach someone. Maybe that’s because I learn best through example, and I can recall the answer through the recall of the example. Formulas, and memorizing on the other hand challenge me, as does peoples names.

Teaching Journal Issue 6

In reading Ayers this week, Liberating the Curriculum, Chapter 5, I chuckled at statement that ‘There is no teacher proof curriculum that will humanize and energize the classroom of a deadly dull teacher – and there is no sense in trying to find one.” I ask myself, when do teachers lose their enthusiasm, as sometimes they do. If they can’t keep it alive and interesting for themselves, then how can we expect them to do it for their students? With so much available now through the Internet, and the really cool science kits they bring into the classroom, how can things not be exciting an engaging? Well, like Ayers says, a dull and disinterested teacher, that is how. I like the approach of Alice Jefferson in the reading; a veteran teacher who does sustained studies on subjects she know nothing about. How cool is that to be right there in the trenches with your students, discovering together. Teaching is like evolution itself, always changing, always challenging you to ask the question why is this so? Shame on me if I can’t make everyday special in some way for my kids, and give them the impression that I am uninterested in them or the subjects we will be exploring.

This week was multicultural week in school, culminating in a Friday night exposition of the some 23 odd countries that are represented in our highly diversified school. In addition to displays or artifacts, and facts from each country, there were presentations by the children themselves, food prepared by the parents, and a program of song and dance done by the students themselves in native dress. Everything was truly wonderful, and this sense of community, which I have been seeing and reading about, was there before my eyes. But there was one thing profoundly lacking in this well attended affair, the teachers. Out of the some forty plus teachers in our school, I saw four there for the two hour affair. The other observation I had was that there were few Anglo-Americans in attendance. Here we were on a night that celebrated our diversity, and displayed those that make up our school’s community, and it did not appear like some teachers and parents cared. This week should have been filled with classroom discussion, and a special assembly, where these talented young children could display their talent and culture for the benefit of all the children.

I started reading You Can’t Play, by Vivian Gussin Paley, a wonderful little book about a real issue in schools. I see it everyday in the schoolyard at recess with the cliques , the bosses, and more importantly, the lonely ones. One sure sign are the ones that stand by me, that feel a need to connect with me. I think it’s just him or her wanting to be close to someone, so not to be seen out in the open, vulnerable, and alone. Why don’t you play with so and so, or this one or that one. You sit together in class with her or him, and I see you work and talk with your classmates. Why in play does this all change, as they rush out of the confines of the school. It’s like they are going to another land, a different class system. I am gathering incite through the book and I am hopeful that it will help me connect with them. For now, I encourage and match make for them, usually with other lonely ones.

My sister and wife read my poem and I sent them into tears on how sad mine begins. It was not my intent, but as I reminded my sister, we practically raised each other growing up, being three years apart in age, and with parents that still loved us but were consumed by the family restaurant business. I am interested in Jean discussing with us her experience in the multiage classroom. It’s sounds very Utopian, and in ways similar to Dewey’s progressive school. I even found some similarities with the Montessori methods of teaching.

I think we have gathered some interesting questions for the principals’ panel Monday. The orange juice was great the other night, and the Ale House provided a nice opportunity to relax with our classmates. We truly have a nice group of people who bring to the table many interests, and a true intent to make a difference. I can’t believe we are nearing an end to our 1^st semester, it has literally flown by for me, and my elementary school is down to like seven weeks. Now if I can just pass Biology over at Bellevue. J

Teaching Journal Issue 5

The theme of community came up all week long from the selected readings, to the school board paper, to the curriculum discussions. One of the many things that have drawn me to teaching is the sense of community that I believe exists or should exist in the classroom, in the school, and in the community at large surrounding the school. What a wonderful atmosphere to work in and foster. Now, I am not naïve enough to believe that it exists everywhere, nor that every teacher subscribes to the participative style of classroom community that Sapon-Shevin talks about in Building a Safe Community for Learning. But I certainly want to strive to achieve that in my classroom. My style of corporate management promoted that participative style, and respect in the work environment. The ideas that are fostered in this wonderful article really give rise to what a classroom should be, and how the children can learn respect for, and from each other. I see it in my kindergarten and first grade classrooms, and how important it is to create this community when a child first enters into their school career. Here is also where the teacher can reach out to the families of the children to participate and share in the mosaics of culture and experiences that each child has to share, and be nurtured by. Sapon-Shevin shared some wonderful tips to promote this within the classroom, and the theme of children helping children to be successful while all the time building on the safe community theme.

The subject of community came up with our school board experience and how that process plays itself out. It was certainly an insightful experience for me. But here was a community again discussing the ramifications of economics and what it meant to the education community. I could see the pain in the faces of the board in the face of wholesale layoffs of teachers and programs. Today we just found out in Lake Washington that no teachers would be laid off, nor class sizes increased. Instead, some administrators would be laid off and some programs cut or reduced. All in all, most agreed that it was the most pain free approach to the budget shortfalls. As I understand it, the working meetings of the board along with the community, was a very inclusive and collaborative effort. It is my hope that the theme of creativity, arts in the classroom, and arts to be experienced in our museums promoted in Greene’s Imagination, Community, and the School, will not be lost as the result of budget cuts. On the subject of curriculum, I found it sad to see how in Pearlstein’s, Tested, schools are curtailing science and social studies so that they can teach for what is being tested. As principal McKnight says, “There’s not enough time for creativity and the basics”. What a sad thing. School’s I think of as those haven’s of safety and wonderment, where for at least for six or seven hours, all children are respected for whom they are and what they can be.

Another hot topic these past weeks is teaching to the curriculum, and while I do not subscribe to “teaching to a script”, I do subscribe to following what a school system wants’ it’s children to learn. Within that framework I believe it is then my responsibility to make that learning experience creative, engaging and as enjoyable as I can make it. I have to draw on my military experience and training to first of all be a good soldier (teacher), and to follow the commands of my superiors (principle, district, state). Without that structure there is no cohesion and the mission can be severally handicapped or doomed to failure without everyone on board, regardless of our own personal feelings. I have found that even in the military objectives can be set, guidelines established, but execution and methods most times are left up to the company commanders (teachers) in the field. Esprit de Corp as in the military, transcribes very easily to the classroom as well as to the academic community I think, or should in any case.

Finally, the whole topic of assessment and why we do it, and what’s the purpose for it? I don’t think we can escape it. I think we do need to measure if curriculum is being effective so it can be modified if necessary. Are we as teachers doing what we should be doing to achieve that end? I have to ask if we are accessing the child or the teacher, and I guess both should be the answer. With that said though is it an end all like we read in Pearlstein? When your world is consumed by testing. Not at all. Testing is simply a tool that has gone beyond that to be an obsession in some places, and in those cases everyone loses, the student, the school, and the community. Tests should be but one element in evaluating a child, and downplay at that. Do children really need the pressure of testing and how it is hyped as if it were some cruel season we put on the calendar for a couple weeks a year. In How Should We Assess Student Learning, the author offers some very insightful methods to evaluate learning beyond simply test results. I assume since so much is written about the subject that there are no simple answers to this dilemma and it is bound to be debated for some time to come.