Teaching is Not Testing

In today's New York Times, in article entitled, "Dear Teacher, Johnny is Skipping the Test," parents are beginning to stand up to the test taking craze that has taken over this country and has undermined real teaching and learning in our schools. Parents from forty-seven middle and high schools throughout New York City have kept their children from taking the field tests which is administered to students in order to identify questions for future exams. Pearson, the company that designs these exams billed the state over $7 million dollars for testing services, of which 30 percent goes to field testing. So rather than let their children be turned into test-taking drones, parents organized themselves and launched, Parent Voices, New York, an advocacy group working to provide fair and just ways that both schools and teachers can be evaluated. While New York is not the only city that publicizes and ranks teacher performance to test scores, there is reason to believe that the use of tests to evaluate schools, students and teachers is creating an enormous sense of anxiety, pressure and stress on our already over-burden institutions. And the response to these pressures, while in New York parents have organized, in other places such as Georgia and Washington, districts have admittingly cheated on exams and in other places such as Detroit, schools are shut down, or in Chicago entire faculty are fired so that school staff can be reconstituted. No child in the history of standardized testing has ever said or believed that the perfect way for me to demonstrate what I've learned in school is through a state test. 

100 Best Video Sites for Educators

Providing multimedia into the classroom is a powerful way to engage and inspire students in the classroom. By supplementing lessons, and exploring new interests and passions, online videos make for  tremendous teaching tools.

Why American Students Can't Write

A great article in the most recent edition of The Atlantic that explores the ideas about how to best infuse our schools and communities with a culture of writing. This issue has always been near and dear to my heart ever since I began a member of the National Writing Project which believes that the best way to make our students better writers is for our teachers to become better writers themselves.

Project Based Learning Resource for You!

Check out this resource for building your classroom into one in which projects thrive and students come alive!

Maybe Algebra is Necessary

In response to Andrew Hacker's Op-Ed in this summer's New York Times entitled, "Is Algebra Really Necessary?" Patrick Honer has his own response worth reading where he shares, real-world and relevant applications of Algebra which even the most staunch opponent to Algebra 1 can begin to shake one's head in agreement.

10 Rules of Writing

Ever wonder what it takes to become a great writer? The New York Times has produced a wonderful column on writing, providing suggestions, insights and links to past articles and resources to ensure that your students are becoming effective and engaging writers.

Too Many Students, Too Few Teachers

In a recent story from Detroit, a senior attending Mumford High School on the cities west side has made news claiming that he has not received any text books or teachers for that matter going into his third week of school. How would you fix such a problem and how does such a problem arise? According to the school, administrators were not prepared to deal with the large numbers of students who have enrolled in the school. The other part of the story may have to do with the management of the school by the Education Achievement Authority who has taken over Mumford and other so-called low-performing schools by the state of Michigan. What would this school look like if textbooks and teachers were not required and an innovative way of teaching and learning were adopted? Does this prove even more that schools are outdated and unprepared to support students for the 21st Century or is this simply a mis-management of resources by an organization? Whichever side you are on there are reasons to believe that many students are not being properly educated in the city of Detroit which will often make more headlines than those who are.

Stephen Ritz: A teacher growing green in the South Bronx

Stephen Ritz: A teacher growing green in the South Bronx
" A whirlwind of energy and ideas, Stephen Ritz is a teacher in New York's tough South Bronx, where he and his kids grow lush gardens for food, greenery -- and jobs. Just try to keep up with this New York treasure as he spins through the many, many ways there are to grow hope in a neighborhood many have written off, or in your own." - TedxManhattan

Content Area Literacy

Acquisition of Literate Discourse: Bowing Before the Master?

Word Consciousness

Connecting Life to Text, Metacognitive Awareness

Etymology

Ever wonder about the origins of words and how English is actually the development of Greek and Latin origins? Well look no further than exploring the Online Etymology Dictionary where etymologies are "not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago" and can help us to build vocabulary and comprehension in our math, science, social studies and english classrooms.

Figment

Figment is a community where you can share your writing, connect with other readers, and discover new stories and authors. Whatever you're into, from sonnets to mysteries, from sci-fi stories to cell phone novels, you can find it all here. You can easily sign up and begin to incorporate literacy in an entirely new way in your math, science, social studies , science and art classrooms.

Facing the Future

Despite being a resource that helped secure my first teaching position, Facing the Future, creates tools for educators that challenge students to develop critical thinking skills, build global awareness and engage in positive solutions for a sustainable future. Additionally, there are free units and resources that are readily available for your classroom as you begin to explore ideas of conservation, sustainability, water scarcity, and global warming as well as real-life classroom examples and written testimonies from teachers.

What I've Learned About Effective Reading Instruction

Richard Allington, former president of the International Reading Association and publisher of over 100 books, articles and books provides a compelling case for teaching and learning in our classroom. Allington cites that "exemplary teachers we studied too often had to teach against the grain" and that "motivation for reading was dramatically influenced by reading success." Both of these observations have huge implications for my practice as a facilitator of learning. With so much of the current trend to focus on so-called great teaching, how are we recognizing that exemplary teaching as Allington states centers on providing instruction that is radically different and then acknowledging success to build great success. Seems like a simple idea but in practice the challenge lies in identifying and communicating positive student behavior even in those students whom we may not like. Additionally, particularly as it relates to our course as developing high quality units to coincide with literacy strategies, the author describes good teaching as planning instructional time and allowing students to develop a "writing task" for some ten days or more. To sufficiently allow youth to observe that writing (and learning for that matter) is a constant process between drafting, editing, reviewing and publishing whether its for designing a data table, a sculpture, or a geometry theorem.  

TES Teaching Resource

TES is the "largest network of teachers in the world"and is a centralized location for sharing and downloading free lesson plans, classroom resources, revision guides and curriculum worksheets. Whether you are looking for SEN teaching strategies and approaches, VCOP activities, or secondary classroom activities, you can choose from 1000s of teacher resources, download them for free and adapt them to suit your classroom activities. Its also a place to search for open positions both domestic and international. Enjoy and please let me know if the site is helpful and how you use it. 

Autobiography: Why Content Area Reading?

Begin to explore some of your experiences with Math and Science either in school or more preferably outside of school. What were some of those experiences? How did they shape you into the person you are today? What do you wish your teachers knew about you? Use some of the sentence starters below to begin to frame your thinking and to rekindle your path: 

* I first remember doing a math problem ………………………….

* I do (well, poorly) in math because……………………..

* I am the (worst/best) in doing _______  I know this because……………………….

* I (depend/don’t depend) a lot on my calculator, since ……………………

* I prefer to work alone/in groups, because…………………………

* Which type of math has been easier for you Algebra or Geometry?  Why do think so? Which type of science has been easier or more challenging for you Biology or Physics, or Chemistry? 

* How do you learn the best?  At home working alone.  Working with a group outside class?  When I get many of the same kinds of problems to do?  When I use what I know in new situations?

* I get the most bored in math class when………………………….

* I get the most interested in math class when  …………………………….

* Any other comments/ideas that you have regarding your life and mathematics would be appropriate.

As educators, it is critical for us to embrace our journey through life so that we can be conscious 

Curriculum audits and design criteria

When you are designing curriculum and your units of study where does one begin? Do you think about creating exciting and engaging experiences for youth? Do you start thinking about how I will cover my "content" through the newly released Common Core Standards? Or do you begin thinking about how and why you will teach your unit in alignment with what you have already covered so far this year? If you answered, "all of them," then most likely you are experienced and passionate educator with so many more questions waiting to be answered when designing your unit of study. For one to design effective units, I suggest first conducting a power and needs analysis for your unit. What strengths and areas for growth do I believe need to be addressed for not only my students but also for me as a teacher (i.e., facilitator of learning) as well as the community at large (this is particularly relevant for urban communities who tend to be typically disconnected from the youth inside the school walls)? Who are my students and how do they learn best? What are my long-term goals and how can I begin to design with the "end in mind?" Rather, than think about unit design as a linear process that evolves from straightforward thinking, I encourage teachers and school leaders to "toggle" between several parts of the process. For instance, when designing an authentic performance task, I asked educators to create an entry document that clearly spells out the expectations for the transfer, the assessment tool and process (critically important) as well as models and non-models, low-medium-and-exemplary levels of student work and outcomes. Examining the three documents, the entry document, the assessment tool, and three (3) examples of student work simultaneously allow the designer to explore the three for not only alignment but also strengthens the credibility and reliability of each leading to greater chance of transfer and high quality work. To many classrooms fail to rely on the age-old method of apprenticeship, of taking this idea about modeling, and a gradual release method of instruction (with plenty of exemplars of both outcomes and process) to encourage multiple modes of thinking and acceptable end results; not only are these documents critical for developing greater understanding and increasing opportunities for transfer but we create spaces in our classroom for greater exploration rather than simply arriving at the correct answer. In this way, we create equitable classrooms and the differentiation simply a naturally occurring element of sound instructional practice and effective planning. Additionally, these documents, the entry document, the assessment tool (both process and product) and student exemplars need concrete class time which allow students to become familiar with the expected outcomes and required tasks. Facilitators can begin to ask questions that can include: Do you understand what is being asked of you and why? What challenges do you expect as you do this work? What concerns you as you begin to explore the entry document, rubric and student samples? Which exemplars do you believe are the ones which received the highest marks? Why? Taking class-time to provide substantive dialogue, perhaps, even creating all these documents as drafts and having students constructively criticize the three, could create greater ownership of the teaching and learning process not to mention empower youth to feel that there are not depositories of knowledge but active participants in the relationship to knowledge.

Jumping through the hoops

How do we best ensure that we design courses in higher education that truly prepare future educators for the real challenges of the classroom? What can we do as professors or as reformers that best prepare potential teachers to be engaged with the content in our courses so that they are not just "jumping through hoops" to complete program requirements and to check one-course off their list? The answer may lie in simply thinking about how we would like to learn: in a highly engaging and relevant manner that speaks both to the heart and mind of teaching and learning.

Now, if this sounds vague thats probably because it is. Teaching to the heart and mind of a teacher can be both unclear, given the range of opinions on what "good teaching is" and often challenging because even within the profession we have different measurements that range from portfolio assessment to posting teaching ratings based on students ability on high-stakes test scores, which is happening as we speak in New York City. However, if we really dig a bit deeper and consider this: we are in the business of shaping both the hearts and minds of young men in our classroom and if we as so called gatekeepers of the profession do not explore what changing hearts and minds entails that we have truly missed the mark in terms of preparing future practioners. If we have the opportunity to design a course where teachers can learn reading and writing strategies in science and math areas, then lets really make an impact when we collect student work, and reflect upon our practice. Can we truly take a clear look inside of ourselves and be critical of our own practice or is this too much to ask? By taking a closer look at our hearts, our passions, our own fears, our own ability to identify those areas that we have the best opportunity to demonstrate growth, then and only then can we do better by our students. To simply our conversation around great teachers is certainly notable, but what about emerging greatness or those future educators who just need extra inspiration, motivating and skill building to reach higher ground.

Its notable that physicians and surgeons would not imagine entering into an operating room without first performing hundreds of hours of clinical on human subjects. We as patients would not want a physician even examining us in the clinic if he or she had not had exhaustive preparation for diagnosing everything from the common cold to pneumonia. Then why when perhaps, the most important training of our teachers, who are presented with tomorrows leaders and our future every single day for an entire school year, do not have the opportunity to undergo similar experiences with youth? How can we design coursework that blends both theory and practice so that all of our teachers have both the confidence and competency to succeed to directly impact student achievement? Its our hope in this course, that the opportunity to change both the hearts and the minds through transformational reading and writing experiences in the math and science classrooms, youth will be empowered to see themselves as agents of change, actively engaged rather than empty receptacles ready for a deposit of static and often unretrievable knowledge.

Project and Process Based Learning in Ypsilanti

Some schools just have that feeling of a subtle, positive energy that permeates all throughout the building. New Tech High School in Ypsilanti is one such school. New Tech High Schools, which are a national network of schools, are centered on project-based learning and assessment. I usually cringe whenever I hear the words "project based" as some schools do such an injustice to the term only having students conduct low level research, slap said research on a poster and consider it a project that is "done." This was not the case at New Tech. Teachers co-taught all courses so classrooms had titles, such as "BioLit," and "Algebra Squared," and "PhysiTech" combined biology and literature, algebra and science, and physics and technology into a 90 minute block schedule. Each classroom used space to combine up to 30 plus students in each and the chalk board instead of being used for rote memorization and random facts was used to post key documents in the project cycle. Each project started with a "entry document" that provided students the overall learning objectives of each project, the goals, and the roles each student would play. For instance, in the Social Studies-English classroom, students were studying World War II and while each group was given a particular topic, for instance, D-Day, each person was responsible for a different aspect of that event (military, political implications, economic provisions) in which each had to report. Additionally, each person on a given team was to play a role that would additionally contribute to looking at the issue from a different lens (i.e., a French diplomat, a British solider, etc.) creating an opportunity to build student empathy. In the BioLit classroom, the facilitator, as he was called, had students brainstorm a list of some 40-50 questions using the "entry document." In his classroom, students were studying obesity and had plans to teach students at a local elementary the biological and social impacts of choosing healthy eating and living habits. While some schools pretend to play "project based" and list colorful words on the web site obscuring the truth, New Tech painted a clear picture void of any such confusion and is effectively building student understanding through a robust process of project and process based learning.