Student Voice as an Evaluation and Personal Vitamin

photo credit: Malingering via photopin cc

As your reflect on this year, where's your personal data?  I don't mean just the standardized test data, which I abhor.

Instead, I'm talking about using student voice, which tells you where you have succeeded and what to do next.  I'm talking class survey evaluations.

This has always been scary for me, but I finally took the plunge a few years ago..  You know, it's one of the best things I've ever done.  More meaningful than a formal evaluation, it shows me what kids like and what I can tweak to do better.  It gives me a structure for reflection that is personal.  I don't do this to share it with an evaluator.  I do it for myself.  I do it for the kids I will teach in the future.

I've found the best way to collect and use this data is to use a Google Form, which adapts well to smart phones. Here's a blank sample based on the form shown below. Save a copy to your Google Drive and edit your form under the Data Tab.

It might just kick start your thinking.  C'mon, it's got a proven high-potency ranking.  And it's good for you.
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Science, Religion, and Pseudoscience: A Student Astronomy Comparison

This is a really nice effort for comparative thinking on science vs. religious thought and purpose from an 11th grade science student.

Your thoughts?

Do Schools = the Borg?

It's the end of the year.   Thanks, first of all, to all of the people on Twitter who encourage me to be my best, to push faster, harder, further than I have before. With you, I am greater than the sum of my parts.  We are a collective of amazing...well, almost like the uniqueness found at a Star Trek convention.

photo credit: jaundicedferret via photopin cc

BUT

we are NOT the collective of the Borg here on social media.  We are not single-focus group think.

credit to http://gifsoup.com/account/Huntington123 and Star Trek

We have individual ideas.  We are allowed to grow together, to learn together, to even disagree and respect one another.  We are....well, a community that hasn't been assimilated.  We are fortunate.



Unfortunately, I don't sense that empowerment across all corners. Much of the time, teachers are seen as warm bodies.  You know, Red Shirts. An expendable part of the Borg.

credit:  http://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2012/10/myths-of-star-trek-i.html

Here are some things I have heard through the lens of online conversations that give me pause, and make me wonder if we are schools of lifelong-learners, or if BOTH teachers and students are simply warm bodies that fill the holes without independent thought..

1. From a Board summary:  "We currently are looking to hire teachers with coaching credentials.  That's a priority right now."  Could we--maybe--hire the best person to do the teaching?
2. From a teacher:  "It was great being realized on Twitter during Teacher Appreciation Week.  I didn't know it existed."  Perhaps there are more ways for administrators and board members and parents and students to show teachers they have intrinsic value. 
3. From a student:  "It's not about learning anything.  It's just memorizing for the test and doing your best."  Real world relevance, anyone?  How many facts do students now need to know and how much of their time should be spent accessing stored knowledge?
4. From a parent:  "My child was told that online classes were a cop-out, as f2f is the best way to learn." Differentiation strategies should allow us to individualize education as never before because of f2f, blended, MOOCS, long-tail learning and online options, should they not?
5. From an admin, "I like to go to lots of conference to stay informed.  Then I can tell the teachers those ideas."  At what point do administrators stay in the building and let their teachers learn, share, and lead? The research is clear--small pockets of innovation can lead to greatness, while top-down organization will not.
6. From a first year teacher: "My union rep and my pre-service teacher told me never to friend students on any social media."  What good does it do to shut ourselves off from the lifeline of the current generation?  What social media conversations is your district having?  Is legislative policy promoting appropriate relationships and support for students or is it causing unintended brick walls?

Perhaps we need some reflection and conversations on how to include ALL schools in our transformation efforts as we head into the summer and our planning for next year. At the very least, though, we have to consider these scenarios for our OWN Districts.  How do teachers become stakeholders, decision makers, and advocates for students and themselves?

photo credit: svenwerk via photopin

After all, shouldn't ALL kids have a chance to 

Live Long and Prosper?

A #WOWWork Linoit

Just a note:  I think #wowWork should be the next great thing to highlight our students.  What is that?  Simple--work our students do that is Worthy Of the World.    Can you tag something your students have done and share it out using the #wow tag?

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I've always thought that Linoit was under-utilized by most students, but this is not the case here. It's a web tool that is worth thinking about to focus on note-taking or information processing.

This is one of those moments where a student synthesizes his knowledge by organizing his learning.
I think he (and this) are #WOW ....Worthy Of the World.

Original Assignment

FEATURES

•  hyperlinked multiple Linoit canvases together to make a final product. 
• material he had to look up is referenced.
• material we covered in class is pulled from notes without attribution.
• sustainability of a population is discussed according to specified parameters.
• color-coded to create meaning.

LINOIT

 How do you use Linoit or WallWisher Padlet with your students?


How do you promote the organization of knowledge?

Rules or Relationships

I was at a spring regional event for one of my children and I saw an interesting acrostic.  You know, one of those signs where the first letter of the word becomes a jumping-off point for a statement. This acrostic spelled out the letters of the school, and listed characteristics for each letter.

photo credit: Gord McKenna via photopin cc

What struck me most, though, was this line in the school poem, which was almost as memorable as this sign to the left.

R(ules)

And it bothered me.  One of those just-can't-put-my-finger-on-it moments.  Upon reflection, I think I know why.

Rules are usually a consequence for non-intrinsic behavior.  They are designed to show a power balance.

After being in 10+ schools as a parent, student, or teacher, I often see it play out like this.   A kid does something.  We don't like it.  We assign a consequence and point to a rule.  Other students notice and are to learn from the example. The adult has exerted control. This is a great example of how Skinner/Cantor/behaviorism masks itself as an uncomfortable expression of incorrectly-applied PBIS.  It is a fear culture.

If you shift to a school where rules are NOT the primary focus, it plays out differently.  A kid does something.  We don't like it.  If it is dangerous, we keep the other students safe.  We stay calm, and find a venue to talk to the student.  This is a discussion, not a lecture, about what went wrong and why it is a problem.  A logical consequence is applied, and the student leaves with new knowledge.

Look, it's obvious that we will always need some rules; this is not a call to anarchy.  But there are stupid rules out there that are more about a power expression than creating a welcome environment in a school.  And if the rule is not couched in relevancy or respect, forget it.

Take a moment.  How would you view each of these statements...as a rule designed for power or a relationship-builder? There are no right answers, but there are some great conversations that await.

Where is your building at?  What about your classroom?  Are you about control, or relationships?  I hope it's the latter, because when we build strong relationships, respectful environments usually follow.  And most of the rules take care of themselves.