It’s been a pleasure
To quote Paul Anka, the end is near. What began in mid-August has reached fruition in the snows of March. We have read together, we have discussed together, we have blogged, we have responded to one another’s blogs, we have designed and used course maps, planned action research projects, carried them out and are about to report on them. It has been a very fruitful and satisfying experience for me. I have met a gaggle of young teachers who are full of hope and enthusiasm. In the words of a dear friend, “the time of fruit is not yet, but there is much promise in the blossom.” It does this “older” heart good to see that promise in your youthful hearts and minds.
I encourage each of you to continue on the road that has brought you here. Continue to question, to grow, to share your knowledge, to advocate for the young people in your lives. Continue being the type of teacher you’d like your own children to have. Invite your students to grow, to become, to use all that they are to become all that they can be. Teach them to think, and most of all, to care. Rest assured that, for myself, I will be striving to practice what I preach.
I close with a quote from a beloved book entitled “The Prophet”, by Kahil Gibran. In speaking about teaching Gibran says:
“Then said a teacher, speak to us of Teaching.
And he said:
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If s/he is indeed wise s/he does not bid you enter the house of her/his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.”
Be well, my friends. Dare to dream.
Pete Sar
Lost in Space…..
Where am I in this process of writing my action research project? I am in the land of writer’s block, that’s where I am! I’ve been reading a sample project to get some ideas and have promised myself to begin in earnest any number of times. Alas, I cannot seem to get myself going. I can watch “Hardball” or Keith Obermann, both on MSNBC – the presidential races fascinate me. I can begin to gather some thoughts together and muse about what it is I will write when I eventually begin writing. But, for some reason, the actual energy to sit and down and write the piece has eluded me.
True, I have other obligations – family responsibilities, other coursework, a new puppy. And I DO mean to get stated………..but I find myself dawdling………or when I make a serious attempt to begin, I find that life seems to conspire against my writing. I suppose I’m making excuses for myself. The only way to do it is to simply begin doing it. I’d better get it into gear!! Time is running out.
I suppose I have begun. My survey is complete, and I now need to sit down and devise a seminar that helps students learn how to study. Once we’ve given the seminars we can move on to the second part of the pan – trying to determine the effect that using such study-aids had on students’ ability to feel better prepared for tests.
I have gotten lots of good ideas from Scott (for study aids and methods). I guess it’s time to get off my duff and get this thing done. On the other hand……………………..
Curriculum is everything that happens at school
Some recent ponderings inspired by “The New Teacher Book”. In one essay an author wrote that “curriculum is everything that happens at school”. I like that. It resonates with me and affirms an educational philosophy I’ve long embraced.
I remember when my kids were small. I use to take them trout fishing on local streams. We were out to catch brown trout for sure, but I was always fond of telling them that there was a lot more to catch than fish. There were kingfishers to site, wild columbine to discover, bank swallows to search out, and always, the beautiful sounds the stream made as it bubbled and gurgled on its way. We never felt too bad when we came up empty-handed trout-wise. We had usually bagged lots of other interesting things from nature’s storehouse.
It’s the same in education. Sure, we’re out to bag earth science concepts - each and every day. But - just like with trout streams - there are lots of other fish to fry. If we can remember that we’re teaching kids, not subjects, then EVERYTHING we do or say can send a message to our kids - can be formative - can be “curriculum”. Each response to classroom events – every time we affirm, or discipline, or encourage, or challenge - can be a potential “lesson”.
And on those days where we feel like we’ve come up empty-handed in terms of conveying an earth science concept, maybe we can rest a bit easier knowing that something else we did or said or felt found a home in the hearts and minds of the kids we teach.
Curriculum is everything that happens at school.
Heady thought, no?
And one we’d all do well to ponder.
Pete
Reform-based musings from another class
Hey all.
I’ve been doing some readings in another class and had to comment on them, but I believe what I have to say is also appropriate for our ears in 474. The ideas are pretty radical compared with how we go about things in the every day reality of our teaching lives - at least in the way public education has been designed. Tracing what it is we teach, and why we teach it, and who gets to teach it, and even who gets to learn it turns out to be some very thought-provoking stuff.
I share these comments in the interest of sparking a discussion on the “reasons for schooling”. Thanks for listening.
From deAlba, Gonzalez, Lankshear & Peters
“Grand narratives, then, are the stories that cultures tell themselves about their own practices and beliefs in order to legitimate them. They function as a unified single story that purports to legitimate or found a set of practices, a cultural self-image, discourse, or institution.” (p. 6)
From Matus and McCarthy
“These vastly transformed circumstances consequent on the movement and collision of people impose new imperatives on curriculum and pedagogy in schooling. In our era, however, we seem evermore to lack the qualities of empathy; the desire for collaboration, cooperation, and negotiation; or the magnanimity of spirit to engage with the other as a member of our community or even our species. How should we address the topics of culture and identity in the organization of school knowledge? They have proved to be difficult questions indeed.” (p. 76)
From Scheurich and Bell McKenzie “Foucault thus contends that the rationales that support modernity as humane and as becoming more so are false and that, instead, modernity is but a new installation of domination and violence as a “system of rules.” For example, schools……………….are installations of domination and violence masquerading as systems of rules, and it is the work of the genealogist to describe and reveal this domination and violence.” (p. 852)
My theme for this week deals with the abuse of power in education. deAlba and company speak of “grand narratives” – stories cultures tell themselves about their own practices and beliefs. In doing so, they seek to legitimize a set of practices, a cultural self-image – and, I suspect, their own power. I suppose that an important role of “education” is to pass along this image, this way of being, to the next generation. In the end, their power is perpetuated.
Matus and McCarthy, on the other hand, warn of a new world precipitated by the dynamics of globalization (p.80). Such a world, consequent of the movement and collision of people from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, imposes new demands on schooling. Qualities like empathy, collaboration, cooperation, negotiation and magnanimity of spirit will be needed more than ever. After all, each member of the human family has their own “grand narrative” to share. The authors contend, however, that these characteristics, so necessary for the inclusion and acceptance of each one’s story, are woefully lacking.
One wonders if the owners of the dominant narrative have more vested in maintaining their power than in including and embracing “competing” narratives. One also wonders if Foucault was more prophet than theorist when he maintained that schools are installations of domination and violence masquerading as systems of rules. This would certainly seem the case if they adamantly strive to perpetuate the grand narrative of the dominant group at the expense of all other groups.Such possibilities are frightening, and call for a transformative vision of schooling. Education to maintain the status quo must be replaced with an ethic that embraces the value of every human being. Attempts to enshrine the “dominant” narrative must give way to the acceptance of an inclusive narrative that values the rich heritage of every human creature. Exclusion of any kind must be eschewed in favor of a determined effort to “process everyone’s experience and history into curricular knowledge” (Matus and McCarthy, pgs. 81-82). Pete Saracino
Learning to simplify, clarify and align………
We have been urged, of late, to simplify, clarify and align regarding our action research projects. In that spirit, I have once again set out to simplify my study. What initially began as an attempt to investigate the study habits of each of my students evolved first into a plan to monitor the study habits of only twenty individuals. These twenty had been chosen because of their professed willingness (based on survey responses) to attend a seminar or two on how best to prepare for tests. I felt that concentrating on twenty willing participants was more realistic and do-able than trying to entice the entire group to consider reforming their study habits!
However, based on the recent advice of my small-group members, I am in the process of modifying this plan even further. I now intend to monitor the study habits of only the students who both attend the seminar, and actually use some of the study aids we explore during it. This will further narrow the number of participants, making the study even more manageable.
I have decided to take a different approach to my data as well. Instead of pursuing quantitative indicators (test score results), I intend to concentrate on more qualitative issues. I will explore how the use of the study aids we discussed in the seminar improved participant’s sense of “being prepared” for the upcoming assessment. In other words, did preparing in such a fashion help students feel better prepared, more confident and relaxed? I decided on this after it was pointed out - again in my small group – that failure to achieve a higher test score could be caused by circumstance other than a failure to study for the assessment. Factors like the difficulty of a particular test, student mood, etc. could be mitigating factors working against success on the test.
To glean these qualitative gems I intend to conduct a post test survey asking respondents to identify both the study aids they used and to describe how the use of such devices helped them feel with regards to test preparedness. In other words, did using these devices help them feel more confident, more relaxed, less anxious……..in other words, more “prepared” for the test?
I also intend to follow up my analysis of this survey with a quantitative glance at students’ test scores to examine the effect of studying on the scores they did receive. Higher test scores could confirm the fact that the use of study aids actually helped students achieve a greater degree of readiness (as measured by higher scores) on the assessment.
Oddly enough, the very effort to simplify has brought a deeper sense of clarity. For starters, the study has begun to seem more realistic – more do-able. I suspect that the number of students involved will decrease. I believe that only a handful of the twenty who expressed interest in participating in the seminars will actually attend. And of those few, only a handful will actually use the aids we have explored. I can thus concentrate on these few students to gauge the impact of seminar attendance and use of studying devices on test preparedness.
In the end, perhaps the few will lead the many. Perhaps I can use the success these few have had to entice the larger community of students to at least give studying a try. Stranger things have happened.
Any thoughts, comments, ideas, suggestions and/or objections are appreciated.
Pete
Results are in………..
A week ago I administered a survey of study habits to each of my four classes. As mentioned in my last post, I intend to focus on the results of only twenty surveys – those of students who have agreed to participate in an after-school seminar which focuses on the “art” of studying.
I’ve spent some time the past few days delving into the results of these surveys. What follows are many of the questions I asked and some results tallied while reading through students’ responses.
1. Do you think you’re trying as hard as you can in earth science?
45% said yes; 50% said no; 5% undecided. (hard to believe 45% are trying as hard as they can!!).
2. On a scale of 0 -100% , how much effort are you putting into earth science?
Answers varied, but the average % overall effort came in at 76% (which I do NOT believe is a true assessment).
3. Does your current grade reflect your abilities?
30% responded yes; 70% responded no…….(this I DO believe).
4. Name one thing you could do to achieve a better grade.
Study more 45%; improve my effort 40%; do xtra credit assignments 15%.
5. Can studying help you achieve a better grade?
Yes 80%; No 10%; Maybe 5%; I don’t know how to study 5%;
6. Time you’d need to spend studying to achieve that better grade.
0 minutes 15%; 10-20 minutes 45%; 40 minutes 15%; 60 minutes 20%; 2 hours 5%.
(interesting that 60% believe it only takes from 0- 20 minutes. I wish I had included a “rate”, i.e., 20 minutes per day or per week, etc.
7. Time devoted to studying for unit tests now.
0 minutes 20%; 5-10 minutes 10%; 10-15 minutes 25%; 15-20 minutes 15%; 20-25 minutes 5%; 25-30 minutes 20%; 40-45 minutes 5%.
8. Do you study alone?
Yes 40%; No 20%; Varies 35%. (room for improvement indicated!)
9. If you do not study alone, who do you study with?
friends 60%; parents 25%; sibling 5%; don’t study 5%; no one 5%.
10. What tools, resources do you use to study?
Class notes and flashcards were mentioned most often; other aids (computers, review sheets, old home work, etc. all received little mention).
11. Where do you tend to study?
My room 54%; school 23%; a quiet place 3%; with friends 3%; mom’s bed 3%; at home 8%; kitchen table 3%.
12. Atmosphere most conducive to studying.
with noise and music 60%; in quiet 25%; either or 15%.
13. Do your friends ever encourage you to study for quizzes/tests?
Yes 50%; No 45%; Yes & No 5%.
14. Do your friends ever discourage you from studying?
Yes 15%; No 70%; neutral 15%.
15. Motivation for studying?
To get into the college of your choice…mentioned 7 times.
To be “successful”…mentioned 4 times.
To make friends/family proud…6 times
Want good grades…mentioned 6 times. (hopeful sign of self-motivation!)
To feel successful…mentioned once
To pass….mentioned once.
Yes, no reason given….mentioned once.
16. What other things could motivate you to study?
Answered ranged from not knowing, to the hope of a better grade, to the planned after school seminar, flash cards, to jeopardy games to time after school to punishment, to being allowed to play sports.
17. Would having a study-partner help motivate you to study?
Yes 55%; No 20%; Don’t know 25%.
So there you have it. Next on the agenda is to investigate various forms/methods of studying (have some already thanks to Scott!!) and then invite them to a seminar on the most effective use of time and method(s). Then, we’ll see how it all shakes out on test results. I suspect that a number of methods/strategies will be appropriate and specific to the individual’s needs……that is, what works best for one may not be good for another. Time will tell. Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
Start your engines!
My action research project is underway. This past Friday I administered a twenty-one question survey in an attempt to determine the study habits of my freshman earth science students. Seventy-one students participated. The survey was comprised of open-ended questions asking things about the quality of their effort, the amount of time spent studying, the grade they felt they were capable of, the grades they’d like to achieve, their attitudes about studying in general (time spent, location, atmosphere, study-aids used, motivation or lack of, encouragement or lack of, etc.). The final question asked if they’d be willing to participate in an after-school group (for two or three nights only) designed to help students learn how to study for test.
Based on advice received in this class, I decided to administer the survey to all of my students but undertake the planned intervention with only the students who expressed an openness to learning how to study. I felt this to be very sound advice. There would be fewer students to deal with, and I would stand a better chance of them being motivated enough to hang in there with me until the intervention had run its course.
Thus far, the only survey question I’ve examined is the final one. Of the seventy-one students taking the questionnaire, eighteen (25%) of them answered “yes” to it – that is, they are willing to engage in an after school seminar to learn better habits of study. While it was/is my desire to concentrate on this relative small handful of students, I still intend to read the survey results of every student who completed the survey. I feel it will be a wonderful opportunity to catch a glimpse of the minds and hearts of the kids I teach.
When push comes to shove, however, I’ve decided that the only surveys I will examine closely are the ones completed by the eighteen students who expressed a willingness to “engage” with me. This will lessen my load, make the entire project seem less overwhelming, and perhaps increase the possibility that I can create some meaningful interventions that can impact the lives of these students in a positive way.
So, my action research plan, initially designed to test how well my course map could help prepare all of my students for their unit tests, has begun to evolve into a plan to examine how the use of yet-to-be-determined study aids can help eighteen of my students do better on their assessments. And I’m happy for the change! The entire affair has suddenly become less overwhelming, more realistic, do-able, and manageable. It is beginning to feel like a project worth doing because I can actually learn something about the kids I teach and, in so doing, use that knowledge to intervene in positive and productive ways.
The first question I am going to explore with these eighteen students is how many nights are appropriate for the seminar on studying tips. We will be meeting 10th periods for about 40 minutes/session. I told my students we would have no more than three sessions but am now wondering if this is one too many. Does anyone have any suggestions on the number of times we should meet? Perhaps I should elicit this information from my students? Does anyone have any thoughts, suggestions or impressions? Thanks in advance!
In the meantime, I am looking forward to pouring over the eighteen surveys and to see what I can learn about these kids!
Need some help with the notion of action research “variables”
Help!
I have been thinking of action research variables as just that - variables - things that can change. For instance, If I choose to investigate the results of a particular intervention on my classes, then one “variable” I have to contend with is the fact that one of the classes that receives an intervention will be filled with special ed kids and the other won’t. ‘
From what I’m reading in other blogs, I’m beginning to think that this is not what is meant by the term “variable”. Can any of you guys give me -in the King’s English - your understanding of this word?
Thanks
Pete
Imagine
“We are reminded of the fact that each person is born into a social and cultural setting – family, community, social class, and language – these all have an impact on how a child will develop social connections which inevitably result in the kinds of educational and social opportunities they may or may not receive” (Barton and Yang, 2000, p. 885).
The above quote rightly suggests there are a multitude of factors that can affect the degree of success our students will experience in our classrooms. With this reality firmly in mind, I offer a non-comprehensive educational wish-list for each and every child of planet earth. Most ideas have been gleaned from two articles that I credit at list’s end. If your own particular insights or wishes are missing, feel free to add them.
With apologies (and gratitude) to John Lennon, I have entitled my list “Imagine”.
Imagine…………
Imagine an educational system where any child – regardless of background, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, culture, language, religious belief or sexual orientation - can………
· Be made aware of all the wild possibilities that lay before him/her as s/he embarks on her/his educational career.
· Actually be exposed to some of these possibilities.
· Receive acknowledgement of the interests s/he has.
· Receive encouragement to pursue those interests, once identified.
· Be given opportunities to cultivate the interest.
· Receive affirmation once s/he is so engaged.
· Experience supportive relationships with caring adults (both in and out of school) who will expect great things from her/him.
· Be given special academic assistance when needed.
· Be exposed to teachers who do not assume that a particular race, background, ethnicity, etc. predisposes a child to certain “interests”.
· Be exposed to teachers who view each child as a mystery waiting to unfold (even if this fact is a mystery to the child him/her self).
· Be instructed by well-prepared and knowledgeable teachers.
· Be exposed to high quality curriculum.
· Interact with adults and teachers who don’t expect the child to have been raised with, or understand the importance of, the adult’s values.
· Learn from adults who understand that the real “bottom-line” is a simple respect for the person that the child now is……and a belief in the potential each child has for “becoming”.
· Be exposed to adults who will honor that potential.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to believe in, and motivate the children under their care.
· Be exposed to adults who never lose sight of the person their educating.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to teach that person and not just the subject.
· Be exposed to adults who are aware of fact that many children are pushed to the fringes by those in power through unwritten and unspoken rules for success and inclusion.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to understand, own and change the role they play in the culture of power within their particular institution.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to promote an image of science and scientists that embraces every cultures.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to reject the definition of science that separates rational thinking from feelings and emotions.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to admit that scientific ideas separated from context and personal experience may cause students to be unable to see their own world-view reflected in school science.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to acknowledge that children may know and love science, even when the expression of that knowledge and love may not match that of the adult’s culture.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to help children see they ARE capable of certain kinds of learning – even science learning.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to help children see that regardless of their background, upbringing, etc. there can be a place in the world of science for them.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to show children the importance of hard work, and educational success…..especially for children from backgrounds that place little or no value on such things.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to understand that – because of their upbringing – children may prize other, less valuable aspects, of schooling.
· Be exposed to adults who are mindful of the fact that certain “unseemly” values children have embraced may have heretofore actually helped the child cope with life as s/he has experienced it.
· Be exposed to adults who are willing to acknowledge that for many children, schooling may reflect a particular way of knowing and being that is not reflected in their home lives. Thus, a child’s upbringing may lead them to resist the very opportunities they are presented with in school.
· Have connections with families who are focused on high achievement and who understand how such achievement can and will benefit their child.
· Be exposed to adults who understand that a child’s “background” can serve as a liability for her/his chance to obtain a good education; and that this is not due to the inferiority of that heritage, but the positioning of her/his ethnic enclave within our society, both in terms of how her/his ethnic group is viewed by those in power positions and in terms of his/her own groups response to how they are percieved.
· Imagine that each of us chooses to become the type of adult mentioned in the list.
Imagine………..
Barton, A.C., & Yang, K. (2000). The culture of power and science education; Learning from Miguel. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 37(8), 871-889.
Oakes, J., Joseph, R., & Muir, K. (2004). Access and achievement in mathematics and science (2nd, Trans.). In J. Banks & C.A.M. Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (pp. 69-90). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Survey dilemma
I have been giving some more thought to my survey of late. I have decided that I want my students to answer all 25 questions. I am now struggling with whether or not to make the survey an anonymous one. I feel like an anonymous survey would illicit the most honest responses. Only trouble is, I want them to answer only five questions per day. That being the case, I would have no way of returning the survey to its rightful owner for completion! Another option, of course, is to have them do it anonymously and all in one setting. But I’m afraid it’s a bit long and they wouldn’t have time to complete it.
Does anyone have any suggestions out there? Thanks!