Real change takes courage and leadership

For decades I dwelled in a school district that was cemented firmly in outdated teaching methods. Sure, we got new technology -- a mobile laptop cart here, a few new desktop computers there -- but the pedagogy remained the same. I probably don't have to tell you that the philosophy was to get kids to pass high stakes tests at all costs.

So, each year brought more workbooks, more ill-conceived online reading and math tutorials and a steady stream of district-wide test scores that were, at best, pedestrian.

I rode this ride to mediocrity yearly, until I realized that I had to make change, regardless of the path my district took. Enter results-only learning, and the miraculous transformation it brought. Meanwhile, my school district forged ahead, no change in sight.

True Leaders

I recently worked with some true leaders at a school in Coppell, Texas. These are people who are ready to make major change. From superintendent to building principal to classroom teacher, they are embracing results-only learning -- tossing out archaic traditional methods, in favor of a progressive, student-centered, digitally-enhanced classroom.

They are even altering the way they evaluate learning -- discarding traditional points and letter grades, in favor of narrative feedback. The courage these educators have, leaving behind what most schools in America can't escape -- the chains of workbooks, worksheets and, yes, even grades -- is unparalleled.

So, this is where it begins -- in the great state of Texas. Educators in one school will pilot results-only learning. They will begin a wave of change that might eventually turn into a tsunami.

All it took was real leaders and courage. Well done Coppell!



Don't miss ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com and Mark's new book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom

Help me take results-only learning to the SXSW Conference

The SXSW Edu Conference and Festival in Austin, TX has become one of the top conferences on teaching and learning in America.

I think it's a marvelous place to share the power of the Results Only Learning Environment. But I  need your help. Part of the intense selection process is popular vote. So, please give Role Reversal your support.

Please cast your vote for my Role Reversal proposal here.

Don't forget to share with your PLN.

Don't miss Mark's book ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com

Answering questions about the ROLE

In a detailed, thoughtful reaction to Role Reversal, my Twitter friend, Aviva Dunsiger, wonders about a few important concepts in results-only learning. Rather than leave a lengthy comment on her blog, I decided to respond in a post of my own. I've taken some of Aviva's questions and paraphrased them below with my answer. I hope this helps.

How is a student with autism successful in a ROLE?

I taught a few students with Asperger syndrome; they didn't struggle with the noise and disruption as much as others might. What made the ROLE successful for these students is the freedom. For example, when we were completing research, one student wanted to do a PowerPoint project, rather than a formal paper. In the past, I would have never allowed this departure from tradition. As a ROLE teacher, I said, "Why not?" He did a fantastic project, complete with proper citations and a Works Cited section.

Is there a way to give students autonomy while also communicating student performance regularly to parents? 

The best way to communicate is with your online grading program, using the comment feature, or on your classroom website, complete with student blogs and private web pages. Parents were always in the loop, because I put everything on our classroom website.

Why would teachers want to eliminate guided reading?

Aviva suggests some small-group "guided reading" strategies, but I think we differ on the meaning of the phrase. My top 5 reasons for eliminating guided reading are here.

What about the one student who is insistent on getting a report card grade of A, when she deserved a C?

In this section of her blog, Aviva says:

"Grades may not be as important as feedback, but they do give parents an impression of student achievement and next year’s teacher an impression of student achievement too."

I will respectfully disagree with her here. As I contend in Role Reversal, grades say absolutely nothing about performance. They are misleading and unfair. When my children come home with report cards filled with A's, I don't say, "Good job!" I ask them what they learned over the course of two months. "Are you satisfied with your accomplishments? Of what are you most proud? Where did you fail?" No letter can answer these questions. So, to answer the larger question, if a student insists on an A, I'll give it to her. It's never happened more than a few times.

What about homework?

I have written widely on homework and have a new HW post coming in the near future. Meanwhile, here is my most-viewed post on the subject.

Thanks again to Aviva for her passionate critique of Role Reversal. Feel free to add to her work.

Don't miss Mark's book ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com

Education in a Changing World

Last week, I had the pleasure of presenting three sessions at the Education in a Changing World Conference, hosted by Monte Vista Christian School. This amazing conference featured luminaries in education, like Sir Ken Robinson and Alan November.

I presented student-centered learning, based on the concepts in Role Reversal, classroom websites and web tools for education. The video below, shot by a couple of very helpful MVCS students, is a brief segment from my Role Reversal presentation. I hope you enjoy it, despite the poor production quality -- my fault, not the videographers'.



Don't miss Mark's books ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, and The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com

Let's have a Twitter chat about results-only learning

I have spent most of the previous month talking about my new ASCD Arias book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom.

In spite of the excitement swirling around the new book I am still inundated with correspondence from readers of my first book, Role Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom.

Although I attempt to respond to all readers, I decided it's time to have an open chat about results-only learning, and what better way to do it than on Twitter, using the #RoleTalk hashtag?

Monday August 12th, 7-8 PM EST

Mark your calendar and add the #RoleTalk stream to your Twitter, HootSuite or TweetDeck feed. We'll discuss the following and more:

• student-centered learning
• yearlong projects
• narrative feedback
• SE2R feedback model
• BONUS: sneak peek at 5-Minute Teacher strategies
• transitioning from traditional to progressive student-centered learning
• digital/mobile learning strategies
• building autonomy into the ROLE
• discarding rules and consequences
• your other favorite ROLE strategies

 

Share with friends and colleagues

This promises to be an amazing chat with hundreds of intelligent teachers sharing their opinions on student-centered digital learning, assessment, feedback, project-based learning and much, much more.

See you on Twitter #RoleTalk at 7 PM EST on Monday, August 12th.


Don't miss Mark's book ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, and The 5-Minute Teacher:: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com

The trappings of social media

As my readers know, I'm a huge fan of social media. I love social  bookmarking sites, like Diigo, book networks like Goodreads and, of course, sharing sites like Twitter.

I've written widely on the value of social media in the classroom, and I speak loudly about their dangers and how to avert them.

Now that I'm a full-time writer and education consultant, though, I find myself using social media more than ever, as a promotional tool. I use Facebook to promote my books and LinkedIn to promote me as a consultant. I have suddenly become obsessed with using social media as one giant commercial tool.

Photo credit: nonprofitspam.wordpress.com

Today, this social media trap taught me a valuable lesson.

I tried something new. I got an invite from a trusted online source, and the next thing I knew I was uploading my LinkedIn connections to this new social network as "colleagues." Little did I know that when I did this, the nefarious program would automatically generate a very "spammy" email to all of my LinkedIn connections.

Before I knew it, my inbox was overflowing with emails from connections, asking me about this. Suddenly, I was doing damage control, explaining to people that I had no idea an email would even be sent.

After some contemplation, I realized I was more mad at myself than I was at the company. How could I, someone with years of experience with web tools and social networks, make a mistake like this? Then, it dawned on me that I'd been caught in the trappings of social media -- the obsession of omnipresence.

So, am I shutting down my social media accounts and unplugging from the Internet? Of course not. Will I discontinue all promotional posts? No.

What I can promise any reader or social  media connection of mine is that I'll never make the mistake I made today, in search of popularity and omnipresence.

Oh, and the next time I have the opportunity to discuss social media use with teachers or students, I'll be sure to share this experience with them. You should do the same.


Don't miss Mark's book ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com

Is Education Reserved for the Wealthy?

Special to Role Reversal
Lael De Boer

Far before your student ever receives their high school diplomas, they are dreaming of getting in to the perfect college with its academic reputation, beautiful campus facilities, and amazing athletic teams. The acceptance letter used to be the only worry clouding that dream, but now the piggybank is beginning to

overshadow this concern with an even greater one: How will you afford college?

Photo credit: Phase3Profit.net

College tuition and expenses have risen drastically over the past thirty years. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average yearly tuition has risen from $9000 to the current price tag of $21,657.  While tuition has risen greatly, the average amount of financial aid remains below $8000. This gap between the expensive bills and the available aid is creating a generation of college graduates with enormous college debt and high school students without much hope.

Those with mutual funds and mansions may be able to afford the rising costs, but as we have watched the cost of a college education rise more than more than ten times what it was 35 years ago (Bloomberg), the rest of us are beginning to wonder if education is becoming unreachable for the average citizen. 

Preserving Your Chance at Higher Education

For those of you who have been depending on student loans to pay for college, the latest events in Congress should be of great concern to you. Until July 1^st, interest rates on student loans remained at 3.4%, but due to the inaction of Congress, loan rates just doubled to 6.8%. This additional burden is placing higher education further out of reach for many.

Education Week reports that student advocacy groups are looking for a one-year extension of the lower rate, but this is only a short-term fix. For those of us who want to see long-term change, it is time to get involved in the political scene, even if it is simply sending a letter to your representative urging them to take action on this issue. Politicians need to start moving towards a comprehensive solution.

Still, college and exorbitant bills are approaching quickly for many, and parents and students are desperately searching for ways to make it more affordable. With the new interest rate in mind, the best way to pay for college involves avoiding loans. Chelsea Watkins outlined some of the best steps for funding a college education without creating debt in a recent interview. The most important points boil down to being prepared, being educated on what is available, and putting your best foot forward.

1. Start Accruing Money Now – No matter where you go to college, having money saved up will help when those bills arrive. However, instead of simply saving for college, start accruing money by placing your college savings in accounts that will grow that money. Similar to how a college loan would cost you more in the long-run through interest payments, placing money in accounts like 529s, Roth IRAs, and Dividend Paying Whole Life Insurance will make you more money overtime by gathering interest, meaning you’ll end with more money than what you started with. 

2. Understand Financial Aid – The amount of aid that colleges and the government will provide depends greatly on your EFC and the college’s % of Need Met. Your EFC (Expected Family Contribution) is the amount of money that the family is expected to pay for their student’s education. This number is calculated by examining the students and parents’ income and assets. Your “need” is than determined by taking the Cost of Attendance for an education institution and subtracting your EFC. Colleges vary in the amount of need they meet. Attending an institution with a higher % of Need Met means that you will receive more financial aid and will pay less out of your own pocket.

3. Put Your Best Foot Forward—Colleges determine their financial aid packages around a variety of factors besides need. Students already know that grades and their entrance exam scores affect their acceptance into college, but should remember that these factors also affect their financial aid awarding. Colleges also examine the strength of students’ applications. Doing what you can to ensure a stellar application and entrance essay will make colleges want you, thereby making them offer more aid in order to secure your

Lael De Boer writes for Launch Education, studies English Language Arts and writes everything from research papers and literary analyses to creative fiction. She is an avid proponent of proper English grammar usage and has become a keen editor from years of academic proofreading.

Don't miss Mark's book ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com

ASCD announces new short book format, Arias

ASCD's new Arias format

I am so proud to be part of the launch of ASCD's new short format books, called Arias. The Arias are available as both eBooks and on-demand hard copies, and are limited to 9,000-11,000 words (40-50 pages). These are quick reads that are built around a central question, written in the first person.

The idea behind Arias is to give educators something they can read in one sitting and apply immediately to their classroom, school or their school district.

My book, The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom, demonstrates how teachers can create brief, student-centered teaching and learning segments that make learning interactive and fun.The 5-Minute Teacher takes some of the concepts from Role Reversal and zeroes in on what they look like in actual lessons and activities.

To learn more about ASCD's new Arias, read today's press release. Oh, and don't forget to reserve your copy of The 5-Minute Teacher today.



Don't miss Mark's book ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com

Do your students understand why we pledge allegiance?

At my school, we say the Pledge of Allegiance to begin each day. Many schools do this, but some do it only on major holidays -- like Patriot Day and around Memorial Day. Some schools say it only on the first day of the week.

What has always frustrated me as a teacher is how many students give so little regard to saying the Pledge. Some don't understand its meaning; they also have little or no comprehension of the great history of the flag. They slouch, mumble or stare into space, while their peers pledge.

This video, produced by the History Channel, provides an excellent, brief history of the flag. Share this with your students, no matter what age, and discuss the tradition of the flag and why we pledge our allegiance to it.

Then, encourage your students to stand straight and pledge with pride throughout the year.


Cross-posted at Learn it in 5

Don't miss Mark's book ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com

Lessons from the Tattoo Artist

Students often don't see the value in what we teach. "When am I ever going to use this?" they'll say. A simple example is spelling. Not that I'm a fan of making elementary students copy spelling words over and over again (a ridiculous waste of time), but understanding pronouns, contractions and homophones, for example, certainly has a place in education.

Sadly, all too often, teachers fail to relate what seems to be insignificant to real life, emphasizing why particular lessons are so important.

Sometimes the real-life lesson can be provided in a simple picture. Take this picture from Funtasti.com.

Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words -- even when it's only three!

Share this picture with your students. Begin by asking what is wrong? Some students will figure it out immediately. "The contraction should be the possessive pronoun 'your'," the excellent reader and grammarian will announce. Still, many will scratch their heads, failing to see the problem.

Not only does the picture help teachers explain the homophones, it provides a wonderful real-life teachable moment.

"Remember class, if you don't know the difference between 'you're' and 'your,' stay away from the tattoo artist."


Cross posted at ASCDEdge

Has the NCTQ figured out what's wrong with teacher preparation?

The National Council on Teacher Quality recently published its Teacher Prep Review, an exhaustive study on teacher effectiveness, based on how we prepare educators to be classroom teachers. The 94-page study asks plenty of interesting questions about teacher preparedness. 

Photo credit: PBS.org

This lengthy study should give all educators a moment of pause. Indeed, the fact that such a study even exists speaks volumes about the current state of education. However, there is plenty to be concerned about, with regard to how this study is conducted. Note page 1 of the report:

"As the product of eight years of development and 10 pilot studies, the standards applied here are derived from strong research, the practices of high-performing nations and states, consensus views of experts, the demands of the Common Core State Standards (and other standards for college and career readiness) and occasionally just common sense."

See any problems here? The studies are based on so-called high-performing nations and states and the views of so-called experts and, you guessed it, Common Core State Standards. The credibility of research that measures educators against other nations and against the CCSS must immediately be called on the proverbial carpet. Here's more from the report:

"Fewer than one in nine elementary programs and just over one-third of high school programs are preparing candidates in content at the level necessary to teach the new Common Core State Standards. . ."

Hmm., what is meant, I wonder, by "at the level necessary to teach the new Common Core?" Just who has decided what this necessary level is? In fact, rarely are the people most knowledgeable in a subject area the best teachers. I've known engineers and attorneys, who attempted to be teachers but couldn't escape back to the private sector fast enough, once they encountered the real issues that the everyday classroom presents.

The NCTQ report is hard on colleges and universities that allow educators to "enter the classroom as teachers without institutions having ensured they possess adequate content knowledge," which the report states will not fix a broken system.

Is the education  system broken? Absolutely. Does the NCTQ have the solution figured out? Absolutely not! In fact, I'm frustrated that the NCTQ would spend eight years studying over 1,100 teacher prep programs, only to pin most of its findings on how well educators can teach the Common Core State Standards.

Teacher preparation needs to be changed. Comparing us to nations no larger than Montana and looking at the tactics of dilettantes like Teach for America is simply not the best approach to fixing teacher preparation. I have some ideas, but I'll save those for a future post.

Meanwhile, what do you think?


Don't miss Mark's book ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com

Weigh in on this discussion on Education Talk Radio

Larry Jacobs, Education Talk Radio host, and I discus student-centered learning and other concepts from Role Reversal in this brief interview.

Listen at your leisure and weigh in on the discussion.

Listen to internet radio with EduTalk on BlogTalkRadio

Cross posted at Learn it in 5

Don't miss Mark's book ROLE Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, now available in the ASCD store, Barnes & Noble and at Amazon.com