Tough Teachers

The Wall Street Journal article, “Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results,” is an excellent piece for us to read and discuss. Over the years, there has been much discussion about exactly what motivates students and what ignites creativity. Janice Lipman, the article’s author, suggests that maybe we aren’t where we should be in education because of teaching methods that follow “the kinder, gentler philosophy that has dominated American education over the past few decades. The conventional wisdom holds that teachers are supposed to tease knowledge out of students, rather than pound it into their heads.” Lipman backs up her call for stricter discipline and unyielding demands with research and with her eight-part manifesto: “1. A little pain is good for you. 2. Drill baby, drill. 3. Failure is an option. 4. Strict is better than nice. 5. Creativity can be learned. 6. Grit trumps talent. 7. Praise makes you weak. 8. ....while stress makes you strong.”

Lipman says that one of her toughest teachers taught students how to fail and how to get themselves up and going once more.

What do you think? Is it an either or—nice or tough?

MacMeekin’s Creative “Posters”

Mia MacMeekin, at “An Ethical Island,” provides a chart that gives ideas for what to do if students are not paying attention. The suggestions are what most master teachers already know, but putting them together in one place is a good way to remind us what to do whether, as MacMeekin says, “it is the students who are bored” or “the instructor who is boring.” While visiting the site, take a look at some of the other poster-like summaries of good teaching that MacMeekin offers. There’s a “what if” about online learning, a “Did They Learn Anything?” about teaching techniques, Moodle help, and more.

Google Glasses in Schools?

In a few years just about everyone will probably have Web-connected watches and Google Glasses.  Students are already bringing mobile devices to school that can capture images and actions in our schools, but as “wearable technologies” become more popular, teachers and administrators will need to place additional emphasis on privacy and etiquette issues. Questions such as —Where will the devices be allowed?, How will teachers know if students are using the devices if all it takes to take a picture or start a video is the literal wink of an eye?, What information must be added to digital citizenship programs?, How might the devices be used to enhance the curriculum?, and What educational apps are available for reality-augmented devices?—will need to be addressed.

Can BYOD work?

BYOD: Sometimes it seems overwhelming, doesn’t it? How can teachers possibly handle a classroom filled with different types of digital devices? In some ways it’s not much different from working with a classroom filled with students using similar devices. It’s what you want student to do with their devices that’s important, not what they are using. For success with BYOD, however, you need to consider:

• What types of devices are acceptable, since not all devices may be able to access or use the software or apps needed for your course.
• Whether you want to allow smart phones.
• If your network is ready to handle all the devices swarming into your school.
• How students with their own devices get access to software. (Who pays for it and what are the legalities?)
• What happens when a personal device won’t work? Should your IT people work on it? Does your school have devices for students to use when their devices don’t work?
• Does your school have devices for students who do not have their own or forget to bring them to school?
• How do you manage use of different devices in your classroom?

Yoga for Student Stress & Anxiety

How about inserting Yoga into your school curriculum? Researchers from Boston’s Brigham and Woman’s Hospital studied high school juniors and seniors who were given yoga class or regular PE classes for a period of ten weeks. Psychological testing showed that the students taking the yoga classes did better in mental health. “Mood problems, anxiety and negative emotions stayed the same or improved among yoga students, but grew worse among those taking regular PE.”  Although not a research study, Celeste Bunting, Head of Lower School at Worcester Prep in Maryland, offers yoga classes to preschool students, because she believes that the sessions help with the mind/body connection, coordination, and focus. Those interested in offering yoga in their schools should look for routines that are appropriate for the targeted age group since the moves introduced must be safe for the students involved. Lead researcher in the Boston study, Jessica Noggle, Ph. D., says, “Yoga may serve a preventive role in adolescent mental health.” —And perhaps it may help students of all ages.

Helping African-American Students

In order to improve the academic progress of African American students, President Obama signed the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. The President hopes that the initiative will help African American students “so that every child has greater access to a complete and competitive education from the time they’re born all through the time they get a career.” Tenets of the plan include helping the students get into early childhood programs that get them ready for school studies, making sure that African American children are not placed in special education programs unless they need these programs, addressing the numbers of suspensions and expulsions of black children from their schools, and offering the children the chance to “access rigorous courses and effective teachers” so that they can be ready for the future.

When Teaching Gets Tough

The new ASCD book, When Teaching Gets Tough: Smart Ways to Reclaim Your Game, by Allen Mendler, gives us what so many need: information about how to deal with difficult students, difficult parents, and difficult colleagues while being “expected to get top-notch student achievement without adequate support.” No one except a teacher knows how much patience and time it takes to run a successful classroom. However, every teacher should remember that there will be times when not everyone agrees with how you are teaching, grading, and interacting with students. A growing number of parents today scrutinize everything their children’s teachers do. Instead of working with teachers as a team to help children, some seem to work against what teachers are trying to do. Teachers may also feel underappreciated by administrators and colleagues and don’t feel that they are given the chance to be truly professional. Mendler’s book focuses on encouraging teachers to take care of themselves, to remember the big picture when problems arise, and to put to use crucial self-help advice.  The world of the classroom may not be perfect, but teachers can make the best of imperfect environments and situations.

Why Aren’t Very Bright Students Always Successful?

Aden A. Burka and Catherine U. Burka, in their Independent School article (Winter 2011) “Fresh Ideas About School Success”, note that neuroscience has some answers about students and school success. We all know that some of the brightest students and those who score at the top of standardized tests aren’t the ones who do best in school or in their careers. The difference in whether a child is successful or not often depends upon what neuroscience called executive functions or skills. These skills include being: goal directed, self-monitored, organized, and adaptive and flexible. Students who have these skills may not always have the natural ability that other students have, but they are industrious and able to follow through to their goals. According to the authors, “Recent research comparing self-discipline to IQ in predicting high school achievement shows the former to be the clear winner. “ To help children acquire these executive skills, parents should: set rules and boundaries for their children, impose firm and consistent discipline, team with teachers to reinforce executive skills, let their children face the consequences of “executive misdeeds”, and acknowledge their children’s success. Students who learn to use technologies as their assistant in learning are putting their executive skills into action. If they are able to organize, edit, and complete their work on their computers or digital devices, they will not only be using 21^th Century skills but also executive skills.  Therefore, if using technology in this way is added to coursework and is part of teacher expectations, teachers will be helping all students toward school success.

When Cyberbullying Spills into Schools

Education Week offers the Webinar, When Cyberbullying Spills into Schools, on Thursday, February 23, 2012, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. The session will focus on online conflicts and negative comments that cause problems within classrooms and schools. We hear so much about bullying and cyberbullying these days, and parents and students often expect school administrators to solve the problems created by students outside school. Even when the problems spill over into schools, actions administrators and teachers can take aren’t clearly defined. The Webinar will take on topics such as: should schools be monitoring sites like Facebook, can action be taken against students who misbehave online, when should schools step in, and how can schools create cultures that don’t accept bullying? Leaders of the Webinar will be: Kevin Jennings and Barbara-Jane Paris, both national experts on the problems of bullying and anti-bullying programs.

Free White Paper: Facing Down Bullying

Herff Jones Achievement Series offers a pdf white paper, Facing Down Bullying, which features information on helping schools with awareness and the definition of, and strategies for, dealing with bullying behaviors. It focuses on what is called “relationship bullying” rather than bullying that includes physical aggression. Relationship bullies are difficult to detect because they are often popular students, and those who are bullied don’t want to admit to anyone that they are ostracized, teased, targets of rumors, etc. The paper discusses programs and Websites designed to promote an awareness of relationship bullying in its many forms and provides parents, schools, and community organizations ways to deal with it.