What If . . .?

I have been wondering about education lately, wondering what would happen if we gave up clinging to our current methods of doing things.

• What if grade levels were based on competency and not age?
• What if we allowed students to move ahead grade levels?
• What if all students actually read for pleasure?
• What if all parents valued education?
• What if no parent ever lied to the school to help her child escape a consequence?
• What if every parent regularly read to his children?
• What if decisions came from teachers, the people on the front lines of teaching, rather than from distant lawmakers or administrators?
• What if professional development was differentiated - each teacher researching a subject directly related to his/her teaching assignment?
• What if every teacher received training on current brain research?
• What if we included mindfulness practices as part of our daily routine?
• What if all children got enough sleep and enough to eat?
• What if every parent volunteered in his child's school on a regular basis?
• What if teachers were valued as respected professionals the way we value doctors and lawyers?
• What if the public understood that education was about more than being able to read a driver's license manual or make change from a $20 bill?
• What if all teachers made an effort to make learning interesting and cooperative?
• What if all students put half the effort into learning that they put into their sports or their video games?

What's your what if?

Feeling ADD

We suspect our daughter might have ADD. Her brain pops around from one thing to another, so much so that she sometimes wanders around the house with one shoe on because something distracted her half way through the dressing process. In fact, right now she is walking around with her PJ shirt on inside out and backward. She reminds me of the dog in Up who gets distracted by squirrels.

And lately I remind myself of her. My goal this year has been to simplify. Part of this process is physical - downsizing the number of possessions in my life. Part of this process is mental - focusing on the things that matter. A lot of that process is task-oriented - decreasing the number of items that find their way onto my to-do list.

This last element - the number of tasks on my to-do list - is challenging for me. I guess I am a bit of a workaholic. I cringe as I write that word workaholic. People often throw this term around with a sort of martyr-like pride. I don't see it that way. Working too much is not a good thing. It's not good for me, my family or my classes. And it's not wise living.

I am lucky in that I work in a field that I find exciting and challenging and fun, but that often means that I find myself immersed in problems I am trying to solve, sometimes even when they don't relate to my own classroom. Because I am buried in way, WAY too many projects at work, they take away from my main priorities in life - my children and my students.

Right now I am reading a book on literacy across the curriculum and taking notes to share with colleagues; I am working on unwrapping the new Common Core standards so that the department can apply them to all levels of English courses; I have been tutoring (for free) a student I have never had in class because he is trying to pass the writing proficiency test; I am meeting with local community members to start creating a broader vision for education in my town; I am reading materials to prepare to assist my colleague as she leads us through the accreditation process; and I am reading Milton Chen's work and brainstorming ways his ideas can apply to what I do. And this is all stuff that I am doing now, in the summer, when school isn't in session.


The result is that I feel like I have ADD. Even without classes to lesson plan for, to teach to, and to grade for, I feel spread too thin with my school-related commitments. Like my daugther, I am running around partially dressed because something has distracted me midway through the process. I am tired, spread too thin, and grouchy.

And these are just my summer work projects. This issue translates very well into my world of crafting and household projects.

A few years ago I read an article called "Saying No So That I Can Say Yes." Her premise was that it is important to say no to things so that you can say yes to the things that matter. Say no to being the PTA secretary so that you can spend more time reading with your child. Say no to that extra committee at work so that you can fit in a workout every day. Say no to a party invitation so that you can say yes to movie night with your children. This should become my mantra - Say No So That You Can Say Yes.


The good thing about blogging is that I can figure things out as the words move from my brain through my fingers and onto this blog. The answer to this problem is that I need to decide what summer work projects are the ones I want to focus my attentions on and erase all others from my to-do list. And I should do the same with the crafting projects and the household projects - choose more wisely where I want to spend my time. Because it's stupid to over-commit.

Wishing you simple living.

Three Books and What I Am Reading

I was pondering literature lately, and I asked myself the question What are three books every American should read? Yes, I do occasionally interview myself, but rather than seeing it as weird, let's all just see it as part of the English teacher/blogger/scrapbooker that I am.

Maybe if I spent more time contemplating this subject, I would have a different list, but for now here are the three I chose:

1. Timothy O'Brien's The Things They Carried - Besides being a work of genius, this book contains themes that I think everyone ought to consider, namely that war must not be taken lightly. When we invaded Iraq, I wanted everyone to think about O'Brien's quote: ". . . [I]t seemed to me that when a nation goes to war it must have reasonable confidence in the justice and imperative of its cause. You can't fix your mistakes. Once people are dead, you can't make them undead." But many consider this novel as much about storytelling as about war. In fact, O'Brien himself has said that the theme of the novel is that stories can save our lives. Just remember that none of the stories are meant to be taken literally because, as the narrator explains, "A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth." Sometimes a fictional element is more truthful than a factual element.
2. Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible - Simply because Americans should know how much of mess our country sometimes makes of other countries' business and how missionary work abroad is often more grounded in arrogance than kindness.
3. Shakespeare's Hamlet - Who can't relate to unrequited love, fear, and step-parent issues? Plus, there is so much tragic beauty in the language.

I have too many books going right now. What I want is a good novel to sink my teeth into, but at the moment, I am reading some interesting and thought-provoking nonfiction books:

• Milton Chen's Education Nation - I love his idea that we could be a country that values education and learning so much so that education becomes the focal point of what we do in our communities - parents taking parenting classes, summer science projects, etc. Plus, I find nothing more exciting than reading about schools that are successfully innovating and reinventing education.
• Hayes Jacob's Active Literacy Across the Curriculum: Strategies for Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening - Definitely for educators, this book outlines ways schools can increase literacy. I wanted something with researched-based ideas on teaching grammar, which isn't what this book is, but it has given me some ideas nonetheless. I am reading this for an independent study curriculum development course I am taking, which means I have to consciously set time aside to read it or I never will.
• Sharon Salzberg's Loving-Kindness: the Revolutionary Art of Happiness - Even though this book just arrived in the mail yesterday, I am already two chapters deep. I love it. My friend and I are going to read it together. Geek that I am, I love books that have exercises in them, as does this one.

Happy reading!

Washington DC, Day 4

I was really excited for today. We started off with a meeting at the hotel for the official introduction of the new Teacher Leader Model Standards. Teacher leadership is a new concept for education, one that is considered a quality of 21st Century schools. With all the new programs and school improvement processes that go on in schools, schools need teachers to become leaders for those processes. The standards spell out what exactly teacher leaders do and set the foundation for professional development and evaluation criteria.

After this meeting, we headed over to the National Department of Education. I had been looking forward to this roundtable discussion for months. We all separated into topic groups where we had an hour to discuss our topic, after which we presented our ideas and questions to a panel of department members in a townhall meeting format. I appreciated that the department took this time with us, though I am skeptical as to how seriously they took our comments.

My table discussed school leadership. My colleague from Oregon asked this question: If there has been a strong movement to standardize teacher evaluations, why has there not been an parallel movement to do the same for administrators? Her question was not answered by the panel, although after the meeting, a department member pulled her aside to tell her that A) That is happening and B) It hasn’t been a priority because the public attention is on teacher performance, not administrator performance.

I also presented out for our group on our suggestion that administrative prep programs need to be more practicum-oriented. You cannot learn to teach via a textbook; similarly, administrators cannot learn to lead via a textbook. Specifically, we feel that the less tangible elements of administration – things like conflict resolution, dealing with the media, and evaluation of instruction – should be practiced by administrative candidates in their prep programs. Often administrative candidates find themselves doing nothing but student discipline in their internships, which does not provide them with the real-world principal responsibilities they will encounter later in their careers. That experience is important not only for learning but for discovering whether or not principal work is a good match for an administrative candidate.

Jay from Washington, me, Kathy from Arkansas, and Elizabeth from Oklahoma at the DOE.

After the DOE meeting, we went to the office of … where we had a less intensive meeting. Their office is on the top floor of a building directly across from the capital, and our reception took place on their balcony. It provided a lovely moment of reprieve from the hectic schedule and meetings. After some refreshments and mingling, we listened to some speeches, and discussed some issues of concern. One particular issue raised, which is of concern to me, is that of online education and what it means for learning and public schools.

The view from our last meeting of the week.

While I was running around DC discussing educational issues, my mom was visiting with my cousin who drove in from Virginia for the day. Unfortunately, I missed her by five minutes, so I didn’t get to see her at all. I haven’t seen her for over ten years, so I had been looking forward to the visit. I guess I will have to try to make it work another time.

That evening, Target sponsored a bus tour of the monuments, which was a fun and relaxing way to end our week. I am immensely grateful to the Nevada Department of Education, the CCSSO, and everyone who made this trip possible. I feel lucky to have had my mom along with me to make the trip more enjoyable. Mostly, I am grateful to my colleagues, whom I wish could have attended with me and who deserve this trip as much as anyone does.

The 2011 STOYs.

The Washington Monument at sunset.

"We don't complain; we investigage."

As you may know, I just returned from the conference for all the state Teachers of the Year (STOYs). The organizers centered content around how to be a voice for the educational community. John Quam, the organizer for the national teacher of the year program, started off by telling us we were not the best teachers: we represent the best teachers. This nicely encapsulated the role of the STOY.

One morning, I was listening to a podcast by Gil Fronsdale, who said, "In mindfulness practice, we don't complain; we investigate." And although Gil directed his comment toward meditators, it perfectly applied to my week. We spent the week thinking about problems in education, not complaining about them. We brainstormed solutions, not grievances. We discussed developing messages, not attacking them. It was exciting and energizing and somewhat overwhelming too.

And I so wish that I could have had my colleagues with me. My colleagues, especially those in the Language Arts Department, are folks who discuss these issues all the time. I wanted them there so that I could get their thoughts on the issues at hand - reauthorizing of ESEA, for example, or establishing a method of teacher accountability and evaluation. I realized very quickly how lucky I am to work with teachers who see themselves as professionals, which often means tackling larger issues as well as being many things, including lobbyist and PR rep.

Now that the Dallas conference is over, I can start planning my year. I will soon be blogging about my issues, but I am curious as to what issues you see as priority educational topics. Thoughts?

Lucky Me

It occurred to me today how lucky I am to have the job I have. I get to work with young people who are full of energy, compassion, and a desire to succeed. While I find my work frustrating at times, it is largely rewarding and inspiring.

Today I witnessed students struggling to understand a complicated topic (misused/misplaced modifiers). While they found it confusing, they barreled through it without complaint. I was without a doubt proud of their work ethics.

More on Happiness

One other comment about happiness that stood out from the Rick Hanson retreat is his comment that people learn better when they're happy because dopamine encourages synaptic development. As a teacher, I clicked into this concept. It is a good reminder to find enjoyable ways for my students to learn.

That's all for this cold, wet kind of day.

What I'm Reading and Bilingual Education

I just picked up Richard Rodriguez's book Hunger of Memory. It's labeled as an autobiography, but it reads more like a collection of essays dealing with his transition as he learned to speak English. In fact, one of the chapters, "Aria," is often included in essay anthologies.

I am enjoying it in a way that only an English teacher can. Rodriquez has this command over language as an artistic tool that is rare. As I read this book, I sink into the language and get cozy with it. The story's there, but it slowly creeps its way out from under the eloquence of the storytelling. His focus is on the effect of what happened, not the happening, so there is a great deal of philosophizing and reflecting.

My one problem with it is that he weaves into the story his arguments for opposing bilingual education. The problem with it, as I read it now, is that his arguments are outdated. The book was first published in 1982, when the only argument for bilingual education was that it took the fear and alienation out of the education system for non-native English speakers. So Rodriquez tackles and counters that argument. Now the debate has changed, and research has been conducted that seems to validate the efficacy of bilingual education.

Let me qualify: Education research is a tricky subject. The education of a child involves so many factors that it is difficult for researchers to cull out the causes to a particular effect. Case in point: At the conference I was at this week, we discussed the Time magazine ranking of high schools. If you are unfamiliar, here's their criteria for ranking: the number of students enrolled in AP classes. That's it. Nothing else. Just that.

Most educators roll their eyes at this. What makes a school "good" is much more complex than the number of kids enrolled in AP courses. One person pointed out that there is a great deal of evidence that shows that this criteria actually does relate to the quality of the school. Schools with high AP enrollment fare better in almost every manner gauged. My argument is that much can be playing into this. Maybe the school is fed into by a community that values education. Maybe its feeding middle schools are phenomenal, and so the students are more capable of taking AP classes. In this instance, the students, not the school, make the school "good." Maybe the school is in the Midwest with a very small immigrant, and therefore ESL, population, making the comparison inequitable.

These schools may still be "good," but the Time's list of the top best school implies that it's something that comes from the educational system, not its student population, that make a school "good." Humans are complex animals, their brains being probably the most complex organ therein. So who's to say what's accountable for its development?

Research can also be misused. Another case in point: As a result of No Child Left Behind, districts have to bring in training that's research-based to help teachers improve in their teaching strategies. We brought in this company that does a T4S (Teach for Success) protocol where three people come into your classroom, observe and check off boxes. They're looking for whether or not you do things that have been proven to be effective, like make your objective clear to your students. (One problem with this system is that are countless ways to make your objective clear, but because they are observing a 15 minute window, they want you to write it on the board and say it at least one time during the 15 minute block. It becomes a little forced, and therefore not authentic, IMNSHO.)

One of their requirements is providing a "literacy-rich environment." According to the T4S protocol, I have to have posters for kids to read, post student written work, and face books out in the front of the room, like Border's does with the occasional book, making it more enticing.

Now I'm a very practical person. I don't like fluff, and I don't believe that kids really learn anything from a poster of a cat hanging from a tree with a cute, pithy statement underneath it. I believe that as a high school teacher, my job is to instill a love for learning in my students by what I do, not by how I decorate my room.

I know, however, that this extreme thinking is a bit of a weakness on my part and that I could put more thought into my room. So a few years ago, I contacted the T4S company for my district and asked for more info on a literacy rich environment so that I could spend some time thinking more concisely about my room and how I put it together. They had no articles on hand, so they handed me their bibliography. I was only able to track down one of the articles.

In this research they had taken two teachers, one who was considered to have a literacy rich environment and one who was considered to not have a literacy rich environment, and compared how their students valued reading, how much they sought out reading, etc. You can probably guess the result. The crux is that the creators of this study defined "literacy rich" not by how many posters a teacher had up that a student could read, but by what she did in the classroom. Did she encourage kids to read when they were done with their work early? Did she read to them daily? Did she have a place for them to go to read comfortably? I haven't read all the research, but the one article I could find didn't say anything about the elements we are actually judged on. The research was also done in elementary classrooms, and somehow some people out there don't get that a 16 year old is quite a different animal than a 6 year old. My take is that the research has been misused.

(Wow! This is getting long. And a little off topic.)

So back to my point, there has been some research to show that bilingual education is effective, but we must take any educational research critically because it's a tricky little beast, educational research is. In Hunger of Memory, however, Rodriquez doesn't really deal with research. He deals with the humanity of the issue. He argues that although being forced to learn English by immersion (and his family all agreed to speak English at home, which is very unusual), he believes he lost something but gained a lot as well. I'm not done with the book, so I can't comment completely on it now. I can say that Rodriquez had a rather unique situation with parents who committed to speaking English at home and being a very devoted, book-wormish students himself, so his atypical experience can't necessary be compared to the more typical immigrant experience.

But I still love lingering in his words, his sentences, his images. It's poetry in prose. And for me, it doesn't get much better than that.