Category Archives: Education

An Empty Classroom and a Full Heart

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Current Affairs, Education, Life in the Classroom, Middle School, Social Issues, Uncategorized | , , ,

Hey, teachers. How are you? Tough week, huh?

Me? I’m okay, just a bit lonelier than usual. I am alone in my classroom, alone with empty desks, blank whiteboards, and quiet halls. It is eerie and unsettling. It puts everything in perspective for me. I’m trying to consider it a gift, insomuch as I can in these difficult times.

As you know, all schools in our state are closed, but our local administrators have some leeway in the management of the closures. The situation is fluid, and changes daily, but this is what I am currently experiencing. The school buildings are closed to the public until at least April 27. We are delivering food and grade-level learning packets via bus routes. Families who prefer can call ahead and pick up meals and supplies at our school offices during abbreviated hours. Classified staff are still busy, at least part time, doing odd jobs, disinfecting the facilities, copying the packets, preparing the breakfasts and lunches, delivering the food and supplies, and providing childcare to local first responders and healthcare workers. 

As for the teachers, we are expected to work seven-hour days and log our activities daily. This week we are preparing the learning packets, creating activities that can help our students progress without our day-to-day contact. We are asked to stay in touch with families and make weekly calls to the students in our advisories. We can clean and organize our classrooms. We can sign up for online classes. We can read books or watch online professional development videos. We can work at home if we so choose.

I see other teachers in my social media feeds creating cool online resources for their students, but we are encouraged to plan for the many students in our district who won’t have internet access. We are rural, a bit remote, and we have a large population that is often displaced or even homeless. It’s complicated. Continue reading →

Homework is Dead, Long Live Homework

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Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Parent Involvment | , , , , ,

At the beginning of this year I interpreted at a parent-teacher conference for a Ukrainian third grade student. He was a second year English Language (EL) learner.  The teacher praised both his academic and social progress. His mother listened politely and nodded at the appropriate times. At the end of the conference, the teacher asked if she had questions. The mother asked,  “Why is my son getting so little homework?” 


A note written by a Ukrainian parent. Translated it states:
Please give my son more homework in all subject areas.

More than a decade ago, Alfie Kohn wrote, “The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing.” Stanford published a study in 2014 showing the pitfalls of homework. Other studies cropped up. All detailing the ineffectiveness and negative impacts of homework. With homework steadily gaining a bad reputation, my district and school decided to encourage teachers to decrease the amount of homework given to our K-5 students. 

Parents noticed. 

Continue reading →

The Power of the 5 Minute Break

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Education, Life in the Classroom

It is very hard to teach or create an equitable culture of learning when a teacher is faced with students that have various behavior and emotional needs.  Although I have been in education for over a decade I am only a second-year teacher. The many roles I held allowed me to witness many different management styles towards these student needs.  Because of this my students have had opportunities not to just grow educationally, but emotionally and behaviorally.  

It is now common to have a classroom with not just one but many students who disrupt the learning environment.  At times it feels unfair that many students can’t just learn because the teacher needs to focus on recorrecting behavior.  The environment for learning has become compromised and all students are losing.

All teachers begin the year by addressing tier 1 intervention practices.  This would include discussing classroom expectations, routines, and appropriate behaviors.  However, in order to reach students, educators must consistently reflect on these practices in order to maintain realistic expectations that are equitable for all students.  

Tiered interventions should be flexible and ever-changing as the student begins to self-regulate.  An educator’s key objective is to understand the student’s unique needs as the base of tiered interventions. A tier 1 intervention that has worked in my classroom is the 5-minute brain break.  

Continue reading →

I Hate Black History Month

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Current Affairs, Education, Elementary

Don’t get me wrong, I love to teach Black history. I just think it needs to happen throughout the year.

Last year I taught early American history. I introduced the topic of slavery by first explaining that slavery was an accepted way of life throughout the world for much of human history. Prisoners of war became slaves as well as kidnapped members of rival tribes.

In the 1400s in the New World, so many enslaved Indians died that the Spanish priest Bartolomé de Las Casas—who felt bad for the Indians—suggested replacing them with Africans. He later regretted his recommendation when he saw how badly the African slaves were treated.

Throughout the 1700s, ships from northern US colonies sailed to the coast of Africa to purchase slaves from African slave traders.

So much of that brief summary surprised my students.  Blacks were first brought as slaves to the New World to replace the Indians? Northerners were involved in the slave trade? Africans captured other Africans to sell them as slaves?

That last especially horrified them. “How could they do that to each other?”

Continue reading →

Keeping Behavior Expectations High

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Education, Education Policy, Elementary

We sat in the thick of a heated discussion. Faced off in our groups of four, we discussed what approaches our schools would take in response to a student repeatedly refusing to comply with a teacher’s request to do their work. “We can’t expect the same level of behavior for all students. We need to be culturally responsive. Why push the issue? The kid isn’t really hurting anyone by not working.”  

I sat back, mouth a gape. Did I just hear what I think I heard?  And if I did, what does this mean for education? What does it mean for classroom culture? What does it mean for the future of our country? And no, that final question is not an exaggeration!

Not. Hurting. Anyone…?

Continue reading →

National Boards: An Odyssey of Collaboration

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Education, Mathematics, Mentoring, Middle School, National Board Certification, Teacher Leadership | , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
NBCT Mentor

By guest bloggers NBCT Heather Byington and NBCT David Buitenveld

What happens when a middle school math teacher and an elementary teacher co-teach math to 5th graders for a quarter? David Buitenveld, a middle grade math teacher leader who recently received his National Board Certification, and Heather Byington, a veteran elementary teacher leader and long-time NBCT, discuss their journey of collaboration, with the Architecture of Accomplished Teaching as the common path.

NBCT Heather Byington and NBCT David Buitenveld

David (newly-certified NBCT and 5-year middle level math teacher):

During my NBCT journey last year, I spent more time than previously with the question “what do you know about your students?” and the answer, embarrassingly often, was “not that much.” Keeping that question present (a key takeaway from the National Board process) led me to realize that although I understood the mathematical ideas students encounter in elementary grades, I didn’t have knowledge of their lived experience of 5th grade, and how that experience affected their transition to middle school math. Co-teaching with Heather was a chance to experience 5th grade math and see their world in action.

Heather (long-time NBCT and 20-year teacher):

When David asked to co-teach math in my classroom, I wondered if it would be intimidating to work with a math expert. I quickly realized that he is more skilled at constructing inquiry-based discussion around a math concept, while I feel more comfortable with direct instruction. My first attempt flopped, while he watched! But David jumped in and helped me make more sense of the math for students! I learned from him that it’s okay to try new things and have them flop. When kids see that I try, fail, and keep trying, they’re willing to keep trying too.

David:

Continue reading →

The Wrong Kind of Tired

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Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Mentoring, Professional Development

In December, I realized I was drowning. I was frequently getting sick, my class was spiraling out of control, and I would leave work so exhausted. I was facing overwhelming anxiety each day. 


When everything is a mess, it’s hard to know where to start. 

New teachers often find themselves in this position. It’s the position of not knowing what you don’t know. Looking back on my first year, it was incredibly hard to ask for help because it was impossible to pinpoint exactly what I needed. 

Entering my second year I felt much more confident that I had it down, but as the months ticked by my classroom management began falling apart. 

I reached out to one of my instructional coaches about what was happening in my classroom and she came in to observe a few times. While observing she never intervened, even when things got chaotic. We met a few days later to debrief. Surprisingly, she didn’t give me feedback on what she saw; instead, she just listened as I told her all of the things I felt were falling apart.

At the end of the conversation, she said to me, “You are the wrong kind of tired. You are exhausted because you spend your day putting out fires, not teaching. That’s called burnout and we are going to fix it.” 

Continue reading →

Reconsidering College as “The Goal”

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Education, Education Policy, Social Issues | , , , ,

Let’s say a prototypical U.S. graduating class has one hundred students.

Of that hundred, sixty-seven enroll directly into a two- or four-year college. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics)

Of the sixty-seven who do enroll, only forty-eight will make it into their second year of college (whether at the same institution or a different one)… the rest drop out. (Source: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center via NPR; computation mine)

Of those forty-eight who make it into year two, only twenty-eight will have earned a degree even six years after enrolling in college. (Source: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center Persistence and Retention; computation mine)

That’s worth repeating:

Of the one hundred graduating seniors in that prototypical class, only twenty-eight will statistically have earned a college degree within six years of leaving high school.

There are a multiple ways to interpret this.

On one hand, we could indict the K-12 school system for not preparing kids to persevere in the post-secondary education system.

Continue reading →

The Need for Novelty

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Education | ,

As I’ve said before, the first and most important need for truly gifted students is quality time with their intellectual peers. Second, they need increased depth and complexity. Third, they need a faster pace.

I haven’t spent a lot of time talking about their need for novelty. Honestly, teachers can help meet that need by increasing the depth and complexity of content and increasing the pace of instruction. After all, if more challenging information comes at a faster pace, chances are you—the teacher and the student—will move into the territory of new information pretty quickly.

That’s where Highly Capable students want to live.

According to Charlotte Akin (retired administrator, HC program director, and WAETAG past president), “Gifted kids want to learn something new every day—and they would love to learn something new every period.”

As the NAGC STEM Network Working Group said, “Productive struggle is especially important for these students. They need to be challenged to make continuous progress and learn something new every day if we are going to foster their brain growth, persistence and resilience.”

My very first year teaching gifted students, I worked in a district with a pull-out program. I met with students one day a week. Kids came to me for advanced content instruction and intensive independent projects. One day, as a group was working diligently in the library, I asked them, “Is what you do in here harder than what you do in your regular classroom?”

Continue reading →

Equity in School Discipline

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Education, Education Policy

On July 30, 2018, House Bill 1541 allowed OSPI to address equity in student discipline and close opportunity gaps in learning across Washington state.  

As educators, we differentiate instruction for students who struggle academically or learn in a different manner.  It makes sense that educators use the same process for regulating behavior, as discipline is not a one-size-fits-all model.  The new format is a prevention-based approach, schools must attempt to correct behavior before requiring disciplinary action. Following this format ensures fair and equitable practices across the state for all students.

The changes to federal and state laws are this: 1) Limit the use of exclusionary discipline in schools. 2) Minimize the impact of exclusionary discipline on students who are excluded. 3) Reduce disparities in the administration of student discipline.

Many educators have a false perception of the new discipline laws simply because they aren’t well informed.  I have heard many educators assume that the new rules mean two things. One, students perceived as “bad” can not be suspended for their behavior. And two, that those same “bad” students will be rewarded in hopes the rewards will change their behavior.  This simply isn’t true.  

OSPI’s Equity and Civil Rights Office officially advises schools to review the effectiveness of discipline and/or intervention strategies using a four-part model based on their school’s discipline data.

  • Plan: Analyze the data and identify root causes
  • Do: Decide on a plan and implement
  • Study: Evaluate and monitor progress
  • Act: Adjust your plan, if necessary

In reviewing discipline policies schools should adjust their discipline rules if data shows little or no progress in student behavior.

Continue reading →