The Sexual Health Education Bill: Facts to Calm the Fear

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Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Elementary, High School, Middle School | , , , , , ,
Shannon Cotton

By Guest Contributor Shannon Cotton, NBCT

Senate Bill 5395, known as the comprehensive sexual health bill, was a hot topic in Olympia this Legislative session.  A few weeks ago I spent 90 minutes watching TVW listening to the state senators make comments about the amendments before a roll call vote which passed the bill 27 to 21. 

Legislators talked about constituents who  felt as if “government isn’t listening to what they want.” For every parent who wants to exercise their rights to control the sexual health education of their child another family desperately wants their children to have access to health-enhancing information. Shouldn’t our public school system make information accessible to all as long as provisions are made to allow a family to opt out if they wish?

As a National Board Certified health teacher with 16 years experience teaching sexual health to middle school students in Washington state, I have been fielding questions and attempting to help others understand what this bill means to student learning and overall student health. I have spent more hours than I care to admit trying to clear up misconceptions and disprove outrageous propaganda created to spark fear into parents on social media with information that are outright lies. 

Here are some facts about ESSB 5395:

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Hands-in Learning

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Education, Elementary, Life in the Classroom, Parent Involvment

Like many of the rest of you, I went from being a classroom teacher to also being continuous-education facilitator (perhaps a new state term?) of my own children in the blink of an eye. While I am still juggling the steep learning curve of being a virtual teacher for my brick-and-mortar students, I have had my own steep learning curve at home. 

This morning, we sat at the kitchen table and went through our “classroom norms” to start the day:

Breakfast eaten-check. Hair brushed-check. Teeth brushed-check. Pajamas changed into real clothes for the day-check. I double-checked…no pajama bottoms? Wow! We already had some of my “real” middle-school classroom norms beat! 

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Uncharted Territory

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Education, Middle School, Uncategorized

I had planned to write this blog on tier two interventions.  However, I believe many of us find ourselves thinking about our students and how to best teach them during this time.  The main question that plagues me is: How can I maintain equity for all my students during this time?

It isn’t fair that there are unheard student voices out there who are scared, upset, angry, confused and some who can’t communicate.  I know that teachers are in uncharted territory, but students are looking to us, their teachers, to establish normalcy. I have spent the better part of the school year getting to know and understand all of my students’ mathematical and social-emotional needs.  

I learned through classroom meetings that my students had busy lives with many obligations outside of school. When we received the news that the 16th would be our last day together, my mind was flooded with thoughts. 

A few days ago I surveyed my students.  Their names have been changed for privacy.

How would Melanie handle her math when I know she is the oldest sibling and will likely be taxed with the extra responsibility of keeping her siblings in check.  

“I’m kind of starting to like it less than I thought I would. My house is kinda crazy right now with my 6 siblings around all the time. I wish it was only 3 or 4 weeks. I have to help them with their school stuff and it’s hard.”

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Every Dot is a Child

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Who could have imagined 2020 as a year of unprecedented change and uncertainty? The closing of schools and statewide quarantine orders requires flexibility on the part of teachers. We’re still working–albeit from home. 

I’ve been participating in staff as well as Specialist and Building Leadership team meetings through Google Hangouts (as a side note, some teachers use this online platform to meet with their classes). In many ways our conversations in these meetings relate to the new challenges we need to overcome in our profession. In other ways, our conversations return to the usual concerns of our field.  

Your students may not be taking the SBA this year, but you will see plenty of other data on their academic performance. The data may come from iReady, DIBELS, MAPS, or another assessment preferred by your district. 

The push in education is toward data informed instructional practices like the work done by John Hattie through Visible Learning. During PLCs, staff meetings, or as part of evaluations, teachers look through data–numbers, graphs, and percentages–to gauge student progress and plan for remediation or instructional changes. Now is the perfect time to analyze data and adjust instruction to accommodate for the needs of our students. 

But please remember: every dot is a child. 

A graph depicting my student’s growth from baseline to summative assessment in vocabulary knowledge.
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No Right Answer

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Assessment, Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Life in the Classroom

It is a classic “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

My own three children are in three different buildings in the same school district (one elementary school, one middle school, one high school; all in a different district from where I work). Technically, their teachers have been directed by district admin not to send homework yet.

My elementary schooler’s teacher has done so anyway, with the clear communication that it is optional. She has sent suggested math pages from the workbook, along with video guides. She has also video recorded herself reading aloud to kids. My son is in a Spanish-immersion program, so he is also charged with continuing his online practice program. I’m okay with all of this.

My middle school son was asked by his science teacher to finish up a project about natural disasters that they started before the shutdown. His math teacher has sent e-packets of worksheets. There hasn’t been a clear statement of “optionality” for these. We haven’t heard from his other teachers. I’m okay with all of this.

My high schooler? Radio silence from teachers. I’m okay this, too.

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau has stated that the largest school district in Washington will not transition to online learning in the immediate future. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles (LAUSD) school system is investing $100 million in making sure kids without online access are provided tech and internet during the shutdown. From one side, Superintendent Juneau is being praised for her pragmatic view of the access divide among Seattle students. The other side is quick to drag her publicly. (I’m not hiding my bias well, am I?)

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Connections, not Lessons

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Take a look at these two data sets. The yellow line represents confirmed cases of COVID-19 outside of Mainland China. What do you notice?

Screen grab from my phone at 5:35pm on Friday, March 20th, from the Johns Hopkins University website.

Astute readers of graphs will notice that both of these graphs represent the exact same data. The top graph uses a linear, uniform scale on the Y (vertical) axis. The bottom one uses a logarithmic scale. Notice the Y axis labels. In the top graph, the yellow line shows a steep and troubling upward trend, accelerating toward the top of the scale. The bottom graph? A casual climb.

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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. 

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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.  

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Equity in Education: A Systems View

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Assessment, Education Policy, Life in the Classroom, Social Issues

There is ample evidence that current public education institutions, as designed, are producing predictable inequitable outcomes.

Some people (including some educators) will pivot and blame families, society, or the students themselves, but the reality is that the charge of the public school is in a certain sense to disregard the external. We are to welcome each child, see them for who they are, and craft a path toward educational attainment (presently measured by assessment scores and diploma achievement). We don’t get a “pass,” and nor should we, if the child’s external life throws down obstacles to this forward movement.

There are several entry points to the examination of equity in education: some look at teacher behavior (does the adult express implicit bias toward specific children in offering opportunity, praise, or punishment), some look at curriculum (does the subject matter represent multiple perspectives and reveal diverse experiences), and some look at systems (do policies result in disparate treatment or disparate outcome, predictable by demographic).

All are necessary angles for examining whether we are serving all kids equitably. However, as a classroom teacher myself, and as someone who cares intensely about eliminating the inequities perpetuated by the system I am complicit in, I am noticing a serious problem. It is the same problem that consistently gets in the way of every single effort to move and improve what school systems do.

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