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?”

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The Effectiveness of Classroom Meetings

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Uncategorized | ,

Last year I implemented classroom meetings once a week with my 6th-grade classroom. My experience began by doing a lot of research on the topic.  There were several formats to select from and even more opinions on the effectiveness of using valuable class time to hold them.  

The ideas behind the purpose range from meeting the social and emotional needs of the student to covering the daily agenda of classroom activities.  I use the power of a class meeting to help students feel welcome, safe, and as an activity that allows their voices to be heard.

When I first heard about the advantages of a classroom meeting I almost couldn’t believe it.  I thought, “who has time to do all that?” I gave myself permission to use 30 minutes every Wednesday to conduct morning meetings. Initially, I decided to focus on one question. I gave them a survey asking: do you feel respected and safe at school?  

Many students shared the same concern – their perspectives on lack of respect in their lives.  

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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…?

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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:

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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.” 

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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.

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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?”

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Curriculum Soup: Shopping Online for Supplemental Lessons?

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We are putting on our annual black-eyed pea soup to ring in the new year, and it’s just in time to send out some blessings to my educator network. My New Year’s wish for all of you is that you are blessed with an excellent, comprehensive curriculum that covers all the applicable standards with incredible depth, while also supplementing with materials that increase engagement and support differentiation, while broadening your students’ world views with those windows and mirrors we all want to provide.

No? Too much to ask?

I tend to be a dreamer, but even I know that the perfect boxed set of curriculum is not a realistic expectation. That cold reality hit me the first day I stepped into my classroom seventeen years ago. I remember the shock I felt when the books and supporting materials were presented to me. They were old. They were boring. And, they were completely unsuitable for the kind of teacher I wanted to be. 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.

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A Window and a Mirror

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Books, Education

My journey to bring in contemporary literature from a different perspective than the monolithic racial identity of authors dominating our curriculum turned out to be more of a whirlwind than I expected: I submitted the book for District approval back in September, gained my principal’s support to purchase copies of the novel, and received official District approval in time to integrate the book into my sequence in November.

Now it is December, and already my seniors have wrapped up their final projects from our reading of There There by Tommy Orange.

In part because of the accelerated nature of my school’s schedule, we tore through the novel at breakneck pace, engaging in regular discussion and frequent journal writing. Like any time teaching new content, there were hits and misses. My overall mission was two-fold: One, expose students to a work of literary merit that offered voices and perspectives otherwise not present in their school experience, and two, examine the craft and structure of the novel itself in order to consider different approaches to storytelling.

My students’ responses were interesting. As with any book I’ve tried to teach, there is always a subset of kids who see themselves as “bad readers” and whose default position is to approach with skepticism and negativity. This identity is often quite crystallized by the time the reach me as 17-, 18-, or 19-year-old high school seniors. I’ve yet to find the right way to reach every student with a given text, but the boundaries of who connects and who doesn’t shift in interesting ways.

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