Yesterday schools in our state (Maine) were given their grades by our department of education.  Under our current governor’s administration, a brilliant idea was cooked up to grade our schools on an A to F system.  According to our DOE website.  “All parents and community members deserve to understand how well their children’s schools are performing and what is being done to improve them.”  So all of the intense work, strategic planning, collaboration, intervention and effort of a school gets boiled down to one alphabetic symbol to represent some of the most complex work you can imagine. For most parents and community members their understanding of grades will overshadow any and all explanations of the process or analysis of the data.  A=good, everything else =not good enough.  For the staff who dedicate their lives to the children in their buildings, it minimizes and devalues effort, persistence, and commitment and instead values a tidy packaged report card.

As you might guess, I am not a fan of this system.  I am 100% for  reflection, analysis, evaluation and accountability, in education.  I just don’t think an incredibly complex system with an infinitely diverse population of individuals can be neatly deduced to such a simplified reporting system.  Rather than creating transparency, it creates confusion and frustration.  Here are my biggest concerns…

 Who defines “performing”?

If you are in education this won’t come as a surprise to you, but “performing” in grades 3-8 is defined by a single test.  ONE TEST.  Oh sure, the test is given over several days and it does cover ALL the important areas of education (sarcasm alert) Math and Reading.  So basically what you do every single day for over 175 days can be accurately captured by the bubbles a child fills in (or doesn’t) on one test.  That report card grade on a an entire school is really just a report on how well the  3rd-8th grade students in Maine did on their NECAP tests.  If parents think that report card is a reflection of the quality of their schools they are being seriously misled.  Education wonks rally behind claims of supporting multiple intelligences, differentiation, standards based education, social responsibility, arts and creativity, flexible thinkers, 21st century skills, etc and yet they narrowly reflect a schools’ approach to all of these with a snapshot of one test on one particular day in a child’s life.

Grades are outdated

It is incredibly ironic that our state has mandated standards based instruction and assessment for all students because grades do not accurately tell us what a child knows and can do.   We are teasing out the skills required to meet dozens of standards that will reflect what our students should be able to understand and how they can demonstrate that understanding in multiple ways.  So we need to move away from simplistic grades for our students because we understand how complex and multi-layered learning truly is, and yet we assess schools on the most rudimentary system available to us.  To most teachers this is a mockery of the hard work and initiatives being implemented to meet students needs.  The fact that this paradox isn’t obvious to our education department is very telling of their grasp of understanding.

Simplicity Isn’t Transparency

Most parents and community members lead very busy lives.  They trust that what gets reported to them is accurate and informative.  Though the state has posted a page explaining the methodology for the grading system, it is not realistic to think that everyone who reads these report cards will seek out that information.  Even those who try and can actually find the website would benefit from a degree in education (or at least Jargonese) to decipher the process.

When the purpose of grading is explained as “All parents and community members deserve to understand how well their children’s schools are performing and what is being done to improve them.” and you don’t accurately portray what it means to ‘perform’ in a school and you in no way share what is being done to improve’ you are paying lip service to the concerns of a community who wants to support education and you are providing fodder for those who want to jump onto a teacher-bashing bandwagon.

Simplicity Trumps Accuracy

In it’s first year of implementation, many schools reported that the information the state used to calculate its grade were inaccurate.  Some schools received an “F” because they didn’t have enough students take that one test.  How reliable is the information those parents and community members receive about the performance of their school?  Others were knocked down a grade because literally one or two students did not take the test.  How does that honor the work of all of the other students or their teachers -even if you did believe that one test is an accurate reflection of a school’s performance.  Some schools actually have higher test scores but are graded lower than others!

3/4 of Maine’s schools received a C or lower.  As a parent we would be extremely concerned if our child came home with C, D or F grades.  We would think something is seriously wrong.  And yet Maine students consistently score ABOVE the national average on math and reading according to the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress). In fact Maine’s scores have continued to show improvement.  So when our governor says “My mission is to make sure our education system gets the visibility that it needs to get throughout the state,” I have to ask, “WHAT are you trying to make visible?” I believe his lens is so narrow that what he chooses to make visible does not create an accurate picture for parents and communities, and that serves no one.

Schools Do Not Exist in a Vacuum

One of my biggest issues with grading schools is that it assumes that schools are 100% responsible for student performance and pretends that there are no other factors which can influence the education of a child.   When policy makers treat education like  a business, it ignores the basic philosophy of education-that we take individuals wherever they are and move them forward to the best of their abilities.  It assumes our raw materials‘ condition or history is irrelevant to its outcome.  They are so far removed from the reality of our classrooms.  They disregard the effects of poverty, abuse, neglect, hunger, depression, mental illness, cognitive disabilities, physical disabilities, or trauma on our students’ abilities to not only cope, but thrive and learn.  If only we made our lessons more entertaining, or we tested more, or we increase our expectations they would be just fine. Now, I have no problem with reflecting on what we do and strategically planning for improvement-but I also KNOW that making sure children are well-nourished, safe, cared for, healthy  and loved is equally if not MORE important to their cognitive growth. And sadly, so many of these issues are beyond the control of the school and it is no wonder that the grades schools received last year aligned perfectly with their poverty levels!

Even this approach however,  is laying all of our chips n the cognitive development “pot” and disregarding what employer are telling us are the skills they are looking for in today’s workplace. Scoring well on a test in reading or math is not the only indicator of success or the only attribute that all of those “job creators” want from their employees.  According to Forbes, employers found critical thinking, complex problem solving, judgement and decision making, active listening, and computer/electronic  to be the top 5 skills they are looking for.  Does our simple grading system help parents and community to know how ready their child is for life beyond school?

Grades are Punitive

No one from the Department of Education has provided any evidence of how slapping a grade on a school directly enhances performance.  If shaming is confused with motivating I am even more discouraged by the decisions of our leaders.  There is a wide body of research on grades and their effectiveness (or lack of it). One of the biggest arguments for our state’s grading system came from our governor “I want the good schools to be rewarded and those that aren’t doing as well, to be able to help them. That’s really the agenda.”  The research just doesn’t support this goal.  When students receive high grades they see it as a recognition of their success and they no longer reflect on that learning.  Students who receive low grades often disengage from their learning or rationalize the scores to preserve their self-image or feel helpless in the situation.  The research does not support the notion that low grades motivate students to work harder.  Why don’t our leaders reflect on the research of the  effectiveness of these proposals before adopting them as policies??  This reinforces my belief that grades are meant to embarrass and punish schools and not support them.  It shows an incredible lack of leadership.

Brace Yourselves

Tomorrow the grades will be released to the public.  Many communities will congratulate themselves on their excellent schools, most will not.  They will either rally around their schools and their teachers or vilify the teachers and their unions depending on their preconceived notions of education.  They will use this information to confirm their beliefs and bolster their arguments.  The best that I can hope for is that once the shock and awe wears off, we can begin a conversation about what our schools and our children REALLY need.  In the meantime, I will encourage my colleagues and try to reassure them that this grade in no way reflects them as teachers.  We cannot allow ourselves to be defined by those with such little understanding of education and what it means to be a teacher in today’s classrooms.  Let’s reflect and grow together based upon the REAL information we have, let us focus on what our real mission is- nurturing this generation of children to be the best they can be in school and in life.  We got this!

What’s on My Book Radar

The most fitting book I can think of for this week comes from one of my favorite authors.  Andrew Clements cleverly reveals how grades are not an accurate indicator of intelligence or ability.  His main character Nora is easily able to disguise her genius when grades seem to be the only indicator that many teachers are willing to look at. This tale reveals that perception is not necessarily reality.  Timely for teachers in Maine this week!

HAPPY READING!

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week.  It is a time to reflect on those teachers who have raised our nation’s children and show our gratitude for their efforts.  As a parent I help organize breakfasts, lunches and/or treats to recognize my children’s teachers.  As a union member I helped to create candy baskets for each school in our district.  As an educator, I am also the recipient of many tasty treats laid out in the staff room.  As a coach I try to recognize staff members with notes, emails or treats to let them know I notice and I appreciate the hard work they put in every single day to educate their students.

This year I want to recognize and appreciate the acts of teachers I have observed over the past year or so that make me feel proud to be considered in the same company as these educators.  Some may seem subtle or insignificant, but they reflect the deep caring, empathy and collaboration that cumulatively build a strong climate of compassion and kindness that makes coming to work a joy.  So here are 25 Inspiring Acts of Teacherdom (in no particular order) that I have witnessed and that I am appreciative of this week.

25 Inspiring Acts of Teacherdom

1. Responding to email requests for bean bags, white sharpies, yogurt cups, curling ribbon or 20 assorted balls… no matter who asks or what the reason.  You show that hoarding has a positive side to it!
2. Volunteering to cover a colleague’s class so they can make a 3:00 appt to their child’s school or to a doctor.  You let that colleague know that you see them as a person with a life outside of teaching-the way we all want to be seen.
3. Running off a colleague’s photocopies for them when their planning time ends long before their planning.  You demonstrate empathy for the time constraints we all feel.
4. Checking all the paper trays in that photocopier for a teacher  frustrated by the 43rd paper jam that morning. You share all those tricky ‘hiding places’ and build our schema around jams.
5. Taking that student into your own class when they need a ‘time out’ and reassuring them that they just need a break without shaming them. You create more caring contacts for that child in his/her life.
6. Meeting with a coach or colleague to explore ways to meet students’ needs.  You understand that collaboration is a strength, not a sign of weakness.
7. Coming to staff meetings at the end of a long day with a smile and open mind.  Your positive approach establishes a precedence that being enthusiastic isn’t wack!
   
8. Talking quietly with a upset or agitated student-out of the earshot of others.  You respect his dignity as much as your authority.
9. Asking that question that everyone else was thinking without sarcasm or frustration.  You realize understanding comes from better communication.
10. Saying ‘thank you’ to someone in front of others to acknowledge a kind act and spread that sense of gratitude.
11. Talking about your ‘mistakes’ in a humorous and reflective way.  You humanize the teaching process and support the concept of lifelong learning.
12. Taking an unexpected recess duty when it isn’t even your turn.  You exemplify the image of team player when the needs of the team are something you respect enough to make a personal sacrifice of precious time and energy!
13. Making eye contact and addressing people you pass in the hallway.  You make teachers, custodians, students and parents ‘visible’ by acknowledging their presence with your attention. Your smile says, “I see you.”
14. Laughing with your students.  You aren’t afraid that humor or joy will break down some wall of authority.  You know that laughter connects us to others in a unique way and says, “I’m with you!”
15. Posting student work with “look fors”.  You direct our attention to the strategies and effort your students have worked on so that we can focus our attention on the learning process and by-pass all those other ‘teachable moments’.
16. Reading to your students with passion.  You use voices and expression and enthusiasm to bring that book to life for your children. You make them want to read!
17. Bringing a treat into the teachers room for no particular reason.  You never underestimate the power of pampering others to elevate mood!
18. Taking pictures of your students engaged in their classwork.  You document the learning environment and celebrate the work they do by capturing and sharing it.
19. Coming to book studies and PLCs after a full day of work. Sharing ideas and building new knowledge with others is important to your growth as a teacher.  You truly have a growth mindset!
20. Organizing collections for colleagues facing hard times.  You don’t mind taking on a little extra responsibility to help make life a little easier for someone else.
21. Countering  gossip with something positive.  It’s hard to speak up and be seen as “Pollyanna” but there are a lot of people who are silently grateful that you did. That takes courage.
22. Bringing in tadpoles, or chrysalises, or hamsters into your classroom.  You know that  life cycles can be read about, but experiencing them first hand has a power all its own. (and often inspires more reading and writing!)
23. Being a good listener.  You don’t brush off, discount, or immediately “solve” someone’s problem.  You seek to understand what is at the heart of what they are saying and what they are needing. You give them time to fill that void of silence as fully as they need to.
24. Complementing other staff members for their efforts and accomplishments.  You can be genuinely happy for the recognition others receive without feeling left out  and you model what that looks like!
25. Balancing competing needs in life.  You bring energy and passion to your classroom while raising your own children (or attending to the demands of aging parents). You express your feelings honestly, but don’t wallow in self pity.  You make it ok to not be perfect!  When you share your journey filled with challenges and celebrations with us, you remind us that teachers are human beings, too, not widgets in an educational system.  You remind us that we are all seeking answers to the question, “why are we here?”

I know there are many more than 25 Inspiring Acts that I have witnessed this year, and no one person embodies all of these actions.  I am lucky that I get to work with and witness so many teachers in action every week.  I can testify to the fact that we all should truly take some time to appreciate teachers this week…our colleagues, our children’s teachers, ourselves.

What Inspiring Acts have you observed that make you grateful?

What’s on my Book Radar?

Am I the only person on the planet who has yet to start this series?  I bought my son a copy for Christmas and haven’t yet gotten around to starting it until this week.  Something about dystopian worlds where teens are in charge that are very appealing to me!  Love the way James Dashner peels away layers to help orient the reader through the confused eyes of the main character, Thomas.  The questions he poses to the boys of the glade mirror our own wonderings.  Haven’t yet finished, but I can tell this is going to be a very fast read as I am already devouring chapter after chapter.

Oh, and I guess it is going to be a feature film in September-so this could be a great summer reading hook for tweens and teens!

It’s National Poetry Month and many schools are dusting off anthologies of poetry and kicking back with a “break from writing” to do some poetry.  With so many demands placed upon schools and teachers and a sense of urgency to demonstrate student growth in reading and writing, these will be the lucky kids.  In far too many schools, the curricula overlooks poetry in terms of writing.  The Common Core mentions it only  in the reading standards.  Ex.”Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text…” It is not included in the 3 major modes of writing (Narrative, Informative/Explanatory, and Argument).

Some classrooms invite poetry into their classroom beyond the border of the April calendar. There are numerous Poetry Friday resources and initiatives that teachers use and follow.  Here are a few you could check out..

http://www.kidlitosphere.org/poetry-friday/

http://poetryfridayanthology.blogspot.com/

http://readingyear.blogspot.com/

But the point of my blog this week isn’t just to encourage teachers to bring more poetry into their classrooms and lives – it’s to CREATE more poetry in their classrooms and lives. On my March 26th Blog “Teacher of Writing or Writing Teacher” I encouraged teachers to try out the writing that they are assigning to their students and to write WITH their students.  I think poetry is often one mode of writing that teachers are even more reluctant to ‘try out’ with their students than most others.

I’m not going to spend any time on this blog trying to convince you WHY poetry is a fantastic writing form that will deepen students understanding of our language, word choice, grammar, literary language, figurative language, sentence structure, punctuation, format, layout, etc  in a playful and creative format (well, maybe I just did a little).  What I would like to focus on, is encouraging you to TRY IT OUT yourself.

Most people I know (students and teachers alike) assert, “I’m not very good at poetry.” or “I’m not a poet.”  In fact, many worry that any attempt  they make will be seen as being a pretentious phony.  Some will say,  “I’m not sure what I’m doing.” or “I’m not really sure this is poetry.”  But emulating what you see and hear as poetry is exactly how we learned to write narratives and informational and persuasive types of writing.  We were exposed to many, many stories and articles and essays before we attempted to try our hand at them.  Why don’t we give ourselves the same courtesy when it comes to poetry?  If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…sure it’s a poem!

Following the assignments you give to your students is a great place to start.  Just jump in and play around.  They will respect your courage more than they will critique your couplets!  You will have a new found appreciation for the needs of your students when you are equally engaged.

Explore poetry outside of your classroom walls.  Play with poetry in your journal or create a private poetry notebook.  Collect poems, lines or ideas inspired from other poets.  Experiment with words and phrases without the pressure of writing a complete poem. Here are some other artistic ways to discover and create poetry that could inspire you to claim your rightful title of poet!

Book Spine Poetry

A fun poetic expression I’ve seen recently are posts online of Book Spine Poetry.  With this method you layout books with the titles on the spines arranged like lines of a poem.  You play around with titles and arrangements until the format represents the idea you want to convey.

Found Poetry

Poets.org describes this as the literary equivalent of a collage.  These poets take existing text and refashion them into new poetry. You select a passage (not necessarily poetry) and highlight or cut out words, phrases, or lines that appeal to you. Then you rearrange the pieces into a satisfying format that creates an entirely new message.  Try this with the newspaper, or a magazine or even a professional text!  Feel the creativity and freedom that can come when you don’t feel responsible for conjuring the just-right words!  ReadWriteThink.org even has an online generator to help with this creative format!

Micropoetry

How about Twihaiku?  Try out a poem in 140 characters or less on Twitter!  Some call it Micropoetry.   You can check out some up and coming micropoets here!  If you’ve only invested 140 characters into a poem and you don’t like it,  you can delete and recreate without much remorse!

Magnetic Poetry

These have been around for years.  If you haven’t played with one, you should give it a try.  They have various themes and versions, but all have the same basic idea.  Choose words and arrange them until they represent an idea or concept you want to voice.  They aren’t meant to be permanent, so there is no pressure to create an ‘archivally brilliant’ poem!

So, as you can see, YOU CAN BE A POET!  You aren’t being a phony if you use what you know to create something new.  It doesn’t mean it will appeal to everyone or that there is never room for revision and tweaking, but the fear of not being good enough, of being a Phoet, should be lifted from your shoulders.  Reframe what it means to be a poet and you could free yourself up to discover a creative side you never knew existed!

 What’s on My Book Radar?

It is hard to believe that this brilliant book is now 40 years old!  If you still aren’t convinced that poetry is an important form of writing,  just look at how beloved and enduring this author’s writing has been to generations of children, teachers and parents.  You won’t see any of Shel Silverstein’s works listed in Appendix B of the Common Core, but you won’t find many schools in this country that don’t have at least one copy of his anthologies of poetry.  This week I want to flip through the book, land on a poem, and imagine reading it for the very first time.  Maybe I can recreate some of the joy I discovered when I first giggled through the lines of this masterpiece.Happy Reading

I had the good fortune to participate in a fantastic #engchat on Twitter this week. How We Write: Learning from the Process of Writing with Kelly Gallagher and  Penny Kittle,   Joining in were Meeno Rami, Georgia Heard and countless other educators with thought provoking tweets.  What made this chat so meaningful was that it wasn’t just about student writing, but encompassed teacher writing as well.  It really got me thinking about teachers and writers in a more profound way.

“You can’t call yourself a writing teacher if you are not writing yourself. “-Donald Graves

Occasionally I run into teachers who claim “I’m not much of a reader.”  Luckily that is a pretty rare occurrence.  In fact, the teachers in our district (Augusta, Maine) even have a 25 Book Challenge club going for the second half of the school year.  We have conversations about books we love (or hate) and recommend books to one another based upon our knowledge of teachers preferences as readers. We created a Facebook page to stay linked and up to date with our progress. It has created a community around reading.  We feel connected to other readers, we can appreciate what reading means in our lives and we share that passion with our students.

Now shift the conversation to writing…the declaration “I’m not much of a writer.” is something I hear teachers say all the time.  Maybe we need to look more closely at why this is so prevalent. More importantly, I believe,  we need to examine the question, “Does it matter?”   Does our lack of confidence in our own writing influence our approach writing instruction?  Does it shape how we respond and coach students to grow in their own writing?  Does the perception of our own abilities reflect in the perception of our students’ abilities?  How could it not?  Our reality is shaped by the prism of experience and beliefs through which we see our world.

When we are writers we can empathize with the act of putting our thoughts, ideas, and words on paper and waiting for a reader to judge their quality.  We can experience the vulnerability of receiving feedback that may be less than beaming praise.  We can understand how sometimes the ideas don’t flow, the right words don’t come, or the moments don’t explode the way we want them to.

When we are writers we can appreciate how much stamina it takes to stick with a piece you are sick of rereading.  We can see how someone’s’ “suggestion” just sounds like criticism.  We can see that coming up with ideas isn’t as simple as making a list of things we like.

When we are writers with our students we can make that mysterious process more visible.  We can show our students that not everything that is written is good (yet)! We can show students the moves a writer makes; the countless decisions that are made on the fly in the creation of even a single sentence.  We can show them the intention that is present in word choices, line breaks, sentence length, punctuation, repetitions, alliteration, figurative language, etc.  We can show them how WE struggle, how all writers struggle from time to time. We can help to build GRIT into the writing process.

When we are writers we can appreciate the joy that comes from completing a strong piece of writing.  We can understand what it feels like to hear people laugh at the parts that are supposed to be funny or cringe at the parts that are supposed to be creepy.  When we are writers we can experience the feeling of satisfaction when our revised pieces really  do look and sound better after our efforts.  When we are writers with our students we can celebrate those successes together.

When we are writers we can help our students to trust the process, to trust us. We can provide instruction and not just instructions.  When we do the same writing assignment we ask of our students, we can better see where those scaffolds might need to be created, what parts might be trickiest, where more patience might be required. When we take risks in front of them, they may have more faith that we really do honor risk taking.   Our credibility as a writing teacher takes on a whole new meaning.  We build stronger relationships with our students that go beyond the writing lesson.

If we aren’t writers ourselves how can we do this? Do you believe what Donald Graves said? “You can’t call yourself a writing teacher if you are not writing yourself.”

One tweet from Penny Kittle provoked some thinking about the environment in our schools around writing.

So how CAN we work to make writing safer for everyone at school? How can we encourage teachers of writing to become writing teachers? How do we create a climate that supports writing and risk taking?  I’m sure there is no one right way, but I am sure it will require someone to be the impetus.  Someone will need to ask the question, “Do you think writing teachers should be writers?”  Someone will need to reach out to teachers to start the conversation.  Someone will need to take the lead in sharing their writing life with others. Someone will need to listen to their concerns and anxieties.  Someone will need to suggest some ideas.  Will you be that someone?

If you are interested in learning about what some other teachers are doing you could check out:

The 100 Words for 100 Days #engchat Challenge

TeachersWrite! with a new date  for 2014 from Kate Messner

The National Writing Project (NWP)

Edutopia Blog

The Atlantic

I’d love to hear how you are supporting writing in your schools and making it a safer place for writing to thrive.  Leave a comment or  find me LitCoachLady on Twitter.

What’s On My Book Radar

The Place My Words Are Looking For is not new, but when Georgia Heard recommended it during the #engchat I knew I had to get my hands on it.  If you have ever wanted some insight into what poets thought process, inspiration or method for writing might look like, you need to check out this book.  39 poets share poems and their process.  What a great book to tie into the theme of teachers as writers.  We can learn so much from these authors as they teach us about writing and allow us a peek into their literate minds.

HAPPY READING (and WRITING!)