Learning is Change

Read this story, and empathize with this child:

This is such an amazing story about your son, and one that I believe MANY more people should read and learn from.

I sometimes forget that our kids are physical beings just as much as they are amazing and creative minds. I sometimes forget just how fragile their self-confidence can be as well. It really is up to us in order to make sure that we see each individual student as more than just the work that they turn in (or don’t turn in). We can’t simply “poke the bear” with a better stick and hope for a different outcome.

The “whole child” is something that we are striving for in our district, but it is so difficult for some folks to put aside our need to ability group kids and raise their scores in math and language arts. I believe what we need are more stories like this one of real kids who are being underserved (or being taken in the wrong direction) by those that cannot see them clearly. It is through these children that we can understand what the support can and should be. Again, thank you for sharing this. I will be sharing it as well.

via Ramblings from a Middle School Teacher: When do rules become more important than people?.

I love this consideration of play from a Principal in AR:

I really love the question you captioned one of the photos with: “Can you find the teacher?” I think this is at the heart of why play matters so much. If everyone in the room (or the wide open space) is playing and learning together, it is very difficult to pick out any one person that is “leading” the activity. I think you are right to think about the ways that we should be incorporating play into our classroom and the way that we should start looking to children’s play as a source of inspiration for learning.

However, I am one of those people who finds the act of learning to be “fun” and “playful.” I find that when I encounter a new problem and solve it through a lot of effort, I am playing as hard as I possibly can. I wonder if the reason why most people don’t see play in the classroom is that they don’t see learning as play. Discovering something new or building something with someone else (an idea, a project, or simply a discussion) can be recognized as intellectual play and emphasized just as much as physical play. While I recognize that not all kids have an affinity for intellectual play, I would hate to leave behind those that have a capacity to develop it. Do you think recess is a combination of different types of physical and intellectual play, and how can we make sure there is a balance in the classroom (and other learning spaces)?

via Communicate, Coach, Care: The Central Purpose: Never Too Old to PLAY!.

A wonderful story of the important soft skills that are taught in the every day actions in the classroom:

Your companion video to this post is pretty profound in its reflection upon actual practice and our ability, as educators, to change and shift based upon this reflection. The fact that you went back to a student and apologized for your initial action and then reframed the discussion to be about mastery learning shows not only humility before students, but also an emphasis on doing what is right for kids.

As for the soft skills you are trying to impart, I think that your act of apology goes beyond “respect” or “empathy” to be about “equity” and “service”.  I believe that a lot of the soft skills that you have listed can be built into the rituals and routines of a classroom, but the way in which you model our humanity and our ability to sustain one another is through adversity and difficult learning situations. It is what we do in the face of tough decisions that the best soft skills are taught.

via Soft skills aren’t innate… – Starr Sackstein, MJE, NBCT.

This is what happens when you see the community as potential teachers for your classroom:

I am so glad that you have enumerated all of the wonderful speakers you have brought into your classroom to connect your students to life outside of your school. This is a beautiful statement for how their learning and growth doesn’t stop.

One part of this that doesn’t get talked about a lot, however, is the finding and curating of great speakers, teachers, and leaders for the classroom. I would love to know more about how you found these folks and how you have worked to build a network of people who support your children. Is there something special you were looking for in these storytellers? Were there specific questions you asked them that really got them on board with coming in to your classroom?

Again, I think your work here on exposing students to professionals to activate their passions is wonderful. I hope that many others follow you in making this a greater part of their curriculum.

I am a teacher et cetera: Bringing the Outside In.

I think that many teachers would benefit from simply writing about their teaching experience in such a reflective manner:

This seems as much like a modern version of an Educational Philosophy as anything I have read on a blog recently. You are able to point out the things you believe and the tools that have been instrumental in your growth. I really enjoyed hearing your passion for Destination Imagination, and what you have seen from other teachers and students that make up the community.

I’m particularly intrigued by how becoming “the first user in your district” for a particular tool (Edmodo) allowed you to take a leadership role. The idea of becoming an early adopter as a career move opens up a lot of possibilities. What other ways do you think becoming an early adopter can help teachers?

via The EdTech Cheerleader: #LoveTeaching.

Don’t accept when people tell you there was a golden age of school. Don’t accept when folks try to construct a “correct” way to read:

I really appreciate your analysis of what it means to be “dumb” in school, or at least when you get that label  applied to you. We are selling so many kids short by simply keeping the “correct” order of everything in its right place. However, I think that this cuts both ways. The kids who are trying so hard to be “smart” but not quite meeting the arbitrary cut point for being capital G gifted are also a victim of the rigidity of school. Those kids who are trying to make the perfect 5 paragraph essay, but don’t realize that it is only by deviating from the form that you actually get “the 5” on the AP exam. We really must look at our narrow definitions of who gets to be “smart” and who gets to be “dumb”. Neither will get us to the point of understanding children and their needs any better.

As for the topic of “serious reading,” I cannot stand this construct. All reading is reading. All learning is valuable. We cannot apply all the same rules to new media types, and there are some types of media that change the way in which we consume and produce media. Blogging is different because it is connected to other bloggers. Video is different when it is shared from one person to a million in a few days without anything more than a Youtube channel for distribution. These things change us, but they are no less valuable than reading a “classic novel.”

We are better because of our diversity of ability and creativity. We are better because we see each other as whole. Thank you for this post, and for your careful reflection upon your own educational experience.

SpeEdChange: When “Education” is Used as a Weapon.

What a wonderful passage and analysis of what culturally responsive teaching can look like:

I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for this wonderful dissection and extension of this passage to make it relevant and meaning for yourself. You have taken the most important elements of these words and shown just how much there is to unpack.

I find your thoughts around knowing your students and their “skills, interests, passions, and needs” to be most valuable for my work. It is only through knowing those that you teach fully that you can support them. You cannot aimlessly differentiate. You cannot assume your way to better outcomes. And it is the culture of respect that is created when you truly know your learners that is essential to building the community in your classroom.

Unpacking Powerful Words: Teaching Children Well | Teach Children Well.

I am troubled any time we reject experience:

I am very impressed by your ability to reflect and see what appears to be something missing within your own teaching practice. I am somewhat worried, however, about the way in which we dismiss “experience” and start to see it as a liability.

It seems as though we are fetishizing “the new” and innovative, even when we know (from research and personal experience) that the most effective teaching comes from experienced teachers.

Now, I am not calling for a return to a traditional approach to teaching. Rather, I want to stop looking at our classrooms and veteran teachers as the barrier to change. So many are, like yourself, looking to improve each and every year. So many see that more traditional methods are not producing the same results as they once did.

I see an “us vs. them” being created when we vilify experience and talk about an entire generation of teachers who are unwilling (or unable) to change. I don’t think this gets us any closer to supporting all kids.

Nocking The Arrow: School Improvement, Is Teacher Cognition A Speed Bump Or A Roadblock?.