tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16343292515389052752024-03-05T23:03:00.793-08:00The Teacher I Want to BeDiane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-9391216481476354192014-06-05T15:59:00.001-07:002014-06-05T16:17:40.803-07:00To Thrive: Why I Retired<div>I have not written in a while. Too busy closing up the school year as well as my life as a classroom teacher. I am now in a space of in-between-ness, in which I can write. Inquiring minds want to know, how did I come to the decision to retire? I am taking an early retirement, which means I am too young to take my full pension. So, it does come at a cost. </div><div><br></div><div>Those who know me well know that this was not a sudden decision. It's been years in the making. At a Super Bowl party this year, a friend, a retired educator, reminded me that we had this same conversation at the last Super Bowl party. </div><div><br></div><div>My students, bless their hearts, were worried that it was about them. My teaching partner and I had to assure them, like children of divorce, that when adults make decisions like this, it is not the children's fault. I told them that yes, it has been stressful, but it always is and always has been. One of my former students who was helping on the last day of school concurred that it was challenging her year too. In previous years, I would know that a new school year brings new hope with either new kids or just a new grade because we looped from 4th to 5th. If it was about the kids, I would go back with that same attitude of new beginnings. Perhaps I would try to transfer to a school more sedate, with less poverty, less diversity. No, I love our kids - trials, tribulations, and all. It wasn't about the kids.</div><div><br></div><div>The obvious inference would be it is because of the new Educator Evaluation System (EES). That is only part of the reason. I loathe meaningless expenditures of time, energy, and resources. I loathe hypocrisy. So when the DOE higher-ups say it's about improving the teaching profession and I know that this is not the truth, I feel like I'm swimming against a sewer-filled current. In the end, because the administrator assigned to my evaluation is fair and kind, the process itself was as painless as she could make it. The worst part of my evaluation was the Student Growth Profile, a number based on the results of standardized testing. There's a mysterious algorithm that is supposedly associated with my effectiveness in increasing my students' scores on standardized tests. There are so many reasons to be critical of this aspect of the EES and I hope the powers that be eliminate this portion, on the basis that it is not fair, valid, and reliable. But I don't hold my breath. If it was only about the EES, I would know that despite of all the waste of time, energy, and resources, I personally would survive, as long as I had supportive administrators. That is a big unknown however, as our school is notorious for having a revolving door of vice principals.</div><div><br></div><div>There is a world of difference between surviving and thriving, however. And life is too short not to thrive. Every summer, even on the first day of summer, my impulse to thrive is revived. Last summer, I got the idea for a Good Idea grant on the first day of summer. Every year, I spend the summer reading about ways to thrive. Sometimes I am fortunate enough to attend professional development activities that inspire me to thrive. I start the year anew with the hope that I will be the master of my classroom, that I will not let outside forces get in the way of my visions to be "the teacher I want to be." </div><div><br></div><div>That positive frame of mind lasts about a week, and then reality sets in. This year we had a new math curriculum that we adopted to align with the Common Core. And most of the year was spent in turmoil figuring out the curriculum, the Common Core standards, our pacing, and how the students were doing with it all. This, along with the Student Learning Objectives component of the EES, took over the classroom dynamic. Add to this the confusion over what was actually being tested on the "bridge" Hawaii State Assessment - the result was a very unsettling year. </div><div><br></div><div>Perhaps I should contrast this to where I find my joy in teaching. I love hands-on learning. I love math games. Our previous math curriculum had this in spades. The Investigations curriculum was criticized because it didn't align well to standards, therefore it wasn't good for test preparation. I would find more fault with the standards and the test prep mindset than with the curriculum. What hands-on and conceptual math does is makes math relevant, even fun. "Word problem" pedagogy, which the GoMath curriculum uses to assert relevance, is not the same. </div><div><br></div><div>I also love science. I agreed to be a math and science specialist 8 years ago because I love science. I believed that science was the one subject where it was okay to be hands-on and fun. Luckily we had outstanding professional development for the Investigations curriculum about the same time, so I came to love math too. But my career highs over the years were because of science, perhaps integrated with math, but primarily science. My former students always remember the science that we did. The best thing I did was the anchialine pond project that started in a small way in 2006, but got bigger and better over time. The last time was a collaboration with Kamehameha Schools 'Ike Pono project in 2012 that included the entire grade level. My best year with the project was in 2009, which was written up in the local paper. We worked on cleaning a degraded pond of alien guppies and removing a lot of the alien pickle weed. </div><div><br></div><div>Sure, I as a teacher, could still fight the system and do whatever I needed to do in the classroom and on field trips to engage students. I could be a rebel. If I was coming back next year, this is probably where my summer brain would be going, making plans to be a rebel. </div><div><br></div><div>But as I was looking for signs, praying on the decision, thinking through the pros and cons, that is not the message I got. A beloved HSTA staff member passed away suddenly and the reality that life is precious and life span unpredictable was brought to consciousness. One of the most telling messages I got was revealed in a blog piece I wrote inspired by a Ted Talk on the interesting lives of parasites. <a href="http://dianeaoki.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-happened-to-my-good-intentions.html" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">http://dianeaoki.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-happened-to-my-good-intentions.html</a>. <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The Gordian worm that is the "system" takes over my will, and there wasn't much I can do to save myself. It wasn't that bad. I willed myself to do more science in the 4th quarter. It was less than I wanted, but more than before. I eliminated chapter tests because I already knew from their classwork and homework what their skill level was. The only "test prep" I did was teaching. Yet- this is not thriving. This is treading water, trying to maintain your sense of sanity and purpose against a strong, whirlpool-like current. </span></div><div><br></div><div>I told my students that I was retiring because I was old enough to, but young enough to still do other things that I want to do with my life. They don't need to know that I have an impulse to thrive and I couldn't do it within the system. They don't need to know that the expectation to do well on the tests distorts the decisions and choices I make in the classroom. They don't need to know that I don't agree with the Common Core standards and the accompanying testing tied to my evaluation. They don't need to know that I don't believe in standards-based reform, and that my desire to be child-centered instead is an act of rebellion, rather than the norm.</div><div><br></div><div>Even though I am going to take a penalty for retiring early, I consider myself fortunate for being able to do this. Yes, I will be poor. But I am healthy and see myself continuing to work, in a less stressful job. I would love to be a tour guide, or even wrap presents at Macys at Christmas time, or help out on my friend's food truck. Wouldn't it be great to be a flower delivery person? </div><div><br></div><div>Writing will be my number one endeavor. I will continue to write about education, in the hopes that writing will inform and strengthen those of you in the trenches. I have a lot of other projects that don't have a lot to do with education, but are creative expressions. I have other ideas that do have to do with education. I have so many ideas for what to do, I am only afraid of biting off more than I can chew. It is exciting to know that I can do anything I want to do, within the limits of my finances. </div><div><br></div><div>By the way, praise to those of you who CAN thrive within the system. I don't think it's impossible. It's just my personal experience that I couldn't. I don't see myself as a failure for not being able to, although I could easily swing my thoughts in that direction. One of my ideas is to write about how you CAN do it, to tell YOUR stories. There is a thread on the BadAssTeachers Facebook page called "#evaluate that" and I love reading those stories of what teachers do that honor the profession totally unrelated to how we are evaluated officially.</div><div><br></div><div>This blog will probably end. I may have a few pieces left to write that are relevant to the blog theme, but I see starting a new one. Thank you for reading. Stay tuned. Stay connected. Stay strong. </div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2vG9mofwp0zclje5b9bN6788t5pbGGx5oHTIT7Mwi8qJOa8Sn-vitMk29R4CaZOy40iDzYjg2miB9_lWbwDiVOyMokcOQWz-rEDhGDX2X4mgnWRTicpTom4N0okaFyGgBiv94nBmFPxA/s640/blogger-image-1562037397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2vG9mofwp0zclje5b9bN6788t5pbGGx5oHTIT7Mwi8qJOa8Sn-vitMk29R4CaZOy40iDzYjg2miB9_lWbwDiVOyMokcOQWz-rEDhGDX2X4mgnWRTicpTom4N0okaFyGgBiv94nBmFPxA/s640/blogger-image-1562037397.jpg"></a></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-27411981591456488212014-05-04T15:33:00.001-07:002014-05-04T15:40:20.619-07:00Testimony to the Board regarding Common Core testing<div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">To members of the Board of Education,</span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">My name is Diane Aoki. I am a 5th grade teacher at Kealakehe Elementary School in Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. I understand you will be discussing the Smarter Balanced Assessments at your Tuesday, May 6th Board meeting. I am submitting testimony to ask that you seriously consider the harm being done in the implementation of the Common Core Standards and it's accompanying "Smarter Balanced Assessments." </span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">As you evaluate the implementation of Common Core in our school system, I ask that you consider the reality of life in the classroom versus what you have been told should be happening in theory. I ask that you not base your decisions on what some highly paid "reformer" lobbyist has told you (someone possibly funded by the Gates Foundation), but consider in your heart of hearts, what type of education you would want for your own child. </span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Wouldn't you want your child to thrive in a school that offered small class sizes, a well-rounded education, a school with a mission to encourage social and emotional development, that offered art and music, that made sure science was inquiry based, that put a high priority on civics and civic engagement. That's what I would want for my child, and it is not happening in our schools. The reason it is not happening in our schools is because of test-based accountability. Test scores go up when the test is made the priority above all else, above a well-rounded approach to education.</span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I have seen the released items for the SBAC. I can only imagine, since my school did not pilot the test this year, how most students would have done. Very few would have done well, even my good students. Most would probably have turned off just glancing at the wordiness of the problems. You may say that it is something they need to learn how to do. Who says that these tests correlate with anything worthwhile ? Who says that they are valid in anyway? And perhaps with enough training, we can get some improvement over time, but at what cost? </span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The cost is a well-rounded education. The cost is time, energy, and money going into test prep, when it could go into assuring that all children are valued and nurtured for their individuality, be it in art, music, science, writing, or academics. </span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">The only people who are advocating for staying the Common Core SBAC course seem to be people who don't have their heart, soul, and their own children in the system. Isn't that ironic? Isn't that telling? People, like business folk, who tell you to stay the course, ask them what school their child attends. If they say a private school, then ask if that private school has adopted the Common Core. If not, why are they trying to tell us what is the right thing to do? Oh, they're trying to make sure they have a skilled work force. If that is their answer, don't take it at surface level, ask them what skills they need. And then think, is this Common Core and SBAC, really relevant to those needs? </span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Too many decisions have been made without this type of relevant analysis. What was the debate in the adoption of the Common Core? Was it pressure from the federal government, in securing Race to the Top funds? Or was it the Common Core public relations rhetoric that convinced you? It definitely was not brought to public forums for debate and discussion. </span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">You, Board of Education, have the power. You have the power to turn this ship around. After a decade of test-based accountability, you must realize that it does not work. You may say that it's not the same as No Child Left Behind. You may say that now that you are making teacher evaluation tied to student test scores, it will be a tactic that hasn't been tried yet, in Hawaii. Yes, it will be different, it will be worse. You will have spent all this time and resources, on something that is doomed to fail. </span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">End this madness. Open up the adoption of the Common Core to scrutiny. Consider that it may not be in the community's best interests to forge ahead. Standards themselves can be helpful, but tying it to high-stakes testing destroys any possible positive benefits.</span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Be brave! Make the implementation of a well-rounded education for children the priority. </span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Progressive educator, John Dewey, said it best in 1900 and it remains true today: " What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy.“</span></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Thank you for seriously considering my thoughts, </div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Diane Aoki</div><div style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Kona, Hawaii</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnpBVo3J2YbQ2BlVtwKY30-B9JQKDWt_MScIMzSyO0OTSKPMEe20H62MdgJRFBcISoPunQ1331F_xSgJmVP2WBZ0UjwIl55GcFXAEpXKcljJ7evOMq3pAUNScbdIZdhvrjrQikQp7W87A/s640/blogger-image-278685236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnpBVo3J2YbQ2BlVtwKY30-B9JQKDWt_MScIMzSyO0OTSKPMEe20H62MdgJRFBcISoPunQ1331F_xSgJmVP2WBZ0UjwIl55GcFXAEpXKcljJ7evOMq3pAUNScbdIZdhvrjrQikQp7W87A/s640/blogger-image-278685236.jpg"></a></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-25471645730386523842014-05-03T15:15:00.001-07:002014-05-03T17:21:21.036-07:00Small Kine Protest Regarding the SLOs<div>Note: This was written on Wednesday morning.</div><div><br></div><div> It's 3:00 in the morning. I woke up with my brain churning with all the things I have to do, deadlines I have to meet, tests I have to prepare for, and somewhere in there, a gnawing insistence that I need to do something to put the joy of learning into the day as well. For the past few weeks, everyone in Hawaii has been going through this stress and anxiety due to the SLO (Student Learning Objective) and Core Professionalism deadlines looming along with the high-stakes standardized testing as the year comes to an end. </div><div><br></div><div>I just finished summative assessments for SLO 1, on decimal operations, which was pretty grueling. It was not a standardized test. It was curriculum-based, standards-based, and grueling for even the best students. The test anxiety was palpable. Yesterday, I did a formative assessment on SLO 2, adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. Oh, and this after a lesson on volume in preparation for the "test," and also because it's in the curriculum and we have so much to do, so little time. I had set fractions aside a couple of weeks ago to focus on the SLO 1 assessment. So when I went back to fractions, most students appeared to have not remembered anything. Fractions have always been hard, but I have in the past made conceptual understanding a priority over using an algorithm to solve it. This year, I taught according to the Common Core aligned curriculum, which seems to make solving it via an algorithm the goal, even if there is no conceptual understanding. Result: they can not do either, for the most part. </div><div><br></div><div>My dilemma, since the data is due 2 days in advance of my meeting with my administrator, I need to give them their summative assessment today. This I hate - giving a test knowing that most of them will fail, for the sake of the data. Here is the twisted part. We have to do two of these SLO projects, but only one needs to be turned in. My decision: I am not giving the SLO 2 test at this time. I will continue to work with my students on fractions, and go back to developing conceptual understanding. They may not master it by the end of the year, but we'll keep working on it. My rating for SLO 2 will be "ineffective," and that is just what it will be. I'll use the SLO 1 rating to report to the DOE. </div><div><br></div><div>It feels so radical, but it's really not. Other teachers have done much more radical and braver things like refused to administer standardized tests they believed were harmful to their students. But today, I made a decision that I will plan a day in which the goal will be joyful learning. I want to hear the sounds of students engaged in inquiry, in making things, in collaborating, in problem-solving. Screw the SLO 2, the EES, the data. Let hands-on science reign! </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXhtTa8QzLQe5zRXOtXLPFyea6-OMYjLNUZmI7ROEKN1z6YqFEN1RJ1_RISAKQAlpOg2dDZpeTXPSDmzvSU-BD-jk3g7bFTNhY9sjWiAXZmc3SOPF0UTgE7atr38Yljfy3b8E0Rq9GDw8/s640/blogger-image-898146642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXhtTa8QzLQe5zRXOtXLPFyea6-OMYjLNUZmI7ROEKN1z6YqFEN1RJ1_RISAKQAlpOg2dDZpeTXPSDmzvSU-BD-jk3g7bFTNhY9sjWiAXZmc3SOPF0UTgE7atr38Yljfy3b8E0Rq9GDw8/s640/blogger-image-898146642.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div>Update: my appointment with my vice principal was rescheduled to Monday, and I thought I would know the outcome by the time I posted this, but I don't. As you see, I did do science. I blame myself for not doing enough of it. Teamwork and following rules of a lab setting is a challenge, but they are important learning opportunities. One never knows if test prep really helped my students in life, but I will never doubt that team-based science labs contributed to their social and intellectual development. </div><br></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-64489889574968150362014-04-27T12:24:00.001-07:002014-04-27T14:02:04.403-07:00Caution: Hope Street Group and "Teacher Leaders"<div>A good friend told me I should look at the want ads on Sunday, that there was a job posted that would be perfect for me.</div><div><br></div><div>Here it is:</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><i>Hawaii Mobilization and Education Program Director</i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Hope Street Group</i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Hawaii United States</i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>04/17/2014</i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Education</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Position Summary</i></div><div><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">As a rapidly growing, entrepreneurial organization that aims to achieve extraordinary goals, Hope Street Group seeks a dynamic individual to become our Hawaii Mobilization and Education Program Director. The Hawaii Mobilization and Education Program Director will report to the Vice President of Education and work with all Hope Street Group staff to implement Hope Street Group’s Hawaii Program.</i></div><div><i style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></i></div><div><i style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Hawaii Mobilization and Education Program Director will be directly accountable</i><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> for implementing Hope Street Group’s state work in Hawaii by: building, collecting and <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>aggregating teacher opinion and perspectives; serving as Hope Street Group’s state spokesperson; and ensuring that teachers serve as spokespeople for reform changes</i></div><div><br></div><div>Right? I'm a dynamic individual. I can organize and mobilize. I qualify. Who wouldn't want to ensure that "teachers serve as spokespeople for reform changes? " So, as I go looking for how to apply, I also go scratching below the surface. At first you are seduced by their grand-sounding rhetoric, then you are enticed by the possibility of traveling to Washington DC once in a while for meetings. But as I went scratching, I found that a major component of their reform efforts is teacher evaluation, and this is number one on their list of recommendations.</div><div><br></div><div>"<i>Objective measures of student achievement gains must be a major component of teacher evaluation." </i></div><div><br></div><div>That was a huge red flag. I can just imagine if I got past my conflicts about this and managed to bluff my way through, and actually get the job, having to convince teachers that this is number one, the most important thing, número uno. I just wouldn't have the words. Or the gall. There is no "objective measure" of student achievement that can reliably be tied to teacher evaluation. There are so many variables that go into any so-called objective measure. There are so many ways that the system can be gamed. There is no way to know if test scores are tied to lasting learning or the influence of an inspiring teacher who may have planted a seed that took a while to blossom. </div><div><br></div><div>I am not saying there is no way to evaluate a teacher. Just as in other professions, you have a job, nd your boss determines how well you are doing your job. That's their job. But tying it to student test scores is problematic in so many ways. Would law enforcement be evaluated based on the crime rates of their beats? If the crime was high, then would they be considered ineffective? If their evaluation was based on how much the crime rate was reduced, then would they find ways to "juke the stats," as was portrayed in the HBO series, The Wire. One season made thematic links between the Baltimore school system and the corruption in the police department. </div><div><br></div><div>A stated principle for this Hope Street Group is that "EVALUATIONS WORK WHEN TEACHERS GET INVOLVED." This would lead you to believe that this is different, that this is respectful of the teacher point of view. But with already defined policies, using "research" that has been debunked by respected scholars, how much room for teacher feedback is there? </div><div><br></div><div>When I go scratching around their website even more, I find that the corporate version of education reform, like support for the Common Core, is evident. Look at their funders (Gates, Walmart), advisors and network (Joel Klein, John Deasy, Thomas Friedman) and the writing is on the wall. They don't want teacher voice, or teacher feedback. They want teachers to be on board with their agenda. </div><div><br></div><div>As I allowed this blog piece to percolate this week, I started to see this effort of "involving" teachers to be "leaders" in education reform in various ways. Just heard that there is a new licensing category for Teacher Leaders, there is the Teacher Leader Academy that several of my friends have been involved in, there is the Instructional Leadership Team which our District Superintendent has pushed forward in all schools under his domain. </div><div><br></div><div>On the surface, it seems all good, and perhaps it is that, not nefarious as I am implying. In my school, the ILT folks seem sincere in wanting to help. But just saying that there is a trend, and this trend has been seen historically when a greater power wanted to control the masses. Think of plantation days, when lunas were culled from the ranks of the workers and used to keep the workers in line. Think of colonialism, when natives were used by the masters to subdue their own people. Developers recruit locals to help promote their project all the time. It is a strategy. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6VR5FJNY0hvS6dMYTc7ji3rXa6UWVdvoi3ZV2CdBnw4Nvr9orutrCC6CQfiKQqAsBZskN3yYo7Dj1e80SXZokUO_doBxJ_ZhfgUkfGqNhvReZ34F4q1TFZAt5CwOQQcmMwTpdXBi_As/s640/blogger-image--1227072042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6VR5FJNY0hvS6dMYTc7ji3rXa6UWVdvoi3ZV2CdBnw4Nvr9orutrCC6CQfiKQqAsBZskN3yYo7Dj1e80SXZokUO_doBxJ_ZhfgUkfGqNhvReZ34F4q1TFZAt5CwOQQcmMwTpdXBi_As/s640/blogger-image--1227072042.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Before you dismiss me and this theory, just consider for a second. Is there or is there not an agenda? If, for example, the stated goal of being a "leader" is to raise student achievement (read test scores), then it may be the corporate reform agenda. If the stated goal is implementation of the Common Core, then it is definitely the corporate reform agenda. If the stated goal is teacher evaluation based on student test scores, then it is the corporate reform agenda. </div><div><br></div><div>What true teacher leaders could be doing instead of promoting the corporate reform agenda is promoting a positive, well-rounded education for all public school students. The reformers don't care about that, they don't care about preschool education unless somehow they can make money off of it, they don't care about art, music, or getting kids close to nature. They don't care about social and emotional development, or even decent facilities. We need to get back to what is good for the children, what strengthens and empowers them, not what feeds the corporate monster. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0O9C190kPRju-7bWrYcaDSUljuNQJBqejcQI9JGgnFe5HgYKozYOaYR6_xcaExL2Imh-IOTc-4SB5Zrc2njv5s__mz_Y5KHbzkwqUVoapXy0K3SeBdW0BsMUkevZEEoDpmniPT2WRjuc/s640/blogger-image--743856644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0O9C190kPRju-7bWrYcaDSUljuNQJBqejcQI9JGgnFe5HgYKozYOaYR6_xcaExL2Imh-IOTc-4SB5Zrc2njv5s__mz_Y5KHbzkwqUVoapXy0K3SeBdW0BsMUkevZEEoDpmniPT2WRjuc/s640/blogger-image--743856644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiynvFCDswvPkkoyPua8dGEnIab6573jyAc2f3LQ1aW19940Re1YkEeffOvPUFhg1ttT7X_LYNQ35O6CxeFie4vK6tlYjWBixQiOuZ0QT2CcpXAeivbTXmsgu8eYehyphenhyphenZgD3P5KoDKw08zE/s640/blogger-image-158758784.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiynvFCDswvPkkoyPua8dGEnIab6573jyAc2f3LQ1aW19940Re1YkEeffOvPUFhg1ttT7X_LYNQ35O6CxeFie4vK6tlYjWBixQiOuZ0QT2CcpXAeivbTXmsgu8eYehyphenhyphenZgD3P5KoDKw08zE/s640/blogger-image-158758784.jpg"></a></div></div><br></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-85334361916332610312014-04-18T15:35:00.001-07:002014-04-18T17:27:25.853-07:00Trampled by the Blind Men's Elephant: A Perspective on the Student
Growth Profile<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">We were recently given our SGP (Student Growth Profile) scores, which is presumably a measure of the effectiveness of my teaching based on whether or not my students made expected growth as determined by standardized test scores from third grade to fifth grade. This will be 25% of my evaluation. My SGP score was a 1, the worst score possible, and I am in the 4th percentile, based on some kind of mysterious algorithm. I have long been a critic of No Child Left Behind and AYP rankings. I was told that the scuttlebutt was the reason I hate NCLB is that I am defensive because of my school's AYP rankings. So, if I rant against SGP, I'm sure the same critics would accuse me of being defensive. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">I can go on and on about working in a high-poverty school, in classes with high numbers of English Language Learners, about lack of parent involvement, about students from broken homes and difficult life situations. I could talk about the inconsistencies between the third grade test scores and these students' actual ability level when they entered fourth grade. I could suggest that perhaps the third grade test is easier than the fourth and how the fifth grade test gets even harder. (This, it seems, is why my SGP is so low; my students' scores declined from 3rd to 4th grade). My critics would say that I am making excuses.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">As long as there is a possibility that I am being defensive, I have little credibility in this debate. Which is why I was impressed by a comment on the Hawaii Teachers Work to the Rules Facebook page, on a post about Duncan's visit to Waipahu, using it as evidence that Race to the Top worked! </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(237, 239, 244);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Jonesbaron?fref=ufi">Andy Jones</a></span> <span style="direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed;">I appreciate your comment, Anne LaVasseur Mullen. We have become decent test prep instructors at Radford HS, and our improved HSA scores have allowed us to climb from the middle of the pack up to a #2 ranking among high schools in the Strive HI rankings. I have very mixed feelings about this "success." On the one hand, I think it has boosted morale of students and teachers. On the other hand, there's a deeper emptiness behind this superficial glee when I consider all that students have lost just so that they can make gains on test-taking skills.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">Here is my response: </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(237, 239, 244);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/diane.aoki">Diane Aoki</a></span> <span style="direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed;">Good job. I had same response to the visit. Andy jones, I appreciate your honesty. This ranking is divisive and perhaps that's by design. Those who get the scores can pride themselves in their rank, and those of us at the low end are depressed. Someone asked me, the one year that we made AYP, shouldn't I be happy about that? My response. Why should I be happy over something that is meaningless? If some thing is wrong, it is wrong, whether or not you come up smelling like roses or poop.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11px; font-family: Verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(237, 239, 244); min-height: 15px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">I am looking for a story that honors truth even if you benefit from the lie being told. The closest I can come is about the Blind Men and the Elephant and that truth is a matter of perception. You are not wrong if you happen to be holding the tusk and I am touching the elephant's place of poop delivery. But we do have to realize that this particular elephant is out to trample us both. I guess there are also historical incidences of the days of colonialism and slavery, when the masters had to find an "insider" who benefited from being favored, but who served the masters and helped them to dominate the slaves, or the indigenous, native, people. There are even modern day stories of developers who get a community member to work for them, to be a liaison with the community to convince them to trust the developers. (My play, Ka Ikena, was about that). </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">As long as there are winners and losers, which a ranking system is designed to do, the system will be divisive. This does not help children, it does not help schools and it does not help public education. I greatly admire the many stories of teachers in states who are awarded bonuses for student test scores and because they disagree with the whole premise of this program, give it away to charity. The Network for Public Education, a group organized to challenge the corporate education reform damaging us nationwide, received two donations recently from Florida teachers. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">My rants can only go so far. In order to conquer, we need to be united. If a test-prep centered kind of education is wrong, it is wrong, whether or not your students score well. Hold on to the vision of the type of education you want for your own child. I bet it is not based on the strength of the test prep program. If it is, you got it in spades. </p><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQrwUghpKx9yHzqVTQe0U31fnC343UTW3ZeD8NhhI1LaOSrTuQEV1jsKcwCWjWMzXsEEE0K2mj9pYWYFSmWeS1SdtSpS7444x78h3-2GrcZqpBxV_ZLhZBpF-J3ACms4LRbJkrlmDl6s/s640/blogger-image-704404265.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQrwUghpKx9yHzqVTQe0U31fnC343UTW3ZeD8NhhI1LaOSrTuQEV1jsKcwCWjWMzXsEEE0K2mj9pYWYFSmWeS1SdtSpS7444x78h3-2GrcZqpBxV_ZLhZBpF-J3ACms4LRbJkrlmDl6s/s640/blogger-image-704404265.jpg"></a></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-84406859619261524222014-04-13T12:20:00.001-07:002014-04-13T13:34:28.654-07:00Becoming Cynical<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">I remember when I was in my twenties, I was talking to someone about the purpose in life being making the world a better place. This person told me that by my forties, I would lose my optimism. Well, my forties came and went, and I still believed. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">When I moved to Kona, I got involved in the union. At some point early on, when the HSTA Uniserv at the time (Now politician Mark Nakashima) explained what the convention process was all about - making change - something resonated in me. At the time, No Child Left Behind was beginning to make its ugly presence felt. Over the years, I have sponsored many a resolution or new business item for state convention. The policy statement on high stakes testing was one I am most proud of. I also sponsored an action item that HSTA would not accept any contract offer that tied evaluation to test scores. So much for that. I also had a proposal to reject national standards, which was rejected by the convention. They had no idea what I was talking about, but I had been studying the emergence of the Common Core. Oh well. Win some, lose some. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">This weekend the state convention is being held in Honolulu and I am not there for the first time since 2002 - I think that was my first convention, the year after the strike.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">How do I feel about not being there? On the one hand, I'm good. I feel humbled. Life goes on. Other activists persevere and new ones emerge. I don't believe all the work I have done over the years was for nothing. I think I planted seeds and challenged conventional thinking. I contributed to debate. I added to policy. I think my NBIs and resolutions resonated with what was happening in the schools. I tried to voice the concerns of the teachers I represented, not just at convention, but in my role on the Board of Directors. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">On the other hand, as long as I was involved, I staved off cynicism. The belief that I could make a difference kept me involved, and also kept me going as a teacher. Going to state and national convention was a big part of my year. Being chapter president and on the Board of Directors was a big part of my identity. So, on this hand, there is a sense of loss. I miss my union friends, but I also feel a loss of belief. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">I don't believe in the union as being the vehicle for change. I have learned that both the NEA and HSTA are too conservative for me. The HSTA president and executive director signed on to Race to the Top. NEA has been a cheerleader for the Common Core, and Obama/Duncan, even though the current education policies have been even worse than Bush's. Besides providing for due process protections, HSTA's most important role is to secure a contract, but in that process, compromises had to be made. We had to accept this new Educator Evaluation System, but we negotiated a safety net in the Joint Committee. We shall see if that will prove to be effective, or merely a tool to serve the DOE's purposes. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">That paragraph probably reveals a bit of my cynicism and pessimism. However, I want HSTA to prove me wrong. I will rejoice and admit I was wrong if they can pull off a departure from status quo and make significant changes to the system. I don't know what the convention will call for, and how effective any action will be. But I do wish them well. I do hope they will prove me wrong. I would love to get my union juju back. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">Though I am no longer a believer in the power of the union, I still believe in public education as a pillar of our democracy. I still believe that all children should have a rich, well-rounded education, and opportunities to explore and develop their gifts and talents. They need strong relationships with adults who care about them as individuals. I believe in strengthening weaknesses and building strengths. I believe that making test results the most important thing is detrimental to the system as a whole. I believe the current focus on teacher effectiveness is more hurtful, than helpful. It is a distraction, meant to turn attention away from what is really needed, real true transformation, rather than this corrupt reform going on now, led by billionaires like Gates and supported by current federal policy. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">So you see. I am not cynical. I still believe in making the world a better place. And as long as I believe, I will continue to try. Not necessarily through the union, but through citizen activism. I like what the Bad Ass Teachers Association and the Network for Public Education are doing. I am inspired by Diane Ravitch's leadership. I do think there is hope. But we must awaken. We must not close our minds to the reality of what is happening - a concerted effort to destroy public education. We must realize that the focus on tests is meant to provide data to justify their "reform" and increase demand for their products. We must risk sounding like conspiracy theorists in order to open minds. But always, we must remember the children. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">Even in the pressurized world of high-stakes testing, we must try to practice our values and beliefs about what's good for them, that they deserve a teacher who cares about them, who wants them to know and value their strengths, and not have it defined by a test score. I write this last paragraph as a reminder to myself.</p><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMy-iIyFLusDbGZTZEO0rbv8UKbRF_iS0zTPdwpbQQHZ-I8kGHvYRtSvaFgtqiclGKA__A3_IDql22RudAuoFm8WvXNEIKhV-0GRtMd2pf2rq2gbO3sW_37VRZT7eEe8lLmGsfLaxrX4/s640/blogger-image--596889698.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMy-iIyFLusDbGZTZEO0rbv8UKbRF_iS0zTPdwpbQQHZ-I8kGHvYRtSvaFgtqiclGKA__A3_IDql22RudAuoFm8WvXNEIKhV-0GRtMd2pf2rq2gbO3sW_37VRZT7eEe8lLmGsfLaxrX4/s640/blogger-image--596889698.jpg"></a></div><br></div>This was the only time I spoke at NEA (San Diego 2009). Can't find any photos from state convention, which was a more typical occurrence. My proposal, to refer to education reform from our point of view as transformation, failed. But big win just to get up the courage to speak in front of thousands of people. <br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-90573969564979969762014-04-06T00:39:00.001-07:002014-04-06T00:41:28.141-07:00What Happened to my Good Intentions?<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">I recently watched a fascinating Ted Talk by science writer Ed Yong, about parasites that specialize in "subverting and overriding the wills of their hosts." For example, there is the case of a suicidal cricket, who swallows a larvae of a Gordian worm, that grows to an adult within the cricket. When the worm needs to mate, it needs water. So the worm releases proteins that makes the cricket jump into water, committing suicide by drowning. The worm wiggles out of the cricket carcass and continues its life cycle. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCdO40JeaqXUHaL1c1PBs7gtNsNO_66LD5Suz6oqgZF9CA77HoZXKVTOFhmNY02Jb-humHgBpp-eAw_FjJyL4Rl1eITyaE_ddVk3d95ZjU5TQoqDMRD5CcHxFHdf0uD_LteccWUVYuUs/s640/blogger-image--679294220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCdO40JeaqXUHaL1c1PBs7gtNsNO_66LD5Suz6oqgZF9CA77HoZXKVTOFhmNY02Jb-humHgBpp-eAw_FjJyL4Rl1eITyaE_ddVk3d95ZjU5TQoqDMRD5CcHxFHdf0uD_LteccWUVYuUs/s640/blogger-image--679294220.jpg"></a></div><br><p></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; text-indent: -36px; font-family: Helvetica;">I think this is an apt metaphor for what happened to my good intentions. I was taken over by the Gordian worm of pressure to perform well on the "test." </p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 36px; text-indent: -36px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">I have realized, after working on third quarter report cards, that I have not been the teacher I want to be. I do not have enough grades to justify a grade in science for the third quarter. That is a humiliating confession to make, but I'm sure others can relate. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">This will change in the fourth quarter, for sure. On the one hand, when testing is over, real teaching and learning begins. On the other hand, maybe I should just, as much as possible, without being limited by preparing for the "test," do learning activities that engage students and know that there will be learning, even if it is not necessarily test prep. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">I would love to be that radical. And that is the whole purpose of this blog, to be the teacher I want to be. Baby steps. Last week, I was determined to get science in at least once. We are studying the human body, system by system. For each system, I plan some kind of inquiry lesson. For the skeletal system, we made cylinders and rectangular prisms (geometry - integration ! ) from index cards and tested to see which could hold the most books. This was a very simple inquiry, but the joy of learning was evident. Students asked questions and proposed ideas of why the cylinder held more books. They made connections to why the cylindrical bone shape makes sense. </p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9qWBDcGZuSKZVi1RaWh0ntIztOhZFpcTAUjgJ6X10wp16cbDt-R1T-1ZACQHVWHTRL7-NZf2Xohk2p9EL0wgzPRIZCiTcx_lfNAdifq0oUEDS_CqS_CRNTFd1Iwg5arSfXySVdycIm8/s640/blogger-image-779980679.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9qWBDcGZuSKZVi1RaWh0ntIztOhZFpcTAUjgJ6X10wp16cbDt-R1T-1ZACQHVWHTRL7-NZf2Xohk2p9EL0wgzPRIZCiTcx_lfNAdifq0oUEDS_CqS_CRNTFd1Iwg5arSfXySVdycIm8/s640/blogger-image-779980679.jpg"></a></div><br><p></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">It was a refreshing change of pace from the angst of fractions, even if it is with licorice whips (Oh, yeah, that was a good lesson too.) And I did pi Day with Ritz crackers and bits. So, I have not been totally manipulated by the worm. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 21px;"><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;">I'm still alive. </p><div><br></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-17555880303623035342014-03-30T16:51:00.001-07:002014-03-31T08:16:08.397-07:00Fractions and Other MonstersSo life in Ms. Aoki's class has been a bit chaotic. We are doing fractions, and it is a continuation of what they were supposed to learn last year. Everyone seems to need help (except for a couple of good math students). Everybody needs to use the manipulatives, everybody needs to be directed to find equivalent fractions in order to get common denominators. Many are escape artists and find creative ways to avoid going through the process. They say, "It's hard!" Because I can only help a few at one time, and only very few can be peer tutors, and my adult tutor has been absent, there is a lot of room for shenanigans, pretend work, and attempts to do anything else but fractions. <div><br></div><div>So, I am reflecting on my approach. I realize that I can't go on with this approach of self-directed (Montessori-style) discovery learning with manipulatives. I need to entice them into the joy of fractions, so I went shopping looking for a food item that I can use to divide into fractions. Soft chocolate chip cookies? Too small and crumbly. Tortillas for quesadillas? Too much trouble. Bread? Not even on all sides. Red vines? Yes! So I will try red vines, and less independence, and see if I can decrease the frustration for both them and me. </div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHE1PwNcRlyqjKOZscwEtR70xcMVs9c0hjshg2cbMNX8EE0nQZta1NITpBPywXzDFXsmZfhFeQxu6PtRKUtipsdwozY6i4qnXgIExZ33HnayKFyBM7SntDSYHof0i8yvA9bRNSGji8RU/s640/blogger-image-407280119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHE1PwNcRlyqjKOZscwEtR70xcMVs9c0hjshg2cbMNX8EE0nQZta1NITpBPywXzDFXsmZfhFeQxu6PtRKUtipsdwozY6i4qnXgIExZ33HnayKFyBM7SntDSYHof0i8yvA9bRNSGji8RU/s640/blogger-image-407280119.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">How about this for a song? (Mulberry Bush) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This is way we add fractions</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">With unlike</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Denominators.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We need to find <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">equivalent fractions</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So that they both have </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Common denominators. </div><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;">Find common multiples</div><div class="separator" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; clear: both;">And use the </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Least of them.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">You can use the <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Identity property</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">To multiply</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The fraction in question.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Two<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> over two, three over three</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Whatever you need</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">To get common denominators.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Add only the numerators,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The denominator stays the same.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Don't forget simplest form</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Divide with common factors</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Number over number</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">How do you know it's <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">simplest form? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">When the greatest common factor </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Is one. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">(A draft)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-81063341793124595282014-03-18T13:47:00.003-07:002014-03-18T13:47:48.947-07:00Can I Just Be Eeyore? Melding Positivity and Awareness<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">
I do believe. I do believe. I do believe in a positive attitude. But I am conflicted because I also believe in knowing the truth about the world, and it can be downright depressing. Do I stop learning about the world? Climate change? Fracking? GMOs? Unending wars? Poverty? Evils of education reform? </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">
I just read about how Michelle Rhee pays Bangladeshi click farms to"like" her Students First Facebook page. Oh, and don't get me started on the New York charter school tantrums, and Bill Gates' egocentric efforts, and Common Core and the founder's bad attitude, and the inherent profit motives therein. It's just one outrageous thing after another. Does it matter? Does it matter out here in the middle of the Pacific? Is my island state insulated from all this madness? Well ... </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">
We are a Race to the Top state, which means we had to adopt the Common Core and teacher evaluation tied to student achievement. Our contract talks hinged on a successful negotiation regarding this evaluation. As a member of the board of the union at the time, I had to sell this to members, that this was a good thing, that we negotiated a joint committee to assure that this system would be fair, reliable, based on research. It's because of an insistence that our evaluation not be solely based on standardized testing, as it is in some states, that we have these multiple measures. The unintended consequence of multiple measures is an increased work load and stress load. We stress about the Tripod student Survey, we stress about the Danielson observations, we stress about the testing, we stress about Core professionalism. So, yes, education "reform" is here too, breaking our backs and our spirits. This is a trial year for the new evaluation system, but it is getting harder and harder to believe that it will be any different next year. Yet, we hope our feedback and survey responses will make a difference. Our energy should be going into the classroom, not into these superfluous matters.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -36px;">Then there's the classroom. I have a student who has figured out, consciously or not, if he makes enough of a disruption in class, he'll get kicked out, and so he doesn't have to do any work. That's just one of my challenges. There's the challenge of not just teaching students how to solve problems but to explain their reasoning. There are the challenges of emerging hormones, note-passing, spitball-playing, bullying, teasing, arguing and disruption-denying. There's the challenge that the content is pretty darn difficult and though I try, I just can't make it fun and games all the time. Sometimes, you just have to watch me do this division problem using zeroes to extend the dividend! And then you have to do it. Because that's what you learn in fifth grade. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">
Positive? I thought celebrating pi day was a positive plan, a diversion from the curriculum. But that's me being a math nerd. My habitual disruptor didn't come to school, so I don't know if this would have passed his test for "not boring." I realized as I was teaching, maybe they don't think it's as cool as I think it is. Oh well. I can only do so much. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">
My point? I believe in quality public education that encourages creativity, compassion, and critical thinking and I I don't believe in the Common Core. Though I believe in accountability, I don't believe in putting teachers under more scrutiny than necessary. Though I believe in knowing where kids are in their educational needs, I don't believe in high stakes standardized testing. Though I believe in engaging kids in order to teach them, I don't believe that I need to entertain kids all the time. These are some of the conflicting forces that I deal with on a daily basis. </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">
I keep seeing memes on Facebook that have to do with having a positive attitude in some way or another. Though sometimes, I do feel like woe-is-me Eeyore, I really am the eternal optimist, never do I even entertain the possibility of hopelessness. I don't think I can ever be a Tigger, but I can try to be more even-keeled and balanced, more Pooh-ish maybe. On the other hand, if this quote encapsulates Eeyore, I'm Eeyore and proud.</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9WDAtwiMp1cneCr8AGz1GT0xfRe0Fh1Gj9tQpOuXRSaI-vj2_HYPMtovJi8GsMIelcePvWSTlX3U61F6zOV-0wGawaqCkda-bne1Y7wn4LZ9_eGfjrav2IdUt_q7eMqF7d85MhGyYDwU/s640/blogger-image--836366475.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9WDAtwiMp1cneCr8AGz1GT0xfRe0Fh1Gj9tQpOuXRSaI-vj2_HYPMtovJi8GsMIelcePvWSTlX3U61F6zOV-0wGawaqCkda-bne1Y7wn4LZ9_eGfjrav2IdUt_q7eMqF7d85MhGyYDwU/s640/blogger-image--836366475.jpg" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-33415653975198097692014-03-01T12:39:00.001-08:002014-03-01T12:52:34.940-08:00Why I Don't Get Rah-Rah Over Standardized Testing<p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">Had a conversation with someone who shall remain nameless about motivating students to do better on the HSA (Hawaii State Assesments, which will be replaced next year by the Common Core Smarter Balanced test.) This person prefaced our conversation by saying that she also hates standardized testing and what its emphasis has done to our schools. Yet she says, but I do make a big deal out of it and I have had 90% of my students, some of whom were special education students, either pass or improve on their HSA. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">Perhaps this correlation can be made - I don't make a big deal of the HSA: My students do not score well on them. (We just took the first round of two). Therefore, If I were to become a cheerleader for the HSA, my students would score better. Why would I do this? Let me play devil's advocate to myself. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If getting a proficiency score on the HSA meant that the student would come away with the experience a better person, a more confident person, believing that if they can get 300, they can do anything, wouldn't I want to gift them with this nugget of self-worth? Wouldn't I sacrifice my own personal beliefs about the fallacies of standardized testing so that students would receive this oh so valuable gift? If I don't, and can't make that sacrifice, am I being selfish, egocentric, disingenuous, a charlatan? </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">I guess I have this thing about meaning. I abhor meaninglessness. I don't believe the HSA is meaningful because there is no way for us to know if what we are teaching is really matched to the test. We have to assume. We have to trust, without ability to verify. In this transition year to the Common Core, we were told that there was a different "Bridge Assessment" and that if we focused on these identified Common Core standards, this is what would be in the bridge. So, like good soldiers, we made these standards the focus of our instruction, and the objectives in our SLOs. (Hawaii teachers know this as the bane of our year). Come to find out, it looks like the same HSA test as before. This was confirmed by a DOE talking head who told us that it would have been better for us to focus on the old standards rather than the Common Core. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">And then we were given, during our duty-free lunch period (never again!), these color copies that are supposed to show student growth over time based on the HSA. Our evaluation is going to be based on how their scores improved or did not from year to year. Oh, the outrage. Generally, what most of us on my grade level see, is a decrease from third to fifth grade. Can this be because we are all terrible teachers? Is that the only variable? We only know that some of the high scores do not reflect the students that we know. But there is no way to validate. When we agreed to the new Educator Evaluation System, we agreed to fair, reliable, valid means of evaluation. This way of showing student growth is totally junk science, and our union had better make this clear to the DOE. Getting rah-rah about something that is so pernicious is like being forced to campaign for someone I don't believe in, is like marrying someone I don't love, like drinking whiskey that I don't like the taste of just because I've been told it's good stuff. I will keep looking for apt similes. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">I can see getting rah-rah about doing well in school, about paying attention in class, and participating to learn. About learning. About increasing knowledge and skills. About thinking. About communicating. About problem-solving. About getting along with each other. About celebrating and developing your strengths and strengthening your weaknesses. This is what is meaningful to me as a teacher. This is why I teach. But I do not teach to be validated by my students' standardized test scores. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;">I am not done with this topic. I have not answered the question posed by my devil's advocate in my second paragraph. To be continued. </p><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjoZlW0JQ0imzSBOT2xusqW8FekZR6L40DyVKEPhhDNmFc0Z06Hw_5tTc4RiaFc8nOF-P15N73okgbOgS9OFH6Phi7aL2Lfd_1tm2BuanJBJfEtVCzC8Ak3uCQUyc9AVDxXC_extmyOFo/s640/blogger-image--313236216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjoZlW0JQ0imzSBOT2xusqW8FekZR6L40DyVKEPhhDNmFc0Z06Hw_5tTc4RiaFc8nOF-P15N73okgbOgS9OFH6Phi7aL2Lfd_1tm2BuanJBJfEtVCzC8Ak3uCQUyc9AVDxXC_extmyOFo/s640/blogger-image--313236216.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Testing and all the other evaluation stuff is what I thought about when I saw this. </div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-6356325075824070142014-02-17T18:57:00.001-08:002014-02-17T19:01:20.677-08:00Write it! Sing it!<p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">I have written songs <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>for teaching in the past, but after attending GLAD training, I am affirmed that this is a good thing to do, and helps students to learn material better. So I have gone to town with this, and I have written a lot of songs for math since the training. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(Answer words for operations, partial quotients for division, use multiplication to solve division, estimation, rounding, subtraction with regrouping) One thing that I haven't done yet, is upload them to the GLAD site. It's on my to-do list, but I never seem to get to it. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">I am a bit disappointed that they are not magic spells. Students still need to put some energy and effort out to learn the material even if it is packaged in the form of a song or a chant. Case on point: I wrote about estimation to the tune of Hallelujah, that you round the 2- digit divisor to the nearest ten to start with, (Estimation/Two-Digit/Divisor/Round to tens.... ) and I still see students who forget to try that and are stumped because they are trying to estimate with a divisor of 27, when they could more easily estimate with 30. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">To be fair to me- many more students are better at estimation than when I first tried to teach them. I don't know if it's because of the songs or just practice, or having the expectation that this is part of the assignment. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">No matter, I realized that writing songs and chants sustains me. When I have had a down day, frustrated over students' progress, wondering how else I can present a concept so that they can learn it better, I write a song or chant. I don't go on a search on the internet or the GLAD website. I am inclined to write it myself. I enjoy it. I am rejuvenated by it. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">(The image here is a beautiful testament to music, and I think what I do is like a little fingernail of what it should be, but at least it's a little fingernail. ) </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfEgT_t7ftXTG4ELBTYvnmrhtPs6mxxGBoEM0IdbGApkXUN1ev8GLIk3Ta0hPt29UoPvmn9t7zxAQ-fMHHdQH9ME8dw-kfEIBc6v8FlhbZ9CzX8l-j9Hwc_KtggxBCrt56rFEfS_fFDc/s640/blogger-image--1447069049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfEgT_t7ftXTG4ELBTYvnmrhtPs6mxxGBoEM0IdbGApkXUN1ev8GLIk3Ta0hPt29UoPvmn9t7zxAQ-fMHHdQH9ME8dw-kfEIBc6v8FlhbZ9CzX8l-j9Hwc_KtggxBCrt56rFEfS_fFDc/s640/blogger-image--1447069049.jpg"></a></div><br><p></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><br></p>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-58385084064120026102014-02-16T13:02:00.001-08:002014-02-16T13:03:24.902-08:00Testing Week: Fraud and Quiet<p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Standardized testing week is a mixed bag. Here's the up side. My load is easier because I don't teach during the week, and I give very little homework. Because I don't have stacks of papers to grade, I have more time to plan, which is the part of teaching that I enjoy. Only a few of my students are stressed out by testing, because I don't make it a big deal. Only the ones who put pressure on themselves or pick up the pressure from other sources, stress out. I give them snacks. It is quiet for a change. Aw, peace and quiet. Afterwards, when everyone is done they had free time on the computers. There is still a sense of optimism because they know there is another chance in May. And if they improve, which most do, we are happy, even if they don't make that magic 300.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Now, the down side, aside from connectivity issues.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> We are not supposed to look at the questions. We are not supposed to read them the questions because there is, in math, a text-to-speech feature to do that, even if many students don't use it (it sounds weird, it sounds fuzzy, it sounds like a robot, I hate that voice). I am not supposed to tell them to use the text-to-speech even if I notice that they are not using it, I know they are poor readers, or there is a lot of difficult text. I am not supposed to remind them to use the formula chart if they forget what volume or area is. I am not supposed to tell them to go back and check their work even though I know they rushed, and know they randomly clicked clicked through it. All I am supposed to do is teach them what I can beforehand, teach them the tools that are there beforehand, set up the test, get my session ID, approve them to get them started, and log out when the session is done.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Standardized testing, whether online or bubble tests, have always troubled me as a teacher. I don't really remember them when I was a student. Oh yeah, that's because they didn't overrun the school year. I remember PSATs, ACTs and SATs, but that wasn't a school thing, only for those of us planning to go to college. But my memories of school (public school in Guam) were the projects I did, the songs I sang, the friends I hung out with, the games I played, the reports I wrote, the classes and teachers I had, my little (multiplication tables) and big (school spelling bee champ, student council, honor society) victories. Oh, and the bomb scares in high school. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As an adult, I took the GREs and the PRAXIS teaching test, which I studied for using the commercial study guides. These were very helpful. You could do well on the test because you knew what was going to be on the test, and you could study for it. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But, our computerized HSA is not like that. There is no way to know if the questions are aligned to the standards, to know if what you are teaching is what is being tested. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When it was a bubble test, you could read the questions, and once in a while you found one that was ridiculous, not a match to standard, or confusing, even to a teacher. You were able to send your concerns to the testing office and usually get a response. One year, a testing company was fired because of so many complaints and errors. But now, you can't do that because if you do, you are revealing that you "looked," you broke protocol - broke the rules! </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Yet, starting this year, thanks to our new Educator Evaluation System, 25% of our rating will be determined by student test scores. Some would say that is nothing to be worried about because if you get effective ratings on the other 75%, you're still good. However, how can we held accountable for test scores if we have no way to verify that it is a valid test? Are the questions well-written? Are they a match to standards? Is it really a test for the standard, or is it more a test for computer skills, or reading skills? Or test-taking skills? </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> And then there's the Common Core. We were told that only certain Common Core standards would be on what they called the "bridge" assessment. We have a new Common Core curriculum, (GoMath) and so we are dealing with not only the implementation of a new curriculum and new standards, but supposedly a different "bridge" assessment. We were told to focus on only a few CC standards that would be on the HSA, which we did. Here is where I confess that I looked at the test. In my criminal "looking", I did not see any of these bridge standards, but it pretty much looked like the usual online HSA. However, there is really no way to verify my hunch or not, because I wasn't supposed to be "looking." But here we were, being good little boys and girls (us teachers) teaching what we thought we had to be accountable for, and then, oh, never mind. Rug pulled out. Ouch. </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Today, on the Badass Teachers Facebook page, a question was asked: "Should we start petitions in every state demanding that all standardized tests be returned to teachers and parents for their review, so they can use them to help students?" Resounding yes to that. This is the ONLY use I can see from standardized tests. Unless I see specifically how my students answered on these tests, I won't know what I need to help them with, or if it is even worth spending time on. As it is, it is meaningless. Oh yes, like I said in the first paragraph, there are a few selfish perks to it, but still meaningless educationally and a waste of time and resources. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Anti-testing activists (I consider myself one) claim our current climate of standardized testing is child abuse. It doesn't appear that way if you observe my classes. The crime is not child abuse<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">. The crime is fraud. </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QLki9_-QCtqnJfdVGSIxdn1E_icn6a0dxDNJQc4LiUCCROp3lAXIOrgvuz-koUpbvInp-0jq0ymX7EllC045dagimLydaMNcYVpAy4tiUYcvnaj35FPn0HJwb8xFv2502AisnUzCjPA/s640/blogger-image--432918574.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QLki9_-QCtqnJfdVGSIxdn1E_icn6a0dxDNJQc4LiUCCROp3lAXIOrgvuz-koUpbvInp-0jq0ymX7EllC045dagimLydaMNcYVpAy4tiUYcvnaj35FPn0HJwb8xFv2502AisnUzCjPA/s640/blogger-image--432918574.jpg"></a></div><br><p></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><br></p>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-83173598180903494582014-01-12T13:12:00.001-08:002014-01-12T13:31:12.688-08:00Addressing Gender Gaps - Under-Achieving Boys<p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In Hawaii, all public schools are supposed to go through a stakeholder-involved process to adopt their academic and financial plans for the following year. Most people look forward to this process like doing taxes, or serving on juries, or getting a root canal. This year, our energetic vice principal led the process with sincerity and enthusiasm, and it was, for the most part, a positive endeavor. Speaking for myself, if I can come away with even one piece of insight that I didn't have before, I am satisfied. And I did. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>One of the last things we had to do was look at the academic "data" - aw that dreaded four-letter word. This one piece stood out for me, and for many. We have a significant gender gap in achievement in which the girls out-perform the boys in ALL areas. I normally take test data with many grains of salt, but when I saw this one, it resonated. At the risk of being considered sexist for making generalizations about boys vs girls, I think the data, and especially my gut resonance to the data, needed to be taken seriously. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I know it's the boys who frustrate me because it's the boys who "fool around" too much, who don't focus, who get into fights, who don't control their impulses, who take pens apart to make spitball cannons, who swear, who get sent to the office for referrals, who defy authority. These are generalizations, but it is generally the truth. I love them for their energy, but the shadow part of this energy is frustration. Not to say that all girls are angels, but they generally don't have the negative behaviors that disrupt the classroom environment, as I set it up. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I didn't have to reflect too long to realize what I needed to do. It's what I've been saying I needed to do for a long time, but that I have a hard time doing in a significant way. I need to do more science, which I love anyway, and in math, I need to do more games. As for the classroom learning environment, I need to be more tolerant of noise, although that is a fine line because many of the girls complain when it is too noisy, and I need to consider their needs too. I noticed that if the learning is happening through hands-on games, no one notices the noise. In the games, I need to use competition as a motivator, balancing the goal of cooperation as well. That is also a fine line. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Now, I know that the "data" inspired me to make some conscious choices to have a more boy-friendly environment. It is enough for me, to have all my students engaged and enjoying learning. Ironically, even though I came to this resolve via test score data, I don't really care about the test score results. I think when I start making the test results the goal, I make behavioral control the issue, which becomes like herding wild goats with the boys. I believe that the obsession with standards and test scores is the problem. I lie if I say I don't care about the test results. It is hard not to let it affect you. That is also a fine line, to care enough and not to care too much about something that may or may not be connected to actual student learning. But focusing on meeting the needs of the students, boys and girls, is more valuable to me. It is what I try to make my credo. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><font color="#000000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuyTSvCGUj9gRngiMo48WkB0IW88OFRv96ZFJEQzY0PERHXydHL-NBvwXZN_0ace4WfQPCaqMqyfPYKKvG_2v9DNTZe_gZTmvck8KbkUfmvK_1bqqARx_t0bh3dYx84OJvVhQ2pYQCcM/s640/blogger-image--2015306840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuyTSvCGUj9gRngiMo48WkB0IW88OFRv96ZFJEQzY0PERHXydHL-NBvwXZN_0ace4WfQPCaqMqyfPYKKvG_2v9DNTZe_gZTmvck8KbkUfmvK_1bqqARx_t0bh3dYx84OJvVhQ2pYQCcM/s640/blogger-image--2015306840.jpg"></a></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This is a boy - girl team who made a robot out of recycled materials and also were successful at making the snowflake "flower" seen in the foreground. </div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-28226089745833100912013-12-29T15:22:00.001-08:002013-12-29T15:23:40.210-08:00Mid-Year Testing Blues<p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Before break, there was mid-year testing. It is computerized so we get immediate results, but we don't really know what was tested and what the questions were. We just have to have faith that it is a valid instrument, a valid way of showing growth. But I am of little faith in these things. Oh me, of little faith.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Results? I'm disappointed. Depressed, even, if I stop to let it affect me. I shake it off. The reports don't give me much information except their scores and whether or not they passed certain standards. On the one hand, I can say that our students are lacking pre-requisite skills to be ready for these new standards. This gap in their learning is to be expected. On the other hand, it still feels terrible. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I have been tracking their progress in class. I know their skills have improved. Most of them are better at solving a long division problem than they are at estimating. I am not okay with that because it means they don't really have conceptual understanding. But, at least they can divide now. Many of them. If I just look at their work in class, I feel more successful. But somehow it didn't transfer in the test-taking situation. I am willing to change my practice so that students think critically, understand conceptually, even learn to enjoy math. But I am not willing to change my practice with the intent to do well on tests. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I have heard this line of thinking that if students are engaged, and your teaching strategies are sound, then students will do well on tests. I disagree. My life as a teacher is about negotiating this tension. Can we just teach? No, because now we have to be publicly accountable. Our lives and our careers will be based on how well our students do on these standardized tests. Even if it's only 25% of our total evaluation score, there's a psychological effect that makes it feel like 100%.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">What can I do? Pause. Reflect. Decide. Imua. I need to re-commit to engaging, meaningful lessons in which students can work cooperatively with each other and get something out of it even if they are at different levels. I will find ways to pull aside students who need extra help. I will find ways to challenge students who need to move ahead. I will maintain high standards in terms of critical thinking over rote learning. If I can keep that focus, and not mope about test scores, I will be able to get through the year.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UDGDpGbAY780mQtqnmlhROVb6OFsCgYUJvG3vD-7XV4gFO3X3W0ihUnEoFNoHDlnhHCpv0mCMk7cJDj69FQQSAyyanuatunRXTvwwnH9TPK3H3w4OPk8eHEV6-6q61Rva8kYZDln5sI/s640/blogger-image--1722253854.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UDGDpGbAY780mQtqnmlhROVb6OFsCgYUJvG3vD-7XV4gFO3X3W0ihUnEoFNoHDlnhHCpv0mCMk7cJDj69FQQSAyyanuatunRXTvwwnH9TPK3H3w4OPk8eHEV6-6q61Rva8kYZDln5sI/s640/blogger-image--1722253854.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br><p></p>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-52526158996009955472013-12-29T15:08:00.001-08:002013-12-29T15:23:27.918-08:00Good Idea Grant Project Unfolds<span style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Another thing that happened was that I got my Good Idea grant project going (projects using electronic modules called LittleBits). It's not going quite how I envisioned it, but it's going. I had to decide from the beginning how structured to make this. I went with the Little Bits company motto, "Make Something That Does Something." Pretty loose. At a certain point, I had this feeling that it was chaotic, and not going how it was supposed to go. The students were supposed to make a plan, and then build from their plan. It seemed that they were just doing whatever came to their mind. They saw styrofoam balls and wanted to make a snowman. They saw pipe cleaners and wanted to make candy canes. And heaven forbid, someone made guns from the connecting cubes. They were even making projects that had no plan to incorporate the Little Bits! They started to do their own thing rather than work with partners, which was one of the objectives. The supply box was a mess. The room was a mess. This same day, my principal came in, and I was horrified, because I thought things were going very badly. When she left, I had a talk with them. And as I was talking to them, I realized that there were a few teams who were focused, on task, and actually putting a lot of thought and effort into their projects.</span> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">One student had ambitious plans to make a hover craft, but realized, after trying, that with the materials we had, it would not work. This is exactly the idea. This is engineering, trial and error, problem-solving. No, the projects were not very complex, but it was a first effort. When I spoke to my principal the next day, she had noticed those good projects and said encouraging things. I think I got a thumbs up from her. I am thinking about how I can make the process more structured when we get back from break. I will not give up.</span><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghFi6gkji8LdXqRDa2Oe91MwQdIJ114nhCWjx89CGdyuCgWov0vtSev-MI3GdDA6sf2jcONHyDJptq-bwUerOWrGdhZ4jHAfw1-PCZNjxwdud2x9KG8OXWptsGsb7GK7WgC79wlvT3UXg/s640/blogger-image--370220739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghFi6gkji8LdXqRDa2Oe91MwQdIJ114nhCWjx89CGdyuCgWov0vtSev-MI3GdDA6sf2jcONHyDJptq-bwUerOWrGdhZ4jHAfw1-PCZNjxwdud2x9KG8OXWptsGsb7GK7WgC79wlvT3UXg/s640/blogger-image--370220739.jpg"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghFi6gkji8LdXqRDa2Oe91MwQdIJ114nhCWjx89CGdyuCgWov0vtSev-MI3GdDA6sf2jcONHyDJptq-bwUerOWrGdhZ4jHAfw1-PCZNjxwdud2x9KG8OXWptsGsb7GK7WgC79wlvT3UXg/s640/blogger-image--370220739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZauPvCZe2VGNJNAe6pSK8du-6is94eI05WEQ0WOBTSGeiOKV0LCt6yI-C_j8RUu7rBdWBmhrO2gRu29t_uNoR-BstYYRuYGiZ8vu31JXJCgbLI_ZB8kj4wa_MgnRLZQ2AFfDa56NH6Gc/s640/blogger-image-1419695499.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZauPvCZe2VGNJNAe6pSK8du-6is94eI05WEQ0WOBTSGeiOKV0LCt6yI-C_j8RUu7rBdWBmhrO2gRu29t_uNoR-BstYYRuYGiZ8vu31JXJCgbLI_ZB8kj4wa_MgnRLZQ2AFfDa56NH6Gc/s640/blogger-image-1419695499.jpg"></a></div></div><br></span></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-83946522157461203572013-12-29T14:55:00.001-08:002013-12-29T15:23:13.688-08:00Why Professional Development? What the answer is not<br><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I haven't written in a while, which is strange because so much has happened. We had a whole week of very good professional development (GLAD training based on best practices especially for English Language Learners and 1 day of Singapore math). The kind of professional development in which you know you learned something and you know you will use what you learned, because it makes so much sense. In a way, it's validating that this is what the "powers that be" are encouraging us to do. It seems child-centered, language-development centered, and in the case of one day training with Singapore math, conceptual understanding focused. This is in line with my philosophy of teaching. A couple of times the trainers referred to how the students will do better on tests if you use these strategies, and I noted my dislike for that reference on their evaluation. I understand that testing is so much a part of our teaching culture, that to suggest that it is not important "does not compute." Writing is important, communication is important, language is important, thinking is important. But standardized high stakes testing is not that important. At some point, my way of thinking will be the norm and not the radical viewpoint. So I have to keep saying it, planting those seeds, reminding people to always have their teaching philosophy at the front of their consciousness. Most teachers don't say that the reason they teach is so their students can do well on tests. I hope not anyways. Most teachers will say either they love children and want to make a difference in their lives or they love a certain subject and want to share that love with their students.</span> </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmc5pT6b13UVtuAxbTKqdVS8CPptXhcI24y3KGjwsxtbWc9SNU6KmyZRJbmJncHixZoDp4Gc7E-qpIeR36ZGtRg7X6iv-6e8Vev-yOqxeoeYX-UkuQOw9dOWvMwzwy84LOG3d_W58xk10/s640/blogger-image--841730399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmc5pT6b13UVtuAxbTKqdVS8CPptXhcI24y3KGjwsxtbWc9SNU6KmyZRJbmJncHixZoDp4Gc7E-qpIeR36ZGtRg7X6iv-6e8Vev-yOqxeoeYX-UkuQOw9dOWvMwzwy84LOG3d_W58xk10/s640/blogger-image--841730399.jpg"></a></div><br></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-51418280789639644702013-11-29T13:30:00.001-08:002013-11-29T13:30:40.534-08:00Reasons to be Thankful in my Life as a Teacher<p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> I am a very fortunate person. I am healthy, I have money in the bank, and a job that will provide me with a pension and health insurance when I retire. I am thankful for deciding 30 years ago, to have my daughter even though I wasn't married. That was the best decision I ever made. I am thankful for a wonderful, supportive family and great friends. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><br></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> But, I had a hard time being thankful for my life as a teacher. Last night at the Thanksgiving dinner table with mostly cousins and my niece, I expressed my frustration in my job and am considering retiring early. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I said, I feel like I'm being pulled in different directions. On the one hand, you want kids to love school. On the other, they have to learn things that are not always fun, especially when the standard is set so high. So there is a balancing act, more like a juggling act, and often the balls get dropped. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> I told my dinner table talk story partners, sometimes I feel that I am a terrible teacher, that maybe they would be better off without me. </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The other day, a cousin had a meet and greet with Lt Gov. Shan Tsutsui at their house, and though I wasn't planning to say anything, his empathy for teachers compelled me to express my frustration to him about the new educator evaluation system that we are being tortured with this year.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I guess the frustration is evident, both at this meeting and around the Thanksgiving dinner table. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I'm trying, trying, trying to combine the spirit of thanksgiving with my life as a teacher. Trying to overcome these dark shadows that seem to follow me everywhere, like PigPen in Peanuts. I belong to the Facebook group, Bad Ass Teachers, and we are angry at what is happening to public education across the nation. I click on articles and memes about the not so pleasant side of the Thanksgiving story and the tragic plight of the Native people everywhere. I'm reminded of the Cat Stevens song from my youth, "I'm being followed by a moon shadow, moon shadow, moon shadow."</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">And then it occurred to me. I have a student who makes a lot of noise in the class. Not just the pencil tapping, desk drumming, and put-downs, and not just the denials that he did it, but a constant refrain of, I'm dumb (dume, he spells it), and I'm stupid, and I can't ever do this, I won't ever get this. I had anxiety over using science time for motivation to improve behavior, put effort into classwork, and do homework. I kept threatening that this would happen- that I have to be able to trust that you have self-control in order for you to participate. I didn't want to leave anyone out, but I felt I had to follow through with my threat. On the first day, this challenging student did not get to participate, and at first, he was angry, but at some point, <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>it kicked in. He was quiet and focused. The next day, he turned in homework. He knew he qualified and all he had to do was maintain his good behavior the rest of the day. And he did! He had a marvelous day. He was shining! He was proud of himself! One student at his table said in her reflection, "I saw ___ show CARE (our school acronym for Cooperation, Acceptance, Responsibility, Enjoyment) <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>because when I asked him to share, he said yes and boys don't usually share." (sorry, boys, but that's her exact quote.) </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">There were still a few who did not get it, that <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>there was a cause and effect to this, but by the second day of holding them accountable, I think they did. I was agonizing over whether or not to use this science project as motivation, but after reading their reflections, and seeing the results, I have to conclude it was a good thing.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 21px;"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">So I am thankful for this student and others who give me reason to believe that I am not a terrible teacher. In fact, because I had the fortitude to hold up a standard of behavior as acceptable, because I had the strength to draw a boundary for them, they had a life experience of responsible acts, caring acts, reaping a positive result. Sometimes it's hard to be the adult, to draw the boundaries that are fair and equitable, and to follow through by being firm. But nothing else will produce that kind of pride that this student had in himself. "Coddling" and "empathy" for a child's anger and sadness will not; giving in to that only reinforces the bad behavior and choices. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The moonshadow has lifted. I'm thankful that my students came through. Whew.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBBTWa07wn_NIlAsolGljxzHqcq1Hybq7TJ1kO1bldVrU7Ye2-X0HFD_qldIfXjKli_qeFf1wlvAKAFk-w7q4yBZXeIOMNU8tyxsg1onN6i2tl8POravt9YGFcTTRUqjtUiUSJGLBMoHM/s640/blogger-image--1150962749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBBTWa07wn_NIlAsolGljxzHqcq1Hybq7TJ1kO1bldVrU7Ye2-X0HFD_qldIfXjKli_qeFf1wlvAKAFk-w7q4yBZXeIOMNU8tyxsg1onN6i2tl8POravt9YGFcTTRUqjtUiUSJGLBMoHM/s640/blogger-image--1150962749.jpg"></a></div><br><p></p><div><br></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-84920214218035041062013-11-11T12:10:00.001-08:002013-11-11T12:33:08.438-08:00Coping with the Pressure: Can We Find the Joy Again?<p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I have been talking to fellow teachers on the verge of tears, and with tears, and with so much frustration, over all the pressure we are going through now.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>For any readers who are not public school teachers in Hawaii, we are "piloting" a new Educator Evaluation System. We agreed to it when we ratified the contract, sans specifics. This version of our evaluation was a way to NOT have all of it based on student test scores, as it is in many states across the country. The NEA policy on teacher evaluation, which calls for "multiple measures," <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>supposedly guided the negotiations. We put a lot of faith in our representatives on the Joint Committee, to fight the good fight for us. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But there didn't seem to be a lot of room for compromise. The Race toThe Top agreements, as well as those made in the NCLB waivers, set an immovable stage for the drama that is "multiple measures." Because this is a trial year, it "doesn't count"; <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>whatever evaluation we get as a result of this is not going to be tied to money or an employment sanction. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So, why worry? </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Because it's not about money. We pretty much just want to teach. We want to do our jobs. We want to make a difference in the lives of children. We don't want to jump through endless hoops to satisfy bureaucratic mandates. Teachers express frustration that the time spent on all aspects of the EES is more than the time given to us to do these tasks, especially when you are told to redo your work. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They tell us all the work we're doing on the Student Learning Objectives is good for the school, it's good for us, it's good for the kids. I wonder. There's no way to know for sure. But morale is down, down, down. That's not good for us. And that can't be good for kids. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>At any rate, what I wanted to write about is how to cope and find joy amidst all the madness. Many teachers are retiring earlier than planned and the ones who can't retire are seriously looking at other careers. If you weigh it out, can't retire, want to stay in teaching, what strategies help you to cope? What strategies can get you though THIS year? </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Obviously, there's religion, whatever is your spiritual source of strength. Pray. There is no challenge too great that your faith cannot get you through. Or so they say. I need more than prayer. I need a plan, which I believe comes from a spiritual place as well. My religion has a more activist bent. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>For me, what got me through the NCLB years was fighting it, speaking up against it, believing that activism could change things. I was wrong, it seems. Education is in even more dire straits now than it was in the NCLB days. Now, the stress is on teachers, our evaluation being the pressure point. In the NCLB days it was about your school being branded as a failing school, rather than being branded a failing teacher, as the fear is now. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>You would think that I would be cynical about activism as a way of coping. But I'm not. I guess it's a process thing, a journey thing. The process, the journey, the belief that you can make a difference, gets you through the ordeal. You may not always get the outcome you wanted, but that desired outcome, gives you a vision, and having a vision gives you purpose. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When I was seriously considering leaving teaching about 8 - 10 years ago, I also became acquainted with the work of Parker Palmer, whose book, Courage to Teach, got me through that hump. When you realize and remember that you are entrusted with these precious beings, your perspective shifts. They are not test scores. They are children. They are young people. You are responsible for the development of their very humanity, conscientious citizens now and for the future. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>No, not you alone, but your part is valuable, not to be taken for granted. You also are responsible for your own contribution to the world. Being responsible for my children and myself, and acting on that responsibility, when the powers that be seem to be on a different wavelength, takes courage, hence the title, Courage to Teach. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Yes, we need to do what we're told. But we have a contract that can protect us. We are being paid the 21 hours more to work on the EES, and there are six hours of prep that can be taken as well, that don't require payback. Anything beyond that must be paid back in time and unless you can get a specific agreement on how and when it will be paid back, don't put in your own time to meet their demands. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We joyfully put in more than our contracted hours to prepare for lessons that we want to do, that foster great learning experiences. But what causes stress is putting in those extra hours grudgingly, based on mandates that we don't believe are in the best interests of the kids. Since this is a trial year, there needs to be a realistic evaluation of what really works. If you choose to bend over backwards and spend an inordinate amount of time to meet the demands, make sure you document it, so that we know exactly what it takes to make it work. But better, in my opinion, is to allow the contract to protect you. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The cure for stress is joy. I became a teacher because of my love for children, my belief that it was important work and that I would be good at it. Moments of connection, or engagement, or enlightenment, or attainment, or empathy, or compassion, or creativity, being pono, showing malama - these are moments we live for. I tell my students - it's like chocolate! You have it in your power to cultivate those chocolate moments. Maximize that, minimize the rest. </p><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTV0FllVtiWRHk4Cn70mmJb_gJFU8jf4pYJpnUqosYuu7BHlWw_23e1LkCGHcXB3aswZGMjqsHCxpKEIXQ2FpwpxyX9JNWO8eMdw-u7U0MzprC_fHXCsGCmRJxIunwwe6X5x_iqo5n5w/s640/blogger-image--1668826116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTV0FllVtiWRHk4Cn70mmJb_gJFU8jf4pYJpnUqosYuu7BHlWw_23e1LkCGHcXB3aswZGMjqsHCxpKEIXQ2FpwpxyX9JNWO8eMdw-u7U0MzprC_fHXCsGCmRJxIunwwe6X5x_iqo5n5w/s640/blogger-image--1668826116.jpg"></a></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-63641661815255353982013-11-02T20:07:00.001-07:002013-11-03T12:24:10.984-08:00Students Hating School: Is it me?<p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I know I shouldn't take it personally but how can I not? At parent teacher conference, I heard a couple of times, that he or she hates school. They didn't say anything about hating me, thank goodness, but still, it makes me sad when I hear that one of my students hates school. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>On their exit passes that they do daily (a learning log), no one ever says, I love math, though they do say they love science a LOT. Oh yeah, there is one student who does love math. So I conclude, the problem is math, and it is not easy if you are not on grade level, which very few of them are, even less with the Common Core as the standard. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I used to hear more positive comments about math when I was teaching a more hands-on curriculum called Investigations. Yes, there were problems with it, having to do with alignment to standards, and how time-consuming some of the investigations were. But the students enjoyed it. They learned to see patterns. They developed conceptual understanding.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> This new Common Core aligned curriculum is definitely not fun. Fun is not the point. The Common Core is the point. What I am learning to do is negotiating with this new curriculum. How much of it should I use? Is it really important to give them 8 problems to do on a mid-unit check, when 4 will do to see if they are getting it? How important is it to answer a question like this: explain how estimating a quotient helps you to place the first digit of the quotient in a division problem? I try to do a practice session getting them to articulate the idea. It is like pulling teeth. The kids want me to write it so they can copy it. I don't do that. They cannot do it on their own. Does this sound like fun? Not much.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As I'm learning the curriculum, unfortunately, there is collateral damage. I give one of the tests, the kids freak out, generally. It is too dense, too many problems, too confusing. I teach the lessons, they<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> are not kid-friendly, so I have to translate. I have to do a lot of reteaching. I don't even assign the story problems any more because they are too confusing. We do them together, step by step, deconstructing them. But does that sound like fun? Not much. </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><br></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How do you make math fun? Is that even possible? Are we resigned to tell them, math is work, and it doesn't have to be fun? It got better when I implemented GLAD strategies. One of the GLAD strategies is learning through chants and songs. So, I have written some songs for math. I had done this in the past, but I feel even more desperate to do it now. I enjoy writing them as opposed to looking up resources that others have written. It fulfills a creative urge in me. My students enjoy it too, and I think it has been helpful. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I believe that something will be more pleasurable if there is a sense of accomplishment. I want my classroom to be about making individual progress rather than being focused on a standard. That seems so radical, but I think that is one way I'm going to get students to feel and be successful. I, as the teacher, need to know the standard as well as the steps to get there. I need to inculcate in my students the right to feel successful as they progress. If they are not progressing, I need to figure out why. But, phooey the standard as a goal, as the end all and be all. Students are the end all and be all. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiN-wVCb9WGteHBik-pEMdEEHOozZV7TJHTtN1fr-q51AGEwr6oyyK02RsboOV_1Omx7hwQvUEJKXYWAVnukHQYtBrS2vegKEF-abOr4xX1bDlsYylM-BeIQNiSYNtjw64S85cVXfnLpU/s640/blogger-image-1107177787.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiN-wVCb9WGteHBik-pEMdEEHOozZV7TJHTtN1fr-q51AGEwr6oyyK02RsboOV_1Omx7hwQvUEJKXYWAVnukHQYtBrS2vegKEF-abOr4xX1bDlsYylM-BeIQNiSYNtjw64S85cVXfnLpU/s640/blogger-image-1107177787.jpg"></a></div><br><p></p>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-28241404603891355072013-10-26T18:22:00.001-07:002013-10-26T18:22:18.292-07:00Reflections on Fifth Grade Division (That Sounds So Sad)<p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div> I have experienced a few pendulum swings over the years. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When I first started teaching in Hawaii, we had homogenous classes for language arts and math. I had the remedial class and used a skills-based curriculum in which they could progress at their own pace. For the past 7 years, I have been a math and science specialist in classes that include several English Language Learners in heterogenous classrooms, with a wide range of abilities from being at grade level to several years behind grade level. Because our school keeps all the gifted and talented and many high achievers in one class, we rarely have students who are above grade level.<p></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">When I first entered teaching, we taught math pretty much how we were taught. I call it, "just do it" math. You don't have to understand it, you just have to follow the steps like I tell you to, and you will get the right answer. About eight years ago, our school chose a method of teaching math in which the point was conceptual understanding. The program itself was called Investigations, and I b</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">ecame an avid proponent.</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> My math education was a result of the "just do it" approach and I blame that approach on my math phobia, my Ds in Algebra in high school, and my general hatred of math. The trainer, Gail P., opened my mind, exercised my math muscles, guided me to understanding. I was sold. There were some problems with this curriculum, admittedly. It didn't align well to Hawaii standards. This didn't</span> <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">mean our school was necessarily on the wrong track, but we didn't test well; standardized tests don't assess conceptual understanding well. It was also inefficient, and perhaps too free-flowing. We want kids to develop understanding, but we want them to be disciplined thinkers. It didn't emphasize fluency so much, and many kids just did not have their "facts" down. We ended up having to do a juggling act, to include all the different components and expectations into our program. </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>And now comes Common Core. The PR on it claims to be about critical thinking and conceptual understanding. But when it comes down to it, it really goes back to the "just do it" math. This is what I am experiencing as we implement our new GoMath curriculum that is aligned with the CC. I believe there was a conflict among math educators about computational fluency versus conceptual understanding. It seems as if elements of both got into the CC, but what side is going to rule supreme? </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I just discovered that the CC standard does not specify the use of the traditional algorithm in division until 6th grade. This is somewhat good news, as my students, who have been developing conceptual understanding, are having a hard time making the leap to "just do it" math. I can go back to school on Monday, and tell them what I have found. This will relieve some stress, I hope. It's strange because the GoMath curriculum includes the traditional algorithm in division. The writers were probably on the side of computational fluency in the math wars.</span> </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I have several students who have transferred from other schools or even other countries. When we were working on conceptual strategies (distributive property, inverse operations, partial quotients, using models), they struggled. Now that we have moved on to the traditional algorithm, they are so happy, because they have already been taught this and know it by rote. </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My other students, most of whom I have had since 4th grade and have been in our school since kindergarten, are reacting the opposite. They don't understand it because it doesn't make sense. They are right. It doesn't make sense. It only makes sense to mathematicians and maybe math teachers, because they understand how it works. When you try to explain to a 5th grader how it works, it is very abstract and leads to confusion. If you teach the "just do it" way, there is no expectation to understand how it works, so it was easier for students to learn it. </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But it contributed to the prevalence of rote thinking. So what? you may say. They'll get the right answer and that's all that matters. And therein lies the question. Is getting the "answer" the most important thing? You see how the math wars went?</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> In the end, a math teacher has to take a stand one way or the other. This is my process for deciding my stand: (1) Why is math important to the average person? Math helps you to understand the world. If you have a sense of numbers and what numbers mean, you have a better sense of your place in the world. (2) So what method is better for an average person to make sense of the world? Conceptual math, I believe. Anyone can compute any problem on a calculator. No one really NEEDS to learn how to add, subtract, multiply, or divide. But an educated person needs to have a sense of what the numbers mean in order to make sense of the world. Learning to do computation is a good mental exercise because it develops an understanding of what numbers mean. But computation at the expense of thinking leads to rote thinking, surface thinking. It does not pass the litmus test of helping you to understand the world. </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There may be some students who will not go into the deeper areas of conceptual understanding, who will only do the "just do it" way, and they will generally be fine, calculator in hand to subtract 123- 12. But my goals for my students are more than that. My goals for my students are for them to be so comfortable with their sense of numbers and how they work, that they will see a scam right away, they will see mistakes in computations, they will be able to identify when something just doesn't make sense, they will be questioners and thinkers, they will feel confident in the world and in what they can do in it.</span> </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So, if you wonder why I am so uncomfortable teaching kids to "just do it," that's why. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6qmSEb6FcU4in93au1ZTmx_P1WLPut3VtOYQjGLm55K-vjqEsu91M2otX7dOYsbW0K4U95yynSiVBN3s3pbmByFigJlbvHsjige1xCT9ReNV7CsmcVeSCOpLDeE33mizRNsordzWDyE/s640/blogger-image--867527792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6qmSEb6FcU4in93au1ZTmx_P1WLPut3VtOYQjGLm55K-vjqEsu91M2otX7dOYsbW0K4U95yynSiVBN3s3pbmByFigJlbvHsjige1xCT9ReNV7CsmcVeSCOpLDeE33mizRNsordzWDyE/s640/blogger-image--867527792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmz1cl3jbKXYjNqvnzoIjcOlImpHtjPnxCD_TGegmuJqWmGwIDNyxXdM4A2fLGVZwipqPHrNDgHeaugibqj76qic-PPev8TVodtPBUiaK1KaRLIKsTQ9oDbcCJxgCGtXgr8XLzBM0_is/s640/blogger-image--2100202531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmz1cl3jbKXYjNqvnzoIjcOlImpHtjPnxCD_TGegmuJqWmGwIDNyxXdM4A2fLGVZwipqPHrNDgHeaugibqj76qic-PPev8TVodtPBUiaK1KaRLIKsTQ9oDbcCJxgCGtXgr8XLzBM0_is/s640/blogger-image--2100202531.jpg"></a></div><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6qmSEb6FcU4in93au1ZTmx_P1WLPut3VtOYQjGLm55K-vjqEsu91M2otX7dOYsbW0K4U95yynSiVBN3s3pbmByFigJlbvHsjige1xCT9ReNV7CsmcVeSCOpLDeE33mizRNsordzWDyE/s640/blogger-image--867527792.jpg"> Keeping track of their division progress. It was a bad day for the beginners. </div><br></div><br><p></p>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-22398807911753282112013-10-13T14:00:00.001-07:002013-10-13T14:02:59.776-07:00One Quarter Down, Three to Go ...<p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">On this, the Sunday before returning to work after a week break, I am taking a moment to reflect on my vision, the reason I started this blog. Am I the teacher I want to be? </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The answer is no, I'm DP, developing proficiency. Implementing a new curriculum with the Common Core standards was a huge bear on my pathway. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Common Core expected them to have mastered a lot of skills last year, that we didn't expect them to have mastered until the end of this year. That doesn't mean we haven't been doing our jobs, and it definitely doesn't mean the CC are better than our current standards. It just means the standards are higher, for better or worse. (That is a topic for another blog piece).</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So, because I perceived that the students are way behind where they "should" be, I was in panic mode trying to catch them up. It was always like this. The Hawaii standards were not easy. It was always about getting the students to meet standards, and they didn't all meet them. All along from kindergarten up to us in 5th grade, you have students at all levels. There are a few who do fine, who meet standards, who go on to middle school and beyond, and do well. Because of our focus on standards, they do fine. Even the average students eventually catch up, with effort. The struggle was always on the ones who are well below the standards. And now, it is even more difficult. I am trying to cram into them learning in one quarter that used to take the whole year. And it is not possible. The only way cramming is successful is if everyone - teacher, parents, student - participates in the cramming. And they don't. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Here is the dilemma: There is more content to learn because of the higher standards. The higher standards are pretty much rote learning, despite what the PR sell is on how the CC is about critical thinking and problem-solving. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I want to be the Teacher that makes learning engaging, relevant, and meaningful. Can there be a synthesis? A compromise? </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I think if I stick religiously with the curriculum materials that we are using, then I will never be the Teacher I Want to Be. I need to be able to use the parts that will be the most useful, and then let the rest go. I need to look at what works in my classroom that most takes kids from where they are - to get to the next level. I need to identify the math content that is the most challenging and impactful, and finds ways to break it down so that all of my students can find their entry point from which to proceed. I need to use science as the venue for critical thinking and problem-solving. I need to have a balance between math practice and skill-building and science. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So, I have, on paper (digital), come up with a plan to do this. More differentiated projects and structures for skill-building. More science to develop those 21st century skills - collaboration, communication, critical thinking and problem-solving. Am I full of it, am I blowing air? Well, change starts with an idea, becomes developed with a plan, then it's a matter of making it a reality. Step by step. Idea by idea, plan by plan. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I'll let you know how it goes.</p><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlnRUNxtW8qkmUR7MhqaXPTYDx5YTZ_A-nvmgTEzdBnbYbFl3Q41D6ZEs17tdwwLGf0AbMho1IYRrzvs-cSzWPpkcveOm2Qyuszc2WgguPjNGEqR156L-D555gyhKJiDtUh_PCQmOJIU/s640/blogger-image-408300187.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlnRUNxtW8qkmUR7MhqaXPTYDx5YTZ_A-nvmgTEzdBnbYbFl3Q41D6ZEs17tdwwLGf0AbMho1IYRrzvs-cSzWPpkcveOm2Qyuszc2WgguPjNGEqR156L-D555gyhKJiDtUh_PCQmOJIU/s640/blogger-image-408300187.jpg"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlnRUNxtW8qkmUR7MhqaXPTYDx5YTZ_A-nvmgTEzdBnbYbFl3Q41D6ZEs17tdwwLGf0AbMho1IYRrzvs-cSzWPpkcveOm2Qyuszc2WgguPjNGEqR156L-D555gyhKJiDtUh_PCQmOJIU/s640/blogger-image-408300187.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNcteDTiPoPc_kKWGa1NUPLGggBUDahP1Ra3PhyaCx6evxBJxnoQMHgrnQ-SSl17E8W_e8LFaSn62dF4-EleutgRxvUDno_csrO86O2ix34Ss3JdnDKXW8ugGgDzlI3qp1e3WUmtBEDI/s640/blogger-image-1718212423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNcteDTiPoPc_kKWGa1NUPLGggBUDahP1Ra3PhyaCx6evxBJxnoQMHgrnQ-SSl17E8W_e8LFaSn62dF4-EleutgRxvUDno_csrO86O2ix34Ss3JdnDKXW8ugGgDzlI3qp1e3WUmtBEDI/s640/blogger-image-1718212423.jpg"></a></div></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-55809341593203167602013-10-13T12:40:00.001-07:002013-10-13T12:43:14.579-07:00Why Take a Stand on Marriage Equality? Because of Love ...<p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A friend colleague of mine asked me why HSTA (Hawaii State Teachers Association) made a statement recently supporting marriage equality. She said she has heard people will quit their membership over this. Though I am no longer on the Board, I can only guess at what the debate may have been. First of all, I know that the National Education Association, our parent national union, is at it's core, all about social justice. The roots of the NEA are intertwined with civil rights history, including the abolition of slavery, gender equality, and racial equality. One of their strongest departments is the Human and Civil Rights departments. As a national organization, it is not surprising that they be on the forefront of pushing for equality for all. As a union, we find resonance with the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) quote, "An injury to one is an injury to all. " </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But going from the big picture to the small, from the abstract to the concrete, we know that our membership, like any cross-section of society, includes people who happen to love members of their own gender. These are my colleagues, these are my friends, my very dear friends. When it comes down to that <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>- away from what is being said at the pulpit or conservative media - how can you not want your friends to have the same rights as you have? </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I don't know what their argument is. I am a die-hard liberal, a progressive Christian and perhaps as set in my ways as they are. It is an effort for me to see it from their point of view. Could it be the same argument that was put forward by those who advocated for slavery way back when, that the slaves were not to be considered human, so they did not deserve human rights? Or those who tried to keep women and non-whites from achieving voting rights, that women and non-whites did not have the capacity to vote intelligently, and so it would not serve society to give them the right to vote? Or those who thought a woman's place was in the home and if granted equal rights, the fabric of society, the home, would be destroyed? I can imagine that it is along those lines - something about the fabric of society and the decline of civilization.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>But once you know and love a gay person, how in the world is it possible to maintain those beliefs about them? How can you not want them to have equal rights? How can you not want them to marry a person that they love and want to be committed to for their lifetime? More love will make the world more loving, a better place. In this world of petty politics, of abuse and hatred of all kinds, let there be love! </p><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZzm1a4Lg5cDA-Pd9rdEPn6b1IegJxTbL6e4nbcE1Uepi5LMMdeLpBc2JsMcKlDZH8uzdlnwjx7P7Dbp7KgSmnqnuu1vzJIl6PKWOxl7vLrO7WzZKOX8s6kJ1XQh_aWPHajn7O6kmMaVs/s640/blogger-image--116573812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZzm1a4Lg5cDA-Pd9rdEPn6b1IegJxTbL6e4nbcE1Uepi5LMMdeLpBc2JsMcKlDZH8uzdlnwjx7P7Dbp7KgSmnqnuu1vzJIl6PKWOxl7vLrO7WzZKOX8s6kJ1XQh_aWPHajn7O6kmMaVs/s640/blogger-image--116573812.jpg"></a></div>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-69701327241228890172013-10-08T17:37:00.001-07:002013-10-08T17:38:12.549-07:00Strengthening my Stand: Thanks to Diane Ravitch's new book, Reign of
Error<p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When I started speaking up against high-stakes testing in the era of No Child Left Behind, one of the common reactions I got from veteran teachers was, don't worry, this too will pass. They knew not to take anything seriously because of the pendulum swing of so-called innovation. I couldn't help but think there was more to what was going on than that, and I did worry. When I started to articulate that it's about the destruction of public education - they must have thought I was a paranoid conspiracy theorist. But with Diane Ravitch's new book, <u>Reign of Error</u>, subtitled "The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools," I feel validated. It is not a matter of a pendulum swing, it has been a planned takeover, a hoax. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ravitch is a historian. She documents her claims with evidence. She carefully lays out the hoax, how the corporate reformers, or privatizers, have deliberately and stealthily misled the public and politicians to perceive a crisis, so that they can claim their ultimate prize - control of public education and thereby it's destruction. She documents how the corporate reformers have taken some originally well-intended ideas, like charter schools and Teach for America, and managed to distort them to meet their needs, to make them fit into the plan to destroy public education. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This is not a partisan effort. Bush's No Child Left Behind policy caused more than it's fair share of the harm, but the abuse became intensified with Obama's Race to the Top, and his administration's other programs that over-emphasized testing and a solely economic justification for education. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This is all meaty stuff - depressing and negative. But it is negative in the way that bad news is negative. It's bad, but it's still news. We must face the facts, so that we can do something about it.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">This is what I love best about the book. Throughout the book, there is a thread of hope as she contrasts the corporate agenda to what it's supposed to be, what it should be, what it can be. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I highlighted those silver threads whenever I saw them, here are a few, with positive solutions underlined:</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"Once upon a time, education reformers thought deeply about the <u>relationship between school and society. </u>They thought about <u>child development</u> as the starting point. "(P.19)</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"The reformers define the purpose of education as preparation for global competitiveness, higher education, or the workforce. They view students as "human capital" or "assets " one seldom sees ...<u> the importance of developing full persons to assume the responsibilities of citizenship.</u>" (P. 34-35)</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"Children who are poor receive less <u>medical attention</u> and less <u>nutrition</u>, and experience more stress, disruption, and crises in their lives.... That is why por children need even <u>more stability</u>, more <u>support</u>, <u>smaller class sizes, and more attention from their teachers and others in their schools</u>, but often receive far less, due to underfunding." (P. 36)</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"Of course we can do better. <u>Students should be writing more and reading more and doing more science projects and more historical research papers and should have more opportunities to engage in the arts</u>." (P.54)</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"If we were serious about narrowing the gap ... schools ... would have a <u>stable, experienced teacher, a rich curriculum, social services, after-school programs, and abundant resources to meet the needs of their students." </u>(P.59)</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Regarding teacher evaluation based on student test scores: "If by great, we mean <u>teachers who awaken students' desire to learn, who kindle in their students a sense of excitement about learning,</u> scores on standardized tests do not identify those teachers." (P.113) </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"...there remains the essential question of why scores on standardized tests should displace every <u>goal and expectation for schools: character, knowledge, citizenship, love of learning, creativity, initiative, and social skills.</u>" (P.114)</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"Also forgotten is that public schools were created by communities and states for a "<u>civic purpose</u>." In the nineteenth century, they were also called "common schools." They were a project of the public commons, the community. They were created to <u>build and sustain democracy, to teach young people how to live and work together with others, and to teach the skills and knowledge needed to participate fully in society</u>." (P.207 )</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The last thirteen chapters focus on solutions and a brighter future, which have also been woven within the text of the previous chapters which define the many faces of the hoax and the many-pronged efforts to privatize public schools. So, reading this book, you come away empowered - you feel Power because you know the truth, and you know what to offer as an alternative to what is happening now. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I am a product of regular public schools as is my now-grown daughter and most of my family. I may not ever have grandchildren (I cannot lie, I hope to) but I still want to fight for public schools as a great cause. I believe in public schools like I believe in democracy. In fact, the two are intertwined.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If we envision a future society rich in culture and arts, thriving businesses, satisfied workers, happy and healthy families, a society peopled by good citizens who help each other, who vote, pay taxes to support the commons, and serve on juries to ensure the carriage of justice, then we must have schools that reflect that. Right now, if society is a reflection of the schools, there would be a shortage of music and art, chaotic physical activities, little science, poor health and nutrition, and little sense of history and no knowledge of what it means to be a citizen in a democratic society. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I hope there are bright lights out there. More and more instead of less and less. I want my experiences with my students be more a reflection of this healthy society. That's the teacher I want to be. Thank you Diane Ravitch for strengthening my stand. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6F_FOL1WirGHQQdstYkkKA_xVRkUc5Dud_bXQdxqgcuzoYjpWH8EIXS2hBVEPASP0KyjNmvc53QLTwRBMv1oNfkmBy4zyWYYFvBOGT-Nq2NFoAly6BUXC_kLJUXCmVyPdW_3JKCoHF8M/s640/blogger-image--1709304290.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6F_FOL1WirGHQQdstYkkKA_xVRkUc5Dud_bXQdxqgcuzoYjpWH8EIXS2hBVEPASP0KyjNmvc53QLTwRBMv1oNfkmBy4zyWYYFvBOGT-Nq2NFoAly6BUXC_kLJUXCmVyPdW_3JKCoHF8M/s640/blogger-image--1709304290.jpg"></a></div><p></p>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-21813078004595946962013-09-29T14:35:00.001-07:002013-09-29T14:35:30.617-07:00Where Do You Stand?<p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Read a brilliant article, <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://cloakinginequity.com/2013/09/27/taylor-v-dewey-the-100-year-trickle-down-vs-pedagogical-debatight-in-education-reform/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><u>http://cloakinginequity.com/2013/09/27/taylor-v-dewey-the-100-year-trickle-down-vs-pedagogical-debatefight-in-education-reform/</u></span></a>.</span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKk_UI1AZi6ZDVEU00kgQeHk37-QZMcRQ8Iq4F9BqdZjLcs1KyFBaSk1osYUPyGLqnHnP0_R856qnMKFntYbtVKRgTePbAQHlS8JrwgT1leu6yrZtZiV3rDdD5nIQQ7W1NFA2xiMrV2H4/s640/blogger-image-1336685729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKk_UI1AZi6ZDVEU00kgQeHk37-QZMcRQ8Iq4F9BqdZjLcs1KyFBaSk1osYUPyGLqnHnP0_R856qnMKFntYbtVKRgTePbAQHlS8JrwgT1leu6yrZtZiV3rDdD5nIQQ7W1NFA2xiMrV2H4/s640/blogger-image-1336685729.jpg"></a></div><br><p></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-size: 18px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It is a somewhat satirical, but very serious piece about education reform, that got me thinking about conflicting philosophies, behaviors, and leadership in general. On the one hand, there are imposed standards, uniformity, codes, and control. On the other hand, there is thinking and respect for the individual. Both have education and student success as the goal.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-size: 18px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In organizations, such as unions, there should be unity of purpose, even though some may have problems with the managerial aspects. How does one decide what is right, what is pono? In the classroom, though I want to maintain control, I can appreciate when students call me on inconsistencies, even though it unsettles me, and few students have the gumption to do so. I try to provide a safe environment for them to tell me anything and I hope that I do. I try to make corrections based on the feedback I get from my students, either in their communication to me, <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>in their work, from feedback from colleagues, or upon my own self-reflection. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-size: 18px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>For me, it's about consistency, honesty, and relationships. But I can only strive to be honest with myself and my core beliefs. I can not make others agree with me, but I want to be able to identify what<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> the core belief is. If there is no way to agree on that core belief, then we need to just respect each other and honor this diversity of thought, peacefully and respectfully. I guess the idealist in me believes that the bottom line is, we are all one human family, and that there are very few exceptions of embodied evil. </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-size: 18px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>For example, in politics, I am a liberal and a Democrat. But I am disappointed in my party, and especially in my president's education policies, as well as other policies, such as drones, and too much cooperation with the 1%. I am disappointed in the National Education Association's support of the Common Core. I am disappointed that the largest union in the country has not been strong enough to fight the massive attacks on public education. I am disappointed because my party's and my union's stands are in conflict with my core beliefs, that liberals should be more compassionate, more about caring for the common good, more about addressing inequity and injustice, and less about serving the corporate machine, which is what the so-called education reformers are doing. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-size: 18px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">In this crazy, mixed-up world, how can you be at peace? You have to stand up and speak up. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">You don't have to be mean and nasty, but you can stand up and say to people who want to bully you into compliance, this is not right. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">We must all do what we can to maintain consistency and authenticity with our values, and what is being demanded of us, even if it is not signing something that we don't believe is appropriate. Every time we give in, we diminish ourselves. When we diminish ourselves, we do not serve our students, and on a spiritual level, we do not serve our souls. </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-size: 18px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7FttP5qdC-QGh2Hh84uTh0qM1ozTmGNQDbc680lbefKiq_xJQ1wuxyScn-RenKO0qnnNUbSzM_FVYwX_6ltdFoZdZhmCp7sp2t78xry0EdBDCfp-Od98GY0PotfvwtThd69RADnhABfI/s640/blogger-image-1516722713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7FttP5qdC-QGh2Hh84uTh0qM1ozTmGNQDbc680lbefKiq_xJQ1wuxyScn-RenKO0qnnNUbSzM_FVYwX_6ltdFoZdZhmCp7sp2t78xry0EdBDCfp-Od98GY0PotfvwtThd69RADnhABfI/s640/blogger-image-1516722713.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div><br><p></p>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634329251538905275.post-41802863108797656212013-09-22T13:40:00.001-07:002013-09-22T13:40:22.448-07:00Inspired and Energized by GLADness<p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;">How many teachers say this? "I'm glad I went to GLAD training." I earlier asked to decline the training because of the amount of time I would be out of the classroom. The first two-day introduction training was held last week and there will be another 4-day in December. My principal said that I was required to go, and that the trainings and the substitutes were funded by the state. So I went, leaving my students with a new, untried substitute, hoping this disruption would be worth the disruption of not being in the classroom. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It was. This one, I like. This one, I don't put on my list of onerous mandates. Out of all the mandates being placed on us, this one seems to come from a good place - a place of respect for teachers and true concern for student learning and engagement. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>GLAD stands for Guided Language Acquisition Design and comes from Orange County, California. It was developed out of research-based practices of what works for English Language Learners, which turns out to be strategies that are appropriate for all students, in some way or another. One of our trainers was a real classroom teacher, who works in a year-round school, and on break. The other trainer also honed her skills in the classroom, but has moved on to higher education. Whatever the recipe for the training, I came away inspired and energized. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It is not new nor ground-breaking, but it is new in today's context of high-stakes testing. The training reminds me of the time before No Child Left Behind and even before the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards. There was a time when we were told that social-emotional development was all-important. We had trainings on Spencer Kagan's Cooperative Learning strategies (I even had a job for a short time, training teachers on those strategies), and schools statewide were adopting the TRIBES program. I loved that time. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"> When I first took college courses in education at the University of Guam many years ago, when my now 30-year old daughter was a toddler, we were all about developing integrated cross-content units. I loved that time. It matched the way my mind works, needing context and connections in order to make sense of learning and teaching. It turns out, according to research, most minds work this way. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So what I experienced with GLAD was like coming home. It was a refreshing validation of my core beliefs about teaching and learning. Though the research is not new, if this is the direction we are expected to take, it is a new chapter. If we only did this in our efforts to transform education, we would be doing a lot. Having been inspired and validated, the ideas are at the forefront of my mind when I plan or face blank looks of my students when I ask them a question. Instead of calling out names, I now more automatically say, "heads together." </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>On Friday afternoon, it was hot, and the natives were restless. I looked around the room, with about 20 minutes left, and wondered if I should try to teach another math lesson. The answer was no, and luckily I had written a song, inspired by the training, about a science concept we have been studying. I quickly wrote it on my Promethean board, and we sang. What a great way to end a hot, restless, Friday afternoon.</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Knowing that these strategies are encouraged, helps me to be the teacher I want to be. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-FAZIsRSUfY1VyuUffg5kZ8OJ_AKjCdh1rYWlodLNOexf5s5unFYUzhvyJkf03cipgG2EjMHGiU5AuQnicJo_T43JCfQZBjLlAEFcFnz092uWb5E1HoysYX8Mw7rXzXJUMTZ0h6vi_4/s640/blogger-image--1056058728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-FAZIsRSUfY1VyuUffg5kZ8OJ_AKjCdh1rYWlodLNOexf5s5unFYUzhvyJkf03cipgG2EjMHGiU5AuQnicJo_T43JCfQZBjLlAEFcFnz092uWb5E1HoysYX8Mw7rXzXJUMTZ0h6vi_4/s640/blogger-image--1056058728.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhniKJ-KX76ftFGHn1IfyPSShMDUYFTJta4yuIHWqgnT-ixhSPu7uA1eYge9AD0P9oTElF-qIJZW-uTiIHyj3yZkkfcuubi-uqqDzSaiw559JIxmkMUiQA-7rq8FIodVs2gBxPTwcxtbBc/s640/blogger-image--207390916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhniKJ-KX76ftFGHn1IfyPSShMDUYFTJta4yuIHWqgnT-ixhSPu7uA1eYge9AD0P9oTElF-qIJZW-uTiIHyj3yZkkfcuubi-uqqDzSaiw559JIxmkMUiQA-7rq8FIodVs2gBxPTwcxtbBc/s640/blogger-image--207390916.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br><p></p>Diane Aokihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561240969310675312noreply@blogger.com0