I feel that there are two perspectives that are relevant to consider when looking at the reality of failure in my school. First, do our students perceive that failure is an option? Second, do the teachers' actions reinforce this perception?
When I asked my class about what failure is and if they think they have every failed I got a wide array of responses. Some students said failing was getting a lot of problems wrong on a test. I asked if they thought getting answers wrong on their classwork was similar or different to this. Most said it was different because they knew they had to keep trying to find the answer for classwork. However, when I asked if they felt like they were failing in anything at school- none of them did. They talked about how some things were harder, but that they know they are getting better. (Sidebar: I was only able to have this whole class chat as a result of months of work. I've worked really hard with my class since the beginning of the year to be able to have these type of open and vulnerable conversations. We have norms and expectations for these types of conversations. I was really proud of how honest and reflective they were during this chat.) So, while I feel my class understood what failing was the overall understanding was that it happens when you stop trying. Now, thinking about this from the teachers perspective I see that clearly the message my actions have sent to my class are that failure isn't an option. As a campus, I see many teachers grading based upon competency rather than compliance. Through our PLC (Professional Learning Community) we have developed cycles of planning, formative assessments, revising, reteaching or extending content. We pay close attention to those students who haven't mastered concepts after reteaching and we look at what additional supports we can provide. I think this habit of continual support has modeled for the students that we don't just let them "not get it". We do whatever it takes to help them understand. All this said, could we do better as a campus to communicate this to all our parents so that the parents can also support us in this process. Too often I hear parents focus on the report card score in a way that sets their child's understanding of a concept in stone. We teachers view this score as more of a snapshot of where the student is in the learning process at that moment. I always begin my report card conferences explaining this to parents. This can also help them to understand how/why their child's report card grades can be at grade level one trimester and approaching grade level the next and vise verse. Another way our school could improve would be to help promote progress and celebrate this. Did second grade collectively improve their understanding of subtraction? Let's celebrate that with something as simple as a colorful banner hung in the hallway! "Never to Late to Learn" would be a great concept to bring to our SchoolSmarts program we host for parents. This could be a wonderful way to involve parents in this conversation so they too can support the on going learning of their children. 5 things I am willing to do this semester that will increase learning opportunities: 1. Work with my grade level to review our WIN (What I Need) time and see which students need to switch classes and which classes need to revise the content or level. 2. Continue to work with students who are struggling and provide additional supports through WIN time 3. Connect families with outside supports that are available through tutoring contractors funded by the district 4. Meet with other grade levels to collaborate on our homework policies to discuss if we are all grading based upon competency or on compliance. This discussion may eventually lead to looking at our classwork grading as well. 5. Work with students to celebrate the hard work they put in towards their goals. Our words are one of the most powerful tools we have has humans. We have the power to build each other up and tear each other down with just a few words. This is a huge responsibility and one that we all must take seriously. As educators, we are daily put into the position where we must choose our words with precision. In the time I spent working in a Montessori school, I was able to attend several Montessori conferences where twice I attended workshops lead by Dr. Jane Nelsen, most notably known for her work in writing the Positive Discipline series. This was when I first began to be interested in brain research, the power our words have on others, and how this impacts learning. A year or so ago, I heard a radio program on NPR discussing the power of students' perceived intelligence based upon the praise/words their teachers used. While I couldn't locate the exact transcript of the program it was based upon this article and research by Dr. Carol S. Dweck. In her research, she showed that students who were praised as being smart, were outperformed by students who were told they were hard workers. Furthermore, students who were taught about how their brain works and learns did better than students who were just taught the content. This is profound! The choice words I use can directly impact the way my students learn and think of themselves. I would also wager that the way other students see me interacting with their peers makes a difference too. When I observe my campus I see our teachers using language with students that encourages self-reflection and growth. I see students that are comfortable sharing out in class and teachers reinforcing the thought process more than the product. I feel that my colleagues do a good job facilitating and teaching students how to have conversations with each other. Last year we made collaborative conversations one of our focuses. A great example of this was at the beginning of the year. We were working on norms for having partner conversations, the students who attended our school last year were used to these procedures. (Turn and face your partner, make eye contact to show you're listening, ask for clarification or restate what you understood, etc.) The handful of students who had joined our school this year seems confused and were really timid at first. They needed more guided practice to accomplish these expectations during their partner discussions. This shows me that last year's teachers did a fantastic job at setting up an environment where the students were not only used to having a voice, but comfortable doing so. They aren't afraid of being wrong. So while I see the result of previous year's interactions with teachers and I see my own interactions it is difficult to fully know if every adult on campus realizes the power of using choice words. What would you do, if anything, to make using choice words a more conscious and accountable school wide practice if you were the school leader? I think this TED talk by Dr. Carol Dweck would be a great catalyst for a staff discussion. I also think it would be wise for teams to develop a "choice word bank" to draw upon in times when it may not be as easy to use choice words and to use in place of other forms of praise or redirections. While I think bringing this idea to the forefront of teachers' minds may be enough for some teachers, others may need more direct support in this. Also, as an administrator, modeling this type of interaction with colleagues and with students is also an important piece to this puzzle. What could you do, if anything, to make the use of choice words a more conscious and accountable personal practice as well as one embraced by others on your site? Are those things within your sphere of influence? Fine tuning my own practice is the first place to start. The next step is bringing my success with this into discussions with my colleagues. The more we collaborate and reflect on these types of interactions with students the more natural they will become. 5 things I am willing to do this semester that will make our school choose words wisely 1. Share some research on the power our words have on our students' success with my colleagues. 2. From the reading, the section discussing the importance of compliments (Fisher, Frey & Pumpian, p. 93) struck a chord with me. This semester I will work with my class on giving each other compliments. 3. I will review sentence frames for positive peer discussions with my class and share these with colleagues. 4. With my colleagues will share the service cycles described on pages 89-95 in How to Create a Culture of Achievement in your school and classroom: deescalating behavior, do the next right thing, the importance of compliments, and listen to students. 5. At parent-teacher conferences I will share with parents some strategies/phrases from the reading on how parents can rephrase their praise to help the student understand the student's role in the accomplishment. Encouragement vs Praise. 1. When it comes to the concept of Do No Harm, I believe is essential to the success of a school culture. This value builds up children's moral compass and self-regulation. It teaches children how to behave through having them examine and understand how their actions influence those around them.
2. Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in discipline policies and practices? My beliefs would be reflected in school discipline policies and practice by having students take ownership for the climate of their classrooms and school. Students need to take an active part in upholding a peaceful and safe space to learn and play. I believe staff has a duty to model desired behaviors, directly teach these behaviors and habits, support students as they learn these just as they would if the student were learning an academic area. 3. Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in program practices and initiatives? 4. Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in our professional development as a community of learners? 5. Is the concept of teaching students to “first do no harm” integrated into the culture of your school (or workplace)? Last year we began to implement a Positive School Climate program. In the first weeks of school every teacher gives direct instruction on behavior expectations that included guided practice and reflections. When all staff did this with fidelity we saw great results as a campus. We also have just begun to break the ice on implementing restorative justice practices- with mixed results so far. 6. How does your answer to the previous prompt sit with you? One of the issues we have had to deal with as we are trying to shift to a restorative discipline approach is the way students view the "consequences". A good example is of students who were assigned the duty of helping organize the book room under the supervision of the principal. The girls saw this a fun experience and the other students felt that these girls had done something wrong and were being rewarded by helping the principal. Another example is of students who caused a food fight. They were assigned clean-up duty. Again, the students loved helping pick up the food they had thrown around- they saw it as a privilege. These are extreme examples, but they brought to a light an issue. How do we help our students understand what "righting their wrong" looks like. Students seem to have that mob mentality. If someone does something wrong everyone should know what that person's consequence is and it should be awful and in turn, make the "wronged" feel better. How can we help shift this mentality? What are our actions saying to our students. I think we have a long ways to go in shifting this aspect of the culture of our school and community. 7. Current sphere of influence: Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school a more positive restorative place:
"The mission of our school is to ensure students will engage in dynamic, rigorous, and relevant curriculum. Students will develop abilities to enable them to contribute to our global society. Students will achieve goals in a safe, nurturing, and respectful environment. Our vision is for all students to attain their maximum academic and social potential." In order to attain our vision our staff has developed, collaboratively, strategies to make our students, their families, and our community partners feel welcome at our school. Several years ago as a staff, we determined ways would could help our families feel connected to school. Over 80% of our students qualify for free ore reduced lunch. Many of our students' parents work multiple jobs and being present on campus isn't an option for them. We wanted these parents to feel just as comfortable at our school as those who are able to volunteer during the school day. In partnership with our PTA, we scheduled regular family nights with dinner and fun family activities provided at little to no cost. We invested in a call-out system that keeps our parents informed of upcoming events, so even if they didn't have time to read the flyers that are still crumpled up in the bottom of the backpack, they would be in the loop. We give as much advanced notice for volunteer opportunities as possible so if parents wish to arrange to take time off they can. We saw a need to engage our families who are not english speakers. These parents wanted to be more present at school and volunteer, but felt limited by their language. We started a parent helper club where anyone who wanted to volunteer to help teachers by prepping art projects, running copies, etc. could meet in the Parent Room on Friday mornings. There is a bi-lingual aid there to help translate the instructions for the prep work. This program really got more parents coming in to help and built a great relationship between teachers and parents. We saw a need to help our parents feel more comfortable in a school environment. Many had poor and limited school experience as students themselves and they carry this unsureness with them as parents. Two years ago we began implementing a program called School Smarts. This is an incredible evening workshop for parents that teaches them how to be proactive in their children's education. The group meets one night a week. Dinner is provided for the parents and children. Then the children get to participate in a family activity with their parents, like an art project. For the final portion of the evening, the kids are taken to a classroom for fun games and the parents participate in a workshop. Topics include learning about the way schools are funded, how to get support for your child if they are struggling, meeting school board members, learning about how to communicate with your child's teacher, etc. We have a translator at each meeting to be sure everyone is included in the conversation. The first year we did this there were just a few families that participated. Now we are busting at the seams and the parents who've "graduated" from the program still want to attend! Since becoming a School Smart school our staff has noticed a positive change in the climate of our school and the level of engagement the parents have. This trickles down to student engagement as well! We are really pleased with this program. We saw a need to help students who qualified for free or reduced lunch to feel more comfortable getting lunch from school. At the beginning of this year we actively encouraged parents to fill out the application for free and reduced lunch. If 80% or more qualified every student in our school would be eligible for a free-lunch! our hunch was correct and we met the criteria. Our students do not feel embarrassed getting a hot school lunch and our cafeteria does not have to play the role of bill collector for over-due lunch money accounts. Our cafeteria also serves a "super" meal mid-afternoon for any child on campus. This was a really critical program as it provides many of our students with the only dinner they will get some nights. By connecting to our community and providing these services, we are building a partnership with families that makes them feel like there is no us and them- just a "we".
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Author: Kerry StrongEducator. Student. Mom. Wife. Traveler. ArchivesCategories |