Apr

17

Platitudes and Baby Steps

April 17, 2009 |  Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments




Over the last month I have been very fortunate to be asked to guest blog with a variety of other passionate educators.  Tim Holt and I exchanged blog posts about “What Inspires Me” as well as “Those Who Inspire”.  In doing so, I found it very motivating and enjoyable.  Therefore, I asked on Plurk if anyone would be interested in guest blogging too.  Well, I am honored once again to have a fantastic person and even more successful educator than myself be  a guest blogger.  This guest blogger is Lisa Parisi.  I was honored to meet Lisa Parisi and Christine Southard in San Antonio, Texas at the 2008 NECC.  It was Ginger Lewman from Turning Point Learning Center that introduced us.  I would also like to mention that Lisa cohosts a very successful Internet talkshow that EdTechTalk airs on Sunday Mornings.  Please take some time and participate in her online show! Now here is Lisa Parisi……..

This blog has been written by Lisa Parisi.

I have high hopes for education in general and public education in particular. I truly believe that education is the answer to all our world problems. But I am feeling tired and defeated at this time. I seem, each year, to come to a moment where it seems as if we haven’t made much progress. And now is the time. So here I am, the year winding down, and I look back on where we were in September and where we are now. And I find we are still having the same conversations. And I am tired of the platitudes.

“We must make sure our students are prepared for this unknown future they will face.”

“We must allow them to use technology in all its forms to break down walls, open doors, expand their horizons.”

“We must show students how to think and innovate and create.”

And we all mean what we say and truly believe it. And, yet, we never talk about how to do it. Individuals are successful and, thankfully, I get to connect with many of them online. But as a whole, what have we done to meet these goals?

A week ago I had a unique situation to deal with. I have 24 students in my class. 4 of them were pulled out for the morning for an enrichment program and 7 of them were working with the physical education teacher, helping the children with austism. They had learned about autism through Temple Grandin at the Celebration for Teaching and Learning and were anxious to put their learning to use. That left me with 12 children.

Since I couldn’t begin anything new, I told the students to finish up their projects. I sat looking around the room and saw some students recording audio for their favorite teacher photostories. So throughout the morning you could hear students calling out, “Recording. Silence, please.” Three children went out of the room to record a podcast about how our classroom runs. When they came back in, they said to me, “We made a lot of mistakes. You will need to do lots of editing.” I responded, “No, you are going to edit.” So they sat down with audacity and edited the podcast, adding music at the front and back. I had two students who had recorded a science presentation and were sitting at the computer editing the movie. I had two students at the scanner, scanning pictures to import into a wiki. A few more were working on podcast scripts.

And as I looked around, I realized that the classroom seemed chaotic. But it was a controlled chaos. The children were learning, engaged and excited. I happened to have a sub in the room at the time, since my co-teacher, Christine Southard, was out. I am sure the sub thought this was the most unruly bunch of students she had ever encountered, because they were talking over each other and to each other and across the room to me. They were making decisions about who I should see first for assistance. They were running the classroom. So the sub probably did not appreciate the class. But I did. I was proud of them and excited by the learning and collaboration going on in the room.

This is also the time of year that we are assessing students in reading, writing, and math. Christine and I do this periodically throughout the year to be sure our students are keeping up. And what we are finding now is the learning has far surpassed our expectations. Reading levels are soaring, writing skills are being mastered, math concepts are understood and applied. And all of this with this very “unruly, chaotic class”.

So what does this mean for us all? I wonder, over and over again, why this classroom is not the norm. Why are teachers not able to let go and see what the children can do, when given the reigns? Why aren’t administrators encouraging this type of behavior? Why are we still working on a one lesson per class format? Let’s allow students to demonstrate their learning in different ways. What are we waiting for? Enough with the platitudes. Let’s stop taking baby steps. It is time for huge leaps. I’m ready. Are you?

Images:

Baby steps‘
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29868516@N00/3283470811

‘Team work means….‘
www.flickr.com/photos/81576641@N00/257649874

‘Chaos‘
www.flickr.com/photos/7762644@N04/2391631937


Comments

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4 Comments so far

  1.    Scott Shelhart on April 18, 2009 12:01 pm

    I have worked as a sub in similar classrooms. I must admit, the first few times I did not appreciate the learning that was taking place. I had been trained to believe that chairs in rows and quiet students were the keys to a successful classroom.

    As I progress through my education degree, I am learning that the classroom model I experienced 30 years ago as a student is not always the best option. The controlled chaos of project based learning is an acquired taste. Some teaches never develop a palette for it; but those that do are able to deliver a rich and engaging classroom experience.

    Do not let a sub’s narrow vision of classroom management hobble your creativity. Help the novice learn the joys of a different mode of instruction. The sub will thank you later.

  2.    Jane Stapf on April 18, 2009 1:11 pm

    Applause!!! I think that what you have said should resonate throughout those too quiet hallways! It is learning at it’s best! Kids excited, engaged, and excelling! Good for you!

  3.    Ira Socol on April 19, 2009 6:07 pm

    When my son was in Fifth Grade, his elementary school decided to create an 11-period day for that grade in order to meet all the scheduling desires of the 3 teachers. Every 30 minutes the kids were banging through the corridors, and they never got comfortable throughout the day. After 3 weeks I pulled him out when I discovered a multi-age classroom in a nearby district.

    A couple of months later I volunteered to help drive my son’s class (110 students, 5 teachers, grades 1-5) to sing Christmas Carols at a nursing home. When we got back to the school I watched as other parent drivers simply let the kids out and watched them run into the school. Because at my son’s previous school any unsupervised moment turned into a fight, I cautiously followed my group in. No teachers were back yet but every student ran in and went to something that interested them, whether it was toys, books, science stuff, the computers, whatever. There were no problems and the kids were delighted to be in the school.

    One place was an adult centered school, it looked under control for the kids it was absolute chaos. They were miserable. The other was a kid centered place. It looked like chaos but it was anything but. The kids were literally thrilled to be there.

    And it wasn’t just my observation of happier students. The kids in that multi-age classroom did better than any other kids in the county on standardized tests, though there was absolutely no “teaching to the test” and tests themselves were almost non-existent in their daily classroom activities.

    In the end we can either teach compliance or we can teach the love of learning. I guess it depends what kind of society we desire.

  4.    Bill Genereux on April 28, 2009 9:33 am

    I wonder why our rural schools cannot return to the multi-age classroom model as described by Ira? These were common in Kansas not even a half century ago. Somehow we have the idea that grouping students according to age is best, when it might instead be better to group according to interests.

    Keep up the good work you are doing, and don’t be swayed by any critics.

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