One Voice or Many? A student’s perspective

The following article was submitted by a Gr. 11 student at my school.  In it, he makes the compelling argument for schools and teachers to embrace the internet as a learning tool.  I thought I’d share it.  Thanks, Tommy, for agreeing to have your writing posted on my blog!!

            Within the last 15 years the internet has made its way into every bedroom, kitchen, classroom, car, office, office, meeting and pocket. Needless to say the internet is here to stay. Now the question being asked by anyone who is looking into the future of our youth is this: Should students be turned on to internet in the classroom rather that of the single limited voice of a teacher?

            There are two very opposite sides of this ugly headed beast. Old fashioned people (most likely older teachers) will preach to you the benefits of the classroom environment, and learning at a designated pace. They will try to convince you that ancient methods of pencil and paper are the only way to educate unruly teenagers and to control their hormonal angst. But these people are fools.

            I have been educated by the pencil and paper way since kindergarten. I have always been the kid in the middle of the class answering questions, acing tests and intimidating classmates.  Not to be pretentious, but as one of the students receiving the greatest reward from this method, even I have to say when compared to the things you can learn on the internet:  it sucks.

            In ancient times the way kids learned was through following their father or mother around every day and learning through what they saw. But this method was later cast out in favour of schools. At the time it was a great idea. People adapted to circumstances and created schools for children to learn. But why are we so afraid to adapt now?

            The internet is more than just an alternative, it represents change, and it represents the future. Our modern adaptation to our modern circumstance is to embrace the internet in education.

            The internet is a resource for learning that I have used for as long as I can remember.  When I have French homework I don’t understand, I use an online translator.  I have used the internet to find info on biology, chemistry, and physics that were explained to an extent that not even the greatest science teacher could imitate. I found online quizzes to test my knowledge, crosswords to check my vocab, and on top of that I studied with other students through Skype!

When I have a funeral to go to and I forget how to tie a tie, I learn on YouTube. When my family plans a trip we book it online. I have an aunt and uncle who immigrated to Canada about 35 years ago. They still can’t speak fluent English, their accent is terrible, and they refuse to adhere to Canadian style living. My aunt and uncle also own an laptop with windows 7 because even they realize that they’ll be left behind without it.

            If the internet was in the classroom it would be beneficial to everyone. Good teachers would emphasize what students learn online. Bad teachers could be picked out because students would have more than one voice in their ear telling them what is true about Science or Socials, Math, or English!

            Although there are also many negative things that the internet brings to the table that the pencil and paper method does not, it should not take away from the internet as a whole. I personally believe that there is still merit in classrooms, but just not enough to convince me that it’s the best way to learn right now in our present day and age.

            If I asked you right now to go and define: PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS would you look it up in a medical dictionary? Or would you Google it? Unless you have a medical dictionary right there next to you opened on the right page, 99% of people reading this would look it up online. Please don’t have the audacity to say that the dictionary is more accurate or reliable, because if they had just discovered a new side effect to PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS (a lung disease) the first place to have it would be the internet. In fact it’s also ironic that when I use Google as a verb, there’s no squiggly line underneath to designate an error. (Word servers are updated online.)

             The internet is so much a part of our daily lives that we don’t even notice it anymore. The GPS in our car, the apps on our phone, even the contacts I’m wearing that I ordered online. The internet is part of us, and it should be part of our education.

             The main reason though that I believe that students should be turned on to web browsing is that the internet is the voice and tool of everyone who uses it. The deal breaker for me is that it all comes down to:  

TEACHER = ONE VOICE

INTERNET = EVERYONES VOICE

            If you’re thinking that peoples voice don’t matter? Really? In Egypt the people voice broke down the government, in Libya the peoples voice is breaking down the government. In America the people voted for an African American President. The peoples voice matters, and the internet is the people’s voice.

            The internet is our best, modern, and acceptable form of education for today’s youth. The internet is opening doors every day for people who didn’t know that these doors existed. The internet, like us is constantly changing, evolving and adapting and this why we need it in our lives. We need to adapt, we need to change we need to evolve, and the internet is the way to do it.     

Death of the Grading Program

In my opinion, the single biggest impediment to high school teachers embracing grading practices that promote learning is an over-dependence on grading programs.  The irresponsible  use of these programs reduces the grading process to a collection of numbers or statistics.  The problem with an over-dependence on numbers, as Mark Twain writes, is that "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Having said that, I shudder when I think of my first five years as a social studies teacher and how I assessed and graded my students.  I would assign homework assignments, projects, and tests.  I would religiously input the students' scores and periodically would let the grading program assign a grade to the students. 

Any question by a student or parent regarding a grade would result in the standard answer: “When I run the numbers, this is your grade” (as displayed a long list of numbers).  Or better yet, “When I look at your results, I see that you missed a homework assignment (three months ago!) which has brought your grade down 7.4%” 

What was I thinking?  Why was I “counting” everything?  What about giving students an opportunity to practice their learning (without penalty)?  How about the notion that learning happens over time?   Why was I averaging? 

Sadly, I was letting the grading program do my job!  I was abdicating my responsibility to assess and grade my students, leaving it instead to the grading program.  For some reason, I was led to believe that as a teacher, there was no room for my own professional judgement (based on a comprehensive and legitimate body of evidence) to determine a grade.

I recently read the “Philosophy of Grading” out of the University of Georgia that was originally published in 1989.   Part of the policy states:

... Grades are not numbers. We use numbers to ensure that grades are given fairly, but the grade itself is a teacher’s professional judgment of a student’s knowledge.

Grading and assessment should never be reduced to a set of numbers.  As a teacher I assess my students - not the grading program.  I distinguish between formative and summative assignments.  I look for improvement over time.  

Today, thankfully, I have been liberated from the clutches of the grading program! 

As schools embark on the process of reforming grading practices, the reform they seek goes beyond retooling any grading program.  True reform lies in shifting the hearts and minds of the practitioners. 

What do you look for?

Recently I heard Marcia Tate, brain based learning author and speaker, describe the five practices every administrator should see when walking into a classroom. They include:

Students Talking
The research tells us that the person talking is doing the most learning
 
Students Moving 
The research tells us that moving activates muscle memory and procedural memory 

Students making connections with their learning 
Some brain based learning strategies that help students make connections include: writing, the use of storytelling, using visuals, role playing, games, using technology and listening (or creating) to music.

Positive Atmosphere
Classrooms that are imbued with humour and build students' confidence increases learning.  In addition, teachers that are passionate  and show enthusiasm create a climate conducive for  learning.

Purposeful Classroom 
Students do better when they understand the learning goals for the lesson and when they can relate to the lesson on a personal level.

Listening to this presentation has caused me to revisit what I look for when conducting classroom walk-throughs.

What would you add to this list?

Nurturing the Inner Life of a Teacher

This past January, we had a staff retreat at which I lead a session on “nurturing the inner life of a teacher”. Much of my session was based on the thoughts of Parker Palmer and his book “The Courage to Teach”. 

The main premise of Palmer’s book is that we as teachers “project the condition of our soul onto those that we teach” (Palmer 2007).  As teachers then, we must be self aware of our gifts and shortcomings.  Being aware of the flip side of our giftedness and nurturing our inner selves, will in the end, allow us to fully live out our life as a teacher (you can substitute teacher with anything).  This, in the end, will allow us to be present to wide, demanding and changing needs of our students.

In some further research, Palmer goes on to identify the top five “shadows” (to use Carl Jung’s term) or “weaknesses” that teachers in his study self identified. 

These top five shadows include:

Insecurity about identity and worth

This shadow manifests itself in such forms as jealousy towards other professionals, the” school owes me” attitude, competition with others, and a hostile attitude towards students.

Universe is hostile

This shadow manifest itself with attitudes that assume the worst in people and general negativity towards what people (or the school) are doing.

Everything depends on me

This shadow manifests itself by such actions and attitudes as lacking a balance between work and personal life.  This person wants “to be all things to all people” at the expense of their personal wellness.

Fear

This is the most common reported emotion for teachers.   Teachers identified such things as fear of failure, success, bad reputation and violence.

Denial of Death

Cannot “let go” of the past or present.  This person resists the natural order of the universe that says that all new things arise from “letting go” of the past.  This person resists change.

I would argue that as education professionals, the more aware we are of our inner lives the better equipped we will be to deal with our students and colleagues. 

As a change agent, understanding and nurturing the inner life of your constituents will only serve to enable change at much more sustainable level.

During the retreat, I asked the staff to reflect on and discuss, with a trustworthy partner, the following:

Which shadow do you struggle with the most?  What have you done (or will you do) to mitigate the impact of this shadow?

To deal with our own blind spots I suggested that we become reflective practitioners. Donald Schon describes this process as "the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning", which, according to the Schon, is "one of the defining characteristics of professional practice" (Schon, 1983)

You’ll be happy to hear that I’m still figuring it out!

Does our talking match our walking?

“Culture is the underground stream of norms, values, beliefs, traditions and rituals that has built up over time as people work together, solve problems and confront challenges.” (Deal, 1993) 

“What are we doing and why are we doing it”?  This is a question ask myself daily. 

As the principal I see myself as the guardian of the school’s culture.  One of my favorite researchers on this topic is Edgar Schein.  In his research he identifies three levels of organizational or school culture: the artifacts, values, and underlying assumptions. 

According to Schein, a school’s artifacts are those things that are easy to observe but more difficult to decipher.  Artifacts can be ambiguous and are often dependant on the observer’s reference point (Schein, 2004).  Schein goes further and states that to find a deeper level of understanding of a culture one must move to identifying the espoused values of a school.  The values themselves fall on a variety of levels.  At the outset, a culture’s values might not be shared knowledge; they must be tested over time (Schein, 2004).  Once a group’s values are reinforced through such things as problem solving, stories, traditions, and celebration than those values can become basic assumptions. 

Schein argues that these assumptions are the root of an organization’s culture and are so strongly held that any behavior based on a different premise in inconceivable (Schein, 2004).  These basic assumptions, according to Schein, are at the core of understanding organizational culture.  Good or bad, these assumptions are so entrenched in the group that, at times, it can be the cause of the distortion, or rationalization of certain realities.  As such, the challenge for leaders is to identify the assumptions of a culture, assess them and come up with coping strategies to deal with the anxiety when you try to change them.  

As we plan for next year our leadership team is asking important questions related to our shared sense of purpose contained within our school culture.  In other words, are our stated values and visible artifacts congruent with what we believe and do – across all stakeholder groups?  Put another way - does our talk match our walk?

To accomplish this, we will have to test whether or not our stated values are being matched by the actions of our stakeholders – in this case, the professional teaching staff of the school.

The following is a sample of some of the espoused values at our school and some guiding questions that I came up with to test our underlying assumptions: 

Value

We educate the whole child. 

Testing underlying assumptions:  

How is teaching and learning conducted in the classroom?  How much differentiation is happening?  Is technology being embraced?

How do we assess and grade our students?  

Are learning opportunities extended beyond the classroom?

What extra-curricular activities do we provide our students?

Value

All children can learn.

Testing underlying assumptions  

Do our actions affirm our belief that all kids can learn?  Does our assessment and grading reflect this?  What does success look like for students?

Do you follow the pyramid of intervention effectively and consistently?

Do we understand the different ways that students learn?  (Brain based learning)

Do our school polices related to such things as admission, discipline, grading & reporting align with this stated value?

Who is control of the learning in the classroom?  What will an observer see when walking thru classes?  Who is doing the talking?  How are students being engaged?

Value

“Jesus is the reason for our school”

Testing underlying assumptions

How does this translate across the curriculum?  

Do our school policies match this value statement?

Value

Parents as primary educators and partners

Testing underlying assumptions

How and what do we communicate to our parents? 

Are parents given enough voice?   

Value

Working and learning in community is important

Testing underlying assumptions

How is teaching and learning conducted in the classroom? 

How is our PLC time being used?

What does collegiality look like?

How do we treat each other?

How do we celebrate together?

I am looking forward to leading the staff in this important process of finding integrity between our words and actions. 

This process is critically important in order for us to sustain a positive school culture - where there is a shared sense of purpose, where there are underlying norms of collegiality, where there is a focus on improvement, where student accomplishments are celebrated, where there is teacher innovation, where we encourage parental involvement, where meaningful traditions are maintained and where learning is surrounded with integrity, joy and humour. 

Any suggestions or comments that could assist in us finding greater “alignment” would be gratefully welcomed!

“Thanks Coach”

Much of my formation as young man was shaped within the context of sports. I have been teammates with great people and worked with remarkable coaches.   Today I still consider sports an important part of my life - you might still find me trying to keep in shape (no wise cracks please) or enjoying a game of golf every now and then (I never play enough - but don’t ask my wife!) 

Much of who I am, what I value and what I do are a reflection of my involvement in sports.  I dedicate this post to the many coaches, who along the way taught me that: practice matters, to always “be on my toes”, to keep my chin up and it’s important to trust your teammates.

Practice matters

The good coaches taught me the importance of being prepared and the value of practicing.  My very best coaches understood that true learning and improvement was rooted in the idea of trial and error.  Our practices were always a safe place to make mistakes.  (Hmmm… I wonder - would more teachers embrace and use better grading practices if they understood this sports analogy?)  To further support this point, Malcom Gladwell, in his book the Outliers, argues that to master something, you need to “practice” it for at least 10,000 hours!  While this may seem like overkill, I think you get the point.   Today, I take this spirit of preparation, practice and risk taking with me wherever I go and whatever I do!

Be on your toes.

Sports have taught me about the importance of being “fleet of foot”.  Circumstances can change quickly.  In my professional life I feel that now, more than ever, I need to be ready for change.  Ironically, although preparation is important in sports, game plans can change quickly.  I was always taught to expect the unexpected.   There were countless times that well prepared and rehearsed game plans changed within a few moments of a game starting.  The good coaches always understood that ‘being on your toes’ rather than ‘digging in your heels’ made you ready for the unexpected!  (I can still remember walking into our school gym, 5 months into my first year as principal, to discover our gym floor flooded!)  On a day to day basis, this “be on my toes” mentality keeps me ready for the exciting demands of my job!  

Trust your teammates

Having teammates that I trusted and, in turn, trusted me made me a complete athlete.  I heard the following mantra constantly by my coaches: “do your job and trust your teammate to do theirs”.   This is something I still value today.  I have come to appreciate that I am at my best when operating within a team or community.  Whether it’s within my family, school community, learning community (PLN), faith community or just with a bunch of buddies on a golf trip – I’m fully alive when in community!  I accept my personal responsibilities, but it makes a difference knowing that others “have my back”.

Keep your chin up

When our team lost a game or when I made a mistake, the good coaches always told to me to “keep your chin up – you gave all you had – learn from it and move on”.  This attitude has really stuck with me to this day.  Recently, I watched a documentary about legendary football coach Vince Lombardi. While watching I discovered something remarkable about this iconic coach - his biggest regret in life was being quoted for that now famous statement:  “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”. 

In the film, a long time friend of Lombardi’s recalls a conversation he had with the coach in which he (Lombardi) says:  

“I wish I never said that… (Winning is the only thing).  What I really believe is that if you leave every fiber of what you have on that field, at the end of the game, then you’ve won…….  I never made that clear”.

Stop the presses everyone!  

It was great to hear that Vince Lombardi wanted a "redo" on his original quote. 

(As an aside, I find it shocking to see and hear coaches present this "winning is the only thing" attitude in amateur/school sports – if Vince Lombardi can figure it out – surely we in amateur sports can!).

Nonetheless, to each of my coaches, I would like to say “thanks coach” for the rich and enduring life lessons that you provided me through my involvement in sports!  

Oh and in case I failed to mention it: Winning isn't everything – “thanks” coach Lombardi -for setting the record straight! 

How an Arts Program can be a Beacon of Hope

Picture of the choir at their annual concert at the Chan Centre, UBC

I shake my head when I hear about schools cutting or cancelling art and/or music programs to balance budgets.  When I consider the enduring and transformational impact that our visual and performing arts programs have on our students, to ever consider downsizing or cancelling them would be catastrophic.

While our school has a flourishing programs in the performing, visual (art, photography and video) and speech arts, the lens by which I wish to animate the transformational nature of our arts program is through our choral music program. 

Over the years the school’s choir has performed in countless concerts spanning the globe.  They have left many audiences in tears and many more speechless.  A few people have been moved to verbalize their feelings in wonderful testimonials.  Some of my favorites include: 

During the choir’s 2007 visit to Chicago, they performed at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Melrose Park.  After the concert, long time parishioner, lovingly known as “Uncle Jimmy”, grabbed me, and in his big Italian American accent, stated: “In over 50 years at this parish,  my ears have never heard such beautiful music.”   

In 2009, while touring in Cuba and singing in  the Chiesa del Carmen Cathedral, a local woman approached me, after hearing the choir,  clutching her chest and, in Spanish, stated – “I don’t speak English – but I want to tell you -  my heart is filled with love” –as the tears poured down her face.

On that same Cuban tour I met Professor Jorge Pacheco, Artistic Director of Music for Cuban Television and former soldier in the Cuban Revolution who fought in the Bay of Pigs invasion.  While sitting listening to our choir, he leaned over and whispered “You know, real power is not at the end of gun but rather in the beauty of the arts.” 

These are wonderful and inspiring testimonies from those outside the choir.  But what do the students think?  What does choral music and singing choir mean  to them?

I recently asked members of the choir to tell me about their choral experience.  Here is what a few told me:

• “The choir has allowed me to express the vulnerability of the human condition alongside my classmates”
• “Being here has grown my belief in the certainty that there is something bigger – something extraordinary-living in each of us.”
• “Choral music is everyone’s answer put to one.”
• Choir has taught me to love, respect and give back to people who need love the most.”

Hearing these students articulate these powerful and insightful thoughts caused me to do some deep thinking about the power of our choral program and indeed our arts programs in general.     

Perhaps, at the end of the day (without sounding too melodramatic) - after all the tears, accolades, and testimonials, the trans-formative power of the arts lies in the fact that they give our students a sense of hope in themselves, each other and their fellow human.  In a world full of conflict, destruction and death, their efforts stirs in them (and us who experience their creative genius) a sense of hope.

In his book, “Have a Little Faith”, Mitch Albom, speaks of the importance of hope in our lives when he writes:

“In the beginning, there was a question.  In end, the question gets answered.  God sings, we hum along and there are many melodies, but it’s all one song – one same wonderful, human song.  I am in love with hope.”

We are blessed to have a vibrant arts program at our school which nourishes the hearts of students and audiences with power of hope.  


I would like to dedicate this post to all the wonderful arts teachers who bring out the best in our students