One More Thing...

Steve Jobs: Quirks

I was reading recently about Steve Jobs, the brilliant co-founder of Apple.  Jobs had a quirky personality, which allowed him to look at the world differently than most of us and undoubtedly contributed to his incredible success. One of his quirks, which may reflect his sense of humor and showmanship as well, is he would often end his annual product introduction speeches by saying, “Oh yeah, there’s one more thing….”  At this point he would proceed to introduce something spectacular: the iPod, the Mac Book Pro, the iPad, or the iPhone.

The “one more thing” was actually “the thing.”  Over time, people identified this pattern and would wait in anticipation for the “end” knowing something big was still coming along.

HSE: Not Again

Unfortunately, in education “one more thing” doesn’t generate nearly as much excitement.  In fact, the usual response is a groan followed by protestations that we are still trying to figure out the last “one more thing.”  This is certainly understandable.

Look at the list of “one more things” we have going right now: Common Core State Standards; Curriculum Mapping, including Scope and Sequence; Teacher Evaluation and Development System; adding new Dual Credit Courses; School Expansion; and now we are moving forward on the 1:1 initiative.  This last initiative means you will be getting iPads and Apple TV next year.  As great as that is, it is also “one more thing.”  (See why I was thinking about Steve Jobs?)

Steve Jobs: A Unified Philosophy

The following is what Cliff Kuang, who works for NBC News, says about Steve Jobs:

Jobs was both lucky and smart in that all of the lessons he got were additive — that is, you could fit them all together in a single, coherent design philosophy. Compare that to what happens when you engage with someone who has definite opinions about design, but no real philosophy behind it: It's a maddening experience because the definition of what works and what doesn't, what's good and what's not, can change so often in different circumstances. I'd argue that this has been the chief failing of most consumer electronics makers: There's no deep-seated ideology behind their designs, so the products themselves never feel linked by what Jobs liked to call "soul."

If you are an avid Apple fan, you may have experience this intangible thing that links Apple products.  All of the products have different designs and purposes, but they are bound together by the “coherent design philosophy,” the soul that Jobs referenced.

HSE: Our Soul is Student Learning

In education, we do not always feel the soul, the thing that links all the new “one more things” together in a unified whole.  Maybe that is because we don’t have the time or take the time to intentionally make the connections and see the links.  Perhaps we miss the coherent design philosophy of where we are going.  Let me try to make a few connections with the list of “one more things” from above:

If everything we do is about improving student learning….

• Common Core State Standards, the new dual credit classes, and the Curriculum Maps clarify for us the content of our instruction: the What.

• The Scope and Sequence documents clarify the When.

• The school expansion project gives us the Where.

• The 1:1 initiative and the Teacher Evaluation and Development System give us tools and help with How and ensures continual growth.

Without a doubt, these individual initiatives feel like one more thing.  In no way am I trying to dismiss how overwhelming this can feel.  I am, however, making the argument that these “things” are linked.  Each one can be seen as a step of the same journey toward improved student learning.

Steve Jobs when asked about his approach to life said:

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.  So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in the future.  You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.  This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

I think we can connect the dots.  We can get a glimpse of how these things do connect and will connect in the future.  If our soul is improved student learning, we are on the right path.

Have a great week, Southeastern.

Phil

One more thing from Steve Jobs….

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.  And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.  

Unexpected Music

This week I was reminded once again of the power of a good story.

Grace, our freshman attending Indiana School for the Deaf, came home excited about watching Mr. Holland's Opus as part of a class activity.  Since our other children have not seen the movie, which some of you might remember from its release in 1995, we opted for a family movie night last Sunday.  Lisa popped the corn while I made a quick run to Kroger for ice cream, and we made an event of the viewing.

If you haven't seen this film, it's worth watching—or watching again—for a variety of reasons.  It traces the teaching career of the lead character, Glenn Holland, played by Richard Dreyfuss, from when he reluctantly enters education in 1964 up until his forced retirement from teaching because of budget cuts in 1995.  Glenn’s goal when he enters the teaching profession is to have "free time" to compose music.  He quickly realizes that time is seldom free in education, but it is too late.  He is hooked.  Days lead to weeks, to months, to years, to decades, and Glenn Holland discovers he is “composing” something very different than what he anticipated.

The viewing audience is treated to a history lesson through the music and video footage that provided the soundtrack and most memorable images of those four decades.  Like my wife and me, many of you would recognize the lyrics to most of the songs, including those from Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Jackson Browne, and the Kingsmen (although it might be a stretch to call the words in “Louie Louie” lyrics).   The iconic video clips included images of the Vietnam War, John F. Kennedy, Jimi Hendricks, Richard Nixon, and even John Travolta in his white suit on the disco floor.

One subplot deals with the Holland family, which consists of two hearing parents and their son who is deaf. Our family can relate to the issues of communication—or lack thereof.  At one point the mother cries in anguish, "I just want to talk to my son."  We certainly recognize the feeling.

The main story line  however, follows the daily teaching career of Mr. Holland and makes the point that one teacher can make a real difference.  The film reminds us that every interaction and every class has significance.  More importantly, it reminds us that over the course of a teaching career, we impact the lives of thousands of people in ways we may never know or understand.

Near the end of the movie, one character returns to the school as an adult and tells of the impact Glenn Holland had on her life.  She ends her speech saying, “There is not a life in this room that you have not touched, and each of us is a better person because of you.  We are your symphony Mr. Holland.  We are the melodies and the notes of your opus.  We are the music of your life.”  At another point, Glenn Holland simultaneously sings and signs to his son John Lennon’s song “Beautiful Boy.”  This song includes a line that may be familiar: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

You may be able to relate.  Like Glenn Holland, we get caught up in the day-to-day business of teaching.   Days turn to weeks which turn to months and years.  Students come and students go.  They leave our classrooms, our halls, and our schools, but a film like this reminds us that these students also take part of us with them out the door.

We need to hear this message.  We need to be reminded of the lasting impact we have on our students.  Continue to write your opus, HSE.  Be assured that it is music that will be played out in unexpected ways and in venues you may never see or hear, but it is music well worth composing.

Have a great week.  I hope it is one filled with notes of hope, lyrics of joy, and songs of laughter.

Phil

Principal Jacobs to the young Glenn Holland: “A teacher has two jobs; fill young minds with knowledge, yes, but more important, give those minds a compass so that knowledge doesn’t go to waste.”

On Target

Targeted Learning Objectives

This past week I had several interesting conversations with some of you about Targeted Learning Objectives as part of the pre- and post-conference process.  One of the things that Standard for Success does is provide teachers and administrators with an electronic portfolio of the evaluation process.  When you get a chance, go into SFS and give your portfolio the Squint Test.

To do this, start at the top of the Teacher Effectiveness Rubric and scroll down.  Squint so that you can’t read the words.  Just look for the green and yellow dots.  What you will find is that your portfolio is beginning to fill up, you can quickly identify patterns, and you are likely to find some white space, places where your evaluator will need more evidence.

One of the places without much color is probably right up top in Domain One.  If so, don’t panic.  We are still working on ways to document this domain, but if you do a quick read-through, you will notice that the Student Learning Objectives (including the Targeted Student Learning Objective) will provide a good chunk of the evidence for Domain One. 

Right now might be a great time to think a bit more about TLOs.

Target Practice

Last week’s post about High Utility study techniques included some of the best practices generated by you and fellow HSHS teachers on how to incorporate distributed practice and practice testing into daily, weekly, and unit plans.  If you are struggling to find ways to work with your Targeted students, reading or re-reading that list might help.

The Teacher Effectiveness Rubric also has suggestions built into the Domain Two that may help with your TLO.  Below I list some of the indicators and add a few comments:

•  Effective in 2.1—Daily Objectives: “Lesson builds on student’s prior knowledge of key concepts and skills and makes this connection evident to students.”  Your TLO is all about making sure the targeted students know “key concepts and skills.”  Anytime a daily lesson objective is built on the targeted standard, you are working on the TLO.
• Effective in 2.2—Communicate Knowledge: “Teacher restates and rephrases instruction in multiple ways to increase understanding.”  This is at the heart of a TLO.  You keep trying until the Targeted students “get it.” This concept is repeated in the next indicator as well.
•  Effective in 2.3—Engage Students: “Ways of engaging with content reflect different learning modalities or intelligences” and “Teacher adjusts lesson as needed to accommodate for student prerequisite skills and knowledge so that all students are engaged.”   Targeted students are often those who learn in different ways or are missing some essential background knowledge.  When you vary your teaching strategies and adjust pacing, you are working on your TLO.
• Effective in 2.4—Check for Understanding: “Teacher systematically assesses students’ mastery of the objective by the end of each lesson through formal or informal assessments.”  For TLOs you need to know whether students are developing understanding or not.  Don’t wait for the summative assessment to find out.
• Effective in 2.5—Modify Instruction: “Teacher responds to misunderstandings with effective scaffolding techniques” and “Teacher doesn’t give up, but continues to try to address misunderstanding with different techniques if the first try is not successful.”  This is, of course, what the TLO is asks you to do for the targeted students and it is good practice for all students.
• Effective in 2.6—Higher Level of Understanding: “Teacher helps students to persevere even when faced with difficult tasks.”  When a lesson starts “hitting” on the TER, it often hits at multiple places.  This indicator fits with almost all of the indicators listed above.
• Effective in 2.7-2.9—Classroom Management, Classroom Environment, and High Expectations: These last three competencies repeat a theme that is summarized in 2.9: “The classroom is a safe place to take on challenges and risk failure.”  Your targeted students have likely experienced failure as part of their academic history. When you run a safe and supportive classroom, you are working on the TLO.

The Heart of the Target

To be perfectly honest, the work you do with targeted students is not easy.  These are students who, for a wide variety of reasons, have not been very successful.  With your TLO you are attempting to rock their world.  You are letting them know that failure is not an option.  You are sticking with them until they are successful.  It is not work for the faint of heart. 

The result for you, however, can be rewarding in a variety of ways.  Certainly, it can help you with your evaluation in Domains One and Two.  More importantly, it can change the world—one student at a time.

And that is the real target we are shooting at with the TLO.

Have a great week, Southeastern.  Stay on target and keep fighting the good fight.

Phil

Two interesting views on the topic of Targets:

• From the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer: “Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see."
• From the slightly deranged comedian Mitch Hedberg: “I tried walking into a Target, but I missed.”

High Utility

Last week I wrote about a study published in a recent issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest which included research on ten different study techniques.  Cramming, according to the study, was a “Low Utility” strategy and I asked you to share ideas about possible “High Utility” strategies.  Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond.  Your emails verified that Southeatern teachers are spot on in their thinking and practice when it comes to helping students develop good study skills.

The Research

Two of the methods that have “High Utility” according the researchers are Practice Testing and Distributed Practice.  These study methods are exactly what they sound like.  Practice testing includes formative tests that students create and take, and distributed practice is a schedule of practice on individual skills or concepts spread out over time, as opposed to being grouped in a short period of time—cramming.

Interestingly but not surprisingly, the authors also indicate that most students aren’t going to do this on their own.  Sure, there are few who will take and review thorough notes, create their own questions or flash cards, and distribute practice over time, but most students are just like you and me when we were in high school, or now for that matter.  We tend to procrastinate until we are near a deadline, and then cram to get it done.  The authors of this study call this “procrastination scallop,” the tendency of students to increase study time just before the exam.

If we are honest with ourselves, traditional educational practice often contributes to the cramming phenomena.  We send overt and covert messages about the importance of cramming before exams. We hand out study guides immediately before final exams and unit tests and may tell students to spend the night(s) before exams filling them out and studying them.  We set up schedules for final exams so students don’t have to focus the night before for all topics but can gorge themselves on a few topics at a time.  In fact, we may find ourselves complaining if students don’t cram for the exams.  We do this knowing that last minute studying prepares them only for the test and not for long term application. 

“Better that than nothing” might be our logical rationale.

We can bemoan the fact that students don’t or won’t initiate distributed practice and practice tests; however, there might be another option.  From the research:

It is obvious that many students are not using effective learning techniques but could use more-effective techniques without much effort, so teachers should be encouraged to more consistently (and explicitly) train students to use learning techniques as they are engaged in pursuing various instructional and learning goals.

In other words, since most students most often don’t create practice tests or initiate distributed practice on their own, we should teach them how to do so.  As your recent emails attest, this is not a major change for many of you.  Below is the list you generated of the most successful study techniques used in our school.  These instructional strategies are being used in daily lessons and are teaching students to use distributed practice and practice tests, the two “High Utility” study techniques.

Your Contribution to the Discussion

In no particular order and sometimes combined from two or three of your responses, these are HSE High Utility study techniques recommended in this past week’s emails:

• Build review of notes into weekly lesson plans: This can be done individually, in pairs, in groups, or as a whole class.  From a teacher, “I set aside short weekly review time as part of weekly lessons.  It doesn’t have to take long.”
• Include previous unit material on tests and quizzes throughout the semester and even year. 
• Give frequent formative assessments.  These are short no-risk assessments of new and previous learning.  These may or may not look like traditional tests.  One teacher I know calls this collecting “drive-through data.”  (You don’t go in and sit down to eat.  Just pick it up on the run.)
• Make sure homework is meaningful.  It should be short and tie everything together.  This way it becomes a great study tool.
• “Have students hear it, see it, and write it.”  This can be done in the initial presentation and over extended time to give students different ways of being exposed to the material.  It can also be done with a variety of groupings (individual, pairs, small groups, whole class).
• “Chunk” the material to break it up.  Then review the “chunks” when you review the “whole.”  From the teacher, “Every time you add to the ‘chunk’ you can review the old material.”
• Review important material often and use a variety of modalities.  This strengthens the connections and meets needs of lots of learners.  For example, have students create non-linguistic representations as a way to review material.
• Give practice tests: From several teachers--“I find sample test questions online, especially for AP tests.  Completing as many practice problems as possible prepares students for any type of question they might see.”  Another said, “I always find success when I ask students to do a ‘write your own quiz’ type activity.”
• Repetition:  In class, reread important parts of the text, review notes often, and return to key facts and concepts often.
• Apply information to different contexts and situations.  “When they can transfer the learning, they know it.”
• Create in-class study groups: “Three to a group seems to be ideal.”
• Review previous test questions later in the semester, especially ones the class struggled with on the unit exams.
• Emphasize important vocabulary whenever it is used.  “They have to know the vocabulary that is used on the final exams, and certain terms seem to come up often.”
• Start or end class with practice of previously learned skills.
• Give study guides early in the semester and use them often as part of daily lessons.

Thanks again to all of you who responded.  The reality is that cramming can help a student score slightly better on a final exam or unit test.  After a little time goes by, however, the increased performance from the cram session is lost.  If our goal is long term learning and understanding, we need to think about the messages we send to students about what “studying” really is and how best to prepare for summative assessments.  This list you generated is a great place to look for additions to your instructional toolbox.

It is February!  If we create practice tests and opportunities for distributed practice regularly, if we teach student how to use these “High Utility” study techniques, May could be a very different kind of month for you—and for your students.

Have a great (short) week, HSE.

Phil

Cram Packed

Final exams seem a long way off, but if you’ve been in the business for a bit, you know what happens during second semester.  The months of February and March seem to drag, we hit Spring Break, and the next thing you know it’s finals week. 

There is no question that May gets crazy.  Between ECAs, AP Tests, and Final Exams, May can test our endurance—pun intended.  From a student’s point of view, it can’t feel any better.  Think of the pressure of studying for and preparing for all these exams.  Think of all the cramming that takes place as they try to prepare for the exams.

Then stop and consider that word: Cramming. 

In general terms, cramming means to force or squeeze something into insufficient space.  In education it involves studying a large amount of material in a short period of time.  And it is a horrible way to remember anything useful in the long term.

In fact, recent research reaffirms that cramming before a final exam is ineffective educational practice.  The January edition of Psychological Science in the Public Interest included the results of a thorough investigation of the effectiveness of different study techniques.  The findings are fairly clear cut.  Cramming is considered a “Low Utility” method of studying.  In their words:

Although cramming is better than not studying at all in the short term, given the same amount of time for study, would the students be better off spreading out their study of content?  The answer to the question is a resounding, “yes.”

The authors of this study, five psychologists from four different major universities, completed comprehensive research on the impact of ten different study methods.  Interestingly, they found that many of the methods, ones most of us grew up on and may advocate for our students, are not always effective.

What is effective practice according to this study? 

Next week, I’ll let you know their recommendations.  Between now and then, take a guess.  What do you think are several study techniques that have “High Utility” according to the most recent research?  Obviously, cramming is not one of these.  So what is effective to help students prepare for summative assessments?  Send me your best guesses.  My guess is you will be able to name variations of both of these High Utility study techniques.  Of course, the key is whether or not we can we get students to use them.  The answer to this is also a resounding “yes.”

Hit “reply” and send me your guess about effective studying techniques.  I’ll share results next week.

Hope your week is crammed with kindness, crammed with hope, and crammed with joy.

Phil

The Mirror and the Magnet

Last week I wrote about the art and science of good teaching.  The use of academic feedback is one of those areas in which both are important.  The science is clear that the use of high quality and timely academic feedback significantly improves student learning.  The art is, of course, how feedback is given and used in the classroom.  Giving academic feedback is an art form worth developing.

One of the really interesting aspects of TEDS is that you are presented with scripts of your lessons, and you can actually read through them to see how you respond to students and what kind of feedback you give during lessons.  If you get a chance, try it. In SFS, look at your scripts for these three different kinds of feedback:

Affirmation/Negation:  This is feedback that affirms effort or correctness or indicates the student response is incorrect.  These comments may take more complicated formats, but at their heart is a simple statement that the student response is correct or incorrect.  There is nothing wrong with affirmation or negation, and in fact is the most reasonable response at times.  It is the type of feedback most often used on a day-to-day basis.  Examples of affirmation/negation include statements like these:

• Good
• No 
• That is not correct.
•  Right
• Yes
• Well done

Specific: Going beyond affirmation/negation, specific feedback gives information about why and/or how the student is correct or incorrect.  It is an accurate description of where the student is in relationship to the goal and has slightly more nuance than affirmation/negation.  Examples include:

• You have the first three steps correct, but you made a simple calculation error.
• You gave only a partial answer.
•  All three of your supporting details are helpful.
• You named several of the causal effects
•  Your drawing has good color intensity but lacks proportion.

Actionable: Actionable feedback provides students with information about their next steps.  It is similar to specific feedback but it includes information about how to move forward. If you take the examples listed immediately above, you could turn them from specific to actionable feedback by adding a few words:

• You have the first three steps correct, but you made a simple calculation error.  One way to catch errors like this is to....
• You gave only a partial answer.  Think about explaining it to a novice and try....
• All three of your supporting details are correct, so I suggest you focus on....
• You named several causal effects.  Now apply the same concept to....
• Your drawing has good color intensity, but lacks proportion. You should take comparative measurements and….

Connie Moss and Susan Brookhart use a helpful metaphor for specific and actionable feedback.  They call it, "The mirror and the magnet in the meaningful moment."  The Mirror is the feedback that reflects to the student where he or she is in the learning process.  It is specific detailed information and tailored to the student.  The Magnet draws the student toward the objective of the lesson or unit.  It helps the student take the next step.  In the Meaningful Moment is all about timeliness.  Great feedback given after the summative assessment won't help.  The feedback, to be most effective, must be given in time for the student to make changes.

Our current evaluation system allows us look for the Mirror and Magnet moments in our own lessons.  If you get a chance, read through your scripts and decide if your students would benefit from larger doses of specific and actionable feedback—the mirror and the magnet.

Reflect on it; you might be attracted to the idea. (Sorry.  Couldn’t resist the pun.)

Have a great week, Southeastern.

Phil

Art and Science

The Teacher Effectiveness Rubric is attempting an incredibly difficult task.  Think about trying to list all the factors that go into “good teaching.”  Any list you might start would soon get lengthy, and the various items on the list are likely to overlap and influence each other.  You can see this happen with just a quick run-through of rubric we are using.

One way to look at what the TER is trying to do is to think about the dichotomy of good teaching:  Teaching is both an art and a science.

The Science

The science of teaching is about being intentional and reflective.  Educational research is clear that not all instructional strategies are equal when it comes to student learning.  There are what Robert Marzano calls “high-yield” strategies, and others equally respected in the field talk about “best practices.”  The Teacher Effectiveness Rubric calls these instructional strategies “Effective” or “Highly Effective” instruction.  By any name, these are strategies that do not come with guarantees.  When used well, however, the research—the science—shows the chances of student learning is significantly increased. 

For example, we know from educational research the value of increasing student engagement, how quality formative assessments result in achievement gains, and that building background knowledge will improve student retention of new concepts.  We have seen the research on meeting the needs of English Language Learners and how regular collaboration results in improvement in both student achievement and teacher satisfaction.

The science of teaching is about taking what we learn from the experts in the field, experimenting with strategies, and adapting this learning to our school, our classes, and our students.  It calls for us to be constant learners and experimenters. 

On one hand, we all should strive to be educational scientists.

The Art

If teaching was all science, anyone could do it.  Teachers could plug a strategy into a lesson, follow the recipe, and recreate the experiment using perfect scientific methodology.  In fact, this seems to be the understanding behind some of the latest initiatives, both state and national, to open the field of teaching to all comers.

Those of us who remember what it’s like to be a student and those of us who know what it is like to teach probably have different perspectives on this concept.  When dealing with people, especially young people, controlling the variables is impossible.  This is where teaching becomes an art.

The art of teaching is about the literally thousands of decisions you make every day inside and outside a classroom.  It is about knowing your students well enough to know which instructional strategy will work in one class and not in another.  It is about how you read body language and adjust lessons on the fly.  It is about knowing when to ask the right question and about sequencing questions to push the students to the next level.  It is about knowing when to scaffold and when to let students stand on their own.  It is about intuition and creativity, nuance and perception, perseverance and passion.

So on the other hand, we should all strive to be educational artists.

The Journey

The fact that teaching is an art and a science is not a new revelation to most of you, but naming the twin aspects of good teaching might help provide another way to think about what we do each day and about what is measured by the Teacher Effectiveness Rubric.  The reality is that the better we get in both the art and in the science of teaching, the more effective we will be at helping students learn at higher levels.  This constant improvement is at the heart of our journey at Hamilton Southeastern High School.

Take up the beaker and Bunsen burner.  Take up the brush and clay.  It’s a great week to be an educational scientist, an educational artist, and a Royal.

Enjoy the journey, HSE.

Phil