Open Doors

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in a wonderful and thought-provoking Ted Talk, makes the point that culture is composed of many, many overlapping stories.  In fact, the title of her speech is “The Danger of the Single Story.”  Adichie argues that if we listen to only the single story about a person, we run the risk of misunderstanding.

The past few weeks Della has been collecting the door signs that you are creating.  Occasionally, I have paged through these documents. It is a beautiful thing to look through your pictures, the bits of information you chose to include about yourselves, and the quotes that relate to you in some way.  In doing so, I have been reminded that Adichie is absolutely correct.    

Certainly, all of us are educators, but that is only a single story.  These door signs provide a glimpse of other possible narratives about our lives.  Look at the examples below which were gleaned from your submissions.  Take a moment to imagine some of the backstories that led to these statements.  Then enjoy trying to guess which teachers chose to include these details about their lives.

• I am a Crossfit Competitive Athlete and Level 1 Instructor.
• I enjoy fixing vintage bicycles, playing old country music, and watching black and white Samurai movies.
• I participate in geocaching and prepare for the zombie apocalypse.
• I spend time metal detecting and recovering lost artifacts.
• I played the clarinet and was a drum major in high school.
• I enjoy acting in musicals and plays.
• I enjoy herding cats and defeating socialism wherever it rears its ugly head.
• I create crafts I see on Pinterest.
• I sing, play guitar and bass, and record music.  (Not a music teacher!)
• I’m learning to swing dance.

Of course, this list only scratches the surface.  To get the full picture would take more time and conversation.  If we had these discussions, more stories would emerge and individual threads of dialogue would begin to weave a rich tapestry, creating a more vivid picture of the individuals.

A Door Opens Both Ways

Perhaps these signs will open the door to conversations that enable students to see past the single story of you as “teacher.”  Of course, conversations like this work both ways.  This past week I have heard of student stories about the joys of academic accomplishments, the sadness of losing a loved one, the fear of rejection, and of an incredible act of kindness from a teacher.  I know that many of you have had similar experiences this week.  In the give and take of these conversations, we have the opportunity to move beyond our single stories and deepen our understanding and appreciation of each other.

Near the end of her Ted Talk, Adichie says, “I’ve always felt that it is impossible to engage properly with a place or a person without engaging in all of the stories of that place and that person.  The consequence of a single story is this: It robs people of dignity.  It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult.  It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar.”

Our door signs might be a good reminder that we are much more than a single story.  They also can be a daily reminder to us that we should find ways to hear the multiple narratives of our students.

Have a great week, HSE.  Tell your stories and listen to others.  It is an important part of what we do and who we are. 

Phil

Kudos this week to all of the students and staff involved in the Fall Play.  The production, according to all accounts, was frighteningly good.

If you are interested, this is the link to Adichie’s Ted Talk: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger of the Single Story

Primary Purpose

An essential question for Hamilton Southeastern High School: What is the primary goal of our school?

In our professional discussions, we ask this question in a variety of ways.  Recently, one discussion has been around Understanding by Design, which makes the distinction between knowing and understanding.  In this framework, understanding has a specific meaning that goes well beyond merely knowing. 

Over the next few months, this weekly memo will return to this topic occasionally and take a closer look at parts of the Understanding by Design framework.  Feel free to read them now if they are helpful, or save them for future reference. 

Background Information

As a way to provide background and a solid foundation, a good place to start is with “Seven Key Tenets of the UbD Framework,” stolen and/or paraphrased directly from Wiggins and McTighe.  Note the words in bold because these are key concepts in UbD.

1. Learning is enhanced when teachers think purposefully about curricular planning.  UbD provides a framework for this process, but it is neither rigid nor prescriptive.  Use the framework but do what works for you and your students.
2. The focus of UbD is transfer.  Teaching must help students to deepen their understanding so they can effectively use the knowledge and skills in new situations.  Our purpose is more than simply helping students do well in school; our purpose is to prepare them to do well in life.
3. Understanding is revealed when teachers plan authentic performance tasks for students.  These tasks allow students to make sense of their learning and practice the transfer their learning in a supportive environment.
4. Effective curriculum uses backward planning through a three-stage process (Desired Results, Evidence, and Learning Planning).  This process avoids common problems of treating the textbook as the curriculum and/or providing activity-oriented teaching with no clear priorities.
5. Teachers are coaches of understanding, not mere purveyors of content knowledge, skill, or activity.  Learning, not just teaching, is the focus of a teacher’s work.
6. Regularly reviewing units and curriculum against UbD design qualities enhances learning and provides engaging professional discussions.
7. UbD involves a continual improvement approach to student achievement and teacher craft.  Reflection and revisions are part of the framework.

If our goals are only to have students do well in our classes and to get good grades, knowing is probably enough.  If, however, our goal is for students to take the learning beyond our classes, outside the halls of HSHS, and into new situations, making sure students understand is essential. 

The bottom line is that students who understand can and do apply learning to new situations.  With UbD, we know this to be true because we have designed learning opportunities that provide practice in doing so as part of the classroom experience.  Simply put, students can transfer learning because we have provided opportunities for them to understand by design.

I hope your week is designed to be a good one.

Phil

Kudos to our technology people.  During the past few weeks they were hit with the Perfect Storm of technological issues.  It was incredibly frustrating for everyone, but the techies put in long hours trying to identify the problems and come up with solutions.  Persistence in the face of frustration may not be fun, but it is an admirable trait and worthy of note.

Fog Lights

The Bad News: Fog Warning

New learning is always a bit messy.  As teachers, we recognize this reality with our students, but it doesn’t make it any easier to be on the other side of the experience.  We like being experts and tend to be uncomfortable as beginners.  You are likely feeling some of this discomfort with Understanding by Design.  This feeling of discomfort is compounded if you feel uncertain about the final destination.  It may feel like driving in heavy fog, seeing only what the headlights illuminate.

The Good News: The Right Road

Administratively, we spent time this past week looking at the first drafts of UbD units that you worked on last Thursday in an attempt to assess where we stand in the process.  It may or may not feel like it right now, but we are heading in the right direction.  The “Understandings” you are developing and the “Essential Questions” you are asking are spot on.  The “Performance Tasks” are especially interesting, and we are excited to think about how HSE students will benefit from this type of assessment. 

Awareness and Exploration: Lifting the Fog

Remember that the district goal for this year is awareness and exploration.  At this point, if you are getting glimpses of how Understanding by Design weaves together all of the various topics we have been working on this year (and in previous years) you are right on track.  If you already see many of the natural connections to school-wide and district-wide initiatives, you are out ahead of the timeline.

As examples, below are three ways in which the pieces of the professional development puzzle fit together:

• The Teacher Effectiveness Rubric:  We spent most of last year’s professional development time looking at the Teacher Effectiveness Rubric.  The TER includes direct references to UbD planning.  The rubric lists good questioning techniques, student engagement, formative assessments, differentiation, and higher order thinking as part of the “Effective” and “Highly Effective” categories.  All of these are included in a solid UbD unit.
• Professional Development Sessions: We spent time in the first release day working on integrating technology into classroom instruction in order to increase student engagement.  The HSE21 Committee introduced inquiry-learning during the second release day.  Engaging students and asking “Essential Questions” fit seamlessly into UbD units. 
• Best Practice Instruction: The four quadrants of HSE21 are 1) Student-Centered Approaches, 2) Cognitive Curriculum, 3) Fundamental Classroom Conditions, and 4) Transfer of Learning.  Read through the HSE Best Practice Model and you will see that UbD units hit all four quadrants.

To Repeat…

The goal with UbD for this year is awareness and exploration.  This first semester the focus is on awareness.  Next semester it switches to exploration.  If you find yourself saying, “It’s too much, too soon,” or if you are thinking, “It’s something new—again,” please give yourself permission to relax.  All of the work we have been doing is leading us in the same direction.  In time, the lines between the initiatives that seem so bright and bold now will begin to blur and blend as you make more and more connections between UbD, HSE21, Inquiry Learning, and TEDS. 

The UbD products you created last Thursday are another step forward in this process, and they are a solid indication that we are heading in the right direction.

Essential Questions for Right Now

• Do you have at least a beginning understanding of the UbD framework?
• Do you see how asking Essential Questions, focusing on Big Ideas, and requiring Performance Tasks might help students transfer learning beyond your classroom? 
• Do you understand that we have until 2017 until full implementation if the UbD framework? 

If so, the rising sun may be breaking up the fog bank.

I would be interested in hearing back from you about what would help you as we continue down the road of implementing UbD across the district.  If you have time, hit “reply” and tell me what might deepen your understanding and/or what you need as a next step on the journey.

Have a great week.  I hope the sun shines brightly in your part of HSHS.

Phil

Kudos this week to all of our marching band students—and their directors.  They started practicing in the blistering heat of summer and finished last weekend in the cold and wind of the Ben Davis High School stadium.  Their performance and perseverance is commendable.

This picture doesn't do justice in capturing the impact of the performance, but it may give you a feel for the cold and wind!

Rocking Back and Forth

For the past few weeks I have been a little obsessed with quotations.  First, I started noticing what people put in their signature lines in their emails.  Then Della showed me some of the door posters that people are putting together, and I started reading quotations you have chosen to include.  Finally, this past week, somebody quoted a line from Jack Handy’s “Deep Thoughts,” which aired on the old Saturday Night Live episodes.

The long and short is that below is compilation of some of my favorite thoughts, quotes, and truisms that I have collected recently.  They may inspire you.  They may make you laugh. My hope is you find all of them enjoyable in some way.

• “When you’re riding in a time machine way far into the future, don’t stick your elbow out the window, or it’ll turn into a fossil.”  --Jack Handy

• “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.”  --Thomas Alva Edison 

• “A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”  --Steve Martin 

• “If a student can Google the answers to the questions we ask, we are asking the wrong questions.”  --Anonymous

• “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.  Intelligence plus character, that is the goal of true education.”  --Martin Luther King, Jr.

•  “I went to a restaurant that serves breakfast at any time.  So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.”  --Steven Wright

•  “A child is so much more than a test score.”  --Bumper Sticker

• “Change your thoughts and you change your world.”  --Norman Vincent Peale

• “Be kind whenever possible.  It is always possible.”  --Dalai Lama

• “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”  --C. S. Lewis

•  “Always forgive your enemies—nothing annoys them so much.”  --Oscar Wilde

•  “It’s easy to sit there and say you’d like to have more money.  And I guess that’s what I like about it.  It’s easy.  Just sitting there, rocking back and forth, wanting that money.”  --Jack Handy

I hope you enjoyed the long weekend, and I hope that whether you are in the need of motivation, consolation, or humor one of the quotes touched you in some way. 

Have a great week, HSE.  Pay attention to the words by which we are surrounded.  Perhaps you can add to this list or make up new words of wisdom to pass down to future lovers of words.  And perhaps one day, someone will just sit there, rocking back and forth, being touched by your wisdom….

Phil

Kudos this week to our department chairs.  Theirs is no easy task.  They teach, they push, they support, and they keep us moving forward.  We are lucky to have this gifted group providing leadership to our school.

A Feedback Quiz

The Challenge:

Take this one-question quiz on giving academic feedback to your students.  (See if you do better than I did.)

Which approach to giving feedback to students has the greatest impact on learning?

1. Giving students a score;
2. Giving students constructive feedback – specific comments on errors, suggestions on how to improve, and at least one positive remark;
3. Giving students constructive feedback and a score.

Background: Not All Students Learn at the Same Pace

Earlier this year I wrote about Dylan Wiliam (the guy with two first names) and used his statement, “Students don’t learn what we teach them.”  This describes a phenomenon you almost certainly have experienced.  You check for understanding and realize that students are all over the place with their learning of key concepts or skills.  Some get it; some don’t.  Others are everywhere in between.

I also told you that in Embedded Formative Assessment, Wiliam gives specific information on what increases the probability of students learning what we teach.  You can probably guess from the title of the book that he is a huge proponent of formative assessments, which give low-stakes feedback to both the teacher and the students and allow both to make adjustments in the learning process.  William says if we believe that students learn in different ways and in different timeframes, formative assessments are not just good instruction, they are essential.

And the Answer Is….

The answer to the quiz may surprise you.  According to the research, Wiliam says that students in the second group learned twice as fast as students in the first. That may not be surprising, but keep reading! The students in the third group (comments and a score) made little progress.  I had to double-check to make sure I was reading correctly.   In fact, giving students a score and feedback was less effective than a score alone, and not nearly as effective as feedback alone.

The reason according to Wiliam: Those with the highest scores felt no need to read the comments and those with the lowest scores didn't want to read the comments. The score was all they remembered.

If you want a research-based argument in favor of formative assessments, this is it.  Formative assessments allow students to make mistakes and learn from their mistakes.  They allow teachers to adjust instruction, and they increase student learning when they include:  

• Specific comments on errors,
• Suggestions to improve, and
• At least one positive remark.

If you don’t believe it, I encourage you to try it for yourself.  Experiment with feedback using the three steps bulleted above and hold the score until students have worked through the comments and suggestions.     

I would love to hear your feedback on this experiment.  I promise to give you a positive comment, and I promise not to give you a score.

Have a great week.

Phil

Kudos this week to all of you who rolled with the punches.  PLAN and PSAT causes weird schedule issues.  If you said, “It is what it is” and kept on keeping on, this one is for you!  Thanks for staying positive and supportive of school-wide initiatives.

Work with Laughter

I was sitting in the athletic office with two wise men—or perhaps two wise guys—who asked me how I deal with stress.  I didn’t have good answers right off the top of my head, but I’ve been kicking around some ideas and have come to the conclusion that humor, and more specifically, laughter, may be one of the most important components for me. 

Out of curiosity, I did a little research and found that laughter is indeed the best medicine:

• Laughter relaxes the whole body.  A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
• Laughter boosts the immune system.  Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
• Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
• Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

Inoculate Yourself

We are told that laughter is the best medicine, and that laughter is contagious.  If both statements are true, then ironically laughter is both the medicine and the disease.  Fortunately, we can find ways to get a dose of this medicine by exposing ourselves to it. Click on the link and take a few minutes to watch a short video clip.  Judge for yourself how contagious laughter can be:

Laughter Chain

What Matters in the End

We do live in stressful times and work in a stressful profession.  We feel the urgency of being at the top of our game daily because we impact the lives of our students each and every day.  My hope for you this week is that whether it is inside or outside the halls of HSHS, you find times to laugh.

Kris Kristofferson, the singer, actor, and Rhodes Scholar, made this musical argument: “Tell the truth.  Sing with passion.  Work with laughter.  Love with heart.  ‘Cause that’s all that matters in the end.”  

Have a great week, Southeastern.  May it be filled with laughter.

Phil

Kudos this week to the HSE21 Professional Development Committee.  Thanks for your thoughtfulness and hard work that made last week’s release time successful and meaningful.

A few more thoughts on laughter:

• “Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.”  --Mark Twain
• “Laughter is not a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one.”  --Oscar Wilde
• “Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion.  I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.” --Kurt Vonnegut
• “From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter.  Someday I intend to read it.”  --Groucho Marx
• “Laughter gives us distance.  It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it, and then move on.”  --Bob Newhart
• “Laughter is the best medicine—unless you’re a diabetic, then insulin comes pretty high on the list.”  --Jasper Carrott
• “Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.”  --Karl Barth

One more, just for fun… 

This is the sign that was awaiting our Spell Bowl team last week as the bus pulled up to one of our neighboring schools.  The irony was not lost on our students!

Desirable Difficulties

“It takes a great meeting to beat no meeting at all.” –Steve Barone

Spoiler alert: This memo is not about meetings.  It’s about homework.

Annie Murphy Paul, writing for Time Magazine, states that the arguments about homework are often about “too much” or “too little.”  This misses the point, says Paul.  Instead we should be asking this question: How effectively do after-school assignments advance learning?

Paul suggests many current homework assignments don’t “make the grade,” but this doesn’t mean we need to get rid of homework.  Instead, we should use what we know about the human brain to craft homework assignments that actually impact and improve student learning.

Three of her suggestions:

• Spaced Repetition: We tend to give homework based on what happened that day in class or on the unit we are currently in.  Consider an alternative.  Instead, assign homework that returns to key skills or concepts from earlier in the unit or even the semester.  Researchers from the University of California San Diego say this method works because of the way our brains work.  When we first acquire memories, they are “volatile, subject to change, or likely to disappear.”  The learning is fixed permanently in our minds when we are re-exposed to the content over time.  The research shows impressive results, nearly double the retention rate using the spaced approach as opposed to studying material in one consolidated unit.  As a bonus, consider how this practice could have a positive impact on your Student Learning Objective.
• Retrieval Practice: This brain-based approach involves testing, but a different kind of test.  These are short, specific assessments that require students to “retrieve” information.  Our minds are not storage tanks that we dig into to retrieve information.  Rather, our brains build paths that we navigate to pull up information.  The more often we pull up a memory, the stronger the path becomes.  Design homework that requires students to retrieve material from memory.  Research from Purdue University indicates that science students retained 50% more material using the retrieval practice strategy.
• Interleaving to Create Cognitive Disfluency: (I like this phrase so much, I had to use it even though I had no idea what it meant before doing more reading!)  One interesting paradox is that if learning is easy, it is not as likely to stay with us.  The extra effort needed to learn something triggers our brains to remember the knowledge.  Psychologists call this phenomenon “Cognitive Disfluency.”  Researchers say we need to include “desirable difficulties” to make the work challenging and even interesting.  One easy way to do this is to use “Interleaving,” which simply means “mix-it-up.”  Create homework that mixes up situations, problems, or tasks, rather than grouping all similar types.  Brains have to work harder to come up with solutions.  Shorter assignments using interleaving and cognitive disfluency can be more effective for learning than longer, single topic assignments.

I started with a maxim from Steve Barone, a man I admire a great deal.  His truism about meetings may be useful in thinking about homework: It takes a great homework assignment to beat no homework at all.

That certainly sets a high bar, but it is one worth considering.  I encourage you to experiment with Paul’s suggestions.  Start by examining the homework you give this week.  Time and effort are valuable commodities—for us and for our students.  We should hold high expectations for student performance on our assignments, and we should hold equally high expectations for ourselves when it comes to designing the tasks we ask them to complete.

I hope your week is a good one, one that is filled cognitive disfluency.   Teaching is no easy task.  It is filled with “desirable difficulties” but also with the rich rewards of student growth and learning.

Phil

Kudos this week to all of our Best Buddy students.  I find the relationships built with this program profoundly moving.  Lives are forever changed for the better because of the interactions between the students, and we are a better and kinder school because of the Best Buddies.

If you are not familiar with Best Buddies, check this link to senior Emilie Turner’s YouTube video from last year about Best Buddies.  I guarantee it is worth five minutes of your time.  Click here to see the video: HSE Best Buddies

By the way, I hear a new Best Buddy video will come out later this year.  (Maybe it is part of an ongoing homework assignment!)