Photo Credit

Flickr Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trinnity/2909816334/

Most assessments do not measure what students know. Rather, they measure what students do not know. A multiple choice test will not tell a teacher whether a student knows the causes of the Civil War, but whether they know the wrong answer.

I can see some validity in testing ignorance, but it seems that assessments should test student knoweldge as well. One format for testing knowledge is an essay test. While this provides great qualitative, critical thinking knowledge, it often fails in the respect that its scope must be limited.

On assessment solution is the concept map. My favorite electronic format is CMaps (also called IHMC Cmap Tools) where students can demonstrate knowledge in the form of a web. Unlike the traditional webs, students can add pictures, graphics, color-codes, shapes and verbs to make it more interdimensional. The program is offered to educators as freeware, which makes it ideal for teachers at all levels.

If the computer route is not an option, another method would be creating pencil and paper concept maps. It lacks some of the interdimensional elements, but it works really well. As a result, students are able to demonstrate what they are thinking it a web-like format. It doesn't have to be linear. It isn't bound by rules of grammar. It's almost like a snapshot of the mind; a snapshot that tells teachers not only what students know but how they organize this knowledge.

A word of advice here: offer a few writing prompts connected to the map. It might be something like, "Describe, in a paragraph, how two of the ideas relate to one another" or "Summarize the key ideas of your concept map."

I'm convinced that America used the wrong approach in attempting to broker peace in the Middle East. Instead of sending diplomats and former presidents, we should have sent a dispatch led by Bob Ross and James Taylor. Seriously, can you possibly argue when Bob Ross is telling you to consider the "happy little trees" to a live acoustic background of "I've seen fire and I've seen rain?"

It's hard not to like the Afro-haired pop painter. True, his methods might seem too simplistic to the artistic establishment, but I wonder how many of the nations true artistic geniuses learned the basics while watching The Joy of Painting. Which is exactly why I like the guy. He's a populist at heart, believing that all people can paint with a little help and a sense of joy.

So, I'm sitting around the t.v. watching on a Saturday morning and my boys are asking, "What's he doing? Why is the sky only pink right now? Where are the animals?" Slowly, the mystery of a blank canvas becomes a serene nature piece. In the midst of mixing colors on the pallete, he offers the advice, "I'm giving you instructions and I'm giving you steps, but I want you to expirement. Find your own way. The world doesn't need a bunch of Bob Rosses. So, try something new. Maybe you want a big tree in the middle. It's all up to you."

I started to think about teaching writing. It seems there are two schools of thought. The first believes writing is a formula, a general equation that students can master for a higher score on the Six Traits of Writing. The second school suggests students find their voice, their style, their passion in writing. To them, students need to find the path to persuasion and poetry without knowing a set outline.

I wonder if Bob Ross has the right approach to teaching. When I am teaching best, I give specific instructions. I stay calm and cool like the Afro-haired painting guru as I offer steps. Yet, I tell students to find joy and passion and the courage to expirment. I encourage risk-taking with new vocabulary. I tell students to find their own method of pre-writing. In other words, the Bob Ross approach is a bridge between the two camps: a bridge filled with "happy little trees."

Pretentious, Presumptuous and Perhaps Practical Advice

When teaching something new, try breaking it up into skills and concepts. From here, think about the following:

• What intervetions will you offer for students who are not getting the skills? What enrichment can you offer to those who understand this ahead of time?
• Are you mistaking concepts for skills? In other words, are you assuming that a student fails to understand imperialism simply because she can't write a topic sentence about the subject?
• Ask yourself, "What would I want if I learned this the first time?" Then, as hard as narrow and formulaic as it might be, break it up into smaller tasks. But encourage students to modify this once they have mastered it.

"We don't make mistakes here, we just have happy accidents. We want happy, happy paintings. If you want sad things, watch the news. Everything is possible here. This is your little universe."

-Bob Ross

Photo Credit

Flickr Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicoll/93763158/

It's hard not to see Tolstoy through the lens of hypocrisy of his own life. The man was almost abusive toward his wife (who was no jewel herself) and he wrote about social justice while never freeing his own serfs. He spoke loudly and boldly, but ran out of steam or got too distracted or whatever it means when a man makes great pronouncements with great intentions and then falls short every time.

I guess that's why I find him endearing. He's flawed. Not in the Hemmingway, rejoice in how screwed up I am, kind of way, but in the "I'm going to make it after all," but never making it method. At the best moments, I can read Tolstoy as good writing from a broken person and it's easier to relate. I can see way too much of Tolstoy in myself and I can cut the man a break. To me, "Master and Man" can be almost haunting in the questions it brings up. The "Kreutzer Sonata" is one of the rare works of fiction that captures the reality of lust. "How Much Land Does a Man Need" turns out to be a parable that changed how I view ambition.

Tolstoy is a master story-teller. At times, it gets into moralizing. However, it's a nice refrain from the tepid, contemporary, overly cautious post-modern stories I usually read. Perhaps the greatest benefit to reading these stories is that they cause me to remember that there is such thing as good and evil and that the choices one makes actually matter. Sometimes, in being a teacher, I begin to see every moral decision as contingent on the circumstances. I rationalize bad decisions by analyzing social circumstances. Then I read Tolstoy and it's like wearing a pair of glasses after being used to nearsightedness.

I find it disturbing how often the U.S. names weapons of mass destruction on conquered indigineous people groups.

Photo Credit

Flickr Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/destinysagent/2576915531/

The most relevant trends right now seem to be those that are least relevant. I can't count the number of women (okay, and men) I know who have taken up knitting and crocheting. Most of my friends who own homes also have gardens. I can count about ten people I know who roll their own cigarrettes. And vinyl records keep increasing in popularity.

It's easy to label all of these trends as a rebirth in the Voluntary Simplicity Movement. Instead, it's more like an excercise in voluntary complexity. It's the idea that I want to feel the dirt in my hands and stir the vegetables in a pot and not simply toss a box into the microwave. It's the notion that my wife wants to spend time thinking about someone's child as she knits a blanket. It's the idea that sometimes music is best heard when I can't skip it or take it with me like a commodity.

I can't identify the impetus toward all things complex. My guess is that my generation felt enthralled by the eager, idealistic wave toward the Digital Age. It's not that we grew bored with it, but somehow dissapointed. It turns out that it was a lot of cheap plastic promises and grandiose statements about flat worlds and online community and other elements of magical thinking. Whirling from the Digital Ride, they stand dizzy with a certain whiplash of the soul.

Don't get me wrong, many of the people I know haven't abandoned technology and joined Amish communities. They still use Twitter and Facebook, but they often do so out of a sense of obligation. So, they keep a foot in the digital world and a foot in the garden. Though we are called Digital Natives, we feel alien and yearn for all that is lost in the crystal clear wireless translation. So, we yearn for things like tradition and complexity, community and relationships, regionalism and parochialism.

People are becoming Greek Orthodox, because they miss the ritual and mystery. They're baking bread, because they miss the feel of food on their hands. They're sending handwritten letters to friends who can't be placed on a top eight, sending updates that don't go on a wall, but look great on a fridge. They're sewing instead of just going to Wal-Mart and buying cheap crap from China. They're digging weeds out of gardens where the only tweets are from the birds. Call it the vinyl paradox. We are becoming relevant by not being relevant.

Photo Credit

Flickr Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyjcase/2262225754/

The Graffiti Gallery combines visual, creative and kinesthetic learning into one activity. I've seen many variations on this strategy and I don't claim it as mine. If you have any ideas on how to improve it or change it, please offer some feedback.

I place large poster boards (or butcher paper) on different areas of the classroom. Students walk around from place to place and read the feedback of other groups and then offer their own. I usually give three to five minutes per zone and require one person in each group to write an answer in that group's color. However, there are times when all students in the group must write something. Afterward, we review these as a class.

A tech-integrated variation is a virtual graffiti gallery where students go from blog post to blog post or where they go from Google Document to Google Document.

A few examples:

1. Quotes on each one and a short reflection to each quote
2. A short passage (poem, expository text, case study) with a critical thinking question
3. Graphic organizers at each one. For example, there might be charts or Venn Diagrams and students fill them out
4. Brainstorms at each location
5. Key term and students must find an example for each

One of the fastest ways for me to know whether my students are understanding the information each day is with a real simple exit slip. I don't claim to take credit for this, but I use it in my class on a daily basis.

At the end of the day, I ask a question that students must answer on a short slip of paper. Some teachers use index cards, but I'm too cheap, so I cut regular paper into strips that students use for the exit question.

The exit question can be broad or specific. For example, I might ask, "What were the four causes of World War II?" or I might ask a personal question, "How do you see globalization in your world?" or someting more philosophical, "After learning about ways to manage your money, do you think having more money will make people happy?"

It really comes down to the question, "What do I want the students to tell me based upon the lesson?" Sometimes I want an overview of knowledge. Other times I want something with more critical thinking. The students have five minutes to answer it (sometimes less time) and then they turn it into a small bin as they leave the class.

At the end of the day, I read through the cards and I pull out kids who might need extra help. I also get a sense of what the class, in general, needs help with.

When I first started teaching, I saw myself almost as a Paula Abdul of grading. A student would put in very little effort, turn in someting sloppy and I would still have someting nice to say. I offered a "nice work" on just about anything a student turned in. Soon, I realized that "great" was even shorter feedback, so I used that.

I shifted my approach halfway through the year when I grew tired of grading. Then, I acted like Simon, offering scathing remarks with a sarcastic tone. I was always a little more careful than Simon, so maybe I was a bit more like Randy, saying, "Yo dawg, this just isn't working." Eventually this faded into a subtle silence. I let the checkmarks tell students "Yeah, I read this." So, that was it, a number and a red mark on the paper.

The problem in this approach is that it's flawed from the beginning. It begins with the presupposition that assessment is meant to be an American Idol contest, with students putting on a show so that I can judge them. It's the belief that I should treat every piece of work as if it were a final audition and I would be the test to see if they were going to Hollywood.

I'm not sure when my paradigm changed, but I approach it more like I would the show Friends. I know, I know, we're not supposed to be friends with kids. And that's not what I'm advocating at all here. What I'm suggesting, though, is that the characters on Friends offer better assessments of each other than anything I see on American Idol. They speak honestly to one another about strengths and weaknesses, because they know one another.

What if assessment isn't designed simply for judgement, but for growth? What if it's a dialogue between teacher and student? What if it's a chance to be known? Assessing work would then be a chance to hear a story, help clarify that narrative and sharpen a student's convictions. It would be an act of authenticity rather than a score on a gradebook.

If that's the case, wouldn't students improve more? I know it's strange, but I give 100% for all work turned in on time. Then, I take the work and I write comments. I mention strengths and weaknesses. I sometimes ask questions or write my own thoughts on the subject. Students recieve the feedback and revise accordingly. It sounds real counterintuitive, but when the judgement is absent students work harder at revisions.

Pretentious, Presumptuous and Perhaps Practical Advice

1. Shift from daily assignments to projects - this way you can offer deeper feedback and you spend more time on assessment and less time on grading
2. See if there is a way for you to carve out two short conferences per class period. If you can, it would mean most students would get a mini-conference once every three weeks.
3. Think about diagnostic, formative and summative assessments and how they each play a role in the classroom. What can help you figure out what students are missing? (it could be a simple exit card) What can help you guide students during a project?
4. Develop simple rubrics and then offer meaningful feedback, meaning you get both qualitative and quantitative feedback
5. Consider allowing students to work toward mastery on their projects. This will teach them about quality work, allow slower students to catch up and provide a constant review on what was already learned

Photo Credit

Flickr Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmtimages/847894416/

I like the notion of a think-pair-share and I've heard the information about its efficacy. It makes sense that students should think and reflect on an idea, pair up with a person and then share the information to a larger group. It's a simple concept that does a great job in avoiding groupthink. In fact, I thought about it often when I read Wisdom of Crowds.

I have a slight variation on it, because I believe students remember information better after they have written information, rather than simply thinking about it.

The process is simple:

Step One: Students think about something. This could be a brainstorm question, a personal question, a general reflection question.

Step Two: Students take what they thought about and write. This could be a web or graphic organizer, but it soud be something written and visual.

Step Three: Students pair up and share their information.

Step Four: The pairs share their information to the class or to a small group.

The creative impulse is an aspect of all human experience. Regardless of race, ethnicity, culture or nationality, it is a deeply human desire, perhaps even a need, to express oneself creativity. Sadly, much of "the arts" have been relegated to "elective" classes and occasionally social studies or language arts. However, I can see a meaningful integration of art into all subjects. Here are a few ideas:

• Math - Demonstrating proporotions, patterns and other elements found in art. It doesn't have to simply be an MC Escher styled artist. Math teachers can use art when teaching math. Moreover, there is a ton of math in achitecture. One of my favorite units in math involved designing both the interior and exterior of a house. Teachers mocked my teacher's approach to this, but we aced the standardized test on area, surface area, perimeter and a host of other math-related concepts. In other words, she gave us a realistic, artistic avenue to use math.
• Science - I would use art when teaching the history of science as well as the intersection between culture, art and science. There are tons of examples. Off the top of my head, I think of the rise of modernism with quantum mechanics and how this shaped society. Then there are the issues of human / environment interaction, which are always a part of the science standards. I can also see examples of naturalist, impressionist and nature-related artists and how these could apply to understanding science.
• Social Studies - I use art appreciation throughout every era that I teach. It's impossible to understand any people group without viewing their art. I think it's a shame that many studnets know of Cesar Chavez but have never seen images of Chicano Park or seen the social art associated with the movement.
• Language Arts - Art and literature are so intertwined that it would be impossible to mention one without the other. Yet, many teachers fail to engage students in the arts when reading novels and short stories.

It goes beyond simple appreciation. Students should have a chance to create collages, draw pictures (not simple story sketches), interpret the mood of a story by using paints/chalks/water color and use artistic formats in mindmaps (integrating images into it).

Ekstein offers four distinct narratives that seem entirely unrelated: the ancient history of Latvia, his family history, the present-day story or the former Soviet Union and post-war Eastern Europe. In doing so, he offers compelling, well-written prose that tails off into poetry at times. At his best, Eksteins fuses intellectual social commentary (always subtle, never preachy) with symbolic story-telling.

I consider it to be the greatest history book ever. Seriously, I'm shocked that Eksteins is not more popular in both academic and pop-market circles. The man is a genius who writes well and thinks well. If he wasn't a historian, he'd be a novelist and not a lame, summer read writer, but a deep, profound, literate kind of guy.

This book transformed my methods of teaching social studies. I now attempt to teach all units with layers (like he did):

1. Macrohistory (going back millenia)

2. Microhistory (how this particular subject connects to our neighborhood)

3. Personal history (how it connects to student lives)

In addition, I make use of literature, metaphor, poetry and I blend military, social, political, philosophy. In other words, I now teach social studies with a heavy dose of humanities.

An example would be globalization. I tell the story of cultural connections and how it's not new (macro) and the distinct forces that "created" globalization in the eighties and nineties. I use the Maryvale area as an example (microhistory) with students conducting interviews and then I connect it to a "my future" project with students. We read articles and post-colonial poetry and The World Is Flat. In other words, it's a blended approach that is not a lock-step, linear history.

Here are the three main ways that I have organized service learning:

Curricular

• All the service is done in-class
• Ideas: painting flower pots for the nursing home, crocheting blankets for a hospital, setting up gift baskets for Secretary's Day
• Option 1: Students participate in groups in researching an issue and doing some type of service connected to it
• Option 2: The class creates a service project as a group (such as a food drive) that connects to current subject

Co-Curricular

• Service is done both in and outside of class
• Ideas: painting flower pots and then delivering them, doing a food drive and then volunteering at the food bank
• Option 1: Students do a portion of planning as an enrichment activity
• Option 2: Students work in groups creating plans for the project and then do the projects on their own
• Option 3: The class takes some time to do the service project as a whole but most is done later

Extracurricular

• Service is done outside of class
• Ideas: any place, anywhere - lots of flexibility here (food bank, domestic violence shelter)
• Option 1: Have a leadership team and then work together on various projects as a group - a very loose, fluid structure
• Option 2: Break students into groups that plan activities after school, work on parts outside of school and then do a service event on their own

I love the Daily Show. Yes, I know it has a strong bias. Yes, I know that much of it is meant as satire. However, of any show on television, it offers the sharpest media critique. For example, there was a moment when Obama had served for five days and Jon Stewart offered commentary on Obama with a Savior-O-Meter. Here, he had the freedom to mock the high expectations of liberals, the media bias and the conservative paranoia. He then compared it to a cliche metaphor of the "honeymoon" and played clips of pundits,

The Daily Show has the freedom to speak truth not "in spite" of its humor but "because of" the humor. When people see humor, they grow closer. It's why people grew so attached to the often dysfunctional Friends characters and why people can tolerate a lazy Jim on The Office. It's why Law and Order has to add some comedic escape - not to break up the drama, but to make us believe the characters are human.

I use humor often in the classroom. Oddly enough, it wasn't until I was able to laugh that students took me seriously. When I pretended to be a hardass, I was a prototype of the "mean teacher." However, when I lightened up, use some self-deprecating humor and even sarcasm, I earned the respect of students.

Pretentious, Presumptuous and Perhaps Practical Advice

1. Don't be afraid to joke around. If your humor is campy and over-the-top and goofy, that's okay. Students will eventually get it. If it's dry and sarcastic, go for it.

2. Don't use humor to make fun of kids. It's way too easy to go there (trust me, it's happened in my class) but it always backfires in the end.

3. Learn some of the student's pop culture and mock it.

4. If you're really daring, dress up in a costume and make an ass out of yourself. I've been "Cheto Cholo" the sock puppet and "Stu Pidiot" and "Moco Loco" (the superhero).

Photo Credit

Flickr Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danagraves/2944498417/

Here is a general framework that I've used in starting a service learning program.

Week One: Promote it

Part One: Discuss Together

1. Get students to bring in other students

2. Create a video

3. Dialogue about issues in the community

4. Brainstorm potential projects and stress that we won't be able to do all of them at once

5. Be honest about committment and sacrifice

Part Two: Actually work on a simple project

Week Two: Seriously Plan

1. Get groups together and make decisions

2. Have students work on the exploration part of service learning (such as a Needs Assessment)

3. Continue / Finalize the simple project

4. Set a timetable for projects

5. Generate goals

Week Three: Get working

If the numbers are there, have groups separate out and take charge of different projects

• I created these to use with the students in my class. Feel free to use, modify or reject.
• Complete Sentences
• Conclusion
• Dialogue
• Elements of Literature and Poetry
• Homonyms / Homophones
• Introduction
• Letter: Business
• Letter: Personal
• Persuasive Essay
• Point of View
• Prefixes
• Punctuation Guide
• Six Traits of Writing
• Summaries
• Transition Words

photo credit - dreamingyakker's photostream at flickr creative commons

I've made way too many mistakes in service projects. For that reason, I've created the following list regarding service projects

• If possible, go local. While global fundraisers can raise awareness, students often miss opportunties to know the issues in-depth.
• Integrate service activities with daily projects. For example, try a few visits to the food bank with the daily food drive.
• Make sure at least part of it is physical, tangible work. Students want to see what service learning in action. Writing letters is okay, but they want to go out and do something.
• See if you can tie it into social studies class or to a novel in language arts. The more connections, the deeper the learning.
• Work with a place that is flexible in terms of too many or too few volunteers. Sometimes twenty kids say they'll show up and you get eight or twenty eight.
• Always have at least two leaders at service events. Designate one person as the one in charge of dealing with parents and students and the other as the person working with an organization or charity.
• Get permission slips out at least a week in advance and organized at least two days before the project
• Bring a camera and take candid shots. It sounds obvious, but we've had tons of projects where no one took pictures.

The IMPACT Approach

We use the following values in all of our service projects. They must incorporate as many of these as possible

Rationale: Involvement in the Community

Community involvement should be a reciprocal relationship, where students partner with the community. Therefore, students benefit when community members participate in documentaries, give guest speaker presentations or donate to our fundraising causes. On the other hand, the community benefits when we write letters to soldiers, donate cans to the food bank and volunteer hours with local charities. Community involvement helps students find future success in their college, career and community.

• College - There are many scholarships available for students who have participated in community service. IMPACT begins that process early so that it can continue in high school as well.
• Career - Companies look for employees with high ethical integrity. For that reason, years of community service will help on future resumes.
• Community - Students learn what it means to be responsibile citizens who practice social justice.

Rationale: Meaningful Learning

We want students to ask the difficult questions of "What do I believe about life?" and "What is the best way to live?" Therefore, we structure activities, events and projects meant to make education more meaningful. We welcome the inquisitive student who asks the question "Why do I have to learn this?" Meaningful experiences are designed for students to find future success in their college, career and community.

• College - If students know what they believe and see education as life-long learning, they will take a more meaningful approach to their college years.
• Career - We provide meaningful experiences for students to explore future career opportunities while developing their own career philosophy.
• Community - From going to the food bank to running their own car wash, service learning experiences make education more meaningful.

Rationale: Practical Skills

Ultimately, the measure of an education is whether it changes a person's life. Therefore, we provide practical skills that students will use in life. These include goal-setting, budgeting, typing, public speaking and literacy. The ultimate goal is that students will be able to use what they learned in "the real world." Practical skills prepare students for future success in their college, career and community.

• College - Literacy, goal-setting, note-taking and public speaking are all examples of practical skills that students will use when they are independent and in college.
• Career - The practical skills mentioned above are necessary in most careers.
• Community Some of the best ways to transform a community begin with simple, practical answers. Therefore, it is important that students think of how they can use their skills to serve others.

Rationale: Accountability

Accountability begins with the belief that all students will learn and that we will do anything possible to make this happen. We hold students to high standards and provide extracurricular activities (such as the book club and writing club) as well as offering various tutoring to ensure that all students will learn. Academic accountability prepares students for future success in their college, career and community.

• College - Students learn the necessary skills so that, four years after they leave our school, college will be a viable option.
• Career - Accountability means students will learn the skills, the values and the concepts that will lead to success in whatever career field they choose.
• Community We want students from Borman to have a good reputation among the community. High behavioral and academic standards foster greater partnerships between the school and the community

Rationale: Creativity

Sometimes, as a student, it can feel that everything must be the same - from worksheets to uniforms to the same cafeteria food as everyone else. For this reason, we provide creative outlets for students to use in exploring their world. Whether it is in media arts, visual arts or writing, students have the opportunity to use their creativity to serve the community. Creativity prepares students for future success in their college, career and community.

• College - Students who practice creative arts learn valuable higher level thinking skills that can help in college. In addition, there are many fine arts related scholarships available for students.
• Career - In the globalized workforce, creativity is a key ingredient to a company's success. For this reason, many corporations rate "creative thinking" among top skills needed by employees.
• Community Creative arts can change a community. The murals in Philadelphia are a great example of how the community was transformed through art. This led to a higher morale and a lower crime rate

Rationale: Technology Integration

Technology integration is a key component to a student's academic success. In IMPACT, we guarantee that students will use a computer every day. By the end of the year, they will create an electronic portfolio and website, design and implement an independent research project, participate in all aspects of making a documentary in addition to learning word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software, blogging, wikis, concept mapping and other skills. Technology integration prepares students for future success in their college, career and community.

• College - Universities are already shifting toward higher levels of technology integration. IMPACT students will have gained these skills before they enter high school.
• Career - Within the next few decades, nearly every career will require some type of technology literacy. Those who have the skills will be more competitive in the global market.
• Community Technology has the ability to connect students to a global village and help the community. Yet, it also has the potential to destroy community. Therefore, we engage students in a dialogue about using technology responsibly.

This is what I use with students:

Part One: Evidence that you served, in the form of a letter that includes contact information (so that we can call the person or organization if we need to verify that the information is correct).

Part Two: Some type of online reflection. You can e-mail me your reflections (at least three paragraphs). You can contact me and we can do a podcast or video reflections. Or you can post your reflections to our service blog at socialvoiceaction.blogspot.com. In your reflections, you need to answer the following questions:

• What did you do? How long did you serve? Who did it benefit?
• How did you feel about it ahead of time?
• How do you feel about it now?
• What did you learn from the service? For example, did you learn something about the community? About yourself?
• Would you recommend it to another person?

Once a week, our Student Leadership Team meets to plan together. This is important, because it empowers students to take ownership of the learning process. My friend who runs a service learning group has a Core Group that works as a service learning leadership team. I can see the validity in this, but I make it more of a democratic meeting where anyone is invited.

Here is what we do (not always in this order):

1. Review past projects - reflect on how they went and create feedback for the future

2. Plan future projects (brainstorming, for example)

3. Review progress on current projects and assign jobs (if need be)

4. Engage in specific dialogues about social issues. For example, if we are painting pots for the nursing home, we talk about the way America treats the elderly. This fourth, philosophical part, is crucial and avoids the meetings becoming too managerial.

Check it the Project Planning Sheet on a Google Document

I use this with the Leadership Team that meets once a week.

Project Planning Sheet

Description of the Project

Who is involved? Who will this project benefit?

What will be accomplished?

Where will this take place?

When will this take place?

Why are we doing this project?

How will we accomplish this project?

What supplies are needed?

What permission do we need? (admin, student council, permission slips, etc.)

Connection to IMPACT Values

Which IMPACT values does this project include? (involvement in the community, meaningful learning, practical skills, academics, creativity, technology integration)

Connection to Student Learning

Which standards does this project relate to?

Goals

Make a list of goals for this project

Tasks - Breakdown of Project

Create a to-do list for this project

Task	Due Date	Progress	Responsible

Reflection Questions:

What were some aspects of the project that went well?

What were some aspects of the project that could be improved?

Would you recommend this project again?

Did we accomplish our goals? Why or why not?

Description:

Students begin with a process of exploration/awareness. Often, this means doing research, interviewing community members, reading a book or engaging in a dialogue with a teacher. It can be either direct inquiry or guided inquiry, as long as the student has a chance to really explore the issue.

From there, students move toward engagement / action. This usually means community service. However, that can be as launching a canned food drive or as narrow as tutoring one student. We would like to see students take ownership in the planning and execution of service learning; however, this will often mean teacher involvement in the initial phase of providing scaffolding.

The final area is expression / advocacy. Here, students might write to a congressional representative, paint a mural, create a documentary, write a book, create a play – whatever method they find best. At the same time, they must also create individual service learning reflections. Often times, the process is messier than this. For example, a student might engage in the service of painting over graffiti and in the process have a chance to explore the issue with a neighbor who wants to discuss it.

I'd love to write about how great service learning can be and how it's all sunshine and fluffy bunnies and everything like that. The reality, though, is that service learning is often a challenging endeavor. So, here are a few things that make it difficult:

1. Failure to be flexible: I have had to learn to allow students to do the planning and to make mistakes in the process. It can be really hard to avoid micromanaging.
2. Failure to know the procedures: districts have tons of legal procedures and even if they seem insane, they exist for a reason. I've had to learn these and adhere to them. (For this reason, I do absolutely no fundraising as a group)
3. Underplanning: I eventually developed an individual project planning sheet to keep me organized in this, because I would forget permission slips or I'd forget to notify parents about the address
4. The Dip in Motivation: I plan one "big event" per quarter, because many of the jobs can get dull and long and tedious. The big events help keep motivation high.
5. Trying to do too much: We have had moments where we simply planned too many projects and as a result it failed.

If you are doing service learning as a team-wide concept, here is an idea that worked well for me one year:

GROUP ROLES

Project Coordinator
• Keeps a log of all projects
• Keeps track of service hours
• Manages sign-in sheets
• Helps develop project goals
• Plans each of the projects with the student leadership team

Events Coordinator
• Coordinates all events
• Takes care of PO's, etc. for the "big events"
• Calls places for donations

Data Manager
• Analyzes the data
• Monitors weekly progress toward attaining goals

• Develops surveys for teachers, parents and students

Communicator / Public Relations
• Makes necessary phone calls
• Any press releases needed
• Any necessary promotions – marquee signs, fliers
• Contacts people
• Talks to administration
• Takes notes and agendas for the team meetings

Accountability is a buzzword in the educational community. For me, it conjures up images of heavy-handed coercion and cheesy extrinsic motivators. However, at its root, the term "accountability" simply means to give an account.

I believe in honesty and transparency in community service. So, I developed a service hour tracker that helps kids to recognize their service hours. This enables me to check how many hours we are doing in awareness, action and advocacy; how many hours we are doing overall; the hours for each student as well as the amount of time each project takes. We use this with our Student Leadership Team.

Service Hour Tracker on Google Docs

Service learning is a phrase I've heard educators apply to everything from writing letters to a represenative to leading a massive social movement. At first glance, it seems like an obvious thing that schools should do. So, why don't they? First, it can be a touchy subject. Service can be dangerous, political and confusing. Second, it can be hard work. It can mean giving up prep time or weekends or after school hours. Finally, to some people, it doesn't seem academic.

Step One: Personal Reflection

If you're considering starting a service learning program, you might want to consider the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of service learning? If you believe it is to make a difference, what will happen if you fail to make a big difference? What will you do to avoid reinforcing stereotypes about things like poverty and injustice? If you believe it is to challenge social inequities, what will you do to avoid it being a politically motivated project? If you believe it is to prepare students for college and add to resumes, what are the dangers in using extrinsic motivation for service?

2. Do you have time for this? What will you do to make time for it? What will have to go?

3. Who will help you? What parent volunteers will you need? How will you motivate students?

Step Two: Creating a Plan

Think of you plan as a comination "for myself" and "for others" document. It's easy here to overplan, so you might want to keep it to just the essentials.

• Mission / Vision / Purpose - Often, this is the kind of stuff administrators look for, so even if it feels gimmicky, take the time to do this. A mission is what you will do, a vision is what you eventually hope to be and a purpose is your core identity as a group.
• A Rationale on how this will increase student learning
• Generate a few goals - keep it simple, such as the number of hours, the number of projects
• Decide exactly how many projects you will do and when you will meet - this could be as simple as a monthly schedule
• Whether this will be curricular (part of the school day), co-curricular (part of the school and outside of school hours) or extracurricular (out of the school hours)
• Create a system for who will be involved (parents, students, community members) and how you will keep track of attendance as well as how you will recruit them. Will it be open enrollment or will it be something where they have to join in the beginning?

Step Three

Get permission to get it started. Find out the following information:

• The procedures for fundraising
• The procedures / permissions for off-campus service projects
• The methods of promoting it - new student orientation? daily announcements?
• The procedures for turning in meeting minutes if it's a club

Photo Credit
Flickr Creative Commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/booleansplit/3510951967/

Photo Credit

Flickr Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rutty/503238148/

What can children teach us? What can adolescents and adults learn from them?

Photo Credit
Flickr Creative Commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/3312300364/

The Jigsaw concept is one of the most common implementations of Cooperative Learning. Before mentioning the way it works, I want to approach the pros and cons of it:

Pros

• It's easier to dissemenate detailed information
• It's an accurate portrayal of most workplaces - where groups move back and forth with roles for each
• Each student has a specific role to play in the process

Cons

• It is overused in some classes, missing out on individual and whole-class reading
• A "weak" student can ruin the results for all of his or her group
• It can mean too much planning, especially if there are odd numbers with multiple students from an original group

How It Works:

This works best when students learn the process ahead of time:

1. Divide the class up into groups, so that each group has 4-6 members. I'll call this the "Home Group."

2. Each member of the Home Group goes to a separate station where they learn information. This works best when there is a group leader in each of the new groups. It also works well when the students have a graphic organizer where they are taking notes.

3. The Home Group meets again and goes over the information. Make sure students don't simply copy graphic organizers. To do this, try offering discussion questions that all members must use.

I first read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in high school. At the time, I viewed it through the lens of a student. It sparked in me a sense of ideological rebellion. I wouldn't let the system indoctrinate me. I wouldn't allow myself to be doomed to a life of quiet conformity.

I re-read it about a decade later, as I finished my second year of teaching. Here, I still hated the standardized system. It still resonated with my libertarian views of education. I still hate the way the system will sell a child's mind to McGraw Hill and do it with a handshake a game of golf. I still hate the militarism and conformity built into most school systems. However, in the second reading, the book took on a newer meaning.

I saw a danger in the Red figure. If Nurse Ratched can be dangerous in her quiet, calm, smiling micromanaging, Red can be just as dangerous in his raw hedonism and rebellion for the sake of rebellion. In both cases, the figures are all about power - one in the name of order, the other in the name of freedom. Neither adhere to a deeper philosophy of life.

In my second reading, I kept thinking that I could way too easily slip into a Red-style rebellion against all authority (rather than one of principals) or I could blindly submit like Chief. I also thought about all the days that I had acted like Nurse Ratched in my classroom. In my darkest moments, I've been a mini-tyrant demanding absolute class obedience.

It was also in this time that I realized the answer to approaching the system is in paradox. It's in being a sage and a lunatic - crazy as hell, like Red but also silently subversive like the Chief. It seems the answer is in walking a mystery of directly confronting the system while working within it to transform it.

This is an expansion on a comment I wrote on Science Teacher's Blog.

I checked out my new class as a computer teacher. It's sterile and empty and quiet, save a few buzzing computers. Don't get me wrong, it's nice, much nicer than I am used to. The computers are state-of-the-art. The plugs are on the ground. I have an ActivBoard. It's a techno-dream come true.

I hung up a few posters and kept thinking, "there's something wrong." I thought it was the lack of murals (I haven't gotten permission to paint on walls) but then it hit me, "I'm in a cave." The school is all indoors. It's a bit like being in a Vegas casino.

They say it's more eco-friendly this way. It might save electricity, but I'm not sure that a windowless school helps kids become friends with the ecological surroundings. During our hot summer days, I play games with the boys in a house illuminated by the sun. Call it a psychological crutch, but something in my soul thrives on sunlight.

At my last school, I stood in the sun for four minutes every hour. I knew the time by the shadows on my class walls. Now, I'm stuck trusting the clock.

Photo Credit

Flickr Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/extranoise/207532495/

Recently, while lounging around my in-law's house, I stumbled across a t.v. show about the "dirtiest jobs." I'm not sure what it's called. Perhaps "America's Dirtiest Jobs." If I wasn't feeling lazy, I'd open up a new tab and search on google.

Anyway, it struck me as I watched the show that most of the men who worked these jobs seemed to find satisfaction in their work. It was nothing sentimental. Nobody said, "I'm just really passionate about sorting through garbage." Yet, the men seemed to take pride in the fact that their work was literally saving lives. In fact, as the host interviewed each man, they mentioned work injuries and hard experiences, but each admitted that they had worked for nearly thirty years.

The cynic in me wonders how they respond away from the camera. Are they simply rationalizing a horrible daily existence? Or is it something different? Perhaps they find satisfaction because their work is meaningful and challenging. While others search for fame and recognition or the climb of a corporate latter, these men have found a purpose in solving the world's sanitation problem.

I doubt that any of them will ever have a picture on a candle, give a speech to aspiring youth or have a library named in their honor. Nobody will paint a mural in honor of the men who work dirty jobs. Yet, I wonder if ultimately they are the ones who found the secret to a good life: find something meaningful and challenging and then stay faithful to it on a daily basis.

Where this gets personal is that secretly I do so many things as a teacher for the recognition, for the enjoyment and for the sense of superiority I can feel when I have done something "big." Yet, ultimately, if I want to make it long-term as a teacher, I should pay attention to the lessons of the "dirty job" people. Perhaps the good life is found in being unrecognized and underpaid in return for something that is meaningful on a daily basis.

Pretentious, Presumptuous and Perhaps Practical Advice

1. Don't be surprised if your work goes unnoticed. Don't be shocked if your badass project is only celebrated by students. That's what's keeping your ego in check.

2. If you can be humble, you'll be thankful. You'll be happier at your job and you won't have a sense of entitlement. This will make things like grading papers and organizing file cabinets a little more tolerable.

3. Seriously check your motives. If you want recognition, enjoyment or a sense of power, teaching might not be the best place for you. If you want to serve, it will eventually lead to a sense of contentment with moments of enjoyment mixed in.

Photo Credit

Flickr Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_ellis/495247773/

I used to mock the Data Divas. I called them Data Whores, because it seemed that they sold a sacred profession for a numerical quantity and to me they were the equivalent of zombies using dead ideas to feast on brains of the living or vampires sucking the lifeblood out of authenticity in the name of accountability.

So, it was very reluctantly that I read The Wisdom of Crowds. Here, I found a few interesting trends. First, the group is often more accurate as a whole at predicting and describing than the "experts." We are so enamored in a Cult of Personality, though, that we miss the collective wisdom of the group. I realize this sounds so Stalinist and Jim Jones-ish but it's not at all what it looks like. It's not about groupthink or committees or cudlly conferences where we learn about synergy.

Instead, the idea is that one or two people (preferably those who develop an idea) should use the collective wisdom of the group in order to create solutions. Some of the experiments are fascinating. For example, in Who Wants to be a Millionaire, the most accurate contestant is the crowd in general. As I thought about this, I considered what it would look like in education. Here are a few thoughts:

• Getting rid of committees and instead empowering individuals with projects and then using surveys, needs assessments and then letting the decision-makers conduct quantiative data analysis followed by one-on-one interviews for a qualitative take
• Using data when measuring opinion and skills, but allowing for individual freedom for all else - in other words, avoiding the trap of becoming a "dracula" by knowing the proper place and time for data
• Creating a more wiki-like mechanism for collaboration and trusting staff for horizontal communication
• Being leery of experts who claim to have the solutions. This is these book reviews aren't about books by Ron Clark or Harry Wong
• Using this in the classroom - for example, I asked students to predict what would happen as society shifted from agrarian to industrial societies. The whole-class brainstorm occured on a shared Google Document and revealed a depth and richness that no one (including myself) could have created
• Showing a little more compassion toward the Data Divas. It took me awhile to realize that, in terms of prognostics and diagnostics, they have a place in the system.

An example of one of our outside murals

An example of one of our indoor murals

Okay, so on some level the concept of teachers creating murals with students sounds superfluous. After all, how is shading and blending going to increase academic achievement? The reality is that murals often combine "soft skills" and "hard skills." In terms of soft skills, students learn creative thinking, problem solving, group interaction, creativity, leadership and communication. In terms of hard skills, the project almost always requires scaling (which can be difficult for students to grasp), research (especially in choosing the design elements in relation to society) as well as reading and writing.

Even so, I would not recommend using murals everday. For me, they work best as an after-school or enrichment activity. In my class, murals have been a tangible, expressive, collective way to demonstrate what we have learned in a visual framework.

So, here are the steps to creating a mural

Step One: Engage students in research. Establish a theme, a concept, a mood - basically use all the elements of literature. Have them do a quick write-up about this and then find visuals for inspiration.

Step Two: Create a concept. Ask hard questions, such as, "Who is left out? Who is there? Is any one gender, ideology, race or culture predominant?" Essentially, this incorporates aspects of social studies.

Step Three: Create a master plan. Assuming you have approval, commission artists to create the draft. Put the entire thing together and make sure there is buy-in from admin to teachers to students.

Step Four: Using a grid system, begin scaling. Students will look at a block on the paper and sketch the same block on the wall. Although this doesn't have to be perfect, it should be fairly accurate. If this process isn't working, you can use an overhead projector and trace.

Step Five: Begin painting. Make sure you have the right colors and materials. Begin with your "base coats" and then move toward blending and shading. Designate a student to be in charge of light source who makes sure the colors are all using the same light source. In general, paint from the bottom down (drips and it looks more realistic) but remember that art is never precise.

I assigned the students a project called, "United by Borders." Here, each child wrote about personal borders that they have attempted to cross. Some students described reading the eviction notices and going through the ritual of packing quickly as they jumped from apartment to apartment. Others wrote about the literal border, the behemoth monster that spirals through the arid landscape and separates wealth from poverty by the crapshoot of geography. One girl wrote a poingnant essay on the death of her father, wondering if the true border is mortality or the emotional border that prevented her from ever truly knowing him in the first place.

The project isn't due for another week, but many students turned theirs in already. A few papers seem tear-stained. Others have been meticulously re-written and polished for easy reading. Still others have smudges and black lines scratching out the raw emotions. Every story is individual and reveals a side to students that I often miss. It's beautiful and sad and occasionally triumphant, but I'm not sure it will raise test scores or help our school make AYP.

It has me thinking about a scene from a Christmas special, where Rudolph visits the Island of Misfit Toys. The toys stay in isolation, because they are viewed as different. Some are legitmately broken. They don't bounce properly. A clown fails to smile. A jack in the box doesn't pop up on time. I've made referance to my Legion of Piss Poor Scholars who would fit well within the Island of Misfit Toys. Here I see kids who don't smile right or feel broken or don't answer questions the way that McGraw Hill demands of them.

Maybe that's why I like teaching junior high. At that age, I was so convinced I belonged on the Island of Misfit Toys; that I was too broken for normalcy and that somewhere on the mainland were the pretty ones who didn't break, who could smile on demand and could be more useful. Maybe that's why, as removed as I am from most of my students' borders, I feel a certain kinship as I read each paper. It makes me wonder if we're all misfits and there is no "mainland" at least not in this world and that maybe the best I can do as a teacher is be vulernable and transparent and allow students to feel known and heard.

Pretentious, Presumptuous and Perhaps Practical Advice

1. If you can, carve out a time when "rejects" are allowed to come into the classroom. Maybe it's before school or after school, but deliberately invite them. Make it a haven for the socially awkward. Maybe you won't be able to do it your first semester. Maybe you'll be too busy. But it very well might save you from burn-out.

2. Do everything in your power to protect the class from bullying. On day one compare the classroom to a family (or find another metaphor) and explain why bullying won't be tolerated, even if it's done in the name of humor.

3. Be open about your own social awkwardness or insecurity at a certain age. I always tell a few stories about junior high. If I sound like a loser to a "cool kid," I just remind myself that the mere fact that I can drive makes me cooler than the coolest kid in class.

4. Don't pry into students' lives to see brokennes, but be ready to listen when they need to talk.

Photo Credit

Flickr Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thetoad01/3118484239/

When I was in high school, I thought of a reality show called Gold Digger. Here, a young man would disguise himself as a loaded octogenarian ready to find romance and leave an inheritance. While it never happened, a few months later they aired Joe Millionaire with the not-so-surprising twist at the end that Joe was actually poor.

So, I thought about Joe Millionaire while hearing a "remember when" segment mentioning Milli Vanilli. I thought about the day I heard the undubbed, unedited, not-so-perfect voice of Shakira and how I somehow liked her better when she had flaws. I thought about the Wizard of Oz and the game of smoke and mirrors that authority figures throw around to impose fear and conformity.

It made me angry at first. Then I thought about how lonely the Wizard looked and how scared he was. I thought about Milli Vanilli lip sincing a Grammy and how phony that must have felt in the moment. I thought about Brittany Spears and the machine-created superstar factory and I wondered if she ever cried when someone called her a white trash mom.

Maybe it's because I've tried too hard at different points in teaching to create an imaginary image for myself. Maybe it's because, on my worst days, I stayed too elusive, relied on tricks of illusion and smoke and mirrors to entertain or instill fear. If I could go back to my first year, I'd say to myself, "Relax, John. Be yourself. As trite as that may sound, don't worry about your image or about what people think of you, because honestly they don't think much about you at all, because they are worried about what others think of them."

I realized that so much of the system really is like Joe Millionaire in reverse. People won't care about me if I put up an image. If I pretend to be something I'm not, they are repelled. But if I can stay authentic, students are drawn to the transparency. It makes them feel safe. I realized, too, that most of the authority figures were just like Milli Vanilli. Don't get me wrong. Principals have power, but often times, it's the principals and custodians who have the ultimate knowledge of what's happening. If I want to know who runs the school, I should see the secretary and the custodian.

Pretentious, Presumptuous and Perhaps Practical Advice

1. Be honest about your weaknesses. When you yell, apologize to the students. Tell a few stories that reveal mistakes.

2. Be careful about speaking up in staff meetings. I still make this mistake sometimes. Instead, quietly go to those in charge and speak truth with humility.

3. Don't invite a lot of teachers to see what your students have done. I know this sounds like mean advice, but you'll get your feelings hurt when no one shows up. If your students are doing great things, people will find out and it won't look like you're bragging.

4. Remember that it is often the people "at the bottom" who hold power. So, talk to the secretary and custodian with an extra dose of respect. I found that, at my last school, the secretary would bend over backwards for me because I would chat with her or get her a piece of Elvis memorabilia.

In Farenheit 451, there is a scene with the Mechanical Hound, where the machine seems to become more "human" and the humans are being so programmed by technology that they seem to become more mechanical. What do you think of this?

For this next review, I'm lumping together a few books that I'll label as "social behaviorist" in nature. While each book has a different aim, they each quote most of the same experiments and reach many of the same conclusions. The first, Predictably Irrational holds to the premise that we think we are acting rationally when we are acting irrationally most of the time, but in ways which are predictable. The second, Stumbling on Happiness has a similar philosophy, but with regard to desire and satisfaction. Finally, Blink is about how the best decisions are often made quickly, but how they can be manipulated by over-analysis or by framing.

I realize that I read all three books around the same time, so I am not capturing the nuances of the arguments in each. Nor am I commenting on stylistic differences. For what it's worth, I think Malcolm Gladwell is a much better author than Daniel Gilbert. However, these books have had a profound influence on my teaching in the following ways:

1. Recognizing the power of language and how it frames decisions and conceptions of reality
2. Realizing that the best decisions are often made quickly if I am an expert in something and that there is a danger in over-analysis
3. Knowing the role of groups in making decisions (I'll be reviewing Wisdom of Crowds and Paradox of Choice as well)
4. Knowing the role of emotion on rational thinking (there is a great description of a semi-unethical expirement regarding stimulation and moral thinking in Stumbling on Happiness)
5. Realizing the power of branding and appearance on how people percieve something - a Coke "tastes better" because of the can itself. This is part of why, for better or worse, classroom decor influence class climate