Apr29
Apr24
It’s All About Audience
To all my language arts friends out there, this is candid advice from an experienced author. I have taken articles like this before a writing assignment and read them to class, followed by a discussion. I would also refer back to this article when doing writing conferences, where students answer for themselves how they think they achieved the three pieces of advice in their writing.
A reader recently emailed me asking for writing advice. I complied.
“You don’t need a literary background to write. You do need something to say and a desire to learn how to control language so that you can say it as you mean it, to reach the audience you intend to inform, persuade, and/or entertain. In the end, writing is about the audience, not about the self.”
Here are some tips for writing to your audience:
Tell your readers something they want to know. People love to learn, so teach them. For non-fiction, this means submitting stories to publications geared toward your content. There are many ways to slice a story: Traveling with young children could be slanted toward a parenting magazine, toward a tourism site, or even toward a publication about cars. Each publication has a different audience, and should be written to the probable readers.
Use…
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Apr18
What is most important??
As I plan my return to work, it is hard not to think about what I want to do, who I want to be as a professional. I am reading all of this professional chatter. Everyone is so passionate and convinced that they are right. We need to focus on learning and not on assessment; we need to teach students to learn and not just to ‘take tests.’ We need to focus on assessment; assessment of learning, assessment for learning, learning through assessment. We need to focus on ‘professional judgment’ and move away from standardization. We need to be more standardized; teacher’s should be giving the same lessons on the same day, using the exact same hand outs. We need to move away from our reliance on technology and return the basics. We need to utilize more technology to engage learners and prepare them for a world that is reliant on technology to manage every aspect of our lives. Wow!
What an incredible, and incredibly confusing, time to be involved in education. There is so much passion in our profession, so much noise. But, it is an exciting time to be in education too. The only thing worse than too much passion, too much noise, is apathy. As educators, we need to be passionate and passionately searching for where our profession needs to go. We are preparing our students for a world that does not yet exist, we are preparing them for a reality that only lives in the mind of the next Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and/or Charles Branson. As technology and social media networking speed up the rate of change, the reality of the world we are living in, and the one that we are preparing our children and students for, will be different from the one we live in today.
How do you prepare for that?
The truth is…we don’t really know. We act like we do. We argue like we do. We move forward with the grace and confidence of people who know exactly what we are charging ahead toward…but in reality we’re just hoping. Hoping we are right. Hoping we make a difference. Hoping that we can be a part of shaping the change makers, and in that, be change makers ourselves.
Apr15
Another book has fallen in the Mighty Smackdown
There is a place where teachers gather…well cyber-gather. They read two novels and vote on which will move on to the next round. This is the quarter finals, and another novel has fallen and one will rise again. To follow the exciting literary adventures visit the Mighty Smackdown. 🙂
Apr14
Sometimes change is hard…
I find myself invigorated by the idea of teaching using practices that are new and innovative. I am intrigued by the use of technology I see my colleagues using…”tell me more,” “show me how” I want to say. I am fascinated by the research on best teaching practices, and I find myself feeling like I need to look at what I do in a different way or add to what I am doing with a different technique or a different process.
I remember feeling frustrated and a bit disappointed in teachers who didn’t want things to change or felt that change was too much work. It wasn’t that I meant to be judgmental, it was just the disillusioning of a young idealist who believed that everyone would want to be at the top of their game. I believed that there would be so many people clamouring to be on the cutting edge, there may be risk of getting knocked over or left behind.
Now that I have a bit more age and experience, I realize that there will always be a new idea, a new fad, a new way of doing things. Some will be research based, and some will be put forth by charismatic, persuasive, creative thinkers, where there is little or no evidence of empirical support. These movements toward change often involve large amounts of work, and time, and resources.
When you see these fads come and go, and you know the work that is involved in implementation, it can be difficult to rush to jump on the bandwagon. Often times, change is expected to come completely at the expense of teachers. What I mean by that is that little or no time or other resources provided. Administration comes up with a ‘great idea’ and teachers are left to add the work to their long list of to-dos. This means that in addition to all of the regular planning, teaching, assessing, meeting, documenting, etc. teachers would need to find the time to implement whatever changes are needed to make this ‘great idea’ a reality.
It is easy to understand why some teachers are not always willing to spring forth with enthusiasm on the winds of change. What would make it easier to engage teachers in change making processes is to have changes thought out, research supported, and to give appropriate timelines and resource support to teachers to make those changes. Also, allowing teachers to be part of the deciding what changes are going to be made, and to help determine the time line for change would go a long way to breaking down resistance.
Mar25
I’m Staying Home from School Today
Some days are just like that…
I’m staying home from school today.
I’d rather be in bed,
pretending that I have a pain
that’s pounding in my head.
I’ll say I have a stomachache.
I’ll claim I’ve got the flu.
I’ll shiver like I’m cold
and hold my breath until I’m blue.
I’ll fake a cough. I’ll fake a sneeze.
I’ll say my throat is sore.
If necessary, I can throw
a tantrum on the floor.
I’m sure I’ll get away with it.
Of that, there’s little doubt.
But even so, I really hope
my students don’t find out.
by Kenn Nesbitt
Mar25
Advocating for your child…
“What do I do when I am unhappy with something that is happening in my child’s class or at my child’s school?” is the question I get asked most when people find out that I am a teacher. This is often an awkward conversation for me because, well to be quite honest, if I only hear one side of the issue, I don’t have all the information. But I do genuinely want to help and so, if I can see where the reality of the classroom may intersect with their expectation as a parent, then I will gently try to educate the questioner on the reality of teaching in a public education setting. However, sometimes, from what they tell me, they may have a valid issue that needs to be brought forth. I will often listen and then encourage parents to go and discuss the situation with the teacher if it is a classroom issue, or administration (Principal, Asst. Principal or other designate) if the issue is a school issue. It is better to clear the air than to stew about situation and let negative feelings fester. However, the idea of going to talk to a teacher or administrator can be difficult for some people to do. They will ask how they should do it. So, the following is basically what I tell them.
How to effectively advocate for your child:
A. Talk to the teacher directly.
1. Don’t do it while you are still mad. Wait 24 hours to give yourself time to calm down, and to see if it is still important. If you still feel the need to approach the teacher, then do it before 48 hours has lapsed. This is because issues are harder to address the farther you get from when the issue happened. Remember this is just a guideline, but has been quite effective for me.
2. Before going into speak with the teacher, know what it is that you want. What end result are you asking for? Do you want the teacher to acknowledge something? or Do you want the teacher to change something? or Do you want the teacher to monitor something?
3. Before forming a conclusion, be sure to hear the teacher out, and see if there are facts that your child may not know or has not shared with you. Also, give your child’s teacher an opportunity to investigate a situation if that is needed.
4. When you go to speak to the teacher be respectful, stay calm and polite. It may help to start with what you like about your child’s classroom experience before mentioning your concern. When you do speak about your concern, make sure that you stick to the facts, and try to leave emotion and judgement out of it. For example avoid saying things like, “well you should…” or “that little hoodlum…”
5. Focus on YOUR child and how they are being affected. Even if you believe that other children are also being impacted, remember that it is their parents’ job to advocate for them. Also, it diminishes your argument to use non-specific examples or to discuss situations where you likely do not have all the facts. Focus on what you know, see, or hear yourself, or what your child tells you. Try not to bring into the conversation what your child tells you someone else said, or what you might think about someone else’s situation. The teacher will not, for privacy reasons, be able to discuss other children or their circumstances with you.
B. Speak to administration.
I have worked with a number of professionals who would never recommend going above a teacher’s head to speak to administration. I, on the other hand, think that this can actually be a very helpful tool. Administrators often have more time to speak to parents. This allows for them to take the time to listen for more detail and to explain things in more detail. Having a person who is one-step removed from the situation can help to mediate the concern. I have seen good administrators be quite effective in getting teachers and parents to look beyond their respective feelings and work toward a satisfactory conclusion.
What to remember when you speak to an administrator is not at very different from what you need to remember when speaking to your child’s teacher:
1. You need to remember to stay calm, be polite, and be clear in your own mind, but also with the administrator, about what do you want the outcome of your meeting to be?
2. Explain to the administrator why you feel it is important to resolve the issue or concern, and let them know how you have tried to resolve the issue with your child’s teacher already.
3. Focus on how the issue is affecting your child and try to avoid speaking for the whole class or other parents. If other parents have discussed concerns with you, encourage them to discuss the issue with, first the teacher, and then with administration if needed.
4. Be sensitive to the fact that the administrator is likely not going to have firsthand knowledge of the situation. They too may need to investigate before coming to any conclusions.
C. Call the School Board or School Board Trustree (elected official for the School Board)
Every school board will have a leadership hierarchy. If you do not know who to call, call the school board directly and ask them who can help you meet your objective. The people you talk to initially may try to dissuade you, and refer you back to the school. Remember to stay calm, stay focused, and be precise. Once again tell them:
1. Why the issue is important to you.
2. How it is impacting your child.
3. The steps that you have taken to resolve the issue at the school level.
4. What you expect them to do or what a successful outcome would look like.
5. And always be calm and polite.
Effective advocacy is the responsibility of every parent, and the right of every child. Generally, the best outcomes happen when schools and parents work together and sometimes that might mean having a conversation that one or both parties are uncomfortable having. However, the goal for both parties should be creating a fair, respectful, and caring environment for your child, and all the others in their classroom and school community.
Mar17
Father Carries His Disabled Son 9 Miles to School Every Day
This is why I love what I do…EVERYONE deserves an education and that happens best when parents, students and educators work to make that happen.
What an inspirational father!
Let’s all agree to extend an early Happy Father’s Day to this Chinese dad who will do just about anything to give his son with disabilities every opportunity in the world.
Yu Xukang, 40, a single dad from the Sichuan Province in China, walks 9 miles every day with his son, Xiao Qiang, strapped to his back so that the boy can get an education. The 12-year-old has a disorder that has caused his arms and legs to become twisted and his back to be hunched over, and there is no public transportation available to take him to class, Central European News (CEN) told The Huffington Post in an email.
To support himself and his young son, Yu works as a farmer, according to China Daily. Since last September, Yu has woken up every day at 5 a.m., prepared a lunch for his son…
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Mar13
Why you don’t give zeroes…
For years I have been a strong advocate of not giving zeroes. I cannot think of single reason why giving zeroes is a good idea. As a classroom teacher I deal with behaviours all the time. I do not need to give zeroes in order to do it. Giving zeroes muddies the waters of assessment and renders the grades we give meaningless. There are better ways to motivate students to conform to our expectations, and even if there isn’t, we can’t say that a student is performing at a lower standard just to penalize them. It would be the same as giving someone a speeding ticket for driving a large vehicle. One thing has nothing to do with the other. I always appreciate educators who support and can explain why this is not a good practice. Garnet Hillman does a great job on her blog, link below.
http://garnethillman.blogspot.ca/2013/12/standards-based-learning-and-standards.html
Mar8
Adventures in Education 