For This Generation.....Content is King

The digital shift over the past 15 years has created a unprecidented demand for content. The value of original and authentic content is evident in the current value of sports franchises, reality television, and app development. We live in a world of social media, on-demand digital access, and 24/7 connectivity. This type of network demands content.

With this new demand creates opportunity. Opportunity exists for our students to develop communication skills, literacy skills, and content knowledge that will allow them the opportunity to be contributors in the content era rather than passive consumers.

How do we provide our students with the skills necessary to be valuable "content contributors"? How do we prepare them to navigate, manage and authenticate the content available to them?

We start by exposure to multiple mediums across content areas. For example, a mathematics teacher considers a variety mediums for content delivery and assessment of knowledge such as  direct instruction, video tutorials, case studies, or online discussions.  Teachers may provide students with a repository of resources utilizing a learning management system. 

When we provide students with opportunities to publish and share their thoughts, opinions and final products we begin their journey towards a contribution to global content. It is at this juncture that we should encourage them to publish and to accept and reflect on criticism, commenting and peer review. By developing both their confidence to share and refining their craft of writing and critical thinking we develop the next generation of "content creators".

Student publishing is accomplished in a variety of ways. The shift from writing for your teacher to writing for an audience may be stressful for some. Through exposure, positive support, and authentic feedback students may develop a comfort with sharing publicly.

Teachers may abandon paper based journals for blogs. Class discussions my transition between the classroom and threaded discussions. Student writing may be shared electronically for peer review. Teachers may connect their students with classrooms around the world or content area experts. These connections might involve collaborative blogging, collaborative authoring, peer view,online discussions, or video conferencing.

Having students comment on public blogs, newspapers or writing book reviews on Amazon present authentic opportunities to hone their craft as well.

Mobile Apps Promote Communication and Education

Mobile devices have increasingly found a home in schools. No cell phone policies have been amended or replaced with electronic device guidelines. Student and teacher cell phone use in schools has transitioned from "do not" to "do it this way" .  Students and teachers have become creative with the use of these devices. The use of polling services to check for understanding, students taking pictures of information posted on the board, backchannel conversations, and on-demand research have caused a paradigm shift for students and staff. 

School administrators must recognize the opportunity to maximize this resource to promote communication, collaboration, and increased student achievement. By utilizing social media or the roll out of a school app, administrators have the ability to "push" information. The idea of posting information on a website for those who choose to visit the site can be replaced with a pushing out information through Tweets or app notifications.

Learning Management Systems offer a centralized repository of content, assignments, important dates and communication. Many of the most up-do-date LMS systems offer mobile apps that provide students and teachers with this repository in their pocket. The availability, accessibility and organization of these materials provides a classroom level intervention that will impact student achievement  and home-school communication.

Collaborative Teaching Teams in a High School

In high schools across the country teachers meet as departments or entire faculties. These standardized, contractual, meetings typcially involve the dissemination of information, schoolwide PD, or discussion about curriculum and assessment. While these gatherings are valuable and necessary, they may fall short in meeting the needs of at-risk students. The establishment of inter-disciplinary teaching teams provides an opportunity for teachers from multiple content areas, who teach the same students to meet on a regular basis. The collaboration of such teachers shifts the focus of conversation from curriculum and instruction to students.

Popular topics for the planning meetings may include the establishment of consistent policies and procedures, communication strategies, classroom interventions, classroom accoommodations, student achievement, and behavior observations.

In order to organize such a team it it necessary to identify grade levels and courses that share a significant percentage of common students. When scheduling, teacher must be provided with a common planning period. To meet contract obligations consider substituting a non-instructional duty for this assignment.

 

A New Homework Strategy

The completion of homework remains a point of focus for some students when analyzing their achievement in particular courses. Some students find it challenging to complete assignments for a variety of reasons. When class grading policies incorporate homework grades this can have a significant impact on a student's grade. This can also be a point of frustration for parents, teachers and counselors.

Typically the goal of homework is to apply a concept that was introduced in class or to enter class the next day with prerequisite knowledge necessary for productive class discussions or group work. The goal is not to produce a grade, but to further student learning and understanding. Grading homework is an extrinsic motivator that does not impact some students. Homework that does not focus on student learning and understanding is graded for compliance.

I like the idea of providing students who miss an assignment the opportunity to complete the assignment. Myron Dueck, Assistant Principal of Summerland Secondary School in British Columbia shared an incomplete assignment form that he has students submit. This was shared in the March edition of Educational Leadership. When students complete this form they must select from a list of Interventions that are available to them. These may include extra help sessions, study hall, viewing a tutorial, or any other intervention that they will utilize to complete the assignment.

By providing an incomplete grade and a clear intervention plan to complete the assignment the student is provided with choice and a motivation to not have an incomplete for the course grade. There are many variations to this idea, but I believe this is a concept that is worth exploring with our at-risk students.

Common Core Sharing

Now that we have established and committed to the Common Core Standards we have a common expectation. We have a framework that will be used to assess our students based on curriculum aligned to these standards. While the implementation of common assessment vehicles is beginning to unfold there remains skepticism and concerns regarding the focus on testing, logistics and value of high stakes assessment.

One advantage of national common standards is the unity of our educators around the country. By providing common standards we simplify the process of making connections between educators of the same content area. Teachers across the country who have common core aligned curriculum are sourcing and developing instructional materials and resources that are aligned to these standards. By standardizing what we teach we open up the opportunity to crowd source the content, materials and plans we implement in our classroom. The breadth of sharing escalates when we align all of our teachers.

The Learning Registry, www.learningregistry.org was developed to connect the thousands of pre-qualified resources being utilized by teachers around the country. The Learning Registry is a portal where educators may find standard aligned digital content. Educators may simplify their searching of the registry by using the site http://free.ed.gov.  

This is a start in the right direction. As the web continues to grow the resources for educators grow with it. The common core standards has standardized "what" educators need to explore with students. Together we can vet the digital content aligned to these standards and share it with our peers. I hope to see more sites like the learning registry simplify this process.

Identifying the Gaps Using Flipped Instruction

I recently read Salmon Khan's book The One World School House.  The book chronicles the history of the Khan Academy. It also presents alternative methods of instruction and curriculum design that emphasises personalized learning and pacing. I enjoyed the text and found myself in agreement with much of the content. 

One of the pilot programs that the Khan Academy setup involved a mathematics class. A class was designed in which the curriculum assigned was based solely on the Khan Academy. Students would work through the practice problems, view videos when they required direct instruction, and work with their teacher/facilitator for extra help. The resources and structure for this implementation are available on the Khan Academy website. While this concept of flipped learning and personalized planning is not a new idea their selection of "where to start" was unique. Rather than having all of the students in this Algebra I course start with Algebra I, the students started with simple addition and worked their way up through the math concepts.

The idea of starting from the beginning provided an opportunity for students to fill the gaps in their mathematical knowledge. If they struggled with a particular math topic in earlier grades or possibly just a had a "bad day" when a certain concept was taught the result may be a gap in knowledge that follows them.  What is interesting is that they were able to meet the requirements of Algebra I even by starting with addition because of the autonomy, personalization and accessibility offered by the Khan Academy. The class that followed this instructional shift recognized a significant increase in performance. One would assume that this method provided each student with the remediation that they needed in the most efficient manner.

In high schools across the country students are placed into remedial math courses if they have not passed a high stakes test required for graduation. These classes are test prep classes that prepare students to retake the assessment. I wonder if a better placement is to identify at-risk student preemptively and assign them a course based on the principles of the Khan Academy pilot?

 

Character Education Across Content Areas

Character Education programs are not new. The discussion regarding developing character as part of a child's education dates back to the Colonial Period in the U.S. At that time reading, writing and mathematics instruction was blended with biblical quotes and prayers that established moral guidelines for students. Character Education programs have evolved and have become a more consistent curricula within many schools.

I have been reflecting on the integration or character education and how it can be formalized within content areas. Specifically, how can we establish the pillars or belief statements of character as a proactive approach to not only avoid negative behaviors but ensure current and future success for our students.

Wikipedia defines character education as "Character education is the teaching of children in a manner that will help them develop variously as moral, civic, good, mannered, behaved, non-bullying, healthy, critical, successful, traditional, compliant or socially acceptable beings" A closer look at character education programs reviews a series of beliefs or pillars and resulting behaviors that correlate.  

I recently read Paul Tough's book, How Children Succeed.  A chapter in this book takes a look at examples of character education programs in U.S. schools. The most notable program is the KIPP Schools of New York City. The KIPP Schools have established 8 character pillars and 24 belief statements that align to these pillars. They have developed a character report card that assess students on these traits. The report card provides students and parents with an overview of strengths and areas for improvement. KIPP provides a series of lessons and tasks for teachers to integrate in each content area to assess these traits.

Critics of the "grading of character model" state that formal assessment of character is not a viable solution. Larry Ferrlazo published an article in the Washington Post that argued against this process.  He pointed our attention to the motivation that Dan Pink stated in his book Drive, " rewards can provide short-term encouragement to continue a behavior, but at the price of reduced intrinsic motivation over the long-term. Frequent reporting of a student's "overall score" in terms of character amounts to a short-term reward (or punishment) and does not tell us much about progress toward self-awareness and personal growth." 

Mr. Ferrlazo discussed methods of having students reflect on the character traits through self reflection that is authentic and connected to their own lives. My own reflection on the integration of character education in my high school follows a similar path. Teachers may consider posting and discussing pillars of characters and associated behaviors. Students may be provided with the opportunity to reflect on these and self-assess their progress towards them. Teachers may work to integrate the beliefs into content areas during discussions, group activities and assignments. For example, language arts teachers may reference the traits when analyzing characters in a novel. Social studies teachers may find opportunities to compare the traits to historical figures.

The pillars and associated behaviors should be part of a class conduct policy and integrated with a discussion regarding class expectations, participation and class assignments. They should also be part of the foundation of collaborative group work.

In order to ensure effectiveness the development and delivery of the character program must be collaborative and consistent across the school. Administrators must provide the resources and recognition necessary building wide in order to ensure its positive impact on students. I believe that only if the message and promotion of these beliefs are consistent across an entire school and are reinforced daily will character education significantly impact student achievement.