Don't answer a student's question and another way to annoy students

Tony Wagner's book, The Global Achievement Gap, has become a good read and is making me think.

Over the history of education we have promoted the idea that the teacher is the bucket filled with all knowledge and understanding and students simply reach in and grab the information they need out of this bucket. The teacher teaches; the student listens and learns.

How can we change this mindset? Do teachers need to act differently? Do students need to take greater ownership for their learning? A teacher cannot be doing most of the thinking, leaving little left for the student.

Here are two ways we can promote more student thinking:

1.) Don't answer a students question. Absurd? Maybe, but quickly answering a question lets the student off the hook for having to think. Instead, ask a question in response to a question. For example:

- What do you think?

- Why do you assume that?

- Have you considered...?

- What do you know about...?

2.) Institute a classroom expectation such as "Ask three before me." This expectation naturally increases student thinking. Students ask more questions and students in turn answer more questions. It takes thinking both to ask and answer questions. While I walk around the room checking for understanding, and a student asks me an academic question, I often reply with, "Have you asked three?" This is a quick reminder to the class to ask other students their questions. If they have asked three students and are still confused, they ask me the question. Do I then feed them the answer? No, I revert to my strategy mentioned in #1 above.

In no way am I promoting that a teacher never gives an answer to a question. I am just advocating that this should not be the first response when asked a question. Lots of thinking should happen from when the question is asked until when the answer is found. If traveling is about the journey and not just the destination, then learning is about thinking and not just arriving at the answer. If students are accustomed to being spoon fed the answer, they will initially be annoyed when they are asked to do more thinking to discover the answer. But, thinking is in their best interest for college, work and life success.

Happy teaching and learning.

Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours,

Wayne

7+ Ways to Support Teachers

*** If you have questions or want elaboration on any of the ideas in this post, please leave your question in the comment section. ***

1. Foster a parent support organization that believes in supporting and celebrating their teachers. 
2. Brag on your teachers during informal interactions with parents.
3. Have their backs when misunderstandings arise.
4. Assume positive intent.
5. Carve out time during the school day to work with teachers on developing lessons.
6. Provide a sub for a few hours for teachers to work together on norming their grading and then time to grade these important assessments.
7. Bring in a trainer to work with small groups of teachers (Yes, this and other ideas listed above and below may require resource allocation).
8. Encourage a close working relationship between teachers and the librarian. 

What OTHER WAYS to support teachers can you place on the table? Comment below.

*** If you have questions or want elaboration on any of the ideas in this post, please leave your question in the comment section. ***

Image credit: thecolemaninstitute.com

The Shanghai Education Secret

As an educator in Shanghai, this article obviously stood out.


*** Direct link to source: nytimes.com ***

Image credit: archdaily.net

The Shanghai Secret
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: October 22, 2013

SHANGHAI — Whenever I visit China, I am struck by the sharply divergent predictions of its future one hears. Lately, a number of global investors have been “shorting” China, betting that someday soon its powerful economic engine will sputter, as the real estate boom here turns to a bust. Frankly, if I were shorting China today, it would not be because of the real estate bubble, but because of the pollution bubble that is increasingly enveloping some of its biggest cities. Optimists take another view: that, buckle in, China is just getting started, and that what we’re now about to see is the payoff from China’s 30 years of investment in infrastructure and education. I’m not a gambler, so I’ll just watch this from the sidelines. But if you’re looking for evidence as to why the optimistic bet isn’t totally crazy, you might want to visit a Shanghai elementary school.
SHANGHAI — Whenever I visit China, I am struck by the sharply divergent predictions of its future one hears. Lately, a number of global investors have been “shorting” China, betting that someday soon its powerful economic engine will sputter, as the real estate boom here turns to a bust. Frankly, if I were shorting China today, it would not be because of the real estate bubble, but because of the pollution bubble that is increasingly enveloping some of its biggest cities. Optimists take another view: that, buckle in, China is just getting started, and that what we’re now about to see is the payoff from China’s 30 years of investment in infrastructure and education. I’m not a gambler, so I’ll just watch this from the sidelines. But if you’re looking for evidence as to why the optimistic bet isn’t totally crazy, you might want to visit a Shanghai elementary school.

I’ve traveled here with Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach for America, and the leaders of theTeach for All programs modeled on Teach for America that are operating in 32 countries. We’re visiting some of the highest- and lowest-performing schools in China to try to uncover The Secret — how is it that Shanghai’s public secondary schools topped the world charts in the 2009 PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) exams that measure the ability of 15-year-olds in 65 countries to apply what they’ve learned in math, science and reading.

After visiting Shanghai’s Qiangwei Primary School, with 754 students — grades one through five — and 59 teachers, I think I found The Secret:

There is no secret.

When you sit in on a class here and meet with the principal and teachers, what you find is a relentless focus on all the basics that we know make for high-performing schools but that are difficult to pull off consistently across an entire school system. These are: a deep commitment to teacher training, peer-to-peer learning and constant professional development, a deep involvement of parents in their children’s learning, an insistence by the school’s leadership on the highest standards and a culture that prizes education and respects teachers.

Shanghai’s secret is simply its ability to execute more of these fundamentals in more of its schools more of the time. Take teacher development. Shen Jun, Qiangwei’s principal, who has overseen its transformation in a decade from a low-performing to a high-performing school — even though 40 percent of her students are children of poorly educated migrant workers — says her teachers spend about 70 percent of each week teaching and 30 percent developing teaching skills and lesson planning. That is far higher than in a typical American school.

Teng Jiao, 26, an English teacher here, said school begins at 8:35 a.m. and runs to 4:30 p.m., during which he typically teaches three 35-minute lessons. I sat in on one third-grade English class. The English lesson was meticulously planned, with no time wasted. The rest of his day, he said, is spent on lesson planning, training online or with his team, having other teachers watch his class and tell him how to improve and observing the classrooms of master teachers.

“You see so many teaching techniques that you can apply to your own classroom,” he remarks. Education experts will tell you that of all the things that go into improving a school, nothing — not class size, not technology, not length of the school day — pays off more than giving teachers the time for peer review and constructive feedback, exposure to the best teaching and time to deepen their knowledge of what they’re teaching.

Teng said his job also includes “parent training.” Parents come to the school three to five times a semester to develop computer skills so they can better help their kids with homework and follow lessons online. Christina Bao, 29, who also teaches English, said she tries to chat either by phone or online with the parents of each student two or three times a week to keep them abreast of their child’s progress. “I will talk to them about what the students are doing at school.” She then alluded matter-of-factly to a big cultural difference here, “I tell them not to beat them if they are not doing well.”

In 2003, Shanghai had a very “average” school system, said Andreas Schleicher, who runs the PISA exams. “A decade later, it’s leading the world and has dramatically decreased variability between schools.” He, too, attributes this to the fact that, while in America a majority of a teacher’s time in school is spent teaching, in China’s best schools, a big chunk is spent learning from peers and personal development. As a result, he said, in places like Shanghai, “the system is good at attracting average people and getting enormous productivity out of them,” while also, “getting the best teachers in front of the most difficult classrooms.”

China still has many mediocre schools that need fixing. But the good news is that in just doing the things that American and Chinese educators know work — but doing them systematically and relentlessly — Shanghai has in a decade lifted some of its schools to the global heights in reading, science and math skills. Oh, and Shen Jun, the principal, wanted me to know: “This is just the start."

*** Direct link to source: nytimes.com ***

Passion Reflection and Quotes about Passion

This week I have been meditating on the word PASSION. Eve Sawyer encourages us to "never underestimate the power of passion."

What's my passion?

Have I found my passion?

Do I endure life or enjoy it? Do I live for the weekend?

Do I love what I am doing?

What do I have loads of energy for? When I am doing something I am passionate about, an hour can feel like five minutes.

What makes me come alive?

I know my passion falls somewhere in the field of education. Where exactly, I feel I am still honing in on it. One thing I do know for sure is that I love working with students and teachers. I am energized when I am in classrooms and when collaborating with teachers.

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Quotes about Passion

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow. - Anthony J. D'Angelo 

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. - Confucius 

Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you. - Oprah Winfrey 

A person can succeed at almost anything for which they have unlimited enthusiasm. – Charles M. Schwab

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. – Albert Einstein

A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position. – John Maxwell

Fan the flame of passion with persistence. - Misty J. Russell

Secrets to Finland's Eduction Success

• The difference between the weakest and the strongest students is the smallest in the World.
• Science classes are capped at 16 students so that they may perform practical experiments every class.
• 93 percent of Finns graduate from high school (17.5 percent higher than the U.S.).
• All teachers in Finland must have a masters degree, which is fully subsidized.
• Teachers are selected from the top 10% of graduates.
• Teachers are effectively given the same status as doctors and lawyers.

Entire article here.

Image credit: pilwe.deviantart.com

Education: Mandela's Perspective

enCOURAGE change

By Wayne Russell, M.Ed.


CHANGE: a word that can hurt or heal. What I am learning about change, and more specifically change in schools, is that change may be inevitable, but it is never just ABC, 123. Change in schools is a process and not an overnight switch from old to new. I have learned through personal experience that before you can really plan change in a school, you first need to develop TRUSTING relationships that always seek to ENCOURAGE. Teachers must trust that change will not be implemented without whole-hearted support, and that they will be consistently encouraged throughout the process of change.

A few months before our wedding Misty proposed a plan for me to loose some weight.  The way in which she supported me was by encouraging us to share entrees at restaurants, to order water instead of sodas, and to walk together more.  A foundation of trust was built as I learned that she truly supported her proposals. She was more than talk (I ended up loosing 50 pounds within one year).

In a school, you cannot force change. You describe a new way of doing something and then you explain what you will do to support teachers along the journey.  What you will do for them today, tomorrow, next week, and in a few months time.  The appearance of your support may change, but your support never ends. You cannot "take a break" from supporting something you care deeply about. Taking a break from offering support will quickly erode trust.

In terms of encouragement, we all have bad days and bad weeks. I think of my exercise experiences.  My most successful experience was while I was teaching in Shanghai several years ago.  The reason I consistently worked out was largely because my gym partner gave constant encouragement. He encouraged me to not give up and to hang in there. Major life change is not easy, it takes grit, and if you don't have someone offering encouragement throughout the process, meaningful change will most likely be stifled.

Teachers are some of the hardest working people you will meet. They arrive early, they work while eating lunch, they stay late, and they often take work home.  A 60 hour work week is not unheard of in the teaching field. If teachers come to school day after day learning to expect little encouragement for the hard work they are doing, they will soon find another avenue to gain encouragement. Ultimately resulting in their passion for teaching dwindling and a few years later they may decide to switch to a career where their skills and hard work are appreciated and encouraged.

There are so many different educational programs that schools can decide to pursue. A school can literally change programs every month for at least a decade and there will still be more programs available. The  wide array of options reminds me of walking down the cereal isle in a large supermarket.  So many choices, not enough time and money to try them all.  The skillful leader knows how to discern between good and great programs but also realizes that PEOPLE are more important than PROGRAMS.

Ultimately, change takes COURAGE.  It is not for the meek. Go change the world, one child at a time.

Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.

A Powerful Weapon

Image credit: miriamwanda.wordpress.com

In the words of my country's ultimate leader, "Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela

Hope and Education

Image credit: interactioninstitute.org

By Wayne Russell
6/3/2012

My philosophy that hope and education are weaved together began during my graduate studies.  My thesis project was about how children need a sense of hope in order for great learning to take place.  If children do not have a healthy level of hope that their future will be good, the level of energy they place in their education will be affected.  Whereas children with a healthy amount of hope will work hard towards realizing their dreams.

One of my favorite authors on education, Dr. Ruby Payne, pointed me to a great study on hope and poverty.  The study found that "an absence of hope" had helped keep people in poverty.

The study in essence monitored the effects of a program that assisted people in West Bengal with a basic need.  The people in West Bengal needed a way to pull in greater financial resources.  By helping meet this need, the people began "eating 15% more, earning 20% more each month and skipping fewer meals than people in a comparison group." The program began giving people hope that their present lives could be different.

Education is a basic need. Yes, we need water, food, and shelter, but we also need a good education.  Water, food and shelter minus a good education will keep a person alive, but will do little to erase the root cause of no water, no food, no shelter: Lack of good educational opportunities.

We need people to go into countries with poor educational options, to give children an education that will brighten their opportunities, and to ultimately give them hope.

What will you do to help?
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To learn more about the West Bengal study, visit... http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/05/23/hope-and-poverty/