As I frequently say, inspiration is where you find it. It hit me today. I felt like a complete failure...for a moment.
We are well into the first week of school for all students at the Academy at SOAR, and already I can tell that my inclinations were correct. We have a knock out, kick butt team of educators on board this year. Yes, I know that " kick butt" is not a technical term but it is the only way I can describe what is happening here. No, we are not literally kicking anybody's butt, for that would be very "un-SOAR-like" The Academy at SOAR's academic program is now officially "on the map", up there with any other high quality educational program. It's too soon to describe to you in detail exactly what we are doing differently. We've just got some talent. Talent breeds creativity and innovation. That is a formula that simply equals " what's good for your kids" parents.
So, why then, might you ask, did I, for a brief moment today, feel like a complete failure? The beginning of the school year is typically filled with start of the year introductions to systems, procedures and requirements shared with students, and The Academy at SOAR is no exception. While the rest of my teaching team has been busy doing what they do best, I have been acclimating students to school -wide expectations, setting norms for operation, and teaching students academic-specific expectations for certain assignments and classes. Things feel like they are truly coming together. Yet there is part of me that is stuck in the "traditional" school rut, looking for results, data, some sort of actual documentation that learning is taking place. There are no grades in the grade book yet, and no serious work products to speak of, and school has been in session for about a week. This is the way our traditional model of school measures success and failure. While I have always tried to work and think outside the box, " the system" of accountability has nonetheless become engrained in me, from my years working in the public schools with " No Child left Behind". Based upon that, and knowing that parents pay a lot of money to send their child to SOAR, for a moment, I felt like I was failing.
Then I took a closer look at what Gene, Aaron and I, were doing. We are in the process of shaping learners, building the framework within which students who have failed in the past can be successful in school and feel good about themselves. I guess this is what truly sets SOAR academics apart from the crowd.Let me explain.
Today, my classes all went very well. We had a good time, I established rapport, and everybody felt good about the process, but is that enough? In a world that measures educational goodness in grades, and what you have to show for your efforts, perhaps it isn't enough.
I did away with what was referred to as reading logs this year, in favor of an expedition log, where students aren't merely summarizing sections of books read in book report format, but are creating a diary of their learning, and expedition adventures, thoughts and feelings. (Gene's Idea) Writing that has a purpose and a personal meaning, rather than simply going through the process of writing something in order to achieve a grade. I have implemented "book sharing" the last two days, where part of a student's homework is to read their personal novels for "enjoyment" for 20 to 30 minutes a night, and come back to school prepared to orally share experiences they have had with their book, so that others might become inspired to read a book they've never considered previously. I do the homework as well. The students love sharing about what they have read. There is a certain pride students exhibit when telling others about a book that they think is really cool and why they think it is cool. Some of the students, I can't get to stop talking and have to cut them off to prevent them from spoiling the "whole" story for those that might wish to read the book themselves.
So students are engaged in dialogue, sharing thoughts, feelings, and opinions about books read and books shared, making additional recommendations to each other, and reading genuinely for the purpose for which it was intended, for learning and for enjoyment. So what's problem, you may ask?
It's not measurable in a way that I can easily report to parents or anyone else. It is not fabricated, it is not forced. Students are legitimately interested in taking part in the process. Isn't that what real learning is all about?
In English class, students are creating blog entries to share with friends and family online about their adventures, experiences, thoughts and feelings compiled from their expedition logs. The me from a couple of years ago might have explained to them the assignment, the process, and modeled it for them, explained how they would be graded, and then tell them to begin.
Today, we didn't even talk about grading. I showed the students Blogger, and a blog I had written, and talked about the content and style in which I wrote. I then showed them, with student permission, examples of blog posts students had done last year, so they could envision what blogging at SOAR is really all about. Then I fielded questions.
One student expressed concern that I had said the blog entry had to be "approved by the teacher". He was concerned that "approved" meant censored, and he asked me about the types of content that would be allowed versus what would be prohibited. Rather than dismissing the question, in favor of staying on schedule and getting a move- on with the assignment, we discussed his question. I told him that as long as the things that he was saying weren't hurtful toward another person, I wasn't going to censor his thoughts in writing. I told him that as an author, he owned those thoughts. He then asked me, "Mike", he said, " What if "J" (student)is really annoying the heck out of me, and I want to include that as part of my blog writing?" This led to a brief discussion on slander, libel, and defamation, and in layman's terms about being a teammate, and a friend, and being cautious not to hurt people with our words. So I turned to student " J" and asked him, " If the student wrote this about you, would you be ok with it, as long as he wasn't referring to you in a derogatory way?" He said, "sure." What was the value of taking valuable class time to have a discussion such as this? Students are validated for their thoughts and feelings and it is made known that what they think and feel with regard to school work is important. At this point I still have no grades, no proof whatsoever that learning and teachable moments are occurring in my classroom, at least in the traditional sense. Another student says to me, " Mike, I can't write about anything from my expedition log. What I want to write about has nothing to do with the expedition." I suppose she was expecting me to hold a hard line with her. Instead I said to her, " You are the author. What you want to write about has value, regardless of the topic. I'd like to see what you come up with." Non-traditional and unexpected as my response was, this student with little confidence in her abilities to achieve in school and meet a teacher's expectations, drafted a plan for a writing, that, in fact, had " nothing" to do with her expedition or her SOAR experience. She wrote about what she wanted to write about, and was not told she was wrong. This student gained self- confidence through my confirmation that her ideas were ok. How do you put a grade on that?
The day ended for me with the Appalachian Trail team two for Literature Circles. We were reading a novel that is both funny and educational, as it deals with real life issues of a teenager growing up on a Native American reservation, and the trials and tribulations of this teen, from a different culture, yet dealing with some of the same issues that our students face. The story is told through humor, and a little profanity ( which students love for some odd reason. I've told them that when it is used within the context of literature for effect it is different than throwing around the words casually). The adventures and mischief the main character gets involved in, in the story lead to higher level discussions on Marzano and Blooms taxonomy, where students are relating events in the story to stories that have occurred in their own lives. Students are reading a book, and devouring it, and discussing the book, themes and issues in the book at a higher level of thinking. We are having a fun, natural, not forced conversation related to the novel. Sure I grade their participation using a rubric, but how can you really grade really good dialogue? I ask you.
So there-in lies my dilemma. We're doing all these great things, your kids are having positive, affirming experiences in school, but I don't have a grade in the grade book to show for it. ( Well maybe a few) I know that as we settle into our year, that will change, and I will find ways to evaluate students in ways that are both informative, and ways that enrich them and help them grow. So if you ask me what we did in school today, I can tell you, but I can't show it to you or prove it to you yet. Is that so bad?
Stay tuned for the next installment of The View from the Teacher's Desk where I take a look at some of the great things our SOAR directors have done, to make this program a reality, and some of the terrific things our new teachers Aaron and Gene are doing, to make your child's educational experience here at the Academy at SOAR second to none. - Mike
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