Restoration Projects

One of my favorite education quotes comes from Nicholas Wolterstorff (@DrWolterstorff), educational philosopher formerly at Calvin College and Yale University ...

"It is nothing but a pious wish and a grossly unwarranted hope that students 

trained to be passive and non-creative in school will suddenly, upon graduation, 

actively contribute to the formation of ... culture."

There is so much to ponder in this quote, but it is a favorite of mine because it challenges us, as educators, to be intentional about what happens in school. Rather than just assuming that students will become graduates who live out the school's mission statement, every program must have student learning objectives aligned with the school's mission statement (in the Wolterstorff's example ... to create culture). 

Every school has (or should have) a mission statement that guides every curricular and co-curricular program. For those of us with school mission statements with lofty "change the world" language, how we encourage students in this should be of primary consideration.

We often think that students will fulfill the school's mission after they graduate; however, we rarely give them opportunities to practice living the mission (i.e."changing the world") or even provide instruction in how to actually do this.

One pedagogical strategy that helps students learn how to "change the world" is service-learning. Different than required service hours, service clubs, or school community service projects (which are all great and can help fulfill the school's mission statement), service-learning is pedagogy and, thus, connected to classroom teaching and learning.

S-L Defined

"Service-Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities." (Faculty Toolkit for Service-Learning in Higher Education, 2007)

While it is relatively easy to establish a service club, set aside a day for the students to do community service, or have a food drive at Thanksgiving, connecting service to classroom learning is more difficult.

Restoration Projects
One way to help service become an integral part of classroom learning is to have "restoration projects" in each unit. These assignments consider how to use classroom learning to address a real need in the community and then take action to serve. Each academic discipline has its own set of service-learning examples, and I encourage you to search for examples in your subject area/grade level.

I taught high school English and tried to connect service and learning through restoration projects; here are a few examples.

Creative Writing -- Children's Story Unit
After studying children's stories, writing (and illustrating) our own, students read their stories to an elementary classroom. This developed into regular reading times with the elementary students throughout the semester.

American Literature -- Puritan Writing
After reading Anne Bradstreet's Upon the Burning of Our House and researching modern stories of loss, the students (working with the American Red Cross) collected money for a local family who lost their home in a fire.

British Literature -- Lord of the Flies
While reading the novel by William Golding, we discussed what is needed to survive on an island, in the local wilderness, and in our society. The discussion led to the students creating and delivering "survival packs" for the homeless in our community, which included water, blankets, socks, and food.

Although I wasn't able to have a restoration project for each unit, these projects became a powerful lesson on how we can use what we learn to make a difference in the world. Obviously, each project should be age appropriate, connected to classroom learning, and tied to the local community, so each project will be unique to the school, classroom, community.

Thankfully, we don't have to re-invent the wheel ... there are so many great resources on service-learning.  Here are a few to check out.

Faculty Toolkit for Service-Learning

Youth.Gov on Service-Learning

Character.org on Service-Learning

Service-Learning Projects for the Environment

Service Learning Primer

Stressed Out! Homework (Part 2: Quality)

In my last post, Homework (Part 1: Quantity), I discussed how homework can stress out students and families and suggested a standard to limit the quantity of homework given to students each night. (1 min of homework per grade for each subject). For example ...

6th grade -- 6 min of hmwk per subject (6 subjects) = 36 min of hmwk per night
10th grade -- 10 min of hmwk per subject (6 subjects) = 60 min of hmwk per night

The Homework Debate -- What Kind?

Excessive homework causes stress; pointless homework also causes stress. However, limited and purposeful homework can motivate students and encourage learning. Here are three categories of homework that have the potential to promote learning.

Practice -- We all know the adage that "practice makes perfect" and that practice leads to mastery. So, in order for our students to gain mastery, they need time to practice. Additionally, what a powerful life lesson ... it takes work (often after hours) to succeed in life. Interestingly, another statistic being used is from Gladwell's research stating it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something (Outliers, 2008). Please do not misunderstand my reference ... I am NOT saying to give 10,000 hours of homework! But the lesson is clear, extra practice is needed for mastery. In school, a limited amount of homework can help develop those habits of success.

Motivation -- Homework should also be used to motivate students for learning and pique their interest so that they are excited about what they will be learning the next day in school. Unfortunately, educators don't utilize anticipatory sets or lesson hooks in homework as much as they could. We need to remember how powerful cognitive dissonance is in motivation and learning theory. A challenge question, video clip, or a thought-provoking quote are excellent ways to motivate students to learn. How great would it be if student come to class eager to discuss, find out the answer, or express their opinions about their homework rather than just turn it in for a grade.

Differentiation -- Homework can also be used to differentiate and re-teach concepts to solidify understanding. Teachers do not have the time to differentiate enough to teach every student in his/her learning style, so they should use homework to differentiate (please don't use homework to do more of the same as what you've done in class). For many students, having material re-taught from a different method really solidifies learning. Thankfully, we have had an explosion in educational technology providing so many free online resources for re-teaching. Teachers should use these resources as homework to differentiate instruction. Of course, Khan Academy is the well-known resource, but there are so many other websites that utilize technology to provide a more differentiated approach.

If homework is regularly accomplishing the above objectives (in a limited time), students and families will begin to see homework positively, something to promote learning rather than just cause stress. 

STRESSED OUT! Homework (Part 1: Quantity)

Recently, my PLN has been discussing homework and the additional stress that it causes on students and families. See recent blog posts from @d_mulder (i-teach and i-learn) and recent tweets from @alicekeeler. Let me add my two cents on this topic.

Twenty-One Pilots’ song "Stressed Out" captures one of the main concerns of our culture … stress. In the song, there is an obscure reference to “Blurryface,” which implies an "everyman" figure and may indirectly allude to the most famous "blurryface" found in Edvard Munch’s painting, The Scream. While the intended reference in the song may remain unclear, Munch's “blurryface” is surely a clear representation of somebody who is stressed out in an ever-swirling world.

Ironically, lead singer Tyler Joseph was raised by educators … his mom is a math teacher and his dad is a principal (and let me add that Joseph and his co-artist from Twenty-One Pilots, Nick Thomas, are both graduates of a Christian school). So, in honor of his parents, let's reflect on the stress caused by schools ... mainly homework.

The Homework Debate -- How Much?

One side of the homework debate pendulum positively correlates student learning with homework. Some schools and parents irrationally brag about the number of hours their students spend on homework, implying that their education is better because they have more homework. The other side of the pendulum supports no homework, implying that homework causes stress and has little benefit to student learning. Of course, both of these positions are extreme.

I believe in homework, used well. Homework can encourage independent learning, provide needed practice to achieve mastery, offer options for re-teaching/enrichment to add depth of understanding, and develop a habit of maintenance learning (continual review) that will serve the students well in the future. While I believe in the benefits of homework listed above, I also believe that most homework does not accomplish those goals and excessive homework causes undue stress on students/families. 

I encourage the standard that connects the amount of homework to the grade of the student. So, a 6^th grader should get no more than 6 minutes of homework per subject per night. This means that for a 6th grade student taking 6 classes, the most homework he/she should ever have would be 36 minutes a night. Accordingly, a student in 10^th grade (taking 6 classes) should not have more than an hour of homework a night. (I would double that amount for honors classes).

So ... how much homework? Not much. 

Next week, I'll shift from "quantity" to "quality" and discuss what type of homework accomplishes the objectives listed above. 

BTW – I do have tickets to Twenty-One Pilots at Red Rocks this summer … they probably won’t have a Q&A time for me to ask about how they survived being raised by educators, tho J  

Resolutions and a Growth Mindset

One of the things that I love about working in education is each year I get to start over ... with a new group of students, teachers, staff. This allows me time to reflect over the summer and make changes to ensure that this year is better than last year.

Sound familiar? This week most people are making New Year Resolutions to eat better, exercise more, and finish projects ... essentially "be better" than last year.

Not only should educators embrace annual resolutions to "be better," we also have the opportunity for micro-resolutions ... this semester is going to be better than last semester, this unit is going to be better than last unit, this lesson is going to be better than last lesson, and today is going to be better than yesterday.  What a great opportunity to be reflecting and ever-improving.

In fact, I would propose that having this "ever-improving" attitude is the primary characteristic of an excellent educator. Schools that have a culture of goal-setting, professional development, reflection, innovation, and continuous improvement will be vibrant learning environments for students. In contrast, schools with a "good enough" mentality ... "last year's program was 'good enough' to repeat this year without any changes" ... are ineffective in educating our dynamic, ever-changing student population.

This doesn't mean completely "reinventing the wheel" every year, but rather looking at every program and considering ways to optimize its effectiveness. Along with each of us personally and professionally, each program at our school can improve.

This blog wouldn't be complete without a nod to Carol Dweck's work on mindset. Much of the "ever-improving" work in education should be placed under the "growth mindset" umbrella. Not only should we be making improvements, we should be learning, growing, and developing. This applies to educators as much as it does for students.  Schools (modeled first by administrators and teachers) need to embrace a growth mindset. Dweck is an important voice in 21st Century education. If you haven't heard about a growth mindset in education, begin reading (start with the articles linked below).

Developing a Growth Mindset in Teachers and Staff

Complementing this discussion, a Japanese business term, Kaizen, is being embraced by those in the education world to "continuously improve" schools.  Here is a short article describing how to use this business concept in schools.

Applying the Japanese Philosophy of Kaizen to School Reform

As many of us return to school with resolutions to improve, let me close with another growth mindset quote for all of us Padawans ...

"Much to learn you still have." Yoda