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Teachers: Stop Doing Your Students' Work

2/14/2017

The one thing that bothers me more than anything else in education is when adults say that something is too difficult or abstract for kids to understand. Honestly, I think that just means that the adult has not yet figured out a way to get kids to genuinely care about the concept yet.

Here's my evidence:

Last week I heard 1st graders (6-7 year olds) talking about "design flaws" in their science class. Yes, they used the language and knew exactly what it meant.
I've also seen 1st graders take action to successfully organize a fundraiser selling handmade bracelets for a cause they believed in.
After participating in a whole-class simulation, 2nd graders went home and talked to their families about the struggles of poverty and their responsibility to help in sustainable ways.
4th graders have helped me create brand new whole-class simulations. Once, they got so excited about their suggested solutions after reading a short story that we decided to take on roles from the story of farmers and fishermen. We then created a village council and task forces to come up with viable solutions. The council heard all the ideas and made a decision that they thought was best for everyone.
Those same 4th graders also changed our entire classroom into a "media company" where they decided which jobs we needed, how to make decisions, how our workplace should be set up, and how to check the quality of their work. I acted the part of demanding customer and they ran the show.
After seeing them repeatedly get fired up about the recess soccer rules they didn't agree with, I asked a group of 9-10 year olds what they were going to do about it. It turns out that they figured out who was in charge of those rules (our Vice Principal), wrote a letter, and set up a meeting to discuss the rules. What happened as a result? The students were involved in creating a compromise that they were much happier about.

What do these all have in common? Students (yes, even young ones) drove the learning. What else? They were brilliant. Most importantly- the teacher did not have to do all the heavy lifting in planning the learning. By carefully designing lessons to provoke thinking and then encouraging students to follow through by finding answers to their questions, the students learn more and teachers prep less. Win-win.

There are so many more examples of kids simply being awesome when we trust them. Have you seen kids exceed your expectations? Share your experiences here in the comments!

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Do you read?

10/7/2016

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Great books change us. Great books about teaching and learning make us great teachers. Here are some books that have influenced my teaching in the last few years.

Literacy:

Reading with Meaning (Second Edition): Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades
by Debbie Miller (Recommended for K-2)
Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis (Recommended for 3-5)
Projecting Possibilities for Writers: The How, What & Why of Designing Units of Study, K-5 by Mary Alice Berry and Matt Glover
Mini Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey "Smokey" Daniels and Nancy Steineke
The Science of Spelling: The Explicit Specifics That Make Great Readers and Writers (and Spellers!) by J Richard Gentry

Math:

Inquiry:

Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners by Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church and Karin Morrison
Comprehension and Collaboration, Revised Edition: Inquiry Circles for Curiosity, Engagement, and Understanding by Stephanie Harvey and Harvey "Smokey" Daniels
Taking the Complexity out of Concepts by Tania Lattanzio and Andrea Muller

General Teaching and Learning:

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing by Alfie Kohn
Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's Learning by Peter H. Johnston

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Tips for Teachers New to the PYP

8/31/2016

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Whew! Teachers are officially back to school here at Ogden International School and I had the pleasure of facilitating my first new-teacher introduction to the IB in my new role as PYP Coordinator here. It was a challenge to squeeze the introduction into one hour but my quick formative assessment check in strategy (a simple "I used to think. . . Now I think. . . " Visible Thinking Routine) proved that it was worthwhile for the teachers involved. We covered a lot of information and there were still many more great questions that we didn't get to. While we will explore many of these topics in detail in the coming months, I tried to offer support where teachers needed it right away by responding in e-mail to the questions I collected on post-it notes during the session. Here are some brief ideas that might be useful to other teachers who are starting their PYP teaching journey too.

Resources that might be helpful to you:

Making the PYP Happen: This is the digital version of the PYP "Bible"- all answers are pretty much in here and the digital version is great for all those "command+F" searches I do when I don't feel like skimming through the whole book to find the right page
Visible Thinking Routines: Developed by Harvard's Project Zero, this website has a lot of great inquiry-style ideas to help students drive your inquiries. The tabs on the left separate the routines into categories depending on the intention of your lesson. These routines are printed and explained even more thoroughly in the book Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners. It is one of my favorite go-to resources for planning inquiry lessons it the PYP!
P4C: Philosophy for Children discussions helped me to more understand what inquiry looks like in the PYP. I wrote a page about it on my website that introduces the idea but I love to facilitate P4C sessions and would be thrilled to come into your classroom anytime to show you and your students how it works.
Essential Agreements: Here are some more examples and tips for creating your own Essential Agreements with your students in the first few days of school. Remember that it works best to limit your agreements to 5 or so in order to actually give students a chance at remembering them.
- Great tips for getting started thinking about Essential Agreements: https://whatedsaid.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/10-tips-for-creating-a-class-agreement/
- The blog post I mentioned today including the idea about determining class values first: http://blogs.ibo.org/sharingpyp/2013/12/03/where-are-the-rules-formulating-essential-agreements-in-the-pyp/
- Scroll down to view a ton of different examples of essential agreements to get a better idea of the typical range: http://www.peoriapublicschools.org/Page/11713
- Another idea that I always enjoy is having students do a mini inquiry into perfect classroom would look, sound and feel like. After determining the ideals, then it is easy to agree upon behaviors that support what we all want. I like to have students illustrate posters or act out photos to make a sign for each agreement. I always have them sign each one too in order to remind them later that they personally agreed to that behavior if they have a momentary lapse in decision making. ;)

Lastly, here are some brief answers to your questions from our session. We will go into these areas more deeply in our upcoming time together.

How do you implement the big ideas of IB in a realistic/concrete way?
This is always the biggest question amongst teachers who are new to the PYP and it was definitely my biggest question years ago. My suggestion is to start using some simple inquiry-promoting routines in your classroom until you feel confident enough to branch out and create your own inquiry structures. The Visible Thinking Routines and P4C are great for exactly this. If you choose interesting provocations related to your central idea (videos, books, articles, demonstrations, field trips, etc.), you will find that student naturally have questions that can drive your Unit of Inquiry. The Driving Question Board (after a thought-provoking experience, students come up with question and organize them into categories to learn more about) and Summary Table (page 2 of attachedSegment_checklists_summ_table_Rev_Unit_6_Step_5) ideas I came across recently in my summer classes at Northwestern are good organizational tools to start with too! Specifically, the new Visible Thinking Routine called Question Sorts has worked really well in my classroom PYP inquiries before. I also love the "Talk Moves" in the attachedTalkScience_Primer_1.pdf for more ideas on how to be an inquiry teacher.

How do we decide which questions to focus on for each unit?
The Question Sorts routine mentioned above is also helpful to get a hang of this. As long as the student questions are relevant to the Central Idea and Lines of Inquiry, they are fair game within the unit! The questioning training I give students in P4C helps a lot to get them used to identifying "arguable" and "global" questions rather than simple questions they can Google or specific questions that do not apply to more than one situation. Here is an awesome graphic based on Jack and the BeanStalk that explains this concept (sourced from Jason Buckley's diagram in his Pocket P4C resource that I just beautified a bit). Again, I love talking to students about these ideas and want to join you in your classroom so please feel free to ask me to introduce this to you and your kids!

What information needs to be displayed on our classroom IB Board?
Good news! While I know how beautifully decorated and organized you all keep your learning spaces, there is no pressure to get everything looking nice right away. In fact, starting with blank walls is common in the PYP, as blank space begs to be filled up with student learning. While of course it can be useful to label things like lockers and shared resources in order to introduce students to routines in the beginning, the rest can be seen as an empty canvas to be co-constructed with students. If you feel more comfortable having at least basic titles on your walls, here are some ideas for areas you might consider designating in your rooms. This is not a required checklist but rather a snapshot of all the things that might fill your walls in the coming months.

Learner Profiles & Attitudes

Student-created definitions and examples
Interactive displays where students and teachers can move their names/photos near a specific Learning Profile or Attitude when they demonstrate it (this is great for introducing and reinforcing these important parts of the PYP early on)

First Unit of Inquiry

Transdisiplinary Theme
Current Central idea and Lines of Inquiry
Identified key/related concepts and skills to focus on
Student thinking
Some teachers like to leave space for a process board/wall where student questions and work can be posted to show the progression of thinking in the unit from beginning to end
Driving question board- student questions are recorded, sorted into areas for further investigation and revisited often to check growth
Summary chart (see second part of attached article)

Skills

Student-created definitions and examples of at least the 5 main categories of skills can be helpful for referencing with students during inquiries: Research Skills, Thinking Skills, Social Skills, Communication Skills, Self-Management Skills

Action Wall

Some teachers like to post the action cycle on their wall as a guide for research and student-initiated action:
By recording and celebrating student action on an Action Wall, action becomes more central to student thinking and learning

Classroom Essential Agreements

Student-created photos or drawings of what it looks like to follow the agreed upon Essential Agreements for learning

To summarize, everything posted should have a clear purpose related to student learning.

How can inquiry be incorporated in the math class?
Great question. There are a lot of answers to this that we will explore more in our team planning but for now, you might want to check these resources out:

Here is a great resource for math in the beginning of the year: https://www.youcubed.org/
I love the positive, research-based messages about math mindsets and the collaborative culture these experiences create. You just need to set up a free account and then you can view the Week of Inspirational Math. I did each lesson over two days last year with 4th graders because there was so much great material and I did not want to cut anything short. If you have any questions, just let me know.

A few other great math resources that I love are linked here too.
Inquiry through authentic tasks (Three-Act Tasks from Dan Meyer): https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2016/05/13/modeling-with-math-nsf/
https://whenmathhappens.com/3-act-math/
https://gfletchy.com/3-act-lessons/
See Dan Meyer's famous TEDTalk here: https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover?language=en

Are there documents that align the Common Core & PYP?
In the IB Workshop that I took last summer on Common Core in the IB, the presenter had worked on a team to look at the alignment. For some reason that document was not published or even shared with us at the workshop. No worries though! In my experience, the PYP Scope and Sequence documents are far more broad and refer to the big concepts where the Common Core State Standards are much more specific. They compliment each other well. I have not come across any clashes. In fact, the Mathematical Practices and the ELA Instructional Shifts pieces of the Common Core are very PYP. Since PYP is a framework and not a set of standards, it just gives us the philosophy and ways of teaching where Common Core gives us exactly what we should be teaching in each year level. They get along just fine. :)

How do we set up a daily schedule (math, etc.)?
I tend to schedule out language, math and UOI (Unit of Inquiry) times in my day. Depending on your grade level specialists class schedules, you will have to adjust but I generally do language in the morning, math before or after lunch and UOI at the end of the day (mostly transdisciplinary Science and Social Studies but can also include unit math and language links). In an ideal PYP school there would be no blocked off times because everything would be transdisciplinary and relate the the unit (except for the Number strand of Math and the Foundational Skills in Language). I saw a really cool school schedule example recently where instead of subjects the teacher just wrote the questions they were focusing on for each period! Since we have CPS regulations too and have to be sure to teach the core subjects, it would make sense to me to block off your language, math and UOI times.

Do you recommend any successful activities you've seen for the IB Learner Profile qualities?
In my Category 1 workshop training, the workshop leader had a cute idea for younger learners where she posted student-created posters for each Learner Profile in one area of the room. She then had each student's picture and name cut out and laminated so that it could be stuck on the wall and moved around. Whenever the teacher, that student or others noticed a child displaying a specific Learner Profile, that picture was moved near the corresponding poster. My 2nd graders loved this and really started to understand the IB language as a result.

For older students one of the teachers here mentioned having a sort of "I noticed" slip where the class could fill out details about other students they noticed demonstrating the Learner Profiles. At the end of each week she reads out which students were "caught" demonstrating the Learner Profile and how to the entire class. Cool idea to motivate students to report good things about their classmates and continue to familiarize them with the Learner Profile attributes!

How is SEL incorporated into daily learning?
In the PYP the Learner Profiles and Attitudes drive these Social and Emotional Learning discussions. Many teachers in PYP schools (and here, I hear!) like to do Morning Meetings to address SEL in their daily routines. I found this link on the IL Board of Education website that vaguely outlines SEL in IL. There is also a link to SEL resources at the bottom of that page, which might be good to explore. Please let me know what you think!

This is a TON of information so please feel free to comment with questions or suggestions anytime. I love to help learn from all of your great experiences too.

Keep up the great work!

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4 Reasons Why You Should Love Interviewing

4/13/2016

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4 Reasons Why I Love Interviewing. . . and You Should Too!

After hours of thinking, reading, researching and preparing myself for this season's job hunt I had a small "ah ha" moment that left me more grateful than nervous. I realized that if it weren't for the fact that I am moving across the world and need to find a job, I probably would not have been forced to think so deeply about why I do what I do anyway.

1. Forced Reflection

Preparing for interviews forces us to articulate our "Why?" and clarify who we are as professionals (and people!). In Simon Sinek's popular book Start With Why, he explains the biological difficulty AND the importance of putting our feelings about why we do what we do into words. In Chapter 4 under the heading Gut Decisions Don't Happen in Your Stomach, he goes into detail about how "The limbic brain is responsible for all of our feelings, such as trust and loyalty. It is also responsible for all human behavior and all our decision-making, but it has no capacity for language." Instead, "The neocortex is responsible for rational and analytical thought and language." This makes putting words to our gut feelings about why we believe that something is so important (like education, for example) biologically difficult.

After many revisions, here is what I came up with.

I am sure that these ideas will change over time but I actually enjoyed putting my passion for learning into words.

2. Connections

The preparation time before the interview and during the interview itself are both great opportunities to connect with other people. I got some great advice and a lot of support from colleagues before my interview. My excitement grew as I chatted with other educators about my hopes for my next school and how I want to grow professionally. It is always humbling as well to receive supportive letters of recommendation from administrators who I have worked with closely for years.

During the interview I always love the opportunity to ask questions about the school community I am hoping to join. It is a great chance to understand other people and the culture of the school better. Naturally we always compare new environments to ones we have lived in and it is interesting to discuss differences in beliefs and approaches to enhancing student learning.

3. Feedback

There might not be any faster way to get an honest read on how you present yourself and your ideas than the outcome of an interview. If you are lucky enough to have a follow up meeting (whether you successfully land the job or not), it is usually full of very direct feedback. If you are not offered a follow up meeting, please request one! In these meetings I have always gained valuable insight into the organizations I have applied for and myself as a candidate. Direct feedback about my weaknesses during interview follow up meetings in the past has helped me understand when I was not experienced enough to obtain a position and what I had to do to grow. Equally, positive feedback about specific questions that I answered well has helped me to answer other difficult questions with confidence years later. Feedback helps us grow and interviews are a great time to get it.

4. Adventure

When applying for a new job there is always an obvious sense of adventure in the unknown. Our lives quite literally start down different paths depending on the job we accept. During the interview phase there are still many potential futures. The excitement of evaluating them and choosing the one we think is best is worth acknowledging. While we often experience anxiety in uncertainty, we can choose to embrace the adventure and accept life as it happens. Interviewing and job searching is a great time to shake things up. Think big, reach for that dream job and enjoy the journey!

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Design Thinking- A Friendly Hack

3/20/2016

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Beyond Bleck

Maybe it's just me but my past experience with Design Thinking has been full of excitement and a quick realization that it needs a LOT of time to understand well enough to use. In a similarly disappointing way, I have recently participated in professional development around "Hacking" as a way to innovate but have been less than impressed by the underlying pettiness and negativity about how wrong everything is. While I wholeheartedly believe in innovation, change and improvement, it is not in my nature to start with the question: What's wrong around here? Luckily, I had a brief encounter with the best of both of these previously "bleck" topics.

d.school’s Virtual Crash Course from Stanford

Once again, Stanford is leading the way. I had heard of the Design School at Stanford before but never realized that they have such an easily accessible Crash Course that makes learning Design Thinking fun. With the simple outline, provided videos and handout page, it is easy to facilitate your own d.school Crash Course.

Basically, our task was to "redesign the gift-giving experience for our partner". We interviewed each other, wrote a problem statement, generated radical alternatives, shared for feedback, refined our idea and built a prototype (all these steps are easily outlined in the handout on their site). It was fun to get to know a new person in the DEEP Learning Conference and really helpful to have someone design a solution for me that I did not even know I was looking for. Now that. . . is hacking! We took something that already existed and made it better. Simple, positive and effective. You know what. . . it was even fun!

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Collaboration in Chicago

2/27/2016

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I LOVE Visiting Schools

One of my favorite things about international teaching is visiting other schools. Since we are all navigating the vast world of education together, most schools extend warm welcomes when request a visit. Over the past eight years I have had the opportunity to connect with amazing educators and explore what learning looks like in different environments around the world. This week I was completely blown away by the high levels of collaboration and the dedicated professionals at Burley Elementary School in Chicago. I learned MANY new things and had a chance to talk about learning but here is a brief list of some of the highlights from my day.

Teachers As Readers

This is probably my most important takeaway from the day. Burley teachers are involved in regular professional reading. The reading assignments and meetings are facilitated by the Curriculum Team. Every other Tuesday, teachers come together in their Professional Development Flex Time to discuss the reading and learn together. This has created a culture of very well-read teachers and purposeful, research-based decision making. I hope to bring this idea back to my school and see my collaborative teammates engage with common texts and new learning. Thank you Burley for sharing this idea with me! I have recorded a list below of texts they have used for these meetings. I have read many of them but look forward to ordering and reading so many more ASAP!

Book Talks

While I do agree that highlighting great books is always highly beneficial for creating that buzz around reading that we want our students to own, I was impressed to see how well it was done in the lesson I observed at Burley. Highlighting great books and authors DAILY is something I worth committing to. Monday, here I come! (Oh, and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday too!) The fantastic teacher observed mentioned Book Love as inspiration. I love how everything these teachers do has a thoughtful purpose that is backed up by their professional reading!

Student Reading Notebooks

Fourth-grade students all had notebooks that they had labelled with specific sections for their Reading Workshop time. This idea from Fountas and Pinnell was simple and highly effective. I particularly liked the Reading List section where students could easily record books they have read and books they want to read next.

Top Ten Books

Fourth-grade students voted and were very excited to hear about the results of their Top Ten Books List. What a great, simple way for students to evaluate texts and familiarize themselves with the real world lists such as the New York Times Bestsellers list.

If You Learned Here

While visiting the Technology room I signed my class up to participate in a global project that the Technology teacher co-created (so cool!). Find out more here or follow us on Twitter with the #ifyoulearnedhere hashtag.

Book Wall

In addition to each classroom having tons of AMAZING books in inviting baskets all around the room, a fourth-grade room had a simple but highly effective wall of recommendations. Each student's photo was on the wall above three note cards. On the first, the student had written his/her "Now Book". Below this were two more note cards with the "Next Book" and "Last Favorite" books displayed too. This wall allows teachers to see which books students are reading at any moment and encourages students to think about which books they plan to read next. The "Last Favorite" also helps students searching for book recommendations to quickly see which books their peers have recently enjoyed. This idea, as so many at Burley do, came from another great book called Reading Essentials by Regie Routman.

Burley's Book List

Here is a list for anyone who wants to dive into some worthwhile, Burley-inspired professional reading. I am going to be ordering a few new titles today to start ASAP. If you want to discuss any of these books, please connect with me!

Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis
Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller
Comprehension and Collaboration by Stephanie Harvey and Harvey "Smokey" Daniels
Mini Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey "Smokey" Daniels and Nancy Steineke
Systems to Transform Your Classroom & School by Nancie Atwell
The Science of Spelling by J. Richard Gentry
How to Grade for Learning by Ken O'Connor
Connecting Comprehension and Technology by Stephanie Harvey, Anne Goudvis, Katie Muhtaris and Kristin Ziemke
Book Love by Penny Kittle
The Continuum of Literacy Learning by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell
Reading Essentials by Regie Routman

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Commitment is Key to Success

1/26/2016

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Reflections on "Any Book" Clubs

After a couple of very successful student meetings in their "Any Book" Clubs, I already have observations and reflections that will guide future implementation of this idea.

First, it seems that having students commit to reading an entire book is pretty important. The students who chose novels were ready to share at each meeting because they had not wasted time thinking about which book they would share about. Instead of putting energy into choosing a book each couple of days, I think it would work best for students to choose a book that they want to read and commit to reading that entire book during their "Any Book" Club times. A few students who were underprepared tried to grab an easy picture book to offer some sort of text in a pinch. Supporting those children with the expectation the continue reading the same "good fit" book seems important. Each time students meet, having them give a brief update of what is going on in their book is helping the group care more about the text shared too.

Secondly, having student commit to a reading goal made the original Book Clubs more successful. This idea is easy to transfer into "Any Book" Club by simply having students record their goals for the next meeting and then evaluating whether or not they meet them, as they naturally did in their previous clubs when they were all reading the same book. I imagine that a simple book mark or tracking page where students can record and monitor their goals would work well. I will be testing something like this soon. I detest the idea of making students record every single bit of what they are doing and thinking when reading because it is so unnatural and leads to a quick resentment toward reading but a basic goal record like this would not take long at all to complete at each meeting.

Four Person Group Tracking Sheet Example

Individual Bookmark Goal Tracker Example

Cut page in half. Then fold the bookmark in half to create a sturdy, double-sided bookmark with ten entries. Students simply get another bookmark if more meetings are required to finish the book.

Lastly, students chose to commit to the same group and it has worked out nicely so far. After the first meeting I asked a few of my teacher-assigned groups of four if they would prefer to keep the same groups next time or mix them up. The first three groups I asked responded unanimously that they would like to keep the same groups. I decided to listen to them and go with it. Considering my revised plans to have students commit to finishing a book, it also seems logical to keep the same groups so that students can hear updates about each others' books as they continue to read them.

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"Any Book" Clubs

1/20/2016

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Real readers devour books, talk about them and then do something when great books change them. Student book clubs based on these truths have proven extremely successful.

Now what?

We just finished some awesome book clubs where students were enthusiastically reading more than before, discussing plot and inferences with peers and sharing their own reviews with the world. In short, it was really exciting and students felt a great sense of accomplishment. Read more about my Book Club success in the new Book Clubs tab at the top of my site.

From a teacher's standpoint, I am thrilled! Students are ready to begin again and asking about when we can start our next book clubs. ASAP, of course! The only problem is that they take at least a week or two to set up. We need to select books, source them, introduce the choices, have students choose, group students and hand out books. These are not difficult tasks at all but in the short delay between book clubs, I am sad to see students not reading in class with the same motivation. You would think that going back to a "Read to Self" sort of free book choice for a short bit would be exciting to them but it turns out that without the social aspect of looking forward to talking about their reading, they seem to not really read.

My Experimental Solution: "Any Book" Clubs

I introduced the idea yesterday in class and after the 20 seconds it took them to understand the concept, students ran off eagerly to secure a great book and get reading. They were even jotting down some inner thinking to share with their new groups!

So what are "Any Book" Clubs?
Simply, they are clubs that will leverage the success of our recent book club structure without requiring that students read the same book. I have heard of adult book clubs like this and thought it might work with students too.

Students will read any book they like, bring that book to a meeting, share a selected piece of text from their book and have others discuss that text. I am hoping that students will inspire each other to read a wider range of genres and start talking about different kinds of books more. The social aspect aims to keep students accountable to their peers with regular club meetings, while allowing them some fun talk time that will offer new perspectives from new people about their favorite literature.

Looking for Your Help

The one thing I am not so sure about is grouping. I would like to keep students in the same groups for a while in order to develop social accountability that can encourage regular reading and deep thinking. At the same time, I would like to mix groups up enough to get a wider range of perspectives from peers and expose my students to a variety of texts they might be interested in reading too.

I was thinking of starting off with groups of four students. Aiming to have two girls and two boys in each group, I would be sensitive to place less capable readers with sensitive, supportive peers. Since groups will meet 2-3 times a week, I was thinking that they could stay with these peers for a week or two before switching.

Any recommendations? What do you think? Please comment!

Thank you! Happy reading!

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Big Fish-Little Pond Effect

12/15/2015

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I have been thinking a lot lately about how reading changes us.

Through my recent Book Club makeovers, based largely on Stephanie Harvey and Harvey Daniels’ book Comprehension and Collaboration- Inquiry Circles in Action, I have realized that the reason I love reading so much is because it changes me. I get to learn more about myself, the world, history, other people, far away places, different cultures and how we are all connected. I hate forced responses to reading just as much as any student I have ever taught. I also love a chance to talk to others about books I am reading and work together to grow from the themes they explore.

In between other books I have been devouring for class, leadership ideas and my book club, I keep going back to read more of Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath book. Today I came across something that really made me think about our choices to attend (and maybe teach at) great schools.

"The phenomenon of relative deprivation applied to education is called- appropriately enough- the 'Big Fish-Little Pond Effect.' The more elite an educational institution is, the worse students feel about their own academic abilities. Students who would be at the top of their class at a good school can easily fall to the bottom of a really good school. Students who would feel that they have mastered a subject at a good school can have the feeling that they are falling farther and farther behind in a really good school. And that feeling- as subjective and ridiculous and irrational as it may be- matters. How you feel about your abilities- your academic 'self-concept'- in the context of your classroom shapes your willingness to tackle challenges and finish difficult tasks. It's a crucial element in your motivation and confidence." Gladwell, 80

Gladwell goes on to credit psychologist Herbert March with The Big Fish-Little Pond theory and link his work with the shortage of American professionals in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. While a student's decision of which school to attend undeniably affects his or her future, I am hesitant to believe that it is solely because of the prestige or rigor of the school. On pages 83-84, Gladwell concludes that students at Harvard who fall "in the bottom third of their class drop out of math and science [. . .] because they are so demoralized by their experience that many of them drop out of science entirely and transfer to some nonscience major."

The reason I find this difficult to believe in its entirety is because of the increasing awareness in Education about the importance of Growth Mindsets on learning. In Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck's research, it is the mindset of taking on challenges and looking for opportunities to grow that leads to success. The opposite, believing in a fixed intelligence, judging ourselves as failures and feeling that we are in competition with others for success, is what prevents us from pursuing (and sticking out) difficult challenges. Since Gladwell mentions competition in his descriptions of the science classes at Harvard, it makes me wonder if there is any real connection between the fish and the pond or if it all has to do with Mindset in the end.

As I apply for a Masters program in the U.S. next academic year, I find myself seeking out exactly those prestigious programs and reputable schools. Why? Because I want to be challenged. I don't want to be a big fish in a little pond. I want to be in a big ocean of ideas where I can grow. What is the point of learning if you go in knowing you are already on top and will remain there? I want a challenge and I want to learn from those big scary sharks who might be scary at times. That is how we grow into big fish!

Any thoughts?

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Educators- Can you help?

11/21/2015

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Dear Educators,

Can you help me, please? A quick idea validation check is desperately needed! We are deep into a StartUp Education Weekend in Bangkok and need to bounce this off of real educators before moving forward.

You know how we spend hours searching, reading, viewing and collecting awesome, current content for our students to engage with? And then you know how we test out a zillion different ways to record, organize and share these resources? We are in an age of digital content overload and

What if you could save and arrange all the great free resources you find online (and those found by other great teachers) for a particular unit, subject, course or inquiry into an online learning platform for your students to engage with? We are thinking of taking these ideas that we post in places like blogs, Blendspace, YouTube, Twitter, Google Drive and Pinterest and put them into a user-friendly online course. Think: high quality, human-curated content, easily tracked student progress, customized student responses (video, images, multiple choice, writing. . .) and ranking systems to quickly gather feedback on useful learning resources and courses.

Your students could study in your uniquely created courses or follow their own interests by finding courses organized by other educators. You can track their progress and watch them grow!

Your help is very much appreciated! Please comment below. :)

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Great books change us. Great books about teaching and learning make us great teachers. Here are some books that have influenced my teaching in the last few years.​

4 Reasons Why I Love Interviewing. . . and You Should Too!

1. Forced Reflection

2. Connections

3. Feedback

4. Adventure

Beyond Bleck

d.school’s Virtual Crash Course from Stanford

I LOVE Visiting Schools

Teachers As Readers

Book Talks

Student Reading Notebooks

Top Ten Books

If You Learned Here

Book Wall

Burley's Book List

Reflections on "Any Book" Clubs

Four Person Group Tracking Sheet Example

Individual Bookmark Goal Tracker Example

Now what?

My Experimental Solution: "Any Book" Clubs

Looking for Your Help

Thank you! Happy reading!

I have been thinking a lot lately about how reading changes us. ​

Sara Schneeberg

Archives

Categories

Great books change us. Great books about teaching and learning make us great teachers. Here are some books that have influenced my teaching in the last few years.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how reading changes us.