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Learning: Problems & Solutions
Alas. Hamlet had better luck getting through to Yorick's skull than many teachers who try to reach their students with Shakespeare. Not so for Becky Wheeler and eight other teachers who took part in an interactive arts education program that brings the Bard to life. And using some of the same techniques as that workshop, teachers of all subjects can achieve dramatic results. "When I heard about the workshop," says Wheeler, a veteran English teacher at Carver High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, "I thought it would be inspiring and reawaken my approach to Shakespeare. It did all that and more." Shakespeare Lives!, the workshop developed by the North Carolina School of the Arts in collaboration with the new Globe Theatre in London, selects teachers from nine North Carolina high schools to participate in five, full-day Saturday workshops. The topic is Shakespeare, but what's really center stage is interactive learning. Teachers, who all receive an in-service stipend, come away reinvigorated with insights on how to make lessons capture students' imaginations. Wheeler's workshop group literally moved to the beat of Shakespeare's prose. They learned dramatic techniques and breathing exercises. They studied period dress, customs, and music. And they traveled to the International Shakespeare Globe Center in London, where their final exam consisted of a midnight performance of Julius Caesar on the stage of the Globe. Wheeler, a neophyte performer, played Brutus. "It was a true high," says Wheeler. "As Julius Caesar was holding onto me, there were tears in my eyes. I was totally engrossed." Wheeler's now off stage, with a new outlook on how interactive learning can grab a student--in any subject area. In her own classes, rather than having students struggle to memorize large sections of a play, Wheeler now takes a line of a play or sonnet, divides the class into small groups to discuss the line, and has students freeze into a position to act it out. "This gets kids on their feet, gets them involved and excited," she says. Instead of having students do small research projects, Wheeler has each student adopt Shakespearean actors and E-mail them five questions. Previously hesitant to use film versions of Shakespeare's work, Wheeler now shows several movies of the same play and engages her class in comparative discussions. "It makes great critics out of the students," she says. Wheeler suggests that teachers give students a little independence and a final product to work toward. In her classes, rather than reading Shakes-peare and telling students what's there, Wheeler now steps in only if they need help deciphering a passage. "It gives them pride as they discover they can figure him out," she notes. "We did scenes from Julius Caesar with one group opting to perform on stage before a live audience and the other in class," she explains. "If there's a final product, you'll get much more commitment, and a much better end." Every teacher, Wheeler believes, should take a drama course, to add "to your enthusiasm." Drama "puts a little more oomph into what you're doing." "I've been teaching a long time," she adds, and taking this workshop "was a revelation for me. It offers a new faith, a new voice, a new incentive for teachers to get involved." --Michelle Y. Green For more information, contact Becky Wheeler at 336/727-2987 or Marla Carpenter at the North Carolina School of the Arts, 336/770-3337, E-mail: carpem@ncarts.edu. Visit www.shakespeares-globe.org/education Dilemma The Nogales Unified School District is located on the southern-most border of Arizona. Our small, hometown-type newspaper comes out twice a week, and it doesn't have the staff to cover even a fraction of the various school events. What our district did was hire an English teacher with journalism experience--me--to write press releases and articles on both district and individual school happenings. Most times, the paper runs the articles just as they are submitted. Sometimes, a staff member will use the article as the basis of a news story and simply call for a few more quotes. We average three school news events a week, between what I submit and the paper itself covers. I get paid an addendum, but it works out to a small fee per week. It's far less than the district would pay for a full-time public relations person, yet I'm able to supplement my income while providing a much-needed service. Kathy Scott Don't wait for the local media to show up. It doesn't work that way. Send the good news to the media! In Buncombe County, North Carolina, our local TV station shows a tape each morning that features good news from any one of the many schools in the area. WLOS-TV encourages teachers to send in tapes--and, from personal experience, I know how students love being taped, ending with a hearty "Good morning, Carolinas" greeting for viewers to wake up to. Carol Fabrey I have found several ways that work. First, I have the E-mail addresses of three local newspaper writers, and I E-mail them directly. This works great, because when they have questions, they can respond and we don't have to play phone tag. Second, when students do "good works" or have done some really neat research project, I have them write the press release and fax it to the local papers. Third, our PTSA has created a form that teachers can fill out with pertinent information about a story. Then the parents reach the writers for us. This is great, because parents feel in the loop, and they are also doing a great service for the staff and the students. Annie Strozyk Recognize that not all school events are newsworthy. We might think that a chorus concert or science fair is worth coverage because the children have worked so hard, but how does that differ from concerts or fairs at other schools? Choose your calls to the media wisely. Is the event timely--a pet food drive during Be Kind to Animals Week, or a mock election project just before Election Day? If you have an event scheduled well in advance, send the media a press release. A phone call can be forgotten when news staffs are sent to cover breaking news. A press release will still be there on the desk when things slow down. Reporters also like to have press releases at events. The more information they have on paper, the more they can focus on what's really happening, rather than just making sure they have the school's name spelled right. Susan Ayers We have students write articles about their recent accomplishments and club activities and send these pieces to the local or city news-papers. Those articles that are published are then posted where the entire student body and faculty can see them. Students appreciate this acknowledgment of what they've done. And it's great p.r.! Myriam Santiago-Esfahani Got an Answer? Send your answer by regular mail, by Fax to 202/822-7206, or by E-mail to dilemma2@neatoday.nea.org. Please include your name, city, state, job title, and grade level, if applicable. Published respondents will receive a new NEA Today mug! Learning: Problems &
Solutions
Every high school teacher has faced these students. They're not really slow learners. They don't have any particular learning disability, and they're not getting any special ed help. Sometimes, these students will even say things that reveal a sharp mind and the ability to learn. But, most of the time, their minds just wander in class. Their school careers go nowhere. In many schools, these students may languish at the back of the classroom--until they decide to drop out. But at Millard South High School in the suburbs around Omaha, Nebraska, these students get referred to the New Frontier school-within-a-school for their freshman and sophomore years. The goal of New Frontier is nothing less than to turn these students' lives around. "These are kids who can do the work, but they don't do the work," says NEA member Jeff Koerten, who teaches science and math in the program. "Maybe they don't turn in assignments. They've been moved along with social advancement. Then they get to high school, and they don't have the habits to be successful. During the planning for New Frontier, Millard South staff looked at what other school systems were doing for underachieving students. They found mostly programs for juniors and seniors--too late, they decided, to step into a failing student's life. "We need to get a hold of kids before they drop out and disappear," says Koerten. The teachers in the New Frontier program are using the multiple intelligences approach because, Koerten explains, student learning styles "just don't line up with the way most education is done." But mostly, Koerten notes, the program monitors the kids. "We keep a real close eye on them," he points out. "If the homework isn't handed in, we expect to see it the next day. If it's not, then you come in during lunch and do it." Parents get progress reports every two weeks, and there's plenty of contact in between--more than 400 phone calls with parents last semester for the 40 New Frontier students. "The parents are with us," reports Koerten. "Many of them have been kind of lost about what to do with their children." Koerten, a 21-year teaching veteran, says New Frontier is harder but also more rewarding than the work he's done before. "You're working with some kids who are defiant," he explains. "They are unwilling to want to do well. You work and work and work, and some kids will battle you every step of the way." Some kids, Koerten admits, you never reach. "But then you get kids who've been taking algebra and haven't gotten it for three years, and now they start making headway, and they start smiling," he says. "That's an awesome feeling." The New Frontier team includes three classroom teachers, including Koerten, who integrate their instruction and align their expectations of the students. A behavioral interventionist, a paraprofessional, and support from a counselor and Millard High staff round out the team. New Frontier is in its second year, after a year in development. It's been funded by a $250,000 state grant. Koerten is confident the school board will now pick it up, because board members have seen the results. The New Frontier students will go back into regular classes for their last two years at Millard South, but the school is creating a transition program for them called Next Frontier. The Omaha World-Herald recently ran a series of critical articles, headlined "Lost in High School," about high school seniors who didn't connect with education. The school superintendent published a reply describing the public schools' efforts to reach these students. New Frontier was first on his list. "Most of the kids in the newspaper series were just the kind of kid we teach," said Koerten. "I think they would have been turned around if our program had been there when they were freshmen and sophomores." --Alain Jehlen For more information, contact Jeff Koerten or Assistant Principal Kim Saum at Millard South High School, 14905 West Q St., Omaha, NE 68137 (jlkoerte@millard.esu3.k12.ne.us or ksaum@millard.esu3.k12.ne.us). Dilemma I ask the students to "grade" themselves. I create a rubric for projects with descriptions and suggested points for each level of the rubric. Students turn in their self-evaluations with their projects. At least half the students are very honest in their evaluations, and I may have to grade them higher than they grade themselves. Others, though, just give themselves a perfect score. Since I made up the rubric and point system in advance, it's easier to grade objectively and not lower my standards once I start grading. Barbara Loeding Perhaps it sounds simplistic, but I make out my rubric before I begin grading. Since I save stuff (sometimes it seems like everything) from year to year, I still have previous rubrics to go by even when I change an old test or project. It's probably not fool-proof, but I have approximately the same grade distribution over the years, if not a greater number of lower grades. Lee Berger I make three to four versions of tests. The tests are written for children with different abilities and learning styles, yet each test contains questions that require critical thinking. This gives all students the opportunity to receive a fair grade if they have prepared, yet allows me to assign "top" grades only to those who have reached a higher level of learning. Another method I use is to count spelling on all work. It doesn't count enough to prevent a student from obtaining a good grade on whatever concept the assignment is assessing. But it does allow those with a higher level of skills to receive higher grades. All students are responsible for turning in assignments. So only those students who make every effort to complete their work receive top grades. At the beginning of the year, I have both students and parents sign a paper indicating that they understand my grading policy. This doesn't always keep them from protesting later on, but it does serve as a reminder of the standards that were agreed upon. Tammy Ratcliff I'm very clear to students on what they're expected to know. I do not curve tests. The A students will get an A on a difficult test as long as they know what the expectations are. I give students who have scored below 70 percent an opportunity to raise their grade by retesting on the portions of the test that they did not master. But I allow them to earn only enough points to bring their grade up into the C range. That way, a student cannot get an A or a B by making test corrections or taking retakes. Claudia Heinrich In my elementary school, and across our district at middle and high school levels, we use a continuum of skills based on chronological age levels, as well as the district-designed "Cornerstone Proficiencies." Each of the "Big 4" benchmarks--reading, writing, number sense, and problem solving--includes performance-based focus points. Benchmarks are assessed at second, fifth, eighth, and 12th grades, with validations based on a body of evidence for each student. The body of evidence includes an actual student performance piece (for example, a friendly letter at grade five), a building-secured assessment for each benchmark level, and copies of scores from state standards. A district writing assessment is administered in second, fifth, eighth, and 11th grades. Scores are determined by a 4, 3, 2, 1 rubric score. Now that we are not using percentages or letter grades, our "grades" are not the product of any teacher's subjectivity. Barbara Iskra Got an Answer? Send your answer by regular mail, by fax to 202/822-7206, or by E-mail to dilemma2@neatoday.nea.org. Please include your name, city, state, job title, and grade level, if applicable. Published respondents will receive a new NEA Today mug! Got a Dilemma? Kenn Van Pelt "My arts program has a Native American twist, which has students gaining a new appreciation for drama--and is inspiring a growing number of them to go on to college." Students today want to know what's in it for them when they take a class. At Chinle High School on the Navajo Nation, I tell my Native American drama students that theater can help them earn college scholarships. And, they can even make acting a career. Storytelling is very natural to the Diné, so instead of reading current plays and acting them in traditional style, we rewrite popular stories with a Native American twist. We've retold Jack and the Beanstalk as a tale about a Native American girl and a corn stalk. We've reworked A Midsummer Night's Dream with coyote stories that are told in the Diné culture. Retelling the plays allows the students to learn all aspects of drama and use their imagination, while passing on cultural traditions to the young children who are often our audience. This has been extremely successful. Eight years ago, I was asked to teach a theater class that had only four students. Now I teach three full classes, and, this year, 185 students tried out for the Canyon Players Troupe, our after-school drama group. We compete at local and state competitions, and my students have won thousands of dollars in scholarships for higher education. One freshman, George Den-zepi, visited my room when he missed the bus one day. I gave him a play that I was thinking about performing and asked him to draw a set, sketch some costumes, and create a director's block and floor plan. Nine days later, he returned with that and more--he wanted to be the director and had a cast! George went on to win best actor at the Native American Drama and Arts Festival in his junior year and, in his senior year, was the first to win five awards at the festival. Today, he's being cast in a new Warner Bros. film. 'Novel' Life Skills After reading a novel, students write essays describing how a character in a novel uses three life skills. In their summation, students have to think of a challenging situation they currently face and describe some life skills that could help them handle the situation. I found that this shows students the true utility of life skills. Rex Scott Classroom Reporter Whenever something newsworthy takes place, a student may take a picture and write about the event on a "reporter sheet." When the film is developed, students place their photos and their reports in a scrapbook. Toward the end of the school year, students may take the scrapbook home so their parents can see the pictures and read the news events. It's great to have a record of all the wonderful and exciting things that have taken place in the classroom throughout the year. Jo Elliott Keyboard Boxers They put the computer keyboard through the elastic waistband and sit it on their desk. Then they put their hands through the legs and position them correctly on the keyboard. Off they go! The students think it's cool, and it encourages good keying technique, since they can't see the board and really have to concentrate on their sense of touch. Bruce Baker |
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