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Learning: Problems and Solutions
Last school year, Ranisha and Denzell began second grade with reading skills in only the first or second percentile for their education level. By the end of the school year, both students' reading skills had rocketed above the 50th percentile. "Ranisha could always be found doing her reading faithfully, to the delight of her mother, and Denzell was the kid whose hand always shot up when I asked a question in class," says Tamara Bailey, a second grade teacher at Druid Hill Academy in Omaha, Nebraska. Druid Hill is one of 22 Academy Schools established by the Omaha Public Schools two years ago to improve student achievement in low-income neighborhoods. In communities where 75 percent or more of the students qualify for free or reduced-cost school lunches, OPS is infusing substantial new funding to hire more staff and dramatically reduce class size. "The Academy system allows me to touch each kid," says Bailey, whose class size is 14. "When the classes had 25, some kids would hide from being called on. Now, I have kids complaining if they're not called on." Embracing the cultures of Omaha neighborhoods is another important component of Academy Schools. Druid Hill is one of three Afrocentric schools in the program. To motivate students while celebrating African-American culture, the school holds a weekly assembly called a harambee, the Swahili word for "let's pull together." The kids chant affirmations such as "I can be anything. I can do anything." Phyllis Christiansen teaches kindergarten at Marrs Academy in a largely Hispanic section of south Omaha. There, the cultural element of the curriculum has been taken even further. "Under the Academy system, we've become the first public school in the state to develop a dual-language program. It's not ESL. It's English and Spanish, and our goal is to start kids on a path in kindergarten that will lead them to be bilingual and biliterate by the end of sixth grade." Christiansen teaches her class in English. Nearby, her colleague Irma Franco is teaching the same lessons to her own class in Spanish. But for a portion of the day, the kids switch classrooms--and languages. "We don't teach something in English and then teach it again in Spanish," says Christiansen. "There is no repetition. Instead, there is continuity. When the kids switch classrooms, the previous lesson is so fresh in their minds that they naturally take in the new lesson in a different language." Like Bailey, Christiansen says class size is critical. "I have 17 in my class," she says. "For the first time, I feel I'm able to address individual needs, and I have time to coordinate my work with parents. Instead of meeting all the parents at quarterly meeting, I phone two parents a night and have them all briefed on their kids progress in a little more than a week. Then I start over." Bailey, too, says her relationship with parents has improved. "They're excited about their kids' progress. They're coming to see me more. The last time I held a parent/teacher conference, I had 14 parents show up for 14 kids. I'd never had 100 percent before." Carolyn Grice, who coordinates community outreach for OPS, says the successes at Druid Hill and Marrs are not isolated. Test scores are up significantly at all 22 Academy Schools. "The parents have a new outlook," says Bailey. "When we started the Academy approach, I saw the kids begin to believe they could grow up to accomplish anything. Now the parents believe it. They're saying to me: 'My son or daughter can be a success.'" "As an African-American," says Bailey, "I feel that's the greatest contribution I've made to my brothers and sisters." --Matt Simon For more: Dilemma Try a class survey. In January, I do a survey of children's New Year's resolutions. After Halloween, you can survey the kinds of candy they received, pick the six most common kinds, and make a graph. Use the Internet to find the candy manufacturers. Graph their number of employees and company worth. For Thanksgiving, ask who went out of town, who stayed home, who visited family in town, and what they had for dinner. (Know your class to be sure of poverty issues, so as not to embarrass some.) This lets them talk about the holiday but still get back to work. Deborah Norris I always tried to find a light way to pick up where we left off--a "test" asking questions about what they did, where they went, what they saw and heard. Before and after some holidays, I would have them look up the history and write a two-page paper on what they learned. At Christmas, I would have them learn about similar celebrations in different cultures. Then I would try to segue into what we were studying. Pat McNeely After a holiday, I try to make my classes a little bit competitive! I put them randomly in teams for short competitive games. I may give them a list of latitude and longitude coordinates and ask them to locate the country. Sometimes, I have them assign tasks to each team member. Other times, I ask them to solve the problem collectively. I keep the time periods short, five minutes or less. A kitchen timer is helpful. I give "Smarties" roll candy or fruit snacks to winners. Linda Norman The two worst times of year are after the winter holiday break and after spring break. After January 2, guest speakers can get students back in the groove. My Technology Preparatory students hear speakers from business on job expectations, the application process, and interview skills. Colleges offer classroom presentations on many subjects, such as scholarships. The biggest challenge is between spring break and summer. Kids just give up at that point. My technology preparatory students have a job-shadowing day the week they return from spring break. For my college preparatory students, this is a good time for a college presentation on "senioritis." Rita Jo Swingle After a holiday, I plan to have a day of hands-on science, history, and language arts activity that gets them out of their seats but also reviews what we were studying before the vacation. Lauren Tanner This is a "building block" opportunity. A close, personal relationship is invaluable in teaching teenagers. They often have no adult who regularly takes the time to talk. After a vacation, I talk with them about their time off: the high points, the low points. I share my holiday experience. I commiserate with them about having to go back to work. After 10 or 15 minutes of "together" time I remind them of their goals. By now they are ready to work. Bonnie Hutchens I have a group sharing time, prompted with a question. First time around: What was the best thing about your vacation? Second time around: What is the best thing about being back at school. This official sharing time helps get the chattiness out of their systems. Then it's back to business! Jenny Cooper Got an Answer? E-mail your answer to dilemma2@list.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax to 202/822-7206. Include your name, city, state, and job title. If published, you will receive an NEA Today mug! How I Did It Nancye Garland A special education teacher discovers a way to hook both students and parents. I want to share one of the most successful ideas I've had for working with special needs kids. For the last two years, instead of the usual pizza party or trip to the park at the end of the year, I took the class and their parents fishing. My colleagues thought I'd gone off the deep end. The students were so excited they planned and planned. I didn't know whether to be excited or pray for rain. Some kids came to the lake with tubs of worms, as if we were going to fish all evening and night. There were parents who'd never come to school who talked to me about their children. Their excitement was palpable. Parents and students and teacher fished side-by-side. This was the first time I'd seen my students outside class. I stayed until after dark with a hyperactive fourth-grader who could barely leave his line in the water. I felt like I'd solved the world's problems as I drove home. Fishing has become the common ground for my students, a topic for conversation and written language lessons, and a successful experience that's helped the class bond. Although I have years of teaching experience and several degrees, I've learned so much about children and teaching from the two fishing trips. In fact, the students and I have all learned:
My advice to peers: "When all else fails, take them fishing." 'Pee-Wee IB'
Some jokingly call it "Pee-Wee IB," but there's nothing pint-sized about the impact of the International Baccalaureate Organiza-tion's Primary Years Programme (PYP) on three elementary schools in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Initiated in 1997, the latest addition to the IB curricula has generated a new passion for teaching and learning here. The three are among only 13 U.S. schools currently authorized to offer the PYP. "Students are always asking questions," says Bliss West, reading teacher at Port Royal Elementary School. "They're on a quest to find out more and more and more, taking more risks than when they were confined to a more traditional school and methods of instruction. They are not afraid to learn." PYP uses an inquiry-based approach with six themes:
This approach to everything from language arts to science and physical education has changed West's teaching style. "My background as a Chapter I teacher had given me a very narrow focus, " says this 23-year teaching veteran. "Now I think more globally." Classrooms are more hands-on, she says, and her school, with its host of networked computers, is more student-centered. "It's amazing to watch the research students do and the discussion topics they generate," says West. She sees the results across all levels of achievement. "PYP has taken the threat out of education. During my career, I've seen so many students afraid to talk, afraid their questions might seem silly. Now they speak up, take risks, ask questions. It's expected." Claudia Scott, who has taught at the district's Broad River Elementary for 31 years, agrees. "Before PYP the emphasis was on what a child could or couldn't do, based on expectations we set. Now they're more in control of their learning and they do a better job. We give them the support they need." This fall, her 16 first and second graders researched the question: What's the name of the group in control of Afghanistan? True to the PYP approach, Scott wasn't only interested in students getting the right answer. The process was at least as important. First, the youngsters had to investigate what resources to use--an encyclopedia, a newspaper, the Internet? Challenges like this, ones that develop real-world skills, are commonplace in the PYP. Children also spend time doing science experiments and art projects, and writing poems, plays, and stories. All children start Spanish in kindergarten, and some teachers are following suit. "There's a lot more learning going on," says Scott. She has also seen behavior improve. "Students end up asking themselves how they can do things better," she notes. Assessment runs the gamut--from anecdotal records to portfolios, rubrics, and traditional tests. There's lots of self-assessment with students documenting everything they do. After finishing a unit, youngsters write reflections in notebooks. Instead of letter grades, written comments fill report cards. PYP was originally discovered by Beaufort administrators looking for a gifted program, but it is working for children of all ability levels, and in schools serving low-income as well as affluent children. Beaufort's three high schools offer the IB Diploma Programme, although few students participate. That may change as the PYP children reach their teens. Meanwhile, Beaufort's middle schools and two more elementaries have applied for the IBO's seal of approval. In South Carolina, students from third grade on take state tests. It's too soon to tell whether PYP will boost scores, and other school initiatives will make it hard to isolate the PYP effect. But the mention of scores makes PYP proponents cringe because many qualities their schools foster--thinking, self-confidence, curiosity, and cross-cultural understanding--can't be quantified. West says state standards do act as a guide for teachers, but they don't teach to the test. The state's open-ended questions mesh well with the PYP's heavy writing emphasis, she adds. Most important, says West: "Our children love coming to school!" --Mary Anne Hess For more: Visit www.ibo.org. Dilemma I use the oldest trick in the book: positive reinforcement. They get a prize if the paper comes back the very next day. The key is knowing what your students want! I teach middle school and I use a toy or piece of candy. Younger students bring forms back for a sticker. Some will do it for an extra credit point. No matter the age, this is a sure-fire method! The few who forget the first time won't forget again when they see all the prizes distributed! Sherri Barrett I collect important papers in a folder for each student. On Fridays, they put the papers into manila envelopes to take home. That way, parents can depend on getting everything at one time--no straggling papers stuffed in backpacks. At first, to get the class into the habit of returning the envelopes, I offer incentives. By October, they have it down. There is a place on the envelopes for parents to sign, a place to check off how they felt about their child's work that week, and a place to ask me to contact them. Andrea Payne I send home a weekly newsletter that tells class news as well as my expectations. Parents then know that I want their children to develop into responsible people, and that I want them to know how their children are doing. When I send something home that I need returned, I put my "Sign and Return to School" stamp on it. I make sure that I have a copy. If I do not get it back, I can mail it. But I seldom have to do this! Sue Resop When I want papers signed and returned by parents, I offer students chances to get a homework pass. A signed test with an A grade gets three tickets. A paper with a B gets two tickets, and a C receives one. The tickets are placed in a jar and a winner is drawn. This spurs interest, and I know the parents have seen the work. Rosemary Ordile At our school, we staple papers to notices for upcoming events such as field trips and sports activities. These events require parent signatures for participation, so students take the forms home. Timothy Warren At the beginning of the year, I teach my students how to get their parents to complete paperwork that we need returned. First, I demonstrate the elbow hold. I hold a student's elbow while I explain what I need (a signature). I don't let go until I get the signature. If the paperwork is a little longer, there's the modified elbow hold, which consists of gathering the needed supplies before latching on and then offering to do chores while the paperwork is completed. If an interruption causes progress to stall, it may be necessary to reinstate the original elbow hold. I explain to my students that this may be a start and stop process until they get their parents trained. Karen Nielsen Got an Answer? E-mail your answer to dilemma2@list.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax to 202/822-7206. Include your name, city, state, and job title. If published, you will receive an NEA Today mug! Idea Exchange Rule Reminders They have to write reasons why they should and/or shouldn't follow the rule they broke. The number of reasons they have to write depends on the grade level of the student. Usually, students find that the first few reasons are easy to think of, but it gets harder and harder to think of more reasons. Sometimes, they have to be very creative to complete the assignment. Jacqueline Dixon Counting Down A Freeze Abigail Greenberg As an NEA life-time retired member who is now in a second career, I'd like to point out a valuable and cheap resource for teachers: newspapers. Most newspapers have some sort of Newspapers in Education program. Teachers can request newspapers for their classes. More than likely, the papers will be free or available at a very reduced price. Curriculum support, activities, and lesson plans are usually provided. Paul Crowner |
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