This quote comes from Educational Leadership, September, 2010:
As a teacher once said, "I never heard of a student not doing his work; it's our work he's not doing."
-- Cathy Vatterott, p. 10
Wow! Is it that simply explained? Could this be why some (many? most?) students don't do assigned work, especially "homework"? Maybe if it had more to do with them, they'd do it. That is, if they were assigned to do work they found engaging, that they found meaningful, that they found relevant (There's that word, again!), students would be more apt to complete the assignment.
Did ya know?
"Two of three respondents" to the annual survey on student engagement "(66 percent) indicated that they are bored at least every day in class. But students also clarified the kinds of work that would engage them. They rated the following most highly: discussion and debate (61 percent); group projects (60 percent); and projects and lessons involving technology (55 percent). Following close behind as favorites were presentations (46 percent); role-plays (43 percent); and art and drama activities (49 percent). It's no surprise that teacher lecture got the highest 'like not at all' votes (44 percent) and the fewest 'like very much' votes (6 percent). Students also indicated that they enjoy discussions in which there are no clear-cut answers (65 percent) and that they would welcome the opportunity to be more creative in school (85 percent)." -Ed Leadership, Sept. 2010, p. 8.
Sounds like I may be barking up the right tree when I tell teachers in the district that they should be making work more relevant to students, particularly in their discussions of matters where "there is no clear-cut answers." That's a four rating on the Rigor and Relevance Framework's APPLICATION continuum; right?
And then there's Sir Ken Robinson's position about schools and their need to be better places for kids to find out what they're good at and encouraging creativity. Students, 85 percent of them anyway, would like to be more creative in school.
Looks like ol' Les is on to something, if I do say so myself. And I do.
Innovate, teachers.
Take risks, teachers.
Don't fear failure. Remember! It's a requirement...for success.
Each failure leads us further down the road toward success, especially if we're reflecting on the failures and learning from our mistakes. Failure is succeeding in learning what didn't work!!!
Parents, if you have questions about all of this nonsense, give me a call or e-mail me.
217-374-2842 lstevens@northgreene.com
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Welcome to a New School Year
The 2010-2011 school year is underway in North Greene and we've already had some excitement. The 340 or so Roodhouse Elementary and North Greene Junior High students gained access to their MacBooks on Thursday, August 26 with a wonderful Roll-out event that was truly magnificent. Dr. Cindy Carlson Rice saw her dream come true as students unpacked and began to charge their new machines one-by-one.
Meanwhile the faculty members at North Greene High School got their individual Apple iTouches with the simple instruction to "dig in and see how these might be useful in your classes during this school year." We hope in the future to see such devices in the hands of all high school students OR to make use of the smartphone technology students already have at their disposal as they pursue their educational goals. This, too, is an exciting prospect.
Making use of available technologies as educational tools is a change in mindsets for staff and students alike. It'll take a bit of time for the learning curve that almost always accompanies such a sea change. But at some point in the near futurer, we should see increased achievement on the part of our students, as they and their teachers learn to make effective use of these technologies.
Congratulations to the teachers and staff at NGHS. Despite once again failing to make AYP (adequqate yearly progress) as measured by standardized tests, they did see five-year high's in all areas of the ACT test. That's reading, mathematics, science, as well as the composite scores. Congratulations, too, to those students who did so well on the ACT last spring, a group mostly made up of the Class of 2011, this year's senior class.
We may continue to miss the target set by NCLB legislation, as so many more schools are - because the qualifying standard score gets raised each year. But we're going in the right direction and look for continued climbs in our test scores, while at the same time realizing those test scores never have told the complete story concerning North Greene students or their learning and academic achievement. We are seeing them gain more content knowledge and acquire 21st century skills each and every day. The tests? They take place over two days each spring, hardly a true picture of how students are doing or how we're doing as a school.
As you may have heard me say, previously, "Test scores tell us something about our schools. But they never tell us the whole story."
Meanwhile the faculty members at North Greene High School got their individual Apple iTouches with the simple instruction to "dig in and see how these might be useful in your classes during this school year." We hope in the future to see such devices in the hands of all high school students OR to make use of the smartphone technology students already have at their disposal as they pursue their educational goals. This, too, is an exciting prospect.
Making use of available technologies as educational tools is a change in mindsets for staff and students alike. It'll take a bit of time for the learning curve that almost always accompanies such a sea change. But at some point in the near futurer, we should see increased achievement on the part of our students, as they and their teachers learn to make effective use of these technologies.
Congratulations to the teachers and staff at NGHS. Despite once again failing to make AYP (adequqate yearly progress) as measured by standardized tests, they did see five-year high's in all areas of the ACT test. That's reading, mathematics, science, as well as the composite scores. Congratulations, too, to those students who did so well on the ACT last spring, a group mostly made up of the Class of 2011, this year's senior class.
We may continue to miss the target set by NCLB legislation, as so many more schools are - because the qualifying standard score gets raised each year. But we're going in the right direction and look for continued climbs in our test scores, while at the same time realizing those test scores never have told the complete story concerning North Greene students or their learning and academic achievement. We are seeing them gain more content knowledge and acquire 21st century skills each and every day. The tests? They take place over two days each spring, hardly a true picture of how students are doing or how we're doing as a school.
As you may have heard me say, previously, "Test scores tell us something about our schools. But they never tell us the whole story."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
