Series of Posts on Rigor

I've been guest blogging over at Eye on Education.  My posts come out two Tuesdays a month.  Here's the start of a year-long focus on rigor:

Rigor, Vigor, or Rigor Mortis
Rigor and the Common Core State Standards
High Expectations, Really?
High Expectations, Don't Leave Me Out!

Enjoy, follow their blog, and leave me feedback! 

Motivating Students with a Microphone

We hear over and over again how important relevance is to student motivation and engagement. Erin Owens uses a popular television show to inspire her first graders:

My students share a great deal. I have found that a microphone has played a key role in motivating them to produce quality work. First of all, they love the microphone, at first they say it is like “being on American Idol.” You can hear them more clearly and their voice is obviously amplified. This gains the attention of the audience more so than traditional sharing. After the “glamour” wears off, they begin to realize that they are showcasing their work each time they “step up to the microphone.” I began to see a major change in their motivation to produce the best work they were capable of to impress and entertain their peers.

Notice she uses something students can relate to, not to deliver content, but to help them with one of the processes of learning, in this case, speaking.  What a great idea!

One of My Favorite Resources

Throughout December, I'm going to profile some of my favorite resources.  First up, organization and time management is always a struggle, isn't it?  No matter how much I try, my inbox is never empty, and I have a stack of papers on my desk.  Frank Buck, a friend and contributor to my books, helps me with these challenges. He's also trying to convince me to go paperless! Here's my summary of his resources:

For professional development to “stick,” there must be follow-up. That was the reason the “Get Organized!” blog was started over 6 years ago. Workshop participants can read additional content and interact long after the workshop is over. The focus of the blog is a nut-and-bolts approach to organization and time management. In a world that is becoming increasingly more digital, readers find simple solutions to harness common technology tools. The free e-mail newsletter is a once-per-month “breath of fresh air” which appears automatically appears in the reader’s Inbox. It’s attempt is to teach, inspire, and make navigating our work and personal loves a little easier.

To begin receiving the newsletter, visit FrankBuck.blogspot.com and look for a link on the right-hand side of the screen inviting you to subscribe.

Real Life Learning for Young Students

Students are never too young to experience real-life learning. Erin Owens creates a fun taste of reality for her first graders. As a culminating activity for an economics unit, the class takes a field trip to a Krispy Kreme (doughnut) store. They observe real-life examples of key concepts: marketing (posters and signs), jobs (cashier, doughnut maker, and manager), goods and services, and teamwork. To apply what they learned, they set up a class store. As a group, they determined the store name, what to sell, costs and needed materials, how to market the store, and the necessary jobs. “All of this took team- work and in the process, the students took ownership of their learning. It was amazing to see the application of concepts in progress. They had job applications, divided into teams, and thought of every- thing we would need to effectively run the store. I served as facilitator and material gatherer, they planned everything. At the end, the other first-grade classes came to purchase our bookmarks.”

Remember Why You Like School?

Do you remember the first time you thought about being a teacher, principal, or another role as an educator? For me, I don't ever remember NOT wanting to be a teacher.  My parents even have a picture of me as a child teaching our kittens how to read!  But, there have been many times when I've forgotten that excitement and passion for teaching.  It's easy to do when we are bombarded by the challenges of accountability, a wide range of students, dealing with parents, and paperwork!

I'm going to take time this Thanksgiving weekend to rest and relax (it helps that I've finished all the revisions on my latest book, Rigor Made Easy).  However, there is one thing I'm going to take time for.  I'm going to write down why I decided to be a teacher (and teacher of teachers and leaders now) and then list at least 10 reasons that I made a good decision.  In fact, here's my starting list:

I decided to be a teacher to make a difference.

1.  During my second year of teaching, I helped my remedial students realize that just because the test labeled them "below level" didn't mean they couldn't learn and grow just like everyone else.
2. During my first year of teaching, one of my most problematic students wrote me a note at the end of the year saying she wished I could be her teacher again.
3.  One of my graduate students emailed me to say, "You sure were tough on me, but I'm using everything you taught.  I think we appreciate you more after we're finished with your classes."


What will be on your list?  Happy Thanksgiving!

Great Resource for Leaders

Have you read books by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner?  Their focus is leadership, and my dad called the other day highly recommending them.  A couple of the points he found pertinent:

 

 

PRIDE is PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN DELIVERING EXCELLANCE

 

 

5 PRACTICES of Leadership

 

1. Model the way
2. Inspire a shared vision
3. Challenge the process
4. Enable others to act
5. Encourage the heart

You can also check out their website at

     www.leadershipchallenge.com

­

 

Students with Special Needs....and Rigor?

After my blog post mentioning that rigor is for everyone, including students with special needs, I've received lots of questions.  One was quite pointed--asking why I would think that students with special needs could ever be successful trying to meet higher expectations.  I asked Missy Miles, one of my former graduate student who now works specifically with students with special needs, to respond. She specifically addresses students with learning disabilities:

LD doesn’t mean below average IQ.  In fact, most LD students have average to above average IQ, just have a discrepancy in their achievement level.  If these students are not challenged, they will be quite complacent to be status quo (or even below).  These kids, more than anybody, need adults who believe in them by giving them challenging work and high expectations.  I do agree that, by holding them to a lower standard or giving them exemptions to the test, we would be communicating loudly and clearly that we do not believe they can do any better.