Innovative Teacher: different ways forward

It’s the end of the year, exams are coming, teachers and students are a bit cranky and stressed, spring fever is still lingering as students are exhausted from a long year of rigorous academics. AP exams have wreaked havoc on schedules. Everyone is ready for the year to end. Except Ben.

These past couple years have been inconceivably rough for him. Within a few short weeks, he went from being a typical teenage to being a human being on the verge of a future unknown. It was discovered that he had cancer. And so as the rest of the world went about its business of homework, quizzes, reading novels, and presenting projects, Ben set out to survive. And survive is what he has done.

But, this is not a story about his ordeal in the hospital, but it is a story of what came next, and what is coming next.

I had the honor of being involved in two events recently which are quite simply amazing.

Our 11th graders decided to put together a class camping trip down to a beautiful state park near Beaufort, South Carolina. It was a sunny day full of beach soccer, Frisbee, beach football, playing in the waves, walking in the sand, building sand sculptures, bon fires, and ‘smores. But, the defining moment was when the class officers split up the grade into 5 teams, and created an obstacle course race that would pit wit vs. wit, speed vs. speed, and agility vs. agility. One of the events involved running 100 yards at full speed out to the surf, collect a bucket of water, balance it on your head as your ran back to deliver and dump it through a hula-hoop, then run back, dip your face in the ocean water yet again, and sprint back to the finish line. I had been helping to manage and keep score, so was not necessarily playing attention to who was actually competing…but more so that people were competing and following rules. And then, I looked up and saw two people sprinting towards the “finish” line. One of them was Ben…a huge smile on his face, chest out like Coach Salley and Coach Knight teach in cross country and track practice. Yes, there he was, head full of hair, barefoot in the sand, and running towards us. I am glad no one was paying attention to me because they would have seen a 46 year old man tear up and just stare in amazement. Only an English teacher could lead us through the many levels of symbolism and meaning in that sprint.

As if that needed a follow-up, I had the privilege of witnessing yet another powerful Class of 2014 event: Honor Council elections. I remember several years ago, when Ben was voted by his classmates to be the class representative to serve on the Honor Council, a student-led organization that helps promote and enforce the school’s 100+ year old honor code. It’s one of the most important, yet gut wrenching and challenging jobs at our school. Once you are elected to the council, you serve for the remainder of your time at the school. Anyone would surely understand and even support Ben stepping down from that role to focus on more important things, such as beating cancer.

Nope. Far from it.

Each spring, the members of the Honor Council vote for who will lead them as Honor Council chairperson the following year. It was a not a sprint down the beach like before, but instead it was a sprint of honor, integrity, dedication, commitment, and perseverance. Ben was elected to serve as the 2013-2014 Honor Council chairperson. Here is a boy who has survived perhaps the greatest ordeal possible to humankind, and yet one of his first acts of survival was to step up and lead his school.

That’s leadership; that’s humanity at it’s best and it is because of students like Ben that is why teachers do what we do.

“It happened again.” “What?” “I was in a meeting a few days ago and they were talking about Tony and his lack of energy, effort, attitude, effort, and performance in his other class. But, Doug, this kid is one of my top, most engaged students in the class; maybe even my best student. I’ve never had a behavior issue; in fact he is often helping other students in class, even coming in outside of class to work on class projects.”

How can that be that in other classes, he is disengaged, uninterested, acting up, and performing badly?

So, let’s think about it.

A 13 year typical middle school boy, overflowing with energy, curiosity, and questions is told to sit down behind a desk, told to be quiet for 7 hours per day, and told to write down everything that the teacher says. He’ll have a chance to regurgitate that information back to the teacher, probably exactly as he wrote it down, on the homework and upcoming quiz. Every day, all day, all semester.

Hmmmm. I just can’t figure out why we have not reached him.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

(sorry, OK I am back now)

Is that really our best educational model? Is that what we are doing in our classroom? Really?

If we made teachers sit through one day of professional delelopment in the manner that we structure our regular school day, every teacher in the country would abruptly quit.

I’d like to let you experience a different model. That same student comes into the Computer Science classroom and the moment he walks in the room, everything changes….

Students, you are going to need to be out of your seat during class. Someone may come over to you to ask for your help. Hey, class, did you see what Suzy got working after 2 days of struggling with it? Suzy can you show us that and tell us how to figured it out? Gosh, Ronny, that’s a great question! Larry and Ken have been doing something a little bit like that…why don’t you work with them to figure that out. Class we are having a speaker tomorrow via Skype, don’t forget to think about what question you are going to ask. Remember, if the speaker ever comments, “Wow, that’s a great question”, you get a badge point. So, think of some good questions. Eliot, you are going to need some really good characters for that part in your game, maybe you want to run down the art classroom, and see if there are kids down there who might be able to draw those for you? Fran, don’t forget our business manager said he could meet with you tomorrow to review your game design business plan. Presentations are next week…are you ready? Class, can I get your attention, we are going to watch a short Youtube video, so find a place where you can stop in your project, so we can watch it together. William and Ed will be leading the class discussion as well as the online discussion.

You are really gonna love the topic they picked for this week’s discussion topic—perhaps you read about on Reddit- Can Blackberry really come back? Andy, I know you spent a couple days photo editing that image, but that picture is just not quite the quality it should be for your simulation. Why don’t you get your iPhone and go outside to snap some better photos for your project. Oh yeah, class I heard back from the guy I was telling you about. He said he would love to have us all come on Thursday to their company’s office for a demonstration. That will be fun letting you guys experience what it’s like to be professional software testers. Jack, I feel like that line of code might be in the wrong place, do you think it might better sense to move that before this section? What effect will that have on the output? Hey guys, don’t walk behind Richard when he’s testing his Kinect game, the sensor will pick up your skeleton instead of his. Mary, that Xbox controller might have a bad trigger button, go grab another one…..your code looks like it should work; maybe that’s the problem? If not, maybe put this project on hold for a couple days, and work with Cindy and Lizzy on your group project—speaking of which–have you Skyped with the teacher in Michigan to run your ideas by her? Don’t forget to upload your game code so the kids at our partner school in Uganda can test the game you’ve created so far. I’ll be anxious to see what feedback you get. Students, remember for homework you’ve got to explain the Ender’s Game story you read to your parents and ask them a few questions to get their thoughts. Margaret, did you ever get that accelerometer app finished for the Nexus tablet? I remember you were struggling yesterday with the list iteration code block. Attention all students: I am sending all games for review to Microsoft next Wednesday; please submit your final version by then. We’ll Skype in a few weeks with their Kinect team for their comments. Group leaders, make sure you’ve practiced logging into the CHAT room, you will be leading the CHAT discussions tonight with your groups about the iRobot story we read. Sam and Ben, I feel like you’ve practiced enough and have a good understanding of where all the hardware parts go and what they do; I think you are ready to go after the record for building a computer blindfolded—the record so far is 1 minute 30 seconds. Can someone grab the box of robots? Today we are going to try to write code to access the temperature sensor and also simulate battery charging. Any ideas on how we might do that? Wow, Lucy, that 3D model you made is awesome! Hey class, if you want to see an awesome effort, check out her project—you might get some ideas for your own. How did you get such incredible detail, especially if we zoom in? Can I have everyone’s attention for a moment? I wanted to remind you that presentations start at 5:30 pm tonight. Please have your table displays ready one hour before. Parents will be arriving at 5:15. Make sure you have your demonstrations rehearsed and don’t forget to video record each other and submit that. Mr. Baylis, can I go out in the hall to test to see if my robot is sensing light correctly—oh yeah where are the batteries? BLOG responses are all due Sunday night. You’ll need to address those questions I sent you, plus start to plan your schedule for the next few weeks. Since this is a dual credit college course, I’ve invited the Department Chair of the Computer Science of the College of Charleston to come in as “guest professor” so you can have a real college class experience. He’ll be leading you for 2 days about O.O.P. polymorphism and inheritance; so please complete that practice exercise on the test site; you can run it as many times as you like until you get it– the error messages should help you troubleshoot. But if you still can’t get it, it’s certainly ok to call a classmate. Mrs. Clair could use some help at the 3rd grade Lego Robotics competition this weekend, if any of you want to volunteer. Our own competition is coming up in a couple weeks; have you been able to solve the challenges yet? If you’d like to join us on our summer Silicon Valley I.T. trip, the deadline for signup in in March; we’ve only got 2 spaces left. We’ve arranged private tours at NVidia, E.A., Microsoft, Google, and Intel. Hey Anthony, I love the topics, poverty and hunger, you chose for your game design project–how do you think you will blend the educational value and the fun factor into that design? Mr. Bergman, you mentioned that in addition to the Kinect camera sensor and Xbox controllers, there is a foot controlled “dance mat” that can be programmed. Can we order one so I use that as the input device for my game? Mr. Zaubi, I think my program is ready to be tested on an actual iPad instead of the emulator, can I use it?

Those conversations happen in our Computer Science classes every day. Notice how grades were not the focus of class. The words “multiple choice test” were never spoken. The questions at the end of chapter were never assigned. Students were active participants in their own learning. You noticed the role of the teacher more along the lines of a guide and group leader than as a deliverer of content. You noticed we were focused on what students can DO, instead of what students KNOW.

My class happens to be a Computer Science classroom, but I’ll argue that any Math, Science, History, or Foreign Language class could be structured the same way.

Many teachers have heard me get on my bandwagon about classes like this. They hear this and give me 20 reasons why they cannot have this style of class in their department. There is a big difference between CAN NOT and DO NOT. It’s a completely different approach to education. It involves schools accepting that the world we are preparing our students to be leaders in is NOT the world we grew up in.

Is there a place for this type of class in education?

I propose that there is a different way forward. If something you heard in this article makes sense to you, I’d love to connect. Find me on Facebook, Twitter, at a conference, or the web.

The digital world is such a dynamic world. That’s what I love about it. But how can we possible know or even imagine what our world is going to look like 10, even 5 years from now? We do not know what technologies will be available or even what kind of problems the world will be facing. How can we possibly prepare our students for that world?

Regardless of what country we come from, what culture we grow up in, and what economic conditions we live in…we all must solve the problems in our world……our local world…and our global world. We need tools in order to do that. And the tools of today are digital. The people who are in command of those digital tools will be the leaders of academia, research, business, politics, entertainment, and philanthropy.We’ve got to teach the students now how to learn to design, build, program, and reprogram their own digital tools so they can solve those problems.

So, how do we do that? One of the greatest digital “tools” available in our world today is Computer Science. It is central to all subject areas and vital in almost every known industry. It is the cross-curricular by definition. And solving problems is what it does.

Computer Science teaches students how to use build something, maybe a new tool, using technology, computation thinking, imagination, logic, problem solving, and creativity. I tell my students if they can think of it and describe it, we can make it happen on the screen in front of them. That might be a new game to teach difficult concepts to kids, a mobile app for the smartphone to help better manage business inventory, a new data analysis software program for the medical research lab, maybe….. even a design for an entirely new device. It gives people the power and ability to build their own digital solutions to solve their own problems. They can program, or reprogram whatever device is available to accomplish what they need. Computer Science gives you the tools to do that yourself, right there, with your own mind, with your own hands

And what’s great about many of the Computer Science development tools…they are (mostly) free. Many international level companies (such as Microsoft, Google, and Apple) and universities (Carnegie Melon & M.I.T.) provide almost everything FREE of charge. So, schools with limited economic resources can actually design and implement a good Computer Science program.

Educators love to say that we embrace failure and that we’ve got to let our students fail. But, in reality we do not do that. When a student fails a test, we send letter home to the parents, the advisor is notified, the teacher writes on the test “Johnny, I was expecting much better than this”. The student’s average goes down. Johnny probably gets grounded at home and the parents start asking about tutors. That low grade may keep him from entering honors and AP classes. It may keep her out of certain colleges. It may keep him from receiving certain awards. Hmmmm….far from embracing failure, huh?

The Computer Science classroom has no choice but to embrace failure. When we write programs and work with various devices, we’ve got to rely on trial and error and failure to help us figure things out. The messages we get, the things we see on the screen, the incorrect outputs we generate, and the crash reports are our tools for success. In a typical class a student will “fail” 20 or 30 times. In fact, it’s hard not to fail. Most computer programs can be solved in a variety of ways; rarely is there a “right” way to do it.

If you talk with successful project-based Computer Science teachers, you’ll get the same stories about how kids love class, enrollment numbers are going up, the energy in their classrooms, the collaboration, how they create some incredible programs, how they also come up with solutions and strategies that we never expected. Why is that? Well, think about it this way–for most students they are told what to do every day of their life. From the moment they wake up, they are told what to wear, where to go, when to go and when to stop, what to do when they get there. When they get to class, the teacher tells them what to do and for how long. At practice after school, coach tells them exactly what to do. At home that night, mom and dad make them study then say when to go to bed. The Computer Science classroom offers an escape from that. We say come into our room. Here are some challenges to attempt. There is not necessarily any one answer to our problems and projects. In fact, even what we are assigning can be interpreted differently. Finally the students are in control… not just of their own life, but of their own learning. They get to decide exactly what the computer will do, how it will do it, how long it will do it for, and how it will communicate that it did it. And they can change it right there and instantly see the effect. They can fine tune it, or they can overhaul the entire project. All right there.–right in front of their eyes. They are encouraged to “try it, let’s see what it does” It’s one of the few times in a student’s life like where they have complete control. That’s partly why they love Computer Science.

Ok, I’ll bite. I get it and I see your points…..So, what are the first steps?

First: recognize what Computer Science is, why it’s crucial in our world, and consider Computer Science as a fundamental core component of education. What I mean is we have to value Computer Science as central to education as we do language, math, chemistry, and history. In an academic career, students should have as many Computer Science projects as they do essays is English and history class. Programming a computer or device must be looked at in the same way we look at reading and writing. Middle schools, high schools and universities must make it required for graduation. Universities must require Computer Science courses in every major.

Applications such as Microsoft Office, blogging, and photo & movie editing are excellent tools in the various subject areas we teach in our schools. But, those applications must be taught in subject area classrooms, not in the Computer Science classroom. Subject area teachers MUST embrace those tools as much as they value the pencil, paper, and book. Expertise of those applications must be part of the science, math, science, and language classroom experience. Teachers at each grade level must all agree that students mastering technology is a regular part of the day.

That allows us to start Computer Science early. In my school, we’ve got Computer Science introduced as early as the 3rd and 4th grade. If they choose, students can take Computer Science every year until they graduate high school. It cannot be something they take above and beyond an already determined academic path. To accomplish that requires us to ask some really tough questions. Do we really need to teach history, foreign language, and math so many years? Do all classes really need to meet every day? Do all classes really need a full year or even a full semester in order to accomplish their goals? Are the standard required courses in all divisions still relevant?

We must prepare students for the world they are going into, and that world is digital. We are still stuck preparing the students for the world that we went into a generation ago. Students of today see the obvious need for Computer Science in their future. They “get it”. Some of the parents “get it”. Some teachers “get it.” But education in general does not. There will be a time in our future where we will look back and say, “…what took us so long?” Why must we wait for that time to change?

What I am NOT suggesting is that we abandon other disciplines, subject areas, and majors. In fact, quite the opposite, we need those doctors, entrepreneurs, engineers, vets, small business managers, and lawyers to follow their passion and be leaders in their industries, but to also have a Computer Science edge to them…..the ability to create and modify their own tools. As they look to be innovative and distinguish themselves, they will be able to design their own tools, exactly as they need. They will be able to embrace and use new technologies as they develop. Technology and the ability to use, program, and reprogram that technology is what will allow them to be leaders in their fields.

The ability to be in control of and in command of technology, not the other way around…is such an obvious need to me. Yet, I am amazed that colleges don’t require it of incoming freshman; few high schools really teach it; few high schools actually requite it to graduate; almost no middle schools teach it; and it is nonexistent in elementary schools. Sometimes I feel like I am standing over a wooden maze in laboratory. Inside is a rat making the same wrong turns, going backwards, hitting dead ends. And because I am standing over it, I can see the exit right there, just one corner away. It’s so obvious the correct way forward. And “winning” is so close, yet so unclear to the rat. The rat does not even know that it is in a maze, or that it is trying to find its way out. It’s just wandering around. Eventually, when the rat does accidentally find the exit, then it will be obvious to it as well. That cannot be how we educate our students.

I would give credit if I knew who said it, but in the end…..“…program or be programmed…”

update(Thanks to Alfred Thompson)…….That is the title of a book by Douglas Rushkoff

OK, I know I usually address some pretty serious topics here, but just wanted to have some fun…..
(I am sure there are many variations of this out there, but here’s my version)

If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, “Who’s on First?” might have turned out something like this:

(TOM is a not-so-tech-savvy customer calling the computer salesperson, ABBOT)

ABBOTT: Hello! Computer Store! Can I help you?
TOM: Thanks. I am setting up an office in my home and I’m thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
TOM: No, the name’s TOM.
ABBOTT: I meant your computer?
TOM: I don’t own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
TOM: no, it’s TOM.
ABBOTT: You want Windows?
TOM: You mean in my office?
ABBOTT: Yes, do you want a computer with Windows?
TOM: No, I want a room with windows. And I want a computer in the office on the desk.
ABBOTT: Do you want virus protection?
TOM: For me? You mean like a shot?
ABBOTT: No, for your computer. In case you leave Windows open. Your computer can get a virus
TOM: My computer can get sick if I leave the window open?
ABBOTT: Yes, if it gets a bug. And if does get a bug, it might crash.
TOM: A bug will crawl inside my computer and cause it to crash on the floor?
ABBOTT: No, Windows will crash on your desktop. Just make sure to close Windows
TOM: In the office?
ABBOTT: Yes, in your office while sitting in your chair
TOM: But I cannot reach the windows from the chair
ABBOTT: Is the computer not going to be on your desktop in front of you?
TOM: Yes it is. Ok, fine. Look. After I close the windows by standing on the desktop, can I lock the windows?
ABBOTT: Yes, but you’ll need a password to unlock Windows.
TOM: Can’t I just use my hand to unlock the lock on the windows?
ABBOTT: Well, you’ll use your hand to type the password
TOM: On my window?
ABBOTT: Yes, in Windows, but don’t tell anyone your password
TOM: What if it gets HOT and they want to open windows?
ABBOTT: Oh, there’s a fan in your computer to keep it from overheating
Tom: Wow. So, my windows are connected to my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes
TOM: Cool.
ABBOTT: Sir, I am setting up your computer now. What pictures do you want for your wallpaper?
TOM: You mean the wallpaper on my walls in my office? Thanks anyway, we are going to just paint the wallpaper.
ABBOTT: You mean with Microsoft Paint?
TOM: Microsoft sells paint?
ABBOTT: No, it comes free with your computer.
TOM: Cool. On the new computer, I need something I can use to write proposals and run my business. What do you recommend?
ABBOT: Office
TOM: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
TOM: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
TOM: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
TOM: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
TOM: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
TOM: Yes…..I said Yes…. for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
TOM: Of course my office has windows. We’ve gone over this.
ABBOTT: No, I recommended Windows for your computer with Office.
TOM: the computer in my office?
ABBOT: No, Office is in your computer. Just click on it.
TOM: With my finger?
ABBOTT: No, with the mouse.
TOM: A mouse is used to click things? Do I keep it in a cage?
ABBOTT: No, it will stay by your computer
TOM: Do I buy it at PetSmart? Do I have to feed it?
ABBOTT: No. It also comes with your computer. Do NOT put food in it. It will die if you do.
TOM: Wow. OK, let’s just say I’m sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
TOM: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
TOM: The only word in office is “office”.
ABBOTT: Word in Office for Windows.
TOM: Which word in “office for windows”?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue “W”.
TOM: I’m going to click your blue “w” if you don’t start giving me some straight answers. Ok, look…..what about financial bookkeeping? You got anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Microsoft Money.
TOM: Microsoft prints money, too?
ABBOTT: No, they just put it in Windows.
TOM: So, I when I buy a computer, I get money?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge. It comes bundled with your computer.
TOM: I get a bundle of money with my computer at no extra charge?
ABBOTT: Yep. But you only get one licensed copy. You can’t sell it
TOM: sell my money?
ABBOTT: Correct.
TOM: Ok, I won’t. OK, let’s just say I wanted to turn the whole thing off when I’m done. Do I just hit the power button?
ABBOTT: No, it will shut itself down by closing Windows
TOM: It will close the windows by itself? Wow. How does it do that?
ABBOTT: Just click the START button
TOM: You mean we click the START button in order to STOP it?
ABBOTT: Yes:
TOM: -CLICK-

Dear Parents

Welcome to the new school year! We are so excited to have your child in our school, and I am even more excited to have your child in my class. I get a chance to lead your child through a wonderful and fascinating experience over the next few months. I hope to share with your child my deep love and passion for this area with hopes that your child will learn to share in that passion.

I wanted to tell you a bit about class and school so you can best know how to help your child succeed. That success will be based on much more than the grade. They’ll work really hard on everything we do. There will be bumps along the way. There will be some incredible victories and some efforts which did not go as well. Emotions will run high sometimes and there will be distractions. They may love and hate class all in the same sentence. And all of this is good!

We are believers that your child must take an active part in their own education. They won’t be able to stand on the sidelines and passively make their way through class. Your child will need to be on top of every project, assignment, activity, and effort that we do. There will always be something your child can be doing for this class, so if she tells you that she has nothing to do in here, she may be missing something. At those times, we do not want you to take over. We don’t want you to call the teacher to find out what the assignment is. We don’t want you to go on the webpage to write down all the assignments. We want you to support your child as she does what is necessary to figure out what is going on, what’s due, what the expectations are, and what’s on the horizon. You will not be able to solve this problem for your child. You will not be able to plan the next week for your child. But, you can certainly help them lead themselves through that, so they come to a good plan “on their own”. So, stay involved but in a supportive role. If you do not, your kids are not prepared in college to take care of themselves. Give some room to explore their own judgment, but knowing that they may fail. So, what does that mean? Let them fail

an entire course and say I told you so? Of course not… it means you keep an eye on what they are doing. How? Ask lots of questions and ask better questions. Questions like “How was school?” are useless. If you ask those types of questions, you are going to get nothin’ back. Ask specific questions, “Hey Tom, I know you were a bit worried about that first History quiz, do you feel like you prepared well for that?”, “Good night buddy. Hey, don’t you have that Computer Science project due Friday. Is there anything I can help you with, or are you on target to get that done like you hoped?”, “Ok, Suzanne, I’ll pick you up at 3:30 today. Are you sure you don’t want me to come at 4:00 to give you some extra time in the library for the math test you said was going to be so hard?”, “That project sounds pretty cool…you said it’s due in 3 weeks, right? I’ll tell you what, why don’t you finish that list you are working on for stuff needed and we’ll head out to Wal-Mart in an hour and get some supplies, ok? So, what I am talking about is being fully aware about the academics of your child, but not doing everything for them.

Grades are a dangerous slope to go down if that is all you focus on. While they are at least one way to measure performance in a class, they are far from accurate for the total picture. As teachers, we always strive to have students fall in love with our subject area…whether it’s language, math, art, or Computer Science. Some classes are hard to some students; other classes come easier. There are so many factors that go into how a student connects with a class: personality of the teacher, delivery of content, amount of and type of homework, style of evaluation, variation of evaluations, time of day of class, class as part of the entire schedule(i.e. a hard & time demanding class by itself might be something students can bite their teeth into, but with 2 or 3 other similar classes, students may not connect as much), number of and type of other students in the class, the life of the teacher at that time(are they going through any major issues in their own life that might detract their passion and attention) ,age of student(a certain maturity might be needed to connect with some material or delivery methods or methodologies), division principal administration turnover or policies, etc. So, my point is that there are so many factors that go into how a class is perceived by a student. So, you as a parent simply demanding that they get an A is probably not your best way forward. What parent doesn’t want to have a student who is a life-long learner who studies because she loves it and dives into a class with all her body and mind? So, don’t interact with your student about that class in ways which go against that. She wants to tell you about why she loves that math class…and it is not because she got a 96 on her last quiz. For a student to be asked simply what grade he/she has in a class is like a tennis player going 7-6,6-7,7-6,6-7,22-20 in the finals of a tennis match and all you ask is “Did you win”. Ask better questions. And also realize that your child is not going to hit a home run on every test or project in every class. It may be that the 82 he got on the last quiz was 10 points more than he expected. She was so proud of the 89 on the group project (especially since she did all the work as part of a slacker group), so you asking why she didn’t get an A was a slap in the face. Some grades are not about measuring knowledge, so the definition of what an A is changes in each class and also depending on the type of assignment.

Is the relationship between you and your child one that can be used to help them work their way through the rough spots? For example, do you have the courage to let your child fail on his own? And don’t forget, the definition of failure in this case is simply not getting what they are used to or expecting. And if they do fail, how do you handle it? Do you take the cell phone away? No going to the movie Saturday night? Instead or in addition to, have you considered having a discussion with your child about the entire experience, letting them work their way through what happened, places where they might have acted/reacted differently, and even how they themselves handled the low grade. I’ve had students fail a quiz just to spite me. I’ve had students fail a project because they were so focused on another part of their life that my project just was not on the radar screen. I’ve had students not prepare for a test just to get under the skin of an overbearing parent. So, especially when the motivations of your child are not necessarily obvious, if all you do is focus on that low grade, you may be missing the entire message. And considering how little your high schooler lets you into their life, you’ve got to listen better. While they may have earned an F on that evaluation, your child may have earned an A+ on getting someone’s attention. One last note in this area: there may be a time where your child studies or works really hard on an assignment, and puts in enough time, energy, and mental energy to earn an awesome grade, but simply just had a bad day, or worse, the teacher had a bad day…meaning your child misread the question on the test, or perhaps the teacher focused the test on an area she did not really focus so much this year (but in years past had). And there are times where the project or test was just one of the hardest things your child has experienced, and so whatever grade they earned is accurate. It may be that your child’s understanding of some material was about 81% of what was expected, so the 81 he got on the test may very well have been exactly what he should have gotten. And do you as a parent have the courage to celebrate that?

Let me end with a story that brings all this together. A student of mine I’ll call “Cindy” really wanted to be in my senior level AP class. She probably did not really qualify to be in there if I based it on previous grades alone, but she really wanted to challenge herself and was so genuinely interested to being part of class that it made complete sense to let her in the class. All semester she worked hard, turned in all projects, and was an active part of class. She consistently submitted work at a high B grade level. The final exam in that class was a really hard exam that would push them far out of their comfort zone, but if they relied on what they knew, they should be able to figure out the problems on the exam.
Our school policy is that we are not allowed to share exam grades with students during exam week for fear that a great or poor performance on one exam will have dramatic impact on other exam performances (whether good or bad). But, I was so excited for “Cindy”. I graded her exam and she got a B+. Wow! Nice! I could not wait to see her face when she found that out. She thought she had done really poorly. I ran into her that afternoon in the parking lot and yelled across for her to come to my car. She ran over, with a very concerned look on her face. “Cindy, I am so proud of you! You got a B+. Congratulations!” What happened next to this day I will never forget. She burst into tears and said, “My mother is going to kill me ‘cause I didn’t get an A.”

That experience went from incredible success to incredible failure…but I ask….whose failure was it?

There is a different way to look at education. As a parent, teacher, student, administrator, or policy maker, keep your eyes and ears open, but look differently and listen better.

I had the pleasure and honor of being a judge at this year’s Partners in Learning (Microsoft) Innovators Forum. What exactly is it anyway and what is the value of innovative education to the world?

Well, thousands of people in the U.S. submit applications for consideration to be one of about 100 educators who will be invited to attend the US Forum. There are similar events held all year all across the globe (over 250,000 people worldwide submit applications).

At each event, these educators spend a few days getting to know each other, sharing ideas, making connections, getting ideas, presenting their projects, working together, hearing incredible speakers, seeing cool demos (this year, we got our private Windows 8 live demo) and celebrating education…..but at the core of each event is the idea that they themselves are being honored and celebrated for their true spirit of innovation in the classroom. Teachers spend a few days being truly recognized for their awesomeness (for lack of a better word). Sure, there is a common tech-thread in the projects that were submitted, but technology was only one aspect. What is being identified is teachers who are designing lessons that quite simply are at an entirely different level than most. How are they doing that? They are having their students tackle real world problems through collaboration, problem solving, building and creating knowledge based on real hands-on experiences, integrating digital learning, and extending learning far outside the classroom….and it truly takes an innovative teacher leading the way…..being a true agent of change. As you can imagine, this type of out-of-the box approach is sometimes a fish out of water….NOT HERE….this type of out –of-the-box style is exactly what these projects and teachers have in common.

What we find across the world is that teachers like these tend to be “islands unto themselves”. Teachers that are doing things that are innovative, creative, and out-of-the-box sometimes don’t necessarily get the support you might imagine. These are teachers who are doing what they do not because they are trying to increase test scores or to get a better parking spot…these are teachers who are trying to develop students with the necessary skills and confidence to solve problems in the world they are going into. It’s a much higher calling. And they crave others who see better and different ways forward in their classrooms, in their schools, in their districts, in their states and counties, in their countries, and in OUR world.

How do they do it? They ask different questions; they find reasons why they CAN do things; they figure out how to make things happen; they find people who say YES when others say NO; they find people who will help them when others will not; they find ways to inspire and engage their students in 21st Century ways as opposed to traditional methods, they use a variety of tools to plan and design experiences that will allow their students to use their minds to think and apply that learning…not simply give back what they’ve been told or shown; they believe the days of a teacher-centered classroom no longer have a place in our education institutions; they believe students best learn by using their hands to experience their learning—not just to take notes; they believe there are other ways to evaluate classes besides outdated traditional methods.

Students: Does that sound like a class you’d like to be in all year? Parents: Does that sound like a class you’d like to have your own children connected with? Administrators: Does that sound like a teacher you’d like to have in your school? Policy makers: if there were schools which embraced that philosophy…wouldn’t you love to call those yours? Politicians: If all of our schools were full of teachers like that, wouldn’t that be a way for the United States to reclaim our lead in education across the world?

Ahh, but we would not be reclaiming that lead based on test scores…not because we met some minimum national standards…we would be claiming a lead based on actually developing students who come out of schools ready to address the problems with confidence and a large repertoire of tools– digital, mental, and physical.

OK, back to the Innovators Forum and the value of innovation to the world.

What was incredible was there were teachers from every grade from Pre-K all the way to 12th, teachers from subjects ranging from Art to Physical Education to Science to Math to Computer Science to English to Foreign Language, teachers from public and private schools, teachers from urban and rural schools, teachers from well-to-do as well as poverty-stricken areas; and teachers from huge and very small schools. My point being is each teacher had plenty of obstacles to go around, plenty of hurdles to jump, plenty of reasons NOT to do what they did—yet they found the one reason to do it. And they did it in style. And that’s why they were in Seattle for the Partners in Learning Innovators Forum.

And out of that group of incredible innovators, an even more select group was then selected to represent the United States in a similar Forum but at the global level. Last year, the United States had several teachers who were award winners at the Global Forum—we look forward to seeing how we’ll do this year (to be held in Prague in Czech Republic). This global forum is a week-long event hosting over 75 countries that bring some of their country’s most innovative teachers. The impact it has is truly world wide.

Ok, back to my original prompt: What is the value of innovative education? Education systems all across the world, including our wonderful country of the United States, find themselves stuck in antiquated, outdated, ineffective, boring, out-of-focus, test-centric, and broken systems. And we need educators who are willing to break down stereotypes, barriers, and obstacles…to take chances…to take some risks…and we need administrators to support them. We need students to value entering those classrooms because they want to learn—not because they want a grade. We need parents to support their children when they select courses based on love and passion—not based on what looks good on a transcript. We need administrators to look past standardized tests as a basis for school evaluation, curriculum development and schedule creation. We need politicians to give teachers and schools the authority and power to make their own decisions and the chance to let excellence develop. We need colleges to allow entering freshmen to be selected based on hard work and passion and curiosity, not on a rigid checklist of standardized criteria. We need fellow teachers not to be intimidated by innovation happening around them…but to ask how they can be a part of it. And if we all embrace what MUST happen, we can take our entire education system to entirely new levels. Looking ahead, if we truly want the best for our students, then we must find a different way forward.

If this post makes sense to you, I’d love to connect. Find me…

The 2012 Microsoft Partners in Learning Innovator Forum.

Last year at this time, I was as excited as I’d ever been in my professional career. I had been selected as a first round selection in a nationwide search for teachers who are bringing innovation and technology in new ways into the classroom. There would eventually be over 100 selectees. We had been working hard at our school to develop a leading edge program, so that recognition was confirmation that we were on the right track. That in itself would have been one of the highlights of my career; to have gone on and been one of eleven award winners who would then represent the United States at the Global Forum was an honor unlike any I’ve ever had.

That experience was one of the most incredible in my life.

So, why am I as excited now as I was then? One of my fellow award winners, Lou Zulli, and I were honored to be asked to be judges at this year’s event. I’ve looked through this year’s selectees and the projects they submitted…wow…another incredible set of teachers and ideas. What I love about this group (and last year’s group), was that the selectees are from all across the country, from all levels of education, from all disciplines, and from all types of education institutions.(Check ‘em out) What that means is, despite what we hear on TV and read in the papers, there ARE incredible things happening all around us in classrooms. There ARE administrators who equip their teachers with the tools they need to come out of the 19th century style classroom and enter far into the 21st century. There are teachers who hear a higher calling and are not just wishing and hoping to change the world—they have chosen to be part of that change.

In a few weeks, I’ll have the chance to spend 4 days at the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond Washington (I’ve requested lunch with Bill Gates, but that has not been confirmed yet) at this year’s Partners in Learning event. Of course, my main responsibility will be to work with the other 29 judges and determine the 10 most dynamic, incredible, innovative, and reproducible projects from a set of projects that have already been through a rigorous selection process. I can’t wait. I’ll have the opportunity to study in depth many of projects submitted by some of the most incredible teachers in our country…and then I’ll have the chance to interview many of them to find out what’s “behind” these projects. And that’s what I am so excited about. One of my passions in life is helping to change our definition of great education—to redefine what we teach and how we teach so that we are preparing our students to be leaders in academia, business, research, politics, and entertainment—to redefine what parents expect in their schools—to redefine how students are engaged in their classrooms. The walls that have traditionally been up need no longer be there; the time constraints that have traditionally been in place need no longer be there; the measurements and evaluations that have traditionally been used need to change; the expectations teachers have of themselves must change.

Microsoft has been instrumental in the commercial space to helping to bring technology to a place in society where the average person now has a wide variety of digital tools to help solve their problems. In the educational space, they have an entire education branch of their company that has not just talked that talk…they are walking the walk. They are reaching out to schools, teachers, districts, students and actually being part of “making a difference” all across the world. Amongst many ongoing efforts, their Partners in Learning initiative has reached millions of educators and schools—it is an incredible resource available to anyone. Join a world wide community that has dedicated itself to making serious changes in education. Check out https://www.facebook.com/partnersinlearning and join a true grass roots revolution that has been happening, is happening, and will continue to happen.

If you are an educator, and are in the Computer Science discipline and would like to connect — Please contact me! I am always interested in working with teachers from all across the world who see a different way forward.

Tests 50%
Quizzes 30%
Class Participation and effort 10%
Homework 10%

Does that look like a typical weighted grading system for a class?

But, what does the grade we give at the end of the class mean?

Is it supposed to reflect the learning that has occurred? If so, then maybe we should only count the last test. Is it supposed to reflect the improvement? If so, then a student who does really poorly on tests and quizzes for the first half of class, but that figures it out by the end should get an A (but will not). Is it supposed to be a reflection of the day to day work and effort that they do all year? Then our daily participation and effort percentage should change to 75%. Should we even grade homework? Is it important that they do it? If so, shouldn’t it be more of a part of the grade? Is that homework graded based on attempt or only correct answers? Is the grade supposed to be a reflection of the regurgitation of content? If so, give a huge multiple choice test with no discussion. Is it supposed to be an analysis of content? Then let our exams be all essay and short answer instead of multiple choice, matching, fill in the blank. Is it supposed to be an application of understanding? Then an in-depth project that incorporates and requires application of a variety of cumulative skills should be a majority of the grade. Students say a teacher gives a grade, but teachers say students earn it. Which is it? Is there any truth to what the students say? Teachers, have you ever given a pop quiz because you know most kids did not read? Teachers, have you ever made a test harder than usual, or worse…..easier than usual? Why? If a student bombs one major test, but gets A+ on everything else, what grades does he earn? If a student is apathetic every day in class but gets A+ on all tests and quizzes demonstrating unquestionably that she ”gets “ the material, what grade does she get? If a student works hard all semester, participates in class, tries hard on all homework and assignments, but in the end just not quite “get it” so does poorly on tests, what grade does he get? Teachers, have you ever curved a test? Why? How does that sync up with you grading system? Teachers, if test grades do not follow a standard Bell curve, is that OK? If all students have mastered the material and demonstrate that effectively on an a solid evaluation, is it ok if all students get “A”s?

So, you see, a grade is actually very complex, yet there is no standard at any school, in any district, or college. Schools even use different number systems to define letter grades. Some school use + and -, some don’t . Some use larger bands for B and C. Some allow D as passing, some do not. Some high schools “weight” Honors and AP class grades, some do not. Teachers even within the same department have very different scales and weight percentages. Teachers sometimes even have completely different categories. I am not suggesting that this is necessarily bad, just something to consider. And maybe something that may push us into considering that we move away from looking at(and using) grades like we do. Teachers hate when students only seem to care about the grade, yet don’t we dangle it in front of them all semester long?

So how can we possibly compare a grade from one school to another, even for the same class? When we know the classes are probably far from similar in the first place and most likely the grading as well. And if the answer to that question is that we really do not have to compare them, then I’ll re-ask my original question, what does the grade a student gets in a class mean?

So in conclusion, I’ll ask the same question yet again in the biggest sense: what does the grade a student gets in a class really mean?

Ahhhhhhhh, it’s that time of year, and if you’ve read my BLOG posts you know I am not big on standardized tests and exams, but instead of dreading it, I am so excited because it’s one of my favorite times of the year.
Better let me explain
I do have exams in my classes, but they are different than you are imagining.

In my freshman classes, students pair up in groups of 2 and put on a demonstration table for two of the topics that we studied this year in class. They are able to include creativity and presentations skills in their board display, as well as show and describe what they’ve learned. They dress up nice and for an hour one evening, we invite all the parents in as our guests. So, we’ll have 40 parents and 20 students in our library with sounds of robots, background music from games that they’ve programmed, loud explanations of how to design in 3-D Maya, and various clankings of computer components being put together and taken apart as parents build computers. Lots of proud moms and dads who are charged by me with asking lots of questions, but also to enjoy a hands-on experience with their children as teachers. Parents wander around all the demonstrations and interact with other students, parents, board members, and other teachers. Truly a wonderful night! What a great chance to address the dinner-time question, “What did you do in school today?”

In my sophomore year class, students will again have their parents involved in their final exam, but this time the students will actually be leading their parents through an evening Mobile App development workshop. Each student will lead their parent(s) through the entire process of programming a mobile app using Windows Phone or Android. Students are not allowed to touch the mouse, so pressure is on them to explain and teach well, so that parents can not only design the app, but also upload it and test it on a real smart phone. As any teacher will vouch, it’s one thing to do something; it’s an entirely different thing to teach someone else to do it.

In my junior year class, students present yet again, but this time it is to a panel of “expert” judges who will hear their presentations and evaluate each student’s performance and project. Students spend an entire semester working on one project (a game or simulation for the Xbox game system) and along side that they put together business plans that would allow them to take an idea (like theirs) to the market place. After a short demo of their actual game, our “venture capitalist” panel (consisting of one students, one parent, two successful entrepreneurs, one business executive, and one guest “Skype” judge from Uganda) will hear and see each students work their way through mission statements, competitive analysis, market research, and COGS as they try to sway the panel to invest in their game idea. Because we still have a few weeks of school left, students will be able to finish up their games up until the last day of class since they have now gotten their exam out of the way.

But, was that really an exam?

Well, if we define exam as a culminating experience that requires students to bring in what they’ve learned and apply it and use it in new ways; if we define exams as a rigorous experience which really “tests” to see if students have learned the material and requires them to demonstrate that understanding; if we define exams as a chance to synthesize a large quantity of information….

Then I’ll argue my exam not only meets all those criterion, but exceeds them. Students will spend 2-3 times longer preparing for this kind of effort than they would “studying” for a traditional exam. And because they cannot cram for this; because they can’t fake it; because I am not asking them to regurgitate a bunch of words but use them as a vocabulary to demonstrate and explain; because they are forced to create an entire presentation , it allows us to bring visual, written, motion, language arts, fine arts, and Computer Science together in true cross curricular nature

The exam itself is a learning experience on its own.

Imagine if every exam they took was like that?

I’d like to bring up a topic that, while maybe a hot potato topic, is certainly worth thinking about and discussing. For the most part, most school systems in the U.S. follow a similar yearly calendar: school starts in early fall/late summer (Aug or Sept), we take a long 2-3 week holiday break during the end of December and early January, we have a spring break in March or April, and we end in late May or June for a 2-month summer break. School starts some time between 7am and 8am and we go until 2pm or 3pm. Extra help, sports practices and games, and play practice and performances are all after school and into the evening. This is basically true for all levels of education in the U.S. even at the college level.

I’d like you to think about the yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily schedule of a typical school year. I submit that it is time we look at making not just subtle, but dramatic changes to not necessarily how we educate students, but when we educate them. And when we think about that, there are many opportunities which come out of that discussion, if we are just willing to think out of the box.
In a world of instant access and immediate feedback, it does not make sense that we limit ourselves by the traditional clock and calendar, when every other aspect of life is not limited.
Probably one of the first things we should do is completely abandon our system of school holidays. (Woah. Did he just say what I think he said? But that would be going against the status quo. Why would anyone do that? That would involve change! What we’ve got is working ok now, right? I mean I got through school and I turned out ok. Why change?) Especially in a world in which religion, economics, business, family priorities, weather, culture, expectations, and personal preference are so varied, perhaps a different model can fit better. There was a time when it made sense that school followed a calendar that synced up with the farming & agriculture calendar. After all, it was a major part of the economy and many people were involved with that. There are a variety of possibilities that might incorporate that same 24/7/365 world I mentioned before.
There is evidence which suggests that our current model of a daily schedule does not fit the best time of day for learning for students. For example is the 8am-10am starting time slot of any value for middle school and elementary school aged kids? It’s certainly convenient, but is is smart?

We find many M-F 9-5 business people spending a few hours here and there on a weekend, or weekday evening catching up on work, corresponding to some emails, or working (without typical distractions) on current projects…why not take that same attitude and apply it to education. Why not have classes which are offered in the evening, on a Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon, or during the summer. It would allow students to be able to take classes they normally could not, or could free up some time during the regular day to focus on other equally important efforts. It would allow business people an opportunity to teach. It opens the doors for an entirely new style of teacher. It would allow many students to be able to maintain a part time job throughout the year—something which many adults agree is a valuable part of growing up. And, it would allow flexiblity with our existing teachers; your classes might be spread out more giving you time during the day to collaborate, research, plan presentations for conferences, keep current in your discipline, visit other schools, and develop higher order curriculum.

Part of the issue is that we still insist on having definite beginnings and endings in a very traditional sense. I also agree that psychologically they are important, but our beginnings and endings tend to be based on grade level only. If you talk with most teachers, many will agree that seldom does age, grade level, maturity, and intellect ever intersect together. So, one possibility is that we base the school model of advancement (at least in part) on progress and demonstration of ability….. as compared to age. Age is simply a measurement of how many days that you have been alive, hardly a system to base a curriculum, learning progression, and an entire school system on. Intelligence, maturity, and problem solving skills are earned and learned through experience and by acquiring understanding. I think there are certainly some places in a system like that where age would play a part, but maybe just not as the primary basis for advancement. I am not suggesting it would be easy to do this, but just that our current model is not the only one. And just because we’ve always done it this way does not mean that we should continue. I realize that there are numerous issues, problems, obstacles, and reasons why altering our model would present. But, maybe that is the exact reason WHY we would consider it in the first place; not because it is easy, but because it would be hard. I’ll argue all day long that even if it is hard, if we as a collective society deem it worthy of that effort, then it is truly worth whatever we go through. Our country has never stepped down from a challenge before…and for a challenge with the potential to make our country better able to compete on the national and international level, why would we not explore this with great energy?
One way we might define a beginning and ending is not by a date on a calendar, but by accomplishing a required set of tasks and demonstrating proficiency, similar to the capstone projects in the I.B. program, but on a more regular and smaller scale throughout the educational process. And we know there are successful models of a system like that; Montessori education has elements of that approach built in to their educational model. The Boy Scout program has a model like this where students work to accomplish a required set of tasks, events, and activities, and when they do, they receive their “badge” and they move on to the next series. There are students of all ages interacting together in both of those internationally proven systems. Not that w would follow them exactly, but we study them and extract what elements fit our school system. Sure, it involves us having to redefine how we administer and offer school, but is that necessarily a bad thing? In a corporation or business, if the current model of success is starting to not meet the needs of the customers, community, and business itself, then the business would determine what model has the most successful chance of success and work towards that.

In our current system, it seems that no matter what change we talk about making or what needs we have, or what desired outcome we want to work towards, it seems as if our answer to that is always a new version of a( or simply more) standardized test(s). And, so over the last 50 years, we have seen education reform make giant circles over and over again eventually coming back to the same place we when we started.

In the spirit of looking at time and scheduling and, there are some interesting areas where we might see some positive changes.

• Consider a typical day. If I said to any of you that you were going to go to 7 meetings per day every day for a year(many of which you would simply take notes and do worksheets) you would laugh loudly in angry disgust, then kill me. Yet, that’s what we do each and every day for many years of our student’s lives. Is that truly the best we can do? Is there not a better way to use the time we’ve got? There are so many options for us to consider if we can just get ourselves to think outside the standard school model.

• Consider exams. Normal policy calls for each class to offer a 2-3 hour culminating test during a 1 week period at the end of a semester. Doesn’t it make better sense to administer exams at different times, rather than all at once? After all, if they could really focus on one subject area at a time, wouldn’t they study harder deeper, and better? I might even add, that if we were to make every test they take cumulative, then their final exam is really no different that a regular test.

• Consider summertime. Summer school traditionally has been only for those who need remedial work…perhaps it is time to flip that on it’s head and let summer be the time for the normal and even high-achieving students. Schools offer remediation in their schools all summer long, but for students who want to challenge themselves and learn more, we make them pay lots of money and travel far away to attend programs. Shouldn’t our own schools be centers of excellence and achievement for our own students?

• Consider field trips. What if every discipline took field trips throughout the year. Currently, it is not possible , but with an extended year and multiple breaks along the way, trips of all kinds suddenly become not just possible, but probable. Travel, life experience, cultural education, global education can become not just a luxury for a few can become opportunities for many.

• Consider distance education. Perhaps 10 years ago, the idea of distance education, online classes, and even on-line degrees was a joke. Suddenly, with technologies to support those types of efforts, as well as the culture starting to realize that the office and classroom are no longer defined by a Monday-Friday, 8:00 – 5:00 regiment…these ideas make sense.

• Consider family time. Not every family has a schedule which is in sync with the time structure of the school day. Families with moms and dads who work in restaurants, work in retails, are self-employed, travel through the week, work 2nd or 3rd shifts. A school schedule which was spread out more with opportunities throughout the year (not just during long summer breaks) would allow families to have more time together throughout the year.

• Consider PBL (Project-Based Learning). Few teachers disagree that PBL is a great tool for learning The hands-on experience provides a chance for students to “feel” content, not just hear about it and regurgitate information on a test. But, sometimes we are limited in what we can do as struggle to get through material (perhaps in order to prepare students for a standardized test? Sorry, I had to sneak that in). Teachers: think about a schedule which allows you a chance to plan this (even cross-curricular), allows you the chance to let it go long enough for the learning to happen, and allows the students a chance to work together outside of school to get it done. Some of the breaks throughout the year can be academic in nature.

• Consider the summer break. Families with parents in business get no summer break, so having children home for 2+ months is often times a very challenging scenario. For many destinations for family vacations, the summertime is the most crowded, most expensive, most challenging weather.

• I know the nay-sayers are already asking me to provide standardized test score which prove that a year long school year is more effective that the current norm. Sorry, gang. I am proud to say that even if there is (and I am sure there is), I am not going to use it in this argument. Please tell me our motivation is not a multiple choice test. If it is, I’ll ask you not to read the rest of my BLOG, nor anything else I’ve ever written.

• Consider multiple daily schedules. With some much time to accomplish our goal (to lead students through the educational process), schools could even alter the daily schedule throughout the year, for example, maybe in the fall and spring when days are longer, we do one schedule, but during winter months, we alter that with another schedule, and during high heat summer months, we use yet another schedule. In the same spirit of rotating schedules during a standard school day at many schools, a rotating schedule of a higher level might also provide opportunities for us all.

Now, don’t misunderstand what I mean here. I am not talking about suddenly requiring teachers to work longer hours and more days for the same salary. I am not talking about throwing away textbooks and lessons plans. All those hours teachers have spent developing great lessons will finally have better chances of being received like you hoped. I am not necessarily talking about more days in the classroom(although that is probably something we should also look at….however that is NOT part of this BLOG); I am talking about rearranging how and when we have kids in the hallways and classrooms. Have we ever thought about how important time and management of time is? It is not something to be taken lightly. Consider the various sports out there. Competitions range from an hour to many hours in length for a “match”. But, each one is completely different in how (if at all) they structure their time; so the “how and when” their players work is intentional, planned, managed, and taken advantage of. In football, there are four 15-minute quarters—in fact management of time in the last minutes often times decides winning and losing; in soccer, you’ve got two 45-minute halves;

in Greco-Roman wrestling, you’ve got two 3-minute periods, in boxing, you’ve got fifteen 3-minute rounds; in tennis, there is not time at all –it is simply the first person to reach an objective (best of 3 or 5 sets, with lots of opportunities for both players to win and lose throughout the match); in baseball, there is also no time limit, it is also determined by the highest number of accomplishments (runs) that are earned after 9 innings; sumo wrestling bouts tend to last a few seconds but can last for minutes, yet the entire “match” (tournament lasts) 15 days—and even more spectacular…the beginning of each bout is never specified in advance..it is decided by the two competitors meeting eyes and without verbal communication; in basketball, you’ve got four 15-minute quarters; cricket has many forms of time ranging from 2 ½ hours to 5 days. So you see my point, there are dramatically different ways of using time depending on the needs of the situation. Some of the greatest activities do not even have time as a component of the event…wow now there is something to consider….what if students simply advanced to the next level in education when they were ready?
Teachers: think about this: Imagine several multi-week holidays from school; those holidays could be of varying lengths depending on the needs of each community. Camps and other educations activities pop up for students to attend during the off time. Remediation could happen during part of the time off… giving students help WHEN THEY NEED IT, not after the class is finished or have failed the class. Schools could alter how they schedule classes. We could have classes which meet for 2-3 hours per day for a month. For classes which need time to let the material sync in, we stretch those courses over multiple sessions. There could be classes which meet 8 hours a day for a week. We could attract different types of, and more varied teachers, as we open up our schedules to evening and weekends; thus allowing eager business men and women the chance to teach. It also opens up options for teachers and school to make extra money as well. Schools could have staff which are in charge of the off-season holidays, recruiting teachers to teach classes, tutor sessions, lead academic travel excursions, take students to tournaments, lead a touring choir, lead grade-level trips with some power behind them(service oriented , out of comfort zone culturally and physically, not just going to an amusement park). Student council and other student led organizations would actually have time to plan events and learn how to lead. Teachers would actually have time to plan collaborative lessons, inter-disciplinary projects, and exploratory lessons in the midst of their year. Teachers and admin will vouch, once the year starts, it’s nose to the grindstone until you look up in May. Little time to plan something like once the school year starts.

So, whether you agree or disagree with some of the ideas presented here, I beg you to start a discussion with your colleagues and co-workers, family friends, academic leaders, politicians.

There is a different way forward in education.