1. Is failure a real and regular option and experience for kids at your school?
Growth mindset is one of the key elements of teaching at our school. Present in that is the idea that students should be open to the idea of learning new things, and pushing themselves toward mastery of new topics. Failure comes hand in hand with this approach to education. If we are pushing students to try new things, and to think differently, we need to expect them to struggle. Using failure as a building block is definitely a part of the experience at e3. 2. If so, what impact do you believe that is creating? The impact of this environment is still developing. Our push toward a growth mindset just started this year, so it is still new for students. Some teachers push it more than others. The impact will be great, an we are headed in the right direction. 3. What conditions exist that make it to late to learn and reach competency in your school? Can you give an example? Our mission and focus as a school is very blurry. We are a small charter school, and were founded as a project based learning environment. It is now the 4th year of operation, and we are not really a PBL site anymore. We have moved away from that philosophy, are incorporating more online classes and curriculum, design thinking, Part of what is making it too late for students to reach competency is that they are nt sure what the school wants from them. Students talk all the time about how they came to this school for the projects, but almost never learn that way. As a teacher, it is confusing to know what type of curriculum to develop when there is no clear focus. Another part of the problem is that some teachers are simply not buying into the growth mindset idea. As a school, we focus on students being able to make up for mistakes, and yet some teachers do not let students turn in late work or make up poorly done assignments. Some give tests, and offer no way for a student to improve their score or retake the test after they fail it the first time. Embracing failure, and encouraging responsibility can sometimes be a hard thing to balance, but there needs to be an opportunity for students to show their growth. 4. What would you do, if anything, to introduce/enhance “never too late to learn” structures in you school if you were the school leader? I would introduce and implement mastery based learning. In this type of grading system, the grade book is not based on assignments that students complete, but on the standards and skills that they are developing. This would give students a more honest assessment of where they are at in building their skills, and not just on how well they do at completing work. If a student is great at writing informational text, but struggles with creating an argument, they would be able to see that difference in the grade book and spend more time on their weaker skills. In this way, the grade book is set up to encourage students to build skills and show growth. 5. What can you do in your present position to create “never too late to learn” structures into your current practice and those of your peers? Are those things in your sphere of influence? This is definitely inside of my sphere of influence. One of the great things about my school is the freedom to try new things as a teacher. We are talking about how it is never too late to learn for students, but it is also something that we need to remember for teachers as well. If teachers are asked to try new approaches and grow, then we can expect failure from them as well. To help create the "never too late to learn" structures into my practice, I can push some of the mastery based grading policies, and encourage students to see that finding something they do not do well is a great opportunity to grow. 6. Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school a increase learning opportunities:
1. What role does school play in building students’ agency and identity?
"When teachers understand that the language they use can build the stories children tell about themselves, they use this knowledge to help students develop a positive identity." (Fisher, Frey, and Pumpian, 2012, p. 83). The language we use in the classroom has a deep effect on our students. We need to be thinking about educating them not only to pass tests, but also to live a healthy and happy life emotionally. 2. How aware are you and your colleagues of the impact our choice of words have on developing students’ agency and identity? Can you give examples? One of my first lessons as a substitute teacher was that me and elementary school students are not the best fit. I am not proud of it, but it is hard for me to turn off the sarcasm sometimes. I have been reminded of this lesson many times as an educator, but it will always be a struggle for me to eliminate it from my classroom. As a school, we probably take word choice a little more literally than we should. The spirit of this pillar is to focus on building student agency and identity, but we focus on calling students "scholars" and teachers "learning facilitators". There is a purpose and meaning to these labels, but it is so unnatural and we are constantly reminded. If we could shift this focus to a better objective, we would be great. 3. What would you do, if anything, to make using choice words a more conscious and accountable school wide practice if you were the school leader? To create a school culture where words matter, we need to make words important in every class. Teachers should celebrate new vocabulary, and address word choice as a class. Sometimes words are making an impact when we do not realize it. Students use language that is easy. I tell my students all the time that cussing or insulting someone is lazy. If they really want to be able to express themselves and make people understand how they feel, they need to choose their words carefully. Word walls are great, and taking a few minutes each day to teach and celebrate new words can go a long way. 4. What could you do, if anything, to make the use of choice words a more conscious and accountable personal practice as well as one embraced by others on your site? Are those things within your sphere of influence? I have always wanted to make a word wall in my classroom. For each word that we come across and do not know, we can add to the wall. I think this is more about creating the culture where words matter, and not something that will really be studied by students every day. I can give students bonus points for using words from the wall in discussions and responses. 5. Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school choose words wisely? 1. Word wall 2. Address lazy word choices 3. Give compliments and leave out the "but" clause 4. Listen to students 5. Be more mindful of my proximity to each student every day.
References Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Pumpian. I. (2012). How to Create a Culture of Achievement In Your Schools and Classrooms. Alexandria, VA: ASCD 1. How is the challenge of making stakeholders feel welcome to your school (or place of work) connected to your school mission? At my school, e3 Civic High, we try our best to live up to our name. The 3 E's are: engage, educate, and empower. To engage a student is what their learning is in part making them feel welcome to the environment. to empower a student is to make them feel like they can improve the environment. In these ways, I think there is a loose connection between our mission and making students feel welcome to the school. 2. What did you do to assess which stakeholder group (or subgroup) could be more effectively welcomed? And what did you find? Walking around my school campus with a new set of eyes this week, I began to focus on the relationship our students have with the administration. We are a small school of about 450 students, and so most of the staff know a good deal of the students by name. There is a definite intimacy to this campus. however, there is also a definite Us versus Them attitude going on. Looking from a students perspective, they begin each morning with a walk up 6 flights of stairs. When they finally get through the door, there is someone waiting there to check their uniform for dress code violations, and their hands for any coffee drinks (which get thrown out). Luckily, we have gotten rid of the essay that would accompany showing up late. This is definitely not a warm welcome. Every high school student is going to find something to complain about, especially with the people who are responsible for enforcing rules, but we can also do out part in making them feel more welcome each and every morning. 3. Future Sphere of Influence: What would you do to improve welcoming this group if you were the school leader? I think that reinforcing good behavior can go a lot further than punishing bad behavior sometimes. If I were a school leader right now, I would implement a reward system for showing up to school on time and in professional attire. I would also employ the Advisory class teachers to deal with the students who are not meeting these basic requirements. We talk about creating an environment of restorative justice, but that is really based off the idea of having a positive relationship with a student in the first place. Without that, there is nothing to restore. Therefore, having Advisory teachers handle these things, the conversation moves from one of conflict with an administrator to one of fixing a problem with the teacher who will be spending time with you every week for your whole high school career. 4. Current Sphere of Influence: What can you do in your present position to enhance welcoming these stakeholders? One underutilized program at our school is the use of character badges. We have 7 different badges that a student can earn for showing courage, integrity, or compassion, among other qualities. There are very few teachers around campus who actually use these badges, and I think that something small like this can help to show each student in class that they are welcome, and that they are appreciated. Not every student aces the tests, but they all have bright spots, and they should all be rewarded for their hard work. Current Sphere of Influence: Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school a more welcoming place: 1. Greet students with a smile as they enter the classroom. 2. Pass out 2 character badges per class, per week. 3. Make 1 positive phone call home each week. 4. Encourage students to partake in random acts of kindness, and to pass on kindnesses done for them. 5. Cut down on my sarcasm with students. They deserve a more authentic attitude so that they know how much I appreciate them. |
Building and Assessing School CultureModule 2 |