I've been struggling with a term and idea that I've heard a lot of lately: "evidence-based practices" has been all over the education world and with it, a notion that all of our instructional practices should be rooted there. All the practices I know are very good, sound, instructional practices that are good for kids. My problem isn't with the practices, it's with people saying that you need to implement evidence-based practices in a way that comes off as if it should be a singular approach. Before you go blowing up my comments section about my blasphemous rantings, follow me down the rabbit hole for just a second. Alice was glad she did.
My problem lies with us saying we need to be grounded in evidence-based practices without any thought or consideration given to how we might innovate and develop the next "evidence-based practice." By their definition, evidence-based practices are not highly innovative. There's evidence to support what they do, how well they do it and what some expected outcomes might be by implementing them. The long and short, they've been studied and they've been done before. That's great and wonderful. We should do things like this. My question is who started this practice and what evidence did they have to support it? The answer? None. Someone was innovative, Somebody designed something that they thought would work well and put it in place. We must be innovative too. We can't focus our entire approach on the use of evidence-based practice. We need innovators, someone to create something that works or something that doesn't. We need those risk takers to keep us moving forward. We have to be like a starting pitcher in baseball, we need more than a good fastball to get us through an outing.
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There was a really interesting article I read in the Los Angeles Times by Brian Caplan today. I came across it after it was shared by George Couros (@gcouros) on Twitter. I've linked to the full article at the end of this post. There was one paragraph in particular that I found very interesting, slightly controversial but just about 100% accurate in its' assessment. It reads: The last line in that paragraph is what really grabbed my attention. As I thought about that statement, I couldn't ignore the way it resonated with me. It sadly seems all to true. Thinking back on my college days I think Mr. Caplan's assessment is spot on. I don't remember a lot of people checking attendance, making sure that you had paid the appropriate tuition to attend a class or anything of the sort. In fact, I don't dare say I could have taken 80% or greater of my classes without having paid one nickel to the school. I could have learned nearly everything I learned as a paying college student with the one exception that is identified, I wouldn't have left with a diploma.
Truthfully, the diploma is what I was there for. The diploma was the essential ingredient to getting employed, and that's coming from someone who chose to be an educator; a profession in which we allegedly value the learning above anything and everything. Interestingly enough, after 13 years in that profession I still have never been asked a question on a job interview about what I learned. I've been asked to review my credentials, certifications and diplomas, but nobody has ever asked me about the learning. I think the sad truth is that we don't value the learning. We value the networking, the credentials, the licensure and certifications, but the learning seems to fall by the wayside. As Mr. Caplan writes "most of education's payoff comes from graduation, crossing the academic finish line." I think this is the reason why we hear about so many successful entrepreneurs, President's and many others having been "C" (or worse) students. They didn't conform. They got by but they actually applied what they learned in a way that it resonated with them, not the way someone else wanted it to resonate with them. Personally, I value the learning. I don't feel validated by having a degree nor do I believe that having a degree means I have accomplished a great deal. In fact, I believe I have learned more in my last year or so since I started engaging in Twitter chats, blogging and other on-demand learning activities than I did in six years of undergraduate and graduate school combined. That's what makes me proud of where I am; the way I have challenged and grown my own thinking on this journey. FULL ARTICLE: www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-caplan-education-credentials-20180211-story.html You've probably heard some iteration of the quote "Behind every student success story is a teacher or principal who championed for that student." It's a great quote and certainly one that many of us would find to be motivational. However, we're about moving forward, improving on things. Making them better. So my question is simple. How can we move from the singular (teacher, principal, student) to engage the power of the plural (teachers, principals, students)?
Just imagine the impact we would have had if that quote read "Behind every student success story are teachers and principals who championed for all students." Please know that this post is not a critique of the quote but rather a way to think about things. If a student walks out of our school system after attending K-12 and they can only identify one teacher that made a difference in their lives have we really done our best? Our calling is to educate all students and ensure that every student has a success story. That story should have several chapters written in it and his or her teachers should each be the author of one of those chapters. If you haven't written a chapter in someones story yet this year, tomorrow is a great time to start. If you're like me you've seen a lot of infographics about learning in your professional life. Yes, a picture is worth a thousands words and a visual often lends clarity to an idea expressed in words. However, one thing I have noticed is how many times we equate learning to a cyclical pattern. It's an idea that has never sat quite right with me. In recent years there has become a great acceptance around the idea that learning is messy. We've embraced mistakes as learning opportunities and removed the notion that learning was meant to be done with the teacher at the front of the classroom, students in rows and the sound of silence filling the moments when the teacher wasn't talking. My question is if learning is so messy, how come we still put together such neat, uni-directional flowcharts and graphics to describe the learning process? Why do we embrace the idea that a cycle or flow-chart with arrows only pointing in one direction is a true representation of learning design and implementation? I think the learning process and learning design is much closer to a scatter plot than a cycle or flow-chart. Why? Because the needs of every learner are different. Their experiences and prior knowledge are different. The rate at which they will learn information not only varies from student to student, but from topic to topic and subject to subject within each individual student. You see, in learning we have to be prepared to be at any point at any given time. We also have to be prepared to move to a different point on a moments notice. That movement may go against the flow of your standard cyclical process, it might go with the flow, it might jump to a point further away or even to a point that wasn't even originally on the continuum in the first place. Learning is messy. Learning design and execution are messy, and that's exactly what makes them learning experiences. Learning is...
I was reading a recent blog post by George Couros about having parents attending professional learning alongside teachers. I loved the premise. Beyond that the post got me thinking, who else would be a great person or group of people to attend schools professional learning?
What if we brought in working professionals? Could they give us some insight into our approach, things that they need/would like to see from recent graduates entering the workforce? What about people who are involved in some type of second chance programs? Could they help us identify what causes some people, teachers and parents alike, to temporarily or permanently disengage from school? Could they help us develop strategies to bring them back on board? What about community leaders or elected officials? We always say that we want their support in our local and state governments but have we truly ever invited them to see what goes on not just at school, but how hard we work to grow and improve our practice? I believe this is a real opportunity for education. We always preach that learning shouldn't exist in isolation so let's open our doors to these folks and get them in. It would be great feedback, great opportunities for growth and a great opportunity to garner support for public education.
Wayne's World is a movie that always cracked me up. From the iconic scene of the characters lip-syncing Bohemian Rhapsody in the car to all the great one-liners it's certainly a movie that stands the test of time. The scene I posted above, while less memorable, got me thinking about the metaphor of going backstage and what it represents.
You see, everyone sees the show when they go to a concert. Some of us may sit a little closer than others but we all see and hear the same thing; and that thing is exactly what the artist wants us to hear. When you go backstage, however, the tale becomes different. You see things in their raw form, at their core, not something staged for a performance. So what's the tie in to education? Simple. Authentic learning. You learn so much more about your favorite musical artists backstage than you ever could at a show. That's why it's called a show and why shows like VH-1's behind the music (I know, I'm dating myself) Authentic learning is one of those buzz phrases that so many of us talk about, reflect on and try to implement into practice. It's a great idea, learning that reflects a real world application of what's being taught. The interesting thing though is that we often try to do this without being authentic ourselves. So, the question I ask is who has backstage passes to your life? If the answer is not your students, you're going struggle with authentic learning. You see, authentic learning has to come from an authentic source. If you're students don't view you as being authentic, they won't learn in authentic ways from you. Being authentic boils down really to evidence? What evidence do you have that supports you, the authentic person? For example, I tell kids all the time that I do what I do because I love and care about kids. What evidence do I have? I talk about my own kids and the epically awesome moments as well as those tough times where I struggled. I tell them about watching my son being taken straight to a NICU after he was born because he was not breathing regularly. I tell them about traveling halfway around the world to adopt a little girl I had never met. I tell them about how my son cracks me up when he says he wants a pet, and when I ask what kind he says "a yak!" I share my feelings, my struggles, the good and the bad. I'm authentic and I don't shy away from being that way. In other words, I give people a backstage pass to my life, I don't just put on a show. Looking for a way to strengthen and build relationships in your classroom or life as we begin a new year? Give kids a backstage pass into your life. You can do it and be age/content appropriate. I think you would be surprised that many kids have gone through similar circumstances to you. Once you conquer that you'll find new avenues for creating authentic learning experiences. You won't be disappointed. I was driving home the other day when I pulled up behind a nice Cadillac XTS. I like cars so this one definitely caught my eye. The other thing that caught my eye was the vanity license plate on the car. They read "2ND2NO1" (second to no one). While I'd like to think that license represents that persons struggle to overcome obstacles and make something from their life in less than ideal circumstances, I couldn't help but hope that was not how that person approached life.
I'm not going to advocate for self-deprecation here as that can be equally as unflattering. It's ok to acknowledge and accept praise for a job well done. What I will say is that seems a lot more likely to come your way if you approach many situations as being second to everyone. It's easy for me to say this as an educator because it's what we do. Our job is to make those around us better; to help them grow in ways they didn't know were possible. Anyone can do it though. You don't have to be an educator, work for a church, non-profit or the like, you just have to approach things with the benefit of others in mind. I hope that person is experiencing success beyond their wildest dreams. I hope they have an opportunity to be second to someone someday. It's a humbling experience to put others before yourself. In a world where we hear we've "got to get ours" I can honestly tell you that the best I've ever gotten came from being second to someone; putting them before myself. I made my own little vanity plate below. Maybe someday I will get one just like it to go on my car. #2ND2EVRY1 I've seen the picture below making the rounds on the internet. I don't have any complaints about it. They are legitimate issues in education. Many of them need to be discussed and ultimately, resolved. I bet as you read over them you will find yourself agreeing with almost all of them. The interesting thing would be putting together a list of the opposite: Things Teachers Did Sign-Up For. You see, despite all the negative, all that we have to overcome every single day, we still signed up for one thing: to make a difference in a child's life. Nothing listed above can take away the feeling that you get when a kid tells you "thank you" or how you've impacted their life. Nothing on the list can replace how you believed in a child when nobody else would.
We'll get all the things on the list above right someday. It might not be during our lifetime; history can point to countless examples of those who fought for a cause but didn't live to see it come to fruition. Is there any cause greater though than being here, now, laying the groundwork for what is to come? It's why we can't stop the fight, and the fight is putting our best foot forward every single day. It's why we must resist becoming the "get off my lawn" generation of educators. If we put our best out there for the world to see every day, people will take notice. It's this that will make people want to hear our story. And when they hear our story, the change will occur. I am certain that there were plenty of things that Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln and numerous others didn't sign up for. However, what they did sign up for is what allowed those things they didn't sign up for to crumble over time. I get asked a lot of times "what's the best instructional strategy?" or "what was your favorite instructional strategy?" This question makes me more uncomfortable than just about any other question I have been asked. Not because I don't know any good strategies, but because I may not know you and what you're trying to accomplish.
One of my pet peeves in education is when we, as educators, go out and want to instantly latch on with the latest shiny object because we've seen it work for someone else. Don't get me wrong, that's a great way to find an inspiration, a curiosity or a spark to start the journey. It's not a good reason to sell out wholeheartedly and commit yourself to that thing, system, protocol or anything else. Going back to my initial point, the question makes me uncomfortable because I need to get to know you and what you are about as an educator. The best strategies are the ones that work for you. Guess what? Just because they work for you doesn't mean that they will work for someone else and just because they work for someone else doesn't mean they will work for you. You have to ask yourself questions like what am I comfortable with? What are things you know you just can't manage within your classroom? Does it require a specific knowledge? Are you willing to commit to it long-term? In my opinion, one of the best things you can do is continue to seek out those new strategies. Attend training, seminars, conferences and the like. When you do, be honest with yourself about what this strategy is going to entail in your classroom. If you leave the training thinking "that's not for me" then that is awesome. Somehow we've been engrained to think that if we attend the training that we should walk away from it all systems go and begin implementation immediately. It shouldn't be that way. If a strategy won't work for you it's not a bad strategy, it's just not the one for you. If we invoke a comparison to the Frayer Model, one of my personal favorites, then strategies that don't work for us can fill in our non-example box; and if you know anything about Frayer Models, the non-example can be the hardest one to fill in. As you go through your learning and growth as an educator, remember strategies that don't work for you are a step in your process of growing as an educator. As Thomas Edison once said about his journey toward inventing the light bulb: "I didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps." I was participating in the #tlap (Teach Like a Pirate) chat on Twitter last night and I came across the following tweet from @The_Groffice: "Modeling a 'glass half-full' approach to problem solving changes mindsets. Yes, there are challenges, but we overcome them positively facing challenges as opportunities." It's a great point and a point that got me thinking, which is why I love Twitter chats as a form of professional learning, they really make you think.
She got me thinking that if we use the metaphor of the glass, and we view challenges as opportunities, then life truly has free refills. Think about a problem, obstacle or anything you've overcome in life. Do you remember the feeling you felt when you reached that pinnacle of success? It's euphoric. It's that feeling of being able to do anything no matter what gets in your way. That's life giving you a refill. Your glass is no longer half empty or half full. It's full and in many cases it's overflowing. In some ways the best part is that more challenges will come. While that may seem like a dreary outlook to some, think about it. Overcoming challenges is what leads to the free refill. We need challenges in order to get the refills. As the world around us tells us more and more that Adversity and challenge should be responded to with anxiety anger and conflict it is more important than ever that we remember to meet these challenges head-on with our very best. It is equally important that we teach our students to do the same. After all, who does not like a free refill? |
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