SOUP DU JOUR

Dr. Wendy Ghiora-Posting #87-April 3, 2011 Compliments are one of the most extraordinary ingredients of that all-encompassing soup we call our classroom. If offered in the right way, they create so much positive energy; they make things happen almost as if by magic. When a praiseworthy situation is noticed, this awareness needs to be spoken. In other words, the compliment needs to be put forth into the world in spoken form. When we deliver praise, our students benefit from being the objects of compliments. Recipients feel great, knowing that we notice and value them. In this respect, compliments are powerful tools in motivating continued efforts. Compliments are little gifts of love. But they are effective only when they are sincere reflections of what we think and if they are given freely and not coerced. Compliments backfire if they are not genuine. In his landmark 1996 book, Punished by Rewards, Alfie Kohn makes four solid points about giving compliments and praise: a. "Don't praise people, only what people do. It's less likely that there will be a gap between what someone hears and what he thinks about himself if we don't make sweeping comments about what he is like as a person." b. "Make praise as specific as possible. Even better than 'That's a really nice story' is 'That's neat at the end when you leave the main character a little confused about what happened to him.'" c. "Avoid phony praise. . . . One symptom of phony praise is a squeaky, saccharine voice that slides up and down the scale and bears little resemblance to the way we converse with our friends. A four-year-old can usually tell the difference between a genuine expression of pleasure and phony praise, between a sincere smile and one that is manufactured and timed for best effect." d. "Avoid praise that sets up competition. Phrases like 'You're the best in the class (or for adults, in this department)," whose "most pernicious effects . . . encourage a view of others as rivals rather than as potential collaborators. What's more, they lead people to see their own worth in terms of whether they have beaten everyone else - a recipe for perpetual insecurity." Kohn supports each of these points with solid research. The reality is that there is always something a student does that we can make a compliment about. There is no harm in doing so and when done genuinely it can not only help the student feel good, but create motivation to continue their efforts. I know each school day is a busy one, and many teachers have 35 or more students in each class. However, I am convinced, if done sincerely and with meaning, the investment of time and energy to render a compliment, can result in significant benefits for the student. Here’s a suggestion; divide the number of students in your class by the number of days in the week you meet with them. For example, if you have 35 students and see them 5 days a week, you would divide 35 by 5, which gives you 7. List the names of 7 students for each day of the week. These will be the students you will give a compliment to on that day. Of course, don’t hold back those compliments you know you want to give to the group as a whole (I’m just saying). Stir the soup gently and thoroughly, sit back and taste the powerful changes you will see in your classroom. Enjoy!

TIPS FOR TOP TEST-TAKING PERFORMANCE

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #86 – March 19, 2011

It’s that time of year again—the time teachers, students, and principals have dreaded for a while. Why do we see grimacing when annual standardized assessments arrive? Even the most prepared teachers and students have some fear of tests, in some cases not so much because of the information needed to pass, but simply a fear of the test itself. This fear is a unique phobia and, yes, it’s called, “testaphobia.“ If a student hasn’t studied for the test, there’s not much that can be done but, if he or she simply has a fear of tests, here are some tips that just might get students a few more correct answers, they would not have gotten before.

Relaxing
When students are about to start the test, it sometimes helps to take a deep breath to relax. Anxiety may reduce confidence and be an obstacle to doing one's best. Take in a deep breath and re-affirm one's certainty and confidence.

Directions
Read and listen to all instructions given. It is imperative to really understand what is expected in each section of the test. Students should ask their instructor to explain any instructions they don’t understand.

Budgeting Your Time
It is not uncommon for students to leave unanswered questions because they run out of time. To avoid this, they should budget their time by taking the total amount of time given for each section, subtracting two minutes (for review), and then dividing the remaining time by the number of problems or questions. This will tell them approximately how much time they have for each question.

Managing Multiple Choice Questions
Did you know research reveals, on multiple choice questions, 3 out of 4 times, the first choice was the correct answer. So students should start out a multiple choice section by answering all the questions they know the answers to. (If they don’t know the answer immediately, put a mark next to it and skip it.) Then, go back over those not known. When finished, unless there is a very good reason for changing an answer, don’t.

Passing the Reading Passages
Success for answering questions related to passages increases when students read the questions prior to the passage. Doing so helps one hone in on relevant points. After reading the questions, students can highlight key words, phrases and ideas relevant to the questions, as clues to support the answers. Use text features such as: captions, graphs, charts and illustrations. They enhance the text and present relevant details.

Scoring on Math Questions
Students are required to show work and to write legibly. Even if the answer is wrong, they may receive partial credit if their work can be read and evaluated. A math question may have more than one part and, therefore, more than one answer. Be sure to answer all of the parts.

Reviewing Your Work
Here’s a way for students to get another correct answer or two. If they have time, they should go back and check all of their work. They should re-check as many answers as time permits. From my experience, they are bound to find something and correct it. But they should only correct things when they are absolutely sure.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
Benjamin Franklin

Good luck to all of you!

TO CHEAT OR NOT TO CHEAT?

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #85 - March 12, 2011

The results of standardized tests are the driving force behind most public education institutions in the United States. It’s rather a sad note that performance on this one test determines major financial and political consequences for the staff and can result in less than a quality education for the students in our public schools today.

Scoring below grade level can mean a student is placed in additional hours of reading or math and is not permitted to take elective courses such as music or art. These students may have P.E. eliminated from their schedule. Many students are also subjected to being “taught to the test” for the entire school year. . Worse than that, this pressure has caused some teachers and even school principals to cheat on these pivotal tests. Is there an alternative to cheating?

Back in pre-historic times, when I attended school, there was no big deal made out of the yearly standardized tests. Why? Because our teachers had done their job; they had taught us what we were supposed to know as second, third or whatever graders we were. We took these tests each spring and never thought much about what they meant. That’s the way it should be.

USA Today (3/10, Upton) reports, "The standardized tests required by the federal No Child Left Behind law have become one of the most important - and controversial - ways to measure a student's progress, a teacher's competence, a school's success and a state's commitment to education." USA Today adds, "Teachers cheat sometimes and so do principals, according to academic studies. .. In an investigation of standardized testing in six states and the District of Columbia, USA TODAY found that an infraction such as casually coaching one student can carry nearly the same punishment as deliberately changing answers for a whole class."

Investigation Exposes Cheating At Michigan School. USA Today /Detroit Free Press (3/10, Dawsey) reports, "The teachers and principal at George Washington Carver Academy, a charter school" in Highland Park, MI, "have learned firsthand what happens when an official probe concludes that the staff cheated on a standardized test. Monitors sent by the Michigan Department of Education have watched over teachers here for the past two years as state tests have been administered." According to USA Today, "Educators at Carver cheated on the tests in many ways, stopping just short of giving students the answers, the state investigation found."

If schools in the very poorest of neighborhoods can “make the grade” without cheating, surely more fortunate schools should be able to follow suit. In New York City, most schools don't know if their students are progressing until the 3rd grade test. That just doesn't cut it. At the Harlem Success School, they test when students enter school to know children’s starting points. They test using both internal curriculum assessments and nationally-normed tests. The internal curriculum assessments allow school staff to target academic interventions in real-time, track trends in student learning, make curriculum enhancements, and provide useful feedback to teachers and parents. The nationally-normed tests allow the teachers to see how they match up to schools across the country.

Here are the results from this school that uses a culture of planning, goals, continuous evaluation, and teamwork, frequent communication with parents and relentless teaching and nurturing instead of cheating:

100% of Harlem Success 3rd graders passed the math exam, with 71% achieving the top score of "4," ranking the school #1 out of all public charters in the state.
• 95% of Harlem Success 3rd graders passed the English Language Arts exam, with nearly a quarter achieving the top score of "4," ranking the school #2 out of all public charters in the state.
• Harlem Success Academy ranks #32 out of all 3500 public schools in New York.
• No public school in the state scored higher than Harlem Success on the math exam.
• Harlem Success outperformed its school district by nearly 25 percentage points in English Language Arts. The percentage of students "advanced proficient" in math surpasses even the affluent Upper East Side of Manhattan by nearly 35%.

When teachers ’and principals’ jobs are threatened, some feel the only alternative is to cheat. However, teaching kids what they are supposed to know and understand in the first place is so much easier, don’t you think? As with any endeavor, the progress has to be watched carefully with vigilance and changes and improvements made the moment an insufficiency is noticed. This is basic to achieving any sort of a goal or end product in any field, including education. Let’s try it in our schools, shall we?

~ I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating ~ Sophocles

INSPIRE!

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #84 – February 27, 2011

Please take your seats ladies and gentlemen. We are about to embark on a four-part journey, beginning with the “I” for “Inspire,” in the acronym “I C A N.”

The theatre was totally quiet. All eyes were focused on Brandon. I noticed he was wearing a child-like striped T-shirt. I waited, not knowing what, if anything was about to take place. Brandon was getting into “the zone” of becoming his character. Suddenly, he looked directly out at the audience and said,

"I think lunchtime is about the worst time of day for me, always having to sit here alone."

I think some of the students squirmed because they thought those were Brandon’s words. Actually, this is the first line of Charlie Brown’s famous monologue about the love of his life, The Little Red-Haired Girl. The quality of the voice, the tone, the emotion, the poise were simply amazing. I looked around and saw most of my students’ jaws hit their knees. When Brandon delivered the last line,

"Whew! She's not looking at me! I wonder why she never looks at me? Oh well, another lunch hour over with...only 2,863 to go,"

there was a pause, and then the entire class stood up to give Brandon a well-deserved standing ovation. He was all smiles and glowing from head to toe. After dabbing my eyes and discretely shoving the Kleenex back in my pocket, I walked over to the stage as the boys lifted Brandon and wheelchair down.

“Brandon,” I said, “You are quite the actor. That was amazing!” He smiled and said, “Thank you.” The boys all lined up to give Brandon high fives.

Brandon had joined my drama class about a month earlier. He wasn’t a regular student at the high school. He was confined to a wheelchair and had partial control of his upper body movements. He was also a patient at the “Behavioral Clinic” across the freeway from our school. (I never quite figured this one out, as he never demonstrated any behavioral problems in my class). He had expressed the desire to be in a drama class and the counselor that wheeled him into my classroom asked if this would be possible. He had already checked with the principal who said the decision would be mine. I got down and met Brandon’s gaze at eye level. I introduced myself as did he. Then I asked,
“Brandon, do you want to be in this drama class?” His face broke into one big smile and replied,
“Yes, I love acting and would really like it a lot!”
So, of course, I couldn’t say no.

Within the next few days, students began working on their first major assignment, which was to present a monolog. I didn’t notice Brandon working on anything in particular, but he assured me he would be ready with the assignment on time. On the first day the presentations began, Brandon was absent. When he showed up the second day, I really didn’t know what, if anything to expect. After the first couple of students completed their monologue performances, Brandon raised his hand and volunteered to take the stage. As you can imagine, his performance had quite an impact on the entire class.

One side effect of Brandon’s performance was, from that moment on, I didn’t get any excuses as to why some students couldn’t do the assignment. All of us learned different lessons from Brandon. For me it was admiration for the great capacity and willpower each human being is endowed with. I was humbled by this student’s determination and bravery, and most of all, his talent.

Sometimes we complain about our lot in life or our job; complaining doesn’t really accomplish anything. If we look at each day as an opportunity to create something new, or something good; or to help others produce something they can be proud of, sometimes we are lucky enough to receive a gift like Brandon.

Something inspired Brandon to get up and perform. I’d like to think I had something to do with that. Each one of us has the ability to care for and to help others. For some of us, such as teachers, coaches and leaders, we also hope to be the one that can inspire others.

The dictionary defines Inspire as: To stimulate to action; to motivate.
I always like to delve even more deeply and find out the original derivation of a word. Inspire is from Latin meaning: To breathe life into. When I read this, I smiled. It was the perfect description. How often has a teacher, a coach or any leader looked at his personnel and wondered, “What can I do to really breathe some life into this group?”

The “I” in I C A N is for “inspire.” There are so many ways students can be inspired, and they can be grouped into two categories: by modeling and by love. A teacher’s enthusiasm for the subject is contagious. Setting high expectations is enthusiasm’s complement. I have found the most common and perhaps the most profound way to inspire is when teachers just instinctively model their own sense of purpose and enthusiasm for their work, caring for their students and the delightful habit of always going beyond what is expected of them.

Teaching probably has more randomity than any other profession. This is what keeps the job exciting and interesting. In fact, one never knows what the source of the “inspiration” might be. In the case of Brandon, I merely set the stage. It was he that inspired his fellow classmates. His gift to our class was more powerful than any book or lecture I could have offered.

A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron. Horace Mann

This story is taken from the book, Unleashing The Student’s “I Can,” now available at Amazon.com

WHY MORE NON-FICTION?

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #83 – February 19, 2011

“Educators say non-fiction is more difficult than fiction for students to comprehend. It requires more factual knowledge, beyond fiction’s simple truths of love, hate, passion and remorse. So we have a pathetic cycle. Students don’t know enough about the real world because they don’t read non-fiction and they can’t read non-fiction because they don’t know enough about the real world, “claims Jay Mathews, a writer for the Washington Post.

I say, it’s all in the presentation. Start presenting non-fiction at an early age, use materials you know will catch their interest, and you just might hook a student and have him or her begging for more. Since 80-90% of what we read and write is non-fiction, I would affirm reading more non-fiction is an important piece of today’s education.

Reading interesting non-fiction articles during Read Aloud time, will give kids experience in listening for information, which is the purpose of this genre. Teachers consider it a challenge to find lessons including non-fiction. Adding non-fiction to reading lessons, marks a shift after years in which they put most or all of their energy into getting students excited about storytelling and reading fiction.

Children deserve more exposure to non-fiction, as most of their adult world will consist of this type of reading and writing. Kids deserve to be exposed to a variety of nonfiction books - texts in different formats, about different topics, and written by different authors. Read aloud is a perfect time for students to fall in love with nonfiction. Some of the non-fiction topics I have found that spark an interest with children include:

Animals, Heroes, Amazing & Weird True Stories (on practically any topic), Biographies/Autobiographies, Sports, Music Legends and Dinosaurs. One of the best sources I have found for interesting non-fiction articles is Kids National Geographic (online). Imagine asking your students, “Have you heard about the tattooed mummy found buried with the gigantic war clubs of a warrior? And to everyone’s surprise, it turned out to be the body of a woman in her early 20’s?”

When you think about it, from the minute you wake up in the morning, browse through the morning newspaper, follow the road signs to work, listen to the local news and weather report on your radio, grab the mail from your inbox, it is predominantly a non-fiction world. Let’s make it interesting, fun and compelling for our kids to learn and use all things non-fiction.

Oh, just in case you had a little spark of interest in finding out more about the tattooed mummy, here’s the link: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/history/tattooed-mummy/

The Father of American Education

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #83 – February 12, 2011

As Americans, we are so fortunate to have a free education. According to UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization), even in today’s highly technological world, one billion, (approximately 26 percent) of the world's adult population is illiterate. Women make up two-thirds of all non-literates. Most of us take this privilege for granted. Let’s take a moment to recognize the man responsible for our good fortune.

Mann’s Beginnings
Horace Mann is known as The Father of American Education. Horace was born in Franklin, Massachusetts, May 4, 1796. As a boy, he lived in poverty and hardship on the family farm. His schooling was limited to about three months of instruction during each year, due to his duties helping family on the farm.

Mann studied hard in his spare time and after receiving some private tutoring, qualified for the sophomore class at Brown. When he graduated, he studied law and was admitted to the Bar in 1823.

Early Careers
Horace Mann had a brilliant career, first as a State Representative and then as a Senator, in the Massachusetts Legislature. In 1837 he accepted the position of First Secretary of the State Board of Education in Massachusetts. His humanitarian impulses led him to abandon a highly promising career in politics in favor of education. He took office at a time when glaring weaknesses existed in public education in Massachusetts. Here are some of Mann’s achievements during his twelve years as First Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education:

Achievements for Education
a. Campaigned for Education. Realizing the need for public support and public awareness of the educational problems of poor teaching, substandard materials, inferior school committees and pupil absences, Mann campaigned throughout the State. This campaign was eminently successful. The schools were improved everywhere in the State.

b. Established Schools For Teacher Training. The first Normal School for Teachers was established in Lexington, Massachusetts, in 1839 through the efforts of Mann.

c. Established School District Libraries. Horace Mann improved education by successfully advocating for the establishment of free libraries.

d. Won Financial Backing for Public Education. Mann knew the importance of money in making educational progress. Through his efforts, the wages of teachers were more than doubled, supervision of teaching improved with compensated school committees, fifty new secondary schools were built, State aid to education doubled, and textbooks and educational equipment improved.

e. Horace Mann edited the "Common School Journal" and wrote twelve Annual Reports which became famous.

Famous “Annual Reports:”
Due to Mann’s tireless efforts to improve our free educational system, many of his ideas spread and were implemented across this great nation. Here are some of his most important Annual Reports:

(1) Fifth Annual Report (1841). Mann argued successfully that economic wealth would increase through an educated public. It was therefore in the self-interest of business to pay the taxation for public education.

(2) Seventh Annual Report (1843). Horace Mann inspected and appraised favorably the Prussian school system. This report led to widespread improvement .of education through the educational theories of Pestalozzi, Herbart and eventually Froebel.

(3) Tenth Annual Report (1846). Mann asserted that education was a natural right for every child. It is a necessary responsibility of the State to insure that education was provided for every child. This report led to the adoption of the first State law requiring compulsory attendance in school in 1852.

(4) Twelfth Annual Report (1848). He presented a rationale for the support of public education through taxation. Society improves as a result of an educated p public. He argued for non-sectarian schools, so the taxpayer would not be in the position of supporting any established religion with which he might disagree in conscience.

(5.) LAST YEARS. Horace Mann resigned in 1848 to take a seat vacated in the United States Congress. In 1853 he assumed the Presidency of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He became President to implement his educational ideas in higher education. This college was coeducational and non-sectarian. The labor of raising funds for Antioch College weakened his health. He died August 2, 1859.

Final Remarks
Horace Mann had the insight to understand the importance of providing free public education for all Americans. He persevered and was a fierce champion in this effort. I for one am so glad he did!

Education is the transmission of civilization.
Will Durant

PARENTS ALLOWING KIDS TO SKIP SCHOOL NOW A CRIME IN CALIFORNIA

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #82 – February 5, 2011

Is it okay to let kids miss school? When students miss school, they miss lectures, notes, class discussions, assignments, quizzes, and tests. It doesn't matter how conscientious students are about making up their work, they can never make up all of what they miss, even when they're absent for only a day or two. It’s hard enough to catch up after a legitimate absence, such as illness, let alone an illegitimate reason.

I have worked in schools where parents sometimes take their kids out of school for two to three weeks for a family vacation. Excuse me, but did they ever think of using the eight weeks they have off during the summer for this purpose? Then, when the children can’t catch up and receive low or even failing grades, the parents complain that it’s the school’s fault. There are also parents, believe it or not, that condone their children missing one or two days of school every single week!

Parents who allow their children to miss school when they aren't ill, not only hurt their children's education, they also send a message school isn't really that important. If your child doesn't want to go to school, or if you're seeing a pattern of excuses to miss school, talk to your child or to your child's teacher or school counselor and handle whatever the problem is.

Recently, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 1317, a new statewide anti-truancy bill that officials hope will curb chronic absenteeism in elementary and middle school students. The new law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2011, and allow state officials to prosecute parents when their kids don’t show up to school.

The initiative was pushed by California attorney general hopeful Kamala Harris, Harris has smartly tied crime rates with dropout rates; the correlation between kids’ educational achievement and the rate of their criminal convictions is direct. And yet the solutions are alarmingly punitive.

Parents whose kids miss any more than 10 percent of their classes can be charged with a misdemeanor and slammed with a $2,000 fine or a yearlong jail sentence if, after being offered state support and counseling, their kids still fail to improve their attendance. Before SB 1317, parents could be prosecuted under a child endangerment statute. Now kids’ absenteeism has become a crime all its own. The state labels a student as truant if they have more than three unexcused absences in one school year on their record.

On the lighter side, if you think that today's students aren't learning all they should, check out some of the writing by their moms and dads. The following are actual excuse notes received by teachers:
(I left all grammar and spelling in the original format and boy was my Spellcheck going nuts!)

Dear School:
"Please eckuse John being absent on Jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and also 33. "

"Please excuse Mary for being absent," wrote a parent. "She was sick
and I had her shot."

"Please excuse Gloria from Jim today. She is administrating."

"Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was
hurt in the growing part. "

"Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side. "

"Please excuse Ray Friday from school. He has very loose vowels."

"Please excuse Tom for being absent yesterday. He had diarrhea and his
boots leak."

"Please excuse Harriet for missing school yesterday. We forget to
get the Sunday paper off the porch. and when we found it Monday,
we thought it was Sunday."

"Please excuse my son's tardiness. I forgot to wake him up and I did not
find him till I started making the beds. "

"Sally won't be in school a week from Friday. We have to attend a
funeral."

"My daughter was absent yesterday because she was tired. She spent the
weekend with the Marine's."

"Gloria was absent yesterday as she was having a gangover."

"Maryann was absent December 11-16, because she had a fever, sore throat,
headache, and upset stomach. Her sister was also sick, fever and sore
throat, her brother had a low grade fever and ached all over. I wasn't
the berst either, sore throat and fever. There must be the flu going
around school, her father even got hot last night. "

Isn’t it absurd to have to go so far as possibly arresting parents to get a point across? What are these parents thinking? Children need good role models to say, “I know it’s a beautiful sunny day, but you can’t go to the beach; today is a school day.” Children must go to school the same way parents must go to work. By allowing children to decide when they will or will not go to school, you are setting them up for failure in the real world. This is what life is about, making the responsible decisions and choosing the right path.

To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice. ~Confucius