Making Failure Harder Work Than Passing Chemistry seems to inspire a "D" mentality. A significant number of students just want to pass the class, meet their graduation requirement, and do it with as little effort as possible. Take Evelyn, for example, a junior in my chemistry class last term. Evelyn is a bright young lady, but she didn't see chemistry as relevant to her present or future, so she kept her head low, didn't engage in the material, missed about 20 percent of the class, and seemed to target a grade of 60 percent. That was at the beginning of the class. By the end of the term, Evelyn was sitting in the front row, volunteering to demonstrate how to solve problems, and getting frustrated with herself when her final grade in the class was a "B." Evelyn's grade had gone from a 60 percent to an 85 percent, but the real changes that I saw in her were much more rewarding than an improved grade point average. Many students will avoid working hard in a class that they see as challenging because of the risk involved.
What Does Opening a Democratic Free School Look Like? — the mosaic school The first two weeks looked like some kids going to the courses we set up and others not. Some kids went one week and not the other. Some left in the middle. Some just wanted to watch. Mostly, the kids really wanted to exercise their right to choose. That seemed like the most important thing they wanted to figure out – is this a place where we’d actually let them decide on their own what they want to experience? Some would say they would not go to a course when we rang the bell to announce it. The kids hear us. This can be tough for adults, especially those who have prior teaching experience. I’ve been really amazed with the teachers we’ve got at TMS and their flexibility with the kids in the beginning stages. Starting a school looked like me and my newly found partner, Devin, spending hot days together and trying to process what the day held while cleaning up in the hour after the kids leave.
Failure Is Essential to Learning One of my favorite things to say when doing strategic planning with teachers is that the plan has a 50 percent chance of success and a 100 percent chance of teaching us how to get "smarter" about delivering on our mission. I love saying this because it conveys an essential truth: Failure is not a bad thing. It is a guaranteed and inevitable part of learning. In any and all endeavors, and especially as a learning organization, we will experience failure, as surely as a toddler will fall while learning to walk. Unfortunately, in education, particularly in this high-stakes accountability era, failure has become the term attached to our persistent challenges. Why Failure Is Important Early educational reformer John Dewey said it best: "Failure is instructive. Instead, we see failure as an opportunity for students to receive feedback on their strengths as well as their areas of improvement -- all for the purpose of getting better. How do you make failure students' friend? One Student's Story
Children Educate Themselves IV: Lessons from Sudbury Valley The Sudbury Valley School has, for the past forty years, been the best-kept secret in American education . Most students of education have never heard of it. Professors of education ignore it, not out of malice but because they cannot absorb it into their framework of educational thought. The Sudbury Valley model of education is not a variation of standard education. It is not a progressive version of traditional schooling. It is not a Montessori school or a Dewey school or a Piagetian constructivist school. But the secret is getting out, spread largely by students and others who have experienced the Sudbury Valley School directly. In the last posting I summarized evidence that hunter-gatherer children learn the extraordinary amount that they must to become effective adults through their own self-directed play and exploration. First, a few mundane facts. The school operates as a participatory democracy No staff members at the school have tenure.
Focus on the Process and Results Will Follow As I explored the correlation between great coaching and great teaching while interviewing highly successful sports coaches for a book about what teachers can learn from them, a common theme surfaced repeatedly. Several coaches stressed the importance of emphasizing the process rather than the results. This approach may seem counterintuitive, especially given the unprecedented emphasis on testing and performance in education today. However, the process-oriented approach to teaching and learning falls in line nicely with classroom instructional goals such as growth mindset and mastery. Because teachers are generally compliant, they will work diligently to produce the scores and performance that states, districts, and school leadership demand. The Problem Athletes at all levels face greater pressure today than ever before to be competitive, to score, to rack up statistics, and to produce wins. A Potential Solution Benefits of Emphasizing the Process
David Gribble The Making of an Expert Thirty years ago, two Hungarian educators, László and Klara Polgár, decided to challenge the popular assumption that women don’t succeed in areas requiring spatial thinking, such as chess. They wanted to make a point about the power of education. The Polgárs homeschooled their three daughters, and as part of their education the girls started playing chess with their parents at a very young age. It’s not only assumptions about gender differences in expertise that have started to crumble. So what does correlate with success? Consistently and overwhelmingly, the evidence showed that experts are always made, not born. The journey to truly superior performance is neither for the faint of heart nor for the impatient. Let’s begin our story with a little wine. What Is an Expert? In 1976, a fascinating event referred to as the “Judgment of Paris” took place. Two assumptions were challenged that day. How, then, can you tell when you’re dealing with a genuine expert? Practice Deliberately
Trusting my child to choose his own adventure: democratic unschooling in action | Offbeat Families I've been answering the question, "What grade is your son in?" for nine years, and even now I'm never quite sure what will come out of my mouth. In some ways, it's actually getting harder to answer. The older G gets, the farther off the map of traditional education we seem. G has been attending The Clearwater School since age four. I chose this school because I didn't want G to feel the pressure that kids can get "to live up to their potential." Each student has a vote in all decisions about the school's day-to-day operations, and the meetings can feature vigorous debate. He is also increasingly active in the democratic life of the school. G on the fourth lap around Greenlake by Amanda Klein Clearwater staff model a high level of respect for children and their interests, and relate to them without a trace of condescension. Being involved in this community has shown me how much children are capable of, and recently I realized I've come to look at adults differently, too.
WOOP to and through college Wish What is your most important academic Wish or concern? Pick a Wish that is challenging for you but that you can fulfill. Note your Wish in 3-6 words! Outcome What would be the best thing, the best Outcome about fulfilling your Wish? Note your best Outcome in 3-6 words! Now take a moment and imagine this best Outcome. Obstacle Sometimes things don‘t work out as we would like. Note your main Obstacle in 3-6 words! Now take a moment and imagine your main Obstacle. Plan What can you do to overcome your Obstacle? Think about it: When and where will the obstacle occur the next time? Make the following Plan: If… (Obstacle), Then I will …(action) If... Then... Copyright © 2014 Gabriele Oettingen.
125 Ways To Make Your School More Democratic | Pedagogies of Abundance Back in December, on a couple of blogs, I asked folks to contribute how they’ve made their schools or classrooms more democratic. Within days the list went from 15 (what we went live with) to hundreds, with contributions from educators in England, Israel, Puerto Rico, Brazil and all over the United States. And they’re still coming in. A couple of folks asked for a comprehensive list, so here it is. Crowdsourced and growing… Check out the list… What have you done, as a classroom teacher, a student, a parent, administrator, to make your school more equitable, less hierarchical, more welcoming to everyone, and more like a place where real thinking happens? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87.