I've always felt that many of the disruptions in class come from when students are bored. That's why an engaging lesson plan is extremely important. But even with the most engaging lessons, some students move at a faster pace than others. Many of the adult students I currently work with are incredibly smart, and didn't finish school just because they felt bored, because they moved faster than their peers and were not given any recognition for it. (Not to mention, DC Public Schools are not known for having the best GT services, which these students would most likely have benefited from.)
But there is good news! DC is in the process of implementing graduation requirements based on competency, rather than on number of hours spent in class. This supposedly radical policy has already been implemented in New Hampshire. Hopefully once implemented, rewarding students based on competency rather than class hours will solve several problems all at once: a) students who "pass" to the next grade level will not have holes in their learning; b) students can learn how to take charge of their own learning and develop life skills such as time-management and self-responsibility; c) the independence required in college and in other options after high school won't be as much of a transition; d) students who are really motivated can finish high school early (i.e. by 15 or 16) and have time to work to pay for school (and get real-world experience) before heading off to college; and e) as I've already stated, classroom discipline will be less of an issue since students can always be doing something.
So many good things can come from this! Hopefully this policy will come to fruition.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
People Who Know What They're Talking About
I have a job because the public education system is broken. My adult students want to be successful, but the public schools did not give them that opportunity. Sure, many of them had to leave because they got pregnant, or had to start working, but the majority of students I've talked to said they weren't motivated and found school boring. These students are extremely smart and perhaps had undiagnosed learning disabilities or felt their teachers didn't care, which is a totally legitimate thought for a teenager with other things going on in his or her life.
The problem is not getting any better, and the standardized testing movement has tricked us into thinking our schools are improving. But when we compare American schools to those internationally, we are doing pretty terribly in the things that really matter: problem solving, inquiry, and written expression. The great Linda Darling-Hammond explains things eloquently and succinctly here. Watch it.
The problem is not getting any better, and the standardized testing movement has tricked us into thinking our schools are improving. But when we compare American schools to those internationally, we are doing pretty terribly in the things that really matter: problem solving, inquiry, and written expression. The great Linda Darling-Hammond explains things eloquently and succinctly here. Watch it.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
What motivates you?
Yesterday I participated in Part 1 of 3 of a webinar training about Self Determination Theory. As this was the first session, we merely brushed the surface, but our primary objective was determining the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and how we can encourage the former.
For those who don't know, intrinsic motivation happens when people want to do something because it appeals to their sense of relevance, values, and/or long-term goals. An example relevant to education would be people doing well in a subject because it interests them. An example relevant to all of us would be taking out the garbage because we don't want the house to smell. Extrinsic motivation is when people do something for external reasons, like getting a good grade or getting a promotion. So for example, if a parent tells a child to do their homework or they're grounded, the child has external motivation to do it, but isn't necessarily getting anything out of it because their internal motivation hasn't been activated. Thus, homework to the extrinsically motivated child is something they "must" do rather than "choose" to do.
The tough question is: how do we get students to "choose" to do something, thus propelling their internal motivation? External motivation alone won't cut it. This is the case regardless of your age. Yes, my adult students respond to candy in the same way my teenage students did -- but what's the bigger motivation that drives them? Getting their GEDs, sure, but there has to be something beyond that point. Part of my job is to steer them toward a more long-term goal, but this is challenging when they didn't grow up in an environment in which "long-term" was normal vocabulary. I'm eager to see if this webinar will uncover ways to help students reach this mindset.
At the end of the webinar, the instructor gave us an assignment to complete before the next session to get full PD points, to which one participant said it was external motivation that was making us complete the assignment -- but I think it's a little of both (if you're interested in this topic, that is). At this point I'm still chewing on what we discussed yesterday, and will hopefully have more to blog about next week.
For those who don't know, intrinsic motivation happens when people want to do something because it appeals to their sense of relevance, values, and/or long-term goals. An example relevant to education would be people doing well in a subject because it interests them. An example relevant to all of us would be taking out the garbage because we don't want the house to smell. Extrinsic motivation is when people do something for external reasons, like getting a good grade or getting a promotion. So for example, if a parent tells a child to do their homework or they're grounded, the child has external motivation to do it, but isn't necessarily getting anything out of it because their internal motivation hasn't been activated. Thus, homework to the extrinsically motivated child is something they "must" do rather than "choose" to do.
The tough question is: how do we get students to "choose" to do something, thus propelling their internal motivation? External motivation alone won't cut it. This is the case regardless of your age. Yes, my adult students respond to candy in the same way my teenage students did -- but what's the bigger motivation that drives them? Getting their GEDs, sure, but there has to be something beyond that point. Part of my job is to steer them toward a more long-term goal, but this is challenging when they didn't grow up in an environment in which "long-term" was normal vocabulary. I'm eager to see if this webinar will uncover ways to help students reach this mindset.
At the end of the webinar, the instructor gave us an assignment to complete before the next session to get full PD points, to which one participant said it was external motivation that was making us complete the assignment -- but I think it's a little of both (if you're interested in this topic, that is). At this point I'm still chewing on what we discussed yesterday, and will hopefully have more to blog about next week.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
I'm back!
I really have no excuse for being gone this long. In August, I took a job teaching GED classes to adults and it's incredibly rewarding and far better (for me, at least) than teaching high school students. I guess maybe I was using that change in my life to justify not writing about K-12 education, but that's a stupid reason, especially since if K12 ed were better, there would be no need for GED classes.
And then after a couple more months, I figured "well, I've stopped for this long. Might as well stop entirely," but that's an even dumber reason because that's essentially quitting for no good reason. So I have wised up, and here I am again.
I'm sure you're not asking what the catalyst for my return is, but I'll tell you anyway. I read this feel-good article in WaPo today about a student from Anacostia High (probably the worst school in the District) getting a full ride to Georgetown and my initial reaction was, "Awesome! Good for her!" But then I stumbled upon this article and thought, "Oh yeah, good point. High schools (especially those in urban areas) really need to ramp it up."
Finally, I read this article from The New York Times, and the TL;DR version of it is is that students from lower-income families have a lower chance of graduating from college which often has more to do with the culture shock and motivation required in college, not finances. A professor at UT-Austin is trying to figure out ways to help them graduate.
It's no secret that schools in "poor" areas are not as good as schools from wealthy areas, but I thought all three of these articles did a great job of pointing out the psychological endeavors students must go through when they transition to college, which lower-income students struggle more with. These are things you cannot measure. But these are things that are critically important to be aware of, and then attempt to fix.
As Rashema points out in the first article, "[E]ducation is the only way out [of poverty]." If an 18 year old understands this, why don't the people who make the decisions?
And then after a couple more months, I figured "well, I've stopped for this long. Might as well stop entirely," but that's an even dumber reason because that's essentially quitting for no good reason. So I have wised up, and here I am again.
I'm sure you're not asking what the catalyst for my return is, but I'll tell you anyway. I read this feel-good article in WaPo today about a student from Anacostia High (probably the worst school in the District) getting a full ride to Georgetown and my initial reaction was, "Awesome! Good for her!" But then I stumbled upon this article and thought, "Oh yeah, good point. High schools (especially those in urban areas) really need to ramp it up."
Finally, I read this article from The New York Times, and the TL;DR version of it is is that students from lower-income families have a lower chance of graduating from college which often has more to do with the culture shock and motivation required in college, not finances. A professor at UT-Austin is trying to figure out ways to help them graduate.
It's no secret that schools in "poor" areas are not as good as schools from wealthy areas, but I thought all three of these articles did a great job of pointing out the psychological endeavors students must go through when they transition to college, which lower-income students struggle more with. These are things you cannot measure. But these are things that are critically important to be aware of, and then attempt to fix.
As Rashema points out in the first article, "[E]ducation is the only way out [of poverty]." If an 18 year old understands this, why don't the people who make the decisions?
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