What is education all about?

Education, as I see it, is to provide students with the skills, tools, and confidence for a life of inquisitiveness. Nary a day goes by where I fail to learn something. Some days what I learn is rather pedestrian, or inconsequential. Some days what I learn is eye opening, mind bending, or life changing. Sometimes, something I may not have given much value to will become extraordinary when put together with something new! And that is one of those skills every child needs to develop; the ability to synthesize what they learn, and the ability to transfer knowledge from one part of life, or one subject, to another.

Instead, most children have the love of learning slowing strangled, or wrestled from them by the very nature of school. The architecture of today's education system forces teachers to make decisions which do not encourage children's natural curiosity. Rather, teachers are concerned about meeting ever increasing, externally levied, measures of student progress. While working on my Masters of Education: Best Practices, I have discovered there are any number of ways to measure student progress. The thing is, the teacher has to be able to make informed decisions on how best to do that. I am not yet a full time teacher, though I do spend quite a bit of time in classrooms as a substitute. There is still a lot of originality in classrooms, but less and less of that originality is geared towards educating students because of the focus on students' test scores.

If you are concerned at all about your child's education, get to know your teachers, principals, and district officials. I don't recommend telling them how to do their job, but you can ask them questions. Let them get to know you, while getting to know them. Find out what their views on education are. Find out what they think about standardized testing, and what they think the best sorts of assessment are. If you disagree, that's OK. Try to find out why they think the way they do, and consider what leads you to the conclusions you hold dear.

One of the most important tools in a good, or great, teacher's arsenal is reflection. Any teacher worth their salt is constantly asking themselves what they could do better, how can they reach a seemingly difficult child. Yes a lot of teachers hold fast and hard to points of view, who doesn't. The question is, are you willing to review you point of view. Are you willing to ask why, or what lead you to that point of view. I think you'll find that engaging in civil dialog, rather than telling a teacher how to do something will have far greater pay-offs than being confrontational. No matter what you may think of the person who runs your child's classroom, in all but a few cases, they hold the best interest of everyone in their stewardship as top priority, so find out who is behind - whatever it is that makes you uncomfortable.

Homework, When it Isn't Helpful

Homework is not successful when it causes frustration at home. When parents have to play homework cop, the potential for healthy interaction is reduced. Yes, some families really do go for 'more is better' on the homework front, but that is not a widely held outlook.

When I was in elementary school, I didn't have regular homework until 6th grade. That homework was just to get me used to the idea for jr. high. A good part of my afternoons in elementary school was spent playing with friends, finding ways to entertain myself, using my imagination, and learning conflict resolution by dealing with conflicts between my friends and myself. Adults were seldom around, or 'under foot'. They were readily available when someone got hurt, or if we couldn't solve problems on our own. I remember going home with bruised feelings and ego. I would talk to my mom, and try her suggestions later that day, or the next.

Today, so many children have their lives scheduled for them from dawn 'till dusk. They are never without a parent within reach, or at least a quiet shout. They don't have the chance to deal with conflict on their own, because as soon as one child shouts unfair, or someone gets hit, then a parent is in there pulling rank and dealing with it. The child doesn't have a chance. I think it is a shame that children don't have the opportunities I had to learn on their own through trial and error. The school of hard knocks is not perfect, but it is effective, and the lessons learned are not soon forgotten.

Back to homework though. I find that when the homework is not looked at by the teacher after being completed, that is the WORST kind of homework. The child realizes the teacher doesn't look at it, so it must not be important and is a waste of time! Sending homework without it being related to classroom work, or without being taught first in the classroom, causes stress in the child and potentially they reinforce incorrect thinking. If the student doesn't understand and the parent does it, what has the child learned?

The best homework I have come across, is leveled to the student's ability. Allowing them to reinforce what they know. And should not take more than 15-20 minutes.

What do you think?

I Went to a Job Faire Today for Teachers

Last year about a thousand teachers in attendance, this year's attendance seemed to double that. Schools in California are ranked 47th in the nation in per student spending. Pretty poor for the nation's richest state! I read a report a few years ago stating that if California were a nation, it would have been the seventh wealthiest nation in the world! And we can't make our students a high enough priority to at least put them somewhere above average?! Much less at the top?

I think our state spends too much money trying to take care of every last need, to the point that now we can't balance our budget. While I have nothing against taking care of people, we have to make sure that welfare of the state is met in the process. We can't do everything that makes us feel good. We can't pay for everyone's college, including illegal immigrants, as I've heard suggested. We have to meet the needs, basic needs, of citizens first. Make sure we have a healthy budget, that income exceeds expenditures (creating income that won't frighten off business) so we can meet obligations. Then we look at what we can do to lend a hand, not just hand out to everyone.

I get the sense from time to time, that what used to be considered as privilege is now seen as entitlement. I see raising a generation of people with the sense of entitlement is very dangerous. People who feel entitled to something don't feel the need to work for anything, and they don't feel they should have to wait for anything. And I believe people who feel entitled to something are much more likely to take what they feel entitled to if it is not given to them.

Another sad thing about our state's budget... education is about 40% of the state's budget, the single largest expense in the state. Where does that money go, that this state is 47th in the nation on per student spending? How do we fix this? A lot of teachers are already having to look at other districts for work because they have received pink slips. Many districts in my area don't know what their funding will look like for next year until several months from now, at least.

At what cost do we gamble with the education of our children? How long will this state be blessed with the dedication and self sacrifice I have seen in the teachers who teach our children?

Homework; What Is It For?

Home work is such a highly debated subject. I have seen this issue from two sides of the argument, definitely not all sides.

As a parent I have bemoaned the fact that my children had homework as kindergartners, especially since we already read to them quite a bit. My wife and I have always encouraged our children to express themselves through words and drawing, or coloring, so the homework they brought from kindergarten just seemed redundant. It was not a big deal, just a nuisance. Our children are two years apart, had different 1st grade teachers, and had very different types of homework from their first grade teachers. As my children have grown older, homework definitely becomes more relevant to their learning.

In first grade my son had reading, some math and occasionally spelling or some other topic to work on. All of his work was required to be turned in. My daughter on the other hand, had everything from reading (with a log), to observing the changing of seasons, to spelling words, to math. Only occasionally was her work required to be turned in. There was a sheet to be signed by the parent stating all work was completed, and questions about what was learned, what was most fun, etc., though my daughter always had issues with homework that the teacher did not want to see. I can't say I blame her.

I believe strongly that home should always be made relevant to lessons in the classroom (which was the case with my daughter,) that homework should be used to reinforce skills taught in the classroom (questionable at times,) and should never allow the student to feel like they are being made to waste their time (my daughter usually felt like she was wasting her time - the teacher didn't want to see her work. Or at least didn't feel the need to see her work.)

My daughter had the same teacher again for second grade, which was fine with my daughter, and with my wife and me. Other than the homework, we feel that this teacher truly cares about her students, works hard to make them feel successful, and is good about communicating with parents.

Homework for in upper elementary, middle, and high school, years is increasingly important. The amount of homework varies greatly based on parent demand, teachers' philosophy, and district policy. In areas where competition for access to ivy league or top 10 universities is high, it seems homework is a major focus. I can only wonder how homework is viewed in schools where attendance, and the educational process are viewed as something of a nuisance, or worse. In schools where survival is more important than education, how do teachers reach parents and students?

Whatever the situation, I believe that communication between parents and teachers is essential for homework to be worthwhile. And homework needs to reinforce what is taught in the classroom. If that can incorporate something from the student's life, culture, interests, so much the better.

What do you think?

Parents' Perceptions of School

From experience I would think that most people's perceptions of schools and teachers will be affected by their memories of their own years in elementary school. From reading, conversations with adults of various ages, and my recollections, I have found that unhappy memories of the elementary years dissuade parents from trusting school staff members and they are less likely to participate in classrooms or on PTA, and are less likely to trust their child's teacher, much less seek out the help or cooperation of their child's teacher.

Conundrum

I observed a Master Teacher yesterday. She is so good she is one of two math coaches for the district she works in. I saw her do some fantastic things with her class, challenging all of her students at once, with a single math lesson, from the lowest to the most advanced learners in the class. This teacher is focused on advancing each and every student as much as possible.

Before I left she showed me some tools she teachers to her students for two digit subtraction, multiplication, and long division, which takes the pain out of doing these problems! It was fantastic. Students aren't struggling with borrowing (or regrouping, or whatever it's called in schools where you are,) which frustrates students and slows down the learning process. The students are sharing their thoughts on how they solve problems, and seeing their ideas on the board. None of them are told they are wrong or that they have a bad way of approaching something. They are learning that there is more than one way to approach something.

This is something I have tried in various ways as a substitute to help students understand relationships between numbers, with limited success. I find some students already get it, others just needed to have a little light cast in the shadows to see the problem in a new way, and the rest are so stuck on how things are normally done they end up frustrated or confused. But they do understand that I am trying to help them which they appreciate.

So at home, I'm going to use what I saw yesterday to help my daughter — and what do I get? "My teacher wants us to do it this way." "I'll get in trouble if I do it that way. " She shuts down and refuses to let me help. It doesn't matter to her if it is easier or not; it's not the way her teacher wants it! I don't blame the teacher for this, though I wonder who else has dealt with this same issue, and how you have dealt with it - with the teacher, without the teacher, in spite of the teacher?

I can understand that there are occaassions when concepts need to be taught a certain way, but few things have only one way of being done. I can understand many teachers don't want to have conflicting ideas floating around because it takes time to cover more than one way of doing things. What I saw today showed me how helping students understand different ways of looking at something should be integrated into lessons, and it can be done in a timely and effecient manner. Though I have to keep in mind, some students can only dealing with one way of doing something.

As a parent I find it baffling and frustrating to no end to have my child fight me when I try to explain something because it is not done that way at school. Yes it is possible for parents to set their children back if they teach something wrong. What I am suggesting is a closer partnership between parents and teachers. Having school and home at odds with each other is not good for the children.

What do you think?

Engagment

Too many of my elementary school memories consist of (these are the memories of a 'Calvin & Hobbs-esque' boy) sitting through hours of droning by the teacher at the front of the classroom with little in the way of conversation or participation. And the kind of participation we had I was not interested in because I was not fond of being laughed at. All of the classrooms I was in since 1st grade had the desks with the integrated seat, lined up in rows, or columns, depending on one's point of view. As soon as the teacher mentioned something that did not interest me, or that I did not understand, I would tune-out. I was gone until the bell rang for recess, lunch, or the end of the day. I also resented being called on to answer questions my teacher knew darn well I hadn't heard.

On occasion there were those days when lessons were interesting because the teacher was interested, and added relevant material. Material which tied the concepts or skills to our everyday lives. Most everyone can relate to sharing cookies, eating a slice of pizza, or getting change from a purchase. For other students the lessons they remembered may have revolved around sports or music. But to have something that interested me, gained my attention, caused me to care about what was being taught, and I put effort into learning. My comprehension improved tremendously during these times.

Creating lessons for every topic, for every day of the week, for an entire year, that engages all students, at various levels of development, is an extremely tall order. Impossible if the teacher doesn't know anything about the students in his/her class. This is why, when teachers send home questionnaires about your student(s), it is so important to fill them out and return them. The feedback will not only provide the teacher with ideas of what interests are common to students, to aide in the creation of engaging lessons, and it will help teachers build a relationship with each and every student more quickly. This is critical to creating a community within the classroom; healthy community promotes learning; safe community promotes exploration and a willingness to share thoughts, ideas, creations, and opinions. This is where learning happens at its best.

As parents we can help provide the optimal environment for our children by helping them to express themselves by listening to them patiently and asking guiding questions. Helping children be comfortable at home and around other people besides family sharing ideas and opinions will help develop the confidence they need at school. Communication with your child's teacher is also important to find out how your child is doing in class, and to know what his/her teacher's expectations are with your child.