Patience and persistence rule the ROLE

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I teach five sections of language arts to 109 total 8th graders. Like most years, some groups are a little tougher than others.

It's very early, I realize, but more students than last year, in general, have been reluctant to embrace our year-long reading program and other results-only learning strategies.

This has been a little frustrating, mainly because last years' students adapted to the ROLE so easily.

While I was recently reflecting on the first 10 days of the year, I realized that I needed to take my own advice: be patient and persistent.


So yesterday and today, I redoubled my efforts. Instead of getting frustrated when students were not discussing books or reading silently, I gently reminded them of the value of these activities.

When students asked what our reading project was worth, I reminded them that it is an opportunity for them to demonstrate learning in activities that they choose and that I would provide meaningful feedback along the way, rather than punish them with a number or letter grade. Then, I shared some narrative feedback for the entire class to see.

Most importantly, I began supplying even more feedback. I wrote on our online grade program comments like:

"You need to use all of the independent reading time I provide to read and reflect. Too much socializing makes it difficult for you to demonstrate understanding of learning outcomes, and it also disrupts those around you. If you need help finding something interesting to read, please see me. Remember, reading will make you more successful in all that you do."

These comments soon garnered e-mails from parents, thanking me and assuring me that they would help their children understand what they need to do.

I'm sure all is not suddenly roses, but the students are coming around -- thanks to a little patience and persistence.

Bring students into the rules discussion

One of my favorite bloggers, the extremely bright Pernille Ripp, sparked some Twitter chatter with her recent post on classroom rules.

Ripp says that students already know the rules, and we don't need to quote them in our classrooms.

'"Isn't this your 6th year in school?"  All nodded and starting to wake up a little.  "Do you need me to explain the rules or can you tell me what they are?"  With this, the buzzing started.  That little bit of chatter that kids get involved in when they start to see the light.  "We know the rules, I know how to act, we can set the rules...."'

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Obviously, as a teacher in a Results Only Learning Environment, I am on board with this approach. It's a difficult one for many teachers to embrace, though.

When I tell colleagues that I have no classroom rules, they are shocked. For some reason, there is an obsession with posting a bunch of Do's and Dont's around the room in gigantic type size.

As Ripp suggests, students already know the rules, especially older kids who have had rules and consequences hammered into them year after year by every teacher with a whiteboard or poster and tape. So, why repeat them? Why not discuss what will make any class successful, instead? Why not allow the students to lead the conversation, like Ripp did.

"I gave my students a voice and let them lead and they showed me they already know.  I am so excited for the rest of the year."

Give your students a voice, and you will be on your way to a problem-free classroom.

Want to know what's wrong with Teach for America?

This video is a clear indication of what's wrong with Teach for America. Pretty much everything the teacher does is contrary to best practices; yet this is what Arne Duncan, Bill Gates and President Obama want.

Is it any wonder we can't reform education?

When will the homework madness stop?

My 7-year-old second-grader brought home her first batch of homework today. It came in two workbooks, one textbook and one worksheet. It took her 30-40 minutes to complete, and it consisted of mostly review-type math, grammar and spelling work.

As I read the teacher's school web page, which explains the homework, I was not too shocked to see that she strongly supports this workload, contending that it will help my daughter learn responsibility and build good study habits, to which my best response is, "Poppycock!"

When will this homework madness stop? How many books and exhaustive homework studies must be completed before teachers eliminate this archaic habit?

To suggest that homework teaches responsibility is nothing shy of ludicrous. How can a child demonstrate responsibility, when given no choice in the task and threatened with punishment if the homework is not done? If I put a gun to your head and tell you to copy the Bill of Rights and you comply, does this make you responsible?

Alfie Kohn, Sara Bennett, John Hattie and Etta Kralovek are all noted educators and researchers who have denounced the effectiveness of homework as a teaching tool. Even Duke researcher Harris Cooper, who tried desperately in two separate studies to find value in the practice, said there is no measurable correlation between homework and achievement in elementary school.

Yet a second-grader is carrying five pounds of books and spending more than 30 minutes drawing lines from words to matching phrases.

Is there no end in sight to the homework monster?

What if educators just said "No" to the test?

I've never known a teacher to say, "Boy, I love standardized tests." Quite the contrary. Most teachers and many administrators oppose everything related to high stakes testing.

Many outspoken educators are not shy about voicing their opinions on the  matter. They complain in faculty lounges, at staff meetings or on their blogs that the test undermines everything that is good about teaching and learning. It is unfair to students, who have a years-worth of learning judged in a single 150-minute testing session.

Worst of all, teachers declare, the test makes students hate learning. In spite of all of this, we keep administering this abomination every year.

As our standardized test approached  last year, I asked some colleagues why we keep giving it. "What do you mean?" one asked. "We just have to." Again, I asked why.

What if, I suggested, we just say "No?" We band together with voices stentorian and tell the bureaucrats to keep their test, because we don't want it.

Imagine every teacher in your state promising solidarity and saying, "Don't even send the tests, because we will not administer them." What would the government do? What could district leaders do? Fire every teacher in the state?

Maybe, rather than give the decision-makers time to contemplate this possibility, we should just "get sick" the day of the test.

Imagine the statement educators across the country could  make, if the tests arrived and there were no teachers to administer them.

New school year brings ROLE introduction

Now that I have shed my traditional teacher clothes, in favor of results-only learning gear, I really love the first day of school. In my old traditional days, I used to do what most teachers do on day one: talk about rules, consequences and procedures. It was pretty dull for me and, especially, for the students.

Now, I share this ROLE presentation with my students, and the day is really exciting.

It's fun to watch students' jaws drop, when they learn that there is no homework, no tests, no worksheets and no grades in a ROLE. They ask cool questions like, "What are we doing, if there are no grades?" and "Really, no homework?"

Results-only learning makes every teaching day fun.

How to create good diagnostic instruments

I would love to see the words "test" and "quiz" eliminated from the education vernacular. In their traditional form, tests and quizzes do little more than punish students. These antiquated assessment devices are typically composed of multiple choice questions, which mirror content provided by the teacher, much of which requires only rote memory. If students don't remember the material or if they test poorly, they get a poor grade.

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Students who test well and have good memories usually get high grades. Still, the teacher has learned very little about what a student has learned.

Tests that are prepared as tools for diagnosing learning are different from those used as carrots and sticks to punish or reward students. A well-written diagnostic includes a variety of questions about each learning outcome. These are straight-forward items, maybe multiple choice, that are never meant to trick students.

An effective diagnostic should avoid words and phrases like, "not," "except," "never" and "all of the above," or "none of the above." Good diagnostics do not focus on minute details that are not necessary to demonstrate mastery of a learning outcome. For example, distinguishing characters in a short story is not relevant to understanding how the setting affects the characters' actions. Similarly, asking students to name FDR's vice president has no bearing on the impact of his New Deal on the Great Depression.

Finally, an effective diagnostic instrument should never be graded. This is why students hate tests. If you avoid the word "test" entirely, you can explain to your students that, much  like a doctor, you are simply diagnosing the health of their learning.

If the diagnostic indicates problems, then revisit the lessons and models, in order to reinforce the objectives. Then, you can always re-administer the diagnostic, if you feel it's necessary.