The Forest

Late October in Pennsylvania means fall colors at their peak, and the best way to experience them is by taking a walk in the woods. A forest provides a palette that a single tree cannot.

We all know the saying about missing the forest for the trees, when we miss the colorful palette because we are too focused on a single specimen. This is a time of the school year when it becomes very easy to get bogged down in everyday items like grading homework, giving tests, contacting parents, and attending meetings.

So . . . this post is about stepping away from the tree and seeing the whole palette by revisiting the big picture goals. I want my students to become more literate by developing their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. No single lesson, test or homework assignment will accomplish that, so I need to make sure I keep all aspects of the program in place.

That includes the type of reflection that blogging allows. I hope to avoid a ten-day lapse between posts again.

Six-Word Memoirs

After hearing a radio interview some time ago, I have become a big fan of the Six-Word Memoir. The concept comes from the website of Smith Magazine, a literary publication that allows writers to submit their personal stories in six words. Apparently, the basis of the idea came from a story about Ernest Hemingway - when challenged to write a story in six words, he came up with this: "For sale, baby shoes, never worn."

Earlier this year, my eighth graders tried out the process and came up with some gems. It can be a challenge to make meaning in so few words, but they did so in creative and touching ways.

This week, I posted some of them on a bulletin board and will invite students and guests to add more. (Leave one in the Comments section and it will go up on the board.) I love the activity because it really engages students with content and meaning without being bogged down much by the mechanics of writing. Consequently, students who may normally struggle with certain elements of writing longer pieces get to shine in this format.

Being Institutionalized

While at a meeting this week, the speaker noted that as the organization we are a part of grew, it became more institutional in the way it managed tasks. He also opined that this was not necessarily a good thing.

The parallel to education revealed itself immediately. As the education system has metastasized towards amorphous entities with increasingly narrow goals, teaching practices have become standardized, even scripted in many cases. The narrow goals result in what I like to call the 'franchising' of education - the same experience for every student in every place.

This works well with hamburgers. A Big Mac in Philadelphia tastes the same as a Big Mac in Riverton, Wyoming. But does the same hold true for education? No - because the ingredients are too different. Students in Riverton would likely have an understanding and appreciation for the outdoors that Philadelphia students might lack. And in Philadelphia, students have access to an arts scene that would be foreign to kids in Wyoming. Within any classroom, you will find students with different experiences, enthusiasm levels and learning styles. Squeezing them all through a narrow set of goals reduces education to a matter of least common denominator - the bare minimum that must be mastered rather than taking advantage of the multiple gifts that students come to school with.

The least common denominator, the standardization of the experience reflects the institutionalization of education. Students, parents, teachers and schools need more choices, developed with the best interests of all in mind. This means more local control, more choices, and validation of the belief that there are many ways to be productive in this world.

Would more choices be tidy? Certainly not. But it is hard to argue that there are not already plenty of messes to clean up. I would much rather see achieving maximum potential as our goal, rather than settling for minimum standards.

Quality vs. Quantity Redux

In a previous post, I outlined my thoughts on the debate over whether the school day and school year should be extended. I'd like to revisit it through two recent articles on the topic.

In a post entitled Meatloaf Again? on the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations blog, Michael Corso illuminates the highlights of the issue with clarity and a great analogy. In Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, an opinion piece by Michael Smerconish provides a thoughtful discussion that incorporates multiple viewpoints from someone outside the education field - a necessary part of any educational policy debate.

Communication Modes

A primary objective for both 7th and 8th grade Language Arts classes this year is an appreciation for various ways people choose to communicate. Two activities today helped underscore this objective.

As a Steinbeck fan, I am always happy to use his books with students. The 7th graders are reading The Pearl, and as a way to briefly summarize before moving ahead, they wrote headlines for the first chapter. Their creativity was excellent - some of my favorites were 'Song of Evil Overcomes Song of Family', 'Doctor: Friend or Foe?', and the tabloid-y 'Doctor Disses Patient'. Being succinct is not always easy, but they were still able to communicate the gist of the chapter successfully.

The 8th graders are reading Of Mice and Men, and their job was to text a conversation between Lennie and George. Texting is a process they are quite comfortable with, and were able to see the parallels to dialogue while having fun in the process.

TTFN ;)