Maybe We Need To Get Back To Our Roots....

I have been less and less on Twitter and reading blogs.

Why?

Negativity.

The talk about education has shifted. When I first entered this space it was about connecting and sharing. People highlighted what was working in their classroom in the hopes others would follow suit. I was amazing each day to wake up and watch connections being made and classrooms sharing knowledge with each other. 

But I don't see as much of that any more. 

That isn't to say it isn't out there. Of course it is. There are still great resources being shared everyday, educators making connections and expanding the walls of the classroom. But more and more and more I hear anger. Granted, it is anger grown out of frustration but the tone of that anger has changed dramatically over the past 6 months. 

I read things like "Free The Bonds of Boring Schools," or "Grades Suck" or calling people involved in education reform tyrants or terrorists and I wonder are we helping or hurting?

There are 2 sides to the Education Reform debate. Those at the national level that want to move to more school choice and charter schools and incentive pay. Then there are those that are not. The vast majority of people who disagree with Gates and Rhee and Duncan are those in the classroom every day (and who blog and use social media everyday.) Frankly, I would want someone who is in the classroom and understands education to be heading up ideas on what we should do. 

But...

There is nothing wrong with discourse. It is what makes us all smarter and helps us think critically. (After all it is what we are trying to teach our kids to do.) The problem is I hear less discussions about discourse and more just mean discourse. And it makes those that disagree with the national policies sound just bad as Rhee or Gates or Duncan. 

The way I see it....

Grades aren't bad. How they are used is bad.

Standardize tests aren't bad. How they are used is bad. 

Awards aren't bad. How they are used and given out is bad.

Textbooks aren't bad. How they are created and used is bad. 

Teacher Incentive Pay isn't bad. How it is decided it will be done is bad.

Charter Schools aren't bad. But how they are run is bad. 

So why not forget about all the rhetoric. And stop with the negativity. Focus on the good. Get back to our roots and talk about what is working and use that as a basis for change. No reason we can't challenge each other and our ideas. But maybe we can do it without the negative talk. 

What do you think? Maybe I just see it differently from everyone else out there. Am I wrong? Help me wrap my mind around all of this. 

#Blog4Reform-Slow Down And Take A Step Back...

Today is Blogging For Real Educational Reform. Spearheaded by Ira Socol, what we hope is to generate 100's of blog posts about what real education reform looks like. There will be so many great posts, I encourage you to check out this post on the Cooperative Catalyst that you can submit your link to and see all the others. Better yet, why not blog about your ideas and post them there. Here is my small contribution....

I have been struggling a lot lately with my voice...

Over the past few months I have been very lucky, in that I have been able to travel the country, talking to lots of different people about lots of different things related to education. Most of it has been about social media and how educators can use it to get the professional development they really need. But in some of my conversations I have been asked to talk about reform, specifically my ideas on what education should really be doing and look like.

I have lots of ideas, most of them based on the classrooms I get to visit and the teachers I get to meet. I see what great education looks like in a lot of different places. The problem is it is not in every place. So I would go and talk about the different places I have been, the things I have seen and my ideas for reform or change.

But here lately I have begun to question whether or not I really know. Beyond that I wonder what makes anyone really know? Sure, we have ideas, but can we really say that this idea over that is best? I am not an expert in merit pay or value-added measurement or any of the popular terms that seem to be the basis for reform in this country. I do know that if I went into my classroom each day and did the absolute very best for kids I felt pretty good about the job that I was doing and (while I didn't agree with the methods) I usually had the scores to back it up.

I was reminded of this video today while I was working on another project. I think Tylor really gets to the heart of what it means to be a teacher. And I think it is what he describes that is lost on the loudest voices in the Ed Reform movement.



There are lots of people out there that will try to convince you they have the answer or know exactly the change to make. Before you drink the Kool-Aid, slow down and take a step back. Think about what you know and what is best, whatever it is, and see how that can mesh with what others are saying. If it doesn't blaze your own trail.

I am sure I will continue to struggle with my voice and my ideas. They are both a work in progress and I will continue to, each day, refine them, examine them and test them.

If you take anything away from all this reform talk let it be this. No matter what kind of change you want to make always ask yourself, in the end, are you doing what you know to be best for kids? Will what you do be best for kids? Why is it the best choice for kids?

What Twisted Sister Can Teach Us About Education Reform

So maybe we need to be like the kid in this video and stand up to those that think they know what "Education Reform" is.

Less talk.

More action.

Is There Room For More Than One Opinion Here?

Over the past few days all the talk in the edubloggersphere and on Twitter has been about the Education Nation project from NBC, the Waiting For Superman movie and on education reform in general. The topic on #Edchat this week centered around moving education reform conversations forward and many, many blog posts and conversations have centered around the topic.

It seems to me that these conversations come in waves. Yeah, many of us on Twitter and through our blogs try to talk about what isn't working or how to make things better and offer up several examples of what is working. But it seems there is this cycle of lots and lots of talk and then what seems like quiet whispering. The conversations and talk is there just not as loud...

I had a conversation this week with a good friend. We were talking about all that was happening this week and then she asked an interesting question. What if there were people (educators) that thought that some of things Rhee, Gates and Duncan were saying were actually right or might be good for Education.

We specificially talked about Rhee. She fired several hundred teachers in Washington D.C. There was a big flap about it several weeks ago. What if firing is the right thing do? What if those really were bad teachers who needed to who leave the classroom. Why would that be so bad? Perhaps the methods used were unorthodox but what if when it comes to the education of those kids, it was the right thing to do?

Or what if there are good models of charter schools out there? Why would that be bad for kids? There are plenty of examples of charters that are bad, yes. But just like we talk about examples of good schools, maybe there are examples of charters that are really making a difference in the lives of kids?

To be honest I don't know the whole history of the education reform movement. I want to know more. (If you have suggestions for books besides Ravtich, I will be glad to take them in the comments.) But I do know that in this day an age, it is tough to have an opposite opinion from the mainstream.

I think maybe there are some of us to have a tendency to leap before we look. Questioning is a good thing and we should (and have the right to) question those that are trying to tell us all of educations ills. But sometimes we hear about something (like Education Nation) and before it begins we criticize and dismiss it as bad reform. Now, what if we watched, read and listened, then took time to digest. It might not change our opinions but we might actually get this reform training moving because we will have all the information, all the facts and can have open an honest dialogue about it.

Now let me be clear. I do not think most of what NBC or Gates or anyone one of the corporate "educators" is saying is right. I do believe, however, is all sides and conversation need and deserve to be heard. And I just wonder if the "echo chamber" only has room for one type of view?

I have seen it before. People who do not agree with one particular view or opinion are sometimes publicly berated because their views are different. I just wonder if there are room for differences, even opposing views on what we all think might be best with education? I hope there are...

What do you think? Can you go on Twitter or your Blog and feel comfortable going against the mainstream? What if you agreed with Gates or Rhee or the Waiting For Superman Movie. Do you feel comfortable letting your opinion be known?

Image From Flickr CC Images

The Echo Chamber Of Education Reform...

One of the complaints I get and hear about Twitter, specifically, educators on Twitter, is that it is an echo chamber. Meaning that most of us that take part in things like #edchat, general discussion or just sit on the sidelines, generally feel the same way about education, that we are headed down the wrong path and need to change. Often the conversations go around and around, there is some fist bumping but no real action. 


You know what I think? To an extent the complaints are correct. I often see or take part in discussions that give me a sense of deja vù, that we have been here before, going around in our circle again...


Last night's #edchat was dedicated to figuring out how to move the conversation away from Twitter, blogs, and the Intertubes in general, and take it to the people who really matter, policy makers, state and local legislatures, boards, media, and anyone who will listen. 


Here are a few highlights:

• Ed reform takes TIME-time to meet, time to discuss, time to explore, time to learn. To have more influence, teachers must invest TIME.
• To participate in ed reform, teachers must embrace new roles & responsibilities, looking beyond their own classrooms.
• Admins need to actively encourage teacher leaders & provide opportunities for growth & participation in decision-making.
• Teachers must have positive relations with parents & community (and media).
• Teachers must take the extra moment and advertise the great things they do, and not consider it bragging!
• Students actually have far more power than some may think. They may influence many if inspired.
• Mustn't forget who we serve. First students, then families, community, society, administration, school board? in what order? 
• For effective change, we need effective teams working together, Build relationships with your own staff. Tribes.

Be sure to check out the entire archive and visit the new #edchat Facebook page for tons more info.


Here are some of my thoughts...


There are tons of people both on Twitter and off who are taking their message to the masses. Jeff Pulver believes in education so much that at his series of 140 Conferences he has upped the number of education related panels and talks from 1 in Los Angeles in Oct. 2009 to 4 at the most recent in NYC. At conferences around the world many educators are talking to audiences about why we need social media in the classroom and how relying completely on summative assessments is the wrong way to look at student achievement and other "hot button" education topics. 


The problem is, most of the time, the same people are hearing the same messages. And even further, those people already agree. There aren't enough educators talking to the people that matter. And really, that isn't their fault. I blame those that refuse to listen. Take state government. A politician will get in front of a camera all day long and say they are for education and that education is a priority. But when it comes to putting your money where your mouth is that politician is suddenly silent. It isn't the voices of the students or educators that they listen to it is the big bucks of donors that keep them in office who's voices are the loudest. 


Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of educators that stand up and talk to those in positions of power. (I being one of them.) But until those in power begin to listen we can't make any inroads. 


So what do we do? 


First, we have to quit talking about testing. Someone last night said that when we talk about reform we ultimately come back to testing. Yes, the system most of us have is flawed. But I believe it is the way data is used, not collected that is the problem. Standardized tests can tell you a lot about individual students and how those students assigned to a particular teacher compare to each other. But when that data is used in such a way to compare kids to different teachers, or even worse, to different kids at different schools in different districts, that is a misuse of data. Education leaders using only the test is also an example of a flawed system. If we encourage teachers to use more formative assessments along the way, have students produce products that demonstrate learning, when it comes time for the summative assessment (the "Test") there will be no worries because you, the teacher, know what your kids were lacking, made some changes to your teaching and all turned out alright. We need to face it. Tests are here to stay at least for the time being. Do something different in your classroom. And forget about tests. 


What else can we do? Educators have to reach out and add voices to the chorus. Get to your parents, make them an ally. Talk to your community. Make them a partner. It is easy for policy makers to ignore educators. (Frankly, they do it all the time.) But when we add local businesses, parents, community leaders, it gets that much tougher for them ignore. We have to quit thinking that parents and the community are the enemy. Schools were once centers of our community. We have to get back to that. Separate, we are week. Together we are strong. (Clichè?)


Finally, we have to stop believing that there is some magical, one-size-fits-all change out there. The problems I have at my school are completely different from all the other schools in my district and from your school. While there are general things we all need to focus our effort on; technology in the classroom, teacher prep, professional development, PLC's. None is the exclusive answer for every situation. Figure out what change is needed in your area and start there. Start small. Change in the classroom is easy. Doing different is often contagious. You start doing things different, and suddenly your team or grade level is doing it too and then your school. Thats when things get noticed and you can spread your message. 


The key in all this is to not get discourage. Change in education is like an ice age. It happens slow. But it does happen. Stick with it and remember, its not about us. It is about those kids that come through our doors everyday. Don't they deserve it?