Author: Peter Pappas

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Life is Good – For those with 21st Century Skills

This week I had the privilege to be the keynote speaker at the Mid-Willamette Education Consortium Conference “Life is Good” in Salem Oregon. I began the day as the featured speaker at the administrators’ luncheon. The organizer had asked me to recommend a book for the attendees. I selected Tough Choices or Tough Times: The Report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce.  It speaks to one of the central challenges of education  – how to ensure that students have ample support for creativity and reflection – think of Bloom’s synthesis and evaluation. The report states:

“Creativity, innovation, and flexibility will not be the special province of an elite. It will be demanded of virtually everyone who is making a decent living. … If someone can figure out the algorithm for a routine job, chances are that it is economic to automate it…. The best employers the world over will be looking for the most competent, most creative and most innovative people on the face of the earth and be willing to pay then top dollar for their services.” more

After lunch I gave my keynote talk to an audience of CTE teachers – I entitled it, “Life is Good – For those with 21st Century Skills” Teachers don’t have time to waste – and they like to leave a workshop with practical ideas. I was pleased when I received this email from one of the attendees.

Peter,

I attended the MWEC kick off last night…and deeply appreciated your presentation.  I was the one who asked about the Checking Account comparison assignment… As a warm-up activity I did as you suggested…had the kids select something they might want to purchase…had them figure out what “things” (later defined that as criteria) they would consider when purchasing their item…They were into it…asked tons of questions to clarify…and did a great job… I had them get away from their computer, walked into the hall…into two lines….then they faced each other (random pairing…on purpose) One designed line explained their CRITERIA to the other line…the second line were actively listening and repeated the criteria back…and vice versa…. While they were still standing outside the classroom, I explained the checking unit and our next comparison activity… They are still working on it, but they are MUCH clearer about the process than any of my previous classes have been. 

THANK YOU for sharing your ideas!  It is always great if you can take one or two things away from a conference, but I have never been able to walk directly back into my classroom and utilize a conference tidbit like this… WONDERFUL!

Carol Kilfoil
Business Education Teacher
Department Chair
West Salem High School
Salem, OR 

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Summer Academies that Support Ninth Grade Transition

A recent issue of Education Week featured a ninth grade transition program that combats the drop-out problem associated with movement from middle to high school – see “Pittsburgh Building ‘Nation’ of 9th Graders.” Education Week, August 29, 2007

The idea was to target not just the teenagers’ heads, but also their hearts. A week of getting used to their new schools, befriending their classmates and teachers, and undertaking adventures together was designed to forge what district officials are calling a “9th Grade Nation”—a freshman class that moves through high school feeling supported and confident.  Read 9grade-Nation (98KB pdf)

Reading about this program reminded me of a summer program that I designed and served as founding director from 1999-2000. The "Summer Prep Program" targeted students exiting 5th – 8th grade who were academically at-risk.  Elementary, middle and high school teachers (and a dedicated school nurse) delivered a specially designed three-week curriculum designed to engage students in their learning and foster a positive attitude towards school. A dozen high school and college interns assisted in the program, serving as positive role models and establishing friendships that will extend into the school year.  Summer Prep produced excellent results with nearly one-half of our students improving their grades in three or four of their core courses.

Specially trained teams of teachers provide daily instruction in English, math, technology, library research, learning and organizational skills. Each grade was divided into small sections. Classes were held from 8 AM – 11 AM, Monday – Thursday. Preprocks Each Friday was reserved for an activity day – indoor wall climbing, ropes, obstacle courses, kayaking, and even a juggling workshop.  As one parent wrote about the program "The Summer Prep School was the best thing that could have happened to my daughter this summer. She struggled throughout the school year – and with the frustration of struggling, she lost confidence and enthusiasm for school in general. However, this excellent program spurred in her a renewed interest in learning. Every day as I picked her up, she had a fun and exciting anecdote to tell me about. She absolutely loved her writing class – believe it showed as I am leafing through her folder tonight at Open House. I would like to thank Mr. Pappas for his extreme enthusiasm and support of our daughter at a very difficult personal as well as scholastic juncture in her life."

The cooperation and teamwork of parent, student and teacher is essential to success. Parents’ workshops were offered to support and inform the parents with practical activities and techniques in communications, discipline, academic support and problem solving.

As one parent wrote about the parenting workshops "Over the last 4 weeks – my relationship with my daughter has grown by leaps and bounds!! This program has helped me to identify the behaviors she exhibits that trigger me to get upset. The whole family has had benefits, especially with improvements in communications. More concrete boundaries and expectations have been established and our family life had been more relaxed, peaceful, and less stressful. Thank you for offering our expertise. I have looked forward to Tuesday evenings this summer."

Visit an archived version of the Summer Prep School website and read more about the program in the SAANYS Journal. Find out more about Summer Prep and Ninth Grade Academies at Small Learning Academies that Work.

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Engage Student Thinking with a Response System

Teachers everywhere strive to make classes more engaging –learning environments where students can reflect and share their thinking. This year, a pilot project in Oregon’s Klamath County School District is using TurningPoint student response systems to help teachers achieve that goal.

I have used a TurningPoint response system in my workshops for two years, and with the right questions, I’ve used it transform to a 300-seat auditorium into a “Socratic seminar.” The team at Klamath County attended a few of my workshops and decided to bring the technology back into their classrooms. They’ve asked me to serve as a project advisor to help teachers learn to utilize the system to create greater rigor and relevance for their students. The district is providing ten teachers with presentation stations which include a 30-seat TurningPoint Student Response Systems.

This past week I helped kick off the year-long pilot with a full day introduction to the systems and its full instructional power. I was joined by Mike Venrose of TurningTechnologies. Together we trained the teachers in creating TurningPoint presentations, and using a variety of programs tools to create interactive lessons for their students.

I asked the teachers to share some of their ideas for using TurningPoint.

Krista Nieraeth: 7 – 12 Science and 7th Grade Math
My goal for using TP is to keep all of the students on their toes so I don’t lose any to cognitive wanderings during class.  I want to have the ability to make the lessons fresh and exciting at all times and to ensure that all of my students have the ability to participate in the discussion!!!

Scott Preston: 6th grade teacher – all subjects
I want to get all students actively participating in discussions, thinking deeper than yes/no.

Niki Kuykendall: 6th Grade – inclusive
I hope to introduce my students to this system on day one.  I plan to incorporate this into daily lessons in Math or Language Arts.  I want to use this for discussion prompting for reading, pre-assessment for Math and Spelling.  Review games occasionally.  I also would be open to letting my students create a PPT and then add in the TurningPoint questions to present to the class.  I will have some tests that will be done using the remotes, the ease for putting into the grade book is an incentive!

I’ll be headed back to Klamath Falls next month to help teachers to reflect on their progress and set new goals for use in the classroom. I’ll post some observations to share with readers. For more information on the pilot contact project coordinator – Michelle Smith, Klamath County Schools Staff Development Coordinator.

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Reinventing Your Classroom

I taught high school for over 25 years and liked that each fall I had the chance to “reinvent” my classroom. That’s a perspective I’ll be sharing with teachers in the “opening day” workshops I’ll be giving over the few weeks. My travels will take me from Pennsylvania to Wyoming and on to Oregon. I’ll face countless teachers thinking about new students and new opportunities for teaching and learning.

A recent blog post in Techlearning Blog captured that back to school reflection. Jeff Utecht makes the point that our students are used to “free information” and asks some thought provoking questions.   He writes:

Our students believe that things should be free. They have grown up with an Internet where any information you want you can get for free. … How do we engage students who are used to information being free? …How do we get them to dig deeper and understand this free information?….We have to create an atmosphere of learning, a place that students want to come and want to learn. What do you give that is free that engages students? What is it that they come to your classroom for that they cannot get off the Internet in a faster, more visually stimulating way?  … So what are you going to do in your classroom this year that engages THESE students?… What is it that you can offer them that they cannot get anywhere else? How are you going to get them to dig deeper, to interact with knowledge rather than react from it? How are you going to engage students in the learning process and not allow them to be passive in their own learning?…This is our challenge! More

I agree with Jeff – students do expect free information. And they expect functionality – to be able to control information and customize it into something they can call their own. Their life has become an “open book test” and they get the information they want, when they want to – then they store it, catalogue it, alter it, and share it. There are few information gatekeepers in today’s world – students have become their own newscaster, librarian, and entertainment director.

This is an exciting time to be in education. There are so many interesting tools for creating learning environments. Over the next week I look forward to meeting many teachers who create classrooms where students can take on the challenge of intellectual work – rather than just look for the right answer. Teachers who want school to be more rigorous, relevant and engaging. Classrooms that give students opportunities to learn how professionals approach their work – scientist, engineer, artist, historian, mathematician, writer, and musician.

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Leadership for Literacy and Learning

Next week (August 6-8), I will present at the Oregon Department of Education’s 2007 Summer Institute: “Strategies for Student Success” at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. More

I’ll be bringing my TurningPoint audience response system and we will model student engagement strategies with the audience. The last time I was in Oregon, I ran a full day session for over 350 teachers and administrators with a response system and live blog. It includes some great posts by teachers on rigor and relevance in their classrooms. More

Download revised presentation material for each a session below – includes audience response data.

“Rigor, Relevance and Literacy for Middle School Teachers”

Boost student achievement with rigor, relevance and literacy. This session is designed for intermediate and middle school teachers of all disciplines. It will demonstrate that teachers don’t have to sacrifice content to help their students achieve academic success. You’ll experience practical examples of how teachers support standards-based instruction in their subject area while improving student skills in vocabulary, comprehension and analysis. This engaging workshop guarantees to be rigorous and relevant to teachers—we’ll actually use the strategies being promoted, not just talk about them! It will feature an audience response system that helps us model a student-centered approach to learning. Teachers prefer workshops that share practical instructional ideas—and you will leave with many strategies ready for use in your classroom.  MS-presentation.pdf (2 MB)

“Rigor, Relevance and Literacy for High School Teachers”

Same themes as the middle school  presentatation with some different examples. HS-presentation.pdf

“Leading for Rigor, Relevance and Literacy”

See what happens when schools share a vision of quality instruction based on Rigor, Relevance and Literacy. The session demonstrates how educators can boost achievement with a consistent focus on common standards-based instructional strategies in a student centered classroom. It is designed for district and building administrators of all levels. The session will demonstrate that teachers don’t have to sacrifice content to help their students achieve academic success. This engaging workshop guarantees to be rigorous and relevant to instructional leaders. You’ll leave with many new ideas and loads of strategies ready for use with your teachers. We’ll use an audience response system to effectively model a student-centered approach to learning. You’ll experience practical examples of how school leaders can support their teachers while they build student skills in vocabulary, comprehension and analysis. Admin-presentation.pdf  (1 MB)