Tag: Relevance

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

It’s about Rigor, Relevance AND Relationships

In May of this year I ran a two-day workshop for the social studies department at New York City’s High School for International Business and Finance. We focused on rigor and relevance and explored a variety of strategies that enable the student to “do the work of the historian.” More

I was pleased to see the school profiled on the front page of today’s New York Times “The High School Kinship of Cristal and Queen.” PDF version: Download Cristal-Queen.pdf

The feature dealt with the struggles and accomplishments of two recent graduates.

"By the time Cristal and Queen were freshmen, their math and reading skills were well below grade level, and school administrators considered them 'at risk': at risk of failing and dropping out. The high school, with graduation rates higher than the citywide average, turned out to be a place where they discovered talents and aspirations they never knew they had. 'They turned on the switch,' Cristal said. 'It’s like my brain opened up.' ”

Cristal reminds us of the importance of the “three R’s” – rigor, relevance and relationships. Students need a rigorous program with challenging goals and effective feedback. A focus on relevance helps students to better understand themselves as learners and measure progress towards their goals. But most critical, are supportive relationships with educators who can provide the scaffolding that students need to take responsibility for their learning.

I’m grateful to have had the chance to meet the teachers, administrators and support staff that make the New York City’s High School for International Business and Finance an effective small learning community. Read the NY Times article and view the audio slide show “The Kinship of Cristal and Queen.”. … See for yourself.

Posted on

Talking About Rigor, Relevance and Reflection

I’ve been doing follow-up workshops with teachers who attended my Rigor and Relevance training. Our goal is to discuss their implementation of the learning strategies I shared in our first training session. Everyone agrees that rigor, relevance, and student-centered learning are good in theory, but how do we get past the challenges? – lack of time, students who can’t (or won’t) do independent work, overcrowded curriculum, state tests, etc. I’ve developed this "Quick Guide to Rigor, Relevance and Reflection" to assist teachers in evaluating instruction in their classrooms.  Download Quickguide-rigor-relevance-reflection (267 KB pdf)

Our goal is connect students with their learning. To enable them to answer questions like:

  • What am I learning today?
  • Why am I learning it?
  • How can I use this knowledge and these skills to make a difference in my life?
  • How can I work with teachers and other students to improve my learning?

Throughout their lives our students will need to be adaptable, self-directed learners. They will need to be able to reflect and:

  • Judge if this information and these skills are appropriate to their goals.
  • Appraise the merits of different strategies and problem solving approaches.
  • Evaluate their progress as a learner.
Posted on

Writing the Book on Test Prep

I don’t think the answer to improving student achievement is by narrowing the curriculum to devote more time to test prep. As I said in a prior posting.. “as if being a struggling learner is not punishment enough, increasing numbers are pulled out of classes that offer hands-on learning and outlets for their creativity. What awaits them is likely “drill and kill’ that doesn’t sound like much fun for students or their teachers.” More

I’m pleased to have just concluded a project that turns test prep on its head. In this case, eighth grade students designed and published their own guide to passing the eighth grade NYS English Language Arts exam. I was joined on the project by Pat Martin. We worked with the nearby Albion Middle School. Ten sections of students spent about 6 weeks reviewing various literacy and test taking strategies with their teachers. As they did, they generated their own guide to the strategies they felt worked best. Thus learning strategies find audience and propose. Students had the opportunity to reflect on strategies and rework them for a peer audience of “seventh graders.” And don’t kids love to give each other advice!

A team of student editors from each class worked to do the final edits with the three teachers who supervised the project. Each class designed its own 100-page book using Lulu.com’s web-based, print-on-demand publishing technology.  The publication cost was about $6 per book. (color covers and interior b/w pages.) Ten editions of the guide were published and a finished book for each student author arrived about a week before the exam.  This gave students time to take pride in their accomplishments and refocus their thinking to the task of the taking the exam.

The state test is given in mid January, but it will be months before we see the final results. As Albion’s superintendent said to me – this project isn’t just about higher test scores. It’s about giving the students and their teachers a chance to see themselves as innovative creators of content, not just a passive audience. Already there is talk about starting a new test taking guide written by the seventh graders.

For more on student publishing see our website Read > Think > Write > Publish. Check my blog entries under the Commentary heading for more on students and 21st century literacy skills.