Cultural Relevance

Our student populations are becoming more diverse in America every year. Though diversity is growing annually, our teacher population has not kept up with the same demographic distribution. It is for this reason that educators need to pay attention to and are responsive to the backgrounds and cultures of our students.

Studies show that a culturally responsive classroom leads to more engagement of the students. That, of course, means that not only is diversity among the student population celebrated, but it is highlighted. When this happens, the students are more likely to engage with the teacher and ultimately have better scores and achievement tests.

The best way for teachers to embrace cultural diversity in their classrooms is to start with learning about the cultures in the room. Reach out and understand the background of students. Learn about their experiences and their families. Through listening and actually understanding where students are coming from will be a great first step toward building an inclusive classroom.

Follow that with building on the strengths a student brings to the classroom. All students have dreams and personal goals. When a teacher understands those goals, they can help them by channeling their strengths. This will assist the teacher to build rich learning experiences for both teacher and student.

Finally, the culturally responsive classroom really does keep the student at the center. Student-centered activities and learning should always be the focus. The idea that a subject was taught can no longer be the benchmark. Did the student learn the concept? That should be the primary objective. If the student does not learn the material, then instruction was not successful. We should always concern ourselves with student learning.

Teachers and schools that embrace cultural relevance and are culturally responsive while keeping student learning in clear focus report higher academic achievement. The bottom line is that students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Until next time...

"Normal" May

Everyone has lost their mind. How many times have you had that thought? When you see and hear things going on around the world, it is hard to not be completely jaded. Rest assured, all people have not lost their minds. Yes, things around us are getting a bit more stressful and students are not responding as you would otherwise hope they would, but everyone has not lost their mind. As educators, we find ourselves in the middle of May during a very unusual and difficult year. A ‘normal’ May alone is enough to raise an educator’s tension and anxiety levels, then toss a pandemic on top and we have a recipe for trouble. This year, it is not just educators that are feeling the strain. People, in general, are experiencing pandemic fatigue. Everyone just wants life to get back to ‘normal’. That for an educator means, the normal weariness from the daily demands of our duties. Though we are not performing a physically demanding job such as digging trenches outdoors in the elements, the classroom environment presents plenty of opportunities for mental exhaustion. That is why it is so important for all educators to rest, eat well, and enjoy some downtime to recharge the batteries. In schools, a day can seem like a week, but there are times, a week can be packed into a day. It is what we do. If being a teacher was easy, we would not have a teacher shortage. Hang in there. You valued and appreciated. Have a most excellent weekend...Go PUPS! (cue Ant Clemons - Better Days ft. Justin Timberlake)

Until next time...

Critical Thinking is not a Luxury Good

Critical thinking can no longer be thought of as a luxury good. In education, we reference the Four C’s of Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking. These key competencies are discussed in the field of education all the time yet they are also the speed bumps that slow lesson planning. In theory, the Four C’s are of vital importance. They are attitudes and abilities that can be taught, learned, and implemented in every classroom. More importantly, they are competencies that are important for innovation in the classroom and the workplace.

The Four C’s are vital in virtually every aspect of life and interaction. So important that the curriculum in schools today has to do better to incorporate the skills. Most schools can incorporate Communication and Creativity however, coming out of the pandemic, Collaboration will become a factor. Kids need to interact with each other to learn. As a matter of fact, we learn a skill better when we can teach it to someone else. All the more reason why collaboration cannot be forgotten.

The last of the Four C’s is Critical Thinking, which can be the most difficult to incorporate. Teachers need to ask students questions that solicit a full-sentence response. Yes and No questions just are not going to cut it. Students are going to have to answer a question and then be ready for the follow-up questions. Teachers need to ask questions that are deeper on the Depth of Knowledge scale. Education data shows that when teachers ask the right questions, students will answer, regardless of the difficulty.

In the midst of all the pressure to exceed standards, it’s easy to lose sight of the real purpose of education. A good education is about preparing students to be successful at the next level. When students leave our school we should be proud and know that they are ready to enter the big bad world. Our students should leave our schools with a cornucopia of skills that are transferable to any workplace or situation.

The bottom line is that teachers are the tide that will raise all the boats. Ask the right questions.

Until next time...

Schools are a Constant

After a long hiatus, the weekly communication is back. During my time out, I had plenty of time for reflection and I kept coming back to one thing:  Schools are a constant.  When schools closed, we had chaos.  Parents had to figure out what to do about their work schedules. Kids had to figure out what to do with their spare time because activities were gone.  The disruption in society was and continues to be, significant.  Therefore, my thoughts kept returning to the idea that schools are one of the few constants we have in life. Just to define it further, I am not talking about the building or even the curriculum, but the people.  We are in the people business, therefore the people in the business are what matter the most. When it comes to schools, the people are what make the difference.  The people rise up every day for the students. Before COVID, teachers would rather come to school a bit under the weather than create a sub-plan, because it is easier and better for the students.  Though post-COVID is different, the desire to rise up is present. We all know the rubber meets the road in the classroom and I am comfortable with the idea that our staff will rise up daily to meet that challenge. Have a most excellent weekend...Go PUPS! (cue Andra Day - Rise Up.)

Until next time...

Communication and Comprehension

Our ability to communicate is one of the most important life skills we can develop. As we all know, we can communicate in many ways, and all of them are important from body language to the written word.  If we are not effective, it can lead to misunderstandings or worse, even confrontation. This is why communication skills are essential.

In order to improve our communication skills, we have to work on the details of good communication.  Primarily, being a good listener.  It is the most important of any skill and basic to good communication.  Add to that the body language and eye contact.  If you are interested in what someone is saying, look them in the eye, and watch your body language.  A message can be conveyed in your body language and your eye contact, so be careful.  

Additionally, the best communicators are concise.  They can get to the point quite quickly. Making the point clear and avoiding rambling will keep the listener's attention.  It also makes the speaker sound like they know what they are talking about. To be a good communicator you need to avoid speaking too much and use words that will not confuse the audience. An aspect of good communication is confidence in your message, open-mindedness, and respect.  The best communicators have confidence but respect others around them. By extending respect to others, the communicator looks even more confident and in control.

All that being said, developing good communication skills is only one part of good communication. The ability to increase the comprehension of the audience is vital. Communication is nothing without comprehension.  When we think about comprehension, our minds drift to reading comprehension tests from back in grade school.  Though that is also comprehension, we are simply talking about understanding.  As a good communicator, if our audience does not understand or comprehend the words or concepts, then we have done our job.  Communication takes the words, the presentation medium, and adds to it the comprehension level of the audience.  

As advocates for ourselves, our students, and our families we all need to work on comprehension.  Yes, communication is important, but the key is comprehension. With good communication skills and even better comprehension, we can be empowered to make decisions to positively change our lives and world.

The bottom line is that communication without comprehension is worthless. 

Until next time...

Importance of Social Learning

The social learning theory of Bandura (1971) offers an understanding of why a school with a positive culture could potentially care for a students’ needs better than those schools with less than adequate culture. Research has revealed that emotional, social, and academic development in adolescents is impacted by a positive school climate and culture (Bradshaw, Waasdorp, Debnam, & Johnson, 2014). Conversely, schools with negative cultures fail with the support necessary to offer a protective environment which impacts overall achievement (De Pedro et al., 2016). Therefore, a negative school culture would be an obstruction to high expectations.

In support of Bandura’s social learning theory, the study by Oyedeji (2017) found that the learning ability of students was greatly influenced by the climate and culture of the school. To further support the importance of the social environment a study was conducted of 50 public schools from the southeastern United States, in which they discovered valuable insights into quality teaching and relationships. Significant is the idea that quality teaching and relationships are predictors of student learning (Ohlson, Swanson, Adams-Manning, & Byrd, 2016). Bandura’s social learning theory supports learning as a cognitive process that takes place in a social setting. Though this study is focused on school-level data, the data itself is a collective of student behaviors. If students are not encouraged by their teachers or the school provides a setting with which is not conducive to achievement, then there will be a significant impact on student achievement (Ali & Siddiqui, 2016). Social learning theory is easily applied to a school setting because students often do learn by observing their teachers and peers (Bandura, 1971; Firmender, Gavin, & McCoach, 2014). This is important when a school is making a cultural shift to college readiness and high expectations.

The bottom line is we should always be concerned about the culture on our school campus.  A positive culture will lead to positive outcomes.

Until next time...

Marginal Gains

Have you ever wondered why professional athletes become compulsive about small details?  The answer is actually in the details. Many of us have long-term goals for all sorts of things. Our challenge is in how we break those goals down into smaller objectives so we can achieve the greater goal.  When talking about performance, the process remains the same.  Goals are generally large items that have to be divided into smaller achievable steps.  If done correctly, each step is toward the goal.

There are things that can impact our goals.  These are the items that can either distract or impair our abilities to achieve. Professional cyclists know this all too well. Most of them have an obsession with the weight of the bike, for obvious reasons. More weight means more energy needed to pedal and over time, it adds up. Therefore, by reducing the weight of the machine, a marginal gain can be made. Top cyclists are also worried about keeping their machines very clean.  This is for two reasons: primarily, a dirty drive train creates more fiction ultimately slowing the machine or creating an energy drain; secondly, the bike is very expensive and warrant proper care.  Both are important however, only one is going to give a ‘marginal gain’.

People who are operating at the top of their career understand the cumulative effect of the small details.  Most reference the marginal gains as the 1% rule.  If they can make a 1% improvement in several areas over a short amount of time, the gains will add up.  Soon significant progress toward a goal can be achieved.

When we utilize marginal gains in school, we focus on the small wins in the classroom. These are the little steps students can take that move toward the greater goal.  A 1% weekly improvement over a 6-week grading period can make the difference for the next higher grade. Additionally, when we can eliminate the things that negatively impact grades and study time, we can see improvement, marginal improvement. Things that we know can negatively impact grades are things like social media, television, not enough sleep, and diet. When those items are controlled, students can be at their optimum.

The bottom line is we need to look for ways to implement marginal gains in our lives.  The improvement could be significant.

Until next time...