Reading Levels Are For Books... Not Kids

The following is a guest post by Lisa Palmieri, who is a reading specialist at #Cantiague Elementary. Lisa's passion for reading instruction has permeated our school community and her knowledge makes her an incredible resource for our teachers. In this post she reflects on how leveling might be having a negative impact on our readers... 


Reading Levels Hit Home... 

My son Dean is a struggling reader. This is so hard for me, as you might imagine, as a reading specialist and a parent.  So, when Dean and his friend, Brenden, were sitting in the 3rd row of my minivan talking about books, I turned down the radio and listened carefully. It was a crushing conversation. Dean proudly announced, “I moved up to H and I! What are you Brenden?”  Brenden casually said, “Oh, I’m M and N.”  Dean processed this and seemed to move on with the conversation. When we got out of the minivan, the boys played for all of 5 minutes before Dean was practically beating-up Brenden.  Brenden went home. I apologized to his mom.  On the car ride home, Dean was upset.  After some time we spoke and of course, the root of the problem was the reading levels. Dean was upset that his friend was at a higher level. It’s that simple. And, I understood.

The conversation between Dean and Brenden is not uncommon. I wonder how his reading level was communicated to him, and it got me thinking about the message we are conveying to our students. His classroom teacher administered the F&P Benchmark Assessment. The only piece of the conversation Dean recalled about the testing session was his letter and that he went up.  In Dean’s classroom the library only has leveled book bins. Each book is clearly labeled with the letter on the cover, and Dean’s independent book baggie is see-through.  Everyone knows his level and he knows everybody else’s level. 


Are Reading Levels Good? Bad?

I have a love-hate relationship with student reading levels. I love that I get a snap-shot of a student’s reading abilities and can plan accordingly. This is the heart and soul of my job.  I love them and need them. The feelings of “hate” surface when students identify themselves by their letter. “I am ______.” (Fill in any letter of the alphabet.) I know this is a common feeling among many of us. I have spoken with educators and parents who feel the same way.

The A to Z guided reading level is a useful tool that teachers use to assess, instruct, and evaluate students. It provides important data for the teacher. It can be very useful when planning our teaching points and selecting books. But reading levels can easily be mishandled and misunderstood by our children, and even well-intentioned parents.  Our children may use them as a way to identify and compare themselves. It can create a divide between students or a pecking order, and that can play out on the field, the classroom, back of a minivan or anywhere.  It can be hurtful and damaging to their self-esteem.  

Our goal as teachers is to teach students to read and hopefully to love reading or as Pernille Ripp said, “To hate it a little less.” A reading level derived from reading assessments is meant to help the teacher plan lessons. The level, despite its value, does not help a child develop a love for reading. The levels never did and never will. This has been an age-old struggle. I still remember being in the Blue Jay reading group when I was in elementary school, and I certainly knew who was a Red Robin!  

Let's Focus On Books... Not Levels!

I wish I could talk to Dean’s teacher about his feelings, and the controversy and competition unintentionally created when schools identify students in this way. I would prefer if she talked to Dean about how to select a book that matches his abilities. What are the book characteristics that match him as a reader? How would he know if a book was too hard or too easy? So what if the book he selected did not have “his” letter labeled on it. If Dean knows the type of book that he can access yet focuses on his interest and purpose, doesn’t that trump the letter/level that it has been assigned?  In the words of JoEllen McCarthy, “Wantability trumps readability.” If a child wants to read a book then (s)he will figure out a way to access it! 


What Do We Do Now?

All of this has caused me to wonder: What are the conversations teachers are having with students? How are books organized and selected? Is privacy considered and protected? Can we modify our language and word choice to help foster a passion and purpose for reading rather than to foster competition and insecurity? All of this is just something for us to think about as educators and consider if in fact this practice is in the best interest of children.

Growth Mindset... Grit... Grrrr!

Grit and Growth Mindset: It's Personal... 

Over the last several years, many of my family and friends have commented on the fact that Paul (my amazing son) seems to possess an incredible amount of grit, positivity and perseverance. Some have even commented on the fact that a growth mindset seems to come so naturally to Paul because he rarely focuses on his problems or issues. You see Paul was born with a few medical issues and one of them is congenital scoliosis, which means he has surgery every six months to have the rods in his back expanded as he grows. Truth is, Paul rarely gets upset about the situation (except right before and after surgery) and he bounces back quickly and never allows his "issues" to impact his daily functioning. His doctor calls him the wonder child because of his ability to bounce back and his willingness to try almost anything regardless of his physical limitations. People are always in awe of Paul and his GRIT and often comment how they wish their children possessed some of that stuff!

Well, here is the thing, grit, and other current buzz words in education related to students' personal development, such as growth mindset and perseverance, are incredibly complex and I don't know that most educators realize and understand those complexities. You see, I do believe that Paul shows a tremendous amount of grit and perseverance but I don't necessarily think he was just born with it (he was born with some of it though); I think part of Paul's grit and strength are a result of the love, support, access and privilege he has experienced since birth. 

Yes, that's right - although some kids may be born with these qualities, I don't think life and environmental factors always give them an opportunity to grow and thrive within each child. Fortunately, many times children do develop the growth mindset and grit to overcome many of the obstacles they encounter... but that doesn't happen for every child. I believe these qualities are ones that are nurtured in children and although some children may be predisposed to accessing them more easily, I think we need to recognize that the conversation is a complex one.

Grit and Growth Mindset In Education...

Psychologist Carol Dweck, who developed the notion of growth mindset, defines it as...

“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” 

This idea of growth mindset is juxtaposed against a fixed mindset, which is basically the opposite because people who embrace a fixed mindset see things like their intelligence and talents as "fixed" things that cannot be developed further... either you have it, or you don't. Of course, based on these definitions, we want all children (and educators) to access a growth mindset over a fixed mindset - that is an awesome goal and one worth working towards.

Often times, the notion of growth mindset gets commingled with this idea of grit because that is another quality we want our children to possess. Psychologist Angela Duckworth defines grit as...

"Grit is a distinct combination of passion, resilience, determination, and focus that allows a person to maintain the discipline and optimism to persevere in their goals even in the face of discomfort, rejection, and a lack of visible progress for years, or even decades."

Yes - based on that definition, that is certainly something we want our children and students (and educators) to possess... a lot of growth mindset with some grit because then we can accomplish anything and achieve all of our goals. In fact, it seems that some educators might even argue that growth mindset and grit are the keys to education reform and the proverbial silver bullet that will fix all the problems that plague schools and society in general.  

For example, some would argue that kids who are impacted by poverty can overcome that challenge by showing some grit and embracing a growth mindset. Others would argue that children who come across entitled will be better served if they develop some grit or employ a growth mindset. "These" kids would do so much better with some grit; "those" kids would be better served if they developed a growth mindset; or any number of statements along these lines that suggest we have found the silver bullet.

But, in my opinion, it is not that simple. Just because we have decided, as the adults in education, that we want our students to possess these qualities and traits it doesn't mean it's going to happen and it doesn't mean we are going to reform education in one fell swoop. Don't get me wrong, I definitely thing we want to nurture these qualities in our students and ourselves but we need to understand the complexities that accompany them.  

Things To Remember...

If we are going to continue pushing kids to develop their grit and growth mindset, we need to remember certain things...

1) We can't expect kids to access those "skills" or qualities if we don't embrace them as the adults in the learning community! Educators and schools must begin embracing a growth mindset and accessing some grit. I believe the first step in making that happen is shifting the focus from teaching to learning - remembering that we are learners first and as learners we can continue to grow and enhance our skill set, even when it makes us uncomfortable.  

2) We should move away from grading kids on these qualities because they are more like a spectrum than just something that we can check off as met or not met. When we grade it, we are trying to qualify it in some way and that is a subjective and slippery slope to try and navigate. What makes one kids grit better than an others? Who is showing a stronger growth mindset? Not only that, but once it is graded and a child scores a "high" grade in these areas, the journey is over and they can check them off their list. You get the idea - these are not easy questions to answer but in the end, grading things like grit and perseverance don't seem to be in the best interest of children and in fact may be an example of embracing a fixed mindset ("this is just for a grade") over a growth mindset ("I can always get better at this")! 

3) These trends to embed notions of grit and growth mindset in our daily work with children are admirable and important but they are not the silver bullet that will fix all that ails education or society. We cannot help foster grit or growth mindset or perseverance if we don't first focus on building healthy and positive relationships with our kids and with each other as educators. 

4) Access and privilege do impact the development of qualities like growth mindset. I believe that children who have access, as a result of their family or community or SES, will not only have a better chance of developing these skills but will then be able to leverage them to advance themselves because of their access and privilege. Growth mindset, grit and perseverance are not going to fix all that ails society because they don't often get developed in a silo (of course, there are exceptions). 

5) If we think growth mindset, grit, etc. are critical to the success of our children and schools then we must stick with them and make them the new norms in our educational communities. We cannot abandon them when the next "sexy" trend, initiative or term hits our schools - we must show some grit and stick with it!

What do you think about growth mindset, grit and perseverance? How do you see them impacting our schools and students? Do you agree with my take? Disagree? Why? Please let me learn and grow!   

I Think He Can

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Deficit Thinking: It Is A Reality In Education...

The more and more I interact with educators from around the country, the more I come to understand how pervasive the deficit mindset is in the world of education. I have been an educator for almost 20 years and I cannot tell you how many times I have heard statements that start with... "These kids can't learn this because..." or "Those teachers can't implement that instructional model because..." or "This community of families can't do that because..." and they each end with something negative that is generally connected to physical context (and the perceptions about it), socioeconomic status or some other perceived disadvantage impacting students, teachers or the community at large. 

What Is The Deficit Model?

The deficit model is not a new concept in education and although it is traditionally associated with the labeling of special education students or students living in impoverished communities, the negative mindset (otherwise known as a fixed mindset) doesn't end with children because it also impacts the way teachers are viewed, schools are viewed and practices within a school community are implemented. For example, I have consistently heard about schools that are hesitant to consider a BYOD model to technology because of something that might happen or an isolated incident that has occurred that only involved a small number of children yet impacted the whole community. Or the school that doesn't want to use the reading or writing workshop model within their literacy block because their teachers aren't "ready" for it and instead receive a scripted program that delineates what should be happening every minute of the day. Or the classroom where children aren't encouraged to access challenging materials or concepts because they can't "handle" it. This is all deficit model thinking... considering the problems, pitfalls and cants before looking at the possibilities, opportunities and cans!

My Personal Struggle With Deficit Thinking... 

This was something I struggled with as a parent when I was considering coming out to my son. In the months leading up to that day, I heard the opinions of many people who felt my son couldn't handle the gay thing; my son couldn't understand the gay thing; or my son wasn't ready for the gay thing. In spite of those naysayers, I felt like my son was ready so on that day, I woke up with the opposite of a deficit mindset... I woke up with one idea... I think he can handle it. It was the day that changed both of our lives and one that still impacts us today. 

It had started just like any other Thursday during the summer. Went into work, did some stuff in the office, spent time with our main office team, walked around the building with our custodial crew and actually sat down and had an early lunch. With that being said, this Thursday was different. It was the most important Thursday of my life. In fact, it might have been the most important day of my life, period. You see, that Thursday was the day that I came out to my son. Over some fried onion rings and a warm loaf of bread, I explained to my son that I am gay. 

Coming Out... 

I have shared a lot of things with my son over the last ten years but this one was unlike any other. This one would explain why our family would be different moving forward. This one would explain why I had struggled so much emotionally over the last couple of years. This would explain why my future partner in life would be a man and not a woman. Although leading up to that day I had come out to many people in my world, I had yet to tell my son. Paul, who I had shared so much with over the years. Paul, who had taught me about unconditional love; Paul, who had shaped me as an educator and human being; Paul, who was the most important person in my life. I hadn't told Paul... yet. 

As we sat there waiting for our fried onion rings, I couldn't keep it in any longer. The time had come for me to come out to my son. An excerpt of the whole exchange went something like this...

Me: "Paul, after all this time, I realized I am gay."

Paul: "Oh. So that means you are going to love a man?"

Me: "Yes, I am going to love a man."

Paul: "Oh, ok. Well, you're still my dad and I love you."

Needless to say, I bit my tongue hard to hold back the tears. I had never been so in awe of another human being as I was at that moment when I shared my news with Paul. You see, Paul responded with love, understanding and acceptance. My son was "ok" with my being gay. In fact, my son asked if he could come sit next to me and so he slid over to my side of the booth, hugged me and kissed me and said, "I love you so much daddy!" 

That final moment is what I will always remember about the day I came out to my son. He showed such maturity, composure, compassion and love. That moment was what helped me realize that he could handle it and even in that incredibly difficult moment, he was able to access the opposite of a deficit mindset... he was open, positive and willing to look at things differently. Granted, it has not been all sunshine and roses over the last couple of years because Paul and I are still figuring things out but, I am so relieved that I didn't succumb to the deficit mindset on that incredibly important day.

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Why We Must Move Away From Deficit Thinking... 

I share this personal reflection because I think it is time we move away from deficit thinking in education. It is time that we give our children the space to learn, grow, fail, try again, and succeed on their terms (with our support and encouragement)... not based on our preconceived notions of the disadvantages that impact them. It is time to consider all the things are children CAN do... not all the things we think they CAN'T do. It is time that we empower our teachers to make the best decisions possible for their students as learners... not just asking them to follow scripted curriculum or zero tolerance policies. It is time that we engage our families in meaningful ways on our journeys to becoming true partnership schools... not just blaming families for all the problems that ail a community. 

The time has come to embrace an innovator's mindset... an opportunity mindset... a growth mindset... a positive mindset... or whatever you want to call the opposite of a deficit mindset because our children, educators, school communities and families deserve the opportunity to do what they CAN!  

How are you going to move away from deficit thinking in your school community? What will you do differently tomorrow? Will you consider BYOD? Will you move away from zero tolerance policies? Will you include teachers, students and families in conversations about the future of the school community? Please share your ideas below...     

I Don't Miss The Classroom

That's right, I said it... I don't miss the classroom. Yes, I love being an educator and I love working with kids, their families and other educators but I don't miss the classroom. 

You see, I recently had the opportunity (a most amazing one) to teach kindergarten for the whole day. It was a Monday morning and we had only three substitutes in the building but five teachers were out. Yup - two uncovered classes. This is not necessarily unusual for a school on any given day - not enough subs - but there was a lot going on and I had to make a quick decision about who would be teaching kindergarten. I looked at my calendar and it was open for the most part and although I had a million "administrative" things to get done, I realized it would be the least disruptive thing to put myself in as the sub for the day. 

I didn't cover the class so I can walk around the building and tell everyone about it. I didn't cover the class so I can flood my social media feed with pics of myself "working" with kids (who cares about me?). I didn't cover the class so I could be seen as the "savior" who took one for the team. I didn't cover the class so I could be in the "trenches" for a day. I didn't even cover the class because I necessarily wanted to do it. 

I covered the class because I thought it was in the best interest of children (not necessarily the part about having me as their teacher but that is a whole other story). The kids would have one teacher for the whole day, which would allow for some consistency. I also covered the class so I didn't have to pull someone else from their program or class, which would have been disruptive to other kids. Bottom line... covering kindergarten for the day was about our kids and teachers, not me.  

So, I headed down to Room 6 and although I was initially somewhat nervous (I had never taught kindergarten before) I didn't have much time to think about it because the day had started and we needed to get moving - those little munchkins were ready to learn! Fortunately the classroom teacher had left the most detailed and awesome plans that were the key to us successfully navigating the day. We did everything from shared reading, to math, to several Groundhog Day themed projects to visiting the science lab and going to Art. That was all the stuff laid out for me in the amazing plans that literally accounted for every minute of the day. We also went off course a couple of times... we did a Google Hangout with the incredible Mr. Greg and his adorable kindergarten class in Tennessee (we counted to 100 to help them celebrate their 100th day of school). We also ended the day with some Twitter based "exit slips" where the children sat on the rug and partnered up to come up with one thing they did or learned during the day that we then tweeted out to the world. Before I knew it, it was time to go home. Overall, it was an awesome day filled with lots of learning, smiling and fun! 

      

After dismissing the class, I went down to the Main Office where a bunch of teachers were chatting, sharing stories about their days and laughing (the norm at the end of the day at Cantiague). Of course, everyone wanted to know how my day went as one of the kindergarten teachers... apparently the building had been buzzing about the fact that I taught kindergarten all day. 

Everyone wanted to know if I was exhausted (I was tired but being a principal is draining on every level too because I deal with hundreds of people on any given day). 

Everyone wanted to know how challenged I was by the day (there was a lot to get done and it was a busy day but as a principal, I am often running around like a chicken without a head because I am trying to meet the needs of dozens of people while putting out fires at the same time). 

Everyone wanted to know how I did with managing the little munchkins all day (they were full of energy but they were so good, they were so kind to each other and they were excited to learn, which is not something I always experience when dealing with people as the principal). 

Everyone wanted to know if spending the day in kindergarten made me realize how much I missed teaching. I laughed at some of the questions, answered them with a smile and then eventually retreated into my office because I was slightly embarrassed to share my one big takeaway from the day... that I don't miss the classroom. 

That's right, I don't miss the classroom. It has been almost 11 years since I had my own class when I last taught fifth grade. Yes, I loved teaching and learning and working with a small group of kids... a group of kids that eventually became my kids over the course of the year. But, about 11 years ago I decided I wanted to try administration and I took on my first building leadership position and basically, I have never looked back. 

Don't get me wrong, there are definitely moments when I would much rather be in my own classroom with my own kids but overall, I love being a school leader. I love the opportunities being a lead learner provides me. 

I love working with and interacting with our children, teachers and family members on any given day. 

I love being able to spend time with our children during class, lunch and recess because not only do they make me laugh and smile but they share really rich and important perspectives. 

I love amplifying student voice and then acting on what they share, which have accomplished by including students on our Shared Decision Making Team (made up of students, families, teachers and me).  

I love being able to chat with teachers during formal and informal meetings because these conversations impact the trajectory of our collective journey. 

I love interacting with parents and family members during PTA gatherings and functions because they provide me tremendous insight that helps us get better. 

I love participating in and facilitating professional development because keeping learning at the center of our community is a daily goal. 

I love being able to spend the majority of my day in all of our classrooms. 

I love being able to capture images and then using social media to amplify and accelerate our story by sharing all of the amazing things happening at Cantiague. 

Basically, I love being a principal. I love all of the opportunities and experiences it affords me. I love being able to connect with every classroom and every child and every teacher and every family member! I love the work I get to do with the entire school community and that is the main reason I don't miss the classroom. 

5 Steps To Rebranding HW

My Take On HW...

At this point I think most friends, colleagues and members of my PLN know how I feel about HW and in case someone missed it, I am not a fan. I have written extensively about HW on my blog (this post is the third post in a 3-part series - part one and part two were shared over the last couple of weeks). I have also shared dozens of comments on social media about my own HW experiences as a graduate student, about my son's HW as a middle schooler and other general opinions about this decades old practice that doesn't seem to have a positive impact on students and their learning... yet we keep assigning it. 

HW: It May Be Here To Stay... 

With that being said, it doesn't seem that HW is going away anytime time soon. In order to see HW eliminated there has to be a thoughtful process that is respectful of everyone's preconceived notions about HW. For most of society, HW is just the norm... the way it has always been done. Most of us had HW as students growing up and so we expect our children or students to have the same experience. In fact, some parents might argue that a lack of HW is indicative of a lack of learning. So, HW is probably not going away without a fight (in spite of all the research) so I think the time has come to REBRAND HW and make it something that children will be excited to engage in and parents will no longer dread. 

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Rebranding HW in 5 Steps... 

Here are my 5 steps to rebranding HW:

1) Eliminate it! The over abundance of research that shows no positive correlation between HW and academic performance in school should be reason enough to eliminate HW; but if that does not seem like a good enough reason, then listen to the students because my guess is they would express a strong dislike for HW, which should speak to it being irrelevant and meaningless to the people it is supposed to be impacting the most!

2) Call it something else... anything else because the mere mention of HW generally garners a negative reaction from most learners. For example, in Kindergarten at Cantiague our children are expected to read at least 2 nights a week but, instead of calling it "Reading Homework," the teachers call it Book in A Bag and the kids get super excited when they realize it is a Book In A Bag night! Someone else shared that at their school students get math homework 2 - 3 nights a week but instead of calling it "Math Homework," the children become Number Explorers one night or Magical Mathematicians the other night. The assignment may not necessarily be any different but because the word homework is nowhere to be found, the children respond differently. So, get creative and start by eliminating the word homework and see how that impacts your students!

3) Give learners choices with what they can experience at home to extend their learning (see what I did there? Didn't use HW). For example, create a menu of activities that gives students a voice in how they want to deepen and broaden their understandings in a specific content area. For example, at Cantiague, our kindergarten students practice their words using a “word study menu.” The teachers have provided the children with different activities to choose from that tap in to different modalities and interests.  These are as simple as writing their words in the steam in the shower, tracing words on a family member’s back, cheering the words like a cheer leader or building the words out of legos or different materials. After speaking with the children about their choices as part of the word study menu, it is clear that they look forward to these activities and the teachers are seeing a new level excitement surrounding learning their sight words. Basically, what the children see as a fun project, game, or activity is helping to build their foundational skills. Although this example is specific to kindergarten at Cantiague, it is super easy to change it up for older students and across all content areas because the basic idea is giving children choices so they are empowered learners beyond the school day. For example, instead of having fifth graders read about the Civil War in a textbook and answer the questions at the end of the chapter, give them the pertinent information and then give them a choice about how they could communicate their knowledge... maybe they could create a video about what could have happened if the South won the war or they could start a blog and write a diary as a soldier from the north or create a historical fiction picture book based on the war... the possibilities are endless!  

4) Take experiences such as Genius Hour or MakerSpace and have the children engage in activities of that nature at home where they can try something new, create something from scratch or pursue a new passion! Whatever it looks like, it builds on step 3 where students have choices for what they learn outside of school but gives them more independence over the actual process and product. This is something we are going to start doing at Cantiague where we have dubbed Tuesday nights... Try It Tuesday! This idea was suggested by one of our amazing fourth grade teachers at Cantiague who was already trying it in her classroom. This is how she framed Try It Tuesday... Every Tuesday night instead of traditional homework, the children have to try something new. It’s kind of like Genius Hour at home with no limits! I have found that the kids are motivated and engaged to experiment, imagine, plan, create and improve their “designs,” whatever that may look like to them. I started this Try It Tuesday ritual and have found that it encourages appreciation and happiness in my classroom! Based on this suggestion about Try It Tuesday and the positive feedback it received from students and their families, we will be making this a school-wide experience starting in March. Every Tuesday night at Cantiague will be TRY IT TUESDAY and although the children will be able to do whatever they want, they will also have a menu of ideas to chose from in case they are stuck for inspiration at home. I am super excited about this shift in our HW practice!

5) Flip the classroom experience and try doing HW in school while letting the children do some of the learning at home. For example, instead of having children do a worksheet about fractions at home, have them watch a short video about fractions at home and then come to school the next day and engage in various fraction based activities. Although I never tried this as a teacher, I have observed several teachers who have used this approach and their feedback is that the students have a more positive attitude about the homework and the teachers feel like they have a better understanding of their students' readiness levels because they are seeing what the children can actually produce in class. This is one of the problems with HW - we never know how much support a learner might be getting at home and how much they actually understand. So get out there and try flipping your classroom!

These are just 5 steps to rebranding homework but I am sure there are dozens more so please share some in the comments below! Although I would love to eliminate homework completely, I don't think we are there yet so I am hopeful that rebranding the experience will make it a more positive one for students, their families and educators!   

What Can I Say?

The following post is the second in a 3 part series on the topic of homework. The first post in the series was a guest post by Allison, one of our amazing #Cantiague teachers. Allison offered us insight into how homework works in her classroom and why it is at a minimum in her learning community. In the following post I share my own personal take on homework, which helped me flush out my history with homework, which has influenced my current position. Here it goes... 

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Homework... what can I say? I have been thinking long and hard about this topic over the last couple of months and the truth is, I am not a fan. The main reason my opinion of homework has shifted so dramatically over the last few years is because of my experiences as a parent. Here is the deal- helping Paul with his homework is not always necessarily that much fun... actually, it is rarely fun. It is frustrating, slow, time consuming and rarely does it lead him to a deeper understanding or appreciation for something he learned about in school. In fact, for him, homework is just something he has to get done because his teachers tell him to and he never wants to disappoint his teachers. 

So, if our kids don't want to do the homework and their only motivation is to be compliant and please someone else, does the homework actually have any sustainability or value? From my lens, the answer is no. Maybe I'm missing the mark... maybe there is some value to homework but I have yet to see it. 

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Don't get me wrong, my opinion about homework has evolved over time but the greatest shift came in the last four years. When I was a classroom teacher I gave homework every single night because I thought that was the sign of a "good" teacher. I gave math worksheets, reading with some sort of log or reflection and some type of word work every single night. I gave homework because that is all I knew as a student. I did try and give less homework because I remember homework being such a struggle for me. 

My parents are immigrants and although they were able to speak English, they weren't able to help me with my homework. I remember having dozens of math problems each night and reading from textbooks and answering questions and having book reports and projects, with little adult support. I remember homework being something I dreaded and often got me into trouble at school because I invariably made mistakes or didn't complete the assignments. Trust me, that wasn't fun or easy. Even though my experiences with homework weren't necessarily positive, I still couldn't do away with it as a teacher. Homework had always been given and I was convinced that the parents of my students were going to judge me by how much homework I gave and the quality of the assignments.

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I guess one could say that I was somewhat indifferent to homework. I didn't love it but felt it was a norm within schools and thus it should be given each night. That thinking stayed with me even into my first few years as a principal. Then Paul got to 3rd grade and all of that changed. Homework suddenly became the bane of my existence... in fact, I think I dreaded homework just as much as Paul did at that point (actually, I might have dreaded it more). Homework became the "black hole" of our time together - it sucked out the fun and took away time from the things we actually wanted to do together (build Lego sets, read books for fun or play video games). Homework became a source of tension and stress in our home... and it was something both of us were feeling and taking out on each other. Homework was more of a battle than it was an extension of the learning in school.

That is when I realized something had to change and I started doing some research about the impact of homework on the academic experience of students. And guess what? I couldn't find any research that showed a direct correlation between the practice of giving homework and academic success within school. I read a lot of Alfie Kohn's work, who presented extensive research about homework and actually shared that homework could have a negative impact on children and their families (click here to see a summary of his research findings). It wasn't the only research I came across - in fact there were dozens of studies that show homework has no positive impact in elementary school and even middle school. Yet, homework is the norm... not the exception and I don't understand why if there is no research to support the practice. 

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Research shows us that people learn through social interactions and thus we encourage collaborative inquiry in our classrooms - we are not forcing students to work in silent isolation (except at some schools but that is a whole other post). 

Research shows that positive reinforcement is a way to get students to model desired behaviors instead of acting out and thus we implement behavior plans and reward positive behaviors - we are not just relying on consequences and punishments to change behaviors. 

Research shows us that children learn better in smaller chunks of time because of their short attention span and thus we keep our direct instruction to 20 minutes or less - we are not lecturing for hours on end in the hopes that children will learn. 

I would argue that we don't use research enough in schools to guide our practice but we do use it in many instances and yet when it comes to homework, we do the opposite? Why? What are the benefits of homework? How is homework impacting our students in a positive way? How is homework supporting or extending the learning from within the classroom? If we don't have the answers to questions like these then the time has come for us to revisit homework; to reconsider homework; to potentially re-brand homework!

What do you think about homework? Why do you think that? What is the value of homework? Does homework in our schools need to change? Can we throw out homework completely at the elementary level? Why or why not? Please share your thoughts, insights and opinions!

Wasting Precious Time

The following reflection on homework at the elementary level comes from Allison, who teaches 5th grade here at #Cantiague Elementary. Her perspectives as a parent and educator shed light on the homework debate from two angles - she definitely gave me a lot to consider. Most importantly, Allison addresses the age old question... does more homework better prepare children for middle school? Read on to find out what she thinks... 

I spend countless hours each week sitting on the sidelines of Tyler’s basketball games with other parents of elementary and middle school aged children. The one “hot topic” that consistently comes up is…HOMEWORK. Inevitably, someone is complaining about the fact that their child is spending too many precious hours completing meaningless and ridiculous homework. First graders expected to read 20 minutes a night and struggling to fill in reading logs, Third graders writing monotonous spelling sentences each week, second graders writing responses to literature on a daily basis, and 7th graders doing pages and pages from the math text book every night. Knowing that I teach in the #1 school in New York  (yup, that's right), they always turn to me and say, “Allison, what do you think about all of this homework? In Jericho, your kids must be spending HOURS on their work at home.” 

Everyone is shocked to hear my response when I explain that my principal has shared several research based articles which show that homework in elementary school has no impact on academic success. I share that my fifth grade colleagues and I have made a conscious decision to do away with reading logs, and really limit the amount of homework we give each night. My friends are shocked to hear that we have done away with our vocabulary workbook and instead we have looked for authentic ways to have our kids engage in meaningful word study work. Friends are surprised to learn that on most nights our kids are given a maximum of five math problems to practice at home, and that our students are never told what to read or write about at home - we try and give our kids freedom and flexibility. 

Instead of excessive amounts of homework, we encourage our kids to explore their interests and passions in their free time. We want them to read for pleasure and write for real reasons. We expect them to play outside and enjoy time with their families whenever possible. We respect the fact that our kids have very busy extracurricular lives - whether they go to an after school religious school or a sport, they are growing in other ways and pursuing other interests. We recognize that during the school day we challenge our children and expect a lot of our ten-year old "babies" - they are still children. Everybody deserves a little “down time”. 

Does everyone agree with our practices? Not necessarily. Do we get questions? Yes. In fact, the parents in our class used to question whether or not our students would be prepared for middle school, given our homework philosophy (or lack thereof). Our answer is that our kids are prepared for middle school because we foster a positive attitude towards learning, make connections with our kids (and their families), build self - esteem, address social emotional skills, and create a learning environment that fosters independence and empowers our kids. In my opinion, these skills are way more important than any book report, spelling assignment, or workbook page that so many teachers and kids are wasting precious time on each and every night. 

3 Stages of Planning

Over the last couple of days I have read a bunch of wonderfully written #OneWord posts. I often found myself nodding my head in agreement, especially in the case of this powerful post about empathy by my friend Bill. Although I couldn't necessarily pick just one word, recently I have been thinking a lot about planning and how that impacts teaching and learning in our school each day. Much of my thinking has been anchored in the monthly literacy check-in conversations we have had at Cantiague where we have been discussing the integration of the new TC Units of Study and how these resources are impacting planning for literacy instruction and actual implementation. 

Planning: A Personal Journey

This notion of "planning" is one I have struggled with my entire career as an educator... I could never quite plan far enough ahead yet I always over planned to make sure every minute was accounted for in my classroom. I have run the spectrum of planning... planning week to week using a plan book; planning an entire unit of study in advance using a template; and planning day to day on sheets of loose leaf paper based on what I actually got accomplished on any given day with my students. The following graphic accurately captures what the "planning" experience looked like for me as a classroom teacher and even sometimes as a principal (be honest - how many of you can relate??)...  

Fortunately, with almost 20 years experience as an educator I can confidently say that although I may have yet to master the whole planning situation, I have come to understand how important it really is to plan for learning and teaching within our classrooms. Regardless of what style or approach or format an educator uses, the bottom line is that we must plan in advance to have some sort of trajectory for the learning we hope to see unfold in our classrooms. Some of the questions I am constantly reflecting on include... What do we want our learners to master during a course of inquiry? What are the essential questions for this unit? What are the skills and strategies we want to expose our learners to during this lesson or unit? How are we going to ensure that the learning is student centered and student driven? Having reflected on questions like these (and dozens more), I have come to some personal understandings about planning. The way I see it, there are three stages of planning we could be engaging in that could have a positive impact on our students. 

Stage 1: Unit Design

The first stage of planning, and the one that I think is most effective and beneficial to maximizing the learning and teaching experience, is unit planning. What do I mean by unit planning? I don't mean picking up the new TC Units of Study (reading or writing) and necessarily following them verbatim (although that may work for many educators). No, I mean thinking about a unit of study that would be most beneficial to students... YOUR students. Think about what you want your students to have accomplished at the end of the unit of study. What are the essential (big & overarching) questions they should be able to answer? What knowledge and skills should students have acquired at the end of a unit? Could the TC Units of Study be the resource an educator uses as the anchor for a unit? Yes! But, the end goals should be established for the current group of students... TC Units of Study are a resource - they are not the curriculum. 

After identifying the essential questions and specific knowledge and skills, now take a few steps back and think about what evidence could be "collected" during a unit to show what children have learned. This is the time to think about how the learning during a unit of study will be assessed because starting with the assessment in mind and planning backwards from that point only increases the chances of academic success for learners. The final step in unit planning is thinking about the day to day learning experiences and the instruction that need to take place in order for the children to be able to answer the essential questions at the end of the unit.

A resource that is often used to facilitate this type of unit planning is the Understanding By Design model. The graphic below provides a great visual for the thinking that goes into this type of planning. What we know about systems thinking is that we plan ahead for our end goal - basically planning for our ideal situation - and working back from there. 

Stage 2: Logistics, Schedules & Priorities

The second stage of planning considers all the logistics... scheduling, units of study across the different content areas and possibilities for interdisciplinary learning experiences. This is where the week to week planning gets refined and executed. If a teacher knows four students will be out of the classroom at reading at 9:30am twice during the week, they will plan around that to ensure that the children don't miss any new content. The second stage of planning will also consider what was accomplished the week before and what the goal is for the following week. This stage of planning drills deeper than what might be considered when planning the entire unit of study. This is where an educator considers the daily learning experiences and how they might unfold in the classroom using mini-lessons, direct instruction, guided practice, small group work and independent practice.

Stage 3: Day To Day

The third stage of planning is based on the data we collect from our students on a daily basis and this impacts the day to day instruction that unfolds in our classrooms. Yes, we may have planned a six week unit of study in writing workshop that focuses on poetry but if we notice that the majority of our students are struggling with a strategy or skill on any given day, then that should impact, and even dictate, the next day's mini-lesson. It might throw the unit of study slightly off course but ultimately, we must use data to guide and plan our daily instruction so that we are meeting the needs of our students and helping them work towards mastery of specific skills. The learning and teaching that unfolds in a classroom each day should not be solely based on a unit that was planned weeks in advance - it needs to be shaped and impacted by our students and their needs.

You Decide

Although there is not one size fits all approach to planning, I do believe these three stages of planning will ultimately have the most positive impact on the teaching and learning that unfolds in our classrooms each day. I hope that the readers of this post will join me in reflecting on their individual planning styles and how we can collaborate, as a PLN, to enhance our skills in this area!