Connecting Minds to Learning

WestEd’s SchoolsMovingUp website will feature a free webinar entitled “Reducing School Dropout Rates” on Wednesday, October 14, from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time (1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. CET).

This webinar, will offer research-based recommendations for reducing school dropout rates. Marlene Darwin, Senior Research Analyst at the American Institutes for Research, and Nikola Filby, Director of WestEd’s Innovation Studies Program, will showcase the recommended practices in the Institute of Education Sciences Practice Guide, which includes strategies for identifying and advocating for at-risk students, implementing programs to improve behavior and social skills, and keeping students engaged in the school environment. The webinar will also provide a brief introduction to the resources from the Doing What Works website illustrating how these recommendations have been carried out.

See the webinars page on SchoolsMovingUp for further information, including specific topics to be addressed by this webinar, at http://www.schoolsmovingup.net/webinars.

A teacher I know used to have her harp in the corner of her classroom and regularly played it for her students.  From time to time I think about how lucky her students were to have this experience.  One of the greatest contributions a teacher can make is to use their diverse skills, talents and strengths to enrich the lives and learning of their students.

Interestingly, Jane Kise in her book Differentiated Coaching: A Framework for Helping Teachers Change, suggests that a teacher’s strengths could possibility block one’s ability to differentiate their instruction.  She argues that strengths build up a teacher’s beliefs about how students learn best.  These strong beliefs can lock teachers into using practices and strategies that may not be in the best learning interests of all students.

Dr. Kise says, “when I have asked teachers about the students they have the most trouble reaching, or feel most helpless with, they describe students who don’t share their strengths.    Teachers need to understand how their strengths drive their beliefs about learning and how those beliefs might affect students who are very different from them.” 

For Dr. Kise, the art of professional development is helping teachers understand where their strengths and beliefs lock them into practices that limit their freedom to help students succeed. 

What do you think about this? 

6:30 Monday morning

One Size Is Gonna Fit All: A Play in One Act

(Curtain rises on a fitting room. However, rather than in a department store, it is located in a school district central office building.)

Sales person: Good morning, teachers. Can I help you?

Customer: Oh, I really don’t need anything today. I’m just here to look. I have a Master’s Degree in clothing design and I’ve been taking the advanced professional seamstress refresher workshops for five years. Actually, I make my own clothes, based on the season and the occasion.

Sales person: Well, that’s not going to be possible. We want to have a consistent, professional look. How would it look if you are wearing designer clothes and the new teachers at Achievement Academy get their clothes from the sale rack at Mervyn’s?

Customer: O.K., you have a point. I’ll take the skirt and the shirt in size 12, please.

Sales person: Sorry, we decided that the entire lot should be size 6. That will represent us in the best light.

Customer: Oh, that will never fit!

Sales person: Well, this is what’s available to you. Maybe it’s time to lose a few pounds, hmm? [turning away] Sir, are you ready?

Customer: But wait! I need something that will fit…

Beep, beep, beep. Heart pounding, Eliza Carey reached for the off button on her alarm first anxiety dream she had had, but one of the more memorable ones. That day, she would be launching the [new] unit she had tailor made for her class.

 - Susan Gold (2008) in Making The Case.  Page 27 & 28.

In what ways are you modifying your instruction to meet the needs of all learners in your classroom? What are some the issues that make this a complex and difficult thing to do?  How do you overcome these barriers?