White (Teacher) Fragility Is Racial (Student) Violence

If you ever want to witness racism, watch the reactions of white teachers in an urban school when a student is killed.

When one of my former students was killed last year, I was devastated. I hadn't seen him in almost two years, but it felt like yesterday that he had proudly shaken my hand at graduation or embraced me when I returned from the hospital a few weeks prior.

The student was Latino and the responses that I heard from my (white) coworkers included statements such as: "I felt bad until I looked at his Facebook page", "What did he expect", and "Well, that's what happens when you're a gangbanger".

Regardless of the choices a student makes and regardless of the socioeconomic conditions of centuries of genocide that has shaped communities of color to this day, I think it should be pretty obvious to that when a minor dies, you should at least give some time before you espouse anything remotely negative. It's just basic human dignity- unless that person is black or brown.

Amelia Shroyer's post generated much discussion. Write fragility can be exemplified with the violent responses to the very concept of white privilege including the following:

What is utterly terrifying is that not only could someone write this, but many adamantly believe that these statements are true.

White fragility can be defined as "a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress be- comes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation."

Nothing epitomizes white fragility more than the call to fire Jesse Williams after his speech at the BET awards.  This is a reactionary move by those who benefit from a racist system as a repudiation of the acceptance of those benefits.

Sadly, I have witnessed such behaviors amongst teachers. One teacher I previously worked with constantly asserted the need for colorblindness, one of the most common forms of white fragility. He was constantly talking about how we should look at our differences and not our similarities. I bit my tongue; the mothers of Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, and Eric Garner did not have that privilege of pretending that "we're all the same." We are not, and trying to prop up this illusion under the guise of "equality" is intrinsically oppressive. The same instructor would quote Dr. King in saying that we should be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin. Misappropriating quotes such as these is twisting the narrative to benefit whites and to attempt to shut up people of color. (Additionally, the teacher seemed to have mysteriously forgotten about King's statements on poverty, police brutality, the disproportionate accessibility to education and basic resources, etc.)

Once a black student came to me nearly in tears, after a teacher had referred to the class as her "slaves". When I spoke to her about the student's claim she rolled her eyes and couldn't believe that our society had become so politically correct. She clearly could not see that a descendent of slaves would not prefer to be referred to as such.

Another teacher referred to materials an experiment demonstrating surface tension as "we were the pepper and the soap was a negro." She then chuckled and had to defend herself by saying that she "wasn't racist". She later pointed out about a black friend at her wedding, as if this gave her some kind of "get out of jail free" card to make such disgusting comments, although she later added that she was tired about hearing about "blacks matter".

White educators: We need to confront our privilege. We need to reject white fragility. We need to have honest and frank discussions about our students and in the communities where we teach. We need to confront our biases, however unconscious we may be of them. We have to admit that we live in a system that benefits us and harms people of color. If we do not do these things, we need to leave the classroom.

White teacher fragility is racial student violence.

Why I No Longer Have Silent Sustained Reading In My Classroom

 

Is reading the skill, as many researchers have asserted? Absolutely.

 

During my first year of teaching reading I gave students twenty to thirty minutes of Silent Sustained Reading (SSR) time per day. The vast majority of teachers did this, so why shouldn't I? It made a lot of sense; if reading is the skill, should not students have significant time to practice it? 30 minutes per day, almost 180 days per year. There was no way that my students would not improve their comprehension.

But successful SSR means that other factors must be in place as well. Reading Specialist Mark Peddington notes that SSR is based on the following assumptions:

• Reading is a skill which improves with practice. 
• Students should be allowed to select their own books to read. 
• SSR is best accomplished within the classroom with the teacher as a silent reading model.
• SSR should not include instructional accountability.

Let's look at these common assumptions, many of which I have made.

 

1) Reading is a skill that improves with practice. We constantly hear that "practice makes perfect." We tell our students about how many shots Michael Jordan had to miss in order to become the greatest basketball player of all time. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell emphasizes "the 10,000 hour rule" and how the world's greatest achieved their goals only with dedicated hours and hours of work.

Subconsciously, we can begin to assume that students will not only internalize these attitudes, but will improve dramatically in their reading comprehension. Yet we forget that so many of our struggling readers have incredible degrees of learned helplessness; they don't want to shoot three pointers, but are comfortable with continuing to shoot the same shots that they've always been able to make from a close range.

 

One of my favorite reading books is Kyline Beers' When Kids Can't Read, where she introduces the concepts of independent and dependent readers. The former push their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), make connections, inferences, and essentially persist until they comprehend the text in front of them. The latter struggle and simply cannot meet these challenges.

 

Do you remember an extremely challenging text that you encountered at some point in school? For me it was hands-down The Odyssey. I remember feeling so lost, so hopeless, and just that there was no way I could comprehend this epic poem. I gave up. I could sit in front of Homer's epic for hours, yet it would not improve my comprehension because I was so lost.

I mentioned Vygotsky because his assertions seem to have taken a back seat to the trendy but often misunderstood concept of rigor. In urban classrooms, we are constantly hearing about rigor and its merits and how it is the key in transforming the "achievement gap."

Is rigor important? Absolutely. But too often educators neglect ZPD which makes the implementation of rigor futile. If I taught first grade, it would be rigorous to expect them to complete college-level calculus problems, right? Rigor must be realistic and attainable.

Reading cannot be imroved simply by practice. Texts must be appropriately rigorous and we need effective assessments to demonstrate comprehension and higher-level thinking.

2) Students should be allowed to select their own books to read. This is counterintuitevly, perhaps one of the most misunderstood concepts with SSR and student choice.

One of the presumtions of this assertion that I strongly agree with is that students need to be reading engaging texts. This is one of the keys in transforming dependent readers in addition to numerous reading strategies. This can change student's perception of reading from a chore to an enjoyable activity.

But things become a little more complicated with SSR.

When students choose their own books, it can be difficult to monitor is the text is rigorously appropriate. Many teachers (including myself) have used differentiated book bins based on lexility. However, we are now seeing that lexile has its flaws. For example, Diary of a Wimpy Kid has a higher lexility than The Book Thief. Pedagogy is shifting away from lexile towards text complexity. Despite programs such as ThinkCERCA taking the next steps, there is still much research that needs to be done not only on what designates a "complex text", but also how to assess students, texts, and correlate the data.

In addition to the complications with lexility, students have little to no effective accountability for SSR. Instead, text-dependent questions for a close read can give teacher's a much better perspective on where the student is at and where they need to go.

3) SSR is best accomplished within the classroom with the teacher as a silent reading model. One area in which I am in agreement with proponents of SSR is that during SSR, the teacher should either be in small-group instruction with students modeling strategies and/or developing skills, or the teacher should be silently reading themselves. During any periods of independent reading in class, these are paramount for effective instruction.

Instructors should also use "guided release of responsibility" pedagogy and model how to mark text (I), have guided practice where students mark text and/or respond independelty (we), and then give students individual practice (you). If your class contains dependent readers (hint: it does), reenforcing comprehension skills should be consistent.

But if the teacher is simply reading to themselves (as in my old classroom with SSR), students are not benefitting. We have no evidence to show that students are even reading or utilizing components of metacognition. This brings to the most effective argument against SSR:

4) SSR should not include instructional accountability. "Assessment, analysis, action", as Paul Bambrick-Santoyo puts it, are the keys to student mastery. In my Cold Call post, I emphasized how important informal assessments and how they can lead to 1) a rough idea of the student's ability and 2) effective differentiated instruction.

Without instruction accountability, we are not only missing these things, but we do not know if the 30 minutes are being used effectively. I used to call SSR "IDR", Indepent Daily Reading. I had daily IDR time. The following year a former student told me that his friends and himself referred to IDR as "I Don't Read". Essentially, without some kind of assessment (however informal it may be), we have no idea if how the students are progressing relative to their ZPD.

Instructional time in a classroom can be our most valuable asset. When used effectively, students can master challenging concepts at rates we could have never predicted. Thus, if reading is the skill, seconds are the tool. Every second counts. I believe so strongly in cold calling because it utilizes this concept.

Am I arguing that SSR is a waste of time? Not necessarily, but it has great potential to be. Even if we are working with small groups of students, we don't know how the rest of the class is engaging with their text. While I believe in sticky notes and double-entry journals, I realized that these can only go so far. These should be used when students are assigned complex texts in class with proper scaffolding, differentiation, and text-dependent questions or performance tasks, but they should not be used as a check for understanding. They are the means, not the end. Thus, we need to maximize instructional ability in our classrooms, and often times SSR does the opposite.

 

Can removing SSR on a daily basis and replace it with authentic teaching help improve reading comprehension and higher-level skills? Yes. Let's remove our opinions of standardized testing for a minute and observe some data. During my first year as a reading teacher with 30 daily minutes of SSR, 59% of my students met or exceeded their NWEA goal. The following year after removing SSR, 76% of my students met or exceeded their goal (or projected RIT for ELL students, 72% if you doe not count those students). And while the bias and flaws of standardized testing cannot be denied, it is nonetheless a reality that many neighborhood schools in Chicago have been closed down due to test scores. Regardless of our (valid) concerns regarding these tests, it is a reality we must confront.

But more important than the "data" was how much I saw my students grow. Because I had thirty extra minutes a day with them, I really pushed them to be able to think critically and question the world around them. The second year (reading) class was not only able to develop higher-level literacy skills, but they were able to think in ways that my other class could not. (To be fair, there were many other variables that helped me to surpass the previous year, especially cohesive unit development based on Understanding by Design. Nonetheless, I strongly believe that eliminating daily SSR was a critical factor in raising the rigor of my classroom.)

Eliminating SSR and replacing it with high quality differentiated instruction with frequent checks for understanding is what we should be doing. It is not the end but the means to improving the learning that occurs in our classrooms. As teachers, we need to pragmatically evaluate how we spend every second in our classrooms. While it has been a traditional part of reading classrooms, it must be done with guidance, support, and proper differentiation. If it's not, we are simply wasting our students' time. And they deserve better.
 

Why are we adopting new curricula not based in Understanding by Design?

If great teaching is an art, do we not need the best tools to paint the best paintings?

If great teaching is a sport, would the best equipment be essential to form the ideal athlete?

Ponder these momentarily. For as the school year has begun, these are questions we must consider. 

Unfortunately, many components of education have become a business- unit plans, testing, and even schools themselves. It is essential that we, as educators, discern between new resources that are useful and those that are useless.

And don't get me wrong- there are many new resources that are incredible, especially those created by fellow instructors. I have found many ideas on www.teacherspayteachers.com (Lovin' Lit especially), online learning communities, non for profit companies (Facing History and Ourselves), blogs, and most importantly, articles highlighting research-based best practices.

But for the myriad of options, why are so many not based in Understanding by Design (UbD)? This seems like common sense, but is often not the case.

When I was in college, backwards design was presented as a way to teach, not the way. Times have changed. It is accepted in urban public schools that using backwards design is paramount. It is an established theory as sound as gravity; no more should teachers go to their classrooms each morning asking themselves what they should be doing that day, but instead go in ready for planning that embeds their Essential Questions, Enduring Understandings, is tied to the appropriate standards, and is linked to the upcoming summative and formative assessments.

UbD template

This idea has been met with resistance from many, mainly because it is a lot of work. But that perspective changes when we begin to realize how much unnecessary work is created by postponing our lesson plans and scrambling to create assessments and activities. Yes, creating and executing a great UbD unit takes work; but that work pays off. We see it in how students grow, how much they learn, and the assessments that we give. (To clarify- assessments does not necessarily mean standardized tests. Yes, students take these, but the assessments you create for your students can be a test, project, argumentative writing essay, Socratic circle, collage, etc.)

If all of this is true, why then do we have curriculum being developed today that does not utilize backwards design effectively, and sometimes does not use it at all?

I recently was considering a new curriculum for my classroom. It was presented as cutting edge, tied to new standards, and revolutionary in the way we teach. I was instantly curious.

I spoke with some representatives and curriculum coordinators from the company and received some introductory materials. After listening to how great the unit was, I noticed that were was not a UbD template. I asked where the unit planning was, and I was presented with a scope and sequence. I cannot emphasize this enough- scope and sequence is NOT UbD. Scope and sequence, if done effectively, could be Stage 3 of UbD, but that is it. It is stale and ineffective. Scripted lessons and guides to what we should teach each day do not employ backwards design. It was clear that there were no Essential Questions or Enduring Understandings, so I asked about formative and summative assessments. Multiple people gave me different responses, and none of them were clear. What did become obvious was that there weren't any.

Instantly I realized that the curriculum was not contemporary, despite being advertised as embedded with modern standards. Paul Bambrick-Santoyo asserted in Driven by Data that standards are meaningless until you define how they will be assessed. (I should note that I disagree with many of his implications and certain aspects of this book, but this point is absolutely correct.) In fact, with changing standards but old curricula, many teachers have been instructed to utilize old textbooks and materials but employ new standards into their lessons and planning. Is this possible? Yes- but it takes a great deal of planning and intense work with backwards mapping.

Does that mean that Bambrick-Santoyo's claim holds true in every grade and subject? Absolutely. As teachers, we define how rigorous our curriculum and assessments are. We also see how many schools are projected to have higher test scores and better teaching, when in fact, the teaching has become watered down. It has become marketing. In a city where schools are closed and opened in the blink of an eye, new propaganda is released on a constant basis to taut the merits of a school. As the results are spun and often leaving out crucial information, it becomes clear that something has been hidden. And regardless of what data is being kept quiet, we know that great teaching begins with great planning. And if that planning is not rooted in backwards design, we should not be paying money for new curricula, no matter what standards are embedded in them. 

What Do Great Teachers Do Differently to Manage Classrooms?

Instructor demonstrating Threshold, a simple and effective technique to start class.

Don't smile until winter break. Don't ever laugh. Make sure you scream in their faces to keep them in line. Raise your voice to get their attention.

This was the advice I got my first year teaching, and like everyone's first year, it had its challenges. One class in particular stood out to me. It had the most challenging kids in the whole school. One of them was sent to the office for playing with a lighter in class. Instead he walked out of the building and went home. Another kid would crawl on the floor to avoid doing work. And arguably the two most challenging students in the entire school were placed together in the class. I had to break up fights and call security frequently. I often asked myself what I was thinking signing up for this.

I'm still at the same school with similar students. There has not been a shift in the student population. And I have none of the problems that I did my first year. And there's no superpower inside of me.

Before I continue, I'd like to emphasize that my experiences pails in comparison to many's. Students punching teachers, teachers being chased by parents, and verbal threats have occurred in schools, and they still do. 

You can't have learning with chaos. You can't have a successful school where students are throwing desks. Most importantly, it's significantly more difficult for students to become life-long learners in environments where their basic needs aren't being met.

But in discussing the challenges of urban schools, let's not generalize and simplify complex problems. We shouldn't say, "All they see is people hanging out on the corner", or, "They don't want to be anything besides rappers or basketball players." That is akin to going to a country you've never been and complaining because you don't understand the language. You cannot use rhetoric and distorted statistics to try to understand communities of which you do not belong. 

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs sums up the situation well. Many students in urban communities do not have their basic physical needs met, so it becomes clear that their perception of school may be different from those in more affluent neighborhoods. Is that an excuse and a reason to lower expectations? No; it's simply acknowledging facts so that we can better deal with the circumstances that arise in our classrooms.

Let's return to classroom management. There are various philosophies and success stories, but there are certain qualities that remain in all of them that I have observed in great teachers:

1. Great teachers utilize emotional constancy. When you raise your voice, you are sending a message to the kids that they've gotten to you. You are visibly and audibly frazzled, and showing those signs will not only make you less professional, but it also signals the students that you've cracked and they have won the battle. This frames the debate with a connotation that should be absent from it to begin with; the classroom is a struggle for power. It's not. You are in control. You are in charge. That does not mean you are tyrannical or maniacal; it means that there is a clear position of authority within the four walls in which you teach. There can be ambiguity there.

Being consistent emotionally means that we don't present a rollercoaster of emotions. When the student does not achieve mastery, we Normalize Error. We don't shame. We show them that errors are not only normal, but essential in the process of becoming great. Simultaneously, we use Precise Praise when students answer correctly. We don't need to scream with joy; we can use a simply, "Good work!" to show that we appreciate what they have done. When teachers go overboard with complements, we send a message of low expectations; we weren't expecting you to get it right, so we will make up for it by smothering you with unnecessary complements. 

2. Great teachers make their expectations clear. This is, without a doubt, the most important component of classroom management. While the other points are important, this supersedes them immensely.

Research has shown us the importance of making expectations clear in the first weeks of school. It's important that we remind students of our expectations throughout the year and constantly hold them accountable in appropriate ways. Instead of reprimanding a student in a negative way, we can remind them, "Which conversation level should you be at?" and issue a consequence if necessary.

The term consequence has a negative connotation. But they don't have to be punitive. If we do not issue consequences, we send the message to our students that they can do whatever they please. We need to have consequences for a safe school. (We must also remember that consequences can be positive as well- class points, "scholar dollars", or my own "SWAG" awards- Scholars Working Always Great.)

CHAMP is, in my opinion, the best system for making expectations clear. I have mentioned it in other posts, but here are two sample posters explaining CHAMP(S) and conversation levels:

Sample CHAMPS poster. I have posted the ones I have made in my room. I had not seen the S added previously. This is optional, but I like the idea of talking about "success" to frame expectations in a positive manner.

Example of possible conversation CHAMP voice levels

The S for "success" is new. Some schools use it and others don't. While I am big on encouraging success and using positive framing, I do not use it in my classroom, because it's different from the other components. "Success" is not an expectation; it's the results of meeting and exceeding expectations. Let's break down each part of CHAMP for indepentant and group work.

C- Conversation. At what level should your students be speaking? I posted the sample above with five conversation levels, but I actually only use three in my room- 0 (silence), 1 (small group voice, or the "6 inch rule"), 2 (whole class voice). This is a simple, straightforward way to make clear what the volume in a class should be for a given activity. For example, when students enter and complete their Do Nows they're at a 0, when they are working in their groups they're at a 1, and when presenting to the class or reading aloud during guided reading they're at a 2.

H- Help. How do students ask for assistance? During independent work they can raise their hand or use the "book signal", which is taking a book and standing it upwards on their desk. (For some reason they really seem to enjoy doing this.) They can also use "seat signals"- crossing their fingers if they need to use the washroom (make sure to have a sign-out sheet ready by the door), holding up an unsharpened pencil (which can be swapped with pre-sharpened pencils), and twirling a finger in the air might mean they have dropped something and need to pick it up, possibly leaving their desk. You can use non-verbal corrections and indicators to communicate to avoid disrupting your lesson. For example, sometimes I put my hand up like a stop sign, indicating "hold on", or I might flash five fingers, meaning to wait five minutes. These are great procedural tools to help maintain the pacing of your lesson.

During group work, students can "ask three before me" if they have a question. I have used those exact words when students ask a question during group/partner work; "Did you ask three before me?" Sometimes they forget and then return to their groups and are able to determine the information they needed. If not, provide assistance as necessary.

A- Activity. What are they working on? What is the product that you will see? How will you know students are working on what they are supposed to be? This goes hand in hand with the objective; what will students be able to see and do? You should make it clear what you are expecting to get out of the lesson (such as by reading the objective aloud) and how you will be assessing this. For example, are student writing on sticky notes during a close read and then answering text-dependent questions? Will they be completing an experiment modeling chemical and mechanical breakdown using antacid tablets and vinegar, and afterwards, will they be completing some kind of analysis? Students need to be clear on what they are doing.

M- Movement. Student should be clear on where they can go in the classroom, for what purpose, and when they can go to certain places. Keep this in mind when running centers/stations, or if you have a small classroom and have some students working outside. If you are doing a project, you want the materials easily accessible. Finally, if it is independent work, students should be clear that they are to stay in their seats. Again, they can use seat signals if they need help.

P- Participation. This is how students will demonstrate that they are participating- discussion records in literature circles, answering analysis questions for a science experiment, or creating mathematical models with manipulatives. Keep in mind as well if they are working independently or in groups. Finally, model what participation looks like, especially in groups. Show them what model participation would look like. To create accountability, I have a CHAMP managers accountability sheet that I have my "managers" complete each week for their group members, including themselves.

If students are not meeting the CHAMP expectations, they can receive a "strike", "demerit", change their "color", or whatever consequence is appropriate. That is the immediate consequence. If they recieve a certain number of demerits in a week, they might recieve a detention. It is paramount that students be held accountable to their actions and that you follow through with consequences. This will set the tone for your classroom. Again, consequences can be positive as well, including for meeting and exceeding your CHAMP expectations. You could give them some extra free time, give them a coupon to switch seats with a peer for the day, or another appropriate incentive.  This can be for the entire class as well.

3. Great teachers use Positive Framing. This is also crucial. When we use positive framing, we do not yell at students. We do not scream. We not only remain calm, but when students need redirection (which some inevitably will), we do so firmly but with care. We can still be "strict" and loving simultaneously. You can use other techniques like Right Means Right and No Opt Out to help frame scenarios in a positive manner. Correcting errors in simple ways can be done- "That would be a good example of a round character, do you remember how that's different from a dynamic character?" You could also "stretch it" by saying, "Great work, can you remind me why a dynamic character can never be static?"

Again, being positive doesn't mean that you aren't clear or that you aren't "strict". You can still assert your expectations with clarity- just make sure you do so in a positive manner.

4. Great teachers assign appropriate consequences and rewards as necessary. We enable negative behavior if we allow the improper behavior to continue without immediate consequences. Again, this could be in the form of demerits, "strikes", loss of "class points", etc. We simply do not want to send the message to our students that anything goes.

There's been an ongoing debate about the use of rewards in classrooms; should we use them or not, and what message do we send students if we use them?

I used to not believe in rewards, and that they often turned into a form of bribery. We want to promote intrinsic motivation, I thought, and rewards are extrinsic motivation. That is true, and we do not want our students to exceed expectations, not just meet them. But we have to ask ourselves, what motivates us to do what we do each day? While I love teaching, I also need to make money. Here I have intrinsic motivation (I want to be the best that I can) as well as extrinsic (I need to support my family). While we want students to be motivated, sometimes sparking that drive is difficult. I believe that, when used appropriately, rewards can help do this. Remember that rewards are a form of consequences. If all our consequences are negative, we show students that we will not reward them for pushing themselves. Yes, the thought of an A will motivate our students who are driven, but it may not push others to study. In an ideal society, rewards would not be necessary in schools. But this is far from an ideal society, and rewards can help push students to be accountable.

5. Great teachers treat all students treated equally and fairly and are cognizant of inherent biases to create a diverse community of learners. This seems like a no-brainer, but often occurs, particularly with white teachers in urban schools. I remember the first time I read Peggy McIntosh's essay on white privilege and was absolutely stunned. I had always thought of racism in an overt, blunt manner, but never as a system which was inherently set up to provide myself advantages and people of color disadvantages. It was a life-changing read. Lisa Delpit's "The Silenced Dialogue" was another essay that left me speechless, because it not only applied these ideas to education, but it showed the perspectives of many educators of color, and how I had directly abused my "cultural capital" in ways I had never intended.

It is critical for us to be aware of our entrenched prejudices- to confront them, and ultimately examine them. Only then can we be honest with ourselves. Biases can be entrenched to the point where we become oblivious. All teachers want to have successful classrooms, but we ultimately may be holding our students when we harbor prejudices, however minor they may seem.

Once we have recognized our defects, it is paramount that we implement a classroom environment free of bias. You might consider how often you call on students of a specific gender, race, socioeconomic background, sexual preference, proficiency with English (or native language), and those with or without learning and behavioral disabilities.

Finally, we cannot afford to be colorblind, nor can our students. Too many teachers politely tell themselves things like, "I don't see race". This is not only naive, but can be outright dangerous in a classroom. To pretend that Eric Garner's race was not a factor in his death is false; to suggest so in a classroom can be detrimental to students. I have witnessed teachers and administrators try to sweep racial problems under the rug. The problem does not go away; the problem grows until it can no longer be ignored. Please, for the dignity and respect of our students, do not ignore the cultural chasms that may exist in classrooms. Confront, learn, and ultimately grow from them. As a professor once told me, "It is not our students who must adapt to us, but we who must adapt to our students."

6. Great teachers do not shame students when they are "wrong". I have talked about this a great deal with normalizing error. There is not much to say here that I have not written about previously; don't shame students, period. I have worked in schools where screaming at students for an incorrect answer was the norm. This continues the self-fulfilling prophecy that holds back many of our students from success. They fall into a cycle of learned helplessness. They receive the message that they can't do it repeatedly and it becomes ingrained in their psyche.

We know that great teachers are constantly checking for understanding. As a huge proponent of Cold Call, I believe that frequent informal assessments are one of the keys to successful differentiated instruction. Students need to feel comfortable when speaking and sharing their answers. Great teachers instill confidence and a classroom climate where it's not only acceptable to make mistakes, but is encouraged, because the effort is what we are looking for, second to ability.

7. Great teachers convey the importance of procedures to students from day one and throughout the year. Whether you've been teaching for decades or will start in the fall, you've likely heard how critical procedures are. The First Days Of School (Wong) was drilled into my head when I student taught, and has been a staple for teachers since it's publication. The author is relentless in his assertion of the critical nature of procedures on the first day of school. While Wong's signature text may seem outdated in certain aspects, his emphasis is not. Procedures are critical to the success of a classroom.

Studies have shown that the classrooms with the least amount of management problems occur when the teachers modeled their expectations and how they expect students to function in the classroom. Consider if you have clear, set procedures for the following:

-Entering the classroom

-Exiting the classroom

-What students should do if they need a sharp pencil 

-Entering tardy

-Walking through hallways and taking restroom breaks as a class

-Obtaining various classroom supplies 

-Accessing and returning books

-When to copy down homework and where to write it

-Writing headings

-Mainting a discipline system

-Class jobs

-All components of CHAMP

These are just a few examples. I love Seat Signals. They are fantastic for independent work. Regardless of your procedures, make sure you have systems for everything. The more consistent you are with clearly enforcing and modeling procedures, the more successful your classroom will be.

8. Great teachers prevent problems before they start. I recently was teaching in a classroom at another school over the summer, when I heard a fight break out into the hallway between two third grade boys. The teacher was oblivious to the situation and started blaming the boys for her lack of attention. This classroom constantly has problems, especially noise issues. Yet other classrooms in the school, with the same student population, do not have problems. In fact, these classes are models for behavior- in urban classrooms and beyond.

Ultimately, student behavior falls on us. Yes, there are extreme cases, but 99% of the time, student misbehavior is a result of teacher inattention. In another classroom, the teacher stepped outside and left the students alone with a student observer. Another fight broke out. Another teacher simply had students on iPads for hours. They were instructed to do an independent activity. The teacher was simply at her desk on her phone and I'm sure you can guess that the students became off task.

Great teachers investigate for conflict. They are always scanning and taking note of possible trouble before it starts. They have eyes on the backs of their heads. They are always aware that something can go wrong, but they work to prevent problems before they start. There is no reason that a classroom in a high-poverty neighborhood cannot function just as seemlessly as one in an affluent suburb.

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Classroom management problems burn teachers out more than anything else. Many of us were not adequately prepared in college to meet the needs of an overcrowded, under-resourced schools in a low-income neighborhood. That does not validate some sort of patronizing "Teach For America" style narrative or being a savior; it is simply repudiating this notion that "those kids" are the problem. Nor is it a means to suggest privatization, charter schools, education "reform" policies, and massive budget cuts. No, it is none of those things. It means we don't make excuses. In an ineffective classroom the teacher is the problem, and in an effective classroom the teacher is the solution.

No Opt Out: Classroom Management, Self-Esteem, and Differentiation

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

-Michael Jordan

If you mess up on the first day of school, there is no going back. Your entire year can be ruined instantly.

The first weeks, days, hours, and even seconds are crucial to a successful school year. Your students will pick up on your mannerisms. They will "size you up" and assess your competency in classroom management, whether or not you are ready for it.

First day of class. You are shaking students hands at the door and introduce yourself. Now is the time to begin teaching procedures. Many teachers begin with "icebreakers". (These activities are a good way for students to get to know each other, but I strongly recommend that you stress the procedural component of the activity and not the classroom environment. You can create that environment of comfort between your students, but I strongly recommend with beginning with procedures.) Let's say after you model how to enter and exit the classroom (which I refer to as First Five and Last Five) you have your students stand in a circle and say their name one at a time, and then something they like beginning with the first letter of their name. ("I'm Mr. Friedberg and I like mangoes.") The next person says their name, something they like, and the person before them. ("He's Mr. Friedberg, he likes mangoes, and I'm Gabriella and I like guitars.") But what happens when you get to the student who refuses. What do you do? Whatever words you say will indicate to the class your authority; are you going to maintain it, or are you going to give it up to a student who is trying to test you?

This is where No Opt Out comes in. It's the first technique in the controversial Teach Like A Champion, which is essential to my classroom. When I was in college, student taught, and became a substitute teacher, I knew all the slogans and catchphrases to use in interviews. I knew to mention "data driven instruction" and "high expectations". But what exactly do "high expectations" look like, especially in an urban classroom? No Opt Out is critical to maintaining strong behavioral standards, in addition to helping build students' self-esteem. Here is how Lemov defines the technique:

A sequence that begins with a student unable to answer a question should end with the student answering that question as often as possible.

Let's first examine defiance and return back to our icebreaker scenario. A student may say, "I don't know", "I don't want to do this", or "I don't like anything". In all three instances, the student is trying to take control of the classroom. Power should never be negotiated. Before I became a teacher I worked for years at a local community center. My former boss was one of the best disciplinarians. I have ever seen. As she put it, "Either you're in charge or the kids are. You decide."

Like Cold Call, the technique is incredibly simple with deep implications. Essentially, use the technique to have a student answer your question or respond to your direction.

It's important to realize that when a student says, "I don't know", they may be unsure of an answer or they may be defiant. Identifying this circumstance is crucial to rectifying it.

In a successful urban classroom, or any classroom for that matter, power is never negotiated. This does not mean that you need to be punitive; you should not be. In fact I strongly use Positive Framing in everything I do. I want my students to feel welcomed and excited to learn. Simultaneously, that does not mean that I let up on  being "strict". That term often has a negative connotation. I view being strict as making my expectations crystal clear and holding my students high to what they need to do. It does not have to be anything more or less than that.

Let's return to our first day scenario. You get to a student who tries to test you. He responds, "I'm not doing this,"

What is happening? He's trying to take power from you. This is where you cannot negotiate and where you can use No Opt Out. Calmly say to the student, "Alex, I'm going to ask you one more time. Either you're going to participate or you're going to be in detention after school. Now, what is your name and what do you like?"

Now it's become clear. You refuse to give up power. The majority of the time, most students should probably respond to your request- that is, if you have developed a strong classroom climate where you are the clear authority. If you have not done that, your power can begin to crumble. If the student still won't budge, it is imperative to follow up with your consequence. Whatever we do, we send a message to our students. The message sent is either this teacher means business or this year is going to be a joke.

Now let's begin to examine using this technique for when a student actually does not know. Let's say you're cold-calling students. Lemov asserts that there are for ways to respond when they cannot (or refuse to) answer:

Format 1. You provide the answer; your student repeats the answer. 
Format 2. Another student provides the answer; the initial student repeats the answer.
Format 3. You provide a cue; your student uses it to find the answer. 
Format 4. Another student provides a cue; the initial student uses it to find the answer.

In my eighth grade language arts class we are reading The Book Thief. Let's say you do a close read on a passage in the beginning of the book. Liesel Meminger finds out that her father was taken away. After the students respond with sticky notes based on Common Core question stems. You begin with a simple question using cold call. "Why was Liesel's father taken away (pause) Fabian?" The student replies that they don't know. Using all four formats, here is how you could possibly respond:

Student: I'm not sure.
Teacher: He was a communist.
Student: Oh that's right,
Teacher: What was he?
Student: A communist.
Teacher: Excellent.

Student A: I don't know.
(Cold Call another student) Teacher: Help him out (pause) Janine.
Student B: Her father was a communist.
(Teacher points back or gives a brief verbal cue to Student A)
Student A: Her father was a communist.
Teacher: Right!

Student: He was Jewish?
Teacher: Good try, but remember, he wasn't Jewish. What were some of the other groups targeted by Hitler?
Student: Poles, the mentally challenged, trade unionists... oh, communists! He was a communist.
Teacher: Good job, Fabian!

Student A: He was a gypsy?
(Cold Call another student) Teacher: He was not, but he was a member of a certain group. Who else did Hitler target besides those of a certain ethnicity (pause) Carlos?
Student B: He went after gay people and people of different political groups.
Teacher: Good. Now what was one of the main groups Hitler targeted Fabian?
Student A: Oh, communists!
Teacher: Good, give me a complete sentence, please.
Student A: Liesel's father was a communist.
Teacher: Great work!

One of the great things that I love about No Opt Out is that it can be used to build students' confidence. As I mentioned in my cold call post, questioning techniques should not be used to make students feel ashamed, but to help make them feel better. The technique emphasizes having the student answer correctly. That's what it's all about, and when students can answer correctly they can feel proud of themselves.

As you differentiate questioning techniques, you can differentiate using No Opt Out as well. My favorite "format" is 4, where another student provides a cue for their peer, and that the question is answered. (This creates a high ratio.) For example, if you ask a higher level question and the student does not get it, you can cold call a student that you believe could appropriately answer. You can also do this with a lower question. You want to create a "culture of error" where everyone participates and feels comfortable in speaking.

Students need to know that it's not only to try and fail; it's expected. Many students suffer from learned helplessness. The more we can destigmatize getting a question "wrong", the more we can push students to answer questions correctly. Our students won't become Michael Jordans if they are afraid to miss some free throws. And in order to succeed, we need to give them lots of opportunities to take free throws. They will miss some, but with proper support, they will be less afraid to take shots.

Why #Blacklivesmatter is a Part of My Classroom

I can't breathe.

-Eric Garner

Part I- Subjectivity

I had a teacher in high school that became like a father to me. He took me under his wing. He mentored me and guided me, and eventually helped me to get a full scholarship to a private college.

That school was Kansas City Art Institute. I visited it and broke down. Not only did I not want to attend this school (no disrespect to the institution), but I also realized that art degrees are not functional for the most part. I still love to draw, but I did not want to spend four years and lots of money on a degree I would not use. (That said, I never want to discourage my students from persuing their dreams, and if one of them wanted to attend art school I would support them completely.)

But the ultimate fear existed in how I would tell my teacher that I decided not to attend this school. Trepidation seeped into every fiber of my body. 

As expected, he did not take it well. But I also came to realize that he had shaped me in his image. A year later I went to visit the school, only to hear condescending comments from him about the choice I had made. As my hero began to fall from grace, I realized that his AP art history class was extremely subjective- obsessing over the French classisicts and the imagery of Western life, while, with the exception of the Edo woodcuts of Japan, completely ignoring the rest of the world. In addition to the racism rooted in this philosophy, it was clear that he was infusing his own opinion into the class by openly criticizing or praising various works based on his own opinions. There was no objectivity.

Reflecting upon this sick individual, it became clear to me that as teachers, it is our duty to try to have students think independently. Trying to make them copies of ourselves is harmful not only to them, but to us as well.

Part II- Black Lives Matter

Yesterday it was revealed that multiple officers from the Baltimore Police Department will be charged in the death of Freddie Gray.

While this looks like a remnant of hope, not only am I skeptical of the results, but Mr. Gray is still dead. I'm not sure what consolation, if any, this will bring to his family.

Even in death, black men are dehumanized and degraded. Just days ago, there were a slew of political pundits and commentators theorizing that he had somehow caused his own injuries. "Suicide" was too offensive of a word and it was too soon to use, but there were lots of other assertions that redefined ignorance. Rush Limbaugh pointed out, "Look at how many times the police did not kill Freddie Gray." Yes, they should be commended for that, whereas Mr. Limbaugh was arrested for prescription drug fraud, yet it's somehow not "amazing" that he was not killed or is not in jail.

Whites constantly attack the "decline of the two parent household" in black families, black on black crime, or the problems that plague many communities of color. My biggest problem with this sort of logic is this- nobody is saying that black on black crime is not a problem. But for one, as a white man, I don't believe it is my job to lecture black people on what to do in their own communities. And two, this obscures the larger issue- the racist system in which we live; a black man kills a black man and goes to jail, and when a white police officer kills a black man he receives paid administrative leave.

Finally, why black lives matter? Don't all lives matter? Of course all lives matter, all people matter. No one is disputing that remotely. We say black lives matter because those are the ones that clearly do not matter in America today. We do not have a pattern of unarmed white men being killed by police officers. If the problem was equal, if "reverse racism" existed, if somehow Africans had conquered Europeans, then yes, "all lives matter" would be a valid claim. But that's not what has occurred over centuries, and it's certainly not what's happening in America today.

Part III- #BlackLivesMatter In the Classroom

How do we balance these two seemingly different schools of thought based on subjectivity and objectivity?

First, we need to create a classroom environment where all views are tolerated. Kids should be able to express their disagreement without fearing retribution from their classmates in teacher. I saw this in my own classroom this week. A (Hispanic) student journaled about how #alllivesmatter is a more powerful hashtag/concept than #blacklivesmatter. She was the only student in my classroom who had this opinion. Nonetheless, her peers all clapped for her response afterwards for her well-thought response. It was a powerful reminder that all students should feel accepted, no matter which position they take.

One of the ways to do this is to focus on counterarguments in essay writing. When students write, they should be able to take in the totality of views in order to maintain an informed opinion.

We can also stress the importance of compassion. When reading To Kill A Mockingbird, my coworker had the class evaluate all of the characters' courage on a scale of 1-10 during the trail. When Mayella was brought up, the entire class instantly said that she should get a 1. Their teacher emphasized empathy. Look at what Mayella has experienced. Consider what her father has done to her. Look at their living conditions, as well as their stigma in Maycomb. The students saw that courage can take many forms and can be subtle. It's important to recognize that even outside of conversations on race, it's important to be feel compassion even for those we may disagree with. Mayella's actions and their evaluations of her courage show us that our individual experiences form our opinions. This, even if we disagree with others, is critical to remember; the context of the opinions that have been formed on both ends define us as individuals. The more students can view the sentiments of which they disagree with a sense of objectivity, the more respectful classroom debates will be, no matter the subject matter.

Third, we can take into the context of the "pedagogy of the oppressed" into everything we teach. If we look at history through a critical context of those that have disproportionately affected by xenophobia, racism, Manifest Destiny, and genocide, we can teach in a way that honors the realities of history- realities with which many of us did not encounter in school ourselves. This does not mean we do not honor the great achievements of history- it means that this is not the only thing we do, and that we do it beyond the Western World.

Finally, it's hard to argue that saying that unarmed black men should not be killed is subjective. This is a basic fact of human dignity. I have no doubt that in fifty years, white Americans will look back on this period in history with the same attitudes of disbelief that their parents and grandparents carried during the Civil Rights era. Do I believe racism will end? Certainly I am not that naive. I do believe that we are going through some of our darkest days as a country, and one day we shall look back on them with shame and accept the fact that black human beings matter and do not deserve to be killed at the mercy at those who have more power than they.

Why Special Education Students Should Not Feel "Special"

I have epilepsy. I take medication to prevent myself from having seizures.

There is often a stigma for those with physical, emotional, behavioral, and/or cognitive disabilities. And there should not be. That is why I am being honest about my own disorder.

My first year teaching I had several students with IEPs in one classroom. I was overwhelmed as it was, and while I had researched, student taught, and was subbing previously, this was absolutely nothing in comparison. These were MY students, and I had a duty to educate them properly- an overwhelming responsibility that was entirely new to me.

Just like I had been taught in college, I started the first week with procedures. We completed a sheet of Do Nows and Exit Slips for the week. I collected them on Friday to see what my students were able to do, and what I would need to re-teach.

One student's work particularly stuck out to me. I'll call him "Alex". As I read Alex's Do Nows, I saw that all he had been able to do was copy the text from the Do Now on the board. All the other students with IEPs were able to respond to the questions in some fashion, but all Alex could do was copy them.

I spoke with the special education teacher. Alex suffered from severe dyslexia, in addition to being severely learning disabled in other ways. My first thought was, "Wow, I wouldn't notice this just by looking at him."

There's an intrinsic problem with that assumption; I had preconceived notions of how special education students should appear. I did not acknowledge the vast diversity in student needs, as well the various ways they can appear on the surface. Alex looked "normal" to me, but the irony is that he needed more help than any other student.

I thought long and hard about how to make life science successful for Alex, because no book or professor had explained to me how to differentiate instruction for a student like him. I had a very rudimentary concept of how to make material understandable for a kid like Alex. I knew I could give him extra time for assignments or fewer questions on timed tests, but solutions beyond that escaped me.

Our first quiz was on the scientific method. I gave him fewer questions. On the multiple choice questions I eliminated some choices to try to make it easier for him. He got an F.

After class I spoke with him in private. I asked him if he wanted seperate assessments- homework, tests, etc. He did not. I asked, "Are you sure?" He confidently replied that he was.

Differentiated instruction- content, process, product. I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. And then it hit me. Shame.

Alex was ashamed of his cognitive challenges. He was tired of being "different", and not just from students. I found out that one teacher had not even looked at his IEP and had called on him to read aloud in another class. Of course he could not, and she started yelling at him. He cried.

The next day I asked to speak to Alex after class again. I guessed, "You just don't want to take a different test from everybody else, right?" He nodded his head and told me that was exactly it. We came up with a solution; I would give him a normal assessment just like his peers and collect it at at the end of class. Afterwards I would recycle it and then we would meet and I would create something that was appropriate for his schema. Instead of a quiz on cells, I would give him three circles describing different organelles. I would read him what needed to go in each box and he drew the organelles. He loved it.

This showed me something interesting yet extremely obvious; there is a distinct connection between conprehension and self-esteem. When students understand material, they feel positively about themselves; when they cannot master content, they develop a negative self-image. This connection was shown when we got back the results from our standardized testing. Between math, reading, and science, his highest scores were in my class, science. He ran to show me and was so proud of himself.

Data like this can also show us where a student with special needs is specifically having trouble. All of the material on the test was read to him, so it became clear that while he lacks decoding skills, he has comprehension, especially in terms of listening.

Too often special education students are made to feel "special" and different. Alex taught me something I will never forget; all students want to be treated as normal kids, and the more we do that as educators, the more successful our students will be.

I have epilepsy, and I refuse to be ashamed.