What If?

We’ve been thinking a lot about children and families in our current social/political/cultural environment, because we know the children are always listening. What is being overheard in conversations between parents or friends, in the news on television or on the radio? What photographs are they seeing? What stories are they hearing? What impact does this have on our kids? What will this mean for schools in the fall? There is so much to be said, that for this blog post we decided to simply pose our thoughts as “what-if” questions. Perhaps you have some thoughts you’d be willing to share.

• What if mothers seeking asylum were free to be able to love and hold onto their children?
• What if children didn’t have to comfort their mothers?
• What if parents didn’t have to make the choice to flee their home countries?
• What if there was no place for parents to find safety?
• What if you had to do the same?
• What if our country had no diversity?
• What if we better understood the diversity of the original inhabitants of this country and our roles in the changes on this land?
• What if we felt safe talking about diversity?
• What if we understood our own part in the diversity of our country?
• What if children could maintain their innocence as they grow and experience the world around them?
• What if every day at school, every child was greeted with a smile and a big hug?
• What if every day all children were told that they can do it?
• What if we treated all children as though they matter?
• What if teachers had class sizes that allowed them to develop individualized instruction and deep relationships?
• What if education was truly valued by all?
• What if our society respected the role of educator?
• What if everyone had the courage to be open-minded?
• What if we could all put down the screens and go outside?
• What if education was less about control and more about collaboration?
• What if we put as much value on career paths in trades and skilled labor as we do on academics in college?
• What if we reversed the hierarchy of value in education so that the greatest emphasis is placed on the youngest learner?
• What if more Americans were engaged in responsibilities of citizenship?
• What if more American citizens were knowledgeable about the politics of our country?
• What if schools were more like spas and less like jails?
• What if everyone volunteered in an early education classroom for one day?
• What if everyone shadowed an elementary teacher for one day?
• What if we all lived the words to John Lennon’s “Imagine”?

All Children

We started this blog to focus on doing what’s right for children, for all children, in public education. Today’s post is bigger. It’s about looking at a broader picture, the consequences of our actions or inaction, and not doing harm. Please read with an open mind, consider that these children could be your own, could have even been you but for different circumstances…

-Dani

These are my children (biological)

And these are my children (students I’ve been honored to work with)

And these are my children (children of migrants seeking asylum at the border; Getty images, copyright John Moore)

It’s hard for me to not see similarities, to go from one photograph to the next and see that at the heart of the matter, they are the same. They have the same basic needs, the same physiological development, and the same rights as humans. Those children at the border could one day be in my classroom or yours, could be in a school with your children or grandchildren. What is different about the children in these photos is the way our country sees and treats them.

Children are powerless. What they, and in this case their families, need from us is open-mindedness, empathy, advocacy, and protection. Families seeking asylum are fleeing from violence and situations that I can’t even imagine. They come to us with the hope of safety and the chance for better lives for their children. But our government is instead inflicting more trauma. Experiences in early childhood, while the brain is still rapidly developing, have serious and lifelong implications for how a child will learn, grow, establish relationships, and behave. Dr. Colleen Kraft, president of the American Association of Pediatrics, said, “These kids have stress hormone damage and a “fight or flight” mentality, which leads to developmental delay and maladaptive behavior. With normal brain architecture you will keep the ability to read, the ability to write, the ability to love and learn. With these kids, the strong connections with fear and anxiety and pain and hurt are the ones that stay, and the ability to learn new things, the ability to read, will be pruned away.” (MPR News, June 26, 2018).

As a parent, a teacher, and a citizen I am outraged at the current situation in this country. The policy of separating children from their asylum-seeking parents is cruel. It is traumatic for children and their parents. And after public backlash and outcry, the complex reunification process begins. I have spent years working with hundreds of children and families in education. To see any child in what amounts to a cage is downright despicable and there is no argument or justification that makes this ok. Is this who we are? Is this what we elected our leaders to do?

I have written to my elected officials, I’ve signed petitions, I’ve donated money, I am writing about this issue on numerous platforms, but I keep asking myself what more I can do. Because my heart is breaking for these children, children who could be mine, could be yours, and should be treated as such.

Judy and I believe that immigration and border control issues need to be addressed. But how we address them tells a lot about who we are as individuals and as a country. How do we talk to each other respectfully, consider different viewpoints, and come to a compromise that we can live with, one that recognizes the human dignity that we all (immigrants included) want and deserve to be treated with?

Here are some things we believe a critical thinker might consider:

• Why are people coming here?
• Fairness; what is fair? Do immigrants receive “free” services that citizens do not, such as healthcare, housing or food assistance?
• Are citizens paying for the existence of immigrants in this country?
• Which news sources are you looking at? “Factual” information varies widely depending upon whom you listen to. Can you look at various sources, research without assumption, and make up your own mind?  
• How do we achieve balance?
• Can you challenge your own beliefs?
• Would you try to imagine yourself in another person’s situation?

I (Dani) attended a workshop recently for science educators about the importance of including different perspectives into what and how we teach. One statement that has stuck with me about the value in honoring differences in human experience is this: It isn’t that hard to treat other human beings as sacred.

Please. Consider that.

Whose Homework Is It Anyway?

Whose homework is it anyway?  Another topic for discussion regarding “at the heart of it” is certainly homework.  It is a topic that has been on our minds for a very long time both as moms and as educators. We’ll each share a story or two.

Judy

The homework thing was never more apparent to me than at  my daughter’s science fair project in elementary school.  As a third or fourth grade student, my daughter was required to turn in a science fair project most of which, if not all, was to be done at home.  I questioned coworkers about this asking for advice and suggestions on what they had done with their kids. I assumed they would suggest some projects my daughter could complete on her own with guidance from me.  Oh no, I soon learned. After discussion and sharing of stories regarding the homework assignment for their children, it became apparent that the assignment was not for her it was for US.  Forced “parental involvement” I guess.

My colleagues, who were very engaged in the lives of their children, quickly informed me that in order for my child to have the best science fair project, my child and I would have to do the project together.  “Oh my”, said I.

And then I tried to engage myself in engaging my daughter on her project.  It was like engaging her in making her bed or doing the dishes.  Her decisions and product were not  always up to my standards and I stressed --out loud.  Seriously.   

So, in order for this science project to be the best science project, certainly up to par with the parents of her friends, I knew we would  have to abide by my standard---the one I set for myself as an adult.  Let’s be honest here; as an educator I watched many parents who wanted their child to be the best, be the winner, and they would do everything they could do to make that happen.  I never much appreciated that and now I was doing the same because I was in competition with them!  “So whose project was this anyway,” I asked myself and decided to back off a bit---maybe more than a bit.

My daughter brought her project to school and I must say it was in the middle plus range of projects.  She had the purchased poster board and markers for display and plenty of guidance on how and where to do research.  I made lots of suggestions about procedure and what to measure--the scientific process--but I didn’t actually “do” the project.  Looking around the science fair as an educator myself, I was able to determine which parents did the projects, helped with projects and which parents let their kids work on their own.  There was a significant difference between these categories and I was pretty certain about what the old “bell curve” would dictate here.

Often, knowing that I was an educator, friends and acquaintances would complain to me about how much homework “they” had every night.  They would complain that with their work schedules and responsibilities at home after work, they didn’t have enough time to complete “their” homework and were concerned their kids’ grades would suffer. In many cases, the adults didn’t even understand the directions or how to complete the assignment.  WHAT?

As a school principal, I often received calls from prospective parents asking about the amount of assigned homework, not as an indication of too much homework but as an indication of the quality of the school.  More homework, more scholastic integrity and therefore a “better” school than the one with less homework.  Or, there were the parents who wanted their children to be assigned a lot of homework to keep them busy until the parents got home from work.  

As a teacher, because of district requirements, I often assigned homework that most often   wouldn’t be completed.  The type of class was not conducive to homework but in order to comply and have a “relevant” class, I assigned it anyway.  What a struggle. I knew that most homework assignments needed parental understanding and support and I also knew that not all parents, for a variety of reasons, were in a position to give that support.  There was no good purpose to this convoluted homework practice and it certainly did not have the student at the center of the decision. And I asked once again, “whose homework is it anyway?”

Yes, there may be some quality homework assignments and these assignments must support and enhance the classroom work rather than be exercises in repetition or plain busy work.  This assignment must be made with the student in mind supporting significant learning that is relevant and FUN!  

Dani

As a first grade teacher in a large public school district, I was required to follow the district’s homework policy, which was 30 minutes of homework per night, for six-year-olds. I do not believe in worksheets to “keep children busy,” or in homework for a math curriculum that is so obscure parents have a hard time figuring it out, or in collecting and keeping track of meaningless paperwork. I have no disagreement with children reading each night. Appropriate reading for first graders would be looking at picture books, being read to by a family member, or reading on their own, depending on their current reading skills and the materials available to them. Realizing early on that many of my students did not even have books at home so they could not meet this requirement, I allowed them to borrow books from my personal classroom library. They may have been favorite read-alouds that they wanted to share with their families, books they were especially fond of, or just something new to look at. The first time a child asked if he could borrow a book, his face lit up when I said yes. I never really kept track of who borrowed what or worried about losing books. I was just happy that they were excited about reading. I think what really made that powerful was choice. Children could make choices and decisions about things that were relevant and interesting to them.

Things got trickier when I couldn’t just say “read every night” because vocal, competitive parents expected more. I tried a number of strategies. I’d assign math pages from the student math workbook in addition to reading. I’d come up with elaborate projects related to things we were studying in the classroom to make assignments relevant and provoke curiosity. I’d make a weekly homework bingo board and families could pick five assignments for the week. I even tried differentiating homework by dividing students into three “homework groups” based on their reading levels. But then I had to come up with three different things each day and parents wanted to know what their child could do to “move up” a level. It was exhausting! And I still had lessons for each school day to plan and prepare for.

What I really wanted to tell parents was what one of my daughter’s teachers, years after I left the district, told me about homework: “The district has a homework policy. My belief is that after-school time is family time. Go for walks. Have conversations. Read together. Play games. Ride bikes. Do whatever it is your family enjoys doing together.” That teacher is the primary reason we stayed at that particular elementary school. And for middle and high school we chose a charter school that does not assign homework. 

          Here is what is really at the heart of this blog post. Research does not support a correlation between homework and student achievement, particularly in elementary school. For an excellent read on this, see Alfie Kohn’s comments here. Harris Cooper, Duke researcher, did a meta-analysis of nearly 200 studies on homework and his findings are here. 

If we continue to assign homework when the benefits are not proven, we also need to consider what harm we may be doing when we as educators assign work outside of the school day. What are children not doing because they are spending time on homework? Are we creating stress, fatigue, bad feelings toward school, and taking away from precious family time? And we might just be increasing disparities for students and families who do not have the resources or time to successfully complete work at home. We must consider the socio-economic diversity of families as well as the diversity we see in our classrooms.  As educators we are partners with the families of our students and as such, must know and understand their individual differences. Are they  willing and able to support assignments at home?  And if so, we must consider how we assess any work that is done at home.  In addition we may want to think about the student who aces the test but never turns in homework assignments, which is reflected in his grade.  Are we assessing knowledge and understanding of a subject or a study skill?  If homework is assigned to promote student responsibility, discipline, and organization, perhaps study skills lessons and activities at school would be more effective. 

There are so many things to consider about homework and much has been written in the past few years.  Take some time to look at some of the references we cited here and together with the thoughts in our blog, use them to evaluate and maybe even change some of your ideas about “whose homework is it anyway?”

Inquiry Part 2

Inquiry is a powerful and effective way of teaching and learning because it ignites curiosity and empowers children to take the lead. Inquiry is inclusive; all children have a voice. The teacher’s role is to guide, support, and encourage, not always a comfortable role as it requires teachers to step aside rather than the more traditional method of “stand and deliver.” The learning can be tailored so each child can take charge and become a productive learner. One of the current, and persistent, topics in education is the achievement gap. While Minnesota’s students continue to perform near the top of the nation overall, there remains a striking gap in achievement for students of color compared to white students. Instead of thinking about this achievement gap simply in terms of lower test scores, we are approaching it as a multi-faceted opportunity gap and  believe the inquiry method of teaching and learning is the best strategy for closing this gap.

Children and families come to schools with different experiences, skills, and opportunity. There’s a lot of talk about “school readiness” but who and what defines a child’s readiness for school? Typically and traditionally school readiness connotes a middle-class value defining how a child should behave and what a child should know on that first day of school. However, many children in our schools today do not fall into this traditional standard definition. We assert that all children are naturally curious and are excited to learn that which they don’t know. This is where we must start.

Consider an inquiry-based classroom with these strategies in place:

• curiosity is triggered through the introduction of a concept
• children ask questions and steer the learning
• teachers act as guides to help focus the learning in order to meet standards and individual needs
• assessment is an ongoing, intentional, and meaningful process

     There is power in teachers being guides in the learning  so children can become problem solvers and experts. The children are motivated to learn more about relevant topics, concepts, and skills. Begin where the child is and ignite the desire to learn. We have seen it in action. It works.

     Learning should not be a chore. The achievement gap is a gap in opportunities for children and teachers in classrooms where we continue to do the same things over and over and expect different results. We must consider new ways of addressing our students’ needs. Inquiry is a strategy that allows the teacher and the learner to navigate the pieces and the process of learning. Look for us to address these individual pieces in upcoming blog posts. We welcome your input, ideas, and constructive criticisms. Let’s talk.