The Fourth Way... to Where?

This reading and exploring of ideas always causes me to think and rethink my understanding of the nuts and bolts of learning. Since we have shifted from social studies, math, and science in first semester to reading and writing... mostly writing... I had an epiphany when a student asked a question during a vocabulary activity. The question wasn't particularly deep or profound, but rather one that led me to make this claim... (first) the average Kindergarten / First grader enters the term with a vocabulary of some where between 5,000 and 10,000 words many of which they have No idea what they look like because they are only known through spoken or oral contexts... the epiphany for was the hardest thing that any learner learns is the decoding skills required to change spoken language into written language... we call it learning to read and how that's done has a lasting impact on the learner. This impact quickly spreads to the educator in the form of data collection and testing, which according to all the  current systemic educational models require data driven results. I quickly tested my thoughts about the question to several students and even my co-teacher (18 year veteran secondary teacher) with almost the exact same results. Still reflecting and thinking about the question I continued the discussion with my spouse (21 year elementary / SPED teacher) with the same results and conformation. I say all of that to lead into the comments within  the beginning words of the reading and Dewey's Either / Ors. When confronted with differentiated learners many different strategies and accommodations are employed in an effort to best reach the learning style of that individual... if that is the best method for differentiated learners I contend ALL learners would benefit from that approach. The Fourth Way offers a glimpse into three paths to better illustrate the nuts and bolts of teaching and learning or what may be called reform. (since I think we are all just learners I could just say the nuts and bolts of learning).

"The description of the problems makes sense. The solutions do not."
When reading the "Autocratic" path all I could think about was how the Federal Government hands down more than 85% of the mandates required to operate a public school, but contributes less than 15% of funds required to operate a public school. This over reaching has always caused me to think or reply with..."when you are paying the bills you can dictate the requirements, but Not the other way around" The report findings, "Tough Choices for Tough Times" clearly outlined the problems, which should have led toward reform and systemic change, but it seems threaten bureaucrats did what they do best they present a solution that strengthens centralized controls instead of releasing them. This led me back to Eliot Wiggenton's approach to solving his problem of how to reach rural GA students, a local solution to a local problem.

"Data might relate to standards that teachers don't value. Statistical data aren't always self-evident: Professional judgment and experience are needed to interpret and add other information to them."
The Technocratic approach still has me thinking about how and what is deemed important or "most important" when dis-aggregating data. On one hand you would take a common sense approach to deciding what the important indicators are, yet on the other hand there may be an underlying motive for choosing or excluding a particular data set. The motives in education should always focus on student achievement and that sounds simple enough, but the consensus on exactly what student achievement is or how's measured is not simple. So, the data can be and is, left to interpretation, which then leads to the following either one or a combination of Misleading data, Misinterpreted data, or Misused data in any case without a consensus definition your only left with data you cannot use.

"All this effervescence is distractingly fun and easy compared with building and committing to deeper relations of trust in long-term communities that take the time to pursue and achieve inspiring and challenging goals that benefit students together."
The Effervescence path instantly put me in a glass of Alka-Seltzer and not even on my worse days have I ever been able to choke that down, but lets have a closer look. Of the three paths this path may be where we get the term Edutainment, which is to say there certainly is something to be said for delivery of content that doesn't immediately send all your students into a 90 minute coma. Yet even more than that I have found, even in my brief classroom tenure, that strong bonding relationships that seek to build mutual trust and respect do the work necessary for true collaboration and achievement. Students and teachers alike need some one to believe in them when they are having trouble believing themselves, that is to say a well timed pat on the back goes much farther than a good grade.



This short clip that summarizes the three paths.





The image of the week for me is... just saying, I think the kid has a legitimate point! See the definition for insanity...

Is a Cloud the Future of Learning?

WOW!!!! What a great opening assignment! While I don't want to lose my wonderful job to a granny, I do like the ideas and information that Sugata is sharing. Like Montessori, Sugata has offered an exploratory box to children that others believed had no chance to demonstrate learning, or like the demonstration of Plato and Socrates asking the uneducated peasant boy various questions that demonstrated knowledge beyond any formal teaching. We are creatures that have this innate drive to explore and understand the world in which we live. I believe that we are curious by nature and giving the time beyond meeting our basic needs we will explore our world for... discovery, understanding, and creating. For example... What group of individuals took a look at a different type of rock (Hematite) and thought... if we put this in a clay pot with some charcoal... and then put the pot on a fire and cook it... the chemical reaction that takes place will be a release of CO2 and we'll be left a metal that we can call Iron (Fe), we can then mold the liquid Iron into better tools than the rocks we are using. These tools will last longer and allow us to do things we have never done.
The concerns I have about this idea is what most people have the most problem with in their everyday life...CHANGE, while I see myself as a learner that is embracing the change many around me have a greater fear of change and what it means. I have mentioned this topic before in a previous post... the Open Concept School... very few walls and designed to create learning groups and spaces, but when they opened this school in my county for my fifth grade year they forgot to get the "teachers" to change the way they taught or thought about "classrooms." What Sugata is asking the education community to do is Not just revise the delivery of content, but change the model. I can get really excited about this concept because I consider myself a follower of Vygotsky and Constructionist at heart... these kids modeled these theories like a textbook example and if these kids (with nothing) can problem solve, explore, deconstruct, construct, analyze, synthesize,and learn with very little "expert" help then how much more could students learn with someone there to ask the right questions or provide a small scaffold.
I think, while we are re-envisioning the future of education we also need to redefine the perimeters of success... to the ideology that unimportant jobs do not exist... and the primary outcome of education is to create lifelong learners that are only limited by their choices, not their standardized test label. We have to trust that given the right set of perimeters and providing some fundamental skills students can and do achieve, instead of measuring their achievement according to a single or set of content standards. If student proficiency is the goal then we need to be willing to do away with grade level learning and move students to more advanced concepts after proficiency is achieved not at the end of some term or grade level... meaning grade levels and report card grades will become irrelevant.


I really like the following Ted talks as a way to build upon Sugata's ideology. (Check them out)

Introductions: A Glimpse Through a Small Window

My Name is Raphael Snell (formal), Mr. Snell (classroom), Dad (son), and Rafe to most everyone else. I'm a professional learner working with "at risk" high school students in the Option Pathway Program for Harrison County Schools. I use the moniker "professional learner" because I feel a teacher is really just a more experienced learner guiding and helping other learners discover meaning and understanding. I view teaching as a way to help other learners prepare for their personal  learning journey. I'm from Shinnston, WV,  by way of Petersburg, WV... it is fair to say that I'm native Appalachian and I speak fluent Appalachianese. My purpose for taking this class (beyond the fact that it's required) is to further may Master's work in Digital Media and New Learning Literacy.



This cartoon card caught my eye for several different reasons:
1. My experiences are quite varied and I subscribe to the philosophy that, "there are No unimportant jobs," which means that students need authentic and relevant educational experiences in order to be prepared to enter the post "high school" phase of their young lives.

2. I don't like being judged on a single task, so why would we judge all students, with varied academic experiences, on a single test. I like the idea of using assessments tools to provide me with data on where the learner needs more work, reinforcement, and remediation, but Not as the sole measure of  a student's DOK.

3. The # lets you know you're communicating with digital media on a global scale. The Twitter platform provides a great venue to start a conversation about issues that need public awareness and also knowing that the possibility for a widely diverse discussion to erupt can be the catalyst for change.

There is more to say about this picture and my philosophy on standardized testing, but I'll save that for future posts. I'm looking forward to working and learning from this new community of learners this semester.