HCDS Blog - Harbor Currents

Photograph that is fascinating to the eyes!

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:47:32 EST

The first event I attended after accepting the Headship at HCDS was the Spring Art Festival, which was held in the spring of 2011. Jama and I were blown away by the incredible art created by Harbor students. The School's mission is to nurture childhood and one way that the School accomplishes our mission is through the arts and self-expression at the earliest stages of development.

Holidays and vacations brings out the photographer in most of us, whether or not we snap family photos, scenery or have the rare opportunity to glimpse the unforeseen. Most importantly, people can feel empowered and expressive behind the lens when one captures a moment in time either as a keepsake or to share with others; human nature capturing human, animal and Mother nature.

Concurrently, for photographer and viewer, incredible photography captures provocative emotions and can take our breath away as much as a Van Gogh depicting fields of flowers painted in provocative brush strokes that reveal a tortured man. There are many venues for enjoying incredible art and nature with your children during upcoming holidays, and in the beautiful light of the Fall and winter seasons, and I encourage you to discover them through museum visits, critter and nature walks, off-season beach explorations, the murmurations of the swallows and travel excursions to view the synchronicity of whales or animal tracks on snow.

Photograph what is fascinating to the eyes! Introduce your children to the magic of photography both off and on the internet, which offers amazing photographs of life on earth and within our solar system.

Here are a few of my favorites.....

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/35039/stunning+time-lapse+video+of+the+pacific+northwest+making+internet+rounds/
http://www.videoman.gr/en/33524
http://vimeo.com/31158841
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=auSo1MyWf8
http://www.youtube.com/v/1eXS0o6r-Wk%26rel%3d0%26hl%3den_US%26feature%3dplayer_embedded%26version%3d3

Enjoy your own explorations!

Jim Young

Interesting Videos

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:21:28 EST

The Flipped Classroom Advances: Developments in Reverse Learning and Instruction

Tue, 10 May 2011 10:20:46 EST

Our first guest blogger is Jonathan E. Martin, Head of School of St. Gregory's College Prep in Tuscon, Arizona. Jonathan has been an independent school head since 1996. Jonathan holds degrees from Harvard University (BA); Starr King School for the Ministry (M.Div., Unitarian ministry); and the University of San Francisco School of Education. Jonathan is a graduate of the Sidwell Friends School, and attended Milton Academy in middle school. He previously headed Saklan Valley School (1999-2008 ) and Maybeck High School (1996-1999). In the first stage of his career, he taught History, Social Studies, and English at Maybeck, and served in a role equivalent to Dean of Students there.

I asked Jonathan for permission to post his article on The Flipped Classroom here on Harbor Currents because I believe he is spot-on in regards to this topic. I am hopeful that this will be the first of many experts in the field guest blogging for us here at Harbor. Read on and enjoy.

The Flipped Classroom Advances: Developments in Reverse Learning and Instruction

Posted by Jonathan Martin, Harbor Currents Guest Blogger [re-posted here from http://21k12blog.net/.]

Steven B. Johnson writes in Where Good Ideas Come From about the revolutionary power of social media such as Twitter to advance ideas and innovation in a myriad of fields, and it has been fascinating to see this concept in action in the swift spread over the past six months of the practice of flipping classrooms, which is also known as reverse instruction or learning, and is closely related to (or often synonymous with) teacher vodcasting.

Johnson also writes that when a good idea is "ripe," it emerges from multiple inventors and innovators simultaneously, making credit very difficult to assign (this "convergence" concept is also heavily explored in Kevin Kelly's fascinating new book What Technology Wants).

Over the past three months, my post on Reverse Instruction on Connected Principals has been read an average of thirty times a day, and shows no sign of slowing down. Educators widely are experimenting with this idea and sharing their own reactions and learnings about the practice online; they are being informed and influenced by the fine work and writing of Karl Fisch of the Fischbowl, Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams of the Teacher Vodcasting Network, John Sowash of the Electric Educator, and many others.

This innovation is also being greatly enhanced by the buzz around Salman Khan, who will be a keynote speaker for the NAIS Annual Conference this year. It was in thinking about Khan's impact that I first began to learn and think through more the implications of reverse learning, and I have written about that twice before, in Khan Academy: Where Does it Fit? and Collapsing Binaries: Digital learning transformation for better learning environments.

Just today, in fact, there is a very powerful post at Singularity Hub, entitled, Yes, the Khan Academy is the Future of Education: "The Khan Academy is the best thing that has happened to education since Socrates."

Below, after a quick review of the practice, I share input and feedback about the practice from two teachers at my school and from Jason Kern, Lorri Carroll, Shelley Wright, and Chris Bigenho.

For those educators who never use, nor feel the need to use, classroom time for lecturing, reversing learning probably has little significance; hence, extremely progressive educators and practicioners of pure PBL may find this innovation a bit passe. However, many fine teachers do most certainly still find great value in delivering content information and modeling skills, and yet want to make the most of their time with student– and for them, reverse instruction is ideal.

Flip your instruction so that students watch and listen to your lectures (or those of other expert lecturers, including MIT professors and Salman Khan) for homework, and then use your precious class-time for what previously, often, was done in homework: tackling difficult problems, working in groups, researching, collaborating, crafting and creating. Classrooms become laboratories or studios, and yet content delivery is preserved.

Previously, we simply lacked the tools and the resources: we didn't have a way for students to watch our own lectures at home, and we didn't have resources available to watch the lectures and instruction of experts. With both now here, the transformation can advance. At the same time, what is now an opportunity is also becoming an urgency: if students don't need to come to class to get informational content delivery, if they can get it easily on their own, we need to transform how we use our classroom time such that it continues to be relevant and valuable.

——

At St. Gregory, one of our math teachers, Leanne Kuluski is flipping her classroom; it is great to hear her talk about her excitement when she began to become familiar with the ideas. She is using screenflick to prepare narrated powerpoints for her students, but is still working on exactly the right delivery and posting options for best accessibility. She says she now has more time in class from meaningful discussions and for working on problems; her students find the powerpoints so valuable because they can refer back to them and listen to them multiple times if necessary, and they are so great for absences.

Ms. Kuluski reports they don't take her all that long to prep, and she works to keep them to 20 minutes or so in length, though they are sometimes longer. She says the kids tell her they love it; one of her pieces of advice is to embed into them funny parts, with jokes and silly accents and things which surprise and amuse her students.

—–

Dr. Scott Morris, our Chemistry instructor, uses reverse instruction extensively. He shares both podcast lectures and narrated powerpoints with students, and lectures in class much more sparingly than he used to: "much of lecturing now is outline and reiterating the problems of the day and how to approach them." His flip teaching employs the technology of Webassign to assess students in how well they have learned the material in the online lectures, and he says students love getting that "green check mark" when they get the Webassign problem correct. Now, most of his class time is spent presenting challenging chemistry problems and watching as students work in groups.

Dr. Morris advises other teachers considering this approach to not sweat the details. "The key is to not get too bent out of shape about production quality; just bang it out. It is more important to get it out there and online than that it be perfect." He works to keep his lectures to 15-20 minutes per segment, but sometimes assigns two segments. His students also find Khan Academy a great second resource for their learning; he reports how much stress has been alleviated by this practice when students have to miss class due to illness, travel or sports.

—–

Shelley Wright is a high school educator in Moose Jaw, SK and blogs at Wright's Room; she has written a pair of posts now on her work in reversing instruction.

I decided to use [reverse instruction] to teach my students the basic concepts of neurons. For homework, I posted to our wiki a Khan Academy video, as well as, a couple of TED talks from leading neurologists to explain some of the purposes neurons have and cutting edge research that's being done in the field. In total, maybe about 25 minutes of work.

Shelley's reports on very positive success with her experiment.

I love the idea that my students are now being taught by leading neurologists. Shouldn't all of our biology students be able to say that?

One of the things that I love about this idea, is the versatility and flexibility of it. Students can watch, pause and re-watch portions of the lecture. This way they can tailor the speed of instruction to their needs.

The next day, I checked my student's learning. They seemed to get it, and they loved the Khan Academy video.

Shelley helpfully reflects on her project, recognizing that she has to focus on building in students' accountability for completing tasks by requiring they take notes on the video lectures, and she is really thoughtful about how she should use video instruction not only for foundational content delivery but for optional enrichment for those students motivated to keep going.

——

Lorri Carroll is at Hamden Hall (CT); her post is entitled "I Flipped."

I had my students watch two "lectures" from Khan Academy on Multiplying/ Dividing Rational Expressions, my scheduled lessons for Thursday/ Friday. (Here are the two videos: Video 1 and Video 2) I then assigned them the normal homework.

I asked the class if they were able to watch the videos (which actually amounted to under 10 minutes combined) and whether or not they "got" the homework. I was amazed at what happened... ALL the students said they watched the videos (and some even gave me an informal commentary about what they liked and disliked about Salman Khan). All but one student had his/her homework completed in class and the student who didn't said that he did watch the videos and complete it but, left it at home. That's no better/ worse than a normal day! (Actually, maybe a little better!)

Lorri reports her intent to do more in the future.

—-

Jason Kern is in his 14th year as an educator at The Oakridge School (TX) and my third year as Director of Technology; on his blog,Ed Tech Emu, he writes about flipping instruction in his Econ class.

I believe that there are still times for lecture and conveying the basic economic theories and vocabulary that are necessary to have class discussions. I just think that spending valuable time together to disseminate that information is not the best way to accomplish getting this information. So Brad and I spent some of our Winter break podcasting many of the lectures we would typically do during the semester. We stripped the content down to the bare essentials because we new the real learning would occur during the class time discussions of current events, blog post and comments.

The beauty of having the podcasts in iTunes already there is once we make it through the basics we did last week and supply and demand this week we can jump to wherever the class leads us and reach the advanced topics they are interested in. The students in essence are making the roadmap for what we learn through what they are interested in.

In a lot of ways it mirrored what I thought it would, including a significantly more in depth discussion of the economic topics in a significantly more meaningful way. However, it also showed me how quickly we touched on much more advanced topics that we will soon explore in more depth.

Jason then returns to review his progress in a second post, in which he very helpfully reviews the good, the bad, and the realizations of his initiative. For example:

Good – The students seem to be listening and "enjoying" the podcasts. Several have downloaded them to their phones and I have even caught some listening to them at school (kind of a serial experience to be honest). Others have even admitted to listening to them on their drive to school in the morning.

Realizations - As expected you can tell a few have not listened to the podcast when you engage them in class discussion but this is no different than when I asked them to read prior to coming to class before.

I think keeping them to under 20 minutes is the best length for a night's homework as the couple we have over that have not been received as well.

Over at the NAISAC blog, which is run by the excellent educational thinker Chris Bigenho of Greenhills School (TX), there has been an online study group formed, working on "Experiencing the Snow Day Flip." Chris has collected a great set of comments and observations about flipping instruction, and interested readers should check out the complete set. I will share here just a few:

Start to think about seat time differently. What will you do in class when you make the students responsible for content? Where does homework fit it? Could this be part of the replacement for traditional homework? Again, be careful of the" course and a half."

Be careful you don't create a "course and a half". If you truly flip, and push content out of the classroom, consider how you will use your face to face class time differently.

Leverage both synchronous and asynchronous technologies when working from a distance.

Try to avoid the "lecture" as a way to deliver content from a distance. Allow for experiential learning, interactions and collaboration.

Artifact of understanding. This is something that the student creates that captures the student's level of understanding through synthesis of the material. This can be anything from a reflective blog post to videos, sound recordings, media presentations, artwork, creative writing, collection of images with reflective text etc. Match the artifact of understanding with the nature and complexity of the material being explored.

Use the tools that you have available. You don't have to purchase expensive tools to flip your classroom.

Many of the educators experimenting with flipping classrooms are also thinking hard about what's next. Dr. Morris tells me that next for him is to implement a 100% reversed program, and Ms. Kuluski tells me she will do action research on reverse instruction for her graduate studies. Jason Kern offers several helpful thoughts about where to go next:

We are also looking forward to other teachers and administrators in our school leading some of the class discussions in the coming weeks, showing the students that these topics affect everyone. We will be looking for people to Skype into the class to discuss topics."

I am also considering going back and added some video for examples for next semester as there are things that need visuals that we don't cover as well presently in podcast form.

We are working now in a fast transforming profession,, and we all have to choose whether to embrace the transformation and ride it toward renewed vigor in our practice and reinvented learning for our students.

Flipping our classrooms is a great place to start, and can go a long way to effecting this transformation if it is part of a broader approach of digitally empowered, rigorous and challenging, project and problem-based, active and engaged learning.

The Independent Project

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:55:04 EST

Harbor Country Day School, and independent schools in general, often speak about the autonomy we offer teachers in our classrooms. We are referring to the common practice of allowing our faculty to teach what and how they wish -- considering that they follow the prescribed curriculum developed by the school. While each year we refine, hone, and further develop pertinent elements of our curricula, the way in which Harbor Country Day School teachers teach is up to them. They are hired because they believe in the mission of our school and subscribe to the same teaching pedagogy. This philosophy on autonomy is one of the many reasons why independent schools are so successful -- we motivate faculty to place their students at the forefront of their learning. Independent schools do this consistently, but our public school counterparts have not had the same luxury.

This video below tells the story of Monument Mountain High School and The Independent Project. It highlights the powerful effects autonomy and responsiblity have on learning. Watch the video and learn how motivated students take their own learning to higher levels. Sometimes we need to release the reigns of control over our students and allow them to guide themselves. Enjoy.

Why Connections Matter

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:11:49 EST

I offer you the video below. David Brooks writes an Op-Ed Column for the New York Times, and his most recent book, The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement has garnered positive reviews. I have not read it, but I have always been a fan of David Brooks' column for his objectivity and his focus on teaching, children and parenting. In this video Mr. Brooks introduces us to a child named Harold and his mother Julia. On the surface, the story is not an uncommon one. It tells the tale of a boy who struggles in school for a myriad of reasons. A deeper look unveils the relationship between a son and his mother and how a deep connection between the two, over time, helps give Harold direction back home. Harold was lost. The world of never ending homework and school-stress tightened its grip on Harold and was not letting go. It took the connection with a parent to help Harold break free and begin to succeed.

So often, parents and teachers watch their children and students become lost like Harold. They stand by idly and watch as their children struggle in school. Why don't parents help more? Just as often as children lose their way, parents can also become lost and it takes an awareness and foresight to notice and consequently help children. This video is about a deep connection between two people: a son and his mother. Connection is quite possibly the most powerful force I know. I encourage you to make those inspirational and influential connections with the people in your life. More importantly, offer opportunities for children to make connections. The connections one makes as a child are a stronger predictor of future success than any test score.

Enjoy the video and share your thoughts with me.

Navigating through the Dangerous Waters the Internet Provides

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:30:44 EST

I think I can say without hesitation and with complete confidence that we all want the best for our children, and that means we want them to be safe: physically and emotionally. This article is different than most on Harbor Currents, but it lives safely under the umbrella topic of keeping our children safe due to more direct and effective parenting. While the topic of anonymity is not new, it has been taken to an entirely new level and parents should be prepared.

There is a new danger on the Internet. It seems like every week a new concept emerges and we are forced to think twice about how to properly safeguard our children. Formspring has definitely sprung and it is loaded for bear. It is a scary, vile vehicle that teens use to anonymously destroy their friends. Read this article and then come back to this blog and join the conversation. Rachel Simmons is the author of Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls, a brilliant and sensitive book about raising girls with confidence. If you have not read it, please consider it.

I hope you spent a few moments reading the article I linked above and learned more about Formspring. Below are a few thoughts to help you wrap your minds around the social lives our children are leading:

1) It is all too easy for children to attack one another socially in school. Why are we allowing it to become easier and now anonymously?

2) Every child enters school each day with the same great fear: embarrassment. Formspring ensures that each account owner will be embarrassed every day. I cannot think of anything worse for our children to endure each day. They have enough to worry about without the fear of being ridiculed anonymously by their peers.

3) Allowing children to send anonymous, hurtful messages condemns them to a world where they do not have to take responsibility for their own words. Through Formspring children can cowardly hide behind the computer screen and believe that their actions do not have consequences. As adults and educators, we know the opposite is true.

4) There have been too many teen suicides in the news recently to ignore it and believe that this is not a concern. As parents we need to educate our children about the damage that can be done by not choosing our words carefully or using them to hurt others.

Lastly, I love this quote regarding Formspring from the Simmons article above. "There is zero, and I mean zero, value in this website and no girl or boy should spend a minute on it. Formspring creates unnecessary emotional risks. It legitimizes cybercruelty and divorces kids from responsibility for their words. You can pretty much file Formspring along with wouldn't-it-be-fun-to-stand-on the-railroad-tracks-and-jump-right-before-the-train-comes and I'm-sure-no-one-will-notice-if-I-just-pocket-this-one-mascara."

Below is an informal video of Rachel Simmons informing us all of a few reasons why we should teach our children about the dangers of Formspring.

More Advice From The Creators of Race To Nowhere

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:28:14 EST

Last week we posted the advice given to both students and parents by the creators of Race to Nowhere. In response we received several very thoughtful comments and additional questions regarding those recommendations. In an effort to continue the positive exchange, we are listing the filmmakers remaining suggestions for administrators, teachers and medical professionals.

Please review the recommendations and give us your thoughts.

Teachers

-Become knowledgeable about the research on homework and the importance of playtime and downtime.

-See what happens when you assign less homework.

-Empower students with more voice and choice in the classroom.

-Develop methods to evaluate children without tests.

-Share your voice on policies impacting education.

Administrators

-Create a culture that supports the "whole child."

-Address sources of stress for children, educators and families.

-Support "multiple pathways" in school integrating academics with career and technical education.

-Institute homework-free weekends, holiday breaks and summers.

-Consider a later start time for the school day.

-Schedule time for recess, physical activity, study halls and breaks.

-Create calendars to reduce conflicting demands on students.

-Support open communication between teachers, parents and students.

Medical Professionals

-Recognize the signs of youth stress – headaches, stomachaches, dizziness, chest pain, change in appetite and sleep patterns.

-Educate parents on the signs of depression in adolescents.

-Create awareness on the impact of the use of caffeine and prescription medications.

-Add your voice on the connection between health and education.

The Creators of Race To Nowhere Offer Their Advice

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:10:34 EST

On Thursday, January 20, 2011, over 200 parents, educators and students attended Harbor Country Day School's screening of the nationally acclaimed documentary Race To Nowhere.

Immediately following the presentation, a panel of distinguished experts in the fields of education, college admissions and child psychology, discussed the issues raised in the film. Audience members posed questions, expressed concerns and actively sought solutions to the problems currently plaguing the American educational system.

To begin our continuing discussion, we thought that we would list the potential solutions offered by the filmmakers themselves and ask for feedback. As such, here is the advice given to both students and parents regarding the issues raised in a Race To Nowhere. We will be posting the suggestions for teachers, administrators and medical professionals nest week.

Students

-Speak to the adults in your life about how you are feeling.

-Get plenty of sleep.

-Unplug, slow down and make time for things you enjoy.

-Limit extra-curricular and AP classes.

-Learn about the impact of caffeine and performance-enhancing medications.

Parents

-Discuss what success means to your family.

-Reduce performance pressure.

-Avoid over-scheduling.

-Allow time for play, family, downtime and sleep.

-Focus on the "right fit" for college rather than the "best" college.

-Attend school board meetings where education policies are established.

Race to Nowhere

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:29:00 EST

How many of you saw the Today Show on December 16th? Listened to NPR on December 14th? Read the New York Times on December 8th? If you did, you were sure to fall witness to the newest educational phenomenon in a documentary entitled Race to Nowhere. Race to Nowhere, a film directed by Vicki Abeles, is thoughtfully prepared, expertly filmed, riveting to watch, and at times, downright saddening. Abeles's purpose was to galvanize change and bring communities together toward making today's education for children more meaningful, purposeful and engaging. The film was clearly presenting a case that today's high standards for educational excellence are making the daily routine of our students just plain unbearable and eventually unsuccessful. The movie introduces us to stressed teens, depressed teens and parents who felt helpless. Race to Nowhere exemplified high-test scores and the college application process as the root cause that drives many students into a never-ending circle of frustration. In fact, the film followed several students and their families and, at times, it was depressing to watch. However, all the while you feel as though you are a part of something important.

We are fortunate that at Harbor Country Day School we cherish moments spent with our children and we strive to strike a balance between school life and home. We have limits on homework and we do not teach to any state test. Teaching to a State test, may eventually mean that teachers teach at a more rapid pace, thus not covering curriculum in depth. Race to Nowhere criticizes the teaching to the test methodology for not teaching 21st Century Skills like critical thinking, collaboration or leadership. These are skills Harbor students are taught consistently and at all age levels.

We are fortunate to be able to host a national screening of Race to Nowhere here at Harbor Country Day School on January 20th. If you click here, you can purchase your tickets for the movie or you can buy them at the door that evening. 200 seats will be available. We are also hosting a panel discussion directly after the screening, which will include several head's of school, a child psychologist, an Associate Director of Admissions from Harvard, and the Executive Director of NYSAIS, our accrediting agency. We are thrilled to be offering this event for our community. Please tell your friends and bring them to see this groundbreaking documentary and become part of the conversation that could help improve our national educational system. If you have questions or wish to help in any way, please see me for details about the event.

Never Ever Ever Give Up!

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:25:54 EST

During the holidays, Charlie Brown and his eternal optimism always finds his way into our hectic and harried lives. We have all seen the Halloween Special with The Great Pumpkin and his Thanksgiving dinner around card tables and beach chairs where he served toast, popcorn and jellybeans. I love how after a dismal display of a meal Charlie Brown concluded his day by singing his way through a fabulous journey with friends to celebrate at his grandmother's house. Not surprisingly, a few weeks later he was severely ridiculed by his peers for buying a small, withering Christmas tree to cherish during the holiday season. The Charlie Brown Christmas pageant concluded with an inspiring speech by Linus that truly captured the spirit of Christmas. Charlie Brown always won in the end – even after experiencing several mishaps and setbacks. Thanks to Charles Schultz, these cartoons and its beloved characters became an American icon, and I have tried to pass on their eternal messages and enduring understandings to my own three children. The messages of optimism, kindness, generosity and respect immediately come to mind.

Recently, Charlie Brown sparked a different thought: summative and formative assessment. Strange connection? Perhaps. The famous scene of Lucy Van Pelt above captures the basic principle of formative assessment. We see Charlie Brown once again fall subject to the challenges of life. Once again, he summoned the energy to challenge himself, faced his demons directly in the eye and tried to succeed by kicking the football halfway down the field. Ugh! Only to have Lucy pull it away at the very last moment, does he experience his inevitable defeat. However, he remains the eternal optimist. If only Charlie Brown knew what was happening to him each time he failed. The numerous experiences merge to help develop a young, tenacious boy who has learned to never give up when a challenge arises.

The concept of formative and summative assessment often gets confused and the difference is critical when we consider teaching and student engagement. Formative assessment is when the teacher and the student are both fully engaged in the learning process and view each assessment or small experience as an actual formation of the student. Ideally, the student is engaged every step of the way and receives consistent feedback, which provides a wealth of data from which to draw. Think of the learning process and John Dewey's constructivist approach to learning: like building blocks each experience builds on another and constantly works towards constructing/building/ teaching the student. The goal is the fully developed student who sees learning as an ongoing process, not the one, single assessment itself. Summative assessment is when teachers assess a student's understanding of a topic at a specific period in time, most likely after the teaching of a particular unit. Think of a dipstick gauging the level of oil in a car. Teachers assess the level of understanding at a particular moment in time through a quiz or a test. While I think both styles of assessment have their proper place in education, it is formative assessment I look to when I consider a more thorough and engaging approach to teaching. Consider the following elements that accompany formative assessment: student engagement, critical thinking, analysis, synthesis, meta-cognition, student-led conferences, differentiated instruction. Student engagement is the most critical of these because it can lead to all the others.

As educators we will not truly affect nor teach our students the necessary 21st Century skills until we begin to look more seriously at formative assessment, rather than spending quality time and resources towards state-testing, benchmarks and consistent summative assessments. Let's begin to teach students how to think critically, how to construct logically, how to build creatively, and how to act empathically. Great teachers will always be brilliant, masters of their subject matter, but they will also understand their students and show empathy and understanding. This is a movement we all must help propel forward.

Charlie Brown has never learned how to punt a football because he never had the chance! But perhaps that wasn't the intended lesson? Perhaps the lesson was found in the small, difficult moment of defeat. Each time he attempted to punt the ball down the field, he learned something new. He learned to never give up. He learned something far more valuable: how to be tenacious. Is that a concept or a skill that one can assess through a summative assessment? How can one fully examine the concept of tenacity through a state test, a fill-in-the-blank quiz or a benchmark? By engaging the student in a process where teachers can gauge their learning and how they learn best by consistent formative assessments, critical skills and concepts similar to tenacity can be taught effectively and the way in which the student learns best.

Intro to Dan Pink

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:20:47 EST

At a recent conference I attended, Daniel Pink spoke on the rising demand for right-brained thinkers and how they will soon dominate the American workforce. As the author of A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, Dan Pink is now on the lecture circuit, visiting corporations, associations and universities around the world. He has spoken on CNBC's "Power Lunch," ABC's "World News Tonight," NPR's "Morning Edition" (my favorite), and American Public Media's "Marketplace." Also, and perhaps more impressive to some, he spent 1995 to 1997 as the chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore. Mr. Pink's right-brain theory stems from the idea that America is becoming more automated, thus removing routine procedures from the workforce and outsourcing them to countries such as India. He notes that the competitive edge will no longer belong to left-brain thinkers -- more linear, logical and analytical -- but rather to the right-brainers who are more empathic, artistic and creative. This is a powerful statement given the broad success, high wages and social status that left-brain lawyers, doctors and accountants have garnered in our society. He continues that with the outsourcing of routine functions to firms in India, combined with automated services and systems like Turbo Tax or on-line banking, space will be created for more right-brain creative problem- solvers to lead.

We all understand the economic process Pink is describing; it is the transformation of the American economy that we have heard about now for years. My personal opinion, however, is that a healthy balance of both left-brain and right-brain skills are mandatory for living and leading in the 21st century. So, what does this mean for Harbor Country Day and independent schools across the country? I bring it back to curriculum development and teaching. More specifically, I laud the autonomy we so value in independent schools. Without our autonomy we are truly not independent at all. Allow me to explain how I made that connection.

Given that we believe, at least somewhat, in Dan Pink's message about the inevitable success of right-brain thinkers, curricular autonomy offers the opportunity to teach right-brain skills like creative problem-solving, synthesis, empathy, creative writing, real-world math, story-telling, music and art in a more powerful and purposeful manner. It is only through the autonomy so valued by independent schools that we can truly teach these increasingly important right-brain skills. Due to state mandates and a "teach-to-the-test" approach, our public schools simply cannot appreciate autonomy. In our independent schools we are encouraged to teach "outside the box" thinking strategies to target real-world situations and skills. However, we balance those situations and skills with hard data as well, thus continuing to feed the left brain. That will never change. Independent schools should not rely upon the "singular solution" that a textbook can suggest. Nor should we confine our students' thinking to fall in line with the teacher's own opinion. We cultivate creative minds. As independent school educators we teach beyond the expected and design our curricula to stretch the minds of all students, to create solutions that not only solve small problems but also focus on larger, more global issues. When, for instance, we teach the lessons learned from the wars of history, we should be highlighting how the same theories could be applied to current circumstances and draw similarities. When we teach vocabulary, a rather left-brain enterprise, we should relate it to the real world. It took a right-brainer to create the website www.freerice.com. Take a look at how a mundane enterprise like learning vocabulary can become a global approach to solving world hunger. When we teach our youngest writers to be creative in their approach, we should offer them real creative lessons and not just follow what the teacher's guide of the textbook suggests. .

When we teach reading are we simply following a whole language or phonetic approach from a canned program or are we blazing the appropriate trail and offering a combination of both? This is what autonomy in the classroom means. This is how independent schools value the minds of a talented faculty. This is where the best learning occurs.

It is a bold thought, I know, to break away from state standards and state-mandated approaches to teaching, but remember the first formal educational institution in this country was Harvard College, which was founded as an independent school in 1636. Ever since, independent schools have been outperforming their public school counterparts in this area because of autonomy in the classroom. I refer you to a document I wrote for our faculty about curriculum development. " ... providing autonomy for all faculty and staff members is a common goal for independent schools and curricular design is one way to support this goal. While faculty members are offered the autonomy to create program, it is understood that such a program supports and furthers the mission of the school and has garnered the appropriate support from a team, a division director or a head of school. It is also understood that such decisions are made only after the appropriate due diligence and research has been completed."

This statement means that there is a process in place for curricular design, and that Harbor's educators understand that there is an appropriate way to design curriculum at Harbor Country Day. I am fortunate that our teachers are professionals who respect the process and value the autonomy they are offered. Further, they are bright and passionate educators and the idea of teaching to the "whole mind" is not new to them; rather, it is a time-tested approach in schools such as ours. Dan Pink's message on right-brain thinkers is truly global. This brief analysis is an attempt to bring it to a level that we can all relate to and use for the further advancement of Harbor Country Day School.

Differentiated Instruction

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:19:10 EST

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION at Harbor Country Day School focuses on responding to individual students' needs and propelling each student towards his or her greatest potential while retaining the benefits of teaching in a classroom setting. Differentiation is a teaching practice that uses constant, thoughtful assessment to attend to all students' learning needs by providing tools that support students as they develop understanding, knowledge and skills according to their readiness, interests and learning profiles. As a result of this responsive teaching style, all students can be successful, even when faced with the academic challenge of a rigorous curriculum like Harbor's. Helping a student towards success does not mean redefining what success is for each student; it means tailoring the process to allow all students to demonstrate the same enduring understandings by identifying a student's most efficient ways of learning and using them to make learning and understanding as powerful as possible.

Differentiation is not based on individualized lesson plans or IEPs for each student. Rather, it takes advantage of the collaborative potential of a classroom. Differentiated classrooms are constantly changing based on the myriad opportunities to group students according to a variety of criteria, including interests, similar or different learning styles, and skills and strategies they need to practice. By using flexible grouping, the teacher is able to target small group instruction to engage the students, and students constantly find themselves working with different peers. Not only do students learn from teachers, they are taught to learn from their peers and to learn on their own through observation, research and reflection.

Differentiation is about meeting students where they are and helping them grow in all aspects of their school lives. This means that an essential aspect of differentiated instruction is building a safe learning community based upon respect for individuals and fostering an environment where students can be pushed past the bounds of their perceived abilities because they are willing to take risks. Differentiated instruction is planned, but ultimately it is a way of thinking about teaching that allows teachers the flexibility to meet the needs of their students in the moment. Teachers keep the curricular goals of each lesson and unit at the forefront of their planning and teaching, and these goals form the basis of the high quality curriculum that is continually revised and improved upon at Harbor.

In my role as Curriculum and Professional Development Coordinator, I spend part of each day visiting classrooms. Sometimes simply observing, sometimes taking part in the teaching of lessons, I am privileged to have an ongoing interaction with all of our dedicated teachers and eager students. I am constantly impressed with Harbor teachers' natural ability to recognize exactly what their students need to remain productive and engaged.

Mrs. Huang Ernst pauses her second graders midway through a lesson to take a break and dance. Then, they immediately transition to an activity where they use math manipulatives to create patterns. This concrete, kinesthetic application builds the second graders' understanding of an abstract concept that leads them toward algebraic thinking.

In third grade, Mrs. Costello scaffolds her students as they review place value concepts, providing them with printouts of the place value grid so they can choose to tally hundreds, tens and ones if it helps them stay organized. She also assigns students to fluid groups, so she is able to review place value concepts with some students and extend others' understanding by helping them create problems for their classmates. During this math workshop, students move around the room, retrieving manipulatives and place value grids as necessary, but also switching groups as they become more comfortable with the concepts or realize they are confused or have a question.

Technology plays a pivotal role in Mrs. McBrien's fourth grade classroom. Here, printouts from the SMART Board are used to create math study guides based on the daily lessons. Students fill in sections with illustrations that further elucidate the concepts explained in the notes and complete specific, thought-provoking examples and problems that demonstrate their ability to apply the skills and strategies taught that day.

Even as I contemplate this article, a boisterous variation of "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider" floats into my room from next door. The fifth graders belt out their version, "Divisibility Rules," with an endearing bit of unselfconscious enthusiasm as Mrs. McKenna eggs them on. Despite the occasional out-of-tune note, most of these students will remember the rules long after the exam because they have a melody to aid their memory. Evidence of differentiation is beginning to permeate the halls of Harbor. Sometimes it is simple, like this musical memorization exercise, and sometimes more complex, like the math workshop described above involving several variations of an activity aiming at a common, enduring understanding while taking individual students' readiness into account.

Differentiated instruction is not about specific assignments that are completed in class or come home as homework. Rather, Harbor children bring home the big picture, the conceptual understandings, the confidence that comes of being challenged but not frustrated by learning experiences. And prepare yourself, Mrs. McKenna, because next week, you'll be the one serenaded from next door, except this time they'll be singing about the Preamble...

-Marissa Burgermaster Curriculum and Professional Development Coordinator

Embracing 21st Century Assessment

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:16:03 EST

Spookier than Halloween ghosts and goblins, this single word has the power to strike fear in the heart of children and adults alike. Even if you graduated many years ago, I'm willing to bet reading that word gave you a little tingle of anxiety, a little startle.

If stating that a criterion for academic excellence is cultivating an environment where teachers are assessors doesn't call up a vision of schools teeming with insurance agents and tax lawyers, it might cause Harry Potter fans to envision a crowd of dementors hovering around their students waiting to pounce. Or perhaps even more petrifying, it might cause one to flashback to the SAT proctor sitting in front of ten rows of stressed out high schoolers on a Saturday morning ensuring that not an eyeball strays as they dutifully fill in bubbles with their number 2 pencils.

When President Bush signed No Child Left Behind in 2003, he brought the term "assessment" to the lips of every American. His plan, with the lofty goal of improving the American education system, is based on standardized, statewide tests. These high stakes assessments provide quantitative data that can be analyzed and cited, but they also create the potential for a misconception about assessment, a narrow definition of that makes the word "assessment" seem scarier and more rigid than it really is.

In education, there are three general types of assessment:

Preassessment or diagnostic assessment, as the name indicates, occurs before instruction.

Formative assessment occurs throughout a lesson, unit or course and is intended to provide feedback on how students are progressing towards goals or understandings.

Summative assessment assesses a student's mastery of a goal or understanding at the end of a lesson, unit or course.

With this broader definition, it becomes possible to accept a greater variety of learning experiences as assessments. When teachers look at each lesson, conversation, and assignment as an assessment, everyday is suddenly full of a wealth of helpful data that informs their teaching and makes their instruction most likely to target exactly what their students need. The pumpkin paper bag sculptures and October landscapes made in the nursery classroom are not simply Halloween decorations, they are actually assessments of students' fine motor skills as well as their ability to identify shapes, count to five and follow directions. A fourth grade writing assignment on being good citizens is not only about promoting a positive classroom and school environment, but also an assessment that prompted a lesson on writing a well-structured paragraph. And although it could be considered a type of summative, or final, assessment, a recent soccer game created conversation among 7th and 8th graders and helped them determine what skills they needed to concentrate on in practice and future games.

Here at Harbor Country Day School, teachers use assessment data daily to inform their instruction. Teachers observe students, confer with students, listen to class discussions and read assignments carefully to learn as much as they can about their students' understandings, knowledge and skills. Of course the teachers also give tests and quizzes, but these assessments become part of a collection of data, additions to an album that creates a more complete story about a student than a single snapshot.

College for Middle School Students?

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:18:59 EST

As a parent of four children and a high school teacher, I have fielded a number of odd questions. They have varied in degree, of course, from whether or not clams have eyes to why our democracy was designed to be inefficient; but most of them have been relatively simple to answer.

Therefore, when my son, asked me what appeared to be a fairly straightforward question, and I had a little difficulty coming up with a crisp response, it caused me pause. He had been struggling in middle school, chafing at the rigidity of the system and the call and response nature of instruction, when he asked me if things were ever going to get better. I smiled at him and said some cliché about hanging in there and circumstances improving in high school and college. Although a bit glib, my response was sincere, for I appreciated the agility of his mind and figured that down the road, he would ultimately enjoy school.

Still unsatisfied, my son asked the next logical question, "Dad, if college is so great, why can't middle schoolers go to college?" Hmmmm, I thought, good question. Armed with only the obvious, I came back with a lame response about age and finishing high school. Not surprisingly, my reply rang hollow, for my son was not really asking if he could go to college now, he was asking if college, or more specifically what made college special, could come to him in middle school.

The question was remarkably valid and demanded a better response than I had given. As such, I set about trying to generate a suitable reply by exploring two questions of my own: what made the college educational experience so effective...and... could that experience be successfully and age appropriately transferred to a middle school setting?

In retrospect, what made the college educational experience successful was a combination of ambiance and method. Right from the beginning, the ambiance created a mindset. White fluted columns, gleaming clock towers, ancient brick buildings and grassy quadrangles, all worked in concert to create a palpable sense of academe. Somehow just being there set the proper tone and made students want to learn.

With the mood set, the actual teaching method completed the job. As I recall, the best classes were the ones that resembled lively conversations: no inquisitional desk-chair combinations, no militaristic rowed seating arrangements and no preachy, monotone teachers. The professors, seated with the students, actively lead small groups in animated discussions about a variety of topics. Ideas would fly around the table, students would become passionate about their opinions and no one could hide. There was no refuge to be taken in the last row, no binder to hide behind and silence offered no protection. Everyone was involved and learning was fun, largely because it didn't feel so much like learning.

Although there were probably additional variables, which influenced individual colligate experiences, the method of instruction and proper setting were fundamental components. With this understanding established, I turned to the question of whether or not those "components" could be transferred to the non-college environment. Unfortunately, given what I knew of the existing system, I was not overly optimistic. For barring some elite private secondary schools, the college style academic experience was totally absent from traditional education and certainly was not available at the middle school level.

As it turns out, my sound conclusion was completely and utterly wrong. Purely by chance, I happened upon a school that had discovered, embraced and implemented the solution to my son's question. In essence, this pre-k through eighth grade school had managed to recreate the best of the collegiate educational experience for their young students.

Situated on an impeccably manicured former Gold Coast estate, Harbor Country Day School occupies an enormous brick mansion built in 1910. Upon entering the front foyer one is immediately struck by the high ceilings, arched doorways, and elaborate Victorian moldings. Moving through the front parlor, and into the main building, the tile gives way to wide planked floors that usher students down brightly lit hallways to their respective classrooms.

As with the college setting, these classrooms are designed to inspire a sense of warmth and intellectual curiosity. Every classroom boasts an original fireplace, mantle and intricate woodwork from another era. There are no plastic, metal or similarly sterile accoutrements occupying these rooms, as all of the furniture is solid dark oak and perfectly matched. In the middle school classrooms specifically, large wooden conference tables center each space and invite students to gather around and engage in intellectual debate.

The instructional method is age appropriate and differentiated to meet a wide range of learning styles. However, discussion supplants straight lecture and speaking "with" replaces talking "at" students. In short, the students are treated like intellectual beings that are fully capable of forming and expressing original thoughts.

It is not unusual to see fifth graders debating the merits of the Columbian exchange, eighth graders arguing over the most influential Greek philosopher, second graders working to master their first French words and fourth graders grappling with the fundamentals of music theory. The students that I saw at Harbor Country Day School were having fun and enjoying learning, precisely because it did not feel like learning in the typical, rigid sense of the word.

Orchestrating this process is a faculty of remarkable stature. Nearly ninety percent of the fulltime teachers hold advanced degrees from the country's best universities, including, Columbia, Dartmouth, Middlebury and Wake Forest. While the gathering of such talent is unique, it is certainly not accidental. For the faculty at Harbor Country Day School were specifically chosen to fulfill a vision of creating a premier educational institution that encourages legitimate intellectual discovery.

Shortly after visiting Harbor Country Day School, and flush with the realization that I had indeed solved my son's riddle, I enrolled him in Harbor's program.

As it turns out, test driven learning environments do not equate to substantive learning, there is no age requirement to enter the market place of ideas and exciting intellectual forums are not grade specific. College for middle school students? Absolutely!