Obama Proposes New Efforts in Education Reform

The Obama Administration is implementing a new proposal for education reform, the RESPECT (Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching) Project. The program is an effort to help schools “keep good teachers and reward the best ones,” which President Obama spoke about in his State of the Union Address. It proposes a $5 billion competitive grant to encourage states to revitalize their regulations in hiring and rewarding teachers.

Much like the Race to the Top program, states will draft their own plan for reforming education and compete for federal funding to implement these plans. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated, “Our goal is to work with teachers in rebuilding their profession and to elevate the teacher voice in federal, state and local education policy.” The proposal will be officially announced on Wednesday, February 22.

North Carolina School Exemplifies the Digital Classroom

As educators across the country begin to recognize the importance of technology in education, East Mooresville Intermediate School is emerging as the model for successfully introducing technology into the classroom. Twenty miles north of Charlotte, Mooresville has taken the nation by surprise with its innovative approach to education. For three years, Mooresville has issued laptops to 4,400 students across the five schools throughout the district. Through an arrangement with Apple, the district spends $1 million per year to lease MacBook Airs ($215 per computer) and $100,000 on software.

The investment has already proven to be worth it. Mooresville’s graduation rate has risen to 91 percent, up from 80 percent in 2008, and 88 percent of students are performing to satisfactory standards on standardized tests (it was 73 percent in 2008). Dropouts and truancy rates are down, and of 115 North Carolina School districts, Mooresville ranks third in test scores and second in graduation rate. Karen Cator, Director of Educational Technology for the U.S. Department of Education, notes that, “Other districts are doing things, but what we see in Mooresville is the whole package: using the budget, innovating, using data, involvement with the community and leadership. There are lessons to be learned.”

14-Year-Old UCLA Graduate Publishes First Book

At age 14, Moshe Kai Cavalin is about to graduate from UCLA with a Bachelor’s in Mathematics. Cavalin, who started college at age 8 at East Los Angeles Community College, holds two associate’s degrees, and plans on pursuing graduate studies. While it might amaze most to meet such a gifted young person, Cavalin remains very humble about his achievements. “People need to know you don’t really need to be a genius. You just have to work hard and you can accomplish anything.”

Cavalin has just published the English translation of his first book, We Can Do. His guide to achieving your dreams through hard work and commitment has already sold well in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, and is already receiving buzz on the UCLA campus, where he will soon be holding a book-signing.

Florida’s STEM Education Bill Gaining Momentum

Florida Senator Don Gaetz has introduced a bill in the State Senate that could be the beginning of massive efforts to reinforce the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics) education with primary and secondary school students across the state. The bill offers incentives to educators who place particular emphasis on the STEM fields. Under the legislation, it is required for employment rates and salary data in various careers to be made available for students’ and parents’ reference, essentially to demonstrate more favorable trends in STEM-related industries.

The bill offers extra funding to schools for each student enrolled in an industry certification class. Senator Gaetz says it is a “mild first step” in the state’s promotion of STEM education. While there is no denying the importance of STEM education, opponents argue that this may discredit or delegitimize academic subjects in the humanities or social sciences.

Hackensack’s First Annual Career Fair for Special-Needs Students 

On Wednesday, February 15, the Hackensack School District held their first career fair for special education students. The career fair addressed important issues, such as the college application process, choosing a vocational technical school and learning about state resources for adult life skills programs. Parents and students were thrilled by the opportunity to learn more about what options are available, and many parents said they had spent so much time trying to help their children through school that they had given little thought to what happens after graduation.

The career fair came in response to new efforts in New Jersey to collect data on the post-graduation lives of special-needs students to share with parents and educators. New Jersey school districts Teaneck, Clifton, Dumonv and Bergenfield are all working on similar programs.

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Annie Fox has been helping kids her entire life. After graduating from Cornell University and completing her Master’s in Education from the State University of New York at Cortland, she became a classroom teacher in upstate New York and, later, the San Francisco Bay Area. After a few years in the classroom, she and her husband opened the Marin Computer Center, the world’s first publicly accessible computer facility. Her passion to help children and belief that technology could aid her to that end brought Annie to write and design a series of award-winning children’s software and begin The InSite, a website dedicated to helping teens and young adults address their issues. Throughout her career, Annie also authored a number of books on subjects ranging from computer programming to how teens can better deal with stress.

What was it about Mrs. Schwartz that made her such a great teacher — both as a classroom instructor to her students and as a mentor to you?

Mrs. Schwartz was cool! By that I mean warm, accessible, direct, flexible, unflappable, and the kind of teacher who gave each of her students (as well as me, her student teacher) 100 percent of her attention when she spoke to you. I learned so much about being a fully engaged teacher from being in her class.

Was the goal of helping children your primary inspiration in becoming a teacher? What subject did you teach? Where?

Absolutely! I taught in Ithaca and in Cortland (both in upstate New York). In the beginning of my career, I taught music, creative writing and theater, so I started out with the idea that creative expression is the way to reach kids and help them become their best selves. I also continued along those lines when I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. But in the past 15 years (since the launch of The InSite, my teen website), I’ve come to realize that the best way to help kids become good people is by teaching social intelligence skills — that is: empathy, compassion, effective communication, etc. Social intelligence skill-building is the “subject” I teach.

You left the classroom to pursue new advancements in technology, particularly computers. What was that early connection you saw between education and technology, between teaching and computers

Personal computers were just becoming available in the late ’70s, when David and I opened the Marin Computer Center. The first weekend we opened our doors, 700 people showed up! With kids leading their parents! It was obvious how much enjoyment the kids got from playing with computers. I’m all about fun and learning, so it was a no-brainer to come up with a new path that incorporated the creation of content that combined story-telling and social intelligence skill-building with technology.

Where do you think the future is headed in terms of the intersection of education and technology?

Interactive technology puts so many choices in the hands of the learner — what I want to learn about, how I want to learn it, where I want to learn it, how I wish to “show what I know.” But don’t get me wrong: At the foundation of all learning for children is the relationship between student and teacher. That has to do with the heart-to-heart connection, and no technology is a worthy substitute for that.

You write an advice column for teachers, as well as students and parents. What is the most common question you receive from educators?

I don’t write an advice column for teachers; I blog for teens as well as the adults who live and work with them. I also have been answering email questions from tweens, teens and adults since 1997. The most common question I get from adults (be they parents and/or educators) has to do with helping students learn to become more cooperative with each other. You probably don’t need me to tell you or your readers that the drama that unfolds in every middle and high school can be very “distracting.” It can also be psychologically damaging to students. Schools need to become safer and more accepting places for all students all the time. As the adults who maintain the tone and emotional landscape of a school, teachers have an essential leadership role to play.

Your campaign, “Cruel’s Not Cool!”, seeks to examine our culture of cruelty and how we as teachers, administrators, students and parents can put an end to it. If you could give teachers one piece of advice to combat bullying, what would it be?

Cruel’s not cool, not ever. Turning a blind-eye to peer harassment in the halls, the lunchroom, the classroom is a form of cruelty. Research shows that when teachers take a leadership role and let students know which behaviors are totally unacceptable (for example: homophobic slurs, sexist comments or behavior), then those types of behavior decrease. When teachers put on blinders and/or decide “I’m on a break, I don’t need to deal with this,” then students get the message that bullying is OK. Teachers must speak up whenever they see or hear or learn about cruel behavior amongst students. And administrators must support teachers who call out bullying.

The Noyce Foundation
The Noyce Foundation seeks to improve the quality of math and science education in California public schools. Its informal science initiative helps support out-of-school programs to educate young people and pique their interests in STEM subjects, and the foundation’s work in professional development ensures that teachers and school administrators have the knowledge, resources and technology to be outstanding STEM educators. Additionally, the Noyce Leadership Institute annually offers fellowships to 18 executives who work in STEM industries to help them further develop and expand their companies.

The Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative
The Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative works closely with the Noyce Foundation, member school districts and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Through leadership development, curriculum reform, performance assessments and high standards of accountability, the Silicon Valley Mathematics Institution is focused on ensuring that California public school teachers are thoroughly prepared to offer students comprehensive and engaging mathematics instruction.

California STEM Learning Network
The California STEM Learning Network was founded in response to the decline in STEM proficiency among California students. The goal is that all California students will have the opportunity not only to be proficient in STEM subjects, but to be successful in postsecondary educations and careers in STEM. The initiative aims to build a strong network of educators, executives and entrepreneurs to address the challenges facing STEM education and to brainstorm solutions as a team. They work to increase the quality of STEM education across the board and to initiate out-of-school activities that will stimulate students’ interests in STEM subjects.

The JumpStarting STEM Initiative
The California AfterSchool Network (CAN) began this initiative to integrate high-quality STEM activities and education into after school programs, so that STEM education can continue beyond the classroom. The JumpStarting STEM Initiative is a result of collaboration with the California Department of Education, the Noyce Foundation, and others to stimulate excitement and curiosity among students, and to ensure that time outside of school is spent productively. The Initiative provides opportunities for students to receive between 30-60 hours of additional STEM engagement per week.

California STEM Service-Learning Initiative
The California STEM Service-Learning Initiative works with secondary and higher education students to educate them in STEM subjects while they are serving their community. Together with STEM industry advisors, teachers and faculty, these students utilize the “service-learning instructional method” to apply what they are learning to STEM-related service projects. These projects address community needs while simultaneously engaging students and placing them on track to pursue careers in STEM industries.
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For more information on STEM initiatives in California, visit the state Department of Education’s website.

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1.) Mr. Rogers

Fred McFeely Rogers was a minister who began working in television to address the need for dynamic programming for children. His show, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, is one of the most enduring educational programs in television history. The series ran from 1968 to 2001 (with a hiatus in 1976) on PBS, and each episode centered on a certain educational theme, featuring segments of arts and crafts, music and experiments. Along with lessons in academic subjects, the show dealt with larger issues that made it one of the most progressive of its time, including death, divorce and emotions.


2.) Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan taught at Cornell University (where one of his students was Bill Nye) and was an advisor to NASA, working with the American Space program from its inception. In 1980, Sagan wrote and hosted a television series for PBS entitled Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which won an Emmy and a Peabody for its engaging visual-effects-driven way of teaching children about the galaxy.



3.) Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis was most known for introducing the world to Lamb Chop, a witty and loveable sock puppet that “starred” alongside Lewis. Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop appeared on PBS together in Shariland, The Shari Lewis Show and Lamb Chop’s Play Along. Shari Lewis won numerous Emmys for her work in children’s television.


4.) LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton is an actor, director and author who hosted the wonderful PBS series, Reading Rainbow, from 1983-2006. Reading Rainbow encouraged reading through book reviews and taught children about the world through segments where Burton traveled to interesting places and interviewed locals. Although Reading Rainbow ended in 2006, there is still hope. Recently, Burton tweeted that “Reading Rainbow 2.0 is in the works.” We can’t wait to see what he comes up with. 

5.) Bill Nye

William Nye is a mechanical engineer who hosted Bill Nye the Science Guy, an educational television program that aired on PBS from 1993 to 1998. The show mixed humorous skits, parodies and music videos with practical science experiments. It aimed to motivate children’s’ interest in science while appealing to a wide audience. Since Bill Nye The Science Guy ended, Bill Nye has hosted other educational programs, including The Eyes of Nye and 100 Greatest Discoveries, and he continues to appear on talk shows.


6.) Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin was a renowned wildlife expert who hosted The Crocodile Hunter on Animal Planet from 1997 to 2004. Irwin was known for his environmentalism and efforts to protect endangered species. Each episode was devoted to a particular region or species. Before his death in 2006, Irwin also hosted Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries and New Breed Vets, and also appeared in numerous documentaries and films.


7.) Mr. Wizard

Mr. Wizard was a television personality whose show aired from 1951 to 1965, 1970, and 1983 to 1990. Watch Mr. Wizard (later Mr. Wizard’s World) starred Don Herbert as the title character and is considered the precursor to Bill Nye the Science Guy. During the show, Mr. Wizard would conduct experiments to demonstrate general scientific principles to children and to instill an interest in learning.


8.) Beakman

Beakman’s World aired from 1992 to 1998 on CBS and featured a scientist named Beakman who performed experiments to demonstrate basic scientific experiments. Though Beakman is a fictitious persona, the show itself aims to teach children about science and inspire excitement for learning. The show is unique in that Beakman performed experiments in response to letters from viewers, making it an interactive experience for young learners.

9.) Neil deGrasse Tyson

Sometimes to reach older kids, you need a teacher that’s a little bit cooler. Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts the PBS series NOVA scienceNOW, but he’s also appeared on The Colbert Report a record number of times and frequently appears on other, late night talk shows. He is known for being outspoken and witty in his political beliefs, particularly when it comes to space exploration and NASA.


10.) The Kratt Brothers

Chris and Martin Kratt are nature conservationists with degrees in Zoology and Biology, respectively. The Kratt Brothers emerged on PBS in 1994 with Kratt’s Creatures, an educational nature program that featured a different animal each episode. The show utilized humorous skits and interesting experiments to educate, and was so popular that it spawned a book series. From 1998 to 2001, they hosted Zoboomafoo, which was similar to their previous show though it incorporated musical segments and a talking lemur puppet as a co-host.

In an effort to support the nutritional standards for school meals and our teachers and students, we have created an infographic, “Targeting Children with Treats” with statistics sharing lifestyle, consumption, and media activity relating to children. It takes a community to raise a child and we know how important teachers are to the growth and development of our students! We encourage you to help as we spread this important message!

<br /> <center><a href="http://teach.com/education-policy/childhood-obesity-facts" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2252" title="Teach.com Presents Targeting Children with Treats (600 pixels)" src="http://teach.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Targeting-Children-With-Treats-small-version.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="4264" /></a></center><center>Brought to you by <a href="http://teach.com" target="_blank">Teach.com</a> and <a href="http://mat.usc.edu/" target="_blank">MAT@USC</a>.</center><br />

Here’s our run-down of the four remaining GOP candidates, highlighting their educational policies:

Photo by Iowa Politics

Governor Mitt Romney
With an eye towards America’s competitiveness in the global economy, the former governor of Massachusetts has championed the fight to revamp the American educational system in hopes of training a new generation of American entrepreneurs, thinkers and workers. Despite his previously expressed statements to the contrary, Romney has said that he would not (like some of his adversaries) eliminate the Department of Education. In addition, he has championed the cause for creating quality-based incentives for teachers in order to improve performance.


Breakdown:

• Believes that a crucial role of government in producing economic growth is making sure that students get the best education possible
• Supports a means-tested voucher program that would allow students to attend the public or private school of their choice
• Opposes the teaching of creationism in science classrooms, but stresses that “Family Values” deserve a larger place in the curriculum

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich has long been a fixture of conservative politics and has come to embody many of its principles in his educational policies. Like his competitors, Gingrich would dramatically shrink the role of the Department of Education, putting more power in the hands of state and local legislators. He supports a system like Pell Grants for K-12 education and sees the value of protecting the rights of those who choose to home school their children (i.e. making sure that these students receive access to tax-payer funded extracurriculars). He advocates establishing a “no-limits” charter system, which would streamline the creation of more and better charter schools. Gingrich also believes parents should have the right to choose which school they send their children to and that they should never be forced into sending their children to a failing institution.

Breakdown:

• Wants states to open channels for part-time teachers, ideally talented and established professionals, to come and teach students while also holding another job
• Would keep the Department of Education, but would get rid of virtually all of its regulatory restrictions
• Suggests that students who graduate early should be refunded their tax money in the form of college tuition grants

Congressman Ron Paul
With a passionate following, Paul has become something of a folk hero to his constituents. Like some of his competitors, he believes that the Department of Education is inefficient and that American students would be best served if there was more decision-making made on the state, local or family level.

Breakdown:

• Opposes ideas like school vouchers, seeing them as little more than another “tax-funded welfare program”
• Argues that parents should be provided more resources to effectively educate their children at home
• Believes that education is not a right, instead it must be earned

Senator Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum holds that education is the consumer’s responsibility, namely the parent’s. He believes that it is a parents right to directly influence the type of education their child is receiving, whether through local educational governance or home schooling. By “putting parents first,” Santorum believes that you actually have the students’ best interest in mind. He believes that severely limiting the federal role in governing American education and providing as much choice as possible to the consumer/parent are the ways to reshape and fix the current educational system.

Breakdown:

• Values the power of online learning, having enrolled his children in the Pennsylvania virtual school
• Believes that creationism should be taught alongside theories of evolutionary biology
• Holds that states should be able to make core standards for their education system, but should not be forced to adopt standards that are put forth by the federal government

There has never been a question in my mind about the importance of teaching as a profession.

In fact, to me, teaching is a calling. It takes a special person to dedicate themselves to helping guide our youth in their academic, social, and emotional development.

After all, we know there is much more to the job than imparting knowledge. In the six hours a day children spend with us, we care for and nurture the whole child – not just their brains! As a boss of mine used to say: “We don’t teach science, math, and history – We teach kids.”

If you are new to the profession, I congratulate you on taking on this  joyful and daunting task!

Here’s the most incredible news, though – There has never been a better time to be a teacher.

I know, I know — it doesn’t necessarily feel that way as you read the news and follow the heated debates about teacher accountability, performance pay, high stakes testing and the like. But there are some  amazing, transformative changes happening in education now, and you are getting in on the ground floor. There’s a huge shift going on in the way the world learns and the way we’ll define “Teacher” in the future. It’s a shift that’s going to change the game completely and some of the current policy debates are going to seem totally outdated — even quaint — in the very near future. You have come just at the right time.

Just imagine . . .

No longer do students have to sit in rows, dozing while you drone through the pages of your teacher edition. No, in your class, students can be directing their own learning as you question and encourage them, guiding their learning experience. Students in your class can learn required content through a 21^st century learning filter that promotes the skills they will need to be successful in today and tomorrow’s world and takes full advantage of the connected learning potential inherent in the Internet and the World Wide Web.

What are these 21^st century learning skills? While you may find slight variations, these are the core skills:

• Creativity and Innovation
• Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
• Communication and Collaboration

The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills website breaks down each of these skills and provides valuable information and support for teaching and professional development. It is part of their Framework for 21^st Century Learning, which also addresses other important learning goals such as global literacy and information, media, and technology skills. The artful 21^st century educator teaches these skills while meeting curricular goals in the core subject areas.

Excited yet? I hope that you’re part of a forward-thinking school that encourages the development of these skills and supports the staff with appropriate professional development opportunities. However, there is a good chance that your school isn’t quite there yet. What can you do?

Don’t lose hope . . .

Stand by your beliefs and remember that it is all about your students. Igniting their passions and teaching them to become connected learners is a gift that will serve them well, no matter what the future brings. Keep finding ways to let students drive their own learning through inquiry and problem solving. Their energy and enthusiasm is contagious, and you will be there to show them that the learning opportunities are limitless. (If you need more encouragement, peruse the posts in this group blog by teachers like Shelley Wright and Becky Bair who are finding the courage to make the shift.)

Teach your students how to safely and responsibly use the digital tools available to pursue their passions and find their voice. Share your experiences with your colleagues and invite them to collaborate with your class. Those that have been there a while may be a bit resistant, but you will find there is much you can learn from each other. Build that bridge. Don’t be afraid to play and learn with your students. Expect to experience failure along the way – It’s a good way to show your students that mistakes are a critical part of the learning process.

Feeling alone out there? Never! There is an enormous support system for you…

• There are educators who are transparent in their practices. They readily post their ideas, resources, and lesson plans on Twitter, in Google Documents, or in their blogs. They are out there, eager to collaborate and connect with your classroom. (See my recent article on Twitter hashtag communities for educators for some more tips.)
• There are social networks like the Educator’s PLN and Classroom 2.0 where you can discuss best practices.
• There are opportunities to get free professional learning webinars through sites like Classroom 2.0 and events like the Reform Symposium.
• There are websites that provide motivation, information, and project ideas, such as Powerful Learning Practice and 21^st Century Collaborative, Thinkfinity, 21^st Century Schools, and Powerful Learning Practice’s Voices From the Learning Revolution.
• There are videos by visionaries such as Sir Ken Robinson, Daniel Pink, Alfie Kohn, and Will Richardson.
• There are books such as A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change, and Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education.

So get excited. After all, teaching is the profession that creates all others… Can you believe they’re going to pay  you to have this much fun???

Reposted from the PLP Network.

We live in an age of fast-paced change and, unfortunately, economic downturn. Most schools and school systems are not able to give us the kind of professional development we need, as often as we need it. But the good news is that we also live in an era of great technological proficiency, where many useful learning tools are available for free — tools that are safe and fast and easy to use: information-gathering tools, knowledge-management tools and, best of all, tools for collaboration. If we are connected educators and we know how to leverage this ubiquitous technology to connect to other people who share our interests and passions — to find them, to vet them and to learn from them — then we possess a powerful means of do-it-yourself (DIY) professional development.

Connected educators understand how to find people who are on our professional wavelength; how to build and efficiently manage a personal learning network; how to gather, analyze and curate what we learn online; and how to then bring it all back to the schoolhouse, where we share what we’ve harvested with our professional learning communities in an effort to increase student learning. It may be projects we’ve found, or what we’ve discovered from reading or connecting with our favorite authors and bloggers, or fresh perspectives we’ve pulled together by crowd-sourcing answers to important questions about teaching practice and student learning. Connected educators use what they learn to make their local context better.

Connected educators also know how to extend their professional learning communities into the 21st century world of the Web. They understand that there are very powerful easy-to-use social media tools that make it possible to create online communities of practice that attract global colleagues, guest speakers with all kinds of expertise, and educators who may have solutions to problems we’re facing and can also benefit from the solutions that we have to offer. Such communities, spanning many nations, time zones and cultures, are unprecedented — impossible to imagine back in the professional development environment of the late 20th century. They are places where we can co-create new knowledge that results in high student engagement, deep learning and truly expert teaching.

So why is it important to be a connected educator? Because as a connected educator, you’re going to develop all the know-how you need to improve the craft of teaching and to grow as a learner. You’ll also gain the know-how to empower your students to take full ownership of their own educational experience, to build their own personal learning networks and to be able to learn not only in the classroom and schoolhouse, but from experts in myriad settings and from their own peers in far-flung places around the globe.

Curious about ways you can become connected?
• Join Twitter and use hashtags to identify people and resources that can help you as a professional learner. To get started, read this article by teacher Patti Grayson.

• Find a professional community online; for example, K12 English & language arts teachers are flocking to the remarkable English Companion NING community.

• Sign up for our free connected educator tips. Each week you’ll receive an email with a chapter overview and a “Get Connected” activity. At the end of these several weeks, you’ll be well on your way.
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I like to say that all of us are smarter than any of us. Right now, many thousands of teachers, instructional leaders and administrators are transforming themselves into professionals who will never want to stop growing, improving and serving their students in the most excellent ways possible. Yes, it’s hard work. But it’s the kind of work that brings new energy, deep satisfaction and the joyous feeling of accomplishment that comes when we change our students’ lives for the better.

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach is co-author (with Lani Ritter-Hall) of The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age, a visionary approach to do-it-yourself professional learning through online networks and virtual communities. Sheryl is also CEO of Powerful Learning Practice LLC, which she co-founded with Will Richardson. PLP delivers job-embedded, year-long professional development around connected learning to educators and schools worldwide. You can follow her on Twitter @snbeach.

Reading and summarizing education-related books and points of interest on the Internet for my blog has shown me that our current education reform efforts are misguided and not in the best interest of our children or ourselves. My reading, “Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland?” by Pasi Sahlber, tells the story of how Finnish education reforms have led their schools to outperform the rest of the world. The book has added to my resolve to speak out against the madness that started in the mid 1990s when federally mandated standardized testing began. It took Finland a while to go from mediocre to the top, so we need to be patient. In the meantime, here is what I think we can do right now:

1. Drop Standardized Testing / National Curriculum
First and foremost, we need to convince policymakers to scrap standardized testing and abandon their insistence on a national curriculum. These factors both narrow curriculum, create stress for teachers and students, and build failure into a system that doesn’t need it. They also discourage risk-taking, experimentation and creativity. Test results only cover a fraction of education standards and are not reliable measures of learning as “teaching to the test” is not only possible but typical. The time teachers spend sifting through questionable data should be spent on creating more interesting lessons. We also need to stop groaning about arbitrary performance gaps between groups. The only way to narrow these gaps is to slow the fast learners or use tests where they top out and can no longer demonstrate growth. That doesn’t mean, however, that we should stop looking for ways to help students who lack support and resources.

2. Encourage the Brightest to Teach
Next, we need to do what we can to encourage more top-performing students to go into teaching. Building more trust and local control into the system should help make teaching more appealing. What we have now, however, is a system looking to rate teachers by student test scores; that doesn’t seem like a great way to draw top talent into the field. Anything to make a teaching career more attractive is necessary, and anything to improve the quality of teachers is a must. In Finland, only one in 10 teaching applicants are accepted and these students must complete a research-based graduate program before they begin working.

3. Divide Courses
High schools should offer shorter courses so students who don’t perform well can repeat a six-week class rather than an entire year. Students who come close should also be given time to complete the course. If students plan to enter community colleges, don’t let them leave high school until they pass the necessary placement tests, because no one should be paying college tuition to take remedial high school courses that don’t count towards their college degree.

At the elementary level, we need to bring special education instructors into the game early and often. In Finland, half of all students get some attention from special education teachers at some point. This can help us to avoid grade retention, which is employed in Finland in only extreme cases, and spare schools the related costs.

4. Customize, Don’t Standardized
To help motivate students, we need to build on their interests and passions, and bring the real world into as many lessons as possible. Rather than standardization, we need customization. The idea that everybody should learn the same thing at the same time in the same way is obsolete now that anyone can learn anything, anywhere, anytime. Student and group projects can help. Group projects will also build collaboration skills, which are critical. It is much harder for business to teach collaboration skills than specific knowledge. We just need the right vision at the top. Time to raise your voice!

Doug Green was an administrator at the elementary level, secondary level and central administration for 30 years. He teaches leadership for administrators and has authored over 300 articles. In 2006, he retired to care for his wife, who had Lou Gehrig’s disease. After her death, he stared DrDougGreen.com to facilitate self-development for busy educators and parents. He summarizes important books and mines the Internet via his Twitter feed for valuable education links, quotes, humor, music and cool stuff.

This article was orginally published on BusyTeacher.org.

Icebreakers are important when getting to know your students. They are even more important when your students do not know one another well. Depending on how your school organizes its classes, you may use some of the following activities at the beginning of the school year to help you and your students become familiar with the entire class. You can also adapt these icebreakers to introduce new students who happen to enter the class mid-semester.

1. Learn the Names
In order to learn students’ names, you can have students take turns saying their name along with the names of all of the students who spoke before them — or as many as they can remember. To make it more interesting and to learn a little more about your class, ask students to include something specific about themselves, such as their favorite cereal, color, sport or film. At the end of the activity, you should try your best to repeat every student’s name. If students are learning the names of their classmates for the first time, conduct some other name activities for practice. For example, have students stand in a circle and on each student’s turn, he or she should say a word or sentence related to whatever prompt or topic you choose, then call out the name of a classmate to go next.

2. Find Someone Who…
If students know one another’s names, get them talking about other topics by having them play “Find Someone Who…” In this game, students ask each other questions based on pictures or phrases, aiming to find someone who can answer yes to each question. Model questions could be “Do you like…” or “Do you have…” After five to 10 minutes, depending on the number of questions students have to ask, have everyone sit down and call on students to read some of the answers (for example: “Ben likes soccer”); this way the class can learn more about individual students. Try to encourage students to offer up sentences about people who have not yet been mentioned. This gives everyone the opportunity to share and be recognized.

3. Talk and Remember
Have students talk to the person to their right about a particular topic (hobbies, for instance). After a minute or two, have your students then turn to the person to their left and discuss another topic. You could also do this as a mingling exercise in which students have a limited amount of time to exchange information before moving on to the next person and conversation topic. Be sure to ask some students things they learned about their peers at the end of the activity so that they try their best to remember the conversations they had.

4. What’s Important
If your class is quite small, you may consider having students think about the three things they would take with them to a deserted island, then share why they chose one or all of those things. This is an excellent way of learning what is important to your students and gaining some insight into how they organize their thoughts. If your class is larger, you can conduct the same activity in groups, which is beneficial for introducing students to one another but will exclude you for most of the activity. Another similar group activity is to have students write down the first word that pops into their head when they hear you say a certain color. Students can then discuss why they chose particular words in their groups, or you can have the student with the most unique choice explain his answer. After a few minutes, give them another color to think about and discuss. Groups should present the class with a brief summary of their discussions towards the end of the activity.

5. Three Adjectives that Describe You
For introductions, you can have students choose three adjectives to describe themselves. At the end of the year, you can also ask students to fill in adjectives for all their classmates (nothing mean spirited) and give students a summary of what their classmates said about them in the last lesson. This should give students some positive reinforcement and point out their personality strengths. It may also be interesting to compare these with the adjectives students chose to describe themselves.
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Icebreakers make for excellent activities because they offer students the opportunity to share things about themselves and learn about their peers. These activities often get students moving or thinking creatively and can be lots of fun, dissolving any tension or nervousness that might initially exist in the classroom. It’s important that students be able to interact with one another easily because learning is all about communication.