Nebraska Change Agent
' I am entirely certain that twenty years from now we will look back at education as it is practiced in most schools today and wonder how we could have tolerated anything so primitive.' John W Gardner
I Quit
I’ve had enough. I used to love my job, but I just can’t do it anymore. Forty percent of my students are failing because they can’t/don’t/won’t do their work. Something is wrong. REALLY wrong.
Before you think I have totally lost my mind please let me explain.
For the last eight years I have worked at a school where we have a tremendous amount of access to technology. Like most teachers, I started out by having my students locate information on the Internet. From there I began to have them create projects such as short movies. The next step was blogging and using different tools to reach out beyond the walls of our classroom to connect with others. I vary the types of things we do in class, but it just isn’t enough. I don’t feel like they are learning skills that will help them be successful in life. As much as I would like to think that my classroom is student-centered, it is still very much teacher-centered. I So I’m going to stop what I have been doing and try something different. Starting in January my students are going to control of their learning.
I teach Social Studies in an alternative school where most of my students are juniors and seniors. I have approximately 40 student that are in my class for two hours twice a week and for one hour every other Friday for one hour. The average length of a quarter is nine weeks which means that my students spend about 40 hours in my classroom. Due to the nature of our program we do not give homework so every assignment must be completed in class. When we come back from break in January each of my students will complete an individualized learning plan. This plan will include four topics that students select based on the focus of the class. (As I am typing this I am already questioning why I would limit my students to a particular focus so this might change. The classes that their home schools require them to take might determine their topics. At my school I teach “Social Studies” and I have the freedom to teach a variety of topics.) I will have a list of topics that are based on based on the Nebraska Social Studies standards for students to choose from. During the first couple days of class students will select their topics and come up with questions about that topic to help them guide their research. With hundreds of topics from which to select, I hope my students will become more engaged in the learning process. One of my goals is to teach them how to do smarter and more efficient research. This is something that all too often we assume students know how to do. Most of my students do not have the skills to find information and evaluate it. This will be a focus in my new classroom.
Each student will also determine what their final product of their research will be. It could be a video, slideshow, infographic, Wikipedia entry or any number of other things. I will work with students to create a rubric.
All of my students need to practice their written and verbal communication skills. For each of their topics they will have to connect with an expert in that particular field. This might be someone at a museum or a professor at a university. It could be an author or someone that I am able to connect them with through Twitter. Ideas for where to find these experts will be part of their learning plan.
Earlier this week I took the time to ask my students something that I have been meaning to for some time now. I simply asked, “If you could learn about anything today what would you choose to study?” I compiled a list of their responses. I was surprised at the incredible range of responses and that so many of them are interested in topics that are typically taught in school. I am going to allow my students to devote 20% of their class time to studying a topic of their choosing. There will be some parameters and guidelines, but I want to help my students rediscover a passion for learning.
Maybe this is the worst idea ever and it will be a complete disaster, but maybe it will be the best thing I have ever done for both myself and my students. I cannot continue to force my students through the motions of doing assignments that they don’t care about. They need to take ownership in their learning. They need to truly care about what they are learning. I don’t know what else to do except grant them permission to take charge of their learning.
I want to send a huge thank you to Noa Gutow-Ellis for providing me with the inspiration to finally do what I know is right for my students.
17 Responses to “I Quit”
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December 7th, 2012 at 2:37 p
This is brilliant. Taking a risk, not knowing how it will turn out. What an amazing adventure. More teachers should take a shot in the dark like this. Well played Beth, well played.
December 7th, 2012 at 3:15 p
Beth, I agree with Jim– absolutely brilliant idea. Why reserve passion projects only for the students the system has labeled as “gifted”? I think EVERY child deserves the opportunity to pursue something that is of value to them. Companies like Google, Apple, and Kiewit and Sons give their employees time on the clock to pursue topics of interest. Kudos, Beth! Let me know if I can help in any way.
December 7th, 2012 at 4:25 p
Jim- Thank you for your support. I have a vision in my head of what this looks like. If I am a descent facilitator I am certain my students will benefit from these changes. I have found they tend to rise to the challenge when I raise the bar.
Tricia- I will share my brainstorming doc with you. I’d love your feedback and guidance. I didn’t ask yet because I know how busy you are.
December 7th, 2012 at 4:39 p
You are an amazing teacher! I am proud of you for thinking outside the box and trying something different because you care!
December 7th, 2012 at 11:01 p
Great idea Beth! Letting the students study something they are interested in could kick start a new direction in their education.
December 8th, 2012 at 8:38 p
LOVE THIS! Letting go is hard and some may crash due to lack of self-direction and motivation but I predict that most will find their way and shine. What a gift this will be for them. Brilliant!
The only humble suggestion I have is to present to a real audience.
December 8th, 2012 at 9:38 p
Beth…I have been doing 20% time for a couple of years and so have to get you ready for the possibility of something…
You might have read about other teachers doing this and what wonderful things their kids do with the time, how inspired they are but what their kids dream up…
Yes, it may be nice in “those” schools.
Be prepared for kids not taking advantage, kids doing nothing, kids going through 50 topics each week. Be prepared to listen to all of their wonderful ideas before it stars and be prepared for them to do none of that. And when that all happens, you will still be successful. So far this year we are on week 10 and still there is just blah going on. I sit and see nothing inspiring occurring…and that is ok. They need time to unwind and unpack their school brains and they’ll possibly take months to get warmed up.
Also it is a huge misconception that we should be thinking “outside the box.” It reduces creativity. People who are creative still have parameters. Steve Jobs gave very, very specific parameters to the folks who designed the ipod. Feel free to place some parameters into the 20% time and loosen them as the kids ask for it.
I have found this to be the best disaster that I have ever been a part of with my kids
December 8th, 2012 at 10:07 p
Paul,
Thank you so much for the advice. My kids will definitely have parameters. I know some are brave enough to turn their students loose, but mine just aren’t the type of students who can do that. I am reminded of this fact each time I try to give them assignments without many guidelines.
I know there will be some that will not be successful and I am ready for that. What I cannot handle anymore is teaching in an environment where students have so little input into what they learn. I teach students from 8 different schools and they have entirely different requirements, but I never had a way to adjust what I was teaching to meet the needs of each student. That was the problem–I felt the need to teach, not facilitate.
I know it will take some time for students to understand how this new plan will work and I’m OK with that. If you don’t mind I might check in with you every once in a while for moral support on the more challenging days.
December 9th, 2012 at 6:42 p
Awesome post Beth. I have been struggling with the same issues. I like your 20% time idea. In one of my classes we are constrained by state testing and spending 20% on just test prep
However, you have gotten me thinking seriously about changing some things up. Also thanks Paul for your wise words about the 20% time. Thanks again Beth.
December 10th, 2012 at 10:15 p
Good luck!
December 10th, 2012 at 10:23 p
Morning sunshine!
My apologies for not responding sooner. (I was probably too busy being revived after reading the “I Quit” part:) All that being said…. I did something very similar in the private school I taught in. It was our charter year. We were very small using an old church Sunday School room for our building. Our students were not “gifted” or privileged. They all had some form of dyslexia (including dysgraphia) and we were a “one room school house” for 11 – 17 year olds. All but one had been in and failed in the public school system.
This was the most challenging (and rewarding) strategy of teaching I have ever used. In the initial phases, the students need motivation (though be careful to not give them answers or too much direction). The freedom to choose and do was very difficult for them. They were so accustomed to “write this many words, include this many slides, on this exact subject, etc”. After they realized that yes, really, really, it was THEIR project and THEIR power to choose, it went much better!
For “assessment”, I held regular meetings with the students. They had to self-reflect on what was working, what wasn’t, create a timeline for completion, and provide a brief summary to date. At the final presentation, each student completed a peer review rubric that was very heavy comment based. Also, any expert they interacted with received a thank-you note (digital or hand-written). Just a couple more ideas for you.
I applaud your efforts! Keep us updated
December 10th, 2012 at 10:39 p
I will anxiously await each post to see how this is going for you & your students! Bravo!
December 10th, 2012 at 3:44 p
“I cannot continue to force my students through the motions of doing assignments that they don’t care about. They need to take ownership in their learning. They need to truly care about what they are learning. I don’t know what else to do except grant them permission to take charge of their learning.”
Truer words were never spoken. I wish, with all my heart, that more teachers would take the chance and accept change. It’s scary to change. Kudos to you for considering it! I look forward to reading how successful it was!
December 11th, 2012 at 1:03 p
Hi
Good on you. Read this if you have the time and the other post on the same blog. Good luck!
http://mrclarksclasses.edublogs.org/2012/12/10/bringing-our-passion-to-school/
Cheers
Hamish
December 17th, 2012 at 6:36 p
Beth…I swear this is the secret to learning: Putting more and more control in the hands of the students. It’s buy-in. We used this method at my Saturn School of Tomorrow by requiring each student to have a Personal Learning Plan on what they needed to learn and what they needed from us to help make it happen. Go with it!
March 5th, 2013 at 10:34 p
I love this idea. I hope it is working out for all of you. Several of my instructors at the University of South Alabama support a nontraditional student centered classroom, though the classes I am taking with them are not actually student centered. In one of my classes, we have read and heard a lot about the same techniques you have discussed in this post. I find this idea in the classroom interesting. I know such a change can be difficult for everyone involved. I am eager to hear how it is working out for both you and your students. Do they appreciate the freedom such learning provides them with? Are you enjoying this approach as well?
March 24th, 2013 at 6:37 p
I really need to write a follow up, but I am so strapped for time. Allowing my students to be so responsible for their own learning was a difficult adjustment for some and outright impossible for those who did not care whether they passed or failed the class. Some of my students who struggled to keep up in the past grew so much and others who shined in the past failed miserably. At the end of the quarter about 2/3 of my students that started the quarter failed to earn credit. While at first this might seem terrible, there are some factors that help explain why the failure rate was so high. There was an unusually high number of absences. When students miss one out of two classes on a weekly basis then refuse to make up the work it is not likely they will pass. Several students were expelled and did not earn credit. A few others simply quit coming to school. A couple of the students were shaken up over the deaths of some of their friends during the first week of the quarter and got so far behind they gave up on getting caught up.