Maine ASCD Weblog

"In Other's Words..."

Ethicist, and fellow Mainer, Rush Kidder has a delightful expose on the recent "kerfuffle" over whether the comments made by Sen. Barack Obama which were later attributed to Gov. Deval Patrick were plagiarism. In the article, Kidder talks about the worst example of plagiarism he had hear of, and without trying to top that story, it reminded me of one of my own experiences of plagiarism on the part of a student. In this particular case, the student was a public school teacher who was taking a continuing education course from the college where I was an administrator. What made the story "worse" was not only did the student submit for grading a xeroxed copy of someone else's words, but he then refuse to admit he had done anything wrong. It was only when I asked him teacher-to-teacher how he would react if one of HIS students pulled something like that that he relented and admitted guilt.

The Obama/Patrick issue is worthy of reflection in classrooms and I encourage teachers to read what Rush has to say and share this issue with their students. One of those "teachable moments" shall we say.

BTW, I've used a number of quotations here in this blog entry which either come from the Kidder article or are commonly used quotes in education. Unlike, Mr. Kidder, I am not providing the source after each quote, but want to make it clear I am using someone else's words. This is a large dilemma in blog writing. So much of what I often put here is from other's words. I (try to) always place the comment in quotes or "blockquotes" and link to the originator. But as Kidder points out, in this computerized world, it is very easy for students - or anybody - to "borrow a line" from someone else. And the question of right and wrong often gets very gray.

~John Brandt

Image from ABC News website

Class Clowns Beware

I read this news teaser and initially thought it was something from Jay Leno. But, seeing it was the The Times of London, I clicked ahead and discovered the follow:

A British teacher who developed a classroom chair that can't be rocked onto its rear legs already has received orders from 18 schools in the three weeks since launching the product. "It seems that it's a problem that touches everyone," inventor Tom Wates said. "For me, this started out as a way of combating the irritation of the children rocking. But at nearly every school I've been to teachers relate a story about an injury. It is a danger issue."

I have vivid memories of one or more of my more colorful classmates rocking in their chairs when I was in seventh and eighth grades. In prior years we had those one-piece "prison desks" that couldn't be turned over without a forklift. The adult versions of those student desks were used in my high school. When I eventually started working in public schools, I was a bit amazed to find the separation of chair and desk. In all my years observing students, I saw quite a few take a tumble. And yes, it just about always the student I was there to observe.

Anyway the problem is now solved by simply arching the legs of the chair. Class clowns on both sides of the Atlantic will now need to find a new way to create a distraction. Read the whole article in the Times

~John Brandt

The Principal and Teacher Induction

The International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership has just published its latest article, Principal Leadership in New Teacher Induction: Becoming Agents of Change, by Finney Cherian, & Yvette Daniel.

Here is the abstract:

This small-scale pilot study investigated the role of school principals in the induction of new teachers in Ontario, Canada. Building upon the theoretical framework of Bolman and Deal (2002), as well as interviews, document analysis, and review of extant literature, the following findings were established: (a) Principals expressed that the educative mentorship of novices requires the engagement of the entire school community; and (b) Principals, veterans, and novices saw teaching as an intellectual, moral, and political endeavor that required their collective involvement. We suggest that principals employ the notion of “communities of practice” to instill a culture of support for new teacher induction.

The full text can be freely downloaded from the IJEPL web site at http://www.ijepl.org.

~John Brandt

Image by fotologic - Creative Commons

Think!

One of my favorite movie scenes is in The Blues Brothers when Aretha Franklin sings her song "Think" in the soul food restaurant she owns and runs with "her man." While a far distance from the subject of this blog, it does appear that "thinking" is currently taking a center stage in conversations about education.

This month's Education Leadership has "Teaching Students to Think" as the theme and the ASCD SmartBrief has a whole issue devoted to the topic. From Ed Leadership:

"Although thinking is innate, skillful thinking must be cultivated," one of the authors in February's Educational Leadership writes. Another writes "But thinking cannot be formulated as a lesson objective—as something to teach on Thursday morning. How then do we go about it?" This issue raises two complex questions: First, how can educators teach students to be critical and creative thinkers? Second, are most of our current practices encouraging students to think well?

If you haven't seen the SmartBrief, or don't currently subscribe, you may do so with this link. Here's a little bit of what they are saying there:

Incorporating thinking skills into curriculums in an era of standardized tests is a challenge, but teachers across the country are making reasoning abilities a priority. In this information economy, many educators argue these skills will be more vital than ever.

This two-part ASCD SmartBrief Special Report on "Teaching Students to Think" explores the many ways educators are developing students' thinking skills. Part I of the report focuses on the place of thinking skills in the curriculum today and offers some instructional and assessment strategies. Part II, to be published Thursday, Feb. 21, explores best practices and professional development.

And not to be left out, Maine ASCD's next professional development program just happens to incorporate teaching students how to think more effectively. That program with Jim Burke is entitled: "Tools for Thought: Strategies for Reading, Writing, and Thinking" and takes place in Portland on March 28, 2008.

Just thought you'd like to know.

~John Brandt

Put a Little Music in Your Heart

The Bangor Symphony Orchestra announced today that the final judging of the 27^th annual Bangor Symphony Orchestra Maine High School Concerto Competition will take place Saturday, February 23 beginning at 1:00 PM in the Minsky Recital Hall of the University of Maine, Orono Campus.

From their news release:

Open to all Maine high school students, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra Maine High School Concerto Competition offers each year's winners the chance of a lifetime - to perform with the full Bangor Symphony Orchestra for thousands of students and teachers at the Youth Concerts in May. David Whitehill, Executive Director of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra said, “this concerto competition provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase and celebrate Maine’s young talent.”

So, on this Valentine's Day, how about putting a little music in your heart and support the program! FMI see the Bangor Symphony's website.

~John Brandt

Image from Creative Commons - by David Drexler

Teachers Talk

There have been a couple of interesting Op-ed pieces in some national newspapers written by teachers. In both cases, the teacher criticized the status quo and offered their personal opinions as to how to better education.

The first article is by a teacher in Alexandria, VA who complained that the new high school he was working in was full of "gizmos" that no teacher wanted - or needed - and that staff morale was at an all time low.

The second article is by two teachers in Seattle, WA and discusses school reform efforts (NCLB in particular) and suggests people needed to start "trusting teachers" to make the best decision about schools.

What is really interested about both these articles - apart from the fact that teachers wrote them - was the plethora of responses that they generated on the newspapers websites. What is evident is that the general public - at least those who read newspapers, have access to newspapers websites and have the ability to express their opinions - are deeply divided on what to do about education. And it is clear that emotions run deep, as many of the responses are passionate in tone and considerable in length.

We have seen a similar kind of "conversation" in Maine in recent years as we have debated everything from Learning Results to school consolidation. My sense is that the passions are getting stronger.

BTW, in the Seattle article there is one last comment which I think speaks volumes about some the sentiment out there. It states:

I am a math teacher in a low SES school in the Seattle School District. There are many challenges in my day, and I try my best with what I have. I am quitting after this year to take an easier, higher paying position in Taiwan. After reading the posts of these writers, I have no more guilt. Good Luck America.

What do you think?

~John Brandt

The Art of Teaching

Back in April 2007, I wrote a rather lengthy blog about whether "teaching" was an art or a science. This was partially provoked by Bob Marzano's new book, The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Teaching. It was also provoked by a question posed by Edutopia Magazine.

At the time, I argued that, at best, teaching was a craft, and that teacher were indeed "craftsmen" or "artisans." My idea was not original, but I must admit, I liked my logic.

Anyway, the International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership has a new article dealing with the Art of Teaching (Vol 3, No. 1) and this time, they have some empirical evidence to back it up. Check out the article. Not bad.

~John Brandt

What Works in Maine Schools

One of the features of this weekend's What Works in Schools winter retreat was an opportunity for schools to host poster sessions showcasing some of the "good works" they are doing. Below are some images from those poster sessions.

~John Brandt

 

More from the Samoset

I had a little bit of a technical problem so I was not able to bring you more from the Samoset over the weekend. But here is what you missed...

Thoroughout Sunday's presentation artist Michelle Boos-Stone provided a graphic representation of what was being discussed in the What Works in Schools presentation offered by Mary McDonough. To the right is an image of one of Michelle's panels - click for an enlargement.

Many teams of teachers and administrators attended the conference together and used the valuable time to discuss the real issues they faced in their schools and classrooms.

But it wasn't all work. The presentations ended a 4:00 pm in plenty of time for the BIG Super Bowl Party at 5:45.

~John Brandt

Blogging from the Samoset

The Maine ASCD A-Team is here in beautiful Rockport for the first day of the What Works in Schools - Winter Retreat co-sponsored by the Maine Support Network. Kicking off the game, John Brandt and Carlene Iverson entertained the crowd from the press box and introduced Head Coach Mary McDonough who will serve as the major presenter today and tomorrow. Also introduced was Special Teams Coach Michelle Boos-Stone a "graphic recorder" who will also be hosting a session tomorrow.

The MSN Winter Retreat is an annual event held here at the Samoset and historically attracted primarily an audience of special educators. This year the event was redesigned and Maine ASCD was asked to collaborate. "We felt the two organizations and their constituents were a good match," said John Brandt, Maine ASCD's executive director. "Our goal was to try and bridge the various groups and help to bring people together."

Being that this is Super Bowl Sunday - Go Pats - we have incorporated football into the theme of the event.

We'll report more later today!