End of Year Reflections

So this isn't going to be a complete reflection of the entire year, but just some thoughts I have going on now at the end of the year.

I have been feeling really comfortable in my abilities this last month. I have been stepping up more to deal with conflicts and take on responsibilities at school. That has been something I have been working on all year at school. If there was a fight at school I would let someone else handle the situation, or go ask for someone else's help. Lately I have been facilitating working through conflicts on my own, and often times they have been successful. Of course there is always space for growth, but all in all I have grown a lot and I am happy with that.

Over this year I have also started delving deeper into my own boundaries, needs and ego. I can recognize more readily when my ego is rearing it's ferocious head. I definitely felt that tonight at staff circle. I had expectations about circle because this was my last one and it felt important to me, but other people didn't have the same expectations, which I can't blame them for, but it left me feeling void. I opened up more than I usually do and talked honestly about my experience and where I was at, and of the few people that actually showed up for circle, no one had anything to say to me. Actually thinking back about the year the only positive feedback I have gotten is that it is nice I offer lots of classes and that the students seem to really like it. Part of that probably has to do with the fact that I don't open up to the teachers very often. But I feel like I can be an effective teacher and not lay myself wide open all the time. I just want to know that my work here meant something to someone. I feel that from the students, but I also am such a temporary figure in their lives. So anyways, I can identify this as my ego needing a little affirmation, but I still feel hurt. My hurt was deepened by the fact that some of the teachers told another intern who has been here for a month how wonderful she effortlessly seemed to fall into the flow of the school.

Blah.

"Consensus is the Answer Key: Empowerment in the Math Classroom"

While I was at the Creating Balance in an Unjust World/Radical Math conference, I attended a workshop entitled "Consensus is the Answer Key: Empowerment in the Math CLassroom". It was presented by Loula Tesfai, Jason Cushner, Drew Bupphaves, Sarah Bertucci, and Matt Needle from the Pine Ridge School in Williston, VT. Pine Ride School is a private boarding school for students with learning disabilities. Jason and Sarah are co-teachers at the school. Loula is a former student of theirs and the other two, Drew and Matt are current students. Jason and Sarah co-teach mathematics at the school. They have very small class sizes (under 10).

Their intended workshop goals were:

• For us all to consider the unwritten curriculum of our classes and schools, paarticularly around "math smarts".
• For us all to view, experience, and evaluate a math teaching method that is both challenging and empowering to students.
• For us all to leave with concrete next steps for creating an empowering unwritten curriculum in math.

They talked about what an "unwritten curriculum" is. It is what the students learn that isn't written in the lesson plan. The unwritten curriculum is created through culture, relationships and interactions. Instead of being a one-time lesson it is an all-the-time action. A major part of the unwritten curriculum in math is what they termed "Math Smarts". To get a grasp on what sort of unwritten curriculum we all consumed in math growing up we talked about what assumptions there are as to what it looks like to be smart in math. In our brainstorm we came up with the following description: fast, takes ability - not effort, good grades, getting the right answers quickly, born with natural talent, if you struggle than you're not smart, nerdy, don't have to have skills in writing, seen as not creative and that if you like math you must be smart. These ideas are part of what they termed the unwritten curriculum of "Math Smarts". Not very many teachers tell their students these ideas directly, but they are stereotypes that we learn through the all-the-time interactions of school relationships. However, they claimed that this standard view of Math Smarts simply isn't true. It doesn't match what professional mathematicians actually do:slow, laborious work on one problem, sometimes for many years. It is also an inaccurate view of how intelligence develops. Math smarts is viewed as a fixed intelligence, which you are either born with or not. Instead, these educators take a constructivist approach to intelligence that learning is malleable. Not only is this view untrue, but it is also disempowering. It is disempowering for those who start out behind the standards in their math class. This does not have to do with smartness; it has to do with exposure. But for many students the perception of themselves and their identity as bad at math sticks. It is also disempowering for those who start out labeled "smart". In the math world where there is a perception that there is only one right answer there is a strong fear of failure among students with "Math Smarts". Many cope with this by avoiding challenges.

In order to empower students in the math classroom a teacher must incorporate many parts:

• Relationships
• Instruction, Curriculum, and Assessment Practices
• Classroom decorations and physical set-up
• Consensus is the Answer Key

The presenters focused on "Consensus is the Answer Key" for this workshop. It is a classroom dynamic whereby students get feedback on solutions from classroom discussion and agreement, not from answers in the back of the book or from the teacher. These "expert" sources of informations are removed. Instead, students use their own logic, creativity, communication, and collaboration skills to solve problems. (Do you smell constructivism?...) To set up this sort of classroom culture students are given problems to solve. They work on the problems individually or collaboratively. Then students discuss their processes and solutions with classmates. Using logic, questioning, and explanation, students come to consensus on the correct answer.

Consensus in the math classroom comes with it's own set of challenges. For example, students who have spent the majority of their time in traditional, teacher-centered classrooms are not used to this new process. Jason and Sarah often found that students clung to the traditional textbook driven classroom, and they admitted because it was easier for them. Also, students coming from traditional classrooms are often coming from places that foster competition. Because of this, it is essential to create a safe classroom culture. Another challenge is that teaching in this way is counter-cultural for a teacher. Constructivism has begun to enter mainstream education and teacher education, but it is still not the way that many of us were taught. Creating a culture where student discovery is commonplace is not just about noninterference by the teacher. Teachers must create rigorous academic environments by asking LOTS of questions and not just stopping when they hear a "correct" answer.

Jason and Sarah found that structure is helpful in building this consensus mathematics classroom. They have a normal classroom routine which consists of students arriving, getting into groups and discussing their solutions to the previous night's homework. Teachers also spend time giving direct instruction on behavior and mindset: reminding students that mistakes help us learn (mindset) and teaching behaviors that create a safe environment, such as the role of the presenter and participants. Students learn the structure of discussing solutions: solutions are presented in logical steps. Questioners do their job respectfully and listen while information is being presented. There is no compromise of the safe environment! Also, the teachers structure in time for presenting unfinished work. They give only enough time so that no one reaches an answer and discuss it so that the students have space to examine process outside of the restraints of solutions. Jason and Sarah also recommend giving specific feedback to students, instead of "good job!". This helps students assess their strengths and weaknesses. Another structure they use is a standard approach to problem solving that they introduce at the beginning of the year. This is a series of questions, which lead students through the process of searching for solutions. This process includes rewriting the question, creating a problem statement, stating any equations given, guessing an original estimate, etc... As the year goes on, the teachers allow the students to adjust this process so that it works best for them.

They provided the following tips for implementing "Consensus is the Answer Key" so that it can be more liberating for students:

• Use direct instruction to teach the skills necessary for Consensus is the Answer Key.
• Because this structure goes against our dominant schooling culture, students will not adopt these habits by accident. It is important to directly teach procedures such as steps for presenting and discussing solutions. It's helpful to post a script or guidelines for what presenters and participants should do. Correct students language if they stray from these guidelines. One common example is that students often begin the school year using language like, "You're wrong." Instead, have them say, "I disagree." This leads much more naturally into an open discussion without defensiveness. You should also directly teach empowering beliefs about learning, such as mistakes being good, helpful things.

• Model the behavior and language that you expect of students.
• Direct instruction most be coupled with modeling. You are working to create an environment where it is good to make mistakes and question each other. Therefore, you must be open to students correcting you or giving you feedback. Always thank them for it, even when they don't phrase things well. Be open to getting authentic help from the students. For example, if you struggle with spelling, ask them to check your spelling. In addition, never put yourself down by saying things like, "I can't draw" or "I'm bad at spelling." We want to break the norm of students saying, "I'm bad at math," but we cannot ask that of them if we're modeling something else. Instead of putting yourself down, express that things are difficult but that you are confident you can grow: "I'm having trouble making a diagram that looks like a football field - can someone tell me what I need to do here?"
• Be uncompromising in creating a safe classroom environment
• In order for this process to work, students need to feel safe to take risks, say incorrect things, and make mistakes. Clearly set up expectations at the beginning of the school year around how to treat each other. Then, do not let any infractions pass, even when students say that they're just joking. We don't allow any put-downs in our classroom, even joking ones. We don't allow the jokes because we think that the butt of the joke is often more hurt by it than s/he claims. In addition, negative joking sets a tone in the rest of the class so that students who may not be involved in a particular joke will feel nervous about becoming the next butt of a joke and will therefore speak less and take fewer risks.
• Insist on rigor, not just hearing initial ideas
• Many classrooms that choose to emphasize student voice encounter a common pitfall. They often do a great job of having students express their ideas and thoughts, but stop at this point. Then, students are left with only their initial, unrefined ideas; they have not learned anything about determining the quality work and thought. When students share ideas, it is important for them to get feedback on those ideas and abandon or refine those which don't hold up to scrutiny. Some teachers feel uncomfortable with the thought of criticizing students' thoughts. Critical feedback is one of the greatest gifts that we give our students because it sends the message that we know they can grow. It's not ok for students to walk out of a math classroom believing that a square has three sides because the teacher just asked them to express what they think of a square. Of course, using Consensus is the Answer Key means that idea refinement occurs primarily within discussions among students. Therefore, this rigor is developed through the norm of questioning and proving answers as a class.
• Be deliberate about the feedback you give individuals
• Feedback is an essential part of learning and growth, but it is not a cultural norm to give feedback that is empowering to students. Too often, students receive most of their feedback from teachers in the form of praise or criticism which makes them dependent upon the teacher for affirmation. Empowering feedback helps students grow, not just feel good or bad about the teacher's opinion of them. Within the Consensus is the Answer Key model, students should ultimately get most of their feedback from sources other than the teacher. Other sources include fellow students, their own internal compass, logic and proof, and measuring their work and actions against clear goals or expectations. This process generally needs to be scaffolded and modeled.
• There are a number of specific ways to give feedback to individuals. Firstly, it is important to avoid feedback about students' abilities or attributes. These types of comments contribute to a fixed sense of intelligence and identity, which leaves students feeling without agency to control their achievement. Instead, give feedback that is about students' observable actions. To help students internalize their own evaluation skills, provide observations of student actions and then ask students to interpret their value or meaning. The last step of this scaffolded process is to ask students to both make the observations and the interpretations themselves.
• Sometimes students solicit your affirmation through specific questions. It's always a balancing act to determine whether it's a case of them needing your expert opinion or whether it's a case of them wanting teacher affirmation (or a shortcut to knowing if they're right.) If a student asks you, "Is this right?" or "Is this good?" never respond with a yes or no. You can ask them if they've checked it with their classmates, ask them to explain what they did and why, or let them know that you don't answer that question. Sometimes students seem to need information from you in order to calibrate themselves to understanding what quality work looks like. In this case, then give very specific feedback or move students to the more internalized levels of feedback described in the previous paragraph.
• When facilitating discussions, do not use students' names attached to their solutions
• Oftentimes, two students will write different solutions to a problem on the board. If you are facilitating the class discussions to determine which (if either) is correct, do not call them "Susie's solution" and "Junior's solution." Calling them by individual's names takes away from the group process and also makes students invested in "their" answer rather than in finding the correct answer. In addition, throughout the discussion, numerous other students should be free to come to the board and edit what is written, so Susie's solution could become Susie's, Juan's and Mirabel's solution. The goal is to come to consensus about what answer makes sense and why, not to figure out who got the right solution. Instead of using students' names for solutions, label them A and B or give them a meaningful name such as "addition method" and "area method.
• Assign super-challenging problems or give students short work time before discussion
• Students have generally been taught that math is primarily about getting the right answer. This is a challenge to Consensus is the Answer Key because students often want to skip the process and get straight to the answer. By assigning problems that are too challenging for anyone to solve on their own, and/or by discussing those problems before anyone has a final solution, you give students practice in discussing the process. In addition, this creates a classroom norm that students can present unfinished work, work that they think may be incorrect, and questions that they have. These discussions tend to have much richer dialogue than discussions when someone just presents a clear correct process and solution.
• Assigning super challenging problems also helps address a common class dynamic in which students label each other as smart or not and begin to place one of the "smart" students in the expert role which the teacher has vacated. If problems are too simple and have only one right answer, there may be a student in your class who quickly and reliably solves problems, and students will begin using that student as their answer key rather than engaging in rich dialogue. Big, challenging problems are beneficial for the student who has been labeled "smart," too. this frees that students from having to defend a fixed identity of being smart and allows her to engage in the kind of challenging work that will actually develop her intelligence.
• Question all answers
• Whenever a student gives an answer, ask how s/he got it. Many teachers are in the habit of asking students how they got incorrect answers but do not ask questions about correct answers. Questioning only wrong answers is a problem for a few reasons. First, students are usually in the habit of looking to the teacher for affirmation. If the teacher has a pattern of questioning wrong, but not right, answers, students will be able to use this information as clearly as if the teacher said something was right or wrong. Secondly, it is very important for students to explain how they got correct answers. Sometimes they get correct answers through lucky guesses and they haven't actually learned the material. Also, the process of explaining how they got an answer helps students to understand the material in more depth, remember it better, and develop clear communication skills.
• Use appropriate wait time
• Do not rush to fill a void of silence. Students need time to think. In addition, students may be nervous about speaking and want the teacher to speak instead. If it's clear that the teacher will not fill the silence and will really wait for an answer, then student will generally speak up.
• Students should be up at the board and the teacher should be at the back of the room as much as possible during whole-class discussion.
• Physical spacing in a classroom is an essential part of the room's culture. At the most advanced level of Consensus is the Answer Key, the teacher is practically non-existent. Students should be in the front of the room, presenting their work. They should feel free to go up to the board to explain their ideas without asking the teacher's permission, especially mid-discussion. From the back of the room, the teacher is free to observe all the students in the class. In addition, students often seek out the teacher as their primary audience when presenting at the board. When the teacher is far away, the students are pushed to direct their presentation to other students. At times, the teacher can emphasize this by even stepping out of the room momentarily or looking down at papers instead of directly at the presenter.
• Be prepared for anger, opposition, and frustration
• When Consensus is the Answer Key is introduced to a new class or school, there is a very predictable period of student being frustrated and angry. Obviously, there are steps you can take to minimize this, such as the direct instruction of the process and an explanation of why you use it. Still, this is a new, uncomfortable process for most students. They are not used to this much responsibility and independence of thought. They will consciously and subconsciously pull out all the stops to try to get you to give them hints, leak an answer, or even abandon the whole enterprise. Often, students are very scared that they will not be able to do well in this unfamiliar format. If you stand firm with not giving answers while providing necessary support, there will be huge breakthroughs that speak for themselves. De-brief that process to point out the initial frustration and the huge sense of accomplishment at the end.
• You may receive opposition from other parties besides students, such as parents and administrators. Be ready with a clear rationale of why you are using these practices and what the benefits are. Accumulate good supportive documents (such as the NCTM math standards which emphasize problem-solving and communication skills or the research of Carol Dweck and Alfie Kohn).
• Give students information that is not discoverable through investigation
• Consensus in the classroom is NOT the answer key for mathematical conventions and definitions. The teacher must furnish this information. For example, students are able to discover that the opposite over hypotenuse ratio is the same for all right triangles, but they cannot discover that this is called "cosine". It is important that students leave our classrooms with the ability to communicate their learning and understanding to the rest fo the world - this means knowing agreed upon language and conventions.
  

"Justice Not Just Tests"

The first night of the conference, Creating Balance in an Unjust World, was dedicated to discussing authentic alternatives to standardized testing. The event was titled "Justice Not Just Tests" and was hosted by Vanguard High School, New York, NY. The very first speakers were from Urban Word Poets, an after-school poetry program for inner-city youth. Two students performed poems as a kick-off for the evening.

Then the Executive Director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest), Monty Neil, spoke as the feature speaker of the evening. The organization he works for is working to overhaul federal education law (especially the No Child Left Behind Act). Neill said that standardized testing should have a very small role in schools, but that it is taking them over. He said the controversy over standardized testing is both a pedagogical and political issue. It is pedagogical because we are trying to find out how best to teach and assess our students, and it is political because state and national laws are involved and the government wants to hold schools accountable for teaching students. Neill is part of the Performance Testing Consortium which advocates for formative projects in which students review, edit, and share their work, instead of taking one test and then the process being over. He says that performance based assessment supports learning for understanding and is also more instructive for teachers in knowing where their students are at.

The next part of the evening we attended youth-led workshops on mathematics performance based assessments. The presenting schools were the Greater Lawndale/Little Village School for Social Justice, from Chicago, Illinois, the East Side Community High School, from New York, New York, El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice from Brooklyn, New York, the John Muir Middle School from Los Angeles, California, SAT Bronx from Bronx, New York, the Urban Promise Academy from Oakland, California and our hosts, Vanguard High School. We were able to attend three sessions, each one lasting a half hour.

My first session was presented by two students from Vanguard High School. Vanguard is a public high school which is part of New York's "Empowerment Zone", which allows schools to write their own assessments. Vanguard High School chose to make their assessments portfolio based. In doing research the school found that some of their students performed higher on the Regents exams, but lower on performance based testing, indicating that they were good at memorizing, but had low understanding and/or communication skills. By using performance based assessments at Vanguard, teachers felt that they were able to learn which teaching strategies were most effective and they were able to see wholes in student learning. Students said that they became able to explain the concepts they had learned to people they didn't know, and who had little exposure to the concept they were presenting. They said that it raised their confidence. They felt that doing portfolio work was much more difficult than any other assessments, but that they preferred it. Vanguard High School has three components to their performance based assessments. The first component is in written format. The written component begins with a cover letter which tells the reader more about the student and where they are coming from. Other elements of the written component include the steps the student took to come to their understandings and what their understandings are. Then the students must communicate their understanding visually through a PowerPoint, poster or some other medium which visually represents a problem or idea they were working through. Finally the students must present their project orally in a presentation, which is given to five evaluators. The evaluators include one teacher in the subject area of the project, one non-subject area teacher, one non-school professional in the subject area and two students. The students must communicate their understanding effectively to the people present, who in turn evaluate them. Evidence of their project is submitted to their portfolio. In order to prepare for their individual evaluations, students participate in round-table evaluations throughout the year. In round table evaluations four students are working together to problem solve and are evaluated on the skills in solving the problem as well as their team work abilities.

Next I saw a presentation from a teacher and a student from El Puente Academy. El Puente is a social justice based high school. There are 160 students and 23 staff in the school. Each year the entire school focuses on a theme, which is integrated throughout all subject areas. This year the theme was coming of age. Issues which could be included in this is youth empowerment, the right to vote, military recruitment, teen pregnancy, etc. As you can see the themes can be understood broadly, but the connections between the individual issues are studied and linked through the overall theme. The students perform project-based assessments which are completed over a semester and then at the end of the semester the students are required to present it to a committee of staff and students who evaluate their project. This particular presentation showed how this social justice-themed project-based assessment was applied within a math classroom. In math class students use statistics to examine social justice issues. The students choose a population and topic, which must be an issue that concerns that population directly, as well as corresponding with the theme for that year at El Puente. Then they write a survey and design a method for distributing the surveys (i. e. sampling methods). The survey must be administered to a minimum of 150 participants. Then they perform a data analysis including frequency tables and graphs. They write key findings (generalizations/statistics that can be drawn from the analysis). Then they write a report based on their findings, which includes four major sections: Introduction, Methodology, Results and Analysis, and Conclusion and Recommendations. The students learn how to and are required to incorporate the following elements of data analysis:

• Use of rates and averages
• Standard deviation
• Five-number summaries and box plots
• Correlation
• Interpretation and Extrapolation
• Margin of Error
• Various types of graphs to strategically illustrate the information from the frequency tables.

All of these procedures are covered in class through individual and group work, so when the time comes to apply it they have a firm grasp of the concepts. The students have to consider bias within their study, including their own bias and the limits of their study. The students must create visual representations of their findings as well as a written summary of their findings including knowledge gained and recommendations based on their findings. And, as mentioned above, then they must present it to a committee.

The next school that I saw present was the John Muir Middle School. A teacher and two of her 6th grade students came to present on performance based assessment. In this teacher's math class, her students studied surveys, sampling methods, bias and statistics. The class began with students reading about other surveys and using the data from those surveys to learn to convert raw data to percents, decimals and fractions. For the survey project the students were required to choose a topic that affects them in their community. They designed their survey questions and structure and then went out into the community to gather their information. Then they took the raw data and used statistics to evaluate them. Then they had to write up a summary of their process. They had to explain why this topic was important to them, what sampling methods they used and what their results were. Then they had to present their results visually using graphing techniques. And finally they had to present their project orally to the class. The students had to make sure to say whether their sampling methods were biased or representative. The students said that most of the students in the class chose a "convenience"/biased sample, i.e. surveying their friends and families. The two students did such a wonderful job communicating their results and the process to the participants. The teacher spent only the first five minutes talking and the rest of the 25 minutes the students led the presentation and fielded questions effortlessly. It was really inspiring to see a middle school class that uses performance based assessment, because all of the other groups were in high school.

The evening was very exciting and intriguing. The best part was seeing the students present their own work. It truly was evident how comfortable they felt in their understanding of the subject and the process, even in front of a room full of math teachers. Performance based assessment is definitely something I will include in the classroom.

My Visit to the Earth School

Today I visited the Earth School. The Earth School was founded in 1992. It is located in Manhattan's East Village. The dream of the Earth School is "to create a peaceful, nurturing place to stimulate learning in all realms of child development–intellectual, social, emotional and physical" (from http://www.theearthschool.org). The Earth School incorporates "hands-on exploration and interaction, an arts-rich curriculum, responsible stewardship of the earth’s resources, harmonious resolution of conflicts, and parent-teacher partnership". They strive to use curriculum which is active, playful, socially-conscious, and rigorous.

The focus of my visit was to observe math classrooms. I am in New York City for a math conference hosted by radicalmath.org. The conference is titled Creating Balance in an Unjust World: Conference on Math Education and Social Justice. The objective of the conference is to explore links between the fields of math education and social justice/social justice education. The conference coordinated our visit to the Earth School.

The classrooms at the Earth School are all multi-age, with two grades in the same class together. They are broken down into Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, 1st and 2nd, 3rd grade and 4th and 5th (3rd grade, of course, being the exception). The students stay with the same teacher for two years. This facilitates students acting as teachers and helping one another. The teachers I met said they work with the students to help them self-identify their strengths and weaknesses so that they feel more comfortable offering help and asking for help.

The first math class that I observed was in the 1st and 2nd grade classroom. The room was set up with a circle rug area, and several small round and square tables with 4 to 6 chairs. The classroom exhibited a lot of constructivist pedagogical attributes that I was aware of. The whole lesson was about alternative approaches to addition. The teacher facilitated a discussion of how using doubles facts (i.e. 2 x 3 = 6, 2 x 4 = 8) can be used to help solve addition problems. They talked about how 2 x 3 + 1 = 7 gets the same answer as 3 + 4 = 7 (a.k.a. 3 + (3 + 1) = 7. Therefore, if you are able to see 3 + 4 as one more than 3 plus 3 or 2 times 3, then you could possibly more quickly arrive at the solution than if you counted on your fingers or used some other strategy. This part of the lesson also incorporated constructivist approaches in that it was a student-centered facilitated discussion and not a teacher-centered lecture.

In the next part of the lesson the students broke up into groups. The teacher gave instructions for an activity, then asked if there were any students who were still confused. She asked for any specific clarifying questions. She then asked students who felt confident going into the activity and thought they could assist another student to pair with students who still felt confused. The activity used 3 resources: number cards between 0 and 9 with counting dots on them, a "game board" listing "doubles facts" (any multiple of 2) up to 18, and two-sided colored foam circles. The instructions were to draw three cards from the deck with a partner. The students were to pick two cards of the three, which they could use a doubles fact to solve ( although the students discovered this might not always be possible to find two cards which were one away from each other and therefore this alternative addition process wasn't helpful for). Once they solved the addition of the two values, they wrote it down on a slip of paper, citing the doubles fact they used. After that, they used a foam circle to cover whichever double fact they used. They repeated this process, trying to cover every single double fact on the sheet. The slips of paper were placed in a white basket for class work.

The final element of the lesson was when the students came back together. The teacher brought forth the white basket and she went through the math facts placed inside one by one. She read the math fact aloud and the doubles fact which helped in solving it. She asked the students if the answer and doubles fact made sense together and why. If there was a name on the slip she asked the student who wrote it to explain how they came to the answer. Another element of constructivist teaching which was demonstrated in this part of the lesson was that no matter if the teacher knew the math fact to be correct or wrong, she asked the class or a particular student to explain how it was reached and if any changes needed to be made.

The students seemed to enjoy and be engaged by this lesson. It allowed flexibility in the process for students who understood the concept and for those who were developing understanding to both interact with the concept. The teacher gave students time when they got there materials to figure out the activity on their own without rushing in and micromanaging each group. It is helpful to understand the process of the activity if you are going to construct understanding.

This school has an integrated approach to special education. They have a special resource teacher who comes in to the regular classroom during math lessons (or any other designated lessons) and supports the lead teacher in the schoolwork. She is aware of special needs of the students. She works with all the students, but focuses on those with formally identified special needs. Sometimes, the class breaks into two groups (decided on by the teacher) and they learn the concepts in those separate groups. The lesson on this particular day was with the entire group together. They also have another special education teacher who sometimes pulls students from the regular classroom to work on special skills outside of the regular classroom.

The second classroom I visited was a 4th/5th grade classroom. The classroom had a stage-type area in the front, with a square rug in front of the stage. The desks were set up along both sides of the classroom in groups of four. The math class started with the teacher giving the students a page of 80 multiplication problems. The teacher gave the students approximately 5 minutes to finish as many problems as they could in that time period. This part of the lesson was for speed skill building. It struck me as extremely traditional, which isn't bad, it just wasn't what I expected. I wonder if there is a way to build that skill without engendering the competition that this activity did?

The next part of the lesson the teacher asked the students to review what strategies they had been exploring to solve multiplication and division in different ways. The students listed all the skills they had tried which included clustering, the "traditional algorithm" (which is the common way students learn to multiply and divide in mathematics), as well as a few others. For this lesson the students practiced using both clustering and the traditional algorithm. They were given one problem and asked to show solutions to the problem using both strategies. They were split into groups of two and three. Clustering was a new concept for me. In this strategy you break each multiplier into the place value numbers it is composed of. For example, if you were multiplying 645 x 137, you would think of it as multiplying 600 and 40 and 5 by 100 and 30 and 7, then you list all possible combinations. One way to start the cluster is by clustering combinations with the same total number of place values, starting with the largest: 600 x 100, 600 x 30, 100 x 40, 100 x 5, 600 x 7, 30 x 40, 40 x 7, 30 x 5, and 5 x 7. You list all of the individual totals and then add them together.

After about 10 minutes of group time, the teacher called the students back together, by having them meet on the square rug. The first thing the teacher asked the students was to indicate how their groups worked together by either giving a thumbs up, a neutral thumb, or a thumbs down. This allowed the teacher to make a mental note of the perceived success of the group pairings for future group work. Any groups where a member gave a thumbs down, the teacher asked them to share why. After they shared their problem, the teacher asked other students if they had any advice on how the group could work better together in the future. I really liked this process because it helped the class problem solve on good strategies for group cooperation and success.

Then the teacher had students volunteer to present how they found a solution using each multiplication strategy. Then the students discussed which strategy was more helpful for them and why.

I think this lesson was hard to evaluate on a one-time basis. It seemed like the unit was probably helpful for many students, but I still noticed students who seemed to be making it by, by hiding behind the work of other students without real understanding of the concepts. In this particular lesson it wasn't apparent that the teacher was aware of it, or any strategies she was using to solve that problem. I think I would have used the strategy of the 1st and 2nd grade teacher in pairing students who had understanding of the process and those who were confused. One instance that I saw where a student didn't understand and that wasn't being addressed was where a student who understood and was proficient at both multiplication strategies completed the entire problem without input from the struggling student or sufficient attempts to help them understand.

Overall, the identity of the Earth School as an environmentally conscious school was not at all evident in their math classrooms. There were elements that were observable throughout the school, such as a recycling program, but it was not integrated into the math program on those days. Most of the insights I gained were on seeing constructivist teaching strategies implemented in a classroom, and not on integrating math and social justice.

Burnout

There are two months left in the school year, and I just feel totally wiped out. When I told people about my plans for this year I was frustrated when most people's reaction was that it was ambitious (as if it were too ambitious). I still feel like this much of a workload is doable for me, but definitely not the healthiest for my body or soul.

I can't help feeling like if only I didn't have to have a second job to pay for tuition then I could dedicate as much time as I would like to to my college work and interning at the school. I know it's not anybodies fault, just the way of the world that certain experiences cost money. I know that I could be more effective if I had less on my plate.

I know no one is going to be there to say "I told you so". Mostly I am just learning my own boundaries. I do do so much, and I have to value everything I do do.

It is interesting, other people in my life here in Albany are experiencing the same burn out/breaking point as I am right now. We identify with the feeling that something has to give, or change, but there is no clear path to what that could be. I know that I have made it a goal of mine for next semester to set smaller goals, and only have one job, and a paying one at that. I have fears that if I go into student teaching directly in the spring that it will be a repeat of this year. Teaching for no pay, a part time job to pay for tuition, and coursework on top of that.

All that said, the biggest goal for me right now is to make the here and now work, until I feel more capable to make the larger shifts that I know need to happen. Yesterday, I was supposed to start a new unit in math, and I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to make it happen for my college work I need to complete. One thing I have learned from being in the Free School is that teaching works best if you want to do it, just like learning works best that way as well. And I just released the expectations of myself to perform in that way, and I have been so much more joyful at school. I know not all teachers have the freedom to postpone their lesson for the day, but I think I am learning about balancing stress, and accepting my shortcomings. Another way that I am learning to be happy with the present is to take my goals one step at a time. Also, to remember that the worst that could happen is not that bad, for example, not passing a semester. I am not worried about that happening, but if that is the worst that could happen I am in fine shape.

A big struggle for me lately is that my computer broke a month ago. It is finally back in action. Hooray!!! But seriously, doing distance education without a personal computer is not easy as pie. My roommates have gotten frustrated with me always asking to borrow their computer, I have learned the open times of the library and the amount of time I could write was severely cut down. Before my computer broke I was utilizing the in between times I had to write here an there, but without it I have fallen behind in my goals.

On a positive note, through studying at Goddard I have gained self confidence in finding and utilizing resources to better myself as a teacher. I haven't gotten to go extremely in depth in any one subject in education, but I know more what is out there now, I have experiences in many different approaches and I know I can find what I need easily. I have a mental list of all the books and resources I would like to explore further when I have more time and mental space.

How my first class went...

The first class of "social justice mathematics" happened yesterday. There were 7 students who attended, grades 6-8. There were 4 girls and 3 boys.

Overall, I felt like the class was great! I felt like the place I started was a very good place. We were able to start with ideas the students were familiar with, and build upon those. The lesson wasn't obscure for the students, culturally or mathematically, but the students engaged in higher level thinking in both areas.

None of the students could define what a census was at the beginning. One student knew that it might have something to do with our government. The activity where small groups examined the census results from our city in a particular area worked out really well. There were two groups of two and one group of three. I think that groups of three was a better size. One group looked at age distribution in Albany. I asked them which age range the majority of the population was in, and which age range the minority of the population was in. Then I asked them why they thought that particular break down in ages might occur. And then, how that information could be useful. The last two questions didn't have one right answer. Some of the students took a little while before they felt comfortable talking cause they thought they might get the "answer wrong". Once they felt more comfortable talking, their ideas were totally viable solutions to the question.

One major thing I would change was to break that lesson into two lessons; one on census and one on surveys. I was nervous ahead of time thinking that I wouldn't know enough to keep the students engaged, but it turned out I had way more input and ideas than I had thought I would. I thought the class would go about an hour, but we ended up staying in class for an hour and a half, and we could have spent longer. After class, the students continued to work on their surveys.

The part of the class where the students got to create their own surveys was especially exciting for them. Many of them had conducted surveys before, but it was a new experience for them to consider bias in their questioning, population and sample groups. This process of creating their own surveys enabled the lesson to become more relevant to the student's experience.

Next class we will get more into number operations as we begin to analyze the data results from their surveys.

Many of the students requested homework. I didn't have anything in mind ahead of time besides administering their survey. I told those students that wanted homework to look through a newspaper and find an article which used numbers, statistics, and/or mathematics.

My first ever lesson plan. Wish me luck!

Understandings

 

What overarching understandings are desired?

7.2 Investigation - Students design and conduct a variety of their own investigations and projects

            b. Design and conduct a systematic observation

            d. Complete a data study.

7.6 Arithmetic, Number, and Operation Concepts – Students understand arithmetic in computation, and they select and use, in appropriate situations, mental arithmetic, pencil and paper, calculator, and computer.

            a. Add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers, with and without        calculators.

            c. Describe and compare quantities by using simple fractions and decimals, and        whole numbers up to 1,000,000.

            bb. Interchange fractions, decimals, and percents; know that irrational numbers        neither terminate nor repeat when written in decimal form.

7.9 Statistics and Probability Concepts: Students use statistics and probability concepts.

            a. Collect, order, display, and analyze data in order to answer a question or test a      hypothesis.

 

What will students understand as a result of this unit?

            Students will understand how surveys are often used in our society, including          census. They will understand how to conduct their own survey, compile the data,          evaluate it and present it.

 

What are the overarching “essential” questions?

• What is a census?
• What is a survey?
• How can surveys be used?
• How can you evaluate survey results?

 

Evidence

 

What evidence will show that students understand surveys, number operations, and presenting data in multiple forms?

 

Performance tasks, Projects: Students will conduct their own survey, asking at least 3 different questions of their determined population. This project must include results presented as fractions, percents, decimals and one form of graph.

 

Quizzes, Tests, and Academic Prompts: Students will be prompted in class to convert statistics to different forms (decimal, fraction). Students will be given prompts to see if they can understand the significance of certain data.

 

Student self-assessment: At the end of this unit students will be asked if they can use their survey results in any way, is so how? Also, they will be asked how they would conduct the survey different in the future, and what new questions they would like to conduct surveys about.

 

Learning Experiences and Instruction

Given the targeted understandings, other unit goals, and the assessment evidence identified, what knowledge and skill are needed?

            Students will need to be able to add, and a basic understanding of multiplication       and division.

 

What teaching and learning experiences will equip students to demonstrate the targeted understandings?

            We will begin to form an understanding of what a census is by finding out what students already know about a census.  I will present some figures from the 2000 census of Albany. The students will break up into groups and I will give them each a data set, like race, gender, income, etc. They will be asked to determine which identity groups are the majority and which are the minority. The groups will also be asked to discuss how this data could be useful, and what the causes might be for certain distributions (for example, if there is a predominant racial group, or income level, what are some probable reasons why ). Then the groups will present to the class.

            I will touch on certain ways that census can be used in public policy that may not have been discussed yet, and talk about the usefulness, and conflict in utilizing surveys and census. I will explain definitions like population, samples, qualitative, quantitative etc. I will demonstrate changing a number out of a total, to a fraction, to a decimal to a percent, and demonstrate different ways of graphing.

            As a class we will brainstorm questions that students find interesting for themselves. We will talk about what sort of questions would be important to know within our school community. What questions could inform policy within our school community (this is a very broad idea, because the students have a lot of autonomy in school policy).

            Students will break up into small groups to decide on a couple of questions their group would like to explore. The questions should be relevant to each other, and relevant to the school community. They need to discuss which population they will exactly be surveying. Will the answers to their survey questions be quantitative or qualitative, and how will they group the data together.

            Then as a class we will discuss how the survey should be administered: all groups questions together, one class at a time, anonymously…? Then students will administer their surveys.

            Bringing their data back to their groups they will create a display of their data represented in different forms. Together they will come up with overall understandings and findings from their data, as well as any suggested further steps.

 

 

 

           

 

I created a blog while I took a week long trip to Germany, so that my students could keep up with my travels. The blog was especially interesting to them because they are studying German with me. I could tell all of these stories when I got back, but they said it was exciting to them to read about it as it happened. I think blogging while traveling could be especially useful for extended travels, or for keeping contact with a penpal or partner school. 

My favorite part was adding photos!

Here is the link: http//kristenindeutschland.blogspot.com

study plan - spring 2008

• The Big Shebang (i.e. really important documentations of my work that are due this semester)
• Progress Review 2
• Pre-student teaching portfolio
  

• Broader Subject Area Theory
• An exploration of "Social Justice Mathematics"
• product: Essay
• resources:
• Rethinking Mathematics by Eric Gutstein and Bob Peterson
  
• articles from Philosophy of Mathematics Education Journal (http://www.people.ex.ac.uk/PErnest/)
• www.radicalmath.org
• Radical Equations: Math Literacy and Civil Rights by Bob Moses
• http://tubmanfreeschool.wikispaces.com/Mathwalk
  
• http://www.populareconomics.org/About.html
• www.tolerance.org
• interview with Julian Tresize?
• Components addressed: Mathematic Instruction and Comprehension, Culture and Society
• Ethnomathematics
• product: Essay
• Resources
• "Ethnomathematics challenging eurocentrism in mathematics education" article (see bib)
  
• www.ethnomath.org
• http://www.wfu.edu/~mccoy/multmath.html
• http://www.rpi.edu/%7Eeglash/isgem.dir/links.htm
• http://www.science.org.au/nova/073/073fur.htm
• http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Ethnomathematics (bibliography)
• Components addressed: Mathematics instruction and comprehension, History and Cultural Geography
• Theory of Teaching Social Studies
• product:essay
• Resources:
• People's History by Zinn
• Lie's My Teacher Told Me
• Thornton, S. J. (2005). Teaching social studies that matters : Curriculum for active learning
• http://www.ashp.cuny.edu/index.html
• http://www.splcenter.org/center/tt/teach.jsp
• Components addressed: History and Cultural Geography, Culture and Social Studies
• Early Adolescent Learning and Development
• Product: essay
• Resources: ?
• Components addressed: Early Adolescent Learning and Development
• Specific Content Area Studies
• Numbers and Operations
• Product:lesson plan
• Assessment
  
• self reflection
• Components Addressed:Numbers and Operations
  
• Algebra and Functions
• Product:lesson plan
• Assessment
  
• self reflection
• Components Addressed: Algebra and Functions
• Geometry and Measurements/History and Cultural Geography
• Product: integrated lesson plan
• assessment
• self reflection
• Resources:
• www.ethnomath.org
• http://www.wfu.edu/~mccoy/multmath.html
• http://www.rpi.edu/%7Eeglash/isgem.dir/links.htm
• http://www.science.org.au/nova/073/073fur.htm
• Components addressed: Geometry and Measurements, History and Cultural Geography
• Data Analysis, Stastics, and Probability/Culture and Society
• Product: integrated Lesson plan
• assessment
• self reflection
  
• possible subjects: racial profiling, prison growth, community surveys
• Resources:
• Rethinking Mathematics by Gutstein
• www.radicalmath.org
• www.tolerance.org
• Components addressed: Data Analysis, Stastics, and Probability, Culture and Society

• Self-reflection/blogging
• website: http://teachkristen.blogspot.com
• I plan to continue to blog in my online journal. I will blog regarding my experiences in the Albany Free School and the Harriet Tubman Free School, especially regarding experiences related to math and social studies. I will blog about my learnings at the Sowing Seeds workshopthe radical mathematics conference. Blogging was a new experience for me last semester. I found that I started out by mainly putting academic prewrites, outlines and essays on it. However, as time went on I shifted to using it more as a traditional journal would be used to document and process events that I had experienced, and to explore my feelings on being a teacher. Blogs have unique benefits, such as being able to be read from far away, to post pictures and links, and one particular benefit I especially enjoy is not getting hand cramps from holding a pencil for to long. The writing is also then in an easily saved and reproducible format.
• Goal: to blog at least once a month
  

Geraldine's Free School Questions

1. How do we measure "engagement" in children? How do we know they are?
I measure engagement in many objective ways. If a student wants to participate in an activity, and they loose track of time when they are participating then they are usually engaged. Engagement to me is not measured by quiet or lack of conflict. Sometimes engagement can be seen on the students faces through smiles, frowns, or perhaps they are staring off into space - inwardly engaged. I think when students are engaged, they often generate many questions on their own.

2. Are there ever times when one needs to assert authority with children? If so when, how, why?
I think there are times when one ("adults"?) needs to assert authority over children. I think it becomes necessary when issues of safety are at hand, especially dangerous situations which require quick action. Outside of that realm, I think that making generalizing statements is not the answer. Each child may learn their own boundaries and assertion through different balances of authority assertion and freedom.

3. Will children learn EVERYTHING they need to learn in there own time or are there pieces that adults need to 'slip in' somehow?
I think that children will learn everything they need to learn to function in their own time. Maybe they won't need to know how to read for a long time, but chances are it will happen. However, I think that some qualities aren't necessary, but that I think are valuable human qualities. Qualities such as compassion, trust...and I think that adults can model and cultivate these qualities without forcing a child to understand. But even as I wrote those I think that

4. How does learning in a free school relate to the concept of constructivist learning?
The learning theory of constructivism is not aligned with one particular pedagogy. This theory was developed by Jean Piaget and says that individuals construct new knowledge from their experiences. This construction include assimilating knowledge by incorporating new experiences into an already existing framework without changing the framework. Accommodation is another way of constructing knowledge, where an individual adapts the framework of their previously constructed knowledge to accommodate new experiences, which don't fit into the previously constructed knowledge. The theory of constructivist learning is often aligned with theories of active learning, or learning by doing.

Shared understandings of constructivism and Free School/democratic school theory:
-learning by doing
-each learner as a unique individual with unique needs and backgrounds
-encourages the learner to arrive at his or her own version of the truth, influenced by his or her background, culture or embedded worldview.
-child/learner centered
-internal motivation
-learning is a social process
-all participants (teachers, students) are collaborating and constructing knowledge
-holistic

5. If students choose to enter more "compulsory" settings after attending a free school, in what ways are they equipped to manage that situation and in what ways are there learning curves?
There is limited objective research on student's experience after leaving a free school. I think with any examination of a student's "success" in compulsory schooling after attending a free school, one first must decide what sort of evidence of success they are looking for? Good grades, well-liked, many friends, participation in school activities? Students who come from free schools and go to compulsory schools are equipped to interact with other students and teachers. Many free school graduates have told me that they were able to find the resources they needed in compulsory school. Those that I spoke to found that often there were subjects where they were far beyond the standard curriculum for their grade-level and other subjects where they were far below their peers. Although it probably doesn't happen all the time, I have heard account of students who have brought themselves up to speed in a class where they were behind in a matter of weeks by applying themselves and asking for help.

6. Would free schools work in the public education setting?

I personally think that any one pedagogy is not appropriate for all schools and learners. I do think that the United States has too much of one approach to education, and that there isn't enough support for parents, teachers, schools, and communities who are trying different ideas, and amending their teaching to best fit the needs of children, adults, people.
One thing that I discovered while I was working at a behaviorist school was that I had a hard time implementing my personal views on teaching (for example, teaching students self-governance by trusting students to make choices that effected themselves), because there wasn't support from the learning community I was in. However, at the Free School there is a culture in that community that supports that type of structure.
I think there would need to be support from the families, community, government: money, trust, volunteers...
Even with all the support I think that Free Schools may not be the right place for every child.

Utilizing Technology

I use technology many ways in my everyday life, as well as utilizing it in my role as a teacher.

The most important way that I use technology right now, as a teacher-in-training, is to complete my school work. I research, write, and relay my work to my adviser using my handy-dandy laptop. Additionally, I post to this blog using the internet. I started the blog this fall. When I first started writing in it, I was posting mainly academic pieces, but as time has gone on I have used it more for reflecting on my day to day activity at the school. I blog, because I know I wouldn't take the time to sit and hand write reflections as often. There is also a community of bloggers, including other teachers who blog, so I feel a sense of accountability to keep up with my blog, and to read others. If I didn't write about my experiences I feel like I might not remember many of them in detail in the future. By having the blog to document how I was feeling, I can reflect on how I have changed as a teacher in the last month, year, or few years. I do not use names in my writing to honor the privacy of my students and their families. I would change the names in a story if I felt like it was important to the flow of the piece.

My first exposure to using technology, from a teacher's perspective, was in my Introduction to the Teaching Profession class my Freshman year in college. The teacher would use Blackboard, an online teaching tool to post grades, meeting times, discussion boards, assignments and quizzes. It opened my eyes to the breadth of resources there are for teachers on the internet, and through technological applications. During one unit, we studied web programs to use in the classroom, provided by the site www.4teachers.org. It has programs to help teachers organize lesson plans, write quizzes, write rubrics, share lesson plans, plus many more tools. I haven't found that website especially useful thus far, but I will keep it in my toolbox for when I teach in a more traditional school.

Another exciting experience using technology this fall has been while working with the 7th and 8th graders at the Free School. They are planning a two week trip for next May. It has to have a service component and they have to fund raise all of the money. I have been helping the students research options for their trip online. They need to find ideas like places to volunteer, where to stay, airplane tickets, and how to get a passport. I have taught them how to use Boolean operators to refine their searches. Another element of planning the trip requires technology: the fund raising. I helped one student write letters to potential donors for a fish fry fund raiser and I helped another student make fliers. I grew up using the internet, and word and flier publishing programs, so I am able to show the students some features that they don't already know, although they have all had exposure to the internet, and writing programs in the past.

Recently I started working for the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) helping with outreach. I have been compiling a database of alternative education organizations, networks, schools, etc. for us to make a mailing to promote the conference that AERO holds. Making a database of these education organizations has been so easy, and is very easy to translate into mailing labels. I have been researching the organizations by using the internet, and have found out about many useful organizations. I will hold on to my database to refer to organizations in the future that relate to my teaching career. The biggest idea that I have learned by doing the organizing for AERO is that there are a very large amount of people in the United States, and the world, who hold similar values to me regarding education.

winter time

It has been getting colder and colder here in Albany! My first winter in the northeast. There is definitely more snow and ice than I am used to so far. I will walk into places and be the only one bundled from head to toe. I worry that my Kansas-ness sticks out like a sore thumb.

The cold weather brings everyone inside at school. Everyone inside at school brings conflict with it. Energy at school escalates so high when everyone is feeding off each other. We have had many council meetings lately (conflict resolution meetings), some of them have been short and sweet, but others have been epic. A notable council meeting recently was called on two boys who have been bullying a lot of the younger children. The teachers don't generally call council meetings on the students, but they might encourage a student who is having problems with another to call a meeting. The bullying had been going on for a while, but no other students had called one on them. So I was relieved it finally happened.

I am excited to be going home in two weeks. I was feeling a little homesick and it will be so nice to see my family.

"The traditional approaches treat mathematics as a cumulative logical development....The new approach would present what is interesting, enlightening, and culturally significant...Every topic must be motivated. Mathematics proper does not appeal to most students and [their] question, "Why do I have to learn this material?"is thoroughly justified (Kline, 1973, pp. 178-179).

Girls Group at Grafton

Last Friday the Girls identity group took a day trip to the wilderness land that the school owns. It is near Grafton lake and the Grafton Peace Pagoda that I mentioned before. There were about 12 girls from 3rd grade to 8th grade, as well as myself and two other female teachers.

We met with Liz around 10:00 a.m. Liz is co-caretaker of the Free School Grafton land with her partner Dan. They live on a house there, take care of the land, and offer outdoor education. Liz was raring to go, and did not allow any time to dilly-dally. It took about 10 minutes to walk from her house to the teaching lodge located in the woods. We didn't actually use the teaching lodge, but it is an octagonal building with windows on all sides built by Free School students and teachers to use as a teaching space. Instead we used the fire pit next to the teaching lodge.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention, before we took off we circled up, introduced ourselves and each said something we were grateful for. I said I was grateful for my first north-eastern fall. It was hard not to be aware of the beautiful fall leaves and the crisp coldness of the approaching winter. Also along the way, we played a game called "Eagle Eye". Liz called out "Eagle Eye" while we were walking along the path when we weren't expecting it. She counted to 15 while not looking and we each had to try to camouflage ourselves in the surroundings. After 15 seconds she opened her eyes and called the names of any of the people she could see, and they came to where she was standing. Then everyone out of hiding counted another 5 seconds and anyone in hiding had to come closer to the counters in a new spot. I lasted the first round, but no one lasted the second.

So once at the fire pit, Liz taught us how to make a fire with natural means. We used a bow to start a coal, which we placed in a firestarter of highly flammable natural materials, then we placed it into a small teepee of twigs that we had gathered. It actually took a long time, but it was the first time that I had ever started a fire without matches or something similar.

After that we ate lunch, and then created jewelry out of the fibers of milkweed stalks. We also used a pumpkin shell to boil water and cook noodles, and we roasted the seeds on a sizzling rock that had been in the fire.

After that point the girls went and played in the woods and we cleaned up a bit and relaxed.

On the way back to the car we played Eagle Eye once more. This time I ran out as far as I could so that I still had time to come in during round two. I was the only one to survive past round two.

On the way to and from Grafton, the girls brought along the book Women who run with Wolves and we read stories to each other from it.

It was really great to get out into nature with the girls, and we were all really happy to learn wilderness skills. Sometime in the future (maybe in the spring) they would like to do an overnight out there.

Staff Development

Last week was an intense week for staff at our school. There was a lot of different activities going on, and a lot of stressful situations on top of that.

Luckily, we had our monthly staff circle on Thursday, which largely deals with interpersonal conflict. Then, the following day we had a scheduled staff development day on Friday, and finally Monday we had our regular once-a-week staff meeting.

The staff circle was intense! The staff is really honest with each other when they need to be, and we got to the core of several conflicts and resolved them.

Then the staff development day we had another meeting, this time a brunch held at the intern house (my house). The most important part of the discussion for me was talking about the way our meetings go. They always drag on so long, and can be very frustrating at times. But we came up with several ways to try to make them better including: taking breaks, prioritizing agenda items, reading off all announcements at the beginning, and having a rotating facilitator each week. We have had a meeting since and it went so smoothly. It really feels refreshing.

We also did a go round and each shared how we help ourselves from getting burnt out. It felt really good for me to come out with the feeling I had been holding that I wasn't connecting with two of the downstairs (older student) staff and that they didn't like me. I just told them that I want to get to know them better, etc. and that felt really good too.

The downstairs staff also resolved to gather at least on Monday mornings to discuss all the weeks activities and to coordinate roles and trips and such.

Well, that is all I have to say about staff development. I don't know how to catch the essence of how important or worthwhile it was, but it has certainly made a difference in the teacher's interactions at school

The B-Word

The Albany Free School allows children to curse, in an attempt to allow them freedom of expression without holding themselves back. However, some words are banned from the school. Any words whose definition are tied to oppression or hate are not allowed, including the n-word and the b-word.

Last year, the students came up with a consequence for students who used the b-word. They decided that if you used it you had to look up the definition and explain it to a room of women. This consequence has been effective, especially for the younger kids, who don't immediately understand why the b-word is different than the other curse words they are allowed to say.

One 7th grade student has had a particularly hard time cutting the habit. He already completed the consequence last year of defining the word to a group of women. Last week he went to far last week with an 8th grade woman by calling her the b-word. At first she tried to solve the problem in a small group by gathering support from the women's identity group in confronting him. The student said he understood why people didn't like the word, but it didn't seem like he really cared. Some of the adult women in the group encouraged the 8th grade woman to call a council meeting about the issue, because he was a repeat offender and to gain insight from the males in the school. A council meeting is an all-school meeting to help solve conflicts. It is run under Robert's Rules of Order.

So after finding out more about the problem (like that he was a repeat offender, had already served the initial consequence, showed little remorse and expressed that he had little control over it coming out of his mouth or not), the students started proposing punitive consequences to try to get him to stop using the word. For example, some people suggested that for every time he said the b-word he would have to pay a dollar. However, several of the other students had a problem with this because 1. he would probably just get the money from his parents and 2. the consequence was totally disconnected from the problem.

We finally settled on the student being required to do community service at a survivors of domestic violence center, once a week for four weeks. The idea behind that is that right now he doesn't see the pain behind that word, or care for that matter. If he can be exposed to issues of physical and emotional abuse he might decide he doesn't want to be identified with those struggles through his language. We'll see how it goes!

The council meeting was really powerful for me to witness, because it really took it's own course but ended up in a place that we all felt good about.

Student-teacher opportunities

I have started looking for student teacher opportunities for Fall of 2007. My first filter has been 1)alternative public schools and 2) location. Basically I have been looking at alternative public school in major cities that I am interested in living in. Oh, and they have to have middle school grades.

San Francisco, California

Lighthouse Community Charter School
info@lighthousecharter.org
345 12th Street
Oakland, CA 94607
k-12

Claire Lilienthal School
http://www.clairelilienthal.org/
3630 Divisadero Street
San Francisco, CA 94123

We are deeply committed to providing a superior K-8 alternative school within the San Francisco Unified School District. We attribute our success to an active partnership among the students, parents, guardians, teachers, and staff. We are highly supportive of student development and ethical behavior where every individual is treated with respect.

We are dedicated to:
* providing a challenging, exciting, & relevant learning experience
* helping students reach their highest potential in academic performance
* ensuring adequate funds to support our unique & highly-valued curriculum
* maintaining a safe & nurturing educational evironment
* promoting positive interaction among our diverse population


Seattle, Washington


John Marshall Alternative
http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/jmarshall/index.html
520 NE Ravenna Blvd,
Seattle, WA 98115
6-12 "reentry program"

Alternative School #1
http://as1.seattleschools.org
11530 12th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98125
k-8

"modified free school"
Students, with the help of parents and staff, choose their teachers and classes. Many choices are available. Each day starts in a family-style core group where students plan their day, and work on a core theme. Mornings are devoted to reading, writing, math, and the like. Art, crafts, drama, dance, music, and multicultural activities are integral to learning at AS#1, as are fieldtrips and wilderness adventure. Parents are welcome at school, and often help with tutoring, teaching, transportation, playground supervision, and tasks in the office. Our all-day kindergarten provides hands-on experiences and involvement in electives with children of other ages.
Seasonal "Snow sports program"

Salmon Bay School
http://www.salmonbay.seattleschools.org/
1810 NW 65th St.
Seattle, WA 98117
k-8

Summit k-12
http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/summitk-12/
11051 34th Ave NE
Seattle, WA

Summit school has a progressive K-12 liberal arts curriculum, linking elementary, middle and high school students. We produce a knowledgeable, well-rounded student community ready to take on academic challenges. Elementary students are nurtured and given creative freedom. The small middle school encourages participation and exploration along with academic skill mastery. The intimate size of the high school insures quality individual growth. The professional faculty embraces a student-centered, inquiry approach to learning that focuses on social justice, experiential learning, and the arts.

Asheville, North Carolina

Evergreen Community Charter School
http://www.evergreenccs.org/index.html
50 Bell Road,
Asheville, North Carolina 28805
k-8

High Academic Standards, Experiential, Hands-on Learning, Service Learning, Environmental Education, Integrated Arts, Holistic Curriculum, Parents as Partners

Artspace Charter School for Arts Integrated Education
http://www.artspacecharter.org
2030 US Highway 70,
Swannanoa, NC, 28778

ArtSpace Charter School is a tuition-free public school offering a creative, arts-integrated approach to a complete education.

The school offers a complete education through integrated curricula based on the visual and performing arts, utilizing an experiential approach. We believe in a family oriented, cooperative approach to education that encourages parental involvement and community relationships to nurture responsive citizenship.

Francine Delany New School for Children
http://www.fdnsc.net/index.htm
119 Brevard Road,
Asheville, NC 28806
k-8

We believe that students learn best when they are actively engaged in an experientially rich, hands-on program of study in classrooms that serve as working models of the learning community we strive to create. Students are challenged to develop critical thinking skills and to reach ambitious academic goals while developing self-respect and respect for others. Curiosity and creativity are valued; teachers function as guides and partners.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor Learning Community
http://www.annarborlearningcommunity.org
3980 Research Park Dr.
Ann Arbor MI 48108
k-8

Ann Arbor Learning Community is committed to the rigorous development of student intellect, curiosity and cooperation with a focus on helping students value themselves, their peers and their community. A safe and nurturing environment supports the social and emotional development of children, which is fundamental for effective student learning. Our learning community – made up of students, teachers, staff and families working together -- affirms and supports a variety of learning styles and believes that students require multiple opportunities to demonstrate their mastery of concepts. Student’s understanding of how they learn empowers them. In our pursuit we promote participatory learning that is experiential, student-centered, developmentally based and individualized to student’s particular learning styles and strengths.

Harriet Tubman Free School

The Harriet Tubman Free School (http://www.tubmanfreeschool.org) is an offshoot of the Albany Free School. It is in its second year of operation and has 30 high school students, 3 full-time staff, and 2 interns. The school has 5 students that grew up going to the Albany Free School, but the rest are students that came from public school. There is a wide variety of reasons that the students have for going there and a wide variety of goals that they have. Some students were otherwise facing dropping out of school, and others hoped to graduate high school faster. The goals of the students vary: some want to graduate in 2 years and go to trade school and some want to take the regents exam and go to college.

The school day is scheduled loosely, but there are classes offered every day. However, the classes are not mandatory. The students meet with their advisor throughout the week to set goals and maintain them. The students are divided among the 3 teachers for advising, with each teacher taking a certain age range. The students are all working on building portfolio’s while they are attending.

I have spent quite a bit of time at the Harriet Tubman Free School. I teach math there once a week. I am one of two math teachers. I have a group of 3 students that regularly show up to my classes. They are all ninth graders and so far we have been working on percents, long division, multiplication, fractions and algebra. I have been pulling interactive mathematics activities off of the internet to do them with my class. My favorite so far was “How to win at Wheel of Fortune” which found the probability that letters will occur.

Another reason why I often go over to the high school is that they regularly host games of kickball, capture the flag, and whiffle ball. Many of the older students at my school like to go over and join the games there. The high schoolers are really great about including the younger students.

Brooklyn Free School

This week I went on a full day trip with the 4th through 8th graders from our school to the Brooklyn Free School (the website is really cool, check it out: http://brooklynfreeschool.org/). The school has been operating for 3 years, and is already at capacity in their current building. We went to the school to attend the convergence of northeastern democratic schools that was being held there. There were several different democratic schools that were represented including the Brooklyn Free School, the Albany Free School, the Harriet Tubman Free School, and the Hudson Valley Sudbury School. Each school had between 20 to 40 students and 5 to 10 teachers. In the morning there was a meeting of everyone in attendance. Each school gave a report of news from there school, talked about upcoming events, and then the students proposed events for after lunch.

After lunch there were many different activities offered. There were 3 different walking trips to parks and walkways in the area. There was a discussion on schools and pedagogy. I decided to go to the room designated for board games and I played Scrabble with students for a few hours.

All in all the day was very Free School-esque. There weren’t any required activities; people chose what they wanted to do. The Brooklyn Free School is a little smaller than the Albany Free School. The Brooklyn school is housed in a church that still holds services on weekends. The student population is more diverse than the Albany Free School. A majority of the students at the Albany Free School are white, but at the Brooklyn Free School there was more racial diversity. That is a very interesting fact because the Albany Free School is housed in a neighborhood that has a very high population of black residents, but the school population does not reflect that. The Brooklyn Free School must be more rooted in its neighborhood, or perhaps the idea is more widely accepted in New York City.

The interactions between the students and teachers at the Brooklyn Free School seemed relaxed.

Rainbow Camp

The Free School community owns a cabin on Grafton Lake that they call "Rainbow Camp". It is about a half hour drive from the city of Albany. The cabin is an old inn, which is somewhat rundown these days. There is one large common room on the first floor, along with a rap-around porch and a kitchen. The upstairs has several rooms and beds and is rumored to be haunted.



We did our first "all school" overnight this weekend out at Rainbow Camp. The school owns one large 15 seat van. We also had to drive 3 more mini vans to fit everyone. We left Thursday morning around 10:30 a.m. and returned the following day at 3:00 p.m. When I say "all school" that really means the "downstairs students" or the 1st through 8th grades. The "upstairs students" are the preschool through kindergarteners.

There was one large glitch in our original plan: lice was discovered on a student on Wednesday. Therefore we spent the first hour and a half of school before we left searching every child's head before they were allowed to board the vans.

On the way to Rainbow Camp I rode in the 15 passenger van with all of the 1st through 3rd graders and another teacher. As we were driving along the highway we began smelling a burning rubber smell. We wrote it off as the smell of new asphalt until we got off of the highway and noticed smoke coming off of the rear wheel. Turns out the parking break had been on that whole time: oops.

Many of the students had already been to Rainbow Camp before, and many of them were seasoned veterans. Some of the students had never been to Rainbow Camp before, let alone been on a school overnight before.

As soon as all of the vans had arrived we had a meeting regarding rules while we were at Rainbow Camp. Despite some people's misconceptions, at Free Schools the students do not do whatever they want all the time. A catch-phrase popular among Free Schools now, originally said by A. S. Neill, the founder of Summerhill a leader in the Free School Movement is, "Freedom, not license"

"I define license as interfering with another's freedom. For example, in my school a child is free to go to lessons or to stay away from lessons because that is his own affair, but he is not allowed to play a trumpet when others want to study or sleep."

So anyways, many of the rules had to do with safety and respect for the site. We set up boundaries, and if you wanted to go beyond those boundaries you had to check with a teacher. The students weren't allowed to go off by themselves. They were asked to be respectful of the neighbors and encouraged to play outside while there was still sunshine and daylight. The students were allowed to wade into the lake if they had warm things to change into, but they weren't allowed to swim because a lifeguard was required by lake policy.

There were some popular places where many of the students wanted to go. The "fairy steps" were a set of stone moss-covered steps that led into nothing more than a fern covered wooded plateau. Legend has it that if you walk silently up the steps you are granted a wish at the top. The "dinosaur rock" is a giant rock out of place in the middle of the woods. The cemetery is a dilapidated cemetery from the early 19th century. Some of the headstones are still erect and legible, while others are barely noticeable due to the earth and leaves which have come to cover them. Another hot spot is what the students call the "witches cabin", which is an abandoned house up the hill. There is a creek which leads into the lake and a bridge over the creek for cars to drive over and, it seems, for children to play under. Then there is the large grassy shaded area directly in front of the cabin, which is good for football, tag, and imaginary games. Over the weekend several of the students could often be found at the picnic tables playing Magic or Yu-gi-oh. And finally there was the lake front, with a boat and two large climbing trees that looked out over the lake.

It was incredible to see the change in the moods of the children as soon as we arrived and as the overnight went on. Their moods changed from anxiety at being in the car to peacefulness at being close to nature and to have the space to explore. Groups of 4 or 5 children would head off to one of the locations I described and the conflicts which are inevitable during the school day seemed so distant at Rainbow Camp. The older children were allowed to go off without an adult, whereas the 1st and 2nd graders were asked to stay within vision or to have an adult with them. There was very little conflict or tension. Only one council meeting was called the whole trip, and it was called on a first grader named Logan because he waded completely into the water, fully clothed, and decided to go swimming. The consequence that the students proposed and that was passed was that Logan was not allowed past the grassy area with the picnic tables for the rest of the day.

Around 3 p.m. I went with another teacher and 8 other students on a short drive to the Grafton Peace Pagoda (http://www.geocities.com/dharmadoors/grafton_peace_pagoda.html). I had heard talk of this place for some time, and assumed that it was a project of students of the free school. I learned that the Peace Pagoda was built on land that originally belonged to an indigenous American man. He donated the land to the Free School because he liked what the school was doing. Then the school donated the land to the Peace Pagoda. The peace pagoda was built with the help of monks, nuns, community members, teachers and students. It was made in the Buddhist tradition with scaffolding constructed of lumber. The 14th anniversary of the pagoda being built was celebrated the weekend after we were there.

So we were going to the Peace Pagoda, walking through the woods towards it. I was incredibly surprised when the path we were on came to a plateau, the trees parted, and there was the peace pagoda. The place resonated with spiritual vibes. The pagoda is not something you can go inside, instead it is something to walk around and observe. On the side of it's walls are images that tell the story of the Buddha.

We went to the altar house and were greeted by several volunteers visiting from Japan. They called on Jun Son, the leader of the peace pagoda, and a Buddhist nun. Bowing to us she led us into the altar room. She chanted to welcome us and then led the students in drumming. Then she asked us why we had come. We told her we wanted help her prepare for the coming anniversary celebration. She gave us the chore of weeding the gravel area surrounding the pagoda and invited us back for tea after we were done. The students started out with lots of complaints and disbelief at how many weeds there were and how small they were. However, before we knew it it had been an hour and we had made a serious dent in the weeds. We went back to the altarhouse and Jun Son was waiting there for us with tea and cookies. We thanked her for allowing us to come. One of the young volunteers gave us all pinwheels, made out of paper and pencils, with images of peace drawn on the paper.

The trip to the peace pagoda was by far the most moving and enjoyable part of the trip for me. Jun Son is an incredible person who emanates peace, joy and acceptance from her.

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