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I am going to be honest; I get a little annoyed at this idea that we have to be harsh with students in order to prepare them for the "real world." First, we teach kids. We don't need to bring down the harshness of the world upon them. Plenty of time for them to learn that. Secondly, much of what we say is the "real world" really is not.

School does not mimic the real world. So how exactly does that prepare them for the real world?

I've recently been going back and forth with some people on Twitter about students having a pencil. Truth, most of the time when I need a pencil I do not have one and I have to ask to borrow one. The number of times as an adult that I have had consequences over not having a pencil or a pen = 0.

If we want to stand on the idea that "in the real world.... " and use that as an excuse to break down relationships with students rather than build kids up, here are some real world truths.

In the real world, we look things up on Google.

In the real world, YouTube is one of the most popular tools for learning.

In the real world, collaborating is not cheating.

In the real world, finding information on the internet is a resource.

In the real world, my job does not ask me things I can Google. I need to use critical thinking.

In the real world, a lot of people show me a lot of mercy. I have forgotten my keys at home a million times and the secretary just let me in. I have forgotten to charge my laptop and my pay was not deducted. I have been late to school, and I did not get detention, the principal kindly covered my class. In the real world... there is a lot of MERCY!

In the real world, I use my phone for everything.

In the real world, I have choices.

In the real world, knowing spreadsheets is an important skill.

In the real world, I need to know how to clearly communicate ideas, not how to regurgitate information.

In the real world, I can use EasyBib for citations and Google Translate.

In the real world, not all adults do work work at home every night. In fact most adults I know, do not take their work home with them.

What are some examples of "in the real world" that contradict common school practices? Contribute them here.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2015

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I am going to be honest; I get a little annoyed at this idea that we have to be harsh with students in order to prepare them for the "real world." First, we teach kids. We don't need to bring down the harshness of the world upon them.

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11 Ways That Active Listening Can Help Your Relationships | Psychology Today Canada

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Look around the room during a lecture, presentation, or lunchroom.The tell-tale signs of people not listening are everywhere. Some individuals put on a blank stare that can only be described as their "screen-saver face" (in the words of one of my colleagues). You know what that screen-saver face looks like: it's that blank stare in which the eyes are dull and looking blankly into nowhere and the face has absolutely no expression on it at all.You'll also notice people in a group or audience who don't look at the speaker at all. In fact, they look everywhere else.They fiddle with their pencil or longingly gaze at their cellphone or even try to sneak a peek at its screen. If there's a window in the room they stare at the sky, even if the view is just that of the neighboring office building. A great speaker may captivate even the most recalcitrant audience member. The average speaker, colleague, friend, or family member may have a hard time grabbing the gaze of the assembled listeners who don't know how to practice basic listening skills.

If we are the speakers, we want others to listen. So why can't many of us perform the favor in reverse? It's possible that social media are causing many people to lose their focusing ability. Traditionally, the average listener requires a shift in stimulation after about 20 minutes. However, with rapid-fire messages coming everywhere from Facebook to Twitter to push notifications from online games, many people require a shift in stimulation after perhaps as short as 20 seconds. Unless you've got that charismatic touch, you're going to have a hard time fighting the attention deficits of your audience.

The problem with poor listeners is not only that they are perceived as rude but that they miss out on important knowledge. Studies of the harmful effect of multi-tasking on student learning, such as that conducted by Wood et al. in 2008, show that students who texted on their cellphones, emailed, updated their Facebook status, and sent instant messages had poorer grades than those who listened to lectures without distraction. According to the "cognitive bottleneck theory," proposed by psychologist Alan Welford in 1967, you can only process so much information at once before your learning starts to suffer.

Returning to the rudeness angle of poor listening, people who don't listen also seem to have poorer social skills in general. In a study of over 300 undergraduates, Louisiana State communication experts Christopher Gearhart and Graham Bodie found that students low in the quality they identified as "active empathic listening" had lower scores on a social skills inventory. Being a poor listener is associated with poorer social and emotional sensitivity. This was a correlational study, of course, so we can't determine causality. There may also be a third (or more) factor affecting both listening and social skills. These qualifications aside, the results are intriguing.

Another qualification is the fact that this was a college student sample, and admittedly not representative of the population. Still, one could argue that it's particularly detrimental for people to learn listening skills when they are in the emerging adulthood phase of development. The social skills you learn in your late teens and early 20s stay with you throughout life and can influence the quality of your life. If you don't develop your social skills in your early adult years, you'll have a harder time finding a job, a romantic partner, and a support network you'll need as you progress through adulthood. You might even be a more effective salesperson, if that's the line of work you decide to pursue.

The Active Empathic Listening (AEL) measure that Gearhart and Bodie used in their study actually came from a model developed by Drollinger et al. (2006) as a way to help salespeople listen, and hence, sell more products. The AEL has 11 key items that indicate how well you sense, process, and respond when you listen to a communication partner. The 11 items break down into 3 scales representing the three stages you need to go through in order to be an effective empathic listener. Active listening is only part of the skills. Active empathic listening shows that you also understand what's going on inside the mind of the speaker as if you were that person. It's a concept that traces back to the client-centered approach of the well-known psychologist Carl Rogers. When you're empathically listening, you do more than hear, you show that you know how the other person feels.

With this background, see how you rate on the AEL's three subscales:
Sensing:
1. How sensitive are you to what others are saying?

2. Are you aware of what others imply but do not say?

3. Do you understand how others feel?

4. Do you listen for more than the spoken words?
Processing:
5. Do you assure other that you'll remember what they say?

6. Do you summarize points of agreement and disagreement when appropriate?

7. Do you keep track of the points that others make?
Responding:
8. Do you assure others that you're listening by verbal acknowledgements?

9. Do you assure others that you're receptive to their ideas?

10. Do you ask questions that show you understand others' positions?

11. Do you show others that you're listening by your body language?

These items all are scored positively so that a "yes" gives you a score of plus 1. In the actual scale, you would rate yourself on a 1-7 scale of never to always true.

A quick check of the number of plusses you received out of 11 will show you how you stand on the AEL overall, and as you look at the subscales, where you need to work on your empathic listening more specifically.

Being an actively empathic listener means, then, that you not only make sure you're actively paying attention but that you let the speaker you know you are. You ask questions when you're not clear on what the other person is communicating, you try to infer what the person is feeling, and you let the person know that you remember what he or she actually said. You never drift off into la-la land, and your face doesn't assume that of a computer in sleep mode.

To these

If your active empathic listening skills need help, try taking a page from the playbook of great actors as you work through the three stages of sensing, processing, and responding. Look directly at the people you're listening to and turn toward them in a way that shows you're open to what they're saying. Put away your cellphone, stop doodling, and sit calmly while you look at them. Don't think about where you need to be or the fact that you'd like the conversation or lecture to be over because you're bored. Really focus on what and how the speaker is communicating. Chances are that when you clear your mind and truly show that you're listening, you will find it much easier to become engaged. Active empathic listening may require effort at first, but once you've mastered the technique, you'll find that it more than pays off in the emotional benefits you get out of your interactions and romantic relationships.

Follow me on Twitter @swhitbo for daily updates on psychology, health, and aging. Feel free to join my Facebook group, "Fulfillment at Any Age," to discuss today's blog, or to ask further questions about this posting.

Copyright Susan Krauss Whitbourne 2012

References:

Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). Development and validation of the active empathetic listening scale. Psychology and Marketing, 23, 161-180. doi:10.1002=mar.20105

Wood, E., Zivcakova, L., Gentile, P., Archer, K., De Pasquale, D., & Nosko, A. (2012). Examining the impact of off-task multi-tasking with technology on real-time classroom learning. Computers & Education, 58, 365-374. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.08.029

Gearhart, C. C., & Bodie, G. D. (2011). Active-empathic listening as a general social skill: Evidence from bivariate and canonical correlations. Communication Reports, 24, 86-98. doi:10.1080/08934215.2011.610731

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11 Ways That Active Listening Can Help Your Relationships

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The ability to communicate depends as much on listening as on speaking. When others speak you may hear, but do you actually listen? This brief test of active empathic listening will help you discover where you need to develop this vital communication skill.

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Student-Centered Learning: It Starts With the Teacher | Edutopia

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Student-Centered Learning: It Starts With the Teacher

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Teachers encourage student-centered learning by allowing students to share in decisions, believing in their capacity to lead, and remembering how it feels to learn.

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FLOW BY MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI + THE RISE OF SUPERMAN BY STEVEN KOTLER BOOK REVIEW MIX

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How We Set Up Book Clubs in Middle School – Pernille Ripp

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Last week, we kicked off our second and final round of book clubs for the year. As I shared the titles for this round of book clubs, I was asked a lot of implementation questions. What do they look like? What do kids do? How do you make them successful? And while I have been referring people back to this post that discusses the changes that we have implemented through the years, I thought it might be nice for a comprehensive post that shares the how and why of what we do.

Timeline and Time Spent

Where do book clubs fit in for us? This graph may help with our layoot for the year. While I love doing book clubs, I will not do more than two of them in a year, our students ask us for moderation in everything we do and so two is enough in order for them to have other experiences with books as well. Of course, students may choose to run their own book clubs at any point, but they are not required to discuss their books like this except for these two times.

Having a gap in the book clubs allows us to continue our all-year focus on joyful independent reading, as well as see their growth. Since we start out the year by focusing on their independent reading and then slip into a read aloud for the Global Read Aloud we have done a lot of work with establishing our overall reading community. This helps a lot when I need students to work independently either reading or discussion while I am coaching other students in our team area.

In our 90 minutes our breakdown looks something like this (note this is the only time during the year that we do not start our class with independent reading:

Five minute word study (a root word exploration required by our district).

10-20 minute mini-lesson, it becomes about 10 minutes once we have read aloud our anchor mentor text - a short story that I found in the brilliant book Unbroken - 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens edited by Marieke Nijkamp.

Then 20 to 30 minutes is reading time for the groups. They can also choose to discuss in their group, I require they discuss in front of a teacher once a week.

After our bell break, we usually finish with book clubs and switch to our writing work for 45 minutes. We will be kicking off our This I Believe writing unit next week that fits in nicely with our book club theme.

Overall Purpose

The number one purpose of book clubs for us is for students to engage in meaningful discussions, that are rooted in their chosen books but not confined by them. We really want students to feel like they are honing their voices, continuing to carve out their ideas and thoughts on the world, and also find others to share their thoughts with. This community piece is huge for us, which is why there is very limited written work associated with their time in book clubs.

We have a few guidelines in room 235D:

The book club experience needs to protect their reading identity.

The book club experience needs to be worth their time.

The book club experience needs to give them opportunities for authentic, non-teacher directed conversations.

The book club experience needs to help them grow as readers, thinkers, and human beings.

The book club experience needs to be accessible to all types of readers. It is not just meant for the chosen few.

We want to make sure at all times that these guidelines are honored in order to protect the reading community we have painstakingly built together. This means that we check in with these guidelines before we implement anything.

This also means that the skills they are assessed on are directly tied into their discussions and not to any written work, unless they choose this. The rubric for their discussions can be viewed here. If a student does not do well in discussion or would rather be assessed through writing, we give them the option to do this one-pager created by my fantastic colleague Liz. We also have a few kids where they are doing the one-pager and discussing with an adult instead of with a group because of extenuating circumstances. However, we try our very best to give ALL kids the same experience, even if we provide more support for some of them in order to be successful. Often, kids who are labeled as below grade level readers will not be exposed to the same reading experiences and opportunities as their peers, because we worry that they will not be able to do it, however, when we remove even the opportunity for them to try then we may end up limiting their future growth. How can you ever be successful in discussions if you have never been expected to do one?

Book Choices

Central to the experience is, of course, the choice of books. While our first book club of the year is centered around Dystopian Science Fiction (which the students loved), this second round is centered on the theme overcoming obstacles. Because this is a broad theme it has allowed us to bring in all types of formats of books, as well as honor many different reading accessibility points. We, therefore, have more than 40 books to choose from. These include many genres such as realistic fiction, fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction. It also includes different formats beyond the regular chapter books such as free verse novels, graphic novels, and audio books.

While all students are expected to read at least one book in the three or so week span that clubs last, we also have groups who choose to read an entire series. They then engage in across series comparison work. One trick then is to make sure that they slow down enough to think deeply across the books and not just skim through the pages.

To see our book club choices, please view the slide show. Note: this is updated and I keep updating it so if you want to remember these choices, I would encourage you to make a copy for yourself.

One thing, we are asked a lot is how do you have so many books? There are a few factors at play here. One, my district, Oregon School District, believes in the power of funding books. This is why we have a beautiful school library and classroom libraries. We have a well-curated book room that continues to grow and expand as we add more titles, we tend to add groups of 5 to 10 titles in order to have a lot of different books to offer rather than just a few. I also buy a lot of books, I wish it wasn't that way, but I do. While I certainly buy many via traditional means, I also use Books4School and Scholastic to help supplement our collection.

Because our book clubs are central components every year, we have been adding to our collection year after year and I don't think that will stop any time soon. We have a lot of different readers and need a lot of different books.

Making Groups and Choosing Books

Because choice and honoring who our students are as human beings is a central component, we knew we needed to offer students ways to be invested in who they are spending all of this time with, as well as the book(s) that they end up reading. This is why they have a central voice in who they are with.

This starts with the partner interviews. This is a way for all students to reflect on who they are as a reader and what they need others to be in their groups. While many students naturally gravitate toward interviewing their friends, they often find that their friends' reading habits do not match their own. They use this sheet to interview each other and then hand it in. For this later round of book clubs, students were given the opportunity to totally group themselves. We did discuss that they needed to be welcoming to all students and to base this off their reading habits, not just who they were friends with. All classes did a really nice job setting up their groups. All groups are kept to 3 or 4 students, with a rare exception for a partnership or a group of 5. We like the 3 to 4 people groups because it means everyone has an active role.

We do not assign roles to members of the group because we see this as an artificial component of groups, that while it may be helpful when students first start out in book clubs in younger grades, really can end up changing the experience and not allowing them to fully express themselves they way we would like them to.

Once they have created a group, they then go through the slideshow to select their top 5 of the books. There are two rules, they have to follow:

1. No one in the group can have read the book or watched the movie.

2. Everyone has to agree to rank it.

For some of my voracious readers, there were not enough choices. We then enlist the help of our classroom library, school library, and our librarian in order to help them find something they want. This is also where I typically end up buying one or two other sets of books that then get added into our rotation.

Once their books have been selected, they turn their sheets into me and then wait a day while we puzzle out what they get. The very next day, they are then introduced to their book club choice. Students then create their own reading plan breakdown. This is once again to honor their busy lives and reading habits. They then sign up for one day a week to discuss in front of a teacher, who assesses their discussion skills. There are still a few choices here:

1. The group can choose to change their book before they even begin - we then show them what is left for them to choose from.

2. The group can choose to abandon the book together within the first 3 days of reading. This is in case they don't love it as much as they should. We want this experience to be awesome, not awful so book choice is vital.

3. A student can choose to abandon their group within the first 3 days as well, if they really dislike the book or the dynamics are not working out for some reason. They then need to approach another group to ask if they can join them (with adult support) and then catch up to that group.

If a group needs access to the audio version of the book in order for all kids to be successful, we then add the book to our Audible account. We don't ever want the decoding of the words to stand in the way for a child to truly participate since the decoding is not what is being assessed. This also allows our kiddos who need extra support to be a part of these clubs without barriers that may harm their reading identity. Many groups also end up using Audible as a way to read together, thus enhancing the reading experience.

And now they read and we start our mini-lessons. We always give them a few days to get into their book, during this time we do reminders of what we are looking for in powerful discussions, as well as have them do a main character baseline.

Other "tools" we introduce to help our students find success are...

Creating an anchor chart following our mini-lessons of what they can pay attention to when they are reading.

Handing them a bookmark that also gives them things to discuss. They tape their reading plan to the back of it. I also pull small groups that need extra support with their discussions in order to help them find success.

I stop discussions if they are not going well. If it is clear that a group is not prepared to discuss, I would rather pause them than keep them going. This means they get a chance to come back the following day once they have prepared. If it happens again, then they do their discussion ad we discuss what needs to happen the following week.

Lots of post-its or note cards. This is the only time during the year where we require students take notes as they read. I do mini-lessons on what you can annotate for so that there is a deeper meaning to their notes and not just "...the teacher said I had to do it..." some students need more help than others. They cannot discuss if they do not have evidence pulled to support their thoughts.

Discussion prep sheets. We have found that if we have students pick things they want to pay attention to and discuss the following week, their discussions are so much better. This graphic organizer changes as we see fit. Before they then discuss in front of us, we ask them what they are focused on this week and then hold them accountable for that.

Partner feedback groups. I have written more about these in this blog post.

After the first week, I pull them to discuss in front of me and then continue to do so every week. The first discussion is a formative discussion and then the following two are summative. I will write another post about what I am listening for if there is any interest in that.

PS: In case, you missed the announcement, I am running a book study of my first book Passionate Learners this summer in the Passionate Readers Facebook group. You should join us!
If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers - The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child. This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block. If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first book Passionate Learners - How to Engage and Empower Your Students. Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

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How We Set Up Book Clubs in Middle School

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Last week, we kicked off our second and final round of book clubs for the year. As I shared the titles for this round of book clubs, I was asked a lot of implementation questions. What do they look like? What do kids do? How do you make them successful?

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Check out this free introduction to design thinking. It's a self-paced, on-demand webinar, which means you can access it at any time, anywhere.

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What If The Future Of Work Starts With High School?

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Nearly 100% of the jobs created during the economic recovery went to workers with postsecondary education training. That training really begins in high school. The work of the future will require a robust system of lifelong learning and high school may just be the fulcrum in that system, best positioned to make the necessary profound changes across the system.
Today
Right now, the university degree is the new high school diploma. It is the best proxy we have, but it remains insufficient. Four out of five CEOs say that skills gaps in creativity and problem solving make hiring difficult and nearly half of job tasks may be lost to automation within the next two decades. While we have substantial technical skills gaps we also have a profound shortage of non-technical, uniquely human skills such as empathy, social intelligence, creativity, communication and judgment among others. The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce predicted that without changes to our postsecondary education system immediately, our economy will be short 5 million workers by 2020. This is not new information but our responses to these challenges are insufficient. Merely pushing more people on the existing factory pipeline through higher education is not working. Nor are efforts to retrain those displaced in short-term skill acquisition boot camps. We need to start thinking differently.
Enter The Fourth Industrial Revolution
The first industrial revolution was steam, the second was electrification and mass production, and the third was the advent of computerized technologies and with it the automation of physical labor such as manufacturing. The fourth industrial revolution will be marked by many advances in many forms of technology but most notably the automation of cognitive labor. Anything mentally routine or predictable, no matter how cognitively intense, can and will be achieved by some form of technology.As a result, we need to think differently about what work humans best address and how we prepare them for that work.
The End of The Occupation Identity
We ask young children, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and we ask university students to select their major prior to any higher education exploration or experiences. This line of questioning asks the individual to pick an aspirational future self based upon existing careers and to work towards realizing that static vision. Becoming that future self is a process of acquiring codified existing skills and knowledge. This worked in the past when occupations had so much durability that they spanned multiple generations and served as the basis of our surnames. According to research by the Foundation For Young Australians, in the developed world, today's young people may have upwards of 17 jobs across five different industries in a single generation. Many of those jobs do not yet exist and those that do will be rapidly and radically reshaped by technology. We need to think differently about how we define ourselves beyond a one-time application of skills and knowledge in a single set career.
New Work Mindset: Learning Agility and Agency
If the future of work includes 15 or more jobs per person-we must rethink how we define ourselves. This will require a shift from a set identity bestowed by external validation (degree, job title, company affiliation) and focused around the application of skills and knowledge at a moment in time to an identity formed from internal validation rooted in purpose, passion, uniquely human skills, and fundamental literacies. This new work mindset will require a heightened level of self -awareness about one's ability and methods for learning, adaptation, and value creation. This is a shift from learning to do to learning in order to continuously learn and adapt. This is a shift from storing stocks of knowledge to working in flows of emerging knowledge with a trans-disciplinary mindset of human and technology collaboration. This is analogous to learning to master a single instrument versus learning to conduct an orchestra.

In order to learn and adapt for life one must have agency. Marina Gorbis from the Institute for the Future declared, " Once we close the digital divide, we will need to bridge the motivational divide." Motivation starts with understanding one's purpose and passion. As work will change at a frenetic pace, we need to think less about an existing role we will fill and more about directing our unique abilities towards emerging challenges to create new value.
High School As The Fulcrum To Impactful Change
Previously considered too late for intervention, new evidence from neurological science, as noted in Age of Opportunity: Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence, now suggests critical brain development occurs during the adolescent years. Further, while identity development occurs throughout one's lifetime, Age of Opportunity author Laurence Steinberg notes that adolescence is the first time that individuals contemplate how our identity may affect our lives. As the future of work requires an internally validated identity born of self-awareness and coupled with learning agility and adaptability, this all points to re-imaging high school.
Some Promising Examples on Re-imaging High School
Many have approached the challenge of rethinking high school and the imperative to do so continues to grow. There are a number of efforts now underway that look promising because they are not simply about what is taught but how. These efforts put the student at the center with the responsibility for his or her own learning.

In 2014, Salman Khan of the Khan Academy launched the experimental Khan Lab School(K-12) where students are organized by their executive function rather than their age. They move through competencies rather than seat time or tests, each student is responsible to teach as well as learn to reinforce their capabilities, and each student has a passion project in addition to their core competencies and teaching responsibilities. I visited this one room schoolhouse for the 21stcentury a year ago and I was struck by the energy and enthusiasm in the engaged students who were clearly in control of their own learning.

In 2015, XQ Institute launched XQ: The Super School Challenge. In the words of cofounder Russlynn Ali, "In the last 100 years we have gone from the typewriter to the touch screen and from the silent movie to virtual and augmented reality yet our high schools remain frozen in time. When we reviewed the considerable research that supports the potential impact of reimagining high school we put forth the challenge."The challenge inspired students, teachers and other interested people from 4,000 communities to get involved, and XQ eventually received more than 700 proposals for new or redesigned high schools-leading XQ to make a funded series of seed investments in 10 (now 19) different types of innovative public high schools. (A full list of the schools can be found here.) Despite their differences, all 19 schools are grounded in common, research-based design principles for effective high schools-including a broader vision for student success that's expressed by a holistic set of learner goals. The XQ Learner Goals include Foundational Knowledge, to place information in proper context; Fundamental Literacies, including digital and computational proficiencies, to navigate this complex new world; Generous Collaborators, to work in cross cultural and trans-disciplinary teams; and Original Thinkers to create new value while serving our world's most pressing challenges, cognizant that all students must become Learners For Life.

XQ's mission is to fuel America's collective creativity to transform high school so every student succeeds-no matter their race, gender or zip code. This past year XQ released High School and the Future of Work: A Guide for State Policymakers, a new guide to offer perspectives to state-level policy leaders both how to transform high schools and why it is essential for a changing workforce. In full disclosure, I provide a paid keynote at the XQ Annual Symposium last summer.

In Ohio, another interesting experiment is underway at the PAST Foundation. The PAST Foundation takes a different approach by being a place for experimentation outside the structure of school system. Founder Annalies Corbin describes the PAST Innovation Lab, which opened in 2016,"We opened the lab, an education R&D prototyping facility, so that we could specifically test the boundaries of the work/school interface. By fully embedding teaching and learning in industry R&D, startup and launch we saw exponential growth in students grasp of what is possible. Thus far, we have found when no longer constrained by the limits of traditional high school, students in the PAST lab excelled - they found the connections between industries and application, and they are able to contribute to solving real-world challenges in real time as full active members of design teams - our kids are only constrained by the limits of their own knowledge, which grows daily." Annalies recently launched a podcast called Learning Unboxed to facilitate discussions on the future of work and rethinking education.

In the early 1900s, in order to create a workforce for the second industrial revolution, a "high school movement" was launched that transformed high school education from merely a preparation for the rare few who attended college or university to a necessary foundational education for all. This was recognized as our first wave of education. With the third industrial revolution, a second wave from 1960-1990 when we doubled the number of higher education institutions in the United States in response to the rising demand for skilled talent. Many consider what we need now is a third wave of education. Whatever we decide to call it, to thrive in this fourth industrial revolution, where technology can assume many of our routine cognitive tasks, we need a robust system of life-long learning that begins with a reimagined high school to establish a strong foundation of learning agility and adaptability.

If you know of other experiments taking place to rethink high school, please tweet and share links to those efforts.

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What If The Future Of Work Starts With High School?

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To thrive in this fourth industrial revolution, where technology can assume many of our routine cognitive tasks, we need a robust system of life-long learning that begins with a reimagined high school to establish a strong foundation of learning agility and adaptability.

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STOP STEALING DREAMS: Seth Godin at TEDxYouth@BFS

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The World's 7.5 Billion People, in One Chart - Visual Capitalist

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It can be difficult to comprehend the true sizes of megacities, or the global spread of nearly 7.8 billion people, but this series of population density maps makes the picture abundantly clear.

Created using the EU's population density data and mapping tool Aerialod by Alasdair Rae, the 3D-rendered maps highlight demographic trends and geographic constraints.

Though they appear topographical and even resemble urban areas, the maps visualize population density in squares. The height of each bar represents the number of people living in that specific square, with the global map displaying 2km x 2km squares and subsequent maps displaying 1km x 1km squares.

Each region and country tells its own demographic story, but the largest population clusters are especially illuminating.

China vs U.S. - Clusters vs Sprawl

Click here to view the high resolution version.

Zooming into the most populated country in the world, China and its surrounding neighbors demonstrate massive clusters of urbanization.

Most people are familiar with the large density centers around Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, but the concentration in central China is surprising. The cities of Chengdu and Chonqing, in the Sichuan Basin, are part of a massive population center.

Interestingly, more than 93% of China's population lives in the Eastern half of the country. It's a similar story in neighboring South Korea and Taiwan, where the population is clustered along the west coasts.

Click here to view the high resolution version.

The U.S. also has large population clusters along the coasts, but far more sprawl compared to its Asian counterparts. Though the Boston-Washington corridor is home to over 50 million residents, major centers spread out the population across the South and the Midwest.

Clearly visible are clusters in Florida (and not exclusively focused around Miami like some might believe), Illinois, Georgia, and Texas. The population is sparse in the West as expected, but California's Los Angeles and Bay Area metros make up for the discrepancy and are just behind New York City's density spikes in height.

India & Southeast Asia - Massive Density in Tight Areas

Click here to view the high resolution version.

At 1.38 billion people, India's population is just behind China's in terms of size. However, this sizable population fits into an area just one-third of China's total land area, with the above map demonstrating what the same amount of people looks like in a smaller region.

On one hand, you still have clear clusters, such as in Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, and Bangladesh's Dhaka. On the other, there is a finite amount of room for a massive amount of people, so those density "spikes" are more like density "peaks" with the entire country covered in high density bars.

However, we can still see geographic trends. India's population is more densely focused in the North before fading into the Himalayas. Bangladesh is equally if not more densely populated, with the exception of the protected Sundarbans mangrove forest along the coast. And Pakistan's population seen in the distance is clustered along the Indus River.

Click here to view the high resolution version.

Geographic constraints have always been the biggest deciding factor when it comes to population density, and nowhere is this more apparent than Southeast Asia.

Take Indonesia, the fourth largest country by population. Despite spanning across many islands, more than half of the country's 269 million inhabitants are clustered on the single island of Java. The metros of Jakarta and Surabaya have experienced massive growth, but spreading that growth across oceans to entirely new islands (covered by rainforests) is a tall order.

When the distance is smaller, that cross-water growth is more likely to occur. Nearby in the Philippines, more than 100 million people have densely populated a series of islands no bigger than the state of Arizona.

Indeed, despite being one of the most populated areas in the world, each country in Southeast Asia has had its own growing problems. Some are limited by space (Singapore, Philippines), while others are limited by forests (Thailand, Vietnam).

A World of Different Density Pictures

Though the above maps cover the five most populated countries on Earth, accounting for nearly half of the world's population, they only show a small part of the global picture.

As the full global density map at the top of the page highlights, the population patterns can accurately illustrate some geographic patterns and constraints, while others need further exploration. For example, the map clearly gives an outline of Africa and the sparse area that makes up the Sahara Desert. At the same time, landmasses like Australia and New Zealand are almost invisible save for a few clusters along the coast.

To get a closer and more intricate picture of each country's density map, head to Alasdair Rae's long thread of rendered maps and start scrolling up to find yours!

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The World's 7.5 Billion People, in One Chart

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It can be difficult to comprehend the true sizes of megacities, or the global spread of nearly 7.8 billion people, but this series of population density maps makes the picture abundantly clear. Created using the EU's population density data and mapping tool Aerialod by Alasdair Rae, the 3D-rendered maps highlight demographic trends and geographic constraints.

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Every year I look at ways to improve my teaching. How I might be able to better meet the needs of all of my students and prepare them for the world going forward. Lately, a common question has come up and really more and more every year, "Why do we have to learn this?" That question really started when I was teaching in a testing year. As part of that, the students had to do a writing assignment based around a picture that was provided to them. The constant "Whys" didn't stop at the picture prompt writing, they only accelerated as they had pages and pages of math work even when they showed they could do it right the first few questions in, or the science lab write-ups for the kids that hated science or as the kids told me this year the terrible Ancient Athens stuff they had to do two years in a row for Social Studies (Side note I loved teaching grade 6 Social Studies and this list is from the grade 7-8 kids that I am teaching now and never taught them grade 6) All issues that seem rooted in the fact that school is not addressing OUR students learning wants but only focusing on what others have decided are their learning needs.

All this thinking has been circling around me the last few years as I try to explore student voice and choice more. Allowing students to have more of a say in what they are doing and to voice what is and is not working for them. This journey has brought me to the battlefield with things like Accelerated Reader which my young readers rate as a non-desirable activity easy to replace with authentic reading conversations. It has saved me a ton of money by helping me see that worksheets and drill and kill type work, novels studies brought to you by the letters TPT and other quick fixes that profit off the backs of desperate teachers are not worthy of my students and certainly not worthy of the time we have, no matter how cute the activities look. Truly listening to my students has taught me that for so much less really is more. We write with paper and pencil in duo-tangs with paper (I know shocking) we read and talk about books and put our thinking on display and my students are taking the lead more and more. But I am still many steps away from where I want to be.

I started getting my feet wet in project-based learning (PBL) a few years ago. I have enjoyed it but again the complaints started to creep in, "why?" Aside from the answer because it is in the curriculum I couldn't really support much else. I didn't have a reason for what I was teaching aside from people told me that was the content to teach. I fully support skills and concept-based curriculum but I too struggle with the idea that students have to operate with the confines of examples that do not address what they are interested in.

I have a student who at the start of the year begged me to watch Prince EAs " What is School For " I have linked it if you want to check it out. The video spoke a lot to what I have struggled with and the kids had some great thoughts and reflections as well. What are we doing? What is the purpose behind the practice? How can I do better to communicate that? What can I let go of to give my students even more control? The answer of Inquiry projects came to mind. Open-ended with a focus on skills. Providing my students with a Question and allowing their interested to answer it.

That lead to the idea I am working on this week as we have a winter break. An all-encompassing literacy inquiry project. Containing elements of reading, writing, representing and speaking the project is going to take us a few months to complete potentially but I think it will be easy to stay engaged because it will be topics that matter to them.

Project Speak

This will be new to me, the adventure is exciting and hopefully, it is the start of changing how I teach Language Arts long term. The goals being more students say, more student control and more time to help with individual needs and less with what others say they all need. Beyond that, I am just excited to see what they care about and want others to know. I will be keeping a record of every step along the way here on the blog.

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Every year I look at ways to improve my teaching. How I might be able to better meet the needs of all of my students and prepare them for the world going forward. Lately, a common question has come up and really more and more every year, "Why do we have to learn this?"

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Don’t Should on Me: It’s not easy being NOT green

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Since 2013, Inquiry Partners has inspired students, parents, teachers, principals and leaders to develop the questions and dispositions needed to solve problems, think critically and build pro-social skills. We use and teach inquiry-based practices and prioritize joy every step of the way.

"The essential questions have no answers. You are my question, and I am yours - and then there is dialogue. The moment we have answers, there is no dialogue. Questions unite people, answers divide them." Elie Wiesel

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Inquiry Partners uses inquiry-based practices to help students and teachers solve problems, think critically and reach big goals.

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Try This Tomorrow: 19 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Ikea Employees - Margin Notes

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Try This Tomorrow: 19 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Ikea Employees

Mental Floss recently published, "19 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Ikea Employees" an article filled with neat insider information about "what it's like to work for one of the world's most recognizable retail stores." At first, I paid attention to the organizing structure, thinking it would make an interesting mentor text for using titles to identify separate subtopics or ideas and make information writing flow. Then, I realized that the whole concept makes this article a powerful invitation for students to write about the behind-the-scenes secrets of something or someplace they have expert knowledge about. Think of how much you would learn about your students (and they could learn about each other) from these behind-the-scenes secrets!

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Try This Tomorrow: 19 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Ikea Employees - Margin Notes

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Mental Floss recently published, "19 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Ikea Employees" an article filled with neat insider information about "what it's like to work for one of the world's most recognizable retail stores." At first, I paid attention to the organizing structure, thinking it would make an interesting mentor text for using titles to identify separate ...

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Teaching Bias Through Inference and Identity – Pernille Ripp

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I can't remember the last week we had a full week of school. Between snow days, cold days, and now an ice day, I think it was December the last time I had the pleasure of being with our students for five days in a row. All of these days off have given me time to think, a luxury it seems within teaching, and in particular about how I can use the units my team had already planned to expand our work on bias and social comprehension.

Now, before I share these ideas, I want to make something very clear; I am not an expert on this work. In fact, I have gone back and forth on even sharing what we are doing because this is truly something I am working on myself, something that is nowhere near perfect, and something where I lean heavily on the work of others to do my own work. And yet, perhaps it is exactly this insecurity of trying to get things "right" that holds many educators back from doing any of this work. So perhaps then, this post will help someone else take the plunge, much like I have. I go into this work knowing that I have much to learn and that starting it is the right step for me, even if I am bound to screw up.

Focus of Unit:

Old focus: So our original main goal for the past few weeks was to f ocus on inferring and how we use evidence to support our inferences. In the past, I have written about the work we have done here, and while the work was good and reached its intended learning outcome, it also was a missed opportunity to discuss how what we infer is directly related to our perspective, our identity, and the bias we may carry.

New focus: So the new goal became focusing on inferences and how the evidence we use to support them are shaped by our identity and bias. A subtle difference that has made a huge difference in all of the work we are doing.

Some Resources used:

While I had my original slides that contained some great ideas, I knew I needed further resources to guide me in this work. Some of the resources I have turned to have been:

Teaching Tolerance - one lesson plan I am using is their ideas for teaching bias in the media through tone and word choice, however, these are not the only resource I am using as their webinars and their articles shape so much of my thinking.

Allsides.com I appreciate the collection of articles here that allow my students (and us) to really see how news can be reported to us and what it may look like from different news sources. This news site will also open up an opportunity to discuss whether the site itself is unbiased in how it is reporting others.

Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed. This book has really helped me think about how we can teach social comprehension through identity work with students. It is incredibly well-written and offers up a wealth of ideas no matter where on the journey you are.

Time Magazine and their collection of iconic images as we discuss what we see versus what we can infer. I am also using these images to help students discuss which parts of their identity may be reflected or triggered in the images.

#DisruptTexts and their mission of disrupting the common narrative that shapes many of our literacy experiences.

The National Equity Project is partnered with our district so a lot of the images and information I use is coming from the training they have been giving us.

Professor Deb Reese and her work in the critical analysis of the representation of Indigenous People. One of the threads of our conversation has been why we are not as "triggered" by the racist or stereotypical representations of Native Americans in our everyday life. One student shared yesterday that she has realized that she hasn't been triggered by it before because there has been such little shared throughout her education and life about indigenous people in general except for stories of how they might have been in the past.

Social Identity Wheel and the personal identity wheel shared by Inclusive Teaching at the University of Michigan.

Jess Lifshitz and the work that she does with her 5th graders in Illinois. She has written extensively about her work on her blog and also who she is inspired by, as well as shared great resources.

This is not an exhaustive list as I am so grateful for the work of many and I highly encourage you to read a lot, to seek out opportunities to learn, and to become connected to others who are doing this work. This is also why I am purposefully not sharing my handouts and slides, because they are created specifically for my students and are based around the learning I am doing myself. I really feel like all educators, especially white educators like myself, should be learning more about this and taking on this work, if I just share all of my slides then the work may not be started..

Guiding Questions

Much of our in-class work has been reflection and discussion based, rather than creating products, which is how we normally function anyway. I wanted students to have an opportunity to work through this with each other, if they chose to, and also reflect quietly if they wanted to. I also want to honor the varied lives my students have, some are deeply aware of the bias others have because this is their lived experience, while some would be brand new to the idea of bias. I think this is simply the balance many of us face. I set this up in stages because some things took longer, some things we needed to circle back to, and I didn't want to rush this. Once again, I realize that this is just a start, it is not the only work that needs to be done here.
Stage 1:
The focus of stage 1 was establishing a common definition of what inference is and also activate background knowledge. Questions we used accompanied with images and video clips included (amongst other resources):
Stage 2:
The focus of stage 2 was picking up on missed clues and why we might have missed them. Questions we used included:

Writing about how others see you.

What do we need to do make correct inferences?

What do advertisers want us to intentionally infer about their products?

What do advertisers unintentionally have us infer?

How does bias shape you?

Using the first half of the story Wisconsin Winter we look at a text focused on what the main character is like. Then students are given the second half and we use it to discuss how we miss clues that seem obvious when we have the whole story.

What are different types of bias?

Stage 3:
The focus of stage 3 was different types of bias and how we see the world as individuals. We used a lot of different images to do a lot of this work, as well as news headlines. Questions we used included:
Stage 4:

What associations do you have when you see...using a variety of images.

How do assumptions play into bias?

How does the media shape us in our understanding of a situation?

How may this strengthen or diminish our bias?

The focus of stage 4 was what do we see versus what we can infer. I felt it was important that students saw how much inferences plays into how they view an event, a person, or the world in general. Questions we used included:

What do you see?

What do you infer?

What are you basing those inferences on?

What is the historical perspective of this event using Time Magazine pictures?

How does your identity and experiences affect your inferences? We used the personal identity wheel to help us think about how we see ourselves.

What are the associations you have using a list of words such as Family, love, marriage, police, school, and Thanksgiving?

Stage 5:
The focus of stage 5 is identity and which pieces of our identity we put more weight on which then, in turn, influences how we react to the world and what we think. Questions we use include:
Stage 6:
The focus of stage 6 is thinking about how our identities are triggered by images, videos, headlines and such. This is leading us closer to our end reflection, which is based around students finding an image that connects with their identity in some way. Questions we use include:

Do you connect to this image? Why or why not?

If you connected to it, which part of your identity was activated?

How might this connection affect how you view this image?

How does bias play out in the news?

How does bias play out in your own identity?

How does word choice and tone affect our understanding of a news event?

How might the news shape our understanding of the world?

Stage 7:
The focus of stage 7 is introducing our end reflection; how does our identity frame how we connect to something as well how might our bias play out in our understanding? There is so much more work to do, but in order for students to have some time to process and internalize all of this work, I want them to have some time to reflect and put the work into the world they are faced with. That is why our "end" product is asking them to reflect on how they see their identity reflected. Some of the questions they can reflect on include:

On the social identity wheel, what were the identities you thought the most about?

Which social identities have the strongest effect on how you see yourself?

Which part(s) of your identity is reflected or reacting to the piece you found? Or is it that your identity is not reflected in the piece?

How is your bias reflected in the image/video?

What, in particular, makes you connect with it (evidence)?

What does your identity make you infer in the image or video?

Which identities have the greatest effect on how others see you? Is this good or bad?

Students will have time in class to find an image or video and then to discuss before they write.

Throughout the entire unit, I hope students get a chance to reflect on who they are and how all of this may play into how they see the world. It is a start as we continue our work for the rest of the year, which involves debates, TED talks, and also much more reading and reflecting. This work will become part of our existing foundation as we move forward with the work that we have planned, hopefully allowing students to take a step back and notice how bias plays out in the world around them and in their own lives. This is not the only thing we will do, it is not the only thing we have done, but it is another concentrated effort in order to help students understand the world more. As always, I am so grateful to those who share their expertise with us so that we can all grow and help our students grow as well.

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Teaching Bias Through Inference and Identity

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I can't remember the last week we had a full week of school. Between snow days, cold days, and now an ice day, I think it was December the last time I had the pleasure of being with our stude...

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Michael McDowell: Developing Expert Learners Webinar

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Maker Moves in the Writing Workshop Updated.pdf

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A School Can Be The Change: Teaching Writing with a Social Justice Lens | TWO WRITING TEACHERS

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A School Can Be The Change: Teaching Writing with a Social Justice Lens

A School Can Be A Place...

Where literacy is more than just a block in the day. More than the standards, pacing calendars, and assessments we check off. Much more than a means of defining and labeling a child, a teacher, a school.

More than something we school can be the place where literacy is a way of living; a means for understanding the world and our place in it, that which shapes perceptions and molds identities.

We do this with words: spoken words, read words, written words - those of our own, those of whom we know, those of whom we do not. School can be a place where words need not live in solitude, nor fear suppression and judgment. Where words do not build walls, rather tear them down through shared pain and triumph.

With words, school can be a place which nurtures identity.

With words, school can be a place where storytelling is a ritual.

With words, school can be a place that empowers all voices.

With words, school can be a place where all are represented.

A School Can Be The Change, If Those Who Lead, Also Learn

Not pictured, alongside each student, is an educator who tried the same kind of work. Alongside each educator is a colleague. They tried the work together.

Together, these colleagues make the community of P.S. 59: a school that truly is a place of great change for adults and children.

The kind of social-comprehension work that is now visible has evolved over years. However, it has grown tremendously following a book study of Sara K. Ahmed's Being the Change (the most-recent yearly reading gift from administrators Adele Schroeter and Nekia Wise) . More than a gift to teachers, Being the Change is a gift to the world. Many of the ideas - identity webs, "Where I'm From" poems, name stories, mini-inquiries and perspective-shifting conversations (to name a few) - portrayed here are anchored in the lessons from Being the Change.

To students, who courageously make yourselves visible; who unfailingly make yourselves heard, thank you. You're already change-makers in this world.

To colleagues, who generously share your thinking, your stories, your beautiful work, thank you. You are a constant source of inspiration.

To Adele and Nekia, thank you for wholeheartedly listening (the silent force of social justice) to seedlings of change each day.

To Sara, we hope you see your footprint in our school. Thank you for showing us the way.

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:

This giveaway is for a copy of . Thanks to Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension Heinemann for donating a copy for one reader. (You must have a U.S. mailing address to win a print copy of this book.)

For a chance to win this copy of Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension, please leave a comment about this or any blog post in this blog series by Sunday, February 3rd at 6:00 p.m. EDT. Betsy Hubbard will use a random number generator to pick the winner's commenter number. His/her name will be announced in the ICYMI blog post for this series on Monday, February 4th.

Please leave a valid e-mail address when you post your comment so Melanie can contact you to obtain your mailing address if you win. From there, our contact at Heinemann will ship the book to you. (NOTE: Your e-mail address will not be published online if you leave it in the e-mail field only.)

If you are the winner of the book, Betsy will email you with the subject line of TWO WRITING TEACHERS - BEING THE CHANGE. Please respond to her e-mail with your mailing address within five days of receipt. A new winner will be chosen if a response isn't received within five days of the giveaway announcement.

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A School Can Be The Change: Teaching Writing with a Social Justice Lens

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A School Can Be A Place... Where literacy is more than just a block in the day. More than the standards, pacing calendars, and assessments we check off. Much more than a means of defining and labeling a child, a teacher, a school.

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Elementary students practice problem-solving and self-questioning techniques to improve reading and social and emotional learning skills.

In a school district in New Jersey, beginning in kindergarten each child is seen as a future problem solver with creative ideas that can help the world. Vince Caputo, superintendent of the Metuchen School District, explained that what drew him to the position was "a shared value for whole child education."

Caputo's first hire as superintendent was Rick Cohen, who works as both the district's K-12 director of curriculum and principal of Moss Elementary School. Cohen is committed to integrating social and emotional learning (SEL) into academic curriculum and instruction by linking cognitive processes and guided self-talk.

Cohen's first focus was kindergarten students. "I recommended Moss teachers teach just one problem-solving process to our 6-year-olds across all academic content areas and challenge students to use the same process for social problem-solving," he explained.

Reading and Social Problem-Solving

Moss Elementary classrooms use a specific process to develop problem-solving skills focused on tending to social and interpersonal relationships. The process also concentrates on building reading skills-specifically, decoding and comprehension.

Stop, Look, and Think. Students define the problem. As they read, they look at the pictures and text for clues, searching for information and asking, "What is important and what is not?" Social problem-solving aspect: Students look for signs of feelings in others' faces, postures, and tone of voice.

Gather Information. Next, students explore what feelings they're having and what feelings others may be having. As they read, they look at the beginning sound of a word and ask, "What else sounds like this?" Social problem-solving aspect: Students reflect on questions such as, "What word or words describe the feeling you see or hear in others? What word describes your feeling? How do you know, and how sure are you?"

Brainstorming. Then students seek different solutions. As they read, they wonder, "Does it sound right? Does it make sense? How else could it sound to make more sense? What other sounds do those letters make?" Social problem-solving aspect: Students reflect on questions such as, "How can you solve the problem or make the situation better? What else can you think of? What else can you try? What other ideas do you have?"

Pick the Best One. Next, students evaluate the solution. While reading, they scan for smaller words they know within larger, more difficult words. They read the difficult words the way they think they sound while asking, "Will it make sense to other people?" Social problem-solving aspect: Students reflect on prompts such as, "Pick the solution that you think will be best to solve the problem. Ask yourself, 'What will happen if I do this-for me, and for others involved?'"

Go. In the next step, students make a plan and act. They do this by rereading the text. Social problem-solving aspect: Students are asked to try out what they will say and how they will say it. They're asked to pick a good time to do this, when they're willing to try it.

Check. Finally, students reflect and revise. After they have read, they ponder what exactly was challenging about what they read and, based on this, decide what to do next. Social problem-solving aspect: Students reflect on questions such as, "How did it work out? Did you solve the problem? How did others feel about what happened? What did you learn? What would you do if the same thing happened again?"

The Process of Self-Questioning

Moss Elementary students and other students in the district are also taught structured self-questioning. Cohen notes, "We realized that many of our elementary students would struggle to generalize the same steps and thinking skills they previously used to figure out an unknown word in a text or resolve social conflicts to think through complex inquiries and research projects." The solution? Teach students how to self-question, knowing they can also apply this effective strategy across contexts. The self-questioning process students use looks like this:

Stop and Think. "What's the question?"

Gather Information. "How do I gather information? What are different sides of the issue?"

Brainstorm and Choose. "How do I select, organize, and choose the information? What are some ways to solve the problem? What's the best choice?"

Plan and Try. "What does the plan look like? When and how can it happen? Who needs to be involved?"

Check & Revise. "How can I present the information? What did I do well? How can I improve?"

Since using the problem-solving and self-questioning processes, the students at Moss Elementary have had growth in their scores for the last two years on the fifth-grade English language arts PARCC tests. However, as Cohen shares, "More important than preparing our students for the tests on state standards, there is evidence that we are also preparing them for the tests of life."

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Elementary students practice problem-solving and self-questioning techniques to improve reading and social and emotional learning skills. In a school district in New Jersey, beginning in kindergarten each child is seen as a future problem solver with creative ideas that can help the world.

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Book clubs bring challenges in class management and assessment, but they can lead to improvements in students' reading ability.

Over the summer break, I've been thinking about what improvements I can make for next year, poring over student feedback from June and remembering aspects of the school year that caused me the most anxiety-and my chest begins to tighten as I think about choice reading book clubs.

I try to figure out how to monitor whether students are really reading their books, how to effectively manage a classroom with five groups discussing different books, and how to properly assess students' learning when their readings are different.

These issues alone seem reason enough to abandon book clubs, but then I think about the research demonstrating that independent reading and student choice in reading are significant factors in helping students improve as readers. So as I resolve to keep book clubs, I attempt to identify a few keys to making sure they're successful.

Share With Students Why Reading Matters

At the beginning of the year, I tell students that I believe reading is essential to a well-lived life and share research indicating that reading is linked to overall academic and economic success.

But we don't just talk about why reading matters, we live it. During choice book clubs-an exercise we do twice a year-I ask students to look for quotations that transcend context and exemplify how fiction can reveal truth. We share these passages along with the wisdom they reveal by creating posters with Sharpies and designing Padlets, and we discuss these ideas in pairs and small groups. Recently, one of my students quoted Akhil Sharma's Family Life: "Vanishing into books, I felt held." The truth he drew from this was: "When we read books, we feel less alone." The lessons we learn and the ideas that resonate ignite our desire to read, and remind us of the value of reading.

Provide Meaningful Selections

During book clubs, I offer five or six books that are related either to a whole class text or to each other by topic, theme, genre, or author. In 2016-17, my ninth graders read popular young adult titles by authors such as John Green, Rainbow Rowell, and Ernest Cline. Last year, in an effort to bring in diverse perspectives, we selected coming-of-age stories by male and female authors from Nigeria, India, Korea, and Sri Lanka.

When I introduce book clubs, I explain why I selected the books and seek to generate interest by sharing a brief summary of each one along with an excerpt I particularly love. I also provide students with links to reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, and class time to choose a book.

Provide High Interest Activities

In a classroom with five or six groups discussing different books, the challenges are many. Teachers have to ensure that students are prepared to engage in meaningful discussions, provide questions and conversational moves that work for multiple texts, and monitor discussions.

In my class, book club days are predictable and organized, yet they still provide variety. Each book club has a specific focus, such as character, theme, writing style, or how fiction reveals truth. Students arrive having read the agreed-upon number of pages (as decided by their book club) as well as having prepared a task for the day's focus (as decided by me).

Students begin by writing and responding to targeted prompts designed to generate ideas for the day's focus. The targeted prompts vary. For a book club focused on character, for example, I tasked students with tracking one character and marking in their book where they learned about the character through what he says, how he acts, and what others say about him. Some of the writing prompts included: What are your initial impressions of the character? What predictions can you make about how the story will progress based on your understanding of the character?

During book club discussions, students refer to their notes on these questions and their prepared task, along with conversational moves I've provided to ensure a thoughtful, civil discussion. Toward the end of class, students have time to reflect on the discussion, set future goals, and decide how many pages to read before their next discussion.

What About Assessment?

I've had to accept the fact that choice reading is messy and that assessing it must be as expansive and imperfect as books themselves. So I check journal entries and the completion of book club activities, and as a culminating assignment students write a formal reflection on how their book changed their view of themselves or the world, using specific textual evidence to support their assertion.

I know that these assessments don't prove that all students have read their books. Generally most kids will read, and a few will not. But in my classes, these book clubs have generated more excitement about reading and higher levels of insight than any other reading we do.

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Book clubs bring challenges in class management and assessment, but they can lead to improvements in students' reading ability. Over the summer break, I've been thinking about what improvements I can make for next year, poring over student feedback from June and remembering aspects of the school year that caused me the most anxiety-and my chest begins to tighten as I think about choice reading book clubs.

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Classrooms in the U.S. often focus most attention on literacy and math, largely because those skills are considered foundational and are tested. However most people will also need to communicate their thoughts and ideas to other people through oral language, and yet effective communication strategies are often not taught with the same precision and structure as other parts of the curriculum.

School 21, a public school in London has made "oracy" a primary focus of everything they do. From the earliest grades on up teachers support students to find their voice, express differing opinions politely, and challenge one another's thinking. These are skills called for in the Common Core, but can be hard to find in many classrooms because students haven't been taught how to make "turn and talks" truly effective.

The Edutopia team visited School 21 and captured some amazing videos of students practicing their communication skills with support from teachers.

Another key element of the School 21 program is " well-being," a social emotional learning curriculum that is once again embedded throughout students' experience of school. In the following video, the communication skills teachers have helped foster become supremely important as even young students grapple with difficult topics like race, difference, diversity and kindness.

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Why The Art of Speaking Should Be Taught Alongside Math and Literacy | KQED

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Classrooms in the U.S. often focus most attention on literacy and math, largely because those skills are considered foundational and are tested. However most people will also need to communicate their thoughts and ideas to other people through oral language, and yet effective communication strategies are often not taught with the same precision and structure as other parts of the curriculum.

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Writer, Writing Studio Designer, Professional Learning Facilitator

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Since 2013, Inquiry Partners has inspired students, parents, teachers, principals and leaders to develop the questions and dispositions needed to solve problems, think critically and build pro-social skills. We use and teach inquiry-based practices and prioritize joy every step of the way.

"The essential questions have no answers. You are my question, and I am yours - and then there is dialogue. The moment we have answers, there is no dialogue. Questions unite people, answers divide them." Elie Wiesel

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Inquiry Partners uses inquiry-based practices to help students and teachers solve problems, think critically and reach big goals.

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When you read a good book, it's only natural to want to share it. Booktalks are short, informal presentations designed to inspire others to read the same book. Word-of-mouth is extremely effective, and you'll see how much kids appreciate recommendations, especially from their peers.

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Heinemann | Comprehension and Collaboration by Harvey Smokey Daniels and Stephanie Harvey

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The Comprehension and Collaboration Revised Edition is your end-to-end guide to small-group inquiry projects that work

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The power of student-driven learning: Shelley Wright at TEDxWestVancouverED

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Graphs, maps and charts from The Times — and an invitation to students to discuss them live.

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Stand out in the job market

Whether you're looking for work or new employees, we can help you speed up the process and make the most of it. Browse our tips and tricks about job search, recruitment, or how to use Job Bank.

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Search Canadian jobs, explore careers and labour market trends, subscribe to email alerts, sign up for Job Match, and find tools and resources for employers.

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Teach and learn with The Times: Resources for bringing the world into your classroom

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70+ Places to Publish Student Writing and Art

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70+ Places to Publish Student Writing and Art

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Out of the Classroom and Into the World: 70-Plus Places to Publish Teenage Writing and Art (Published 2018)

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Dozens of opportunities for young artists and writers across genres.

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The SAG-AFTRA Foundation's Daytime Emmy-nominated, Storyline Online, features celebrated actors reading children's books to inspire a love of reading in millions of children worldwide.

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(kids meet, kids try series)

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"hiho kids hiho kids kids videos kids try kids describe food" "kids draw" "kids describe" mailbag "draw my story"

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Sponsor our videos: https://www.cut.com/sponsorship Be sure to subscribe for more fun videos! Send us stuff! HiHo Kids PO Box 19604 Seattle, WA 98109

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What's Going On This Picture?

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Intriguing Times images stripped of their captions — and an invitation to students to discuss them live.

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The weirdest things we learned this week: strange sneezes and how sideshows saved 6,500 babies | Popular Science

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What's the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you'll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopSci's hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits iTunes, Anchor, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every Wednesday morning. It's your new favorite source for the strangest science-adjacent facts, figures, and Wikipedia spirals the editors of Popular Science can muster. If you like the stories in this post, we guarantee you'll love the show.

Fact: For decades you could pay to gawk at premature babies on the boardwalk
By Rachel Feltman
This week's fact is inspired by my favorite episode of The Memory Palace which you should absolutely listen to. The episode mentions a sideshow attraction at Coney Island where folks paid a few cents to look at sick infants. I've been fascinated by this story ever since, and when I saw that a book on the subject by Dawn Raffel came out just last year, I decided it was time to do some digging and share it with you all.

For most of human history, babies born too early to thrive either lived or died depending on what their families were willing and able to do to help them breathe, eat, and keep warm. There were actually incubators for birds long before anyone thought to make them for humans (that's how a Parisian doctor got the idea in the mid-1800s). And even once human incubators existed, most hospitals couldn't be bothered. Premature babies were largely considered too weak to bother with.

That didn't make sense to Martin Arthur Couney, a Jewish German immigrant who'd put up a couple of exhibitions on incubator technology in Europe. He took advantage of the lively sideshow culture in 19th-century America to basically turn neonatal intensive care units into paid attractions. His facilities were clean, tightly run, and cutting edge, and he didn't charge parents a dime (tourists, however, were charged a quarter). Meanwhile, most hospitals didn't offer anything to help premature infants. One former patient recalled that her father, told she would surely die, bundled her in a blanket and took a cab to Coney Island so Couney might save her. Such was the case with many infants-and Couney saved at least 6,500 of them. You can see loads of photos of the spectacle here.

It wasn't all good news, though: Couney's work inspired copycats with much lower standards of care ( more on that here. But perhaps more disturbing is the backlash he faced. People-including physicians-argued that premature babies were "deficient" and that saving them would damage the gene pool. The fact that Couney faced the criticism of the American eugenics movement is a chilling reminder of just how recently the country supported proud proclamations of such disturbing and hateful beliefs.

Fact: All hail the rust god
By Eleanor Cummins
Today, most people hearing the word "rust" start running for a tetanus shot. But for most of human history, the real menace was stem rust. The agricultural blight has been causing famines for thousands of years, turning promising green leaves into inedible silvered chuff. That's why the Romans had a special day dedicated to appeasing the rust god, Robigus. Each year, in April, the Robigalia festival directors would sacrifice tawny-colored animals (i.e. ruddy-furred pups and not-so-sly foxes), cutting their entrails out of their bodies, while also dancing and singing. Today, agricultural scientists are just as worried about rust, but instead of a bloody bacchanal, they're, you know, genetically-modifying crops.

Fact: There's a medical condition that causes people to sneeze when they eat a lot
By Claire Maldarelli
Us humans typically sneeze because of some irritation in our nasal passages. Things like pollen or grass can initiate this automatic and nearly-impossible-to-stop reaction.

But there are other things that trigger a sneeze-staring at bright lights and eating large meals, for instance.

Sneezing when the sun gets in your eyes is not common, but it's not entirely uncommon either. It's a simple autosomal dominant genetic mutation, and we've known about it for over 30 years. In fact, if you take a 23andMe test, it will tell you if you are a sun sneezer or not.

But for the rest of the podcast, I discuss sun sneezing's little-known and far stranger cousin: Postprandial sneezing. Also caused by a single, autosomal dominant gene, the condition is characterized by episodes of sneezing triggered by a full stomach.

The instance was first reported in a 1989 study in the Journal of Medical Genetics. Perhaps in an attempt to raise awareness and thereby improve understanding of the trait's frequency in humans, the condition was nicknamed SNATIATION. Listen to the rest of this week's podcast to learn what that acronym stands for (it's worth it, I promise), how scientists think the condition might work, and what the worst time of the year is for all those who live with postprandial sneezing.

*If you like The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes (yes, even if you don't listen to us on iTunes-it really helps other weirdos find the show). You can also join in the weirdness in our Facebook group and bedeck yourself in weirdo merchandise from our Threadless shop.

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The weirdest things we learned this week: strange sneezes and how sideshows saved 6,500 babies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What's the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you'll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopSci's hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits iTunes, Anchor, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every Wednesday morning.