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Listen To Ensure LGBTQ Students Feel Safe

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Listen To Ensure LGBTQ Students Feel Safe

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Depending on where you live, you might think we've reached a point where society has truly embraced people of all gender and sexual identities, making the topic of LGBTQ rights kind of a non-issue. The truth is, for many LGBTQ students, discrimination and harassment are still a daily reality, and school is one of the main places where they experience these things.

A 2015 national school climate study conducted by GLSEN, an organization focused on ensuring safe and affirming schools for LGBTQ students, found that over 85 percent of these students have experienced verbal harassment and 66 percent have been discriminated against based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. As a result of feeling more isolated and unsafe, many of these students miss school, avoid bathrooms, and stay away from locker rooms. Students who experience more victimization are also more likely to have lower GPAs and to report feeling depressed.

And it's not just other students who create this hostile climate for their LGBTQ peers. Over half of the more than 10,000 students surveyed reported hearing biased remarks from school staff, and school staff often fail to intervene when they hear these remarks at school.

The good news? Overall, the number of students who report being harassed or discriminated against is declining. The climate is improving across the board, but for many students, it's not happening fast enough.

What Teachers Can Do

As educators, we set the tone for how our students treat each other. No, we can't control everything, but we can do a lot to influence the climate in our schools and make sure our classrooms are places where all students feel welcome.

The best place to learn more about the specific things you can do is on GLSEN's website, and I've posted two of their best resources for teachers below, but to get you started, I've pulled some of the most important steps teachers can take. I also interviewed Becca Mui, GLSEN's Education Manager, to contribute her insights to the podcast.

These tips, pulled from resources created by GLSEN and my interview with Mui, will give you a good start toward making your school safer and more welcoming for LGBTQ students.

1. Educate Yourself

If you do not personally identify as LGBTQ or spend time in that community, you'll be a much more effective ally if you commit to listening and learning about the issues. "A huge portion of support is staying educated," Mui says, "so things like listening to podcasts or just reading some blogs about LGBTQ people and continually learning about that can help you become an ally and an advocate in your school."

Making an effort to use whatever terminology is currently embraced by the LGBTQ community is another important way to show respect.

"It's always helpful to have a shared language when you're talking about identity," Mui explains. "One of the things that is tricky about LGBTQ and trans identities when people are not part of those communities is that that language is changing, specifically the language we're using to talk about gender."

This is a challenge even for people within the LGBTQ community. "It is literally my job to be connected, to be supportive, to know what's going on," Mui says, "and I'm constantly finding out that something's been updated, something's been changed." She recommends viewing language as an always evolving process. "Having the attitude that we use the language we have and we are open to learning that something's been updated can be really useful."

With that in mind, let's start here by looking at the acronym LGBTQ:
L = Lesbian G = Gay
B = Bisexual
a person who is attracted to two genders, or people with your gender and other genders Q = Queer
also an umbrella term to describe sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression that doesn't conform to heteronormativity a male-identified person who's emotionally or physically attracted to other males
a person who is female-identified who is emotionally or physically attracted to other females
In some spaces, the term "gay" is used as a general term to describe the LGBTQ population as a whole, but GLSEN is trying to move toward language that's more inclusive, rather than placing gay men at the center.

T = Transgender (or "trans")
an umbrella term for people whose gender identity doesn't match the sex they were assigned at birth

The opposite of transgender is cisgender (abbreviated as "cis"), someone whose gender identity is aligned with the one they were assigned at birth.

"Historically, (this term) was used as a slur," Mui says, "but there is a power in re-claimed words, and we find that across different types of marginalized identities, the power to take a word that has been used negatively and say, 'This is mine' that a lot of young LGBTQ people are feeling."

Another term that comes up frequently in discussions of LGBTQ issues is heteronormativity, which is defined by the Queer Dictionary as the belief or assumption that all people are heterosexual, or that heterosexuality is the default or "normal" state of human being. In our schools and our society at large, we often come from a heteronormative place, speaking of the LGBTQ population as the "other," which communicates to our LGBTQ students that they are deviant or unnatural. We'll talk more about that a little bit later.

To learn more about terminology and other important issues, download GLSEN's Safe Space Kit below.

GLSEN Safe Space Kit
A Guide to Supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender Students in Your School

2. Check Your Biases

As with any kind of advocacy, it's crucial to understand your own background and biases. "All of us, LGBT and non-LGBT, have learned messages about LGBT people," reads a passage from the Safe Space Kit. "What were the earliest messages you received about LGBT people and where did they come from? Were they positive, negative or neutral? Understanding the messages we receive can help us identify our own beliefs and biases that we can then challenge, helping to make us stronger allies."

The GLSEN Safe Space Kit provides a "Check Yourself" exercise that will help you take a close look at your own underlying beliefs.

3. Teach Inclusively

The things we teach and how we teach them can send important messages to our students about whether or not they are valued as they are. "So much of our language is gendered in ways that we're not really thoughtful of," Mui explains. "Just saying, 'Boys and girls,' and not really thinking about who we're saying that to, or addressing the compliments that we're giving to students, really thinking about how are we using language, how are we making space in our language for students to identify and be whoever and however they want is a really important step."

Here are some things you can do to make sure you're nurturing your LGBTQ students in your instruction:

Include a variety of gender representations.
When students are presented with a narrow picture of gender roles-and they don't see themselves in any of them-they develop a sense early on that something is wrong with them. GLSEN's Ready, Set, Respect! toolkit for elementary teachers (link below) encourages teachers to make sure that classroom books and materials include diverse families and people whose careers and other life roles don't conform to gender stereotypes.

Group neutrally.
Out of habit, teachers will often divide students into "boy" and "girl" groups. This can make students who don't conform to gender-based stereotypes feel uncomfortable and isolated. The Ready, Set, Respect! toolkit recommends that instead, we divide students more neutrally by birthday month or by numbering them as 1s and 2s.

Evaluate your speech and materials for heteronormative and gender-normative bias.
In casual conversation, in the examples we use while teaching, and in our materials, we often communicate assumptions about gender and sexuality: Boys are attracted to and will grow up to marry girls (and vice-versa), girls will naturally prefer activities like shopping while boys will naturally be interested in athletics, and so on. All of these send the message that there is only one way to be "normal" and that students who don't fit these descriptions are abnormal. As you talk, teach, and look at your materials, ask yourself whether you're communicating these messages, and find ways to replace them with more inclusive examples.

Include positive representations of LGBTQ people in your curriculum.
"Whatever curriculum that is," Mui says, "there are usually people involved in that, whether that's the people you're listing in a math problem or the histories that you're teaching in a history class, there are ways to bring about diversity. Integrating that into your learning helps all of your students to learn more about the world and it helps LGBTQ students see themselves in their learning." GLSEN has resources on LGBTQ history that can help with this. As with all resources, teachers should preview these material before offering them to students. GLSEN serves K-12 students, and you will know best which activities and lessons will meet your students' needs. When sharing facts about LGBTQ history, it's important for educators to balance a positive influence and celebration of icons and leaders while not hiding the truth behind historically important events.

Ready, Set, Respect!
GLSEN's Elementary School Toolkit

4. Be Visible

Let your LGBTQ students know that you are an ally by displaying some visible sign of your support. Hanging a rainbow flag or a Safe Space Poster or Sticker in your classroom can accomplish this. GLSEN's Safe Space Kit points out that this kind of visibility affects students more than we might even realize. "Even if students don't come to you directly, the kit says, "research shows that just knowing that there is a supportive educator at school can help LGBT students feel better about being in school."

5. Respond to Anti-LGBTQ Behavior

When students experience harassment in your presence, take action. Simply saying something like "That language is unacceptable," is enough to acknowledge the act and stop it. The Safe Space Kit includes more detailed information on turning incidents like these into teachable moments and how to respond in more specific situations, like when a student says "That's so gay." But the most important thing to remember is to not ignore it. "Remember," says the Safe Space Kit, "no action is an action - if an incident is overlooked or not addressed it can imply acceptance and approval."

6. Support Students Who Come Out

As you make yourself more visible as an ally, students may be more likely to come out to you about their sexual orientation or gender identity. This important and sensitive conversation needs to be handled carefully, and the Safe Space Kit offers detailed advice for teachers.

Their most important advice is to listen. Instead of assuming that you know what the student needs or that their situation will be similar to that of other LGBTQ people you have known, treat each student as an individual and just let them talk. Ask them what they need and how you can help. You can give GLSEN's new Coming Out Resource to students who are thinking of sharing this part of their identity. It may be useful to let students know about hotlines they can call to get out-of-school support. The LGBT National Help Center at glbthotline.org has a collection of numbers that can help.

Remember that this student is trusting you with confidential information that you should not share until they are ready. To be on the safe side, talk to your administrator and guidance counselor about what your school policy says about confidentiality. If it doesn't go far enough to protect the rights of students, work to change that. Policies regarding confidentiality should also take gender identity into account. GLSEN provides guidelines for these considerations in its Transgender Model District Policy: "It is critical that parental/guardian approval is never a prerequisite for respecting a student's chosen name, appropriate gender, and pronouns... Staff should take guidance from and work collaboratively with the student to ensure that the student remains safe, both at school and at home."

7. Support a Student GSA

GLSEN's research has shown that the existence of a student GSA, or Gender Sexuality Alliance, can go a long way toward improving a school's climate for LGBTQ students. "Those need to be started by students," Mui explains, "but asking students if that's something they want support around" can be a good place to start. A GSA will also need a faculty advisor, so offering your services in that way can make a GSA a reality in your school.

8. Revisit Your School Policies

Making sure that your school's anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies include language specific to sexual orientation and gender identity can also improve your school's climate, and GLSEN's research has found these types of policies to have significant impact on quality of life for LGBTQ students. Part of your work as an advocate is looking into these policies and working toward real change. Use GLSEN's Model Policies as a reference: www.glsen.org/modelpolicies.

9. Educate Your Colleagues

Apart from being more vocal and open with your own support for LGBTQ students, you can also conduct your own workshops for colleagues. The Safe Space Kit includes a sample 20-minute presentation teachers can give to school staff. GLSEN also offers in-person professional development. "We are a national organization, but we also have 40 local chapters which are amazingly volunteer-run by humans who are really dedicated and fantastic in this work," Mui says. "They're doing this work on the ground, and so we support them here from the national office with resources." Click here to view a map of local GLSEN chapters.

All of these actions will send a message of love and acceptance to your LGBTQ students-those you know about, and especially those you don't. Committing yourself to taking even a few of these steps can make such an incredible difference, impacting students' mental health, their safety, their academic success, and their overall quality of life. It just takes one person to start tipping the scales, to start moving a school culture in a more inclusive direction; I very much hope, for the sake of the students who need you, that you'll be that person. ♥

ONE MORE RESOURCE: LGBTQ+ youth face more than double the risk of experiencing homelessness compared to their nonqueer-identifying peers. In the last decade, many organizations have formed to help these young adults and children, providing support and resources so they can have somewhere safe and stable to live. To address this issue, Architectural Digest Reviews created this guide to housing assistance for LGBTQ+ youth.

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Making School a Safe Place for LGBTQ Students

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Discrimination and harassment are still a daily reality for many LGBTQ students. Here are some things teachers can do to change that.

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Listen When You Feel Like A Student Hates You.

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Listen When You Feel Like A Student Hates You.

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The first one was Amy. She was 12, a sixth grader I had in my first full year of teaching. She had two good friends, Kelly and Chloe, and at the beginning of the year they were a unit. Amy-Kelly-Chloe. I liked all three of them. They had that maturity some sixth grade girls have, where you feel like there are other adults in the room besides you, kids who seem a little above the fray. When I gave assignments, I knew those three would get right to work, that I could count on them. And I noticed the way they looked at me-those gazes that hung on the things I said, too shy to ask me personal questions but always listening when I answered the ones the others asked. I was 26, still a "young" teacher. When I was their age I'd felt that way about some of my teachers, looked up to them, wondered things about them, like what their apartments looked like. It was pretty cool to be on the receiving end of that.

About halfway through the year, Amy started to dress differently*: Lower necklines, thicker mascara, heavier eye liner. In her class journal, she started mentioning a boyfriend, Rob. I didn't know him. Her attendance was deteriorating, she spent less time with Kelly and Chloe, and her attitude changed. She didn't try so hard in class, and when it was time to go to the library or start group work, she moved with less pep. I figured she was just becoming a teenager.

In early spring, I had lunch with Kelly and Chloe in my room-a reward for some kind of class contest. While we ate, I tried to socialize with them. This wasn't easy; I could bond with students in class, but one-on-one, it was awkward. And Kelly and Chloe were not super chatty. After a few small-talky questions, I brought up Amy. Said I noticed they weren't with her much lately.

That got them talking. Amy was dating a 21-year-old guy. Her mom was okay with it. He even spent the night at her house. Internally, I freaked out. I had a feeling Amy was already out of reach, but these two could still be saved. I told them it was probably a good thing they'd drifted apart, that it would be wise to keep their distance. I talked about the importance of choosing friends who made smart choices. I complimented their good sense, their good character. Soon, lunch was over. I patted myself on the back for being such an awesome mentor and assumed that was the end of it.

Well, it wasn't the end. A few days later, Amy showed up late to class, with Kelly and Chloe in tow. When I told them I had to give them a tardy, Amy produced an excuse note from the office. As I took it, she glared at me with disgust. " Too bad you can't get us in trouble," she muttered, loud enough for the whole class to hear.

A couple of kids inhaled sharply; everyone else was dead silent. I wasn't a "feared" teacher by any stretch: My kids fooled around plenty, but no one had ever been flat-out hostile. In the waiting quiet, Kelly and Chloe studied the floor. But Amy stared right at me.

I need to see you in the hall, I told her.

The next few minutes were horrible. A different, tougher teacher would have told Amy off right away, spelled out expectations, issued some kind of consequence. But I wasn't tough. I started off okay, demanding she explain herself.

Through angry tears, Amy read me the riot act. Kelly and Chloe had told her everything. She couldn't believe what I had done. "What kind of teacher talks about a kid behind her back to other kids? "

I couldn't deny it. I tried to explain, saying I was worried about her, but it did no good. I apologized for hurting her feelings. Nothing got through. Her flushed, hateful stare only intensified. I told her she could stay out in the hall until she was ready to come in. Going back inside, I tried to straighten my face, to look like everything was under control, but I was shaken. I glanced at Kelly and Chloe, seeing them differently now. They'd had plenty to say about Amy the other day at lunch. Why did they turn it all around on me?

It didn't matter. I was the adult. I should have known better.

Mark was second. Like Amy, he was more mature than his peers, which, in eighth grade, was something I appreciated. He got my jokes. Struck a nice balance between friendly and respectful. He already seemed to have a clear idea of who he was. And he did excellent work.

So I was surprised one day when he got a 65 percent on a quiz. It wasn't like him. Then again, no one did well on that particular quiz. They weren't ready. The next day, as I was returning the quizzes, I joked about it. "Man, this one was a doozy! We're gonna have to go over this stuff a little more." There were groans and laughter as students got their papers. Then I added, "Even Mark got a D, if you can believe that!"

Yep. Said that.

I had my reasons, sort of. I was trying to make them feel better. They knew Mark got fantastic grades. And Mark was so mature, so laid-back. He knew I thought he was great, right? He could take a little ribbing. I was so sure of this that when I made the comment, it didn't occur to me that it would bother him.

But as he left class that day, he didn't look over and say "see you later" like he usually did. He kept his eyes straight ahead. Stone-faced. No lopsided grin. It registered with me, but not for long. Middle school kids are moody, and that included Mark. I figured he had something on his mind and moved on with my day.

That afternoon, when he passed me on his way out, he ignored me again. This time I paid attention: Mark always, always threw me a friendly wave at the end of the day. No matter what. When he showed up the next day with the same stone face, I knew something had changed between us.

At the end of class, I asked him to stay back. At first, when I asked him if anything was wrong, he shrugged it off. But the evidence was right there in the way he looked at me-no smile or anything. So I asked again. Finally he said, "I just didn't appreciate you announcing my grade to everyone yesterday."

My jaw dropped. (Yes, I really hadn't recognized what a jerky thing I'd done until that moment.) In an instant, it hit me that despite Mark's outward confidence, he was no more immune to public embarrassment than any of his peers. I pictured myself at the front of my classroom the day before, flippantly tossing out Mark's grade for the whole class to devour, laughing as I watched.

Denise and the Springfield women were third. This was less than two years ago, and it still stings.

Denise was a student in one of my college classes. I was excited to be teaching the Instructional Strategies course for the first time. The only wrinkle was, it was a distance learning course, the kind where I talked to a camera in one location, and my students watched me on video monitors at three other campuses, miles away. They could ask questions via microphone, but unless they had their button pressed, I heard nothing from them.

For the first time, I struggled to connect with my students. Although I also had a video-monitor view of their faces, the screen wasn't big enough to show their expressions. It made it hard to get a sense of how well they were taking things in. Suddenly, I was struck by just how much the success of my teaching depended on visual feedback from my students.

Denise was at a location we'll call Springfield. She was one of five women, the oldest-about the same age as me. On a "get to know you" form I gave all students, she told me she was nervous about returning to college after a 20-year break. I was excited to help build her confidence.

I'd chosen a challenging textbook that semester, and I expected them to struggle some, but I believed the concepts it taught were worth the trouble. At first, I thought everything was going okay. The questions that came over the monitor were polite, on-topic - it appeared they were keeping up. But then I started getting e-mails and phone calls, especially from Springfield. Some of them were having a hard time. I e-mailed back, called back, spending hours trying to help each of them. With every conversation, I thought I was making things better. I even drove out to Springfield one day and conducted class from there. Face to face, they were shy. Like it was the first day of school. They didn't have a lot of questions. More than anything, they seemed uneasy with me being there. Still, I hoped showing up in person would help.

The e-mails and calls kept coming. One Springfield student told me that others were getting angry, especially Denise. I tried to reach her several times, and she finally responded with a long e-mail, telling me what had started all the trouble.

In one of our first classes, she told me, I'd asked her a question about the assigned reading. I was demonstrating a strategy called "No opt out," from Doug Lemov's book, Teach Like a Champion. I was showing them how you ask a student a question, and if they can't answer it, you don't allow them to say "I don't know." You either prompt them until they can answer, or you have another student answer, then come back to the first student and have them repeat the correct response. When I did this with Denise, I'd heard some laughter over the monitor, and she did eventually answer the question, but in the e-mail, she said she'd felt publicly humiliated, and never quite got over it.

I called her. We talked it over, I apologized for making her feel singled out, explained that it was a new strategy for me and I never intended to embarrass her. When I hung up, I felt like the problem was solved.

It wasn't. The e-mails and calls kept coming from Springfield. Students in other sections started talking about it. From my most raw, sensitive core, a voice I tried to ignore was asking over and over, Why don't they like me? I'd been teaching college for three years, with outstanding evaluations from students. Why did this particular group dislike me so much? In private, they kept saying how confused they were, but in class, no one asked a single question.

My defensiveness came out one day while I was explaining a new assignment. I started with the basics-showing them where on the document to record their students' grade level, subject, and lesson title. Then I looked directly at the camera and said, "Got that, Springfield?"

Nothing. Crickets.

I knew I was being unprofessional. I couldn't stop myself. I added more sarcasm. "Just want to make sure you're getting this."

On the monitor, their five faces just stared back at me. I could only imagine what they were saying under their breath.

It got to the point where I felt knots in my stomach whenever class time approached. The e-mails from Denise grew hostile. Speaking for her entire section, she told me a good instructor would do something if every one of her students was having trouble. My defensiveness grew. I looked more closely at the work of the Springfield students. Two had A averages, the other two had high B's, and Denise had a C. Apparently, not everyone in Springfield was struggling. In the next class, I announced that students could re-do any assignment for a higher score. I also pointed out that almost everyone had either an A or a B, and only a few had C's. With the last few remaining assignments, it was certainly possible to end the semester with everyone in the A or B range.

A few minutes later, after starting everyone on a group activity, my classroom phone rang. Did I mention we had phones? Students from the remote campuses could call me during class if they wanted to talk privately.

It was Denise.

"I just want to say that I know what you're doing," she said, "and I think it's disgusting."

I looked up at my monitors. No one was paying attention to me. Which was good, because the camera was still on me, and my heart was racing.

I turned away from the camera and spoke in a low voice. "Denise, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't even try," she hissed. "You know exactly what you're doing. Telling everyone my grade like that. I can't believe you."

I don't remember the rest of the conversation. For another ten seconds, she kind of screeched at me. Then she hung up. I held on to the phone a while longer, not willing or able to face the camera.

I spent the next few days looking through university policies, to see if some kind of disciplinary action could be taken. Surely a student couldn't talk to an instructor like that and get away with it. But I found nothing that fit-she hadn't threatened me or been violent. She hadn't even used profanity.

For the rest of the semester, I went on auto-pilot. I was excessively professional. I didn't interact with Denise unless I had to, and then only in writing. I was more lenient with everyone's grades and made sure my end-of-year review covered every single thing on the exam. Nothing was going to make this better, but I could try my hardest not to make it any worse.

I'm sure there were more. I taught over a thousand students ranging from age eleven to fifty-five. Surely there were others whose feelings I hurt, who felt wronged, who felt ignored, who didn't find me to be their cup of tea. But these three stuck, because they let their feelings be known. And as much as it hurt, I'm grateful to them, because I learned from each one.

From Amy, I learned that if I have a concern about a student, I should go to them directly. It's awful to hear that people are talking behind your back, and to have an adult do it must be devastating. For the rest of the year, Amy never warmed up to me again. Her attendance and her grades continued to drop. That summer she moved, and I never heard from her again. I still think if I'd handled things differently, I might have gotten through to her.

Mark accepted my apology with grace, and soon we were back on friendly terms, but I was careful to never again overestimate my students' confidence. Even the most well-liked, accomplished kid may not have the self-assurance to withstand his mistakes being broadcast. A cheap joke isn't worth losing someone's trust. Now I try to err on the side of shutting my mouth.

And what did I learn from Denise? When I consider her story alongside the other two, I see one thread that runs through them all.

Ego. On both sides, ego is what caused all the trouble.

Without intending to, I wounded each student's ego significantly, and when you do that to someone, they never forget it. Denise told me at the beginning of the semester that her confidence was fragile. I just didn't realize how much. I never intended to embarrass her early on, but once I did, she felt threatened at every turn. That's going to happen sometimes, and the best thing I can do is not take it personally.

And this is where we come to my own ego, which played an even bigger role in all three cases.

I hate to admit it, but I think I did know what I was doing when I talked about those A's, B's and C's on camera that day. I wanted to send Denise a message, to defend myself against her claims that everyone was lost and confused.

At my lunch with Kelly and Chloe, my ego was working, too. At first, three girls were worshippy with me; then there were just two. To preserve what I still had, I tried to be the wise female mentor, offering sage advice Kelly and Chloe would remember forever and tossing out Amy's trust in the meantime.

Even with Mark, ego got in my way. Those low quiz scores told me something had gone wrong, and I was trying to gloss over it by getting a laugh, by being cool.

It's hard to write all this down. These stories definitely don't make me look good, and they don't represent most of my time in the classroom. I share them because I suspect some of you have had moments you're not proud of, stories you've never told anyone, and I want you to know you're not alone. One of the hardest things about being a teacher is the incredible vulnerability of it; the more you care about your students, the more they can hurt you. You can respond to this by caring less about your students and about what people think about you in general. Plenty of people do just that.

Or you can get better at noticing when your ego is starting to mess with you, then wrestle that sucker down and pin it to the ground. For your students' sake, and your own. ♦

Update, September 16, 2015:
Since writing this post, several readers have pointed out a serious mistake I made in one of the situations I describe above. In the first story, I failed to recognize that Amy was quite possibly a victim of statutory rape, in which a minor child has a sexual relationship with an adult. This is a reportable offense, just like cases of child abuse or neglect, and my failure to report it meant that it was allowed to continue. To learn more about how statutory rape is defined in the U.S., read Statutory Rape: A Guide to State Laws and Reporting Requirements, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Statutory Rape: What Teens Should Know, published by the pro bono law firm Public Counsel. And for similar information for Canada, read Professional Advisory: Duty to Report, published by the Ontario College of Teachers. You may also be interested in listening to this interview between Canadian teacher Kristen Schmidt and Justice Marvin Zuker about teachers' duty to report suspected child abuse.

* In the original version of this post, I used a different word here, but in April of 2016, a reader pointed out that the use of the word was offensive and contributed to an overall culture of slut-shaming. I happen to agree with her, and I feel this further continues my reflection on how we view our students. I urge you to scroll down and read Dallja's comment.

Let's stay in touch.
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Listen to this post as a podcast: The first one was Amy. She was 12, a sixth grader I had in my first full year of teaching. She had two good friends, Kelly and Chloe, and at the beginning of the year they were a unit. Amy-Kelly-Chloe. I liked all three of them.

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Strategies to help your class go more smoothly.

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Watch This When You Get Your REAL Teaching Job

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Watch This When You Get Your REAL Teaching Job

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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An ecological exchange can help students develop a sense of responsibility and stewardship towards the environment. This can help them understand the impact of human activity on ecosystems and motivate them to make positive changes.

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An ecological exchange can help students develop a sense of responsibility and stewardship towards the environment. This can help them understand the impact of human activity on ecosystems and motivate them to make positive changes.

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Students can learn a lot about ecosystems by gathering objects from their area and swapping with a distant class.

The author's Mississippi students received these objects from Illinois in an "eco-box" swap.

I've always believed wholeheartedly that the key to teaching science-or almost any subject-is to get students engaged with the content as quickly as possible. Writers learn to write by reading and writing. Chefs learn how to prepare delectable dishes by cooking. And science students learn science by doing.

So to get students engaged on the first full day of school, I put a question up on the board: "Which has a higher banana 'meat'-to-peel ratio: green bananas or yellow bananas? And why?" There are six lab stations in my classroom, and at each one I left a wooden TV tray with a balance, a green banana, a yellow banana, some paper towels, and a sheet of paper with a blank data table.

After a bit of instruction I turned them loose, allowing them to approach the task however they saw fit. I answered questions but was careful not to tell them exactly what to do.

I observed that several of these ninth-grade students had never touched a balance, even though the state curriculum for basic biological and physical science classes indicates that that should have happened much earlier. Many could not calculate percentages. I also observed "leader behavior" and students who weren't willing to work with others.

Learning by Doing: An Ecology Lesson

I applied the same idea of learning-by-doing later in the semester when we started a lesson on ecology. I facilitated a discussion of ecosystems, starting with the focus question: If you were invited to collect objects that represent the ecosystem here where we live, what would you include?

oak, magnolia, and maple leaves

river rocks

soybeans

pine needles

clay

a preserved dragonfly

pictures of animals: fish (catfish, perch, crappie, and bream), a water moccasin, a frog, a toad, a cow, an alligator, a deer

Some of the things they came up with:

We decided to create "shoebox ecosystems," or eco-boxes, containing as many of the listed objects as possible. We wanted to send these eco-boxes out into the world and invite other students to send us one of theirs to spur learning about other ecosystems. Through a contact at the National Writing Project, I obtained a list of educators who might be interested.

Precautions: Before we placed these items in boxes for shipping, we washed all solid objects such as rocks with hydrogen peroxide. Water samples were sealed with a triple layer of packing tape, and we attached a note that these were for viewing only, not opening. We put leaves and vegetative matter in Ziploc bags with a note suggesting that all materials remain sealed in the bags. We also included a note to wear rubber gloves and wash hands after handling the contents. Finally, I showed a postal worker the contents before I posted them.

Teachers can also try looking for a school in a different region and then email school administrators or department heads-contact info can often be found on school or district websites-to request names of teachers who might want to participate. A friend of mine in Alaska reached out to some South Texas schools and received a list of interested teachers within 24 hours.

Another approach is to reach out to or join the National Science Teaching Association or a state-level science teacher organization. A friend of mine in Alabama built her list by contacting teachers she had met at state science organization conferences.

My next step was to ask my students to prepare an activity guide for each box that would lead their peers around the country to learn about our unique area.

"Should we include some sort of test?" one of my students asked.

"Would you want the box that you receive to have a test in it?" I replied.

"So you're talking about, like, a checklist where they can check if they have the same things we sent in the box where they live?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "Make it educational, make it fun. And of course, it should be a bit challenging."

To ensure rigorous learning, I included a portion of our state's science framework in the box with a short note to the teacher: "Please have your students consider our state's framework for ecology when they construct their activity guide items. We can look at your state's guide online and construct our items in a similar manner. Thank you."

A Treasure Trove-With Lessons

The first box we received came from Nevada. The secretary who brought it said, "Special delivery from Nevada-I had to sign for it." She was as curious as the students. The box contained a classroom picture of the students and their teacher along with desert rocks, small jars and vials of sand, and pictures of snakes, lizards, and cacti, most of which were in bloom.

"Hey, Mr. D., I didn't know there was anything colorful in the desert," said one student.

"I don't like the looks of these activity guide items," said another. "Some of them look a bit complicated to me. Like write an argument that shows both sides for running an oil pipeline through the desert."

"Don't panic," I said. "It's the same sort of arguing that we we've used several times before."

One of the items in the box referred to flash-flooding in desert ecosystems. Students were quick to point out that this had similarities to questions on our state-wide assessment from the previous semester.

We studied the objects in the box, learning how each contributed to the overall health of the desert ecosystem. It was the perfect time to reinforce terms like abiotic/biotic factors, niche, predator, prey, producers, consumers, and more.

My students started showing more interest in their surroundings. They seem to be examining and questioning ideas and behaviors that they had once taken for granted. For example, the students who liked to fish and hunt began asking questions about limits and whether three-wheelers might be bad for the environment. One student's mother was a forest manager, and we invited her to come in and share her knowledge with the class.

In addition to learning some science, my students began to communicate with one another about science, something that I can't recall ever having happened. Swapping eco-boxes with classes from other states-after Nevada we swapped with students in Oregon and Maine-helped my students think outside the box and do some authentic learning.

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Students can learn a lot about ecosystems by gathering objects from their area and swapping with a distant class. The author's Mississippi students received these objects from Illinois in an "eco-box" swap. I've always believed wholeheartedly that the key to teaching science-or almost any subject-is to get students engaged with the content as quickly as possible.

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Integrating SEL into your teaching of climate change can help students develop a deeper understanding of the complex issues surrounding climate change and motivate them to take action to protect the planet.

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Integrating SEL into your teaching of climate change can help students develop a deeper understanding of the complex issues surrounding climate change and motivate them to take action to protect the planet.

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Social & Emotional Learning (SEL)

High school students may feel anxious when studying climate change. Teachers can use SEL strategies to help them develop healthy coping skills.

Hero Images Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo

"I understand why we are learning it, but it feels pointless at the same time."

I saw these sentiments expressed as I clicked through my students' written responses. In class, we were learning about the basic physics behind the greenhouse effect in the first half of a climate-heavy unit, and I had asked my students two simple questions: "How do you think these climate lessons are going?" and "How valuable is understanding the science behind climate change to you?"

As I read their writings, the extent of my students' eco-grief, a term used by mental health professionals to describe feelings of loss related to changes in the environment, became clear to me. It wasn't particularly surprising. But it was the first time I had really paused and thought explicitly about how our youth's developing minds were being impacted by the climate crisis. How were they coping, if at all? Like many of the educators who have been front-row witnesses to the explosion of the youth mental health crisis, I was at a loss. Much like climate change, young people's feelings of hopelessness and despair feel overwhelming, complex, and depressing.

But when I was confronted with my students' honest reviews of the direction of my lessons, I realized that there was an opportunity, when teaching about the climate, to acknowledge anxiety and grief in a productive way. Inspired by my students' initial reactions, I made two key changes to the way I teach about climate change that I invite other teachers to replicate.

A New Approach to Teaching the Climate Crisis

First, I incorporated a number of social and emotional learning activities throughout my climate change lessons to help students grapple with and name climate anxieties. I was honest about my own climate anxieties and encouraged discussion so that students could take advantage of the existing classroom community to help combat the loneliness of eco-grief.

For example, when my students learned about the albedo ice effect, a climate phenomenon in which the melting of sea ice increases the percentage of sunlight absorbed by oceans, thus resulting in more melting of sea ice, I noticed an opportunity to introduce a key science concept: the idea of a positive feedback loop, in which an initial stimulus creates conditions for more growth of that initial stimulus.

After students became comfortable with this idea, I invited them to extend its application to our emotional states-both "good" and "bad." Students reflected on how sometimes, much like the melting of sea ice, negative emotions can spiral out of control. They then identified activities that could help them in times of distress-strategies that could create their own positive feedback loop, allowing students to feel grounded and experience more and more relief with practice. Students enjoyed sharing their favorite calming activities, such as breathing exercises and go-to songs, and the lesson elicited the greatest student engagement that I saw that year.

Promoting Student Agency Through Action-Oriented Curricula

The second change that I made was to anchor my physics lessons in climate phenomena that are more action- and solution-oriented. Students had active discussions on the environmental racism that existed in their own communities. They read about youth climate activists their own age having a real impact on highway legislation in Portland. Our sound waves lesson invited students to explore a real-life tool used to measure ocean temperatures (ocean acoustic tomography), and lessons on the law of conservation of energy led to research projects in renewable energy sources.

The purpose of these lessons was not to sell a falsely positive reality but to put a focus on what people are already doing and the tools they are already using, to learn about and fight climate change while highlighting the work that still needs to be done. Students have to be able to visualize themselves, with their own individual skills and talents, as having the potential to be part of a multifaceted solution to this complex problem.

With the addition of actual practice using healthy coping strategies in the classroom to the more relevant and intentional climate lessons, I saw a noticeable increase in student participation, interest in the subject matter, and quality of student work. We did not solve climate change, but that wasn't the point. The point was what the students got out of it anyway and what they might carry with them into the world beyond our classroom.

The Need for Intentional Climate Curricula

In my opinion, we have to teach about climate change; there's no way around it. Bringing the topic into the classroom in a controlled, intentional, and solution-oriented manner can lead to more student engagement and be a powerful tool in the development of healthy coping skills in our youth. Educators should be given the time, resources, and money to pool their talents and develop climate change curricula that are intentional and relevant to students' local communities.

If done with the intention of arming our youth with the social and emotional skills to cope with the climate crisis, climate change curricula can be a vehicle for the learning and practicing of healthy coping strategies, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving.

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Teaching Climate Change Through Social and Emotional Learning

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Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) High school students may feel anxious when studying climate change. Teachers can use SEL strategies to help them develop healthy coping skills. Hero Images Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo "I understand why we are learning it, but it feels pointless at the same time."

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Outdoor science lessons provide a change of scenery and environment, which can help engage students in the learning process. By providing hands-on learning experiences, students are more likely to be excited about science and enjoy the learning process.

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Outdoor science lessons provide a change of scenery and environment, which can help engage students in the learning process. By providing hands-on learning experiences, students are more likely to be excited about science and enjoy the learning process.

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Begin With Open-Ended Prompts to Initiate Observations

My sophomores and I spent time outside at the beginning of the school year, doing simple observational tasks. My outdoor lesson prompts were open-ended: "Write down some observations you can make." Observations were the focus; moving beyond visual identifications was the goal. We made cursory observations first and then focused on sensory mapping, a practice where students find an isolated spot and chart, in real time, the changes they observe around them.

My students mapped a grassy area east of our building. After that, we discussed common themes that they chose to represent their surroundings. How many students noticed the plane flying overhead? How many recorded the dump truck driving by? With these questions, they became more attuned to their surroundings and thought about their environment in a new light.

Later that week, we went back outside, and they recorded biotic and abiotic factors using the skills learned earlier. Eyes widened-they were getting excited.

Inspire Wonder in the Details

Here are some of my initial observations of students getting outside:

Laughing after inadvertently walking through a spiderweb

Admiring a praying mantis mimicking wind movement

Discovering a shoelace used for nesting material

Furrowing brows while asking about bagworm cocoons

The classroom content was composed of small details of students' learning. Experiences became our vocabulary. They were all fluent. This is the school I want.

My students still talk about those couple of days spent outside, discussing rudimentary science concepts. Genuine outdoor learning stirs wonder in us-wonder about the natural world, questions asked without thought, and excited anticipation when interacting up close with bugs and critters.

Encourage Discovery-Based Education

Teaching in a free-form style is difficult. Many students commented that making observations was difficult because of the lack of instruction. My students often want to know the task, and they work to complete it so they can be absolutely sure that they're meeting the desired expectation.

I feel that education is more poignant when it's discovery-based.

Hoping to get my students outdoors even more, I tasked them with taking pictures of three plants and three animals. That was it. No further directions were given because I wanted to see what the students' responses would look like.

The results from the assignment were staggering. My students submitted pictures ranging from pets to houseplants and livestock to landscaping. For them, it was a matter of convenience. "What is close? What can I do quickly to check this box?"

Reframe the Task and Clarify Expectations

In response to their submissions, I uploaded two clarifying videos, reframing the task for my students. It was time to make the expectations a little more overt-to clear the muddy waters.

Pictures came rolling, and the results were astonishing. The dirt was settling and the waters were clearing. So many amazing plant and animal picture contributions were submitted for the assignment.

After posting three of the plant submissions, students could choose one picture and one prompt. The tasks were as follows:

1. Pick one picture.

2. Pick one of the following tasks:

Tell me why you picked this picture. ("Because I like it most" is not good-what do you like best about it?)

What does this picture mean to you?

Write a short poem about the photo.

Draw or paint your version of the picture.

Describe the picture using five words. (These words cannot make a sentence.)

3. Share your work.

Change Direction Intentionally

Less than 12 hours after I posted these prompts, six of my students replied and two completed submissions-and this was a completely voluntary assignment, posted on a Saturday.

Extremely small, intentional steps to change the direction of my teaching have been ongoing and quite slow. However, these small practices have led to significant positive changes in my students as learners. They show genuine interest in being outside, have excited questions about nature, and go down rabbit holes of question-laden investigations. These are the foundations for meaningful life science instruction.

My students continue to ask to go outside, and I'll remain diligent about directing instruction and framing it in a way where learning can, and does, occur outside. I believe students' observations and curiosity should drive the content and discussion. Students learning together, from the same experiences and through different lenses, is a hallmark of effective engagement and learning.

We should hope to spark learners to teach others through their excitement in and admiration for the natural world-tying school to locale and encouraging conservation through community. I hope this engages you, like-minded educators, who also want to enact change in your pedagogy to improve your students' learning.

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Using Simple Outdoor Science Lessons to Inspire Students

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My sophomores and I spent time outside at the beginning of the school year, doing simple observational tasks. My outdoor lesson prompts were open-ended: "Write down some observations you can make." Observations were the focus; moving beyond visual identifications was the goal.

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By encouraging effort and persistence, fostering a growth mindset, providing meaningful feedback, and increasing engagement, this approach can help students develop the skills and mindset they need to succeed academically and personally.

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By encouraging effort and persistence, fostering a growth mindset, providing meaningful feedback, and increasing engagement, this approach can help students develop the skills and mindset they need to succeed academically and personally.

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A rigorous intervention pushes students who might be satisfied with a D to aim higher.

Chemistry seems to inspire a D mentality: A significant number of students just want to pass the class to meet their graduation requirement, and do it with as little effort as possible.

Take Evelyn, for example. A junior in my chemistry class in the spring of 2015, Evelyn was bright, but she didn't see chemistry as relevant to her present or future, so she kept her head low, didn't engage with the material, missed about 20 percent of the class, and seemed to target a grade of 60 percent. That was at the beginning of the year.

By the end of the term, Evelyn was sitting in the front row, volunteering to demonstrate how to solve problems, and getting frustrated with herself when her final grade in the class was a B.

Evelyn's grade had gone from a 60 percent to an 85 percent, but the real changes that I saw in her were much more rewarding than an improved grade point average-she was engaged in learning, taking risks, and working harder than she had once believed she could.

Many students will avoid working hard in a class that they see as challenging because of the risk involved. If they work hard and fail, they've proven their inadequacy. But if they don't work hard and manage to get a D, their pride remains intact and they haven't lost anything. That's why I make failing harder work than passing.

Turning "I Can't" Into "I Can"

Here's the typical learning cycle for a unit in my chemistry class.

1. I present the students with a list of learning objectives for the unit. The list is short and worded as "I can" statements. For example, these are some of the objectives for the unit on dimensional analysis and the mole (Holt Chapters 7 and 3):

I can identify the mole as the unit used to count particles, and use Avogadro's number to convert between moles and particles. (7.1)

I can calculate the molar mass of an element or compound. (3.4)

I can perform molar conversions (use the Mole Road Map). (3.4)

2. There are guided practice opportunities for students on each of these objectives. I also use formative assessments, which can be homework, quizzes, or labs. They count for very little in the grade. The point of these assessments is to give kids a lot of practice with the material in a low-risk environment, and to provide feedback on their progress toward mastering the objectives.

3. Students prepare for the summative assessment. After a period of guided practice, formative assessment, feedback, and review for each objective, the students get ready for the unit test. This summative assessment is weighted heavily in determining the grade, so we practice the types of questions they'll encounter on it.

4. Students take the summative assessment. A passing grade is 70 percent. Students who don't pass have to retake the assessment. I give them a test map like the one below showing which objectives they didn't master. The test map is accompanied by an intervention worksheet organized by objective. Students are expected to complete the worksheet sections that they need to practice in order to improve their score.

Differentiation and Incentive

The final stage of the learning cycle is where instruction is truly differentiated. Students who are required to retake their test must show me their completed intervention worksheet so I can see if they're getting closer to the targets. Usually they raise their grade to a passing score on the first retake. Sometimes it takes a couple of rounds, but they have a time limit: They have to finish the retake cycle before the next unit test.

Students who score below 90 percent but have passed the assessment may also go through this cycle. Many students in the 70-89 percent band opt to do the intervention and retake the test.

Students who are content to score at or below 60 percent are faced with extra work they wouldn't have to do if they scored just 10 points higher. This cycle helps them understand that, if they can do the work required to get 70 percent, it's not much more work to get an even higher grade. And the progress is addictive.

This isn't a canned curriculum. I write my own tests, quizzes, test maps, intervention worksheets, homework assignments, and labs. I use sample questions from the state tests as a guide for the types of questions to include on my exams. I do all of the grading and fill out the test maps by hand. It's time consuming, and I have to take work home with me every single day. I do my grading while my own children do their homework. While this learning cycle works, it requires a lot of effort. But I think the final result is worth all that effort.

UPDATE

For the past two years, I've been teaching chemistry and physics in an International Baccalaureate program at a school in Albania. My own children have been students in my classes. I've continued to use this method of instruction with intervention and retesting, and I've also added rewriting lab reports for the B and C rubrics as part of the IB Science Criteria.

More than 90 percent of my students are English language learners, and they definitely appreciate the chance to retake their assessments and use the feedback I give them. One of the Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills that the IB program emphasizes is giving and receiving meaningful feedback. The method I outline above provides an excellent opportunity for students to work on this ATL skill.

In addition, the Learner Profile for IB students includes the attribute of Risk Taker. I think students who believe teachers are willing to help them learn from their mistakes are more likely to be risk takers and invest the time and energy needed to be successful. So all the effort still seems worthwhile.

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A rigorous intervention pushes students who might be satisfied with a D to aim higher. Chemistry seems to inspire a D mentality: A significant number of students just want to pass the class to meet their graduation requirement, and do it with as little effort as possible. Take Evelyn, for example.

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When students have a say in their assessments, they are more likely to be invested in the process and motivated to do their best. By allowing students to choose how they want to demonstrate their learning, they are more likely to be engaged in the learning process.

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When students have a say in their assessments, they are more likely to be invested in the process and motivated to do their best. By allowing students to choose how they want to demonstrate their learning, they are more likely to be engaged in the learning process.

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What happens when students can opt to skip tests and instead give oral presentations or create art to show what they know?

Art Directors & TRIP / Alamy Stock Photo

One day while I was giving a lecture on the life cycle of ferns in a Biology I class, I noticed several students doodling rather than taking notes. Having learned to pick my battles, I ignored this rather than making a big deal about it.

When class was over, I asked one of the doodlers if I could see his notebook. I was flabbergasted to see that he'd made a series of spot-on sketches on the life cycle of ferns.

He explained that he was experimenting with a new note-taking technique using art. He'd been sketching his way through several other classes and was fairly certain that he was understanding and remembering the content better. I told him to continue doing whatever helped and to keep me posted.

Throughout the semester I noticed ways that other students excelled. One enjoyed giving oral reports that incorporated video clips and digital pieces of supporting evidence. Another crafted beautifully written essays, and another was an encourager in her small group, leading her group through some rather sophisticated problem-solving.

How Students Show What They Know

I made a list of all of the ways in which I evaluated my students throughout the semester. There were seven: journaling, lab work, oral reports, a writing cluster (drama, fiction, poetry, and essays), small group work, artwork, and written tests.

When the spring semester began, I told my students that I would be evaluating them using a new approach what would bring student choice to assessment.

Here's the system I set up: Each student would choose at least three modes from the list above for the nine-week grading period. If they didn't want to take tests, they wouldn't have to-they would use other modes to demonstrate the learning that I would previously have tested. Once they made their choices, they had to stick with them for the whole grading period.

It's important to note that students were evaluated only with the modes that they selected. Let's say that a student didn't chose lab work. When we went into the lab, that student went with us-and could participate-but would not receive a grade. I never left any students unattended, and they always had the option to participate.

To evaluate their art and writing-not a common practice in science-I developed Fact Sheets, one for art and one for writing, that were a relatively easy way to do this objectively. If a student created a poster to show their learning, they had to attach an Art Fact Sheet that included 10 facts from the content for that objective that were evident in the poster. On a poster of a typical animal cell, for example, they might write, "Animal cells have mitochondria that are involved in energy production." They would prepare a legend that allowed me to easily identify their facts.

I used the same approach for writing. If a student wrote a short play based on bioengineering principles, for example, they would attach a Writing Fact Sheet and underline the facts from the content for that objective, numbering each one for easy identification.

Writing in science journals can be very subjective: How would I assign a grade to a student's thoughts? Sometimes I used specific questions that had to be addressed. If the student did address the questions, credit was given. At other times I asked that they write a half-page on a given topic. If they did, I gave them full credit.

To make sure their parents and guardians understood this system, I held three open houses and invited several of our local business partners to participate by bringing snacks and a few cool door prizes-I really wanted to encourage participation because it was important that parents understand how my system would work. About 75 percent of my students' homes were represented.

What Students Chose

It was no surprise that very few students signed up to take tests. For the two or three students in each class who chose traditional testing as one of their modes, I made sure they had a comfortable space in the breezeway between the classroom and the lab. Other students worked on their projects while test-takers were busy. It worked out quite well.

Although the student choices were all over the board, the overall percentages that first semester looked like this:

lab work: 95 percent of students

small group work: 93 percent

journaling: 90 percent

oral reports: 40 percent

writing cluster: 15 percent

artwork: 12 percent

written tests: 6 percent

The most common choice combination was lab work, small group work, and journaling-a combination that seems naturally tailored for an active science classroom and lab. Students did not have to participate in the activities of the modes they didn't choose, so 5 percent of my students didn't do the lab work, 7 percent of them didn't participate in small group work, and so on.

Students often forgot what choices they made, so I posted their choices in lists on the back of the classroom door. I also posted the protocols, guidelines, and deadlines on large poster boards.

In order to prevent deadline overload, I staggered deadlines so that no student had more than one project due on any single day-the products in each mode were due on different days.

Reality Check: My Principal's Input

My principal was curious about my new system-and concerned about whether my students were meeting all of the standards and objectives. He asked me to administer one written test at the end of each grading period. Although I didn't think this was necessary, he was the principal.

As it turned out, most of my students performed well on those tests, and after a year my principal seemed convinced that the new system worked well without them.

My original goals in giving students a choice in how I would evaluate them were to provide ownership in the process, to put the burden of responsibility of learning on the students' shoulders, and to help each student be as successful as possible. I also wanted them to discover on their own which modes worked best for them. Most found it refreshing to know that if they made poor choices, they could change them in the next grading period.

An unexpected side effect was that I was never bored-the students constantly surprised me with their creations and apparent understanding of content. And switching from orthodox methods of evaluating student progress-written tests, canned lab activities, and the occasional report-to a choice system created an environment that fostered authentic understanding of scientific principles and concepts. Students began to see themselves thinking and behaving like scientists.

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Bringing Student Choice to Assessment in Science Classes

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What happens when students can opt to skip tests and instead give oral presentations or create art to show what they know? Art Directors & TRIP / Alamy Stock Photo One day while I was giving a lecture on the life cycle of ferns in a Biology I class, I noticed several students doodling rather than taking notes.

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Encouraging students to write in all subjects can be a helpful teaching strategy in your classroom. By developing critical thinking skills, enhancing retention of information, improving communication skills, promoting creativity, and building confidence, this approach can help students become more engaged and active learners, as well as prepare them for success in a wide range of fields.

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Encouraging students to write in all subjects can be a helpful teaching strategy in your classroom. By developing critical thinking skills, enhancing retention of information, improving communication skills, promoting creativity, and building confidence, this approach can help students become more engaged and active learners, as well as prepare them for success in a wide range of fields.

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Writing improves learning by consolidating information in long-term memory, researchers explain. Plus, five engaging writing activities to use in all subjects.

Michael Morgenstern / theiSpot

For Kyle Pahigian, a 10th-grade math teacher at University Park Campus School in Massachusetts, a lesson on congruent triangles doesn't start with calculators and protractors. Instead, she hands her students a treasure map and asks them to write detailed directions-using landmarks as a guide-to the buried treasure.

"I won't tell the kids right away, 'Today we're going to learn about triangle congruence theorems,'" said Pahigian. "I want them to instead view it as them experimenting with something and doing something that they feel like they're really good at." Students often feel intimidated by math, and transforming the activity into a writing exercise eases some of the anxiety of introducing difficult concepts, she said.

In Pahigian's math class, writing is regularly used as a learning strategy, one that gives her a window into her students' thinking. "I like to do low-stakes writing when we're coming up with definitions," said Pahigian. Instead of telling her students what a polygon is, for example, she'll show them a set of polygons and a set of non-polygons, and ask them, "What do you notice? What differences do you see?" Students spend a few minutes writing down their answers, and then join groups to compare responses.

"It's really interesting and fun for me to read what they've written, because I can see all the questions. I can see the process," said Pahigian.

A recent study sheds light on why writing is such a beneficial activity-not just in subjects typically associated with writing, like history and English, but across all subjects. Professor Steve Graham and his colleagues at Arizona State University's Teachers College analyzed 56 studies looking at the benefits of writing in science, social studies, and math and found that writing "reliably enhanced learning" across all grade levels. While teachers commonly ask students to write about a topic in order to assess how well they understand the material, the process of writing also improves a student's ability to recall information, make connections between different concepts, and synthesize information in new ways. In effect, writing isn't just a tool to assess learning, it also promotes it.

Strengthening Memories

Why is writing effective? "Writing about content material facilitates learning by consolidating information in long-term memory," explain Graham and his colleagues, describing a process known as the retrieval effect. As previous research has shown, information is quickly forgotten if it's not reinforced, and writing helps to strengthen a student's memories of the material they're learning.

It's the same cognitive mechanism that explains why practice tests are effective: In a 2014 study, students who took low-stakes practice tests in science and history classes scored 16 percentage points higher on their final exams than students who simply studied the material. "Practicing retrieval of recently studied information enhances the likelihood of the learner retrieving that information in the future," the researchers of the 2014 study said.

Writing about a topic also encourages students to process information at a deeper level. Answering multiple-choice or short-answer questions may help with factual recall, but putting thoughts on paper encourages students to evaluate different ideas, weighing the importance of each one and considering the order they should be presented in, Graham and his colleagues write. By doing so, students may make new connections between ideas, ones they may not have made when initially learning the information.

A Metacognitive Tool

Students often believe that they understand a topic, but if they're asked to write it down-and explain it-gaps in their understanding may be revealed. One of the most effective writing strategies that Graham and his colleagues found was metacognitive prompting, in which students are asked not only to recall information but also to apply what they've learned to different contexts by thinking about multiple sides of a position or making predictions based on what they currently know. For example, instead of simply reading about ecosystems in a textbook, students can write about their own impact by examining how much trash their household produces or the environmental impact of producing the food they eat.

5 Writing Strategies to Use in Any Subject

Here are a variety of ideas teachers have shared with Edutopia in recent years on incorporating writing into a variety of subjects.

"I wonder" journals: At Crellin Elementary School in Oakland, Maryland, teachers encouraged students to ask "I wonder" questions to push their learning beyond the classroom. After visiting a local barn and garden, for example, Dave Miller realized his fifth-grade students had more questions about animals and plants than he had time to answer, so he had them write down anything they were confused or curious about, which helped him plan future lessons and experiments.

"If they don't wonder, 'How would we ever survive on the moon?' then that's never going to be explored," said Dana McCauley, Crellin's principal. "But that doesn't mean they should stop wondering, because wonderings lead to thinking outside the box, which makes them critical thinkers. As they try to figure it out, and reflect on what they're doing, that's where it all ties together for them. That's where all that learning occurs-where all the connections start being made."

Travel journals: Every student at Normal Park Museum Magnet, a K-8 school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, created a travel journal to chart their learning. These journals included not only charts, drawings, and graphic organizers, but also writing and reflection pieces that capture students' learning about a topic.

When fifth-grade teacher Denver Huffstutler began a unit on earth science, he asked his students to imagine they were explorers looking for a new world that could sustain life. In their travel journal, they kept track of everything they were learning, from the impact of man-made disasters to their designs and calculations for a manned rocket that could reach distant planets.

Low-stakes writing: Writing can be daunting, so teachers at University Park Campus School used daily low-stakes writing activities to foster student voice, self-confidence, and critical thinking skills-a school-wide strategy used in every subject.

"The most important thing about it for me is that it's not censored, and it's not too highly structured," said seventh-grade science teacher James Kobialka. "It's about them getting their own ideas down, and then being able to interact with those ideas, change them, and revise them if they're not correct."

For example, when Kobialka's students were learning about the conservation of mass, he didn't start by defining it-he showed them a picture and asked, "What do you notice about the atoms on both sides? How can you explain that?" Students wrote down their observations, and the entire class came up with a definition. "From there," he said, "once that consensus is formed, I'll ask somebody to write it on the board, and we'll talk about the key concepts."

Student-created magazines: In Alessandra King's algebra class, students created a magazine with dozens of articles about real world applications of math. For each article, they selected a primary source-an article from Scientific American, for example-read it closely, and then wrote a summary. Students wrote about a range of topics, from gerrymandering to fractals in Jackson Pollock's paintings to invisibility cloaks.

"Effective writing clarifies and organizes a student's thoughts, and the slow pace of writing is conducive to student learning because it allows them to reason carefully to make sure they're correct before they state their thoughts," King wrote. "Studies have shown that writing is valuable specifically for the math classroom-for example, it seems that a student's ability to explain concepts in writing is related to the ability to comprehend and apply them."

Creative writing: Former teachers Ed Kang and Amy Schwartzbach-Kang incorporated storytelling and creative writing into their after-school program's science lessons. For example, they asked students to imagine a creature that could survive in a local habitat -the Chicago River, in their case. What color would it be? What features would help it to survive and defend itself? How would it hunt its prey? Students then wrote a story about their creature that combined science concepts with creative storytelling.

"There's brain science to support using stories to help kids engage with content and create personal meaning," explained Kang, who has a Ph.D. in neuroscience. "Listening to facts mainly stimulates the two language-processing areas of the brain. However, when we listen to a story, additional parts of the brain are also activated-regions involved with our senses and motor movements help listeners actually 'feel' the descriptions."

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Why Students Should Write in All Subjects

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Writing improves learning by consolidating information in long-term memory, researchers explain. Plus, five engaging writing activities to use in all subjects.