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Our Challenge: To Preserve a Crucial American Institution

Throughout our history, education has promised a path to a better life. For the most part, this promise has held. With few exceptions, each generation has enjoyed financial means, access to a wider array of life choices, and enjoyed benefits that surpassed what was experienced by their parents and grandparents. It has also been assumed that public education is a public good worth paying for even by citizens without a direct benefit, such as having children who attended school. The belief has been that a well-educated citizenry makes our communities and country better and more successful. The idea of supporting public good has led to major advancements in our nation that likely could not have been accomplished without the pooling of public commitment and funds. Our interstate highway and electrical systems are two examples. Yet, the pandemic and several trends already emerging prior to the virus are calling these assumptions into question. For the first time in our nation’s history, polls report parents and young people believing that the next generation will not experience a life that is better than their parents. Resistance to paying for public services, including public education, has been growing for the past several decades. Meanwhile, there is increasing interest in limiting what can be taught or even discussed in schools. Laws are being considered and passed in multiple states that prohibit discussion of many issues of importance to the current and future health of our society. The confluence of these trends presents a troubling prospect for the future of public education unless we can find a way to turn the situation around. A population that is already suspicious of investing for purposes of public good combined with disappointing life prospects and growing distrust of educators and what is taught in schools does not bode well for the future of public education. The question is: What can educators and schools do to restore confidence and support over the long-term? Obviously, these are complex issues including elements that extend beyond what educators can influence. Yet, there are steps we can take to preserve this crucial American institution and its contribution to society. First, we must summon the courage to champion the interests of students and their futures. The world has changed dramatically and will continue to become more complex and diverse. The future we are preparing today’s students for will be one in which there is no single majority. Meanwhile, creativity and innovation thrive when diverse perspectives and experiences combine in pursuit of an idea or in search of a solution. The success and happiness of our students will be enhanced through understanding, engagement, and respect rather than polarization and divisiveness. Second, we must shift our focus from preparing students for a job to guiding them to be curious, flexible learners who are grounded in content and skills. Predictions are that more than half of the jobs today’s students will have do not yet exist. Our promise to learners must be to prepare them for whatever they might choose and their future asks of them. We cannot afford to prepare today’s students for yesterday’s world, or leave them lacking in what they need for tomorrow’s world. Third, we can instill a sense of purpose and nurture their passions. Failing to have a direction or be clear about what is important will place today’s students at a distinct disadvantage in a world filled with options, expectations, and challenges. Fourth, we need to develop in learners the skills of divergent and convergent thinking. Disciplined analysis, critical examination, and flexible approaches to the dilemmas and challenges they face will be crucial to personal success and the long-term health of our society. Fifth, we can give students opportunities to experience the pride and satisfaction that can come with service. It’s important for them to appreciate the value of the common good and that not everything worth doing and supporting must accrue an immediate, direct personal benefit. These ideas, of course, are starting places to address the critical and complex situation we face. They ask us to demonstrate courage, openness, and persistence. We may not control all the factors contributing to the forces we face, but we can do our part and advocate with others to do theirs.

June 24, 2022

Consider Motivational Interviewing to Increase Student Success

One of the most vexing and widely discussed challenges emerging from the pandemic is student motivation. Too many students have difficulty showing up regularly and on time. Many students are reluctant to commit to their learning and persist when they struggle. They fail to produce work that reflects their best effort. And they are missing aspirations for future learning and educational endeavors. We might choose to nudge, nag, and press students to engage in the behaviors we want from them. For some students, our pressure will be enough to convince them to comply with our expectations and direction. However, other students will choose to disengage, minimally comply, or even resist our efforts. Ultimately students will choose their path based on what they believe will serve their interests and reflects what they believe about themselves and the situation they face. Unless we understand the world as the student sees it, we are left to trial and error, increasing threats, and growing conflict. Fortunately, there is a strategy with roots in psychology and social work we can draw from. The approach, known as motivational interviewing, seeks to understand the interests, values, goals, and perspectives of the student as means to build insight and uncover potential ways for the student and us to create and sustain their motivation. However, motivational interviewing requires more than questioning students or confronting them with what we believe they should do. Summer school can be a good time to try out and practice strategies such as this so when fall comes, we have an additional tool at our disposal to help our students learn. We need to approach the interview from the perspective of a collaborative conversation. Our goal is to learn, not convince. We want to learn what we can from the student and for the student to understand that the power to change their behavior rests with them. Success is most likely when we help students to adopt behaviors and set goals consistent with their values and long-term goals. Motivational interviews can inform us of ways to support and assist students through understanding of what interests them, what they value, and what they want to accomplish. But significant and lasting change is most likely when commitment comes from the student rather than as compliance with our wishes. Of course, motivational challenges come in many forms. Some students may seem disengaged. Other may be fast starters, but never seem to finish. Still others may fail to give their best effort despite possessing high potential for success. Consequently, we may need to adjust our approach in response to the motivational challenge the student appears to face. Regardless, we might start our interview with a question such as, “I notice that you seem to have difficulty finishing your work and it’s happening often enough to be getting in the way of your success. How do you see what is happening and what might be stopping you from following through?” Or “You often show a remarkable ability to learn, but at times you seem to back off and not show your full abilities. I wonder why that might be. Can you give me some insight from your perspective?” Research on effective motivational interviewing points to several key behaviors and attitudes we can adopt throughout the interview:

Listen to understand, not to judge. We might respond with, “I think I understand what you are saying. Can you tell me more?”
Maintain respect for the student’s perspective, even if we do not agree with it. Our response may be, “I appreciate you sharing this information with me. It seems like a significant challenge. I wonder if there may be a different way to think about the situation.”
Empathize with the student’s feelings, experiences, and challenges. We might comment, “I can see that this is a difficult challenge, and you are frustrated. I wonder what steps might lead you to a better place.”
Position the conversation as a partnership. We might respond with, “I think I understand the situation from your perspective. I wonder if we could work together to find a strategy or approach that might work for you.”
Focus on meeting the student where they are, not where we would like them to be. We might ask, “What steps do you see to move forward? I have an idea or two, if you think they might be helpful.”

As students identify areas in which their current experiences and performance are not what they would like them to be, we can support them to explore steps and strategies to move forward. When students ask for our ideas, we need to be careful to share them as options and possibilities, not mandates. Ultimately, we want students to commit to the motivational changes that will make them successful. But reaching this goal may require multiple conversations and feature occasional setbacks. Our patient and unwavering confidence in the student’s ability to succeed will be crucial. Of course, throughout the process of motivational interviewing we will learn much about our students that can assist us as we present content and introduce new skills, position learning tasks, and provide support throughout the learning process. The better we understand our students, the better able we are to tap what interests them, what they value, and what they want to accomplish.

June 24, 2022

Three Ways to Help Students Forget Less of What They Learn

We want our students to learn everything we teach, or at least most of it. We also want our students to be able to recall and use what they learn. Yet, extensive research and decades of experience point to a reality in most classrooms far below this aspiration.

In fact, most students learn far less than they are taught and retain far less than they learn. Consider the work of German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus who conducted extensive research on how human memories function. His research led to the discovery of what is called “The Forgetting Curve.” Ebbinghaus discovered that one of the keys to learning and retaining information is to apply it immediately and repeatedly. This conclusion may seem obvious until we consider that failure to apply the new information within the first 20 minutes means that we will likely forget almost 30% of what we heard. In nine hours, we are likely will lose almost two-thirds of what we heard. And in six days, we will have lost 75% of what we heard.

Of course, this is not new information for experienced teachers. We know that students tend to forget far too much of what we teach them. Most of us can verify from personal experience that we, too, forget far more of what we learn than we would like. Fortunately, there are some steps we can take and strategies we can apply with our students and in our own learning that can increase our ability to retain information at higher levels and for longer periods.

The first strategy addresses initial memory loss, the decrease in recall that happens during the first 20 minutes after we take in new information. Ebbinghaus established that the key to recall is application of what we want to remember. In the context of a classroom lesson, we can counter memory loss through structured application opportunities for students as they are learning. For example, we can ask students to turn to a classmate after several minutes of listening and summarize the main points of what they just heard. We also can coach students to develop “mind maps,” or graphic organizers to track and display what they are learning and then explain to each other the meaning, relationships, and organization of their “maps.” The key is to give students opportunities to reflect and apply what they are learning as they are learning and shortly thereafter. The more students experience meaning and significance in the application of new knowledge, the more of it they are likely to retain.

A second research-based strategy is retrieval practice. This deceptively simply activity has been shown to significantly improve recall of information over time. The process involves selection of a topic, process, or other recall target on which to focus and then perform a “mind dump,” or recounting orally or in writing, of everything remembered about the topic, process, or target information. The action of retrieving information refreshes it in the brain and makes it more available in the future. Interestingly, this process tends to be more effective than reteaching the content. Retrieval practice can occur as an “entry ticket” or opening activity at the start of a class, during transitions, or at the end of class as an “exit ticket,” or summarizing activity. Retrieval practice can be an effective antidote to forgetting, especially when employed during the first several hours or within the first few days after new learning, when memory loss would otherwise be at its height. Importantly, retrieval practice does not have to be graded to be effective. The activity alone appears to be what is required to stimulate memory retention.

A third strategy to counter memory loss is distributed practice. Distributed practice spreads application and repetition of a new skill or process over time. Rather than concentrating intensive practice immediately following the learning of a new skill or process, revisiting and practicing of what has been learned is scheduled over a few days, and eventually over several weeks. Distributive practice tells the brain that this is important information to be stored where it can be easily and repeatedly accessed. While new learning can quickly dissipate over time, distributive practice keeps the learning fresh and maintains recall at a high level.

Importantly, none of the three memory enhancing strategies require special skills, technology, or extensive time. However, they need to be part of a consistent routine to be most effective.

June 17, 2022

Students Who Transfer During the Year Need Special Support

The events of the past two years have disrupted many families, led to housing instability for many, and has often meant that children and young people have had to relocate, join new families, and find their way in new schools. Beyond the crises and trauma leading to life disruptions, students also pay a price in their learning. Even before the pandemic, estimates were that roughly 6.5 million students changed schools each year. Some of these students faced having to change schools multiple times. For students who lost parents and family members to COVID and suffered other related traumas, changes in schools they attend may be only one of many challenges they face. Of course, we carefully prepare and support students as they make planned transitions from one school to the next within a system, such as from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school. We know that moving from one school to another, even when planned and supported can be traumatic for students. So, we prepare for and monitor the process carefully. We arrange visits and orientation well in advance. Entry to the new school is orchestrated to be smooth and information about students and their needs is provided to receiving staff to prepare them to move students forward with as little disruption as possible. However, for students who move from one school to another during the year, such planning and supports are rarely available. Yet, the trauma and confusion associated with changing schools are felt no less intensely. In fact, the intensity is often greater given that friends and even families may be left behind, the new neighborhood may not be familiar, and little information about the student may be available to inform us about the student’s history, needs, and strengths. This is a situation we can ill afford to ignore. Researchers have calculated that students who transfer schools four or more times by sixth grade have an average academic deficit equal to a full grade. Estimates are that each transition sacrifices three months of reading and math achievement. Frequently transferring students tend to engage in more at-risk behaviors than age-mates. They are more likely to be held back a grade. They also are more likely to drop out of school before graduation and, if they graduate, they are less likely to pursue post-high school education. The pandemic has added to the trauma experienced by these students and we are just beginning to understand the impact. Obviously, such a situation is intolerable. Educators alone can do little to change the factors that often cause student mobility. Inability to pay rent, loss of job, family stresses and break-ups, adult mental health challenges, and other factors are complex and often intractable. Yet, there are several steps we can take to help students who face school transitions to do so successfully. Where possible, we can offer flexibility in school attendance area requirements to families that move locally, but relocate in new school attendance areas. Preventing the need to make a transition can be the most effective prevention step we can take. When a transition is inevitable, we can quickly reach out to the sending school to learn as much as possible about the student, including their academic achievement profile, social strengths and struggles, any special programs or supports needed, and other information that might support a successful transition. Granted, sending schools are not always prompt in sending records for transitioning students, but personal contacts and reach outs can often hasten the process and glean important informal information. This information needs to be in the possession of receiving teachers before the student arrives, if possible. We can also take steps to see that these students feel welcome. For example, students might be formally introduced and welcomed to their new class. Work products posted by the class should include the new student’s work as soon as possible. Posted information and activities such as birthdays, weekly class leaders, etc. should feature the student as soon as they can be integrated so these students feel included and connected. We can encourage connections and friendship with other students. Peer mentor programs can assist in making this process intentional and consistent. However, informal introductions to students who might share interests and become friends can also help. Further, we can encourage and arrange for new students to join school clubs and activities that can facilitate friendships and foster social inclusion. Adult mentoring programs can be an effective way to smooth the transition and identify emerging issues before they require formal intervention. For some students, having a positive, stable, caring adult checking in with them regularly may be exactly what they need to succeed. We may not be able to control the frequency of school transitions for students, but there is much we can do to help them survive and succeed when a change of school is unavoidable. Our attention and support may be the key to making the transition successful and allowing learning to continue.

June 13, 2022

Five Trends Likely to Impact Education: 2022-2025

As we close out yet another school year, we can leave the challenges and distractions behind us and pause to appreciate what we have learned and how we have grown. It has been a remarkable year. It has also been a time of new beginnings as we contemplate education in a post-pandemic world. While the pandemic presented us with myriad challenges, it also offered new insights, led to new ideas, and launched several trends that will grow and impact our thinking and practice in the next several years. Let’s explore five emerging areas of attention, engagement, and opportunity likely to have an impact between now and 2025. Trend #1: An increased focus on the mental health of students and adults. The mental health of our youth has been deteriorating for some time. It was a serious and growing concern prior to the pandemic with suicide rates climbing and increased reports of stress and depression among young people. The pandemic has only exacerbated the situation. Meanwhile, conditions created by the pandemic have increased awareness and concern about the mental health of educators. Increased responsibilities, growing cultural conflict, and attacks on the profession have led to growing stress, burnout, and departures from teaching. Look for increased investments, additional resources, and role adjustments to better prevent and address mental health problems. Trend #2: Continued growth in online and hybrid learning. The sudden shift away from face-to-face instruction at the beginning of the pandemic caught most educators unprepared and students inexperienced in the skills, strategies, and routines of online learning. Only through the flexibility and dedication of educators were schools able to make the shift and continue operation in the uncharted context. Still, the consensus has been that despite everyone’s best efforts, the learning experience of most students during the pandemic was less than optimal and reports of slow learning progress provide the evidence. However, even though the initial attempt at large scale remote learning was less than successful, many important lessons were learned, and many students, families, and educators saw possibilities for better strategies, more effective tools, and more satisfying learning experiences. The result is accelerated growth among online and hybrid learning providers and a wider array of options for students and families. The online and hybrid learning market is projected to grow to $319 billion by 2025. Trend #3: Growth in homeschooling and learning pods. The disruption of the pandemic also provided families with experience in more active roles in the academic learning of their children. Some families embraced the role and have chosen to continue homeschooling their children rather than send them back to traditional school. The pandemic also led some families to collaborate within their neighborhoods, apartment complexes, and other settings to form learning pods to serve their students’ learning needs. In some cases, families pooled resources and hired skilled and experienced educators to support their students. In other cases, parents assumed the role of educators within the pods. Remarkably, studies have shown that students who experienced learning pods during the pandemic demonstrated learning growth comparable to what might have been expected had there not been a pandemic and in some cases, they experienced accelerated learning. The combination of growth in homeschooling and learning pods may have enrollment and funding implications for schools. The effectiveness of learning pods also offers lessons and strategies for traditional schools to consider. Trend #4: Accelerated application of neuroscience to learning and instruction. The combination of more accessible and applicable research on the brain and learning and pressure to catch students up in the aftermath of the pandemic has led to increased interest in and exploration of strategies to increase learning and instructional effectiveness. For example, a significant amount of research points to the effectiveness of micro-lessons to increase learning impact and extend the length of learning retention. Micro-lessons involve short bursts of instruction on a specific topic or skill, followed immediately by application opportunities. Within a few days instruction returns to the topic or skill with another layer of information or complexity to build on previous learning. The cycle continues over time, consistently building and reinforcing learning. Other applications for neuroscience include greater focus on learning over earning grades to increase ownership and depth of learning and extend learning retention, performance-based assessments to help learners integrate and organize learning, and reduced focus on memorization in favor of deeper, more experience-based learning. Trend #5: Growing interest in and application of virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Most applications of virtual reality in education have been confined to supplemental experiences. The minimal advances artificial intelligence has made to education have been primarily embedded in technology systems. However, recent research combining artificial intelligence and virtual reality for training in business is showing remarkable promise. Studies are showing accelerated rates of learning, increased learning retention, and reduced instruction time. It will take some time for applications in elementary and secondary education to be developed and adopted, but the promise of virtual reality and artificial intelligence to transform learning experiences for students and educators is intriguing. Even though each of the trends are unique and will have distinct impacts on education, learning and instruction, they point in a common direction. Each of the trends speak to greater customization, personalization, and learner-centered approaches in education. One thing is certain: The days of one-size-fits-all education are waning. The future demands and will offer a widening array of opportunities to make learning a deeply meaningful, purposeful, personal experience.

June 13, 2022

GPAs Are Still Among the Best Predictors of College Success

A recent study by ACT, the nonprofit producers of the popular college entrance exam, documents inflationary increases in grade point averages over the past decade. The implication is that GPAs may not be an accurate reflection of students’ actual performance. Of course, GPAs also receive criticism on other fronts. Some people point to variations in the levels of rigor and expectations from school to school. Still others complain that GPAs are difficult to understand because some schools offer additional grade weights and multipliers for honors and advanced placement courses. Others argue that comparing GPAs ignores the level and challenging nature of courses one students takes versus another. Certainly, these criticisms have merit, but do they mean that GPAs have no value and do not reflect the achievement and potential of students? Quite the opposite. A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago reinforces the importance of GPAs and their ability to predict subsequent success in college. The study involved more than 55,000 students who enrolled directly into college following graduation from high schools in Chicago. Despite the inflationary trends and criticism, the study found GPAs to be five times more accurate at predicting success in college than the ACT. The findings are particularly interesting considering the criticism leveled against GPA inflation comes from ACT. Importantly, the results were consistent across schools that have histories of high performance and schools that have traditionally posted low test scores. Additionally, the researchers found no correlation between ACT scores and later college graduation at some colleges and universities and even a negative correlation at others. The research calls into question the generally held assumption that standardized tests such as the ACT are objective, reliable, and neutral predictors of college success. The findings seem exceptionally important in light of the traditional weight given to college entrance exams and the time, attention, expense, and stress associated with preparing for and taking these exams. It’s true that college admissions typically take additional factors into account when making admissions decisions. Yet, this information appears to validate the growing number of colleges and universities that have decided to make college entrance exams optional or have eliminated them in the admissions process. So, why might it be that GPAs have much stronger predictive power than college entrance exams such as the ACT? The reasons are fairly obvious. Despite the shortcomings of GPAs, they capture a variety of elements that correlate closely with academic success. GPAs reflect effort, consistency, and performance related to a variety of learning-related activities. GPAs reflect learning in a variety of settings. They include multiple academic and non-academic courses. Equally important, GPAs capture performance over time, not in a single testing setting. The bottom line: The current movement to rethink our dependence on standardized exams as a driving factor in college entrance decisions makes sense. The stress, expense, and time demanded to prepare for and take these exams appear to outweigh any benefits on which we can depend. When we have evidence that other collectible information provides a better picture and makes a stronger predication, it’s time to change.

June 06, 2022

Share Your Tips & Stories

Share your story and the tips you have for getting through this challenging time. It can remind a fellow school leader of something they forgot, or your example can make a difficult task much easier and allow them to get more done in less time. We may publish your comments.

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A Powerful but Often Untapped Source of Motivation

Student motivation seems more difficult to generate today than in the past. At least in part, we can blame the pandemic. Students found it easier to disengage and become less motivated when they were learning at a distance in makeshift space at home. Many students have brought the habits and routines they adopted at home back into the classroom with them.

Yet, learning is heavily dependent on motivation. Motivation – commonly defined as interest, readiness, and inclination to learn – is a necessary element for engaging successfully in the learning process. We cannot make students learn. We cannot learn for them. For learning to occur, students must be motivated.

It’s also true that we play a role in influencing the level and direction of the motivation of our students. We can create conditions that make it more likely that students will choose to be motivated. At times we design experiences that are inherently attractive, so students are more interested and inclined to learn. At other times, we may create conditions that make not learning unattractive, whether by threatening negative consequences that are influential with students or offering rewards that students value enough to do what we want them to do. Of course, there are significant downsides to the use of threats and rewards related to learning in terms of their diminishing effectiveness over time and messaging that learning is not important or valuable enough to invest in without extrinsic influences.

While efforts to stimulate student interest and readiness for learning are often necessary at the beginning of teaching and learning cycles, if we retain full responsibility for stimulating student motivation, we can leave them dependent on us to get ready to learn. We risk students being unprepared for a world in which they can ill afford to depend on others to stimulate and direct their motivation for learning and work.

We can tap a far more effective and lasting approach by nurturing the self-motivation of students. Our efforts need to extend beyond our motivating students, to a focus on nurturing their skills and strategies to motivate themselves. When we instill in learners the ability to generate and direct their motivation, we give them a gift that opens a world of potential learning and life success.

We can start the journey of transforming waiting-to-be-motivated students into self-motivated learners by helping them see that motivation is a choice. Certainly, at times motivation comes easily. When they encounter something that is inherently interesting, becoming motivated is easy to choose.

However, they can also choose to find something interesting or engaging about issues and tasks that are less inherently compelling. As examples, by connecting a less compelling learning task to an important goal they can transform their attitude from reluctance to commitment. Additionally, they might engage a friend or colleague to learn with them and transform what may have seemed like drudgery into a pleasant social experience.

Most students do not realize or appreciate the power they possess to motivate themselves. Fortunately, self-motivation – like other skills – can be taught. However, it requires our commitment and support to nurture its development and application. Here are ten ideas to get started:

Coach students to set and pursue learning goals.
Coach students to focus on the value of learning over obsessing about grades.
Focus student feedback on factors they control such as effort, strategy, progress, and achievement.
Encourage, stimulate, and nurture student curiosity.
Encourage and support students to celebrate their learning accomplishments.
Provide students with meaningful and authentic choices about how they will engage in learning tasks.
Give students choices about who they will work with on learning tasks.
Coach students to look for connections between new learning tasks and what is interesting to them.
Coach students to explore why they find some tasks inherently more interesting and how they can transfer or leverage that interest to other activities.
Remind students of their power to make choices about their motivation, regardless of circumstance or challenge.

When students learn to motivate themselves, they tap limitless power to control the level and direction of their energy. Even better, they can summon their motivation on demand. In short, we give them a lifelong, success-generating tool that never wears out.

May 27, 2022

Guided Play: An Effective Complement to Direct Instruction

Direct instruction has been the go to teaching strategy for generations. It’s an efficient and often effective way to communicate information, focus attention, and guide learning. Direct instruction can be especially useful when students come with little or no background knowledge to apply to new learning. Of course, direct instruction is not the only way to teach. It’s also not the best instructional strategy for all students or in all areas of learning. For many students, more experience-based approaches or a combination of strategies will be more effective. Experience-based learning appears to be especially effective for younger learners, but also offers important benefits to learners of all ages. We might think of play as important to child development, but we may not be as likely to see play as an effective way to build academic concepts and skills. However, a review of seventeen studies, published in the journal Child Development, documented some surprising and important learning gains through a particular type of play called guided play. Guided play is designed around a learning goal and an activity featuring limited adult direction and interaction. For example, students may practice addition and subtraction using an oversized number line on which students move forward and backward as they randomly draw slips of paper with addition and subtraction numbers on them. The collection of studies pointed to progress in literacy, numeracy, and executive functioning skills. Importantly, the progress students demonstrated was equal to or greater than progress typically demonstrated in response to direct instruction. The researchers pointed to several aspects of guided play that offer important learning support:

New learning becomes more concrete as students experience content and skills rather than listening while someone explains them.
Learning is active.
New learning is immediately applied within the context of interesting and fun activities.
Mistakes can be quickly corrected within the context of play.
Collaboration and social skills are nurtured within the activity.

There are also some guidelines and cautions for educators when designing and supporting guided play:

Establish a clear and accomplishable learning goal.
Design for a combination of fun and learning.
Avoid over structuring the activity to the point where students may not engage.
Resist over-guiding students during the activity to the extent that they lose ownership and interest.

The cluster of studies reviewed in this research focused on young learners. However, many of the elements of guided play hold promise for older learners, too. The activities may need to be adjusted to match the physical, emotional, and learning development of students, but experiencing learning within the context of application, fun, and social interaction can be attractive and effective at any age.

May 26, 2022

What Priority Should We Give to Recess?

The pressure to put students back on track academically and raise test scores has led many schools to reduce the frequency and duration of unstructured recess time. Meanwhile, the challenge of dealing with increasing incidents of misbehavior have led some educators and administrators to withhold recess as a consequence for off-task and unacceptable behaviors. In fact, in a recent survey more that 80% of educators reported reducing or withholding recess as punishment for misbehavior or academic performance. Among the underlying assumptions driving these decisions is that recess, while useful to help students drain off some excess energy and connect with friends, is not important enough to be a priority over academics and behavior management. The thought is that academically focused time is likely to pay better dividends than allowing students to run and play with friends and classmates. And the threat of missing recess will be enough to influence behavior choices. Yet, giving students breaks from learning and time to refocus on activities that are not planned and structured by adults offer some surprising learning and life benefits. The American Academy of Pediatrics notes several important outcomes associated with what we have traditionally called recess. First, children and even adolescents are best able to focus on learning when they have periodic mental breaks to focus on non-academic topics and activities. Other countries and cultures have long embraced schedules with intense focus followed by mental and physical breaks. For example, young students in Japanese schools are typically given ten-to-fifteen-minute breaks each hour. Second, while shifting focus from one academic activity to another can offer some advantages, the most significant benefits appear to come from breaks that allow students to choose and are free from tight structure. Following breaks, students are typically better ready to re-engage and focus on additional academic learning. Even though recess is not typically a part of school schedules for adolescents, they still need mental and physical breaks. The same is true for adults. Third, unstructured, but safe and supervised recess provides students with opportunities to develop important interpersonal skills such as resolving conflicts, negotiating priorities, forming relationships, developing perseverance, and sharing resources. These skills are important building blocks for social success that often can be by-passed when adults are immediately available to enforce rules, render judgments and direct behavior. A recent study by professors at the University of Colorado and University of Denver further reinforces the benefits of less-structured and unstructured activities in another aspect of student development. Researchers found that students who spent more time in free play appeared to develop greater executive functioning: the ability to plan, make decisions, use information with purpose, successfully switch between tasks, and manage thoughts and feelings. Obviously, there is a connection between strong executive functioning and academic success. Students with well-developed executive functioning capacity tend to be less dependent on adults to manage their behavior and focus on important tasks. Of course, time spent during recess running, chasing, and in active play also contributes to the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day. As a result, recess time can help to combat obesity and sedentary life styles that contribute to health problems later in life. It can also take the edge off of energy that leads some students to fidget, squirm, and engage in other off-task behaviors. Importantly, recess should not be confused with or seen as interchangeable with physical education. Physical education is intended to be a formal learning environment in which students learn skills and activities that can help them make good life choices, engage in formal physical activities, and develop a healthy, active life style. Physical education is an important part of the education of young people. It can also contribute to the total minutes of activity in which students engage daily, but recess and physical education have different purposes and need to play separate roles in learning. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers several recommendations regarding recess including:

Consider recess students’ free time. Resist over-structuring the time or withholding recess for academic or punitive reasons.
Schedule breaks of sufficient length for students to mentally decompress and be ready to re-engage.
Treat recess as a complement to physical education, not an alternative or replacement.
Provide adequate supervision during recess, but avoid unnecessary structuring of activities.

A final thought: Opportunities to decompress and refocus are not just for young people. We need to make breaks and exercise a part of our routines if we hope to do our best work and be fully present and ready to support students as they learn.

May 23, 2022

Closing the Year with a Message to Our Students

In the waning weeks and days of the school year, we can feel as though our students are slipping away. They are beginning to look forward to summer and anticipating the adventures of next year. Of course, we have invested the past months guiding, coaching, and preparing them for this time. We have watched as their competence and confidence have grown. We hope that we have done what is necessary to prepare them for what is next and what lies beyond as their lives unfold. While we are excited to send them on their way, we may also feel some regret. There is never enough time to teach everything we would like our students to know. Yet, it’s amazing to see how far they have come. Now as the end of the year approaches, we have one final opportunity to give our students some advice to reflect and rely upon in the months and years ahead. Each of our students is unique and will hear our advice in a different way. Regardless, this is a time when we want to instill hope and build their confidence. As we think about our “closing message,” here are some ideas and insights to consider passing along. First, we can remind our students to regularly recall and recount their successes. Confidence grows as students feel successful, and success builds on success. When students remember, recount, and relive their successes they can counter negative, confidence-undermining narratives. We can remind students of the many successful experiences and occasions worthy of recalling and recounting from the past year. Second, we can discourage students from comparing themselves and their performance to others. Comparisons to others who may be moving faster or doing better can undermine confidence even though another student may be in a very different situation. What matters most is for students to concentrate on their own learning and progress. It is also the only element students can control. Our students’ long-term success will be determined by what they do, how they continue to grow and learn, and what they do with their unique talents and skills. Third, we can remind students that effort and occasional struggle are important to their learning. In fact, learning that comes easy is often forgotten just as easily. We can remind them that when they must concentrate and make multiple attempts before succeeding, they are building learning skills that will serve them for a lifetime. Fourth, we can point out to our students that it’s never too late to get better. Life continues to present lessons until they are learned. No matter how well our students did this year or how much they may have struggled, there are always opportunities to get better. Life is all about growth. Fifth, we can remind our students that school will end, but learning is lifelong. We can urge our students to continue to find and practice learning approaches that work for them. Sometimes their learning approach will not align with how they are taught. That doesn’t mean that they are not good learners. We can urge students to find the ways in which they learn best and embrace them. It can make all the difference. Sixth, we can advise our students that what matters most is not who approves of them. What matters and will count the most is their own approval, acceptance, and confidence. To chase the approval and acceptance of others is folly. We can urge our students to live lives they can be proud of and people who count will approve of and accept them. Seventh, we can assure our students that we see in them the potential for greatness. They have gifts and talents they may not be aware of yet. Each student has their own unique combination of special potential. Further, we can remind students that it’s not the A’s they received in school that will matter most, it will be the actions they take in life. It will not be the B’s they earned in school that will determine their future. It will be what they choose to become. And it’s not the C’s that will matter most. It will be what they are willing to commit. Eighth, we can urge our students to take life as it comes. There is no need or benefit to hurrying life. We can remind students that every stage of life will have its gifts and delights and its challenges and heartaches. Trying to accelerate life beyond their years risks their missing important lessons and experiences that will make them more satisfied and successful people. We can remind them to live each day with purpose and to make each day count. If they always try to do the right thing, then they will live a life with few regrets. Our end-of-year message is an opportunity to remind students one last time of the experience of the past year and it is a gift to take with them as they depart our classroom and school. Our best hope is that when they encounter life’s challenges and navigate life’s dilemmas they will be able to fall back on what they have learned and experienced in their time with us.

May 16, 2022

The Master Teacher Blog