Carol’s Summary:

New York Times reporter, Matt Richtel, looks at technology and the side effects on younger people in Sunday’s article, “Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction.” Richtel follows a few students who have natural obsessions with a variety of technologies and who see it effecting their academic lives. Vishal Singh, 17, is a bright student who aspires to be a filmmaker. He ended last year with a 2.3 GPA. He works on filming and cutting videos when he should be studying and hopes his talent will make up for where his grades lack when he is applying for college. Another student spends 6 hours playing video games during the week, and an even higher daily average on the weekends. While still another sends 27,000 texts a month and can get so caught up she forgets to do her homework. Can schools tear students away from their favorite technology? The principal at Singh’s school, David Reilly, believes that the classroom should incorporate more technology to get more students interested. “I am trying to take back their attention from their BlackBerry’s and video games,” says Reilly. “To a degree, I’m using technology to do it.”

Reilly’s method seems to be a common idea in the school system. Give students what they want and they will be more likely to show up and be engaged. Researchers are saying this might not really be so. Young brains are developing on technology that only asks for a quick piece of your time and is easily manageable with a low-attention span. Schools that cater to this new programmed thinking might be harming the student if it is the emphasis in both their personal and academic lives.

How can teachers use technology, white boards and gaming  strategies to get students to create their own lesson plans?  How can students be creative about teaching their peers through the technology they love to use? How can students be an ally for teachers in becoming technologically savvy? How can we look more broadly at how students learn and get them to be active participants in the learning process?  How can students and teachers collaborate more by developing great lessons together?

Article: Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — On the eve of a pivotal academic year in Vishal Singh’s life, he faces a stark choice on his bedroom desk: book or computer?

Read the full article at nytimes.com

Carol’s Summary:

States understand that it is not a question of whether or not school standards will change, but rather when. The Obama administration has been working on improving common standards across the country to make American students competitive in the work force nationally and globally, but the debate lives on about whether or not an overhaul on school standards will have a positive effect on the system.

As common core standards are being proposed, we’ve watched the bar dip too low in order to pass students so schools could comply with the No Child Left Behind Act. States are battling alone to find a solution to boost scores despite worsening conditions like program and funding slashes. Only thirty-nine percent of college students are currently graduating from 2- and 4- year programs. States are facing common problems and a common solution may be the only way to pull the whole country from the poor performance scores and bring them back toward the top.

The proposed standards are supported by international evidence that shows mastery of these standards lead to higher success rates in college and the world of work. High school curriculums are expected to teach to college and career readiness to increase the percentage of graduates to 60 percent by 2020, as projected by President Obama.

Article: Coming to Terms with Common Core Standards

From its inception, the Obama administration has set its sights on the unevenness of existing state standards and promoting the development, adoption, and implementation of common standards that would provide each school across the country with clearly defined markers of what students should know and be able to do at each level of their K–12 schooling.

Read the full article at: ascd.org

Carol’s Summary:

Does more time in the classroom lead to better test scores? Elementary schools nationwide are cutting down on the number of recesses in the student’s day in hopes of doing just that. As the number of obese children rises, the amount of social interaction declines with technology, and more schools get criticized for not teaching to creative and critical minds, the elimination of recess becomes more of a highly debated topic among teachers and parents. Just as adults are required to take breaks throughout their day, a child especially needs that time to release balled-up energy from sitting in class. It seems time would be spent more efficiently if students were rewarded with more frequent breaks so they could return to class with a more focused attitude and the knowledge that their hard work leads to another deserved break.

It is hard to imagine taking more free minutes away from students will encourage them to work harder or enlarge their capacity to absorb more information. Eliminating recess shows the test score is the priority, not the student. A child’s school experience should be designed for the human mind with socializing, running, creating and breathing. Without these activities a child goes to school to get programmed like machinery to pass a test. We need to think very carefully about finding the balance between structured space and allowing enough playtime to roam and open a child’s mind. A successful student and member of society possesses both analytical and creative skills.

Carol’s Summary:

Beverly Woods Elementary school was recognized last year as a “National School of Character” by the national nonprofit Character Education Partnership for their character program. The school’s success has school officials wanting to spread the program statewide. At Beverly Woods, teachers select a group of 4th and 5th graders to be peer-mediators to solve conflicts between two people or small groups. After the session, the mediators respect the understood confidentiality and shred all paperwork linked to the session. Peer-mediation is usually a method used in middle or high school, but educators at Beverly Woods strongly believe their students need to learn conflict-resolution skills now so they are prepared to deal with the bigger issues they will inevitably encounter in 6th-12th grade.

Character programs are being placed in more and more schools to reduce discipline problems and bullying and encourage students to advocate for themselves. Systemwide, North Carolina schools choose to focus on one character trait for a month, such as respect, responsibility, and honesty studied so far this year. However, each elementary school has the freedom to implement the program in the best way they see fit for their individual school.

Technology has done amazing things for the student, like give them more information at their fingertips than ever before, but it has also caused new problems other generations haven’t had to deal with like cyber-bullying and the disconnected communication carried over social networking, texting, and IMing. Character education breeds a human connection that has become so rare, and builds a safe community only achieved in a physical environment that encourages interaction between peers. LifeBound helps students become emotionally intelligent through developing specific skills to learn about themselves, understand peers’ actions, strengthen their ability to make friends, and manage stress in People Smarts for Teenagers. For more information, please visit our website.

Article: Character program may go statewide

Officials from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction recently observed – and applauded – Beverly Woods Elementary’s Character Education program and would like to find ways to expand the concept to schools throughout the state.

Carol’s Summary:

What is the impact of surface learning verus in-depth or higher order learning? Author and teacher, Kelly Gallagher, comments on school standards and their reflection on student and teacher adequacy in his Education Week article, “Why I Will Not Teach to the Test.” Gallagher quotes one social studies standard to illuminate his point: “Compare and contrast the Glorious Revolution of England, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution and their enduring effects worldwide on the political expectations for self-government and individual liberty.” This is a complex standard that has the potential to exercise the student’s critical thinking abilities and strengthen their problem solving skills for use in and out of the classroom. But how deep is the student required to think in their response? Most likely, the class will be taught to memorize the answer so they can move on more quickly to cover more standards and accomplish more surface learning.

A study from the journal Science Education researched high school science students to find the effects of surface learning versus more in-depth learning. The study compared two groups of students: one group spent less time on more material; the other spent more time on less material. At the end of the year, the group that spent less time on more material did score higher on state tests than those who went deeper into less material. However, the group that spent more time on less material earned higher grades than the other group when they entered college.

Students must be involved in the learning experience to succeed in higher education and the world outside of the classroom. Critical thinking gives students the ability to analyze and make connections between what they know and new information. The critical thinking skills a student acquires in school when comparing and contrasting revolutions in history will undoubtedly reappear in their life as a professional when they are required to deal with conflict, be accountable and lead a team.    There is a high cost to “surface” thinking and there is great upside to each student personally and professionally if they develop deeper and more sophisticated learning skills. LifeBound’s “Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers” promotes learning for school, career and life by addressing  problem solving techniques, the importance of teamwork and collaboration, risk taking and many more skills. To learn more about LifeBound’s books, please visit our website.

Article: Why I Will Not Teach to the Test

In the midst of controversy surrounding “value added” teacher assessment, which flared recently following the Los Angeles Times’ public teacher rankings, the real issue is often overlooked: The state tests being used to evaluate student progress—and, in turn, the effectiveness of teachers—virtually ensure mediocrity.

Read the full article at: edweek.com

Today is Veteran’s Day.  It is a time to give thanks and pay homage to all of the people who have served this country—past and present.  We owe our freedom as a nation to these brave individuals who have made huge personal sacrifices on our behalf to preserve our liberty.  I’ll never forget the first time, as a college student, I walked through Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day as a rising junior in college.  I was awestruck with the number of individuals who were buried there and I was equally as touched seeing the eternal flame of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

A few years ago, I had the chance to visit friends in Manila, Philippines.  We went to the WW II gravesite where thousands of soldiers were buried.  This was especially bittersweet for me because my own dad, who survived his service on a destroyer, the USS Dyson,  had died fifteen years earlier.   But, unlike the people here, his life as a young person was spared.

I often think about the returning veterans from our current war and how much more we need to do to integrate them into college, when they return, and society as a whole.   The best way to honor the many millions who served and died too young is to create opportunity for young people who, like my dad, returned from service with barely two nickels to run together.   If there is a way for you to make a difference with a vet—through your volunteer tutoring, through your church or place of worship, or through your local community college—it will make a difference.  This Veteran’s Day, we can all honor those who gave their lives by honoring in real time those who are rejoining our society and deserve every advantage, dignity and opportunity that we can offer.