They Say, I Say Ch 4

Ch 4

“Yes / No / Okay,But”

Three Ways to Respond

The chapter immediately addresses a thinking problem that I often encounter. “I am not smart enough to disagree with the experts.” The chapter lays out three ways to respond to researchers ideas, agreeing, disagreeing, or a combination. I appreciate the simplified approach to get the writer started. I often struggle with how to get into the conversation with the researcher/author, but just simply stating my agreements and disagreements is simple and makes sense.

The disagreement templates are useful and looking at simple examples triggers many memories of reading similar sentences frames in the research paper that I am currently looking at.I also found the agreeing with a difference or addition to be thought provoking. Saying, “I agree that X benefits Y but I can also see it adding to Z…” This is a method that I will use in my upcoming action research paper. The “yes but …” statements are also clearly outlined but I find them to lack the strength of argument that I would want to convey in my writing.

BTAR Ch. 4

Ch. 4 BTAR  Questions

Content Questions
1. The analogy of curriculum design can be used for action research in most cases. Creating the basic frame work of where you want to go with your lesson, why it is important, and how you will get there, maps on to both a curriculum plan and an action research project.

2. Having a critical question is the foundation of action research. The action research plan is a guide for how to get the best possible answer to your question. This is an area where I have been struggling. I am starting to see that the more refined and directed my action research question becomes, the easier it is to see a path to answering that question.

Process Questions
1. I think I will be able to find a balance with my particular question because I will be immersed in the environment and working with the instructional assistants that I am studying and questioning. My position in the study will be very beneficial because I am an instructional assistant and I want to learn how to better work with, direct and lead instructional assistant under my supervision in the near future.

2. My action research project is to understand special education instructional assistants in self contained classes. I want to know how they view their roll within the class, how they view the teachers roll, and how they best work within that self contained class as a team to best serve their students.  - - After talking to a classmate, I know that I need to get more specific about what I want to know. In general I want to make the job of an IA more fulfilling, more enjoyable, and more cohesive with the teacher/supervisor. I want to find out HOW to do that by interviewing and studying IAs and  teachers. Now I am seeing that I have more work to do in refining my question.

Chapter 3 Content Questions:

1. Triangulation means to use 3 measurements to locate a point in a space or region. This metaphor fits action research well. A more complete action research project will look at a question from different viewpoints (or coordinates). Looking from 3 points of view will allow the researcher to more accurately locate their question and its implications.
2. Action research is based on the idea of asking a specific question about your work in education. As we dig into this question we need to use research methodology tools to sift for our specific question.
1. Will the research methods help us return to the critical question? If yes, then the methods are purposeful.  
2. The focus of our research methods need to shine a light directly onto our critical question in order to be considered focused.
3. More data does not make it more trustworthy. Data that relies on research from distant colleagues and draws from multiple perspectives will be the most trustworthy.
3. “Open, honest, and above all do no harm” - my slogan acknowledges the idea of informing the students that you are researching about what you are in fact looking for. It also tells us that we should be transparent with staff, administrators and parents. Finally, our research should not take away from the educational experiences of our students. We are embedded in classes already and doing our jobs, our research should be designed to fit this context but never take away from what we are doing in the classroom.

Chapter 3 Process Questions

1. Time is always a limiting factor. Time is needed to design, implement and analyze collected data. The size and scope of your research is also a limiting factor due to how we are positioned in our jobs within the school we may not be able to get a solid cross section of students. Acknowledging these limitations and designing your research to look at your specific question in your specific context will make the process easier on ourselves.
2. The context is essential to my action research design. Because I am able to observe and survey students and teachers in general ed core content classrooms, my research design will be tailored to that context. I want to capitalize on the resources and access that I have in my current position by designing my research to fit where I am now.
3. For the students that I have a good connection with they are often surprised and excited to know that I am “in school just like they are.” I hope that these conversations will lead to students working with me with an open mind on my research question.
4. I anticipate my survey being difficult for students to assign a number value to how they see themselves as note takers. I will try to set up my questions to make them clear and I want my students to feel comfortable enough to give open and honest answers. To accomplish this I will try to survey students I have a good relationship with and possibly offer a small reward for their purposeful participation.

They Say, I Say Ch. 3

I immediately appreciated the authors focus on finding the correct balance of quotations in our research writing. Personally, I struggle with finding a proper balance in my own writing.  Some time has passed between my undergraduate course work and finding myself here in the Pacific University special education masters program. Writing some of these papers has been a challenge for me. The authors are speaking directly to me when they warn of quoting with anchoring the quote to the context of what I am trying to say. To solve this issue the “quotation sandwich” is suggested. I like this framework and will try to use it more. Again, as I have previously stated in other blogs on this book, I appreciate the sentence frames. They are like training wheels to get beginning writers, like myself, up and moving.

Journal Drop #5

Oct. 25,

Last week I was contacted by one of the special education directors asking if would be interested in taking a new job this year.  My new position would be in the Career Transition Program. This program is for students 18-21 to learn job skills and independent living skills. All of the students come from special education programs in the district. My questions are not an action research questions, but I have found myself at an interesting crossroads. Where will I go with my career? Will I stay with what I know? or do I want to try something new that is both interesting to me and a new challenge? Stepping out of my comfort zone and into a new challenge is appealing but this will also be my first year as a case manager and teacher of record.

Oct. 28

As I move towards the completion of the action research project I am noticing related questions rising up in my mind. We are looking at partially filled notes for SPED students but I could see research in this area being interesting for general ed students as well. I am also wondering how students will behave in the classroom when they are able to follow along, stay engaged and learn the material. I suspect that behavior will improve. Most behavioral researchers will say that behaviors have one of two functions, to get something or get away from something. Since I have taken on this mindset I have begun to look for the function of the behaviors  that I see. My suspicion is that if a student can access the information and engage that their behaviors will decrease. This is an action research question that interests me.

They Say, I Say Ch 1 & 2

They Say, I Say Ch 1 & 2

Chapter 1 highlights the importance of stating a clear thesis. Again the authors urge us to start with their basic framework and master it before departing from it. I feel like this is good advice and follows the way that I generally learn new skills. Specifically the goal outlined in this chapter is to start a conversation that will be clear to the reader what has been said on a given topic and then introduce what we think, see or have researched on the same or similar topic. Recently I heard about an argumentative tactic called “steel manning” which is the reverse of the common fallacy of “Straw manning” someone's argument. To Steel Man, one restates the strongest points of another person's position on an issue and then attacks it at its strongest. I understand that in research we are not always disagreeing with other researchers but I do see how using the strongest and clearest positions will improve the introduction of my own paper.  

The sentence framework examples given will be very helpful to forming a conversation in my papers. I appreciate the variety given by the authors. I am however having a little bit of trouble understanding the concept of the return sentences. On the face of it I can see why it is important to link back to past research and the thoughts of others on the topic in introducing the ideas. The authors urge us to make a genuine response to others views (this makes sense) but I feel like we are trying to find our own viewpoints, or own research, for our context…. Perhaps I am reading too much into this last portion of the chapter…

Chapter 2 urges an economy of words when summarizing the arguments that others have made. This summary should still be true and accurate to the original author while at the same time highlighting where their research meets our own. I really appreciate the idea of “temporary suspension of disbelief” when summarizing the arguments of others. This is a difficult yet important skill when getting into any conversation whether it be on education research, politics or religion, temporarily taking the other side and inhabiting their way of thinking is as the book suggests, “the hallmark of good actors.”

The authors urge us to find a balance between giving an accurate yet concise portrayal of the others work while at the same time “spinning” their arguments or work in the direction of our own. I initially found the “spin” suggestion and the satirical summary to be slightly disingenuous ways of “conversing” but I think I get the author's points here. I do not see myself using these tactics in any kind of formal research paper however. Finally, as someone who does not consider himself to be a good writer, I really appreciate all of the example sentence frames and word banks given throughout this book. I know I will refer back to them often.

Journal Drop #4

10-10-16

Classroom Management

I am currently working on a Functional Behavior Assessment assignment for one of my SPED classes. This project makes  me wonder about how we can teach students with such a variety of behaviors in the same room and in the same way. I am lucky enough to work with a variety of teachers and I get to observe their strategies for addressing students with difficult behaviors. Often I wonder how I will manage my classroom. Seeing the “tricks of the trade” employed by my coworkers is highly informative. I wonder about research in the area of classroom management? What works best? How do we know? In what context? Regular Ed vs. Self Contained vs. Inclusion? This is an area that I have a variety practical experience in however I do not know what expert teachers do.

10-12-16

Common Core Alignment

In the push for inclusion I feel like we are forcing common core goals and standards onto our special education students who may not be ready for grade level work. This makes for particularly difficult situations that can result in students shutting down, refusing to work, getting frustrated, sad and or acting out with undesirable behaviors. General ed teachers are attempting to do their jobs and they are teaching to the majority in the classroom but in inclusion classes there can be as many as 10 or 12 students who are significantly below grade level. How do we expect students to complete 7th grade level math when they have 4th grade abilities? How do we expect them to sit and not become frustrated, confused or upset when nearly everything they are being told and asked to do is over their heads?

BTAR Chapter 2 Questions & They Say, I Say

BTAR Chapter 2 Questions

1. “We research our own issues, meaningful in our current life and practice. We pursue critical questions that resonate with our professional community and have potential to improve teaching, learning, and Life.” Rewrite this sentence demonstrating the concept and your personal meaning-making of it.
1. How can I positively affect the lives of my students in the near future and further into their lives? What do I see as important tools to give to my students? How will these tools help the individual? How will I know?  
2. What does it mean to “problematize” and why is this important to action research?
1. To problematize is to understand (in the educational context) the goals of all involved in the education process. What does the student want? What does the teacher want? And to look for barriers to achieving these goals. What biases do those involved have, what problems pop up, what is the source of these problems etc. And how do individuals view their own biases and problems?
3. How and why does context matter when conducting action research?
1. Understanding the context of where we are conducting research is crucial to gathering accurate and meaningful data. Conducting research on students with special needs in inclusion classes would not be very effective in a school that did not have an inclusion model or did not have student with special needs. The social, political, and philosophical context of the school and its teachers needs to be understood. Getting a sense of how teachers feel about the inclusion model and their role in supporting students with special needs is critical.  
4. What are characteristics of workable critical question? Why do critical questions change during action research?
1. Critical question needs to be rooted in an understanding of the school setting, classrooms setting, the students needs and who the teacher-researcher is themselves. Understanding these spheres of influence help to refine and focus a critical question over time.

Process Questions

1. What do you know about your school community where you will be conducting your action research project? How does context matter to your action research study?
1. I have full access to demographic data of our school. I am mostly concerned with students who receive IEP services and who are in inclusion classes. Understanding how many of our students fit this profile is vital to conducting accurate research. I also want to understand teacher thoughts and philosophy on the nw inclusion model. This information will have to be gathered in order to get a feel for the context in which our students work from period to period.
2. What have you discovered about your research topic from distant colleagues? How will their expertise guide your study? In what areas do you still need to find more information? Where will you look for this information?
1. Thus far I have discovered that just mere inclusion of Sped and regular ed students does not seem to show any improvement on individuals classroom behavior as many had thought it might in the past. My action research is now focusing in on making the lessons more understandable and note taking more accessible to students in the hope that this access to learning will improve both academic and behavioral outcomes. I am using a variety of web based resources and search engines to find more information in this specific area.
3. What does your choice of topic, draft question, and choice of distant colleagues say about your own values and beliefs about teaching?
1. I think that my current choices and focus of my action research shows that I am deeply concerned with the possible flaws in the inclusion model. I am looking to find and test academic strategies to allow students with learning disabilities, executive function disorders and behavior management issues to access the same or similar levels of education as their peers.

Introduction to They Say, I Say

Immediately the book's introduction creates an analogy that I can understand. As a basketball coach I often forget that not everyone knows that standard “moves” and I assume they will be able to figure them out. The reverse is also true for me and writing. I THINK that I will be able to just figure it (academic writing) out but deep down I know this isn't the case and I will need guidance.

For a long time I have enjoyed debating people about sports, politics and especially religion. Those debates usually do not go anywhere. However conversations that involve give and take can often lead to better understanding. The Socratic strategy of restating your opponent's position is very important to having a meaningful and clear conversation, the same appears to be true of quality academic writing.

Returning to the basketball analogy, I appreciate the authors responding to the concern that writers will become robots. Often basketball players can feel the same way when initially learning the “moves” but once the basics and mastered they eventually develop their own style for each move.

Journal Drop #3

10-3-16

Making an Impact

Where can I make the most impact in special education? Where will I feel fulfilled, challenged, and at the same time avoid the burnout that I have seen in many special education case managers? This last point has been on my mind lately. In conversation with other members of the Pacific Cohort, many of us have noticed that sped teachers (especially those in self contained classrooms) take on a tremendous amount of stress which often leads to burnout. I have seen it many times myself with teachers that I have worked with.

How will I avoid the stress and feelings of burnout?

• Staying Organized
• Using my staff efficiently to assist me in data collection, behavior tracking, etc.
• Using district resources to assist my needs (Autism and behavior specialists, program assistants, etc. )
• Leaving my work at work
• Making time for myself

This semester I am taking a class on Transition Services. I am enjoying the class very much and could see myself working with older students. Helping these students transition into adult life and teaching them job skills, life skills and to be independent members of society has me really inspired right now.

10-4-16

Special Education and Action Research

There are so many interesting areas of action research that are coming to me as I reflect on my current classroom (Learning Resource Center) and my former classrooms (Life Skills). Self contained classrooms seem to lend themselves to the action research philosophy. By having a small group of students who you work with nearly every period, every day, you basically have a laboratory and a study group. Data collection duties can be divided among instructional assistants. Specific behaviors or academic skills can be zeroed in on and explored. I am primarily interested in problem behaviors, how to identify them, how to identify why they occur, and how to teach replacement behaviors, all in the goal of helping students to better access their education. Since I began working in the district I have been interested in behavior. Special educators have a variety of forms that they fill out to address behavior but these plans do not seem to have any ability to change behaviors. These BSPs (Behavior support plans) and FBAs (Functional Behavior Assessment) have become legal documents that only serve to meet the requirements of IEP legality. Often they serve little to no functional support. These students need real instruction and practice at using replacement behaviors.

Journal Drop #2

9-26-16

Frustrations in Education

One of my many roles in our school is to support a mainstream teacher with our IEP students and any other students in need. I feel frustrated watching this particular class being taught. The teacher I work with is a friend and we have a good relationship, but the class does not run smoothly and by my estimations, learning is not occurring. When I get the chance to work with students after lecture time I find that I can help individuals but I can not help everyone.

Now I am envisioning myself as a special education case manager. In that role I will have to suggest to teachers different teaching styles and modifications to better support our IEP students. This could be difficult. I do think I have an easy going personal manner but few teachers want to be told how to teach. I am wondering how I will walk this tricky and important line. Today I did approach my coworker and make a few suggestions. He runs a very strict class where he wants everyone doing the same thing but we did agree to try modifying and supplementing the note taking process for a few of our students. I have seen this approach used before to great success for students who worked slower than others or who were often off task. While supporting this particular class I want to try to continue to have conversations with the lead teacher in an effort to better serve the needs of our struggling students. My hope is that this class will serve as experimental grounds for working with not just students but also making recommendations (an important part of my future position) to teachers in my school.

9-28-16

Checking for Understanding

Every teacher (should) check for understanding daily. I have observed many techniques:

1. “Thumbs up, in the middle, or down” based on level
2. “Show me how you are feeling about this with 1-5 fingers”
3. Sticky notes for answering an exit slip question

And many more

Today I began wondering how effective these brief surveys of knowledge are? How do I know if I am getting honest answers? How can I encourage students to be honest about what they know AND what they DO NOT know?

I have also noticed that these methods of checking for understanding are often used initially and quickly fall off.  I wonder how a more disciplined and differentiated use of checking for understanding could benefit the teacher and students learning. This is an area of inquiry that could be interesting for action research.

Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research Ch 1

Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research Ch 1

The introduction and chapter 1 challenge us to be mindful of our thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the ideas posed by the authors. They implore us to note our disagreements and to connect to our own definitions of teacher, researcher and student. I am noticing thoughts popping into my head. “This seems overwhelming” “Who has time for this in their job?” “The idea of being a teacher and a researcher seems to be contradictory at times.” and many other thoughts. I do consider myself as a lifetime learner and I am trying to attach myself to the idea of being a teacher-researcher.

The authors ask us to consider our own personal paradigms and how they influence our view of the world and in turn our view of education. This is certainly a worthy goal. I like to think that I am a rationalist, with a scientific outlook of the world, and a value for evidence and facts. For these reasons I find myself identifying and feeling more comfortable with the quantitative research. Conversely, qualitative research is more difficult for me to understand. Action Research is more associated with qualitative research and I hope that as this class progresses I will begin to appreciate qualitative research, how it works, and how I can use it in my professional career.

Ch.1 Content Questions:

1. Why is it important to consider our own views of “good” teaching and research in begining action research?
1. Establishing a point of view or opinion on what is “good” as a teacher/researcher gives us goals and standards to aim for. We can establish a framework that we want to find ourselves in as teacher-researchers.
2. Why does context matter to our work as teacher-action researchers?
1. The context in which we teach determines  what, how, and why we teach. I aspire to work in the behavioral areas of special education. This context presents me with students who have needs that often times will be different than those of their peers. Another example of context could be imagining the students one could work with in inner city public schools vs rural private schools.
3. What does it mean to “deconstruct”?
1. Deconstructing is the strategic use of contradictory ideas, looking outside the binary to see what other options may be available to a given problem or system.
4. What is the differences between quantitative and qualitative research?
1. As I understand them, quantitative research relies on measures that can be looked at mathematically. Qualitative research is much more difficult to describe as it can include a mix of multiple methods of looking at and answering a question. In general qualitative research assumes that the “data” will change from time to time, place to place and person to person and thus relies on a different type of inquiry and data collection methods.
5. How does “mixed methods” research differ from action research?
1. Mixed methods uses both quantitative measures as well as qualitative reports in the  same study. The book suggests that action research is often qualitative but then goes on to say that action research is inclusive of data. I am still having a hard time seeing the difference between the two.
6. Define:
1. Self-Study - Preservice teachers examine themselves during the process of becoming a teacher. Looking to find what their beliefs, values, biases etc. may be and how to recognize these and use them to become better teachers.
2. Ethnography-Studying a group of students to find out; who are they? What do they want? How do they learn? Etc.
3. Curriculum analysis-The study of educational curriculum to determine if it is effective at getting students to meet pre determined rubrics of success.
4. Integrated Action Research - This is described as “trying out” a system, plan, etc. on students. Identify an issue, form a plan, implement and analyze the results.

Ch. 1 Process Questions:

1. What contradictions are between your image of “good” teacher and “good” researcher? What do the images have in common? How will you resolve these images as you continue your work?
1. Teachers apply research driven methods and researchers develop those methods after analyzing teacher action, curriculum and students outcomes. My initial thought is that these two roles could be contradictory and difficult to perform both objectively. I am trying to wrap my head around how the roles can coexist in the same person.
2. On the four types of teacher action research discussed - self-study, ethnography, curriculum analysis and design research - which makes the most sense to you at this stage in your learning?  
1. I think I understand self study best right now. The basic concept makes sense to me although I do think it would be a difficult task for me at the present time.

Action Research: Promise for Special Education

Action Research: Promise for Special Education

As I read this article I began to realize that I have done my own action research in the past without realizing it. My experience as a basketball coach closely mirrors the action research framework. I have learned from respected experts in the coaching field, I have studied new innovations in coaching and strategy, we analyze how our team is performing, we question what can be done to get better results or help struggling players and we implement new plans for changing and evolving circumstances and game plans. The basic idea and concepts of action research makes sense to me.

I can particularly see how the action research mindset can benefit students and teachers in special education classrooms. In my experience leading small group and whole class activities in self contained classrooms the cycle/model of “Plan-Implement-Reflect” was a process that helped me to have successful lessons and activities. When there were breakdowns or complete failures during these activities, reflecting with co workers was very helpful to identify some of the reasons why.

The article suggests that teachers are the agents and source of educational reform and not the objects of reform. I found this to be a powerful statement and agree whole heartedly. Using your classroom as a sort of laboratory to create, implement, test and evaluate new ideas and ways of teaching is a fascinating idea. It is also a very daunting idea. When I consider all of the duties and demands of a special education I become overwhelmed at times. The concept of teachers as action researchers only adds to my feelings of a looming and massive workload. However when I reflect on what I do, even now as an IA, I realize that I am a consumer of educational knowledge and I am attempting to put that knowledge into practice. Using evidence based strategies to better myself as a teacher and in turn improve the education of my students is an exciting idea. Developing some of those strategies on my own will be a challenging and rewarding process.

Journal Drop #1

9/15

Life as an IA

Working as an Instructional Assistant (IA) can be a frustrating job at times. I sit back and watch a lesson being taught from a very interesting point of view. From my position I can see students engaging with the material in many different ways. I can also see how easily students can be distracted and become disinterested when lessons and lectures are boring. In fact, I find myself tuning out at times during a math lecture. This school year I have begun to take notes during the classes that I work in. I am looking for ideas of what “works” and what doesn’t. In one particular class I see the same pattern of a long lecture, interrupted at times to discipline misbehaving students, followed by a very short period of time to complete the day's investigation and example problems. This work then becomes homework which many of the students have difficulty completing because they have a very limited understanding of the material and only about 5 minutes at the end of the period to try it on their own and ask me questions.

This particular class is very frustrating for me because I enjoy helping students understand and even find their own enjoyment of math. As an IA it is hard to find the time or a comfortable way of addressing some of the issues I see. For now I will use this as a learning opportunity where I can see what works and does not work in more traditional direct instruction environment.

9/20

Challenging Students: Applying action research

I have a class called Learning Lab where we are tasked with helping our students, many of whom are on an IEP, support their learning with extra lessons and review of their mainstream math and language arts classes. Only five days into the school year and we are seeing many challenging behaviors and learning disabilities (which can lead to more behaviors). I am also taking SPED 510 Behavior Management this fall. I have found myself in a unique place to merge theories and ideas from two classes that I am currently taking and implement them in the real life environment of a special education classroom.

The behaviors we are observing are creating questions for myself and my coworker. “Why does he constantly talk out?” “Why is she out of her seat multiple times during class?” and many more… I am attempting to find the root of the behaviors and address them there rather than only responding with “Raise your hand if you want to talk” or “stay in your seat till you have permission to get up” These thoughts have driven me to create a google form that I am using in class to quickly note student behaviors. This data is sorted in a spreadsheet and we are going analyze it at the end of the week. I am enjoying seeing how my interests and my personal classes are meeting in my job. While I do not yet have answers for these challenging behaviors, I do have a plan to track them and then apply some of the research we are studying in Behavior Management to the biggest problems.

EDUC612 intro

Three interesting things this week:

1) I work in an LRC class with students with a variety of behavioral and learning disablities. Immediately I noticed that I was more aware of my own presence, tone, and attitude as the small behaviors arose in the class room.

2) I noticed myself thinking more as a special education teacher/case manager as I observed other teachers working with our SPED students. Often I am focused on supporting our students immediate needs but I found myself thinking deeper, trying to find ideas and methods to inspire and motivate some of our tougher students toward more long term goals rather than just managiing their class room behavior and finishing a modified task.

3) I have noticed that special education teachers spend far less time preparing interesting and usefull lessons than many regular education teachers. I understand that the daunting leagal paper work is a limiting factor in this area.

Questions/Wondering

I am wondering if I can find a balance between meeting the legal requriements and still create interesting lessons.

Behaviroal classrooms are may area of interest. I have experience working with kids in behaviors in a reactionary and managing, after the behavior, setting. I want to learn more about pre teaching behavior management strategies.  How will this goal fit into my classroom schedule, teaching style, etc. ?

Currently I work in two inclusion classes. I agree with this philosophy but I already see teachers stepping on each others toes. I could see myself in an LRC role in the future. the inclusion model isnot going away. How do teachers collaborate together to teach effective lessons?

I see special education as a place where I can make a small difference in the lives of individual students, make inclusion classes better for main stream teachers working with sped students, improve the over all school climate toward students with disabilities and hopefully impact the greater community outside of school.

On Bullying

After watching most of the TED Talk videos I found the common thread between each story to be that bullying affects all sorts of people in multiple ways. As a teacher, being aware of the variety of ways that bullying can manifest itself today is very important. As a former coach of a girls team, I am well aware of how differently bullying can look; boy-boy, girl -girl, boy-girl, and girl boy, all appear very differently and are dealt with differently.

Only recently has the phenomenon of cyber bullying come to light but with its massive reach and ease of use, its effects are becoming more and more prevalent in our schools. As a special education teacher, I can see the need for social skills lessons and classes with my students who are developmentally delayed or lacking in emotional control. In the past, I have led lessons on topics like bullying and asking for help. These classes should be available to all students but I do think that special education students are particularly in need.

At Leslie, we have "bullying slips" where students can report incidents and seek help from their counselor and other staff. This is, of course, a good resource but my skeptical side see a slippery slope. While I do think bullying is a real issue, I also see savvy students who abuse our system to "get kids in trouble" or get out of class. I fear that in a possible overreaction to the problem of bullying that our schools could go too far in the other direction where students are not given the opportunity to have conflict and work through it themselves.

Class Room Competition

Competition has been a big part of my life. Playing youth sports, coaching high level high school basketball and even in my social life I find myself competing with friends in games. Not surprisingly I have integrated classroom competitions into my lessons. I use a PowerPoint jeopardy game to review the math concepts that we have covered in the past weeks. In reading this paper on competition, I often reflected on my jeopardy game. I do place the students into teams and we do keep score. However I give rewards based on participation and displaying appropriate behavior during the game. 

The concept of mastery vs performance learning was also very interesting to me. I know from personal experience that when I participate in a game based on knowledge I often find myself trying to form a strategy to win and "beat the game" rather than accessing the knowledge and learning from the game. I see this tendency in my class at times when the parameters of the game are not carefully constructed. 

The data seems to suggest that cooperative  conditions actually produce learners that perform at higher levels. This is a very important finding. However, a middle school life skills class is generally an uncooperative environment. Students require the skills and the ethic to cooperate before they can cooperatively learn. Competitive learning environments may draw in students to a subject area initially because they want to "play the game." In this sense I see competition in class as a positive tool at times. 

Finally, I also can see where the cooperation and competition can unite. In my classroom jeopardy game, at its best, students work together to generate answers and share knowledge. At the same time they are competing to get the correct answer and earn a prize. I like seeing this balance in my students and I think it allows students with different motivations to work together. 

Girls on the Edge pt.2

Well I am sure of it... I do NOT want to have a daughter. I am mostly joking of course, but this book can get your mind going down a rabbit hole....

Early in chapter 5, Sax is speaking to early childhood education and says that its "all about doing the right thing at the right time." This advice seems to sum up the advice of the entire book on raising a daughter.

I found chapter 5 to be very interesting. The idea that waiting to begin school till age 7 rather than 5, may produce children that are more ready to learn and more excited to learn in a classroom setting. The parents role in choosing when to start their child is obviously most important. As the book suggest if a girl is not ready to begin kindergarten there is a chance she could be misdiagnosed with ADHD. The medications and other implications that follow can be problematic. The parents role in educating themselves on these issues and understanding what kind of a school is developmentally appropriate for their daughter is a tough task requiring not only education but also socio-economic assets.

I have known of the "monkey tests" for sometime and have often referred to the tests when debating friends who claim gender roles are ONLY social constructs. Adding the "what" and "where" systems of the human brain to my arguments will be fun. As a teacher, knowledge of gender differences is essential. Finding creative ways to breakdown gender stereotypes will help both male and female students.

Sax suggests that anyone can teach boys with the right strategies but to teach a girl you have to really care about her as an individual and she needs to know that you care. I have found this to be very true through my coaching experience with both boys and girls. When I figured out that simply checking in with a player as she was shooting baskets before practice or greeting her as she came into the gym made a big difference when it came to her attention and respect during practice.

Sax speaks extensively on spirituality. I was raised catholic and went to private school for 12 years. Today I am more or less against organized religions and think that some can be quite dangerous, especially for young girls.  I worry about children being indoctrinated into religions and it is difficult to here conversations at school about bible study. Ideally I want children to explore and learn about their spiritual sides for themselves but I am not sure what the teachers role is in that pursuit.