Communication and Teaching: Dealing with Challenges

You've prepared for your assignment as best you could and piled your bag of tricks full of useful stuff to help keep students on track. You've utilized every method possible to help students stay focused or return to the task at hand. But you are still experiencing a few hiccups with a student or two that is making class time distracting.

Communication and Teaching: Arriving Prepared

In an earlier post, I discussed how a substitute’s day isn’t always “typical.” However, arriving early and being prepared for your assignment will help you have as typical a day as possible. Here are a few tips for arriving early and what to bring with you to prepare yourself for the day.

Communication and Teaching: A Substitute's Typical Day

So what is a substitute’s typical day like? The answer is simple: there isn’t one. A day may start like this. You wake up and get a call from the sub system or directly from a school. You accept the assignment, get ready for your day, and show up to your assigned classroom. That is about where the “typical” day ends.

Communication and Teaching: Why be a Substitute Teacher?

When students first discover there is a sub in their classroom, one of two reactions occur: “Oh, no, a substitute,” or “Oh yeah, a substitute!” Yet both reactions usually point to the same student expectation – the class is going to be…different.

Communication and Meaning: Not All Words Are Bad

This is a ninja (clipartion.com)

I really enjoy substitute teaching. Even when I am in a "difficult" class I have fun. Perhaps it is because I have a little bit of evil in me and relish in the challenge of an upstart student or two. I also enjoy not having to deal with school politics. I don't plan on being in one place long enough to get sucked in to any drama.

Until one day I inadvertently did, and it had to do with a word. I was sitting in the staff lounge and I overheard a teacher talking to the other teachers in the room about a memo of some sort that said teachers and students were no longer allowed to say the word...

Communication and Education: Questions to Ask Your Child's Teacher

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It's been about a month now since my son started his new school, and I can't be happier about his experience. Our curriculum night is coming up, and I am excited to hear what his teacher has to say about learning in her classroom. I'm not worried that my kiddo isn't adjusting. He is thriving both academically and socially, and it all started with a few simple questions.

I didn't ask his teacher all of these questions, some were asked to the principal prior to enrolling him into the school, and there are a few more questions that I will ask his teacher later. But your child's teacher should be able to answer all of these questions in a way that will give you a good idea what to expect in the classroom, how your child can have a successful learning experience, and how you can supplement your child's learning at home.

Question: How do I get my third grader to read regular books?

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A while ago, a parent told me her third-grade son loved to read comic books, but she couldn't get him to read regular chapter books. She was frustrated by this and asked me for suggestions to get him interested in reading the "regular books." I asked her why she felt he needed to start reading those "regular books," and her response was, "His fluency scores are terrible and he is behind on his reading scores for his grade level."

Raising a "Normal" Child - Social and Emotional Learning

One day, while watching one of my son's soccer practices, I began to notice how the kids interacted with each other and their coach. If a conflict arose, there would be some words exchanged and maybe a few huffs and eye-rolls here and there. But whatever the problem was either got fixed, or it wasn't important enough to continue talking about. The ones that did require some intervention were brought up to the coach, who appeared to handle the disagreements appropriately and to everyone's satisfaction. The coach always maintained a very positive attitude and no one was ever singled out as "the problem." He was able to get everyone back on track.

So a question popped into my head: My son had difficulties getting along with other kids in his school, but he had no trouble working with his teammates in soccer, why was that?

Raising a "Normal" Child - Learning to be Successful

My previous post introduced you to my family's horrifying discovery that we are not perfect. As parents, we made mistakes in the education and social upbringing of our son.Once strong willed, he was now fraught with anxiety issues and had difficulties engaging in social activities at school. The next phase of our lives involved acceptance, communication, and better expectations.

Anxiety can be frustrating

My son and I started having afternoon "conversations" where he would tell me about his day from going to school to coming home. At first he did not want to tell me about his "bad days" because he didn't want me to be mad. But, since I got called or emailed practically every day about his behavior, he learned he couldn't hide "bad days" from me. I also taught him, by being calm and nonjudgmental, that I accepted he would have "bad days," but this did not make him a "bad person." He had a hard time articulating his feelings, and many times his answers to questions were "I don't know." So we worked on finding the right words to describe various moments of his day.

Communication and the joys of teaching

image via KomoNews.com

A little while back, after posting about a conversation I had with a friend about writing, someone asked, "Have you ever considered teaching?" And yes, actually I have. In fact, my college courses were taken with an emphasis on education and teaching. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, it's up for debate) I chose a school that did not have a B.A. in Education and after two unsuccessful attempts to get into the Masters program, I gave up.

But I never lost my passion for teaching, and for years did tutoring, mentoring, and classroom volunteering. I would joke around with my friends that I would start my own school, but for a few years I stayed a little bitter that I was not able to get a teaching certificate. I have family that have been life-long educators, and some of my friends are teachers. When I first decided I wanted to go for my teaching certificate, almost every single one of them immediately asked "Why?!"

Communication and the dreaded Common Core

When did you first hear about the Common Core? If you're a parent, when did someone explain to you how the Common Core was implemented in your child's school? Unless you are an ardent supporter of education, you probably never heard of the Common Core outside of news blips or as a parent when you first realized your child's math homework was more confusing than an advanced statistics textbook. A few weeks back, comedian Louis C.K. took to Twitter to rant about what the Common Core was doing to his kids: "My kids used to love math. Now it makes them cry. Thanks standardized testing and common core!" This is a sentiment held by many frustrated parents. But do you know why it is so frustrating?

Regardless of whether you love the new common standards or you hate them, Louis C.K. has opened up a venue to debate it. Here is a man with celebrity clout relaying his frustrations, not as a comedian, but as a parent - who happens to have over 3 million Twitter followers. What was once a topic that occasionally hit the news in blips, the debate about Common Core now explodes from the media outlets. Some people in the media are praising Louis C.K. for pointing out the flaws in Common Core, and some people don't like what they hear because it jeopardizes the implementation of a lofty ideal. The debate is needed, because so much of what makes up the Common Core is still a mystery to many of us.

But of course, who wants to admit there was a mess up somewhere in the planning process. Supporters of the new standards like Michelle Rhee and Newsweek's Alexander Nazaryan were quick to respond to Louis C.K.'s dissatisfaction of the Common Core by trying to dismiss him as unqualified to weigh in. However, a quick Google news search shows an overwhelming amount of sources in support of the comedian's outspoken views. So why isn't the Department of Education listening?

Upset Dad does child's homework

I personally am also frustrated with the Common Core. Not it's ideal, mind you - I believe it is very important for our students to become better prepared for college and the global work force. What makes me mad is the way in which the Common Core (a basic by-product of that other good-idea-gone-bad "No Child Left Behind") was implemented. Education historian and educational policy analyst Diane Ravitch highlighted the rush to implement the new standards in a piece critiquing Newsweek's Nazaryan. In it, she makes a case for poor implementation, and a disconnect between the developers of the common standards and the teachers who must integrate them into the curriculum.

Another point she makes is how the U.S. government directly influences the implementation of the Common Core. By giving funding to states and school districts who adopt the new standards who fail to follow implementation, the Department of Education communicates to states that they must immediately adopt the new standards or lose their money. With funding being the most fought over topic in education, loss of federal funds can deal a huge blow to struggling schools. Accountability aside, is it fair to the students and families of these schools to be punished for a poorly planned, poorly implemented, and poorly communicated program? There is little to no communication between the DoE and educators as to how teachers are expected to implement a hastily developed program with little training and even less funding.

Photo from RhymeUniversity.com

According to Ravitch, studies have shown that using standardized test scores to evaluate teachers is ineffective and have the potential to cause more harm. Yet, Washington state recently lost their waiver for "No Child Left Behind" requirements because the state failed to include test scores as a "significant factor in determining teacher and principal performance levels." Again, communication is disconnected here. These studies that Ravitch cites were ignored by education reformers, choosing to listen instead to economists and business experts. Excuse me, but what do economists and business experts know about classroom instruction? These are children: they are firefighters, dragon slayers, NASCAR drivers, princesses, magicians, artists and fashion designers. They are not college students ready to be the next CEO of a major global company.

It boils down to this. Money. Education has become big business for publishing houses like Pearson and McGraw-Hill. Money is to be made in the tech industry as the standardized testing associated with Common Core moves to a computer-based format and online distribution. And what no one seems to talk about is the business of test prep, where new businesses will pop up to "help" struggling schools and struggling students adapt to the new standards by offering classes and consultations and private instruction on how to pass these tests (I highly doubt there will be any assistance in funding and implementing Common Core standards). Money is going everywhere but where it's needed - in classrooms.

So why are there so many parents and teachers frustrated by the Common Core and standardized testing? Because no one is communicating to them why this is important. No one is communicating how to receive training and materials to successfully implement these standards. No one is communicating where the money comes from and goes to. No one is communicating, and it is the most important part of any program to be successful. You can't just ram a project down people's throats and expect them to swallow it ignorantly and get excellent results. Communication also requires listening to feedback, so planners can see what works and what doesn't before it becomes a huge issue. Parents and teachers are frustrated because the powers that be would rather talk AT them than TO them.