banning binders in professional development

Our new principal decided to institute a "norm" (just call it a rule, please) regarding the use of paper and pencil in professional development meetings.

"I'm not angry with anyone, but I did notice some grids of Buzzword Bingo and several people who were passing notes or drawing pictures instead of using their paper for note-taking.  To avoid the distractions, we will add this to our collective norms."

I feel split on this issue.  On one hand, I agree with him.  Members of our staff are not truly present when their head is in a notebook.  Often, the note-passing becomes a distraction and they miss crucial information.  Besides, it can feel disrespectful to the presenters when the teachers are playing a game of Buzzword Bingo.  I don't buy into the teachers' claim that they are taking notes.  Who could possibly find the need to access information from an incredibly dull professional development?

However, I see this as a bandage on a massive open wound.  Teachers are not actively engaged in professional development, because the meetings are not engaging.  If I sit silently without a paper in my hand, my mind will wander.  And, while the system would love to take that as well, as long as I have self-determination, I have my own mind.

Honestly, when I am sketching pictures I am listening.  It's a hands-on way for me to keep my attention.  Would a presenter rather me focus on a sketch or on that person's bad comb-over? It's not about physical engagement as much as mental engagement.

A better solution would be to change professional development so that:

1. It is relevant and job-embedded so that teachers feel that what they are doing connects to the subject they are teaching
2. It is collaborative and horizontal so that teachers can provide their own expertise
3. It is assessed on a student or school-wide level
4. It is interactive
5. It takes into consideration issues of self-efficacy and motivation and not simply skills.  Yes, it's cool to know a skill, but what about the conceptual knowledge and the notion of how a skill will be used in the classroom?
6. It models how we would want to teach.  Don't lecture to me about the vices of lecturing to students.
7. It is pencil-integrated. Yes, allow teachers to use our binders and paper and pencil in graphing data, writing up proposals and creating lessons together.   

So, instead of banning binders, I would use them in a pencil-integrated approach to professional development.  If you make it interesting, you might find that I won't be sketching cartoons making fun of former president Grover Cleveland.

pencil paradigm shift

games are great, I'm sure, but I want students to use pencils for things like budgets

I'm going to be honest here.  When I first began integrating pencils into the curriculum, I assumed it would automatically increase motivation.  After all, students constantly complain about chalk dust and every one of them hates cleaning the slates.  I figured they would enjoy pencils and paper simply because we were using pencils and  paper.

At first, I was right.  They would see a shiny new crisp yellow pencil and they were hooked.  However, I ran into a problem real quickly. Most of my students used pencils for drawing and for games or occasionally to send pen pal messages.  Few of them had ever used a pencil to graph a problem or to fill out a budget.  Thus, when we did a financial planning lesson, they complained.  "I thought I would be able to play Tic-Tac-Toe and Hang Man.  Tic-Tac-Toe is logic and Hang Man is reading, right?  Can't we play pencil games?"

Students walk into class assuming pencils are amusement devices.  It's often a rude awakening when they find that pencils are learning tools.  Sure, they are shiny and crisp and they don't leave chalk dust.  But don't be fooled by the novelty.  They are meant for thinking and not for entertainment.

So, what ultimately motivated the students?  The project was a success (and I use that term sparingly here - many students struggled, created mismatched graphs, had eraser smudges all over the places, etc.) because it was relevant to the students' lives.  In the end, authenticity triumphed over novelty.

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our latest snag

I heard the key to a quality journal is to use good stock photography lacking much creativity

It's no secret that the Panic of 1896 has really taken a toll on tax revenues.  While robber barons created a Wall Street oligopoly leading to our economic collapse, somehow it is public education that faces the huge pay cuts.  Where were the increases during the economic growth? Non-existent.  Yet, we are supposed to sit on our hands while education money is stripped away.

Off my soapbox.  I didn't mean to get political on my small band of readers.  I opened a letter today with an explanation that, while I will have pencils and paper next year, we will not have anything to put them in. It doesn't matter that my students are low-income and cannot afford their own pencil box.

My wife was outraged.  "What are they going to do, put the pencils in a pocket?  That will puncture a scrotum."

"Please dear, these are Victorian times.  We don't talk about such parts."

"This isn't England.  This is America and I can say scrotum whenever I choose," she explains.

"I guarantee that parents will not let their children take pencils home.  Lead will break.  Pencils will snap.  Paper will be crinkled.  Then there is the issue of potential stabbing.  This may very well ruin the entire initiative."

"Can they just put the pencil in a different kind of box?" she asks.

"The district won't allow it.  The only accepted protocol is a pencil box."

"Why's that?"

"They say that it has to do with weight distribution.  It's science, pure science, as infallible as phrenology and using leeches."

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course management system

So, last year, we're at the Pencil Integrated Education (PIE) Conference.  Educators are quit fond of acronyms, but this year it was a little awkward.  Apparently, a whole sleuth of culinary enthusiasts arrived on a train only to realize that our conference was more about learning with paper than cooking with crust.

"Hey Tom, you should check this out," my best friend says.  "Have you ever heard of this?"

We walk over to a booth where a man is advertising an organizational structure for classrooms.  "What is this?" I asked the man.

"This is Chalkboard.  It's a course management system. You get it all in one package.  We will ship you a few boxes and you'll get a binder for every student, a gradebook for yourself and several folders to store student work."

"I'm impressed," I tell him.

My buddy holds the binder, "Look at this.  There is a built-in calendar so that students can write their assignments and keep track of grades.  There are tabs with all the categories chosen ahead of time. Seriously, this is genius, Tom.  You should get your district to buy these if you're going to get that one-to-one pencil to student ratio next year."

"I know.  I would just collect binders, do some binder checks and record the grades in the grade book.  It's so easy."

At this point, a woman walks up and begins perusing the binder.  "I'm not really a teacher.  I'm a pie enthusiast and by that I mean apple pie and not the number that never ends.  I couldn't help but notice your excitement over this.  It's a binder.  What's so special about that?"

"Are you serious? It's a whole organizational system," I share.

"Yes, but aren't you already organized as a teacher?"

"Sure, but this does it for me."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to develop something a little more organic for your own needs.  You know, if someone tried to organize my recipe cards for me, I'd get angry. I very well might whack them with a rolling pin. Besides, don't you want students to learn to organize information on their own."

"I suppose, but this is more efficient."

"Don't confuse efficiency for effectiveness.  Why not just tell kids to organize their work according to their own needs?  It could be a folder or a binder or a back pocket for all I care.  Aren't you more concerned with learning than with organizing assignments?"

I'm beginning to think the pie lady was right.

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is shorthand ruining the English language?

A Language Arts teacher pulls me aside, "Mr. Johnson, I'm concerned about your former sixth graders.  Did you teach them how to write properly?"

"Yes sir, I did.  Are they having a hard time?"

"Well, I'm concerned that some of them have been using shorthand and abbreviations," she explains.

"Well, that doesn't surprise me.  They often hand one another messages written in shorthand before and after school. Apparently they even set the messages on the walls of their friend's homes," Mr. Brown mentions.

"You mean they leave comments for everyone to read?" the Language Arts teacher asks.

"Yes. Personally, I blame it on those PenPal networks they've joined," Mr. Brown adds.

I stay diplomatic and say, "I'll work harder on teaching them proper grammar and punctuation."

Upon further reflection, I have a few thoughts:

• Short-hand is simply another register.  People can switch between casual slang, casual, formal English, persuasive essays, etc. without one register "bleeding over" into the other. A true writer can write a persuasive paper and a poem without losing the ability to do either.
• Short-hand is designed to be efficient and has its place.  Some day, secretaries will use it, I'm sure. My guess is you'll see it throughout the corporate world.
• Language is fluid. It changes constantly.  I can't think of the last time I voted for a member of "Congrefs"
• I use shorthand when students take notes. I also allow them to send answers on a shorthand message. Shorthand can have its place in the classroom.
• Teachers shouldn't ban shorthand, but instead teach students about the time and place to use it.  That's the key to pencil-integrated literacy.

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Pencil Island

indeed, island is a perfect metaphor to describe the isolation and loneliness of worksheet learning

My principal walks into my classroom and says, "Tom, we have a consultant here who works for Pencil Island."

"Is he really a consultant or a salesman?" I ask.

"Just meet with him.  He tried sending you a telegram and you never answered."

"Sorry, I meant to go see him. My horse was broken down.  I'll . . . I'll meet with him I guess."

Minutes later, I'm ushered into a room where a smiling man in a three-piece suit is sitting down.  "I brought you some bagels and Coke. I hope you don't mind."

"I'm not sure I should be consuming cocaine on day that I have to work, but I'll have a bagel." It's strikes me that the Coca-Cola and the product he's selling aren't entirely different.  Sweet, efficient, addicting, but in the end deadly to a child.

"We have a whole system that you can use in a pencil-integrated classroom.  Imagine this: each child learns discreet skills independently.  Step-by-step they move through a sequential order designed for the mastery of each math, reading and writing skill."

"Wouldn't it make sense to have students use paper and pencil to write papers and solve equations?  What if they did some of it independently and worked cooperatively together instead?" I argue.

The consultant-snake-oil-salesman answers, "That sounds great.  But aren't you tired of kids not working?  This allows each child to work at his or her level independently.  Each time they do a worksheet correctly, you put a sticker on the paper.  If they pass all the pencil-based worksheet tests, they can earn the chance to play a pencil game. You can even allow free drawing time if you'd like."

"Do teachers need training on this?" the principal asks.

"We provide our own professional development.  However, trust me, it's a very user-friendly system. Teachers love it, because it replaces the teacher with the program.  Think of it this way.  You move from a sage on stage to a guide on the side."

Note to self: never trust people who rhyme their responses.

Don't get me wrong.  There is a time to practice discreet skills.  But it seems to me that worksheets fail to inspire.  If you aim for "basic skills" you won't hit it.  If students work on authentic pencil-integrated projects, though, and have to use critical thinking, the skills will increase along the way.

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what paper do we use?

We had an interesting discussion about paper with the representative from district office today.

"I need to know what type of paper we should use," the edu-crat explained.

"I think we can go with lined paper for us and let kids decide if they need any other type."

A teacher voiced her concerns, "That's not going to happen while I'm here. There are way too many platforms.  How am I supposed to grade papers written on so many different types of paper?"

I decided to cut in at that point, "What if it's not about format but about learning?  So, a kid wants to use the free lined paper donated by the folks who design paper.  Maybe another kid wants to use the fancy iParchment that the professional artists use.  Perhaps another one wants the MicroPaper that they use in the corporate world.     One kid wants wide ruled and another uses college ruled.  Is that such a bad thing?"

The district man explained, "I think the mere availability of paper makes it confusing when you ask for paper help from the district.  Or, how about this: What if a student is using illegally-secured paper that he stole from a paper supplier?  These are very real concerns. "

"I'll encourage students to use the free paper that is available to the public within the paper commons.  It's a great place where you can take paper when you need. And as far as paper help, shouldn't a paper expert understand all paper platforms?"

The teacher glares at me and says, "If you think I'm going to accept work created with different types of paper, you're insane.  What if a student gets it from a spiral notebook and I get frizzys on my desk? I can't have frizzys."

"So, you tell that student to cut and paste the work from the first paper into your paper platform.  It's not that hard to do, really."

The edu-crat turns to me and explains, "Tom, I think you're outnumbered on this one.  Our district only uses iParchment.  I know it's expensive, but it's top-quality and it will last longer.  Besides, it's what the professionals use. If students want to bring in their own paper, it has to be iParchment."