Lay a foundation with your students on day one On the first day or two of school, it can be tempting to want to lay the ground rules. You know, set the expectations about workload, go over the rules, and fill out required forms. But Rick Wormeli wants to challenge educators to think differently this year. Wormeli, who is one of the first Nationally Board Certified Teachers in America, says that students want to know that you're going to transcend their current condition and help them aspire to something more than they are. "And when all they [students] get is more rules and regulations they realize one more year where there's nothing here for me." Wormeli recommends laying a foundation of meaningful relationships with students by mixing in activities that allow you to get to know and understand where the students are coming from. Wormeli recently listed ways this can be accomplished in a recent article he penned for AMLE, and he elaborates on those ideas in Episode 114 of the Class Dismissed podcast. Wormeli's beginning of the year ideas "The Best Way for You to Learn" Cards Using index cards, teachers can ask students to describe how they best learn that particular subject. "Kids are candid," says Wormeli. "They will say things like, look if it's really important, write it on the board." Or he says some students may ask you not to assign online assignments because their sibling always hogs the computer. "I've got a stack that I rubber band and I look through that as I try to decide what I'm going to do next," Wormeli says kids will say some really cool things and give him lots of examples. Letters to the Teacher from Students as their Parents When students write under a pseudonym, they feel much more free to speak their mind, says Wormeli. "When I get what they say about themselves, and then I get what they think their parents would say about themselves, I'm getting a really fleshed version of the child," says Wormeli. "When someone is fully dimensionalized, you really care a heck of a lot more. Six-Word Memoirs "I love six-word memoirs!" says Wormeli. They really make kids come out of their shell and say profound things. The brilliance of six word memoirs is the brevity, teachers can use six-word memoirs as their students examine the content. "It really reveals a lot more about what the student is thinking." Wormeli says he often has students continue to send six-word memoirs after class about sports or pop culture. To hear more from Rick Wormeli, listen to Episode 114 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.   All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2019

A 2012 NAEP report concluded that only one-third of eighth and twelfth graders performed above the basic level in writing skills. How did we get here? Steve Graham, Ph.D., is a professor at Arizona State University and for the past 30 years, he has studied how writing develops and how to teach writing effectively. "There's just not enough attention paid to teaching writing in schools today," says Graham. Graham says 20-30 percent of teachers deliver a robust writing program, but when you look at the remaining classrooms, there's no emphasis on teaching writing. "It hasn't been a major part of most reform efforts in the U.S. in the last century or this century." Graham acknowledges that Common Core standards did put a priority on writing, but he says it wasn't never really actualized. But writing is essential in almost every job. Graham says he recently heard a police officer say that he draws a pen or a pencil every day. He has not drawn his gun once in the last year. What can we do? There have been some grassroots efforts to improve the way we teach writing. The National Writing Project has been actively promoting writing for over 50 years. They started with teachers in San Francisco at the grassroots level who were interested in writing, and now they work with educators all over the world. Graham says at the policy level, we need to start treating writing the way we treat reading. "Reading enjoys considerable emphasis as a policy initiative. We want our kids to read, and we want our kids to read well," says Graham. Graham credits public campaigns and the public as a whole for putting pressure on policymakers to put a focus on reading. "A similar kind of thing needs to happen for writing," says Graham. Five things educators can focus on Graham offers five things that educators should do to improve writing in their classrooms. Kids have to write and its better if they write about something that has a real purpose We need to look for ways of supporting them. Teachers need to be clear about their writing goals for the students and look for ways to support them. We need to teach specialized skills... Spelling Typing/Handwriting Planning Evaluating Sentence Construction We want to create an environment where kids can thrive and take risks. Writing is personal We want to make sure we connect writing to learning and reading and vice-versa. To hear more suggestions on how we can improve the way we teach writing, listen to Episode 113 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or on iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2019

Why are we still using an outdated system? There's been a lot of advancements made in education over the past 100 years, but grading students from A to F on a 100-point scale is not one of them. The grading system most schools use today was first used at Mount Holyoke College in 1897. Middle school principal Eric Saibel recently wrote an article in Education Week challenging educators to reevaluate what he describes as "a profoundly arbitrary and subjective ranking system." "If what we want in schools is to create a culture centered on learning and growth then a feedback model based on points and percentages isn't the most effective route," says Saibel.  "It does provide feedback, but the problem with letter grades is that it combines every aspect of what a student does both academically and behaviorally, mixes it all in a cauldron and then spits out a percentage. So what we get is information that is not very nuanced. Saibel says that the current grading scale has led to grade inflation. "In 1940 15% of grades at private colleges and universities fell within the A range. In 2008, that number was almost 45%." that's from the book "Excellent Sheep" says Saibel. Saibel argues that the problem with A-F grading is that there's a wide range of practices between schools and even classrooms. He also points to a misconception that students will be motivated when they score poorly on an assignment or test, but argues it actually may prompt students to withdrawl from learning. What does grading reform look like? Saibel suggests a few possible to changes to grading. Implement a type of "habits of learning" rubric.Three modelsNew Tech Network Learning OutcomesISTE Student StandardsHabits of Learning created by his own schoolSeparate academic grades from homework.Separate academic grades from behavior.Give standards-based grades, then convert them to letter grades. Saibel says sometimes he feels a little bit isolated when he's making the case for grading reform, but he knows several colleagues that agree a major shift is needed. Susan Brookhart from the School of Education at Duquesne University penned a similar article in the ASCD Summer Edition. Saibel says the awareness from the research goes back to the 1980s and 90s, but the implementation of some type of new system could take much longer. To learn more about Saibel's ideas on grading reform, listen to Episode 112 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or on iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2019

Valerie Lovato teaches elementary school at Eagleton Elementary in Denver Colorado.  In her school district, it’s encouraged to conduct home visits with upcoming student's families right around the start of the school year. Lavato knows it's one of those things that a teacher can procrastinate on, but she says, "once you start, you don't want to stop." She's been doing home visits for the past six years. Her goal is to build relationships with parents and to identify opportunities and challenges. However, it's not easy. It's one thing for educators to talk about doing home visits, it's another to accomplish the ambitious task. Lavato says that the hardest part is just getting started each year. "That very first phone call, and telling families, I want to come to your house and visit you at your home, in your space. Making that first phone call I always get butterflies, even now," says Lavato. Sometimes parents aren't thrilled about having visitors at their home, so Lavato always offers an alternative location, such as a park or McDonalds. But she says that the children are always thrilled to see their teacher during the visit. "They are sometimes waiting out in the front yard for me," says Lavato. To learn more about beginning home visits with your class, listen to Episode 111 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or on iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2019

For a teenager, applying to a university can be intimidating. In decades past, high school counselors would have the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with students to make sure student's applications were on the right track. Unfortunatly, today's student to counselor ratio at most high schools makes that one-on-one guidance nearly impossible. CollegePoint is aggressively working to provide a solution. The organization targets high-achieving students from low and moderate-income families that typically would not apply to top universities that they are qualified to attend. The non-profit is accomplishing this virtually. "We have an advisor that matches with every student," says CollegePoint's Alysha Rashid. The advisor then meets with the student using different virtual tools. "Whether it's by text, email, phone calls, video chats, advisors get to meet with students as often as they would like," says Rashid. Bryden Sweeney-Taylor says they work with about 60 full time college advisors and about 600 part-time volunteer advisors. "This year we'll work with 12,000 students." says Sweeney-Taylor. The service is free and made possible by Bloomberg Philanthropies. "Because it's virtual because we're not flying advisors across the country, we're able to reach students in small towns and in rural communities and in all 50 states," says Sweeney-Taylor. To learn more about CollegePoint listen to Episode 110 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or on iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2019

The idea of using restorative practices in the classroom is straightforward. Educators build, and as needed, repair relationships with students, all in an effort to prevent or respond to conflicts a student may be going through. For example, if you two students get into a fight a school. A school not using restorative practices would suspend the students for a few days and then send them back to the classroom. However, a school using restorative practices would have conferences with the students and sometimes parents both before and after a suspension. During that conference, educators would ask the students a lot of empathy driving questions. This is done so each party involved will have a better understanding about how everyone feels. "If you do something wrong. You have to repair the harm for what you did wrong, says Nathan Maynard. Maynard studied Behavioral Neuroscience at Purdue and has been facilitating restorative practices for over ten years. Before becoming an educator he worked in the field of juvenile justice. Today he serves as the Dean of Culture at Purdue Polytechnic High School in Indianapolis. Earlier this year, Maynard and his colleague Brad Weinstein released "Hacking School Discipline" a book that offers educators ways to create a culture of empathy and responsibility in schools. In episode 109 of Class Dimissed, Maynard gives a digestible look at the benefits of restorative practices and how we can start implementing them in our classroom. To hear our full interview with Maynard, listen to the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or on iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2019

Dr. Rebekka Darner, an Associate Professor of Biology Education at Illinois State University, says that educators are frequently confronting science denial in their classrooms. Darner says individuals that ignore science has always been around. There have always been "flat earthers" and people that have ignored the science behind natural selection, but Darner thinks instructors are now encountering science deniers more frequently. "I think what we're seeing in the recent decade or two is that these things that used to exist on the periphery of society have started to migrate more toward the center," says Darner. "And we encounter it more in our classrooms." So how does a teacher arm themselves with the skills to respond to students that may knowingly or unknowingly ignore science? Darner suggests that educators must start by understanding the emotions and thinking behind science denial, and she offers ways teachers can delicately push back against inaccurate claims that students may make. To hear our full interview with Dr. Rebekka Darner, listen to Episode 108 of the Class Dismissed podcast on your favorite podcast app or on iTunes. Rebekka Darner can be contacted via email at rldarne@ilstu.edu All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2018

In Episode 107 of Class Dismissed with speak with the authors of "Absent From School." Michael Gottfried is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Ethan Hutt is a professor at the University of North Carolina. Their book was written to help educators and policy makers understand the impact and causes of chronic student absenteeism. This podcast is now live on iTunes and your favorite podcasting app. Developing...Check back for a written summary.

How to be inclusive while remaining authentic Matthew Morris says that part of his journey becoming an educator involved a lot of reflecting on what school was like when he was growing up. “When I was going through my experiences as a child and thinking about some of my friends, even some of own my family, my own brother. It was kind of saddening for me to see some of the outcomes now as a grown man. Morris says that some many of those family and friends are geniuses in their own right, but he feels like they got the short end of the deal. “I feel that education was one of the biggest impediments to their lack of quote-unquote ‘traditional success,'” says Morris Morris, a black male, now teaches middle schoolers in Toronto, he’s also a blogger, speaker, and anti-racism activist. He uses his blog to talk about culture and education, with an emphasis on how black males navigate institutional settings both as students and as teachers. In Episode 67 of Class Dismissed we talk to Morris about a blog he authored titled “10 Ways To Make Your Classroom More Inclusive of Black Students” Morris tells us what he thinks is missing to make a lot of classrooms more inclusive, and he has some tips on things that you can implement in your classroom tomorrow. Listen to Episode 67 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes. Other links related to Episode 67 These are the best U.S. cities to live in on a teacher's salary -- and the worst Jackson Public School District loses 236 teachers due to licensing snafu All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2018

Jackie Waldman, a New York City School Teacher and a certified Life Coach has been teaching for 30 years. She also works with other educators to help accomplish life goals and decrease the stress that many teachers feel during an average work week. In Episode 105 of Class Dismissed, Waldman gives us some pointers on how educators can use their summer to recharge and get the right mindset for the following school year. "I feel like the beginning of summer is a great chance to reflect because we're so busy that we are not aware of the level of stress that we're impossing upon ourselves," says Waldman. "We also don't think about the impact upon our health." You can listen to all of Episode 105 on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017 – 2019