It's time to rethink pacing guides

"Learning isn't supposed to be fun," declared a student one day. Shocked, and a little sad, I struggled for a moment with how to respond. How did we get here? I have always prided myself on making school interesting and learning fun. It has taken me some time to really process that. How could we possibly reach a point where a student declares that learning is not supposed to be fun.

"Mommy, I didn't finish my math because it was too stressful," said my first grader as I spoke to her on the phone this week. I suggested she talk to her teacher. She replied, "but we have a test today." Why is my first grader so stressed about her math learning that she shuts down in the midst of homework. Why does my first grader even have homework?

My #TeacherMom sense has been off the charts. What I do as a teacher impacts the way I parent my children through their schooling, their homework, their struggles, and their successes. What I do as a mom impacts some of the things I do as a teacher. How I design certain assignments, instruct my students, and how I guide them through their learning. I have often described myself as a Facilitator of Learning, rather than saying, "I am a teacher." Interestingly, during a keynote address at the 2017 CUE National Conference, George Couros suggested we do not describe ourselves in a single manner, but cover all aspects of what we do. I am more than a Facilitator of Learning. I am more than a TeacherMom. I am more. And so are my students.

Over the past few months, I have looked at pacing guides and the perceptions educators have of them. After my son struggled to keep up, I inquired about whether a pacing guide was in place. I was informed that "a very rigorous pacing guide" was followed by teachers. This stopped me in my tracks. Was this a good thing? I am not expected to follow a pacing guide, but I am familiar with the material that I need to cover between the first and last days of school. Currently, to cover percents (in their various forms), I have worked with my students on guiding them through a project in which they learned about the stock markets. I have taught them how to calculate percentages, but in the context of real world applications.This is important for a number of reasons. The top of my list is the age-old question, "when will I use this in life?"

If students can see real world applications for the things we teach, then they will take a stronger personal interest. If we make things personal and interesting, they will want to learn what we teach. If we stick to rigorous pacing guides, worksheets, and practices of drill-and-kill, they will lose interest and struggle to keep up with what we teach. I say this as a teacher, and as a mom. When my son was two-years-old, he already demonstrated a strong interest in math. He pointed out patterns and counted in multiple languages. As Jo Boaler pointed out in her keynote address at CUE National Conference on March 16, "No one is born a 'math person.'" My son had this strong interest and rapid development in mathematics because he found it interesting. Did we do math flashcards with him daily? No. He watched "Team Umizoomi" and loved the way the show made things interesting. Developing his math abilities was the result of relating to what the show covered and finding it interesting. "Mom, I got As and Bs in math in kindergarten, first, and second. Now I get Cs," he said to me just this week. In fact, he went on to say he's afraid he will ultimately end up getting Ds and Fs. He almost sounded as if he found that possibility to be inevitable. My heart shattered. This boy loves math and has a lot of ability in it. He just doesn't work the problem "fast enough."

"Speed does not equate with intelligence," Boaler said Thursday.

That is worth repeating: "Speed does not equate with intelligence."

 So, why do we grade based on a student's ability to complete a set number of problems in a set number of time? There has to be more because, as Boaler said, "speed isn't working." We need to foster growth and innovator mindsets. This is the the theme of this week's CUE National Conference. There is a reason why I did not get this post written as soon as I had responses to my Pacing Guides Survey. I see now that the reason is, I needed to be in this environment and hear the things I am hearing here and now to put this all together.

Fifty-percent of respondents to my survey said that pacing guides hinder student achievement. Fifty-percent also indicated that pacing guides help instruction. How exactly is this possible? If pacing guides hinder student achievement, then are they really helping instruction? While I understand that aspects of instruction may be positively impacted by having pacing guides in place, if students fall short of reaching goals or learning, then there is a gap that we must close.Our students deserve better. Perhaps a guideline for what should and can be covered can remain in place without a full, "rigorous" pacing guide. I understand that teachers want to have an idea of what they should cover, but we cannot sacrifice student achievement and creativity in the process. There has to be a better way. When a first grader shuts down because she is too stressed by the math homework, the problem is not the student. The problem is the pressure put on the students to perform in a certain manner within a certain time.

If we all have to be on the same page in the same book on the same day at the same time, we are forgetting a very, very important thing. Every student is unique. Every student deserves an opportunity to succeed. One respondent said, "When you have kids that are extremely low or even high, pacing guides are useless. It doesn't matter that I should be teaching fractions, if they can't understand whole numbers. The same is true for high kids, if they already know it why should I make them do it again." This is key. Instead of teaching to a test, or a pacing guide, we need to teach students and address their individual needs. I understand that teaching individual students becomes more difficult when you have between 30 and 50 students in a classroom. However, surely we can find a way to prioritize our students and make learning a fun, engaging experience. From a survey respondent, "I believe behaviors could be better if the teacher could pace to students needs. When the student is not understanding then they act out."

In regards to the impact on classroom management, another respondent said, "The more rigid the pacing guide the harder management was." Another said, "I look at them more as a true guide now than I did early on in career and now let my students learning set more of the tone, speed and direction."

The consensus among educators who responded to the survey also seems to include that pacing guides severely limit the possibility of student creativity. If a student feels limited or rushed, the student will likely not produce their best work. Ask yourself this very important question: Is the goal to cram in as much information as we can in a short amount of time or is our goal to teach our students and guide them through this journey?

Given that most pacing guides come from the top down and are implemented at the district level, it certainly poses some difficulty for teachers. This will not change overnight. In the meantime, we can attempt to be a positive force in working toward change. I hope that more administrators have a chance to take a good strong look at what works best for students and adjust course accordingly. Something has to give at some point.

For now, we as teachers can try to do what we can in our own classrooms to nurture creativity and foster ideas that will lead our students in the direction of attaining success. I am thankful to be in a place where I can have students making investments, calculating tips, creating book trailers, and spreading their creative wings as they learn to fly and will one day soar. Every so often a student may question as to why we have decided to make learning engaging and fun, but ultimately they will see the benefits for themselves and one day, we may actually do away with the thinking that learning should be "boring." We will minimize stress for the first graders struggling to get their math homework done and we will go beyond the standard fourth grade mission project when implementing PBL in upper elementary classrooms. Folks, there is more to life than speeding through some math problems and answering questions at the end of a section of reading. See what your students need and guide them accordingly. Foster creativity whenever you can. Take learning to new levels. Our students deserve our best so they can achieve their best.

Last call for pacing guide thoughts

Please take a few moments to respond to these brief questions about pacing guides. Your responses are greatly appreciated. Please share with other educators, as well.

Live blog from Lit Conference 2017

Good morning!

This morning I am presenting to groups of wonderful middle schoolers who have an interest in writing, specifically, those who want to start blogging.

Here are some of their thoughts:

Session 1:
-The Superbowl-E.E.
-To inform people L.H.
-To motivate/inspire people S.B.
- Mermaid Blog B.D
-To create crafts and Theories for your favorite fandom K.O.
- to collab with friends and write. - L. W.

Published Sunday, February 5, written during the 19th Annual Lit Conference at Hickman School on Friday, February 3.

Feedback on Pacing Guides sought

I am in the process of conducting some independent information gathering regarding pacing guides. It comes up as a topic of discussion with other educators from time-to-time. I find it fascinating and I am interested in different perspectives on them. Please take a few moments to complete this form, and please consider sharing it with others as well.

Thank you!

A message from an educator

I am an educator.

I am the daughter of educators.

I am the granddaughter of educators.

I am the niece of educators.

I am an educator.

To become an educator, I had to leave the journalism field. I had to go back to college. I took my BA and I expanded on it. I worked as an adult educator first. I was proud of my work. I taught adult students ESL (English as a Second Language) and Citizenship. I had students from Latin American countries, but also from India. I celebrated as students met with success in achieving their goals of becoming citizens of this great nation. Some celebrated smaller victories of developing their English Language skills.

I am an educator.

As I worked both as an adult school teacher and in an SDC (Special Day Class), I took exams and started additional coursework to become a fully credentialed educator.

Educators are special, unique people.

Whatever your political beliefs may be, I ask you to set them aside, if only for a moment. Whatever side of "the aisle" upon which you may fall, if you say that the education system is the worst part of the United States, I will feel hurt. I will take it personally. Then I will tell you why I disagree.

I love what I do. I love, deeply, the students with whom I am graced the privilege to work with and I am thankful for each and every day I have to work with them. I find inspiration in my parents, grandparents, and other family members who have worked as educators. I also find inspiration in the educators who were charged with my own education. I find inspiration from fellow educators. I find inspiration from my students, as well.

I take a few days a year and I go out and learn more. Sometimes, I share what I do that works, too, in hopes of inspiring other educators.

To become an educator, we must complete coursework and student teach and develop ourselves as lifelong learners. We must commit to learning more. Always and forever.

An educator is a very special, committed person.

I am an educator.

We are imperfect human beings who strive to do our best to form the future, to educate the future, to guide the future We boldly go where others will not.

I strongly encourage everyone to always look for the best and see the most EduAwesome in all educators. We do not go into this field for any reason other than to educate the minds of our future.

With the amount of time and preparation we put into becoming who we are and developing what we do, the least we can ask is that those who lead us do the same, or similar.

I am an educator.

What do you hope for, look for, and seek in educators? I urge you to consider what is actually happening in classrooms and consider the learning that is enhanced by good educators. If you have concerns or questions about the "education system," please consider that you are likely concerned with non-educators creating policy for educators and students. We need to examine closely those who are and whether or not they should be creating policy. Educators can go into their classrooms and apply what they have learned, what they know works. Anyone who has not spent time in a classroom will certainly have difficulty defining what works and what is in the best interest of our students.

I am an educator. I am an educator who grew up assisting in my mom's classroom, who had table conversations about what worked and what didn't. I sat with an administrator at one end of the table and a teacher at the other, so discussions included more than one side to each argument. However, the bottom line was always about what worked best for students and why.

I am an educator. I stand with other educators.

I am an educator and I work with an amazing, diverse group of colleagues. We may differ in approaches here and there, but the bottom line is this: we are committed to our students. We are committed to our future.

We are educators. And we have done, are doing, and will do wonderful, beautiful things for our future generations. So, before you question the education system in the United States, please remember that you may know an educator who is doing their very best by your student. When you criticize education, you are criticizing educators who worked hard to become who they are and who work hard every single day.

We are educators.

Adventures in lesson design

A new year means time to try new things. One of the things I love about working in education is that we actually have two different "new years" to celebrate. We start with the newness of a new school year starting in August. We begin with new students and sometimes new classes to teach. Let the adventures begin! Then, we get the new calendar year starting in January. Returning to school following a break of two weeks or so, gives educators another chance at starting something new and trying new things. I enjoy using the breaks to find renewal and fresh inspiration.

A real world math lesson with "G Suite"
Returning to school following the two week break, I wanted to bring in something to really hook my math students in particular. It makes the students work and helps them learn, while easing them back into the routine and offering them some fun in their learning. I developed a project for the Pre-Algebra class to help them work on some real-life skills, develop some skills using Google Apps, and work on their math skills. I presented them with a task: "you are part of a team designing a marketing plan for a business."

The students got into groups of four and each group first had to come up with a business name and a product or service. They then had to develop a marketing plan with a budget of $25,000. The marketing plan needed to include one print advertisement which they would design in Google Drawings. The marketing budget was to be written and organized in Google Sheets. They will present their marketing plans in class next week showing their budgets, explaining how they reached the numbers they did, and justifying their marketing decisions. After each group presents, students will complete a Google Form and I will review the responses. Each student will independently complete a form, rank the marketing budget presentations, explain what they would do differently in their own plans, and share with me why they felt they had a solid marketing plan that would be successful within the $25,000 spending limit.

Cross-curricular lesson designing for "Hidden Figures"
As I started discussing "Hidden Figures" with other educators, I knew it was something that I wanted to see with my students and I knew there would be a great deal of educational value to it. I teach eighth grade history and language arts, as well as a pre-algebra to a group of primarily seventh graders. Obviously, we can't just go to a movie for the sake of going to a movie. It becomes a foundation for some lessons. The wonderful thing about this particular film is the ability to reach across curricula. Both seventh and eighth grade students will gain from seeing the movie, but it is how I use it as a "launching point" (pun intended) for learning that will make a significant difference.

A series of lessons will reach across Language Arts and History. Students will have the opportunity to read a biography on an influential person from the 1960s (of their choosing). They will also write an essay on how STEAM has changed the world over the course of the last 50 years and how they see STEAM changing the world over the course of the next 50 years. Before we see the film, we will do some reading of biographical literary criticism and will write a biographical narrative. The film will help tie our biographical lessons together.

In the meantime, math students will apply their math skills to rocket launching. First, I will model rocket launches with air and/or water rockets and students will make observations and analyze data. Then, they will work to design and create their own rockets. We will launch the rockets and collect data that they will then discuss and analyze. They will apply their math skills both in designing the rockets and in their data collection and analysis.

I sought out various resources particularly for the rocket lesson and project. What I found especially wonderful was the amount of resources NASA has available for educators and students. Additionally, there are fantastic biographical pieces on the people featured in "Hidden Figures," including John Glenn and Katherine Johnson.

The goal: students will have multiple educational experiences that will teach them language arts, history, and math. It will, of course, also incorporate science. Once upon a time, I taught eighth grade science. It provided such a rewarding experience for me and the students. Teaching middle school when students change classes makes things a little trickier when planning cross-curricula lessons, however, it can and should be done. Just as I incorporated ELA into my science lessons, I can incorporate science into my ELA and history lessons. Later this year, I will rework my science-based Sci-Fi unit into a language arts unit. One more reason to love STEAM! That "A" that transforms STEM to STEAM can make some serious magic happen.

I once had a student declare that "learning isn't supposed to be fun" and it baffled me. In fact, it admittedly saddened me to some degree. My experiences both as a student and as an educator tell a different story and I hope that lessons like these will show students that having EduAwesome Adventures help them learn more and differently.

How are you using "Hidden Figures" to support learning with your students?
What new lessons have you tried to start 2017?
Share your EduAwesome Adventures here or on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook with the hashtags #EduAwesome #Adventure

2017 is off to a great start for us and I hope it is for you too! This weekend includes snow plans and an MLK Day mini-hike. Stay tuned for more on those and for a report on the outcomes of the lessons highlighted here.

Bring on 2017

As I reflect on 2016, I see highs and lows. I was excited to present at CUE affiliate conferences such as ETC! 2016 and CVCUE's EDventure. I also had the honor of being a presenter at Fall CUE. That provided both a high and a low. I met great people and gained so much more than I can express here, but I also had  only six people attend my presentation which threw me. However, I gained from the experience and I gained from their feedback. Later I would learn that I had been selected to present at the CUE National Conference and that was HUGE for me! Wahoo!

I learn from both my accomplishments and my failings at presentations. I learn how to make them better and I learn hat works. It makes me a better presenter, but also a better educator and for all of that I am grateful.

Going into 2017, there is much #EduAwesome #Adventure to look forward to, but at the top of the list is that which I am developing with my young son: If You Give A Kid a Camera. It will be presented at a CUE Rockstar in the late spring with him by my side, but we are first developing it for me to present at the ETC! 2017 conference. We, in fact, worked on some additions last week as we hiked together at our family Ranch. Let me tell you, if you give a kid a camera...magic happens. Hikes happen from a completely different perspective, learning happens, adventure happens. And, you learn to relinquish come control and allow all of that to happen magically.





In 2016, I created my own #EdTechRoadtrip and traveled to Southern Alabama where I learned from other educators. I documented what I could with photographs in a Shutterfly book after documenting here on this blog. It was amazing! I also experienced a different part of the United States in the process. For that, I am grateful and yearning to return. Later in the year, I I extended the #EdTechRoadtrip and visited a Google campus in Seattle. I explored, I learned, I shared, I took in as much as a could. Then I brought it home.

I started out 2016 as an EdTech Coach and Technology Teacher at a small private school. I closed out the year, returning tot he classroom at a small country/charter school. It was the most amazing transition! I found myself. I have reach students. I have extended the teaching I know works and I have seen it work more extensively. I have built rapport with students, colleagues, and administration. I am right where I am supposed to be and there is no doubt in my mind about that.

I closed out 2016 with my brother who is an officer in the Navy, my cousin who works in the Turf Library at Michigan State, and my younger cousin who is a sixth grader. We shared great stories, accomplishments, and things we look forward to in the months ahead.

I've mentioned before that I come from a family of educators, but I also come from a family of learners.

Goals for 2017 include starting my master's degree, presenting at the CUE National Conference, continuing my PD experiences, learning, sharing, and doing my best to be the best facilitator of learning I can be. I support my own kids' educational experiences and there are many ahead. (Science fair anyone?)

I turn 40 this year which means a great deal to me. I have goals to reach and things to accomplish, but that means more than just me doing things. That means great things for my students, and my colleagues. I hope they see the benefits of my efforts to be the best I can be. And I hope my students learn from my example and strive not only to do their best but to be the best. Because they can be the best and I will do everything I can to help them realize that.

Happy 2017 everyone!