When I was a child and could not fall asleep or found myself waking from a nightmare, I would try to read a book that made me feel happy and safe. One of my favorites was “If I Ran the Circus,” by Dr. Seuss. It contained the usual whimsical wordplay, peppered with the oft-repeated phrase, “If I ran the circus…” Jack Berckmeyer, one of the nation’s leading middle school gurus and an entertaining lecturer often uses the phrase, “When I’m emperor of education…” (He prefers emperor to Secretary because a secretary has to answer to someone. An emperor does not.) When I eventually take my act on the road, I’m going with “If I ran the circus…”
If I ran the (educational) circus, there are five substantive changes I would make to policy, practice, and structure to lay the foundation for pedagogical utopia.
1. Kindergarten Through Twelfth Grade Standards Based, Non Time-Bound, Teaching and Learning – This paragraph is essentially a continuation of my previous two posts. The RISC model is the way to go. However, children need to grow up in the system in order to have the greatest chance of success. If they know nothing but a mastery-based paradigm; habits of mind, work ethic, and personal accountability will be easier to engender. When their psyches are at their most malleable and fertile, in those earliest of Vygotskian developmental stages, we have the greatest opportunity to create lifelong self-directed learners.
All of the complementary aspects of the RISC model would be in place, as well: student voice and choice, inter-disciplinary study, independent study. Needless to say letter grades would not exist and achievement would be measured by standard attainment on a continuum from “No Evidence” to “Full Mastery.”
2. One to One to None – Death to textbooks. We’ve reached the point of one to one learning for all. By the time a textbook lands on a desk it’s obsolete (just like a computer, for that matter). The difference is, the information students have access to with that obsolete computer is not (obsolete). History, science, literature, and mathematics are reinvented in real time constantly. Students need access.
However, studies are showing that children spend an average of four hours on screen time AFTER school. We therefore need to be deliberate about limiting screen time IN school. As educators we often lament what we cannot control like parental oversight on homework and studying. We need to stay focused on what we can control – how children spend their time when they’re with us. We need to take an active role in monitoring screen time (pun intended) at school. I know I, getting dizzy just looking at this iPad for the past two hours trying to complete this post.
3. Physiologically Appropriate Hours – For years I have maintained that the school day begins way too early for optimal engagement on the part of teens. There have been numerous studies on the subject including this one by the American Academy of Pediatrics:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/08/19/peds.2014-1697
Teenagers need more sleep. Their circadian rhythms keep them awake when we want them to go to sleep and restrict them from awakening when we need them ready for school. Unfortunately, since the primary, unspoken responsibility of school is babysitting, they need to be up and out so we can go to work. If I ran the circus, school would begin at 8:30 for K-5, and at 9:30 for 6-12.
4. Year-Round Schooling – What better complement to a non time-bound system could there be than year-round schooling? Nearly three full months without formal teaching and learning leads to several weeks of redundant review at the start of the school year. Why does society permit academic atrophy on a yearly basis? Start the school year right after Labor Day. August has become much more hot and oppressive than June. The first term would run through winter break with a full week off at Thanksgiving in anticipation of and preparation for a final three week end of term push. Break would last from the last week of December through the MLK holiday in mid-late January. Second term would last from then until the end of April with a nice, two week spring break in mid to late March. A three week break in May would precede the summer term, a shortened period from mid-late May though mid July. Summer break would then last six weeks as opposed to twelve, providing for family vacations and summer camp with less down time from teaching and learning.
5. Literacy Instruction By All – Even before the Common Core State Standards embedded literacy standards in the content areas (math, science, social science), many educators advocated teaching literacy across the curriculum, myself among them. Xtranormal produced a wonderful video called “Why We Need Common Core: I Choose ‘C'” that artfully illustrates this need. http://youtu.be/dY2mRM4i6tY Life is an inter-disciplinary study. As art imitates life, so should education. Math teachers, art teachers, P.E. teachers, science teachers, and business ed. teachers ought to be teachers of literacy. CCSS places a much greater emphasis on non-fiction reading and writing, justifiably so (also playfully underscored in the aforementioned video). We still need to teach children to read, appreciate, and analyze fiction, but particularly when it comes to writing, an emphasis on expository and what CCSS now deems “argumentative” writing requires greater focus.
When was the last time your professional work demanded a short story or poem? Hey, I’m a Renaissance man. I have a bachelor’s degree in theater. I don’t ever want us to lose the arts in education and that includes the literary arts. However, we have so little time comparatively to prepare students for the future. While we ought to take great pains to instill an appreciation for great fiction, and the ability to communicate via storytelling, more time needs to be spent on writing for a purpose.
Cultural observation of the week: It’s hard to make friends when you’re a late 40’s married man living alone 3000 miles from home with a job that doesn’t provide a natural vehicle for collegial relationships. In my previous jobs, my administrative colleagues were natural peers, many of whom became great friends. In the unique circumstances of my charter school principalship there is a certain isolation. How then to make friends in this peerless wilderness?
Male Seeking Male (But in a Platonic Way) I am a forty-something married man who likes to watch Chicago sports teams (pity me), play some cards, and explore Alaska. Seeking a friend of a similar age and interests, marital status unimportant, to hang out from time to time, watch a game, throw cards, catch an action movie, and lament the impact of gravity on our once good looks. If interested, spit on the sidewalk, yell at Jay Cutler, or refuse to ask for directions. Packers and LA Kings fans need not apply.