“Education in a shambles” Guest post by Kris Jenkins, @Prek33

Opinions expressed are those of the guest contributor

You really have to not be paying attention very hard if you are unable to see the looming crisis in the education world. Pre-pandemic, there were very loud rumblings over concerns about funding, class size, topics of learning in the upper grades, and even book-banning. Teachers were struggling then, with the enormous weight of standardizing testing, class size, antiquated buildings, and heaps and heaps of initiatives piled upon other initiatives added to their proverbial plates.

Approximately two years ago, Covid came in and kicked educators in their fannies! I remember it well. On Friday, we had an all-staff meeting, telling us how things would look different on Monday. We had to just get through that next week and then we’d be on Spring Break. That Monday never came. Buildings were closed down in Kansas that weekend. And the teachers and their students cried! If I had known that would have been the last time I saw those sweet kiddos, I would have laughed at little more and hugged them a little tighter.

This led to educators across the world changing the manner in which they were teaching. It brought to light the gross inadequacies of virtual teaching. Did the teachers give up? NO! That’s who we are! It’s built into most of our DNA. While most teachers were dealing with their own mental health issues from this worldwide plague, they STILL went above and beyond to try and reach their students, innovating their methods of instruction on the fly. The world was in crisis. And teachers….just kept on teaching. It’s what we do!

Two years, and lots of adaptations, later we are back in our classrooms. Here’s the thing, though. Teachers are not the same as they were, pre-pandemic. Children are not the same as those that we taught, pre-pandemic. The way we clean up in our classrooms is not the same as it was, pre-pandemic, the families of our students are not the same as they were, pre-pandemic. Nothing is the same! All of us have suffered mental health crises due to this pandemic.

Guess what didn’t change. The number of students in a classroom, but teachers were still supposed to “socially distance” them. Standardized testing didn’t change. It was developmentally inappropriate and had severe class and ethnic deficiencies. The mental health of our students and teachers is at the forefront of this crisis. School leaders are preaching self-care, while teachers and students still have the same expectations, that were already in question, pre-pandemic.

What did change? The socialization of our children and their families. Our students, now, have very different social experiences than their friends before them, Those play-dates, going out to eat, shopping, everything that involved social interactions was gone. Our kids don’t know how to act in social settings because they never had a chance to practice acceptable behaviors in public. Yet teachers are expected to teach a given set of standards, with little or no regard for the social/emotional stages of our kids!

Our campus is currently doing a book study over Maslow Before Bloom. I love this book! In the very introduction of this book, Dr. Bryan Pearlman says, “If a student is hungry, exhausted, scared, traumatized, disconnected, lonely, or feeling like a failure, it will be difficult for that student to achieve at their highest capacity. BOOM! This is ALL of our students! Let me share this graphic with you all:

Take a really close look at this. This is the last time our students had a “normal” school year. If this doesn’t stop you in your tracks, I don’t know what will. Personally, this breaks my heart, especially for our students. Humans, by nature, are social creatures and the pandemic took all of that away. And the teachers? They kept on teaching, doing their best to provide a routine and learning for these children. It’s what we do!

Let’s look at those teachers for a moment. They were already teaching the “assembly line” curriculum from the big box curriculum companies. They already had to teach to learning standards that were not developmentally appropriate for their students. They were already teaching in buildings that had serious structural deficiencies.

Enter Covid. Teachers were tasked with finding a way to deliver instruction to children who couldn’t leave their homes! Read that again: Couldn’t leave their homes. How did teachers, then, meet the needs of these students, when everyone was home-bound. With not much direction at all, the teachers devised a plan (Not the administration, teachers).

This is what happened in my case, anyway.

• Monday: Video chat (Individually)
• Tuesday-Read aloud
• Wednesday- a scavenger hunt. Post your pictures to our class Facebook page
• Thursday-another read-aloud
• Friday-Zoom Sing-Alongs (which were hilarious, by the way) My students were so excited to see their friends and talk to them!

And teach them we did. We also went to their homes. While the student stood in the doorway. We stood on their porches and read them a story. We had families that would ask for an extra check-in, and we’d do it. Was there a directive for us about this method of teaching? No. Teachers found a way to make it happen because we love our kids!

Teachers put the needs of their students above everything else. I, for one, was really afraid I would bring the virus home, which would be problematic because my husband is a heart patient. I’m not the only teacher who felt this way. Thousands of us put our own health and safety, and that of our families, on the line each and every day we walked through the doors of our buildings. Did anything change? Nope. Our students still have the same expectations as they did, pre-pandemic. We’re still expected to teach the same standards, in the same order as we did, pre-pandemic. Well, guess what?? We aren’t the same and our kids are definitely not the same. Our kids have lost the ability to socialize. It was taken from then by Covid. This ridiculousness needs to stop! We need to give our kids the tools that they need to help them navigate their social/emotional healing from living through this. We need to appreciate our teachers for putting their very lives, and the lives of their families, on the line each and every day. We need to Maslow the living daylights out of these students before we can teach them to Bloom!

Teachers are leavening the profession in droves. Why? Lack of support from building and district administration, classroom behaviors, developmentally inappropriate educational expectations, larger class sizes, building social workers being spread thin, covering for other teachers who are out of our buildings, standardized testing (Our kids are not “standard kids.” Why should we be assessing them with standardized testing?) If there is not a drastic shift away from traditional instruction to trauma-informed practices, I’m not sure how long our current education system can hold on.

There has been a massive wave of teachers leaving this noble profession. In our case, at my location, we have not been fully staffed all school year. Kansas even went so far as to take away the 60 hours of college coursework required to be a Guest Teacher (substitute teacher) in our buildings. Now, all you need to do to be a Guest Teacher is to pass the background check and have a high school diploma, and still, we are not fully staffed. And let’s not even go into how this makes someone with years of experience and a degree(s) feel. (The mentality of “well, it looks like lawmakers think anyone can teach” is running rampant! This is not a way to help your veteran teachers feel valued.

A culture of care is necessary. If we could do this, schools would become a healthier place for all stakeholders. Students would thrive emotionally, academically, and socially. Staff needs to be supported, connected, and able to self-regulate. The entire system would improve.

This can’t go on. It can’t continue. Something has to change, but it’s going to need to be something, not just on a local level, but on a nationwide level. Our students and their families deserve better. Let’s face it. Without those students and their families, none of us would even be teaching. Teaching isn’t just a job. It’s a calling, and those of us still doing this noble work should be seen and heard. Not “feel” like they’re seen and heard. Really be seen and heard. There’s a huge difference!

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In collaboration with Bloomz

Throughout the past twenty years, educators have relied on a variety of tools to communicate with families. In addition to tools used by educators, each school has a variety of ways to communicate. They can use robocalls & mass notification systems in school districts, send emails, distribute blogs, post on a school website, implement branded apps for one-way information & calendaring, and leverage various social channels. In addition to school-wide communication, teachers also rely on classroom communication apps in addition to using behavior management & tracking tools. There are a lot of tools available to educators today.

However, what has happened, especially during the past two years, is that many educators and families found themselves overwhelmed by so many tools being used to facilitate communication and instruction. Reflecting on this experience, we need to consider what we have learned as a result. Are we using too many apps? How can we all benefit from implementing a modern, centralized communication system?

By having one platform, we can help families who experienced frustration due to having many places to navigate, websites and apps to be aware of, and calendars to manage in order to support their children’s academic life. Having a unified space helps with this frustration and it is a better way to support social-emotional learning (SEL) for students and families.

Beyond communicating with students, their families, and the school community, we also need to consider the benefits of having a centralized space for other school activities and staff. For example, for students involved in sports teams, extracurricular clubs & organizations, or for younger students, families may need to arrange before/after school care. We also need to provide access to relevant school board information, PTO events, summer programs, and support services provided by the school. There is so much information and deciding how to effectively and consistently distribute it all is important. Finding the right platform that facilitates all of this and more is essential for today’s schools and the families who rely on them.

How do we choose the best platform for our students, teachers, and families?

With so many options available, we need to consider the features of the platform and what makes the most sense for schools and families. We need to focus on supporting the whole child and keeping families informed about what is happening in the classroom which will provide them with access to more information in real-time. However, it needs to be unified, streamlined, and centralized in one space. And a key to this is unified communication. What does that mean?

It’s not having just one feature that is a standout rather it is having a variety of options within that one space. It replaces the need for so many apps and tools and makes it easier for teachers and families to stay connected. Families have access to information regarding student behaviors and absences and administrators are able to provide information to families in real-time. It is about the consolidation of the information which goes beyond using other communication tools like Remind or Seesaw because Bloomz solves more than one problem. Bloomz is a parent communication app that can be used for communication, it boosts family engagement in learning, and provides teachers with many more options for truly connecting home to school and involving families in the student learning experience.

Providing the best choice for families and students

When used with schools, Bloomz facilitates school-wide communication. Schools and families can communicate in ways that meet their preferences because it is focused on individual parent needs. It provides a choice for how they get their information (SMS text, email, and voice) in an easy-to-navigate platform that is fully available on any device. When thinking about accessibility, Bloomz offers robust and automatic language translation which helps to make sure that all families are receiving the message in the language that meets their specific needs.

What does Bloomz offer in its Centralized Communication System?

What makes it the right choice is that it supports all the different types of communication that need to happen in schools. It offers 1:1 communication, group and classroom communication, and school and district communication. Beyond using it for the classroom space, other school groups can use the platform to communicate information about clubs and sports team events, PTO events, groups of staff members, and even bus routes. Bloomz is also the perfect choice for childcare communication.

Schools and teachers can send urgent messages as needed and have the capability to override user notification rules when information is critical. Being able to share information in a timely manner and knowing that the messages are being received and read is critical and Bloomz makes this all possible. It also has the capability of sharing messages on social media networks and websites.

Beyond communication, Bloomz has behavior management rewarding, flagging & tracking behaviors (both positive & negative) with support for administrative referrals and administrative-level/behavior team data & analytic reporting. Rather than needing to use a separate app or an entire system, Bloomz provides everything in one space.

Why Bloomz makes it easier to stay connected

Bloomz makes it easier to provide and have access to the essential information shared between school and home. It is a single access point for all types of communication that needs to happen between all stakeholders in our school community. Parents that may have children in different grade levels and buildings across the district will be confident and supported knowing that they will have access to information in a simplified and streamlined way.

When it comes to school, we know there are many activities that students are involved in, academic and athletic events happening, and arrangements that might need to be scheduled on a calendar. Bloomz offers coordination tools for calendaring & synchronization, forced reminders, volunteer signups, and conference/office hour/tutor scheduling. Having all of this within one unified space makes it easier for families to stay in the know and to feel more connected to and supported by the school and school community.

For schools, it is cost-effective because there are so many tools available within Bloomz that it eliminates the need to purchase many tools that have overlapping functionality. It promotes equitable access for all school community members and helps to increase participation in school events. Because schools can track whether the message has been received and read by each recipient, they can take action to make sure that everyone has the information they need.

Rather than having mass notifications coming in from a variety of different apps and spaces, it is a modern way to have conversations and engage in a dialogue that enables schools to create a true community between home and school.

The entire school community benefits by having a consistent and efficient program in place that meets the needs and preferences of each of its members. Check out Bloomz today to build your home-to-school community by visiting http://www.bloomz.com.

As we prepare our students for the future and look for ways to provide more support as we work through what has been a challenging year, we need to make sure that we are focusing on the mental health and wellness of our students. To do so, we must be intentional about creating opportunities for students to build their social-emotional learning (SEL) skills in our classrooms. For anyone looking to learn more about SEL, I recommend starting with CASEL, which is where I found some very helpful information a few years ago when I thought that I wasn’t providing opportunities for the development of SEL in my classes. After reflecting on some of the activities I had been creating and the tools that I was using, I realized that I had been creating opportunities for students to build their self-awareness, social awareness, and develop relationships, I just needed to do more and be intentional about the types of choices that I was making for my classroom. I also took the new course “Creative Expression and Social-Emotional Learning” with Buncee. Through the Microsoft Educator Center, there is a one-hour course on using Buncee for SEL co-created by Francesca Arturi and Laura Steinbrink, that I highly recommend for educators.

Regardless of whether we are in-person, fully remote, or hybrid, there are ways to do this that don’t require a lot of time to get started. The benefit of having so many different technology tools available is that we can leverage them to create spaces where our students can feel more connected to us and to each other. We can help them to build academic skills as well as essential SEL skills. There are multiple ways to promote communication and collaboration while fostering a sense of community for students and for ourselves.

Spring presents a great time to explore new ideas or try some new tools, especially as we look to boost student engagement with the content and keep up the momentum through the end of what has not been an easy or typical school year. Creating a variety of activities where students can interact with one another, engage in some purposeful learning, and have fun in the process while building essential SEL skills, will be highly beneficial.

Here are seven ideas that can help with creating opportunities for students to collaborate, become self and socially aware, and stay engaged in learning. During the past few months of using some of these tools, I’ve noticed that students are engaging more with the content, they feel connected to one another even if not in the same physical or virtual classroom space and they are able to track their growth in the language.

• Blooket has been a new favorite this year. It has brought a lot of fun into our classroom, as there are multiple modes to play whether as a live game or for homework. Students stay engaged because of the different modes to choose from. Gold Quest is their favorite because they can swap gold, and at varying points of the game, their items are reduced by a percentage. While students get a bit annoyed at this sometimes, it serves to keep them all in the game because they don’t have any idea who will end up being on the leaderboard. It promotes conversation between them and it’s fun for them to learn together.
• Classkick. A versatile digital tool for teachers to create lessons, assessments, or for doing a quick check-in with students. Each slide in the lesson can include images, text, and an uploaded document for students to interact with. Using the tools, students can respond in audio, text, video, or share links. Classkick enables teachers to see student work and provide individual feedback in real-time. Students can also ask peers for help anonymously.
• Google Jamboard. Using breakout rooms through Google Meet or Microsoft Teams with Google Jamboard offers a quick way to promote collaboration and conversations. With a Jamboard, students can work together in a collaborative space while communicating in a breakout room. Leveraging these together helps to create a greater sense of community especially if students are split between home and the classroom.
• Kahoot! A game-based learning tool that provides many new possibilities for either teaching students about SEL or using the question options to check in with students. Whether students collaborate on teams and build teamwork skills or use the games to track their own growth and set new goals, Kahoot! offers many options for use with any grade level or content area.
• Pear Deck. An interactive presentation tool that takes your Google Slides or Powerpoint online and enables you to add in activities to further engage students in the lesson. To launch PearDeck, you open your slides and choose the Pear Deck add-on, to begin adding activities to each slide. Students can respond in text, draw on the slide, select from a list, and more depending on their account. Lessons can be instructor-led or student-paced. For SEL, Pear Deck is a good way to check in with students and the student-paced lessons, it promotes self-awareness and self-management as students track their learning.
• Spaces A digital portfolio platform where teachers can better understand students and their interests which helps with building those vital teacher-student relationships. A key part of digital portfolios is that they help students to develop social-emotional learning (SEL) skills. As students build their self-awareness and self-management skills by reflecting on their growth through the work that they’ve done and setting new goals for their continued learning journey. Students also develop greater social awareness through their interactions and working collaboratively with others.

Spaces can have audio, text, video and more!

Finding ways to bring SEL into the classroom does not have to be something extra added on to what we are doing. With these options, we can weave in activities that engage students in learning the content while developing these essential SEL skills.

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Post Written In Collaboration with Ness, Blackbird Code

It has never been more important than it is now to focus on creating more opportunities for all students to explore STEM topics. However, there are gaps in the types and levels of the curriculum being offered in our schools. It has been reported that there will be 3.5 million jobs available by 2025 that require STEM skills of which coding makes up a large part of that need. While we recognize that there is a growing need for students to develop skills in coding and in STEM-related fields, there may be barriers, whether real or perceived, to providing these learning opportunities.

We need to provide students with opportunities to explore their interests in coding. We need options that lead to more authentic experiences that develop essential skills for the future. There is a level of comfort needed when bringing in STEM, whether familiarity with some resources for getting started or willingness to dive in and learn right along with and from the students. Regardless of comfort level, we all need to promote the development of STEM-related skills in our classrooms.

A solution

About a year ago, I came across Blackbird and started to use it in my classroom. It has been a great way to help educators bring coding to students because it provides the support they need and opportunities for more authentic and personalized learning, integrated with subjects they are already teaching.

Blackbird helps educators to bring more engaging, student-driven, hands-on learning experiences to the classroom – including coding in a way that is accessible to both students and teachers, and develops data processing skills for the future.

Many educators may think that coding is not something that can be done in their classroom. Often schools lean on the skills of specialized computer science teachers, taking it as given that they are the only people who can share this knowledge, and that it’s so difficult to learn that only a few students are going to succeed. But education is changing, and those assumptions are increasingly out of date.

How Blackbird makes a difference

Blackbird makes it easy for all educators to bring coding to the platform because of its design and the many supports and resources that it offers. Blackbird uses an educational version of JavaScript. Programming languages, like JavaScript, Python, C++, and so forth, are engineering tools, and on their own, they’re terribly unfriendly, especially for those just getting started in the classroom. This may sound like a technical distinction, but the difference is important, so let’s take a closer look.

First of all, programming is a process of:

• writing code,
• testing it to find the mistakes, and
• correcting (or “debugging”) these errors.

The most important feature of an educational coding system is how it teaches debugging. With a regular coding language, when you run a program with a bug, the most common result is that you get a blank screen, or sometimes an unintelligible error message. This result is fine for engineers, who are used to it, but for beginners, it’s very discouraging! Imagine students or teachers getting started with coding, who are just building their confidence, what this unhelpful response can do to their interest. It would lead students or teachers to disengage from coding and potentially miss out on areas of personal interest that could impact their future.

Blackbird is different, however. With an educational language, when you run a program with a bug, it opens up an educational debugger – a friendly tool to help you correct your mistakes. The process of learning is supposed to involve the making of mistakes, but we need to have support in place to help students to work through challenges and build their skills.

The structure and scaffolded support of the platform enables students and teachers to build skills at their own pace. Blackbird allows for differentiation and enrichment through the workshops and built-in supports that are available. For students who may be hesitant to start with coding, it supports them as they build their skills at their pace and in a way that is supportive to their needs. When working on their own, whether in the classroom or at home, the system takes them through the process of fixing errors with the debugger. Learning to code can take place anywhere.

There are other supports in place for them, such as “Show Me” which provides a correct line of code when the student needs it (students get a star when they don’t use Show Me). This promotes more personalized learning, as students can work at their own pace, completing challenges and quizzes, earning stars, and doing capstone projects that allow them to use the skills they’ve learned in a more creative way.

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As we head into the spring, we may notice a decrease in student engagement. For some students, there have been midterm exams, extended school breaks, or we find ourselves in the middle of standardized testing season. Over the years, I have noticed that student engagement tends to decrease in my classes around this time and I  reach out to my personal learning network (PLN) for ideas or tools to boost engagement. 

Especially during our experiences over the past two years with hybrid and virtual learning environments, we have worked through transitioning learning spaces, and it was challenging to engage students in learning. When we create learning experiences that meaningfully engage students with the content while also aiming to move them from being simply consumers to creators, we also amplify student achievement. By offering more choices in terms of digital tools for student engagement, we can better meet specific student interests and needs. 

When we can take risks by either trying something new or using digital tools for game-based and collaborative learning, we will see students engage more with the content. Students should also be part of the process of deciding on different tools to try. Additionally, it is important that we ask for their feedback so we can continue to provide the best learning opportunities for them. 

Digital tools for student engagement no matter the grade level

To engage students, we need tools that work well regardless of where learning is taking place — a hybrid, virtual or in-person. For this to happen, teachers can opt for a mix of game-based learning tools, conducting a quick assessment or social and emotional learning (SE)L check-in, or asking students to create and share what they have learned in a way that meets their interests. 

Here are seven tools to check out, each of which offers something unique and is versatile for different content areas and grade levels: 

1. Buncee is a multimedia presentation tool that fuels creativity. It has been a favorite for five years in my classroom. Creating lessons through Buncee enables us to include a lot of content and a variety of media formats all within one space. Within one Buncee, you can add animations, 3D objects, audio and video, links, and more. There are sample lessons and other templates ready to use in their library. My older students use it for teaching a lesson or to present their project-based learning (PBL) findings. It has definitely boosted student engagement through the power of choice.  Now with Capstone’s Pebble Go, students can bring their stories to life by creating their own Buncee to represent learning! Read more: Spring into creativity with these 5 digital tools!
2.  Classkick, teachers can quickly create assessments, check-ins, or design an entire lesson. Documents, images, text can be added to each slide in the lesson for students to interact with. Classkick has several options for students to use for their responses including audio, text, video or sharing a link. Teachers can see student work in real-time and provide individual feedback to students. Another nice feature is that students can anonymously ask classmates for help if needed.
3. Figment ARStorytelling or creating a quick check-in with students is fun with Figment AR, one of my favorite augmented reality apps over the past few years. More than just AR, it also has portals that transform the experience into virtual reality. We have used it in class to create a quick story that includes animated characters, portals, and special effects. Read more: 6 Digital storytelling tools for hybrid learning environments
4. Formative allows teachers to deliver lessons in a more interactive way, that empowers students to respond to different types of questions, draw, record audio or watch embedded videos.  Lessons can be done live in class or they can be self-paced. Teachers have real-time data and can provide timely and personalized feedback to students. During virtual learning, Formative was a game-changer for creating asynchronous lessons as well as for assessments that would provide data immediately and in a space where feedback can be given.
5.  Genially is a versatile and interactive platform that can be used to create so many different projects and things you would want for your classroom. Some favorites are to use it for creating a class website, choice boards, flyers, designing interactive images, newsletters, presentations, storybooks and more. Presentations can have sound, hyperlinks, social media buttons and so much more. 
6.   Gimkit is one of many game-based learning tools available and it has been a favorite of my students each year. There are more personalized learning experiences because of the repetitive questions which promote increased content retention.  My students also like Gimkit Draw, where they have three options and then select one to draw and have their classmates guess the word as the drawing appears on each device. Gimkit also launched a new mode of play called Fishtopia which offers another engaging way to not only practice the content but build strategy, have fun while learning, and try out something new in class. There are several modes to play and teachers can access detailed reports with individual student progress and a general overview, to better prepare for the next steps in the lesson. Read more: How to set up a classroom gamification level system
7. Spaces can be used to boost class discussion in the “feed,” for creating activities for the class, or by creating spaces for students. We have been exploring new ideas in our Spanish classes and students are really enjoying it. In a group space, students have collaborated to create a fashion show and either write or narrate a description and add an image to their post. Individual spaces are perfect for daily writing prompts, feedback, and understanding students and their interests which helps with building those vital teacher-student relationships. A key part of these activities is that they also help students develop social-emotional learning (SEL) skills and promote more active learning which they enjoy.

Boosting student engagement

For anyone deciding where to begin, you can’t go wrong with any of these. They have multiple benefits and possibilities for using them in your classroom.  Students can create, collaborate and interact with one another and do so in any learning space. Bringing in new technologies and learning opportunities will better equip students with the essential skills that they will need moving forward. 

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From: Not Yet…And That’s OK: How Productive Struggle Fosters Student Learning (2021)

Guest post by: Peg Grafwallner, @PegGrafwallner, Solution Tree author and educational consultant

In my most recent book, Not Yet…And That’s Ok: How Productive Struggle Fosters Student Learning, I explain the mindset of the Not Yet approach as an opportunity for teachers to create an authentic classroom experience where students value setbacks and obstacles as ways to grow, learn, and develop. Instead of allowing failure to define the student, the not-yet approach creates opportunities to normalize development and empowers students to realize learning takes time and that mastery isn’t the end of their growth.

The not-yet approach encourages teachers to allow setbacks and obstacles to support students in realizing that those bumps are necessary to learning. Instead of using failure as an excuse or a justification for indifference, it becomes a tool for empowerment as the student learns from it and – here’s the most important part – moves forward as a result of that failure.

But, it’s April and you’re thinking: with only six to eight weeks of school left in the year and so much content to get through, I can’t possibly take on one more thing. While the not-yet approach sounds intriguing, implementing something new this time of year is more than I can do.

Absolutely true. As a classroom teacher, your plate is full and another of anything is too much.

However, you might already be implementing some components of the not-yet approach without even knowing it. As an example, the Practical Classroom is one of the 12 “classrooms” highlighted in the not-yet approach. The Practical Classrooms targets specific language that is useful to students – language that offers hope and empowerment to students while reminding them to move beyond the setbacks and obstacles they face.

Focusing on one’s language is a manageable task that doesn’t take any extra time; except perhaps, a conscious effort to be mindful of the language one is using and its impact on students.

As you’re thinking about the language you use in your classroom, ask yourself: is your language practical and useful to students? Is it authentic and relevant? Can students apply it both personally and academically for their own hope, growth, and empowerment? 

In assessing student work, do you sometimes use “deficit” language – language that focuses on incorporating punitive judgment and critical evaluation? Oftentimes we must critique student work to determine a grade. When utilizing judgment and evaluative language, without noting the severity of that language, students can feel discouraged from engaging in productive struggle.

But, when teachers use practical language, language that is useful and hopeful, students endeavor to stick with problems and try new strategies to overcome an obstacle or setback. 

For example, here are some examples of deficit language in the classroom that has been replaced with practical language from the not-yet classroom:

As you read the examples of practical language, you will notice a collaborative tone from the teacher inviting the student to share their thinking and explaining, as best as they can, the obstacle that is causing them to be immobile. The teacher uses language that is hopeful and empowering as it encourages the student to utilize productive struggle to move forward. The teacher is not going to do the work for the student; rather the teacher acknowledges that the work or deadline might be challenging and offers opportunities of support. It is up to the student to use this setback or obstacle as a way to learn from it and try again – without judgment or evaluation.

Think about your language and how much of it already mirrors the practical classroom. However, we always know there is more work to be done and opportunities to improve. Consider asking a colleague to observe your class to gather some of the language you use or ask your peer to make a list of the written feedback you offer students. Are you noticing practical language or some elements of deficit language in your communication? 

Please don’t consider the practical classroom as one more thing that must be done. Rather, reflect on the language that is already useful and authentic in your classroom and utilize these last several weeks as a chance to fill in some of the gaps. The not-yet approach gives all of us – teachers and students – a chance to value setbacks and obstacles as ways to grow, learn, and develop. Instead of allowing a misstep of language to define us, the not-yet approach creates opportunities to try again and empowers us to do our very best for our students.

About the Author 

Peg Grafwallner, Solution Tree author and educational consultant

Check out Peg’s newest book: https://www.solutiontree.com/not-yet-and-thats-ok.html

www.peggrafwallner.com

Guest post submission

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here. Looking for a new book to read? Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

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Guest post by By Chad Dumas, Educational Consultant, Author, Trainer, and Collaborator

Author of Let’s Put the C in PLC: A Practical Guide for School Leaders and An Action Guide to Put the C in PLC: Reflecting and Doing

http://www.NextLearningSolutions.com

@ChadDumas

#LetsPuttheCinPLC #Teams

What Do We Want?

Some of my recent travels and interactions have left me pondering this question: What do we want?

And I’m not talking about some philosophical question about the meaning of existence, or some existential query. I’m thinking about practical, day-to-day desires about our work as educators (and, quite frankly, more broadly, as people).

It seems to me that we all want the same thing. Teachers want to work in meaningful teams that improve their practice. Principals want to support staff in doing this work. Central office leaders want to support principals and teachers. So where’s the disconnect?

A Disconnect?

Teachers tell me that they want to collaborate, but their administrators (at whatever level) just don’t support collaboration.

Principals in those same schools share with me how their district administrators just don’t understand collaboration and seem to put up roadblocks. Or how their teachers would rather shut their classroom door and do their own thing.

And, of course, district administrators tell me that they just can’t get their principals or teachers to engage in meaningful collaboration

What’s going on? Why can’t we see each other’s perspective? What’s getting in the way?

The Result

As you can imagine (or maybe experience!), this disconnect leads to a great deal of frustration.

I believe (and have experienced) that all of us want what is best for kids.

I believe (and have experienced) that we want our work and lives to be meaningful.

And I believe (and have experienced) that working together in meaningful ways builds momentum toward accomplishing both.

Unfortunately, the mechanics of what we are doing seem to be getting in the way.

The Answer?

Those familiar with me and my work know well that I believe a significant part of the solution to the problems we face is listening. Whether it be this problem or most any other issue, we too often fail to see each other’s point of view.

Might we take a good pause when someone else is sharing their perspective? Maybe a deep breath to create some “distance” between their comment and our thinking? Maybe a glance to the side to ponder what another is sharing?

Might we paraphrase what the other person is telling us? Maybe consider the emotion with which they are sharing, in addition to the content? Maybe seek to truly understand before trying to be understood?

Might we, instead of getting furious, get curious? Maybe pose a question before supplying a ready-made answer? Maybe ask for more specifics, or probe for the impact of their sharing?

In a few words, might we Pause, Paraphrase, and Pose questions? (And check out these posts for more on this topic: A Recipe for the Future, Part I and A Recipe for the Future, Part II)

Where to Start?

It seems to me that we start by slowing down, and by becoming genuinely interested in the perspectives of our colleagues–whether superiors, subordinates, or partners.

Then we use some of these skills to demonstrate that interest.

And then, as we listen carefully, maybe we can hear each other.

Wouldn’t that be great? Maybe that’s what we all want.

Questions for reflection:

• In what ways do you demonstrate genuine concern for others?
• How might you increase your listening skills to ensure others are heard and valued?
• What support systems might you need to be able to achieve this?

**Are you an educator interested in writing a guest blog for Rachelle’s site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here. Looking for a new book to read? Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

************ Also check out my THRIVEinEDU Podcast Here!

Join my weekly show on Mondays and Fridays at 6pm EST THRIVEinEDU on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Join the group here