OPTIMISM FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

I recently presented a workshop for teachers at each of the middle schools in Vineland, New Jersey. My session was titled, "Attitudes and Their Impact on Morale and Student Achievement”. I asked teachers to examine how their optimism impacted student learning and to what extent they thought they should have optimism as an element of their curriculum.

We explored that optimism isn’t a personality trait but a set of behaviors which one can consciously practice. If a person can learn helplessness than it makes sense that one can learn optimism. In the Power of Optimism by Allen McGinnis, I found 12 behaviors for teachers to consider in their own lives and as important items to embed in their students’ experiences.

Optimists…
1. Are never surprised by trouble
2. Value partial solutions
3. Believe they have control over the future
4. Plan for regular renewal
5. Have heightened powers of admiration
6. Interrupt their negative trains of thought
7. Are cheerful even when they can’t be happy
8. Have an almost unlimited capacity for stretching
9. Build plenty of love into their lives
10. Share good news
11. Use their imaginations to rehearse success
12. Accept what cannot be changed

In a recent article, in the March 2008 ASCD Educational Leadership magazine, Cultivating Optimism in the Classroom, Richard Sagor states that students are motivated to put forth their best effort when they have faith in the future and themselves. Sagor reinforces that optimism can be taught and learned.

Faith in the future is one of the building blocks Sagor believes is key. In my book Tapping Student Effort, I called this “pictures of the future” which are critical to the motivation of effort. I found an urban teacher who took her fifth grade students to the stage on the opening day of school to have their pictures taken wearing cap and gown and holding a diploma…a picture of a successful future. Students pasted the pictures into their planners to be reviewed daily. The teacher requested two journal writings-"What did you do yesterday to make this picture a reality?” and "What should you do today to help?”. I recommended that middle school teachers work toward all eighth grade students having a five year plan in writing before heading to high school.

Teachers need to have pictures of their students being successful. I suggested that graduates of the middle school (opened in 1958) be found and interviewed for stories to be read by teacher and students.

Sagor’s second building block is personal efficacy…a deep- seated belief in one’s own capabilities. That efficacy is what promotes perseverance when one is confronting difficult task. Setting complex goals, especially those found in “live events”, provides great opportunities for students to “effort” and discover the payoffs. (See Erica’s senior project.) Instrumental music programs build efficacy for many students.

Peer coaching can be a very helpful tool to increase teacher efficacy. Last week I observed a 3rd grade math lesson where the teacher asked me to focus on the “math thinking” her students were doing. As I described my observation, the teacher’s smile grew. She soon told me about the hard work she had done with a math coach and how the students’ responses that I observed showed the payoff of her efforts and the students’.
That efficacy will cause the teacher to “raise the expectations“ for herself and her students.

Sagor posed a great question for teacher reflection and coaching, “Will students walk out of my classroom feeling more capable than when they walked in?” That is teaching optimism.

QUESTIONS-the Coach's Tool

This week, I had the opportunity to spend two days, coaching coaches. Visiting instructional coaches in Salem-Keizer Public Schools in Salem Oregon, I had the opportunity to observe instructional coaches conducting pre and post observation conferences, as well as, conduct observations of classrooms. In some cases after the observation, I role-played with the coaches how I would conduct the conference and then they conducted the actual conference with the teacher with my observation. As we debriefed, many of the coaches shared with me a renewed understanding of the importance of the questions that a coach uses.

For example, a coach who was concerned how to mention the off task student behaviors that she observed found that when she asked the teacher, "what she saw during the lesson that made her feel most comfortable and most uncomfortable”, the teacher shared the off task behaviors and opened the door for conversation. When I stopped a coach in the middle of a pre-conference after the teacher said for the second time that she wanted the lesson to go smoothly and asked “what is smoothly”, the coach gained a much clearer picture into the teacher’s agenda.

Performance Learning Systems is preparing an updated version of our three day coaches’ training (for more information email me at sbarkley@plsweb.com). It includes an extensive review of the research on coaching. What follows is the research summary of the role of questioning.

Research shows learning comes not from having experiences, but from reflecting on those experiences (Knight, 2007; Rodgers, 2002). Supportive yet challenging questions can encourage reflection (Barkley & Bianco, 2005; Gimbel, 2008). Wang and Odell (2002) suggested, “Mentors need to know how to question and help novices pose questions about prevailing practice and identify the assumptions underlying one another’s teaching” (p. 521). Dunne and Villani (2007) stressed the importance of asking questions that focus on student learning and student work and that encourage the novices reflect on their practices.

Helping professionals have long realized the potential of active listening as a crucial skill for nurturing growth and learning (Tate & Dunklee, 2005). While little research has been conducted on the use of questions in a coaching/mentoring relationship, a substantial body of knowledge concerning the use of questions in the educational process does exist (Buehler, 2005; Schroeder et al., 2007). It is likely much of this information can be extended to peer coaching situations. Udelhofen and Larson (2003) concluded dialogue and discussion are the primary tools of effective mentoring. Browne and Kelley (2007) suggested the ability to ask the right questions is a crucial to creating effective dialogue

Research shows how a question is asked influences its effectiveness (Bell & Smith, 2004; Dillon, 1997; Wang, 2006). Clarity of educators’ questions correlates positively with student achievement (Jarolimek & Foster, 2008). Bowman and McCormick (2000) found that with effective coaching, teachers could improve their level of clarity in asking questions.

Through the use of carefully framed open- and closed-ended (yes/no) questions, mentors can increase the probability of eliciting the kinds of responses desired (Dunne & Villani, 2007). Certain topics require close-ended questions to elicit factual or specific answers, while open-ended questions are more useful for encouraging evaluation and interpretation. Wang (2006) cautioned close-ended questions “…cannot be used to extend the scope of a conversation because a questioner restricts information, which is introduced” (p. 544). Listening carefully to the answers will enhance mentors’ knowledge of new teachers’needs and concerns (Dunne & Villani, 2007).

Research shows employing pauses and probes to obtain more complete answers is beneficial (Davenport, 2003). “Silence following a question can make a coach feel uncomfortable, but that may be time in which the teacher reflects” (Feger, Woleck, & Hickman, 2004, p. 16).

Research shows when questions stimulate novices’ thinking, rather than leads them to an expected answer, they are more likely to understand on a deeper level (Jarolimek & Foster, 2008; Knight,2007). Follow-up questions that refocus or redirect students’ incorrect or incomplete responses enhance student achievement (Dantonio, 1990). It is likely the same tactic aids learning in a coaching/mentoring environment.

Research shows good mentoring sessions allow novices to ask questions of the coach/mentor. This is best accomplished in an accepting and noncritical working relationship (Knight, 2007). In addition to questions that assess knowledge and understanding, other questions help coaches to explore values, promote creative thinking, and help evaluate situations (Morgan & Saxton, 1991). The most crucial point is that successful questions must be planned, not improvised (Dillon, 1997). Barkley and Bianco (2005) suggested effective listening is more than passively hearing another; active listening requires asking questions and paraphrasing the speaker’s content. As Katch (2003) suggested, asking effective open-ended questions sometimes requires teachers to give up their need to control the discussion and instead listen, for understanding. Active listening, in contrast to passive listening, involves an interactive dialogue in which the listener not only hears the speaker, but also paraphrases, summarizes, clarifies, or otherwise elaborates on the content and feelings revealed by the speaker (Ivey & Ivey, 2006).

PLANNING FOR PLCs: Connecting to Student Achievement

I recently had the opportunity to work with the administrator and teacher leaders at Eustis Middle School looking to establish a plan for teachers to work in PLCs as professional development for the next school year.

We used a backwards planning process to establish a focus and a plan.

First, we identified the student performances, behaviors, and practices that would be critical in reaching the desired student achievement.

The list looked like this:
Students…
...take responsibility for their own learning and their classmates learning.
...have plans for their futures.
...show interest and engagement in learning.
...are thinkers.
...direct many learning activities.
...have active conversations in learning.
...are collaborative.

The following drawing by teacher Julia DeLaCruz illustrates.

The Ideal EMS Student:

Having decided upon the desired student performances, we then brainstormed
the teacher practices most likely to generate these student responses.
That list was then summarized into three focus areas:

Co-operative Learning
Motivating the Unmotivated
Higher Order Thinking

Teachers will have the opportunity to select one of these three areas for study in the coming school year. Initial professional development opportunities will be offered to the three groups. Then smaller PLCs will be formed in each of these three areas. Those PLCs will work together making specific applications of their studies with their students. It is expected that those learnings will follow back to the larger group and potentially back to the entire faculty.

SENIOR PROJECTS

During a recent professional development workshop in Arkansas, I met teacher Judy Bynum who approached me during a break to share how senior projects at her school motivated student effort. As she shared her story, I knew I wanted everyone possible to hear about it. So here it is:

Judy, tell me about your school and its use of senior projects.
Senior Project® is the brainchild of Carleen Osher of Medford, Oregon, who, in the 1980’s, was searching for an authentic assessment that would serve as a culmination of thirteen years of a student’s education. Hence, Senior Project was born and has proven its worth throughout the United States.

Drew Central, a rural, high-poverty school in Monticello, Arkansas, is one of only a few schools in the state of Arkansas to require seniors to do a project in order to graduate. Although it is housed in Senior English class, there is a Senior Project Director who works with the students, too. Through the process, each senior (including special education students) participates by writing a 10-page research paper on a subject he or she wishes to study; plans and executes a project guided by an adult mentor of his/her choice; organizes a portfolio of materials, forms, photographs, interviews, and other information to document the project; and presents an 8-minute oral presentation to a community board the week preceding graduation. If the board rules that the project is substandard, the student will not graduate.

What has this initiative done for our students? First, it has eradicated Senioritis—they’re too busy to be bored! Second, it has given seniors choice and voice in determining their topic, since it is entirely student-centered and student driven. Third, our seniors have shown a higher level of maturity, responsibility, time-management skills, and the more scholarly writing since our district has instituted it. Although the students may complain during the year, their heightened level s of self-confidence and pride is evident on Senior Boards Day, after presentations.

A bi-product of Senior Project is that when the business leaders of our community see our students dressed professionally and listen to them present formally, they sometimes offer these students jobs in their businesses on the spot. Grammar and presentation skills are honed during the senior years, as in no other year, in preparation for the boards. Colleges have shown strong interest in the projects and the intense study involved as well. And for some of the students, focus on a specific career during their project helped them realize a wrong career choice before expense of four years of higher education began.

Most importantly, Senior Project has made each senior feel proud of his or her accomplishment and has forged a new respect between the faculty and students. Seniors are constantly being asked by the faculty, “What is your project?” or “How’s the project coming?” Some teachers serve as mentors, with one teacher actually doing a Senior Project to show support for what students are being required to do.

Erica Hood, a Drew Central senior, adopted a South Mississippi classroom for her senior project.

Erica, what were your initial thoughts about the concept of a senior project? Did anything change in your thinking as you began exploring and working on it?

I was very unsure about it at the beginning of it. I thought it was going to make my senior year more stressful and would not amount to anything but a waste of my time. When I first began, it was still stressful trying to get everything organized. It was one of those things I had to make myself work on it. Once I actually started doing the project and people began giving money to me so freely, it completely changed the way I felt about this. This was a bigger thing than I thought it would be.

How did you arrive at the idea/focus for your project?

When I was trying to decide on a topic, I knew I wanted to do something that would actually help others. The only disaster I knew about was Katrina. I also knew I wanted to work with kids. So, one thing led to another.

Describe your project:

When I first started working on the project, my actual destination was going to be New Orleans. I wrote my paper on the psychological and emotional effects of tragedy on children. I based my information on experiences children in the New Orleans area had during the hurricane. But when I went to contact the director of departments of education in both Louisiana and Mississippi, the Mississippi director was the first to respond. He told me to get in touch with Harrison County School District, in the very southeast corner of Mississippi where the eye of the storm came through. I immediately knew they would benefit from my project.

Through their website, I contacted every principal and teacher of the school district. The first response was Mrs. Speirs from Lizania, Mississippi. She said that she had a first grade teacher who would benefit with the project, and she put us in touch. Mrs. Dana Ladner then contacted me, explained what had happened to the school in the hurricane, and came up with a supply list of her students’ classroom needs.

I went to work. First, I met with the Ministerial Alliance in Monticello, and they were extremely supportive. I created a children’s packet list of supplies and a teachers’ packet. I went around town and showed businesses the supply lists. Donations began to pour in. Within three days, I had raised over $2000.

On Thursday afternoon, I went shopping at Wal-Mart and literally cleared the shelves of school supplies. That still wasn’t enough. The next morning, accompanied by my mother, little brother, my project mentor, and the mentor’s daughter, we left at 6:00, stopping at every Wal-Mart and Office Depot on the way to buy supplies. We finally finished shopping about an hour outside of Gulfport, arriving at the school about 2:00. When I went inside, I was taken to the class, where I met the teacher and the children. They were so excited.

The teacher, Mrs. Ladner, asked the children to raise their hands if they still lived in a FEMA trailer, and over half the 30 children in the classroom did. It totally shocked me. Many of the families had not received any insurance money yet.

The children followed me outside and helped me unload the van. The amazement and thankfulness in their eyes was unbelievable. They did not know how to react to the gifts. I gave each child a sack, and had my picture taken with each of them for their journal entry. We walked back down the hall to the classroom in a line. The other classes just stared at all the packages. When I asked Mrs. Ladner why, she said that all attention had been focused on New Orleans, yet the eye of the storm had actually been in Gulfport. The city of Lizania was a rural school, not on the coast; and these children were unaccustomed to being given any help. They felt they had been forgotten.

The kids announced to the class what was in their sack. When they pulled out the new books, they immediately began reading them. That was their favorite thing. After sorting through the suppIies, Mrs. Ladner realized we had brought enough supplies to share with the whole first grade, so the three other classes were given supplies as well. I then went on bus duty with the teacher, and she showed me the FEMA trailers used for classrooms.

After the buses left, Mrs. Ladner began to tell me stories of the hurricane. Her oldest son, who had been renting a house in Gulfport, lived beside an elderly couple who refused to leave their home and drowned together in their house as a result. Her own extended family was without electricity for fifteen days. At night, she said, the windows had to be left open, and love bugs came in the windows in droves, turning the carpet completely black. Mrs. Debra Spiers, the principal, worked at another school during Katrina, and the school was turned into a homeless shelter. The first night, they had only half a Dixie cup of soda and two cookies for each person, since they were not prepared. When the hospital filled up, the ambulances started bringing the injured to the school. People were soaking wet with water or blood, having sat on rooftops for hours with broken bones. One night a girl came in with a dog and was told she could not bring the dog in there. The girl said the dog was all she had left, since her house collapsed and the dog actually found her in the rubble. The principal allowed her to bring the dog in. Later a young male came in alone. When asked where his parents were, he said they were all on the roof of their home, holding hands, when the current swept both of them away in the waters. Another family came in and said they were trying to knock a hole in the roof to get out; before they could pull the grandmother out, she was swept away. The assistant principal loaded 5-gallon buckets for gas and drove to Alabama to buy gas to power the generators. She had to take a gun, because people tried to stop her and get gas. Even the army needed their gas for emergency purposes and stopped other trucks to get it.

The teacher took us to downtown Gulfport to the Hancock Bank that had a Hurricane Katrina museum, which we toured. We could actually see pictures, a video of the hurricane, a quilt about the hurricane, and art made from debris of the storm. On the coast, it was devastating to see the plantation houses totally gone, souvenir shops gone, stairs to houses with no houses—“stairs to nowhere,” they called them. You could see people picking up old bricks to build new houses. Mrs. Ladner pointed out churches where she had worshipped as a young girl that were now replaced by a tent. Swimming pools were surrounded with a big orange net, with rusted cars in some of the pools. Cars were also scattered around here and there. Some of the beaches had debris from the storm washed up. In Bay St. Louis, it looked like a hurricane had come through only weeks ago. It was all so disturbing to see.

How would you describe what you learned in the project? Did you learn things that connect to your classroom/courses learning? Are there things you learned (skills) that you might describe as life skills?

I learned both life skills and classroom skills. In collecting the money, I had to learn to be able to approach people I do not know. Before my project, my life plan was to go to get a degree in Business Marketing. After this project, however, I now want to obtain a degree in speech pathology and language. I fell in love with the children of Mrs. Ladner’s class, and I knew then that I wanted to have a career that helped special education children who have speech problems. Although I had tossed this idea around for several weeks before the trip, I knew for certain of my career plans.

In school, I had learned about Katrina and had watched the news, so I thought I knew the ins and outs of what had happened. When I got down there, however, I was totally shocked. It was nothing like what I had imagined. It was nothing like people had said. It was horrible, after all these years. Seeing the devastation made me understand the whole aspect of the hurricane. It had not been real to me until then, and it hit me hard. I had no idea… I had assumed, like so many people, that all the hurricane areas had been cleaned up and rebuilt, but that was certainly not the case.

The trip was life-changing in many ways. It made me more grateful for what I have--my family, my house, electricity. And the town of Monticello has been so supportive in everything I asked.

What advice would you give to teachers, students, parents, who are thinking about adding projects to their school plans?

If schools decide to implement Senior Project, they need to make it important—if you don’t do it, you won’t graduate. Truthfully, I personally wish all the kids had to do a service-related project to help others, because it made me feel so good inside. And I want others to feel that happiness. It made me so happy to “give rather than to receive.” Students might get more out of the project in this way. I truly recommend Senior Project as a requirement for graduation. Seniors I know in other school districts are just required to write a standard research paper, and not even a long one at that. Drew Central builds us up and prepares us for major projects in our future lives.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?
Senior Project has made a real difference in the relationships between faculty members and students. Teachers that I used to pass and speak to in the hallway now ask about the trip, and they have been so excited for me, and have told me they are so proud of what I did. The encouragement I received from everybody was just overwhelming. It made me less stressed just to know I had made a difference in the lives of the world.

Thanks Erica for your work and for sharing it with us. Copies of my books Tapping Student Effort and Wow! Adding Pizzazz to Teaching and Learning will be donated to Mrs. Ladner’s colleagues in your honor.

CREATIVITY

In an earlier posting I mentioned last year’s report, Tough Choices or Tough Times, which said successful countries will be those that can produce the most important NEW products. Those countries would depend on a deep vain of creativity that is constantly renewing itself, and on a myriad of people who can imagine how people can use things that have never been available before… create ingenious marketing and sales campaigns, write books, build furniture, make movies and imagine things that the rest of the world will find indispensible.
Recently, a unique collaboration between the Conference Board, Americans for the Arts and the American Association of School Administrators released a study titled, “Ready to Innovate: Are Educators and Executives Aligned on the Creative Readiness of the US Workforce.

"While creativity is recognized as a critical ingredient to success in the workplace, schools and businesses need to re-examine their curriculums and training programs to determine the most effective way to increase the emphasis on developing this skill. That's the only true way to effect change and turn out better qualified workers with more creative talents."1

Along with the release of this report, Daniel Pink, the author of A Whole New Mind, presented a lecture at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. Pink’s work stresses that while left- brain logical, linear skills are necessary, they represent the kind of skills more likely to be moved off shore or automated (tax preparation or legal services for incorporating). Pink sees an increasing need for right-brain artistry, empathy, creativity and big picture thinking. View a short video presentation of Pink’s thinking here.

Could our students be spending too much classroom time solving problem we give them and not enough time practicing how to find problems?

Additionally, testimony was given to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment & Related Agencies on the Role of the Arts in Creativity and Innovation. Click here to read or view some of the testimony, including that given by Robert Redford.

These events were part of Arts Advocacy Day, a national convening presented by Americans for the Arts.
Here is a summary from the Ready to Innovate report.

”This new research shows that both businesses and schools recognize the critical role of creativity as a workforce skill, and both groups accept the role they have in fostering it. Both also recognize that arts-training is a key way to foster creativity. Yet despite this recognition, most schools do not include arts training as a mandatory part of the curriculum, and most businesses provide creativity-fostering training only to very few employees. With this growing recognition of the role a creative workforce has on the global competitiveness of American business, both business and education leaders need to examine what changes can be made to more widely foster these skills in our current-and especially our future-workers.” 1


What questions does this raise for you as you work with teachers and students?


1 Ready to Innovate: Are Educators and Executives Aligned on the Creative Readiness of the U.S. Workforce?, Authors: James Lichtenberg, Christopher Woock, Mary Wright Publication Date: March 2008Report Number: R-1424-08-KF

TIME, RELATIONSHIPS, AND LEARNING

This week, I was working with one group of high school teachers looking at the need to differentiate teaching strategies. I was working with another exploring how to make the most effective use of a 90 minute block schedule. I also worked with an entire K-12 district looking at learning communities. During the entire week, the structure of schedules and groupings of learners was a constant focus.
So, as often happens, my quick reading of headlines and online postings caused me to ponder connections.

An article in the Washington Post, Quality Time Stacked in Favor of Firstborns, explores a report by Joseph Price, “Parent-Child Quality Time: Does Birth Order Matter" in the Journal of Human Resources. I recalled that several years ago at a conference on the brain I had heard scientist list things that occur prior to birth and in our early years that influence how our brain forms helping me understand why a class of 23 students was really 23 unique brains. One point they mentioned was birth order; as firstborns are disproportionately represented in the enrollments at Ivy League universities. The suggestion was that parents responded differently to firstborns. This is highlighted in the definition of to sterilize: If it’s your first child, put in boiling water for 5 minutes. If its your third child, pick it up an blow on it.

“Price found that in two-child families, firstborn children got about 30 percent more quality time from their parents. Birth-order differences were largest in activities Price considered most important, such as reading and playing together. Secondborns prevailed in one category: watching television with parents. Price did not count this as quality time.” Why parents spend less time with children as a family ages was not studied, but Price offered some reasons, including fatigue, age and a waning novelty. In his family, he recalled, the firstborn had an elaborate scrapbook right away, but the scrapbook for his fourth child, 14 months old, has not been started”.1

I am a firstborn and am pretty sure my 4th born sister wouldn’t be surprised by the scrap book example.
The second article I found in USA Today-Size alone makes small classes better for kids.
“New findings from four nations, including the USA, tell a curious story. Small classes work for children, but that's less because of how teachers teach than because of what students feel they can do: Get more face time with their teacher, for instance, or work in small groups with classmates”.
"Small classes are more engaging places for students because they're able to have a more personal connection with teachers, simply by virtue of the fact that there are fewer kids in the classroom competing for that teacher's attention,"2

This article reinforced other studies I’ve read, identifying that frequently teachers did not take advantage of smaller class size to change instruction. What is different is that it suggested that students still gained from the smaller size. My guess is connected to relationships… being better known …maybe receiving more attention.

What structures should we be considering to best capitalize on time and relationships for learning? Looping, Small Learning Communities, Block Schedules, House Structures for multiple year relationships, Advisories...I recently worked with an alternative high school in Idaho where students are scheduled to take one course at a time-all day.
Lots to ponder.


1 Washington Post, Quality Time Seems Stacked in Favor of Firstborns, Donna St. George,Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, March 22, 2008; Page A01
2 USA Today, Size Alone Makes Small Classes Better for Kids, Gregg Toppo

MORE LEARNING IN LIVE EVENTS

In workshops and presentations on Tapping Student Effort and Learning Styles, I often discuss the power of teachers using Live Events to deepen student motivation and effort. In Live Events, most learning style preferences are naturally present.

Live Events are often project based learning activities where the outcome of the event has a real consequence. A sophisticated simulation can include all the elements of a live event with the exception of real consequence.

Simulation: Students take part in the stock market game. Groups invest a pretend $10,000 and buy and sell across a semester, declaring a winner at the end of the term.

Live Event: Each student in the Freshman Class contributes $25 to a fund that is invested in the stock market after in depth study and consensus decision making. Students track their progress (or loss) during their high school career, cashing out to off set the cost of the senior prom.

Another example of a Live Event was in the January 6th posting, Learning in Live Events, where students at a Wisconsin school did Christmas for poverty stricken children.

The following diagram illustrates the live event elements that positively impact student learning.




A recent article appearing online at Edutopia presents a great live event example.
Philips Sala and Burton Academic High School has an Academy of Finance with its very own Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site. The VITA program, a partnership between the Internal Revenue Service and the nonprofit organization United Way, recruits volunteers to become certified tax preparers as a free service to households earning less than $38,000 a year. Burton’s VITA site is staffed by the high school students themselves.1

Here is how I labeled each element of a Live Event in these students’ experience.
Relevance and Real Environment
"What I love about this process is that it gets kids out of the classroom into a real environment where they can apply what they've learned." "We talk in class about what it means to be professional. We talk about sales tax, interest, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). But to actually be in an office and assist someone they've never met before, someone who is looking to them as professionals to help prepare their taxes -- all of a sudden, it feels much more real for students."
Process Skills
Not only are they staying awake, but they're grappling with the ins and outs of basic tax returns, learning about running a small business, working collaboratively in teams on complex problems, building speaking skills and self-confidence, and honing multiple academic fundamentals -- including math, computer, and literacy skills -- all in a real-world, high-stakes context.
Multi Sensory
"It's great to learn skills, but it's even better to apply them to help out your neighbors and give back to the community," Glancing at a classroom filled with students who have the poise of professionals and who speak with the urgency of those engaged in a very real task, as well as clients who look as though they know they're in capable hands.
Emotion
"It's a little nerve-wracking," "You get kind of tense because you don't want to mess anything up by not giving people enough money or giving them too much."
Real Consequence
"On a test, there's no real difference between a 75 percent and a 95 percent. But if someone's sitting across from you, and you're talking about their taxes, you want to get 100 percent! You don't want to make any mistakes."

For more information on Live Event Learning, go to The National Educator Program to see how they work with Academies and Small Learning Communities.


1 Edutopia, Financial Aides: Teens Become Tax Preparers A high school opens a tax office, and students run the show by Sara Bernard, 2008