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

TIME AND INCENTIVES FOR PEER COACHING

As a staff developer, consultant, school reformer, and change agent, I have frequently seen educators "give up" trying to be leaders and innovators because they needed time and, after looking for it, could not find any. One teacher lamented that she began a peer coaching strategy with three colleagues. The program died within two months because they were unable to find common time to observe and confer. Another teacher reported how a building-level staff development committee informed the principal of the need for early dismissal in order to conduct a two-hour information/planning session. The principal denied the request because he felt that the community would not accept an early dismissal. The program deteriorated.

How, teachers ask, can they engage in collaboration when no sustained blocks of time are available and work must be accomplished in short bursts of intense effort, and often alone? The question then becomes: Where can school leaders find the time in the school day and year for these activities?

I personally don’t believe they can. I think they need instead to make time. You can find strategies for making time in the following article: Time: It’s made, not found (by Stephen Barkley,Journal of Staff Development, Fall 1999 Vol. 20, No. 4). Additional authors writing on this topic can be found at www.nsdc.org.

Often, if teachers have the opportunity to experience the benefits of coaching and collaboration, they will be more inclined to carve out time on their own to continue. I recently worked with two school districts to develop the following outline for a 15 hour CEU or one graduate hour course.

Title: Peer Coaching and Collaboration: An Action Study

Text: Quality Teaching in a Culture of Coaching by Stephen Barkley

Structure: Four to eight teachers will form a study group. Each participant will complete at least one rotation of each of the following activities. A log and journal will be kept to document date, times, and reflections upon the learning from each of the activities. (Repeat any of the activities 2-6 to meet the 15 study hours)

1. Read the text
2. Attend a study group discussion to highlight and question critical issues from the text.
3. Observe a colleague’s lesson live or on tape and provide coaching feedback.
4 .Be observed (live or tape) by a colleague and receive coaching feedback.
5. Lead a conversation with colleagues to collect input on a lesson or unit plan prior to teaching it.
6. Lead a conversation with colleagues around your students’ work or assessment and gather suggestions for next steps.

Assignments: Submit your log and journal on completed activities. Include in your journal a final reflection on the value of your collaboration experiences. Examine the relationship between teacher collaboration and student achievement.


How do you create time and incentives?