The Teachers Guild - Teachers who create new solutions for students and schools

The Teachers Guild is a really interesting new initiative with the goal to "Bring together teachers, just like you, to collaborate and solve 30 education challenges in three years. Building on each others’ ideas, we will amaze our students, schools and the greater system with a flood of new and better solutions designed by and for teachers."

It is an ambitious, worthy goal that has some great potential. Finally, someone sees the fact that teachers are the experts in education and need to be part of any project or reform that has to do with education.

David Harrington, from Google, has a great explanation on LinkedIn (read more at the link):

This is about an enabler, and it’s brand new this week.

It’s called The Teachers Guild, created by an innovation group that includes the world-famous design firm IDEO and Google. Both Ideo and Google use Design Thinking, a process that was created pre-1970, expanded in the 80's and 90's, and has now moved beyond the narrower definitions of design. Design Thinking has its roots withStanford University and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

However, this story is not just about Design Thinking, but about how a few original minds created something that scales globally and put it up in mere months. The Teachers Guild is a site, accessed by teachers around the world, that tackles the really big problems in education, bigger than how to deal with a state testing requirement or a piece of literature that’s been called inappropriate. For instance, their first challenge is how to encourage innovation in your classrooms.

During the stages of the Design Thinking process:

• Teachers will submit ideas
• Refine those ideas
• Decide which ideas are best
• Vote on which ones they will be attempting to implement.

It’s a fairly simple process to understand; that’s a necessity when you’re asking people to crowdsource around an idea. But the really amazing part is that when you use this tool, you are actually using the process we are trying to instill into our students. It works for both the teachers and the students.

All teachers should take a look at this, since every teacher has something to contribute. You can read teacher stories about things that worked for the, look at the current challenges and add your suggestions, read articles and research on education, and even post your own challenge and solutions.

There is a lot of great information on the site. Check it out!







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My take on some issues in education right now

Education is at the forefront of the media, political battles, legislation and everywhere you turn. There are some major issues being discussed and some are valid, some not so much. Education is a very dynamic, individualized, NOT-one-size-fits-all issue that needs real support and change. Here is my take on the big issues:

1. Teacher attacks - stop attacking teachers! We are not the cause of everything bad in the world. We are not responsible for everything about a student. We work hard, long hours. We act as surrogate parents, psychologists, social workers, mentors, and teachers. Yes we get summers off...from our main job. Most of us teach summer school or have another summer job to make ends meet. We can NOT do it all. Educating our children is a TEAM effort, that needs the community, schools, and parents involved.

2. Standardized Testing - I have no problem with giving students benchmark, standardized test occasionally. However, to say that these tests will be used to evaluate (and decide pay and firing of teachers) is ridiculous. Standardized testing is one way to assess PART of a student's learning and abilities. It can be useful to find areas that need to be addressed. But it is not the be-all-end-all of student, or teacher, assessment.

3. "Education Reform" - what a mess this is. Corporations and Politicians thinking that they know more about education than educators. There is a motivation behind much of education reform that is all about money. More standardized testing, textbooks and curriculum lead to more money for many companies. More charter schools equal more money for the companies that run them. Bad evaluation methods of teachers, tying teacher evaluations to standardized testing, and attacking teachers work to push good teachers out, and get them replaced by new, temporary, lower paid teachers. If we want true education reform, we need to have educators working on the plans, not politicians and private corporations. Read more here.

4. Literacy - this is one of the main issue that affects our students' ability to learn. We have students entering school who have never been read to, or taught anything about reading and they are way behind. Poverty and family life contribute to this issue, with many students having parents who don't/can't read or don't speak English. We need to improve the reading skills of our students so that they can read textbooks, web sites, and other educational materials and learn from them.

5. Poverty - Poverty must be addressed to help our students, and schools, succeed. I wrote more about it here.

6. Student Learning - students need to learn certain skills and concepts. They will not learn these from more testing. They will not learn these from canned curriculum. They will learn them from experienced educators doing innovative, interactive projects and lessons in the classroom. These Skills are vital for students to be successful in the future. What politicians and businesses want to do will not teach these skills to students, they will just teach them to take tests, and hate education.

What do you think about all the issues affecting public education today?



Related:

Who's responsible for failing students/schools? Everyone!

Assessing Student Learning - do it like assessing someone in their job

Musings on education reform

Educational Issues in Connecticut - what a mess!

Why Teachers Like Us Support Unions

Some Common Education Myth's Debunked

Incompetent Teachers or Dysfunctional Systems? Fix the system to support the teachers.

Just the Facts Please! The facts about "education reform" from NEA Today

Infographic - consequences of teaching to the test

Why I'm a Teacher and what I like and dislike about it

 

I did not start out wanting to be a teacher. I had always wanted to be an engineer. I went to college to be an engineer and worked as an engineer for 10 years before becoming an educator. I was already an EMS Instructor. My mother was a teacher and my sister is a teacher. I had not thought about being a teacher until Winter of 2002. I was working part time and volunteering as a paramedic, as well as working full time as an engineer. I was at EMS chatting with my partner, who was a high school chemistry teacher, and talking about careers and I told him that I love teaching EMS classes and wondered about a teaching career. As we are talking, he notices an ad in the paper for the State's Alternate Route to Certification program coming up that summer. I applied, passed everything and became a high school Physics teacher and 10 years later I'm still a teacher. I've gotten two Master's Degree's in Education (Technology and Leadership), have my own educational blog, write for Tech&Learning Magazine, facilitate professional development in my district and present at educational conferences.I truly enjoy my new career.

People often ask me why I left engineering to become a teacher. They are usually pretty shocked considering the huge pay difference (I still don't make what I made as an engineer 10 years ago). I stated that I had always loved it as an EMS Instructor and as a Boy Scout Merit Badge counselor and thought that I would have something to offer my students with my experience as an engineer. I also figured that my 15 years of experience working in EMS in the city I would be teaching in would give me a good insight into the students' lives and home situations.

I have enjoyed teaching. I love helping students to learn something new, experience something new, and explore things. I love watching them work on labs and projects and seeing the light go off as they discover something. I love hearing them work through problems and projects. I love sharing things with them. I love listening to their stories, hearing about their lives and their dreams, and I love helping them with things that have nothing to do with my class. I love being a mentor to teenagers. I love sharing my love of science with them. I love showing them how smart they really are and what they can accomplish. I love hearing about their successes. I love working with them.

I love working with educators who truly care about students and want to make a difference in their lives. I love collaborating with other educators to come up with lessons, activities, and ideas for helping our students.

What I don't like about teaching is a mix of issues. I don't like the disrespect that we deal with on a daily basis from students, parents and administrators. I don't like students that don't follow the rules, cause trouble, are disrespectful, and don't do their work who face no consequences to their actions and continue to cause trouble. I don't like administrators who pick on teachers instead of helping them. I don't like endless, useless meetings. I don't like politicians and business persons thinking that they are experts in education and dictating what we do. I don't like standardized testing that is invalid and a waste of time and money. I don't like that I spend over $500 a year on supplies and resources for my classroom because the school systems and government don't adequately fund schools. I don't like that my pay is very low, considering my education and responsibilities. I don't like the current "edreform" movement that is not doing anything to help students, but rather is helping private corporations.

I don't like educators who don't care, don't enforce rules, and don't try to constantly improve what they are doing as educators. I don't like administrators who don't support their teachers.

However, everything I like completely outweighs what I don't like. I can't imagine not being a teacher. I endure the disrespect, the constant attacks on my profession, the low pay, the working at home, all because I believe that I can help students learn, grow, and succeed.



Why did you become a teacher? What do you like and dislike about the profession?







Related:

Just the Facts Please! The facts about "education reform" from NEA Today

Incompetent Teachers or Dysfunctional Systems? Fix the system to support the teachers.

Excellent Education Model - WPI's Plan

Educational Issues in Connecticut - what a mess!

The effects of poverty on students must be addressed in education reform

Why Teachers Like Us Support Unions

The VIVA Project - easy way for teachers to collaborate and add voice to education policy

The VIVA Project is a interesting project I just became aware of. It's mission statement is "The VIVA Project works to dramatically increase classroom teachers’ participation in important state and national policy decisions about public education. We open direct communication between individual teachers and public officials, giving public officials authentic insight into how public classrooms and schools work best and they make policy that works better for classrooms."

Vision
Classroom teachers from all corners of their state and our country will share their best ideas and collaborate to develop actionable policy initiatives that will directly shape decisions about public education for all American students and their teachers. Their work will result in education policy that puts classroom teaching and learning first.

The VIVA Project empowers teachers to give state and national elected officials the real story from the classroom.
By sharing their ideas with other classroom teachers, teachers find common ground, learn from different challenges and together make public education work.

• The VIVA Project gives teachers collective and connective power with other teachers
• The VIVA Project is a time saving, easy way to connect with other teachers
• The VIVA Project gives the most passionate teachers an opportunity to tap into a large network of teachers with the same interests and goals quickly

Teachers – you share your idea and see what other teachers think, you can see other teachers’ ideas and tell them what you think and you can work together to pick the best ideas for positive change, making change happen, without spending hours in meetings.

The VIVA Project is organized to spread nationally and the idea behind it is excellent: help teachers communicate and collaborate with each other and policy makers to ensure that educational policies are designed to improve teaching and learning and are focused on the students. Teachers are the education professionals and politicians and policy makers need to listen to our expertise. The VIVA Project helps make that happen.

One of the benefits of a project like this is that it allows teachers to collaborate and share their ideas on their schedule, and then push those ideas and solutions to the decision makers. Teachers don't need to spend all of their free time going to policy meetings and still not being heard.

The VIVA Project website: http://vivateachers.org/

The VIVA Project Twitter account: http://twitter.com/VIVAProject


Does anyone have any direct experience with the VIVA Project that they would like to share?

Educational Issues in Connecticut - what a mess!

So, Connecticut is having some major issues regarding education and “education reform.” Notice I put quotes around education reform. This is because the politicians so-called reform plans have absolutely nothing to do with improving education for our students. In fact, most of their ideas and plans will only benefit them and private corporations.

One of the first issues, is in Bridgeport, the state’s largest populated city, and it’s Board of Education. The fully story can be read here: 
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Timeline-Bridgeport-school-board-saga-3367920.php and here
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/What-does-the-Supreme-Court-decision-mean-3368422.php
but the short version is that the old, elected board was having issues, voted to disband, and the State came in and took over, appointing a new board. There were legal issues with this and the Supreme Court just ruled that the takeover is not valid.

It turns out the state violated the law, as the courts pointed out. It violated state law. They need to follow the law, not work around it. Isn’t that what we are trying to teach our students?
A great quote from a student sums it all up:
"I think the takeover was good. If something is not working, you need to fix it and get a handle on it before it totally gets out of control. But if anything is going to be done, it needs to be done the right way," said Kendra, 18, a student school board representative. "There are laws in place. If there is a procedure, you have to go by that."
Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Students-mixed-on-Supreme-Court-decision-3371290.php#ixzz1nsWqsefa

Politics, not the students, were the focus of all of this. The politicians would talk about helping our students, but it was all political. The mayor was quoted as saying “Need to remove politics from education” but he brought more politics to education with this move.

Some members of the appointed board seemed like good people with good intentions, but there were some concerns mentioned in the papers and by some citizens. The new superintendent, Paul Vallas, seems to be doing a good job though.

There other issue in Connecticut is Governor Malloy’s “Education Reform” (Senate Bill 24) which is NOT good for education. It lowers standards for educators, gives too much power to the State, changes teacher certification and pay, completely changes/eliminates tenure, changes teacher evaluations to subjective and lowers pay, expands role of private corporations in education, changes funding, uses unproven and unfinished ideas, and does nothing to help our students. Districts would have to pay money to charter schools, depleting their already measly budgets, yet charter schools can still exclude students and are not held to same standards. Educators would not be required to get advanced degrees and professional development requirements would be lowered. Educators due process rights will be severely weakened, and the state and superintendents would have increased power, with less oversight and balance of power. Superintendents wouldn’t even have to be certified educators! Education funding would also be competitive, hurting many districts in need. 


The educational initiatives are unproven and unfinished and do nothing to help students learn.
Tenure and due process would be changed and eliminated for new teachers. Poor evaluations by an administrator and a teacher would get a lower salary and could even lose their certification!! Imagine if an teacher and an administrator don’t get along or have a conflict. The principal holds teachers entire careers, in their hands, with little or no recourse for teachers.



There is absolutely nothing in the bill, which is contradictory and against other statutes, that will HELP OUR STUDENTS!!! The new bill would force many excellent teachers out of teaching. And, with the new evaluation and pay system, and lack of due process, good teachers will not want to work in the struggling districts and those students will face even more issues and troubles. Who wants to work somewhere when you can lose your job, and certification, so easily?



Politicians are getting too involved in education. They are proposing ideas that will hurt education and not listening to the professionals who actually know how to help our students. Teachers care about their students. They work hard for their students and are met with resistance and attacks from everywhere. We need to support teachers, not attack them.

Rreal school improvement comes from strong collaboration with school leaders, teachers, parents and others. Reform should be a collaborative discussion and decision-making process.


Remember, the priority is OUR STUDENTS! Don’t attack or weaken teachers and education, work with teachers (the professionals) and help us, help our students!





Here is a fact sheet on the Governor’s bill:



Here are some articles about these types of issues:


Analysis of Governor's Ed Reform Bill


Can’t Blame Tenure for Failing Schools


How to Demoralize Teachers


What Teacher Tenure Is — And What It’s Not


Students Learn Better with Engaged Parents


Targeting Teachers Isn't Going To Improve Schools


Reasonable doubt on teacher evaluation




What do you think?

Infographic on collapse of Public Education in America - from Edudemic

Edudemic, a great site for educators, has just posted an infographic on the "Collapse of Public Education in America."

The infographic has some interesting data on the funding crisis for public education, cost sharing issues with "private" education, factors affecting schools, and compares and contrasts public and private education. 

There is some interesting data in here to take a look at and examine. 

You can view the original infographic HERE.

The effects of poverty on students must be addressed in education reform

There have been some great discussions over the years about the effects of poverty on students and the obstacles poverty creates for them in regards to school and education. I teach in a school district where 95% of the students qualify for free lunch and poverty is a major issue.

Richard Byrne started it off and the discussion is very thought provoking. You can see the conversation starter at Richard's Blog- http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/11/balancing-reform-with-reality.html and then follow it onto Google+.

Poverty is a huge factor in student achievement. Students in poverty have other things to worry about, like working to help the family, taking care of siblings, no where to do homework, and many more issues. They may have gotten a slow start in school, miss school for a variety of issues, and not see the importance of education. They may have no help at home from parent(s) or they may be the ones helping their parent(s) learn English or how to read. They may spend the evening cooking and cleaning and taking care of their siblings and helping them with their homework. They may not have any quiet place to do homework or study and may not have a computer to use. Poor nutrition, poor medical care, and poor living conditions can also contribute to developmental and health issues.

Poverty is a huge factor in these children's lives and their education. They can achieve and they can learn and they can succeed. But they face huge obstacles that we must address and help them overcome. If we can help them overcome these obstacles, we can help them achieve.


The Washington Post Answer Sheet (education column) also has a good article on the effects of poverty on children and how we must address this.


Here's a infographic about poverty and children from the Indiana Youth Institute. You can download the image or PDF from their site.

Great discussion on edreform and other issues going on

There is a great discussion on edreform and other issues going on over on Google+ right now.

Richard Byrne started it off and the discussion is very thought provoking.

Come and join the conversation. Start here at Richard's Blog- http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/11/balancing-reform-with-reality.html

Just the Facts Please! The facts about "education reform" from NEA Today

NEA Today, the journal for members of the National Education Association, had a great article in the March/April 2011 issue entitled "Just the Facts Please! Time to get real about education reform."  (available online for free).

The article addresses issues such as high-stakes testing, pay for test scores, charter schools and tenure and points out the facts about these issues. Everything is written in basic terms with examples given. You can also comment and join the discussion.

This is a great article to share with people who are confused about education reform and what's fact.

Related Articles:

Why Teachers Like Us Support Unions

Some Common Education Myth's Debunked

Incompetent Teachers or Dysfunctional Systems? Fix the system to support the teachers.

Why Teachers Like Us Support Unions

(part of  #EduSolidarity   http://edusolidarity.us/ postings by teachers today, March 22nd)

Teachers and teacher unions have been getting lambasted in the press for a while now. It is completely unfair. Teachers work for students. That is their job. Unions work for teachers. That is their job. Therefore, unions work for students. Both groups exist to make sure that students are educated and that the educational system is the best it can be. 

Lately, politicians and rich people have been trying to push their own agendas for education. These people, who have never taught and, for the most part, never been to a public school, are trying to change education. Teachers know that much of what these “education reformers” are doing are bad practices and will not work. They are pushing for more standardized testing and programs that have been tried before and known to not work. They are attacking unions as being obstacles to education and protecting bad teachers. Those statements are not true. 

Unions are not perfect, nothing is, and there are problems with some, just like there are problems with any group. But, their purpose is to support public school teachers and public school education.

Here are some things that teacher unions do:

1. Protect teachers from unfair treatment (which is quite prevalent) by administrators. Protect teachers from personal attacks by administrators and make sure that their jobs are not based on politics or who they know, but on their qualifications.

2. Provide for a living wage (no teacher is getting rich) and fair benefits. We do not get free benefits - we pay for them (and quite a bit).

3. Provide for due process for the firing of a teacher - they do not protect bad teachers. If a school or district has proof of bad performance, a teacher can and will be let go. Due process is important to protect teachers from being fired for unjust reasons.

4. Protect students - provide for small class sizes, fight for funding for programs and supplies.

5. Provide programs and support to education - many unions provide local and national programs to help students and also work to find grants and funding for schools.

6. Lobby government to properly fund education and prevent sweeping cuts to education budgets.

7. Give teachers a voice in what happens in school. Remember, teachers, not politicians, understand what is best for our children. The unions make sure that the people who are in the classroom and truly understand what needs to be done to help our children, have a voice in education policy decisions.

8. Provide a sounding board for teachers and a community that they can collaborate with other educators to come up with ways to better themselves and education.

All of this leads to a better educational system which is better for students, teachers, and the community. When teachers and the educational system are supported, like they are by unions, everyone wins.

Side note: I worked as an engineer for 10 years before becoming an educator and never saw the need for unions. I was never in an union as an engineer, but our manufacturing employees were. The companies I worked for treated employees fairly, so why did we need unions? 


I also work part time as a paramedic for a large ambulance company. Our division was not union. Other divisions were. It was funny how we got the same, or a little better, benefits than the union shops. The company didn't want us unionizing so they kept us happy.


Then I became a teacher and realized that without teacher unions, teachers would be poorly paid (even worse than we are now), treated poorly and our schools would be in shambles because the group that always fights for public school teachers and systems is the union. The teachers' unions are a good thing and fight for teachers and students. They are needed. Especially now with politicians and rich people thinking they know what's best for students and constantly attacking the people who do know what's best for students - the teachers.

Related articles:
Some Common Educational Myths Busted
The Best Resouces for Learning Why Teachers’ Unions are Important
Incompetent Teachers or Dysfunctional Systems? Fix the system to support the teachers
Who’s Responsible for Failing Students and Failing Schools? Everyone!

Apply Business Practices to Education - great ideas that can help education

I’ve been thinking a lot about school reform and how we can make schools better. I’ve read the arguments from educators and politicians, and even those corporate giants who seem to know more about educating our students than teachers do. I’ve seen reports of successful schools and failing schools. As a former engineer and project manager, I do believe that business has some things that can be used in school to improve things for teachers and students. I do believe that some business practices can be beneficial to education. I’m not saying that we should treat students as products, but I have some ideas of how to use some business models in education.

I really started thinking more about this topic when I read an article about “The High School of the Future” in Philadelphia. It was started in 2006 and dubbed “The Microsoft School” because the company had helped design it. Now it seems that there are some serious problems occurring there, with seniors not eligible to graduate because the school didn’t focus on the standards and basics. There was too much emphasis on being unique and different without any real substance behind it.

This got me thinking about what would happen if some other well known companies and some companies I’ve worked for, had a hand in designing a school and it’s vision and curriculum.

I started thinking about Google and how they offer a lot of benefits to their staff. How they give their employees time to work on projects that interest them. Now, Google is not the all-perfect company, but some of their ideas are very good and make good sense. I also thought of some other companies I’ve worked for, like SVGL (now ASML) and UTC (Sikorsky Aircraft) and some of the things they did that made them successful. I’ve put together a list of ideas from these companies and how they could/should be implemented in schools.

1. Open up the curriculum and time in school. Give students more chances to work on projects of their choosing. Let them explore what interests them. Give them resources and support them in their learning. More independent study projects and group projects. (Just like things happen in the real world.) For example, if a student really loves music, then let them apply that love and interest in their classes - science of music, history of music, write a song, etc. Many current curricula are too fixed and inflexible.
2. Focus on the essential questions, thinking skills and essential knowledge students need to know. Some facts are important, but memorizing is not needed. Working professionals can look up information when they need to (including doctors and engineers) so why can't students use other resources? We want them to be able to communicate, work as a team, solve problems, and find resources when they need to. We don't need them to be able to recall trivial facts.
3. Provide study lounges with a snack bar, computers, games and couches where students could work on their projects and have a safe place to be. Make sure these study lounges are available after school also.
4. Provide students with free healthy meals and snacks. Good nutrition is paramount to success in school. Provide free or discounted meals to staff also.
5. Provide services, like daycare, laundry, etc. to employees to help them be able to more focus on their jobs. Daycare could be helpful for teen mom’s and could also be used as a teaching resource for students who want to learn about early childhood development or who want to be teachers.
6. Give teachers a vision and the resources they need and then let them do their job. Support them, don’t attack them. Help them when they need it. If there is training available that could help them in their job - send them for it. For example, when I was promoted to project engineer at one company, they sent me for project management training as well as supervision training since I was now supervising other employees.
7. Give teachers time to work with their colleagues on solving problems, addressing student issues, working on lesson plans, and networking.
8. Get rid of, or at least limit, meetings. Most companies know that work does not get done during a meeting. Schools and teachers get meetinged to death. With technology, we can collaborate in real time at our own location, limiting travel. And, most meetings are just to give out meeting - that information can be given out by email instead.
9. Health clinics at schools for students and staff. Allow staff members to utilize school-based health centers as part of their benefits. Staff can get basic medical needs taken care of during the work day.
10. Open the school to visitors. Have tours for parents showing them what goes on in the building. Let parents visit any time they want so that they can see what their children are doing.
11. Provide after hours programs for students so that they can work in the afternoon. Give them a safe place to work and learn, even after school.
12. Have the curriculum and plan be open so that students who don’t do well in the morning could come in later and work later. (Flex time in the business world).
13. Tuition reimbursement for staff. Education requires teachers to get advanced degrees, yet there is no financial help from their employers. Google has tuition reimbursement and United Technologies has a scholar program that pays for school up front and even gives employees time off to study. I know that budgets are tight, but these companies realize that a highly educated workforce benefits them. The same is true for teachers. And, the better educated, and trained, teachers are, the more they can do for their students and schools.
14. Provide real, timely, and useful training to staff. Too many times, teacher professional development is minimal, useless, hard to apply, or some new fad. I’ve received excellent training from my engineering employers and they paid for me to take outside training if it benefited my job. Most teachers I know have to find free training (thank goodness for unconferences) or pay for it them selves. Staff should also be given opportunities to explore their educational interests and not just the Professional Development that the school says they have to take. Choice is very important.
15. Appreciate your staff - administration needs to create a fun, inspiring workplace where teachers feel welcome and appreciated for their efforts.
16. Innovation - staff, and students, should be encouraged to think outside of the box when it comes to education and activities. The curriculum can not be canned, or from a textbook, it must be a living, breathing thing that can change as the world changes.
17. Utilize your resources - two companies I worked for had employees fill out surveys with their hobbies, interests, and other skills they have. The company then knew who they had in-house as resources in different areas.
18. Utilize Quality Improvement systems in schools. Six Sigma, ACE and other systems provide a way to find issues and solutions to those issues. They go beyond test scores and truly look at what the issues are. Root Cause Analysis is one example that works to find the real cause behind an issues. For example, a student is failing a class. Why - poor attendance. Don’t stop there, look deeper. Why is the student’s attendance poor? What outside issues are causing this.
19. Get organized - Some of these quality systems also have programs to get the workplace organized and more efficient. Most schools are very inefficient in the office and clerical side of things. Supplies are not well organized, paperwork, and even standard processes, like the start of school, are not documented for future reference.
20. Be competitive - in some ways, schools are competing against private companies, private schools, and other “opponents” and they need to be competitive. Don’t wait for someone else to come in and tell you there are problems. Find the problems yourself, and then use your resources to find a solution. Be creative and innovative in how you improve things. Take chances and go for it.

These are just some of the ideas I came up with from businesses and business processes that can and should be used in schools. What about you? What ideas do you have?

Incompetent Teachers or Dysfunctional Systems? Fix the system to support the teachers.

"Incompetent Teachers or Dysfunctional Systems?
Rather than blame teachers, we must ensure that teachers work within a highly functional system that
provides meaningful evaluations, high-quality professional development, reasonable class sizes, reliable
and stable leadership, and time for planning and collaboration."

This is the opening headline for an article by By Ken Futernick that was published in the October 2010 issue of Kappan Magazine

The article makes some very good points about teacher quality vs. the system they work in and how the systems need to be changed more than we need to get rid of teachers. Systems need to help teachers succeed, just like teachers need to help students succeed.

Another great quote: "Poor teaching results more often from poorly functioning systems than from individual shortcomings."

Read it for yourself and see what you think.

Excellent Education Model - WPI's Plan

Last night I saw a Tweet from Gary Stager "garystager: @chrislehmann Why not make high school like a great college?"


I thought that this was a great idea! I know college was a great experience for me and I learned much more than just content. In fact, I feel that my undergraduate degree prepared me for anything I want to do in the future. Let me explain.


I went to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Worcester, MA. WPI is an excellent school, highly ranked, and offers an excellent educational experience. The school is small, with only 3,400 undergraduate students. But, the school is well equipped and well run.


The secret behind the school's success is the unique curriculum, called the WPI Plan, consisting of 4 quarters instead of 2 semesters, 3 large projects, and course curriculum that are mainly project based. Each undergraduate has to complete a Humanities Sufficiency Project, an Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) and a Major Qualifying Project (MQP).


The Sufficiency is a 3 credit project and course sequence in the humanities which ensures that all WPI graduates are well rounded. Instead of students having to take meaningless core courses, they develop their own plan and sequence. I took a writing course to help improve my writing skills and then took a sequence of courses in US Government and Foreign Policy before doing my project on the political use of air power in the Vietnam war.


The IQP is a 9 credit project done in the junior year which relates science and technology to society. My group did a project on the Quality of Technical Education in the United States. As part of it, we did research on different programs, school systems, number of students taking technical majors (engineering, science, etc.) and then surveyed current engineers and scientists about their college education and what they thought was good and bad about it. We also looked at how well high school's were preparing students for these types of college majors.


The MQP is a 9 credit project done in the senior year similar to a Master's thesis. My group designed a Two-Stage-To-Orbit space craft. We had to do everything from project planning, to engineering design and analysis, to working with NASA (who sponsored the project) to get information and feedback. The project then had to be presented and defended in our department.


The project based curriculum helps students learn content and develop problem solving, communications, and teamwork skills. It also helps develop ethics and responsibility in the students. I found that my WPI education has prepared me for my career as an engineer, as well as an educator, and served me well in many capacities.


This plan stresses project based learning. Why? Because back when they developed the Plan (over 30 years ago) they knew that the only way to truly master subject area content is to apply it. They also knew that students needed to develop teamwork, communication skills, problem solving skills, creativity, critical thinking, and research skills (sounds like "21st Century skills" doesn't it?). WPI's symbol is the two towers of the first two buildings on campus. Lehr und Kunst. German for Theory and Practice, it's WPI's founding motto and the principle that still underlies the academic programs today. In class, in projects, and in research, students and faculty put knowledge into action to make the world better.

The projects are an integral part of the Plan. All classes are expected to use projects in their curriculum and the school has the three projects that all students must complete. The classes are taught by professors who are very dedicated to education, not just research. Each class is project based and emphasizes critical thinking and problem solving over memorizing data and facts.

I think that WPI was ahead of the game with their plan, considering this is the route that high schools and even middle schools are going. K-12 education is starting to realize how important these skills are and that project based learning is a great way to engage students while teaching them content and other needed skills.

I think that we can make more schools like WPI and do a better job of teaching our students the skills they need to know: teamwork, communications, problem solving, critical thinking, self-education and lifelong learning.

The students at WPI are given more control over their education by having the freedom to choose what they want to learn and how they are going to learn it. There are not a huge number of unneeded and useless "core" classes for students to take. Students create their own humanities program and their own educational plan. There is space in their schedule for them to take elective classes to explore new areas and topics. Students learn the basics and develop a fundamental literacy in each subject. Students do not memorize formulas and facts. They learn how to apply their knowledge to real-world problems and situations. For example, in Thermodynamics, we were taught the three laws of thermodynamics in depth. Then we were able to apply these to any situation instead of learning 10-15 different equations for different situations. This is in contrast to many schools who teach students every little equation for specific situations instead of teaching them the basics and how to apply the basics to any situation.

All of the learning, research and projects all have a purpose beyond just for class. Projects are all real-world applications or really are real-world projects. Student projects have included working to shore up the canals of Venice, design water systems for villages in Africa, developing medical equipment for disabled or sick patients, designing safety features for cars, and much more. This learning with a purpose gives meaning to what everyone is doing. This is very important in education.

WPI stresses teaching over research also and is very committed to the quality of the professors. Professors who have issues with their teaching or have poor reviews by students (each class has a evaluation form done by every student. These are taken seriously) are given support and help in changing and improving their teaching. They are not vilified. They are supported and helped and that means that they become better educators.

The WPI Plan is an excellent model for schools to use as a way to make education more personalized, engaging, relevant, and effective in preparing students for the future. The education there goes beyond preparing them just for the major they are in. The education prepares students for life. They are prepared to continue their education, adapt to new situations, and even change careers from engineering to education. It is truly a unique and effective way to teach and learn.

Related Posts:
http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/04/great-educational-ideas-from-colleges.html
http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/technology-in-use-in-engineering.html
http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/10/wpi-open-house.html
http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2009/04/project-based-learning.html
http://www.wpi.edu/News/Journal/Oct96/miracle2.html