Wow it sounds like you are doing some great work with promoting acceptance and information about LGBT students, Bill. How have the staff responded to this work?

One thing I learned at the White Privilege Conference is the idea that racism is breed and cultivated in the backstage of our lives - a relative who loves to tell offensive jokes, a friend who makes dismissive comments, and so on. As people study the situation, four archetypes emerge: the leader (1/6 people), the cheerleaders (2/6 people), the silently disapproving (2/6 people) and the active resisters (1/6 people).

My advisory group was doing a role-play today on this concept, and to my mind jumped very quickly from problem to solution. Listening to them explain themselves, though, it began to make sense. Their main point was that, when you truly trust the people around you, it becomes easier to speak up for what you think is right. One of them added that she's never really cared what people thought of her anyway, she has just sort of always stuck up for people when they've needed someone on their side.

So it should follow that, in fighting racism (and other isms - reminds me of Ferris Bueller, who said "Isms in my opinion are not good."), building trust and believing in yourself is key to developing your voice as a resister, as someone who will stand up for others. I guess the next step may be to ask my advisees how you build that trust and that belief in yourself, and also to think back on what's worked in the past.

Some times the absence of student voice can also make a statement. Like many other schools, we are observing the National Day of Silence today (www.dayofsilence.org). Half our middle school is participating, and with one exception it's the more vocal half. I think the effect in classes will be profound, and make a greater statement about the effect of silencing voices of LGBT people than any presentation/workshop/etc. could ever accomplish.

I'm also doing a "morning reading" today with half the words removed, to represent the effect of removing half the voices from our school. We'll see how that goes! :-)

We wanted to promote awareness of LGBT issues in our middle school, and so invited the GSA from our upper school to meet with all the kids for the first in a series of two workshops. The high school students designed and led the workshop. Topics:
1. introductions, explanation of purpose of meeting and what GSA is, invitation to stop by GSA meetings
2. small group exercise in vocabulary - matching terminology to definitions (with GSA members distributed one per group to aid with questions)
3. recounting first experiences (positive or negative) with openly LGBT people and taking questions as they came up.

They did a fantastic job, especially thinking on their feet to answer spontaneous questions. I think only one of the adults present spoke only once, and that right at the end of the session. Next week, they will focus on media portrayals of LGBT people, and how to be an effective ally. I'm looking forward to it!

Here is a link to a page with some good examples of how students are helping with tech policies in their schools:
http://isenet.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id...706%3ATopic%3A27819
I don't have any personal examples to add, unfortunately (at least not yet!); do any of you?
Take care,
Bill

MOCA had a good meeting today. It's the second week under the new Constitution, so we had a new pair of student leaders. In 25 minutes, they coordinated the following:
1. brainstorming ideas for what we could do during a 15-minute middle school meeting on Admissions Revisit Day next Monday (a fairly major initiative to give kids we've admitted a chance to take one more look before deciding whether or not to attend)
2. deciding on the necessary next steps for the Penny Drive to benefit "Save the Children"
3. brainstorming ideas for our annual Founders' Day - a day off from classes to celebrate the founding of our middle school program
It's kind of cool to see all they can accomplish when given the chance. What kinds of events do students plan in your schools?
Take care!

Astute observation, Angela :-) Respect and student voice are pretty much at the core of how our school sees itself, and it's nice to see that matters so much to the students as well as the adults.

As to next steps... this Constitution is for MOCA ("Middle school Office Caring for All," their student government, which includes all middle school students). We have posted a signed hard copy in the classroom where we meet, and an electronic version to the "MOCA" folder on our email system. It will be used to govern rules of conduct during MOCA meetings (twice a week for 25 minutes).

They had their first meeting yesterday under the new Constitution, and the hit five agenda items in 25 minutes, and accomplished a great deal. Yay kids.

Many classrooms wrote their own class rules at the beginning of the year. In my Humanities classroom, I ask my students to reduce them down to no more than six, to start them down the path to learning to work well together and compromise, and to get them thinking at the "synthesis" level on Bloom's taxonomy.

Take care,
Bill

Very nice! It is interesting to see the theme throughout what your students wrote, which basically to be heard and respected overall. It's important for us to give our students the opportunities they so want to tell us what they are interested in and needing.

Now, what will you do with this constitution? Will all teachers receive a copy, or was this just for the classroom?

Just as an update, our Constitution is finished. Not what I would have written, but then that isn't the point, is it?! They came up with a mission statement, a list of rights, a paragraph on responsibilities, and a list of rules for selecting leaders. You can read it here if you want:
http://mail.sbschool.org/~bivey/MOCA_Constitution.doc

Sounds great, Angela. What a wonderful way to model lifelong learning!

This makes me think - I know in the "Soundings" program at Radnor Middle School, students design their entire report card format from scratch each year. Is anyone out there in New England doing this?

Take care!

Last year when I taught a career prep class to 7th and 8th graders, I asked them to "Grade Ms. Fiandaca." They filled out answers to about five questions of what they liked in my class, what they hoped I would change, suggestions, etc. Then on the back they graded me based on traits they had already told me they liked to see in a teacher: helpful, fair, respectful, etc.

It was a great way to show them that their opinions matter, and that just like them I, too, was learning as I went and could always stand to make improvements.

I attended an excellent conference with Rick Wormeli today (and another day tomorrow!). One thing he said that made me think of this group - the recommendation that students design their teacher evaluations. I sort of do that, in that I copy-paste the "What a good teacher does" list they generate at the beginning of the school year, and have them rate me on each attribute (e.g., "Teacher is caring: strongly agree." or "Teacher has a good sense of humour: diasgree." and yes, these are actual results). I could see my students being skilled at writing open-ended questions, too. I'd be interested in knowing what other ideas might be out there.
Take care,
Bill

This is actually for our student government organization, "MOCA" (Middle school Office Caring for All), which includes all 22 students in the middle school. We got sidetracked planning a party with another school, and are back working on the Constitution now. They've brainstormed elements of what they think MOCA's mission should be, and what rights and responsibilities MOCA members should have - they came up with some really good ideas. Next step is this coming Tuesday, where they'll figure out how to get a mission statement written and approved, and how the list of rights and responsibilities should be written into the Constituion. Then, they'll review leadership models they proposed back in December, and see which one would best support the group's mission, and best guarantee the maintenance of rights and responsibilities.
Take care,
Bill

I love this idea! Is this for a social studies class?

Is the goal for you to step back and watch as your students figure out the plan, leadership roles, organization and end result of the constitution? I think those types of activities for middle age students are just what they need! Giving them the power and ownership to make change, even just as an exercise, is so meaningful to them.

I would love to hear how this turns out.

I'm in the process of guiding our student government (all 22 kids in our program) through the writing of a constitution. They've brainstormed what has been working well and what has not been working so well. They've brainstormed various ways for students to take increasing responsibility for meetings (and me decreasing responsibility). I plan to have them brainstorm ideas for rights and responsibilities students have which pertain to our student government, settle on a leadership system, and write a constitution. I'm thinking of making this an annual part of the curriculum.

I'm wondering what you all think of this idea, how it could be improved, whether you think it might work at your school.

Take care,
Bill

Hi!

This article in the Washington Post is entitled "Why is it hard for adults to say 'no'?"
http://tinyurl.com/23h2to

What particularly caught my eye is this quote:
"In early to mid-adolescence, reflective thinking sets in, allowing children to go one step further and separate their feelings of the moment from what kind of person they are. (...) Most parents will say they want children who stand up for themselves. The problem comes when that means standing up to Mom and Dad, Ury explains. If kids are mostly rewarded for compliance by parents, teachers or both, when they grow up and have to say the less familiar no, it "can come across as an attack. Then they feel guilty and so the next time avoid the situation altogether."

My school believes deeply in teaching students their voices are powerful and should be heard. The subtext is, of course, to use your voice appropriately. So... if kids *should* feel comfortable saying "no" to adults (and I do think they should), how does one tell what is appropriate? How are these issues handled in your schools?

Take care,
Bill

Hi!

So often, when a parent has a concern about school, the teacher (or advisor) and the parent meet without the student present, except as represented by one or both adults. This is something that probably happens more than it should at my school. Are there schools out there that have good models for including students alongside parents and teachers in problem-solving? Thanks!

Take care,
Bill

Hi!

This webpage,
http://tinyurl.com/2p2euc
will link you to a discussion taking place on a social network for independent school educators and students. It includes several teachers and students discussing the topic "So students, tell us what we could be doing better." It's interesting to see what the kids say. I'd be interested in any of y'all's thoughts as well.

Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School

Our project was modeled after the "Manual for Practitioners" a document created by a group of educators in southwestern Vermont. The Manual outlines Personal Performance Projects (PPP), in which students choose a topic for extended study and finish with a performance, ideally juried by "experts." As it happens, there is a group gathering to rewrite the Manual, to update it based on our 5+ years of experiences and to add strategies for using technology to implement PPP. I will post a link to the web site we use and drafts of the Manual mid-December.

A few specifics of the scheduling may be of interest in the meantime:

1) Students were assigned to teachers who were their mentors throughout the project (it was a small school-- I mentored 12 students, a mix of boys and girls grades 6-8). Each Tuesday morning, mentors had an activity to get students thinking in the right direction. These activities varied over the weeks, and teachers planned the activities ahead of time.

2) Most students stayed close to their mentor's space as they worked... some moved around the school, but not as much as some might fear. We did have several students who spent time away from school on those (or some of those) days. Obviously, those were planned well in advance and we secured necessary permissions.

3) There was also a "back-up" plan for downtime. (For example students who ran our of supplies or students who finished their intended work-- frequently students waited for glue to dry)! Students could help (really help, not just talk with) someone else who needed an extra set of hands, or visit the "quiet room" to catch-up on homework or read.

4) At the end of the day, students returned to their mentors to add to their journals and to develop a plan for the following week.

-- GLA

My Humanities 7 class has decided they want to plan a unit on the theme question "Are girls smarter than boys?" (Yes, we are an all-girls school.) They are looking for other classes elsewhere who be interested in working on this unit along with us, perhaps sharing research, final projects, or possibly having a debate. My email address is first initial last name at sbschool.org ;-) Thanks!

Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School

Wow, the Tuesday morning program you did at your school sounds fantastic and very valuable for students. Could you explain more in detial the logistics of planning this program?

Edited by author 11-12-2007 03:20 PM
A few years ago, I was working in a school were we had a great winter program: Every Tuesday for ten weeks, the buses picked up the kids and took them to (a) a local ski area for lessons, (b) the local ice rink for lessons, or (c) the local gym for strength and conditioning lessons. As great as this program was, it did cause some scheduling issues: 10 half days in the middle of the school year caused some concern for the middle school teachers.

Our team decided to give all 10 Tuesday mornings to the kids for each to work on a personal performance project. At the end of the 10 weeks, their job was to have some kind of performance... any topic... any style of performance. The one caveat, they had to address Vermont's Vital Results (Communication, Reasoning & Problem Solving, Civic & Social Responsibility, and Personal Development).

The results of this project in which students were given guided-control (they each had a teacher who was their mentor who would review progress and ensure Vital Results were being addressed) of their learning was an undisputed success in giving learners voice.

As it happened, the program ended just as the spring parent-teacher conferences were scheduled. So we reserved the early-release days for students to give their performances. We had sculptures on display, students giving speeches, a concert (mandolin, bass guitar, drums), videos, even a potato gun behind the school. Most parents who came to school those days, saw the performance, and then would not even bother visiting with teachers because the performances spoke for themselves.

-- GLA

Hi

Here's another cool idea for student voice - presenting ideas to the school board!

From a "Miami Herald" article: "Are detentions and suspensions obsolete?
"That's what a group of students told the Miami-Dade School Board Wednesday night.
"At the students' urging, the board agreed to explore a different approach
to discipline: restorative justice. The technique encourages victims and offenders to meet face-to-face and agree on how to right the wrong."
(...)
"An idea that dates back to Native American traditions, restorative justice aims to help victims without isolating the offenders. The process is collaborative in nature. In schools, that could mean peer mediation, classroom circles and student juries instead of teacher-mandated detentions, suspensions and expulsions."

The full article is at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/275375.html

Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School

Hi!

I'm noticing 49 different people have stopped by. Join on in the discussion - the more voices, the more fun!

I'd love to come back to something Ed wrote earlier: "From what has happened in schools in the last ten years, we might say the same about teachers—are they allowed to think, to plan curriculum and instructional activities that truly engage young adolescents—or are they merely going through the motions?"

I work in an independent school, and we have several venues for incorporating student voice into our program, including my Humanities 7 course in which 2/3 of the units are democratically designed by students within specific parameters. Over the the last three to four years, I've heard lots of public school teachers say something like "Keep doing what you're doing; we just don't have time with the testing and the scripted curricula and all, but it lifts our spirits to know someone out there is doing it," most recently when I described my students' decision to incorporate an attempt to set a world record into their unit on "Why do we care who world record holders are and what they did?" To what extent do you think NCLB and state frameworks have stifled student voice by stifling teacher voice? What can be done about it?!

Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School

Hi!
Adam, the idea of a student advisory group to the principal is intriguing, and I completely agree that the broader the representation, the better off your school is. I find myself wondering, with only positive thoughts, what the mission of such a group would be. Equally to the point, I find myself wondering how that mission would be determined. Sounds like a pre-conversation for you and the principal, perhaps, before (quickly) mixing in student voices. Just a thought.
Take care,
Bill

Hi!
Ed, you pose a fascinating question. I know in my school, we have made a lot of progress in the last 10-12 years towards actually treating students while they're here like the kind of independent thinkers we say we want them to be when they graduate. While there may have been a few individuals who deliberately wanted to keep the kids down, I think most of us were well-intentioned but misguided. I'm thinking the same is probably true of our country's education policies - there may be a few who indeed are deliberately trying to undermine public schooling, but I think a lot of others just honestly don't get the negative effects of some of what we've done since NCLB.
So - a resurgence of reform, by golly, yes - and about time!!! I have an instinct as to what NELMS, NMSA, and individual teachers can do. Now... what about the kids? What role, if any, should they play? Do their voices belong in any discussion of reform?
Take care,
Bill

Hi Adam,
Yes, I think that is a good idea for you to start a group to advise the Principal. I think it is important that you let the process evolve. In other words, have the groups represented in the beginning, but let the students who want to be active and be involved be the leaders and let the others drop off if they feel the need to do so. In the end, you will have a great group of energetic students who might not be popular with their friends, but who want to contribute to the school.
Bob

Thank you for everyone's suggestions. I was thinking that I would begin a student advisory group to the principal. We do have a student council, but there are "other" students who do not get involved with student council that have a different view of the school. I would like to include students from both of these groups to get more of a whole view of the pros and cons from a student view point.

I am a 1st year middle school principal at Berkley Middle School in Berkley, Massachusetts. Berkley is a small town next to Taunton. We are grades 5-8 with 400 students. This discussion board is great to get other people's viewpoints.

I would tend to move away from "they don't want..." and go with the fact that policy people and all others that make decisions do not really understand what it takes to help students think and learn, the power of social issues on families and learning, and an almost complete lack of understanding of effective middle level education practices. Even within the ranks of our own profession (or even one school), we rarely speak with one voice and support research based practices that work.

In either case I think that student voice can help us all by bring the student perspective to the table. There might be other ways we can help disseminate this voice by surveying students and reporting results. (like does an Honor Role really motivate students to try harder?)

All for now,
Bob Spear

I am a former middle (and high school) teacher and a long-timer as the middle school person at the University of Maine. Jill S. poses a provocative question about whether "the powers that be" really want students coming out of schools as thinkers? From what has happened in schools in the last ten years, we might say the same about teachers—are they allowed to think, to plan curriculum and instructional activities that truly engage young adolescents—or are they merely going through the motions? Isn't it time for a resurgence of middle school reform (i.e. an engaging, high level, and developmentally responsive education) for all middle level students? Thanks, Bill, for providing this opportunity for discussion and debate.

Hi!

I'm so excited that the official NELMS announcement is out. Please introduce yourselves - tell a bit about who you are, what you do, and why this group interests you.

If you have any questions at all, including how to use QuickTopic as well as about the group, please feel free to email me. I look forward to working together to share ideas, solve problems, and strengthen middle level education!

Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School

Jill Spencer, here--former middle school teacher and now a consultant and sometime adjunct college instructor. Over my 35 years in education the definition of student voice has changed. Early on it was giving students minimum choices in projects and now folks plan their units with students. One of the transitions for me was Nancie Atwell's writing workshop revolution which changed the way many middle school language arts teachers taught writing. I learned to give up the power over topic and genre for much of the instructional time and worked hard at helping students first believe they had a voice worth hearing and then to develop a writing voice. When I teach my courses at the University level I use a modified Beane-Brodhagan approach and use student questions as the basis for our work. The engagement is always higher and the folks are motivated to push themselves further to find solutions or deeper understandings of issues and questions posed. Jeff Wilhelm cautions in his relatively new book--Engaging Readers and Writers With Inquiry--that student-developed curriculum does not guarantee that inquiry is in place. An interesting point, I think. My question is...do the rich and powerful really want students coming out of public schools to be thinkers rather than dutiful followers? Bye! Thanks Bill for taking this responsibility on.

Hi Adam,
School wide, some schools do not have a traditional student council but have a Student Advisory Group. Anyone can join that has an interest and some sort of organization schema is used to encourage representation of all students thus eliminating the popularity contest election thing. The adult adviser (usually an administrator) coaches the group on effective ways to interact, make ones points, collect data, set parameters and roles, etc. As issues come up (either from students, parents or staff), the challenges are discussed by this group and actions taken.

This kind of advisory group give students voice to issues, helps take action on issues of interest to many, not just a few, and validates changes to school programs such as designing appropriate student activities for young adolescents.

Hope this helps,
Bob

QT - Adam Blaisdell wrote:
>
>

--
Robert C. Spear, Ed.D.
NELMS
Executive Director
460 Boston Street #4
Topsfield, MA 01983
(P) 978-887-6263
(F) 978-887-6504
www.nelms.org
< replied-to message removed by QT >

Edited by author 09-26-2007 10:47 PM
Hi Adam, Bob, and Bill!

I'm a retired middle school principal from Maine. I'm currently an independent consultant working around the US and Canada around middle level leadership and integration of technology. I also teach a few middle level courses at the Univerity of Maine and Antioch in NH.

But on to Adam's question! Maine has an interesting technology project going on called the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI). It's a 1:1 computing project where all 7th ad 8th graders and their teachers in the state have apple ibooks. One aspect of this program is known as "iTeams". These are teams of students who are trained to assist the teachers and the technology leaders in supporting the MLTI in each school. Not all schools have iTeams, but those that do are finding that it not only helps the program, it empowers students to be more engaged and responsible for the smooth functioning and care of the hardware and networks. You can find out some history about "iTeams" by visiting the following links:

http://www.capeelizabeth.com/news/laptop3.html

http://moore.portlandschools.org/ibook/iTeamConfer.html

When I was principal had represntatives of the student leadership team sit in periodically on my leadership team meetings. They would bring ideas to the team leaders (which also included parent representatives) And they would take ideas from the staff back to their grade level teams.

The idea was to extend the organizational pattern of the school to include the students. IT worked pretty well except that, as is ofte the case, the busiest students were also the ones most interested in being involved in after school meetings with the leadership team!

Hope that addressed some part of your question Adam!

Hi, Adam!

Our student government, MOCA (Middle school Office Caring for All), actually involves all our students. (Granted, our middle school program is pretty small - 11 students in 7th grade, and 11 in 8th grade.) MOCA meets twice a week for 25 minutes each. In general, students generate ideas for events they would like to make happen, form committees to work on those projects, and bring them to fruition. They are particularly responsible for certain traditions such as Founders' Day/Field Day, held each May. Occasionally, we ask their opinions on certain issues facing the school, and work through to solutions together.

I try to encourage students to talk to me about whatever may be on their minds. I do this both through how I react to what they have to say, and in how I present it to other students. For example, an 8th grader spoke to me the other day about a concern that, with our new system of reserving specific lunch tables for the middle schoolers, they wouldn't ever be able to have lunch again with the upper schoolers. So I mentioned to MOCA the following day that an 8th grader had come to me with this concern, and asked for their opinions on the issue. They worked through the problem in a really mature fashion, and decided to keep the reserved tables for another week to help them continue to get to know each other and mix together, then to keep one middle school table set aside for the remainder of the year for students who wanted a guaranteed space to eat lunch with other people their age.

We are still a pretty small group here on this Forum, but each new member will bring new expertise. Speaking of which, I'd also love to know what ideas you have, Adam.

Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School

I am very interested to see how schools involve students in decision making/advisory. Are there schools that have a Student Advisory Committee (group that meets with Principals or teachers to express concerns/give ideas)? How are they structured? What challenges are the students charged with? I would like to increase the student involvement in our school and I would like to know what is occuring in other middle schools.

Welcome to this group on student voice. I believe that the best classrooms and the best schools find ways to embed student voice in the life of the school in significant ways. I look forward to your ideas.
Bob Spear
Executive Director

Hi!

My name is Bill Ivey, and I am the Middle School Dean at Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Greenfield, MA. Among other things I do at SBS, I work with an advisory group, I teach a Humanities 7 course based on a democratic classroom model, I co-advise our student government group "MOCA," and I coordinate and volunteer in our Commnunity Service Program.

I believe very strongly that all communities work best when all voices are heard and when all members believe and trust in their own power, individually and collectively. I believe that it is doubly important to include student voices in middle schools, both for the immediate benefit to the school and for the longer-term benefit to society. I look forward to sharing ideas, strategies, questions, frustrations, successes and more as we here form a community and work to incorporate our students' voices into our schools.

Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School