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.