Chronic Absenteeism is something that every school has tried to tackle for decades. How do we address it though? We address it through punitive measures. In some cases, students are actually suspended for not coming to school! We set up plans, we build teams, and we develop all of these strategies for how we are going to get a kid to come to school that doesn't want to be there. We go to court, we make home visits, and the list goes on and on. Yet, what really changes? Not much.
News Flash People!!!! The only thing kids are sick of is school!
The daily grind of coming in and opening up a book, reviewing some sections of a text, and unfortunately some are still answering the questions at the back of each section. Or now we have systems to track missing assignments and we have kids getting in trouble because the didn't complete the cross word puzzle! A cross word puzzle...come on. Yet we wonder why kids fall asleep in class or cause problems. They have no desire to complete the work because how much of it is busy work. Here is a list of busy work that I guarantee is taking place somewhere in a classroom right now as you read this:
- Crossword puzzles
- Word searches
- Centers that hide the worksheet with 50 math problems
- Chapter review questions...
While these activities are going on, you bring up the mention of integrating STEM and possibly Problem-Based Learning and what is the first reason why they can't..."I don't have time to do that"! We have all the time we need by simply changing our practices and eliminating time fillers and busy work.
So you want to make some changes, here are ways to make time in your classroom AND ways a building principal can make time and transform your building into a sleepy little school that kids go through the motions at to a place full of passion, innovation, and creativity.
Classroom:
1. Eliminate worksheets...especially word searches and crossword puzzles.
There is no real purpose to either of these. Start there OR at least begin with reducing 50% of your worksheets. Look at the piles of paper kids go home with almost everyday. Think of the time it takes you to go through a stack of 26 worksheets and mark whether the right word is in the blank or the crossword puzzle has correct spelling.
2. Create a Choice Board...with varying levels of Rigor that accomplish the same goal.
A choice board can be a mix of tasks with varied levels of rigor...AND they do not have to be worksheets. Below is a choice board for the Ohio Math 3rd Grade Standard 3.NF.3 where students explain the equivalence of fractions and compare fractions by reasoning about their size.
Equivalent Fractions Choice Board for week of 2/26/2024
Now...start small. Don't feel like you need to create 12 different choices that first year. Create what you are comfortable with and build on it. BUT do this...Create an option where students can choose to complete a Project (PBL) instead of multiple activities. This gives options for kids and the PBL will have them applying all of the lower level activities.
3. Create Collaborative Group Time around Problem-Based Authentic Learning Scenarios.
Centers are great, but again...what happens a lot of times is the centers are nothing more than worksheets that kids complete on their own time. Rather than filling in time with worksheets, create an authentic PBL that possibly brings in another area as well. Literacy and Writing can easily be brought into another subject area.
Take some time to develop with your learners what a good working group looks like. How they communicate, etc... You can do this by modeling a PBL together to begin with and having that structured time; however, slowly move away and implement PBL as an ongoing problem that students are working on. Give them autonomy as a group by developing broad problem statements that allow students to explore their passions.
By building in time to collaborate with their peers and have structured social time around a project they choose that is authentic, you will increase engagement and limit the disruptive behavior. The key though is to make it authentic...not just for a presentation for you, but how can they connect with the community to actually implement their idea. NOW, you have tied in community service which also can lead towards graduation points (I'm in Ohio).
Unsure of where to get started with PBL...look no further than PBLworks. PBLworks is considered one of the top models for PBL and they have a free membership that opens up dozens of curated PBL's. As you develop a comfort level, you can begin to use their tools to create your own PBL's...Better yet, turn it over to your students by asking a broader question such as:
"How do we make our school a better place?"
"How do we make our community a better place?"
"Thinking of our community, what is a group that is underserved and how could you support them?"
While that last question is a little more narrow, you might start narrow if that is your comfort level.
So these are a couple classroom examples, but what if you are a building principal, what changes can you make to support student engagement?
Building Level:
1. Schedule: Does it meet the needs of learners or does it meet the needs of the adults?
Scheduling a building can be a overwhelming task and it is easy to continue to stick with a schedule that is traditional. Like an 8 period schedule with 40-minute classes that meet everyday. It takes care of teacher prep periods, lunches and specials fit in nicely, and it works for adults. But does the traditional schedule continue to work for learners? If I want to put in more hands on collaborative time, does a 40-minute period really an effective use of time? Even worse, maybe a 35-minute period or anything shorter than 40. If you are going to do something and go deeper, how do you do this in a short time frame? How much of your day is taken up by transition time, cleaning up at end of class, setting up at beginning of class. We are in a day and age where students need to have flexibility and the ability to personalize their experience. So consider a block schedule or possibly a modified block schedule to begin with.
See the schedule example for a HS on a block schedule. If you are looking for resources and examples, consider School Scheduling Associates. In the beginning, a membership provides you to a wealth of actual schedules that can help you problem solve.
I believe a block schedule and all the positives far outweigh the negatives. It gives you time for collaboration and flexibility.
To go beyond this, what if you developed a schedule that allowed for an "Open Campus". What is an Open Campus? I define it as allowing opportunities for scheduled time for students to attend their home school, yet have time built in for internships or off-site placements. What if all core academics took place in the morning? Learners are engaged in their required courses then released for the afternoon for experience in their chosen career pathway? Maybe now, you core content teachers have their prep in the afternoon but also spend time as mentors for students placed off site. OR your students are engaged in Collaboration around a Problem Based Learning with a community partner and they have a faculty member to check in with?
There is no blueprint or guidebook that is going to work for every school or district. You have to be willing to be innovative and create the "it" that works for your learners and your community.
2. Personalized Learning Pathway: What if?
We have learners that are sitting in schools who are simply passing the time because they can master the content at a quicker pace...then we have others who need longer, yet they all have the same timeline of around 180 days of sitting in a class. Then we have these same students who could meet their credit requirements early yet they have to wait until year 4 for their sequence of credits. What if we allowed learners to demonstrate mastery of learning when they are ready? What if a learner can master Algebra 1 by Christmas and earn a full credit? Does your school allow that or are we holding them hostage for seat time because we don't know what to do with them if they finish early. Then what about the kid who needs extra time in math but can breeze through ELA?
So consider this:
What if you realigned your departments such as math and ELA to focus on courses rather than grade levels? What if students had the option of working through a checklist of standards for each subject/class and they were self paced. They had a dedicated math time in their schedule for example and if they were working on Algebra, they went to teacher A or if it were Geometry, they went to Teacher B? Teachers become facilitators. They meet individually with learners as needed, analyze assessment data and plan small group direct instruction as needed. Some kids might fly through Algebra 1 and begin with Geometry next or some may take longer. When a teacher/facilitator sees a group of students struggling with a concept/standard, he or she sets up a series of mini lessons around that standard and provides learners with what they need when they need it. At the same time, you can spend additional time with the students who need additional time.
What if the learners made a plan where they decided for the first semester of the year, they were going to master Algebra 1, English Composition, and World History? Then the second semester, they were going to do Geometry and Biology and maybe start on another ELA credit? Sounds crazy right...but it is already being done in various schools around the country. If you want to see success, look at Northern Cass in North Dakota or Lindsay Unified in California. See the link below for Lindsay and see their story of how they transformed.
It can be done...All it takes is for leaders (at any level or any position) to say enough is enough. What we are doing is not working and we have to change. You have to be willing to disrupt the status quo. Otherwise we continue the insanity of repeating the same old thing year after year and expecting different results.
Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings...I am passionate about rethinking schools from top to bottom and engaging our learners that need us most in their education that creates a brighter future. We have decades of data to support the need for change, it is time to do it. If you want to connect, you can follow me on twitter @cmill_stemguy or want to connect, you can send me an email at cmill.stemguy@gmail.com. I don't have all the answers but I can be a thought partner and help you find your answers.
NOTE: I will revisit the building level but honestly...I need to cut this short. Nobody wants to read a blog the length of a dissertation.
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