Yeah, there was this report right here on how much floor polish we needed, and this one right here about the possibility of changing dairies that supply our milk, and there’s the annual assessment on crayon-munching and paste-eating, especially among my own personal staff. I am a busy woman. I can’t be expected to remember every report, especially one that might indicate that the things upon which I have based my entire career, and which have brought me considerable fame and fortune, are the functional equivalent of swampland in Polk County. – Charles P Pierce

Michelle Rhee is playing this situation like such a politician.  It almost reminds me of Anthony Weiner denying over and over again that the tweeted picture was not him, until it became so apparent that it was… that he needed to stop the wall of denial and admit to his transgressions. Rhee is in super denial, not that she didn’t know about it, but that it isn’t that big of a deal.  HA!  That is rich.  She made THE BIGGEST deal about these results and their inherent affirmation of her policies.  Now, she wants us to believe that when she was made aware that her cherished results were suspect… that she didn’t find it important enough to follow up on.  Shenanigans.

And I wouldn’t care about this at all, except Rhee sucks all the air out of the educational reform conversation.  She has spent years beating up the profession with her record.  She is unapologetic and flip about a situation that needs to be of the utmost concern for those truly interested in educational reform decisions that will yield a more effective educational program for students and learning.  As someone who has spent a lifetime in teaching and learning, let me let you in on a little secret – there is no silver bullet, there is not magic solution to ‘fixing’ schools.  True educational shift and change is brutal to accomplish.  It needs to be systemic and structured and intentional and persistent and it still might not work.  Its hard.  Really hard.

And here’s another little nugget of obvious – 20%+ gains in standardized test scores will 9 times out of 10 be related to testing fraud, not magical no excuses approaches to teaching and learning.  Gains like that are indicative of either heavy coaching or straight up cheating a la Atlanta and Philly and DC.  This is not the learning that will make anyone college and career ready for the 21st century to complete in a global economy*.  At all.

There are hundreds of thousands of teachers and principals getting out of bed every morning to serve the kids in their charge.  Let’s put them on the cover of magazines.  Let’s have them interviewed on TV.  Let’s have them receiving the praise of the public.  Teachers and principals are working toward a better version of education and school and learning each and every day.  The work is being done.  Progress is being made.  But let’s be clear, it is not because of the efforts of Rhee, it is in spite of it.

*trying to invoke all of the buzzword phrases that are currently in use to describe what our educational system needs to be yielding

Instructional approaches need to be varied and many, diverse, differentiated, interesting, scaffolded, layered, remediated, curiosity invoking.  Sometimes a worksheet can be a means to that end.  Similarly, so can a lecture or even… *gasp* … a reading out of a textbook.  The issue is not that these are instructional tools that are bad, the issue is when these are the only instructional tools being used.  Much like McDonald’s, if a kid has a worksheet a week, they will be fine.  If McDonald’s is all they ever eat… I think we all know how that turns out.

Let’s think critically about what kind of instructional diet we are feeding our students everyday.

I believe that the only thing that is a must have is the ability to adapt and change as circumstances merit.  Flexible, agile, adaptive… that is what the learning needs to be. As the architects of learning environments we need to make sure that those spaces/places allow all members of the community to preserve their adaptive capacity and be resilient.  Beyond that, there is no new literacy that is going to prep us all for what is developing.  We need to stop worrying about what this future might be, and get real about what is actually happening now and how we can stay in tip top condition for the unfolding future.

We are living in a time that allows us to be in the moment and it is the only way we will know what to do next.  There is no map. No specific literacy to have. We need it all. By defining one thing as the *new* thing we only perpetuate this silo’fication of skills. We need to drink it all in and then use our entire toolbox of skills to find our path.  And heavy emphasis on the ‘we’, because this is one complicated, massive thing we are in the middle of and I know that I need smart, savvy people around me to help me make sense of it all.  So, yes… we (and our schools) need to be creative, innovative, informed, media-literate, etc.  But not as different *literacies*, as tools for staying agile, adaptive and flexible in our learning.  This is it people.  Let’s go.

So, on Wednesday night I found myself walking into the auditorium of the Free Library with two other lovely teachers (Larissa Pahomov and Meenoo Rami), which I have done on so many occasions. One thing that was different this time, though, was that the greeters were handing out index cards in order to collect questions ahead of time.

Pardon?

As I walked to my seat, I processed what was occurring… Rhee’s visit at the Library was contingent on her screening questions.  In that very same auditorium I had seen Colin Powell and Madeline Albright take questions from the crowd and answer with grace and dignity.  These former Secretaries of State served during major wars, botched intelligence incidents and scandals.  They took questions from the crowd.  Down at the National Constitution Center, I saw Donald Rumsfeld, one of the most polarizing figures from the Bush administration, do the same, accept questions cold from the crowd and answer with poise and clarity.  Rhee needed screening. *sigh*

Two things.

1. I am incredibly disappointed that the Free Library agreed to these parameters for Rhee’s speaking engagement.
2. Rhee need be ashamed.  For the past 4 years, I have known the Free Library Author Events as a place for the exchange of ideas on timely topics with authors.  This was more advertisement than a thoughtful exchange of ideas on Rhee’s career in educational reform.

When one chooses to place a ‘radical’ set of ideas out into the public sphere to alter the function of a major societal system like schools, one need be prepared to engage thoughtfully in conversation with those that disagree with those ideas.  To do otherwise is a sad commentary on book sales and public persona ‘handling’.  I am glad I went, but could not be more disappointed in the manner with which the audience was kept at bay during the hour long exchange.

First I came across the most recent post from Sam Chaltain asking us to tell a different story about public education.  At the end of the post he asks, “Everyone knows what it feels like to go to school.  What if everyone knew what it felt like to go to a great school?”  He posits that we are having the wrong conversation about public school and that we need to be cognizant of the damage done by buying into the idea that our public school system is all about ‘content, conflict and catastrophe”.  We need to share widely stories that move past this layer of negative storytelling and offer a better narrative of learning.  He is highlighting the A Year at Mission Hill project, that endeavors to do just that.

Next, I was thrilled to see that Karl Fisch had posted the Arapahoe High School faculty dance performance for 2013.  I’m not sure how many years Karl has been posting these, but its been for several years.  (I am reminded of Chris Lehmann‘s post, Take the Work Seriously, But Don’t Take Yourself Seriously as I watched this.)

To say that I love that this occurs annually, would be an understatement.  You can absolutely sense the energy and enthusiasm by both the staff and student body.  In this moment, the students stand to encourage the work of their teachers.  Pulling this off is no small feat.  This took some time and dedication by the staff to contribute to the school community in a very ‘non-academic’ way.  And it is spectacular. Teachers were willing to publically perform when they weren’t perfect or gifted, and it was celebrated.  What a moment of modeling risk-taking, joyfulness and performance.

When I coached middle school basketball (girls and boys, for years), I recognized that the hours I spent with the students after school made the classroom flow so much easier.  Understanding that the work of the classroom is derivative of the culture of the whole learning environment … is so important.  As the adults in those spaces, we can play and laugh and be silly while also expecting much out of the students academically.  These are not mutually exclusive.

Thanks for Karl and Sam for bringing a few moments together this morning to evidence the importance of telling positive stories of education and joy in our learning environments.

What is your story?  What are the positive moments of learning and school that you see happening?

A second installment – the first installment was written in 2008.

For anyone that has been around me for about 5 minutes will probably hear some reference or story about my hometown.  Alma Center, WI – population 454 (at least while I was living there).  As kids we jokingly referred to it as Action City, because the only time people were out past 9pm was if there was a basketball game at the high school.  Growing up here was pretty idyllic, surrounded by a large extended families, both sets of grandparents within 5 miles of my house, 16 sets of aunts and uncles, more cousins than is fit to count and a community.  Now, when I was growing up here, I really understood the smallness of it all, how it was unlike ‘the rest of the world’, and I didn’t always love it.  But it was here that I was able to play 3 varsity sports with a limited amount of talent, play in the band, sing in the choir, have a part-time job, work on the farm… One summer I spent afternoons in the hammock reading every book Steinbeck wrote . It was uncommon.  Not better, nor worse than another place, but it is the place I know best and continues to be a unique place in the world.  When I would share these stories in my classroom, I know they often thought I was making some of this up, that these places just don’t exist anymore.

For the past three weeks I have been staying with my parents in a lull between my work on the road.  I’ve been running errands, playing Yahtzee with my grandmother, snowshoeing with my mom, babysitting my 7 nieces and nephews and generally trying to have fun and be useful.  Luckily, my Dad hasn’t found many reasons to recruit me to help out with the cows or his current logging endeavor. Being here for this amount of time allows me to remember just how different this place really is… especially as my mom picked up the phone this evening to talk to my grandmother.  Here is the story…

On Christmas Day, my grandmother, who is 80, called to let us know that her car has a flat tire. My Dad went up early the next morning and put air in it, but we knew it was going to need some attention, so my grandmother left a message at with the mechanic.  I was waiting for the call from her to let me know what time I needed to come into town to take the car up and drop it off… its only a few blocks, but not a distance for her to walk with all the ice and snow.  When the mechanic arrived into the garage that morning, he called my grandmother back.  He said not to bother me, that he would just walk up and get the car.  So, he walks the few blocks, to her door, collects the keys and takes the car to the shop.  Later in the afternoon, he brings the car back, puts it in the garage and hands the keys back to my grandmother.  She then asks what she owes him.  He responds $5.  She gave him $10.

Now, while I am pleased to see how excited people are to document their #26acts of kindness and genuinely touched by the memory it is serving to honor.  I find it incredibly important to also realize there is a version of human that lives it everyday, not because it is shared with or applauded by their network, but because this is the type of life they live.  As you look to those who are sharing stories of their generosity over the holiday, please make sure to also look around in your daily life to celebrate those that live it everyday.  While not a grand gesture, I could not be more impressed with the actions of this lovely mechanic who went out of his way to help my grandmother.  He’s quite a guy.  And I could not be more proud to call this place my hometown.

At my brother’s farm, on the perfect hill… sledding with the fam.

I write this post from a hotel room overlooking downtown Kuala Lumpur, watching all the twitter updates and Facebook statuses about Black Friday and I cannot help but reminisce about the Laufenberg family tradition for Black Friday that held for 25 years.  Anyone who knows our family knows that we are a haven for small ventures off the farm – selling firewood, timber, sweetcorn… we raised 100 puppies a year for 10 years and parakeets for 4 years… there were horses, cows, chickens, pigs.  This was a farm with all members contributing to make it work.  We raised, worked and sold all kinds of things.  To date, my favorite part was our Black Friday tradition – setting up the Tree Lot.

My dad planted christmas trees in the mid-80s – and the shortly after was a drought.  I vividly remember that my sister and I were charged with carrying a 5 gallon bucket and cup, up and down the rows of acres of trees, in an attempt to save them from their natural fate.  And then years later, I remember working with my dad to unload those same trees at our lot in Eau Claire, WI.  Set up on the massive front yard of a longtime Eau Claire family, we assembled the Laufenberg Tree Lot on the day after Thanksgiving every year for 20+ years.

In the beginning it was mostly just my dad, then my sister started helping out and eventually it turned into an all hands on deck affair.  I didn’t start helping out a ton until I moved to Eau Claire for college.  Working at the tree lot meant very busy weekends and then occasional sales when I was able to stay later into the evening on week nights, so my dad could get home and reload before it became much colder and/or darker.  The hours were such that I could work on my homework, in between sales, tucked inside this tiny camper with space heaters blasting.  Some years the weather was glorious, one year it was so warm we were in t-shirts and I was interviewed for local TV about the weird weather and how it affected the lot.  Some years the weather was dreadful, people pulling up and cracking their windows about an inch to say, “Put your favorite tree in my trunk, I’m not getting out of the car”.  My sister made 100′s of handmade wreaths and toward the end of the run, her kids would stop by to see the lot and help out here and there.  It was a family affair.

Our lot was situated overlooking the highway that led to the mall.  While we were setting up we would wait to hear the screech of tires and one year even watched a semi blast down the hill toward us as it slid out of control.  Getting to the mall was so important that bodily harm was risked.  The weather may have changed from year to year, but the crazy situation on that highway did not.  For those that enjoy the sales and the energy of the mall, I wish you the best.  But to this day, I find myself unmoved to consume on that day.  The day after Thanksgiving will always be about family and assembling this space that brought so much wonder and joy to the families that would visit.  I have never been one to enjoy selling ‘stuff’, but the things that I raised, or picked or cared for – I didn’t have trouble with that.  People would ask where the trees came from and I was proud to be able to say, our farm.

As a farm kid, I had an increasingly uncommon childhood that required an intense amount of productivity.  We were hardworking at school, in sports and on the farm.  It was not always a pleasant existence.  I was not always the best worker.  The tree lot, at times, was brutal.  We would find ourselves laughing and cursing at how the cold or wind brought general unpleasantness.  At other times, it was glorious, watching the families return year after year, kids getting bigger as time passed.  And, there we were year after year, led by the unending work ethic of my father.  That was our Black Friday tradition for more years than not.  And it was about the two things that are still most important to us, being with family and being productive.  Because you can add all the college degrees you want, but my siblings and I will always be most influenced by life on the farm.

Many of these students will be casting their first ballot in a presidential election today.  Some have reached out on all manner of social media to let me know they are voting and encouraging those around them to do so as well.  I could not be more proud.

Watch this -

• Ask students for general observations.
• Watch again and ask them to focus on a particular region of the country and repeat the observations.

Introduce them to this tool- http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/15/us/politics/swing-history.html

You can go a number of ways from here -

• Students can again do general observations.
• You could have students look at a particular election.
• You could also have students watch a particular state over time.
• They could be watching for trends, anomalies, you could ask them to come up with which state was most consistent, least.

After all this observing and analyzing, ask them what questions they have about these trends and patterns and presidential elections.

Possible continuation of the inquiry – have students sample examples from The Living Room Candidate - http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/ - these are my favorites!

Students are to look at a particular election year, reference the graphic and start to make some connections about what was happening at that time.  Students could then (either) create a new campaign ad for the current candidates in the ‘old’ style or create a new campaign ad for an old candidate in the new style.  You could give them the charge of appealing to a particular swing state… now or then.  This can all move in the direction of having them assess their own issue preferences, what they are concerned with and how that compared in history to other times.

Then spend sometime with this amazing graphic to discuss the cascading possibilities on election day this year – 512 Paths to the White House.  Then on Election Day have them go out to the polls - http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Coll_dlaufenberg/ElectionDay - and as you watch the results roll in open a todaysmeet room or a private chat room (we used Moodle at SLA)

Professional development carries baggage, and lot’s of it.  For teachers, it’s seen as more institutional control and time-wasting on topics of little interest and meaning to them.  And for the institution, and one even with the best intentions and programs, it’s about low attendance and interest on the parts of teachers, complaints about time, and little carry-over to the classroom.

While I cannot ensure that every person was thoroughly engaged in the day, I believe that there were some incredibly intentional features of the agenda that contributed to a productive and enjoyable day.

• Teachers were heavily involved in the process of planning and scheduling the day
• There was fun involved – the intro of the day was a staff created video, a script that was read by multiple staff members peppered throughout the auditorium, prizes were given out at the end of the day
• Delicious food was served – breakfast included such rare features of a school breakfast as fresh berries, muesli, yogurt, melon – there was a much anticipated snack break with caramel apples and toppings.  Lunch was delicious –  two types of chili – four types of cheese (it was Wisconsin after all).  These moments of breaking bread and shared meals really matter in maintaining community.
• The morning sessions were short and moved quickly, lots of idea gathering.
• The afternoon session was completely unscheduled with staff members free to work with the material from the morning and make sense of it in their own practice.

None of this is incredibly revolutionary, but it points out a few things I’ve watched schools get wrong in the past: no time given within the day to process the information learned, no sense of fun, teachers left out of the planning process.

So, this week’s installment of Getting it Right goes to the fine staff at Arrowhead Union High School in Hartland, WI led by their supportive principal Gregg Wieczorek.  Thank you for including me in your day.