C12TM
In class I shared the C12TM vision of the MLEP.
The Letter C (not the letter B or the let it b) words; Changing abundant information through a Challenging Curriculum fosters Curiosity in a Caring, Creative, Collaborative, Culturally diverse, globally Connected Classroom within a Technological Media Community advocating while Cultivating teacher leadership and formed the C12TM. Therefore the vision became the C12TM acronym.
There are many such acronyms in education. Through the academic lens possibly one of the most famous is the 3Rs – Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic. (This always drove me crazy since two of the 3Rs words are incorrectly spelled.) As research reveals the creation of the 3Rs ideology was first identified in an 1825 book (The Mirror of literature, amusement, and instruction, Volume 5 edited by Thomas Byerly, John Timbs p. 75). (BTW the book is online microfiche if you want to read). It is hard for me to read because of the age of the book and the typeset - but it is a pretty interesting read). The editors share that Sir William Curtis (a member of Parliament) referenced them in a toast. But the American public became fond of them and has embraced referencing them throughout time.
When I studied and taught exercise physiology and fitness I added a 4th R “Running” to the traditional 3Rs.
Even as recent as October I reference then 3 Rs at the last MLEP advisory board meeting in October. Basing the theme for the meeting on new 3 Rs. This time the 3Rs represented the need in Middle Level Education to provide Rigor Relevance Reflection.
YAs need a school experience and curriculum that expects and provides rigor – realistic challenges and expectations.
YAs want and deserve schooling experiences and curricula that are relevant and authentic to what they know, value and can connect to.
YAs need time to reflect on what they are learning and why it is important and how to make sense of their “planned learning” experiences in school.
YAs need time for rigorous realistic relevant reflective connections to their learning experiences and to their personal lives. OK, so I added another R
Middle level educators, like all educators, also need time to reflect. The time and the need to reflect on their students, the curricula, what they are doing right, what they are not doing right, what they can do better, what they would like to change, and the educator reflection list can continue.
In this post I want your reply to this blog posting to be based on a reflection. I want you to reflect and then create your own 3 letters – any alphabet three letters - acronym that identifies as a focus for what you think, advocate and will practice in your middle level classroom. Share your three letters and then define what each letter represents and how you will implement it in your classroom and then post and reply your reflection on this blog.
20 comments:
EPC - Engage Promote Curiosity
I believe all YAs have an innate thirst for knowledge and learning. Unfortunately, too often that thirst is eliminated by poor teaching styles that stifle curiosity. I intend to promote, and re-awaken if necessary, that innate thirst and direct it in a beneficial way.
I love the use of acronyms in education. Not only does it make concepts easier to understand, the acronyms can become catchy slogans. This is the first time I have heard of the 3 R’s. It makes sense to me that Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic would be the primary focus of a middle level classroom. In today’s age it is important to go beyond the important core content. We need to teach students about social skills that will allow them to become active participants in our society. Your version of the 3 R’s Rigor, Relevance, Reflection describes a conceptual approach to what a middle level classroom should be. Students need to be challenged, the material taught should be relatable, and they should be taught how to self-reflect. My version of an acronym for a middle level classroom is the 3 F’s Fun, Fascinating and Flexible.
YAs deserve to have fun in the classroom. They are constantly facing pressure from their parents and peers. Teachers need to engage students and create activities that will allow them to explore their interests.
YAs need to be taught material that is both fascinating and challenging. Teachers need to have high expectations for their students.
YAs need to teachers who are flexible. Teachers make over a thousand decisions throughout the school day. They need to be reflective and understand when a lesson is not working, or they need to differentiate to meet the needs of all students in the classroom.
As stated before, it is really important that YAs receive an education that incorporates both academia and social skills. They need to be engaged and challenged in the classroom.
Reading, wRiting, and Rithmetic is cute, yet not functional, especially in modern society. I say it’s cute because there’s a sentimental value to the acronym for me. My grandma and great aunt used to sing this with my younger brother and me when we were younger and both relatives passed away about a year ago. However; the traditional “three Rs” are not practical in that they advocate that education is only about what children learn in books (I do, however, like the “three Rs” Dr. Mee created). As 2,000 Voices outlines, education is much more than what a child learns from books, and in my opinion should include even more art, music and gym classes than it currently does. I believe in an education that hits three areas of growth; mind, body, and spirit. The education system today seems to be drifting further and further away from such an education.
I’d like to advocate and practice the acronym CCR in my classroom. The first “C” stands for cooperate to teach students the value of working with others, regardless of whether or not they like those other students, in order to achieve a common goal. This is something all children must learn, but a crucial time to learn this, if not previously learned, would be in middle school. High school and college are only the beginning of one’s work as a team with other people. Then they’ll work with others during their career. I also consider positivity and looking ahead under this “C” because complaining about the work that must be done only drags the group down.
The next “C” stands for challenge because it’s pertinent for students to be unafraid of the challenges their teacher presents to them. Challenges are a part of life and children must learn, with nurturing, how to tackle them. Children should also challenge themselves. In an idealistic world, I’d rather have any given student’s goal to be going beyond their personal record in how much knowledge they’ve obtained than succeeding their fellow classmate’s grades or obtained knowledge. My high school track coach taught me this by encouraging my team to aim for beating our personal record, regarding the time it took us to run our designated race. This advice was encouraging and helped to make my goals more realistic.
“R” is for respect. A student cannot and will not achieve any admirable or worthwhile goal without practicing respect. Again, respect is a value that one must carry with them throughout life and it’s something that even adults have yet to learn. And I’m not just talking about respect for authority figures; however, I also am referring to respect for one’s peers, and respect for one’s self. A teacher should only respond and help a student who shows respect for them and other students and have consequences for a lack of respect. Bullying is prevalent in middle school because of lack of respect, as are emotional wounds. The practice of respect would prevent these and other problems.
I’d implement cooperation in my classroom by giving a reward (such as a day without assigned seats or free time to read) to teams who showed an all team, respectful, positive, and productive work ethic. I’d use observation to determine the team who’d obtain the reward, and it would not be based on the grade the team receives. Challenge would be implemented by keeping track of each student’s grade, and knowledge gained. I could talk individually with each student, periodically throughout the school year, asking them to explain and apply three concepts, in detail, that they have learned. The goal for each student could be to either learn and apply more than three things, or go into more detail, or teach a student who did not choose those three things, about the three concepts they choose for that designated time period.
Lastly, respect would be taught through modeling respectful behavior toward my students, co-workers, and principal. I’d also show my expectation for students’ respectful behavior. For students who are struggling to show respect I could create a system that would allow them to see their progress. One way to do this would be to place a piece of candy (with parent’s permission) in a clear bowl on my desk each day the student does not have to be reminded to show respect. Once that’s mastered, I could increase the time span to a week and use a more valuable reward, such as a coupon for a pizza or the privilege of having a few minutes of extra free time to read. P.S. As an afterthought, I could've also made this the three C's (Cooperation, Challenge, Creativity) to include fine arts and more fun, yet respect is pretty important to me and following CCR would allow for learning, which is fun, to occur.
My acronym would be CCQ: Communication, Creation and Question.
I agree with Erin Danae that part of education is teaching social skills. Communication when coupled with understanding is, in my opinion, the most important skill we as educators can teach. Students need to know how to communicate their feelings, thoughts and concerns whether its on paper or in conversion. Regardless of their age, at 50, 75 or 13 YA students need to know how to communicate their ideas. We, the people on the outside, can not begin to guess what is going on in the heads of others.
Creation is the second letter of my acronym. I think creation is so important to learning. It gives YAs something to be proud of and call their own. It shows accomplishment and growth. In my classroom, I want to create or build something every day. I want to draw, paint, sing, and play. I know from personal experience that I learned more and remembered more when I had the chance to build something or be creative. I want my students to try things that they might not have otherwise. I want them to step out of their comfort zone. Anyone can write a book report, not everyone can act. I want my students to do more and I think I can create the motivation to do more and extend their limits if I make the classroom full of creation and building.
The last letter in my acronym is question. I want my students to ask questions. I want them to think for themselves, to ponder, and to not just accept/believe everything they hear, read or are told. I want to have discussion and to study content in which my students want to know more and are not satisfied with what I can provide in an hour or so of class.
Students should feel challenged to do more, create, question and grow. As a teacher, I want to be a role model for them as well as provide a safe environment in which they can explore and learn.
I appreciate the fact that throughout history educators have encapsulated fundamental goals and methods into clear, concise, and memorable language. This may have begun with the medieval idea of the “seven liberal arts,” consisting of the “trivium” (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and “quadrivium” (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy). In the “Three Rs,” what we have is an updating of the medieval trivium to reading, writing, and arithmetic. Reading and writing inherit certain aspects of grammar and rhetoric, and arithmetic is left to inherit the logic. I believe we should respect what has gone before as we develop our new ideas.
While calling any string of initials an acronym is more and more accepted in popular usage, the strict definition of acronym is a word that is constructed from a string of initials. Some examples of acronyms are NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), sonar (sound navigation and ranging), and laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation). Other common abbreviations (e.g. FBI, HTML, etc.) are examples of “initialism.” A way I have found to tell the difference between the two: Acronym has the same root at “acrostic” which is the type of poem that spells a word when the first letters of each line are read in order.
When using acronyms or initialsim, we have to be careful that we do not exclude outsiders by creating unnecessary jargon or a code that must be deciphered. Indeed, the early Christians chose the acronym Ichthys (“fish”) as a secret code to communicate under oppressive Roman rule. The Greek letters that spell this word stand for “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.”
The “Three Rs” can be a useful mnemonic device, and I believe that abbreviations and acronyms are useful for what they help us to remember. I am not yet convinced that C12TM is a useful abbreviation. Fourteen words seem like too many to remember, so it would not be useful as a mnemonic device. I also think the statement encapsulated in C12TM is unwieldy and could be broken down into smaller parts.
As far as my own acronym or initialism for middle level education, I would want it to be simple, clear and useful. Because research shows that students learn best through two main processes (discovery and mastery), I would like to include those ideas. Also, when students are given the space and time to reflect, they can make connections and arrive at deeper knowledge. So my three letters are DMR: Discover, Master, Reflect. While this initialism merely summarizes the processes of student learning at all levels, it is important to emphasize that middle level education is the point at which more meaningful thought can be synthesized. And for students to truly Discover, Master, and Reflect, teachers must show trust, care, fairness, and allow for autonomy. Only then will students authentically learn.
Challenge
Inspire
Showcase
I will Challenge the students who come into my library to think for themselves. I am convinced that young adolescents are capable of a singular depth of thought. Over the holiday weekend I spent a great deal of time speaking with my cousin, who is in her second year of service to Teach For America. We discussed at great length the lack of challenge put to her 9th grade students.
The specific method of challenge I will implement in my library is Guided Inquiry. It is a passion of mine, and a manner of assisting students to delve into the thoughts that lurk beneath the surface of everyday life.
Any person who is aware of his environment is Inspired on a regular basis. It is my intention to tap into this natural state. I will incorporate inspiration into my library lessons by continually asking myself “What would I want to learn today?”
Showcasing is the easy part! Student work is a continual source of pride and stature for any school. In theory, students drive the schools and curriculum. Therefore, the best way in which to drive home the importance of critical thinking and the other skills we wish to impart is to showcase students’ work to administrators, other staff, and parents.
THE reflection on Smadar’s middle school classroom:
T – for Trust – Trust in yourself; trust in your students; build teacher-student and student-student relationships of trust
H – for Hidden – Teach the hidden curriculum: care deeply, communicate, and model. Students will forget math formulas, but remember that you cared.
E – for Educate – From the Latin "educare", "to bring out". Educate like you are peeling an onion – remove layers of falsehoods and bring out the truth. The learner can recognize what’s true and what’s not. Genuine understanding is often an “Aha!” experience – recognition of the familiar, known truth.
My three letters are EID. I just realized that 'EID' is a Muslim religious holiday. Anyway, E stands for Explore, I stands for Investigate and D stands for Discover. As an educator we can promote higher thinking level by giving a problem or a scenario to explore, investigate and discover the result. This promotes engaged learning, activating prior knowledge and discover the new knowledge. Students sense ownership in acquiring new knowledge. I like to promote this type of teaching in learning in my classroom.
Could you imagine what our school systems might look like if Rigor, Relevance, and Reflection were embraced as much as the traditional 3 Rs (Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic)? Sounds like teacher-heaven—and student-heave—to me.
As I reflect on middle level education, there are a myriad of words I could use to describe what I feel the focus should be. And I can guarantee you, none of those words is a particular subject area. Instead, I feel the focus of middle level education should be on learning situations that are MEC: mutual, engaging, and challenging.
Young Adolescents are incredibly intelligent, and we have a lot to learn from them, just as they have a lot to learn from us. When we establish a mutual respect of and responsibility for learning, both the teacher and the student will benefit. As teachers, we feel passionate about what we teach, but we must be even more passionate about whom we teach. Though students are responsible for paying attention and showing up to class, we teachers have even more responsibility to ensure that we’re teaching our students effectively.
Engaging content and application are imperative to middle level education. If students aren’t interested in nor see the value of what you’re teaching, you’re not making an impact. YAs are experiencing a tremendous amount of change and often make decisions that will have implications for the rest of their lives. By keeping content engaging and relevant, you will connect with your students and create meaningful learning that will stay with them down the road.
YAs are at a critical point in their cognitive, social, and moral development. Students should be challenged to think differently than they did before. By “challenging,” I don’t mean that the content should be difficult, but rather that students learn to think about problems differently or to apply what they know in a new way. Challenges are reality—we’re all challenged every day in a number of ways—so it’s important that we foster our students’ discovery and mastery of the challenges we present them with.
I believe this combination will create meaningful learning and relationships that will impact each of my future students. It may sound idealistic, but I’m hopeful.
My acronym will be CEF.
Curiosity
Empathy
Fairness
These three words capture many of the principles I hope to emply in my future classroom.
I think curiosity is central to learning. Curiosity leads to much deeper thought and imagination. Curiosity is the sprongboard to finding passion and reaching one's true potential. I will always enciurage curiosity in all forms in my students.
Empathy is another primary aspect of my classroom. I will go to great length to demonstrate empathy through lesson content and my relationships with all my students. I will promote students to examine their own empathetic feelings through the learning process. I will include social education through the lens of empathy. I think this will make for a much more positive and learning friendly classroom.
I chose the word fairness because I strongly believe in treating people fairly and using fair methods. I hope my students follow this example and fall prey to stereotypes, prejdices, and other unfair practices and beliefs. I hope my students embrace these three fundamental notions because it will make for a better classroom and deeper learning.
I will use CEF:
Curiosity
Empathy
Fairness.
I think these three words capture many of the principles I wish to employ in my classroom. Curiosity is central to the learning process. Curiosity sparks the fire that fuels the creative process and innovative thinking. I will actively encourage all forms of curiosity and teach in a way that promotes curiosity.
I chose empathy because it is such a fundamental yet often overlooked and misunderstood emotion. I think empathy is necessary to learn and truly understand social studies subjects and concepts. Students need to channel their empathetic side when examining and analyzing history through a cultural lens. I cannot stress the importance of empathy in the classroom as well. Students need to use empathy to understand one another and I will try to help my students through this process.
I think fairness is also central to any classroom. I will use a fair and balanced approach to how I teach and treat students. I will encourage my students take this same approach. I will use fair assessment methods and enact fair rules. I hope I am able to equally employ all three of this principles throughout my teaching career.
DeafManWalking makes a good point. Kids have a thirst for knowledge but its not always directly or obviously related to content areas like language arts, science, math and social studies. Kids might be really interested in sports, music, or video games. Instead of pushing YAs to conform into strict content areas, incorporate their interests. We discussed today in class how everything can be related to math. Students could calculate the probability of a team winning the world world series. Students could calculate bating averages. ETC ETC So as teachers we should promote YAs to investigate their interests and curiosities.
I really appreciate what HB says in her post. Challenge, Inspire, and Showcase are a great trio to focus on. What I like about these words is that they are active, evocative, and exciting. I especially like Showcase because there is nothing better for a YA student than to "show off" a little. Middle School should be a place where students can be themselves and not be afraid to show their strengths.
The word Showcase also appeals to the artist in me. I envision a showcase of acting, dance, music, or visual art. So I think this word is appropriate for arts integration, which is something that I value highly in my own educational philosophy. Showcase also recalls the old biblical
Inspire has so many facets to it as well, calling to mind the athletes, leaders, artists, etc. that YAs aspire to be. They need to be shown the wondrous possibilities before them.
And I think everyone can relate to how rewarding challenges can be. It is up to us as educators to encourage and provide challenges that walk that line between boredom and frustration.
GYB - Give Your Best
In class we discussed how a lot of emphasis is placed on grades. Growing up my mother was very strict about grades. If I earned a “B” in a subject, I was conditioned to bring my grade up to an “A” next time around. If that “B” dropped to a “C,” I would be grounded.
This inspired me to create an acronym, which can communicate to students that perfection isn’t a requirement. What counts is that they do their best. Your best is your best, and that shouldn’t be discredited by a letter grade.
My three letters would be TQF
The "T" is for thought. Students should be encourage to think in class and explore those thoughts in the classroom community.
The "Q" is for question. Students should constantly be asking questions in class to clarify the lessons and to create a more interactive learning environment.
The "F" is for fun. Students should have fun learning. The more fun and engaging the lesson is the more they will get out of the experience.
I related to And we’re walking’s acronym of CCQ: Communication, Creation, and Question. First, middle level students are some of the most opinionated people on this earth. In fact, I believe that this age group is more inclined to share their opinions than most adults. Thus, they should be encouraged to communicate their thoughts and feelings. Educators can be there to aid them in doing so in a way that is both liberating and constructive.
To piggyback off of this, teachers can encourage this age group to question the world around them. The educational system can be stifling, where we are conditioned to just take what we are given. Educators should encourage students to question why things are the way they are. They can even guide students into seeing things from a different perspective, while encouraging them to share their unique perspective.
Erin, I too love acronyms! Especially acronyms that have alliteration (thanks, Mrs. Brown, freshman year English). Your 3 F’s (Fun, Fascinating and Flexible) present great principles to live by as educators, and not just at the middle school level.
I was always a good student and I enjoyed school, even if I had a not-so-great teacher. I was always easy (and eager) to please. But I always wondered what school was like for other students. I had fun doing just about anything, but there were so many students who just always seemed bored. I think fun and engaging activities are absolutely vital to the schooling experience. It’s a hard balance to find activities that every student finds fun, but I think it’s a challenge we all must face and try to overcome as teachers.
We all know that there will be certain subjects or content that we are absolutely required to teach, which may make us feel restricted. It’s undeniable that not all students like science, or not all students like reading, but it’s our job to make those fascinating to each of our students. I think a key here is making the content relevant to their everyday lives.
I also agree that flexibility is key in education. Some teachers are so stuck in their ways or so determined to carry out a lesson as they planned that they don’t allow time to reflect and change. Kids aren’t the same year to year or day to day. We need to embrace the ebb and flow of childhood and adolescence and be willing to change.
Edumacator,
I really like your Rigor, Relevance, Reflection theme. These terms stand for all that is central and necessary to learning. I think rigor is required for high achieving students. I think reflection is an often overlooked aspect of education. Young adolescents need to be taught the many virtues of reflection. This is a very powerful learning tool. I also think relevance is integral to engaging learning.
I am so on board with edumacator. I think he is really onto something with the idea of mutual respect of and for learning. In our district group yesterday, we were discussing our school mission statement and we talked a lot about the importance of respect and tolerance.
When kids feel a sense of mutual respect from their classmates and teachers they will participate and learn more. They will feel secure enough to offer up their ideas even if they are "wrong." My district group talk about the fear YAs might feel about participating. We concluded that students need to feel safe, welcomed and encouraged to participate, and the way to accomplish this type of environment is with mutual respect and tolerance.
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