A few years ago, I asked my university undergraduate students, “What do you perceive as the value of working in groups?”

One student responded, “No offense, Mr. Mesibov, but sometimes when my peers explain something I understand it better than when you do.”

I thought about this. I acknowledge that sometimes students are more receptive to information that comes from a peer, if for no other reason than that they may tune in and actually listen. And sometimes their peers use language that is more student-friendly than I might think to use, being generation gaps away from them.

However, there is another reason that group work can increase the probability that students will learn and it has nothing to do with whether it is the teacher or another student who is sharing the information. It has to do with multiple intelligences

As a teacher, I am one person with strengths and weaknesses and a particular teaching style. Even though I try to adapt to different learning styles, I am still more effective at communicating with people whose learning styles are closely aligned with my teaching style. Any time you put four people in a group – whether they are students or senior citizens - you increase the likelihood that one of them will have a teaching style more aligned with the learning style of another. For example, I tend to explain things verbally, but I limit the use of graphics because my ability with anything that requires artistic talent is nil. I am sure there are times when I struggle to help a student comprehend a difficult concept whereas another student may be able to put pen to paper and quickly communicate the same point with a graphic.

The role of the teacher is to see that students learn. Sometimes the best way to enhance student learning is to facilitate the teaching of the materials by another. Each time you give a student access to additional people you increase the likelihood that one of them will be able to connect with the student, possibly better than you. If the student learns, you, as the teacher, have done your job.

As Pat Flynn has said, we are moving from a system where we judge the quality of teaching by how much we teach (“cover”) to a system where we judge the quality of teaching by how much the student learns.

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.

Copyright (c) 2004, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

Finally, and happily, many education departments are preparing teachers for the classrooms of the future, not of the past. Future teachers are being trained to use multiple forms of assessment including performance assessments, cooperative group activities, portfolios, reflective activities and other learner centered approaches toward raising student achievement.

For administrators, this is an unusual period in our history. For at least a century, most administrators were responsible for supporting a staff that was expected to conduct a class the way the administrator had when she was a teacher.

Now that has changed. Future teachers are being trained to create a classroom environment that requires use of teaching strategies unknown to most administrators when they were in the classroom. Many outstanding veteran teachers have immersed themselves in training and trial and error to master strategies that, until a few years ago, were new to them. However, good administrators have had neither the time nor opportunities to become competent with the teaching strategies that are becoming common in many of the classrooms under their supervision. Many staffs include new teachers who have more competence with research supported pedagogical strategies than the administrators who evaluate them.

What are the ramifications of this unique situation where the manager is managing people who are expected to do what the administrator was never trained to do?

If, as an administrator, you think your job is to tell your staff what to do and then to make sure they do it - you are holding back progress and interfering with student learning. On the other hand, if you are an administrator who views yourself as a facilitator, leader, and coach you will thrive. If you truly believe that you have a talented staff and your job is to get the most out of them, then you will rise to the challenge and your staff will embrace you for the support and respect you afford them.

A retired Kentucky principal explained his success during an interview on NPR this week. He said that as soon as he became principal he called the staff together and asked them what they felt were the biggest needs of the school in order to raise student achievement. He said that he had his own ideas, but he made the staff perceptions his priorities. As I listened to this interview, I thought of all those otherwise excellent administrators who take over the role of principal and immediately seek to change the school without allowing themselves to see what is working and what isn’t and without allowing themselves the time to assess staff’s perceptions and prior knowledge.

If it is important for a teacher to build on a student’s prior knowledge, is it any less important for an administrator to build on a staff’s prior knowledge and experiences?

The bottom line is that “None of us is as smart as all of us.” The good administrator has enough humility to recognize that the combined expertise of a staff exceeds that of any individual, even himself.

And it isn’t necessary for an administrator to be as expert with the newer teaching strategies as many of her teachers. There are hall of fame managers and coaches who were not as successful when they played the game as the players whom they coached.” But they saw their role as “coaches”.

Today’s good administrator sees herself as a coach, as a facilitator. There’s a reason for the expression that “Teachers need to go from being the sage on the stage to the guide on the side.” Administrators must model this behavior – partly so they can demand it of their staff, and partly because it is a behavior (guide on the side) that works as well for managing a faculty as it does for conducting a class.

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.

Copyright (c) 2004, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

As a teacher, how would you respond if a parent of one of your students asked, “What are the five most important skills, concepts, facts, and/or competencies my child needs to demonstrate in order to do well in your class?

 Could you offer a quick, concise answer?

 Could you produce a single sheet of paper with a well articulated response?

 For each skill, concept, or competency, could you produce a sample activity and assessment that would give the parent an example of how the child might be assessed at the end of the course?

For the skills, concepts, and competencies you regard as most critical to a student’s success in your class:

 Do you assess on performance (ie. student demonstration of the skill, understanding of the concept, and/or ability to apply competently)?

 Can you provide a sample activity and performance assessment so that others can understand exactly what standard you are setting for your students?

As an administrator, do you have a brief, reader-friendly booklet that contains:

 the five most important skills, concepts, and/or competencies required of every student in each of your school’s courses?

 A sample activity and performance assessment for each of these required skills, concepts and/or competencies? Note: often one sample activity and assessment can provide a vehicle for student demonstration of any number of required skills, concepts, and/or competencies. You don’t necessarily need a different assessment activity for each learning objective.

I know that most teachers and administrators would have to answer “No” to these questions. To change the answers to “Yes,” is a time consuming task that requires top-down support and resources for bottom-up design. Yet, it can be done without an unreasonable amount of time, expense, or energy on anyone’s part. It simply requires an understanding of its importance and a commitment. Without clearly articulated learning objectives and multiple forms of assessment that require student demonstration, the term “standards” has little meaning.

Please go back and respond to each of these questions candidly? If your answers are “No,” think about whether our ability to raise standards for student achievement might not be greatly enhanced by doing the work required to change the answers to “Yes”.

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.

Copyright (c) 2004, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

Here is my favorite poem (reprinted from the past three years). I have told my children that I could have no finer legacy than to believe that I have influenced them to adopt the philosophy of life implicit in this poem about “Cliff Klingenhagen”:

CLIFF KLINGENHAGEN
by Edward Arlington Robinson

Cliff Klingenhagen had me in to dine

With him one day; and after soup and meat,

And all the other things there were to eat,

Cliff took two glasses and filled one with wine

And one with wormwood. Then, without a sign

For me to choose at all, he took the draught

Of bitterness himself, and lightly quaffed

It off, and said the other was mine.

And when I asked him what the deuce he meant

By doing that, he only looked at me

And grinned, and said it was a way of his.

And though I know the fellow, I have spent

Long time a wondering when I shall be

As happy as Cliff Klingenhagen is.

I wish you all greetings of the season. In the spirit of whatever holiday you celebrate, it is my hope that by practicing the selflessness of Cliff Klingenhagen we can all model behaviors we wish to pass along to children and, in so doing, bring happiness to our own lives.

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.

Copyright (c) 2004, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

Two hundred years from now, how many people in America will remember the name Donald Trump? Jerry Seinfeld? Donald Rumsfeld? Jonas Salk? Even today, what percentage of the people in the entire world are familiar with the names of these few Americans? Of the buildings now bearing the name of Donald Trump, how many will be standing two hundred years from now – and if they are standing, how many will still bear his name?

How many great singers of the 18th century can you recall? or composers? or doctors? or plumbers?

On the other hand, thousands of years from now, a person’s life may be influenced by something you did, a value you passed along through your children, students, or others. This is immortality. Immortality is when something in you affects the person someone else becomes and that person, in turn, affects what someone else becomes, and so on.

Who is in any better position to affect the lives of others and, therefore, become immortal, than parents or professional educators? Someone, thousands of years from now, will reflect something you passed along.

“A Life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”

Jackie Robinson

As a parent, as an educator, or simply as a caring individual, you experience the frustrations of a society that, despite your best efforts, does too little for too many and leaves much to be desired. But we are making progress, together, and we are having an impact. Remember this as you celebrate the holiday season. You need to celebrate your successes in order to recharge yourself for the challenges that lie ahead.

You ARE having an impact and you don’t need a building named after you, or a monument to tell you about your successes. But you do need to remind yourself that the successes you are having with children are what life is all about – it is your IMPACT, it is your road to immortality.

Happy New Year!

The author welcomes comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).

Please feel free to forward this message to a friend or colleague. If you know someone who would like to be put on the list, please send a message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.

Copyright (c) 2004, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.