When co-authors Flynn, Vermette, Smith, and I get together, talk is not scarce. However, one thought that emerged from a recent lengthy discussion can be captured in a few words:

When students take a multiple choice test, they must activate their ability to recall information.

When students are asked to create a multiple choice test, it challenges them to function at all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Think about the difference!

**** If you are interested in a one-of-a-kind conference, please reply by e-mail; we will immediately send you a packet of relevant information.

Are you are interested in a one-of-a-kind conference, July 18 – 22? A ten percent discount is available to teams that submit a registration form prior to March 1. Information packets may be requested by sending an e-mail to dmesibov@twcny.rr.com Check out the website of The Institute for Learning Centered Education: www.learnercentereded.org or e-mail a request for information.

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.

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rights reserved.

Recently, I wrote about classes that run themselves (Volume 6, Issue 4) and I cited examples of situations where a substitute could come into class and observe as the students went to work knowing their regular teacher would hold them accountable the following day.

Shortly thereafter, I received an e-mail response from Peg D’Arpino who taught middle school math in Gloversville for many years and currently has her skills on display for a private school in Florida. (It is our good fortune that Peg returns every summer to facilitate at our annual constructivist conferences at St. Lawrence University.)

Then I received an e-mail from Pete Atchinson, high school principal in Ausable Valley, with another example of students rising to the level of responsibility available to them. First let’s share Peg’s story, then Pete’s.

Don,
I read your newsletter and had a good chuckle.

When I was still in Gloversville, I had to miss a class late in the day for an appointment. Through a misunderstanding the substitute who was scheduled to cover my class didn’t come in, but I had left at the appointed time. There was no coverage.

However, my kids were on "autopilot". The kids took over. One took attendance down to the office. One girl went up to the overhead and conducted the lesson. She collected and went over the homework. They all knew where the answer keys, overlays, etc. were located. I had told them how to read my plan book so they would know what came next.

Another teacher walked by, but seeing a student at my overhead was not unusual so she never gave it a thought. She passed by several times and because the room was so orderly, she figured I was sitting out of her view.

The bell rang, the kids picked the papers up off the floor and put the chairs up on the desks. The "student-who-acted-as-the-teacher" wrote me a note to tell me that no sub came, but they did all the work they were supposed to and "everyone behaved".

Here is what I received from Pete:

What is necessary for a teacher to bring a class to the point of running itself? Here are some thoughts:

§ Students must be familiar with the routine.

§ Students must each have roles with which they are familiar and comfortable.

§ Students must know what is expected of them in the teacher’s absence. Either they have specific individual or group tasks, or groups - in rotation - are responsible for presenting.

§ Students must know of the outcomes the regular teacher expects for the day and these outcomes must be in the form of a product or something else that is measurable so that their teacher will know in an instant if the students have worked as expected.

Most teachers are fearful of being out of their class – having students miss a day of work. Perhaps we can view an absence as an opportunity rather than lost time. Thanks, Peg. Thanks, Pete.

Are you are interested in a one-of-a-kind conference, July 18 – 22? A ten percent discount is available to teams that submit a registration form prior to March 1. Information packets may be requested by sending an e-mail to dmesibov@twcny.rr.com Check out the website of The Institute for Learning Centered Education: www.learnercentereded.org or e-mail a request for information.

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) 2005, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

An outstanding recent graduate who is currently an entrant into the field of teaching sent this response to our newsletter, “Am I an AUTHENTIC TASK CONSTRUCTIVIST?” (January 31, Volume 6, Issue 5):

As I read through this article, I keep returning to the most difficult issue for me...making the tasks real-life. In the future, might you address this all-important element: creating tasks using real-life context? I know you, Paul and many others are expert at this, but as a novice, I find it most challenging.”

Thank you for the compliment, however, it continues to be a challenge for us to create authentic tasks for students, even though we have been working at it for many years.

Let’s start with the definition offered by Fred Newmann at the University of Wisconsin: The task must have an audience beyond the teacher for a grade. In other words, someone else (other than the teacher) has to find value in seeing the student’s work. Most experts agree, also, that a task has authenticity if it requires students to utilize skills and concepts used by people in the “real world”. This means the task can actually require students to apply skills and concepts in a setting that is real world or, if in the classroom, the environment must replicate a real world setting as much as possible.

Teaching through authentic tasks requires a change in mind-set for the teacher. As in a traditional lesson, the teacher must first identify the learning objectives (taken from standards) that will be the purpose of the lesson. However, instead of asking oneself, “How can I get this across to the students, the question the teacher must address is: “What kind of task can I create that will require the student to demonstrate understanding and ability to apply the learning objectives for the lesson?”

Here are some examples K-12, then at the university level, that meet the criteria of real-world context as well as having an audience beyond the teacher for a grade:

 Students doing art work using the same materials and resources that an artist might use; the task becomes even more authentic when the teacher announces, “When you complete your work it will be displayed for parents to see tomorrow night during open house” (an audience beyond the teacher for a grade).

 When students engage in a jigsaw they are preparing for an audience (their peers) other than just the teacher for a grade.

 Any task that results in a product can be turned into an authentic task by inviting one or two parents, another teacher, the principal, or any outsider into class to view and react to student work. The student work can be a paper, a model, artwork, a video or CD, or Power Point, or an exhibit for a fair (science or otherwise).

 Any task that generates a process which outsiders can be invited to view (or the class can observe). For instance, a discussion, a skit, a mock trial (or other event), a presentation, a debate, or a re-enactment.

 Anything that brings the students into the community (hospital, retirement home, local business) or brings the community into the school.

 Displays in the school lobby or corridors can be created by students. Letters to the editor can be written and mailed.

 Publicity for school events, often generated by teachers and parent volunteers, can instead become class projects.

 An 11th grade teacher allowed some students to skip the usual Friday science labs in exchange for preparing and teaching the objectives of the lab to a 4th grade class.

 A 4th and 2nd grade teacher combined their classes, with 4th graders mentoring second graders, and the students created a book about Native American culture.

 A 6th grade class read stories to a kindergarten class and then the five year olds taught the sixth graders a dance.

 Any task that requires students to go home and ask a question of someone in their home environment can be authentic.

Each semester, for the beginning course toward an education minor which I teach, I require every student to engage in a major authentic task which I estimate will take approximately 30 hours of out-of-class time. I offer students a choice from among a dozen options, one of which is “Propose an alternative to the options I am offering and as long as it will require you to address course objectives in a meaningful way, I will approve it.” Other options, often selected because of requests from people in the real world, include:

 Research and write a report for a local superintendent who requested an analysis of the correlation between the socio-economic level of a community and student achievement.

 Make presentations to classes in local schools.

 Prepare a briefing for a local legislator on the pros and cons of “No Child Left Behind.”

 Create a Speakers’ Forum for the university and conduct at least one dialogue on an issue of importance to the local college community.

 Research and write a report related to literacy options for middle school students. (In this case, students who opted for this task were put in touch with the teacher requesting the report for further amplification.)

 Seek agreement from a classroom teacher and conduct a student-run class or use the “Two-Step” model described in the book by Flynn, Mesibov, Vermette, and Smith.

Sometimes the audience can be the students themselves when you have a student present to the entire class or even to a peer or a small group of classmates. Obviously, the more seriously the students take the audience, the more authentic the task will be for them, but often having their own classmates for an audience is more authentic than just having the teacher for a grade.

How does the teacher make sure the student demonstrates an understanding and ability to apply the learning objectives of the lesson? By setting criteria that must be addressed while performing the task.

Several years ago, through a grant, the Institute sponsored two-days of exhibits of student work at the New York State Museum in Albany. One teacher displayed all sorts of games designed and built by his students. It was obvious just looking at the games that the students had mastered the curriculum. Each game required knowledge and understanding of important concepts in social studies. I asked the teacher, “How did you make sure the students created games that were directly related to what you teach?”

“Before they could go ahead and build according to their design, they had to show me a rough draft sketch of the finished product and it had to address a list of criteria I had distributed at the start of the unit. For instance, it had to require an understanding of one of several historical eras, it had to include, in a meaningful way, the names of at least three people who influenced the politics of that era and it had to include at least three structures of historical significance, etc.”

Are you are interested in a one-of-a-kind conference, July 18 – 22? A ten percent discount is available to teams that submit a registration form prior to March 1. Information packets may be requested by sending an e-mail to dmesibov@twcny.rr.com Check out the website of The Institute for Learning Centered Education: www.learnercentereded.org or e-mail a request for information.

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) 2005, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

The problem with standardized assessments is not that they are standardized, but that they standardize multiple choice, true-false, fill in the blank, and essay questions. If performance assessments were standardized there might be less controversy.

This is not to suggest that there is no place for true-false, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, or essay questions on standardized assessments. It depends what you are assessing and what will afford you evidence of what students know, understand, can apply and can create.

Standardizing performance assessments in ways that are economically and administratively feasible for a state or school district will require paradigm busting at the highest levels of educational governance. But isn’t that among the adages that state education department officials continually distribute in newsletters, mailings, and public addresses. Aren’t we constantly being implored to “Take risks!”

Well, let’s take some risks and design and implement standardized performance assessments that will give evidence of student competence.

Are you are interested in a one-of-a-kind conference, July 18 – 22? A ten percent discount is available to teams that submit a registration form prior to March 1. Information packets may be requested by sending an e-mail to dmesibov@twcny.rr.com Check out the website of The Institute for Learning Centered Education: www.learnercentereded.org or e-mail a request for information.

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) 2005, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.

Middle school students, recently interviewed, were asked, “If you could give one piece of advice to teachers to make them more effective, what would it be?” Their responses in a minute.

I am indebted to Jennifer Bishop for inviting me to Delaware a few years ago to learn about their CSR “Mini-Society” model. Following my work in Delaware, I took their concept of a student advisory committee and integrated it into the Institute’s CSR model which is being implemented with the Malone middle school.

Since September, 2002, guidance counselors Amy Hayes and Van Alexander have  worked, each year, with twelve middle school students who were selected through a process designed to provide equal representation from 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grades. St. Lawrence University students often assist with facilitation of the Malone Student Advisory Council..

Between October, 2004 and February, 2005 the 12 students on the advisory council  prepared their questions, interviewed peers, and categorized the responses. Here is their report which has been circulated to the middle school staff. While some of the suggestions may be regarded as frivolous, I think you’ll agree that others are nuggets. What is important is that the students’ sense of ownership of their school is greatly increased.

Student Advisory Committee Survey

There were 114 students who responded to the question “What is one piece of advice you would give to teachers that would make them more effective at teaching you?” Here is what the students said:

Fun/Interesting

-more posters                                                               

-more games

-give us more projects

-more hands on activities (it’s easier to learn)

- more fun things

-watch movies about things we are learning

-creativity should be advised

-make class more fun instead of talking all period

-games of hard and boring things

-show and tell

-more group activities

-don’t be boring

- more projects so we can get involved

-do more experiments

-let kids teach

-make learning fun

-more rewards

-make the rooms look more interesting

Homework

-give more time in class for homework/study

-no more homework

-give homework every other day

-give us less homework

-more time in class to do homework

-make sure we understand our homework

-no homework on Mondays and Fridays

-more days to do big assignments

-Check homework correctly

-Check over homework better

-Give us more homework, but make it easier

-only grade homework by how much effort we put into it

-homework shouldn’t count as a grade

Rules and Regulations

-let students pack up and get homework ready at the five minute bell

-let us bring drinks to class

-let us bring candy or give it to us

-let us sit where we want

-let us pick new seats at the five mark period

-we should have shorter classes

-be harder on the kids who are messing around

Teacher Characteristics

-be more expressive

-don’t be so hard on students

-don’t be so boring

-relax more

-be more understanding

-give us more credit when we do something right

-be more fun and interesting

-be more affective at teaching

-don’t talk all period about something another student did wrong

-don’t talk all period

-smile more

-be less grouchy

-be excited to do a lesson so we are to

- be silly

-teach slowly

-don’t expect the same thing from everyone

-let us give suggestions

-stop being so serious

-be patient

-don’t talk to us like children

-be respectful to students

Lectures/Class work

-give more details when explaining assignments

-no more lectures

-different ways to learn

-give us more time to study

-don’t blame everyone for what just a few people did

-play music during class

-don’t yell at us all the time

-don’t put a lot of stress on us

-make lessons fun and interesting

-find better ways for us to take and keep our notes

-make tests more fun

-more activities during class

- have work for us to make up a test grade

-not as many tests/quizzes

-teach one subject a day

don’t call on the same people all the time

-Stop yelling/ Listen to what we say!

Miscellaneous

-introduce new ways to study

-get new stuff for the classroom

-field trips

-let us talk the last five minutes of class

-more dress up days

-more chemistry

-give more information on what you are talking about

-tutor us after school

-let us feel like we are at home

-make class more enjoyable not boring

- we should have more said in the things we do and go on

-let kids help teach the lesson if they want

- explain work more in our language

-no textbooks, let teachers read things

-let the kids go to the bathroom                      

-Better cafeteria food

-a tenth period to do our homework

-smaller classes

Members of the Student Advisory Council who prepared, conducted, and tabulated the results of this survey are: 6^th graders - Becca Haggarty, Chris Payton, Hailley Delisle, Jaquelin  Pickreign,
and Emily Smith; 7th graders - Emma Fitzgerald, Erin Grimshaw, Kaylie Lamica, and Tyler Malley; 8th graders- John Payton, Anthony Lamb, Kevin Marlowe, Ashley Monette, and Alysia Juntunen.

                                                            ---30---

Are you are interested in a one-of-a-kind conference, July 18 – 22? A ten percent discount is available to teams that submit a registration form prior to March 1. Information packets may be requested by sending an e-mail to dmesibov@twcny.rr.com Check out the website of The Institute for Learning Centered Education: www.learnercentereded.org or e-mail a request for information.

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) 2005, Institute for Learning Centered Education. All
rights reserved.