Thank You Charles Best

I was recently spoken to about a new book that treats the language used on standardized tests as a separate genre. That's right. You can now read realistic fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, biography, and testing.

I immediately responded by asking, "If testing language is its own genre, to be studied separately, then doesn't that mean there is something wrong with the test?"

Two days later I came across this little gem in Fast Company by Charles Best, the founder of DonorsChoose

"I can't believe that in all the furor over testing, people aren't debating the test itself, like whether the questions are any good. What if a standardized test were written not by a bureaucrat but by somebody who deeply loves the subject? If there were such a thing as a standardized test that wasn't crazy boring and dry, then we might actually have a test worth teaching to."

Well said.

Can you imagine having to answer questions on a test about a short story that was written by J.K. Rowling?

What about answering science questions that actually required you to do some science?

How about solving a math problem that was relevant to your daily life?

It's Kind of Like This...

The DJ steps up to the turntable. With one flick of his right wrist, and a quick slide with his left thumb and forefinger, he sends the familiar scratch through the room, gaining the attention of the crowd. He has a feeling about what this crowd wants, what it needs. He has done this many times before. Like a scientist he has observed and taken notes. Like an artist, he has developed a feel, an instinct. He follows that feeling and the music begins to play. His instincts seem to have been correct. The crowd is moving, almost in sync with one another. They are losing themselves, finding themselves. The DJ is losing himself and finding himself right along with them. As he does this, he adapts to them. Flow. The playlist he had written out in advance is now pushed aside and he begins to pull songs from the playlist in his soul. It is as if the crowd is requesting the next song without ever saying anything. What seems like only minutes has really been hours. The faces on the dance floor change, but the rhythm of the moment remains the same, and everyone is caught up in it. The pace quickens, then it slows, and quickens again. The crowd, which at first seemed insecure and self aware, has grown confident and sure, filling the room with good vibes. As the lights flicker on an off, signaling the end has come, the DJ spins his last tune. The crowd begins to file out the door, filled with laughter, full of energy. The DJ smiles. He’s done it again. He walks around the now empty room putting some things away, and pulling some things out of cupboards for tomorrow. He jots down a few notes in his journal. He makes a quick phone call, and answers an email. He grabs his backpack, turns off the lights, and closes the classroom door. He must go rest, for tomorrow at 8am, he’ll be back to do it again.

To My Cohorties...

How do I explain my Xavier experience to others? I am having a hard time putting it in words. There aren't words that I am able to find to really explain it, and when I try, they seem to do it a disservice, the words aren't big enough, aren't filled with enough depth or emotion. Trying to describe it somehow makes it smaller, less of a moment than it really was. It feels like every time I try to answer the question, "so how was Xavier?" I give a little piece of it away, it keeps getting smaller.

Xavier is this really huge moment that has left a gigantic impression on me and trying to sum it up makes it seem so small. I don't want it to be small. I want it to stay ginormous. I don't want the memories to stop washing over me, filling me with peace and joy. I could speak your names but that wouldn't let the asker know how amazing you are. I could share highlights but it wouldn't capture the fullness and beauty of the moment. I feel as if the answer to their question can't be given in a short conversation. I can only reply by saying...

Watch my life, I hope you will find your answer.

The Power of Presence

"We think 50,000 thoughts a day and 99% of them we thought yesterday."
-Anonoymous

As Montessori teachers, we must practice the great discipline of being present in the moment, not thinking through yesterday, or contemplating tomorrow. The gift of our presence, or mindfulness to the children we teach, is one of the most powerful things we can give them. Being present with them allows us to see who they are, understand where it is they are going, and grasp what it is they need. The students are always communicating with us. How often are we present in the moment to receive the message?

I'm Going Back to the Start...

I was just guessin' at numbers and figures,
Pulling the puzzles apart.
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart.

Nobody said it was easy,
Oh it's such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy,
No one ever said it would be so hard.

I'm going back the start.

-The Scientist by Coldplay

I officially began my re-calibration process today with 6 other people in a Montessori Master's Program at Xavier University. I will spend the next two weeks taking a deeper look at the Montessori method and soak in the reminders of why this is such an amazing way to educate the future. I'd like to post daily, or every couple of days if I can, as a log of my experience, not only for myself, but for others who may read and want to consider this experience for themselves.

We started things off focusing on the transformation of the teacher. Whether we want to admit it or not, teachers teach who they are. If we are not healthy, or whole, or able to spiritually center ourselves, we will pass on our "stuff" to our students. Do we teach from a place of selfishness, exhaustion, co-dependency, irritation, frustration, insecurity? We pass these things on to our students. We teach who we are.

Maria Montessori said, "The first essential is that the teacher should go through an inner, spiritual preparation, cultivate certain aptitudes in the moral order. This is the most difficult part of training, but if it does not happen, all the rest is to no avail."

Montessori is not just a pedagogy. It is a way of being.

Data. A Cautionary Tale.

"At the last second, the boy reached the water's surface. He desperately gasped for air. Every breath brought him further away from the brink of unconsciousness. A sharp pain surged through his head. He knew he had come dangerously close to going too far."

I made a commitment this school year to full heartedly participate in the urban public school data movement. The official buzz phrase is "Data Driven Instruction." I felt that it was important to understand this movement, to try it on, and see what it was all about. I promised not to complain, but to try and find a silver lining, to stay positive and get what I could from the experience. I wanted to embrace the possibilities and try to grow as a teacher. I kept my commitment, and I lived to tell the story, barely.

The state standardized test results have been in our building for one week. I have already been given the results in four different forms. I haven't been given the breakdown of each students' individual results. I can access them online if I would like to. I will also be given them sometime in the next few weeks. There were 3 tests. I have 23 students. That is 69 different pieces of data to look at.

This year, my students spent the equivalent of 7 weeks taking standardized tests. After it was all said and done, they took 48 different tests in the name of "measuring" what they were learning. It isn't enough just to take the year end standardized test anymore. The test publishers will now also sell you a package of quarterly tests that your students can take to make sure they are ready for the year end standardized test. The publishers of the test, who happen to also be the publishers of most of our text books, also provide you weekly "standardized test practice tests" to go along with your reading and social studies text books.

After sorting through all of the numbers, I came to a conclusion. Data isn't wrong. The wrong data is wrong.

I think we are collecting the wrong data, measuring the wrong stuff. I understand the year end standardized test isn't going anywhere. But the barrage of testing throughout the year really only tells me If the students have been exposed to the subject matter or not. This, is something I am already pretty well aware of.

What if instead, we figured out a way to measure how self directed a student is, how well they set and pursue goals, how well they delay gratification and how do they problem solve. What if we could measure how well a student is able to concentrate on the tasks at hand and is aware of their thinking. This would be very useful information. My students that did not pass our year end standardized test struggle to self-regulate. The ones who did pass, are very self-regulated. Is there a correlation? What if I could find a way to help the students be more aware of where they are in the process of becoming more self-regulated and then intentionally help them move forward in this growing process? Not only could they potentially pass the year end standardized test, but they would of course, become more complete as humans.

To Montessori or Not to Montessori...

My friend Ariah and I have been dialoguing about the Montessori method. His children are almost "school" age and he is trying to get a better grasp on the merits of the Montessori charter school in his neighborhood.

He really enjoyed my latest response and said I should blog it. So here it is...

Ariah: Here's my biggest question for now: Are there examples of successful montessori schools in urban neighborhoods? Everyone I talk to seems to think it's nice in theory, but wouldn't really work with urban youth. Particularly black and latino males.
Any examples in your research of a montessori school that has been successful in an urban setting for the long haul?

Joshua: In America right now, public Montessori schools pretty much only exist in urban neighborhoods. Some have been around for 15 years or more. Others are pretty new. This is mostly because urban areas are the ones with failing schools, so they are the ones that get the grant money to turn a school into a Montessori school.

A brief history lesson - Maria Montessori's path down the trail that we now know as the Montessori method started in the San Lorenzo slums in Italy. She worked with kids that society had written off as worthless, or deemed unable to learn, because of their social status. They weren't sent to school, they were just left in a courtyard while their parents went to work. (Hmmm...this sounds eerily familiar.) After several years of research, the newly founded Montessori method, saw these students out perform their upper class counterparts on the yearly exams.

Fast forward. I realize we are in a different time, different context. I also realize Montessori in America has a reputation as an elitist form of education, or an anything goes hippy free for all. These environments may not be the best for African-American or Latino boys. But Montessori is so much more than this, and I find comments like the ones people have spoken to you, while I'm sure not meant to be, extremely offensive. I may be incorrectly reading into the comments, but what I hear is... "Black kids and Mexican kids can't learn unless the environment is very rigid and very structured where all choices are made for them.

So let's debunk a few myths.
1. Montessori is loosey goosey, anything goes.
Montessori is structured. It is structured in a way that trains and enables students to make appropriate, responsible, decisions that build self confidence and intrinsic motivation. With appropriate guidance, students are empowered to make their own decisions, not just in the classroom, but with lessons that are called "practical life lessons."

2. The Montessori curriculum is pretty weak.
Actually, the intentional design of the curriculum makes it extremely rigorous. (Rigor means depth). The curriculum at American schools tends to be a mile wide and an inch deep. The Montessori curriculum moves at a pace that allows the child to potentially gain a very deep understanding of the subject matter, a much deeper understanding than their "school as factory" counterparts.

3. Montessori is only for middle and upper class white kids.
As our history lesson pointed out, the Montessori method was started with social outcasts. It's no coincidence that Montessori is making a resurgence in America with our country's social outcasts. Every child has great potential. Because the Montessori method is focused on the development of the child, it can adapt to all children from all cultures and backgrounds.

Speaking only from my own classroom and school experience, I have seen this to be very true. But of course, we each must decide for ourselves.