Prove It: Math and Education Policy
From September 2015 to September 2017, John Troutman McCrann, a high school math teacher, NBCT, and MfA Master Teacher Fellow in New York City, wrote about his quest to integrate inquiry- and performance-based learning into his instruction, and how these concepts might inform education policy. Follow him on Twitter: @JohnTroutMcCran This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: performance assessment.
Teaching
Opinion
Learning by Doing: The Case for Experiential Education
Students learn better when they are actively engaged in the learning process. This is a lesson that I have learned time and time again on outdoor trips, and one that was reinforced on the survival skills course from which we just returned.
Families & the Community
Opinion
Teachers Are Civil Rights Leaders: What We Can Do to Stop the Next Water Crisis
There is no easy or "quick" fix to this problem. However, we can begin by coming together across color lines, income lines, and boundary lines to ensure that all members of our community understand how to advocate for change and are fully experiencing the benefits of our constitution. I encourage teachers and those in the community with knowledge and political capital to begin to facilitate lessons to build the capacity of both students and parents.
Teaching
Opinion
What I Learned About Growth Mindset When Students Taught Me
It's this time of year when I like to talk a lot about growth mindset. I won't let students say they are "bad at math," instead I'll push them to think about problem solving as a "joyfully messy" process that will inevitably lead to them getting stuck in "maze moments." I work hard to cultivate this kind of attitude in my classes, so I was pretty surprised a few weeks ago when a student accused me of having a fixed mindset.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
An Open Letter to Teachers Fighting Fair Share Fees: Your Fight Will Hurt Students
In my last post, I asked folks on both sides of the debate on the Friedrichs Supreme Court case to consider part of the moral foundation that might be driving each other's beliefs. In this post, I will address concerns that I have about what could happen to students if those who would undermine established state laws are successful.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
What Lies Beneath: The Morality Behind Both Sides of Friedrichs
It is easy to get stuck in our existing "moral matrix" when thinking about an issue as emotional and personal as students in a school and how we treat the folks who work with them. The third foundation of Haidt's "in group/loyalty pillar of morality" helps us to move through the stale debates and name-calling about teachers unions
Teaching
Opinion
So How Do You Know They Got It? Showing Evidence of Learning
We are in an age of education where proof is required to show true success. Teachers often hear the question: "how do you know your students understand?" As a middle school science teacher of ten years, it would be easy for me to say, "Well, I just do. I'm a good teacher, and I know my kids." This is not enough. We have to show evidence.
Teaching
Opinion
Together With Hope: A Teacher's Holiday Reflections and Local Actions
David Sherrin often pushes me and our staff at Harvest Collegiate High School to connect what we are doing to the larger world and the issues facing it. He did so beautifully in an email to our staff two weeks ago and I asked him if--in the holiday spirit and in the spirit of challenging educators to think deeply and broadly about our practice--he would allow me to republish it here. I hope you find it as thought provoking as I did.
Assessment
Opinion
Knowing What Students Know: The Power of Documentation
There is no denying the testing mess, and recent efforts to reduce our dependence on testing have renewed conversations about what it means to assess in ways that serve learners as much as they serve educators and the systems they work in.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
What It Means to Be Public and Why It Matters
I want to work towards a public school system that is genuinely and democratically responsive. One in which every young person in that community truly belongs within our system, one that would be outraged at "got to go lists" and attempts to coerce or mislead members of their community.Charter schools are not to be blamed for the fact that we do not currently have such a system, but those of us who are "partisans for democracy" ought to be concerned by them.
Assessment
Opinion
Achievement Is Not Linear: What Education Policymakers Could Learn From the New York Mets
We should not ignore the drop in NAEP scores, nor should we use it to suggest that our educational sky is falling. We should be more like the New York Mets's management team.
Teaching
Opinion
A Mathematical Model for the Gratitude We Spread
"If I accept the premise that being grateful is good for our health, then shouldn't I be interested in promoting a habit of thankfulness in my students and in the world?"
Families & the Community
Opinion
3 Phrases I Won't Be Saying During Conferences This Year
As I've progressed in the teaching profession I've come to a different understanding of what this night means and how I can leverage it as part of the overall work I'm doing to make students better thinkers and problem solvers. In reflecting on conferences from years past, I realized a problem. There are three phrases I used say which were undermining my larger goals. I'll share them with you alongside my reasoning for striking them from my vocabulary.
Teaching
Opinion
Ease The Sail: Navigating Classroom Culture in Stormy Seas
I had avoided shipwreck. In the words of educational philosopher Patricia F. Carini, I was "attending to children with care." When in doubt, our first response to our students should be listening and connecting - not pulling harder on the ropes in search of a sense of tight control that leaves the collective boat going nowhere fast.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
How We Should Move Forward After the Abuse at Spring Valley High
I teach my students to be "upstanders" when they are witness to violence, and in that spirit I want to express solidarity with those educators and activists speaking out against the assault of a black student at Spring Valley High in South Carolina by school resource officer Ben Fields.