Teaching Students How to Fail

     

       Teaching students how to fail can be a key component in their success. While this may seem contradictory, you must understand what I mean when I say "teaching students how to fail." I am not saying we should set our students up to fail or encourage students to perform inadequately. We should, however, prepare our students for the times they might fail despite their greatest effort. If used correctly, failure can be a tool through which students can develop many characteristics needed to succeed. This can include coping skills, emotional resilience, creative thinking, and the ability to collaborate. This article from allprodad.com gives a list of 10 things to teach your kids about failure.

       In this video, Margie Warrell discusses the negative consequences of encouraging children to be overly competitive and gives several suggestions for allowing students to develop their own naturally competitive spirit. When students are able to find it within themselves to do better and accept failure as a part of that process, their resilience will make them stronger and more successful. This article from parents.com gives several examples of how to improve confidence in a child. Teachers and parents should be good role models for our students and children. We must be an example of how to handle our own shortcomings. When we forget something or fail to complete a task, we should focus on what we did well and what we will do better next time. This is the same thing we should teach our students. Carl Sommer's book "Schools In Crisis: Training For Success or Failure?"discusses the many shortcomings of our public school system and suggest several sollutions to these progblems. It is an excelent resource for teachers, and the entire book can be viewed and downloaded here.

       Even though we try to prevent it, our students will fail tests, strike out, and forget lines in the school play. Although these are not ideal outcomes, there are good things that can be found in these failures. Perhaps the students that failed the test did better than previous tests. Johnny might have struck out at the game tonight, but he caught the most fly balls. Sarah might have forgotten a line in the school play, but she improvised and recovered quickly. Encouraging students to reflect on what they did well will also help them improve their performance next time. The student that did slightly better on a test might realize the importance of studying in advance and making flashcards. The athlete could collaborate with another teammate who is good a hitting, but struggles with catching. The actress might try some new techniques to lesson her stage fright while continuing to develop her excellent improvisation skills. Promoting skills like leadership, teamwork, and reflection are more important than whether a student actually succeeds at doing something. With the proper tools, that student will develop much further than if they had been pressured to win and reprimanded for failing.

The opinions expressed here by me (and those providing comments) are mine or theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of AUSL, NLU, or any employee thereof. Neither AUSL nor NLU are responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied here or in any linked web site.

Does School Retention Help Struggling Students?

     Educators and policymakers have been debating for decades on the pros and cons of student retention. They often wonder how a student can succeed in 3rd grade if they can't perform well as a 2nd grader. Would moving them forward with their peers be beneficial, or will they fall even further behind? The National Association of School Psychologists says that retention is “an ineffective and possibly harmful intervention.” Professor Shane Jimmerson, PhD., of the University of California in Sanra Barbara describes retention as “educational malpractice.” It is my belief that school retention does not benefit students and that intervention would be more effective. To find more information and statistics on school retention, click here to read an article from greatschools.org.

     What do students have to gain from being held back? Students may do better the second time around, but after a few years, they will face the same issues that got them held back in the first place. They will face new, more challenging topics without receiving the help they need to conquer the challenges of the next grade levels once they get there. Especially when students are held back several times, they are much older and have different interests than their peers. They also feel isolated in incapable which can drive their self-esteem down even further. This instability leads to behavior issues and exponentially affects the likelihood they will drop out of school altogether.  This article delves further into the negative social outcomes of retention. In urban schools, retention rates are much higher. This can be as high as 50% for Hispanic and African-American students. With Chicago’s high dropout rate, alternatives must be considered to holding students back in school.

In 2014, Michigan legislators proposed a bill that require the retention of 3rd graders who did not meet the minimum benchmark on standardized test for reading. Oakland Schools opposed this bill and released the following video regarding school retention.

     Schools should incorporate alternative interventions to increase student achievement as opposed to retaining students. There is no universal alternative to holding students back, so each student must be assessed individually to determine the more appropriate action. Parents can play a huge role in preventing retention. Schools should first try communicating with parents on how to supervise homework and what programs are offered that might improve achievement. It is especially important in an urban setting to ensure any language barriers are addressed that might deter parents from being involved in their child’s education. When a school’s retention rate is high, a school should be responsible to hiring professionals and implementing culturally responsive interventions to prevent students from falling behind. This might include hiring reading specialists and tutors as well as implementing a more culturally responsive curriculum and behavior management system. Support groups, mentor programs, and longer school days are also effective strategies for improving achievement. Teachers and administrators should take responsibility for delivering research based evidence to board members, teachers, and parents on the effectiveness of these interventions. Click here to find resources and strategies from he National Association of School Psychologists. When all stakeholders agree that intervention is more effective than holding students back, justifying additional costs and effort will be much easier. Given the clear advantages intervention has over retention, we as educators must promote more effective means of improving achievement for struggling students. 

The opinions expressed here by me (and those providing comments) are mine or theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of AUSL, NLU, or any employee thereof. Neither AUSL nor NLU are responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied here or in any linked web site.

Music in Urban Schools

Music in Urban Schools

     In Urban Music Education: The Teachers' Perspective, an article by Richard K Fiese and Nicholas DeCarbo, twenty urban music teachers are interviewed and questioned about their unique experiences in urban teaching. I found that teachers were asked the same  questions I have been asking myself since I decided to become an urban music teacher. Did my undergraduate degree prepare me to teach in an urban school? What specific techniques, strategies, and approaches will I need to use? What can I do to improve music education in urban schools?

     Despite having taught in urban schools during my undergraduate studies at Illinois State University, I felt very cautious about perusing a teaching career in Chicago. I knew that I would be a great teacher some day and that teaching in an urban school would have the biggest impact on the largest number of students. The Chicago Tribune published an article stating that ISU aims to prepare teachers to teach in an urban setting. However, after graduation, I kept asking myself if I was prepared to take that leap. A study conducted by the University of Toronto found that most new college graduates did not feel prepared to teach in an urban environment. When asked to rate how prepared they felt to teach in an urban schools on a scale from 1 to 5, 68% of students gave a rating of 3 or less. I am shocked by this number and believe it is the responsibility of educational institutions to prepare teachers for all education settings. So many talented teachers shy away from urban schools simply because of their lack of exposure or confidence to succeed. So many teachers believe it is their job to make a difference in the world. The biggest difference a teacher can make is providing a quality education to the students who need it the most. This is exactly why I've chosen to teach in Chicago's lowest performing schools.

    One of the biggest questions I will be pondering throughout the next year will be on what I can do to improve music education in music schools. Many believe that music in schools is a waste of time and has no real value to students. This recent article from the Chicago Sun-Times discusses the growing financial burden of the Chicago Public School system. Among a few other terrible options, cutting music programs is being considered as a solution to their debt crisis. As a musician, I am disappointed that many students don't receive any type of music education. It burns even more that cutting music is one of the first options when funds are running out. However, as a teacher, I am absolutely furious that music and art would ever be considered expendable  given the amount of support it provides to other subjects. In the following video, author and politician Mike Huckabee states, "(The) dumbest mistake we've made in education in this country in the last generation is cutting music and art programs out of our education system..." 

     As he discusses, music provides students with the capacity to learn math and language while also promoting creativity. To improve music education in urban schools, I will strive to eradicate this ridiculous notion that music and art are not essential to a child's education. One of the best music lessons I have taught was lesson and activity connecting music to fractions. After discussing with a fellow teacher that many students were not understanding fractions, I created an engaging and catchy song to go along with that weeks lesson in their math class. The teacher saw a marked improvement their ability to understand the basics of fractions and used the song in future lessons to help struggling students. This is just one of thousands of ways music can be used to improve student achievement. Beyond anything, creativity is the most important thing I teach. The future of our society depends on the creativity being developed in the minds of every child in our classrooms. Perhaps some creativity would have prevented this budget crisis in the first place...

The opinions expressed here by me (and those providing comments) are mine or theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of AUSL, NLU, or any employee thereof. Neither AUSL nor NLU are responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied here or in any linked web site.