It’s a Big Worldand We’re OnlyHere For a Little While- Rani Arbo

can We do all Three?

Middle School is Not a Building Goals

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment1. All middle level learners participate in challenging, integrated, real world, standards based curriculum that promotes conceptual understanding, 21st-century skill development, and knowledge acquisition. 2. Instruction is engaging, personalized, and differentiated to meet individual student learning needs.3. Student learning is measured by appropriate assessments, resulting in continual learning and high achievement.

School Organization and Community4. Organizational structures and a school culture of high expectations enable all middle level students and educators to succeed.5. Relationships for learning create a climate of intellectual development and a caring community that includes having an adult advocate for each student.6. Ongoing family and community partnerships provide a supportive and enriched learning environment for each middle level student.7. A supportive, safe, and healthy learning environment advances learning and promotes overall student and educator well being.8. A democratic system of continual collaboration by all stakeholders allows for authentic student voice and a shared vision to guide decisions.

Teacher Education and Development9. The recruitment, hiring, and preparation of teachers and administrators is based on knowledge of the developmental characteristics of young adolescents, strong content knowledge, and the ability to use research based instructional strategies and assessment practices appropriate for middle level students.10. Research is generated, disseminated, and applied to identify and implement practices leading to continual student learning and high academic achievement at the middle level.

Vermont Publication 1964

JohnDownes

MarySullivan

“mastery of basic skills stressed,

flexible grouping,

teachers as guidance/advisors,

curriculum integration,

cooperation and collaboration,

depth of knowledge is encouraged through mutualplanning time for teachers,

multiple teachers are concerned with a student’s overall progress and guidance”

“Good Teaching provides a variety of activities related to real life.”

“Use of the school libraryis an essential part of theirwork.”

“Creative experiences andinstruction are provided inart, music, dramatics andthe dance.”

“This too, is good education.”

“…it is incumbent upon the schools to foster the values and skills involved in democratic living. These include valuesvalues such as such as respect for human dignity, equity, respect for human dignity, equity, freedom, and social responsibilityfreedom, and social responsibility, as well as skillsskills like critical critical thinking, problem solving, thinking, problem solving, collaborating, information and collaborating, information and data gathering, reflecting, data gathering, reflecting, participatory planningparticipatory planning, and the like.”

- James Beane 2013

“The move to focus education policy on global economic competition, labor force skill needs, and international test score comparisons began in earnest with the publication of the federal report, "A Nation at Risk" (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). Thirty years later, it is the dominant theme of the Common Core State Standards.”

-James Beane 2013

“Contrary to the general opinion, popular educationhas always been rather largely vocational”

-John Dewey 1916

Integrated Curriculum-subjects are optional, learning is natural, Knock Down The Walls!

Democratic Classroom-social justice, equity, student voice and choice, no tracking, value diversity, build community

Democratic Core Curriculum-What questions or concerns do you have about yourself and the world?-Let’s Explore!

John DeweyUniversity of ChicagoLaboratory Schools 1896

Lucy Sprague MitchellBank Street School 1916

Jessica HowardProspect School, Hiland Hall 1965 1991

Progressive, Democratic Education

Emergent Learning-Curriculum emerges from student interest and the teacher and student participate in that exploration together

Organizing Civilization-Humans must be taught how to respect the stranger in our midst-how to interact with the “other”-the school structure, time, organization and culture should focus on the skills of citizenship and the collaborative expectationsof civilization.

Three-legged Stool ofProgressive EducationThe interests of the individual combines with participation in the school community,which combines with the expectations and opportunities of societal standards.

-Jessica Howard 2007

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Progressive Education

Democratic Education and the Common Core in 1966Activity Time, Pirates, Jacques Cousteau and the Surveyors

The Conundrum ofDemocratic Education

Choice and Challenge

Shoebox Diorama

“Authoritarian & UndemocraticCommon standards and assessments were conceived and developed in an undemocratic and authoritarian manner, and have minimized our freedom to have an education system that empowers its citizens to a life that is rooted in progressive ideals. “

So was the Constitution…Read the Document!

“Dr. Lakoff uses the metaphor of the family to talk about two kinds of ways to organize : the strict father family, and the nurturing parent family. The strict father family is a conservative view of order, while the nurturing parent family is the progressive view of order.”

“The kinds of progressive values that I think should be fundamental to educational reform are missing from the top-down reform that is consuming American education. George Lakoff, a cognitive scientist, who studies why the mind makes meaning, has written extensively about progressive values and how they impact politics, and our way of life.”

Conservative Metaphor: The Strict Father Family

vs.

Progressive Metaphor: The Nurturing Parent Family

IS IT A ZERO SUM GAME?

Phonics vs. Whole Language

Functional Linguistics vs. Common Core

New Math vs. Arithmetic

Connected Math vs. Traditional Math

Spiral Science vs. Discipline Science

Red States vs. Blue States

Common Core vs. Democratic Education

IS IT ONE OR THE OTHER?

Confucius @490 B.C.E

“virtue is found somewhere in the middle”

Heraclitus @490 B.C.E. “there is a unity of opposites-one does not exist without the other”

Dalai Lama 2011 C.E.

“The Middle Way transcends opposites”

All that we have in commonallows us to honor ourdifferences, and makes us a community.-Peter Straub, Team A

We are a problem solving, pattern seeking, storytelling species who look to understand in a sometimes chaotic world.

We traverse through life attempting to make meaning of our relationships with ourselves, with one another, and with the circumstances that come our way.

-Scientific American 2009

Education is understanding relationships.

George Washington Carver, Tuskegee Institute-Mary Sullivan, Team A

Do we have anything in common?Do you care about me?

Do you care about my future?Can you guide me there?

critical thinking,problem-solving,collaborating,information and data gathering,reflecting and participatory Planning…apply mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues LEG 2 + 3

Common Core Standards Democratic Education

Co-exist and Complement

Social Responsibility--enable students to mix self-interest with the concerns of the many .--give students the opportunity to critically assess problematic issues LEG 1 + 2Relevance--make learning relevant to real issues -create an environment where students learn together about a shared concern

-James BeaneCurriculum Integration1997

•Classic myths and stories from around the world; •America’s Founding Documents; •Shakespeare •Foundational American literature

whole numbers;addition;subtraction;multiplication;division:fractions; anddecimals.

-Common Core 2010 LEG 3

"Teachers are thus free to provide students with whatever tools and knowledge their professional judgment and experience identify as most helpful for meeting the goals set out in the Standards...The Standards should be recognized for what they

are not as well as what they are... The Standards define what all students are expected to know and be able to do, not how teachers should teach...While the Standards focus on what is most essential, they do not describe all that can or should be taught. A great deal is left to the discretion of teachers and curriculum developers.

The aim of the Standards is to articulate the fundamentals, not to set out an exhaustive list or a set of restrictions that limits what can be taught beyond what is specified herein."

-from pages 4-6 Common Core State Standards

Common Core State Standards English/Language Arts

Reading1) focus upon comprehension2) Purpose- build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities and broaden student perspective3) use, but don’t limit reading to, classic /contemporary literature and informational text, including

myths and stories from around the world, foundational U.S. documents, American Literature and Shakespeare

Writing4) construct arguments based upon claims, sound reasoning and relevant evidence5) research; both short and long-term focusing upon written analysis and presentation6) Types- argumentative, informational/explanatory and narrative

Speaking +Listening7) gain, evaluate and present complex information, ideas and evidence through listening, speaking

and various media in small group, whole class, informal and formal settings8) focus upon collaboration to answer questions, build understanding and solve problems

Language9) vocabulary and English conventions extend across reading, writing, speaking and listening and

require particular focus and integration in each of these areas

Technology + Media10) technology and media extend across reading, writing, speaking and listening and require particular

focus and integration in each of these areas

-adapted from http://www.corestandards.org/resources/key-points-in-english-language-arts

Common Core Mathematical Practices and Domains 1)Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them-Students start by explaining to themselves the meaning of a problem and looking for entry points to its solution. (Relevance)

2)Reason abstractly and quantitatively-Students make sense of quantities and their relationships in problem situations. Quantitative reasoning is attending to the meaning of quantities, not just how to compute them. (Relationships)

3)Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others-Students can construct arguments using concrete references such as objects, drawings, diagrams, and actions. These arguments make sense and are correct. (Rigor)

4)Model with mathematics-Students can apply the mathematics they know to solve problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace using such tools as diagrams, two-way tables, graphs, flowcharts and formulas. In middle grades, a student might apply proportional reasoning to plan a school event or analyze a problem in the community. (Relevance) 5)Use appropriate tools strategically- Students are able to identify relevant external mathematical resources, such as digital content located on a website, and use them to pose or solve problems. They are able to use technological tools to explore, present and deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts. (Technology Integration)

6)Attend to precision-Students can give carefully formulated explanations to each other. They can examine claims and make explicit use of definitions. They calculate accurately and efficiently. (Rigor)

7)Look for and make use of structure-Students look closely to discern a pattern or structure. (Relationships)

8)Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning-Students notice if calculations are repeated, and look both for general methods and for shortcuts. (Rigor)

2)Pursue rigorous understanding of concepts and apply the mathematics to relevant aspects of student’s lives . Link the mathematics to student lives, but also, to major topics within the curriculum (Collaboration, Interdisciplinary units, STEM, etc.)

3)Grades 6 – 8 Domains: Ratios and Proportions, Number System, Algebraic Expressions and Equations, Geometry, Statistics and Probability (Heraclitus)

-adapted from http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice

Common Core Inferred Shifts for the Classroom

1) Embedded Technology

2) Balance of Content and Skills

3) Collaborative Responsibility

We can never step in the same river twice; and so it is with life. The water that defines the river we step in is constantly flowing and changing. It is that flow and change which makes the river constant. It is in changing some things that other things find permanence. What are you willing to change in order to allow other things to become more permanent?

-adapted from Heraclitus about 460 B.C.E.