Kids Don't Need Teachers for Learning Information

I'd like to invite you into my kitchen. It's one of my favorite places in the whole entire world. Rich conversations happen here. We figure out important stuff, and I need you to help me figure out what it means to be an effective educator. I've been pressing on, but I'm feeling tattered.

If you join me, this was our view after school.

Hannah and Martha are both in high school. Hannah is writing notes for her history reading. She is not allowed to use a device, even though her school is a 1:1 school. She must hand write notes as proof of completing the reading. Martha is writing out math problems that she fully understands step-by-meaningless-step. "I feel like a slave," she says. At least she'll have proof of her understanding for the teacher.

Across the kitchen, Sam shouts, "Woohoo! I don't have any homework tonight, so I can R-E-A-D!" He runs upstairs to get his book from his nightstand. Jordan finished his assignment and gets his book too. They both settle in the kitchen.

They are active kids, so I ask, "You want to sit and read after you've been sitting in school all day?"

"Oh yeah," Sam says, "You never get to read anything that matters in school. I love coming home and reading stuff I want."

"Me too," said Jay.

Silence settled around the kitchen. I started dinner and sorting my thoughts. I wish you were there. Sometimes it's best to talk through the tricky stuff.

The way kids learn and use information is changing. They have access to more information with a slap of a button than ever before. They can find the number of bones in a human body, the theme of To Kill a Mocking Bird, a video of metamorphosis, or the purposes of the three branches of the US government in 0.28 seconds on Google.

They jockey YouTube, email, iTunes and Google Classroom from their school devices, phones, and smart watches. They hear more about social issues, protests, and pop culture from their social media feeds at the bus hub than what their parents heard at their ages from watching the evening news. They navigate conversations in the lunch line and conversations through texts and conversations on social media. They deal with bullying and embarrassment in ways that used to be unfathomable.

They dream big dreams. They invent with video and music. They find ideas for their hobbies and interests. They learn to change a tire or make a duck tape flower or create a smokey eye with make-up. They figure out how to build a habitat for a new pet, create a vending machine from legos or stir a homemade remedy for acne.

It is only fair that teaching practices change as kids' learning needs change.

We are living this transformation. Teachers are no longer disseminators of information. They are no longer facilitators of learning. Kids do not need teachers for these things. Kids don't need teachers for learning information.

But, they still need teachers. They need us for different reasons than filling their minds with facts and knowledge.

Kids need teachers to be activators of curiosity and cultivators of deep thinking. 

Kids need teachers to spark interest, to nudge their thinking, and to tug them into exploration. They need us to give them space to fail and bounce back. They need us to build their confidence and empower them to think big and bigger.

Back in the kitchen, Jordan interrupts my thoughts. "Mom, do you mind if I use my device to look up something about bearded dragons? I want to know if Spike is more sensitive when he's shedding. I wonder if I should hold him when he's shedding."

Of course I said yes. Jordan has important learning to do as a new pet owner.

Kids don't need teachers to fill their minds with facts and knowledge. They don't need teachers for learning information. They have access to information. Kids need to go to school to learn how to chase curiosities, determine truth, grow ideas through collaboration, and share deep understandings in ways that make the world a better place.

Some kids need to go to school because it is a safe place. It is warm and has food. Adults won't hurt them in school. There are many kids filling our classrooms who come from hard places.

Kids need teachers to help them find a different way their stories can go.

This is why I press on. I want to encourage teachers to be activators of curiosity and cultivators of deep thinking. I want to help teachers know how to fill needs and heal kids who come from dark places. It's not easy work, but when I look around my kitchen, I see firsthand children who have been restored from hard starts to life. I see children who are curious and know how to follow their passions to discover new learning. I see children who deserve more from school than filling out a worksheet to regurgitate what the teacher said.

All kids deserve these things, and I can't think of a better place to get them than from a teacher.

Here in the kitchen we have conversations. I'd love to hear your voice, your thoughts, about whether you think kids need different things from teachers today. How can we navigate and fill the [new] needs of our students?

Love Not Control

When I was an undergrad, I had a professor who encouraged us to use positive reinforcement for classroom management. He suggested to look for a student who was doing the right thing and say, "I like how Johnny is standing in line," or "I like the way Johnny is sitting quietly," or "Thank you, Johnny, for keeping your hands to yourself."


I piped up (it was before my filter was securely in place like it is most of the time now) and said, "Yeah and then everyone wants to beat up Johnny."

I remember the professor paused and then asked me if I'd "say more about that."

I glanced up from the doodles in the margin of my notebook. I didn't realize I said anything interesting. The professor wasn't mad or offended, rather, he appeared curious.

I went on to explain how there are more important things to do in a day than to control behavior. By using sound instructional practices, building respectful relationships with students, and focusing on purposeful and worthwhile experiences students will be engaged. As engagement and respect increase discipline issues decrease. Then we don't have to manipulate or shame students into behaving.

"You're right," he said.

I adjusted my rose colored glasses. A few months later I stood in my own classroom. Although I made more than my share of mistakes that year, I'm grateful a public penal discipline system wasn't among them.

Although my filter is now secure, my convictions are not any less than they were all those years ago in undergrad. I like to think we've evolved as educators. Sixteen years later I shouldn't be fighting the battle of public discipline systems. (And just because they're on a SmartBoard doesn't make them any better.)

I have four children. Collectively, they have been subjected to 18 public penal discipline systems. They have fallen off of apple trees, moved down stoplights, pulled sticks, flipped cards, dropped stars, and lost maps. They have dealt with collecting cones and avoiding alligators.

I think it is also safe to say in our house we deal with behaviors that are a tad more drastic than other families. This is part of life when you have children who have hard histories without you. The thing is we've never asked our children to chart their choices or pull a stick.

Yet, they've unlearned severe behaviors and have relearned appropriate and courteous behaviors. They've maintained (and even regained) their dignity. We made a choice to help our kids find intrinsic motivation for doing the right thing rather than being manipulated into compliance.

That's not to say there aren't consequences. There are. Just ask any of them. They'll tell you: "All choices have consequences. When you make a pleasant choice, pleasant things come your way. If you don't, then it's not fun."

Controlling behavior wasn't the most important thing we did when we adopted our older children. Loving them was. We didn't want them to behave out of fear or shame. We wanted them to behave because it was worth it, because they made the choice to do the right thing. They learned to behave because they learned we loved them.

They tested our love. You don't need to know the gory details of the tests. Let's just suffice it to say that I know hard behaviors. I also know behavior can be relearned. New habits can form.

Our kids learned to control their own behavior because they were respected and trusted.

They are still learning. (Aren't we all?)

I just wish they were given the dignity in their classrooms that they've been given at home. I can't help to think of all of the kids who aren't given dignity at home. Shouldn't school be a place every child is treated with dignity? This will happen when all teachers trust and respect kids to do the right thing, rather than humiliating them into compliance.

I wish all children were loved more the controlled. This is how we change the world.

CELEBRATE This Week: LIII

I'm glad you are here to celebrate! Share a link to your blog post below and/or use #celebratelu to share celebrations on Twitter.

********

 

Today I get to work alongside Bill Bass, Colby Sharp, and Franki Sibberson as we share our current thinking about teaching readers and writers. I barely slept last night; I'm so excited. 

 

I hope you will join the conversation too! Follow #allwrite14 on Twitter.

For the link-up today, please add your link in the comments.

Teach Writers Like Nate Taught Swimmers

My husband’s and my friend Nate taught three of our four children how to swim. Nate was 20 when I scribbled these lessons in my notebook after our final swim lesson.

Get in the pool. Nate was a competitive swimmer. He knows how to swim well, so he can teach in a richer way. As writing teachers, we need to put words on paper. It gives a deeper insight into how to teach writing well.

Teach one thing. After watching a swimmer he gave one suggestion to make the stroke better — Keep your legs straight, Get your elbows out of the water, OR Put your whole face in the water. He wouldn’t demand all of those things, just the ONE most pressing.

Model. With every bit of verbal instruction, Nate also showed what it looked like. He did this almost every time. He constantly modeled.

Give lots of encouragement. High fives, thumbs up, and verbal encouragement were as much a part of his time as anything else. When someone was nervous or didn’t think they could do something his response was, “Sure you can, watch me. Now let me help you. Just do this one part . . . ” Then after the attempt he celebrated with them until they were going to crack from smiling with pride.

Adjust to different personalities. My oldest daughter is sensitive and wants to please people. Nate’s work with her was quiet, gentle, and non-stop encouragement. My middle daughter is the complete opposite. Nate would yell across the pool to her. He was a little more “in her face” and demanding. She responded better to this kind of interaction. After each accomplishment Nate offered her a high-five and lots of encouragement. My son is four and ornery. Nate, once again, adjusted his teaching. He splashed back, did things to make him laugh, and teased more. The encouragement always continued.

Give everyone else time to practice while you work one on one. Nate took one person to the other end of the pool while everyone else practiced in the shallow end. Although the kids left in the shallow end weren’t always “on task,” they were in the pool and that was what mattered. Nate wanted them to enjoy being in the water.

Smile. Nate smiled a lot. When kids accomplished something, when they refused, when they were nervous, Nate smiled. Nate loved swimming and he loved kids. He couldn’t help but smile. Smiling goes a long way and we should do this more when teaching writing.

Set boundaries. When kids did something they weren’t supposed to, they paid the consequence. He made his explanations clear and the consequences for crossing a boundary were evident. Since he was clear and no one wanted to sit out of the water during practice time, they did what was expected.

Give challenges. Laced with the encouragement was a constant challenge. Since Nate was a swimmer himself, he was able to push each person to become stronger.

Give a small amount of whole group instruction and a lot of time for practice. His instruction with the whole group was a matter of minutes and he watched them all attempt the teaching point. Then he called them together and refined his instruction. He never “instructed” for more than a few minutes at a time. He knows learning happens by doing.

Teach the big things first. From a distance I watched kids attempting the different strokes. Although I know how to swim (I was a life guard throughout college), I don’t have the same kind of training as Nate. I watched an attempt and think “Where do you even begin to teach?” However, Nate could pinpoint one thing that would make a difference. Ignoring everything else, he said, “Good job, now this time would you try ______?” He made his teaching important by focusing on the things that made the biggest difference.

Ignore the mess. Learning something new can be messy. Nate ignored the mess. Instead he focused on encouragement and teaching one thing. As a writing teacher I need to ignore the mess a little more.

End with fun. The end of each session involved jumping off the diving board. For the little kids they jumped into Nate’s arms. Nothing is more fun than boinging off a diving board into the deep and either swimming to the side or being caught by someone special.

Give a reminder at the very end. As they were drying off, he said to each person, “Now what are you going to think about until you come back?” He gave one reminder -- the really big thing he expected of each person.

Celebrate BIG from time to time. At the end of all the lessons, we had a pool party. Nate played in the water with them. Tossed them, tipped them off of floaties, let them hang from his strong arms, showed them back dives, and made waves in the pool until their giggles left them breathless. He also arranged for his mom to make brownies, complete with gummy worms. We sat around a table by the pool and talked, laughed, and joked.

None of us knew, while eating gummy worm brownies, that we would never see Nate again. Although he planned to eat dinner at our house the next day, he never made it. Nate died at the lake while swimming with his friends. His heart quit working. The final lesson I learned from Nate is the one that changed me the most.  

Life is fragile. As writing teachers, our work revolves around stories. What I remember each day is these stories are precious. We don’t know how long we have. Like Nate, I want to make each moment matter. I want to smile and encourage and make others believe their stories matter.

Life is too fragile to spend it any other way. 

********

Find a PDF version of this post here.

*******

To read more about Nate, see these posts.

The original version of this post was published here -- written the day before he died, completely oblivious to what the next 24 hours would hold.
I wrote about it raw here.
I wrote about how he impacts the way I parent here.
I wrote about how he influences me as a writer here.

CELEBRATE This Week: XXXVI

I'm glad you are here to celebrate! Share a link to your blog post below and/or use #celebratelu to share celebrations on Twitter.

*****

There is much to celebrate just coming off of #allwrite14. I'm almost afraid to make a list because I know I'm going to forget something or leave someone out.

One. Check out the #allwrite14 Twitter feed from the All-Write Summer Institute. It is exceptional professional development. Then mark your calendars for June 18-19, 2015 for next year's conference.

Two.   I am overwhelmed by the number of people who invest in me as a writer. Thank you to those who let me talk about my writing process and others who complimented me on my stories and those who told me stories of your own and the ones who let me figure out the important ideas. It takes a whole community for a writer to be sustained.

Three. I liked dinner on Friday night. (I liked dinner on Thursday night too, but I forgot to take a picture!) It is amazing the way story binds friends. I'm grappling with the joy that comes from being around dear friends and they way I miss those who I wish were here.

Four. I get to focus on writing at the Choice Literacy Writing Retreat for contributors. I can't wait to wrangle my writing life in the next few days.

Five. My writing group is so quirky and sneaky (and this makes me love them more). They introduced me for the keynote. It was sweet and touching and made me forgive them instantly for meeting without me!

Six. I loved being in the same room while the #nerdybookclub team (Cindy, Colby, Donalyn, & Katherine) recorded a video. I love the way teams work together and fuel one another's passions.

Share your celebrations below!

CELEBRATE This Week: XXXIII

I'm glad you are here to celebrate! Share a link to your blog post below and/or use #celebratelu to share celebrations on Twitter.

*****

My friend Joe sent me an email and told me he was rereading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Strangely enough, I'm rereading it this week too. Joe asked me to read Chapter 7, "Your Best Life...Later" and then send him some thoughts. I like the way our thinking weaves around one another and gets to new ideas.

*****

I had my year-end evaluation meeting on Friday afternoon. It feels good to know my evaluator notices the ordinary, daily grind kinds of things that make significant impact.She empowers me to chase after my questions and find solutions in unexpected places. She helps me to trust myself and to take risks.

*****

Next week we have a meeting regarding Jay's adoption. It makes us happy to feel like there is movement forward. It has been a long process. I'll look forward to being able to share the story someday.

*****

Speaking of stories, did you see I posted TWICE this week? A special thanks to Christy, who sent me a little email nudge and reminded me that my stories matter.

*****

Are you signed up for All-Write Summer Institute? It's not too late and COLBY SHARP is going to present on Thursday. Pretty please, won't you come to "summer camp" for teachers? Also, I hope it works out for you to join us on Wednesday for the preconference dinner. ANYONE and EVERYONE is welcome! Just sign up here so I make sure there are enough seats in the restaurant!

CELEBRATE This Week: XXXII

I'm glad you are here to celebrate! Share a link to your blog post below and/or use #celebratelu to share celebrations on Twitter.

*****

 

I made a promise to post this week and it was broken. Maybe this week's celebration will explain the failure: Our internet is working again after being out all week!

Sheesh. What is it they say about the best laid plans?

*****

If you are attending the All Write Summer Institute in June, then don't forget to meet up for dinner on Wednesday! Sign up HERE! 

 

*****

 

I'm SO EXCITED about delivering the All-Write 2014 opening keynote, Celebration Saves. I hope it inspires, empowers, and makes you laugh.

CELEBRATE This Week: XXIV

I'm glad you are here to celebrate! Share a link to your blog post below and/or use #celebratelu to share celebrations on Twitter.

*****

Check out a new professional development option: instructional {e}coaching.

My favorite celebrations are the glimmers in the midst of everyday life. The small joys and triumphs that make a big difference. I love to celebrate small as a means to live big. Today, however, I'm sharing a celebration that is a little outside of my ordinary. Today I share a step toward a dream.

Last November at NCTE, Colby Sharp and I ended up sitting together in a session. We started talking and Colby asked, "So you're a coach, right."

I'm not sure how I answered, but I confirmed that, "Yes, I'm an instructional writing coach." I left out the part about being a little disheartened and totally tattered by the whole coaching gig.

Colby said, "I miss my literacy coach." Colby moved from a school with a literacy coach to a school without coaches. I asked a few questions and listened closely. As Colby talked, I remembered the potential of coaches to change lives.

Little did I know it was a conversation that would change me. A few days later, with fingers shaking, I sent Colby a message via Twitter and asked if he'd want to try out my latest crazy idea. I wondered if I could be Colby's virtual writing coach.

His excitement and warm response gave me confidence and we began working together in December. We meet about three times a month via Skype. We keep a reflective journal in Google Drive. I send him attachments for drafting and planning and revising through email. He sends me photos and videos of his writers in action.

Colby has completely restored my faith in instructional coaching. He helped me take ownership in my role as an instructional coach and has made me more effective. He helped me realize that when I'm most effective as a coach, I'm living up to my calling as a Soul-Nourisher.

Franki Sibberson has also played alongside me in this virtual coaching role. With Franki, I helped facilitate a space for reflective practice on Google Drive. Katie DiCesare let me see inside her writing process and her work as a teacher-writer. Katie and Franki helped me remember how much I appreciate the privilege of walking alongside teachers as they work to become the best they can be. I am always humbled when teachers let me tag along for the adventure.

All of this led to a new dream. I really love offering professional development through speaking at conferences and schools, but the real fruits of the work come in an ongoing teacher-coach relationship with the focus on the actual students in the classroom. If we want to change the world by creating bold and confident writers, then our professional development needs to be as close to the classroom as possible.

There are many teachers who would love to have an instructional writing coach, but it isn't a reality in their corner of the world. I'd like to help make it a possibility.

So this week, I celebrate the launch of a new professional development option: instructional {e}coaching. Bring the professional development to you! You don't have to write sub plans and the conversation and work is anchored to your students in your corner of the world.

Find out more at my new instructional {e}coaching site: Discover Play Build. 

Now it's your turn. Link-up your celebrations below!

CELEBRATE This Week XX

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.ruthayreswrites.com" title="Discover. Play. Build."><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhnwqk0roDgr9irdkjZGU8_snh6_pAoHaQIleMhUxlmHafXaG2osQMxA3kG4SwnuvH8FkTC1QBWv3-yKVG6hyphenhyphen6m2tVReLGMTKtDfE88XuUsprfWmAhyphenhyphen3hv2ChyOYeQwpRUr5YhZEZnGg/s200/celebrate-image.jpg" alt="Discover. Play. Build." style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I'm glad you are here to celebrate! For more information, check out the CELEBRATE This Week page. Please use #celebratelu to share.

One.
I'm celebrating sunshine! It's been impossible to miss this week and even though it's cold, the sun is warm and bright and chases away the grey

Two.
I traveled to the WRITE TO LEARN conference this week. Since there wasn't a close airport, I decided to drive instead of fly. A few weeks ago, my friend Heidi volunteered to travel with me so I could make it home for school on Friday. (We arrived home at 2:00 am and I went to school yesterday then crashed last night. This is the reason Celebrate was up late today. Oops!)

Heidi and I had a great time, filling the car with all kinds of conversation and laughter. I was blessed by her friendship. 

Three.
I found this little friend in my mailbox at school from a friend. It's a reminder that life isn't something we travel alone. On the card was written, "I'm glad we are part of the same flock."

It's been a week when I've realized the true blessing of friendship. (Thank you everyone who commented on Sam's book review -- he felt your encouragement!) I'm sure this topic of friendship is going to influence some of my 40 stories.

Four.
There were a great group of teachers in my preconference session at WRITE TO LEARN, and we wrote, talked, and celebrated together. A group of Elsie's friends sat at the front table. Their energy filled the room and was contagious.

Five.
Chris Lehman was also leading a preconference session in a room the floor below me. We were able to squeeze in a few chats over lunch and at the end of the conference. I'm grateful for the professional connections I have and the way conversations naturally happen when you are around people with similar beliefs and convictions. I admire Chris's conviction to keep reading genuine and real -- not contrived and "worksheet-ed."

Looking forward to celebrating together!

Feedback Gives Writers Energy

The story behind the book review.

Sam was given a special assignment to respond to a book of his choice with a project. He decided to write a book review.  I was thankful he was empowered to do something readers do in real life after finishing books. “Where will your book review go?” I asked.

He shrugged. “IDK, Mom. Maybe on the teacher’s desk.” (Sam is obsessed with acronyms. Although quirky, it does add to his charm.)

I said, “You know, I have lots of friends who write reviews. I write reviews too. It’s something readers do when they want to share a book. I often read books because of my friends’ reviews. They’re important to readers.”

 He shrugged and went back to reading his book. A few days later he said, “Do kids have blogs?"

I smiled. Sometimes the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. “What are you thinking?” I asked.

“I thought if I write a book review, maybe I should put it on a blog. Then other people could read it and I could help them. I’ve read a lot of Titanic books and I know just the one to recommend.”

 “A blog is a pretty big commitment for a writer,” I said.

 He added a few more pieces to his Lego creation. “Maybe I should just take over your blog. That’s what Chloe does. Do you think people who read your blog would want to know about a Titanic book?”

“You want to hijack my blog?"

His big smile and wide eyes were a loud Yes!

I loaned him some sticky notes so he could figure out what people would be most interested in knowing about his book. I also made him promise (raised-his-right-hand-and-everything) that he would do his best writing. “My readers don’t want to read junk, and they like punctuation and capital letters!” I told him as seriously as possible.

On a snow day we spent a lot of time reading book reviews on blogs. It gave him a sense of the possibilities as well as helped him hear the sound of a review. As he thought more about the audience – a real audience – he decided he should add some pictures. He knew he wanted to share a Lego Titanic and a picture of the book. After we typed his review, he decided to add a photo of his draft and his sticky notes. “Teachers really like to see drafts, right?” he asked. (I think he just wanted to take another picture.)

The next morning he couldn't wait to see if anyone commented. "It's only been live for 90 minutes!" I said. "You might have to wait until tonight."

On the way to school, he used my phone to check for comments. "Chloe left a comment! Woohoo!" He read Chloe's comment aloud for everyone to hear. "Chloe is the most hysterical pen pal dog in the world!" (I didn't point out that Chloe might be the only pen pal dog in the world.)

His teacher gave him time to share his book review with the class and to talk about writing a blog post. (They are just beginning their own class blog.) "There were lots of comments by reading time, Mom!" he said when I talked to him on the phone on my way home from school.

It was the feedback that added energy to his writing life. Tomorrow he is planning to respond to his "fans" (as he calls anyone who left a comment). 

Getting to watch a young writer from the front lines, affirms to me the importance of feedback. He wants to write more because of the feedback. I'm left wondering how we can provide this experience for an entire classroom of young writers. I'm sure the answer lies in authentic reading and writing experiences and connecting  through social media.

Thank you to all who left a comment and invested in the life of a young writer. You made his day and you touched my heart. Thank you.