How to Increase Student Engagement: Ask LAURA

If you are wondering why your students do not complete assignments, fail to turn them in on time when they do, or simply seem to not care, then you might want to rely upon a simple learning tool I used with my students to increase reading and understanding, use the LAURA approach. 
Look
Ask
Understand
Review
Assess 

When I began teaching, like many others in education I utilized acronyms as a means of shared understanding. I used a variety of LAURA with my remediation kids as a way to help them find meaning in reading. Now it is about finding meaning in our teaching. If you are frustrated as a parent or as a teacher because your students are simply not turning in work then maybe it is time to use LAURA. 

Recently I had lunch with an HS student and other adult family members. Our conversation slowly morphed into why this student and many other students simply do not turn in their work. They are capable of doing the assignments, but they don't complete the tasks that are assigned to them. This particular student said, "the reasons we don't is different for each one of us! The reason I don't sometimes is because I am overwhelmed! I don't have time to do everything I am supposed to do and be a kid too!" In many cases, the reason our kids are not doing as we think they should is because they feel overwhelmed, invisible, and in short that it doesn't really matter. 

What was said resonated with me? I think far too often we overlook that our kids are juggling so many tasks that they are assessing which ball they can let drop that week and suffer the least level of failure. They are their own project managers and we as educators need to help them both manage their time, look at the expectations that they face, and understand that maybe it is too much. 

Vacant Teacher
This brought up another dynamic in the rationale over lack of completion; "Mr. SoandSo assigns our packets at the beginning of the week. We have all week to complete the packet. It is boring!" I asked, "so, he assigns you these packets and you are expected to follow the lessons online, fill in the answers, do vocabulary, etc., and then you turn it in to be graded at the close of the week?" The answer was "yes." I think inquired, "does he lecture you, go over the work, share the instructional material with you?" This student shared that he spends maybe 10 to 15 minutes on what the week's topics are about and then he sits down at his desk and does whatever teachers do. 

What I took away from that was, this particular teacher has come to rely too much on the simplicity that comes with 1 to 1 computer and the expectation of school districts that all of his lessons are available thru blackboard or other learning delivery systems. My frustration with the high level of copying and paper waste came rushing forward! If it is digitally delivered then it should be digitally delivered. I will blog about excess copying in a future blog. In the meantime it seems as though in exchange for online content/lessons the teacher becomes a passive observer. Passivity brings about complacency. True engagement in learning or teaching is not taking place. Unfortunately, far too many educators took the criticism over teacher lead instruction, ie., "lecturing" too far. They threw the baby out with the bathwater. Students will do more when they see their teachers doing more, and engaged with them on a mentor/leader approach. 

Invisible Students 
When students are in middle school they often want to go unseen. They are not sure of their development or where they fit in the bigger picture and although they peer at themselves as often as possible in mirrors, selfies, window reflections, the truth is they don't want anyone else to see them. Then, comes along high school and they want to fit in, be normalized and they begin to discover who they are in the bigger picture. If a student goes through the day and rarely hears their name called, or rarely has a teacher speak to them, engage them into the classroom setting and simply passes out a packet and says "this week's assignments are on the board, and all assignments are due on Friday" this tells the student that it is all on them and they are alone in the bigger scheme of things. If they only become visible when they don't do as they are told, maybe it is a way to no longer be invisible anymore. 

Overwhelmed Students
When teachers engage their students in discussion, projects, true blended learning processes it sends a message to their students, "I am working, you are working, we are in this together! I've got your back! I won't let you leave empty-handed!" That is a huge step towards the Social Emotional Learning process on the secondary level. Additionally, teachers do need to recognize the workload that our kids have before them. Many are taking care of younger siblings, going to work, engaging in sports and the arts, taking dual credits, overcoming obstacles from their formative years, and in short, being adolescent kids. There are ways to keep our kids engaged, teach them a plethora of content, prepare them for high stakes testing and meet the standards without over burdening them with busy work. "Less time, More time!" 

This particular student shared that one of the teachers would assign the week's work on Monday and because she knew that many of her students wouldn't turn in the work she would set "extra credit" based on degrees of early turn in. Each day was worth a value that decreased over time, with full credit (no extra credit) if it was turned in on Friday. Personally, I do not approve of extra credit. I prefer other ways to encourage extrinsically while we move our students to intrinsic motivation. Extra credit is a false understanding of ability and in the case of this student her family's expectation that she get all the extra credit possible made her feel like no matter what she is still not doing good enough. My take away with this teacher's style was, "if the students complete all of their work early on in the week, what do they do the rest of the time?" 

Conclusion 
I believe that we need to evaluate ourselves as educators. It is our responsibility to always remember that we are there for the betterment of our kids as opposed to our kids are there for our careers or personal economic growth. Like our students, we are also pulled in many directions and we are overwhelmed, feel invisible, and assume it doesn't matter if I do or don't. By not applying simple strategies such as LAURA on a regular basis then we are missing out on a great opportunity to fulfill our original passion as teachers and that is to "make an impact on the future!" 
Remember to rely on LAURA.

Look at your students in the eye, show them that they matter, that they are not invisible. Greet them at the door and call them by their names when you take attendance goes a long way. Also, ask them to respond when you say their name. 

Ask your students how they are, what's new, did you have a good weekend, what would you like to do this week. Encourage them to search for project ideas. Now and then, let them guide your teaching. Don't be afraid to ASK!

Understand your students as people, as individuals. Everyone of them has a story and each of their needs and expectations are independent. Should a large part of your students are not doing, or achieving than be ready to look at yourself as the reason. Be bold and unafraid to challenge yourself. 

Review your teaching and your student's level of engagement. Lesson plans are important, but be willing to revise your lesson plans mid-week, and explore new ways to deliver the same content. Your student's success is your success. 

Assess daily! Take that time to reflect over your day. Did you see student engagement? Was there an increase in productivity and a decrease in discipline issues? Encourage your students to also follow the LAURA method. Take the time to model LAURA on both an academic and a personal level. LAURA is a wonderful gateway to Social Emotional Learning in your classroom and when all else fails, just ask Laura. 

Teaching the Whole Child and Social Emotional Learning

It is in playing and only in playing that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self. D. W. Winnicott 

What is it to Teach the Whole Child, and how does that equate with Social Emotional Learning? 

Teaching the Whole Child is about embracing every aspect of, not only what it is to be a child, but a fierce advocate in your own classroom and schools of the individual child. This does not just begin in Pre-K, but it extends on to the 19 year old student ready to graduate or face dropping out. 

Social Emotional Learning is putting into place those key ingredients so as to help form not only the Whole Child, but to prepare each child for developing the tools necessary to be kind, caring, altruistic, self-supporting, self-loving, giving, and at times their own fierce advocate. 

Long before the contemporary terms Whole Child, Play-based Learning and Social Emotional Learning were being used, we were doing "play" as a regular process in our schools. I remember going off to kindergarten and the classroom was set up with a play kitchen and a grocery store. The focus was on how to work together, how to take turns, how to care for toys, how to open up our own milk carton, how to lay quietly so as not to disturb the others in the room, and yes take a nap. We were learning how to function in a our own mini-society. I can smell the paste, crayons, and Mrs. Smith's perfume. I recall what it felt like to learn how to trust another woman (person) other than my mother as she created a place of mutual love, support, trust, and caring among children who were not my brothers and sisters. All of that was me becoming independent from my familial unit. Play allowed me to grow as an independent person and trust a bigger world. (I am still friends with some of those children I met in kindergarten.) 

Teaching the Whole Child - Defined 

TWC is a sensory experience; all of the child’s senses are accessed in order to create a meaningful learning experience

TWC challenges a child academically

TWC engages a child and elevates them to a new understanding of themselves and the world in which they live

TWC provides a safe, secure, healthy, relational reality.

TWC guarantees that a child is prepared as a 21st century learner

Simple ways you can embrace the Whole Child into your learning environments and infuse Social Emotional Learning: 
Don't be afraid to read your students stories to get them thinking. Children's literature is a profound way to get your kids thinking, feeling and responding. Patricia Polacco is a provocative story teller, who gets to the heart of the matter. Imagine being the next TED presenter in your own classrooms or schools. 

Take your students off campus and have an organized, intentional, purpose-filled lesson planned. Don't just go to a park to play, but go to a park with a lesson on civic responsibility in mind and clean up the park. Help them experience the world around them and other than the cost of the school bus it is a free field trip, filled with amazing lessons. 

Invite professionals into the classroom to not only talk about what they do, but how they help other people, give to others and integrate literature, music and art into the lesson. 

Infuse STEM into your lesson planning. STEM integration leads a child into understanding the interconnectedness of the world and themselves. So, if science is the study of nature and mathematics is the universal language used to explain nature, than play is the universal exploration of the unknown that leads to scientific understanding and ultimate explanation. 

Play as the continuous evidence of creativity...play as both a child's language about interpreting the world, cut them off from play and the child is lost in an unintelligible environment. D.W. Winnicott

The picture at the top of this blog is me at the ripe ole age of 5. You can see the joy that is expressed in the faces of my cousin Scotty age 4, brother Ricky age 3 and myself. We were all about play and creating our own world. This is one of my favorite pictures because it reminds me of the wonderful childhood I had and how filled with wonder and experience that we had. It is why I am an educator, because every child deserves the right to freely experience great joy and discover the self!

In closing Teaching the Whole Child and Social Emotional Learning is all wrapped up in a beautiful Play-filled bow! 

Edmentum Educator Summit Recap - GROW

"Innovated to something greater!" and " We don't want to be left out of learning" are two things that resonated with me profoundly. Those words were spoken from the heart of Ja'Davion a High School Junior and a participant in the round table discussion that took place on June 14th, 2019 at the Edmentum Educator Summit, held at the Edmentum headquarters in Richardson Texas.

Ja'Davion like many of the educators who were included in the world of Edmentors was asking, "why can't we do better?" If you are an educator at some point you have used the phrase, "I was called." You see, being an educator, a shaper of lives, a giver of knowledge, you must be called, as it is not a profession for the weak, or apathetic.

For two solid days, my peers and I were given the royal treatment by an organization that leads by example, walks the walk, and talks the talk! (please pardon my cliches) #EducatorsFirst.

But wait, why not children first, or students first? After spending time with Edmentum superstars, Winnie, Dave, Christy and the Dallas team, I can tell you why; they get it! Like the flight attendant on an airplane will tell you, "if this plane loses pressure, place the oxygen mask on yourself before giving it to the child sitting next to you!" WOW, absolutely! On the way home from Dallas I had a boy about 11 sitting next to me and traveling alone. The attendant said, "remember, place the mask over your nose and mouth before offering it to..." At first I had a horrible pang of guilt, and then I remembered why the stronger of the two individuals must have the ability to save others.

Edmentum had the oxygen flowing, (along with incredible food!) and was filling us up with a renewed sense of purpose, belonging and importance. I had forgotten how important it is to engage in "self-care." The Educator's Summit was a spa, Ah, Ah Ha moment for me. I grew over those two glorious days.  As I sat in amazement watching outstanding leaders from neighboring states laugh, smile, joke, cheer each other on, support, high five, and "shake hands" (don't look too long or squeeze too hard!) I sat back and said, "yes, I do belong, these people are my tribe!"

We were encouraged to reflect, plot, plan, set goals, and in the end, put #educatorsfirst with the support of truly committed professionals. Page six of the Educator Summit handbook "Making the Most of Your Summit Experience" is wildly important because I keep going back over it and reminding myself to breathe deep into the survival mask and "innovate to something greater!"

As I was pondering the profound work that Principal Dr. Zach Bost and Principal Kristopher Byam are doing to transform their school communities I wrote a note and pasted it to my handbook "GROW - Gaining Rich Opportunities Within." I realized that it is not just about me and the experience, but what I know and dream of bringing to whatever learning community  I am called to lead.

To answer a couple of the questions that were included on page six: Why am I Here? WOW, we often ask ourselves that question from a literal to a metaphysical perspective. The questions: What is my purpose? "My purpose is to connect, discover, grow in understanding and emerge renewed. Learning from others is meaningful, and purposeful, and seeing things grow is what moves me." What are my strengths? Knowing your strengths and standing upon them makes all the difference. "I know curriculum and instruction and how to connect the dots. I am a life-long learner who looks back at the end of every day to see what I learned, did or experienced that was new.  I dig deep. I am a trouble-shooter and look for "gotcha's" before moving forward. I love improving systems and people. I am a project specialist. I am good at growing things. I am an elevator and a servant." How do I want to Grow Professionally? "I want to impact the lives of as many individuals as I can. I am working methodically on my garden. I have been toiling away at it for a few years now, systematically arranging perennials, interspersed with annuals for the sole purpose of moving to a point of minimal effort and greater enjoyment as I see all of my babies grow to fruition. I have been toiling away in my educator's garden for more years than I can count as a first teacher to my amazing adult daughters, then as a professional educator. Like my perennials, I know what is an immediate aha, and what is a perennial that I will draw upon in years to come.  How can I change my perspective? (have you ever noticed they always save the hardest question at the end?) I need to emerge from my place of fear and stand boldly upon the answers to the preceding questions and GROW - Gaining, Rich, Opportunities, Within!

Remember - Less Time, More Time, ponder that one. Oh and it is okay...#EducatorsFirst 

More Misplaced Investments and Why the Government Needs To Ask the Professionals!

Two government agencies are working to lower the cost of wi-fi so that lower income schools can have internet access for their students. While this sounds noble, they are missing out on some key features and misplacing investment $$.

For one thing, there is absolutely no reason that any public school should have to pay for wi-fi if they have more than a 75% free and reduced lunch situation. Title I money needs to be allotted for that. Simply put, there are enough billionaires in this country who made their billions off of telecommunication and pay no taxes to warrant that form of investment. Furthermore, while Michelle Obama and her husband are focused on costing school districts far more than ever before in food service in order to curb fat, sodium and sugar, they are overlooking the sad reality that far too many of our children, especially our free and reduced children go without any 21st century skill training once they leave school. Cell phones does not warrant 21st century skill development!

Secondly, as we increase up blended learning, (for those who do not know what that is, it is combining online education with traditional teacher to student instruction) we are leaving more and more children behind as they do not have internet at home. They do not have access to a Chromebook or a PC. Every home that has a school-aged child should have at their disposal a PC or at the very least a Chromebook. Smart phones does not constitute a true 21st skill development modem. You would be amazed at the limitations educators have in assigning skill development exercises, report writing, in short homework that involves the digital age. Why? Because far too many children do not have internet at their disposal. Far too many children do not have working computers at their disposal. While we can provide after school access to computers that merely imposes more financial impact on the school district as well as limits a healthy home/school link.

I believe it is necessary to prioritize our investment dollars. Wi-Fi, should be available for all public schools free of charge, or at least free of charge for our Free and Reduced population. There is absolutely no economic reason that it is not. Then, the money that is being put out for wi-fi, needs to be placed into the homes of our children who need to have extended learning time. Textbooks which are quickly becoming antiquated need to be replaced with digital formats and the billions of dollars spent every year on traditional textbooks need to go to the cupboard once and for all! The textbook rental money should go into purchasing affordable Chromebooks. At an approximate cost of $250 each, it is a long term investment that cannot be overlooked.

I call upon President Obama to do with "Learning Devices" ie, PC's, Chromebooks, what he did with "Obama" phones. Does anyone realize the 21st century skills that can be taught with providing Chromebooks for example? Does anyone realize that with wi-fi and a Chromebook a person does not need a phone as they are able to call from their Chromebooks? Or what a person can do with Skype and a PC? Now that is teaching real 21st skills to our students.

Sadly, I continue to see more and more students falling behind in skills that the adult workforce assumes they have because they are so "tech" savy with Facebook, social networking, all because of smart phones. The truth is, smart phones have dummified our kids. Far too many do not know how to properly utilize email, they cannot attach documents. They have succumb to saving passwords on desk tops or googling rather than typing in url's. They do not understand code, or how computers work. The list goes on and on regarding the necessary skills to go on to post-secondary education. Our kids need access to in-home technology in order to further development true 21st century skills and to do today's homework.

Read the article here.

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