In This Issue:

1. Eleven leadership lessons from Abraham Lincoln

2. Are you a curious person? If so, in what ways are you curious?

3. Common problems with discipline consequences

4. Leveling the playing field for introverted students

5. Getting students writing across the curriculum

6. Solving some glitches with student-led discussions

7. The state of state mathematics standards

 

Quotes of the Week

“The prevailing model of schooling is still centered around the notion that schools are places young people go to watch their teacher work.”

            John Fischetti in “Reframing Teacher Education for Learning Equity” in Peabody

            Journal of Education, September 2018 (Vol. 93, #3, p. 267-271), https://bit.ly/2N4gB7a

 

“I send them out of the room and nothing happens!” A teacher when a student is returned to her classroom after a trip to the office. “I helped get an out-of-control kid back in control, and the teacher isn’t satisfied!” The principal who responded to the teacher’s call.

            Mike Anderson channeling these educators (see item #3)

 

“I will not do anything bad ever again.”

            Bart Simpson writing lines on the board in Mrs. Krabappel’s classroom after yet 

another infraction, quoted in “The Power of Common Language” by Vanessa Scanfeld, 

            LaShonda David, Leah Weintraub, and Vincent Dotoli in Educational Leadership,

            September 2018 (Vol. 76, #1, p. 54-58), https://bit.ly/2MG3dpJ

 

“If you simply put kids into groups with no training, a minority of members will likely do the majority of the talking.”

            Deborah Farmer Kris (see item #4)

 

“When students write, they have opportunities to articulate, revise, and strengthen their ideas, as well as to present and communicate their thinking.”

            Rick Coppola and Becca Woodard (see item #5)

 

“Possessed of a powerful emotional intelligence, Lincoln was both merciful and merciless, confident and humble, patient and persistent – able to mediate among factions and sustain the spirits of his countrymen.”

            Doris Kearns Goodwin (see item #1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Eleven Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln

            In this Harvard Business Reviewarticle (excerpted from a new book, Leadership in Turbulent Times, Simon and Schuster), historian Doris Kearns Goodwin analyzes Abraham Lincoln’s decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Here are the precepts she draws from Lincoln’s fateful decision – broadly applicable to leaders in other venues:

            •Acknowledge when failed policies demand a change in direction. In mid-1862, Union forces had suffered serious setbacks, and Lincoln was convinced that keeping the nation together required a dramatic change in strategy. Freeing 3.5 million enslaved Americans in the southern states was such a move, reflecting both military strategy and Lincoln’s belief that “slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy.” 

            •Anticipate contending viewpoints. Before presenting a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet in July 1862, Lincoln thought he knew what the reactions would be – his “team of rivals” advisors represented the full spectrum of opinions. Nonetheless, there were several surprises, including cabinet members who remained silent.

            •Know when to hold back and when to move forward. One cabinet member argued that Lincoln should wait “until the eagle of victory takes its flight” and then “hang your proclamation around its neck.” Lincoln hadn’t anticipated that argument, agreed, and put the Proclamation on hold. When the tide turned in the Union’s favor at Antietam in September, Lincoln convened the cabinet to discuss the issue once again.

            •Set an example. “How was it possible to coordinate these inordinately prideful, ambitious, quarrelsome, jealous, supremely gifted men to support a fundamental shift in the purpose of the war?” asks Goodwin. “The best answer can be found in Lincoln’s compassion, self-awareness, and humility. He never allowed his ambition to consume his kindheartedness.” 

            •Understand the emotional needs of the team. Lincoln was especially careful to nurture close relationships with his secretaries of state and war, dropping in on them for dinners and evening chats. Careful to avoid the appearance of favoritism, he made a point of spending private time with other cabinet members, praising the work they did (“Everyone likes a compliment,” he observed), writing notes, and at one point putting his arms on one secretary’s shoulders while patiently explaining a decision that had gone against him. 

            •Refuse to let past resentments fester. The most dramatic example of this was with the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, who had insulted Lincoln early in his legal career and had a personality that clashed with Lincoln’s. The president put aside his pique and appointed Stanton to a key position, and over time, Stanton came to revere, even love, Lincoln.

            •Control angry impulses. When Lincoln was furious at someone, he would write what he called a “hot” letter containing all his rage. He would then put the letter aside and return to it when he had calmed down. Twentieth-century historians going through his papers found scores of these letters with the notation, “never sent and never signed.” He counseled others to use the same approach, and was forgiving when others vented at him, realizing that they hadn’t learned this technique.

            •Protect colleagues from blame. Lincoln took full responsibility, even when cabinet members were attacked for mistakes they’d made. His generous support of his colleagues paved the way for their support of the Emancipation Proclamation, even though several had major misgivings. “When it counted most,” says Goodwin, “they presented a united front.”

            •Keep promises. Between the release of the Proclamation on September 22,1862 and January 1, 1863, when it was to take effect, there was a major Union setback at Fredericksburg and the Republicans lost many seats in the mid-term elections. Fears were raised that the Proclamation would foment race wars in the South, cause Union officers to resign their commands, and prompt 100,000 Union soldiers to lay down their arms. The abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass knew Lincoln better, saying, “if he has taught us to confide in nothing else, he has taught us to confide in his word.”

            •Gauge sentiment. Following the Proclamation, there were rumors of desertions from the Union ranks and discontent in the Border states. Some soldiers said they had signed up to save the Union, not to free the slaves. But Lincoln had an accurate sense of public sentiment, and soon emancipation and preserving the Union were seen as inseparably linked.

            •Establish trust. “The response of the troops,” says Goodwin, “was grounded in the deep trust and loyalty Lincoln had earned among rank-and-file soldiers from the very beginning of the war. In letters they wrote home, accounts of his empathy, responsibility, kindness, accessibility, and fatherly compassion for his extended family were commonplace.” 

 

“Lincoln and the Art of Transformative Leadership” by Doris Kearns Goodwin in Harvard Business Review, September-October 2018 (Vol. 96, #5, p. 126-134), https://bit.ly/2MMB9QC; see Memo 366 for a summary of a book by a different author on Lincoln, listing other leadership qualities. 

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2. Are You a Curious Person? If So, in What Ways Are You Curious?

            In this Harvard Business Reviewarticle, Todd Kashdan, David Disabato, and Fallon Goodman (George Mason University) and Carl Naughton say that curiosity is an important trait for work and life success. Psychologists have found that curiosity enhances intelligence, increases perseverance, and propels people toward deeper engagement, superior performance, and setting more-meaningful goals. 

But it turns out that curiosity is not a single trait. Kashdan, Disabato, Goodman, and Naughton synthesized decades of research into five dimensions: social curiosity, joyous exploration, thrill seeking, deprivation sensitivity, and stress tolerance. They also created the curiosity self-assessment included below. People score themselves on each line from 1 (doesn’t describe me at all) to 7 (completely describes me); the last dimension is reverse-scored.

Social Curiosity– talking to, listening to, and observing others to learn what they’re thinking:

-  I like to learn about the habits of others.

-  I like finding out why people behave the way they do.

-  When other people are having a conversation, I like to find out what it’s about.

-  When around other people, I like listening to their conversations.

-  When people quarrel, I like to know what’s going on.

Joyous Exploration– being consumed with wonder about the intriguing features of the world:

-  I view challenging situations as an opportunity to grow and learn.

-  I am always looking for experiences that challenge how I think about myself and the world.

-  I seek out situations where it is likely that I’ll have to think in depth about something.

-  I enjoy learning about subjects that are unfamiliar to me.

-  I find it fascinating to learn new information.

Thrill Seeking– being willing to take risks to acquire varied, complex, intense experiences:

-  The anxiety of doing something new makes me feel excited and alive.

-  Risk taking is exciting to me.

-  When I have free time, I want to do things that are a little scary.

-  Creating an adventure as I go is much more appealing than a planned adventure.

-  I prefer friends who are excitingly unpredictable.

Deprivation Sensitivity– recognizing gaps in knowledge and wanting to reduce them:

-  Thinking about solutions to difficult conceptual problems can keep me awake at night.

-  I can spend hours on a single problem because I just can’t rest without knowing the answer.

-  I feel frustrated if I can’t figure out the solution to a problem, so I work even harder to solve it.

-  I work relentlessly at problems that I feel must be solved.

-  It frustrates me to not have all the information I need.

Stress Tolerance– a willingness to accept and harness the anxiety associated with novelty:

-  The smallest doubt can stop me from seeking out new experiences.

-  I cannot handle the stress that comes from entering uncertain situations.

-  I find it hard to explore new places when I lack confidence in my abilities.

-  I cannot function well if I am unsure whether a new experience is safe.

-  It is difficult to concentrate when there is a possibility that I will be taken by surprise.

Administering this assessment internationally, Kashdan, Disabato, Goodman, and Naughton have found that two dimensions are most strongly associated with work success:

-  Social curiosity (high scores) – Those who score high on this dimension are better at resolving conflicts; they receive social support and build connections, trust, and commitment on their teams.

-  Stress tolerance (low scores) – “Without the ability to tolerate stress,” say the authors, “employees are less likely to seek challenges and resources and to voice dissent and are more likely to feel enervated and to disengage.”

The dimension that has the weakest association with work success is thrill seeking.

In a separate article in Psychology Today(January 2018), Kashdan uses scores on this self-assessment to sort people into four categories:

-  The fascinated – high on all dimensions of curiosity, especially Joyous Exploration;

-  Problem solvers – high on Deprivation Sensitivity, medium on the other dimensions;

-  Empathizers – high on Social Curiosity, medium on the others;

-  Avoiders – low on all dimensions, particularly Stress Tolerance.

 

“The Five Dimensions of Curiosity” by Todd Kashdan, David Disabato, Fallon Goodman, and Carl Naughton in Harvard Business Review, September-October 2018 (Vol. 96, #5, p. 58-60), 

https://hbr.org/2018/09/curiosity(scroll down); Kashdan is at [email protected].

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3. Common Problems with Discipline Consequences 

(Originally titled “Getting Consistent with Consequences”)

            “Few topics cause as much angst in schools as consequences for problematic behavior,” says teacher/author/consultant Mike Anderson in this Educational Leadershiparticle. Anderson believes these are the reasons:

            •“Consequences” having different meanings. There are three types: (a) natural consequences – a student doesn’t wear a coat outside for recess and gets cold; (b) logical consequences – a student is getting silly working with a friend and is asked to work alone (ideally, logical consequences are related to the behavior, respectful of the student, reasonable, and not a surprise because the policy was clear in advance); and (c) punishments – a student is playing with base-10 blocks instead of solving math problems and is told by the teacher to move her clip down on the behavior chart (punishments are often harsh, involve shaming students, and do not have a good track record for improving behavior). Anderson believes natural and logical consequences are far more effective than punishments, and suggests that educators generate a list of unwise choices students make and think through what kinds of consequences are most effective, while working to avoid the use of punishments.

            •Differing belief systems– A teacher sends a misbehaving student to the office and the student is returned a while later, calm and smiling. The teacher, who wanted the student to be punished and shamed, feels unsupported: “I send them out of the room and nothing happens!” The principal, seeing her job as calming the student down so he can reengage with learning, feels unappreciated: “I helped get an out-of-control kid back in control, and the teacher isn’t satisfied!”

            Anderson says school staffs need to agree on a few shared positive beliefs about children and discipline – for example, All students need caring adults in their lives. All students want to be a positive member of a community. All kids want to do well. Staff members might privately brainstorm their own list of positive values, then talk in pairs and come to consensus, then repeat the process in groups of four, again in larger groups, until the whole staff has a common set of shared positive beliefs. When discipline problems arise, they could always ask, “Are we acting in ways that are consistent with our positive beliefs?”

            •Wanting consequences to “work” but being unclear about what that means– Stopping misbehavior in the moment? Getting students back on track? Teaching students a lesson (if you drop your pretzels on the floor, you have to clean up the mess)? Teaching students missing skills (like how to calm oneself after a meltdown)? Anderson suggests that educators create and post a list of consequences that help manage student behavior in the moment (like having a student who is running in the hall go back and walk) and interventions that teach positive behavior and support long-term skill growth (like collaboratively creating rules and norms). 

            •Missing the sweet spot– Adults who don’t set clear limits make students feel unsafe, inviting some to push the limits. But overly harsh, punitive adults spark fear, resentment, and acting out. “Both permissive and punishment-heavy cultures put students, especially those already on the edge, in a place where it’s almost impossible for them to learn well,” says Anderson. He suggests that faculties brainstorm scenarios that feel permissive and those that feel too harsh and work to define the Goldilocks level where students “aren’t necessarily happy when they experience consequences, but they aren’t devastated.”

            •Losing control– There are plenty of times when educators experience frustration, anger, fear, even want revenge. But the last thing students need is adults blowing their tops, especially kids who have experienced trauma outside school. “Our students need us to be strong enough to react with reason, not emotion,” says Anderson. “They need to see what it looks like when mature adults respond to frustration in calm, respectful ways. And they need to be treated with dignity and respect, especially when they’re in a crisis.” Role-playing discipline scenarios is helpful; so is compiling a personal list of self-calming strategies.

            •Not seeing the big picture– “Without relationships, everything else falls apart,” says Anderson. Relationships should be at the center of discipline, with all other strategies seen as tangents. Rather than asking, “What’s the consequence that will fix this problem?” better to ask, “Is there a consequence that might be part of how we help this student?” This approach is especially important for the most vulnerable students; students with the most chaos and trauma in their lives – those who make us angriest – are the least likely to benefit from harsh punishments. Anderson suggests making a visual map with relationships at the center and other strategies and consequences radiating outward. 

 

“Getting Consistent with Consequences” by Mike Anderson in Educational Leadership, September 2018 (Vol. 76, #1, p. 26-33), https://bit.ly/2O4Wqmb; Anderson can be reached at [email protected].

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4. Leveling the Playing Field for Introverted Students

            In this Mindshiftarticle, Deborah Farmer Kris says many introverts don’t realize that temperament is rooted in genetics, with differences emerging in infancy and early childhood. Schools tend to be highly stimulating environments that favor extroverts, and quieter children frequently hear injunctions like “Just speak up” and “Come out of your shell.” All this gives introverts a sense that there’s something wrong with them, and they can feel “overlooked, undervalued, and overstimulated,” says Heidi Kasevich, director of education for Quiet Revolution, which grew out of Susan Cain’s best-selling book about introverts. 

            What can teachers do to give introverted students a fair shake? Kris suggests administering a survey at the beginning of the school year to identify who those students are and then structuring classes to allow all students to excel. Specifically:

            •Make space for quiet reflection. Teachers can take stock of the amount of time they give to active discourse versus silent reflection and individual work. If the balance is more toward the former, teachers might build in:

-  Opportunities for one-to-one conversations like think-pair-share;

-  Asking students to respond to questions by jotting ideas on a sticky note before speaking;

-  Using “one-minute papers” mid-class for students to reflect on what they’re learning – posing questions like, What’s challenging me? Why is this relevant? How can I connect this to something else I’m learning?

-  Counting to ten before calling on students; this ups the complexity of responses from all students and is especially helpful to introverts.

-  Asking for purposeful silence as students consider an image, a painting, or a passage from a book.

All this helps because introverted students do better conversing in small groups, thinking before sharing aloud, weighing options before making decisions, assessing risk before acting, and recharging in a quiet, calm environment.

            • Consider the physical environment. “Think about providing niches for quiet reading or mind-wandering,” suggests Kris. “Explore inclusive lunchroom and playground options, such as a coloring table or open library time.” 

            • Provide context and previews. Abrupt demands and unexpected challenges can be jarring to introverted students, so teachers might consider ways of giving them a longer runway:

-  In elementary classrooms, a posted daily schedule;

-  In secondary classrooms, a display of the sequence of curriculum units for the year;

-  An essential question on the board as class starts;

-  An agenda before a meeting;

-  A thorough preview of a unit, project, or assessment.

• Be sensitive to language.Feedback to students or their parents can convey negative judgments about introverted students – for example, “He needs to speak up more in class discussions.” This comment might be reframed to emphasize strengths: “He is an insightful student who thinks deeply and thoughtfully before responding.” 

            • Stretch the comfort zone. The trick is tying actions the student wants or needs to take to the student’s passions and interests – for example, an introverted high-school student who is interested in sustainability might be encouraged to become a club officer or give a speech. “Keep your mission in mind,” the teacher might say to the student prior to the speech. “Go to the auditorium beforehand to practice, and remember a time when you spoke with confidence and conviction.”

            • Build in inclusive group work. “If you simply put kids into groups with no training, a minority of members will likely do the majority of the talking,” says Kris. “Train students in techniques such as brainwriting and design thinking. Establish group norms for inclusive conversation and stick to them.”

 

“Six Strategies to Help Introverts Thrive at School and Feel Understood” by Deborah Farmer Kris inMindshift, August 12, 2018, https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/51811/six-strategies-to-help-introverts-thrive-at-school-and-feel-understood

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5. Getting Students Writing Across the Disciplines

(Originally titled “Three Rules for Writing-Rich Disciplinary Classrooms”)

            In this Education Updatearticle, Rick Coppola (a Chicago Public Schools teacher) and Becca Woodard (University of Illinois/Chicago) say that writing is an essential life skill, but it is often “locked out” of the curriculum because it’s time-consuming for students to produce and for teachers to grade. That’s a shame, say Coppola and Woodard, because “When students write, they have opportunities to articulate, revise, and strengthen their ideas, as well as to present and communicate their thinking.” Here are their suggestions for getting more student writing across subject areas:

            •A broader audience – Most writing in school is for the teacher, which often means authentic purpose takes a back seat to getting a good grade. Better to extend the audience  to peers, families, the school, and online communities. 

• Informal writing– Coppola and Woodard recommend exploratory writing – regular, daily writing tasks that students share with peers to investigate a problem, raise questions, work out meaning, or engage in reflection. These written explorations naturally draw on prior knowledge and cultivate investment in curriculum goals. 

            •Ambitious topics– Coppola and Woodard encourage cross-disciplinary themes for writing – cause and effect, patterns, change, structures, systems. A possible topic in mathematics, What patterns exist in your everyday life and how do they help you make sense of your world?In science, Why should we recognize universal patterns that exist in the natural world?

            •More time in the sausage factory– Most authors admit that their first drafts aren’t very good; it takes lots of revision and editing to produce something decent. “And yet, in schools, we often expect students to produce quickly written presentational writing,” say Coppola and Woodard. “They get one shot to showcase their understanding, often without opportunities to talk with others, receive feedback, or revise their ideas.” Students need sustained blocks of time, as well as working in writing groups with classmates, to do the thinking and get the appreciation and feedback they need to write well. It’s also important that some of the feedback is not graded and is focused on ideas and content, not grammar and spelling. 

            •Leveraging digital spaces and tools– Coppola and Woodard have found that digital platforms are very helpful for managing and keeping track of students’ writing. Google Docs is good for long-term writing and collaborative projects because, among other things, it keeps track of each version. Blogger is helpful for showcasing and sharing presentational writing for wider audiences. Working in digital environments also encourages students to compose multimodally – considering “how words, images, and sounds work together to create and shape meaning.”

            In a sidebar, the authors share examples of disciplinary goals, practices, and writing in several subject areas. Here are the items for science:

-  A goal: Investigate and explain the natural world through developing and advancing scientific theories.

-  Valued disciplinary practices: Asking questions; defining problems; conducting investigations.

-  Characteristics of writing in this discipline: Communicates what and why something was done, what was found out, and the meaning behind it.

 

“Three Rules for Writing-Rich Disciplinary Classrooms” by Rick Coppola and Becca Woodard in Education Update, June 2018 (Vol. 60, #6, p. 2-3, 6-7), https://bit.ly/2Ql259i(available for purchase for non-ASCD members)

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6. Solving Some Glitches with Student-Led Discussions

            In this article in Edutopia, New Jersey curriculum supervisor Mark Wise says the goal in Socratic seminars, Harkness classes, and fishbowl discussions is getting students to sustain academic discourse independent of the teacher. “While they have many benefits,” says Wise, “student-led discussions often create unintended consequences that inhibit their effectiveness.” Here is his analysis of problems and his suggestions for improving the quality and long-range impact of these discussions:

            • Uneven student engagement– Some students are more intellectually engaged and speak more than others, especially in groups of 10-15 students. Break students into smaller groups, suggests Wise, “increasing the intellectual ‘surface area’ and the expectation and accountability for active engagement for each individual.” 

            • Assessment challenges– If grading is based on frequency of student comments and specific references to the text, the teacher will be furiously taking notes to keep track. “These grading criteria also tend to inhibit the natural flow of conversation,” says Wise, “resulting in a series of independent comments rather than dialogue, as students vie for a particular grade.” One solution: redefine the criteria for success, perhaps gathering evidence of preparation and conducting a post-discussion reflection, with a premium on responsive listening, thoughtful contributions, and reflection.

            • An uneven playing field– Most students haven’t been taught how to engage in an academic discussion, which gives an unfair advantage to students who have that skill. The solution is explicitly teaching the skills of being an active listener, a thoughtful contributor, and a skillful synthesizer.

            • Failure to transfer– Wise has found that the student-led dynamic often doesn’t get carried over to everyday classroom discussions. “When students aren’t organized into these formalized groups,” he says, “they often automatically fall back into filtering their questions and comments through the teacher, and the teacher may resume the role of primary facilitator, with the verbally confident students dominating the conversation.” The solution: explicitly teaching students how to transfer skills to different contexts, which involves constantly prompting students to apply the skills and the language they use in student-led discussions in regular class discourse. Specifically, bouncing ideas off their peers’ comments, paraphrasing and extending the conversation, and sharpening and deepening points that come up – all without the teacher’s intervention.

 

“Improving Student-Led Discussions” by Mark Wise in Edutopia, April 24, 2018, 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/improving-student-led-discussions

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7. The State of State Mathematics Standards

            In this Education Gadflyarticle, David Griffith reports on the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s latest assessment of U.S. state math standards. “In general,” he says, “the states with the strongest math standards are the ones that have built on the Common Core, modified it in minor ways, or independently drafted separate standards that mirror its pacing and organization.” Fordham’s expert reviewers pointed to four major improvements from the previous generation of standards: 

            • A stronger focus on arithmetic in grades K-5– Most states begin with a clear focus on counting, whole numbers, and place value and expect that by the end of third or fourth grade, students will know their single-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts, the standard algorithms for these operations, and fractions and decimals. Building on this foundation are standards on geometry, representation of data, and algebraic reasoning.

            • A more-coherent treatment of proportionality and linearity – Most states have tied together the study of fractions, rates, ratios, proportional relationships, slope, and linear equations, providing an on-ramp to algebra and advanced mathematics.

            • An appropriate balance between procedural fluency, conceptual understanding, and application –The previous debate about which of these was most important has given way to a conviction that students need to be able to compute fluently, understand what they’re doing, and apply knowledge and skills to novel problems. All three are equally important and must be knitted together in classrooms.

            • Better organization and teacher supports– Key themes and concepts for each grade level are laid out in most state standards, along with vertical articulation and a conceptual map of how standards connect from grade to grade. “In addition to content standards,” says Griffith, “most states have also adopted practice or process standards, reflecting the broad consensus among math experts that there are certain ‘mathematical habits of mind’ that educators at all levels should seek to develop in students.” And most states’ math standards documents include a helpful glossary.

 

“Four Ways State Math Standards Have Improved” by David Griffith in The Education Gadfly, September 5, 2018 (Vol. 18, #35), https://bit.ly/2oUeuEv

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