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Would you be interested in
becoming a Featured Writer for the StarTeaching website?
Our Newsletter
is now posting a opening for a creative educator interested in
designing a set of weekly problem solving activities for
students and teachers to use.
Email your resume and letter of
interest to: editor@starteaching.com |
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Improving
Student Achievement:
The Magical Ingredient - Parental Involvement
By
Donald Killingbeck
Inland Lakes High School
;
Indian River, MI
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The secondary school parent is a vast untapped
resource to improve student achievement. Research has documented a
positive relationship between achievement and high parental
expectations (Desimone, 1999). Desimone in 1999 noted parent
involvement is popular as a point of intervention largely because
it is easier to manipulate than other sources of inequality, more
importantly than ease is that parent-school involvement can
increase student achievement particular grades across all
demographics.
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Barriers
to Parental Involvement
Despite the obvious
benefit to parental involvement there are a number of barriers. The
specialization/difficulty of the curriculum at the secondary level
(Simon, 2001), child-parent relationship shift, parent-teacher
communication/poor school-family relationship (Simon, 2001). Strom,
Strom, Collinsworth, & Strom in 1998 noted that Benson in 1997
stated, A review of 250,000 student survey responses from students
between grades 6 and 12 indicate that parent involvement declines
dramatically in conversations about homework, interaction about what
takes place at school, assistance on assignments, and attending school
meetings, family conferences, or other events. When high schools attempt
to increase parental involvement, parents respond with increased
involvement, regardless of family background or school context (Simon,
2001).
Educators
Response: An Invitation
Educators
need to be proactive! They need to invite parents into the school
equation and remove barriers to the family-school relationship (Ziegler,
2000). At the secondary level that may have a different appearance than
at the elementary level as fewer parents participate in the more
traditional sense of volunteering at the secondary level i.e. as
teachers’ aides, cafeteria monitors, and field trip chaperones (Simon,
2001). Despite the different type of involvement school-level
volunteering was a significant predictor for student achievement
(Desimone, 1999).
The lines
between home and school roles have been increasingly blurred (Strom,
Strom, Collinsworth, & Strom, 1998) and that is unlikely to change.
Classroom educators are asked more in more to assume the role of the
parent. In the end, the
perception that matters is that of the student. Desimone in 1999 stated
that student perception of involvement mattered more for achievement
than did parent perceptions. When
parents support teenagers as learners, they are more likely to succeed
in school (Simon, 2001).
Simon
(2001) found the following:
Similarly, the more time that parents and teenagers spent together, the
better-behaved students
were and the more prepared they arrived to class. Parents may reinforce
norms and rules for
students’ behavior through leisure activities. Teenagers may also feel
motivated because what
they do and they spend their time matters to their parents (p.13).
Schools have a duty to
reach out and involve parents at every grade level. Schools have the
ability to change/improve how parents support their children as learners
(Simon, 2001).
References:
Akers, P., (2005). Conferencing the smart way.
Principal, 84, 47.
Bottoms, G., (1999). Outstanding Practices, 1998:
Raising student achievement by focusing on the 10 key practices. High
schools that work. Southern
Regional Education Board.
Borelli, J.G., & Maxfield, R.M. (1998).
Improving academic achievement on a shoestring budget. Schools in the
Middle, 7, 36-37.
Croninger, R.G., & Lee, V.E., (2001). Social
capital and dropping out of high school: Benefits to at-risk students of
teachers’ support and guidance. Teachers College Record. 103, 548-58
Desimone, L., (1999). Linking parent involvement
with student achievement: Do race and income matter? The Journal of
Educational Research (Washington, D.C.). 93, 11-30.
Finnigan, K.S., (2005). Principal leadership and
teacher expectancy in low-performing schools. University of Rochester.
Gilbert, M.B. (1998). Why educators have problems
with some students: Understanding frames of preference. Journal of
Education, 37, 243- 255.
Klem, A.M. & Connell, J.P. (2004).
Relationships matter: Linking teacher support to student engagement and
achievement. Journal of School Health, 74, 262-273
Martin, E.J., Tobin, T.J., & Sugai, G.M.
(2002). Current information on dropout prevention: Ideas from
practitioners and the literature. Preventing School Failure, 47, 10-17.
Martin, S., (2003). Profiling Achievement.
Principal Leadership (Middle School Edition) 3, 49-50
Picucci, A.C., Brownson, A., Kahlert, R. &
Sobel, A., (2002). Shaping school culture, Principal Leadership (Middle
School Ed.). 3, 38-41.
Pinick, G. (1999). The success center. Lutheran
Education. 134, 176-7.
Putnam, S.C., Tette, J.W.M. (2004). A prescription
for at-risk students. Journal of Physical, Recreation & Dance. 75,
25-28.
Roysee, D. (1998). Mentoring high-risk minority
youth: evaluation of the Brothers Project. 33, 145-158
St. Germain, L. & Quinn, D.M. (2005).
Investigation of tacit knowledge in principal leadership. The
Educational Forum, 70, 75-90.
Sideridis, G.D. & Padeliadu, S. (2001). The
motivational determinants of students at risk of having reading
difficulties: planned behavior theory and goal. Remedial and Special
Education, 22, 268-279
Simon, B.S., (2001). Family involvement in high
school: Predictors and effects. NASSP Bulletin, 85, 8-19.
Solo, L. (1997). School success begins at home.
Principal (Reston, Va), 77, 29-30.
Strom, R., Strom., S., Collinsworth, P., &
Strom, P. (1998). Evaluating parent success in guiding adolescents.
Journal of Instructional Psychology, 25, 242-249.
Wright, J. (2005). Intervention ideas that really work: Here are some
intervention ideas that can help remove barriers to learning for at-risk
students. Principal (Reston, Va.) 85, 12-16.
Ziegler, W., Venturing beyond the schoolyard to bring parents in. High
School Magazine, 7
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TECH
CORNER
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Web 2.0,
The New Culture of Social Community
By Mark Benn
Middle School Teacher
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Mark's latest
articles are about changing our classrooms and teaching styles
to reflect the latest changes in technology.
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Quoting
from an article written by Susan McLester in the April edition of
Technology & Learning: “Web 2.0 has essentially transformed the
Internet from an e-commerce and Web page publishing venue to a
planet-wide networked community where every citizen is invited to create
content.”
Let’s look at what it is.
First, let’s look at three skills: publishing, broadcasting, and movie
production. In the past if you wanted to publish a book or article you
would have to send it to a publisher and wait to see whether they would
publish it. Newspapers and magazines were written by their own hired
staff of writers. Only a small group of people compared to the whole
population could accomplish this. The only way to broadcast was to work
for, or own your own radio studio. Movie production could only be done
by a production company with the equipment and know how.
Now enters Web 2.0 onto the scene. Anyone with a computer can publish on
the internet in blogs or online newsletters. Likewise, you can produce a
broadcast by making a podcast using programs like Garageband or
Audacity. If you have a video movie camera you can edit your own movie
and upload it to the internet for all to see. All of this can be
accomplished with a computer and open source (free) software on the
internet. It can then be uploaded onto the web for everyone to
participate in.
You ask,
what do I mean by: participate in?
Social networking sites like MySpace, YouTube, and Yahoo! Groups have
allowed our digital natives to collaborate and share information and
thoughts on anything instantly.
Instead
of just being a passive reader and watcher of what someone says or does,
everyone can be an active participant on what goes up on the web. With
new open source online tools like Jumpcut, Eyespot, Toufee, Picnik, and
more everyone can participate. But wait, there’s more. New hosting
sites such as Revver.com, Spymac.com, and uthTv.com have opened a whole
new support network for this community.
What does this mean to us as educators? No problem, we just block all
the sites. After all, it’s our job to protect them from the evils of
the internet. I agree, we need to protect them from the evils of the
internet, but are the above mentioned sites evil? Is having a social
community on the internet wrong or dangerous, or is it something we
don’t fully understand? By blocking all the sites are we making
ourselves irrelevant in the eyes of the digital native? Shouldn’t we
be teaching them how to safely handle the internet, and then participate
in it with them?
About a month ago I got involved in an online social network called
Runescape. My children had been involved in it for awhile and I had been
watching. Runescape is a place where you become a virtual person in a
virtual medieval world where you can fish, hunt, build houses, and on
and on. You can be a free participant, or for $5 a month become a member
with more privileges. Last month Runescape topped one million members.
This doesn’t count far more that aren’t members. As I participate in
this world, I watch as the young people are constantly helping each
other, talking to one another, and problem solving. These are skills we
want them to learn.
Shouldn’t we be integrating these communities into
our classrooms, instead of blocking them? We could spark discussion
about many academic topics where the student becomes not only the
learner but the teacher, too. Think about it.
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Mark Benn earned his B.S. from Western
Michigan University and his Elementary Certification from
Northern Michigan University. He is a 20 year teaching
veteran of 5th and 6th grade students at Inland Lakes Middle
School in Indian River, MI. He is currently working on
Masters of Integration of Technology from Walden University.
Prior to teaching, Mark spent 11 years as Department Manager for
Sears, Roebuck and Co. dealing with emerging technologies.
He has been married to his wife Bonnietta for 32 years with one
daughter and two sons. In the summers, Mark works for
Mackinac State Historic Parks in the as a historical
interpreter.
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StarTeaching Featured Writer
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Mark Benn is a leading expert in using technology
in the classroom.
You can feel free to contact him on email
at mbenn@inlandlakes.org
or at his blogsite: http://www.furtrader.blogspot.com/
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New
Teachers' Niche:
A Place for New Teachers, Student Teachers, and Interns |
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Writing Every Day
in Class
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For your students to be good at any skill, they
must practice it on a daily basis. This is true for any skill, and
writing is an excellent example. |
Regardless of whether your goal is to improve your
students' abilities, or to raise test scores, you need to structure and
designate specific time to practice this skill every day. As the
classroom instructor, it must be YOUR goal to have your students
practice the skill daily.
Now, you don't have to spend your entire class period on writing. There
are many activities you can use that take anywhere from five to ten
minutes and will accomplish this goal of writing daily. We should
briefly describe the parts of the writing process, so we can then
develop activities to improve each step. There are many different terms
educators will use to name the parts of the writing process. Undoubtedly
you have seen several different ways to name each step. Your school may
even have a specific set of terminology you need to use. That's fine,
especially if your students are hearing the same terms through different
classes and grade levels. However you decide to designate each step of
the writing process, there are several distinct parts.
The first is brainstorming and organizing information. This is the
'prewriting', thinking of topics and ideas about which the students will
write. The second is drafting, writing out a first copy which we know
will not be perfect but will need more work.
The third is revising, adding in more information, changing information
around, or removing information not pertinent to the topic. The fourth
step is to proofread and edit for surface errors and mistakes. The last
step is to rewrite the draft making the corrections from steps three and
four. This last step may be another draft, or it may be a finished,
published piece. Now, you may want to add more steps to these basic
five, and that's up to you. You'll get no resistance from me. The
important thing is to fully understand what you're teaching and to make
sure your students understand it!
Before we get into activities, you will want to create a special,
specific place for the students to keep their work. I choose to keep
this work in class so I know it will ALWAYS be there. No more losing it
in folders, at home, or in lockers. Each student is provided a hanging
file in a cabinet drawer (each class gets its own drawer). If you do not
have an extra file cabinet, you can pick up plastic storage crates or
boxes fairly cheaply. When I want the students to work with previous
writes, they simply need to grab one out of their file. And best of all,
the work is already in class.
Ok, so lets examine a few exercises to practice at each step. First for
brainstorming and organizing. This is one of the most important steps,
and it can be practiced in any subject area. You are going to want to
have your students practice this two to three times each week. Have your
students brainstorm in lists, in graphic organizers, in webs/maps, and
by freewriting. Give them topics and a time limit and turn them loose.
Use ideas from your text, from reading activities, and from real life
situations that involve your students. You can create games and contests
to encourage them to generate long lists.
There are many ways to draft. We've covered several in past newsletters
(see the links below for more information on each) including FREEWRITES,
JOURNAL WRITES, and PARAGRAPHS. You will probably have other forms and
styles to use too. Drafting does not have to take a long time, either.
Give your students a specific time limit and the minimums you want them
to write. Be very clear about your expectations and rules so the
students will have clear understanding of what you're looking for. Feel
free to impose minimums such as a time period, length of paper, or
number of words. Remind yourself you are working with activities with
shorter time slots. You want your students to really push themselves,
and you may have to push them at the beginning to get them up to the
speed you want!
Editing activities work well when your students already have several
pieces finished to look over. You can have students edit their own, or
peer edit by trading writings. I usually hold off for a month to collect
enough drafts so students can choose their own writing to edit. Normally
students like this step the least, and try to resist editing. So you
will want to make this a fun activity, and be sure to give it a grade.
I also try to give out extra credit so they will want to do these
activities. We practice question writing with our SQ3R reading
techniques, and we apply this to editing too. Some of the best editing
is done by students posing questions, looking for more information, or
needing clarification of ideas. This is not proofreading, remember! We
use overheads (again so they can be re-used) with guiding questions and
thoughts that will help students generate questions of the writing in
front of them.
Undoubtedly you'll have a handful of students who think their first
draft is perfect and needs no additional work. And you may even agree
that some of these students are very good writers. But don't fall into
the trap of letting them avoid editing. Even professional writers go
through many stages of editing (as of this time, I've already edited
this article four times!). Keep your kids following the writing process
- no short cuts! Allowing one or more students to cut corners will lead
to more asking, and then hard feelings among classmates ("Why
doesn't so-and-so have to edit?") None of your students will be
experts, none are perfect, even if you have seniors. There are always
things you can adjust, clarify, or add to writings. And all of the
students will benefit from good editing activities, whether they like it
or not.
Another issue you will deal with at this step is a fragile student ego.
Some students will fear having criticism of their work. And there will
also be students who fear writing criticism on their classmates' papers.
You will have to have some heart-to-heart talks with your students and
convince them (or persuade them) that they are helping their classmates
and themselves when editing. They're not there to rip on each other,
just make everyone better writers.
Having your students write on a daily basis may seem like a
homework-checking nightmare waiting to happen. You will need to create
an administrative plan to make your life simple. In our class I use the
random choices technique (See our website for more details) A
white chip indicates we don't grade it, just file it. A blue chip is a
peer check and immediate grade. And a red chip is a collection of the
papers so I can read and score them. This keeps me from having to read
and grade every paper every day. And for paragraph drafts, we use FCAs
(focal correction areas) for grades (look for more on FCAs on our
writing website) These administrative strategies help keep my sanity
while allowing my students to practice a lot of writing on a daily
basis.
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Be sure to check out our website for more great
information, tips, and techniques for new teachers,
student-teachers, and interns in teacher prep programs. Also be
sure to check out our Who-I-Want-To-Be teacher plan for
preparing yourself to enter the educational profession. Simply
click the following link: http://www.starteaching.com/free.htm
Want to check
out the articles in our Student-Teaching series? Check out our
special Student-Teaching page through the following link: http://www.starteaching.com/studentteachers.htm
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Our May WEBSITE OF THE MONTH award is
presented to, The
Educator's Reference Desk, a site for
school, teacher, and educational reference materials.
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The Educator's Reference Desk is a great resource for
teachers and other educators. There are over 2000 lesson plans
available on line. There is a search for ERIC Articles you can do
right on the website. And there are over 3000 links to sites all
over the web relating to schools, teaching, and education.
There are specific areas developed for counselors,
librarians, and even families. Topics are even broken down by
subject areas.
This is a user-friendly website with quick links to the
various parts of the site. It is a great resource for elementary
teachers.
Check this site out, you'll be glad you did. Simply click the
link below:
http://www.eduref.org/
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Are There Other Teachers in Your
School or District Who Would Love to Receive Our Newsletter?
Be sure to
pass along our website and newsletter!
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"Creation:
A Sioux Story"
Author Unknown Themes
on Life
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Do we actually look inside
ourselves to see what is really there?
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The Creator gathered all of Creation and said, "I want to hide
something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the
realization that they create their own reality."
The eagle said, "Give it to me, I will take it to the
moon."
The Creator said, "No. One day they will go there and find
it."
The salmon said, "I will bury it on the bottom of the
ocean."
"No. They will go there too."
The buffalo said, "I will bury it on the Great Plains."
The Creator said, "They will cut into the skin of the Earth and
find it even there."
Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who
has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, "Put it
inside of them."
And the Creator said, "It is done."
See more of our Freebies as well as Special
Reports on our website by clicking the quick link below:
http://www.starteaching.com/free.htm
Make sure to BOOKMARK our website so you can
keep up with more changes and additions through the year. And feel
free to share our site by EMAILING it to a friend.
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