LDOE studies Richland school project

What would life be like if you stopped seeing things for what they are but rather for what they could be?

It’s kind of a joke among a few of my colleagues that Beverly “drank the Kool-Aid.” In fact, I’ve been told, “You didn’t just drink it! You guzzled it!” 

I’ll admit it. I did.

The “Kool-aid” in the world of education is believing in, embracing, and trying out what we refer to as The Shifts. For better reference to help you understand what I mean-- I love Common Core. Yep, crazy, huh? Buy me the t-shirt, give me the window sticker, and put it on my coffee mug. I don’t care. I wholeheartedly believe that this is the change we’ve been waiting for. This is exactly what our kids have to have in order to become the changemakers our world needs.

Change. There’s that word. Change always seems so impossible because we can’t see the other side of it. Because we can’t see it, we think it doesn’t exist. 

What I have come to understand is It’s not our job to see it; it’s our job to trust that it’s there waiting on us to find it. When we don’t embrace change because we don’t believe it’s possible, then we’re letting our assumptions be our truth, and that’s what stops us from moving.  What I’ve come to understand is that change takes time, but it will never happen if we never take the first step, or the second, or third. 

During the month of June, I had the privilege of leading a cohort of Richland Parish teachers on their own journey of change during a 9-day re-imagined summer school experience made possible by Brossette Educational Management, a non-profit organization in conjunction and in partnership with Richland Parish Public Schools. Teachers were stretched and challenged in their thinking, their teaching strategies, their planning efforts, and their time they dedicated to the entire process. This year, summer school in Richland Parish was used as a hands-on professional development opportunity for teachers. Consequently, it wasn’t just the students who did all the learning. The teachers were not just taught how to teach high-quality curriculum but also why--why it is imperative to hold students to high expectations and allow them opportunities to engage in deep thinking without a teacher coming in to rescue them at the slightest sign of struggle. The teachers spent their morning teaching and their afternoons planning and lesson rehearsing, getting feedback on how to make their lessons even better before getting in front of kids the next day. After, and even during their lessons, teachers received feedback on what they were doing well and what they could improve. Then, they got a chance to implement that feedback when the classes switched and the next group of students came in. It wasn’t just classroom management or basic teaching skills they were asked to change. It was much deeper than that. They were coached on ways to put more of the thinking on kids to allow students to be the main holders and creators of knowledge in the room. This requires a much more intentionally planned lesson. This requires change.

Change is the driver of it all--change in mindset and change in habits. Research shows us that it is through a productive struggle that students learn. If well-intentioned teachers continue to do most of the thinking in the classroom so that students don’t have to grapple with anything they don’t already know how to do, then teachers rob students of a critical step in their staircase to college or career readiness.  If you had walked into a math classroom at Rayville Junior High or Delhi Elementary School during this time you would have seen groups of students working together, discussing, and problem solving as they created graphs and equations to determine the better buy of items found in a grocery store--all on their own. You may have seen students talking about their thinking (without writing it down first) as they explained in their own words how to solve particular math problems, with a teacher there to simply guide their thinking, not do all of it for them. In the literacy classroom you would have seen students deeply engaged in a complex text and a conversation with one another about the events of the Civil Rights era, both the heinous crimes and the inspirational, thought-provoking stories of children’s marches led by the great Dr. Martin Luther King. You would have seen the teachers walking around from group to group guiding those conversations with strategically pre-planned questions, prompting students to think deeper about the text to gain meaning on their own. 

Fifteen Richland Parish teachers dedicated themselves to this work no matter how much change they were asked to make. This year was a pilot, and it drew attention from the Louisiana Department of Education, as an innovative district in the state to utilize grant and federal funding in this way—providing a safe, low stakes atmosphere where teachers can learn by doing. On June 18, seven representatives from the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) spent a day across both sites in Richland Parish to see exactly how we made this work. Our re-imagined summer school experience is unique, and it proving fruitful for both students and educators. It simultaneously improves teacher practice and student achievement. This pilot is a catalyst for change.

Change can be difficult. It can be frightening. But I know this for certain. Change is necessary.

So many people live their lives stuck in the mundane. They have this inckling their spirit that there’s something more. They long for a change, but since they can’t see it, since they can’t see the other side of the mountain or down the winding path with all its twists and turns, they stand at the crossroads with their binoculars dangling at their side. Or they turn and walk away because the path has too many unknowns.

So here I am, with my pitcher of kool-aid in my hand, telling you to take the chance. Embrace the change. Pick up your foot and take that first step, remembering along the way that baby steps are still steps that can lead to big gains for students and teachers alike.

Beverly Smart is the Richland Summer Institute Lead Innovator.

 

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