Laura K Spencer, Ed.D.

Year: 2018

  • Beware of the person of one book.

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    Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

    During lunch today, I was skimming Facebook and came across a post from an awesome teacher friend Autumn with the following intro:

    ISO: 21 Generous friends who are looking to bless one of my students for the year!

    I was intrigued. I kept on reading…

    Screen Shot 2018-08-30 at 14.07.12Each month I receive the Scholastic Book Club fliers to send home for students to share with their families and purchase books if they would like. Many families cannot afford to purchase books to have at home, especially at various times of the year where holidays and new school supplies spread us all thin.

    Here’s the idea I’d like to try out this year:
    How amazing would it be for each student to receive one free book every month at no cost to his/her family?
    Scholastic has books every month that are $1. I would LOVE for each of my students to be able to bring home one new book every month during the school year from September to May. It may seem crazy and unrealistic, but please keep reading! If I select the $1 book, that’s only $9 per child (for a FULL school year)! Every month I would be able to bless every one of my students with a new free book that they will get to keep, all because of you!

    Before I could even finish reading the post, which provided all the logistics for getting involved, it was updated…

    **** UPDATE: YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!!! I HIT MY GOAL within 30 MINUTES!!! Thank you so much for your support! I LOVE YOU ALL!! My teacher heart is bursting with love for you all. I cannot wait to bless my littles this entire year! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! 

    By the time I had finished my lunch, I noticed at least five other teachers had copied the post and were fully funded within minutes.  It was like an auction house selling a stack of Picasso originals for $9/each. People were greedily grabbing them all up. I felt lucky to finally catch an opening for a kinder class and signed up to be a book friend!

    What an awesome, simple way to work on closing the rich/poor reading achievement gap while promoting the value of reading.

    I wonder how else we can play with this generous idea..

    • What if it was set up like Secret Pals and the adults got a list of what the child was interested in, and the adult could pick out/order the book every month?
    • What if a FlipGrid was set up so adults could share their favorite books with the student so as to build a connection with a trusted adult?
    • What if we had volunteers to record themselves reading the books for children who don’t have a literate or English speaking parent at home?

    What other “what ifs” could we add?

    Have you implemented a program like this in your classroom? How’d it go? I’d love to hear from you.

    Blog post title is attributed to Thomas Aquinas.

    * Sharing is caring, so share some love with a ‘like’ and then share this blog post with a colleague.*

  • So You Want to Create a Flexible Learning Environment…

    So You Want to Create a Flexible Learning Environment…

    A colleague asked me for resources on flexible learning spaces. Her goal is for 6th students to use the Design Thinking mindset to redesign their own classroom. Because we know it’s not just about cool chairs and bright walls, it’s important that students and the teacher understand the WHY behind the decisions being made.

    Luckily, Twitter hashtag #learningspaces has a treasure trove of resources for teachers looking for a place to start. And attending CUE BOLD in May also provided me with access to amazing presenters and ideas around classroom environment.

    So here is the list of resources I curated for the students, in case it helps any of you:

    Tips for Designing Amazing Learning Spaces with Dr. Robert Dillon
    And here’s a visual for that YouTube video.

    Edutopia article showcasing some flexible K-8 classrooms.

    Video Series on the book The Space by Dr. Robert Dillon and Rebecca Hare

    This tweet may be good to spark a deeper conversation questioning why we need so many desks/chairs/etc in the room.

    12 Ways to Upgrade Your Classroom Design takes ideas from The Space and presents them in an easy to read blog post.

    Consider adding a Peace Corner to provide quiet spaces for reflection and emotional centering.

    Designing Brain Friendly Spaces by Dr. Robert Dillon is a short article with some targeted questions to ask while considering how space is used.

    CUE BOLD has made all the presentation slides available for those wanting to learn more. There are quite a few on learning spaces that are worth checking out. Look for Rebecca Hare, Michael Morrison, and Michelle Ho & Danielle Roja for relevant links.

    And of course, as you consider all this, please keep in mind that Pinterest is awesome for beautiful wedding decor, scrumptious recipes, and creative Outfits of the Day, but Pinterest-designed classrooms don’t always meet the needs of the learners (and they’re expensive to create!). My original blog post on that topic is still one of my most popular ones.

    Please let me know in the comments what else should be added to this list.

     

    And hey, if this post made you smile, or think deeply for a moment, or just scratch your head and go HMM… then share it with a friend. Or two. And subscribe to keep the posts coming!

  • Death by Syllabus

    It’s that time of year … back to school! Teachers are excited to meet students, and students are excited to meet their teachers.

    Back to school also means a lot of discussion about how best to establish relationships and culture when students walk in the door. I’ve seen tweets suggesting teachers hold off on “doing school” at first so as to focus on getting to know the students, and establishing the positive culture of the classroom.

    Part of “doing school” is, for many teachers, passing out the course syllabus, or class introductory letter. This document, often read and treated like a terms and conditions contract, outlines objectives, grading procedures, behavior and academic expectations, consequences for violating those expectations, and rewards for following them, which is often the grading scale.

    It outlines what students will learn, how they should learn it, and in what timeline it is expected to be learned. It requires multiple signatures to signify understanding, and is filed away in case any of the signatory parties disagree with the terms and conditions at a later date.

    So yes, I can see why this would be quite a downer on day one for teachers trying to establish a culture of joy, of lifelong learning, and of collaborative discovery with their students.

    “Hey students. This year is going to be AWESOME. But first, you all must agree to the terms and conditions… potential side effects include dizziness, heart palpitations, anxiety, and death…” Screen Shot 2018-08-20 at 10.16.21

    Umm, yea, about that… Total downer!

    That makes me wonder… if the syllabus is so disconnected from the culture being established in the classroom, what message does it send to parents who are asked to read and sign it? For many parents, this is the first impression. The first handshake. The first “Nice to meet you.” If it doesn’t represent the culture you want to establish with students, then I have to ask what culture it establishes with the parents who are being handed this paper to sign without any other context.

    And what contradictory message does it send to students? “Hey, I know I told you that I value you as an individual and we had all  fun week one getting to know each other, but the reality is, if your work is late, I will dock you a half letter grade. And if you use the bathroom pass three times, you owe me detention.”

    If the syllabus doesn’t reflect the culture of your classroom: a culture of thinking, of learning, of student agency, and of growth mindset, then the only place that syllabus should go is in the trash.

    If it’s in the trash, how might we develop a new, student-centric syllabus that reflects our values? What questions should it answer? How about these for a start:

    • What does the teacher value about teaching and learning?
      • What does the teacher believe about how students learn?
      • What does the teacher believe about the conditions that need to be in place for students to thrive in a learning environment?
      • What does the teacher believe about the whole child, and his/her role in supporting individual development?
    • What do students value about learning?
      • What conditions do the students in the room right now need to thrive?
      • What passions do the students in the room right now possess?
    • What do parents value about learning?
      • What does it mean for parents to be partners in their child’s education?
      • What do parents need to feel like a valued partner?

    In addition, we should consider how language sets a tone. Is it a “we” document or a “me” document? Does the font and spacing encourage reading? Hey, maybe add some graphics and resource links.

    By creating a document that exudes relationships, culture, learning, and voice, we are breaking down one of the traditional structures that serves as barriers to our values.

    … Have you already transformed your syllabus? Would love to see a copy! Post a link in the comments, or send me a message. Let’s get the word out and encourage a movement!

     

     

     

     

  • The Power of the Master Schedule

    A learning organization is a place “where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together.”

    The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, by scientist and organizational-theory expert Peter Senge

    My daughter just started her Junior year of high school. As with most high schools across the nation, she had to wait to get her schedule until the day before school started. It’s a highly anticipated moment – which teachers did I get? Will my friends be in classes with me? What’s usually not questioned is what classes are assigned. That’s because, by this stage of the high school career, classes are chosen in the Spring, signed off by student, parent, and counselor, and therefore expected to be a reality in August.

    So I’m sure you can imagine her surprise when two of her selected AP classes were not on her schedule. And as luck would have it, these are the courses which had assigned summer homework. So not only is she without the courses she expected, but she invested hours of summer vacation doing the work needed for these missing classes.

    Instead of excitement, she walked into school day one with anxiety and disappointment. But more importantly, she was invested in coming up with a solution. Can you imagine how her level of investment would be markedly more than the guidance counselor? Or the Principal? Or me? This need, this problem, is personal to her, and therefore, she is motivated to figure it out.

    The New Power

    The question I have is, why don’t we provide ways for students to become part of the process of building the day to day of school? In New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World–and How to Make It Work for You by Henry Timms and Jeremy Heimans, Timms and Heimans share ways in which organizations can embrace new power. Unlike old power, which is guarded and owned by a few, new power embraces the wisdom of the collective by distributing power in a participatory fashion. 

    How could this apply to high school schedules? Think about how massive the master schedule is at a traditional, urban school. So many students, so many classes, and so many possible pain points. How might we provide a participatory experience so that students could facilitate the creation of their schedule? How might the inclusion of this missing voice work towards shifting the culture of a campus from adult to student centered? How much more invested would students be in the school experience if they helped to shape it?

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    Senge believes that, “When young people develop basic leadership and collaborative learning skills, they can be a formidable force for change.” So how about we give them that chance? A little transparency and some extra voices can’t hurt!

    Update: No luck on fixing her schedule. She went from three to one AP class, which will drop her class ranking because of the weighted GPA structure. We’re looking at college courses so she can get the subject knowledge she wanted.

  • I am a Recovering Super Chicken.

     

    “Hi, my name is Laura and I’m a recovering Super Chicken…”

    “Hi Laura…” the room of ordinary chickens respond acceptingly…

    (Trust me, it all makes sense within a minute or so of watching the video!)

    Huffernan suggests, “For years, we’ve thought that leaders were heroic soloists who were expected, all by themselves, to solve complex problems. Now, we need to redefine leadership as an activity in which conditions are created in which everyone can do their most courageous thinking together.”

    I’d even go so far as to say that this isn’t just about leadership, but about teaching and learning as well, with both staff and students. We are better when we learn with each other, from each other, supported by each other.

  • Sharing the Power of Vulnerability

    Something to reflect on as we welcome students and their families into our classrooms, our schools, our lives.

    “Our job is to look and say, ‘You know what? You’re imperfect, and you’re wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.’ That’s our job. Show me a generation of kids raised like that, and we’ll end the problems, I think, that we see today…

    Because when we work from a place, I believe, that says, ‘I’m enough’ … then we stop screaming and start listening, we’re kinder and gentler to the people around us, and we’re kinder and gentler to ourselves.”