Laura K Spencer, Ed.D.

Year: 2018

  • Countdowns Suck. Yes, I said it.

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    I wanted to write earlier…I really did. So many blog posts have been ruminating in my brain the past few weeks.

    But I’ve had a major life event happen. And I needed time to process. And that meant taking a break from my blog.

    So what happened? My oldest daughter, Alexandra, enlisted in the U.S. Navy. In fact, she leaves for basic training in 21 days. 30200 minutes.

    I’m so insanely proud of her. Having served in the U.S. Army myself, I know how scary it can be to give control of your life over to the government in the name of freedom. But she did it, and not only did she do it, but she was chosen to participate in the cryptology program, which is the same program in which my dad served during the Vietnam War.

    So if I am so proud, why haven’t I blogged? Because I am also scared to death! I vacillate between proud momma and “Oh my gosh… how will I survive eight weeks without talking to her, without seeing her, without knowing she is okay?”

    The days are counting down until she leaves… 21 days… 30175 minutes since I started writing this blog post. 21 days until her exciting new life begins and my angst-ridden new life begins.

    Makes me wonder how many of our students have similar angst with those “Countdown to Summer Vacation” signs that are found in so many classrooms these days. If a child’s summer is spent traveling to Hawaii, that countdown is amazing. If that summer is spent babysitting younger siblings or wondering if there is enough food for lunch and dinner, those numbers are pretty darn scary.

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  • A Rubric is Not an Authentic Audience

    A Rubric is Not an Authentic Audience

    If students have only experienced a rubric as an audience to their writing, we have failed them miserably.

    Ron Berger, known for his work with Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound school network, Harvard Project Zero, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, created a Hierarchy of Audience graphic to show how valuable authentic audiences are. He explains:  “When we finish school and enter the world of work, we are asked to create work of value — scientific reports, business plans, websites, books, architectural blueprints, graphic artwork, investment proposals, medical devices and software applications. This work is created over weeks or months with team consultation, collaboration and critique, and it goes through multiple revisions.”

    hierarchy of audience

    So how can we create opportunities for students to stretch beyond the rubric?

    Our 6th graders are about to embark on a collaborative project with an international corporation to solve an actual problem the corporation is facing. They will be required to convey their proposals using business communications methods such as those Berger listed. Their audience will be the engineers, corporate executives, and marketing teams of the corporation.

    Third graders, embarking on a classroom fundraising project, developed business plans and presented proposals based on a craft they wanted to sell at Open House. They had to identify their customer, develop a cost analysis, and a marketing plan.

    My 16 year old daughter, wanting to share a message of female empowerment with others her age, started a blog… which ironically receives more viewers than me on many days!

    Rubrics have their place as a formative assessment tool. But let’s not make it the destination. Our students have much more to contribute to the world than can be conveyed on a 4 point rubric!

  • Jidoka: Applying the “Human Touch”

    When I met my boyfriend, he was driving a 1991 Toyota Corolla. It was quite the jalopy. The upholstery had seen better days. There were dents and rust.  But it ran. It always ran. Not only did my much newer Ford have more service appointments than that Corolla, but the Corolla also got better gas mileage. It was like the Energizer Bunny… it just kept going.

    I never appreciated that Corolla. Until today. When I learned about lean manufacturing, Toyota, and the power of Jidoka.

    Jidoka (or autonomation) is a Japanese manufacturing term that means applying the “human touch” to immediately address manufacturing problems at the moment they are detected. Employees are empowered to stop production line and solve problems without having to get permission from supervisors. But it’s not just about stopping production and fixing the immediate issue. It’s also about figuring out why the issue came to be in the first place, and working with teammates to prevent it from happening again.

    There are four elements to Jidoka:

    1. Detect the abnormality.
    2. Stop.
    3. Fix or correct the immediate condition.
    4. Investigate the root cause and install a countermeasure.

    The purpose, therefore, is that it makes possible the rapid or immediate address, identification and correction of mistakes that occur in a process.

    Take for example this simple autonomation on the factory floor:

    The problem of the containers tipping sideways could be fixed by the employee turning them upright every time, which fixes the immediate issue. But instead, the countermeasure of the rope reduces the odds of that same issue continuing to cause issues down the path. Toyota mastered this approach, and as a result, their cars are some of the most dependable (and lasting!) cars on the road.

    Do you see the education analogy?

    We can’t depend on formal assessments to detect “abnormalities” in student learning. We also can’t assume a packaged curriculum will address all student needs. Or think a personalized, adaptive computer program will fill in all the deficit areas.

    We are the “human touch” students needs. The Jidoka.

    When we let the tipped container of knowledge continue down the line, we have failed the child.

    We are the ones that need to pull the cord and stop production if a child isn’t learning.

    We are the ones who need to find a different method, a different resource, a different context to ensure that student’s needs are met.

    We are the ones who need to reflect on our practice to determine why the learning isn’t happening.

    And we are the ones who need to provide countermeasures to support each child’s growth.

    We are the “human touch” students needs. The Jidoka.

    Jidoka Source:
    Autonomation on Wikipedia

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  • Use the [Internal] Force, Luke!

    When people feel like they can experience success in a situation, they have more reason to put forth the effort to do so. If they feel like a situation is hopeless, or out of their control, why bother? This is the concept behind Attribution Theory. In other words, if I work hard (internal) at this, will I succeed? Or should I not bother because I know my boss never likes anything I do (external)?

    This is why Carol Dweck is so popular in education circles. Dweck states that “individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts). This is because they worry less about looking smart and they put more energy into learning.”

    Basically, people with a growth mindset use an internal locus of control to explain their successes and failures. Therefore, they are more motivated to put forth the effort needed to learn.

    Use the Internal Force, Luke

    In my post “I Believe in 28 out of 36 of You” I discussed Bandura and his research which shows how beliefs impact action. And that people with self-efficacy set their sights higher, try harder, persevere longer, and show more resilience in the face of failure. Sounds pretty internal, right? Not much to attribute to external forces there.

    So when we talk about students and goals, how we frame the conversation has a profound impact not only on our perceived ability in their success, but also their own perceived ability in their success, which ultimately creates the conditions to internally and externally impact their success.

    If we say 28 out of 36 students will pass, we can easily attribute the eight failures to external causes such as poverty or already being academically deficient when they walked in the door. But when our goal is for all students to increase their score by 20 points, external factors don’t carry the same weight. The goal requires an intentional, unrelenting focus on internal causes … on effort and belief and efficacy … for every student to feel and achieve success.

  • Become a Better Human.

    My 15 year old daughter started a blog. A blog to encourage and empower teens based on her experiences and views of the world. Her second post is titled, “…like a girl.” In it, she talks about the negative impact the statement “like a girl” has on girls, and that girls are just as “strong and capable of anything as males are.” It was a positive message of self-worth.

    And yet, within an hour of sharing it on my Facebook page, it was attacked. In one comment, she was told that “men are stronger than women and she should face the facts of biology.” Other, similar comments followed.

    IMG_0379 3The dominant male voice was, ironically, reinforcing my daughter’s point: “Together as women, we are intelligent, beautiful, and powerful human beings that shouldn’t be trampled on by derogatory expressions.” His messages, even when couched in conciliatory statements like “Don’t get me wrong, great intent…”  sought to silence a young girl sharing her voice of empowerment by asserting superiority.

    One thing I have learned from the voices rising up after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting is that there are people who assume power comes hand-in-hand with freedom, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to silence any oppositional voice.

    Our society defines freedom as “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.” That’s the biggest paradox of freedom: if nothing restraints how each person behaves, it will be absolute chaos. The bully would be free to enslave the meek. It will eventually mean that only those at the top are free, and those at the bottom — the weak — are not.
    –Freedom is Not About Speaking Up but Choosing to be Silent

    Our mission, as educators, is to build empathy and facilitate student voice and agency so they can positively advance the world. We want them to be, we need them to be, good humans. Better humans. Empathetic humans.

    “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains,
    but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
    – Nelson Mandela

  • Reflect On Our Practice

    “We are generating more information and knowledge than ever today, but knowledge is only good if you can reflect on it.”

    Thomas L. Friedman, Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations

    I had the pleasure of being interviewed the other day by an educator pursuing an advanced degree in educational technology.

    It was a pleasure because her interview questions made me reflect on my current practices, my past practices, and my reasons for each.

    All great interviews should involve both parties walking away feeling like they have both contributed and learned something – whether it be for a job, or a research paper, or a podcast.

    I share with you abbreviated forms of her questions so that you, too, can reflect on the work you do. And hey, if you want to share an answer, that’d be fabulous.

    1. As part of my master’s program, I was asked to develop a professional development (PD) course around Universal Design for Learning.  This PD was designed for the learning to happen over several weeks.  However, in my current school district, PD days are booked at the beginning of the year, and there are many competing initiatives all promoted at the district level so that it becomes close to impossible to do any PD that extends beyond an hour because there is a need to provide PD for the wide range of initiatives.  Do you have similar issues in your district?  If so, how do you work to provide some long term, meaningful PD?

    2. Currently, our district provides PD as a one size fits all approach.  I believe part of this strategy is for accountability. How do you help move the district to more differentiated learning for staff?  How do you get administrative buy in?

    3. At one time, our 1:1 program encouraged parents to think of the Chromebook as a family tool.  Parents were encouraged to get their own email accounts and to log into their student’s device in order to look for jobs, pay bills and to work towards increasing their employable skills by becoming more proficient with technology.  However, concerns have prompted the tech department to lock down all devices so that they now may only be used with a district email address, thus taking the tech away from the parents. Can public schools close the digital access and equity divide for both students and families, or are 1:1 programs actually contributing to the divide?

    4. As part of our master’s program, we have been encouraged to become familiar with UDL, OER, Copyright, Creative Commons and Internet Use Agreements.  How would you prioritize the importance of these in your daily work and why?  When looking for new members for your educational technology team, which of these would you consider to be most important for an applicant to have expertise with?

    5. If you could suggest areas of focus for people entering the field of educational technology to have, what would you suggest?  Why?