Laura K Spencer, Ed.D.

Tag: Project Zero

  • The Punctuation in Your Classroom

    The Punctuation in Your Classroom

    Photo Source: Flickr, Eric E Castro 

    I learned the other day that ending a text message with a period can be interpreted as insincere. Such a simple, innocuous dot now carries more hidden messages than it was ever intended to convey. Likewise, the messages we think we’re sending in our classrooms may not be the messages received by students. Consider these… Time WILL pass, will YOU? Does this imply a nurturing, supportive environment that believes ALL students deserve every opportunity to be successful? I’m not so sure.

    Students not paying attention in class? Lock up devices. Does this show trust? Relationship building? I wonder if the teacher’s device is locked up during meetings as well. Or how about this sign I saw in a classroom:  “Work hard in silence. Let success be your noise.” A companion sign read, “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” Does this mean we don’t value collaboration? Team work? I wonder how Edison and Einstein would have fared had they been forced to work in silence. When I attended Project Zero at Harvard University, I went through an exercise called Parts – Purposes – Complexities.  

    The simplified steps are: Choose an object or system and ask:

    • What are its parts? What are its various pieces or components?
    • What are its purposes? What are the purposes for each of these parts?
    • What are its complexities? How is it complicated in its parts and purposes, the relationship between the two, or in other ways?

    This helps us (and students) slow down and make careful, detailed observations. This is done by looking beyond the obvious features of an object or system to stimulate curiosity and raise questions. When we did this at Project Zero, we were asked to list EVERY SINGLE ITEM in our classroom, and then to question its purpose and its complexity. So many a-ha moments happened from this activity as people really started to question each and every object, and why it was there. They began to see the messages, the periods at the end of the sentences.

    So as you look around your classroom, ask yourself, what messages are you sending? What punctuation is on those messages?

  • Stop Talking About Summer Vacation!

    Stop Talking About Summer Vacation!

    School Days Til Summer

    Write about your summer vacation.

    How many of you wrote on that topic, or something very similar, when you were in school? How many of you wrote about it many, many times? Honestly, I can’t remember a first day of school that did not include a summer vacation activity.

    Now take a moment and ask yourself, what does this focus on summer vacation say about the culture of learning at your school, or in your classroom? More specifically:

    How does this make students feel who don’t have awesome summer stories to share? What about those who depend on school for basic safety and needs like the free lunch program?

    Where is the joy of learning if everyone is counting down to leave school?

    Mark Church, co-author of Making Learning Visible, presented at Harvard’s Project Zero four questions we must consider when looking at the learning transcript. These questions are critical if we are to empower all students to reach their genius potential.
    As Ron Ritchhart, author of Creating Cultures of Thinking and Making Learning Visible explains, students grow into the intellectual life around them (Project Zero break-out session). If the intellectual life is reduced to a “how many days until summer?”mentality, then is it any surprise teachers need to remind students that they release the students, and not the bell?
    Let’s flip the transcript… I suggest Lakeshore Learning create a sign that says “X Days of Awesome Learning Have Taken Place This Year.” Let’s show students that we value them, we value learning, and we value the time we get to spend with them igniting their genius.