Director - Tom Jackson
Volume 7 Spring

Testing Doesn’t Make Every Child Succeed”

The “No Child Left Behind” movement is impacting every level of education. Even if testing is not taking place in your grade level or in your specific curriculum, resources are being diverted from you to somewhere else to accommodate the testing. I came across an article from Education Week by John Kaufman who is a former teacher of English. Here is part of the article.

“All the recent emphasis on test scores and accountability in American education – a scientific reaction against a perceived relaxation of standards – is leading both public and private schools into a new age of pedagogical hell. While the bar of what a good education is has indeed been lowered, it is not a bar that can be set at a mathematically measurable height. Our schools are declining because our culture is declining. Facts are necessary for the educing of thought, of course. But now the facts, because they are easily taught and tested for by teachers, administrators, politicians, and taxpayers, have become the only thing that matters. Education is being restricted to the hoarding of data, what is called ‘rote learning’; success is then measured by how many students have memorized (at least for the moment) the required information, as displayed by a test. That is not to say that some rote learning isn’t useful. Spelling and the multiplication tables, for instance, are still best matters of memory, despite the advent of calculators and spell-checking. But the act of memorizing is a solitary act, and we don’t needs schools and teachers solely for that. Encyclopedias contain all the facts any student may need.

"Our most memorable and effective teachers are not those who give us lots of information; the best teachers are the ones who relate knowledge to action, who affect our lives, who converse with us. Teachers who merely present facts (or ideas as fact), and then test to measure memory or indoctrination, are not educating their students. Such teaching turns schools into one big game of trivial pursuits, a game some students have no interest in playing. Without the willingness to sincerely engage the student, to ask questions that are not merely rhetorical, to begin a conversation and follow where it leads, meaningful education does not occur.”

My belief is that this article supports those of you who are using active learning to engage students in their own learning process and helping kids gain much needed life skills. Keep up the good work.

Active Learning in Action

I receive e-mails about active learning from other practitioners working with kids. Kathy Berger from La Crosse, Wisconsin used the topic of active learning as part of her Master’s Thesis. She works at a juvenile detention facility. At my request, Kathy sent me a copy of her Master’s Thesis, “The Impact of Experiential Education in a Juvenile Detention Facility”. The following is a summary of her presentation. I have quoted from her work, but chosen only parts and pieces to present to you. If something doesn’t make sense it is because of my choices, not Kathy’s writings.

“This study explored whether active learning lessons designed with the experiential education model in mind could have an impact on the transitioning of students receiving academic instruction in an urban juvenile detention facility. As educators, the major concerns that we addressed when designing our program were the content (curriculum) and how the content was delivered. Following a district in-service, I became especially interested in Experiential Education. The initial in-service introduced me to activities that developed team-building skills. These activities reinforced the importance of communication, goal setting, and problem solving. My research about the experiential education model had led me to activities designed by Tom Jackson.

"The students at the Juvenile Detention Facility range from grade three to grade eleven. They can be detained for hours, days, weeks, or in rare instances, for months. The students are both males and females from various ethnic backgrounds; including Caucasian, African-American, Native American, and various Asian populations. On average, 46% of the population receives Special Education services. The purpose of the program I work with at the detention facility is to educate juveniles.

"I implemented Active Learning lessons in September, during a half-hour block each Monday of every week. I begin by introducing the topic and the concept for the lesson’s activity. This included an explanation of why the activity is important and instructions for the completion of the activity. The students then participated in the activity which would take about ten minutes to complete. Following the activity, the students would then complete selected discussion questions. I had typed a question sheet for the students and they wrote their responses, as we discussed our observations. The questions were specifically organized so that the students could better understand the purpose of the interactive learning lesson. The topic and the concept were then further reinforced during the teaching week, as they related to the curriculum and the behaviors of the students. When an interactive lesson was completed, I wrote anecdotal comments about my own observations. I commented on how I related the lesson to my teaching week. I also reflected on how I could use the lesson at another time and on how the students responded to the lesson. The reflections made by myself following each lesson indicated that the students had successfully identified the topic of each lesson. The students were able to write specific ways in which the skill taught could be used in other settings and various situations and they were personalizing the lessons. Of 36 evaluations collected at the time these results were documented, three students rated activities as being, “Not Worthwhile”; leaving 33 students rating the activities as, “Very Worthwhile” or “Worthwhile."

"The purpose of implementing Active Learning lessons was to target a key social skill, reflect on the significance of that skill, generalize the skill to other situations and then plan how to apply the skills to real-life situations. When engaged in the interactive lesson, individuals had the opportunity to learn form their experiences. Once a target skill was introduced, I used any opportunity during the week to reinforce this skill. The students were open to hearing what I had to say or what a staff person had to say when we referred to the Active Learning skill for the week. References were seen as non-threatening and as an opportunity to use the skill. I found that classroom instruction progressed much more smoothly with the addition of Active Learning.

"Teaching in a detention facility can be challenging. The Active Learning lessons may have provided that one last opportunity to present skills that can lead to more successful interaction and employment of any one of the students.”

Now let me share with you parts of two e-mails that Kathy sent which more accurately give you the flavor, rather than the facts, of how she uses activities in her program.

January 29, 2004: I teach math and science. Active Learning has been “The Best Practice” for me. We just did the activity “Brain Overload” today to go along with the teaching of neurotransmitters in our biology lesson. Great hook and awesome discussion on the kid’s part. Following an active learning session, I can get the kids to do anything! Active Learning gets the kids off on the right foot. I am so sold on it. My program director let me put this into my teaching curriculum and the outcomes are shared with other school districts.

February 16, 2004: Awesome group in secure lock-up this morning! Thank you. We did the “Crossing the Line” activity and had the best discussion ever. The kids really opened up and got the point and realized that the choice is theirs and really thought about how their decisions affected others in a good way, bringing joy, and in not so good ways, bringing pain.

I thank Kathy for sharing her thoughts and experiences with me and allowing me to share them with you.

Title: Going In Circles

Topic Area: Problem Solving, Working Together

Concept: Knowing how to accomplish a task is not enough to attain success in today’s workplace. Most work situations involve a group effort. This means that working with others is a skill that must be mastered by today’s youth. This activity allows the participants to problem solve a specific challenge and then work together to accomplish the challenge. Communication and teamwork skills will be vital in any successful attempt.

Method: Classroom activity

Time Needed: 10 minutes plus discussion time

Materials Needed:

One rope long enough for each member of the group to grab it with both hands while standing in a circle

A watch with a second hand or a stopwatch

Activity: Before you begin, tie a knot in the rope creating a circle. Lay the rope on the ground in the shape of a circle. Have the participants stand around the outside of the rope circle. Have all of the participants reach down and grab the rope with both hands and bring their hands up to their waist so the rope is at waist level all around the circle.

The challenge of the activity is to see how fast the group can move the knot around the circle. The person holding the knot becomes the starting and ending point. Before you begin, have the group estimate how long they think it will take them to have the knot travel around the circle one time. The rules for passing the knot are that the rope must never touch the ground and every person must be in contact with the rope at all times. This point of contact point can be anywhere from the shoulder to the hand. Only one point of contact is required by each participant. Time their effort and see how close they come to their completion estimate. Allow for additional tries to see if they can improve their time.

There are a number of variations you can have them try.

Instead of one trip around the circle, have them try two circuits.

Have them go one time around in one direction and then immediately go back the other way for a second circuit.

Require them to use only one hand instead of two.

Except for the first person, have the participants close their eyes.

Discussion Ideas:

“What” Questions

How long did our first effort take us?

How close were we to our estimate?

What methods were tried to help reduce our time?

Were any of these methods successful? Which ones?

Were any of these methods unsuccessful? Which ones?

How did the variations change the nature of the challenge?

“So What” Questions

What role did communication play in the challenge?

How does working together help us solve a problem?

How many leaders can there be when trying to solve a problem?

What happens if everyone wants to be the leader?

What happens if no one is willing to assume the role of leader?

How many people in the group contributed to helping solve this challenge?

How can the group be sure that everyone has the opportunity to contribute to the solution?

What happens in a group if everyone is not given a chance to be a contributing member?

What would have happened in this challenge if one or more people purposely tried to slow the rope down?

What steps could the group take when one or more people are not actively helping solve the challenge?

“Now What” Questions

List specific behaviors which show that a group is working together?

List specific behaviors which show that a group is not working together?

Title: Have You Ever?

Topic Area: Diversity, Team Building

Concept: Knowing more about each other helps us to work well together. It is also a factor in recognizing how diverse our population is and being aware of how different yet similar we all are.

Method: Classroom activity

Time Needed: Ten minutes plus discussion time

Materials Needed:

A list of questions

Optional: One chair for each person

Activity: Have your group sit in a circle. They can sit on the floor or you can use chairs formed into a circle. Before the activity begins, prepare a list of questions that would pertain to the age and specifics of your group. See the sample list below. Read the first question from your list. Anyone who meets the criteria of the question will complete the required action. When more than one person ends up at the same place in the circle, they will form up behind the person who is in the chair or at the circle. If you aren’t using chairs, be sure that you don’t lose a space in the circle just because no one is there at the moment. Have the participants keep track of how many places they ended up from where they started.

If you have been outside of the United States, move one place to your left.

If you play a musical instrument, move one place to your right.

If you have pierced ears, move one place to your left.

If you are wearing shoes with shoe laces, move one place to your right.

If you can speak a foreign language, move two places to your left.

If you always wear your seatbelt when in a car, move two places to your right.

If you have ever baked cookies, move three places to your left.

If you have ever flown in an airplane, move three places to your right.

Discussion Ideas:

“What” Questions

How many places did you end up from your original starting place?

Did anyone move after every question I asked?

Did anyone never move?

How easy would it have been to cheat during this activity?

“So What” Questions

Can you tell everything about a person by just looking at them? Why or why not?

What are some of the things that you can tell about a person by just looking at them?

What are some of the things that you can not tell about a person by just looking at them?

In what ways are we all similar? Different? Can you always see these by just looking?

How would our world be if everyone was exactly the same?

What is the difference between being similar and the same?

Is being different from other people a good or bad thing?

What does the word “unique” mean when we are talking about a person?

Should we believe what other people say about someone? Why or why not?

“Now What” Questions

What is the best way to get to know someone?

How do our differences help make our society a better place?

If you would like to have Tom Jackson present at a conference, school district, school or organization, check out the page with information about Tom's speaking. Have Tom Speak. We are booking speaking dates for the rest of 2004 and 2005.