The Five C's of Education

With so much talk about Common Core Standards, it really makes us as educators evaluate our philosophy of teaching.  What do we want our students to know, master, achieve?

I do like the way the Five C's of Education put it all into a perspective that I can relate to.

The Five C's of Education

Critical Thinking

Creativity

Collaboration

Communication

Character/Citizenship/Civil Awareness

Critical Thinking:

What could be more important than teaching our students to think, rather than simply regurgitate information back at us?  There is an old Chinese proverb that states, "Teachers open the door.  You enter by yourself."   It is certainly time for students to take more responsibility for their learning, and to think through problems, rather than simply give up.  

Creativity

If we have our students think critically, then use their creativity to solve the problems that arise, we are empowering them to be the leaders of our future!  And boy, are we going to need some good leadership!?! Oh yeah!  I find that my students are so much more engaged, and buy in to the assignments or projects if they are allowed to express their own creativity.  This is actually a hard one at first, as students are so used to being spoon fed, and are made to feel that their is only one correct "answer."  But with a little time and practice, creativity soars!

Collaboration

So, once we have our students thinking critically and using their creativity, it is time to have them learn to share their ideas and listen to the ideas of others.  Collaboration at its finest has us taking the best ideas from each of us and putting together a project that is better than any one of us could do alone.  That's the goal, but of course we know that it rarely works that way.  There are those students that are all too willing to sit back and let others do the work, and other students that cannot release any control and want things their own way.  If we don't teach our students to get past these limitations, then collaboration is just an effort of futility rather than a valuable teaching experience.  The problem is, if we don't help our overachievers to stop taking over, we will never get past this dilemma.  The control freaks actually believe they are being better than anyone else in the group, and do not see their behavior as a problem.  We must start there, or there is no hope for true collaboration.  I will meet with these students, make them group leaders, and explain that their job is to be patient and make sure that the work of everyone is included.  There grade will be based on their effectiveness as a leader, rather than solely on the final project.  This frees them to be more open to the ideas of others, and more supportive of their peers.  I find this is critical to building true collaboration in the classroom.

Communication

Once our students are thinking critically, using creativity, and working collaboratively we can begin to have them share their findings with the class.  Speaking & Listening standards are a huge component of the Common Core Standards, and with good reason.  It is not enough to know things if you can't share those thoughts effectively with others.  Our students need to be able to share their ideas, listen to the ideas of others, and be able to differentiate between ideas that are well supported with facts, and unsupported propaganda or biased opinions.

Character

Finally, none of this is any good without good character and ethical behavior.  Our students need to look beyond themselves, and care about others.  At my school, we do an Empowerment Fair to help students find a way to improve their world.  More important than what they actually do, is that they actually care!  Students are allowed to choose their own cause, educate others about the problem, come up with a plan to make a positive difference, and actually work the plan.  The results are amazing, and the students are SO proud!

I really believe that implementing the Five C's into our classrooms, will make a positive difference in our world!  Not just our students should make a positive difference...we should too!

If you are interested in creating your own Empowerment Fair at your school, check out what we do:

Using Depth and Complexity Icons

I Love Using Quotes in the Classroom!

Developing Critical Thinking Skills Using Quotes in the Classroom

I love using quotes in the classroom!  Listening to my students as they formulate ideas and begin to think deeper is one of the true joys of teaching!  I had one of those great moments in my classroom today, and I just had to share it!

I asked my students to take a good look at the poster above - I asked them to think about, but not answer the following questions:

• Is this literal or figurative language?
• With figurative language, imagery is very important - so look at the pictures in this poster.
• Look at the colors - who would these appeal to?
• What do they represent?
• With figurative language there is always symbolism 
• what words are being used to represent something else?  
• What is the theme of this poster?  
• How does this apply to your life?

First I had the students write in there journals, and then we discussed their ideas as a class.

At first I got the kinds of thoughts that I had expected - things like "success is sweet," or "try hard."  One of my students even talked about the different scoops of ice cream being our different goals.  Another student said there is not just one way to approach success, and like Baskin Robbins, there are at least 31 flavors/ways to approach a goal.  If one doesn't work for you just pick a different one!  So cute!!!

Then the students started relating this quote to some of the other quotes in the classroom, making connections and drawing correlations.  One student related this quote to the quote on our bulletin board - "Why not go out on a limb?  Isn't that where the fruit is?"  - drawing correlations between the fruit and the scoops of ice cream. 

But my favorite comment was when a student related the scoops of ice cream to the building blocks of the Pyramid of Success.  He explained that we can not reach a full level of success without all of the various building blocks, and that in this poster there were many different scoops of ice cream - the poster wouldn't look as good without all of the different colors of ice cream scoops.  I just  loved this thinking!  And this from one of my most quiet students, who rarely shares his thoughts!

I love these types of moments!  Just had to share! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Critical-Thinking-and-Figurative-Language-with-Inspirational-Quotes-Mega-Pack-309265

No Child Left Behind - Except the Gifted?

        The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act took effect in 2002 and focuses on improving education for disadvantaged students.  Specifically the law sought to improve student achievement and to hold states and schools more accountable. This law affects what students are taught, the tests they are given, teacher training, and how money is spent on education. 
         With such lofty goals as requiring every child to perform at grade level, scoring proficiency or higher, further requiring all students to graduate high school, and all limited English students to become proficient in English, NCLB tends to level student achievement rather than stimulate further growth for all students. 
          By requiring states to meet these standards, this law pushed schools to pour their limited resources into moving low performing students toward proficiency.  The unintentional result, thereby being a “focus on remediation rather than acceleration.”  (Duke Today, today.duke.edu/2007/02/gifted.oped.html, 2/1/07)
           Are our G/T students victims of this well-intentioned law?  According to an “Education Week,” February 21, 2012 article “Don’t Leave Gifted Students Behind,” students from coast to coast are not progressing, their learning not being commensurate with potential.  The National Assessment of Educational Progress (the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas) states that the achievement for our highest performers has stagnated, while our lowest performing students have made significant gains.  
A report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found a decline in achievement among America’s top students.  This was the first study to examine the performance of our highest achieving children over time, and sought to answer the questions, “Is our obsession with closing achievement gaps and ‘leaving no child behind’ coming at the expense of our ‘talented tenth’ – and America’s future competitiveness?”  “Do students who outscore their peers on standardized achievement tests remain at the top of the pack year after year?”
          The results indicate that NCLB ignores and drives resources from our strongest students.  There were three major findings.  First, while the majority of high achieving students (57.3%) maintained their status over time, a substantial number (30-50%) fell.  Second, most of the descenders did not fall far – most stayed in the 70th percentile or higher.  Finally, high achievers grew at similar rates to low and mid achievers in Math, but at slower rates in Reading. 
While at first glance these findings do not appear alarming, further consideration raises some valid concerns.  Are we okay with allowing 30-50% of our best and brightest to fall over time?  Even if it is true that they do not fall far, there is a huge difference between the 70th percentile and the 90th percentile.  Aren’t these the students that represent our future leaders and problem solvers?  Are we satisfied with allowing these students to wind up among the “above average” – or should our goal be to keep these students among the “top achievers?” 
          The National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) estimates that approximately 6% of U.S. students (K-12) are gifted. Yet, from 1977-2007 less than 1% of federal education dollars was devoted to gifted education.  In 2007 it was .026%.  The NAGC “Why We Should Advocate for Gifted and Talented Students,” states  “Although gifted education programs and services yield increased learning gains for high-ability students, gifted education funding at the state and local levels ebbs and flows with the economy.  14 states allocated less than $500,000 in state funds for gifted programs in 2004-2005.”
          While the Javits Act is a provision of the No Child Left Behind law, and does authorize federal funds for research grants to support programs and services for GATE education, it is simply not enough.  In 2007 the Javits Act received 2.6 cents per $100 of federal education funding, while the IDEA program received nearly $32 per $100!  The “No Child Left Behind” law simply does not put enough federal dollars towards America’s future success! 

Sources:

Duke Today, today.duke.edu/2007/02/gifted.html
    The Children Neglected by No Child Left Behind, February 1, 2007
Written by
    •    Kristen Stephens – A gifted education research specialist at Duke University’s Talent Education Program
    •    Jan Riggsbee – Faculty member of Duke’s Program in Education & Director of Duke’s Gifted Licensure Program

Education Week, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/02/22/21spielhagen.h31.html
    Don’t Leave Gifted Students Behind, February 21, 2012 
Written by Frances R. Spielhagen

www.greatschools.org

National Association of Gifted Children, www.nagc.org

Thomas B. Fordham Institute, September 20, 2011 , www.edexcellence.net/publications/high-flyers.html
    Written by
    •    Robert Theaker
    •    Yun Xiang
    •    Michael Dahlin
    •    John Cronin
    •    Sarah Durant