Stumbling Blocks to Success

Barbara McSwain
Mar 15, 2010

Years ago, I noticed a colleague that was always busy. This person reminded me of a gerbil on a wheel...always going around and around, but never arriving at a desired destination. At times it appeared as if a larger and more expensive wheel was purchased, but with the same results. As I observe schools and wonder on almost a daily basis if there is a real sense of urgency present, I think not. There are 3 Big Problems that are rarely addressed in education.

First, like my friend on the wheel, everyone is busy being busy! Busy work is: Grading, meeting without focus, too many faculty meetings, bus duty, obsessing and worrying, filling out forms, dealing with discipline, gossiping, straightening. In this type of environment rarely is learning occurring. Recently I heard a complaint that a teacher's planning time had been used for planning lessons of all things! Productive work is: Collaborative Planning, organizing for learning, standards driven curriculum, instructing for learning, assessing for learning, and making connections.

As educators we must realize that the difference between productive work and busy work is that productive work provides quality learning opportunities at all time. The busy work has to be taken care of but it cannot become the focus of the day.

The second biggest problem is somewhere along the way we lost common sense. We have all heard that "common sense is not so common anymore" but we have not addressed the issue. Why do we try something on an intermittent basis with no real commitment and then exclaim "this does not work at my school." We are unique, you know? Do they really make students and homes differently? Do we have teachers that only do what the text tells them and never check to see if they are aligned with state standards by actually comparing the online state standards with the texts? Or do we just take the publishers word that the texts are aligned. Is the text meeting the standard that by 2011 that the target is 75% higher level thinking on state and national tests? Are we failing to address the Extending Thinking issue? Are we still trying to teach students what to think and not how to think? Are we still allocating time for non-essentials? Every minute that I devote as a teacher to non-essentials is one minute lost to essential state standards content. What if my builder chose to include non-essentials that I had not included in my blue prints for a house? What is the difference? How many of us have been conditioned to the "one day training: do what you will with it and then forget it syndrome?" Training is not the complete answer. Certainly we need guidance on research based strategies, but it is what we do with it when we return to our classrooms that ultimately makes the difference. As Ron Edmonds has stated, "WE can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need to know in order to do that. Whether or not we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact we haven't so far."

Common sense is allowing ourselves to make mistakes but maintain consistency in how we use and apply the LEARNING-FOCUSED Model. We must use all of our available resources to develop plans for learning. This includes our fellow teachers as well as manipulatives and print materials. All lessons and standards do not need the same amount of devotion in relationship to time. We must prioritize lessons and units in order to allocate time for acquiring knowledge and extending thinking on the most essential concepts and skills. It is imperative that we allocate time for what will have the greatest positive impact on student learning. Hence, applying what we learn in workshops/training consistently and pervasively is far more important than the training itself.

The third and final problem is the belief in a magic bullet. There is not a quick fix to increase student achievement. This often leads to the gerbil on the wheel, Christmas tree approach. More is better should not be the mantra. Less is often more. While in some settings "one size fits all" programs may appear to work for the short term, most often schools do not get the long term results that they desire because these programs do not address the basic principles of learning.

Learn more about this and other terrific principles in The Amazing Book of Connections for Learning.

I want to strongly recommend that leaders attend training and use the LEARNING-FOCUSED Starting and Sustaining Exemplary Practices notebook. Starting and Sustaining Exemplary Practices will help leaders to identify what to do and when to do it. You will be able to devise a 2-4 year plan to reach Balanced Achievement and exceed your goals. I know that together we can accomplish these goals and avoid the 3 major problems that are stumbling blocks to success!