Monthly Archives: October 2012

Oct 31 2012
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Reading, Writing

How much time should students get?

There is a short but interesting post over at Education Week that considers the question of how much time students should have on exams and assignments. The teacher essentially argues students should have as much time as they need and sees timed assessments as an artificial construction that doesn’t mirror real life tasks. True. However, as those of us in Texas can attest, there is a dark side to allowing students to take “as much time as they need.”

The state exam for Texas, known as the TAKS, permitted students to spend the entire school day on 40 – 50 multiple choice question exams. Some schools went a step further and forbid students to even turn in a completed exam until 2 in the afternoon on testing days in order to ensure they took their time and checked over their work. As a teacher, these were some of the most physically grueling (teachers couldn’t sit down, I was even given a pedometer once and encouraged to compete for the “most steps taken throughout the testing day”) and mentally lobotomizing days of my teaching career. Most students did take their time and usually finished just before lunch for a total of 4 hours testing. Once I had a student stay at school till 10:00pm finishing an exam because, she later said, she wanted to see how late we would let her stay. Students as young as 3rd grade were kept in the same room all day (lunch was eaten in the room) and only allowed out for monitored restroom breaks.

In addition to these ridiculous extremes the “as much time as necessary” approach led to measurable reductions in Texan students’ ability to perform on timed tests like AP exams and the SAT. I wonder though if the issue here isn’t with the time allotment but rather with the value and emphasis placed on these high-stakes exams? What if the same effort was dedicated to more rigorious academic tasks like conducting an authentic scientific experiment, writing a historical paper using a local museum archive, or learning how to file a tax return for a cupcake shop?  Or what if, God forbid, the same energy was spent on creative tasks like playing an instrument, painting a mural or choreographing a modernist take on the Nutcracker?

My thinking here really crystalized when I became a mother. I thought, “There is no way I will ever allow my daughter to sit for 8 hours in the same classroom with the single task of completing 50 multiple choice questions. It is simply inhumane.” So what can we do? Here some thoughts I’ve had:

  • Advocate for appropriate time limits for your students: Often the problem is not enough time as opposed to the TAKS situation. Teachers play a critical role in ARD meetings by advocating students with IEPs receive the time they need to be successful. Additionally, adapting a flexible or at least scaffolded approach to timed assessments can also help students who struggle with timing be more successful.
  • Make sure students are aware of time during an exam: Project a time on the front of your room or give students time updates by calling out minutes remaining or writing the time on the board. Encourage students to wear watches on exam days.
  • Lead your class in stretches before, during and after the exam: Sitting for such a long time is simply unhealthy. Help students – regardless if an exam is timed or untimed – by leading a class-wide stretching session. Roll the head, shoulders, do a few back twists and finish with some jumping jacks to get the blood flowing.
  • If time is inflexible (as with a state exam or the ACT) practice, practice, practice: The more realistic and authentic you can make practice exams the better. Time should play a central role in practicing for any timed high stakes exam. Students should get the feel of what the time limit for a particular exam is and should know, for example, how many questions to have answered by 1 hour in to the exam and what to do if they are running behind or if they have extra time.
  • If this all sounds crazy, have your child, or a child you love, opt-out: There is a time and place for standardized testing but many believe the pendulum has swung too far. It used to be considered fringe and radical but more and more parents are refusing to allow their children to participate in low-rigor, high-emphasis state tests. As with all civil disobedience there is a right and a wrong way to do this but I think there is potentially a lot of power in parents and students taking a stand through respectful non-compliance. Check out this website for more resources.

How do you handle timed assessments in your classroom?

Oct 30 2012
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Student Motivation, Writing

The Teaching Test: Feedback, Reflection, & Movin’ On

I recognize the critical role standards and high-stakes testing have played in bringing educational accountability to schools that failed communities year after year. However state assessments do not provide useful feedback for students or teachers; the goal is to “pass” not to improve or grow or reflect critically. While we certainly must equip students to pass these exams we must also provide them with substantive feedback, opportunities to reflect, and the chance to construct a path forward towards additional growth.

Providing Feedback: I find the key component here is to assess based around a clear, pre-established criteria such as a rubric, set of objectives, or benchmark paper. When grading students’ performance provide them with a highlighted or annotated rubric showing where they could improve and where they have already succeeded. Strong feedback can never be a simple grade because a mere number or letter does not enable a student to improve her performance in the future. One way to do this with a multiple choice style exam is to collect the answer document (scantron) from the student but let them keep the test. Then immediately give them a copy of the key with explanations for each correct answer choice as well as links to the objectives (see below).

Students should grade themselves, track their objective mastery progress, and then reflect on how they could score higher in the future. This instant feedback will create a learning via testing experience as well as eliminate the “Have you graded it yet?” phenomenon.

Opportunities to Reflect: It is tempting to never talk about a test or paper once it is passed back and in the grade book; however, a graded exam can be a powerful teaching tool. One quick way to do this is to grade a sample essay or exam in front of the class while students attempt to grade their own or follow along on a sample. Have them predict what they think they will earn on their exam and then pass out graded exams. Students should then reflect on the differences in grading between their self-assessment and the grade you assigned. I keep all exams in a binder with the students name on it on a big book shelf in my classroom. When we pass back exams or papers students grab their binder, inset the exam and then fill out tracking and reflection sheets. They track the fluctuations in score, the mastery of skill objectives and the accumulation of knowledge. The graph below is my quiz tracker that allows students to see their progress over time as well as whether or not they have met the passing mark (Goal Line) for each quiz. I also have a Danger Line to let students know when they are at an unacceptable performance level that will require after school tutorial and quiz re-takes.

Constructing a Path Forward: I have learned that students must believe they can and are getting better at the subject you teach because if they believe they “just aren’t good at X” or that they will inevitably fail your class then it is only a matter of time before they become noncompliant or even a huge behavior problem. Each assessment should show students exactly where they need to improve their performance. It is worth it to take some time to elaborate on specific steps students can take to do better on each particular objective or skill you are trying to teach. See below for an example reflection sheet for my Historical Investigations:

 

Although it can take some extra time and effort to make tests, even life-sucking standardized tests, become teaching tools it is ultimately well worth the effort. What do you do in your classroom to ensure students learn from summative assessments?

Oct 29 2012
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Student Motivation

Germs vs. Teacher

Apart from nurses and doctors, no other profession is armed with the germ-butt kicking antibodies teachers develop due to our wide and consistant exposure to each illness de jour. However, sometimes our germ defenses fail us and we succumb to sickness; and tis the season colleagues! I am writing this post through a fog of aches and snot . . . I’ll spare you the details but will pass on my tips for preventing and dealing with illness:

  • Drink lots and lots of water. I think this is the number one key to beating off illness. Do your best to get in those obligatory eight glasses and you will be well on your way towards a healthy winter.
  • Get your sleep on. When you miss an hour or two of sleep it begins to add up in what is called a sleep deficit. Take some time this weekend (you’ll have an extra hour Sunday night!) to pay some of that deficit off. I realize thus far my tips are painfully obvious but hydration and rest are the cornerstones of avoiding the germs of sick children swarming around you all day long.
  • Airborne. I know research shows this stuff has no measurable effect but it totally works for me. Several years ago I went over to a friend’s house for some indian tacos (so so so good) hand-made by his visiting mom. Turns out his mom not only made some darn good fry bread, she was also the principal at a successful Navajo elementary school. I was coming down with a little cold and she absolutely sang the praises of Airborne. We went home that night with extra fry bread, two bottles of Airborne, and a devotion to what is likely a placebo product.
  • Shake the kids hands, don’t use Germex but do wash your hands before your eat and at the end of the day. Some of my more cautious colleagues leave off with the hand shaking once flu season gets into full swing. They set out the bottles of disinfectant and demand sick kids keep their distance. I take what I call the “inoculation” approach; expose yourself to the germs to build up resistance. To each his own . . .
  • If you do get sick, for petesake STAY HOME. I used to believe I was honor bound to show up to school every single day and I thought if I didn’t the world would literally fall apart. The truth is your students will not only be fine without you they will be less likely to get sick if you keep your contagens at home. We need to help each other out on this one colleagues; if your buddy comes to school sick empower her to get her butt back home. Sometimes we just need permission to do what we know is actually best for ourselves. Don’t be the source of an epidemic, stay home (or at least take a 1/2 day).

What other advice do you have for teachers hoping to avoid or get through school-borne sickness?

Oct 25 2012
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Classroom Visits

Ms. Casey’s Classroom

One of my first encounters with the amazing Nik Casey involved her standing on a table in a cowboy hat leading a group of teachers in rousing chants and cheers. Her energy was infectious then and it is clearly evident today in her classroom. After many years as a successful science teacher Nik switched to English. Her approach is innovative and compelling – thank you for sharing your classroom Nik!

Where do you teach? Denver School of Science and Technology in Colorado

Who are your students? 9th Graders

What do you teach? Humanities (essentially, English with a flare of history and a focus on social justice issues)

“This is the entrence to my classroom with the most important items. Handouts are always placed on this table for the day and students pick them up on the way into class – routine. To the far left is the ‘Make-up Bin’ and to the far right at the corner of the table is the ‘Homework Bin.’ In center is always a stapler and tape – for those last minute submissions that need some organization.”

‘How to Enter the Classroom’ instructions. Trust me, freshmen needs this. . .

Our Library – a cozy must!

Describe your teaching style in one word: Capricious

Ms. Casey’s paraphernalia.

“Hands, Stand, and On Demand” system. ‘ Hands’ is straight forward, for ‘Stand’ you cold-call, and for ‘On Demand’ wacky photos that represent vocabulary words.

What is your go-to literacy strategy? The Art of Close Reading (click here for more info). *Nik also sent along the handouts and power points she uses to introduce herself and her classroom systems to her students during the first three days of school:

Desk arrangement in what I call “debate style” with two sides of the classroom facing each other. Vocabulary cards are on the desks.

Vocabulary Cards – a word, its definition and an awesome picture/photo to help a student remember the meaning of the word (tackling all five of the human senses) is located at each table seat throughout the classroom. We use this to learn the words via tactile activities.

This is last year’s ‘Where I’m From Wall’ – it is about my students, all about them. It includes their “Where I’m From” poems, posters.

This year, I changed the “Where I’m From Wall;” students now come up with at least 40 descriptive, juicy words that represent who we are and these words were then used to create a Word Cloud on Tagxedo. Kids loved it! I taught imagery as the standard to drive this activity. This is an example of what one of my students created. All of this places special focus on the idea of one’s identity and what affects or molds us into who we are and who we choose to be.  This unit’s essential question is: “where does our sense of identity come from?”  In the following units, we focus on a different essential question in regards to one’s identity – what impacts it and how we impact others, our community, our world ect.  Essentially, I have carefully planned each question to mesh gracefully with each text or Literature Circle Unit I teach.

How do you build student motivation in your classroom? Snazzy hooks.  Rigor.  More rigor.  Inspiration.  Passion.  Lots of passion.  TEDx.  Iron Poetry Competition.  Guest Speakers: Holocaust Survivors, Refugees, New York Times Best Sellers.  Oh, and creating FUN.

This is my visual culture wall containing some of the key concepts/skills the need to master throughout the year.

I keep my Mandatory Tutoring List posted by the door. I also have the seating chart up so I don’t have to repeat myself – I just point.

These are examples of one of the major projects we do in Humanities known as the Poetry Chapbook (five different kinds of poem assessed on ten different standards, all free verse, with the freedom or designing the book format in whatever form).

Close-up of the cool ‘record’ chapbook.

Inside the frame is a letter/card that my high school English teacher gave me – thanking me for the piece I wrote for him in his honor; also, there is a clipping about the teacher of the year award he received in Michigan and photos from his classroom. He is the reason why I teach or, what got me into teaching.

‘About Me Boxes’ – super cool project. Students create a box of some sort (I’m very open to size and shapes) and decide what they want to reveal about themselves that is reflected in their writing – for example, some students keep their boxes shut because they don’t want others to know what they can’t see. . .

‘Be Bold’ is our class motto. From the quote: “Think Big. Be Bold. Drive change.” I use the awesome organization, “Echoing Green” as a sound board for our classroom. Pennants of colleges/universities add a nice reminder as well. Using board space well is key to student success. Here we have: Daily Agenda, Do Now, and Homework Assignment.

The quotation is from Henry Miller.

Oct 25 2012
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Classroom Visits, Student Motivation

Tagxedo

What Tagxedo spit out for The Sacred Profession – I picked the shape and colors

I wanted to share a cool resource from this weeks classroom tour (coming later this afternoon!) teacher Nik Casey. She turned me on to a site called Tagxedo which lets you either take websites, articles or type in words and produce images like the one above I made by inputing this blog’s website. A world of ideas opened in terms of classroom applications. You could use the site as a means for students to share information about themselves in a public way (see an example in Ms. Casey’s classroom tour later today). You could also use images of authors and historical figures to create a nice visual/verbal description (see below).

Or of current events:

So many ideas. Check it out and if you come up with something awesome please share it with us! Thanks Nik!

Oct 24 2012
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Reading, Writing

What to do with a half day? Symposium!

 

Does your school have those quirky days where students come for just the morning? Do half days pop-up just before a holiday break or for extended professional development in the afternoons?  At my former school we struggled with how to use this day effectively. Cutting classes down to 25 – 30 minute whirlwinds was crazy but at the same time we wanted to make sure we maximized learning time. A couple of my colleagues and I came up with the idea of conducting mixed grade level reading, discussion and writing seminars called symposiums.

Because our school is an International Baccalaureate (IB) school we centered each symposium around one of the IB Learner Profile traits:

We selected Risk-takers as our first trait and then crafted a central question to frame the readings and discussion within the symposium: What is a good risk? We wanted to build a session that started with an ice-breaker, included both collaborative and independent reading time, whole and small group discussion, as well as independent writing time. We choose the following texts for our Risk-takers symposium:

Text Genre Synopsis
“The Road Not Taken” Robert Frost Poetry The famous poem about taking “the road less traveled by”
“Woman Hollering Creek” Sandra Cisneros Short Story A young woman leaves her family in Mexico to get married to a man in Texas; he treats her terribly and she is faced with another decision
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter King defends his decision to come to Birmingham – even though it landed him in prison
“Reviving Ophelia” Mary Pipher Nonfiction Pipher explains her research that shows how girls become less and less confident in school when they enter middle school
“After Long Decline, Teenage Pregnancy Rate Rises” Tamar Lewin Newspaper This article looks at the trend of increased teenage pregnancy and interviews experts on the subject(see link below)
Frieda Kahlo Artwork  Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair, 1940 and Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940

If you would like the full teacher and student guide for the Risk-takers symposium it can be downloaded here. The discussion with my group of 20 9th – 12th grade students was lively, fun and informed by the texts. It was a great way to incorporate both fiction and non-fiction texts into a source-based discussion and writing experience for students. It also allowed students to get to know kids from other grade levels which helped get at some cross-grade tension we were experiencing. I enjoyed watching my 12th grade students take the lead on answer and posing questions during our discussion time as well as help clarify misunderstandings during group work.

The downside was us teachers spent from 8 – 12 without so much as a bathroom break; however, I have had years where my planning period isn’t until the last period and I run that schedule anyways. The upside was one collective planning effort served as lesson plans for the entire high school. At any rate, it was a whole lot better than movies and class parties!

Anyone else have an innovate approach to half days?

 

Oct 23 2012
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Student Motivation

Guest Blogger: Reviewing Math Problems for Understanding

The best professional development I’ve had has come from having the privilege of working with outstanding colleagues. Who needs to go to trainings when you have an amazing teacher right down the hall? One of these great teachers is Dianne Allan Garcia who is not only a genius (MIT and Harvard), an award-winning and results getting teacher (crazy percentage of AP Calculus passing rates – think Jamie Escalante), but also one of the most kind and caring people I know. I am so honored to introduce her as a guest blogger on The Sacred Profession . . . Thanks Dianne!

“In my early years of teaching I [thought]….becoming a good teacher meant mastering a set of delivery techniques and knowing all the answers to my students’ questions. In those years it had not yet occurred to me that good teaching hinged upon what I knew and understood about the learners themselves and about how learning happens.”

– Mark Church, teacher, as quoted in Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners, p. 9

When I reflect on my first five years of teaching, I realize that my biggest missed opportunity in helping students develop mathematical understanding and proficiency was the time spent in class going over the answers to problems they had just worked on. I would usually talk through the problem step by step while writing the work out and then ask if anyone had any questions. Meanwhile, students who had gotten the problem right tried not to nod off while they had to listen to it again and students who had made an error had no idea what they did wrong and just copied in the right answer.

A few years of observing math classrooms made me realize that I had to completely reframe my approach to problem review. Instead of getting to the right answer, I now see reviewing problems as a way to uncover student misconceptions, help students understand what they did wrong, and give them an opportunity to practice explaining their thinking. Now that I’m back in the classroom part-time, I’m finding ways to make this happen and watching the magic as students engage in rich discussions about things they don’t understand. Here are some strategies that I’ve been practicing to review problems more effectively:

  • Show the answers right away. Remember the goal is not to explain the steps that you did and go through each problem. It’s to figure out as quickly as possible who made errors where and to start talking about them.
  • Write and discuss the most common mistake that you saw. Especially as you begin this process, students might not feel comfortable admitting that they made a mistake so I will often walk around as they’re checking their work and then I will say, “Here’s what I saw a few people write for problem x…what’s going on there? What are they thinking? Is this a valid approach? Why? Or why not?”
  • Ask questions to search for misunderstandings and encourage the process. I often use questions like: Which ones do you want to review? Who got a different answer? Who solved it differently? I also encourage and praise students who contribute a mistake that they made. I’ll tell them that’s a really common error that I’ve seen or that I made that mistake too when I first tried the problem (sometimes, I’ll admit, I’ve said this even when it’s not true!). Teach your students that the discussion is more important than having the right answer.
  • Make mistakes and put up wrong answers on purpose. Unpredictability promotes engagement and critical thinking so every once in a while I will purposely put up a wrong answer and then go through the standard questions (Who got something different? What did you do differently?…and, eventually, what mistake did I make? How do you know?).
  • Ask multiple students to re-explain the same idea in their own words. Once you’ve started uncovering misunderstandings and discussing where students went wrong, students should start making connections and developing new understandings. When this happens, I will often call on several students to re-explain the idea in their own words or will ask an analogous question of a few different students to make sure everyone’s gotten it.
  • Have students write in words their new understanding, preferably in a brightly-colored marker. After the discussion, I ask them to write what they just learned on their sheet or on a separate learning log. I remind them that writing it out in words is going to help them remember for next time, especially when you write it in marker. (This is not research-based, just my opinion really…and writing things in marker is fun!)

What other strategies have you used to review problems and promote understanding in your math classroom?

Oct 22 2012
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Student Motivation

Eating the Marshmallow Might Be A Good Idea If You’re Poor

Chances are you have heard of the Stanford marshmallow experiment in which researchers looked at the ability of 4 year-olds to delay gratification. The 1960s experiment involved setting a marshmallow in front of  the child and telling him or her they could either eat the marshmallow or wait 15 minutes and get a second marshmallow. Researchers have tracked these children over the years and found that the child’s ability to wait predicted their future success in high school, in college and even in forming stable families, marriages, and careers.

When I read this study years ago I immediately saw the connections for my classroom. Delayed gratification was the key to getting 100% of my students to achieve academically! I taught the study to my students and likened waiting for the marshmallow to choosing to study for the AP or state exam; not immediately satisfying but more beneficial in the long run. I made a poster with the slogan “Don’t Eat the Marshmallow . . . Yet!” for my classroom and passed out marshmallows on the day of the exam. My buddy, Melissa Barkin (whose beautiful classroom can be seen here) designed her classroom motivation system around this study; she put “Don’t Eat the Marshmallow” on all of her handouts and referenced the study often.

This month a new study by the University of Rochester added a twist to the Marshmallow Test (thanks to Melissa for sending it to me!). Children were given the Marshmallow Test after a series of experiences where they were promised a reward if they waited. Half of the children received the rewards if they waited, the other half were told “there weren’t enough supplies” or some other excuse and were not giving the promised reward; then came the Marshmallow Test. Children who actually received the promised reward wait on average four times longer (ex. 12 minutes instead of 4) during the Marshmallow Test than children were not given a promised reward. Researches concluded:

“Delaying gratification is only the rational choice if the child believes a second marshmallow is likely to be delivered after a reasonably short delay,” [study author Celeste Kidd] said. Self control isn’t so important, it seems, if you don’t think there’s anything worth controlling yourself for.”

As someone who teaches students from predominately low-income backgrounds, the implications of this student were as staggering as they were obvious. Students with a history of disappointment – whether from the harsh inequalities of poverty and/or the disfunction of adults in their lives – will eat a Marshmallow if it is placed in front of them because they have learned not to trust an unseen reward. This reality is so obvious and intuitive we have saying built around it: “A bird in hand is better than two in the bush.” If delaying gratification is critical for long-term success how can we help instill this trait into our students if life outside of school (and often inside school) is teaching them the exact opposite?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JsQMdECFnUQ

Oct 19 2012
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Education Policy

Survive Suctober

October is the month of crisp weather, turning leaves, and depressed teachers. A month with no national holidays and no end in sight; October is so far from June. It’s the point in the school year where the honeymoon period is over and students are earnestly pushing boundaries as far as possible. But this slump can be overcome! Here are my go-to survival tips for Suctober:

  • Take a Wednesday off: I recommend this coming Wednesday because the third week of October is the worst. Wednesdays are particularly decadent because you can’t go out of town or do anything three-day-weekend-spectacular worthy – you just read, watch TV, or (let’s be honest) sleep. Your students will be fine without you and in fact, they will have a better teacher because you will return to them rested and eager to do it again. RESIST the temptation to make this a “catch up day” and grade or plan. Do not do it. Rest.
  • Watch your favorite movie: If you have a particularly bad day you should watch your favorite movie. Maybe not all the way through but at least a nice little chunk of it. Subsequently, in our house, October is the month of Jason Bourne and You’ve Got Mail (no judging my husband for loving a Meg Ryan flick . . . ok so that’s me).
  • Stop paying close attention to the news: I am not advocating ignorance here but there is no question ignorance can bring a little bliss. My rule lately is I listen/read until I become angry or disgusted which, in an election year, is pretty darn fast.
  • Exercise: Go for a run or walk or whatever you do to get the endorphins flowing.
  • Avoid talking to negative people at work: Typically you can handle Ms. Negative in the teachers lounge however in October she is toxic. It may feel good to indulge in a little talk about how your school is the very source of evil but it will bring you down in the long run. In fact October might be a good time to just avoid hanging out with too many teachers. Even the best of us are feeling crappy.
  • Remind yourself why this work is sacred: Tap into the reasons why you became a teacher. Hang an inspirational quote about being a teacher in your classroom. Tell your students you have the best job in the world. Watch a cheesy, teacher glorifying movie. Take 10 minutes of class to have students write a thank you note to one of their teachers.
  • Really, really try hard to keep nights and weekends work free: This is tricky but it’s possible. One approach is to dedicate an entire Saturday or Sunday to catching up on grading and planning. Then follow a weekly schedule to keep ahead of yourself. Some of the darkest moments of my life have been October mornings battling the copy machine and the clock. For more advice about keeping a reasonable work-life balance click here.

How do you combat Suctober blues?

 

Oct 18 2012
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Education Policy, Student Motivation

Uniforms: An easy way out of character education?

Recently I had a pass-out-it-is-so-good pupusa lunch made by one of my dearest friends. Over lunch we talked about how four of her children are doing in school this fall. It was good reports all around but my soft-spoken friend talked about how difficult it was for the family to purchase a specific, and expensive, brand of kaki pants mandated by the school’s newly updated uniform policy. Because they could not buy the pants some of her children had been assigned detention in which they were required to pick up trash around campus. My friend was told requiring a particular brand of pants was a means of preventing bullying. I have known this family for a decade and asking the school for either charity or an exception from the rule is not an option. I imagined her respectful, hard-working children walking around the campus after school picking up garbage instead of doing homework or practicing volleyball. I imagined the jeers of their classmates, the inevitable jokes that come with public shame. Bullying prevention indeed.

I understand why schools implement uniforms: it builds culture, it is an equalizer, it eliminates some of the distractions of  teenage preening, it makes for a respectful looking student body, and it provides visual order that often translates into on-task behavior. I am currently reading How Children Succeed by Paul Tough (book review to come!) and it is making me think deeply about the ways we teach character to our students. Does wearing a uniform build the traits necessary for success Tough writes about like grit, self-control, zest, social intelligence, and curiosity? I find the strictest uniform codes are at college preparatory campuses – both public charters and traditional private prep schools. However, prep schools often have uniforms like this:

Male students at Philips Exeter, the high school of Presidents . . . and don’t they look it!

Blazers and ties comprise the base of a uniform that actually prepares students for a real world job. Whereas in public charter schools, particularly those made up of predominately low-income minority students, uniforms often look more like this:

While certainly respectful and clean-cut, these students look more ready to take my order at Burger King than to be my future doctor or lawyer. Full discolosure: I have a good amount of cognitive dissonance around this issue. I have enforced and defended a dress code similar to the one depicted above. However, it was always unnerving when we would have “professional dress days” and girls would come to school looking ready for the club while boys would show up in the morning without a tie (there wasn’t a tie in their house) or unable to tie it if they had one. My colleagues and I would sigh in exasperation and cross our fingers they would figure it out before an important job interview. How authentically college-preparatory is a school that isn’t explicitly teaching and giving students the chance to practice dressing appropriately?

As for the cool-kids-wear-Abercrombie-and-Fitch-and-you-don’t-so-you-suck phenomenon it seems like uniforms are an inappropriately indirect way to teach tolerance and respect. It’s like the Kurt Vonnegut short story Harrison Bergeron about a distopian future where beautiful people are required to wear masks, athletic people to wear chains, and quick thinkers to wear earpieces filled with shrieking bells that interrupt their thoughts. Uniforms do not eliminate socioeconomic inequalities in our students. More importantly, students from low-income backgrounds who go to college will inevitably encounter peers who are expensively dressed and might even be dismissed for their own cheap clothing.

What can we do to address these touchy questions of income inequality, professional dress, and bullying in our own classrooms? Here are some ideas I use in my own classroom:

  • Model professional dress: My husband, the 8th grade science teacher, refuses to wear jeans and a t-shirt on Fridays (or if he must he wears a blazer over it). He wears a tie and slacks everyday and makes a point of telling his students he does so because he respects them. Lord knows I have certainly taught in jeans (and not just on Fridays . . . more like my entire last trimester both times I was pregnant) but I do try to put a little effort into dressing like the serious professional I hope to be (more tips on teacher dress here).
  • Provide opportunities to teach professional dress: Field trips, college visits, guest lectures, important class presentations all merit special attire. Teach students how to dress appropriately and then have them practice doing so. Make sure to give feedback when dress is both appropriate (“You look like a future president!”) and inappropriate (“The length of that skirt does not match the serious, intelligent woman you are and want to be perceived as.”) Even if you teach in a school with a strict non-preparatory dress code ask your principal if you can have an exception for professional dress a few times in a year (more if you teach seniors).
  • Speak openly about social inequality: Although we often tip-toe around the realities of poverty at school our students live with it in blunt, everyday ways. Find natural ways to talk about poverty and engineer situations (via readings or speakers or lessons) to teach students about the innate dignity of all people regardless of income.
  • Do not tolerate bullies: Immideiately assign consequences for any and all disrespectful behavior. Directly address clothing discrepancies. Make it known that you do not value your students for the price of their clothing but for the content of their minds and character. Tell stories about how what is fashionable will come and go. Compare a 2012 A&F hoodie to a 3 foot powdered wig from 1760.
  • Check out the gold mine that is Teaching Tolerance: This organization has so so many resources on exactly this topic and they are so power and so well-made. Check it out!

How do you teach tolerance in your classroom? What are your thoughts on uniforms?

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