I had heard of the book, Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire, but I have never read a book written by Rafe Esquith. When I spotted this one at this year's Book Fair, I added it to my list, and read it shortly after. I learned a few things about the teacher/author, Rafe Esquith, along the way. First, I learned (outside of this book) that Mr. Esquith is the subject of some controversy with his former school district, but I don't need to consider that in looking for useful information.
Esquith was a teacher in California. He took a non-traditional approach, sponsoring chess clubs and most notably conducting after school Shakespearean theater groups. For the purpose of this book, Esquith relates a time when he took his class on a trip to a professional baseball game.
Esquith was a teacher in California. He took a non-traditional approach, sponsoring chess clubs and most notably conducting after school Shakespearean theater groups. For the purpose of this book, Esquith relates a time when he took his class on a trip to a professional baseball game.
My opinion of the book? It's a mild, opinionated work. There's nothing too deep here, but in it, but it does have its moments. For example:
It seems that we live in a "bottom line" society, where the final score or final grade is all that matters. Exceptional children grow to understand that the journey is everything. It's wonderful to get an A on an exam, but even better to reflect on the studying and learning that led up to the grade. It's exciting to perform a play or concert and hear the cheers from a live audience, but extraordinary children know that the thousands of hours spent rehearsing are actually more meaningful and joyous than the performance itself.
I like this, and I understand it. All my life, I have striven to be different from my peers. I tend to take a different approach. While many want to focus on the science of education (If a child scores n%, then you must differentiate in xyz manner.), we must not lose sight that our students are not numbers. We must add character to our classrooms, and not become lost in the weeds of test scores (predictive, cumulative, formative, summative, common, or otherwise). I also know that educators can use their time more wisely than to constantly enter disaggregated data into endless, complicated spreadsheets. Yes, there is a purpose for data collection, and yes, I need to understand what some of that data means for my students, but no, it does not drive everything I do as an educator.
These days, many well-meaning school districts bring together teachers, coaches, curriculum supervisors, and a cast of thousands to determine what skills your child needs to be successful. Once these "standards" have been established, pacing plans are then drawn up to make sure that each particular skill is taught at the same rate and in the same way to all children. This is, of course, absurd. It gets even worse when one considers the very real fact that nothing of value is learned permanently by a child in a day or two.
Yet this is what happens in schools every year. Districts impose and police sequences for instruction down to the day and the hour. They believe things are best if every student gets exactly the same information at the same time. They put more value on the transient student than on the stable student.
Education gurus, in this manner, talk out of both sides of their mouths. While requiring teachers to rigidly apply lessons, they tout the need for project-based, open-ended, STEM-focused, differentiated instruction. Why is there often no balance in the situation? Only by empowering teachers and students at the forefront - by allowing teachers and students to exercise local control over their instruction and learning - will they truly dream and innovate. If we want our students to think independently and solve their own problems, we must not continue to subscribe to outdated methods of pinning teachers to scripts and common assessments just for the sake of comparing and contrasting students. In the interest of standardizing content and schedules, we undermine every attempt at personality and relationships, and we add stress to an already stressful group of professionals.
Let us do the things that are best for our kids, rather than the things that are best for the spreadsheet.
Education gurus, in this manner, talk out of both sides of their mouths. While requiring teachers to rigidly apply lessons, they tout the need for project-based, open-ended, STEM-focused, differentiated instruction. Why is there often no balance in the situation? Only by empowering teachers and students at the forefront - by allowing teachers and students to exercise local control over their instruction and learning - will they truly dream and innovate. If we want our students to think independently and solve their own problems, we must not continue to subscribe to outdated methods of pinning teachers to scripts and common assessments just for the sake of comparing and contrasting students. In the interest of standardizing content and schedules, we undermine every attempt at personality and relationships, and we add stress to an already stressful group of professionals.
Let us do the things that are best for our kids, rather than the things that are best for the spreadsheet.
