The following is an open letter to Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner.
Coming from the world of finance as you do, and having little or no first-hand experience with the day-to-day workings of a school or a classroom, it occurred to me that you might appreciate hearing from an award-winning veteran teacher. Here are 10 strategies that improved student outcomes in my fifth-grade classroom.
1. Encourage students to practice conversation. When Kevin solves a difficult math problem, tell Emma to compliment him. If Emma is too shy or embarrassed to voice a compliment, tell her exactly what to say.
“That was impressive, Kevin. I’m proud of you.” Tell Kevin to respond, “Thank you, Emma. That means a lot coming from you.”
In a world in which most people spend their waking hours staring at screens and communicating through cyber-space, elementary school teachers have a unique opportunity to help students develop social awareness and communication skills.
2. Every two weeks students should memorize and recite a poem. “Memorization trains the mind to pay attention and focus intensely,” says William Klemm, professor of neuroscience at Texas A & M. It also “trains the brain to develop learning and memory schemas that facilitate future learning.”
I suggest starting with Emily Dickinson’s “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers,” Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Litany” by Billy Collins.
3. Every history lesson should be augmented with maps. Not the big pull-down maps that some teachers have in the front of the classroom, but rather individual maps that students can unfold at their desks and study in detail.
Seeing the geography, the distances involved, the routes taken and the obstacles will give students a more vivid contextual framework. Maps allow teachers to strike a blow for both cartographic literacy and historical understanding.
4. “Let’s put on a show” are five of the most exciting words a student can hear. Teachers must tap into that excitement. Every class should perform at least one play or musical, ideally one that is rich in curricular content.
We need no peer-reviewed study to tell us that if you sing it and act it, you remember it. Why limit this superb teaching tool to drama class? Why not use music, dance and drama to deliver content throughout the curriculum?
There’s also the fact that some students who struggle in the classroom excel on the stage. Let’s give these kids a chance to grab the spotlight and shine.
5. No sitting for more than 45 minutes at a time. The detriments of a sedentary school day are numerous. Five minutes of stretching and aerobics is an ideal break.
For the first two minutes and 20 seconds, put on Frank Sinatra and the Nuggets singing, “Two Hearts, Two Kisses.” That’ll get the room rockin’.
6. Math, history and science lessons should be reinforced with art. Don’t just read about the distributive property, illustrate it; same with photosynthesis. In history, think about a way to depict, say, the separation of church and state or the process of judicial review. Whenever possible, teachers should marry the mental with the manual.
7. Students should write every day … with pencil and paper. The act of writing should become as routine as breathing.
Here’s one way to implement a creative writing program: Give students three words: poodle, policeman, waterfall, or grandma, umbrella, kitchen. Allow 20 minutes to write a story using these words.
No matter what career a student embarks upon, a good writer will always stand out.
8. Starting in third grade, students should read novels, not skimpy story excerpts from a publisher’s reading series. Prize-winning writer Marilynne Robinson says, “There is something about being human that makes us love and crave grand narratives … this is one means by which important traditions are preserved and made in effect the major dialects of their civilizations.”
Let’s give our students more “grand narratives”—Homer, Huck Finn and Harry Potter all fit the bill.
9. Put pianos in every classroom and offer piano lessons (and salary points) to teachers willing to learn or improve. If a teacher can’t play a few basic chords, chances are that one or more students can.
Begin every school day with 20 minutes of singing and dancing. Students can even sing the “Pledge of Allegiance.” According to researchers at Harvard Medical School, music engages not only our auditory system, but parts of the brain responsible for movement, language, attention, memory and emotion.
10. Get all digital devices out of classrooms and move them into a computer lab that students visit once or twice a week. It’s high time we face the fact that Silicon Valley has pulled off a massive con job and that computer-based learning is an oxymoron.
After nearly three decades in the classroom, I have yet to see one example of a digital device doing a better job than I do teaching a lesson, reinforcing a concept, inspiring a student or initiating a discussion.
Let me close by saying that we teachers are all in the business of delivering content. The best teachers are the ones who find ways to deliver content in ways that are creative, compelling and memorable.
Jeff Lantos
Former Marquez Fifth-Grade Teacher
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