Blog Archives

Education: The Free Market

3/27/2022

by Julie Brock

I do not protest to understand the stock market. Even though Bloomberg runs in the background while my partner in this life checks Robinhood, I am happily ill equipped to invest your money. However, I do like metaphors. Lately I have found myself saying two phrases ad nauseum as they pertain to education:

We must account for the University of Youtube, TikTok, and other social media platforms in credit for prior learning, and
Education does not hold the corner market on knowledge and information

University of YouTube

Is there an actual YouTube University? No. There is a channel named YouTube University, but no, there is not an actual YouTube University. However, think about how many times you have used YouTube to figure out how to change a headlight, remove a stripped screw, or build a retaining wall.

There is valuable information on social media platforms that people are using and gaining knowledge for free and it isn’t just for hobbies. As a college first-year, my son found his way into a physics class that was harder than any class he had previously experienced. He went to office hours, met with the graduate assistants, asked for resources, and at the end of the day, he found an educator on YouTube that explained the material in a way that worked with his learning style. In addition, he learned how to build a chicken coop to code, how to replace his graphics card, and numerous other helpful learnings that he continues to build up in his learning portfolio.

And I ask my higher ed colleagues:

How are we accounting for this learning?
How are we helping students figure out exactly what they know?
How do we know if their learning it is up to standard and give them credit for it?

This matters because students are opting out of higher education. According to the Minnesota Student Longitudinal Data Set (SLEDS), roughly 70% of Minnesota high school graduates who enroll in college settings persist in earning a Bachelor’s degree. The number drops for 2017 high school graduates, which makes sense: their 3rd year is the 2019-2020 academic year.

A disruption as large as a global pandemic will have serious consequences on college persistence, however, the trend was holding prior to COVID-19.

There are many variables playing into this scenario that were barriers to higher education well before COVID-19:

The rising cost of tuition versus low wages in early careers
The inability to find positions in degree fields
The ability to learn information through online platforms at no cost

Internet learning is disrupting traditional education, and unless higher education institutions find a way to compete, their relevance is waning for rising generations. According to NPR, more students are opting to stay out of higher education because of rising costs of tuition and life. Without a clear return on investment, it is hard for people to see the value of attending college when, perhaps, they can learn the skills on the job or online.

Corner Market, no longer

Offering credit for prior learning is one way higher education can stay relevant in this ever-changing education market, in addition to helping students understand the importance of accredited programs as a solid investment of time and money. And both these are good return on investment arguments. Thinking that higher education has the corner market on knowledge and information is no longer relevant or real.

Crowdsourcing is not just for restaurant recommendations. People have eye witnesses across the globe at their fingertips. There is no need to rely on an educational institution for information or knowledge. Operating as such only perpetuates an antiquated system of learning. What higher education institutions do have to offer, if accredited, is the verification of learning for employers. However, with a 3% unemployment rate and more employers offering livable wages, it is tough to compete with going straight into the workforce.

Instead, how can higher education institutions create experiences that pull in the technological advances that students cannot get elsewhere? How about simulators, AI, and accredited degrees that can transfer and pay-off over time? How do we transform higher education as a conduit of information and knowledge that accentuates and builds on the skills students are learning elsewhere?

What can higher education do?

Shift educators as partners in an individual’s education journey versus deliverers of education
Remember that we are preparing people for their career path, not ours
Partner with business and the community to understand the current and future needs

Overall, if higher education promotes themselves as a collaborative partner in the success and growth of individuals and the community, then higher education can find their place in this open and free education market.

Juile Brock has worked in the world of education for a few decades now and currently is the Assistant Director of licensure, accreditation, & assessment for WSU's College of Education . Find our more about her on her website.

Reapproaching Shakespeare in 3 Acts

3/20/2022

by Phil Olson

The school year has been long and full of challenges. Sisyphean, even. Still, the fact that third quarter is almost over is genuinely surprising. How can an interminable year slip away so quickly? Part of the answer, at least for me, is the approach I’ve employed: I am planning as I go.

In the before times, I meticulously organized detailed units; I even published calendars that included daily plans for a month or two at a time. This year, my practice has been to sketch and communicate a broad overview at the beginning of the week, then plan specific experiences on a day-by-day basis. This is definitely more time consuming and fraught, and I don’t want to work in this mode forever, but--darn it!—it is effective. I remain close to the action, at the students’ level, and I can speed up and slowdown in response to their needs.

Act I: Two "Texts"

My freshpeople and I launched our Romeo and Juliet experience using minimally-annotated, paperback copies of the play. I knew I’d need to combine readings with various resources from my files (summaries, contextual pieces, vocabulary lists, and the like), but in doing so I discovered that the supplements became replacements. Not what I had wanted.

After doing some hunting I landed on an amazing alternative: the website myShakespeare. It offers an unabridged, “glossed” text (see below), as well as a host of useful tools linked in the margins, including modernizations of tough passages, explanations of allusions, identifications of literary techniques employed, and deep dives into “weird words.”

Additionally, and perhaps most awesomely, the site offers two different types of videos. In the first, actors perform important passages with minimal trappings; this foregrounds the actors’ talents, as they lean all the way into their characters and express Shakespeare’s lines in more than words. The second set of videos feature character interviews, in modern English, that weave in important aspects of scenes, explore the characters’ psychologies, and play up the humor.

For most of the play, students did their reading on screens using myShakespeare, while using the paperbacks to do things that screens make cumbersome, like revisiting passages during in-class discussions, citing lines within papers, and practicing dialogue.

Note: myShakespeare is currently free.

Check out the introductory video:

Act II: Multiple Films

I remember studying Romeo and Juliet in my ninth-grade English class, and I can still picture my teacher stealthily making her way toward the TV (relatively tiny, and on a mobile cart, of course) to slide her folder in front of the screen at an especially interesting moment in Zeffirelli’s film version of Act 3, Scene 5 (the morning after the young lovers’ wedding night). Mayhem avoided. Master teacher!

Back then, watching the film was the “reward” for having endured the play, but today, I find it much more impactful to use several film versions and to weave them into the reading process. Films reinforce understanding, amplify interpretive possibilities, and invite critical thinking about all facets of a production. For contrast, I like to use three very different versions: The traditional Zeffirelli from 1968, the modern Luhrman from 1996, and a recording of a live, Broadway production directed by David Leveaux in 2014.

The “original” is corny, but retains its charm; the modernization is bold and over-the-top dramatic; and the Broadway version showcases the powers of live drama. In class, we had many passionate discussions about which production did things best, and most conversations led us back to the text.

Act III: Assessments

In addition to reading, discussing, journaling about, and watching the play, my students also engaged with several formal assessments, and my goal this year was to make them meaningful without being so heavy that they weighed down the experience (i.e. a paper about the history of iambic pentameter--here is a fun one—or a multiple choice test about who said what and when). Instead, my students made the most out of discussions; wrote short essays; did some not-so-serious sonneteering; and performed some passages in “table reading” fashion.

ESSAYS
I had students write three short papers (1-1.5 pages each) at strategic points in the play.

They first analyzed how the Prologue to Act 2 employs sonnet form and uses poetic techniques for effect.
At the close of Act 3, they explored characterization and how a title character is changed by conflicts they face in the first half of the play.
Finally, after the final scene, students generated a menu of topics with which to revisit important facets of the play, i.e. a motif, a rich passage, a secondary character, echoic scenes, or answering a question about the play—like whether or not R and J’s love is genuine, who is most to blame for the lovers’ tragic end, or how gender norms affect their worldviews.

We also built a proficiency scale (rubric) together by discussing what was most important to achieve with this essay and why.

SONNETS
In Act 4, poor Juliet (who has been married to Romeo for less than 24 hours) is berated by her parents and betrayed by the nurse, all of whom wish her to marry Count Paris, so she turns to Friar Laurence, the amateur pharmacist, for a helping vial, at which point she elaborates the many things she’d rather do than marry Paris, including jumping off of a high tower or being buried alive. Students took inspiration from this scene to write “I’d Rather” sonnets—sonnets with some twists.

Since sonnets are often about love, we decided to write about something we hate (irony!), but we wanted to keep things light and potentially humorous, so we settled for writing about irritations/pet peeves; yet we wanted to really get our Juliet on, so we used hyperbole to enumerate all the exaggerated things we’d gladly do to avoid minor irritations (hyperbolic irony!). Of course, they illustrated them too.

Here is an excellent example—Thanks, Ella! Notice how she worked in even more irony!

TABLE READS
Finally, I wanted to get students working together and grappling with performance, but I sensed some reluctance (when they said they were freaked out by the prospect) to full-blown enactments of passages, so we compromised with table reads. This involves reading in character without worrying about things like costumes, blocking, and such.

We read Acts 4 and 5 in this fashion, using group performances that included introductions to assigned passages, the table readings, and some follow up unpacking of plot development, literary devices, and other must-catch elements. Relatively low stakes yielded high engagement and pretty-darn-good Shakespearean theater.

Plus, table reads are fun (here’s proof from The Office):

So, we made it through a Shakespearean play, despite the wintry-gray cloud that always hangs over quarter 3. Of course, along the way, we had some less-than-great days, several strategies fell flat, and not all students bought the notion of Shakespeare’s genius. The unit was messy and hard; teaching Shakespeare always is, it’s part of the experience. So, I’m taking the mess as a sign that we did it right, and concluding that, sometimes, improv beats a script.

Phil Olson is an English teacher at Century High School in Rochester, Minnesota. He prefers to keep things simple.

From the Vantage Point of an Outsider: Navigating the 'Us' vs. 'Them' Mentality

3/13/2022

by Stefanie Whitney

This writing is an exploration of my own thoughts surrounding the world of education–where I have been, where I am currently, and where I aim to go. These are musings, questions, and curiosities I have had in a confusing, often contradictory, and sometimes frustrating profession fraught with nuance, complexities, and invisible norms. My writing aims to be curious, but it does not aim to be adversarial. My ultimate goal in education is to eliminate the timeworn battle lines of “us vs. them” and function as a “we”. If you are any kind of friend, you will allow me to cling to that hope.

I am one of them.

I am a food sharer. Yes, I do want to try what you are having.
I prefer Cream of Wheat to oatmeal.
I constantly forget to bring my reusable grocery bags to the grocery store.
I am often late. One of those “fast and loose with my time and the time of others” type of folk.

And, the list goes on...

Over my 44 + 356 days on this earth (Pisces, Gen X/Xennial), I have shifted my political leanings from a Benjamin Moore “Rose Quartz” to one of their 2022 colors of the year “Mysterious” blue.

I am a teacher who uses too many paper copies.
I am an English teacher who has personally left dozens of books unfinished (YOLO).
I am an educator who is currently not in the classroom.
My office is “downtown” and I’m positioned among “the district.”
I am working on acquiring my administrative license.
I believe in moving away from a grading system devised to label & divide folk and moving toward one that, to me, feels more human-centered.
I believe we have systems that have catastrophically divided humans and caused irreparable damage and our only way forward is to fix those systems.
I am an impatient advocate of change who also believes that change happens one conversation, one reflection, and one brave soul at a time.

I’m only getting started, but for the sake of time and my increasing anxiety, I will stop for now.

If this list is all you know about me, then you have likely formed judgments, perhaps even drawn conclusions that all point to: I am or I am not “your kind of people”. Yet, I hope curiosity will encourage you to learn more.

As one of “them”, I have also found myself hustling to find my “us.”

To find my fellow relative time folk and bolster ourselves up with bountiful reasons we are more right than the timelier “thems”.
To fly high my cream of wheat freak flag in hopes of attracting a few porridge wielding bears. I’ll even accept Goldilocks as long as she keeps her spoon out of my bowl. (I am a food sharer, but… Covid.)
Of course, I seek community with other folk currently not in the classroom, so we can form a human shield to fend off the “cut their positions” slings and “don’t work directly with kids” arrows coming our way.

In so many ways and to so many people, I am one of “them.”

And for the longest time, I have hustled to show the “us’s” that I’m one of the good “them’s.”

I am hustling to be one of the good ones.

Focusing on the hustle.

Martha Beck believes that “Integrity is the cure for unhappiness.” I’m currently reading The Way of Integrity by Beck, and she explores the concept of hustling. Brene Brown deserves credit as the first to help me reflect on my own hustle, and Beck manages to take my self-reflection to another level.

Beck explains,

“Humans create elaborate cultures because we are intensely social beings, dependent on the goodwill of others from the moment we’re born. We also have an enormous capacity to absorb and replicate the behavior of people around us. From childhood, often without even noticing it, we learn exactly how to win approval and belonging in our particular cultural context…. In this rush to conform, we often end up overruling our genuine feelings–even intense ones…to please our cultures. The extent to which people will defy nature to serve culture can be truly horrifying.”

Literal and figurative battle lines are drawn because of people serving a culture–and, as Beck uncovers, often battle lines built not on our integrity but on our desire to fit in, to belong.

This quest to belong can be as catastrophic as a world war or as seemingly innocuous as cheering for your favorite hockey team. Seemingly is appropriate here because I cannot be the only one who has observed cheering turn into leering, then smearing, and finally–something much more sinister.

So–about our personal hustles. My personal understanding of both Brown’s and Beck’s explanations of the “hustle” is to do whatever it takes to be accepted into a culture of people, often at the expense of our own internal nature, or value systems. The definition is easy to accept. However, the extent to which we can get lost in the hustle is much harder to actualize, which is why Beck’s request of readers at the end of chapter two “admit–just to yourself–that some of your actions are designed to impress or fit in with other people” shriveled up my soul like a raisin.

"Us" vs. "Them": a living history

As a former member of the “not a math person” team, I feel a bit proud of my observation that division seems to be the most popular of the mathematical operations (I also feel flummoxed, sometimes defeated, and always overwhelmed by this reality). I’m not sure if test scores or climate surveys quantify this, but observational data suggests we have been and continue to be really good at division in this profession, in this state, in this country, in this world.

[Scene setting: A Dances With Wolves journaling voiceover]

Today, I chose to venture into the camp of “thems”. Initially, I felt a bit disoriented, but I continued walking in the direction of their world mixed with both fear and hope. Their leader was willing to talk with me, and as we sought to understand one another through small talk about mutual friends, I realized the pit in my stomach was being replaced with a warm sense of familiarity. I noticed a physical change, as well. Settling in, my jaw relaxed enough to support a genuine smile; my shoulders relaxed as the tension of discord released. While walking away from camp that day, a thought crept into my mind: I think I like them. This was a puzzling reality, and I hope my new friend will invite me back again sometime soon. I cannot help but think there may be a much smaller gulf between us than originally thought.

[End scene. (I hope you, too, heard Kevin Costner’s voice while reading this)]

Continue ad nauseam.

Choosing to be an outsider

I know I am most motivated by curiosity and compassion for humans, animals, and the occasional inanimate object. Because of curiosity and compassion, I believe that crossing over to hang with “thems”, while initially unsettling, almost always ends in a feeling of warmth in my insides and a smile that is hard to wipe from my face.

There are rare moments when this type of rendezvous doesn’t result in blossoming warmth and shared smiles. Upon reflection, I realize in many of these failed moments that I was/am hustling–trying to cajole, convince, fit in, or defend myself–often through evasive jokes, ducking and weaving, and the occasional speed talking. I leave these conversations frustrated, short of breath, and filled with the sinking dread that my position as a “them” has been solidified.

In the spirit of selective attention, I’m struck by just how often even those with the best of intentions manage to divide us. Take this recent quote by Adam Grant:

“In cultures of arrogance, people get rewarded for expressing certainty and conviction. The most confident speaker claims the most status. In cultures of humility, people are applauded for admitting ignorance and asking questions. The most complex thinker earns the most respect.”

My initial reaction: “Yeah. See? It is them, not us.”

But I have been an active member of both cultures. I know where I feel most myself and how I show up among folk who inspire me rather than how I show up when inclined to bring my hustle. I prefer a culture of humility, but I need to frequently pause and consider how I am contributing and upholding this culture rather than perpetuating a culture where hustle and arrogance are the play calls.

Grant brings up an example that does not have to be about division. If I accept my role in the situation and choose to avoid deflection and blame, then I understand he is talking about being human—choosing arrogance or humility. We have choices. Timshel.

An example: It is true that I do not work daily with students in a classroom setting. It is also true that I have an impact on the student experience. 

And while both of these things can be simultaneously true, what is more important is that I stop trying to convince anyone else of this reality and simply know my own truth.

I chose this career path because I believe in helping lead change.
I choose to live by the values of compassion and curiosity; everything that sits right in my soul is grounded in these two beliefs.
Most everything I do that leaves me hustling is often untethered from these two values.
If untethered, I then need to figure out how to get grounded or I need to determine the purpose and value of this experience.

This isn’t to say that every time I am uncomfortable I’m untethered from my values; I may just need to more clearly identify the ties that bind. Discomfort is growth–an opportunity to reflect on what is causing me to feel this way.

Going forward, I am reminded that at the first sign of battle lines being drawn an opportunity exists to calmly step over the divide and ask questions. Listen and seek to understand. Fight the instinct to grab my ruler and Sharpie (it’s taking everything in me to not make a hurricane path reference here).

When we are in places where lines of division are being drawn, rather than choosing sides, I strive to be an outsider who starts asking more questions. (In this regard: I have been known, on rare occasions, to weaponize questions--sorry Socrates—so I find it helpful to check my tone of voice and know my authentic intent of asking before boldly striving for that outsider status.)

“Us vs. Them” only exists if we let it. We are the perpetrators of division and discord. We can either pick up the golden apple, pull out a sharp knife, and argue over who gets rewarded, or we can peel the superficial skin off to reveal the parts underneath where common ground exists. (Too much? Did that allusion get out of hand? Probably. Some will like it; some won’t. Oops, I did it again. Gah. Free Britney. Opportunities for division are everywhere.)

Stefanie Whitney, EdD, works with the Curriculum and Instruction team in Rochester Public Schools (RPS). She's also been an English teacher, an AVID instructor, and both a high school and a middle school instructional coach in RPS.

Two Takeaways for Supporting All Students

3/6/2022

ideas by Tan Huynh and Katie Miller, compiled by Third Eye Education

In our recent podcast interview with Tan Huynh and local Minnesota expert on Multilingual Learners, Katie Miller, our conversation quickly cut to the core of education.

Throughout the conversation, Huynh and Miller share some strategies and resources that help them access that educational core quickly and effectively. Their ideas tended to fall into two categories: (1) leveraging what motivates and engages students and (2) modeling what it means to be a lifelong learner.

They come to school for each other

Huynh shares a realization he had early on in his instruction: students “do not come to school for you, they come to school for each other. So why don’t we use that as the framework for instruction?”

This takeaway inspired a sharing of ideas: a few favorite strategies and resources from Miller and Huynh that help all students, multilingual learners as well as all classroom learners. They both agree that by upping the amount of talk in our classrooms, and by teaching students structures and protocols for quality conversations, we give them a greater access to success.

Talk - Read - Talk - Write
A strategy coined by Nancy Motley, Huynh shares a favorite tool of his: the Talk-Read-Talk-Write protocal.

Learn about this tool here:

The book: Talk Read Talk Write: A Practical Routine for Learning in All Content Areas
A conversation between Motley and Huynh:

Q.S.S.S.A.
"Question, Signal, Stem, Share, Assess" was another tool shared by Huynh. This stratgy might be used in this way:

Question: Which character emotionally grew the most in these three chapters?
Signal: Stand beside your desk once you have your answer ready to share.
Stems: When you share your answer, start by saying, "The character __ grew the most emotionally in chapters 11-13 because..."
Share: In your quad, share your thinking with each other. See who agress and who doesn't. Explore why the agreement/disagreements exist.
Assess: Write a sentence that summerizes your final answer to the question. Use the sentence stem shared earlier and be sure to have at least two reasons that follow the word "because."

Go Visual
Katie Miller, along with the Third Eye Education podcasts hosts, share a love of visuals for enhancing understanding. Pairing words with pictures is a simple way to increase comprehension and language acquisition.

To support understanding of new vocabulary or complex ideas, try:
- Ellen McKenzie’s article “Vocabulary Development using Visual Displays” (2014)
- Boston University’s “Visual Representation of Texts” (2021)
To use them as a conversation starter or as a writing prompt, explore:
- Literacy Ideas’ “Teaching Visual Literacy and Visual Texts in the Classroom” (2022)
Or use them as a synectic

For each of these three strategies, students “can do this in their heritage community language too,” Huynh points out.

Learn beyond what you were taught

In our conversation, Huynh also highlights the importance of being continuous learners: we must set aside outdated practices to “Learn beyond what you were taught.”

A few resources Miller and Huynh shared, which may help you push outside of what you areadly know, are:

Cultivating Genious
The book Cultivating Genious: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy by Gholdy Muhammad is a resource Miller loves, and Huynh just interviewed Muhammad on his podcast last month. Find out more here:

Boosting Achievement
Carol Salva's work was brought up by Huynh: specifically her book Boosting Achievement. Dig into Salva's resources here:

The book, Boosting Achievement: Reaching Students with Interupted or Minimal Education by Carol Salva with Anna Matis
Her podcast, Boosting Achievement, with Voice Ed, CA
Her inspirational and resource-filled tweets: @MsSalvac

For more strategies and resources from Huynh and Miller, considering exploring some more of their works.

Tan Huynh: podcast, blogposts
Katie Miller: "The Power of the Words We Choose" and other articles.

“When teachers approach students with a Can-do mindset, everything is possible.” 〰 Tan Huynh