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Friday, August 30, 2013
Speak, Present, Persuade
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Outdoor Learning
This came from WeAreTeachers BLOG. It made me think of Ross and Connie Jones who shared with our board how to start an outdoor program at Esperanza.
Easily Adaptable Outdoor Learning Ideas
Interview with KinderRanch Founder, Kim Chappell
By Amanda Dykes
If you were to visit the Chappell Ranch in rural Northern Nevada, you’d be greeted by the sounds of hooves on dusty earth, the smell of hay in the air, and a scattering of ranch animals in every direction. Oh, and young, eager voices, embracing learning on the ranch.
Kim Chappell owns and operates the KinderRanch program there, filling the days for pre-school aged children with hands-on learning and discovery. In a recent interview, Chappell shared her insights about outdoor education. Notice that while the activities discussed are specific to ranch life, their core objectives of actively engaging students in hands-on discovery can be modified for use in urban, home, playground, park, and recreation settings.
How can conventional indoor learning be modified to be taken outdoors? I think you can use your outdoor environment to your advantage whether you are learning to identify shapes, count, or read. There are so many patterns outside, including geese in flight, rings in tree trunk, leaves on a flower, etc.
On the ranch, patterns present themselves all the time such as in egg laying, rooster crowing, naptime for horse‘s, etc. On the ranch we learn to count when we count eggs, flakes of hay, numbers of horses, cows, sheep and goats.
Creativity abounds outside, and because it is such an engaging world, kids are more apt to learn when they are actively involved in the learning process versus just rote learning. For example, the kids on the ranch remember how many eggs we get at nine am and eleven am because they are actively involved in collecting them.
What are the benefits of outdoor learning for this age group?
As mentioned above, being actively involved in the learning process creates a vested interest in what they are doing. If kids are involved and have a hands-on approach to learning, my experience is that they retain the new knowledge. They will often remind me when the egg count is different from the day before for example. Or if I depart from my normal routine, they will remind me that I forgot to do a particular ranch chore. I am inspired by this because it represents active and sustained learning.
How have you seen time spent learning outside affect students' learning methods, or affect students in general?
Inspiration, excitement, creativity, sustained learning, and a desire to learn more. I teach a lot of life skills to the kids, so when we are navigating how to cross a ditch for example, the kids have to problem solve. Sometimes they may make the wrong choice, which could mean getting stuck in the mud, so they have to regroup and decide another way to tackle a problem. This is huge for this age group and very empowering for them. Problem solving and team work are the life skills in this example in which they are participants, not just observers. Learn by doing is the philosophy here.
Are there challenges unique to outdoor learning?
Yes. Weather is one, as it is ever changing. But so is the world, so when we learn to work within our natural environment we also learn what we need personally to stay comfortable. On the ranch that means preparing adequately with, boots, gloves, fly spray, sunscreen, etc. Safety is another concern and is the most important.
Could you share a few of the activities you engage the students in outdoors?
Easily Adaptable Outdoor Learning Ideas
Interview with KinderRanch Founder, Kim Chappell
By Amanda Dykes
If you were to visit the Chappell Ranch in rural Northern Nevada, you’d be greeted by the sounds of hooves on dusty earth, the smell of hay in the air, and a scattering of ranch animals in every direction. Oh, and young, eager voices, embracing learning on the ranch.
Kim Chappell owns and operates the KinderRanch program there, filling the days for pre-school aged children with hands-on learning and discovery. In a recent interview, Chappell shared her insights about outdoor education. Notice that while the activities discussed are specific to ranch life, their core objectives of actively engaging students in hands-on discovery can be modified for use in urban, home, playground, park, and recreation settings.
How can conventional indoor learning be modified to be taken outdoors? I think you can use your outdoor environment to your advantage whether you are learning to identify shapes, count, or read. There are so many patterns outside, including geese in flight, rings in tree trunk, leaves on a flower, etc.
On the ranch, patterns present themselves all the time such as in egg laying, rooster crowing, naptime for horse‘s, etc. On the ranch we learn to count when we count eggs, flakes of hay, numbers of horses, cows, sheep and goats.
Creativity abounds outside, and because it is such an engaging world, kids are more apt to learn when they are actively involved in the learning process versus just rote learning. For example, the kids on the ranch remember how many eggs we get at nine am and eleven am because they are actively involved in collecting them.
What are the benefits of outdoor learning for this age group?
As mentioned above, being actively involved in the learning process creates a vested interest in what they are doing. If kids are involved and have a hands-on approach to learning, my experience is that they retain the new knowledge. They will often remind me when the egg count is different from the day before for example. Or if I depart from my normal routine, they will remind me that I forgot to do a particular ranch chore. I am inspired by this because it represents active and sustained learning.
How have you seen time spent learning outside affect students' learning methods, or affect students in general?
Inspiration, excitement, creativity, sustained learning, and a desire to learn more. I teach a lot of life skills to the kids, so when we are navigating how to cross a ditch for example, the kids have to problem solve. Sometimes they may make the wrong choice, which could mean getting stuck in the mud, so they have to regroup and decide another way to tackle a problem. This is huge for this age group and very empowering for them. Problem solving and team work are the life skills in this example in which they are participants, not just observers. Learn by doing is the philosophy here.
Are there challenges unique to outdoor learning?
Yes. Weather is one, as it is ever changing. But so is the world, so when we learn to work within our natural environment we also learn what we need personally to stay comfortable. On the ranch that means preparing adequately with, boots, gloves, fly spray, sunscreen, etc. Safety is another concern and is the most important.
Could you share a few of the activities you engage the students in outdoors?
- Chickens – cutting the wings, collecting eggs on a daily basis.
- Irrigation – how do you water a pasture? The kids learn how to do this.
- Horsemanship – basic work with horses
- Sheep and Goats – we love to play with them
- Hay Math – we learn to count, measure and add by using hay. When you feed the animals each animal has specific feeding requirements.
- Color Me Green – why is it important to keep the earth clean?
- Circle Time
- Closing Time and Journals
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
11 Simple Concepts to Become a Better Leader
11 Simple Concepts to Become a Better Leader
1. Listening
"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen." - Ernest Hemingway
Listening is the foundation of any good relationship. Great leaders listen to what their customers and prospects want and need, and they listen to the challenges those customers face. They listen to colleagues and are open to new ideas. They listen to shareholders, investors, and competitors. Here's why the best CEO's listen more.
2. Storytelling
"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." -Robert McAfee Brown
After listening, leaders need to tell great stories in order to sell their products, but more important, in order to sell their ideas. Storytelling is what captivates people and drives them to take action. Whether you're telling a story to one prospect over lunch, a boardroom full of people, or thousands of people through an online video - storytelling wins customers.
3. Authenticity
"I had no idea that being your authentic self could make me as rich as I've become. If I had, I'd have done it a lot earlier." -Oprah Winfrey
Great leaders are who they say they are, and they have integrity beyond compare. Vulnerability and humility are hallmarks of the authentic leader and create a positive, attractive energy. Customers, employees, and media all want to help an authentic person to succeed. There used to be a divide between one’s public self and private self, but the social internet has blurred that line. Tomorrow's leaders are transparent about who they are online, merging their personal and professional lives together.
4. Transparency
"As a small businessperson, you have no greater leverage than the truth." -John Whittier
There is nowhere to hide anymore, and businesspeople who attempt to keep secrets will eventually be exposed. Openness and honesty lead to happier staff and customers and colleagues. More important, transparency makes it a lot easier to sleep at night - unworried about what you said to whom, a happier leader is a more productive one.
5. Team Playing
"Individuals play the game, but teams beat the odds." -SEAL Team Saying
No matter how small your organization, you interact with others every day. Letting others shine, encouraging innovative ideas, practicing humility, and following other rules for working in teams will help you become a more likeable leader. You’ll need a culture of success within your organization, one that includes out-of-the-box thinking.
6. Responsiveness
"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." -Charles Swindoll
The best leaders are responsive to their customers, staff, investors, and prospects. Every stakeholder today is a potential viral sparkplug, for better or for worse, and the winning leader is one who recognizes this and insists upon a culture of responsiveness. Whether the communication is email, voice mail, a note or a tweet, responding shows you care and gives your customers and colleagues a say, allowing them to make a positive impact on the organization.
7. Adaptability
"When you're finished changing, you're finished." -Ben Franklin
There has never been a faster-changing marketplace than the one we live in today. Leaders must be flexible in managing changing opportunities and challenges and nimble enough to pivot at the right moment. Stubbornness is no longer desirable to most organizations. Instead, humility and the willingness to adapt mark a great leader.
8. Passion
"The only way to do great work is to love the work you do." -Steve Jobs
Those who love what they do don’t have to work a day in their lives. People who are able to bring passion to their business have a remarkable advantage, as that passion is contagious to customers and colleagues alike. Finding and increasing your passion will absolutely affect your bottom line.
9. Surprise and Delight
"A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless." -Charles de Gaulle
Most people like surprises in their day-to-day lives. Likeable leaders underpromise and overdeliver, assuring that customers and staff are surprised in a positive way. There are a plethora of ways to surprise without spending extra money - a smile, We all like to be delighted — surprise and delight create incredible word-of-mouth marketing opportunities.
10. Simplicity
"Less isn't more; just enough is more." -Milton Glaser
The world is more complex than ever before, and yet what customers often respond to best is simplicity — in design, form, and function. Taking complex projects, challenges, and ideas and distilling them to their simplest components allows customers, staff, and other stakeholders to better understand and buy into your vision. We humans all crave simplicity, and so today's leader must be focused and deliver simplicity.
11. Gratefulness
"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." -Gilbert Chesterton
Likeable leaders are ever grateful for the people who contribute to their opportunities and success. Being appreciative and saying thank you to mentors, customers, colleagues, and other stakeholders keeps leaders humble, appreciated, and well received. It also makes you feel great! Donor's Choose studied the value of a hand-written thank-you note, and actually found donors were 38% more likely to give a 2nd time if they got a hand-written note!
The Golden Rule: Above all else, treat others as you’d like to be treated
By showing others the same courtesy you expect from them, you will gain more respect from coworkers, customers, and business partners. Holding others in high regard demonstrates your company’s likeability and motivates others to work with you. This seems so simple, as do so many of these principles — and yet many people, too concerned with making money or getting by, fail to truly adopt these key concepts.
Which of these principles are most important to you — what makes you likeable?
Being likeable will help you in your job, business, relationships, and life. I interviewed dozens of successful business leaders for my last book, to determine what made them so likeable and their companies so successful. All of the concepts are simple, and yet, perhaps in the name of revenues or the bottom line, we often lose sight of the simple things - things that not only make us human, but can actually help us become more successful. Below are the eleven most important principles to integrate to become a better leader:
1. Listening
"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen." - Ernest Hemingway
Listening is the foundation of any good relationship. Great leaders listen to what their customers and prospects want and need, and they listen to the challenges those customers face. They listen to colleagues and are open to new ideas. They listen to shareholders, investors, and competitors. Here's why the best CEO's listen more.
2. Storytelling
"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." -Robert McAfee Brown
After listening, leaders need to tell great stories in order to sell their products, but more important, in order to sell their ideas. Storytelling is what captivates people and drives them to take action. Whether you're telling a story to one prospect over lunch, a boardroom full of people, or thousands of people through an online video - storytelling wins customers.
3. Authenticity
"I had no idea that being your authentic self could make me as rich as I've become. If I had, I'd have done it a lot earlier." -Oprah Winfrey
Great leaders are who they say they are, and they have integrity beyond compare. Vulnerability and humility are hallmarks of the authentic leader and create a positive, attractive energy. Customers, employees, and media all want to help an authentic person to succeed. There used to be a divide between one’s public self and private self, but the social internet has blurred that line. Tomorrow's leaders are transparent about who they are online, merging their personal and professional lives together.
4. Transparency
"As a small businessperson, you have no greater leverage than the truth." -John Whittier
There is nowhere to hide anymore, and businesspeople who attempt to keep secrets will eventually be exposed. Openness and honesty lead to happier staff and customers and colleagues. More important, transparency makes it a lot easier to sleep at night - unworried about what you said to whom, a happier leader is a more productive one.
5. Team Playing
"Individuals play the game, but teams beat the odds." -SEAL Team Saying
No matter how small your organization, you interact with others every day. Letting others shine, encouraging innovative ideas, practicing humility, and following other rules for working in teams will help you become a more likeable leader. You’ll need a culture of success within your organization, one that includes out-of-the-box thinking.
6. Responsiveness
"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." -Charles Swindoll
The best leaders are responsive to their customers, staff, investors, and prospects. Every stakeholder today is a potential viral sparkplug, for better or for worse, and the winning leader is one who recognizes this and insists upon a culture of responsiveness. Whether the communication is email, voice mail, a note or a tweet, responding shows you care and gives your customers and colleagues a say, allowing them to make a positive impact on the organization.
7. Adaptability
"When you're finished changing, you're finished." -Ben Franklin
There has never been a faster-changing marketplace than the one we live in today. Leaders must be flexible in managing changing opportunities and challenges and nimble enough to pivot at the right moment. Stubbornness is no longer desirable to most organizations. Instead, humility and the willingness to adapt mark a great leader.
8. Passion
"The only way to do great work is to love the work you do." -Steve Jobs
Those who love what they do don’t have to work a day in their lives. People who are able to bring passion to their business have a remarkable advantage, as that passion is contagious to customers and colleagues alike. Finding and increasing your passion will absolutely affect your bottom line.
9. Surprise and Delight
"A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless." -Charles de Gaulle
Most people like surprises in their day-to-day lives. Likeable leaders underpromise and overdeliver, assuring that customers and staff are surprised in a positive way. There are a plethora of ways to surprise without spending extra money - a smile, We all like to be delighted — surprise and delight create incredible word-of-mouth marketing opportunities.
10. Simplicity
"Less isn't more; just enough is more." -Milton Glaser
The world is more complex than ever before, and yet what customers often respond to best is simplicity — in design, form, and function. Taking complex projects, challenges, and ideas and distilling them to their simplest components allows customers, staff, and other stakeholders to better understand and buy into your vision. We humans all crave simplicity, and so today's leader must be focused and deliver simplicity.
11. Gratefulness
"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." -Gilbert Chesterton
Likeable leaders are ever grateful for the people who contribute to their opportunities and success. Being appreciative and saying thank you to mentors, customers, colleagues, and other stakeholders keeps leaders humble, appreciated, and well received. It also makes you feel great! Donor's Choose studied the value of a hand-written thank-you note, and actually found donors were 38% more likely to give a 2nd time if they got a hand-written note!
The Golden Rule: Above all else, treat others as you’d like to be treated
By showing others the same courtesy you expect from them, you will gain more respect from coworkers, customers, and business partners. Holding others in high regard demonstrates your company’s likeability and motivates others to work with you. This seems so simple, as do so many of these principles — and yet many people, too concerned with making money or getting by, fail to truly adopt these key concepts.
Which of these principles are most important to you — what makes you likeable?
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Six Ways to Expand Your Perspective
Six Ways to Expand Your Perspective
Note: None of these are difficult in and of themselves, but all may require a change of habit or thinking. All of them will make a real difference in your ability to lead, make decisions, influence others and much more. Because of their power, it will be worth your time and effort to try them.Shut up and listen. You already have your perspective, which you likely won’t change very much if you keep talking. Listen to what others have to say, how they see the world and the situation. Not only will you learn something and gain a new perspective, you will build your relationship with the other person at the same time.
Ask more questions. This applies to one on one conversation as a way to extend your listening and learning, but it also applies to life in general. When you are curious about the world around you and ask questions to understand things, you are automatically expanding your perspective and horizons at the same time.
Spend time with new people. This could be people from different departments, a new neighbor or anyone. The goal here is to get to know people with different experiences than you, so you can begin to see their perspectives. Bonus points here the further from your comfort zone you move! Once you are spending time with new people, apply the first two points above to those conversations.
Read more and more broadly. Reading provides us new vistas and perspectives. Read new authors, new genres, new magazines, blogs and websites. All reading is helpful, but if you only read in your industry or only read your favorite author, or only otherwise monochromatically, you are hampering your perspective-building opportunities. While most all types of reading material can help – fiction and biographies are especially helpful. Reading is one of the most efficient and powerful ways to broaden your perspective. I know some people read more than others – if you are thinking “I’m not a reader”, remember that since you can read, you can choose to read more or differently.
Watch different stuff. Like reading, what we choose to watch can broaden our perspectives. Always watch sports? Turn on Spike or the Food Channel. Always watch the dramas? Try Biography or the History Channel. Have a favorite news channel? Watch a different one for a week.
Experience your experiences through a new filter. This one is big! Pretty much all of your life experiences can help you gain new perspectives, if you are looking for them. Look for situations you don’t understand or surprise you and be curious. Think about things that happen and things you hear through the filter of your current challenge or problem. Notice things and compare them to the issues you are contemplating. Consistently and consciously thinking about seeing new perspectives will make all the difference.
These six approaches will help you gain new perspectives. Now your challenge is to use those perspectives to make better decisions, be more empathetic, solve Customer issues, and one hundred other things. Perspective changes our world and as we see more of them, our ability to communicate, prioritize, decide and lead improves.
Now you understand the power, and have an action plan.
The rest is up to you.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Get to Know a Fellow
The following poem was in the book Where Is Wisdom" by Stephen L. Richards--a book that I was reading this morning. I really liked it!...and felt it had great meaning for Esperanza.
When you get to understand him and the burdens that he bears,
When you get to know a fellow,
Know his joys and know his cares,
When you've learned the fight he's making,
And the problems in his way,
Then you find that he is different than you thought him yesterday.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Libraries Without Librarians?
Libraries Without Librarians?
Waiver Sought by City Puts Fate of School Librarians in Question
By Ivan Pentchoukov, Epoch Times | August 15, 2013
Last Updated: August 15, 2013 3:05 pm
NEW YORK—Christian Zabriskie can’t remember the names of any of his middle school teachers, but he will always remember Monica Blondin, the school librarian.
For years, Zabriskie and his friend Jon were prime targets for bullies in middle school. They found the light at the library, where Blondin taught them to be curious, structure their thinking, be determined, and stand up for others.
Most students across the city no longer have the support Zabriskie and his friend had. The number of librarians working in the city’s public schools has been decreasing since at least 2008, despite a state regulation that requires all secondary schools to hire one (elementary schools are an exception). More than half of the city’s secondary public schools do not have a librarian.
Matters are bound to get worse. The city’s Department of Education (DOE) is preparing to request that the State Education Department (SED) waive the regulation that requires schools to hire a librarian.
No librarians will be immediately laid off if the SED commissioner, John King, grants the waiver. But school principals, who make the hiring decisions, will then be free to choose not to hire a librarian in order to cut costs.
“Student learning is changing as much more information is available online. While libraries continue to be an important resource, the old model of a room full of books with a staff member managing the access is changing,” Stephanie R. Browne, deputy press secretary with the DOE wrote in an email to the Epoch Times.
School librarians are first certified as teachers and then as librarians. They teach students and teachers how to use online resources, curate physical and digital collections, foster the love of reading and learning, and more. They work either part time or full time, depending on the number of students at the school.
“Having a school librarian who deals with every person in the school is pretty cost effective,” Sara Johns, president of the New York Library Association, said. “It’s kind of shortsighted to say that you’re saving money by eliminating that position.”
According to the DOE’s salary schedule, a school librarian’s starting salary is close to $50,000 and increases based on experience and education. The DOE’s estimated operating budget for the coming school year increased $950 million to $24.8 billion.
The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) first raised the issue in 2010 and appealed to Joel Klein, the SED commissioner at the time, asking that schools in violation of the state rule be ordered to comply. Klein issued a decision that year declaring the appeal moot since the school year was over.
UFT appealed again. A decision on that appeal has not yet been made, according to Antonia Valentine, a spokeswoman with the SED.
“Hundreds of complex appeals are filed each year, so it’s impossible to guarantee a specific date,” Valentine wrote in an email to the Epoch Times.
UFT also filed a lawsuit in the State Supreme Court. That case is stalled.
The request for a waiver comes on the heels of record-low test scores for third- through eighth-graders released earlier this month. The lower scores are the result of a new test aligned with the Common Core curriculum, which continues to be adopted by the state. Common Core requires students to do more reading and research, while encouraging critical thinking—skills librarians are trained to nourish.
“We have been doing this for years. School librarians, in opposition to the old stereotype of the shushing person who just dusts off the old warehouse of books, that’s not what we do. We teach the children how to learn while the teachers are teaching them what to know,” Stephanie Rosalia, a School Library Media Specialist at the Department of Education said.
“We teach the exact skills that have been defined, only lately, as Common Core.”
Officials from local to federal levels promoted the Common Core curriculum as a way to prepare students for schools and jobs in the digital age. Rosalia said that school librarians fulfill exactly that role: teaching children how to use online search and identify credible sources, create presentations, browse digital collections, and more.
According to the Library Research Service, nationwide studies have shown that schools with endorsed librarians score better on standardized tests in reading compared to those without.
“There’s been some rhetoric that in the modern age we don’t need librarians, we don’t need books, etc.,” Zabriskie, who eventually became a public librarian and executive director of Urban Librarians Unite, said. “If you look at library circulation rates across the country they’re up higher than they’ve ever been. Teens are reading books more and more. The idea that since we have Google now and we don’t need libraries is facile.”
“Schools are innovating and providing access in many different ways including rich classroom libraries, curated online research sites, and full online curricula,” wrote Browne, a DOE spokeswoman.
Zabriskie said that such libraries have a limited number of books and lack depth. Students who use a school library also have the advantage of anonymity and security amid the stacks, where books can be picked without fear of ridicule and scrutiny from peers.
“A classroom library is not a library. It’s a stack of books sitting in the corner,” Zabriskie said. “The idea that you house a library as part of a classroom is kind of inane.”
For years, Zabriskie and his friend Jon were prime targets for bullies in middle school. They found the light at the library, where Blondin taught them to be curious, structure their thinking, be determined, and stand up for others.
Most students across the city no longer have the support Zabriskie and his friend had. The number of librarians working in the city’s public schools has been decreasing since at least 2008, despite a state regulation that requires all secondary schools to hire one (elementary schools are an exception). More than half of the city’s secondary public schools do not have a librarian.
Matters are bound to get worse. The city’s Department of Education (DOE) is preparing to request that the State Education Department (SED) waive the regulation that requires schools to hire a librarian.
No librarians will be immediately laid off if the SED commissioner, John King, grants the waiver. But school principals, who make the hiring decisions, will then be free to choose not to hire a librarian in order to cut costs.
“Student learning is changing as much more information is available online. While libraries continue to be an important resource, the old model of a room full of books with a staff member managing the access is changing,” Stephanie R. Browne, deputy press secretary with the DOE wrote in an email to the Epoch Times.
School librarians are first certified as teachers and then as librarians. They teach students and teachers how to use online resources, curate physical and digital collections, foster the love of reading and learning, and more. They work either part time or full time, depending on the number of students at the school.
“Having a school librarian who deals with every person in the school is pretty cost effective,” Sara Johns, president of the New York Library Association, said. “It’s kind of shortsighted to say that you’re saving money by eliminating that position.”
According to the DOE’s salary schedule, a school librarian’s starting salary is close to $50,000 and increases based on experience and education. The DOE’s estimated operating budget for the coming school year increased $950 million to $24.8 billion.
The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) first raised the issue in 2010 and appealed to Joel Klein, the SED commissioner at the time, asking that schools in violation of the state rule be ordered to comply. Klein issued a decision that year declaring the appeal moot since the school year was over.
UFT appealed again. A decision on that appeal has not yet been made, according to Antonia Valentine, a spokeswoman with the SED.
“Hundreds of complex appeals are filed each year, so it’s impossible to guarantee a specific date,” Valentine wrote in an email to the Epoch Times.
UFT also filed a lawsuit in the State Supreme Court. That case is stalled.
The request for a waiver comes on the heels of record-low test scores for third- through eighth-graders released earlier this month. The lower scores are the result of a new test aligned with the Common Core curriculum, which continues to be adopted by the state. Common Core requires students to do more reading and research, while encouraging critical thinking—skills librarians are trained to nourish.
“We have been doing this for years. School librarians, in opposition to the old stereotype of the shushing person who just dusts off the old warehouse of books, that’s not what we do. We teach the children how to learn while the teachers are teaching them what to know,” Stephanie Rosalia, a School Library Media Specialist at the Department of Education said.
“We teach the exact skills that have been defined, only lately, as Common Core.”
Officials from local to federal levels promoted the Common Core curriculum as a way to prepare students for schools and jobs in the digital age. Rosalia said that school librarians fulfill exactly that role: teaching children how to use online search and identify credible sources, create presentations, browse digital collections, and more.
According to the Library Research Service, nationwide studies have shown that schools with endorsed librarians score better on standardized tests in reading compared to those without.
“There’s been some rhetoric that in the modern age we don’t need librarians, we don’t need books, etc.,” Zabriskie, who eventually became a public librarian and executive director of Urban Librarians Unite, said. “If you look at library circulation rates across the country they’re up higher than they’ve ever been. Teens are reading books more and more. The idea that since we have Google now and we don’t need libraries is facile.”
The DOE Alternative
DOE is considering classroom libraries as an alternative, Zabriskie said. A typical classroom library is a bookshelf in the corner of a classroom with books selected by teachers.“Schools are innovating and providing access in many different ways including rich classroom libraries, curated online research sites, and full online curricula,” wrote Browne, a DOE spokeswoman.
Zabriskie said that such libraries have a limited number of books and lack depth. Students who use a school library also have the advantage of anonymity and security amid the stacks, where books can be picked without fear of ridicule and scrutiny from peers.
“A classroom library is not a library. It’s a stack of books sitting in the corner,” Zabriskie said. “The idea that you house a library as part of a classroom is kind of inane.”
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Dreams
“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable. ”
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Christopher Reeve (1952-2004);
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Sunday, August 18, 2013
The Worth of an Individual
This morning I listened to the BYU Devotional Speech given by Dr. Kristin Matthews on August 6, 2013. She talked about some things that touched my heart that I feel have great meaning for us at Esperanza. The following are excerpts from her speech.
As human beings, one of the things that we do to understand our world is create systems of meaning that help us to organize the sensations, experiences, and objects we encounter. I think of a time I was reading with my oldest nephew, Connor, as he was learning different categories of animals—how a dog is not a cow and a cow is not a zebra. What the animal looked like, how it sounded, and what it ate all factored in as he learned how to identify these different species. Similarly, we have created categories like nationality, race, ethnicity, sex, religious affiliation, political party, marital status, and so on to organize and make sense of humankind’s diversity. However, too often we use these seemingly descriptive systems to determine the worth of others. These human-made hierarchies of value can cause division, contention, and skewed understandings of self-worth.
Where
do these systems that evaluate worth come from? These systems are neither
eternal nor transcendent, but are human creations that are based in place and
time, more often than not, benefitting those in positions of power who have created
those systems. For example, pseudo-scientific ideas of racial superiority elevating
Anglo-Saxons above all others were perpetuated for centuries in order to
justify devaluing and dehumanizing persons of color so that their land might be
seized and their bodies used as slaves or subjects.
As human beings, one of the things that we do to understand our world is create systems of meaning that help us to organize the sensations, experiences, and objects we encounter. I think of a time I was reading with my oldest nephew, Connor, as he was learning different categories of animals—how a dog is not a cow and a cow is not a zebra. What the animal looked like, how it sounded, and what it ate all factored in as he learned how to identify these different species. Similarly, we have created categories like nationality, race, ethnicity, sex, religious affiliation, political party, marital status, and so on to organize and make sense of humankind’s diversity. However, too often we use these seemingly descriptive systems to determine the worth of others. These human-made hierarchies of value can cause division, contention, and skewed understandings of self-worth.
But then I sat and thought more about
how externalities like wealth are used to ascribe value to individuals. It
reminded me of Edith Wharton’s novel, The
Age of Innocence. In that text, Wharton satirizes the intricate set of codes
that the very wealthy used to dictate behavior and measure worth in gilded age
New York. People who abided by these strict codes were accepted into high
society as a valued member. Those who did or could not abide by these codes
were dismissed as vulgar, low class, and the worst of all designations,
“unpleasant.” When I teach this novel, my students have no trouble laughing at
these characters and their shallowness. But we as early twenty-first century
folk too have codes that separate the “hots” from the “nots” (to quote a Facebook
page that has been in the local news recently). As a class, we started to
identify various markers or codes that could be used to rank others and came up
with a list: what people wear, what cell phone they have, what laptop they use,
what car they drive, what bands they listen to, what size their jeans are, what
status their relationship is in, what apartment complex they live in, what
films they watch, what facial hair they grow, and so on. My students found that
these things that seemingly describe actually prescribe certain behaviors and beliefs deemed important to
acceptance and worth.
Whether we like to admit it or not, it
is human to rank and ascribe value to others, and more often than not, we
ascribe higher value to people who are like us than to those who are different.
It is now cliché to say this, but we fear what we don’t know, so difference is
made suspect or “bad,” whereas familiarity breeds comfort, so sameness becomes
more valuable. In addition, fear of coming up short or fear of not being enough
often propels these negative behaviors. Because we fear we are less somehow, we
seek to elevate ourselves over others to convince ourselves that we are
valuable.
Obviously, these systems that elevate
some and denigrate others are destructive and have led to wars, enslavement,
and discrimination—violence of a social and global scale.
One of my favorite works of
literature is Lorraine Hansberry’s play A
Raisin in the Sun (1958). This play examines the ways that socially
constructed categories of worth can grind down individuals and offers a
corrective. The Younger family is poor, black, and living in Southside Chicago
after WWII. The degradations of racist housing and hiring practices have worn them
out, eating away at familial relationships and draining each individual of hope.
At the beginning of the third act, the Younger family is reeling from the news
that Walter Lee Younger’s actions have lost the small inheritance that could
have helped them better their situation. His sister Beneatha turns on him,
saying he is no longer a man, but a “toothless rat.” Her mother corrects her, reminding
her that she taught her to love him, to which Beneatha replies, “Love him?
There is nothing left to love.” Indeed, the oppressive weight of racism has
told the Youngers that they are worth nothing so many times that they are
starting to believe it. Yet, Mama rightly says in this memorable speech:
There is always something left to love. . . . Child, when do you think is
the time to love somebody the most? When they done good and made things easy
for everybody? Well then, you ain’t through learning—because that ain’t the
time at all. It’s when he’s at his lowest and can’t believe in hisself ‘cause
the world done whipped him so! When you starts measuring somebody, measure him
right, child, measure him right. Make sure you done take into account what
hills and valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is. (145)[i]
In fact, one of my least favorite words is “tolerate” because its popular usage assigns a superiority to the speaker and an inferiority to the object of their speech. You “tolerate” somebody else’s person, beliefs, or actions, which implies that your own person, beliefs, or actions are superior.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Your Own Beat
This painting and quote by Greg Olsen reminded me of one my favorite quotes:
"If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away. "
Henry David Thoreau,
This picture shared by Isabel Vega is also related to this picture and thought.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
25 Ways to Reward Employees (Without Spending a Dime)
Thanks to Barbara Glanz for sharing this!
25 Ways to Reward Employees (Without Spending a Dime)
By Dan TynanYour firm's employees work hard (well, most of them). And in a world where corporations like to boast about running "lean and mean," it may seem nearly impossible to compensate employees for doing good work without breaking the budget.
The good news? You don't have to. A January 2007 survey by staffing firm Accountemps found that “frequent recognition of accomplishments” was the top non-monetary compensation named by full- and part-time office workers, with “regular communication” coming in at No. 2. Both activities can make your staff more productive without shaving one millimeter off your bottom line.
We talked to management consultants, HR pros, career coaches, book authors and bosses from a range of industries to glean the 25 best ways to reward employees without breaking the bank. Here's their hard-earned advice.
1. Flex those hours. If there's one free reward that rises above the rest, it's flexible work schedules. Nearly every expert we contacted suggested flex time as a perk that offers the most gain with the least pain.
“Give a little latitude in determining work schedules and to take time for family or personal issues (such as doctor’s appointment and banking errands),” advised Richard Martin, president of Alcera Consulting Inc. “As long as the employee is deserving and doesn’t abuse the privilege, this can go a long way to building trusting and mature relationships with key workers.”
2. Send a handwritten note. Supervisors should ask top brass to write a personal note to employees who deserve recognition, advised Cindy Ventrice, author of "Make Their Day! Employee Recognition That Works." For example, AdvancedMD CEO Jim Pack handwrites his thank-you notes to employees on a $2 bill. “In three years of doing this, only one employee has asked if he could spend it,” said company spokesman John Pilmer.
3. Make work fun. “During a business coaching engagement, I found employee morale to be way down,” said Terri Levine, president of The Coaching Institute. “We created a weekly event to boost morale. One week we asked everyone to bring in a baby picture, post it on a wall, then pick which person matched each picture. Everyone was having fun and socializing while productivity went from 58 percent to 72 percent — all in the same week.”
4. Help them connect. Introducing employees to key suppliers, customers or someone in senior management can help make an employee's career, says Ventrice — and it won't cost you a thing.
5. Lose the shoes. Kaerie Ray, an account executive with the Echo Media Group public relations firm, said implementing a “no-shoes policy” can make employees feel right at home with each other, which translates into increased productivity. (But she suggests keeping the footwear handy in case clients come in.) “It's great to be in an office where employees are more concerned about doing quality work than what shoes or jewelry they have on,” she said. “We get so much done.”
6. Send them to the showers. (As in parties, not lathering and rinsing.) “Every birth and wedding deserves a shower,” said Ray. “Echo employees always leave early on shower days, and the food is on the house. No need to make up the time.”
7. Reward effort as well as success. Even if their ideas sometimes fail, you want employees to keep producing them, said Alan Weiss, president of the Summit Consulting Group Inc. “When I consulted with the CEO of Calgon, we created an annual award for 'the best idea that didn't work' and presented a loving cup at the annual awards dinner. This stimulated innovation and positive behavior, not 'winning.'”
8. Give them a free pass. Levine suggests giving out a certain number of free days off to employees to use as they see fit. “Employees get a few of these a year and can use them as they like,” she said. “They don't have to pretend to be sick. They can go to the beach, read a book, play with their kids ... it doesn't matter.”
9. Dole out cream and sugar. During the busiest times of the year, executives at the Cigna Group push coffee carts around the office, serving drinks and refreshments to their colleagues, noted Steve Harrison, author of "The Manager's Book of Decencies: How Small Gestures Build Great Companies." As they serve, executives coach and encourage colleagues and hear about real consumer issues.
10. Blow out the candles. Cisco Systems Inc.'s CEO John Chambers hosts a monthly hour-long birthday breakfast for any employee with a birthday that month, says Harrison. “Employees are invited to ask him anything. They feel recognized, and he gains loyal employees who share their ideas.”
11. Spread the love. Ask co-workers to write something they truly like or admire about an employee on a scrap of paper, then frame them along with a photograph of the employee, suggested David Russell, author of "Success With People – A Complete System for Effectively Managing People in Any Organization."
12. Offer a swap. Giving your best employees a chance to pick their own projects or trade tasks with a colleague empowers and rewards them at the same time, said Harrison.
13. Applaud their efforts — literally. If someone has done something really worthwhile, have your entire staff give them a standing ovation at the next meeting, suggested Sharlyn Lauby, president of HR consulting firm ITM Group Inc.
14. Say it with flowers. Professor Linda M. Lopeke, principal of SmartStartCoach.com, sayid she used to reward top employees by bringing in flowers from her garden and arranging them in a spectacular crystal vase on their desks. “Everybody knew what having the custody of the flowers meant,” she said. “Surprisingly, even the men competed fiercely for custody of the flowers.” In the winter, she'd substitute a showpiece display of floating glass fish.
15. Walk it as you talk it. The City of Dallas sponsored a walkathon where employees set goals for walking a certain number of steps each day, offering a free gym membership to those who walked the farthest. Not only did they get more fit, they turned their daily walks into traveling staff meetings, says city spokeswoman Danielle McCelland.
“Group members were able to update one another on projects, solicit team input and improve their fitness,” she said. “The organized program ended after three weeks, but the work group still holds their traveling staff meetings two months later.”
16. Pass the bucks. Handing out monopoly money that can be redeemed for gifts and other goodies may not be strictly free, but it pays off handsomely in the long run. For example, associates at BankAtlantic can pass out “WOW! Bucks” to colleagues who've done something outstanding, said bank vice president Gregory Dalmotte. The bucks can eventually be traded in for real goods. “There's a clear correlation that words of encouragement have created associates who perform at a higher level,” he says.
17. Share the memories. “My team created a scrapbook chronicling the impact I'd had on their company and gave it to me on my last day in the office,” said Lopeke. “People who’d worked on my teams wrote testimonials and creative graphics highlighting some our team successes. It's the best gift I ever received in my 40-year career.”
18. Elect them to the Wall of Fame. Several experts suggested setting aside a public space inside your firm and placing photos of employees who've accomplished something truly special, along with the details of what they did to earn their place on the wall.
19. Create your own "Club Med." Set aside a quiet space or unused office in your building where employees can meditate, chill out, nap or otherwise re-center themselves, said John Putzier, author of "Get Weird! 101 Innovative Ways to Make Your Company a Great Place to Work."
20. Stoke their passion. “Great employees are not mercenaries,” said Dr. Richard Chang, CEO of Richard Chang Associates Inc., a performance-improvement consultancy. “They don’t just want to enjoy their work, they want to be passionate about it ... if you want your employees to feel valued and inspire their passion on your behalf, encourage them to make their own decisions. You can have systems in place to control the implementation of ideas, but you must be certain not to compromise the enthusiasm, creativity and hard work that make them possible in the first place.”
21. Give them a place to park it. Reserve the best parking spot for employees who've done something truly worthwhile, said Lopeke. And if it's next to the CEO's Lexus so the employee can chat him or her up on the way into work, so much the better.
22. Remember the spouses. Independent management consultant Nan Amish recalled one time when she had 16 employees trapped in a hotel lobby on a Sunday night, waiting for the ballroom to open so they could set up a trade-show booth. “I bought flowers at a farmers market, a nice $6 bouquet of roses for each person,” she said. “I told them to take them home to their significant others, apologizing for me taking them away from their families on a Sunday. The next day I got thank-yous from most of them. One wife sent a letter saying I could keep her husband until Friday.”
23. Publicize their successes. “We like to publicly recognize employees so the whole company can share in their accomplishments,” noted Scott Ragusa, president of contract businesses for staffing firm The Winter, Wyman Companies. “Each week, nominations for our quarterly 'Clutch' award are shared with the whole company. The Clutch nominations are a way to recognize our administrative and nonmanagerial professional staff members who have come through in the clutch in supporting their departments or the firm.”
24. Let them phone it in. Telecommuting programs can relieve stress and make workers feel more appreciated, as well as more productive. “Reward the employee by starting with one day of telecommuting, then add additional days as performance heightens,” suggested Brian Margarita, president of IT staffing firm TalentFuse Inc. “Having the option to cart the kids to soccer practice, visit the beach during the afternoon or cut out early to avoid traffic congestion is becoming more important than working an 80-hour week for a larger paycheck.”
25. Remember the secret words. “The two most underused words in corporate America that get the highest ROI (return on investment) and ROT (return on your time) are the simple words 'thank you,'” noted Michael Guld, president of the Guld Resource Group author of "The Million Dollar Media Rep: How to Become a Television and Radio Sales Superstar."
While telling your employees you appreciate them should be obvious, added Amish, no one does it enough or is specific enough about what the employee did. “So when you share your appreciation, be specific about what you really liked, so they not only feel appreciated but can do it again.”
Monday, August 12, 2013
Leader In Me Program
(Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Principal Karen Thomson awards this month's "The Leader in Me" winners at Falcon Ridge Elementary, Monday, November 21, 2011. They are from left to right: Daniel Rich, Kiera McEwen, Dylan, Chesworth, Weston Schmelter, Bryce Doerr, Shaelyn Muncey, and Valerie Uribe. This school year is its second to implement "The Leader in Me" program - it's Franklin Covey's educational program in which kids are taught daily how to use the "7 habits of highly successful people."
Students learn to be leaders in Jordan School District
Leader in Me » Program is based on book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
By Jon Clifford
| Special to The Tribune
Sure, there’s the mathematics, social studies, reading and writing — all staples of elementary education.
But some Utah schools are asking students to broaden their learning spectrum, adding such things as conflict resolution, proactive thinking and raising social and academic expectations.
Photos
At a glance
—
Developing leaders
Twenty-one schools in the Jordan District have incorporated The Leader In Me Program over the past three years.
The program, developed by Franklin Covey, is utilized in more than 1,000 schools in North America and more than 100 schools on other continents.
The program is aimed at helping students develop social and academic plans to help foster a better learning environment.
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Twenty-one schools in the Jordan School District have incorporated the Leader In Me Program into their daily learning. The initiative, inspired by Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, focuses on transforming the culture of the classroom and beyond.
"The language that is spoken through the Seven Habits is so intuitive for the elementary school kids that it’s a natural to be implemented into the very fabric of the school academics, and into the hallways," said Steve Hall, executive director of the Jordan Education Foundation.
The foundation has helped fund the program, which began with two schools — Eastlake Elementary in South Jordan and Falcon Ridge Elementary in West Jordan — back in 2009. Through fund-raising and donations from local businesses, the foundation is able to make available $5,000 to each participating school to fund the program.
The Seven Habits guide students in areas such as leadership, accountability, adaptability, communication and teamwork. Children learn to be proactive in their thinking and planning, to plan with an end result in mind, to set goals in academics and chart their course toward reaching those goals.
A charter school in North Carolina was the first to adapt the core principals almost a decade ago. Since then, Franklin Covey, a global performance improvement company based in Salt Lake City, has seen the program reach more than 1,000 schools in North America, and more than 100 schools on other continents, including Australia, Europe, South America and Asia.
"It was about a year ago when we really started promoting it internationally," said Bill McIntyre, vice president of International Business Development for Franklin Covey Education. "The Seven Habits are timeless principles and applicable in all cultures."
About 30 educators from Brazil’s Abril Group visited Eastlake Elementary earlier this month to get a first-hand look at how the program is implemented, and the results it yields.
Abril currently uses Leader In Me in a pilot school in Rio de Janeiro.
"In the group that came over were principals from several other schools, as well as the Under Secretary for the city of Rio de Janeiro," McIntyre said. "They were just trying to learn more about what the impact has been."
The program currently is designed for elementary school children, though McIntyre said the goal is to expand to middle school students.
Hall shared stories from teachers and administrators who support the program. They tell of students resolving conflicts peacefully without adult intervention, reduced number of office referrals for misbehavior, and parents’ reports of their children coming home and completing homework before play time.
Hall said he believes the program is effective because it is not a "top-down" program mandated by the district. It’s a teacher-driven program that the Jordan District would like to offer the program in each of its 51 elementary schools, if it can secure funding required to make that possible.
"The parents, the teacher, the principals see that it is working," Hall said. "It’s exciting. You just have to tweak how you think, how you talk and how you transform your building.
"That’s the key. Because that’s when parents can get involved. Businesses can get involved. School community councils can get involved. PTAs can get involved. Because everyone is speaking the same language. And that’s the goal."
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Immigration and America’s Broken Civics Education System
Immigration and America’s Broken Civics Education System
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
America’s schools no longer teach our history or celebrate our unique culture, devaluing a powerful force for national unity.
Senator Michael Bennet (D–Colorado) has written poignantly in support of the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill, urging its passage as a means of reaffirming “quintessential American values” and restoring “the American dream.” But today, few of our students — foreign or native born — know much about the provenance of those values. Our schools no longer teach the American dream. It is time for Americans to insist on restoring our system of civics education.
If the United States is to open a path to citizenship for today’s undocumented immigrants and maintain a liberal policy toward new immigration, we must break our silence on the sources of the freedom and prosperity that have drawn immigrants to our shores. Our immigration system is broken — but so is our system of civic education. As Congress moves towards opening new paths for immigrants, it should find a way to restore the foundation of American citizenship — the self-confident teaching of American history in our nation’s schools. American history has always been a powerful force for inclusion, assimilation, and national unity. Children of immigrants from disparate parts of the globe, along with native-born children from all stations of life, discovered what it meant to be an American in our schools, where they recited the Pledge of Allegiance, celebrated Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays, learned about the American Revolution and the Civil War, and came to view themselves as part of an extraordinary culture of liberty. But our schools have drifted away from this mission. Levels of Ignorance Countless studies confirm that young Americans have become distressingly ignorant about their national past. The latest Department of Education national history assessment (2010) shows that only 12 percent of American high school seniors have a firm grasp of U.S. history. More than half (55 percent) scored below the “Basic” achievement level. A 2012 Roper survey of college graduates found widespread ignorance about U.S. history and basic functions of government: only 17 percent of those polled, for example, could identify famous words from the Gettysburg Address or knew the effects of the Emancipation Proclamation. Noting a 2009 study that found that 39 percent of Americans could not name a single right protected by the First Amendment, civil libertarian Greg Lukianoff has described us as a nation in the process of “unlearning liberty.” We are perilously close to testing Thomas Jefferson’s famous admonition: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” Our immigration system is broken — but so is our system of civic education.Most colleges and universities no longer require students to take a basic course in U.S. history or government (less than 20 percent, according to the American Council of Trustees and Alumni), and those students who happen to take U.S. history as an elective are not likely to hear much praise for the land of the free and the home of the brave. In its recent study of the history curriculum in Texas universities, the National Association of Scholars (NAS) found a preoccupation with the themes of race, class, and gender injustice. Says the NAS, “Other matters –– individual rights, entrepreneurship, industrialization, self-reliance, religion, war, science — fade into the margins along with the persons and events associated with them.” In sum: students become well-versed in the history of American bigotry, prejudice, and exclusion — but learn next to nothing about the heroic chapters of the national story. Herein lies a paradox: supporters of the DREAM Act — which would give high-performing children of undocumented immigrants an opportunity to attend college — defend it as the highest expression of Americans traditions. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan urges its passage as a means of giving “hard-working, patriotic, young people a shot at the American Dream.” But once in college, these very same students may well enroll in courses that treat the American Dream as an illusion at best and a nightmare at worst. I am not suggesting we return to a time when our past was whitewashed and presented in a naïve or jingoistic way. But all students need instruction that acquaints them with the key figures, events, and doctrines that make up our collective identity. And that instruction should foster understanding, pride in country, and civic attachment. Our national sins should be frankly acknowledged, but the grandeur of the American experiment must shine through. This is simply not happening today. Many in the education establishment recoil at the idea of reviving a patriotic curriculum and do all they can to thwart it. Should members of the House or Senate try to address the blight of civic illiteracy, they will meet ferocious opposition. But they should know that there is at least equal strength on the other, less vocal, side. Dozens of established, mainstream civic education groups could provide leadership and concrete guidance on how to restore the nation’s history and civics curriculum. These include Common Core, Inc., the Center for Civic Education, ICivics, and the Bill of Rights Institute. (Note: Common Core, Inc. refers to the non-profit entity that focuses on designing curriculum materials, not to be confused with the Common Core State Standards Initiative.) A magnificent new e-learning project from AEI, WhatSoProudlyWeHail.org, directed by Amy Kass and Leon Kass, takes a literary approach to making informed citizens. It includes a ten-part online course, “The Meaning of America,” and a new series of e-books for celebrating national holidays. There is also the UNO Charter School Network of Chicago, which serves more than 6,500 mostly-Hispanic children in twelve K-8 schools and one high school. The UNO Network has developed an exemplary “American Civics Curriculum” that fosters pride, gratitude, and identification with American political and civic traditions. The schools’ mission is not simply to create educated and engaged citizens, “but educated and engaged American citizens” (emphasis in original). Assimilation and Americanization were once the raison d’être of our schools, and we should strive to make them so again. Oppressive Legislation? Giovanni Capriglione is a first-term member of the Texas House. Both his parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1970s — his mother from Venezuela, his father from Italy. Once in the United States, these two outsiders learned American history, came to see themselves as part of our national story, and were transformed into something new — American citizens. Alarmed by the NAS findings on the Texas curriculum, and sensing a threat to the assimilation process that had served his parents so well, Capriglione took action. He recently introduced a bill in the Texas legislature that clarified a 1955 state law establishing a US history requirement for Texas college students. Capriglione’s bill specified that all students must take at least one comprehensive survey course in American history, but this clarification meant that many specialized courses such as “Women in Postwar America,” “The Black Power Movement,” or “Popular Music in the U.S.” could be taken only as electives and would no longer fulfill the history graduation requirement. But all students need instruction that acquaints them with the key figures, events, and doctrines that make up our collective identity. And that instruction should foster understanding, pride in country, and civic attachment.Writers, professors, students, and school board members banded together to protest what they considered to be “oppressive” legislation. The NAACP and the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund saw it as a direct assault on ethnic studies. Anne Martinez, a history professor at the University of Texas whose “History of Mexican Women” course would no longer fill the American history requirement, told reporters: “It says that Mexican-American history somehow isn’t as valuable as another history.” To its opponents’ satisfaction, the bill languished in committee. Just think of it: we have reached the point where a law that simply stipulates that our history be taught creates passionate, organized, and successful resistance. Even in Texas. In his moving defense of the Gang of Eight immigration bill, Senator Bennet explains the importance of American ideals in his own life. His mother and grandparents escaped Nazi persecution and found refuge in the United States. To this day, he relishes the words his grandparents inscribed in a card on the occasion of his first birthday:
The Ancient Greeks gave the world the high ideals of Democracy in search of which your dear mother and we came to the hospitable shores of beautiful America in 1950. We have been happy here ever since, beyond our greatest dreams and expectations, with democracy, freedom and love, and humanity's greatest treasures. We hope that when you grow up you will help to develop in other parts of the world a greater understanding of these American values.
The Texas professors who opposed the Capriglione legislation would no doubt be disdainful of such naïve love of country. We know that not all was beautiful in 1950s America. Still, there is plain truth in that birthday card message, and it is a truth we are failing to impart to the next generation. Senator Bennet worries that our broken immigration system threatens the American dream realized by his grandparents. He is right — but our broken system of civics education is every bit as threatening.Christina Hoff Sommers is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Her new book, Freedom Feminism, is just out from AEI Press. Follow her on @CHSommers. FURTHER READING: Sommers also writes “Lessons from a Feminist Paradise on Equal Pay Day,” “Margaret Thatcher Showed the World What a Woman Can Do,” and “Is a Woman’s Place at Work?” Josh Good reviews Charles Murray’s monograph in “Rediscovering American Exceptionalism.” James Pethokoukis blogs “Assimilation, Americanization, and Immigration Reform.” Cheryl Miller writes “Teachers and the Decline of Civic Knowledge” and joins Daniel Lautzenheiser to say “FAIL: Nation’s History Report Card.”Frederick M. Hess, David E. Campbell, and Meira Levinson discuss “Making Civics Count,” while Robert Maranto writes “In Service of Citizenship: YES Prep Public Schools and Civic Education.”
Image by Dianna Ingram/Bergman Group
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