One Minute Elevator Speech

If you can't write your idea on the back of my calling card, you don't have a clear idea." --David Belasco, American theatrical producer, director and playwright     This is why we want all our Esperanza stakeholders to learn/memorize our "Elevator Speech" that they can give when others ask about Esperanza.          One Minute Elevator Speech:  Although students from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds are invited to attend Esperanza, Esperanza is a charter school located in WVC that specifically targets the needs of low income Hispanic learners so they and their families can access more opportunity doors.  It is built upon 4 pillars:  1) Invitational Education which is a theory based on the work and research of IAIE (International Alliance of Invitational Education).  The findings are that when everything (people, places, policies, processes, programs) are intentionally inviting for the students we are targeting and lay the foundation for the school, learners will be more academically successful.  For example, we are intentionally making sure all Esperanza staff (people) are bilingual , 2) Quality School which is based on the theory and research finding of the Glasser Institute.  The three prongs of this theory are •Students will understand quality •Coercion will be eliminated •Students will learn to self-evaluate These three prongs will have an influence and impact on the 5 P's of Invitational Education and permeate every aspect of Esperanza. , 3) Best teaching/learning practices based on research focused on Hispanic students or included them in the research including a 90/10 Dual Immersion Model, and 4) the Community Learning School which is based on the "developmental triangle" which calls for a strong instructional program, expanded learning opportunities through enrichment and services designed to remove barriers to students' learning and healthy development, so that they can thrive academically and socially.

Abolish Traditional Homework

Thanks to Kenna Friddle, one of our founding board members, for posting this article on FB this morning.  It is supportive of our Esperanza homework policy based on Dr. Glasser's quality school.

Gaithersburg Elementary School abolishes homework

Posted: Sep 06, 2012 4:09 PM MDTUpdated: Sep 06, 2012 5:11 PM MDT

By John Henrehan, FOX 5 Reporter

GAITHERSBURG, Md. - Gaithersburg Elementary School has abolished homework. Instead, students are being asked to read a book for about 30 minutes a night.
When Stephanie Brant came aboard as principal two years ago, she and her staff conducted a review of homework assignments.
"We really started evaluating the work that we sent students home with," explained Principal Brant. "We started looking, and really, it was a lot of worksheets. And the worksheets didn't match what we were doing instructionally in the classroom. It was just: we were giving students something because we felt we had to give them something."
So, Brant got permission from the school district to implement a radical experiment: the only homework assigned here is reading.
Fifth grader Ann Urrutia got regular homework here as a second-grader; then it went away. We asked her if she misses doing those math problems at home.
"We do [the math problems] in school," she explained.
Urrutia estimates she reads about 30 minutes a night.
That's the principal's goal: 30 minutes a night of reading for every student. Parents appear to be generally supportive of the abolition of traditional homework.
"When [my son] comes home, he has relaxing time. And I think kids need that relaxing time," said Luz Gomez, a parent of a third-grader at the school.
Principal Brant believes the generalized order to read something every night is sparking maturation and motivation among many students.
Parent Angela Atherton, who has a third grade daughter at Gaithersburg, said, last year, "She actually came home with a calendar. And so every night she would check off that she had done her reading homework."
In most elementary schools, the class (as a group) goes to the library once a week. Each kid picks out about two books. The kids tend to finish the books in the first night or two, and then the books spend the rest of the week in the child's backpack waiting for the next class trip to the library.
At Gaithersburg Elementary, students are allowed hall passes to go to the library every day, and they wind up reading many more books.
Principal Brant knows this "reading only" homework policy runs a risk, but so far, the standardized test scores remain solid. In the most recent round of Maryland proficiency exams (2010-2011), fifth graders at Gaithersburg Elementary School scored about 72 percent proficiency in math and about 81 percent proficiency in reading.
What makes those scores particularly impressive is the student body at Gaithersburg Elementary is largely poor and comes from homes where English is not the primary language. About 70 percent of the students come from non-English speaking homes. And 82 percent of the students come from homes where family income is so low that the students are eligible for a free or subsidized lunch.


Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/19477877/gaithersburg-elementary-school-abolishes-homework?clienttype=printable#ixzz25sWPBPR0

What Success Looks Like

This is a great reminder as we strive to teach our Esperanza scholars, their families, our educators, and our board about being a Glasser Quality School. 

On the Way to Quality

One of our Esperanza founding board members--Flavia McKnight-- shared this on Facebook.  I feel it fits perfectly with our "quality school" pillar.  So does this Facebook posting by Carlos Linares:  Stop thinking you’re not ready. Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.

Grading

The November 2011 issue of Educational Leadership from ASCD arrived yesterday.  The theme of this issue is "Effective Grading Practices."  I read a few articles, and it is excellent. 

One article "Starting the Conversation About Grading" by Susan M. Brookhart that the first two questions we need to ask ourselves are:

1. What meaning (purpose) do we want our grades to convey? 
2. Who is (are) the primary audience(s) for this message?

This article and articles and others that I read fit beautifully with the Dr. William Glasser Quality School Model that we are implementing at Esperanza. 

Win-Win

I've been reading the September 2011 edition of Educational Leadership. The theme for this edition is "Promoting Respectful Schools." One article I particularly enjoyed was "What's So Hard About Win-Win?" by Jane Bluestein. Not only does a win-win environment protects everyone's need for dignity, belonging, and respect but it also fosters academic success.

Although some feel that creating a win-win environment is permissiveness and dumbing down the curriculum, it is actually contrary to that. Teachers work hard to challenge all students appropriately. Failings are seen as opportunities to build responsibility and teach positive behaviors so that students can learn self-management and self-control.

It's important to remember that win-win thinking happens slowly and quietly. The following are some ways to start creating a win-win environment:

• Offer choices--when, where, social preference, and/or medium of presentation
• Focus on positive consequences-- as negative consequences, even if they are logical and reasonable, have punitive energy
• Communicate details as clearly and specifically as possible
• Respond to conflict nonreactively--don't take confrontations personally
• Build relationships with parents--contact them regularly about positive behavior or progress and when contacting them about something negative when possible only let them know what is going on and how it is being handled
• Follow-through

Creating a win-win environment complements the Glasser quality school we want as a foundation for Esperanza.