(After Another Mass Shooting) Let's Listen to These Students!

I don't like to get too political in this blog, but this is one instance when I feel I must.

There was another school shooting last week. I am a school principal; an event like this impacts me because I wonder whether all of our practice drills will really prepare us and keep our students and staff safe. Parents send their kids to school and expect us to keep them safe. We take that responsibility seriously.

The students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida experienced something no one should have to experience in school. Their friends and teachers were killed in a well-planned attack with an assault rifle by a former student who had been expelled.

The students are angry; they want change; they want to ensure that there are no more school shootings, and they are taking action. They are calling out the political leaders who refuse to change the law that allows citizens, including those with mental health issues, to purchase assault rifles. ("Walkouts, Marches, and Rallies: A Guide to the School Violence Protests after the Florida Shootings") 

I read comments on social media about this shooting. People blaming parents for not disciplining their kids. Others are blaming kids for ostracizing kids who are different. Adults are saying that kids don't know what they're talking about and should be in school, not planning protests or meeting with legislators. These comments anger me. 

At our school, our students are encouraged to "make a difference." This year, students have helped out a school in Houston that was impacted by Hurricane Harvey; others have cleared an area of invasive plants on the North Shore that has been affected by climate change and replanted native plants; students collected canned foods for the Hawaii Food Bank; and others are conducting a toiletries drive to help homeless children. These are issues that are important to our students, and they are taking action. This is project-based learning, real-world learning for students that empowers students to engage in learning that is meaningful. 

This is what students in Parkland, Florida are hoping to do. They want to engage legislators in discussions about something they are passionate about - making sure that their school would be the last school shooting in our country. I applaud them for their leadership. I applaud them for their concern. I applaud them for their courage. I hope they are successful in making the changes necessary to keep everyone safe in school. 

Positive Relationships with Parents of Our Special Needs Students

I sit in on a lot of IEP meetings as an administrator. There have been a few that were challenging, but overall, our school welcomes the opportunity to work with parents to create an Individualized Education Program that meets the needs of the special needs student.

In an earlier blog post, I shared some ideas about "How Can We Improve Special Education Services in Hawaii?" I feel that we are doing well at our school because we have great staff who truly provide quality learning experiences for our students. Our staff cares for our special needs students, and that is reflected in our classrooms as well as in our positive relationships with the child and his/her family.

The purpose of this blog post is to remind ourselves that parents are the most important person at an IEP meeting. They know their child best, and it behooves us to listen and learn from them. Sometimes, parents are uncomfortable at the meeting and may be reluctant to say much, thinking that the school knows best or even feeling a bit guilty that somehow, they have failed in their role as parents. As the school team, we try to put parents at-ease by having them share about their child.  Tell us what your child is like at home. What does he/she like to do? What are your goals for your child? This information is so important because it helps the team to build a stronger relationship with the child as well as the parents. We encourage teachers to get to know their students because doing so builds stronger relationships that can truly make a difference for that child. It is no different for special needs students; in fact, it can be even more important for that child to have a teacher who knows what he/she likes or what is frustrating or what might be motivating. There have been meetings where parents clearly felt emotional when asked to share about their child. It can be difficult to share the challenges they face at home every day. Those insights can help us, the child's IEP team. We can find out so much about a child by asking his/her parents for their input, and the IEP we create together will be a stronger document as a result.

I wish that all teachers would be required to spend time in a special needs class before having their own classroom. It gives a whole new perspective on what it means to work as a team to help a student continue to grow and be successful. The one year I taught a class of special education preschoolers gave me the insight and empathy I need to be a successful administrator sitting in on IEP meetings. To this day, I remember those students and what they taught me, like Joshua who spoke gibberish when he started. His mom shared that every week, they called her parents on the mainland, and usually, he wouldn't want to talk to them or if he did, his grandparents had no idea what he was saying. Towards the end of the year, Joshua's mom shared that her parents were crying when she finally got the phone away from him the previous evening. His grandparents could understand what Joshua was so excited to share with them. I remember Sam who didn't walk when he started but was so determined to do so. At Preschool Play Day where all the special needs PK students gathered for fun and games with lots of soldier-volunteers, the last activity was to run from one side of the gym to the other. Sam started with his walker. The other kids ran and celebrated when they got to the other side. Sam kept going. He was the only one on the gym floor, and everyone was on the sidelines, cheering him on. He would stop to rest, then continue. The roar was deafening when he crossed that line, and a soldier picked him up and carried him to the loud cheers of the whole gym. I still get tears in my eyes when I remember that moment, and it was 30 years ago.

The point I'm trying to make is this. To us, that child is a student,  and we do our best to help him/her to be successful in school. To his/her parents, that special needs child is their world, and they want him/her to be successful in life. I will admit that when I became an administrator, receiving training on the nuts and bolts of special education and IEPs, I was told to "be tough" and "know the law" and "don't give in." I didn't receive any training on how to work with parents, and yet, that is what makes or breaks a relationship. Each one of those special needs students and their families that I have had the privilege to work with taught me that "it takes a village" to educate a child, and the home/school relationship is crucial to a child's success.

Learning through Exploration and Play

We recently had a discussion in our Leadership Team about purchasing programs with school funds; those programs are getting more expensive, and not all students or classrooms are actually using them. Additionally, we do not have the data to indicate that these programs are actually making a difference for a majority of our students. Is it worth spending that kind of money on technology?

Recently, George Couros posted this blog, "Personalized Learning vs Personalization of Learning," and he states, ""Technology is powerful and creates opportunities that I couldn't even imagine as a student, and we would be crazy not to embrace and build upon what is in front of us. But if it dehumanizes our schools, then we have forgotten that we not only there to develop learners, but people as well." I also read this blog, "Why I Left Silicon Valley, Ed Tech, and 'Personalized' Learning" by Paul Emerich, as well as this one "5 Risks Posed by the Increasing Misuse of Technology in Schools" by Diana Ravitch. I believe in the use of technology to explore, discover, create, and share, but I have mixed feelings about students sitting in front of the computer to do a "program" when we aren't checking usage or whether it's making a difference for our students.

That is why I am so excited when I see hands-on learning happening at our school. No technology needed. Just a great activity where students are learning through exploration and play. We have different activities in the library that encourage problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity. Students love going to the library to "play" with other students, and they often create awesome structures! They are learning through exploration and play, unbounded by rules about the ":correct" way to build. What I love about these activities is that they are so open-ended, and students can use them in different ways to collaborate and create.

Recently, our kindergarten students had the opportunity to participate in several different activities for the 100th day of school. The one I liked best was using 100 paper cups to collaborate and create. With limited instructions (students had to share with group members but could build together or on their own - some started off individually but realized they could build something bigger if they built together), the students made some awesome structures!  I observed a group of students dividing their 100 cups equally amongst all team members. Others just eyeballed it or took a stack and got started. I saw groups discussing with each other first and then building while other groups started off individually then combined their ideas. There was no bickering but lots of encouragement. When a stack toppled, students picked up the cups and started over. What was great was that no two creations looked alike!

So were the students learning through this activity? Definitely! They used words like more, less, higher, taller, and shorter. They stacked cups into towers of equal height or stacked them pyramid-style. And maybe more importantly, they were developing perseverance and learning the power of collaboration and teamwork. Here are just a few examples of their creations.

Later that week, I went to the Makerspace and observed third graders who were learning about different types of simple machines. They were presented with challenges, and that day's challenge was to invent a machine that could toss a ping pong ball high enough to catch. Each group had the same materials, and each student had to draw their design and explain it to their teammates. After that, each team discussed their ideas and came up with one plan they would try. There was a lot of discussion, and each team agreed on their plan. Some chose one student's plan, and others opted to combine different plans to build their machine. Then it was time to build and then try their machines out. Some were successful, and others needed a little bit of revising. What was great was that all students were so engaged and worked well together. They cheered for other teams when they were successful, and gave suggestions to teams that were not. They were truly learning through exploration!

School is an opportunity for teachers and students to learn together. That teacher-student relationship is vital to empowering and engaging students in their learning. It was evident in both classrooms that students were applying what they had learned, not just the academic skills but also social-emotional skills. This is something that a computer cannot do. Computers can take data on what a student knows or how a student does on an assignment, but computers cannot encourage him/her to persevere if students are having problems. They cannot figure out where a student is having difficulty and provide interventions or strategies to help him/her to succeed on the task.

Technology is wonderful and will only improve with time. As I stated earlier, technology is a wonderful tool for exploring, discovering, creating, and sharing. Often, however, low-tech or no-tech can be just as successful, engaging, and empowering for students.