The World Was Passing Me By . . .

 . . . and I was okay with that. But I realize that I was missing out. 

July makes six years since I retired. I am still involved in education issues and will continue to do so. But I realized that I don't have to "keep up" with the new technologies like I tried to do when I was a principal. 

When Chat GPT came out, I was intrigued. There was chatter on social media, I read blogs and articles about it, and I heard from others that it could make work for teachers easier. Given guidance, ChatGTP could write lesson plans, emails, letters of recommendations, and so much more. It seemed that the possibilities were endless.

I also read comments from teachers who said that Chat GPT was banned  in their class or their school. "We don't want students cheating," was the common theme. And yet,  I thought, we have always had some form of "cheating." What about Cliff's Notes? Was that cheating? What about kids Googling to get answers to questions? Can we ban students from using the Internet to get answers to questions?

I know that AI and ChatGPT weren’t going away in education. But I wasn’t sure how to use it as a retiree. So I didn’t.

Recently, my husband and I were the opening speakers at the first National Kidney Foundation of Hawai`i summit. We shared our personal story about our son Jarand. This was my first experience listening to speakers and panelists discussing medical issues, and while much of the information was over my head, I realized that the medical field is no different from the educational system I was a part of for so many years. One of the panelists shared this challenge that they needed to work together on these health issues that impact our communities,  and then he added, “And AI is here to stay.” 

AI is here to stay. It got me thinking. Alexa is an AI tool, and we’ve grown to rely on her to let us know what the weather will be like the next day and whether we’ll be able to golf or not. If we have a question, we ask Alexa. We get our answer quicker than if we Googled it. She can tell jokes, play our favorite music, tell us when an Amazon package will arrive, and do a myriad of other tasks that we haven’t even explored yet. 

So this morning, I was determined to learn more about ChatGPT’s capabilities. I typed this question on the free website: How could a principal use ChatGPT?  In a few seconds, I got an answer: A principal could use ChatGPT for various tasks such as drafting announcements, creating educational materials, generating ideas for school events or initiatives, providing personalized feedback to students or staff, and even offering virtual tutoring or homework help. 

That was quick! I asked a follow-up: Show me examples of how ChatGPT can help me to generate ideas for a school event to showcase student use AI. (Note that I accidentally eliminated the word “of” between use and AI.) Here’s the response: Certainly! Here are a few ideas for school events to showcase students’ use of AI, and they shared 7 ideas ranging from a showcase to an art showcase to AI in sports. I continued to ask follow-up questions about helping teachers and other principals learn more about AI, and the answers came almost instantaneously with a variety of ideas. The whole process took less than 5 minutes; I was impressed! I was also hooked.

I started asking all kinds of questions just to see what kinds of responses I could get. The responses were so much faster than I get when I Google those kinds of questions. And with Google, I had to search  to see which ones were relevant. 

That got me thinking about the role of ChatGPT or AI in education. We want students to be complex thinkers, not just regurgitators of information. That means that teachers need to ask higher level thinking questions or do projects where students apply what they know to address current issues. I asked ChatGPT  questions about cheating, and here are the responses:

AI is here to stay so as educators, we need to figure out the best way to engage our students so they can use tools like ChatGPT to enhance their learning in order to complete their assignments. And as teachers, we can use these kinds of AI tools to help students engage more deeply with their assignments. 

 

Let’s Listen to Our Students

I was a compliant student  I listened to my teachers, did my work, studied hard, and got decent grades. When I went to the university, I learned about this yellow book with black letters called "Cliff's Notes"  that some students purchased. I was appalled! Instead of reading the assigned literature, they were reading summaries, a very shortened version of what was required for the course. I was too much of a rules-follower to ever consider purchasing one of those books. Instead, I labored and struggled to understand some of the readings we were assigned because I didn't want to "cheat."

I remember getting home from work about twenty years ago, and our son and some of his high school friends were huddled around our computer, reading something and then writing in their notebooks. "What are you doing?" I asked them. They were at a website for a book they were supposed to be reading for their high school English class. There was no way they were going to read the whole book - “it’s so long and boring!” - so they were reading the summary of the chapters and completing the questions. "Don't worry," one of them assured me. "We'll still get an 'A' in the class; the tests are easy." I was flabbergasted and also concerned that these kids, taking a college prep English class, were not being challenged with rich discussions or assignments. 

Today, kids are able to Google anything and with the emergence of AI,  times are certainly different. I read this op-ed by a high school junior Benjamin Weiss,  "Student Voice: Teachers Assign Us Work that Relies on Rote Memorization then Tell Us Not to Use Artificial Intelligence". What a thoughtful, honest, quality writing piece which may capture what many students are thinking. 

My opinions have evolved through my years in education, first as a teacher and later as a school principal. From my experiences, I realized that if learning is to "stick," what we assign to students has to be meaningful. For far too long, schools have focused on memorization and regurgitation of information rather than on deeper thinking. Getting a high score on a test did not necessarily mean that the student learned more. It could mean that they were good at memorizing. And the question to ask is, did students retain the information or was it forgotten as soon as the test was over? Often, it’s the latter.

I asked two male teens to read the op-ed by Benjamin Weiss. I asked if they agreed with the writer. One  teen said, “I agree cause teachers should be teaching kids in a way where you can’t cheat so easily. I think memorizing doesn’t help if you don’t understand the concept,” he added. The other teen shared, “I agree because I don’t think that teaching for a test is really teaching; at that point, it is basically giving the students a script to remember.” They agreed that assignments should be more thinking and discussing rather than just memorizing. And, I should add that these two teens, although they perform well in school, have shared on numerous occasions that they don’t really enjoy school.

Back in 2020 while schools were still closed due to the pandemic, I wrote a blog titled, “Time to Examine Our Beliefs about Education.” Amongst my thoughts were the following:

• Seat time and good grades are not necessarily an indication of learning. Too often, learning in school is merely memorizing and regurgitating information. Real learning means applying skills or facts to delve deeper, to make sense of information, and the application to new situations. It may mean that students get feedback then revise their work before submitting it for credit. How do we change our reporting system to tell the story of real learning that has lasting impact on a student?
• Too often, school is teacher-directed. It is the teacher in the classroom who determines what to teach, when to teach it, and what is the evidence of learning. Students are often passive learners as opposed to being passionate, self-directed learners whose curiosity about a subject drives their own learning. How can we ensure that our student learners have an opportunity to create their own learning that is meaningful and impactful to them?
• The public judges schools based on standardized test scores, and schools feel the pressure of ensuring that their students are prepared for this once-a-year high stakes testing. Teachers may be evaluated based on the scores of their students. While we understand that the public needs to know that our schools are educating our students to be contributing citizens of their community, is there a more reliable, less expensive, and less time-consuming way to rate our schools besides high-stakes testing?

Our world is changing, much more rapidly than when I was a child or even for much of my teaching career. Our schools, our educators, and our school leaders need to take a good look at what we are expecting from our students. AI is not the problem; unless we change the way we do schools, our students will continue to look for the easiest way to complete rote assignments. As Benjamin Weiss shares in his op-ed, “We are at a crossroads. Educators, policymakers and everyone with an interest in the future of work has a decision to make. They can either continue supporting an education system that teaches students to think in ways that AI can clearly do better, or they can decide to reform education to prepare students for the not-to-distant world of the future.”

Why Aren’t Kids Reading for Pleasure?

I loved reading when I was growing up. That was my go-to out-of-school activity. I didn’t play sports (no Title IX back then); our family didn’t have the means to send us to music or dance lessons; art was a stressful activity for me; and frankly, I enjoyed reading. But looking back, I realize that the books I was reading were nothing like my own life or experiences. I was an outsider, looking in on a life that was so different from mine as a fourth-generation Japanese-American girl growing up on a pineapple plantation village in Hawai`i.

Back in 2020, I wrote a blog about students being able to see themselves and to see others in the books we were reading. I wish I could tell my professor, Dr. Mary Reddin, that she made a huge difference in my life as an educator when we agreed that I would research and compile a list of multicultural books that I could read with my students. I think she already knew that very few were available for the preschoolers I taught but she wanted me to discover that for myself. That project made me much more aware, throughout my teaching career, of the need for students to see themselves and their classmates in our classroom library. 

But that wasn't enough. Books also need to be "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Doors" According to this article, "Books become sliding glass doors when readers feel transported into the world of the story and when they feel empathy for the characters." This is especially true for students in the middle grades where research shows a decline in teens who read for pleasure. (Article here.) There are other benefits as well; a recent study showed that kids who enjoy reading are better-adjusted and they tended to score higher on tests. 

So why aren't our students reading more? I believe that one barrier is that many schools have decided to eliminate the librarian position as part of a cost-cutting measure or to purchase other positions. I think this has led to a decline in students reading for enjoyment. I am especially concerned for our schools here in Hawai`i where the number of trained school librarians has shrunk from 250 back in 2004 to 84 when this article was written in 2022. (Article here.) 

A school librarian can be an essential resource at the school. Our librarian did so much for our school and our students and their families. (Article here) What I especially admired about her was her knowledge of the latest books that were published (I’m not sure when she found the time to read them all) as well as her awareness of what was going on in the lives of our students. She knew their interests and could recommend books she thought they might enjoy. We want students to read especially when there are many books available for them, books that can provide insight about others, books that are not just mirrors and windows, but sliding glass doors as well. 

Why aren’t kids reading for pleasure? Some will blame technology or their short attention spans. That may be true, but I think another reason is that in school, teachers are focusing on the standards and test scores, and reading to students is no longer a priority. I’ve heard teachers say that there’s no time to read aloud to their kids even if it’s something they and their students love. I say that teachers need to make time if it’s something they feel is important. Stories provide an opportunity for students to listen attentively, to discuss and ask questions, to learn new words and information, to make connections to their own lives, and to enjoy quiet time. And as the research shows, students who read more actually do better on those high-stakes tests. 

The books I read when I was in the middle grades are probably no longer on the book shelves in the library. But there are new books to read which tackle relevant issues and problems our kids are facing as they grow up in this ever-changing world. There are multicultural characters who tackle problems or who face discrimination which young readers may relate to. These books are written by authors who may have lived the experiences they are writing about. As readers, these books can be mirrors, windows, or sliding glass doors, all of which are perspectives which our young people can ponder and benefit from. Let's make reading for pleasure a priority in our schools!

Other blogs I've written about reading with students:

It's More than a Place to Borrow Books

A Plan Going Forward: Improving Literacy at Hale Kula

"Choose Kind"

It's More than a Place to Borrow Books 2017

Learning to Read or Loving to Read?

"Mirrors and Windows"

Fantastical Imaginarium Goodnight Moon Book Study

Teaching Reading is More than Teaching Skills

This and That

Random happenings and thoughts:

• Yesterday, I had the pleasure of viewing a wonderful film produced by PBS Hawaii back in 2011.  “Dream Big: Nanakuli at the Fringe” is a film that I wish every educator could view and discuss. I watched it at a  What School Could Be community virtual event and a discussion followed the viewing. It was amazing and heart-warming to see the transformation of the students through this creative arts program! The film begins with students sharing about how Nanakuli High and Intermediate is always at the bottom of all the schools based on test scores, but it is evident that they are proud of their program, their school, and their community. Check out the website for the Nanakuli Performing Arts Center; it is attractive, informative, and up-to-date. As a blogger, I was most excited when I read the students’ blogs about their experiences as part of the program; they are well-written. Teacher Robin Kitsu, a Milken Educator Award winner, is the inspiration behind this program. He’s been at the school for over 30 years; clearly he is committed to the Nanakuli community. Watching the film made me think of Candy Suiso, another extraordinary teacher on the Leeward Coast who created a venue for students to collaborate and create videos and other multi-media projects for the community via Searider Productions,  Like Robin, Candy is committed to the community. I know there are many other outstanding and creative educators like them in every school. If more of their stories were shared, the public might have a more positive view of our schools. 
• Today, I went to the Public Library for the first time in years. The library was one of my favorite places when I was growing up. I loved to read and still remember some of my favorites. When I began teaching, I borrowed books to read to my students, and when I became a Mom, our sons and I went to the library weekly, dragging a big bag filled with books. I have so many wonderful memories involving some of our favorite books and authors: Leo Lionni, Ezra Jack Keats, Tomie DePaola, Eric Carle, Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad stories, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, and Judith Viorst's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day. I don't know when I stopped going to the public library; it was probably when our sons got older and could choose their own books or maybe it was when I became a principal and no longer read to students daily. Today, I decided it was time to go back. I browsed through the picture books, looking for our favorites; they were still on the shelves, but I wonder if children today enjoy them as much as we did back then. I decided to borrow a couple of books by authors I enjoy so I got a new library card, my first in more than 20 years. My husband and I have been buying books from Amazon; maybe it's time to borrow them instead. 
• This semester, I am supervising four student teachers from the University of Hawai`i, West O`ahu. I've done this in the past, and I enjoy seeing these young people grow in confidence from the beginning to the end of the semester. They all have amazing mentor teachers, and I know they will be successful and grow from their experience.  We need to encourage our young people to become teachers; what could be more important than preparing our young people for their future? 

That's it for now!

Hard to Believe😊

I began this blogging journey in the summer of 2012. I didn’t know how long I would keep it up; it was something new, I had to figure things out myself (it was frustrating!), and I didn't have any way of determining the impact of my blogs. I was not confident, wondering if anyone would want to read what I was sharing. In fact, I almost gave up after writing two blog posts! Thankfully, I didn’t, and in time, it became easier. I’m really glad that I persevered.

The numbers or hits went way up during the pandemic when students were assigned to read my blogs. It was humbling to be included in that list. Unfortunately, I didn’t have access to the site or I would have tried to interact with the students. 

This week, I achieved a milestone. 450,000+ hits on my blog. I am so grateful that I didn’t give up. To all of you who have read one of my 330+ blog posts, thank you! I hope they had a positive impact on you. If so, write a note in the Comments section; I would love to hear from you!

“I’m Not a Math Person”

I hear it from adults. "I'm not a math person" or "I don't like math" or more likely, "I hated math when I was in school." That concerns me, especially when these adults say it in front of  children. What message are they sending when they say that? 

When I was in school, math was a subject I enjoyed. Memorizing procedures came easily to me, and I got good grades as a result. But I realized years later that I remembered very little of what I had learned in high school, and today, I would struggle to do even the most basic algebra, geometry, or trigonometry problems without assistance. So did I really "learn" that math? I don't think so.

As an early childhood teacher, our students learned math through hands-on exploration activities - counting objects, matching pictures, making patterns, and learning about number concepts like more and less, one-to-one correspondence, and ordering objects by size. At that age, math was fun.

When I began teaching second graders, I admit that I followed the grade level curriculum and students completed assigned work in their workbooks. Those who were finished early were able to "play" in the math center which had a variety of games and activities, and I provided extra assistance to the struggling students. My teaching changed dramatically after I had the opportunity to attend a series of sessions throughout the year on math problem-solving. We met with same-grade teachers from other schools, created a common assessment task, examined student work, and had deep discussions about what we observed about student understanding. We learned with and from each other, and I was so grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with teachers from other schools. More importantly, I no longer viewed math as a series of problems to be answered in a workbook; I saw it as an opportunity to talk about numbers and to have discussions with students to understand their thinking. 

I transferred to another school, and the expectation from administration was that teachers would collaborate, create common assessments and rubrics, and share our student work. Math was integrated into our interdisciplinary units, and I found many opportunities to extend and expand students' mathematical thinking. It was an exciting time for me, as a teacher, to have a principal and colleagues who understood the value of going beyond the surface level, and math was an important part of our school day. 

When I became a principal, I observed that students were primarily using grade level math textbooks and workbooks.  One of my goals was to help our teachers to transition to a different way of teaching math. We had two wonderful instructional coaches who worked with grade level teams to make their lessons more relevant and engaging and to listen to students to check for understanding. It was evident through our observations and conversations that many of our teachers were challenged with using concrete objects to solve math problems so we learned about the Concrete Representational Abstract Approach  Teachers had the opportunity to explore different manipulatives to discover and discuss how to use them with their students for deeper understanding. We had other professional learning opportunities focused on math such as  Lesson Study, Math Misconceptions, and Math Problem-Solving. It was challenging; teachers struggled to have conversations about math with their students. They were so used to following the textbook and looking for correct answers, but to their credit, they realized the importance of changing how they had always taught math. In fact, many teachers chose to have me observe a math lesson for their required educator evaluation, and we had rich discussions during our post-observation discussion. That, to me, was validation that we were on the right track. Schools are often so focused on "covering" the curriculum and raising test scores; our teachers were having conversations about math. I knew this was not the norm, and even in my retirement, I continued to explore how we could change math instruction in our schools, which is like a staircase, going in one direction, one step at a time. Learn a concept, do some practice worksheets, take an assessment, move on to the next chapter. Math instruction needs to change.

I recently listened to a podcast "Why a New Teaching Approach is Going Viral on Social Media." The introduction states, "When a professor's research showed that standard methods of teaching problem-solving weren't working, he set out to figure out what led to more student thinking." What was this new teaching approach? I was intrigued and listened to the podcast, and it was an 'aha!' moment for me. How do we get students to do the thinking where math is concerned? The word that shouted to me in the podcast was "mimic.". Instead of having students work in teams to grapple with a problem, we adults teach them how to solve it, and students follow the example to work on similar problems. They aren't thinking; they are mimicking the process. 

That is a problem. No wonder we don't see the beauty in mathematics. No wonder kids hate the monotony of math class. Rather than thinking and being challenged, our students are just mimicking. Often, teachers spend valuable time reviewing math concepts after a break or before high-stakes tests. If students forget what they learned, have they really learned it? 

Students need to be exposed to real-world math experiences with opportunities to struggle, to think, to ask questions, to research, and to problem-solve. This article, Understanding the World through Math shares how important it is for students to explore math in a real-world context. Our high school grandsons take advanced math, but our math conversations focus on NFTs, baseball cards, and more recently, Fantasy Football. They patiently and confidently explain about their investments and are learning about buying and selling. They make mistakes, but they are thinking and learning in the process. They are learning to look at statistics to determine if they should switch out a member of their team. As this year is an election year, we will have discussions about the presidential race, looking at polls in different parts of the country and discussing how candidates decide where to focus their campaigns to get the 270 Electoral College votes to be elected. Politics is an important topic of conversation in our family, and there is so much math involved. 

So back to my opening statement about adults who say, "I'm not a math person" or "I don't like math" or "I hated math when I was in school." I am positive that math plays an important role in their everyday lives. It might not be analytical geometry or calculus or trigonometry, but they are adjusting recipes for their families, looking for the best deals at the supermarket, determining how many buckets they'll need to paint the exterior of their home, tracking their daily exercise, deciding where to go for a loan to pay their child's college tuition; the list is endless! 

I've posted this poster before in my previous blogs, but I am reposting it because I think it most accurately depicts what math education looks like in many schools and districts and what it can and should look like. 

I am hopeful that maybe enough teachers will change the way students learn math to be less mimicking and more thinking.. Our students deserve it. 

The following are a few of the blogs I wrote about math education:

Textbooks or Professional Development?

Opportunity to Model Math Problem-Solving

Math Literacy

Thoughts about Math Fluency and Homework

I Wish I'd Learned Math This Way

Playing with Math

Playing with Math - Part II

A New Generation of Learners