Dr. Jonathan Plucker: Excellence Gaps and the national imperative for equity AND excellence

Student Success Podcast No. 17, Feb. 28, 2014, recorded Feb 24, 2014

Today’s Guest: Prof. Jonathan Plucker, University of Connecticut

For background, please see the first Student Success Podcast interview with Dr. Jonathan Plucker, Talent on the Sidelines: the Excellence Gap with Dr. Jonathan Plucker or this blog post: Student Success Blogpost: The “Excellence Gap”: income & race disparities persist

Dr. Jonathan Plucker rejoins us to update progress and events since our previous interview in October, 2013 regarding “excellence gaps” as demonstrated by his study, “Talent on the Sidelines.”

In this interview, we focus on the impact of the “Excellence Gap,”on education and our nation, generally, whereby certain minority and socio-economic groups fall behind whites and Asians in measures of academic excellence on test scores by 8th grade (from closer parity in the 3rd grade). As Jonathan says, having “huge portions of our population who are not getting advanced skills, yet they’re clearly capable of having them” is an ethical challenge for us, especially when considering, as he points out, the tremendous impact that would follow “if we even shrank the gaps by half at the top end” which would “drastically transform this country… And yet it’s just not happening.”

 

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Guest Biography:

Dr. Plucker received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from The University of Connecticut in 1991, where he also received a master’s degree in educational psychology in 1992. After briefly serving as an elementary school teacher, he attended the University of Virginia, where he received his doctorate in educational psychology in 1995. After briefly teaching for two years at the University of Maine, he arrived at Indiana University in 1997 as a visiting assistant professor. He become a tenure-track assistant professor in 1998, with promotion to associate professor in 2001 and full professor in 2006.

Dr. Plucker has received a number of honors for his work. For his creativity work, he has received the Daniel E. Berlyne Award for outstanding research by a junior scholar (2001) and the Rudolf Arnheim Award for outstanding research by a senior scholar (2012) from Division 10 of the American Psychological Association, and the 2007 E. Paul Torrance Award for creativity research from the National Association of Gifted Children. For his gifted education research, he has received the NAGC Early Scholar Award (1998) and two awards from the Mensa Education & Research Foundation Award for Excellence in Research (1997 & 2000). For his education policy work, he was ranked in 2011 as one of the Top 100 most influential academics working in education policy.

Dr. Plucker is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (2009) and was named a Fellow of the American Associate for the Advancement of Science in 2011 “for distinguished contributions to the science of creativity and the creation of research-supported education policy.”

Topics Discussed

Update on progress of Talent on the Sidelines report on policy and education

Differentiated learning and tracking versus flexible grouping

Testing indicators and the need for “soft skills” measurements

Impact of lost talent on individuals and society

Huge impact that just a small reduction in the “Excellence Gap” would produce

Flawed history of racism in this country still impactful

Nation needs to help students of all racial and socio-economic groups reach highest potential

The need to keep up the discussion, even when it touches upon sensitive topics of race.

See below for detailed Show Notes.

Resources

Prof. Jonathan Plucker homepage

Talent on the Sidelines: Excellence Gaps and America’s Persistent Talent Undercla[...]

Scaffolding students out of procrastination: teacher interview with Mike Cahir

Student Success Podcast No. 16

Feb. 10, 2014, recorded Feb 8, 2014

Today’s Guest: Mike Cahir, Teacher and Department Chair, English Department, Archbishop Carroll High School, Washington, DC

In this interview, Mike rejoins us to discuss procrastination from the point of view of a high school teacher. I ask him about his take on procrastination, and then I review some of the ideas that we are learning from Dr. Pychyl of the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University. Mike processes this new information through delivers his own experiences and offers ideas and advice for both students and teachers.

Most importantly, Mike connects timely teacher feedback to overcoming procrastination — if the feedback is slow or late the value behind the assignment is now lost and the learning is rendered irrelevant to the student.

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Guest Biography

Mike Cahir is an award-winning teacher of English and Department Chair at Archbishop Carroll High School in NE, Washington, DC. Mike has taught at the middle and high school level. He is expert in and dedicated to engaging students in reading and engaging text.

Show Notes:

Just ask the question: discussed impact of core idea from Podcast no. 4 discussion on teacher advice to student. Mike applied the strategy explicitly and successfully to 3-4 students.

Procrastination as a paradox, which Mike defines as “I have too much to do, so I’ll do nothing.”

Bromley: driven by emotion, anxiety, fear

Distractions as mood repair

Mike discusses the book “Reality is Broken” by Jane McGonigal and reward structures build into gaming — challenging and with immediate feedback, and very seductive.

Behavioral Economists and immediate rewards.

Just getting started

Breaks and their dangers: using breaks for accomplishment and not delay

Mike: teachers need to provide immediate feedback.

Example of Joe Ross who would not leave work until his grading was done. This raised student performance.

Teachers should also scaffold assignments: break it down for students to engage and understand how/why it is important

Students won’t follow long-term assignments without constant feedback.

Consistent with Pychyl’s ideas about scaffolding

Mike experience with large IB projects: he realized that he was not connecting the pieces of the project. Made them more meaningful by connecting them and showing students how.

Example: bibliography and research: kids would do bibliographies last and lost track of sources. Thinking forward would connect the research to the bibliography.

using a calendar: un-scheduling

Students should ask teachers about their large projects, especially on how to get started on it.

provides instant feedback

helps scaffold the project

helps “just getting started”

Bromley: “could” v. “should”

Resources

Podcast no. 4: Teacher advice: asking the question with Mike Cahir

Mike book recommendation: Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal

Don’t Delay blog from Psychology Today

The Procrastination Research Group from Carleton University

Credits

Host: Michael L. Bromley Original Music by Christopher Bromley (copyright 2011, 2013) Background barking by Puck.

Best Dogs Ever: by Puck, Stella, & Artemis:

Puck does some barking this episode.

 

 

 

 

 

Here for Puck & Stella slideshow

Procrastination: Interview with high school students and Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl

Student Success Podcast No. 15

Jan. 30,  2014, recorded Jan 28, 2014

Today’s Guest: Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D., and Sean, Sena, and Matthew, high school students

Dr. Pychyl, whom we agree to call Tim now, discusses the personal experiences with and possible solutions for three high school students, Sean, Sena, and Matthew. These students bravely discuss their struggles with workflow problems and strategies they could use to overcome it.

In this interview, Tim shows his deep compassion for students and concern for their success. The students engage his ideas thoughtfully, and we look forward to hearing back from them soon on how they are progressing.

Please see more from Dr. Pychyl at the Resources links below.

Subscribe to Student Success Podcast RSS

or find us on iTunes

 

Guest Biography

Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl is Director, Centre for Initiatives in Education & Associate Professor, Department of Psychology Carleton University, Ottawa. Applying his expertise in Psychology and his deep desire to help people, Dr. Pychyl teaches, writes, blogs, podcasts, and runs conferences on procrastination. Dr. Pychyl gladly shares with readers his own experiences as a parent and person who struggles, like us all, to get things done. Well, he does more than most of us, including to keep a team of sled dogs, but even he has to force himself to get things done sometimes.

Topics Discussed

See below for detailed bulleting of this conversation

Resources

Don’t Delay blog from Psychology Today

The Procrastination Research Group from Carleton University Easy to remember url: http://procrastination.ca/

About page from the Research Group for Dr. Pychyl, including links to his “mushing” (sled dogs) and his life as “Mr. Mom.”

Carpe Diem cartoon on Procrastination

Solving the Procrastination Puzzle book by Timothy A. Pychl (Amazon.com link)

Wall Street Journal article featuring Dr. Pychyl: To Stop Procrastinating, Look to Science of Mood Repair

iProcrastinate podcast

iProcrastinate podcast episode of this interview

Dr. Pychyl’s Teaching Philosophy

Credits

Host: Michael L. Bromley Original Music by Christopher Bromley (copyright 2011, 2013) Background snoring: by Stella Best Dogs Ever: by Puck, Stella, & Artemis:

Life is good: Puck, Stella and Artemis

 

 

 

 

 

Here for Puck & Stella slideshow

Show Notes

Timl: 95% of students admit to procrastinating. Think the other 5% just don’t want to admit it.

Sean: through h.s. and middle school, my main fault, just trying to get work done. Been there a while, never learned how to get over it.

When doing work, will procrastinate, or before starting, push it back

Not just work, chores around the house, too. Put it off,

Tim: why is that a problem?

Sean: When I procrastinate it leaves me less time to get work done. Makes it harder for me to get it done, work or chores, and w/ less efficiency. Would have been done if I had not procrastinated

Sena: Short term, doesn’t seem bad. “oh yeah, just putting it off for a couple hours” … but then crunch time. Should have had more time.

Procrastination makes you overestimate your abilities: “I can do this huge task in a short amount of time,” but it impacts quality.

Procrastinate has not allowed me to put my best foot forward and my best work.

Tim: it undermines ability to do best work

Sena: it’s a lie that we tell ourselves

Tim: we have present self that wants to do what it wants

who are we lying to?

Sena: lying to present self, but future self won’t be happy with our decision

Tim: there’s some research on the stranger we call future self

Mathew: I might finish my math h/w, and have to do physics, and will give myself a 10 minute break… but then after the break, “I’ll take another 20 min break… then it’s 9:30 and I[...]

Real solutions for procrastination from Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl, part 2

Student Success Podcast No. 14, Jan. 22, 2014, recorded Jan 15, 2014

Today’s Guest: Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D.

Dr. Pychyl shares his incredible knowledge, experience, research, and insight into the nature of procrastination and how to overcome it. Dedicated to bettering people’s lives, he uniquely applies academic concepts in a way we can all understand and appreciate.

This is part 2 of 2 segments we are publishing on the Student Success Podcast. Tim has also published his own version of the interview on his “iProcrastinate” podcast.

Please see more from Dr. Pychyl at the Resources links below.

Subscribe to Student Success Podcast RSS

or find us on iTunes

 

Guest Biography

Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl is Director, Centre for Initiatives in Education & Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa. Applying his expertise in Psychology and his deep desire to help people, Dr. Pychyl teaches, writes, blogs, podcasts, and runs conferences on procrastination. Dr. Pychyl gladly shares with readers his own experiences as a parent and person who struggles, like us all, to get things done. Well, he does more than most of us, including to keep a team of sled dogs, but even he has to force himself to get things done sometimes.

Topics Discussed

See below for detailed bulleting of this conversation

Resources

Don’t Delay blog from Psychology Today

The Procrastination Research Group from Carleton University

Easy to remember url: http://procrastination.ca/

About page from the Research Group for Dr. Pychyl, including links to his “mushing” (sled dogs) and his life as “Mr. Mom.”

Carpe Diem cartoon on Procrastination

Solving the Procrastination Puzzle book by Timothy A. Pychl (Amazon.com link)

Wall Street Journal article featuring Dr. Pychyl: To Stop Procrastinating, Look to Science of Mood Repair

iProcrastinate podcast

iProcrastinate podcast episode of this interview

Dr. Pychyl’s Teaching Philosophy

Credits

Host: Michael L. Bromley

Original Music by Christopher Bromley (copyright 2011, 2013)

Background snoring: by Stella

Best Dogs Ever: by Puck, Stella, & Artemis:

Snow dogs!

Here for Puck & Stella slideshow

Show Notes

Bromley:

What is the relationship between anxiety and procrastination

His daughter explained this to me: is it fear of things, personality?

Tim:

His daughter struggles with reading

She has developed strategies to get around it

Amazing how good we are at coping strategies

As for anxiety, a couple levels:

it is partly personality, because conscientiousness is a trait

There are five major personality traits that are the primer for personality

Conscientiousness

Agreeableness: how nice you are

Neuroticism: how nervous or anxious or worried you are

Openness to experience: curious, enjoy learning

Extroversion/ Introversion: how social you are

Of the five: conscientiousness speaks to discipline, organization and dutifulness

People low on conscientiousness procrastinate more

We come into the world w/ these traits, or a bias

High hereditability

Some of us come into the world not ready for organization

Add to it attention deficit disorder

Trouble remembering things, keeping focus where they want to

Mindfulness helps with this

A researcher of his was neurotically disorganized which made him a procrastinator

There is a truth to people who say I’m just not organized

But there are strategies for intervention with this:

Eliminating distractions

Accountability

Making lists

Calendar where items don’t drop off until done, like you do in A+ Club

In some ways these are easy to people to help

Impulsive people, however, need different help, more difficult

They can’t protect one intention from another

Instead of helping w/ organization, have to help them make implementation intentions around pre-decisions not to follow impulse

You make [...]

Real solutions for Procrastination from Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl, part 1

Student Success Podcast No. 13, Jan. 15, 2014

Today’s Guest: Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D.

Dr. Pychyl shares his incredible knowledge, experience, research, and insight into the nature of procrastination and how to overcome it. Dedicated to bettering people’s lives, he uniquely applies academic concepts in a way we can all understand and appreciate.

This is part 1 of 2 segments we are publishing on the Student Success Podcast. Tim has also published his own version of the interview on his “iProcrastinate” podcast.

Please see more from Dr. Pychyl at the Resources links below.

 Subscribe to Student Success Podcast RSS

or find us on iTunes

 

Guest Biography

Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl is Director, Centre for Initiatives in Education & Associate Professor, Department of Psychology,  Carleton University, Ottawa. Applying his expertise in Psychology and his deep desire to help people, Dr. Pychyl teaches, writes, blogs, podcasts, and runs conferences on procrastination. Dr. Pychyl gladly shares with readers his own experiences as a parent and person who struggles, like us all, to get things done. Well, he does more than most of us, including to keep a team of sled dogs, but even he has to force himself to get things done sometimes.

Topics Discussed

See below for detailed bulleting of this conversation

Resources

Don’t Delay blog from Psychology Today

The Procrastination Research Group from Carleton University

Easy to remember url: http://procrastination.ca/

About page from the Research Group for Dr. Pychyl, including links to his “mushing” (sled dogs) and his life as “Mr. Mom.”

Carpe Diem cartoon on Procrastination

Solving the Procrastination Puzzle book by Timothy A. Pychl (Amazon.com link)

Wall Street Journal article featuring Dr. Pychyl: To Stop Procrastinating, Look to Science of Mood Repair

iProcrastinate podcast

iProcrastinate podcast episode of this interview

Dr. Pychyl’s Teaching Philosophy

Credits

Host: Michael L. Bromley

Original Music by Christopher Bromley (copyright 2011, 2013)

Background snoring: by Stella

Best Dogs Ever: by Puck, Stella, & Artemis:

Stella, snoring

 

 

 

Here for Puck & Stella slideshow

Bromley:

Personality differences: wife and he fight over putting up the Xmas lights and then don’t want to take them down when she just wants to put them away

Tim:

Wife and he also different from each other, she’s laid back

But important not to label people because not procrastinating does not make you an uptight person

Bromley discusses background and A+ Club origins

Worked to build relevancy in history for students

Realized so many students not able to fit into expectations of high school

Worked on relevancy with students

Wanted to help kids in more positive ways: to do what kids who do well do, especially Executive Function issues.

Carleton Univ program: Centre for Initiatives in Education

= a 2nd chance for kids who underperformed in high school

They support them in college

Has had students move into PhDs and law school

Slow starters, had things going on, has given them opportunity.

Bromley speech to National Honors Society students

Called them “grade whores” — oops!

But point was you are in NHS because you do the things you need to do to get good grades

But that doesn’t make you the smartest person in the room

Other kids not here need to use your strategies, to be grade whores

Tim:

Irony: if you forget about the grades and just do the learning, often the grades will follow.

But if always focused on grades, it can create anxiety, and it can cripple performance in some ways

Tim on relevancy:

Likes the idea of showing kids relevancy

This = value and expectancy

Do you expect to succeed?

What skills do you need to achieve?

Bromley:

The idea is for kids to find relevancy on their own.

Different teachers[...]

Music for the classroom: pedagogy lessons from music lessons with Chris Bromley

Student Success Podcast No. 12

Jan. 9, 2014 (* interview recorded Nov. 22, 2013).

Today’s Guest: Chris Bromley

Christopher discusses his strategies for teaching music and compares learning music with regular classroom learning. His music program, School of Rock, holds strong examples and practices that can be employed in the traditional classroom. One of the biggest lessons Chris brings to classroom teachers is the need for students to practice independently, exploring and building curiosity and interests independently, then applying it — performing it – in the larger classroom.

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Guest Biography

Chris Bromley studies computer science and pre-Med in Florida. While in school for himself, he also teaches music at the School of Rock in Broward County, Florida. Chris studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has recorded in the studio for professional and well-known acts, and he performs across the state of Florida.

Topics Discussed

Christopher’s experiences as student and teacher of music

School of Rock program

extracurricular program

learning through performance

enjoying the learning

sharing the learning with other students v. traditional rote learning, which is not-performance based

learning music:

enough practice someone can create a perfect performance through memory and precise repetition of what was practiced during the performance

excellent musicians are not necessarily good performers

good performers can exist without good musical skills, happens all the time

School of Rock tries to develop both sides of musicianship and performance

Michael experience: scales, practice, practice, practice

= traditional learning environment

School of Rock = pedagogically sound: guided instruction + independent practice = what should be going on in all classrooms

Christopher: practice of scales and notes is necessary but is a basis, not the outcome, which is enjoyment and performance

Chris’ school’s methods

weekly individual and group time

individual lessons = core skills development and practice

he engages students through exploring their own interests, then applies their skills to the assigned music

Michael: how many math classes have 15 minutes of exploring every day?  How many history classes?

Chris: easier to do with one-on-one lessons

group work: applying independent learning, no longer exploring. The point is to apply their independent learning

can have kids of different skill levels and abilities joint together

Michael: group work in regular classrooms is very difficult to pull off

maybe we do it wrong: we see group work as opportunity for kids to explore and engage, whereas it should be performance

we give the same group work to every kid … makes no sense! we should allow for different levels and outcomes given different skills and abilities

How to engage kids through the lessons Chris brings up about leraning music

admitting that his program is self-selected and kids enjoy music (unlike regular school)

still: how to apply the successes of the music program to the regular classroom?

students have to be serious and follow rules

students have to be happy about the learning

help kids explore their own interests, BUT, exploration is good and useful for kids, but they still need guidance.

a kid may like Justin Bieber and want to explore his music, but Chris’ school will teach the student other types of music regardless

It needs to be more about the students than about the teachers

advice to teachers: be enthusiastic about what they’re teaching

Chris’ own high school experience:

was told always how smart he was, but what he needed was organizational skills

his English teacher, Ms. Goldstein, empowered him by giving him free reign to explore his own interests beyond what the class was doing[...]

Speaking math constantly with Joy Ferrante

Student Success Podcast No. 11, Dec. 18, 2013

Today’s Guest: Joy Ferrante

Joy discusses how parents can be deeply involved in their child’s math learning. We use math and other school subjects all day long — how often do we use those concepts and tasks to help our children learn? Calendars, cooking utensils, house addresses… anything can be turned into a useful, effective math lesson for children, and not just young children.

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Guest Biography

Joy holds a Masters of Science degree from University of Maryland and taught mathematics at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, DC. She spent two years with the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Republic of Congo teaching and developing curriculum for local schools and families. Joy works with A+ Club students to better their academics, guiding them, sharing her enthusiasm with them, and helping them find academic success.

Topics Discussed

There’s math everywhere!

It is a part of our lives and should be for our children, too.

It should be fun.

Joy’s child, Cedar, engages math all the time

Joy vocalizes and has him do math whenever possible

For him it’s fun

Parents need to engage their children in it all the time

The math you do in your head you should do directly and openly with your children

What about parents who are afraid of math?

even the simplest math things should be shared and taught

parents don’t realize they do math all the time

for more advanced math, have students teach it to the parent

learn and discover it together

Speak what you do in math: house addresses, calendars, time, weather, cooking, tipping in a restaurant… we use math all day long.

Cooking: need to bring children into the kitchen more anyway for healthy eating

physical interactions with math

Joy’s son can set out large numbers using blocks such as 4,253 and he knows that the 4 = thousands, etc.

measuring in the kitchen especially useful for working with fractions

time and clocks are great

uses fractions

based on 60 not 10 (non-decimal base)

we use it all day long and it involves complex math such as fractions

even high school kids often struggle with simple math because they don’t practice it enough

can’t perform difficult equations if they can’t follow basic math such as multiplication, division, positives, negatives

Joy’s strategy on using the football field for understanding math concepts

parents can help students read the math questions properly

even if you don’t know the math concepts, you can help clarify the questions

parents should not be afraid of getting into the textbook.

percentages & fractions are everywhere!

when you’re eating a pizza, teach fractions!

rather than calling it a pieces, say, “who wants a quarter or an eighth of a pizza?”

figuring out a tip = great math practice!

super important for high school kids to be comfortable with fractions and percentages

Bromley asks what’s an algorithm?

Joy couldn’t answer

but that doesn’t make her afraid of finding out!

bringing other subjects to our kids

we should be incorporating constant learning all the disciplines

history, English everywhere

be excited about everything

Joy final advice to parents:

you know more than you think you know

you are natural teachers

be excited about it and so will your children

parents are the first teachers

Resources

10 Ways we use math everyday

Math in everyday life

Credits

Host: Michael L. Bromley

Original Music by Christopher Bromley (copyright 2011, 2013)

Background snoring: by Stella

Best Dogs Ever: by Puck & Stella

DC Dogs!

 

 

 

Here for Puck & Stella slideshow

Communicating dedication & success with Julian

Student Success Podcast No. 10, Dec. 12, 2013

Today’s Guest: Julian Oribe

Julian discusses his experiences in college in America from the perspective of a foreign, non-native English speaking student. It took dedication and courage to overcome his language barriers and, especially, as Julian discusses, to write 15-page essays and public speeches and presentations. Julian helps remind us about not taking anything for granted and the importance of dedication to one’s goals and never letting barriers or excuses get in our way.

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Guest Biography

Raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Julian Oribe is head pro at the tennis club and Canas Tennis program at Turnbrry Isle resort in Miami, Florida. He graduated from Manhattanville College with a degree in finance. While he got into college on his tennis talents and on a tennis scholarship, Julian’s success came of dedication and overcoming the language barriers. Taking a year off before going to college, he taught himself English and prepared himself for college.

Topics Discussed

Came to US w/ very little English

Got into Manhattanville college based on his brother’s contact

BUT he went to the coaches himself and got himself recruited and a scholarship

Bromley note: ALWAYS WORK YOU CONTACTS!!

his Argentine high school school

was career-oriented, could choose businses management or journalism

a unique program

he carried h.s. (high school) exposure into college and his job now

in Argentina, students choose career path right out of h.s., such as law , medicine

Julian prefers the U.S. system of bachelors degree

prepares more for the future, more work skills, more hands on for work .. it’s more than a lab

How did he compare to U.S. students

they knew what they needed to do

he was the one who didn’t know

BUT he was more prepared than his classmates, however

had more life experiences … had to prepare himself, make more deliberate choices

was more mature

benefit of year in between h.s. and college?

he took year off too to master english and take TOFL exams

Benefits of college location

urban, rural.. opportunities

geographic choice as well as the school itself

he chose NY over Miami

would be a different person … different experiences, different outcomes

Sophomore year: start making your long term choices

Freshman year = getting started, experiencing

How prepared was he?

English grammar was his biggest problem … essays, compositions

was never exposed to doing long essays in Argentina

there they want more straight content knowledge as opposed to student interpretation

at US college he learned to write essays .. very helpful

was prepared for college math: took calculus

but would be okay to catch up on it in college in pre-math classes

Bromley: colleges have to do remedial math

was not prepared for oral presentations … never had that in high school

uses this skill now all the time in his work

had never done an oral presentation back home, maybe once or twice max

in college, every class had to make a presentation

Communication: prepares for any job

professor brought in professionals as guests to show importance of communication

8 second rule (or 3 second rule with girls!)

it all comes down to ability to communicate one thing to one person

talking, emails, letters, all kinds of communication

even researches will have to present their research

presenting: it’s a fear that everyone has but everyone has to get over it

Resources

The Valiant Freshman: Julian Oribe profile

Manhattanville College

Turnburry Isle resort

Credits

Host: Michael L. Bromley

Original Music by Christopher Bromley (copyright 2011, 2013)

Background snoring: by Stella

Best Dogs Ever: by Puck & Stella

Snow dog!

 

 

 

 

 

Here for Puck & Stella slideshow

Math success: believe you can achieve with Okera Hawkins

Student Success Podcast No. 9, Nov. 29, 2013

Today’s Guest: Okera Hawkins

Co-founder of The A+ Club, Okera Hawkins, discusses what it takes to succeed in high school math. If there’ any single thing, Okera tells us, it is “confidence.” Getting there is a process — but it is a process that every student can engage and master. But they have to want to. Okera leads us through the pieces of success in math, including organization, asking questions, and math literacy.  Please enjoy this excellent and important interview.

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or find us on iTunes

 

Guest Biography

Okera Hawkins is an award winning teacher, math expert and school administrator. Okera has worked on national math standards as well as to have built an entire math curriculum and program at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, DC.

Topics Discussed

Student who did 3-1/2 hours of calclus work on a Friday night with our tutor Alexis

congratulations

will only be meaningful if he keeps it up and connects it week to week

How to improve in math:

identifying needs

advocating for yourself

especially in high school and getting ready for college

when he was studying math in college, Okera made sure his teachers knew who he was

ask questions

put the time and energy into it

self advocacy

How to address an underperformer

kids who struggle in math, tend to have

organization issues

need to identify resources

need to identify skill needs

Students self-create their issues

notebook not working

coping mechanism to justify why not doing somehing

easier to make excuses

Slowing down

math is process

A+ Club works because:

helps get the organizational piece down

then can focus on other needs

helps students remove bad habits

Tutoring can = enabling bad habits

kids use tutor to get away from class or homework

“I’ll just ask my tutor”

tutor doing the work for the kids

not trying becoming its own excuse

Experiencing success = key to starting success

Transformation happens when students decides that failure is not an option

will do what it takes to be successful

then it transfers to other classes

when have to stay with it

the process of improvement

Apply prior knowledge

idefnity what is lacking and build it

math as a process

building on previous concepts

thinking mathematically

Succeeding in math:

math happens once a day in math class

know the vocabluary

key words, symbols .. where do they lead me?

then connect it to the skills I’m learning

skills learned in a vacuum don’t get connected to

math is concrete

Need to be confident

Reach for help

Keep the process ongoing

Final word:  “Confidence” >> havce to believe you can achieve

Resources

t.b.a.

Credits

Host: Michael L. Bromley

Original Music by Christopher Bromley (copyright 2011, 2013)

Background snoring: by Stella

Best Dogs Ever: by Puck & Stella

Puck and Stella delivering 50 lbs of food donated by the Georgetown Cavailers meetup group

 

 

 

Here for Puck & Stella slideshow

No B.S. from J.P.: what makes a good teacher?

Student Success Podcast No. 8, Nov. 13, 2013

Today’s Guest: J.P. Cassagnol

Now that he’s about to graduate from college, JP discusses his experiences in K-12 and college and how it all fits together to make him the student and person he is. J.P. cuts through the B.S. with excellent critiques of his K-8 and 9th-12 Catholic education, and what worked, what didn’t and, most importantly, what makes a great teacher.  In J.P.’s case, those teachers are Brother Martin and Prof. Carlander, teachers who inspired, pushed, and turned JP into a real student with real learning.

An important challenge J.P. brings to education is his K-8 experience, which he found entirely lacking once he came upon Brother Martin’s 9th grade Honors English class. Are we underserving our K-8 children? And what of those kids who didn’t get into Brother Martin’s class?

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Guest Biography

J.P. Cassignol is a senior at Salisbury University, Eastern Shore, MD, with a concentration in History. J.P. Graduated from St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., and prior to that was enrolled in a Catholic school K-8 program. J.P. loves history and literature, and he works as a tutor in those and other subjects.

Topics Discussed

St. Johns College High School: what’s the “college” thing about?

JP was not prepared for 9th grade

his K-8 did not prepare him

never had written anything more than a few paragraphs

 9th grade: what do kids bring to it?

why are elementary schools all so different?

why should 9th grade be so much harder?

Elementary: seeking universal standards

JPs 9th grade was challenging

Big gap between elementary and high school

are we pushing kids hard enough in K-8?

 “Excellence Gap” study by Dr. Jonathan Plucker

J.P.’s school competitive?

Catholic school admissions: an incestual orgy? (lol)

 Public school kids more prepared?

depends on the demographic

are outcomes defined by zip codes?

Rte 50 / Univ Blvd: the dividing lines

 do charter schools drain talent?

lowest common denominator v. the cream of the crop

Was his high school worth the money? maybe not

Would rather have gone to college twice

But he did go there, it is who he is

What if he had gone to public school?

would have lost all the expereinces of a catholic school

Brother Martin: English teacher

heavy workload

read a book a week

not reading in class… taking turns lol

depth of analysis that he had never encountered

English class was no longer about structure, was about literature

then next year, teacher was back to reading out loud in class

so teachers matter?

should any teacher be able to teach anything?

JPs definition of a good teacher?  Hope Brother Martin is listenng to this

the difference between a teacher who knows everything but can’t teach and a teacher who may not know everything but can teach and lead you to where you need to go

why do some kids like certain teachers and others not?

kids look for easy teachers = business major etiquette

but they won’t remember those teachers

a good assignment is powerful

has assignments from high school that he still thinks about

Bromley’s best teacher: Prof Wright who threatened to fail him Senior year of college: 1st teacher who ever “kicked my ass”

Dr. Carlander at Salisbury: they’d get into for 3 hours .. he’d rip up his paper … they’d argue with each other.. inspiring!

always read the prof’s book!

knows his stuff: and “a real teacher”

Prof got JP to write a grant application: got it & went to a national conference >> all because of a real teacher

What make a good teacher:

learning is supposed to be rigorous

“no pressure no diamond”

teachers who earned respect, who mentor, who respect kids

unlike teachers who just put notes on the board

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