Hertz Furniture is proud to present this infographic representing how classroom design, including classroom layout and ergonomic furniture, affects student learning.  Learn more about how flexible classroom design, ergonomic classroom furniture and environmental factors affect student behavior in this info-graphic.

–

I scanned the article with only passing interest until I saw his name¹. It was one of those ‘home town boy makes good’ features about a California native son, who had fashioned a brilliant business plan to save an area hospital and whose beneficence had significantly impacted his entire community. When I saw the name Sam Davis attached to this wealthy benefactor, I almost fainted.

I had taught Sam Davis!

If Sam had been one of my ‘A’ students, with a quick mind, sharp intellect or driven personality, I would have hardly been surprised. In fact, if Sam had shown academic achievement in any area at all, I would have nodded in agreement at all the accolades showered upon him (and maybe even taken a bit of credit for the upstanding citizen Sam had become). But the truth was quite different. The only thing that ever seemed to interest Sam was recess and lunch on Tuesday when they served hot dogs. You never want to give up hope on your students and their abilities, but with Sam I came precariously close to singing him off. At times, I felt that I would be preparing him for his future if I could teach him to say, “Sir, how would you like your fries?”

But, evidently, I was very wrong. Some time after (barely) graduating high school something changed and Sam became an incredible success story. I am not sure how or why, but it did set me to thinking. While obviously Sam was absorbing more than I gave him credit for, in the end result, I as an educator must pause and reflect on how I missed seeing the talent this student possessed and ask: What does success in school mean and is academic success a teacher’s primary objective?

While there are many lessons to be learned, I would like to share two that struck me as the most compelling.

Firstly, we must constantly remind ourselves that success in life will not necessarily be defined by success in the classroom. This is not meant in any way to diminish the importance of what we do as teachers, but to point out that we are only one piece of what fashions the outstanding citizen of tomorrow. As educators we often become a bit too fixated on the task (or standards) placed before us and we forget that life exists and indeed thrives outside the context of our curricula.

Secondly, we should make a point of seeking out the many ‘Sams’ who are out there and investigate what we could have done during their years in our classrooms to have made them as productive, creative, and motivated as they seem to have become. It should interest us to know what exactly are the ‘other’ skills – which we did not teach – which also contribute to outstanding achievement and also define success? What can we do to engage the kid in the back of the classroom, who might turn out to be the magnate who will someday be called upon to save our community? There might be a ‘Sam’ back there who is set up for failure by a system that does not recognize his unique talents and therefore does nothing to enhance those abilities.

Ultimately, the story of Sam teaches us to broaden our notions of student achievement and to never ignore the wealth of potential found in every pupil. So here’s to you, kid in the back of the class; keep up the great work you do when you leave the classroom. I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of seeing the surprise on my face.

Socrates was not talking about public school education when he declared, “The unexamined life is not worth living”. However, as we mark National Charter Schools Week, Socrates words become as relevant today as they were more than two thousand years ago.

I think of the above quote as national attention is focused this week on the benefit of charter schools. As is always the case, arguments – good arguments – are heard at either end of the ongoing debate. Are charter schools the answer to what ails the public school system, or a misguided attempt at undermining the foundations of public education in western society?

There are school districts around the United States in which charter schools have significantly enhanced the education of thousands of students, providing enriched curriculum and creative programming which have positively impacted both the depth and breadth of learning. The quality of education offered in many charter schools rivals that of private schools, opening up a new world of opportunity to many who cannot afford the exorbitant tuitions of private academies.

At the same time, non-charter public schools in many of these very same districts suffer. Charter schools may draw away vital resources, thus improving their education at the expense of area public schools. In addition, standardized test scores do not necessarily bear out the claims made by charter school educators. There are those who look at the growing evidence and conclude that good schools are not defined along the charter or non-charter divide, but by other factors, such as good administrators, professional and caring teachers, and school cultures that motivate students to excel.

The debate will rage on for years. Like all such issues, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. But during this week, we must credit the charter school movement for one incredibly important achievement: They made us re-examine that which we do. They have made sure that we will not live the unexamined life.

The charter schools have made us look anew at public school education. Do we keep teachers for too long? Are our standards of education as high as they can be? Do we demand the same excellence from our institution as we demand from other professionals? Are we being as creative in our classrooms as we can be? Have we become lazy and complacent, robbing our students of the excellence in education they deserve? These questions need to be asked, discussed, debated and seriously addressed.

Thank you charter schools for pushing us all. Thank you for not simply looking at the state of public education and asking, “Why?”, but rather for dreaming of what could be and asking, “Why not?” Maybe you do not have it right just yet; perhaps the real solutions to the problems plaguing our schools are found elsewhere. But it is only through the dedicated efforts of those who aspire towards excellence that our children will attain the bright future they so richly deserve.

Hertz Furniture is proud to recognize Charter Schools during National Charters School Week and all year long with our many contests, programs and partnerships with Charter School Associations.  Our Charter School Association of the Month highlights one outstanding Charter School Association each and every month. 

Let’s talk about teacher appreciation! Teacher Appreciation Week is May 6th to May 10th 2013 and Teacher Appreciation Day is May 7th.  Are you ready to say thank you and recognize the hard working, fantastic teachers in your life?  Watch the video and find out Kate’s ideas on the best way to do so!

Share your best teacher gift and teacher recognition ideas in the comments!

 Unfortunately, the walk from the hospital to the school was a short one. It left me little time to consider what I was going to say to my students and how I was going to talk to kids about death. How was I going to tell them that the mother of one of their classmates had just passed away? These sixth graders had shared the pain of their close friend over the months of his mother’s debilitating illness and now were going to have to deal with the terrible and tragic loss

This past week’s twin tragedies, in Boston and Texas, reminded me of how difficult it is for students to cope with tragedy and how challenging it is for teachers to know what to say to students when disaster strikes. The same uncertainty that plagued me that day many years ago challenged teachers across America as they sought to do the right thing. Teachers frequently have as little time as I did to prepare themselves to face their student’s tear-streaked faces. How should a teacher respond and help students dealing with disaster?

My first thought was that I am simply not prepared for all this. I was sure that the school would call in mental health professionals who were trained in crisis counseling and who could help the students through this difficult time. Each student’s pastor, priest or rabbi could speak with their respective congregants to console and guide them. Their parents would be there once they got home and would find soothing words that would ease their sense of mourning. So I, their teacher, should just be strong. I should ignore the storm of emotions buffeting my soul and save my crying for after the bell had rung. After all, I teach math and science; grief counseling is not my responsibility.

“But,” I asked myself, “is it really true?” It occurred to me that a teacher is no less than the student’s window to the world. Even though the professionals would all do their jobs well, it was going to be me that the students would look to, to do what I had done all year: teach them how to understand the world around them. Pain, suffering, grief and loss are all part of that world and I must help them understand this part of their lives as well.

So, I did the best I could. I walked into the classroom and grieved with the students. I shared with them my feelings, my fears, and my reasons for hope. I explained to them the cycle of life, my strategies for dealing with loss, and we discussed how one deals with life’s defeats, both large and small. We all talked for a long time, focusing not only on the loss but also on how we were going to help the young boy, their classmate, who would now go through life without his beloved mother. We mourned together today, but we also planned what we were going to do tomorrow.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the day, I felt that for at least that day, I had been a good teacher. I had provided a model of behavior which they could call upon to help weather the storms that are part and parcel of life itself and I learned something about how to talk to kids about death. On that tragic day, I had made a difference.

What are the advantages of teaching kids to code? Millions watched the viral video on code.org trying to convince the younger generation to learn to code. But is the reason to learn coding to get a high powered job where you sit around in a beautiful office, making tons of money and eating fancy free food or to learn problem solving skills and perseverance? Watch the video and find out!

The nation has been rocked by yet another cheating scandal. Former Atlanta superintendent of schools Beverly Hall, along with 35 teachers, principals and others, were recently indicted for racketeering. The indictment alleges that these teachers, principals and test administrators, either under Hall’s explicit direction, or thanks to a climate that endorsed such behavior, altered the results of hundreds, if not thousands of standardized tests given to Atlanta’s public school children.

Particularly troubling is the profession of the accused. When cheating scandals appear in the world of sports we barely blink, almost expecting such behavior from our athletes. The fact that Barry Bonds or Lance Armstrong broke the rules in order to excel surprised few. After all, we reason, these are ‘just jocks’, who are rarely held to high moral standards. The line goes, “Just win, baby”; in our culture victory trumps virtue. But teachers? Principals? School superintendents? Educators?

What hope do we have for our students if their teachers are cheaters? What could possibly be more hypocritical than a teacher who constantly stresses the virtues of truth telling and the merit of just rewards, but then changes the scores of the students’ tests hoping to reap unjust rewards? We stand aghast at the incredibly poor judgment allegedly displayed by Hall and her fellow defendants. In short, “What were they thinking?”

Obviously there are lessons here to be learned. We will have ample time to learn those lessons, which might include the lure of temptation and the simple truth of human frailty. However, being one who is not without sin, I do not want to throw that stone just yet.

Perhaps, there is another stone to be considered. Before we ‘hang’ the Atlanta 36 we should ask what it is that would lead people of seemingly strong character to make such gross errors of moral judgment. While we cannot condone cheating or lying, we have to try and understand its cause and expose possible factors which might have influenced the negative behavior. If such factors do exist, they do not necessarily absolve the accused but rather force all who contributed to those factors to share the burden of blame as well.

Virtue should not be the casualty of victory, but survival strains its limits. Bruce Dixon, managing editor of Black Agenda Report writes (http://bit.ly/XdAmHF):

Since scores on standardized tests, of course, track to income levels, and in the US, where residential segregation along racial and economic lines is the rule, majority black and Latino schools consistently get the lowest scores, are most often labeled as “failing” and the most frequently closed and replaced by favored charter operations. In this climate of fear cheating has become a national epidemic, with reports of industrial scale test manipulation in Los Angeles, Houston, Washington DC and elsewhere.

The thrust of Dixon’s article is not to exonerate Hall. He is severely critical of her behavior. Rather, he wants to make sure that the required introspection takes place not only in Georgia, but in Washington as well. Has our rush to standards and the resulting assessments of students, teachers, schools and administrators, created an atmosphere in which good educators are left fighting for their lives? Do too many feel that a system has been created in which the deck is stacked against them in ways that only ‘cheating back’ will give them a fair shot in the game?

These are hard questions that must be asked and must be answered. As a community of educators we must realize that if one of ours falls we all become somewhat diminished. Our willingness to correct our personal flaws, and those of the systems we create, is in itself a virtue of immense value and a lesson worth teaching our students.

Kate Cohen discusses whether commercial video games like SimCity have a place in the classroom. Is this the end of education as we know it? Maybe it is and maybe it is not a bad thing!  Watch the video and learn more!

Have computer video games made their way into your classroom? Share your thoughts and experiences with us!

Well, if he wanted to make a statement about education standards, he definitely hit the mark. Last month, Dr. Ben Carson, the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, was asked to speak at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. In attendance was President Barak Obama, as well as many senior members of the President’s cabinet.

Dr. Carson used the opportunity to publicly challenge the president on a wide range of issues, including health care and taxes. A visibly embarrassed Obama was forced to sit through Dr. Carson’s diagnosis of what ails America and his prescriptions for positive change. One of the burning issues he touched upon was education.

Study Skills Matter

While Dr. Carson is not trained as an educator and his comparisons of today’s educational standards to those of one hundred years ago may be misguided, but there is one point that deserves our attention. It is the call for personal responsibility.

Ben Carson was not brought up in an affluent or even middleclass home. Instead, his youth mirrored that of thousands of inner-city African American children. He was raised by his mother in abject poverty. He had little or no interest in what was being taught in his Detroit public school and his career trajectory pointed sharply due south.

However, his mother decided that he was headed for college and not to prison. She allowed only three hours a week of television and demanded a number of books be read each month. She required that book reports be written to prove that her children had actually read the books. (Only years later did they realize that she was practically illiterate and could not even read the reports they had written.) Slowly Ben’s books became his best friends and his interest in learning just about anything and everything soared. Success in school led to Yale University, the University of Michigan, the prestigious position he has held for decades and eventually to the Presidential Medal for Freedom. Carson has authored two influential books, founded a scholarship fund, and is rumored to be primed for a career in politics (maybe prison would have been better).

 
Home Study Habits and Attitudes Towards Learning

A deeply religious man, Carson preaches the gospel of personal responsibility. He realized through his own life story that success begins in the home. It is a story worth noting. It should remind every parent that preparing your children for the education they are to receive may well spell the difference between fame and failure. The attitudes towards learning, study habits and intellectual stimulation that the home can provide may impact your child’s chances for success more than any curriculum or possibly even any teacher.

And if the current administration is so intently focused on creating standards for schools and educators, maybe they should look into ways towards creating standards for homes and parents as well. If the funding of educational institutions is to become contingent on their success in reaching standards of learning, perhaps the time has come to tie funding of families to success (or at least an attempt at success) in parenting.

Dr. Carson certainly taught the president something. It is a lesson we all should learn. It may be just what the doctor ordered.

Kate discusses the efforts of Michelle Obama in improving nutrition in school in order to fight childhood obesity which is the greatest threat to the country’s health according to the surgeon general, Regina Benjamin.

Do you think that Michelle Obama should be involved in telling the rest of us what to eat?  Kate says “Yes.” Watch the video and learn more!