Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 1

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GuideOnTheSide.com

Guide on
the
Side
Dedication: To the school directors who asked,
"What's happening here?" and
"What is your lesson plan?"

To the students who asked

"Where are the textbooks?" and
"What am I supposed to do?"
and said, "I don't understand."
"This is too disorganized."
"This is a circus."
"I don't know what to do."
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 2
Here's why my classes look the way they do...
Table of Contents

1. Survey about “The Reader’s Attitude about Teachers

2. The Quotes
3. Second Survey
4. The Ten Points
5. More Quotations (including several quotes by students)
6. Comments by Mario Llorenta
7. How to Transform your Classroom
8. An Article by Dennis Yuzenas
9. The next step….

sage on the stage, especially if

The format of this document is
generally two columns… The idea is
to get the material OUT to you and
then you can send me comments.
If you have a document that you
would like to submit and attach to
this GOTS Scribd.com document,
write to TheEbookman@gmail.com.
This book is intended to be an
“Airplane Book.” -- you can read it
during a typical hour-long flight… and
if I go down in an airplane, I can think
to myself, “Well, at least I put down
what I learned in that GOTS book.”
students need that admirable
character … the students need to
see great interest.
Thomas Friedman in The World is Flat
(pages 209-211) has several points
about how to prepare for a flat world
– but his first point is “Find a good
teacher, someone who is passionate.”
It doesn’t matter what the subject is
that the teacher teachers. The
experience of spending time in class
with a fabulous person who is deeply
interested in his subject can turn you
into a passionate self-starting learner.
============

The Guide on the Side is not dogma.

These are guidelines that help me
1. Survey about “The
daily as a teacher. I constantly fight Reader’s Attitude
the teacher who wants to lecture.
After all, I spent ten years in
about Teachers
university studying to become an
educated person. Why shouldn’t I be
heard? That’s the voice that I have
to fight. Let’s ask some questions
At the same time, there is the need,
about your assumptions
as Mario Llorente points out, for a about teachers and
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
learning.
To Start: Please take this
short survey
(1) “The teacher knows what I
should be learning.”
Circle one: agree not sure disagree
(2) The teacher should teach us
information about what’s going to
be on the test.
Circle one: agree not sure disagree
(3) Students should listen, take
notes and then ask questions.
Circle one: agree not sure disagree
(4) The best way to learn is to
listen carefully to the teacher.
Circle one: agree not sure disagree
3
(7) When lectures are
boring, teachers should use
bright colors and pictures
Survey: Please give your opinion
about these statements and
answer the questions. If you don’t
want to write your answers, you
can work with a partner (who can
write what you say) or you can
dictate your response to a teacher.
You can also send the response by
email to
VisualAndActive@gmail.com.
(This survey was given to
middle school students. For
results of the survey, visit
VisualandActive.com.)

Write at least two sentences to

reply to the next three statements.
You can use another page.

(5) Describe the way or

ways that you like to learn
something new:

(6) Lectures are sometimes

boring, but they are better
than reading the textbook.
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 4
Computer Assisted Instruction
2. The Quotes into the classroom is the
teacher, because teachers love
to perform.
Can you match at least one of
5 Jack is a boy from Brooklyn
these quotes to the following
who dropped out of school to
people?
avoid terminal boredom.
=============
Howard Gardner Dennis
6 I never let school get in the
Littky Maria Montessori W.
way of my education.
Edward Deming Gordon
Dryden Mark Twain
7 Drive out fear.
William Glasser
8 Never do for a child what a
Jean Piaget Abraham Fischler
child can do for himself.
W B Yeats (poet)
9 There are 2 billion children in
Robert Burns
the developing world. Instead of
======================
asking their teachers to
"reinvent the wheel" every day,
1 The teacher of the future is a
why not share lesson plans that
GUIDE on the SIDE, not a sage
work with their 59 million
on the stage.
teachers?
2 Education is NOT the filling of
10 Keep Teacher Talking
a pail, but rather the LIGHTING
Time to a minimum.
of a FIRE.
11 What a gift some power
3 Most students might forget
could give us: to see ourselves
what you taught them, but they
as others see us.
will always remember how you
treated them.
12 The goal is to gradually
transfer responsibility for
4 A big obstacle to bringing
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
learning to the student.
13 Schools teach children to
obey. But we need creative
answers to the challenges of
our times. Many of the people
who've had the greatest
influence on our times were
failures in school.
14 The greatest sign of
success for a teacher is to be
able to say, "The children are
now working as if I did not
exist.”
15 Let’s create people who are
capable of doing new things,
not simply of repeating what
other generations have done.
16 Innovative schools offer
small classes, individualized
instruction, and flexible curricula
which can accommodate the
child. The same teacher stays
with the same group of children
for as many as eight grades.
The teacher has to grow and
learn with the children.
17 Many teachers believe that
they need to control how they
teach and how they test. Other
5
teachers negotiate with their
students what they will learn,
when they will learn it and how
we will check that they have
learned it.
18 Until we find the child’s
passion, it’s just school. When
the child finds his passion, we
teach to that passion. We can
find internships for high school
students: Kids say, “I love this
internship!”
19 Unfortunately, to most
people, teaching is the giving of
knowledge. What are you going
to tell the students? What is
your expertise? But teaching is
really about bringing out what's
already inside people.
20 If individuals have different
kinds of minds, with varied
strengths, interests and
strategies, then could biology,
math and history be taught AND
ASSESSED in a variety of
ways?
21 Trust. Truth. No Put-
downs. Active
Listening. Personal Best.
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 6
22. Learning should be fun.
Students should enjoy
performing their understanding.

23 The Student is the

Class
TheStudentIstheClass.com

Howard Gardner Dennis

Littky Maria Montessori W.
Edwards Deming Gordon
Dryden Mark Twain

William Glasser Jean

Piaget
Abraham Fischler W
B Yeats (poet) Robert
Burns

Who said these

words? Match the person
with the quote
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 7
What did you learn from the
quotations?

3. Second “The teacher knows what I should

be learning.” Circle one:
Survey Agree strongly agree
not sure disagree
disagree strongly
Now take the survey
again. What are your "The teacher should teach us
reactions this time? information about what’s going to
be on the test." Circle one:
Agree strongly agree
After reading the QUOTES on the not sure disagree
home page, take this follow-up disagree strongly
survey

This is the AFTER survey. "Students should listen, take notes

Please give your opinion about and then ask questions." Circle
these statements and answer the one:
questions. If you don’t want to Agree strongly agree
write your answers, you can work not sure disagree
with a partner (who can write what disagree strongly
you say) or you can dictate your
response to a teacher. You can "The best way to learn is to listen
also send the response by email to carefully to the teacher." Circle
VisualAndActive@gmail.com. one:
IF YOU WANT TO WRITE A Agree strongly agree
COMMENT or TALK ABOUT not sure disagree
these statements, ask your disagree strongly
partner to write (if you don’t
want to write) or talk with the Write at least two sentences to
teacher. YOU CAN USE THE reply to the next three statements.
OTHER SIDE OF THIS PAGE. You can use the other side, too.
(a) Describe the way or
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 8
ways that you like to teaching an intensive
learn something new: three-week English
language program in Fort
Lauderdale). Three
(b) Lectures are teachers (who were
sometimes boring but escorting their students
they are better than from Italy) asked to sit in
reading the textbook. my lessons. They took
notes. Something was
going on here.
(c) When lectures are
Something I had done
boring, teachers should
changed in me so that
use bright colors and
pictures
my classes were
somehow magnetic.
This article shares with
Send the results of your two you what happened to
surveys to me.
TheGuideontheSide@gmail.co
m I was a lecturer for much
of my teaching career.
From 1996 to 2005, I
worked as a teacher of
English to adults and half
of my classes were
Here’s the main idea… lectures. Then I heard a
remarkable interview
with Dennis Littky,
The idea for this website founder of the Met
and book The Guide On Center in Rhode Island.
the Side came when I Go to this website:
realized that students MetCenter.org or search
were clamoring to get "NPR Littky April
into my classes (I was 2005." you will have the
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 9
direct experience that I every student writes a
did and you'll want to put 75-page biography
into practice the seven about their family
key points mentioned by members (we all need to
Littky: know where we came
from, what our families
students learn through did and how they got
projects; here); and

teachers get to know grading is with a

the students (eating narrative every eight
dinner at least once weeks (a kid said, "I'm
every two months in more than a letter in the
their homes); alphabet," and that
inspired Littky to require
teachers teach every teachers to write and
subject (yes, math talk to kids about what
teachers teach literature, they did, how they could
science teachers teach improve their work and
art, French teachers what will be the next
teach math and challenge in the next
science); eight weeks).

quotes are placed on

walls to encourage
random learning;
Here are some quotes
tests are "stand-up" that guide me in
exhibitions; students becoming a facilitator.
go on internships and
report back to the school The teacher of the future
what they learned; is a GUIDE on the SIDE,
not a sage on the stage.
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 10
Aphorism Dryden, New Zealand

Education is NOT the

filling of a pail, but rather Keep "Talking Time" to a
the LIGHTING of a FIRE. minimum.
Most students might
forget what you taught Creativity: Schools
them, but they will teach children to obey.
always remember how But we need creative
you treated them. answers to the
A big obstacle to challenges of our times.
bringing Computer Many of the people
Assisted instruction into who've had the greatest
the classroom is the influence on our times
teacher, because were failures in school.
teachers love to perform. The greatest sign of
Jack is a boy from success for a teacher is
Brooklyn who dropped to be able to say, "The
out of school to avoid children are now working
terminal boredom. as if I did not exist.” Maria
I never let school get in Montessori

the way of my Let’s create people who

education. Mark Twain are capable of doing new
Drive out fear. W. Edwards things, not simply of
Deming repeating what other
There are 2 billion generations have done.
children in the Jean Piaget

developing world. Innovative schools offer

Instead of asking their small classes,
teachers to "reinvent the individualized
wheel" every day, why instruction, and flexible
not share lesson plans curricula which can
that work with their 59 accommodate the child.
million teachers? Gordon The same teacher stays
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 11
with the same group of If individuals have
children for as many as different kinds of minds,
eight grades. The with varied strengths,
teacher has to grow and interests and strategies,
learn with the children. then could biology, math
Many teachers believe and history be taught
that they need to control AND ASSESSED in a
how they teach and how variety of ways?
they test. Other teachers Trust. Truth. No Put-
negotiate with their downs. Active Listening.
students what they will Personal Best.
learn, when they will NewCitySchool.org

learn it and how we will

check that they have
learned it.
Until we find the child’s
passion, it’s just school. Join me. Read these
When the child finds his words. Paste them on
passion, we teach to that walls and ask students to
passion. We can find put the ideas in their
internships for high own words. Let's
school students: Kids gradually transfer the
say, “I love this responsibility for their
internship!” learning to the students.
Unfortunately, to most NO MORE BORING
people, teaching is the LESSONS.
giving of knowledge.
What are you going to Steve McCrea is an educational
tell the students? What is consultant. He no longer likes
your expertise? But lecturing. He believes in creating
teaching is really about projects for students who then
bringing out what's discover what Steve was going to

already inside people. lecture about. Comprehensino is

Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 12
checked with numerous questions
and exhibitions (performance of
Understanding, to use Howard
Gardner's term). This website is
inspired by Lois Hetland, Tony
Lloyd, Cary Elcome, Dan Pink,
Thomas Friedman, Dennis Littky Here's an example of my work
and others. Steve devised the as a curriculum writer. I was
Visual and Active Teacher Training asked to "reverse engineer" a
course (allowing participants to course to prepare students for a
carry the certificaton and initials test, the new test that is
VATT to indicate that they have required for students to pass
passed this rigorous analysis of into the 3rd year of University in
Dennis Yuzenas' work). For Florida.
attribution of the sources of these http://www.scribd.com/doc/4656
quotes, please go 5341/PERT-WORD-Syllabus-
to GuideOnTheSide.com. For and-Sample-Questions-
more information: BcRoOlWlAeRgDe-2011
VisualandActive.com,
VisualAndActive@gmail.com
+1 954 646 8246. Steve is happy
to give free workshops in
exchange for a hotel room or a
couch to sleep on and the
opportunity sell his books, CDs and
DVDs. He likes to sit in classes
and take notes. Watching other
teachers teach makes Steve a
better teacher. Invite him to your
school and he'll fit you into his
schedule.

Return to HOME
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
4. The Ten
Points
The basic techniques:
1. Each child has an individual
education plan (IEP)
2. A focus on passions:
Each kid studies the parts of the
curriculum he wants to. If a kid
loves horses, he students the
history of horses, the chemistry
and biology of horses. Numbers
and math relate to genetics of
horses, speed, decimals for
speed, fractions and ratios for
how to feed the horse (dividing
horse feed into meals and
calculating the cost of
maintaining the horse).
3. Connect the curriculum
with skill building.
The works of Will Sutherland
(QBESchool.com) and Dennis
Littky (BigPicture.org and
MetCenter.org) are paramount
in such a school, both for
building relationships and for
13
developing a host of mentors for
the students.
4. Learning by watching,
learning with hands-on
experience: The curriculum
should include for teenagers a
skill-building section so that they
can watch mentors at work,
eventually gaining skills through
experience (and also gaining
scholastic credit for time in the
internships).
5. Exhibitions instead of
written tests (or in addition):
Students give exhibitions
(making posters, delivering
powerpoints, making movies on
computers)
6. Projects instead of
lectures: Students are asked to
work in small groups on projects
to discover information
7. Narratives instead of
grades: The teacher writes a
letter to the student every 8
weeks describing What was
planned, What was done, What
needs to be done in the next 8
weeks (all connected to the
student's IEP)
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
8. Portfolios instead of a
transcript: There is a portfolio
of work accomplished (essays,
photos, reports, etc.) To
demonstrate mastery of English
and other languages, the
student has a digital portfolio
showing performances in
spoken tests.
9. "Take Apart Laboratory" or
workshop, where broken items
(fans, computers, air
conditioners, refrigerators, car
engines, etc) are taken apart
and analyzed (and, if possible,
reassembled) by students.
10. Learning through stories.
Ethics and inner strength are
acquired by telling stories like
Stanley Milgram's experiments,
giving time for contemplation,
and showing complex and
morally ambiguous situations to
the students.
Summary
Time is a variable*: students
progress when they master a
subject, not according to a fixed
calendar related to their age
group. *The phrase is
14
promoted by Dr. Fischler
Students are taught to
suspend judgment (gathering
information before leaping to a
conclusion)
Lateral thinking exercises
(EdwarddeBono.com is a
leading source of out-of-the-box
thinking).
Teaching is 25% academic,
60% listening and observation,
15% guidance and positive
reinforcement.
Meeting with parents and
integration of the curriculum are
important
Long-term relationships with
the teacher are important.
Dennis Littky's teachers stay
with the same 15 students for 4
years, grades 9-12, teaching all
subjects. That's how you build
relationships of trust and how
the teacher REALLY gets to
know the student.
No more boring classes.
No more boring lectures
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 15
The teacher is the guide on the
side, not the sage on the stage.

Guide On the Side Schools

(unless you already have a
name for your schools)

Teacher training is vital.

Most teachers teach the way
that they were taught ("It worked
for me, so I'm asking my
students to memorize what I put
on the board"). Most teachers
must learn to teach in a way that
they were NOT taught. Most
teachers need restructuring of
their "teaching self."

Those are the main points.

Steve McCrea
VisualAndActive.com

Links recommended by my
colleague F. Savain
ncrel.org "Constructionist
Teaching"

ndl-ed.org "Constructivist
Learning Theory"
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 16
to perform. I know that
when it comes to preparing
a lesson, my first impulse is
to LECTURE about a
5. More topic. The more difficult
Quotations route is to write a word on
(including the white board and ask,
“Work with a partner and
several by write five things you know
students) about this word...” and
then let the pairwork flow
from there... That’s hard
for me and hard for many
Thousands of educators are teachers because we want
on a mission (to make to be in control of the flow
learning fun and of the class. It's hard for
permanent). I’m on a some students who expect
mission, too. I want to give to be told what they need to
students / learners the know.
benefit of an open I have a mission: I want to
classroom. People who capture “what goes on
want to take charge of inside the heads of
their learning should have teachers who are guides
the choice to do so. on the side."
----------------------------------
We want to gradually ----------------
transfer responsibility Here are some more
for their learning to observations by students:
students. I think a student like me
Abraham Fischler, president should use really modern
emeritus of Nova methods.
Southeastern university, has To learn English (or
identified a key obstacle to another language),
this goal: Teachers like studying the perfect
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 17
grammar at school is
only the beginning. The Comment by Dr. Abraham S.
real way to learn English Fischler:
perfectly is practicing. So
it's a really good way =====================
using Facebook (for =======
example, my best
friend's American, so i What makes a class
always talk in English interesting?
with her and it really
A student's opinion
helps me) and then
talking about things we I think this class is interesting
like. and I believe it is because we
You should give the can lead the lesson by
student all the things suggesting topics, discussing
you know and then let and discovering new things on
her choose the things the net and changing the
he/she wants to do. program if we don't like it or
Most teachers think that find it boring. I can't really
being under pressure suggest a way to make this
makes us give our best. class better since we have a
lot of freedom and can
THAT'S NOT
change what we are doing
TRUE. When I'm
according to what we would
anxious or nervous, I
prefer much more.
really cannot do
anything. It's like I am What makes a class
blocked. So I think that boring? The wrong topics, a
the right way to improve boring teacher, bad
is feeling comfortable classmates are things that
and doing things that can make a class terrible.
interest us. Choosing a topic that is not
-- Arianna Costantin, Milano, 13 fascinating or not putting
August 2010 passion in teaching destroys
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
the attention of the class. Not
helping in creating
cooperation within the
students is the worst thing a
teacher can do.
Describe what you like about
the class: I like the fact that
students are nice and we get
on I love choosing every day
what I want to do and I'm fond
of discovering something I
didn't know, such as "Save
the Last Dance For Me" (a
song that was sung in our
class).
How can we improve the
method? We could read
more books, like the ones
about the method we are
experimenting with. And this
would be interesting. Or we
could keep some books on our
own as I would like to do
tomorrow, to practice with the
reading with chapters that are
more difficult than newspaper
articles.
Giulia Mastrantoni, 6 August
2010 CLICK TO SEE HER
SONG
If you would like to
correspond with Giulia, send
18
your message to
TheGuideOnTheSide@gmail.c
om She can be reached
directly at
Note about “Save the Last Dance”:
A teacher brought his guitar and
the lyrics for the song. He started
the class with this question: "Did
you know that the composer of
this song was unable to walk?
Now let's listen more closely to
the lyrics." That's what interested
Giulia...
Note: More books were brought to
the class the next week, giving the
student a chance to read quotes
and longer chapters about
educational theories.
Changing your
thoughts changes
your brain. Give in
to useless
behaviors and you
are more likely to
keep doing them.
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
Engage in more
useful behaviors
and you will be
more likely to
continue them.
Your moment-by-
moment actions
program your
brain's actual
function.
Magnificent Mind at Any Age by
Dr. Daniel Amen (page 166)
Most kids use a mobile phone.
Most kids spend time online. Most
schools prevent both. Our kids
are online; it's time their education
was.
By the end of the decade most
U.S. schools will blend online and
on-site learning to customize
learning and extend the day and
year. Most high school students
will do most of their work online.
All students (and teachers) will
have Internet access devices and
broadband. Cloud-based school-as-
a-service will provide 24/7 access.
19
The good news is that digital
learning won't cost more, and it
will boost achievement and
graduation rates.
-- Tom vander Ark (click here for
his post)
EdReformer.com
=====================
====
Jamie McKenzie's article The
WIRED Classroom provides a list
of descriptors of the role of a
teacher who is a Guide on the
Side while students are
conducting their investigations.
"... the teacher is circulating,
redirecting, disciplining,
questioning, assessing,
guiding, directing, fascinating,
validating, facilitating, moving,
monitoring, challenging,
motivating, watching,
moderating, diagnosing,
trouble-shooting, observing,
encouraging, suggesting,
watching, modeling and
clarifying."
The teacher is on the move,
checking over shoulders, asking
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
questions and teaching mini-
lessons for individuals and groups
who need a particular skill.
Support is customized and
individualized. The Guide on the
Side sets clear expectations,
provides explicit directions,
and keeps the learning well
structured and productive.
20
If you see the best in a student,
they'll come to see it as well.
Respect all people. All means
all.
Suggested by Leslie Lott

From Now On The Educational Technology

Journal The WIRED Classroom Jamie

McKenzie
"By now we know that most
students learn
best when actively
participating in a
Here are some additional quotes collaborative,
that inspire teachers exhilarating, 'something-in-it-
for-me' environment.
I am not a teacher. I am an However, the magic cannot
awakener. -- Robert Frost
happen without the
navigation of the
I teach by how I live not by what
I say. group mentor -- the expert-
facilitator-coach."
Be the change you want to Suggested by George
see. -- Gandhi Schiano

There's good in everyone. If you

don't see it, the problem is with
your vision.
"I am not a letter in the alphabet. I'm
Faith really CAN move more than that."
mountains. == 9th grade student in Providence,
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
R.I., quoted by Dennis Littky in The
Big Picture: Educatio is Everybody's
Business.
The world will not evolve past its
current state of crisis by using the
same thinking that created the
situation. Albert Einstein.
You must be the change you wish to
see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Nobody grew taller by being
measured. -- philip gammage
In the traditional method the child
must say something that he has
merely learned. There is all the
difference in the world between
having something to say and having
to say something. -- John Dewey.
What the best and wisest parent
wants for his own child, that must be
what the community wants for all its
children.. -- John Dewey
(another way of saying "It takes a
village to raise a child." --- african
proverb)
21
What a gift some power would give
us, to see ourselves as others see
us.
Robert Burns
(O would some power the gift
to give us to see ourselves as
others see us)
My grandmother wanted me to
have an education, so she kept
me out of school. -- Margaret
Mead
Education will not change until
we change the power structure.
-- Seymour Sarason
As long as the same people are
making all the decisions,
eveyrthing will stay pretty much
the same.
-- Seymour Sarason The Culture
of the School and the Problem
of Change
(argument: we will change our
education system when we
extend decision making down to
the next level, to the community
and the parents)
Students concentrate harder and
appear to learn more duing activities
that they find both challenging and
important -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,
author of Flow: The Psychology of
Optimal Experience
We begin by asking ourselves,
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
"What's best for kids?" and build
everything around the answers.
-- Dennis Littky
You learn from your experience of
doing something and from your
analysis of that experience. Myles
Horton (July 5, 1905 - January
19, 1990) was an American
educator, socialist and
cofounder of the Highlander Folk
School
Only passions, great passions, can
elevate the soul to great things.
Denis Diderot (1713-1784)
We do things backwards. We think
in terms of getting a skill first, and
then finding useful and interesting
things to do with it. The sensible
way, the best way, is to start with
something worth doing, and then,
moved by a strong desire to do it, get
whatever skills are needed.
-- John Holt How Children Learn
They are passionate about their
learning because they are learning
something that they are passionate
22
about. -- an advisor at the Met
School, Providence, RI, quoted in
Dennis Littky's book, The Big Picture
You have to start where people are,
becuse their growth is going to be
from there, not from some
abstraction or where you are or
someone else is. -- Myles Horton
There is no one body of content that
is right for every kid. -- dennis Littky
One size never fit all. one size fits
one. -- Tom Peters, author of In
Search of Excellence and other
books on business management
I'm more interested in school now
because school is more interested in
me. -- student at the Met School,
Providence, RI
In small schools, the learning needs
of students, not the organizational
needs of the school, drive school
operations. -- Kathleen Cotton
author of studies on "small learning
communities"
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
Advisory (a small mentoring group of
up to 15 students) in one word is
communication. It makes the school
smaller. Studnets know someone is
there for them, they are not getting
lost among all the other students....
In advisory we dont' talk at kids, we
talk with kids.
-- Don Weisberger, special education
teacher at Thayer School, New
Hampshire
To be playful and serious at the
same time defines the ideal mental
condition. -- John Dewey (1859-
1952)
Given the widening array of
possibilities, there's no reason that
every child must master the
sciences, algebra, geometry, biology
or any of the rest of the standard
high school curriculum that has
barely changed in half a centruy. --
robert Reich, Secretary of Labor in
the Clinton Administration
23
No matter how far you have gone on
a wrong road, turn back. -- Turkish
proverb
When we talk about reform, we
should not be talking about tweaking
the scheduling and modifying the
curriculum, but about completely
overhauling the entire structure of
schools as we have known them for
way too long. -- Dennis Littky
The world is integrated. Every day
schools unravel the world and put it
into boxes called subjects and
separate things that are not separate
in the real world. -- Dennis Littky.
We learn best when we care about
what we are doing, when we have
choices. We learn best when the
work has meaning to use, when it
matters. We learn best when we are
using our hands and minds, when
the work we are dong is real and
relevant. -- Dennis Littky
We want to see the child in pursuit of
knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit
of the child. -- George Bernhard
Shaw (1856-1950)
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 24
and schools are still giving them
I want students to: facts and one-way lectures. --
be lifelong learners Dennis Littky
be passionate
be ready to take risks
be able to solve problems and think If these words spark interest in
critically you, let me know. If you find
be able to look at things differently other quotes, please let me
be able to work independently and know.
with others
be creative Steve
care and want to give back to their
community
persevere
have integrity and self respect
have moral courage Sometimes you have to be
be able to use the world around the sage on the stage. Other
them well times, a guide on the side.
speak well, write well, read well, and "A good teacher knows when to
work well with numbers act as Sage on the Stage and
truly enjoy their life and their work. when to act as a Guide on the
to me, these are the real goals of Side. Because student-centred
education. learning can be time-consuming
-- Dennis Littky and messy, efficiency will
sometimes argue for the Sage.
When students are busy making
If we care about kids more than we up their own minds, the role of the
care about schools, then we must teacher shifts. When questioning,
change schools. We need to stay problem-solving and investigation
focused on the student. -- Dennis become the priority classroom
Littky activities, the teacher becomes a
Guide on the Side." Jamie
Society is asking our graduates for McKenzie Wired Classroom
skills and fast-paced communication,
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
... the teacher is circulating,
redirecting, disciplining,
questioning, assessing,
guiding, directing, fascinating,
validating, facilitating, moving,
monitoring, challenging,
motivating, watching,
moderating, diagnosing,
trouble-shooting, observing,
encouraging, suggesting,
watching, modeling and
clarifying.
The teacher is on the move,
checking over shoulders,
asking questions and teaching
mini-lessons for individuals
and groups who need a
particular skill. Support is
customized and individualized.
The Guide on the Side sets
clear expectations, provides
explicit directions, and keeps
the learning well structured
and productive.
These quotes were found on
enhancelearning.ca
What is the ideal situation for
teaching and learning?
25
Inspiration and admiration. If
you give a person a reason to
admire you, he will learn very
fast. Sometimes it is
necessary to lecture to
inspire. More
Mario Llorente
What procedures
could evolve from
these quotes?
See QBESchool.com
stunning, inspiring. I love the
climbing words
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=T6MhAwQ64c0
... Gordon Dryden suggested
that I watch this video. I want
to go out and inspire kids to
reinvent the world. I'm
downloading this video and
showing it to my 500 facebook
friends.
Learn about Gordon Dryden's
work with Jean
Vos theLearningWeb.net an
d their book "The new Learning
revolution."
"...a one-size-fits-all
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 26
approach to classroom
instruction teaching is
ineffective for most
students and harmful to
some."
Teach Me, Teach My Brain – A Call

For Differentiated Classrooms - Carol Ann

TomlinsonNovember 1998 | Volume 56 |

Number 3 | How the Brain Learns | Pages

20-25 The Brains Behind the Brain

If you agree with these

quotations, perhaps you
are looking for projects,
tips and procedures to
put these themes into
action in your school and
classrooms. Contact us
at VisualandActive.com
to get individualized
training -- not one-size-
fits-all workshops, but
tailored to the
teacher.
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 27

6. Comments
by Mario
Llorente

What is the ideal situation for

teaching and learning?
Inspiration and admiration. If
you give a person a reason to
admire you, he will learn very
fast. Sometimes it is
necessary to lecture to
inspire.
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 28
Students can be given a survey
before the “priming,” followed by a
7. How to Transform second survey. We expect
your Classroom students to become more
interested in taking a greater role
in their learning after they have
read, discussed and thought about
the quotes.
A survey is taken of students’
attitudes about “who controls the
Suggested Procedure
agenda in the classroom?” (the
for “Priming” Your
survey captures the students’
Students with These
mindset before exposure to the
Quotations quotations – free response and
“Priming” in a classroom can
“range of reaction” questions are
build confidence in students
asked -- see the draft survey on
Teachers can display inspirational
the next page). To protect
and thought-provoking quotations
students and to encourage honest
to encourage students to take
answers, students select three
more responsibility for their
words to “code” the survey (for
learning. The process is called
later comparision with “after”
“priming” because the teacher
responses)
“feeds” information to the
Provocative quotations (see the
students the way liquid is
packet that follows) are posted
introduced into the pipe leading
around the room. Students are
into a pump. When the pump
encouraged to find three quotes
starts, the liquid in the pipe enters
and put their initials or names on
the pump and helps draw more
the quotes that “resonate” with
liquid into the pump. If you start
them. Students are encouraged to
the pump with dry pipes, the pump
write to talk to the teacher or a
sucks air and labors to create
partner about why they like certain
suction. “Priming” the pump
quotations.
makes it easier for the water to go
Students are asked to work in
up the pipe.
small groups to talk about their
Summary
 Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 29
favorite quotations. What is Key Point: Gateways
another way to state the opinion of or Single Stops?
the quote maker? Using their own Introductions to Science
words, students restate the basic -- Surveys of Literature
idea of the quotation and give Universities generally
examples of how to apply the make a mistake by
quotation. assuming that one
4. Students take a “post survey” introductory course can
(similar to the “before” survey)
handle all types of
with free-response questions.
students. These courses
Students can submit the opinions
are gateways for some
anonymously. To assist the
students, the only stop
before/after comparison, the
students are asked to write the
for others. The
same three words at the top of the
advantage to the
survey sheet.
university is that one
course can cover two
Option: Help us groups of students. The
Scan or take photos of the disadvantage to some of
“before” and “after” answers. the students is that one
Send the results of the two group gets bored and is
surveys to asked to memorize
VisualandActive@gmail.com if words that they won't
you would like to participate in the use later.
data gathering. We expect to see
changes in behavior by students Gateways begin with
who take more responsibility for terminology, building the
their learning after exposure to vocabulary that students
these “school reform” tasks and will use when they
quotations. progress through the
program.

A single course in
zoology for an English
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 30
major Where can we see the
A single course in project?
physics for a history
major What is in the project?
A single course in
Spanish or Asian history WHERE
for a future physicist The teacher has power to
What will these students decide where the students'
remember? A few projects will go:
definitions. Posters on a wall
notice board (bulletin board)
This is why we need in a box
Physics for Poets and on a CD or DVD
Rocks for Jocks and Poetry on a door
for Rocket Scientists. above the urinals
These courses can give next to the toilet roll
the great concepts that near the water fountain
drive these disciplines, wherever people stand in
that educated people line
need to carry in their in a discussion
heads. on a shelf
on the whiteboard
A.S. Fischler on a TV screen
from a talk to students at Nova on a computer monitor
University, September 1985 in a binder
in a Facebook group
on a blog
on a website
on Youtube
Tips and examples the “I want to remember
of projects this” (IWTRT) journal, diary
Before we look at specific or log
projects, let's describe two the “This is important”
parts of projects: Where and issues book
What.
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 31
skills while using projects to
WHAT explore the curriculum.
The content is important,
too. What will appear in the Special note about the “I
spaces (the “Where”)? The want to remember this”
teacher transforms the (IWTRT) journal and the
classroom into a newspaper “This is important”
office. Students are the issues book: Perhaps they
reporters and editors, are the same binder. When
finding words, videos and the teacher/facilitator finds
photos and cutting them, an article that is important
piecing them together in to her, she puts it in the
new ways. binder marked “IWTRT” –
the “Tunafish are
The teacher can encourage overfished” articles are in
students to post many types my IWTRT binder. Why not
of content: encourage students to find
stories issues that matter to them
interviews and THEN build the
essays curriculum (math, science,
drawings literature, writing,
quotations languages, history) around
videos those issues?
songs
poems Note: To keep the interest
lyrics of the students, quotations
job assignments in the and other posted materials
class? can be moved around the
room once a week (or
The students can learn to placed in storage for two
edit videos, create websites, weeks and then returned to
YouTube channels, be displayed in another
Facebook groups and page, location). The teacher can
and blogs, and gain new assign or request students
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
to do the moving of the
materials – and this task of
moving turns into a learning
moments, since the
students can look at each
item and decide, “Marsha's
poster would look good over
there – most people couldn't
see it when it was on the
back of the door.”
The purpose of this book
now becomes clear: Most
teachers focus on WHAT
happens in the classroom
(the content of the class).
This book (especially the
quotes, the excerpts from
Neil Postman's book and the
quotes from Littky) asks you
to focus on procedures and
the WHERE of the class.
Where can students perform
their understanding? Where
can they express
themselves? What locations
will you release to the
control of students? Please:
let students take over walls,
websites and more.
EXAMPLE
Teachers of English as a
32
foreign language are always
seeking “the perfect
textbook.” “If only I could
get xxx, then the class
would flow more.” Some
teachers point to a book by
Raymond Murphy (Grammar
in Use) and its companion
(Vocabulary in Use) and say,
“That's a wonderful book.”
That's the WHAT, the
content of the class. I
remember when I was a
new teacher of English – I
bet everything I had in that
book (I was certain that my
classes would be stunning
and fantastic because I was
using Murphy!) and I was
puzzled why some students
did not see as much value in
the book as I did. (Why were
those students bored? What
more could I do to please
them?) After all, Murphy's
grammar book has
everything that you'll need
to learn English. However, if
the only content in the class
is in that book, then the
students are ignored. My
mentor Cary Elcome
reminds me, “We often
forget the most
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 33
overlooked resource in
the school: the students. One of my students worked for a
We ought to close the week to create a kaleidoscopic
textbooks, turn off the poster. (Thank you, Ane and
teacher talk and ask Irene). Contact the artist:
students to talk and share ane_larman_22@hotmail.com
their concerns and let them See the poster on the website.
practice speaking. Instead
of forcing in another week
of grammar, why not allow How do you make a class more
them to speak and reveal interesting and effective?
their grammar gaps as well FROM CARY ELCOME:
as their passions?” For most groups, I like
to:
In other words, finding a
great textbook will help play a song to start the
make the class more
class:
interesting because YOU the
teacher are more excited
a) for the rhythm of the
and passionate about
WHAT is poured into the language
room. Why not expand
the WHERE of the class? b) for the meaning or
Let's release control and message - focussing on
offer other places for the English
students to perform their
understanding. You found c) just to wake them up
great content (books,
websites, videos)...now d) it might be familiar
gradually transfer to the (the tune, maybe not
students the responsibility the lyrics or the
for their own learning meaning)
through projects.
e) it might be
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 34
unfamiliar, so it's new
terrain for them

The experience seems Tip: Read Teaching as a

to be memorable for Subversive Activity by
Neil Postman and Charles
students. We can link in
Weingartner
the lyrics, play the song We want to make several
(if it's popular among bizarre proposals that are
the class) several times designed to change the
until they can sing perceptions of teachers now
along without written functioning in the schools.
prompts, e.g. Green
Day's songs, some Declare a five-year
moratorium on the use of all
Beatles songs, Billy
textbooks
Joel, (earlier) Bruce
Springsteen, Queen, Have “English” teachers
Abba. “teach” Math, Math
teachers English, Social
It may / may not link to Studies teachers science,
the substance of the Science teachers Art, and so
lesson. Either way, it's on.
good. A new Transfer all elementary
perspective. Many teachers to high school and
students recognise the vice versa. Require every
tunes, but cannot sing teacher who thinks he
the words. It's OK for knows his “subject” well to
the teacher to sing, too write a book on it.
(growl in my case).
Dissolve all “subjects”,
Cary Elcome “courses”, and “course
<bradstow2@yaho requirements”.
o.co.uk>
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
Limit each teacher to three
declarative sentences per
class, and 15 interrogatives.
Prohibit teachers from
asking any questions they
already know the answers
to.
Declare a moratorium on all
tests and grades.
Require all teachers to
undergo some form of
psychotherapy as part of
their in-service training
Classify teachers according
to their ability and make the
lists public.
Require all teachers to take
a test prepared by students
on what the students know.
Make every class an
elective and withhold a
teacher's monthly check if
his students do not show
any interest in going to next
month's classes.
Require every teacher to
take a one-year leave of
absence every fourth year
to work in some other
35
“field” other than education.
Require each teacher to
provide some sort of
evidence that he or she has
had a loving relationship
with at least one other
human being.
Require that all the graffiti
accumulated in the school
toilets be reproduced on
large paper and be hung in
the school halls.
There should be a general
prohibition against the use
of the following words and
phrases: Teach, syllabus,
covering ground, I.Q.,
makeup, test,
disadvantaged, gifted,
accelerated, enhancement,
course, grade, score, human
nature, dumb, college
material, and administrative
necessity.
http://www.adprima.com/qu
otes.htm
Chapter 12: So what do
you do now?
1. Write on paper these
questions: What am I
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
going to ask my students to
do today? What is it good
for? how do I know?
2. In class, avoid telling
your students any
answers. Do not prepare a
lesson plan. Instead give
your students a problem
which might interest them
Allow them to work the
problem through without
your advice. Your talk
should consist of questions
directed to particular
students, based on remarks
made by those students. If
a student ask you a
question, tell him that you
don't know the answer, ever
if you do. Don't be
frightened by the long
stretches of silence. Silence
may mean that the students
are thinking.
3. Try listening to your
students for a day or
two. We do not mean
reacting to what they say.
Any questions you ask
would not be designed to
instruct or judge. They
would be attempts to clarify
what someone has said.
4. Ask your students to
36
discuss an issue about
which they have strong
feelings. But their
discussion has an unusual
rule applied to it: A
student may say
anything he wishes but
only after he has
restated what the
prrevious speaker has
said to that speaker's
satisfaction. Students find
themselves concentrating
on what others are saying to
the point of forgetting what
they themselves were going
to say.
5. Tell your students
that all of them will get
an “A” for the course. At
first, the students will not
believe you. Eventually, the
students can begin to
concentrate on learning, not
their grades. There is no
need for them to ask,
"When is the midterm?" "Do
we have to do a paper?"
"How much weight is given
to the classwork?" Then
help the students discover
what kind of knowledge
they think is worth knowing
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 37
and help them decide what or for one special
procedures can be used to assignment.
find out what they want to We propose a shift in
know. You will have to emphasis in the roles of
remind your students that teacher and student, a
there is no need for them to change in the nature of the
make suggestions that they classroom environment.
think will please you. There The facilitator allows the
is no need for them to students to pursue that
accept your suggestions. which is relevant to the
Most students will pursue learner.
vigorously whatever course (Permission to reprint this
their sense of relevance information -- THE WORDS IN
dictates. There are always PURPLE -- was requested from the
a few who will view the publisher of Postman's book,
situation as an opportunity Teaching as a Subversive Activity.)
to "goof off." So what? It is
a small price to pay for
providing the others with
perhaps the only decent
intellectual experience they
will ever have in school.
The number of students
who goof off is relatively
small compared with those
who, in conventional school
environments, tune out.
There is no way to predict
what syllabus your students
will evolve. It depends on
them. If you prefer, you
could try this experiment
(“everyone gets an A”) on a
limited basis for two weeks
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
8. An Article by
Dennis
Yuzenas
========
Dennis and Steve would
like to give this workshop
someday…..
Here is the outline:
Reset the Mindset A I hope that in the century ahead
presentation (and workshop)
for teachers
NOTE: you don't need to take
notes. Just listen. If you want
to take notes, don't worry. We
will give you this presentation
on a CD or DVD, your choice.
At the end of this presentation,
you will be asked to work with
partners to apply some of the
information that is discussed in
this workshop. You might want to
keep this question in the back of
your mind: How can I use this
information in my classroom?
What could I change in my
38
lesson plans and in my
classroom to put this
information to use?
What materials can I bring into
my classroom that could build
on what I'm hearing today?
Yes, 1983 is ancient history for
many of us...
1. The Situation in 1983
The Carnegie Foundation paid
millions of dollars to get a report
that made broad
recommendations for school
reform.
Chairman Boyer looked at the
school systems around the
country and concluded:
students will be judged not by
their performance on a single test
but by the quality of their lives. I
hope that students will be
encouraged to be creative, not
conforming, and learn to
cooperate rather than compete.
Ernest Boyer, president of
Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching, 1993.
Nearly 30 years later
We have more measurement.
Did anything ever grow by
measuring it? (Dennis Littky)
Have things really changed? Is
Boyer turning over in his grave?
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
What's needed? A new way of
looking at the problem.
2. What happens when you
change the mindset?
Before we look at schools, let's
look at other times when the
mindset was changed.
GALILEO and COPERNICUS
Galileo looked at the moon and
said, "I can see that the moon
orbits the earth, and there's no
way that the sun circles the earth."
He provided a new model for
categorizing what everyone saw.
His telescope showed that there
were little moons that went around
Jupiter and those moons did not
circle the Earth. This data blew
the minds of 16th century Italians
and they couldn't handle it.
Galileo had to recant.
There have been other shifts in
mindsets or paradigms.
Copernicus showed that the orbits
of planets were ellipses, not a
circle.
Mindsets come from the way we
look at the world scientifically
à Ether. Scientists used to think
that light traveled along the ethers.
they used to think that light was a
wave, but it also acts as a particle
(that's a shift in the mindset)
à Phlogiston -- this word
39
describes a material's ability to
burn... Intellectuals in the Middle
Ages thought that wood and paper
had more “phlogiston” than metal
or stone.
à Gasoline: our mindset before
1973 was (hopefully) different than
today.
We are talking about cars that run
on alternatives to gasoline.
There have been dozens of major
changes in humanity's collective
mindset and we are in the middle
of a mindset change now...
Howard Gardner helped us reset
the way we think about
intelligence (multiple intelligences)
Robert Ballard asked us to look at
the Black Sea and imagine what
might have happened to create
the story of Noah's Ark and the
Great Flood
Dan Pink told us to think about the
other side of the brain… but these
mindsets have stalled.
People like Dan Pink are saying,
"Hey, design is important, look
to the whole brain" while test
mavens want to standardize
education in a left-brained, data-
driven, lopsided manner.
Progress does not have to move
forward smoothly. There will be
losses, retrenchment before we
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
unloose the bonds that bind us to
tradition and then we can surge
ahead.
So let's move on...
3. Unintended Consequences
Problem: we depend on foreign
oil Remedy: ethanol from corn
Unintended Consequence:
(cartoon of starving kid next to fuel
pump with ethanol from corn)
There are numerous other
examples of unintended
consequences.
Who knew that when Congress
made it a goal to help more
people to own their homes that
the entire structure would start to
fall down?
Action: Congress made it easier
to lend money
Response: Interest-only loans
with a balloon payment and
increased interest rate after four or
five years. OOPS: people who
couldn't afford to borrow were
given loans...
Political cartoon is by Chan Lowe,
Sun-Sentinel.com >>>>>
4. What are the unintended
consequences of measuring
students and applying
standards to schools?
40
a) teaching to the test
"Tell us what's on the test, and let
us prepare for the test."
b) Preparing for a test (instead of
teaching as we used to and just
letting the test measure what was
taught.)
These were NOT what Governor
Jeb Bush stated in his plan for
"A+" when the Florida
Comprehensive Assessment Test
(FCAT) was proposed.
5. SOME QUOTES
"It seems to me that schools
primarily teach kids how to take
test, a skill one hardly uses in real
life unless one is a contestant on a
quiz show). Elementary school
prepares kids for junior high; junior
high prepares them for high
school. So the goal (if we can call
it that) of schools is to prepare
kids for more school." --
Tom Magliozzi, one of the Car
Talk guys, writing in his book, In
Our Humble Opinion: Car Talk's
Click and Clack Rant and Rave
(2000).
"I have been a psychologist for 21
years, and I have never had to do
in the profession what I needed to
do to get an A in many of my
courses in college. In particular,
I've never had to memorize a book
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
or lecture. If I can't remember
something, I just look it up.
However, schools set things up to
reward with As the students who
are good memorizers, not just at
the college level but at many other
levels as well. -- Robert
Sternberg, psychologist.
Our education system should be
creating mindful learners. (Littky)
Too often we teach people things
like "There's a right way and a
wrong way to do everything."
What we should be teaching
them is how to think flexibly, to
be mindful of all the different
possibilities of every situation and
not close themselves off from
information that could help them.
Ellen Langer, professor of
psychology
I never let schooling get in the
way of my education. -- Mark
Twain (Samuel Clemens)
No matter how far you have
gone on a wrong road, turn
back. -- Turkish proverb
Think about how people learn
best. We learn best when we
care about what we are doing,
when we have choices. We learn
best when the work has meaning
to us, when it matters. We learn
best when the work is real and
41
relevant.
We want to prepare our children
for the world, so let's no isolate
them from the world.
Many people talk about how
difficult it is to integrate a
curriculum. How can English
teachers work with math, science
and history teachers? That is
ridiculous: the world is integrated!
Every day schools unravel the
world and all its vast knowledge
and put it into boxes called
subjects and separate things that
are not separate in the real world.
What is science and geography
without math? What is English
with its history and word origins
and other languages? We teach
kids about the real world by
locking them up in a building that
looks, acts and feels nothing like
the real world. -- Littky, page 29
The traditional school isolates
large groups of young people from
adults and the experiences of the
real world, then expects them to
emerge at age 18 knowing how to
be adult, how to work and how to
live in the real world. Kids are
expected to sit still for long periods
of time, to learn primarily by
listening to someone talk and
never talk to anyone around them.
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
They learn how to please eight
different teachers with eight
different sets of expectations --
and the teachers base their
understanding of the kids on 45
minutes spent in a room with 20 to
30 other kids. Only if they are
having trouble do they get an
individualized education plan (IEP)
or get any feedback on their
learning beyond a single letter on
their report card. Their education
system assumes that they are
exactly like every other kid in the
class and every other kid who was
in that class 40 and 50 years ago.
The school emphasizes the same
"set of knowledge" for everyone
and expects them all to
demonstrate the exact same skills.
The world is changing -- schools
are not. -- Littky, The Big Picture,
page 32
One-third of the jobs that will be
around ten to fifteen years from
now haven't been invented yet.
6. BEYOND RANTING AND
RAVING
What can teachers do today?
We could continue complaining,
but let's end this training with two
questions:
1) How can we personalize our
lessons?
42
2) How can we integrate our
lessons with other subjects?
3. How can we bring the
world into class or take the
class out to the real world?
GROUP ACTIVITY (for the
participants in the seminar)
Let's brain storm together -- sit
with a group of four teachers and
come up with three things you
can do to individualize training.
How can you integrate your
subject with other subjects?
Can we use the Internet to
create virtual internships?
(time to circulate with the
audience, put them into groups,
someone takes notes, the notes
get passed to the front, a big list is
made and checked off the list that
is given to the audience.)
Project-based Learning
Many education reformers point to
narratives and portfolios for
assessment and projects to guide
the learning in the classroom (to
reduce lecturing). Inquiry and
independent thinking by students
ought to lead the way in the
classroom, so that the teacher is a
“guid eon the side” not a sage on
the stage.” OBJECTIONS: “It’s
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
hard to grade a project” and “it’s
messy.” More objections? Other
comments?
CONCLUSION This workshop is
not over yet... When you are
finished working in your small
group, we say, “Very good. Each
group got at least ten of the items
that are on our list.” BRAVO,
thank you for your participation.
Some of the groups added some
ideas that we didn't have on our
list, so we will add them to the lit
for our next training.
Don't leave! Sit! Stay! NOW
COMES THE EXCITING PART:
You might think that this seminar
is over. We've talked together for
30-40 minutes. This has just
begun. We are passing around a
sheet of paper with your contact
information. You signed this
paper, putting your email address
and your name on the sheet.
Well, most of you did. We want
you to sign up for 7, 30, 90 day
checkups. Dennis and Steve will
make it their job to call you, email
you or possibly visit you in your
class to see how you use these
techniques. If you want none of
that follow up, scratch out the
numbers. If you want all three
43
visits or emails, 7 30 90, then
circle all three numbers. We will
contact you or visit you on this
basis. Please add your phone
number. If we can text your
mobile phone, please write the
word "TEXT" next to the phone.
Thank you for your attention. The
unexpected consequence of this
presentation is not yet known, but
we have a hunch that you might
bring a camera into your
classroom, a computer and a disk
burner.
As the crowd disperses, the
following quote goes on the
projector
What is the power of
stories?
I tell stories to new teachers who
are just beginning to get a sense
of what "one kid at a time" really
means. When they start to gather
their own stories that is when they
are beginning to see the inner
workings of each kid and to
understand where the kids come
from. This is when they are able
to make learning happen and
when they are helping to carry on
the culture of our school.--- Dennis
Littky
At the end, quotes by Steve Jobs,
Thomas Friedman, etc., go on the
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 44
wall, CDs are distributed with the
materials and the lecture on the
CDs so the participants don't need 9. The next step….
to take notes.
Presented by Dennis and Steve
By the way... here are three things The next step is simple:
you can introduce to you students join us. Become a Guide
immediately – (1) Posters for the
on the Side. Keep your
walls at home (and at school), (2)
other skills ready, but
digital books and (3)
start with the key
educational mp3 files – the CDs
quotes. Post them
are included in your packet.
Please follow up with us and tell
around your classroom
us how you have used this
and ask your students to
information and please share GRADUALLY take charge
contrary or supporting articles that of their learning.
you find in the news.
Photo from 2006 – we've been Ask your students to
pushing digital books on TV (see write about the
the photograph of Steve on a local quotations and perhaps
TV news show, South Florida we’ll include their
Today) comments on the
For more information, write to website.
VisualandActive@gmail.com
Dennis Yuzenas
yuzenasdennis@bellsouth.net Send me your
Steve McCrea comments.
visualandactive.com
Steve

APPENDIX…
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 45
through high-stakes tests,
I learned a lot by visiting students give standup
schools and watching presentations or
teachers. Please invite “exhibitions.” Students
me to your school so I interview relatives and
can learn more. friends of their parents to
build a 75-page
autobiography. One teacher
stays with the same fifteen
Schools that students for four years,
teaching all subjects.
inspire us Building relationships with
students (eating dinner in
each student's home at
MetCenter.org least twice a year) allows
Providence, R.I. Dennis teachers to know the
Littky's book The Big Picture capacities of the class.
describes some of the Former students are
procedures used to put the welcomed on campus as
kid in the center of the peer mentors and are
school. Students are given encouraged to use the
narratives instead of letter school's facilities.
grades (the teacher writes a
two-page letter HighTechHigh.org
summarizing the student's San Diego. A visit to the
work in the past eight school's channel at
weeks and describes gaps youtube.com/HTHvideo
that need work in the next gives a sense of the intense
two months). Learning focus on blending
through internships (LTI) technology and projects.
allows students to discover
how parts of the high school CHADphila.org
curriculum are linked to the Philadelphia. The Charter
real world. Instead of sitting High school of Architecture
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
and Design welcomes
visitors, blending a
curriculum with remarkable
projects: I enjoyed the
manga books that the
students produce.
Urban Academy
New York. Student work and
photos cover 80 percent of
the walls. Hallways display
framed photos and posters,
signs, artwork and
announcements. Learning
by walking around.
MavericksInEducation.co
m central concepts: You can
North Miami Beach, Fla.
Many of the students at
charter schools in the
Mavericks system use
computers to work through
the curriculum
independently. Computer
Assisted Insruction (CAI) is
robust, allowing teachers
time to talk with students
one-on-one.
QBESchool.com
Look at the website:
QBESchool.com. Their
curriculum puts academics
46
at about 25% of the focus of
the school. Spirit,
intellectual development
(lateral thinking, which is
often overlooked in
schools), social skills and
emotional intelligences, and
physical development are
four other areas of focus.
Aiglon College
Chesieres, Vaud,
Switzerland. Founded in
1949 by John Corlette, the
school's vision is captured in
part in a speech by Corlette
at JohnCorlette.com. The
learn more by going to
QBESchool.com to see a
curriculum that is based in
part on the Corlette
philosophy.
People who inspire
us
Ted Sizer (1932-2009):
Author of The Red Pencil:
Convictions From
Experiences in Education
and Horace's Compromise.
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
He founded the Coalition of
Essential Schools and
advocated school reform.
“Ted made us question
assumptions we’d never
looked at before and examine
the bedrock of our ideas—
which may be what his idea of
education is… When he was
up there in front of us in All-
School Meeting, he tried to
get us to see our
responsibility to the
community and to each other
as individuals” (andover.edu).
A colleague, Vic Henningsen,
wrote, “Ted as headmaster [at
Philips Academy in Andover]
pushed the Trustees, the
faculty and the alumni, as well
as his students, to wrestle
with the difficult questions of
purposes and aims, to
question what they were
about and why, and to seek
new levels of understanding,
performance, and
excellence.”
Howard Gardner: His
Multiple Intelligences
Theory has been widely
mentioned in teacher
training programs that focus
47
on how students learn.
Teachers are encouraged to
present information in a
variety of ways to help the
spectrum of learners in the
classrom. Often overlooked
is Gardner's prescription
about assessment: If
individuals indeed have
different kinds of minds,
with varied strengths,
interests and strategies,
then it is worth considering
whether pivotal curricular
materials like biology could
be taught AND
ASSESSED in a variety of
ways (Intelligence
Reframed, p. 167, emphasis
added).
He advocates the use of
“performances of
understanding”: When it
comes to probing a
student’s understanding of
evolution, the shrewd
pedagogue looks beyond
the mastery of dictionary
definitions or the recitation
of textbook examples. A
student demonstrates or
“performs” his
understanding when he can
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
examine a range of species
found in different ecological
niches and speculate about
the reasons for their
particular ensemble of
traits. A student performs
her understanding of the
Holocaust when she can
compare events in a Nazi
concentration camp to such
contemporary genocidal
events as those in Bosnia,
Kosovo or Rwanda in the
1990s.
“Measures of
understanding” may seem
demanding, particularly in
contract to current, often
superficial, efforts to
measure what students
know and are able to do.
And, indeed, recourse to
performing one’s
understanding is likely to
stress students, teachers,
and parents, who have
grown accustomed to
traditional ways of doing (or
NOT doing) things.
Nonetheless, a performance
approach to understanding
is justified. Instead of
mastering content, one
48
thinks about the reason why
a particular content is being
taught and how best to
display one’s
comprehension of this
content in a publicly
accessible way. When
students realize they will
have to apply knowledge
and demonstrate insights in
a public form, they assume
a more active stance to the
material, seeking to
exercise their “performance
muscles” whenever possible
(page 165).
Thomas Hoerr: Principal of
New City School in St. Louis,
Mo., Hoerr has written a
column for Educational
Leadershiop (the magazine
of the Association for
Supervision and Curriculum
Development, ascd.org). His
school's workbooks for
teachers about mutliple
intelligences are often cited
as important for the spread
of Gardner's theories (since
the workbooks give practical
tips about how to
implement the use of
portfolios). The school has
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
red doors (note the link to
Ted Sizer).
Tom vander Ark: He
invented the term “edu-
preneur” and writes a blog
(EdReformer.com) which
discusses the challenges
facing charter schools. He is
a partner in Vander
Ark/Ratcliff, an education
public affairs firm, and a
partner in a private equity
fund focused on innovative
learning tools and formats.
He was the first business
executive to serve as a
public school
superintendent and was the
first Executive Director for
Education at the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation.
Contact him at
Tom@VARpartners.net.
huffingtonpost.com/tom-
vander-ark/#blogger_bio
Dennis Littky: His book
(The Big Picture: Educaiton
is Everyone's Business,
published in 2004 by
ASCD.org) was read by Bill
Gates, who used the phrase,
“The New Three Rs” (rigor,
49
relevance and relationships)
in a speech to the nation's
governors in February 2005
at the National High School
Summit. His company Big
Picture Learning has
spawned dozens of schools
in a network called Big
Picture schools. For
additional input, see the
interview on National Public
Radio (April 25, 2005) and
search “Dennis Littky small
school” on youtube.com.
Edward deBono: “Mr.
Lateral Thinking.” Look up
his name on Wikipedia and
see the remarkable span of
his career as an educator.
He has repackaged lateral
thinking to match the needs
of current trends. For people
unfamiliar with the term,
here is a typical math
problem: A wall 200 feet
long by 8 feet tall separates
your school from your
neighbors. You need to
paint the wall. Assume 100
square feet for each gallon.
How much paint should you
buy?
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
Some people place limits on
a problem by defining the
wall as only the part that we
see when we stand inside
the school. DeBono's life
work concerns getting the
reader to think “outside of
the box.”
Lateral Answers: The
following answers are
typically marked as
incorrect in most multiple-
guess tests.
a) “Enough to cover the
surface, plus enough to do
touchups. I would include
the other side of the wall,
since we want to be good
neighbors.” 8 x 200 x 2 plus
the top of the wall, and I
need at least two coats, so
double the whole thing.
b) “I'd take a photo and ask
the guy who sells paint to
make the estimate.” That's
a practical answer, isn't
it?
Thanks to deBono, Lateral
thinking is held in high
regard in many
corporations. How about in
schools?
50
Abraham S. Fischler:
President Emeritus of Nova
Southeastern University and
author of a blog called
TheStudentIsTheClass.com.
His catch-phrase is “Time is
a variable”: “Instead of
asking the student to fit
the administrative
structure (i.e., the class
and arbitrary time periods
for learning subjects and
achieving competencies),
we must provide each
student with the time and
means to succeed. Rather
than punish the student
who learns more slowly
than the arbitrarily chosen
period, we must treat each
student as the class.” He
recommends eliminating
the use of the age of the
students to organize the
school, instead using
“mastery of content” as the
criterion for grouping
students. Computer Based
Instruction for math and
English allows teachers to
focus on problems, not
presentation of the material.
Additional learning takes
place in small groups, where
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 51
students work on projects to use in high school and
and discuss their portfolios, university. “Mr. Y, I just
applying the information aced my U.S. History class
learned from the computer because I knew all about
sessions to other parts of the Civil War, thanks to
the curriculum. He that CD you gave us with
recommends a K-12 Uncle Tom's Cabin” (a
approach to implementing message from one of his
this system. His testimony students). Interviews with
before the Miami-Dade Yuzenas form the core of
Public School Board helped the curriculum for the
win approval for Mavericks Visual and Active Teacher
charter schools. Key Quotes: Training certificate
“rather than studying (VisualAndActive.com,
history through youtube.com/VisualAndAct
memorization and ive).
chronology, it can be
studied through problems Dan Pink: Chapter 15 of his
based on the immediate book Free Agent Nation
environment for younger (2001) highlights the
children and more ossification of schools:
abstract concepts in later “Whenever I walk into a
grades.” public school, I'm nearly
toppled by a wave of
Dennis Yuzenas: nostalgia. Most schools I've
Innovative teacher based visited in the 21st century
in West Palm Beach, look and feel exactly like
Florida. His workshops the public schools I
have trained dozens of attended in the 1970s. The
teachers in the use of classrooms are the same
computer-based projects size. The desks stand in
and team learning. He those same rows. Bulletin
distributes ebooks on CD boards preview the next
that his students continue national holiday. The
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
hallways even smell the
same. Sure, some
classrooms might have a
computer or two. But in
most respects, the schools
American children attend
today seem
indistinguishable from the
ones their parents and
grandparents attended. At
first, such déjà vu warmed
my soul. But then I thought
about it. How many other
places look and feel exactly
as they did 20, 30, or 40
years ago? Banks don't.
Hospitals don't. Grocery
stores don't. Maybe the
sweet nostalgia I sniffed on
those classroom visits was
really the odor of
stagnation. Since most
other institutions in
American society have
changed dramatically in the
past half-century, the stasis
of schools is strange.”
http://reason.com/archives/
2001/10/01/schools-out.
Thomas Friedman: The New
York Times columnist
advocates a “moon shot”
effort to revitalize science
52
education. His book The
World is Flat has
recommendations for
reforming schools.
Websites (schools)
BigPicture.org, the Dennis
Littky / Eliot Washor
organization
CHADphila.org, Charter High
of Architecture and Design,
Philadelphia
HighTechHigh.org, San Diego,
Calif.**
MavericksinEducation.com,
chain of charter schools that
include the CAI model
described by Dr. Abraham S.
Fischler in
TheStudentIstheClass.com
MetCenter.org, Providence,
R.I.**
NewCitySchool.org, St. Louis
(publishers of a widely used
workbook for introducing
multiple intelligences in
academics)
Tracy.MHS.schoolfusion.us,
Millennium High School,
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011
Tracy, California Motto:
Aspire, achieve, advance
UrbanAcademy.org, New York
City** Motto: A small school
with big ideas
**These schools were profiled
in High Schools on a Human
Scale: How Small Schools can
Transform American
Education (2003) by Thomas
Toch, introduction by Tom
vander Ark, Beacon Press,
ISBN 978-0807032459
Websites (reformers,
publishers)
ASCD.org, publishers of The
Big Picture: Education Is
Everybody’s Business (2004)
by Dennis Littky and
Samantha Grabelle, ISBN 978-
0871209719
EdReform.com, Center for
Education Reform
EdReformer.com, Tom vander
Ark’s blog
edSpresso.com, newsletter,
served hot with a twist
53
emaginos.com, Jack Taub’s
site
RevLearning.com, vander
Ark’s investment group
EssentialSchools.org, Coalition
of Essential Schools, formed
by the late Ted Sizer
GatesFoundation.org, funding
for education reform
GuideontheSide.com, Steve
McCrea, teacher training
workshops
PZ.harvard.edu, Project Zero,
Harvard University, teacher
training
QBESchool.com, Will
Sutherland, innovative
curricula
QualifiedByExperience.com,
Sutherland's consulting site
Cofradiaschool.com, Ben
Udy's English school in
Honduras (using John
Corlette's educational
philosophy, JohnCorlette.com)
StudentsFirst.org, Michelle
Rhee (former superintendent
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 54
of Washington, DC schools) go to www.QBESchools.com

theLearningWeb.net, Gordon YouTube.com/AGuideOntheSid

Dryden, New Zealand, author e
of The Learning Web with
Jeannette Vos: How to quit YouTube.com/VisualandActive
school at 14 and eventually
YouTube.com/2MillionMinutes
write a top-selling book about
learning.
Send your suggestions for
additional websites and
JohnCorlette.com for additional philosophy of
YouTube channels.
education

TheStudentIstheClass.com,
Dr. Abraham Fischler

2mminutes.com, Two Million PencilsDown.blogspot.co

Minutes, Robert A. Compton’s m
project

WhatDoYaKNow.com, Dennis Postman and Weingartner

Yuzenas, master teacher and Teaching as a Subversive
trainer, developer of Activity
workshops integrating digital
portfolios

Youtube channels
NOTE ABOUT COPYRIGHT
Youtube.com/channelname

YouTube.com/BPLearning by I have not obtained

BigPicture.org formal permission for
reprinting the
YouTube.com/HTHvideo paragraphs from
Postman and
YouTube.com/QBESchool or Weingardner. I believe
Guide on the Side ROUGH DRAFT as of January 2011 55
their book is essential to school. I’ll give a free
getting the message in workshop and I’ll
my head that I need to observe some teachers.
listen more and “be a
sage” less.

I hope the people who

control the copyright to It is assumed
the “Subversive
Teacher” book will see that you cannot
that an extended find the website
quotation might drive
people to read the rest of or your network
the book. has blocked
access to this
site… This
Keep in touch.
document has
much of what
Steve you can find on
TheEbookman@gmail.co
m the website.
954 646 8246 Fort
Lauderdale.
GuideOnTheSide.
Please invite me to your com