teaching

Texting students: Help or hindrance?

Posted on by Mark Isero

 Teachers, if you’re serious about communicating with your students, forget about making announcements in class. Don’t bother with assignment sheets or reminders on the board. Posts on your class website won’t work, either, and neither will updates on a Facebook group. And whatever you do, if you really want to talk to your students, please don’t call them on the phone.

You have two choices: talk to them in person or text them. That’s it.

This year, I noticed that I needed to maximize my students’ time outside of class. We had excellent classes, filled with deep thought and discussion, but the bulk of the work — like in many college-prep courses — came after school.

When I noticed in October that many of my students had stopped doing their homework every night, I started mass texting them.

It was simple. Google Voice made it free. SmashText made it easy.

It worked. At first, my mass texting was infrequent — only when I’d forgotten to say something important, or right before a major deadline, just to make sure I’d get 100 percent turn-in. But then I got a little text happy, and before long, I was texting my students (at least) once a day.

After a while, I wondered if I was annoying my students with all of my texts. It turns out, I wasn’t. Apparently, my once-a-day texting habit did not faze them.

My end-of-year evaluation confirmed it. Here are the results:

  • Did you find my texts helpful? – 100% yes, 0% no
  • Did my texts cause you to do homework more often? – 85% yes, 15% no.
  • Should I reduce the number of texts I send? 30% yes, 70% no.

So maybe I could stand to limit my texting a bit, but otherwise, this poll was overwhelmingly positive. Even though I appreciated the positive results, they led me to another question: Was my texting merely enabling my students to be less organized and less responsible?

This is a tough question. On the one hand, yes, some students may have become reliant on my texts instead of depending on their notetaking skills. And it’s sad in some ways that my students wouldn’t have completed as much homework had it not been for my daily reminders.

On the other hand, it’s my job to get the best results out of my students. If that means texting them once a day — which takes all of 50 seconds of my time — then so be it. Sure, I’d like my students to do more on their own, but it’s more important that they succeed.

If I’m not going to accept failure, then I’m going to find out what works.

Was that convincing? I’m not sure. Please let me know what you think. Am I helping my students, or just helping them be lazy? 

reading

Dezmond and Ramir: New York Times winners!

Posted on by Mark Isero

 A few posts ago, I challenged readers to help me give a graduation gift — a three-month subscription to The New York Times — to two lucky students, one from my Advisory class and one from AP English.

In less than 24 hours, three generous readers — Iris, Jenni, and Denise — had funded the project, and the raffle was officially on.

Last Friday, amid quite a bit of buzz, we drew the lucky winners: Dezmond and Ramir!

Both students were extremely happy. Dezmond told me today that he can’t wait to start receiving his subscription. (I told the students that the paper would start on September 1, after they’d settled into college.)

Dezmond will be going to college in Seattle, while Ramir is heading south to Los Angeles.

Again, thank you to Iris, Jenni, and Denise. You’re providing a graduation gift that will transform my students’ lives. You’re helping them love the news and to enter a more complex world — all at a high reading level! 

teaching/technology

My students loved their online writing mentors!

Posted on by Mark Isero

 Each of my students this year received an online writing mentor who helped them every week on Google Docs.

It was a huge commitment for the 23 adults who volunteered. The more I thank them, the more I recognize how much more I should thank them.

Here’s another reason to thank them: My students, in their end-of-year evaluations, had huge praise for their online writing mentors. Not one student reported a negative experience. Here are some quotes:

  • “My mentor helped me with grammar and editing on a college level.”
  • “My mentor was helpful, challenging, knowledgeable, friendly, and supportive.”
  • “It was good to have another adult besides my teacher to edit my work.”
  • “My writing mentor knew my writing style so he could help me even more.”
  • “My mentor knew what he was talking about and helped me my writing make sense.”

* * *

Thank you again, Online Writing Mentors! As a teacher, I can devote maybe 15 minutes per student per week. Without you, my students’ writing would not have grown as much as it did. Thank you again for your dedication.

technology

My students love Google Docs!

Posted on by Mark Isero

 It’s the end of the year, so I’m doing a series of evaluations with my students to improve my teaching.

This year, my students used Google Docs for all their essays. Here’s how the two-week essay cycle worked:

1. On Monday, students did a timed writing in class, then typed their essays on Google Docs before 11 p.m.

2. On Tuesday, their online writing mentor, their peer editor, and I would read their essays and leave comments on Google Docs.

3. On Wednesday, the students would revise their essays and write a reflective journal that chronicled their writing growth.

4. On Thursday, they’d turn in their essays, and I’d grade them for content.

5. On Friday, I’d return the graded essays, and a week of proofreading would begin — back on Google Docs.

* * *

When I asked my students about their experience using Google Docs, they were unanimously positive. Here are some of the things they said:

1. Google Docs made the revision process faster, easier, and more encouraging. Students preferred comments online rather than on paper.

2. Google Docs made revision more interactive. Students could write comments back to their editors to gain more understanding. We also sometimes had synchronous editing sessions, which were popular.

3. Google Docs saved paper and printing stress. (Most of my students do not have working printers at home and disliked having to run around the school for an open printer.)

4. Google Docs offered an easy way to store and organize their essays. All they had to do was to drag their essays into their shared folder. Instant e-portfolio.

* * *

This was my first year of moving entirely to Google Docs. Now that Google Docs has transformed into Google Drive, I can see myself teaching my students to house all of their materials there.

The only impediment is one of access. Because of the digital divide, it took several weeks for my students to learn the program. It was slow going at first. There were many failed attempts at document dragging, proper titling, and accurate spacing.

I worry that if I do too much too soon, I’ll alienate students. But this year’s Google Docs experiment suggests that if I give my students enough time and practice to master crucial tech skills, they’ll get the handle of it and be appreciative at the end. 

everything else

Attendance is fundamental

Posted on by Mark Isero

 A new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University concludes that up to 15 percent of students miss up to a month of school per year.

It’s pretty clear: If you’re not in school, you’re not learning, and you’re missing out on crucial information for your academic success.

I see it in my school. The chronically absent students struggle because they’re in two places at once. They’re at school, but they’re also somewhere else. One day, they might be geographically at school, but their mind is psychologically elsewhere. The next day, it may be the reverse.

Sporadic attendance not only inhibits academic performance, but it also prevents students from feeling comfortable and safe in school. If you’re not in school, it’s harder to feel like a scholar.

It’s easy to think of attendance in simple terms. Everybody — teachers, students, families — knows that you should come to school every day, so what’s the problem? Why aren’t you coming to school every day?

Of course, it’s not that easy. Students don’t attend school for a variety of reasons, and some are silly, while others are deep. It’s important that we figure out those barriers and address them immediately.

Is it because school is boring? or unsafe? Is it an issue of poverty? or childcare? or health?

As an adviser, I haven’t done such a good job with attendance. Despite my efforts (mostly texting), the same students who came late or intermittently in ninth grade are the same students who struggle with attendance now as seniors. Attendance habits are hard to break and usually align with deep, longstanding causes.

The good news is that there are many schools that can serve as models. Most successful programs offer services and support to students. Oakland High School’s Shop 55 is getting good results. Our school’s Advisory program offers personalization so that students feel known well by at least one adult at the school. Relationships matter, but so does follow-up. Attendance doesn’t get better unless there’s time for adults to follow through with students and families. It seems appropriate that a big effort is needed, especially at the ninth grade level, where attendance is a strong predictor of high school graduation.