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Class Notes
	Facts aren't the only thing to teach (Published October 3, 2005) By MATT WENNERSTEN

What do you call students who constantly question authority, who complain to the principal when the school does something they disagree with, who are often late to class, who, in class, always play devil's advocate? A pain in the butt? Sure. Annoying? Sometimes. But -- apart from being tardy -- exactly the kind of student we should be trying to create.

As a teacher, it's easy to forget that the purpose of school is not to cram as many facts as possible into docile kids' heads. A lesson where the class silently writes down everything you put on the board feels pretty good – no discipline problems, a lot of information conveyed, kids working hard. Kids love these kinds of lessons – they're easy. Everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing, and, even if you don't understand what you wrote down, you have it written down and the teacher is happy.

Sometimes, you need to spend a day simply going over facts. This puts down the foundation for thinking; if you don't know the meaning of "mean," when you read in the news that the "mean income has declined for the third year in a row," you won't understand it. Having knowledge at your fingertips is a key element of good thinking.

But facts are not the only thing our kids need to learn. Our kids need to learn how to be independent thinkers and self-motivated learners. In talking with colleagues, one thing we find again and again is that our kids, in high school, usually need to be shown an example of the end-product before they can get started. When I give an essay assignment, if I want to get anything turned in, I have to write the essay myself and show the class what their "final answer" should look like – two pages long, three paragraphs, etc.

Our kids just aren't that good at figuring things out on their own. One reason for this is that thinking skills are harder to teach than facts. I also wonder if another reason is that independent thinkers can be a pain.

This month at Bell Multicultural High School, we've introduced a new policy for tardiness. Our principal is conducting regular hall sweeps, and any student caught in the halls after the bell is sent to the cafeteria to get a pass. Their name goes on a list and they must come after school or before school to serve detention. If they miss detention, they are given a one-day suspension (and parent conference). This policy has done wonders for on-time attendance. Kids are hauling to get to class.

One of my students, Jose, is always asking difficult questions; he loves to bug the principal when he sees her in the hallways. Recently, when he was caught in the hall sweep for being a minute late to class, he was outraged that he was getting detention (which turned into a suspension). He tried to call the superintendent, but couldn't get through. He looked up the D.C. Code for student discipline in his student manual. He rallied about 20 students and went with a video camera to question the assistant principal on film in the hallway. He argued to me that if we want to get kids to class on time, suspending them so that they miss even more class is insanity. He does have a point, and at the same time, he understands why I disagree with his approach.

Jose is a naturally inquisitive young man. He reads voraciously and is a keen observer of the world. He also is the kind of kid who will trespass on a construction site, not to tag it with graffiti but to interview construction workers on their feelings about racial discrimination in construction company hiring. He's a bit of a loose cannon and can be hard to take in large doses. It's a shame there aren't more students like him enrolled in D.C. public schools.

Too often in my classes I see kids who are desperately trying to figure out what they have to do to pass. The focus is on grades, facts and getting through the material. They tell me they don't like to read and don't often read at home. They love multiple-choice and struggle with open-ended questions. They are great note takers and horrible at studying. I fear that these kids were not born this way, but were instead made this way by their education to date.

This year at Bell we're focusing on reading and problem solving. Our standardized test reviews now have open-ended problems, not just A-B-C-D choices. All major assignments have a reading and independent writing piece. For example, in learning the elements of geometry (point, line, plane, etc.), students had to write a paragraph describing an object in complete sentences using the terms and giving the dimensions, surface area and volume.

Our goal is to help our students become more fluent in expressing their thoughts. We'll see if it helps. In the meantime, Principal Maria Tukeva is listening to Jose with an open mind. He's told me that she is interested in his suggestions for ways to improve the policy on tardiness.

This is the right tone for the school – encouraging our students to think about their condition. Our kids think about their life outside of school all the time; mostly they are filled with anger and disgust at tough living conditions and institutional neglect. I want all of my students to get to class on time, but -- more importantly -- I want them to think about their life in school and what they are learning. I'm rooting for Jose.

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Wennersten teaches mathematics at Bell Multicultural High School. Contact him at matt@thecommondenominator.com.

Copyright 2005 The Common Denominator