Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Ideas? Improving the elementary education setting

Hi all,

As mentioned in the private/public thread, I live in a region that puts intense pressure on its kids (and adults), and that has suffered the suicide of several students this year.

I am on the site council for my son's elementary school. Our council has set aside other projects in favor of working on this: what can we do, in elementary school, to foster the development of whole and healthy children who love learning for the joy of learning itself.

Now - this is not strictly a gifted issue. But it pings hard in many of the conversations we've been having lately. Our principal is a strong lady who would go out on a limb for the right idea. So please - any ideas? Especially specific ideas I could present as something we can DO.

E.g., flipped school, optional-only homework, "homework" that can be completed in the last period of school, or first thing in the morning (e.g., 10 minutes in 2nd grade up to 30-40 minutes in fifth grade).

I don't know - I'm making this stuff up. But I'd love to offer some creative ideas, and you folks seem like a good source.

TIA,
Sue

A minimum of 30 mins recess for every 2 hours school. Free play mixed grades etc plus teachers to organise open to all informal soccer etc - they don't have to play the whole time themselves just get the game going and encourage.

Optional only homework except little things like spelling words, timetables at 5 to 10 minutes andreading.

Ability grouped classes for maths, reading and writing. Try and be within a few years though as it is not going to help a nine year old to be put with five year olds. In the other direction go as far as the gifted kid is comfortable at least initially.

Gotta go.

Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted (S.E.N.G.) might be a great place to start.

My elementary school best practice: Homework that exists because it adds demonstrable value and could only be done at home, primarily due to needing parental involvement (i.e. one-on-one mentoring). In younger grades that would mostly be reading out loud. As they get older, it could encompass more research time for projects, and parental engagement that allows for more discussion of ideas/ depth/ complexity to projects (but not the complicated construction/ crafting busy work often mentioned on this forum).

Otherwise, if there's no reason the work couldn't be done at school, then there's no reason the work couldn't be done at school.

I do know some parents who value homework because it allows them to quickly identify if a child is struggling with a new concept. Optional homework could address this need. But even better is just good communications from the teachers. One of my favourite examples was "Ask about". Every week, the teacher would send home an e-mail, saying "ask your child about.... the following things we did/ discussed this week." If you added on a sample sheet of new concepts, bingo: parents know what's happening in the classroom, have great conversation starter with their kids, plus the ability to double check comprehension should they feel the need ("oh cool - you learned two digit multiplication this week? Show me how that works!".

Subject specialist teachers teaching subjects that use cross-grade grouping (ala puffin).

Recess has been lost in so many schools. It isn't just the moving around from classroom to art room etc (which our elementary principal tried to tell me with a straight and earnest face was sufficient for getting the kids moving, on top of daily PE). So much social learning goes on during recess, how to resolve problems, to support one another, to work together across ages and genders and achievement levels. Some options for directed play are useful for some kids (one of mine could have used it, the other was better with free play).

Responsibility in the school teaches them they have a place in the social structure. Students can have jobs like cleaning whiteboards, raising the flag, maintaining their spaces, helping clean the hallways, creating displays, checking the playground for left items, theirs or others'.

Reduce all pseudo-academic busywork. Replace with recess, a real lunch hour, and creative electives of the student's choice (like for all Friday afternoons). Recruit regular teaching staff and parents to teach these classes.

Start with core homeroom in the morning. Then sync subject times across classes in the afternoons and ignore all ages and grade levels in favor of letting kids go to the class they need. The goal being that every child is working at his or her best level and learning every year (annual goal -- no one goes 'down' a grade by the end of the year). Homework only for independent projects or needed catch up.

School must implement a good anti-bullying program for students AND STAFF. The school should foster a culture of respect in both directions. The school should embrace intellectualism rather than achievement (the second should follow from the first, but without the first, it's hollow).

I believe all corporate culture is driven from the top down and supported from the bottom up. Without conscious direction, you get whatever culture survives the chaos. The admin should create a new motto, new guidelines, and a new handbook that reflects its core values. Students should be encouraged to participate in the crafting of these items as well as the culture at large through contests, surveys, homeroom projects, art, classroom decor, etc.

Focus on achievement, test scores, standardized tests, and winning should be reduced or eliminated as much as possible. Focus instead should be on learning for the sake of learning.

More at this old thread, Ideal educational setting.

Last year my son was at a school that was entirely Project Based Learning. Everything he did in first grade revolved around whatever topic he was learning about at the time. He did projects on Great Danes, Tsunamis, Jacques Cousteau, Mudslides, and one other thing that isn't coming to mind...sharks? Maybe?
Anyway, every 10 weeks they did a new project and at the end of the 10 weeks there was a presentation for the entire school. They learned public speaking skills, organization skills, how to follow their passions, how to research topics alone, and on and on and on.
http://bie.org/about/what_pbl
My son was tuned in, happy, and learning like crazy!

Recess outside, for 30 minutes.
Time for lunch AND another recess after.
Hot lunches, freshly prepared, no convenience products, no sugar or white flour (yeah, yeah I know, but the OP said "be creative", not "be realistic".)
Home rooms grouped by age level, academically and socioeconomic ally integrated, but with readiness clusters (see below)
Montessori style individual work periods in home room, with assignments from readiness grouping.
Group projects in non academic subjects in home room.
All academic subjects strictly to be taught in cross grade readiness grouping. Need not be synchronized - not all students have to be in home room at the same time all the time, just for "project times".
Limits on age span in cross grade groups, eg three years - as in "have to open another group, not limit access"
All kids to be placed in home room in clusters with at least three other kids from at least one academic readiness group.
Arts and music for enjoyment, no grades.
No written homework assignments - all tangible work to be produced in school, homework may only encompass stuff such as reading aloud, times tables, memorizing poetry etc.
memorize poetry and sing songs. Lots of it.

Wonder why we keep reinventing the wheel...o wait, was anyone actually listening to us last time?

For the gifted children, it is great if you can use the gifted individualized educational plan, because you can tailor the plan to the specific special needs of that particular gifted child.

Hire a math/science/engineering specialist, or bring in experts from outside the school to teach interesting STEM topics.

Every few months, a new group of students graduate as teachers... and nearly every day more parents are learning their children are "gifted" (for lack of a better word) or asynchronous. So it can be fruitful to have these conversations from time to time.

I did not get a chance to check back on that other thread that you mentioned. I am so sorry that your area has experienced student suicide. I do not have any experiences to compare that to or share with you. But, I can tell you, sometimes, I worry about the children ( in the type of area you allude to ) who might be caught in a dicey situation, in that one parent might be gifted (and, somehow, that led the family to an area where academics are more emphasized), yet the other biological parent is not gifted. If the child takes after the latter, then the family might not understand that this particular child cannot keep up with the legacy of the gifted parent; that could feel / be devastating. Imagine having every advantage, but the academics do not come easily to the student; that could make the child feel awful. Hopefully, everyone's input all together will help somehow. All the best.

There are also gifted students to whom academics do not come easily, children without advantages who are gifted but lack opportunity, and many kids who are given impossible expectations to live up to rather than being accepted for who they are and/or who they wish to become. Everyone is different and all need some mix of support, affirmation, challenge.

I can't really add to the list already provided, other then.

Starting in K-12 have some of type stress management identification and coping system in place for the kids. It would have to be age appropriate and you do not have to dig deep into specifics until they are older.

We are wishing, aren't we.

I don't know; have most of the children who committed suicide left notes actually saying the reason was the pressure of school? Perhaps that is the case for some, but it strikes me as assumptive without actual confirmation.

What I'm trying to say is a child's day is more than just what goes on during school, of course. I think it's commendable the school is looking for ways to address this "epidemic" within their school, so I would suggest they could hire a psychiatrist/psychologist to formulate a survey of sorts to be given to all students and their families to determine what is going on throughout the entire day of each child; not "just" during school. That survey could then be used to identify at-risk children within the school and perhaps remedy any specific problems that are identified before they become so overwhelming to the child as to cause them to think the only way out is if they no longer had to live their lives.

In other words, the survey would be customized to each family's child and not be a blanket solution that may not actually even be identifying the individual situation that is leading to these suicides. It's assumptive, imo, to believe that even most of the children are committing suicide because school and/or their parents are pressuring them.

Things like the several of seats that are the balance balls/fitness balls available in all classrooms to use on a rotating basis...Standing desks to be used on a rotating basis. Enough room and storage in classrooms.

My son has a classroom in a brand new building to the school specifically built for 4th and 5th graders...so they knew how big the kids are. The classrooms are soooooo tiny. There isn't enough storage and the kids move between two teachers. The kids have to keep all their stuff (heavy books, composition books, folders, everything) in their backpacks because there isn't any storage. So he has to use an expensive rolling backpack because I refuse to let him carry that load on his back.

I also think his elementary school is way too big. I think it all boils down to money but I think there is an optimal size of an elementary school where you can get everyone in and out of the cafeteria, everyone has access to time in the library on a regular basis, you can schedule math and reading to be held at the same time so that you can allow multi-age grouping based on needs. You get to the size of my son's school (1100 plus students) and scheduling is a complete nightmare. So in my ideal setting a school would not be allowed to get that big.

I would also give giant dollar amounts to have some sort of team of experts (including parents, principals, traffic/road designers) design the parking lots, parent pick up car line, bus/day care van loop, way the walkers exit the school. And there should never be a school that has 1100 students that doesn't have a light at the entrance (and where the tiny road meets the main road)...it is just nuts. There was a teacher killed in our area (not our school) being squashed by two cars in parent pick up line. The whole thing is just so scarey and unsafe.

I wonder the same thing. I also wonder - were these elementary school children who committed suicide or teens in high school?

I think it's really wonderful to look at how to improve the school experience for all students, whatever the reason - but I also think it's important to consider that it's most likely not *just* things not going well at school that lead a student to commit suicide. Home life, peer pressure, drugs/alcohol, mental health issues.

So.. coming from that perspective, I think that it's important (when trying to prevent future suicides) to include some way of recognizing children who are at risk. I don't think you could go through any one crowd of students and say that child is more likely to commit suicide than another, but you can identify portions of students who are at risk of having things not go well for the above reasons, and give them support. Just a few examples (none of which have anything to do with your school situation) - after school homework help or having the library open for kids to study who don't have a good place to study at home, programs to share information and discourage use of drugs/alcohol, teachers being trained to recognize signs of depression in a child, offering breakfast at school so kids from households that are struggling don't go through the day hungry, etc.

In any event, I think that in order to put in place change that will matter, you'll need to look closely at what seemed to be the cause of the specific suicides in your area as well as looking at what are considered to be risk factors in general.

polarbear

Thanks all for the great thoughts. I'll be consolidating and passing them on. One thing that is crystallizing for me is the free time/free play need. FREE CHOICE! I really like the idea of an end of day free period where kids can go play if they want, go to the library, go do projects, go make informal clubs, whatever. I think also, I'd like to ask if during that time, teachers, psychologist and other on-site specialists, even the principal have open doors. So kids could come in and talk to or even just be with a trusted adult.

Please keep up the exploration if you would. It is hard - and frankly, you guys have great minds. Even if we sometimes argue a bit - the end result demonstrates wisdom. Probably hard-earned wisdom, which is usually the most useful kind in my experience.

Re questions about the source of pain for these children: The people in communities in this area are agonizing about this question exactly. Nobody thinks there is an easy answer or an easy fix.

The kids are under extraordinary pressure, some internal, some external, and varying for each child/family. Many kids have little to no free time, college admissions are crazy and the panic over them begins as early as preschool. Some parents express extremely high expectations and heavy demands, with perhaps some higher/heavier than is healthy. And of course some kids - just like all other people - suffer from clinical depression or other mental health challenges.

At least some of these children have been extremely high achievers with a wide world of opportunity before them. I don't know if any were gifted as well, but this board has surely taught me that there is a difference.

Ametrine - Your question is the one that people always start this discussion with, and it's a valid one. But it's essentially finger-pointing at its heart (put pejoratively) or desperately grasping for answers that help us believe "we" are not to blame (put more kindly). Is it the school's fault? The parents? The college admissions committees? We have to move beyond all that to get to any useful solutions.

Whatever is written in a note, it reflects a trigger, at best. Or maybe a loving gesture to make somebody not feel so badly. At base, though, a suicide presents a mental health challenge that needed support, but didn't receive it. So I think the point that the kids aren't doing this BECAUSE of the pressure is somewhat tangential. The question is, what can we do to identify the children with this added (mental health) struggle, and give them the support they need?

The grief in our area is palpable. The teachers are struggling with how to help. Even the elementary school kids are reaching out to them, asking "what is suicide" and "why."

Polar bear - just reading your reply more carefully. These have been high school kids. But the rest of your answer says what I was trying to say - only better. It's a complicated set of variables. I'm only asking my question here because our little team (site council) works in the school and wants to do what it can to help with our "variable."

And it's a very scary conversation to have with little, little ones asking about suicide, and why it would ever happen to a school kid. Our teachers are really struggling with that.

One of the initiatives I've heard about (one of my colleagues did a site visit at this program) is including a "flow" room in the building, equipped with various creative, open-ended materials for diverse learning styles. The idea is, of course, free play, but also allowing children to spend time "in the zone" in whatever area they connect to most.