The Center for Authentic Intellectual Work

Just thought I'd let you know I had an ah hah! moment today.  The kids are reading a historical fiction novel then writing a newspaper focusing on one particular battle of the Civil War from the novel.  I was afraid of it turning into a "fluff" project because they would probably just rewrite whatever articles they happened to read, until I started thinking what I really wanted out of them relating to AIW.  Rather than a simple report they should collect facts, interpret what happened based on the facts collected, make an analysis of the two sides (what advantages/disadvantages), make an evaluation as to why one side was able to win (draw a conclusion), then synthesize (create an article about the battle that is completely new) an article.  

Check out Sarah Brown Wessling's Mid-Year keynote from the 2013 Iowa AIW Mid-Year Institute, sponsored by Heartland Area Education Agency (AEA 11). This event was hosted by Gilbert Community School District in February 2013.

AIW 2013 Mid Year Keynote

Recently, Greg Anrig, an important voice in American public policy mentioned our AIW work in Iowa in his blog, Tearing Down Classroom Walls. I posted the response below and would love to hear from any teachers and administrators at AIW schools. Does this account jibe with your experience? Please don’t hesitate to post a comment here or on Anrig’s blog, or even on our Center FaceBook site. Let’s use social media to share more perspectives on how to transform American schools!

This blog is a great start for a larger conversation about how American education evolves in the 21st century. As you've pointed out, the work in Iowa included teachers working with one another to analyze the quality of their assignments and instruction against the standards for Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) in teams with 4 to 6 members. While we did not require schools to create interdisciplinary teams, we did find that the departmental silos typical in high school settings dissolved more quickly and staff from all disciplines came to know, understand, and respect one another's work. This shift seems to help the learning climate.

For us, the key ingredient to impacting student learning comes through de-privatizing the classroom regardless of an AIW team's membership. Teachers involved in AIW reform come to see the responsbility for change lies with them and that they are up to the challenge of improving the quality of what they offer students. They collaborate about their pedagogy and revise lessons and assignments rather than point out student shortcomings. Subsequently, student engagement increases along with their performance in school. 

When administrators engage in the reform work right along with their teachers there is another striking impact on climate.. The vertical hierarchy's intensity appears to soften. Trust is born when everyone repeatedly shares ineffective lessons and works on the revisions together. When students are successful, the team celebrates. The shared mission of transforming students' lives generates energy and fosters civic discourse, intellectual risk taking, and yes, higher standardized test scores. Ironically, for the schools truly involved in AIW, high test scores become footnotes to the far loftier goal of fostering young scholarship and civic responsibility for tomorrow's world.

When working with teachers new to AIW, there is often a moment when a few eager teachers get overwhelmed by the thought of revising their entire curriculum.  At that point, most coaches refer to a quote on the bottom of page 72 in the “Blue book,” Authentic Instruction and Assessment: Common Standards for Rigor and Relevance in Teaching Academic Subjects, where teachers are encouraged to move the percentage of high scoring lessons from 10-15% up to say 50%; nowhere do we advocate 100%.

The truth is that there are times when it is not only appropriate, but also necessary for students to practice what they’ve learned. For both the student and the teacher, the key is knowing when you are doing it, why you are doing it, and how long is long enough! Although I can’t supply a simple answer, I can offer a personal anecdote, where as the student, I was given just the right  “drill” time.

In fall of 2010 I decided I would join my husband at doing a triathlon instead of just watching him. My first step was to join the Master’s Swim class at the YWCA. It seemed logical, so I showed up, excited to share my goals with the rest of the swimmers as we each introduced ourselves. Then into the pool we plunged to whip out our first 50 yards.

I’m not sure what I looked like—all I know is that the coach (Beth) very kindly pulled me aside and suggested I not return until, in short, I learned how to swim. She suggested I start with the basic stroke class that met on Sunday afternoons. I’m sure I nodded in agreement, bewildered and quite out of breath. Honestly, I was shocked and my pride was a little hurt, but I really had no alternative except to swallow that pride and begin a long journey to relearn how to swim.

Fast forward to this past fall 2012. I had in fact learned a ton and actually successfully completed an Olympic distance triathlon in August, which required I swim just under a mile before moving on to the other events.  This had gone pretty well—mainly because I neither drowned nor quit the race. So I was again full of confidence as I showed up to give Master’s Swim class another try.  This time I could swim 100 yards in under 2 minutes; yet, alas, again the coach pulled me aside. “You are doing really well,” Beth said, “but your right elbow is dropping and your six-beat kick is going to wear you out before you even get to biking and running. Why don’t you take some lessons?”

The second time of being redirected out of the “gifted” class back to a scaffolded and individualized learning opportunity did not prick my pride nearly as much the second time. I dropped out of Masters Swim and met with Beth privately. She was not only encouraging, but I could see she was really looking at the big picture of my swimming and felt confident that she could devise a series of drills that would break me of my motor-like kick and replace it with the slow, imperceptible swish-swish of a two-beat kick. I was psyched!

That is until I tried it. It felt more like I was immobile in the water waiting only to sink like a stone to the bottom of the pool. In fact, I couldn’t even do the drills without sheer panic. I tried a plastic noodle to keep my hips afloat, a pull buoy to prevent my legs from automatically flailing, and even a flotation belt old ladies use in water aerobics. Each time I needed them less. My only goal was to do the drills she gave me, week after week. There was no HOT needed on my part, just practice. And so I committed to this drudgery. She told me I could come back to Master’s Swim class when I could hold eight 100-yard sets at two minutes without reverting back to a six-beat kick. Miraculously, I finally achieved this my final swim of 2012. 

So, you have probably guessed right — I did go back to Master’s Swim class, last Thursday. Not only did I stay, but I also led my lane in our workout: 1600 yards, 4 (4x100) at 2:30. Of course, I was in the slow lane, but who cares. It was amazing. You might think I credit my success to my own perseverance. Sure, that helped, but in truth, I credit it to my teacher. Beth’s knowledge of swimming and her willingness to break down what was wrong with my technique and dole out small chunks of learning for me to practice over short periods of time combined with her faith that I could do it is where the credit lies. In truth, my willingness to stick with it came from believing her when she said I would be faster and more efficient in the end. She was right!

The lesson I took away was a deep reminder that when remove away the thinking and give students drills, they better be short-lived, to the point, and yield a gain so sweet only the student knows!

HAPPY NEW YEAR AIW FAMILY!

I wish you these simple thoughts for 2013!

1. Depend on the Power of the Collective

2. Be Organic on your journey

3. Be Authentic

4. Take Risks

These four ideas frame the Center for Authentic Intellectual Work’s Four Guiding Principles. In fact, they have always been an intrinsic part of our reform work; but in more recent months, they have moved into the forefront of our thinking and serve as a lens through which we make choices about new projects, analyze partner readiness, and examine the credibility of an organization’s AIW reform implementation. Together they effectuate change, providing a fulcrum for AIW and other related professional development that impacts learning.

So why write about them on the precipice of a New Year? Quit simply, I have a confession and a New Year’s Resolution.

THE CONFESSION!

I hate blogging. I always have, and each time I’m “required” to do so for the Center, it’s arduous in the best of times. Although I was vaguely in touch with my enmity, it wasn’t until this winter break in the midst of a holiday chitchat that I came to understand the angst more deeply.

In the spirit of holiday gatherings, I took time to catch up with old friends. In the conversation I’m referencing now, our chatter veered towards work. Tom (a professor at a prominent university) was regaling writing plans for this spring’s sabbatical and lit up when talking about catching up on the theoretical papers he had put off writing. I found this crazy because I hate writing for peer reviewed journals and said so. Tom proceeded to say that he has no problem generating text for journals but that grant writing was his nemesis. This made no sense to me at the time because I personally prefer grant writing to journal writing any day.

Upon reflection, I came to realize something very important. Tom is comfortable writing articles because he is an academician; it is the writing he formally learned in graduate school. As a professor, it is the kind of writing he reads. So it makes sense that after engulfing himself in this genre, communicating in kind would come naturally.

Tom is, in fact, actualizing the four principles:

1. Writing peer reviewed journal articles is how he leverages the power of the collective, where his "collective" includes other scholars who have conceptual familiarity with his premises, as opposed the more adversarial community of grant readers and fellow scholars competing for the same funds.
2. As for being organic, the scholarly journey of research is by nature organic, and as a tenured professor, you establish the theoretical questions worth pursuing. For Tom, doing research is by nature an organic process because each finding takes him to a deeper understanding, fueling a personal quest for more data, in turn raising more questions worth investigating.
3. And within an academic’s world, the authentic way to share your findings is through peer reviewed journals. Tom willingly “constructs his own knowledge” and makes sense of his findings. The act of sharing a review of the literature he’s read and the methods he used to collect the data he used to arrive at his conclusions embody the essence of “disciplined Inquiry.” The “value beyond” the article is its inherent contribution to the field and other scholars' work.
4. So, of course, the risk-taking involved in putting your work out there for consumption is not only worth it, it’s invigorating— if you are confident that your methods and processes are sound and that your implications help shed light on a persisting problem or have relevance for others’ research.

But for Tom, grant writing has none of these authentic qualities; it is, in essence, the professor’s equivalent of the mandatory five paragraph essay, where you try hard to tell the teacher/grant reader what you think they want to hear instead of sharing the points that hold meaning for you. In this way it is contrived, immobilizing the writer’s energy and enthusiasm for the task at hand.

The CONNECTION!

Can you see the light bulbs going off? The parallel between my understanding of Tom's aversion to grant writing and my own enmity towards blogging is best revealed by also filtering my experience through the same four principles:

When I have blogged for the Center ...

1. The collective audience is invisible and broad. I feel I’m writing to no one, and in that space I feel alone, not part of a collective, and certainly devoid of any power a collective might yield.
2. The organic nature of my own thinking about AIW seems at times too esoteric or personal and I become self-conscious about revealing capricious thoughts and obtuse connections between AIW and the world around us.
3. So, the act of “blogging” (both in form and content) has felt inauthentic, mostly because I’m never sure if anyone will find value in what I’m writing.
4. The net result is that I have been less willing to take risks. I’m still working out the implications, but I suspect that when we take risks, there is an electricity that infuses the interchange, sparking fresh thought; without it, the communication becomes tedious and stressful.

THE RESOLUTION!

My personal 2013 New Year’s resolution to the Center and its readership is that I will blog more. To empower myself, I have reframed how the four guiding principles apply to us—me the blogger and you the AIW reader:

1. I trust there is a collective community interested in reading thoughts on Authentic Intellectual Work;
2. I trust my own organic cogitations have value to someone reading the blog, even if only one person.
3. I trust the most interesting blogs are when the text is infused with original thought, grounded in a discipline that has a connection to the outside, world or sheds light on a problem in the education reform community.
4. I trust that my risk-taking will pay off with more energized accounts of AIW in the world and that the effort to communicate will be respected, not scorned.

Although I will surely have some flops, it seems better to have tried and failed than to keep silent during this telling time of educational reform.

WHAT’S YOUR AIW RESOLUTION?

No, this isn’t a bad title for a B-grade movie or even the beginning of a joke.  Just stick with me as I meander into Value Beyond School—for you, for me, and for all of our students.

It all started one day when Dr. Bruce King sent an email with a three-hour video attached and a request to have a blog written about it.  Misunderstanding completely (he just wanted a blurb and the link posted), I wrestled with the thought of watching a video by people I didn’t know in order to write something about Value Beyond School.

After another polite inquiry by Bruce, I decided to turn down the sound on the Broncos’ game and listen/watch the video featuring Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West during one of their stops on the Poverty Tour 2.0. 

So here is the blurb about the video . . . Mr. Smiley and Dr. West are traveling around the country and, via PBS and radio, are holding town meetings about poverty and the economic gap in America and it’s devastating impact on our children, our society, and our country.  (They coauthored a book that was on best-seller lists—The Rich and the Rest of Us.) With an impressive array of panelists, the duo brings to our attention the need for justice, action, and equality.  In the first 15 minutes, you will see a student-produced video about poverty in their city.  Then, Ralph Nader gives students information during the last 20 minutes on how they can start changing politics and impact our legislators – the Value Beyond School pieces that Bruce wanted to get out to readers.  And really, this is a thought-provoking video that promotes authentic opportunities for students AND adults.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWOV9QKmKjc

Stick with me—the significance of both the title and video are coming. 

Meanwhile the Broncos’ game morphed into the Ravens and Steelers, and I was still wondering about a blog.  I gave in to sleep and woke up Monday morning and headed to Lenox, Iowa for the funeral of Agnes Porter, a 99-year old aunt-by- marriage.  To know Agnes was to know a crusader – the petite, feisty lady was a straight-ticket Democrat, a union president, a faithful church person, an author, and a righter of wrongs.  She never hesitated to try to push you to action or change your mind on an issue.   Son Joe and his family lived in fear for the past few years that Mother would be evicted from the care facility because of one of her many crusades.  At the time of her passing, Agnes was loudly voicing concerns about the nurses aids and their low wages and long hours – a union was needed!  At 99 years of age!  The energy, the passion, the need for justice – should we all have those characteristics at 70, at 50, at 30, at 15.

Now, the point of this blog.  The video is an impassioned plea to do something about poverty, to find the “fire in the belly” to help others and get involved as a crusader in righting the wrongs of our country and end poverty.  Yesterday, a small community celebrated the life of another crusader in Aunt Agnes, who pushed for reform in her own small world.  Today, I say that we, the AIW community, are quiet crusaders as we work to reform education for our children—teacher by teacher, building by building, district by district. 

When we feel defeated, like we don’t make a difference, wondering why change takes so long, remember those people who crusade their whole lives—the Smileys, the Naders, the Wests of the world, or even an Agnes next door.  Continue to push for reform, continue to reimagine our educational world, and continue to work your AIW magic. 

Value Beyond School and Authenticity should be stenciled on our calling cards.  

Carry on, Crusaders!

We recently received this query from an AIW team. 

Recently, I was asked to present to a group of new administrators, who happen to be assistant principals, about ways to become involved in instructional leadership. We all know the importance of considering our audience as we prepare for such an endeavor. This was an SAI kick-off for new assistant principals and their mentors. The mentors were superintendents, principals, curriculum directors, deans of students and other practicing assistant principals. 

In preparation for my presentation, I came upon and article in the NASSP entitled Changing Role of the Assistant Principal by Wendy J. Katz, Director Leadership Development; Tricia Allen, Assistant Principal, Pine View School; Marya Fairchild, Administrative Intern, Sarasota Middle School; David Fultz, Assistant Principal, Emma E. Booker Elementary School; and Mark Grossenbacher, Assistant Principal, Heron Creek Middle School.

 In the first paragraph they wrote:

 Assistant principals are often delegated the management tasks that inhibit their likelihood of being involved in a meaningful way with the instructional program. One key question is: In what ways have these changed norms and new teacher-leader positions affected career advancement opportunities for assistant principals? More important: How can assistant principals turn these challenges into professional growth opportunities?

I consider myself a lifelong learner and AIW has confirmed that for me. The opportunities that AIW has provided me from the co-writing of the grant, to being placed on a team, attending the summer academies, workshops and now training to be a lead coach! All of which breathe the concept of Instructional Leadership! Although the attendees at the conference were not all involved in AIW, the habits of instructional leadership can be practiced in similar ways. Such as:

• Being a part of the teams instead of an observer.
• Learning along with your staff by attending conferences.
• Having regular conversations with your staff and individuals regarding the initiative.
• Sharing professional readings and following up after sharing.
• Collaborating with various teams.
• Modeling what it means to be a lifelong learner.

Now we all know that it is what I choose to do with the opportunities that I have been given that would constitute true instructional leadership. I am so fortunate to work in a district and more importantly in a school that I am not seen as what the authors speak about above – a manager. Thank you AIW, not only for what opportunities you have provided me, but also for the difference you have made at Carroll High School. I will say, the more I learn the more work I see that lies ahead of us. Due to the opportunities that have been given to me, I am rising to the challenge of becoming a true Instructional Leader and AIW has played a huge role!

As I work with our AIW scoring teams at Monticello, the following question is typically asked, “How do you reach a higher score for Value Beyond School?”  This question ties directly to the question we, as a district, are starting to ask, “How do we increase community support for our schools?”  It’s not that community support at Monticello is lacking, it’s that we want more of it. 

Through the book, Schools Cannot do it Alone, by Jamie Vollimer and through our work with AIW, we recognized that we needed a gateway to the community to start conversations that focus on increasing the value beyond school (VBS)  in the lessons we teach.  We want our community to be aware off all the positive educational opportunities that are happening for students within our schools, and we want them to be a part of it.

We know that instruction and tasks need to be designed to influence an audience beyond school in order for them to score high in VBS.    Utilizing the local and global community has the potential to increase student engagement, which directly correlates with student achievement.  As educators, we know this to be true, but our community may not.  Here is how we have started the “great conversation.”

Our first step was to have teachers in the spring of last year write down one positive comment about something that happened in their classroom during the year.  When the final comment was received, it was obvious that many of the positive things that were happening in classrooms tied directly to AIW.

We pulled the teacher comments together and created a video that conveyed the message that positive educational opportunities are happening in Monticello Schools.  Next, we asked our staff (every district employee) to sum it all up in three little words.  Staff could choose any three words they wanted in any format they wanted.  This is a take-off on Good Morning America’s Saturday segment called Three Little Words.  The result is over 1000 hits and counting on YouTube last week.  The word is out, and as of right now, one of the major employers in Monticello is asking us how they can be a part of students’ education.   

The door had been opened to increase value beyond school for each and every classroom at Monticello Schools. The “great conversation” has begun, I think I speak for everyone at Monticello when I say, “It is an exciting time to be a Panther!”

Three Little Words Video Links:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkJrp5oZCWE

Positive Comments Video Links:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecC2pe5vifw

Gretchen Kriegel, Monticello Curriculum Directions and AIW Local Coach

Are you a Facebooker? Do you have acres of friends/acquaintances who can’t wait to share their latest purchase at the mall, a new cute photo, or the best quote of the day. Facebook can be used for socializing – on a grand scale -- or to privately check in with a favorite relative. 

I am a late bloomer as far as Facebook is concerned. Rarely checking my page has resulted in being the last aunt to know which niece is pregnant, the grandmother who has to be told when new grandchildren pics are posted (embarrassing, but not the end of the world), and the least-likely candidate to know the latest town news. I am not losing sleep over the “town news” portion.) At most, I am an infrequent voyeur concerning Facebook. I rarely post and almost always regret if I “like” someone’s entry. So Facebook has not been a big facet in my life, until now.

Despite being in the educational realm, I haven’t ever thought about using Facebook in a different way — as a thoroughfare for sharing knowledge or to broaden my learning network. Admittedly, not a lot of people are aware that Facebook can be, and is being, used by organizations for disseminating information.

The Center has recently started a Facebook Page. Have you looked at the information found there? “Liked” the Center Facebook page? Added any information or commented on a post?  Now that you know about the Center’s Facebook presence and the AIW possibilities ask yourself,  “Am I a surveyor of information or am I an originator of information?”

The challenge for me and for you is to put those AIW successes out there to learn from and to be brave enough to ask for help concerning those sticky situations. So today, I challenged myself to delve into Disciplined Inquiry, working through the social media to post information that someone might be able to use. I had to really talk myself into this endeavor. First, find the Center Facebook page. Second, respond to someone or something. Third, post something — even if no one responds to it or uses it. (That’s the scary part of social media. It is so out of my realm to stick my head out and presume that someone might want to read something I wrote or created.) So I am putting myself out there. Check out my post; I have shared a strategy for easing AIW folks into instruction.

And maybe, just maybe, I can check in more often to learn from my AIW peers and regularly touch base with those lovely Facebook-using relatives of mine.

Your Facebook-challenged friend,          
Susie Peterson, AIW Coach