Could This Kind of Teaching Turn Standardized Test-Focused Education on its Head?

Good teaching should not go unacknowledged.

For this reason, eighth grade language arts teacher Suzanne Smith received an email over the weekend from the parent of one of her students at .

In the email, the parent thanked Smith for her approach to teaching students during their first academic exposure to 19th Century English author, Charles Dickens, before the class began to read "A Christmas Carol" this week.

“When watching Disney's ‘A Christmas Carol’ at home last night, (my child) reminded me you've been having kids research the authors, time periods and settings related to the books the class is reading this year,” wrote the parent.

“I'm not only a lover of literature but truly appreciate when it's taught well – by providing children with tools to build a foundation of understanding before even starting a piece of literature.

“It's like dangling a carrot - and I love it!” the parent added.

[Disclosure time: The parent who wrote the email to Smith is also the author of this Pleasanton School Notes column.]

This week I met with Smith and her colleague, Mary Geasa, a sixth grade language arts and history block teacher, to discuss their approach to teaching.

After a 35-minute meeting before school that I wish could have lasted a few days, I came away with appreciation for the holistic learning approach that both teachers employ when teaching language arts.

Among a group of other Pleasanton teachers, Geasa and Smith were recently selected to take part in the supplemental teacher training program, Project G.L.A.D., a model of professional development focusing on language acquisition and literacy. The program is designated as a U.S. Department of Education Program of Academic Excellence.

Although Project G.L.A.D was created to bridge a possible achievement gap among English learners, Geasa and Smith find the model enhances opportunities for all students.

They have quickly discovered how easily the program could be applied to any language development.

“Dickens is a second language for most eighth graders,” whether English learners or not, said Smith.

As a result, she said, she and Geasa try to use their G.L.A.D. certification in combination with their love of literature to make works by authors like Dickens more accessible to students.

The motivational realities of 11, 12 or 13-year-old children are very much in the here and now. In order to appreciate the literature, say Smith and Geasa, students first need to feel free to connect personally to the authors, the time periods and settings – and be given opportunities to draw comparisons between their own lives and those of the characters in the books.

Each day while reading "A Christmas Carol," students in Smith’s class work in groups not simply reading and analyzing, but reflecting in ways that engage the students personally.

One day, while discussing the Victorian era with students, Smith was delighted that two children asked, “Why are we doing this? We’re not in history.”

Literature, she told the children, often reflects the historical period in which it was written and classic literature nearly always contains messages that transcend the ages.

Very soon, students began to point out the simultaneous, diametric themes of opulence and dreariness in the Victorian era. Soon, students drew parallels to the same juxtapositions in the U.S. today.

They saw, said Smith, how history has a way of repeating itself.

Another day Smith assigned students a short project for which there were no wrong answers, only a requirement to think.

Students were asked to choose two quotes or paragraphs from a chapter (or "stave" as Dickens would say, in a play on the book's title) and to illustrate and reflect on the two selections in their own words.

“It’s a way of fostering deeper thinking,” said Smith.

The assignment had what Geasa and Smith referred to as a “low effective filter,” meaning that if the work feels safe and comfortable, students will stretch themselves further in completing it.

Later in the year when her classes read "The Diary of Anne Frank," Smith said she will preface the reading with studies of genocide, both past and current.

Required reading for Pleasanton sixth graders includes "The Cay," by Theodore Taylor.

Geasa plans to wait until February to introduce the book, so that the topic of Black History Month is top of mind when she guides students in making connections between the novel and outside themes of tolerance and racism.

“The best part about this approach is getting students to think critically,” said Geasa.

Although Geasa and Smith follow standards-based education, the frequent “Ah-ha!” moments with their students may demonstrate that teaching to the test is not necessary to inspire the critical thinking that promotes deeper learning.