Re: Another post on Schmoker

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I just emailed Mike Schmoker, author of the new book, "Focus,"
to thank him for this gift to education. Each chapter that I
read I find more remarkable than the last. He writes with
great clarity and conviction....doesn't spare our
feelings...but knows what will work. And, he knows it will
relieve teachers of the junk they are being asked to do.
Teachers will teach. An amazing concept!

I am reading the general chapter on instruction....how we
teach. There are additional chapters specifically on each
subject, but, this is the overview. His research, as always
is impeccable, but you don't need it. You know instinctively
that he's right.

He says there are four things we must do and none of them are
new or difficult. The four teaching strategies that will
close our achievement gap in 5 years are:

1. Check for understanding frequently and consistently in
EVERY lesson.

2. Model

3. Guided practice

4. Authentic reading and writing in every subject every year
from grade 2 on. He gives many wonderful examples for teaching
this, but basically, it is a matter of high levels of
reading, writing and talking in every subject. Kids writing
position papers. analytical papers...and then using them to
orally present their case. It's a great deal of
think-pair-share because we know kids learn by talking to one
another. And, it's always writing....writing in every subject
every day.

He says districts must stop immediately all innovations of any
kind. The first thing they do is teach teachers how to check
for understanding.That is the focus of every staff meeting,
every district office meeting, every PD session.
Administrators are out there DAILY looking for it....and we do
that until every teacher is reasonably good at doing it
consistently in every lesson. Then we do the same thing with
modeling until we get that in place. When these strategies
are learned and USED and kids achievement has gone up to what
it should be...it will take between 3-5 years.....then we
MIGHT take on an innovation now and then. But very few
because we don't need them, and they have been total
failures.

He gives many examples of teachers who are already doing these
things. Just one situation he describes. He knows several K
and Primary teachers who work in a high poverty school.
Their students learn to read two to three times as fast as
their peers and often out-perform the affluent schools in
their respective districts. Their secret? They spend far
less time than their peers in teaching individual students or
small groups. From day 1, these teachers had well organized
lessons they taught to the whole class replete with continuous
checks for understanding. That;s why ALL their students can
read within a few short months. Now, we've known this for
years and it's been written about for at least 15 years.
But, as he always says, 'we know what works, we choose not to
do it."

He gives several more examples of teachers at all grade
levels. One guy in high school uses no technology except an
overhead projector. His lessons are all interactive
lecture...a model where teacher gives input for no more than 5
minutes and then has high levels of student interaction to
process. That's it. As a result twice as many of his social
studies students passed the AP history test as in his
affluent sister school.

I have seen these exact same things in my district. I would
hear all the time things like, "I just don't understand how
Stan's kids are always the top in the district." Really?
I've seen Stan teach. That's all you have to do to answer
that question.

This book is a combination of theory and wonderfully practical
lessons. He gives most of the credit for instruction to
Madeline Hunter. Suddenly, Schmoker and all of the gurus out
there are realizing she was right. It's about time, but I'm
grateful they give her credit. Will districts read and
implement the stuff in the book? I have very little hope. I
talked to some in my old district about it. They really don't
have time, they say to 'try something new," (NEW?) because
they are so busy pulling out the ELL kids to conjugate
verbs...the one thing they can already do, and they must all
march around with their clip boards to make sure teachers are
following the pacing plan, have the objective on the board,
and are differentiating instruction....one of the
'innovations" that has not one shred of research supporting
it
 

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