Mike Falick's Blog

The "Google Generation" Thinks Differently: Multi-Tasking as a Way of Life

A recent article that appeared in the London Times accurately describes the "Google Generation," identified as today's students.  The Times discusses what many people have noticed (and particularly those of us whose children seem to be connected to a laptop/cell phone continuously):

According to researchers we are in the midst of a sea change in the way that we read and think. Our digitally native children have wonderfully flexible minds. They absorb information quickly, adapt to changes and are adept at culling from multiple sources. But they are also suffering from internet-induced attention deficit disorder.

Children do have the capacity to assimilate learning faster and simultaneously from multiple sources, says Clark. “The downside is that they expect more variety, so their boredom threshold is falling. Some teaching is adapting to that and becoming more dynamic, some is not.”

The article shows why engaging students with "old world" media will be increasingly difficult for these digital natives.
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How the Google generation thinks differently

Digital-age kids process information differently from parents. Our writer admits misjudging how her son was learning

My elder son Oli is almost 15 and way beyond the stage where I might usefully help with his homework. But in the run-up to his recent end-of-year exams, I felt compelled to take a hovering interest in his revision. This chiefly involved loitering on the landing and popping into his room at frequent intervals laden with the laundered contents of his sock drawer.

Every time I crossed the threshold, the scene was the same: textbooks remained firmly closed in his bag while the laptop was open on his desk.

On the screen was some history/ physics/English document, but also his Facebook and iTunes pages. In his ears were the iPod plugs, playing back a podcast. And sometimes, just to fracture his concentration even further, he might have had a half-played video running on YouTube as well.

Spring Branch Students Offered Scholarships Totaling $16,388,024

Spring Branch is a District focused on ensuring that our students are prepared for college and post-secondary success.  As part of that commitment, and given the increasing costs of college, our Post-Secondary Counselors work hard to identify and promote scholarship opportunities for students.  These efforts resulted in $16,388,024 being offered to Spring Branch ISD seniors in 2007-2008.  This is an increase of approximately $1.5 million over 2006-2007.  In addition, the percentage of students receiving scholarships also increased from 21.22% to 26.36% of our students.

Recap of Tonight's Board Workshop Meeting

Our Board held its monthly workshop meeting tonight. Here's a recap of the issues discussed and actions taken on tonight's Agenda.

Our first Agenda item was an update and discussion of the recommendations from the Academies and Pathways Task Force. (For more information, please see this prior post).

We followed that discussion with a discussion about the proposed Board Policy concerning implementation of the Academies, EGA (Local) Innovative and Academy Programs.  Consensus was reached that the Board believes the District should proceed cautiously with implementation of Academies. The Board had many questions about implementation, cost, and the possible campus selection criteria. I reiterated the concerns I raised during our April 28, 2008, Board Meeting about the sustainability of the programs given our budgetary pressures and my strong belief in the need to maintain the integrity of our neighborhood schools.

Our next agenda item was a continuation of the discussion from last night's Board meeting about the proposed new homework policy (EIB (Local) Academic Achievement: Homework). The discussion continued to be very robust around this controversial issue. In the end, the Board voted to reconstitute the Homework Task Force, provided a great deal of consensus-based guidance, and referred the 14 amendments I proposed to the Task Force for consideration. The Task Force will be asked to provide the Board with a final recommendation at our December Board meeting so that, once voted on in January, the District will have sufficient time to provide the necessary staff development to ensure successful implementation.

Our final agenda item tonight was very simple (which we needed after the extensive discussion on the 2 items above). We approved minor revisions to Board/Superintendent Operating Procedures numbers 32 and 33.

Recap of Tonight's Regular Monthly Board Meeting

Our Board held its regular monthly meeting tonight.  Here's a recap of the issues discussed and actions taken on tonight's Agenda.

We had three special presentations this evening.  First, we recognized our District's Finance Department, under the leadership of our Associate Superintendent for Finance, Karen Wilson, for their receipt of the Outstanding Award for Financial Reporting.

Our second special presentation recognized one of our State Senators, Kyle Janek, who represented a portion of Spring Branch in the Texas State Senate from 2002 until his recent retirement.  The Board will vote on this Resolution honoring Senator Janek at our July Board meeting.

Our next special presentation was the presentation to the District's Administration Building of a No Place for Hate banner by the Anti-Defamation League.

Our final special presentation was by the Buffalo Creek McTappers, who did several tap dancing numbers for the audience.

Next came two surprises.  First, the District recognized Bob Sharp, our long-time Director of Communications, on his impending retirement.  Bob has been with the District for 20 of his 30 years.

That was followed by the Board giving me this plaque as recognition for my year as the Board's President.

We had one member of our community speak during Citizens Participation to thank the District for its use of the person's bank.  (Sorry, I didn't write down the name of the Bank).

Next we held a public hearing on After School Child Care.  This hearing is required by law, and in my time on the Board, I do not believe we have had anyone appear to speak.  That was again the case tonight.

We then proceeded to our Board Member Liaison reports.  Here are the materials I provided in my legislative update, and the materials Board Member Wayne Schaper provided in his Facilities Update (here, here, here, here, and here). 

We then received a positive update on the status of the District's FY 2008 Audit from our external auditor, Null Lairson.  The audit will be finalized by October.

We then had first readings of the following Board policies: EGA (Local) Innovative and Academy Programs, EIE (Local) Academic Achievement: Retention and Promotion, FJ (Local) Gifts and Solicitations.

Our first action items on the Agenda included the approval of the Budget Status Summary Report with Budget Amendments as of May 31, 2008, the FY 2008 Final Amended Budget and Designations of Fund Balance, and the Facilities Improvement Program Monthly Status Report with Project Detail Changes as of May 31, 2008.  As we do in every monthly meeting, we also approved the awarding of a variety of contracts (part 1, and part 2).

We also approved the continuation of the Lease between Spring Branch and the Japanese Institute of Houston, and the Cooperative.

As part of the 2007 Bond Program, we will need to be able to house students from a particular campus off-site while of the campus is being reconstructed.  In order to accomplish this need, the District will construct a transitional campus to be located.  Tonight we approved the Schematic Design for the Transitional Campus to be located at the Spring Branch Education Center.  Consideration has been given to the possibility that this campus may be used beyond the ten years of the current bond program.

We also approved architect assignments for 2007 Bond projects to be completed during the 2008-2009 Fiscal Year.

Next we considered amendments to Board/Superintendent Operating Procedures numbers 32 and 33.  No new amendments were offered, and these two operating procedures will be on our Workshop agenda tomorrow night for final approval.

Our final action item tonight was the consideration of potential amendments to EIB (Local) Academic Achievement: Homework.  While I respect the work of the Homework Task Force, which met for over a year, I believe that there are additional components that should be included.  To be clear, I am not anti-homework.  I am, however, anti-homework that is busy work, or as my fellow Trustee, Dave Converse put it, "mind-numbing."  I also believe that homework, like all of the things we ask of students in school, should be focused on preparing our students to be successful in the 21st Century global workforce with all the skills necessary to do so.  As a result, I proposed 14 amendments to the Policy.  After much discussion tonight, and knowing that this item is on the agenda for tomorrow night for further discussion, this item was postponed for further consideration until tomorrow.

For additional articles I have posted on homework, please click here.

We concluded our meeting with the approval of the items on our Consent Agenda.

Another Interesting Article on Homework that Advocates Ending Elementary School Homework (from a former homework fan)

As I have continued to research in preparation for tonight's Board discussion on the District's homework policy, I continue to find interesting articles.  Here's one from Jay Matthews that appeared last year in the Washington Post. 

Mr. Matthews cites the research by Duke psychologist Harris M. Cooper, a leading expert on homework, whose reviews of homework research conclude that, for elementary school students, the correlation between time spent on homework and achievement is almost zero.

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Hit the Books
Forget the daily mountain of homework. For young children, reading should be the only requirement.

By Jay Mathews
Sunday, August 5, 2007; W22

MY MOST VIVID HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT MEMORY is the log cabin my fourth-grade daughter made out of Tootsie Rolls.

Okay, okay. I hear you other parents snorting in disbelief. She didn't make the log cabin. All those tears and recriminations and toothpicks broken trying to hold the cursed thing together were mine, not hers. I made the log cabin. At least, I tried.

I remember many elementary school assignments. There was the bird cage fashioned out of Pop-sicle sticks, and the incomprehensible collages of magazine clippings, and the map-coloring, book-reporting, spelling-list-memorizing and other things I have repressed.

Please don't misunderstand me. I like homework. Among education columnists, I am Mr. Homework. I never pass up an opportunity to skewer anti-homework books and commentators. In middle schools, and particularly high schools, I think students should do more homework. The national homework average in 2003 was 50 minutes a day for 15- to 17-year-olds, leaving plenty of time for the two hours and eight minutes each day they watched TV, according to time diaries collected by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.

I think homework's long losing battle against television is one of the reasons we have seen no significant increase in high school reading or math achievement in the past three decades.

But here I am talking about homework for elementary school children, not high-schoolers. What most people don't know about elementary school homework is that the research strongly suggests that it is a waste of time, something I began to suspect after my daughter's eighth or ninth collage. Middle-schoolers and high-schoolers who do their homework do better in school than those who don't. But Duke psychologist Harris M. Cooper, a leading expert on homework, has conducted reviews of homework research that conclude that, for elementary school students, the correlation between time spent on homework and achievement is almost zero.

Once Upon a School: Dave Eggers' TED Contest for Innovative Projects for Local Public School Collaborations

Yesterday, I posted Dave Eggers inspirational TED speech encouraging creative engagement with public schools.  Out of Dave Eggers' efforts, a collaborative website called Once Upon a School was created with the following mission:

Design and implement a new and innovative project for local public school students. Collaborate with a dynamic teacher or school to determine the best use of your skills and passion. There are no limitations to what is possible.  Tell us the general idea of your project, how you shared and employed your particular  expertise and creativity. Discuss how you planned and executed your project. Describe the results, how  your efforts made a teacher’s life easier. Please include photos or video!

The submission deadline for your project to be judged is October 31, 2008.

Dave Eggers TED Speech: An Inspirational Call to Creatively Engage with Local Public Schools

Here's another great TED speech by Dave Eggers given to accept his 2008 TED Prize.  In his speech,  Eggers asks the TED community to personally, creatively engage with local public schools.  "With spellbinding eagerness, he talks about how his 826 Valencia tutoring center inspired others around the world to open."  This is one you should not miss.  (For more information on TED, see this prior post).

Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition (TECEC) Highlights Spring Branch's Pre-K Program

The Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition (TECEC), a policy making group, has been running a series called Talk of Texas which

highlights the tremendous early childhood education efforts taking place across the great state of Texas.  Every community has its own story to tell and TECEC wants to make sure that these stories are available to all who want to learn from them.

This month's highlights our very successful Pre-K program in Spring Branch.  From the TECEC website:

Spring Branch Independent School District
Dedication to providing quality education and valuing the future of its children are a couple of the many hallmarks of Spring Branch ISD. For over 20 years, SBISD has served as a pioneer in offering a nurturing, high-quality, and developmentally appropriate prekindergarten program for families in its community. Spring Branch is committed to providing quality early education to its children by developing uniquely designed Early Learning Centers, collaborating with local entities, and continuing to offer full-day pre-k classes in 15 of its elementary schools.

For a complete write-up on Spring Branch Independent School District please click here.

Arcademic Skill Builders: Online Educational Games to Learn Basic Math, Language Arts, Vocabulary, and Thinking Skills

Arcademic Skill Builders is a website containing educational games "that offer a powerful approach to learning basic math, language arts, vocabulary, and thinking skills." From the website:

This program stems from experience, systematic observations, and research in attempting to understand student learning in school and social situations.

The software was inspired by arcade games and the intense engagement they fostered between the game and player. We reasoned if this kind of engagement could be focused on educational content, it would be truly a magical approach to certain kinds of learning.

Philosophically, the games embrace research on learning dealing with ‘automaticity’ and ‘fluency.’ Automaticity is fast and accurate object identification at the single object level. Fluency involves a deeper understanding, and anticipation of what will come next.

Fluency impacts three types of critical learning outcomes:
- Retention: the ability to perform a skill or recall knowledge long after formal learning programs have ended
- Endurance: the ability to maintain performance levels
- Application: the ability to apply what is learned to perform more complex skills in new situations.

These engaging educational games provide focused repetition practice that enables fluency to be achieved more quickly. With what we now know about automaticity and fluency in academic performance, we can help students achieve masterful levels performance faster than ever before! View our manual for more on our philosophy, and teacher success stories on how teachers are using the games to improve student performance.

Read About the Amazingly Successful Year Spring Branch's Partnership and Volunteer Programs had in 2007-2008

I just received this email that details the amazingly successful year Spring Branch's Partnership and Volunteer Programs had in 2007-2008.

June, 2008

 

Dear Friends,

 

SBISD Partnerships and Volunteer Programs achieved new heights in 2007-2008 thanks to you!  We thank you for your support of our initiatives, programs, and most importantly, our schools and our students. We could not have accomplished all that we did without you!

 

Here are just a few highlights from Community Relations for the year just ended:

Volunteer Programs

• Implementation of new Volunteer Ethics, Guidelines and Procedures
• 9400+ Registered SBISD Volunteers, an increase of nearly 1000 over last year
• Nearly 200 new mentors joined the SBISD SpringBoard Mentor Program which expanded to reach students on 20 SBISD campuses!
• Implementation of first annual district Volunteer Survey of nearly 2500 SBISD volunteers
• SpringBoard Mentor Program recognized with a $25,000 grant from the Spring Branch Education Foundation
• SpringBoard Mentor Program recognized with a 3 year $590,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools to help us grow to 1000 mentors by 2010
• Collegiate Challenge Mentor Program supporting high school juniors and seniors through the college and scholarship application process recognized as a Texas Exemplar Program with a $42,500 grant from the Communities Foundation of Texas and Texas High School Project. Grant funding helped expand the program to Stratford and Spring Woods High Schools
• Pilot Math Tutoring Program implemented at Northbrook High School