Announcing a new blog: for Teaching Outside the Box

http://teachingideasoutsidethebox.wordpress.com/

The new blog is intended to be an adjunct to this one. While this blog is largely a commentary on education, the new blog will offer practical information. In a few months I will be retiring from formal teaching within a school board but I can’t stop spilling over with ideas for teaching. Rather than leave them to simmer, I will be posting them there. I will also post some of my favorite ideas from the past 25 to 30 years of teaching.

There will rarely be fully fledged lessons or units, nor will they be necessarily specific to a grade. I have adapted grade twelve units to be used in a grade eight class and seen those units adapted to use in a grade five class. Sometimes they will be a full lesson or a full unit or a cross subjects lesson. Whatever they are, I do ask you to give me credit on any written document.

Why won’t they be fully fledged? To be frank, I have never taken a lesson and done it just as it was written, even if I created it and used it satisfactorily the year before. There are always too many new factors such as new information, a crossover from another subject, the class’s interest, different time limits and I am sure you can add to that list. I also got bored doing the same thing twice in exactly the same way.

If you want help adapting or designing anything I post, especially if it is meant for gifted or other IPRC’d students, I would be happy to come and work with you if your school is within an easy distance of Ottawa or Toronto. I am also on Skype and on Skype, I can consult even if you are on the other side of the earth.

Ottawa Canada June 2010 — Nepean Point Views 2 (Photo credit: dugspr — Home for Good)

What can I help you with? I have taught every grade from two to eight (ages 8 to 13) and as a supply teacher, I taught everything. I have taught adults and I am a qualified teacher of English as a Second Language. I am a specialist in teaching children with special needs, especially gifted and learning disabled. I hold a masters in adaptive education. The best fun I have ever had in education, besides teaching itself, was having student teachers in my classrooms. I loved encouraging them to try new things and watching them grow in confidence.

So, if I can help, let me know.

Diane

Toronto Skyline (Photo credit: Bobolink)

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Not Something of which I Want Reminding

My only comment now is that I have been here and I am deeply upset that this kind of thing continues to happen.  As a link to this CBC article will probably eventually disappear, I am going to copy the whole article here.

Falsely accused teacher calls for accountability

Accused of abusing students, teacher spent weeks under suspicion

By Kathy Tomlinson CBC News

Posted: Apr 23, 2012 2:08 AM PT

Last Updated: Apr 23, 2012 2:30 PM PT

Read 802comments802

Teacher Susan Dowell was accused of abusing students after she challenged a boy for throwing out a banana at lunch. (CBC)

Kathy Tomlinson

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Falsely accused teacher2:52

False Allegations of Abuse6:30

An Ontario substitute teacher who was cleared of abuse allegations is speaking out, suggesting that parents and students be held accountable for making false accusations.

“Something is terribly wrong here,” said Susan Dowell, who has taught school for 15 years. “Children who do make false allegations – parents who make false allegations – what happens to them in the end?”

The complaint against Dowell came after she told a grade five boy not to throw away an uneaten banana at lunch. Dowell was on lunch room duty, during a one-day teaching assignment at R.L. Graham elementary school, in Keswick, Ont.

“I told him to eat it…or put it back in his lunch box and take it home. His parents paid good money for fruit like that for him to eat,” said Dowell.

Dowell said the boy went home that night and complained, so one of his parents went to the school vice principal.

“The story that the parent heard and later told the administration…is that I had him go into the garbage to take out a squishy banana — eat garbage basically — and humiliated him in front of his friends.”

Dowell said the incident happened right after she had enforced classroom rules, for a group of unruly students – the boy’s friends – that morning.

“They came in with an attitude immediately…like they’re going to see how far they can go,” said Dowell. “I know enough, in a situation like this, I’m not going to get into a battle with students…so I asked them to go to the office immediately.”

Banana incident sparked investigation

The following week, while teaching at another school, she was suddenly sent home and told she was under investigation by Ontario’s Children’s Aid Society.

“I was just shocked and confused,” said Dowell. For over a week, she said, no one would tell her what she was accused of doing.

“For nine days. It feels like you’re waiting to find out a diagnosis with cancer. It’s crazy making…I was told not to speak to anyone.”

Dowell later learned that after the parent complained about the banana incident, the vice principal talked to the other students she taught that day. She said the group of unruly students she’d sent to the office had plenty of complaints.

Dowell was on a one-day teaching assignment at R.L. Graham Elementary School, when the incidents happened. (CBC)“Somehow all these children came up with all these incredible stories of how I had grabbed their wrists and I left red marks that apparently weren’t showing later,” said Dowell.

“Children are getting a lot more savvy these days. It used to be, ‘make the occasional [substitute] teacher cry.’ Now they know they can have you suspended.”

Without talking to Dowell, the school immediately called the Children’s Aid Society, which it is required to do by law, when there is an allegation of abuse.

“I thought I’d be treated as a professional colleague and I’d be given the benefit of the doubt and at least gotten a phone call afterwards to ask what had happened, from my perspective.”

Told to expect police

Dowell was removed from the board’s substitute teacher roster. Her union told her she might even be arrested.

“You are told police could come to your door any moment. What do you tell your family and friends? It’s a horrible situation to be in, knowing that you’re totally innocent,” said Dowell. “I knew I had never been alone with a child. I never put my hands on a child…but it felt like I was guilty until proven innocent.”

Dowell spent a month at home on partial pay, borrowing money to pay her bills, before the CAS concluded the allegation was unfounded.

The Children’s Aid Society concluded the complaints against Dowell were unsubstantiated.(CBC)“The Society…has determined that Ms. Dowell did not use excessive physical force with the students in her class or intentionally embarrass the student during her interactions with him in the lunchroom,” read a letter to Dowell’s lawyer from the York Region Children’s Aid Society.

“The Society is not substantiating any concerns related to the alleged use of physical force or public humiliation by Ms. Dowell, nor would the Society be concerned should Ms. Dowell return to her occasional teaching position.”

Dowell was then allowed to go back to work, but she still faces a probe by the school board, which is standard protocol when a complaint is made.

“These are separate investigations with different standards,” said Christina Choo-Hum of the York Regional School Board. “We have a much closer eye and more detailed approach to our investigation.”

Due diligence

When asked why a minor incident would lead to a full-blown investigation, Choo-Hum said, “If there is the slightest question [about a teacher] we err on the side of caution. It’s due diligence.”

Choo-Hum said no one from the school or the board would comment on Dowell’s case, because it’s a personnel matter. She said the board does not keep statistics on how many complaints against teachers it investigates, or what the outcome is.

Nadia Ciacci, president of the union representing 1800 occasional teachers in the York district, said she’s seen false complaints multiply every year, from none three years ago, to eight this school year. Ciacci said all were unfounded.

McGill University associate professor Jon Bradley has studied false accusations against teachers and said accusers who lie should be held accountable. (CBC)“It’s devastating for teachers,” said Ciacci, who said one has left the profession as a result. “It’s important to ensure the safety of students, of course, but also to ensure the safety of teachers. The message has to get out there – that this has to stop.”

Jon Bradley, associate professor of education at McGill University, has studied false allegations against teachers. He knows one case where the teacher committed suicide. He said careers and lives are ruined, particularly for men falsely accused of sex abuse.

“It’s really a mess,” he said. “We seem to be almost afraid. We seem to be saying – if a kid makes an accusation it must be true. Kids don’t lie. That’s the first thing we say – kids don’t lie.”

He cited one case that should have been suspect from the start, because of how the nine-year-old girl characterized what happened.

“She said ‘he leered at me suggestively.’ I don’t know how many grade four students would use an expression like that.”

No consequence for accusers

He said parents and children involved in false allegations don’t face any consequences, and they should.

“What’s really sad in this is we’ve got adolescents making terrible accusations against teachers and getting off scot-free with absolutely no penalty whatsoever,” said Bradley.

Ciacci of the teacher’s union said she would like to see parents held legally responsible, perhaps through an amendment to Ontario’s Parental Responsibility Act.

“Look at the cost to taxpayers as well for the Children’s Aid involvement,” she said. “Parents need to be held accountable.”

Dowell said the group of Grade 5 students misbehaved and challenged her in class, then claimed she had abused them.(CBC)Choo-Hum said there is no school board policy or standards for dealing with students who make false allegations.

“Students are dealt with on a case-by-case basis [at the school level],” said Choo-Hum.

Dowell said she is confident the board investigation will also find she did nothing wrong. Regardless, though, she said she will never feel the same in the classroom.

“The next time I see a kid throw out a banana I am obviously not going to say anything. And next time I see belligerent, defiant behaviour – am I to turn the other cheek?” said Dowell.

““I feel very much I am damned if I do I am damned if I don’t.”

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How Should I Treat a Child who has been Labelled Gifted?

1.  A child labelled gifted is a CHILD.  He or she is a child, first, last and foremost.

2.  Do not punish her for being labelled gifted by:

a)  Heaping more work on her

b)  Saying things such as “I expected more from someone like you i.e. someone who is smart”

c)  Telling everyone that the child is gifted

d)  Refusing to accomodate her giftedness until she earns it (by behaving better, working harder, doing better)  Would we do that to a child with ADHD or dyslexia or visual impairment?

3.Remember that he has been tested and found guilty ONLY of academic talent.  That is, he does well on tests of math and verbal skills.  Should he show other talents, be delighted.  If he is interested, encourage him to develop them.  If not, don’t pressure the child!

4.Her talent does not include any kind of unusual maturity of character.  Your six year old will still have tantrums and your thirteen year old will still have a healthy urge to make out with an object of his or her desire.  Your seventeen year old will think it is most unfair that the car has an 11:00 p.m. curfew when hers is 1:00 a.m.  And you are still the parent or the teacher no matter how smart the child is!

5.Every child needs down time just to mess around.  This is excellent use of every kind of beautiful mind.  It also:

a)  encourages creativity

b)  encourages the fun of exercise

c)   allows time to nurture the friendships that will nurture the child in turn

6.  Do not load him down with after school activities.  That is not enrichment. Sign him up only for activities that he requests.  A good rule of thumb is two, one of which the child can walk to.  No activities are fine, too.

7.  If your child asks for music lessons or anything else that requires practice, insist that you must not be expected to nag (except, perhaps, when the February doldrums hit).  This is a tough one.  Sometimes a parent can get around it by saying, “Remember, I am not expected nag”, however as you have a bright child don’t expect to get away with it more than twice in six weeks.

8.  Expect her to finish the term or year of an activity before she can switch to something else. She was the one who chose, she must be the one to see it through.  This teaches commitment but also allows her to try many things.  If you have a butterfly child who switches from horse riding to ballet to karate to chess, don’t despair.  She is checking out possibilities now, instead of waiting until the post-secondary years when butterfly lifestyles become more expensive.

9.  Do not excuse him from homework but do not allow him to work past his bedtime.  And he should have a bedtime.  Teach him time management and model it yourself.

10.  A good rule of thumb for homework, if she must have homework, is ten minutes per grade.  Ideally it should start with reading to parents or practicing something that needs to be memorised.  Homework in the primary grades is probably unnecessary, but opinions vary.

11.  Encourage him to give you reasoned arguments when he wants something he knows you disagree with.  Let him know that you will also listen to a compromise that meets your concerns.  Make sure the child knows you reserve the right to say no, if you are not persuaded.  If you have asked for his arguments, then respond with your reasons if you must say no, but keep it short.  Do listen carefully because more often than you think, your child or student will persuade you or offer a reasonable compromise.  This is good use of her skills.

More Posts in this Blog on Giftedness and Related Issues:

Gifted and “Education for All”

Mistakes: Consider Them a Learning Experience

A School for Scientifically and Technically Talented Students

Words, Names and Labels in Education

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how to take down a teacher in the ottawa district schhol board (sic)

The title was the search engine term used by one reader who reached my site.

Wolves taking down an elk (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It made me start thinking about my career with this board and the number of teachers in the board I have seen targeted, or I have been told about by a colleague who saw them targeted.

Here is a partial list of those cases in no particular order.  Some were dealt with fairly; some resulted in a teacher suspension or a teacher being charged.

1. A primary student told a supply teacher that he was going to tell the principal that he (the teacher) had taken down his (the student’s) pants.
2.   Parents decided a junior teacher was too fat to teach physical education and were instrumental in getting her dismissed.
3. Some intermediate girls were annoyed with their poor marks and got back at their teacher by falsely claiming that he had sexually assaulted them.
4. Some intermediate students set up a homophobic web site and showed it to one of their teachers on the assumption that he was gay.  The parents of one of them thought the subsequent suspension was unfair.
5. On two different occasions in the same school two different students lied about two different teachers in two consecutive years.  Instead of investigating, the principal turned each one over to the board which chose to believe the children.
6. A teacher on an exchange on the other side of the world was called by a friend to find out if she had a good lawyer.  Unbeknownst to her, she had been charged with sexual assault by a former student and it was all over the news.  The judge eventually threw it out of court but not before she and her family had been through public hell.
7. Thirteen parents got together in a private home to discuss a new teacher’s math program because A) she said math wasn’t her thing so she wouldn’t be running an extracurricular math program, B) she didn’t always teach from the textbook or assign lots of homework (she was an experienced math, English and social studies teacher).  The principal refused to deal with it.
8. A gifted and imaginative grade one teacher was turned on by the parents and her colleagues in the program she taught in because she (successfully) used whole language rather than phonics exercise books to teach reading.  Her students also learned to appreciate art through an appropriately designed unit on Matisse.  One of her colleagues even withdrew her daughter from the class.  Her principal did not defend her or reprimand the colleague.  She left the program.

Unfortunately this desire is not an anomaly.  There are many students and sometimes parents who want to “take down” a teacher.  If  parents support the students or the administration does not support the teacher, the life of the targeted teacher becomes hell.  Every action, every slip, bad call, ambiguous action becomes open to the worst possible interpretation. 

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Interesting or Useful Web Sites for Educators or Parents

These are a few of my favourites and I expect to add to them from time to time.  Please let me know if you have come across particularly useful books or web sites in your travels.  I would be happy to check them out and add them to these lists.

http://www.beingsmart.ca/

Go to the Links section for notes from the authors’ presentations and links to excellent sites on gifted children and adults.

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/

Information on policies, publications and laws.  Some publications are free to the public or parents. Some are free to teachers if ordered through the schools.  Teachers can download  publications and instructional videos .  Other instructional DVDs will be sent free.  Great if you missed the latest initiative.

http://www.nfb.ca/

Our beloved National Film Board offers the opportunity to watch its films free, on-line.  This is a good way to preview films that might be suitable for your class.  While the films are free for individuals, schools must take a subscription.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html

Statistics Canada.  Stats can be very difficult and dry to learn how to use, but fascinating to read.  For example, did you know that Montreal and Ottawa are both 60:40 bilingual?  The difference is that in Montreal, the 60% represents the francophone population, whereas in Ottawa it represents the Anglophone population.

Stats Can is happy to share the joy with teachers.   Explore the web site and look out for publications specifically aimed at schools.  Math and geography classes can be a whole lot more interesting when there is real world information to discuss.  There are even lesson plans.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Put the CIA to work for you.  You can find the basic vital statistics for all the countries of the world here in their World Factbook.  Select a country and find information on the economic, political, social and physical geography.  It is important to remember the source.  For example, Palestine is not recognised as a country.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2qi9SD/www.sciencegeek.net/lingo.html

For teachers whose principals are only impressed by a liberal sprinkling of jargon, here is a generator to raise a smile for those weary moments in a staff meeting or in co-creating a report.

www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm

Lots of great information about Canadian history, geography, literature, sports ….

http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca

This is the web site for the McCord Museum in Montreal.  Naturally, it has its own perspective and so is an excellent complement to the Canadian Encyclopedia.  The museum itself is worth a visit, too.

http://www.flylady.net/

A website for people who problems with organisation and want to get some control over their lives.  If you need to bring some order into your chaos, check it out.  She addresses the issues of teachers, students and office workers, too, but her main focus is running a household in a minimum of time with a maximum effect.