So much of what we do in school seems to be painted in black and white....right or wrong. But it really isn’t that simple. Educators make subjective judgements every day. We just have not had a systematic way to quantify these judgements. So we rely on standardized tests or other forced choice measures to evaluate how well students are learning.

Our role has been to assist school districts and teachers to develop a way to use performance activities to analyze how students are learning the taught curriculum. If we recognize that students are partners in the teaching/learning process, then we can develop activities that provide students the opportunity to expand beyond a preset level. We want teachers to develop activities that set the parameters for learning, but yet challenge students to expand the concept based on previous learned and acquired knowledge. The teacher facilitates the learning process.

As educators we are reluctant to give our students the freedom to make choices about the work they do. We have traditionally controlled the learning process based on our concept of a preset output. If we write activities appropriately the parameters allow for students to expand well beyond our expectations.

What we have found, for the most part, is that teachers at the primary level have a good understanding of the learning process, but that their knowledge of the content is general. Teachers at the upper elementary and high school levels understand their subject matter but do not view the process of learning as important, as the content of learning. We want educators to know you can not have one without the other.

The earth gives us protection from the sun, it gives us food and water and it gives us somewhere to live. In April, KnowledgeNet celebrates Earth Day on April 22 by looking at how recycling can help to save our world.

Winning

The element of winning is so ingrained that we become unnecessarily competitive and this can seriously hurt our ability to bargain well and to get the most, individually and/or jointly, out of the situation.

It is mutually disastrous to try to beat someone else; in so doing, you may hurt everyone, including yourself. When you bargain well you and everyone else involved will obtain very good outcomes.

Cheating.....It is more common than you think

Before you assume that your child would never cheat, consider this: In a California survey of 1,037 sixth graders, 38 percent said they had copied from another student in an exam. By the time these students graduate from college, university studies have shown, more than half will have cheated in order to get better grades.

Children, particularly adolescents, are strongly influenced by a desire to be accepted, but they often do not have a good sense of right and wrong. This need to feel part of a group makes them willing disciples of the "everybody is doing it" philosophy. It is important to instill in your child the values which will help arm him against the temptation and peer pressure to cheat. There are ways parents can promote honesty in children.....when they are on the athletic field, playing a game or "exaggerating" achievements to friends. Stress that dishonesty, in any form, is wrong in principle, as well as unfair to his peers and ultimately, to himself.

Despite your influence, you may suspect that your child has cheated. There are a few ways you can deal with it, including:

Don’t’ condemn. Discuss your suspicions with your child, but express disappointment or doubt, not anger.

Rain Song

Pull up the curtain,

Look out of doors,

Hear how it’s thundering,

See how it pours!

Lightning will show

Like a claw in the sky,

And there’ll be a rainbow,

I think, by and by.

Elizabeth Coatsworth