"We're Going to Eat Bananas!"

Early in my career, I had the honor and privilege of working with a principal who forever changed my philosophy about education.  He is one of the most intelligent, kindest, inspiring individuals I've ever had the opportunity to meet and working with him for two years was the catalyst for me to pursue leadership positions and aspire to be more than a classroom teacher. He saw potential in me--he saw potential in everyone--and he encouraged me to follow the path to administration.  I believe I've found my true calling because of his encouragement.  He encapsulates the true meaning of the phrase "servant-leader" and I hope someday to have a tenth of the wisdom that he has.
Though this principal was certainly born with an aptitude for leadership and inspiring others, he also continuously read the literature. He was always digging into what the educational leaders were saying, analyzing texts, and trying new methods of best practice.  He would share what he was reading with all of us, sometimes by recommending books and articles but often just through the words he chose.  Many of the mantras I now have as an educator have come not from their true sources but from listening to him repeat them time and again. He was constantly reminding us that, "we own all kids."  This is something I certainly take to heart.  He would remind us that, "leadership is not a position."  We are all leaders. If we see a task that needs to be done, it is our responsibility to move forward and solve that problem.  He was always talking about rigor and building capacity.  I have a much deeper understanding of what being a servant-leader means because of the words he consistently repeated to us at staff meetings, in conferences, even while passing us in the hallway.
Many times his words were paraphrased from something he had been reading.  This next example is no different and though I've read the true source, I like his version much better because it made it real for all of us.  At the time, I was a kindergarten teacher and he was talking about preparing 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders for TAKS (our previous state assessment).  While he may not have been speaking directly to me, I understood what he was saying and I took it to heart and applied it to my class as well.  He would say,  "If our students are going to be asked to eat bananas, then we're gonna practice eating bananas. We're not going to color bananas, we're not going to draw bananas, we're not going to complete a worksheet about bananas. We're going to eat bananas!"

Banana anyone? Pic courtesy of etipsfree.com

On the surface, it may be difficult to understand exactly what he was saying but with some thought and reflection (and some explanation!) it made a lot of sense.  What is it that we expect our students to be able to do?  Think at a higher level and be able to answer higher-level thinking questions on STAAR (our current state assessments) and in life.  How are we going to prepare them to do this? By teaching them how to read and analyze texts, story problems, scientific reasoning problems, etc. at the same level they will need to be able to in order to be successful on STAAR and beyond.  He wasn't saying let's passage them to death--quite the opposite, he was saying we have to replicate the demand of the assessment through authentic work (as in Schlechty's Working on the Work, which is not the same as busy work) that prepares our students for assessments and for the real world.  Furthermore, the vast majority of worksheets, fluff, and other lower-level activities are not going to prepare our students for the rigors of assessments or life. Just as coloring a banana is not the same as eating a banana, doing a worksheet that helps us find words that have prefixes and suffixes is not akin to understanding the meaning of those words in the context of a book or a difficult reading passage.  Being able to dissect a word on a worksheet does not necessarily lend itself to a student being able to use context clues to figure out the meaning of a word in text.  We must consistently give our students the opportunity to practice eating bananas if we want them to be able to eat bananas on the "Big Day".
How do you determine if an assignment is actually helping prepare your students or if it's just filling time? You can start by asking yourself the following questions:
1) What do I expect my students to accomplish by completing this assignment?
2) Will this assignment prove to me that my students understand the SE (student expectation) at a higher-level?
3) Will my students ever be in a situation in life or on an assessment where they will have to replicate the exact skills or knowledge they are practicing with this assignment?
Answering these questions should give you a clear indication as to whether or not the assignment is a good one or if it's not going to help your students eat bananas.  If you are having trouble finding an assignment that does fit the criteria of all three of these questions, you may be making things more complicated than you need to. Many of the SE's in reading can be taught through great literature, which makes it much more simple for teachers and students alike.  There is no law that says your students have to complete worksheets. In fact, in the last four years that I was in the classroom, I may have used a total of ten worksheets--and that's probably stretching it.  I know that math teachers often have a different purpose for using worksheets and I understand that purpose though I also encourage math teachers to make learning as authentic as possible as well.  Story problems go a long way toward stretching the students' thinking and they are a lot more fun when they're not on a worksheet. Math and science journals are great alternatives to worksheets. For reading, one of the simplest and best ways to get students to truly think is by asking them to record their thoughts in a reading journal.
Think of the great teachers and administrators you have had the opportunity to work with.  What was it about them that made them great?  How can you replicate those qualities in yourself and in your students?  How can that transform your classroom? I'd love to hear your ideas for making work authentic for your students.  Please leave a comment if you have a great idea you would like to share with other educators.