{"id":14071,"date":"2012-10-12T08:43:07","date_gmt":"2012-10-12T12:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=14071"},"modified":"2012-10-12T08:43:09","modified_gmt":"2012-10-12T12:43:09","slug":"dont-reform-schools-transform-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/10\/12\/dont-reform-schools-transform-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Reform Schools, Transform Them"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Cindi Rigsbee<\/p>

North Carolina teacher Cindi Rigsbee participated in Wednesday's #NPRedchat StateImpact Florida hosted with Tell Me More.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is a guest post from North Carolina teacher Cindi Rigsbee, who participated in the Wednesday Twitter education discussion we hosted with Tell Me More. It was first posted at Rigsbee’s blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I took a minute during my lunch break to hang out on Twitter, specifically to glance at the NPR Twitter Education Forum <\/a>(#npredchat) and see what some national names in education were saying\u2026um\u2026tweeting. As I scanned down the TwitterChat page, I kept seeing the word \u201creform\u201d over and over. It was at that point that my tweeting fingers started twitching. Here\u2019s my first post:<\/p>\n

We shouldn’t be talking about how to REform education; we should be talking about how to TRANSform education. #npredchat<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Cindi Rigsbee (@CindiRigsbee) October 10, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

In Latin, the prefix \u201cre\u201d means \u201cagain, back, and backward<\/a>\u201d \u2013 exactly what we DON\u2019T want our schools to do! \u201cTrans\u201d means \u201cacross, beyond, and through\u201d \u2013 I certainly dream about taking students beyond<\/em> the standards, beyond<\/em> the policymakers\u2019 mandates, beyond<\/em> a test.<\/p>\n

So how do we do it? My next tweet speaks to it:<\/p>\n

Until we stop looking at schools as assembly lines and children as products, everything will stay the same. #npredchat<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Cindi Rigsbee (@CindiRigsbee) October 10, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/em>Put them in kindergarten, move them to first\u2026keep on until they hit twelfth\u2026then send them ready-or-not into the world \u2013 that\u2019s what we do. I was thinking of Lucy and Ethel\u2019s candy factory<\/a>: some make it through, but some get eaten along the way.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion with the state education chiefs convening as the Council of Chief State School Officers. I said, among other things, that we keep complaining that our schools are not much different from our grandparents\u2019 schools\u2026still running on an agrarian schedule\u2026I hear the complaints every day. I ended with \u201cWhen are we going to stop talking about it and start doing something about it?!!\u201d<\/p>\n

That was three years ago, and I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve moved very much in a direction of change.<\/p>\n

I guess we\u2019re moving inches at a time \u2013 we do have a few year round schools and we\u2019re moving toward the acceptance of virtual\/online instruction and learning. But those are the exceptions. In my district we have one year round elementary school. When those students finish the fifth grade (assembly line), they have no choice but to revert back to the calendar that allows them to work in the crops in the summer.<\/p>\n

I digress. Next tweet:<\/p>\n

We need to blur the lines – instead of grade levels, educate children according to interests, abilities, and learning styles. #npredchat<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Cindi Rigsbee (@CindiRigsbee) October 10, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/em>So who says a six-year-old has to be a first grader? Who says a fifth grader who can\u2019t read has to move on out to middle school? Who says a visual<\/em> learner has to sit and listen<\/em> to directions given and lectures delivered? What if students could be grouped into classrooms because they all are closely related when it comes to developmental maturity?<\/p>\n

Yesterday I talked to a sixth grader whose birthday is next week. She\u2019ll be eleven. Her cousin across the room has a birthday next week, too. She\u2019ll be twelve. Both girls are thriving academically and happy socially, in the same classroom, even though they\u2019re a year apart in age.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m all for doing away with grade levels and other ways of thinking \u201cinside the box.\u201d We\u2019ve got to climb out, for goodness sakes.<\/p>\n

Speaking of \u201coutside the box,\u201d here\u2019s my final tweet:<\/p>\n

Educate children in places and during hours that are individualized…according to the teachers’ and students’ strengths. #npredchat<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Cindi Rigsbee (@CindiRigsbee) October 10, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/em>Call me crazy, but I think schools should be community centers that are open 24 hours a day. Student (and teacher) schedules should be organized by what works for each student and teacher.<\/p>\n

My son surely would have had a better GPA in high school if his first class had occurred later than 7:30 AM. Even 10PM would have worked for that night owl.<\/p>\n

And as a teacher, I work the best between 10AM and 6PM. What if those could be my teaching hours while my colleague with school-aged kids would rather work 7AM to 3PM?<\/p>\n

You know what creative scheduling all boils down to? A computer program!<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all it is.A computer program that schedules teachers and students and hours and preferences can ensure the school has a revolving door that works best for everyone.<\/p>\n

Offer face-to-face with teachers who are working when they\u2019re at their best, throw in some virtual teaching and online learning that can happen at any hour, place students in classes that interest them and therefore really prepare them for the careers they\u2019ll choose someday, and our schools will be on the way to a TRANSformation that\u2019s best for everyone.<\/p>\n

No more candy on a conveyor belt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post from North Carolina teacher Cindi Rigsbee, who participated in the Wednesday Twitter education discussion we hosted with Tell Me More. It was first posted at Rigsbee’s blog. I took a minute during my lunch break to hang out on Twitter, specifically to glance at the NPR Twitter Education Forum (#npredchat) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":14072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[727,1060],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14071"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}