“Meanwhile…Back in the Teacher’s Lounge…”

A Review of “Visible Learning” by John Hattie (Part 2)

By: Glenn Walker

Growing up I looked forward to Saturdays. I got to sleep in late and there was no school. I also loved to watch cartoons. Supplied with sufficient quantities of Cap’n Crunch cereal and Quik Instant chocolate milk, I enjoyed watching the likes of Scooby Doo, Bugs Bunny, and Daffy Duck. But my all-time favorite show had to be the “Super Friends.”

For the uninitiated, the “Super Friends” was about a group of super heroes (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc) who teamed up to fight villains and save Earth from total catastrophe on a weekly basis. The key here is that their individual super powers weren’t enough. They had to work together to solve the problem. Even Aqua Man provided help. Don’t laugh. Communicating with whales comes in handy now and then, especially when you need to stop a wayward nuclear-powered submarine from colliding into Hawaii.

In last month’s issue I began a series of articles reviewing the book “Visible Learning” by John Hattie. To recap, we first looked at the role of the teacher and how critical the teacher is to the learning process. A teacher must also be passionate about the subject of learning. Please notice that I said learning.

How Many Ways Does Your School Say “Welcome”?

Strategies for getting your at-promise parents to enter, stay, and invest in your campus

By: Alex Kajitani

One afternoon, the mother of one of my students did not show up for a pre-arranged, after-school meeting we had set. The next day, when I questioned that student as to why his mother had not shown up, he simply shrugged his shoulders. “Where was she?” I asked. “At home,” the student replied. “Does she usually miss things?” I asked. “She goes to church every Tuesday and Sunday!” he answered.

Normally, I may have brushed this off as “typical” for a parent of an at-promise student; but this time, I realized it was time to take a hard look in the mirror. The parent was certainly attending functions (like church) in her community; she just wasn’t attending our functions here at school.

I realized that her church was most likely doing many things that make her feel welcome there. And I had to ask: Are we doing the same on our campuses, especially for the parents who struggled in school themselves? If not, we need to be.

Rolling Out The Welcome Mat

This month, I offer five strategies for creating a welcoming climate on your campus—one that beckons parents, all parents, to enter, stay, and invest in their children’s education.