Equity Activity

I found this on another blog. A teacher was using it as an example to explain the difference between equity and equality. Full credit given to the blog author, one Lara David.

She says:

There's this activity I do in my class. All the students sit in a circle, and I ask everyone to take off his or her left shoe and throw it into a pile in the center. Once the shoes are all piled up, I begin re-distributing them, one to each student, completely at random. Then I tell everyone to put on the new shoes. And inevitably, there begin the complaints.

"This isn't my shoe!"

"It's too big!"

"It's too small!"

"This doesn't fit me!"

Whatever the specific complaints are, very few students are actually happy with their newly mismatched pair of shoes. "What's wrong?" I ask. "I did everything fairly. You all have two shoes - one for your right foot and one for your left."

"But Miss David," they say, "they aren't the correct shoes!"

"Oh," I say. "You want the shoes that are best for each of you individually? Not just any shoe I find?"

"Yes!" they all say.

"But," I say, with furrowed brow, "that doesn't seem fair. I wanted to treat you all EQUALLY." I point to a boy with somewhat large feet, and a nearby girl with smallish feet. "He'll have more shoe than you will," I note. And without a doubt, someone unknowingly gets right to the heart of the issue:

"It doesn't matter who has more shoe, Miss David. It matters that we all have the right shoes for us."

And THAT, my friends, is the difference between equity and equality. Equality means everyone gets exactly the same outcome - two shoes - without regard to individual differences - large or small feet, for example. Equity means everyone gets the same quality of outcome - shoes that fit their individual needs.

The wonders of small class size

Now districts are always trying to say that studies don't conclusively prove that class size makes a difference, but anyone who has struggled to control a full class of students in a room that really isn't big enough and then seen them miraculously change when a few kids are absent/in ISAP and 5 more are in a special reward knows how smaller classes do make a difference. We had 20 kids in AAA on Friday, rewarding them for acheiving the triple threat of good academics (As and Bs), good attitude (all S's), and good attendance. And my 4th period, which is usually loud as anything comes in and sits straight down and there's no more than a low murmur. And the worst, loudest kid is even there! Coming in with all her friends! I was in shock! I was confused! I was ecstatic! They were amazing, and I was so proud of them and really glad I'd happened to bring in dum-dums that day as a reward for the fastest runners in the races we had between measuring shadows the day before (we're studying the Sun-Earth-Moon system at the moment). I really could not believe the difference. Because it wasn't the worst kids missing - it was the best kids. And yet they were still SO much better.

It's the kind of thing that makes me wish I taught at a private school. I covet small class sizes. And large class rooms. An area of desks in the front and lab tables in the back! It would be oh so lovely. I don't even have room to set up the desks in pods. Or rows. Yep, no one considered the size of the classrooms when they ordered the new lab desks for the science classrooms.

Of course, on the other hand, I really do enjoy working with the kids I have. They frustrate me. A lot. But I'd miss working with them if I was gone. It just would not be the same if I were elsewhere. I just wish that I could teach them in a better situation. One where there we had small class sizes, and we had enough room for setting up the tables for easy group work. Where there were enough computers for us to use them without having to book WAY in advance. Where I had more than one computer in my classroom for easy access.

Ah, the dreams of an inner-city public school teacher.

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In other news, though, there is apparently something written about me in the latest edition of my high school alma mater's magazine, BA Today, or so The Mom says. Inquiring minds want to know. What does it say? And where is my copy? I will be mightily annoyed if it is not in the mailbox come Monday.

Edited to Add (3/26/08): This USA Today article cites several studies that show that "size alone makes small classes better for kids," whether the teacher makes changes in her teaching or not. Of course, it makes more of a difference for high achievers than low achievers. The gap is just so frustrating, and it seems so difficult to bridge it.

"Setting Limits in the Classroom"

So it has been awhile since I last posted, but things have continued to be busy as always. It's getting down to crunch time, as there are only about 11 (and a half?) weeks of school left, and my final assignment for my final MAT class is due mid-April (the big assignment is due April 1st, though, the same day as my KTIP portfolio will be assessed).

I've been told that I have shown great improvement. I certainly recognize that things are going FAR FAR better than they did last year, despite the fact that there are still what one might call "problem students." Of course, there are always going to be "problem students." Dealing with them is likely my biggest issue, though not my only one (struggling to find time for student use of technology is another). As such, I am always trying to find better ways to "do" classroom management, and I picked up a book this evening at Barnes & Noble because of that.

The book is Robert J. MacKenzie's Setting Limits in the Classroom (revised): How to Move Beyond the Dance of Discipline in Today's Classrooms. I am two chapters in, and I've come to a bit of a realization. Since starting an action research project on classroom management (specifically student "time on task"), I've realized that I have a bit of a problem with consistency. (I also noted that student placement in the classroom is an issue as well, but that's a topic for another day.) The book has really highlighted for me what this problem is. MacKenzie notes that there are 4 ways teachers deal with teaching rules about behavior:
1) the permissive approach (cajoling students into behavior)
2) the punitive approach (yelling, threatening, shaming, etc.)
3) the mixed approach (cajoles until explodes into punitive)
4) the democratic approach (gives a choice, lets student know of consequence of continued misbehavior, follows through)

As much as I would like to say that I am right there with method 4, that is really not the case. I think I'm more of a method 3. This is likely based off of my own childhood. Of myself, my two sisters, and my younger brother, there were little behavioral problems. I think this leads me to feel (subconsciously?) that it should be pretty easy for the kids to understand that cooperation is what they should do (because it's "the right thing to do"), so I just start off warning them. And maybe it's just easier to warn them than follow through with writing a note or calling parents or what-have-you. Of course, it really isn't easier in the long run, which should have been enough convincing for me (but sometimes you need a little help to realize what you are doing). Anyway, I start of with the cajoling, but - as we all do - I get frustrated that they don't "do the right thing" and start behaving, and that's where the punitive approach (and the yelling et al) come in. As MacKenzie points out, this is not consistent, and it doesn't have good effects with the kids. How can they know what to expect out of you? They either think they can get away with it, or they get angry that they are getting punished when people normally aren't.

I really hope that I can try method 4 and get it to work. It's hard to change those basic habits. If you aren't used to being a certain way, and the students aren't used to it either, it is going to take some effort to make that change and get them to realize that you have. But as a teacher, one has to be willing to change in order to improve your teaching and students' learning. So here's hoping that I can manage to move from the problematic "mixed bag" approach to the (hopefully successful) democratic approach. I just wish I had realized the problem sooner. Sometimes it's hard to see what should be in front of your own face, especially when what you hear from others is that you are improving. But it's never to late to make a change (and I haven't even finished my second year of teaching so it's not that late in the game), so I'm going to do my best to make it now.