Aggression in Schools, What Can We Do?

   

       Jamie just started 6th grade and is thrilled. She no longer has to walk in lines in the hallways or eat lunch with the students in her class. But today at the lunch table popular Marybeth made fun of Jamie’s friend Olivia. Olivia left the table crying. Later that day Jamie received a text on snapchat telling her no one in the group is allowed to be friends with Olivia. Jamie knows if she maintains her friendship with Olivia she will be ostracized by the group. What should she do? What would you do? 

     Students face many types of aggression in schools today. Boys may settle an argument using physical overt aggression, while girls are more likely to use a form of social or relational aggression. Both use cyber aggression to varying degrees. Why is aggression so prevalent in schools? Who is responsible for setting the tone? What can you do as an educator to minimize aggression and help students learn positive ways work out social conflicts? 

     Students go through many changes during their school years that are both physical and psychological, emotional and social. As they grow many of their choices and attitudes are influenced by the peer groups they are associated with. These peer groups fall into four main classifications; popular, rejected, neglected and ignored students. Aggression rises most frequently in popular aggressive and rejected aggressive students with peer groups being the main influencers of social behavior. Poor outcomes in school years result in poor outcomes as adults so it is important for educators to understand these forms of aggression and provide students with alternative paths for working through social situations. 

     Two types of hostile aggression in which the aggressor seeks to inflict harm on another individual, are overt aggression and relational aggression. Overt aggression refers to the use of threats and personal violence against another individual and is most commonly associated with use by boys in scholastic environments. Some boys who use physical aggression to gain status or possessions are viewed as popular and are often athletic. Other students view these aggressors as desirable and admire how they bully students into conformity and disregard the authority of school personnel. Student support results in the aggressor gaining popularity and makes it increasingly difficult for educators to target and eradicate overt aggression in schools. 

     Relational Aggression is most often associated with girls and occurs when social relationships are threatened or damaged through gossip, insults, taunts and ostracization. Often these threats come out of nowhere as students who were friends one day have a falling out and one student finds themselves the victim. Sometimes relational aggression occurs when the rules and attitudes of cliques or crowds the students associate with are broken. This type of social snubbing can be devastating and cause students to seek refuge on the fringes of scholastic social communities. They often result in long term effects that manifest in poor educational performance, physical disorders and antisocial or withdrawn behavior as adults. Both Overt and Relational Aggression should be addressed immediately and educators should strive to maintain an equitable, safe environment for all students to learn in. 

     Arguably, the most confusing and confounding type of aggression for educators is Cyber Aggression. Cyber aggression occurs when students use social media and other technological platforms to spread rumors, threaten and terrorize other students. Aggression spreads like lightning among school communities and before a victim is aware many other students have joined in the negative campaign of aggression, favoriting or spreading the negative message instantaneously. Cyber aggression is particularly hard to control and address as educators and parents are often not aware or part of the platforms students are using to spread their message. They just don’t see it. With little regulation or site control student safety becomes a clear danger as personal or damaging information can be shared with public communities putting victimized students at risk of being approached by predators who would capitalize on their vulnerability. 

     As educators we are responsible for creating a safe environment for learning for all students. It is not enough to conform to the notion that aggression in schools is O.K. because it is just a part of society or has always been a part of scholastic culture. 

    Educators can help students learn to solve social problems in effective non-aggressive ways. This starts by creating a safe learning environment with clear class rules that include kindness and respect, modeling a non-aggressive and inclusive approach to teaching, showing tolerance and not favoring aggressive students with rewards or protection. Educators can build in time for emotional/social learning taking a few moments before class begins to set the tone with meditative breathing exercises or movement. Teachers can have group discussions, role play, write or create video projects that model positive social interactions that will help students refine and verbalize their own attitudes towards aggressive social behavior.  Teachers should keep up on popular social trends especially those that use social media so they can identify when those mediums and their content creators are inappropriate or being used in aggressive ways. 

     Most importantly teachers can help students show their peers that aggressive behavior is not accepted. 

    With most students taking their social cues from peers a social scholastic community united in one anti-aggression voice can quickly “de-popularize” aggressive, damaging behavior and create a more productive, satisfying and successful learning environment for all involved. What have we got to lose?

Fearless Teaching: Failing Your Way To Success

by Laura Hill Timpanaro

Yesterday my daughter came home from school glum. She is a good student and very social so I was surprised by the long face.  When I questioned her she pulled out her math test. “I bombed my test,” she said, handing it to me.

Bombing a test is not a big thing. As you get older you realize you will fail in many things before you succeed.  Tony Hawk tried 12 times before he stuck a 900 at the X Games in San Francisco.  J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected by dozens of publishers before being printed.  Michael Jordan was cut from his HS basketball team.  Thomas Edison claimed he never once made a discovery, instead working lines of logic until they reached their natural end, discarding the failures and trying again. 

He failed all the time, but he never gave up.

When my daughters and I write our Great Story World Mix-Up books it can take anywhere from a few days to six months to pen a manuscript.  Before that we spend weeks in group brainstorming sessions coming up with story arcs.  Many of the plot lines we develop are discarded, not because the ideas are bad, they just weren’t the best ones to move the story forward.

Our bad mistakes don’t end there.  I do a whole program on how we turn bad art into beautiful illustrations, reworking and rethinking each one until we feel a picture is just right.  Once we’ve got the story and the pictures together we still aren’t done because our editor hands us revisions that can be as simple as spelling errors or more extensive like suggestions on whole passages.  I have gone through manuscripts and scrapped entire chapters after putting them aside for a few months to gain perspective.

When I tell this to students they are really surprised.

I think students have a misconception that everything they do has to be successful. I’ve often wondered if this is due to the culture of instant gratification and overnight celebrity we live in, or if there is something more.  The focus on high stakes testing and measured learning has its place but maybe we are hampering a higher thought process that could lead students to even greater success.

If you aren’t willing to fail you will probably never succeed. 

I think that’s an important message to send to students.  I do a workshop where the project has no outcome, building a structure collaboratively only to tear it down or watch it fall apart.  Students are really surprised that I have them plan, problem solve and create to no end. The post project talk is about what worked, what failed and how we can co-op the best parts into an even greater creation.  The project is about the process, not the product.

I think if  students were less worried about failing they would be willing to take more risks, ask surprising questions and test theories that had never been tried before. This is the type of thinking that’s responsible for the amazing advances in technology and innovation we see today.  You have the opportunity to create a fearless culture in your classroom encouraging students to use new tools, technology and learning processes to explore and re-explore the world around them.  And that’s what will lead to higher thinking and change.

Today, educators are not just pillars of knowledge; they are leaders in teaching thought and building confidence so students can blow us away with their ideas.  After my daughter’s failure we talked and I realized she bombed the test because she didn’t ask for help, she was afraid not understanding would be perceived as failure.  I discussed this with her teacher and on the next test she was the only one to get 100% right.  Not because she was smarter, but because her teacher had build up her confidence and opened a path to dialogue that was unthreatening.

 You have the power, you have the tools, create a culture of fearless learning where failing to succeed is part of the project.  You’ll be surprised at the way your students respond and the brilliant ideas they come up with.

Laura Hill is an author and producer known for helping children find their voice and talents through creative arts and technology. To find out how you can bring her writing programs to your school email Laura Hill or tweet @candylandcaper. 

Group Discussion In The Classroom by Laura Hill Timpanaro (@candylandcaper)

 Group Discussion In The Classroom

by Laura Hill Timpanaro (@candylandcaper)

The class is prepped and you are pumped.  Today is the day your lessons have led up to.  You have written out prompts and verbal cues, reflected on the material and studied the routes that a robust socratic discussion might take.  You carefully formed your student groups pairing the bold with the reticent, the speakers with the thinkers.  You come in excited but as you pose your first question a strange thing happens.  Instead of eager students full of questions and raised hands all you see are starring eyes, and you wonder to yourself what went wrong?

Engaging students in small, structured group discussion is a complex task requiring thoughtful preparation.  It fosters cooperative problem solving and 21st century skills that are needed by citizens in a global arena, a.k.a. your students.  But most discussions fall flat either being manipulated by a small group of students or dominated by yes and no type answers that leave you feeling as if each response was like pulling teeth.  So how do we engage students in robust discussions?

My philosophy is based on the idea that students need to be leaders in discussions in order to take ownership of the ideas generated.  In other words, if you want students to think outside of the box and creatively solve problems, you have to let them lead.  There are many reasons for this.  First, students are affected by cultural and technological forces that we may not have experienced as a child that will color their perspective and their opinion.  My older daughter was confronted with close minded professors in honors english where discussions based on finding deeper meaning within texts were confined to tried and true answers developed by educators.  The problem was the perspective of the students created new associations based on their culture, experience and attitudes that may not have been relevant or prevalent when the text and question answers were created.  Students living on a global stage in a world highly influenced by technology see the world in new and exciting ways that we as educators may not have dreamed of. And to our benefit, those with an open mind may be privileged to see the beginnings of ideas and attitudes that come to shape world views as students move out of the classroom and onto the world stage. If we can agree that small discussions should be student led I have some ideas to offer based on concepts that where recently introduced to me by NYC educators.  The methodology includes five areas of concentration; the opening, sustaining, expression, closing and reflection.  

The opening is the perfect question that will lead to a good discussion.  Educators should ponder this opening question and the way it is worded so that it becomes a platform for ideas to spring from.  Using the verbiage I wonder can set the stage for a robust discussion as it signals to the students that you are not looking for a specific answer rather suggesting that the answer you are looking for may not yet be known. Opening strategies that include a wonder statement, making a prediction, followed by reinforcement of the classroom guidelines for discussion will help cultivate thoughtful answers and minimized impulsivity.  An opening may be “I wonder what would would happen if there was no more garbage?”  As students ponder the answer and are encouraged to think deeper we move to the second area of good group discussion, which is sustaining.

Sustaining the discussion, simply put, is to manage the discussion, coaching with scaffolding by asking the students questions such as are you confident in this answer? Can you support this answer?  Students should be encouraged to ask the questions and teachers should let students provide the answers. When a teacher allows students to steer the direction a guided discussion takes new ideas will emerge as peer to peer discussions take on a different perspective and tone than teacher led discussion.  Letting students take the lead can feel risky but with management and clear classroom expectations that include a level playing field for each student’s voice, it can be very rewarding to both students and educators.  Students are more likely to take risks as they talk out the problems and actively collaborate with other students to solve them, mimicking what they will do outside of school as they tackle both personal and global issues.

Expression.  See,Think, Wonder is a methodology that helps students focus on noticing details, achieving a higher function of thinking.  You may begin a discussion by asking students what they see in a problem, object or idea.  Using our example of garbage students may see that garbage is unsightly, damages the ecology and is growing is abundance.  Each student’s idea is validated as you ask students to explain why they came up with their answers.  Why is garbage growing in abundance? How does it damage the ecology?  What aspects about it are unsightly?  By scaffolding with questions, background knowledge or observations students take the conversation to a new level of deeper thinking, contemplating the question why both individually and as a group.  To take the conversation one step further we move into the arena of wonder, where students are challenged to formulate and respond to new questions about the topic.   I wonder what would happen if there was no garbage?  How would entities that base their economics on profits from conservation, recycling or buying garbage change?  What would happen to the people in those fields? How can garbage be made useful? To close the discussion educators assist students consolidate their thinking based on their wonderings by identifying emerging or unanswered questions. 

Reflection allows students to think about and evaluate the process that facilitated the discussion.  Reflection can include thoughts on how the students worked together in a group and in the larger arena of the entire class.  Inner-outer circle is a method that can be employed by dividing students into two main groups.  During discussion group A leads the discussion as the inner circle. Upon conclusion group B, the outer circle, reflects on positive aspects of group A's discussion as well as aspects that could be improved.  The roles are then reversed with group B becoming the inner circle and group A becoming the outer circle.  Individual reflection could include students contemplating the tools and behaviors they used during discussion as well as considering how their knowledge and skills improved as a result of the discussion.

So what’s the point? When educators step back from their role as teachers and allow themselves to temporarily become monitors and coaches, students are able to take charge of discussions.   This leadership forces students to take responsibility for their answers and the answers given by others.  It promotes thinking outside of their comfort zones with support from their peers.  For educators, stepping outside the fishbowl may seem awkward at first but when the reward is confident students who know how to think deeply and share their ideas with colleagues, what have you got to lose?  

-Laura

Why I Write With Children

by Laura Hill

“Everyone says the sky is blue but I know its purple and orange and pink.  I’ve met dogs that can talk and seen diamonds wash ashore because I see what’s there, not what I’ve been told too.” –Laura Hill

When my daughters first asked me to help them write a book I thought, ghads! how do I do that.  I was working under deadline to finish an article for a magazine and I didn’t want to stop.  But Ava and Kayla kept asking me and when children are persistent you know that it’s important.  We brainstormed for three months to write King Arthur and the Werewolves of Camelot, which is the second book in the series but the first one we wrote.  Ava, who was five made up the character of Jilly, a fairytale expert who could solve any magical mystery.  Kayla was 8 and much more mature, she wrote about Penelope a real world minded girl who solved her problems like puzzles with science and logic.

Now, five books later, Ava and Kayla have become experts at story writing and illustration, researching and fleshing out their own story lines that we all collaborate on.  I am left with the task of pulling it all together. It’s been a lot of work but has come with many perks. Ava and Kayla have gotten to meet some of their favorite authors, they have been on a TV talk show, attended big book conventions in NYC and learned the ropes of publishing as well as web design and promotion.

But I think the best thing that’s happened to us is that together we pull this off.  We win together, we lose together and we bring our knowledge and inspiration to children in schools all across America.  We know that if we can follow our dreams and do this, other children can too!  And we are happy our books make other people smile.

I speak in a lot of schools during the year and often times my daughters join me.  When we first arrive at a school we are excited and nervous. So are the students, neither of us knows what to expect.  But we break the ice using our imagination, and sometimes a microphone, to make fireworks explode and birds fly across the room. Then we begin to talk about how we write our books. 

The enthusiasm is contagious but sometimes, in the older grades, the cynicism is palpable too.  But as the conversation develops with humor and self-effacing confessions the atmosphere begins to change.  Slowly the children start to see that we aren’t talking at them about what we have done and we aren’t telling them what they should do.  We are giving them a formula to get their great ideas out into the world, just like we did. 

You can almost hear a click as their eyes light up when they make this connection.  To see my daughters present an author visit is too see themselves reflected on stage.  And we tell them, if we can do this, you can too.

I’ve talked to thousands of children across the United States.  The number one thing they want is for you to believe in them.  We give them confidence that their dreams are possible, and courage to make them come true.  And we do one other thing, we believe that their ideas are great.  This is a hard thing to do.

If I had not really listened to my daughter’s ideas conceding the lead when their concepts were better, we would not have this book series.  If they had not trusted me guiding them through revisions, pitches and press they wouldn’t be the kids they are today.  It takes a lot of vision, guts and trust to work together.

And that’s the thought I would leave you with.  When teachers and parents ask me how I write with kids I would say set up an environment of trust and mutual respect then the stories just flow.  Sure I use lots of techniques to coax higher thinking but the basis is you.  You are the only one who can teach them to take a chance on their own great ideas, and the one who can help them get those ideas into the world.

Laura Hill is an author and producer known for helping children find their voice and talents through creative arts and technology. To find out how you can bring her writing programs to your school email Laura Hill or tweet @candylandcaper. 

Making Dreams Come True

Author Laura Hill

by Laura Hill

Last week I attended Book Expo America. This is the largest gathering of publishers, authors, agents and industry insiders who come to educate, do business and generally mix with book buyers, teachers, librarians, fans, bloggers and press. It’s a pricey endeavor but well worth the venture. This is because at Book Expo business is not just being done.  Dreams are being launched, heroes are being met and determinations about the future of our most powerful creation, sharing stories with words, are being decided.

For any fan old or young, an opportunity to meet your heroes, in this case literary heroes, is a dream come true.  I watched as a tween girl dressed in Olympus garb approached Rick Riordan, the author of the international bestselling Percy Jackson series. Her voice shook as she told him her name, then she started to cry.  John Rocco, who creates the amazing cover illustrations for Rick’s books was nearby. He put his arm around the girl’s shoulders and steered her in for a picture. 

It was a moment where a dream came true and I felt almost voyeuristic in my observation.

Selfies with author Rick Riordan and cover artist John Rocco

When my co-author daughters join me at Book Expo, they are not only meeting heroes, they are learning the ropes of a business they may very well play a part in.  It is amazing to watch as they hand their business cards to publishers and talk shop about our upcoming titles, speaking in schools and how we create our illustrations. My youngest, at 8 years old is the bolder one, introducing herself as an author, shaking hands and asking questions.  I watched her skip off on her own and come back with the card of Vell Sweeny, author, publishing veteran and co-owner of a new press.  After talking with my daughter a few minutes, I knew she had met someone who would be a good fit for our books.

Co-author daughters at Book Expo America

It’s important for children to have dreams and to have opportunities to get close to those who inspire, intrigue and shape their worlds.   It makes their hope real.  When I speak in front of a crowd of students I know what they are thinking. They are looking at my daughters and thinking, that girl is my age, if she can make her dreams come true so can I.  I give them a formula; an idea that is self empowering and let them know they can indeed make their dreams come true.  And this is the thought I want to leave you with today.

You, as teachers, parents and influencers, have the opportunity to fan these dreams and ignite inspiration or to squash them in a heap of shattered confidence.

With Dork Diaries Author Rachel Renee Russell, Kate DiCamillo, Jan Brett and Capstone

As we turn our focus in education from a model that developed skills for an industrial age to one that is creating skills for an undefined future we need to embrace curiosity, experimentation and discovery.  And we need to help children find their talents. If we show students that anything is possible, anyone is accessible and any dream obtainable if they are willing to go the distance, we will be raising a generation of great thinkers and innovators. And who knows, a student you teach today may be traveling through space to other worlds tomorrow.  You’ll never know if you don’t try. 

Inspire, dream, connect, do it today...what have you got to lose?

Click here for Haley Lawson's interview with me on BEA

Laura Hill is an author and producer known for helping children find their talents and getting their ideas into the world.  To find out how you can bring her programs to your school email Laura Hill or tweet @candylandcaper.

Taking Stress Out Of The Classroom

#WhatIsSchool April 27, 2017 7PM EDT

The powerful impact of STRESS

"I can't never do the part with the take-away numbers. I did all the problems real fast and she put big red X's on them and said I wasn't trying. And I started crying inside but I couldn't because they would all see." (8-year-old) (Allen & Klein, Ready-Set Relax, 1996, p.3)

Stress, we've all felt it.  A knot grows in your stomach as thoughts race over scenarios and outcomes.  You begin to sweat your anxiety grows. You feel dizzy, nauseous as time tightens and performance declines. However stress manifests we've all felt it and to some degree have learned to cope with it, but what about our students?

According to a study conducted by John Hopkins University stress manifests in virtually every aspect of a child's life.  Broken families and lack of family time spent together, over scheduling, excessive screen time, exposure to violence in media, pressure to perform beyond abilities as well as peer pressure, physical appearance, failing exams and unrealistic classroom demands are major contributors to student stress.  Sometimes teachers are not aware of student circumstances or how their own actions can impact student's stress and add to the anxiety.

Stress on students and teachers can take a toll.

"The effects of stress on students' physical health and academic success are widespread, affecting physiology, health behaviors, and cognition. These consequences can then impact students' physical health, mental health, and academic performance," said authors Nilani L. Shankar & Crystal L. Park In a paper published in the International Journal of School and Educational Psychology in February 2016.

So what can we do?

Join me Laura Hill (@candylandcaper) as #whatisschool looks at ways to de-stress your classroom, your students and yourself, especially at the end of the year when finals and high stake testing take their toll.  

#WhatIsSchool April 27, 2017 7PM EDT

QUESTIONS 

1) How do you know when students are getting stressed out? 

What do you do when you are?

2) What can you do to give students breaks to de-stress without rewarding bad behavior?

3) How can you change the classroom environment, your tone or the class atmosphere to reduce stress?

4) What can you do to reduce the stress of student workload and still meet scholastic requirements?

5) How can parents and communities help reduce student stress?

6) How can teachers reduce their stress?

Motivating Students With “Secret Writing”

by Laura Hill
Previously posted as a guest blog for the amazing @mrkempnz, an education "must follow" on twitter.

Motivating students can be tough.  I talk to thousands of students during the school year and consistently I find that as the students get older they become more cynical about writing.  I think the reason for this is two-fold; on one hand they are less bold about their writing due to experiences that have shaken their confidence like failed tests or poor presentations, on the other hand, they just aren’t motivated.  Since I can’t change their past experiences I try to concentrate on creating a new perspective. So how do you motivate students to write? 

I use many methodologies based on PBL and inquiry learning to get students going, but the most motivating factor I have found is in “secret writing.”  Secret writing isn’t a singular thing it’s more of a realization, an idea that exemplifies what writing is really all about.  This is how it works.

When I stand in front of a large group of students the first thing I typically discuss with them are chocolate chip cookies. Not the store bought kind, but rich chewy chocolaty home made ones that melt in your mouth and stick to your fingertips.  And since most students like chocolate chip cookies it’s not too hard to get them to rattle off the ingredients to make a batch-flour, sugar, water, salt, butter, baking powder, eggs and chocolate chips.  I create a mock batch of cookies letting them cook until someone says “ding!” To the student’s surprise our pretend batch of cookies is usually a disgusting mess.  This is because no one bothered to tell me how much of each ingredient to put in.  Secret writing.

I start to clue students in with a story about the many years I spent working as a television producer.  They are always surprised when I describe the amount of writing that goes on before a shot is laid to film.  Storyboards, set design, lighting, scripting, costumes…you get the picture, secret writing.  I start to relate this to everything they are interested in from cartoons to sports plays, instructions for massive

Lego structures to video games.

Now, if you’ve never written a video game or iPad app you probably don’t realize that these are some of the most complex ideas to put to paper. This is because games are based on rules making it necessary to write a reaction for every possible action while following the game’s strategy.  This is on top of writing about the setting, characters, costumes, dialogue and backstory.

At this point I have the student’s attention, I can almost hear them thinking, so I tell them to look around.  Secret writing is on their shirts, shoes, notebooks; it’s on signs, billboards and posters.  Even more can be found on books, smart boards and on candy bar wrappers. We are literally immersed in secret writing!  All done by people just like them.  This is when their eyes begin to spark. 

When students realize that writing is at the core of almost everything they do it takes on a whole new meaning that is personal.  This is really important because today’s students aren’t going to have the opportunity to avoid writing. They are part of a culture that is living a personal public narrative and the people who are best able to tell their story are the ones who are going to be heard.

We are in an amazing moment, experiencing a shift in social perspective, where we see for the first time some very young people having an impact on the global stage.  They are writing books, championing social good, making films, publishing scientific theory and soon they will be creating technology; it’s just a matter of time and opportunity.  And they are talking to peers around the world.  You have a chance to play a huge part in this.  By creating a culture of writers, thinkers and inventors in your classroom you are giving your students the ability to share their ideas with people around the world.   The kids are up for it, in fact they are more than ready for it, and who knows?  You may be inspiring a student who will one day change the world.

Laura Hill is an author and producer known for helping children find their voice and talents through creative arts and technology. To find out how you can bring her writing programs to your school email Laura Hill or tweet @candylandcaper.