Role Reversal

Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom

Mark Barnes

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781416615064
• eBook ISBN: 9781416615552
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Classroom Management

Want to make your students more responsible for their own learning? Want to create an academic environment in which students thrive and develop a genuine thirst for knowledge? Want to improve your students' standardized test results but avoid a "teach-to-the-test" mentality that throttles creativity and freedom?

In this book, Mark Barnes introduces and outlines the Results Only Learning Environment—a place that embraces the final result of learning rather than the traditional methods for arriving at that result. A results-only classroom is rich with individual and cooperative learning activities that help students demonstrate mastery learning on their own terms, without being constrained by standards and pedagogy.

By embracing results-only learning, you will be able to transform your classroom into a bustling community of learners in which?

* Students collaborate daily on a number of long-term, ongoing projects.
* Students receive constant narrative feedback.
* Yearlong projects target learning outcomes more meaningfully than worksheets, homework, tests, and quizzes.
* Freedom and independence are valued over punitive points, percentages, and letter grades.
* Students manage themselves and all but eliminate the need for traditional classroom management.

Learn how your students can take charge of their own achievement in an enjoyable, project-based, workshop setting that challenges them with real-world learning scenarios—and helps them attain uncommonly excellent results.

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Chapter 1

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Rebelling Against Traditional Methods

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Learning is always rebellion…. Every bit of new truth discovered is revolutionary to what was believed before.

—Margaret Lee Runbeck

As someone who has been both a teacher-in-training and a cooperative teacher, I have found that educators are taught from their preservice days that control is essential for success in the K–12 classroom. Perhaps, if we were to rethink this lone aspect of preparing young teachers, education would be immediately and markedly improved. Since virtually every education professor and cooperating teacher in the United States focuses on teaching young educators to be efficient classroom managers, this isn't likely to change anytime soon. This is unfortunate, because letting go of as much control as possible may be the single most important part of creating a successful classroom.

When I decided to take a risk and completely change my classroom into a Results Only Learning Environment, I knew the first thing I'd have to do is eliminate control. By evaluating the disaster that was the year of "the bad bunch," I quickly realized that what I had been taught as a preservice teacher and what I had practiced for so long were in direct conflict with what I wanted to achieve. People are motivated by three things: autonomy, mastery, and purpose (Pink, 2009). In the K–12 classroom, autonomy rarely exists; it definitely cannot thrive in the controlled world that most teachers believe is crucial to their success. In order to create a results-only classroom, I set out to replace control with autonomy on the first day of school.

Any skilled teacher will admit that the first day of school is critical to the success of the entire year. Not only is a first impression made, but expectations and rules are defined. Students learn if the classroom will be characterized by order or chaos. In the past, my "day one" consisted of an introduction, which was followed by this tired refrain: "Here's what we'll do this year…. These are my expectations…. Here are the rules…." Oh, and let's not forget the ever-popular "It's my way or the highway." This was greeted by rolling eyes, heavy sighs, and groans of "Do we really have to read that?" or "Umm, I read that in 5th grade." Of course, my response to the latter was always, "Great! Then you should be my expert." (Just what 13-year-olds need—a smart alec for a role model.) This, of course, was prior to that amazing summer of research and change—before I discovered and devoured the work of Daniel Pink, Alfie Kohn, and Donalyn Miller.

Introducing the ROLE to Students

My first day of school now begins with far more than an introduction and a list of boring expectations. After all, in a results-only classroom, everything needs to be more about the students and less about the teacher. Although I'm convinced it's unintentional, it is true that many teachers tend to be a bit self-centered. However, a results-only classroom runs best when the teacher is hardly noticed by the casual observer. Therefore, on that first day, after I introduce myself, I begin explaining how the classroom functions.

"Welcome to our Results Only Learning Environment," I say. "Let me begin by telling you that this class will be different from any you've ever had." Sure, it will, they think; I can see it on their faces. I get their attention, though, with the following list of questions:

1. "Who in here loves homework?" No one.
2. "Who likes taking notes from a textbook?" Again, no hands.
3. "Who would love to have lots of tests and quizzes?" A chorus of groans.
4. "Who likes a lot of classroom rules?" Even more groans.
5. "Who enjoys being told what to do all the time?" They are 13 years old; the response is obvious.

"Isn't this what school is about, though?" I ask. They nod (on day one, kids have very little to say, as they're still feeling us out). "Not in this classroom," I announce. "Let me to show you how things are really different in here." At this point, I share a brief presentation that explains the fundamentals of the results-only classroom. The slides, as you may have guessed, include statements that are in direct contrast to the questions I just asked. The presentation begins.

In our Results Only Learning Environment

1. There is no homework.
2. There is no copying of anything from a textbook or whiteboard.
3. There are no tests or quizzes.
4. There are no classroom rules.
5. Students choose much of what they learn and how they learn it.

At first, there's silence. I give students time to absorb this completely unexpected information, before I ask them what they think. Although some raise their hands, this is where there is plenty of shouting out. "No rules?" "Seriously, you don't assign homework?" "No rules?" "So, I don't have to copy notes? Do I need a notebook?" "You really don't assign any homework?"

Once calm is restored, I explain. "Although I realize most teachers assign homework, my feeling is that homework is not necessary in order for you to demonstrate learning." At this point, there are plenty of furrowed eyebrows, and the whispers begin. "Tests and quizzes are a poor way to evaluate what you know. Too many of the questions are multiple choice, which doesn't tell me if you really know the answer. You will be able to show me what you know in your own way." I explain that this is a project-based class with plenty of time devoted to the completion of work. Students will have a variety of choices on all projects, so they can demonstrate learning the best way they know how. Of course, this is all demonstrated in a web-based presentation with plenty of engaging pictures, graphics, audio, and video and as little from me as possible.

"What about rules?" They can't get this one off their minds. I invite students to look around the room, and I ask, "How many Dos and Don'ts do you see posted?" They see nothing of the kind, because I have none; in fact, my room is quite bare on day one. Since a results-only class is student-centered, I rely on my students to produce most of what goes on the walls. I don't waste time posting rules or asking students to read rules that are unnecessary in a ROLE.

Classroom Make-up Doesn't Matter

While you imagine the potential chaos in a classroom without rules or assume that I have perfect students who never misbehave, let me be clear about a few things. I have a diverse group of 100–120 students each year. In a given school year, roughly 60 percent of my students are minorities, and 10–15 percent have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). About one-third of my students qualify for our free-and-reduced-lunch program. I have students with learning disabilities, students with ADHD, emotionally disturbed students, and students with autism. In spite of this remarkable diversity, I rarely have discipline issues, and I almost never send students to a principal for disciplinary action.

This may be hard to believe, and it definitely wasn't always the case. Back in the my-way-or-the-highway days, I constantly sent students to either our student management room (a euphemism for the detention area) or to the principal in charge of discipline. Remember those all-too-regular dinner conversations when I considered two dismissed students to be a good day? Those conversations are over. Later in this book, I outline simple measures you can take to enjoy the same success with student behavior that I have found in a results-only system. Before you jump ahead, though, take special note of the other parts of a ROLE. It will become apparent that there's not one simple formula to eliminate classroom management issues. Success is not based on an assertive discipline, extrinsic rewards, or a step-by-step program. It is the results-only system that creates a learning environment free from behavior problems.

Let me emphasize here that I steer clear of posted rules and begin the school year talking about mutual respect. This may sound trite, but as we continue, the effectiveness of this system will become transparent. It's more involved than simply announcing on day one that we must respect one another. If I want my students to embrace this approach, then it is critical that I gain their respect on the first day of school. That respect begins with a mutual faith in the Results Only Learning Environment—terminology that is completely foreign to my students in August—which is grounded in a simple list of assertions I make on day one, along with an explanation for how the system affects us all.

Become a Rebel

Remember, I tell my students that we have no homework, no tests, and no rules. More important, I declare that they will be given autonomy. Since they have never known much freedom in the classroom, students immediately see me as a rebel—something that ignites a unique curiosity and excitement in them. As odd and perhaps illogical as this may seem, respect is created immediately because I'm discarding all the procedures that students have been preconditioned to believe are fundamental to every classroom—the very procedures they have grown to detest. Trust hasn't been built yet, but the simple notion that I'm breaking the rules earns me respect, or at least cooperation. This is an enormous accomplishment; when students like and respect you, no matter what the reason may be, they are more inclined to behave appropriately. Most teachers believe that when students are disrespectful, they simply haven't been taught respect at home. In some cases, this is probably true. In my experience, though, no matter how little they may have been taught about respect, even students whom other teachers typically consider disrespectful are cooperative in a Results Only Learning Environment—at least initially because of the rebel approach. There will be a fundamental shift in this attitude, as the year progresses, when students grow to respect the ROLE teacher not just as a rebel teacher but also as the facilitator of a learning system they grow to love. The vision of the rebel will fade, but the respect will remain. The important premise here is that, regardless of whether it's called respect or cooperation, the results-only classroom runs efficiently with little disruption from students.

To underscore the effectiveness of this rebel approach, consider the presentations students typically see on the first day of class. Most teachers begin with introductions, expectations, rules, required texts, and maybe a syllabus. Some even send a letter home to parents, outlining these things. After the first day of my class, most students leave shaking their heads, thinking I'm either very cool or very crazy. Either way, the majority leave liking me. I used to say that it was unimportant if students liked me. They could even believe I was mean, I'd boast to colleagues; I only wanted their respect and their learning. Ironically, I was getting neither. Although it may not be the most important part of teaching, getting students to like you is inherently linked to procuring their cooperation, respect, and learning (Montalvo, Mansfield, & Miller, 2007). Stand in front of them on day one and list the rules and they may not hate you, but they won't immediately like you, either. You may not be the coolest teacher around (I'm certainly not), but take a moment to ask yourself if students think, at the very least, that you're likable. There's plenty of research that says students perform better when they have positive relationships with their teachers (e.g., Marzano & Marzano, 2003; Schaps, 2003; Sullo, 2009), but my own experience is what convinced me. In the my-way-or-the-highway days, students were disruptive and accomplished very little. In the results-only classroom, there are virtually no disruptions and students complete almost every activity I assign.

What Do You Mean There Are No Grades?

Students get more excited when I explain the results-only system and tell them how teaching and assessment work. It's essential that they understand what project-based learning means, so I share some of the first project guidelines with them as models. The summer reading project, which is used to evaluate basic comprehension, writing, and creativity, is set up like a menu with appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Each part of the "meal" contains a variety of choices. This is where autonomy plays such a huge role. Students, just like everyone else, need to be given freedom; they are "meant to be autonomous individuals, not individual automatons" (Pink, 2009, p. 106). Since most of my students don't understand this, explaining autonomy and the choice that accompanies it is important, as is connecting it back to our initial project.

There is usually one student who asks how many points our first project is worth, which I love. If they don't ask, then I pose the question to them. "So, what do you think a project of this magnitude is worth?" Most of them are still thinking about points and grades, so I really shock them when I explain that there are never any points in a Results Only Learning Environment. In my school, report cards are issued four times per year. These are the only grades my students receive, and, as you know from the introduction, they give themselves these quarterly marks. Think back for a moment about poor Sasha and how she painfully decided on her F. When I briefly summarize our summer reading project, I begin explaining how evaluation works.

With as much clarity as possible for the beginning of a new school year, I emphasize that a results-only classroom is founded on three important words: production, feedback, and change. Rather than hand in a project and get it back with a 70/100 and a C grade, I show students how they will receive meaningful narrative feedback on everything they produce. This narrative feedback is the backbone of a results-only class. "Once you receive my feedback," I explain, "you are to make any changes I suggest and resubmit the activity for further evaluation and final comments." This, I tell them, is real teaching and learning—far better than the numbers or letters they are used to receiving. This approach gives students a real chance at mastery learning.

When my students leave on the first day of school, many scratch their heads in confusion, but it is good confusion. They have not seen a list of Dos and Don'ts, and they have not been given any expectations. They've learned about a low-pressure class that comes without the burden of homework, tests, and grades but with the amazing gift of autonomy—something truly rare and unknown to them. They've met an unorthodox teacher who comes across as a bit of a rebel—someone who, in their eyes, lives by a different set of rules. This is someone they like and maybe even respect. They've learned about a Results Only Learning Environment, and although they may not quite understand it, I find that they're certainly willing to give it a try.

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Chapter 2

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Tapping into Intrinsic Motivation

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We have always been told to have motivation, but this type is different. Traditionally, motivation means studying for tests and doing homework on your own time. Yes, this requires independent motivation, but not to the extent that a Results Only Learning Environment does. The type of motivation we are expected to achieve in this environment occurs both in and out of the class. It's built out of trust and freedom. At first, it confused us because we had never been trusted quite like this. Initially, I thought my classmates would abuse the trust, but instead, I saw it made them more motivated to do their work. I think it was the fact that a teacher treated us as though we were adults. What teenager wouldn't want that? As we began doing projects, we learned how feedback worked. I loved the idea of knowing exactly what I did wrong and how I could fix it. Many of my classmates would agree when I say that we long for specific feedback in all of our classes. Overall, in our Language Arts class, we live and breathe intrinsic motivation. We aren't forced to do anything; we truly do it for learning's sake. That's what it's all about. Years from now, I will use the lessons and strategies I have learned in this environment to achieve excellence in academic and extracurricular aspects of my life. Results-only learning was a truly meaningful and nourishing experience in my life. I will never forget it.

—Elizabeth Bullock, 8th grade ROLE student

In a results-only classroom, it is critical for the teacher to encourage intrinsic motivation. In fact, this is probably the single most important component of a ROLE. It's not enough to simply define it for students and tell them to work hard and seek learning for learning's sake, even though this is the ultimate goal. Intrinsic motivation has to be taught, retaught, and emphasized from the first day of school until the last. In a ROLE, this begins with the mantra "production, feedback, change." Students must value narrative feedback as an extension of in-class lessons. They can then take that feedback and change the activity, improving upon it. Once students begin to approach learning this way, they no longer look for or expect points, percentages, or letter grades on their projects and activities. They begin to care only about the final results, which is what this type of education is all about.

You may think that teaching something to be intrinsic is a contradiction in terms. Nevertheless, even though intrinsic motivation comes from within, young people need a little coaching to find it. While my students work on the summer reading project mentioned earlier, I immediately begin my evaluation and feedback, which are key instruments to help them find the motivation that already exists inside them. At the same time, we work on a classroom website that hosts individual sites where students can create multiple pages and post just about any activity or class-related content they wish. The Feedback Toolkit (see Chapter 6) demonstrates how the use of student websites and other web-based tools plays an integral role in the results-only classroom. For now, though, it's important to know that the initial reading project is created on student websites, which is where I post the first narrative feedback students see.

Finding the Motivation Within

Since most students enter my class expecting activities to be worth set point values that ultimately compose the letter grades that go on their report cards, they waste no time looking for this kind of response to their work. Many ask how they did on part of a project before moving on to the next section. I tell them to read my feedback, which comes almost immediately after they complete each section. After quizzical looks, they forge ahead with questions such as, "Okay, but what do you think my score will be?" I remind them that there is no score—only the feedback.

Even though it is an individual project, students naturally progress at different rates, and I eventually have students coach one another. "Lisa just finished the part you're working on," I might tell a struggling student. "Why don't you show her the feedback I gave you, ask her some questions about how she ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Dedication
• Referenced Products
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Rebelling Against Traditional Methods
• Chapter 2. Tapping into Intrinsic Motivation
• Chapter 3. Letting Go of Homework and Worksheets
• Chapter 4. Teaching the ROLE Way
• Chapter 5. Moving from Grades to Feedback: Say It, Write It, Listen to It
• Chapter 6. Evaluating While Evolving
• Chapter 7. Reviewing Performance
• Chapter 8. Testing? No Problem
• Chapter 9. Disciplining Students? Forget About It
• Chapter 10. Joining the Movement: Transform Your School
• Chapter 11. Considering the Possibilities
• References
• About the Authors
• An ASCD Study Guide
• Related ASCD Resources
• Copyright