Notetaking - What Do I Write...errr..Type in My Notebook?

During my brief stint in law school, note taking was often a frustrating proposition. Professors were committed to a Socratic method of questioning, and rarely, if ever, gave definitive answers. Finally, midway through the year, one of my first year law classmates threw down her notebook in class and said "What the hell am I supposed to write in my notebook?", left the class, and never returned. Even accomplished students grapple with the best system for note taking.

This morning the topic of note taking came up in department meetings, and recently there has been much discussion regarding handwritten notes vs. typewritten notes (on a laptop or device). The journal Psychological Science recently published research indicating that recall is better when notes are taken by hand than when kept via a keyboarding system. The cognitive process one goes through to evaluate spoken words and form associations and abbreviations seems to engage the mind in a way that typing notes verbatim does not accomplish. The study compared recall results of two groups after listening to a series of TED talk lectures on information that was of interest, but not widely or generally known. One group took notes by hand with paper and pen, while the other used keyboards to keep typewritten notes. The paper and pen group performed better, leading to a conclusion that this method might be the better choice for students. (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/take-notes-by-hand-for-better-long-term-comprehension.html)  Interestingly, the study did not consider a third group of students who took no notes but sat and listened. Some researchers believe in the “Distraction Hypothesis”, which posits that the act of taking notes is a distraction and that people are better off engaging in active listening. There does not seem to be any conclusive evidence that this is so.

In terms of implications for our students, the question then arises as to whether we should mandate a particular approach to taking notes, or conversely, “outlaw” typewritten notes. Like all learning preferences, it’s important that students find the method that works for them. Learning is not a “one size fits all” proposition, and students finding an organizational method that works for them is more important than the methodology they employ. There are certainly some benefits of typewritten notes – digitally stored notes are easily searchable, can be cut and pasted, can easily include images, charts and graphs, and can be taken via a web-based platform such as Evernote so that they are accessible from any internet enabled device. Conversely, typewritten notes are significantly less effective in areas such as math and science that might include symbols and shapes that are difficult to replicate digitally. Perhaps the best “hybrid” option is taking handwritten notes with a stylus on a tablet or touch screen device. These notes can be stored electronically, can be uploaded into applications like Evernote which use recognition software to convert them to typed format, or to make them searchable, and images can be captured easily and included with notes. After looking at this research, this is a method I’m going to try, and I encourage everyone to consider all of the possible options to maximize note taking efficiency.

The research published in Psychological Science and conducted by Princeton and UCLA researchers doesn’t explicitly recommend that students never use keyboards to take notes. Blogger Daniele Walker writes, "This research by Princeton and UCLA does not suggest that students should never use keyboards to take notes. Rather, it warns against transcribing lectures verbatim rather than closely listening as the pitfall of electronic notes. This, they say, is what causes digital notes to slip through the cracks of students’ brains. The experimenters explicitly told typists not to transcribe lectures verbatim, with almost no luck. “ (http://www.ecnmag.com/blog/2014/02/digital-or-handwritten-note-taking-debate). Perhaps the issue is more how we teach students to take notes (or perhaps how we don’t), it’s a topic of great interest and importance to our students.

There are a lot of great note taking systems out there. For example, for those of you unfamiliar with the Cornell note taking system, here is an example of an outstanding model http://lsc.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Cornell-Note_Taking-System.pdf. Regardless of the mechanism used for taking notes, the organizational and study skill pedagogies are perhaps most important.

Like most things we do, the practice of note taking, and the tips and instructions we give, can stand some examination. Not all notes are equal, and not all methods return the desired results. Perhaps most important is knowing what to write, or type, in our notebooks...

Senioritis, Project Learning, and What They Have in Common...

Today marked the first day of what we call "senior project", or "project", at Detroit Country Day School. Each of our seniors seeks and finds a job shadowing type "project" experience with a professional / expert in fields of interest, and spends the next several weeks immersed in a work environment. It really is the ultimate example of a "project learning" experience as students have the opportunity to see first hand the application of the many lessons, academic and otherwise, that have been part of their experience at Detroit Country Day School. These projects will culminate with a "fair" style day on June 8th, during which our seniors will present their experiences to an audience of parents, faculty, fellow students, project hosts, and community members.

"Senioritis" is the term often used to refer to the kind of itch seniors have to leave high school. It sets in at different times for different people, but generally, sometime after first semester exams seniors at every high school across the country exhibit symptoms. Students care less about homework, grades and school, and more about what lies ahead - and that's natural. This itch to explore, to see the world, and to know what's beyond the cocoon of high school is a natural evolution. Senior project represents a safe, protected way to allow our students an immersion experience in the "real world".

Project can go many different ways. Some students come away with an experience that completely validates everything they thought they wanted in life after high school. Some students go on project, and are immediately disillusioned with what they find the real world application of their chosen area of interest to be. Other students go on project, discover that what they thought they wanted to pursue was not quite right, but then find something tangential that does fit their interests and aptitude. 

"Project Based Learning" or "PBL" is a buzz phrase and approach in education today, and like many acronyms or ideas, it begins to lose meaning when deconstructed. Still, the process of discovery, prototyping and refining is at the core of almost every truly valuable learning experience. Through our senior project experience, many of our students gain the opportunity to explore that was missing in the confines of a classroom. Each year seniors will say that project was the best experience of their high school career.

Students don't need to be seniors to be immersed in lessons of the world outside of school. In fact, those lessons are perhaps even more meaningful than some of the lessons of the classroom. Senior project, its success, and its impact on our seniors should teach us that implementing immersion / project experiences is valuable. When we can control these experiences, and create a safe framework for exploration, project experiences are incredibly powerful.

Please join us on June 8th from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at the Upper School to see our senior projects on display, and to spend time with and talk to the amazing graduates of the Class of 2015. You will be impressed, and more importantly, you will be part of their learning experience as they relate their adventures putting into application that which they have learned, and "scratching the itch" of their senioritis...

Matadors

"There are many people who think they want to be matadors, only to find themselves in the ring with two thousand pounds of bull bearing down on them, and then discover what they really wanted was to wear tight pants and hear the crowd roar." - Terry Pearce

Leadership is not an easy thing. There as many different theories regarding leadership as there are leaders and organizations, maybe more. In educational strategic plans, mission and vision statements, and character education curricula, there is significant focus on the role of schools in developing "leaders of tomorrow". Clearly defining the elements of great leadership is not easy, because there are many successful and different ways to lead. Not unlike the classic Justice Potter Stewart definition of obscenity, "...I know it when I see it..." (Jacobellis v. Ohio, 1964), great leadership is often in the eye of the beholder.

The other night my 8th grade daughter had a homework assignment to interview an adult regarding World War II. Apparently my inability to take an in-focus selfie has led her to believe that I might be old enough to have memory of life in the forties, so I became the subject of her interview. One of the questions was "Do you think Adolf Hitler was a great leader?". Now, by many definitions of leadership, one might characterize Hitler as a successful leader. He was enormously successful in gaining followers, and in crafting a horrific plan, but the objectives of his leadership were so heinous that the negative implications of his leadership far outweigh the successes of his efforts. In assisting students to develop leadership qualities, it's important that we emphasize not just processes, qualities and procedures of leadership, but philosophies and development of an individual moral compass.

Paul "Bear" Bryant once said that "Good leaders take more than their share of the blame, and less than their share of the credit." At Detroit Country Day School we place an emphasis on learning to be part of a team. Every student plays interscholastic athletics and / or participates in an extracurricular team environment such as robotics, yearbook, newspaper, theater etc. These experiences are invaluable. Collaborative work environments are not the exception in the 21st century, they are the norm. Students who leave here with experiences in sacrificing for others and working towards a greater group good have an advantage over those who don't learn those lessons at a young age. Rarely is a leader more valued than when he or she recognizes the efforts of the team in securing positive results. Giving and sharing credit to teammates is an essential core competency of leadership. 

Finally, one of the most important lessons for our students is that "wearing the shiny pants" doesn't make one a leader. Leaders have to have strength of character, perseverance, and thick skin. They have to be willing to do whatever it takes for the team's success, even when that is not personally easy. One of my former mentors was fond of saying "If no one's mad at you, you probably haven't made any decisions recently." The point is that if there were no decisions to be made, there would be no need for leaders. Leaders who have developed a team first attitude, who put the success of the team ahead of their personal needs, who give credit, and who have developed a strong philosophical approach and individual moral compass will most often make the right call - even with 2000 lbs. of bull heading their way! 

Of all the things we teach, putting students in positions to grow as leaders, and developing the competencies that make one successful as a member of a team, may be the most important. As for the would be matadors, it's important to remember that some days, no matter how hard we work, the bull can get the best of us. We have to learn to fail in order to lead. Learning to minimize damage, dust ourselves off, and come back for more is an essential part of developing leadership skills. Leaders have to be willing to fight for those things that are meaningful, and be willing to fail occasionally along the way. Those skills are great skills to impart to our children.

Mostly, we have to teach our future leaders that to hear the roar of the crowd, they're going to face a lot of bull...

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others." Robert Louis Stevenson

Winds of....Evolution

Somewhere along the way, "change" became a dirty word. In American school culture, the structure of which has remained mainly the same over the past fifty to sixty years, change is almost sacrilege. Perhaps the negative connotation of "change" is due to its inherently being instituted, as opposed to developing organically. Perhaps a more appropriate term for what must take place in schools is evolution.

Evolution is generally accepted as change that occurs over time, moving unseen like the hands of a clock, and represented by survival of the fittest organisms or ideas. In the world of education, that evolution has begun to occur exponentially in response to a rapidly evolving world. The rate of evolution in today's digital age is, at times, astonishing. Schools focus on trying to keep up, when instead, the goal of education should be to jump ahead.

It's not practical to think that schools can keep up with the rate of evolution occurring in technology, or even society, today. What is incumbent upon us as educators, is to give our students the fundamental skills needed to function in a variety of change / evolving environments, and then give them practice applying those skills to unique and unfamiliar problems.

I recently went with a group of students to see the movie Interstellar. It's a fascinating film in many different ways, but what really occurred to me in the context of this "science-fictiony" film was to question whether the science of the movie was realistic. Is it theoretically possible to travel through time and space by bending time? Is it theoretically possible that there are multiple dimensions that exist simultaneously? In order to answer these questions, one would need not only a fundamental knowledge of mathematics and physics, but an incredibly creative / adaptive mind, suitable for applying those fundamental skills to complex questions. Beyond the science of the movie, are the sociological, ethical, and philosophical questions. As the world evolves, the level of complexity of these issues grows.

As schools evolve, we will have to grapple with what level of fundamental skill is appropriate, and whether those skills have to be acquired in traditional ways, or can be acquired along the way in experiential, participatory learning models. Balance in all things is important, and certainly the balance between skill, content, and adaptation is a delicate one. Preparing our students for college, and for the world beyond college requires that we have taught them to be ahead of evolutionary arcs by fostering in them creative, visionary minds.

Early 20th century inventor Nikola Tesla said, "It is paradoxical, yet true, to say that the more we know, the more ignorant we become in the absolute sense, for it is only through enlightment that we become conscious of our limitations. Precisely one of the most gratifying results of intellectual evolution is the continuous opening up of new and greater prospects."

Here's to the continuous opening of new and greater prospects through educational evolution...

Vision 2020

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that "People only see what they are prepared to see". Preparing our students to "see" in the future requires tremendous forethought and preparation. Detroit Country Day School has been engaged in a nearly year long process to develop the Strategic Plan that will guide the school through the next seven years. The mission of the Strategic Planning process has been to create a blueprint for the success of the school and our school's future for the next seven years and beyond, and has included input from all faculty, staff, administration, and from students and parents as well.

Two weeks ago, our Board of Trustees adopted the overarching one page Strategic Plan, Vision 2020. This one page document provides the philosophical underpinnings of our school and its future, and identifies our three pillars as Academics, Athletics and the Arts, with a foundation of Character as the base for all we do. Now that this document has been approved, our various constituent groups are working on the specific action plans that fall under each goal statement. These action plans are intended to be specific, actionable items with a pre-determined metric for success.

We are excited about the direction developed through the Strategic Planning Process, and look forward to the development of action plans to bring this comprehensive plan to reality.

The Middle of the Race

This weekend members of our cross-country team ran at the State Finals. Coach Winter asked me to address the team Friday, which I was happy to do. Among my many coaching experiences, I spent ten years coaching track and field. One of the things I always stressed to my athletes was running the middle of the race with a special intensity. Most runners can start with energy, and when the finish line is in sight, most can finish hard. Many, many races are won (and lost) in the middle.

 

As I told the kids, a great analogy is the school year. At the beginning of the year, everyone excitedly shops for the special school supplies that are going to keep them organized and on top of their classes. That special Trapper Keeper, the new laptop or tablet, the color coded notebooks and pens - all start to go by the wayside for many students when we enter the fourth or fifth week of school. Then, at the end of a grading period, every student puts on a frantic finish. They cram at the end of the goal or marking period, beg for extra credit, and try to squeeze every last point out of their teachers. Almost everyone starts well and finishes hard, it's the time in between that defines success.

 

As we reach the end of this year's first goal, it's a good reminder that we are entering the "middle" of this school year's "race". Now is the time for students to bear down, make an extra effort, and really become engaged in what is happening in each of their classes. Often, the race is won in the middle...

2020 Vision

Historically, predicting the future of education in America has been pretty simple. Looking into a crystal ball and predicting "more of the same" for the schooling of children in this country would have been a pretty safe, and pretty lucrative, way to make a living over time. Nevertheless, we are now in a time of unprecedented change in the way instruction is being delivered, and in the ways in which it will be delivered in the future. Detroit Country Day School will be a leading voice in shaping the best practices in the educational future of our country and the world.

 

During the 2012/2013 school year, DCDS began laying the groundwork for building a new Strategic Plan for all aspects of the school's future. We started with the surveying of faculty and staff, then students and parents, and finally kicked off Strategic Planning in the fall with back to school meetings that involved members of the Board of Trustees, our school administration, and all faculty and staff. Our goal is to create a vision and a plan for the execution of that vision that will carry us through the year 2020. The working vision statement is to "Be the globally recognized leader in innovative educational excellence", and various stakeholder groups of the school are working together to build the plan that will support that vision.

 

During a lunch meeting today, members of the board, our Headmaster, the leadership of each academic division of the school, and the teacher members of the Curriculum Leadership Council (CLC) met to discuss our plans and goals for the academic pillar of our school. The level of engagement demonstrated by our board, administration, faculty and staff has been tremendous in the planning process, and today was no exception. As we worked to build a vision of what our school will be in the year 2020 and beyond, it was immediately clear that the schools of tomorrow will not closely resemble the schools of yesterday. DCDS will be a leader in shaping the new future of education in the world.

 

More than ever in the history of the world, we must prepare our students to be global citizens. The world is more connected, or "flatter", than ever, and preparing students to be productive citizens of such a world presents unique challenges. We must prepare students to creatively solve problems which we cannot yet imagine. We must prepare students to not only use technology, but to build and create new technologies. We mustn't lose sight of our obligation to one another as humans, and to our planet, and sustainability of our resources - both human and otherwise, will be of critical importance. Our 2020 Vision is for a school that does all those things and more, without compromising the values and traditions that make Country Day unique.

 

The soothsayer looks into the future to see what will happen to us, the visionaries look into the future to shape it. At DCDS our goal is to build an innovative instructional environment that maintains traditional values. Traditional values and innovative instructional excellence will shape a new model for delivering instruction that will sustain our school, our nation and the world. That's having "20/20" vision...