District Administrator's Corner

by Loren Glasbrenner River Valley School District Administrator The pandemic has provided us with support for teaching and learning; we have also garnered our share of opposition. I hear from my friends and family, “Have you thought about…” and, “If I were a teacher …” This also leads to, “If kids would just ... (insert any criticism here)..., then all would be better.” What is really hard to listen to is the deficit thinking beyond this statement.  The River Valley School District cannot just exclude some of the kids because they don’t learn it the first time, the quickest way, or using the easiest method. We educate all learners—every single one that comes to us. We accept their talents, their quirks, their individuality—we don’t get to teach one way to the masses and expect success. We ensure learning by adapting structures and practices to the student needs while balancing high expectations. As a kid, my paternal grandparents milked cows up on Pleasant Ridge in Crawford County. Imagine a time when the herd was small enough to know the personalities of every cow and which bovine responded to people differently. My grandfather could never milk one certain cow that was on the end of the barn—but my grandmother could. Her name was Dynamite, due to the rapid reaction of her back leg. She habitually kicked, and we were warned every time we walked near her. I can still picture in my mind’s eye, my grandmother talking to Dynamite as she walked confidently into her stall to use the electric milker. My grandmother—the quiet, gentle and passive person—was able to “speak her language” and better meet that cow’s needs in order to be productive. So yes, I just compared teaching to milking cows. But, if you understand cows, you know that they also react very differently to different situations and different people. It is the same with learning. Teachers continue to follow these three researched beliefs: 1. Learning is crucial. a. Elementary literacy learning is an indicator for future success (aecf.org) b. Students can understand the destination of a lesson…what to learn, how to learn it, and how to demonstrate their growth (Moss & Brookhart, 2009) c. Learning is the focus, not the teaching (Little, 1998; Damm, 2000; Joseph, 2009) 2. All students can learn. a. When all participants agree that potential is inevitable, it is more likely (Buffum, et.al 2018) b. Learning is complicated and all students are different (Reuell, 2019) 3. The River Valley School District can overcome outside factors. a. School makes a difference in a student’s life (Williams and Hierck, 2015) b. Students who think their schools are more supportive exhibit lower levels of behavioral and psychological problems (Eccles, Frasier, Belansky, and McCarthy, 1997)  In the spirit of old Dynamite, we have to speak their language. We have to recognize that a focus on the outcome, understood by each participant, and handled carefully, can change our path to success.