Kim Frencken: Why can't we just focus on doing what works and teach kids?

What is so terribly wrong with traditional school that every trend seems to be intent on changing it?

You can't even whisper that you like traditional school for fear of being banished into the next galaxy. If you're not on board with all the latest teaching and grading practices, it must be time for you to retire.

Wait a minute! What happened to common sense? To keeping things that worked? Why aren't we listening to educators? 

 Since when did we stop valuing the opinion of seasoned (or veteran) educators in favor of articles written by someone who has never set foot into a classroom, a professional student?

I agree that some things need to change. That is true in any profession or culture. Rapping kids across the knuckles probably wasn't the best discipline method, but we still need discipline. Talking about making good choices doesn't always work. Sometimes an old-fashioned bit of persuasion does the trick.

Labeling kids should be outdated. In fact it should never have made it to the classroom, but it did. Actually it was once one of the hot trends that teachers were forced to utilize in their classroom. Kinda scary, huh? Forcing a teacher to call a kid a bluebird or a sparrow based on their reading ability. But it was a trend and it was practiced in many elementary rooms across the U.S.

Investigative learning and research isn't something new. In fact, it's been around for years. It works. It has lasted the gauntlet of educational trials and found to be worthy. Teachers have found that giving students a chance to explore and investigate on their own gives students ownership of their learning and helps them dig deeper. Now it has a new name. Project-based learning.

Grades with meaning. Grades that signify what a learner knows and what they need to know. Grades have been controversial since the beginning. Someone got upset that their darling got a U instead of an M and things started changing. That U became a B or a C and the M turned into an A, which has now become a 4 and the U is now a 2. Make sense? Not much. It doesn't matter what letter or number a grade is, if there isn't an explanation with it. My B's were an incentive for me to try just a little harder and put in more effort (growth mindset) so that I could earn an A. A grade is a grade is a grade. If it isn't earned, it doesn't stand for much.

So, are we really changing traditional school or are we simply renaming some of the practices? Are we throwing out tested methods to try new innovations? Or are we just trying to put a fresh spin on old things? In some cases, we're throwing out methods that should be kept and renaming others. We're shaming veteran educators for using old terminology and pushing new ones to keep up. Why can't we just focus on doing what works and teach kids?

(For more of Kim Frencken's writing and information about her educational products, check out her blog, Chocolate For the Teacher.)