The importance of trust

The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer indicates that during the pandemic, global levels of trust have decreased significantly.  The decrease in trust creates an issue that urgently needs to be addressed by school leaders.  The Edelman survey shows that across the board, trust has declined in virtually every sector and country.  

How does trust function in schools?

     Trust plays an essential role in our relationships with each other.  We make decisions based on the level of trust that we extend to others in the relationship. Student-teacher trust is essential for creating an environment where students feel safe to learn through trying and correcting their errors (Lemov, 2021).  When thinking about trust it is important to consider the family as a whole. Trust between students and their families and their teachers has a large effect size on student achievement (Hoy, Hoy, & Kurz, 2008).

When students and their parents trust their teachers the student will work harder for that teacher.Also when a problem arises the parents will reach out to that teacher to help solve the problem and a more positive outcome will be reached for the student.  All year I have been communicating with a mother about her child, we spent several hours in Zoom meetings. Honestly, it really seemed like the mother was experiencing a lot of stress and needed to feel heard. As the end of the term approached her student had started to stop turning in work and even showing up for class. I put a call into her mom, it was refreshing to hear her mom's response which ultimately ended in the student passing my class.  When a trusting relationship exists between teachers and the student's family, everyone is working together to support student achievement.  

So how do teachers build trust with students and their families? 

Piats and Ehmer (2020), discuss the importance of building the social capital of students' families through interacting with the schools' staff.  They provide some ideas:

• Provide several different ways for families to increase their social ties to teachers and the school in general.  
• Utilize social media to engage parents and students.  Obviously, this needs to be done wisely.
• Work on providing ways for parents and students to participate in teacher networks.  (Piats & Ehmer, 2020).

Perhaps the thing that educators need to be most aware of is the importance of working to overcome the barriers to trust associated with social distancing.  At one time building social capital with families may have been a natural part of teaching.  With the restrictions associated with Covid 19, educators need to be more purposefully, interactive with the families they serve. 

References

Hoy, A. W., Hoy, W. K., & Kurz, N. M. (2008). Teacher's academic optimism: The development and test of a new construct. Teaching and teacher education, 24(4), 821-835.

Lemov, D. (2021). Teach Like a Champion 3.0: 63 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College. John Wiley & Sons

Pitas, N., & Ehmer, C. (2020). Social Capital in the Response to COVID-19. American Journal of Health Promotion, 34(8), 942–944. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117120924531

Quick & Easy Strategy

morphology: the study of  the patterns of word-formation within and across languages.

Morph Latin meaning “form” or ”shape”

+

Ology = study of

Here is a good idea: teach students the Latin or Greek root words when a difficult word comes up in your curriculum.  Several studies indicate that this benefit both English language learners and native English speaking students when reading English (Crosson & Moore, 2017; Ramirez, Chen, Geva, & Kiefer, 2010).  It also helps students to learn Spanish.   If you need assistance with the meaning of roots, I like membean.com. 

References

Crosson, A. C., & Moore, D. (2017). When to take up roots: The effects of morphology instruction for middle school and high school English learners. Reading Psychology, 38(3), 262-288.

Ramirez, G., Chen, X., Geva, E., & Kiefer, H. (2010). Morphological awareness in Spanish-speaking English language learners: Within and cross-language effects on word reading. Reading and Writing, 23(3-4), 337-358.

CELL PHONES IN THE CLASSROOM?

  

How should smartphones be used in the classroom?

Internet-based technology has reached a point where students are constantly connected to the answers.  While the answer that they find may not be an accurate answer, chances are that students can find some information to help them.  A recent Harris poll (2014) revealed that while over 53% of elementary students, 66% of middle school students, and 82% of high school students owned a smartphone; yet, only 42% report using their smartphone for school work. 

When addressing the use of cell phones in the classroom educators and students can have vastly different opinions.  Teachers over 50 tend to view cell phones as a distraction more than an educational tool in the classroom, whereas younger, presumably more “tech-savvy” teachers tend to be more open to the use of smartphones (O'bannon & Thomas, 2014).  Smartphone ownership is associated with age, income, and education level in a predictable pattern (See Table 1; Anderson, 2015).  There is still a digital divide associated with SES and living in rural communities (Anderson, 2015).

            Obviously, non-academic cellphone use can distract from student learning.  Students k-12 who participated in the Harris Poll (2015), reported that the majority of students prefer using tablets and laptops for collaborating with other students (Harris Poll 2015).  Hispanic students are much more likely to use mobile technologies in school than African Americans or Caucasians (Harris Poll, 2015).  Despite the potential to use smartphones for more than an endless pool of knowledge to find answers, it seems that web 2.0 and 3.0 applications are not used in the classroom. 

Table 1:Smartphone Ownership 2015
	Smartphone Ownership	Computer Ownership
Age
18-29	86%	78%
30 -49	83%	81%
50-64	58%	70%
65 +	30%	50%
Income Level
<$30,000	52%	50%
$30,001-49,999	69%	80%
$50,000- 74,999	76%	90%
$75,000	87%	91%
Education Level
Less than HS	41%	29%
High School	56%	63%
Some College	75%	81%
College +	81%	90%
Adopted from Anderson, M. (2015). Technology Ownership 2015.  Pew Research Center. Retrieved from  http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/the-demographics-of-device-ownership/

In preparing students for their future, they will need to not only find answers but also evaluate sources.  Students will use technology for collaboration and complex problem-solving.  Yet, this is not what they are learning in the classroom.  This raises some questions that need to be addressed by educators:

1. Does the curriculum taught in schools support Web 2.0 (collaboration) and Web 3.0 (intersection) technologies?  A Web 3.0 application might be using Google Maps and Earth to learn about how city capital buildings are positioned in different parts of the country, or following the movement of a character in a novel.

2.  What encourages teachers to use Web 2.0 or Web 3.0 applications in instruction?

3.  When does using technology for collaboration and problem solving become a necessary skill set?

4. Why are students turning away from smartphones and tablets in favor of a laptop for schoolwork? 

References

Anderson, M. (2015). Technology device ownership 2015 Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/the-demographics-of-device-ownership/

O'bannon, B. W., & Thomas, K. (2014). Teacher perceptions of using mobile phones in the classroom: Age matters! Computers & Education, 74, 15-25.

Harris Poll (2014). Pearson student mobile device survey 2014. https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/us/en/pearson-ed/downloads/2015-Pearson-Student-Mobile-Device-Survey-Grades-4-12.pdf