A great post and a wonderful conversation is going on at ASCD Inservice on Myths That Haunt Students.  The article summarizes a session at ASCD led by author Allison Zmuda at which she posed three common myths that hurt student achievement. Most classroom teachers will readily recognize these myths, as the commentary on ASCD testifies.

The one that seems to resonate the most with readers (me included) was that students: "see learning that comes quickly as a sign of intelligence and learning that requires effort as a sign of their own lack of ability."

This myth is pervasive among students at all levels, including high-achievers or honor students. The students (and parents) in my honors English classes could be the most difficult to deal with about doing multiple drafts, research papers, or other tasks that could not be accomplished or understood quickly. One reason I loved mixed classes was that average and struggling students were actually encouraged to see that everyone has challenges with some aspects of learning. I would (and still) advise parents to be wary if the only grade their child ever brings home is an "A."  That's great, if it's earned, but too often it's a signal that a student is not being exposed to anything new, challenging, or complex.

How many students (and not a few teachers) labor under the false notion that fast equals smart? Perhaps it's a response to our times--everything should be available instantly, no waiting. What have we done to help foster among our own children and our students a real work ethic? It takes more than a speech on self-esteem to keep working at that math problem or rewriting that draft; it takes self-discipline.

I was reminded of this at, of all places, my bowling league's annual awards banquet. All of us are 50++ and I'm the only one who grew up in an urban setting. One-by-one, we shared our experiences of growing up, doing daily chores before and after school. For the most part, we did not immediately get any benefits for this work (although there were significant penalties for not doing them), and most of the time, these chores had to be done properly, not sloppily rushed. We reflected on how those experiences carried over into other areas of our lives. School, job, bowling.

Where do today's children get the opportunity to develop a patient, work-at-it-till-you-get-it-done-right attitude? What are we doing in our classrooms to encourage (or discourage) disciplined learning. (In case you haven't guessed, I like that word disciplined.) Disciplined learning is rich, rewarding, life-changing acquisition and application of knowledge. These are the lessons that stick long after the state test or the marking period.

My TLN colleague, Anthony Cody, raised similar questions in a recent editorial he did for the Mercury News ("Rising scores may not mean students are learning more"):

Often, instruction is done in the style of the exam so that students become accustomed to choosing which of four options is correct on a multiple-choice test, or responding to short writing prompts.

I spoke with an elementary teacher at one such school, recently recognized for improving their scores. Many of her fifth-grade students have become disengaged by the relentless test preparation. Lessons focus on discrete skills in reading and math, while larger thematic units and hands-on investigations in science and social studies have been cut because they do not directly improve test scores.

But these deeper projects give students a sense of accomplishment, allowing them to delve into a subject in depth, and developing their abilities in art, speaking and critical thinking. Losing them is stealing much of the joy - and true rigor - from our classrooms.

I know from my own experiences and those of other outstanding teachers that it is possible to provide such learning experiences for students AND get those much-desired test results. How does it look where you are: Is disciplined (or rigorous) learning lost in our classrooms? (Some might argue it was never there). Are we perpetuating the speed=smart myth among our students?