A Tribute to our Technology Coach

I have mentioned Laura Warmke, our technology coach many times in previous posts.  Since this is the last month that she will be employed by our school, I'd like to take this chance to make a post solely in tribute to her.

Laura Warmke came to GRACE as the media specialist.  If you are over forty, this is the person you would have called the librarian; but the job has grown significantly enough to change the title.  She was fantastic at the "library" part of the job.  I don't think I've ever mentioned a book she hadn't already read.  She could converse as easily about young adult literature as she could about historical fiction or books or medical history.  She encouraged reading for pleasure in our students.

Laura also noticed a need in our school.  The year she joined us was the second year in our one-to-one program, and we had hit a bit of a plateau.  It was clear to Laura that we needed cultivation if we were going to continue to grow.  While at a conference, she heard about a professional development program that another school had used with their teachers.  Along with other members of our IT department (Shout Out to Diane Scro), Laura developed a program for us called Level Up.

Level Up was about learning and adopting new tools for people at different levels.  When adopting a new tech program, it's important to realize that some of your people are savvy and others are less so.  We are also a K-12 school, so how each teacher implemented technology in their classroom was going to be pedagogically different.  Recognizing this, Diane and Laura developed missions for different grade levels and different tools.  Each teacher could choose which mission they wanted to accomplish.  Some were as simple as watching a TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson; others were as ambitious as flipping your classroom.  There was a wide range in between of just trying a new tool (Animoto, Canva, Storybird, etc.) with your students.  When you completed the mission, you went into a discussion board on our school's LMS and posted.  I really enjoyed looking at the posts of other teachers as well because I work with creative people.  For every tool, someone had used it in a way I had not thought of, and I was able to enhance my use of it as a result.  After completing the discussion board post, the teacher was given a badge on a poster board in the teacher's lounge.  I know that sounds a little elementary school, but I found it motivating.

When Laura moved to the midwest because she wanted to be with her husband or something, we didn't have to lose her awesome influence.  She continued to be our technology coach, meeting with each teacher once per quarter to discuss the integration of technology, talk through project ideas, help us look for a management tool or website platform, or help us process what we learned at a technology conference.  Level Up was difficult to maintain at a distance (and because she was raising two kids or whatever), so Laura changed things up.  She set up a schedule for teachers to present short presentations on tech tools during faculty meetings.  Each week, we got a 2-3 minute presentation from a peer on some tool that either had used or planned to use in their classroom.  Through these presentations, I've learned some new mind mapping tools, a digital museum tool, and Quizzes (a great replacement for Kahoot if you are no longer find that a valuable review tool).

After two years of distance coaching, Laura has decided it is time to invest in her local community and have some local here at GRACE.  While we understand that logic, we will miss her influence greatly.  I have said it before, and I'll say it again.  She made us better teachers, and I have no higher compliment to give.

Blood Saves

I was seventeen years old and wandered past the gym at school.  When I saw that it was a blood drive, I turned left and went in.  My mom had talked about giving blood when we were kids, and I figured I probably had good blood.  I didn't know that this little left turn would become a lifelong commitment to blood donation.

I continued to give throughout college, minus a few months when I was slightly anemic from eating like a college student.  Considering my steady diet of Doritos and Three Musketeers Bars, I wasn't eating the iron rich diet my blood would have liked.  I chain donate, signing up for my next donation in the appointment book on the table at my appointment.  When I moved back home, my mom and I started donating together.  Mom has type A positive while I am O negative.  We have been turned away a couple of times, and I had to stop giving for one year after going to Zambia; but for the most part, we have been donating blood every eight weeks for the past 14 years.

I have written before about how much I enjoy setting goals and then trying to achieve them.  Whether it is paying off debt or walking long distances, it is fun to be aiming at something.  Three years ago, I did some math and figured out that I could make it to my 100th pint by my 40th birthday if I didn't have any unusual issues.  I made it a goal.  Tonight I donated my 100th pint of blood.  I was supposed to have completed it in February; but 2/3 of the way into the donation, my blood stopped flowing.  There is a time limit, at which point they give up on your pint, so I was stuck at 99 until now.



I don't want to make this post about me.  I want to make it about what blood can do.  First, a few facts:
- Every 2 seconds, someone in the United States needs blood.  That's over 43000 needs per day.
- There is no such thing as artificial blood.  If you need blood, you must get it from a person.
- If there is an emergency, and your blood type is not known, you will receive O negative.  It's the
  only one they can be sure won't kill you.
- A single car accident victim may require up to 100 units of blood.
- 9.2 million Americans donate 15.7 million pints per year.
- Because blood can be separated into components, one donation can help save up to three lives.
- Some of your blood components will be restored in your body in as little as 24 hours (plasma and
  platelets). Other components (red blood cells) will take a couple of weeks to regenerate.
- The shelf-life of blood is 42 days.  Donors are allowed to give every 56 days.

Another interesting thing to know is that, while 38% of Americans are eligible to give blood, only 10% actually do.  I read recently that if that number went up by only 2%, there would never be a shortage of available blood.  If you are reading this and have never given blood, I would encourage you to try.  Find a blood donation center and make an appointment.  They will be very nice to you and encourage you throughout the process; they'll even give you a cookie when you are finished.  You may find that it wasn't as scary as you thought and become a regular donor yourself.

I talk to my students about blood donation because, even though most of them are not old enough to give, they will be one day.  I would like to think that they will remember this as a way to help people and show God's love.  You may not have money to donate to charity, but you always have blood.  I even devote one wall of my classroom to blood donation.  The most frequent questions my students ask are "Does it hurt?" and "Do you get dizzy?"  I have experienced very little pain.  There is a moment of stinging when the needle is first inserted, coming from the anticoagulant in the needle.  After that, gravity takes over.  I have had a couple of odd instances where my blood clotted or a bit of skin was caught in the needle, preventing blood flow.  As for dizziness, that usually depends on my level of hydration.  If I drink enough water on the day of my donation, I usually have no issues at all.  On the occasions when I have not had enough water, I do sometimes feel woozy.  Once I just laid down in the middle of the kitchen floor and put my feet in a chair.  That'll teach you to hydrate, for sure.  None of that lasts longer than a few seconds.

Oh, I do get one more question from my kids pretty often.  They always want to know if I get paid.  I do not believe in getting paid to donate something I have in abundance for free.  To me, that would be the equivalent of taking my coat to the local shelter and offering to sell it to them rather than give it.  My healthy blood is a gift from God and should be treated as such.

The most important thing I want to say is this.  My blood can save a physical life, but my blood can only save your physical life.  I obviously find this important as I am writing about it, but it is not of ultimate importance.  What is of ultimate importance is the blood of Christ.  It saves your soul.  Donating blood is valuable and gives life, but receiving His blood is critical and the ONLY way to receive eternal life.

Introvert and Extroverts

I am an extrovert.  Anyone who has ever met me would agree.  I'm loud, and I talk all the time.  While neither of those is the definition of extrovert, they are certainly signs.  I don't like small talk and schmoozing at our annual meet and greet, so I must be on the mild end of extroversion; but if I spend more than one day at home alone, I get a little stir crazy.  Last year, we had 3 snow days following a four-day weekend, and I was about to lose my mind before we got back to school.

As a teacher, I have a blend of personality types in my classes - extroverts and introverts, verbal processors and artistic processors, kids with autism and kids who are social butterflies.  Those that are not like me are harder for me to understand, but I must still give them what they need.  It is not loving to care well only for those who are like yourself, so I must learn to care for my introverts.  Some of my favorite students have been introverts, once I figured out a way to get to know them without talking.

If you are like me and are looking for a resource to help you understand your introverts, I recommend the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain.  If that's too much reading for you, let me recommend her TED Talk.  A self-professed introvert, she will give you a glimpse contributions that introverts have made in our world and let you see that they are busy mentally while the extroverts are busy verbally.

As I listened to her talk the first time, it occurred to me that this is one of my pendulum swings in education.  Education is always trying to address the needs of some group that has been marginalized when the pendulum was swinging the other way.  For decades, we treated school as a quiet place where students only listened and rarely spoke.  If a teacher assigned a group project, that teacher was considered extreme.  This left the extroverts feeling anxious.  As the educational system started analyzing who they weren't serving well, they made radical changes.  Now, it is odd for students to have a solo assignment.  Collaboration is the default position.  Desks are in pods to facilitate collaboration, and students are expected to communicate for much of their day.  While this is great for the extroverts, it has left the introverts feeling anxious.  

Neither of these models is the right way.  Neither of them is really wrong, either, except that they both address the needs of only one type of student.  We know that we have many types of students in our classrooms, and while we cannot give them perfectly what they each need every minute of every day, we can address each of their needs within the week or day or class period, depending on how our schools are structured.  

I recently heard a speech by Cynthia Tobias, and she gave some great practical advice.  Each day, she said, give your students 

- an opportunity to talk.

- an opportunity to visualize something.

- an opportunity to move.

On behalf of my sweet introverts, I would add one thing to that list.  Give them an opportunity to spend a few moments in quiet thought.  You can actually incorporate all of these into one activity.  You can give them a question that requires visualization and say, "We will spend 1 minute thinking about this.  Paint the picture in your own mind without talking.  Then, get up and walk to your partner (who would, in this situation, not be the person next to them) and spend one minute telling them what you were thinking.  They will spend one minute sharing with you.  Then come back to your seat." This gives the introverts, the extroverts, and the movers what they need in three minutes.  You might not be able to do that every day, but you could probably find a way to work it in once a week.

Using technology will also involve introverts in a way a class discussion might not.  My school as a learning management system that gives us the option to have discussion boards.  I have found these to be a powerful tool for my introverts.  If we have an in-class debate, there are a handful of students that will lead that discussion.  I have always required that everyone must contribute at least one substantive comment, but I had to drag it out of some students.  After we adopted the learning management system, I added something to our debates.  I created a discussion board.  I didn't have the introverts in mind when I did this; it was really just to keep the discussion going.  What I found, however, was that those who had said nothing out loud in class contributed very strong opinions on the discussion board.  They were more articulate and contributed far more than what I tried to pull from them while they were uncomfortable.

I found this infographic online, and I have found it helpful to keep in mind while teaching.  I can't do every one of these for them every day.  For example, it simply isn't possible for me to teach them new skills privately.  However, we will understand them better if we keep these things in mind.  I can give them fair warning before the end of an activity.  I can give them time to think before answering a question (although it will mean holding down an extrovert).  I can respect their introversion and not try to change them.  After all, God didn't create them wrong.  He created us all for a purpose, and we will fulfill that purpose better together if we take the time to understand each other.

The Week of Too Much

We've all had the week of too much.  We have too much to do and not enough time.  We have to much stress and not enough sleep.  We do a lot of complaining about the week of too much, but we get through it.  We don't die.  The world doesn't stop spinning on its axis, and we realize that we are not as weak as we thought.  That lesson then must be learned again by having another week of too much.

The week before Thanksgiving break is often the week of too much for our students at GRACE.  No teacher wants to ask them to hold information in their heads while their brains turn to mashed potatoes and they slip into a tryptophan coma, so we mostly plan their tests during the week before Thanksgiving.  They worry and complain.  They stress themselves, their teachers, and their parents out.  They feel like they are going to die.   But you know what?  They don't.

Just like we don't die when we have a week of too much, middle and high school students also don't die.  They come out on the other end, realizing that they are stronger than they thought they were.  This is a valuable and important lesson, and it would be wrong for us to rob them of it by giving them what they say they want.  It is important to go through stressful times because they train us for more stressful times down the road.

Last week, my students got to hear a veteran from Iwo Jima speak the day before Veteran's Day.  One of the things he said that stuck out to me was about a time near the end of his training.  He was dropped at an unknown location and given the address of a different location.  He had to get there.  They provided no help and no rescue.  This probably sounded mean to the students who were listening, but I thought about how prepared he was for the same scenario should he encounter it in Japan.  It seems mean that me give our students a lot of tests / projects in one week, but the reality is that they will be better prepared for those times inevitable to adulthood than they would be if we didn't.

No one likes to see their kids stressed, but a certain amount of stress is needed.  It is needed to prepare their brains, their stamina, and their energies for the future.  Chronic stress is bad, but brief periods of acute stress are actually necessary for building strength.  Support your students through the week of too much.  Listen to their complaints and empathize with them; but do not take away the valuable stress they are experiencing.  If you do, they will fail during their adult weeks of too much.

Find a Real Problem

Normally, this blog is about education or at least the philosophy behind my teaching.  Occasionally, however, I find it useful to use this blog to respond to a current issue.  This one has been on my mind since last year.

It's November, and soon the holidays will be upon us.  They will include heavy meals, decorated malls, shopping for gifts, and animated specials.  It is also time for Christians to write Facebook posts about the most trivial issues ever.  About this time every year, several of my Facebook friends proudly announce that they will not shop at any store where the clerk has told them "Happy Holidays."  Setting aside that there are, in fact, multiple holidays that Christian celebrate within a few weeks of each other, let's address the fact that these people act as if they should get some sort of medal for their own pride.  That poor, exhausted store clerk makes about $9 an hour trying to serve as many kinds of people as possible.  She works in retail, serving a public that is increasingly entitled, impatient, and prone to offense at the drop of a hat.  She makes the effort to wish you well, but because she didn't use your preferred method of well wishing, you lash out with your angry, "It's Merry Christmas, and I won't shop in any store that doesn't exclusively say that."  Is it any wonder why the world believes we are mean.  What a witness our snappy comeback must have been to that store clerk.

Last year, I watched as 172 people argued on social media about whether a PASTOR'S Christmas greeting was heretical or Biblical because he said X-mas.  Some took the stance that he was destroying the place of Jesus while others argued that the X was the Greek letter Chi and, therefore, stood for Jesus.  The reality was that on Twitter, he only got 140 characters and was trying to save 5 of them by using the X.  Is this really something to spend our time on?

This year, we have a brand new issue for the self righteous to get bothered about.  It is about the red cup at Starbucks.  I mean, last year it had snowflakes on it, and snowflakes are clearly more Christian than solid red.  We must use our social media power to complain about this travesty.  Red cups are a the true sign that Starbucks is anti-Christian.  Never mind that Starbucks has been donating to Planned Parenthood for years and supports gay marriage, we will not drink from a red cup at Christmas time.

Do we really think these are the problems of the world that need a response?  Right now, in the world, there are 29.8 million victims of human trafficking.  There are 795 million people who will go to sleep hungry tonight and 783 million who don't have access to clean water.  There are countries of our world in which girls are executed in the street because they committed the crime of going to school and others where girls are simply left to die because they they committed the crime of not being boys.  ISIS has behead over 300 people in the past two years, and thousands of Christians are killed for their faith every year (although there is wide debate over the exact number).  American Christians have opted to turn their backs on all these issues.  No, we must take a stand on the red cup.  We must refuse the well wishes of those who disagree with us.

Starting tomorrow, when I go to the store, I will gratefully accept the well wishes of anyone.  Whether they wish me Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, Happy Hanukkah, or simply Have a nice day, I will return their good wishes.  I will also set aside five dollars.  In January, whatever amount I have accumulated will be donated to an organization that helps the truly persecuted around the world.  I am currently researching exactly which organization is best, but the ones I have found so far are: Voice of the Martyrs, Open Doors, The Persecution Project Foundation, Barnabas Aid, and RescueChristians.org.  Each of these ministries support those Christians for whom responding to persecution doesn't mean whining about the cup holding our four dollar latte or treating service personnel disrespectfully.

Community Service Day

"GRACE Christian School is a loving community . . . " is the beginning of our mission statement.  Because of that, we have our students reach out to the community in a variety of ways.

Within the school, we take care of each other.  If someone gets sick, we make meals for them (like proper Southerners do).  Teachers meet twice a week for prayer and once a week for a faculty meeting and multiple times if there are special needs.  Teachers have donated their sick days to staff members with long term illnesses.  We have held charity walks for members of our community to help them with finances, collected baby items for one of our teacher's nephews who was born just after hurricane Katrina and then arranged for the students to attend a funeral after that baby died a few months later.  When my cat died, I got sympathy cards from several members of our staff and one alumna.  GRACE is a loving community, and you experience it quickly and overpoweringly if you have a need.

We do not, however, want our students to believe that we only take care of our own.  We want the to recognize that, having been blessed by God, we have a responsibility to share our blessings and the  love of Christ with those around our community and around the world.  For that reason, we set aside two days each school year in which we empty out our upper school building for the entire day so that middle school students, high school students, and teachers can go out into our community for a day of service.

Let me first give a big shout out to the receptionists who have taken charge of this over the years.  Michele, Dana, and now Lisa have taken the enormous task of sending hundreds of kids to multiple places with multiple adults.  If you are a teacher reading this, you know what a hassle it is to plan a field trip for you class of 30 kids.  Imagine doing it with 330 kids (and not all to the same location).  This involves permission slip, money for the bus drivers, parent drivers and chaperones, grouping kids, figuring out which ones need to bring their lunches and which done, emergency information packets, medicine for the right kids to the correct adult.  It's crazy.  The work of this person is just as much a community service as the kids going out to do the work.  The students do a variety of things.

Middle School - Gleaning -  Our middle school students were taken to a sweet potato field, where they spent all day gleaning.  For those who may not know, gleaning is a practice established in Old Testament law.  Farmers were instructed by God to leave some of their harvest in the fields for the poor to harvest and eat.  The modern version of this the farmer harvested only one round of sweet potatoes and then has allowed ministries to come out and dig up more.  They are then bagged and taken to the food bank.  We had 122 7th and 8th grade students digging in soil!



Freshmen - Thrift Shops - We always send our freshmen to thrift shops.  We want them to see that other people live on less than they do and that new is not always better.  We want them to understand
that they can help in a variety of ways.  We divide them between With Love From Jesus, the Mabopane Foundation, and two Thrift 2 Gift Stores.  They do a variety of things, from sorting clothes to cleaning to decorating Christmas trees to organizing food to checking out customers.  Basically, they do whatever the store owners ask them to do.  I like visiting these sites because kids have usually found some strange, interesting, vintage item that they would want to buy themselves.  This shows they are gaining a perspective on the materialistic world they are soaked in.  In past years, many students have returned from these stores and organized their own food drive because they saw a greater need than they knew.




Sophomores - Service Homes - We want at least one year of their experience to include interacting with the people they are serving.  There are several homes or day centers in the area that deal with the mentally disabled, the elderly, or those transitioning back into normal life.  Since sophomores are at an age where they can interact appropriately, we send them to those homes.  They are able to have meals with the people, play games, have Bible studies, and generally get to interact.  Because of the personal interaction with people so unlike themselves, I believe it gives them a perspective on the world they might not otherwise get.  These can be some of the more difficult sites because they are sometimes seeing very difficult circumstances.

Juniors - Habitat for Humanity - We love helping Habitat.  Students often report this as their favorite year because they get to build something.  They get to see the end result.  Sometimes, we have been lucky enough to have the construction professionals tell us about the family who will live in the house.  Kids don't generally get to build things in their childhood the way they used to because we have safety-ed kids to death.  Putting them in a hard hat on a construction site, swinging a hammer (or using power tools) let them see the possibilities of being makers.

Seniors - Wherever We Can - This year, our seniors were split into two groups.  One group spent the day at the Salvation Army and another at Meals on Wheels.  I was unable to get to the Meals on Wheels crew, but I did get to visit the Salvation Army.  They put our boys to work in the warehouse and girls in their store.  It was great for them to get to see the variety of ways one ministry can help so many.  I hope when they hear the bucket bell ringers this year, they will want to stop and give.  One of my homeroom students was at Meals on Wheels, and while she reported some sadness at some of the circumstances she encountered, she also said, "I'm definitely more grateful for the life I have."  That awareness is the beginning.  We want them to take that awareness and gratitude for their blessings and pass them on to others.

As a teacher, I love our community service days.  I like seeing my students step out of their normal routine, move out in courage and faith, and serve others.  Thank you to all the ministries who allow us to invade your routine in order to open the eyes of our kids.

One other thought - Our elementary kids participate in a lot of service as well.  They just don't leave school for the day to do it.  They collect coats every year for the WRAL Coats for Kids campaign.  They make pillowcases for military members.  Their teachers organize activities for their classes to do.  I didn't want to ignore them just because this post was about the day we just had.

My Annual Life Changing Moment - Part 2

Warning:  Long Post
In my last post, I gave a rundown of what happens during the week at RFKC, but it would have been a really long post if I had also told you why these activities add up to life changing moments for both the campers and the adult volunteers.  In fact, it isn't really possible to convey all of its meaning; you just have to experience it.  I will describe some of the things that stand out most in my mind.

Meal Times
I'm starting with meal times because it recently hit me that it was particularly special at this camp.  First of all, kids can choose whatever they want.  If they want to eat a plate with nothing but bread, that's fine.  If they want to eat yogurt at every meal, we take along enough for that to happen (and also make Wal-Mart runs if needed).  I once had a camper who wanted a "salad."  When asked what she wanted, she said bacon bits and cheese.  Mind you, this wasn't a salad topped with bacon bits and cheese.  It was just a bowl of bacon bits and cheese.  This may sound insane to you; but for these kids, it may be the only choice they get to make about their food.

At this branch of RFKC, we have the best cooks ever - I mean ever.  At the last camp I was at, the food was fine.  It was camp food, made by state park staff.  At this particular camp, however, it is some of the best homemade food I have ever eaten.  It didn't strike me how spectacular that was until this summer.  These kids are getting a home cooked meal, made with great love, three meals a day, for a week.  Our kitchen staff doesn't get to interact with the kids as much as the rest of us, but they may be responsible for what the kids will remember the most.

One more thing that is important about meal times.  We talk while we eat.  We talk a lot.  It is the most important relationship building time we have at camp.  Counselors and staff ask the campers questions about their favorite food, favorite camp activity, favorite story of the day.  At breakfast, we ask what they are most looking forward to.  At dinner, we ask them what was the most fun.  We ask questions, and we listen to their answers.  Kids in general feel like they aren't listened to, and I would imagine that is even more true of kids in the foster care system.  These meal time conversations are truly important.

Overcoming Obstacles
I mentioned briefly in the last post that we have activities designed to help the kids overcome obstacles.  In my regular life, I recognize the value of competition and kids learning lessons from losing a game.  At camp, we turn this totally on its head.  These kids have already learned a lot of those lessons.  They already know that life isn't fair.  They don't need even more of that at camp.  We want them to realize that they are capable of overcoming challenges and doing great things.  For that reason, activities are planned that allow for this.  Almost every year, we have a rock climbing wall at carnival, and you wouldn't believe what a great opportunity this is for courage building.  We usually have one event with a large inflatable slide.  Some of the younger kids might be a little scared or need their counselor to do it with them; but by the end of the evening, most of them are doing it on their own.  We have archery and darts, which provide opportunities for improvement with each shot.  We have horses, which also provide the opportunity overcome fear.  Two of the horses are capable of carrying two riders; so if a kid needs their counselor to ride with them in order to overcome their fear, that is doable.  This year, one girl had a hard time mounting, even with their counselor on the first day.  She had to have a long talk with the horse to make sure he liked her before she would get one.  The next day, she rode it by herself.  The pool (to which they go every day) is another great time for this.  Two years ago, I had a six year old girl who couldn't swim when she got to camp.  Our coach patiently taught her what to do.  As she practiced, I held my arm under waist or legs.  She got a little less scared each day.  The next year, she showed up ready for the pool and was in the 9 foot deep end by the end of the week.

Woodworking is getting its own paragraph because it is my favorite.  The first year I went to camp, I had a much different image in my mind.  I pictured the little snap together kits you get at Lowe's with maybe some tiny nails and girl hammers.  Was I ever wrong.  Woodworking takes more supplies and electricity than any other camp activity.  You wouldn't want to walk near it with a headache because you hear dozens of hammers, drills, and power screwdrivers.  Kids build bird houses, bug boxes, treasure boxes, and chairs.  You read that right; they build their own chairs that they can actually sit in.  Why is woodworking so valuable?  Because it is so tangible.  When a kid goes home with a chair they built themselves, they have evidence that they can do something bigger than they thought.  When they take home a treasure box, they have a place for THEIR stuff.  That's big for kids who sometimes have to take their stuff from place to place (some of these guys might live in three or four places within a year).  The other reason this is important is that building things is therapeutic.  Do you know how good it feels to hammer a nail?  You can feed all your frustrations into that hammer.  A few years ago, I had a girl who was not feeling camp yet.  She was sitting at woodworking, but she didn't want to build anything.  Our wise woodworking instructor gave her a block of wood, a hammer, and a handful of nails.  She started pounding them randomly into the wood.  After four or five nails, she was smiling.  After a few more, she practiced getting them in straight.  After a few more, she was ready to build something.  The following year, she came with a list of things she wanted to build.  Talk about a moment that changed everything.  That woodworking instructor met her exactly where she was.

Scripture Teaching
While this is a compassionate ministry and not an evangelistic one (an important legal difference), we are able to teach as much scripture as we want.  If you grew up in church, think of our program times as VBS on steroids.  We have object lessons, drama productions, scripture verse break down, teaching time, and lots and lots of singing.  The importance of this is pretty obvious, but there is one story I want to share from this year.  It actually goes back to last year.  One of our teachers told the kids that the best way to learn a scripture was to read it every day.  Our theme that year was the Good Shepherd, so we had spent quite a lot of time in the 23rd Psalm.  This year, a seven year old boy approached the teacher and said, I can say the whole thing.  I've read it every day since last year.  He stood up in front of everyone and quoted the entire thing without stumbling or stopping to think at all.  There was no one at home to tell him to do it; he just did it.  God is doing work through His word.

Pictures
As you know, I spend most of year taking pictures.  Because our kids are wards of the state, I was never allowed to take any at camp.  There is a camp photographer, and that is the only person allowed to take pictures.  As a counselor, I had to be content with taking "mental pictures."  The kids go home with a book of photos, but adults do not.  This year, I began my transition into the role of camp photographer.  This not only gave me a broader view of all the parts of camp, but it cemented the importance of the kids having the pictures.  We have some campers who are siblings, but their circumstances prevent them from living together.  We take a picture of them together and give each of them a copy.  During the year, they have at least that picture of each other when they can't see each other.  They also get a picture of themselves.  We all took for granted that we had school pictures (you know, the ones your parents ordered and sent to grandparents or hung on the wall), but the instability of our campers lives means they may have few or none of those.  If they come from age 7 to 12, that means they get six years of pictures for themselves.  They also get photos taken with grandma and grandpa, their counselor, and their cabin mates.  These are important relationships, so it is valuable to take home reminders of those people.  They also get ten or twelve pictures of themselves doing the things I have talked about already - riding horses, climbing rock walls, swimming in the pool, etc.  Like woodworking projects, these pictures provide them with tangible reminders of all the experiences they have had.  For a camp whose goal is to create life changing moments and positive memories, these pictures provide permanence to those memories.  Former campers who are now adults have said that they still have all their camp photo albums.

I know this post has been crazy long (to be fair, I did warn you).  It doesn't scratch the surface of all things that keep people coming back to camp year after year.  Once it is in your blood, you can't imagine a summer without it.  If you want to know more or donate, visit the RFKC website.

My Annual Life Changing Moment - Part 1

I didn't post last week because I was at camp and out of contact with the outside world.  It's not just any camp; it is Royal Family Kids Camp, which exclusively serves children who are or have been in the foster care system.  Their mission is to "create life changing moments" for kids who have been victims of abuse or neglect.  Of course, the reality is that it also creates life changing moments for the adults who volunteer.  This post is going to be a nuts and bolts kind of post because it will be too long if I also comment on the meaning of everything.  I will post later about what it all means and what keeps unpaid adults doing this year after year.

When you first attend training, you come to realize that this is not like other camps.  There are, in fact, more adults than the number of kids we will take.  That is because of a rule called "the two deep rule," requiring the presence of two adults any time there are kids around but also because it takes an awful lot of people to pull of the scale of what we do at camp.

Sunday - We arrive on Sunday and begin setting up.  Counselors deck out their cabins and prepare their camper gifts so that the kids will know they have been prepared for.  They make signs with the camper names, the meaning of their names, and scripture they can associate with their own name.   Ladies from the sponsoring church have made quilts for the kids, and those are ready for them when they get there (A boy one year told us that he loved his quilt because it felt like security and love).  Other staff members get the dining hall ready (more on food in another post), get the program area ready with a full theater set and sound system, get the pool prepared, get the hundreds of activity boxes ready.  We take about sixty-five adults, and it takes everyone from lunch time until bed time to get camp prepared.  We meet and pray.

Monday - In spite of getting "everything" ready on Sunday, there is more to do on Monday morning.  The nurse, a couple of staff members, and Grandma and Grandpa are taken to the place where the kids are registered and checked in.  The counselors finish their welcome signs.  From the minute the kids arrive at camp, we want them to know how much love and thought has gone into preparing for them.

The kids arrive on a bus or several buses, and every adult is gathered, waiting for them, hooting and hollering like crazy people.  Counselors hold up their signs so that their campers can find them.  Returning kids find the people they remember from the year before and give them safe side hugs.  Connections from a year earlier are re-established instantaneously.  Counselors take their kids to their cabins while staff members carry their stuff.  We have a quick introduce everybody meeting and have lunch.  Then, camp really starts because the girls head for the pool, and the boys head for activity time.  With the exception of the kids who are hydrophobic, if you ask ANY kid at camp what their favorite thing is, they will say the pool.  They swim EVERY day and twice on Tuesday.  Our lifeguard is a newly retired PE teacher and swim coach, and I have watched her teach many frightened children how to swim.  It is very cool to watch her help them overcome their fear and have a life skill in just a few days.  Those same kids come back the next year ready to jump in the pool.  Activities are widely varied - everything from spin art to serious woodworking (like building a chair with power tools), from fuse beads to fishing, from archery to sand art, from horses to bracelet making.  There are a few dozen more activities, and any kid can choose to do any one of them.  One of the parts of our camp culture is giving the kids choices, and the activities are intentionally set up for that.

Tuesday - Tuesday starts early.  We take the kids to the pool BEFORE breakfast for the annual tradition called "The Polar Bear Swim."  It is the only time everyone is at the pool together at the same time.  It is called Polar Bear because we pour bags of ice into the water.  I can tell you as a physics teacher that the change in water temperature wouldn't be measurable, but the kids believe that the water is cold.  They earn a certificate for completing this, even if they only put in one foot (remember, some kids haven't learned to swim yet).  You wouldn't think this piece of paper would be motivating, but there were kids this year who were telling the new campers that they would get a certificate for doing it, and they were very excited.  The remainder of the day is a "normal" camp day, meaning meals, VBS style teaching and songs, more pool time and activity time, and an hour rest after lunch.  We often also have a serious tea party for the girls on Tuesday, which they come to in dress up clothes, sit at tables with table cloths and candles, have great tea party food - it is seriously grown up.  This year, we had five princesses (Snow White, Aurora, Anna, Elsa, and Tiana) attend.  Don't fear - the boys had their thing too.  Reps came out from the Bow Hunters Association and gave the boys real archery lessons.  There is some kind of evening activity.  This year it was water games, which was great because Tuesday was a scorching hot day this year.

Wednesday - Wednesday starts normal (i.e. breakfast rather than the pool),  and the day is reasonably normal until the evening activity.  This is when we have our "Big Event."  About 30 more adults come down from the sponsoring church to help with this event.  It is always carnival like, but this year's theme called for a medieval style Royal Faire, with face painting and cotton candy.  From "jousting" to bocce to an inflatable gauntlet - from a trebuchet to mini-golf to a 24ft rock climbing wall - the games are specifically chosen to give the kids challenges to overcome rather than an opponent to beat.  Watching a kid make multiple attempts to climb a wall and finally make it to the bell is awe inspiring.

Thursday - Thursday is EVERYONE's Birthday.  When I first started doing camp, the birthday party happened only in the evening; last year, it began with breakfast.  I think we hit the best distribution today by starting it with lunch.  The kids each got a big cookie of their own to decorate after their pizza lunch.  We sang to them and had them stand for each month of the year.  They got their presents after dinner, and the evening activity was playing with their presents.  Boys were out playing catch with the counselors, using their brand new footballs.  Girls were stringing bead jewelry with their counselors.  We have campers who have never had birthday parties or gifts (one even said that his mom told him at 5 that he had become too old for birthdays), so a birthday for everyone is a critical part of every RFKC.   Because of this (and because it is the final night), Thursday night can be a little emotional and is the most difficult night to get them into bed.

After the kids go to bed on Thursday, a lot of the stuff that went up on Sunday has to start coming down.  The staff packs up the activities and woodworking, counselors take down SOME of the cabin decorations (I used to stick them in their luggage to find when they got home).  Some of the set is taken down, and some of the dining hall.  We don't want them to wake up to a bare campground, but there isn't time in the morning to pack up everything.

Friday - Friday morning brings the wrap up of all the Bible stories and drama.  We send them to the pool one more time while we pack our stuff.  Then, we help them pack their stuff.  We meet one last time to watch a camp video and have a little "graduation ceremony" for our kids who are aging out.  Every camper goes  home with a photo album that has at least twenty photos from the week.  This is when there are a lot of tears, from both campers and adults.

We take them back to the church they left from and do a little presentation for their foster families.  We watch the video again and get them all checked out.  There are usually quite a few tears associated with this time as well.  Then, we go home and have a welcome home dinner, watch the video one last time (we won't ever get to see it again, so this is not too many times even though it may seem that way).   We share stories and pin people who have completed their first, fifth, tenth, fifteenth, or twentieth year (and yes, there are people who have done that).

I called this post My Annual Life Changing Moment for a reason.  There is a reason that I have done this 8 years, and some have done it for 20 years.  It matters.  This post would be extremely long if I shared all of that, so I will save that for my next post.

To All The Teachers

We have just completed the second week of July, which means that teachers will begin preparing for the next school year.  It is only a few weeks away.  Here's a little thought for all the teachers.

To the teacher about to begin your first year:
Sleep for the next few weeks.  Start setting your clock a little earlier.  Be prepared to be tired for about ten months.  It’s going to be a tiring year, but it will also be a great one if you dive in.  Learn everything you can, and let go of the small stuff. 

If you have started having dreams (or nightmares) about school, don’t worry.  That is normal . . . and they ALMOST NEVER come true.  I’ve been teaching 16 years, and I still have strange school dreams during the last few weeks of summer.  (My favorite was the one where I had to teach outside because we ran out of classrooms.  That one is right up there with the one where I taught high school after lunch and 2nd grade in the mornings.)


To the teacher about to begin your second year:
If you woke up this morning worried that you have forgotten how to teach during the summer, don’t worry.  That is normal . . . and you didn’t.  I’ve been teaching 16 years, and I still have that thought about this time of year.  You will only get better this year, but don’t expect to be comfortable until next year.


To the teacher about to begin your third year:
This is the year it will all start clicking.  You know your material well enough to focus on your kids.  You were able to replace some of the things that didn’t work your first year last year, and you have reasons for the things you do.  Parents won’t view you as “new” any more, which will automatically give you a little less stress.  Have confidence, but don’t get so cocky that you think you have nothing else to learn.


To the teacher about to begin your fourth (or higher) year:
Remember what it was like to be in your first or second year, and help the poor teacher down the hall.  You have knowledge to share, so pay forward what was given to you in those early years.  Remember what Harry Wong said, “Great teachers aren’t born; they are made by the teacher next door.”  Get good ideas from those younger teachers, and be inspired by their energy.  Let’s all keep learning together.

E-mail and Lollipops

So far this summer, I have walked 332 miles.  In the past, I have listened to music, but I knew this was going to get repetitive.  I have friends who use podcasts, but I always figured the lack of rhythm would slow me down.  I tested it on a round trip to church by doing music on the way there and podcasts on the way back, I found only 2 minutes difference across 5.4 miles.  Since then, I have listened to hundreds of podcasts.  Some time, I'll blog a recommendation list because I have eclectic listening habits, but that's not the point of this post. 

One of the podcasts I listen to most is the TED Radio Hour from NPR.  Last week, I hit a particular favorite called Everyday Leadership by Drew Dudley.  I'll summarize the important here, but you really should watch the entire talk.  He discusses why most of us don't think of ourselves as leaders because we think leadership is something bigger than us that is only on a world changing scale.  He believes we de-value the everyday things we do that have impact.  As an illustration, he tells this story of girl who was going to leave college during registration.  She met Drew when he was raising money for a charity by handing out lollipops to people in line.  He gave one to the boy standing next to her, telling him that he needed to give this lollipop to beautiful woman standing next to him.  The boy did, and then Drew made a joke to her parents about taking candy from strangers.  As a result of this interaction, she decided to stay in college.  She dated that boy for four years.  She related this story to Drew on his last day at the school and then sent him a wedding invitation a year later. 

One of the reasons Drew shares this story on the TED stage is that he has no memory of this happening.  It completely changed the life of this girl, but it was such a normal part of his day that his brain didn't bother recording it.  He says this in his talk: "And that was such an eye-opening, transformative moment for me to think that maybe the biggest impact I'd ever had on anyone's life, a moment that had a woman walk up to a stranger four years later and say, "You've been an incredibly important person in my life," was a moment that I didn't even remember."  He then asks the audience to consider their own lollipop moments, when something simple fundamentally made their lives better.  Many hands were raised because most of us have that moment.  He then asks if they have ever told the person who did that.  Very few people people raised their hands. "Why not? We celebrate birthdays, where all you have to do is not die for 365 days and yet we let people who have made our lives better walk around without knowing it. And every single one of you, every single one of you has been the catalyst for a lollipop moment. You have made someone's life better by something that you said or that you did, and if you think you haven't, think about all the hands that didn't go back up when I asked that question. You're just one of the people who hasn't been told."

I have a small version of a story that is not as life changing.  My school requires that we contact parents if their kids are going to fail for a quarter or semester, so they will not be surprised when the report card comes.  Because I teach older students, I often e-mail the student as well.  Two years ago, I had a boy in physics who had JUST squeaked by with a 69.8% for the quarter.  I didn't e-mail his mom because he did pass, but I e-mailed the boy.  I told him that he did pass, but I knew he could do so much better than just squeak by.  As an aside, I said, "Think about it; do you want to be the kind of man who just squeaks by?"  Three days later, I got an e-mail from his mom, telling me that he had vacuumed their living room without prompting.  When she asked him why, he told him that he had been thinking about the kind of man he wanted to be.  When I had typed that e-mail, it was a simple question.  I had not thought it would be a changing moment for him; I might not even remember it if I hadn't gotten this e-mail from his mom.  When that boy graduated, he was a different kid.  It was not just because of this one sentence.   A lot of people poured themselves into this guy's life.  It was, however, the cumulative effect of a thousand lollipop moments and e-mails. 

   

When you send an e-mail or make a silly joke, when you make eye contact and smile, you may be what that person needed at that moment.  Keep in mind that it works the other direction as well.  If the question I asked him in the e-mail had been belittling, it could have had a powerful negative impact (and I am sure I have had many of those moments as well).  You can destroy the poor guy who answers the phone at customer service.  As you go through your day, consider the small moments as times when you can have an impact.  You may never know because they may never tell you.  This message is for everyone, but it is especially poignant for us as teachers.  We have more opportunities than most people and certainly more people in our lives who respond to what we do.

World Blood Donor Day

My blog is usually about eduction, but Sunday June 14th is World Blood Donor Day.  This merits a rabbit trail of its own. 

When I talk about donating blood, I get a lot of reactions, from awe to horror, depending on the audience.  There are still a few people who think it is a way to make money.  Don't get me started on that one because I look down on that practice.  It is liking taking your coat to the Salvation Army and offering to sell it to them.  Don't sell what you should give.

My students ask a million questions because they don't understand the process or why it is needed.  I talk to them about it A LOT in the hope that they will remember and want to donate when they are old enough.  I also have a wall in my room decorated with pretty much everything the Red Cross has ever given me.  For this blog post, I will treat you as a student answer the questions that they usually ask me.

Why? - Because there are people who need blood.  According to the American Red Cross, there is a need for blood in the US every two seconds with the average transfusion requiring about 3 pints.  A single car accident may require up to 100 pints.

How often do you give?  I give as often as the Red Cross allows, which is every 56 days (8 weeks).  That amounts to six pints per year.

Why so often?  I have type O negative blood.  This is the only blood type that can donate to anyone.  If a person is in immediate need with no time to type their blood, they will be given O negative.  This means my blood type runs out faster than other types.  Since there is no such thing as artificial blood, it must come from people. 
  
What do they do?  You go in and read some stuff.  They take you in a room and take your blood pressure, pulse, and temperature.  You answer a bunch of questions to make sure you aren't at risk for AIDS or hepatitis or West Nile Virus.  They prick your finger to test your red blood cell count.  Assuming you are clear on all those things, you lie down on a bed.  They put a needle in your arm.  The needle is attached to a tube that leads to a bag.  You just lie there for a couple of minutes while gravity does its thing.  They put a bandage on your arm.  Then they let you eat cookies.  From start to finish, it takes less than an hour.  The actual blood giving part takes less than 10 minutes.

Does it hurt?  Only for a fraction of a second.  When the needle goes in, I wince a little.  That's it.  The finger prick is actually more painful than the needle, and it's just a quick jump.

Do you get sick or dizzy?  Rarely.  If I am well hydrated before giving, I often feel no different at all.  A few times, I have been extra tired for a day or a little dizzy if I stand up to fast.  I've never had any real problems from it.

How old do you have to be?  The Red Cross allows people to start donating at the age of 17 (or 16 if a parent is present).  I started giving at school when I was 17 because I wandered by the gym when they were having a drive.  The early you start giving, the more likely you are to stick with it.  However, it is never too late to start.

Do you give at blood drives?  I have, but I prefer donating at the permanent Red Cross location.  They know me and my mom.  They even commented that we were there earlier than usual when we went last week.  I have found also that they are more likely to work with me at the permanent location if my vein rolls or is hard to find than they have been at blood drives.

Since beginning at age 17, I have given 96 pints of blood with only a few interruptions due to international travel and college student eating habits.  I am on track to reach 101 pints by my 40th birthday.  The need is highest during summer and holiday times because of increased traffic accidents during these times, but these are also times when donations are lowest.  If you are eligible, let me encourage you to give one pint this summer.  If you try it once, you will find that it is easier than you thought and might be encouraged to do it regularly.  Only 10% of the eligible population donates.  I once read that if that were raised to 11%, there would never be a shortage.  You can make that happen if you donate, take a friend with, and encourage others to donate.  I'm going to make it even easier for you.  Click here to schedule your appointment.

If you have questions I haven't addressed, you can read Blood Facts and Statistics from the Red Cross, which provides a lot more detail than I have here.  

One other thing - There are other collection organizations besides the Red Cross (the Red Cross is responsible for 40% of donations in the United States).  I have never donated at any of the other places, so I can't speak to the donor experience in them.  I do know people who have given directly to Rex Hospital and have had positive experiences with that.  It's not important where you give.  Just give.


 

Shout Outs

It is a tradition on our campus to give shout outs to each other at our last meeting.  This is such a great way to end the year, especially if the year has been stressful.  I didn't want to take over the entire meeting today, but I have lots of shout outs I want to share for people on both our campuses.

Sean Blesh - I know I have referenced you a lot on this blog, but it is my last chance.  Thanks for coming in and making us all better teachers.


Diane Scro - There is no way to adequately say what you have meant to me a a friend and a colleague and a mentor.  You took us from pencils to clouds in a very short time.

Elizabeth Walters - You are my friend, my shoulder, and my source of entertainment, not to mention the person who turns our walls into a gallery.  What you are able to get out of our kids is nothing short of amazing.

Katherine Barton - My mom is still talking about how great the strings group was and how adorable you are.  Thanks for making a hard thing, like playing the violin, such a fun experience for our kids.

Blue Pod (and Meagan Stone - we really need a fifth room) -  You have kept me sane, let me vent, given support (and when it was needed, truth).  We are the best pod, no matter what those girls in the gallery think.

Willa Bea Coates - You put up with a lot from all of us.  Thanks for always helping.

Cathy Cole - Wow, you make us look good.  You are always thinking and coming up with new ways to help.  The fact that you handle open house is reason enough for a shout out because people say some very dumb things. 

LEAP department (This includes you, Marion) - Some of our kids would not believe they were capable if it weren't for you ladies.  Thanks for helping our kids discover what they are good at and being a safe place for them.  Thanks for also giving them a dose of truth when they need it.

Vivian Edwards and Beth German - Thanks for making sure we get paid, even when it means you have to do work when everyone else is one break.

Mandy Gill - You are unflappable.  I don't know how you finished the year after the brick was dropped on your head.  You are THE most supportive administrator I have ever worked for.

Melissa Hendges and Pat Trussell - I could not identify all the elementary kids without your help.  You help us reach the goal of 100% coverage.

Ben Inman - Sometimes, I think you and I are the only sane ones (and I'm not always sure about me).

Laura Jacobs, Daniel Servi, and Jonah Bookman - You guys fell in and immediately became part of the family.  It's like your were always here.

Amanda McLain, Ellen Kaehler, and Kirsten Wray - We don't see you very often, but we are amazed by what you do.

Sharon Martin and Megan Yabani- Thanks for making sure I get pictures from your side of the world.  Third grade and first grade always one of the best and first to reach full coverage.

David and Tonya Taylor - I know it wasn't your idea, but thank you for coming back to America.  I missed you, and you are such amazing mentors for the girls basketball team.

Kathie Thompson - How you keep all the plates spinning, I will never know.  In addition to everything you do at GRACE, you plan a camp for foster kids (and that takes all year). 

Laura Warmke - Your leadership with tech and the depth of thought you put into EVERYTHING is astounding.  You made the library cool.  Your creativity is off the charts.

Isaiah Whelpley - You are intentional about everything you do.  You are even intentional about making sure you are intentional.

Reflections on Four Years of Teaching With Technology - Plateau and Progress

This is part three of a series on my school's one to one MacBook program.  It can be read on its own, but if you want to know the history, read the other two.

As always happens, the first year of a program is when people are the most excited and, therefore, the most invested in doing new things.  The increase you see from year zero to year one cannot be the level of increase you expect every year.  In order to keep increasing at all, there must be continued cheerleading, support, and training to keep the ideas new.  Most of us were really happy with how the first year went, but we didn't bring that same level of enthusiasm to the second year (maybe because we were just tired).  We also implemented a much needed Learning Management System that year, which was frustrating at first because there were some glitches in it.  Because of these issues, the second year was a plateau for us as far as using the technology as more than a replacement for what we had done previously.

Our wonderful tech team had read articles about schools that gave up on one to one programs after one or two years due to lack of real growth and were determined not to let that happen here.  Around the same time, we also hired a new media specialist, Laura (the wonderful) Warmke.  She is not only highly versed in what seems like every book ever written; she is also super with technology tools and driven to help you find out how to use them in your class.

Laura and Diane developed a great program for teacher to use as professional development.  It is called Level Up, and it is awesome.  Diane and Laura write "missions" for us to accomplish.  Some of them are as simple as watch a TED talk about education and comment on it in our discussion board.  Others are as complex as classroom flipping, instituting a badge system in your class, or having a skype session.  All the missions are counted as done when you have responded on a discussion board. 

Let me tell you some of the reasons this program is awesome:
1.  You can choose your own professional development.   We aren't all sitting in the same room learning the same tool.  We look at the available missions and choose the ones that will work best for our style and our classroom.  It enables people to be developed at their point of comfort with where they currently are.
2.  You are being cheered on rather than put upon.  The tech team gives you a badge in the teacher's lounge for every mission you complete.  They love talking to you about your missions.  You get great ideas from reading other people's uses on the discussion board, which allows you to incorporate the same tools in your class in more than one way.
3.  It is modeling.  They aren't just telling us to use something.  They are using it to deliver the message.  It makes me want to have missions in my own classes (next year perhaps).
4.  There are prizes.  Prizes are always motivating, no matter how old you get.  At the end of the quarter, we have drawing for gift cards.  The more missions you have done, the more times you name is in the hat.
5.  It introduces you to tools you had never heard of before.  One mission we had this year was to use a tool called Canva - a very cool graphic design tool.  I've had kids use it for projects, and I will never make another bulletin board without it.  I would never have heard of it without this program.
6.  It encourages teacher input.  Many times during the year, a teacher will stumble upon a new tool and say, "Hey, you should have a mission for that.

This program has gotten us off our year two flatline graph and put us back on the upward slope.  Another thing Laura does is meet with every teacher every quarter to discuss how she can help you take your tech integration to the next level.  Because of these discussions, my 8th graders have begun creating a website (which future 8th graders will finish), and next year, my 8th graders will be blogging for the world to see.

I've said it before.  I couldn't go back to teaching the old way.  Now that I see what kids are capable of doing with the world of knowledge at their fingertips, I would never again feel like I was doing my job as a teacher if I didn't give them that opportunity.  Every new tool we teach them i just another way they can be academically and spiritually equipped, challenged, and inspired to impact their world for Christ (which is our school's mission statement).

There will be one more post in this series - what I wish I had known when this all started.

Surprised by Kids

After 16 years of teaching, one would think a teacher wouldn't be surprised by much that kids do.  After all, by now, I should have seen everything a kid might think of to do.  One would be wrong.  I am constantly surprised by what kids think of. 

This is sometimes, as you might expect, a bad thing.  New and creative ways to cheat and plagiarize happen pretty frequently.  That is not, however, what this post is about.  Sometimes, the surprise is something silly.  For example, a few days ago, one of my students was turned around during a demonstration that required students to do the wave.  I said, "turn around" without saying her name, and everyone turned around.  That was a surprise that made me laugh for a full minute.  That is also not what this post is about.

This post about the surprising generosity of students displayed by a few high school girls.  Every February, our school has a Hoops for Hope event to raise money for the Kay Yow Cancer Research Fund.  It is an amazing event with silent auctions, guest speakers, a ceremony to honor cancer survivors, and (oh yeah) basketball games.  We pink out the gym, and several thousand dollars a year are raised for cancer research.  Occasionally, we have a girl who donates her hair for kids who need wigs, but it has always been an elementary an elementary school student and is usually not more than two kids. 

I will never be a person who can write a thousand dollar check for something.  I give what money I can where I can; but as a teacher, that is never going to be a life changing amount.  For this reason, I look to I Peter 4:10 - "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace."  Before the context police (of which I am a proud member) come after me, I am well aware that this passage is about spiritual gifts.  I do not think, however, that it is out of line with scripture to use it as inspiration for using any gift you have to help others.  One of the gifts I have is O negative blood.  Having the universal donor blood type, I believe that is a gift that can be used to serve others, so I donate as often as the Red Cross allows. 

One of the other things I have his healthy, thick hair.  For that reason, I grow it out and cut off ten to twelve inches every three years or so.  This summer, I was approaching the right length.  A couple of months before it gets to the right length, it starts driving me crazy.  It is heavy and in the way.  A pony tail all day every day starts to hurt.  I had decided it would be the right length in October, and I couldn't wait for October to arrive.  Then our special needs coordinator said, "You should do it at Hoops for Hope."  Hoops for Hope takes place in February.  I gave her my You-Don't-Know-What-You-Are-Saying look and said, "I don't know about that.  Do you know how long that is?  I'd cut it today if I could." 

Over that weekend, I decided that I would issue a challenge.  The ice bucket thing was finally over, so we needed a new challenge, right?  I e-mailed every middle and high school girl in our school that has really long hair.  I told them that I would wait until February if some of them would do it with me.  Otherwise, I was going to go ahead and do it in October as planned.  I honestly thought I would get no response.  We have a lot of nice kids, but there is a special relationship between high school girls and their hair.  Also, super long and super straight hair is style right now.  I thought I would send this e-mail and then get to cut my hair in October. 

Here's the surprise part.  Less than an hour after hitting send, I got an enthusiastic reply from Grace -   "I'd love to do it. I'm in."  A few hours after that, I got an e-mail from Molly - "I'm super nervous, but sure."  Mary Mac was next.  Then came Kim and Mia, both nervous, but totally on board.  I also had two maybes.  By the time it was done, I had six high school girls.  Adding that to my own donation, we would have about 5 feet of hair to send to an organization called Children With Hair Loss. 

In the months that followed, their excitement grew.  We had to extend Kim because she was playing Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.  Mia had to drop out, but our receptionist jumped in for her on the spot.  We did it together, and it was actually a lot of fun.  We prayed over the cut pony tails together and prayed for the little girls who would get them.  (By the way, it was the girls who suggested the prayer time.)  Kim brought me eleven inches of her hair just two days after the play was over.  On Friday, I packaged it up and sent off almost a pound of hair, amounting to 5ft and 4in to be made into wigs for little kids who have lost their hair for medical reasons.  This doesn't seem like much for those of us who can easily grow our hair back, but for a little kid who must attend school with no hair, this is a blessing.

Thank you lovely ladies for surprising me with your sacrifice.  You've blessed a little girl, used your gifts in service to others, and shown your love for Jesus and for others.


Kim's hair during the play.  It now comes just below her shoulders as she cut off eleven inches!

Teaching Yearbook

I never set out to teach yearbook, but it is now how most students know me.

When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut.  However, 3 inches over the NASA height limit, vision issues, and a complete lack of equilibrium took that off of the list of career options when I was 12.  To be honest, I would still jump on board any time someone would let me. When I took physics my senior year in high school, I discovered that I really wanted to be a physics teacher.  Five years into my career as a science teacher, my hobby of photography became one of the biggest parts of my work life.

For years, our school passed around the role of yearbook adviser from person to person.  This. is. crazy.  The learning curve in your first year of advising is steep.  To have a different person every year experiencing their first year means you never have a yearbook that reflects the lesson learned in the first year.  This was reflected in the quality of the yearbooks as well.  People did the best they could, but not having the benefit of experience definitely showed up in the product.

During the summer, I got a call from our principal, Kathie Thompson.  It began with "Keep an open mind when I tell you this."  This is hardly an encouraging start to a conversation.  She told me that they wanted me to teach yearbook that year.  I asked if it mattered that I didn't know what I was doing, and she said that no one else did either.  Since I believe you can't judge anything on its first year, I agreed to give it two years.  I thought I could re-evaluate at that point whether or not it would be a good idea to continue.

I learned more about the computer that year than I have learned in ANY other year of my life.  Second place would be the year we began our one to one laptop program.  I learned about folders and subfolders and network drives.  I learned about pop up blockers and editing tools and software.  I learned about managing a long term project in a way I had never learned before.  I was still shooting with a film camera back then (and a dinky little 2.0 Megapixel that wasn't good for much), so I would take the film to Eckard Drug and have them make a disc.  At that time, Jostens' online program was in its Beta phase, so we could only upload one photo at a time.  I also had a large number of students who didn't really want to take yearbook; they had turned in their elective forms late and were given their third or fourth choice.  You have no idea how much I cherished the few diligent workers I had that year.  I'm not sure I would have been able to continue if it hadn't been for the Clark girls, Amy Prall, and two of the three Edwards boys.

Here I sit, ten years later, a week after submitting my 10th yearbook.  Things have certainly changed.  1. First, a plug for Jostens.  I'm sure other yearbook companies are fine and dandy, but I wouldn't leave Jostens for all the tea in China.  Every year, they ask what your dream function would be for their system, and they implement most of them, often within the next year.  They are ALL about customer service.  I have gotten calls from the plant where the book is printed because they found an error and want to know how we would like to go about fixing it.  I have great relationships with both our local rep and the plant rep.  If you ever need to make a yearbook, use Jostens!

2.  I now use a digital Nikkon 3500 DSLR.  I have a 18-55mm lens, a 50-200mm lens, and a 70-330mm lens (great for soccer and baseball).  I take about 25000 pictures per year, which would have been very expensive with film.

3.  I have students (mostly) who signed up for yearbook because they want to be part of the excellence of the program.  They like the feeling of producing something.  I can usually tell who is going to be editor their senior year during their freshman year.

4.  The school has grown, grown, grown.  My first yearbook was 88 pages.  We had about 15 athletic teams.  Our middle and high school grades had only one section, and elementary grades had two.  We had fine arts programs, but we covered each of them in about half a page.  We did our best to spread out the coverage, but we had no way of knowing exactly how many times someone was in the book without physically counting them, which we did not do.  The book we just finished had 145 pages, including 24 athletic teams,  three sections of EVERY grade, and double page spreads for EACH fine art.  Due to an upgrade in Jostens system (Have I mentioned how much I love Jostens?), we are able to tag every photo and then run their coverage report.  We KNOW that every student is pictured at least three times in the yearbook.

Lots of other things have changed too, but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.  Yearbook has become such a central part of my life that I'm not sure what I would do without it.  What I like most is that it has kept me connected to the entire school.  I am in and out of all  classrooms across all grade levels, so I know what great things are happening in our classes.  I am at least two games/matches of every sport, so I know what is happening in our athletics.  I am at almost every theater, band, and chorus performance, so I can tell you the amazing work they are doing.  Yes, it is more work than I ever knew was possible, but it has embroidered GRACE on my heart as thoroughly as the logo is embroider on my shirts.

Thanks so much to Kathie Thompson for changing my life.  I love it and hope for ten more.

Thanksgiving for Educators

In honor of Thanksgiving week, I thought I would take some time on this blog to thank many of the people who have shaped my educational journey.  Whatever I am as teacher, I owe to these people.  I feel certain I will forget some, so please charge that to my head and not my heart as it is 7AM on a Monday morning.

Mrs. Doane 1st grade) - Even though I was almost as tall as you were, I looked up to you because you showed me that you not only loved us, but loved teaching us.

Mr. Tom Dorrin (6th grade) - You taught me that I didn't have to take myself so seriously.  I know other people thought your teasing me was terrible, but I loved every minute it of it.

Mr. Jim Freeman (8th grade science and PE) - You taught me that you can be serious about important  things and silly about others.  My favorite memory of you was this conversation:
"Beth, you throw like a girl."
"But Mr. Freeman, I am a girl."
"Well, that's just something you're going to have to overcome, now isn't it."
I still can't throw, but my memory of this conversation teaches me that I don't have to use something as an excuse just because it is true.

Mr. Danny Watkins (7th and 8th grade history - homeroom for many years) - You taught me that if you teach what you love and show how much you love it, others will love it too.  As an adult, I stood in a museum with tears running down my face as I looked at the crown of Empress Alexandra because of what I learned from you.  You are the reason I look forward to convention every year.

Mr. Don Sandberg (9th grade science) - You taught me the power of curiosity (mostly by putting up with all of my questions).  You weren't afraid to treat a freshman like they were capable of deep thought.  As a result, I wanted to think more deeply just to impress you.  I now teach the same subject you taught me, and I think of you often.  Sometimes, I ask myself, "How would Mr. Sandberg teach this?"

Mr. Jim Barbara (physics)  - I teach with a photo of you hanging over my desk.  When I hear people say they don't like physics, I know it is because they didn't have someone like you for it.  You taught me that this very difficult subject was also really interesting and fun.  You made me look forward to last period every day.

Mrs. Catherine Klehm (college chemistry professor and science education adviser) - You taught me the structure of teaching, without which I would just be flying by the seat of my pants.  Thanks for teaching me how to evaluate textbooks, how to plan a lesson, and how to convey bigger issues than just the factual information.

Dr. Stephen M. King (college government professor and briefly my pastor) - You let me enroll in your class even though you weren't sure why a science education major was taking a higher level government class.  I think of you often (particularly when the Supreme Court issues any kind of opinion).

Mr. Stephen Matthews (my first principal) - I wouldn't have survived my first two years without your grace, humor, and humility.  No matter how badly I had blown it, you always had a story about a time when you had done the same thing.  You made me feel like I could always be a better teacher than I was.  I'm glad I didn't throw up on your shows at our interview because I couldn't have asked for a better first principal.

Mrs. Teresa Alsbrook (my first principal at GRACE) - Thanks for taking a chance on hiring me when you had no reason to (other than thinking I would be a good fit).

Mrs. Kathie Thompson (the elementary principal at GRACE) - Thank you for assigning the yearbook to me when I had no idea what I was doing.  My life changed that day in ways I would have never dreamed.  Thanks also for bringing me to camp every year and showing what love of children really looks like.

All my school friends (teachers, librarian, IT people, administrators, etc.)  - You inspire me every day with your energy, imagination, love, passion, and willingness to try new things.  Harry Wong said, "Great teachers aren't born.  They are made by the teacher next door."  To all of you, thanks for everything you have taught me about teaching.

Stepping Up!

About five minutes ago, I was reminded of something I already knew.   It was well worth being reminded of.  This is it.

No matter how well you think you know someone, they can surprise you.

I was sitting in our school's weekly chapel service, and nothing unusual was really happening.  Our speaker was a bit unusual just because he came over from Kenya, but that's not totally weird.  Near the end, our theater teacher got up to announce that tickets for the fall play were on sale.  That's totally normal this time of year.  Part of the cast was going to perform a small selection as advertisement.  We do that every time we have a play, so nothing strange there - until it started.  Then, I was stunned.

Our IT director ran out with two of the cast members, firing a NERF dart gun at imaginary birds.  No, he hadn't lost his mind from students telling him "my internet is broken."  He is a cast member!!!  This man with a reputation for being a lovable curmudgeon is in the play!  You could have knocked me over with a feather.

When I asked him about this later, his response was, "I'm an enigma wrapped in a riddle."  After asking around, I got more of the story.  What made this man agree to do this?  He was needed.  The person who was originally cast in this part was unable to participate, and he agreed to help.

As I sit here thinking about this, it occurs to me - This is what teachers do.  Good teachers do their job.  Great teachers step up.  They do things they would never have imagined doing because it is needed.  In my sixteen years of teaching, I have seen examples of this - not just in the school in am in now - but in every school.

Some examples:
- A teacher who learned a sport she didn't yet know how to play because the middle school team needed a coach.
- A teacher who agreed to take kids on an overnight field trip because the person who usually did it was sick.
- An IT professional who installed all the network cables in the school building in order to save the school some money.
- Teachers who buy hundreds of dollars in supplies each year out of their own pocket.
- A teacher who take on student council because there wouldn't be a student council if he didn't.
- Administrators who put out chairs and set tables for banquets because there won't be chairs and tables if someone doesn't do it.
- Librarians who take on additional clubs because a student asked for it.
- Teachers who stayed at school overnight during an ice storm because busses couldn't get the kids home.
- A math teacher who decided dance was worth teaching.
- Teachers who give up their lunch time to tutor or fill in for other teachers.
- A history teacher who started an AP program and a theater program at the same time.

Schools could educate without this type of drive, but they couldn't mentor.  They couldn't inspire.  They couldn't motivate students to innovate.  Great schools are only great because great teachers, great administrators, great librarians, and great IT people step up in ways even they would never have imagined.

I have left off the names of these people because I think most of them would prefer it that way, but I am inspired by these people.  If you attend the GRACE fall production, you should be inspired as well - by the man who stepped up because something needed to be done.