Just like fashions change from season to season, there are also fads in language. I know how the clothing changes. There are designers that intend to have millions in skinny jeans for a year even though they told them everyone should wear bootcut the year before. I can tell how it happens in language, but it does. From Twitter to the board room to teacher conventions, there are certain expressions and phrases that are the hot buttons for a while. While anything overused in this way can be annoying, there are some expressions we should just stop using altogether. While I don't believe in resolutions, the new year seems to be a good time to drop these expressions from our vocabulary. These are my top three expressions to abandon.
3. Leverage - I was at an educational workshop in which I swear this word was used as a verb over a hundred times. The workshop was only four hours long. Unless you are talking about the physics of exchanging force for distance by use of a fulcrum, this word just means use. Saying you can leverage an app with your students might make you feel smarter, but it doesn't make you sound smarter. If you mean use, just say use. (On behalf of my friend, Cheryl, you can place the word utilize in the same category.)
2. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. - Contrary to popular belief, this didn't first appear in a pop song. When you say this crazy sentence, you are quoting atheist German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Thanks to the power of pop music, it has resurfaced. It is now used for every situation that involves suffering of any kind. Some well meaning but trite friend will try to make you feel better using this inane sentence. Among other problems, it just isn't true. The pneumonia I had in 6th grade did not kill me, but it absolutely didn't make me stronger. A bullet wound might not kill you, but it certainly will not strengthen you. The only person ever made stronger by overexposure to gamma rays was Bruce Banner; everyone else just gets radiation poisoning. The song may be catchy, but we should stop saying this stupid expression.
1. It is what it is. This is my number one most hated expression in all of modern English, and I can't get through a day without hearing it. What does it mean? If you take it literally, it means nothing. Most people don't mean it literally, so what does it mean in practice? It means I GIVE UP. It implies that a situation can't be changed, so why bother. I've thought about this for a long time, and I cannot think of a historic figure I respect who would use this sentence. John Adams, fighting the Continental Congress for the passage of the Declaration of Independence would never say, "Oh, well. It is what it is." William Wilberforce in England and Frederick Douglas in America would not have used this sentence in their fight against slavery. The Apostles traveled the known world to carry the gospel of Christ, and it wasn't because they were content with the state of the world as it was. Can you imagine Jesus saying it? I can't. Name anyone who has accomplished something with their lives, and you will not find this sentence. Could we please put this expression behind us tonight?
As we head into the new year, let's examine our own speech. Let's say things that are true, helpful, and meaningful.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Friday, December 18, 2015
Failing vs. Failure
As I have mentioned before on this blog, I listen to the TED Radio Hour on NPR. While I don't agree with the worldview presented by every speaker, I believe we can learn something from everyone. Recently, I was listening to the one by Stanley McChrystal. While you may best remember him from the pseudo-scandal leading to his resignation as the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, he had a long and distinguished career in the military. His talk is on leadership, a topic on which he is highly qualified to speak.
In my favorite part of this episode, General McChrystal relates a story from the National Training Center. After the operation, every error he made was pointed out at the "after action review." He said, "I walked out feeling as low as a snake's belly in a wagon rut. And I saw my battalion commander, because I had let him down. And I went up to apologize to him, and he said, "Stanley, I thought you did great." And in one sentence, he lifted me, put me back on my feet, and taught me that leaders can let you fail and yet not let you be a failure."
Teachers aren't military leaders, but there is much we can take from this story. Our students will occasionally fail. Failure is part of the learning process. If you never fail, you aren't setting big enough goals for yourself. It is our job as teachers to, not only point out their failures to them, but also to help them learn from those failures. If all we do is point out the mistake, we do not teach; we simply make them failures. If we come along side them, show them where they went wrong, and show them how to avoid that the next time, we lead them.
As I write this, I have just finished grading exams. My students are horrified by the fact that no one got a 100%. They believe that means there is something wrong with the exam. I point out to them that it is unlikely you could make zero mistakes on something that covers all the information you have learned for an entire semester. There are 135 questions on this exam, some of them with very high thinking levels, some with great levels of detail. Of course, a few of students failed the exam outright. That doesn't mean that they cannot still learn from their mistakes, stand back up, and do better on the next exam. Education isn't about content. I suppose I should say that it isn't JUST about content. It is about training the brain to learn. That happens as often from the times we get questions wrong as it does when we get them right, possibly more often. Let's fight the trend from parents, school systems, students, and society at large to view a grade as an indicator of our value. We must put them in the proper perspective, indicators of current performance. In so doing, we can allow them to fail without letting them be failures.
In my favorite part of this episode, General McChrystal relates a story from the National Training Center. After the operation, every error he made was pointed out at the "after action review." He said, "I walked out feeling as low as a snake's belly in a wagon rut. And I saw my battalion commander, because I had let him down. And I went up to apologize to him, and he said, "Stanley, I thought you did great." And in one sentence, he lifted me, put me back on my feet, and taught me that leaders can let you fail and yet not let you be a failure."
Teachers aren't military leaders, but there is much we can take from this story. Our students will occasionally fail. Failure is part of the learning process. If you never fail, you aren't setting big enough goals for yourself. It is our job as teachers to, not only point out their failures to them, but also to help them learn from those failures. If all we do is point out the mistake, we do not teach; we simply make them failures. If we come along side them, show them where they went wrong, and show them how to avoid that the next time, we lead them.
As I write this, I have just finished grading exams. My students are horrified by the fact that no one got a 100%. They believe that means there is something wrong with the exam. I point out to them that it is unlikely you could make zero mistakes on something that covers all the information you have learned for an entire semester. There are 135 questions on this exam, some of them with very high thinking levels, some with great levels of detail. Of course, a few of students failed the exam outright. That doesn't mean that they cannot still learn from their mistakes, stand back up, and do better on the next exam. Education isn't about content. I suppose I should say that it isn't JUST about content. It is about training the brain to learn. That happens as often from the times we get questions wrong as it does when we get them right, possibly more often. Let's fight the trend from parents, school systems, students, and society at large to view a grade as an indicator of our value. We must put them in the proper perspective, indicators of current performance. In so doing, we can allow them to fail without letting them be failures.
Monday, December 14, 2015
Exams Teach More Than You Know
Disclaimer: I am a middle and high school science teacher, not a neurobiologist. I am well aware that the learning process in the brain is far more complex than I am portraying. This is painted with very broad strokes because this is, after all, an educational blog and not a neurology text.
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Exam Week" really should be a song because, for middle and high school teachers and students, it can't be Christmas until midterm exams are over. To see some of my students blogs on the issue, click here.
It happens every year. A middle school student tells me that exams are unnecessary and don't tell you anything because they can't study for all their subjects at once. They are always very proud of their amazing argument, backed up with something their mom said about how they shouldn't be under so much pressure at their age. Much like the "When am I ever going to use this is life?" question, it doesn't actually matter what my answer is. They came in knowing that they were right and nothing will convince them otherwise. Since you read this blog, I will assume that you care what the answer is. Exams are about the pressure.
The initial learning process is a long and complicated brain experience. It involves categorizing new knowledge into categories you established from prior knowledge, blending the old information with the new to give it meaning, and recording that meaning in a biochemical process in your brain. Because the brain's real estate is limited, there is competition for what will remain and what gets tossed. Your brain simply must throw out some things, or you would waste valuable space on remembering what the people in your line at the grocery store last week were wearing. In the simplest of terms, your brain decides to keep the things you revisit and dump the things you don't. That's why songs stay in your mind. That's why review matters. It has even been theorized that one of the purposes of sleep is to give your brain time to decide what it should forget from that day without taking in new input in the process.
What does this have to do with pressure and exams?
First, you are obviously revisiting information that you learned earlier in the semester. This tells your brain that it should hold onto this information next time it is sorting out what you should forget. It tells your brain that this information is more important than the tweet your read yesterday and never looked at again. Second, the pressure of the exam schedule tells your brain that this matters enough to stress over. The brain isn't likely to drop those things you are stressed about when it goes through information triage. It is why you remember the fight you had with your friend long after you forgot the color of the carpet in the conference room. Emotion (even stress) causes your brain to record more permanently. The pressure increases the learning.
Another thing that exams teach you is the ability to plan for the long term and short term simultaneously. This is an important adult life skill. Your parents prepare for the short term (packing lunches for tomorrow) and the medium term (what groceries to buy for this week) and the long term (how much money to budget for food). They do it all the time. They didn't develop the ability to do this the day they turned 21. It is a skill that is built. One of the ways you build this skill is to balance studying for exams (a couple of weeks away) with doing the homework that is due tomorrow. This will keep you from living your life by the "tyranny of the urgent" principle. Many adults live anxious lives because they are only doing what has to be done RIGHT NOW. If you have developed the skill of planning ahead, your life will be less stressful.
As I began writing this, I had a strange memory of an episode of Boy Meets World. I know that's weird, but stick with me. Mr. Feeny had made a very difficult exam schedule (because, in TV world, the history teacher is apparently able to make the exam schedule). Anyway, the students revolted against this unfair schedule. They vandalized his house, etc. In the scene below, Corey goes to talk to him about the vandalism and to request that he make things easier. As always, Mr. Feeny's wisdom came through, so I will end with it.
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Exam Week" really should be a song because, for middle and high school teachers and students, it can't be Christmas until midterm exams are over. To see some of my students blogs on the issue, click here.
It happens every year. A middle school student tells me that exams are unnecessary and don't tell you anything because they can't study for all their subjects at once. They are always very proud of their amazing argument, backed up with something their mom said about how they shouldn't be under so much pressure at their age. Much like the "When am I ever going to use this is life?" question, it doesn't actually matter what my answer is. They came in knowing that they were right and nothing will convince them otherwise. Since you read this blog, I will assume that you care what the answer is. Exams are about the pressure.
The initial learning process is a long and complicated brain experience. It involves categorizing new knowledge into categories you established from prior knowledge, blending the old information with the new to give it meaning, and recording that meaning in a biochemical process in your brain. Because the brain's real estate is limited, there is competition for what will remain and what gets tossed. Your brain simply must throw out some things, or you would waste valuable space on remembering what the people in your line at the grocery store last week were wearing. In the simplest of terms, your brain decides to keep the things you revisit and dump the things you don't. That's why songs stay in your mind. That's why review matters. It has even been theorized that one of the purposes of sleep is to give your brain time to decide what it should forget from that day without taking in new input in the process.
What does this have to do with pressure and exams?
First, you are obviously revisiting information that you learned earlier in the semester. This tells your brain that it should hold onto this information next time it is sorting out what you should forget. It tells your brain that this information is more important than the tweet your read yesterday and never looked at again. Second, the pressure of the exam schedule tells your brain that this matters enough to stress over. The brain isn't likely to drop those things you are stressed about when it goes through information triage. It is why you remember the fight you had with your friend long after you forgot the color of the carpet in the conference room. Emotion (even stress) causes your brain to record more permanently. The pressure increases the learning.
Another thing that exams teach you is the ability to plan for the long term and short term simultaneously. This is an important adult life skill. Your parents prepare for the short term (packing lunches for tomorrow) and the medium term (what groceries to buy for this week) and the long term (how much money to budget for food). They do it all the time. They didn't develop the ability to do this the day they turned 21. It is a skill that is built. One of the ways you build this skill is to balance studying for exams (a couple of weeks away) with doing the homework that is due tomorrow. This will keep you from living your life by the "tyranny of the urgent" principle. Many adults live anxious lives because they are only doing what has to be done RIGHT NOW. If you have developed the skill of planning ahead, your life will be less stressful.
As I began writing this, I had a strange memory of an episode of Boy Meets World. I know that's weird, but stick with me. Mr. Feeny had made a very difficult exam schedule (because, in TV world, the history teacher is apparently able to make the exam schedule). Anyway, the students revolted against this unfair schedule. They vandalized his house, etc. In the scene below, Corey goes to talk to him about the vandalism and to request that he make things easier. As always, Mr. Feeny's wisdom came through, so I will end with it.
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Half-Baked
This is the time of year when everyone gets tired. The weather has changed, and the days are getting shorter. The students are no longer in the honeymoon period of behaving well in class. They have gotten to know their teachers well enough to really start pushing the line on what they can get away with. We start seeing what they are like under pressure. It is the time of year when teachers start worrying about some character traits they may or may not be seeing in their students.
Because teachers love their students, we stress over them. If they are making poor decisions in their personal lives, cheating on our tests, or just plain acting foolish, we are concerned about their future. In Christian schools, like the one I teach in, we are concerned about what those behaviors reflect regarding the condition of their hearts. Cheating on a test isn't just a behavior; it is a reflection of something much deeper, self-worship. Bad choices in their personal lives may do damage to their reputation, but we are more concerned about the damage it does to their character. Because of these concerns, teachers do a fair amount of hand-wringing and fretting. We talk a lot about what their issues mean for their future.
Then I remember that my students are eighteen when they graduate. We don't send them out into the world as finished products, and we aren't the last influences they will have in their lives. There will be professors and ministers and friends and mentors after us who will continue the process of maturing them into the adults they will one day be.
I remind myself that no one eats a half-baked cake. I love to eat cake batter. I may like it even more than I like the final cake. As much as I like them both, I would never put a cake in the oven for half the time and then complain when I took it out of the oven that it wasn't cake yet and wasn't batter anymore. I would recognize that the oven was only half way through the process of turning batter into cake. This is where my students are. They aren't the squishy little sweet babies they once were, but they aren't fully formed adults yet either. They are in the weird place that cake would be, half-baked. We can't complain that they aren't babies anymore, and we can't complain that they aren't adults yet. They aren't supposed to be. They are in the middle of the process we call growing up.
Teachers will always worry. We know that there are mistakes they can make that will impact the adult they become. Just like a cake would be ruined if we opened the oven door and threw in a handful of dirt, a person can be negatively impacted by what happens in high school. However, we need to keep this time in proper perspective and recognized. They are not yet who they will be.
Because teachers love their students, we stress over them. If they are making poor decisions in their personal lives, cheating on our tests, or just plain acting foolish, we are concerned about their future. In Christian schools, like the one I teach in, we are concerned about what those behaviors reflect regarding the condition of their hearts. Cheating on a test isn't just a behavior; it is a reflection of something much deeper, self-worship. Bad choices in their personal lives may do damage to their reputation, but we are more concerned about the damage it does to their character. Because of these concerns, teachers do a fair amount of hand-wringing and fretting. We talk a lot about what their issues mean for their future.
Then I remember that my students are eighteen when they graduate. We don't send them out into the world as finished products, and we aren't the last influences they will have in their lives. There will be professors and ministers and friends and mentors after us who will continue the process of maturing them into the adults they will one day be.
I remind myself that no one eats a half-baked cake. I love to eat cake batter. I may like it even more than I like the final cake. As much as I like them both, I would never put a cake in the oven for half the time and then complain when I took it out of the oven that it wasn't cake yet and wasn't batter anymore. I would recognize that the oven was only half way through the process of turning batter into cake. This is where my students are. They aren't the squishy little sweet babies they once were, but they aren't fully formed adults yet either. They are in the weird place that cake would be, half-baked. We can't complain that they aren't babies anymore, and we can't complain that they aren't adults yet. They aren't supposed to be. They are in the middle of the process we call growing up.
Teachers will always worry. We know that there are mistakes they can make that will impact the adult they become. Just like a cake would be ruined if we opened the oven door and threw in a handful of dirt, a person can be negatively impacted by what happens in high school. However, we need to keep this time in proper perspective and recognized. They are not yet who they will be.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Pragmatism IS NOT an Aspiration
When I was in college, I had an education professor who was fond of saying, "Beware of doing what works." At the time, I was extremely confused. If something worked, why is heaven's name wouldn't I want to use it. I thought she was a little nutty for a lot of reasons, and this just seemed like one more nutty thing to add to the list. Now, I get it. It was a warning against pragmatism.
Seven years ago, I was listening to President Obama staunchly defending himself against the charge that he was an ideologue. He was clearly upset about it and insisted (as did his supporters) that he was a pragmatist. I remember thinking at the time that I would have more respect for him if he were ideological, but this idea seemed upsetting to every spokesman on the talk show circuit. This discussion on all the morning shows fascinated me. When did we reach the point in our society where pragmatism is considered a good thing, something to be aspired to even? No modern politician wants to be considered an ideologue. Why is this the case?
Let's look at the two words. The dictionary definition of pragmatism doesn't sound so bad. It is "dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations." That seems like someone who will work with you in order to get things done. Okay, I could probably deal with that. When I look around, however, it seems that the modern application of this is that we only care about what will work, what we can get done, whether or not it fits our philosophy or values. This appears especially true if you are trying to fight off the charge of be an ideologue.
The other end of the spectrum is ideology. The definition of an ideologue is "an adherent of an ideology, especially one who is uncompromising and dogmatic." This is what the politicians don't want to be called? Don't they run their campaigns and ideologues? No one gives a stump speech in which they say, "I have no beliefs, so I will do whatever I can." They run on the basis of you, their supporter, caring about their beliefs and values. They tell you they will fight for those beliefs and hope that will make you want to vote for them.
It seems to me like the ideologue is the person who has values and sticks to them rather than always giving in. This seems to me like a person of character. This is William Wilberforce fighting the slave trade for decades before he accomplished it. He didn't sit down and say, "Well, since the rest of you don't think that works, I guess we won't do it." He battled staunchly in the face of overwhelming opposition from friends and foes alike. He is a hero. We tells stories about people like him, make movies about their fight, and write their names in history books. Is the pragmatist a hero? You can draw your own conclusion, but I don't think he is. I don't think we will make movies about the pragmatists or pass down their stories in history books because they won't really have stories.
I have been told that I am a practical teacher, but I certainly don't want to be a pragmatist. I don't want my students to see me as pragmatic. I hope that I have conveyed to them that I have values and beliefs that I will hold to, no matter what. That doesn't mean that I never compromise on anything, but I will not compromise on the things that are important - integrity, scripture, my beliefs about what is good for their education. Doing "what works" is like a dog chasing its own tail. He may catch it, but what is he going to do with it when he does? He has "caught" something of no value. I hope that my students see a lot of hard work for things that matter and they will aspire to be ideologues themselves. If I send out loads of pragmatic alumni, I have done no favors for the world. If I send out one ideologue, I may have a hand in changing the world.
Seven years ago, I was listening to President Obama staunchly defending himself against the charge that he was an ideologue. He was clearly upset about it and insisted (as did his supporters) that he was a pragmatist. I remember thinking at the time that I would have more respect for him if he were ideological, but this idea seemed upsetting to every spokesman on the talk show circuit. This discussion on all the morning shows fascinated me. When did we reach the point in our society where pragmatism is considered a good thing, something to be aspired to even? No modern politician wants to be considered an ideologue. Why is this the case?
Let's look at the two words. The dictionary definition of pragmatism doesn't sound so bad. It is "dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations." That seems like someone who will work with you in order to get things done. Okay, I could probably deal with that. When I look around, however, it seems that the modern application of this is that we only care about what will work, what we can get done, whether or not it fits our philosophy or values. This appears especially true if you are trying to fight off the charge of be an ideologue.
The other end of the spectrum is ideology. The definition of an ideologue is "an adherent of an ideology, especially one who is uncompromising and dogmatic." This is what the politicians don't want to be called? Don't they run their campaigns and ideologues? No one gives a stump speech in which they say, "I have no beliefs, so I will do whatever I can." They run on the basis of you, their supporter, caring about their beliefs and values. They tell you they will fight for those beliefs and hope that will make you want to vote for them.
It seems to me like the ideologue is the person who has values and sticks to them rather than always giving in. This seems to me like a person of character. This is William Wilberforce fighting the slave trade for decades before he accomplished it. He didn't sit down and say, "Well, since the rest of you don't think that works, I guess we won't do it." He battled staunchly in the face of overwhelming opposition from friends and foes alike. He is a hero. We tells stories about people like him, make movies about their fight, and write their names in history books. Is the pragmatist a hero? You can draw your own conclusion, but I don't think he is. I don't think we will make movies about the pragmatists or pass down their stories in history books because they won't really have stories.
I have been told that I am a practical teacher, but I certainly don't want to be a pragmatist. I don't want my students to see me as pragmatic. I hope that I have conveyed to them that I have values and beliefs that I will hold to, no matter what. That doesn't mean that I never compromise on anything, but I will not compromise on the things that are important - integrity, scripture, my beliefs about what is good for their education. Doing "what works" is like a dog chasing its own tail. He may catch it, but what is he going to do with it when he does? He has "caught" something of no value. I hope that my students see a lot of hard work for things that matter and they will aspire to be ideologues themselves. If I send out loads of pragmatic alumni, I have done no favors for the world. If I send out one ideologue, I may have a hand in changing the world.
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