Disclaimer: All posts on this blog are the opinions of the author. They are not approved by anyone and should not be read as representing anyone other than herself.
Every teacher has done it. We responded very quickly to an e-mail from a parent. The e-mail made us angry, and we felt we had to respond right away. Responding when angry is the fastest way to make a situation worse. It is when you say the thing you wouldn't have aid if you had taken a moment to think about it. It is when your inhibitions are the lowest. Since inhibition is another word for wisdom, you make the foolish choices when you are angry. In a couple of faculty meetings per year, we are reminded that we shouldn't hit send when we are angry. We should talk it through with another teacher and have them read our response before sending.
This same concept should apply outside of teaching and e-mail. It should apply to all of our lives. We should not make big decisions when we are angry.
Now, I am going to stop blogging and start meddling. This concept should also apply to your vote. Given that it is really important to use wisdom in voting, it is a bad idea to decide based on anger. My family is split right now when it comes to the Republican primary. My dad defends Donald Trump every chance he gets, while my mother and I are frightened that this could actually happen. Mom and I are for Rubio, but we will both accept any nominee that is NOT Donald Trump. My dad, on the other hand, feels that people are tired of politicians and that it is time for someone who is not a politician. Forget the fact that you wouldn't apply this logic to any other profession. You would never hear someone say, "I am tired of surgeons thinking they are gods, so I think it is time for someone who is not a surgeon to perform my cardiac bypass." My Granny recently posed the question as to why Trump was doing so unexpectedly well, and my dad proudly said, "It is because people are angry with the politicians." My response was, "Yes, and people always make great decisions when they are angry."
I get why people are angry. I really do. Between Supreme Court rulings and the Bruce Jenner hoopla, last year was rough for social conservatives. I know that; I am one. That doesn't mean I am ready to hand over the most important job on the planet to any angry guy without thinking through whether or not he actually represents your values. A few examples:
- If you are upset about gay marriage, it is probably because you are concerned about the fall of the Biblical definition of marriage. Does it make sense, then, to vote for the guy who has been married three times just because he also opposes gay marriage? Does he actually represent your values? Do you care that he doesn't just because you are angry?
- If you are angry about the current administration's lack of willingness to use the words "radical Islam" when describing terrorism, it may initially appeal to you that this candidate wants to keep out the Muslims. Can you still say he represents your values when he says they should be killed with bullets dipped in pig's blood? Is this something you would say, or do you just cheer for the anger because you are angry?
- If you are angry about illegal immigrants, it sounds good to hear Donald Trump talk about building a wall; but in your anger, have you taken the time to recognize the number of jobs Mr. Trump has sent to Mexico and China? Is that really what you have in mind, or are you just angry?
Trump gets a lot of unwarranted credit for "telling it like it is." People who say that are not listening. He says whatever the angry people in front of him want him to say. When he is speaking to Christians, he "quotes" scripture, hoping we won't notice that he misquotes it. I recently said this to someone, who said, "Well, everyone does that." I agree, but he is getting credit for NOT doing it WHLE DOING IT. I just don't understand.
If you are a Republican, I beg you to consider your primary vote carefully. Don't let your anger rule your decisions. If you think through things dispassionately and still believe Donald Trump represents what you want in an office with the authority to appoint Supreme Court justices, launch nuclear weapons, and act as "Comforter in Chief" when a disaster happens, then your vote is yours to do with what you will. If, however, you are going to vote out of anger, I ask you not to "hit send" as teachers are reminded. Your vote is too important to make it an outlet for your emotional state.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Monday, February 22, 2016
They Hate Me Right Now - and That's Good
Some of my 8th-grade students hate me right now, and I am okay with that. Here's the story.
Every year, I assign my 8th-grade class a five paragraph persuasive essay on whether or not the countries of the world that have space programs should collaborate to put people on Mars. We have finished the space unit, and most of them have been pretty psyched about the Apollo missions. We have had a discussion in class about the ways in which a Mars mission would be different. I bring in the media specialist to teach them about research using more than Google. I give them a detailed rubric with all the requirements (see it below). They should be fully prepared to form an intelligent opinion, based in research, and present it persuasively.
Every year, this is an incredibly stressful assignment because they are being asked to move from the thinking level of middle school students to that of "almost freshmen." They are being asked to examine nuanced arguments from multiple sources and give a comprehensive view of their own opinion. They are also being asked to discuss their own opinion in the third person, which either stresses them out or makes them angry. They are being asked to include in-text citations as well as provide correct MLA format for their works cited page. While I don't grade them at the senior or college level, I do recognize that they cannot improve as they progress toward those years if they don't get penalized for their errors.
I actually hate grading this paper. It isn't easy for a teacher to take off points when they know how hard their students worked on something. I know how upset the overachieving student is going to be when they get back a score that is lower than what they are used to. It takes forever to grade because I want to give them meaningful feedback that will help them improve, not just score the paper. Every year, I say to myself, "Self, why do you giving this stinking paper?"
The answer to that question is that this is good and necessary, even if it is not fun. Students at the 8th-grade level need to have a non-English teacher say, "This is what is wrong with your writing." They are accustomed to thinking that proper writing only matters in their English classes. The reality is, however, that they will have to write in every subject for the rest of their academic careers, and most of them will have to write in their adult life. My father is an engineer. He complains often about the English classes he was required to take in college, but he also spends most of his work time writing reports, patent applications, or proposals about his engineering work. I was briefly his typist. While he cannot spell and has atrocious handwriting, he writes well. No matter how much he may complain about those English classes, they served him well.
The process of improvement is never easy. The primary reason that it is difficult is that the person must acknowledge they need improvement. One of my students believes he is always the best at EVERYTHING he does. He responded with dramatic whines and sighs when he received his graded paper. He argued with me that it should be allowed to have first person because it is his opinion. Admitting there is a problem is always the first step. This isn't easy for anyone.
Because most of us are not self-aware in all areas of our lives, improvement will usually involve the input of others. For improvement to occur in any of our lives, someone will likely have to point out our faults. If we are not mature, we may be angry at that person. Often, we will jump quickly to point out their flaws. It is a self-defense mechanism, but it results in nothing. As we mature, we may learn to take on that loving criticism in the spirit intended and react with humility. It never becomes easy.
This paper, no matter how difficult it is for me and for them, is part of that maturing process. They have someone who loves them and has demonstrated a desire for their success pointing out the ways in which they are not living up to the standard. They will become better as a result, but that doesn't make it easy. It does make it necessary.
Every year, I assign my 8th-grade class a five paragraph persuasive essay on whether or not the countries of the world that have space programs should collaborate to put people on Mars. We have finished the space unit, and most of them have been pretty psyched about the Apollo missions. We have had a discussion in class about the ways in which a Mars mission would be different. I bring in the media specialist to teach them about research using more than Google. I give them a detailed rubric with all the requirements (see it below). They should be fully prepared to form an intelligent opinion, based in research, and present it persuasively.
Every year, this is an incredibly stressful assignment because they are being asked to move from the thinking level of middle school students to that of "almost freshmen." They are being asked to examine nuanced arguments from multiple sources and give a comprehensive view of their own opinion. They are also being asked to discuss their own opinion in the third person, which either stresses them out or makes them angry. They are being asked to include in-text citations as well as provide correct MLA format for their works cited page. While I don't grade them at the senior or college level, I do recognize that they cannot improve as they progress toward those years if they don't get penalized for their errors.
I actually hate grading this paper. It isn't easy for a teacher to take off points when they know how hard their students worked on something. I know how upset the overachieving student is going to be when they get back a score that is lower than what they are used to. It takes forever to grade because I want to give them meaningful feedback that will help them improve, not just score the paper. Every year, I say to myself, "Self, why do you giving this stinking paper?"
The answer to that question is that this is good and necessary, even if it is not fun. Students at the 8th-grade level need to have a non-English teacher say, "This is what is wrong with your writing." They are accustomed to thinking that proper writing only matters in their English classes. The reality is, however, that they will have to write in every subject for the rest of their academic careers, and most of them will have to write in their adult life. My father is an engineer. He complains often about the English classes he was required to take in college, but he also spends most of his work time writing reports, patent applications, or proposals about his engineering work. I was briefly his typist. While he cannot spell and has atrocious handwriting, he writes well. No matter how much he may complain about those English classes, they served him well.
The process of improvement is never easy. The primary reason that it is difficult is that the person must acknowledge they need improvement. One of my students believes he is always the best at EVERYTHING he does. He responded with dramatic whines and sighs when he received his graded paper. He argued with me that it should be allowed to have first person because it is his opinion. Admitting there is a problem is always the first step. This isn't easy for anyone.
Because most of us are not self-aware in all areas of our lives, improvement will usually involve the input of others. For improvement to occur in any of our lives, someone will likely have to point out our faults. If we are not mature, we may be angry at that person. Often, we will jump quickly to point out their flaws. It is a self-defense mechanism, but it results in nothing. As we mature, we may learn to take on that loving criticism in the spirit intended and react with humility. It never becomes easy.
This paper, no matter how difficult it is for me and for them, is part of that maturing process. They have someone who loves them and has demonstrated a desire for their success pointing out the ways in which they are not living up to the standard. They will become better as a result, but that doesn't make it easy. It does make it necessary.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
The Future Belongs to the Millennials
My last post was about the responsibility Generation X and Baby Boomers must take for the way Millenials are. In that post, I mentioned that there were some great things about the Millennial generation, so I would like to devote this post to that. Whatever their flaws may be, Millennials do have gifts that the generation before did not.
1. Adaptability - Because of their short attention span, kids of this generation don't plan weeks in advance. I'm not saying that is entirely good, but it does make for less stress when you need to change plans on them. As a teacher, I find myself having to make occasional changes based on what happens in class. They don't mind as long as I change it on our web calendar. Since new technologies are obsolete by the time we take them out of the box, it is good that they can adapt.
2. Technological Confidence - Being a digital native has its advantages. When I first started at GRACE 13 years ago, we didn't have a lot of teachers using computers. I wrote a simple spreadsheet formula for calculating grades, and there were teachers who thought I was magical in some way. When we began introducing them to new tools, some of our people were afraid. They asked, "What happens if I push the wrong button?" You hit undo, of course. Our pioneering IT person, Diane, said to me, "I have to constantly remind some people that they can't break the internet." Millennials don't think twice about using trial and error to figure out new devices. They don't fear messing anything up because they know that there is nothing that can't be undone (except for hitting the send button).
3. Creative Problem Solving - Millennials are less likely to look for the "one right answer" to a problem than they are to think of a new way. Some of their thinking needs development because they are sometimes a bit all over the map, but it is a critical skill. Challenge Based Learning has arisen to help them develop this skill because we are living in a world that increasingly needs this type of thinking. The problems they will face don't have one right and accepted answer because the problem doesn't even exist yet.
4. Unbridled Enthusiasm - While I wish they would direct their enthusiasm at more important pursuits, I can't help but admire the amount of energy my Millennials put into the things they care about. Despite their short attention span, they will pour every ounce of their energy into leveling up in a video game, making memes and vines, or learning every detail of the filming of their favorite TV show. They are sporadically curious about all kinds of things and devour every detail of it for as long as their their interest lasts. As their thinking matures, that level of dedication may be directed into more meaningful pursuits.
As the future approaches at breakneck speeds, it is important that those who face it have these skills. They will apply their enthusiasm and creative problem solving to the issues that are to come, adapting their lives to the technology before them. As with every generation, we must teach them to harness those gifts they have to face the uncertain future. If we stop focusing on their negatives and teach them to mature in these positives, we can feel more confident about unleashing them on the future.
1. Adaptability - Because of their short attention span, kids of this generation don't plan weeks in advance. I'm not saying that is entirely good, but it does make for less stress when you need to change plans on them. As a teacher, I find myself having to make occasional changes based on what happens in class. They don't mind as long as I change it on our web calendar. Since new technologies are obsolete by the time we take them out of the box, it is good that they can adapt.
2. Technological Confidence - Being a digital native has its advantages. When I first started at GRACE 13 years ago, we didn't have a lot of teachers using computers. I wrote a simple spreadsheet formula for calculating grades, and there were teachers who thought I was magical in some way. When we began introducing them to new tools, some of our people were afraid. They asked, "What happens if I push the wrong button?" You hit undo, of course. Our pioneering IT person, Diane, said to me, "I have to constantly remind some people that they can't break the internet." Millennials don't think twice about using trial and error to figure out new devices. They don't fear messing anything up because they know that there is nothing that can't be undone (except for hitting the send button).
3. Creative Problem Solving - Millennials are less likely to look for the "one right answer" to a problem than they are to think of a new way. Some of their thinking needs development because they are sometimes a bit all over the map, but it is a critical skill. Challenge Based Learning has arisen to help them develop this skill because we are living in a world that increasingly needs this type of thinking. The problems they will face don't have one right and accepted answer because the problem doesn't even exist yet.
4. Unbridled Enthusiasm - While I wish they would direct their enthusiasm at more important pursuits, I can't help but admire the amount of energy my Millennials put into the things they care about. Despite their short attention span, they will pour every ounce of their energy into leveling up in a video game, making memes and vines, or learning every detail of the filming of their favorite TV show. They are sporadically curious about all kinds of things and devour every detail of it for as long as their their interest lasts. As their thinking matures, that level of dedication may be directed into more meaningful pursuits.
As the future approaches at breakneck speeds, it is important that those who face it have these skills. They will apply their enthusiasm and creative problem solving to the issues that are to come, adapting their lives to the technology before them. As with every generation, we must teach them to harness those gifts they have to face the uncertain future. If we stop focusing on their negatives and teach them to mature in these positives, we can feel more confident about unleashing them on the future.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Stop Blaming Millennials for Being What You Made Them
Baby Boomers and Generation X'ers have been bemoaning the current generation for a while now. The common complaints are that Millennials are:
- Lazy
- Entitled and Ungrateful
- Narcissistic
- Disrespectful to Authority
- Never Paying Attention
Disclosure Statement: I was born in 1976, which makes me a full member of Generation X. Since I have taught high school for the past 17 years, I have taught the youngest of Generation X as well as all of the Millennial range.
Here's the deal. Generation X was lazy when compared to Baby Boomers who were massively lazy compared to those who survived the Great Depression. Generation X was far less grateful for our Sony Walkmen than we would have the Millennials believe we were, and I am betting that Baby Boomers weren't as grateful for their 8-tracks as their parents would have liked either. Disrespect for authority has been getting progressively worse throughout American history. There are some great things about the Millennial generation, but that is for next week's post.
The two labels I believe are uniquely accurate are the low attention span and the narcissism.
Before we jump on our kids for these attributes, let's take an honest look at the cause. With the exception of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, every children's show since the beginning of Sesame Street has been fast moving, loud, and colorful. No image stays on the screen for longer than twelve seconds. The child's developing brain becomes neurologically wired to seek new stimulation every twelve seconds. Who makes children's programming. Hint: It's not children. Who lets a Millennial sit with a screen for ten hours a day, making their attention span short. Hint: The kid isn't tall enough to get at the screen for himself.
As for Narcissism, I think even Narcissus would think we have gone to far. He only looked at himself; he didn't insist that others do so as well. What has made the Millennials so self focused? Could it be that they have been told since they were conceived (through headphones attached to the mother's abdomen) that they are the most wonderful, amazing, and unique snowflake God ever dropped on this earth? Could it be that every time an authority figure has dared to point out a flaw, they were told that they were in the wrong for not understanding the child's uniqueness? Could it be that we have been video taping, photographing, and posting about their every move and word since they came into the world? Then we bought them selfie sticks. Were we thinking it wouldn't make them believe they should take pictures of themselves all the time?
When you paint a picture, you can't blame the picture for having the colors you used. When you cook a meal, it is useless to blame the taste on the ingredients you chose. When you tell a child they are perfect every day for years, you can't be upset that they believe you. If you are a Baby Boomer or a Generation X'er (like me), you will find yourself tempted to complain about the qualities you see in the current generation. Before you make those complaints out loud, keep this in mind: WE MADE THEM THIS WAY.
As Dr. Phil says, "You can't change what you don't acknowledge." The brain can be changed, but it requires intense, focused work. That can't happen until we acknowledge the source of the problem. If we don't recognize that our words are part of the problem, we will continue to send mixed messages. Nothing could ever prevent growth more than that.
- Lazy
- Entitled and Ungrateful
- Narcissistic
- Disrespectful to Authority
- Never Paying Attention
Disclosure Statement: I was born in 1976, which makes me a full member of Generation X. Since I have taught high school for the past 17 years, I have taught the youngest of Generation X as well as all of the Millennial range.
Here's the deal. Generation X was lazy when compared to Baby Boomers who were massively lazy compared to those who survived the Great Depression. Generation X was far less grateful for our Sony Walkmen than we would have the Millennials believe we were, and I am betting that Baby Boomers weren't as grateful for their 8-tracks as their parents would have liked either. Disrespect for authority has been getting progressively worse throughout American history. There are some great things about the Millennial generation, but that is for next week's post.
The two labels I believe are uniquely accurate are the low attention span and the narcissism.
Before we jump on our kids for these attributes, let's take an honest look at the cause. With the exception of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, every children's show since the beginning of Sesame Street has been fast moving, loud, and colorful. No image stays on the screen for longer than twelve seconds. The child's developing brain becomes neurologically wired to seek new stimulation every twelve seconds. Who makes children's programming. Hint: It's not children. Who lets a Millennial sit with a screen for ten hours a day, making their attention span short. Hint: The kid isn't tall enough to get at the screen for himself.
As for Narcissism, I think even Narcissus would think we have gone to far. He only looked at himself; he didn't insist that others do so as well. What has made the Millennials so self focused? Could it be that they have been told since they were conceived (through headphones attached to the mother's abdomen) that they are the most wonderful, amazing, and unique snowflake God ever dropped on this earth? Could it be that every time an authority figure has dared to point out a flaw, they were told that they were in the wrong for not understanding the child's uniqueness? Could it be that we have been video taping, photographing, and posting about their every move and word since they came into the world? Then we bought them selfie sticks. Were we thinking it wouldn't make them believe they should take pictures of themselves all the time?
When you paint a picture, you can't blame the picture for having the colors you used. When you cook a meal, it is useless to blame the taste on the ingredients you chose. When you tell a child they are perfect every day for years, you can't be upset that they believe you. If you are a Baby Boomer or a Generation X'er (like me), you will find yourself tempted to complain about the qualities you see in the current generation. Before you make those complaints out loud, keep this in mind: WE MADE THEM THIS WAY.
As Dr. Phil says, "You can't change what you don't acknowledge." The brain can be changed, but it requires intense, focused work. That can't happen until we acknowledge the source of the problem. If we don't recognize that our words are part of the problem, we will continue to send mixed messages. Nothing could ever prevent growth more than that.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
CBL - Quick Hit On Progress
I know I already blogged this week, but I was going through my students initial work on CBL and just had to post. This is a screen shot of research questions from one group. This is already more thought that I got out of weeks and weeks last year. Also, I wasn't here the day they did this; so they got no help.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Student Blogging Update
At the beginning of the school year, I posted about my plan for 8th-grade blogging. Since we are now over halfway through the school year, I thought I'd post an update on how this experiment in public is going.
In short, it's going great.
You probably want a little more detail, huh? Okay, I suppose that's legitimate.
First, let me say as a science teacher that good writing matters, no matter what class you are in. Good writing matters no matter what career your plan to explore. Good writing matters because clear communication matters in our world like it never has before. Blogging has been a great opportunity for my 8th graders to practice writing. In the beginning, they treated the blog a little more casually than I would have liked. I got blog posts that started with "What up? This is yo boy KW here." That gave me an opportunity to have the discussion about the difference between informal personal writing (like personal tweets) and more formal writing for the purpose of education. This improved their posts dramatically.
Second, we live in a world where we rarely take the time to reflect. We get a constant stream of input all day every day. I read recently that the 2016 American brain processes more data in one week than the 1776 American processed in their entire life. We form instant opinions that we actively refuse to change, even in the face of new input. We are so busy taking in new information that we don't take the time to reflect and get perspective on the information we already have. Blogging has been a wonderful opportunity for me to get perspective as an adult, and I am starting to see it in my students as well. Their posts are a lot shorter than mine; they are only required to have five sentences. Some of them are now showing deeper thought than they were before, and I think it is because they are "forced" to reflect at least enough to produce five good sentences.
Third, while this has not yet caught on with my fellow 8th-grade teachers as much as I would have liked, I have found that I can make the science blog as cross-curricular as I would like. At the end of the first semester, I asked them to tell me their favorite thing they had learned so far. By specifically not including the words "in science," I gave them the opportunity to tell me about any of their learning. I got some lovely posts about math and history and books they were reading in English. It was wonderful. This week, their assigned topic is specifically about how their subject disciplines interact. How are math and science and history and writing all related to each other? They will have to consider this for more time than they would have if they weren't writing a blog post.
Lastly, I have discovered that student blogging can incorporate almost anything. If I want them to realize that proper citations matter outside of English, I can require it on this week's blog post. If I want them to reflect on how their study of science affects or reflects their faith, I can make that the topic of the week. If I see a cool 60-minutes spot about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, I can post a link and ask them to respond in their blog. If I have a guest speaker, they can blog their response to him. The blog can be used for project checkpoints and making sure they know how to make a working link. Think of a skill you want your students to have, and you can incorporate it into their blog post requirements. The best part is that I don't have to make a new assignment, overwhelming them with the amount of work they have to do. The blog posts are due on Friday, no matter what; so it isn't an additional burden when I think of a new skill I want them to practice.
What I am most looking forward to is how this year's students progress with their blog. The ultimate vision is that they will continue to update this blog throughout high school, place their best writing there, curate their own work, and have a digital portfolio that can use for college applications, job applications, and personal enrichment. Since we are only half way through year one, it is probably to early to tell if this will have that kind of long-term impact. So far, it is going quite well.
In short, it's going great.
You probably want a little more detail, huh? Okay, I suppose that's legitimate.
First, let me say as a science teacher that good writing matters, no matter what class you are in. Good writing matters no matter what career your plan to explore. Good writing matters because clear communication matters in our world like it never has before. Blogging has been a great opportunity for my 8th graders to practice writing. In the beginning, they treated the blog a little more casually than I would have liked. I got blog posts that started with "What up? This is yo boy KW here." That gave me an opportunity to have the discussion about the difference between informal personal writing (like personal tweets) and more formal writing for the purpose of education. This improved their posts dramatically.
Second, we live in a world where we rarely take the time to reflect. We get a constant stream of input all day every day. I read recently that the 2016 American brain processes more data in one week than the 1776 American processed in their entire life. We form instant opinions that we actively refuse to change, even in the face of new input. We are so busy taking in new information that we don't take the time to reflect and get perspective on the information we already have. Blogging has been a wonderful opportunity for me to get perspective as an adult, and I am starting to see it in my students as well. Their posts are a lot shorter than mine; they are only required to have five sentences. Some of them are now showing deeper thought than they were before, and I think it is because they are "forced" to reflect at least enough to produce five good sentences.
Third, while this has not yet caught on with my fellow 8th-grade teachers as much as I would have liked, I have found that I can make the science blog as cross-curricular as I would like. At the end of the first semester, I asked them to tell me their favorite thing they had learned so far. By specifically not including the words "in science," I gave them the opportunity to tell me about any of their learning. I got some lovely posts about math and history and books they were reading in English. It was wonderful. This week, their assigned topic is specifically about how their subject disciplines interact. How are math and science and history and writing all related to each other? They will have to consider this for more time than they would have if they weren't writing a blog post.
Lastly, I have discovered that student blogging can incorporate almost anything. If I want them to realize that proper citations matter outside of English, I can require it on this week's blog post. If I want them to reflect on how their study of science affects or reflects their faith, I can make that the topic of the week. If I see a cool 60-minutes spot about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, I can post a link and ask them to respond in their blog. If I have a guest speaker, they can blog their response to him. The blog can be used for project checkpoints and making sure they know how to make a working link. Think of a skill you want your students to have, and you can incorporate it into their blog post requirements. The best part is that I don't have to make a new assignment, overwhelming them with the amount of work they have to do. The blog posts are due on Friday, no matter what; so it isn't an additional burden when I think of a new skill I want them to practice.
What I am most looking forward to is how this year's students progress with their blog. The ultimate vision is that they will continue to update this blog throughout high school, place their best writing there, curate their own work, and have a digital portfolio that can use for college applications, job applications, and personal enrichment. Since we are only half way through year one, it is probably to early to tell if this will have that kind of long-term impact. So far, it is going quite well.
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