I know I already wrote a little about senior dinner in my Reflecting on Students post, but tonight is the dinner, and I feel the need to talk a little more about how this fits into the culture of our school.
This year, GRACE will graduate its 13th senior class. I have been at GRACE for 13 years, so I have been at every dinner we have ever had. It has changed a bit over the years. Its original purpose was to honor the parents. Teachers did speak about every student, but that was a relatively small portion of the program. The larger portion was students making a speech. They wrote a letter ahead of time to thank their parents for everything they had done. At the dinner, they stood and read the speech aloud. This was a festival of tears from the student, their parents, the teachers, and the principals.
Our school has grown since then. Our first graduating class had 7 students. This year's class has 43. The dinner has grown as well. We now use it as an awards night for students, announcing valedictorian and salutatorian, bestowing graduation cords, and presenting ACSI awards. Every student also receives a framed printout with three character traits the teachers have said they see in that student. As the focus of the dinner shifted from parents to graduates, the program changed. Students still write letters to their parents, but they read them privately at their table rather than out loud at the podium. As a teacher/speaker, I no longer speak about every student. I speak about the 2-3 that I have signed up for.
While we only speak for about two minutes, it is the culmination of our mission and vision statements at GRACE. It shows that every student is well known by at least one teacher, not just on an academic level, but at the character level. These speeches rarely mention their classroom abilities; they are about character. We bring the student to the front and share what we see in them and what we hope for their future.
A few years ago, I spoke about a student that isn't a super-positive person. The next morning, during my first-period class, she interrupted me and asked if she could say something. She told the sophomores in my chemistry class that they didn't know how lucky they were and how much they were loved. She spoke to my class for over five minutes about how glad they should be that they have teachers who know and love them. She didn't graduate as cynical as she might have, and that is what this dinner does for many students.
Next year, GRACE will have over 60 seniors, and there has been much discussion this week about how this dinner might change again. It would, after all, take 2 hours to talk about each student for 2 minutes each. Tuesday, we had a one and a half hour meeting to discuss it. You might be surprised to find a group of teachers and principals weeping over possible changes in this tradition, basically begging to be allowed to stay longer on a Friday and do more work. If a student walked past the library and saw us through the window, I'm sure he would have been confused by the scene. We ultimately decided to limit ourselves to 200 words, written ahead of time to keep us accountable. As I drove home from that meeting, I thought again about our mission and vision as a school and thanked God for the amazing group of people with whom I am blessed to work. Their passion for this dinner isn't about the dinner; it is about making sure our students graduate knowing that God has gifted them for His purpose. Our wonderful principal actually cares what we think and accepts our level of intensity. She didn't just say, "This is the way it will be now, so get to it." She wanted to help us keep the heart of what we do while making it logistically feasible.
This night is special. It was special before, and now it is special in a different way. As the next wave of changes come, it will continue to be special - possibly in a different way. Whatever changes we make, we know that it will come from an administration who cares about our students and about us. We know that it will still proclaim to our students, "You are loved by your teachers and by the God who gave you these gifts. Go accomplish the mission He has given you."
Friday, April 29, 2016
Monday, April 25, 2016
What Your Education Degree Didn't Teach You
My degree is in secondary science education with an emphasis in physics. To earn that degree, I took many courses in educational psychology, theory, and methods. I had standard general education classes, which I loved. I took every science class I could fit into every minute of the day. I even had a zero credit seminar in physics and engineering, which I also loved. (I think I just really just loved classes, so it is probably good that I made that my life.)
In seventeen years of teaching, every one of those classes has been valuable. I have never taught an Anatomy class, but I have shared much of what I learned in anatomy with my students, and the understanding it gave me of how light and sound and electricity interact with the human body certainly make me teach the physics differently than I would have otherwise done. I have never taught English, but writing skills have been important in my life nonetheless. I enjoy talking about the novels my students are reading and believe it is important for them to see a well rounded life. I am grateful for everything I did learn in college; but after seventeen years in the classroom, I've come to realize how much I didn't learn while earning my degree. I'd like to make a few proposals.
Drama - Teachers spend much of their day pretending. That doesn't mean we aren't genuine with our students, but it is sometimes important to pretend that something is less funny than it is just to maintain classroom management. Some days, you might not be enthusiastic about the necessary but not thrilling topic of the day (e.g. required steps for showing your work); but it would be detrimental to your students' motivation if you show that. You might be a single person who has just had your heart broken; it would be unprofessional to bring that into your classroom. Some days you have to pretend to be in a better mood than you are really in because, while being real is good, being completely transparent is not. You have to pretend at least a little. A theater class in improv might prove useful in the development of those skills.
Lab Storage Safety
This one is, of course, meant for science teachers. My first teaching job was in a brand new building. We were putting all of our equipment and chemicals on the shelves for the very first time. While all six science teachers had an understanding of chemistry on a level they could teach, none of us knew the safest arrangement of chemicals on shelves. We knew that alphabetical was a recipe for disaster, but no one had been trained in proper storage. I'm guessing that most colleges believe that we will glean this information from our understanding of chemistry, but that is like hoping that we could write a novel in Arabic just be learning their alphabet and a few passages. There are simply too many combinations chemicals and their compounds. A semester of lab safety would make us all safer.
Group Crisis Management
In the years I have been teaching, I have taught through a variety of difficult circumstances. My second year in the classroom, my school received a shooting threat. I was teaching on 9/11. Ten years ago, a student in our school died. During a homecoming pep rally, one of our teachers experienced a serious injury, which we believed at the time to be life threatening. Recently, one of our teachers has battled cancer. When we were told on Friday that the cancer had returned, you can imagine what it was like to step into a classroom of hurting kids while dealing with our own shock and sadness. When I tell you that I taught through those circumstances, I mean it. It was not healthy on 9/11 for students to travel from room to room, watching television footage of terror; so I taught science. When our school was threatened with a shooting even, I couldn't just decide to make the day a wash. I taught differently, with my eyes alternating from window to door and back again all day, but I did continue to teach.
When we gathered in chapel to be together and ask questions after the death of a student, my friend came by my room with boxes of tissues for us to take with us and said, "Here's something they didn't teach us in teacher school." She was right, and that should not be. I know they couldn't have addressed every potential problem, but any teacher who teaches more than a couple of years will experience a class in crisis. Some training in how to deal with groups of frightened, sad, or angry students just makes sense.
To the people who write degree plans, all the things we learn about content and methods are important, and I am grateful I had them. The real work of teaching, however, involves much more than I ever learned in college. Consider adding a few of those "rubber meets the road" type of courses - even a seminar with veteran teachers as guest speakers could be useful. Please consider.
In seventeen years of teaching, every one of those classes has been valuable. I have never taught an Anatomy class, but I have shared much of what I learned in anatomy with my students, and the understanding it gave me of how light and sound and electricity interact with the human body certainly make me teach the physics differently than I would have otherwise done. I have never taught English, but writing skills have been important in my life nonetheless. I enjoy talking about the novels my students are reading and believe it is important for them to see a well rounded life. I am grateful for everything I did learn in college; but after seventeen years in the classroom, I've come to realize how much I didn't learn while earning my degree. I'd like to make a few proposals.
Drama - Teachers spend much of their day pretending. That doesn't mean we aren't genuine with our students, but it is sometimes important to pretend that something is less funny than it is just to maintain classroom management. Some days, you might not be enthusiastic about the necessary but not thrilling topic of the day (e.g. required steps for showing your work); but it would be detrimental to your students' motivation if you show that. You might be a single person who has just had your heart broken; it would be unprofessional to bring that into your classroom. Some days you have to pretend to be in a better mood than you are really in because, while being real is good, being completely transparent is not. You have to pretend at least a little. A theater class in improv might prove useful in the development of those skills.
Lab Storage Safety
This one is, of course, meant for science teachers. My first teaching job was in a brand new building. We were putting all of our equipment and chemicals on the shelves for the very first time. While all six science teachers had an understanding of chemistry on a level they could teach, none of us knew the safest arrangement of chemicals on shelves. We knew that alphabetical was a recipe for disaster, but no one had been trained in proper storage. I'm guessing that most colleges believe that we will glean this information from our understanding of chemistry, but that is like hoping that we could write a novel in Arabic just be learning their alphabet and a few passages. There are simply too many combinations chemicals and their compounds. A semester of lab safety would make us all safer.
Group Crisis Management
In the years I have been teaching, I have taught through a variety of difficult circumstances. My second year in the classroom, my school received a shooting threat. I was teaching on 9/11. Ten years ago, a student in our school died. During a homecoming pep rally, one of our teachers experienced a serious injury, which we believed at the time to be life threatening. Recently, one of our teachers has battled cancer. When we were told on Friday that the cancer had returned, you can imagine what it was like to step into a classroom of hurting kids while dealing with our own shock and sadness. When I tell you that I taught through those circumstances, I mean it. It was not healthy on 9/11 for students to travel from room to room, watching television footage of terror; so I taught science. When our school was threatened with a shooting even, I couldn't just decide to make the day a wash. I taught differently, with my eyes alternating from window to door and back again all day, but I did continue to teach.
When we gathered in chapel to be together and ask questions after the death of a student, my friend came by my room with boxes of tissues for us to take with us and said, "Here's something they didn't teach us in teacher school." She was right, and that should not be. I know they couldn't have addressed every potential problem, but any teacher who teaches more than a couple of years will experience a class in crisis. Some training in how to deal with groups of frightened, sad, or angry students just makes sense.
To the people who write degree plans, all the things we learn about content and methods are important, and I am grateful I had them. The real work of teaching, however, involves much more than I ever learned in college. Consider adding a few of those "rubber meets the road" type of courses - even a seminar with veteran teachers as guest speakers could be useful. Please consider.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Reflecting on Students
Most people find December to be a time of reflection and goal setting for the new year. For teachers, however, this is the time of year for reflection. Our "years" don't go from January to December. They go from June to May. As graduation approaches, we start looking back on the year and looking foward to the next.
My school does something very special this time of year. We hold a dinner to honor our seniors before they graduate. This is where the normal awards are presented and valedictorian and salutatorian are announced, but there is something that makes it unapologetically GRACE. Every senior has a short speech given about them in front of their parents by one of their teachers. Teachers choose which students they want to speak about, and there are fights over some of them. We don't talk about their academic or athletic performance; we talk about their character. We talk about what we respect in each student. I have had the opportunity to speak at every senior dinner GRACE has ever had, and it is my favorite night of the year. I like it even more than graduation. This is also the time of year when I get requests from my juniors for recommendation letters to be used with their college applications. There was a time when our school was so small that I wrote letters for every student. Now, I typically get requests from only a few, but I really enjoy writing them.
I think what I love about both of those things is that they make me sit and really think about the student and the history of our relationship. I think about when I first met them. For most of my students, that is probably seventh or eighth grade; there are others that I have been photographing for the yearbook since they were in kindergarten. Thinking back on their goofier years is one of the best things about working at a school where I teach them multiple years. I get to see the progress in every student. No matter where a student is by their senior year, I have seen changes in them. Writing their dinner speeches and their recommendation letters allows me to think about all those changes and how different they are now than when they were in 8th grade and how different they will be five years from now. It gives me a great persepctive that I can pull out on the days when they aren't at their best. I can think, "I may not like where they are today, but their bad day now is better than a normal day five years ago." It's nice to reflect on their progress.
My school does something very special this time of year. We hold a dinner to honor our seniors before they graduate. This is where the normal awards are presented and valedictorian and salutatorian are announced, but there is something that makes it unapologetically GRACE. Every senior has a short speech given about them in front of their parents by one of their teachers. Teachers choose which students they want to speak about, and there are fights over some of them. We don't talk about their academic or athletic performance; we talk about their character. We talk about what we respect in each student. I have had the opportunity to speak at every senior dinner GRACE has ever had, and it is my favorite night of the year. I like it even more than graduation. This is also the time of year when I get requests from my juniors for recommendation letters to be used with their college applications. There was a time when our school was so small that I wrote letters for every student. Now, I typically get requests from only a few, but I really enjoy writing them.
I think what I love about both of those things is that they make me sit and really think about the student and the history of our relationship. I think about when I first met them. For most of my students, that is probably seventh or eighth grade; there are others that I have been photographing for the yearbook since they were in kindergarten. Thinking back on their goofier years is one of the best things about working at a school where I teach them multiple years. I get to see the progress in every student. No matter where a student is by their senior year, I have seen changes in them. Writing their dinner speeches and their recommendation letters allows me to think about all those changes and how different they are now than when they were in 8th grade and how different they will be five years from now. It gives me a great persepctive that I can pull out on the days when they aren't at their best. I can think, "I may not like where they are today, but their bad day now is better than a normal day five years ago." It's nice to reflect on their progress.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
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.
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.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Teachers Should Blog - Seriously, I Mean You
According to google, this is my 100th blog post. I decided that it should be about how great blogging is for teachers and really recommend that you have one too.
1. Yes, you do have something to say.
When social media first started, there was a definite generational divide. I would hear older people say, "Why should anyone care what I am doing right now?" I would hear students talk about how great it was that they could say anything they wanted to anyone. I was in between these two age groups (at the time - I'm middle aged now, but I was only 30 when I first joined facebook). I really saw social media as a great way to keep up with old friends that I didn't see anymore, but I certainly didn't want to post every time I ate a cookie. As the social media thing has exploded over the past decade, we have come to discover that it CAN be a platform for those who have something to say. As a teacher, you have something to say. Forget about posting pictures of every cup of coffee you drink, and think about what you wish you could tell your students, your parents, your fellow teachers. You have important thoughts about this misunderstood profession. You might be a new teacher. Sharing your struggles appropriately can be a comfort to those who know they aren't alone. It can give parents and students perspective on how difficult that first year is, and maybe they will cut you some slack. Maybe you have been teaching for many years. You have acquired the wisdom that comes from experience. Sharing that can be helpful for younger teachers or provide an idea for someone who needs one. You really do have something to say; I promise.
2. Education is misunderstood. You can help.
I know I am biased, but I don't think there is a profession that is more misunderstood than teaching. We all think that because we were in school and had teachers, we know how to teach. I have heard students say, "How hard could it be to get papers back the next day?" about a first-year teacher they had. My response to them was, "You guys have no idea what you are talking about." People think of teaching as the 8-3 job with summers off. You and I know that you do not work from 8-3. I get to work at 6am and leave at an average of 5pm. That's if there isn't a game or a play or a performance. Then, it could be as late as 9pm. This isn't a complaint because I love it. It is perspective for those who think a teacher's day is done at 3. Yes, we do have summers off, and we are grateful for it. It takes that time to recover from the previous year, develop professionally in ways the school year doesn't allow, and get ready for the following year. Most people don't understand that because we don't' talk about it much. We don't want to be viewed as whining or complaining. For most of us, it isn't. We just want people to understand it. Blogging weekly gives some insight to others into this profession. Seeing that you were grading papers at 9pm so that you could get them back to students might make the students recognize that you indeed have homework too.
3. It's reflective
This is the reason I have my students blog. The world is moving so fast that we rarely take the time to think and reflect on what things mean. We are so busy taking in new information that we rarely take the time to process the impact of that information. My student's blogs are 5-10 sentence, but that requires enough reflection each week that they might make it a practice in their lives. As a teacher, my blog posts are a lot longer, but the chance to reflect on new practices, technology, traditions, or student activities is just as valuable for me. Even if no one read this blog, I would still want to write it. It is good for me to process things.
4. It's not just something else to do. It's cathartic.
When I first thought of blogging, I wasn't sure I wanted to. It seemed like it might just be another assignment for the week. Fortunately, it hasn't turned out that way. While I do have to take some time to think and write, I find that it frees my mind when I am done. I have gotten the thoughts that were swirling around unformed in my head into the computer. That frees me from thinking about them further and lets my brain focus on the rest of the to-do list. Forming the thoughts into coherent sentences gets my brain ready for work. While you can't just rant about whatever is bothering you and keep a job, you can process issues constructively by blogging. It gives you perspective while you think through the issues. As I already said, I would keep writing this even if you didn't keep reading it.
Thank you
All that said, thanks for reading these last 100 posts. I hope it has done something for you. If you are a fellow teacher, I hope it has given you some ideas or let you know you aren't alone. If you are a parent of students, I hope it helps you to understand that your child's teachers really are doing the best they can. If you are a student, I hope it helps you realize that you are taught by thoughtful professionals who care deeply about you and your success, who have a plan and a reason for that plan, who put every waking moment of 10 months into being the best they can be.
1. Yes, you do have something to say.
When social media first started, there was a definite generational divide. I would hear older people say, "Why should anyone care what I am doing right now?" I would hear students talk about how great it was that they could say anything they wanted to anyone. I was in between these two age groups (at the time - I'm middle aged now, but I was only 30 when I first joined facebook). I really saw social media as a great way to keep up with old friends that I didn't see anymore, but I certainly didn't want to post every time I ate a cookie. As the social media thing has exploded over the past decade, we have come to discover that it CAN be a platform for those who have something to say. As a teacher, you have something to say. Forget about posting pictures of every cup of coffee you drink, and think about what you wish you could tell your students, your parents, your fellow teachers. You have important thoughts about this misunderstood profession. You might be a new teacher. Sharing your struggles appropriately can be a comfort to those who know they aren't alone. It can give parents and students perspective on how difficult that first year is, and maybe they will cut you some slack. Maybe you have been teaching for many years. You have acquired the wisdom that comes from experience. Sharing that can be helpful for younger teachers or provide an idea for someone who needs one. You really do have something to say; I promise.
2. Education is misunderstood. You can help.
I know I am biased, but I don't think there is a profession that is more misunderstood than teaching. We all think that because we were in school and had teachers, we know how to teach. I have heard students say, "How hard could it be to get papers back the next day?" about a first-year teacher they had. My response to them was, "You guys have no idea what you are talking about." People think of teaching as the 8-3 job with summers off. You and I know that you do not work from 8-3. I get to work at 6am and leave at an average of 5pm. That's if there isn't a game or a play or a performance. Then, it could be as late as 9pm. This isn't a complaint because I love it. It is perspective for those who think a teacher's day is done at 3. Yes, we do have summers off, and we are grateful for it. It takes that time to recover from the previous year, develop professionally in ways the school year doesn't allow, and get ready for the following year. Most people don't understand that because we don't' talk about it much. We don't want to be viewed as whining or complaining. For most of us, it isn't. We just want people to understand it. Blogging weekly gives some insight to others into this profession. Seeing that you were grading papers at 9pm so that you could get them back to students might make the students recognize that you indeed have homework too.
3. It's reflective
This is the reason I have my students blog. The world is moving so fast that we rarely take the time to think and reflect on what things mean. We are so busy taking in new information that we rarely take the time to process the impact of that information. My student's blogs are 5-10 sentence, but that requires enough reflection each week that they might make it a practice in their lives. As a teacher, my blog posts are a lot longer, but the chance to reflect on new practices, technology, traditions, or student activities is just as valuable for me. Even if no one read this blog, I would still want to write it. It is good for me to process things.
4. It's not just something else to do. It's cathartic.
When I first thought of blogging, I wasn't sure I wanted to. It seemed like it might just be another assignment for the week. Fortunately, it hasn't turned out that way. While I do have to take some time to think and write, I find that it frees my mind when I am done. I have gotten the thoughts that were swirling around unformed in my head into the computer. That frees me from thinking about them further and lets my brain focus on the rest of the to-do list. Forming the thoughts into coherent sentences gets my brain ready for work. While you can't just rant about whatever is bothering you and keep a job, you can process issues constructively by blogging. It gives you perspective while you think through the issues. As I already said, I would keep writing this even if you didn't keep reading it.
Thank you
All that said, thanks for reading these last 100 posts. I hope it has done something for you. If you are a fellow teacher, I hope it has given you some ideas or let you know you aren't alone. If you are a parent of students, I hope it helps you to understand that your child's teachers really are doing the best they can. If you are a student, I hope it helps you realize that you are taught by thoughtful professionals who care deeply about you and your success, who have a plan and a reason for that plan, who put every waking moment of 10 months into being the best they can be.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Lessons From the Pavement
I have walked 500 miles, and I have walked 500 more. Last spring, I used this goofy song from The Proclaimers as inspiration for my exercise goal. I set the goal to walk 500 mile during the summer and 500 more during the school year. As of today, I have officially reached this goal. This is not a post for bragging about the thousand miles I walked in the past 10 months (even though I am pretty proud of it). Much like pastors pull from their family life for sermon illustrations, I find myself seeing everything in my life as an application to education. My year of walking is one of those things. Here are some things I learned and their applications to education.
1. Setting goals is only good if the goal is both challenging and doable.
People set goals for motivation. This doesn't work, however, if the goal is too small to care about. If I had set out to walk 100 miles during the summer, that would only have required a mile or two per day. There would have been no fun in reaching that goal because it is too easy to do. It is also not motivational to set unrealistic goals. If I had decided to walk a thousand miles during the summer, I would have sabotaged myself. By knowing it was not possible, I would have an instant reason to do nothing. If I can't reach the goal, why do anything?
Application to education: Projects should only be assigned if they are challenging. Since there is no intrinsic motivation if something is too easy, don't give easy projects. However, remember that your students are students. You may think that setting an impossible goal will mean that at least you will get their best, but you won't.
2. You must have a schedule.
You had to know this one was coming. A challenging goal cannot be achieved overnight. To get the 500 miles I wanted during the summer, I had to average about 9 miles per day. If there was bad weather one day or my feet hurt, causing a shorter walk, that meant I had to make it up another day. Knowing that meant I couldn't just decide not to walk for several days in a row.
Application to education: If a student who can pull an all-nighter to complete your project in a way you can't tell, it is not a good project. An appropriately challenging project requires planning. Depending on the age and experience level of your students, you might want to set goals for them or allow them to set their own. If this is a change for your students, don't assume they can do it alone. This is a skill to be taught; it's not innate. Give them a calendar with some landmarks, and allow them to figure out what is doable by that time. If they don't accomplish what they want by that date, have them create a plan for how they will catch up.
3. Take advantage of opportunities, so you can push through the obstacles.
If you know me, you might know that I have a lot of goals. This walking thing was just the latest in a string. In order to make good use of my summer, I usually set several - for school, exercise, reading, and a home project. Some are fairly short term (a couple of days to get a closet organized or patch the hole in the ceiling) while others are very long term (5 years for my blood donation goal). The ones that last more than a few days will be frustrated by obstacles. Walking a thousand miles means sometimes dealing with weather, sore feet, tired legs, back pain, and destruction of shoes. Almost every day, at the half mile mark, my legs would tell me that there was no shame in turning back. If I kept going, my legs would soon shut up. I walked as many as 15 miles one day, but I had to ignore my legs at the half mile mark in order to make that happen. Taking advantage of each opportunity meant that one rainy day didn't mean failure.
Application to education: Any goal worth setting means setbacks. A student can have the best schedule in the world, but if a group member gets sick or there is a sudden family emergency or the team they are on suddenly makes the state championships, adjustments will have to be made. This is fine as long as they have been ignoring their tendency toward apathy at other times. If they accomplish work every week, their schedule can absorb the unexpected. Our school yearbook is an example of this. We have three deadlines. One is always right before exams, and one is always near the school play. These are only problems if I or my staff have not been making progress up to those days.
4. Don't give yourself prizes.
This goes against everything you have read before. People often give the advice that you should treat yourself to a spa day or a new outfit when reaching a goal. The problem with that, at least for me, is that I will find a way to justify getting the prize anyway, even if I haven't reached the goal. Letting the accomplishment be its own reward is the only thing that works for me.
Application to education: We have to stop rewarding every little thing students do. I used to be part of the problem. I had a prize box (of worthless stuff I bought from Dollar Tree). I gave this stuff to students for winning review games or answering questions correctly. I thought I was providing motivation for participation, but I came to realize that I was feeding the very beast I then complained about in the teacher's lounge. Entitlement. I stopped buying things for the box, and I will not go back. At the beginning of the year, when we play our first review game, kids always ask what they will win. My answer now is "the joy of winning." Don't get me wrong; I am not saying that it is wrong to give a kid a sticker if they make a grade above their normal performance. What I am saying is that they won't work for the sticker. In Drive, a great book about motivation by Daniel Pink, the research is laid out that IF prizes are to be given, they should not be "If . . . then" prizes that are announced ahead of time. Rather, he advises "Now that" prizes that come as a surprise after the project is finished.
5. Share - but share sparingly.
Sharing your goals and accomplishments with others is great, unless you do it too much. We all have that Facebook friend that tells everything they do. They are always having the most amazing experience or having the best cup of coffee of their life or reading the best book they have ever read. Their kids are always doing the most clever thing any child has ever done. If you don't have one of those friends, consider whether or not you are that friend. I do share my goals because I find it holds me accountable to them. When I decided to write a science text, I e-mailed my administration and IT people. Doing so meant that I would actually do it because the goal wouldn't just be in my own mind. What I did NOT do was e-mail them after I finished each chapter. When I set the walking goal, I posted it on social media, but I didn't share every mile or every day. I shared at the half way point, and I am sharing it now. Sharing it at a milestone means your friends will celebrate it with you. Sharing it all the time means your friends will be sick of hearing about it.
Application to education: Teachers always want to share what their students are doing. We share with other teachers, in faculty meetings, in parent e-mails, an on social media. I share about my students projects on this blog. All that is great, but think it through before you share. If you are sharing about the same thing too often, you will annoy everyone. Share the big stuff, but remember that not every word your kids write or say is gold.
1. Setting goals is only good if the goal is both challenging and doable.
People set goals for motivation. This doesn't work, however, if the goal is too small to care about. If I had set out to walk 100 miles during the summer, that would only have required a mile or two per day. There would have been no fun in reaching that goal because it is too easy to do. It is also not motivational to set unrealistic goals. If I had decided to walk a thousand miles during the summer, I would have sabotaged myself. By knowing it was not possible, I would have an instant reason to do nothing. If I can't reach the goal, why do anything?
Application to education: Projects should only be assigned if they are challenging. Since there is no intrinsic motivation if something is too easy, don't give easy projects. However, remember that your students are students. You may think that setting an impossible goal will mean that at least you will get their best, but you won't.
2. You must have a schedule.
You had to know this one was coming. A challenging goal cannot be achieved overnight. To get the 500 miles I wanted during the summer, I had to average about 9 miles per day. If there was bad weather one day or my feet hurt, causing a shorter walk, that meant I had to make it up another day. Knowing that meant I couldn't just decide not to walk for several days in a row.
Application to education: If a student who can pull an all-nighter to complete your project in a way you can't tell, it is not a good project. An appropriately challenging project requires planning. Depending on the age and experience level of your students, you might want to set goals for them or allow them to set their own. If this is a change for your students, don't assume they can do it alone. This is a skill to be taught; it's not innate. Give them a calendar with some landmarks, and allow them to figure out what is doable by that time. If they don't accomplish what they want by that date, have them create a plan for how they will catch up.
3. Take advantage of opportunities, so you can push through the obstacles.
 |
| This is what it looks like when you walk a hole through your shoe. |
Application to education: Any goal worth setting means setbacks. A student can have the best schedule in the world, but if a group member gets sick or there is a sudden family emergency or the team they are on suddenly makes the state championships, adjustments will have to be made. This is fine as long as they have been ignoring their tendency toward apathy at other times. If they accomplish work every week, their schedule can absorb the unexpected. Our school yearbook is an example of this. We have three deadlines. One is always right before exams, and one is always near the school play. These are only problems if I or my staff have not been making progress up to those days.
4. Don't give yourself prizes.
This goes against everything you have read before. People often give the advice that you should treat yourself to a spa day or a new outfit when reaching a goal. The problem with that, at least for me, is that I will find a way to justify getting the prize anyway, even if I haven't reached the goal. Letting the accomplishment be its own reward is the only thing that works for me.
Application to education: We have to stop rewarding every little thing students do. I used to be part of the problem. I had a prize box (of worthless stuff I bought from Dollar Tree). I gave this stuff to students for winning review games or answering questions correctly. I thought I was providing motivation for participation, but I came to realize that I was feeding the very beast I then complained about in the teacher's lounge. Entitlement. I stopped buying things for the box, and I will not go back. At the beginning of the year, when we play our first review game, kids always ask what they will win. My answer now is "the joy of winning." Don't get me wrong; I am not saying that it is wrong to give a kid a sticker if they make a grade above their normal performance. What I am saying is that they won't work for the sticker. In Drive, a great book about motivation by Daniel Pink, the research is laid out that IF prizes are to be given, they should not be "If . . . then" prizes that are announced ahead of time. Rather, he advises "Now that" prizes that come as a surprise after the project is finished.
5. Share - but share sparingly.
 |
| I shared this picture at the 500 mile mark, not every day. |
Application to education: Teachers always want to share what their students are doing. We share with other teachers, in faculty meetings, in parent e-mails, an on social media. I share about my students projects on this blog. All that is great, but think it through before you share. If you are sharing about the same thing too often, you will annoy everyone. Share the big stuff, but remember that not every word your kids write or say is gold.
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