Morning, all. Slept in a bit. Tired today. Sorry for the short post.

Yesterday, in our ongoing efforts to face our fears of public speaking, the kids began reading their poems in front of the class. As they read, their peers evaluated them on poise, voice, life, gestures, and speed. They, then provided post-it note feedback, pointing out one “well-done” and one “needs work.” The speakers then collected all the post-its, so they could see and process the peer feedback. They then wrote a short reflection, emphasizing what they learned about themselves as speakers and how they felt about the experience. That was the business end of the deal. My favorite part of the deal was watching some of my otherwise quiet kids emerge through their powerful poems, shining bright like the diamonds they are. All kids do, indeed, have awesome in them. The trick is helping them discover it. So glad this proved to be the trick for some. Looking forward to mining for more brilliant moments today as we continue the poems, as we continue the awesome.

Happy Thursday, all.

Started the final quarter of my fifth year at EWU last night. Hard to believe that I have been teaching classroom management to college kids for half a decade now. Crazy to think that I almost passed up the opportunity, for it has been one of the most-fulfilling experiences of my professional life. It brings me joy every quarter, every year.

As always, our work begins with the fourth “R.” Relationships. I intimate to my college students that any success or failure I have had in the classroom has had everything to do with relationships. I emphasize this over everything else. This morning I stumbled upon the above graphic, and I cannot wait to share it with them next week. It perfectly captures the various and numerous elements that real relationships require. I am going to have my TA’s make a poster of this, so I can hang it in my classroom as a personal reminder and checklist to help guide my relationship building ventures day to day.  I was also thinking it could serve as a survey of sorts for the kids to evaluate how I did at the end of the year. Not only would it allow me to gain some general insight from their feedback, but also it would allow me to get some specific input on the different elements. It would help me determine if my walk matches my talk.

Busy day in 211 today. Performance task corrections and poems. The kids had to compose either a diamante, tanka, or pantoum poem, and today they will it to the class. Happy National Poetry Month.  Pushing kids out of their comfort zones.

Happy Wednesday, all.

Okay. Gonna finally sell out and give in. Finally gonna give my kids the chance to take a look at the interim assessments for the SBA. I shared this with them yesterday as I was once again reviewing with them next week’s testing schedule. And as I was doing so, I looked out on the sea of faces before me, and I found a great deal of discomfiture in their countenance, and though they didn’t say it, I heard it and it reverberated through my being. “Why are you doing this to us, Sy” A greater fraud I have never felt.

In the recent past I have  iterated, “I wish kids recognized that education is not something we do to them but for them.” But alas, these are only shallow, talk-the-talk words when the walk only reinforces what they have suspected all along. They are on a conveyor belt. They are being stamped and tweaked. They are merely products of a system made uniform to fit into the cogs of a yet larger system. And so, I can no longer employ my clever adage. We are not doing it for them. We are doing it to them. And it is unlikely to change any time soon. We will simply continue to tweak–instead of truly reform, and the industrialized machine will continue to belch smoke into an environment long endangered by our stubborn insistence to do as we have done.

The last fifteen years have seen a lot of tweaking, but they have seen little change, little reform. And with each knew emblem affixed to the grill, we find we are really just driving the same old car. Drove the WASL for a number of years. Then we rolled the HSPE into the drive, and the neighbors ooohed and ahhhed at our shiny new vehicle. But it was recalled rather quickly. And we were given the SBA, a sporty new model promising greater horsepower and better mileage. But as I am out on the road right now, and I close my eyes for a second, it is hard to discern if I am actually driving the new, improved model or the old vintage machine with which this all began. Factory sources hint at a new model on the horizon. But there’s been little enthusiasm among consumers. Most have decided that as long as we are stuck on the same old road, the car is of little consequence. Maybe it’s time for a new road.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Though I enjoyed every single minute of the break, and tried to be just Monte Syrie, instead of Mr. Syrie, I missed the kids. I always do. We have a lot to get done in the next 50 days, but we won’t get it all done today. So I won’t act like the world’s on fire. Yes, there’s some urgency to get to a certain point in the curriculum; yes, there’s some urgency with the SBA beginning next week, but those urgent matters are not all that matters. Kids matter. They will be tired from break. They will need some time and support to readjust to their crazy schedules. So we will ease back into it. They will have time to continue working on their speeches, and I will be available to help in whatever way I can. I will also have time to reconnect with them, maybe even “flip a kid or two” while I am at it.

Importantly, I have to remember, too, as they come off of break, they only have a week until the testing madness begins and continues till June.  Glad we didn’t have to throw them into that fire the day after break.

On another note, began a little bit of networking with some other teachers here in Washington and across the nation who are on their own gradeless journeys, and I am excited and energized to learn more about their journeys as I continue mine, hopefully for years to come. Thank you, Aaron Blackwelder for your words of wisdom and encouragement. Our travels brought us together at an opportune time. Thank you.

Happy Monday, all. Glad to be back.