No kids this week. We have parent-teacher conferences today and tomorrow. They are both calendar days, even though we don’t have kiddos. So, incidentally, I will not really post this week. Kinda need a break anyway. Back to the routine after the holiday. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
Turned 48 today. Hit a milestone middle. Been a teacher as long as I haven’t been a teacher. 24 years in. 24 years out. And as I stand here, in the middle, I feel as old as I do young. I know so much more, but as I’ve come to know more, I have come to know so much less. Not sure where I would have expected to be at this point if someone had asked me all those years ago. Of course, I have changed and grown a great deal since those first days and years. In the fall of ’96, I was but a wide-eyed boy with the youthful courage of confidence, sure I could succeed so I wouldn’t fail. But here at time’s turn, I am now less certain of such things, wary with wisdom, an older boy who now believes he has to fail if he wants to succeed. Time turns. One learns. Grateful I have more time.
Along today’s trail we will experience…
…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.
…wrapping up our viewing of The Book Thief.
…reflecting in our Journey Journals.
…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.
Happy Friday, all. Have a wonderful weekend.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
“Sy, I don’t think it should be a competition. It should only be about kindness.”
Last week, we did our first round of “Choose a Champ” for the year. Here’s the gist. I distribute small pieces of paper (cards) for kids to write a kind message to one of their peers; I collect and distribute them, and whoever gets the most notes for the week is crowned “Community Champ.” I thought our first round went well. And then I got an email.
It was one of the first things I read that next morning, and I was immediately concerned by the content and tone of her message. She was really upset about something that had happened in class the previous day, and she really needed to talk to me. My immediate thought was that someone had written something unkind on one of the many messages she had received from peers yesterday. And though I didn’t really think that was the case, for the class is a pretty tight-knit, empathetic group, one never really knows with teens, so I feared the worst. And as she sat down with me that next morning to talk, I still feared the worst, asking her if she was okay.
“Oh, I am fine. I just really feel strongly about the message that may have been sent with yesterday’s “champ” activity. Sy, I don’t think it should be a competition. It should only be about kindness.”
Phew. Not too minimize her concerns, but I was relieved to learn that no unkind act had occurred. With that out of the way, I leaned further in, listening to her outpouring of wisdom and compassion.
“You’re right. You are absolutely right. I will change it when we do it next week. Thank you for having the courage to bring this to me.”
And so I changed it. Here’s the new and better approach.
In my defense–feeble as it is–I knew better. Last year taught me better, for I had arrived at and made a similar, albeit more subtle, change. I just let the “competition” part fade away, letting it become–and it did become–about kindness. So, I am not sure why I brought back the competition part of it to kick it off this year. Maybe I thought it would help with the initial buy-in as I awarded the champ with candy. I don’t know. Regardless, this year a wise young lady got me back on track. And yesterday, it was only about kindness. Just as it should be.
Along today’s trail we will experience…
…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.
…growing with grammar.
…viewing The Book Thief.
…reflecting in our Journey Journals.
…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.
Happy Thursday, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
If an idea falls in a system and no one listens, does it make a noise?
There’s a noise in my head. Guess there’s always been, but of late it’s been amplified, of late it’s been bothersome, of late it’s been worrisome. I try to quiet it. I try to ignore it. I try to escape it. But it persists, it pervades, it pursues. And though I can’t always hear it distinctly, and though I can’t transcribe it exactly, I think if I were to try to speak it, it would sound something like this.
What is the purpose of education?
Sometimes, it sprints at me as a scream. Other times, it walks to me as a whisper. And though there are many mutterings, it always seems to track back to the same taunt: What is the purpose of education?
But that’s only the right ear. There’s more. The left, too, taunts a response, an echo I can’t escape either.
I don’t know.
I don’t know. But I want to. Maybe I have to. Maybe that’s the only way to find some peace from the noise that daily disturbs, fading in-out, right-left.
There’s a noise in my head. Suppose there always will be. Maybe I shouldn’t have listened.
Along today’s trail we will experience…
…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.
…growing with grammar.
…viewing The Book Thief.
…reflecting in our Journey Journals.
…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.
Happy Wednesday, all. Thank you for listening to my noise.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
Morning, all. Excited to share an upcoming opportunity with you. This Saturday, November 23, I will have an opportunity to connect with the folks from Human Restoration Project to discuss connecting with students. I am grateful they have continued to support me and to connect me with others who also advocate for a more human-centered approach to education. It is an open, free opportunity to connect with educators around the globe. Please consider joining us. More information can be found through this link.
Hope you can join us. Thank you, Chris and Human Restoration Project for this opportunity.
Along today’s trail we will experience…
…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.
…growing with grammar.
…responding to feedback in latest Learning Check.
…anticipating theme in The Book Thief.
…reflecting in our Journey Journals.
…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.
Happy Tuesday, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
“If I were a teacher, there’d be no compromise. There’d be my way or the highway. None of this meet you in the middle crap.”
Of course this is coming from the young man with whom I have compromised for fifty-one days now. Every day a challenge. Every day a compromise. And, of course, he–though he tried to play it off otherwise–was flaunting his adept skill in the art of sarcasm.
He made his sardonic remark upon overhearing my meeting in the middle, my compromising with one of his peers on her writing. She had one idea. I had another. We hashed it out. I met her where I could (not hard since I am really the guard at that gate), and we both went away satisfied with the agreement.
So, I made a compromise. No big deal. Well, maybe yes, maybe no. Not a lot of compromise going on in the world right now. So little, in fact, it seems a lost possibility. And though I am largely referring to the political polarization that has beset our nation, compromise seems a lost possibility in the classroom, too, and if we are not careful, the divide between the poles–teacher and student–widens and stays. But it doesn’t have to. In truth, one wonders how it ever became so in the first place. We need each other. Learning is our mutual goal, which exists between the two poles. And so we have to give and take. We have to meet in the middle. It is where our “together promise,” our compromise comes to be.
No, it’s not easy. And we–teachers–often have to blink first. But won’t kids, then, take advantage? Of course, they are human. But that they’re human also gives rise to the possibility of mutual benefit as they learn about the middle. We can’t meet in the middle if we never meet in the middle. So, then, when I meet kids in the middle, I am trying to show them the promise of together.
And that’s the road. No my way or the highway. Teacher and student–humans–making our way, held together by a promise. Together. What a novel idea.
Along today’s trail we will experience…
…reconnecting through Smiles and Frowns.
…growing with grammar.
…moving our writing along.
…reflecting in our Journey Journals.
…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.
Happy Monday, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
Back to writing today. Kids will be working through the “diary entry” sections of their personal narratives. And for me, that means lots of conversations as I seek to give kids feedback throughout the process. And not only a lot of conversations but also a lot of different conversations, for despite the same prompt and same success criteria, I will meet each kid in a different place. It’s almost as if I am a chameleon who changes to fit each writer. And while that’s a lot of “skin” to have in the game, I am not sure there’s really any other, better way to support writers. So, I–as best I can–adapt to each. Their needs define my support. I am a chameleon.
Along today’s trail we will experience…
…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.
…growing with grammar.
…growing as writers.
…reflecting in our Journey Journals.
…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.
Happy Thursday, all. Sorry for the short post today. Lots on my mind.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
Today is World Kindness Day. In its honor, and in honor of my hero, Mr. Rogers, I will participate in #CardiganDay. It’s the least I could do for someone who’s played a significant role in shaping my approach in the classroom. I owe Mr. Rogers much, and I tried to articulate my deep debt to him in a post earlier this year, “Rediscovering Mr. Rogers”(http://www.letschangeeducation.com/rediscovering-mr-rogers/).
And though I think every day should be kindness day, I will be extra conscious today of that which goes beyond all divides (political, religious, racial, generational), that which carries little cost, that which delivers a big benefit: kindness, the most simple and most meaningful thing we can do for each other.
So, today, I challenge all to choose kindness. I will challenge my kids. I will challenge my readers. I will challenge myself. And then I will up the ante by challenging all to engage in kindness year round, even on our days–especially on our days–when we feel we’ve little to give. Kindness is a contagion. Kindness is a cure. Kindness is everything. Everything.
I will remember that today. I will live that today–try to live it every day–but especially today as I honor Mr. Rogers with my red cardigan. Thank you Mr. Rogers for all that you did and are still doing for humanKINDNESS.
Along today’s trail we will experience…
…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.
…engaging in building-wide lessons focusing on school culture.
…Choosing a Champ (first time this year).
…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.
Happy World Kindness Day, all.
Choose kindness. Today. Tomorrow. Always.
Short post today. Tired after a busy three-day weekend. Gonna be kind of a weird week–actually, it’s gonna be a weird month. I find the time between Halloween and Winter Break to be a difficult time to create consistency. As such, I call it the silly season. There are just too many interruptions. But, we will make our way. We always do.
Today, while the kids finish their viewing of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, I will post their self-selected grades on their midterm reports. Over the next week, I will share some excerpts from their Learning Stories. And though we are not quite where I’d like to be with their narratives, I am pleased with this first go of their trying to make sense of their learning.
Along today’s trail we will experience…
…reconnecting through Smiles and Frowns.
…finishing our viewing of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
…reflecting in our Journey Journals.
…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.
Happy Tuesday, all.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
Your stress makes me stress. So, quit stressin’.
There aren’t many rules in room 206–well, any actually. But if there were one, it would be “No stress allowed.”
Though largely unspoken, but heavily implied through flexible policies and empathetic responses, there is a rule against stress in my room. Stress is poison. It impairs learning. It damages the body. It crushes the spirit. It needs a label.
When I was a kid, most of the bottles under the sinks in our home carried a Mr. Yuk sticker. It was an easily understood warning for us. Danger. Stay away. Leave alone. We did. It worked. We made it through childhood poison free. (Well, mostly. Apparently, so Mom says, I gave turpentine a try when I was two. But, in my defense, there was no Mr. Yuk sticker). So…
Anyway there seem to be certain points in the year when stress seeps into our rooms, our lives, our bodies, our spirits: grading periods. And even though I have gone to great lengths to take “grade stress” out of my room, it still pervades, it still poisons.
So, then, here at midterm, it’s no real surprise–despite my efforts to thwart it–that kids are stressing about grades. And that, in turn, stresses me out. So, yesterday, I did my best to remind and reassure them that they don’t need to stress. Yes, you can still turn that it in. Yes, you can retake/redo that. Yes, I can make exceptions. No, nothing is final. No stress.
Of course, stress-free is probably a pipe dream, but less-stress can be a reality. I will just keep working with my kiddos to keep them away from the yuck of it all. I need to make my room safe. Maybe I just need a big Mr. Yuk sticker.
Along today’s trail we will experience…
…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.
…completing Learning Stories.
…reflecting in our Journey Journals.
…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.
Happy Friday, all. Have a wonderful weekend.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.