I asked my kids to pay attention this week. I asked them to observe the tone their teachers take and set while conducting the learning experiences in their classrooms, further asking my students to note their own responses to the different approaches. Of course, this includes their experiences in my classroom and the tone I set. I told them it’s not about singling out or calling out any teachers; it’s about noting their responsiveness to the various approaches they encounter during their day.

Why? I want them to be better writers, communicators. I am trying to make a case for the importance of audience awareness, and its impact on how we write. Writers, like teachers, set the tone. And that tone invariably impacts the response of the reader and, in the classroom, the learner. Approach determines response. Intuitively, they know this, and experientially they have come to know it better. To this point, I suggest to my kids they know how to approach their parents as well as they know how not to approach their parents when they want something. They get that, but in my experiences with young writers such knowledge does not always transfer to their writing. I want that transfer. I want them to consider not only the “what” and “why” of their writing but also the “who” of their writing. That, I believe completes the formula for “how.” To that end, I offered this yesterday.

What + Why + Who = How We Write

This is how I want my writers to approach writing. I want them to come to understand it’s not just about putting pen to paper to complete a transaction. It’s about putting the pieces together to create a connection, to make meaning with the reader, not for the reader. Readers make their own meaning. My hope as you are reading this is that you are not thinking about what I am saying but rather what you are thinking, which I hope has already found its way into your own writing experiences, a path to your own understanding, the truth of your own response.

So, today, we write. The kids have to revise one of their written requests from last week (to a friend, parent, teacher/coach, principal). But this time they have to take their writing beyond the what and why; they have to consider who and how that will impact their readers’ responses, as they use rhetorical appeals and convey tone, all parts to the puzzle of effective communication.

Of course, I want this lesson to go beyond writing. I want it to be a part of their living, now and later. I want them to understand that life does not occur in a vacuum. I want them to understand the push and pull, the give and take, the cause and effect. I want them to understand that approaches are consequential. And so, as they write their requests, as they observe their teachers, I want them to be aware of their own approaches to better understand the world’s responses. And, then, I want them to use it, to own it, to grow from it.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns

…revising our writing to demonstrate audience awareness.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…discussing Why with Sy.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

This is just a short shout to all who dare different, who see beyond the status quo, who humanize their rooms. Thank you for all that you do to better education for kids. I know it is not always an easy path, but that means it’s likely worthwhile as you venture out to find better. So for you on this fourth day in March:

“March forth, friends, chase your better, dare your different. Kids need you.”

Thank you. You are making a difference. You are not alone.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…reconnecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…analyzing and revising “Requests” for rhetorical appeals and tone (Performance).

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…discussing Why with Sy.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Sorry for the lame post this morning, all. Tired today.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

There’s not only what we say but also how we say it. For now, I want my kids to focus on the “how.”

In truth, the odds are already against them. They’re kids. Generally, they are not taken seriously. Generally, they are impetuous and impulsive, quick with their “what’s” and not careful with their “how’s.” And, consequently, the odds against them increase.

But I think I can help, and I want to. My wanting kids to feel empowered (Standard #2) goes beyond the walls of 206. I want them to feel empowered without as well as within.

When kids are younger, we ask them to use their words to get what they want. Well, I want to help them in their less-young years to use their words to get what they want, too.

This week I asked them to write four requests: to a friend, a parent, a teacher/coach, and a principal. I gave minimal direction, telling them that they had to request something they really wanted and something that was within the power of the person to whom they were making their requests. Length was up to them, but I suggested they had to get to what they wanted, and why they wanted it. They printed two copies: one to cut up and deliver and one to analyze.

See, I was going to introduce the rhetorical appeals and tone earlier in the week, but then I thought it might be better to introduce them by having kids apply it to something they’ve already written. So, I decided to have them write requests. Today, I will introduce the appeals along with tone, asking my kids to analyze their requests for both. I also wrote requests. I wrote one for each of the appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) as models. And while I overemphasized each in the respective requests, I did so to make the differences among the three notable. We will also consider tone in our analysis. Ultimately, I want them to get to a place as communicators where they come to understand the role of audience and how it’s not just what and how but also who. I want them to understand that words have power, that words are gifts, that words matter. And I want them to use their words. Now. Forever.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…analyzing for appeals and tone.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…discussing “Why with Sy.”

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy weekend, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

I have never found comfort in the way of things. And though I sometimes wonder if it’s a fatal flaw, I can’t seem to help myself, and I follow a different path. And whether it is really a flaw, possibly hubris, or simply a restless spirit, when I set out on my journey three years ago with Project 180, I did so with the idea of changing, bettering the state of education. That was my “True North,” but when I set out out, I pointed south, and I’ve been going south ever since. Maybe my compass is broken.

Along the way, I have shared my journey, “publishing” my classroom and my earnest attempts to find my way as I seek to better the educational experience for my students, which I then believed-and still believe–necessitated “doing different.”

And so to do different, to turn ed upside I had to turn myself upside down, so I could get myself right side up.

For a time, I thought of myself as a turtle, thinking that if I turned myself upside down, I would eventually get back on my feet. That’s the discomfort I needed, the discomfort education needed. Of course, seeking discomfort creates no easy path, but in the “hard going,” I learned lessons, finding myself stuck in a perpetual cycle (180 degrees at a time) of doing, reflecting, and doing my best to do better. And in that I found my mantra: Do. Reflect. Do Better. And this has become my way, a ceaseless quest for better. This is my journey.

Over the past three years, others have come to know my journey. Some see some value in what I share. Some think I am crazy. And some think I am just wrong, that I toy with things better left alone, for they have worked for generations. And it is then…I head south again, for that is the “comfortable thinking” that cast me out in the first place.

Though I have come to find my journey less lonely as I have been connected to and inspired by other like-minded folk out here on the frontier, it is still a lonesome thing to do different. And sometimes in my more-lonely, less-resolved moments, I find myself hitting my compass against my leg to set it right again, but it always points south. Someday, I’ll find North. Someday.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…completing our “Written Requests” and “Me Maps”

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…discussing “Why with Sy”

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Thursday, all. 2 hour snow delay for us. Please get here, Spring.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

I remember the little train that could.

I remember a poster from my fifth grade teacher’s room.

I remember my junior high wrestling coach quoting Henry Ford.

My young life was full of talk about “can.” Seems we pay a lot of homage to such sentiments in society, in school. We CAN do whatever we set our minds to. Well, until we can’t.

Learning requires an “I can attitude.” We want our kids to believe in themselves, so their attitudes take them to higher altitudes. And so on. We certainly seem to offer a lot of talk in ed about the power of can. But I wonder if our walk matches our talk.

Can they turn that in late? Can they retake the test? Can they use resources? Can they demonstrate differently? In many classrooms, yes. But in the “other many,” kids confront cannots. And that, then, certainly puts a damper on their “I can attitude.” Even if they think they can, they can’t because they come up against a policy that will not let them, and their cans become can’ts. And I believe this impedes learning.

In the 180 classroom, I want kids to retake assessments. I call them “performances.” And I call the approach, “Performance Learning.” Here are the basics.

• I structure the learning in my room around our grade-level priority standards.
• I design practice and experiences around those standards.
• I provide performance opportunities (assessments) that naturally follow the experiences and practice.
• I evaluate kids’ performances, giving them feedback, using three simple marks: 3=Met Standard, 2=Near Miss, 1=Far Miss.
• For 2’s and 1’s I provide descriptive, actionable feedback that indicates not only why they did not meet standard but also what they have to do next time to meet it. The next time is key.

Learning, I believe, is not a line that’s drawn and followed by content considerations. It is this thinking, I believe, that creates can’ts. We have to get to get to the next unit, chapter, etc. That assignment, test was from the beginning of the semester. This suggests only moving forward, often before kids are ready, and it also suggests that going back is impossible.

So, I offer, learning as a circle, a recursive cycle that creates a feedback loop, creating as many “cans” as necessary, as determined by the learner. And I believe each successive time, from that feedback put into action, kids learn. My goal is not to do and move on. My goal is to get all kids to a 3 on every performance. I provide possibility. Does it take more time? Of course. Does it result in covering less content. Certainly. Does it result in learning? How could it not? And that is why I do it. It creates a realm of possibility. I believe it creates a place for learning.

Is it perfect? No way. Can kids survive can’ts? I suppose. They do every day. But I wonder if they CAN do more than survive. Either way, seems whether kids think they can or cannot does depend on the possibles we present.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…reconnecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…playing the prep game (SBA practice).

…writing requests (share more about this later).

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…discussing Why with Sy.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Wednesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Morning, all. Staying home with the boy today. He’s doing better. He wanted to go to school, but Mom and I decided one more day to rest is what he needed most. Bothers me how stressed out kids get about missing school and having to make up work. Fortunately, my son’s teachers are pretty flexible and accommodating, but this is not always the norm.

Tomorrow I will be back for sure, and I will continue my discussion on “circles,” might even get a bit of writing done today. Meanwhile, my students will be reading and analyzing an article and continuing their work on their “Me Maps.” Will be interesting to see if they talk the sub into Smiles and Frowns. I didn’t say anything about it in my sub plans. I will be proud of them if they do.

Sorry for the lame post again. See you tomorrow.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Morning, all. Rough night. Son took a hard fall on his head/neck at a trampoline park late yesterday afternoon. Ended up taking him to the ER–well my wife did, and they didn’t get back home till midnight, so I am a little tired–physically and emotionally. Therefore, I’m gonna take the easy road this morning. Sorry.

Son’s gonna be okay. He will have a good concussion and sore neck for awhile, and he will miss the first week of track. Never been a fan of trampolines.

Back tomorrow. Happy Monday.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Circles. Circles seem to find their way into my thinking and practice. From Community Circle and Smiles and Frowns to my Performance Learning approach to Project 180, I find the circle, a line with neither head nor tail, beginning nor end to be the shape that works for me. I believe in its power. I believe in its promise.

Community is a Circle

Community is about connection, and until the people in the room are connected, a classroom is just a classroom. I don’t want just a classroom. I want a community. So, I work diligently, I toil intentionally to create connections. As my readers know, I use Smiles and Frowns and Community Circle to that desired end.

Okay, but where does “circle” come into play? Well, first, in truth, it’s really a square (the arrangement works better in the space I have). It’s not really a circle but it serves the same purpose: we have to look at each other–all the time, but particularly when we share ourselves in Smiles and Frowns and Community Circle.

Of late, recognizing with even greater clarity the power of visual connection, I have come to make it my mostly-permanent seating arrangement. How’s it for teaching? Depends. If teaching means kids staring straight ahead for fifty-five minutes while I talk and show information, then it’s terrible. A fourth of my kids would need chiropractic help. But, in my room, content is secondary to the primary: kids. I teach kids, and for that, it is tremendous, for it places each at the head of the table simultaneously as I sit with them and teach kids with content, not content to kids.

I’m not sure I can go back. Tried to the other day with my two-horseshoes arrangement, and found it disconcerting to have half my kids staring at the backs of heads while sharing during Smiles and Frowns. The kids felt it too.

Okay, but surely there are times when you have to deliver content to all kids on the front board or screen. Of course. What do I do then? We turn the desks around. And then we turn them back, because…

Because that’s our community. And it feels we are far from home when we are not connected.

On the fence? Try it for a month. It’ll change your kids. It”ll change your teaching. It’ll create connections. It’ll build a community. There’s power. I promise.

Running out of time this morning, so I am gonna do a “to-be-continued” move. Next week I will talk about Learning is a Circle and Progress is a Circle.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…finishing up our poems.

…discussing character.

…analyzing the use of rhetorical appeals.

..discussing Why with Sy.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Finally got to sit down with Erik Wolfrum from Spokane Talks to do a segment on “Humanizing Education” for their Education 101 program. It was a fast half hour, and there was so much more I wanted to say, but I am pleased with how my first “live” interview went. Wanted to share it with you all. Of course, for most, there won’t be much that is “new,” but I hope you find some value in this other medium. Huge thank you to Erik and Spokane Talks for this opportunity. Huger thank you to former student Dylan Rollins for making it happen in the first place.

I was particularly pleased and proud to be able to share more of my story here at home with my Spokane community. Funny, I think my work is better known by educators from other places than here–even in my old building. I think only one of my colleagues knew I was doing the interview yesterday. Of course, my kids knew, and I am so pleased that I got to highlight and share a small but super significant part of our classroom culture: Smiles and Frowns. I am excited to share with the kids that I got to sing our song and do a Sappy Sy Rhyme to end the show. They will be tickled.

And then, to work. Hopefully, today we can find “normal” and get to moving on down the road. Here’s an anticipation guide we are going to work with today as we begin to set up an argumentative performance task on “character education.” We are going to create a simulated experience where the kids have to take a position on our school using the Character Counts program for improving our school’s culture, but first we are going to consider character.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…sharing a few more “I’m From” poems.

…considering and discussing how character and community connect.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…discussing “Why with Sy”

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Thursday, all. Have a great day.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Need normal. A creature of habit, I have reached my end with interrupted schedules. Cannot remember the last time we had a five-day week. With holidays, snow closures and delays, it’s been difficult to find a stride, and then yesterday, the bottom fell out. I need a regular routine, a return to normal.

Experienced a first yesterday. One of my kiddos had a seizure. I have had twenty-three years of training for what to do if/when a student has a seizure, and I am thankful that training paid off in the moment, but if I am honest, the training did diddly squat for the emotional tax that comes with holding a kid, feeling helpless, hoping to keep him safe as you wait for the nurse to arrive–trying, too, to consider the emotional well-being of the other kids in the room as you send them to the classroom next door. Won’t be something I forget.

The young man made it through safely–Thank God. The rest of my kids? I don’t know. It happened near the end of the period, and I was unable to connect with them. Today, that will be a priority as we process what happened.

Tried to take it all in stride and make the most of the rest of the day, but it–I–was a flop.

And today, sadly, we won’t be drinking from our “normal” cups–again. The kids register for next year in their LA classes today. Ho hum. Good thing I am chasing better; given the events of the past month, there’s lots of betters to go after.

Sorry for the downcast mood this morning, all. Hoping my opportunity to be on with Spokane Talks tonight will boost my mood. This is a reschedule of the talk that was postponed 2 weeks ago; will share details tomorrow. Till then, I am gonna try to scrape together a day today. Tomorrow to better.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…an interruption. Will be the first day this year that we have not done Smiles and Frowns. Grumble.

Happy Wednesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.