Teacherscribe's Teaching Thoughts
Week 4 - Sept. 23-27
Naysayers
Reading
Students don't learn from . . .
I actually think we do learn from others we don't like; we just don't learn the right stuff. I recall a lousy education professor in college. I learned this from him: don't ever be boring.
But the professors I loved and respected and whose classes I couldn't wait to attend (Mrs. Christianson, Mr. Matzke, Mr. Coenen, Diane Drake, Mark Christensen, Nancy Michaels, and Jerry Schnauble), well, I learned a TON.
The World is a Fine Place and Worth Fighting For
Now, think of it like this - he saw his "customers" once a day for what 5 minutes, tops? Right? Yet, he had this kind of impact.
How often do we see each student in our class? What kind of impact are we missing out on?
Book review of the week: Glow Kids
The book, written by Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, clearly illustrates two horrific finds. First, that the glowing screens of phones (and other tech devices) are more addicting than we ever feared. Second, the rise of technology and social media perfectly coincide with the skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide.
If you want to understand why it is futile to just tell a student to "put the phone away" or maybe why you yourself have such a hard time just "putting your phone away," this book will be illuminating. (Sorry for the pun. It just kind of came out that way.)
Teaching Thoughts
Week #4 - September 23-27
Teaching Thought #15 - Core value #1 - It’s not about us!
Several years ago, some of us were asked to help Shane devise some core values for our high school. Now core values are tricky. They can’t be what you want to be; core values have to represent what is best about your culture. So we came up with five core values that we thought represented what was best about us and what new faculty or staff could strive to be.
This is actually one of my favorites. When I talk about this core value with my students, I put it this way: have you ever had a teacher show up and you knew they had had a terrible morning because they were taking it out on you? That is a teacher making it about them, not their students.
This core value really challenges that. No matter how bad our morning was, no matter how tired we are, no matter how bad traffic was . . . our students deserve our best versions of ourselves. This not easy at all, for it would be nice if our students met us halfway, but sometimes they make it all about themselves! Still, we have to fight through that and keep this core value at the forefront of our classrooms. Every. Day.
Teaching Thought #16 - Core value #2 - Fear doesn’t get a vote.
This is core value is all about not making a decision out of fear. If an angry or disgruntled parent calls, don’t make a decision out of anger or frustration. Wait 24 hours or at least sleep on it. Talk to someone. Go to administration. Seek input before you make a decision. I would venture to guess that any decision made out of fear is not going to be your best decision, for it’s not a well-informed decision.
Teaching Thought #17 - Core value #3 - Integrity communication
This one is adapted from Dave Ramsey’s no gossip policy. Some say this is impossible, but it’s all about culture. And gossip is poison to culture.
What “integrity communication” boils down to is simply limited (or even eradicating) “hallway conversations.” How we communicate in meetings is treated with the greatest of integrity, which means you must speak your peace IN the meeting rather than speaking it behind everyone else’s back in the hallway.
Teaching Thought #18 - Core value #4 - Our work matters
This is my favorite. Our work matters. It’s that simple. I’m bragging here, but if my work can matter this much, whose work can’t? My wife and I were at a JO volleyball game when a parent sat next to me. Her oldest daughter just graduated, and her second is a senior now. When I introduced her to my wife, the mom grabbed my shoulder and told my wife, “your husband isn’t just a teacher for my daughters. He is a life changer.”
I was in awe. She happened to be a fellow teacher, so this was some incredible praise. But as soon as she said those words, this core value popped into my mind. Our work matters. But my work isn’t just to teach her kids “The Lottery,” “Young Goodman Brown,” how to write an effective essay, or to analyze The Ghost Map or Outliers. My work is to have an impact. If we can do that, then we will be life changers.
Teaching Thought #19 - Core value #5 - Excellence in the ordinary
This is the core value I’m weakest in. This core value focuses on doing the little things (updating grades, getting to work on time, returning work promptly, communicating with parents well . . .). The reasoning is that if you do the little things in an excellent fashion, the big things will fall in line too. It’s tough to be excellent at the big stuff (our work matters and it’s not about us) when you are constantly to work 20 minutes later, updating grades twice a quarter, returning work three weeks late, and never communicating with parents).
I have this core value on my desk. So every spare minute I have, I see it and use it as a reminder to update my grades, return emails, and return student work.
What are your core values in your classroom or at your school? I’d love to hear them!
Why I Teach
I love it when their competitive juices are flowing over anything English related!
The School Leadership Show - It's Worse Than You Thought
I've become a leadership junkie over the past decade or so. And that led me to this podcast, which focuses on - shocker - leadership in terms of administration. In this episode, the hosts talk to Noah, a recent high school graduate from upstate New York.
They interview him to get his perspective on the relevance of his high school education. The title of this podcast gives you a take on what Noah has to say about his high school preparing him for college.
Noah states that he is a good student. His big complaint about high school is that he never studied and got by through just relying on his talent alone. He rarely studied and still 'breezed' by.
I don't doubt that this is true, as we hear this from your graduates we bring back to talk to our underclassmen.
I have a few problems with this -
If you work hard in class, listen, and engage, shouldn't you be able to 'breeze' by on the tests without studying? Isn't that ideal?
Schools have moved away from the kill and drill method of testing. We know that students having to cram for tests doesn't help them learn.
Finally, a majority of graduates say this and then add that they wish they would have worked harder, read more, been challenged more . . . but that is from their current perspectives in college. I tell this to my juniors all the time, yet a fraction ever take advantage of this and actually work harder, read more, and rise to the challenges before them.
I bet when Noah gets into the world of finance (that's what he is majoring in), he will look back at his university courses with much the same stance. They should have given me more practical experiences, they should have had me do more internships, and so on.
Video of the week - What if we worked hard to make every student feel like Carson
Thoughts from Twitter
Tech Tool of the Week - Newsela
This makes for a great bell work activity or even formative assessment. It also allows you to invite an entire class to access the story, which is great for convenience.
The catch -
1. Newsela changed its policies recently, so you only get the current events stories for free. If you buy a PRO subscription that unlocks stories that are grouped together via themes or categories.
Where are they now? Malena Rupprecht
I graduated high school in 2014 and college in 2018.
Where are you teaching now? For how long? What grades/subjects?
I am now teaching 4th grade at challenger and it will be my second year this fall!
What do you love most about teaching?
The thing I love most about teaching is how even though everyday has the same structure, it is always a completely new and different experience. I love mornings when kids tell me all about their night/weekends. I also love how I don’t only teach, but I learn with them.
What made you want to be an educator?
Volunteering in a first grade classroom is what encouraged me to be a teacher.
Bonus Content - 5 Reasons to Use Google Slides Instead of Docs
Chief Inspiration Officer of Room 205
I am married to the most amazing person in the world, Kristie. It was love at first sight. At least for me. And it still is.
We have four wonderful children, Casey, Koko, Kenzie, and Cash. I also happen to have the greatest job in the world: teaching English to high school students.
I am about to begin my 22nd year of teaching at Lincoln High School. I graduated from Lafayette High School in 1992. I decided to enter the field of education because of two amazing teachers, Mr. Mueller, my fourth and sixth grade elementary school teacher and assistant baseball coach, and Mrs. Christianson, my 9th grade English teacher.
I attended Northland Community College, and had my life changed by the amazing Dr. Diane Drake. Then I transferred to Bemidji State University in 1995. There I had amazing professors who further inspired me to teach English (Dr. Helen Bonner, Dr. Mark Christensen, Susan Hauser, and Gerry Schnabel). I graduated with my BS in English Education in 1997.
I student taught with the wonderful Lisa Semanko and then began teaching full-time at LHS in 1998.
I took a year's leave of absence in 2001-02 to return to BSU for my MA in English. There I had the privilege to teach and work closely with my greatest mentor, Dr. Mark Chirstensen. I earned my MA in English in 2006 and was honored with "Thesis of the Year" for my creative non-fiction, braided, multi-genre memoir, "Meeting Myrtle: A Biography."
In 2013, thanks to my dear friend and mentor, Dr. Jodi Holen, I was offered an adjunct teaching position fall semester at the University of North Dakota. Tuesday nights I teach Intro to Education: Teaching and Learning 250 from 5-8. Those three hours fly by in about ten minutes.
Then in 2016 I was blessed to win a WEM award (thanks to a nomination from a former student (and now an elementary school teacher), Ciera Mooney.
In 2017 I became part of the #pineconepd podcast club along with Brian Loe, Jeff Mumm, Kelsey Johnson, Kelly Weets, Josh Watne, Tevia Strand, Megan Vigen, Mariah Hruby, and Laura Brickson. This has been one of the best forms of PD I've ever been a part of. They make me a better teacher every time we meet. Please think about joining us in the summer at the Pine Cone Pub from 6:30 - until we've solved all the world's problems. For that evening anyway.
Thanks to the inspiration of Shane Zutz (our former principal) I devised this as a way to distribute my Teaching Thoughts and add more content to, hopefully, help out and inspire others.
Email: kurt.reynolds@myprowler.org
Website: http://teacherscribe.blogspot.com
Location: 101 South Knight Aver Thief River Falls MN 56701
Phone: 218-686-7395
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