Teacherscribe's Teaching Thoughts
Week 19 Edition
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The World is a Fine Place and Worth Fighting For
Book of the Week - The Classroom Chef
The Classroom Chef by John Stevens and Matt Vaudrey.
I have written about this one in the past, but I love to revisit it once a year at least. The authors' approach curriculum as if they are about to sit down to a fine meal. If you sit down at Harry's Steakhouse, for example, you are sitting down for an experience. That includes the appetizers, the main courses, the condiments, the atmosphere, the beverages, the desserts and so on.
They apply this to curriculum and teaching. I'm guilty as many others in not putting enough thought into the structure of my curriculum So much is just getting through the curriculum, but when I have a few moments to reflect and really design create "dining" (or, learning) experiences in my classroom, well, then the magic happens.
How nice would it be if we had time to design lessons with our colleagues each day? Once a week? In department meetings or early outs?
Now before you grab a copy, know this is about math. Ugh. But the parts the authors focus on in terms of learning and crafting lesson plans is gold. Here are some of my notes from my initial reading of the book.
Notes -
You have to make boring concepts engaging. That is what teaching is!
Why do you think my son can figure out what a pyramid scheme is? Because Teen Titans Go made it engaging!
One reason to be on fire in your classroom and take risks? You’re an example for your students. If they see it enough, they will eventually model it.
I love the metaphor at the heart of this paragraph –
“We weren’t happy with processed-food curriculum: outdated preprinted modules for the students, a pacing guide to follow, and an entire department doing the same thing. And, from our observations of the students who had learned to hate math prior to arriving in our classrooms, it was clear a processed food math class wasn’t going to cut it.”
The pre-packaged curriculum stuff always sucks.
I think this is really what we are trying to do with our new English curriculum –
“We knew the fast-food curriculum wasn’t going away, and district and state mandates weren’t changing any time soon. Our challenge, then, was to redesign pieces of units to make them engaging and meaningful to kids. We learned from excellent teachers – personal colleagues and those we met online – that the easiest way to manage a classroom is to keep the students engaged and curious.”
Teaching Thoughts
Week 19 (January 18-21)
Teaching Thought #10 - Practice, Promote, and Permit
This is one of the core features in my classes and in Prowler football. When it comes to building culture, all the people in the room or on your team are focused on these three things: What do you practice? What do you promote? What do you permit?
It’s not as easy as it sounds, and it’s a constant battle. How I use these three things in my class to build culture is that I practice the work right along with my kids. Last Friday, I wrote a rough draft of the third paper we are writing in Hot Topics in Writing. It’s a documentary analysis on a film of our choice. I chose The American Scream about three “home haunters.” I went through the same assignment my kids are. Then I went back and put in comments to help guide them through the assignment. I always try to practice what I preach.
When it comes to promoting, this comes down to one of my key mantras: Let your freak flag fly. I try to make it a safe environment to let kids be themselves. This is going to be evident in a few weeks when my College Comp II students submit their first day essays where they tell me who they really are. Most are excellent because they have all been through CC 1 and know my expectations and know they can trust me.
What will you permit? For me, this is the biggest struggle. I’ll use an example from football here. We required all of our players 10-12 to lift 23 times in the summer before they could even get their equipment, let alone practice. I had one player who didn’t get close to the required number. I had to have a difficult conversation with him, but I was honest and clear. And, of course, I gave him a chance to get the lifts made up. But he had to do the work. I knew all my players were watching this. If I backed down, it would have ruined all the new changes we were installing. And to the player’s credit, he lifted twice and day and ran and conditioned on the sidelines during practice so that he eventually made up all his 23 lifts and got his equipment and was able to eventually practice.
It’s all about what you practice, promote, and permit if you want to have a strong culture.
Teaching Thought #11 - What is School For?
Here is one of my all time favorites: Seth Godin.
This is a TEDx Video from his manifesto: Stop Stealing Dreams, which focuses on education policy.
In this clip, he tries to answer the question What is school for?
So what is it for?
Teaching Thought #12 - Inventions vs. Experiences
I heard this line from the Focus Three Podcast, and it immediately made me think of my classroom: “We judge ourselves on our intentions while others judge us on their experiences with us.”
Wow. Isn’t that the truth. I always (or usually, anyway) have the best of intentions. BUT what did my students really experience from me in class?
Teaching Thought #13 - This Time it’s Personal
Teaching is always personal.
When you are about to deliver bad news to a student, think about this before you utter the words that I’ve been guilty of uttering before: “This isn’t personal . . .”
What was I thinking?
Of course teaching is personal. Of course learning is personal. It doesn’t matter whether I’m offering a student praise or criticism, it’s always personal.
Any time you devote as much time as students “devote” (and I use that term loosely knowing that some students don’t exactly devote time to class . . . but most of mine do take it seriously) to coming to class and doing the work, of course they’re going to take everything I say personally.
Now, I choose my words carefully . . . because it’s always personal.
Why I Love Teaching
Clinics/Conferences
Coach Mumm and I just got back from a football clinic. In between sessions, at the social, and even at the Legion at 11 pm, I saw coaches full of passion talking about their schemes and programs. I was speaking with the offensive line coach from Wayzata at the social, and he talked for 20 minutes about the technique of his offensive linemen. Then later that night I saw Coach Mumm and another strength coach (see the picture above) literally argue about the merits of front squatting vs back squatting for half an hour!
I'm still waiting for that half hour discussion of narrative writing vs. expository writing. But I hope it's coming one day.
Now, I did see this same passion when I attended the National Council of Teachers of English when it was held in Minneapolis in 2015. I just wish it would happen more often!
Podcast of the Week - American Shadows
The episode I'm featuring here, "Under the Weather" has so many different applications to our lives today. This episode explores the power of one man, back in 1900, to control information about the weather. He discounted experts in order to stay true to his own personal agenda, and it cost thousand of lives.
Sound like anything we are going through today?
Learn about the 1900 hurricane that nearly wiped Galveston, Texas, off the map and killed thousands . . . and learn how many of those lives could have been saved with clear communication.
Video of the week - Brutally Honest Valedictorian Regrets being Top of the Class
Thoughts from Twitter
Give this a try in your classroom . . .
I just assigned this in my Hot Topics in Writing class as our fourth paper. Our first one was an exploratory essay on a controversial topic. The second was a satire. The third was an analysis on a documentary of their choice. And now the fourth is an I-Search Paper.
I first leaded of this from Ken Macrorie while I was in graduate school. The paper has four segments.
1. What you already know about the topic.
2. Three questions you'd like to research in order to know more about the topic.
3. The recording of your search for information
4. Finally, answer your research questions from part 2 with the research from part 3.
What I like about this is that the format is simple. I also really like that a key part of this is actually asking kids to track (and, hopefully, be more conscious) of their actual research, that is did they just Google their topic and then go to Wikipedia? Or when they only found ads and superficial information there, what did they do next?
I've found that there are many other forms of and tweaks you can apply to the I-Search paper to fit almost any assignment or class.
Article of Interest - Citizen Police
Things they will explore - What does a Hamilton police office really do in a day? Delve into the various areas officers spend most of their time - drugs, homicide, emergency service, and training.
What a great way to counter the backlash that police departments have undergone. What a great way to hold not just their own officers accountable but also work with the public to be more transparent.
Now only if we could get schools to do this! Maybe then we would have a joker like the governor of Florida who just went on Fox News claiming that teachers need to be carefully scrutinized because of CRT but other things they 'smuggle' into school and implement into their curriculums.
Bonus content of the week - ClipGrab
In case you missed the previous Teaching Thoughts Newsletter
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. And now we have been blessed with five grandchildren!
I also happen to have the greatest job in the world: teaching English to high school students.
I am in my 24th year of teaching at Lincoln High School. I graduated from Lafayette High School in Red Lake Falls 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 Christensen. 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, Laura Brickson, Loren Leake, Katie Hahn, Melora Burgee, and new members all the time. 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.
In 2021, I became head coach of the Powler football team. It is a dream come true. I have an amazing staff and had an excellent mentor in two amazing former head coaches, Jeff Mumm and Bryce Lingen. I couldn't have asked for greater men to learn from.
Finally, 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
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