Teacherscribe's Teaching Thoughts
Week 29 - March 23-27
School Sucks Without any Students Edition
Ignorance
Please
Again, anyone can create a meme; it doesn't mean it's true.
If this was true - and it isn't - why are we hoarding toilet paper then and not salt.
Come on.
Is this a theme?
The World is a Fine Place and Worth Fighting For
That is amazing!
Just listen to the final paragraph Andrea wrote - "Today, God led me to the exact place I was needed. Instead of feeding in to worry, let's focus on LOVE & PRAY about everything. While my prayer list is long as I impatiently wait to hug my Grandma again, I take comfort knowing that we are all in this together, heartbreak, tears & all."
We all need more messages and actions like this! Bravo, Andrea! And thanks for the inspiration and positivity. You don't know how much that post gave me a lift when I needed it.
Book of the Week - Made to Stick
Made to Stick though, is also powerful. Their thesis is simple: all remarkable ideas have "stickiness." Now that doesn't mean those ideas are necessarily "good." They are remarkable, though, because they are crafted in a way (and the bulk of the book is about how you can craft and design your ideas) that they 'stick' or resonate with us.
They open the book with this example: Kidney thieves vs. a business proposal.
We all know the kidney thieves urban legend, right? A guy is in Vegas to a business meeting. To blow off some steam, he stops by a bar to grab the end of the big game. He orders a drink when a beautiful blond sits down next to him. They chat. He finishes his drink. She asks if she can get him another one. She leaves and comes back with their drinks. He takes a sip. It's the last thing he remembers . . .
until he wakes up in a hotel bathroom. He is in the bathtub full of ice. There is a note that reads "Don't move. Call 911." Next to him on a stool is a cell phone. He calls 911 and explains his situation. They ask him to carefully reach down to his side. Is there a tube sticking out?
Yes, he informs them.
Don't move, sir. Your kidney has been harvest by organ thieves. Your the fifth victim this summer. An ambulance is on the way. Stay still.
Now contrast that story with this passage, drawn from a paper distributed by a nonprofit organization. “Comprehensive community building naturally lends itself to a return-on-investment rationale that can be modeled, drawing on existing practice,” it begins, going on to argue that “[a] factor constraining the flow of resources to CCIs is that funders must often resort to targeting or categorical requirements in grant making to ensure accountability.”
Which one is stickier? The kidney thieves one, right?
If you tomorrow you had to recount both of those pieces of information to a friend, which one would you be able to most accurately relay?
There's no question. You might not remember what city the man was in or why he stopped in the bar or what the 911 operator told him to reach for BUT you'll remember the key points.
Now how about the latter passage? Exactly.
One is clearly stickier than the other. There is no doubt that the second message is more important as the first one is just a stupid urban legend intended to instill fear.
But what one sticks with us the most?
Exactly.
We must all learn to build stickiness into what we do.
If we send out a syllabus, how is it sticky? If we have a meeting, what are we going to say that will actually stick with those in attendance? If we have to craft an email, what will we say that will mean something to our readers? If we send out an assignment, how can we craft it so it means something to our students?
In this new age of "distance learning," I think that's more important than ever.
Our former principal, Mr. Zutz, once cautioned us against just showing up and lecturing because we know our subject matter inside and out and it's easy for us. BUT, and here is why that method doesn't work that well (and isn't very sticky - to use the words from the Heath brothers). We need to rethink everything if we want it to resonate.
That's not easy. But delivering a great message rarely is.
Teaching Thoughts
Week #29 March 23-27
Teaching Thought #126 - Default to ‘yes’
I love this quote from Leonard Bernstein, “I’m no longer quite sure what the question is, but I do know that the answer is yes.”
I stole the concept of default to ‘yes’ from Guy Kawasaki in his excellent book, Enchantment. The concept is simple enough. Whenever you are asked to help someone, your default response tends to be ‘no.’ I mean, why help? You’re busy. It’ll likely push you out of your comfort zone. It’ll be more work than you already have. It’s an inconvenience. And on and on and on.
Kawasaki advises against this. A ‘no’ leads you nowhere. It doesn’t help you get to know people; it doesn’t get you outside of your comfort zone; it doesn’t exactly illustrate to others that you’re willing to help . . .
If you can, though, train yourself to automatically respond with ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’ when someone asks you for help or to be a part of something.
Years ago when Mrs. Semanko suggested I join the MNHS MN history grant (a project that was going to run several years and require regular meetings over that time span). I really didn’t want to do it. I mean I was busy; it would be a lot of work . . . Blah, blah, blah. But I said yes, and it was one of the best professional development activities I’ve ever had. I was able to go on free trips to Boston and tour the entire east coast (seeing Salem and Savannah and Gettysburgh). I was able to earn dozens of free graduate credits. I met amazing people. I learned a ton and read stuff I never would have ever considered reading. And I really wanted to say no!
As part of the MNHS MN history grant, Faye Auchenpaugh, who led the grant, asked me to teach one of my lessons to the other teachers. I really didn’t want to do this. It scared the hell out of me, but I said ‘yes’ despite my reservations. And now I speak a dozen times a year to different groups, at TIES, and MCTE, and so on. And it was all because I took a chance and said ‘yes.’
A yes will lead you in other directions; a no keeps you right where you are. Why settle for that?
Teaching Thought #127 Be missed
Be missed if you’re gone.
This is a key idea that one of my favorite writers (and people), Seth Godin, talks about all the time. I think it’s perfectly relevant to teaching/education.
If you’ve built connections, made a difference, impacted others, brought hope, cracked a joke, shown you care, then if you’re gone, you’ll be missed.
Isn’t that half the battle?
Yes, I want to teach skills and get my students ready for the real world and college. That’s all vital. But that doesn’t happen if the connections aren’t built first.
Teaching Thought #128 - Annotate those textbooks!
Have students annotate their texts. Now this might be a bit tricky given that students don’t actually own their textbooks at the high school level. But there are hacks for this (Sticky-Notes, photocopies of key sections, workbooks . . .)
I love annotating because it forces me to interact with the text. I find that far too few of my College Comp students, though, really have a clue as to how to do this. If they aren’t interacting with the text and thinking critically about it, then what are they doing when they read?
And that’s the problem.
This article offers five really interesting suggestions/thoughts for helping students annotate texts.
1. Throw away the highlighters. This hit me hard. I encourage students to highlight their novels. But the problem is that simply highlighting a passage doesn’t do a whole lot. What thinking is going on? Not much.
2. Annotations are the words you write about the texts, not the text you underline or highlight. This is a great point. I’m going to harp on this so much this fall. The emphasis has to be not just on noting key points in the text, but the emphasis has to be on explaining (or analyzing) why the reader things it’s important.
3. Annotating is a conversation. So true. This is one reason I loved buying used textbooks in college. Every time I read, it was like I was having a dialogue with whoever read the text (and annotated it) before me.
4. There are many ways to interact with a text. You can summarize, make a prediction, form an interpretation, visualize a key passage . . . The key here is showing students that annotating isn’t just answering one type of question.
5. How many annotations do I have to do? A rubric can help. I use reader response starters for this. I have students choose one per category to annotate the text as they read.
Teaching Thought #129 - Vacation?
I’m proud to say I live this. It's a quote from Seth Godin: "Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from." Perhaps that's why I'm typing this up now at 7:30 on a Saturday morning! #livingthedream #Idratherbeteaching
Teaching Thought #130 - If I Just Had Better Students
This is an interesting read from edutopia.
A teacher reflects upon the time he walked into the office and lamented to the staff there, wondering why the counselors always gave him the worst students.
To his credit, he caught himself before he fell into the ‘woe-is-me’ trap.
Now, I can hear you saying, “Sure, Reynolds, that’s easy for you to say. You get the cream of the crop with your College in the High School class.”
To some extent. To some extent. Those classes aren’t always full of intrinsically motivated life long learners etiher.
And I also teach a remedial English 9 the class, a regular senior English class, and two sessions every single summer at the ALC.
What I do to try to manage difficult students is this –
1. Establish a relationship. I joke with them. I get to know them. This helps break down some of the barriers they may have.
2. Keep parents and admin in the loop. Synergy is great for this. Whenever I send out a deficiency or progress report, I’m quick to personally email the parents (ccing Scott and Kelly too as well as Bill and Shelley) to explain what is going on. I hate calling parents, and I think parents like to communicate via email more than on the phone too!
3. We have fun. I know fun is sometimes a dirty word in education, but it shouldn’t be. Learning is fun. Sometimes you have to put the fun stuff first even before the learning, but it’s laying a key foundation.
4. I speak bluntly to them, and I pour my heart out to them. I think this works very well with #1 too.
The edutopia article offers these other tips as well –
Established leaders in the class who assisted other students (with completing an assignment, staying on task, etc.)
Regrouped any cliques to diminish off-task behaviors, and maintained daily routines and classroom procedures
Provided assignments with step-by-step visual and auditory directions
Prompted writing assignments with sentence stems and models
Why I Teach
School sucks without any students
Relationships
Podcast of the Week - Entreleadership
Bury their heads in the sand? Nope.
Wait for others to lead? Nope.
Navigate and lead? Yes!
That's all we are asking for. That's all our kids are asking for.
Be brave. Offer hope. Be available. Support. And honesty.
That goes for leading teachers and students.
Don't worry about making the right choice. Make a choice. If that choice is made according to your core values and if that choice is made with grace and empathy, it is going to be the right choice.
The world was craving leadership before this pandemic. What do you think it needs more of now?
Leadership! Be that leader. For your students, for your colleagues, for your school, for you.
Video of the week - What Teachers Make
I think as teachers we need to remember this in these dark days of no student contact and the upcoming days/weeks of 'distance learning.'
You make a difference. Work hard to make to make the biggest one you can.
Thoughts from Twitter
Shelby Dvergsten
When did you graduate from LHS?
I graduated from LHS in 2011.
Where did you go to college and when did you graduate?
I attended Concordia College Moorhead and graduated with a degree in English Language Arts Education in the spring of 2015.
Where have you taught?
I have been teaching at Alexandria Area High School since the fall of 2015.
Are you doing any coaching or advising?
I am the advisor for the National Honor Society and the assistant speech coach.
What do you enjoy most about working in education?
Watching a student learn something or accomplish something that makes them feel proud of themselves is the most rewarding part of teaching.
What made you want to work in education?
I've been lucky enough to know and experience some pretty great teachers in my life so far. I've also loved books and the English language as long as I can remember. So, there seemed no better way to spend my life than by trying to live up to those stellar examples and inspire a little bit of word love along the way.
What advice do you have for teachers?
Learning how to create healthy work-life boundaries is important. Teaching consumes both a lot of time and a lot of emotional energy. Even if you love your job, this can sometimes be overwhelming (especially for those of us who identify as introverts), so monitoring your own wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of your students should be a priority. I'm not here to talk about work-life balance, since I certainly do not have that, but learning to identify when you need a personal recharge helps you to stay as close to 100% (for your students and yourself) as possible.
Tech Tool of the Week - Ted Ed
Why?
First, TED Ed allows you to build a unit (a quiz, discussions, links to other assignments or resources, and a chance at a quick formative assessment of your own design at the end).
Second, it allows you to customize any video on Youtube - not just TED Talks. So if you want to upload a lecture or export a slideshow to a movie file then upload it to Youtube, you could then use TED Ed to build a unit around it.
Third, it's quick and easy to use. It even scores the quizzes for you and tracks how many times a student has to retake the quiz to get it perfect.
Fourth, I've never heard students complain about it.
Fifth, there are a number of TED Ed lessons already created by other teachers in a wide array of disciplines, so you need not create one of your own. BUT this website does allow you to copy and edit them to fit your needs.
It's my go to right now in this world of 'distance' learning.
Here are some examples of mine
A slideshow I exported as a movie file, uploaded to Youtube and then built a TED Ed lesson around. LINK
Someone else's TED Ed lesson I took and adapted to my class. LINK
A full unit I created for my class. LINK
Bonus content of the week -
Last week's Teaching Thoughts newsletter is below if you're interested
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 in 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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Twitter: @teacherscribe