Teacherscribe's Teaching Thoughts
Week 19 Jan 13-16
What is important to you?
Being liked
Awaken possibility
The World is a Fine Place and Worth Fighting For
Why School? by Will Richardson
More and more, Tucker and his connected friends are crafting a new narrative around learning. (Millions of connected adults are its co-authors.) It’s a story that challenges the fundamental premise of this thing we call “school.” In this new story, real learning happens anytime, anywhere, with anyone we like — not just with a teacher and some same-age peers, in a classroom, from September to June. More important, it happens around the things we learners choose to learn, not what someone else tells us to learn.
Teaching Thoughts
Week #19 January 13-16
Teaching Thought #80 - Faith (extend trust)
Trust requires faith. And this can mean so much to students. I discovered this during my second year of teaching. I was a first time yearbook advisor. We had just received our shipment of yearbooks, about 600, and it was time to hand them out (or sell them if students didn’t pre-purchase them). I set up shop in my room after school for a week straight to get them all out.
One student came in. She inquired about buying one. Supplies were dwindling, and I had less than a dozen left. The problem was she didn’t have the money on her.
I took a chance and gave her one. She was shocked. She asked if I could just set one aside for her, but I told her to just go ahead and take one.
She said, “But you don’t even know me!”
“I trust you. You’ll come in with the money tomorrow,” I said.
And sure enough. She did. In fact, when I got to school the next day, she was waiting by my door.
That’s the power of trust.
By the way - I’ve done the just-set-aside-a-copy-for-me before, and those books have sat and sat and sat. Why? There was no trust.
Always err on the side of trust.
Teaching Thought #81 - Don’t judge a book by its cover
Cliche. Yep. But true.
This is an amazing example of that. How many Jonathan’s are sitting in your class right now? They just need their own version of the stage and a chance to shine.
You have to give them it. That’s what we (really) do.
Teaching Thought #82 - The Biggest Lesson of My First (or Twenty First) Year Teaching
Oh how this article takes me back to 1998. My first year teaching. Yet, it also reminds me of last year, my 21st year teaching.
The author of the article notes how as her year progressed, she noted the power of building relationships. The great thing about this was that it doesn’t always take the same form. One teacher built relationships by playing basketball with kids at recess. Another forged them via going to students’ after school activities. Another did a morning meeting with students. The point was this first year teacher saw, first hand, the power of forging relationships.
If I’ve done anything right over the past 22 years, it’s that I’ve built a lot of relationships with my students.
I think back to the spring of my first year. I had a student, Adam, who was not a model student by any means, but he and I got a long. He asked if he could eat lunch in my room since he often went off campus with his friends at lunch. The problem was that they all smoked and this put peer pressure on him to smoke. Of course, I let him sit in my room for lunch.
All Adam and I did was talk. And talk. And talk. In other words, we built a relationship. He asked how teaching was going and if they were too tough on me. I was honest and said that it was really tough. Kids were hard on me, and I was struggling.
Adam appreciated my candor.
A few weeks later, my stapler turned up missing. It was a tradition among one of my classes to steal something of mine and return in weeks later. One time it was my Sticky-Note dispenser. Another time it was my tape dispenser. I was furious, but I knew I couldn’t let any of my classes know that or my whole damn classroom would be missing one day!
But I did voice my frustration at lunch to Adam. He said he was going to get to the bottom of it for me.
I thought he was just talking rot, but he wasn’t.
The very next day I was with another class when I heard “Reynolds . . . Reynolds . . . Reynolds” coming from the hallway outside my door.
I stuck my head into the hallway and saw that Adam had the top of a locker pried back.
“Reynolds!” Adam called, pulling with all of his weight on the locker door. “Hurry up, it’s in here. Grab it back.”
Sure enough. I stuck my hand in and on the top shelf was my stapler!
Looking back at that moment now, it really was nothing. But at the very same time, I knew that I had built a relationship with Adam and that he was looking out for me and, best of all, he was starting to care . . . about me, if not the material. I did find that if he cared about me, he also cared more about the material than he did earlier in the year.
Teaching Thought #83 - Get up
Avoid sitting. As much as possible.
It’s bad enough that most of our jobs entail a sedentary work environment, but when so many of us come home and plop on the couch for most sedentary time, it’s a recipe for disaster (not to mention obesity).
I just head on Michael Hyatt’s podcast that a person who spends most of their work day sitting stands a 45% chance of dying before someone who spends most of their day moving.
It’s vital to not just sit at our desks.
And I’m as guilty as anyone else. When I turn my students loose to write, I don’t see this as an opportunity to walk around my room and conference one on one with my writers as they craft (that’s how it will be this year, though). Instead, I see it as time for me to go sit at my desk and get some grading done.
But Hyatt offers a couple ways around this (if not sitting so much at work, he has suggestions for injecting more movement into your life). Here they are
1. Get a stand up desk. This doesn’t need to be an expensive one. Take podium (or crate) and set it atop your desk so you don’t have to sit. This way you can stand and work.
If you’re able to, get a treadmill desk (yes, there are such things). Hyatt found that up to 3 mph, he could type and work normally . . . all the while walking and burning off calories.
Three miles per hour? Big deal! Doesn’t sound like much does it? But when you spend 6 hours doing that a day at work, you’ll burn a ton of calories.
2. Take the stairs.
3. Park far away.
4. Get a dog. Seriously. Get a dog. They need to be walked. Get in a habit of taking them for a walk in the morning and the evenings.
5. Be active after work. Don’t go home, plop on the couch, and veg. Take the dog for a walk, walk to the store, go for a jog, get out and do something.
Here are a couple of tricks I found to be helpful:
First, use the bathroom as far from your room as possible. During my prep, I choose to go all the way down to the commons to use the bathroom as opposed to the one right next door. Plus, I take the stairs on my way.
Second, go for a walk during my prep. I always go out and see if there are some students or peers I can harass.
Third, simply stand up more during class. I find I have more energy when I’m moving around the room or at least standing at my podium than if I’m sitting at my desk all day.
And don’t forget to try and allow your students some chances to move around too.
Why I Teach
Seeing former students blossom into amazing adults is one of the greatest things about teaching. And to have played a minor role in all of that is even better.
Podcast of the week - Spark of Creativity
Here are Betsy Potash's ideas for electives - You'll have to listen to the podcast to see what each elective is actually about, though . . .
1. The Writing Makerspace
2. Modern Communication: Visual + Verbal
3. Digital Citizenship & Social Media for Good
4. Election 2020
5. Online Entrepreneuriship
Video of the week -
My question for you is this - if this barista can have such an impact on her customers when she gets to spend just a few minutes with them each day, what kind of impact are we having on our students when we get to spend days with them?
Thoughts from Twitter
Tech tool of the Week -
I fell victim to using too many pictures. I'd have a dozen pictures transition in to one slide. What an idiot! I've learned from my past mistakes though.
And that's where Befunky comes in. Now if I want to use several photos in a presentation, I don't need to have each picture set up as a transition. Now I can upload them to befunky and create a collage instead. Then I just export it as a jpg and add it to my slideshow. That way I can spend time talking about all the pictures instead of the collage instead of transition one picture after the other.
This has been a life saver!
Where are they Now?
Kylie Skime
When did you graduate from LHS?
I graduated from Lincoln in 2013.
Where did you go to college and when did you graduate?
I attended Northland Community and Technical College right after high school to complete my generals, and I graduated from there in December 2014. I then transferred to the University of North Dakota and majored in both Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education, and I graduated from there in May 2018.
Where have you taught?
I am currently in my second year of teaching 3rd grade in Thief River Falls, and this is the only place I have taught. Getting a job in Thief was always my goal, and lucky for me I landed a job there two weeks after graduating from UND! I volunteered there as a kid, interned there in high school, did work study there while attending Northland, subbed as a para when I would be on breaks from UND, and was even fortunate enough to do my student teaching there. The fact that everything has worked out so perfectly is proof to me that this is where I’m meant to be!
Are you doing any coaching or advising?
I don’t coach or advise any district activities, but I am a youth leader at my church where I work with 7-12th graders.
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
Definitely the kids – in all aspects. I can’t just choose one thing! I love getting to know them and building strong relationships. I love watching them grow academically, socially, and emotionally. I love witnessing their “aha” moments. I love their innocence and way of viewing the world. I love that they make me laugh every single day. I love their hugs. I love that they push me to be a better teacher for them. I love that even when they move on from my classroom, they still like to come back and see me! I’m lucky enough to have a chance at making a difference in their lives, and I want to make sure that difference is a positive one.
What made you want to be a teacher?
Honestly, I think it all comes down to the fact that I always loved school. I am one of the lucky few who always knew what I wanted to do with my life. Ever since I was little, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. I would play school all the time at home. We had a play desk at our house, and I would tape pieces of paper to my bedroom walls, call it my “whiteboard,” and force my little brother to be my student. I’d give him math problems to do, read stories, teach spelling words, and so on. Eventually he would tire of my game and he’d leave my “classroom,” but the game never ended for me. When he’d leave, I would just pretend I had dismissed him for recess! I feel like so many people had a defining moment where they figured out what they wanted to be when they grew up, but I never had a moment like that. My goal for as long as I can remember was to be a teacher, and that goal never changed. I worked in schools as much as I could, and I would always leave with the feeling of “Yes, this is what I want to do with my life.” It’s so fun now to be living out that dream!
What advice do you have for teachers?
Make learning fun for your students. If you’re not enjoying what you’re teaching, there is a very high chance that your students aren’t either! Remember your why, stay positive, and make learning memorable for your students. I always remind myself that my students are going to remember me one way or another: how do I want to be remembered?
Bonus content of the week -
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
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kurt.reynolds.5?ref=bookmarks
Twitter: @teacherscribe