Teacherscribe's Teaching Thoughts
Week 8 (Oct. 22-26)
Teacherscribe's Blog
This Week's Must Read
If you know me at all, you know I'm a total podcast nerd. I devour them on my way back from the gym, on the way to school, on my weekly trip to and from UND, on football bus rides, and just doing yard work. Which is how I had an epiphany regarding the topic that this article focuses on.
I listened to The Cult of Pedagogy podcast (this episode was on using playlists to differentiate instruction) and on the heels of that I listened to the Entreleadership podcast (this episode featured one of my favorite writers/thinkers, Cal Newport, on Focused Success in a Distracted World).
In meshing the ideas of the two podcasts together, it hit me: students care more if we care more. I know that sounds totally simple. But hear me out.
When I thought about differentiating materials for my students, I thought back to my English 9R class. I have around 12 students, most of whom are reading at 4 or 5 different grade levels. And all of whom have different strengths and weaknesses as readers.
Naturally, I began to think how I could differentiate content for them. According to the podcast, the answer is a difficult one: the teacher has to really do it all. In other words, there is little our textbook, Collections, can do when it comes to this.
I have a love/hate relationship with Collections (and if I'm being totally honest, it is a mostly hate relationship). For instance, just last week I had to try and get my English 12 students interested in Thomas Paine's "The Crisis" and Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience."
The only thing that made either tolerable was an assignment that my colleague shared: she had her students write a letter to the editor modeling the same rhetorical devices that Thomas Paine had used. This was something she dreamed up. This was something that felt 'real.' This wasn't dreamed up by a textbook company. This assignment had fingerprints on it. This was something my students could put some of themselves into. And it didn't hurt that this assignment came on the heels of a big debate we had just had with our classes around several subjects of local interest.
Students jumped right in. Now, it's not like they each wrote diligently or passionately. BUT they did put some thought into it. They weren't just going through the motions which is just what happens when I give them something that was designed by the textbook company as opposed to personally created (with my English 12 kids in mind) by me.
With all of that in mind, I heard something that Newport said in his podcast about passion. He said something a long that lines that we often work hardest on what matters most to us.
That's when it hit me. I work hardest on the content in my class that I create because it matters most to me. Creating content and tailoring it to my classes is a passion of mine. That's why in all of my CC 1 and CC 2 classes, I don't use a textbook. I add and subtract content as I wish.
And that's why I'm so passionate about it. Turns out, my passion for the content I create, has another important effect: it causes the students to develop passion of their own and it helps them learn better.
The article linked above find some very interesting connections between passion and teacher success.
1. Passion drives people to excel.
2. Passion helps you persist.
3. Passionate teachers get better results.
4. Your passion becomes their passion.
5. Passion makes learning fun.
6. Teacher passion is crucial.
7. Teacher passion is just one part of evidence based teaching.
"The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for" - Ernest Hemingway
The news is so full of negativity that a few years ago I took to creating a positive story board on Pinterest to try and remind myself that there is good in the world.
Here is this week's example of what Hemingway was talking about - Dog is Determined to Make Friends . . .
Punctuation can save lives people!!!
Book recommendation - Linchpin by Seth Godin
I teach this book often in CC 2. Godin's writing style is a bit repetitive, but his ideas are amazing. The core thesis of the book is this - how can you make yourself indispensable? There are several ways or abilities you can leverage to make yourself remarkable- leadership (the world, especially the world of education, needs leaders more than ever), customer service (those that are not just responsible but go out of their way to offer customers an amazing experience win and win consistently. Just look at Chic Filet vs. McDonalds or Zappos vs. Payless), creativity (how can you take something and make it more creative or inventive? Think of the popsicle hotline of the Magic Castle vs. your usual stay at the Holiday Inn), organizing complexity (how can you make sense of chaos? If you are an event organizer, head coach, or band or choir director, you know this skill is vital), inspiration (how do you inspire your staff or your students to get the most out of them?), having deep domain knowledge (what skills or knowledge do you have that make you remarkable. Think Mr. Froiland or Mr. Dyrud here), and, finally, simply possessing a unique talent (this actually used to be the only way to be a linchpin before the internet changed everything. Think of Dan Marino here with a cannon for an arm or Adele with her voice or James Gordon with his sense of humor).
Keep this in mind
Your legacy
Impact
Tip - what happens if you had a summer class reunion for your students? Or if you had them over for a cookout?
Teaching Thoughts Week 8
Week #8 (Oct. 22-26)
Teaching Thought #32
Here is an interesting take on the Ten Things Teachers Should Unlearn, this one instead looks at what Parents Should Unlearn.
Seventh, The school is responsible for the child’s entire education.
Maybe the biggest lie or myth on here. One of my most effective learning experiences was when I would come home from Mr. Lundeen’s science class and talk about what I learned with my dad. Dad loved to play the devil’s advocate and would argue with me time and again. I tell you, we’d be driving back home after I picked him up in Thief River Falls when he dropped his semi off at Hartz, and we’d argue the whole way home. I don’t know if any of us changed our mind, but it was the argument and discussion that was so vital.
I think this Facebook post shows all that can be taught at home.
Teaching Thought #33
Here is an interesting take on the Ten Things Teachers Should Unlearn, this one instead looks at what Parents Should Unlearn.
Eighth, Your child’s perspective is the only one.
When my father found out that I was serious about actually becoming a teacher, he lamented about the lack of parenting today.
He said that when he was a kid in the 1950’s, if he’d have gotten in trouble at school, he’d get it even worse from his dad when he got home later that day.
Then dad said that all started to change. He warned me that most parents (and this was back in the 1990s still) that today if a child got in trouble at school, it wasn’t the child that got in trouble, it was the teacher who had to deal with the parents defending their child’s bad behavior.
So parents, trust me when I say I have your child’s best interests in mind every single day. However, if you do get an email from me about missing work or an issue that occurred today in class, please trust me that I’m being honest too. Do your job as a parent and reprimand your child.
Sometimes, though, we have to be the parent in the relationship. One of my favorite principals, talked about how when a parent demanded to meet with her over a discipline issue regarding a student, she always had that parent come in to talk to her with the student in question. Her logic was brilliant – she knows that parent has likely already berated the principal in front of the child. So she was going to show the child – through her interaction with the parent – how adults should really resolve their differences.
And in many cases, the student ended up seeing how irate or foolish their own parent looked when talking with a rational adult.
We need more of that.
Teaching Thought #34
Here is an interesting take on the Ten Things Teachers Should Unlearn, this one instead looks at what Parents Should Unlearn.
Ninth, Learning looks the same as when you went to school.
If you’re a Gen Xer (or older), you grew up with learning that looked like “just in case” learning. This means that you probably learned from a ‘sage on the stage’ who expected you to ‘sit and get’ your information. Why? “Just in” case you might need the information one day.
I had to take typing from dear old Mr. Thompson “just in case” I went to college or got a job where I had to type. Now, being completely honest, that is not how I learned to type. At all.
If you were going to be a mechanic or had to learn to fix your own vehicles, you took shop class. Why? “Just in case” you needed those skills.
Today, though, starting with the second half of the millennials, the way they learned – and, thus, what learning looks like – shifted too. Everyone born since the invention of Youtube, grew up with learning that looks like “just in time” learning.
Students today, if they truly wanted to learn how to type correctly, could watch a series of Youtube tutorials and learn the skill far more quickly than I did back with Mr. Thompson where I spent at least 9 weeks typing sentences like “the quick fox jumped over the lazy fence” or something like that.
Example #1 for typing. A thought for how to speed up your typing. Example #2 for typing.
Students today – due to the wealth of knowledge and the (almost) instant availability of it – can learn things not “just in case” they are going to do something five years from now. They can leran things “just in time” when they need to.
Now, if you want to overhaul an engine, you can find out how (and watch someone guide you through it) via Youtube. My soon to be step-son just did this, rebuilding his father’s motorcycle engine mostly via Youtube and calling a few other people.
So parents (and teachers) take a deep breath and realize that learning doesn’t look like it did 20 years ago. And I’m glad.
Teaching Thought #35
Here is an interesting take on the Ten Things Teachers Should Unlearn, this one instead looks at what Parents Should Unlearn.
Tenth, Focus on (and fix) your child’s shortcomings rather than her / his successes.
Jessica Lahey’s book, The Gift of Failure, explores this very concept. Too often parents want to just celebrate successes. Or, they strive to insulate their children from failure. Lahey argues that this more about the parents’ egos rather than their children, as if a child who doesn’t succeed at everything is somehow a reflection of the parents’ ability to raise them!
Carol Dweck also has done a lot of research on this. She notes how the only way to fix the child’s shortcomings is to work. It’s not sexy. It’s not rocket science. It’s just hard work. It’s what all of our great grandparents knew.
Now, I’m all for focusing on what you do well and doing more of that, but I suggest students do that later in their high school or college careers. The problem with pigeon-holing your skills too early is that you are never developing the skills or intellectual muscles necessary to develop new skills down the road.
Teaching Thought #36
Build in amazing moments.
Students aren’t going to remember every single lesson you taught or even the standards you hit. But they will remember at least a couple experiences from your class.
In The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath, they explore how businesses and teachers can cater to the customer service experience so that your business or classes are filled with great experiences.
They learned something interesting about moments and experiences. And I think this is something that can really help us as teachers. They learned that memory and recall of an experience is a tricky thing. For example, if you were to take a vacation to Disney Land and you were to keep track of everything you did and rate all the rides and meals, it would look differently than if you were asked to reflect back on your trip a week later.
Let’s go deeper – the authors use this – They give a scenario where you have two options – one you keep an hour by hour journal of your time at Disney Land (ranking each event on a scale of 1-10) OR you wait until the trip is done – just enjoying yourself as you go – and then reflect on the best parts of your trip after it’s over (again, ranking the entire trip on a scale of 1-10).
For the first way, here’s how your day shapes up:
9 a.m.: Cattle-herding your kids out of the hotel room. There’s excitement in the air. Rating: 6
10 a.m.: Riding “It’s a Small World” together, with parents and children each under the impression that the other must be enjoying this. Rating: 5
11 a.m.: Feeling a dopamine rush after riding the Space Mountain roller coaster. Your kids are begging to ride it again. Rating: 10
Noon: Enjoying expensive park food with your kids, who might enjoy it less if they knew you bought it with their college fund. Rating: 7
1 p.m.: Waiting in line, for 45 minutes now, in the 96-degree central Florida heat. Trying to keep your son from gnawing on the handrails. Rating: 3
2 p.m.: Buying mouse-ear hats on the way out of the park. Your kids look so cute. Rating: 8
To arrive at an overall summary of your day, we could simply average those ratings: 6.5. A pretty good day.
Now when that person was asked to rank their entire vacation a week later, guess what they ranked it? You might be tempted to think they’d average all those rankings of their experiences to come out with a 6.5.
That’s highly unlikely though – “But psychologists would say that’s way off. They’d predict that, looking back on the day at Disney, your overall rating would be a 9! That’s because research has found that in recalling an experience, we ignore most of what happened and focus instead on a few particular moments. Specifically, two moments will stand out: riding Space Mountain and buying mouse-ear hats.”
The authors went in to find that two things stand out to people/customers/students the most – peak moments and ends.
So what are the peak moments we can build in to our classes? And how can we end them more effectively?
Podcast of the week
Freaking packets. Do we kill the love of reading or of novels or of plain old subjects by burying our kids under piles of worksheets?
Freaking packets!
I admit, I did this plenty. In. The. Past.
To Kill a Mockingbird is too good of a novel to destroy kids' motivation for it by hammering them with (relatively) meaningless cross word puzzles, word finds, and reading guides.
After all, when was the last time you had to complete a reading guide for a book you just read?
Never!
Even now for our staff development we are reading Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility. And, guess what? No cross words puzzles, word finds, or reading guides anywhere.
So why do we do it in school?
Because it's how we were taught? Because it makes it 'feel' like teaching if we give them junk like this? I don't know.
I just know I had to stop it. And I did. Every guide I give now has meaning. The trick is showing the meaning to the kids. That's not so easy.
Seth Godin
It's not hard to be indispensable
Tech Tool for the Week
I used this to create all the personalized memes on these resources. It is simple to use. Just upload a picture (or use one from the site). Then you can annotate it to create your meme.
It also allows you to create your own gif too, but I struggle with that.
Nevertheless, I use this almost daily.
I use it to create motivational memes, to personalize my content, to make fun of myself, and to joke with students.
Bonus content for this week - Seth Godin's Ship it Journal
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 21st 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
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