Clackity Noise and Scratchy Sounds

On the bright side: technology

• Assists
• Enables
• Connects
• Engages
• Empowers

On the dark side: technology

• Inhibits
• Complicates
• Isolates
• Distracts
• Divides

We must have balance and moderation with our students. Video chatting with a classroom across the country is fine, but it will never replace a snack time face-to-face discussion over a bag of Cheez-Its. E-readers and tablets are slick and shiny. But they can't replicate the smell and texture of a physical book. The clackity noise of a student using a well-worn keyboard makes me feel like my classroom is über cool, but what a travesty if it comes at the price of the scratchy sounds of a fresh ball point on a new journal page.

The Rhythm of Teaching

I love the rhythm of teaching.  It's actually one of my favorite things about school.  It has a motion and movement like a well composed song.  There's a natural give and take that I know I wouldn't find in other professions.

My school district is very traditional with its schedule.  We begin in late August and finish in early June.  We're off on all the usual holidays.  We get a week off in the fall around Thanksgiving and two weeks off for Christm-, I mean, winter break.  Then there's the spring holidays to make a few three-day weekends.  The ebb and flow is lovely.

Then, of course, the controversial summer break.  I know it's archaic and based off an agricultural planning calendar that isn't nearly as relevant.  But, it's all I know.  My entire life as a student and teacher has been with a summer break.  I look forward to it as much as the kids do.  And, I'm a better teacher for it.

There's a rejuvenation and a renewal that comes with that kind of break.  I wish the summer slump didn't happen.  I wish so bad it didn't.  In a better world, all the kids would keep reading, keep writing, and keep learning.  I know there's a drop off because of the summer, and that's a shame, because no two week break can really compare to the magic that happens over two months away.

My favorite thing is all the stuff I forget.  I forget how hard and challenging teaching is.  I forget how exhausted I am at the end of a week.  I forget about difficult kids and challenging parents.  I forget about all the bogus paperwork and secretarial minutiae that I have to shovel out of my way.  I forget about everything I dislike about being a teacher.  I forget about it just long enough to remember how much I love it.  I come back in August with a perspective that I couldn't get otherwise.  I have a feeling most students do to.

The rhythm of teaching is a beautiful thing.  It's about to crescendo in a few short weeks.  Can you hear it?

Top 10 Teacher Facts That'll Make You Proud

Top 10 Teacher Facts That'll Make You Proud | TeachHUB

And then something comes along to make you feel good...  This was just really, really nice to read today.  That is all.

Coffee Shop Encouragement

I love working at coffee shops. There's something about the background noise that makes it easier to concentrate and focus.  I also love confusing the baristas by just ordering black coffee.  It's fun when so many of them ask me "Are you sure?" or "Is that all you really want?"

Working away last weekend, lost in my glowing LCD screen, one of my former students and her family approached me.  Mom, Dad, and student were all smiles and genuinely happy to see me.  They told me how much they appreciated the work I did with her back in fourth grade.  She's in sixth grade now and looked so grown up.

Mom and Dad thanked me for how much I prepared her for fifth grade and for middle school.  My former student told me that many of the things we did years ago were actually helping her now. I really had no idea. It wasn't a student I thought I ever gave much to.  It was so nice and refreshing to hear that encouragement.  It was exactly what I needed at the time.

Teaching can be a thankless job on the day-to-day.  We sow, and others reap.  So often we don't understand the depth of impact we make with our students.  Othertimes, while staring at pixels and sipping coffee, we do.

I’m Not Interested in My Students' Happiness

Sure, I want my students to be happy people.  I absolutely want them to enjoy happiness in their lives.  I don't have a heart of stone.  But, I am much more interested in their learning.

I had to have a heart-to-heart with a group of kids who were becoming increasingly disrespectful and whiny.  Most people who work with me know I am sort of Zen, hippy, California incense with my classroom environment.  I try to keep things calm and low-key.  I put as much autonomy and responsibility on the students as I can.  But I certainly have limits.  Especially when allotted freedoms encroach on the learning of others.

This group of kids had body slammed those limits one too many times.  Things needed to change.  During our private conversation, many students seemed genuinely shocked.  Stuttered gasps of "You don't care about our happiness?" abounded.  I had to explain that I didn't care about their happiness as much as I cared about their learning.

Of course I wanted them to be be happy.  At school, however, I wanted them to learn more than be happy.  I had to reiterate that this school business is hard work.  It's not always rainbows and lollipops.  Well, sometimes it's rainbows.  Never lollipops with our new nutritional guidelines though.

I'm the responsible adult

The simple fact is that I'm the responsible adult in the room.  I know what's best for my students in many situations.  I know Tony can't sit next to Kevin 90% 99% of the time.  I know Tina doesn't need to share every single thought that pops into her head every time she raises her hand.  I know that Kendra can wait five more minutes to use the restroom.

I'm not mean about it.  Just firm.  Some of them are starting to come around.  Who knows?  With a little more time, a few may actually see the benefits and be happy about it.

I Know What Books My Students Are Reading

No one ever asks me what books my students are reading.  Admins want to know about test scores or grades.  I understand.  Kind of.  Maybe that's why I'd make a terrible principal.  I don't usually know that stuff off the top of my head.  I also probably put less stock in it than I should.

Students are people.  I try to treat them as people instead of numbers and plot points.  When I'm at the library or bookstore, I see books that remind me of students.  I don't see books that remind of .xls files and report cards.  Books remind me of students because I think they would like to read them, not because books will help their screen time in front of our reading intervention app.

Do you know what books your students are reading?  Maybe I need to start asking more of that.

Bullets for Standardized Tests

• Some Many Most kids do not enjoy it
• Many would rather sit and do nothing than check for mistakes
• Some kids will race through... no matter what
• Many kids do not understand what testing is supposed to "do"
• Many kids will work hard on it for you [the teacher], but for no other reason
• How do we present testing?  Really?
• What is the benefit to the student? Really?
• Do students understand that not everything can be tested?
• Lots of students develop anxieties [stomach aches, blurry eyes, headaches, lots of headaches] around testing time
• Do we bribe them by telling them it's for a grade?
• Do we tell them it's not for a grade and risk them not trying?
• Do we threaten them if they don't perform a certain way?
• If it's not for a grade, then what IS it for?
• Where, if anywhere, does learning fit into this equation?

Random thoughts as we took our practice state assessments today.