How Many Minutes

School is a numbers game, but not the kind many legislators and test publishers want. It’s less about graph-able data points on a spreadsheet and more about minutes on the clock.

How many minutes do our students read each day? Reading software doesn’t count. Reading related activities don’t count. Reading worksheets don’t count. Just reading.

How many minutes do our students write each day? Spelling lessons don’t count. Typing websites don’t count. Fill-in-the-blank worksheets don’t count either. Just writing. Really writing.

It’s no secret that the more we do something the better we will get at it. I also think the better we get at something the more we will want to do it. Mastery is a powerful intrinsic motivator. We have to make sure we are using those precious few minutes wisely.

As I look over my shoulder at this past school year, I have to ask myself how many minutes did I do things that would truly make a difference? It’s a numbers game. It’s one none of us can afford to lose.

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The Awesomesauce of a Week Off

The last few days of class have been heavy. I mean heav-y. Anyone could see from the body language alone that a break is due. The weariness and fatigue have been almost palpible.

I am so glad we have an entire week off for Thanksgiving break. There is just something about having a whole week break. It’s a time for physical rest, but also some mental and emotional recharging.

I know me. I know it will take a good three days to unwind. I don’t even want to thnk about school or students for those threee whole days. I’ll take some time to reflect after that. Reflecton is vital to the teaching process. It is so easy for me to get tunnel vision in the day-to-day trenches of classroom lessons. This is such a great time look back at the last few months and recalibrate.

The simple questions I’ll be churning on my mental rotisserie grill are:

• What’s working?
• What’s not working?

Just about everything I’ll need to stop or start will come from those two questions. But for now, it’s time relax.

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School Makes Me Mad

School makes me mad.  Real mad sometimes.

I get upset at the way student issues are dealt with.  The food choices in the cafeteria upset me.  It's frustrating to not be able to go out to recess because the temperature is too high or too low.  The paperwork and documentation that I am required to do is enough to make a grown man cry.  The expanding obsession with graphable data, plot points, and all things spreadsheet drives me crazy.  Parental conflicts, report cards, grading, textbook adoptions...  And don't get me started on the testing and all the baggage that comes with it.

School makes me mad.  So what?

I have to slow down and ask myself that.  So what?  What does all that anger and frustration mean?

Number one, I guess the anger means that I care.  You don't get upset over things you don't care about.  The paperwork hasn't turned into a TPS report to be carelessly filled out and then used for discarded fish entrails.  Yet.

The day I stop getting angry about some of this stuff is the day I need to seriously consider my profession as a teacher.  I just have to watch that the anger doesn't consume me, but motivates me.

I know that there are things I probably could /should be doing.  I'm sure there are meetings, protests, ballots, petitions, strongly worded e-mails, meetings, leading a charge, activism, legislation, voting.  Something.  I'm sure there is something more I could do.  I just don't know what to do exactly.  So, I'll start where I am- in my classroom and on this blog.

School makes me mad.  Now what?

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10 Teaching Questions to Make You Comfortably Uncomfortable

Teachers should be "comfortably uncomfortable" in their classrooms.  I totally stole that phrase from my pastor.  It's the idea of not getting too complacent with ourselves.  I think it's important for teachers to stay comfortably uncomfortable with their teaching to push student thinking and learning as far as it can go.

Here are ten comfort questions I've been thinking about.

How comfortable are you with...

1. Silence after a question?
2. Noise during an activity?
3. Not knowing exactly what you are doing for the day?
4. Admitting that you were wrong?
5. Not knowing all the answers?
6. Taking a lesson in a brand new direction, on the fly?
7. Moving on when there is still lesson plan left?
8. Staying put when the class doesn’t get it?
9. Reflecting after a bad day?
10. Reflecting after a good day?

#6 and #2 are ones I've recently been checking myself on.

Which ones are you too comfortable with with?  Which ones set you on edge?  What am I missing? 
Photo credit: ldandersen

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