Education Rethink

Sunday Sketch: Student Engagement

2013-05-19T08:02:00.002-07:00

So, I've been doing a sketch a day and I plan to feature one education-related one per week. The truth is that I've always doodled, pretty much every day. I'm considering creating a separate blog for it. However, if you're interested in seeing more, check out the set on Flickr.

Teachers Should be Critical of Bad Teaching

2013-05-17T13:39:00.002-07:00

I don't like being critical of "bad teachers," mostly because I feel like a hypocrite. I've had moments where I yelled at the class. I've had times when lessons tanked. I like the notion of pulling out planks from my eyes before I search out sawdust in another.

However, I've been thinking about the Jeff Bliss video again. I've written before that we don't know the whole story. I've mentioned that I'm bothered by the way people used this video to attack all teachers. And yet, as I've thought more about the topic, I've come to the conclusion that we, as teachers, should be critical of bad teaching.

This doesn't mean that we attack individual teachers. Often, "bad" teachers aren't rogue educators out to harm kids so much as people who need to make paradigm shifts and change their teaching strategies. My hope is that bad teachers get the support that they need. (I hate using the term "bad" here, because I've had moments where I was a pretty bad teacher myself)

Still, we should be angry at the lack of professionalism with a classroom where there are disengaged students sitting in rows of desks with a teacher walled in by a teacher desk while kids fill out packets. We should be bothered, not by the five minutes of video we see, but by the fact that too many classes are void of creativity and critical thinking. That should infuriate us.

Bad teaching should bother teachers, not just because they make the profession look bad, but because it's bad for kids. Ultimately, that's what we're all about. True, teachers are tired. We're all wiped out at this time of year. My guess is that if teachers are anything like me, they're also feeling a little insecure right now as they come to terms with the mistakes that they've made over the course of the year.

But even in the midst of the insecurity and the exhaustion, it's not a bad thing for teachers to be outraged by stacks of mindless packets. We need to be advocates for great teaching.

Phil in the Bubble (A Super-Short Stick Figure Video)

2013-05-16T14:53:00.004-07:00

Yeah, it's choppy. True, it's a stick figure. But here's an ultra-short video about daydreaming and standardized tests.

Is It Okay to Vent About Students?

2013-05-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

I'm at a Starbucks when I hear teachers griping about their classes. They're talking about second graders and how they're not sitting still and how they still interrupt and how they're so hyper. All I can think about is how my son might feel if this were his teacher.

I cringe. I want to tell them to stop talking that way. I walk out, plug in my headphones and come to a dark conclusion:

These teachers are right. Kids are difficult. Kids are hyper. Kids are always moving. Sometimes they become challenging at the end of a school year. Every single thing they said about their students was accurate.

So, why does the venting bother me so much?

It's about framing. It's about the way I choose to think about the ~~students~~ children in my class. I can assume that the talking or the interruptions or the late-Spring apathy is defiance and disrespect. I can expect perfection. I can get into a mindset that says, "I work so hard, they owe it to me to . . ."

Or, I can see them as kids. I can treat the squirrelly moments as a chance to correct and teach. I can expect some level of immaturity, because, let's face it, they are immature by adult standards. They're not grown up.

It's a simple reality. But the fact that they are kids is what makes students difficult. It's the same reason why being a dad can be hard. It's why teenagers can drive us nuts in a packed movie theater. And it's why every generation complains about "kids these days." Because kids these days are like last year's kids these days, because on any given day, they don't behave the way adults expect.

It isn't wrong to admit that kids are hard. The issue is the way we talk about it. If the conversation revolves around blaming, then it tiptoes close to slander. I try to imagine that students can hear everything I'm saying about them. If it's something that would hurt them, it's not worth saying.

However, if the issue is admitting my weakness as a teacher, then it will lead to humility. If the "venting" is an honest reflection of what's not working and what I want to do about it, then it becomes a chance to grow.

Please Quit Bashing Teachers

2013-05-13T17:08:00.001-07:00

I have noticed that teacher bashing has become trendy. I expect that from neo-cons. They hate public employees; that is, unless the public employee is a soldier, police officer or prison guard (I think you have to have a gun to count).

What surprises me is the way the so-called progressive education community has taken up teacher-bashing as well. We are now called slave-drivers, prison guards and child-abusers. I know it looks like we're teaching fractions, but apparently our chief goal is to steal souls (yeah, that's right, we are now minions working for Satan).

The teacher-bashing went into hyper-drive after the Jeff Bliss video went viral. Notice how this doesn't seem to happen in other professions. When doctors are found acting unethically, people are quick to say, "This isn't true of most doctors" and point out the issue with this isolated incident. When a rogue official bets on games, the public does not turn against all referees. Go ahead and criticize a soldier. See what happens. You'll be called unpatriotic.

In the last six months, we have seen basketball coaches, doctors and soldiers being found doing far worse than sitting at a desk passing out a packet. In each case, people have responded by criticizing the individual while also saying loudly, "We realize that this isn't true of most people in this profession."

This might not seem like a big deal. However, the cumulative effect of this is a nagging sense that the public hates us. It's not something teachers think about all the time, but it certainly prevents teachers from being transparent and vulnerable about our own failures. Instead of paving the way toward humility, it sets us up for a false perfectionism.

I get it. Sometimes teachers engage in bad practices. I'm with you if you want to criticize packets or homework or lecturing for hours. But the first step toward change is starting with a dialogue. Bad teachers often care deeply about kids. They need paradigm shifts rather than shame.

Side Note: I find it interesting that Jeff Bliss never went personal in the video. He attacked her practices and vaguely alluded to the system. But the tweeters, bloggers and pundits have seized the viral rant as an opportunity to bash teachers as a whole rather than analyzing the system or criticizing the individual teacher. If the pundits want to learn from student voice, maybe they could take a cue from the video and criticize systems rather than teachers as a whole.

The Problem with the Broken/Fixed Mindset

2013-05-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

You can blow up the factory. Or you could transform it to an artists' loft. It's your choice.

Someone posted a comment to the Education Rethink Facebook page that "The American education system was broken from its copycat beginning."

I get it. We imported our system from Germany and it was broken and now we are mired in this industrial system based upon social engineering. The criticism is valid. We need to move forward.

And yet . . .

The words "broken" and "fix" tend to fit into an industrial language. They are the words we use for products. I might say that a couch is broken, but I wouldn't say that a tree is broken. Instead, I would use a term like "healthy" or "flawed."

The problem with broken or fixed is that it treats a very human system as if it is entirely structural. It makes the assumption that education reform is as easy as throwing away the old and replacing it with something that's not broken. Or, if you are more inclined to a nostalgic vision, simply refurbishing it and bringing it back to new.

Broken and fixed are binary options that prevent us from having nuanced conversations. If my only two options are "yes, the system is broken" or "no, the system is just fine," I am either an unrealistic extremist or an overly defensive, delusional advocate for the status quo. The language itself creates a barrier for the policies that we develop.

What if instead of asking, "Is this system broken and should we even bother to fix it?" we asked, "What are we doing that's working and what are we doing that's not working?" Or perhaps, "How healthy is the current educational system? What can we do to create sustainable change?"

See, if it's only about broken and fixed, we create enemies. It's a for us or against us mindset. But if it's nuanced, we have a chance for thinking to evolve. We create spaces where paradigm shifts happen over time. The change can be quick. The shifts can be huge. But it's rooted in a grassroots transformation rather than a process of tearing down and rebuilding.

photo credit: somebody_ via photopin cc

We Never Know the Whole Story

2013-05-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

When I was in high school, I had a teacher that annoyed me. He punished the whole class for things that one person did. He tried too hard to be a friend to the students and then lashed out in anger. And then I saw him one afternoon when I walked into his classroom on his prep, forgetting it was fourth period instead of fifth. He was crying. His mom was dying. His wife just cheated on him.

I'm not excusing his behavior. However, what I lacked as a high school student was an understanding of context. It wasn't until years later that a friend of mine told me this teacher talked him out of suicide.

You wouldn't have known it from a five minute snippet of teaching when he railed against us and accused us all of being lazy and assigned us book work as punishment. And truth be known, we all have at least five minutes of class time that would make for a pretty crappy viral video.

We never know the whole story.

* * *

I had a student who was disrespectful toward me, falling asleep at random times, rolling her eyes and physically moving away if I walked up to help her. One morning, I caught her stealing extra breakfast packets for her little brothers. She wept and truth be known, my eyes watered a little too.

Seeing another side of her allowed me to reframe what I had already seen: that she was often compassionate, a leader, a deep thinker, a fast learner, a creative type. It's not that I hadn't seen those, but in the midst of the defiance, I couldn't see anything more than the disrespect.

We never know the whole story.

* * *

So, there's a video going viral and the kid (yes, he's still a kid) is being hailed as a hero or a villain, as a talking point on both sides. And the teacher, who remains relatively calm in the video, comes across as either lazy or indifferent.

But here's what we don't know: what happened before, what happened after and what both people brought to school that day that changed the deeply human interaction that one sees in a classroom. You can't get that in a snippet of video.

We never know the whole story.

A Lesson from the Grocery Store

2013-05-11T19:44:00.001-07:00

I got frustrated with Brenna while at the grocery store.

"You were acting crazy."

"I wasn't acting crazy. I was acting silly."

"But the grocery store isn't the place to act silly."

Brenna shook her head. "I think the grocery store needs some more silly."

Thinking back to my time at the grocery store, I came to the realization that Brenna was right. Grocery stores could use a little more silliness.

My greatest regret this school year is that I missed the beauty of sixth grade silliness. I cracked down on it in the name of learning and classroom management. Don't get me wrong. There is a time to sit still. But looking back on the year, I realize that the best times were when we embraced silliness.

photo credit: KatLevPhoto via photopin cc

If Teachers Got Badges

2013-05-11T11:33:00.001-07:00

Someone suggested that for Teacher Appreciation we should introduce badges. I'm not sure that badges would work, seeing as how we're not the Boy Scouts. Or maybe it's more like flair (Office Space) I can't see badges happening with engineers or doctors and I'm not sure I want a meaningful profession turned into a game.

But it has me thinking . . . what badges would we give out if we gamified teaching?

I have a few ideas: Acronym Awareness badge, Buzzword Bingo Champion, Bus Duty (that alone deserves a badge), Bladder Control Badge.

Any other badges?

Seriously, have fun with the concept in the comment box.

A Note to Parents Who Are Opting Out of Testing

2013-05-10T16:34:00.002-07:00

Dear Parents,

I support the opt-out movement. I believe that it sends a strong statement about the problems with standardized testing. I am an outspoken critic of the testing culture, along with the Value-Added scores that are being pushed by the politicians.

However, I'd like to ask a favor. Could you also get involved in changing the policies that are driving the testing culture? We need parents to be informed public citizens who will push for better education policy that limits testing and advocates for authentic assessment instead.

The other day I was at a birthday party and a parent mentioned that her son was going to opt out of testing. However, when I asked her how she decided on their choice of schools, she mentioned the A+ rating. When I asked her who she voted for in the last election, she mentioned candidates who had pushed for increased testing and "teacher accountability."

Opting out is a great first step, but use your voice. Seize the microphone. Speak boldly. Change the policies.

We live in a world where test scores are used to judge teacher performance, school ratings, neighborhood planning and business decisions. If you want to opt out of testing, I get it. Go for it. But, I'd like to challenge you to take a step further and use your political will, your power, your democratic voice and push for meaningful education reform.

So far, both political parties continue to advocate for more testing. Not every child is as fortunate as yours. Millions of students will spend hours in urban schools taking tests, practicing for tests and then going to "interventions" (a word once used for addicts) based upon their test scores.

Please consider not only opting your own child out of standardized tests, but also changing the policies so that opting out doesn't have to be an option anymore.

Sincerely,

John Spencer
Middle School Teacher

The Human Search Engine

2013-05-10T09:29:00.001-07:00

Last night, Jeremy Macdonald and I interviewed Rodd Lucier and Dean Shareski for our first Curiositycast. I'm still not sure how it will turn out in the end. I've never felt comfortable with the sound of my own voice and all I hear is something pitchy filled with ands and ums and whatnot. (For what it's worth, we should have the podcast edited and ready to go next week.)

However, it's not really about the finished product. The point of Curiositycast is to ask questions relating to a topic of interest. We wanted to have a human search engine where we could ask questions about topics that we know next to nothing about.

Because it was interactive, I found out things about Canadian football that I wouldn't have found on a Wikipedia entry. I learned some obscure rules, like the end-of-game kicking back and forth to end a tie. I learned about the distance between the defensive and offensive lines.

But I also had a change in focus. I think I had always seen Canadian football as simply CFL and CFL as a cheap knock-off of American football. As Rodd and Dean talked about the sport, I found myself realizing that the two sports evolved in different ways with neither one of them being the "cheap knockoff" of the other.

I found myself seeing "different" as not necessarily bad. I hadn't considered the way Canadian quarterbacks would have to be more mobile or that the game might actually be more exciting (especially with the movement, spacing and the twenty-five yard end zones).

Ultimately, it's the human side that changed my perspective. A Wikipedia interest doesn't tell me what it's like to grow up as a kid playing with the Canadian rules or going to the stadium in Winnipeg and watching a game live. Informational texts are interesting, but they lack the passion, the interactivity and the human connection that you get from asking questions to a real person.

I also feel like I got to know Rodd and Dean in a way that I don't experience on Twitter. I'm still a fan of geeking out about teaching, but there's something powerful about exploring our interests and stories. For all the talk of Personal Learning Networks, last night was a time when it truly felt personal and the learning had nothing to do with teaching.

Toward the end of the night, I left thinking that I might do curiositycasts next year with my students. In a narrowcasting digital world, it might be fun for students to learn how to ask questions and watch what happens when other people geek out about their interests and passion.

photo credit: toddsmithdesign via photopin cc

Nerds, Geeks and the Big Bang Theory

2013-05-09T17:03:00.001-07:00

I don't know many nerds who enjoy The Big Bang Theory. The same goes for geeks. It's not an issue of the stereotypical depictions of the show. As someone who straddles the line between geek and nerd, I'm not bothered by the fact that the characters are into Star Trek or can geek out about Shrodinger's Cat.

No, the real issue is that the show itself isn't geeky. For the most part, it's standard, replayed sitcom jokes, played behind a laugh track (or a live studio audience). It's overly formulaic. The show itself doesn't geek out. There are more geeky moments in Pawnee, with the ironic humor of the morning show or the local libertarian character or the fact that the whole town uses Alta Vista.

In other words, they created a show about geeks that is, on some level, still hoping to aim toward geeks. But the writers don't seem to understand the intricacies of geekery and nerdiness.

I contrast this to the greatest geek show in recent years. Watch a few episodes of Phineas and Ferb and you get a love of nerds. You get a deep understanding of nerd culture. You end up with lines like, "So what is your awkward tragic backstory" or "I'm a woman of science . . . at least that's what horoscope says."

The show is geeky, not just in its humor, but in the depiction of using one's mind to solve problems. Here, the nerdy protagonists are not social outcasts, but a great band of misfits spouting off witty lines and getting excited about all things geeky - from math to pop culture to science to history. In other words, it is a show by and for geeks. Or nerds. I can't really tell.

So, it has me thinking about school. How often are teachers and schools creating systems and lessons and structures that they think kids will enjoy when in fact they don't get kids on a deep, relational level? How often do well-intentioned people insult the minds of students when they try to figure out what kids like? How often are we falling into the Big Bang effect?

photo credit: Daniele Zedda via photopin cc - I don't know the guy, but it was self-tagged as nerd and I was impressed with the composition of the shot.

Ten Things I've Learned About Student Design Projects

2013-05-08T10:10:00.001-07:00

The picture above is an example of a game where students have to shoot a soccer ball past the goalie (moved by the opponent). The ball drops down and they get a shot again. It is visually-appealing and fun to play.

This was part of our class arcade project. My students spent about an hour to an hour and a half a day designing cardboard arcade games and . . . the results were mixed. I would love to say that this was a slam dunk, but it wasn't.

Plan it together: I brought students into the conversation about the project ideas (ultimately landing on the arcade concept). They created the essential questions and linked the standards. They also helped develop the rubric. However, this wasn't done in isolation. As a teacher, I still had to guide the process.
Create procedures: Teachers throw around phrases like "controlled chaos" and "embrace the mess." However, I can't do loud, crazy classrooms. It makes me edgy and I get impatient. I need a reasonable volume level. I need the movement to be safe. So, we created our procedures together as a class.
Be prepared for motivational issues: The same issues that happen in assignments happen in projects. Kids will still get bored and want to give up. Students will want to throw in the towel when it gets too hard. Project time isn't necessarily a "fun" time the entire time. In the case of this project, I still had two groups who did the bare minimum.
Explain the revision process: I've learned over time that it is critical that students understand that projects aren't all that different from blog posts. They require revision. This can be hard, because revision can be slow and less novel than the initial product.
Structure reflection and discourse: We used a blend of blogs, social media and in-person reflection time to engage in discourse and to have personal reflection time. I've learned that if this isn't built into it, they often fail to articulate what they've learned.
Let the groups work interdependently: In other words, if one group is having an issue with their project, let them invite an expert from another group to help.
Teach project management: This is an area where I still fail as a teacher. I tend to manage it for them and check up on progress for them. On this project, I was more intentional about helping students set goals and task lists.
Think about the audience: In our case, it was easy. The students were going to play with the arcade games and do a peer assessment. However, in the case of our current project (a modern history museum), students know that they will have to create a display and give a two-minute Ignite-style presentation.
Teach conflict resolution: However, I pay careful attention to the communication happening. I specifically ask students to identify conflict that exists and we take a few minutes to hash it out.
Focus on the learning rather than the product: Here's my biggest take home. Some groups will create projects that don't look great. However, the bottom line is the mastery of the concepts. I have had to remind myself that they are only sixth graders and their product and process won't be the same as that of an adult.

Seven Things My Principal Did Well

2013-05-08T05:57:00.002-07:00

We got fajitas for Teacher Appreciation Week. How cool is that?

When I was hired, I promised my principal that I wouldn't write or tweet about him. However, now that he's going to another district, I want to point out a few things that I appreciated about him this year. Note that this could just as easily be my assistant principal, because they worked together as a team:

Practical Support: Randy came through in practical ways. I know it's not a huge deal, but I remember needing a few office supplies for my classroom and I wondered if it would be a month or so before I got it. Instead, he made sure I had what I needed within a few days.
Disagreement: He wasn't afraid to challenge me on ideas. I remember one point when Randy and I got into a discussion about data, test scores and achievement. He and I still disagree a bit on the issue, but I appreciate his willingness to engage in a discussion.
Encouraging Autonomy: On a larger, school-wide scale, he didn't micromanage. But on a closer level, he knew how libertarian I tended to be and he let me do my thing. I always felt like he trusted me as a teacher and empowered teachers to do what was best for students.
Celebrating teachers: Twice we had a chef come in and cook us a meal. On several occasions, he made sure to give a compliment. There was always a sense with him that he was appreciative of what we were doing.
Honesty: I appreciated the fact that he was honest with teachers in the staff meetings. The same goes for the classroom. It's easy for me to believe encouragement when that same person has been honest about my weaknesses.
Differentiation: There is often a one-size-fits-all mindset in leadership. What I appreciated about our administration is that they saw us as real people. They understood that some people have little kids and can't stay crazy late. They understood that some people are working on advanced degrees. But it was more than that. They knew that some people need more instructions or less instructions. Some people need more humor and others find it to be a waste of time.
Respect for Children: Although our school is low-SES, I always felt that the our principal cultivated a climate of respect and was a bulldog about avoiding the "these kids" mindset. He wasn't blind about our context. However, he was a constant advocate for respecting the minds of our students.

photo credit: ugod via photopin cc

Edison and the Way We Teach History

2013-05-05T21:21:00.002-07:00

It's been well-documented in recent times that Edison often stole ideas and fought ugly smear campaigns against real inventors, such as Tesla. The Oatmeal has done a fantastic job explaining the dark side of Thomas Edison (though it fails to recognize the faults of Tesla). It's too bad the comic isn't appropriate for classroom use.

I never realized until college, just how brutal Edison was. I didn't realize that he would publicly electrocute animals (often "strays" stolen from people's yards) to try and prove that the AC method was too dangerous.

One famous case involved Topsy, a circus elephant who was badly abused, killed three people, she was sentenced to death. Edison used this as an opportunity to show a more "humane" way of killing the elephant.

They fed Topsy 460 grams of carrots soaked in potassium cyanide. The executioners ran a 6,600 volt electric charge before a cheering crowd of 1,500. Edison used this to prove that AC was too dangerous for consumer use. In addition, he video-recorded the event and ran it as one of the earliest successful silent movies. There are other well-documented cases showing just how brutal Edison tended to be. But I think the Topsy event tells enough about his character.

And yet . . .

We still have schools named after Edison. We still have glowing reviews about Edison in our textbooks, where he is somehow placed among the progressives. He is called an innovator and a visionary. Our state standards refer to him as an inventor (a generous term). We still have children's books that bear his name (I'm hoping that electrocuting dogs is not included in this book)

I get it. People don't want to learn that there is a dark side to their heroes. They don't want to believe that Edison was a punk or that Columbus enslaved and raped people. They call this "revisionist." Which is odd, because, in any other area of life (besides history) a revision is considered a good thing (unless you like your first generation iPod better than your iPhone 5).

This is why kids grow up hating history. They learn it in such a glorified, dishonest way that it doesn't demonstrate the humanity that they see in their world. We can gain a more relevant and deeper understanding of history if we allow children to know the truth about history.

When I teach the story of Topsy and the ripping of ideas, Edison suddenly matters. I don't have to lecture them. I don't have to make the connections for them. They automatically apply it to our times and to the question of capitalizing on creativity. As they read the primary sources and piece together the facts, they suddenly realize that their heroes aren't always heroic. They wrestle with big questions. They think about the true meaning of innovation.

Ultimately, they question their world. They think twice about automatically believing the hero narrative. They grow skeptical about powerful people proposing big ideas to save the world.

Note: I think it's fascinating that, at one point, Edison became obsessed with getting his gadgets into schools and in the process, he gave speeches about education reform. So many parallels to what's happening right now.

Should Teachers "Live" Their Subjects?

2013-05-02T21:26:00.002-07:00

Curriculum Night? How about Curriculum Knights? Now, that's taking "living my subject" to a whole new level.

Is it important for a teacher to "live" his or her subject? Should passion for a subject be a requirement before we teach it?

For example, should a social studies teacher be someone who is active in civics and fascinated by history? Does teaching history require that someone geeks out about it and reads books on history and constantly sees the world through that lens?

Should a science teacher be someone who actually spends time outdoors and observes the natural world? Should a science teacher be someone who experiments often and pays attention to the five senses? Is a passion for scientific discovery a prerequisite for teaching science?

Should a language arts teacher be an avid reader? Should that person be a writer as well? Should we be able to walk in and check out his or her bookshelves? Can you teach language arts well without being the kind of person who thinks about the construction of an argument or the power of the language or the themes and motifs that emerge even while watching a movie?

Should a math teacher be someone who likes to play with numbers? Does teaching math require someone who is passionate about posing questions and solving problems through a logical lens? Do you have to love math to teach it?

And if so, what does that mean for elementary teachers who teach all subjects?

I'm Sorry

2013-05-01T15:25:00.002-07:00

I yelled at my students yesterday. It happened during a math lesson. After being interrupted repeatedly, I lashed out at the whole class. I know what should have happened. I should have isolated the students who were being disruptive. I should have remained calm.

Instead, I yelled. I told them that I wouldn't tolerate the disrespect and that they knew better. Not horrible words, per se. But I didn't "say" these words. I yelled them. I was angry that I was still having these issues at the end of the fourth quarter, at the time of year when we are usually having fun together.

I lost it.

Moments like these are the ones I don't like blogging about. I'd rather use a nicer term like, "raising my voice." I would rather say that I was "showing my humanity" rather than being a punk. But here's the truth: their actions didn't warrant my reaction.

I lost it.

As I drove home, I lost it again, though this time it was in the form of tears. I felt like the worst teacher in the world. I felt like my students deserved better. I weeped over the thought that after ten years, a chatty group could still set me off.

I was at a meeting today with a bunch of superintendents. They were impressed by my thoughts on social media. They laughed at my jokes. They never once interrupted me. It felt affirming. Suddenly people wanted to know whether I can lead trainings. I left the room feeling like what I said really mattered.

But here's the reality. Tomorrow, I will go in an apologize. I will be overwhelmed by the ability of children to forgive. And I will remember, again, that what I said today doesn't matter so much as what I say tomorrow when I say, "I'm sorry."

Facebook Is Not a Front Porch

2013-04-29T17:21:00.002-07:00

I created this photo prompt and used it as an optional warm-up. The results were interesting. Students care far more about numbers of friends, followers, likes and favorites than what I had thought.

Here are a few of the student quotes (posted with permission):

"I check Facebook first thing in the morning. If no one liked what I said, I start the day depressed."

"There's a rush to having ten likes all at once."

"I try to tell myself that it doesn't matter if I lose followers, but it hurts."

"Sometimes I take a picture on Instagram and all the hearts make me think that I might be a good photographer. It's encouraging."

I am still a fan of social media and the notion of being connected. But I'm seeing how friend count, quantified numbers and Klout scores all have a dark side with adolescents. True, friend count was an issue before Facebook (spoken from someone who was never part of the in-crowd), but this feels amplified and quantified in a way it never was before.

So, my lingering thought is this: We need front porches now more than ever before.

I Like Mondays (No, Really, I Do)

2013-04-29T05:21:00.002-07:00

Written last night and posted this morning:

Tonight I am noticing a number of posts by teachers explaining how they dread going back to work on Monday. I see it in visuals and the ecards and the status updates. I get it. Watching sports or hiking or reading can often be more fun than the classroom. I also get the fact that we are tired at this time of year.

However, something about that bothers me. It feels like teachers will say, "Why don't we get respect?" or "Why doesn't the public love us?" Or, "Can't parents recognize how much we care about their kids?"

And yet . . .

I see these pictures being posted and reposted about not wanting to go back and it makes me cringe. They feel like the Facebook equivalent of Garfield posters. It feels a bit like saying, "Ah, man, I have to play catch with my son" or "Dude, I'm stuck hanging out with my daughter and playing My Little Ponies again."

Sure, there are moments you feel like that as a parent, moments when you just want a break. But there's an opposite pull that says, "This time will evaporate and you get to do what matters. That's pretty awesome." The same should be true of teaching.

I'm not suggesting that teachers should get all schmaltzy about their jobs. After all, this year has been hard for me. I'm under the gun in terms of data and accountability. I hate the standardized tests. I've yelled at my class a few times and I often feel like my lessons missed the mark. So, on some level, I feel the weight of the school year when I walk into the classroom.

However, I look forward to Mondays. I look forward to seeing my students after a weekend. I look forward to the projects we're going to do and the concepts their going to learn and the conversations we're going to have.

I show up to school every Monday believing that what I do matters. Will it be difficult? Sometimes. Is it worth it? Always. Fun is great. I'm a big fan of time off. But teaching is meaningful and just feels like that sense of purpose is something teachers ought to look forward to.

I Wish Obama Would Follow His Own Advice

2013-04-28T13:10:00.001-07:00

The following is an excerpt from a speech by President Obama. I first read about it on Ed Week.

"Malia and Sasha, my two daughters, they just recently took a standardized test. But it wasn't a high-stakes test. It wasn't a test where they had to panic. I mean, they didn't even really know that they were going to take it ahead of time. They didn't study for it, they just went ahead and took it. And it was a tool to diagnose where they were strong, where they were weak, and what the teachers needed to emphasize.

"Too often what we've been doing is using these tests to punish students or to, in some cases, punish schools. And so what we've said is let's find a test that everybody agrees makes sense; let's apply it in a less pressured-packed atmosphere; let's figure out whether we have to do it every year or whether we can do it maybe every several years; and let's make sure that that's not the only way we're judging whether a school is doing well.

"Because there are other criteria: What's the attendance rate? How are young people performing in terms of basic competency on projects? There are other ways of us measuring whether students are doing well or not."

"So what I want to do is—one thing I never want to see happen is schools that are just teaching to the test. Because then you're not learning about the world; you're not learning about different cultures, you're not learning about science, you're not learning about math.

All you're learning about is how to fill out a little bubble on an exam and the little tricks that you need to do in order to take a test. And that's not going to make education interesting to you. And young people do well in stuff that they're interested in. They're not going to do as well if it's boring."

Amazing.

Isn't he the president who pushed for Race to the Top? Isn't he the man whose administration praised the firing of all teachers when test scores were low? Isn't his administration the one that said we're making excuses for kids when we bring up issues of attendance or poverty? Isn't he the one who wants merit pay and teacher evaluations to be based upon student achievement levels rather than student learning?

I love what he has to say. I just wish he had the courage to back it up with real policy.

Bottled Water

2013-04-27T06:03:00.001-07:00

A boy shows up from Mexico and instantly notices the water bottles. Everyone has them and he looks concerned.

"Why are you drinking bottled water?" he asks.

"Because I'm thirsty," his new friend responds.

"But there's a fountain right there."

"That water isn't as good."

"Does it make you sick?"

"No."

"Then why are you buying your water?"

"This tastes better and it's cleaner. It comes from a waterfall" the boy says, pointing to the company logo.

It is in this moment that I am reminded of how important critical thinking is. If I've done anything right as a teacher, I hope it's this: I want to see students ask something as simple as "Is it really a good idea to buy water?" For all the talk of being "career ready," I am hoping that they'll become critical consumers who don't buy into the lie that shiny plastic bottles are "cleaner" than what comes out of the tap.

At What Point Does It Become Creative?

2013-04-26T18:58:00.001-07:00

"I'm making a book report on tigers?"

"Oh, for school?"

"No, fur fun," he says, laughing at his own pun.

"So, it's not a story?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "It's a report. I'm reporting about the most interesting things I'm learning about tigers."

"Cool."

I want to suggest to him that he could do something more creative. Make a physical model. Create a baseball card for types of tigers. Choose a mythical creature. It is the type of assignment that I bristle against as a teacher. I'm quick to say that it's not very creative. But as I watch him synthesize multiple texts and tell it in his own voice and sketch his own pictures, I am struck by the creativity involved in the thinking process.

My students are making their own arcade games right now. I stole the idea from Jeremy Macdonald and Gregory Hill. It seems creative. However, they often look at other prototypes of real arcades as they create their work. Is that inspiration? Is that research? Is that copping and being a collage artist?

Some might say that this, the "maker space" is more creative than when they blog. However, constructing something (a story, an insight, an argument) out of nothing (which is never really nothing) seems to be creative. I'd like to think that Keeper of the Creatures has been a creative project.

So, here's where it breaks down for me: there are some things that seem inherently uncreative. Filling out fill-in-the blank worksheets comes to mind. However, it seems to me that the dichotomy of creator/consumer is fuzzy at best.

At what point is an endeavor a creative endeavor?

What If Nickelback Doesn't Suck?

2013-04-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

It's easy to hate Nickelback. I've always found their music annoying. I'm pretty sure one of my first tweets was, "Instead of making kids stay silent in detention, just play Nickelback. That's a real punishment." However, recently a friend of mine challenged me on this. "If you can't stand Nickelback, go make your own music. Try and create a song that is as bad as you think they are."

About a week ago, I spent a week listening to a Nickelback Pandora station. I wanted to see if they were really as bad as I thought they would be. At first, I hated it. The music sounded dull. The lyrics were simplistic and trite. Every song sounded the same.

However, the more listened, the more I began to see another side to Nickelback. What might be called trite to some might be classic to others. What my be simplistic to some might be simple to others. The concept of every song sounding the same might just be what gives a band their "sound." I began to realize that the lens I used to criticize Nickelback was not the same I would use to criticize Mumford & Sons or Sufjan Stevens.

I came to this conclusion: though their music is not my style, my disdain for Nickelback was mostly borne out of arrogance and elitism. I came to realize, too, that even if I may never like Nickelback, there are others who love their music.

So, it has me thinking about the way people criticize public education. What if it's a matter of style? What if people who lob insults at school simply assume that because it doesn't fit them or their kids it must be applied across the board? What if the hatred of schools is born out of elitism and pride? What if there is more nuance to schools? What if people aren't applying the same critical methodology to public schools that they apply to the systems they push? What if people have bought into the notion that schools are awful because it has become a meme, not unlike the hatred of Nickelback?

photo credit: Daniel F. Pigatto via photopin cc

The Danger in Quantifying Relationships

2013-04-23T14:32:00.001-07:00

I remember the first time I hit 1,000 followers on Twitter. It felt like a milestone, like somehow my account had become real. I felt, at the time, like I needed it quantified. I admit that there are times I have looked at pageviews and retweets and follower numbers out of a desire to think that I have influence. I have felt like I needed evidence of how larger or small my audience was.

Audience.

See that? Audience. In social media, we are our own reality show. And in our reality show, numbers are our version of ratings. On my best days, I can remember that it doesn't matter. I can strive for authenticity and humility and relationships. But in my darker moments, when I have wanted some kind of "proof" of my influence, I have noticed the numbers.

Social media, by design, seems to feed a mindset of quantifying social influence. We have RT's and favorites and hearts and likes and re-blogs and +1. A part of this is human narcissism. But another part is an inherent flaw in a medium that feeds the narcissism.

I'm embarrassed that I fall into this trap. I'm embarrassed that I sometimes want the numbers of comments or followers or retweets to prove that what I say is influential. I'm embarrassed that I have had moments where I thought Klout was as important as influence.

So, it has me thinking of my classroom. It has me wondering about digital citizenship and social media. I'm a fan of using social media for connected learning. However, junior high was already hard enough for me without having my friend count quantified (I'm pretty sure my number was single digits).

It leaves me with lingering questions. How do we, as teachers, remind students that it's not about the numbers when we, as adults, are still vulnerable to this? How do we get past the insecurity that drives quantified influence? How do we help them to see that their influence will never be their Klout?

Being An Escape Artist

2013-04-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

This is the cover. It needs work, but this is the basic concept.

People say fiction is an escape. That concept used to bother me. Not anymore. Now I see that we need an escape. We need a place we can go to in order to make sense out of our world.

I had that thought during testing time. I watched students gathering before school, backs against the wall, novels open, reading the lastest mid-level and young adult fiction. It was everything that the standardized testing wasn't.

It was their escape - not unlike Andy DuFresne playing opera over the loudspeakers in Shawshank Redemption.

So, I'm going to embrace that concept. I want to be an escape artist.