Endings = Planning for the Next Beginning

The end of the school year brings a period of reflection along with a summer vacation. Despite less-than-twelve-month salaries, many teachers spend these months without daily instruction to examine successes and struggles from the previous year(s). Building a reflective learning process is even part of teacher training. It is by exploring lessons taught, knowledge gained, and obstacles encountered that teachers can develop more effective, innovative, and engaging instructional experiences. With the push to Common Core instruction, this summer will be filled with contemplation of new instructional models and lesson designs. The emphasis in Common Core is on creating learning experiences in which students demonstrate mastery of concepts. Admittedly, there are already teachers who teach in this manner, but for many teachers this is a huge shift. Even teachers who were trained in a gradual release of responsibility will have to adjust because the Common Core standards require increased emphasis on critical thinking and process rather than just regurgitation of information. In order to support students in this new instructional model, many students will need increased or adjusted environmental and behavioral supports. The new tests for Common Core are being designed on computers which means students will benefit from opportunities to practice with online testing that is similarly structured. In this age of Digital Natives, there are many students who do not have computers and internet access at home. The increasing integration of technology into classroom instruction raises new questions about how to ensure all students have access to educational materials (for rationale on student benefits of technology, check out Dept of Ed). Even those Digital Natives will still benefit from direct instruction on how to utilize resources appropriately in a school context. Thankfully, resources exist, such as Common Sense Media's Digital Literacy and Citizenship curriculum. Still, integration of this curriculum requires teachers and school communities to determine how and when to include this instruction. Also, it will take students time to transition into this new role of active learner. Sadly, many students have accepted the transactional model of instruction in which they simply show up and listen. Teachers may find it easier to teach students if the classroom rules and processes support an active student population. This requires space for questions and support of the learning process in its diverse forms. Not all teachers are ready for to alter classroom environments especially if this means losing the routines that work for the teacher. This period of transition will affect the teacher's working environment as well as the student's learning environment. Still, this seems like a wonderful opportunity to explore a 21st century toolkit for our young people. Mike Rowe delivered an intriguing talk on the value of working in which he describes his own process of questioning what he knows. It seems like teachers will need to interrogate themselves to confirm how they know what they know. It's going to be a new paradigm in 2014-2015 when Common Core hits. The job of the teacher will be about teaching students how to think for themselves rather than simply what to think on different topics. To be fair, it isn't that simple to teach what to think or what information to recall. This shift to process as well as product will raise a lot of questions and lead to a lot of uncertainty. While uncertainty is a real part of life, this may lead to more behavior issues when teachers are not prepared for their own uncertainty let alone that of the students. With an emphasis on tools and building knowledge, perhaps the learning environment can be supported as a work in progress. In this way, students and teachers must collaborate to complete activities, reflect on learning, and create understanding. This summer then is an important time to prepare. Teachers have one more school year to experiment with new strategies before the entire focus shifts. The next two months are time to read, to review, and to let the information percolate. Hopefully, the next beginning of the school year will be a time of excitement and innovation rather than stress and anxiety. Change is common in the world of education, but with this constant, there are frequent opportunities to begin again.

A Different Type of Society

Successful adults have the ability to navigate a variety of social situations and expectations. This skill of navigation requires critical thinking strategies and different types of knowledge. Ideally, the person is able to complete a task while also conforming to social expectations and maintaining a coherent sense of self. This takes years of practice, observation, and development to master. For many people, this process occurs in the home, in schools, in religious communities, and in daily social interactions. If success is going to be measured by the appropriate navigation of social situations in order to complete work, it seems like this should be explicitly taught at some point. The Ford-esque conveyor belt of education trained students to be prepared for working in a factory. Following instructions, completing the assigned task, and conforming to a schedule were essential skills young people needed to learn. Teachers are part of the assembly line as well by inserting appropriate knowledge and skills at one grade level so the student is ready for the next stage of assembly in the next grade. This mechanized view of education conjures images of cogs spinning to transfer energy in order to make the system function. If employers need workers who are accustomed to these working conditions, perhaps this is the best way to structure education. Of course, if a system is going to rely on each cog working with the surrounding cog, wouldn't it be worthwhile to ensure the cog is invested in the system? There have been times in history when a great value was placed on educating the populace to perform her or his role in support of a functional system. There have been many government campaigns to promote social involvement and to celebrate social successes, from FDR's WPA and Rosie the Riveter to ribbons and medals to honor individuals for military and civil service. Many schools and communities develop traditions to celebrate successes in addition to the annual graduation ritual. All this promotion of social values and success is a great way to ensure each cog can feel good about the function of the system and her/his role in it. Admittedly, those pesky cogs have a tendency to care about personal agency and benefits. There is a legend that Ford revolutionized blue-collar work by paying his employees enough money to purchase the items they made. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources website, however, Ford made the decision to increase wages because there was dropping morale amongst employees on his vehicle assembly lines. The article explains that the turnover of workers "was very high because of the resulting boring, dangerous, low paying jobs, and Henry Ford's company, like many manufacturers, had trouble retaining workers." At a certain point, Ford did the math and realized it was costing him more money to stop the assembly line to train replacement workers. It was more cost-effective as a business to create financial incentives for employees to stay and earn a bonus. There were some strings attached to this bonus, including character requirements enforced by a Social Organization. Ford changed the productivity of his business by changing the way he treated his employees and promoting a specific set of social values. Before this post becomes too much like Brave New World in it's affection for Ford, let's get bring it back to education. When people are explicitly taught the social expectations, perhaps that increases conformity but perhaps it also increases success in social situations. Perhaps when civic pride links with school pride, there is more continuity of priorities. Perhaps more consistent support of shared spaces and shared priorities can increase tolerance of difference. Perhaps the common understanding that everyone has a role in making a social system function can increase accountability and responsibility. Perhaps the world of education is meant to be its own society, though. Perhaps the creation of a safe place for young people to learn means having another set of expectations to learn. Perhaps building a strong school culture doesn't have to compete with a strong family, religious, or team culture; perhaps learning how to be one person who connects in many different communities is an important lesson of its own. With all this contemplation of education as a different type of society, there still remains a thought for the experience of a cog. The machine of society will function more efficiently with less changing of its parts. It would be nice if schools took notice of Ford's mathematics lesson: at a certain point, the business and the workers will be stronger when there is leadership to create standards of excellence and to pay workers enough to support that excellence. Source: Hopper, Tom. "The Assembly Line and the $5 Day - Background Reading." Department of Natural Resources. Michigan Historical Museum, 18 Aug 2010. Web. 4 Jun 2013. .

Ending Another School Year

It is fascinating how each year there are revelations in rapid succession as the school year ends. In some ways it seems logical that an impending deadline is the catalyst for change, for reflection, and for assessment. Nonetheless, it is interesting to experience and observe the unexpected discoveries. I have some students who spent much of the school year continuing a pattern of calculated distance and disinterest. In some ways, these are my favorite students because they have creativity and the potential for insight that has not been satisfied. They have developed a coping mechanism for feeling unfulfilled or confused by classwork. They would rather be invisible than risk raising teacher/parent expectations of their productivity. These are vulnerable learners who have enough foundational skills to pass, but not enough academic endurance to persist when problem solving is necessary. I have some students who seemed to have lost hope of making progress and who protect themselves with labels of their obstacles. These students have learned that supporting information is required and, thus, supply an answer for their shortcomings without applying insight into the situation. During middle school, however, these prior conceptions start to be challenged when new information problematizes the student's concept of self and ability. There is often confusion and sometimes terror in the discovery that answers are not as simple, that a label isn't the same thing as an explanation or analysis. Working with these two broad categories of students this year was not a new experience for me, yet working with students on the cusp of puberty is very different than working with students already in the throes of adolescence. It was initially frustrating to realize that I wasn't responsible for refining social skills so much as teaching them. This is not to say that high school students don't benefit from direct instruction in social skills, but most 11 to 14 year old students are still building a cache of experiences to draw upon later; they are still having so many firsts that they don't have a sense of scope yet. Whereas high school students are more deliberate in their button pushing, many middle school students are still shocked at the buttons they end up triggering (let alone the consequences). As usual, what I expected to discover by teaching middle school was more two dimensional than the daily experiences that have shaped my growth as a teacher. It has been enlightening, inspiring, and heartrending to watch the daily efforts of my students. There were so many surprises along the way as students deflected overwhelming experiences, risked trusting a new process, and revealed their will to succeed or fear of failure. It's not that these students are naive to the experience of failure, but generally they are less entrenched in a fatalistic perspective on school than older students. Just when I expected a student to give up entirely, I was often surprised by a willingness to take small steps forward. Just when I expected students to focus on the struggles, they were able to articulate the positive elements and reflect on progress made. There were definitely moments of frustration at the lack of insight, yet I was more often impressed when students could make the leap of thought and bring their peers along. It is vital as a teacher to reflect on my sense of students, of their progress, and of my ability to provide meaningful learning experiences. While I will never be perfect, each year is an opportunity to refine my practice, to identify useful tools and techniques, to improve my use of data in serving individual student needs. I find myself applying the very skills I have promoted in my students: balance the main idea with the relevant supporting details, consider the implications of data and possible next steps, categorize and prioritize information into a coherent structure. Every time my students surprise me with what they can do or what stymies their progress, I have an opportunity to do better in providing reasonable challenges. I want my students to struggle productively and to fail successfully. I need to extend the same kindness of paradigm to my own struggles and failures. Each year I find I learn more about what makes me an effective teacher and what makes my students effective learners. We share this journey, but I bear the responsibility of providing a safe, appropriately challenging environment for exploration and discovery. I need to understand what my students bring to the lesson and what I want them to take from it. I need to give them a clear objective and then to reflect on the multiplicity of learning experiences that can happen in a single lesson. I hope to instill in them (and to nurture in myself) the joy of learning. More than anything else, the end of the school year brings a sense of hope entwined with grief. I am hopeful of my potential to be more effective next year and of my students' potential to continue to grow towards mastery of her/his own learning experience. Our discussions have reached a new level of ease and the shared triumph is palpable. We all notice and share in the correct answers, yet we also take it for granted because this is what we've been practicing. As another school year ends, I hope I retain this awareness that my carefully laid plans can lead to confidence in my students and their confidence in themselves. Surely it is daunting to know we'll repeat the cycles of excitement, frustration, and triumph next year, but it is good to remember that the struggles are what make it feel so good when we can share in the successes.

It Ain't Like the Movies

For those who don't know it, teaching isn't like in the movies. Yes, there are days I laugh or cry, am inspired or devastated, find healing or witness harm, but it never resolves in a tidy conclusion. There are moments when I wish there was a sweeping score with triumphant music so everyone knew that a life just changed. I wish it could be recorded and played back on repeat until the student was giddy with pride. Sometimes I witness a breakthrough moment and I supply my own fanfare and victory dance; my students end up red with embarrassment. It is more the stuff of awkward family photos than Hollywood entertainment, but it is a moment for my students to see that success matters.

There are moments that break your heart, too. There are students too injured by family or community turmoil that they can't focus on school. There are students too proud to accept food being offered. There are students too afraid of retaliation to admit they were threatened or attacked. Sometimes these are the same students who are labeled "problem", "lazy", or "unteachable". I guess in this way, teaching can be like the movies because it's easier to explain failure as a lack of trying than as a lack of support.

Why Teaching Increases My Patriotism

I'm still getting used to the reality that I can change lives. I grew up watching my mom teach and hearing stories about grateful students and parents, but I never really understood the work she did. As many people do, I thought teaching was simple work made great through personal effort or charm. I didn't understand what it meant to create a learning experience or to individualize a lesson. Thankfully, I have discovered the power of good teaching. In my fourth year of teaching I am greatly humbled that my hard work can make an impact and I am proud that I get to teach the citizens of tomorrow.

Unlike my mother, teaching was not what I dreamed of doing. I enjoyed learning and did well in school, but I didn't even consider teaching as an option. Admittedly, I didn't grow up thinking much about career realities. My parents believed if I followed my passion, then I would have joy in my life. So I followed my passion through an undergraduate degree, odd jobs, and all the way to Ireland to study theater. It was a shock to me when I finished my Master's Degree without a job prospect and turned to teaching.

It took six months of substitute teaching for me to realize teaching was worth pursuing as a career. I felt slightly disconnected after living outside the US. In Ireland I regularly heard opinions of Americans that led me to question what America meant to me. Back in California, I was overwhelmed with a desire to connect with the parts of being American that were meaningful to me. I wanted where I lived to matter to me. I wanted my job to matter to me. I wanted to connect with passionate people and create something worthwhile. On my first day as a substitute teacher, I struck gold. Suddenly I found myself working with young people who cared a lot about day-to-day existence but didn't see the bigger picture. They wanted so much from today yet didn't believe things could be different, better, or permanent. They were passionate about their present and I got to be passionate about their future.

If I hadn't been naive enough to believe I could make a difference, I wouldn't have made it through my first year of teaching. For every moment that inspired me, there was a moment that broke my heart. There were many times I was crippled by anxiety when I realized how much power was placed in my hands as a teacher. I didn't want my class to be one more dissappointment, one more failure. If I got over the hurdle of earning the trust of cynical teenagers, I then bore a huge responsibility to follow through. I believed they would make progress if I could get them to try. I believed they would envision a better future if they could have an example of success.

I didn't expect that my students would show me a better present day. They are open to each day being a new day. They are willing to take chances and to laugh. They keep me at arms length until they are certain I would respect them. They are proud of where they come from and what they survived. They are brave in the face of disappointment. They value a flag in the classroom and the hope of a President newly elected. Every day my students keep me in my heart and in that room. Every day we make progress in some form. Every day they challenge me to be a better teacher and, hopefully, I help them see themselves as better students.

I grew up connected to my family and to my school community, but I didn't think about the bigger picture. My parents taught me a great deal through their example: try your hardest, learn from mistakes, and leave the situation a better place than when you arrived. I learned that being thoughtful and choosing my words carefully mattered. I learned to stand up for what I believed in. Today I am proud to be a teacher because I get to believe in these young people like my parents believed in me. I get to repay all the kindnesses from my teachers and coaches. I choose to be a leader. I will continue to invest my energy, time, and attention in my students because I want to know I did my part to build a strong future for my community, my state, and my country.

Communication

I find myself up too late, too frequently. I realize this is not an uncommon situation for individuals under stress. I remember hearing from a therapist when I worked at a mental health collaborative that humans need two hours to unwind in order to sleep peacefully at night. When I don't make time to unpack the day in an effective manner, I end up "unpacking" at night in a bizarre dream world that leaves me trying to sort out the mash-up of work, family, friendships, and global stress.

There are so many teachers working so diligently, trying to prepare their students for the impending standardized testing. The desire to prepare students, to set them up for success, to offer them opportunities to practice...become another stress in everyone's lives. I see my students buckling under the strain. They put on a good face most of the time. They take it as a given: things always get a little crazy this time of year. I can't help but wonder if this cycle of stress and tension increases the disparity in testing scores. Students who can handle stress probably already do well on the standardized tests. I wonder if the increased rhythm only makes teachers and students more brittle, less flexible, and, ultimately, less successful.

So what's the solution? Just talk about our feelings? Name the problem and then it will go away? Speak openly about our strengths and growth areas in order to target success of specific tasks? I believe in self-reflection. I believe that a student's best bet is to understand her/himself and to become aware of what she/he doesn't know. This is not a revelation I want to force, but it is one I will try to support. I will do my utmost each day to make a learning space in which it is safe to take risks and to enjoy learning. Perhaps if there is a thrill in discovery, if there is a sense of what suddenly becomes possible once the message is unlocked, then I will see students rise to the challenge with eyes wide open.

I want to communicate my hopes for them in a way that doesn't remove all obstacles or give everyone gold stars. I want them to know that there is value in solving the problem through effort, but I don't want them doing damage to themselves because someone told them they should be able to work it out. I won't know which situation the student faces until the student finds the words. The student may not find the words until an approximate experience is available as an example, as a reference point.

Dan Ariely is a behavioral economist with tremendous wit and compassion. One of his many studies involves an exploration of how people will be more likely to choose A over B when there is an A- option. (For example, there's a beautiful Victorian, a slightly run-down Victorian, and a ranch house. Out goes the too-different option and it becomes clear that I want the superior Victorian.) I wonder if my ability to increase effective communication is simply needing to provide some options to ground the discussion.

Perhaps the themes of our core literature novels will provide this opportunity. We are wrapping up a second book with similar themes to the first while being a completely different genre and set in a completely different period. This is a time to engage in effective, useful comparisons. This may be the moment my students find their voices and choose the words to communicate clearly. I hope I am listening.

Veteran's Day and Valuable Stories

I have been regretting that I didn't prepare a Veteran's Day lesson for my students. My 8th graders just finished reading My Brother Sam Is Dead and I am considering how to adapt my lessons to include some veteran's material. We are going to read another story, Code Orange, that deals with themes of patriotism and young people deciding to take action based on beliefs. I would like my students to spend a little time examining veteran stories to discover what life is like after war, after acts of service.

There is an interesting government website called Experiencing War: Stories from the Veterans History Project. On this page are video interview, memoirs, and documents from actual US veterans. There are stories from women and men who were involved in conflicts from World War I to the present. Further down on the page, there are listing of other interviews and groups of interviews. It is a tremendous resource for stories of actual individuals who chose to serve, who gave much, and who are still processing their experiences.

Part of the power in My Brother Sam Is Dead is the varied perspective on war. Brothers James Lincoln and Christopher Collier created a piece of historical fiction that reveals the complexity of the American Revolutionary War through the difficult choices faced by members of the Meeker family. We have already discussed many themes in the book and similarities to contemporary events, but I want my students to develop a personal vocabulary for and understanding of her/his core values, experiences, and perspectives. I want my students to find strength in wrestling with difficult topics like war, family, duty, and rebellion.

I expect I will show my students some brief videos from the Experiencing War website in order to prompt discussions. There is an entire section of interviews collected under the theme of "Patriotism". Some excerpts I am considering are Violet Hill Askins Gordon discussing the dedication of the Women's Memorial in Washington, Stephen Earle Buyer discussing the send-off messages he received before he deployed, Thomas Richard Carper discussing the core values he developed during service, and Roy Daniel Bailey discussing survivor's guilt. The one I may focus on, however, is Isabelle V. Cedar Cook discussing receiving her orders home and how she decided to write a book about her experiences because it links so well to My Brother Sam Is Dead. I want my students to connect the real people affected by war to the conflicts they read about in history class.

I am hoping by discussing patriotism a bit more and widening their concept of personal experiences will prepare them for the themes that emerge in Code Orange, a book about a teenage boy and bioterrorism in a post-9/11 New York. I want my students to be prepared for making difficult choices by knowing what she/he stands for, what is valuable, and what is worth fighting to save.