Today's reads, thoughts, and views

The first blog post of summer 2019. Here we go.


This first Tweet is becoming more prevalent with every passing year -

There is nothing more discouraging than realizing the junior or senior in class is the adult in the household.

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This is an interesting read that one of my colleagues sent me. I'm not totally on board with this, but it, nevertheless, raises some key points.

It's Time to Stop Requiring Lesson Plan Submission.

To be totally fair, I have a love/hate relationship with lesson plans.

I've been crafting them for 20 years, and I don't know that they've really had an impact on me.

I love them for the structure they give me for the week ahead, but what I hate about them - if I stick just to the lesson plans I craft on Sunday evening - is that they severely limit the best thing about teaching: the spontaneity and creativity of the classroom.

A case in point (albeit a rare example): about a month ago, we received some sad news about a beloved colleague being diagnosed with cancer. All teachers were to notify their first block classes about the teacher and her diagnosis the following day.

After announcements, I broke the news to my College Comp II class. They were devastated.  Tears filled many eyes.  It was ludicrous the, I realized, to stick to my previously planned lesson.  Time to chuck it.  I told them they could have the class period off to console each other and be there for each other.

A more common case in point, though, is that I'll use formative assessment to see where students are in terms of the learning target.  If enough are not where they need to be, it's time for me to slow down and shift away from the originally planned lesson to make sure the students who are struggling get the key concepts of the learning target.

And yet another case in point is that sometimes a part of the lesson will grab the class in a way I never intended.  A new teaching moment will open up or there will be a chance for a student to take ownership of some material. Of course, I'm going to chuck the lesson plan and delve in to this no matter what.

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A colleague sent this to me this week.  It stopped me in my tracks.  I was actually cleaning the pool when I opened this video. I couldn't continue. I had to sit in a lounger and watch it. I was riveted.

I could teach a whole unit on this amazing graduation speech.  In fact, next year, I am.

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Ditch the GPS. It's ruining your brain.

Well, this comes as no surprise. Does it?

I recall reading a book once that talked about a study that was done on the brains of taxi cab drivers (before GPS). Each one had a specific section of their brain that was more developed than the average person. This was an example of 'neural plasticity.' Simply put - because they had to remember so many destinations and how to get their, the drivers were using a specific part of their brain more than the rest of us and, as a result, it was more defined.

I thought of this last weekend as I was using my GPS on my phone to find the graduation parties.

Convenience is a great thing, but at what cost?

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One of our core values is "It's Not About Us." I love that. What this teacher did (and what she was subsequently fired for), doesn't exactly reinforce that core value.

Good lord, Gen Xers, learn how to use technology. Don't Tweet something for the entire world to see when you think you're just tweeting to the president (plus, using Twitter is probably not the best way to contact a political figure in the first place).

Now, this isn't a teacher, but this is a story about how things should be done and handled. This screams "It's Not About Us."

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As a parent who has a very strong over-achiever who excels naturally, I worry what will happen when she encounters something that really causes her to struggle. Or worse, I worry that she will actively avoid things that challenge her because she is so used to being good naturally.

This, of course, is the insidious 'fixed' mindset at work.

This blog post, from a mother who watched her son struggle mightily recently in baseball, touches upon my great fears.

This part of the blog, really spoke to me -

As a whole, the culture of parenting is almost exclusively aimed at driving our children towards success. Bookstores are full of material directed at improving a child’s performance in all number of categories. Step into a school building, or on to an athletic field and you’ll find the same.

We want our kids to win. And we dedicate an enormous amount of time teaching them exactly how to do it. Look at my Aiden. Up there at the top. He looks good, right? He’s a fantastic winner. He’s extremely athletic, and he’s pro status at receiving compliments, and high-fiving, and tacking “A” papers to our corkboard in the hallway. But what I realized on a dark night in the car with my son, is that so many of us have held winning in such high esteem, that we’ve completely cheated our kids out of the education of losing. Losing WELL.

Do our kids know how to utilize a failure or loss to gain wisdom? To gain strength? To gain perspective?

Can they lose and not feel like a loser? (This is big.)

Can they fail and not feel like a failure? (This is also big.)

I think teaching failure is so vital.

Here is one possible solution: the "Happy" fail.

It is vital for us - teachers and parents and coaches - to not spend too much time on success. We need to, instead, focus on people who failed and HOW they dealt with that failure in order to move forward.

That might mean looking into those who succeed and see that they also dealt with a lot of failure. We just never pay attention to that since they're regarded as success. Look at how man times Thomas Edison failed on his way to creating the first light bulb. Look at how Bill Belichick did in his first head coaching gig (he was fired by the Cleveland Browns). Look at Belichick's quarterback, Tom Brady, the greatest NFL quarterback ever. Yet, he was very ordinary in college and wasn't drafted until the sixth round. Look at Michael Jordan, who was cut from his JV basketball team.

Of course, these examples are endless, but it's vital to model them and focus on them with our students, children, and players.

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What hill are you willing to die on?  Is it that you're not going to let your kids get their way all the time? Is it that you're going to stand up to the high stakes testing insanity? Is it that you're going to try and take back your classroom from a group of kids who make it difficult to teach? Is it that scripted curriculum is folly?

I'm not saying you should die on a hill, but I am hoping we have more folks who are willing to do it. If you're willing to take a stand, you're on your way to developing passion. And passion is the start of everything.

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Have a great week!