Give this podcast a listen. This was our first podcast of our summer podcast club session, which met last Thursday night at the Riverwalk. If you're reading this, you're welcome to our next session which will again be Thursday night at 5:00 at the Riverwalk. I'll send link to that podcast below too.
Podcast - #325 - Patrick Lencioni - The Necessity of Conflict. Now, I'm not a huge fan of Lencioni . . . well, his books anyway (they're written as allegories or fables, and it's just too convenient for his message to be match up with his fictionalized story - give me hardcore research any day). But this podcast is gold.
And I dislike conflict as much as anyone. I'm as Minnesota nice as it gets, but conflict is vital. Lencioni gives some great tips on how to strive towards having more conflict on your teams, in your departments, and during meetings.
Our next podcast is going to be even better. Podcast #327 - Cal Newport - Digital Minimalism. Newport has long been a favorite of mine ever since I read his epic So Good They Can't Ignore You, which he followed up with the excellent Deep Work. And now he is back with a book on a topic that impacts us all: Digital Minimalism. This is all about why we should put our devices down more often and offers us a plan about how to do just that.
When I listened to this, I thought about how awesome it would be if we took a "digital minimalism" day across our district. Everyone went old school for one day - paper and pencil projects or went outside and did something with our hands.
Now, I'm the first to celebrate technology. I can talk to you for a week straight about all the amazing digital things my students have created. But, for the most part, those are my high achieving College Comp I and II students, who still need to learn to put their phones away. Snapchat and Netflix are a serious struggle. But the middle of the road students and my remedial students struggle far more. If they have down time or transition time, they're on their devices playing Fortnite or Roblox or worse. And those are on the good days. Usually, what I struggle with (and I'm taking a wild guess that I'm not alone here) is that on the normal days, they stay on those games ALL the time and try to do their school work on the side. That's a disaster. That's reality in a normal high school classroom. We need to do something about that.
The biggest takeaway from Newport's interview is that there is a clear link to the incredible spike in anxiety and stress among young people and the domination of smartphones and social media. On top of that, young people still need to read and not just view everything (and it is no wonder our reading complex information scores are not where they should be). By reading you encounter greater minds than your own. Minds that have worked their way through unfamiliar and complex ideas. What scares the hell out of me is that teens and young people today need not encounter or interact with anyone else other than their own peers thanks to their smartphones and social media. No wonder they struggle with complex anything, not just complex information!
If this sounds like something you're interested in talking about, stop by our podcast club meeting.
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This is amazing. And terrifying: 10 Year Old Girl Climbs Iconic 3,000 Foot Yosemite Peak. I can't imagine doing this. I mean the Ferris wheel terrifies me every summer!
The 3,000 foot El Capitan is
El Capitan is larger than the tallest building in the world. It's the equivalent of nine Statues of Liberty.
It took her, her father, and a close friend five days to climb it.
I wouldn't have just thought this story remarkable but since I began showing Free Solo, as an example of deliberate practice, in my College Comp II class, El Capitan has become more terrifying than ever.
Free Solo, of course, is the story of Alex Honnold, who free climbed El Capitan in 2017. Free climbing means without ropes. His route took him to the top in under four hours!
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This video went viral last week - Parents brawl at 7 year old baseball game.
What?!?!?!
One of my mantras to my students is that it's awesome to be an adult. I had wonderful parents and an amazing childhood. I loved high school. College was amazing. But it all pales in comparison to the life I lead now.
But when students and young people see adults behaving like this? Well, who can blame them for never wanting to grow up?
Here is the story from the 13 year old umpire who had to deal with these psychos -
As my dear friend Coach Mumm says, "Sports are good." I'll just add this - "but they can bring out the worst in people." That's evidenced above.
Here is what still makes sports good - and this shows you how you should act at a ball game.
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How do we greet our students as they enter our classroom?
This goes back to the issues of norms and rules. Norms are what a group of people believe in doing. For example, when a colleague is ill, it is a norm to rally to help them. This may include donating sick days, fund raising activities, and donations. There is no rule for that. In fact, if there were a rule, making all that mandatory, I believe it would greatly harm the spirit of why we do that.
In other words, norms are all about culture. "People like us do things like this." You don't need rules to force people to do that. You participate because you want to. When it comes to our hat policy (which I think is a rule that needs to go), the norm for a core of our students is that they want to wear hats. I don't think it's a gang thing or a drug thing or any thing other than just wanting to wear a hat. If we want to try and make the rule effective (and we've been telling kids to please take their hats off for the last 22 years), let's change the norm instead. Let's make kids buy in and see why they shouldn't wear hats to school.
In other words, norms are all about culture. "People like us do things like this." You don't need rules to force people to do that. You participate because you want to. When it comes to our hat policy (which I think is a rule that needs to go), the norm for a core of our students is that they want to wear hats. I don't think it's a gang thing or a drug thing or any thing other than just wanting to wear a hat. If we want to try and make the rule effective (and we've been telling kids to please take their hats off for the last 22 years), let's change the norm instead. Let's make kids buy in and see why they shouldn't wear hats to school.
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This is a most interesting read/view. It comes from the amazing Larry Ferlazzo and his blog: Pixar's Secret Formula for Making Perfect Films. Here is the link to the video.
Now, I won't say that every Pixar film is perfect, but after seeing Toy Story 4 yesterday, I think they come pretty darn close.
Ferlazzo also includes a link to a slideshow on the art of Pixar's amazing ability to tell stories.
So how can we steal these ideas and use them in our classrooms? I'll highlight a couple and how I try and use them.
Rule #1 for great story telling - admire a character more for their trying than their success.
This is a great reminder when analyzing student work. Yes, they have to produce a product that is worthy of the grade it is earns, but I've enjoyed plenty of B papers wayyyy more than I've enjoyed A papers. Why? Because maybe a talented student has played it safe the entire semester to get the A grade. But maybe a student came in struggling to write but then had the light come on later in the semester and just delivered a paper that was light years from where they were at the beginning but it's a B paper due to some errors and issues. I'd take that type of growth any day.
Plus, isn't this really what we are all about as teachers? Whether a lesson plan truly works not not, what is important is that we tried something with our kids. And we all know that a lesson that works with one class may not work with another. It's all in the trying. Isn't that what Browning's line from Andre del Sorto "A man's reach should exceed his grasp or what's a heaven for" all about?
Rule #2 for great story telling - keep in mind what interesting to an audience not what is fun to do as a writer (or teacher). They can be very different.
This is why I try to approach my classes and lessons from the point of view of a student, not a teacher. If I come at it from a teacher's point of view, it's going to be a slideshow and lecture with work time at the end of the hour. If I come at it from a learner's point of view, it's going to be different. That's not an easy task at all!
Rule #7 for great story telling - come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously, endings are hard. Get yours working up front.
This is perfect for teachers. In fact, in college we called in 'backwards design.' Start with the test or project or whatever it is that you want to have students complete to show their understanding. Then work back from there.
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Cowards will be our Downfall: An interesting opinion column here from the Saint Cloud Times Editorial Board. Notice how they all had the courage to actually include their names with the article and not hide behind a Facebook post.
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Cowards will be our Downfall: An interesting opinion column here from the Saint Cloud Times Editorial Board. Notice how they all had the courage to actually include their names with the article and not hide behind a Facebook post.
This reminds me of a conversation I had down at TIES a few years ago. An administrator was telling me how he was visiting with another administrator from a different city with a large immigrant population. He admitted how devastating this was on their town. He said that the migrants came in, got government assistance, trashed the houses in which they lived, and just sucked the system dry.
That is terrible. And wrong. I don't care what side of the political spectrum you are on.
As I thought about this though, I wondered where the leadership of that town was. Again, it goes back to norms and rules. "People like us do things like this." I mean isn't this why many of us love living in small towns? The sense of community. The fact that there is a measure of safety. The knowledge that help - when you really need it - is just a neighbor away. This is what that town's leadership needed to instill in the migrants.
But we have a massive lack of leadership at every level in our country. Our elected leaders (on both sides) are more interested in the party lines and special interest groups that doing what is right or best for the country. I mean for the love of all things holy, our local city council came to fisticuffs months ago over an issue! That's leadership here? Please! We have to do better.
Thomas Friedman noted in an interview how he grew up in St. Louis Park in Minneapolis. It was an incredibly diverse community with a lot of Jewish migrants moving in. The leadership of St. Louis Park helped them feel welcome and helped draw them in to the norms of that community. And amazingly, St. Louis Park produced some talented folks: Al Franken, the Coen brothers, and Friedman himself.
Inclusion is so vital. This article makes that apparent.
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If you're a teacher - especially a language arts teacher - Carol Jago is a must follow on Twitter.
Here's why.
This is why the Sticky-Note book report is such a success in College Comp II. I have students list three topics they are interested in reading about and two topics they don't want to read about. Then between my classroom library and the media center, I offer them several options to read. And it usually goes over very, very well.
Students read the books and then fill them with 50 Sticky Notes on which they annotate their thoughts and connections. Then they give a 10 minute talk on their book. Believe it or not, the talks always go longer!
It has even gone so well that once students have listened to all the book talks, they suddenly realize they want to read another book. This last semester, I let them and then had them write a research paper based off a topic from their second book.
If you're a teacher - especially a language arts teacher - Carol Jago is a must follow on Twitter.
Here's why.
This is why the Sticky-Note book report is such a success in College Comp II. I have students list three topics they are interested in reading about and two topics they don't want to read about. Then between my classroom library and the media center, I offer them several options to read. And it usually goes over very, very well.
Students read the books and then fill them with 50 Sticky Notes on which they annotate their thoughts and connections. Then they give a 10 minute talk on their book. Believe it or not, the talks always go longer!
It has even gone so well that once students have listened to all the book talks, they suddenly realize they want to read another book. This last semester, I let them and then had them write a research paper based off a topic from their second book.
Amen. My second summer read, How We Got to Now by Steven Johnson illustrates this.
Johnson has long been one of my favorite writers (The Ghost Map, Mind Wide Open, Everything Bad is Good for You, The Invention of Air, Where Good Ideas Come From . . .). In this 2014 book, Johnson looks at the six innovations that shaped our world today.
For the record the innovation are - glass, cold, sound, clean, time, and light. I've been on Google and Wikipedia as much as I've been reading the book. And this book has led me to at least four additional books that I have to now read!
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A personal note - Friday we checked out the Annie Street Park. It was a blast.
Cash climbed 'the rock' in about five seconds.
Kenzie didn't want to be be outdone so she climbed atop the monkey bars.
Cash loved the swings.
Kenzie was lukewarm on them.
Best of all, the park had its own cat! This guy sauntered over for a visit as soon as we pulled up. I think the kids liked him more than the park.
The cat even joined us on the playground equipment. I told the kids if he ends up going down the slide, we have to bring him home with us!
We wouldn't have - don't worry - since he has a collar, his shots, and obviously belongs to someone who lives by the park.
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