Teaching Thoughts for Week 11

Teaching Thoughts for Week 11 (Nov. 16-20)

 

I hope this finds you doing well and staying safe. Remember, we are doing the best we can. I was visiting with a colleague this morning. She mentioned how she was nervous to have parents listen in to her classes just in case something doesn’t work. I too share her fear, but I’ve had enough stuff not work over the years that I’ve tried to shift my focus from sheer panic to thinking of it as a learning opportunity. As our former principal, Mr. Zutz, would always say when I would ask him if I could try something new: “Of course, just promise me this: if it fails, let it fail in front of the students. Then show them how you recover.” I love that.

 

Students and parents – I think – are willing to grant us some grace. But, remember, that is a two way street.

 

I never really thought about parents being in the same room as their student when we are distance learning until fall conferences. That is where one mom came in to check up on her son. As we were talking, she said, “I work from home. I will often here him [her son] listening to one of your lectures or tutorials while he works at the kitchen table.” Then she smirked and said, “You’re really funny. I asked him how he can get any work done instead of laughing all the time.”

 

I thanked her to the incredible compliment, but it stopped me in my tracks. I instantly thought, ‘they’re’ listening in! Uh oh.

 

But I’ve since come to grips with it. If they know how much I love teaching and how much I love their kids, I think it will be okay. I just hope they grant me the same kind of grace I try to grant their children.

 

Inside you the teaching thoughts for this week you will find –

 

The World is a Fine Place and Worth Fighting For –

 

This is a great story that reminds us of the power of the internet to connect us all and to transform our lives. There is a little girl who loves to play the drums. Well, it’s more than that, she is amazing. She has taken to covering songs from a wide range of acts and uploading them to Youtube. Over time Nandi, the little drumming prodigy, built up quite a following.

 

Dave Grohl, former drummer of Nirvana and founder of The Foo Fighters, discovered Nandi pounding out a Nirvana song and was impressed. Here is what I love, though: Grohl isn’t on social media! A friend of his showed him Nandi’s rendition of “In Bloom,” and he quickly reached out to here. Now they have used participated in several ‘drum offs’ and challenges.

 

That is the power of the flat world in action. That is true distance learning.

 

Book of the Week –

 

One of my favorite author’s and thought leaders, Seth Godin, has a new book out. It’s called The Practice. It’s about rethinking the work we do. Godin argues we should strive to turn what we do (whatever that is) into art. We do that through finding new, creative ways to bring value to the people we interact with. So what new ways can you bring value to your students? It has to go beyond just teaching great content. We can get that from Khan Academy or a hundred different podcasts or Youtube tutorials. How do you relate and interact with your students that transforms what you do?

 

Podcast of the Week -

 

I stumbled across this one when I was looking for something to listen to while driving back and forth to UND for class. I had just purchased Thomas Friedman’s latest book, Thank You For Being Late, and wondered if he had done any podcasts to promote the book. That’s when I stumbled on this podcast of Friedman talking to the Auckland Writers Festival. Any chance you get to here Friedman (a Minnesotan by the way) talk, don’t miss it. His thoughts are always insightful and relevant.

 

Thoughts from Twitter –

 

This one from Vala Afshar is my favorite. “What is Investment? Usain Bolt won 8 gold medals in 3 Olympics, and he only ran for less than 115 seconds on the track, earning $119 million dollars. That’s economy of effort. But for those 2 minutes, he trained for 20 years. That’s investment. Think long term. Patience pays.” I think that’s a great message to young teachers (and to us all). I tell my students all the time, invest in yourselves. Who else is going to do it? Who else is going to strive to make you better? No one. You have to do it yourself. The sooner you start doing that, the easier it will be and the better you will become.

 

Article of Interest –

 

This one comes from, Dan Rockwell, or “Leadership Freak” as he is known on Twitter. This article is simple but so vital: “Stop Pretending You Know When You Don’t.” In addition to showing students how we recover from failure, I think it’s paramount to show kids that we don’t know everything. Better yet, it’s vital we show them how we go about learning and finding the answers to our questions.

 

For many years I lived by a quote I came across in doing research for a beloved methods class: “Teaching is the art of learning like I’ve known all my life what I just learned that morning.” But recently I’ve come to see how backwards that is. Why pretend like I’ve known it all along? Why not glorify the discover and quest to learn? I think that is what Rockwell’s article is all about.

 

Bonus Content of the Week –

 

There is a meme going around Facebook about how , "If you think you're smarter than the previous generation . . . 50 years ago the owner’s manual of a car showed you how to adjust the valves. Today it warns you not to drink the contents of the battery." Well, the video that I saw posted on Twitter puts the lie to that for sure. No generation is superior to any other. We all (hopefully) learn from the past to make an improved future for upcoming generations.

 

Have a great week. Stay safe. Mask up. I know there is a lot of push back about the masks and our governor’s request to limit holiday gatherings, but if you really value in-person learning and attending the activities of your children, be safe. And if nothing us, remember what Jesus taught us – love your neighbor as yourself. I don’t want anyone else to get sick. Therefore, I mask up and limit my contact.