Keep things in perspective. Here is a little story from my son’s class that illustrates that perfectly. Cash told me how his teacher (who is amazing) asked each student in their Zoom lesson to respond to this question: if you could be any age, what would it be and why.
Cash talked about how some students wanted to be older and some even said they would want to stay the same. Then he mentioned how one of his classmates said that she wished she could be eight again . . . because that was when her dad was still alive.
Talk about perspective. So while we might be furious over the election, disappointed that fall sports were cancelled or that winter sports are delayed, that gyms are now closed too, that bars close at ten, that restaurants are now carry out or delivery, that you are being discouraged from having large holiday gatherings, or that you even have to wear a mask . . . keep that little girl’s response in mind. What is simply inconvenience and what is tragedy?
Inside this week’s teaching thoughts you’ll find –
The World is a Fine Place – A 9-year-old boy raises hundreds of thousands of dollars to outfit police dogs with bullet proof vests! Imagine what this kid will accomplish by the time he graduates high school!
Book of the Week – Old School Grit by Darrin Donnelly. I found this one for free via Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Can’t beat free books! Right now, I think we all need some old school grit in our lives.
Teaching Thoughts – The last teaching thought of the week is about sharing your best ideas and lessons with other teachers. I’ve been to enough PD sessions where teachers are loathe to share what they do. I think it’s because they don’t want to seem boastful. But as one of my favorites – Dave Burgess – notes, teachers have a moral imperative to share their great ideas. He uses this metaphor – if you were in a packed room and you saw someone chocking, and if you were trained in CPR, you would hesitate to rush to help them or at least yell at the top of your lungs for someone to call 911. Well, if you have a great lesson plan or tech tool, it’s the same deal. Shout it at the top of your lungs! I’d love to hear.
Podcast of the Week – Entreleadership – “How to Deal with Anxiety.” Imagine you’re driving and all the sensors on your dashboard light up. Then the rear wheel is squealing. Before long there is a knocking in your engine. Then the wheel starts to shake.
Would you just turn up the radio? Well, that’s what I usually do until I finally cave and give Pennington Fast Lube a call (seriously, they are listed in my phone under my Favorites). All of those warning signs, though, are just your car telling you something is wrong.
Well, that is exactly what your body is doing when you’re stressed. Why do we ignore it though? Why do we just keep piling the work on or keep procrastinating things? This podcast has some great suggestions on what to do to handle all of the stress and anxiety.
Video of the week – Don’t miss this amazing TED x Talk from the incomparable Charlie Plumb. Just listen to his story. You’ll never forget it. How often will you have the chance to experience something you’ll never forget?
Give this a try in your classroom – If you’re like me, you look forward to Zooms as much as a root canal or running a marathon. Zooms have become a ground for the worst kind of teaching practices – content dumping. It is so bad that I truly feel bad for my students who have to have me via Zoom. They are missing out on the full Reynolds experience as there is just something soul sucking about staring at 20 black screens and four students who turn their cameras on. And I don’t even want to start on the lack of engagement and discussion. But there is hope. I found some ways to try and spice Zooms up. One way is to have a scavenger hunt. Another is break out rooms. Yet another is different dress up days. I know these have little to do with learning targets. But one thing distance learning has taught me is that teaching (in person, at least) is way more than just addressing the learning target and delivering content.
Enjoy your short week, and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. But more than that, I hope you take time to consider all that you have to be thankful for.
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