The “all in” edition.
When Dr. Henry talked about her “all in” theme this year, I thought of this story that I head a few years ago via The Entreleadership podcast. A business leader was reflecting on his time in the seminary. The business leader talked about how he had a part time job working in the university cafeteria. As it happened, he had to get to the cafeteria early in the morning for his breakfast shift and he had to stay late after washing dishes after his dinner shift. He noted that when he was walking from his dorm to the cafeteria, he walked by the faculty housing. As it happened, he noted that very, very early each morning one of his favorite professor’s light was on. He also noted on his way back to the dorms when he passed by the faculty housing that this professor’s light was also on.
One day after class with this professor, the student asked him what he was doing up so early and so late. The professor smiled and said, “I am preparing for my lessons.”
The student asked, “But how long have you been teaching?”
The professor thought for a second and then said, “Twenty five years” with a wry smile on his face.
The student asked, “Shouldn’t you have it down by now? Why are you always preparing your lessons?”
Again, the professor got a smile on his face and said, “I decided long ago that I wanted my students drinking from a deep, fresh pool of water and not from a shallow, stagnant pond.”
Since I’m entering my 25th year teaching, that struck home.
How do you stay relevant and fresh in terms of your content so you aren’t just going through the motions with your content and curriculum? I’d love to hear.
Inside September’s Teaching Thoughts newsletter, you will find –
Images of the month – “It’s Supposed to be Uncomfortable” To pull books from a public school recipe is an adult recipe for disaster. We can’t always be safe and comfortable in our content, curriculum, and reading materials. We have faced this issue ourselves here, and we became better for it. Here is a link to a letter to the editor I wrote about it.
The World if a Fine and Just Place – The cave explorers discovered something shocking deep inside a cave system: a dog. Their efforts to save it help restore my faith in humanity.
Book of the Month – Why They Can’t Write by John Warner. The author, a college professor, noted how, for many years now, his incoming students have struggled to write deep, thoughtful analysis. He pins the blame on the five paragraph essay. I can’t say that he is wrong. He offers a unique analogy. He equates the five paragraph essay to training wheels for young bike riders. Researchers have noted that training wheels are not a very effective way to get young kids to actually ride bikes. They rob them of one crucial skill for riding bikes: balance.
Bike enthusiasts now actually recommend avoiding training wheels altogether and instead suggest something called a balance bike.
Warner states that the nefarious nature of the five paragraph theme is that it is so simple and efficient for students – just like training wheels – that many professors note that students never develop “balance” in their writing – that is how to deep research and analyze things in more than just a three pronged thesis statement, how to deal with counterarguments, and how to develop different formats that better fit different topics and purposes than just the five paragraph theme.
Teaching Thought for September – Teaching IS Customer Service
This was so evident when I accompanied my son on his sixth grade Open House at FMS. While Cash’s teachers were great and engaging, there were two that stood out so much that they actually made me wish I was back in sixth grade again just so I could take their classes. These teachers stood out because they had a heart for serving the students in their classes. Again, this was so evident to every person in that room. How do you strive to serve your students so that they love coming to class?
One of way of thinking of this is to do this mental exercise – Imagine if your principal told the student body that they didn’t have to go to their regular first block/period/hour class. Instead, students were to go to the room where they felt the most engaged, the most cared about, the place where they feel inspired, where their voices matter. How many kids would be in your room?
Podcast of the Month – The Cult of Pedagogy
Jennifer Gonzalez’s episode on The Six Education Tools you Should Try in 2022 is excellent. Gonzalez also offers an amazing pdf document featuring hundreds of tech tools for teachers at all levels. She has videos, explanations, and examples for each tool. It is well worth the money.
Video of the Month – The Power of a Teacher
This is a short clip from an Adele concert. During the show there is a Q and A session. Someone asks Adele about her favorite teacher. Without hesitating, Adele talks about one of her English teachers from primary school. Unbeknownst to Adele, that very teacher was in attendance. When she comes up to the state, Adele’s reaction perfectly illustrates the power of a great teacher.
Thoughts from Twitter –
Check out the tweet from Danny Steele about the best way to resolved a conflict with your child’s school or teacher. He gives two choices: A) post it to social media or B) call the school/teacher and have a conversation to resolve the conflict.
The answer is obvious, but I’m amazed how we rarely choose the right option here, and I’ve been as guilty as anyone, and I’ve learned my lesson. Remember, social media is an echo chamber. You are just going to get back what you want to hear, but that doesn’t actually resolve anything. It just fuels the fire.
Finally, Article of Interest – 10 Questions Parents Should Ask the Child’s Teacher Before School Starts. As I note in my newsletter, my favorite question is question ten - "What's the most important thing I can do to help my child be academically successful this year?"
Below is the link to September’s Teaching Thoughts. I hope you have a great year!
PS – the background for this newsletter is a quick shot of my new classroom (the old German room).
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