Who brings the pencils

Our trip to Indy today included a trip to one of the Half Price Books. As I perused the shelves, I found a book put out by the La Porte Historical Society. Because I'm working on my family history, and primarily the family that is from La Porte, I grabbed it.

As I looked at the pages, I found a description I found funny, as it is proof that things have really not changed much in 100 years of education.

Today teachers buy supplies for the students in their classrooms. Right?

The quote from the book:"A one- room school house is defined as a school with all grades one through eight, being taught by one teacher and a curriculum very different from today. The heating system in this school is a wood stove and the teacher was primarily responsible for supplying the wood. Some parents and students assisted, however."

So, I guess, teachers have always been counted on for taking care of their kids, with little to no support from the community. Huh.

That my friends...

When you meet with a reading group
reading Bridge to Terebithia
that last week was basing characterization
on the illustrations and not the words
but somehow this week
you manage to engage them enough
that there is actual conversation happening
That my friends in magic

And then
When later you meet with a group
and go over the latest terms
in the Literary Dictionary
Everyone has been working on
for the past 3 weeks
and not only do they listen
75% of the time
but also participate
and answer questions...
That my friends is a miracle.

And when both things happen
ON THE SAME DAY...
That my friends is a good day.

It was a good day.

You Don't Matter

"You don't matter."

That's is the message some of received on this, our #saysomething day. But let me go back a bit to explain my frustration.

A weekly calendar of events for our school is sent out over the weekend. On this calendar, was #saysomething as the topic of our Monday morning meeting. I had to look up what it was, and since IA's don't attend the Monday morning meetings, I had to ask what it meant for us.

"Classroom teachers are getting T-shirts that say #saysomething and they are supposed to work with their class to create a list of 17 times somebody should say something. There aren't enough shirts for everyone so only classroom teachers are getting them. But somebody asked about jeans and it sounds like Wednesday will be a jeans day," was told to me by more than one person.

Frustrated, I was thinking, "So, teachers find out about this program on Monday and have to present the concept of why 17, as well as the delicate topics that needed to be a part of their lists on Wednesday? How does that make sense?"

I understood and was fine with the T-shirt situation until last night when we got an e-mail "to clarify".

  "Anyone wearing a #saysomething t-shirt or teaching a #saysomething lesson is allowed to wear jeans tomorrow. And yes Friday is a jeans day."

It isn't the t-shirt. It isn't even the jeans really. It is the proclamation that, to me, said, "You don't matter."

Walking into school I see both secretaries wearing a #saysomething t-shirt.

Walking down the hallway, I see the custodian wearing a t-shirt.

The teachers I work with tell me a child from each class is to be chosen to "win" a t-shirt.

The principal has a teddy bear from a fund raiser in her office. She put a #saysomething T-shirt on the bear and put it in the front lobby.

A specials teacher said she was going to make a t-shirt of her own, since specials teachers were originally not going to get them either. She was told she could have one, saw a box full of the t-shirts and got one for each specials teacher.

So, every classroom teacher, every specials teacher, the secretaries, the nurse, the counselor, 16 students, and a giant teddy bear got t-shirts and the humans were able to wear jeans.

 The assistants were in our usual dress clothes because we are not worthy.

Way to build a community within our building.

Then in class, we start making our list. 6th grade, so some kids weren't paying attention or were goofing around, but we did manage to turn it to some serious topics. So much so, a child asked to speak to me in the hall. What child  had to say was important, and I was thinking how ill equipped I was in that moment to do more than listen and ask if child were willing to talk to the counselor.

Child agreed, and I went to find the counselor-- since today is a day she is in our building.

I relayed what had been told to me and let her know child absolutely didn't want it to get out that the information was coming from child. I asked if she had a few minutes and she said she had 25 before her next appointment.

I got child and sent child to her. Child was back in less than 15 minutes. Child didn't look happy.

"Did it go OK?" I asked.

Child shrugged.

"Do you feel like it helped?"

Child shook head.

"I'll try to find a way to help more then," I said.

When I saw the counselor later she thanked me for sending her child. I reiterated that child didn't want anyone to know it was child who told.

"I know. I stressed that to the people I passed it along to," she smiled.

I cannot begin to tell you how I will lose my mind if she screws this up. She is a counselor in training, meaning she isn't yet licensed. What was told to me required more than a 10 minute conversation. Who did she pass it along to and what will they do? How did it pay either child or me to #saysomething?

It was a HUGE step for this child to say what was said. Child's trust will be forever broken and child has so little to believe in as it is... I worry.

Which leads me to the code of secrecy. Our school takes FERPA to mean no one can know anything about a child. That was brought out to me once again during my conversation with child. Child mentioned school was aware of part of what was told to me. Had I known part of what was going on in child's life, I would have had some ground to stand on- a starting point to help.

Around the country, students walked out of buildings to protest gun violence.

 Around the country some teachers led them out the doors.

How many of those students are the same ones who make fun of "weird" kids? How many are part of disenfranchising others who don't fit the mold of popular? How many teachers protesting gun violence are hurling insults and being derogatory in their stance?

Here "we" decided #saysomething was a better approach. The theory being, if we say something, we can make our class, our school, our community better. So some wore t-shirts they will likely never wear again. We made chart paper lists to hang in the hall. And we had brief discussions.

Neither way accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish. Community isn't a division of groups yelling at each other, nor is it a society that likes to promote #saysomething over "know more so you can do more."

Instead of marching to prove you have high morals, how about quiet acts of kindness? Value those around you -- those that agree and at least listen to those who don't.

 Let everyone you meet know they have value, and you will have taken the real first step in building a community. This is well and truly the only way to end violence.

#everyonematters

Be careful what you wish for

Tendrils drape over desks
spreading out across the floor
powered by a twenty slot bar.

Many tabs open.
Quick hands switch-
from supposed to be...
to not.

Update
Glitch
site blocked by administrator
Connection lost

There's a pic for that...
and unfortunately that as well.

Headphones lost
Volume up
An updated version of singing a round
       An updated version of singing a round
            An updated version of singing a round
                   An updated version of singing a round

Screens darkened
'cause bright "hurts eyes"
obscuring

Teacher talking
Keys lure fingers
one more click
one more command

I wasn't!
I'm not!
angry sigh
screen is closed

Money spent
Mandates levied
Money spent so
Use is Mandatory

No more paper
No more books

Oh, so many dirty looks.

So you think you want Technology?
Be careful what you wish for.

Nurturing Butterflies

A butterfly emerging from it's chrysalis needs to struggle to develop its wings so it can fly.

A baby chick has to peck its own way out of its shell in order to build up strength to survive once it breaks free.

If someone were to help either of them-- out of pity at their struggle-- they would succeed only in harming, if not killing them.   Struggle is necessary in order to build the capacity to survive. We as a society have succeeded in harming the next generation through our pity at their struggle. 

Conscience is that little voice inside our head telling us whether something is right or wrong. But who decides right and wrong and how do we instill those values in our kids?

It used to be, at least for me, parents and church that taught me right from wrong. Sometimes fear was the catalyst for that decision. Fear of the paddle (which I don't agree with), but also fear of disappointing those who believed in me and trusted me. A healthy fear is good. It is that voice that says, "This is wrong."

Today we lament parents who have no discipline and only want to be their child's friend. Apparently being their friend is our job?  The world is such a horrible place, and parents are such horrible care givers, that WE in EDUCATION have to be the "safe" place for them?  And just how do we make them feel "safe"?... by being their friend. 

In one of my favorite books, Positive Discipline  by Jane Nelsen it talks about how discipline should "follow the 3 "R's" and be "Natural and Logical"

Related means the consequence should be related to the behavior. 

Respectful means the consequence must not involve blame, shame, or pain and be respectfully enforced.

Reasonable means the consequence must not involve piggy-backing and be reasonable from the child's point of view as well as the adults.

Speaking for my school, we give multiple chances that include stickers and coins and tickets that lead to treasure boxes and prizes... for not throwing a fit, or hitting, or fighting, or disrupting. We take away recess... tomorrow. Our office is a friendly place because kids "shouldn't fear" the office. So in a sense we are a chaotic mess of placation.  We let our pity make excuses for why "they can't succeed". 

They live in a bad neighborhood.

They live in poverty.

They have a parent who has to work two jobs.

Parent is in jail.

Parent is sick.

Drugs.

Etc., Etc., Etc.,

How many success stories start with, "Someone else put in the work and I let them."  When we teach writing we teach there has to be a struggle, an antagonist, a hardship-- that brings about change. 

How would you grade a story whose plot was: Johnny was disruptive and rude. He disrespected adults and caused havoc wherever he went, so his mom let him play on his phone and his teacher let him pick from the prize box, and the principal bought him Mc Donalds and ate lunch with him.  Johnny continued being rude because he liked the cool perks. The End?

I'm positive we have different views on what is right and wrong in the political and social norms aspect of life, and we shouldn't be projecting those beliefs on the children in our charge, but I think we can all agree on the Golden Rule. Expecting kids to be respectful and kind and to treat others with decency is not abuse. It's not even setting the bar too high. 

Many in education don't realize you don't have to be a doormat in order to build relations. Shouldn't we set expectations high enough for them to feel pride in that achievement and the work required, rather than so low they can trip over them when they are walking?

Are we brave enough to let them struggle out of the chrysalis of childhood?

Changed My Mind

I started planning this post this morning. I knew exactly what I was going to write about. The title was going to be something along the lines of: I feel like I'm being bullied.

You see, the kids I'm working with now are in 6th grade. This is my first year being exclusively in 6th grade. The last 11 years I was in Kindergarten. I knew these kids in Kindergarten. They were the group of 27 that followed the group of 17. They were the challenging group that followed the group everyone wished they could loop with. They were the group everyone got through.

I've seen them in the hall, and I had some of them in my reading groups when I did reading intervention. But, for the most part, this is the first time I've been with them since they were 6. And for the most part they haven't changed. They are just as challenging as they were then. Maybe more so, because many who weren't as challenging then, have joined the challenging.

Our school, and really our district, have had a habit of chance after chance with no real consequence. We have used the same tired ideas and they have never change the behavior. For a consequence to be effective, it has to change the behavior.

Then I look at the teaching blogs I follow. I read news articles and posts others share about feeling sorry for the world "our kids live in."  I read how putting kids in rows is torture, because kids need to learn to work together. We get notes from our superintendent-- buying into the narrative that we should have couches and lounge chairs and lamps with scarves draped over them to promote a homey atmosphere. We are being led to believe if we don't provide kids a stress free, consequence free, discomfort free, existence than we, as the adult are somehow unfit for teaching or working with kids.

I was going to write about how, maybe if these kids had had more consequences along the way, we wouldn't be in the position we are in now.  I was going to channel my "These rotten kids today," frustration, but then I read this post from tonight.

https://readreflectteach.wordpress.com/2018/03/04/slice-of-life-2018-day-5-if-you-really-knew-me/

It changed my focus. I've heard of the "What i wish my teacher knew about me" writing assignments before, but reading it tonight brought me back to who I really am.

I am the one who relates to kids. My gift has always been connecting to the kids that drive others crazy. That is what is missing from education.

Testing and teacher evaluations based on those tests have relegated connections to the back burner for many. Schools rely on the quick fix and fear of parents forces the least effective route to changing behaviors.

Time and personnel are what schools need. Can you imagine what it would be like if the assistant in a classroom could pull a student aside and discuss behavior and choices while the teacher continued to teach without needing to ditch the many to counsel the one? What if that assistant could take over the class for a few moments so the teacher could connect to the child? Imagine how much more learning could happen if the kids who "live in trauma" in their home lives didn't have to experience trauma in the classroom just because a school prioritizes and allocates money to the benefit of prestige rather than child development?

I still believe we need to stop calling those who have traditional approaches to education wrong-headed and detrimental to student learning. 

I still believe the collective "we" have failed the group of 6th graders I work with. For 6 years we have capitulated, cajoled, and conceded, and because of that, we have a group of kids who put little effort into their learning, talk back, and ignore adults. We have not helped those who needed us when they were little, and we have harmed those exposed to disruption year after year.

Unfortunately the test still looms for all of us, every year, and unless and until we put our resources toward listening and connecting instead of furniture and fancy technology,  we can't say we have prepared our students for now, let alone that proverbial "world they will be living in."

Witch or Doormat?

I am using the theme of Gripes and Grins for the month of February. I am alternating days. Today is an odd day, so today will be a gripe.

I am working in 6th grade this year. I worked with these same kids when they were kindergartners, and not much has changed.

Education today seems to be a choice between being a screaming shrew and being a door mat.

 We spend our days giving kids choice in their learning.

 Many of us are jumping on the Starbucks classroom bandwagon because kids need to have choice in where and how they sit.  After all, we as adults have that choice.
 We should provide lamps instead of the overhead lights because lamps are not as harsh.
 Kids bring water bottles into class because drinking water is essential, not only to life, but to learning.
They bring snacks because they can't think on a stomach that ate two hours ago.
As adults, we listen to music while we work--kids should be afforded that same choice.

We mustn't expect them to work when they don't feel like it. Homework can be turned in when kids get around to it...after all they are busy with their extra-curricular lives.

We require "turn and talk" and group work because that "is the world they will live in."

So kids kick back, relax with their music,
and snacks,
 and drinks,
 in the chair of their choosing,
with their buddies,
and play the games they have put on their computers without permission or watch YouTube videos as they search for the answer
to "What is the capital of Spain"
and we are supposed to look on this with satisfaction because these kids are taking control of their learning.

Until we don't.

We are told to give coins and stickers and prize box gems to kids who are behaving properly in hopes the "fun timers" will want the goodies.

But they rarely do.

We ask politely.
They ignore.

We manipulate.
"I'd like to thank Bobby for getting started on his work."
They snort.

We raise our voice and remind them of what they should be doing.
They roll their eyes.

We approach individuals to ask for them to stay on task.
They promise to our face, then roll their eyes when we walk away.

We resist the urge to turn into a swirling, twirling out of control banshee.
They laugh as they eat another cookie.

We ask for help from our supervisors and are told we need to reward those giving us appropriate behavior, because a consequence for those who aren't, could hurt their feelings and inspire a call from a parent.

It seems kids have all the choice in the world.

We have the choice to be a witch or a doormat.

'Cause THIS is the world we live in.

Pod People

We were short subs today so I was tapped to sub in one of the 4th grade classrooms. As a sub, the excessive use of technology was wonderful. They basically went from one app to another. Literally the only writing they did was 2 pages from their math work books and during their 20 minute writing period. That is it.

As an observer and a future education activist I have so many problems with this.

We are a 1:1 district and have been for 6 years now. So for all of you who wish you could be, let me tell you -- be careful what you wish for.

When we started -- the initiative was voted in in March or April. Devices were ordered over the summer and teachers got theirs about a week before the students came to school. At that time, K and First got Ipods; 2, 3, &4 got Ipads; and 5-12 got lap tops. FREE apps all around because there wasn't money for any apps. The free apps for Ipods by the way, went up to the letter E.

It was that way for 2 years, then they gave K&1 Ipads as well.

Free apps -- that's what we use. Special permission must be received to get a paid app and then you have to justify why you need it.

We have no actually trained IT person. We have a 26 year old business major who knows about computers.

We have blocked nearly everything in the name of safety-- and requests to get to a video or website has to be obtained from the administration before the IT department can install it.

The amount of people on the network was underestimated and the first couple of years there were many times it just didn't work. We have since gotten our own server and upgraded at least once if not twice.

In order to justify the expense of having the technology, staff are "encouraged" {sic: forced} to use technology as must as possible.

WE must prepare our students to be 21st century learners is the marching order. "Research shows....." followed by all the studies proving  showing evidence for why everything must be technology based.

We were actually told, " kids don't need to know the answer, they just need to know where to find the answer."

But there are studies showing how the excessive use of technology is leading to behavior disorders. Studies show that kids are losing fine motor control, and the core body strength to sit still. Studies show that an increase in recess time-- rather than balance balls, experimental seating, and Go Noodle --could alleviate these issues.

Kindergartners are capable of making a video presentation and monkeys can be trained to drive a car. Neither means they know what they are doing.

The kids today were fairly well behaved and quiet as long as they had MobyMax or Brain Pop in front of them. But as soon as they had to enter the world of the living and breathing they lost it.

Parents use technology as an electronic pacifier that allows them to not be bothered. I understand how hard it is to be a Technology Parent Pioneer. I can write more about that in another post. But as educators we are complicit in the society that is being created.

We say it is because technology is the world of the future. There are those who firmly believe they are doing good promoting this future.

I am not one of them. And it is not because I am unwilling to change. Life is not about immediate gratification. Love, happiness, and a thirst for knowledge are not acquired as quickly as a genie granting a wish. But in the world of technology you can find the "cheat" that answers the problem in your text book. You can play games until the only things in the world are you and your electronic device and you think you are having fun. The world is even becoming one where you can't meet someone in the real world but can through an app?

And for all the people who are pushing technology... because we have 1:1 we have e-learning days... No more make up snow days because they can get assignments through google docs. This may sound fabulous but how long will it be before they think that if kids can be taught as well with google docs, Study Island, and Brain Pop why would they need buildings, IAs, custodians and eventually so many teachers? If a teacher can put a lesson video on line for her class, why couldn't that same video be used for the entire district?

You may wish for technology because you don't have it. You may have technology and actually be using it in moderation and responsibly, but here, this is what technology is. We have been recognized for our whole hog approach.

 If you strive to get technology for all,  make sure you ask what the vision of your administration is. Be sure the best interests of your kids are at the heart of that vision and not the accolades,  glory and career advancement of the adults.

Because right now certain people are wearing a crown while kids are becoming emotional pod people who know where to find the answers to questions they don't know how to ask.

Communication

The full moon isn't until Sunday.

 I checked because today definitely had that "full moon" feeling to it. Kids picking at each other and retaliating when that someone picks back. You know, general crankiness. But driving home from picking older son up from college, I started thinking about communication and the lack of skill in communication.

Kids at school have fewer and fewer skills in relation to communication. They want what they want and they want it now. I realize this has always been true to a degree, but they have eventually learned that there is give and take in life. This is no longer the case.

Today, in school, they have "turn and talk" but it has to be on the topic at hand. Kids have to utilize technology at school and parents choose to use it as a babysitter for their children and a way of self-medicating for themselves. Children no longer discuss books, they respond to a prompt concerning what they wrote. There are no conversations around the dinner table or while driving in the car. Even a 5 minute ride to school in the car has children watching the built in TV instead of engaging in conversation.

Recess is a thing of the past and those schools that do have recess have a short amount of time. We intervene at the slightest hint of disagreement because we are worried about escalation that will lead to someone getting hurt. There is always a parent who will call and complain if their child gets a scratch, so we impose rules with lawyers, not children, in mind.

Parents orchestrate their children's lives out of necessity of time and a society that has actual stranger predators who seek to do harm.

When are children not monitored by an adult who halts difficult situations?

And now we have adults who are on college campuses who refuse to listen. We have celebrities and politicians and pundits who believe whoever talks loudest wins the argument. They want what they want when they want it. Everyone is so busy yelling and repeating themselves and getting into the role of indignant and oppressed that they don't stop to hear the words the other person is speaking.

Are the choices really WIN or lose for most things? Is there no middle ground on most subjects? How will kids learn how to communicate if there are no role models on how it's done? If it takes a village to raise a child, then this global village better start listening at least half as much as they strive to be heard.

If anything is a matter of life and death the need to communicate effectively is it.