How do we Fix the Outdated Education Model?

Last August, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion at the #140EDU Conference in New York City. The topic of the discussion was the Alternatives to the Outdated Education Model; the premise of which was that the current education system isn’t broken, but rather completely out of touch with the needs of today’s learners and therefore ineffective. Because of the limited time allowed for the panel, we could only offer general ideals and best practices rather than practical solutions for change. After all, updating the very structure and purpose of education would mean a massive overhaul in a legacy system embedded within U.S. culture – not really something that can be accomplished in a 20 minute panel discussion.

I thought about this experience last night while browsing through a friend’s photo album on Facebook. He’s a bit of a political junkie, which explains why the album was from his trip to the Jimmy Carter Historic Site and Museum located in Plains, Georgia. Among other uber-nerdy shots, one was of a replica of Carter’s sixth grade classroom, circa 1937 under the direction of teacher, Ms. Julia Coleman.

 
 Look past the inkwells, hardwood floors, and dusty chalkboards and you’ll notice something rather profound – the layout is not unlike many of today’s classrooms. Sure, 75 years have brought significant change in technology and ergonomics (I assume those wooden benches were less than comfy), but the essential geography of the classroom has stayed the same. How can we bring about fundamental change when the teacher remains at the head of the class, and students remain isolated in evenly spaced rows?

I know what you’re thinking – My classroom doesn’t look like that! - and you’re probably right. But understand that you are not the norm. To prove my point, I did a quick Google search for “2012 Classroom.” Below is the first classroom picture to come up. Notice any similarities to Carter's childhood stomping grounds?

Much like my brief time as a panelist at #140EDU, I am unable to offer an answer to the problem of our outdated model of education within this meager blog post. Instead, my goal was to use visuals to help better illustrate that despite fancy projectors, cell phones, social networking, etc., we are still doing education wrong. 

How do we fix this?

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The Lasting Impact of Teachers

As teachers, we can never be fully aware of the lasting impact our words or actions may have on our students. I often lament, for instance, that I dread open house or parent conferences because I can only imagine what stories my students bring home to their families. Will they tell mom and dad about the incredible lesson I taught, or that I did so without realizing that one of my pants pockets was hanging out all period like a floppy dog ear? My instinct is to assume the latter.

Last weekend, I shared one of my favorite stories with a small group of college students enrolled in my English Methods course at Medaille College. I think about that story often and it serves as a constant reminder that everything I say or do while in school has the potential to make a monumental impact on my students. Afterward, it got me thinking about some of my own experiences as a kid, and there’s one above all the others that stands out.

In 7th grade, one English assignment required us to write an original poem to demonstrate our understanding of mood and imagery. I don’t remember much from the assignment other than procrastinating until the night before to actually put something down on paper. The result was actually quite good. I remember being proud enough to show my parents before submitting it the next day.

I didn’t realize it then, but that assignment would ultimately shape my life and help shape my career as an English teacher. Below is a scan of the original poem. Read closely the red-inked comment from my teacher.

I was devastated by my teacher’s remarks. By suggesting that the poem was too good to be my own, I felt that he was implying that I was stupid. Whether this was his intention or not, it has stayed with me and I think of it every time I write critiques or constructive criticism on my own students’ works.

Your job as a teacher is to influence. The scary part is that you don’t know how or when that influence will happen.

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10 Ways to Makes This the Best School Year Yet

The first week of school is always my favorite. I'm still motivated enough to iron clothes the night before, my wife is still making me courtesy bag lunches, and my students are still trying to impress me with a good first impression. Come June, my clothes will likely be wrinkled and lunch will consist of a banana and a can of Diet Pepsi, but that doesn't mean this year won't be a success. Here are my 10 suggestions for making this the best school year yet.


1. Start a Blog
I've mentioned in previous blog posts the advantages of keeping a blog and I think this is a great way to make this school year stand out from previous years. Not only does a blog provide valuable communication that narrows the gap between school and home, it also serves as an archive for all that you do.

2. Take on a New Responsibility
This year I am serving as my department chairperson. It's a big responsibility, but it has motivated me to look at my building from a different perspective and ask myself how I can best make a difference. It's easy to stagnate in the safety of your own classroom and taking on a new responsibility forces you to engage and act outside of your comfort zone.

3. Collaborate with a Colleague
Two heads are better than one. It's an old adage, but it's true. Find a colleague that you haven't worked with before and create a co-curricular project.

4. Become a Mentor
Being the new teacher in the building is no fun. Use your experience to help that person hone his/her skills as an educator. You'll probably make a new friend in the process... Maybe even someone that you can work on a project with at some point (see number 3).

5. Change and Old Unit or Create a New Unit
Everyone has safe, go-to units. Dare yourself to throw one out and try something new. Even if it's a miserable failure you'll still learn a lot from the experience and this will improve your teaching.

6. Join Twitter and Develop Your PLN
Some of my best ideas have been inspired by the folks that I follow on Twitter. Create an account and follow other educators (maybe these 57 to start). You'll be surprised by how valuable 140 characters can be.

7. Volunteer
Connect with your students at a different level by volunteering to chaperone a dance or field trip, or by becoming an adviser for a club. Seeing kids in these different contexts will help you to gain a greater perspective of your students' strengths, weaknesses, values, and beliefs.

8. Make Reading a Priority
Practice what you preach. Make it a point to find 15 minutes each day for recreational reading. Maybe choose adolescent fiction books that you can then recommend to your students, or find education-orientated "trade" magazines to inspire new ideas and teaching techniques.

9. Attend a Workshop or Conference
Take the initiative to find a workshop or conference that you actually want to attend rather than one that is required for you to attend. This is yet another way to foster new and innovative ideas.

10. Find Better Ways to Connect with Parents
Bottom line: if parents are on your side, you are going to have a better year. Make it a goal to call one parent each day with something good to say.

(When I was a kid my mom took my picture every year in front of our house on the first day of school. Now, my wife continues the tradition. Old habits die hard.)

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I'm Just a Teacher.

This morning, I returned a phone call from a mother of one of my students. The child’s father answered and was less than pleasant with me. After introducing myself, he tersely asked, “Are you someone important, or just another teacher?” I remained professional and politely deflected the aggressive statement, but below is what I would have liked to have said.

Yes, I am just a teacher. I just teach:

social skills
collaboration
self esteem
responsibility
civil duty
ethics
pride
humility
sensitivity
critical thinking
problem solving
drive
peer relationships
community building
leadership
trust
conviction
overcoming adversity
support
analysis
organization
public speaking
professional discourse
manners
honesty
character
focus
independence
perseverance

Oh, and I also teach your child how to read and write.

You're welcome.

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How I Justify Teaching to the Test

Today was the New York State English Language Arts assessment. I know that it's a mere snapshot of my students' abilities, and that it shouldn't be transformed into the driving force of instruction, but that's essentially what happens for the month or so leading to the day of the exam. This is because, regardless of how hard my students work in class, no matter how much progress they make during the year, and regardless of how passionate they are to learn, it all gets boiled down to a four-point rating scale on this single exam. It sucks, but that's just the way high stakes testing works.

Try this little experiment. Ask the next teacher you see if he/she thinks it's okay to teach to the test. They will probably look at you uncomfortably and murmur something about how it's not necessary if the teaching in the classroom is of high quality. This is the perfect college methods course answer, but the reality is that this answer is completely wrong. (In fact, I conducted this survey last year via Twitter that proves that teachers, when anonymous, admit to the need to teach to the test.)

I liken it to learning how to drive.

To do so, you must learn the essential skills - starting the vehicle, accelerating and braking, turning, etc. But once these skills are mastered, are you ready to cruise around in anything with a motor and wheels? No way. It takes a specific skill set to show mastery of these basic skills while driving a motorcycle, for example, compared to driving a dump truck or a school bus. The vehicle is different and this factors in to how successful you can be with your ability to drive.

It's the same thing with state testing.

I don't spend the entire year examining item analysis information, and I certainly don't model every assessment in class after the big exam. But I think it's important for students to know the format and the expectations of the exam. They need to know if it's a dump truck or a school bus that they will be asked to drive.

This is not the first time I've written about my personal struggle with high stakes testing. Read more here.


Standardized Testing, Simpsons Style

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My Teaching Bucket List

Tonight, during #Edchat on Twitter, @Jeffskohls posted an interesting idea; what if teachers were given time built into their hectic schedules to pursue something that interests them? This could bring a whole new methodology to education. Rather than high stakes testing being the fuel used to drive learning, it could instead be earnest, well-thought teacher innovation.

When I first read Jeff's tweet I wanted to reply and share with him (and the rest of #edchat) what I do to keep my teaching interesting, but I couldn't quite figure out how to fit it into 140 characters - hence this elaborate (and loosely organized) blog post. So here it goes:

Usually by about mid December I find myself feeling the full weight of the burdens of my curriculum, student behaviors, faculty meetings, etc. I have lots of good ideas, but I find myself with little time to pursue them. This was especially the case this year, so to make sure I didn't forget all these ideas, I made a list on an index card and stuck it to the wall next to my desk. I consider it my teaching "bucket list" - things I want to accomplish before the year comes to an end. Having it in black and white makes my ideas feel more concrete, and a nagging list staring me in the face redirects any downtime I may have during the week toward something productive.

It's May now, and I'm doubtful that I will be able to check everything off my teaching bucket list, but I'm also pleasantly surprised by how much I did manage to accomplish. These ideas rejuvenate me and I truly think they help my students.

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Advice for Teachers

Two weeks ago, my wife gave birth to our third child, Emily Jean. She is doing well, and we have all adapted quickly to the addition. My other kids – Sophie who is three and Johnny who will be two in February – get along and play surprisingly well together. The other night while sitting in the living room, I watched them playing at my feet and I began to realize that there was much to learn from their behavior. As teachers, we can take these lessons to heart.

Fact #1 – Sophie is the boss. She calls the shots and Johnny follows them, no questions asked.

Lesson #1 – The reason I have yet to witness a toddler mutiny is because Sophie plays fair and doesn't abuse the authority she has over her brother. Sure, sometimes Johnny has to play dress up (on several occasions I have come home to find him dress in sequins and Barbie high heels), but Sophie also suggests other activities like coloring or playing with her brother's beloved toy trucks. She knows how to give and take, and this makes it easy for Johnny to follow her lead.

Fact #2 – When one of the kids doesn't want to eat dinner, my wife and I give them two choices: they can finish the meal now, or they can eat it later instead of having a snack before bedtime.

Lesson #2 – The sooner someone learns to cope with the fact that what they want is not necessarily a choice, the better off that person will be. We are all faced with thing we don't want to do, but sometimes we just need to tough it out and get through it.

Fact #3 – Everything Sophie does, Johnny does too.

Lesson #3 – When Sophie needs to blow her nose, so does Johnny. When she wants an apple, Johnny does too. It's not always a positive thing – when Sophie tantrums at the dinner table and tosses her fork to the ground, there is ultimately two utensils to pick up. As an administrator your faculty and staff will work from your cues and actions – regardless of whether they are positive or negative. It's your job to present yourself as a positive role model. The best way to prevent faculty from exhibiting negative behaviors is to not practice them yourself.

Fact #4 – Whenever Sophie asks for something, she begins the sentence with “Please may can I...”

Lesson #4 – Okay, so maybe her syntax is off a bit, but her desire to be polite is overwhelming. We teach manners at such a young age, yet so many adults forget them (or forget the art of being gracious). As the old adage goes, “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

Fact #5 – In the mornings, we have to check on Johnny to see if he's awake. If we don't go in to get him, he will sit for hours looking at books in his crib.

Lesson #5 – There is nothing wrong with the occasional silent meditation.

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This is not really about cookies.

I had a unsettling revelation the other evening: Cookies are not as good as they used to be.

Don’t get me wrong – I still enjoy cookies, but I remember them being better when I was a kid. Cookies from the past are what all present-day cookies are judged by, and to put it frankly, they just aren’t measuring up.

My first impulse was to blame the process that was used in preparing the recipe. But after close inspection, it was clear that this was not the source of the problem. Sure there are changes – electric beaters instead of hand mixers, fancy convection ovens instead of Grandma’s ancient oven – but the job gets done all the same.

What about the bakers? Are they not as good as the bakers of yester-year? I don’t think that’s the problem either. They love to bake and wouldn’t be in the profession if there wasn’t a desire to do so (or a desire to produce delicious cookies, either).

So why aren’t cookies as good as they used to be? Cookies are a big part of my life, and I simply could not abandon such an important question. It’s not because of the recipe and it’s not the fault of those who bake the cookie, so what could it be? Then it hit me.

The ingredients.

Perhaps the reason bakers cannot produce a high quality cookie anymore is because they do not have access to quality ingredients in which to bake with.

But this is an even bigger problem. Bakers can only control what goes on in their kitchen. They cannot control how ingredients are prepared before being packaged and shipped to them. All they can do is bake with passion and desire – and make the best cookie they can with the ingredients that are sent to them.

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How do we Teach Future Teachers?

I remember the words of wisdom my supervising professor bestowed upon me shortly before I began student teaching as an undergraduate. He said, “you will learn more on the first day of teaching than you have during four years of college.” And you know what? He was absolutely correct.

The article, How Should we Teach our Future Teachers, released in July by the Associated Press addresses the sentiment my professor was trying to convey. New teachers are entering schools unprepared to face the job that lay before them.

The article begins by following the experiences of first year math teacher, Hemant Mehta. He explains that despite courses in pedagogy and education history, he struggled with basics like classroom management and was forced to find help on his own by means of web message boards, colleagues, and social networking sites like Twitter.

Mehta's story is not uncommon. This is because college programs focus largely on formal education and less on the “nuts and bolts” of the classroom. The article explains that this problem is difficult to solve because there is no national standard – every state is free to determine what is required of a teaching certification candidate. Fortunately, the government is beginning to get involved, and this may better align the states.

President Obama's budget includes a proposed expansion of the government's role in teacher training programs, which could infuse more than $400 million into preparing teachers for the classroom. This could be the push that could cahnge the focus from teaching education theory to teaching education craft.

This article addresses issues with teachers entering the workforce without adaquate training. This is only one part of the problem. From a district perspective, the real concern is what to do with new or newly hired teachers who have the gaps. Like my former professor explained, the best way to learn is by doing, but districts cannot afford to wait out the 2-3 year learning curve that most teachers experience. Districts need to consider this lack of skills and strategies with developing new teacher orientations and professional development.

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A Story About My Dad

This is a story I've been wanting to share on here for some time now. It's about my dad.

My dad was a band director at a rural junior/senior high school located outside of Batavia, NY. Although the school was small and the pay was meager, he loved it. During the 26 years of his career, he had become part of the community. He knew everyone, and everyone knew him. I remember watching him lead the marching band during the annual town Labor Day festival. He couldn't move three strides without someone emerging from the crowd to shake his hand and join him in the walk down the parade route. Simply put, he was completely invested in his school, his students, and his community.

In the summer of 2008, with just four years until retirement, my dad passed away from a sudden and completely unexpected heart attack. He was only 51 years old.

During calling hours, it became clear that our sudden loss had not only shocked our family but the families of all my Dad's students – both former and present. After the two days of calling hours our funeral director informed us that more than a thousand people had come to pay their respects. Many of those were teenagers.

To accommodate the large volume of people, my immediate family formed something of a receiving line near my dad so people could speak with us in some semblance of order. It was incredibly difficult to talk with his students, but it revealed a part of Dad's life that we never totally understood until that point. It seemed that each student had a story about a time when Dad had gone out of his way to do something for one of his students. These stories obviously meant a lot to these kids, but my dad never said a word about his good deeds at home. I think that just shows how genuine he was – he never looked for a pat on the back.

But this is the part of the story that I wish I could share with every teacher beginning a new school year...

As the line of mourners progressed, a young girl – no older than 15 – came up to shake my mom's hand. The girl had tears streaking her face, so in an attempt to comfort her my mom thanked her for coming and then asked her what instrument she played in my dad's orchestra. The girl just looked at my mom and said, “I was never in band, but your husband smiled and said hello to me every morning when I passed him in the hallway.”

As a teacher, I just hope I can make a difference in these kids' lives like Dad did.

I love you, Dad.

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How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I remember a conversation I had with my wife two summers ago.

It was August, and tensions in the house were high. In general, we rarely fight, but that summer was a series of little spats between grouchy spouses. On this particular day, my wife turned to me and said “You’re ready to go back to school, and we’re ready too.” It was then that I figured out why the summer had been such a bust.

It was the first summer since I had been 13 that I did not have a summer job.

Because I didn’t have something to keep me busy, I was slowly driving myself crazy (and I was taking my family along for the ride). Being a firm believer in the old adage “If history is forgotten, it is doomed to repeat itself,” I made damn sure I had a summer job lined up for this year.

Since I was an early teen, I’ve done everything from food service, to daycare, and even a little clerical office work. This year, however, I wanted something different – something that would get me outside and be mindless enough that I could still enjoy my summer vacation when my shift was done. This is how I found myself mowing lawns part time at a private golf course.

A rainy morning mowing the 16th green.

My shift began each morning at 6am on weekdays and 5:30am on weekends so that we could be finished by the time the first retiree hit off the first tee. The work was tedious and physically demanding. My boss, although fair and consistent, was meticulous and acute to every blade of grass on his golf course. This meant that every mistake, no matter how trivial, was noted and immediately addressed. I never realized how much work went into daily maintenance of a country club. I also didn’t realize how much of a travesty it was if I raked the sand trap in the wrong direction, or if I mowed an 1/8 of an inch into the collar of a green.

I did realize one thing though – how completely meaningless this job actually was. Did any of the golfers actually notice any of this stuff? Probably not.

Having this summer job proved valuable in three ways.

First, it kept my ADHD in check enough to allow me and my family to enjoy the summer recess. I got up early, and returned home each day feeling like I had accomplished something, all before my little ones were done eating breakfast.

Second, it made me realize how much I love teaching, and how thankful I am that it is the career path I chose to take. Some of my coworkers at the golf course were career men – they had been working the course for years. It was a sobering thought that my “recreational” summer job was their bread and butter.

Third, the golf course reminded me just how important my job as a teacher is. If I really screwed up a line while mowing one of the greens, the worst that would happen is it may throw off someone’s putt. The grass would keep growing, and 24 hours later re-mowed the correct way. Unfortunately life isn’t as forgiving for a student whose education has been misled in one way or another.

This is my first post of the 2010-2011 school year. I welcome everyone back, and may your year be as successful and rewarding as I hope mine will be!

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Taking a Technology Approach to Vocabulary

Several years ago, I taught the historical fiction book My Brother Sam is Dead. I did the obligatory vocab chart, and while the kids did well with the quiz, it was clear that they would probably never use those words again once the quiz was passed forward. But after the bell, I watched one of my boys, in a middle school attempt at flirting, knock a book out of a girl’s hand. As he sped past me with his crush in hot pursuit, he called to her “Have clemency on me!”

That was one of our vocab words, and this boy had taken it out of class and inserted it into his vocabulary. Pedagogically, vocabulary should be looked at as a skill and not content.

I used this example from 2005 to illustrate vocabulary ownership simply because I can’t think of a more recent example of this actually happening. I don’t think I’m an incompetent teacher; it’s just that there is no magic bullet for teaching vocabulary.

I have never been satisfied with students looking up definitions for unit-specific vocab words and then spitting those definitions back at me on a quiz. I’ve tried visual vocab techniques, word walls, sentence writing, etc, but nothing ever seems to embed those words into the students’ lexicon. That’s what I want – ownership of those words.

Last Friday during a required planning day for my department, I came up with a quick-and-dirty project for my students. The state science assessment is just over the horizon, so to help my team, I decided to have them review science terms.

Each student was randomly given two vocab words. They had to define these and then provide one supplemental bit of information – either a sentence in context, an example, or a description. So far, this was a typical vocabulary assignment, but the real excitement came in the form of the assessment.

Rather than a quiz, students were allowed to choose a location somewhere on the school campus to film a visual dictionary entry using my Mino Flip video camera. These were then uploaded to our team website so students could use them for review.

The results were intriguing. It was the first time I have ever seen students take an interest in vocabulary. Even more so, students could easily recall definitions because they now had an experience to pair them with. My team’s dictionary has 183 definitions, and while I doubt every student’s working vocabulary is now 180+ words richer, this was undoubtedly a better approach to vocabulary than rote memorizing.

I think I may try this with vocabulary next year and keep a running dictionary with my students. I was rushed to get my students ready to record almost 200 video clips and in some videos it shows. In the future I would push the kids to memorize their “script” rather than rely on a note card. Regardless, a Video Dictionary has some serious potential.

If you’d like to take a peek at our Video Dictionary, click here.

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Is it Acceptable to Teach to the Test?

Today, my students finished the dreaded New York State 8th Grade English Language Arts exam.

We don’t score their work until late next week, but I took note of their behaviors as they took the test, and I'm hopeful as to their scores. I saw kids highlighting as they read, and the constant rustling of papers suggested that they all remembered to pre-read the multiple choice questions before reading the passages. On the extended response sections, kids were able to take the essay prompt and echo it in their introduction paragraphs. I even saw kids using my tip of going back and crossing out words to replace them with higher-level vocab. All of this leads me to one overwhelming conclusion:

I have done a very good job of teaching students how to take a state exam. I’m not sure how to feel about that, so I thought I’d weigh out my opposing views on the topic of preparing for generalized tests.

Argument Against Teaching to the Test
I remember one of my college professors standing stoically in front of the lecture hall announcing that good teachers, those who teach content and skills, will never need to resort to teaching to a test. I doubt many teachers will willingly step forward to dispute the need to focus on teaching content and skills, so this seems like a strong argument. Most district mission statements carry the underlying intent of preparing students to become productive contributors to society, and this can only be achieved with a strong foundation of knowledge and understanding.

Argument in Favor of Teaching to the Test
Much like communism, my former professor’s words of wisdom make sense in theory, but don’t apply smoothly in practice. For example, just because I have the skills to drive an automobile doesn’t exactly assure that I’m prepared to drive a tractor trailer. Skills change depending how they are applied. It’s the teacher’s job to not only teach the skills, but to prepare students for situations where those skills will be needed. The “test-taking tips” I witnessed my students using are all things that should be put into good practice when reading/writing anything – so what if they were taught in the context of a standardized test?

My Own Conclusion
A few hours before posting this I created this poll asking my 1200 Twitter followers to weigh in on the subject. So far, only 1 person has voted. Either this means I have fewer friends than I realize, or perhaps teaching to the test is something that teachers are a bit uncomfortable discussing. Do we all do it? As educators, is test prep or dirty little secret?

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12 Tips for Better Classroom Management

Last night I had a dream that one of my classes was out of control and I was unable to regain order. At about 3am while everyone else in the house slept, I laid awake thinking about this list. I’m no expert, but here are my tips for improving classroom management skills.

1. Know who is the real disruption
If you stop class to yell at a student, you have become a bigger disruption that the student. Are there times when the lesson needs to be put on pause? Absolutely. But if Little Jimmy is sitting in the back corner minding his own business while sticking erasers up his nose, you probably do not need to draw attention to it publicly in front of the class.

2. Choose your battles
You work with kids. By nature they don’t always follow the rules. If you can’t handle the fact that sometimes they are going to come to class without a pencil, then maybe you need to find a job working with adults (who, by the way, are just as likely to come to work unprepared).

3. Don’t make threats you can’t/won’t follow through on
Nothing strips you of authority like a student calling your bluff. Consequences are essential to a good class environment – just make sure they are something you can actually follow through with if the situation arises.

4. Never back a student into the corner
When a student is backed into a corner, his/her basic fight or flight instinct kicks in. If he/she chooses fight, then you have a real problem on your hands. Knowing when to push and when to lay off can be tricky, but is essential to effective management.

5. Clear and Consistent Expectations
I wrote this blog post regarding expectations and consequences. For good classroom management the students need to know where you draw the line in the sand and what happens when they cross it.

6. Don’t Disrespect your Name (AKA nicknames from students are bad!)
If your last name rhymes with dumpster, it isn’t going to be a problem unless you let it. Teachers lose a certain level of respect and authority when students start calling them by nicknames. I knew of one teacher who allowed his students to call him “Mr. Dude.” Let me ask you this – who you respect a guy named Mr. Dude?

7. Seating Charts, Random and Often
Seating charts serve two purposes – they separate troublesome student clusters, and they also force everyone in the class to get to know each other. It makes me sad when students are in classes all day together but don’t even know each other’s names. Building a school community has many, many advantages, but one is that it almost completely eliminates any kind of student conflict in your class. It’s a win-win, especially for classroom management.

8. Rapport
There’s one student currently on our team that can be quite a handful. He’s the boy I trade mix CDs with; the boy who stays after with his friends and plays Risk with me; the boy who comes to school early and does homework in my room before homeroom. Believe it or not, he is never a discipline problem for me during class.

9. Be willing to laugh (At yourself and at each other)
The other day while teaching the play version of The Diary of Anne Frank, we began discussing the brewing romance between Anne Frank and Peter Van Daan and how it affected the overall plot. One boy in the back of the room called out “Anne and Peter hooked up. I’d consider that the rising action.” Hardy har. The class burst out laughing. I could have scolded him for the double entendre, but then a student would have surely asked what he meant, causing another round of laughter. By cracking a smile and rolling my eyes, I was able to move on with minimal disruption.

10. Kill one to warn one hundred
If a student does something that's unacceptable, make sure he/she knows it, as well as every student who witnessed the offense. This is why it's important to deal with issues immediately.

11. Listen
I don’t want to say teachers should eavesdrop on students because they sounds so invasive. Instead, let’s call it aural monitoring. If there’s trouble brewing between two students in your class, the hallways are going to know about it before you do. Keeping an ear out will give you the ability to be proactive to a problem instead of reactive once all hell breaks loose in the middle of your lesson.

12. Raising your voice should be a secret weapon
It happens maybe twice a year – Something goes so horribly awry that I momentarily lose my mind and start hollering. It's kind of brutish, but it gets the students' attention and puts them back in line (and pretty much guarantees that all my other classes will go well – news of a meltdown travels quickly). Why does this work? Because it rarely happens. If a teacher is always yelling, students just tune it out. Save your voice for when you really need it.

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The Fine Line Between Acceptable and Inappropriate Behavior With Students

In my school, teachers are allowed to celebrate the weekend early by dressing down on Fridays. I choose to do so by wearing jeans instead of my usual dress pants, and to compliment the casual look, I also lace up my favorite pair of Converse All-Stars. This has come to be known among my students as “Cool Shoes Friday.”

I don’t feel like this is inappropriate – my role in the classroom doesn’t get disrupted, I don’t look ridiculous, and my students don’t see me as any less of an authority figure because of it. If anything, my coveted pair of low tops actually helps me. My Friday attire humanizes me in the eyes of my students; those shoes serve as a gentle reminder that I’m not a robot that gets plugged in next to the laptop cart after the dismissal bell rings. Plus, my choice in footwear comes across as pretty hip. They don’t call it Cool Shoes Friday for nothing.

But there is a fine line to be walked between casual and unprofessional.

Take, for example, the recent incident involving North Carolina Social Studies teacher Rex Roland. His name hit mass media outlets Yahoo, AOL, and the Telegraph (to name just a few) this past weekend after repeatedly calling students “losers” both verbally and in written comments on homework assignments. His argument was that his informal banter was just part of his laidback teaching style, but this certainly seems like a thin excuse for such unprofessional behavior.

I sort of understand what he’s trying to get at though – relate to students by using their language. Perhaps he watched Dangerous Minds or The Principal a few too many times. Regardless of motives, you just don’t call your student a loser no matter how “real” you’re trying to be.

Much of what I wrote is assumptive – I don’t know what goes on in Mr. Roland’s classroom on a daily basis, and I certainly don’t know what was going on in Mr. Roland’s head when he wrote “minus 20% for being a loser” on a student’s homework. I actually emailed him requesting an informal interview for my blog so that he would have an outlet to explain some of his actions, but it was not been returned. My guess is that his silence is the result of a gag order imposed by the school district. Perhaps they should have suggested he keep his mouth shut before this incident took place.

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Knowledge is Obsolete

When I was about 15 years old I was the proud frontman and guitarist in a small-town rock band. In addition to these duties, I also took it upon myself to wear the hat of webmaster. This was in 1997 - before the days of Myspace and Facebook. Instead, I turned to free web hosting sites like the now useless Geocities and Angelfire. WYSIWYG editors were still fairly uncommon at the time so I printed off some tutorials and started hard coding my site. This is how I learned HTML.

More than a decade later, and I’m still up to my old tricks. I recently started another band, and knowing the importance of a web presence, decided to create a website for the project. After looking through some links saved to my Delicious account, I realized something very important. All my coding skills from 1997 mean almost nothing in 2010.

Knowledge is obsolete.

Instead of HTML body tags, it’s CSS now. Instead of fancy Flash menus, it’s all about jQuery. And what the hell is AJAX?!

Fortunately for me, I know where to go for help, and how to practice and master new skills on my own. At some point in my formal education, I learned how to learn.

This is what teachers need to impress on students. Knowledge becomes worthless surprisingly fast, but the ability to acquire new knowledge is essential.

Don’t teach knowledge. Teach learning.

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3 Reasons Why Teachers Should Blog

A blog is better than a resume


I’ve been chosen several times to sit on a hiring committee for my school. After each applicant leaves the formal interview, the informal one begins. I Google his/her name, email address, former place of employment – anything that may bring up something that will help us make the best possible decision for our students. Most times I find a password-protected Facebook account (at least they know how to stay discreet), but occasionally I find some comments on a message board, or even a blog.

These things give us a better picture of who the candidate is. The formal interview shows us that they know how to dress nicely and can (hopefully) proofread their resume, but a blog tells the whole story. You want to know a teacher’s educational philosophy? Have them write a dozen or so posts, and it will naturally emerge. The results will be more insightful than any pre-practiced interview question response.

Practice what you preach

Teachers not writing regularly is the same as a child being scolded to eat his vegetables while his mother dumps hers into the garbage disposal.

But there’s more to it than just the obligation to write.

Ideally, every student graduating from high school with have the ability to write. They learn how to write opinion pieces, compare/contrast expositions, research papers. We teach them the skills, but we don’t make them enjoy using them. They learn writing, but rarely feel writing. Shouldn’t teachers model the idea of writing for personal enjoyment rather than how to write to a rubric or complete a graphic organizer?

Reflection

Much of the teaching experience happens after the lesson. For most, it’s during the car ride home from work when we think about what went on in our classes – what went well, what flopped, what can be done better next time, how we can build on the experience. Putting these ideas into a blog makes them more substantial.

Take, for example, this blog post right now. I’m sitting here sifting through all the reasons why I enjoy keeping a blog. By doing so, I’m getting more out of the experience than if I were to just be thinking about it to myself. Meta-reflecting, I suppose. By putting it into my blog, I am responsible for it – and responsible for holding myself to whatever conclusion I arrive at.

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Dear Former Teachers, I Turned Out Okay

Quite often, I find myself trying to imagine who my current students will become as they grow up. It's difficult to see past the roles they play in my room – the spaz, the loner, the jock (I'll stop there before the copyright infringement letters from The Breakfast Club start appearing in my mailbox), and that can be disheartening at times. I want my kids to grow up and lead happy and successful lives, but it's just not realistic to assume that will be the case for all of them. It's uncharacteristically pessimistic of me to think this way, but it's reality.

Reflecting on my students made me reflect on myself at that age. I know the role that the 13-year-old me played was a bit sketchy at times. What portrait of the future did my younger self paint to my former teachers? Probably not a very promising one.

Last week I tracked down three of my 8th grade teachers, and sent them an email. I felt it was important that they know I survived college, found a good job, and started a family. It means a lot to me that they know their troubles didn't go without notice.

Here's how I started my letter:

My name is John Mikulski, and I was your 8th grade student in the 94-95 school year.

Like many 13-year-old boys, I was awkward, irritating, and definitely a bit smelly on warm days. I remember crying at the dinner table over homework, and I remember having no clue how to impress the guys while looking cool in front of the girls. 8th grade was a difficult year for me, but for some reason, it stands out as a defining time in my life.

I found writing my letter, and reading the two responses I received to be truly rewarding. I encourage everyone to contact a former teacher and do the same. Tell them you turned out ok. That you're happy. But most importantly, that you are all these things in small part because of them.

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Am I a lifer?

My father was a teacher for 25 years at a small junior/senior high school in Western New York. The school was surrounded by farmland, the pay was meager, and for the first 15 years his office was a broom closet behind the stage. But he loved it.

He told me he was a lifer. For better or worse, that was the district that he planned to be at forever.

It has been seven years now in the district that gave me my first job, and I often ask myself if I will be a lifer too. Some days that question is easier to answer than others.

I love my job, and my district. But sometimes I wonder what it would be like in another school. Or another profession all together. Is that abnormal?

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9 Concessions Teachers Must Make

Concession - The act of conceding or yielding.

1. I can only control what happens in my classroom
The social aspects of school life dominate the hallways and it is going to follow students into the classroom regardless of how prepared I am. Girls will cry about a boy, boys will argue about sports teams. And both of these things will interrupt my plans.

2. There will be bad days
I am allowed to have a bad day, and so are my students. I am not allowed to take it out on my students (although I'm sometimes tempted to make them the proverbial dog that gets kicked), and they shouldn't take it out on me either.

3. Technology is going to fail
The general rule with technology is that when it decides to get sick, it doesn't hiccup. It projectile vomits. When you hand 30 students each a laptop, something is going to go wrong.

4. There will be days with no lesson plans
It's okay to show a movie. It's okay to schedule work days. It's okay to edit and revise. All within moderation, and all at appropriate times.

5. Some kids have more important things to worry about than my homework
I had a student in my room a few years ago that lived in a mobile home that didn't have running water. I have several kids (that I know of) this year whose families have had to answer to CPS. These kids have bigger problems than memorizing poetic devices for my quiz on Friday, and it's just not realistic to think that should be a priority to them.

6. Regardless of my expectations, my students are still just kids
I wrote this blog post about this earlier (which, incidentally, got me thinking about this list.)

7. There is going to be a student in my room that I dislike
I'm a pretty easy guy to get along with, but in life I accept that there will people whose personalities clash with my own. In the real world, I ignore the people. But in the classroom, they are still my students – and they can't be treated any differently.

8. Lessons will not go as planned
I openly admit to my 1st period class that they are the guinea pigs. What I do 1st period and what I do 9th are usually different. Good teachers don't stay the course – they compensate for pot holes and detours along the way.

9. Grades aren't everything
This goes not only for teachers, but for students and parents too. I had a message on my school voice mail last quarter from a parent demanding to know why his daughter's grade dropped from a 96 to a 94. It's the journey that's important, not the destination, right?

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