Good Old Days

As I was driving to work one day this week, a song came on the radio from January 1986.  The basis of the song is an adult grandchild speaking to her grandfather. She asks her grandfather to tell her about the ‘good old days’ because sometimes it feels like this world’s gone crazy. The more the song played, the more I reflected on the world today.  How things just seem to be a bit crazy.  The land is on fire, the air is so filled with smoke we can taste it, our political process is certainly heated, and COVID is raging. In our case, the ‘good old days’ may just be two years ago.  In the song, the timeframe is much greater.  “Let’s wander back into the past and paint me a picture of long ago”, the artist sings. The more I thought about the lyrics, the more relaxed I became. Yes, everything seems a certain way, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  I do believe life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. Isn’t it all just based on our point of reference?  To reference the song of Carly Simon from 1971, “These are the good old days”. Well, we have made it through the first full week, celebrate that. I wish you all a very relaxing weekend. Enjoy...Go PUPS! (cue Grandpa, The Judds)

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Welcome Back

Summer Break is over and we are back. The long days of orientation are now finished and the arrival of the weekend can bring about some rest.  During your reflection, remember the impact you are having on students when you don’t even know they are watching.  Some students show up ready to learn, some show up ready to be entertained, some show up to entertain, nevertheless, they are here and we are the anchor.  We have to be the stability in the shifting tides of life.  We have to show the students how to persevere daily.  Our profession is not easy, however, it can be the most rewarding because when you find that you have made a difference with just one, the feeling is remarkable.  I wish you all a very restful weekend. You have certainly earned it. Enjoy...Go PUPS!

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Learning Loss?

When educators throw around the term ‘learning loss’, they are using the term generally. As educators, we understand the importance of education. We talk to students about it all the time. We also understand that from our viewpoint, there has been a massive learning loss due to the pandemic. The virtual education we have been providing, though needed, is not equivalent to students being in class. We try to uphold the same rigor, however, it just hasn’t happened. The nationwide organization that administers the Advanced Placement (AP) exams, the College Board, has also acknowledged that this year is different. They are allowing students to take the exams at home. That is a far cry from the rigid environment that we usually use for the tests on campus.

That being understood, though educators acknowledge this year is different and have identified a gap in the learning from what would normally be covered, students are not searching for the learning. I say that because when any of us lose something of value, it is a loss because we care. If we lose our car keys, we immediately begin searching for them. To that behavior, we can add our wallets, purses, cell phones, and anything else that we care about. When we lose something we care about, we begin searching for it. Why isn’t education the same way? Students don’t seem to care about the loss, because we have not made it valuable to them. Yes, everyone cares about learning, but to a certain extent do they really? Do they really care about how they excel in academia? Because if they did, then the learning loss would trigger an emotional response.

For me, education has always been about the search for knowledge. A quest for developing knowledge. When I lost learning because of my behavior or such, I never really cared about it because I never owned the knowledge in the first place. In the post-pandemic education world, we have to change our thinking about learning. Our students are hungry for knowledge and it is incumbent upon us to cook up the feast that the students cannot refuse. To borrow a sports analogy, our goal should be to meet the students on their turf and play a better game. We cannot continue to deliver our lessons the same way in the post-pandemic world.

Excitement breeds desire. If we can build excitement with the students about learning, they will have a desire to learn more. If we place them on that path, then if we find ourselves in troubled times again, our students will never lose their learning simply because they care.

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Grit and Resilience

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the words grit and resilience. I guess my thoughts have been lead to those words by the end of the school year and the hurdles many of our students have created for themselves. If it wasn’t for the pandemic, I would probably have more thoughts of grit at this time of the year instead of resilience. Grit, as a combination of perseverance and passion for a goal, is totally relatable to educational or athletic pursuits. Resilience, however, is the ability to mentally process or emotionally cope with a crisis and return to a ‘normal' state. That obviously applies to our world today, as we hope to return to our pre-pandemic status as soon as it is possible and safe to do so. Both grit and resilience, are words that are important for us today. We all need to keep our eyes on our individual goals and stay passionate about the reasons that drive us. We also need to overcome everything that has been thrown at us this year. For me, this year has been an opportunity to reset and recalibrate my ‘why’. I feel as though I am coming out of the COVID pandemic better. Every day, I wake up feeling lucky to have another day to get it right. With grit and resilience, I will. May you all enjoy a fantastic weekend! Go PUPS! (cue Jason Mraz - Have It All)

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Cultural Relevance

Our student populations are becoming more diverse in America every year. Though diversity is growing annually, our teacher population has not kept up with the same demographic distribution. It is for this reason that educators need to pay attention to and are responsive to the backgrounds and cultures of our students.

Studies show that a culturally responsive classroom leads to more engagement of the students. That, of course, means that not only is diversity among the student population celebrated, but it is highlighted. When this happens, the students are more likely to engage with the teacher and ultimately have better scores and achievement tests.

The best way for teachers to embrace cultural diversity in their classrooms is to start with learning about the cultures in the room. Reach out and understand the background of students. Learn about their experiences and their families. Through listening and actually understanding where students are coming from will be a great first step toward building an inclusive classroom.

Follow that with building on the strengths a student brings to the classroom. All students have dreams and personal goals. When a teacher understands those goals, they can help them by channeling their strengths. This will assist the teacher to build rich learning experiences for both teacher and student.

Finally, the culturally responsive classroom really does keep the student at the center. Student-centered activities and learning should always be the focus. The idea that a subject was taught can no longer be the benchmark. Did the student learn the concept? That should be the primary objective. If the student does not learn the material, then instruction was not successful. We should always concern ourselves with student learning.

Teachers and schools that embrace cultural relevance and are culturally responsive while keeping student learning in clear focus report higher academic achievement. The bottom line is that students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

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"Normal" May

Everyone has lost their mind. How many times have you had that thought? When you see and hear things going on around the world, it is hard to not be completely jaded. Rest assured, all people have not lost their minds. Yes, things around us are getting a bit more stressful and students are not responding as you would otherwise hope they would, but everyone has not lost their mind. As educators, we find ourselves in the middle of May during a very unusual and difficult year. A ‘normal’ May alone is enough to raise an educator’s tension and anxiety levels, then toss a pandemic on top and we have a recipe for trouble. This year, it is not just educators that are feeling the strain. People, in general, are experiencing pandemic fatigue. Everyone just wants life to get back to ‘normal’. That for an educator means, the normal weariness from the daily demands of our duties. Though we are not performing a physically demanding job such as digging trenches outdoors in the elements, the classroom environment presents plenty of opportunities for mental exhaustion. That is why it is so important for all educators to rest, eat well, and enjoy some downtime to recharge the batteries. In schools, a day can seem like a week, but there are times, a week can be packed into a day. It is what we do. If being a teacher was easy, we would not have a teacher shortage. Hang in there. You valued and appreciated. Have a most excellent weekend...Go PUPS! (cue Ant Clemons - Better Days ft. Justin Timberlake)

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Critical Thinking is not a Luxury Good

Critical thinking can no longer be thought of as a luxury good. In education, we reference the Four C’s of Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking. These key competencies are discussed in the field of education all the time yet they are also the speed bumps that slow lesson planning. In theory, the Four C’s are of vital importance. They are attitudes and abilities that can be taught, learned, and implemented in every classroom. More importantly, they are competencies that are important for innovation in the classroom and the workplace.

The Four C’s are vital in virtually every aspect of life and interaction. So important that the curriculum in schools today has to do better to incorporate the skills. Most schools can incorporate Communication and Creativity however, coming out of the pandemic, Collaboration will become a factor. Kids need to interact with each other to learn. As a matter of fact, we learn a skill better when we can teach it to someone else. All the more reason why collaboration cannot be forgotten.

The last of the Four C’s is Critical Thinking, which can be the most difficult to incorporate. Teachers need to ask students questions that solicit a full-sentence response. Yes and No questions just are not going to cut it. Students are going to have to answer a question and then be ready for the follow-up questions. Teachers need to ask questions that are deeper on the Depth of Knowledge scale. Education data shows that when teachers ask the right questions, students will answer, regardless of the difficulty.

In the midst of all the pressure to exceed standards, it’s easy to lose sight of the real purpose of education. A good education is about preparing students to be successful at the next level. When students leave our school we should be proud and know that they are ready to enter the big bad world. Our students should leave our schools with a cornucopia of skills that are transferable to any workplace or situation.

The bottom line is that teachers are the tide that will raise all the boats. Ask the right questions.

Until next time...