HARK HOW THE BELLS! SWEET SILVER BELLS! ALL SEEM TO SAY! THROW CARES AWAY! CHRISTMAS IS – 

I know, I know – we complain about it every year, but that doesn’t stop the machine from cranking this baby up as early as they think might squeeze a few more half-pennies from the masses. And it IS coming… sooner than you think. We’re past Fall Break, the new has worn off, the time has changed, and things just seem to get busier and busier. Sure, we MEANT to keep up with our online teacher friends and we bookmarked those edu-blogs to read, but…

No worries. I got you. It’s what I do. Here are the “Shouldn’t Miss” posts from #oklaed and beyond this past week or two…

Never Give Up Hope – Regular readers and vintage #11FF might not expect me to be quite so hooked on Jon Harper, aka Bailey & Derek’s Daddy, given his penchant for emotional, inspirational, warm and toasty caring kinda things. That’s not really my comfort zone. But it works for him, and underneath it runs a current not of sugar and fairy dust, but of risk – and gut checks – and breaking the $%&@ rules if it might be best for kids. In this short piece he rolls the dice on a troubled kid and seeks his help mediating between two younger boys. Then he walks away. Follow Harper on the Twitters at @jonharper70bd – really. Go, now – do it. 

Clutch / Breakthrough – As long as we’re full of hope and acknowledging the moments of healing light, here’s a double shot of Rebecka Peterson on OneGoodThing this past week. My daughter – who’s as sharp as a gar, but scathingly merciless regarding any teacher she deems unworthy (where do kids GET these attitudes?) – still loves Mrs. Peterson best of anyone she had in high school, including me. That’s OK, though – I do too. Bask in the mathematical and pedagogical wisdom of Peterson at @RebeckaMozdeh on the Twitters.  #oklaed 

#OurSchool – Seth Meier of Excellence In Mediocrity shares his take on this year’s release of the infamous Oklahoma Public Schools A-F Report Cards. **Spoiler Alert** He’s not impressed. It’s probably sour grapes, though – sounds like #HisSchool wastes all their time and resources on serving kids, growing their potential, and developing the sorts of relationships that lead to a lifetime love of learning and a belief in what’s possible when we apply ourselves to greatness. Pshaw! That crap is SO not on the high stakes state standardized tests. Follow Meier and his Twittering at @SethMeier.  #oklaed

Nothing {New} To See Here… – Mindy Dennison at This Teacher Sings drops a ‘DUH’ on those bewildered as to why treating people badly and paying them poorly makes them not want to teach. In other “Who Knew?’ news, politicians just want to get elected and pro wrestling is almost as fake as a Kardashians episode. Trigger Warning: I’m pretty sure I detect traces of snark and sarcasm from Dennison as she ponders HOW any of this remains so COMPLICATED for state leggies. What’s NOT complicated is following Dennison when she’s Twitterizing as @MrsDSings, so let’s go do that now, kay?  #oklaed 

On Slow Readers And What It Means for Student Reading Identity / Then It Just Doesn’t Matter – A pair from Pernille Ripp on Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension – both richer and truer than ought to be possible in such brevity. From the first: “Since when did taking your time as you read become something to be ashamed of?” and from the other: “So when they hate reading we must attack that first.  Not the strategies, not the skills, but the emotion that is attached to everything we are trying to do.  We must dig and dig and dig to find out why.  And we must ask, and we must talk, and we must give them a chance to change their mind, if even just in the slightest way, as we create classrooms that are run on a culture of love for our subject, rather than a need to cover curriculum.” Ripp excites me because she says things I would want to say if I’d realized how strongly I thought and felt them, then crushes me with how simply she pleads with us to please try to take care of our children in ways which should be so obvious. It’s like crying in church. Read her. Follow her. Buy her books. @PernilleRipp 

Finally, In Honor Of NaNoWriMo2015, A Post (and an Idea) Well Worth Another Look…

Detachment: An Object Lesson (November 2014)– Dan Tricarico, aka The Zen Teacher, shares a writing assignment I would have found bizarre and possibly pointless several years ago. Now I realize he was just a bit ahead of me on the ‘getting a clue’ curve (I can admit this because he’s too Zen to ever throw it back at me, but he knows it’s true), and I love Love LOVE this one. I’m going to find some pretense for doing this in my AmGovt class this month, because… defiance. And tenure. Oh – and it’s good for the children, too. Be good for your children by being in the moment with Dan on the Twitters at @TheZenTeacher and buying his book. At least add it to your wish list – I hear there’s a holiday of some sort coming up soon, and who knows what might turn up? 

Go, my #11FF Darlings – go be amazing, no matter what that looks like for you this week. I’ll leave you with a trifecta tribute to National Novel Writing Month, beginning with one of the strangest, wrongest things ever done to a Beatles song…

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Gonna write you a letter… gonna write you a book…

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It’s amazing what words can do…

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What was in that letter that calls to me, to me, to me? What was in that letter – straight to the very heart of me? What was in that letter that haunts me from this distance? What was in that letter – so sure, so persistent…? 

Yeah, I know – but I don’t think he means just a literal letter. Go write your book, in whatever form that means for you. Straight to the very heart. 

Well, I’ll Be Darned! – #OklaEd Legend Rob Miller hit something like a zillion page views this past week…

And – being the way he is – used the occasion to credit and thank others for all they’ve done instead. Rather than sing his praises even more (why ruin him by letting it all go to his head?), I’ll simply share a few of my favorites from recently and not-so-recently, so that if you’re new, you can see why he’s such a big friggin’ deal to the rest of us. But first… “Celebration”:

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“Celebration – You’re a little bit better and ready for some celebration… Some time to get louder and not by yourself.” Indeed, Mr. Miller – indeed.

Way Too Little, Seven Years Too Late – How nice of the White House and Arne Duncan to tell us there’s simply TOO MUCH TESTING and we’ve got to dial it back! If only this weren’t the same thing they’ve said several times before without it making any difference at all. Pay no attention to that man behind the cut score. 

Just Do What They Did? Really, Jay Cronley?! – Tulsa World columnist Jay Cronley suggests Tulsa teachers stop making excuses for poor marks on the completely discredited punitive bullsh*t state report card system, and encourages more public schools to simply screen out minorities, poor kids, immigrants, or ugly fat chicks in order to improve their rankings. Miller – one of those excuse-driven labor union shills, apparently – takes exception.

Who Exactly Does A-F Help? – Before Cronley proposed his ‘Night of Broken Class’ solution to the faux ‘problem’ misidentified by A-F, the Tulsa World – normally a fairly reasonable voice in this madness – went all Yellow #2 Pencil Journalism with their soft condemnation of Tulsa area schools and teachers. ‘FAILURE’ the ginormous headline read, because presumably ‘STOP TRYING TO SERVE ALL CHILDREN INSTEAD OF THE CHOSEN FEW’ wouldn’t fit above the fold. This is really where Rob’s week took a turn for the outraged. I’d like to say I’m sorry it did, but… come on… it’s so much fun to read. 

The Hard Tyranny of Ridiculous Expectations! – Parents know, and Teachers learn, the futility and danger of making broad, extreme threats on which you cannot possibly follow through. Political leaders and #edreform voices, however… not so much. 

The New World of Teaching! – “At your school, every child is required to play football, so you coach them all—the athletic and talented ones, as well as the small, awkward, uncoordinated ones… Now imagine that your team is scheduled for only one game this year. While you have numerous team practices and scrimmages, the success of your entire season will rest on how your athletes perform in only ONE game. A game in which you, the coach, will not be allowed to watch or participate. In fact, you are not allowed to call any of the plays or provide any guidance to players during the contest. The players are completely on their own…” This was one of the first posts of Rob’s that made me realize I might be able to write like me but I’d never be able to write like this. It took me weeks to get over that simple truth. 

It’s Not Complicated – In July 2013, Rob wrote in a tone of amazement at the audacity of those labeling our teacher schools failures without talking to a single person there or setting foot on campus. Even better, their solution was so obvious – ONLY LET THE TOP 10% OF PEOPLE BECOME TEACHERS. Well duh! Why DIDN’T we THINK of that? Of course, this was a long, long time ago, and Oklahoma has learned SO much since then. JUST KIDDING! We still think if we just demand that Ts be the besterly best on an absurdly meaningless scale for no money and statewide disdain, the problem is solved. I wonder how Miller retains such a professional tone. I want to cuss and throw things.

Good Luck To The Graduates of Waldo High School – If #EdReformers get their way, soon all kids will be the exact same child. “In the future, all restaurants are Taco Bell.” Good luck with that, kids. At least their class song (I assume every graduating class everywhere will be required to use the same one) will be an easy pick:

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Next week we’ll double up on some of the other edu-blogs from #OklaEd and beyond. In the meantime, send some love to Rob Miller on the Twitters at @edgeblogger and subscribe to his blog at www.viewfromtheedge.net. 

I made the mistake last weekend of suggesting that we should consider the possibility that there’s more to a fulfilled, meaningful life than that which is measured by the state tests required to graduate high school. You’d think I’d declared all math an abysmal waste of time, all science a fraud, and recommended the ideal path to a diploma would consist primarly of smoking a little weed and lying around in a pile naked. 

I am a product of my presumptions, to be sure. I see the world through the filters of my experience and my convictions – we all do, I suppose. For those of us swimming in a reality defined by data-based such-and-such or assessment-driven so-and-so, the line between ‘higher scores’ and ‘happy future’ quickly blurs. It’s the only way to explain how otherwise sensible people working within the bureaucracy of public school systems in the heart of the midwest can insist with conviction that they are doing so despite global competition for their position – and only holding their own because of their ability to answer grammar trivia on a computer screen under tightly controlled conditions.

There are, nevertheless, plenty of successful people who could not currently pass OK EOI exams – and far more whose success is built on things we clearly don’t consider priorities, judging by what’s mandated and tested. While I didn’t realize what a controversial statement I was making by suggesting such things, I still insist that – if this particularly limited, distorted, and obsessive body of knowledge is SO ESSENTIAL to anyone getting a job, finding love, or deciding between Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime – the legislators mandating the exams should gladly take the tests themselves to establish their own worthiness to hold the very positions from which they issue such dictates. 

Can you imagine testing day at the Capitoll?

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There are some people with the credibility to talk to us about school, however – and in case you missed it, here’s some of the best of what they had to say this past week…

Scott is a Wannabe Innovator – Scott Haselwood on Teaching From Here is pretty sure we all need to get a bit more serious about #edtech. He shares some of his experiences leading into this, and issues a challenge to the rest of us to step up our risk game a bit. I was so startled I nearly dropped my chalk into the mimeograph machine! I may not always understand Haselwood when he gets all post-20th Century on us, but he’s Charter #11FF and therefore absolutely correct about everything he suggests. Find Scott on this very modern ‘Twitter’ thing using one of your ‘computers’ or ‘smart phones’ at @TeachFromHere.  #oklaed 

So What Are We Doing Here? – I don’t know if Haselwood and Link Lowe of Donuts In The Lounge are besties or not, but they do seem to be on the same screen when it comes to tech. Lowe challenges us to look at available tech “just as we do any other tool in our #edutoolbox. If it is the best tool for the job, let’s absolutely use it but if it’s not, then you’re using a screwdriver to saw wood.” Use your tool to find Lowe doing the Twitters with great effectiveness at @MrLoweOfficial.  #oklaed 

Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much With Us” – Like Haselwood, JennWillTeach is flagship #11FF and wisdom therefore flows from her loins like honey from a comb. (See? Anyone can be poetic if they try. I was hoping it wouldn’t end up quite so laden with innuendo, of course – but who am I to question the Muse?) On her JennWillTeach blog, she shares what I hope will be the first of many insights into favorite content pieces and how she helps break them down for students. As someone born with a bad case of Poem Illiteracy, I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to read something like this and feel both smart and challenged at the same time. If Jenn had been my teacher in high school (despite her being about eight years old at the time)… well, I’d probably still have been in trouble all the time and failed that unit. But it would have been much more fun along the way. Follow @JennWillTeach on the Twitters.  #oklaed 

We should check in and see how that core curriculum assessment is going with our legislators…

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Huh. Well, that does explain the whole ‘tax cuts for prosperity’ approach, I guess.

Carrying Each Other – On a bit heavier note, Rebecka Peterson on One Good Thing reminds us of something none of us like to admit – we can’t fix it all. All the struggles, all the people, all the nightmares… we’re just teaching a little school and hoping it’s enough. Peterson suggests, though, that it’s not always about the fixing so much as the mourning with those who mourn. Yeah, I know – serious stuff. But well worth the read. Rebecka is on Twitter at @RebeckaMozdeh.  #oklaed

And When This Is Done… – To wrap things up, Sherri Spelic at The Edified Listener looks at her plate, and decides that maybe she has more control over what goes on it and how she frames those things than perhaps any of us generally admit. I’m not so good at the thoughtful-wise-sharing thing myself, so I’m glad a treasured few others are. She’s one of them. Think back at her on the Twitters at @edifiedlistener. 

Surely things are going better in OKC by now. One last look at the powers-that-be and their no-doubt-ample-success with the required curriculum…

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Huh. Oh well.

Go be amazing, my darlings! You are a big friggin’ deal this week, and every week thereafter! Reward yourself with a hot, fluffy biscuit. 

I Love Fall.

Hockey has started again, the weather is occasionally tolerable, and I sorta kinda know my kids. 

Not everyone is as thrilled with shorter days and cooler weather. I will now adjust this bizarre attitude by inserting a rather awkward music video for a very nifty song.  

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Many of us are swept along in the spiraling essentials of the day – which is awesome. It’s what we do. Nevertheless, there are a few things this past week it’d be a shame to miss. I gather them here, for thee.

Game Strategy – Anthony Purcell on Random Teacher Thoughts shares a tale of his students gaming a classroom, um… game… in order to increase their odds of winning. He didn’t plan it, but he had to love it. Even when it’s not what we had in mind, it’s so cool when kids are thinky. Find Purcell and his very serious dog on the Twitters at @MrP_tchr.  #oklaed

The Great Data Chase – Dad Gone Wild talks about his love of running, and then measuring the running, and then really seriously measuring every odd aspect of or element involved in running, until (a) it’s become quite difficult to run, and (b) it’s become even more difficult to love the actual running. I totally believe his face value sincerity, but fortunately for us, it turns out this is a nice little metaphor for education as well. Follow TC Weber – the wildly gone dad in question – on the Twitters at @norinrad10. 

When Discipline Yins, Compassion Must Yang – Dan Tricarico, certified #11FF and The Zen Teacher, reflects on calling down ‘Robert’ on the VERY FIRST DAY of school. Don’t you hate it when you’re pretty sure you’re doing the teachy stuff wrong? On the other hand, those moments you kinda don’t stink are pretty sweet. You simply MUST follow Dan on the Twitters at @TheZenTeacher. 

On a less-inspirational note, while #CommonCore standards may have been the Devil’s Petroleum Jelly, it’s apparently not as easy as OK Leggies figured to throw a couple people in a room and bust out the GREATEST PEDAGOGICARY STANDARDS OF HIGHNESS LEARNARIFFIC MATHPLOSION TRUTHSPLAINED OHMYGODOKLAROCKS in the known universe. Who knew, other than everyone? Nate Robson of Oklahoma Watch shares the rather brutal assessments of some amusing experts. Follow Nate on the serious side of the Twitters at @OKWnate.  #oklaed 

Finally, A Piece Definitely Worth A Revisit…

Symbolically Speaking – David Burton of Idealistically Realistic offers this thoughtful – but concise – history of flags and symbolic expression in response to recent debates over the Confederate flag. I love Burton’s stuff and only wish I had the power and influence to persuade him to write more often. Help me peer pressure him into doing things he doesn’t want to do; you can start by following him on the Twitters at @APTeacherBurton.  #oklaed

Go be amazing this week! I’m proud of most of you. You may not be doing everything right, or feeling it all of the time, or even certain exactly what we’re trying to accomplish in this odd little calling. But you’re here, and doing it, and dedicated enough to follow this blog on top of all that. 

I can’t help but love you for that. Drinking juice from mason jars.

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