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Tis the season, eh?

In the midst of our anticipation and preparation for family, festivities, or maybe just a few weeks curled up on the couch Netflix-binging, so many thought-provoking and challenging things are being written and discussed in the edu-blogosphere. Some are uplifting, some are rather discouraging – but the stuff you really really shouldn’t miss from this past week is all right here.

It’s my early gift to you, ’cause we’re tight like that, yes?

Breaking The Silence – Hopefully you’ve watched the video by now (it’s embedded in the post on the off-chance you’ve missed it). 12 minutes of teacher reality from the good folks at Moore Public Schools. David Burton of Idealistically Realistic certainly has, and adds his own experiences to the mix. You should too. Then, follow @APTeacherBurton on the Twitters. You’ll be one friend better as a result.  #oklaed 

A Little Thing Called Love (and Education) – Many of you read the post from OKWU regarding overly sensitive students this past week. I forwarded it along myself, albeit with a few minor reservations. Shortly after, I was approached by a colleague who’d graduated from there and who had some real issues with the letter and its tone. She made good points, and I started to wonder if I’d hit those ‘Likes’ and exploding heart buttons too soon.

Jennifer Williams, aka JennWillTeach, has some of the same reservations as my colleague, and expresses them so very well here. #TriggerWarning – Christian themes, possible sarcasm, hints of unicorns and rainbows levels of caring for young people. Find @JennWillTeach on the Twitters – but don’t expect her to coddle you, no matter how nice she seems here.  #oklaed

Side Note: There’s a fascinating article in Psychology Today about students’ supposed ’emotional fragility’ and the reactions to an earlier piece by the author on the same subject. It’s a long read, but worth it if this is a topic in which you’re interested beyond the occasional snarky post. 

A Call To Arms – I do so resent having to repeatedly fight the same old voucher battles and other efforts to suck the remaining marrow out of Oklahoma public schools. Worse, it’s always done with such gilding – it’s always for ‘choice’ and ‘the children’ and ‘healthy competition’ and all the same euphemising and verbiaging we always see when it’s time to reward #whiteprivilege or otherwise cut loose the neediest from the public lifeboat.

Thankfully, Rob Miller at A View From The Edge is able to address the issues with less hyperbole and bitterness than myself, and lay out clearly – AGAIN – why this latest round of “dump on their dinner and call it dessert” is bad for kids, bad for schools, and bad for the state. Santa Claus can’t possibly be bringing these people ANYTHING this year, can he? Follow Rob on the Twitters at @edgeblogger – I promise you, he’s much more calm and rational than I am about these things. Then again, who isn’t?  #oklaed 

You Can’t Blame Her – On a much more uplifting note, Erin Barnes at Educating Me shares one of my favorite testing stories of all time about her six-year old daughter – who is clearly MUCH smarter than Pearson or ETS or whoever made the stupid test she had to take. If you want to do something smart as well, follow @elynnlll on the Twitters. I just love her.  #oklaed 

Finally, and somewhat uncharacteristically, this piece from a non-educator about a topic not at all specific to public education.  

In Which I Tell You How Your Religion Works – I’m not that familiar with Luther Siler or his blog, Infinitefreetime.com. But this post resonated with me so strongly that I’m passing it along here, despite the very political and religious nature of the subject matter. He’s, um… rather blunt about what he has to say regarding faith, terrorism, and turning away refugees. Regular readers know that’s completely fine by me – especially when he’s so very right as well.

If you’re the sort to get fired up over social or political opinions inserted where you’re not expecting them, this is probably one of those times. Read it anyway – I’ll trade you being mad at me for you being exposed to what he says here. If you’re NOT pissed and DON’T unfollow me as a result, feel free to find Siler on the Twitters at @nfinitefreetime and see what happens. 

Whatever your social or political leanings, go forth boldly this week and teach the crap out of those kids in your room! Love them despite themselves and be excellent despite the system in which you labor. Illegitimi non carborundum! You are FAR more amazing than you realize – and they need you so much more than they can possibly conceive. 

I leave you with more Bellwether Squares for Xmas:

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Too Many Good Things This Past Week.

I’ve included more than usual, but still left out far too many. So NO SHENANIGANS! Let’s get right to it:

A Sad Look At Human Empathy – Maha Bali, of Reflecting Allowed, offers this very personal, very reasonable, consideration of our ability (or lack thereof) to truly see others as part of the same species as ourselves. I like it for many reasons, but topping the list are (a) she’s horrified by the tone and attitude behind some responses to recent events rather than focused on arguing policy, (b) she highlights the game-changing power of personally knowing people different than ourselves in some way, and (c) she recognizes that interpersonal ugliness stems from human tendencies we must be aware of and fight, not from some people being ‘good’ and others being ‘bad’. At least, that’s how I read her.

Follow @Bali_Maha on the Twitters and read her for yourself – not so that you’ll agree, but so that even when you don’t, you’ll hear her. 

Thoughts On Obstruction & Serious Conversation – Rick Cobb at OKEducationTruths is back, and that means something both evil and idiotic is rearing its head and requires addressing (I originally went with ‘requires stomping and fire’, but that makes him sound so negative – I just think of him as the serious, legit one we turn to when big words are involved). Here Cobb discusses Boren’s sales tax proposal to fund public education (which is NOT the big evil thing), framed by a legislature and state generally hostile towards schools and teachers in general, consistently working to destroy them so they can be labeled failures and replaced by, I dunno, Haliburton Educational Services or something.

*pause*

I, um… I may be extrapolating a bit. Go read his argument for yourself, and double-check to make sure you’re following @okeducation on the Twitters.  #oklaed 

Sitting Still – Tina Lundy, the revered MiddleSchoolStationConductor, reminds us that MANY KIDS NEED TO MOVE AROUND SOMETIMES AND DO STUFF THAT DOESN’T SUCK before they can learn the things we’ve decided are so darned important instead. Are we really gaining ground by taking away the very things research shows help them learn in order to hammer them harder with the things that aren’t working already? I love this blog.

Move around with @TMLunday on the Twitters and read more stuff that doesn’t suck.  #oklaed 

Aliyana’s Mindset Moment – Bill Ferriter at The Tempered Radical reminds us as we argue the relative merits of tests, grades, and other trappings of traditional schooling, not to forget the kids inside the maze. Or at least, he reminded ME. What he’s actually sharing here is the story of one kid and one test and one brief discussion putting grades into perspective.

Sometimes we don’t have to overthrow the system to subvert the dominant paradigm. Sometimes we just have to tweak our approach a tiny little bit to make a better impact. Oh, and there’s a little ‘growth mindset’ thrown in for good measure – and you know I’m all about that.

Grow with Ferriter in the Twittering Fields at @plugusin and let’s expose the Matrix together. Let’s take the red pill. 

The Multiplication Effect – I’ve often poked at Meghan Loyd of For the Love over her stubborn optimism and sometimes bizarre idealism regarding this profession. Don’t tell her this, but I am often SO thankful for the right rainbows and unicorns.

“Keep going. Keep reaching. Keep doing the hard things. Don’t stop. Love kids. Know them. Reach out to them, but remember it’s okay if you don’t reach and impact them all. Maybe you just weren’t the person that they needed at the time. See the good in every kid, and I know sometimes you have to look really hard. Mulitply your circle of influence. Don’t worry about the other stuff, just love your job and love your students. You just might be the only one that truly does.”

Multiply your circle of influence with @MeghanLoyd on the social media platform with the happy looking little bluebird. Bring a tissue.  #oklaed 

There’s A Canyon Divide That’s Hard To Leap For Students After High School – Starr Sackstein at StarrSackstein.com discusses the ‘pedagogical divide’ between the ideal High School approach in which content depends on teacher-student connection and the traditional Post-Secondary approach in which content delivery is the priority and the audien- er… the students, are largely secondary. Sackstein is the most practical, no-b.s. edu-blogger I know who still never seems like she’d rather be throwing heavy objects at someone. 

I don’t get that, but I admire it. 

Be calm and poignant with @MsSackstein on the Twitters. You may not always agree with her, but you can’t help but think differently – and more clearly – because of her. 

Bonus Post! Even If You’ve Been Scanning & Have Other Stuff To Do Or Aren’t Really Paying Attention – Stop and Check This One Out.

(And I’ll end a sentence w/ a preposition anytime I darn well please.)

Faking Excellence: The Art of Milking Mediocrity for All It’s Worth – Ilana Horn at Teaching/Math/Culture has a rather entertaining offspring who shares her writing from time to time on mom’s blog. In this piece, the younger Horn offers up advice from one student to another on how to get by in school without wasting nearly as much time as the system seems to expect. 

it’s funny, and well-written, and possibly intended as satire (at least, I think that’s how she sold it to mom – but I don’t buy it). But it’s also a pithy window into some of the absurdities and weaknesses of what passes for ‘school’ – traps into which we all fall from time to time. 

Read it because it’s really that good, but don’t be afraid to think about it more than you want to. I think she’s telling us something rather important whether that’s her primary goal or not. 

While you’re at it, go tell mom how well she’s doing with that kid of hers. She’s @tchmathculture while Twittering, and her writing is pretty decent, too. 

That’s it for this week. Thanks for caring enough to support #oklaed and edu-blogging in general. I do have one last request if you’d be so kind…

TODAY, and several times this week, as you go to the posts above or to other edu-blogs or sites you find helpful, encouraging, or challenging – COMMENT ON THEIR POSTS.  I know, I know – you’re busy, and you figure they have ALL these followers, etc., but I’m telling you – specific, positive or thoughtful feedback is too rare and so very powerful and encouraging. If they’ve said or done anything to make you think, or to better your day, tell them. The more precise and constructive, the better.

While your at it, pick one kid a day and do something similar for him or her. The total cost in time and effort is minimal, and you’ll feel better afterwards. 

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Sometimes, children, you have to CHOOSE to believe. That is the nature of this calling. 

Believe In Yourself – Scott Haselwood of Teaching From Here has been a bit more scattered and his posts less elaborate since he began taking… I dunno – whatever classes one takes to get ALL THE DEGREES by Summer 2017. I never cease to be amazed, however, by his determination to stay hopeful, and to question, and to push, and to prod, and to believe that WE CAN DO THIS. He’s either on something or onto something – and you can’t help but believe the latter. If you need help believing, follow him on the Twitters at @TeachFromHere – and tell him you believe as well.  #oklaed

Hello, Year Four – Keen Educator Ashley Stearns is back in the edu-blogosphere, and her voice is both well-timed and welcome. She’s feeling a bit scattered as well (see a theme this time of year?) but wants to assure us – and herself, I assume – that this is OK. It’s OK to be tired. It’s OK to be confused. It’s OK to mess up. Take a breath, get it together, and BELIEVE. I’m glad she’s back. Tweet her at @KeenEducator and tell her you’re glad, too.  #oklaed

How Much You Care – Tom Rademacher on Mr. Rad’s Neighborhood revisits the old line about them not caring how much you know until… blah blah blah. The weird thing is, he makes it meaningful again. Like… I believed it again, and kinda cared. Go read it yourself, then follow @MrTomRad on the Twitters. You will believe. 

The Unexpected Becoming the Norm – George Couros of The Principal of Change discusses the essential role of leadership in education if real learning is going to happen. By way of example, he shows some love to our own Supt. Joy Hofmeister. When was the last time you remember ANYTHING in Oklahoma being cited in a positive way regarding public education? Find Couros on the Twitters at @gcouros and while you’re at it, follow @Joy4OK as well. We think she’s swell. 

Power, Labor, and Compliance in Education Reform: Why We Must Refuse – Yeah, I know… this edition of Blue Serials was in such a happy place, and now I’m wrapping up with a visit back to real world headaches. BUT, this rallying cry from EducationAlchemy to fight principalities and powers and pedagogical wickedness in high places is as much a call to believe as it is an exposè. This piece argues that when a ‘crisis’ demanding more and more control and funding lasts more than a few generations, we should perhaps question the validity of the ’emergency’ – or at least the sincerity of the solutions. Rally with @MornaMcDermott on Twitter to continue the alchemy. 

Regular readers and #11FF know that I’m not particularly cutting edge when it comes to #edtech, but I couldn’t help but be impressed by the latest breakthroughs in classroom and personal technology. The age of the flipped, personalized, responsive, BYOD, differentiated, edu-miraculous personal learning automaton is HERE!

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Go forth and believe, my amazing carbon-based teacher-types. If you do well, you may win a Tums.

You are SO much better than you think you are – and I thank you.