United First School District of Change & Continuity

September 4, 2015June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal ~ 1 Comment

Being in Tulsa, one can’t help but maintain some awareness of the evangelical community and the world of relatively orthodox faith – American Protestant flavor. I’ve been in and out of it myself in years past.

Despite perceptions of the godless and truculent (who seem to find fascist right-wingers ruining fun everywhere), the past few decades have been difficult times for the faithful – especially those in positions of responsibility. It’s increasingly challenging to bring in new, er… ‘believers’. It’s almost as tricky to hang on to those brought up IN the church.

Spiritual ramifications aside, it’s an interesting dilemma. How can organizations – like, say… churches or schools – built on specific beliefs and value systems, with long traditions regarding how things are done, survive (or maybe even grow) as the culture around them loses interest and moves on?

The current system of simply stealing members back and forth across town from one another is inherently flawed and finite. You can imagine the hand-wringing by well-intentioned church leaders and their supporters as they grapple with a question familiar to anyone interested in public education:

How do we adapt to new freedoms, more tantalizing distractions, a new sort of clientele, and a changing set of socio-political realities, without forsaking our core values and beliefs?

This leads to an even more difficult question for either world – church or school…

And what exactly ARE our core values and beliefs? What is it we’re trying to accomplish?

The answers aren’t as self-evident as they may at first seem. In the world of faith, perhaps the goal is to ‘save souls’ – to help people find Jesus or some variation thereof. But that hardly explains multiple meetings each week (composed almost entirely of those already converted) to teach doctrine, or inspire behavior, or correct poorly chosen paths. We must be trying to teach and grow those already converted as well.

Then there are those cell groups and potluck lunches and innumerable breakfast-at-Panera meetings – what do THOSE accomplish? It appears there’s a network or support system of relationships that we value deeply, in addition to our other goals. Fair enough.

Oh – and most churches worth their salt (see what I did there?) have some means of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc. Some target the divorced, victims of abuse, illnesses overseas, or other groups perceived to be in need. There are even a few doing impressive work helping kids succeed in school. Because education ‘breaks the cycle.’

I appreciate them lending depth to my analogy.

These things need not be mutually exclusive, but any organization can only have just so many top priorities – so many ‘primary functions’.

What does ‘improvement’ look like, exactly? It might be possible to make Sunday mornings more entertaining, for example… does that require a trade-off involving doctrine or appropriate mindsets towards an omnipotent God? Maybe we could focus more on outreach and bringing in the lonely and dysfunctional. That certainly seems in keeping with the overall mission, but what do constant new names and their weird issues do to that community the rest of us need so badly?

I’ll bet getting rid of hell and so many sins would do wonders for participation – with one minor snag being that if we’re wrong, the fallout could be both permanent and uncomfortable.

And that would be unfortunate.

It’s not my purpose to solve this particular dilemma on behalf of 21st Century Protestantism. I’m not even sure I have a real solution when I transition to the world of public education.

Which is now, I guess.

There’s no shortage of books, blogs, tweets, and edu-rants laying out all the things we supposedly must change/fix/modernize/grow in public education. There are even more about how wrong and awful everyone else’s ideas are. Jonathan Edwards has nothing on BAT or their ilk when it comes to rhetorical venom – just ask them about charters or vouchers or TFA and watch them go! And just smile politely in the direction of Common Core on Twitter to experience a level of scathe beyond all but the most radical evangelicals tackling the most colorful sins.

We do not lack solutions. Everyone has a plan, a direction, a technology, an approach to set things right. Now if we could only agree on what ‘right’ looks like, exactly. What ARE our core values and beliefs? What precisely are we trying to accomplish?

The answers aren’t as self-evident as they may at first seem. Perhaps the goal is ‘college and career readiness’ or some variation thereof. But that hardly explains the variety of subjects we require of even those committed to technical trades or our inflexibility regarding seat time no matter what their gifts or interests. We insist on a diet of literature, science, math, and some social studies, so… we must be trying to enrich and grow those already employable as well.

Then there are those sports, bands, school clubs, and innumerable pep assemblies and speakers – what do THOSE accomplish? It appears there are diverse talents and relationships we care about deeply as well. Fair enough.

Oh – and most schools have some system in place to care for and instruct high-needs kids, those with a wide variety of learning or emotional issues. Many of them aren’t college or career-bound, but we’re nonetheless legally and ethically committed to pour ourselves into those in the greatest need.

There are even a few doing impressive work with character-building and personal responsibility. However carefully we shy away from anything smacking of religion, we not only want our kids to be ‘successful’, we have a non-neutral approach to the morality of how they get there. We’re consciously inculcating ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ as we currently define them. Because ‘character counts’.

These things need not be mutually exclusive, but any organization can only have just so many top priorities – so many ‘primary functions’.

What does improvement even look like, exactly? It might be possible to raise test scores, for example… does that require a trade-off involving personal fulfillment or student attitudes towards learning or the miraculous possibilities it offers? Maybe we could focus more on creative ways to reach the misfits and the underachieving. That certainly seems in keeping with the overall mission, but what does pouring all of our resources into the most draining minority of our population do to the standards and expectations the rest of them need held firmly in order to flourish?

I’ll bet getting rid of grades and so much outdated curriculum would do wonders for participation – with one minor snag being that if we’re wrong, the fallout could be both permanent and uncomfortable.

I have no doubt we can find amazing solutions. We may even manage to scrounge up the resources to implement them. But first, perhaps, we should revisit one more time exactly what our core doctrines and non-negotiables ARE in public education.

What is it that all else must serve?

Unlike in matters of faith, there’s no omniscient power potentially judging us if we get it wrong. The consequences, however, of chasing the wrong sorts of solutions – of forsaking the essential in favor of the flashy, or of clinging to the familiar at the expense of the necessary – well…

That would be unfortunate.

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A Pre-AP Mindset

August 10, 2015June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal ~ 1 Comment

I considered breaking this post into two parts – the first full of disclaimers regarding my lack of standing to officially throw around terms like “AP” or “Pre-AP”, and the second to say whatever it is I’m about to say.

I’ve opted to go a bit more basic, but you’ll have to take my word for it that nothing I say here reflects official anything. I’m a fan of the College Board (yeah, yeah – big picture, folks), but I certainly don’t speak for them, or anyone else for that matter.

I teach what we in these parts call “Pre-AP” History. My region’s use of the term this way is tolerated but not encouraged by the folks who own the copyright. For those of you unfamiliar with Pre-AP, the official definition can be found at http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/preap/220773.html.

I’d like to talk unofficially, however, about Pre-AP mindset. About approach. Maybe even grit.

I don’t mean the students’; I mean the teachers’.

See, in my part of the country, you commonly find Pre-AP classes offered in core subjects as early as 6th or 7th grade. They fade when actual AP classes become an option, generally around 10th grade. These Pre-AP classes logistically replace ‘Honors’ or ‘Gifted & Talented’, but the goals and strategies are substantially different. Or, at least… they should be.

This is where I may get a bit preachy.

It’s the time of year when rosters are being created and teachers are finding out which of their classes will be huge this year and which merely large. It’s when teachers from the 7th grade offer to fill in teachers from the 8th grade on ‘certain’ kids, and teachers from the 8th offer to do so for the 9th.

You see the pattern.

I can’t think of anything more horrifying than going into a brand new year with new students and pre-labeling them based on choices they made with an entirely different teacher a full 8% of their lifetime ago.

Wait – actually, I can. It’s a similar conversation that goes on throughout the school year. My apologies to those I may offend, but it’s one that turns my stomach. Sometimes it just pisses me off.

“This kid just shouldn’t be in Pre-AP.”
“Half these kids are only in here because their mommies want them to be around the ‘good kids’, not because they belong.”
“I’m sure she’s trying, but she’s just not Pre-AP material.”

My favorite are the tones of voice when someone’s complaining about their district’s “open enrollment” policies –

“All they have to do to take Pre-AP is just sign up, or Mom or Dad puts them in! That’s IT – no matter whether they’re ready or not!”

I certainly understand how difficult it is to lead a class through an advanced curriculum and facilitate higher level thinking skills when some members of that class lack the knowledge, know-how, or mindset to follow along. Since time immemorial, teachers have been fighting the sand trap of ‘teaching to the middle’ – losing the low, boring the high, dragging half the middle bravely towards adequacy.

It’s not really what we signed up for.

But think about what we’re saying when we utter these words. We’re labeling young people in our care – in our GRASP – as fundamentally flawed, as less-than. We’re condemning them for not arriving ready to successfully leave our class and move on. We’re judging 13-year old students for their background, their knowledge base, and their maturity.

We’re going to go to Teacher Hell for that sort of thinking. I’m serious.

OMG, this new 9th grader isn’t a good student? He’s not READY for advanced coursework? He’s not any GOOD at playing school? He’s immature, or ignorant, or annoying?

THAT’S WHY WE MAKE THEM COME TO SCHOOL.

Of course they’re clueless. If they were mature and capable they could stay home and take this stuff online, save the district zillions of dollars. If they were ‘ready’ for advanced coursework we could simply promote them up a grade or two and let them get on it.

But we drag their sorry behinds through the door as best we can in the hopes that YOU can cajole them. Inspire them. Trigger them. Reach them. Lift them up. And – check THIS out – some of them, for whatever reason, have landed in your PRE-AP SECTION(S)! That means they, or someone in their world, have given you the green light to stretch and inspire and challenge them well beyond whatever you manage in your ‘regular’ classes!

It means you have permission to treat them like they’re smart. Like they have potential. Like they have value.

I realize that a lazy student may fail in Pre-AP, but… won’t they fail in a ‘regular’ class also? Do we HAVE a level of class in which you don’t particularly have to do anything? If so, we have a much bigger problem – we’ll still end up in Teacher Hell, but for very different reasons.

Pre-AP is a chance to find that spark, to focus on it and stir it up, in kids who may not understand what it means to play ‘smart.’ It’s an excuse to set aside some of the state standards over trout fishing and Reba McEntire to instead push our little darlings to think, and to ask questions, and to wrestle with point-of-view or how to write an effective argument.

Pre-AP is not about screening out kids from AP a few years earlier than otherwise; it’s about recruiting those who might never see themselves as AP material to begin with.

Yes, that’s more work. It’s frustrating and it’s not fair. Welcome to public education – have you been here long?

There are arguments to be made for why AP itself must maintain a certain inflexibility. And we MUST wrestle with how to avoid yet again neglecting our top academic students as we spend all of our time and resources on those less willing or prepared. I realize that what I’m advocating is not so simple as a group hug and a rousing speech about equity.

But I’ll risk a few more rainbows and unicorns to shout from this particular soapbox one more time.

If you’re “tracking” kids based on their school performance before the age of 16, you’re doing it wrong. If you’re decreeing what they are and aren’t capable of based on their maturity and mindset as of 13, that’s just ignorant.

You might as well visit new parents in the district and critique the value of their homes, check their tax statements, and ask how likely they are to divorce in the next decade. You can tattoo the child’s forehead based on that.

Hell, skip that and let’s just assign coursework based on ZIP Code. It would certainly save some hand-wringing.

Or, we can see every kid in front of us, in whatever level of class, as having possibility. If discipline becomes an issue, deal with discipline. If prior coursework is essential, work it out. And if they’re just hopelessly stupid, well… that may prove tricky.

But let’s not get our panties in such an ongoing wad because too many hungry people keep showing up at the restaurant without their own silverware, or too many sinners keep taking up valuable pew space at church. Let’s consider being glad they’re there at all, and start figuring out how to justify their presence by what we can DO starting NOW rather than how to dispose of them based on our convenience or whatever’s gone on in their worlds before.

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Handlebars

August 8, 2015June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal ~ 1 Comment

Recognize this? It’s almost a bicycle. No pedals, though – just a wooden frame and wheels. The ‘velocipede’ had to be customized to the height of the rider, and could only be ridden without losing your ability to reproduce by sticking to well-maintained garden paths or other flat, soft-but-not-too-soft ground. The kind not found most places.

It was also pretty tricky to turn. You had to lean, firmly but subtly. Crashing not only hurt, but dramatically reduced whatever level of ‘suave’ you’d managed to retain while straddle-running on the damned things.

The natural limitations on who could thus enjoy such a contraption led to the derogatory nickname “dandy-horse” – although if you spent your days frolicking on one of these, you probably didn’t care what the proletariat called you.

Sometime in the mid-19th century, pedals were added. There were no chains or gears; they were connected directly to the center of the front wheel. Variations added a third or even a fourth wheel for balance, but doing so increased the amount of work necessary to propel the beast any direction but straight downhill.

In keeping with their love of all things dainty, the French introduced the metal frame, lighter and sturdier. Unfortunately, the large wooden wheels and lack of any sort of shock-absorbing mechanism led to another unflattering moniker: the “bone-shaker” – less foppish than ‘dandy-horse,’ but still unlikely to facilitate worldwide acceptance and marketability.

Then someone tried rubber tires. Once successful, they seemed so obvious it was hard to imagine why they’d not been used before. It had only taken a few centuries, but mankind was finally producing a bicycle that didn’t painfully rearrange your bowels every time you rode it.

It was almost… comfortable.

This allowed riders to finally begin complaining about something new – the speed. Sure, pedals were exciting for a generation or so, but now that the frame and tires could handle – without causing permanent physical injury – velocities greater than grandma hustling to the loo, there stirred a need… for speed.

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Add some #STEM, and the solution once again seemed retrospectively self-evident:

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The ‘Ordinary’, later known as the ‘Penny-Farthing’ (due to the disparity in wheel-size, not the cost), altered the elitism of the ride. They were difficult to mount, required great athleticism to balance and propel with any authority, and even minor ruts or obstacles could stop the giant front wheel instantaneously – while the rider and the rest of the machine kept going forward over the now-motionless ginormous front wheel.

Riders were expected to practice ‘taking a header’ in the same way other athletes practice falling correctly or reality stars practice shame and regret. Those less-interested in pain and bone-breaking could still find recourse in tricycles or quadracycles, but the cool factor was completely absent. It may have been in the negatives.

In 1885, an Englishman by the name of John Kemp Starley transformed the centuries of absurdity and (literal) butt-hurt into a proper bicycle. He made the wheels the same size – keeping those nice rubber tubes – and based propulsion around a chain drive attaching the pedaled gears to the back wheel, leaving steering to the front wheel.

The ‘Safety Bicycle’ allowed an even greater top speed than the ‘Ordinary’. More importantly, it suddenly made the bicycle easy to ride, fairly safe to steer, easier to control, lighter, and – as production increased to accommodate the wider customer base – less expensive than anything comparable prior.

By the 1890’s, bicycles were a thing. It’s hard to imagine today, when most everyone seems to have one hanging in their garage or collecting dust in the barn. But the craze was real. It was a big – and sometimes strange – deal. We’re talking MySpace levels, or Sigue Sigue Sputnik, even. Social media when any of the half-dozen variations of The Bachelor are on – THAT level of madness.

Because now EVERYONE could ride – yet it was still cool. The feeling of movement, and speed, was unlike anything most had ever experienced – and without the need to purchase a ticket or build a barn. The ‘Safety’ was so accessible even WOMEN could ride – and ride they did.

It really kinda got outta control.

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Forsaking long, bulky skirts for practical attire – in some cases even PANTS – women discovered a sense of freedom beyond what they’d believed possible. In addition to fueling a push for better roads, feeding economic growth, promoting health and the outdoors, and simultaneously increasing a sense of community and mobility without apparent irony, the insane popularity of the bicycle also propelled the women’s movement in a way nothing intentional could have.

Suffrage was likely inevitable, but that chain drive and those symmetrical tires shaved the wait by a generation or two.

There are bicycles to suit pretty much any type of rider today – any gender, race, nationality, or income level – but by and large they’re all traceable back to that first ‘Safety’. I suppose we should pay appropriate homage to its ancestors as well – but many are rather awkward to consider.

How could it have taken THAT long to come up with… the bicycle? It doesn’t seem so complex… two wheels, a seat, and a pedal with a few gears? Oh – and that chain. The parts matter little if we lack the proper connections between them – if we can’t transfer our energy and effort into productive motion in our chosen direction.

Education in the modern use of the term can be traced back to a wide variety of sources, depending on how you figure it. It’s safe to say, however, that most iterations – while presumably the best anyone could come up with at the time – seem rather awkward in retrospect. Most look rather painful, actually.

The incarnations with the most potential – and thus those whose popularity lasted the longest – served only those most able to afford the ideal conditions necessary to enjoy them: the right socio-economic status, a proper upbringing and mindset, and, well… being a smarmy white guy.

The vehicle changed, but each revolution solved one problem by creating another… until J.K. Starley.

In a way, he created an entirely new machine. At the same time, it was undeniably based on all that rolled by before.

Suddenly something of great potential but limited use, realistic only for a few, became accessible. The experience reached for by a select minority in prior generations was suddenly not only possible, but intoxicating. It was fun. It was freeing. And it was so good for you – body, mind, and soul.

It’s an analogy, you see – bicycles and education. (I point that out because not all of you have had the same bicycle.)

No one had to be required to ride, and certainly no one was denied the opportunity – the seats adjusted easily and variations abounded for whatever your personal styles or needs. You still had to work to make it go; the more you pedal, the further you get. But with a few gears, anyone can get anywhere with a little effort and patience – even if it takes some a bit longer than others.

The modern bicycle changed something for almost everyone, and everything for some. It offered unlimited opportunity for anyone willing to pedal – and for a while, EVERYONE wanted to pedal.

Well?

#OklaEd ‘King for a Day’ Submission

March 24, 2015June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal ~ 4 Comments

I must confess I like the responses so far, most of them more than whatever I’m about to say. Scott Haselwood’s is one I could particularly get behind – I was tempted to simply cut’n’paste it here and claim it was ‘group work’.

But in the interest of adding to the conversation rather than simply standing on the shoulders of giants, here are the approximately two things I’d sweepingly reform were I sovereign #oklaed ‘King for a Day’, in, um… six hunmumblemurmer or so words (hey, Common Core math). I eagerly await the letter from Congressional Republicans reminding the rest of #edreform that my efforts will probably be reversed as soon as the next ‘King for a Day’ takes office.

#1 – Eliminate the Cult of College Readiness.

Not everyone needs to go to college. Not everyone needs 4 math credits, 3 science credits, 3 history credits, etc. Sure, in an ideal universe I’d endorse every United States citizen having a comfortable familiarity with every core subject. In that ideal universe, every child can learn everything about everything in their own unique way while held to universally high standards.

But you’ve all had those conversations, sometimes in conspiratorial whispers – “look, we’re just trying to get this kid through – we’re not doing him any favors by trying to go by the book…” We constantly circumvent the system even while demanding it be reinforced, because of all of the ‘exceptions’.

Which are MOST of our kids, if we’re honest.

We juggle our convictions regarding what SHOULD happen in theory with our concerns about what’s actually GOOD for the real kids in front of us. Let’s stop.

Our terror of tracking is valid, but it’s led us to overstandardize curriculum and students in a way which is not only harmful, but doesn’t actually work. We’re hurting the top kids in various academic and ‘extra-curricular’ realms in order to pretend that if we just grunt harder, the kids who can’t or won’t engage will rise towards excellence and discover how truly fulfilling it is to argue themes in a self-selected novel.

#2 – Get rid of semesters and required cores.

Four week units, one week off between each, teacher and student-selected. Students are offered a wide range of teacher and subject options created by teachers according to their own interests and abilities, and we do our best to work in some reading, writing, and other essentials through these.

But oh! The gaps in knowledge! The missing essentials!

Have you seriously talked to a single high school student or adult ever? They’re not all emerging as Renaissance Peeps, dear – there’s little danger of things getting worse and much potential that given the choice to teach something you care about or learn something you’ve chosen from actual options… well, real education might happen.

How do we maintain ‘high standards’ while we do this? I have no idea. But if you reject it on that basis, you’ll need to first demonstrate there’s something currently successful that we’ll be losing in the effort.

#3 – Allow kids to fail.

Yeah, I don’t like it either, but the problem with eliminating failure is that success becomes impossible as well. As I type this, March Madness is killing productivity in offices across the country. For every game played, the failure rate is 50%. Given those numbers, how are all of the teams involved SO good? Excellence matters, and that requires falling short be a real possibility.

School isn’t a competitive sport, but the mechanisms necessary for dragging everyone across the finish line willingly or not prevent anyone else actually running, or falling, or getting up, or getting faster or better at anything. You cannot be both a baby and an adult effectively.

We’re stuck in our efforts to maintain the illusion we’re promoting struggle and growth while focusing most of our energy and other resources towards dragging along the least engaged portion of our populations. Not only is it disingenuous, it doesn’t work – the bottom isn’t becoming the top and the top isn’t fooled as they sink towards mediocrity, frustrated by trying to beat a game whose rules most of them recognize as well-intentioned lies.

Other Responses from #OklaEd Bloggers (Please let me know who I’ve missed):

Fourth Generation Teacher / Claudia Swisher – #oklaed Queen for a Day

OkEducationTruths / Rick Cobb – Blogging from a Prompt: If I Were King

Teaching From Here / Scott Haselwood – If I Am The #Oklaed King for a Day!

Tegan Teaches 5th – Queen for a Day!

Nicole Shobert, Thoughts and Ramblings – If I Were Queen of Education for the Day

Choosing the Road Not Taken / Shanna Mellott – Another Brick in the Wall

A View From the Edge / Rob Miller – If I Were King of #Oklaed

The Principal’s Cluttered Desk – King for a Day of #OklaEd

Thoughts on Oklahoma Education / Jason James – King for the Day

10 Points for the Overwhelmed Student (Director’s Cut)

March 8, 2015June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal ~ 4 Comments

I hear you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed. I can help – if you’ll let me.

(*cue opening theme and credits*)

One. You have GOT to BREATHE.

Long and deep, in through the nose… out through the mouth – good. A few more times…

No, don’t just read on – this stuff doesn’t work if you don’t do it. DO THE BREATHING, then listen to me.

Two. You’re not stupid.

I don’t know if you’re a genius or not, but genius isn’t necessary here. I assure you, if you were stupid, your teacher would be nicer to you. He or she would have called you aside long ago and had a conversation something like this:

“Hey, um… Angela. Look, I have some bad news. You’re too stupid for this class. It’s OK – it’s not your fault, Probably some combination of genetics and upbringing. BUT, we’re gonna need to get you into a slow kids class, OK?”

If that didn’t happen, you’re good.

Director’s Cut: Feeling stupid usually indicates you’re not.

There are studies and science for this, but if you were great at reading up on things we wouldn’t be having this conversation, so I’ll skip them. The short version is that smart people are far more aware of how much they don’t know and can’t do; ignorant people feel pretty good about their insights and expertise.

You’ve probably noted how often they loudly express as much.

As one of the ‘good kids’, you mostly hang out with other ‘good kids’. You’re all amazing, so it seems normal to you. It’s like being 6’8” in the NBA – still freakishly tall, but perpetually feeling like a midget.

Three. You’re not alone.

Sure, there are a number of your peers for whom school is much easier than it is for you. That’s OK – everyone’s different. Most of the folks around you, though, are just putting up a good front – many just as panicked as you.

I know because I’ve had this same conversation often enough to make a blog post out of it. No offense, but I wouldn’t do this for just you. Too much work.

Four. Shut yourself up.

I suppose you could take this literally, as in “find a quiet place” – which is also good advice. But here I mean inner-dialogue-wise.

Remember the old cartoons with the AngelYou and the DevilYou on opposite shoulders? Contrary to what you might think, DevilYou isn’t primarily focused on trying to get you to rob banks or do crack. Those aren’t legitimate temptations for you – you’re a ‘good kid’, remember?

It IS, however, willing to maintain a constant stream of deprecation and frustration, running in the background of everything you think, feel, say, or do. Details vary with personal insecurities, but whether it’s despair, rage, detached cynicism, or debauchery, it usually begins with tearing off little strips of you and pretending that’s the cost of being ‘honest’ with yourself.

That’s a lie, by the way.

You can’t kill it or completely mute it – it’s you, after all – but you can recognize it and turn it down. Assign AngelYou to keep it in check. Quietly if possible, but out loud if necessary. Seriously – talk to yourself, realistically but positively. It’s good for you.

Director’s Cut: You can be realistic about your strengths and weaknesses without so much self-loathing.

That sort of internal immolation is actually a form of being WAY too full of yourself – this idea you somehow manage to suck enough that the universe takes special interest in your awfulness. Bullsh*t. Get back to work and get over yourself.

Five. Get a planner or agenda of some sort.

Mundane, right?

They work, but you have to use them. Starting TODAY, every hour, jot down what you did in class and what’s assigned and when it’s due. I know you think you’ll remember, but we’re having this conversation, so obviously…

Set your phone alarm to remind you at least twice each day – once around the time you get home from school and once several hours before you go to bed – to look at your planner. Read through it even if you don’t stop and do everything right then.

Anything that doesn’t get done gets copied onto the next day, and so on, until you do it. Continue this system even when you don’t think you need to – new habits take time.

Six. Choose a few things that won’t take long, do them, and cross them off.

If you do something that needs doing but wasn’t on the list, write it down, then cross it off. The reason this is so important is – look, just trust me on this. Short version – track record of success. Helps.

This next one is huge. Are you still with me?

Seven. When you’re doing a thing, do that thing.

If you decide to read an assigned book for twenty minutes, set aside that voice panicking about chemistry homework. While you’re doing your math, stop getting on your phone to collaborate on that English project. Pick something, and do it. No second-guessing.

One task at a time. That’s the most you can do, ever.

It’s easy to run from worry to worry until you end up exhausted and frustrated without actually getting much done. One of the greatest hindrances to completing anything is worrying about all the other stuff you suddenly fear you should be doing instead.

That’s a trap and a lie. Shut it off and pick something – right or wrong. Do it exclusively.

Eight. When you’re working, work.

When you’re reading, read.

When you’re thinking, think.

Put the phone far, far away. Whatever amazing things unfold in the 20 minutes you’re finishing your calculus, they’ll be there waiting for you when you take a break.

When you’re taking a break, take a break. Set a time limit and don’t keep finding reasons to go past it, but don’t keep worrying about what you’re not getting done.

And move around a little – it’s good for you emotionally and mentally as much as physically.

Director’s Cut: Social power never comes from being perpetually or instantly available.

Even if it’s not your intention to dangle your approval over others, delayed response time raises your standing in direct correlation to the hours you let them wait. Think of the times you’ve waited for someone online. Who holds the power in those situations?

Nine. Start the big hard stuff early.

Even if you do something else first, do the bad thing next. Leave time to be confused, ask questions, or start wrong.

Human nature is to put off the stuff we don’t fully understand and to avoid thinking about that which we most dread. Suddenly it’s midnight and everything is due and you’re so totally screwed and it all breaks down.

Again.

What’s wrong with you? WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID?

That’s DevilYou, by the way. Didn’t you assign AngelYou to reign her in?

Ten. Do the parts you can do.

Do everything you can do, even if you’re not sure of all of it. Then ask for help with what you can’t.

Read the directions – for real, this time. Call a friend. Actually read the material, take the notes, watch the videos, or try the activities. You’d be surprised how often a student thinks they’re confused when really they just haven’t done the work yet.

I mean, ideally there’s a reason we assign it. If you knew how to do it already, we’d just be wasting your time. It’s supposed to be hard.

When you’ve done the parts you can, THEN email or visit with your teacher.

Director’s Cut:

“I don’t get this.”

(What part don’t you get?)

“Any of it.”

(*sigh*)

Not effective.

“Mrs. _____, I have a question. I read this thing here and did this part here, and I notice in your example you indicate such and such. When I tried that, I had trouble figuring out ______________”

That I can work with. Makes it sound like you’re not just wandering around in a daze, waiting for a miracle.

Conclusion: It’s OK that it’s hard sometimes. Other times, it’s not nearly as hard as you make it. Try to separate your emotions from your thoughts from your abilities, and don’t get so derailed by what you WISH your teachers said or did differently. They didn’t, and they probably won’t, so work with what you’ve got.

I promise you, you can do this. If I can understand it, ANYBODY can.

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