Tag: teacher stuff

The Importance Of Being Delusional

~ Blue Cereal

Wile E. Coyote Moment Of ClarityYou may remember the old Roadrunner cartoons where Wile E. Coyote, distracted by his mad pursuit of his prey, runs right off the edge of a cliff before pausing in mid-air. Oddly, he’s fine as long as he doesn’t look down and notice the reality of his situation. If he’d just kept running, he might have made it to the other side of the gap (where his nemesis had already paused to “Beep! Beep!” at him before speeding away). 

Eventually, however, he does look down. He takes a moment to emote defeat or despair, sometimes even waving to us or holding up a cute little sign offering concise commentary on his plight. Then… he plummets to the ground far below, reappearing after the commercial to begin his next futile effort to catch that $#%&* bird.  

Imagine, however, if Wile simply accepted the reality of his situation before running off the cliff. What if he looked at his track record, and that of the Road Runner, and realized that statistically he was probably never going to catch the thing and that his time would be better spent doing something else. Would that be… victory? Would that mean he’s growing, learning, and adjusting to circumstances? Or would such a shift in thinking mean he’d lost something valuable in the pursuit?

We mock him, but who do we relate to more in those cartoons – the antagonistic bird or the eternally determined coyote? 

Education certainly isn’t the only field in which we sometimes have to keep running and ignore the fact that we long ago left the cliff. Many professions contain some element of blind faith and a daily decision to embrace the long-term possibilities, whatever today may hold. There are times we catch glimpses of the harvest – students who evolve so dramatically over time, notes received from those impacted in the past, or conversations in which light bulbs pop up over the most unexpected heads. Sometimes we catch the Roadrunner, if only for a moment. Make note of those moments – file them away in tangible form so you can prove to yourself they happened when you need to.  

Seriously, you’d be surprised.  

Altar-ing Course 

If you’re a Sunday-Go-To-Meetin’ person, you may recall that in the Old Testament, it was common after the Lord God did something noteworthy for those impacted to build an alter commemorating the moment. It probably seemed a bit odd to some. Were they really worried they’d “forget” that time Jehovah destroyed thousands of their enemies with fire, disease, or sporks? Was there genuine danger after El-Shaddai wrestled with you all night, changed your name, and altered the course of your descendants for a thousand generations that it might slip your mind down the road unless you left a pile of rocks nearby?  

Yes. Yes, there was. That’s why it was useful to build a display commemorating the moment and maybe even write down what happened. That’s why so many major events began with leaders recounting everything important that had happened up until that point before announcing plans going forward. We are a shallow, short-term people – and not just spiritually. Circumstances change. It may not seem like it while you’re on the mountain, but you’ll at some point likely hit a valley or two. (Things seem even less changeable when you’re in the valleys, but chances are good you’ll eventually glimpse sunlight again.) And guess what makes all of this easier to remember? 

Obviously it doesn’t have to be a literal altar. A folder or storage bin under the bed will do just as well. The point is, sometimes you have to look back and remember when things were better in order to help you believe they won’t always be like they feel now.  

The rest you have to fill in with a little healthy self-delusion.  

The Challenges Of Selective Reality 

We’ve seen some pretty extreme reminders in the past year of what happens when people aggressively deny fundamental reality and replace it with their own fan-favorite nonsense. Educators can’t ethically afford to completely ignore the signs that something’s not working. I’m positive any teacher reading this could easily list a half-dozen things they’d change if they had the power which would dramatically improve both students’ experiences and overall academic performance. It’s harder to be truly reflective and think critically about what you could be doing differently, however – especially if you’re in a situation where you feel so little support to begin with.  

It’s an irony I suspect occurs in other professions as well. When you’re supported, listened to, and valued, it’s easier to question what you’re doing and challenge yourself to get better. When you’re constantly belittled and discouraged, there’s little room for that sort of risk. You hunker down and do your best to just “get through.” Check the boxes. Do the minimum. No one cares anyway. It’s not like the students are going to notice or get all worked up that you’re not “challenging them” enough. Just do the paperwork. Log in to the training, turn off your camera, and watch Netflix on your phone. Keep grades current, update Canvas regularly, and beyond that, to hell with it.  

That’s when you most need some positive self-delusion. That’s when you should absolutely sacrifice a little reality for some belief. Stop looking down. I don’t care how far it is. Look forward and focus on the raspberry that bird is blowing at you as we speak. Then run.  

Choosing Your Delusions 

Yes, we have to keep slapping ourselves a bit to make sure we’re not becoming “that” teacher. We have to find ways to think critically and professionally about what is and isn’t working. We have to distinguish their hoops from our hopes (I can’t believe I just said that). If you’re not getting better, you’re usually getting bitter (dear golly, that’s two in a row).  

That said, I respectfully suggest our self-evaluation should be focused on reaching the cliff on the other side of the gap – NOT on looking down to think too much about where we are right this moment. I hesitate to come right out and say it, but I think sometimes surviving in the world of education requires a sort of selective self-delusion. We gotta try to be honest with ourselves about ourselves, but I’m not sure I want to look too closely at the realities around me. I’m not sure I want to know what the chances are that anything I’m doing will make a noticeable difference for most of the kids in front of me. I’m not sure I want to think too much about the relative impact I’m likely to have compared to peer groups, cultural pressures, social media, poverty, and race. I’m positive I don’t want to get bogged down in my shortcomings and failures over this bizarro pandemic teaching clusterfunk – all the things I’d try differently if we could go back and try again. 

Not that I’d ever willingly go back and do this again.  

How can we tell the difference between our “delusions” and those of right-wing ideologues, demagogues, conspiracy theorists and propaganda machines? I think it comes down to something cheesy. Something I’m almost embarrassed to type, but can’t express any other way.  

I choose the kinds of delusions that make me more hopeful. I choose the delusions that give me more faith in my kids than they’re sometimes justify in the short-term with their choices. I choose the delusion that the opposing cliff is closer than it seems and that it’s more possible than it looks to make a positive difference in the lives of those in my care. These delusions may not have the natural traction of “those who oppose me draw their power from the plasma of sex-trafficked children and Pizza Hut is their mosque” or “Jesus wants me to stand up for my rights and stop being forced to consider the health and welfare of other people,” but I’d argue the tone is noticeably different. 

I distinguish between delusions based on the attitude and goal driving them. That may not make one type truer than the other, but it certainly makes some more palatable than others – and that’s what I’m choosing to go with.  

Strap On Your ACME Helmet 

If there are things you could do better next year, by all means – dig in and fix them. If there are lessons you’ve learned from this past year (or four), then get serious about learning them and make the necessary adjustments so you don’t have to learn them again.  

But don’t look too closely at the short-term results or the apparent reality of your situation – not if you want to keep going until you reach the other side (at least temporarily). Don’t count the number of times the Road Runner has escaped or discount your latest rocket-shoes, catapult, or magic hole-on-a-wall before you’ve tried them with full conviction. You’re probably not going to accomplish all you hoped when you took on this gig. You’re probably not going to have movies made about you or books written about your impact. I wouldn’t even bet on a “Mr. Holland’s Opus” moment now or in the future.  

That doesn’t mean you’re not doing a good job. It doesn’t prove your worst fears and adds zero credibility to the accusations of your detractors. All it means is that sometimes you can’t see it and probably shouldn’t think too hard about it. Not this time. Maybe eventually, but not right now. For now, having the right sort of delusions is enough.

Is That A Right?

~ Blue Cereal

2020 SucksDon’t get excited – I’m not diving into current events or anything. (I’m far too demure for such things.) In fact, I’m intentionally avoiding the subject at the moment because any effort I make to write rationally about what we’ve become ends up as a spittle-spewing, obscenity-laden rant and, worse, totally off-brand. Those of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook, where I’ve lost even the veneer of professionalism or decency towards my fellow man, can no doubt verify this assertion. 

Instead, I’d like to share two very simple things you may find useful. Or, you may not. You may find yourself a little bit sad for me if these are my best new cutting-edge distance learning ideas at the moment. Either way, I’m giddy enough for both of us.

“Is That A Right?” is the name of an activity I’ve done with American Government and American History classes for years, and which I’m considering trying “virtually” this fall if circumstances lead us down that path.

Is That A Sample

It’s not even an overly innovative lesson. It’s really just a PowerPoint presentation with a series of descriptions of potential “rights” as per the U.S. Constitution. Students vote ‘Yes’ if they believe whatever’s on the slide is a protected right and ‘No’ if they don’t, and we discuss it a bit (“Tasha, why do you think so?” or “So, Garrett… would you still say that’s a right if we change the wording to what Tasha said?” You guys know how discussions work.) The next slide tells us the “right” answer, often with disclaimers about how it’s actually a bit more complicated than that – because it’s almost always a bit more complicated than that. Then we go to the next one.

I recently converted the most recent version of this presentation into Google Slides. You can access it in its entirety right here. If it’s something you’d like to use, all you have to do is make a copy (File, Make a Copy…) and it’s yours. Once you’ve copied it, you can change prompts, explanations, images, etc., just like with PowerPoint.

Is That Another SampleSo how could we do this if we’re not in the same place?

I’ve had the privilege of co-teaching several workshops with an amazing history teacher from the Houston area named Barrett Doke. He’s one of those guys that loves technology, but always as a tool for putting more of the learning into the hands of the students and never as an end in and of itself. We all say that’s how we want to use technology – but he actually does it that way. (Now, the rest of you don’t get all defensive – I’m sure MANY of you are just as wonderful. I’m just sharing my personal warm fuzzies.)

Doke is partial to Google Slides and gets rather… enthusiastic when given the chance to share the many simple things you can do with them to make your lessons more flexible and your technology more useful without investing endless hours or – and this is a biggie – relying on your district to purchase and maintain subscriptions to specific apps or equipment. He showed me something he liked to do in Slides that would never have occurred to me. (As I said at the outset, it’s entirely possible this is obvious to everyone else in the world besides me. I can live with that.)

If you adjust the ‘View/Zoom’ for your slideshow while NOT in ‘Presentation’ mode, you’ll discover there’s all sorts of unused space around each slide. You may have stumbled across this in the past when moving around graphics or setting up animation. As it turns out, you can put stuff in these margins and it will be saved and accessible along with everything else, even though it’s not part of the slide.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Doke often uses this space for what I think of as ‘tokens’ which students can access. These can be numbered or customized to include their names (although the tokens have to be slightly larger that way). Whether they’re all in class together or meeting virtually (but synchronously), he’ll pose a question or prompt and offer the same sorts of options you’d see with multiple choice. Students move their tokens to the part of the slide which best reflects their response, then Doke calls on a few to explain why they chose what they did. Because they’re all on the same document, everyone sees what everyone else is answering – just like in class.

The Magic Extra Space

Yes, this is very similar to what Pear Deck does. I’ve not used Pear Deck extensively, but I hear great things. It might actually do this particular type of activity a bit better. I don’t have it, however, so it’s not a factor.

Here’s the long distance version of the same activity. I’ve used it with teachers successfully, but haven’t yet had the chance to do it this way with students. You’ll have to make your own copy (File, Make a Copy…) if you’d like to use it.

Tin Can PhoneI like several things about this lesson in this format:

The discussions are still the discussions. They’re the key to the lesson being meaningful and the information sticky. Without good discussions, it’s just another quiz.

Anytime you can have synchronous (i.e., “live”) student responses in a form other than asking them to speak up in class, you change the dynamics and who’s likely to participate. That’s not to say it magically guarantees full engagement, but students who may not take initiative in class will often drag their token to the answer they like best.

If you have particularly shy or fragile students, the alpha-numeric system allows a degree of anonymity. One of my priorities is usually creating a dynamic in which everyone learns to speak up, and in which disagreement is healthy and means you respect the other person enough to challenge them, so anonymity is not a priority to me. Plus, it’s difficult to have discussions, even online, anonymously.

Finally, the slideshow is easily shared with students. It’s forever available should they choose to review anything or question anything after having time to think about it.

Old ComputerThere are, of course, several downsides:

It’s tricky to keep track of who’s who on Slides. On Google Docs or Google Sheets, students logged in to their school Gmail show up on my screen as a cursor with their name next to it. I can also check version histories and edits in case there are shenanigans. I’m not sure Slides has a similar feature, and even if it does, it won’t help you if your students don’t have school Gmail accounts. That means in theory, anyone can move any number. (Then again, is there ANYTHING in class – virtual or otherwise – that’s completely bozo-proof?)

In order for students to have access to move their tokens around, I have to give them access to ‘Edit’ the Slideshow. That means in theory, they can add or delete slides or change other elements of the activity. I’ve made messing with the slides (accidentally or otherwise) a bit more difficult by ‘locking in’ everything except the tokens themselves. If you’ve made your own copy of the “Long Distance” version of the activity, you may have noticed that while you can move the tokens around, you can’t move around shapes or text on the slides like you normally could. It’s still possible – for you or anyone with ‘Edit’ access – but it’s more laborious and would require both knowledge and focused intent. This is thanks to another cool thing Doke showed me that is gradually changing my online instructional world. (Again, keep in mind that I’m nearly a thousand years old and still both startled and impressed by things like lava lamps or instant music downloads.)

If anyone’s interested, I’ll try to talk about ‘locking in’ elements of various slides next time. I’m learning to get better at doing it, but I’m not yet adept at explaining it. For now, you’re welcome to play with “Is That A Right?” and let me know how it works out. Keep in mind that you’ll have to make your own copy before it will let you edit anything or even move those little tokens around. Obviously, once you’ve made your own copy, you can add far more antagonistic, current event-related slides of your own and blame it on that guy who posted it on the internet to begin with.

You absolutey have that right.

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Cutting Up Gum Based On Haircuts

~ Blue Cereal

I discovered early in the year and quite unexpectedly that the vast majority of my students were familiar with this They Might Be Giants track from 2007. I’m not sure why – they’ve not had World History officially before now – but it was a convenient hook for a time and place otherwise quite tedious and unfamiliar for them and at times rather challenging for me. (My favorite line is the one about how Ashurbanipal isn’t getting any gum because he made fun of the singer’s haircut – who could have seen that coming?)

Several weeks later, we’re blowing through the fall of the Roman Empire and the establishment of Constantinople as the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Eventually, I tell them, this city will be renamed Istanbul. It was Constantinople, now it’s Istanbul – not Constantinople. Been a long time gone, Constantinople…

I realize with some surprise and no little dismay that they have no idea why I’m talking this way, though they continue to stare politely. Still, I can’t help but finish.

TMBG

“Why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks!”

Nothing.

Well, in one hour there was a single very excited child, but he’s strange anyway, so who knows what his reaction might have meant. And yes, I kept doing it the same way every hour, deep in my conviction that first hour had to have been an anomaly. And second hour. And third.

They weren’t.

Early in the year I introduced them to the concept of a “Required Viewing” list on YouTube for each unit. I’m not generally going to take class time to show these videos, but by way of introduction I chose a sample from Crash Course History and one from Hip Hughes History – the two big dogs when it comes to saucy, fact-packed legit history on the YouTubes.

Almost every kid in every hour recognized Crash Course as soon as the theme music hit. They hadn’t watched the World History videos, but clearly previous social studies teachers had used these in some way – and good for them. Recognizing this, I expected a comparable reaction to Hughes, but… nothing. They watched – he’s very engaging – but he’s also an acquired taste, and they hadn’t acquired it prior to my preview.

It was weird – like they all knew how to add and multiply but had never even heard of subtracting or dividing. I’m positive that were I to try the same thing in next district over, the reactions could very well be reversed.

Other times it’s far less consistent. We’ll be discussing something in class which I’d learned maybe three days before (not that I always tell them that) and a hand will go up:

“Mr. Cereal, I thought the Nubians essentially developed out of Kush… weren’t they the envy of eastern Africa as far back as the days of Abraham?”

I know what you’re thinking – smart aleck kid trying to show off, right? But no – just someone genuinely confused by the way I’ve presented something and how it seems to conflict with their oddly specific knowledge of ancient history.

NubiansIn that same hour, of course, I can ask the entire class which way is east on a map of Africa and nearly spark panic because they hadn’t realized there would be a “quiz” over this particular topic. They’re brilliant and ignorant, interested and bored, richly steeped in the strangest historical folderol and lacking critical foundations for basic historical understanding.

Because they’re real people. Americans, and teenagers – either factor sufficient to guarantee that you can never quite know what to expect.

What’s my point? I’m not complaining, I assure you. I have great kids – the kind you don’t have to work that hard to love most days. But after nearly twenty years in the classroom, they’re still so unpredictable sometimes. I knew a new district in a new state would mean some changes, but so much of what’s different is intangible. Random, almost.

And yet, when I stop to think about it, this happened from year to year when I was in the same district forever. Sometimes it happens from hour to hour. What they know. How they act. What they’ll do. When I can push them. When I shouldn’t.

I don’t always adjust as well as I’d like. Sometimes I miss things, and other times I’m simply not sure what to do differently. But I know that it matters from student to student, hour to hour, year to year that I try. I know that nothing in this gig is static or predictable. It’s not even entirely rational.

Sure, my planning is important, and the standards are important, and there’s a big ol’ test or two coming up at the end of the year which is super-duper-portant, too. There are tight limits on just how much I can alter “the plan” – that’s the nature of the sort of class I teach. But there’s a reason most versions of most courses have a semi-professional human (with a degree and everything!) running the show.

Even if all we care about are the standards and the exams and the skills and the content, the best way to make that medicine is with motivated, supported educators well-aware of expectations but with substantial autonomy to adopt and adapt as they see fit based on the kids in front of them and the unique reality they radiate. I’m not saying there’s no role for online courses or commonly agreed upon curriculum across your departments, but setting aside the ethics of treating students as interchangeable receptacles, the vast majority of the time it simply doesn’t work.

Because they’re not.

Clones

I’m not talking here about their feelings and idiosyncratic needs and such – those things are important and should be reason enough not to run schools like green bean canneries, but I don’t think we have to even argue the humanity of the individual on this one. (It’s just as well; I grow tired of such basics being forever up for debate.)

We can stand safely on the rhetorical ground (Accountability! Measurement! Standards!) of the ideological opposition and still have every reason to insist that real teachers, with real qualifications and experiences, are the best way forward – even if you have to, like, pay them and stuff. Why? Because to date, no algorithm or script can accommodate or adjust to so much weirdness and unpredictability from kid to kid, room to room, city to city, or year to year. No combination of technologies, theories, or pedagogies can gauge better than that professional human when to push, when to listen, when to insist, or when to back off ever-so-slightly.

Google Offices

And friends outside the classroom, I hate to break this to you, but most kids don’t walk in every day driven to learn. Most aren’t motivated by the options a solid education might provide for them in three years when they graduate, or the fulfilling careers made possible in about a decade if only they’d suck it up and do the damn activity over Chapter Three. Some operate out of fear, others out of habit, and some are simply mindless zombies serving the system… but many many many of them, whether you like it or not or want it to work this way or not, operate out of relationship. Because a teacher “gets” them, or provides structure they don’t have at home, or makes them laugh, or listens to their stories, or some other impossible-to-quite-package-or-even-quite-explain connection. We’re far from perfect at it – most days I fail more than I succeed – but remove that element and suddenly we have way more kids who aren’t going to be “college and career ready” come their 19th birthday.

Maybe the “real world” won’t care about their feelings or individual learning styles – that’s fine – but unless we end up back in a 19th century factory system sometime soon, successful companies will continue to tweak their policies based on the wants and needs of their best employees. Successful careers will continue to demand enough empathy and perception that managers learn how to get the most and/or best out of their people by understanding which things are non-negotiable and which things can be fudged, adjusted, or approached in some other way. Employees will continue to learn that while the posted policies and expectations matter, so do those intangibles which make their peers and superiors feel better about them as co-worker or employee. From thence come happier workplaces, productivity, and promotions – the sorts of things we insist we’re trying to prepare them for by forcing them to be here in the first place.

That’s not coddling, snowflake; that’s just going to the trouble to do it better.

Good Meeting

So my kids are weird and still surprise me with what they feel and want and know and can do. I do my best to grab those moments when they come and build on them – often back towards where we needed to go anyway. I didn’t get it done in time to use this year, but I devoted the first four world history-themed posts in “Have To” History to “The Mesopotamians” – Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal, and Gilgamesh. The individuals are fascinating (even the fictional one), yes – but there’s very real history woven into their tales as well. If things unfold in a similar fashion next year, I’ll be ready.

More importantly, though, I’m going to try to be ready even if they don’t.

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Sample Syllabus

~ Blue Cereal ~ 4 Comments

Mr. Miyagi I’m always surprised what people ask about at conferences or in small group settings. That’s not a criticism, just a reminder that sometimes we don’t know as much as we think we do about what people want, need, or might take an interest in. 

I’m often asked about my grading policies and classroom expectations and such. Obviously no single document can capture classroom dynamics, and no set of policies means much without the right relationships and other art-more-than-science stuff. Even if I AM doing something that’s working brilliantly, that doesn’t mean it will work for all teachers with all kids in all situations.

That’s why we haven’t all been replaced by DVDs just yet – there’s too much real-live-people stuff that we’re needed for every day for this whole ‘school’ thing to work. 

That being said, I’m more than happy to share my Class Syllabus for the coming year. (Don’t worry, Jenni – this isn’t where I send my kids to get the real syllabus. I corrupt them elsewhere on the interwebs.) I’ve altered a few specifics regarding contact information, the Class Website, etc. – hence the {brackets} here and there. 

None of this is an effort to convince you or anyone else to do anything differently. YOU are THE BEST AUTHORITY on what works for YOUR KIDS in YOUR CLASS. Period. I’m just sharing, because… unicorns. 

River Syllabus

Pre-AP American Government / Oklahoma History (9th Grade) Class Syllabus

{Teacher Name & Contact Info} 

Content & Skills Overview

This semester we will cover the origins of American Government, the basics of the U.S. Constitution and its major Amendments, important Supreme Court cases, the general structure of Congress and how it works (or doesn’t, depending on your point of view), and other American Government-y sorts of things. Next semester we’ll jump to the history of our dear state, focusing on those elements that help illuminate U.S. History as a whole or which {your teacher} finds particularly interesting. (Yes, some of it’s interesting.)

Because this is a “Pre-AP” class, we’ll also work on the sorts of skills that might help us survive – or even flourish – in an AP class or in college. The big four are (a) learning to ask good questions, (b) interpreting and analyzing primary sources, both textual and visual, (c) understanding and incorporating secondary sources, including graphs and charts of various sorts, and (d) analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, and otherwise wrestling with the information we’ve gleaned, then saying or writing something coherent and persuasive about it.  

Stuff You’ll Need

* Paper / Pen or Pencil – Seriously, you’re in high school now.  Bring your own basic supplies to class.

* A folder or notebook dedicated to this class. I will periodically give you stuff to keep in your History Folder for easy access, forever and ever. From time to time I’ll ask you to show me that you have these things in some easily accessible, coherent order. Figure out what works for you, but keep in mind the general goal is that at a moment’s notice, you can find and access these items without substantial pain and suffering – for you OR for me. 

* An agenda or planner of some sort. It is important that you copy our anticipated weekly agenda from the class website each weekend and have it ready to be checked every Monday morning. You may incorporate this into your History Folder (so they’re essentially one thing) or the Agenda may be a separate thing (in which case I strongly encourage you to use it to stay organized in ALL of your classes).

Class Website: {URL}  

Computer Syllabus* You will be required to visit The Class Website regularly in order to copy the anticipated schedule for the upcoming week. Your agendas will be checked each Monday morning. The schedule will be posted no later than lunchtime Friday of the previous week so that students without convenient internet access at home can use the school library or other school computer during lunch or after school in order to fulfill this requirement. 

* Generally, everything we do in class will be posted on the Agenda in full – sometimes before we get to it in class, sometimes shortly after. If you lose something, check the Agenda. If you’re absent, check the Agenda. Hopefully you see a pattern here. 

* The Agenda is also a good way for parents to keep up with what you’re supposed to be doing, even if you shrug a great deal and act like you’ve never even heard of this class before whenever they ask. 

* Pre-AP students will be expected to access the website for periodic class discussions, usually over a book we’re reading for class. The window for such assignments will be sufficient to allow those without convenient internet access at home to make use of computers here at school, at your local library, etc.

* The Class Website is also used for announcements of general interest from time to time, Required Viewing videos, and other things intended to help you keep up with this class. As the name suggests, the Class Website is a website for this class – that’s all it does. That’s why it exists. Everything on it is for you. Try not to act surprised that something on the Class Website is intended for you to access or utilize for this class. It’s… discouraging. 

Silent Reading Fridays

Almost every Friday in this class is a silent reading day. Often there will be assigned titles related to the class, but other times you’ll be allowed to choose, as long as your choice meets some very general and easy-to-satisfy requirements (which we’ll cover in class when appropriate). This is NOT a day for catching up on other work or going to other classes to make up quizzes, etc. With very few exceptions, SILENT READING IS SACRED.

Required titles may be procured as you see fit. Barnes & Noble by Woodland Hills Mall has most of what we’ll read set aside behind the check-out counter with my name on them, but you are not required to buy them there. You may purchase them wherever you like, new or used, check them out from the library, download them, borrow them, or whatever – as long as you have them by the required date. E-Readers are fine as long as you use them primarily to read. 

I usually have copies available to check out, but not enough for everyone to use. If there are circumstances complicating your ability to secure a copy of a required book, NO WORRIES. I just need an email or phone call from a parental unit asking me to check a copy out to you. This is a logistical necessity to separate “we can’t get this right now” from “I forgot to tell my mom about this but don’t want the mean teacher to scowl at me.” Classroom copies will be checked out on a first come, first serve basis, based on emails / phone calls.

Books About Pants?Why All The Reading?

I’ll spare you the research and discussions behind the decision, but the short answer is this: Reading is Good. 

The slightly-longer answer is that reading helps us learn stuff, increases our attention span and vocabularies, prepares us for AP and college, and potentially makes life richer and fuller because we’re not quite so shallow and clueless. And yes, *sigh*… it increases test scores as well – for people who care about such things.

Grades & Grading

The current system requires that we boil down everything you do in school to a handful of letters and numbers. It’s a horrifying, stupid way to measure learning, but it’s entrenched and unlikely to change anytime soon. So, if we gotta do it, might as well try to make it meaningful and useful in some way.

How To Pass: Show up. Do your work. Try. Try some more. Ask for help if you get stuck. (You will find this system works for most things.) Generally, it’s difficult to fail this class unless you really want to. Oddly, a number of people each year seem to really want to. I find this bewildering, but… you’re in High School now. With increased power comes increased responsibility. 

Your grades will be split into 3 categories of equal weight, even though we may not spend equal time on each one.  

Effort / Completion Grades / 30% of Semester Grade – This is the “did it, turned it in” part. While it doesn’t sound like a very high bar—and it’s not—a big chunk of life consists of showing up and doing what you have to do. Whether it’s flipping burgers, filing reports, examining patients, or recording your next album, at some point you have to show up and do something to move forward and/or get paid.

Content Knowledge / 30% of Semester Grade – This measures whether or not you know stuff.  Most quizzes and tests fall into this category, especially the knowledge recall types (i.e., “which Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment?”) It won’t always be tests and quizzes, but grades in this category will always be an attempt to measure what you know.  

Social Studies Skills / 30% of Semester Grade – These measure what you can do, at least in terms of the skills central to this particular class. In some ways, this can be the toughest category – it’s the one most closely related to actual thinking and wrestling with ideas and information and such. On the other hand, this is the one category in which you may attempt mastery (or at least competence) as often as necessary until you “get it.” Because of that, you should ALWAYS have a 100% in SKILLS. If you don’t, it’s because you choose not to. Period. Literally. 

Semester Test / 10% of Semester Grade – The ideal semester test incorporates both skills and knowledge, and of course you have to show up and take it to receive credit. I haven’t made this year’s test yet, so I can’t promise anything regarding what it will look like, but I can promise it will be worth 10% of your semester grade.

You Will LearnMiscellaneous Stuff You Should Know

All of the stuff in the school policy guide you’ll be given the first week of school applies in this class as well.  You are responsible for knowing the rules of the school. Some of them make perfect sense; others are simply necessary in order for a building with well over 1,000 kids and less than 100 adults to function safely and smoothly. 

You want to change the system? Start by beating the system – graduate, get yourself a real job, then run for School Board. Another option is to get an Education Degree and come shape young lives in your own way, all you like. If you’re not willing to get involved, power remains in the hands of those choosing to put in more effort than you. That’s how government works. 

Anything you are doing in this class other than what you are supposed to be doing might become mine. I’m not actually looking for reasons to take your phone or your candy or your magazine or whatever. If you’re listening when I speak, getting your work done, and otherwise taking care of business without distracting those around you or annoying me in some way, we’ll probably be fine. If not, I’ll need a parent call or email to get your stuff back. With increased freedom comes increased responsibility. 

Other teachers do not have the authority to excuse you from this class. If you are tardy or absent without a pass from an administrator, counselor, or the school nurse, then you are tardy or absent. Notes from another teacher do not change this. Every teacher thinks their class is WAY more important than everyone else’s class – but it’s not. 

Class lasts until I dismiss you. DO NOT get out of your seat or begin wandering over to the door before you have been dismissed. I realize this is Old School and not the way the cool teachers do it; it is how I do it, however, and I’m particularly grumpy and touchy about this one. I need desperately to believe there are a few lingering signs of civilization and that we have the ability to control our bodies and actions – at least in short bursts. 

When in doubt about what to do, do the least disruptive thing and/or the thing which demonstrates respect for your fellow students. Use your best judgment, and if I think you made the wrong call, we’ll change it for next time.  

Finally and Foremost… (if it’s possible to be ‘foremost’ at the end of something, which it may not be)

Don’t pretend you can’t do something just because it’s hard or makes you frustrated. Obviously some of it’s hard.  If all of this were easy, we wouldn’t have to come to school to learn it; we could knock it out online and spend the rest of the day on Instagram or Twitter.  THE LEARNING HAPPENS IN THE STRUGGLE. 

Don’t complain that you’re not smart enough to do this or that or tell me you tried your best if you didn’t. I mean, lie to me if you must (although it’s usually not effective), but don’t lie to yourself about what you can or can’t do. You might start believing yourself.

That being said, don’t make the opposite mistake and hesitate to ask questions or seek help if you’re stuck or confused. Ask your classmates, read the directions again, etc., FIRST, but if you’re still not sure, come see me before or after school or at an appropriate time during class. The same thing applies if you have questions about a grade you received, a comment I made, a topic we discussed, or anything else class or school-related. You’re not “bothering me” when you do this; the district actually pays me a paltry salary primarily so that I’ll help you with stuff. It’s what I do. Have you not seen the motivational posters everywhere?

I’m always happy to talk to your parental units, but they’re not the ones trying to learn how to become students, historians, or grown-ups. YOU should try to handle it first – THEN call in backup if we’re for some reason unable to work it out. That’s one of the primary goals of school – to help you become actual people. With increased potential comes increased responsibility. 

I want you to struggle, yes—but you’re of no use to anyone curled up in a fetal position shaking in fear and self-loathing. Own your learning. Seek solutions. Ask. Try. 

Repeat as necessary.

TLHITS

Classroom Control, Part I (Historical Guest Blog)

~ Blue Cereal

Old Classroom 1

Today’s Historical Guest Blog comes to us from Corinne A. Seeds, A.M., Principal of the Training School, Assistant Supervisor of Training, University of California at Los Angeles, with the cooperation of Milo B. Hillegas, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University. I am not aware that either has a blog of their own, and as the material used here was published in 1927-28 (in Volume I of the 12-Volume series, The Class Room Teacher), chances are good both have gone to that great Teachers’ Lounge in the sky to mimeograph with the angels, as it were.

Their advice is nonetheless timeless – or at least amusing – and is shared here in excited anticipation of the upcoming semester.

Classroom Control: Methods of Control

The problem of classroom control is most vital and of outstanding, far-reaching importance. The future welfare of our country depends largely upon the methods of control used upon its future citizens. By these very methods teachers can produce anything from slaves who obey their masters explicitly without thinking, to freemen who make their choices only after careful deliberation and discussion. Thus it is of the utmost importance that teachers should know what types of control are best for the future welfare of a democracy.

“…a conglomerate mass of individuals at all stages…”

Our democracy is composed of a conglomerate mass of individuals at all stages of ethical development, from those who obey the laws made by the group for the welfare of all only when they are forced to do so to those unselfish souls who realize that their highest development and happiness are reached only as they consider all and act according to the best interests of the whole group. Midway between these two extremes we find those who obey only because they have been trained to do so, some who conform because of fear of the disapproval of their fellow men, and still others who act in accord because they long for approbation.

Taking into consideration all of these classes of people with such different attitudes towards control, it would be folly to assume that one method of control, even the ideal, would prove sufficient to promote the best interests of the group. There should be as many types of control as there are attitudes toward it. While it is necessary at times to use the lower forms of control, yet it should be the hope of the democracy that in the dim distant future, through our methods of education, the ideal can be truly reached – “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” 

Old Classroom 2

“…the highest control is that which comes from within…”

The problem of control which the classroom teacher must meet is a miniature of the greater problem which confronts the democracy.  It is not easy for the teacher to know how to manage Mexican Pedro, whose father digs in the street, Isadore, the son of the Rabbi, Mary Evelyn, whose mother is president of the philosophical society, and forty others who differ more or less in native and acquired characteristics, so that they may live richly and cooperatively together in their school community and grow into better, happier boys and girls. Like the democracy she should be cognizant of the fact that the highest control is that which comes from within as a result of reason, and she should strive toward that as her ideal. But she should not be utterly crushed if at times she has to resort to coercion in order to promote the greatest good for the greatest number.

In order to meet the control problems found in the typical American classrooms, teachers use methods based upon the following general types or combinations of two or more types:

(1) No control, wherein the children all do as they please.

(2) Teacher control, wherein rules are made and enforced by the teacher.

(3) Group control, wherein rules are made and enforced by the group working together for a common purpose.

(4) Unselfish self-control, wherein each person considers the good of the whole.

Old Classroom 3

NO CONTROL – Example:

The teacher is attempting to carry on a class recitation with one group of children while the others are supposed to be studying. Two or three large boys are lying on the floor with their feet propped against the stove. They are reading fiction which does not contribute in any way to their assignment. They later show a lack of knowledge as to the lesson content. Several girls are holding an animated conversation about the ways of securing pictures of the favorite “movie” actresses. The children who are trying to study have to dodge continual volleys of chalk, paper-wads, and even an eraser now and then. A note of unsavory character is passed about among the older children who laugh heartily at its contents.

The room is in an uproar; the recitation is a complete failure; but the teacher smilingly assures the visitor that she believes in “freedom.” 

Discussion:

There can be no defense for such lack of control, even when masquerading under cover of the term “freedom.” The teacher might as well not be there at all. The result of no control is always chaos; children are denied the right to feel happiness in real achievement; habits and attitudes are formed during these years in the school room which may tend to make of them, in later life, unreasoning, selfish, and lawless citizens.

Perhaps it might be well to state that true freedom would not allow such an infringement upon the rights and liberties of others. True freedom is something which should be earned and bestowed only upon those who can use it wisely. All teachers should be very careful to distinguish between real freedom and merely allowing children to do as they please. Real freedom leads toward right and true happiness; while allowing children to do as they please leads toward wrong and toward future sorrow.

Old Classroom 4

ABSOLUTE TEACHER CONTROL – Example:

When the class assembles on the first day of school, the teacher firmly informs the children that they are there for business and she is there to see that they attend to this business of learning. In order to accomplish this, certain tasks must be finished each day before they leave school. Anything which interferes with the work of school, such as talking without permission, whispering, giggling, or writing notes to one another will be carefully noted and punished by the teacher.

Ever after the children study the lessons assigned by the teacher, answer her questions, and accept the punishment she doles out for misdemeanors and errors. They usually do no more than they are asked, and frequently they misbehave when the teacher is not looking.

The teacher’s life is one of constant watchfulness. Her profession is not teaching; it is policing. She must be continually alert to catch the law-breakers, fair enough to pronounce just punishment, and persevering enough to see that punishment once pronounced is executed.

Discussion:

Such a method is far preferable to the preceding no-control type and should be used, especially by the inexperienced teacher, until she can determine the type best suited to her class of children. If used by a teacher who is always just and fair, the class achievement is usually good and the children rather happy. If, perchance, the teacher is a benign tyrant, the children will often vote this type of control the best of all, because, like many adults, some children dislike sharing responsibility and making choices.

Under this system the children usually do the right thing, not because they know it is the right or why it is the right, but because they are trained to obey blindly. The great danger her lies in the fact that they may form habits of following blindly, and later may unthinkingly follow unworthy leaders.

No teacher should be content to use this type continually unless she is handling groups, who, because of limited capacities, will always be obliged to “follow a leader.” As soon as possible each group of children should be given a share of the responsibility for its own mental and moral achievement. The teacher should covet the position of guide and advisor rather than one of policeman.

Old Classroom 9

Next: Part Two – “The Ideal Solution,” in which it is revealed that…

“Daise was sobbing too much to talk, but the indignant lad and a dozen others could tell. John had given Daise a branch of Japanese cherry blossoms to bribe her not to report him. Before the investigation was over it developed that eight-year-old Daise had become richer by a box of raisins, two candied cherries, and a chocolate bar – all for not doing her duty.”

(Coming Soon… Maybe)