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Burn the Boats!

4/17/2021

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© 2008, Andy Andrews. Used by Permission. Originally posted at andyandrews.com/blog.
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In February 1519, Hernando Cortez set sail on the final leg of a voyage that was to take him from Cuba, a stopover, to the shores of the Yucatan. He commanded 11 ships, with more than 500 soldiers, 100 sailors, and 16 horses, bound for Mexico to take the world’s richest treasure. The precious jewels, gold, silver, and sculptures sheltered on this limestone peninsula had been hoarded by the same army for 600 years.

The quest for these riches began several years before in Spain. Cortez, already a wealthy man, had heard about the treasure. For centuries people had tried to take it, to no avail. But ambitious Cortez knew that he could take it—if he had the right kind of help. He decided to get more people involved. He wanted to build an army that could accomplish something that one man could not. So Cortez began to travel around Spain to talk to people and build a dream in them. Since he was already rich and successful in their eyes, as he told them of the bountiful treasure that was theirs for the taking, they believed him.

Oh, other people had tried, he told them. Columbus, Vasquez, DeSoto, Vespucci-all had gone to Mexico seeking the fortune. And all were ordinary people, just like those Cortez was trying to persuade.

“They are just like us,” he said to his listeners. “If they can do it, we can! And we will succeed!” This got them excited.

“Let’s do it!” they agreed after Cortez’s persuasive speech.

Of course, a few said, “I don’t really believe there’s treasure there,” or “I don’t think it’ll work. But the majority of the people enthusiastically embraced the idea, and before long, Cortez’s ships were in place. The soldiers were in position, the sailors were prepared, and the horses were aboard. And together they set sail for Mexico and the richest treasure in the world.

But once out on the ocean, it didn’t take long for Cortez to realize he had a problem. Some who were excited before the journey, had now turned into whiners. There are always whiners.

Cries of “I shouldn’t have come,” “This isn’t what I thought it was,” and “I didn’t know we were going to have to work this hard,” began to circulate among the people. Yet Cortez persisted, in spite of them, and made it to Cuba, where he took on water, food, and supplies. After resting his men and letting the quitters get off the ship, he began the final leg of the journey, formulating an idea that had never been used before. He created a system to motivate and train his soldiers and sailors that was unheard of in the history of the military. When they landed on the shores of the Yucatan, Cortez began training, coaching, stoking them, even. He would hold “seminars” in the afternoon and “pep-rallies” at night. They were reminded constantly of all that they were about to accomplish. Cortez painted a panoramic picture of the magnificent treasure that would soon be theirs. And as they marched up and down the beach, honing their skills of warfare, they were told, “This is just one of the beautiful beaches we’ll be able to walk along when we get that treasure!”

Oh, but they were fired up! They were eager, animated, energized, and as they waited, trained, and prepared for victory, their conviction grew.

But there was one more level of commitment that Cortez wanted to take them to, and they arrived at that place on that last, historic day, as they lined up to march inland. Before they would be allowed to seize the treasure that no army had taken for 600 years, Cortez would speak to them.

They were probably expecting something like, “OK, guys, we’re gonna get out there and win today, and when we do, we are going to par-TAAAY! . . . Oh, and if it gets too tough, we’ll just meet at the oak tree and come back to the ship.” But that’s not what they heard.

As they listened, Cortez leaned in and said three simple words that changed everything: “Burn the boats.”

“Excuse me?” they must have said.

“Burn the boats,” he repeated, “because if we are going home, we are going home in their boats.” And he torched them. He burned his own boats, and by doing so, he raised their commitment level to new and astounding heights! And an amazing thing took place: they fought well! For the first time in six centuries, the wealth changed hands. Cortez’s band took that treasure. And why did they win? The answer is very simple. They had no choice! It was “take it or die”—no options. Their boats were burned.

Theirs is the attitude you must embrace in your heart and mind: you must burn your boats. What are the boats in your life that are keeping you from accomplishing what you really want? What vessels in your mind are keeping afloat the fear and doubt and frustration that hold you captive? Whatever prevents you from achieving your goals and dreams is a boat that must be burned.

Unfortunately, when the bullets start flying, we make for the boats. It’s just human nature. Doing anything else really requires a decision on our part. It’s attitude more than anything. A willingness to work without the net, to burn the bridge—or boat. What boat do you need to burn? It can only happen one way: by embracing a level of commitment that sees sacrifice as a positive thing.

So many people think of sacrifice as something that is taken away, and it’s gone forever. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sacrifices of time, money, and effort are what we give to the game. How badly do you want that final result? Are you willing to sacrifice more than anyone else? If so, then your triumphs will be consistently greater than anyone else’s. Greatness—your greatness—will always be measured by the sacrifices that you are willing to make!

So strike a match to the anchors of your past and introduce yourself to the victories of your future.

Burn the boats!

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Quote:  Challenge

4/16/2021

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“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief
that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself --
nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror
which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
In every dark hour of our national life,
a leadership of frankness and of vigor
has met with that understanding and support
of the people themselves
which is essential to victory."
​

(Franklin Delano Roosevelt, First Inaugural, 1933)
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Replacements

4/15/2021

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I feel kind of like I'm in a TV show, and new actors are being called in to replace some of the main characters.  I remember when they did that on Bewitched and Roseanne.  I remember my mom watching Days of Our Lives when I was growing up; there were a number of times when the actors were temporarily or permanently replaced.  And now it's happening in real life.

A year ago, Mr. Culbertson left the classroom for retirement.  He had taught for 30 years (side-by-side with me for 25).  Next year, Mrs. Mouton has opted to remain in the district's virtual teaching program, and Mrs. Stagner is moving into a literacy specialist position within the school.  With the need for four teachers in the fourth grade, that means we had to find three qualified candidates to round out our fourth grade team.

It's a lot more complicated than changing a tire.  We needed competent people who can learn quickly and adapt to their new situations.  We needed the best new teachers for our students.  We needed people who could work with their team members and add to the culture of Cecil Floyd.

A year ago, we hired Miss Graham.  As a new teacher, Graham has been an excellent choice.  She is conscious of teaching standards as well as techniques to deal with behaviors.

Last week, Miss Graham and I joined the principal and assistant principal to meet and interview potential new fourth grade teachers.  I will abstain from introducing them yet, but I think the two ladies who met our requirements will help effectively fill out our team.  We are hopeful concerning the direction that two more first-year teachers offer us.  It's going to be whole new world in Cecil Floyd's fourth grade, and I am excited about the possibilities we may find ourselves headed!

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Music Appreciation:  Live Like We're Dying

4/14/2021

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Students are often called upon to read "chorally".
That is, they read together simultaneously
​as a group.


Repeating this practice assists young readers
​with reading fluency -
the speed, accuracy, and inflection of  oral reading.


Why not, since it's called "choral" reading anyway, actually read the chorus of a song? 
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Are You as Tired of it as I Am?

4/13/2021

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Read a newspaper, and it's there:  on the front page, the ads, the comics.

Watch television, and you'll see it all over the place:  in the news, the commercials, the shows.

Pick up a church bulletin, read an email, look at every other post on social media, and sure enough, it's there.

Sit in a faculty meeting, a classroom, the bus barn, an IEP meeting, a job interview, and you should already know the opening remarks.

It's posted on the front door of every business, government facility, museum, hospital, store, restaurant, barber shop, church building, and school.

Call it whatever you want - Coronavirus, COVID-19, C19, the pandemic, the lockdown, the situation we have endured for over a year, the great demon - it's everywhere.

Wear a mask.

​Stay socially distanced.

Stay home.

People are raked over the coals for resisting.  People are castigated for breaking the bubble.  People are called names for giving in.

And did I mention, it's everywhere?

Are you are tired of it as I am?

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By that, I mean there are other topics about which we could talk.  There is more happening in our classroom that has nothing to do with any of this.  I don't remember if I have ever really written about it at all this school year; if I have, it has been mostly in passing.  But I know it's a major topic in the news - schools and the shutdown.

Now, after teaching in person for almost the whole school year, I can say that it has been a terrific year for me.  I don't want to diminish all of the things that have happened in my life, but educationally speaking, our class has really been a source of inspiration.  I introduce my class to a teacher as the best, and the kids seem to agree.

What initiated this tirade?  The latest issue of School & Community from the Missouri State Teachers Association is usually the source of a wide variety of articles that can help its educator-members, but in the last year, the magazine has decided that we need more of the same - more articles that begin with the obvious:  "This year has been different."  Consider:
  • Page 4, Connected (president's article):  "Before COVID-19..."
  • Page 5, 2021 MSTA Education Policy Priorities:  "Missouri educational professionals have worked tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic..."
  • Page. 6, Are You Working or on Leave?:  "Plenty of schools now have AMI days..."
  • Page 7, A Note from the Editor:  "I hope...all school employees will be fully vaccinated against COVID-19..."
  • Pages 8-11, The Importance of Reading:  "Depression and anxiety over Covid have completely drained my energy..."
  • Pages 14-15, Take Care of Yourself to Finish Strong:  "It's hard to believe how much education and educators were forced to change this past year..."
  • Pages 16-17, How Virtual Teaching Changed my Teaching Career:  "Who would have thought that during my 33rd year of teaching I would be...teaching vitually..."
  • Pages 20-21, Students Learn to Master Life Skills During Pandemic:  "...I received a message from a non-teacher friend who said, "kids have lost a solid year of development."...
  • Pages 22-23, Finding Purpose in Retirement:  "Times are stressful with COVID in the world..."
  • Pages 24-25, AMI Days and the Specials Team:  "As schools are learning to continuously adapt to various teaching strategies due to the pandemic..."
  • Page 31, comic:  "It was really weird being taught from home..."
  • Page 36-37, Putting Things Back in the "Normal Sequence"...:  "After a year like the one we are wrapping up..."
  • Page 42, Win-Win:  MSTA's Leadership Conference is Going HYBRID!:  "If you're not ready for in-person attendance..."
  • Page 43, Training for New Professionals:  "If conditions require social distancing..."
  • Page 47, Distance Learning in 1956:  Teaching by Telephone:  "As article in the April 1956 School & Community discusses school-to-home teaching devices."
  • Back Cover, A Note from Bunker Hill:  "After a crazy last year..."

I ask again, "Are you as tired of it as I am?"  Is there a way to write an article without sticking in a conditional statement about difficulties everyone has faced in 2020/1?  It occurs to me that the media would help our trauma-informed teaching by trying harder not to saturate citizens, teachers, families, and kids with non-stop comments about something that adds to trauma.  We do not ignore the issues at hand, but I would prefer moderation.

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Music Appreciation:  It's All Right

4/12/2021

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Students are often called upon to read "chorally".
That is, they read together simultaneously

as a group.

Repeating this practice assists young readers with reading fluency - the speed, accuracy, and inflection of  oral reading.

Why not, since it's called "choral" reading anyway, actually read the chorus of a song? ​​
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PPP:  Stop Calling Them Kiddos

4/11/2021

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Originally posted July 2016
​I remember it distinctly.  My parents, in reference to their involvement in the church's Vacation School, expressed their distaste for calling the participants kids.  Kids are baby goats, you understand, and it is degrading to refer to children by such a derogatory term.

I get it.  I was a child myself.  To think that children could be labeled by the same name as a baby goat!  Just imagine.  Didn't those people understand that goats are noisy, filthy creatures that chew on everything in sight?

On second thought, that actually kind of explains things, doesn't it?

But now they've gone too far!  They're no longer calling children kids; now they're calling them kiddos.  And it doesn't make sense.  Why add the extra syllable?  It certainly doesn't save time to call them that, so I suspect that people are just trying to be cute...or should I say cutesy?

How do things like this spread?  My own children's teachers, from kindergarten to sixth grade, call them kiddos, and don't think I'm not tracking it.  How long will it last?  Into junior high?  High school?

I guess it could be more worser:  they could be calling them kiddies instead.

But again, I ask you, Why?  Why add the extra o?  Do we do that to other words?  We don't call them childos or boyos and girlos, do we?  Of course not.  Kiddos sounds more like a breakfast cereal of which mothers would disapprove.  Kid-Os cereal would most definitely have bits of chocolate and marshmallows.

You see, that's what we do to these students.  We give them sugar instead of vitamins.  I would much rather their own answers to me be robust and full of lasting energy, not empty fat.  Just think about it.  Words mean something, and if we're just saying it out of habit and to be silly and cute, that alone is good reason for cutting it out of our vocabulary.  How can we show more respect to our students?

At the same time, I hear teachers in videos calling their prodigies young scholars instead.  Honestly, I'd rather hear kiddo than young scholar.  It's not sugary, but it does seem forced.  Fake.  And it's sure to get some behind-the-back razzing from students.  Others refer to their four- and five-year-olds as kinders and ​littles, which is more than a little cutesy for my taste.

While we're at it, won't you please stop referring to your husbands as hubs on the Facebook.

What do you call your children?  Have you given it conscious thought?  Or do you do so strictly out of habit? 
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Another Round of Denticular Amputation

4/10/2021

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On Monday, I had another tooth extracted.  I dressed casual.  I dreaded it all day long.  As I remembered another time when the same procedure was required, I knew there would be a great deal of pain.  I remembered howling in pain as the dentist twisted and rocked the tooth.  It was one of the greatest personal pains I have ever experienced
The dentist this time (a Cecil Floyd graduate) promised there would be no pain.

Sure.  I believe it.  That's what the last guy told me.

But this time was different.  There truly was no pain.

I love this guy!

​
Plus, the recovery was simple and quick.  Sometime during the next day, the pain was completely gone.

It was nothing like this other time, which I republish now, along with some thoughts about education and life itself.
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Originally posted April 2017

​I didn't want to do it, but I had to have that tooth removed.  It had been bothering me for a few weeks, and it was time to take care of it for good.

It's that wisdom tooth.  You know the one.  The one on the left, farthest back.  Only the second one I've ever had removed.  But the first one was different; I was unconscious for the procedure.  It was easy.  This one should have been similar, but the sedative (or what I thought was to be a sedative) had zero effect on me.  Zilch.  And the procedure was, let's say, unpleasant.

The experience in the dentist's chair was not the favorite thing I've ever done in my life.  As the doctor did whatever he needed to do to extract the wisdom tooth, my own hands were clenched into fists in front of my chest, and my legs contracted up in a concertedly uncomfortable position.  It took all I had to keep from yelling out in pain and discomfort as the dentist told me, "You're doin' great."

But I started thinking, as I am inclined to do, that my denticular amputation has similarities with teaching.  Yeah, I know what you're thinking...but it's not the hydrocodone speaking.  Hear me out.

  • One bad apple can ruin the whole basket.  ​A week after my extraction, I still have a great deal of pain.  My energy level has drained with a lack of sleep and the constant thoughts of pain as I continue to pop ibuprofen every four to six hours.  It amazes me that such a small, localized area of my body can affect the rest so profoundly.  And the same is true in the classroom.  It is equally astounding how much one student or one action from a student can affect the rest of the classroom.  When it happens, I see other students rolling their eyes in frustration.  Some even clench their fists from time to time because of the "pain" that one student causes for the student body.  They do a number of things in self defense.  Just as I responded to the dentist's pressure, students may respond physically.  Others contract and suppress the discomfort that is caused by one unruly student.

Combine these things with the seasonal allergies and sinus pressure, and we might imagine a classroom with multiple disruptive pupils.  To put it lightly, I have been physically miserable for at least a week.  After four days, I returned to the dentist's office for a review of my condition.  I expressed to him my sensitivity and discomfort, to which he responded that everything looked to be healing nicely.  He then broke me the news that it could take 21 days to completely heal and up to a full year before the bone fills in.

  • Expecting to dread something is worse than the true results.  As I thought about having this pain for 21 days, I wondered how miserable I would be after two more weeks of piercing pain in my jaw.  I know it takes time to heal, but I felt like this was going to do me in.  In the classroom, one disruptive student can be a "pain" to deal with in a classroom, if the teacher fails to see the student's potential to change and improve, the teacher can doom himself for the entire school year.  For a fact, it drains the energy levels to the level of a teacher burning out or breaking down.  That type of negativity can be avoided with a new mindset.

I'm thankful, in this occasion, that I have a student-teacher to fill in some of the gaps while my physical pain is radiated to the rest of my body.  I would have missed more days if it weren't for some breaks from the classroom. 

  • In space, nobody can hear you scream.  Consider the teacher who doesn't have a support system to fall back on.  Consider the agony s/he may be experiencing, all because s/he doesn't want to leave the classroom to somebody else.  Teachers tend to work in a vacuum.  Of course, I often value my own vacuum, where I am free to do what I want to do, but at the same time, I need contact with people who can answer my questions, help me solve my struggles, and bring me back up from my lows.

Finally, I am thankful that the doctor told me my tooth hole (as Junie B. Jones calls it) will heal.  We tend to be impatient when we are awaiting improvement.  We do not want to wait it out.

  • Patience is a virtue.  We want that kid to behave better, to improve academically, but we are often unwilling to put in the time it takes to heal.  It's not a magic show:  those improvements don't always happen before your very eyes.  And it doesn't happen without effort from both the teacher and the student.  Again, it is a mindset.  With my molar, I have already failed this test of my mindset; I have felt like this pain will never leave.  Can you imagine a teacher convinced that nothing she does will ever have a positive effect on a child?  I pray, first, that I can always look at students with the idea that s/he is hopeless, and second, that I can possess the patience to make it happen.
 
  • No pain, no gain.  Don't forget that effort piece.  We hear all the time that there is no silver bullet or magic words that solve your educational woes as an educator.  As cliché as those things may sound, they are true.  As an educator with woes of my own, I understand that I need to keep an open mind, that I need to make mistakes, and that I need to find solutions rather than whine about the problems.  My response to the pain I feel in my tooth hole is analogous to this.  Yes, I have done my share of whining, but I have also expressed to people that the pain is a sign that I am still alive.

In my post-operative visit, the doctor said I was healing on schedule.  Thanks, Doc, but it still hurts.  Then he gave me a new directive:  rinse often with salt water.

  • Be the salt of the earth.  I had already started rinsing with salt water, because I know that salt has antiseptic qualities.  The doctor explained that using salt water would keep the "surgical" area cleaner and help it heal properly.  Any individual in our class community can also be like the salt.  Just as one student can negatively affect the dynamic of an entire classroom, a student or a teacher can influence the entire system for the better, as well.  We, like the salt, can add flavor to the conversation and preserve the positive family atmosphere we strive to maintain.  Any student - even one that seems unlikely - can be that kid who leads a classroom into greatness.

I think we all know that tooth extraction is really not the same thing as teaching fourth graders in Southwest Missouri.  But then again...if I'm doing the same job as a dentist, shouldn't my paycheck be a little bit larger?
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Best in the 4-State Area?

4/9/2021

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You heard it here, folks.  Those are the words of the parent of a former student to describe me in a nomination for the 2021 Golden Apple Awards, presented by the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce.  A student currently in the eighth grade nominated me for the award this year, and in spite of being ineligible for winning, I was still invited to the reception for nominees on Tuesday.

"Best elementary teacher in the four-state area", however, is not the phrase that strikes me as the most meaningful.  Really what I like to hear is that section of this parent's more detailed description of what she claims I did for her son four years ago.  What I really like to see is the child's words thanking me for helping him when he was at his "lowest point" and had "behavior issues".  This is not a letter from the gifted student, the alert student, or the "teacher's pet"; these are the words of a struggler - a kid who hated school and had virtually given up on himself.

From the student:
...I just wanted to make you a letter to show my appreciation for you, you helped me when I was at my lowest point when I [had] behavior issues.  There were high[s] and lows but most of my fondest memories are from your 4th grade class.  This document may not mean much to you but I can't express my happiness in very many words so just thank you.
From the parent:
I am writing this letter to show appreciation for the outstanding job Mr. Hoggatt has shown so many students, including my son...No[t] only did he find interesting ways to teach his children but worked patiently with my son with every Avenue in school.  [My son] went from making lower grades in school to winning an academic scholarship for the child who showed the most academic progress in one year.  He teaches the children the importance of manners and how important an education is for their future.  He broke through to [my son] that year and [my son] has been on academic track since the 4th grade being in his class.  [My son] now in 8th grade still carries those values Mr. Hoggatt taught him just 4 years ago!  He's hand's down the best elementary teacher in the 4 state area[.  I]n our opinion he deserves this award and many more!
Teacher, it's not always about raising test scores.  It is so much more than grades and ticking boxes next to the state standards.  More times than not, we need to be inspiring our students to be better citizens, motivating them to pursue success and happiness, and allowing them a smidgen of freedom to be themselves and find their strengths and interests.  Quite often, I see my peers working very, very hard to complete data tables and diagnose specific weaknesses in each individual student for every standard, drilling down on deficiencies rather than capitalizing on the positives.
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Multiplication Masters List Still Growing

4/8/2021

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It wasn't enough to break the record; this year's class is shattering it!  We now have 14 (Count 'em!) Multiplications Masters gracing us with their presence, adding KENDRIX, LAYTON, and MYRA to the list.  Add those to ALEJANDRO, ALICE, BROOKLYN, DOMINICK, ELI, HANNAH, KALLI, CALI, OLIVIA, PARKER, and PRESTON.

Our next round of quizzes will be in the last week of school - one more opportunity to add students to the list, this year.
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Switch It Up

4/7/2021

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A switch is a handy, and energy-saving device to include in a circuit.
This lesson outlined the process for building a visible switch.
Now we can turn the lights off if we want to.

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Our Citizen Honorees

4/6/2021

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These two super students were recognized for their citizenship skills this month.
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Quote:  Education

4/5/2021

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“There are only two lasting bequests
we can hope to give our children.
One of these is roots; the other wings.”
​(Hodding Carter)
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Happy Easter, Hoggatteer Family!

4/4/2021

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Big Thinking

4/3/2021

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My dad was always a dreamer, so I think I come across it legitimately.  When I think about how I want to teach, I often find myself dreaming big.  I picture these huge projects to reinforce learning and encourage higher-order thinking.  I see students moving about the room, collaborating with classmates, and creating bigger-than-life products.

I envision their smiles.

     I hear their laughter.

          They are too busy to misbehave,

               Too happy to argue.

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That's how I see the end of the year.  While I've been in this position several times before, I always want to do more,

     Teach bigger,

          Go out with a bang,

               Make a lasting impression -

                    You get the idea.


Enacting the plan, however, can be an entirely different prospect:

     Getting the materials together,

          Finding the time,

              Mustering the patience.


It can all get to be a little much:

     the dream,

          the vision,

               the reality.


Of course, this year is especially challenging.  Students have to wear masks, stay in their table groups, and avoid interacting with other teams.

Anyway, I'm thinking about merging all of these large projects to do them all at once.  It will be a bold move, but if we can pull it off, it will also be something for the record books.

     I don't know if it can be done,

          most wouldn't attempt it,

               and maybe I am crazy.


I don't even know if I can organize it effectively, but I'd sure like to try.  While others would keep everything simple, and contained in a short time period in a single day - make a little STEM activity as a reward for positive behavior, this guy would like for his class to always be positive and rewarding.  Now that the weekend is here, the dream is growing,

     developing,

          festering.

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    VISION

    Engaging a community
    of learners
    ​through high expectations, integrity, and empowerment,
    ​in the
    LAND OF OPPORTUNITY
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    Mission

    Building a high-performing
    INDIVISIBLE
    community of learners, engaged in their future

    through a culture of continuous improvement of LIFE, LIBERTY,
    ​and THE PURSUIT
    OF HAPPINESS
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    Objective

    SOARing as lifelong,
    innovative thinkers
    who are compassionate, productive citizens,
    ​for LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
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    IN ORDER TO FORM
    A MORE PERFECT
      classroom, and 
    to INSURE
    ​DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY

    ​DO ORDAIN AND ESTABLISH that we will...
         Show Respect
         Observe Safety
         Accept Responsibility
         Resolve Conflict
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    Passing Notes

    Email Mr. Hoggatt
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    Order Online
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    Wish List

    If you are considering a contribution to our class,
    please browse our

    Wish List.
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    Trophy Case

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    National History Teacher of the Year Nominee, 2021
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    Selected Participant for 2020/1
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    April 2021
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    Recognized in Joplin Globe, February 2021
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    Dazzling Discourse, February 2021
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    Since 2021
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    Since 2020
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    Citizen Archivist, Since 2020
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    Recognized 2020
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    Prize Recipient, 2020
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    Since 2019
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    Selected Teacher Institute Participant, 2019
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    Selected Summer Residency Participant, 2018
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    "The Bus Stops Here" Grant, November 2018
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    Accepted Summer Residency Participant, 2018
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    Ancestry Classroom Grant, 2018
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    Microsoft Innovative Educator, 2018
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    Since 2017
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    Recognized 2017
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    2017/8
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    Recognized 2017
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    Since 2017
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    MSTA Media Award, KOAM-TV's "Manners Matter", Featuring Our Class, May 2017
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    Third Place, 2016 Film Festival
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    Recognized 2016
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    Since 2015
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    Since 2015
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    Awarded 2014
    2014 Recipient
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    Slide Certified, 2012
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    2009 Outstanding Class Website
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    2005 Nominee
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    2005 Joplin Recipient & Missouri Candidate
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    2004 Recipient
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    2002 Excellent Education Program
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    2001 Nominee
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    1996 Outstanding Classroom Video
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    Grant Recipient, 1993
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    Bookshelf

    Recommended Reading
    (For state award reviews,
    ​go to THE LIBRARY ZONE.)

    Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

    Because of Mr. Terupt
    by Rob Buyea

    Charlotte's Web
    by E. B. White

    Chippin Cleats
    by D. Ed. Hoggatt

    Crumbling Spirit
    by D. Ed. Hoggatt

    Echo by Pam Nuñoz Ryan

    Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

    Holes by Louis Sachar

    The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

    Loser by Jerry Spinelli

    Love That Dog
    by Sharon Creech

    Mumsket
    by D. Ed. Hoggatt

    Out of the Dust
    by Karen Hesse

    Out of the Wind
    by D. Ed. Hoggatt

    Petey by Ben Mikaelsen

    Ramona the Pest
    by Beverly Cleary

    Stone Fox
    by John Reynolds Gardiner

    There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar

    Touching Spirit Bear
    by Ben Mikaelsen

    Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

    Yankee Girl
    by Mary Ann Rodman
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    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
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    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

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    Fireside Chats

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    Choose Your Platform:
    Anchor
    ​Apple Podcasts (iTunes)
    Breaker
    Google Podcasts
    ​
    Overcast
    Pocket Casts
    RadioPublic
    Spotify
    Stitcher
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    Executive Branch

    Superintendent
    Dr. Melinda Moss

    Assistant Superintendents
    Dr. Ron Lankford
    ​Dr. Kerry Sachetta
    Mrs. Sarah Mwangi

    Principal
    Mr. Chris Bozarth

    Assistant Principal
    Mr. Kris Garrett
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    Checks & Balances

    Links to external sites
    on the internet are for convenience only.

    No endorsement or approval of any content, products, or services is intended.

    Opinions on sites are not necessarily shared
    by Mr. Hoggatt
    or Joplin Schools.
    (In fact, sometimes
    Mr. Hoggatt doesn't agree with anyone.)

The Hoggatteer Revolution

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