Sometimes, when we go to the movies or as we watch a show on TV, we are transported into the plot.  Directors understand that their selection of background music can change and enhance a scene.

Now it is time to turn it around.  This time, the music comes first.  Do not watch the video; instead, let the music lead your imagination.  As it plays, allow it to transport you into a scene that has yet to be written.  Then, write the scene.  Use all the visual imagery you can muster in your writing.  At the end, you will share your writing.  Will it stand on its own, without the music in the background?

'Tis the season for Snow Days in our part of the country.  While some moderately-nearby districts cancelled classes yesterday, we still had the opportunity to meet at the schoolhouse for a quality education.  That doesn't mean we're not going to create a Snow Day of our own!

Sometimes, when we go to the movies or as we watch a show on TV, we are transported into the plot.  Directors understand that their selection of background music can change and enhance a scene.

Now it is time to turn it around.  This time, the music comes first.  Do not watch the video; instead, let the music lead your imagination.  As it plays, allow it to transport you into a scene that has yet to be written.  Then, write the scene.  Use all the visual imagery you can muster in your writing.  At the end, you will share your writing.  Will it stand on its own, without the music in the background?

In a record-breaking move, our 2021 class of Hoggatteers has done what no Hoggatteer class has ever done before.  We now boast of 11 Multiplication Masters, adding ALEJANDRO and ELI​ since our last report to the previous Masters:  ALICE, BROOKLYN, DOMINICK, HANNAH, KALLI, CALI, OLIVIA, PARKER, and PRESTON.

In addition to these individual achievements, records are being broken.  I have never had a class who averaged as high as this class, often forced to accept a class average of 88% as our high average for the year.  Last week, this record (and as far as I know, our school record) was shattered as our class average reached 97.6 percent.  That's 2.4% below 100, and it's only January!

​For me, it's a dream come true, something I didn't think would ever happen.

Sometimes, when we go to the movies or as we watch a show on TV, we are transported into the plot.  Directors understand that their selection of background music can change and enhance a scene.

Now it is time to turn it around.  This time, the music comes first.  Do not watch the video; instead, let the music lead your imagination.  As it plays, allow it to transport you into a scene that has yet to be written.  Then, write the scene.  Use all the visual imagery you can muster in your writing.  At the end, you will share your writing.  Will it stand on its own, without the music in the background?

Most people probably do not realize the work that is involved for the candidates once the nomination has been made.  With the name in the running, the assignment to the teacher usually begins.  There are usually some essays requested, a resumé, a listing of community involvement, and a lesson plan or project.  Some candidates are not up to the task, and they drop out of the running, satisfied to have been considered.  I've always felt like if someone took the time to give me the opportunity, I should be able to take the time to make an effort, too.

It is not only the award that I receive:  the process is also a reward.  So I sit before the keyboard now, asking myself, What has it all meant for me?  I have to tell you, the answer is surprising.  Let there be no mistake: obviously it has been an honor when parents and students have deemed me worthy of nomination, but there is more to the process than meets the eye.

• To be honest, there is a modicum of pride when someone receives recognition for diligent effort.  It is a badge of honor to be known as the first Golden Apple recipient from our school.  It is a boost to the ego to be the Joplin Schools Teacher of the Year in the following year.  You might expect that, yes, it makes a person happy to get a handshake from the superintendent of schools and a pat on the back by a principal.  I only hope that pride is tempered and does not become boastful.

 

• Unexpected is the amount of self-reflection and soul-searching that accompanies all of the homework that follows the nomination.  It is a challenge to communicate a teaching philosophy in a single page, and it is difficult to reduce a 31-year experience into a 500-word essay, but the limitations forced me to truly examine the important things.  In doing so, the philosophy is streamlined.  It causes one to realize that some things we thought were essential may not be so.  Some things we thought were effective were merely cute.  Some of the methods we thought were creative were more harmful than intended.  I can tell you that submitting materials for teacher awards and teacher institutes have probably done as much to make me a better educator as any professional development I've received by any school district, company, or organization.

 

• I have come to realize that my writing improves with revision and editing.  Being forced to write within the confines of an essay or a prompt challenges me to think inside the box differently.  I've realized that the revision process is actually fun for me.  That's not true for everybody, I know, but for me it has become a puzzle.  I move the pieces, some quite large, into new positions, squeeze pieces in where they did not originally fit, and find the extra pieces that do not belong.  I turn my puzzle into something unique that doesn't look like everybody else's.

 

• The result of this is humility.  I never understood when someone received a public award and said that the experience is humbling.  I always thought that the sense of pride and joy would outweigh humility in that moment...but such is untrue.  While there is happiness, I have found myself to question my own worthiness for the prize.  Am I truly the one who deserved the honor?  Surely, there is someone out there who is better, stronger, faster, or smarter than I am.  Surely, I am not the most creative, the most effective.  Those thoughts can keep a person centered with feet firmly planted.

 

• Finally, there is the motivation to keep going.  What is it about a plaque, a trophy, or a certificate that drives a person forward?  What is it about a positive job review or a good grade that inspires a person to try even harder?  The accolades we receive compel us to fulfill our responsibilities to the prize.  We feel as if we must keep earning the award we have already received, like we must constantly prove we deserved it in the first place.  A certain amount of this is healthy.  I hope.

It might be a stretch to tie in our "fitting" pattern blocks to "setting" the type on an 18th century printing press, but it's what we do.  Last week, Hoggatteers had some fun trying to make everything fit with no spaces.  They also played some short games to try to stump each other.

Sometimes, when we go to the movies or as we watch a show on TV, we are transported into the plot.  Directors understand that their selection of background music can change and enhance a scene.

Now it is time to turn it around.  This time, the music comes first.  Do not watch the video; instead, let the music lead your imagination.  As it plays, allow it to transport you into a scene that has yet to be written.  Then, write the scene.  Use all the visual imagery you can muster in your writing.  At the end, you will share your writing.  Will it stand on its own, without the music in the background?

I realized something this week, and it just had to become the latest in a long line of my Professional Pet Peeves in education.  It has something to do with the manner in which professional educators and legislators look at data.

Just the word, data, is enough to send chills down the spine when it is so often misused or weaponized against a student or a teacher.  We record information about all kinds of test scores, and suddenly kids are reduced to numbers and dots on a so-called data wall.  We use all kinds of red, yellow, and green stickers to show success; yet we never measure the joy of learning, the sweet taste of success, or the motivation to attack a challenge.  We don't ever get to the heart of learning, because we are too often only concerned with the muscles.  I tell you now, it takes both.

Fortunately, our current principal gets this.  He is, by nature, a "data man".  He loves to crunch the numbers and find points of interest, but he still gets that matters of the heart, the emotions, and everyday life must somehow be factored into the equation.  Every point on a graph can be questioned and thought out with logic rather than just being a rock that needs to be moved from here to there.  There is no reason to get too deep into the weeds without consideration of each life and soul.

So when the principal displayed some data at last week's faculty gathering, I took notice.  It wasn't in the weeds at all; it just floated on the surface for consideration.  It seems that, across the board, our students this year came to school in the fall with much lower math scores than reading scores.  That was easy to recognize at the time, and it made a lot of sense to me.  I remember thinking that this was a relief, because math is something a little more tangible and something that can be easily improved.  We all got to work.  While we didn't neglect reading, we wanted to work on something that needed to be fixed.  After all, these students missed a quarter of their third grade year when the world was locked down at home for a virus in the spring.

The result of our effort was that math scores exceeded our growth goals while reading remained steady.  The question, asked the principal, is why.  Why?

And so I did what I do.  I sat and listened to his "pep talk", while at the same time, I pondered the question (Ponder, ponder, ponder.), and I like what I came up with.  I could be wrong, but I think it makes sense.  I won't go into a lot of my own personal development, but suffice it to say, reading is different than math.  Got that?  We can all agree on that, right?  Reading and math are not the same.

Click the link for more Professional Pet Peeves.

Yes, the air has chilled.

The moon is new.

And it's January!

​That can only mean one thing:  it's teacher award season.  The biggest awards available to nominated teachers in our area have to be the Golden Apple Awards, hosted by the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce.  Our school has had eight recipients of this award in the past, including Yours Truly, the first Cecil Floydian to earn the recognition (way back in 2004).  Another three Golden Apple recipients have also taught at Cecil Floyd, either before or after they earned the award.  Nominations are open now for the Golden Apple Awards in Joplin.  To nominate a deserving educator, a form must be completed, and two letters must be written - one from a student (past or present) and another from that student's parent.  As a past recipient, I will never be eligible for future nomination.

The challenge was to design a floating vessel to hold as many little green dinosaurs (soldiers) as possible.

​In our challenge, each student sketched his/her idea.  When it was time to make a prototype, groups had to choose which design elements to use.  Then a thin sheet of aluminum was provided for the actual construction of the teams' ships.

Students now know the gist of the account of the first and largest of the American victories with George Washopotamus - er, Washington - at the helm.  Next, we'll be checking in on France.  Apparently Benjamin Franklin is over there, trying to stir up some kind of an alliance to help the Patriot cause.

Until then, here are some short videos of Wednesday's experience:

Hoggatteers had the chance to become George Washington, on Tuesday, when they took part in the interactive game appropriately named Be Washington.  They used the big screen to view footage of the situation, and on their laptops, they heard from expert advisors with conflicting opinions.  Based on all of this, each student had the opportunity to make his/her own decisions to respond to the battle scenario at hand.

​Forty percent of the class made the same choice that Washington actually made.

Dan Rockwell writes a blog called Leadership Freak.  He posted an entry titled One Thing You Must Stop Doing.  He began his article with five signs a leader may be creating dependency.  This attracted my attention because I know we often have to work on breaking learners from depending too much on their teachers or parents.  When considering my students, I have to realize that I could do everything for them - clean up their manuscripts, correct their computations, etc. - or I could empower my students to solve problems, attack and correct their mistakes, and challenge themselves.  I choose the latter.

Rockwell offers a simple list that makes sense.  His blog, of course, is about leadership and not applied specifically to education, but there are some practical ideas here that shouldn't take too long to remember.
He wrote that a leader does not empower the organization if members of the community must constantly ask permission before acting.  Trust is important.  Like oxygen, trust is invisible, but important to survival.  I have to think about how this is true in my classroom of 10-year-olds.  How do I empower my students without losing sight of procedures and expectations.

I have had students in my classroom who seemingly put their hands in the air before approaching a problem on their own.  When this happens, I refuse to jump in immediately to help them.  I must not fall into the temptation to crowd a child with guidance until I know s/he gets a chance to attack their challenges on their own.  I like how Rockwell puts it:  "Stay available but keep your hands in your pockets."  If I hurry to assist a child, I establish a dangerous pattern that says that I will always be there to swoop in, but the fact is, we (parents and teachers) are trying to get our children ready to face a world in which we will not always be present.

Rockwell also wrote that if nothing important happens when you're gone, then followers have to wait for the boss to be present in order to be productive.  We have to change this.  For the teacher, I should stop believing that nothing worthwhile can happen when I call upon a substitute teacher to fill my shoes.  Learning should not stop when I have to be away.

Later in his post, Mr. Rockwell suggests clarifying expectations through use of repetition and daily practice.  He says followers need systematic feedback (That means they have to be vulnerable enough to accept constructive criticism.).  Rockwell writes that not only must gratitude be expressed for achievement, but that it's always important to show gratitude for effort.  He says people must be challenged and stretched.  He affirms the forward-leaning attitude of Growth Mindset when he tells leaders to let people "responsibly fail".  He explains that this only teaches people to play it safe.

In this simple blog post, Dan Rockwell reminds us (leaders/teachers/parents) not to run to everyone's assistance. It's not always intuitive to allow our developing children to develop on their own and to stretch their thinking.  We seem to be OK with working our muscles by using such a strategy; I wonder why we resist using this approach with emotions and academics.

Sometimes, when we go to the movies or as we watch a show on TV, we are transported into the plot.  Directors understand that their selection of background music can change and enhance a scene.

Now it is time to turn it around.  This time, the music comes first.  Do not watch the video; instead, let the music lead your imagination.  As it plays, allow it to transport you into a scene that has yet to be written.  Then, write the scene.  Use all the visual imagery you can muster in your writing.  At the end, you will share your writing.  Will it stand on its own, without the music in the background?

Here's a tour of the Royal Governor's Palace at Colonial Williamsburg.  There are some awesome displays within these walls, and I patiently await my visit, next summer.