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I gave students the task of designing a boat for a purpose. We weren't going for speed. We were simply trying to float a boat that would carry as many dinosaurs as possible. Boats needed to hold a large volume. The best design for this is a rectangular prism with high walls. That flat bottom helps the boat float high in the water. Our best performing vessel held 176 dinosaurs before meeting it demise on the ocean floor (Don't worry: all passengers were rescued.).
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 I have just read a section of Tony Wagner's and Ted Dintersmith's book Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era. In this short section of a discussion of K-12 schools, after their outline of elementary and secondary subjects and the changes they propose in our methods of operation and focus, the authors wonder if a new kind of course might be more effective. Rather than breaking down each subject into its own 20- or 40-minute time block, they propose blending subjects the way we confront them in "real" life. I concur. In fact, when I submitted my application for the Missouri Teacher of the Year in 2004, I stated as much. Recently, in my application for a four-day residency scholarship to George Washington's Mount Vernon, I reworded my statement. When my teacher-peers curiously peek through the window or observe my class at work, they realize life is not divided into isolated topics, changing every 20 minutes and breaking on a regular schedule. Life is multi-dimensional and transcendent. When we surround ourselves with exciting, real-life situations, we shatter the traditional mold of school. We time travel! That may sound good, but in all honesty, it's more of a goal than the way we actually conduct ourselves in Room 404. I will never feel as if I have arrived, as if I have become the teacher I truly wish I could be. But that's the hazard of viewing education through an artist's lens. Wagner and Dintersmith say this: Our choice is stark. We can continue training kids to be proficient at low-level routine tasks and to memorize content they won't remember on topics they'll never use. Or we can embrace the reality that much of what school is about today can be "outsourced" to a smartphone, freeing up time for kids to improve in challenges... That, too, sounds good, but it will never be good if we can't right the educational ship. Too much of what we teach has been for the test or for a series of tests that only evaluate basic facts and not actual thinking. So here's the beautiful list. It's not Common Core; it's more along the lines of common sense.
Each of these could be its own chapter in another book. Suffice it to say that for years many of these concepts have been, in the authors' words, "schooled out" of graduates. Yet these are the exact concepts we should nurture! Failing such will do this instead: [Y]ou produce disengaged kids doing the most mind-numbing of tasks, rather than developing the skills they'll need to take on life's biggest challenges. If that's not sobering to stakeholders, I don't know what is.
Read the sentence below. Do you see any problems? never gives up Do not rewrite the sentence. In fact, don't even fix the sentence. Instead, on your paper, tell the writer three things that need to be corrected.
Decisions, decisions. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. Here's your chance to do a bit of shopping yourself. Let's see what kind of lists you might make based on the following two products. List the positive and negative features for each on an organized chart, then justify a decision for buying one or the other. Now, can you be the salesman and convince customers that your chosen product is the better choice for them as well?
From the Walmart website: Fisher-Price Rainforest JumperooThere are so many sights and activities to discover on this brightly colored jumperoo—music, lights and exciting sounds reward baby with every jump! Everywhere baby looks, (in the spinning seat, baby can see all around), there's something fun to do. Busy toys, including a bobble elephant and swinging monkey, captivate baby's attention and keep him entertained. Folds for easy storage and portability.
From the Walmart website: Bounce to the moon and back, all in a day's worth of playtime. There's so much for baby to discover with rainforest pals on this Jumperoo – music, lights and exciting sounds reward baby with every jump! A rotating seat gives baby 360° access to toys, activities and friends all around, including soft monkeys overhead, spinners, clickers, a bead bar, mirror and so much more, all within baby's reach. Baby can reach, grasp, move, groove, and jump so high – all things that give developing motor skills a helpful boost. And it's easy-peasy to fold for storage and portability. Does your selection depend on:
Here's the scoop on a great November holiday:   We hear, all the time, about how we should not stuff ourselves with food, whether junk food or just too much food in general. It is often on Thanksgiving that we begin thinking about our New Year's resolutions. We push ourselves away from the dinner table, and we stare at the empty dishes - coagulated bits of cranberry salad, sticky and charred marshmallow from the yams, turkey gristle - and we wonder if we could possibly be responsible for such carnage. We ponder our places in the world, in the grand scheme, and we wonder if there is something we might do, something we might say or do - or be - that will make the world a better place. Are we better people because we eat? Are we better when we diet? Are we healthier? Do we pass plates of positive possibilities to our children? If you really are what you eat, might I recommend a menu for this, and every, day?
In this restaurant, you aren't limited to one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert!
Take liberally from every column, and leave feeling better than when you came in. In fact, eat everything in sight. You'll thank me for it. Your bill will reflect payment in full, because the only things you are required to pay are those parts of yourself that oppose what's on your plate. From the Hoggatteer family to yours, happy Thanksgiving! Read the sentence below. Do you see any problems? wasnt you scared to stand up to that bully Do not rewrite the sentence. In fact, don't even fix the sentence. Instead, on your paper, tell the writer three things that need to be corrected.
Decisions, decisions. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. Here's your chance to do a bit of shopping yourself. Let's see what kind of lists you might make based on the following two products. List the positive and negative features for each on an organized chart, then justify a decision for buying one or the other. Now, can you be the salesman and convince customers that your chosen product is the better choice for them as well?
From the Walmart website: This La Crosse Technology Color Alarm Clock combines style and functionality. It features a bright LCD display with large digits and is suitable for your bedside table or dresser. This La Crosse alarm clock is made with an indoor temperature setting that can read Fahrenheit or Celcius. It shows the moon phase along with the current date and has a nine-minute snooze button. This USB alarm clock has a charging port for your mobile device, such as a tablet or smartphone. It also comes with adjustable brightness settings and includes an AC adapter.
From the Walmart website: The Memorex Time Line Alarm Clock Radio with Dual USB Port features sleek design and dual USB charging ports to power up one or two portable devices. Wake up to FM radio, line-in audio from smartphone, tablet or MP3 player or buzzer. A jumbo 1.2-inch White LED display is easy to read and snooze and sleep functions ease you into each morning or evening. Battery back up ensures reliability even during a power outage.
November 21, 1920, is the anniversary of the birth of the late, great Stan (the Man) Musial. Cardinals baseball record-breaker Stan Musial definitely made his mark on the sport.
 While We're on the Topic We had one last activity before closing Hoggatt Cave for the year. In this one, students had to use the reflective surfaces of compact disks to translate a message that was printed backwards onto a paper. It was just enough of a change in the normal assignment that it captured their waning attention for a while. They made bulleted lists to answer What Good Are Caves? and What Threatens Caves?
These last days before the Cecil Floyd Craft Show, our class has been inundated with tourists. They are all interested in gaining admission to Hoggatt Cave, the cave I discovered in 1996.  Students worked hard, this year, constructing the cave, collecting the bats, and growing crystals. They painted stories on one of the walls and put together crickets and fish for the waterfall. More importantly, they read their parts and memorized a portion of the tour. This week, we presented the cave tour to seven classes of students, as well as to our administrators, Mr. Bozarth and Ms. McCombs.  The cave offers us the opportunity to practice public speaking skills in a unique setting - darkness, with only a flashlight to focus attention in the right direction.
Today it all comes down to make room for tomorrow's big craft event and the thousands of eyes that peer into our classroom in hopes of finding a homemade item they can't live without. We will miss our CHLOE, who is relocating to a neighboring town.
We don't want to see CHLOE leave, but she she will forever be a part of our family. OAHAAH! We also welcome our newest Hoggatteer family member - SIREN. Most students know SIREN since she was in our school last year. She will begin transitioning into our class, next week, and we all want to welcome her into our Hoggatteer family. We love our veterans! Here are some of the pictures from the school's facebook page:
When I look at the way education evaluates students, it surprises me that our nation has been the leader of the free world for as long as it has. It's understandable that this system worked for the needs of our country at its inception, but the fact that we have remained the leader without changing the education system is perplexing.
Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith, authors of the book Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era, point out something in which our class might be interested. ...[T]here is the question of what won't be tested. Even at its best, the new Common Core tests will not assess any of the so-called soft skills that matter most and, in fact, are the hardest to teach and learn.
Actually we might disagree. Those so-called soft skills (those skills that include behaviors for the purpose of employability) have not been, in our experience, difficult to teach and learn at all. They have required consistency, and they must be taught and expected, but they have not been difficult. However, I will concede that if those skills are only expected, but not explicitly taught, failure will result. In fact, it is obvious to visitors in our building. You can even see it in the recent news report that featured some of my students. You see it in the way they carry themselves and in the way they speak. The result is confidence, courage, and risk-taking.
That aside, the authors give contrasts in the ways current, traditional instruction in certain subjects stack up with the needs of the 21st Century. In Math, we agree that certain basics must be mastered to provide a foundation for the rest, but for the most part the Math Practices we talk about so much in our classroom are reflected in the suggestions provided in the book. In fact, Math Practices make up a great deal of the list:
21st Century Model
Math Skills Needed to Succeed Deeply understanding the problem 
In short, we want our students to solve real problems, not simply work through meaningless computations. Creativity hasn't traditionally been applied to solving Math problems, but it absolutely should be. Thoughtful adults can see many applications for creative problem solving in their lives. What's more is that we not only solve problems, but we must identify problems, whittle them down, and decompose and reconstruct them before we ever begin to solve them. This is an interesting angle to how I would like to do the same with the ways in which I approach Math in the fourth grade.
Moving to Communication skills, I think the authors simply ride current trends to teach writing and speaking. They don't say enough about speaking skills, but I believe this may be because they do not consider that speaking might include many of those soft skills that we try to emphasize in our class. They also fail to consider that speaking may be more important than writing in the 21st Century (and beyond). Imagine James T. Kirk ever writing more than a signature on an electronic clipboard, or Jean Luc Picard ever writing anything at all. Instead, all writing on the Starship Enterprise (in all of its inceptions and alternative timelines) was - or will be - done by the computer, unseen by human eyes, whether officers on the bridge or by audiences in the theater.
21st Century Model
Language Arts Skills Needed to Succeed Use sound vocabulary 
These are good suggestions, but perhaps we should take the suggestions in Most Likely to Succeed a step further to include more nuanced speaking in a variety of settings. Do our students reply in full sentences when asked questions? Do our students ask questions in return? Are students able to stay focused on a topic? Are they able to stand in queue to respond without interrupting? Do they stand erect, with confident posture? Do they present themselves with energy? Do they effectively use facial expressions and hand gestures as an extension of their message? Do they consider the tonal inflections in their voices to assist them in the conveyance of their message? Certainly, there is a need to communicate on paper and screen, but verbal skills, more than written language, are the manner by which people get and hold onto jobs.
Indeed, verbal skills are needed in every single area of the curricula. Often, even gifted and talented pupils struggle with the ability to explain processes and ideas. Communication breakdowns, or should we say misspeaking, are the causes of most of the problems we witness in news reports. Misunderstanding verbal communication (and text messages) can lead to anger and, too often, violence and hatred. It's not only a fault of the politicians, but for illustrative purposes, we'll use them as our example.Politicians fail to communicate their understanding of the Constitution. They fail to effectively explain the relationship of history to the decision-making process. In the search for the perfect sound byte, they miss the mark in effectively communication regional needs, and in doing so they do a serious disservice to their constituents. Look at the suggested focus on the suggested skills list from Wagner and Dintersmith,, and one may start to see a pattern:
21st Century Model
History Skills Needed to Succeed Critically analyze historical events and sources
In fact, the authors add this, in support of their suggestions:
The imperative for today's history class goes far beyond recalling facts. Today we're bombarded with news from a wide range of sources. Some of the information is credible; much isn't. Our kids will be required to analyze chaotic reports and opinions, and synthesize and form their own views. In dealing with immense societal challenges, they'll need to draw on history to inform their opinion and fulfill citizenship responsibilities. 
See the repetition in each of the quoted lists? From Math to Communication to History and other subjects, we see the need in education switching from recalling facts to being able to sort through piles of problems and opinions, from a variety of credible and incredible sources in order to find the best approaches.
Education suddenly becomes real and relevant. No longer should our classes be black words on white paper; instead, the learning fills the classroom. It's on the walls. It hovers in the air. It comes to us over loudspeakers, computer screens, and in storytelling. Students don't just memorize; now they live what they learn. Naturally, the same is true for Science:
21st Century Model
Science Skills Needed to Succeed Understand how the world works
And there they are again! Creativity. Wondering. Asking questions. Deconstructing situations and solving problems. It is a refreshing pattern for the thoughtful educator. Understanding that the same strategies apply to every facet of curricula is an epiphany. It takes those long lists of Common Core standards (or whatever we want to call our essential teachings) and narrows their focus. If one can apply the principles of 21st Century needs to every subject - make things real and meaningful, empower students to address every situation with relevant skills, and teach them to use real tools - students will be ready to face the world.
That brings us to Foreign Language. It doesn't take a scholar to understand that immersion in a culture is the quickest way to learn a language. In fact, that's how we all learned to talk in the first place. But to parse every aspect of a language the way Language classes traditionally have is a great way to get students to forget the Language we are trying to teach them.
21st Century Model
Foreign Language Skills Needed to Succeed True proficiency in speaking
Once again, and maybe the easiest to see, here is where reality is the way to go in teaching. Tying any language to its cultural uses, marrying language with its native speakers, their ways of life, and their belief systems, will make the learning of said language more meaningful for the learner. Not only that, but with the technological advances being made every day for translation software - even voice translators like the ones used by Mr. Spock - there soon may be no need to teach Foreign Language at all except to place it into context with culture.
Parents, teachers, and every other stakeholder are sick and tired of learning things for a test and then forgetting it only to find that we have to relearn the same material for yet another exam next year. We're tired of teaching to the test. We're tired of reviewing material from the previous year(s). How much the better if we refine our instruction to consistently ask students what they notice and what they wonder. How much the better when we teach students to dissect situations and use real tools to reconstruct new, better situations, tweaking those solutions along the way. How much the better when we teaching students to be happy, but never satisfied, with what they are, but instead always searching for ways to improve the world and recognizing successful improvements when they happen. Decisions, decisions. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. Here's your chance to do a bit of shopping yourself. Let's see what kind of lists you might make based on the following two products. List the positive and negative features for each on an organized chart, then justify a decision for buying one or the other. Now, can you be the salesman and convince customers that your chosen product is the better choice for them as well?
From the Walmart website: Champion Power Equipment Model 46533, Light to Medium Duty Portable Generator for RV, Entertaining or Emergency Home Use (California Model). Pump up your power with the Champion Power Equipment Model 46533 Portable Generator. This gasoline-powered portable generator is powered by a 196cc Champion single cylinder, four-stroke OHV engine that produces 3500 running watts and 4000 starting watts. With a 3.8-gallon fuel tank, this 3500/4000 RV Ready Gas Powered Generator can run up to 12 hours at 50-percent load. Our OHV engine is equipped with a low oil shut-off sensor and designed for long life and easy maintenance. This unit is ideal for RVs, camping trips, hunting, traveling, jobs around the house, or back-up power in your home during emergencies. The Champion Power Equipment Portable Generator is CARB approved for all 50 states.
From the Walmart website: The A-iPower Model SUA4500 4500W Generator is powered by a reliable 208cc/7HP single cylinder, four-stroke OHV engine and coupled by high quality alternator. This unit produces 3500 running watts and 4000 surge/starting watts with a 68dB sound rating from 23 feet to ensure low noise for quiet operation. The alternator produces more surge wattage to start motor-driven appliances and tools. With a four-gallon rigid steel fuel tank with built-in fuel gauge, this unit can run up to 13 hours at 50 percent load. The low oil shut-off sensor equipped on the engine is designed to protect the engine for long life and easy maintenance. The easy-to-reach integrated control panel makes the unit user-friendly.
 We don't do what we do for the recognition, but it's always nice to hear that the work we've done has been noticed. During the preparation time for this year's Veterans Day program, the teachers have tried to stress the idea of gratitude for the people who have served in the United States Armed Services. Performing for actual veterans was what it took to bring that idea home to our students. They truly felt great knowing that they had touched hearts.
I couldn't remember all of the accolades to record them here, but we'll definitely talk about them this morning.
It's old news now. Donald J. Trump will be the 45th president of the United States of America. In our class, yesterday, we talked about the electoral college and the protections it affords to smaller and less populated states, as well as states that might have different needs or differing values than others. The founding fathers really put forth an ingenious plan in our election process, to assure that a bully-majority does not take power unduly. Election night was certainly an interesting one, wasn't it? I finally tuned into the national news channels once the polls were closing and ballots were being tabulated, and I was on the edge of my seat for the hours that followed. To add to my experience, I clicked over to Real Clear Politics to keep up with the results on my own custom electoral map. It was probably as much fun as filling out my own bracket for March Madness. I was changing states from blue (Clinton) to red (Trump) and back again throughout the night, running possible scenarios for one of the candidates to reach the magic number of 270 electoral votes.  For a while it was a nail-biter. Earlier in the day, I had told my class that if Florida went blue, Trump would probably not win the presidency. For a while it looked like that might happen. Within a short time, North Carolina was called for Mr. Trump, as well as Ohio. It was thought early on that he might win those electors, but the path to victory was still in the balance for him. Later in the evening however, some other states - Michigan and Wisconsin - started flipping blue to red, and the television media was flummoxed. I was watching the results live on the New York Times website, which allowed me to do what the TV guys were doing - drilling down to the county level to see which precincts had reported. The site also forecasted the percentage of probability that one candidate or the other would take the office. The gauge (below left) indicated that Hillary Clinton had about an 80% chance of going all the way. But as you know, the needle started to creep toward the middle of the gauge as information came in. By 9:00 it had changed sharply, and once it hit 95% on the Trump side, it stayed for the rest of the night.  At about 1:40 am, Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump to concede the election. And that's when Yours Truly finally went to bed. Soon after, Mr. Trump took to the stage for a short and gracious victory speech. Mrs. Clinton made her concession speech after sunrise a few hours later.
I listened to both speeches. Mrs. Clinton's may have been the best I've heard from her, and Mr. Trump's was presented with humility. I was struck with President-Elect Trump's simple statement at the end: "...Hopefully you're going to be so proud of your president."
 We welcome teachers
from Erie Elementary School in Erie, Kansas, who will observe in our classroom, today. For these "Red Devils" - and any other teachers who might drop by our website - our Teacher Collaboration page is a great place to start surfing. When at first you don't succeed... Things may not always be as they appear. Here is a terrific piece of storytelling, but at the same time, a terrific message. Take some time to watch this video: Now for some questions:
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