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Spelling Bee Results

1/31/2017

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The annual Cecil Floyd Spelling Bee Championship was held on Monday.  After our spellmaster, Mr. Bozarth, was called away, I had to take the reins.  In addition to our own DEVIN and COLLIS, graduates of our class DANIEL and JASMINE also competed.
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​In the end, it was DANIEL who correctly spelled more words, proving he is not only an excellent mathematician, but also a champion speller.
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Math League Competition

1/30/2017

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Saturday, I had the privilege, along with Mr. Culbertson, to escort four fourth graders and ten fifth graders from Cecil Floyd to the first of their Math League competitions.  The contest was held on the SBU campus in Bolivar, Missouri.

Three students returned with ribbons:
  • 4th Place, 5th Grade Number Sense: DANIEL F.
  • 8th Place, 4th Grade Sprint: GREY
  • 7th Place, 4th Grade Sprint: DANIEL R.
  • 8th Place, 5th Grade Sprint: DANIEL F.
  • 6th Place, 5th Grade Target: DANIEL F.
In addition to DANIEL, DANIEL, and GREY, KIIAN and AUSTIN also earned a place in the regional math contest, later this year.

More importantly, Mr. Culbertson and I agree that these kids continue to make us proud in the world.  They appropriately introduce themselves to other people and follow up with conversation.  They clean up after themselves with very little reminding.  They quietly behave on the school bus.  They order their food with appropriate volume and patiently await their orders.  They respect others in a restaurant.  They hold doors for people.  They say thank you when handed something.  We saw plenty of students from other schools who did not do these things.

Our next contest is at Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School, here in Joplin, on February 11.

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United, We Stand...

1/29/2017

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...Divided, we fall.

​Long division can be a brutal thing to learn.  We've been trying to conquer this division algorithm for a while, now, but to no avail.  I have presented this is a few different ways and used a number of 
shortcuts or tricks, but a significant population of our class was still having difficulty.
So, I brought in our student teacher, Miss Fitzgerald, to present her own version of the lesson.  Students reacted positively to her presentation.  One approached me at the end of the lesson, and told me, "Mr. Hoggatt, you know when Miss Fitzgerald taught that lesson and we did those activities?  I think something finally stuck."  Sometimes it just takes hearing things from a different voice to get a concept through.

We are both hoping more students will succeed.

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Spelling Bee Finalists

1/28/2017

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We wish to officially congratulate our top two class members
for their recent performance in the classroom Spelling Bee.
COLLIS and DEVIN have qualified to compete in the school Spelling Bee,
on Monday, January 30, at 1:30, in the auditorium.
​
Come on over to support these two incredible students.

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Meaningful Quote:  Challenge

1/27/2017

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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best
knows in the end that triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails,
at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be
with those cold and timid soul who neither know victory nor defeat."

​
(Theodore Roosevelt)
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Mystery Boxes

1/26/2017

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It as a matter of figuring out with numbers were secretly connected on the inside of the box without opening the box to see.  Students used their circuit testers to discover the connections (and lots of non-connections along the way).
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Don't Try This at Home...

1/25/2017

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...Try it at school instead!  With a little piece of specially-selected wire, Hoggatteers constructed their own filament and wired it for power.  Because of electricity, the wire produced a red glow and some heat (Don't touch that thing.).
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Conductors and Insulators

1/24/2017

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Miss Fitzgerald, our student teacher from Missouri Southern, led the class through a discussion and experiment to distinguish conductors of insulators from insulators.
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A Letter for the Ages?

1/23/2017

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A Portuguese school - so the story goes - posted the poster below on their facebook page.  It boldly states what many educators would like to say.

Through the years, schools have, indeed, taken on more and more responsibilities (transportation, lunches, breakfasts, after school care, weekend snacks, etc.).  Still, that same system was always charged with teaching those academic subjects with fidelity.  Sometimes the multiple burdens pull us in different directions, and sometimes we have to make difficult decisions because of it.

Do I teach to kids survival skills for the future, or should I feed kids so they can pay attention now?

Do I teach math and reading, or do I devote my time to teaching manners and so-called 
soft skills?

The poster is a bold one.  Perhaps it's not exactly politically correct, but it makes an important distinction between home and school.  Too many children in our system know how to defeat monsters on XBox One, but do not know how to blow their noses.  Too many can sing every last word off of  Kidz Bop 34, but they don't know the difference between Missouri and the United States.  Too many pay more attention to the apps on their phones than they do to discussions about treating others with respect.

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As an educator, I appreciate what the Portuguese school posted (even if it was stated so directly).  As a parent, I can appreciate it, too:  I want my children to learn home things at home and school things at school.  Finally, as a taxpayer, stakeholder, frequent voter, and neighbor, I would love the kids in my neighborhood to have all of the positive, respectful skills they can get.
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Inaugural Address

1/22/2017

 
This is not an endorsement of a man, a party, nor an administration.
Truthfully, it is intended merely as an observation
​in which I choose to see things in a positive light with a hopeful eye
rather than point fingers and assume the worst.
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Our class sat to view the president's inaugural address on Friday.  We streamed the broadcast through the White House website without commentary.  Nine- and ten-year-olds are bored by all of the pomp and circumstance, but the transfer of authority from Barack Obama to Donald Trump was an important historical event nonetheless.

We did take the time to point out the Missouri connections, including Missouri's Senator Roy Blunt's introduction of Springfield's Missouri State University Chorale, and also his first introduction for the 45th president of the United States.

In President Trump's short address, he touched, briefly on education.  For many, the speech and the president's nominee for education secretary (of whom I know too little to comment) have shot up red flags of hostility.  I don't share that opinion at this point, choosing instead to look for a more optimistic point of view.  I really try to give people the benefit of the doubt, and I need to extend that courtesy for our new president.  For the record, this is that section of the speech:

​​Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public.

But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.

This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.
​
We are one nation -- and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.
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President Trump often uses blunt hyperbole, a tool used in language to make a point.  We often place hyperbole in the same category with figurative language (metaphors, similes, personification, et al).  For this reason, I don't take the president's speech literally, but would rather look for the point he tried to make - from his point of view.

This is a character study.  Who is Donald John Trump?  How does he use language?  What are his consistencies?  Through what lens does he view the education process?

​​Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public.
True.  Here is a statement of need.  It appears to be a foundational comment.  Is there anything we don't agree with here?  Do I want something less for my children or my community?  Do I want something different for my country?

Someone who does not seek righteousness, or right things, might take umbrage with the last sentence, but I see it as observing that we are generally a righteous people.
But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.
For such a short paragraph, here are some complicated words.  Yes, our inner cities experience a different culture than we experience (mostly) in our own fair city.  Again, this is a statement of observation.

But in the next words, our new president's point of view is being interpreted in different ways by different people. Someone in the education world takes these words personally, that we are "an education system flush with cash". I could easily see that, as the tip of the spear, I am not paid comparatively with people who chose other professions. I realize that I am not at the top of the food chain (Read:  in the top 1%).  It is obvious that the cash does not all trickle into our classrooms for the benefit of young people.
I believe, considering President Trump's opinion and point of view, that he is not talking about me, the teacher. Instead, I see him speaking in generalities about the federal government's involvement with our educational system.  Indeed, federal monies are more-often-than-not earmarked for specific programs and mandates - often programs and mandates, and the ways in which they are interpreted and implemented, that are ineffective to say the least.  Could I be wrong?  I suppose I could, but I have long yearned for that money to be pushed out to local districts to meet the needs of their students.  There is just too much waste when red tape is demanded from the top levels, and there is too much waste when every student is required to adhere to a one-size-fits-all education.
We talk about looking for the best in people.  We talk about having high expectations.  We talk about being tolerant.  We talk about giving people the benefit of the doubt.  We talk about having a positive outlook.
​
​I hope to model all of these ideas in this post.
Remember, I am just one person, with a point of view, considering what another person, with a different outlook, really means.  We'll all experience disagreement with even our favorite bosses and leaders eventually.  Can any of us claim to agree 100% with any president?  Not if we're honest.  But I can always choose to maintain hope for some form of agreement.  After all, I grew up in Oklahoma.  I can't forget what Oklahoma's favorite son, Will Rogers, said:  "I never met a man I didn't like."

Are many of our young people deprived of knowledge when the cash doesn't properly trickle to them?  Of course. Have lives been stolen because of disadvantage?  Yes.  Is our country been robbed of potential greatness when drugs and crime runs rampant in certain locations?  Probably so.  That should sadden all of us.  But I am not personally offended by a statement of facts.  I suppose the level of acceptability for poverty and crime may be a subjective one, but if we agree that just a little bit is too much, even that should not be a point of contention.  We, as teachers and parents have to be honest with ourselves about the problems, but we do not have to take them personally.
This American carnage stops right here and stops right now
OK, so here is one of those hyperbolic statements.  It sounds tough.  It sounds like the current state of culture in the United States is grim and dark, but the fact that it ends, despite where we think the current state begins, is a positive outlook.  Any "carnage" is too much, so rather than believe that I am a contributor to it, let us seek solutions.
We are one nation -- and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.
I can appreciate the pronoun choices here:  we and our​.  Honestly look at those words.  Do I not want my children's dreams to come true?  Do I not wish for them to be successful?  Do I not desire unity?  Absolutely.  You might think I'm looking through rose-colored glasses.  I may not be seeing this through the same lens that you do, and that's perfectly acceptable.  That just how I'm looking at things from here and for now, with optimism and a reasonable suspension of disbelief for the time being.

Sentence Surgery XVII

1/21/2017

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​Read the sentence below.  Do you see any problems?
you is awesome yelled the fans
Do not rewrite the sentence.  In fact, don't even fix the sentence.  Instead, on your paper, tell the writer how to correct three things.
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Circuit Training

1/20/2017

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Here are just a few shots from Wednesday's electric circuits.  Hoggatteers learned how to use Fahnestock clips to connect their wires.
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Striving for Confusion

1/19/2017

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In recent months, I have realized more and more the idea that learners should struggle.  In the past, I have described it as wrestling with the material (and with each other).  I've always seen this as crucial, but it seems like I read more and more that affirms that concept.

This week, John Spencer asked the question, "Should school be more confusing?"  A headline like that piques my interest.  John is a former middle school teacher, and he currently teaches college classes.  He is a sought-after expert in design thinking, and he promote creativity in the classroom.  I see in John, like myself, the development of an education philosophy that is based on experience.  We both value research, but firsthand experience with kids in classroom makes all the difference.

Spencer sees confusion as a pathway to deeper learning, citing Annie Murphy Paul along the way.  Paul wrote, in a separate piece:
We all know that confusion doesn’t feel good. Because it seems like an obstacle to learning, we try to arrange educational experiences and training sessions so that learners will encounter as little confusion as possible. But as is so often the case when it comes to learning, our intuitions here are exactly wrong. Scientists have been building a body of evidence over the past few years demonstrating that confusion can lead us to learn more efficiently, more deeply, more lastingly—as long as it’s properly managed.
If you think about it, your biggest moments of epiphany have probably occurred following a period of confusion.  It is the working out of problems, the mulling over of confusing issues, and tripping over our own feet that teaches us, and makes us stronger - provided we don't get discouraged.  Paul further explains:
First, not knowing the single correct way to resolve a problem allows us to explore a wide variety of potential explanations, thereby giving us a deeper and broader sense of the issues involved. Second, the feeling of being confused, of not knowing what’s up, creates a powerful drive to figure it out. We’re motivated to look more deeply, search more vigorously for a solution, and in so doing we see and understand things we would not have, had we simply been handed the answer at the outset.
I like that.  It makes sense.  And it is encouraging for those times of struggle that we all experience.  John Spencer connects confusion with deeper learning.  I've written about those things, mostly in reflections about my own teaching, but I am more and more eager to embrace confusion in my classroom.  I want to present more creative, open-ended experiences, and then guide students through confusion and resolution.  Read what ​John Spencer wrote:
Confusion can actually lead to deeper learning. It forces students to make hypotheses and test things out. It pushes them beyond the superficial. Confusion can be frustrating, but it can also be the mystery that creates suspense. These are the moments of excitement when the class feels most alive.
​
Confusion pushes you to slow down and think deeper. The struggle to figure things out means it sticks. It’s why I forget entire sections of textbooks but it’s really hard to forget a confusing parable. It’s why I can’t remember how to solve a matrix but I am forever shaped by that confusing, perplexing debate we had about the 4th Amendment when I was a senior in high school.
I won't copy and paste all of Spencer's post - you should read it and other articles from his blog - but I am tempted to do so.  Pay particular to his Ten Ways Teachers Can Embrace Confusion.  Each of these has its own explanation, but I will copy the basic list here.
  1. Present mysteries.
  2. Allow for mistakes.
  3. Embrace student inquiry.
  4. Don’t shy away from confusing material. 
  5. Avoid simplistic explanations. 
  1. Be careful with visuals.
  2. Encourage dialogue.
  3. Test your answers.
  4. Identify what you don’t know.
  5. Give students the permission to struggle.
It is important that we, adults, hold ourselves to the same challenges.  We should subject ourselves to the same mysteries, questions, dialogues, and struggles that we expect our children to experience.  Further, they should see us working through those same problems.

Beware, teachers and parents.  When we take the confusing approach, we must also be prepared for students' reactions.
When we use confusion strategically, students will be frustrated. Some of them will get angry. But they will also be engaged. More importantly, they will be empowered. They will slow down and think deeper about the content. The end result is a more humble, nuanced, and ultimately deeper learning of the subject.
It's not a tradeoff; it's an investment that makes sense.
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Sentence Surgery XVI

1/18/2017

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Read the sentence below.  Do you see any problems?
i wonders how many books thomas jefferson readed in his life
​Do not rewrite the sentence.  In fact, don't even fix the sentence.  Instead, on your paper, tell the writer how to correct three things.
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Grit:  Parenting

1/17/2017

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First and foremost, there's no either/or trade-off between supportive parenting and demanding parenting.  It's a common misunderstanding to think of "tough love" as a carefully struck balance between affection and respect on the one hand, and firmly enforced expectations on the other.  In actuality, there's no reason you can't do both.
There is something to be said for Angela Duckworth's opinion, based on her grit research and displayed in her best-selling book, Grit:  the Power of Passion and Perseverance.  I say that because she agrees with my common sense approach to using balance​ in our methods.
We have all seen the results of both heavy-handed parents.  We have also seen what happens as a result of parenting that leaves children on their own.  Even the Christian Bible even portrays the concept of balance within its pages, Ephesians 6:4 and Proverbs 13:24, respectfully (for example):
"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
"He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.
But I am reminded that Mrs. Duckworth views her remarks through the lens of grit; she did not write her own comments to regard all parenting, but specifically for parenting for grit.  In this, Duckworth slugs parents solidly in the gut.  She wants parents to ask themselves some important questions. Am I gritty?  Do my children see me as a goal-setter?  Do my children see me chasing my dreams?
If you want to bring forth grit in your child, first ask how much passion and perseverance you have for your own life goals. Then ask yourself how likely it is that your approach to parenting encourages your child to emulate you.  If the answer to the first question is "a great deal," and your answer to the second is "very likely," you're already parenting for grit.
Not only this, but in a separate chapter, the author describes the research we have about the effect of "extra-curricular" activities.  Kids - who participate in organized, outside-of-school activities, with adults in charge, and endure for multiple years while making progress - tend to be more gritty than their less active counterparts.
The bottom line of this research is this:  School's hard, but for many kids it;s not intrinsically interesting.  Texting your friends is interesting, but it's not hard.  But ballet?  Ballet can be both.
The amazing part of her findings and opinion is that kids can develop their perseverance by following their passions.  They can strengthen themselves by pursuing their interests.
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Notably, the particular pursuits to which students had devoted themselves in high school didn't matter - whether it was tennis, student government, or debate team.  The key was that students had signed up for something, signed up again the following year, and during that time had made some kind of progress​.
Additionally, the point is made in this latter chapter of Grit make the point that there is not such a thing as too much of these types of activities.  I would, instead, caution parents and teachers against overloading children and filling all of their time with training, coaching, and practicing.

I started this post with comments about balance, and I will end it the same way.  Though I have not conducted my own psychological research, I also know that down time is important.  Boredom is important, too.  Kids need time to relax and reflect.  They need time to dream and create.  They need time to think for themselves.  And they need time to be out from  under the thumb of coaches, parents, and teachers.  There is something to be said for free time in our children.
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