There is a sign in our classroom.  It hangs just beside the clock.  The sign says:

When students arrive in the morning, we have a daily routine.  After they stow their backpacks and unpack anything they will need for the day, students are to open their Daily Thinking notebooks.  They fill out such information as their names, the date, the current books they are reading, and the website headline for the day.

Depending on the day of the week, they may also set a goal for the week, nominate a peer as a good citizen, and make a list of the multiples of a provided number.

Then they are expected to do any of the other work on their notebooks that is possible without teacher instruction. Much of the work is based in the areas of number sense and becomes progressively more difficult as we delve deeper into the school year.

With students coming into the room and getting class started by themselves, I can better greet them in the hallway every morning and get a feel for their attitudes for the day.  I can also take care of those pesky housekeeping details such as roll call and lunch count.

I don't know why I am always surprised by these things any more.  Once granted permission to leave our straight lines and approach the musicians, Hoggatteers did not only shake hands and express their appreciation for their performance; they also carried on mini-conversations while there.  They even asked a few more of the questions that lingered in their minds.

After a short time, I called them away.  We returned to the classroom for debriefing.  The kids had noticed a difference in the types of questions they had for the visitors and the questions that were asked by students in other classes and in other schools (Three other Joplin schools rounded out the audience.).  They also recognized the attention they received by the performers.  During the presentation, Ilmar even mentioned to the entire crowd that they would play an Afro-Cuban piece, partially at the request of our class, stating that having elementary-aged students learn their names ahead of time was a first for the group.

Students also noted that the performers were looking at each other and commenting that they had never experienced this kind of reception before.  The experience, from start to finish, seems to have made a lasting impression on both performers and audience.  We felt good about it all.  We were energized.  We felt a little bit grown up.  It truly still amazes me how much teaching kids to properly shake hands and share a conversation changes them and their behavior and their self-confidence.  One student expressed what others could not:  "I can't believe I shook hands with professional musicians!"

​I suppose we will follow up on the Harlem Quartet.  Our class was asked to write to the musicians and to share our correspondence with Pro Musica.  Now I have to teach them to write coherent friendly letters.

Read the sentence below.  Do you see any problems?

That's OK.  What we're doing here is training children for adulthood.  I am reminded that at this age, our science and history lessons often open opportunities for discussion about etiquette and our place in society.

It's hard to believe there are this many balls to juggle in a lesson about rocks and minerals.  I suppose this career of mine is both a balancing and a juggling act.

And to think, I almost joined the circus instead.

This week students went through a brief bus evacuation training, facilitated by real-life bus driver, Mr. Anderson (left).  Students quickly heard about the emergency equipment on the bus, as well as the many exit possibilities in the case of an accident.

Read the sentence below.  Do you see any problems?

The communication of these grades was unintentionally dishonest.  They did not show a real picture of where the student's abilities were.  As a parent myself, I don't want to get bogged down in the specific, nitpicky details of every little learning intention and standard.  In fact, what I kind of want to know is where my children stand in comparison with their peers.  Are they average?  Above average?  Below?  Tell me where they stand in their ability to achieve in a broad job market.  Don't sugar-coat their abilities, or lack of abilities, by spinning things to make it all sound positive.  Give me the truth.

What does a parent see on that multi-page report card?  It was a bunch of educational jargon and trendy, educational bandwagon stuff to satisfy people who never met your child.  Did you, the parent, really take that report and do anything with it?  Did you find your child underachieving in a particular skill only to give him/her some one-on-one time until s/he mastered it.  Did you hand the report over to grandparents so they could pay a dollar for each of the 40ish "M" grades?

And while we're at it, could you ever brag to your relatives about making straight A's or making the honor roll?  No, you could not.  When granny asked how they were performing in school, all you could do was hem and haw about the convoluted grading system and talk about how the kid got this many M's and that many AM's.  Meaningless to grannies, right?

This year, we've made some changes to the grading system.  We've simplified it.  At the request of parents and educators, we are making a return to "letter grades".  Now your child will receive an A (90-100%), a B (80-89%), a C (70-79%), a D (60-69%), or an F (0-59%), based on class performance.  These grades will be averaged from daily work and tests in the classroom.  Simple.

The report card will be equally simple.  In addition to grades from Music, Art, Media, and Physical Education, and in addition to a few conduct grades, there will be a letter grade for each of five major academic subjects (Reading, Writing, Math, Science, and Social Studies).  No so-called levels of mastery, no whiz-bang jargon, no weird coding system.

But as we know, with grade freedom comes greater responsibility.  It is our job - parents and teachers - to open and keep open some distinct lines of communication.  It is still my responsibility to teach the state standards.  I will still administer the state tests.  I will still collect data.  In fact, I'd better not squander the activity, but always remain worthy of stakeholder trust.  If I'm teaching the curricula, engaging students, and keeping conversations with parents open, I will fulfill my duty.

Likewise, there is a responsibility for parents and administrators.  Administrators must support the classroom and have students best interests at heart.  They must help teachers teach, and they must help parents understand. Administrators are here to keep us all on track, to make sure our needs are met, and to identify areas that need our improvement.

Parents, on the other hand, are in unique positions.  More than others, you know your child.  Yes, I have 27 years of experience with children - all kinds of children - but I have never had your child.  In the same way, you and your child have never experienced me.  In short, we don't know each other.  Because of that, we have an obligation to trust each other.  We need to give each other the benefit of the doubt.  We should listen to each other.  Our direct lines of communication must remain open (Tools like ClassDojo help with that.).  When those lines are open and we remain receptive, all the best things can happen for your child.

When finally trusted as professionals, peers, and stakeholders - when we count on one another to do what is right to do - trust will return to us manifold.  It takes more than a written note or report card with a bunch of words to make this happen; it takes committed and connected adults working in orchestra for the betterment of our community.

I wanted Hoggatteers to get to know Missouri's native peoples a little more intimately.  They did so by observing pen-and-ink sketches of tribal representatives and then reproducing the images with drawings of their own.  I wanted them to wonder about these individuals, their stories.

How did he get that scar?

Look at that furrowed brow.

Who gave him that peace medal?

What is she carrying?

Pencil sketches helped students with their wondering and helped them start creating characters for a writing piece.

We finally had an opportunity to look at the rocks we found in a previous activity.  Each group had 12 specimens to explore and describe.  One by one, students added the rocks to their "journals".

Since then, MACK has grown in size and talent. Now he sits in chairs at Joplin High School, and he takes any number of courses well beyond our fourth grade curricula.

Last spring, my daughter and I saw MACK play a major role in the musical presentation, Guys and Dolls, where he excelled, and now, we find MACK the high school's JETHD cable television station (JET standing for Joplin Eagle Television) playing guitar and covering The Man Who Can't Be Moved, popularized by The Script.  JETHD is now on cable channel 60 in Joplin.