Though we don't necessarily enjoy the testing process and all the headaches that technology can cause, we do get excited to have the chance to show growth.

Starting, this morning (and continuing tomorrow), our class will participate in NWEA testing.  In all, there are three exams to be taken on the iPads:  Reading, Language Arts, and Mathematics.  Students are expected to demonstrate improvement in these areas in anticipation of and preparation for the state MAP test in the spring.

This is likely to be one of the biggest reasons some of the biggest, old-school retailers are struggling to stay alive in the 21st Century.  It speaks to the distrust management has for its employees.  When it occurs in education, it is a tragedy.  I might even understand the point of view of the retailers:  their employees are hired off the street, often they are without a specialized education, and they do not carry any loyalty to the company.  In education, however, in a great percentage of cases, quite the opposite is true.  While I could see an advantage in empowering a cashier with the authority to make decisions in dealing with customers, how much more so should an administration work to empower the teachers.

If the weapon is stripped from the soldier on the front line, the line will not hold.

Author George Couros expresses this well in his book, The Innovator's Mindset.  Quoting Stephen Covey, he writes:

That, friends, is 100% true.  The cost comes in stress levels, fatigue levels, a lack of forward movement when the system gets gummy, and a complete deficiency in the level of education being delivery.

Additionally, the word equity is finally getting a workout.  It is quite tempting for administrators, legislatures, and even tip-of-the-spear educators to lower opportunities for some schools/classrooms/students in an effort to make everything equal.  The expectations, materials, and training can quickly become less than tolerable.  Instead, we absolutely must fight for equity - but at the highest level.

There is more to this equity misnomer than that.  Equity is also misapplied to professional development for teachers.  It's ridiculous that the cookie cutter approach for training teachers who naturally enter the room with varying knowledge and abilities.

I have long contended that the shotgun approach that defines most professional development is not the most effective way to use a district's money.  Instead, why not surgically train our teachers in the areas that will make them most effective.  Aren't there ways to identify which teachers can benefit by which training?

I must admit, it's refreshing to discover a book that speaks to the importance of relationships between administrators and teachers, rather than the same old focus on teacher-student relationships.  In this way Couros throws a bone to teachers, who are so often disregarded as having needs of their own.

For a number of years, education - and math instruction - seem to have been in flux.  We've endured a couple of major swings in math until we finally tried to squeeze it down to a short block of the day to make room for something called literacy.  It turns out that if a subject is not taught, it doesn't get learned, so we've brought math back on line in a big way.

I suppose Common Core is greatly responsible for our new understanding that math must be emphasized at elemental levels if our nation is to compete globally in areas such as engineering.  Now, I know, Common Core is a dirty word among many, and I fully understand - but to dismiss it completely is a mistake.  It is responsible for a renewal in the importance of math.  The problem was, it was foisted upon us by a government that intended to take a nationalized approach to education - something fully outside the Constitutional responsibilities of the U.S. government in the first place.

Another problem was that Common Core was too hard to understand.  Who in the real world understands the following math standard?

To be honest, many educators didn't understand that standard, so it became very hard to teach it.  As a result, we didn't see it in print until spring standardized testing arrived (and even then, we're not really supposed to look at the questions).  This, along with the great educational textbook scams that are out there, have held us back and tied our hands.

Thankfully, Scott Baldridge and the team at Eureka Math have at least given us some visuals and practical approaches to these types of standards.  Without all the extra bells and overpriced whistles of the conglomerate textbook companies, Eureka Math is the first math package this teacher can sink his teeth into.  Too much about it confirms my strongest teaching methods.  Too much about it just makes sense.  When I needed to embed more number sense in my instruction, Eureka Math came to the rescue, referring me even to a new exercise called Sprints, developed by Bill Davidson.  When I wanted something to take students deeper, Eureka came into focus:  I'be found the lessons do not hold back, and when it's necessary, they guide students through the steps that not only challenge, but explain.

I bought into this curriculum two years ago, and it's interesting - through the major transitions of our district and its leadership - that we are adopting it in all of our schools.  It makes me happy to bring others on board.

My only concern is that other schools and other states have a head start on us.  Plus, if teachers simply follow the literal script that is laid out in each of the lessons, Joplin Schools will only be as good as any others when our students enter the workplace or college.  We must make this curriculum our own in the classroom.  We must take the solid curriculum we've been given and mold it into our individual teaching personalities.  If we don't, we might easily justify teacherless classrooms, just like the auto industry is starting to phase in driverless cars.  If we are all the same, artificial intelligence will take over our classrooms.  Automated online instruction will become the norm and not the exception.

​Instead, let us embrace the opportunity to run with ​Eureka Math.

Ask just about anyone what the worst part of fourth grade was, and he'll tell you it was fractions.  Even so, when you look at what we're working on, I'm going to guess it didn't look much like this.

As complicated as the image above appears, my students (for the most part) are able to follow along and keep up. We've been composing and decomposing fractions, finding fraction equivalencies, and starting down the road to using fractions in problems involving normal mathematical operations.

I found Eureka Math a couple of years ago through various sources and started implementing parts of it in my classroom.  I was amazed that fourth graders are able to pick some of these concepts up so easily.  As much as we like to go into the deeper waters, this year, students keep telling me they want to go deeper.

We're really mixing things up in Room 404 these days.  Not only did we discuss history and science with all the talk about Dr. Rush, but the patients all tended to have medical needs based on inefficient math and grammar intake. Students had to find the correct "organs" to "stitch" onto the patients in order to call each operation a success.

As the chief surgeon, it fell upon me to check my apprentices' work and put corrective bandages on problems that required correction.

Eleven Cecil Floyd students attended Saturday's Math League competition at Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School here in town.  They tested in several formats during the morning hours before leaving the site to continue their day.

At this contest, only first place through fifth place receive awards, but I've included all of our top ten achievers in the list here.  Fourth graders are listed in blue, and fifth graders are in red.

Our two qualifiers to the next level will be invited to compete at the regional contest held in Bolivar, Missouri, on March 10.  There, they will be in the running to compete at the state level in Columbia on May 5.

Were you aware that the infamous Headless Horseman is supposedly the apparition of a Hessian solder?  Read the ​Wikipedia entry below.  Then consider a retelling of the story through the eyes of Wishbone.  Wrap up your study with your own visit to Sleepy Hollow.

Teachers love Snow Days; there's no denying that fact (You may even notice that I capitalized the two words as if they were a national holiday.).  I am no different.  I like being out of school as much as the kids do.  I like getting to watch a few episodes of a favorite TV show, work on a hobby, and catch up on folding the laundry (maybe not).  I even like clearing the driveway and cleaning off the cars.

But I don't need everybody I know telling me it's a Snow Day.

I wake in the morning, and I look outside to see if the predicted snow came.  The ground is covered, including the street.  The cars are white lumps in the driveway.  I check all forms of modern technology to see if we're out of school.  Everything is blank, and if were warmer I crickets would fill the silence.

Text message?  Nope.

Email alert?  Huh uh.

Facebook?  Negative.

Repeat.

I continue with my morning routine, with the understanding that today's drive is not going to be pleasurable.  Snow is still blowing around, accumulating on the deck.  It's not going to get better, but they haven't called our day off yet.

Shower.

Dress.

Brush the teeth.

All of that stuff.

And that's when the phone in pocket buzzes.

Of course.  Ain't that the way it goes (I can say ain't; it's my day off.)?

The first text is from the principal:  "Go back to bed."  The second text comes from the district.

I got awake and dressed and clean for nuttin'!

The next alert is an official robocall cancelling our district's day of professional development, and I am deeply saddened (Where's that sarcasm punctuation I've been asking for?).

And then it begins.

A co-worker has been told to send a text to me about our day off.

The message is even scrolling on the TV screen.

The official word comes through the email stream - the exact wording from the robocall and text messge from earlier.  Another email is directly from the superintendent:  "Enjoy your snow day!"  She doesn't capitalize the holiday like I do, but she uses an exclamation point which encourages me that it's OK to feel pleasure in having the day off.

But then I make the mistake of checking the facebook.

Apparently somebody else thinks she can save me from my own stupidity.  Apparently I can't be trusted to check all of the outlets for myself.  Apparently, I haven't already been told seven times through official channels that I can relax for the day.  Apparently, I'm not an adult, and I don't know how to find the information that I need.

"Snow Day for Joplin peeps," announces one friend (especially annoying because I am also not a sugary Easter treat).

"Teachers get a snow day!" another proclaims.  Is it so hard to capitalize a holiday?

"It's a Teacher Snow Day!!!"  We're depleting our allotment of exclamation points, today.

"Go back to bed staff!"  You're missing a comma, staff.

"Teachers go back to bed!"  Thanks for your permission.

Still others have posted screen shots from their phones and email messages, and now I'm questioning whether or not I should go to work, or could this just be an elaborate hoax to get me in trouble for not reporting in.

The thing is, I get that you're happy.  And excited.  And relieved.  I totally do.

But teachers need to stop telling the world that we work long hours - that we take our work home with us, that we are underpaid, that we have to stay after hours to grade papers and attend special school events - and then announce in very public manners that we get another day off.  I know we have to make up the Snow Day, but that's not how those announcements can be perceived.

There they go again - those teachers - getting yet another free day on the public dole.

​Why make those posts on social media in the first place?  Did you think I'm not going to check for the official announcement before I take your word for it?  Are you providing a public service announcement for the people who genuinely didn't get a half dozen authentic and direct messages?  Are you bragging to the world that you have a day off when many your readers do not?  Do you think you are heroically scooping everyone else?

Our message of educators being overworked and underpaid is diminished when we publicly proclaim our days off for summer, Spring Break, Winter Break, Thanksgiving Break, and others.