I recently received some of the results of a survey offered to teachers who are members of the Missouri State Teachers Association, an older, Missouri- and education-based alternative to the NEA.  In the survey, teachers were asked specific questions regarding the state of the teaching profession in Missouri.  Some of the results are below:

In reflection, I can't say that I have considered leaving the teaching profession in the last three years, outside of starting to explore possibilities for retirement.  I don't recommend the profession for anyone who is scared of high levels of stress and pressure, but education is still a noble profession, one with great rewards.  The contrasts of lows and highs can, themselves, be fraught with extremes.  Both stresses and rewards come from peers, students, administrators, parents, and legislators.

The MSTA results are accompanied by an observational statement with which it would be difficult to disagree:  "The results are disheartening, but not a surprise."

The Losers Club has a simple plot, which leads straight to the climactic ending.  Author Andrew Clements, known for his "school stories", stays true to the genre in this book, without going off the rails with some ridiculous character scheme.

In fact, I am torn between wanting to cheer and being surprised by the way in which Alec was able to keep the peace with every single character in the story.  While I like that he demonstrated proper behaviors in dealing with antagonists.

Knowing that George Washington orchestrated the first spy ring for the American colonies, I was able to pull out some information about international spies throughout history.  Each student answered questions about a unique dossier for a real spy.  The class enjoyed this short project as I played the theme from Mission:  Impossible​ in the background.

Students are realizing that angles are measured in full increments of 1 degree at a time, for a total of 360 degrees in a circle.  They also now understand all of the fancy markings (numbers and lines).  They are also developing skills in lining up the crosshairs, and making sure they are counting up from zero to record there measurements.

This basketball team in Gainesville, Texas, never has fans in the bleachers.  This is the story of one time they did.

Now for some questions:

• How do you think it feels to play with no fans supporting you?
• Is it important for a person to have "fans"?  Why or why not?
• What does it mean to say this is the way sports should be?
• Is it possible to respect an opposing team with positivity even when playing against them?  How?
• Why was this game so much fun for the fans?
• What is a fan?

Truthfully, I have spoken to my brother on a couple of occasions about this.  He used to be a corrections officer in a women's maximum security prison, and in trading notes about what we did, it sounded like we could have traded jobs and not noticed a difference. That, of course, is preposterous.  In a prison, detainees are locked in; at school, weirdos are locked out.  In a school, the teacher rewards difficult assignments and records the results.  In the prison, inmates may earn rewards or get out early for good behavior.  Time out might be similar, KP may be similar, and we need to stop pointing out the similarities and start emphasizing the differences instead.

Today marks the first day that we can say there are less than two months remaining in our current school year (May 21 is our last day.).  Some teachers are already counting down to the last day of school - something I really abhor.

Just imagine what we're going to pack into those two months.  We have two field trips - one to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (a week from today) in Bentonville, Arkansas, and another to the George Washington Carver National Memorial (May 2) in Diamond, Missouri.  I have also scheduled two trunks of materials to be delivered to our classroom - one from the American Independence Museum in Rhode Island (arriving April 1) with items to help us understand the founding era, and another to enhance my upcoming firsthand report about the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (in time for the 24th anniversary of the event).  In addition, of course, we still need to take the Missouri Assessment Program test (beginning April 8), and the third installment of the NWEA test (beginning April 22).  We'll also fit in a field day and a couple of celebrations for positive behavior, not to mention some actual teaching and learning.  Whew!

Here we sit, with less than a quarter of the year remaining.  Some students and teachers will extend their year with some summer programming, but for many of us, our "summer" break will begin soon enough.

​Here's to the memories that we can still build together!

When MALACHI shook the photographer's hand, last Thursday, he made an impression that went beyond the camera lens.  When he did it, I noticed the photographer's expression changed.  She immediately began to treat him differently.  A simple handshake brought a smile and an interaction to a fourth grader.

After our group picture, other students took the initiative, as well.  They approached the group photographer to thank him and welcome him to Cecil Floyd before returning to class.

Before leaving, the photographers stopped in the office to compliment our class, mentioning us by name, to the secretaries.

One student started it.

I recently sat in on interviews to replace one of our school employees.  One of the questions in the interviews involved the concept that we have shared leadership responsibilities at Cecil Floyd.  Shared leadership is something we have slowly developed in our elementary school.  In means that decisions are not made by one boss or rule maker, but by representatives of the staff.  Parents, community members and, of course, students also have input.  We work together to learn from our mistakes and find solutions to improve our environment.

We heard answers from a handful of candidates.  Teachers helping in the interviews were concerned when a candidate was too meek, too withholding, or too talkative.  At the end of all of the interviews, the question arose about whether a direct answer was better or worse than a story leading to an answer.  This reminded me of an article in Inc. magazine (online), headlined Public Speaking Is no Longer a 'Soft Skill':  It's Your Key to Success in Any Field.  The so-called soft skill of storytelling is discussed.  One entrepreneur was quoted as follows:

Warren Buffett agrees:

The magazine article explains this by giving some examples.  One such example compares a worker making $80,000 with another worker, with effective communication skills, who can make $120,000.

I've never understood the term "soft skills".  That term relegates greeting others, getting along, and having the ability to communicate to secondary status, making it less important than other job skills.  That said, we must begin to understand that those skills are key to getting the job, keeping the job, working with associates, doing the job well, and advancing.

While the Inc. article focuses on monetary advantages, the social aspects for the job candidate (or the job holder) are advantageous to all.  Impress people by keeping up a conversation, and one can master many situations:  friendships, dating, and professional.