A Little Friendly Advice

Of all the things I've learned as a teacher, there is one that continues to amaze me. People do not listen. Just because words are coming out of your mouth does not mean that they are being registered by a single ear in the room. Small group, large group, one-on-one, whatever-- do not take it personally; do not get frustrated; as ridiculous as it may seem to respond to the most sincere question that you literally just answered, try to remember that your voice is but one stimulus in a world exploding with sensory details, and the difference between focus and distraction is all in the brain of the beholder. Scolding such an inquirer will not ensure increased attention in the future, probably the opposite, so therefore check for understanding as frequently and as patiently as possible, stay on message and repeat as necessary, and whatever you do? Remove the phrase "dumb ass" from your vocabulary.

First Weekend Back

Yep. They still go by really fast.

105 More Shopping Days

Just the other night I had a moment of seasonal passage-- the first commercial of winter. Oh, it was a cozy, animated little production full of warm light and bundled-up kids, and although it did not inspire me to run out and buy tissues for those inevitable cold weather colds (here they come!), it did almost make me want to fix a mug of hot chocolate and enjoy it right there, ignoring the drone of the air conditioner and early September heat and humidity. The fireplace was looking quite welcoming as well.

Thus also began another countdown: How many days until the first Christmas commercial? It can't be long!

I Gotta Hand it to Them

I have a traditional first week of school assignment that I'm rather fond of. I always begin the year by informing the kids that we are going to write every day, but I reassure them that it will never be anything they can't handle. In fact, to prove it, I tell them we are going to start with words, just words, and build our way up from there.

Their task this week is to come up with 30 nouns and/or adjectives that describe them in some way. Oh, I tie in their independent reading right away, too, encouraging them to "steal" specific nouns and adjectives from other writers by looking at how these published authors describe the people in their books.

When the lists are completed, the students trace their hands on a piece of paper and then scribe the words they have chosen along the outline. The last step is to decorate the hand, cut it out, and mount it on construction paper for display.

This simple activity provides enormous insight into their classroom skills and their work habits, and the products end up being a wonderful snapshot of each student-- their hands, their designs, their words.

Just as Able

We have a student with low vision on the team this year, and of course he has several accommodations to make sure that he can see the instructional materials we are using. He needs bigger print and enlarged images, so the vision specialist laid in a supply of 11 x 17 paper to use in the copy machine. That's double the standard size, however, and there's nothing like a ginormous piece of paper to make you stand out in a group, which is the very last thing this student wants to do. For the majority of kids, sixth grade and the transition to middle school is all about fitting in, and developmentally, that is quite appropriate.

Maybe it's my own worsening presbyopia, but last week when I was reviewing the documents that I would need for the first days of school, I made a decision that rather than enlarging the handouts I had, I would reformat them so that he could read them, and then I would use that version for everyone. Not knowing him, it just seemed the safest thing to do to begin with, and it's worked out fine so far. So today, when I mentioned that to the other teachers on the team, they jumped at the idea.

Our social studies teacher told us how he had pushed a larger copy of the map aside, unwilling to use a different worksheet than the other kids. "It's too bad," she said sympathetically, "but I LOVE the bigger maps-- they look so much better, and they're a lot easier to work with."

"Why don't you use the 11 by 17 paper to make big maps for everyone?" someone suggested, and our strategy was sealed.

I feel good about it-- a larger format is certainly not going to hurt anyone, and who knows how many kids a bigger font and a simpler design might benefit?

Cross Your Heart

Another thing I like about having taught in the same school for so long is the number of siblings of former students I get to have in my class. This year is a bumper crop. I have a number of kids whose brothers and sisters are in 7th grade, 8th grade, or high school, and it's fun to use the inside knowledge I remember of their families to build relationships today. A friendly face and a familiar word go a long way when you're a stranger in a strange place.

I think the farthest the family ties go back is to 2001. I have the brother of a student who was actually sitting in my classroom during the attacks on September 11, 2001. Our school is about two miles from the Pentagon, and we all heard the explosions when the plane made impact. Obviously, it's a day I will never forget.

But the kids we have now were infants then. They have no memory of a pre-9-11 world, but nor do they have any memory of that day. To them, the events of that day will be history that they must make sense of in the context of what they hear, what they read, and what they learn.

That day was one of the dividing lines in history. Like President Kennedy's assassination, WW II, the Great Depression, there are events that shape and separate us, sometimes by century, and sometimes by generation, and as a long-time teacher, that well-earned truth, like the events of 9-11, is something that I'll keep with me.

Trending

One thing I always have enjoyed about teaching is finding out what kids like and dislike; I get a kick out of knowing what's in and what's out and what's cool and what's lame. Being in the know with 11- and 12-year-olds may not seem that important, but it can definitely be a revealing lens on our society. Kids that age are forming their opinions based on so many factors: parents, siblings, peers, media, etc., and in some ways they are the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to trends, both superficial and important. Of course, that's one of the reasons why critical thinking is such an important component of education.

But I digress. What I really wanted to report this evening is a surprising movement I detected in today's first-day-of-school-getting-to-know-you conversations. I was shocked, shocked, by the number of kids who hate soccer. They are not merely neutral or disinterested; no, friends, at least 10 students independently reported that they actually detest the game itself.

What this means for our civilization is for others to decide, until then, I will continue reporting from the front lines.