Haters Gonna Hate

Having attended high school long ago and far away, I appreciate FaceBook for its easy access qualities. There are so many people that I might never have heard from again with whom I'm in touch. I have to be honest that for many of them, the reality of busy lives in distant geographic locations might not be a great loss for either of us, but I do value the connection I have with more than a few folks.

Even so, this morning when I got a message that the administrator had posted to a private group nominally set up for anyone who attended our school from 76-79, I was a little appalled. He was asking about someone who was requesting to join.

Does anyone know a MC. No recolection of guy nor does he have high school info about himself?? 

Not only do I remember MC, but I happen to know that he's made a concerted effort to connect with other alumni both on and offline. I rolled my eyes and closed the app, but by the time I checked again this evening, there were even more comments.

I don't recall either. So I didn't reply to friend request.

and

I believe I graduated with him in 1980... he was a rugby player?

and

he was a fat slob. he probably is still a fat slob. I owe him something that I hope to give to him someday.

Seriously?  I felt as if I had been transported back to high school again. The popular kids were running the group, posting their pictures, admitting their friends, and keeping the wannabes out. 

I only had one question.

How did I get in? 

I may never find out though, because right after that? I quit.

The Linus Project

Here's a visual update on my bid for the sincerest pumpkin patch of the year:

August 8:

 

September 1:

He's gotta pick this one. He's got to. I don't see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there's not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.

That's a Wrap

"It's been a good summer," I said to Heidi this morning. "The weather's been great, the food's been excellent, and the company has been generous and fine."

She nodded.

"Let's do it again next year!"

Soft Ball

I'm a big fan of Sixty Minutes; I generally find their choice of stories interesting and their coverage unobjectionable or better. It's always different, though, when a news organization covers a topic of which you yourself have personal experience, knowledge, and (dare I say?) insight, so of course I'm much more critical of their education segments than of any others, even though they probably interest me the most.

Tonight they re-ran a piece on Khan Academy, the on-line, non-profit educational website that was created by a guy who was just trying to tutor his cousin in algebra. When his YouTube videos took off, he quit his job as a hedge fund analyst to focus full time on this endeavor. Salman Khan's efforts were noticed by no less a power player than Bill Gates, and so a movement was born.

Flip teaching, backwards classroom, reverse instruction, flipping the classroom, and reverse teaching are all terms for the method of instruction where students access the content (or lecture portion of a class) at home and then come to the instructor for support or coaching as they practice (traditionally the homework part of a course).

As a teacher, I am not threatened by this approach in the least. On some level, it makes a lot of sense. I am skeptical, however, of the great gains proponents claim when they champion such programs. As it is right now? All their data is based on students who were motivated to access such online support; it's not rocket science to teach people who want to learn.

That speaks to the largely ignored challenge of American public education today-- it's not so much that our teachers or schools are unqualified (although admittedly, some are)-- no, our system is failing because for so many reasons there are a lot of kids who are not ready and willing to learn what we have to teach them.

Fountain of Youth

I spent some time today going through pictures from the last ten years or so. They weren't in albums or shoe boxes or even special envelopes with a little pocket for the negatives, every one of the photos that I looked at was on my computer. I didn't sort or shuffle; I scrolled and clicked.

At first, it was simply amazing to me that it's been ten years since we went digital; it certainly doesn't seem so long, but actually looking back convinced me otherwise. In part it was looking at the kids in my life. What a cliche to say they grow up so fast, but there it was in 3000 pictures. At one point in my trip down memory lane, I decided to focus on the changes in myself rather in them, because, to express another common sentiment, I don't feel any different than I did back then. That was a short-lived initiative, mostly because whether I feel like it or not, the last ten years have wrought some undeniable alterations in me and the other adults in the photos. (Sorry guys!)

I have a lot of pictures from school, though, and they are like a little time capsule. To me, most of those children will always be in sixth grade. That's part of the illusion I think-- the kids I teach never grow older; every September they are simply replaced by another group of eleven year olds.

An Economy of Teaching

When I first started teaching, we always had a four-day weekend after the teacher work days and  before school officially began for kids on the Tuesday after Labor Day. Back then, the time off was wasted on me. I was always so anxious to meet the students and begin the year that I could never enjoy the long weekend.

That luxury was dispensed with long ago when we hit the first of several economic bumps in the road over the last 20 years. Today I worked from 8-6, and as I walked out the door this evening, it was with a heavy backpack and the feeling that I just wasn't quite ready. It almost seemed like the week was spent training and preparing for everything except my actual lesson plans.

Even so, I am going to relish the next three days. If I've learned anything in the last 20 years, it's to embrace the down time, because once school starts it will be scarce.

Platitudes Aside

In the last four days I have been bombarded by peppy platitudes. As a returning teacher, I have been encouraged to Engage Educate Empower and also to Believe Engage Succeed. I've been urged to strive toward being the Guide on the Side rather than the Sage on the Stage. I've been asked to don the four hats of the effective teacher, Facilitator, Presenter, Coach, and Evaluator, and I have been informed numerous times that PLC (Professional Learning Community) is a verb, not a noun.

That last one? Just dumb and patently false. I get that they want us to know that our active participation in our PLCs is crucial, but don't tell an English teacher to call a noun a verb; I couldn't possibly PLC a damn thing.

You know what is a verb? Teach. And once again, on this sixth grade open house day, as I stood outside my class room greeting so many of our students and their parents and answering their questions when they turned up to see their new school and figure out just where they must go on Tuesday morning, I knew that I was born to do just that.