Presidential Thoughts on Education

Since today is President’s Day, I thought it would be interesting to see what some of our country’s presidents have said about education over the years. Here are a few interesting quotes.

The best means of forming a manly, virtuous, and happy people will be found in the right education of youth. Without this foundation, every other means, in my opinion, must fail.

George Washington

Education is not a problem. Education is an opportunity.

Lyndon Johnson

Think about every problem, every challenge, we face. The solution to each starts with education.

George H. W. Bush

 Knowledge -— that is, education in its true sense -— is our best protection against unreasoning prejudice and panic-making fear, whether engendered by special interest, illiberal minorities, or panic-stricken leaders.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

If you think education is expensive, wait until you see how much ignorance costs in the 21st century.

Barack Obama

Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in. That everyone may receive at least a moderate education appears to be an objective of vital importance.

Abraham Lincoln

Improving Through Systems

Changing a habit is not an easy task. It often involves changing a routine which is all but engrained in our DNA. So what is the best way to make a change stick? One article suggests that creating systems will help you make lasting changes.

According to the article, “A system is a set of steps you take consistently to increases your odds of success regardless of the immediate outcome. A working system allows you to reduce your tasks and actions to a manageable set of inputs and outputs, and establish some predictability.”

If you want to read more, then you should set aside time each day to read. Create a system that works for you. Maybe it is reading 15 minutes before bed each night. Creating that system, where specific time is identified to read, will help ensure that you read more.

Three for the Week

Saturdays are my time to reflect on what I read, heard, and discussed throughout the week. It is my “exit ticket” for the last seven days. So here are three ideas that made me think this week. (They are not in any particular order.)

1 – The latest episode of the Freakonomics podcast is called Policymaking is Not a Science (Yet). The episode looks at why promising solutions “fail to scale up into great policy.” This failure to scale up has enormous implications in the education world where so many policy decisions are driven by research. There are a number of reasons why promising initiatives fail to scale up. One is called voltage drop. Think about an experiment testing the impact of a math intervention. During the research, 20 math teachers are needed to run the experiment. However, when the intervention is scaled up to a larger setting 20,000 teachers are needed. It is much easier to find 20 teachers who thoroughly understand the intervention. Finding 20,000 teachers who have that same understanding is much more difficult and often dooms initiatives. This is called “voltage drop.” It is one of the reasons why research which seems promising doesn’t scale up during implementation.

2 – An article in USA Today explored how Memphis schools are trying to increase the number of teachers of color. That article referenced some research that is incredibly important to students all across the country. That research looked at the impact a black teacher has especially on black male students. The researchers from Johns Hopkins University and American University found that, “Black students who’d had just one black teacher by third grade were 13 percent more likely to enroll in college – and those who’d had two were 32 percent more likely.”

1 – Staying with the lighthearted feel of my final thought of the week, I present to you this dog greeting her owner, Christina Koch. My dog greets me with similar enthusiasm when I come home from work each day. Koch, however, is an astronaut returning after 328-day mission.

Namaste

A few years ago I was having some pretty significant hip pain. It was to the point where I could barely walk, and my orthopedic surgeon was talking about a hip replacement – in my mid-30s. There was rest (I didn’t run for almost three years), physical therapy, pain medication, and even cortisone shots under X-ray, but nothing would ease the pain.

Then I tried yoga. Within a months, my symptoms decreased exponentially. About six months later, I felt almost 100% again. At first, I was doing a half-hour yoga routine on a DVD I purchased. I liked the convenience of doing this in my living room.

Here are a couple of my takeaways from my experience with yoga. First, it is not as easy as it looks. When I watch videos online, most of the yogis make it look so easy and effortless. When I first started practicing yoga, I spent most of my time trying to catch my balance. That improve over time. Second, it does get easier. The first time I tried the half-hour routine, I made it through about five minutes. The next time I made it a few minutes more. Eventually, I was able to complete the entire 30 minute routine. Finally, this is one of the best workouts I’ve ever done. It is a great full-body workout and helps release mental stress. I was very reluctant to try it at first because it was way out of my comfort zone. I grew up playing basketball, baseball, and soccer. This wasn’t macho enough for me. I was completely wrong. This is a real workout.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, a healthy teacher is better able to take care of students. My Friday posts have, accidentally, become centered on health and wellness. Today I had to drive about three hours away. My muscles were extremely stiff when I got out of the car, and the only thing I wanted to do was a couple yoga poses. If you’re limited on time, I think the best yoga pose for the time is Downward Dog. It helps stretch out your hamstrings and strengthen your core. Here’s a quick video of how it works. Hope it helps!

The Valentine’s Day Lesson

One year I had a fourth grader, Jessica, who was noticeably upset the day before our Valentine’s exchange. (I change the names of students in posts for privacy reasons.) When I was able to talk to her privately, Jessica told me she was worried about our exchange. This stopped me in my tracks.

When I was in elementary school, I always looked forward to any holiday party. I vividly remember my dad taking me to the grocery store the night before my fourth grade Christmas part to buy materials to make an ornament. My family still has that ornament. So I couldn’t imagine why Jessica was so worried about what was intended to be a fun time.

She was reluctant at first to tell me what was bothering her. Then I thought about the next day and asked how she felt about our Valentine’s exchange. Her eyes shot down to the ground to avoid making eye contact with me. That’s when I knew what was bothering her.

Jessica was a sweet kid. She had some challenges in life, but still seemed excited to be in class every day until that point in the year. Her parents were not together, and I knew from conversations with dad, that money was tight at the house. On top of this, dad worked multiple jobs to make ends meet.

This was something new to me. I was fortunate to grow up in a middle class house. There was never a time when I didn’t have what I needed for school or a social event in the classroom. It was something I took for granted, even into my adult life. Jessica taught me an important lesson that day. Not all students grow up in the same world and with the same opportunities. Yes, I’d read about this and listened to lectures about it, but having a child dealing with it directly in front of me made it real.

Jessica loved art and showed an interest in crafts, so I decided to use that to our advantage. At recess that day I told her she could invite a friend into our classroom to make Valentines’ cards out of construction paper, markers, tissue paper, and other items we had in the classroom. She created some amazing cards.

The next day in class, as all the students were getting their Valentine’s cards out of their backpacks, Jessica pulled out her handmade cards. She walked around very proud of the cards she made, and she should have been proud of them. They were really well done. At dismissal that day, she walked out of our classroom with an enormous smile on her face. Quite a difference in the last 24 hours.

I think about Jessica whenever we have a classroom party, students are dressing up for a school-wide spirit day, or have to complete an assignment at home. Not all students have the same opportunities. This can create a great deal of stress and anxiety. School should be an environment where students feel comfortable but still have fun.

Today we had our Valentine’s Day exchange in my classroom. I checked with all my students to make sure they had something to distribute. This is supposed to be a fun activity, but one outstanding child taught me that we have to think about all the students and what they can and cannot provide. We have to make sure that we are creating a safe environment for all of our students. We need to make sure that economics or a parent’s schedule does not prevent a student from participating in activities and loving school. Thank you, Jessica, for teaching me this valuable lesson.

50 Books in 2020… #3

One of my goals for 2020 is to read 50 books throughout the year. Yesterday I finished book #3, The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. This is the book that inspired the movie by the same name. It tells the story of Michael Oher, a young, black kid growing up in poverty. He is taken in by a white, Evangelical family when he enters a new high school. The combination of a stable family and football helps transform his life.

Oher grows up, prior to meeting the Tuohy family, not knowing his birthday and unable to read or write.

There are so many lessons about education and life in this book. It explores the effects poverty and how your zip code at birth has an enormous impact on your life and opportunities.

At one point, Oher is at a bookstore with two members of his new family. The mother, Leigh Anne Tuohy, and her son Sean have a conversation about reading. Sean points to the book Where the Wild Things Are and mentions how his mom used to read it to him as a child. “To which Michael replied, in the most detached tone, ‘I’ve never had anyone read me a book.'”

This story breaks my heart for so many reasons. The obvious one is that there is a child who has reached high school and has never had a book read to him. What is more alarming is that this happens in communities all over the country. There might be students sitting in your classroom who would not have a book read to them if not for the read aloud that occurs in school.

Another take away from this book is how important vocabulary is to reading comprehension. The first page of this book is loaded with Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary. 

From the snap of the ball to the snap of the first bone is closer to four seconds than to five. One Mississippi: The quarterback of the Washington Redskins, Joe Theismann, turns and hands the ball to running back John Riggins. He watches Riggins run two steps forward, turn, and flip the ball back to him. It's what most people know as a "flea-flicker," but the Redskins call it a "throw back special." Two Mississippi: Theisman searches for a receiver but instead sees Harry Carson coming straight at him. It's a running down - the start of the second quarter, first and 10 at midfield, with the score tied 7-7 - and the New York Giants' linebacker has been so completely suckered by the fake that he's deep in the Redskins' backfield.

Imagine what a reader needs to know to fully understand the very first page of the book. (This is only half of the first paragraph.) The third word of the book has a double meaning in the sentence – snap a football (ball moves from center to quarterback) and snap (break) a bone.

Then the reader tackles (pun intended) the idea of “One Mississippi…” “Two Mississippi…” Some readers will be able to understand that this is a way to ensure you are counting in seconds. Lewis, who is a remarkable author, uses this language to convey the idea of time ticking. However, this is also a football reference. When children are playing touch football, a defender usually cannot tackle the quarterback until they count out loud – One Mississippi… Two Mississippi… Three Mississippi…

There’s also terminology specific to the game of football – quarterback, running back, linebacker, first and 10, flea-flicker, and backfield. All this vocabulary made me think about some of the text we give our students. If a non-football fan was asked to read this passage, how would they do? They’d probably struggle. Would they need some support and scaffolding? Most likely. Could the class launch right into reading this page and hope everybody was successful? No.

This was a wonderful book that made me think about so many important topics: poverty, education, vocabulary, and more. I read this book because I heard a best-selling author say it might be the best narrative nonfiction book every written. I’m not sure if that is the case, but it’s got to be up there.

Every Kid Needs a Champion

There are times when you just need some motivation to get you through the day or week. When those moments hit me, I usually go to a couple Ted Talks to get me thinking and rejuvenated. Here is one of my favorite Ted Talks about education. This is guaranteed to get you motivated.

The speech, by Rita Pierson, is titled “Every Kid Needs a Champion.” It is a powerful talk and well worth the entire 7 minutes, 30 seconds. Pierson shares a great story about a student who got a 2/20 on an assessment. Instead of marking it “-18” she wrote “+2” to show the student that they got some material correct rather than highlight how much they didn’t know.

My favorite part of the entire speech, maybe my favorite part of any Ted Talk, is the end of Pierson’s speech. “Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be. Is this job tough? You betcha. Oh God, you betcha. But it’s not impossible. We can do this. We’re educators. We’re born to make a difference.”

Amen, Rita Pierson. Amen!

The Power of Positivity

You are teaching in a third grade classroom. Most of the students are on-task except for Benjamin and Emily. Benjamin is talking to anybody and everybody in his immediate vicinity and missing most of the instruction.

Emily is quiet during instruction but starts talking during every transition and is often the last one to get her materials ready for the next part of the day.

There are a couple ways a teacher could address each of these students. One is to give them some form or negative consequence (move down on a color-coded chart, address their negative behavior in the middle of a lesson, take away part of recess). Another option is to use positive reinforcement (acknowledging the positive behavior of the students who are meeting the desired expectations, give some form of positive reward).

This year my school placed an emphasis on school-wide PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports). One of the big shifts focuses on, and rewards, the positive behavior in the building instead of handing out consequences for negative behavior. We give students “money” they can use to buy rewards at a school store. (It’s called Cougar Cash in our building because of our District mascot.)

There are some tangible objects in the store students can buy, like pencils, stress balls, etc. What they really enjoy are the experiences with teachers and staff – sit in the teacher’s desk for the day, help with the morning announcements, or bring a stuffed animal to school. Teachers have also been encouraged to create experiences. For example, I offer lunch with me and three friends, and I provide ice cream. (Side note, I’ve had to run a lot more this school year to work off all the ice cream lunches I’ve had with students.)

New research has found that positive praise is closely correlated to on-task behavior. The study focused on teachers from kindergarten through sixth grade. Researchers observed classes for 20-minute periods and recorded praise, reprimands, and “student on-task behavior.”

When researchers looked at positive praise and on-task behavior, they found a linear relationship. The more praise students received, the more they were on-task. According to the study, “any increase of teachers’ PRR (praise-to-reprimand ratio) appears to lead to increased students’ on-task behaviour in elementary school classrooms.”

Teachers are usually encouraged to have a praise-to-reprimand ratio of 3:1 or 4:1. This research, however, suggests that teachers can praise students at a ratio greater than 4:1 and will continue to see an increase on-task behavior.

I’ve seen this work first-hand. There are two primary students in our building who walk past my room every day to go to intervention. Actually, it was more like skipping past my room. The first time I saw the two students, I told them how important it was to slow down, so they wouldn’t get hurt. The next day, they were skipping again. We had a similar conversation, but this time I told them I was hoping to catch them walking the right way the next day, so I could give them some Cougar cash. What do you think happened the next day? The two boys were the textbook example of how you should walk in the hall. They were quiet, in a straight line, and, most importantly, walking. I gave them each some Cougar Cash, and told them how proud I was to see them walking in the hallway. The next day the intervention teacher stopped to tell me how pleased the two children were to receive the positive reinforcement.

Let’s revisit that third grade classroom and think of how to address Benjamin and Emily. The research shows that highlighting the positive behaviors in the classroom will go much farther than pointing out Benjamin and Emily’s negative behavior. Instead of reprimanding them, let’s give students around them praise and reward. It will help the entire classroom, the teacher, and Benjamin and Emily.

What is Your Calling?

Why did you become a teacher? Why do you stay in the teaching profession?

If you work in education, you can probably answer the first question. Depending on how long you’ve been in the profession, it might take some thinking. There was a reason you got into education and there’s a reason why you stay.

Teaching is a calling. But, what does it mean for something to be a calling? The writer and author Frederick Buechner said a person’s calling is something “(a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done.” A calling is a that place where your needs and the world’s needs collide.

Hopefully, if you’re in education, it is what you need most to do. It is work that inspires you, makes you jump out of bed in the morning, and keeps you energized.

Education is certainly work the world needs to have done. It is the most important thing we do as a society, because every profession is based on the idea that individuals in those fields learn from teachers.

So, why did you become a teacher, and why do you stay in the profession? Hopefully it’s your calling because the world needs passionate teachers who feel like they need to be teachers. Most importantly, there are classrooms of students who need you to help change their lives.

Three for the Week

Saturdays are my time to reflect on what I read, heard, and discussed throughout the week. It is my “exit ticket” for the last seven days. So here are three ideas that made me think this week. (They are not in any particular order.)

1 – Did you know there are three meanings of multiplication? I didn’t know them until a couple years ago. A blog post by Jeff Lisciandrello reminded me that the meanings are not widely known. They are: equal groups, rates, multiplicative comparison, rectangular array, and Cartesian products. Jeff has a great description of each meaning in his blog post.

2 – Michael Pollan is a food writer and the author of books like  “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” “The Botany of Desire,” “In Defense of Food” and “How to Change Your Mind.” His new book, which is only available as an audiobook on Audible, tackles our complex relationship with caffeine. Pollan explores the effects of caffeine in our society and how it impacts our bodies. I have not listened to the book, but read an interesting preview in the Washington Post. In his book, Pollan says, “Something like 90 percent of humans ingest caffeine regularly, making it the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world and the only one we routinely give to children, commonly in the form of soda. It’s so pervasive that it’s easy to overlook the fact that to be caffeinated is not baseline consciousness but, in fact, is an altered state.” That’s a pretty sobering thought.

3 – The third slot is again reserved for something which will put a smile on your face. I’ve never really believed in the whole idea of a spirit animal. Then I saw this video of a dog sledding down a hill. I now complete embrace the idea of a spirit animal and believe I’ve found mine.