Raise Your Glass and Put It Down

Read through to the end of this entry, and you will see how all the sections fit together—I promise.

The Survey:

Survey results that fit into the Interesting-But-Not Surprising Category:

More than half of the teachers questioned in the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher said they felt under “great stress” several days a week.

This is not news to most of us.  We understand the results of the significant educational reforms, including new academic standards and new teacher evaluation systems.  Michael Cohen, the president of Achieve, an education nonprofit group, says of the survey results, “What struck me most is they [teachers] are operating in an environment of public discourse that is often focused on blame.”  Ouch! 

The Research:

From a February 2013 Time Magazine Interview with neuroscientist Bruce McEwen:

Stress systems were put there to help the body adapt and survive.  They have a good side and a bad side…. Good stress is rising to a challenge, feeling exhilarated when your body and brain are working properly to help you do so….  Toxic stress is where bad things happen, perhaps because you don’t have the inner or external resources needed to cope and perhaps because you have had early life adversity, which makes you vulnerable to adverse outcomes.

The Story:

The following is a story bouncing around on the Internet.  I was unable to trace its origin:

A young lady confidently walked around the room with a raised glass of water while explaining stress-management to an audience. Everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question: "Half empty or half full?"

She fooled them all. "How heavy is this glass of water?" she inquired with a smile.

Answers ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

"In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

She continued, "That's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on.

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden--holding stress longer and better each time."

The Point:

Teaching is a stressful profession these days.  It has been and will likely continue to be so in the foreseeable future.  Some stress is good, maybe even healthy.  Over time, the stress we face can wear us down.

When the glass gets too heavy, find a way to put it down for a bit.  Laugh with friends, hug a child, walk in the sun, read a good book, or cook a great meal.  In school, buy a plant from the FFA, go to a concert or sporting event, joke with a student or peer, or shake hands with every student coming through your door.

Bruce McEwen, the neuroscientist referenced above, says it is our perception that makes all the difference: “It’s where you perceive yourself that matters.  The brain is the key because it perceives and decides what is stressful in the traditional sense of the word and regulates behavior and physiology.”  When we find a way to let it all go for a bit and focus on what is really important in life and at school, it will inevitably change our perception. 

Raise your glass in a toast to this thought:

We have great students and a great staff, all working towards a common goal.   

It just might help relieve some of your stress.

Have a great week.

Phil

Restorative Discipline

For those of you who missed it, last Saturday was prom night at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in downtown Indianapolis.  Designed to look like the town center of a quaint European village, the IRB circular wooden dance floor has been host to presidents, celebrities, and musicians.  John F. Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, Bing Crosby, and Margret Thatcher have all walked the floorboards on which our students danced.  Below is a picture that came up when I searched “JFK at the Indiana Roof Ballroom.”

Admittedly, our students danced a bit differently than when JFK and Jackie were cutting the rug.  (I can’t help but wonder what John F., Audrey, or Bing would have to say if they could have watched our kids last Saturday!)

While it is true that I have supervised a few too many proms to get really excited anymore, it was easy to see last Saturday that this is not the case for our students.  The 2013 Prom was a great success, largely because of all of the work and planning from Gaye, Aaron, and Bill.  Long after the adults forget the details, that evening will be remembered by many of those students in attendance.

Beside the dessert table—which by the way was phenomenal—the most interesting part of the night for me was watching the students arrive in all of their finery. I especially enjoyed the interaction between our deans and some of the “frequent fliers” to their offices.  These students would come off the elevator, look around tentatively, see Rita and Laura, and come over for hugs all around.  Of course, Rita and Laura would rave at how fine the students looked.  And no question about it, they did look good—both the kids and the deans.

On a night like this, the conflict and tough talks that took place in the disciplinary process are forgotten.  Students see and are seen in a new light, one that reflects their strengths, their gifts, and their potential.  This certainly does not mean that once the gowns are packed away and the tuxes are returned to the rental store there won’t be any other behavior issues.  The next round of the discipline dance is likely to continue. 

On prom night, however, I was witness to the power of restoration in the discipline process.  Those moments at the beginning of prom showed what discipline can and should be.  Discipline should about changing behaviors but also about teaching, about relationships, and about finding a way to help students move forward.  It should include intentional acts of welcoming students back into the school community.

In the classroom, you have similar opportunities.  Anytime you work with kids, you will have tough times and serious issues that take lots of time and energy, but there are also times to restore relationships, to celebrate growth, and to see the results of teaching your students a better way.  The disciplinary cycle should end with an intentional effort to restore the relationship and welcome the student back into the classroom community.

This relationship-driven approach to discipline, like the prom, can be a truly special and memorable event for our students.  You may not get the haute couture and cuisine of the prom, but effective restorative classroom discipline makes beautiful music—and changes lives.

Continue to build those positive relationships and continue to teach students the right steps to take in the dance of life, HSE.

Have a great week.

Phil

A few quotes about dancing:

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.  –Friedrich Nietzche

I always tell my kids if you lay down, people will step over you.  But if you keep scrambling, if you keep going, someone will always, always give you a hand.  Always.  But you gotta keep dancing, you gotta keep moving your feet.  –Morgan Freeman

We learn by practice.  Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same.  –Martha Graham

Somebody just gave me a shower radio.  Thanks a lot.  Do you really want music in the shower?  I guess there is no better place to dance than a slick surface next to a glass door.  –Jerry Seinfeld

Grinding Gears

My dad taught me how to drive stick shift in a beat up 1965 Flat-Front Ford Econoline pickup we borrowed from Hesston College, where he was a professor.  The pickup, as opposed to the one pictured below, was maroon (school colors) and had the “three on the tree” manual transmission.  During the learning process, I put that poor Econoline through plenty of gear grinding, stalling, and jerk-starts.  Eventually, with a great deal of patience and lots of instruction from my dad, I figured it out.  Since that broiling summer day in Kansas, every other stick shift thrown my way has been much easier to deal with.  That’s the way shifting—and learning—works.

At the state and national level, the debate about Common Core State Standards continues.  It leaves us in a bit of quandary.  Preparing for the unknown is a little tricky, but not preparing could be even more problematic.

While acknowledging the uncertainty, we should continue to look at what is coming down the pike, and we would do well to be able to speak somewhat knowledgeably to parents, family, and friends about CCSS.  One way to get a handle on what soon may be our new reality is to look at the differences between the Common Core literacy standards and our current standards.  According to the Indiana Department of Education, when we move to Common Core State Standards, we will be in for four “Major Shifts.”

Shift 1: Emphasizing Informational Texts

Shift 2: Literacy Standards for All Content Areas

Shift 3: Text Complexity

Shift 4: The Special Place of Argument

Shifts 1 and 2 have lots of overlap.  In secondary schools, the expectation is that all teachers are literacy teachers.  This means that all of us will continue to be reading, writing, and thinking teachers.  The literacy standards will be taught primarily using informational texts.  For high school students, up to 70% of their reading should be in informational texts.  Of course, some reading of informational texts takes place in the English classroom, but the lion’s share of reading informational texts will take place in the other content areas.  With CCSS, in all content areas, students will be doing much more “reading and writing to learn.”

Shift 3 is about text complexity, which refers to having opportunities for students to read challenging texts.  If you haven’t already, soon you will hear a great deal about “close reading.”  Close reading is careful and purposeful reading—more accurately, it is re-reading.  With each return passage into the text, the students uncover deeper layers of meaning about the content, the author’s purpose, or how the structure contributes to meaning.  You will have students spend extended time with important texts, and close reading will likely impact your in-class questioning as well.  When you ask questions, students will justify answers with evidence from the text, which is a nice segue to the fourth shift.

Shift 4 is about argument.  Creating and defending arguments is a crucial component of the CCSS.  Even at the elementary level, the CCSS call for students to make and justify arguments, either written or oral. This culminates in high school with students routinely developing, defending, and analyzing complex arguments in all content areas. 

Interestingly enough, both the Teacher Effectiveness and Development System (TEDS) and our own school-wide goals fit well with the direction the Common Core is taking us.  This does not mean that the shifts will be easy or that we won’t grind some gears as we learn to drive this truck.  We are, however, definitely moving in the right direction to meet the challenges presented by the Common Core.

Sometime soon you will probably be asked what the Common Core is all about.  When you are asked these questions, describing the four major shifts may be helpful. 

Hop on in, HSE.  Give it some gas, pop the clutch, and keep on truckin’.  Have a great week.

Phil

PS: Speaking of trucking and for no particular reason, do those of you from my era remember this picture?

Spring Into Action

Welcome back from Spring Break.

If you haven't done so already, now is a very good time to count the days until the end of school.  You might do this in anticipation of summer break, but more importantly, it should be done to help with planning.

We are at the point where full class periods with your students are becoming a limited commodity.  By the time some students miss for AP tests, ECAs, field trips, assemblies, or final exams, depending on which students you teach, you may have fewer days than you think.

You have an incredibly difficult balancing act ahead of you.  My guess is most of you have lots you would love to teach, but you will have to limit what you cover because of time constraints.  You are the content-area experts.  I have no intention of telling you where to make cuts, but I would offer a few guidelines that may help when you find yourself crunched for time. 

We must be more about student learning than teaching.  In other words, it doesn’t matter what we teach if students don’t learn it.  (Think of the “I taught my dog to whistle” cartoon.) Wiggins and McTighe in Understanding by Design, point out that "teaching by mentioning it" is perhaps the least helpful approach to instruction.  In the coming month and a half, many of you will have to fight the temptation to "cover" material without giving opportunity for students to develop "enduring understanding." 

In the long run, less width and more depth is the way to go if you want students to remember the material and be able to apply the learning any time after June.

Secondly, if you, like most teachers at this time of year, have to make tough curricular decisions, make sure to make the main thing the main thing.  Focus on the learning that is truly important, engage your students in the learning at a deep level, and take solace in the knowledge that learning a few things well will have more lasting impact than "covering" many things in ways that will soon be lost.

Spring has sprung, and summer is knocking on the door.  The task of planning how best to use the remaining weeks is not an easy one, but that has not stopped educators before.  Working with kids has never been for the faint of heart. 

Spring forward, HSE.  Make the most of the April and May.

Phil