I’ll Never Resign

by | Nov 7, 2015 | Reflect

I can’t read one more viral, “I resign from teaching..” blog post.  I get it. I really do. I understand we work in a broken system and need to raise awareness.  I understand that the over-testing of America’s kids is beyond madness.  I understand that society vilifies teachers and places the blame on schools for just about every issue that arises.   I’ve worked in urban, rural suburban, and private school environments.  And in every single one of these environments, I’ve seen things that need to go viral.

What needs to go viral?

The stories of kids filled with joy when they figure something out and it was hard and they worked at it.

The photos of students helping carry cans they collected for the local food pantry and the teacher who helped organize it.

The positive note you wrote to a colleague about what you saw them do for a child yesterday when no one else was watching.

The tale of love when you secretly paid a kids lunch bill so he could have a hot meal for lunch, because you might just the be only person who knows that it’s his only hot meal of the day.

The picture of the teacher who runs out on her 20 minutes of a lunch break to pick up extra supplies for a hands on science experience that she’s funding from her own pocket and the happiness on those kids’ faces when they use those materials.

The principal going down the slide on the playground, noticing a child without a coat, and secretly buying him one.

The art teacher hanging 500 paintings, with four pieces of rolled tape on each, because every kid needs to see that their work is valued.

The music teacher staying all weekend to paint the set for the school musical because he knows students’ grandparents will be there.

The reading teacher who lets kids whose minds work differently know that just because they think different, they are not less.

The Saturday mornings spent researching ideas online to make that science unit more fun.

The stories of teachers who do more with so much less, every single year because of their creativity, courage, and perseverance to make it work.

The comments written on each report card, with love in her heart, to make sure every single kid knows that she was happy to have him in her classroom.

Every teacher’s very best idea.  Shared. Openly.  Because together?  We are all better.

As I read one more viral, “I resign from teaching,” post today, I get it.  I really do.  But it’s time for the voice of teachers to be louder than the broken system.  There are moments of good that seep through the cracks in our schools and flood the halls with that soul-wrenching love that made us all love learning in the first place.

And if we share THAT with each other, we can make a difference for every single child. And we all know that would be worth it.

 

Un-standardize Your Classroom

by | Nov 5, 2015 | Reflect

What if you wanted to turn your classroom into a makerspace tomorrow?  What if you are thinking, that’s not in the budget? That’s not possible.  But what if you could start small, make some little changes, and start turning kids loose?  Unstandardize your space and watch them soar….

Here are few ideas:

Turn your desk into a conferencing center.  You know how those ginormous teacher desks take up so much space and you rarely get a moment to sit at yours?  Move it, put stools around it, make it a spot to meet with groups.

Put up blank bulletin board paper on the walls, let kids draw all over it and write questions.  Cover the wall with their thoughts and ideas.

Whether you have desks or tables, change their heights.  Make some low, some high.  High enough to stand at? Low enough to sit on the floor.  Take the legs off.  Add some rugs or pillows on the floor to sit on.

Add some art supplies….  Start with cardboard, masking tape, fabric scraps, ribbon, buttons, needles, thread, batteries, LED lights, a variety of paper, or pipe cleaners.  Send a letter to ask for “leftover craft materials’ from people in your community.

Don’t assume you need a 3d printer or a set of robots to create a makerspace.  All you need for a makerspace is a place to provide kids the opportunity to make their own learning. It might be a pile of cardboard on a spare table, or it could be some paper, LED lights, and batteries to tinker with light up pop-up cards.

Put away half the devices.  If you have one device for every student, try some learning with collaboration and set up projects in an authentic way where the device becomes a shared tool.  Sometimes less really is more.

Tear down the pre-written rules and ask kids to write norms as a team. Build community.  Set up situations where kids can rely on each other instead of just you.

There is so much in the world of education that is a “standard” right now.  Don’t let your classroom fall into the trap.  Your students will thank you for it… every single one of them.