"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" (Mary Oliver)
I have always paid for this site and run it from my home computer. But it’s time to take a step up and move to bigger things. I may want to monetize my knowledge, just like the big kids.
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Thank you!
Many educational writers sent messages about the Parkland school shooting.
I don’t want to carry a weapon.
I want to carry and give a safe place for ideas and knowledge.
I don’t want to be a hero with my blood, life, or body.
I want to champion my students’ causes.
I don’t want my students terrified, damaged, or in despair.
I want my students filled with hope and creativity.
I want problems presented and solutions found in our world–without fear.
I want the “what if’s” of their lives to be “What if I cure cancer? What if I find cheap, renewable energy? What if I write a great novel?”
Not “What if he breaks through the door? What if I have to climb out the window?”
What if a student is outside the locked door? What if it is your son?
Watching a boy’s hands tremble as the SWAT team stormed the room, some of my students laughed. I wasn’t mad–I told them it’s the body’s natural reaction when adrenaline is overflowing with real, deep and unrelenting fear. So the lesson for that morning was a scientific one: what happens to us physically in situations of extreme physical and psychological torture?
The NRA, the current sitting president, and the Republican party are wholesale at war with our children. They are enabling mass murderers, they are complicit, guilty, and the blood is on their hands. There is no room for polite debate or discussion any longer. Do not couch your language or edit your actions. Do not be afraid of what your family, neighbors, or (former) friends think. Use your voice and power to push back, educate, and act.
And the answer to the question: Who was…Who was Chris Kyle:
Sometimes I title my posts a bit too obscurely. Quick note: the reason why these posts are titled Renaissance Fairness is that I see a Renaissance happening in schools — more teachers are taking control and agency and doing best practices in collaborative work with their peers and students, doing problem and project-based work, and allowing for students to take agency in their learning. And we want the playing field to be as fair as possible –to remove the obstacles that prevent students from understanding conflict and confusion are normal. This brave teaching and learning may look messy to an outsider, and we just need to push through that. If the culture of the world and business is collaborative and cooperative, or at least that is our aim, then creating safe places to hash out conflict and disagreements must be set by the adults in the building or institution first. This is where we foster our students’ love of being confident with their partner projects as well as their independent creative time, and we must honor both.
I promised a quick checklist/reflection guide for teamwork, and here is my first draft link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Taj3QSvjh6Ue3XKnBoZ29ygO-4iSD752hEdMatAJbCM/edit?usp=sharing
[embeddoc url=”https://blog0rama.edublogs.org/files/2018/02/Group-Project-Norms-Rubric-1snx4bx-1w8h4ee.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]
Sometimes we teachers may grow cynical about the ‘career and college’ ready mission statement. It’s not hard to see why: when our nation voted gave corporations the same voting rights as human beings we knew we were in deep trouble. To avoid that rabbit hole, I’ll just say this: we still work, and one of our jobs as teachers is to show students the opportunities and pathways so they can make the work-life decisions for themselves with the best and rigorous information.
And a secret to all this is — not all work is bad. Far from it. Modeling passion and personal engagement in our work lives is part of the mix of building relationships with students: when we point to the purpose of learning, the foundational piece comes from us. Establish our own engagement, purpose and love of our time in the workplace.
We were the nation of innovators and dream makers. We were envied the world over for our ability to create, for ingenuity and puppy-like enthusiasm. I am not sure we are that now, with a few exceptions (looking at you, Elon Musk). And I pin my hopes on the next generation of thinkers, inventors, writers, artists, and designers on helping students communicate and build the skills necessary to work together in order to solve problems.
The work I’m doing in the WABS/STEM Fellowship program and the PLU ELL Endorsement is guiding my thinking: I wanted to share some ideas from STEM group in terms of project/collaboration/employability rubrics:
Though it’s somewhat disorienting to see I have posted in over ten days, I am going to cut myself some slack–writers need some time off the keyboard once in awhile. Something incredibly fortunate came my way recently, and that is an opportunity to gain my ELL Endorsement via my district and Pacific Lutheran. This coursework began about a week ago and will continue through the summer, and parallels my prior commitment to the WABS/STEM Fellowship. And the new curriculum, and new students, and new new new new. Steady, lady! It’s going to be okay!
Working collaboratively, learning new things and ideas, and then practicing them in my classroom is pure joy for me, and I would wager the secret sauce for many other teachers, too. It’s at the heart of what we strive for our students: the world of work, family, and society may look very different to them. It’s not about the latest technology or gimmick: it’s always been about communicating and being part of communities.
However, we teachers have been systematically demoralized. Sometimes the criticism is valid–teachers can be racist, bigoted, small-minded, intellectually stagnant, just like others in the general population. For those teachers, I have little sympathy for your burn-out. Your job is to prepare all students for a world and future you may not be around to see, but if you can’t imagine it, it’s going to be difficult to get them there.
But that is not what I see. I see colleagues, friends, and family who help children every day, whether they’re in the classroom or not. Who understand the balance of putting students and children first by also supporting the adults. And if you ever feel discouraged, I’m going to let you borrow my son Daniel’s words–he’s going to a local community college and has met a few of my former students. Each one told him I was the best teacher they had.
So:
You, yes, I’m talking to you, are also one of the best teachers your students ever had. Your work matters, and it’s valued. Take heart–you’ve got this.
