I Get It {Finally}!

I've never professed to be a quick wit...always having a witty reply a day or so later.  But tonight at dinner, out at a crowded restaurant with my family, I finally got something my "Mentoring AP" has been saying for some time.

See, when the going gets tense, stressful, or may seem overwhelming, our admin tend to offer rewards for staff to jump in and do a little extra.  

Let me give you an example.  It's mid spring semester.  If you are a 3rd-5th grade teacher, you are feeling the urgency (or should) to press on towards STAAR (or your own standardized test).  You've still got to input grades, run reports for your admin team on your student data, meet with families of students you are concerned about, plan with your team, plan for yourself, meet as a faculty for staff meetings, maybe even collect forms for various types of things like pictures, field trips, middle school registration, progress reports, and on and on like this.  So, then your admin team asks (strongly encourages) some on your team to step up and offer to tutor for an academic camp after school or on a Saturday, not just one time, but multiple times, and you are D-O-N-E.  I mean, ready to scream, walk out the door, throw your papers in the air, just DONE.  So, your admin team offers extra jeans day passes, special rewards like a duty (lunch or recess) coverage, or some other reward for you to do this.  

This is where my "Mentoring AP" steps in.  "Why should we offer a reward for something that is part of your job?"  To which I would say, "But they are tired, feeling overwhelmed, overworked, etc and need something to help."  To which she would reply, "But it's their job.  You get a paycheck, that's your something." And to be fair, at my campus, staff are paid for their extra time to tutor or come on Saturdays, so it's a "something" beyond their salary.

So tonight at dinner with my youngest and husband, we were seated next to a table that obviously had a firstborn toddler in a high chair.  The Mom, Dad, and Grandmother were hyper-focused on this child, getting them an uncooked tortilla (dough) to play with, wiping every mess up immediately, etc.  Then I hear the Mom ask the waitress for an ice cream and leans over to the toddler telling her how proud she was that she could sit still through dinner and earned a reward, the ice cream.  And that's when the light bulb went off for me.  I sat there mouth hanging for a couple of minutes and then leaned over to my husband, also a teacher, and said "Can you believe that?  That kid is getting rewarded for something that is expected...to sit still during dinner, and behave.  This isn't the FFPS league.  We shouldn't reward them for something that is their job?!"

See, I know it can be stressful and seem like the work is never ending and want to give up, because I've been there, and I'm sure I'll be there again.  But seriously, working a little harder, giving a little more, bumping up that urgency for our students sake should just be our job.  We shouldn't have to be rewarded or "strongly encouraged" to do this.  We should just do it for our student's sake.  They deserve our very best.  They deserve for us to give a little more to help them be successful.

So, though the job be daunting, we should WANT to do more, be more, help more, encourage more for our students, not just because it's our job, but because we want to, without reward or incentive. Those incentives can be nice, but we should just want to for our student's sake and for no other reason.

Anyways, that's my two cents...and I can say, "I get it finally."

Responsible Criticism

I know the title of this post might be an oxymoron, so let me explain.

Social media can be both good and bad, can both work in our favor and against us, so it's something to be used responsibly.  In the last month, I've had an issue come up with two separate business and when I couldn't find a resolution at the local store, I took to social media to see if something could be done.

The first incident occurred when a business wouldn't honor one of those peel off coupons on a product that I needed on an emergency basis for my home.  When I asked why, the sales clerk couldn't explain why, just reiterating that they didn't honor them.  Knowing that I HAD to have this product to fix something in my home, I just accepted it and went on to my van.  But as I sat in the parking lot, I got upset, not getting an explanation that seemed reasonable.  Seemed crazy to me, as literally every place honors those manufacturer's coupons stuck to products, so I took to the business' Facebook page to ask why they wouldn't honor a $0.65 coupon, snapping a picture of my receipt to prove my point.  Within a half hour or so, the manager replied telling me the cashier was new and didn't know their policy and requesting that I bring in my receipt so he could give me a full refund.  I, in turn, replied explaining that I only wanted my $0.65, stating that he needed to stay in business too.  When I returned to the store to get it all solved, he did indeed give me a full refund.

The second incident involved my van.  2012 model, 58,965 miles and the transmission goes out in the middle of Monday morning traffic.  Stranded, I called my insurance for a tow to my personal mechanic, who confirmed my suspicions by lunch time.  I then called the company to find out what my options were, and was able to get it towed to the nearest dealer for free and to be repaired for free.  But what happened at the dealer sent my blood pressure through the roof.  They couldn't accept my mechanic's findings, which I was OK with, but they also couldn't give me a replacement to drive until they could diagnose it, which turned out to take 6 days.  In the meantime, I had no family vehicle to drive and had to depend on extended family for a ride.  I was even insulted on one phone call to the service dept, telling me I needed to put myself in the company's shoes.  I took to Twitter to tweet how upset I was with the service directly to the corporation in Michigan.  Within an hour, I got a message back requesting more info to which I replied with all the info.  The end result, which is still not final yet, was that I got a replacement to drive, and the dealer service dept was shut down until they could clear out their back log of cars needing service.  A win-win in my book, hoping that others in my shoes wouldn't have to wait nearly a week, without a car to drive, for a problem covered under warranty to just be "looked at", not actually repaired yet.

After these two incidents and knowing that social media worked in my favor, it does make me think, what if it didn't?  What if my remarks led to someone losing their job, their livelihood for their family?  Would that be responsible criticism?  Now I know this post might not have an educational slant to it, but what if it did?  What if all we do at our schools is share criticism?  Without any solution in mind, just aimless criticism, complaining?  Is that helpful?  I think not.  We need to be responsible with our criticism.  To have a solution in mind, or to think of how it impacts others.  We need to be someone who energizes others to action, not drain them to empty.

Sensory Overload?

I've got self diagnosed sensory issues.  I'm not making light of folks who truly suffer from this, I've just noticed some things about myself as I'm getting older.  My husband tells me that I'm an 80 year old woman in a 39 year old body.  Noises really bother me and as with most things when tiredness creeps in, it gets worse.  So here's what happened this week...

In my new role this school year (Campus Testing Coordinator), I knew that busy times would happen, but I told myself that it was OK, because it was just seasonal.  Still true.  The difference between what I do now and being a classroom teacher, is that as a classroom teacher the busyness is same throughout the year.  It's steadily busy, almost no down time, so you don't notice those lulls in activity quite so much.  Teaching is running a marathon all the time, but you don't care because you see the students smiles, lights going off in their brains, and you know it's all worth it.

These past couple of weeks have been extremely busy, working till 7pm most nights preparing for the first round of STAAR, managing my daughter's choir concerts, family, church, and other school commitments, even on weekends.  No down time.  The noises began to get to me and I found myself seeking quiet times wherever I could get them, but as I got more and more tired, even the smallest of noises began to send me seeking relief inward, through sleep, but I just couldn't get enough.  Again, my husband jokes that I can sleep through anything.  I've slept through hurricanes, severe weather, even through plane rides missing the Aurora borealis as we flew into Alaska one time.  So imagine, if you will, a overworked, tired, mind won't stop person who hears the dishwasher running, the water flowing, the TV blasting the kids favorite show on Sprout, the refrigerator door opening and slamming, the child tapping their cup on the table over and over, the youngest chatting away about school and books, your oldest trying to relay information about choir practices/concerts, the D-Hall she got for tardies, the husband telling you about a night he needs to work late, the supplies he needs for his own class, the staff at school relaying information that is important to them about STAAR, asking questions, even the air conditioner sound in my van...after a while, I just want to put my fingers in my ears and make it stop.  You might be nodding your head about now, either knowing what I'm talking about or thinking "Seriously, get over it."  And if you are in the later category, you are not alone.  I've said that to people before, not understanding why they acted that way.

But here's what it did for my perspective...How many times do we miss those subtle clues about our own students?  How many times do our students try to tell us in body language, in facial expressions, in other non-verbal ways that they need a personal time-out for their own sanity?  Not because they are trying to be rude, defiant, or disrespectful, but so they can survive and regroup and move on.  I hope I take time, and I hope you take time to watch, observe, ask yourself (and myself) questions, and then think about ways we can provide what our students need.  Maybe they need a quiet island, maybe a space under your desk to regroup themselves.  Do we acknowledge that they need this or do we tell them to "get over it."  Just something to think about as we move further into testing season and into the spring long haul of the school year.

Lessons from my Beauties

I have 3 daughters, that I call Beauty #1, Beauty #2, and Beauty #3.  Respectively, they are 16, 11, and 5.  Each one is completely unique in all aspects and each one has taught me some important life lessons along our journey as parents that have carried over into my teaching career.

Beauty #1 is has seen me work hard, working a full time job, and having gone back to school full time at the same time.  She has taken this to heart and shows me every day how driven she is and rock steady she is in her life.  She reminds me a lot of myself at that time in my life, but as any parent would most likely say, she outdoes me and I'm proud of her for that.  She has taken a full course load at her high school, where almost every class is either dual credit or AP type for 2 years now.  She even went to summer school, earning more dual credit, when she could have rested all summer.  She's on track to graduate HS with nearly 1 year of college credit under her belt.  She is my reminder to never give up, to set goals, to work hard towards those goals, and to not let obstacles get you down.  She is the essence of the word perseverance.

Now, Beauty #2 is unique in the looks department with her crazy, long, unruly, naturally curly hair, that causes me much anguish, but causes her great pride.  She is my most disorganized child, but also my most creative.  She finds joy in being different and never takes others criticism personally, just telling me that they are just jealous that she has something unique that they wish they had.  Beauty #2 is also gifted in her education, but is a very well rounded child, who loves to read, sing, and cook.  She reminds me daily that it's ok to be different, for after all, how will you stand out in a crowd, if you aren't different.  She is the walking embodiment of unique.

Beauty #3 came along in our life when we thought we were done being blessed with children, and she is a joy in every sense of the word.  She loves, laughs, and plays with her whole being.  She is a total family girl, always asking to go to Grandma's and her favorite cousin's home.  She is an attached Mommy and Daddy's girl, our shadow.  Beauty #3 is a chatterbox, loving to talk about anything under the sun, play games, and just be together with those she loves.  She is my daily reminder that it's ok to have fun, to laugh, enjoy time with family, and to just be.

While Beauty #1, #2, and #3, all are my pride and joy, they have each taught me some important life lessons that I hope we can all teach to our students at school.  Work hard, never give up!  Embrace who you are, God gave you those gifts! And love, laugh, and enjoy now...the present is a special gift you can't get back!

Your Words, My Words

I recently had the opportunity to attend #EdCampNavasota, my first EdCamp.  Three days later and I'm still unpacking the things I experienced.  I imagined in my head this day filled with classes on specific sites, programs, products.  And while there was a little of that, there were more about pedagogy types of things, like building campus culture, blogging, social media in the classroom, and formative assessment that lead to some interesting conversations with no agenda with some folks that I have followed through Twitter for some time now.  What overarching theme came from those conversations was that "we", the collective educational "we" are in charge of telling our story, to make sure it's one that is positive for our students, families, communities, as well as staff.  Obviously, every event that happens within a school isn't positive, but it's our responsibility that when folks walk in and walk out of our campuses that they know some certainties.  They are valued, respected, cared for, kept safe, treated with dignity and integrity.  It's about relationships and making sure that we take care of those left in our charge...that they are better for having known us and having spent some time in our class/school/employ.

I could speak about the things we hear and see and experience from time to time and how they are not all positive, but I know, as well as any parent knows, that not every day is sunshine and roses.  But even when those days creep in and seem to overwhelm us, we must, let me just say it again, we MUST, still treat others with dignity, integrity, value, respect, safety, etc.  What I've come to learn is that the words we say out loud, become the words others hear inside themselves.

You see, when I complain about how I wish I were thinner, how I don't like some aspect of my body, my daughters are hearing this and learning to become critical of themselves as well, that there is something wrong with them.  A similar situation happens in schools, we complain about how the students won't line up, walk quietly somewhere, run around the room, and on and on.  But what needs to happen in both situations, is that there is some training, that needs to happen.  I need to retrain my brain that vegetables are what I need, they taste great, and the teacher needs to stop complaining and putting negativity into student's thoughts, and train with a calm demeanor what the expectations are, and know that a single training might not fix it all, just as a single healthy meal might not make me thin.

But the bottom line to all this, is that we need to be cautious of our words.  You see our spoken words are the words that others carry with them and hear inside them when we are gone.  I don't know about you, but I want to leave a positive legacy.

Say My Name

I am certain there lies in each of us a need to belong somewhere, anywhere.  That's why clubs, churches, gangs, etc exist, for people to belong.  No matter if you are a rule breaker, rule follower, or someone who lives on the edge, you still have this innate desire to belong somewhere, to fit in, to be known, to be valued.

As an educator, my FAVORITE part of any school day is arrival and dismissal.  It's also a busy, sometimes stressful time, but it gives opportunities like no other to welcome kiddos, to set them on a wonderful way to their day, and to send them home curious about what will happen tomorrow.  I serve at my school on car rider duty.  Each morning, I open doors, welcome students, say their names, smile at their parents, wish them a good day, and often times ask how they are doing, how their dance recital went, how that sports team they play on did, and to congratulate them on a new outfit or a haircut or a new tooth that fell out.  I know it sounds silly maybe to someone who is not in education, but those moments I wouldn't trade for any other part of my school day.  It's the same story in the afternoon, opening doors, making sure my little ones don't run in the street because they see their family in the school driveway, asking what they learned today, what was special about today.

To be able to welcome students by name gives an implication that I know them.  I've been around my school long enough to see families grow together, to know likes and dislikes, to know what class they are in, and to learn some things about them.

Recently, data has become a big deal, to know what percent of each subpop is passing, but my question to this data digging is always, "Do you know their names?  Can you tell me which kids are sitting in each subpop?"  It's nice to know numbers, but without names, it's useless data.  To know our students, we have to do some digging into their background, their history, to see where they came from the prior school year, and then to see them and know what motivates them, so I can move them forward.  Say their name.  Put a name to that numerical value.  Make them count for more than a number.  Everyone wants to belong, so let's make it happen.

Daily Education Concerts

My two older daughters are both involved in choir at their schools, middle school and high school respectively.  So, it should go without saying, much like athletics, that our lives revolve around their practice times, after school choir outings, and concerts.  And near the end of each semester there is usually a "look what we've learned" concert.  So, same venue, same auditorium, but different crowds...one a middle school choir crowd, the other a high school choir crowd.  Very different experiences.  High school crowd very respectful, phones on silent, folks waiting to enter or exit between songs, etc.  Middle school crowd just their for their own kid, lots of walking about, even got to overhear a few phone conversations around me in the crowd during performances.  

Last night, we got to enjoy a "professional" choir concert from two of the high schools in our district...the only two choirs invited to perform at TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) in San Antonio next week...a HUGE honor.  Both high school choirs performed in a beautiful, cathedral type of church, with a packed audience, which included our district Superintendent, some other high level staff members from central office, along with a couple of school board members, and many middle school choirs in attendance to see what high school choir is all about, along with families.  

You know, in a concert, everyone has a part to play.  The director works tirelessly to assemble only the best singers, by audition.  Then places them into the sections they are best suited for: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.  He/She then works with them individually, in sections, and in a whole group setting repeating songs and parts until it's a quality performance, providing feedback along the way, and infusing fun into all they do.  The director even enlists the help of outsiders, like accompanists, and dancers to help choreograph dances included in the performance for the choir.  And at both my daughter's choir concerts, the director is the one that tells the audience the criteria for participation...Turn your cell phones to silent or off, wait to exit or enter until between performance, wait to clap until my arms drop down, then you will know when the song is over, etc.  The choir members practice, repeating, reviewing, correcting, getting help when needed, and showing up day after day for their duties.  They even go out of their way to get together for social events to build their "team" or section up, so they are able to work in better harmony.  The parents and families have a duty to bring their children to these choir practices, outings, and performance, making sure they have all they need to be successful.  Parents ad families also have a duty to stand to the sidelines, or staying in their seats, creating a performance atmosphere worthy of attention for themselves and others.  

In the midst of waiting for the church doors to open last night, I was reading to catch up in my GT book study, How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms by Carol Ann Tomlinson and I came across this section:

"The Teacher as Director of the Orchestra.  This metaphor generates the image of a leader who knows the music intimately, can interpret it elegantly, can pull together a group of people who may not know each other well to achieve a common end, even though they all play different instruments.  There's a time in rehearsals for individual practice, a time for sectional practice, and a time for the whole group to work together.  There's a need to polish the performance of each individual musician so that the work of the whole is of quality.  In the end, each musician contributes to a meaningful performance and earns the applause (or scorn) of the audience.  The director of the orchestra helps musicians make music, but does not make the music himself."

And it got me thinking about how music groups, since that's what my life seems to revolve around lately, are a LOT like schools and education.  The director (Principal) needs to select, by audition (interviews, observations) world class members (Teachers) who will work well with their sections (Teams and Students) to create a world class performance for the audience (Students, Parents and Community).  It's the members (Teachers) job to create harmony within themselves, their section and group, and find personal enjoyment and fulfillment.  It's also their job to make sure that no one section overpowers another, so there is harmony.  And when that harmony doesn't come, a director may occasionally (rarely) step in to solve it, but harmony is created primarily by the singers.  It's also the directors job to set the expectations for participation, and hold the singers and audience to it.  I've watched the high school director stop a concert for a crying baby in the audience, just standing (not talking) center stage looking out at the audience until they "got a clue" and took the crying baby out of the auditorium.  We need more directors, performers, and audience members like all of these, willing to put forth best efforts, seek help when needed, and set the stage for some great performances, so our students can succeed.