Cliffs

The Plains Indians had a clever way of ensuring that they had enough buffalo meat, hides, and bones to sustain them throughout the winter. This time of the year was the perfect time for big buffalo hunts because the animals’ coats had grown long and thick.  They found that the most efficient way to kill bison was to take advantage of their herding instincts. They built a series of cairns (piles of rock) that narrowed as it led to the edge of a cliff.  The idea was that the buffalo herds which came into the mouth of this trap would be frightened by the tribesmen who would hoop and holler from behind causing a buffalo stampede. Women and children would spring up from behind the cairns and hoop and holler as well. The buffalo just kept running fell to their death after a drop of 60 feet or so as they ran out of ground and gravity took over.  At the bottom of the cliff, Plains Indian butchers would be ready to field dress their food, harvest the skin, and collect the bones for future use.  Those buffalo whose fall had been softened by landing on previously fallen buffalo were immediately slain by skilled hunters from the tribe who used spears, arrows, and stone mallets to do so. From there, the entire tribe, including children, had assigned duties to aid in using the buffalo for the good of the tribe.  What would PETA say today?

Acuity testing begins next week.  This is HUGE opportunity to catch our kids so that they do not fall off the cliff!  The purpose of Acuity is a predictive measure of how well kids will do on the ISTEP.  Now, I realize that we are not herding buffalo here.  That’s not the point. What is valuable with this assessment is not that the tests are given; rather, the value lies in the results being used.  Not only will this be the determining factor in RtI period placement for a few months, but you can get a measure of what skill gaps are not filled and make plans for remediation.  Remember that this testing covers the standards from last year and weaknesses will show through. That is, only if you use the results.  As the Indians used an entire tribe to secure provisions through common sense planning, we can do the same through data-drive decisions from the results of Acuity Predictive A.  We certainly do not want any kid falling off the cliff!

Ignition

As you may know, the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl (Kim Ferraro is jacked right now reading about her beloved team).  What you may not realize is that while the Packers won the ultimate NFL prize, there were some rough spots along the way.  They lost three of their first six regular season games and actually lost six games for the season.  One of their best players, Charles Woodson, summed up his analysis of why the team started off just so-so:  “We had our foot on the gas pedal and our hands on the wheel, but the ignition was never turned on.” They knew all of the plays, knew how to make adjustments, and knew the physical structure of lining up and getting after it.  That was not the problem.  The problem was really just turning on the switch that made the whole thing.  They had the keys; they just didn’t turn them to start the ignition.   After that third loss early in the season, the Packers regrouped, found a common goal with a common focus, and engaged themselves in that pursuit daily that led to their Super Bowl win over the Pukesburgh (yep, I wrote it as we call them at home) Steelers.

It can be like that with teaching kids too.  We may have the best plan, have our desired outcomes, we have a firm grasp on the lesson plans, we have looked at the data, decorated the room just so, etc...  However, the first thing we must all do is engage the kids…start their engines…get them excited…do an anticipatory set…make it personal…get the blood flowing.  Like a car that looks good without engaging the ignition switch, without engaging the kids in our lessons, they won’t be “turned on” to what you want them to get out of it.  Work hard on engaging your students on a daily basis.  Make your class the one that kids can’t wait to get to.  Make your class their favorite class – not because you have no homework or great treats, but because you fill them daily with engaging lessons.  Our “Super Bowl” is showing improvement with our kids on that thing called ISTEP.  Start working toward that victory today in engaging ways.  Start their ignition!

Remembering 9/11

Thousands of Americans lost their lives ten years ago when radical terrorists flew airplanes into both towers of the World Trade Center, another into the Pentagon, and the fourth flight crash-landing in a Pennsylvania field after being diverted by some brave passengers on board.  The world changed that day. You may remember where you were.  Perhaps you recall your initial thoughts of a terrible accident only to realize when the second plane hit that this was no accident.  A very vivid recollection of mine is the eerie silence of the skies later that day and for a few days after that.  To look up and not see a single plane in the sky that is normally covered with aircrafts was evidence that our world had changed.  I marvel at the coolness of the air traffic controllers that day.  You may never had given much thought to their heroic deeds that day until now. Think about what they had to do – there were thousands of flights in the air that had to be diverted and landed in a timely fashion.  They had to deal with those running low on fuel, finding enough runways to land them, and coordinating all of the pilots so that no additional lives would be lost. Not a single additional human life was lost as a result of their incredible response. Then you realize that to do any of this, they had to do one thing with every pilot, airport coordinator, each branch of the military, and each ground crew.  They had to ask.  They had to ask for permission to open fields on military bases, they had to ask for pilots to remain in a holding pattern for what had to seem like eternity, they had to ask ground crews to change their normal procedures.  They had to ask, ask, and ask.

 As I talked about last Friday at the first “Lunch & Learn”, as we try to improve the critical thinking skills of our kids, the need to first ask them is paramount. To check on clarity, we need to ask further intentional questions.  To check on accuracy, we need to ask further purposeful questions.  To check on precision, we need to ask further deliberate questions.  The same thing is true of relevance, depth, breath, logic, significance, and fairness – we first need to ask in very strategic ways.  The best critical thinkers were not born that way.  They had to learn how to critically think.  So, if they have to learn how to do this, then it only follows that someone has to teach them those skills and lines of inquiry.  That job goes to us. To make kids better critical thinkers, we must intentionally and purposefully practice strategies daily that will enhance the opportunities that we have with the kids.  I hope that last Friday’s “Lunch & Learn” was useful to you as you incorporate the strategies into the classroom.  If you missed the lesson, see me and I can provide you with a handout of what was covered.