Thermals???

Sam Wyche, former coach of the Cincinnatti Bengals, took the stadium microphone several years ago during a game when the crowd became fairly obnoxious.  They were shouting obscenities, throwing things from their seats and acting poorly to say the least.  They were most definitely out of control.   Coach Wyche reminded the fans that they needed to “quit acting like you are from Cleveland!”  I am sure that Sam’s picture adorns the basin mats of many urinals in the greater Cleveland area to this day.  He also reminded their quarterback, Boomer Esiason, that the winds during the game may be swirling due to the “thermals”.  Boomer responded with “What the %^*# are thermals?”  Coach Wyche replied, “You learned it in 9^th grade and forgot it in the 10^th!”

Education is really what you have after you have lost all of your notes.  Teaching is about transfer of understanding as well as retention of understanding.  The above is an example of commentary that should not occur AFTER we have had students under our care.  Learning is about transfer and retention of material – you may remember me hounding on that point during the last “Lunch & Learn.”  Our task (notice I did not write “job”) is to get the kids to be learners for their lifetime (writing lifelong learners is so trite) and not just for the day.  Really, if you think about it, the whole concept of being a teacher is a paradox.  Here’s what I mean by that – the object of teaching is to enable those taught to get along without a teacher.  You really succeed when they can do it on their own, take what is presented before them and apply it to new situations, to analyze things from multiple perspectives, to put it all together, and hopefully evaluate its worth.  That should sound familiar.   So should this – make the most of every opportunity.

Expect the Best

It is has said to “expect nothing for you shall never be disappointed.”  That is right off the stable floor!  “Let’s hope for the best” – again, a bunch of mule muffins. Those types of comments are like a huge flashing red light that alerts to impending doom. No one rises to low expectations! Merely hoping for the best won’t work.  The key to a successful venture is to design a process for success.  Larry Galler is a marketing and management consultant for small and mid-size companies.  He recommends telling people what the expected outcomes are first, tell them why the plan is important to them, tell them how you will measure the success of the plan and finally, the steps in bringing it all to fruition.  He calls this the “Managing by Intention” model where you begin with the “intended outcomes” and then figure out what you need to do to reach those outcomes.

Does any of the above sound familiar?  His model is akin to what I have been preaching about in “Lunch & Learns” for the past five months.  For education to work, we have to align three things = desired (intended) outcomes, assessments (how we measure if we got there) and plan how to reach the outcomes (instructional plan).  We should make a mental note to do the following:  Never, and I stress NEVER, go into teaching kids with the mindset of expecting nothing. No one rises to low expectations!  Come with great expectations! Never work with a mindset of hoping for the best.  Rather, go forth with a non-movable attitude of “I am intentionally building for success!”  In teaching, if you align the big three – outcomes, assessments, and instruction, you will be on the right track.  Then add in engaging kids, keeping them engaged, and using formative data to make changes in instruction, well, your expectations should be high.

By adding a “little glass in your nest” you can tweak what you do to get the most out of the kids; you can make them stronger, more productive, and they will have a much better chance of success – if you intentionally plan with purpose and strive to get transfer and retention of learning.  I say EXPECT BIG THINGS AND THEN MAKE IT HAPPEN!  If you aspire to get less, you will.

Glass in the Nest

If you look up into the trees at this time of the year, you will see the remnants of the nests that the birds have left behind as they headed for a warmer climate.  That got me to thinking about how much time a bird puts into building a nest and how diligent they are in doing so.  Really, their little engineering feat is a marvel.  Birds, as you know, are limited in space and not designed to hold an entire family of birds for a reason.  At the instinctive time, the baby birds are literally booted out of their new cozy little home and are sent off with “I hope you can conquer gravity” mindset.  Most make it…some do not.  This lead me to think about what someone had said in a presentation –“ If you want to improve, then you’ll need to put a little glass in your nest.”  The presentation was on expanding yourself, setting higher goals for yourself, getting out of your own personal comfort zone, getting out on the ledge… that kind of thing.

We build our little nests inside schools as well.  Kids build their nests.  Principals build their nests. Teachers build their nests. Heck, we all do.  We take kids in, care for them along the way.  We teach them what they should understand quite well and we move them out.  Sometimes we have to give them a nudge.   We also build our own personal nest.  No, not a “nest egg” for retirement.  That’s not what I mean.  This is the comfort zone nest.  This is the nest of always doing things the same way.  This is the nest of never trying anything new.  This is the nest of doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. .  This is the nest of not going deeper in your level of classroom questioning.  This is the nest of just using the assessments that come with the textbook when you know they don’t come close to covering all of the levels of Bloom’s.  So, while we are should always be thinking about ways to better challenge kids- just understand that the challenge often begins inside of us.  We have to get out of our comfort zone and try some new things to make it click.  Don’t be wary of doing that.  Grab a vision and run – you may just create a lesson that others will follow.  First, you have to put a little glass in your nest.

A Special Gift

Last Friday evening, CBS had a segment on the news that covered the life of an Oregon man who had given much of his time, talents, and treasures to the people in his small town.  They, it turn, were in the process of fixing his house, cutting and splitting his firewood supply for the winter, patching up his barn, bringing him meals, and making him a special gift made of wood that he could use.  Why were the townspeople doing all this?  They were paying him back for all of the generosity that he had shown to them over the years with their time, talents, and treasures including the special wooden gift. This man suffers from a disease that he is slowly dying from.  His death is imminent.  When asked about his situation by the reporter, he simply replied, “ I am glad that I am dying slowly.”  Huh?  I was stunned at that response as was the reporter.  He explained that he was glad to be fading slowly so that he had time to thank everyone who helped him.  Read that again, wipe your eyes, and give this some thought.  The camera returned to hoards of people signing his special wooden gift with notes of thanks and encouragement.  As the camera moved to a wider view, the wooden gift, made of beautiful pine, turned out to be a coffin.  A special gift, indeed, to a man who left a legacy of giving of himself to others.

What do you hope to do today that will make a difference at the end of the day…or the end of next week…or the next grading period…or the semester…or for a career?  What kind of legacy do you want to leave at this school when someday they tear it down to build another?  What do you want to be remembered for as someone who worked with kids?  Is it patience?  Kindness? Setting high expectations for your students?  Reaching out to help someone when they didn’t ask for it?  Taking the extra moment each day just to share a smile?  What will matter most when others look back on you?  I have been pretty clear in all of my writings that what we get to do is different than “real world” positions.  We get to change lives.  Make the most of every opportunity that you have with kids.  We get that opportunity every single day here, but it is only an opportunity.  You can seize what is there or simply go through the motions.  You can make the most of every opportunity or you can let it pass by never to have that chance again.  It’s really not about what we take in relative to numbers, but rather the number we put out prepared for the next step.  The special gift that you can give is not made of wood. If you choose to, it is the gift of yourself.