Changing Pronouns

I have always been skeptical of people whose two favorite pronouns are “I” and “Me”.  When you meet those people, gradually inch away, start walking and break into a full sprint in the opposite direction!  They have no interest in you!  The use of pronouns by individuals gives you some insight into their motives.  When we are two years old, me is a popular pronoun.  Ironically, the same could often be true for tweeners.  You are placed on a team and the coach constantly preaches about the importance of “Us” and that there is no “I” in team (unless, of course, you are a really bad speller).  You meet the woman or man of your dreams and you move from “I” and “Me” statements to “Us,” “Our”, and “We” statements. Cards are signed from the both of us.  Presents are from “Us”, but we males know that really isn’t true. Thanks for that.  In marriage, you have a significant other.  Puppy love means you are so into him or her.  Kids come along and the verbiage becomes “Them”.  Their toys become “These”; often referred to as “Mine”.  The family becomes “All” of us.  Marriage moves from “His” and Hers” to “Ours”.  “It” is love and “Anything” and “Everything” is what the other means to you and in true love, well, there is nobody else.  The Bible says to think of others more than we do of ourselves.  “Who did this” is a question to young children with the answer often being, “nobody”. Queen sings about finding somebody to love.  George Harrison wrote a song titled, “I, Me, Mine”.  If you have read this far, you are probably thinking, when is he going to stop?  Okay, I will get to the point of this.

Teaching should never be an “I” or Me” profession.  School buildings do not belong to any single person although they are sometimes referred to in this way.   If we want to make a difference, a true difference, I advocate changing the pronoun. We have to move from “I” to “Us” and from “Me” to “We”.   One wise school administrator (not me) once said to a group of new teachers, “You need to get used to being third.” The kids come first and the school collectively comes second.  At first it’s a little harsh, but after thinking it through, that’s good straight talk for any organization.  I do know this – this business of education takes more than a singular pronoun.  It takes a lot of “We” mentality and “Us” mindsets.  It takes a lot of working hard with others so that we can reach them.  This place is ours.  If you don’t feel that way about this school or for anyone else reading this, then get more involved in your school or place of business so that you can experience the thrill of ownership rather than simply being an independent contractor who visits five times a week.  Anything is possible if we put our minds to it and our sweat equity into it.  Somebody (the kids) are counting on us to lead them in the right way toward the right goals and with the right example.  Don’t minimize that.  It’s the way it is.  Yes, teaching isn’t for everybody.  Thank God for that.  Teaching is for those who want to make a difference for them and work tirelessly with others to make that happen.  Changing the pronoun…I give myself to them so that we can all be better.  That’s good stuff.

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The Browns play against the Raiders in California this weekend.  I am still jacked from the victory over the less than loved Steelers last Sunday.  Two in a row?

World's Greatest Teacher

I recently read an article by Brad Meltzer on what he considers to be his best teacher.  He wrote that it wasn’t the Robin Williams type in Dead Poets Society nor was it the no-nonsense Joe Clark type as portrayed by Morgan Freeman in Lean On Me.  No, his favorite teacher and that one that he attributes his success impacted him by simply telling him that he was good at something.  He was a transfer student as a freshman to a new school.  Ms. Spicer discovered quickly that this boy could write extremely well.  There was no room in the English Honors class (imagine that) so placing him there wasn’t possible.  So she kept him in her class, told him to ignore the regular class assignments and to concentrate on the honors level work that she retrieved down the hall. Ten years later, he handed her his first book and said, “I wrote this for you.”  At the time, Ms. Spicer was considering retirement because she felt like she wasn’t having enough of an impact on her students.  Thirteen years later, she really did retire.  A whole bunch of kids were treated to this quality person in that time span.  Her retirement speech included this, “For those of you complaining that kids have changed and that it’s harder to teach these days…Do not give up on these kids!”  Brad Meltzer realized that night that he would forever be her student.

Who was your favorite teacher? In this season of Thanksgiving, I suggest letting them know that.  What did he/she do to become your favorite?  I bet that having a good relationship with them has something to do with this ranking.  Perhaps they told you that you were good at something.  That spurred you on.  Maybe you are choosing this person as your favorite teacher because they challenged you every single day to get better.  At that time, you probably didn’t like that, but in the rear view mirror you have become thankful for that daily push.  I doubt that you would choose the teacher who never challenged you, never engaged you, never questioned you, never wanted to develop a good relationship with you, and when it comes down to it – never really taught you much of anything.  Two years ago, I wrote a letter to my 6^th grade teacher.  I had not talked to her since 1970.  Miss Sexton was pretty intense.  She was no nonsense. She challenged me.  She made me think.  She never let me off of the hook.  She corrected my poor English with some well-placed expectations of what was acceptable along with some well-timed pats on the back.  She was tough…on the surface.  She did want that good relationship with her students and she accomplished that.  She made her classroom a place that I learned I needed to be and, in time, a place where I wanted to be.  Here’s my challenge to you:  take a few minutes and send a handwritten letter to your favorite teacher.  Tell him/her what you are doing now and the impact they had on this. You will make their day.  He or she probably made yours many times over.  Happy Thanksgiving!

A Kid's Perspective

Last week, a seventh grader asked me to sit by her during lunch so that she could share with me what she had written about school this year.  Here it is, minus the bar graphs that she included, starting with “Dear Mr. Vassar”:

“Last year my grades were not very good.  For example, in Math I had a C on every report card.  This year my grades have changed a lot for many reasons.  I think that teachers have a lot to do with your grade.  Don’t misunderstand what I am saying.  We kids are also a HUGE part of our grades, but the teachers also play a big role.  It seems like the teachers are enthusiastic about their class and what they are teaching.  This seems to get the kids attention and seems to make the kids care a little more about what they are learning.  My teachers this year really make the class fun and exciting and we are excited about what they taught.  So, if other teachers could make their classes more interesting, I think it would help the other kids get better grades too.  If this works for other kids, that means higher grades and better ISTEP scores. Last year as a school we did not make our goal of 90%. I think we can accomplish that if the teachers make their classes exciting and enjoyable.  I think the kids will pay more attention and learn more.  Therefore, when ISTEP comes around, we will be ready!  Every once in a while, the teacher will hand out an assignment and everyone will go, “Yes! An easy assignment!”  The only reason it is easy is because the teacher made it fun and interesting. If the classes are more interesting and exciting there will be more of those so called “easy assignments” and with easy assignments come better grades, and with better grades comes smarter people and with smarter people comes a smarter community.  That is the goal, is it not?”

Wow!  That is one of our students pouring her heart out.  It’s the stuff I have been preaching since day one.  The easiest way to get kids excited about learning is for the teacher to be excited about it.  Making concepts relevant is essential if you want to kids to get it.  One of my dreams is to have to stop kids who are running in the hall during passing period because they cannot wait to get to their class.  You should want that to be your classroom.  Can learning be fun?  That is up to you.  Can teaching be relevant?  That too is for you to tackle.  I have a lot of letters and cards from kids in my office.  This letter from Caroline made my day.  I hope it made yours.  Advice doesn’t always have to come from those in authority; sometimes, if you listen really well, it comes from the very ones you are trying to reach. 

Climbing Both Sides of the Fence

I was taught that if you sit on both sides of the fence on issues, then you will get splinters on both sides of your rear end.  My son and I were traveling on the Dan Ryan about a month ago to move some things to my oldest daughter's apartment in the city. We had a few hours (nice inbound traffic jam around Cellular Field) to talk about topics ranging from the national debt to why the Browns can never seem to convert a third and one.  This night, our conversation turned to immigration.  He understood that we have some Scottish roots on my side and some German roots on my wife's side.  Somewhere across time, our ancestors made that voyage across the big pond to Ellis Island.  Hundreds of thousands made a similar voyage across the Atlantic.  Today, the majority of immigrants come across our southern border.  We talked about the magnitude of the job that border patrol officials have with hundreds and hundreds of miles of fence line to cover. I have read of estimates in the millions of people who have come across our southern border.  That’s a lot of fence hopping. That got me thinking. How many climb the fence the other way? How many Americans hop the fence heading south?   Did you ever think about that?  I would bet you wouldn't have to take your shoes off to total it up. No, this isn’t heading toward a personal view of immigration policy or how much better the United States is than Mexico.   No, this is about climbing both sides of the fence and how little of it there is.  There is a lot of climbing one way to reach a destination, but not so much climbing in the other direction.  Hopefully, I can tie this together for you and you will understand that you have to climb both sides of the fence.

In education, you have to climb both sides of the fence if you want to reach kids.  Think of fences as those barriers to kids learning. Some are fences that kids put up because they don’t want to let many; if any, in. That’s an aspect I will save for another time.  Kids learn in multiple ways.  Some are much better with the visual side of things while other insist that they “auditory learners”.  Both are perceived as “fences” to the other.  There are kids who are perceived as “tactile/kinesthetic” learners.  Seeing and hearing are thought of as fences in their way.  The more we continue to believe that kids can only learn in only one way, the stronger we build those fences. That isn’t differentiation.  That is why I am advocating that you should climb at least both sides of the fence.  The truth of the matter is that visual, dramatic, and verbal instruction all enhance learning.  The fence here is three-fold so you will have to hop over a few times.  Visual instruction has a higher effect size that the other two so my advice would be to stay on that side of the fence for a little longer.  Some fences are designed to be decorative, but most are there for a reason – they are barriers to prevent others from getting somewhere.  As a teacher, you need to climb both sides of the fence as many times as necessary to reach your destination – that would be kids who are growing in their education.  We need to provide them with opportunities to think it through, to be challenged at higher levels.  There will be fences in the way.  Go over them.  Climb both sides of the fence.

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The Browns play at home vs. the Ratbirds from Baltimore this Sunday on the shores of Lake Erie.  Can we go two in a row and three out of four?  I’ve read the book and seen the movie for decades.