Donut Holes

Do you enjoy donuts? Or is it “doughnut”?  Anyway, what kind do you choose?    Ring, square, or some other shape?  Cream or jelly filled?  Sprinkles or plain?  Chain store or “Mom and Pop” store?  Glazed?  Bismarck (a blast from the past)?  Chocolate on chocolate with chocolate inside?  Crullers or Fritters?  Cake or yeast?  Long Johns (not what you wear in the winter)?  Boston Crème?  Are there other “crèmes” from different cities?  Powdered or frosted?  Bear Claws?  Maple ?  The list goes on and on.  If you have not sampled the Apple Cider donuts from County Line Orchard, you may want to make the trip.  Now I realize that most of these…okay, all of these are not good for various body organs including the ticker, but they are hard to pass up.  Did you ever think about your eyesight when munching down a donut?  Probably not.  Neither did I until my brother-in-law reminded me to always “Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.”  We were not eating donuts at the time, and his advice was not centered on eating, but rather on looking at the positives in life.  Good advice. 

Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.  What does that mean to us in education?  It’s pretty simple – look for the positives and quit staring at the negatives.  Let’s think about the kids you teach.  Are all of them spot on 100% of the time?  No way. If they are, let’s just name anoint them Messiah now and get on with it.  There will be skill gaps (holes) in the learning of your kids.  Some will be able to do things that you marvel at.  That’s great; now take them to an even higher level.  What about the kids in your classes that rarely; if ever, knock it out of the park?  What do we concentrate on with these guys?  We can identify the gaps from assessments such as Acuity and Star and those are fine.  Those gaps need to be identified.  However, look at all the things that student can do and accentuate that.  Pricking that success will give them confidence and with confidence comes willingness to tackle more difficult skills; perhaps the very ones they struggle with.  Don’t the majority of us do things that way?  Very few people are highly skilled in multiple areas.  I did write “highly”.  We tend to rely on and compensate for weaknesses by using our strong skill sets.  Not until we build our confidence does our confidence increase.  That is profound.  Think about that. Remember to keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.

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The Browns play on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. I am going to miss the game as we travel back from Missouri…hope the Tivo works.

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was born into slavery during the Civil War in the state of Missouri, a location that I am heading to next weekend.  The state famous for its compromise on slavery.  George’s parents were Mary and Giles, a couple without a last name of their own because slaves took the name of their owner.  A week after George was born, he, along with his mother and sister, were kidnapped by a band of raiders and sold as slaves in Arkansas.  Moses Carver, the owner of Mary and Giles, went after the trio and brought George back to Missouri where he and his wife, Susan, decided to raise him as their own.  Susan taught George how to read and write and encouraged himto always thirst for knowledge – a trait that would serve him, and us, well.  He later went to a school for blacks because the white educational institutions would not accept non-white students.  He was initially denied admittance to college because, you guessed it, he was black.   However, a teacher encouraged him to keep studying because his hard work would pay off.  It did.  He was accepted to Simpson College in 1890 at age 26 where a professor encouraged him to enroll in the Botany program at Iowa State.  He did just that and while there another professor encouraged him to stay for a master’s degree where his knowledge base could pay dividends. It did. For him and for us.  The next time you eat peanut butter, think of George Washington Carver.  He invented 30 uses for peanuts, leather dyes, cosmetics, hen food, breakfast food, buttermilk, sauces, dry coffee, linoleum, and hundreds more including nitroglycerine; the latter that I personally thankful for. Many people encouraged him to become the man he became.

Encouragement is the common thread in the life of George Washington Carver. Personal care would be 1-B.  The Carvers made the commitment to raise George as a son at a time where this was unheard of.  They encouraged him to always find something more than was his so-called lot in life.  He had a teacher at an all-black school encourage him to have a vision past those four walls of restraint.  He had college professors who encouraged him to keep pushing, keep reading, keep researching, and to keep dreaming because they all saw something in this black boy without a last name.  Look what happened.  We are all beneficiaries of his work in some way and it all started with a little encouragement.  Take a look around at your students tomorrow, take a good long look.  Imagine what they can become.  Perhaps you are now teaching a future teacher, engineer, doctor, minister, inventor of a cure for cancer.  Who knows?  What we need to do is to provide encouragement to our kids even though they may not see it that way.  Make it a point to encourage at least one kid today and keep doubling that until you have encouraged them all.  Make it a point to call home at least once a week to tell parent that their kid is doing a good job.  The dividends back to you cannot be measured. Maybe the next George Washington Carver is sitting right there in your classroom.

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The Browns play this Sunday against the Green Bay Packers…a lot of history here from two of the oldest franchises.  We plan to move the cheese!

Gumby and Pokey

Did you ever play with Gumby and Pokey as a kid?  My baby brother did and was ridiculed by us older boys for not selecting a play toy with a little more of a testosterone edge. Dad caught wind of this and showed us where the woodshed was located. Regardless, after several years and a twelve step program, he is off of his Gumby addiction and now runs a town government.  Gumby and Pokey were created by Art Clokey in the 1950’s after his graduation from USC.  Gumby, over the years, has been quite thegregarious fellow and probably should have been a Boy Scout because he always left things better than he found them. He (I can only assume he is a male, but then again, he is not wearing clothes and the evidence of the proper chromosome pairing is not evident).  Gumby is an optimist and saw the glass way past half full. He is an idealist.  Gumby takes chances.  Pokey, on the other hand is a grumblebutt.  Pokey is skeptical.  He (there goes that gender thing again) is a pessimist.  He is sarcastic and somewhat of an “intelligent gluteus”.  Gumby takes him places that he doesn’t want to go, but, in the end, Pokey is thankful for the trip and understands the journey had a purpose. 

Are you a Gumby or a Pokey?  There are a lot of personality traits from Pokey that will not serve you well as a teacher.  First, kids do not typically understand sarcasm.  Research will tell you that the use of sarcasm will not serve you well as a teacher.  Pokey is a party-killer.  Pokey would not enjoy inventing relevant examples for his students if he were a teacher.  Pokey, as an educator, would fail miserably.  Even though he is physically flexible, his mindset is not flexible at all.  He would never try anything new and would probably use the same lesson plans that he used 60 years ago in his less than stellar career.  Consequently, he would never take his students to the next level because he would be satisfied with the status quo.  Gumby, on the other hand, would always make his classroom interesting. He would take his students to new levelsand encourage them along the way. He would be creative. He would try new things. He would make concepts relevant.  Yes, he is physically flexible.  More importantly, Gumby is mentally flexible.  He would find a way to get things done and would do whatever it takes to advance his students.  The next time you bend down to touch your toes, remember than mental and professional flexibility is an asset to good teaching.  Your students need to understand that the journey has a purpose.  This can be expressed by your daily and long-term goals.

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The AFC first place Cleveland Browns play this Sunday on the shores of Lake Erie against the Detroit Lions. I hope that that Lions have lost their roar!  Calvin Johnson is requested to stay at home.

Starbucks Orders

Did you ever go to Starbucks?  Okay, way stupid question.  Here’s a better question – what did you order?  There are “Starbucks Junkies” with typical orders that sound  something like this: “To go, Grande, non-fat skim milk, 176 degrees, Chai Tea Latte espresso with nutmeg, cinnamon sprinkles, non-oil-based cream” and other additions that I can neither pronounce nor spell. The price includes an optional installment plan.  Quick math would tell that just one of these each day will cost just under $1800 for the year, which is exactly 9 times what I paid for my first car – a 1969 Opel Kadet…no gas gauge, 4 speed, FM converter...but I digress.  Is it possible to order just a cup of black coffee, no cream, no sugar, no fancy add-ons…just a dang burn cup of coffee…no frills…no fancy toppings…nothing else? Just a cup of coffee!  Just hot and bitter, straight up, no extras. And, by the way, a cup of coffee that I do not have to finance for 36 months at 18.9% APR.  I am the only one left who feels this way?  If so, tell me.  If not, enjoy your over-priced diversion from real coffee and thank you for contributing so much to private enterprise.  Howard Schultz sends his regards.

Education can be seen as a trip to Starbucks if we take our eyes off of what is really important.  Every year, there is a new book written by someone with a lot of alphabet behind their name that has some new idea that will revolutionize education. I have shelves full of these. They are all marketed as a “new way” to teach kids. However, as Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, “There is nothing new under the sun.”  You have read the same stuff.  You have listened to the sales pitch. You have the t-shirt.  Don’t get me wrong, these things are good. They cause you to look at things from a different angle, but you are still looking at the same thing – kids! We learn new strategies, but the bottom line is the same – it takes talented people to produce talented students. Perhaps they provide affirmation that what you are currently doing is right on the money. That always feels good…just don’t charge $149.99 plus shipping to provide me with that emotional backrub. I get daily e-mails from multiple companies that deal in educational products. Every single one of them touts their product like it is the second coming of Jesus.  They aren’t.  There are many programs for sale; some of them are very good and some are made with spit and ceiling wax.  I have said it 7,635 times before and I will say it until He takes me home that programs do not make the difference, people make the difference.  No matter how far we travel into the technology realm, we will always have the necessity of the development of positive and appropriate student-teacher relationships. It’s about people; plain and simple.  Education is about making a connection; electronic programs can become disconnected – just ask CTB.  We can add all of the “frills” to education that we want, but it will always come down to the skills of talented educators working with great parents for a common goal = helping the child succeed. Anyone who tells you differently is probably dictating a lengthy order at Starbucks. 

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The Browns play tonight against the Buffalo Bills on the shores of Lake Erie. They are off on Sunday. 

Mary and I are heading to Wisconsin this weekend for our nephew’s wedding…place your cheese orders.