Ice Cream Flavors

We are past Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer and the meteorological start of Fall.  The time to close up the swimming pool for the year, put the white pants back in the closet, and get that last taste of “Summer” ice cream. The most popular flavor of ice cream is…wait for it…vanilla.  Vanilla?  Is that an indictment on society that we choose a rather bland, non-descript, boring flavor to be our most popular?  When I was a kid, you had three choices of ice cream – “Yummy” brand ice cream which Mom bought at the grocery store for 55 cents per half gallon.  The name did not match the taste.  Then there was “King Kastle” in Hammond that sold  novel square- shaped ice cream. That wasn’t in the family budget. (see “Yummy” brand)  The old standby was Dairy Queen (yes these were around in the 1960’s) that served one flavor – vanilla…unless you wanted it dipped in chocolate or with “Crunch Coat”.  A Baskin Robbins opened in our town when I was in high school.  Lord, there were 31 flavors to choose from!  These were revolutionary choices from this era and included Banana Nut Fudge, Cherry Macaroon, and Peppermint Fudge Ribbon.  Yes, they had vanilla, but who is the heck is choosing that with many other exciting flavors to indulge in. Vanilla sold as well as Dodge vehicles in Japan.  Choices, choices, choices…

If kids were ice cream flavors, I bet that few of them would just be plain vanilla….just a few. Most kids this age are multi-flavored in their personalities, behaviors, level of maturity, and of course, academically.  Unlike Baskin Robins, we don’t get to choose what “flavors” make up the students we receive. It would be great to have all of them by of one dimension, of one personality, of one rule abiding citizenship, etc…or would it?  So what do you do about that? Thanks for asking.  This is where the relationship building comes in.  You, as a teacher, have to find out what makes your kids tick.  What are their interests in school? What are their interests outside of school?  How can I tie this topic into their areas of interests? Guess what, kids don’t always want “vanilla” in their education either.   Get creative – get outside of the box?  You know, inside of the box isn’t always pretty – just ask a cat.  Students today want a whole lot more than daily offering of “Vanilla” education. They want exciting stuff!  They want to see the relevance.  They want to see the tie-in.  They want to see that their teacher offers more choices such as tiered projects or alternative assessments. They want to learn, but they also want to have some fun doing it. They want those vanilla worksheets to be put back in the freezer.  Make it a point in your classroom to serve up some interesting flavors.  This is what differentiating instruction is – more than one flavor.  If you do it right, they will keep coming back for additional scoops.

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The Browns host  the New Orleans Saints this Sunday on the shores of Lake Erie.  I hope that the Saints don’t coming marching in!  Could be ugly…