White Christmas

The “Hilbrich” side of our family has a tradition at Christmas of having a contest of movie trivia.  Uncle Tim has been the designated quiz maker for many years.  The team that wins gets the honor of picking the Christmas movie from which the questions will be generated for the following Christmas gathering as well as earning some highly expensive prizes that I pick up from Dollar General or another fine retailer that incorporates $1.00 in its name.  Over the years, I have asked questions from It’s A Wonderful Life, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf, Home Alone, The Santa Clause, Jingle All The Way, and last year , A Christmas Story.  Last year’s winners (Aunt Barb, Annie, and Hayley) chose White Christmas as their movie selection.  Mind you, I have to watch each of these movies to generate questions from the relatively easy to beyond belief difficult.  If you have never seen White Christmas and are low on estrogen, this movie should boost production of that hormone.  The stars of the movie are Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera- Ellen, and Rosemary Clooney.  Crosby and Kaye play a successful song and dance team after their discharge from WWII and fall for the sister team of Ellen and Clooney. Wow, didn’t see that coming. Whatever.  As they perform around the country and gain notoriety, they end up at an inn in New England where their former military leader is struggling financially to keep the establishment in the black.  You guessed it – the boys round up the troops, host a show, and all is good once again.  They even throw in a little snowfall to romanticize the ending.  The idea to save the General from financial ruin was from Bing Crosby.  To this idea, Danny Kaye said, “I think it’s impossible, ridiculous, and insane!”  He then added, “And I wish I would have thought of it first!”    

When was the last time someone told you that an idea you had was straight off the stable floor?  If the answer is never, then you may be a “stay in the box” teacher.  Think about your own education for a moment.  What were your favorite lessons along the way?  I bet they weren’t a 50 minute lecture about the mating habits of horse flies or doing a stack of worksheets that were as tall as Sears Tower…or Willis Tower…or whatever they are currently calling that building on Wacker Drive with 110 stories.  No, your favorite lessons most likely involved actually connecting something to the curriculum.  Perhaps you actually got out of your seat and did something that was “hands-on”.  Maybe you actually had fun (God forbid) during the lesson.  Your teacher may have gone so far as to tell you to put your textbooks away because what you were about to learn wasn’t in the book.  If none of those ring a bell, well, then…never mind.  Here’s the bottom line – it’s okay to think outside the box and to color outside of the lines.  Yes, we all have standards that we have to reach and common summative tests to measure the achievement and growth of our students, but how you get them there is what makes a teacher a teacher.  Throw your boxes away and long for the moment that someone tells you your idea is impossible, ridiculous, or insane. Then let your buttons pop when they tell you that they wished they thought of it first. It worked for Bing Crosby.

Dead Ends

There are many names for those things we drive on.  There are roads.  There are streets.  There are boulevards.  There are avenues.  There arelanes.  There are expressways. There are parkways (interesting that we drive on a “park”way, but park in a “drive”way). There are state highways.  There are interstate highways.  There are roundabouts. There are gravel roads.  There are dirt roads.  Recently, I was driving on a thoroughfare(there’s another name) and for quite a stretch there were signs posted at each intersection that read “Dead End.”  Hmmm. Each of these lead to cul-de-sacs that provided no way through; just a simple in and out.  There was no means of passing through unless you wanted to “four-wheel” it through someone’s property and enjoy time in a concrete cell with bars. Then, as I retraced my route, I noticed that I had missed the intended way out; probably because I wasn’t paying attention to the way out as I was concentrating on the road blocks and not the passage.  The way out was there all along. I missed it because all of my attention was on the road blocks. 

Far too often, we get on roads that lead to dead ends.  If that is a personal issue, I would suggest an updated GPS or consulting Rand McNally (map makers for our youthful readers).  It’s a little different in the classroom.  We are not just on the road, but we are leading others down the road.  That road should end in success.  It should never end with a “dead end.”  That’s a dead end in the mind of your students; not yours.  Yes, there perspective on where they are heading is extremely important to the enrollment of themselves in the whole process.  The teacher needs to provide a road map for students that ultimately leads to their success.  A direct correlation is that their success will be your success.  So, plan your route (lesson planning) toward alignment with the assessments to be given and make certain that the assessments given are aligned with the objectives – what you want them to get smarter about.  If there are no long-term goals, then essentially, there are no roads because there is no destination to reach.  If the goals and assessments do not align, then the road will lead to a dead end; heck, it might not even be paved!  If the instruction does not align with the assessments, they you are essentially on the autobahn without a steering wheel.  Be certain that you keep your kids off of dead end streets.

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Okay, I will print it – my Browns were robbed last Sunday against the Patriots.  This Sunday, it’s the game all of you Chicago fans have been waiting for as your opportunity to let me have it = it’s the Browns vs. Da Bears on the shores of frigid Lake Erie.  Sorry, no monetary bets…I don’t have that much money.

How's Your Game?

Each August, I take time out to watch the Little League World Series which is held annually in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  Without exception, I am amazed at the baseball skills of these 11 and 12 year olds on the baseball diamond.  This tournament has a special place in my heart because 43 years ago, I played in the same tournament and on that same field.  My head floods with memories with each game – my teammates, my coaches, our group leaders, and trying to communicate with other kids that spoke in languages far different than my “Da Region” dialect.  Of course, there was a lot of competition between the lines as well.  It was a blessing to compete in this tournament, in several sports in junior high and high school, running on scholarship at Butler, and then decades of coaching kids in several sports.  A constant that you hear coaches talk about is the need to “Bring your A- GAME!”  I lived this as an athlete and preached it as a coach.  Anything short of giving your best effort was unacceptable.  Your goals could never be reached with a half-hearted effort.  Your team would be let down if even one slacked off.  Successful teams have each and every player bringing their best effort (A-GAME) every single time.

What kind of game to you bring to the classroom every day?  Do you bring your A- GAME or do you just bring a game?  There is a huge difference.  Could you imagine if your doctor did not bring his or her A-GAME to the examination room or worse yet, to the operating room?  Seriously, imagine that you are going in for a heart procedure (been there) and your cardiologist just wasn’t into it that day.  How would you feel about that?  Maybe your mechanic just didn’t feel like putting their best effort into fixing your car and did a half-butt job but still charged full price.  Would you go back and demand a refund?  Maybe the grain farmers in America collectively decided that they just didn’t feel like plowing and planting this year.  Would that affect you?  We all have days that we are not feeling up to it.  No one can deny that.  There are days when you are just worn out and your personal life is in tatters.  It happens.  As a teacher, there are hundreds of students that are counting on you to bring your best every single day.  That’s not an absurd expectation – it’s what we should be doing.  We expect the best from anyone who provides a service to us or for us.  Our kids should not expect anything differently. Bring your A-GAME EVERY DAY!

The Browns travel to Massachusetts this weekend to take on the Patriots with a starting quarterback who just joined the team…oh, my.

Myles Standish

Somewhere in your studies as a child, you were introduced to the sweet story of the Pilgrims…this group from England, dressed in funny hats and bonnets, came across the Big Pond on a beautiful ship called theMayflower, landed, met up with a really nice tribe of Indians, had a great feast, sang “Kumbaya”, roasted a few marshmallows, and lived happily ever after.  That’s the warm and fuzzy version.  The real story is that half of those new settlers died before Christmas, there wasn’t much to eat, and the people they met upon landing weren’t all that friendly.  Myles (also spelled Miles, but I use the “y” in my name so that’s what I am going with) Standish was among the Pilgrims that journeyed to New England in 1620.  He served as the military leader of the Plymouth Colony.  Not the Dodge or Chrysler Colonies.  For those of you too young to get that joke, please consult Mom or Dad.  The main duty of Myles Standish was to protect the Pilgrims from hostile tribes.  That would have been a full-time job in itself, but he also had another duty – he banished people from the colony who were considered “unpuritanical.”  He signed the “Mayflower Compact”, which, in a nutshell, required that the new arrivals didn’t act like the kids from Lord of the Flies.  He was instrumental in getting them through that first winter when so many died, and then teamed with an empathetic Squanto to establish some crops so that that first Thanksgiving did occur in 1621.  He led them well.  He established a team concept where all contributed for the greater good. 

I look at Myles Standish as someone who looked at the big picture.  He understood the concept that “A house divided cannot stand.”  Note:  reference to Lincoln, who proclaimed that an annual Thanksgiving Day be celebrated.  We have one fairly large school, but have chosen to utilize a concept where several “A school within a school” teams exist to maximize teaching, learning, and relationship building.  When done right, it works well.  Teams have their goals, their rules, their policies, and their procedures.  While this is vital to success, it is important to remember that everyone needs to correlate to the “Big Picture.”  How’s that? The big picture is simply this:  are your students moving forward?  Are they getting smarter?  Are they learning new things?  Are they responding to the challenges that you give them?  Are they becoming better people?  Do they see the value in working together for a common goal?  When we return from Christmas break, we will again have a school-wide goal to strive for on the state test.  Each team will have their team goals.  Each student should have their own individual goal to shoot for.  If every team reaches their goal and every student reaches his/her goal, then the overall goal will take care of itself.  Let’s all work together for the greater good.  By the way, tomorrow at your holiday table, remember that we should be thankful for the opportunity to make a difference – not everybody gets that chance.

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The Browns play this Sunday on the shores of Lake Erie against the Jacksonville Jaguars…expected viewing audience = 17.

Famous Archers

In Swiss folklore, William Tell is ordered to shoot an apple off his son’s head with a crossbow from multiple paces.  Why?  Tell had refused to bow to the new bailiff.  If Tell succeeded, then both he and his son would be released.  If not, well, you figure that out.  Anyway, William Tell took aim, pulled back the bow and let it fly.  The arrow pierced the apple and his son was unscathed. At that point, the bailiff asked why he had a second arrow.  Tell responded that the second arrow was meant for the bailiff if his first arrow had missed.  Thus began a horrible relationship eventually ending in the death of the bailiff.  Robin Hood was a mythological character who chose to steal from the rich and give it to the poor.  This was the forerunner of the Obama Administration’s plan of redistribution of wealth.  But I digress.  Robin Hood was exiled to Sherwood Forest (not the subdivision in Schererville) by order of the king. While in the forest, he had plenty of time to practice his archery skills, which he used to defeat the king.  The tights?  I don’t know –maybe he did side work in the ballet.  Cupid , in classical mythology, is the son of the  love goddess, Venus (not the tennis pro).  In popular culture, he draws his arrow to inspire love which landed him a deal with Hallmark for the Valentine’s Day gig.

Did you ever use a bow and arrow?  Perhaps it was target practice.  Maybe you learned this in physical education class as a youth – yes, they gave us kids bows and arrows back then…and we launched them!  You may have used a bow and arrow to down an animal while on the hunt.  Maybe you used Cupid to hit the girl or boy of your dreams.  Whatever the case, the use of a bow and arrow has a common thread.  In order for an arrow to be shot, it must be pulled backwards.  There is no other way.  You have to build the resistance to potential energy which is converted to kinetic energy.  I studied.  Life sometimes can make you feel like it is pulling you back.  Teaching sometimes feels like you are pulling back.  That’s okay because if you are being pulled back, then something exciting is about to be launched in your life!  We have to pull kids back to cover their skill gaps but then after doing so, we launch them ahead.  Don’t lose heart when it feels like you are going backward.  Bringing an apple to a teacher has deep roots.  Don’t miss the mark. Keep aiming!

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The Browns play this Sunday on the shores of Lake Erie against the Pukesburgh …I mean Pittsburgh Steelers.  No love loss here…I like the Steelers as much as I like wet undergarments. ‘Nuff said…Go Browns!

Dad

I was fortunate to have a Dad who set a fine example to his kids and others about what being a servant and steward is all about. He saw the needs of people and he met them. There were so many people that related stories to me these past several days week how Dad touched their lives from providing food for them, teaching them about God, holding their hand in their times of struggle, finding them employment, coaching them, mentoring them,…One man told me, with tears running down his face, that my Dad ALWAYS took the time to listen to his troubles without judging him. To this man, the gift of time from my Dad was precious. He saw his need and he met it. He never waited to be asked to help. Rather, he saw a need and just did it.  He was a champion for kids; especially handicapped kids.  He was a driverof the movement for the inclusion of moderately and severely handicapped kids to be in their home schools and not in a centralized building.  He saw that need and he met it.  He spent so much time serving as a comforter to families whose loved one was undergoing heart surgery.  He explained the processes to them, he comforted them. He prayed with them. He saw a need and he met it.  He served in so many roles leading youth activities from Little League to Youth Commissions to Cub Scouts. Why? Because there was a need and he met it. He served as a school board member for 32 years with a working slogan of “Kids Come First.” He got it. He lived it. He loved it.  I was blessed to be his son.  I met over 2,000 people last Sunday who are the beneficiaries of his genuine love and care who now want to pass that on to others. He left a big imprint.  He saw needs and he met them.

There are many needs that kids come to us with.  There are cognitive issues that require a great skill set to remediate.  There are issues of emotion that come from kids on the cusp of being that young adult in a less than mature physicality.  There are physical needs of those who are hungry, cold, and  malnourished.  There are  love needs of those who never get tucked in at night by any parent; some here have never had the advantage of being properly “Fathered.”  The list of needs could go on forever.  Just remember this – take the time to get to know your students.  Take the time to listen to their heart.  You will hear it if you listen.  Find that need and meet it. There is so much more to this than reading, writing, and arithmetic. There is so much more than wasn’t in the book. Find the needs of those kids. In return, you will become exactly what you wanted to be all along –a difference maker. Thank you for what you do.

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The Browns play this Sunday in round two of “The Battle of Ohio” against the Cincinnati Bengals.  Moreover, we are playing for first place in the division!  Be still…

Halloween Traditions

Halloween is second only to Christmas in spending by consumers in the United States.  Last year, about 2.5 billion dollars were forked out for October 31^st.  There are many traditions associated with Halloween. As I list a few, remember that I am only reporting, not recommending.  How about black cats?  They are symbols of bad luck.  Jack-O’-Lanterns?  Their light originally guided lost souls out of Hades…or Pittsburgh.  Bats?  They congregate to witches. What about witches? Well, they make the magic potions.  Apparently, they are chemistry majors or had a booth at Woodstock. Spiders? They are the evil companions of witches and can frighten every female in my home.  Cauldrons?  They are the pots in which the witches make their brew.  I wonder if is domestic or imported.  Broomsticks?  A method of transportation for witches.  Where do they put their luggage?  Costumes?  This was how the deceased disguised themselves in order to mingle with the living.  Why would anyone want to leave Heaven?  Orange and black? They represent the turning color of leaves and the death of summer as well as the colors of the Cincinnati Bengals.  Bobbing for apples?  The first child to pluck an apple between their teeth meant that they would be the first to marry.  That is why nuns do not bob for apples.  Candy Corn?  They represent an ear of corn…thank you Captain Obvious. 

Some traditions are fun. Not all traditions are good.  Not all traditions produce something positive.  I am a big traditionist on holidays; especially Christmas. My wife and I have a tradition of celebrating three anniversaries each year – our wedding, our engagement, and our first date.  Man, I love that girl. Did you ever try to make an adjustment to a time-honored tradition in your family? Not pretty is it?  As a teacher, I had traditions that my classes took part in each year.  Perhaps you have traditions that you hold near and dear in your family.  You have fond memories of these I am sure.  What about your classroom?  Do you have traditions?  What do they involve?  How long have you done these activities? Do the kids enjoy them?  Do you enjoy them?  What is their purpose?  How’s that?  What is their purpose?  Is the tradition just an activity or is it pointed at an objective?  Is the tradition tied to the academic standards or common core standards without stretching your answer?   Take a hard look at any tradition that you have.  Does it tie in the long and short term goals?  Does it have relevance for the kids?  Does it engage them in ways to increase their learning toward that big idea?  Has it been successful in these areas?  If so, you should probably keep in it your toolbox.  If not, get rid of it!  That will be hard to do, but it must be done.  There is too little time to invest in activities that do not mesh with learning objectives.   Break with tradition if necessary.

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The Browns play on the shores of Lake Erie this coming Sunday against the Baltimore Ratbirds, I mean Ravens. I will be heading out to Cleveland to meet up with the boys for the annual Big Jack Tailgate.  Yes, there are actually more Browns’ fans than me!