Tying It All Together

The school year started with a story about a pig and a chicken and closed with a muse about scouting and leaving it better than you found it.  In between, there were stories of deer crossing signs, peanut butter sticking in various places, air traffic controllers during 9-11, turning the ignition on, cairns from the Plains Indians, and playing music.  In October, I wrote about the oldest tree in Lake County, Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “Late for Your Life”, Wayne Gretsky skating to where the puck is going to be, and carving pumpkins with my oldest daughter.  November brought stories about lions hunting near water, honoring our veterans, my hatred of marshmallows, and the real meaning of Thanksgiving.  In the cold of December, I wrote about another day at the beach, great coaches, and It’s A Wonderful Life.  January brought Walter Cronkite, NFL reviews, and transistor radios.  February’s stories recalled a man with a special wooden gift, putting a little glass in your nest, expecting big things, and to “quit acting like you’re from Cleveland!” March brought us what 90 stood for, junk drawers, March Madness, and the constant chasing of kids.  After Spring Break, I finished the final quarter with life in the “Way Back”, referencing the future, paying tribute to our “Roadies”, hang gliding, public servants, keeping your powder dry, and finally, leaving it better than you found it.   I hope that you found a personal favorite.

The common thread among all of these writings was this:  we get to do something special every single day.  No matter where you are at in your career, know that what you have a chance to do is special.  Not everyone gets this chance.  We get a chance to make things stick.  We get a chance to make a difference.  Yep, that all sounds real gooey and you make think this belongs on a poster – but it is the truth.  The opportunities that we get are not afforded to all. Make the most of every opportunity.  Focus on what is good and right for kids.  Be fruitful.  Know where you want to take them.  Have a vision and don’t let logistics get in the way of that.  Create a memory every day.  Be purposeful.  Be intentional.  Make a difference.  Adjust your strategies along the way.  Lead by example.  Make the most of every opportunity.  Leave a legacy.  Pour yourself out, and let someone fill you back up.  Tell them what you want them to get smarter about.  Make a difference.  Make intentional classroom decisions.  Be tuned in as to where kids are.  Put a little glass in your nest.  Make the most of every opportunity.  Expect great things from your kids and tell them about it.  Realize that kids often have a lot in their personal junk drawers.  Be prepared in and out of season. Chase after the right things.  Use a variety of strategies.  Make a difference.  Reference the future.  Trust that you have prepared your students for the summative assessments and the standardized tests.  Be a public servant.  Make the most of every opportunity.  Define your aiming points. Leave them better than you found them. Make a difference.

Leave it Better Than You Found It

Scouting is a lot more than selling cookies or peanut brittle.  Scouting is to help kids grow into contributing members of society.  Scouting teaches you many things.  You learn to respect our flag and to be patriotic.  You learn how to be of service to others.  You learn to work as a team.  You learn about good citizenship.  You learn about promises and working for the good of the pack.  You learn about building character.  When I was a Cub Scout in Pack 297, our adult leaders were constantly preaching to “Try to leave this world a little better than you found it.”  When we went camping, we were required to make the camp site far better than the shape it was in when we arrived.  You could tell the camp sites whose previous tenants were not scouts.  Those were easy to leave in better shape.  The challenge was improving the sites where the scouts had been. They were on top of their game…like a green dot from the growth model. Nevertheless, our Scoutmaster told us to leave it better than you found it.  Darn over-achievers.  When we did service projects, we were told to make a huge difference in the lives of others.  “Leave it better than you found it” was instilled in my head and in my heart…the stent hasn’t blocked the latter).  

In three months, a new set of teachers will take your current students.  You will receive new students from someone else.  The levels that the kids are at will vary.  Some will be high achievers and you will be challenged with the task of making them even better.  Some will be behind in their studies and you will be challenged with making them better.  Many will be average students and you will be challenged with making them better than average.  In every case, you will be challenged.  You will want to receive students who are well-prepared academically.  There is nothing wrong with this expectation.  In fact, it should be your expectation.  That’s where it goes full circle.  The expectation of your colleagues at the next level is the same.  They also want their new kids to be prepared academically.  Your task in these last eight days is to keep the expectations high.  It is to keep the kids on task and still getting after it.  Now is not the time to back off. The task now is to prepare to let go of your students better than you found them.  The new set of teachers will appreciate that, which ironically, includes you.

Keep Your Powder Dry

Keep your powder dry!    That was an order to live by for Civil War soldiers receiving their standard issue Model 1855 Springfield rifled musket.  Basically, it worked like this: pour the gunpowder down the barrel, tamp it down with a ramrod, add the minie ball (ammunition), and follow that with “ready, aim, and fire.”  An excellent marksman could get off 2-3 shots per minute.  Other than having great aim, the key part of the process is packing the powder.  Without the powder, the minie ball has no force behind it.  Packing the powder down was essential for the proper reaction to occur.  Of course, none of this mattered if your gun powder was wet.  Wet gun powder was essentially useless to the entire process.  Thus, commanders preached constantly on the necessity to keep your powder dry.  In the multitude of chaotic situations that these men were placed in, the reliance on dry powder was something that could not be taken for granted.  They had to put their gunpowder into special flasks designed to pour out its contents directly into the barrel.  Never was that gunpowder to get wet.  Keep your powder dry or suffer the consequences was well understood.

We are about two weeks away.  Sometimes at this time of the year, it gets a little chaotic.  We have ISTEP…online for two grades over a two week window with repeated connection losses and disconcerted kids not including the many that are today finishing make-up exams on the last day of the testing window…but I digress.  We have quarterly testing , major projects, banquets, evening programs, the handing off of student information to next year’s teachers, student misbehavior, updated IEP’s…and that’s just a start.  The bottom line is that things get a little chaotic at this time of the year.  It’s important that at this time to keep our powder dry.  Our powder would be our focus, our mission, our direction. Our aiming point is the same as it has always been = this needs to be place where kids want to be and are challenged every single day. There is nothing easy about that.  It’s not supposed to be.  Set the expectation to the kids that we are getting after it through May 31^st.  Check the tell-tale signs of kids visualizing summer break.  Now is the time to ramp up what we do best.  Now is the time to put on the finishing touches for next year.  Now is the time to uphold what your expectations have been all along.  Now is the time to keep your powder dry.  Don’t let anyone rain on what you are trying to do.  We get to do what others only hope to do or wish they could.  We get a chance to make a difference for every kid every day.  Stay dry.

Being a Public Servant

In July of 1961, a young father wrote a letter of thanks that appeared in the local newspaper.  It was from a Dad who wanted to express his thanks to the public servants who saved his three-year-old son a few nights earlier.  It read as such:

“On July 8, 1961, at 2:00 a.m., my son went into convulsions.  I placed a call to the operator,

who then called the police, who, in turn, radioed the fire department, who sounded the

alarm.  About seven minutes later, there were about 20 firemen at the door with an

inhalator for my son.  Thanks to the speed of these men, my son is okay.  I have seen these

men in action before and they are wonderful.  The people in this town surely can feel safe

with these men on the job.  I wish to thank you for what you did for my son.”

While teachers may not fit the Wikipedia description of a public servant, we are paid by the taxpayers to do a public service – educate kids.   Next week is “Teacher Appreciation Week.”  While we will feed you well next week (see below), I want to kick this off with a note of thanks.  Thanks for your preparation.  Thanks for your diligence.  Thanks for coming in early to help kids with their work.  Thanks for staying after school to help kids with their work.  Thanks for taking part in “Talent Tuesday”.  Thanks for creating some carrots for kids to run after on ISTEP.  Thanks for teaching diagnostically.  Thanks for making our unique programs work.  Thanks for being humble when they do work.  Thanks for reading these notes and acting on them.  Thanks for forming great relationships with kids. Thanks for giving them that pat on the back.  Thanks for giving them that kick start.  Thanks for supporting each other.  Thanks for communicating with parents.  This list of thanks could go on for a long time. Thanks for what you do for the children of someone else.  In sum, thanks for making a difference.  Oh, by the way, the author of this newspaper article?  That would be my Dad.