Christmas Songs

The top 10 Christmas songs of all time are, according to no one in particular, in descending order:  Sleigh Ride, It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas, The Little Drummer Boy, The First Noel, A Holly Jolly Christmas, White Christmas, O Holy Night, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Do You Hear What I Hear?, and The Christmas Song.  What?  No Silent Night? No Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer?  How about The Twelve Days of Christmas?  Go ahead – sing a few bars of that for a minute –“ On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree”…Did you ever think just how expensive buying/renting all of the items mentioned  in the 12 days would be?  Didn’t think so.  I did.  The cost of the partridge, a pear tree, two turtledoves, three French hens, four calling birds, five golden rings, six geese on the nest, seven swans, eight maids milking something, nine ladies dancing (hopefully appropriately), ten lords, eleven pipers, and twelve drummers is, in today’s dollars approximately $116,000!!!!!!!  Heck, the three hens alone are just under $200!  The song really isn’t about the cost.  It’s about the lengths that one person will go to bring joy to someone else.  It’s not about the money; it’s about the effort.  It’s not about the gift, it’s about the giver. 

There are, in my view, a lot of similarities between this theme and education in general.  Think about how classroom equipment has changed over your career.  Okay, maybe that’s not fair for younger teachers.  But for those of us who started with a blackboard and a box of chalk, the evolution is astounding.  We can buy all of the nifty tools that are so commonplace today in classrooms around the country.  We can have all of the computers, smart boards, visual presenters, personal electronic devices, the latest app, and 32 different dry erase markers but none of them mean a thing if the students don’t have the teachers.  It’s not about what is given, it is about the giver – the teacher.  Kids want that outstanding personal relationship with their teachers.  They want to know that they matter to their teacher more than they want the latest craze…seriously. The human element cannot be overstated.  It takes a wonderful person to truly be an effective teacher.  A huge part of that is being the teacher that enjoys their students and the students enjoy them.  That doesn’t mean that you cannot challenge them.  What is does mean is the lengths that you go to for each of your students to bring them a great joy – your very best.  Merry Christmas.

Perceptions and Reality

Physical appearance has a lot to do with how we perceive others.  If people wear glasses, we determine that they have a problem with their vision.  If a person has rings on each finger, then they must be wealthy, have won ten championships, or are channeling Sammy Davis, Jr.  If their clothes are shabby, then he or she must be poor.  If they are a Cleveland Browns fan, then they obviously are insane (guilty as charged). If they walk with a limp, there must be an anatomical problem or they have an injury.  If they are always smiling, they must be incredibly happy or have gas.  If they have their hair colored in shades that are not on the color wheel, then they must be a whack job.  If they have body piercing in places that are outside of the norm, then they must be “one of those” kind, whatever the heck that means.  Don’t let the outward appearance fool you.  My God, did you get a good look at Einstein’s hair?  Or Stephen Hawkings inability to walk?  Or Dennis Rodman’s multiple piercing…okay, maybe not a good example.  Don’t be fooled by outward appearance.  It’s what is inside that counts. It’s not about the wrapping paper; it’s about the gift inside.

We have all had kids walk through our classroom doors that we think we have all figured out by the time they reach their seat.  The kid with the hair dyed blue and a purple streak must be a freak.  Geez Louise, couldn’t he use complementary colors at least? The kid with the holes in his jeans must be on free or reduced lunch. Never mind that stores sell this style at ridiculously high prices. Oh, and the kid dressed “to the nines” must live in a mansion and have servants, three Beamers, and a country club membership.  How do you know that any of these notions are reality?  Short answer – you don’t.  Not until you get to know them.  Do you want to know a secret?  The kids had pre-conceived notions about you too.  They heard about you before they stepped one foot in your classroom. They may have siblings that had you as their teacher. Perhaps your reputation preceded you.  They sized you up on the first day of school. They saw what you wore, how your combed your hair and made a determination about you.  They did. They thought they had you totally figured out before the end of that first class period.  Ridiculous, isn’t it.  But true.  It wasn’t until they got to know you that they saw the real you.  It wasn’t until you worked hard to develop a positive relationship with them that they saw the gift that could receive from you.  Keep on giving that gift.  This doesn’t mean that we are changing the professional dress code.  It means that the gifts need to be opened.  Being this close to Christmas, the time has come.

The Browns play against the San Francisco 49er’s this weekend on the shores of Lake Erie.  This game is the unofficial “Draft Bowl” since both teams are in the cellar…way down in the cellar…

New Wiper Blades

When snow is forecast and my vehicle will be outside, I always leave the windshield wipers up.  Family tradition. This prevents the wiper blades from being destroyed when you scrape the snow and ice from your windshield.  Windshield wipers are important.  Without them, our necks would be in considerable pain from hanging our heads out of the window to see the road. Side note:  why do dogs hate it when you blow in their face, but the first thing they do in the car is to stick their head out the window?   Windshields get dirty fast.  A neighbor once told that in the summer, he never washed his car as he let a good rainstorm wash it away.  Not true.  You see, raindrops are hygroscopic, they are essentially bonded not only because of the elements contained in them, but by the dirt in the center of a raindrop.  Don’t believe me?  Check out your windshield after a summer rain.  Your windshield will be littered with dirt specks and spots – all courtesy of those raindrops. Dirty windshields are also caused by the winter elements, road salt, bug parts, and special  gifts from our feathered friends that fly above.  Anyway, it is vital that your keep your wiper blades fresh so that they do not simply smear dirt, salt, bug parts, and  bird droppings across your windshield and obscuring your view.  Just a safety tip from your non-mechanic professional.

In classrooms, students sometimes see the white board as one messy windshield. Teaching and learning isn’t always clean.  Sometimes it is downright messy.  The concepts you are presenting are blurry at best to some students.  The skills that you are trying to teach are as clear as mud to others.  Think of your teaching methods are a set of wiper blades. Maybe it is time to change them.  The concept is to make things clear for the students.  We can only do so if we are certain that our methodology is getting the job done.  So, check your wiper blades.  That would be in the form of informal assessments and formative assessments.  You have to actually use this data for self-inspection of YOUR teaching methods.   But the book says that it is time to move on.  The book isn’t being assessed; the kids are.  Moving on just muddies up the windshield even more. If your students are not getting it, if progress just isn’t being made, then the onus is on us to make it more clear.  You simply cannot move on if the educational windshield is dirty.   Only upon a good self-inspection we will be able to determine if what we are doing is working. Are the kids clearly getting it?  If not, it’s time to check your wiper blades.

The Browns host the Cincinnati Bengals on the shores of Lake Erie in Round II of “The Battle of Ohio”.  The last round was as pretty as my 7^th grade school picture. U-G-L-Y, we don’t have an alibi.