A Special Gift

Last Friday evening, CBS had a segment on the news that covered the life of an Oregon man who had given much of his time, talents, and treasures to the people in his small town.  They, it turn, were in the process of fixing his house, cutting and splitting his firewood supply for the winter, patching up his barn, bringing him meals, and making him a special gift made of wood that he could use.  Why were the townspeople doing all this?  They were paying him back for all of the generosity that he had shown to them over the years with their time, talents, and treasures including the special wooden gift. This man suffers from a disease that he is slowly dying from.  His death is imminent.  When asked about his situation by the reporter, he simply replied, “ I am glad that I am dying slowly.”  Huh?  I was stunned at that response as was the reporter.  He explained that he was glad to be fading slowly so that he had time to thank everyone who helped him.  Read that again, wipe your eyes, and give this some thought.  The camera returned to hoards of people signing his special wooden gift with notes of thanks and encouragement.  As the camera moved to a wider view, the wooden gift, made of beautiful pine, turned out to be a coffin.  A special gift, indeed, to a man who left a legacy of giving of himself to others.

What do you hope to do today that will make a difference at the end of the day…or the end of next week…or the next grading period…or the semester…or for a career?  What kind of legacy do you want to leave at this school when someday they tear it down to build another?  What do you want to be remembered for as someone who worked with kids?  Is it patience?  Kindness? Setting high expectations for your students?  Reaching out to help someone when they didn’t ask for it?  Taking the extra moment each day just to share a smile?  What will matter most when others look back on you?  I have been pretty clear in all of my writings that what we get to do is different than “real world” positions.  We get to change lives.  Make the most of every opportunity that you have with kids.  We get that opportunity every single day here, but it is only an opportunity.  You can seize what is there or simply go through the motions.  You can make the most of every opportunity or you can let it pass by never to have that chance again.  It’s really not about what we take in relative to numbers, but rather the number we put out prepared for the next step.  The special gift that you can give is not made of wood. If you choose to, it is the gift of yourself. 

Transistor Radios

You knew that you arrived in the middle 1960’s when you had your very own transistor radio.  For those of you who were not even kicking the slats out of your cradle at this time, ask your parents…or grandparents. Transistor radios allowed “instant on” operation since there were not filaments to heat up.  They could fit in your pocket, weighed less than half of a pound, ran on 9-volt batteries, and sometimes came with a real nifty earplug for ONE ear.  While the sound of baseball cards clipping the bicycle spokes was, as still is, about the best sound in the world, you moved up the ladder with your very own transistor radio.  Being able to listen to the game while actually playing the game made you feel tuned in to the world around you.  On a really clear night, being able to pick up a game with legendary players involved, well, that was just way cool.  You could listen to the music of The Beatles, The Byrds, The Stones, The Beach Boys, (ever notice the groups of the 60‘s had “The” in each name…that’s another Friday Outlook down the road)  anywhere you wanted with this device …IF you could get reception.  It seemed that invariably just when the 3-2 pitch was being delivered or the best part of a song was coming on, or when Jack Snow was wide open for the Irish, or the New Year’s Eve countdown of the WLS Top 100 songs of the year was reaching the top 10, everything went fuzzy. You had to adjust the antenna, point it in a different direction, stand on one leg with tin foil (old school for aluminum wrap) on the tip, and pray to God that this interference was short-lived.  Here’s the lesson in all this:  to hear to music, you had to stay tuned in…and you still do.

It’s that way in what we do.  We have to be tuned in to where kids are.  That’s the beauty of things like Acuity testing that while done properly, you can gain a great deal as to the progression of your kids.  That is what formative assessment is about = forming your instruction to meet the needs of the kids that you have assessed.  Formative testing is for the sake of the teacher. You will hear about that in next Friday’s “Lunch & Learn”.  This gives teachers a chance to “tune in”, to get your antenna up, to pick up some insight into what your students need to get them to where they need to be.  Sometimes you may have to point in a different direction to get the signal.  Often, you will make adjustments to fine tune some learning.  Maybe you will have to tighten your antennae to take the fuzziness out of what you are hearing from your students.  While you probably won’t have to stand on one leg with aluminum foil, you may have to bend over backward to get reception.  Largely, we do just that here at Col. Wheeler – whether it be in the classroom, reception desks, or in custodial duties.  Thanks for that.  As we approach the ISTEP, keep working to get clear reception along the way.

After Further Review...

At some point in most NFL games, you will hear an official state the following:  “After further review, the ruling…”  This is in response to a call by a game official being challenged or the replay booth official believes the play should be reviewed so that the absolute right call can be made.  The referee usually retreats to a small replay machine under cover while he looks at the play again.  Football is not the only sport that reviews human decisions. “The previous play is being reviewed” is growing more and more while taking more and more of the “human element” out of the equation.  When I was a kid, we had our own sort of replay booth at the neighborhood Park.  This was called a discussion, which was sometimes a heated one over a fair or foul ball, whether a touchdown pass was really in bounds, or if the other player had a “R” or an “S” in H-O-R-S-E.  After considerable bickering, the result was something called a “Do-Over.” “Do-Overs” would be loudly announced if it was in your favor or barely audible if you were getting the short end of the stick.  Throughout the years, we may have had a lot of “Do-Overs” in areas too numerous to list.  Maybe you were on the good end or bad end of a “Do-Over”, but either way, you experienced at least one.

Make no mistake – kids don’t get “Do-Overs” in school.   Kids get one chance under our tutelage…or do we get one chance with them?  36 weeks to make a difference in a kid that you may never work with again.  That 36 weeks quickly turns to 35, then 18, then 9 and before you know it, they move on.  You will get another group next year.  They won’t.  Most kids will be in your class only one time.  You get that time span and that time span only to make a difference.  There are no “Do-Overs”.  That is why I consistently implore you to make the most of every opportunity that you have with kids. You can make them or break them.  You can mold them or let them be shapeless.  You can prepare them for what lies ahead or let them sink.  Either way, it has to be a choice by you.  Yes, you have to choose to make a difference; difference-makers do not happen because of luck.  It is an intentional decision.  Every day is another opportunity to make a difference.  At the end, there are no “Do-Overs.”  You will want to hear from these kids down the road that you did indeed make a difference in their lives.  And yes, confident that you have made a difference and, after further review, the ruling stands.

The Pig and the Chicken

As you will recall, our first group meeting in August included a story about a pig and a chicken that wanted to honor the farmer by providing breakfast for him.  As second semester begins, remain cognizant of our commitment (think pig) and daily contribution (think hen) to our kids, our parents, our colleagues, and ourselves. The small toys of each animal were given to you as a visual reminder of our work.  Remember that there is a distinct difference between being committed to something and just being interested in something.  Interest means you only do it when time permits.  Committed means accepting no excuses and choosing to make a difference.   Your commitment will come from your daily contribution. 

I had two questions posed to me last weekend that I now pose to you:  (1) How important is it to you to maximize the remaining days of your life? and (2) Why are you here – not why are we here?  Relate this from a career point of view.  So, how about it?  What drives you from the inside?  Forget for a moment that we all get paid to do what we do.  What drives you on the inside, what fuels your fire?  Don’t over process what your heart is telling you.  Working with kids is really a matter of your heart’s desires.  If it is not, then I would suggest backing away and evaluating what your heart is telling you.  Yes, this goes against conventional wisdom that tells you to think with your head and ignore your heart.  Guess which people tell you that? – the very ones who truly don’t enjoy doing what they are doing.  Things are external in that world.  The same ones who mark the days off on the calendar to some date when they are finished, when they don’t have to go back anymore.  Working with kids isn’t something we “have to” do; it is something we “get to” do.  If that doesn’t fuel your tank, then use your head.  If it does, feel your heart.  This isn’t a career by default ; it is a career of design.  Yes, continue to be both the pig and the chicken.  Maximize every opportunity with every kid.  Know that there is a purpose to what you do in this school no matter what the job description is. 

Legend Journalist

Over the recent break, I finally got around to reading a book that my mother-in-law gave me over two years ago,  the memoirs of Walter Cronkite, a famed journalist whose career spanned half of a century. The book detailed his life from childhood to his retirement in the 1980’s and chronicled his love for telling “the story” to viewers and readers.  Walter Cronkite was the CBS Evening News anchor for a few decades and was admired by millions.  One of his early career influences was a journalist by the name of Paul White.  When asked his advice of how to deliver material, Mr. White simply said, “You tell them what you’re going to tell them, you tell them, and then you tell them what you told them.”  This will surely defeat any attempt at subtlety. Walter Cronkite followed that advice throughout his career and if you are old enough to remember – he was very good.  If not, find a clip of him (yep, it may be black and white).

Teachers often follow the example above throughout lessons. If you follow the “oldie by goodie” style of Madeline Hunter, you give the class an anticipatory set, you present information, let them work it through some sort of guided practice, and then you close with a summary.  That is fine, but there are a few things to add along the way.  As I have said at every “Lunch & Learn” throughout the year, often the last people to know what the goals are the very ones that we want to achieve the goal – the kids!  It is wise to tell your classes at the beginning of a unit just what it is that you want them to “get smarter about.”  It should not be a secret.  People have a much better shot at achieving something if they know what that something is. I saw a great example of this on Wednesday during 8^th period Read 180 as Amanda Tuel and Ginger Weilbaker had kids doing things that they were not able to do a few months ago.  However by establishing what it was they desired as a result, providing instruction-review-relevance-instruction-review-relevance and so on, really good results are being achieved.  The student growth just smacks you in the face.  Give that some thought as you present your units of instruction – tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.  In the end, the chances of your kids reaching those desired results will being enhanced.

Give It Away

My wife is the best person that I know.  She stole my heart in 1976 and I have no intention of asking for it back. I am totally smitten – there it is, up front.  She introduced me to the classic Christmas film, “It’s a Wonderful Life” over three decades ago and it has been our family tradition to watch it together every Christmas Eve. It is a basic parable that sets up a confrontation between good and evil with one hero and one villain.  The story is really about doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong (you may have heard that a few times out of my mouth).  George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, is a man who has given up many of his own dreams for the sake of others throughout his entire life.  When he reaches a seemingly hopeless point, he decides to take his own life.  That is, until his guardian angel, Clarence, rescues him by showing George what the lives of others would be like if he was never born.  The multitude of people that he positively affected is related to him in very vivid ways.  In his “shabby little office” hangs a sign that reads, “All that you can take with you is that which you have given away.” That is the moral of the story– how kindness to others reflects back to the giver in ways beyond their scope.  I will watch it again this December 24^th with that same beautiful girl that I have the privilege of being married to.  She makes mine a wonderful life.  She also makes the lives of patients, friends, and total strangers better through her time, talents, and treasures.  Like George Bailey, she is constantly giving of herself for the sake of others. 

Teaching is often about giving away.  You give of yourself in time and talents.   You give away your knowledge to students by sharing it with them.  Like a candle, we are not to hide it under a bushel so that its light will not be seen.  Teaching is about pouring yourself out then remembering to get filled again.  Teaching is often walking out the door at the end of the day exhausted and then getting refreshed to do it all over the next day.  Teaching is about seeing the potential in someone else and helping them reach it.  Teaching is being diagnostic and prescriptive to the needs to kids.  Teaching is about wearing many different hats; whether as teacher, counselor, parent, grandparent, motivator, or coach.  Wherever you fit in this continuum called education, you are called to continually give of yourself. You have a chance to make an incredible mark in the lives of a whole bunch of kids.  Make the most of every opportunity.  Leave a legacy of making a difference.  Give it away – that is what you will take with you.

Coaching/Teaching

Teaching is not too dissimilar from coaching.  I believe they go hand in hand.  I was fortunate enough to have done both concurrently  during my 21 years before I was called to move to administration. It was an honor to coach some great young men and young ladies who were state champions, state finalists, an NFL player, and many more who improved a great deal from where they started.  I enjoy being referred to as “Coach”; there is something special about title.  Great coaches know their team’s strengths and weaknesses. Great coaches understand what a winning team looks like and have a vision of how to get there.  Great coaches adjust their strategy to the needs of the team.  They build the entire team up because they know that making each athlete stronger only helps the team.  Great coaches set priorities as well as goals and find ways to measure their progress toward them.  Great coaches teach about attitude and lead by example while finding ways to inspire their team. Great coaches want to always get better and stay in touch with the latest information on their sport.  They make the most of every opportunity.

Great teachers know what the winning looks like – they understand the desired outcomes, they have the vision.  Great teachers adjust their strategies based on data and what the individual needs of their students.  Great teachers work hard to reach all of their kids.  Great teachers set goals and help their students set goals and then measure progress along the way toward them.  Great teachers lead by example by expecting great things from themselves and that mindset is absorbed by their students.  Great teachers inspire their students through their actions and by finding out what makes their kids tick. Great teachers are always looking to get better and keep up on current models and best practices.  They make the most of every opportunity.