Which side are you on?

I was listening to a sports talk show on the radio a few days ago, and the talk show host stated that sports is the last topic where people with differing opinions can disagree without taking it personally. Unfortunately, too many topics are now seen as opportunities to make judgments about a person's soul!  Republican or Democrat.  Vegan or Meat-lover.  Working moms or stay-at-home moms.  Pretty much everything that has more than one perspective does more than cause people to choose a side.  Instead, folks choose sides, then judge the folks on the other side.  Except for maybe sports???

When I think about this in education, there are definitely a few topics that have caused a bit of side-choosing over the last 20 years.  Whole language or phonics.  Do we teach spelling or not?  When do we teach the traditional algorithms in math, as soon as possible or after the child understand the concept of the math function?

For some of these, research has proven certain things to be best practices.  For example, I rarely hear of a straight-
out disagreement between whole language and phonics because a balanced approach has been proven to work.  When something is proven to work, time and time again with increasing success, it can be considered a best practice and typically educators will agree on it.  For example, I don't know any educators who say that a worksheet is the best way to learn something.  There are so many better ways to learn!

For so many other educational topics, there is still a battle between sides.  Occasionally, feelings get hurt when opinions differ.  When teams of educators are synergistic, they have built excellent relationships and are able to put these topics on the table for professional discussion.  High-performing teams may have different opinions, but they can work together in a productive manner that will benefit all students.  These educators learn from each other and often find a third alternative that was better than the originals.

When educators agree on a common goal and make that goal the major focus of everything they do, synergy begins.  When educators with differing opinions see each disagreement as a learning opportunity, success for students grows.  When educators value the differences, then look in the mirror to see what needs to be changed, improvement can be guaranteed!

When we talk about education like we talk about sports, our kids win!

Stronger shoulders

When things get heavy, we often wish for a lighter load.  It might be a giant stack of unfinished work or too many unfinished projects at home.  It might be a lack of cash to make things easier or an emotional suitcase that is entirely too full.  When things seem like they are too heavy to handle, it is normal to wish for those things to disappear.

Or, as the Jewish Proverb reads...

Looking forward at the obstacles in your path may seem daunting at times, but if you look back at the obstacles you have already overcome, they were probably just as tough to face at the time.  Stronger shoulders!  When you wish for the "heaviness" to disappear, you are giving the power to those challenges.  When you wish for stronger shoulders, the power to persevere is all yours.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Begin with the end in mind.  The second habit according to Dr. Stephen Covey.  Decide what you want your results to be, then pursue those results.  This is a wonderful principle that will most certainly lead to greater happiness for each one of us.

As I think about the way many educators discuss future goals with a child, I wonder if there is a flaw to our rationale.  Oftentimes, we ask young children about their future as an adult, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

There is nothing wrong with that question!  It is good for kids to visualize an excellent dream career as an adult!  It is also good if they change their minds 100 times!  But sometimes we start talking details when we talk to kids, especially when we try to connect today's work as a student to tomorrow's success, "You need to care about your math if you want to be a professional bull rider so you can take accurately manage of all your winnings!"

We try to justify the importance of certain learning objectives based on their potential future.  We try to justify the importance of good behavior based on life as an adult.  For most kids, adulthood is both too far away and a completely foreign concept.  You don't really get to know what it is like to be an adult until you are one!

We tell kids, "You need to behave in school!  If you act this way as an adult, you won't be in trouble at school, you'll get fired from your job." 

"You need to learn how to understand the author's purpose so that you will be able to better communicate with your customers and clients if you get a job that requires written communication."

"You need algebra if you are going to be an engineer or work with computers."

Young kids can't even fathom having a real job.  They hear that school IS their job.  But for a few kids, that rationale doesn't matter.  A few kids just can't wait for the bell to ring.  The minutes until the end of class agonizes them.  Then they get in trouble and hear about a future that is year's away while only trying to get beyond the next 20 minutes.

Most kids agonize over waiting two days to go to Six Flags.  They can't stand waiting an hour for dinner.  And doing homework for 30 minutes prior to go outside to play takes FOREVER.  Yet we try to give them reasons to do well in school based on a purpose that is still uncertain and many years away.

It is impossible to convince a student to see the benefit of yet another worksheet or generic writing assignment.  The learning activity may benefit the kid now, and it may make his future brighter, but that kid may just not truly be able to put that rationale to work.  The student probably wants to believe the teacher's reasoning and simply cannot.  If it was easy to simply tell ourselves something and make it come true immediately, with no problems, then every single one of us would be healthy eaters and McDonald's would go out of business.  Last time I checked, there was still a McDonald's on every corner!

I have definitely seen a decline in the need for this type of conversation in schools over the last ten years.  Teachers are designing lessons that engage students with meaningful and interesting projects.  These well-designed lessons create an intrinsic curiosity that engage students.  Good classrooms do not look like worksheets anymore.  It is impossible to convince a kid that the worksheet has a purpose and the textbook is wonderful.

Good teachers create lessons that no longer have the need to convince students to perform.  Good teachers understand that learning is a process that takes a different amount of time for each individual.  They also understand how to design lessons that play to the interests of as many kids as possible.  Good lessons do not require a child to suddenly see into future far enough to understand why a basic understanding of Newton's Laws of Gravity will be beneficial.  Good lessons make Newton's Laws fun and interesting and naturally worthwhile!

Good enough

"This is good enough."

The timing of these words is crucial.

I know some folks who say these words when they achieve the bare minimum. Barely good enough is still good enough.  This was my response to most of my middle school classwork.  I did just enough to make sure the teacher would accept it.  I know teachers who have taught the same mediocre lesson for years and years without change.  I guess it is good enough.

 I know others who say these words only seconds before it is time for action.  They reflect on past attempts and agonize over improvements.  They revise and change.  They practice and modify.  They make improvements until the last possible moment, then they say, "This is good enough."  These teachers continually look to improve everything they do!

Is your good enough good enough?

tap tap tap...

Little Johnny was in my class years ago.  He needed a larger amount of stimuli to keep his brain moving.  More than most kids.  In fact, the boy could not keep still!  Even early in my career, my classroom was not a quiet or still place.  Nevertheless, there are times in a classroom where a certain amount of still and quiet are necessary.  When those times occurred, Little Johnny made his presence known more than ever.

He loved tapping pencils. Loved it!  Unfortunately for the two of us, repetitive noises happen to drive me bonkers!  This gave us an immediate point of contention.  He would tap.  Often.  All the time.  I would take deep breaths at the same rate trying to keep my cool.

I would walk by him all day long, repeatedly giving him signs and discreet reminders that tapping was annoying to some people, including his favorite teacher.  Tapping was a habit he had developed to keep himself entertained when our learning activities didn't provide his brain with enough stimuli.  My reminders were an attempt to change his habit.

As with any true habit, changing it is a challenge.  The tough part to remember was that it was his challenge.  Not mine.  The class did need him to stop tapping.  I needed him to stop tapping.  But it was his habit so my reminders were simply my way to help him.  But like most teachers, I became frustrated a few times and my brain went to that place that doesn't help.

There was one time in particular that the tapping seemed more than usual and my patience was less than usual.  After several reminders, a brilliant idea must have popped into my head and come out of my mouth at the exact same time.  I gave him an ultimatum, "Little Johnny, if you tap your pencil one more time, I am gonna keep you in from recess and you are gonna tap for ALL 30 minutes!"

Four minutes later...tap tap tap tappity tap tap.

Ultimatums rarely end well when made in haste.  I decided to keep my word and punished myself by providing this kid with 30 minutes of approved tapping time.  I believe he perfected a few new tapping combos and learned the opening drum solo to Van Halen's Hot for Teacher.

Modeling a growth mindset

The desire to win is a natural, normal human trait.  We all have it to some degree.  A friend of mine is ultra-competitive.  He cannot stand to lose.  He is a really nice guy and a very gracious loser when he doesn't win, but he hates losing.  We had a friendly neighborhood ping pong tournament a few weeks ago and he didn't win.  In fact, he got beat by an 11 year old and a 13 year old.  After the tournament, he challenged each of them to another match and won both.

I found it quite interesting that the younger boys won when it was tournament play, but lost when it was just a friendly match.  Likewise, it was interesting that my ultra-competitive friend lost when the pressure of the tournament was on, but won when it was just friendly.  Did the younger boys rise to the occasion?  Did the adult falter because he expected to beat the kids? 

Some folks are perfectly happy with only a tinge of competition.  They may enjoy playing a board game or some cards.  Other folks like to view everything as a competition.  Whether it is a simple game or a successful career, everything hinges on the question, "Who is better?"

I was outside watching some kids throw the football yesterday.  Back and forth, back and forth, the passes got longer and the catches more acrobatic.  A boy stood next to me and commented after each throw and catch, "I can throw it better than him....I can catch better than him...I am faster than him...I have better hands than him...I would've caught that one one-handed..."

The comments went on and on, yet this kid never jumped into the mix to prove himself.  I waited for him to jump in and have some fun but he never did.  After reading Mindset, by Dr. Carol Dweck, this got me thinking!

Really competitive people tend to notice a gap between their abilities and the abilities of those who perform better.  The internal conversation typically goes one of two ways.  Some of them ask themselves these questions:

1. What makes the other guys better?
2. What can I do to to close the gap between me and them?

Others simply say to themselves:

1. They are just more naturally talented than I am.
2. I just can't do it that well.

One set of people ask questions that drive improvement,  The other set makes statements that speak of limited abilities.  The questioners look for growth while the others speak of fixed abilities.  There is a certain amount of this mental structure that is innate, but according to Dr. Dweck, people are capable of learning to adapt to a growth mindset.

As an educator, do you see yourself making comparisons to those around you?  If so, how do you approach your observations?  Do you try to learn from those who inspire you?  Do you seek out continuous improvement?  When things go well, do you still look at how to improve for the next time?

Or, do you see folks around you who may do something a little bit better, then say, "I just can't do that."  Do you say the other teacher has better kids, or a better schedule.  Do you convince yourself that your practices are just fine, regardless of the greater successes shown by others?

Most educators profess to the ideal of being a lifelong learner.  If you are indeed a lifelong learner, how do you live it each day?  Do your students see you living with a growth mindset?  Do they hear you questioning your own efforts as you seek improvement?

Who wins?

Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why, tells a wonderful story about a cross country runner with cerebral palsy.  He tells of this young man who always comes in last place.  He finishes each race in pain and usually covered with blood.  He continues to participate and work hard even though he is fully aware that he will never be able to challenge the competition.

While the story of this student could be one about, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going," it is not.

Instead, his story is about competition.  This young man did not compete against the other racers.  He couldn't.  But each race, he competed against himself.  He tried to better his own time.  He simply wanted to finish and improve.  And because of that, he also finished every race with the support of every other racer.  His teammates, and most of the other competitors from other schools, would finish their own race, then run back to join the last place finisher.  He may have officially finished each race last, but there were dozens of runners with him as a crossed the finish line.  They clearly recognized his efforts and his perseverance.

Why?  Because people love to support each other's efforts when the competition is courageous and personal.  We love to help each other overcome individual challenges!