So many roads to travel when it comes to teaching and learning

 I looked at my learners yesterday during a summer camp academic session and realized that a more detailed review of the content we were covering was needed. A detailed review won't be as imaginative and creative as some would probably prefer, but without a good review of the vocabulary and some of the specific details related to the content, the children won't be able to apply the knowledge in creative, imaginative ways. Hence, today I'll try a more detailed, structured approach to the content. Let's see what happens. 

There are so many possible paths to follow when teaching students, and it's always a challenge to choose the best possible path when it comes to teaching and learning well.  

Meeting the needs of individual learners

 Since retiring from full-time teaching, I've been tutoring individual students for a public school system. In so many ways, it's a perfect job for me since I really enjoy tailoring the learning for individual students, assessing the success of the teaching, making improvements, and watching a child learn in positive, successful ways. 

This summer I'm teaching small groups of students in an ideal summer camp environment. The support for good teaching as well as the location and environment of the camp is a perfect match for me and for learners. The small class size, comfortable classrooms, super teaching assistants and colleagues, and terrific equipment and supplies makes for an ideal learning environment. That said, the teaching has reminded me of one of the greatest challenges teachers face and that's tailoring lessons to meet the needs of the myriad of learners in front of them. It's truly a challenging combination of science and art to craft lessons that engage and teach all students well. It's obviously much easier to do that in an ideal summer camp environment with small groups of students than in a typical public school environment with large class sizes and often less-than-desirable equipment or supports, but no matter how ideal the environment is, the challenge remains.

So how do we craft lessons that meet the needs of all learners in a classroom? Experienced teachers know that there all kinds of strategies to use to make that happen. As for my summer group which totals about 25 in total, I have been trying many different strategies and to date, I've engaged all the students for the most part with the help of my colleagues with the exception of one student. Today I'll try another strategy in an effort to engage this student who is somewhat resistant to the learning. I noticed a particular talent that this student has and I've incorporated that talent into today's lesson--let's see if it grabs her attention and pulls her into the learning. Time will tell. 

I wanted to write this post to clear my head with regard to how to meet this challenge, and I also wanted to write this post to acknowledge the challenge that good teaching is. It's tough to engage every learner in a positive way, but it's the exactly right aim of every classroom teacher to reach for positive engagement and learning for every student. That's possible and that should be the aim of every school and every classroom. Onward. 

Summer Math

 I'll be teaching math this summer to rising seventh and eighth graders. I've been thinking about the lessons I'll employ. Since it's summer camp, I want the lessons to be lots of fun, and thanks to the fact that I'll be working with small groups, we'll focus on lots of math talk, math modeling, and real-world problem solving. 

Teaching again

 In 2020, I retired from my 34-year teaching career. It was a tough decision, but due to my parents' health needs, my own health needs with respect to the raging COVID epidemic, and my disagreement with how the epidemic was being handled in the school system where I taught, I thought it a good time to retire. 

Upon retirement I responded to my parents' social/emotional and medical needs with the same gusto that I used towards teaching. I helped them to organize their house, attend their medical appointments, and gain a schedule of good care and good living. Like teaching, that work was not easy, but it was meaningful to me--it was the right thing to do. 

After my mom passed and then another couple years of caring for dad, it was time to lessen my parent-care role and think about my life overall. My siblings stepped in and assumed more care for my dad, and after thinking about my life, I decided to teach again. That was a very good decision for many reasons. 

First of all, I had gained tremendous teaching skill and ability throughout my many years as an educator, and to use those skills again not only felt good, but also served to help others. I loved that. Next, it was a stimulating choice--one aspect of teaching that I loved was the learning that goes hand-in-hand with teaching. That learning is intellectually stimulating and that made me happier and more interested and interesting. Also my new teaching position introduced me to new people and places who have enriched my life. 

Before embarking on teaching again, I looked at many types of jobs. First I took a naturalist job at a local garden. That was terrific. Next I took the job I have now as a tutor in a public school system for students who cannot attend school for a number of reasons. I love that job as I'm able to help students learn in a wonderful setting. And now, I may sign on to another position which will find me engaging students in a hands-on summer math program. I love teaching math and I love working with students so it should be another win-win teaching endeavor. 

Rather than volunteering, I like the structure and commitment entailed in a paid position. While my salary isn't great, the money is a nice addition which allows me to support a few causes and do a few things I wouldn't ordinarily be able to afford. 

Now that I'm teaching again, I'm revisiting some of the work I did as an educator for 34 years. Most of the work I did is outlined in this blog, so I've decided to reignite the blog and will add new posts from time to time. It's nice to be teaching again. Onward. 

Teacher Roles and Responsibilities

 This has been my most popular blog post. This post received almost 95,000 views. 

The Classroom Teacher: Roles and Responsibilities?

As education evolves so does the role of the classroom teacher.  What is the current role of the classroom teacher?  What are his/her responsibilities?  How does this educator prioritize and what is most important?  I consider the many aspects of the classroom teacher below.  I also propose reflection related to possible changes in that role for best effect.  I look forward to your response regarding this topic.

Classroom Teacher as Manager
In many ways, the role of a classroom teacher is that of manager.  He/she passes out and collects numerous forms, takes attendance and lunch count, responds to illness, supervises recess, manages transitions, responds to parent emails, notes and phone calls, organizes the coat rack, finds lost mittens (and other articles), prepares/cleans a classroom environment, orders materials and creates an atmosphere for learning. These are all time consuming tasks, but not tasks, in general, that require extensive subject knowledge or instructional understanding.  Should all of the tasks above be the responsibility of a classroom teacher?  Would it be better to broaden the responsibilities above to all faculty members so that every professional educator has responsibility for the management of a relatively equal group of students, or would it be better to start a new role in schools, one in which people are hired to manage the procedural aspects of running a school including attendance, lunch count, recess duty, transitions, coat rack organization and more?

Classroom Teacher as Social Skills/Behavior Counselor
A large part of teaching involves coaching and mentoring related to social skills and behavior.  Students come to school with all kinds of attitudes and readiness with regard to learning and working together, and teachers work day in and day out with students to develop their abilities related to optimal social skills, behavior and emotional intelligence.  This is an area of school life where I believe advisory groups would be better than homerooms as advisory groups could include all professional educators in a building which would mean smaller social groups to guide and mentor related to optimal social skills, behavior and emotional intelligence

Classroom Teacher as Academic Coach, Mentor, Guide and Instructor
With the move towards greater interdisciplinary project based learning, and the need for expert teaching related to specific skill development in reading, writing and math, I am wondering about this area too.

• Have we reached a point where we need to re-look at professional responsibilities in the academic realm?
• Do we know so much more now about the art and science of teaching that one-size-fits-all classrooms have become outdated and inefficient with respect to optimal learning?
• Is it time to embrace a model of school that includes a greater use of targeted teaching responsibilities and content areas?  For example, as a fourth grade teacher, there is a lot to know about current math, science, reading, writing and social studies content, pedagogy and methodology.  With the current tools available, the sky's the limit for what we are able to do with students, yet when we try to do it all, our efforts are sometimes diluted and less effective.  
• What are the developmental implications related to school structure and environment? What types of environments and instruction are best suited for students at particular ages?  

For best effect, optimal engagement and student confidence, I believe it's time to restructure the roles, schedules and responsibilities related to academic instruction.  With this in mind, I proposed a model last year.

A good way to start this restructure is to consider the efforts that currently work related to student learning, engagement and confidence, and those efforts that are less effective. Then begin replacing less effective strategies and efforts with activities that make students want to come to school, engage and learn as much as possible.

Further, the time to respond to students and families through editing, correcting papers, writing report cards, assembling portfolios/files and analyzing data has traditionally just been considered a classroom teacher's responsibility.  For some roles, this after hours work adds up to multiple hours, and for other roles there is little to no additional responsibility related to this.  This "on your own time" work has created a wide variety of responses and actions.  I think the time has come when this work needs to be considered as part of the teacher's overall on-time tasks in the school house which means that response time becomes a consideration when creating schedules, prep time and collaborative meetings.  In one school I read about recently, writing teachers were given smaller classes and greater prep time due to the great amount of time it takes to coach writing skill and proficiency with care.

Teacher as Collaborator
As schools respond to research which supports greater collaboration, how does that affect a teacher's work and skills.  Generally veteran teachers were used to working in relatively isolated situations, hence there's a learning curve related to collaborative skill, attitude and effort.  Also, school schedules often don't leave time for professional collaboration.  Fortunately I work in a system that has put aside three weekly times for collaboration including PLCs, common grade-level planning time and Wednesday inservice hours.  This is a step in the right direction.  Collaborative cultures in schools will develop if time and learning is devoted to building that culture.

Education evolution requires the evolution of roles and responsibilities.  I believe it is a time when we must begin to reconsider the classroom teacher role with regard to current cognitive research and a focus on best effect.  How can we create a school structure with roles and responsibilities that lead to optimal engagement, learning and confidence for all students? I am very interested in this discussion as I believe it holds potential for better schools.  Please don't hesitate to comment with links, arguments and other ideas.

Related Post:
We Can't Be All Things

Note:
I wrote this post several years ago. It has been my most popular blog post. Today, April 3, 2015, I updated my thoughts on the role of the teacher. Please take a look.

Transitioning to a book of ideas, links, and practices

 

If you know me, you know that I like to think, analyze, create, write, and share my ideas. Way back when my teaching ideas and practice were challenged, I began writing a blog about my teaching thoughts, ideas, experiences, and practice. Over time, that blog including 7,511 posts has been read 1,988,197 times. My children like to joke that more than half of that number belongs to me, but I know that's not the case. They keep me humble. 

Now, with an overfull cloud file of ideas and posts, it's time to put the most significant ideas, thoughts, experiences, and practice into a book to free up file space and have a concrete vehicle to share with educators, like me, who want to think deeply about their practice and the ways schools should develop over time. 

I've got a long list of projects, and I'll add this to the mix. If you have any thoughts or ideas for me, please share. In the meantime, if you're looking for teaching/education thoughts and ideas, feel free to search this blog. Onward. 

Professional educator

 I was a professional educator for 34 years. I was an amateur educator for many years before that as I cared for countless children in my own family and elsewhere. I wanted to be a teacher from my very first days as a student at the local Natural History Museum preschool, and I am not unhappy that I chose teaching as my career. Yet, looking back and knowing what I know now, I would have made a few different choices during my teaching career. 

Understand your job expectations and meet those expectations with strength

I came into teaching wanting to change every aspect of education. As a young girl, I watched how outdated, dehumanizing education trends greatly harmed people in my life and hurt me too. While my educational experiences were mostly positive, I did experience some negative events, and for my brother, the way education was executed was mostly negative and harmful. I knew there was great room for change in teaching and learning, and I wanted to promote that change right away. 

That wasn't a positive way to start my career. While it's great to have big dreams for your career path, it's best to do the job you're expected to do well first. I wish I had given more attention to the job expectations I had rather than trying to change the entire school right away. 

Don't trust too quickly

Growing up in a mostly supportive atmosphere, I was a very trusting individual. I shared too readily with colleagues and administrators when I should have spent more time observing, listening, and getting to know the work environment. I never imagined that some would not have your best interests in mind. It's best not to trust too quickly, and take on a more reserved attitude as you start your career. Gain a good understanding of the environment you're in as this will help you to navigate that environment with success.

Develop your skill and knowledge

Take a strategic approach to developing your skill and knowledge. While doing the job you're assigned well, also develop your skills and credentials through reputable programs. Rather than taking countless courses in all kinds of education-related disciplines, I suggest building an expertise in a specific area such as math education, counseling, reading, or leadership. 

Leading up is perhaps a too-great challenge

I tried to make change from the position of educator, and while I believe there should be more teacher leaders in schools, the reality is that administrators have the greatest ability to make good change. Therefore if you're a visionary educator, I recommend that you do a great job in the classroom for a few years, and then get your credentials to become an administrator who can more easily make the kinds of changes that improve schools. 

You can't be all things to all people

Schools are complex places with lots of people and goals. You can't be all things to all people, so instead, nurture your relationships with close colleagues, and while you should be respectful and friendly to everyone in the community, you can't be close to all of them--there's simply too many people in the teaching/learning community to be close to everyone. 

Establish a wonderful personal life

Try to keep your professional life and personal life separate. When your personal life seeps into your professional life, you lose the chance to have a reprieve from the tough work of teaching and learning. Create a good schedule for yourself that includes good time for work and good time for personal connections, interests, and good living. 

Your boss is not your friend

I trusted administrators to be my friend and learned at last that no matter how wonderful your boss is, he or she is not your friend. Only share with your administrator that which is professional and related to the work environment. Keep your personal life separate unless it's a situation where your personal situation will have an impact on your work such as illness or a big life change. I suggest that all teachers have outside counseling to help them navigate the many issues that will arise during their professional life--it's best to share those issues with an outside consultant than administrators or most colleagues. 

Partner with students and families

Recognize that parents know their children well, and that every child and family has a story to tell. Typically when parents and students are upset, they need to tell their story. Listen carefully and seek ways to work together as a team to help the child have as much success as possible. Never hesitate to say to a parent or child, "I am here to help you learn and be successful in any way that I can. Let's team together to make this a successful year." 

Keep a daily log

It's good to keep a daily log of events that chart the success, challenges, and room for growth. This daily log will help you to complete evaluations, pinpoint problems, communicate issues, and work on positive change. Often in schools, one of the greatest challenges for classroom teachers is that the help that is supposed to be there doesn't arrive. Specialists are often not available when they are supposed to be there--keeping a chart of when people come and when they don't come will be helpful in this regard. A daily log will also help you to identify trends in your work and trends with your students too. 

Join the union and read the union literature

I joined the union right away, but was late to read the literature and know what the union offered with regard to professional learning and development. Union membership protects your rights to speak up and do the job well. Too often teachers are compromised in the work environment when it comes to serving their students well, and union membership protects those rights. Union leadership in every school system will differ--some will be right there for you and others may work more for the administration. It's good to get to know your union, but again, not trust too quickly. 

Teaching is much like parenting. The profession continually challenges you in countless ways. Taking a reserved and professional attitude and action towards your career will serve you well in the long run. I wish someone had told me this when I started my career. Onward. 

Will this home be our forever house?

 My husband and I lived in a small third floor apartment when we had our first child. It was a cozy place at the end of a street next to a historic school campus. When we learned that the small apartment had lead paint and the baby began to get more active, I knew I had to move--I didn't want to risk our child's health. 

With a mere $5,000 in the bank, I began the house hunt. I read a book about how to buy a house, and applied what I learned to the search. We found an angel-realtor who not only was interested in doing her job, but was also interested in giving us a good start in life. She showed us sixty houses in child-friendly neighborhoods near my job. I also drove around nearby neighborhoods looking for houses for sale. That's when I spotted a white split level house about one mile from my workplace. The house was evidently empty, and one tip I learned while reading the house buying book was that it's good to buy a house where the people have already moved out since that possibly signaled an eager seller who might sell the house for less. 

We inquired about the house and were told it was out of our price range, but we asked to tour the house anyways. When we toured the house we liked the fact that it had plenty of space, was close to my work, and didn't need a lot of work. We weren't as keen on the house style or town at the time, but it was clearly a lot of house for the price so we made an offer. The realtors scoffed at what they thought  was a too-low offer, but we persisted, and the house owners eventually accepted the offer mostly because they were eager to move and clearly had made enough money so that a few thousand dollar difference wasn't a big deal to them. 

With $5,000 down and two jobs, we were approved for a mortgage, but had to pay the extra mortgage insurance. I remember our first day in the house--we simply sat in the middle of the empty living room amazed that we now owned a house. My family moved us in. I thought we'd live in this house for a few years before moving on, but now about 32 years later, I'm beginning to think this will be our forever house. In fact, while this house offered us some good value when our children were young, it's actually an even better home for an older couple as the town has great services and the home is near lots of needed places such as grocery stores, health care facilities, and recreation. Plus we have terrific neighbors--it turns out that our neighborhood is the kind of place where people stay for a long time and where people are ready and willing to help each other out. That's awesome. 

Rather than move to a place by the ocean or mountains, from time to time we'll rent a home in those places for a vacation, but for now we'll enjoy our home, a place we've customized over time to the way we like to live. We've created a number of spaces that support our interests and enable us to welcome our friends and family members. Onward. 

Enduring tough episodes of life

 When I pray, I start by praying for all those who are currently suffering. I remember episodes in life when I suffered, and truly, I felt the warmth and direction of those who were likely praying for people like me at that time. Simply listening to the world around me and experiencing the beauty of life helped me to find my way out of those episodes. Though I don't look forward to my next episode of suffering, I know that I can endure that given my past experiences with hardship, harm, and hate. 

How do you endure suffering? What do you do? How can you help others who are suffering?

Prayer and reflection

Simply taking the time to pray and reflect truly helps you to endure and succeed suffering. Going deep, being silent, breathing, and looking forward helps us to move away from suffering in a step-by-step fashion. There are many books and online information that can help you to find a good framework, words, or scenarios to aid your reflection and prayer. If you don't know where to start, you can consult these sources. It takes time to find the resources that speak to you and help you. Counselors, friends and relatives may help you to find the best resources. 

Dream

I'm a big fan of dreaming. The more you can dream about a better place, the more likely you will be when it comes to getting to that better place. Some "dream starters" I use include the following:

• "If I could be or do anything right now, where would I be and/or what would I do?" That question helps me to identify what it is that is most troubling in my life. 
• "Dream self" - I write a description of my dream self and/or life. That directs me to what it is that I really want.
• "Dream path" - creating a path to the person I want to be or life I want helps me to make good choices and find the resources I need to get there. 

I also sometimes draw what I want. That helps me see the details. I also read stories and articles about people and places that I desire, and that helps to give me a path of how to get to where I want to be. 

Simplify

In times of struggle, life can seem overwhelming. It is important to dramatically simplify your life at these times by ridding life of all the unnecessary or triggering components, leaving that which you must do/have and that which brings you peace. 

Seek counsel

When desperate or troubled, you have to seek counsel. Look for counselors or confidants that you can trust and who can direct you in positive ways. 

Know that this time will end

Have faith that you can move through the sadness to a better place. I have watched so many people struggle in life, and in every case, people were able to move to a better place with regard to the struggle. Often that better place took time and multiple, varied efforts, but in the end, they arrived there. Have faith that with good reflection, prayer, counsel, dreaming, and other right efforts, you will arrive at a better place. 

We will all face tough episodes in life. No one looks forward to those episodes, but we do learn a lot from them and those episodes help us to be more compassionate, empathetic, good people. Onward. 

Afterschool Programs: Ideal Opportunity to Develop Social Emotional Learning

This book that I co-authored offers
educators many SEL activities and 
valuable SEL information. 

 A director of an afterschool program reached out to me today to see if I would be interested in speaking to the afterschool program teachers about social emotional learning and behavior management. It has been a while since I presented on a teaching/learning topic, but I couldn't resist this opportunity to speak about a topic I am passionate about and a topic that directly relates to the positive development of children. 

I deeply believe that we have what it takes to help all children thrive today and into the future, and too often we don't take the time to seriously consider our efforts and potential in this regard. The way we mentor, engage and work with children directly affects how they feel about themselves and who they become. 

As I thought of the diverse teaching team which includes many new teachers, I began to think about what is most important when it comes to working with children. How do we empower and enrich children's lives in meaningful ways. 

Know and Appreciate Children

To be an effective educator at any level, you have to get to know and respect the children within your charge well. Beware of judging a child in any way, instead have an open mind to whom every child is, what they care about and whom they want to be. See yourself as a servant/mentor to the children--a person who will help them to achieve that which they desire, and a person who will lead them in positive life-enriching ways. 

Model the behaviors you want children to use

First, we have to think about how we want children to behave--what do we expect from them, and then we have to assess our own behavior to ensure that we are modeling those behaviors. That's not always easy to do, and as an educator some of those desired behaviors came easily to me and others were more difficult. For the most part, we hope children will act in the following ways:

• Be courteous to one another by using respectful language, gestures and actions
• Solve conflict with words not force. Take the first step and try to solve a conflict peacefully on your own, and if that doesn't work, take the second step and seek the help of a teacher. 
• If you see something dangerous or destructive, seek a teacher's help right away--don't try to solve it yourself.
• If you are troubled or worried, speak up right away--it is always best to get help rather than let worries and troubles hold you back. 
• Become the person you are meant to be--discover your interests, pursue your passions, find a friend group that supports you and that you enjoy being with, develop your voice and look for models and  mentors who help you to be that person you are meant to be. 
• Know your needs - if you're upset, try to figure out why. Are you hungry, uncomfortable, tired, bothered, discouraged. . . . . . .Let a teacher and/or friend help you to figure out what's going on. 

Foster activities and groups that help children learn about themselves in meaningful, enjoyable ways

• The best way to learn is to engage in meaningful, enjoyable activities
• Choice empowers children and builds confidence--whenever possible give children a choice about the activities they choose and the groups they work with
• Infuse social-emotional learning into activities as a way to build a strong cultre and a caring community that develops self awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making. 

Deal with behavior issues in calm, focused, positive ways

• Begin every activity with a group meeting. Briefly set the ground rules, take questions and then begin the activity. 
• If a problem is dangerous or destructive, intervene right away by peacefully (with words rather than force) separating the children involved and following these steps:
• If someone is hurt, get help right away
• Clearly review what happened separately with each person involved
• Relay the incident to another staff member, preferably a supervisor - keep a record
• Decide on next steps to ensure safety for all involved
• Face problems by asking questions. For example if a child is acting in a way that is worrisome, hurtful, or problematic in any way, bring the child to a quiet space and ask these questions:
• Are you okay?
• Do you need a few minutes to calm down?
• I noticed that you _____________, and that's problematic because ___________. Why did you do that?
• How do you think we should handle this situation (Children almost always know the right answer to this question).
• You are mandated reporters so if you ever see signs of abuse, by law you must report the situation. This will not happen often, but it may happen so it is important to know this. 
• Continually assess the success of activities and revise as needed. These questions will help you to assess programming success:
• Are the children happy?
• Are the children learning something new--what evidence of this do you have?
• Are the children working/learning/playing well together?
• Is everyone getting a turn?
• Does the activity foster social emotional learning? How do you know that?
• Are children able to relay what they've learned and participated in with family members, and perhaps continue the activity/learning at home?
• Do children have a say in how the activity is led, run, created?
• Are their leadership opportunities for children?
• Does the activity help children to know themselves better and discover their interests and passions?
• Do the activities help children to develop greater self confidence?

When problems don't go away

Sometimes children will have a bad day, and sometimes children will display a series of behaviors that point to a bigger issue, the kind of issue that requires greater support from the program administrators, parents and others.

• Keep a simple log of the issues children present
• When an issue won't go away, seek the support of the program administrator
• Use the protocol outlined in the program for dealing with significant issues
• Put an action plan into place to positively support the child as they endure this situation.

Inclusivity and Respect

Don't allow any kind of language or action that demeans or excludes children or families for any reason. Keep an ear open and eye out for any kind of bigotry that makes a child feel uncomfortable or excluded because of their body size, skin shade, religion, economic class, culture, family style or more. Language and actions that exclude do not belong in any kind of child care setting. If a colleague or child errs by using this kind of language or action, speak up right away to help them do the right thing. If that persists, seek help from the program administrator. Typically prejudice of any kind is rooted in ignorance, and dispelling that ignorance leads to greater camaraderie and respect.

Holidays and Special Celebrations

Every youth program deals with holidays and special celebrations in different ways. I always preferred a child/family-centered, inclusive approach that helps children to feel proud of their personal/cultural/religious celebrations by having the chance to share those celebrations with one another. This can happen by letting children share a tradition, activity, story, and experiences that relate to their special holidays and celebrations. By allowing children to talk about and share these events, you build a more respectful, knowing, inclusive culture that includes many varied religious, cultural and personal traditions and celebrations. Typically, if you do include holidays in your programming, it is good to have similar holiday and non-holiday choices. For example, you could have Creature Day--a day when children have the choice to make all kinds of creative creatures during the holidays. Some will choose creatures that relate to the holidays and others will choose different kinds of creatures. 

Working with Families

Families know their children well, and when a family has a concern, entertain that concern with the utmost respect and a spirit of family-program collaboration and teamwork. When families and educators work together, the child has the greatest opportunity for success. Usually a family's concern can be easily met via collective home-school efforts to make all programming child-centered and sensitive. If a family-educator conflict arises that cannot be easily solved, then it is time to consult the program administrators.

In summary, before- and after-school programs are ideal environments for child engagement and the development of social emotional learning. Without the tight curriculum parameters of the school day, there is lots of room for creativity, collaboration and care. Utilizing child-friendly protocols and policies to lead these programs helps every child to engage and develop in positive ways. 

Reading today is not a simple affair

 When I read nonfiction books today, it's not a simple affair. I find myself reading with my laptop next to me. As I read, I find myself looking up places on a map, videos of the places/events/people listed, and articles about the events detailed. I do this because I want to fully imagine where the story takes place--I want to better walk in the author's shoes. This makes the reading a complex, but rewarding affair. Right now I'm entering the experience of Caroline Kautsire. I love this chance to walk in Caroline's shoes and look at the world through her experiences. Just at the start of the book, I am already moved by her family relationships, the descriptions of Malawi, the music she listened to as a child, the influence of American television, and her curious spirit. As with any story I learn from and enjoy, this story will change my life in some positive ways. Onward. 

Letter to a new teacher

 Dear New Teacher, 

First of all, thank you for your choice to teach. The world needs awesome teachers. I truly believe that teachers are nation builders and people builders. You have the great potential to make people's lives better and make our world better too. We need you. I applaud you. 

Next, you have chosen a BIG, limitless job, and looking back at my 34-year career as an elementary school teacher, I have some suggestions you may want to consider. These suggestions come from my experience both positive and challenging as well as advice I got from dedicated colleagues who worked with me. I hope this helps you a lot. 

Teaching is a limitless proposition, so choose your priorities

The teaching stage is a limitless proposition which means that what you can do has no end. This can be overwhelming which means you have to choose your priorities. Make the time to think deeply about your position and choose your top three priorities for the year ahead. For example, a new teacher may decide that her top three priorities are to make a good connection with the students, teach reading well, and take one related professional development course to build her repertoire for teaching reading. No teacher is superhuman or can do it all, but by prioritizing and focusing your time on your priorities you will begin to build a solid, overall professional foundation. Also, it is important to match your priorities with the overarching themes and goals of your school and system leadership--to do this is a win-win because you are reaching your goals while helping the greater school team reach their goals too. 

A little for today and a little for tomorrow

"A little for today and a little for tomorrow" was my dad's sage advice to me which meant spend time doing the job in front of you while also building your skills, knowledge, and capacity for the years ahead. That's why professional learning via books, conferences, courses and more is so important. Plus that professional learning or "little for tomorrow" invigorates your daily teaching with new ideas that will engage you and your students with meaningful learning endeavor. 

Understand the context in which you work, and make decisions about your work habits based on that

Too often, I didn't give myself time to truly observe and think about the context I was working in, and that was a mistake. For example, I worked in a tightly knit, populated environment filled with good, hard working people. I wanted to be friends with all of them, but honestly, that was impossible given the scheduled time-on-task, work expectations, and my personal commitments. To be friends with all your colleagues in an unrealistic expectation. Instead, I recommend keeping most of your friendships outside of the work environment--save your personal life and endeavor, for the most part, for your own time. That gives you something to look forward to and prevents you from being "all school" which can be dangerous and make you dull. You will make some good friends in your school, and rather than trying to befriend everyone, nurture the few good relationships you have. Professionally make sure you nurture the professional relationships with your closest teammates--those you work with everyday to serve the needs of the children. Those professional relationships are critical to doing the work necessary. 

At first, take time to listen to the conversations, observe your colleagues, and get a feel for the climate of the work place. Avoid negative, unprofessional cliques and conversations. It is easy to be drawn into that culture, but not positive. Don't overcommit or over-promise--school life as one writer defined is like a little city, complex and difficult to navigate--make decisions about how you will simplify that to ensure success. 

Be professional

At times, schools can lose the professionalism that is so important. At all times be professional, and always remember that those you work with will be writing the references for your next job. If you are in doubt about what is professional, do some research and consult experts preferably outside of your school environment to understand that. 

Work for positive change

There is limitless opportunity for positively changing, updating and developing the school environment in a beneficial way. It is good to work for change, but you have to be savvy about how you work for change. I started my career awkwardly and unsuccessfully trying to change the entire environment all at once. That doesn't work. Instead prioritize one or two areas for change, find colleagues who also support that change, and join or create a team to work for that change. Use good change and development strategies such as doing your research, finding support for the change outside and inside the school environment, making an evidenced-based case to administration, trying out the change, collecting data on the success rate, and sharing that data with decision makers. Too often I tried to make change without the needed steps of good strategy and team. Later in my career, I was able to do that better. 

Join the union and know your union

Teacher's unions have a lot to offer teachers by way of professional development and support. Join the union, know the union, and take advantage of what they have to offer. I did this late in my career, but profited greatly from the union's benefits and professional learning. I wish I did this earlier. 

Develop your professional reputation and work

It is important to continually develop your professional reputation and work. The more you know and better you get, the more satisfying the job is and the greater impact you have on your students and their families. It's best to match your professional growth with salary increment steps so that while you gain expertise, you also increase your salary and benefits. Study the salary structure and contracts in your system so you can make this work for you. Additionally, if you truly want to make change in schools, work your way up to an administrative position. Currently the expectations for classroom educators make it difficult for those educators to have the time or capacity to make significant change while administrators typically have greater time and capacity for that work. 

Plan for the future

Early on in your career, put some of your salary in a retirement account and make sure that your paycheck and other benefits are working the way they should be. As a young teacher, you have all the energy and time in the world, but later on, if you have a family and as you age, your energy and time will be more taxed and it will be important to have a good retirement account and substantial benefits. Take some time out to understand this and begin planning for your future. You won't regret that. 

Use a servant leadership focus

Once I learned about servant leadership and took on the focus of serving my students and their families, my relationships with students and families as well as my teaching work improved substantially. Working as a team with colleagues, families, and students is the best way to teach well. Initially as a young woman, I was flustered when families challenged my decisions and work. Later, I learned to listen well and work better as a teammate with families. I understood that they loved and knew their children well. This collaboration greatly enriched my ability to serve children and their families. 

Teach the child first, not the subject

When you teach, teach the whole child with a focus on their happy, successful future. Teach children how to learn, make the projects meaningful and personal, and never lose focus on the fact that confident, skilled, positive students who believe in their ability to create good futures for themselves and those they love is the number one aim of teaching.

Make time for yourself

All school and no play makes a teacher dull and frustrated. Carve out a good teaching/learning routine for yourself and your students that includes time for meaning and fun in your life. I always put my family first as an educator and I never regretted that decision. I also carved out time for fun during most weekends. Like most teachers, I sometimes worked too-long hours making myself tired and less effective, and as mentioned before, I should have prioritized more because no teacher is superhuman and when you try to do too much, you often fall short with the most important priorities. 

Smile at the children

When in doubt, smile. Smiles are magic in a classroom. 

When frustrated, take time out

Teaching can be very frustrating. When you are frustrated, take time out rather than yelling or doing something you regret. You can always ask someone to cover your classroom, while you take a break in the restroom. 

Take care of your health

Many teachers are not as healthy as they can be. This, I believe, is due to many factors. Many teachers are teachers because schools are where they were nurtured and cared for, and they want to do the same for students. Those kinds of teachers often grew up in situations that were less positive for their health and may bring to the profession some challenging issues and unhealthy practices. Teachers like that should seek counseling to deal with personal issues and health challenges as that will require new learning and dedicated support. 

Other teachers simply work too hard at the job leaving little time for their own healthy eating, sleeping and activity. Those teachers have to realistically look at their schedule and expectations, and make time for healthy living. Teachers, in general, have to work together to lobby for more realistic and healthy teaching schedules and environments. Too often schools are unhealthy places to work and this has to change. 

Teaching is a BIG job and a very important job for society. I wish every new teacher a great year ahead. I hope these suggestions help you to teach with happiness and success. 

Who has a hold on you?

 Who has a hold on you, and why do they have this hold? Is the hold life-enriching or life-defeating? If enriching, how do you show gratitude and strengthen this hold, and if life-defeating, how do you diffuse or rid yourself of that hold? 

When people step on your dreams

 People will step on your dreams, and when they do that, you have to consider if there is any truth or wisdom in this oppression. Typically there are nuggets of truth, but there is also likely a lot of garbage too. 

When people step on your dreams, you have to revisit the dream and find the value in it--you have to reach deep inside yourself to gain the energy needed to continue your quest (that is if you really believe in that dream.)

Too often we may step on each other's dreams. Why do we do that? What propels us in that direction? How can we stop this dream-ending, dream-squashing behavior? What can we do instead.

Which brings to mind this very special poem by Langston Hughes. 

Turning another corner: navigating challenge

 After grappling with a trying situation all summer, I finally found a probable path of peace. I was ready to give up, then a series of events led to a new solution, and that solution seems to be working. The success of the solution is apparent by my general sense of peace and the fact that the situation particulars are running their course without any grave worry or concern. 

Could I have reached this resolve earlier?

Honestly, I spent the summer searching for a solution. I tried out many different approaches that failed miserably. This is not the first time this has happened. In my earlier years, there was a similar situation--I tried and tried and tried to make a difference, and perhaps I did have some subtle impact, but the overall situation turned out to be beyond what I could do to significantly change what was occurring. And in the next situation, it was much the same. All three of the situations had these similar elements:

• A personal vision for something better, brighter
• Lack of collaboration or team related to my vision and the problem at hand
• Employing many various strategies with little success
• Feeling the heavy weight of the problem day in and day out
• Eventually divorcing myself from the situation and moving on

If I look at the situations from the outside, I notice that the situations are very complex and essentially webs of people, places, and events--these were not simple problems, and when I finally left the situation, I was sad that I didn't achieve greater success, but I was not unhappy overall with my attempts to make change. I would have been far more disappointed if I didn't try at all. 

Contrary to these situations, over the summer, I also tackled another problem area of life and have thus far achieved a fair amount of success in that arena. Why the difference? First, I had more control of this situation. In some ways this issue was singular rather than plural. While this situation included a similar amount of problem solving, consistency, and trial-and-error, I enjoyed far more teamwork and collaboration than in the other situation. In many ways people were working for and with me in this situation whereas in the other situations it seemed like people were working against me. The overarching philosophy related to the success situation was shared by all involved whereas in the other situations, there were multiple philosophies at play--there was not concensus. 

Perhaps there will be less frustration for future issues, if I determine whether there is a collaborative team ready and willing to work on the issue up front, and also acknowledge where the team agrees and where the team disagrees. It's also good to understand who is in charge of the situation--your position in the situation does make a difference. 

I am happy to turn the corner from the summer's struggle. I am far more relaxed. Still ready to do my part, I've surrendered with regard to my hopes for teamwork and collaboration. And, as for the successful summer goal, I'll stay the course and continue to think about the factors that have made that road positive, peaceful, and productive as I'd like to apply those factors to future pursuits. Onward. 

Grateful for good people

 Think of all the people who have touched your life in significant, positive ways. The number of positive people I've encountered over time far outnumbers the negative encounters, and many of those positive encounters included people who did not have to go the extra mile to support me, but they did. Who were/are those people and what did they do?

• Parents - so much love, sacrifice, time, energy
• Siblings - countless gifts of love and support over the years
• Partner, cousins, children, friends - endless attention, care
• Colleagues, neighbors - multiple acts of kindness, care
• Public servants, teachers - a steady stream of service and care over the years
• Strangers - often there at the just right moment to help out with acts great and small

We often don't spend time discussing the good, because there is typically far more good than bad in our lives. The bad is the abberation, the illness, the problem, the focus for change. 

Those that are nearest and dearest to us bring the good, but also can bring the bad--the more intimate our relationships the more room there is for a range of experiences, emotions, and impact. None of us are always as good as we want to be and none of us always have what another person needs. 

I am grateful for all the good people I've encountered in life and the many, many ways they have impacted my life for the better. I hope that I can repay their acts by doing my best by others too. Onward. 

Cultivate a best possible lifestyle

 How can you cultivate a best possible lifestyle? Assessing how you spend your time, the goals you have, and the challenges your face can help you move in that direction. 

What will you add? What will you take away? How will you transform the weak and inefficient ways with meaningful, beneficial lifeways?

Math that matters

 At the start of the school year, the first goal is to create a dynamic classroom community of students that support and know each other. One way to do that is to teach math lessons that matter--lessons that help students to know themselves and each other. 

One such lesson involves teaching students how to collect data that gives them a meaningful perspective about their lives and helps them to know each other too. 

First, ask students to privately answer the following questions:

• What activities are most meaningful to you in life?
• What activities do you spend the most time doing?

Then help students create an online or offline chart of the days in a week and the hours in a day. 

Next, ask students to complete the chart by stopping each hour to write down what they are doing during that hour.

At the end of the week, have students add up the time they spent on each activity, then make a bar graph of that data. Arrange the bar graphs from activities that they spent the most time on down to the activities they spent the least time on. 

Once that's complete, have students analyze the data with these questions:

• What three activities did you spend the most time on?
• What three activities did you spend the least time on?
• Does your data support your initial answer to the question, What activities do you spend the most time doing? Why or why not is this true?
• Do you believe you spend enough time on activities that are meaningful to you? 
• Why or why not? Will the data you collected and analyze lead to change in the way you spend your time? Why or why not? 
• Some people say, "You are what you do." Do you think this quote accurately reflects you? Why or why not?

Stay sensitive to students' privacy and engage in a conversation about the metrics collected and follow-up analysis. Discuss how good data collection can sometimes reveal a reality that we might not predict since so many of our beliefs are subject to our emotions, experiences, and memory. 

A good follow-up discussion or activity is to have students identify a goal they have, and then chart out their time/activity path to achieving that goal. 

Prior to doing this activity, you should try it yourself as it will help you to use your time better and teach the lesson better too. Onward. 

Inspire students to create a composition studio

 As I wrote about my writing journey today, I recognized the need to update my composition studio. And as that thought filled my mind, I realized how important it is for writing teachers to help students create a modern day composition studio both in real time and online. What does this studio include, and why is this important? 

To compose is a journey

As all composers know, it is a journey to write, make film, craft musical scores, and publish podcasts. You get better over time, and it is the rich repertoire of work you do that informs later work. That is why it is integral to create online and real-time composition spaces that include the work you've done and the tools you use to compose. 

Images

No matter what you compose, whether it be poetry, stories, essays, musical lyrics, podcast interviews, or film, images matter. Images are rich resources of ideas, understanding, and share. Every composer needs a collection of images. For me, I'll start with figuring out how to combine my image collection from my phone and online to create a personal image gallery to use as a rich resource for future compositions. I'll figure out ways to organize that image library too. For writing students, it's a good idea to help them create image files they can refer to as resources for inspiration and content for their compositions. 

Music

Music inspires our creativity in countless ways. Music also helps us tell our stories and express our truth. It is in the best interest of every composer to create and save playlists of vital musical pieces to add richness to the composition work they do. Similarly, with regard to both images and music, is to understand copyright laws and practices. That is something I need to study more. If possible, creating files of your own music and images helps in this regard. Students can be encouraged to record the songs they play and music they create to use in their compositions. 

Words

Both written and spoken words should be stored in readily accessible places. As students compose, they will likely use similar ideas over and over again. They will grow their ideas and better their stories in countless ways. To be able to readily access the words they've spoken and written is a great advantage for any composer. 

Artifacts, Tools, and Creative Spaces

Every composer has a collection of artifacts and tools that support their composition work. They also have preferred creative spaces. Ask students to share their ideas related to this with questions such as:

• What tools make your compositions better?
• What artifacts inspire your creativity?
• What spaces inspire your best creativity?

For me, tools that inspire my compositions and make them better include a great lap top, good head phones, a blogging spot, image files, playlists, movie-making software. Old photos, beautiful flowers, natural scenes, favorite books, wonderful art, and beautiful music. And as for creative space, light is critical for me. Comfort and simplicity matter too. 

Composition Studio

To add all of these elements together is to create both online and real time composition studios. Students may use these studios for invention and innovation too as there is great overlap with composition and creativity of all kinds. 

Beautiful flowers are a source of inspiration for my compositions. 

To truly inspire and teach students to compose well, you have to give them the opportunity to create their own creative studios. You also have to give them time to write, and avenues to share their writing with audiences that matter to them. 

Let your students lead their own composing by answering these questions:

• What composition genre is your favorite? Is it writing, drawing, music, movie-making, podcasts?
• What do you most like to think about, create about?
• What audiences do you prefer creating for? 
• Why do you compose?
• What are the ideal objects for your real-time composition studio?  
• What is your ideal online composition studio like?
• What do you need to become a better composer? 
• Where do you best like to compose?
• Do you create better on your own or with others? What is the right mix of individual time and group time for your ideal compositions?
• What can I do to help you reach your composition goals?

To teach writing and composition is to immerse students into this craft in organic, meaningful, personal ways, and when you do this you provide students with awesome paths to bright futures. 

What's wrong with schools?

 The pandemic is bringing to light so many of society's problems--areas of life, unsupported over time, are clear to us now as we rely on long held traditions, institutions, and lifeways more than ever for survival. What's wrong with schools is staring us right in the face now during these pandemic days. With this knowledge, what are the next steps?

Teacher voice

Sadly, in too many schools, teacher voice is ignored. This obstructs the good work possible and ignores educator investment, training, ideas and care. I know this issue first hand. In the spring, when the pandemic struck, I did everything I could to create a worthy, successful virtual teaching/learning program with my colleagues. While not perfect, it was very good and almost every student made significant progress. Where children did not make progress, we understood why. As the school year came to a close, I shared the many ideas we put in place as well as the additional needs that existed to make the program even better should the pandemic continue through the summer months and into the fall. Then when that happened and leadership began planning for the fall, they ignored teacher voice and opted to project their own lack of classroom experience and knowledge of what we had done onto the fall plans. They planned an unhealthy, disrepectful, and weak return to school in the fall--their plans not only neglected teacher voice or the good work we did in the spring, but their plans also put teachers' lives in danger--they saw us as their peons, people to manage, direct, and use/abuse, and not as the professionals we are, professionals with years of dedicated service, experience, knowledge, and skill. I knew that I could not return to such a situation--a situation where I would be used/abused and put in harm's way. I retired instead.

School systems that employ management/leadership models that negate educator experience, ideas, knowledge, and skill are on the path to destruction. Educators will not be able to work at their possible capacity in situations like this. Instead they will do what they have to for survival, and little else. The disrespect I noted in so many leaders' decisions, words, and voices were oppressive, inhumane, and frankly, simply not smart when it comes to building a strong, successful school environment. How money, time, and capacity are used and acknowledged in schools needs to be reconsidered with strength--there is too much good potential ignored and misused, and that includes teacher choice and voice. Educators, along with their students and families, should be the centerpiece of school systems everywhere.

Poor leadership models and infrastructure

Throughout my career, I was always dissatisfied with the wasteful organization, money, and time at the leadership level. While educators often didn't even have time to use a bathroom, go to a doctor's appointment, make a call, or take care of a sick family member, leaders had the luxury to do as they pleased with little accountability. Mostly leaders did not know what teachers were doing, and as long as parents didn't complain, they stayed mostly away from schools, teachers, students, and families. These leaders, including some school committee members, would talk about school without the knowledge of what was really happening and without the knowledge about how children learn and the many, awesome tools out there to help educate all children. This was always frustrating. In my opinion, there is a lot of waste in school leadership models--there are too many people distanced from the actual teaching and learning with too much power--these people are often a burden, not a support. How can we make change in this area?

First, it is essential to look at time-on-task for leaders. I believe school leadership models waste a lot of time with issues and efforts that don't matter or do anyone any good. I had coaches who were earning full salaries who had no idea what was happening in the classroom and did not understand the content being taught. These people would send out random ideas every so often that were either too late or too distanced from the curriculum to be of any use. In my opinion, the coaching models in place where I worked were a waste of money. Also, many leaders would simply hire consultants to do the work without any care of whether that consultant work was successful or not. Over my tenure, consultant after consultant was hired to update and better programs, and most of these initiatives were dead ends. The consultant came, shared ideas, and left without much change. There were a few instances where consultants did make good change. Further, there were many leaders who were so high on their positions that they never listened to educators. For example, I took a real interest in technology and used it to help students learn often. Yet the technology leader would never support my work--I had to pay for almost all the technology I used, and whenever I asked for support, all I got was a lot of negative feedback and forms to fill out. The technology department, for the most part, was a hurdle to any good work in that area. I had to do it on my own and with the help of outside consultants and experts who were willing to help. Leadership models in school are often poorly constructed, managed, and utilized--often leaders are without the knowledge they need to make good decisions. This was particularly visible with some of the system's school committee members who were making decisions with a lack of modern information about how learning happens or how schools work--they clearly had an attitude that teachers were dumb and they knew more. I believe, in the long run, they will find that this is working to their detriment if they want to continue to foster a strong school system. 

Neglected school buildings and environments

All over America, businesses have been building incredible campuses while school buildings have been neglected. The richest Americans send their children to gorgeous private schools often located on multi-acre campuses while poor and middle-class students are often relegated to old, crowded buildings with sometimes unsafe and polluted structures, schoolyards and communities. This is horrible. America needs to update their school environments for both in-school and virtual learning so that every child in America has access to an inspiring, workable, safe school environments. There are many creative ways to do this--one is to tax businesses more to support great schools. After all, businesses profit from well educated employees. 

School evolution

Schools and education have to continually evolve. In the past, I was very pleased with what my state, Massachusetts, had done to build a strong school system. In many ways, I've been disappointed with the leadership during the pandemic because I feel that our leadership at the state level has been disrespectful to educators and not broad-thinking about the needs of families, children, educators and schools.

The pandemic has laid bare the lack of support for working parents, children, the environment, teachers, and schools--it's a chance to take a hard look at what exists now and what we want to build for the future. In my opinion, many communities are still operating with outdated ideas about what makes a strong, happy family and school environment. We need to reimagine life in the United States to do better, and as we reimagine, we have to consider the following questions?

• What can we do to ensure that every child and every family has what they need to be healthy, happy, and strong for themselves and others?
• What can we do to create greater environmental health in communities, natural lands, homes, schools, and other buildings?
• How can we connect child/family-care agencies in ways that streamline the accessibility to needed quality health, recreation, nutrition, and other supports?
• How can we better support children from birth to age six--what can we do to ensure healthy, happy early life experiences. Strong, healthy, happy early life experiences prevent a lot of troubles later on--this is a great investment for any community?
• How can we support working families more--what can we do to give families adequate leave time to take care of their children, the time/money to build their career knowledge/skill, and time for healthy, happy recreation--the kind of events that build a strong, caring community and culture?
• How can we ensure that our schools and education systems are evolving with the best new knowledge, progams, and results? What do we need to do? 

While I know that everyone is busy just surviving during this pandemic, we cannot loose the opportunity to see this as a ripe time to analyze what's going on and to work on a better vision for our families, schools, and communities. David Culberhouse has some terrific writing and research which supports efforst like this. 

Tremendous opportunity for positive growth and change

The pandemic found most people unprepared for the changes we're experiencing, yet most people have risen to the challenge and maintained some success during this time. There is a lot more that we can do to use what we've learned to recommit to building strong supports and structures for optimal family life, the environment, education, health care, and communities. It's time to begin reimagining where we want to go and what we want to do. We have to ask the important questions about what matters to us and why that matters--we have to listen to the voices of all stakeholders to make optimal change and growth in the many ways possible. We can do this, and I look forward to working on a process like this in my own, new chapter of life--a chapter which finds me shoring up my capacity to contribute in ways I find both meaningful and productive for my own life and the lives of others.