Trump Takes Us Down; We Can Do Better

In my opinion Trump is an abusive President of the United States.

Daily he shames, blames, exaggerates, threatens, and spreads mistruths. The only time he notably stays silent is when he has the chance to stand up against discrimination, prejudice, or lawlessness and he says nothing. If he had spoken up when Charlottesville began, lives would not have been destroyed. He stayed silent in the face of discrimination when he had the chance to make a significant difference.

He turns quickly on any friend that says something or does something he doesn't like. It's common for people to be Trump's friend one day and a foe the next. We've seen this with his revolving door of cronies at The White House. He takes people in and spits them out regularly. He appears to like to take people down--it's a sport for him.

Another sport for him is slick marketing. He knows that at our most base selves, everyone likes a "bad guy" because if there's a bad guy, people feel better since they have someone to blame. People like a "good guy" too that matches their most important values, beliefs, and livelihoods. That's why Trump rallies are predictable performances. He marches out slowly, looks the people over with a smile, repeatedly lauds local heroes and makes "bad guys" out of others who are different than the people he's talking to. He speaks slowly, he uses hand motions and facial gestures, and he wins particular populations over--populations that are satisfied with his woo rather than looking deeper and thinking more about who he is and what he truly stands for.

First of all, those who claim he's a friend to Christians truly are not thinking deeply about what that means. Christ was a champion of the poor. True Christians would be working for solutions for poor refugees, impoverished people, and others who are victims of violence and lack of basic needs. Trump's unfair taxation efforts have not helped average people with the strength possible--good supports such as accessible, quality health care, top-notch schools, safe neighborhoods, fair wages, and environmental protections create good living for people. Trump appears to be more concerned with the power, popularity, and pocketbooks of rich cronies including his own family members than average Americans.

Trump does not follow ordinary rules of a grade school. He bullies people continuously with his verbal and written outbursts, discriminatory actions/words, mistruths, and exaggerations. This is a poor example for America's children who are being taught to be civil, positive, collaborative citizens at school and elsewhere. Trump's lack of concern for this is probably due to the fact that he's always been very wealthy and appears to get just about everything he wants when he wants it--he takes what he wants. Most people, on the other hand, are used to working for what they have and working with others to create situations of good living and respectful effort.

Trump is holding the country hostage right now as he exaggerates his belief that a wall is a good idea in terms of immigration. It seem like he really wants that wall as a physical display of his desire for power. As we really analyze the immigration/refugee situation, we understand it to be a multi-prong problem that can be solved with multiple good solutions. I think the best way to solve this problem includes the following steps:

• Create welcoming border centers that include humane processing areas that greet immigrants/refugees with lawful, humane treatment. Include educational centers where people can learn the truth of immigration as well as offices for officials and others who work with and for immigrants and refugees. Collect renewable energy at these centers and create gardens and other resources to help out with the humane treatment of all involved.
• Work at bettering the laws related to immigration that match the latest research about immigration/refugee trends into the future. I have read that countries like the USA will need immigrants in the years ahead and it is foolish to not recognize and work towards this fact now.
• Work with countries where many immigrants and refugees are coming from. Look for win-win solutions so that people can stay in their homelands if that's what they want to do. Look for ways to forward greater safety and livable wages/conditions in those countries. At the root of most immigration situations are issues like past greed, poor political decisions/leaders, environmental disasters, and of course, a will for better living/wages.
• Create equitable ways for illegals now residing in the USA to become tax paying citizens sooner than later. 
• Create laws that provide a fair wage for all workers and disallow people from paying immigrants wages that are too low--a fair wage for all means employees will choose the best workers, not the cheapest.
• Look for ways to make quality health care accessible to all in ways that don't burden small businesses or individuals. 

We can build a country that makes good living a priority, good living today and into the future. We can choose respectful, intelligent, collaborative leaders who model what they say and represent the kind of respectful, inclusive, modern, and forward-thinking leadership that will build a strong, good country, a country that is a positive ally who works with other countries around the world towards a high quality international standard of living.

In my opinion, Trump has wasted our time with his abusive, threatening, shame, and blame words and actions. We can do better and we must do better for our own lives and especially for the lives of our children and all the children of the United States and the world. His few short term gains are not grounded on a solid foundation--it's all quick-fix hype to give him the power, popularity, and pocketbook he craves. We can do better. 

Make the Learning Goals Explicit

As I work to strengthen, deepen, and develop science/math learning, I am recognizing the need to make those learning goals more explicit so that students can assess their own learning. This is not news for any educator as the mantra of making the goals explicit is echoed throughout the teaching/learning world.

I want to look closely at this aspect of bettering math/science teaching. As I do this, I will focus closely on the standards as a starting point for each floor-to-ceiling science/math exploration.

For example today when two groups of students focus on two different explorations, the specific learning will focus on these two questions?

• What are properties, and how can I determine an object's unique set of properties?
• What is a physical change? What is a chemical change? How are these changes the same and how are these changes different?

I know from my own learning that to focus on the important questions up front is to open up your mind for good learning.

I've also noticed that with my own teaching I tend to put too much out there for every exploration, hence I'm trying to shorten the exploration breadth so there's more time for student conversation, exploration, reflection, and share. While we never have the time or energy to do all that's possible, a well-designed floor-to-ceiling exploration whets the appetite for greater learning and exploration on students' own time at play in school or at home. That's the learning ideal. 

So as I approach a positive science/math routine, I'll likely follow this pattern:

• Present the question, story, rationale, and/or problem to open minds, enlist investment, and make meaning.
• Review the basic steps--steps that can be modified or enriched by teachers/students as needed.
• Student set-up
• Student exploration, experimentation, investigation including data collection, reflection, conclusions.
• Clean-up
• Share

Attention to Goals: Next Steps

 I find that one of the best ways to reach your goals is to create a detailed to-do list, a list of what has to happen to reach the goals you seek.

Goal: more engaging, deep, and memorable math education
Students explored two-dimensional and three-dimensional figures through drawing, building, and making this week. They were engaged. Was it the deep, memorable learning I seek in math? I think it was a good start since students were actively engaged and conversing continuously about the work at hand. To make this exploration even deeper requires really good project design that includes clear expression of the learning goals, best possible student-centered learning environment where materials are easily accessed, and time for reflection and assessment to determine what goals have been met and what further learning/exploration is required to master the skills, knowledge, and concepts.

Next week, students will master basic division computation skills. It will be a bit of drill since to learn to divide in traditional ways requires lots of repetition for most students. The week after that we'll go deeper with division and work on problem solving as well as personal paths to mastery-we'll have that mastery discussion, and students will use the materials available to master their knowledge of what it means to make equal groups in math--equal groups with metric measurement, equal groups with whole numbers, and equal groups with decimals.

For Valentine's Day we'll revisit volume with a mosaic activity that clearly expresses the difference between area and volume with right rectangular prisms and that special kind of right rectangular prisms, cubes. This will be a colorful math project that will bring learning to life.

Goal: regular engaging, memorable, standards-based, hands-on science study
A re-set of the room set-up prepares the stage for greater science learning. There will be two different explorations for two groups of science students today. One group will take a deep look at properties and then determine the unique set of properties including mass, length, color, texture, and more as they study a selection of common items. That group will also review what it means to be precise, open-minded, organized scientists who gather their materials with care, work collaboratively, record their data, ask questions, reflect, and put materials away with care.

The second group will revisit the containers of brine they made about a month ago. They'll measure the brine and see if any evaporation occurred. They'll also look at eggs they placed in vinegar a month ago and compare those eggs to fresh eggs--what's the same? what's different. We'll review chemical changes and physical changes, then discuss what kind of change happened to the brine and the eggs. I'll review our science steps with this group too as one way of strengthening our ability to explore multiple science activities as a whole class regularly.

Goal: Class Community
Our classroom is a warm, inviting place with tables, cozy chairs, and lots of great learning materials. It's generally an easy going place where children display lots of smiles and enthusiasm for learning. Of course, the primary reason why this group is so happy and delightful to teach is that each and every child has at least one loving adult in their life--that makes a huge difference when it comes to readiness for learning. Our school environment puts students first and that's another critical factor. Further our school is filled with many experienced and dedicated educators so students have a dynamic and diverse program of learning each week.

Today as I teach I'll be thinking about what I can do to deepen and enrich the goals set. Taking pictures of students while they are engaged in learning gives me a reflection point later on--I can look at the pictures and do some analysis of what is working and what could be better. They are good goals and I know that there's plenty of room to continue to develop this work. Onward.

Motivate Yourself for a Positive New Year at Work and Outside It

We all need a little motivation at the start of the new year especially in the cold, dark northern regions where many of us have short days and cold nights and mornings.

What motivates me on this morning?

First, to be positively engaged with good people in good pursuit brings life meaning. School offers that experience to all of us.

Next, to positively impact lives of young children is to live a life that's worthwhile. Positive endeavor brings life meaning too.

And it's healthy to be positively engaged, and that health gives us the energy to enjoy the many pastimes and pleasures we choose too.

Further to work hard helps one to afford good care for themselves and their families--most of us have to work to make a living, and to make an adequate living provides for good living.

To continually invest in your career so that most of your work is also your passion/interest creates a win-win situation where work is rarely drudgery and more often similar to the pleasures and pastimes you choose.

To work towards meaningful goals, empowers us in our professions--clearly identify those goals and the success criteria that will result when you meet those goals. Then work towards meeting those goals and chart your efforts so you can see how you are doing. That also brings meaning to your work.

Surround yourself with positive allies--people who help you do your work well, enjoy the work you do, and reach your goals. These allies should be people both inside and outside your profession. Similarly fill your life with positive activities, entertainment, and events that also lead to positive motivation--when your outside-of-work life is positive, that has a positive effect on your life at work too.

Life is a journey. Each day matters. Bringing your daily work good energy, meaningful goals, supportive allies, and nurturing events fills your life with positivity and promise. As Jose Vilson says again and again, we can do this, and we can do it well. Onward.

First Day Back: A Positive Start

Today will be students' and teachers' first day back to school after the holiday celebrations. Everyone will likely feel a bit of a struggle leaving the comfort of their warm homes, new toys, good books, and relaxed schedule to the busyness of the school day.

We'll begin with a short meeting that focuses on our new year's classroom goals including learning and practicing a number of math standards, engaging in many science explorations and experiments, attending a theater performance, visiting Gillette Stadium to marvel at the architecture and engage in a maker activity, reading lots of books, and working together to further strengthen our classroom community of kind, caring, and creative learners.

I'll listen to students' stories and engage in lots of "kindwatching" as encouraged by the book, Timeless Learning. And as the first month takes hold, I'll focus in on my goal to better organize all the math and science materials to foster a learning environment where students are able to lead, explore, and collaborate with easily accessible materials and inviting spaces that enable that kind of student-centered learning and teaching.

The first math exploration will be a Valentine Piggy Bank problem that reviews the fall work with multiplication, addition, subtraction, volume, problem solving strategy, and good study habits and attitudes. It will help students step into this week's homework project which is to design a box or box set by creating a net and determining its volume as well as reviewing attributes of solid figure prisms and right rectangular prisms and volume calculations.

Our first film of the year which will be shown in small snippets throughout the month will be Akeelah and the Bee which will help us to focus on perseverance and the many ways we can overcome challenge, prejudice, and self consciousness to reach our dreams and potential. Science will find us revisiting our egg explorations with a focus on the questions:

• What is matter? What are the three main types of matter? 
• What are properties?
• How can we use properties to describe how a typical egg differs from an egg that's been in vinegar?
• What is a chemical change?
• What is a physical change?
• What is evaporation? Is evaporation a sign of chemical or physical change?
• What does a complete lab report look like? Why is this important? How do scientists use reports like this to communicate and forward their study?
• What is a chemist and what does a chemist do?

With regard to professional study, our team will focus on how we'll help students to solidify computation and problem solving strategies, confidence, and effort. We'll like engage students in problem solving practice as well as creating and solving their own real-world problems. In science, our team will continue our student-centered study with Drumlin Farm naturalists in our effort to introduce climate change/global warming to students and the many ways that they can use their advocacy to protect and nurture the environment around them. Our school librarian who is also well versed in musical theater will lead the students and teachers in a study of Ragtime, the musical we'll attend--an event that's meant to teach students about musical theater as well as to introduce students to time periods, lifestyles, and experiences in life in order to broaden their understanding of the greater world and people.

As you can see there won't be any lost minutes in the first days, weeks, or months of the year. There's lots to do and today we'll begin the new year with enthusiasm, camaraderie, and care. Onward.