Blame the Unicorn

Walk into a Kindergarten class, and you will believe in magic. How one lady manages to get 20 5-year-olds to snake quietly through the halls with only her smile and a charming, "Follow me, boys and girls", will amaze you. Elementary teachers are masters of patience and classroom management. Even the most troublesome of these babies will animately express their love for their mistress of learning. Some of these teachers get really creative with their classroom management programs . Have lunch in an elementary school, and you will see what I mean. The kids will be all too eager to share with you whose clip was changed to orange, what prize they got out of the treasure box, how many Mrs.-Random-Teacher's Bucks they have, how many days it will be until they are the star student, how they are the luckiest person ever because they got to be the line leader twice in one week because the substitute didn't know... What happens to all this greatness as the kids get olde...

I have a gift for working with students with AD/HD. I don't say this to boast, but as an expression of humility for the journey that has led me here. I understand my students, I connect with them, and sometimes, though certainly not always, I am able to inspire their learning in a meaningful way. I say this with the same sort of false pride as one who won the lottery - it was only by luck, probability, and circumstance that I walk this path. Unlike other "whisperers" though, I can truly relate, because I am just like them. Growing up I didn't realize I had attention difficulties. In the 1980's only the kids who climbed on desks were diagnosed. It was only by reflecting my students' mirrors upon myself that I began to understand how my attention deficits affect my life. Many of you reading this probably know someone with AD/HD, and you may know quite a bit about it. One thing that's important to understand about attention deficits is that they can m...

Over the past decade, I've happened across several articles/people/instances urging adults to stop calling children "smart."  They warn that by labeling them "smart," students will become lazy. Children will begin to believe they are somehow intrinsically better than "non-smart" kids, and their self-value will come from labels rather than actions. And if a child believes himself to be dumb, calling him otherwise will violate his trust. Teachers woefully express their regret and challenge themselves to never use the S-word. They offer suggestions, though, such as emphasizing a child's efforts and accomplishments. When a child gets a 100 on a spelling test, you should say, "Wow! You really studied hard" rather than "You are so smart!" The logic behind this argument makes sense, and I have wrestled with this idea when interacting with my own children and students. This is not entirely bad advice: questioning our words and t...

Those who follow me regularly know that when it comes to students, I subscribe to the "Join 'Em" philosophy more often than not . Not just digitally, either. Walk into my classroom and you may see me sitting on the floor working a problem, or checking out a student's YouTube channel after school.  Education is about students getting what they need for their lives . My life and my schooling is already outdated and irrelevant. When it comes to cell phones in class, though, the issue extends far beyond "beating 'em vs. joining 'em." I truly believe in the transformative powers of technology. Not only does technology have magical powers for increasing student engagement, but it also possesses the ability to create individualized learning experiences for our students. All that we dream of when imagining the ideal classroom (students working collaboratively on authentic, creative, meaningful projects) is possible through the device students carry in th...

Parent communication hits my self-improvement goal list every year. I wholeheartedly believe in the power of family-school connections. Having taught in Montessori elementary schools, I know first-hand the wonderful things parents can bring to a small community school. Moving to a public middle school, then high school, then back to middle school, I know how difficult it is to get parents involved in secondary public schools. Or...more accurately, I know how easy it is to dismiss them. Certainly it's gotten better over the years, but I am still a long way from the true partnership in education that I envision. I send the bi-weekly emails and updates as needed, I call parents when there is a concern, I send home assessment information, and occasionally (and not nearly as often as I'd like) I send the "positive email home." Even so, I recognize that these are merely tokens that do little to build authentic relationships. It could be so much better! This year I...