I have a ghost!

For those who have been in the classroom for any length of time, I wonder if you have a ghost of a former student that haunts you?

I do.

His name is Kevin.

I had Kevin when I taught seventh grade World History in 1999.  I had Kevin in my Advisory class and first hour.  Kevin not only struggled to complete his assignments and pass the tests, but he also had a difficult time staying awake.

 When the team of teachers met with his parents about his grades, I brought up the fact that Kevin was very tired in Advisory and first hour.  To which Dad replied that he struggled to get Kevin to bed on time, and he left it at that.  And, so did I. 

Kevin continued to struggle throughout the year, but squeaked by with a D in my class and in all his other seventh grade classes.  The next year, when his eighth grade teachers asked about the issues with Kevin, I explained what I saw in my classroom.  And the teachers replied that he continued to struggle with the same issues of grades and being tired.

Years later, I heard from one teacher at the high school about Kevin and the story was the same; being very tired and low grades.

To which I developed my the Kevin Doctrine.  The Kevin Doctrine is that if a student could not master the basic skills at middle school, one may not master the skills needed for high school, and later life.  After all, at the middle school level, a student has a building FULL of adults willing to help you succeed; how then could you succeed in the "real world" when you have few people willing to help you?

Many years had past and I never heard from or about Kevin, until about five or six years ago.  The local news report flashed his name and said he committed suicide while at a shooting range.  It was reported the shooting range video cameras captured the act on tape. The reporter also stated, this while Kevin was inside the shooting range, his baby child was left in his car.

Could this story have ended differently if I would have intervene more with Kevin?  What if I had gone out of my way and mentored Kevin?  What if I showed him those skills which his parents did or were not willing to teach him?  Might Kevin's story have ended differently?

You see, Kevin haunts me because I did nothing.  I did not go out of my way to mentor him about the importance of going to bed early.  I did not go out of my way to show him how to study for tests.  I did not draw the line in the sand and take a stand for this seventh grade boy.

Being a teacher is more than knowing and teaching the facts about the French Revolution.  It is about helping young people finding and developing the skills to survive.

Don't get me wrong, I have success stories too.  But my success stories do not haunt me like Kevin's ghost haunts me. 

But since then I have changed the Kevin Doctrine to the following:

PART 1: What have I done to help a student to master the basic skills that are needed for their entire life?

PART 2: What extend am I willing to help this student to master these basic skills?

Do you have ghosts that haunt you?

Should schools be divided between the rich and the poor?

Today, I had an opportunity to visit seven very different high schools.  One high school looked like a university campus.  White pillars were set in front of a marble facade.  When I walked on the school grounds during lunch, the students sat quietly eating their lunch, read books or studying for tests.  When I walked down the halls, I saw many different signs that proclaimed "Robotics Club will meet Thursday after school", or encouraged students to joined the chess club.  Finally, above the main doors were flags that represented the universities that facility graduated from, for all students to see.

Then,  I visited an alternative high school and what a difference it was... The school was clean, but very bare and very antiseptic.  No signs for clubs, no words of encouragements to the students, no display case with trophies, or no university flags.  Just a building to get kids through high school...

Later on the long drive home, I thought about how sad the disparity was between these schools in the same district. Why does one school have robotics and chess club, when the other school does not? Do the parents of these children know about this disparity between these schools?  I say no.  But what I think happens is parents "see" their students' school and believe ALL schools are like their students' school.  But the truth is all schools are very different.

Would parents accept this?  Would Americans accept this?  Should public schools be based upon the local tax system?  Should the resources of a school be limited to what the local neighborhoods can bear? Should schools in the same school district be divided between the "rich" and the "poor"?  What do you think?

The BIG 3 take aways from The Gift of Failure

I just completed The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed, and here are the three BIG take aways.

#1 - Be consistent.  All children crave consistency in their lives.  They want to know how their day will go, how it will end, and what happens if they do, or do not do something.  So, as a parent or teacher, if you are going to do something for a child; follow through with it.  If bed time is 9:00 o'clock.  Then off to bed at nine.  If a child does not complete a task or does not meet the expectation, then follow through consequences.  Don't cheat them, follow through...

But this takes work!  And raising a child is NOT easy.  It means stopping anything you are doing to be consistent.

#2 - Don't be your student's or child's friend.  Lahey talks about allowing the child to fail, and not picking up their mess.  This doesn't mean you not do care or love them.  In fact, because you love them, you will NOT intervene and allow failure.  It is better for children to learn the natural consequences of being responsible when they are ten years old, rather than when they twenty-five year old.   So, don't run the forgotten homework assignment to school.  Instead, when the child returns home, discuss what happen with them.  Talk about what they might do to ensure it doesn't happen again. How can they create a system to remember their homework?

Lahey explores this dilemma after allowing her child fail. Lahey could have intervene to help (or enable) her child and she shared her thoughts with a friend.  But, her friend explained to Lahey how she could not allow her child to fail, as she would not allow a friend to fail.  But, Lahey reflects that her child is NOT her child's friend.  She is not raising a friend.  Instead, she is raising her child.  Therefore, her job as a parent is to help a young person to develop into a mature, productive citizen.  Not a friend.

#3 - Failure is not the end.  Lahey makes the case that when child fails, the failure should not define children.  Yes, easier said than done.  But turn the failed event to an opportunity to explore, reflect about what went well and what did not.

Over all a good read for those looking for methods to allow children to develop important a growth mindset.

Don't forget to visit the Social Studies Super Store for the best social studies resources - CLICK HERE for the Social Studies Super Store

What is a Mix-Match?

My students really enjoy using Mix-Matches in my classes.  And why not?  This review strategy is total student centered.  Please check out this short video to learn more!

A SUPER new way to review key concepts and terms

My students LOVE using Mix Matches to review key concepts and terms.
 

WHAT IS A MIX-MATCH? A Mix-Match is a formative assessment that evaluates a student critical thinking skills.

A Mix-Match sounds so simple, but it is very effective in helping students make connections between the lesson’s different terms and concepts.  Simply put, students create three categories and then place the terms/concepts into their categories.

HOW TO EVALUATE?  First, students must create content specific categories.  I have had a few students try the following for their categories: GROUP #1, GROUP #2, and GROUP #3.  These are too general.  These category titles are not distinguished from each other, and they are not content specific. Another time students named their categories: LEADERS or IMPORTANT EVENTS.  These titles are also too general. 

But, if we were studying World War II, I would allow LEADERS FROM WORLD WAR II ERA, or IMPORTANT WORLD WAR II BATTLES/CONFERENCES.  These titles are very specific to the Mix-Match lesson.

NO RIGHT or WRONG ANSWER?  There is no ONE correct answer with a Mix-Match. If a student has a term/concept in a questionable category I give them the opportunity to explain their answer.  This is the critical part of the Mix-Match this allows students to demonstrate their critical thinking skills.  

You can purchase your own Mix Match for 20th Century US History, just click here.

LIBERTY'S KIDS VIDEO GUIDES

Check out this video to learn more about Liberty's Kids and using these SUPER video guides that go with this series.

5 SUPER reasons Bizarre Foods is SUPER for your classroom.

My seventh grade World Geography look forward to Thursday Bizarre Day.
This is the day when we view a video with Andrew Zimmern in Bizarre Foods.  He is always trying strange foods such as fried tranchulas from Thailand or lung fish from Uganda.  But here are five reason this is a SUPER resource to share with your students.

• There is not better way to grab a middle schoolers attention then with a person eating strange foods.  Students at this age love anything dealing with food.  What better way to get their attention then combining geography and culture than with food.

• Bizarre Foods series does a wonderful job of integrating the subject of food with so many other issues. When ever they begin the show, the show map of the region to familiar the area of the world they will be visiting.  

• The is made for school.  The commercial free shows are about 45 minutes in length.  Just right for a 55 or 60 minute class so you have time to review the show with the students.  Also, the show is divided into 3-4 segments.  These segments allow for transitions to keep the students engaged. 

• For the most part, Zimmern is PG kind of guy.  The subjects are always classroom appropriated.  However, I have seen one or two that I would not show...like the trip to China where an animals sexual organ.  But, that was only one out of many....So, as always, preview to be cautious. 

• In general, it is so easy to weave into your curriculum.  It makes a great sub plan or one of those days like right before Thanksgiving or Christmas break.

Then to help students understand these big ideas, I have create the WORLD'S best video guides for this show.  These video guides include short answer and fill-in the blank questions for students to complete as they watch the video.  Please check out this Bizarre Foods video guide for Uganda: Uganda video guide.