It Has Been Too Long

It has been too long since I last posted to my blog.  Why has it been so long?  I feel like I've been buried with work, but is that just an excuse I'm making? Do my students feel like they are buried but still do what I ask of them? These and other questions are constantly running through my mind.  Am I the best teacher I can be? Am I challenging all of my students?  Am I frustrating any of my students because I am pushing them too fast?  Am I too strict in some situations and too lax in others?  How much credence should I give to my students' performances related to their state-mandated student learning objectives? 

I often wonder whether other teachers have all of these questions.  I'm an eighteen-year teaching veteran. Shouldn't I have all of the answers?  I hope these questions are all evidence of my desire to not become one of those teachers who "hangs it up" and coasts to retirement.  I don't want to be that teacher just like I don't want my students to coast to graduation and then look back at their high school experiences and realize they didn't do their best or have teachers like me push them.

As soon as I have all of the answers, I'll be concerned. Until then, I'll do my best to reach my students and help them excel as 21st century learners.

Year Eighteen - The Teaching Saga Continues

As we embark on another school year, I'm overwhelmed, excited, and fearful all at the same time.  I'm overwhelmed because I have so many things to do to get ready for this year.  I still have to update the syllabi for my classes, update my lesson plans for the start of the year, etc.  Meanwhile, I'm excited because of the new technology opportunities which present themselves every year, my new

whiteboard table, the exercise balls students will be able to use as chairs, and the freedom my students will have in my classroom this year. Finally, I'm fearful because I want to make sure I am giving my students every opportunity they need to be successful later in high school and life.  What if I'm the cause of a student's inability to excel in college or find a job?  That scares me.

Regardless of my feelings, it's good to know my students and I have the opportunity to do something great this year.  Will one of my students create some cool Kickstarter campaign like this one trying to create a documentary about the life of poet Emily Dickinson?  Will I push myself and my students to excel to the point that I will win the National Teacher of the Year award (English teachers have won three of the last four years - I'm just saying)?  Will we all learn something new this year, like that there's such a thing as a reflection nebula (I'm not sure why we would learn this in English, but you catch my drift)?  Will my yearbook staff earn our school's first-ever Gold Crown from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association?

I don't know the answers to all of these questions and millions of others could be asked, but that is what makes the field of education one of the best places to be in the world.  If you are a student, work hard so you are prepared to leave your mark on the world.  If you are a teacher, positively impact the minds of students so they can dream big.  If you are an administrator, support your teachers and students so they can accomplish greatness.  If you are a parent or community member, be there when a student needs someone to read his/her blog post (I am going to be asking my community members to do that this year).  We can all do something to make this a memorable year.

Motivating Students to Fight Through Adversity

Adversity is something everyone in the world faces on a daily basis.  Students face adversity at school when they don't earn the grades they desire, teachers face adversity when they can't find the perfect way to convey important information to students, and school administrators (at least in Ohio) face adversity when trying to find time to complete all of the necessary teacher evaluations.  Despite the fact it is so prevalent today in our schools and world, it seems many people don't do well handling adversity.  How can we motivate students to not give up when they face adversity?

One article which might help the process is about the inventor of Scotch tape.  Zachary Crockett, who wrote an article about the inventor on priceonomics, describes how Richard Drew quit college, took a job at 3M, tried repeatedly to find the right mix of ingredients to create a tape for auto body shops to use when painting cars, and eventually created what is probably the most famous tape in the world today.  Would it have been easy for him to fold when he faced adversity?  It absolutely would have been, but he didn't give up. 

If nothing else, hopefully this article will help people persevere when adversity seems overwhelming.  If it leads someone to develop some futuristic product like Richard Drew did so long ago, adversity will have lost again.