How hard it is

It is snowing and we are missing two more days of school.  I have used this time to reflect on how hard school is from a students perspective.  You wake up earlier than your body wants to and then for the next 6 1/2 hours you are asked to do things mostly out of your control.  At best it is frustrating and a struggle, at worst it is just totally boring.  The reward for working hard all day is that we give you homework so that this process continues onto the night.

What this blog is really about is how appreciative I should be for the job students do on a day in and day out basis.  Does everyone perform at a super level?  Of course not, nor do I.  What is rather amazing is how good students are at this most of the time.  When you think how many hours students are at school, how little choice they have about what they need to learn, how tough it can be to sit still for 45 minutes yet six plus hours, it is amazing to me how great our students are.

So, the next time I get frustrated with a student, or I hear another teacher who gets frustrated with a student, I will remember how great students are most of the time.  They have a difficult job in which some students make look rather easy.

outcomes

What should we be able to say about a student that graduates our high school.  After spending four years in our school should there be somethings that everyone (okay most) of our students share.  If we can identify the outcomes we want to see, it would make it easier to focus in on what we want to do each day.

For example when I worked for Domino's Pizza every manager could make a pepperoni pizza in 40 seconds, had taken certain classes, and had a mastery of customer service.  So what does that diploma represent and more importantly what do you think it should represent.

Character in adverse times

It is easy to show character when things are going well.  However, i think real character is shown when adversity hits.  I was never a Peyton Manning fan, since he ruined many Sundays for me.  I  was impressed however last year after a heart breaking loss for him, that he waited to congratulate Ray Lewis on the victory.  It showed me that while Manning is one of the great competitors of the game he is also a very classy man.

This year his team was crushed in the Super Bowl.  You might enjoy this article on how this man handle adversity.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/peyton-manning-leaves-crushing-super-bowl-loss-with-reputation-intact-065205260.html;_ylt=A0LEVxZFyfBSIHIAj.NXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEycDQ0N3A1BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1FJMDQ5XzE-

new idea

One of the things most teachers complain about is faculty meetings.  They are usually held monthly and in my fifteen years there have been two of them that might have had any positive impact on me.  Recently a colleague sent me a link to a high school, which is giving there teachers that hour free to work on something that interests them in education.  It might be working with another teacher on lessons, discussing character or anything else that you are interested in but do not have the time to do.  What it allows is the teacher the time to be in charge of their own professional development.

I thought that was a great idea, and then wondered if I am trying to make students valued partners in the educational process would this work in the classroom.  What I am visioning next year with 85 minute periods is taking one day a month to allow students to discuss anything about economics that interests them.  My vision would be that there might be a table of kids working on in class concepts that they do not understand, others might be discussing a book (freakonomics for example) that they decided to read, others might have watched a couple of interesting clips on youtube and now gather to discuss it.

If the conversation are great, we would spend the entire period on it and then have one member from each group blog about what they discussed so that the whole class can enjoy and take part in the learning.  Maybe it sparks an interest so other kids discuss that topic next time.  Or at the 70 minute mark we can stop and have one student in each group debrief the class.

I know at first this would probably not work since kids are not used to the format but I think it might be really good as the year goes on.  What do you think?

Lessons from Harvard

When Yilin Feng returned this year from Harvard I was very excited.  First of all, she had a chance to attend a lecture from Mankiw whose textbook we use in AP Economics.  More importantly she is just a tremendous young lady who demonstrates many of the character traits we are trying to instill in our students.

Last year, in the third quarter she struggled with economics.  Now mind you, struggle for Yilin is getting a B in the class.  At the time that I gave her a B, I did not realize she was tied for number one in our school.  Four years of hardwork on the line and a B for her final grade could push her out of the number one spot.  Never once did Yilin ever ask me what she could do to get an A.  Never once did she ask for extra credit, put pressure on me or even hint to me that she needed an A in the class to be number one.  To me it really demonstrates the type of character this young lady possesses.

I am sure she wanted to be number one in the class but not so much that she was going to ask for favors to get it.  While I never asked her about it, my thoughts are that she was just going to continue to do her best and the grade would take care of itself.

When I called Harvard admissions office to find out why a couple of our other students were not accepted, the lady in admissions raved about Yilin.  We know she is going to do great here (they were right she had a 4.0).  When I told Yilin about these comments she thanked me, and said, "I thought I was the last person they picked.  It is nice to know they really liked me"  Humility is definitely one of Yilin's strengths and it shows from those remarks.

This year when she visited I asked her did her parents pressure her to get to an Ivy League School.  She told me that the only pressure was to do her best.  If Maryland was the best her parents would have been happy.  The best way to end this blog is her comments about Harvard,"Many people think that Harvard students think they are Gods gift to the world, the truth is most of us think Harvard is Gods gift to us"

As a teacher I am so lucky to cross paths with some many great young people.  

Effort vs Results

Today a group of teachers met to discuss issues evolving around character.  The discussion turned to what should teachers base their grades on effort or results.  So if someone is trying extremely hard but not doing well do you bump them up a grade.  Should we be more worried about the process or the result?  Do you think there is a strong correlation with time spent studying (reading, studying and even listening intensely in class) with the results.

As the discussion continued a teacher noticed that I post my top ten students, which is based on results only. It made me wonder does posting these results make people who work hard but do not get good results feel bad?  Is it a board worth posting?

Also we discussed what is more exciting to a student the anticipation of the grade or the actual grade itself.  So when you take a test are you more tense, anxious, excited about finding out your grade, then you feel happy when you do well.

The science of willpower is making me rethink alot of what I do as a teacher.  Your thoughts

What defines 2013 for you

When I look back at 2013, one of the most defining moments was getting involved in character education.  This journey has allowed me to understand in much greater detail the impacts of positive psychology which have helped me turn from an angry old man into a mellowing old man.  It has taken me on a new journey which really excites me in that I think it can have a great impact on our students in the future.

I think it is a great time for all of us to take a second to reflect on the important moments that we had in 2013.  What are they?  How did they help share us?  If you care to share please reply.

Best wishes for a great new years