Persistence is one of the 16 Habits of the Mind... but I think it is one of the most important. To persist means to keep trying... never give up... to keep working until the objective is accomplished.
When I give my students homework, I want them to practice persist. I tell them that they will always get a problem wrong that they don't do. What I praise the most and hold in highest esteem is persistence and hard work.
Persist is a character quality that can become a habit with practice, encouragement, effort and commitment.
I coached wrestling for years. I worked my wrestlers hard in practice and marveled at their effort, determination and persistence. Wrestlers are lousy quitters.
I want my students to become lousy quitters.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 30
Monday, December 30, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Gap
I keep revising my posters. A few weeks ago, I finally figured out the name of the Learning Skill I had been trying to teach my students for the past several weeks. I called it Intentional Precision. It is the set of behaviors, skills, habits, procedures and whatever else someone does to solve problems and know that they got the problem right. I routinely tell my students to get it right and know you got it right.
I think Intentional Precision is the sum of all the Behaviors of Intelligences(AKA Habits of the Mind from Lee Canter).
I have been wrestling with this for quite a while now and this make sense to me.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 29
I think Intentional Precision is the sum of all the Behaviors of Intelligences(AKA Habits of the Mind from Lee Canter).
I have been wrestling with this for quite a while now and this make sense to me.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 29
Foreman builds his last house story
This is a story I tell my students to show... well let's just save that for the end.
There was a wealthy businessman who owned a big construction company. This owner built lots of big fancy homes for rich people. He had 4 different foreman that each ran the building of a house for him, but Tom was by far the best foreman.
Tom showed up earlier to make sure everything was clean and ready. Tom would order the best materials and handpick the best when he personally bought them at a lumberyard. Tom would only hire subs that did excellent work and were trustworthy and responsible. Tom would sacrifice some of the profits to insure the quality of the work. Tom's houses would take a little longer to build than one of the other foreman's because Tom would have to wait for an excellent sub sometimes. Also Tom did all the finish work himself because he was a master craftsman. At the end of each day, Tom would clean up the site, inspect the work done that day and fix anything that needed fixing or call the sub to come back the next day and fix whatever needed fixing.
Tom took pride in each house. Tom wanted his houses to be the best. Tom's customers were always happy with their homes, although some got frustrated by the delays.
Years passed and Tom kept building awesome homes. Finally, 30 years had passed and Tom was ready to retire. His boss showed up one day as Tom was just finishing his last house. Everything was perfect. Tom made sure that all the work was perfect and only the best building materials had been used. His boss, the owner, walked through the house with Tom. No matter how many times they did this, at the end of a job, the owner was always very impressed with the quality of Tom's houses. Tom's houses were by far the best.
As they came back to the living room, Tom handed the owner the keys to the house and said, "Thank you for being such a wonderful boss. I've really enjoyed working for you all these years. You have treated me well and I am grateful. This is the last home I'm going to build for you. I'm getting old and I need to retire." Tom stuck out his hand to shake his boss's hand, but his boss pleaded, "No... no, Tom I need you to build me one more home. I have a very important client and you are my best foreman. Your houses are always the best. I need you to run this last job for me because this is such an important client. Please!??"
Tom did not want to run one more job. In his mind, he had decided that this was going to be his last job, but his boss kept pleading and even begging, so Tom finally gave in and agreed to run one last job.
Tom's heart was not in this last house. For the first time, Tom's focus was strictly on getting done. Tom didn't show up early to clean up, instead, Tom spent most of his time on the phone scheduling subs. He didn't care how much they cost or how good their work was. All Tom cared about was timing... could they show up right after a sub was done with their job? Tom wanted no down time. Tom wanted the house to be done as fast as possible. All of Tom's energies went into making that happen. Tom used cheaper quality materials and cut corners as often as possible, if it would help the house to get built faster. Tom didn't do the finish work himself because that would have taken too long. So, once again, Tom hired out the work to the sub that could get it done the fastest.
On the last day, the owner just happened to show up to check on the progress. Tom was not expecting him and in fact was embarrassed to see him. Tom had planned on leaving the keys under a rock by the front door and then texting the owner to let him know he was done and where the keys were. Tom was not proud of this house and the last person he wanted to see right now was his boss.
The owner was happy to see Tom, as always, and asked for a quick tour. Tom uncomfortably complied. The owner was very surprised with how much had already been accomplished and was shocked to find out that, in fact, the house had just been completed that day! But as they walked through each room, the owner noticed the low quality of materials and poor craftsmanship of the work. The owner strained to make positive comments as they walked through each room. This was simply awkward for both of them.
Finally, they were back in the living room where they had started. Tom, with his head facing down for the first time ever, handed the owner the keys and turned to leave. But his owner stopped Tom and with a grateful and heavy heart said, "You have been my best foreman all these years. I am so grateful for your integrity, responsibility and your pride in craftsmanship. My important client is YOU. The keys are yours." With this he put the keys back in Tom's hand, turned and walked out the door.
Tom was building his own home and he didn't even know it!
I tell my students that they are building the house that they will live in right now. Their house is made up of their character qualities, choices and decisions, beliefs and relationships. I encourage and challenge them to be thoughtful about the kind of house they are building.
We are not made of cement, steel, wood and glass... but we are each made of flesh and blood and we can change.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 28
There was a wealthy businessman who owned a big construction company. This owner built lots of big fancy homes for rich people. He had 4 different foreman that each ran the building of a house for him, but Tom was by far the best foreman.
Tom showed up earlier to make sure everything was clean and ready. Tom would order the best materials and handpick the best when he personally bought them at a lumberyard. Tom would only hire subs that did excellent work and were trustworthy and responsible. Tom would sacrifice some of the profits to insure the quality of the work. Tom's houses would take a little longer to build than one of the other foreman's because Tom would have to wait for an excellent sub sometimes. Also Tom did all the finish work himself because he was a master craftsman. At the end of each day, Tom would clean up the site, inspect the work done that day and fix anything that needed fixing or call the sub to come back the next day and fix whatever needed fixing.
Tom took pride in each house. Tom wanted his houses to be the best. Tom's customers were always happy with their homes, although some got frustrated by the delays.
Years passed and Tom kept building awesome homes. Finally, 30 years had passed and Tom was ready to retire. His boss showed up one day as Tom was just finishing his last house. Everything was perfect. Tom made sure that all the work was perfect and only the best building materials had been used. His boss, the owner, walked through the house with Tom. No matter how many times they did this, at the end of a job, the owner was always very impressed with the quality of Tom's houses. Tom's houses were by far the best.
As they came back to the living room, Tom handed the owner the keys to the house and said, "Thank you for being such a wonderful boss. I've really enjoyed working for you all these years. You have treated me well and I am grateful. This is the last home I'm going to build for you. I'm getting old and I need to retire." Tom stuck out his hand to shake his boss's hand, but his boss pleaded, "No... no, Tom I need you to build me one more home. I have a very important client and you are my best foreman. Your houses are always the best. I need you to run this last job for me because this is such an important client. Please!??"
Tom did not want to run one more job. In his mind, he had decided that this was going to be his last job, but his boss kept pleading and even begging, so Tom finally gave in and agreed to run one last job.
Tom's heart was not in this last house. For the first time, Tom's focus was strictly on getting done. Tom didn't show up early to clean up, instead, Tom spent most of his time on the phone scheduling subs. He didn't care how much they cost or how good their work was. All Tom cared about was timing... could they show up right after a sub was done with their job? Tom wanted no down time. Tom wanted the house to be done as fast as possible. All of Tom's energies went into making that happen. Tom used cheaper quality materials and cut corners as often as possible, if it would help the house to get built faster. Tom didn't do the finish work himself because that would have taken too long. So, once again, Tom hired out the work to the sub that could get it done the fastest.
On the last day, the owner just happened to show up to check on the progress. Tom was not expecting him and in fact was embarrassed to see him. Tom had planned on leaving the keys under a rock by the front door and then texting the owner to let him know he was done and where the keys were. Tom was not proud of this house and the last person he wanted to see right now was his boss.
The owner was happy to see Tom, as always, and asked for a quick tour. Tom uncomfortably complied. The owner was very surprised with how much had already been accomplished and was shocked to find out that, in fact, the house had just been completed that day! But as they walked through each room, the owner noticed the low quality of materials and poor craftsmanship of the work. The owner strained to make positive comments as they walked through each room. This was simply awkward for both of them.
Finally, they were back in the living room where they had started. Tom, with his head facing down for the first time ever, handed the owner the keys and turned to leave. But his owner stopped Tom and with a grateful and heavy heart said, "You have been my best foreman all these years. I am so grateful for your integrity, responsibility and your pride in craftsmanship. My important client is YOU. The keys are yours." With this he put the keys back in Tom's hand, turned and walked out the door.
Tom was building his own home and he didn't even know it!
I tell my students that they are building the house that they will live in right now. Their house is made up of their character qualities, choices and decisions, beliefs and relationships. I encourage and challenge them to be thoughtful about the kind of house they are building.
We are not made of cement, steel, wood and glass... but we are each made of flesh and blood and we can change.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 28
Friday, December 27, 2013
Phone Home
I started having students call home whenever they had missing homework a long time ago. This did not seem to have much of an affect on homework completion. A few years ago, I took this up a few notches. I now have my students call home on speaker phone.
The first year I did this, the first time a student had to call... it was AWESOME!!!
It took a couple of weeks until I got my first volunteer. I can't remember her name, but I remember it was third period and she sat in the third seat of the fourth row. I was walking around checking my student's homework as they were doing the warm up problems at the beginning of class. When I got to (I'll call her) Sally, she didn't have hers. I told her she needed to call home on speaker phone. She told me that her mother had just gotten out of the hospital last night and that was why she wasn't able to get her homework completed. I asked how her mom was doing and she told me she was doing fine.
Then, to her horror, I told her again to call home on speaker phone. You see, I tell my students that there is NO EXCUSE for not having their homework done. I have heard and read lots of good ones. I will not decide which are good and not good enough. Missing homework is a zero and a phone call.
Well, she walked over to the phone and pushed the speaker button and then we all heard her dial the numbers. It rang a few times and then her mom answered. Sally quickly told her mom she was calling on speaker phone from my class. Everyone was listening... I MEAN REALLY LISTENING!
Then Sally explained why she was calling and her mom went into a firm little lecture on the importance of doing homework. The mom told Sally she was very disappointed. The mom reminded Sally that this was a problem last year and hoped that this would not be a problem this year. The mom reminded Sally that she had asked her last night if Sally had any homework and that Sally had told her,"No."
During that time, ALL OF MY STUDENTS HAD THEIR HEADS DOWN. There was such a thick sense of, I DO NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO ME, in the class... you could taste it.
The word vicarious was being defined to each student. After the phone call, I asked the class what the word vicarious meant. I explained what the word meant and everyone understood. It was powerful!!
I had students talking about it as they came in to my classes later in the day. I had teachers asking me about it days and weeks later. A few weeks later, during Open House, I was explaining my homework policy to my parents. As I was describing the events of that first phone call to my parents of my 3rd period class, I noticed a mom smiling an unusual way. I gave her my full attention and she announced to everyone that she was the mom. I TOLD HER THAT SHE DID GREAT!! Everyone agreed and all thanked me for the policy!
Months later, I was told by my principal that I had to drop the speaker calling from my homework policy. I asked, "Why?" The principal told me that she had received 3 complaints that day from different parents. I asked her to tell me what they were.
Complaint #1 "My child is embarrassed when calling home on speaker phone." I told my principal that the student should do her homework and then there wouldn't be any embarrassment... my principal agreed.
Complaint #2 "My child is embarrassed when everyone listens to us talking on speaker phone during class and frankly I don't like it either." I told my principal that the parent should not carry on a conversation with their child on speaker in my class. I told her that the parent should simply say, "OK, we'll talk when you get home." I told my principal that I coached my students about this and encouraged them to have a conversation with their parents about this. I always remind my students to tell their parents that they are talking on speaker phone. My principal agreed.
Complaint #3 " I am concerned that my child will listen to a parent swear at their child, over the speaker, during one of these conversations." I had nothing... then I asked if it was OK if the student turned off the speaker phone after the introductions... she agreed.
That is where my policy is now. I think it is very important for parents to know when their student is not getting their work done. I leave all discipline about this up to the parents. The speaker phone is necessary because many students will fake like they are calling home or will simply call a wrong number. The speaker phone removes all doubt and trickiness.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
Day 27
The first year I did this, the first time a student had to call... it was AWESOME!!!
It took a couple of weeks until I got my first volunteer. I can't remember her name, but I remember it was third period and she sat in the third seat of the fourth row. I was walking around checking my student's homework as they were doing the warm up problems at the beginning of class. When I got to (I'll call her) Sally, she didn't have hers. I told her she needed to call home on speaker phone. She told me that her mother had just gotten out of the hospital last night and that was why she wasn't able to get her homework completed. I asked how her mom was doing and she told me she was doing fine.
Then, to her horror, I told her again to call home on speaker phone. You see, I tell my students that there is NO EXCUSE for not having their homework done. I have heard and read lots of good ones. I will not decide which are good and not good enough. Missing homework is a zero and a phone call.
Well, she walked over to the phone and pushed the speaker button and then we all heard her dial the numbers. It rang a few times and then her mom answered. Sally quickly told her mom she was calling on speaker phone from my class. Everyone was listening... I MEAN REALLY LISTENING!
Then Sally explained why she was calling and her mom went into a firm little lecture on the importance of doing homework. The mom told Sally she was very disappointed. The mom reminded Sally that this was a problem last year and hoped that this would not be a problem this year. The mom reminded Sally that she had asked her last night if Sally had any homework and that Sally had told her,"No."
During that time, ALL OF MY STUDENTS HAD THEIR HEADS DOWN. There was such a thick sense of, I DO NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO ME, in the class... you could taste it.
The word vicarious was being defined to each student. After the phone call, I asked the class what the word vicarious meant. I explained what the word meant and everyone understood. It was powerful!!
I had students talking about it as they came in to my classes later in the day. I had teachers asking me about it days and weeks later. A few weeks later, during Open House, I was explaining my homework policy to my parents. As I was describing the events of that first phone call to my parents of my 3rd period class, I noticed a mom smiling an unusual way. I gave her my full attention and she announced to everyone that she was the mom. I TOLD HER THAT SHE DID GREAT!! Everyone agreed and all thanked me for the policy!
Months later, I was told by my principal that I had to drop the speaker calling from my homework policy. I asked, "Why?" The principal told me that she had received 3 complaints that day from different parents. I asked her to tell me what they were.
Complaint #1 "My child is embarrassed when calling home on speaker phone." I told my principal that the student should do her homework and then there wouldn't be any embarrassment... my principal agreed.
Complaint #2 "My child is embarrassed when everyone listens to us talking on speaker phone during class and frankly I don't like it either." I told my principal that the parent should not carry on a conversation with their child on speaker in my class. I told her that the parent should simply say, "OK, we'll talk when you get home." I told my principal that I coached my students about this and encouraged them to have a conversation with their parents about this. I always remind my students to tell their parents that they are talking on speaker phone. My principal agreed.
Complaint #3 " I am concerned that my child will listen to a parent swear at their child, over the speaker, during one of these conversations." I had nothing... then I asked if it was OK if the student turned off the speaker phone after the introductions... she agreed.
That is where my policy is now. I think it is very important for parents to know when their student is not getting their work done. I leave all discipline about this up to the parents. The speaker phone is necessary because many students will fake like they are calling home or will simply call a wrong number. The speaker phone removes all doubt and trickiness.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
Day 27
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Wiping
I often use stories or analogies to make a point and/or entertain. I use this analogy early in the year to make points about doing homework and double checking your work.
I am talking to my students:
When you were each a new born baby, your parents had to wipe your rear and change your diaper every time you went poop. As you got older and were 2 years old, they still had to wipe your rear and change your diaper every time you went poop.
Then you got to the age where you started pooping in a little potty training toilet, but your parents still had to wiped your rear for you.
Then you got to the stage where you pooped on your own and even wiped your own rear, but when you came out of the bathroom, your parents asked you if you had 'finished your job?" This means 2 things.
First, it means, did you double check to make sure that you finished doing all the wiping you needed to do? My students are always repulsed by this analogy, but I haven't found a better one to make these two points. When I see students struggling with not double checking their work, I ask them, "Did you finish wiping? I mean, if you didn't, you should feel that unmistakable icky squishy feeling." Now my students are totally grossed out and smiling.
Second, it means, did you do what you knew how to do and were suppose to do? Did you do your job and did you do it well? I'll ask the student, who doesn't have their homework, in front of everyone(I will only do this publicly to a student I know will handle this well), "When you came out of the bathroom this morning, did your parents ask you if you wiped?" They will respond incredulously, "NO!" I explain, of course not, because this is a responsibility you took over years ago and to talk about it now, feels really weird. I'll go over the steps to potty training. Then I'll say: "When you don't do your homework, it feels like I'm a parent of a little kid that has forgotten to wipe."
Every body laughs, even the student I've put on the spot. I've made my point.
The next time someone doesn't do their homework or fails to double check their work, I'll have the students say, "YOU FORGOT TO WIPE!", to their classmate. Everyone will laugh, but everyone gets it and I have few problems with my students getting their homework done or understanding the importance of double checking. Some times, I even have the student I put on the spot come in to class and announce to everyone, that THEY WIPED LAST NIGHT! We all laugh.
Be responsible. Do your job. Be responsible. Double check your work.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 26
I am talking to my students:
When you were each a new born baby, your parents had to wipe your rear and change your diaper every time you went poop. As you got older and were 2 years old, they still had to wipe your rear and change your diaper every time you went poop.
Then you got to the age where you started pooping in a little potty training toilet, but your parents still had to wiped your rear for you.
Then you got to the stage where you pooped on your own and even wiped your own rear, but when you came out of the bathroom, your parents asked you if you had 'finished your job?" This means 2 things.
First, it means, did you double check to make sure that you finished doing all the wiping you needed to do? My students are always repulsed by this analogy, but I haven't found a better one to make these two points. When I see students struggling with not double checking their work, I ask them, "Did you finish wiping? I mean, if you didn't, you should feel that unmistakable icky squishy feeling." Now my students are totally grossed out and smiling.
Second, it means, did you do what you knew how to do and were suppose to do? Did you do your job and did you do it well? I'll ask the student, who doesn't have their homework, in front of everyone(I will only do this publicly to a student I know will handle this well), "When you came out of the bathroom this morning, did your parents ask you if you wiped?" They will respond incredulously, "NO!" I explain, of course not, because this is a responsibility you took over years ago and to talk about it now, feels really weird. I'll go over the steps to potty training. Then I'll say: "When you don't do your homework, it feels like I'm a parent of a little kid that has forgotten to wipe."
Every body laughs, even the student I've put on the spot. I've made my point.
The next time someone doesn't do their homework or fails to double check their work, I'll have the students say, "YOU FORGOT TO WIPE!", to their classmate. Everyone will laugh, but everyone gets it and I have few problems with my students getting their homework done or understanding the importance of double checking. Some times, I even have the student I put on the spot come in to class and announce to everyone, that THEY WIPED LAST NIGHT! We all laugh.
Be responsible. Do your job. Be responsible. Double check your work.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 26
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas
About 2000 years ago, a little baby boy was born. Angels heralded His birth. Prophecies were fulfilled.
He grew to become a man. His first miracle was turning water to wine. He healed the blind with a word. By a touch of love, He healed people covered with leprosy. He healed the lame and paralytic. He healed the demon possessed. He raised the dead. He fed 5000 men with 5 small loaves and 2 small fish and there were 12 basketful of left overs. He walked on water. He calmed the wind and the waves with a command. He healed a man with a shriveled hand. He healed many people spiritually by forgiving them of their sins.
He was not just a good person or a great teacher.
He claimed to be the SON of GOD.
He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father but by ME."
He is a person of history. Jesus did walk on this Earth.
He was either a liar, lunatic or He is LORD.
These miracles where witnessed by 100s and 1000s of people.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not parish, but will have everlasting life."
Jesus said, "I have come to give life and to give it abundantly."
This abundant, eternal life starts at salvation.
"Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is LORD." The question is when and where will yours? Will it be now in gratefulness and repentance, thanking Jesus for saving you from your sins and giving you eternal life? Will it be at judgment, in shame and horror, realizing that you are too late and your pride has eternally separated you from the love of GOD?
God loves you. This is the first and most important relationship that any person can have, a relationship with Jesus. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ His Son.
I need God's love, grace, power and forgiveness flowing through me, so that I can love others.
Jesus summed up all the commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, souls, mind and strength. Love you neighbor as yourself."
On this precious Christmas morning, I simply pray that anyone who reads this will come to a saving, loving, growing, empowering knowledge of God's Love for us.
I want to love my students, friends, family, strangers and even my enemies. I know I can't do this in my own strength. I know I will fail even with God's help because I still struggle with my selfishness and pride. I am so thankful for God's love, forgiveness, grace, peace and patience. The abundant life that GOD gives is found in loving HIM and through HIS love, loving and serving others.
So Merry Christmas!!
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 25
He grew to become a man. His first miracle was turning water to wine. He healed the blind with a word. By a touch of love, He healed people covered with leprosy. He healed the lame and paralytic. He healed the demon possessed. He raised the dead. He fed 5000 men with 5 small loaves and 2 small fish and there were 12 basketful of left overs. He walked on water. He calmed the wind and the waves with a command. He healed a man with a shriveled hand. He healed many people spiritually by forgiving them of their sins.
He was not just a good person or a great teacher.
He claimed to be the SON of GOD.
He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father but by ME."
He is a person of history. Jesus did walk on this Earth.
He was either a liar, lunatic or He is LORD.
These miracles where witnessed by 100s and 1000s of people.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not parish, but will have everlasting life."
Jesus said, "I have come to give life and to give it abundantly."
This abundant, eternal life starts at salvation.
"Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is LORD." The question is when and where will yours? Will it be now in gratefulness and repentance, thanking Jesus for saving you from your sins and giving you eternal life? Will it be at judgment, in shame and horror, realizing that you are too late and your pride has eternally separated you from the love of GOD?
God loves you. This is the first and most important relationship that any person can have, a relationship with Jesus. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ His Son.
I need God's love, grace, power and forgiveness flowing through me, so that I can love others.
Jesus summed up all the commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, souls, mind and strength. Love you neighbor as yourself."
On this precious Christmas morning, I simply pray that anyone who reads this will come to a saving, loving, growing, empowering knowledge of God's Love for us.
I want to love my students, friends, family, strangers and even my enemies. I know I can't do this in my own strength. I know I will fail even with God's help because I still struggle with my selfishness and pride. I am so thankful for God's love, forgiveness, grace, peace and patience. The abundant life that GOD gives is found in loving HIM and through HIS love, loving and serving others.
So Merry Christmas!!
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 25
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Be right and know you're right
There are lots of things I am always saying to my kids. I guess whatever is important, I will repeatedly say.
One of my sayings, that caught one of my student's attention enough to make a poster of it was: "I want you to be right and know that you are right." I have a student that made me this poster. I will be putting it up on my side wall. This is the wall for all my important sayings.
I believe the most important Behavior of Intelligence is Passionately Striving for Accuracy. I believe all other Habits of the Mind(see Lee Canter's Habits of the Mind) are dependent on and affected by this one(see Posters). Another Habit of the Mind is Flexibility. One definition of Flexibility is, doing the problem more than one way. I often show my students how to do a problem more than one way. This allows them to do a problem multiple ways, knowing that if the same answer is arrived at, the student can have more confidence that their answer is correct. I want them to be right and know that they are right.
A student can not be impulsive and flexible at the same time. Many students simply want to get done when they are doing their homework. I want all of my students to take the problems in their homework seriously. I want them to practice with a strong desire to get the problems correct and be willing to do more than they need to do, to make sure they are correct. I DO NOT WANT MY STUDENTS TO PRACTICE BEING SLOBS!!! I tell them that if they spend 12 years practicing like a slob, they will probably end up being a slob. This requires each student to demonstrate Flexibility, Manage Impulsivity and Passionately Striving for Accuracy... to name 3 Habits of the Mind.
I believe the most important Learning Skill(see Posters) is Intentional Precision. I believe that this skills is foundational to all other learning skills... just like Passionately Striving for Accuracy is foundational to all other Habits of the Mind. Here is where the successful student's habit of passionately striving for accuracy shows up as a skill. This skill enables students to develop habits, routines, systems, procedures, .... whatever it takes to be right and know they are right. This is such a HUGE skill.
Once a student is at the place of believing they can learn and wanting to learn, this is the biggest habit and skill I think my students need to develop. I see it all the time. I see students that learn the material and still get problems wrong. I know I need to teach my student more than understanding a concept. I need to teach them how to algebraically solve the problem. I also need to teach them Intentional Precision as they are practicing their homework, so they practice getting the problems right and knowing that they are right.
This is an entire, belief system, desire system, emotional system, commitment system, skill system and habit system. Once a student gets here, they are ROCK STARS!! I want to do all I can to help my students get to this place. I WANT ALL OF MY STUDENTS TO PRACTICE BEING RIGHT AND KNOWING THAT THEY ARE RIGHT.
I've heard it said, "You are what you eat!" I say, "You are what you practice!"
For example, when I teach my students how to solve equations, I also teach them how to check their work. I require my students to be able to solve the problem, then double check by substituting their answer in for the variable and simplify to make sure their answer is correct. They need to finish with a SMILEY FACE, showing me that they are right and they know they are right.
Practice doesn't make you perfect... but perfect practice sure gets you closer.
'I can teach all students through Christ who strengthens me.'
Day 24
One of my sayings, that caught one of my student's attention enough to make a poster of it was: "I want you to be right and know that you are right." I have a student that made me this poster. I will be putting it up on my side wall. This is the wall for all my important sayings.
I believe the most important Behavior of Intelligence is Passionately Striving for Accuracy. I believe all other Habits of the Mind(see Lee Canter's Habits of the Mind) are dependent on and affected by this one(see Posters). Another Habit of the Mind is Flexibility. One definition of Flexibility is, doing the problem more than one way. I often show my students how to do a problem more than one way. This allows them to do a problem multiple ways, knowing that if the same answer is arrived at, the student can have more confidence that their answer is correct. I want them to be right and know that they are right.
A student can not be impulsive and flexible at the same time. Many students simply want to get done when they are doing their homework. I want all of my students to take the problems in their homework seriously. I want them to practice with a strong desire to get the problems correct and be willing to do more than they need to do, to make sure they are correct. I DO NOT WANT MY STUDENTS TO PRACTICE BEING SLOBS!!! I tell them that if they spend 12 years practicing like a slob, they will probably end up being a slob. This requires each student to demonstrate Flexibility, Manage Impulsivity and Passionately Striving for Accuracy... to name 3 Habits of the Mind.
I believe the most important Learning Skill(see Posters) is Intentional Precision. I believe that this skills is foundational to all other learning skills... just like Passionately Striving for Accuracy is foundational to all other Habits of the Mind. Here is where the successful student's habit of passionately striving for accuracy shows up as a skill. This skill enables students to develop habits, routines, systems, procedures, .... whatever it takes to be right and know they are right. This is such a HUGE skill.
Once a student is at the place of believing they can learn and wanting to learn, this is the biggest habit and skill I think my students need to develop. I see it all the time. I see students that learn the material and still get problems wrong. I know I need to teach my student more than understanding a concept. I need to teach them how to algebraically solve the problem. I also need to teach them Intentional Precision as they are practicing their homework, so they practice getting the problems right and knowing that they are right.
This is an entire, belief system, desire system, emotional system, commitment system, skill system and habit system. Once a student gets here, they are ROCK STARS!! I want to do all I can to help my students get to this place. I WANT ALL OF MY STUDENTS TO PRACTICE BEING RIGHT AND KNOWING THAT THEY ARE RIGHT.
I've heard it said, "You are what you eat!" I say, "You are what you practice!"
For example, when I teach my students how to solve equations, I also teach them how to check their work. I require my students to be able to solve the problem, then double check by substituting their answer in for the variable and simplify to make sure their answer is correct. They need to finish with a SMILEY FACE, showing me that they are right and they know they are right.
Practice doesn't make you perfect... but perfect practice sure gets you closer.
'I can teach all students through Christ who strengthens me.'
Day 24
Monday, December 23, 2013
100% of my students get 100% on a test
Another math teacher at my school came up with the idea of the Perfect Test. Meaning, all students either get 100% on the test or they get a 0%. The test is tough but only has 4 or 5 problems. Their work has to be perfect and their answers have to be correct. They have until the end of the semester to be perfect. They can learn from their mistakes and keep retaking similar tests.
I tweaked his idea. I told my students that no grade would be put in the computer until after the 3rd week. In the computer, it counted as a 50 point test, not 100 points. I also told my students that when all of them reached perfection, I would bring in DONUTS for everybody. At this point in the year, I had on my poster for Heart and Head, Believe 100% Commit 100% and Desire 100%. It was amazing what this test did to my classes.
About half of my students were perfect on the test the first time. By the end of the second week there were only a handful of students that still needed to be perfect. Each time they took a different but similar test. The students rooted for each other. They encouraged and asked for and gave help to each other. The last few students, in each class, experienced positive peer pressure. When I would give a student a test, others in the class would quietly whisper words of encouragement to their classmate. When they passed, they would be congratulated and 'high fived' by their classmate. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.
When a student passed they would rip off a piece of tape and proudly walk to the back of the room and tape up their test on the wall in the back of the room. They are all there still. The last few kids were not humiliated but were loved, encouraged, exhorted, challenged and instructed. I believed they all could do it and they did!
The day after the last student passed, I brought in donuts. It was so cool. ALL OF THEM WERE PERFECT ON A TOUGH 4 PROBLEM TEST. In one class, as they were all eating their donut, one student spoke up. He told me that I needed to add '100% achieve' to the poster. I smiled and agreed and climbed up on a desk and wrote on my poster 100% ACHIEVE. Then in the very next class, as they were eating their donut, another student spoke up and said that I needed to add '100% CONFIDENCE to the poster. Smiling, I agreed and climbed up on a desk again and wrote '100% CONFIDENCE' on the poster.
Up to this point, I was asking my students to believe they could be perfect. NOW, THEY KNEW THEY COULD BECAUSE THEY ALL HAD. They closed the circle. Because they had achieve 100%, they now could have 100% confidence. This could help them to believe 100% about future tests. Then commit 100% and desire 100%.
I plan to do this every quarter. I will come up with a tough 4 to 5 problem test and expect perfection from them. Because of their past achievements, I am 100% confident they will all make it.
'I can teach ALL students through Christ who strengthen me.'
Day 23
I tweaked his idea. I told my students that no grade would be put in the computer until after the 3rd week. In the computer, it counted as a 50 point test, not 100 points. I also told my students that when all of them reached perfection, I would bring in DONUTS for everybody. At this point in the year, I had on my poster for Heart and Head, Believe 100% Commit 100% and Desire 100%. It was amazing what this test did to my classes.
About half of my students were perfect on the test the first time. By the end of the second week there were only a handful of students that still needed to be perfect. Each time they took a different but similar test. The students rooted for each other. They encouraged and asked for and gave help to each other. The last few students, in each class, experienced positive peer pressure. When I would give a student a test, others in the class would quietly whisper words of encouragement to their classmate. When they passed, they would be congratulated and 'high fived' by their classmate. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.
When a student passed they would rip off a piece of tape and proudly walk to the back of the room and tape up their test on the wall in the back of the room. They are all there still. The last few kids were not humiliated but were loved, encouraged, exhorted, challenged and instructed. I believed they all could do it and they did!
The day after the last student passed, I brought in donuts. It was so cool. ALL OF THEM WERE PERFECT ON A TOUGH 4 PROBLEM TEST. In one class, as they were all eating their donut, one student spoke up. He told me that I needed to add '100% achieve' to the poster. I smiled and agreed and climbed up on a desk and wrote on my poster 100% ACHIEVE. Then in the very next class, as they were eating their donut, another student spoke up and said that I needed to add '100% CONFIDENCE to the poster. Smiling, I agreed and climbed up on a desk again and wrote '100% CONFIDENCE' on the poster.
Up to this point, I was asking my students to believe they could be perfect. NOW, THEY KNEW THEY COULD BECAUSE THEY ALL HAD. They closed the circle. Because they had achieve 100%, they now could have 100% confidence. This could help them to believe 100% about future tests. Then commit 100% and desire 100%.
I plan to do this every quarter. I will come up with a tough 4 to 5 problem test and expect perfection from them. Because of their past achievements, I am 100% confident they will all make it.
'I can teach ALL students through Christ who strengthen me.'
Day 23
Lesson in the Leaves
This is a story I tell my classes every year. It has to do with figuring out how to have fun working hard. Successful people enjoy what they do. The key is to learn how to bring a good attitude to hard work so that one can have fun in the midst of hard work. I do this by setting a goal. I can 'see' what I want to accomplish and imagine how I'll feel when that happens. This helps me through the difficulties along the way and past the excuses that would block the way.
Story time...
When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my mom asked me to rake the leaves in the back yard one Saturday morning. It was a crisp clear fall day and hadn't rain for several weeks, so the leaves were dry and crunchy. My older brother and sister were both gone that afternoon and I don't remember where.
I didn't think it was fair and I didn't want to do it. So I started coming up with all the excuses I could to get out of it. I told her it was cold, but she just told me to dress warm.
I told her my hands would get cold. She told me to put on gloves.
I told her that it wasn't fair for me to do it without my brother and sister. She told me that life wasn't fair.
I told her that there were a lot of leaves out there and that it was going to take a long time. She told me that I better get started then.
Finally, I told her that it wasn't going to be fun. Frustrated with my whining, she told me to go out there and make it fun. The tone in her voice told me that I'd better stop trying to get out of it and simply get to work.
Discouraged, I got dressed and went outside and began to slowly rake the leaves. I was working very slowly and feeling sorry for myself. I just thought my mom was so unfair because my brother and sister weren't even here to help and there were so my leaves. Yes, there was SO MANY LEAVES!
All of the sudden, I realized that there were a lot of leaves. They would make a huge pile when I got them all raked. They were really dry and crunchy. I could 'see' with my imagination the huge pile and I could imagine how much fun I'd have jumping in the pile once I was done. It was like something out of CHARLIE BROWN.
My victim attitude was gone. Now I wanted to get done so I could jump in the leaves. I quickly made a plan of where the pile would be in the back yard and what would be the fastest way to accomplish the task. I 'saw' the back yard like a giant checker board. I would stand in one place and rake the leaves to myself as I rotated in a circle. Then I would move to the next spot in the grid and repeat the raking motion.
Once each spot in the grid had been raked into a pile, I then started carrying each small pile to the BIG PILE. I chose a spot in the yard at the bottom of a little knoll. This would be the perfect spot because I could run and jump off the top of the knoll and get the most height to land in the pile of leaves.
I was working hard. I was working fast. I was working with a great attitude. I was focused on how much fun I was going to have jumping in the pile of leaves when I was done.
I have no idea how long it took me to finish the job. I was in the zone. When I was done, I had a big pile of dry and crunchy leaves. I put the rake down and backed up so that I could make a running flying leap onto the pile. I was going to make a belly flop landing the first time and I knew it wasn't even going to hurt because the pile was so high. I was going to jump several times onto the pile... and use a different style every time!
Just before I started to run, I looked up at the house, and my mom was standing there in front of the window staring out at me with a big smile on her face. I smiled and waved back and ran as fast as I could and leaped as high as I could and performed a perfect belly flop onto the leaves. It was awesome! It didn't hurt at all! I felt like Superman flying through the air.
I raked the leaves back up into as tall of a pile as I could and backed up and did it again. This time, I did a back flop. It was so much fun. I jumped on that pile of leaves several times. My mom even came outside and watched. After a while she called me over. She told me she was proud of me and I could see it in her face. I told her that it wasn't that hard of a job. Then she told me that she was proud that I did such a good job... but she was really proud that I had made it fun.
Then it hit me. My attitude had totally changed. It wasn't whining or complaining. I had fun working!
I tell my students to set goals and imagine what it will feel like when you accomplish them. Let these awesome feelings motivate you to have fun working hard.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 22
Story time...
When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my mom asked me to rake the leaves in the back yard one Saturday morning. It was a crisp clear fall day and hadn't rain for several weeks, so the leaves were dry and crunchy. My older brother and sister were both gone that afternoon and I don't remember where.
I didn't think it was fair and I didn't want to do it. So I started coming up with all the excuses I could to get out of it. I told her it was cold, but she just told me to dress warm.
I told her my hands would get cold. She told me to put on gloves.
I told her that it wasn't fair for me to do it without my brother and sister. She told me that life wasn't fair.
I told her that there were a lot of leaves out there and that it was going to take a long time. She told me that I better get started then.
Finally, I told her that it wasn't going to be fun. Frustrated with my whining, she told me to go out there and make it fun. The tone in her voice told me that I'd better stop trying to get out of it and simply get to work.
Discouraged, I got dressed and went outside and began to slowly rake the leaves. I was working very slowly and feeling sorry for myself. I just thought my mom was so unfair because my brother and sister weren't even here to help and there were so my leaves. Yes, there was SO MANY LEAVES!
All of the sudden, I realized that there were a lot of leaves. They would make a huge pile when I got them all raked. They were really dry and crunchy. I could 'see' with my imagination the huge pile and I could imagine how much fun I'd have jumping in the pile once I was done. It was like something out of CHARLIE BROWN.
My victim attitude was gone. Now I wanted to get done so I could jump in the leaves. I quickly made a plan of where the pile would be in the back yard and what would be the fastest way to accomplish the task. I 'saw' the back yard like a giant checker board. I would stand in one place and rake the leaves to myself as I rotated in a circle. Then I would move to the next spot in the grid and repeat the raking motion.
Once each spot in the grid had been raked into a pile, I then started carrying each small pile to the BIG PILE. I chose a spot in the yard at the bottom of a little knoll. This would be the perfect spot because I could run and jump off the top of the knoll and get the most height to land in the pile of leaves.
I was working hard. I was working fast. I was working with a great attitude. I was focused on how much fun I was going to have jumping in the pile of leaves when I was done.
I have no idea how long it took me to finish the job. I was in the zone. When I was done, I had a big pile of dry and crunchy leaves. I put the rake down and backed up so that I could make a running flying leap onto the pile. I was going to make a belly flop landing the first time and I knew it wasn't even going to hurt because the pile was so high. I was going to jump several times onto the pile... and use a different style every time!
Just before I started to run, I looked up at the house, and my mom was standing there in front of the window staring out at me with a big smile on her face. I smiled and waved back and ran as fast as I could and leaped as high as I could and performed a perfect belly flop onto the leaves. It was awesome! It didn't hurt at all! I felt like Superman flying through the air.
I raked the leaves back up into as tall of a pile as I could and backed up and did it again. This time, I did a back flop. It was so much fun. I jumped on that pile of leaves several times. My mom even came outside and watched. After a while she called me over. She told me she was proud of me and I could see it in her face. I told her that it wasn't that hard of a job. Then she told me that she was proud that I did such a good job... but she was really proud that I had made it fun.
Then it hit me. My attitude had totally changed. It wasn't whining or complaining. I had fun working!
I tell my students to set goals and imagine what it will feel like when you accomplish them. Let these awesome feelings motivate you to have fun working hard.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 22
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Chili Story
I often tell stories to my students. Sometimes I tell them to make a point. Most of the time they come from my past experiences. Usually they are funny. This story is one of my student's favorites... and there is no point to the story other than to make them laugh. This story is true and I never remembered my friends little brothers name.
I had a friend in 6th grade that moved across town halfway through the school year. He called me up in late June to come for dinner and a sleep over. My parents let me go.
It was a really hot that day and they had a tent pitched in their backyard the shape of an igloo. It even had a tunnel you had to crawl through to get inside. It had no windows or floor, so it was very humid and stuffy inside. It was made of some kind material you could see shapes through without any detail.
We had chili for dinner and I had seconds. I have always loved chili. After dinner we played ping pong down stairs for a few hours. As we played we would hit the ball, then put the paddle down, then spin around, then pick the paddle up and then hit the ball again. We were drinking orange pop and eating crackers in between times when we would mess up. All this time we were keeping ourselves pretty dizzy and having a great time.
About the time the sun set, the mom came down stairs and told us to stop playing and get to bed. She meant business and didn't even tell me to brush my teeth. I remember that she had changed her clothes and was now dressed up in a fancy white dress and her hair was BIG.
So out the sliding glass door we went and across the lawn to the tent. My friend had a little brother who was excited to sleep out in the tent with his big brother and his big brother's friend. So he went in the tunnel first. I was next. I started crawling and right away I felt dizzy, then closed in, then stuffy, then a little nauseous...THEN VERY NAUSEOUS! Like a freight train coming down the track!
I quickly developed a plan. I was going to finish crawling through the tunnel into the tent, so my friend who was behind me, could finish crawling into the tent also. Then I was going to quickly crawl back outside to get some desperately needed fresh air. Great plan... but when I got to the end of the tunnel I came face to face with my friend's little brother. In the fading light, we were inches apart. I opened my mouth to say get out of the way... but when I opened my mouth... 'get out of the way' did not come out of my mouth.
Instead...AT POINT BLANK RANGE... I violently barfed on him. I still remember the look of horror on his face and the sound of projectile vomit hitting his face. It made a distinct slapping noise. To make a bad situation MUCH worse, he made the understandable mistake of screaming. I'm just going to pause here for a moment to let this all sink in......... yes... to scream... one needs to.... yes... you got... open ones mouth. That was a very bad thing to do at that moment!!
He flipped over backwards and started screaming like I've never heard anyone scream before or since (thankfully). There was the usually terror but this scream sounded like it came from the girl who was being attacked in the movie JAWS... there was also a distinct gurgling to it.
Well round one was quickly followed by round TWO. In the dim light, I barfed all over his little brother again while he was laying on his back screaming and spluttering. Then I stepped over him and quickly crawled back outside. My friend must have crawled backwards to get out of the tunnel.
Once outside I felt great. My nausea was gone.
Inside the tent however was my friends little brother. He was on his back kicking and screaming. We could see his arms and legs flailing.
All of the sudden we heard the sliding glass door slam open and out came the mom. She speedily marched across the lawn right towards me. She looked me in the eye and asked me what was going on. I looked past her and saw her little boy's arms and legs flailing and we both could hear him screaming. I knew what was going on... but I couldn't describe it to her. She stood there, for what felt like, a very long time, waiting for my answer. I stood there like a deer in the head lights and said nothing.
Finally, her motherly instincts must have kicked in, because all of the sudden she gave up, wheeled around, walked over to the tent, kneeled down, and started crawling into the tunnel. I had a side view to what was happening. I could see her approaching her son. She had to be thinking as she was crawling into the darkness, 'What is wrong with my son?' and 'What is that smell?'
She could not see him. She crawled right up to him and when she got there, OUT OF THE DARKNESS, the little boy latched onto his mom with both slimy arms and slimy legs and she let out a scream like only a grown woman can do. It was impressive!
Then she slipped and went down and they both started wrestling and screaming, in the tent, in the darkness, in the barf. My friend and I just stood there watching the train wreck. Don't judge us... we couldn't help ourselves.
Suddenly, the father was standing in front of me. He asked me what was going on. Again, I knew what was going on but there was no way I was going to try to describe it to him. He didn't wait for an answer nearly as long as his wife did. After a brief stare and pause, he spun around, walked over to the tent, bent over and climbed into the tunnel. He didn't get very far.
I heard him say, "What?" and like the monster Godzilla in a movie, as it frees itself from being tied down, the father stood up, ripping the tent pegs out of the ground. Then he threw the tent to the side and helped his wife and youngest son to their feet.
In the fading light I was shocked by what I saw. The mom, who had a fancy white dress on and BIG hair, was totally repulsed to see how her dress was now a brownish orange color with chunks of beans stuck to her. Her hair was matted down. Her skin glistened with the sheen of the slime. As she stood there looking herself over, she began freaking out and started screaming and shaking.
The little brother was COVERED from head to toe with the brownish orange slime. He could not even see because it thickly covered his face. He was still spluttering. THEN ... with his index finger on his right hand he wiped away enough of the slime to look across the lawn and spot me. Then he suddenly pointed that slime drenched finger at me and his dad sternly looked at me and quickly did the math.
He knew I was the cause and without a word marched towards me. I thought he was going to rip me to pieces, he looked so mad. Like a vice grip, he grabbed me by the arm and led me in the house, up the stairs, to the phone. I called home and told my mom to come get me. He hung up the phone before my mom could ask why and marched me out the front door and left me on the front porch to wait for my mom.
It was only about a 10 minute wait but it felt like hours. During this time there was still such a big commotion in the back yard. The little brother was still spluttering and crying. The mom was screaming and crying hysterically. Neighborhood dogs were barking. Lights were coming on and neighbors were coming over to find out what was going on. It was turning into a real block party.
Finally my mom drove up. I ran to the car, opened the door and jumped in, then told her to ,"GO!" ... like I had just robbed a bank. To my agony she did the mom thing. She folded her arms and told me that she wasn't going anywhere until I explained what was going on. Exasperated, I rolled down my window so she could her all of the noise. I waved my arms around and told her, "That is all because of me." This only confused her more. We still weren't moving!! Then I told her, "I barfed in his little brothers face, in the tent, at point blank range, and him and his mother rolled in it." Then my mom did something I was totally surprised by... she didn't yell at me. Instead she simply said, "Oh." and we started driving away.
She covered my view of her face as she drove and she started to shake. She didn't want me to see that she thought it was funny. Suddenly she stopped the car and asked where my sleeping bag was. I told her that there was no way I was going to go back there and get it. She paused for a moment and then drove on. She was desperately trying to not laugh and to not let me know she thought it was funny. We almost got in an accident because she drove through an intersection without looking both ways. Finally she couldn't take it any longer, and to my amazement, she burst out laughing. We laughed the rest of the way home.
Day 21
I had a friend in 6th grade that moved across town halfway through the school year. He called me up in late June to come for dinner and a sleep over. My parents let me go.
It was a really hot that day and they had a tent pitched in their backyard the shape of an igloo. It even had a tunnel you had to crawl through to get inside. It had no windows or floor, so it was very humid and stuffy inside. It was made of some kind material you could see shapes through without any detail.
We had chili for dinner and I had seconds. I have always loved chili. After dinner we played ping pong down stairs for a few hours. As we played we would hit the ball, then put the paddle down, then spin around, then pick the paddle up and then hit the ball again. We were drinking orange pop and eating crackers in between times when we would mess up. All this time we were keeping ourselves pretty dizzy and having a great time.
About the time the sun set, the mom came down stairs and told us to stop playing and get to bed. She meant business and didn't even tell me to brush my teeth. I remember that she had changed her clothes and was now dressed up in a fancy white dress and her hair was BIG.
So out the sliding glass door we went and across the lawn to the tent. My friend had a little brother who was excited to sleep out in the tent with his big brother and his big brother's friend. So he went in the tunnel first. I was next. I started crawling and right away I felt dizzy, then closed in, then stuffy, then a little nauseous...THEN VERY NAUSEOUS! Like a freight train coming down the track!
I quickly developed a plan. I was going to finish crawling through the tunnel into the tent, so my friend who was behind me, could finish crawling into the tent also. Then I was going to quickly crawl back outside to get some desperately needed fresh air. Great plan... but when I got to the end of the tunnel I came face to face with my friend's little brother. In the fading light, we were inches apart. I opened my mouth to say get out of the way... but when I opened my mouth... 'get out of the way' did not come out of my mouth.
Instead...AT POINT BLANK RANGE... I violently barfed on him. I still remember the look of horror on his face and the sound of projectile vomit hitting his face. It made a distinct slapping noise. To make a bad situation MUCH worse, he made the understandable mistake of screaming. I'm just going to pause here for a moment to let this all sink in......... yes... to scream... one needs to.... yes... you got... open ones mouth. That was a very bad thing to do at that moment!!
He flipped over backwards and started screaming like I've never heard anyone scream before or since (thankfully). There was the usually terror but this scream sounded like it came from the girl who was being attacked in the movie JAWS... there was also a distinct gurgling to it.
Well round one was quickly followed by round TWO. In the dim light, I barfed all over his little brother again while he was laying on his back screaming and spluttering. Then I stepped over him and quickly crawled back outside. My friend must have crawled backwards to get out of the tunnel.
Once outside I felt great. My nausea was gone.
Inside the tent however was my friends little brother. He was on his back kicking and screaming. We could see his arms and legs flailing.
All of the sudden we heard the sliding glass door slam open and out came the mom. She speedily marched across the lawn right towards me. She looked me in the eye and asked me what was going on. I looked past her and saw her little boy's arms and legs flailing and we both could hear him screaming. I knew what was going on... but I couldn't describe it to her. She stood there, for what felt like, a very long time, waiting for my answer. I stood there like a deer in the head lights and said nothing.
Finally, her motherly instincts must have kicked in, because all of the sudden she gave up, wheeled around, walked over to the tent, kneeled down, and started crawling into the tunnel. I had a side view to what was happening. I could see her approaching her son. She had to be thinking as she was crawling into the darkness, 'What is wrong with my son?' and 'What is that smell?'
She could not see him. She crawled right up to him and when she got there, OUT OF THE DARKNESS, the little boy latched onto his mom with both slimy arms and slimy legs and she let out a scream like only a grown woman can do. It was impressive!
Then she slipped and went down and they both started wrestling and screaming, in the tent, in the darkness, in the barf. My friend and I just stood there watching the train wreck. Don't judge us... we couldn't help ourselves.
Suddenly, the father was standing in front of me. He asked me what was going on. Again, I knew what was going on but there was no way I was going to try to describe it to him. He didn't wait for an answer nearly as long as his wife did. After a brief stare and pause, he spun around, walked over to the tent, bent over and climbed into the tunnel. He didn't get very far.
I heard him say, "What?" and like the monster Godzilla in a movie, as it frees itself from being tied down, the father stood up, ripping the tent pegs out of the ground. Then he threw the tent to the side and helped his wife and youngest son to their feet.
In the fading light I was shocked by what I saw. The mom, who had a fancy white dress on and BIG hair, was totally repulsed to see how her dress was now a brownish orange color with chunks of beans stuck to her. Her hair was matted down. Her skin glistened with the sheen of the slime. As she stood there looking herself over, she began freaking out and started screaming and shaking.
The little brother was COVERED from head to toe with the brownish orange slime. He could not even see because it thickly covered his face. He was still spluttering. THEN ... with his index finger on his right hand he wiped away enough of the slime to look across the lawn and spot me. Then he suddenly pointed that slime drenched finger at me and his dad sternly looked at me and quickly did the math.
He knew I was the cause and without a word marched towards me. I thought he was going to rip me to pieces, he looked so mad. Like a vice grip, he grabbed me by the arm and led me in the house, up the stairs, to the phone. I called home and told my mom to come get me. He hung up the phone before my mom could ask why and marched me out the front door and left me on the front porch to wait for my mom.
It was only about a 10 minute wait but it felt like hours. During this time there was still such a big commotion in the back yard. The little brother was still spluttering and crying. The mom was screaming and crying hysterically. Neighborhood dogs were barking. Lights were coming on and neighbors were coming over to find out what was going on. It was turning into a real block party.
Finally my mom drove up. I ran to the car, opened the door and jumped in, then told her to ,"GO!" ... like I had just robbed a bank. To my agony she did the mom thing. She folded her arms and told me that she wasn't going anywhere until I explained what was going on. Exasperated, I rolled down my window so she could her all of the noise. I waved my arms around and told her, "That is all because of me." This only confused her more. We still weren't moving!! Then I told her, "I barfed in his little brothers face, in the tent, at point blank range, and him and his mother rolled in it." Then my mom did something I was totally surprised by... she didn't yell at me. Instead she simply said, "Oh." and we started driving away.
She covered my view of her face as she drove and she started to shake. She didn't want me to see that she thought it was funny. Suddenly she stopped the car and asked where my sleeping bag was. I told her that there was no way I was going to go back there and get it. She paused for a moment and then drove on. She was desperately trying to not laugh and to not let me know she thought it was funny. We almost got in an accident because she drove through an intersection without looking both ways. Finally she couldn't take it any longer, and to my amazement, she burst out laughing. We laughed the rest of the way home.
Day 21
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Clarification, Tears and Homework
My students recently took a test and many did well but there were about 5 in each class that didn't. As I'm grading their tests, I'm rooting for them. I am excited for the students that do well, especially when they haven't before. I'm excited for the students that show tremendous improvement. I am saddened for the students that do poorly.
I walked around and showed each student their test score from my grade book. I always interview the students that received an 'A' and/or improved a lot, by asking them, in front of the class, what were the main reasons they got such a good grade. I simply let the successful students tell me and their classmates what Learning Skills they felt were the most helpful to them. This is such a powerful time of debriefing after a test as we get ready to start a new chapter. It helps all students to pick a few skills to focus on in the next chapter that will help them improve and/or be successful. They look for to this!!!
I had one student bring me to tears during this interview process. I'll call this student Charlie. Charlie has historically been a poor math student. Charlie told me and her classmates about her parent's reaction to the news of how she did on the test. Her description was vivid and I found myself, 'watching' the events through my minds eye. The joy, relief, praise, hugs, congratulations and words of encouragement, that Charlie described to all of us, that were given to her by her parents, overwhelmed me with emotions. I was suddenly impacted by a deep sense or responsibility, joy and gratitude. These are peoples lives and these tests are often a very big deal not only to my students, but also to their parents.
Today though, I felt the need to make a clarification. I told all of my students that I wanted them to know that I cared about them regardless of their performance on the test. I don't want any of my students to feel uncared for because they didn't do so well on the test. I looked around the room as I spoke, making eye contact with all of my students. I told them I want to demonstrate unconditional love to each of them.
Then I gave them their homework assignment for over the Christmas vacation. I asked each of them to think about what is making it difficult to improve... I called these obstacles. I told them that I needed their help in identifying these. I also asked them to think about what their holes may be, if any. These are places where bridges need to be built to get across because without them they seem to be impossibilities. I told my students that so far I had been doing all of of diagnosing of obstacles and holes for the class as a whole. NOW I NEEDED THEIR HELP TO GO FURTHER INDIVIDUALLY. I need each of my students to help me help them. I have seen a tremendous amount of improvement in many students and in my classes as a whole. I am looking forward to the rest of the year.
'I CAN TEACH ALL OF MY STUDENTS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHEN ME.'
Day 20
I walked around and showed each student their test score from my grade book. I always interview the students that received an 'A' and/or improved a lot, by asking them, in front of the class, what were the main reasons they got such a good grade. I simply let the successful students tell me and their classmates what Learning Skills they felt were the most helpful to them. This is such a powerful time of debriefing after a test as we get ready to start a new chapter. It helps all students to pick a few skills to focus on in the next chapter that will help them improve and/or be successful. They look for to this!!!
I had one student bring me to tears during this interview process. I'll call this student Charlie. Charlie has historically been a poor math student. Charlie told me and her classmates about her parent's reaction to the news of how she did on the test. Her description was vivid and I found myself, 'watching' the events through my minds eye. The joy, relief, praise, hugs, congratulations and words of encouragement, that Charlie described to all of us, that were given to her by her parents, overwhelmed me with emotions. I was suddenly impacted by a deep sense or responsibility, joy and gratitude. These are peoples lives and these tests are often a very big deal not only to my students, but also to their parents.
Today though, I felt the need to make a clarification. I told all of my students that I wanted them to know that I cared about them regardless of their performance on the test. I don't want any of my students to feel uncared for because they didn't do so well on the test. I looked around the room as I spoke, making eye contact with all of my students. I told them I want to demonstrate unconditional love to each of them.
Then I gave them their homework assignment for over the Christmas vacation. I asked each of them to think about what is making it difficult to improve... I called these obstacles. I told them that I needed their help in identifying these. I also asked them to think about what their holes may be, if any. These are places where bridges need to be built to get across because without them they seem to be impossibilities. I told my students that so far I had been doing all of of diagnosing of obstacles and holes for the class as a whole. NOW I NEEDED THEIR HELP TO GO FURTHER INDIVIDUALLY. I need each of my students to help me help them. I have seen a tremendous amount of improvement in many students and in my classes as a whole. I am looking forward to the rest of the year.
'I CAN TEACH ALL OF MY STUDENTS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHEN ME.'
Day 20
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Successes and failures
About a month ago I gave a test to my Algebra students. I had a few of my lab students fail the test miserably. I decided that I needed to change the way I graded my Lab classes. The class is pass/fail and the students were all going to pass as long as they tried. I realized that my Lab students needed to earn their pass... not get a pass for simply showing up and 'trying'.
I told my student that from now on they will be given a quiz on Mon, Wed, and Fri. at the end of each day. The quizzes will be over review material and the students can use notes. I told them that they have to pass at least half of their quizzes to pass the class. At first most of my students failed these quizzes, however, after about 3 of them, they have been doing great. All of my Lab students are passing Lab and they are earning their grade. The quizzes are over material they are doing in their regular class. It is my goal that they learn enough of the strategies, skills and concepts on the four posters, that they are successful in their regular math class this year and in the future. It is also my goal that they learn enough to be successful in all of their classes this year and in the future. It is also my goal that they learn enough to be successful when they are finished with school.
I WANT THEM TO SUCCEED AT LIFE.
I have a student, I'll call Bob, who got a grade in the low 40s on the last test. This student passed every quiz, in Lab, during this chapter. I was very hopeful that Bob would do well on this test they just took. He got a grade in the upper 70s!!! I SAT THERE WITH GOOSE BUMPS ALL OVER MY BODY WHEN I FINISHED GRADING HIS TEST. I was so happy for him. Bob demonstrated tremendous improvement. When I told Bob the score he received, he was disappointed! I was very surprised by his reaction at first. But then I was embarrassed that I was surprised... Bob was simply doing a great job of aiming high and trying his best and believing he could do well. Bob was following my directions. I encouraged and complemented him on his improvement. I then encouraged Bob to aim for an A on the next test. He smiled. I told Bob that I saw him as a successful math student. I asked Bob if he saw himself as one now. He smiled again and nodded 'YES!'
GOOSE BUMPS!!!
I graded another students test, who I also have in Lab, and this student got his first A. He had gotten Cs and Ds on his other tests. I was so happy for him, proud of his growth and improvement and grateful for this humbling responsibility of a vocations that is called TEACHING.
I LOVE MY JOB!!
I get to see kids grow and have a part in helping young people change, learn and succeed. I pray every day for my students. I ask God to help me improve as a teacher. I ask God to help me be the best teacher I can be for HIS glory and my joy and their success. I desperately want to stay humble and always and only seek to glorify HIM and not myself. I cling to the promise, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!" As a teacher... I paraphrase this verse to... I CAN TEACH ALL STUDENTS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!!
I had 2 of my Lab students, that I also have in regular Algebra, fail this recent test. I feel bad for them. I know they tried. I feel like I have failed them. I know I need to encourage them, love them, motivate them, exhort them, believe in them regardless of how they do on a test. I WANT ALL MY STUDENTS TO KNOW THAT I CARE ABOUT THEM AND BELIEVE IN THEM. If they change and/or when they change does not matter. The value I show I have for them should not matter on what they do or don't do. I want and need to demonstrate love for them unconditionally. Perfect love casts out all fears and opens the doors to change and growth. The problem is, I fail every day at this. But the exciting this is, I get to try again tomorrow!!
Day 19
I told my student that from now on they will be given a quiz on Mon, Wed, and Fri. at the end of each day. The quizzes will be over review material and the students can use notes. I told them that they have to pass at least half of their quizzes to pass the class. At first most of my students failed these quizzes, however, after about 3 of them, they have been doing great. All of my Lab students are passing Lab and they are earning their grade. The quizzes are over material they are doing in their regular class. It is my goal that they learn enough of the strategies, skills and concepts on the four posters, that they are successful in their regular math class this year and in the future. It is also my goal that they learn enough to be successful in all of their classes this year and in the future. It is also my goal that they learn enough to be successful when they are finished with school.
I WANT THEM TO SUCCEED AT LIFE.
I have a student, I'll call Bob, who got a grade in the low 40s on the last test. This student passed every quiz, in Lab, during this chapter. I was very hopeful that Bob would do well on this test they just took. He got a grade in the upper 70s!!! I SAT THERE WITH GOOSE BUMPS ALL OVER MY BODY WHEN I FINISHED GRADING HIS TEST. I was so happy for him. Bob demonstrated tremendous improvement. When I told Bob the score he received, he was disappointed! I was very surprised by his reaction at first. But then I was embarrassed that I was surprised... Bob was simply doing a great job of aiming high and trying his best and believing he could do well. Bob was following my directions. I encouraged and complemented him on his improvement. I then encouraged Bob to aim for an A on the next test. He smiled. I told Bob that I saw him as a successful math student. I asked Bob if he saw himself as one now. He smiled again and nodded 'YES!'
GOOSE BUMPS!!!
I graded another students test, who I also have in Lab, and this student got his first A. He had gotten Cs and Ds on his other tests. I was so happy for him, proud of his growth and improvement and grateful for this humbling responsibility of a vocations that is called TEACHING.
I LOVE MY JOB!!
I get to see kids grow and have a part in helping young people change, learn and succeed. I pray every day for my students. I ask God to help me improve as a teacher. I ask God to help me be the best teacher I can be for HIS glory and my joy and their success. I desperately want to stay humble and always and only seek to glorify HIM and not myself. I cling to the promise, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!" As a teacher... I paraphrase this verse to... I CAN TEACH ALL STUDENTS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!!
I had 2 of my Lab students, that I also have in regular Algebra, fail this recent test. I feel bad for them. I know they tried. I feel like I have failed them. I know I need to encourage them, love them, motivate them, exhort them, believe in them regardless of how they do on a test. I WANT ALL MY STUDENTS TO KNOW THAT I CARE ABOUT THEM AND BELIEVE IN THEM. If they change and/or when they change does not matter. The value I show I have for them should not matter on what they do or don't do. I want and need to demonstrate love for them unconditionally. Perfect love casts out all fears and opens the doors to change and growth. The problem is, I fail every day at this. But the exciting this is, I get to try again tomorrow!!
Day 19
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Cotopaxi
All Learning Skills are important and some of them are hard for some student to acquire.
Follow directions the first time is one of my 5 classroom rules. It is a very important Learning Skill. Successful students readily listen, take notes and follow directions. Most unsuccessful students struggle with following directions. There are many factors that cause this.
First, they have Heart and Head issues. They see themselves as struggling students and this belief system becomes a self-fulling prophecy, and it also impact the desire to learn... Why try to learn some thing that I know I can't? I am continually encouraging, challenging, exhorting and instructing my students to help them with their belief system.
Second, some of my students are simply willful. If they are asked to do something, that will be the last thing they will want to do. They have a rebellious attitude about them that often leads them down roads covered with poor choices. I have to be loving, patient and still firm with these students. These are the students that can take the longest to come around. The key with these students is to stay in HOPE land and keep yourself in the place where you continually have a good attitude. DON'T LET THEM MAKE YOU MAD!! For some of these students, that is their goal.
Third, some simply are not at the place of truly trusting me and respecting me. This is evident as they struggle with obeying me by following direction right away. For some students, I have to earn their trust and respect. They are watching and evaluating me. I tell my students, that if they don't think I'm a good teacher, to ask their parents to transfer them out to another teacher. I simply want them to learn, grow and succeed.
Fourth, some students simply are not that good at following detailed directions. But with practice, patience and encouragement, they improve.
I tell my student the following story to make my point about following directions.
When I was 42 years old I taught at a missionary school in Ecuador called Nate Saint Memorial School. My entire family went and lived there for the year. During this time I became friends with many of the parents of my students. A few of them were interested in climbing some of the mountains down there. Ecuador has 10 mountains over 16,000 ft tall. So we started training to climb Mt Cotopaxi. It is 19,340 ft in elevation. I tore some cartilage in my right knee about 6 weeks before our scheduled climb date. So I took a month off from training. Two weeks before our climb, I started training again. This was not enough time. A week into the training and with only one week to go, my knee started bothering me again. So I stopped.
I am an X wrestler. One thing wrestling teaches is NEVER QUIT!! I am a lousy quitter.
We hired guides. We drove to about 14,000 ft to park the van. We hiked up to the REFUGIO (Which reminded me of the rough tavern up in the Himalayas in Raiders of the Lost Ark) We did a practice climb on the edge of the glacier, late that after noon. Then we went back to the Refugio for dinner then off to bed. The problem with trying to sleep at around 15,500 ft elevation for me was, the air was too thin. I had to take deep breaths every 3rd or 4th breath. Plus I was excited.
We got up at about midnight. It was a full moon that night by out planning. They say you get better weather on full moons... or at least that is what we were told. It worked out well that night for weather. It had been over 3 weeks since the last group had successfully climbed Mt. Cotopaxi.
We hiked up to where the snow and ice line was and started putting on all of our equipment. There was 9 of us total. 3 guide and 6 hikers. One guide, named Oso (bear), quickly picked his two hikers and tied them up on his rope and was getting ready to head out, when the head guide stopped him and told him to take me also. They we speaking in Spanish fast, I am not fluent, but I got the gist of what was going on. Oso looked me over and wanted no part of me. The argument continued... finally Oso gave in and briskly walked over and without a word tied me in on his rope about 25 ft behind him.
I don't know about you, but I don't like being told that I'm not going to be able to do something. I was not in good enough shape for the climb, but I had 4 things going for me. First, the verse, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Second, I am a lousy quitter. Third, I really wanted to make it and had just be told ... in so many words... that I wasn't going to make it. Fourth, I had a great guide.
I decided right then and there that I was going to be the best climber Oso ever led up the mountain. I decided that when he steps, I will step and where he steps, I will step. The rope will N EVER hit the snow. He will NEVER feel me behind him. It took us about 7 hour to reach the summit. The other two groups did not make it. Only our group made it! It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life. It was also one of the coolest things I've ever done.
Oso had summitted the mountain about 100 times already. I trusted Oso. I respected Oso.
I tell my students that I've climbed this mountain of Algebra about 25 times already. Step where I step. Step when I step and it will be the easiest it can be. It still may be very difficult. I can't carry you, but I know the best way to the top...TRUST ME, OBEY ME, FOLLOW ME TO THE TOP!!
Day 18
Follow directions the first time is one of my 5 classroom rules. It is a very important Learning Skill. Successful students readily listen, take notes and follow directions. Most unsuccessful students struggle with following directions. There are many factors that cause this.
First, they have Heart and Head issues. They see themselves as struggling students and this belief system becomes a self-fulling prophecy, and it also impact the desire to learn... Why try to learn some thing that I know I can't? I am continually encouraging, challenging, exhorting and instructing my students to help them with their belief system.
Second, some of my students are simply willful. If they are asked to do something, that will be the last thing they will want to do. They have a rebellious attitude about them that often leads them down roads covered with poor choices. I have to be loving, patient and still firm with these students. These are the students that can take the longest to come around. The key with these students is to stay in HOPE land and keep yourself in the place where you continually have a good attitude. DON'T LET THEM MAKE YOU MAD!! For some of these students, that is their goal.
Third, some simply are not at the place of truly trusting me and respecting me. This is evident as they struggle with obeying me by following direction right away. For some students, I have to earn their trust and respect. They are watching and evaluating me. I tell my students, that if they don't think I'm a good teacher, to ask their parents to transfer them out to another teacher. I simply want them to learn, grow and succeed.
Fourth, some students simply are not that good at following detailed directions. But with practice, patience and encouragement, they improve.
I tell my student the following story to make my point about following directions.
When I was 42 years old I taught at a missionary school in Ecuador called Nate Saint Memorial School. My entire family went and lived there for the year. During this time I became friends with many of the parents of my students. A few of them were interested in climbing some of the mountains down there. Ecuador has 10 mountains over 16,000 ft tall. So we started training to climb Mt Cotopaxi. It is 19,340 ft in elevation. I tore some cartilage in my right knee about 6 weeks before our scheduled climb date. So I took a month off from training. Two weeks before our climb, I started training again. This was not enough time. A week into the training and with only one week to go, my knee started bothering me again. So I stopped.
I am an X wrestler. One thing wrestling teaches is NEVER QUIT!! I am a lousy quitter.
We hired guides. We drove to about 14,000 ft to park the van. We hiked up to the REFUGIO (Which reminded me of the rough tavern up in the Himalayas in Raiders of the Lost Ark) We did a practice climb on the edge of the glacier, late that after noon. Then we went back to the Refugio for dinner then off to bed. The problem with trying to sleep at around 15,500 ft elevation for me was, the air was too thin. I had to take deep breaths every 3rd or 4th breath. Plus I was excited.
We got up at about midnight. It was a full moon that night by out planning. They say you get better weather on full moons... or at least that is what we were told. It worked out well that night for weather. It had been over 3 weeks since the last group had successfully climbed Mt. Cotopaxi.
We hiked up to where the snow and ice line was and started putting on all of our equipment. There was 9 of us total. 3 guide and 6 hikers. One guide, named Oso (bear), quickly picked his two hikers and tied them up on his rope and was getting ready to head out, when the head guide stopped him and told him to take me also. They we speaking in Spanish fast, I am not fluent, but I got the gist of what was going on. Oso looked me over and wanted no part of me. The argument continued... finally Oso gave in and briskly walked over and without a word tied me in on his rope about 25 ft behind him.
I don't know about you, but I don't like being told that I'm not going to be able to do something. I was not in good enough shape for the climb, but I had 4 things going for me. First, the verse, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Second, I am a lousy quitter. Third, I really wanted to make it and had just be told ... in so many words... that I wasn't going to make it. Fourth, I had a great guide.
I decided right then and there that I was going to be the best climber Oso ever led up the mountain. I decided that when he steps, I will step and where he steps, I will step. The rope will N EVER hit the snow. He will NEVER feel me behind him. It took us about 7 hour to reach the summit. The other two groups did not make it. Only our group made it! It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life. It was also one of the coolest things I've ever done.
Oso had summitted the mountain about 100 times already. I trusted Oso. I respected Oso.
I tell my students that I've climbed this mountain of Algebra about 25 times already. Step where I step. Step when I step and it will be the easiest it can be. It still may be very difficult. I can't carry you, but I know the best way to the top...TRUST ME, OBEY ME, FOLLOW ME TO THE TOP!!
Day 18
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Respect, listening and relationship
It is foolish to think that all of my students are good listeners. Listening is a Behavior of Intelligence
(see Lee Canter's Habits of the Mind). It is a habit that helps us demonstrate intelligence. It is a very difficult habit to excel in because of our selfishness. Yes, you heard me... I'm selfish at times and you are selfish at times.
The first concept I teach my students, when it comes to listening, is deference. This is a rarely used word because it rarely happens outside of sports. One example of when we see it happen all the time is in the coin toss before the start of a football game. One choice, the winner of the toss has, is to defer. This means to let the other team pick first what they want. In a conversation, the listener needs to defer to the speaker. This means, the listener needs to put the speaker FIRST. The listener needs to put aside all of the things they want to think about and say and simply focus on what the speaker is saying and try their best to understand the speaker. To be a great listener, one needs to intentionally put the speaker ahead of SELF. This is hard, but we can all get better with practice. I know I need God's help as I learn more and more to die to my selfishness.
QUESTION: Have you ever been talking to someone and you thought they were listening to you, but when you paused, they started talking about something totally different than what you had been talking about... and you weren't even finished yet? Did you get a creepy feeling like... Wow, they weren't even listening to me!???
I teach my students that listening involves selflessness. We need to put the speaker first. We need to put away our stuff. We need to think about what the speaker is saying. We need to look at the speaker and pay attention to their body language, facial expressions, voice fluctuations and emotions. I've heard it said that 80% of communication is non-verbal. We also need to hold still as we are listening so as not to distract others... again, show deference to others. I teach my students that it is simply RUDE to not listen well to someone who is speaking to you. I tell them that I feel disrespected when they don't listen well to me. I appeal to them on a relational level. I want my students and myself to demonstrate respect to each other by being good listeners. I expect my students to demonstrate respect to themselves, other students and me. I challenge them when I see poor body language, as they are listening. I'll ask the student that is slumped over in their desk and looking bored, if this is how they would act if they were sitting in an interview for a well paying job they really want. I want to teach them how to demonstrate respect to others in their listening. Again, this is such a big LIFE SKILL.
An example I often give here is from my relationship with my wife. This has happened several times. We will be driving in the car and I'll be listening to a football game on the radio and the game will almost be over and she will ask me a question. Her timing is amazing and I'm still not sure if it is some sort of test. I will suddenly be confronted with the harsh choice of talking to her or listening to the radio. I am a man and like most men... I have a hard time multi-tasking. I've tried doing both at the same time and I do a lousy job of both when I try. So... when this happens... I reach over and turn off the radio and give my wife my full attention. My actions speak way louder than my words. She would much rather me live I LOVE YOU then be regularly selfish and always say I love you. The boys in my class, when I tell this story, are always incredulous. They simply can't believe I would turn off the radio. I tell them that I want to LIVE LIKE I LOVE MY WIFE...NOT JUST SAY THE WORDS. At this the girls all smile because that is exactly what they would want to happen, but are surprised it did. I am a very blessed man. When I get home, my wife stops whatever she is doing and comes to greet me with a smile, hug and a kiss. I am a very blessed man and I will happily turning off the radio every time she asks me a question, right at the end of the big game, to shown her I love her
Listening is hard because of selfishness. Respect is essential to relationships. Love is a verb that needs to be shown in little and consistent ways. My desire and goal is to demonstrate consistent love to each of my students and to train them to respect themselves as they show respect to their classmates and me.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 17
(see Lee Canter's Habits of the Mind). It is a habit that helps us demonstrate intelligence. It is a very difficult habit to excel in because of our selfishness. Yes, you heard me... I'm selfish at times and you are selfish at times.
The first concept I teach my students, when it comes to listening, is deference. This is a rarely used word because it rarely happens outside of sports. One example of when we see it happen all the time is in the coin toss before the start of a football game. One choice, the winner of the toss has, is to defer. This means to let the other team pick first what they want. In a conversation, the listener needs to defer to the speaker. This means, the listener needs to put the speaker FIRST. The listener needs to put aside all of the things they want to think about and say and simply focus on what the speaker is saying and try their best to understand the speaker. To be a great listener, one needs to intentionally put the speaker ahead of SELF. This is hard, but we can all get better with practice. I know I need God's help as I learn more and more to die to my selfishness.
QUESTION: Have you ever been talking to someone and you thought they were listening to you, but when you paused, they started talking about something totally different than what you had been talking about... and you weren't even finished yet? Did you get a creepy feeling like... Wow, they weren't even listening to me!???
I teach my students that listening involves selflessness. We need to put the speaker first. We need to put away our stuff. We need to think about what the speaker is saying. We need to look at the speaker and pay attention to their body language, facial expressions, voice fluctuations and emotions. I've heard it said that 80% of communication is non-verbal. We also need to hold still as we are listening so as not to distract others... again, show deference to others. I teach my students that it is simply RUDE to not listen well to someone who is speaking to you. I tell them that I feel disrespected when they don't listen well to me. I appeal to them on a relational level. I want my students and myself to demonstrate respect to each other by being good listeners. I expect my students to demonstrate respect to themselves, other students and me. I challenge them when I see poor body language, as they are listening. I'll ask the student that is slumped over in their desk and looking bored, if this is how they would act if they were sitting in an interview for a well paying job they really want. I want to teach them how to demonstrate respect to others in their listening. Again, this is such a big LIFE SKILL.
An example I often give here is from my relationship with my wife. This has happened several times. We will be driving in the car and I'll be listening to a football game on the radio and the game will almost be over and she will ask me a question. Her timing is amazing and I'm still not sure if it is some sort of test. I will suddenly be confronted with the harsh choice of talking to her or listening to the radio. I am a man and like most men... I have a hard time multi-tasking. I've tried doing both at the same time and I do a lousy job of both when I try. So... when this happens... I reach over and turn off the radio and give my wife my full attention. My actions speak way louder than my words. She would much rather me live I LOVE YOU then be regularly selfish and always say I love you. The boys in my class, when I tell this story, are always incredulous. They simply can't believe I would turn off the radio. I tell them that I want to LIVE LIKE I LOVE MY WIFE...NOT JUST SAY THE WORDS. At this the girls all smile because that is exactly what they would want to happen, but are surprised it did. I am a very blessed man. When I get home, my wife stops whatever she is doing and comes to greet me with a smile, hug and a kiss. I am a very blessed man and I will happily turning off the radio every time she asks me a question, right at the end of the big game, to shown her I love her
Listening is hard because of selfishness. Respect is essential to relationships. Love is a verb that needs to be shown in little and consistent ways. My desire and goal is to demonstrate consistent love to each of my students and to train them to respect themselves as they show respect to their classmates and me.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 17
Monday, December 16, 2013
Intentional Precision
For the past few weeks I've been wrestling with trying to name, describe, explain and teach a strategy that successful student use. Today in 3rd period, the name finally came to me. I was so excited, I quickly wrote it on the white board at the front of the room and asked my students if the name made sense to them... they agreed. The strategy I've been wrestling with is INTENTIONAL PRECISION.
THIS IS SUCH A BIG IDEA!
I can teach my student how to do all of the problems in a chapter and they can even learn how to do all the problem (I know... it is not teaching unless they are learning!!), but they still can do poorly on a test unless they also learn how to do the problems with INTENTIONAL PRECISION. This is the place where a successful student: defers... listens... hears... ; follows directions completely; takes and uses effectives notes; learns from their mistakes quickly; practices with intensity and develops habits, beliefs, strategies, systems, routines to ensure they do the problems correctly. They know they can mess up and so they do all they can to create habits and routines to eliminate and catch ALL MISTAKES.
I've talked about this over the past few blogs but it is very weird trying to explain and teach a concept I can't even name.
Here are some student examples to make my point of the importance of Intentional Precision;
Sara is a student that is pretty sharp. She quickly understands a new concept taught but routinely gets problems wrong in practice because the most important thing to her, when doing her practice, is getting done. She lacks Intentional Precision. I have been pounding away at getting her to improve on being more and more Intentionally Precise. She is at the place now of admitting that she needs to improve. I need to be patient and kind regardless of how long it takes for her to show real improvement in this area.
Gandalf is not as sharp as Sara but he is still very capable. He doesn't do a very good job of listening, so he also struggles with following directions. When he does his practice he routinely makes mistakes because his notes are incomplete and/or he doesn't use them. He seems unaware of the possibility that he may get the problem wrong, so he does not do anything to double check his work or avoid mistakes. I keep pointing out to Gandalf where he could improve. I can't change him. I need to love him right where he is, but I need to continually encourage, challenge, exhort, motivate and hold up a mirror to him to help bring him to the place where he will change.
The most important thing for my students to learn is: I CARE ABOUT THEM. For a few really troubled students... this may be all they learn from me because they are often absent and are dramatically impacted by their life situation and/or poor personal decisions.
Sam was a student I had last year. He transferred into my class half way through second semester. He showed up about once a week. He failed miserably. He was totally lost when he was in class but I focused on trying to make him feel welcome when he did show up. He had no chance of passing because of his absenteeism. He was a student I was only going to get to teach one thing to... and that was that I cared for him. Life is only about relationships. Everything is just stuff.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day16
THIS IS SUCH A BIG IDEA!
I can teach my student how to do all of the problems in a chapter and they can even learn how to do all the problem (I know... it is not teaching unless they are learning!!), but they still can do poorly on a test unless they also learn how to do the problems with INTENTIONAL PRECISION. This is the place where a successful student: defers... listens... hears... ; follows directions completely; takes and uses effectives notes; learns from their mistakes quickly; practices with intensity and develops habits, beliefs, strategies, systems, routines to ensure they do the problems correctly. They know they can mess up and so they do all they can to create habits and routines to eliminate and catch ALL MISTAKES.
I've talked about this over the past few blogs but it is very weird trying to explain and teach a concept I can't even name.
Here are some student examples to make my point of the importance of Intentional Precision;
Sara is a student that is pretty sharp. She quickly understands a new concept taught but routinely gets problems wrong in practice because the most important thing to her, when doing her practice, is getting done. She lacks Intentional Precision. I have been pounding away at getting her to improve on being more and more Intentionally Precise. She is at the place now of admitting that she needs to improve. I need to be patient and kind regardless of how long it takes for her to show real improvement in this area.
Gandalf is not as sharp as Sara but he is still very capable. He doesn't do a very good job of listening, so he also struggles with following directions. When he does his practice he routinely makes mistakes because his notes are incomplete and/or he doesn't use them. He seems unaware of the possibility that he may get the problem wrong, so he does not do anything to double check his work or avoid mistakes. I keep pointing out to Gandalf where he could improve. I can't change him. I need to love him right where he is, but I need to continually encourage, challenge, exhort, motivate and hold up a mirror to him to help bring him to the place where he will change.
The most important thing for my students to learn is: I CARE ABOUT THEM. For a few really troubled students... this may be all they learn from me because they are often absent and are dramatically impacted by their life situation and/or poor personal decisions.
Sam was a student I had last year. He transferred into my class half way through second semester. He showed up about once a week. He failed miserably. He was totally lost when he was in class but I focused on trying to make him feel welcome when he did show up. He had no chance of passing because of his absenteeism. He was a student I was only going to get to teach one thing to... and that was that I cared for him. Life is only about relationships. Everything is just stuff.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day16
Sunday, December 15, 2013
$100 Bill Strategy and Michael Jordan
Successful students passionately strive for accuracy ALL the time. They want to understand how to do every problem and they want to get them right. They emotionally commit to getting problems correct so it really bugs them when they make a mistake. They are keenly aware that they can make mistakes and are habitually developing routines to work with precision. When they make mistakes they figure out the reason for it and then THEY CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR. I want all of my students to improve and get to a place where they are responsibly learning from their mistakes.
THIS IS SUCH A DIFFICULT STRATEGY TO TEACH TO ALL OF MY STUDENTS!
Here, I have to continually remember that it is not my job to change them... but it is my job to love, encourage, challenge, exhort, instruct, and put a mirror in front of them. I NEED TO STAY IN THAT PLACE CALLED HOPE.
One strategy I use to help all of my students improve in their learning from their mistakes is the $100 Bill Strategy. I tell my students to pretend they each have 15 crisp $100 bills in their pockets and I have a stack of about 300 crisp $100 bills. Here is how the PRETEND $100 bill game goes. Every time they get a problem correct, they will receive a crisp $100 bill from me... however, every time they get a problem wrong, they have to give me a crisp $100 bill.
I use this strategy to teach my struggling students how it feels to be a successful student. Successful students work with this kind of intensity... like $100 bills are actually changing hands and they want to get and keep as many as they can. For the struggling student, their intensity level is brought way up and they get a glimpse of the mind set of a successful student.
Another example I use is Michael Jordan. He is one of the best basketball players of all time. What separated him from all of the other talented NBA players? Michael practiced with intensity. He practiced like every practice was the 7th game in the NBA finals. So when he was in intense situations in regular season games and playoff games, he was comfortable. He practiced like those situations all the time.
My students will want to do well come test day. The question is, HOW CAN I HELP THEM PRACTICE WITH INTENSITY AND BECOME REALLY GOOD AT LEARNING FROM THEIR MISTAKE EVERY DAY LEADING UP TO THE TEST?
I am continually looking for ways to be more helpful to my students.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
Day 15
THIS IS SUCH A DIFFICULT STRATEGY TO TEACH TO ALL OF MY STUDENTS!
Here, I have to continually remember that it is not my job to change them... but it is my job to love, encourage, challenge, exhort, instruct, and put a mirror in front of them. I NEED TO STAY IN THAT PLACE CALLED HOPE.
One strategy I use to help all of my students improve in their learning from their mistakes is the $100 Bill Strategy. I tell my students to pretend they each have 15 crisp $100 bills in their pockets and I have a stack of about 300 crisp $100 bills. Here is how the PRETEND $100 bill game goes. Every time they get a problem correct, they will receive a crisp $100 bill from me... however, every time they get a problem wrong, they have to give me a crisp $100 bill.
I use this strategy to teach my struggling students how it feels to be a successful student. Successful students work with this kind of intensity... like $100 bills are actually changing hands and they want to get and keep as many as they can. For the struggling student, their intensity level is brought way up and they get a glimpse of the mind set of a successful student.
Another example I use is Michael Jordan. He is one of the best basketball players of all time. What separated him from all of the other talented NBA players? Michael practiced with intensity. He practiced like every practice was the 7th game in the NBA finals. So when he was in intense situations in regular season games and playoff games, he was comfortable. He practiced like those situations all the time.
My students will want to do well come test day. The question is, HOW CAN I HELP THEM PRACTICE WITH INTENSITY AND BECOME REALLY GOOD AT LEARNING FROM THEIR MISTAKE EVERY DAY LEADING UP TO THE TEST?
I am continually looking for ways to be more helpful to my students.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
Day 15
Self-esteem and discouragement
When I talk to my students I intentionally make sure they know I am talking with them and not at them.
Self-esteem is such an important idea to teach to students... and not just once. I don't want my self-esteem to be based on what others think of me. I don't want to give others that power over me. I encourage my students, to not let their self-esteem be based on what other think of them. A sad but common example is the girl that goes from boy friend to boy friend because her self-esteem is based on having a boy friend. I don't want mine to be based on anything I do or have because I could lose the ability or the possession. My self-esteem is based on nothing I do or have, it is based on my belief that GOD loves me and has plans for me. Students that struggle with low self-esteem are more likely to disrespect themselves and others. I tell my students they are fearfully and wonderfully made... they are not the product of time and chance.
I have feelings of discouragement sometimes. I suppose everyone does at times. I think it is important to have a system to combat feelings of discouragement. Again, I am taken right back to my belief that GOD loves me and has plans for me. When I feel discouraged, it isn't because either of those things have changed. It happens when I get my eyes on myself and things aren't going like I planned they would. When I sense those feelings in me, I go through a sort of mental check list. First, have I done something wrong?... do I need to confess and ask for forgiveness? Second, am I doing my best?... am I doing a poor job at something? Third, am I being self-centered? When I get discouraged it is always because I am being self-centered and because I am not simply trusting GOD with my hopes, plans, dreams, desires, health, relationships, skills, talents and anything else. I am the most joyful when my eyes are the least on me... when I am focused on the needs of others... when I am seeking to be filled with GOD's love and grace and wisdom, so I can love others. I believe I am to love GOD first, love other second and love myself third. The world is filled with messages to do the exact opposite. I am not telling anyone what to do. I am simply saying what I do.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 14
Self-esteem is such an important idea to teach to students... and not just once. I don't want my self-esteem to be based on what others think of me. I don't want to give others that power over me. I encourage my students, to not let their self-esteem be based on what other think of them. A sad but common example is the girl that goes from boy friend to boy friend because her self-esteem is based on having a boy friend. I don't want mine to be based on anything I do or have because I could lose the ability or the possession. My self-esteem is based on nothing I do or have, it is based on my belief that GOD loves me and has plans for me. Students that struggle with low self-esteem are more likely to disrespect themselves and others. I tell my students they are fearfully and wonderfully made... they are not the product of time and chance.
I have feelings of discouragement sometimes. I suppose everyone does at times. I think it is important to have a system to combat feelings of discouragement. Again, I am taken right back to my belief that GOD loves me and has plans for me. When I feel discouraged, it isn't because either of those things have changed. It happens when I get my eyes on myself and things aren't going like I planned they would. When I sense those feelings in me, I go through a sort of mental check list. First, have I done something wrong?... do I need to confess and ask for forgiveness? Second, am I doing my best?... am I doing a poor job at something? Third, am I being self-centered? When I get discouraged it is always because I am being self-centered and because I am not simply trusting GOD with my hopes, plans, dreams, desires, health, relationships, skills, talents and anything else. I am the most joyful when my eyes are the least on me... when I am focused on the needs of others... when I am seeking to be filled with GOD's love and grace and wisdom, so I can love others. I believe I am to love GOD first, love other second and love myself third. The world is filled with messages to do the exact opposite. I am not telling anyone what to do. I am simply saying what I do.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 14
Friday, December 13, 2013
Getting to Level Four
I am more interested in my students learning the skills, strategies, habits and belief systems on my four posters (see previous posts for posters) than even learning the math I'm trying to teach them. This is because everything on the 4 posters are things that will be helpful in all of life... not just another math class. I am teaching life. I use math as my vehicle to teach all of these life skills.
My students have a test coming up next week. My goal is to help them get to the place of understanding all of the material and being able to do all of the questions on the test correctly. Just because they understand how to find slope does NOT mean that they will be able to find the slope of a line on a question on this coming test correctly. I want my student to learn the material, and as they learn, consciously develop strategies to double check and ensure precision.
We talked about this idea of PRECISION today. Most of my students did not know what the word meant. I offered the example of a watch. I watch that has precision would be accurate every time you looked. If it also had durability, it would be accurate every time you looked for a long time. I want 100% of my students to get 100% on their test. I want 100% of my students to improve on their: Learning Skills; Head and Heart beliefs and habits; Behavior of Intelligences; ability to solve problems.
To help all of my students get to level 4, I continually teach, exhort, challenge, motivate, point out, hold up the 'mirror' to, and on and on, about the things on the 4 posters. Here is where they find the tools to build bridges over ravines and to tear down barriers that are preventing them from getting to level 4 (I CAN DO THIS).
ONE HUGE BARRIER TO STUDENT LEARNING IS THEIR INABILITY TO LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES QUICKLY. Successful students make mistakes all the time... but they learn from them quickly. (This is a whole other talking point for the future.)
Another barrier is their inability to develop strategies of precision and double checking as they learn. I am confident that my students will know and understand most all of the material, but I am not confident that they will all demonstrate that on their test. Many lack the discipline to develop habits of precision and the self-awareness of the fact that they make mistakes. I call it the PARADOX OF MISTAKES. Here is how it goes. Successful students make few mistakes on tests because it REALLY bugs them when they get something wrong on homework, warmups and quizzes. They also are keenly aware of the possibility of them making a mistake and take all actions to avoid and eliminate them. While the struggling student makes lots of mistakes on test because it REALLY DOESN'T bug them when they get something wrong on homework, warmups and quizzes. They are unaware of the distinct likelihood of them making lots of mistakes and therefore take no actions to minimize or avoid them.
I have all of my student repeat after me, "I am not perfect. I make mistakes."
There is so more to say here, about how to get to level 4, but I will stop for now.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 13
My students have a test coming up next week. My goal is to help them get to the place of understanding all of the material and being able to do all of the questions on the test correctly. Just because they understand how to find slope does NOT mean that they will be able to find the slope of a line on a question on this coming test correctly. I want my student to learn the material, and as they learn, consciously develop strategies to double check and ensure precision.
We talked about this idea of PRECISION today. Most of my students did not know what the word meant. I offered the example of a watch. I watch that has precision would be accurate every time you looked. If it also had durability, it would be accurate every time you looked for a long time. I want 100% of my students to get 100% on their test. I want 100% of my students to improve on their: Learning Skills; Head and Heart beliefs and habits; Behavior of Intelligences; ability to solve problems.
To help all of my students get to level 4, I continually teach, exhort, challenge, motivate, point out, hold up the 'mirror' to, and on and on, about the things on the 4 posters. Here is where they find the tools to build bridges over ravines and to tear down barriers that are preventing them from getting to level 4 (I CAN DO THIS).
ONE HUGE BARRIER TO STUDENT LEARNING IS THEIR INABILITY TO LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES QUICKLY. Successful students make mistakes all the time... but they learn from them quickly. (This is a whole other talking point for the future.)
Another barrier is their inability to develop strategies of precision and double checking as they learn. I am confident that my students will know and understand most all of the material, but I am not confident that they will all demonstrate that on their test. Many lack the discipline to develop habits of precision and the self-awareness of the fact that they make mistakes. I call it the PARADOX OF MISTAKES. Here is how it goes. Successful students make few mistakes on tests because it REALLY bugs them when they get something wrong on homework, warmups and quizzes. They also are keenly aware of the possibility of them making a mistake and take all actions to avoid and eliminate them. While the struggling student makes lots of mistakes on test because it REALLY DOESN'T bug them when they get something wrong on homework, warmups and quizzes. They are unaware of the distinct likelihood of them making lots of mistakes and therefore take no actions to minimize or avoid them.
I have all of my student repeat after me, "I am not perfect. I make mistakes."
There is so more to say here, about how to get to level 4, but I will stop for now.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 13
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Five levels of understanding (Last 2)
I am finishing what I started yesterday.
The forth level of understanding is I CAN DO THIS. At the swimming pool, this would be the person that can jump in the pool and swim anywhere without any life jacket or water wings. In my class, this is the student that can do the math without any notes. By focusing all of my students on getting to level 3 quickly, they are then simply PRACTICE away from getting to level 4. I want to teach my students the skills needed to learn new material quickly. Successful students are very good at getting to level 4 quickly. I continually encourage my students to use more and more of the Learning Skills that are posted at the front of my class. I know I need to intentionally, routinely encourage and exhort my students to improve their learning skills. I'll give strategies, in detail about how I do this, tomorrow.
The fifth level of understanding is I CAN DO THIS AND I CAN HELP OTHERS LEARN TO DO THIS. At the swimming pool, this is the life guard. In math class it is not just me. I encourage my strong students to expand their influence and reach out to their neighbor and try to help them. After each chapter, I make a new seating chart. I sit a strong student next to a struggling one. They are called neighbors. I do share pair often and encourage students to check with their neighbor and make sure they both understand the material. I need my strong students to help their neighbors learn and succeed. I tell my classes that I need their help. It is my job to teach. It is each of my student's job to learn. I simply ask my strong students to help me and most of them are happy to help their classmates. THE BEST WAY TO LEARN IS TO TEACH.
I had a student, I had taught and coached 3 years ago, come by to talk to me. I'll call him Bob. He came by to thank me for my impact on his life. He spoke very kind words to me and I cried. It is very humbling to have a person take time out of their busy schedule, simply to come by and say that they appreciated you. Bob told me that I had a positive impact on his walk with the LORD. Along with being a successful HS student, Bob is also currently involved in ministry with his church. He shared with me that he recently worked at a weekend church retreat and led a student to the LORD. As a Christian, there is no cooler thing than being involved in someone getting SAVED. I told him that he was the ultimate LIFE GUARD. Before he left, I prayed for Bob and then Bob prayed for me. I encouraged Bob to love the kids he works with relentlessly and unconditionally. As brief as it was, I am still very moved by our conversation, prayer and time together. I am humbled and grateful!!
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
Day 12
The forth level of understanding is I CAN DO THIS. At the swimming pool, this would be the person that can jump in the pool and swim anywhere without any life jacket or water wings. In my class, this is the student that can do the math without any notes. By focusing all of my students on getting to level 3 quickly, they are then simply PRACTICE away from getting to level 4. I want to teach my students the skills needed to learn new material quickly. Successful students are very good at getting to level 4 quickly. I continually encourage my students to use more and more of the Learning Skills that are posted at the front of my class. I know I need to intentionally, routinely encourage and exhort my students to improve their learning skills. I'll give strategies, in detail about how I do this, tomorrow.
The fifth level of understanding is I CAN DO THIS AND I CAN HELP OTHERS LEARN TO DO THIS. At the swimming pool, this is the life guard. In math class it is not just me. I encourage my strong students to expand their influence and reach out to their neighbor and try to help them. After each chapter, I make a new seating chart. I sit a strong student next to a struggling one. They are called neighbors. I do share pair often and encourage students to check with their neighbor and make sure they both understand the material. I need my strong students to help their neighbors learn and succeed. I tell my classes that I need their help. It is my job to teach. It is each of my student's job to learn. I simply ask my strong students to help me and most of them are happy to help their classmates. THE BEST WAY TO LEARN IS TO TEACH.
I had a student, I had taught and coached 3 years ago, come by to talk to me. I'll call him Bob. He came by to thank me for my impact on his life. He spoke very kind words to me and I cried. It is very humbling to have a person take time out of their busy schedule, simply to come by and say that they appreciated you. Bob told me that I had a positive impact on his walk with the LORD. Along with being a successful HS student, Bob is also currently involved in ministry with his church. He shared with me that he recently worked at a weekend church retreat and led a student to the LORD. As a Christian, there is no cooler thing than being involved in someone getting SAVED. I told him that he was the ultimate LIFE GUARD. Before he left, I prayed for Bob and then Bob prayed for me. I encouraged Bob to love the kids he works with relentlessly and unconditionally. As brief as it was, I am still very moved by our conversation, prayer and time together. I am humbled and grateful!!
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
Day 12
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Five levels of understanding(first 3)
I have come to recognize 5 levels of understanding in my students. I teach them what these five levels are. I think it is important for a student to be able to self-evaluate where they are at in their understanding as they are learning new material and adapting it to their preexisting knowledge. This self-awareness of ones own knowledge is one of the abilities I have listed on my Learning Skills poster. The 5 levels of understanding shows up as a talking point on my Heart and Head poster.
The first (AKA: WORST) level of understanding is I DON'T KNOW AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT I DON'T KNOW. This often includes I DON'T EVEN CARE THAT I DON'T KNOW. If this person was at a swimming pool, he would walk over to the deep end and jump in and drown because he doesn't know how to swim and he doesn't even know that he doesn't know how to swim. In math class, he could be asked what 7*8 equals and he might say, with confidence and/or a total lack of concern for actually being correct, ... 53.
The second level of understanding is I DON'T KNOW, BUT I KNOW I DON'T KNOW. This person, if he were at the swimming pool, would walk over to the shallow end and play because he knows he can't swim. He still gets wet and has fun, but he doesn't drown . In math, he could be asked what 7*8 equals and he would know that he doesn't know the answer... but he could write seven 8s and add them or he could think 7*4 = 28 and then add 28 plus 28 and get 56. The point is, if I know that I don't know, then I can start using my problem solving strategies and behavior and intelligences to figure out the answer. I don't GUESS. It is way better to know that I don't know. For example... Question... "What is the sum of all the integers from 1 to 100?" I don't know. I could simply guess... or I could start adding 1+2+3+... but that would take a long time. Or I could start asking other questions and answering them like... What is 1 + 100 ? 101. What is 2+99? 101. What is 3+98? 101. Do I see a pattern? YES How many pairs of 101 would there be? 50. What is 101*50? Isn't that just 101*5 with a zero at the end?... 5050. It is very powerful to know what you don't know. It allows you to solve a problem, rather than guess.
The third level of understanding is I CAN ONLY DO IT IF I HAVE EFFECTIVE HELP. This person, if he were at the swimming pool, would get their life jacket on and then go out in the deep end and play with their friends. This person can not swim on their own and they know it. In math, this person would take effective notes on how to solve a problem and then use them to do a similar problem. In my Lab classes, I give a quiz every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each quiz is usually 3 questions long and my students need to get at least 2 out of 3 correct to pass. My students have to pass at least 50% of the quizzes to pass my Lab class. I let my students use their notes on their quiz. We do similar problems to what will be on the quiz as practice and notes. In the beginning, most of my students still failed these quizzes, but when I told them they needed to pass at least 50% of them to pass the class, they got more serious and have learned how to take effective notes and use them. I had a student that had failed every quiz I had given her for the first several weeks. She believed she was bad at math and so she behaved in such a way as to make sure she was right... like the saying goes..."If you think you can or you think you can't... you are right!" She didn't pay attention very much. She didn't correct her mistakes very much. Her belief about herself was a self fulling prophecy. Then I convinced her, that if she took effective notes and used them, she would pass a quiz. The first day she took effective notes and then used them, SHE PASSED the quiz. I was so proud of her and happy for her. She had started down the awesome road of believing and wanting to learn... and it was impacting positively how she behaved in my class. I keep telling my students, "You are what you believe." I encourage them to aim high and then "Live like you believe what you say you believe!"
It is late. I will discuss the last two levels tomorrow. I'll end with this promise, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
Day 11
The first (AKA: WORST) level of understanding is I DON'T KNOW AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT I DON'T KNOW. This often includes I DON'T EVEN CARE THAT I DON'T KNOW. If this person was at a swimming pool, he would walk over to the deep end and jump in and drown because he doesn't know how to swim and he doesn't even know that he doesn't know how to swim. In math class, he could be asked what 7*8 equals and he might say, with confidence and/or a total lack of concern for actually being correct, ... 53.
The second level of understanding is I DON'T KNOW, BUT I KNOW I DON'T KNOW. This person, if he were at the swimming pool, would walk over to the shallow end and play because he knows he can't swim. He still gets wet and has fun, but he doesn't drown . In math, he could be asked what 7*8 equals and he would know that he doesn't know the answer... but he could write seven 8s and add them or he could think 7*4 = 28 and then add 28 plus 28 and get 56. The point is, if I know that I don't know, then I can start using my problem solving strategies and behavior and intelligences to figure out the answer. I don't GUESS. It is way better to know that I don't know. For example... Question... "What is the sum of all the integers from 1 to 100?" I don't know. I could simply guess... or I could start adding 1+2+3+... but that would take a long time. Or I could start asking other questions and answering them like... What is 1 + 100 ? 101. What is 2+99? 101. What is 3+98? 101. Do I see a pattern? YES How many pairs of 101 would there be? 50. What is 101*50? Isn't that just 101*5 with a zero at the end?... 5050. It is very powerful to know what you don't know. It allows you to solve a problem, rather than guess.
The third level of understanding is I CAN ONLY DO IT IF I HAVE EFFECTIVE HELP. This person, if he were at the swimming pool, would get their life jacket on and then go out in the deep end and play with their friends. This person can not swim on their own and they know it. In math, this person would take effective notes on how to solve a problem and then use them to do a similar problem. In my Lab classes, I give a quiz every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each quiz is usually 3 questions long and my students need to get at least 2 out of 3 correct to pass. My students have to pass at least 50% of the quizzes to pass my Lab class. I let my students use their notes on their quiz. We do similar problems to what will be on the quiz as practice and notes. In the beginning, most of my students still failed these quizzes, but when I told them they needed to pass at least 50% of them to pass the class, they got more serious and have learned how to take effective notes and use them. I had a student that had failed every quiz I had given her for the first several weeks. She believed she was bad at math and so she behaved in such a way as to make sure she was right... like the saying goes..."If you think you can or you think you can't... you are right!" She didn't pay attention very much. She didn't correct her mistakes very much. Her belief about herself was a self fulling prophecy. Then I convinced her, that if she took effective notes and used them, she would pass a quiz. The first day she took effective notes and then used them, SHE PASSED the quiz. I was so proud of her and happy for her. She had started down the awesome road of believing and wanting to learn... and it was impacting positively how she behaved in my class. I keep telling my students, "You are what you believe." I encourage them to aim high and then "Live like you believe what you say you believe!"
It is late. I will discuss the last two levels tomorrow. I'll end with this promise, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
Day 11
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
My Class Posters: Problem Solving
Here is the last of my 4 posters. I teach my students that the number one rule to solving problems is to focus on what they know and believe and start asking questions they can answer. If they can't answer the question they are either asking the wrong question or asking the correct question but in the wrong order or they are not using the correct problem solving strategy to enable them to answer the question.
Problem solving is a necessary skill not only for math or even school, but for LIFE.
I often share personal examples or stories to make a point. One example I often use when discussing problem solving, with my students, is my marriage. I've been happily married for almost 32 years now. This has not happened on accident or without trials. I thank God for my wife. She is an amazing woman. She always smiles, has a servant heart and continually breathes words of encouragement into me. I am very blessed to be her husband... but we have had times where we both have had hurt feelings. It is during these times, when it is VERY important for me to be great at solving problems. I have done this by focusing on what I have done wrong... not on what I think she has done wrong. I don't focus on what I don't know or understand because that only makes the problem seem bigger. I am not saying I'm perfect here, but I am saying that I need to take responsibility for my mistakes, own them and see how hurtful they where to my wife. I need to do this even when I feel like she is 99.995% responsible for the problem we are having. I have to humble myself and do all I can to reconcile and restore our relationship. I think this is what Jesus meant by 'laying down your life.' I simply don't want one brick to get laid between my wife and I. I focus on what I know and believe: I love her; I need to treat her respectfully; I am thankful God brought her into my life; I don't want us to have ANY unresolved conflict; If she has hurt feelings, then they are ALWAYS right!!
This is how I told her we will fight... but we haven't always done it like this. I have her sit on my lap and tell me everything I've done wrong. It is hard to yell at someone when they are sitting on your lap. During this time it is essential I make no excuses or offer any defense. I simply want to understand how I've hurt her. Then I take full responsibility for my actions and humbly ask for her forgiveness and try to not repeat that offense again. Sometimes, however, she wants to stay mad for a while and I refuse to go on like everything is normal. There have even been times when she went to bed WITHOUT things being resolved!!! These have been the most difficult times. During these times, I sleep on the floor or couch. Always, sometime during the night, she wakes up and finds me and asks what is wrong. Then I tell her that I want us to being fully reconciled. So far we always have and I pray that God will continue to give us the grace to always reconcile in the future.
I ask my students, "How many of you want to be divorced or married to someone you don't respect or who you even hate?" Funny... no one ever raises their hand when I ask that question, yet millions of couples end up in this very situation. This happens because we are all selfish prideful people... some more then others. I ask God to help me love, cherish, honor and be an encouragement to my wife. I need His help!! I desperately want to be a great husband and have a life-long loving relationship with my wife. When we have problems, I want us to be great at solving them. I tell my students that it is important to have a plan, in advance, for how you are going to fight. This needs to be a plan where both people treat each other respectfully. Both people take responsibility. Both people forgive. I tell the boys in my classes that they need to be the MAN and lay down their life for their wife. I tell the girls that if the young man they are interested in some day has a hard time saying he is sorry and struggles with being really selfish... HE IS A LOSER. They should not think about trying to fix him but instead...FLEE.
Day 10
Monday, December 9, 2013
My Class Posters: Behaviors of Intelligence
This is my version of a poster that comes from Lee Canter on Habits of the Mind(AKA Behavior of Intelligence). There are at least 16 behaviors of intelligence and I try to teach them every day in my classes. This is the 3rd poster I use continually in my classes. Here is the gap between what a student knows and what they show. I am always trying to teach my students these behavior so they can achieve at 100% on test. I can teach them 100% of the material and they can even learn 100% of the material, but these behaviors are mandatory for them to perform and achieve at 100%. Again I am teaching more than math here, these are life skills and habits. I believe the most important one is Striving for Accuracy. I changed it to PASSIONATELY STRIVING FOR ACCURACY as I have already talked about in a previous post. As I explain new material, check for understanding, correct homework, do warm ups, give notes, students do share pair or anything... I am always making connections with what we are doing to this and the other 3 posters. I will be discussing, in detail most all of these habits in the weeks and months ahead. Here they are to chew on for now. Enjoy!
Day 9
Sunday, December 8, 2013
My Class Posters: Learning Skills
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Here is my talking points poster for learning skills. I have to teach my students how to learn. It is obvious that all students are in different places here. Even my top students have room for improvement... but when I see a struggling student apply enough of these strategies to succeed and they do well or improve a lot, it is humbling to witness. These strategies are not just for math or any other class, they are for LIFE. I am so excited about this information I'm sharing because it works and it is transferrable. I will be sharing from this poster and the 3 others in the weeks and months ahead. Like I said earlier, I am playing an amazingly exciting game and winning often. It's called teaching. I'm simply inviting anyone to play with me and giving you my strategies and skills I use to win. I am not tell anyone what to do or that they are doing a bad job or that I think I am better than anyone. I am nobodies judge. I'm just having fun.
Day 8
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Saturday, December 7, 2013
My Class Posters: Heart & Head
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This is one of my four posters I have up in the front of my class. I continually use the talking points from here to try to tear down barriers and build bridges over holes. I view the process as a marathon in that I have to persist and as a sprint in that I need to take each day seriously and passionately and try my best, always remembering the changing I so strongly desire to see in my students, is not my responsibility. It is my job to love and teach. I include myself in all conversations about change and improvement. I don't talk at my students but with them.
Day 7
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Friday, December 6, 2013
Love and Fear
Like I said before and I'll say again, my goal is to love, encourage, motivate, exhort and challenge all of my students relentlessly and unconditionally. I am a Bible believing, Jesus loving, born again Christian and I know that some who read this will judge me and immediately want to shut their minds and hearts to what I have to say because of that. I try hard to love and accept everyone. I'm just asking my readers to be tolerant and open to what I have to say. I see it work wonders every day. My principal sees it work well and tells me. My students and parents tell me it works well.
I had a student just yesterday tell me before class that she was going to get home schooled if she didn't improve this year. She told that her mom had talked to her the night before and complemented her on her improvement and growth. Her mom asked her what the cause of it was. My student told her that it was because of me... my motivational talks, teaching her how to learn... teaching her more than math. She told me that her mom told her to tell me THANK YOU. I told her that I cared about her and was proud of her and wanted the best for her.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self seeking. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrong. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always hopes, always trusts, and always perseveres. Love never fails."
My definition of love comes from the author of it. This is the standard that I evaluate myself by throughout my day. I fail every day living up to this standard but I would rather aim high and miss. I seek God's help to love all of my students... judge me if you want for saying that but it is the truth. I need His help. I can't do it on my own. Like I said before, HOPE is huge is all of this. When I feel myself getting impatient I know that I have slipped into the dark place of expectation. This is where my selfish needs are not being met and so sadly, I feel fully justified in being rude or impatient. I really like how love starts off being defined as patient because this is the first place I feel myself mess up on when I am dealing with someone on a self-centered basis.
"Perfect love casts out all fear."
I haven't counted for myself, but I've heard it said that the Bible talks about fear 365 time. So it begs the question, ...WHY? I think one obvious reason is that we have a lot of things we could be afraid of. There are all kinds of reasons to fear. These range from environment to government to wars to natural disasters to diseases to crime to all kinds of relational issues and the list would go on and on. In the midst of all of the fears and turmoil there stands this promise, "Perfect love casts out all fear." and I am so grateful for this promise. When I act in unloving ways, I make it difficult for my students to be successful. I know this for a fact! I have a hard time thinking at my best when I'm emotional in a negative way and fear can be a very powerful emotion. I want my students to be fearless as they attack problems. I want to push my students to the edge of their comfort and knowledge repeatedly so they can learn to thrive there. Fear sucks the live out of learning and problem solving and even doing routine skills. I am sad to say but I have seen this first had with my own children as I deal with them in an unloving manner. I am thankful for forgiveness and grace.
The second reason I believe fear is talked about so many times in the Bible is because we need reminders. I forget things all the time. I need continual reminders. I think for a lot of people worry and fear come pretty easily. I want to live in such a way in my classroom as to remove all of my students fears when they are there. There is the truth that a little 'healthy' fear is a good thing, but I would hope that that is really a fear of disappointing me. If my students only learn ONE thing I want it to be that I love and care about them and want the best for them. I've had students that hardly ever show up and have no chance of passing my class, but when they walk into my classroom or I see them in the hall, I tell them "Hi" and ask how they are doing. I tell them how I am glad to see them. I pray for them. I don't want my level of kindness to be related to their performance on the last test. I want them to know that I care about them unconditionally. I hope they do as they see it demonstrated relentlessly.
Day 6
I had a student just yesterday tell me before class that she was going to get home schooled if she didn't improve this year. She told that her mom had talked to her the night before and complemented her on her improvement and growth. Her mom asked her what the cause of it was. My student told her that it was because of me... my motivational talks, teaching her how to learn... teaching her more than math. She told me that her mom told her to tell me THANK YOU. I told her that I cared about her and was proud of her and wanted the best for her.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self seeking. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrong. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always hopes, always trusts, and always perseveres. Love never fails."
My definition of love comes from the author of it. This is the standard that I evaluate myself by throughout my day. I fail every day living up to this standard but I would rather aim high and miss. I seek God's help to love all of my students... judge me if you want for saying that but it is the truth. I need His help. I can't do it on my own. Like I said before, HOPE is huge is all of this. When I feel myself getting impatient I know that I have slipped into the dark place of expectation. This is where my selfish needs are not being met and so sadly, I feel fully justified in being rude or impatient. I really like how love starts off being defined as patient because this is the first place I feel myself mess up on when I am dealing with someone on a self-centered basis.
"Perfect love casts out all fear."
I haven't counted for myself, but I've heard it said that the Bible talks about fear 365 time. So it begs the question, ...WHY? I think one obvious reason is that we have a lot of things we could be afraid of. There are all kinds of reasons to fear. These range from environment to government to wars to natural disasters to diseases to crime to all kinds of relational issues and the list would go on and on. In the midst of all of the fears and turmoil there stands this promise, "Perfect love casts out all fear." and I am so grateful for this promise. When I act in unloving ways, I make it difficult for my students to be successful. I know this for a fact! I have a hard time thinking at my best when I'm emotional in a negative way and fear can be a very powerful emotion. I want my students to be fearless as they attack problems. I want to push my students to the edge of their comfort and knowledge repeatedly so they can learn to thrive there. Fear sucks the live out of learning and problem solving and even doing routine skills. I am sad to say but I have seen this first had with my own children as I deal with them in an unloving manner. I am thankful for forgiveness and grace.
The second reason I believe fear is talked about so many times in the Bible is because we need reminders. I forget things all the time. I need continual reminders. I think for a lot of people worry and fear come pretty easily. I want to live in such a way in my classroom as to remove all of my students fears when they are there. There is the truth that a little 'healthy' fear is a good thing, but I would hope that that is really a fear of disappointing me. If my students only learn ONE thing I want it to be that I love and care about them and want the best for them. I've had students that hardly ever show up and have no chance of passing my class, but when they walk into my classroom or I see them in the hall, I tell them "Hi" and ask how they are doing. I tell them how I am glad to see them. I pray for them. I don't want my level of kindness to be related to their performance on the last test. I want them to know that I care about them unconditionally. I hope they do as they see it demonstrated relentlessly.
Day 6
Passionately strive for accuracy
One of the Lee Canter's Habits of the Mind is Striving for Accuracy. I have this behavior on a poster in my room circled with the word Passionately written inside the circle also. I believe that this behavior of intelligence is the most important one to stress with my students.
One day, early in this year, when I was focusing on this habit with my lab students I realized that I believed it was the most important one. That was when I wrote passionately next to Strive for Accuracy. I then put a problem up on the board for them to do and waited for them to all be working on it. When they were all in the zone, I yelled at the top of my voice, "PASSIONATELY STRIVE FOR ACCURACY!" They all jumped and then we all laughed and I yelled it a few more times. Then I did the problem I had put up and checked for understanding. Next I put another problem up and waited again... like a shark... when they were engaged again in the problem I yelled, "KINDA SORTA MAYBE WANT TO SORTA TRY TO GET SOME OF THEM MOSTLY RIGHT!" I started laughing so hard I fell over and had to lay on the floor in the front on the room. From my back I yelled it again as best I could through my laugher. It just sounded so ridiculous! My students were laughing also and I'm sure they thought I was weird. But this is exactly how many of them were behaving. They were kinda of sort of maybe wanting to sorta trying to get some of them mostly right.
I CHALLENGE MY STUDENTS TO: Passionately (not apathetically) strive (not accept whatever happens) for accuracy (not just getting done.) The poster depicts a target with an arrow hitting the bulls eye. I want my students to aim for the center of the bulls eye and hit it and whip out another arrow with deft skill like Legolas and split the first arrow and keep doing that until they run out of arrows. I tell them, the tougher the problem the higher they need to aim... just like in shooting arrows.
There is a story I tell my students to drive home this point. They really enjoy hearing my stories. In fact, whenever I see a past student, one of the first things they tell me is how they enjoyed my stories.
Here is the story. When I was 22 years old, the first summer of my married life, I was painting a house in north Tacoma. I ended up bidding on another house at the end of the block and got the job. It was another big house. My friend and I were excited about the work we were getting. When all that was left to paint on the first house was the French windows(and there was tons of them), we hired another friend and the two of them went down and spent the week scrapping the next house while I did the trim up the street. At the end of the week I finished and carried my ladder down the street to the next house. It was a Friday afternoon around 2PM. They had two 28ft ladders fully extended with ladder jacks at the top of each and an aluminum framed plank across the top. They were scrapping on the third floor gable end of the east side of the house. This was their LAST section they had to scrap. There was such a filling of accomplishment and pride as I climbed up the ladder with my scrapper. The plan had worked perfectly. I was only going to have to scrap for about an hour. I climbed up on the plank and joined them as we all stood about 22 feet up in the air on a 12 inch wide plank. It was a beautiful summer day.
The house was 92 years old. It was olive drab green. Even the windows were green as no one had ever covered up the windows when it had been painted before. There was green over spray covering all of the windows. It looked like a haunted house. The paint was the thickness of two quarters and shriveled and deeply wrinkled. I had told my friends to scrap hard to knock off the loose paint and move on.
I took my scrapper and scrapped one diamond shaped shingle and a few small pieces fell off the house. I looked at that shingle and the rest of the siding I could see from the plank we were all standing on and I was troubled. It looked awful. I thought for a while and wrestled with what I knew I needed to do and say. Then, to my friends HORROR, I told them that we were not almost done... no we were just starting!! They looked at me in total bewilderment and asked me to explain. I told them that ALL the paint had to come off. They couldn't believe it. I turned and scrapped as hard as I could on the one diamond shingle I had scrapped earlier. It took all my strength to scrap off all the paint in about a minute. I scuffed a knuckle in the process. 4 hours later we finished scrapping that one section of the house. I had several bloody knuckles from scuffing the siding. We scrapped for 12 hours each days for the entire next week. At the end of that week we fired our friend who had worked for us for 2 weeks. We scrapped for another entire week. I had bid $450 to prep the house. We had just paid our friend $400 for his 80 hours of work. I had raw scabs on all 28 of my knuckles. During that last week of scrapping my wife drove up and told me we had 28 cents in saving and were overdrawn in checking. This was because the people who had just paid me wrote a check that was going to take 2 weeks to clear.
I had lots of reasons to not do as good of a job as I was doing and was going to do.
My focus was on the finished product and I imagined I was painting God's house. This carried me through. I talked the owner into 'letting' me use 4 different colors to bring out all the cool woodwork and craftsmanship in the house and she agrees. She even asked me to pick out the colors. After 6 long weeks we finally finished. We made peanuts on the house but I hardly cared because it looked AWESOME. I was so proud of it.
The next spring I received a call from a frantic woman. She asked if I was the painter who had painted, I'll call them, the Smith's house. I told her that I was and then she asked if I had time to paint her house this summer. Then she explain to me that it did not matter how MUCH IT COST. I kept getting phone calls like that after painting the Smith's house.
I told my students that they need to aim for perfection. It will carry them through and past all the difficult times and excuses. If they do, they will always be proud of the results. Do your best, be responsible and people will pay you better than you think you deserve.
"Whatever we do, do as unto the Lord."
Day 5
One day, early in this year, when I was focusing on this habit with my lab students I realized that I believed it was the most important one. That was when I wrote passionately next to Strive for Accuracy. I then put a problem up on the board for them to do and waited for them to all be working on it. When they were all in the zone, I yelled at the top of my voice, "PASSIONATELY STRIVE FOR ACCURACY!" They all jumped and then we all laughed and I yelled it a few more times. Then I did the problem I had put up and checked for understanding. Next I put another problem up and waited again... like a shark... when they were engaged again in the problem I yelled, "KINDA SORTA MAYBE WANT TO SORTA TRY TO GET SOME OF THEM MOSTLY RIGHT!" I started laughing so hard I fell over and had to lay on the floor in the front on the room. From my back I yelled it again as best I could through my laugher. It just sounded so ridiculous! My students were laughing also and I'm sure they thought I was weird. But this is exactly how many of them were behaving. They were kinda of sort of maybe wanting to sorta trying to get some of them mostly right.
I CHALLENGE MY STUDENTS TO: Passionately (not apathetically) strive (not accept whatever happens) for accuracy (not just getting done.) The poster depicts a target with an arrow hitting the bulls eye. I want my students to aim for the center of the bulls eye and hit it and whip out another arrow with deft skill like Legolas and split the first arrow and keep doing that until they run out of arrows. I tell them, the tougher the problem the higher they need to aim... just like in shooting arrows.
There is a story I tell my students to drive home this point. They really enjoy hearing my stories. In fact, whenever I see a past student, one of the first things they tell me is how they enjoyed my stories.
Here is the story. When I was 22 years old, the first summer of my married life, I was painting a house in north Tacoma. I ended up bidding on another house at the end of the block and got the job. It was another big house. My friend and I were excited about the work we were getting. When all that was left to paint on the first house was the French windows(and there was tons of them), we hired another friend and the two of them went down and spent the week scrapping the next house while I did the trim up the street. At the end of the week I finished and carried my ladder down the street to the next house. It was a Friday afternoon around 2PM. They had two 28ft ladders fully extended with ladder jacks at the top of each and an aluminum framed plank across the top. They were scrapping on the third floor gable end of the east side of the house. This was their LAST section they had to scrap. There was such a filling of accomplishment and pride as I climbed up the ladder with my scrapper. The plan had worked perfectly. I was only going to have to scrap for about an hour. I climbed up on the plank and joined them as we all stood about 22 feet up in the air on a 12 inch wide plank. It was a beautiful summer day.
The house was 92 years old. It was olive drab green. Even the windows were green as no one had ever covered up the windows when it had been painted before. There was green over spray covering all of the windows. It looked like a haunted house. The paint was the thickness of two quarters and shriveled and deeply wrinkled. I had told my friends to scrap hard to knock off the loose paint and move on.
I took my scrapper and scrapped one diamond shaped shingle and a few small pieces fell off the house. I looked at that shingle and the rest of the siding I could see from the plank we were all standing on and I was troubled. It looked awful. I thought for a while and wrestled with what I knew I needed to do and say. Then, to my friends HORROR, I told them that we were not almost done... no we were just starting!! They looked at me in total bewilderment and asked me to explain. I told them that ALL the paint had to come off. They couldn't believe it. I turned and scrapped as hard as I could on the one diamond shingle I had scrapped earlier. It took all my strength to scrap off all the paint in about a minute. I scuffed a knuckle in the process. 4 hours later we finished scrapping that one section of the house. I had several bloody knuckles from scuffing the siding. We scrapped for 12 hours each days for the entire next week. At the end of that week we fired our friend who had worked for us for 2 weeks. We scrapped for another entire week. I had bid $450 to prep the house. We had just paid our friend $400 for his 80 hours of work. I had raw scabs on all 28 of my knuckles. During that last week of scrapping my wife drove up and told me we had 28 cents in saving and were overdrawn in checking. This was because the people who had just paid me wrote a check that was going to take 2 weeks to clear.
I had lots of reasons to not do as good of a job as I was doing and was going to do.
My focus was on the finished product and I imagined I was painting God's house. This carried me through. I talked the owner into 'letting' me use 4 different colors to bring out all the cool woodwork and craftsmanship in the house and she agrees. She even asked me to pick out the colors. After 6 long weeks we finally finished. We made peanuts on the house but I hardly cared because it looked AWESOME. I was so proud of it.
The next spring I received a call from a frantic woman. She asked if I was the painter who had painted, I'll call them, the Smith's house. I told her that I was and then she asked if I had time to paint her house this summer. Then she explain to me that it did not matter how MUCH IT COST. I kept getting phone calls like that after painting the Smith's house.
I told my students that they need to aim for perfection. It will carry them through and past all the difficult times and excuses. If they do, they will always be proud of the results. Do your best, be responsible and people will pay you better than you think you deserve.
"Whatever we do, do as unto the Lord."
Day 5
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