teach4aliving

Write about one of your biggest accomplishments in your teaching that no one knows about (or may not care)…

I skateboarded today for the first time and loved it.

A student let me try to skate on his board.

It was awesome.

What does a good mentor “do”?

A good mentor provides counsel, gives feedback, listens, and supports. Teaching is an incredible profession, but for many new teachers, teaching can be an incredibly tedious profession. Forms, digital grade books, progress reports, department goals, classroom observation, aligning content to curriculum (or vice versa), and making sure kids are getting to school ready to learn- this is teaching.

It’s intense.

I can not begin to stress how important my first three years as a teacher were from this standpoint: I went through a system which taught me how to teach. My wife and I say often, “The standards-based teaching for learning taught us two concepts, what do I want my students to learn and how do I know they learned what I wanted them to?” The system was kicked off with a multiple day course on the teaching process. A part of that course was a mentor lunch. What was immediately evident about my assigned mentor was that she was more than just a special education teacher. She was a literacy guru. She pioneered a co-taught Young Adult Literature class that was full every semester. From the onset, it was clear to me that my mentor was an awesome teacher and that she had a passion for continuous improvement.

When I didn’t know what was wrong with PowerSchool, she would tell me what I needed to hear.

When I had my first student quit school, she said he would be back (and he was, he was my first 5th year student to graduate).

When I was unprepared for the class we co-taught, I was held accountable. Not with words, but with corrective suggestions and ideas on how to improve for the next day (Ishmael Beah A Long Way Gone was the unit I bombed on).

When I wanted to do more, for kids and in my practice as an educator, she listened, she went to trainings with me, she participated in the design, she encouraged me to go forward.

Mentors are key. They show new frightened teachers that making a difference in kids lives is possible, and they show them how. If I would have had to figure out everything by myself in a one room schoolhouse, I would have probably failed miserably. More importantly, I would have missed on seeing world class teachers work their craft. I would have missed on seeing unparalleled dedication to kids.

Mentors carry the company ethos, and when the District or school strives for excellence, mentors carry the responsibility and have the privilege of on boarding new faculty successfully.

Post a picture of your classroom and discuss what you see–and what you don’t see that you’d like to

I see a different era of Ed Tech. I see holding on to resources no longer relevant to learning.

I see 25 years of worksheets. I see a pre-Google era level of compliance among students which is unknown to new teachers and current students. I see progress and a shift towards student centered inquiry-based learning.

I see a great place to have discourse, design projects, and begin to dream. I see a lack of clutter. I see a blank canvas. I see administrative supporters who promote the crazies when they say, “So, we want to get rid of all the worksheets and turn our GED program into a project-based center.” I see a safe place to learn.

Our suggested topic for today:
Discuss one “observation” that you’d like to improve on for your teacher evaluation.

This is a difficult topic for me to address. I have been inundated with evaluation over the last few weeks. Wisconsin is going to an effectiveness evaluation this year for teachers. One observable area I want to get stronger in this school year is differentiating within formative assessments that are tied to activities. Every one of my students will have a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) completed by the end of September. Today I wrote on the board, “Different rules for different people,” and I explained how I heard Shaka Smart break down that quote at a Nike Coaches Clinic last spring. People who are great at a skill still need to be pushed, whereas, people learning the skill require more attempts and possible varying degrees of scaffolding.

Differentiation to me means, “Different rules for different people,” in action. And if I can get buy-in within the learning space that each persons goals and “rules” are tied to their PLP, then there will be a ton of success and positive group culture.

I want more than one possible assessment per group per activity. Also, I want to completely open-up & extrapolate the term “formative assessment”. During my third year as a teacher, I went through a similar process with checking for understandings (CFU’s). I am hoping for a similar outcome as that school year. I want real conversations with colleagues. I want to be challenged. I want to get better at teaching and helping youth get connected with what they are passionate about.

The phone will not be getting parked in the basket right when I walk in the door. In fact, I will be bringing the phone with me to the supper table.

The iPad & laptop do need to be open, because I’m collecting data.

There’s a small window of an opportunity here. All else is secondary. I am responsible to the people I serve, and I must carry-on with this sense of imbalance in order to put the people I’m serving in the best position as possible.

A heinous sinus infection is just a few hours away (the third one this season).

Thank you’s are hollow to the one’s I love. My family has all sacrificed more than I will ever know, and all I can do is write this post to let them know I am grateful.

When Church ends on Sunday, film begins just moments later, guys come in for extra reps, ice baths, and to talk the game.

With less than two weeks left in the high school basketball season, we all take it to the next level. A friend from my youth said it best, “The game don’t love you back, people do.” As a high school basketball coach, I wonder what I have done to earn so much love from the people around me-  they continue to let me engage in what I love.

For the next few weeks…4:45am is not early enough of a rise and 10pm is no longer a bed-time. The no food after 8 o’clock is on hiatus in order to fuel up for filming sessions. Us, them, teams we may not even end up playing. As I left the parking lot at 9:24pm last night, and got in my car, I was struck by an incredible feeling, there is no substitution for feeling prepared. Getting back from a scouting trip, seeing a horrendous game in which a one win team in mid-February squeaked out their second win against the team we face tonight- I felt prepared. I knew my house would be asleep when I walked in. I saw the tired look on my wife as I left her classroom just before entering practice. I kissed my daughters as I left their daycare and told them I would see them in the morning.

This unsustainable short-term burst is being undertaken right now by many basketball coaches across the country. It’s the game we love, and we want our players to play one game longer.

This space, the competitive landscape, it does have a price. We pay the price. Coaches, teachers, building leaders, District administrators, school board members, custodians, cooks, bus drivers; we all pay the price at one point or another. When our project is put up for grabs, we pay the price. We do it because we want the people we have been trusted to serve to have the best experience possible. We prepare because no kick in the gut exist quite like the pain of heading into a game unprepared. Now, substitute the word “game” in the last sentence for lesson, professional development, board meeting, performance, meal, or trip in bad weather. A basketball game in late February is open to the public, our preparation or lack thereof, it is put on display in front of everyone. But the teacher who reads the writing with an open heart, and then modifies next weeks activity or lesson, that’s done behind closed doors. The administrator who has gone to great lengths to communicate with each board member about an impending difficult situation. The custodian who runs the Zamboni down the hall to bring the extra shine. The cook who adds a bit of unmandated spice to bring the flavor of the corn to taste more like corn. These actions are being done every day. In fact, the small window that exists over the next few weeks, all of our work as coaches and athletes, when that work lines up just right, we have the ability to provide the people who take care of us with an experience and a memory.

Does ego push the phone and the iPad? Sure. Does fear of failure? Absolutely. But so does opportunity. We have an opportunity to give back. When we win, our community wins. When we put it all on the line, we build something worth making a sacrifice for.

“Winning is nice, but losing is misery.” 
–Pat Riley

“A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.”
 -Pre

This post is dedicated to the wives, husbands, and children of those who give of themselves in order to give to others.