Monthly Archives: September 2012

We Have A Problem

Sorry for the rant, but here goes…

We have a problem in education. It’s called “edusnobbery.”

Edusnobbery is why so many non-educators have a problem with teachers. With professors. With administrators. There are a lot of people outside of education who feel that academic-types look down their noses at non-academic types.

Edusnobbery is what sometimes happens to really good people  with good intentions,  who start accumulating letters behind their names, and all of a sudden… they know stuff. And they want you to know how much stuff they know.

In fact, they’re so pleased with themselves about how much they know, they choose to ridicule you for not knowing what they already know… even if you’re just now learning. (What is that we always say about kids? Something about how we shouldn’t assume everyone learns at the same pace? Hmmm…)

Edusnobs become “above” everything. If they don’t like something, they dismiss it as not worth their time. It’s silly, or pointless. If they don’t get their way, they start lashing out at people who try to do good things.

I know edusnobs… because I am a recovering edusnob.

Cynical. Negative. Angry at the world, because they didn’t see what I saw. They didn’t know what I knew. And holy cow, haven’t we been talking about Topic A or Topic B for the last 10 years… isn’t it time we do something about it? COME ON!!!

And then I realized how cynical I had become. How negative. How angry. Did it make a change in education for the better? Nope. Not one bit. All it did was hurt me… physically, emotionally, socially. Friends started staying away. My family tiptoed around me and looked at me like I was damaged.

Because I was. 

So… I quit a “more prestigious” job in education, went back to the classroom (and back to the dismal teacher pay) and sat around with kids. You can’t be a cynic (or negative/angry) around kids, unless you want to damage them, too.

And you know what? Wow, did my life improve! Yes, yes… I still have occasional relapses. I become upset when I feel that true educational reform– doing what is best for ALL kids– isn’t moving along quickly enough. Or when someone doesn’t understand why ranking and sorting kids is harmful to kids. I’m only human.

But… I think I have made a bigger impact as an educator who is positive and shares the positive things about what I’m doing. What my students are doing. Who doesn’t want to read about kids who are excited about learning?

We celebrate the good things, and we work hard to change the things that stand in our way of the good things. 

I propose we all take a good hard look at how we’re approaching change and making a difference for the kids. I’m pretty sure that doesn’t involve mocking those who DO try their best to do good things… even if their aim is a little off.

So, Edusnobs, are you going to continue to knock down the people who are trying to do good things… even when you don’t think those things hold much value?

Because I’ll tell you what. You’re not as powerful as you think you are. You just sound cranky, like that old guy shouting at kids,  “get off my lawn!”

And you know what happens to that guy… he goes back into his house, alone. Cynical. Negative. Angry. But mostly alone.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

More Than You Know

Today, my class celebrated International Dot Day at Anastasis– that specific blog post will be up next week on our class blog. In conjunction with Dot Day, FableVision partnered with my friend Angela Maiers to include her #YouMatter message (See her TED talk here).

We had a lot of activities planned for today, and we spent a good portion of the last week discussing why it’s important to believe in yourself, try your best, and understand that you do, indeed, matter. Whether you’re five years old or 105, you matter to someone. You make a difference in someone else’s life, whether you know it or not.

Our Dot Wall

For one of our activities, we wrote anonymous dot notes, sharing why someone in the classroom matters to us. We didn’t address them to anyone, and we didn’t sign them. The kids really loved the mystery of being anonymous, but also that their messages would be read by others.

This was by far my favorite activity. The kids walked around reading the dots, wondering for whom they were written, by whom they were written. One of the kids said to me, “I think that one is for you,” and then beamed. I love being a teacher.

The #YouMatter Dot activity got me thinking about every smile, every encouraging word, every pat on the head I give to kids. It also made me think about the times when I’m not so encouraging, and how my actions matter so much to these children. They’re learning all the time, even when I’m not expecting them to do so.

Oddly enough, we had a funny little teachable moment today — have I mentioned how grateful I am to teach and learn in a school where there are no scripts, pacing guides, or state tests to follow? If there were, we probably would have missed out on this lesson today.

When we were deciding together what our #YouMatter Dots could look like, I drew some examples on the board from kids’ suggestions. In one dot example, the kids told me to write, “You sit with me at lunch. #youmatter”  In my haste to write what they dictated, I also began writing on the lower portion of the board. For most adults, even those of us who are height-challenged… handwriting suffers a bit on that part of the board.

Soon, I heard giggles from my kids. When I asked them what was so funny, they noted that my writing looked like “You sit with meat at lunch. #youmatter”  We all laughed together, and I said, “Huh. So I guess spacing matters, too, right?” They giggled some more, and then I shared the fact that punctuation matters… in fact, it can be a life or death situation. 😉

The photo shows part of our mini-lesson… one that we would not have had today if it hadn’t been for a bit of fun. To those kids, fun matters. Friends matter. Learning matters. Curiosity matters… and I matter more to them than I often realize. In less than thirty seconds, a mistake that I made in writing on a whiteboard became a joke and a lesson about writing. Our kids are learning all the time, even when we don’t always expect it… and that’s just another reason I love teaching.

I hope that you realize that you matter in the life of a child. That’s a pretty serious responsibility, but I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do… can you?