Is it hot enough for ya?

Kip sat across from me in the cheap vinyl booth and dug into his Chinese food. His breath quickened as he sucked air past the food in his mouth.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "I was afraid they wouldn't take me seriously. They don't sometimes. When they see a white kid and he asks for 'extra spicy,' they don't believe me. But I like it hot like this."

As he spoke, his forehead began to shine, a hint of the heat. Beads of sweat forming on his forehead turned the shine into mist, and he wiped his brow with a napkin from the pop-up dispenser. He continued eating, his cheeks reddened. He barely stopping chewing long enough to sip at his water. Soon, the flush from his cheeks spread across his face, and the space between his nose and lips began to shine.

"I like it hot enough I can feel a buzz," Kip said, smiling and dragging another cheap paper napkin in a circle from forehead to lip. I briefly wondered if he would need a shower after dinner.

"When I go to a place often enough, they start to believe me. Then they give me the same spices they're eating in the back."

# # #

I've never liked spicy food for the sake of heat, but I've met a number of people seem to see food as a potential challenge. I'm not sure if this is an adrenaline thing or a "master of my own destiny" thing. Either way, I don't really get it. I don't like my food to fight back, physically or figuratively.

Our boys lacrosse team has a ridiculous ritual where they go to the Buffalo Wing Factory and eat flatliners. Probably one of the funniest stories I've ever heard a teacher tell involved one young man who ate the most flatliners one year. He ate so many, he was a moaning shambling mess the next day. His dad told him he'd made his choice and sent him to school anyway. The way my former colleague reenacts his conversation with this poor, foolish young man never fails to leave me in stitches, even though I've heard the story many times.

One of my students this year came to school wearing a t-shirt declaring "I survived the flatliner challenge." To his credit, he wasn't a whimpering, moaning mess. But he did admit he wasn't feeling so well. I believe I just shook my head at his self-satisfied grin; I may have used the word "moron," but my memory isn't too clear on that. Whatever I said, his grin just got bigger.

Toys: a celebration of the Exeter Writers' Workshop

When I was a kid, I favored toys that let me imagine. I loved hot wheels and Weebles (who doesn't love a toy that doesn't fall down?) more than dolls. As I got older, I played with action figures from popular movies (though I didn't have all of the cool ones in this video!) more than the Weebles. But I still made up entire worlds in the yard or the house that went beyond the world of the figures.

Even without the toys, I spent hours imagining with my friends: we imitated our favorite shows and movies (even if we didn't exactly get what the songs were about!). Often we went off script and made sequels that were much better than the ones that played in the theaters.

These moments are so easy to forget because they  were just so much a part of the day to day. In fact, I hadn't thought of them in years until I went to the Philip Exeter Academy's Writers' Workshop. During that fabulous week-long program [1], one of the guest speakers led us through an extended freewriting activity. I literally had 8 or more type-written pages of freewriting, and one of the things that came up for me was the times I spent playing with Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars in the dirt. 

Most people probably have memories of playing in the dirt, but where I grew up in Louisiana, the dirt piles were epic. The neighborhood where I lived was built on a filled in swamp. Thus, every few years, part of maintaining the property involved buying and spreading a dump truck load of fill dirt in the yard. People chipped in and helped neighbors move the dirt, or volunteered their teen-aged kids to do it), and often lent wheelbarrows, rakes, and shovels. For the under 10 set, the dirt pile became a massive playground. Our Hot Wheels adventures now included perilous mountains, tunnels, and epic crashes, complete with cars tumbling down the dirt mountain. 

From the memory of these experiences, I wrote a little short story called "Drivers Wanted."  I'm not usually a short story writer, but Cahaley, one of the instructors, asked us to try to write a story from the point of view of an inanimate object. So, I wrote from the car's point of view. At some point, I want to go back to that story and polish it. I need more kicks in the butt to do this sort of creative work. 

[1] I absolutely, positively highly recommend that workshop. It's $1000 for a week, but that includes room, board, the workshop, and meals. It's a phenomenal deal and I will probably go back one summer in the future for a fresh kick in the creative pants. Seriously. Look into it. Do it.

Questions and leadership

This morning, I peeked in on George Couros' blog for the first time in a while, and I happily got lost for a time in his thinking and questioning. George is thoughtful, innovative, and interesting.  But, he isn't a classroom teacher; he's a principal, one of a growing number who are bring their practice into the light and reflecting on what it means to be a good school leader and lead learner.

I started following George on Twitter (@gcouros) quite early because even in tweets, he gives me pause.  He firmly believes, as I do, that we need to start teaching kids how to consciously and purposefully use technology, especially social media. He fostered a community of sharing and reflection at his last school by encouraging blogging by all of the staff and then getting kids involved, too (he's a division principal now, so he's bringing these ideas to many schools). But, George doesn't believe in technology for technology's sake, either. He advocates conversations between IT and instructional design to ensure that policies are purposeful and balanced, too. In short, he's the kind of principal I wish everyone had.

George's most recent post, "Questions and Ownership," resonated with me (and sent me down the rabbit hole to find more that I'd missed). When talking with an administrator frustrated by the slow pace of change, George asked her whether she had shared her vision with her staff and what questions she had asked of them. What a simple change! Ask a staff what they thought the effects of a proposed change would be and building consensus through the answers given. Then, follow up with a question on how leadership could help make that change successful. Imagine how much different a workplace would be if a leader didn't try to provide all of the answers, but instead let the staff take ownership and supported the implementation of new ideas.

I can see myself being the administrator George spoke in my classroom sometimes. Yes, I have the vision of where we need to go. The time factor and the expectations of parents, students, colleagues, and community sometimes drive me to get there in the fastest way possible. But really, what do the students remember if they don't own it? Imagine what would happen if students take ownership and my job becomes more about supporting the learning of new ideas. What would that look like if I did it on a more regular basis?

Questions are powerful, underutilized tools.

Recharging by not charging

Today hasn't been productive in ways I usually consider productive. I've yet to cross off anything from my to do list. I've yet to check my school email. I've left the house only for a late morning breakfast at a favorite local diner.

But, today has been productive in recharging my batteries. I slept in after going to bed late. I read parts of the paper and the rest of <i>Seraphina</a> a wonderful fantasy book I'd been steadily stealing time each night to read. I napped.

Outside my window, the sun has broken through the clouds, and I finally feel refreshed. After a week of trying to finish the paper, trying to teach, and proctoring standardized tests, I needed this down time. Even though the to do list hasn't gotten shorter, I feel more prepared to dive back in and get to work.

I may be a slow learner, but maybe I'm starting to actually figure out what Jim Burke and Bud Hunt were talking about in the two blog posts I have taped to my wall next to the computer. I hope so. 

Community

Recently, a fellow teacher who is part of my online tribe wrote about her difficult decision to leave her current position. She wonders if she should stay in the classroom and asked us why we stayed. I've been pondering this idea for days, but today crystallized it for me.

Community.

I have become part of my school's community, and when I feel myself losing hope or losing faith, that community serendipitously comes to remind me what is important. This week, despite knowing my to do list has not gotten longer and that my newly adopted role as journalism adviser is still a tenuous one due to low enrollments, I had several reminders of how I have become part of the community in which I teach.

For the past 8 and a half years, I've taught at Centreville High School. My first two and a half years, I taught 9th graders. Then it was 11th and 9th. Then AP Lang and 11th, which has been the core of what I've taught since my 3rd year. Two years ago, I had a singleton 9; this year, at least 7 of those 29 kids are in my 11th or AP classes. This year, I also added journalism. In addition, I've been the literary magazine adviser for 7 (?) years, worked the score and clock at basketball games for 6 years, and been a spring sports game manager for a few games each season for the past three years. I try to go to at least one of the performing arts concerts or a play every year, and I try to make it to games I'm not working, too.

Tonight, I worked as game manager at the boys lacrosse game. I know so little about the sport of lacrosse that I couldn't even give a coherent description. But that's not the point of doing the game management; the point is to see my students outside of the classroom. I learned my first year that some students need to see me support them before they support me. I also learned that I need to know them and see them in their element to bridge their lives to my classroom and to connect with them as people. These connections keep me going when I want to give up; I need them as much as the kids do.

This mix of teaching assignments and after school activities has enabled me to teach and/or interact with multiple members of families in the community. In two families, I've taught three siblings. I have at least 6 other families I can think of just off of the top of my head that I've taught two children in various classes. In addition, I've interacted with younger siblings of kids I've either taught or advised in clubs, too. I love seeing how different each sibling is; as the youngest of 4, I know what it's like to be compared to the older ones, so I try not to pretend I know who the latest family member is or will be. They are always delightfully unique.

So the reminders that I've become part of this community?

• Talking to Danny's parents at tonight's game and finding out how Tommy and Erin are doing was fantastic. I got to laugh with Erin's mom about how her daughter, who relied on Mom to get her up in the morning, is thriving at the Naval Academy. But watching Danny score a goal and knowing I can compliment him on that and a good pass will help me connect with him, too. He's a great kid and a hard worker. He and his classmates alternatively make me laugh and make me crazy, which almost guarantees they will be one of my favorites in the long run.
• Chris, a wonderful young actor and soon-to-be college graduate, was one of my 9th graders during my first full time year of teaching. I had him again when he was in 11th grade. He credits me and my theater colleague Mike Hudson for helping him get through high school. When he had a rough time, he knew Mike and I cared about him and were there for him. Today, he visited to let me know how he's doing (he's waiting on the results from call backs for a children's theater troupe!) and to thank me for teaching him how to write well.
• Minah, who was my co-editor-in-chief of the literary magazine for two years, came to visit earlier in the week to talk about what's going on with her. She and I laughed so much when she worked on the magazine, and we still do every time we get together.
• Allison, who I taught only a couple of year ago, lit up when I went to the restaurant where she works for dinner. She's on spring break, too, and doing well in college. Though I didn't get to talk to her much because she was waiting on other customers, I couldn't help but notice how happy she seems.
• Sarah stopped me in the hall to thank me for teaching her how to write last year. Honestly, what I did was more giving her confidence in her own abilities. But her thanks came at a low point in my day when I really needed it.
• The peanut gallery of kids I taught or who are friends of those I taught last year, shivering in the stands at tonight's game, decided to chant my name as I walked by and applauded wildly when I curtseyed in acknowledgement. Those goofballs put a smile on my face more than once today.

Even more reminders:

• Running into the Catalanos anywhere in the community results in hugs and reminders that they wish I had gotten AJ this year. Lauren, who I taught in 9th and AP, now works as a substitute teacher in the school when she's on break.
• Parents remember me, even when I don't recognize them.
• Most of my former and current students say hi to me when they see me at stores (I let them initiate the contact so it's not "awkward." ;)  Teenagers...)
• My co-workers and sorority sisters laugh with me, commiserate with me, plan with me, and offer me chocolate when I need it. 
• My former students who read my blog will point out typos for me (I'm looking at you, Griffin of the sharpie 5 o'clock shadow! ;) ).

So, Beth, the reason I stay is because the community and the kids want me to stay. I'm part of this community. And I know sometime, I will have to leave; I doubt my entire education career will be spent at a single school or in a single role. When the opportunity comes for me to advance, I won't miss the grading. I won't miss the standardized test. I won't miss the long days.

But the day I leave will be tough for me because of the community (communities, really) I will leave behind; the classroom community that alternatively drives me crazy and makes me laugh; the parents in the community who trust me with their children and thank me for working with them and loving them; the colleagues who I turn to in happy and frustrating moments. 

These people keep me here and keep me going despite the frustrations of the job. Without these connections, I would leave, as so many other are. I hope I never see the day when the balance tips the other direction.

Slice of satire

This is my first year teaching journalism. As with any first time course, I'm muddling my way through and learning right along with my students. It's an odd class because my journalism 1 students are there at the same time as my newspaper staff. They literally sit of opposite sides of the aisle in the lab. I only have 7 staff members and 14 J1 students. So, I spend a lot of time going back and forth between production issues and teaching the intro class.

Because my staff is so small, I've always intended to get my J1s more involved in writing. Finally, for the last issue, I had my J1s complete assignments that could go into the paper. I had them write articles about elective choices and essentially told the staff I was taking over 2 pages. But the editors would choose what went in, and I expected then to work with the author and edit the piece. For this issue, I had a host of feature articles they could use, and some were selected.

About two weeks ago, the editors asked if we would be doing an April Fools issue this year. If we were, they wanted the J1s to write many of the articles.

Well, I ran with it. This would be good practice in formatting a news article, and I could teach satire, too. Last week, I showed them some articles on The Onion (always a risky maneuver, but I just don't acknowledge that I see anything on the screen except what I'm focusing on), which had been doing a series riffing on mass shootings (FYI, no one is shot in this series). While they thought the "Gunman series" was hilarious, I mentioned it was probably a bit too risque for school. Still, they could see how it was playing on our fears and using puns. This week, I brought in a couple of tamer articles (here and here), showed them the pictures of Vice President Biden, and also discussed how an English-language Chinese newspaper had taken seriously The Onion's article "Kim Jong-Un Named The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive For 2012."

These two days set the stage for a brainstorming session where I helped them come up with ideas for satire. I steered them away from lampooning particular individuals, and we all ended up laughing at the ideas we had for explaining some of the recent trends at school. I won't spoil them, as the article have yet to be written, and some will certainly appear.

Yesterday, I asked them to go a step further and start the writing process. They were to:

1. Write what you are satirizing and some ideas for how you want to go about it (techniques) 
2. Write out Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How, just as you would with a real article.
3. Write your lead.

Again, they seemed to be having fun, but I could tell they needed something more to work with. 

So this morning, I wrote a model for them. I wanted to make it as much a straight news story as I could, including quotes from "parents," "students," and staff ( I admit I stole names of my teacher friends, and I hope they are amused). I also didn't want them to figure it out right away. I think half of why The Onion is so funny is that the news format is so well done.

It took them a bit to get it, but they did. Now, I have a model to share, and I hope it inspires them to avoid the "over the top" articles in favor of a more subtle flavor of humor. Even if it doesn't, it was fun to write, and I thought I'd share that as today's slice (wow...long winded intro for this, wasn't it?).

School technology—we depend on it, but sometimes buy the wrong things. 

Who: Mr. Martin Grimm, Centreville High School principal

What: Announced a new 1 to 1 tablet initiative to PTSA.

When: Announcement at March 19 meeting. New initiative starts next year.

Why: To provide students with resources they need to learn.

How: Each student will be issued his or her own tablet and will use it in all classes.

Issue: Volume 6, Issue 6.5, April 2013

HEADLINE: Grimm Announces New 1-to-1 Tablet Program for 2013-2014

At the March 19 meeting of the Centreville High Parent Teacher Student Association, Principal Martin Grimm announced a new one-to-one tablet initiative pilot program. The program, which starts during the 2013-2014, will provide a brand new tablet to each CVHS student on the first day of school. 

Grimm told parents the initiative would provide basic tablets to each student, which they would receive during their 1st period classes on September 3. Because the program lost some of the money due to the anticipated $62 million FY 2014 budget shortfall, students would have to provide their own styluses and covers to protect the new tablets. However, Grimm estimated that these would cost each student “no more than $17” for a simple portfolio-style cover and a stylus.

“We are excited to be part of this new program. Giving students the tools they need to success, that’s what this is all about,” said Grimm. “These tools allow kids to take what they learn with them to each class, which should really help our kids be more organized and ready to learn.”

Fairfax County Public Schools chose CVHS as one of 3 district high schools and 5 middle schools to participate in the test. If all goes well, the program will be adopted across the county in the fall of 2014. Then, each student enrolled in middle or high school will receive his or her very own tablet.

“These new tablets are not a replacement for the current technology. They’re a supplement. We still need laptop and desktop computers to administer the SOL [Standards of Learning] tests. All of those are computer tests now,” Grimm said.

Parents who attended the meeting applauded the announcement, but others felt FCPS acted too late and wasn't taking advantage of the latest portable devices. 

“Tablets aren't new,” said Teresa Bunner, parent of sophomore Aaron Bunner. “ I've used one since I was a little kid. I have them all over the house and still use them to write lists and letters, and leave messages for Aaron. I’m disappointed it's taken so long to get them into the schools.”

Bunner also expressed disappointment that students would receive full-sized 8.5x11” tablets instead of newer, more portable devices.

“If the school system want real portability, they should try the 5x8” tablets. They might be a little more expensive, but they are so useful,” Bunner said.

Kathy Blackler, who has two children at CVHS and another son at Liberty Middle School, was enthusiastic about the tablet pilot program. 

“I’m glad FCPS is willing to try to help families with this new program,” Blackler said.  “The country’s ‘bring your own device’ program is expensive for families. Some teachers required separate binders and tablets for each class. Those supplies get expensive!”

Student representative Kevin Kim, who will graduate before next year’s program starts, wondered if the new tablets would be a distraction and would add to theft problems and honor code violations at the school.

“Stuff gets stolen here, especially in the gym,” Kim said. “If these tablets all look the same, how will teachers know who is doing the work?”

Another student who attended the meeting, freshman Cindy Minnich, said she wasn't sure one tablet would be enough for her to do all of the work for her classes.

“My teachers require a ton of class work and homework,” Minnich said. “I just don’t think these things can store that much information. And I can’t even use it in computer graphics. It isn't compatible with any of the Adobe software.”

Some staff, too, also seemed to question the new program. Front office secretaty Kim Grennek pointed to the growing pile of student belongings in the lost and found, and speculated that many of the new tablets would end up there next year.

“It will be tough to tell them apart,” Grennek said. “After a while, the main office will probably start to look like Office Depot.”

According to Grimm, CVHS will order 3000 new tablets in July. He expects to keep several hundred in reserve as replacements for lost or stolen tablets and for students new to Centreville.

“We’re really looking forward to bringing this affordable new device to our Wildcats,” Grimm said. “Even though most of our graduates go on to colleges and higher education already, we think using tablets in every class will make them even more competitive in college admission and the workplace.”

Slice of Life: Some teaching ideas--argument and infographics

One of the experiments this year with my A.P. English Language and Composition class has been to include more choice reading. For two assignments, I gave them completely free reign: they could pick any book that interested them. They wrote reviews, made book trailers, and/or created print materials to market the book.

Another two assignments gave a choice from a list of fairly recent non-fiction works; one of our fine librarians and I compiled these lists. The first included a variety of memoirs and autobiographies. The most recent attempts to address some of the issues under debate in American society.

To keep it manageable, I narrowed down the choices to 8 (see below).  The list isn't perfect and the categorization might be a touch arbitrary, but I thought 8 books in 3 rough categories would be all I could manage to track. I attempted to have a wide enough variety to be appealing.

I also required that 3 students choose a book for it to be "approved," creating class reading groups, and that they lock in to their choices by this Thursday. The minimum requirement ensures no one struggles alone with a book and can discuss it with others. The book group ensures that students can collaborate on the creation of materials to share with the class. The change deadline ensured they took advantage of the list and resources I provided  (see Part I below), and that they didn't leave a classmate in the lurch by abandoning en masse at the last minute.

With these books, students will have to complete the following:

Part I: Investigate and choose.

Each book is between 232 and 300 pages, which I will expect them to read in a little over 2-2.5 weeks. I provided a list that included excerpts from the Amazon.com descriptions and one link per book to an interview with the author. Their only homework this week will be choosing/obtaining the book and starting to read. 

Part II: Read, discuss, and react

 I expect them to be about halfway through the book by next Thursday. So, I've built in some group discussion time in class and will require a blog post reflecting on their thinking so far (Hopefully, they can blog someplace where they can have a real audience; likely it will be in our class Blackboard environment). There will be another blog post at the finishing deadline after spring break (April 3) and two-three discussion sessions where they talk about their overall impressions and divvy up the part III work.

Part III: Create and synthesize.

Infographics will be the focus of this project; they have already seen some samples on visual.ly last week when I discussed analyzing images. Though we browsed and looked at a couple of others in each class, the four I purposely showed them were: 1. Bullying; 2. Inside the Conclave; 3. Cheaters: Kindergarten to High School, College to Working World; and 4. Titanic by the Numbers.

In fact, when they saw these in class, some asked if they could try making ones of their own. I had already planned to have them read these book-length works, but the class comments led to this part III idea. It seemed to be especially fortutious a request as I'm drowning in paper, and the students will be weary of writing after completing three in-class essays in three weeks and taking the state-mandated standardized writing test before spring break. 

The librarians and I are working up the parameters this week so students will have them as they begin reading. My initial thoughts are the groups will divvy up and create chapter/section infographics that depict the author's claims and data for small sections of the group. Then they will come together, share their individual graphics, and collaborate on one that represents the work as a whole. I like the individual assignment and the group assignment combination because it keeps one person from creating while everyone else watches. There's still a risk of that on the group infographic, but I'm hoping that by sharing individual ones first, there's more collaboration on the final.

Part IV: Publish and present.

Once the group infographic is complete, the groups will publish their work. Again, I suspect this will be on a a Blackboard wiki, which isn't my ideal, but will allow them to share both individual and group infographics. Some of the groups are larger, at 6-8 students. So, I'll probably break them into groups of 3-4, which will allow for some comparisons between groups and between classes. I might allow for a physical gallery walk of the graphics by reserving a laptop cart or part of the library and letting kids wander through and look at their peers' work, too.

Part V: Comment and reflect.

My intention is to require individuals (or maybe the groups) to comment on the infographics created by the other groups. Thus, students will be exposed to each of the arguments through this data and will have to engage with it beyond passive consumption. Then, individuals will reflect in their blogs about the project and process.

Only one student hasn't chosen a book, yet. Between my two classes, all of the books have book groups, which surprised me.

Between all 5 parts, I expect the project to take until April 22. Most of the work will be upfront; the reading and individual infographics have April 3 and April 9 deadlines.

If this works well, I'll probably do it again next year, but earlier in the year. I can see this as a good springboard to argument writing and creation of research based-infographic projects, as I'm largely asking them to create products that depict arguments.

Here's to another experiment!

The books:

Poverty and social class

1.        The Rich and the Rest of Us by Cornell West and Tavis Smiley, published in 2012, 232 pages

2.        The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty by Peter Singer, published in 2009, 240 pages

American culture

3.        Everything Bad is Good For You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter by Steven Johnson. published in 2006, 254 pages

4.        Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash by Edward Humes, published in 2012, 288 pages 

5.        Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy by Christopher Hayes, published in 2012, 304 pages

6.        Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier, published in 2013, 256 pages

Education and psychology

7.        The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined by Salman Khan, published in 2012, 272 pages

8.        How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough, published in 2012, 256 pages