Teaching on a “wing” and a “prayer” – It is NOT what students need right now…

11 Friday Sep 2020

Posted by The Book Chamber in Consistency, coronavirus, COVID-19, Distance Learning, Education, Effective, Expectations, Intentions, Leader, Leadership, Lesson Plans, Opportunity, Preparation, Teachers, Technology

≈ 3 Comments

Our hallways are less crowded, classes have fewer students, the parking lot is easier to maneuver, temperatures are taken before room entry, and lunch is eaten in the classrooms. Lessons are traditional for some, virtual for others, and hybrid based on the alphabet of a student’s last name. To top it off, I write this being “masked-up.” People say this is the “new” normal. I say this is what normal is now. Normal is normal, and we play the hand we are dealt with. You are probably thinking, “What a crappy hand!”

Yes, this is where we are with our education of 2020, thus far. One week from spring break five months ago, who would have thought we would be where we are now in September? Consistency of how we teach as we know it, like Elvis, has left the building. Our apple cart has been upset, and it is turned over.

Given all that we have to do differently now, a few thoughts come to mind after five weeks back in school…

Really great teachers are going to excel even better. That’s why they are fantastic, to begin with. They are prepared, on time, delivery of the lessons only changes for the better, and expectations are still high. They always meet and greet students as they have in the past, regardless of whether they live or on the Zoom screen. These are the teachers who go out of their way, no matter what. Not much really needs to be said about this group other than thank you.

Now it gets a little sticky…

What about teachers who are not so great or just not good at all? Yes, contrary to popular belief, they are out there… Odds are, we all know one or two, or…

While some of us are really good at “winging it” and can teach on the fly (it is a gift, but not always suggested), there are some who are staring at the wall, praying that lessons will somehow magically appear on their computers in a zip file that only needs to be downloaded and open. Those who cannot “wing it and fly,” well… their lessons are stuck at the terminal, and the students are getting bumped.

But guess what? There is hope for them. I believe there is an opportunity for these teachers to grow and improve, but there must be a “want to” in them. Teaching virtual and live simultaneously exposes one’s teaching quickly—especially their instruction delivery. However, what an opportunity teachers have now to make sure lessons are pertinent and intentional. Yes, more preparation will be required, and they might actually have to ask for help. The best way to get rid of a “not so good” teacher is to make them a better teacher.

And for all of us, let’s make sure we continue to be intentional with our teaching. Regardless of whether a student enjoys your subject or not, find a way to provide an inviting atmosphere for your classroom, both for virtually and live. This is a consistency that should not change.

Yes, teaching is WORK… more work now than usual. Education will always matter, no more now than at any other time. However, teaching might be remembered more now than ever.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

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Mowing your yard and a lesson of teaching…

04 Friday Sep 2020

Posted by The Book Chamber in Lesson Plans, Purpose, Reflection, Teachers

≈ 3 Comments

As I look for ideas to write on each week, I find myself trying to make connections with about anything and education or leadership. Listening, reading, watching, experiencing… all these things help with topics that roll around in my mind. So, as I was mowing our yard yesterday evening, I started thinking…

First, let me say I enjoy mowing. Call me weird or a glutton for punishment, that’s ok. I put my headphones on, listen to a book on tape, and go at it. For three to four hours, I am lost in my own reality.

Well, how does mowing work its way into a blog regarding education or leadership? Today, mowing works its way into understanding and being a model centered around quality teaching of a lesson in a classroom or any other endeavor that can use the analogy.

When you get ready to mow your yard, what is the first thing you do? Please do not say grumble… That defeats the purpose because you are going to do it anyway. To answer, you plan and prepare… mower gassed up, weed-eater gassed up with enough chord and backup, etc.

The same goes for teaching; you prepare in advance. Why would you not? There is nothing worse than running out of gas on the backside of the yard away from the shed and the gas tank. The walk to and from is terrible enough, but mentally having to admit defeat of not planning “gets all over you.”

When you actually start a lesson, it is like mowing the yard—the big picture, per se. You mow “over” everything you want to be cut. That is what we do when we teach. We cover the lesson as we would mow the yard.

Next, I get out the weed-eater and start trimming around all the trees, the flowerbeds, up under bushes, etc. That is what I compare walking around, asking for verbal responses, or spot-checking for understanding in a classroom looks like. Cleaning up areas that I could not get the mower too. Is that not what we do with our instruction? How do you check for understanding?

By now, most people are finished, but not me. I like going for that “real clean” look. I get the edger out and start cutting the clean edge to the brick of flowerbeds or the concrete to the driveway. Usually, this is where I come back to almost wrap the lesson up. This might be where I give a connection to history or society in general. With the case of math, an opportunity to show how it is used or why it is needed. A lot of this depends on what subject matter you teach.

Gatorade Break…

Well, surely by now, you are tired, me too. But we still have two more details to discuss—first, hedging. Now, I do not do this everytime I mow, because sometimes it does not need it. However, every so often, some of the bushes begin to overgrow, and stems start sticking up. That’s when I go in and do a “knock off” of the rough edges of the bushes. As a teacher, you know when you need to do just a little more with your instruction. There are times when “one more example” or “let’s look at this again” gets your lesson exactly where you want it.

Lastly, blowing everything clean. Yes, the last step. Outside of actually mowing, getting the blower out to just clean up the area allows me to begin to see the finished product. Same with a lesson. This is where you can actually discuss what I call “take-a-ways” from the lesson with your students. For me, this is the “good sigh” moment. Almost looks like you never did anything, to begin with—just a perfect clean picture.

The smell of success. Nothing like that “fresh-cut” smell of a yard. Now I know we cannot smell good teaching, but deep down, you “sense” your finished product. As I go and sit on the front or back porch with a glass of good sweet tea, I see and smell success. An accomplishment of a finished project that is what I think good quality lessons can be.

I am sure you can find your own analogy for the steps of what you believe quality teaching is… but there is something about mowing… Yes, a time to be in your own reality.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

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Lesson plans? They probably do not include these things…

28 Friday Aug 2020

Posted by The Book Chamber in Agenda, coronavirus, covid19, Culture, Decisions, Distance Learning, Education, Educational Leadership, Leader, Leadership, Lesson Plans, Teachers, Understanding, Value

≈ 1 Comment

Lesson plans… who really needs them at a time like this?

First, let me preface that I am not a huge “lesson plan” educator kinda guy. Often times, lesson plans are more of a “dog and pony show” than actually containing value for both the student and the teacher. And for those of you who know me, you know that I believe education should be anything but “fake.” Who should lesson plans be for anyway? I have never had a student come up to me and ask, “What does your lesson plan look like today?” Needless to say, I am more of an agenda/syllabus teacher. Anyway… I digress…

Lesson plans…

Always thought out, methodical, on schedule, time-consuming, TTW, TSW aligned with the pacing guide, etc… (I’m worn out just typing this…)

But what about now? Where is the idea of lesson plans with teaching via Zoom or virtual? Hybrid? Or any other way that is “non-traditional?” Yes, we still need a plan, but how does that look? Usually, what we start out wanting in not always what we get…

Of all the “stuff” that lesson plans are to contain, here are a few thoughts of mine… during this time of the “unknown” as everyone calls it, that lesson plans cannot measure…

Connection – Not with the computer, but you, as the teacher. Find a way to connect with your students. Take a moment to make a moment. How do you write that on your lesson plans? Odds are, you do not… It just comes naturally. Listen to comments being made and chase some rabbits. Call out your student’s names during the lesson. Find out something about them and touch on that at different times. Subtle acts of acknowledgment go further than you realize.

Easability – Yes, that is a word in my vocabulary, and it needs to be in yours. You can teach content, have it relevant, and have it high on Bloom’s taxonomy, but please do not put extra stress on a student. Not every student in every school has the same “learning” capabilities with technology or anything else for that matter. Teach your lessons and facilitate them. As you have probably noticed with the current status we are in, not all schools are equitable and fair with their resources. This is not the student’s fault.

Opporchallengy – Yes, another made-up word that I use… Every teacher, more than likely, is teaching differently. Think about it this way… Whatever way school is set up, teachers have had to build their class culture and day-to-day activities for classes they have never seen “live.” So much is to be said for educators who have the characteristic of adaptability because they see challenges as opportunities, hence my word, opporchallengy.

Strange times to be an educator. I know there are not any quick fixes right now, and I have a lot of questions. I have a few answers too, but nobody really wants to hear them… In the end, our job is to find ways to reach students like we never have before. How do we do that? Not by lesson plans, but with you. You are that one constant in a student’s life. Be the educator they need “live” and not on paper.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

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