How We Send Our Students Off To High School

June 1, 2011

      Today was a special day for our continuing students (those 8th graders who will move on to high school.)  We celebrated the successes of 20 of them today, many of whom have spent nine years with us.  We've watched some of them from birth onward because their older siblings also attended the school.  It is a fairly typical ceremony, with guest speakers, openings and closings, and a few musical offerings.  What makes it best I think is that each student is allowed to give her or his own speech, telling what they will take with them from their experience, what they hope to give back in the future, and for whom/what they are grateful.  Of course, the speeches are unique to the individual--heartwarming, funny, and inspiring.  It is a long gathering, and all students in the school along with staff, parents, grandparents, family friends, former staff, and school friends attend, about 300 people.  I've never tired of seeing these young adolescents stand in front of a large audience and try their wings.  They are marvelous, and I'm not sure they realize what a gift they are giving us as they speak.  I loved the time with them and will miss them.


                     A Poem For Our Students

                Continuation:

         Sadness underlines today.

      Celebration means goodbye.

Teaching-Like Racing In The Indie

     Even here at the end of the school year, like most of you I imagine, I am looking toward the next year, thinking about how I can improve my work with teachers and students:  searching for new ideas to improve teaching, to communicate more clearly, and to create closer collegial relationships.  In between all the personal summer activities, I will read and think and make notes and gather resources.  There lately was an article from Education Week titled “Teaching Is Not A Part-Time Job”.  Here is the link:  http://svteach.wikispaces.com/Teachers'+Work+Goes+Beyond+the+School+Day

       I find that I make so many connections to what I observe, on TV sometimes, and in other activities that I do.  Yesterday, I watched most of the Indie 500 race, and early in this most prestigious race, I began to apply what I saw to teaching.  This time, while the ending holds just one winner, the entire broadcast information held much to be applied to education.  First of all, they showed the history of the race, this year 100 years old, with the primitive model-t racers that climbed to 75 mph, to the near-rocket cars of today that reach 220 mph.  In between are innovations, tweaking of new applications, brains working overtime to create the best racing (read ‘learning’) possible for the cars.  And the drivers themselves today learn they must strengthen their hands, to be able to hold onto the shaking steering wheels at such high speeds, must workout even like the Olympians to be able to endure the nearly four hour race.  We too have historical background in education that supports what we do.  Innovators in our history have given us basic knowledge that we use again and again, and much of it hasn’t gone out of style.  We too have to stay in shape, perhaps not like the Olympians, but most of all, we keep up with the best practices that are proven; to read what we must takes stamina, while to use what we learn takes endurance in the classroom, keeping up with different groups, different individuals.

           During the race I noticed that the pit crew was discussed at length, including how much they practiced in order to get ready for the event, how they rehearsed in order to shave even parts of seconds off the time taken to change tires, re-fuel, and make minor adjustments.  Teachers often teach to the moment, also making minor changes as they assess what is happening in the group, or to an individual.  They form the pit crew that keeps the car going, don’t they, working alongside (or with) the driver?  

And who is the driver?  I believe it’s an ebb and flow between the teacher and the students, a companionship that could be akin to teaching the student to drive, directing with details, teaching as much as you know about learning, then the gradual release so that the student is driving alone. Having learned what is offered as well as possible, the student takes over, practicing, getting the needed help from the pit crew, but this time it’s the driver who must make the crucial decisions that help complete the race.  The classroom/students are also the car, also interacting with the driver and given support by the pit crew.  One story that resonated with me was the race by Danica Patrick, who placed 10th in this Indie 500.  During the race, the car ran hot and the pit crew, all the background help, made changes at every pit stop, trying to reduce the heat, to keep the car running as well as could be, with Danica herself making changes in the way she raced, to give the best chance for success.  She didn’t win, but the car did complete the race without breaking down, and the different changes made by the pit crew helped that happen.  Hurrah for teachers who keep tweaking their methods in order to differentiate the learning for each student, and achieve success.

             I guess that many might think this connection is a little silly, yet when I make connections like this; I share them with my teachers and students, because I want more than anything for them to understand the myriad parts that encompass the practice of teaching and the components of learning.  It is hoped that those same teachers and students begin to examine anything they wish to understand more fully, in the minute parts that create success.

Rambling Thoughts

May 30, 2011


Rambling Thoughts During This Mini Vacation

     Yesterday was the third day I’ve had without  going to work, although I'm not quite finished at school, as we have two and one half days more with students this week, then final staff meeting and staff party.  The hourglass is nearly empty.  We had a lot to do the past days, running errands, going to a movie, and visiting my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter for a few hours, helping them with some lawn work (mostly though, playing with Ingrid).   In between errands, I’ve been doing those last minute school tasks, like wrapping goodbye gifts and writing thank you notes. 

Yesterday, we hung out mostly, so I put ingredients for a stew in a slow cooker, and I’ve kept busy on the mission of cleaning out things-first drawers, then some closets, etc.  I found no surprises, (or money), but did fill another box for give-aways & a bag of things for various people at school.  My mantra is use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.  It’s an old World War II saying, when many had to live that way in order to help the war effort.  It’s interesting how today there is much talk that supports that saying; we’ve come to believe that doing what we can to waste less is a good thing for the planet.

 School ending gives me such energy for home things.  It’s almost the same feeling when spring fever hits, and I yearn to be outside, in the garden, without a coat!  It is bittersweet to say goodbye to continuing students who are leaving for good, but we all feel the pull of summer, the almost visceral need to do something different, whether it’s to stay at home, go on vacation, or just take a few hours every day in the garden, tending the new growth. 

So today, I puttered, I cleaned, and I sat on the patio a while, and while there, a gift came by.  A hawk flew in, and landed on one of our fence posts.  Guess he was hanging out too, although probably for dinner.  He didn’t stay long, but it was a great thing to see.  I didn’t have a camera, and if I’d moved, he too would have taken off.  So, he’s just in my mind’s eye, a beautiful thing, making his way in this almost-summer world, just like I am.

My Brother

May 29, 2011


   Yesterday was my brother's birthday.  We live far away, so I sent a card and a gift, and we called him last night.  He is my only sibling, and special to me.  We're looking forward to a long visit this summer when we return to my home state.  He, his wife, my husband and I love to travel the back roads, looking for terrific little cafes, general stores, and antique shops.  It's just fun to be together and I wish we were closer, but glad we do spend time together as much as possible.  A poem for Jim,


            My Little Brother

                  My brother,

                  my little brother,

                  is sixty-one,

                  director of a band,

                  leader of the church choir,

                  father and grandfather of a household,

                  saver of cats and dogs,

                  really-all manner of living things.

                  He's a grand manager of his life.

                  But all I see is

                  my brother-

                  my little brother

Like It Is - student backpacks

May 26, 2011

Like It Is

Like my room,

my backpack is

is

is

my life.

It may be heavy,

but I really have to pack all

of the things in. 

Nothing is removed at school,

but those few reports demanded,

the pencils expected,

and the cell phone

(when no one is looking).

Nothing is removed at home,

but those few things important

to survival—a math book

for the homework; the English anthology

in order to read Twain, maybe Dickens;

and lately, above all, the topic list in order to practice

over and over-the five paragraph essay.

(Occasionally I don’t finish the history research

at school, so must retrieve that assignment, but it

is returned pretty fast to the pack.)

I must be sure that

I don’t miss a beat

of my year,

the math,

the English

the history,

the geography.  And so,

I lug the pack

back and forth,

heavy on my back,

looking like I’m bound for Harvard,

or somewhere,

all that bulkiness the sure sign of success. 

All these things

move me forward,

doubtless because the higher powers

deem it so, but also because I

need them to form part of me,

to create the me that is

the school-going, sometimes-serious,

often-worried-about

how I look,

how I seem,

how I drive,

how I dream,

but never worried about the pack.

It’s just all in there, ready for student use,

just in case it’s needed.