Humans First, Learners Second

Things that are different (in unexpected ways

1. There is a wooden train set that runs under my work chair. If I move my work chair, I derail the really important train to Train City.  (yes that pic is from today, from my living room)
2. Four of us cannot work at the kitchen table without unpleasant consequences. Thank goodness for IKEA “click and collect” where they put your new, cheap IKEA table in your trunk for you. 
3. You don’t need hand sanitizer much if you don’t leave the house! 
4. My kids are lonely. They don’t have social media to interact with people and so all their interacting is within our house. So they are all over me!!!
5. Ordering takeout is an act of helping others? Sweet! Tacos as a service project!!! 
6. My house feels smaller than it ever did before. 

But honestly, if you don’t leave your house much (and where are you going to go?), you really don’t know what it’s like in someone else’s house. 

Maybe you live alone and you’re super zen about all this. Maybe you live alone and you’re lonely as all get-out. Maybe you’re going nuts, cooped up with your family or roommates. Maybe you’re cozy with your family. Maybe you’re going to strangle the person or people you love with. Maybe you’re anxious and worried beyond the norm. Maybe you cannot figure out what to do with digital learning. 

Your kids are in one of those situations, only with a lot less control over their lives.

• Some of them have parents working from home who have set an annoyingly structured schedule.
• Some of them have parents working from home and have no schedule. At all. Do whatever, whenever. 
• Some of them have parents at home but who are not currently working because their restaraunt/nail salon/art gallery/airline/hotel/gym/retail store is closed. There may or may not be schedules. Parents are freaking out about jobs and money.
• Some of them are home alone (or at grandparents/neighbors’/aunties’ houses) while parents go to work in healthcare/first responders/sanitation/utilities/groceries /delivery/construction jobs. 
• Some of them have been on their phones since we left school (ok, all year) and have a great support system of friends to keep them connected. 
• Some of them have been on their phones, connected to online harassment and bullying with no schoolwork or counselors to distract them and are at their wits’ end. 
• Some of them don’t have phones (or not anymore now that a parent has lost his or her job) and are now disconnected from their whole social support system while social distancing.
• Some of them are still out roaming the neighborhood with their friends anyway because parents are at work or are too panicked about their lack of income to keep it together. 
• Some of them are freaking out about a sick member of their family who may or may not have COVID-19, but they’re assuming it is anyway. 
• Any of those scenarios above, it may be getting tense. Unhealthy family relationships are getting really unhealthy. Bad habits are getting worse. Kids are scared and alone a lot. Or NEVER alone. Or lost and adrift

So before you dive into Sources of Law or Ionic Columns or Dred Scott...

Dive into how the kids are.  Where the kids are. 

Are they ok? Do they need an ear? Social interaction? Empathy? A break from parents breathing down their necks or do they need a grown-up to be in charge of something?

I know you’re not the counselor (although I am sure that the counselors are working their magic in crazy new ways, too) but you-the-teacher have always been the first line of checking in with students. 

Remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? 

You start from the bottom. You have to handle your physical needs first. If you don’t have food, shelter, and so on, you can’t really worry about safety. If you don’t have that taken care of, you can’t really worry about relationships (which is why so many parents, spouses, siblings, and other relationships get rocky during times of crisis).

Once you have enough food, water, safety, security (is this where the TP comes in?), and relationships, only THEN can humans really work on accomplishing goals and achieving their potential. 

So, if they’re worrying about what they’re going to eat or if they’re going to be evicted or about that loved one with a high fever and a cough ... a kid isn’t going to care about the difference between Doric columns and Ionic columns quite yet. 

*If I can mention that this is ALWAYS the case, COVID-19 or not. Often what we call “not caring about education” is a case of a kid or family not being able to focus on that part of Maslow’s hierarchy YET because they are too focused on a lower level with having to worry about safety needs or physical needs. Just a friendly reminder from your college psychology class! 

So how can I help? I’m not the counselor! I don’t know what I'm doing digital teaching and I’m living in one of those crazy uncertain scenarios above! 

1. I say this as a mom a lot, but I’m going to say this as a teacher, too. Airlines say it all the time (ok, less this week, but still). Put. On. Your. Own Oxygen. Mask. First.

You can’t help anyone else if you are losing your stuff. Take care of yourself. Do all the stuff they tell you to do to make this time easier. Go take a walk. Get exercise. Facetime with your people. Eat healthy. Smile (physically smile!). Watch kittens and puppies on the internet. Play with your kids and pets. Get sunshine every day. Don’t overdo the news and social media. Don’t expect to be a digital teaching superstar. (None of us are quite yet). Unplug when you can. 

2. Ask your kids how they are -- and listen. And answer them, individually. They miss you. They miss real life.  They’re human beings and they need you. And if they have problems bigger than you can handle, email the counselors and the same team you usually go to. They’re still there (well, at home). 

3. If kids have COVID-19 questions (especially with all the social media craziness), check out The News Literacy Project

4. If Social Emotional Learning has never been your forte (or if it is) now is the time to embrace it. Check out CASEL and their resources to support educators. 

5. 
   Whatever you do, PLEASE DO acknowledge it! Don’t pretend like everything is business as usual. It’s not. It’s a crazy, different, scary new world. Coronavirus is in 196 countries. Currently, 1/2 million people worldwide have it (although with struggles to get enough tests that is generally agreed to be a low number) and 20,000+ have died. Roughly half of our country is under some sort of limited mobility orders, including our own county. The economy is in unbelievable shape. Please don’t pretend like everything is normal. Kids aren’t stupid but if you pretend everything is fine, it will insinuate that you think they are. 

Try saying something like “I bet this time has been weird or scary. It’s definitely made me anxious. But I am so glad to have you guys back! I have missed you!” 

This is hard for all of us for so many reasons, from our personal health fears to our disconnectedness to our stepping out of our comfort zones digital teaching. Plus, the toilet paper is still hard to find. 

Put your oxygen mask on and take care of your students’ social and emotional needs. And if this isn’t your strength, ask for help. We’re all figuring this out together. None of us are experts in this situation.

This is waaay more important than any content you could teach this year.

Socrates Says Take Care Of Yourself. It's For The Kids.

I know you’re dreaming of wasting away in Margaritaville next week. Or at least sleeping in, past 7am. Or at least getting to use the bathroom when you want to. Or 

We’re almost there, my friends! You GOT this! 

I swear that February is the toughest month in which we teach. Despite being a short month, it somehow goes on for-e-ver. There is no spring break, no major state or district testing, no holidays, no big parties. The kids are sick of each other, the adults are sick of the kids, everyone is sick of everyone else -- and everyone is just plain old SICK!

But it’s March. Third quarter is blessedly almost over. Spring Break is within our reach. . A whole week to refuel, relax, rest, and make ourselves whole again. 

Y’all know I’m a big fan of goal setting. Big goals, small goals, micro-goals. They’re all good for us. 

I know most of you --and those of you that I know ALL want to be good role models for your kids. It’s why you push yourselves to be the best “you” that you can be. 

I know you MEAN to take good care of yourself. But those papers aren’t going to grade themselves! 

So I have one question before spring break. 

How can you be a good role model for your students’ self-care  if you don’t take good care of yourself?

Yup. 

In order to teach your students to take good care of themselves whether they are 

• The nervous kid who is too anxious and and stressed about grades, social issues, or whatever
• The kid who stays up all night playing video games and can’t stay awake in class
• The kid who uses too many unhealthy substances
• The kids who is in every club, team, band, and organization and who can’t keep up with it all
• The kid who over or under exercises, eats too much or too little. 

Famously, Socrates used to ask his students regularly if they were taking care of themselves. And during his historic trial (in which he was accused of corrupting the youth of Athens), he came back at his accusers and said “You preoccupy yourselves without shame in acquiring wealth and reputation and honors'' but do not take care of yourselves. How dare you try to run this city-state when you aren’t insightful and don’t have basic self care?

In ancient Greece, to take care of yourself, meant to pursue beauty, truth, wisdom, and self-mastery. 

I know we are all overworked and underpaid. I know we are all tired and there’s not much anyone is going to do about it in the next couple days before Spring Break. 

But I’d like you to think about this: if you don’t do it for yourself, “do it for the kids”. Take care of yourself to teach your students how to take care of themselves. 

• Eat lunch daily. 
• Exercise. 
• Get rest. 
• Don’t stay up all night grading papers. 
• Keep your stress level down.
• Turn off the news sometimes. 
• Turn off social media sometimes
• Say “no” to some commitments. 

It's not sustainable to run at top speed all the time without food, water, bathroom breaks, sleep, social lives, and while being sick. 

Doesn’t that sound ridiculous when I put it like that? But there's a good chunk of you all reading this 5th period that haven't eaten, drank water, gone to the bathroom, had a decent night's sleep, seen your friends/family recently and are feeling sick. ALL THE THINGS. 

I see you. I know you’re there. 

So, use spring break to rest and relax. And then, when you come back, work on taking care of yourself, and doing it intentionally for yourself and to teach your kids what more healthy adulting looks like. 

You got this. Hang in there.

Enjoy those margaritas and think of Socrates over Spring Break! 

If you need coaching through ways to make the teaching part less time consuming, I’m glad to try to talk it out! Email me! newmantr@psb.org 

Ten Ways to get Kids to Talk About Content

Ten Ways to Get Your Kids to Talk About Content (and not about other stuff)

Teachers talk too much, myself included (I apologize to everyone in every PD I have ever facilitated). We know that LISTENING is not the best way to learn. It doesn't help us process information. Listening alone is what makes content go in one ear and out the other. 

In order to make content stick, you have to DO something with it. No, not YOU-the-teacher. The KID has to do something with it. 

Talking about it helps. Talking about the CONTENT helps us all learn the CONTENT. Teachers can talk less and kids can talk more (about content)

(Shhh. Sitting quietly while we do a worksheet or read or while the teacher talks does NOT help us learn the CONTENT!)

10. Turn and Talk -- It’s a classic for a reason. Because it works, because it’s easy, because it requires little to no planning. Pose a decent, open-ended question to the class. Show them how to physically turn so that they face each other. Have them talk about the question. Teacher should physically walk around the room, listening to the conversations. (It’s not eavesdropping if it’s in your classroom!). Teacher should share what they heard from students. And if the kids struggle? Model it in the front of the room with a willing volunteer or another adult. Show them what it looks like. Sometimes, they’re not sure you’re serious about it. Be for real about all of it -- the turning part, the talking part, the “on-topic” part, the sharing what you heard part! 

9. Make them write it first (white board?). Sometimes, kids don’t know what to say. They don’t know what to think about content right off the bat. Sometimes, they need a little processing time. Just like they get scratch paper in math, it’s ok to let them jot down a thought or two in your class before they say it out loud. Whiteboards are brilliant for this, because they allow kids to erase every scrap of evidence that they ever had an answer or an idea that they suddenly feel is “dumb” or “wrong” or that they wouldn’t want their peers or teachers seeing. So give them a minute to get their thoughts together before sharing their words. 

8. THINK -- then pair, share -- How many of you have done a “Think/Pair/Share” -- but really cheated the “think” part? I have! Ten seconds is not enough think time, Tracy!  Make sure to give kids the THINK time before they Pair and Share. It honestly makes a difference in their conversations and in their understanding of content. 

7. Debate it -- Teenagers love to argue. It’s developmentally appropriate (not to mention bolstered by social media and election season). So give them a great question and as much or as little structure as a particular class needs and let them verbally duke it out. Nothing is more fun than arguing! Kids will suddenly care about stuff they didn’t care about before. Do you have a particularly boring unit or piece of text? Ask about the “best” or “most important” or “most significant” part and voila! Suddenly that boring topic is fun! And kids are talking! And engaged! And thinking and learning! 

6.Make it a court case --  Have kids argue famous court cases so they have to think about both sides of an issue. Whether it’s Marbury vs. Madison or the Trial of Socrates, it’s helpful for kids to see the arguments for and against a side and have to talk those out. 

5. Give them an interesting conversation topic --  I’ll be honest. Half the time a student conversation activity fell flat was because I had a not-so-hot conversation topic. Make kids pick the “best” or “should they?” or “most important” or “if you were” (but never about slavery or the holocaust!). Make them relate it to their lives or to something else they know or learned about. Make it interesting enough that it piques their interest.

4. Social Media -- Have them type/write it like a social media thread. There’s nothing like a Fakebook Post or a back-and-forth text-looking conversation to get kids involved in a way they prefer to communicate anyway Don’t judge them because they communicate differently than we old-grown-ups. Run with their strengths. Or, have them START with their strengths on fake social media/texts (try https://ifaketextmessage.com/ and then continue the conversation out loud

3. Sentence Starters/Historical Talking Tools -- Sometimes, kids don’t know what to say. Or, they don’t know where to begin. Or, they know what to say in a kid-way, but not in an academic way. Enter, sentence-starters or Historical Talking Tools! Start them off so that instead of saying “you’re stupid!” or “no! You're wrong!” they say “I disagree with you because...” or “Although you say __, I believe __”

2. Silent Conversation -- Put a quote or a short piece of text or a political cartoon on a piece of paper. And put that same piece of paper in front of every kid, but the kids are in groups of 3-4. And give each kid 1-2 minutes to write to respond to that quote/text/cartoon. Then, within the groups, have them pass the papers around to another group member and each kid will respond to what the previous group member wrote. Then, the pass it again to another member of their group, read what the previous two wrote, and add to that conversation. And another time (if you have 4 kids in a group). It’s brilliant for getting kids to dig deep into a great quote/text/cartoon and to have conversation with each other in a way you can structure and monitor. 

1.Model it -- Kids don’t always know how to collaborate effectively. So SHOW THEM! Literally, act it out in front of them and model it. The more explicitly you show them what you want, the more they “get it”. Modelling is a great way to help them get better at what you want them to do, the way you want them to do it. 

Non-negotiables -- These things are non-negotiable when it comes to student collaboration. 

• 
  Walk around and monitor their conversations by joining in. As kids talk, teachers can’t sit back. Teachers need to be monitoring and listening to every student conversation. And it's ok to join in conversation with the kids so you can ask them probing questions. 
• Raised hands is NOT student talk. Having kids raise their hands is STUDENT talk. Studnet, singular. As in one student can talk while the other 28 cannot. So, one kid is thinking about content while the other 28 are thinking about pizza or sports or their crush or whatever. It is the least efficient way to have students talk. It’s like painting your whole house with a q-tip. Least efficient tool for the job. Why wouldn’t you have ALL the kids talk so ALL the kids are thinking and learning?

How do you have kids talk about content? How can you mix it up and do more student-talk about content, more often? As always, I love to hear from you! Email me newmantr@pcsb.org