Let's be honest, it IS about money!

I'd be lying if I said it's not about money. I want my kids to make good money. I want your kids to make good money. I want them to find a career they love, and that also pays them well enough to provide for a family and to meet all of their needs, (and hopefully their wants as well.) But I know that in order to do so, they need to be in a position where they control their future and career choices, instead of merely hoping to find a good job.

Schools are middle-class places of learning. This is how curriculum and standards are designed. They provide students with middle-class level vocabulary and learning.  But how many of our students struggle because they do not have a grasp on middle-class vocabulary or expectations?

For students to be successful they need to grasp the language of the class above their current reality. They need to become literate in the language, the vocabulary, the learning expectations of the next economic class above them. For example, students being raised in poverty need to learn the vocabulary of the middle class in order to "learn themselves out of poverty," (Dr. Samuel Betances) and to keep themselves out of poverty.

Wait, that's not quite right. Let me be even more specific:

Students must learn and must be competitive in that next level of language. 

That means that some of our students are struggling to learn the language of that next level, while trying to learn a new language.

Teachers: for your students to be successful, you must provide them with the language and vocabulary of the level above them. Sure, you may be able to relate with them by using their slang, and acronyms and abbreviations. But every word that comes out of your mouth is teaching them something. It may be as simple as correctly replying, "I'm well, thank you. How are you?"

Parents: For your child to be successful, you need to provide them more than may have been provided for you. You may need to speak differently, read different books, bring them to the theatre or musical performances, and most importantly, have both intentional and opportunistic academic conversations.

Administrators: For you students to be successful, you need to help yourselves, teachers, and staff recognize that YOU ARE ALWAYS TEACHING!

Are your words and actions elevating them or just supporting their status quo?

Leader in Me day in Mattawa

Here are our student body leaders at Saddle Mountain Elementary's Leader in Me day. Students learned about the 7 Habits of a leader and how that looks for student leaders. 

We can't give them what we don't have....

I know that sounds very Yogi Bera-esque, but let's dissect it for a bit. As parents, if we don't have it, we can't give it to our children. Simple. "No, you can't have candy because I don't have any candy." I don't have an extra car to give to my second teen driver (phew!!). There are lots of material things I can't give them because I just don't have it.

But there are things we cannot give our children because we never learned them, or never experienced them. There are times I struggle to help my kids with their homework because I never took that level of math class in high school. I can't give them that knowledge or support because I don't have it to give. "I can't"....remember my previous self-enabler post?

What are you not able to provide your children because you don't have it? Reading support? Help with their writing assignment? Conversations rich with academic vocabulary? Enlightening cultural experiences that include the arts, music, theater, travel?

I guess the bigger question is: What are you doing about it? Imagine the impact on your child's future if they know you struggle with reading, but see you putting forth the effort to become a better reader!! Imagine they see you taking courses or using an app on your phone to improve your English skills.

We owe it to our children to be an example of continuous learning. It's exhausting, I know. But if we want them to be better than us, we must never stop learning.

Can you imagine the impact of them walking into the living room and you have the TV off, and you aren't playing a video game or on the computer, and you are reading a book? 

Starting today my children will see me reading at least once a day. This will probably be a shocker to them. :)

But I don't want to be the reason my child says "I can't."

Language and Heritage and Culture

Your language connects you to your roots. It grounds you to your culture and heritage. We hear about minority languages and majority languages. HOWEVER, it is not a "major language" because it's measured by the number of how many people speak the language. Rather, it's measured by the impact it has to connect its people to its culture. 

If you loose that language, you have to borrow someone else's language, and someone else's roots and culture. You lose your heritage. Generations of culture may be lost. 

Language is the most unique invention of your culture. 

Don't lose it. 

Confessions of a Self-Enabler

I'm not a runner.     I've never been good at math.     That's not how we've done it.    It's not something I am comfortable with.   I'll probably just screw it up anyway.   I just don't like the taste of fish... or vegetables.    I'm too old to go back to school and start a new career.

                                  I'm not...I don't....I can't.                          
                                      
For decades I uttered these mantras with vigor and pride. Actually, some of them were uttered for me before I adopted them. No disrespect to my mom, but she once told me, "It's ok, math just doesn't come easy for you." It came easy to her. It didn't to me so I just gladly proclaimed that I was never really good at math. 

But one day I realized that I was my own worst enabler. I was a self-enabler.  According to Beverly Glazer, "When a person is capable, and their responsibilities are handled for them all the time, they're not being responsible. Enabling prevents consequences – regardless of what the consequences are." According to Rob Darling, "When we make excuses for why we can't do things or don't do things, we are being irresponsible and avoiding accountability." 

I was fully capable but I was enabling myself to avoid consequences, good or bad. Oh, the powerful, destructive nature of having a fixed mindset. 

So, one day I had an epiphany. I realized that I was my own roadblock. I enrolled in college again, though this time as a 29 year old. I took Math 99 three times before I passed. But then I aced math 101 and beyond. I bought some shoes, started running, and ran 13 marathons in 6 years, losing 50+ pound in the process. I made myself eat fish at least once a week and, although I still struggle with some sushi, I see and feel the health benefits of eating it. My wife had to force veggies on me, that one I admit was tougher. But, mushrooms, olives, and those little green and yellow squash from Costco aside, there isn't a vegetable I don't enjoy. In the last 10 years I have earned my AA, my BA, my MS, and my Ed.D.

My point? Everything we need to make us better is just outside of our comfort zone. And I'm convinced that we, intrinsically, have everything it takes to accomplish anything we want. Surround yourself with others of the same mindset (my wife is a huge supporter of mine). Get out of your comfort zone! Change your mantra!

a re-Post from Dr. Anthony Muhammad

from: http://www.solution-tree.com/blog/all-talk-resist-change/

All Talk: 3 Phrases That Resist Productive Change

Change is a very difficult process, but it is the catalyst to continuous improvement. It tests our ability as professionals at many different levels. Sometimes, when things get too challenging, we tend to look for short-cuts or we quietly surrender. We live in a political climate that demands that we change, whether we choose to or not, but I have found that some organizations are good at creating the illusion of change, rather than being fully involved in the process of change. There are a three key phrases which clearly indicate that an organization is not fully committed to the change process.

#1: “We are having conversations.”

This phrase is a code for; “we have a lot of opposition to this idea and we are afraid to make people too uncomfortable and release an onslaught of political and social opposition.” I recently worked with a school that has been involved with the implementation of the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process for three years. They have created collaborative teams and they have designated time for those collaborative teams to meet. They have created district-wide formative assessments that are administered four times per year. These milestones were reached in the first year of the process. So, I asked about PLC Questions #3 and #4 which address systems of student intervention and enrichment, and the room got very quiet. When people finally began to speak, each answer began with the phrase “we are having conversations.” If your district is “having conversations,” the change process has stalled.

#2: “We are in different places.”

This phrase is code for; “we don’t have a universal system of accountability, and people who understand the intrinsic value of what we propose have embraced it, and those that are averse are allowed to disregard it until they ‘buy-in’.” Schools and systems that use this phrase are engaged in what I call “accountability light.” This is a diet version of universal professional accountability where group expectations and coherence are the norm. Healthy school cultures make collaborative decisions and they hold each other mutually accountable for full participation. When shared commitment is not achieved, a tiered-system of commitment emerges where implementation is based upon personal preference. Partial commitment is the same as no commitment.

#3: “District initiatives.”

This phrase is code for; “there is a huge philosophical divide between school practitioners and central office which has led to a stalemate.” I have had the pleasure to work with thousands of schools on the change process and whenever practitioners refer to the change process as a “district initiative,” it is never good. In essence what they are expressing is a feeling of imposition. In the mind of the school practitioner, they are confronting real world issues and they have their fingers on the pulse of the needs of the school; and central office lives a world disconnected from reality and their priorities are unreasonable and unnecessary. This is a clear indication of poor communication and professional disconnection. If you district has a lot of “initiatives,” effective change is probably not on the horizon.

Want to improve your efficacy as a teacher?

Ask yourself...

1.       How can I engage every student? How can I recognize missed opportunities for sharing thinking or using question stems to help students go deeper in their thinking? How can I make every student be engaged in “mind’s on” learning?

2.       Do I have lessons or instructional methods that allowed students to opt-out? Am I intentional on making sure no students can hide during learning, and that there is more learning going on than teaching?

3.       Am I asking tough, open-ended questions, then letting  students earn the learning, or do I come to their rescue for fear of letting them make a mistake or feel bad? Do I let them productively struggle?