The Future Before Us

“The future of the world is in my classroom today, a future with the potential for good or bad. Several future presidents are learning from me today; so are the great writers of the next decades, and so are all the so-called ordinary people who will make the decisions in a democracy. I must never forget these same young people could be the thieves and murderers of the future. Only a teacher? Thank God I have a calling to the greatest profession of all! I must be vigilant every day, lest I lose one fragile opportunity to improve tomorrow.” 

Ivan Welton Fitzwater

The start of another school year finds me reflecting on years past and, in particular, many students I taught during my eighteen years as a classroom teacher. Since leaving the classroom, thousands of young students I taught at one time have gone on to achieve many amazing things. I frequently hear from some who keep me posted on their careers and family lives. Some have gone on to become doctors and lawyers. Others are making a difference in the corporate arena. Many of my former students have gone on to careers in education themselves. Still others have enjoyed successful careers in service industries and the arts. One of my former student-athletes has been recognized as perhaps the best baseball pitcher in the world over the course of the past decade and another played in the NBA for many years. Most of these outcomes have not surprised me much; in fact, in many cases, I could have predicted the paths these young men and women would take. But, as a new school year approaches, I am reminded of another former student with whom I exchange letters each month. His post secondary journey took a different turn, one that none of us who knew him then would have predicted. This young man is currently serving a life sentence in prison for murder.

A recent post written by Ben Gilpin motivated me to write about this former student of mine. Ben wrote about how he felt when he learned a former student was diagnosed with cancer. I will never forget the day I learned that James (not his real name) had murdered someone. I was serving as a principal in Atlanta, several hours from where I had taught and coached James. One morning, I turned to page three of the Atlanta newspaper to see a mugshot of my former student staring back at me accompanied by an article chronicling the incident. If you had asked any of his teachers the chances that this young man would become a convicted murder shortly after high school graduation, the response would have been one of disbelief. Sure, this young man had been a bit of a class clown and he was not our valedictorian, nor anywhere close. He was, however, an intelligent, charming, fun-loving, affable young man who mixed well with all types of students at the diverse high school he attended. He was an excellent golfer who played for one of the most successful high school programs in the country and graduated with a respectable GPA. I actually counted him among my most memorable and likable students in our 11th Grade English class because he made us laugh but knew when to buckle down and focus on the work. Like each of us, he had his faults, but, overall, he was a delight to teach and coach. A future murderer? Not a chance!

I am ashamed to admit what I did when I learned the news of his plight: absolutely nothing. For over five years, no less. Then, while working with a colleague, I learned that he also had a former student who had been in prison for many years. Unlike me, this colleague, Bill, had kept in contact, writing letters, sending gifts when allowed, and even visiting his former student. Why had I been so quick to mention and even brag about my former students now in professional sports and in Hollywood, but so quiet about this young man, who I recalled fondly and who could probably use some friendly support? Bill helped me research how to contact this former student and I immediately sat down to write him a letter. That was three years ago and we have exchanged letters monthly ever since. I have re-connected with his parents and have made a visit to see him in prison back in Georgia. By re-connecting with James, I learned that this young man has done everything in his power to hold himself accountable for the horrific crime he committed in a moment of intoxicated fury many years ago. He has dedicated himself to his faith and his education and training while

behind bars and has expressed sincere remorse for his crime. Although nothing he can do will ever erase the pain the victim's family must live with every day, I cannot imagine a prisoner more remorseful, nor dedicated to making the most of a terrible situation. I have also learned a bit about myself and human nature since reaching out to this young man and have become a better person as a result:

• Part of my initial motivation for writing to James was to cheer him up. I am not sure if it did, but I do know this: his letters always have that effect on me. Lesson/Reminder for us when working with our students this year: Make an extra effort to encourage your kids; they will be uplifted….and, in return, so will you.
• In every letter James has written me, he has commented with intellect and keen insight on something about his current or past situation and/or something about my own current or past situation and/or something about current or past world events. I have honestly learned much from him through our correspondence. Lesson/Reminder for us when working with our students this year: The teacher does not hold all the knowledge in the classroom; we need to listen and learn from our students and not just those among them who are the teacher-pleasers. All our students have much they can teach us.
• I remain ashamed that, for the most part, I dismissed James from my life when I learned he was in prison for murder. Since reconnecting, I realize that--despite this terrible crime--he has done everything in his power to atone for his behavior, serve others, and continuously improve. Lesson/Reminder for us when working with our students this year:  Never give up on any student. No matter how bleak their current circumstances might seem, expect the best and let them know you believe in them. Give them the gift of confidence--and second chances.
• I often wonder if there is anything I might have done differently way back when James was at our school and in my class to prevent this tragic situation. In reality, I sincerely doubt that, but it still haunts me to an extent: Did I do everything I could to connect with him as a person and a student? Did I fully celebrate his successes and counsel him when he erred? Lesson/Reminder for us when working with our students this year: You simply never know what a difference you might make in any student’s life, including a difference you may not learn about until years later. Don't take what we do and our ability to influence our kids lightly.

As Fitzwater admonishes us in the quote above, we must be vigilant every day when working with young people, lest we lose one fragile opportunity to improve tomorrow. We often say that the possibilities are endless for the students we serve; typically, we mean that in a positive way, suggesting that they can become and achieve almost anything with the proper attitude, focused effort, and perseverance. Of course, the not-so-pleasant possibilities for our kids are endless as well, depending on the circumstances they face and the choices they make. Let’s cherish every minute we have while they are with us this year and do all we can to equip them for future success. The future before us? The future is right here, right now: every student sitting in our classrooms, counting on us to lead them to future success. Focusing on every student, every day is another way we Teach with Passion!

The Final Friday: The Possibilities are Endless!

“The possible’s slow fuse is lit by the imagination.” 

Emily Dickinson

Wow! Another year has come and--almost--gone! Is it just me, or was this one the quickest yet? In our district, this past Friday was our final day of student attendance. Whether you finished last week, well before that, or have yet to finish school for the year, Thanks to teachers everywhere for another amazing year of engaging, inspiring, and empowering our students, yourselves, and each other. 

At this time of year, I often read about graduation speeches that have been delivered during these weeks. I, myself, have made a few over the years. Typically, when speaking to young people preparing to embark upon their next stage of life, I mention the themes of dreams, success, and possibilities. For our students, their possibilities are truly endless; thank you for sparking this sense of possibility within them throughout the year by kindling their imagination as Dickinson describes in the above quote.

A favorite book I used to read to 5th graders leaving a K-5 school where I served is Dream: A Tale of Wonder, Wisdom, & Wishes by Susan V. Bosak. Like Dickinson, she encourages young people to dream great dreams and to follow through on these by believing, doing, and thinking. It is not enough to merely dream of future greatness, however; we must also apply many hours of disciplined thought and disciplined action so that we realize our dreams. Students around the country learned this from their teachers this year and will be well served, many years hence, when their “possible fuses” burn down to the point of ignition--with astounding results!

For some of us, we are approaching a different stage of dreaming, a stage shared by Bosak in her book:

I have dreamed a lifetime of dreams
I reached many of them
Not all, but many
Many also changed along the way.
What I have most are fine memories
When you're as old as I am,
You still dream dreams
But they're different.
Mostly they're wishes for those who follow.

Like most passionate educators, I spend long hours at work and still have many goals I wish to accomplish both personally and professionally. Honestly, though, even more important to me at this point in my life are the wishes I have for my daughter and for all young people, including the kids who attended our schools, learning alongside us this year. Like me, I know that at times this school year, dedicated educators subordinated in importance their own time, interests, efforts, and dreams to those of the students with whom they interacted each day. Thank you for making such sacrifices in order to help make our students' future dreams come true at some point long down the road.

As Dickinson suggests, “possible” is indeed a long fuse, one which we must ignite and keep aflame each and every day if we are to succeed. This applies not only to us, but also to our students. To our classroom teachers I say: The work you have done this year was important and noble work; I hope your final days of school are/were among the best ones yet and that you enjoy a summer filled with laughter, love, continued learning...and imagining the possibilities. Doing these things are ways we Teach (and Live) with Passion!

The 34th Friday: What's in the Box?

“The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.” 

Anatole France

Last weekend, Joe Sanfelippo, a close friend who is also a superintendent in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, shared a story that I, in turn, want to share today, as many educators approach the end of another school year:

Joe said that his wife was subbing in a 6th grade classroom in his small, K-12 district last Friday. During the day, she noticed a group of high school seniors (who would be graduating the next day) leaving a 6th grade teacher’s classroom, talking and smiling as they left this classroom. This piqued her curiosity and--perhaps even expecting something was amiss--she went into the classroom to investigate--and learned why these boys had stopped by this teacher’s classroom just before their graduation. 

She learned that this middle school teacher, on these students’ first day of 6th grade nearly seven years ago, brought out a black box of

some kind, talked about it, 

described it, discussed what might be inside it, and then said to them: “If you want to know what’s in the box, come back and see me on your last week here before your high school graduation.” And that was it. That’s all he ever mentioned about it. He never said another word about the black box, did not remind them about it, nothing. The day before graduation, they all just walked down there and wanted to know what was in the box. 

I thought this was a powerful story on many levels and wanted to share three takeaways for us to remember today, as we may be but days away from saying goodbye to our own students for the year, depending on where you serve:

• Our words are powerful and impactful. Our students will remember them, years after we say them.
• Creating curiosity and a sense of inquiry within our students is a powerful way to engage them and, ultimately, help them learn.
• Relationships are everything. Although I do not know this teacher personally, my hunch is that this person went about his teaching and learning business every day the remainder of that school year building positive relationships with his students. They returned to his classroom partly to satisfy their curiosity, but also to reconnect with someone they liked and respected as a teacher.

By the way, when Joe shared this story on a Voxer group chat with 10 other educators I communicate with via that app regularly, guess what all 9 of us asked almost instantaneously? You guessed it: “Joe, what was in the box?” Alas, his response was: “They won’t tell.”

As many of us prepare to bid adieu to the students we taught every day this year, let's remember the influence each of us has over these young learners. Keep creating a sense of curiosity within them. Know that your words matter to them and use them intentionally. Keep forging those relationship skills with them, right up to the very end. Doing these things is what causes our kids to come back and see us, years after they leave our classrooms. The are also ways we Teach with Passion! 

The 33rd Friday: Bow Ties & Lifelong Learning

“You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”

Richard Branson

People who know me well know that I wear bow ties every Wednesday. Alas, this week, I forgot to follow my weekly ritual and several folks noticed this, which raised questions about my bow tie habit. One such question I often get is, “Do you tie them yourself?” (Answer: yes). Some male staff members go on to share that they have tried, at one time or another, to learn how to tie a bow tie with little success. This week, someone asked me how I learned to do so myself, which reminded me of how I started upon this habit in the first place.

For one year of my life, I pretty much lived at a Hilton hotel in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, working during the week with schools surrounding that area. At one such middle school, I worked with an outstanding principal who also happened to wear bow ties every day. Over time, I asked him the very same questions folks sometimes raise with me today about bow ties. I thought this fellow looked pretty sharp in his bow ties and he was always prodding me to give the “bow tie look” a try. I decided to commit to one day a week and picked Wednesday. Next, I went downstairs from my hotel, where a Jos. A. Bank store was fortuitously located, to pick out a few bow ties. I selected 3 or 4 and then asked the young man helping me pick out ties if he could also assist with learning to tie the dang things. He was kind and patient, showing me how he did it himself, modeling the tying process with a bow tie around his own neck. I actually tried to do this in the store several times to no avail and, honestly, I gave up temporarily and left the store (bow ties in hand) when it became clear to me that the clerk was about to give up on me.

So, I did what any good 21st century lifelong learner would do: I turned to YouTube! I sifted through several examples of “How To Tie a Bow Tie” videos until I finally found one that--after viewing perhaps twenty times or more--got me through the part that was most problematic. 

You see, some steps along the way were quite simple: Start with one end slightly longer than the other. Place the left side over the right side. Other parts were trickier and it honestly took me many viewings of the video and many failed attempts to get through the dreaded: feed the middle of the dangling end back through the knot step. Much to my relief, I finally mastered this technique and now give tying a bow tie nary a thought as I prepare for my Wednesday ritual!

So how does this apply to us as educators? Well, I think it speaks just a bit to the ways in which many of our of “YouTube” students learn today and will in the future. As teachers, we are no longer merely the possessors of all knowledge which we then magically transfer to our kids. Nor are we always the individuals best equipped to directly teach certain skills. What we can do, however, is: 

First, plan intentionally every single day to inspire our kids to seek new knowledge and skills. Next, make certain that we have empowered them with the capability to acquire this new learning--whether they are gaining it at our sides or outside our classroom walls. 

I am thankful to be connected with so many amazing educators who not only teach their kids in a variety of ways each and every day within their classrooms, but also inspire them and equip them to learn once they leave their classroom each day to pursue lifelong learning. Doing this is another way we Teach with Passion!

The 32nd Friday: Have To's vs Must Do's

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Stephen Covey

Last week, a colleague from another district called to chat about some struggles he was facing with his current job. During our conversation, he shared his frustration with a few trivial aspects of his job that were taking his focus away from the primary parts of his job about which he was truly passionate. I know this person to be one of the finest educators with whom I have ever worked, so I mainly just listened. If I offered any advice at all, it was not unlike Covey’s famous quote above, suggesting that we simply must “keep our eye on the ball,” with the ball being “doing what is best for the students and colleagues we serve.”

When I was principal of a middle school in Georgia, our staff had many similar discussions about all the demands pulling on our time, both as individual educators and on the school as a whole. Eventually, we decided to intentionally address these competing demands upon our time by separating them into two categories, which we called:

1. Our Have To’s and...
2. Our Must Do’s

The “Have To’s” were things that we simply had to do, regardless of our passion for doing so. Collectively, we agreed on several school wide “Have To’s” such as duty schedules, crisis plans, cafeteria protocols, etc. Although we all agreed that these were important things we "had to" do, none of us became educators because of allure of these tasks. Individually, some staff members’ “Have To’s” were other team members “Must Do’s,” which was a fortuitous thing; since our staff was comprised of many unique individuals with unique--and complementary--skill sets and passions, we rarely neglected any professional responsibility. As but one example, we came to lean on Tony Collins, a 6th grade math teacher, when we could not figure out how to devise the perfect master schedule. None of the administrators were particularly passionate or expert at this. Neither was anyone else--except Tony. Tony was both passionate about scheduling and had a mind that worked in a way that was always able to create a schedule that fit our needs. For Tony, scheduling was a “Must Do.” For the rest of us, it was a “Have To,” and we were, therefore, hugely thankful for Tony’s interest and capability in this area.

It seemed as if every teacher at that school had a unique “Must Do,” about which s/he became the school’s resident leader and expert. We were all thankful for these individual passions, or personal “Must Do’s.” However, what made this school truly special was not our individual “Must Do’s,” but our collective agreement on what were “Must Do's” versus “Have To's.” It may sound trite and corny, but Working Hard, Having Fun, and Being Nicewere absolute “Must Do’s” for every staff member at this school. When kids or staff were falling short in any of these areas (which was, of course, inevitable during the course of a long school year), we immediately reminded them that these habits were commonly shared core values and picked each other up. In addition, when faced with tough choices, asking, “What is best for our kids?” was another collective “Must Do.” To be honest, there were other responsibilities that we considered mere “Have To’s” and, as a result, we did not necessarily gain a lot of recognition for how we performed in these areas. We realized they were still important to some extent and took care of them, but never forgot they were not nearly as important as our “Must Do’s.”

I am glad my friend contacted me this week to share his frustrations; it was a nice conversation and caused me to reflect on a time almost a decade ago when an entire school discussed similar frustrations and how best to address them. In addition, it caused me to think about the current six schools I serve and how similar they seem in this regard to the school I served back then. I love that our schools are staffed with passionate educators who adhere to both individual and collective “Must Do’s” while always making sure to address the “Have To’s.” Such schools handle both tasks well, but always subordinate in importance the latter to the former.

As we begin yet another week of teaching and learning in our schools around the globe, I ask you to reflect on your individual “Have To’s” and “Must Do’s.” What aspects of your job do you complete (albeit well) simply because you have to? Conversely, what aspects of your job do you tackle because your passion, pride, zeal, and drive combine to prioritize them as “Must Do’s”? Finally, how do you manage your busy schedule to ensure that you take care of the “Have To’s” while never letting them take precedence over your “Must Do’s”?

Thanks for knowing what is most important about your job and keeping that focus Job #1 while also taking care of the less glamorous or fulfilling aspects of your job. Being intentional about “keeping the main thing the main thing”  is another way we Teach with Passion!

The 31st Friday: Learn Like a Pirate

“A genuine teacher does not seek to impress you with their greatness, but instead to impress upon you that you possess the skills to discover your own.”

Charles F. Glassman

Many of you have read Dave Burgess’s book, Teach Like a Pirate. Obviously, Dave's book is well worth reading; however, I pulled the above quote from a subsequent and related book titled, Learn Like a Pirate: Empower Your Students to Collaborate, Lead, and Succeed. This new book, just out in print about a  month ago, was written by Paul Solarz, a 5th grade teacher in Arlington Heights, Illinois. I have been fortunate to have met Paul on several occasions and am thrilled that he will be sharing his insights on teaching and learning at an upcoming conference I am helping to organize, the inaugural What Great Educators Do Differently conference in Chicago.

I was thrilled when I received my copy of Paul's book and immediately started digging in. I just finished it last week and highly recommend it for all educators. Although impossible to summarize in a quick blog post, in essence, Paul’s book offers practical strategies for creating a “student-led” classroom.

In flipping through the book again just now, I reviewed every highlight I made (there are many) and then dog-eared several pages with highlights that still struck me as particularly impactful and worth sharing. Please note that these words from Solarz are extracted from all parts of his book and are about a wide variety of topics upon which he touches in different chapters throughout:

Give Me Five: Those three little words give my students the power to lead. When a student shouts, “Give me five!” everyone in the classroom (including the teacher) stops what they are doing, faces the speaker, and intently listens to their message.

Grades: Instead of assigning grades on student work, I give feedback that helps everyone grow.

Assessment: Focusing on formative assessment that takes a student from their Personal Point A to their Personal Point B will be more valuable than any number in a gradebook.

Rules: In our classroom, we have one rule: “Be a good person.”

Rigor: Rigor is different for each student. What is hard for one is easy for another, so I don’t plan “rigorous lessons.” Instead, I provide opportunities for students to find the rigor in our everyday work.

ePortfolios: We no longer use paper or pencil in science or social studies because all directions are posted online and all work is “turned in” via ePortfolio entries. No re ost papers. No more, “My dog ate my homework” or “I left it at home excuses. Everything is done online and published immediately.

Rituals: From walking through the door each morning to going home when school ends, students know what to do, when to do it, and how it needs to be done. These rituals make it easy for students to lead; a structured environment allows students to anticipate and respond to the classroom’s needs.

Passion Time: When I plan out my year, I schedule two “Passion Time” twice a week for 45 to 60 minutes each time. This is for my students to build, create, design, research, learn, survey, etc. about topics of their choosing. Passion Projects begin with an essential question that must e approved by me. To get the go-ahead, they must take a topic of interest and form it into a meaty question that can keep them actively working for a period of six weeks. We now call these questions PHAT (Pretty Hard and Tough) questions.

What great teaching tips these are for all teachers, regardless of the grade level or content area we teach! Again, these ideas just a smattering of profound nuggets that caught my attention; the entire book is well worth reading if you are interested in increasing your students’ ownership of their learning and the learning environment. As we kick off "Teacher Appreciation Week," I want to thank teachers around the world for “empowering your students to collaborate, lead, and succeed”; doing so is another way we Teach with Passion!

The 30th Friday: Showcasing Student Learning

“I think that's the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.”

Elon Musk

As you may know, Elon Musk is the CEO and Chief Product Architect of Tesla Motors. I included a quote from him mostly because I like the quote and it is relevant to my topic this week, but also with the remote hope that he sends me a free Tesla once he sees he finally made his way into my blog! From what I know of his work, he definitely seems to be one who has taken the advice he references to heart and put it into action as a business innovator. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think that intentionally reflecting and questioning on how we could be doing better is also good advice for educational innovators.

In our school district, we have a district-wide Curriculum Council which meets quarterly to coordinate and communicate Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, and Professional Learning efforts. At our recent Curriculum Council meeting, I asked team members to brainstorm a list of “beautiful questions”relating to five Teaching and Learning areas:

1. Curriculum
2. Instruction
3. Assessment
4. Professional Learning
5. The Role of the Curriculum Council

The team came up with an outstanding list of questions, some of which were of a more “nuts and bolts” variety (“When will we revise our curriculum maps?”) and some of which were a bit more extensive in scope. Here are a few such items posed that caused me to question and reflect:

• How should instruction look different in a 1:1 environment?
• How can we get kids to run to school with enthusiasm?
• How would we teach students if there was no curriculum?
• Are we maximizing our instructional time, or is it being clouded by too many other variables?

These were serious questions worthy of pondering and possibly acting upon over time. A final question was raised which is related to many of the others:

• What should be the future direction of Student Showcase Night?

In our school district we schedule a spring “Student Showcase/Portfolio Night” for each of our four elementary campuses. This year's version occurred just last week; as a result, it was on the minds of many. These annual events are scheduled in the evening and are a very special event for each child to “showcase” the work in which they have been engaged for their parents.  

We have hosted Student Showcase evenings for almost a decade now. I am told that years ago, the authentic flow of daily teaching and learning practices would come to a bit of a standstill as students and teachers spent the days and even weeks prior to the actual event preparing scads of paper portfolios of student work to share with our parents for a two-hour, once-a-year event. Our new Director for Innovative Learning, Marcie Faust, has also been contemplating this question in terms of how it is related to the first bullet point question: do our Student Showcase evenings change due to our 1:1 learning environment? Prior to serving in her current role, Marcie experienced Portfolio Night as a teacher in our district and before the advent of our 1:1 initiative. Many grade level teams across the district have already been considering the question about our move to 1:1, its potential impact on Student Showcase, and making changes in how they have their students present their learning to their parents. 

If, in today’s schools, parents can already access at any given time all digital work their children have produced in school (a good thing, in my opinion), how can we make "Student Showcase" nights more meaningful to our kids and their parents? One way some teachers have shifted their approach is by focusing on student learning, not student work. It is a subtle, yet significant shift in which they want parents to ask of their kids: “What can you do?” as opposed to “What did you do?”

During our own Student Showcases last Thursday evening, Marcie attended Kipling Elementary School's version to observe the 5th grade team and their new approach to this important night. Take a few minutes and watch how the 5th grade students took the lead in sharing their knowledge and abilities with their parents that night:

Obviously, many other districts, schools, and individual teachers are designing many similarly innovative approaches to showcasing student learning; please feel free to share with us what is working for you: does your school or district hold similar evening events to showcase student learning? If so, how are your approaches to such events changing in a digital environment? Thanks for sharing any ideas you might have!

I certainly have no easy answers to this question (or any of the others), but I do consider the question worth pondering. Thinking about how we can do things even better and posing questions designed to reflect on that thinking may not result in a free Tesla...but it is another way we Teach with Passion in our schools!