I started this post earlier this week. After reading this open letter by Larry Lee after attending the Alabama House Ways & Means Education Committee meeting about a bill that could bring charter schools to Alabama. The letter was published by Washington Press and the article was titled “There Is No Joy In Education These Days.”  So this post started out as a total agreement with him. I was going to point out how correct he was the charter schools are not the answer, plus more. But then before I could finish the post I came across this picture on Pinterest posted by Kristina Peters.  I am about to do a “no-no” and post a picture I have no clue where to give credit. Sorry, but it’s that good.

Wow. After reading this there was no way I could finish the post. It totally stuck with me. So I have decided to “promote what I love.” Seems simple enough. Here is a list of things going on in education that DO BRING ME JOY:

1. Teachers who are not the norm.  I work with some amazing teachers. I am part of a PLN of teachers who probably do not remind you of your most of your teachers you had in school. Teachers who have kids questioning, teachers whose students are not learning from the PowerPoint on the screen or lecture but from doing. Those loud classrooms that make you stop and look, you know the organized chaos I talking about! Looking at education articles today you would think we were all just standing there lecturing and teaching to tests, but we are not. These type of teachers are BECOMING the norm. That should bring someone JOY!

2. School districts whose technology becomes invisible.  Most school districts have at least a computer lab and computers throughout the school. But the school districts who put money into training their teachers to use technology as part of the curriculum, part of everyday life, make my heart happy. These districts have tech integrationist or coaches that support teachers. They bring PD to the teacher and guide them through the use of technology which can be intimidating if done alone. Ya’ll know helping teachers is my passion so of course I love this and I love this is becoming more common every year!

3.Teachers who model lifelong learning. When I was in college we had come up with “Philosophy of Teaching” and the professors pushed us to use words like “lifelong learners” when describing our goals for students. But never really encouraged us to be learners as teachers. With social media I see everyday teachers who are there to learn. Between blog post, tweets, conversations on facebook, and even the rapid growth of edcamps, there is no denying teachers are taking their learning not only in their own hands but this is causing them to be hungry for more. The more we learn, the better teachers we become, and the more we encourage our students to become lifelong learners as well.

4. Educational companies really valuing teacher’s input. Teachers are having to constantly deal with the fact that politicians and the media treat them like they are clueless and everyone knows more about their profession but them. So it is nice to see companies really pay attention to what teachers have to say, since we are the ones using the materials anyway. Last week I was supposed to meet again with Promethean (stupid back surgery!) and today had a conversation with Adobe. Thanks to social media connections with companies are becoming more common which is beneficial for both sides. It is nice that companies seek out to hear what teachers are doing and how we are using their products!

5. Students using technology and social media for GOOD. I love to see my colleagues near and far share what their students are doing online. Nothing makes me happier then to read a blog post by a kid! I have also connected with some former students who are now in HS or college on instagram which seems so silly but I LOVE to see them encourage each other through pictures and comments. Students are not just using social media to bully each other, contrary to what the media claims. Sorry Today Show but they are sending quotes and bible verses to each other when they have a bad day. This doesn’t always come naturally but when our schools teach digital citizenship and we encourage the use of social media properly this is what happens! This is what I LOVE!

I was going to make this a Top 10 list but that would have been sooooo long, so stopping at 5 for now. I would love to hear what you would add to make it a top 10 list. We hear so much negative “ugh teachers aren’t teaching problem solving,” and more (I am so guilty!!) that we do not take time to celebrate the positives!! It is hard to rant about good things, right? I am starting to believe these things I LOVE are becoming more and more common, no matter how slowly, it is worth promoting!!

 

It’s spring break. Feels weird because I’m not really on break since I’ve been on leave for five weeks now. We took a trip to the beach house for the week. While putting my clothes away into the chest here I found my maternity bikini. Yeah you read that right. Kinda more like a tankini (I only gained 25 lbs the whole time before you say I gross ;). It reminded me of the week first wore it. A bunch of teachers I work with came to the beach house for a few days during spring break. Spent one day shopping and one day in lounge chairs behind the house. While laying out we noticed the duplex two houses down was occupied by a bunch of teenagers. Either HS seniors or freshman in college. Pretty young for spring breakers. Later the cops showed up at the house & looked like taking statements from a few kids. Being the teachers we are we first start worrying then after a while we couldn’t take it anymore and two of us went over there to check on the kids. Gave them the whole spill, we are right down the street, if you need anything, etc, the typical mother bear stuff. Then I worried about them the rest of the trip. They probably wrote us off as the lame old people down the street (even if I was in my mid20s).

You see as teachers we have “momma bear” syndrome a lot of times. We worry about and take care of everyone but ourselves. It’s our nature. It’s why we are teachers. It’s why we are good teachers. But I wonder if we are cheating ourselves. Does it hold us back from being great teachers and generally great people.

You see when staring at the ceiling all day you learn some stuff. You do a lot of reflecting. And you start trying to take care of yourself for once. It’s a strange feeling. It’s caused some things to change as well.

One lesson, I realized how much time I really need to spend as me, not as “Mrs. Dykes.” It doesn’t need to be who I am 24/7. So my biggest step was I officially quit coaching cheerleading last week. Gosh I loved that job. Wasn’t easy to do. Lots of going back and forth. Even had an email from a parent asking me to say. See, not easy. Not only do I need to be home with my kids more but that was a huge stress everyday. Trust me, middle school girl drama with my perfectionist coaching and a little cheer mom drama mixed in, stressful. No way I’ll ever be completely healthy with that. My life needs to be simpler.

I also realized friendships I’ve had with people are changing. That part makes me sick to my stomach. Friendships changing in my historical past is usually for the worst. It’s hard to accept them for what they are and not blame myself. But see that’s that momma bear again trying to make everything “right” even though there is hurt and fear. (though I will say some friendships have surprised me for the better lately)

The hardest part has been having to accept I need help for things. That momma bear is supposed to take care of everything, right? Well I can’t. And I don’t always need to. Sometimes it’s ok to ask for help.

You see these are not lessons I just need to know now while I’m stuck laying here recovering and getting ready for the next surgery in two weeks. No hopefully I will keep them in mind as I do get well & go back to my “normal” life. I wanted to share them with you as well. You see not everyone gets joy of have a big piece of their vertebrae removed and the time to reflect. But I want to remind you to do so. Are you being more of a momma bear than looking out of yourself? You need to because, you see, if you are not 100% than eventually you either cannot momma bear anymore or there is no one left to take care of. When I called my boss to quit coaching he said this “40 years from now your cheerleaders won’t be staring you in the eyes, but your children will.” I think you need to make sure you like what they see.

Our world has changed. If you do not realize this, time to step out of the bubble. If you do not like this, tough, get over it. The world gets smaller everyday. Not literally, the Earth is not shirking. But the way humans interact is changing, our world is shrinking. We no longer only interact with people around us. I can honestly say that some of my closest friends do not even live in the same state as me. Though I may only see these friends face to face one or two times a year, they know more about me and what is going on in my life than people I encounter everyday. We are learning (I hope) that one stupid post can, and some times does, get viewed and commented on by people around the world. I am sure in any westernized country you can say “honey badger” and someone in the room with giggle. We know internet memes spread fast, what is scary about this is not every meme starts out that way (think dad that shoots laptop).

This morning I was watching the Today Show and there was a perfect example of this. If you were on Twitter or Facebook yesterday you probably saw something about  stopping Joseph Kony.  (Not really going to go into the heart wrenching video right now, but take a moment to watch if you haven’t already.) The story was not on events taking place but how the awareness spread so quickly. At one point yesterday 1 million people were viewing the video per hour. Now this is a 30 minute video. Take a second to let that sink in. If you can, please take a moment and watch this news report.

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The reporter starts by saying that the creator of this video, Jason Russell, hope to start a new generation of “Global Social Activists.” Think back to SOPA. It did not take long for people to spread and sign the petition. Social activism. Same this is happening here. But you see SOPA only was effecting the US, Kony is in (well according to some posts today he is not actually there) Uganda. That is where the “Global” part comes into play. See here is the deal, we are no longer in our safe beautiful bubble of the USA (or what ever country you are in – sorry about that my international friends). We saw images of the 2011 Japanese earthquake within minutes of it happening, and I can go on and on listing events during the past year that we would not know about if not for how the internet is being used today – to shrink our Earth.

At 2:25 in the news report a high school student, Amy Young, says this “It just goes to show how our generation kind of has a different perspective on the idea of a global community.” That quote is what really stuck with me. The generation in our schools right now are beginning to understand not only how to communicate in this global community but how to use it for good.

So what are we doing to help this generation live in this shrinking world? I’m in the middle of reading Seth Godin’s manifesto “Stop Stealing Dreams” and so far it is a lot about what is wrong with school, how it is out dated. No disagreements from me there. Our world has changed, so of course schools need to change with it. My last post discussed the need for creativity, but we cannot stop there. We cannot just teach history by just focusing on “this is what happened.” Maybe instead we need to ask, how would have this been different if it happened now? Teachers need to be not just prepared for the “21st century” but for the changing century. They need to be ready to constantly change as the world around them is changing. Think about it, “global social acitivist” would not have been something possible two years ago, if I am not mistaken, 2 years ago was 21st century. See how fast our world changes.

Educators need to understand the importance of changing with it. We need to allow students to see the benefits and power of living in this social world.  Josh Allen’s school started a viral campaign to get  Denzel Washington’s attention, perfect example of allowing students to be part of something larger than their community. I promise nothing is more exciting than to see a kid’s face when he/she gets a comment on a blog post from someone out of state or even another country. This again is that global interaction that is changing our world.

What are you doing to prepare your students to be part of this global word? What are you doing to prepare them for what ever the next shift in their generation will be? When that shift happens are you ready to change with it?