Where’s You Focus?

   

So I am in love with this quote. If you are an educator, I hope you do too. A friend of mine tweeted this a week or more ago and it has completely stuck with me ever since. How can it not?

I am pretty sure when someone who has been as successful as Nick Saban gives advice on “success” it may be a good idea to stop and listen.

In the education world results are what’s measured. Unfortunately not progress. Students are measured by results – grades, standardized tests, benchmarks. Teachers are measured by results – pass/fail rate, students’ standardized tests, ability to write and post good lesson plans and objectives. Schools & the administrators are measured by results – AYP, student attendance, students’ standardized test. Results are almost the only thing looked at by people outside the school. Results are measurable.

In college football results are measured too, ask Gene Chizik. Saban has a job that looks at results just as much, if not more, than we do. At least no one is calling the radio shows to complain about that lesson we had that bombed. Yet he keeps focused on the process.

Just because results are what are measured, it does not have to be our focus. Results are the “what” but it is the “why” and “how” that get us to the “what.”

Over and over this year I have become frustrated at the “results” I am seeing in my classroom. The test grades, the apathy, the constant not doing tasks, but I must remember to look at the processes just as much as the results. I need to look at the fact that this time last week only 8 of my 1st period students completed the assignment AND followed the directions, but look at everyday we went through the process again that more and more finished the task – correctly. And look at today, exactly a week later, on a similar assignment only 5 did not do it – 25 did! We focused on the process, though I may have had a small rant about the results, I refused to stop there. And little by little it got better, they began grasping what I was asking of them and not only that, in the process were learning ways to do things differently. They also learned that doing it 1/2 way wasn’t going to cut it. I was learning exact words to use to help them understand. I could’ve given up and told them the answers, instead we spent days (and now I am behind schedules with less than 30 days left! Help!) redoing it. Trying again. Working on the process.

I am sure the quote could’ve just spoke for itself. But y’all know I am worse that Dr. Doofensmurf when it comes to a backstory. Also, I’ve said this many times this is a place for me to reflect and work out things going on in my world, writing helps me do so. Hopefully it will serve as a reminder for me in the future.

Remember focus on the process. Results will come but it is the process that brings us there. It’s the road you travel to get there. It is what brings the success.

 

To Teach or Not To Teach Fairy Style

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In my house Disney Channel and Disney Junior get top billing. Even more than ESPN or E!. One of the reasons I will always choose these channels for my kids over Nickelodeon is the commercials. I HATE the Nickelodeon commercials, it is always some cheaply made or ridiculously inappropriate toy with a loud annoying kids or announcer. (Not to mention the ‘Mom I want that!’ that ensues afterwards.) Disney on the other hand does a great job of either not having commercials in the middle of shows (Jr shows are commercial free) and then having commercial time filled with short films/shows. Thank you!

Last week one of the short films came on featuring the Disney Fairies (you know Tinkerbell’s friends). On the video, Rosetta was supposed to be teaching the other fairies how to plant, then grow, a flower. Rosetta hands them the seed and then goes to a lounge chair and declares “Teaching is easy!” The fairies start using what there gifts are to try to plant this seed. For example, Tinkerbell builds a huge contraption to dig the hole and plant the seed. But all the fairies’ ways turn out to be failures and the seeds don’t get planted. Rosetta wakes up in time to see all the chaos and unplanted seeds and announces “Ugh teaching is hard!”

This cartoon really caught my attention as well as made me think of a few different things.

1. I believe sometimes people view problem based learning or some inquiry based learning as this. The teacher tells the class to do something and just sit backs and relaxes while the class works. Then they look at the finished result. I would HOPE this is not how it is done. During PBL lessons the process is just as important as the rest of it. When you watched the fairies, even though it is comical, they all used different ways to plant their seed. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing, yes they all “failed” at growing a flower but it became obvious why the flower did not grow. If it was a real classroom that is when the real questions start, ‘why did your plan not work?’ ‘what would you do differently?’ ‘I bet your way and Tink’s way together may work, why don’t you work as a group?’ I say over and over again it is great to teach our kids it is ok to fail, but if we just leave it at the failure we have problems. We need to take that ‘failure’ and build from it, plan from it, learn from it, and work together. Then the failure turns into a success. That is when the PBL works.

2. Another thing the video made me think about is how often I feel the ‘teaching is hard’ part and want to give up. I refuse to only ‘give’ to my students. I want them to learn things on their own. They need to be able to look for things on their own, read a textual document and then be able to do something with what they read as well as learn from it. The past 2 days I have been trying to get my students to do just that and it has been the biggest flop. To the point my head is splitting right now. I thought many times today, did I do like Rosetta and just hand them the assignment and ‘go away’ or are they not taking initiative to do the work? Did I explain and give very detailed instructions? Were the instructions written? Did I constant go back over them? Why did the kids not ask for help, did they assume I was not going to check it? I know I did all those things, yet here we are with the craziest stuff and not what I asked for. I think a lot of it is because they have been, what we call, ‘spoon fed’ information for so long that they cannot find it alone. I wonder if maybe I gave them too much. So this list can go on and on. Kids they just choose to do or not to do work. And as I have realized last 2 days they will work harder to not do the work. Then they leave the class and never think twice about it. As teachers when it’s not working what do we do? Do we do like Rosetta and just sit back and blame the kids and think ‘this is hard’ or do we do like I have all day and reflected and question ourselves as we’ll as students? To become better teachers and not relive these experiences we must reflect on our teaching. And learn from it.

3. Lastly, Rosetta did do something correct, she allowed her students to ‘do.’ She didn’t tell them what to do, she made them think on their own. That’s huge. I get kids everyday who have never been given that opportunity. Teacher has always just fed them information and they memorized it then turned around and regurgitated it back on a test. Their learning and assessment was controlled by them. Needs to happen more often.

Maybe Rosetta did something’s right, maybe she did things wrong. I know I do both everyday and in every class. This year I’ve lived in a state of frustration and turmoil but I’m learning to find some balance. And I’m learning not to take all the blame myself. At least Rosetta taught me something.