Your stress makes me stress. So, quit stressin’.

There aren’t many rules in room 206–well, any actually. But if there were one, it would be “No stress allowed.”

Though largely unspoken, but heavily implied through flexible policies and empathetic responses, there is a rule against stress in my room. Stress is poison. It impairs learning. It damages the body. It crushes the spirit. It needs a label.

When I was a kid, most of the bottles under the sinks in our home carried a Mr. Yuk sticker. It was an easily understood warning for us. Danger. Stay away. Leave alone. We did. It worked. We made it through childhood poison free. (Well, mostly. Apparently, so Mom says, I gave turpentine a try when I was two. But, in my defense, there was no Mr. Yuk sticker). So…

Anyway there seem to be certain points in the year when stress seeps into our rooms, our lives, our bodies, our spirits: grading periods. And even though I have gone to great lengths to take “grade stress” out of my room, it still pervades, it still poisons.

So, then, here at midterm, it’s no real surprise–despite my efforts to thwart it–that kids are stressing about grades. And that, in turn, stresses me out. So, yesterday, I did my best to remind and reassure them that they don’t need to stress. Yes, you can still turn that it in. Yes, you can retake/redo that. Yes, I can make exceptions. No, nothing is final. No stress.

Of course, stress-free is probably a pipe dream, but less-stress can be a reality. I will just keep working with my kiddos to keep them away from the yuck of it all. I need to make my room safe. Maybe I just need a big Mr. Yuk sticker.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…completing Learning Stories.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Friday, all. Have a wonderful weekend.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

And just like that–a quarter of the year is gone. Vanished. But in its trail there begins to emerge stories of learning, stories of growth. A vanishing and materializing moment at once.

Time is a trick. Some days it speeds away. Other days it lingers long. But whether it’s sprinting or dragging, it’s always moving, and as it moves, it creates experiences. And, in the 180 Classroom, that is the essence we are trying to capture with our learning stories. The essence of experience.

Experience is a gift. Sometimes it’s expected. We know what we’re getting before it’s ever unwrapped. Other times it’s a surprise as things unfold and we look inside. And it is with this in mind that I am asking my kids to capture the essence of their experiences. Their successes. Their struggles. Their expectations. Their surprises. Their learning.

For midterm, I have asked my kids to write a preview of sorts for their end-of-the-term Learning Stories. I have asked them to capture the essence of their experiences in our work with theme, writing, and grammar, each a short preview of longer chapters ahead. Once they have done this, then they will self-select a grade for midterm. The goal being that they will have arrived at some wisdom from their reflection on their experiences.

In truth, this is harder for the kids than it might seem, mostly due to the fact that they have rarely, if ever, been given the opportunity, the responsibility to capture their experiences. So with this new experience, I will be patient and realistic about what they are able to capture, expecting that as they do, they will do better. That is the essence of our work.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…growing with grammar.

…viewing The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Thursday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

“How’s the stress at work?”

“Fine. I love my job. I don’t think it’s stressful.”

“Please, I don’t know a single teacher whose adrenals aren’t screaming for help”

This was a conversation with my doc a few years ago. Her frank response to my not experiencing job-related stress was a game changer for me. Loving one’s work doesn’t mean there’s no stress. There’s plenty and more. I learned that. And as I learned, I did better. I ate better. Exercised more. Found ways to lighten my load at school. Stopped bringing work home and going in on weekends. I got better. I even took a few mental health days, which, in my younger years, I would have judged as a sign of weakness (sorry, I was young and dumb). I got better.

But even better backslides, and if we are not careful we fall back to old routines. I fell back a bit this fall. I have not taken good care of myself–nutritionally, physically, emotionally. And of late, I have begun to pay the price. Yesterday, I had nothing left in my pocket for the toll, so I decided to take a mental-health half day to reboot myself, to find myself. Sadly, though I felt better upon making the decision to go home, I also felt guilty for feeling better. What a vicious cycle, but thankfully I am connected to many wise colleagues on Twitter who told me to let go of the guilt, that self-care is health care. So I let go. Took a nap and a long walk with my dog and felt better–about everything, which was a sharp contrast to my sunken feeling of the past several days. I got better.

Today, I am better. Tomorrow I will do better. I will make myself a priority again, so I can be my best better for my students, my family, myself. We have to take care of ourselves.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…growing with grammar.

…viewing “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.”

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Wednesday, all. Take care of yourselves.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

“The way you can support me is just being patient I guess while I learn this at my own pace.”

This is still sitting with me this morning. One of my students wrote this in her Learning Check reflection yesterday in response to my asking, “How can I support you?”

While I learn this at my own pace. What a novel idea. On the surface this seems a simple thing, an intuitive thing, a reasonable thing–a given thing. But as we dig more deeply into this ideal notion in the context of education, we discover this too often an impossible notion, the reality of “pace” falling fall far short of the ideal. And a novel idea becomes an impossible idea.

Too much to cover. Too little time. These are oft heard reasons behind our rationale for not being able to let kids learn at their own pace. And while there is some truth to these reasons, they are content and calendar considerations, not learning considerations. Learning considers kids. Learning says all kids learn differently. Learning says all kids learn at different paces. And we know this. We do. But in the end, we largely ignore it. We have to. There is too much to cover. There is too little time. And this where the roads meet. We can cover content, or we can support kids. Can’t we do both? I don’t know. Can we? Do we? Will we? Sounds like a great idea, but I’m not convinced it works, and I think–for many reasons beyond our control–we end up leaving kids behind as we cave to the curriculum and calendar. When I finally came to the place where these two roads meet, where I could no longer pretend that “doing both” was really a viable response to two masters, I veered left and considered kids.

What have I learned? What I already knew. What we all already knew: kids learn in different ways and at different paces. And as such, kids need support. So, I serve kids. And part of my serving them is no longer playing servant to calendar and content. Oh, they’re still there–they have to be–but I bow not to them. They are constructs. I respond to the call of my kids.

“Being patient” is the call she made. And as simple as this sentiment seems, it–for me–is profoundly gratifying, for not only is she self-aware enough to express, but also comfortable and confident enough to ask for what she needs. What she needs. And I will do my best to respond, for that is when I truly feel a teacher: when I am responding to kids. And while I cannot meet all their needs all the time, I try. Over 180 days and through too many standards, I try. Of course, eventually, the curriculum and calendar end, and I am left to wonder if I did enough. Always if I supported enough. Never if I covered enough. And at the end of her year, to wherever we make it at her pace, I hope to look back and feel as if I have been supportive enough, as if I have been patient enough for her in her own journey. At her own pace.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…responding to feedback.

…writing our Learning Stories.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Morning, all. Short post today. Wifi was being wonky earlier. Too much on my to-do list this morning, so I’m gonna say “Happy Monday” and be done. Back to normal tomorrow.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…reconnecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…checking our learning with Grammar Growth (Learning Check).

…beginning to pen our midterm learning stories.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Monday. Have a great start to your week.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Been a whirlwind of a week. So many things spinning around , and I am feeling frazzled. Kids are, too. Writing is messy, clutter-creating, time-consuming, exhausting work, so today we are going to slow down, clear away some of the clutter, and breathe a bit. We need to get our feet on the ground.

This was our first full writing week since changing our routine (http://www.letschangeeducation.com/tinkering-with-time-project-180-day-36/). And though we have had a productive week, it has been a messy week. I tried–not sure if I succeeded–to make it less messy by providing the kids with a checklist for the week.

This approach is a survival strategy for all of us. As teachers who regularly conference with kids know, there is a need to keep the rest of the kids independently productive while we are conferencing with individual writers. I am adamant about being able to be fully engaged with the writer, so I am a bit of stickler for the other kids’ being independent and productive during this time. But, in truth, while I am engaged with one, I tend to neglect the rest, and things remain unaddressed, undone, and unanswered. Today, we will do our collective best to remedy that.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…clearing the clutter.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Friday, all. Have a great weekend.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.