There’s a difference. It’s there. I see it, feel it, hear it daily. And as “present” as it is, the reason eludes me. Why is there a difference? Are the honors kids really smarter? Are the “regular” kids (hate that title, by the way) actually dumber? Is it parenting? Is it socioeconomic? Is it bias? Maybe. Maybe not. But there’s a difference. And I want to know why.

Most of my career, I have taught “regular” kids. Not until my twentieth year did I start having honors kids. And though I have more honors than “regs,” each year I have continued teaching a few sections of regular sophomore language arts. This year, I have four sections of honors and one section of regular. And there is a difference: academically, behaviorally, socially. But why?

Of course it may be impossible to know the actual answer. It may be equally unlikely that we could ascertain all the factors that contribute to the difference, but if I were to guess, I’d put my finger on the institutional bias the kids have experienced since they entered the schoolhouse. From day one, they have been ranked and sorted; consequently, they have learned to live into the roles of school.

As such, my informal observations have led me to believe that the biggest difference is one group simply plays the game of school better than the other. And the longer they play the game, the more situated into those roles they become. And why wouldn’t they? We handed them the script, and we have made them follow it for years. In truth, we have largely made them. We have fixed them into place. And we keep them there–mostly, it seems–because we believe we have to. But we don’t. And until we radically rethink how we do things, they will remain statically stuck waiting for the deus ex machina to liberate them. But the god in the machine won’t save them. The play must go on. The script and stage are set. They are what we think.

Maybe we need to think differently.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…reconnecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…preparing for tomorrow’s Learning Check.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Monday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Morning, all. Tired and uninspired this morning. So, I am not going to force anything. Been a busy but productive week, and I am glad it’s Friday. Proud of how our Wisdom Writers Project is coming together. Kids have worked hard, and I am eager for our publishing party in January. Will share more details in the coming weeks.

Have a great weekend.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

I am not a patient person. I have long found patience to be a waste of my time, not a virtue. But as I have gotten older, and as I have tried to become wiser, I have come to learn that patience pays. It pays at home, and it pays in the classroom. And though I am still learning the “art of patience” in both settings, I have discovered that I am a better husband, father, and teacher when I practice patience. So, I try–and sometimes fail–to be patient.

In the classroom, on my journey, I have no choice. I am asking much from the kids. I am asking them to do what they’ve rarely been asked to do in the past. I have asked them to take ownership of their learning, and I have worked hard to create an environment where that is possible. But, just because I want and work for it to happen, it doesn’t mean it happens easily or immediately. It takes effort. It takes time. It takes patience. Sometimes, it takes more than is available or possible. The year is only so long, and the human is still only human.

By the time kids get to me they’ve been conditioned to expect and accept “the way” in education, which I believe leads them to believe that their learning is not in their hands, but the hands of the teacher, that school is something done to them, not with or for them. So, then, when I ask them to take things into their hands, it is strange for them. And it takes time for strange to become normal. And while most move beyond the strangeness and begin to “get it,” some–sadly–never do. One, it cannot be forced. Two, time runs out. That is the way.

And though I am certainly conscious of this dynamic, I still find myself struggling to be patient as things play out. In my weaker moments, I wonder if I shouldn’t just go back to ways less-strange, but those moments are fleeting, and I reach for my resolve, I paw for my patience, and once it is in hand again, I stick to the plan, and I patiently resume the journey, which isn’t always easy.

Yesterday, two of my kiddos made it a little less-hard when they handed me Kindness Cards.

I needed these yesterday. I needed to know that the kids can see what I am trying to be. I have to work intentionally to piece patience into the puzzle of my work, the puzzle of my person. And in doing that, I am learning to find peace in patience.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…writing our conclusions.

…responding to feedback.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Thursday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

“We work so hard for kids within a system that doesn’t work for kids.”

Jennifer Risser, 8th grade ELA, Pennsylvania.

One of my connections on Twitter shared this thought with me in response to my #IWonderAndWorry thread. And though she suggests I “nailed it on the head,” it is she, I believe, who more accurately hits the mark. We work too hard in a system that largely doesn’t work for kids. We are stuck in a Sisyphean cycle it seems, forever rolling the rock.

And while I suppose some may see that as a cynical view of our job as educators, and though I cannot deny there may be a mist of cynicism on its edges, it is not the center I seek, for that is the hopeless view of things. And though I am certainly critical of that which is, I am equally hopeful of that which may yet be. I have hope. And so do so many others. It’s why we roll the rock. But we also have our eyes open. And as we look, we see that we created the mountain, the burden in our way. And, too, as we see, we wonder why we can’t just go around the mountain? Surely, there is another way. Surely there is better. And it is just that, a belief in better. We can keep rolling the system up the hill, or we can roll change around it. Both are formidable tasks. It is no easy task, the rebel role, but there’s strength found in rolling something one believes in. There must be, else we would have quit long ago. Better is something to believe in, a a better rock to roll.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…growing with grammar.

…cultivating community with Kindness Cards.

…writing conclusions and bios.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Wednesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Just go along. It’s that easy. Nod and smile. Close your mouth and your door and go along. It’s not gonna matter; it’s not gonna make a difference. So just keep it to yourself. And go along.

I can’t. Too many wonders and too many worries to go along. I can’t. I haven’t. I won’t. Oh, would that I could. I sometimes wonder (it’s what I do) how much easier my path might have been had I just chosen to go along. And sometimes–just sometimes–I wonder if I could go back, fall into place, and ride the rail set before me and quietly go along into the sunset of retirement. But those moments are fleeting, and I come back to the reality that it’s been too long to go along now.

Yesterday, upon wrestling with wonder and worry, I took to Twitter and proposed starting a wonder-and-worry conversation.

And I will kick it off today. And my hope is that we can engage in some forward thinking about the wonders and worries I present. I have little interest in the same old “solutions” that have been recycled time and again because we can’t or won’t break beyond what’s always been. I think we have to think differently to do differently. But it is hard to break beyond. And many will choose not to, claiming we have it figured out–and not to diminish the hard work that others have done in their own pursuits of better, I am not convinced we can rest here. Better waits. But we’ll never get there by going along. We have to go beyond. Beyond along.

Today’s Trail

Along (maybe a poor choice of words) today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…growing with grammar.

…receiving and responding to feedback.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Morning, all. Back at it today. Had a hard time getting started this morning. Seems like the only days I can ever sleep in are the days I can’t. Was up at 4:00 all break, and this morning I easily slept past 5:00.

Tired or not, I am eager to reconnect with my kiddos today and to make the most of the next three weeks before winter break. Crazy that we are nearly at the one-third mark for the year. Cannot believe it is already December. Time flies.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s we will experience…

…reconnecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…growing with grammar.

…completing a Response to Feedback form for our latest LC.

…wrapping up the body of our personal narratives.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Monday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

No kids this week. We have parent-teacher conferences today and tomorrow. They are both calendar days, even though we don’t have kiddos. So, incidentally, I will not really post this week. Kinda need a break anyway. Back to the routine after the holiday. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

Turned 48 today. Hit a milestone middle. Been a teacher as long as I haven’t been a teacher. 24 years in. 24 years out. And as I stand here, in the middle, I feel as old as I do young. I know so much more, but as I’ve come to know more, I have come to know so much less. Not sure where I would have expected to be at this point if someone had asked me all those years ago. Of course, I have changed and grown a great deal since those first days and years. In the fall of ’96, I was but a wide-eyed boy with the youthful courage of confidence, sure I could succeed so I wouldn’t fail. But here at time’s turn, I am now less certain of such things, wary with wisdom, an older boy who now believes he has to fail if he wants to succeed. Time turns. One learns. Grateful I have more time.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…wrapping up our viewing of The Book Thief.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Friday, all. Have a wonderful weekend.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

“Sy, I don’t think it should be a competition. It should only be about kindness.”

Last week, we did our first round of “Choose a Champ” for the year. Here’s the gist. I distribute small pieces of paper (cards) for kids to write a kind message to one of their peers; I collect and distribute them, and whoever gets the most notes for the week is crowned “Community Champ.” I thought our first round went well. And then I got an email.

It was one of the first things I read that next morning, and I was immediately concerned by the content and tone of her message. She was really upset about something that had happened in class the previous day, and she really needed to talk to me. My immediate thought was that someone had written something unkind on one of the many messages she had received from peers yesterday. And though I didn’t really think that was the case, for the class is a pretty tight-knit, empathetic group, one never really knows with teens, so I feared the worst. And as she sat down with me that next morning to talk, I still feared the worst, asking her if she was okay.

“Oh, I am fine. I just really feel strongly about the message that may have been sent with yesterday’s “champ” activity. Sy, I don’t think it should be a competition. It should only be about kindness.”

Phew. Not too minimize her concerns, but I was relieved to learn that no unkind act had occurred. With that out of the way, I leaned further in, listening to her outpouring of wisdom and compassion.

“You’re right. You are absolutely right. I will change it when we do it next week. Thank you for having the courage to bring this to me.”

And so I changed it. Here’s the new and better approach.

In my defense–feeble as it is–I knew better. Last year taught me better, for I had arrived at and made a similar, albeit more subtle, change. I just let the “competition” part fade away, letting it become–and it did become–about kindness. So, I am not sure why I brought back the competition part of it to kick it off this year. Maybe I thought it would help with the initial buy-in as I awarded the champ with candy. I don’t know. Regardless, this year a wise young lady got me back on track. And yesterday, it was only about kindness. Just as it should be.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…growing with grammar.

…viewing The Book Thief.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Thursday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

If an idea falls in a system and no one listens, does it make a noise?

There’s a noise in my head. Guess there’s always been, but of late it’s been amplified, of late it’s been bothersome, of late it’s been worrisome. I try to quiet it. I try to ignore it. I try to escape it. But it persists, it pervades, it pursues. And though I can’t always hear it distinctly, and though I can’t transcribe it exactly, I think if I were to try to speak it, it would sound something like this.

What is the purpose of education?

Sometimes, it sprints at me as a scream. Other times, it walks to me as a whisper. And though there are many mutterings, it always seems to track back to the same taunt: What is the purpose of education?

But that’s only the right ear. There’s more. The left, too, taunts a response, an echo I can’t escape either.

I don’t know.

I don’t know. But I want to. Maybe I have to. Maybe that’s the only way to find some peace from the noise that daily disturbs, fading in-out, right-left.

There’s a noise in my head. Suppose there always will be. Maybe I shouldn’t have listened.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…growing with grammar.

…viewing The Book Thief.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Wednesday, all. Thank you for listening to my noise.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.