Checking In: One week of relationship building.

How is everyone doing with building those relationships?  We are one week into school now, so here are some of the activities we have done to start the year.

At lunch today I went table by table.  I  said each student's name and if I didn't know it or remember it, I asked their name. It became a game with them, with many  of them hoping I'd get it wrong (some of them  got their wish...)  I'll head  to lunch again Thursday and quiz myself on the students that I missed.

This is a great way to show them application of study skills: practice, get some wrong, focus on the ones you got wrong, practice again, repeat as necessary... keep practicing.

In science  we practiced the art of "observation" vs. "inferences."  My co-teacher developed this idea for Social Studies and adapted it to Science.  It is pretty brilliant...

Students were given envelopes filled with personal effects from my past. These included a train schedule, a class photo of me with my first students (dated sometime last century,)  some hockey cards, and a number of other items. These items were broken into four envelopes.

What the heck is this thing?

On top of these four envelopes, students also got to investigate two personal spaces: My desk and my car. Now, let me ask you. When was the last time you let students go through your desk? Would you let them?

Here is what my students discovered: I like snacks. and tea. a lot. In fact one drawer was FULL of these things. They saw lots of Rubik's cubes and NASA items. They saw a $1 bill in my top drawer. There were pens, pencils, former students' work, and lots of chocolate. And yes, that $1 bill was still in my desk at the end of the activity.

My car was less exciting, but they were all curious about my 'mascots.'  On my dashboard I have Pain & Panic (from Disney's Hercules), White Rabbit (from Alice in Wonderland), a small rubber duck, and a children's block.

Ideally in the following days the students will have to build as much of my life story as they can: Where have I lived? Who is in my family? What are my hobbies? How far back in my life  can you go? Why can't you go back further? Can you finally figure out how old I am? Why did I chose to keep those things in the car?

As the year progresses, we will connect this activity to many of the scientific concepts we will be studying: geological time scales, Earth's changing features, fault lines, and more.

I hope everyone's first few days have been wonderful.  I'd love to hear how things are going!

Getting Started On The Right Foot

As I get ready to start my school year, I found myself reflecting on some of the skills and strategies that lead to a strong start.  Now, as you read them I know you'll think that since I'm writing it, I must be great at these skills. Hardly. These are the ones that I know are important for both short and long term success in a year, but many of them are ones I struggle with enacting.

Now this list is in no way fully comprehensive. There are many thoughts I had that would be important, but for me these are the ones I need to remember to put into practice.  These are presented in no particular order.... except this one:

LEARN YOUR STUDENT'S NAMES. 

Nothing on this list can help you have a more successful start and finish to a year than this.  You will be asking your students to get out of their comfort zone on a very regular basis. They need to trust they will be safe. Nothing breaks that trust more than saying "hey... um... you." There are many layers to emotional safety, but none are higher than you knowing that child's name. "Hey you, the volleyball player that likes MCR" is really not as effective as "Hey, Sasha! What was the name of the band you were talking about last week?"

Practice their names. Say them correctly; ask if you are unsure. Don't give them a nickname because "the name is too hard to say" or "too tricky to remember."  Challenge them to quiz you in the halls and at lunch. Give them a high five when you get it right. Give them a high five when they have to correct you.

Learn. Their. Names.

Establish procedures and protocols in your classroom.

If you have particular ways to hand in work, check in assignments, enter the room, or ask to use the restroom, make sure they know them. Practice these in detail the first few days. Explain them as expectations, not as discussion points.  If the procedure is important to you, stop class when it isn't followed.

Contact your families

As early as you can in the year, contact the families of all of your students. Call, e-mail, send a letter home. Whatever works best for your situation. Let them know how happy you are that their child is in your room. Let them know how well they are adjusting to their new grade/classroom/school. Invite them to contact you should they have questions or concerns. That one call or e-mail makes trickier conversations later in the year go much easier.

Schedule you time

The school year is a marathon, not a sprint. You need aid stations to get through it. Whether time is spent reading (for pleasure, not professional development), hanging out with friends (and not talking about lessons or students), blogging (about things other than work), Netflix... whatever. Find time for non-work-anything activities. No e-mail, updating grade books, looking at student work, or focusing on lessons. Schedule 'you time' on your google calendar. Make it sacrosanct.

Be kind to yourself 

Give yourself some grace. We preach to students that mistakes are expected. We tell them it's ok to misunderstand directions. We encourage them to push their limit knowing they'll fall along the way. We tell them "you're just doing this for the first time, of course you'll make a mistake!" Well, this is the first time you're teaching this curriculum to these specific students. If it is ok for them to make mistakes, it's ok for you to make mistakes as well.

Reflect

But focus on the positives. Ask yourself, "What went well about my day?" before you get into, "what would I have changed?" SO often as educators we focus on the one group that didn't get the concept, the one student that caused a disruption, or the one part of the lesson that bombed. Start with positives. Then, anytime you reflect on a negative say, "yup, but (this) and (this) went well."


There are many many more thoughts on my mind that could be on this list.  I'm curious what would you add? Leave a comment below about something that I missed that is on your essentials list!

The Most Important Classroom Supply

A very good friend of mine is going to be returning to the classroom after a number of years away. She was amazed at all the changes within the classroom and posted a question for her friends on Facebook:

Teacher friends I need to know must haves for the classroom. All of my supplies are in transit and I will be setting up my 4th grade classroom in a week!

She received the expected responses: whiteboards and markers, paper, pencils... Some responses got a little deeper and realistic: lunch money for kids that don't have it, some breakfast snacks, playground balls.

Where do all of these supplies come from?  According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 94% of teachers purchase supplies for their own classroom. The age of the students, the average student's family income, location in the country, rural, urban - none of those impact that statistic. The average amount spent? Between $450 and $550 per teacher.  Multiply that by 3.7 million teachers in America and you get $1.85 billion spent by teachers out of their own pockets for the 2019-2020 school year,

Many teachers have resorted to doing crowdfunding, such as gofundme.org or #ClearTheList, to help defray some of these costs.  But now, districts are starting to restrict these options.  A few teachers that I know locally have been told they may not do any sort of crowdfunding for their classroom and more globally through Ohio districts are wary about the risks of this income, specifically the concern of how it might be spent and who owns the supplies should the teacher leave the classroom.

This leads to my thought on classroom supplies...  My response to my friend's post was somewhat different than the others:

"For me it isn't the 'stuff' - it is the presentation and passion - integrate the math with the writing. show how social studies is impacted by science. Show them how they are important to the community. Show them that they are loved. You have so much empathy and compassion. Bring that and everything else will fall into place."

I am not saying that a classroom can survive on passion alone. A classroom needs supplies - notebooks, pencils, paper, and novels (yes novels, even in math class) are just the basics. However, even the best supplied classroom - one with a full stock of interactive notebooks, properly labeled binders, post-its, standing desks, and a 1:1 iPad program - will not succeed unless the teacher is trained and passionate.  How I interact with my students is far more important than any type of physical supply you can put in my room.

To all of the teachers that are starting up in the next few weeks - good luck, enjoy building those relationships with the students, and remember the kids that need you the most are the ones that may show it the least.

The teacher is the most important resource in any learning environment.  

Year Twenty-Two... AND GO!

Twenty-plus years ago I was finishing my first month of my first year of teaching.  I was working in an elementary classroom in Cathedral City, California (in the Palm Springs area.) This school ran a year-round schedule with four tracks of classrooms.  Each track followed a 3-month-on 1-month-off rotation, so at any given time 75% of the school was in session while 25% of the school was on break. 

I can remember so much of those first couple of years. I remember my very first day with my very first class. Well. I remember going over the roster, introducing myself and glancing at the door, waiting for a supervising teacher or administrator to come through it. 

I realized that nobody was coming. This was my first class. These students were mine. Their education was literally in my control. I remember the long silence that followed as the class stared at me for direction. 

The emotions I felt at that moment were strong, the memory of them etched deeply.  I was so thankful for two veteran teachers that reached out and helped me through that first year: Mrs. Rouse and Mrs. McClintock. Two decades later I remember their names, their faces, and their kind acts.  I remember all the time they gave to me asking them what felt like the most basic of questions. They answered my questions, gave me sage advice, and let me cry in their room during prep time. 

I have lost touch with them over the years, but the two of them are forever etched in that same first-year memory.

Here I am over two decades later and now working with amazing teachers that weren’t even born when I started my teaching path.  I’ve become the veteran, getting asked questions and pretending I know the answers.  I’ve been asked to help design programs and schedules, representing our math division as the math chair, and still I am actively seeking more leadership and presenter opportunities. 

Dave Burgess of Teach Like A Pirate and Dave Burgess Consulting asked an amazing question to the twitterverse this week: What are you most excited about for the upcoming school year?

My answer is simple: I'm excited to continue to find that first-year-teacher-fear. I'm excited to continue to do things both in and out of the classroom that scare me.  I'm excited to stay outside of my comfort zone and provide support for others so they have the confidence to do the same. 

After all, as educators we are CONSTANTLY asking our students to challenge themselves. We owe it to them to show that we live that same path. 

The Fun of March Mathness!

This is, arguably, the most wonderful math-time of the year. I just happen to be teaching probability during the NCAA tourney. It is the perfect one-two punch - math with a high level of engagement!


This all starts with a game of coin flipping. Who can be the best of the best at flipping coins? We discuss probability, make connections to powers of two, create tree diagrams... then March Mathness begins.


"Did you know that Warren Buffett has offered $1 billion to anyone that picks a perfect bracket?"


"Wow, that's crazy!"


"How can he afford that?"


"Can you do more than one bracket? That improves your chances!"

We go back to the probability of picking 4 flips correctly (1 in 16) and make some predictions. I have each student complete a region of the bracket, which is 15 games. They predict what the theoretical probability will be for getting all 15 games correct. Guesses range from 1 in 100 to 1 in 20000.


I let them on the calculator and they discover the answer: 1 in 32,768.


Ok that's a big number. so then we talked about the entire tournament: all 63 games. What is the theoretical probability of picking all 63 correct?


Students used some logic to say about 1 in 128,000 since 32*4 (regions) is 128. others went slightly higher: 1 in 1 million, 50 million. One student said 1 in 37 trillion. Students laughed and he did too, figuring he was way over the mark.


We then head over to Wolfram Alpha where we investigate large numbers.


Eyes go wide as jaws drop. Students try to decode how to say the number in front of them: 9,223,372,036,854,775,808


I line it up with the 37 trillion value to show the magnitude of a quintillion.

How do we quantify such a number? Well let's start with space. The distance from the sun to Neptune is about 2.8 billion miles. So how many inches is that? wow. that's a HUGE number. Why don't we write those as a ratio. What is the unit rate? 59,000?


Oh, so that means you are 59,000 times more likely to guess which inch I am thinking of than making a perfect bracket.


Well let's get crazier. The universe is 13.7 billion years old. Let's calculate how many seconds the universe been around? (mathy mathy converting process). Oh wow, that is about 432,043,200,000,000,000 seconds... That still isn't bigger than 2^63. But what does it mean?


TO RATIOS!


So if we compare the amount of seconds to the amount of brackets we get 4.68%.


WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?


That means... if... you started completing this 64-team tournament the moment the universe came into existence... and you kept filling them out, finishing one every second since the universe began. You'd be less than 5% of the way done.


They ponder, they think. They can't comprehend. How could they?


Eventually we'll get to compound probability where we multiply probability values to get the probability of two independent events. Then we'll take the probability of winning the Powerball and MegaMillion Lotteries on two consecutive days... and realize you are 100 times more likely to have that happen than pick a perfect bracket.


So. Why can Warren Buffett afford to give away $1 billion to a perfect bracket creator? Because so can you.

The Kids that Need You the Most are the Ones that Show it the Least...

I hope everyone has had a refreshing and re-energizing summer.  I started the summer off by completing my first 100-kilometer run.  After that, I spent June helping out around my school and then July was spent at Camp Mary Orton playing on the outdoor challenge ropes course with various campers and adult groups.

Also spent some time 30 feet in the air with my son. Great bonding experience!

As I have been reflecting on starting my twenty-first year of teaching, I make sure to focus on the students. We just had Meet The Teacher on Friday and since I am moving from a sixth grade classroom to a grade 7/8 classroom, I know nearly all of my students and families already.  That will be an incredibly powerful way to start the year.  I have really strong, positive relationships with nearly all of the students and families, and look forward to getting to know them even better this year.

Lots of teachers have an opinion on moving up (looping) with their students. Chalkbeat.org recently published an article linking this practice to higher test scores, especially for minority students and students with lower test scores.

Even so, I think back on teachers that I have worked with in the past that dislike this idea.  "What if you get ... THAT... student?" they ask. The difficult one. The one that is the troublemaker. The one that always tries to RUIN the class.

I've always been bothered by that thinking. No student shows up to school thinking about how to get thrown out of class.  They aren't sitting at home plotting ways to be sent to the principal or get written up for another detention.  Or if they are, there is a reason for it... And the reason isn't one you want to hear.

The first few days of school are all about relationship building.  You have to take care of the Maslow stuff before you can start the Blooms stuff.  My challenge to you is to build a positive relationship with each of your students in the first three days.  Greet them in the hallway. Tell them you are so excited that they are there today.

LEARN.THEIR.NAME.  Seriously.  My goal is to learn all of my students' names by the end of the second day. As they enter the school or classroom on the third I force myself to greet them by name. If I can't, I ask them their name or I tell them to correct me. I have them call me out if I don't use their name in class (or call them by their wrong name.) So many students will say, "it's ok," when you say the wrong name, but it isn't.

Eat lunch with them. Go out to recess with them (should you be fortunate enough to work at a school that still practices this 'archaic' ritual.) Find out two non-academic interests of theirs. Share your non-academic interests with them.  It doesn't take as long as you may think, and you'll reap the benefits in the classroom.

You are expecting them to learn so many things from you this year. You start that process by learning about them.  If you are looking for ways to do this, message me below or on twitter (@TeacherRunner42) for some ideas!

So... I Ran 100 Kilometers... And Didn't Die...

Readers,

On June 9th I participated in the 3rd annual Eagle Up 24-Hour run in Canal Fulton, Ohio.  My goal was to finish a distance of 100 kilometers (62.1 miles.) I knew the distance was going to be tough - up to now I had finished one 50-mile run (the week before Thanksgiving) and one 40-mile run (over a year and a half ago.) Still I had trained for the distance and knew I was up to the task.

Training leading up to the event went very well - which is to say I hit lots of problems. The reason I mention this is each problem I hit during training (overheating, dehydration, electrolytes, lack of calories, pacing, etc.) was something I had to figure out before this past weekend. This run went nearly perfectly because of all of those 'mistakes' I made and the adjustments I made to correct them.

My starting clothes. I ended up using 4 different shirts...​ 

The run was designed on a 5-mile loop. The plan was as such: do 12 laps. Each lap, get to mile one. Then mile two... and so on, until I get back to the finish and start again. On lap 13, I had to get to the 100km turn-around point about a mile into the loop then come back to the start/finish to complete my 62.1 miles.

The first couple of laps went better than expected. My pace was a bit ahead of what I thought I would do and I was feeling great. My first "wall" came around mile 18. This isn't uncommon for me and it is almost like I was expecting it. I walked a bit, hydrated, and got some calories in me. That helped me break through the wall and finish lap four.

My drop bag was located just before the start/finish line. My strategy was when I was in mile four of the loop, I would do a mental checklist of what I needed to do when I got there: take salt, restock food/fuel, switch from water to tailwind (a hydration / calorie / electrolyte drink), change shirts, take a nap (kidding, not kidding. but yes, kidding) or whatever else needed to happen.

I ended up finishing the first 50k in about 7 hours and 15 minutes. While I was trying to keep pacing and times out of my head, I did picture finishing this in less than 15 hours. I also remembered that I was only half way done.

How many laps are left??? 

'Normal' running is as much mental as physical. Ultras are 90% mental and 10% in your mind. The key to finishing for me was to stick to the plan: cross the starting line, get to mile one... get to mile two... Don't think about how many miles you've done. Don't think about how many miles are left. Don't think about what time it is. Just keep moving forward.

That isn't to say I didn't enjoy the laps! I met so many amazing people during this event. The beautiful part of a lapped run is you get to see people different times. I met people from Virginia as well as Michigan. I talked to people doing their first 50k as well as their first 50 miler. I ran into people I met at ThunderBunny 50k as they were volunteering at an aid station. I got passed by runners four or more times, and each time we'd have a quick encouraging word for each other. The trail community is truly amazing.

I love this picture for so many reasons.

Passing the screen for a 10th time and seeing my name pop up with 50 miles... I did have a thought of "why keep going? I mean seriously I've been running since six am." Then I remembered a mantra that got me through my first 50 miler:

Yes I was in pain physically. Yes I was mentally exhausted. Yes I had already done so much... but whether I stopped or not I would still be in pain that night and the next morning... and I knew mentally I would be worse off since I didn't finish what I set out to do. Onward it was. Lap 11 was by far the slowest for me, taking about 85 minutes to finish the 5 mile loop. I walked most of it. I talked to many of you during it. And I finished it. I knew at that point I was going to be a 100 km finisher. Even if I had to walk the last loop + 2 miles, I would finish this thing. Luckily I didn't have to do the last loop alone.

Bree paced me (ran with me) the final 5 mile loop - pushing me to run when I was tired, and walking quickly to make sure I didn't dawdle. With her help, I finished that loop almost 4 minutes faster than the previous loop. Bree saw me through to the end of lap 12 where I went out to the turn around point, before returning to the start/finish line 16 hours and 17 minutes after I had started - hitting my B and C level goals. (My "A" goal was 15 1/2 hours.) I crossed the finish line at about 10:15 pm where I was met by Bree, Sam, and Alexa. The race director congratulated me and asked me if I wanted to keep going. I declined and gladly traded my timing chip for my finisher's medal.

As far as how I am feeling... physically I am doing way better than I thought I would be. I don't have any major issues - just some sore calves and feet, but nothing unexpected at all. I went to work today and was able to go up and down stairs pretty normally. Mentally I have still not wrapped my head around what I did. I'm not sure if I ever will.

Thank you again for all of your support throughout this adventure. Together we have raised over $700 for Nationwide Children's Hospital. It was an honor to represent you out there and I am humbled by your belief in me.