If it’s Monday, the Sixth Grade is Freaking Out

My sixth grade math class has developed an interesting pattern - and it’s as predictable as the sun coming up tomorrow.

Whenever I show them something new, they freak out. 

For example, we did a unit on finding the greatest common factor (GCF) earlier this year. 

There are two methods:  the comparison method, where you list all the factors of a number; and the prime factorization method, where you find all the prime factors and then multiply them together to find the greatest common factor.

All the students were very comfortable with the comparison method because for small numbers it’s really easy. Suppose I want the GCF of 16 and 24?

First, I list all the factors of 16: 1x16, 2x8, 4x4.

Second, I list all the factors of 24: 1x24, 2x12, 3x8, 4x6.

It’s easy and you can do it in your head. As you can see, the largest factor they have in common is 8 - done.

But, what if I needed the greatest common factors of 256 and 480?

It’s going be a ridiculous amount of work to figure out all the factors of those two numbers and the odds are you’re going to miss a few.

That’s why we have the prime factorization method - with this method, you can solve the problem in about a minute.

So whenever I introduce something new, I’ve noticed the 6th grade goes through a six-step process:

Denial and Isolation - First they don’t understand it all. I hear comments like, “I’m so confuuuuuused,” or “I’m completely lost.” It’s understandable. They intuitively know how to solve some problems based on the methods they’ve learned in the past and now I’m turning their world on its ear and showing them something they don’t get - yet. With this example, we have to learn what prime numbers are and what they can do for us.

Anger - As we progress, they’re still pretty lost and really don’t like the feeling at all. They start to get mad. They are resistant to change. They don’t want to learn the new method. They’d rather do it the old way even if it takes two weeks to solve a simple problem.

Bargaining - Then the quiz/test questions start. “Is this going to be on the quiz?” or “Does it matter what method we use on the test?” At this point, some of them are understanding the new method but are still not liking it - others are still lost in the woods.

Depression - The students who still don’t have a grasp on the material sink into a depression. “I’m never going to get this,” they mutter. “I’m going to fail this test soooooo bad.” At this point, they can all perform the new method at the board with some prompting but it’s not second nature to them. Practice, practice, practice. We keep going over it again and again. The students who understand are helping the ones who are still shaky.

Acceptance - Finally, everyone’s on board. After about 5 million practice problems, I’ve managed to drill the information into their heads for keeps. Now that they know what to do, when to do it and how to do it, they begin to like the newer method. In the example of the GCF, they see how awkward the comparison method is for solving most problems and actually prefer the prime factorization method.

Embracement - They’ve got it. They’re ready. Now it’s quiz time. They want to do the new method to show me that they’ve learned it. They see the fun in doing the work with a more complex method - a method they’ve mastered. The comparison method is kicked to the curb - they’re all about prime factorization now.

And that’s how the process goes. Unit after unit, chapter after chapter. 

Next week, we start a new chapter....get ready for the freak out!

Learning Outside the Classroom

Looking back on my 54 years, I’d have to say I’ve probably learned as much or more outside the classroom as I have inside.

Read

As I’ve mentioned, I’m a voracious reader. I always have been. I read a wide range of topics - fiction and non-fiction. I pick up books that appear interesting, hunt down books on things that I’m curious about and make myself read books that I should have been assigned by my teachers years ago. I can’t think of a better way to educate one’s self than reading.

Travel

When I was young, my parents took trips all over the place. We camped in a tent or towed our little pop-up camper to camp grounds. We visited Cape Hatteras, Niagara Falls, Cape Cod, Cape Ann, Washington, DC and a quaint little town called McKeller, Ontario (apparently there is some distant relation, despite the spelling difference). 

We visited Washington, DC two consecutive April vacations. Can you imagine a better place to learn about US history than Washington? When I was 15, I was fortunate to visit England for two weeks. Seeing things with your own eyes makes them real. We stayed at bed and breakfasts throughout England, immersing ourselves in our host’s world for a little bit. Putting my hands on Stonehenge is a lifelong memory. 

Many of my students have traveled extensively - what a wonderful thing. There is no substitute for being somewhere.

Work

First you learn how to work: that showing up, on-time, and being ready to work is critical, that you are expected to work hard. Then you learn how to work with other people; how to take orders how to admit mistakes, how to get along with people you don’t like or who don’t like you. You learn skills; dishwashing, potato peeling, construction, sales, customer service, dealing with the public, you name it, you’ll learn it by working.

Experience

There is no substitute in life for experience. It comes in time. You can’t rush the process.  People learn from mistakes. There’s a quote that floats through my mind sometimes, “There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience and that is not learning from experience.”

Of course, learning inside the classroom is important, just don’t fool yourself into thinking school ends at 2:30 or at your college graduation - it really only ends when you stop breathing.

Movies About Students and Learning

A funny thing happened on the way to this blog...

There are no movies about students. 

Well, let me amend that, there are movies about students behaving badly and there are movies featuring students. But, I have been unable to put my finger on a movie truly about being a student.

It seems all the movies I can find are really about teachers - true, there are students involved and some have their own inspirational stories, but these movies seem to be more about teachers.

There’s Rudy - he was a college student but it’s more of a perseverance story than a being-a-student story.

The Paper Chase is about students but it’s really more of a love story with a mean, crotchety, demanding old teacher to spice things up.

And Love Story is all about college students but it’s, obviously, a love story first and foremost that just happens between students.

The Breakfast Club is about students who behaved badly and ended up in detection where they continue to behave badly.

The Miracle Worker fits the bill, but I put it on the other list and I’m not giving any movie a double dip in two blog posts.

There’s Animal House, a personal favorite, but talk about behaving badly.

Little Man Tate, is an excellent movie about a child who turns out to be a genius but it’s more about mom than the student.

I’m sure there must be movies about students equally inspiring and uplifting as the ones about teachers but I can’t think of one.

Can you?

Bonus and Extra Credit

I’m a big believer in having a plan B. I like to have some idea what to do if something doesn’t work out. If I can think of a way to reduce the possibility of a bad outcome, then I’ll do it. 

I can apply that same thinking to bonus questions and extra credit - in this scenario, the bad outcome is a low grade. 

If there’s a bonus question at the end of a quiz or test - attempt it. It can’t hurt you. I don’t take off points for getting the bonus question wrong. I only add points if you get it right - and sometimes I award partial credit. 

The only reason I can think of for not at least trying the bonus is time. If you’ve run out of time, well, then you’ve run out of time. But that’s not usually the case. Nearly all my students finish tests and quizzes in less then the allotted time.

The same goes for extra credit. It’s like an insurance policy for your grade. It’s a boost. All you have to do is some extra work and, voila´, you get extra points on your grade.

During the Christmas break, Mrs. Minaker and I offered a joint extra credit project to the 6th, 7th and 8th grades: Read the H.G. Wells classic sci-fi thriller War of the Worlds and write a 4-page paper on a choice of two literature and science questions.

Only three students turned in the extra credit project. And, despite some confusion between H.G. Wells and Orson Wells, they all got a 100% quiz grade in both English and Science.

It never hurts to have an extra 100% averaged in to your grade. You just have to do the extra work.

I offered my students an extra credit assignment for the February break, too. I wonder how many will do it?

This Could Be Bad

I’m a little concerned.

Worried, really.

This could be bad.

I should have checked that locker before I left school, Friday. 

I forgot. 

It wasn’t until Monday that it occurred to me that it might have been left there and, by then, it was too late. The school was locked up tight for the whole week.

I emailed with a student:

“Please tell me you didn't leave that cupcake in the locker for vacation.”

“I'm not saying it wasn't taken out, but no one ever went to get it…”

“Oh dear.”

This could be bad. 

I have visions of tentacles violently whipping out of the locker when we return today. Maybe we’ll find slimy, green radioactive sludge oozing across the floor or an army of aggressive mold spores with mayhem on their collective mind.

Whatever happens, we were warned, and warned repeatedly.

<Sigh>

This could be bad. 

Movies about Teachers and Teaching

There have been a lot of movies about teaching and teachers. I have included only the ones that I have seen, with one exception. These are some of the best. I have included a very brief summary and my own comments.

Stand and Deliver - A true-life story of a Los Angeles high school teacher who drives his students on to excellence at calculus. This is an inspiring movie.

Dangerous Minds - Based on the true-life story of a first-time high school teacher assigned to a class of tough but smart inner city students. When conventional methods fail to reach them, the feisty teacher tries the unconventional -- defying the rules and creating her own curriculum. In the process, she instills a new self-confidence in her students -- motivating them toward their greatest potential. This was very good. It may be the best role I've ever seen Michelle Pfeiffer in.

The Miracle Worker - The story of Helen Keller and teacher Annie Sullivan. Both actresses won Oscars for their performance in this movie.

Music of the Heart - A single mother with little more than talent and the determination to make a difference, Roberta Guaspari  overcame the skepticism of everyone who didn't think she should be teaching violin to students in a tough inner-city neighborhood. Bye-the-way, the man who scored this movie is a local guy and a client of my video business.

The Hobart Shakespeareans - The Hobart Shakespeareans is a delightful profile of one phenomenal teacher and his eager students who together touchingly demonstrate the power of education. I just read one of the teacher’s books and this movie is next on my list.

Dead Poets Society - English professor John Keating, a passionate iconoclast who changes his students' lives forever when he challenges them to live life to the fullest and "Carpe Diem" -- seize the day. Keating's unconventional approach meets with irrepressible enthusiasm from his students, but the faculty at staid, exclusive Welton Academy prep school is, to put it mildly, not amused. This is one of my favorite movies.

Mr. Holland’s Opus - Glenn Holland is a passionate musician who dreams of composing one truly memorable piece of music. But reality intrudes when he reluctantly accepts a "day job" as a high school music teacher to support his family. In time, however, Mr. Holland realizes that his real passion is teaching, and his legacy is the generations of young people he inspires. Very good.

Memories are Funny Things

I recently joined a group on Facebook: “You know you’re from such-and-such a town if....”

I’ve had a lot of fun reminiscing about my life in school when I was a youth. It’s funny what you remember and what you forget.

There was a long discussion of memorable teachers. Some teachers I knew I’d had but could not dredge up a single memory of being in his/her class, what he/she looked like, or even where his/her room was located. I can remember specific lectures from other teachers - I can almost hear their voices in my head. If I went to the school today, I could walk right into their room - I remember exactly where it was.

Some nicknames I remember - my Elementary school principal, Mr. Hopkins, was called Mr. Hoppy Toes for a little hop he did on the playground once to avoid a rolling ball. Snappy fingers, AKA Mrs. Haller, was my third grade teacher. She could snap her fingers so loud, it could damage your hearing if you were too close.

I recall a student who was in school for the 7th grade but never came back. He drowned that summer in Academy Cove. I was not close to him and I don’t recall his name, but I can picture his face to this day.

I remember my daily (unhealthy) lunch in the high school - two bags of Munchos and two milks. And looking at the list of players who made the middle school baseball team. I don’t remember where my locker was in middle school but I think I remember the combination of my locker in high school.

My Father-in-law is fond of saying “You never know when you’re making a memory,” and he’s right. 

Look around - some of what you see you'll recall vividly when you're older, some will be wiped away with the passage of time.

We Adopted a Ship!

The US Maritime Administration, a part of the Department of Transportation has a really cool educational program for teachers and their classes.

They match the class with a working merchant ship and then put the teacher/class in contact with the officers on board.

I applied in September and in December we were matched with the T.S. Kennedy - the training ship of the Mass Maritime Academy in Buzzard’s Bay. The Kennedy is a former cargo ship that has been converted into a school at sea.

There are over 600 students on board and they have daily classroom instruction and have duties on board. We looked at the layout of the ship - the teaching spaces, recreational spaces, and sleeping accommodations.

We watched a video tour of the ship - I don’t think the students cared for the very limited personal space provided on a ship - basically a bunk bed with 18” of space below the next upper bunk and a curtain. About 90 cadets sleep in an area about the size of my classroom.

The T.S. Kennedy maintains a great blog that they update daily. They make it really easy to follow along on their voyage and they suggest some interesting topics to learn about as they go.

We’ve learned about navigation, the environmental impact of ships, geography and a host of other topics. 

The T.S. Kennedy left for their annual training cruise in January and we’ve checked in with them every few days to see where they are and what they’ve been doing. Their most recent port stop was Barbados so, yes, I’m a little jealous.

Next, they’ll begin working their way north again. Their next port call is Miami and then back to Massachusetts.

Personal Responsibility

Personal Responsibly - per·son·al re·spon·si·bil·i·ty 1. the ability of a person to maturely respond to the various challenges and circumstances of life.

What is personal responsibility for a middle school student? What does it look like in action? What does it feel like for the student?

The changes between grades 6 and 8 are too numerous to list here. Suffice it to say they encompass every aspect of the student’s maturity, emotions, social interactions, academics, and personality, just to mention a few general areas.

The work in school changes dramatically. In the elementary grades, students are asked to learn “what” - what happened in history, what happened in the story you just read.  In the middle school years, students are asked “why” something happened. They are asked to link divergent pieces of information and determine a common theme. They are asked not to just routinely repeat mathematical operations but to begin understanding the why rather than the what.

For the student, this is probably the first time they are changing classes and visiting their lockers between classes. They will learn to bring the appropriate supplies to class - the right book, a pencil/pen, erasers, notebooks, etc.

It may also be the first time they have homework nearly every night. They will have to master time management especially if the student has after school activities like gymnastics, lacrosse, basketball, or dance.

They will, over time, learn to self-check - “Do we have English homework tonight?” or “Is the Science quiz tomorrow and do I have what I need to study?”

Learning to keep track of assignments and deadlines is part of personal responsibility. 

Students at this level should have the personal responsibly to act appropriately when a substitute is in the class room and not take advantage. 

Students should need fewer and fewer reminders as the middle school years progress.

Growing-up is a difficult process. It’s three steps forward and one back. The growth of a students personal responsibility is an amazing thing to watch and participate in.

The Joy of Writing

We started a recent staff meeting with a little warm-up exercise: Tell the person next to you about writing.

I told my partner that I can’t remember a time when I didn’t enjoy writing and I think it’s because I’ve enjoyed reading all my life. 

I have a very clear memory of being read, “Where the Wild Things Are.” That book was published in 1963 and it was a pretty new book when it was first read to me. I remember reading it to my boys and it endures as one of my favorite children's books. 

I can’t say Maurice Sendak inspired me to write, but he didn’t hurt the effort one bit. His language and imagery are beautiful and they ignited my young imagination.

For me, reading and writing have always gone hand-in-hand. I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember and writing for almost as long.

I remember a writing assignment in the third grade. We had to write a fictional story. My story was about Pink - a little creature who lived in the grass in my backyard. The teacher was so taken with “The Adventures of Pink” that she had me read the story aloud in class, made copies for all the other students and then had each of them write a fictional story about Pink. 

After college, I did a lot of freelance writing. My work was published in the Providence Journal, Boston Globe, Block Island Magazine, Air & Space Smithsonian, Aviation History and more. Later, my wife and I started a newspaper business and we both wrote day and night.

I still write. I have three blogs going now:

• This blog about teaching;

• I have a blog for my video business where I discuss converting video, movies, slides, photos, etc. to a digital format;

• I also have a personal blog where I allow myself to spout off about topics that interest me.

As a teacher, I ask my math and science students to write regularly. I don’t think they much care for essay writing but it’s good for them. It helps them think through the topic a little more than the typical-seven word sentence I get on a test or quiz does.

I like giving them writing assignments and they’re going to see more and more of them as the year progresses.

To paraphrase Mr. Sendak: “Let the wild writing rumpus start!”

In Praise of the Boring Stuff

I like fun. 

Really, who doesn’t like fun? 

We do a lot of fun activities in my classroom. Last week, we went to an observatory after

school. Monday we launched rockets from the playground.

Fun, right?

Right - but let’s not confuse the classroom with Disney World.

We do a lot of stuff that isn’t so much fun, too. That’s why we call it work. It’s hard. It’s challenging. It makes the students think. And sometimes it’s just plain boring. 

The thing students don’t understand is that we’re teaching them a lot more than the stuff in the books. 

Yes, I teach about fractions, exponents, atoms, the Earth’s mantle and hundreds of other topics. I’m also teaching the students how to do an assignment that they don’t want to do because it’s boring or it’s hard or they’re not 100% sure they understand it yet.

Learning how to learn is probably the most important thing I can teach students at this level. In a few short years, they’ll be off to college where no one will harass them for missing work, or remind them to study for a quiz, or even notice if they attend class. 

They’re gonna need to fend for themselves and part of that is knowing how to put their heads down and plow through the boring stuff. 

In Memoriam: Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger (1986) Mission 51-L

“Did  you hear? The Shuttle blew up,” said the man standing in front of me to the man standing behind me in the cafeteria. At first I thought he was talking about one of the vans used to shuttle people between the company’s three facilities. Then, I realized my error.

As quickly as I could, I hustled back to my office. There was a radio down the hall from my office. By the time I got there, everyone in the department was cloistered around it. In 1986 there was no internet, we didn’t have cell phones or Facebook or twitter or really, even TV’s at work. We had the radio, just like when the Hindenburg exploded or the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor or JFK’s assassination.

“I wonder if the astronauts got out?” asked one of my coworkers.

My heart was in my throat. I knew the astronauts didn’t get out – there was no way out. It was up or down with the vehicle – period.

The aftermath was bad.

Mismanagement, cover-your-butt paper trails, everyone running for cover.

While the blame swirled around all the participants – NASA, Morton-Thiokol, President Reagan, Congress and really, anyone who stood still long enough to be targeted by any one of the above, we heard the voice recordings from Challenger.

Dick Scobee, Spacecraft Commander: “Roger, go at throttle up.”
Mike Smith, Shuttle Pilot: “Uh oh.”

Then, nothing.

They were aware that something was wrong. At least long enough for Smith to comment before radio transmission abruptly ended.

It got worse.

We saw the footage of the intact crew cabin emerging from the explosion at an altitude of 64,000 feet before spinning and tumbling to the ocean’s surface.

We learned three of the astronauts personal egress air packs on the flight deck were found switched on – something that can only be done manually.

Investigators also discovered that several electrical system switches on Smith’s right-hand panel had been changed from their launch positions. These switches were protected with locks requiring them to be manually pulled outward before they could be “switched.” Further analysis proved that neither the force of the explosion nor the impact could have moved them, indicating that Smith moved the switches in a vain attempt to restore electrical power to the cockpit after the crew cabin detached from the rest of the spacecraft.

How long did they survive?

It was over three minutes from explosion to impact with the Atlantic.

Were they alive and conscious all the way down?

I hope not.

It’s horrifying. I try not to think about it.

For a few weeks everyone knew their names – now, twenty five + years later,  might be a good time to remind ourselves of just who these people were:

Ellison S. Onizuka – First Asian American in Space, Air Force test pilot. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, a shuttle craft bears his name in three episodes.

Christa McAuliffe – A Massachusetts native and was selected as the first Teacher in Space. The Soviet Union named a crater on Venus; McAuliffe.

Greg Jarvis – Earned his Masters at Northeastern University and worked, for a time, at Raytheon in Bedford. Almost immediately after the crash, students at the University of Buffalo, where he earned his bachelors degree, nailed the name “Jarvis Hall” onto the side of an engineering building, and in 1987 the name was made official with a dedication ceremony.

Judy Resnik – The first Jewish woman to fly in space. Her long, weightless hair was a memorable image during her first space mission.

Michael J. Smith – Graduated from the Naval Academy and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross during Vietnam. His was the last voice heard on the cockpit recordings.

Dick Scobee – An Air Force test pilot and Vietnam veteran. Scobee piloted Challenger into space in 1984.

Ron McNair – Received his Ph.D in Physics from MIT and flew with Scobee on Challenger in 1984. During that mission, McNair became the first man to play the saxophone in space. He had planned to record a saxophone solo during the flight to be used on an album he was working on.

We should never forget them.

Will This Be On The Test?

I am often asked “Will this be on the test?” by my students. Sometimes I answer directly, often I deflect the question and once in a while I try to share the larger picture.

The larger picture is a tough point to make with many students.

Naturally everyone wants to do well on homework, quizzes and tests. It feels good to see that big 100% on top of your math quiz. Students who do well should be proud of their accomplishment but, ultimately it might not make any difference if they’re not ready for the larger context.

Probably all students have crammed for a test and done well....but, when asked to demonstrate the knowledge six months later are at a loss. 

That’s the problem with learning or teaching to the test. Yes, the students may do well but have they truly mastered the skill we were teaching and testing for?

The sequence goes like this - they have to learn a new skill, practice it, practice it in a variety of contexts and then go back and relearn it a few days later. We look at a new skill from a variety of perspectives. I present the information in a lot of different ways - for example, recently I used their current math lessons in our science class. 

Math skills build on each other. You can’t figure out factors unless you know your multiplication tables, you can’t do fractions unless you have a good grasp of factors and so on.

If a student doesn’t have a solid foundation of skills, he/she’s going to suffer going forward. It’s much more important that they have a deep, long-lasting understanding of these skills than they do well on one particular test. 

Let’s face it, if you’re a grown-up, what difference does it make if you got an 80% or a 100% on a 6th grade math test? None really. But if you’ve never really learned how to do decimals, how are you going to do your taxes, or figure out the real cost of borrowing money for a new car or how much interest you'll pay on your student loans?

You’d be better off if you had a deeper understanding of multiplying and dividing decimals and got the 80% than if you crammed and got the 100% but forgot it all in the following months.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not encouraging my students to aim for a low B on all their tests and quizzes, but I am encouraging them to really learn the stuff we’re talking about not just regurgitate it back to me.

It’s that deep understanding that most teachers are trying to instill in their students. The students can’t see the larger picture, but it’s critical.