Rock On!

Ever since I became a teacher, I’ve always played music in my room.

At the Bartlett, my room came with a sound system…and I use it…and I play it loud. 

In the early morning hours, long before students and even most teachers arrive, I plug my phone into the sound system and hit “play.” 

Playing music pumps me up helps me focus on what I need to get done before all you students show up. It’s like audio-caffeine.

I’ve created a couple of school playlists that are, generally, upbeat, happy songs. They are all school-appropriate as far as language and content and are a mix of, really, all genres. 

I often play music during my prep at 10am and I know students can hear it as they stroll past my room on their way to the restroom or office. There’s nothing like hearing screaming guitars when I’m grading science notebooks or building a test.

I’ve got Pop, Rock (a lot of Rock), Soundtracks, R&B, Blues, Folk, Alternative, Country, Easy Listening (My parents style of music), Jazz, Punk, World, Soul, Disco, Zydeco and Latino. It’s a little bit of everything, because there is nothing I like more than variety.

I will occasionally play music while students are working, especially during STEM Club meetings.

At one school where I taught, the rule was that we could only play classical music during class. I’m not a huge fan of classical and the kids groaned whenever I put it on - they would rather nothing than classical. But, I found a workaround. I played some Emerson, Lake and Palmer - a 1970’s group that played classical music with rock instruments and selections from Electric Light Orchestra and the Brian Setzer Orchestra (Heck, they’re Orchestras, right?).

Of course, we’re all working towards that glorious day, waiting for that one song to come on, the last song of the year, the one I play on the last day…by Alice Cooper…School’s Out.

Rock on - less than ten weeks to go!

The Charlie Brown Sound

“Welcome to Science,” I say in a big, booming voice.

This is how I begin each class. It is my call for attention and most of the students respond by ending their conversations and turning towards me. 

Sometimes, I will need to personally welcome students to class; “Welcome to science, Jennifer. Welcome to science, Steven.” This is my polite way of directly asking for their attention. I think it’s a lot more pleasant than “Hey you knuckleheads, stop talking!”

“Our daily learning target is yada, yada, yada,” is my next sentence. At this point my expectation is everyone is listening, but sometimes I’m wrong and I still don’t have everyone’s full attention. 

“Today we will go over the do now, add five vocabulary words,” and this is where I’ve decided I really don’t have the classes attention, so I will add something odd to the agenda. “and then I will ride around the classroom on my pretty, pink, pony” and stop talking.

The students who were listening will smile - they know what I am doing - the ones who were not listening will sense that something is up. It’s not that they’ve actually heard and listened what I was saying, but they sense that something is off in my cadence, and I’ve stopped talking.

What they’ve been hearing is the Charlie Brown teacher sound. “Wah wahh wha wa-wa wahhh, wah waaahh wah.” 

And this explains about 23% of the questions I get on a daily basis. 

I will say something like, “The homework is due Tuesday, if we have school tomorrow,” And a student will ask “We’re having ramen, tomorrow?

All he heard was  “Wah wah wahh wha wa wha, waah ramen tomorrow.”

(Really, this happened a couple of weeks ago)

Or I’ll write down the agenda on the board, review it verbally at the start of class only to have someone ask “What are we doing today?” And sometimes I don’t even answer because all I’ve heard is “Wah wahh wha wa-wa wahhh, wah waaahh?"

You Know We're Rooting For You, Right?

You do know your teachers are rooting for you, right?

It's true. 

We root for you every day. We are pulling for you in so many ways.

We’re excited when you show us how much you’ve learned.

That’s why your teachers work with you before classes, during lunch/recess, and after school. That’s why we answer emails at 10pm on a Sunday night. It’s why we spend hours of our own time trying to create really interesting lessons that you’ll actually enjoy. 

That’s why we are thinking of you even when we’re not at school. Yeah, we do that a LOT.

Sometimes you need acknowledgment - even something as simple as a smiley face on a piece of homework, or a fun sticker. Sometimes you need encouragement. Sometimes you need to be pushed, so we answer your question with another question to get you to think. Sometimes you can’t sit with your best friend - because neither of you will get your work done. Sometimes you need us to be firm and just say “no.”

One of our goals is to get you ready for what’s next - eighth grade or high school. That’s not on the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks (The very long set of documents that list of all the things we need to teach you and when to teach it to you), but it’s what we do. We try to help you develop good habits that will make the next years easier, like doing your homework, turning in your work on time, and being well organized.

But, trust me on this, every one of your teachers is one of your biggest fans. We are pulling for you every day. We’re here for you and we’ll help you. 

We all want you all to succeed, every single day.

If My Students Don’t Like it…

In our science classes we spend a lot of time writing in our science notebooks. We write down vocabulary words and their definitions, we make notes about things like the order of the planets, we write bullet points, “a few sentences,” paragraphs, and multi-paragraph reflections. 

We’re going to fill that science notebook you set up in September - trust me.

But why so much writing?

I have to say, “too much writing” is the number one complaint about my classes. You might ask; If my students don’t like it, why do I make them do so much of it?

There are several reasons.

First off, the simple act of writing something down gives you a better chance of remembering it. If I just handed you lists of vocabulary words and their definitions, you probably wouldn’t learn them very quickly, if at all. The act of putting pencil to paper engraves that information on your brain in a way that has sticking power. 

In science, using proper vocabulary is critical. We learn these words so we can be precise in our speaking and writing. For example; when we talk about a spring tide, we’re saying a lot about the placement of the Sun, Moon and Earth, the resulting phase of the moon and the implication of all this on our tides. You’re saying a lot with just a couple of words. 

Second, I ask you to write complete sentences and paragraphs because that is the way professionals express their thoughts. One-word answers are quick but are rarely complete. If you’re going to be successful in high school, college and your work-life, you will need to present your thoughts and ideas in a clear and understandable way. In other words, you will need to write complete sentences, paragraphs and essays. 

Remember, I did about a million other jobs before becoming a teacher. I know what I’m talking about (technically, I know what I’m writing about - and note, I’m doing it in complete sentences and paragraphs). I wrote sales proposals, advertising copy, memos, reports, letters and emails. I wrote book reviews, newspaper and magazine articles. I produced research findings that made their way into books and TV documentaries. I have spent a lot of time expressing my thoughts and ideas in writing.

The only way to get good at writing is to do it - and do it a lot.

Finally, our science notebooks are organized in a very specific way. We have a table of contents at the front. This lists the major questions we have been looking into and the page number on which that work begins. At the back we are creating an index of all the vocabulary words we have learned. Do you think it is a coincidence that reference books are set up the same way? This is a really good way of organizing your work and, later, finding what you need.  

It is a lot of writing but it is worth it. All that writing is changing your brain. You are embedding that information in there forever - it may not always be a top-of-mind, but you will know that you’ve seen it before and it will be easier to access and remember. 

What Do You Notice?

Here’s a picture of my bedroom from when I was in high school:

What do you notice?

Obviously, there’s a telescope in the middle of the room - acting as a temporary clothes hanger. Clearly, my interest in science dates back a long, long way. 

This was my second telescope and it was much more powerful than my first. I spent many hours exploring the night sky with this instrument. My atlas of the stars is under the pile of clothes on the chair.

But, what else do you notice?

On thing you would not recognize, but I do (and I do miss it a lot) is my moose sweater. It was a maroon and blue sweater that had several images of moose on the front. I wore that sweater a LOT in high school, college and beyond. I finally wore it out and had to get rid of it. But, I’ve never found a more comfortable sweater in my entire life. You can see it on the chair behind the telescope.

You probably noticed the television. That’s a black and white 12” set that has a bent-up clothes hanger as a replacement antenna. I watched countless Red Sox games on that old TV. I would have been amazed to see what passes for television today. 

Did you notice the tennis racquet between the chair and the dresser? I played a lot of tennis in middle and high school. I’m not a born athlete but I did enjoy playing and, among my other non-athletic friends, I was pretty good.

The thing I want you to notice is all the books. I was not a collector of books. I read them. I devoured them. I can distinctly remember walking home from middle school, reading “Reach for the Sky” (which I mentioned in class the other day) as I walked, trying not to veer into the road, but consuming several pages as I made my way home. 

Sometimes, I think I learned more from independent reading than from my classes in school. It may or may not be true, there’s no way to figure it out. I’m not a fast reader, but I’m relentless. I always have a book with me. If I get a spare couple of minutes - that’s two more pages down. 

Reading is fundament to all aspects of a successful life. It’s how you get exposed to new ideas and perspectives different from your own. It’s how you learn new things and broaden your world view. 

You really can’t get everything you need to know by watching two-minute YouTube videos, you have to read. 

Reading will give you a better opportunity for a successful life - in school, at work, in your relationships and as a parent. There's no excuse not to read - it's fundemental.

The Mutiny

Luke* sat in the far right corner of my 8th grade science class. He was a good student and, for the most part, seemed to enjoy science, but he was a power-hungry monster. 

He was one of those people who had a lot of social clout. People liked him, they liked being around him, they listened too and followed him. Luke was never in danger of eating alone at lunch time, his table was always full. If he suggested the kids play soccer instead of football at recess, they played soccer. If he’d suggested they do yoga, the 8th grade would have done yoga at recess. He was popular and had natural leadership ability. 

I only wish he had used that power for good.

As I recall, he was never one to participate in current events until he made a startling realization - an epiphany really.

Through skillful planning he attempted a mutiny in my class. He hatched his devious plot and rallied his troops. 

“Make sure you bring a current event to science this week,” I overheard him say. This struck me as odd coming from a scholar who never seemed to care much about current events. 

He had realized, the more kids who participated in current events, the less time we had to work on our learning targets. It was a brilliant insight.

But, I had him figured out. I too had a loyal following. Several students had come to me privately to tell me what Luke was up too.

I saw him at breakfast on Friday, handing out articles to his classmates. I knew for sure what mischief was afoot. He had put is sinister plan into action, but forewarned is forearmed.

On that fateful Friday, after the kids filed into my room and took their seats, many with science articles in hand, I announced; “Because we have so much to do today, we will do current events on Monday. Please save your articles for then”

His conspiracy totally collapsed. 

The following Monday, we did current events but he could not rally his charges a second time. Being eighth graders, a third of the kids lost the articles, and many of the rest chose not side with this science subversive.

For the next few weeks, every time Luke turned in a paper, I neatly crossed out his name and wrote in Jake Sparrow.

*The names have been changed to protect the innocent (and the guilty as well).

Don’t Panic

As many of you know, SpaceX successfully test-launched their Falcon Heavy rocket this past week. I find it interesting that the largest, most powerful rocket was developed and is owned and operated by a private company and not NASA or the military. Folks, we’ve entered a whole new era of access to Earth orbit and beyond.

Elon Musk, the owner of both Tesla and SpaceX, has demonstrated that it doesn’t have to take a monumentally large and complex government program to get things into space, at this point, all it takes is a person with a dream, some really good engineers, programers, and baristas. And, of course, a very large bank account. 

The fact that he hurled a sports car into orbit around the Sun amply shows his sense of humor and marketing chutzpah but the little things that he included in the car show his love of reading and science fiction in particular.

On the dash-display which usually shows the navigation/entertainment system, are the words “Don’t Panic” an homage to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. 

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is considered by many to be one of the all-time greatest science fiction novels. I read it and for the first half of the book, I thought it was ridiculous and silly, and yet my mind keeps wandering back to it. It’s a very interesting book and well worth your time if you enjoy sci-fi.

Also included in the car is a CD containing the complete three-volume Foundations Trilogy by Isaac Asimov (later added-to so now it’s called Foundations series). Look at any list of the top science fiction books and you’ll also find this masterpiece. It’s three big books, but they’re great and you’ll be sad when they are done.

Tuesday’s launch was a great day for SpaceX, Tesla and advocates of cheaper access to space but it was also a great day for people who read. Two of the most powerful works of science fiction were also launched on an endless journey to Mars and beyond. 

To me it’s a fitting way to honor those writers and their works.

The mice would be pleased.