The Water Bottles - An Update

 There’s an old saying “One man’s trash is another man's treasure.” Well, I can update that to “One teacher’s recycling is another teacher’s project materials.”

In about an hour, one of my colleagues from a school where I used to teach will arrive to pick up 8 large garbage bags full of (mostly) empty water bottles. I have not counted them, but I estimate there must be three to four hundred bottles in those bags. 

When I sent her the picture of them piled up at my entryway, she texted back “Heavens! How long did it take to collect all those?” 

I replied “In our middle school, this is about a week and a half’s worth of water bottles.”

She was stunned. In her school, each student has his or her own refillable water bottle.

That’s a better way to do things then wasting gallons and gallons of expensive bottled water.  ‘Nuff said.

So, what are they doing with these hundreds of bottles? They will be used for a 7th grade science project. Each student will set up two identical terrariums where they will plant grass seed. One of the terrariums will be the control and they will change one variable in the other bottle and see what happens. 

Since the twin terrariums will be identical controlled environments, they will be able to observe and measure the effect of changing one thing. 

This seems like a great idea for a project and it’s now something I have tucked back into my mind for potential future use. 

The Water Bottles - Ugh

 OMG those water bottles!

They are everywhere; on the floor, on desks, sitting on windowsills, under the tables, and in the lockers - so many water bottles in the lockers. It seems if there is a flat surface, there’s a water bottle on it. 

I am sooooooo tired of cleaning up, mostly full, water bottles in my classroom. I can’t take it any more. 

If there were a professional league for throwing water bottles across a classroom and landing them in the sink, I’d be an MVP. I am the Steph Curry of three-point shots with water bottles. 

Last week, as I tossed the bottles into the sink, I intentionally didn’t empty them or put them in the recycling bins. I just let them pile up. I filled the sink and then some!

I can not imagine how much our little school has spent on cases of water, but I’m sure it’s enough to buy a considerable number of new books.

Nobody wants sluggish, dehydrated students or students who drink so much water they’re in the restroom half the time. But, there has to be some middle ground. 

How about about dumping them out in the sink when you’re done and tossing the empties in a recycling bin?

How about carrying a reusable bottle and filling it up from time to time?

How about taking your water bottles with you?

How about finishing what you take?

Thoughts on Grading

 I think some students are surprised that I don’t grade every single piece of paper they turn in. I think sometimes they are disappointed when they have worked hard on something and I don’t grade it. I think they feel they have wasted their time and energy. 

Not true!

Sometimes the work is practice or review. Some assignments are for me to see how you are doing learning a new topic or set of vocabulary words, etc. I look over the work, get a sense of how people are doing, of who’s “getting it,” who’s having trouble and who’s flaking off instead of working. (There’s a term for these kinds of assignments - formative assessments.)

These insights are addressed in the following lessons. Sometimes I need to review content, sometimes I need to speak one-on-one to someone about their work habits, and sometimes I need to reteach a topic all over again. None of these are a waste of your time and energy, they help us all move forward together. 

The work I grade is usually after you’ve had time to read and digest something, or have had time to practice a new skill, or to close out a section in our curriculum. (These are called summative assessments.)

Learning is a process. When you learn something new - like how to play the ukulele, write new code or identify the roles of certain organisms in an ecosystem, you’re probably not very good at the start. Do you really want me to grade that work? No, you want a chance to practice, to deepen your understanding, and to improve before I start entering grades in my grade book.

If I don’t grade a particular assignment, its not because I am trying to waste your time. It’s just part of the process. 

Choosing Summer School

Six Flags or Lowell High School?

Hampton Beach or ELA & math classes?

Sleeping late or catching the bus to school?

Doing your work now or doing it in a hot, smelly classroom in July?

Attending summer school is a choice. 

Granted, at the end of the year, if you have not done your work, Mr. Holtz will send you to summer school whether you like it or not. But it will have been your choice.

If you are not an active participant in school - not listening, not doing the work, not trying - you are choosing to go to summer school. It is completely in your control.

School is set up to help students get to the next level. We have systems to figure out who’s not understanding and how to best support them. We have people - Mrs. Rake, Mrs Motolla, Mrs. Lord and more - to help and encourage you. We have systems of assessment, reteaching, review and revision to help you reach your potential and level up.

What we don’t have is a way to get people to choose to participate in their own education. We have no way to instill drive and motivation inside your head and heart. You need to do that part. And, even if you don’t really feel it, fake it ’til you make it. In other words, just do your work and learn to enjoy the satisfaction the comes from accomplishment.

We’ve just started the 4th quarter - it’s near the end of the year. This is your last chance to show Mr. Holtz that you CAN and WILL become a full participant in your learning. 

It’s the bottom of the ninth, the two-minute warning, the end of the game when you’ve gotta make your free throws. Now is the time to choose Six Flags, Hampton Beach and sleeping late over going to school and not having a summer vacation. 

It’s really all up to you. 

Choose wisely.

The Code Hidden in Room 22

There is a coded message in my classroom - hidden in plain sight. 

Yup, there has been a code in my classroom since we returned from winter break in January and no one has seen it in the months that it’s been there.

It’s literally right in FRONT OF YOUR FACE!

This is actually the second time I have done this, but the first in this room and the first time in this school. It’s not my original idea. I borrowed it from Tom Yawkey, former owner of the Red Sox and the fabled left field wall - the green monster, if you will. 

That’s as much of a hint as I’m going to give you.

I have actually mentioned the code in class at least twice, just to see what would happen. Each time, I saw a few heads swivel around and scan the room, but no one has found it yet. 

Can you find it and, if you do, can you crack it?

The Worst School Day Ever

1969 was a memorable year for many reasons: a new president was inaugurated (Nixon), humans first walked on the moon, the NY Mets won the World Series (worst to first in one year), and I had to attend school on a Saturday.

Saturday school, ugh. 

Can you imagine?

The combination of snow days, holidays and an, extra (leap) day meant the last day of school would be on a Monday, so the teachers union worked out a deal with the administration to end the year on a Friday instead. The teachers agreed to work one Saturday in the spring of my 4th grade year.  

Obviously, the lunchroom people, custodians, bus drivers, crossing guards, and administrators all had to be on the same page. Not ending on a Monday must have been really, really important to everyone.

On the appointed day, instead of watching cartoons, including the new Batman/Superman Hour, catching frogs, climbing trees, or riding bikes with my friends, we waited for the bus to take us to school.

Once there, they divided the kids into two groups: the “good kids” and the “bad kids.” I suspect it might have been about who was doing their work and who wasn’t, but I’m not really sure. I remember pleading my case to be placed in the “good kids” group but it was to no avail. Apparently, I was a "bad kid."

The “good kids” basically played outside most of the day, except when they went to the cafeteria to watch a movie. My group stayed in one classroom and did work all day long. When we got to go outside it was for a normal recess, not the super-long outdoor time the other kids got. We did not get to watch a movie. 

It wasn’t fair. I could see and hear my friends running around outside while I was doing work. They played kickball, red light/green light, freeze tag, red rover and everything. They were having a blast. For me, it was like torture.

Do I sound bitter?

Yes?  

Yes, I am. After all these years, I’m still a little mad about going to school on a Saturday. It was the worst school day ever. 

The Book Wall

 As you probably know, I enjoy reading. I read all kinds of books, both fiction and non-fiction. Naturally, I read a lot about science, but if you look over the books I’ve posted near the door of room 22, you’ll see a wide range of topics - science, music, memoir, history and historic fiction.

I’ve been on a little bit of a reading roll lately.  The posted books are the ones I’ve read or listened to since Christmas. It helps to read really good books - they go faster and you really, really want to turn to the next page and keep going. Believe me, I’ve slogged through my share of books that were not very good and each page was an accomplishment. 

Even if I find a book is not very good, I’ll often finish it anyway - for two reasons: It may turn out to be worth my time and energy anyway, and, because I don’t like to give up (but I do sometimes).

I think I started reading a lot in middle school. I remember spending a lot of time in the library. I have a really distinct memory of walking home from school reading Reach for the Sky: The Legless Ace of World War 2 by Paul Brickhill. I was so captivated by it, it’s a wonder I didn’t wander into traffic. (It’s also on that very short list of books I have read more than once.)

I promise you can find something to read, or listen to if you hunt a little. There have been about 150,000,000 books published, soooo I’m pretty sure you can find something on literally any topic you might enjoy. 

Pick up a book - it can take you to the other side of the universe, far into the future, back into the past, introduce you to amazing people, and take you to magical places right here and now.