It's Yo-yo Season!

On this day in 1963, the Hula-Hoop, a hip-swiveling toy that became a huge fad across America when it was first marketed by Wham-O in 1958, was patented by the company's co-founder, Arthur "Spud" Melin. An estimated 25 million Hula-Hoops were sold in its first four months of production alone.

I kind of missed the hula-hoop craze but I did have one and I think all my friends did, too. It seemed like there were seasons to the toys we brought to school to play with. 

There was yo-yo season, where it seemed like everyone had a yo-yo and was learning tricks with it. If you didn’t have one, best get yourself down to the five-and-dime and pick one up.

After yo-yos, it was water guns – something that would never be permitted in today’s schools, but times were different then. All of a sudden, everyone had a little squirt gun in their pocket and you were attacked without warning or provocation. Walk around a corner and squirt, squirt, squirt all over your face and shirt.

One year, everyone had love beads. Yes, love beads. We strung them together and wore them around our necks. My Marine-drill-sergeant father saw them around my neck and, without saying a word, made it crystal clear that he did not approve.

Frisbees, Silly Putty, Super Balls, caps, jump ropes, and more all made their annual appearance on the playground.

It’s not like that today, that I can see. Are kids more mature than my generation was? Do these toys not amuse this generation?

Maybe not, with their bent towards electronic amusement, they might find actual toys boring. 

I just think they’re missing out on some fun stuff.

The Most Commanding Day of the Year

Forty-two years ago today, my 8th grade math teacher, Mr. Novak, told the class one of the worst jokes I have ever heard and, sadly, one of the few I can always remember:

“What’s the most commanding day of the year?”

“March forth.”

Getting that joke stuck in your head is a lot like getting some terrible song stuck in there. You hate it but it just keeps playing again and again. I hate the March forth joke but I retell it every year. 

Here are some more simply awful jokes to get stuck in your head.

Why was 10 afraid of seven?

Because seven ate nine.

Why didn't the skeleton go to the party?

Because he had no body to go with.

Why did the teacher wear sunglasses to class?

Because his students were so bright.

Why didn't the shark eat the clown fish?

It tasted funny.

Why did the pregnant lady start yelling couldn't, didn't, isn't?

She was having contractions.

Here’s to you Mr. Novak: Knock, knock...

No Snow Day Today

Ahhhhhhhhh too bad, no snow day today. I know so many of my students and colleagues were hoping, no expecting, a snow day today. I guess you must feel our friend, Danielle Niles, let you down. 

Trust me, you’ll be dying to get out of school in June and you’ll all be happy not to have to stay that extra day.

I hate the cold and the snow. I practically run from the car to the house to avoid it. 

I figure, if I’ve got a day off, I’d like to be able to go outside and enjoy it and that means June not a snowy winter day.

So, I’m happy to have school today.

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?