Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing?

I am a little embarrassed about this. 

I’m a reasonably well educated person. I spent 12 years in the public school system before graduating from high school. I earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from a major university. I am attending graduate school right now and I am a teacher. 

I’m embarrassed to admit, I’ve never read a word of Shakespeare.

I blame the school system I spent most of my years attending. They never required me to read Shakespeare. They assigned very few of what people would consider the best of English literature. I’ve never read a book by Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Mark Twain or William Faulkner.

At some point in my life, I realized that I’d missed out on nearly all of the literary classics, so I started reading them on my own. In other words, no one made me read them. It is an effort that has been well worth my time.

The classics that I have read on my own include: “The Great Gatsby,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald; “The Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger; “Fahrenheit 451,” by Ray Bradbury; “Slaughterhouse-Five,” by Kurt Vonnegut and many, many more. I set a goal of reading at least one classic per year, and often exceed that goal.

It seems to me that there is a collection of literary works that everyone should have read by the time they graduate from high school. If I had been lucky enough to have a teacher like Mrs. Minaker, I would have been exposed to a great deal more of the best that the written word has to offer. 

Starting today, I am reading Shakespeare’s MacBeth. 

Wish me luck...

What is it about 7th graders?

There’s something I’ve noticed about 7th graders that I find funny. It’s not that it doesn’t apply to 6th or 8th graders but it’s more pronounced in the middle grade.

They don’t listen to instructions.

I remember thinking this when I was doing a lot of substitute teaching and I was reminded of it last week when I visited two different 7th grade classes.

No matter how many times a teacher gives instructions, no matter how many ways a teacher provides instructions, someone is going to miss it. 

In both classes I observed, the teachers had the instructions for the day’s work written on the board. Both teachers went over the instructions verbally three times. 

Guess what? 

In both classes, at least five minutes after the rest of the students had started their work,  at least two students in each class asked, “What are we supposed to be doing?”

It’s enough to frustrate a 7th grade teacher to distraction.

My Professional Development Day

Last Friday was a day off from school for the students and a day devoted to professional development for the teachers. In other words, it was a day devoted to making ourselves better teachers.

I was given permission to craft my own professional development day and I chose to sit in on two classrooms in other cities. I chose a 7th grade math class in Lawrence and a 7th grade science class in Haverhill - both public schools.

It was an interesting experience. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a public school and I didn’t realize how accustomed to The Hellenic I had become until I walked into The Arlington School in Lawrence and was greeted by a police officer. I was a little jarred by the scale of the operation. They have nearly 600 students in the middle school and more in the elementary part of the building. 

The classes I observed at The Arlington School were much larger and, out of necessity, much more disciplined. 

The classroom is on the third floor and the windows are frosted to reduce distractions. The students have assigned seats. They are expected to come to class completely prepared to work. 

There were no bathroom breaks, no ready supply of pencils, no trips upstairs to get homework or books. They came in, started working on the problem on the board and worked until the very last moment of the class time. 

There is precious little small talk between students once the teacher begins the class. When they went over problems, there was no shouting out the answers - instead, they raised their hands and said in a normal tone and volume, “I disagree."

Each Friday, the math classes focus on problems the student’s will see on the MCAS tests. They do example problems in the same format that they will find on the test. 

There is a heavy emphasis on the tests and the student's performance on them. The school’s overall performance numbers are painted on the wall near the front door and are posted in the classroom. They are very serious about improving proficiency as measured by the standardized tests.

It’s a very different experience from The Hellenic to be sure and it was well worth my time to see a different teacher and classroom in action. 

It Just Blows My Mind

“A single speck of dust is half way in size between an atom and the Earth.”

This statement has been going around the internet recently and I felt compelled to check it out.

Guess what? It’s true – basically.

To be closer to the truth, you’d have to say “A single speck of dust is half way in size between a subatomic particle and the Earth.”

So as large as Earth appears compared with a speck of dust, the dust is that much larger than a subatomic particle.

That’s pretty amazing. But, let’s pull it apart and take a better good look.

A subatomic particle is smaller than an atom and atoms are pretty darned small.

What subatomic particles are we thinking of?

If we’re thinking of a quark, that’s a particle that the protons and neutrons in the center of an atom are made of, then the statement would more accurately be:

A single speck of dust is half way in size between a quark and the planet Jupiter.

If we’re thinking neutrino, a tiny, tiny particle that results from radioactive decay, cosmic radiation or the fusion reactions inside the Sun, then the statement would more accurately be:

A single speck of dust is half way in size between a neutrino and the diameter of the solar system.

Really.

The next time you see a speck of dust lazily floating in the air….think about how huge it is compared to an atom.

It just blows my mind.

Modeling is a Great Way to Learn

I know its one of those activities that’s kind of gone out of style but an excellent way to learn about things is build models of them.

When I was in middle school, I built tons of models. So many I didn’t have enough room to store them all. The manufacturers, Revell, Monogram, Lindberg etc, produced model kits of aircraft, race cars, rockets and, ships. If vehicles weren’t your thing, they made kits of the human body, movie monsters, insects and animals.

I built planes, cars, rockets, spacecraft and of course, ships. I learned a lot about all these vehicles by learning how they were put together our of small assembled units. I learned what all these little pieces and parts did and how they worked together to create a working vehicle.

It didn’t hurt that I lived next to a Navy base that’s hobby shop had every single model kit known to mankind on it’s shelves - especially ships. I bought a new kit every week.

Since I built a lot (probably all) the ship models available, I leaned a lot about the story of each ship and it’s place in history. How it fit into the historical context of, for example, World War II. 

For example, note the differences in the four battleships in the photo. They are from bottom to top - USS Arizona, USS North Carolina, USS South Dakota, USS Missouri. They represent different eras and the evolution of naval engineering and manufacturing technologies. Building models is a lot more fun than reading about naval architecture, but the end result is about the same.

As an adult I was pleased to learn newer and higher quality model kits were being produced. They were more detailed and accurate. Extra detail parts were available and additional sources for researching paint schemes became accessible with the growth of the internet.

Sadly, it seems kids are no longer interested in building model kits and that’s unfortunate. It’s a great way to learn outside a classroom setting.

Sitting and Waiting

Sometimes I wonder if my students really think I wave them all goodbye at the end of the day, then sit at my desk waiting for them to return in the morning.

Some must realize that I have a life outside the four walls of The Hellenic because they ask.

“Mr. McKellar, what do you do after school?”

Just to set the record straight; I do not sit at my desk from 2:30 p.m. to 7:25 a.m. I leave and do things.

Monday, we have STEM, so I don’t leave until 3:30 or so. Then, I tutor an 8th grade student in Math and Science.

Tuesday, I leave school and go to school. That’s the night my graduate classes are on, so I go from leading the class to being a student in the class.

Wednesday, we have Math Maniacs until 3:15. After that, I do marketing work for a local business. I distribute flyers, put together email lists, set up meetings and promotional events.

Thursday and Friday, I have a part-time job stocking the candy and magazines at some retail stores. 

Saturday, I often have an event to do for Mad Science. Mad Science presents science-based birthday parties, school vacation clinics, after school programs, and summer camps. My job title: Mad Scientist.

Sunday I have a long-standing job cleaning a fitness facility. I’ve been doing this job for 12 years. The facility is the Curves my wife owns and she’s a stern task-master.

So, you see, I don’t just sit and wait. I’ve got a lot of stuff to do, but none of it is as important as what I do between 7:25 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

The Past, The Present, The Future

I had the pleasure of attending the Greek Independence Day reception at City Hall Saturday evening. 

It was quite an event. I learned a lot about Greek history and its strong connection to Lowell. I learned things about my school that I did not know and I got to see the 6th grade perform three Greek dances. 

I think the most important part of the evening for me, was how impressed I was with the strong sense of heritage and community the attendees felt. It was evident in everything they did Saturday night. 

It must be wonderful to share that bond with people, to have such a powerful connection to the past, the present and the future.

I don’t have much of a connection to my own heritage. In fact, I have only the briefest sketch of what that heritage even looks like. 

Saturday night, I had a glimpse of what I’ve missed out on and I’m poorer for not having it.