Spirit Week ‘18

In case you were not aware, this coming week is Spirit Week and extra-special good news - it’s going to be cool this week so no hot-house classes to drip through.

Here’s the rundown on the week’s fabulous activities:

Monday - Rainbow Day

Dress as colorfully as possible. No blacks, whites or khaki. We want color! The school should look like a whirlpool of wild and vibrant colors.

Tuesday - Sports Team Day

Wear your Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, Celtics, UMass Lowell, or other sports team gear. I believe you can wear sports team hats for at least part of the day.  Of course it has to be school appropriate - no camouflage, and, most important of all - NO YANKEE GEAR. Okay, that’s just my own guideline. But, seriously, don’t wear Yankee gear in my classroom or be prepared to face the consequences.  

Wednesday - Meme / Superhero Day

Hump day is the day to let your personality shine. Dress up like your favorite meme, make yourself a meme for the day or, dress like your favorite superhero. One caveat - No wearing your undies on the outside of your tights. I know Superman does it, but hey, he’s

Superman.

Thursday - Dress Up Day

Put on your finest outfit and be ready for the sly, admiring glances from all your super-impressed friends. Just don’t be that guy who wears the t-shirt printed up like a tuxedo.  

Friday -  Dragon Day

Wear your Bartlett gear! This school should be flooded in Bartlett Blue!!!  

New Beginnings

I’ve been thinking about our eighth graders a lot this week. They’re almost done at the Bartlett and in a few months they’ll be heading off to high school. 

High school is one of the most important experiences you will go through. You will change your ideas about a lot of things, you will begin to see things on a larger scale, you will meet new people and probably know those people for the rest of your life. 

A quote from Charles Dickens is approbate to describe the period you are entering:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

High school is a chance to explore and learn who you are and become who you want to be. 

It is a chance to start over - to find friends who will genuinely support and care for you. It is a chance to find your group or groups and fit in. 

High school is such a big experience - so many people, so many challenges, so many directions to go in - it can seem overwhelming -  but it’s not. You will rise to the occasion. You will find friends, you will move on from old relationships, you will move between groups and find the people who will help you become the best version of you that you can be - and you will help your friends do the same. 

It will all work out in the end. There will be scary days, disappointing days and days you wish would just end, but there will also be days of passion and glory and achievement, days you will remember for the rest of your life. 

High school is a big step, but you’re ready (even if you, maybe, don’t really feel ready). 

In a few weeks you will leave the warm and comfortable environs of The Bartlett. Your elementary and middle school experience is done and now it’s time for the next step. 

Take a deep breath and keep moving forward. You’re ready.

Confession Time

I have a confession to make. 

It’s not something I’m especially proud of, but I have to get it off my chest.

At this point, it’s become kind of a habit. 

People are depending on me and I don’t want to let them down.

I take pens. 

Yes, I take pens to use in my classroom. Not for me, for the students. 

The school-supplied pens are terrible, they’re as likely to tear the paper as they are to leave any writing on it, so I’m always on the hunt for free pens.

You know how certain businesses have pens available for their customers? Promotional pens - it's about the lowest form of advertising. Yes, those. I take those pens. 

I have identified a number of businesses in my town that make pens available as a courtesy and I regularly take a couple every time I go there. I have actually chosen which businesses and offices to use, based on their supply of free pens.

Banks, insurance agents, my dog’s vet and more. Businesses all over town.

Last summer, on vacation, we stayed in several hotels and I scooped up about twenty-five pens along the way. I bought two new cars last summer - yup, I every time I saw a pen at the dealerships, I picked it up. When we went to the Invitation 2 Innovation event at the Tsongas Center, I saw a table with free pens - I took as many as I could get my hands on. 

If you’re borrowing a pen in my room it might have almost anything written on it.

It’s just one of those things you do as a teacher - take pens for your students to use. 

Shoes You Can't Wear Outside

A couple of weeks ago, I took the 7th grade outside for an activity about speed and acceleration. The activity involved walking/running around measured tracks in a specific length of time. 

Since it was a nice spring morning, it was not surprising there was dew on the grass. 

As I prepped my budding scientists about the activity, I noticed one student holding his shoes. My gaze traveled down and stopped at his stockinged feet in the wet grass. 

Interesting.

“Why are you holding your sneakers?” I asked with a smirk on my face.

“I don’t want them to get ruined,” he deadpanned back to me. 

Now I was off track (something I frequently warn my scholars about), but I plunged in with both feet. 

“You have shoes you can’t wear outside?” I asked with an incredulous tone in my voice.

“They’ll get ruined,” he repeated.

“So, you have shoes you <pause> can’t <pause> wear <pause> outside? You have shoes you can’t wear outside, do I have that right?” I inquired.

“They were expensive and if they get wet, they’ll get ruined,” he insisted.

“You know your socks are all wet, right? What happens when we go back inside and you put your wet socks inside your shoes?” I asked.

He silently stared back at me with a confused look on his face.

The Power of Curiosity

“I wonder…”

“What if…”

“What would happen…”

“Why?”

These are the questions of a curious mind and that’s one of the most powerful attributes of a successful student. Going beyond the facts and wondering about how and why and when and who is the hallmark of someone who will do great things. 

Questioning is critically important to understanding. It’s easy to memorize and recall, but to understand at more than a superficial level, requires questioning.

I think some people are naturally more curious about some things than others, but you can use that innate curiosity to bring even topics you find dull and boring to life. 

For example, I do not enjoy teaching about cell structure. I find it boring. It’s all about memorization. It always seems to come down to simple, superficial tasks: Learn these cell parts, be prepared to describe their function (The Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell) and label the diagram you have memorized. 

Big yaaaawwwwwn.

But, I am fascinated by the evolution in cell theory based on advancements in technology and understanding. That’s the hook I use to force myself to spend time on the boring parts. 

If you’re not interested in a topic that needs to be covered, find where you can use your built-in in curiosity to bring it to life…or at least to muddle through it. 

I once worked with a guy who had dropped out of high school because of a family situation. I think he felt there were amazing things all around him and he did not have the education to appreciate or understand them. He set up a rule for himself: If he had to look something up online (and wikipedia was his go-to reference), he would require himself to look up five more things related to what he found in his initial search. He was using his curiosity to educate himself.

As you move on in school, keep thinking about the who, what, when, where and why.

Keep wondering. 

Keep asking.

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?"