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. 

The "I Can't Trust Myself" Drawer

 For some students, sometimes the hardest part about completing an assignment is hanging onto the paperwork. 

When I taught math and science at another school, I had a drawer in the corner of my classroom for students to store their work in. It was for work in progress and nothing else. I called it the I Can't Trust Myself" Drawer.

I would say to the kids, “If you don’t think you can trust yourself to hang onto today’s work and have it ready to finish tomorrow, put it in the drawer.” A lot of kids took advantage of this. Mind you, they had a notebook they could have put it in, but for some reason, the drawer resonated with them. 

They loved it and they used it. 

I think it took some pressure off them in terms of managing all the paper they dealt with during the day. 

Now, since I only teach science and every student has a science notebook, I say, “fold your work in half and put it in the pocket of your science notebook.” 

That seems to work - except for the scholars who can’t seem to find their science notebooks on a given day. Where these “lost” notebooks go, I have no idea, since they never leave the classroom and I have very specific places to store them in the classroom. 

Maybe I need a, “I can’t trust myself to hang onto this notebook” drawer?

The Cheat Codes; A Conversation

 

“I can’t ever remember stuff for the test,” my son complained after a particularly poor score on a social studies test in middle school. 

“How many cheat codes do you know in GTA?” I asked, “I’m guessing about 50?”

“But, but….you can’t compare school with video games,” he said with a bit of sneer in his voice.

Continuing, I said, “And you’ve got a bunch of video games.”

“But, but….I know, but that’s not the same thing,” he implored.

“Ahhhhhh, but it is. It shows you can remember things that are important to you. Clearly, social studies is not as important to you as Grand Theft Auto,” I began, “If you can remember all those cheat codes for all those games, you have the ability to learn and retrieve the information.”

Silence…

“I’m not suggesting Social Studies, or Math or English or any class in school is going to be more interesting than using the cheat code to get a tank to roll all over San Andreas causing mayhem, but I am suggesting that you could do better in school.” I finished, “If you really want to. IF you really want to.”

First Quarter Reflection

The first quarter is in the books. I assume you have a pretty good sense of how this school year is going so far. Your parents will get tangible feedback on your work next week in the form of a report card. 

But, you should already know what has gone well and what hasn’t gone so well. If not, take a few minutes to think about it and ask your teachers how you are doing.

Now is a great time to take stock of your work and your work habits and look for ways to improve. Missed too many homework assignments? Reconsider your process for getting work home, getting it done, and getting it back in your teacher’s hands. If you don’t have a process, develop one. Are your quiz grades not what you would like them to be? Examine how you prepare for a quiz. Do you study the night before or 5 minutes before? Develop a pattern of preparation - one that actually helps you get ready for a quiz or test, then do it the same way each time.

If you do things in the same way, again and again, they become habits. 

Habits require less thought - you just kind of automatically do the same things the same way. That’s why I always park in the same place at the mall or pack up my stuff for school each day - no thought, no forgetting, just habit. 

You can literally train your brain to do the right things in the right ways. Of course, you can also train your brain to do the wrong things, and undoing that takes a lot more time and effort. 

So, how’d the first quarter go? What can you do better? What good habits can you reinforce and what bad habits can you retrain yourself out of?

Ahhhhhhh Yes, the Phones

 Most days on my way to school, I pass several groups of kids waiting for the bus. They are scattered across two towns so they don’t all go to the same school, but they all have one thing in common. 

They are all staring at their phones.

They’re not talking to each other or really interacting with each other in any way. They’re staring at their phones. 

These phones we all use are wonderful inventions. They connect us, help keep us safe, guide us, and keep us informed. But, they can also rob us of direct human connections. 

Think about how you use your phone. 

Is it helping you make connections with people you know in the real world…or is it getting in the way?

You Never Know What Someone is Dealing With

Everyone is dealing with something. 

Everyone is going through something….and you may never know. 

It never hurts to be little more patient, a little kinder to people because you don’t really know what’s going on in their lives.

Two examples:

Last Christmas Eve, my mother-in-law had a stroke - a blood vessel broke in her brain and caused extensive damage. She lost the ability to stand and walk. She could not feed herself and had difficulty communicating. As you can imagine, this was very difficult to cope with for my family and I. My students last spring and this fall, right up until she passed away, had no idea what was going on in my head and my heart. I showed up every day, taught my lessons, joked around with my 7th grade “llamas” just like I normally would. None of my students knew, but it was there all the time.

In another school, I had a student who was dealing with some serious anxiety. I didn’t know. He hid it well. One Friday, he seemed a little quieter than usual. I sat down at his table and asked if he was okay. He did not answer for about a full minute, then looked at me and said, “I’m really nervous. My dad’s been in jail and I haven’t seen him in three years. He’s picking me up from school today.” This 8th grader was dealing with some serious stuff and no one knew. 

You never know unless someone chooses to share. 

So it couldn’t hurt to just be a little kinder, a little more patient with everyone, because you just don’t know what they are going through.