#lastbell

The countdown is on. In just two shorts days, we flip the calendar to May. This obligatory “light at the end of the tunnel” is coming into view. Soon, sleeping late will commence. Vacation plans will come together. Toes will be in the sand. Unread books will finally be turned. Late night tv watching will happen. A second (and warm) cup of coffee will be consumed before you even dress.  No more dreams of forgetting to turn in your attendance or showing up late to an IEP meeting. Your “to be graded” pile will be empty for weeks.

Last week, Rosebro2 had “Blue Gold Dawn”. For those of you who don’t know what this is, it is sort of the beginning of spring football. The football team goes in at dawn (although when I dropped off Rosebro2, I didn’t see any sun rising at 5:30am). They went through a week of what I could only attribute as team building exercises. Rosebro2 was challenged physically and mentally, but enjoyed getting to know his teammates in a different way. As I was dropping him off one morning, I started thinking about this mentality. School is almost over. Yet, during this week these coaches were building up the excitement leading up to spring football. In a time when we think of winding down, they did extra to build excitement, enthusiasm, and commitment of their players. As I pulled out of the parking lot on Friday morning when dropping him off, I saw one coach plowing into the parking lot-I assumed he was late (maybe not, but that was my assumption). It got me thinking about how difficult it must be for those coaches to get up early-really early, rearrange their morning routines, and probably their own children and families suffered a little with this routine change. They had spent time prior to the week planning the week’s details that included different challenges, team work, and even breakfast. But they did it. They did it for the kids. This was so inspiring to me as an educator.

 I challenge every educator who reads this to throw that “summer countdown” to the wind. For just a moment let us stop and reevaluate our influence and relationships with students. I challenge every educator who reads this to celebrate the time we have left with our students. Let us teach them until the last bell on Friday, May 31^st at 11:30am. Effective teachers realize that the last weeks of school can have a huge impact on students. Do not waste the last few weeks of school on fluff and babysitting experiences. Our students will have fluff and babysitting (and don’t even get me started on movie watching) during the summer. It is not only boring to students; I dare say it is unethical.

Yes, the last few weeks are filled with testing, end of the year programs, field days, and collections. But it should also be about challenging experiences, engaging learners, taking chances, and creating WOW moments. Yes, this may take some time planning. It may take some adjusting your plans. It may take some extra efforts. BUT OUR KIDS DESERVE IT. Be intentional.

In the next month, I will be posting pictures of #MayMatters and #lastbell on my twitter feed. I hope you’ll do the same.

Breathe in and Breathe out

Recently I was suffering terribly with seasonal allergies. I just couldn’t shake the running nose, the terrible cough, and the constant sneezing. I was run down.  Then I started running a fever. I decided that I had better go to the doctor to make sure that my seasonal allergies were not something worse. The doctor didn’t seem to have any reason to be alarmed- haven seen about every patient that day for the same thing- but he didn’t like the way my lungs sounded and he ordered an X-ray. He wanted to make sure that I didn’t have walking pneumonia or even worse. I am not one to wait well. I have little patience for sitting around but as I did I was admiring the beautiful scenery while looking out the waiting room windows.  The very pollen, oak, and other flying debris in the air was just beautiful. How ironic I thought.

After my Xray I waited in another room.  This room was the consultation room. I waited for the doctor to come in, read my Xray, and send me on my way. This room was dark with no windows or magazines.  I was bored and tired of waiting. Finally, the doctor came in and put up my Xray on the box screen. What my Xray showed was minor- basically an upper respiratory infection. He gave me some prescriptions and sent me on my way. The one thing that I noticed while looking at the Xray was how similar my Xray looked to the scene of the beautiful trees I had been looking at earlier.

As I drove home I started thinking about the trees and my lungs. I was a little overwhelmed at the once again realization of God’s masterful plan. We breathe in what the trees breathe out and they breathe in what we breathe out. And ironically they are so similar. It got me thinking about our work here in schools. When we surround ourselves with those who are positive minded and love their work, we breathe that in. In my first year teaching, I had a difficult position. I had been hired mid-year to ease the special education numbers. The teacher I had been hired to work along with was grumpy and honestly down right mean sometimes to students. She also gave me every one of her resource students who had behavior issues. I needed her because I needed to learn the special education paper work procedures and I needed information about the students. But I found myself so down after I was done talking with her. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to keep doing this work that I had wanted to do since I was 5 years old. Then I met a 4^th grade teacher. Her energy was amazing. She was funny. She was positive. She loved her students-even the ones that it was difficult to love. She quickly became my unofficial mentor. 

I loved being around her because breathing in what she was putting out gave me energy. She gave me ideas. She gave me advice. She gave me confidence. Sooner rather than later, I found that I would collaborate with her and I was able to bring ideas to the table. One day towards the end of the school year, she pulled me into her classroom and gave me a huge hug. She said that I had helped her through a hard year and had given her her “mojo” back. I was so confused? She had saved me. She made me love what I was doing. She helped me with difficult behaved kids. She listened when I was frustrated. She built me up when a parent or an administrator or that other teacher had knocked me down. How did I help her? I realized that we helped each other.

We are just like the trees and the lung. We breathe in what the trees breathe out and they breathe in what we breathe out. This job is too difficult to surround yourself with complainers, naysayers, or whiners. This job is too difficult to listen to folks complain without thinking of solutions. This job is too difficult not to surround yourself with folks who love what they do and want to continually get better. This job is too difficult and too important to breathe in and breathe out negativity, anger, and frustrations. Surround yourself with those who will breathe in and breathe out the positive energy you need to finish strong.

I'll admit I may be closed minded on this subject

Rosebro2 has his driver’s permit. Just pause for a moment and say a prayer for me and all drivers and pedestrians in Spartanburg County.  Saturday the Rose party of 3 went “trying out” cars. It is time that I retire the Honda Pilot after 11 great years and 200,000+ miles. But before I purchase my next car, I need the Rosebros to sit in my top 3 choices for replacements. My growing boys need room- room for their legs and room away from each other. On our little trek Saturday, I allowed Rosebro2 to drive. It was so very interesting how Rosebro1 reacted. He has been driving all of 18 months and he acted as if he possessed the best driving skills and he reacted to each one of his brother’s mistakes as if they were life threatening. I mean, really, at one point he got out of the car and kissed the ground. They continued on Sunday morning to/from church as well.

I had finally had enough of big brother demeaning “little brother” and asked Rosebro1 to tone down his criticism. Jokingly, or not, he looked at me and asked “would you rather he learn from me or would you rather he learn from an insurance bill?”  He had a point. He has had a wreck and has to pay me the difference in his before wreck and post wreck insurance premiums.  Somewhere between Wade’s and home, I watched and listened to my boys. While Rosebro1 isn’t always as nice as I wish, I saw real teaching. I saw a partnership. I saw one listening and one instructing. I saw learning.

It got me thinking about something that I’ve typed a million times but deleted. I have thought about and thought about and I know it will be an unpopular opinion. Watching my boys in the front seat of the car while I was in the back (and honestly I couldn’t remember a time I’ve been in the back seat), I realized my “why” again in teaching. I teach because I love watching students learn something new. I love taking a skill and making it come alive for a student. I love watching their faces as they figure out how to do something. I love making history come alive. I love watching science become real. I love showing students how to grow as writers. I love the discussion of literature. I love watching confidence grow. I love being a part of the energy of learning.

This is where I feel strongly that what I don’t love is teacher pay teacher. Now, please understand I don’t slight anyone who has purchased or who sells anything on teacher pay teacher. I don’t really. My issue with teacher pay teacher is the big idea not individuals who have purchased or sold here and there.  I generally lack creativity and “cuteness” so the draw to TPT is one that I, at first, enjoyed. Then I realized that what I don’t like is the idea of paying others for worksheets. First off, I believe, strongly-really strongly that our most valuable resource that we have in education is, well, each other. Worksheets from the internet isn’t that. And if worries me that we “share” a resource such as that without having those strong pedagogical discussions with each other.  I then think about the fact that Sir Ken Robinson, my favorite Ted Talk guru, stated that “education thrives on partnership and collaboration.” In some ways you can think of TPT as a collaboration, but I don’t see it as one. I see it driving us away from collaboration. The final reason I don’t love TPT is that a lot of what I see on TPT is work. It isn’t teaching. It is work for students, but I don’t see the heart of teaching, the art of teaching.

 Perhaps I am missing the point or maybe I am a little closed minded on this subject-and I would more than willing to listen to other viewpoints. But as I watched Rosebro 1 teach Rosebro2 how to drive, my first thought was “thank God he isn’t learning this from a worksheet.”  He has a teacher, albeit a critical one, but he has a teacher who has motivation to help him grow and get it right. Rosebro2’s teacher is watching him, watching over him. He is guiding his every move until the day comes when he can do it on his own. That, folks, we can’t buy on teacher pay teacher.

Is it your symbol?

This was a different kind of spring break for the Rose family. There was no Disney World. There was no cabin in Gatlinburg. There was no spring cleaning or planting in the yard. IT was a strange spring break because it was, obviously, our first one without the member of the Rose family who loved spring break the most. And it was also strange because it was our first family trip with just the three of us. But what made it most strange was our purpose this spring break. The purpose this spring break was to tour colleges so that Rosebro1 could enter his senior year next year knowing which college he wants to attend. We visited many schools and we even stayed at the beach for a couple of days. We missed our 4^th party member but we did our best to share funny memories and tried to be as normal as possible. For those who have been there, you’ll understand, but there isn’t anything normal about looking at places your (what seems like yesterday) baby will be moving for years. And the feeling of knowing he probably will never live at home again for any length of time is strangest of all.

Almost every trip with the Rose family has included some sports event. This trip was no different. When we arrived at the beach on Sunday evening, we found a place to watch some March madness.  We had a great time with lots of laughter and even a friendly brawl with another family cheering for Michigan State as we pulled for Duke. It was fun and it was a great game. After visiting USC, my son, who had been raised by the daughter of a Clemson football player, decided that he loves USC. So in an effort to change his mind, we went to Clemson for an annual family tradition. We met my sister and her family for the orange-white game. I wasn’t particularly into the game all that much. I was talking with some friends and my sister and I was interested in the friends my boys went to hang out with and to be completely honest it was more fun watching some of the players who are seniors and no longer playing in the game. But even though this wasn’t a real game, these players reminded me of a really good lesson.

When the 4^th quarter started, even in a spring scrimmage, all the players put up 4 fingers. This is the universal signal that the 4^th quarter is about to start. Games are won-and sadly lost- in the 4^th quarter. Not that the other quarters don’t matter. They do. They get you to the 4^th quarter. They keep you in the game. They give the chance you need to be successful in the 4^th quarter. The 4^th quarter matters.

As I saw these players all holding up the symbol to give it all you got and leave everything you have on the field in the 4^th quarter, I thought about starting our final quarter here at school. The final quarter is hard. There is so much that must be done in 40 days of school. We have all the end of the year testing, field day, end of the year programs, class rosters, classroom breakdowns, end of the year paperwork and countless other tasks to complete. Yet, the success-and in so many ways the failure- of our school year comes down to how we finish. So I beg of you to hold up those 4 fingers and leave everything on the “field” in this last quarter. Finish strong. Give our kids every chance-every chance they deserve-to be successful.