Don't Let Summer Crush You!

Summertime is here for educators which brings much joy and happiness after a long and challenging school year. For some, it's a time to slow things down, relax, hang with friends, go on vacation, and reflect. Others take up unique jobs and accomplish things they weren't able to during the busy school year. So many options yet how many of us get caught in the "lazy trap?" We tell ourselves that we worked hard all year so we don't have to do anything "too strenuous" this summer. This sounds nice in theory and at the end of the year when we are tired, but summer can crush us as educators if we aren't meticulous about how we choose to grow as people and professionals during the sunny months. 

Now, I am not saying that you don't deserve to sleep in, go on vacations, play with your kids, etc. These are the fruits of our labor throughout the year. My point is that humans weren't meant to be stagnant and sit around for two and a half months. Happiness in our lives does not come from binging Netflix for three days, scrolling through social media non-stop, and floating at the pool for more than a week. It comes from the pain we endure, risks we take, and challenges we accomplish. Weird I know, but when we look back on our lives, it will be things we endured and accomplished that meant the most to us, not the things that require little mental and physical strain.

My challenge to you is this; DON'T GET CRUSHED BY SUMMER! Life is a balancing act. If the pendulum swings too far one way, it is not good for our health. Sit by the pool but read a challenging book. Watch Netflix but take-up a new hobby. Look at social media once a day but write during the times you would normally browse. Sleep in a little but meditate when your up. Go on vacation but stay-up with current best practices in your content area. Hang out with friends but always look for ways to build new relationships. Go shopping but learn a new skill.

So, when you look back on summer in September, hopefully, you have more to talk about when asked the question, "How was your summer?" other than "it was good, yours?" Always challenge the status quo and never stop innovating and growing.

3 Years In: Truths About Teaching

I am in the midst of completing my third full year of teaching. Each year has been completely different. Year one was about surviving, year two was about creating and innovating, and year three has been about trying to improve myself as a professional and make what I have created even better. As I take time to reflect on this year and education as a whole, I feel I have come to some truths about this profession. Feel free to weigh in and discuss.

1. If you don't have a true love for kids, you aren't going to make it in teaching very long. You need to be patient, kind, and understand them. Instead of saying "this generation is lost in technology," we need to meet them where they are. Unfortunately the clock doesn't go backwards, only forwards. Love them for who they are and be where they are. When kids know you care, they are more likely to want to learn from you. We must embrace technology and "teach" them how to use it responsibly.

2. State testing is destroying the creativity and innovation of our teachers and students. To be honest with you, if my field of expertise was in a testing subject, I might not be teaching K-12. I feel those who teach tested subjects. They feel "handcuffed" in their teaching practices because of the stress state testing causes on their evaluations. Instead of doing engaging and creative lessons, they are stuck doing test prep all year. Where is the "joy" in that? The kids know it as well and can't stand it. Quit preaching that we as teachers differentiate our instruction when you standardize test our students. The solution: Instead of standardize testing students to pass an exam, why not give them "choices" on how they demonstrate their learning. There are "eight" multiple intelligences Howard Gardner stated we as humans possess. Some of us have and can utilize more than others and all can be taught/developed. Standardizes testing only allows students to show two of them. To be continued in another post...

3. You have to bring it everyday and choose to have a positive attitude. Unlike some jobs, you can't hide behind a desk if you aren't feeling well. You have to be ON 24/7. You are an artist, entertainer, counselor, motivator, and disciplinarian all in one. There is nothing that can prepare you for that unless you do it. Also, each year you will develop thicker skin and learn what works best for you and your students. My first year, I was awful at disciplining students and having those hard conversations. After year three, I feel I have seen and dealt with many interesting situations. Wisdom can only be gained by experience.

4. Most teachers that I talk to LOVE teaching. Teaching is the easy part. What many don't realize is all the "extra" stuff they have to do along with grading, making phone calls, lesson planning, etc. The number one thing that teachers whom I have talked with beats them up is all the other things that need to be done. SLO's, testing meetings, eight hour long evaluations, committees, etc. We do it because we love our jobs but it takes away in many cases from us being better teachers for our students.

5. If you want to become a better teacher, you need to push yourself to do so every year. After three years in, I can see how it can become easy to get "stagnant" and do the same things every year. Many "scoff" at teachers who get summers off. Teachers NEED off in the summer for a few reasons. One, at the end of each year, our "energy" and "creative juice" are at a low. The battery needs to recharge to deliver 180 days of enthusiasm, encouragement, and guidance. Two, we need time to brainstorm how to we can make those lessons better for next year. The great ones use that time to push themselves to be better than they were last year. Lastly, the students need a break as well from everything that is thrown at them. When they come back in August, they are excited and you as a teacher are pumped to get fresh faces and brains.

6. Overall, this is one of the most rewarding professions in the world. We as teachers do this job not to become millionaires. We do it because we want to change lives and empower our students to become better people. It can be easy to get "caught-up" in all the other things at school, but it is important to remember that we as teachers are the molders of the future. We are the ones who can change the world with one spark lit under a kid for an eternity of time. Congratulations to all the teachers who made it through another year. Rest up this summer; get back those creative juices, because your students need you to be better than you were this year!

-RD

How I Turned Flappy Bird Into A Leadership Challenge & Lesson

The craze this week at school has revolved around a new app/game called Flappy Bird. The concept is simple. You touch the screen to make the bird go up and fly. If you don't keep tapping it, he will fall to the ground and crash. Your goal is to get him through two green pipes without hitting them. Everytime he gets through a pipe, you get a point. If he hits a pipe, he dies. The game has no end. The goal, get through as many pipes as possible and beat your high score. 

Students have been competing against each other during breaks, study halls, etc. It is highly addicting and a lot of fun for such a simple game. As an advocate of gamification in education, I asked myself how I could use Flappy Bird in my class? I came up with HUMAN Flappy Bird!

Before the students arrived Friday, I arranged the tables in my room in a different order for each row so it would replicate the green pipes the bird has to go through. As students entered, I had on the board that our warm-up today was "Human Flappy Bird." Students were very confused, yet intrigued at the same time. As class started, I informed the students that after playing Flappy Bird, I have discovered at least 3 things playing the game can teach us about being successful in life and that we were going to play Human Flappy Bird!

I asked for two volunteers and made everyone push their chairs in and move to the side of the room. The challenge was for one person to be blindfolded and flap their arms like a bird while their partner tried to guide them through the tables without hitting anything. All they could use was their voice. Throughout the entire day, the high score for the fastest group to make it all the way through was 42 seconds. Some teams did great because they communicated what they wanted their partner to do very well. Others crashed and burned becuase they didn't communicate what they wanted specifically and in detail.

After a few teams went, I asked the class what can Flappy Bird teach us about being successful in life? How can this simple game have meaning? Below are three of the best ones they came up with:

•  It teaches us about patience and focus. In order to get a higher score and do well, you need to be patient and focused. Just like in life, pateince and focus are important leadership traits.
• It teaches us that when we fall down, we need to get back up and try again until we succeed.
• It teaches us how to be relentless. Don't be satisfied with having a score of 20 when you can achieve a score of 25. Never settle until your good is better and your better is best!

When it comes to teaching, we always need to keep it fresh with kids and think about what will get them excited to learn. Through doing this activity as a warm-up, the students were
excited for the rest of the class and brought a lot of energy to
their ideas and participation.

Monthly Technology Meetups: How I Did It & Why They Matter

There are several things very true about education and technology. One, many teachers have a hard time during the year staying on-top of the latest technology trends as they get buried in planning, grading, coaching, etc. Two, administrators don't get a lot of professional development time with teachers so sharing new technology software and techniques sometimes takes a back-burner. Lastly, students using technology in school to learn is the future of our schools and if our teachers are not trained on how to use/impliment it properly, I believe we our failing our students.

This year at my school district (Northern Lebanon), I created a monthly TCOT (Teacher Collaboration On Technology) meetup with the help of the district's technology department. The goal of the monthly meetup is to bring teachers together from around the district to:

1. Create awaress of technology sites/software that can be used effectively in the classroom.
2. Share and discuss ways we can better use technology in the classroom. 
3. Collaborate and learn from each other. 

The group started out small but as the year has went on, it has continued to get more popular. I have had a blast sharing ideas and collaborating with other teachers!

Each meeting, I start by sharing 3-5 technology websites/software that I think teachers can use in the classroom. Examples:

• Evernote
• Remind 101
• Quizlet
• Weebly
• Edmodo 

Next, I pick an education website of the month that teachers can visit to learn more information on their own. Examples:

• Mashable
• Edudemic
• Edutopia

Probably my favorite part of the meetings is I get to teach the teachers how to use a new software. In our early meetings we looked at how to use Twitter to build a PLN, use Edmodo as safe social media alternative, and this month I will be teaching how to use Remind 101: A software that allows you to safely text and remind your students.

Lastly, we spend several minutes sharing and discussing things that are working in the classroom and things we can improve. Overall the meetings last around 45 minutes.

I have provided a link on Google Drive to an example of my PowerPoint I use for the meetings. For those that can't make it, I send the PowerPoint out to all teachers for them to browse through when they get time.

Do you or your school district do something similar? Are you interested in starting something like this at your school? Let me know! There are just to many free and awesome resources for teachers not to be aware of. Any input, comments, and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-RD