Teach Empathy Through Books

As the weather warms the students become restless and emotions run high at our school.  They fight each other... a lot.  Today we had three fairly violent altercations before the bell rung for the first class.  Fights are, unfortunately, a part of an educational setting.

Though Spring-time fights are often fueled by relationship issues and amplified by cabin fever, many of the conflicts arise from simple misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

Communicating through electronics, I feel, has robbed children of an important set of skills: theory of mind. In other words, kids, because they rarely interact face-to-face, don't understand how to interpret the actions of others.  They fail to understand how others think and feel.

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Lacking the tools necessary to make social interpretations, the actions of others are often misinterpreted and misunderstood leading to an unnecessary conflict.  Being adolescents, their  emotion trumps cognition and consequence prediction which leads to physical conflicts.

How do we teach kids to think about what others are thinking and feeling?  How do we teach empathy- the skill of viewing a situation from another point of view to understand feelings?

Regaining Control Of A Rowdy Classroom: The Broken Window Theory Of Classroom Managment

The decline of crime in the 1990s throughout New York City is attributed to a variety of exogenous causes.  The most feasible theory is described by James Wilson and George Kelling and thoughtfully articulated by Steven Pinker in The Better Angels of Our Nature.  You can also find discussions in Freakonomics and The Tipping Point.

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In short, NYC saw a drastic decrease in crime because they prevented windows from breaking and immediately fixed them when necessary.

I’m kidding of course, but fixing broken windows is symbolic of the major ideas discussed in Wilson and Kelling’s article called Broken Windows.  Fixing and controlling small and seemingly insignificant issues- petty crimes- has a trickle up effect.  Policing and enforcing littering, loitering, and graffiti crimes will eventually decrease crime overall.  Though painfully oversimplified for this discussion, there are many facets in this idea which have implications for managing your classroom.

Teach Like Lincoln

Prior to the presidential election of 1860 and the history altering affairs that soon followed, Abe Lincoln was a political failure.  He wasn't even a consideration for the Republican nomination.  Sure he was a great guy from humble beginnings with a decent law practice.  But an individual with the potential to run the country amist the most turbulant time in the nations history? Nah!!!!!

He was dismissed and people focused their attention on other political upcomers- Edward Bates, Salmon Chase, and  William Seward.

Until they heard Lincoln speak.

Captivating, intelligent, enthusiastic, and empathetic, Abe would mesmorize his audiences.

Further, he would TEACH them.  Though there are numerous theories surrounding the 1860 Republican nomination and the subsequent presidential election, I believe Abe was successful because he was a good TEACHER.

In other words, he won the trust of the people because he taught them his ideas.  He did so in three ways:

Parent Communication Made EASY

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At a recent brainstorming session with new educators, a list was developed highlighting the most pressing and nerve-racking obstacles that a new teacher faces.  The list contains a few unique and humorous answers:

- dealing with the aches and pains resulting from standing all day
-talking to friends and family as if they were a student

and my favorite:  remembering to eat and use the bathroom

These are all legitimate concerns, but our time is better spent helping new teachers with methodological and pedagogical issues.

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Also on the list was time management, over preparation, and classroom management.  It took some time before the elephant in the room was finally identified:

"Well," a participant timidly squeaked, "I'm afraid of parents, like calling them and talking to them."

A unanimous "Ohhhhh yeah me too!" resounded from the group.

As a development project, we decided that was our area of focus- the dreaded parent contact.

As a group they developed a protocol for addressing parents, which I will not share with you.  What I will share with you, that I did not share with them (YET!) is an easy way to not only get parents on your side, but communicate with them weekly and encourage positive interactions.

This works for all parents, even the most ornery ones:)

It only takes five minutes a week and virtually alleviates the stress caused by parent contact.

Its called the  (Put your content here) Update Email.  For example: Earth Science Update Email.

This article discusses the strengths and benefits of a weekly parent email in a list of observations.

How To Get Through The Mid-Year Grind

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The honeymoon is over.  Six weeks into the school year and the novelty of "being back in school" has worn off.  The grind is on.

The Late Fall and Winter school season is the make it or break it point.  Most teachers (and students) settle into self-sustainment and mediocrity.  They weather the storm that is November through March by looking forward to the promised breaks.

This mood doesn't need articulation, you can observe it in the body language of those that surround you.  They come to work a little later, leave a little earlier.  They flip through a phone rather than complete their daily reflection.  Dress down Friday becomes dress down Wednesday-Friday and as dress down Friday becomes wear sweat pants to school day.

As appalling as it sounds, this is the mid-year grind, and it is all to easy to fall into this vacuous trap.  We can all picture teachers that embody this idea.

This is no way to teach.  I'm terrified that as I age and become more a veteran teacher, I'll slip into just "putting up with it."  I'm so scared in fact, that I consciously make a decision to re-motivate myself at the start of November each year; a fantastic piece of advice from my fantastic mentor.

Last year, I read a series of autobiographies describing people with an unquenchable work ethic (John D. Rockefeller and Steve Jobs).  It worked and I powered through Winter and blossomed into Spring unscathed and teaching with a purpose.

This year, my motivation came a bit earlier, but none the less I am embracing it.  A small passage from my favorite book caught my attention and immediately refueled my tanks.  The purpose of this article is to do two things.  First, convince you that NOW is the time to rev your engine (as I hopefully did above) and second, to share my motivational passage.

Advice To Leaders On Who To Hire And To Teachers On How To Get Hired

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In our quest to find educators with the "get it" factor, we find ourselves at the start of the process: hiring a potential rockstar.  Today's discussion deals less with what the applicant offers, and more with your mindset, as a leader, sitting across the table from them.

We aso discuss the characteristics of how to "get it" if you are a new or beginning teacher.  This article will show you how to feel confident sitting across the table from the suits.

When Best Practices Become Too Much Of A Good Thing

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Much of my inspiration is drawn from conversations held with other educators.  It seems that talking with other teachers, along with writing, helps me organize my many thoughts concerning education.

This discussion starts as many others: a quote from a meeting during a conference dedicated to sharing unique classroom best practices.

(I shared how writing proves to be not only therapeutic, but also as a development tool to improve professionally)

My colleague began:

"So there is this book by Daniel Pink, its called Drive.  In it he describes the necessary factors to encourage and promote productivity.  One of the factors is autonomy.  When given freedom, employees and subordinates are more productive.  Just look at GOOGLE!" 

(Drive is a resource worth your time)

He continued:

"So I've reflected on how this autonomy idea can be incorporated into my classroom, and from the start of school, I've given more freedom to my students.  I give them a list of activities for each topic and they choose which activities to do and when to do them.  I let them choose their cooperative groups and their homework.  I even let them choose when their work is due."

"Really, wow.  That seems exciting.  I'm assuming it is going well if you're sharing it?"  my supervisor probed. 

"Well, no.  My classroom is an absolute train-wreck" the educator replied in a somber voice.

"It seems that too much of a good thing can be bad..."

This article is about finding the balance between using a best practice and using it too much.