The CORE isn't the root of the homework problem

My wife is an amazing photographer. She just is. When she started her business, MachC Photography, 7 years ago, she spent a lot of her time researching and building a PLN (Professional Learning Network) to help inspire her to have the business she has today. And through all of the networking she created a community of people that are more than a network, they are almost a family. A family of people that share amazing images of their own lives with each other. Great images that she often shares with me.

A couple days ago, my wife called me over to check out an image in her feed. It was an image taken by one of her photographer family that was tough to see. In it was a little girl, kindergarten aged, standing in her pajamas behind a kitchen table. She was crying, sobbing really, holding a pencil over a piece of paper. The tag under the image read, "I hate Common Core." The comments underneath mostly talked about the amount of homework early elementary students were getting with the blame falling directly on the new Common Core learning standards that many of the states are adopting.

As a dad, I completely connected to the image, because it related to the experience my wife and I had when our oldest went to kindergarten at a district school. A 5 year old shouldn't be sobbing over homework. A 5 year old should be building an enjoyment of learning. A 5 year old should be given the freedom to explore and learn in a stress-free way.

Now, the problem here is not the Common Core. Not at all. Nothing written in those standards requires teachers to hand out homework starting at age 5. Yes, these standards are rigorous. Yes, these standards are intended to create a population of 18 year olds that are college ready at the level college professors would prefer to see. Yes, these standards are inquiry based which will require many teachers to change current teaching strategies. But no where do these standards force the delivery of content through mass amounts of homework.

The timing of these standards couldn't be worse for many districts that are now implementing teacher evaluations that are partly based on student test scores. This fact has brought stress on teachers and administrators, and in turn has created a panic that established this sense that students NEED to be doing more work at home. So, the truth is that kindergarten homework has more to do with teachers and administrators not having the confidence in themselves to create a learning environment that meets the rigor of these standards and their related state tests head on in the classroom.

What I appreciate most about common core, and have in turn already embraced in my classroom, is the inquiry based structure of learning. Basically, students are to be working to solve real-world based problems to establish a solution that they then can explain or communicate back in the form of a presentation or written response. They are doing math in a real world way. Not a worksheet way, but a way that allows them to create a path of their own with guidance from me, the teacher.

I have been explaining to the parents of the kids in my classroom, that I'm having to re-teach the kids how to learn. I'm taking away the 30 to 40 minute lecture/lesson with 10 to 15 question homework assignment, and replacing it with group work on a single dynamic real-world problem that is the lesson, and the assignment all wrapped into one. The result of this change is that my students are working at a higher level than any 7th grade year I've taught. They are applying an understanding of math concepts that is sticking better than before, and it's amazing to watch. And on top of it, I'm owning the responsibility of my students' learning, and I'm not placing it on the parents to help with homework every night.

The advice that I have for you, the parent, in this homework nightmare situation is to take control. If your elementary school student is spending hours doing homework every night, talk to the teacher and to the principal. Demand an explanation beyond, "to prepare your kid for middle school." See how homework factors into the classroom grade. For my oldest, it wasn't even entered in, it was simply busy work! Ultimately, as the parent you are the boss of your child's education. The school, the teachers, and the administrators work for you and your kid. If the homework is damaging the family life you want to have, then it's time to change. I give you permission to speak up! So, now you have to.
Good Luck!

And please leave a comment about your homework nightmare, or how the teacher or admin you spoke to handled your request. Thanks!

A Tribute

My oldest turned 8 yesterday. It just so happened that The Lego Movie also opened yesterday, and since he is a Lego fanatic, it was a no brainer that we would do his party at the theater. The Regal Cinema in town did an excellent job, and we would highly recommend it for any of you with kids. Money was well spent! 

But, that's not the focus of this post. This post is about someone else that shares this day with my son. And while for my son it is a day we celebrate his birth, for this other special person it is a day we celebrate the life she had lived. On my son's first birthday, my Auntie Geri passed away. It has been an extremely hard truth that each year my wife and I stress about as his birthday approaches. While we live so far away from my Chicago area family, social media brings us all together in a way never before realized. Understandably, his birthday has become a day of memory for my Aunt by her children, as well as my cousins. So much so, that my wife and I have avoided things like Facebook on our son's birthday to focus on his special day. We post pictures the day before, and then stick to our own personal pages and groups, avoiding the main timeline. Just to stay positive, no disrespect to those in our family still remembering and honoring in their own respectful ways. 

I can't say that I was super close with my Auntie Geri. I CAN say that she loved me. She loved all of us. Everything about her glowed with happiness when she was around her children, her nieces, and nephews. I will never forget her smile as she would talk with us kids. She had a softness about her that made you feel comfortable and safe. So, when I think about the "why." The "why did she have to pass away on my son's 1st birthday?" I don't get angry, cause the "why" is so clear to me. My Aunt passed away on the first birthday of her first great-nephew. He was the first child born to any of us cousins, so in my mind she passed on a day she knew would be a celebration for a child. A child that while she only met a few times, I know she loved with all of her heart. The way she loved us all. 

So, while it is hard, I use my son's birthday to remember to celebrate him the way that I know she would want me to. They way that she celebrated all of us. Because, in my mind and heart, that is the reason she left us that day. She gave us a reason to celebrate the way she wanted us to. She also has given us a day to reflect on our own parenting to make sure we are loving our kids in a way she would be proud. 

Love you Auntie Geri. 

The buck? What Buck? We can't stop that buck.

I'd first like to say that I'm tired. I've been teaching for 9 years in Fairbanks, and I'm tired. I'm tired of watching our academic leaders sit back and watch things happen to our schools. They have watched state funding plateau for the last 5 years leaving our budgets short. They have allowed the state to dictate the value of our students, schools, teachers, and support staff. We listen to them blame a lack of funding for all of the cuts, and the increased class size. And we sit there and accept it, and I'm tired. I'm tired of feeling this way about my job. I'm tired of allowing our leaders letting us feel this way. Sure they say that they value us, and praise us for all the great work we do, but what actions are they taking to reinforce that?

I'm currently reading a book called "What Great Principals do Differently" by Todd Whitaker. A great book that I recommend you all read and start using as a measure by which you rate all principals and Ed leaders you encounter. One of the main concepts that has stood out for me as lacking in our current academic leaders is highlighted in the following paragraph:


         On-site visits and interviews with teachers and principals revealed some key
         differences between the very effective and less effective principals. One critical
         difference was that effective principals viewed themselves as responsible for all
         aspects of their school. Though these principals regularly involved staff, parents,
         and others in decision making, they believed they were responsible for making
         their school the best it could be. Regardless of whether situations arose within
         the school or as a result of outside factors such as budget cuts or school board
         decisions, the more effective principals saw themselves as the ultimate
         problem solvers.


What this says to me is that we are currently expecting our students to meet the high problem solving standards that are coming from a common core based system than we are of our academic leaders. Instead, we are getting a town hall meeting to show us that we don't have the numbers because of the state which means we have to cut jobs. We have to increase class sizes. We have to hide behind these things and not think outside the box. What does it matter to them? They will keep their jobs. They're salary negotiations will stay out of the public's eye. Where are the creative ideas that are keeping staffing levels? Where is the leadership of our district saying, "sure this is happening and it sucks, but this is how we are going to manage. Here is how we are going to rise above."

So, yeah, I'm tired of expecting more of my students than we do of our administrators. I'm tired of letting my value be dictated by a boss that allows outside influences to negatively perceive the outstanding job I do each day. Time to raise the standards we have for our leaders. Time to see some new ideas on how we ARE going to fund the missing budget amount, or how we ARE going to trim some other things that will keep our school performing for the students. Because after all, it is the kids and their parents that we work for. NOT the state, and it's lacking budget.

Our perceived worth = budget cuts

I know it's been a while since my last post. The holidays are a busy time in our house, and I tried to spend as much time away from social media as I could. It was nice. Until, I decided to check Twitter on New Years Eve and saw the local paper tweet out a headline and link to an article "School District Expects Deficit." Perfect... I had to click and read the latest in the state school funding drama. The state government isn't increasing the per student allocation for the 5th year in a row. The response from our Superintendent came off as whiny with a hint of doomsday-ish sadness. That's just in my opinion of course. But, that has been our district's stance for years now. Didn't get what we want? Threaten to raise class size and cut teachers! The world is ending!! The state hates education!!

Geez.. Enough is enough already. The truth is we need to pay teachers what they are worth. Right now, there is an overall feeling, Nationwide mind you, that the education system isn't working at a respectful level. Our media outlets don't help the matter with most news stories in education focused on negative headlines (earlier post about this, here). The best of us teachers are so busy working hard for our students that we don't spend extra time selling what we are doing to media outlets for coverage. Our admins are bogged down with paperwork from their bosses that they are trapped (sometimes by choice) in their offices, and the figure heads of our districts are just that. They are not out in the classrooms observing the front lines and noticing the outstanding efforts of the teachers and getting the proper PR out about our schools. 

Instead, we have another "don't fund our underperforming schools" headline. Great. Exactly how is that going to help? Who in their right mind will look at all of the negative perceptions of education and think, "wow that sounds like a great career!" Decreased funding, teacher cuts, schools with leaking roofs (yup mine does), and negative media coverage will not help change the course of education! In fact, that will only further hurt our students as the best of us teachers get fed up, and find success in other career fields. 

The thing that will fix all of our problems is a new system for training teachers. That starts at the University level and continues with our educational leaders. But that change is hard, and requires a University and a district to overhaul the teacher prep structure. There's no incentive for a University to do that, because people will pay tuition to get a teaching degree regardless. And if the teacher is just mediocre at best it doesn't hurt the University, they got their money. Most districts are more focused on finding a fix-all curriculum that scripts lessons for teachers, so that all teachers will be the same. Stupid.  Scripting mediocre teachers will still lead to mediocre educations for our kids, and doesn't solve any problems. We just spend more money on a curriculum and resources that inflate the pockets of someone else. 

In the end, we have to simply create better teachers that inspire students, and demonstrate to everyone that there is value in funding education. To give credit to our governor, he did say that he would consider a base raise if he knew the spending was going to something that would help change the system. Seems to me that this would be the best time to show a new teacher training program that funnels money to creating a better teaching crew. But, I'm sure that won't happen, and our educational leaders will silently support the notion that our teacher's aren't cutting it. That the money we need will go to technology and curriculum that will make our teachers better. It won't. And the quality of education will continue to be questioned, and teacher value will fall some more. 

So, what's a guy to do? hmm.. Reminds me of a Clash song... And if I go, the trouble, could still be there, but if I stay... maybe it'll double.... Crap. 

Very Thankful for Family

Today is Thanksgiving, and well, I didn't turn my alarm off last night, so I'm up early with a quiet house.. might as well write a post I've been trying to frame all month! :)

November is a month dedicated to a lot of things. There is the obvious Thanksgiving connection with plenty of your friends posting a daily thankful post on Facebook. For me, I'm most thankful for my wife and 4 kids. They're amazing, and throw me through a wide range of emotions and levels of exhaustion each and every day that make me a better husband, father, and teacher with each minute I spend with them. I love it!

November is also the "awareness" month for diabetes, epilepsy, and healthy skin to name 3 of 14 that I was able to track down. Out of those 14 there is one that stands closest to my heart, Adoption Awareness Month.

As I mentioned before, my wife and I have four beautiful children together, half of which came to us through adoption. I'm pretty sure you would be able to recognize which two they are, as they don't necessarily have the same skin tone as my wife or I, but then really none of my kids share the same skin tone. In fact, when you do look at us, we are a unique hodge-podge of personalities, hair colors/type, and attitudes. We are quite the head turners when we go out. I call us a parade of crazy as we thunder through stores! :)

People are always stopping us to say how beautiful our family is. And they are.. My family. There is no doubt in my mind that the four kids that I tuck in every night are mine. I'm equally their father, and I love them of each so very much. My heart couldn't be any more full with gratitude for the fact that I have each of them. Each a miracle.

Creating a family is difficult in so many ways. There are many factors that are out of your control in just having a child to start with: getting pregnant, finding an adoption match, or working through the foster care system are all things that require outside forces (whatever you would like to call them) that you simply have to wait and hope for. And then, when Baby arrives the parenting journey doesn't just get easier. All of the worry and hope you had leading up to the baby being born continues each day as you work hard to parent your child to becoming a competent, strong member of our society. It's overwhelming at times. But the magic of life that my kids bring to me each day is just phenomenal!

Since going through our adoption, I feel like my wife and I have become the go-to advocates for our friends and family. We love talking with parents that are interested in following our path, and we've been thrilled to watch others create/add to their family using our attorney/agency. So as to not make this an extremely long post (my kids are waking up now wanting some breakfast), I'm going to highlight a few of the key learning points you should know about adoption:

1) My kids weren't "given up" for adoption. Asking adoptive parents why the kids were "given up" isn't the best approach. An adoption plan was made, and in the end, that plan is for my wife, my kids, and I to know. Ultimately, you have to squash that curiosity until the family is at a place that they are comfortable in sharing such information with you. And, sorry, but that might be... never.. :)

2) Yes, they're mine. The one question I'm asked the most is "Are they yours?" Now, I understand that my crew and I look unusual. I can see all of the questions that cross people's minds as we walk by, and because we are that "odd," filters are thrown out the window and we get "are they yours?" My fun response is, "Shh, no! I found these two a couple aisles over, but don't tell!" That one doesn't go over that well.. go figure! :) So, I would advise to instead say, "you have a beautiful family." Yup.. that's it. Because if the kids aren't all mine, that's the point I would say, "oh no, I'm just watching these two." See.. much better. Assuming that we are a family, actually makes things less awkward.

3) Introducing your friend's kids with the descriptor, "and these are their adopted kids" isn't necessary. It kinda gives the feeling of a sideshow. "Look! These kids are different!" My kids are simply my kids. I wouldn't think to introduce your kids with, "and this one was born vaginally, while the other two here are C-section babies.. neat, huh?!" A little weird, right? So, let the adoption talk be handled by the parents. It makes things a little smoother.

4) If you see a family that appears to have children that are adopted, walking up and saying, "they're adopted, right?" as though you just solved some mystery to win a prize is actually quite annoying. Whether they are or not, is simply not important. The fact that they are a family is all that matters. Even if you have adopted, and you are just trying to make a connection the blunt approach can be awkward. Again, I have gone with, "your family is beautiful, it reminds me of my family." See? Opening the door to show that "hey what you have going on here, is similar to me." Better, right?.. yes! :)

Ok.. my kids are starving, so I'm going to leave you with those 4 tidbits. I'd love to hear more suggestions or even field any questions that you may have. Please leave a comment below, and share the post if you'd like. Thanks for reading this, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Seriously, what's my motivation?!

You may not have known this, but I spent my four years of college life studying for a degree in business. Out of college, I worked in customer service, sales, and management before realizing my calling as an educator. With the loving support of my wife, I made the career shift and here I am now. The hardest part of it all? Wasn't working with the kids, lesson planning, or having to go back to school to get a masters. No.. in the end all of that was fine. The hardest part for me has been transitioning into a very different way of approaching work.

I spent my childhood watching my dad bust his butt in corporate America, and work his way up to executive positions. He was professional, trustworthy, and driven. Those qualities led to his success. I saw that, and lived by that out of college becoming an assistant manager of an Enterprise Rent-A-Car office just after a 1 year with the company. I work hard, I have a great attitude, and I strive to be the best. Promotions and raises followed in each of the positions I held before going back to become a teacher. So the challenge has been finding the driving, motivating force each year to become an even better teacher.

I get the idealistic concept of getting better for "the children." Sure. But isn't that why I got into the profession in the first place? Of course I work for the students each year. I give everything I have to motivate and inspire my students to be dedicated learners. I exhaust myself to the point that I'm not my best in my own home sometimes. And with each year I give my all, I have to find/create ways to motivate myself into the next year. And for a driven person a new motivation will be found, but for those teachers that aren't... well don't we see so many grumpy teachers doing the same thing EACH and EVERY year?

Now, please understand that I'm not tying this all to $$. I don't necessarily think that providing incentives in the form of money always leads to the most positive things. I mean just take a look at how corrupt corporate America can be when incentives are solely $$ based. We don't need that kind of drama in our schools.. we have plenty already! But I do think that there are creative ways to encourage/motivate teachers to continue to bring new ideas and energy year to year. For example, give those teachers that are leading the way opportunities to lead professional development. Give them a voice, and an opportunity to feel their value in front of teaching peers. Or what if positive performance evaluations could lead to supplemented teacher education. I know that I'd love to be working toward having an ED Leadership Degree paid for, instead of having to fork over $5K to $8k for a promotion into an Admin position. Yeah, us teachers have to pay more $ for the opportunity to move into an Assistant Principal or Principal position.

At this point, I'm thankful to have a drive to success that was handed down to me by my parents. I strive to be the best, and when I thought I had reached that I started to get negative about the profession.  It was hard to work to be even better when I felt I was already at a level beyond a lot of teachers around me. Then I found out, I wasn't even close. I reached out with technology and found a base of teachers and administrators that have further inspired me. This inspiration has led to new changes in my classroom that I know continue to set me apart from my peers. And, these connections continue to help motivate me to step further down the path to Education Leadership. I see so many changes/challenges coming to education, and I want to meet those head on!

So, for me, I'll always find a way to become better because that is simply my nature. I want to be the best, because I want my students to be the best. And when I felt exhausted, I reached out to find others like me to help build me up to keep going. But how do we inspire those teachers that don't have that drive? The ones that are not changing and growing as professionals? The ones that aren't looking for their motivation?

I'd love to hear some suggestions, so please comment below. Tell me what you'd like to see school districts/communities do to further encourage/motivate teachers to strive to be better. Or tell me, how you find inspiration to be better year to year.

It was just a game

Updated: I recently shared this post with my high school soccer coach (Mr. P). We both couldn't believe that 20 years has passed since this game. He also couldn't believe how much I remembered! I guess it shows just how impactful of an experience it was for me. It's most difficult to look back on now as a father of 5, knowing that the families of the 7 kids that were killed in the accident have been without them for so long. Truly unfair for them. So today, my thoughts and prayers to go the families. Because really, it was just a game.. 
Coverage of the 20th anniversary of the tragedy can be seen, here.  

Today marks the 20 year anniversary of a day that I'll never forget, and probably was one of the most life changing events in my teenage life. It's taken me a long time to process how exactly the events of the day changed me. And in many ways, I feel this day has helped to define me as the husband, parent, and teacher that I am today.

Twenty, years ago I was a senior in high school. I'm pretty sure I was defined in life as a soccer player. That's what I was best at. I was on a path to play soccer in college, and I'm sure that there would be some (hi, Mom & Dad) that would argue that there was a path to even play pro-soccer. It was my life.

I was varsity Co-captain of the team that year. We were loaded with great talent, and our goal was the state championship. The path was clear, and our regular season showed that we were definitely contenders. As we entered the playoffs, our confidence was very high. We won a couple of games, and we were excited to be heading into the sectional championship game against a high school we knew we would roll over.

And then tragedy struck. The day before the game a bus load of students heading to our competitor's school stopped on some train tracks, and was hit by a train. I can't remember the numbers, but there was a death toll. It was overwhelming the emotions that I went through. There were friends and siblings of the soccer players on that bus. I remember talking with a few teammates about our hope that the game would be postponed... It wasn't.

The day of the game, school took forever. I'm pretty sure I didn't learn a thing that day. I was numb trying to mentally prepare. I don't remember the bus ride other than we all signed a soccer ball showing our sympathy to the school and the students. We tried warming up as normal, but the stadium was packed. Camera crews were there to cover the game, and none of us had experienced anything like that.

We presented the ball to the other team, stood silently through the National Anthem, and the game started. It was obvious that we were the better team. We controlled the game, but we couldn't seem to finish anything. The first half was highlighted by my header off of the post on a corner kick. We entered the second half tied at zero.

The second half was marred with more missed opportunities. And then one of our teammates knocked out one of theirs while challenging for a header. The sight of the player motionless on the ground with an Ambulance on the field sent chills through everyone. It didn't help that our teammate taunted them by something along the lines of, "that's right, we took another one out." .... yup, sums up how this was going to end for our team.

Play resumed, but stayed scoreless through regulation and overtime. The fate of the game was going to be determined by penalty kicks. Our coached asked who wanted to go... I raised my hand feeling that as captain I needed to... I was to kick 4th.

I have no idea who shot before me, but I do know that I needed to make my shot to give our team a chance. I placed the ball. Took my few steps back. I remember the silence. So many people. So quiet. The whistle blew, and I hit the ball in the same place as I had been practicing for weeks. CLANG... this time I hit it off the post. I don't remember crying at that point. No. It was after the next player made his penalty shot winning it for his team, that I fell to the ground. I was spent. I believed I had lost the game for my team. The tears flowed. I knew my teammates would blame me. I blamed me.

But in that moment, my coach came to my side. He picked me up and looked me in the eyes and said:

This is just a game. Kids died yesterday, and this is just a game.

He was right, so very right. I stood up and congratulated the other team. I remember trying to keep it together on the bus ride. I remember having to do some homework when I got home. I also remember, that my passion for soccer left me that day. It was a tough way to learn that lesson that there is so much more to life than silly games. But for me, I had been defined by that game for my whole life. I was "that soccer player-guy." I had nothing else. 

I didn't know how to manage the feelings I was going through, and I don't think anyone truly understood where I was at that point. After months of grappling with my emotions, I eventually left my comp team as I couldn't handle the constant push to always have to be at the complex working out even after practices and games. My drive was crushed after that 1 game. I chose to not play in college, but enjoyed playing intramural sports with my fraternity. Even those games got overwhelming for me at times. 

In the end, I know that this one event opened my eyes on how I wanted to live my life as a husband, father, and teacher. I approach each day loving the life that I have, and taking as much time to appreciate everyone around me. Does that mean that at times I choose laughing and playing in place of getting something done around the house or at work? Sure. And I know that in doing so, the people in my life are better for it.  I also know how single events in a child's life can stay with them and change them. And I spend more time paying attention to who my own kids are, and who my students are so that I can be there to help them when/if moments like this touch their lives. I want to be to them what my coach was for me in that moment: a role model.  

Thanks for reading this. Choose to have a great day, because you can.