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May 1 - May 2, 2020
My classroom environment is built on just two truths: One, relationships are king. Two, teaching is only ever about the students.
I needed help with everything—how to take notes, how to study, how to do math. I’d somehow made it through a whole life of schooling without actually learning how to learn.
Did I want to teach at a school that could afford such an extravagant expense? In fact, did a school like this even need any more good teachers?
When I say I was honored to hear these things, it’s not because I liked hearing about my students’ tragedies. It’s because those kids could have gone to anyone—a friend, parent, coach, or counselor—but they chose me.
These kids needed more than me. How was I supposed to help them when the system didn’t care? But I was wrong. I was wrong to think I needed to fix anything. I was wrong to think I was merely dealing with broken students trying to navigate a broken system. And I was wrong to think these problems were unique to those living in neighborhoods like the one where I taught.
every teacher and student is fighting a battle no one else knows anything about.
I realized that teachers from some of the richest schools I’ve ever heard of were working with students who were struggling with pain and heartache and loss just like my kids were.
Teaching isn’t just about uploading information to your students that they’ll need to know on the big test or in the “real world.” It’s about helping students understand how they learn. It’s explaining that being different isn’t weird or wrong but is instead what makes a person unique. It’s helping kids lean into who they truly are
“We all know you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. But what you can do is make him thirsty.”
All teachers know that class time can quickly become NFL time.
“If you don’t want to do this, then what do you want to do?” I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was the best question I would ever ask as a teacher. Why hadn’t I asked my students what they wanted to do before?
We had no money, but as anyone who has taught in a school with limited resources knows, the name of the game is make something from nothing.
Even when I had to do some wack school-required lesson or book, the kids would do it because they knew we would get through it together.
Listening to our students can change everything in the classroom. Asking what they’d like to learn about or what sort of activities they’d like to engage in helps students show up for class ready to go because they know they played a part in creating what’s happening there.
If we want our students to be kind, empathetic, hardworking, humble, or courageous, we need to be even more kind, empathetic, hardworking, humble, and courageous than they are.
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
That means I have a large group of guys who have probably gotten into trouble multiple times during the day and who thus come into my classroom already hating the world because they’ve been getting an earful from every teacher and security guard all day.
“Gentlemen, you need to know that I see what is going on with [student]. You need to know that this will no longer happen. He is off-limits. You have two choices. One, use your energy to uplift him and help him to feel a part of our community or, two, be quiet. Anyone who gives him a hard time in or out of my class will deal with me.”
Sometimes handing the class over to the students and allowing them to be in charge of what and how the class is learning helps them begin to grasp what teaching and learning are really all about. In my opinion, Phil Collins got it exactly right when he said, “In teaching you will learn.” Teaching someone else is one of the best ways to build true understanding.
The greatest gift I could have given him that year was to let him follow his dream, to let him try and fail repeatedly, to help him dust himself off and keep going. The gift I received in exchange was the opportunity to witness
I’ve learned since then that the missing ingredient in most classes is magic.
Teachers who have taken the time to build personal and educational relationships with their students know a lot more about what those kids need than someone who has never met them.
Regardless, I believe teachers can sprinkle magic in even the strictest educational environments through the lessons and classroom environments they create.
Bring happiness to the hallways.
love to blow bubbles in the hallway.
The microphone is a fun way to interview kids as they walk to class. I pretend I’m a local news anchor, and I ask students questions as they pass by. “Excuse me, Mr. Lopez, our viewers are wondering why you’re late to class every day?” “Oh, there she is! Ms. Little could you tell our audience what it’s like to walk so slow you’re on the verge of walking backward?” I guess I could just as easily ask kids to hurry up before they’re late to class or remind them that they could potentially get a detention for playing around or being tardy, but addressing regular problems with out-of-the-box
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Deep Thoughts with Uncle Barry.
Real rap: Uncle Barry got a standing ovation that day after he read. “Deep Thoughts with Uncle Barry” became the way we kicked off class every day after that. The students all took to calling him Uncle Barry, and he became a celebrated member of our classroom, loved by everyone.
I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is more music.
Give your guests a round of applause.
Offer uncommon solutions for fidgety students.
Like Frosty’s magic top hat, our astronaut helmet helped several kids to focus on their reading and writing assignments in class. I have also had the same experience after handing kids eyeglasses with no lenses in them. I tell them they are a special prescription that helps me read and I only share them with a select few kids who might really need them. Every time they work like a charm.
Make collecting papers fun again.
Throw a cereal party.
The grocery aisles are full of options for any budget when you think creatively.
Play around with tiny water pistols.
