Are you Sad?

We've just finished our second full week of school with our students. The teachers returned three days before the students and something that a teacher said to me is still floating around in my head. After asking me how I spent my summer and I told her the highlights, she frowned and said, "Aren't you sad that summer's over and you wasted your summer?"

I was a bit stunned. How could someone look at all of the things that I did over the summer and think that I would be sad? My summer was full of things from participating in a flash mob, having my book released, presenting at four different conferences, speaking with Alabama legislators, and meeting the most amazing educators from around the world...and those are just a few of the highlights.

Was I busy? Yes, but I was energized as an educator (and a person) by all of the connections and life experiences I had over the summer. As I thought of all of those things it brings to mind an assumption that many have about a student's perception about returning to school. They assume that they student is unhappy about returning to school. We know that if a student hears something numerous times, they will start to believe it. Should they be sad about returning to school?

As I mentioned last week, my students started blogging. As I've read some of their first blogs, I realized there are under currents of this mentality. However, they have told me, through their writing, that they don't dread school, they look forward to it. Here is an example:

While I was out of school for the summer people always asked me,”Are you ready to go back to school?” I always said , “No, not at all.”   I said this because I thought that fifth grade would be horrible. I hadn’t seen my teacher once before the first day of school and I didn’t know how she would act. I was a little surprised because I hadn’t met any teacher who did as much as she did in the class. We have so many opportunities this year. I was also a little freaked out because throughout my whole life (well at least kindergarten to fifth )I always had the nicest most creative teachers. It’s hard to say that is a coincidence. Now I can barely sleep because I wish that school could start again as soon as dinner is over.

I could share several other quotes, but I think this one makes my point. Learners should look forward to school. It should be a place with "many opportunities" to learn and engage with one another and explore new concepts and how they fit into their lives.  It should not be a place where students are sad. I'm definitely not sad about my summer or the fact that I get to go to school each day and do what I love...and I hope that rubs off on my students every day.

A Shocking Answer from a Future Student

Yesterday, we had our registration for the upcoming school year. It is the first opportunity where I get to meet some of my students for the next year. I look forward to this opportunity to get to know some of my future students and get a feel for their expectations for the upcoming year. One of the questions that I ask is, "What are you looking forward to the most about 5th grade?" I usually get a wide variety of answers, but yesterday I got an answer that shocked me. One of my future students told me  (without hesitation) that she is most looking forward to standardized testing in the Spring.

WHAT?!? Really?!? What does this say about the state of education that a student would look forward to testing as the most exciting thing in the upcoming year? I know that we are constantly bombarded (sometimes assaulted) with the constant pressure to have students perform on these tests. For some of us, we hear about it at every faculty meeting, grade level meeting, data meeting,  and via email correspondence. We have mandatory PD about the new strategies we are required to employ with our students in the name of meeting AYP. As a teacher it can really wear you down, stress you out, and kill all of your creativity.

However, as teachers, should we be passing this pressure of standardized testing off onto our students? Are we giving them a false sense of the priorities in their educational journey? Just because we are assaulted with the pressures, that doesn't mean that our learners need to be. We still need to protect the integrity of our learners' education. It is our job to stand in the gap. I know first hand that it isn't easy. I'm envious of the teachers who get to teach and promote literacy and not be hampered by a scripted reading program. I long for time to actually have a writers workshop. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

But, that doesn't mean that our students can't still thrive in our classrooms. They can be creative; they can connect; they can make choices in what and how they learn. It just takes a little bit of effort on our part to find a way to give them that freedom. I tell my students at the beginning of the year that we are not in fifth grade to prepare for a test. We are here to prepare for life. The looks of relief that I see are remarkable. It's a small shift that makes a big difference. Are we still mastering the standards? Yes. Actually, my students usually far exceed the standards. They become thinkers. They love what we do in class so much that they beg to come to school early, stay late, or even skip lunch.

Does that mean that they don't hear about testing? No, that's being unrealistic. We hear about it everywhere. In spite of this, we can make a difference so that none of our students leave us at the end of the year and only having testing to look forward to for the next year. I'm looking forward to this year and changing this student's expectation for the year. Once we get started, testing will be the furthest thing from her mind.

A Moment of Truth Part 2

In my last blog post, I mentioned that after 23 months, I had finally  received a copy of my book in my hand.  This thrilling (and noisy) moment of truth led me to reflect on how this experience could lend itself to lessons that we need to apply into our classrooms... like the importance of trying new things.  Here are a couple of other truths that gained from this experience which I feel should be passed on to our students.

Hard work pays off

Was writing a book easy? Absolutely not. To be honest, at times it was a bit painful trying to find a way to make my voice heard in a clear and concise way that stayed true to the story I was sharing about my students.  I wanted to tell their story, but at times their story almost became an all consuming thing, overwhelming other aspects of my life. There were times where I had to take some days away from the writing in order to find myself. After all, what good would I do my current students if I lost touch with who I was because of my previous students? 

However, as I continued to write and work with my talented editor, Holly, I found that these difficult times rendered the best work I had produced. Through her guidance, I learned not only how to become an author for a broad audience, but also how to better guide my students in their writing. The results were not immediate. It was hard. It was tedious. There were times that I wanted to just throw up my hands and walk away.

In our classrooms, our students experience this same overwhelming feeling of frustration. We all have had those students who don't feel like the work is with the reward. They also just want to throw their hands up and walk away. It is our job to reassure them and guide them. We know from our experience that the hard work does pay off. We see it every day in our classrooms. Just like Holly did for me....she saw the forest when I was lost among the trees. We need to help our students see the forest. 

Time to Share

Even though I had imagined a million times what it would feel like to physically hold my book in my hand, the actual feeling was indescribable. Following quite closely to those feelings, was the feeling of showing my book to others...especially my parents. Even as an adult, it was so wonderful to receive the validation of others who valued what I had done. They realized the large investment of time, energy, sweat, and tears it took to complete this job. 

Think of all of the work and projects that our students complete everyday in our classroom. I'm afraid that so often, we are so strapped for time in our jam packed schedule, we forget to let the students take the time to share their accomplishments with their peers, other faculty members, community members, friends and family. They have tried news things. They have put in all of the hard work, inside and outside of the classroom. By forgoing the time to celebrate and receive that validation, we are missing the key element. Let them enjoy their success, their journey.  With the tech tools of today, it is so simple to let them share their projects with people from around the world. They need to revel in their accomplishments so that they begin to value the importance of hard work and personal growth.

So as we contemplate the beginning of a new school year, let's all keep in mind the importance of passing these truths on to our students. Trying new things, hard work, and having a time to share all play a key element in students learning  valuable skills not only in the classroom, but also in life.

Let's Celebrate!

At the end of each school year, we receive our class rolls from the previous grade. Often a commentary on the students accompanies these rolls. Although I try to avoid this, I still end up with an earful. One of my students (we'll call her Cassandra), came with comments from her previous teachers that she is just so sweet and helpful, but a sad case because she can't read or write. They told me I would love having her in class because I wouldn't even know that she was there. I was offended to hear another educator describe a student this way.

Once Cassandra arrived in my classroom, I noticed how cowed down she was. When she spoke she was so quiet one couldn't even hear her. I couldn't even get her to smile.  Now granted, Cassandra is an exceptional education student and also an English Language Learner so I knew there would be challenges. She is pulled out of the classroom several times a day to receive her services as she is reading on the pre-primer level, which affects all the subject areas.

Once we started doing our writing, I was shocked to discover that Cassandra was never expected to write anything. When I conferenced with her, I discovered that she really wanted to write all of her great ideas and publish like all of her peers, but she said that no one would help her. What? Here's a child who wants to write and no one has ever expected her to write. (I did confirm this with previous teachers, much to my dismay.)

Of course, reading is an obstacle. She is always in my small group for differentiated lessons across content areas. She set personal learning goals just like all of my other students. We would revisit her goals often and celebrate her successes no matter how small they would be. Through all of the hard work, she slowly began to speak louder and with more confidence with me. One time, we were celebrating her success and I told her it really wouldn't hurt too much if she decided to smile. Her lips curled up into a small smile. Her steps were small, sometimes almost unnoticeable, but they were steps forward.

As the weeks progressed, she began to speak up with peers and in small groups as they worked. She was the second one to finish publishing her animal story because she wanted to publish her work. She asked for help when she wasn't sure how to progress; something she never did at the beginning of the year. Then much to my surprise, she volunteered and began helping other students publish their work. Listening to her conversation with her peers had me wondering what those teachers from previous years were talking about.

Her entire posture changed. Now she shares dazzling smiles regularly and in the last two weeks, Cassandra has volunteered to participate in class discussions adding some amazing thoughts and connections. Last week, we took a reading benchmark test, which we do not modify because we want to get an accurate view of how a child will do on a grade level test. She scored a B. Today, they took a reading test and she insisted that she could take it without any modifications. She confidently smiled and assured me that she could do this. I let her thinking that she could always go back and retake it later with modifications if necessary. She scored a C. To say we celebrated these two accomplishments is an understatement. I know that grades aren't the end all be all in determining a student's success, but for her, it was the first time she earned a grade she could brag on...which she did to all of her Ex. Ed teachers and her mother. The ELL teacher who has been working with her for 4 years, told me that Cassandra is a miracle child.

When I asked Cassandra what she was doing differently, she told me with a twinkle in her eye that she spends time reading now and that she knows that she can "do it right" if she practices enough. Knowing her, she is probably putting many extra hours to overcome her specific challenges. Does this learner still have obstacles? Absolutely, but it's amazing what she can accomplish when she wants to and when she has support to help her reach all of her goals.

So  today, I wanted to write about Cassandra to remind myself and others out there of the importance of reaching every child. Being consistent and patient with each and every one of them is crucial for all of our students to reach his/her full potential. It may be tedious work, but we cannot write off a child's potential because of their previous school experience, home situation, cultural background or disability.

And by the way, her mother is so overjoyed, she is bringing homemade Tres Leches for the class on Friday. Congratulations, Cassandra! You've earned a chance to celebrate.