Check Your Ego at the Door

One of my secret pleasures is watching fixing shows like Restaurant Impossible and Kitchen Nightmares.  It makes going out to eat questionable but I do love seeing the process move from stubborn denial to grateful acceptance.  

Last night, my husband and I watched an old Kitchen Nightmares episode where an owner was convinced her food was spectacular, she did a great job running the business and the employees were the cause of her failure.  While we watched Gordon Ramsey work his magic (brow-beat her into submission), I started thinking about the teachers I know and the future teachers I work with now in my role as a Field Supervisor. Once a teacher, always a teacher - everything is about learning. I realized that the biggest problem all these restaurant owners have is the inability to check their ego at the door.  They are so caught up in what they do brilliantly that they are closed to any idea of changing what they do to make things better.  And that is exactly what holds back teachers, too.

When we first begin learning something new, we willingly ask for advice, read up on new ideas, and accept critiques.  But once we have learned, even a little bit, we start to shut down.  You don't need to teach me how to handle behavior.  I've got this.  I don't need to learn how to make my projects more inclusive and more engaging.  I already know how to create projects. The children love what I do and love coming to class. I'm fine.

By not checking our egos at the door, we are creating a sameness.  We allow our classroom to work for just the "average" student, because the rest will come along in their own time.  We accept that "that kid" will always just mess up group work and class lessons, because that's what they do.  We encourage a baseline of instructional activities that may or may not include engaging activities, may or may not teach all our children, may or may not allow for adjustments as needed.  Because there is no need.  We have it covered.

So this is a plea to all my educator friends, to all my student interns, to all my administrator connections.  Please, check your ego at the door.  Allow yourself to be open to learning and growing.  Never be afraid to tell yourself and others that, although you know how to handle behavior, there might be some new ideas that will help you teach students how to handle their own behavior.  Live with the idea that, although you planned projects for years, there might be new ways to connect with other classes for a project or new ideas to reach every single child in your class during the project.

I clearly remember when I went to Responsive Classroom training.  I was a veteran teacher already.  I had worked in some of the most difficult inner city schools, knew how to create a "family" so the children would want to behave, and really never had too many issues (except for "that kid").  But I wanted to go to the training because I visited a district where they implemented the whole RC program and I was impressed.  So off I went.

It was difficult for me to check my ego.  I wanted to prove I really didn't need this.  Just give me the games and the posters.  I'll do the rest.  But, slowly throughout the week of training, I began to see things differently.  Maybe "that kid" had much more I could work with than struggles with behavior.  Maybe the group project could work better if I taught the children how to work together very explicitly first.  Maybe I could make all my students feel special and wanted each and every day - even just by starting the day shaking hands and saying good morning to each child.

The very first year working with RC changed my classroom completely. My students were more excited to be in school.  They were more responsible and independent learners.  They advocated for their learning.  Behaviors were almost completely eliminated.  I, the veteran teacher, the expert, could actually learn to change and, in the changing, make things better.  Later I learned more about Universal Design for Learning and CAST, which just lent itself perfectly to my RC classroom. 

Now that I am retired, I can look back on my career in the classroom differently.  I changed grades quite often, moving around in elementary school and even leaving the classroom and working with gifted students and teaching science to all the elementary students.  I looped with my class three times, which effectively eliminates duplicating projects, since the children already did said project with me.  I created new lessons, units, activities, projects every single year.  And I loved it.  I loved discovering new tools.  I loved working with new teachers, in and out of my school.  I loved going to conferences and coming back with new ideas. 

I love learning.  I still do. I have become a pretty active pickleball player in my retirement.  I never even saw the game played before.  I am on a 14 day streak in DuoLingo.  I will learn Spanish.  I will learn Spanish.  I have started cooking.  (For those that don't know, I never cook.  My husband is a great chef so why should I take that away from him. LOL)  Now I make soups and casseroles.  Still can't handle a meal because the timing throws me but I can make something that is easy to heat up later.  

By keeping the learning going, I am forced to keep my ego in check.  How will you keep the learning going in your classroom?  Go to a conference?  Read a new book?  Follow someone new online?  Be brave.  Be a learner.  Check your ego at the door and go ask for help.  You never know what will come of it.

A Series on Empathy - Part Three - CARES

 Note to my readers - I know I said in my last blog that I would discuss Logical Consequences in this blog.  But I needed to talk about CARES first.  Stay tuned for blog number 4 in the series for Logical Consequences.

Elementary teachers often talk about the Summer Slide - the effects on academics because of children not being in school for two months over the summer.  And teachers often spend one or two months at the beginning of the year just reviewing what should have been learned at the end of the previous grade. Of course, year round school would eliminate the Summer Slide.  But so would children reading and writing over the summer months. But, for many of us, neither of these situations actually occurs.  

For me, I relished the review time.  Why?  I needed that time to teach something more important than the given curriculum requirements. Because, at the beginning of every year, I spent one or two months teaching my students about CARES.  What is CARES?

I spent time at the beginning of each year teaching - really teaching - each of these words and meanings.  We watched videos that demonstrated CARES.  We blogged about which CARES term we were working on.  We spied on each other looking for examples of CARES.  We wrote each night about examples of CARES.  We looked for examples in books, on tv, in the news, in the cafeteria, during lessons. My CARES bulletin board stayed up all year as a reminder of the meaning of these terms.

Why does this matter?  Why did I spend so much time each year on it?  Because I truly believed, and still do, that my primary job was to teach my students to be better members of society. And the society we were working in was the classroom and school society, first and foremost.  Also, by spending time at the beginning of the year on CARES, the rest of the year went very smoothly, since, when something went wrong, they would just need quick reminders to get back on track.

I remember one child, Robbie, (not his name) who struggled all year to learn these concepts.  He was a complainer and worked hard to attack and blame his classmates.  His seat was moved often, since no one wanted to sit with him for any length of time.  His parents encouraged his behavior, saying he was standing up for himself, even though I repeatedly demonstrated that this was not the case. 

At the beginning of the year, as Robbie caused problems, we would have class meetings to solve these problems he and the other children were facing.  The children would speak to him about their difficulties, using our CARES vocabulary.  He started out being defensive and then, began to listen. Eventually, Robbie learned a bit more self-control.  In fact, he asked the children to help him when he forgot.  They would walk up to him while he was ranting and simply say, "S-C." He would stop in mid-sentence, and breathe.  

Robbie didn't completely stop complaining about others.  But he did recognize that empathy and self-control were his difficult concepts.  And the class sincerely praised him at the end of the year for working so hard to be someone who CARES.

Robbie was my struggle that year but I'm glad I got to work with him.  We need to teach our children about CARES and all that those concepts imply.  We need to heal this society and improve it.  And it all starts with being a society that CARES.

Want to know more about CARES? Look into Responsive Classroom. Even if you can't afford the training, which I HIGHLY recommend, the books are amazing. I especially recommend The First Six Weeks of School.

An Open Letter to NYS Commissioner of Education Elia

Dear Commissioner Elia,

I am a veteran elementary school teacher, having just completed my 30th year of teaching in 2015.  I am now a teacher for the gifted and talented students in my school, as well as the lead teacher for PLTW, our new science program.  I have won multiple awards for global projects, co-written a book on blogging, and teach classes on Universal Design for Learning, Project Based Learning, Responsive Classroom and using Web 2.0 tools.  I work hard to keep the learning fresh, becoming a Google Certified Innovator, an Edmodo ambassador, and a BrainPop Certified Educator, among other titles.  

I am telling you about myself to let you know that I love what I do, love working with children, love helping other teachers, and take my profession very seriously.  I truly believe that my purpose in life is to help make the world a better place and I am here to help children learn how to make peace, work cooperatively, and feel that their lives matter.  I have always felt that, in elementary school, our main job is to help students learn to love learning, love school, and love themselves.  Curriculum comes second.

I work on Long Island, in the Herricks School District.  It is a high stakes district that always tops the lists of best schools, highest scores, etc.  And I know, working in Herricks, how to help my students reach those heights, while still loving school. Until testing time.

This past week, we gave the NYS ELA test to 300+ 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students in our school. We shut down programs and classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in order to accommodate the requirements of the students testing.  You see, this year, in order to make things "less stressful" for our students, you chose to make the test an untimed test.  The results were scary and very stressful. Let me explain.

First, the test itself is stressful for children.  There were questions on the fifth grade exam that I had difficulty answering.  Teachers were debating the multiple choice answers, since there were many that had two choices, one being slightly better than the other.  If teachers have difficulty with the test, imagine how the 10 year old children felt looking at these questions.

Also, the children, on day 3, were asked to write two essays.  Two!  Who writes two essays in one day, much less one right after the other?  Couldn't we figure out if they could write well after the one essay they wrote on day 2?  Did we really need a third day to figure this out?

Second, the test is useless.  Teachers cannot use it to revise their instruction since we don't get scores back until August or September, when we no longer have those children.  And when we do get the scores back, they are meaningless, since we no longer have the test to see what the types of questions were.  And, you decided (rightly so, in my opinion) that we would not use this test to assess teachers. So, if the test does not inform instruction and does not assess teachers, what is the point?

Third, the timing.  When we had 90 minutes for this test, it was stressful and difficult for some children to finish.  But they mostly did ok.  With an unlimited time, we had children working for over 4 hours!  There were gifted children who are notorious perfectionists, writing 4 page essays and spending an hour on just the planning page (which, incidently was left out of the test).  There were special education children who would get stuck on a question and just stop, waiting for inspiration. And, with unlimited time to do so, would sit for 30 minutes doing absolutely nothing but worrying.

So what was my role this year?  Since I am no longer a classroom teacher, I did not have a class to proctor so I filled in where I was needed.  I proctored one day for a fifth grade teacher who was out for the day.  But mostly, I spent my time with the children who worked beyond 2 hours.  You see, after 2 hours, I picked up all the children who were still not done and brought them to my room to complete the test.  This allowed the rest of the class to move around, make noise, and relax. On Thursday, the two essay day, there were so many children taking more than 2 hours that we filled up two classrooms with those students.

In my room, in the meantime, I had children crying because they couldn't answer questions, worried because they were taking so long, upset because they were missing lunch and recess to complete the exam.  This was not "less stressful" by any means.  Less stressful might have been cutting the test down to two days or giving the children more developmentally appropriate questions to answer or giving the test at the end of the year, after all the curriculum has been taught, instead of in April, so the teachers have to rush curriculum to get children ready, or not giving this test at all and finding a better way to evaluate learning throughout the year.

Commissioner Elia, I am hopeful that things will change next year.  This is not what I became a teacher for.  I work hard to make my students love coming to school.  Nobody loved coming in last week, not the students, nor the teachers, nor the administrators, nor the parents.  I am hopeful that, since you claimed you would opt your own children out, you understand the ineffectiveness and uselessness of the NYS ELA test.  Please reconsider this test next year.  There has to be a better way.  Ask teachers.  We know how to evaluate our students and our teachers.

Sincerely,
Lisa Parisi, teacher

Wrapping Up the Year

This year, my 30th as an elementary classroom teacher, will be my last.  I am moving into a new position next year, very happily and very nervously. Next year, and hopefully for a few years beyond, I am going to be part teacher of the gifted and part Project Lead the Way Lead Teacher.  But more about that later.


While wrapping up my classroom, passing over my supplies and hard work to a new, incoming fourth grade teacher, I have been thinking long and hard about this year.  It was a difficult year for me and I am trying still to figure out why.  Was it the combination of students?  Was it the extra stress put on educators in New York and the US? Was is learning to work with a new assistant (who was wonderful)?  Was is just feeling done?  Or was it a combination of all of these?


My students:  I love them.  I really do.  They are funny and caring and hard working and apathetic and lazy and loud all at the same time.  This class was such an enigma.  I ran my Responsive Classroom program as I always do, but it didn't take like it always does.  During meetings, my students fooled around, then stopped, then forgot the rules again as soon as something else funny happened.  The rules never stuck.  They did learn to be more empathetic.  But not always.  If someone was sad, they would crowd around and help out.  But someone drops papers on the floor? Step on them as you head back to your desk.  They had fewer recess problems than the other classes on the grade but it doesn't mean they had none.  The same class that worked so hard to raise almost $4000 in two weeks for Nepal and the Kibera Slums would call each other names at recess.

Effort never really hit its stride either.  They would work so hard during projects, doing research, setting up a plan, coming up with ideas.  But the actual projects always just fizzled out.  When I pushed for due dates, they rushed to complete the assignments and the projects came out rushed. This confused me because the understanding of the concepts was there.  Just the effort to put all that understanding into a cohesive project to teach others didn't always work. Usually the projects are amazing and I have to push to get the content understanding in.

Extra Stress:  This is, by far, the biggest reason I am leaving the general education classroom.  I hate what I do to prepare these students to take a meaningless, unfair state test.  And I do very little, ultimately.  But still, the pressure from administration, from parents, even from the kids, was more than I can handle anymore.  The fear that, thanks to our Governor, we will all lose our jobs within the next two years was too much.  The fact that unionized teachers have become the Enemy of the State is beyond anything I can take.  I truly believe that what I do is important, powerful, and necessary.  I do believe I am changing the world one child at a time.  I am not the enemy.  I am so grateful I will not have to give state tests anymore.

New Assistant: This wasn't so bad.  I did have a new assistant this year although she was only new to me, not the school.  She is hard working, caring, and absorbs everything we do. It did take some time to get used to working as partners, deciding on roles, etc. but it worked.  Still, I wonder if I held back on some global projects due to knowing that the help would not be what it used to be with my tried and true aide?  Maybe.  I'm not sure.  It would be great to blame this all on someone else but...I can't blame her. She brought a whole new side of learning to the room with her artist background.  She took some simple projects, like creating a book page for a project and turning it into an Eric Carle-like portrait of the class. How can I blame her for that?

Feeling Done: I did, many times, feel done.  When I would go to colleagues with great ideas and would get the same, "No time, " answer, I felt done.  When I would open my email in the morning to another testing email with 10 or 12 responses, I felt done.  When we had another meeting to talk about testing, I was done.  When I got lost in all my emails and missed deadlines for projects I wanted to do, including my very own Global Book Talk, I was done.  But always, just when I felt I could do this no longer, my assistant would laugh with me about something the kids said, or I would get an email from a teacher on the other side of the world saying she saw my work and wants to join in, or I would get called into the principal's office so she could share something wonderful that a child did for her, or a kid would come up to me in the hall and tell me she hopes I am her teacher next year, or.....   Something always pulls me back in.

And maybe that's why I keep teaching.  And maybe that's why I am so excited about my new position.  I get to keep working with children but I also work with adults. And maybe it wasn't such a bad year afterall.  I did get to go to Guatemala to keynote.  I did get to present at Learning and the Brain, in NYC and spend time with by friend Donna Roman.  I did get to run two Global Book Talks and skype with the author of one.  I did get to run a very successful round of quad-blogging.  I did get to work on a social studies project with one of my fifth grade colleagues and a health/science project with another.  And I did get to hear from my kids that I am their favorite teacher ever.  And don't tell me they all say that.  I know they do but I like to believe that, for me, it's real.  ;)

Here's to ending my 30 year career on a high(?) note.  And here's to a new career, a new opportunity, and making it work.

Responsive Classroom

In my district, once a month, we have two hours of professional development.  The district sets it up and it is usually based around a new program or testing.  This year, they decided to go in a different direction.  For three sessions, teachers rotate between three different classes.  One is on iEARN, one is on Second Step, and one is on Responsive Classroom.  I am running the one on Responsive Classroom.  

I have been using this program in my classroom for about 7 years now.  I went to the level 1 training, purchased and read most of their books, and have continued to attend workshops as they come up.  I feel very comfortable teaching others about the program and have run several courses in district to do just that.

I'm not going to get into the whole philosophy here.  Suffice it to say that RC is really about using specific language and behavior to help the children learn to be more responsible, independent, and caring.  And it works.  I have worked with some very difficult children who, while still struggling with behavior, have learned to adapt more easily to others, work with their classmates, and take responsibility for their actions.

The biggest drawback to teaching about RC is that, one of the most important times of the year to establish the program is in the first six weeks of school.  That's right...six weeks.  Not the first day.  Not the first week.  Not even the first month.  But the first six weeks.  What teacher has time for that?  When I went to the training, I fought against it the entire time.  And, when I show others, they do the same. 


What RC has done, and what I finally understand, is that you don't establish this program in a vaccuum.  You do continue to teach, address your curriculum, and prepare for all that is necessary in school.  But you do it with the language and methods of RC.

You might, by this time, be asking why I am writing about this.  I don't get paid by Responsive Classroom.  So why am I promoting it?  You see, running this professional development has really made me think about my kids...and my successes and failures with them.  And I realize that, for all the failures I feel every day, there are far more successes to recognize.

Just this year, I have:

Juan (all names have been changed) - This is a child who is difficult to be around.  While he has a kind heart and means well, he is very self- centered and is unaware of his personal space with regards to others.  Up until this year, he really hasn't had any friends.  In my classroom, I have watched him try to socialize and have finally started to see others socialize with him.  

Just Friday, while we were cleaning the room, Juan came back from one of his many bathroom trips (he needs the breaks).  He walked over to me and, very sadly, sad that a boy in the hallway told him he has no friends. He then told me that the day before, at recess, he had gotten some children in trouble for cheating in a game.  I said, in my usual "Let's not make this a big deal" tone, "What does he know?  Don't you have any friends?" 

He said, "No."  

Just as I was about to cry, Sonya, who is always in everyone's business, comes over and says, "I am your friend."  

Then Melissa chimes in and Tom comes over and, jokingly says, "Hey, Juan.  What about me?" 

Soon all of the kids were telling him to ignore the boy, who is turns out isn't really nice to any of them.  "Stick with us," they told him. "We are your friends."  

Juan smiled, went to help clean up, and, at the end of the day, gave me a hug before walking out the door.  

Cindy - This is a girl who can barely be heard when she speaks.  We have talked often about assertion but I so rarely hear her voice. Recently she started raising her hand to answer questions but still doesn't talk much besides that.
Monday, I was trying to give instructions for our next lesson.  Someone was talking.  I turned around to let the child talking know that she was being inconsiderate to me and her classmates when I noticed it was Cindy.  I just stared at her.  She was helping Wallace, who had been very confused during our last lesson.  He wasn't ready to move on so she decided to help him.  I never did tell her to be quiet.  I just asked her to move out in the hall with him.  

Sonya, Josey, and Jill - I had my data meetings this week.  This is when we sit with all the special area teachers - reading, math, etc - and discuss who is being serviced and how is it working.  What I was happy to hear was that, the same thing I was seeing in class, was being observed by the special area teachers.  These three girls had gone from children who just moved along, waiting for all the wisdom to just seep into their brains, to girls who took learning seriously.  They have become hard working, caring, enthusiastic, active learners.  And their math and reading scores have improved because of this.  I was thrilled and proud.  RC strikes again!


When I headed off to the professional development session on Thursday, armed with some of these images in my head, I guess I finally got across the idea that spending six weeks at the beginning of the year really does make the rest of the year easier.  And it really works.  

I have been getting messages from the teachers since, - emails, FB messages, phone calls - just to let me know how valuable the PD was and how excited they were to try it all.  And, the biggest compliment of all, one very normally disgruntled teacher told me this was the first time she had been in a worthwhile professional development session.  

Maybe more teachers in my district will adopt RC.  I hope so.  I love watching kids grow in character.  And, in the meantime, I'm heading back to class to help Juan learn more socially acceptable behavior to help him keep his friendships, help Cindy learn some leadership skills along with assertion so she can demonstrate her talents to the whole class, and keep the girls motivated to learn.  I really do love my job!

Responsive Classroom

I just complete my weeklong training session for Responsive Classroom. This is an approach to teaching that enables teachers to help children create a community of learners who are accepting, helpful, respectful, and hardworking.

My first job as a member of this training period was to learn how to be a student again. I have not been in a classroom as a student for a very long time. That's not to say I don't continue learning always, but I normally do it on my own, online, or in one-day conferences. This was one solid week, Monday through Friday, 8-3:30. I followed another teacher's schedule...with breaks and lunch when I was told to break and have lunch. It was extremely difficult for me to get back into that "student" role. I realized...here's a shocker ;)...I like being in charge.

But mostly, this week was about learning. I loved the Responsive Classroom approach, am excited to implement it in the classroom (Christine, get ready for the ride of your life), and have already spoken to the principal about getting more teachers involved.

The basic idea of RC is to use specific language and proactive teaching to teach students to respect one another, treat each other with kindness, and work to their potential. The belief is all children (and all of us) need to feel a sense of belonging, significance, and fun in order to learn. And this is so true.

I started an internship with the Webcast Academy this week. Not only did the instructors (Thanks Cheryl and Susan) make us all feel so welcome and comfortable, but I found many friends were in the class with me. I immediately felt at ease knowing that I "belonged" there. And having my friends say hello to me as I entered the chat room gave me that sense of "significance". I kept thinking about this throughout the RC training. How wonderful if the children could feel this on a daily basis.

So now on to preparation and, in September, implementation. The excitement never ends!