CONNECTIONS: The Things They Remember
Blog written by Jeff Zoul, President of ConnectEDD
“Students will remember how we treated them long after they forget what we taught them.”
Not long ago, I visited St. Simons Island, Georgia where I lived from 1995 - 2002. it remains one of my favorite places on earth. When living there, I taught middle school language arts, high school English, and coached a number of sports. I have many fond memories of many awesome students I taught and coached during those years.
On this visit, my entire family joined me there to celebrate my mother’s birthday. When my sister and I got off an elevator to enter a rooftop restaurant where we would be celebrating, a young man waiting to take the elevator down exclaimed, “Coach Zoul!” Although I vaguely recognized the face, I had to ask his name. When he told me, I immediately remembered him from my English class and our high school baseball team. I asked him how old he was now and he let me know he was 34 (Yes, it made me feel quite ancient). We hugged and he told me a rather interesting story. It went something like this: “Coach, you were the best! My cousin and I still talk about you all the time. Just the other day, we were talking about the time you slid down a pole into the classroom from the ceiling when we did not even know you were hiding up there.” This former student-athlete and I reminisced a bit more, hugged again, and I went about my business with my sister, who asked somewhat incredulously, “You slid down a pole into your classroom from the ceiling??!” Well, I suppose I did, since this young man seemed to have it etched into his memory, but here’s the kicker: I have no recollection of this event whatsoever.
Now, it certainly sounds like something I would have done back then. And, I taught in an ancient Works Project Administration building classroom that had several supporting poles throughout and ceiling tiles I suppose could have easily been removed. As a teacher, I always loved teaching my content, but I loved playing practical jokes and having fun with my students even more, so his anecdote certainly rings true, but I just don’t remember it. Yet, this now 34-year-old former student did remember it and was still talking about it with his cousin 17 years after the fact.
To be honest, I have had similar encounters with a number of former students over the years. They always seem to remember something crazy we did during class that had nothing to do with the curriculum. A former first grade student reminded me once of the time that we squeezed my entire class of 24 first graders into my 1975 Ford Thunderbird as a reward for perfect behavior. I have mixed feelings about the things my former students remember actually. On the one hand, I sincerely believe that learning is the ultimate purpose of any school and I expect all teachers (including myself during my 18-year teaching career) to actually teach a guaranteed and viable curriculum each day. At the same time, I also realize that kids need to know we care about them as people first and students second and they need to not only work hard but also have fun in our classrooms. Dylan William suggests that pedagogy trumps curriculum--or, rather, is curriculum--because what matters is how things are taught, not what is taught. And I would suggest that sometimes pedagogy includes the zany things we do as teachers that have nothing to do with learning standards.
Although I am a firm believer that we must ensure what we are teaching includes actual grade level (or above) learning standards, the “how” is even more important and this "how" can include all the non-academic things we do just for fun. I suspect that sliding from the ceiling down into the classroom took no more than three minutes away from my instructional time on this particular day and I suspect it was three minutes well spent. Even though my former student did not mention any of the works of literature we were reading that year or papers that we wrote, maybe on that particular day he was just a little more engaged in reading Julius Caesar after starting class with the teacher making a surprising entrance from the ceiling.
One never knows what the students sitting in front of us today will remember many years hence; my hunch, though, is that it will more often than not be something completely unrelated to the curriculum. Take time to ensure that the non-academic memories our children retain many years down the road are memories of fun, laughter, caring, and even silliness. I believe our very best teachers--even those focused like a laser beam on standards--make time for pure fun each and every day in their classrooms. Making time for fun is another way we create a positive and productive culture in our schools.
Thanks to all educators reading this for the amazing work you are doing during these challenging times. As always, Teach and Lead with Passion...
Jeff and Jimmy
DAILY INSPIRATION EDUCATOR
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NEW RELEASE
Handle with Care: Managing Difficult Situations in Schools with Dignity and Respect by Jimmy Casas and Joy Kelly
We are so excited to announce that our newest book is in print and the reception has been fantastic! In Handle with Care, authors Jimmy Casas and Joy Kelly examine a variety of difficult school-related situations, both in and out of the classroom.In schools across the country, educators at every level are faced with delicate, challenging situations that require leadership skills and insights in order to produce favorable outcomes for students and staff. This book provides educators with insights into a variety of difficult-to-handle situations and scenarios that educators can relate to and may have experienced themselves. Well-intentioned, but inadequate, human responses are identified and practical ideas for handling delicate situations with dignity and respect are provided. This book will help educators develop tools and techniques to help students and staff emerge from missteps more self-aware, feeling valued, and able to move forward.
In this book, you will learn:
What it takes to cultivate a school culture in which every student and staff member feels seen and heard.
How to treat student and staff missteps as opportunities for teaching and learning based on dignity and respect.
How to build leadership capacity and culturize school pride.
The value of student-centered classrooms and school-related programs.
Look for this book to be in stock on Amazon and at connected.org on or before April1!
COMING SOON!
Disruptive Thinking in Our Classrooms: Preparing Learners for Their Future by Eric Sheninger (Available on our website and via Amazon in this month)
The premise of this book is simple, yet powerful. It’s time to future-proof learning for ALL kids. Broken into four parts, this book combines stories, insight from thousands of school visits, practical strategies, research, lessons from the pandemic, and examples from classrooms to assist educators transform their practice. The parts:
Re-thinking “normal”
Re-thinking learning
Re-thinking the learner
Re-thinking our mindset
Each chapter ends with a “Disruptive Challenge” designed to do just that: Challenge educators to disrupt in some way their current thinking or professional practices.
Critical Components of the Book:
Disruptive change is the new normal. As such, our mindset and practices must evolve to future-proof learning in ways that help students develop meaningful competencies critical for success in an unpredictable world.
Comfort is the enemy of growth. We must critically evaluate if the way things have always been done in the classroom sets learners up for success now and in the future. Improvement in all we do is a never-ended journey.
Learning is a process, not an event. It requires educators to develop and use instructional practices and pedagogical techniques that meet the unique needs of all students.
Outlier practices play a key role in the development of disruptive thinking. Some practices add value while others do not. It is up to educators to find the right blend of these strategies to empower learners.
Packed with ready to use ideas and embedded resources including the latest digital tools, templates, and artifacts from real classrooms, readers will learn:
Why a mindset shift is essential in order to prepare learners for an unpredictable world.
How to implement strategies that focus on developing critical competencies.
How to ensure equity through personalization.
What to reflect on to improve and build powerful relationships.
CONNECTEDD TAKEAWAYS
Thought for the Day: “Sixty years ago, I knew everything; now I know nothing. Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” Will Durant
Teaching Technique to Try: The Dissecting the Prompt strategy is effective to use when introducing students to a new writing assignment. By having students annotate and discuss a writing prompt, this activity gives students the time they need to decode what the prompt is asking them to think and write about. You can also use this strategy to introduce an essential question for a lesson, unit, or course. Check out this link from Facing History and Ourselves for a step-by-step process for using this technique.
Eyes On Culture: We believe that culture is a true difference maker in any classroom, school, district, or organization. As a result, we focus much of the work we do on creating and maintaining positive and productive cultures. Culture Focus: Modeling. In high performing schools with strong cultures, adults in the building do not simply tell students how to behave; they show students how to behave by modeling themselves what they expect of others--including the students they serve. Students are much more likely to follow what they see us do than what they hear us tell them to do. When we interact with our colleagues and students, we need to be an example of the behavior that we want to see in our school. What we model is what we get and in schools with positive cultures, all adults model behaviors intentionally.
Please share your thoughts about culture via Twitter: @ConnectEDDBooks We would love to hear from you!