No Brakes on Learning

While driving through downtown Raleigh this morning, I noticed a person in a blue Toyota speed through a red light. I thought, what if that person was pulled over by the police and issued a traffic violation, could that person contest the ticket based on Toyota’s recent bought of vehicle component failures? That thought led me to envisioning lesson plans and extension activities that can integrate Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion. Although tragic, this current event could be the impetus for further education and some hands-on learning.

Of Cookies and Educators

It’s Appreciation Week at my daughter’s school this week and I’ve got a batch of cookies in the oven as we ‘speak’. Maybe it’s the late hour or the delicious smell of baked goods, but I think there’s a definite connection between cookies and teaching. When you bake cookies, you have to follow the instructions (unless you’re a great baker and know all the steps by heart…unlike me…I need instructions!) and teachers give instructions that have to be followed. The simpler the instructions, the better. That makes for easy cookies and flourishing students. The right ingredients are crucial to the cookie’s taste and the right classroom ingredients, like thoughtfully designed lessons, engaging activities, the use of best practices, and skillful assessment are critical the student’s success. When combined, the instructions and the ingredients can give rise to something truly wonderful.

Linguine & Salmon

I am a horrible lunch packer. For myself anyway. My children do a great job packing their own lunch everyday, but this is task that I really need more practice in. With that said, I was thinking about how a good lunch is an important part of the day for everyone, not just children. There are a lot of websites devoted to helping parents find new and nutritious (new-tritious? Hmmmm…) lunchtime food alternatives for their children. I’ve determined the problem with most of the web recipe ideas is that many of them view children as little people who will be excited to try something new and interesting for lunch. Most adults I know don’t want ‘new and interesting’ for lunch. They want familiar and yummy. Here is a sampling of some lunch ideas for children that I found on-line today: Easy Clam Chowder, Lemon & Garlic Tiger Prawns, Lime Marinated Pink Salmon, Easy Linguine with Clams, and Slow Roasted Salmon with Cucumber Dill Sauce. Seriously? I’ve never, ever seen a child break out some Tiger Prawns in a lunchroom, or known a parent to wake up at 3am to slow roast the pink salmon for their little one’s lunchbox. As a future teacher, I feel like it’s a responsibility to model the behavior I expect from my future students so I’m going to make a concerted effort now to follow the written suggestion my wife posted on the inside of our pantry and simply pack a lunch that follows the food pyramid. I’ll save the clam chowder for dinner.

Birthday Parties & Behavior Modification

My son’s 12th birthday party was this afternoon and it was an awesome learning opportunity. 11 6th grade boys loaded up on sugar, pizza, and soft drinks and then unleashed to play laser tag and video games create a wonderful occasion to practice classroom management skills. Here are a few things I learned today:

Pre-Organize – More work performed ahead of time means less time wasted later. My wife did a great job of arranging many elements of the party days ago. That saved time today and allowed us to focus on the guests and not the details of the party.


Keep Children Busy – When people are actively involved in something, learning happens almost automatically. Standing in a long line for a round of laser tag can be a little boring. Asking the game attendant for a map of the laser tag course and then letting the boys work on a strategy for playing the game engaged them in a constructive cognitive task.


Delegate – Give people a job to do. With so many energetic boys on hand, I realized that I wouldn’t have to carry a thing to the upstairs party room. I had almost every guest carry cupcakes, coolers, or gifts. I just showed them where to go and told them to wait for me when they got there. They did a super job.


Say Thank You – I thanked every guest and his parent(s) for coming. I thanked the boys for their good behavior and noted specific instances of aforementioned good behavior. I also thanked the staff when we left. Giving thanks goes a long way.

Aspiration to Realization

This semester is a very busy one and it only gets busier as the weeks fly by. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and entertain thoughts of giving up. Sometimes I imagine spending languid evenings lazily sitting near the fireplace and thinking about how I used spend so many hours on homework. I’m to stubborn to quit though so I push on. One thing that helps me when I feel like ‘all is for naught ‘is to re-motivate and set some goals. I usually only set one goal at a time. I make the goal specific and realistic. I write it down and then break down the various steps involved in achieving this goal. Seeing this information on paper helps make the goal concrete and serves as a roadmap to guide me along the process of transforming the goal into a milestone.

Field Trips

I can remember funneling through the big yellow school bus doors and finding a seat just like it was yesterday. As a fourth grader, I walked or rode my bike to school most every day so a ride on a school bus was pretty cool. My class was going on a field trip to see the North Carolina Symphony at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. I was very excited because I planned on playing the violin in the middle school orchestra so I intended to pay particular attention to the string section. The bus driver started the bus and eased out on to the highway. Soon we were there and it was as magical as I imagined. The sights, the sounds, and the adventure of it all was so fun to me! I talked about it for days and I still think about it whenever I drive past the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts as the building is now known. Field trips certainly do create lasting memories.

They Really Are Everywhere!

Last Friday I posted about some lessons I've learned over the years. One of the items on my list was that teachable moments are everywhere. It's really true. The Winter Olympics are a huge source of inspiration for lesson plan ideas ranging from Algebra to Social Studies! Just think of the physics involved in figure skating or the need to understand the customs of the athletes by the Olympic committee as they are arranging the details of meals and lodging. The art and music of the opening ceremony alone could be studied for days! Have you ever wanted to what Newton and inertia have to do with the sport of Curling? Why not teach a lesson about it? Here's a link to get you started.

Lessons Learned

Today I was thinking about becoming a teacher after spending a long time in another line of work. I’ve accidentally learned a few things over the years that are going to benefit me as I step into the world of education.


Listen to others. They just may have a better idea than you or they might be trying to tell you something important.

Be adaptable. Each day brings new situations and new ideas that need to be explained. Not everyone receives information in the same way though, so you have to be prepared to deliver it in a way that they can understand.

Be persistent. Since I’m not a genius, I implement persistence all the time. So many things in life can be worked out by simply not giving up.

Watch out for teachable moments. They are literally EVERYWHERE!

Have a good attitude. Even on bad days, a good attitude will make you feel better and you just might make someone else who is having a bad day feel a little better.

Keeping The Hands On Knowledge

I’m reading a very interesting book now entitled Shop Class As Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work by Matthew Crawford. The book is an exploration into the enduring value of the manual trades and it’s very fascinating to me. I am a huge fan of hands-on learning and this book speaks directly to the area of my brain that is always curious about how something works and how all the parts inside it synchronize to make something happen. The first chapter in the book is called A Brief Case for the Useful Arts and it begins with this introduction:


“In schools, we create artificial learning environments for our children that they know to be contrived and undeserving of their full attention and engagement…Without the opportunity to learn through the hands, the world remains abstract, and distant, and the passions for learning will not be engaged.”

Doug Stowe, Wisdom of the Hands (blog), October 16, 2006.


My uncle is a retired educator and guidance counselor with deep connections to the vocational education that once occurred in shop classes across America. I’ve heard him speak many times about the value of creating and repairing something with your own hands. I can attest to that myself! It feels great to fix something that was broken so that it remains useful. As the few remaining shop classes in our country fade away, what are we doing to address the intelligences of the students that would have filled those class rosters?

Be Like a Palm Tree

This morning I had a quick errand to attend to in the main office of my daughter’s elementary school. I walked into the office about 2 minutes before the first bell of the day. In 120 seconds, students would fill the hallways, stairwells, sidewalks, carpool lane, and bus drop off area. As I was taking care of my business I heard an administrator letting a teacher know that she was needed outside immediately to help unload students from cars. Even though this wasn’t the teacher’s regular time to help with carpool and she most assuredly had something else to do, she professionally set her plans aside, slid into a coat and stepped outside in to the windy cold. As I left the building shortly thereafter, I saw her opening car doors and greeting students with a great big smile and lots of warm, welcoming comments. On the short walk to my truck, I thought about how important it is for teachers to be flexible. The school day is full of unexpected events and it’s critical to bend in the breeze of the unanticipated.

The 11th Standard

A few nights ago I was working on my professional growth plan as an assignment for the Classroom Organization and Management class I’m taking this semester. The growth plan involves the 10 Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) standards. There are standards for diversity, community involvement, pedagogy, student development, and so on, but, there is no standard for positivity. Of all the skills a new teacher should embody, being positive should definitely be on the top of the list. If I was tasked with writing in this ‘11th Standard’ right now, I’d phrase it like this:

Standard 11: Relentless Positivity

The teacher is a beacon for learning in the classroom and faces each aspect of the instructional day with a positive attitude and actively seeks to banish any negativity.

Key Indicators
The Candidate:

11.1 Greets each student as a welcome, beneficial member of the school community.

11.2 Faces each school day with enthusiasm and a cheerful disposition while viewing each challenge as a new oppotunity for learning.

11.3 Works with all members of administration, faculty, and staff in a way that reflects aforementioned cheerful disposition.

11.4 Energetically finds ways to spread positivity throughout the classroom through the use of kind words, smiles, encouragement, and acceptance.

11.5 Will professionally address but rise above any frustrations.

Waiting Is the Hardest Part…almost

One huge part of this final year of school before graduation is what East Carolina University calls the Senior I Internship. Last semester, my classmates and I, sent in our applications and eagerly awaited ECU’s Office of Clinical Experience to work their magic and assign us a school to intern in this semester. After what seemed like an eternity of anxious waiting, I was just recently notified of the school were I get to intern and I’m very excited to get started. Now that I know the school’s name, I just have to wait a little more until I find out what gracious teacher will allow me to spend one day each week in her classroom. I’m sure that this information will arrive soon and then I can really dive into this semester’s assignments. I once heard someone say that “The secret to patience is doing something else in the meanwhile.” I’ll try to be patient and I’ve got plenty of work to occupy myself in the meanwhile. Let the waiting begin!

Movie Night

A respite from homework is really nice, even if it is brief.  Last night I watched an inspirational movie with my family entitled Front of the Class.  It was based on the life of an educator named Brad Cohen who lives with Tourette syndrome.  The movie proved to be a fantastic conversation starter about diversity in the classroom as well as behind the teacher's desk.  If you'd like to know more about Brad Cohen and Tourette syndrome, click here.