Pay Attention to Details

My kids get sick of my saying, "Mathematicians and scientists pay attention to details!" But it's the rallying cry in our classroom.

We pay attention to details so that we can work with each other effectively.

We pay attention to details so we observe what's happening in the world.

We pay attention to details so we can hypothesize why things are happening.

We pay attention to details so we can figure out how to tackle a problem.

We pay attention to details so we can find our mistakes and then fix them.

We pay attention to details so we can learn more about topics that are our passions.

The list could go on and on.

But as I sit here in the midst of a summer that's not going quite the way I envisioned it, I wonder if I teach my kids to pay enough attention to the details of themselves. Does any teacher pay attention to their own details? Do we take good enough care of ourselves? Do we pay enough attention to the details when things don't seem right, or do we just brush them to the side and figure things will be okay?

I can definitely tell you that I was a hard core brusher. If something didn't seem right with me, I would brush it to the side. I would keep myself busy. I would ignore it. I always just figured that everything would get better, and usually it did. But over the last few years, I've been trying to take better care of myself, and rather than brushing off those little details that didn't seem quite right, I'm trying to pay more attention to them.

If I'm tired, I rest so I don't become exhausted. If I start to feel stuffy or sneezy, I take steps to keep that cold or whatever funk it might be from taking hold. That doesn't mean I'm not still a brusher, but I'm getting better at paying attention to those little details. And you should, too.

We really don't spend the time taking care of ourselves like we should. We often put everybody else ahead of us, but I'm here to say that it's time to start paying attention to YOUR details. If something doesn't feel right, trust your gut and get it checked. What are some of these details I'm talking about?

• Check your skin. If there's something that doesn't look right, have a dermatologist remove it.
• Ladies and gents, do those self exams. A lump might be nothing, or it might be something. Get it checked.
• When you hit the right age, get yourself a colonoscopy. Thanks to my family history, I've now had two. It is NOT that bad. This time around I had two high risk, precancerous polyps removed. Getting a colonoscopy is WAY easier than dealing with the cancer that could result if you don't.
• If you're having pain, it's not being weak to see a doctor and figure out where it's coming from. Nobody should have to suffer; not for a week, a month, a year, or for any time.
• Get your eyes checked. If you're playing trombone to try to read something, it's time.
• It's not just your physical body. If you're not feeling well emotionally, it's okay to talk to somebody. Talking with my amazing counselor was one of the biggest steps I took to help me heal, grow, and move on from my divorce.

I'm certainly no doctor. But I have finally realized that if we don't pay attention to our own details and take care of ourselves, we can't be good wives, husbands, friends, or teachers. So if you haven't been doing it, please take the time to pay attention to YOUR details. You are definitely worth it.

Being Told You Can't

A few years ago, I went to a music trivia night with my friend. My friend is a music junkie and has a knack for remembering songs and artists from all different genres. While I love and appreciate music and have played the clarinet since I was 9, remembering song titles and the artists who sing them isn't one of my strengths.

While I can't remember whether we won or lost that night, the one thing that has stuck with me for four years is how I felt. My partner, my friend, discounted my answers, she used her own because I didn't know what I was talking about, and she made me feel bad when we did use my answers and they were incorrect. I can't remember the exact words she used, but that feeling has kept me from attending other music trivia nights on purpose. And even when I did happen to be in an establishment when one was going on I didn't participate at all or try very hard if I did participate because I knew I was really bad at it.

Hellllllooooooo, fixed mindset.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when we accidentally ended up at a music trivia night with friends. We joined in, but in my head I was thinking, "I really suck at this." To my surprise, I helped get a few of the answers. Go me! We went back last week, and I managed to get a few more correct answers. Last night...... let me tell you about last night. I'm not one to brag, but I kicked butt last night, particularly in the "Mash Up" round. The object of the round was to name the two songs that were mixed together and the two artists. I was also able to get the "Final Jeopardy" round as well. My team didn't win, but it didn't matter. The feeling I felt was (and still is) hard to put into words. After four years of believing I was a failure, I was successful! I felt like I was an important asset to my team! I had accomplished something I didn't think I could do!

How many times do our words and our actions make our kids feel like I have felt for the last four years?

We constantly "tell" our kids that they are "bad readers" by making them go to clinics to do more reading.
We don't give them a chance to fix mistakes on tests, leading them to believe that mistakes are bad and they aren't good enough.
We keep them in from recess to review information they didn't understand on a test.
We consistently look for areas of weaknesses and plan our instruction around that.

I know this list is just a tip of the iceberg, and I know that 99% of these actions are either products of the system or just how schools work. But despite the fact that we do not mean to make kids feel like they are failures, how often do we do just that? How often do we focus on what kids can't do instead of focusing on what they can do.

This is something I have thought about often, and I may have even written about it here before. But it never really impacted me so personally until last night. I know that there are things that I cannot change, but I need to do my best to find all of the things that I can change. For four years, I felt like a failure at something simply because of what another person did, and I need to make sure that I am never that person for any of my students.

Learning at the Franklin

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity, thanks to our local intermediate unit and a STEM grant they received, to attend a professional development session at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The official title of the session was Demystifying Maker Spaces at the Franklin Institute, and I was completely stoked to have the opportunity to learn at the museum since I had never actually been there.

I went in having a lot of preconceived ideas about what the day would be about, and the biggest one was that we would be taking a look at how to set up a special space, the materials we need, and the things that the kids would create while they were there. I was also looking forward to seeing how the instructors connected this idea of a makers space in a museum with something that I could actually do back at school.

Boy was I wrong.

The day ended up being a big affirmation of what I've already been doing in our classroom during our clinic time, but I've been calling it Genius Hour. Imagine my surprise when the instructor even started the hands on part of our learning exactly the same way I start clinic with my kids: by showing Caine's Arcade! After watching the video and brainstorming everything we knew about different type of arcade games, we were split into groups. Each group was assigned to a different part of the museum, and our mission was to use that section of the museum to inspire our own arcade game. My group was assigned to Space Command, and we were off to see what we could find. We ended up with Solar System Shootout, and it was a lot of fun to create the project.

Each planet was worth a different amount of points based on its size

Once again, while getting the affirmation that I was on the right track was great, I wondered what new learning I would end up getting that I didn't bring with me on the bus. But as I reflect back on the day I realize that the experience gave me a lot to think about.

First, I was reminded once again that how you group kids (or adults) is extremely important. We were assigned to groups randomly with a dot on our name tags. While my group of 3 worked well together, I don't think we were comfortable enough with each other to have challenging discussions. I also was a little disappointed that my teammates weren't as eager to explore the museum after we finished in our assigned section as I was. Once again, I realized the importance of establishing a strong community in my classroom before jumping into projects like this.

Second, I learned how to be a more effective facilitator for my kids. This past year I played more of a hands off role, observing and helping when kids asked for help. Now I know that in order for the kids to be hands on and minds on, I need to be more active by following four steps:

• Asking opening ended questions: Why did you do that? What were you thinking? Why do you think that happened? Would you change anything? What challenges did you experience? What were your successes? 
• Encourage critical thinking - asking the open ended questions forces the kids to think critically and allows me to see the learning they need or they are getting
• Cultivate a rich dialogue - giving individuals or groups the opportunity to share their ideas WHILE they are working, instead of just when they are finished, allows for kids to practice discussions, making suggestions, and accepting constructive criticism
• Make connections - showing kids how their actions are like the work of real scientists or other workers in the real world

While I was thrilled to learn how to be a better facilitator, there was one other quote that really stuck with me. 

A makers space isn't so much a place or a thing that you make. It's a mindset that you have.

Let that sink in a second. Learning can be informal. The kids can direct the learning. The process is more important than the product. Reflection is important. There are multiple ways to solve a problem. It's okay to fail. We can learn a lot by listening to each other. 

We've been so worried about having a special room and finding the right materials, but really, it's not about that at all. The key to a makers space is all about having a different mindset. And thanks to my learning, I'm excited to continue to grow this mindset in my classroom.

Too Much Time on My Hands

If you're not already singing this, then clearly you aren't nearly as old as I am. Or maybe it's just that you haven't heard the magic of Styx. Either way, let's start off with a little music to get your toes tapping!

You can thank me later for that ear worm.

But seriously, having a lot of time on your hands can be a blessing or a curse. For me it's been a blessing because I'm doing a ton of reading and learning since the whole broken foot thing has the rest of my activities relatively limited. I have a little notebook where I've been taking notes on all of the great ideas I've learned in books, from blog posts, and from Twitter. My mind is racing with all of these ideas and resources and how they might look in my classroom this coming year.

But all of that learning can also be a curse. Because let's be honest. Once I learn something and get excited about it, then of COURSE I need implement it in my classroom. Anything else would be a waste of all of that wonderful learning. But today, I had a little aha moment as I was thinking about all of the things that I already have written in my notebook and all of the ideas racing around in my mind.

I can't do it all.

If I try to do it all, I am going to feel like I'm not doing anything well.

If I try to do it all, I'm going to feel like I'm failing.

If I try to do it all, I'm going to give up.

I'm not sure if any of you are like me, but this is a pretty big realization. I tend to push myself -- okay, I push myself, and I'm super hard on myself when I don't think I'm doing things the way I believe they should be done. So putting the brakes on today was a pretty huge step for me, and now I need to think about my new learnings through a different lens. I'm thinking about what exactly will be happening this year:

1. I know that I am going to have a cart of Chromebooks for my classroom to begin piloting our 1:1 program.

2. I know that I started dabbling in the station rotation model at the end of last school year, and I loved how it felt. 

3. I know that I am expected to start using Schoology in preparation to teach my colleagues how to use it as we move to a 1:1 school.

Just those three things are a monumental task for one school year because within the idea of the 1:1 program and the personalized learning that comes with the station rotation model, there are lots of activities to adjust and technology to learn. Rather than continuing to pile on the new learnings and new ideas, I really need to focus on being successful (or failing forward) with these three things so that I can reach my goal for student success and personalized learning and help my colleagues feel confident and successful as they begin to implement personalized learning in their classrooms.

I hope if you have too much time on your hands this summer that you learn many wonderful things, but you remember that you don't have to do all of them in your classroom. Being really successful with one or two meaningful changes can make a much bigger impact than trying to do a lot of things halfway.

Focus On the Positives

Have you ever noticed that, for some reason, we focus way more on the negatives than the positives? This is an image that I've seen a few different times, and it always impacts me the same way.



That's me. I've been there. Often.

We focus on the traffic lights that turn red instead as we approach them instead of cheering for the lights that turn green or are green during our trip.

We grumble about the long line at the grocery store, but we don't cheer when the cashier opens their register and asks if they can help us.

We become impatient when we have to wait on hold, but we don't cheer when somebody answers our call almost immediately.

We get annoyed when the dogs stay out and putz around when we're in a hurry, but we don't cheer them on as much as we should when they come right away when we call.

We are sad when one person forgets our birthday, even when 175 others take the time out of their day to acknowledge us.

We make our kids spend extra time on things they don't do well at, like reading, instead of letting them participate in activities like band or orchestra where they excel.

At some point we need to start cheering for the good things, no matter how small.

At some point we need to be thankful for all that we have that is good.

At some point we need to focus on kids' (and adults') strengths and not on their weaknesses.

At some point we need to focus on the positives because those are all of the good things that make life special.