Eighth dispostitional blog: Damaged Goods

"...And the worst part is that most of you never meant to hurt us. You probably don’t even remember making fun of us. Every time you rolled your eyes as we passed you in the hall, snickered at our attempts to win your approval, or made us the butt of a joke, you may have believed it was all in good fun. And when you see us today at the mall or the grocery store, you smile and make small talk, unaware of the damage you’ve done. The bully never remembers. The outcast never forgets."

This was said by a speaker who came to share her bullying testimony with the Decorah community; her name was Jodee Blaco.  What Blanco went through in her education years - the bullying and loneliness she expressed in her story - was one of the most depressing things i have listened to in my twenty years of living. 

Today, Jodee explains, bullying is becoming more and more of a problem in our society.  Here are some facts about this recent rise; the come from the American Justice Department.

• 1 out of 4 kids is Bullied. 
• Surveys Show That  77%  of students are bullied mentally, verbally, & physically.
• In a recent study, 77% of the students said they had been bullied. And 14% of those who were bullied said they experienced severe (bad) reactions to the abuse.
• 1 out of 5 kids admits to being a bully, or doing some "Bullying."
• 8% of students miss 1 day of class per month for fear of Bullies.
• 43% fear harassment in the bathroom at school.
• 100,000 students carry a gun to school.
• 28% of youths who carry weapons have witnessed violence at home.
• A poll of teens ages 12-17 proved that they think violence increased at their schools.
• 282,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month.
• More youth violence occurs on school grounds as opposed to on the way to school.
• Playground statistics - Every 7 minutes a child is bullied. Adult intervention - 4%. Peer intervention - 11%. No intervention - 85%

One of the things she said that really spoke to me was the in the story of how when she was looking for a place to sit at in the lunchroom, no one would offer her to join their table; this forced her to go to table to table asking - begging - people if she could join them.  What she said was that bullying is not just the act of putting someone down, of making fun of them; it is also the act of not helping them - the act of being simply a spectator.  bullying is more than saying the joke, it is also laughing along with the joke without standing up and saying 'enough.' 

I feel like I especially do that a lot; I laugh when im not suppose to.  Most of the time I laugh because other people are laughing, and i laugh when i hear laughter - no matter the amount of humor i find it.  And thats probably not the nicest thing to do, given that it adds to the amount of laughter the person being bullied hears.

I guess what it comes down to is this: good parenting.  If a child learns whats nice and whats not nice from his parents - and punished when he chooses the latter, than less kids are likely to become bullies. 

'Bully' is such a negative word; no one wants to be called a bully.  But in reality, we all do something to someone in which could be considered bully-like.  What we as individuals need to do is minimize such instances. 

Seventh dispostitional blog: Whats a book?

I was browsing facebook today.  And I saw a notification from someone who I haven't talked to since high school.  I didn't realize he had a facebook page, so I clicked on his page to see what he's been up to in the two years of my graduation.

I came across his information - the place where he lists his favorite activities, interests, music, etc.  Activities:  partying.  fair enough; I already knew that.  Music:  AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, etc.  okay; I can see him read that genre of music.  Favorite books: nothing.

In fact, when asked about his favorite books, his response was:

'Whats a book?'

What's a book?  Is this a joke?  Everyone knows what a book is; and everyone has their favorite book.  It wasn't that he honestly did not know what a book was, it was that it has become cool to not have a favorite book.  In fact, being smart has become uncool.

What the?  When did this happen?  When did being educated become something that was frowned upon?  Sadly, its happening.  Girls pretend to be 'ditsy' or 'blond' for popularity.  Libraries need new campaigns to draw in today's youth into their doors.  People who are well known are put on posters where they seem to be reading.  All for the hope of making reading and education seem 'cool'. 

I've been thinking a lot about the blessings America has.  Its hard to imagine living anywhere else and have to struggle for things that we Americans take for granted.  For example,  I read somewhere that families in America spend more on trash bags than half of the world's nations spend on all goods.  More trash bags than food, water, clothing, shelter.  Combined.  We spend more on things whose soul use is to be thrown away than half of all nations spend on necessities.

We take education for granted here, too.  Recently, I came across an interesting video on TED.  This man, Sugata Mitra, did an experiment in which he put a computer in the slums of India where the children can use it whenever they wanted to.  Many of them, living in the slums, had no idea what a computer or internet was.  But as Mitra observed them, the children became more and more knowledgeable and curious and eager to learn.

One example he shares is particularly impressive to me.  He gives a couple of Indian girls a computer with sound recognition technology and the task of being able to talk in such a way that the computer knew what they were saying.  They tried it for the first time.  Obviously, them speaking their native language and the computer set to recognize English, it didn't work.  But over the next few weeks and months, the Indian girls worked on it; finally they were able to not only speak in such a way for the computer to know what they were saying, but learned how to speak English in the process.

English.  They learned a new language.  Because of computer and the desire to accomplish the task.

I doubt that, if you did the same sort of experiment in any inner city of America, you would get the same result.  It's because we take our education for granted.  We don't try.  We don't care. 

What's a book?
how about, Whats wrong with reading?

Sixth dispostitional blog: CREATIVITY

How do we encourage, teach and reward creativity and imagination in our schools?  How important is creativity as a skill for the 21st century?

 I've been watching a lot of TED videos lately; and I really like a couple by a man named Ken Robinson.  In such videos, he talks about how public schools are destroying creativity.  He then uses several stories and example of why he believes this.  Here is one such story.

Meet Gillian Lynne - one of the world's best and well known choreographer.  She is the person behind Cats and Phantom of the Opera, two of Broadway's best plays.  When she was younger, Miss Lynne would fidget in school.  And like most teachers back then - and still today - her teacher would command her to stop.  It became so much of a problem, in fact, that not only did she have trouble in school, but her mother took her to a doctor to see what was 'wrong' with her.  Of course there was nothing wrong; Gillian Lynne just liked to fidget.  At the doctor's office, the doctor took the mother into the hallway to talk with her privately, leaving Gillian in the room by herself.

The doctor turned on the radio while leaving the room, however.  And while in the hallway, the doctor and the mother looked inside and saw Gillian dancing.  "There is nothing wrong with Gillian," the doctor said, "Gillan is a dancer; take her to a dancing school."

Today, as Robinson pointed out, Gillain would be diagnosed with ADHD.   Thats not the problem; the problem is not a disease in which our kids need a diagnosis. 

The problem is the lack of creativity being taught in schools - how kids are not encouraged to develop their talents and their creativity.  Most schools today produce cloned students: all taught the same thing, all having the same opinion.  The problem is how our school has become like a factory producing machine-like students ready to take on a world in which students that can think, process, and change on their own is desired. 

Which brings us back to Gillian Lynne.  Her teachers did not want her to move; they wanted her to sit still and be like the other students.  But thats not what she was - she was and is obviously a dancer.  Yet schools did not want her to develop her creativity or to search for what makes her happy. 

Ken Robinson said, "Human resources [like creativity and natural talents] are like natural resources; they're often buried deep.  You have to go looking for them."  Our current education system does not dig deep enough for this.  This is a problem.  Education is teaching our students for a world in which we have no idea what is to come.  We dont know what kids would need to prepare themselves for the next fifty plus years, and yet we somehow have to make sure they are ready for it.  What we can give them is such skills as problem solving and creativity - skills that will allow them to not only change with tide of the future, but also to find their true talents and love what they're doing.

So; how do we encourage, teach and reward creativity and imagination in our schools?  In our current setup, we can't; our school system is not designed to teach kids to think 'outside the box.'  We don't need to tweek here and change there.  We can't do with only a reformation; our school systems need a transformation - a revolution of creativity. 

Abraham Lincoln once said to Congress, "The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."  As future teachers, we must let go of the out-of-date lesson skills that we grew up with; we must learn to think and act with a fresh set of mind in hopes of creating an atmosphere in which our students can dig deep within themselves to find their talents.  We must rise to the occasion.

Bring on the Revolution.  

Fifth dispositional blog: REFLECTIVENESS

Why do most teachers and students find it so hard to reflect?  Why do some people consider reflection to be the heart of the teaching process?  When and how do you reflect most effectively?

To begin this blog, I would like to start out with a quote from the latest book I am reading; The Global Achievement Gap, by Tony Wagner.  It is as follows:

"The majority of my years in the corporate world have been in sales.  When you're in sales and marketing environment, it's really important that you understand your customer.  I've found that the best way to understand people is to ask questions.  I ask questions all day long.  If I ask the right questions, I get information that allows me to be more successful in a variety of ways.  If I'm talking to customers, I'm more successful because I understand their business and their needs.  I understand their perspective on a problem that has to be solved.  If I'm dealing with employees and I ask questions, I understand how they think, where they're coming from as they try to solve a problem, what they've done so far to address an issue.  So it really comes down to how well you ask questions" (Wagner, pg. 5).

This quote came from a woman named Christy Pedra; she is the CEO of Siemans Hearing Instruments - one of the largest hearing-instrument manufacturers in the world.  She was talking about how - in order to ensure that she is being the best CEO possible and that she is giving her customers exactly what they want - she asks questions.  These questions allow her to get to know her customers and employers better; how they learn, how they approach a problem, etc.  The better she is able to do this, the more effective and prepared she will be for her job. 

In this sense, I believe teachers are a lot alike.  We have to ask our students questions to get on the same page with them; we must know how they learn that way we'd be able to compensate.  One of my English teachers did this.  On the first day of class, she had us fill out some questions pertaining to our learning habits;  she said she would use this information to decide what would be the best way to teach the class - E.g., if the class was overall more visual learner, she would incorporate more visual aspects in her lessons. 

"I'm more successful because I understand their business and their needs.  I understand their perspective on a problem that has to be solved."  This quote explains why teachers must reflect on how they're teaching their students.  They must know how their students are learning; they must realize why a student is making the mistake that they're making.  That's why being a reflective teacher is so important.

Fourth Dispositional Blog: FINLAND vs. AMERICA

Dear Blog Reader, 

Hello.  Instead of talking about Passion like Professor Langholz suggested, I chose to talk about something different.  Recently, I came across a video explaining why Finland schools rock compared to the ones in America; I would like to take this opportunity to inform you about it as well.  In conclusion, do not be alarmed that this blog has nothing to do with passion.  

sincerely,
Matthew Dalthorp

I saw this video the other day; it was really interesting.  Pretty much, the video talks about the Finish school system as it follows this one family's kids for a day.  Here it is:

 

In conclusion, Finland schools are all about two things:  Relaxation and trust. 

Students are encouraged to relax; they take off their shoes, call their teacher by his/her first name, and usually have the same teacher their entire career.  Furthermore, there are more than one teacher in a classroom, allowing children to get more help.  As they said in the video, "learning is more of a team game; the best and worst pupils in any subject are taught together."

Trust.  The teachers trust the students; they show this trust by allowing students to go on cross-country ski trips...without adult supervision.  Furthermore, politicians stay out of the way.  They trust the principal and know that he/she will get results their own way.  They don't need to be told how to do their job.  Autonomy. 

Finish students spend the least amount of time in a classroom.  Yet they yield the best results.  Why?  Probably because they enjoy being there.  Because going to school isn't something that they dread - its something that they enjoy.  Autonomy.  Intrinsic learning.  All that jazz. 

I just don't get why the United States of America can't be more like this.  Clearly what Finland is doing is working.  At the end of the video, a person mentions that Finland - unlike America - is homogeneous, allowing them to do things differently because they don't have to deal with poverty and ESL students.  Although I agree that Finland does not have these problems to worry about, I still don't see any reason as to why American schools cannot learn something from them.  Schools work better when students relax and have fun; they perform better when government doesn't create requirements; they educate better when they're not cooped up in a classroom all day. 

I heard something that I think fits here nicely.  If you take a doctor from 100 years ago and put him in today's ER room, he would be completely lost and wouldn't know what to do.  If you take a teacher from 100 years ago, however, and put them in today's classroom, they don't skip a beat.  American schools haven't changed much in the last century.  It isn't any wonder that we're getting passed in education scores by other countries - they've changed their education system to go with the times.  Why can't America do the same...?

Finland: 1
America: 0

Third Dispositional Blog: AUTHENTICITY

How do you know where your limits are for expressing authenticity?  How can students tell if a teacher is not authentic?  What are the ramifications for learning if a teacher is seen as a 'fake' or not authentic with students?

Teachers who are fake - who try to 'wing' it - are the worst.  That's one of my pet peeves about certain  teachers - those who know that what they are teaching the student does not matter, and yet try to spin this creative, inspiring tale of how their material will change our lives.  It won't change our lives...unless we're learning first aid in health class. 

Students should be able to ask the question, "Why are we learning this? How is this going to better help my life?" and get a legit answer.  I remember several times when I was making my way through secondary education in which classmates would ask such questions; and instead of getting a worthy response - or even an attempt to explain why or how - the students were told just to be quiet and do their work.  How is this encouraging the student?  How is this motivating?  Who hears the response, "dont worry about it...just do your homework" and wants to do their work?  No one.

I feel like a lot of times in these blogs I make my former teachers seem like the bad guys.  They're not really; i just feel like some of them could have tried harder in trying to motivate me in doing my homework.  The response of 'do your work' or 'this will help you in the future because you'll learn that not everything you have to do is something you'll like' simply does not work. 

Students, I believe, want to know the answers to questions concerning how today's homework will make tomorrow's task easier.  Daniel Pink discusses this problem in his book Drive.  He said that when giving teachers are giving homework to their students, they must do so in a way where the students have both autonomy and purpose.  He even listed off a checklist for the teachers; they are suppose to ask themselves these questions before handing out assignments:

• Am I offering students any autonomy over how and when to do this work?
• Does this assignment promote mastery by offering a novel, engaging task (as opposed to rote reformulation of something already covered in class)
• Do my students understand the purpose of this assignment?  That is, can they see how doing this addtional activity at home contributes to the larger enterprise in wich the calss is engaged?

The homework must have purpose; teachers must be able to answer how this is relevant, how this will help down the road.  If they cannot answer those things, something must be changed.  And that doesnt mean spin off some fantasy tale about how this would help in the future - that means changing the lesson plan.  Students can detect spun fables of hopeless purpose like sharks can detect blood in water.  And when they sense a lie, they don't want to do the homework.  They start to think the teacher is fake.  And students hate teachers who are fake.

Second Dispostional Blog: COMPASSION

When did the compassion of a teacher make a difference in your life or in the life of your classmate?

I think of compassionate teachers, and I think of those found in movies like, "Freedom Diaries."  Teachers who went so far beyond the call and duty of their job that they would take up two, three jobs to pay for new books for the students to read.  Ones that would care for their students so much that they would drive them home after school because they lived so far away.

Alas, such teachers don't usually happen; I have to seek less noticeable examples of compassion from my teachers. 

When I think of a time when one of my teachers has been compassionate, I think of my English teacher in high school.  She was a rather young teacher - less than ten years old than the students she was teaching.  What made her so compassionate, though, was her ability to connect with her students and become more of a friend and mentor to them.  Being so young, my English teacher knew what conflits high school teenagers were facing; she graduated from the same school and thus knew which teachers were liked or disliked and why.  She gave good advice for any situation, whether it'd be a question about grammar or about real life conflicts.

And she worked so hard at her job, too.  She was involved in everything - she worked at sport activities, running the scoreboard for both basketball and volleyball; she helped with the drama team; she was one of the coaches for the speech team; she helped with drama; she accompanied the choir during concerts.  The list goes on.  She helped out everywhere. 

As a student, you can't help but come to appreciate such a teacher.  Her care for her students was something that was noticable; her compassion for her job was something that was inspiring.  In conclusion, by her endless efforts and her unending show of compassion, she made school a better place.  She has made an impact on my life simply because I enjoyed being in her classroom, trying to better my writing skills.  Without such a teacher, who knows how much I - and other students in her classes - would have enjoyed school. 

That is compassion.  When the care you show your kids change their attitude on school.