A Teacher’s Friday Night…
students
“I don’t know what to write…”
I get this complaint from at least one student a day when we do our timed writing. I learned this exercise from Natalie Goldberg. Write for five (or ten or fifteen) minutes straight. The only rule is that you don’t ever let your pencil stop. Just write. No censorship.
In my classroom, students write to a prompt. For example, “What makes a good life?” And then they write. This develops a strong writing voice over time.
Of course, as with anything else in life, you must do it regularly and give it 100% each time. You will improve. Yes, you’ll write a lot of crap. But any successful person has created a lot of crap and then a few golden nuggets…
Try it!
When Your Past Comes Back to…
We were walking on our daughter’s high school campus during Open House. The schedule was set up as a truncated school day: we were to follow the students’ schedules and meet each teacher for six minutes. We were given five minutes between each class. Willey and I were a bit overwhelmed and we realized how Josie (our first high school child) must have felt on her first day: the buildings so far apart, the time to get to each so limited. It was also over 100 degrees outside, even though it was 6pm.
“Mrs. Chung-Wipff?”
I turned around. I didn’t see anyone I recognized. A petite “helper” student walked toward me. (The high school had arranged to have some juniors and seniors assist parents). I searched the girl’s face. And suddenly, I recognized her. Same cute nose and adorable freckles.
I taught Taryn second and third grade. It was the only time I looped in teaching, carrying my entire class over to a second year. It was over eight years ago. When I said goodbye to that class, it felt like I was saying goodbye to my own children. One girl, Taryn, was moving to Utah. She had an angel face and greeted me every day with an enormous smile and the best attitude! She – and the others – made me a better teacher. She and I wept together on the last day of school. I was surprised at the amount of emotion we had. I was going to miss her so much!
And here she was!
I can’t believe she remembers me, I thought. As if she could read my mind, she said, “I can’t believe you remember me, after teaching so many kids!”
No matter what your profession, you must realize that your kindness, love and attention mean the world to someone in your life. It can affect others for years to come, you just never know.
Um, Are You SURE?
Today was the first day of school!
For their time capsule, I had students answer some questions about personal preference and their current lives. They always get a kick out of their answers when they get their papers back in May.
One of the most telling signs regarding success in class is their answer to this prompt:
My personal goals for this year are:
By “personal,” I mean goals that are not school-related. “Maybe you want to run a 9 minute mile, or wake up at 6am each day….or stop eating so much junk food,” I offer.
Here are some examples of what I received. Which student(s) do you think will do well this year?
What Do You Want?
Summer school students
yawning, with heads on their desks
Why are you here?
To get smart!
College – what is that?
Listen – you can be whatever you want to be
You can do it!
But you must work hard
Now, write down what you want to be
Dream Big!
Mrs. Wipff, how do you spell….
(a list of jobs shouted out)
I write them down
There. You can be successful,
but you need strong math skills
you need to work hard
it’s all up to you
For the rest of the day, I call on
the doctor, the engineer, and the mechanic
(oh, the teacher and the artist, too)
they smile with their new monikers
they work hard on this hot summer day
Academy Awards Night
Tonight, our school, the Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies, will recognize award winners.
Students grades 4 – 8 will receive a plaque or a certificate or a trophy for Perfect Attendance, Honor Roll (GPA) and outstanding work in extracurricular activities.
It’s a night to publicly celebrate hard work and dedication.
Students who earn these awards do so because they push themselves consistently. They work hard every day and they reach their self-made goals because they want to do their best all the time. Some may do it for their parents or for the recognition. Others do it because seeing anything but an “A” on their report card means “all is well” or “I’m OK.”
Recognizing your hard work and appreciating excellent work is important.
However, ribbons, plaques and trophies are extrinsic motivators. Intrinsic rewards are the most powerful and enduring of all motivators. Do it because you love it. Some of our most famous and beloved actors* worked for decades before winning the other Academy Award:
Humphrey Bogart
Paul Newman
John Wayne
Judi Dench
Martin Scorsese
Morgan Freeman
Henry Fonda
Jessica Tandy
Before, during and after receiving their awards, they worked dutifully to perfect their craft.
I Get to Teach Amazing Children
One of the writing prompts to my students last week: Think of something you must do. Maybe you have to do a chore. Now, put it in a sentence. For example, “I have to take out the garbage.” Make it a true sentence. Now, replace the words “have to” with “get to.” Do you see or feel a difference?
One of my fifth graders wrote this:
“I have to do the dishes. I GET to do the dishes. I have food I get to clean off the dishes. I ate food with my family last night. My dad, my stepmom, my brother and I talked and laughed and ate food and then I got to clean the food off the plates. I am really lucky because I have food to eat. I have a family to love. And I get to do the dishes.”
Come Again…?
On the heels of Thanksgiving, I thought I’d share what one of my students learned after a few weeks of discussion and study about English settlements.
Before I do – just so you know – most of my students got this answer correct (yes, I’m deflecting responsibility for this student’s response). The correct answer: Pilgrims, Separatists. I can only surmise this student did not study and was probably doodling or talking to a neighbor instead of listening.
Put That Thing Away!
Weeks ago, I came home from work to find my daughters completely immersed in “screen time.”
Screen time is commonly known as time spent on any electronic: TV, computers, tablets, hand held video games and even cell phones.
Josie, (aka Instagram Queen), was on my iPad scrolling and commenting on various pictures. Scroll, comment, scroll, comment. Ava was on her laptop watching YouTube videos of past and present winners of The Voice. They hardly looked up as I put my things away, changed my clothes and started dinner. I asked them how their day was, what happened in school…and they responded with grunts and monosyllabic answers: “Good, fine….” I noticed that I had to nudge and then nag them to practice violin, something they used to do more willingly.
So I made a decision. With husband’s agreement (it won’t work if only one parent is enforcing it), I decided to confiscate and hide all electronics until violin practice and homework had been completed. Do you know how hard it is to hide an 84″ flat screen TV? It worked. Ava completed her homework and violin practice and then played catch with Opal in the street. Josie completed all of her work and then picked up dog poo from the backyard! They conversed with me and I learned that Ava is very fond of her new friends Lucy and Caroline at school and Josie is frustrated that her math went from an A to a B.
Ahhhhhh! I had my family back! It felt mean and terrible to do, but I’m their mother, not their friend. I cannot allow them to become Screen Time Zombies in lieu of communicative students and daughters. I encourage you to try this, at the very least, put pass codes on your devices (I did!) and don’t allow them screen time until the work is done.
The Mother Land
Recently, I discovered that Korean refugees from North Korea are actually discriminated against in South Korea!
I couldn’t believe it. Where is the humanity? The abuse and absolute horrific treatment of North Korean civilians by their government is well-known so why would South Koreans greet them with anything but open arms? It’s clear that education and empathy are absent.
Enter an amazing South Korean TV program called, “Now On My Way to Meet You.” It’s an example of using media as a powerful medium for positive social change. The program first aired December of 2011 and, despite the tagline which alludes to “North Korean Beauties,” it does anything but objectify these escapees. You can read more about it and watch a clip here: Cari’s Blog. Basically, these women play games, laugh and recount their stories of life in North Korea for an enormous South Korean audience. The result? An empathetic reaction where South Koreans are understanding and seeing these women as people. The culture is slowly evolving into a supportive, loving one towards their sisters and brothers.
I have numerous cousins, aunts and uncles who live in South Korea and I have visited the country three times. In 1999, I was there for two months on an NSF research grant and I fell in love with the land and people. As news of the ferry disaster unfolded, there was a collective sigh of exasperation, shock, and anger all around me. How could this happen? The students were told to stay put? Why?!
If my father had not decided to immigrate to the United States, I could have been born and raised in South Korea. In fact, if that had happened, I would likely have been married with children a bit earlier (and who knows?) I could have had a high school student on the ill-fated Sewol ferry and be mourning his/her death right now. These connections and possibilities only make me ponder our roles in life. I’m a teacher and I’m proud of it because I can actually impact 32 young people per year. But… can I do more? The producer of “On My Way to Meet You” has created such a critical solution to an enormous problem. What if we all stopped asking why and started asking how? HOW can I help this situation? I think it’s a powerful question.
Kismet 