What I have learned Part 8: If you don't love what you are doing.... do something else

I love this little clip. Every time I watch it I go back and examined my own teaching practices. Sometimes I catch myself falling into the some of these patterns. It's easy to stand in front of a class and yap, hand out worksheets and "teach the same thing 25 times". It reminds me of Dr. Seuss' "Oh, The Places You'll Go". Especially the following quote:

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.
No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Like the poem says,  I'm just not content with doing things that don't excite me any more. I want to try new things. This is one of the reasons I started the Digital Immersion Program at Riverside. I didn't want to be a "teacher" in the traditional sense. I wanted to be the "lead learner" among a group of inquisitive people. It's like Dufour's community of learners but with students as the primary inquiry group.

During this process, admin, parents, students and other teachers were are all very supportive and eager to join in. I think it helped revitalize some of them as well. The support is there... but you need to try/ask/beg to do what you love to do.

Passion, perseverance and planning will go a long way :)

Ten things I have learned Part 7: No surprises

Jim Nelson taught me one of the greatest lessons for a teacher: People don't like being surprised. He would give examples of how simple problems had been blown out of proportion because one party hadn't talked to another. In fact, I think he actually wrote a song about it :)

My beef with  teachers, parents and kids is: in today's social world, what excuse is there for not finding someway to communicate with each other? We can use Twitter, Engrade, email, BBM, text, phone and god forbid face to face :) Set up a distribution list with parent emails... have your students create a class newsletter of upcoming events in your class (When tests are, showcases of student work, etc...), give our your twitter handle at meet the creature night :)

No one likes to know on the last day of classes that their son or daughter is failing. Kids are often to ashamed (or in my case, too delusional) to tell mom and dad about poor performance. If you want to stop all 90% of your issues with parents... just communicate better.

10 things I have learned part 6: Be prepared for ups and downs

Education is a funny business. It's almost like American politics ...polarized opinions, big personalities and a pendulum that swings back and forth. Teachers are often caught in the middle of this maelstrom, being pulled on all sides by parents, kids, unions, employers, administration and society. One of the hardest jobs teachers have is walking that fine line of doing whats best for students without being pulled 6 ways from Sunday.

Like everyone else, my career has been full of ups and downs. Here's the kicker though... what I thought at the time were the worst things to happen to me during my tenure, turned out to be the best. How can that be, you say? Well... gather round the campfire and let me tell you a tale :)

Example 1: The Rolling Stones "you can't always get what you want" theorem


I wanted to stay at Charles Best Secondary school so bad. It was my home. I loved the staff, students and courses I was teaching. But the lay-off/recall process had other plans for me... after a summer of waiting and uncertainty, I ended up at Riverside with @jdaskew08. I was miserable at first (and not just because I had to work with Askew... though that is reason enough! =D). I tried to get back to Charles Best the next year...but it didn't work out. Then things started happening... I met @chrkennedy and Scott Robinson. I started taking leadership roles, mentoring kids, taking on student teachers and becoming a part of the school. If I went back, I doubt I would be the person I am today. The lesson? Thank God for unanswered prayers.

Example 2: Solidarity forever - and the happy, unintended consequences.

October 2005 - I had just bought my first place and the day of my first mortgage payment we went on strike. For two weeks we walked the line and it was the best thing that ever happened to our school. Now don't get me wrong, I rather had been teaching. I am not a huge fan of the BCTF (I do love my local, they do a lot of great work for the teachers in our district) but we were getting the shaft at that time. So, like everyone else I walked. Something funny stated to happen as that strike dragged on... we became tighter as a staff. We sang songs, shared stories, ate hot dogs (thanks Ron), talked to parents and kids, waved at cars, got eggs thrown at us & flipped off, hugged & kissed and everything in between. The Lesson? Unifying moments often come at the worst of times.

Just like in your private life, the universe will throw curve balls at you. Look for the unexpected joys and happy surprises that the ups and downs of life as a teacher can bring :)

Oh and BTW to all you new teachers reading this... there will be days. Days when you walk out to the parking lot, get in your car and start smashing your head on the steering wheel. You'll lement about your choice in becoming a teacher... we all have. But remember this: there will be days when you walk out of that building like you are walking on cloud 9 because you just made a HUGE impact in a child's life. And that is what makes teaching the best job in the world.

Ten things I have learned Part 5: Correct and Reflect

Writing this series on the "10 things I have learned over the past 10 years" has really become a reflective process for me. More and more, I find that I am writing these posts not only to the next generation of teachers but to a 27 year old me as well. Speaking of reflection, this post is about realizing that we are human and we are going to make mistakes. Along with those mistakes will come a correction and hopefully reflection.

"Have you ever failed a class?" I ask this question all the time. I ask it to my students, colleagues, friends, relatives, strangers on the street... everyone. Why? Because I think it is says a lot about who a person is. Let's get this out in the open right now... I was a horrible student and I failed more than my share of classes (I wish I could find and show you my grade 9 report card...terrifying). "OMG" you'd say, "How can you be a teacher?" Well firstly, I didn't fail everything and secondly I did learn from my mistakes. Most importantly, my parents never gave up on me, there was a pretty wicked punishment (threats of having to go to private school + the mother of all groundings) and I grew up. The big one for me was the final piece of the puzzle, reflection.

Now, I'm not talking the SFU model of sitting around in a circle, banging a bongo drum and writing in a journal about my feelings of the day. For me, reflection means soul searching, realization and a commitment to to do better.

Flash forward 20+ years. I still make mistakes all the time. Ask my students... I spelled "wet" as "whet" last year. My crowning achievement was mixing up pronouncing sequence and sequins during a study group discussion. My use of a "number sequins" wasn't correct apparently and to which Scott Robinson is still mocking me with photos! <----

I still get in trouble for shooting my mouth, picking battles I don't need too, not letting things go, being a spaz... you know, all those things that make me Browner. But I make less of those mistakes now, I check my ego at the door more often and I still reflect everyday on the choices that I make.

What I am trying to say is this; don't be afraid of making mistakes and failing. Don't be afraid of being corrected by someone else. Reflect on what happened, the choices you made and the impact you had.

PS: Making mistakes in front of kids and then owning them is one of the most humanizing things you can do!

Ten things I have learned Part 4: Great team members can excite you.

Think about the most creative and exciting time(s) in your career. Have you go it? If you are like me, the one common thread for these bursts of innovation/excitement is the people you share it with.

For the last 10 years, I have felt the ebb and flow of creativity; sporadic moments of inspiration and then times in the doldrums (ruts for lack of better words). But, like my very first class, I will always remember that first moment of collaboration. It was an awaking of something inside of me which I never experienced before. Don't get me wrong, we did "cooperative/group" projects in school. The differences between what I experienced in school and what I was part of now was epic. In school, every project was for grades, there was always a sense of competition and pressure. This was different... there was this great freedom and joy.

Brent Raabe (@braabe) was my very first teaching partner. We were both teaching Physics at Dr. Charles Best Secondary (me for the first time). Brent was the master (think his Obi Wan to my Luke Skywalker). Not only did he mentor me, but pushed me forward. We worked together to create new, innovative ways to get kids excited in Physics. There was this sense of joy in the process, that we were doing things that would make a difference in our students experiences at school (and hopefully in their lives).

Over the last 10 years, I have been so blessed to work with so many amazing teachers who want to share, grow and create as part of a team. And while it energizing to be collaborative, it HAS to start with the person in the mirror. You need to seek out people with common interests, sit a table with someone besides the people you normally sit with, take a risk, become part of a learning team.

To all those people who have let me be a part of this process with you (there are too many to name), I want to thank you for making this the greatest job on the planet! Take the leap.

Ten things I have learned Part 3: Great principals do make a difference

My Father-in-law was a woodwork teacher for 30 years and always said, principals come and go, but a great staff will always weather administrative changes. While I agree with him, I believe a great principal can be transformative to a school, staff and student population. This blog post is about 2 principals in particular: Chris Kennedy and Scott Robinson. Both made a huge, positive impact in my life and maybe I can share a little about what was so special about them.

My top 5 Chris and Scott Principal characteristics::

1. Give Trust
2. Have a Vision
3. Willing to make the tough call
4. Ability to look beyond yourself and see what is best for the school
5. Remove obstacles to learning

1. Give Trust
From everything I have seen in my 10 years of teaching, great leaders give trust. Simple as that statement is, I believe it is the foundation for everything else. With trust comes the willingness of others to take risks and chances. Without the trust that was given to me, I couldn't have started Digital Immersion or become the Science department head or professional development chair.

2. Have a Vision
A vision gives structure. Its allows goals to be reached and helps you get there. The process that Chris brought to Riverside helped us heal some old wounds, find common ground on which to grow and give us a goal to obtain. He brought in Christina Merkley (a graphic facilitator) to go through what turned out to be almost a cleansing with the staff. What does cleansing have to do with vision? Well, you have to air your dirty laundry before you can move on. What was accomplished was Riverside's 8 bold steps. After 6 years and accomplishing what we set out to do, we are in the process of our next vision.

Riverside 2005-2011 Vision

3. Willing to make the tough call
Scott's greatest attribute (in my opinion) was the ability to make the tough call. He always made his decisions with an understanding and thoughtfulness which humbled me. When he asked for input, he listened and this often changed the outcome. But when push came to shove, he wasn't afraid to make the decision that had to be made. Scott's actions spoke volumes about his character and integrity and while I didn't agree with his every call, I respected him for making them. And looking back... they were right.

4. Ability to look beyond yourself and see what is best for the school
This is for everyone, not just those arm-chair principals out there... sometimes you have to leave your ego at the door. I struggle with this (my motto is "I'm kind of a big deal")... I think we all do, especially at the secondary level. We see our little world and often have very little understanding of the big picture. Before you barrel into something ... ask. Trust me... there will be a reason. In saying that, transparency... goes a long way.

5. Remove obstacles to learning
The most important thing I can say... Great Principals (re: Chris and Scott) do one thing above all else: Remove obstacles to learning. These are the million little things, if done, no one will notice and your school will run as it should. But if you forget or neglect them... they will bite you faster than a piranha on a feeding frenzy. These range from the simple (like making sure all doors are open), to the insanely complicated (like 1701 stuff and Bill 33 consultations). Like invisible discipline in a classroom, removing obstacles is rarely seen or appreciated... but essential for teachers and students to be best they can be.

Both Scott and Chris have moved on to superintendent roles (Chris is the CEO of West Van and Scott is the
Assistant Super in Richmond) but they have left an indelible mark open all of us at Riverside. They were great leaders and more importantly they were both mensch. They did these 5 things with integrity and humanity, and that more than anything, set them apart.

10 things I have learned part 2: Fun and Inspiration

Without doubt, teaching is a two way street. As much as I put in, I get out. Believe it or not, it took me a few years to realize that. Back in 2003, I was getting burnt out. The workload, hours, negativity about education in the press, micromanagement of my principal at the time... all these things drained my soul. It wasn't until I taught "the worst class" in the school (math 9 core), that I finally got it.

The class was full of grade 11's who still hadn't passed grade 9 math. Most were category R or H. both behavior categorizations (the joke they stand for rotten and horrible) plus a learning difficulty. They all struggled with the basics... even simple things such as multiplication tables, adding, measuring, etc... I started out doing the traditional model: Lecture, work through some problems, practice, wrap up, etc... I never had a class go south faster than this one. It was like watching a clown car drive up and 20 clowns pile up all the time time march of the gladiators playing in the background.



Needless to say, we shifted gears fast. We started having fun with math... having multiplication races & doing activities like "how many meter sticks would it take to fill this class".What happened was special... They started to learn about math and I started to learn about them. We bonded as a class... They had fun and in turn, they inspired me.

From the "worst class" I ever taught

We as teachers often talk about the inspiration that we deliver to kids.... buts lets not forget the inspiration we get from them.