What Sign Hangs on Your Door?

Christmas break in Kansas always offers something special. Some Christmas breaks have been white, with inches of snow piled up and the roads slushy and sloppy. Other years, break has been windy and cold, but dry. This year, a week after Jack Frost made a bold entry with lows around -10 and blowing snow, Kansas did what Kansas does, and flipped the script entirely. What does that mean? It means that highs in the 50s and sunshine made it really difficult to put off exercising over break. So, I hit the streets to try and combat the effects of my students' amazing generosity with food in the days leading up to break.

As I was walking my route through the streets of Hutchinson, I was faced with a decision as I came to an intersection. I looked right and saw one sign.

I then looked left and saw another sign.


The decision was obvious and easy, and I hung a sharp right. And then I started thinking. Walking on a pleasant Kansas afternoon lends itself to doing that.

I tend to see meaning in things. A metaphor in a line of poetry, a lyric in a song, colors in a setting description in a novel, the clothes a character in a TV show wears, the angle from which a scene is shot in a film. My son and daughter have inherited the habit, and I am happy about that; it causes them to think more deeply about what they read, hear, and see.  Sometimes, I think my school kids think I overdo it a little bit. I am an English teacher, so cut me some slack.

So, I started thinking about those signs. They were positioned so closely, on opposite sides of the same intersection, and yet, they are so different.

Which sign would I want someone to hang outside my classroom door? The choice, for me anyway, was simple. Obviously, I would want "Children at Play" adorning my classroom door, if I had to choose. "No Outlet" is just the opposite of what I would want a kid to think of when he or she walks into my room. That sounds like torture to me. No way to let anything out. No way to get out. A trap, a cage, a dead end. If a student feels that way about a classroom, or about school in general, why in the world would that kid make any effort, or see any purpose in being there?

Let's look a little closer at that "Children at Play" sign. That sign is there for the drivers. It is an announcement to look out, be careful, and pay attention. Kids are being kids. They are playing. Don't mess that up and turn something so perfectly child-like into something scary and tragic because you are in hurry or too preoccupied to notice what is going on in front of you, to see children doing the very thing that children are supposed to do.  The sign is there so the children can play and can feel comfortable enough to let themselves play. It might be tossing a ball, playing roller hockey, jumping a homemade bike ramp, or creating chalk masterpieces at the end of a driveway. It might be playing some new game that doesn't even have rules yet, and just develops as they play it. That's what kids do.

So, if I had to choose, I would want "Children at Play". I know that not everything we do in my classroom is going to be 'fun', but I want kids to feel comfortable in my classroom, comfortable enough to play a little. To skin an intellectual knee now and then because they feel they can take a chance and try something new, or stretch themselves in something they are good at without the fear of being blindsided by some thoughtlessness that barrels through. I would want the sign to remind me to pay attention, to see what is going on in front of me. Maybe to even take part in the game, or help prop up the ramp so they can catch a little more air.

The choice is obvious and easy.

So, as the new semester kicks off, what sign would you want hanging in your classroom?

Reading, Like Winning, Is a Habit

Vince Lombardi once said, "Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing."

He was right. One could easily plug in other habits, both positive and negative, and the statement would hold true. Take, for example, reading. Earlier this week, during a Senior Exit Interview, I found it hard to restrain my excitement when one of my students uttered the words "Reading is becoming a habit." I cannot think of a better Christmas present from one of my students, although Sydney's coconut dessert bars and Allyson's homemade cookies do come close.

Today was the last day of classes for the fall semester at BHS. We have experimented extensively in our hallway this semester, trying or expanding flexible seating in several classroom, diving headlong into student-guided project-based learning, implementing a 10 minute sacred reading time in some classrooms, and, in general, just trying to find new and effective ways to engage and learn with our students. I am blessed to have a team full of brave souls who will kick the side out of the box, explore what possibilities exist, and then either rebuild the box into a boat, rocket, or terrarian or burn the dang thing, whichever makes the most sense for our kids. It makes life in our hallway exciting, for me and for our students, and it is incredibly freeing.

In our senior classes, we have long used project-based learning to extend research and "doing something" with what our students have learned in areas that they are particularly passionate. We are in the midst of this process as the semester ends, as seniors have completed the initial research and have written proposals of what they hope to do with or springboarding off of that learning. Greg Froese and I decided that we needed something other than a traditional final at this point, something that would allow us to engage with the students and entice them to reflect on their second to last semester high school life.

We settled on a form of Senior Exit Interview. While somewhat exhausting over these last few days of the semester, they have been something I wish I had been doing every year.

The one-on-one conversations that I have always found worthwhile are happening with each student. As they prepare to present evidence of growth and learning and answer questions about how they could improve, the anxiety levels rose, but not excessively high. Questions were raised about the need to "dress professionally", resulting in my giving up one of the teacher's most treasured days, Jeans Day, as I agreed to forego that luxury and maintain my professional dress as well. They gathered evidence and wrote a letter of application, stating their current grades and explaining what adjustments were in order, and why.

During these interviews, I asked each senior about our 10 minute time, a  period of sacred reading time we have at least four days a week. In one senior class, we call it Tyna Time, in honor of one young lady who complained about how much she hates to read when we started it. Not a single student, not even Tyna, expressed negative feelings about the time. I learned a great deal about their thoughts about reading as well as what we as a school may have been doing to our kids' love of reading.

"I'm in a lot of activities and sports, and I work. I don't have very much time to read. Reading time gives me a chance to actually read." This statement was from a wrestler, but it was echoed by multiple students. In our conversations, a common thread emerged. At the very time when our students should be reading more, and at higher levels, than any other time in their school careers, they are reading less. Look at our examples of the "best" students in our schools. These individuals are "well-rounded", which means they are involved in activities, they play sports, they hold leadership positions, they take college and AP classes, they work weekends and evenings, they take part in youth groups, and they help out at home. We want them to do those things, and we celebrate those that do. Think about that. Is it any surprise that those kids are giving only the quickest skim of reading assignments and abandoning reading for pleasure completely? Over and over again, students echoes that for them the most positive aspect of our 10-minute Time was just that: 10 minutes of time.

Those 10 minutes allow a seed to grow. It allows the habit of reading to regenerate for many students. "I find myself reading more during the day now." Be still my heart. Oh, and for you fuddy-duddies who complain about the ubiquitous cellphone? "I used to play on my phone a lot in school. Now, I find myself reading instead." She might have a book in her hand as opposed to her phone, or she might be reading an ebook on her phone, but she is reading.

One major component of our reading time has been student choice. Some of my kids read classics like Gulliver's Travels while others sang short story collections off my shelf. Some read graphic novels. A few read technical articles about topics ranging from fish habitats to welding techniques. I honestly do not care, as long as they are reading and reading closely. After listening to my seniors and after having a "So, what are you reading?" sharing day in my on-level sophomore class, I am more comfortable with this. My sophomores were talking about their reading much as they talk about movies, TV shows, or popular music. How cool is that? Some related the books they have reading the first semester to particular movies or TV series. Some admitted that they had started and dropped multiple books because they cannot find something they like. This resulted in peer-suggestions for books that might be appealing. "Oh, you would love..." began more than one conversation. I am not naive enough to think every kid is 100% invested in their reading, but more students are now, and some who are all in are surprising.

Some people may also argue that the open choice aspect allows students to take "the easy way out". Maybe, but one of my final interviews opened my eyes even more as to why we are doing what is right for our kids. One young lady, one of those quiet kids who has magic behind her eyes that she hides if she can, told me why she loves our reading time. "I'm a slow reader," she told me. She said she always felt like she could not keep up with some of the more difficult books classes have read. She went on to say that the nature of our reading time allowed her to pick books that are "too hard" for her to read in class. She is not worried about keeping up or passing a particular reading quiz. Her worries about being behind the other students or getting lost trying to keep up are gone. So she reads more difficult books, rereading as needed, and she actually enjoys them. She reads them more often, and she understands what she is reading. If she doesn't she goes back and rereads parts of the book, or talks to the another student or her mom, whoever recommended the book. Reading, rereading, reading more challenging texts, finding ways to overcome struggles, and talking about the reading.

And we have not even touched on what "learning" and reflection that comes from all of this reading.

So, I guess in the end, I just want to say that I am encouraged, to say the least. I know this approach to reading is not really new, even in our school, but it seems to always come with some sort of strings attached. Thank you to NerdCamp for reigniting the conversation last summer. Thank you to Sam Neill for her enthusiasm. Thank you Sam, Greg, Amber, Kiley, and John for being the greatest ELA team, and for providing the most amazing hallway collaboration on the planet. Thank you for our supportive administration. Thank you to Janea Gray for not only providing our kids a place they can land in the library, but also for suggestions, support, encouragement, insight, and expertise, not only for our kids, but for us.

And thank you to the young people who walk through my door each day and who stream through our halls. Have a Merry Christmas.