Blogush

I was looking back at many of my blog posts and there seems to be a common thread amongst many of them—they all are about problems I encounter in school. I think I am losing my positive energy…no, I know I am losing my positive energy. What has happened to me? I have become “one of them” without me noticing. It’s really hard to find a positive post on this blog. Even the ones that might seem positive to someone, came from a negative experience. Ickk. It seems every post has been written for me to vent some frustration and allow me to spread my anguish to the blogosphere. Double Ickk. I need to find a way to replenish my spirit, my energy, my sense-of-humor bank. I think I have to center myself on the most positive people I know—all of my kids. They come in smiling each day and somehow I miss it. I need to get totally absorbed in their smiles, their laughs, their energy. I need to somehow lock out the rest of the world each period and be drawn into theirs. I would love to say that I should also hang out with more positive people but I simply don’t know many. I need to talk more about positive things that are occurring in school, but can only think of one or two people that would be willing to have that conversation.

So I am declaring October my “Positive Posting and Plurking Month” I will only write about things that will life my spirit up. It’s that simple. No complaining. No writing about how I wish something would change. I wonder if there would be interest in a Positive Plurk Day. For you Plurkers out there, imagine if on one day every plurk you read was positive. Every single one. You would not have to even look to find them, your screen would be full of positive vibes. If you have ever been in a room in which everyone is laughing you know how it changes your outlook on life for that moment. Maybe if everyone blogged, plurked, and talked a little more positively we would attack problems from a positive frame of mind, and we would solve them differently because we would have an attitude that allows us to see our challenge in a new light that the fog of cynicism and negativity clouded over.

**Disclaimer**

I know there are positive bloggers, plurkers, podcasters, and people. I am just in a mood in which I don’t want to have to look for them by wading through the others. I don’t want a 60/40 split. Just for one day I want to have only 100% positive energy coming from my computer and from my interactions with colleagues. I don’t want to process negative energy for just one day. I am bringing this up in the blogosphere because I think I would have a better chance of convincing people to do it here, than I would in my teacher’s room. So what do you say? Want to declare a day and give it a try? On my blog I would have a post with links to every participating blogger’s post. If you are a “friend” of mine on plurk, all you would have to do is Plurk Positive for one single day. I am not asking for a year, a month, or even a week. Just one day. Will you join me? Pick a day…

I arrived at school today to find a note on my desk. A piece of paper folded in half with Mr. Bogush written on the top and one of those chicka girlie hearts that only a teenager could draw.

I opened it up and inside was written:

6th Grade–sketching a picture (what will yours be?)

7th Grade–Outlining and coloring (will yours be dull or bright?)

8th Grade–Are you proud of what you made? Do you want to hang it up?

Will you?

Email me and I’ll describe mine to you.

Signed (student from last year)

A great story teller once told me never to interpret a story for an audience. So I will leave her note to you the way it was left for me, with no interpretation. It did make me think that only now after 40 years of living am I getting close to being ready to “hang” my picture up.

“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.” (Michelangelo)

If a kid does not do their homework and they get a detention, what do they learn from the detention?
If a kid gets yelled at and lectured in front of the class, what do they learn from that?
If the kid loses points because they forgot their homework, what do they really learn from that?
If a kid fails a test and has to have a silent lunch, what do they learn from that?

When a kid does something “inappropriate” in your class, do you teach them, or do you train them?
Do you coerce? Or do you guide?
Do you punish? Or assist?
Do you give them less interaction with you and peers? Or do you provide more support?
Do you tell them what to do? Or do you ask them why they did it?
Do you push them away to the corner? Or bring them in close?
Do they learn what to do? Or why to do it?
Do you assume you know why a kid did something? Or get the full story before reacting?
Do you make decisions based on emotions? Or do you wait until your head is clear?
Do you close your mind? Or open your heart?
Do you try to crush a spirit? Or rekindle one that is dying?
Do they learn what not to do? Or what they should do?

Training is easy. Teaching is hard.
Having a list of rules that applies to everyone is easy. Treating each kid as an individual is hard.
Having a consequence for an inappropriate behavior is easy. Finding what triggered the behavior is hard.
Yelling at a kid during class is easy. Taking them aside and speaking softly to them after class is hard.

Be careful when you discipline your kids. I know it is really, really hard to talk with them instead of disciplining them. It might take 50 times. But each one of those attempts will be better than coercive management. For advanced teachers I recommend something even more drastic. Pull the kid aside, make like you are going to talk to him but don’t. Just sit on your butt and listen. There is no more powerful classroom management tool in world than listening with an open mind. Never do anything that will damage your relationship with a child. If you do, you can sit down and listen all you want, but you won’t hear anything.

Train your dog, teach you kids.

“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.” (Michelangelo)

I have a small farm. A few days ago I noticed that one of my rams was missing. I searched and finally found it. My guess is that it received some kind of head-butting, mating season, broken neck injury. As I was burying the ram I thought about how it was scheduled to go to the slaughterhouse this month and while I was sad because it died, I also lost one year of labor, feed costs, and the income from its sale. While it hurt my “farm budget” it really won’t impact my family. My life did not depend on that ram living or dying. I am a part-time farmer, and while it is a for-profit enterprise and my family relies on the meat to nourish us, it just doesn’t matter if it died. I will be just fine.

I thought about the people that raised sheep on my property 150 years ago. They would have depended on that ram for their lives, and each sheep and plant they grew would have taken care of as though their life depended on it-because it did. Taking care of their crops, their animals was more than a job…it was their life.

I teach. It’s just a job. My life does not depend on whether I put in a good effort, or a great effort. That is simply the reality of the position. I could put in four less hours of work each day and still get paid the same amount. I could deliver the curriculum in a non-personal, traditional way and it would not matter. I could just “do” the textbook with the teacher book worksheets, and teacher book quizzes and tests and it would not matter. I could ignore every problem my kids have in their lives and it would not matter. My life does not depend on it. When it comes right down to it, it just doesn’t.

What if my life did depend on it? What if each kid was like a lamb that I depended on for my life? If it was sick, would I give it the best medicine I was able to find? If one came in limping one morning would I stop it to find out why? If one was threatened by wolves would I protect it? If one was a runt, would I give it extra feed? If one had a poor mother, would I step in with extra attention and nourishment? If the barn was leaking, how long would it take for me to fix it? If I had to mend a fence, would I put up a temporary fix, or do it right the first time? If my life depended on it the answer to all of those questions would be yes. Do you do the same for your kids?

Tomorrow treat one, just one kid, like your life depends on them.

I am going to ask the question again.

What are your kids responsible for? Don’t keep reading until you have some answers in your head.  You with the bunny slippers–stop reading and get some answers in your head.

Now with the answers in your head…

Do those responsibilities impact anyone’s life? or are they pretend responsibilities.  Like they have the responsibility to do their homework so they will get a good grade so they will get into a good college so they will get a good job so they will have a happy life.

So what was the last authentic assignment they had?  An assignment that had real world implications if they did not uphold their responsibilities.  An assignment that did not mimic the “real world,” or role model players in the “real world,” but one that contributed and made a difference in the “real world.”  The world they are living in right this second, not the “real world” of their future.

You are suppose to be influencing them, who are they influencing?

You are asking them questions, who are they asking questions to?

You are teaching them, who are they teaching?

You are supposed to be creating lasting memories in their minds, but how many times did your kids have to study for a test or quiz and put things into short-term memory?

You have to met their needs, whose needs are they meeting?

You teach them to write, but who do they write for?

You are suppose to be an agent of change, what do they get to change?

You get to help them with their problems, who do they get to help?

You show them the world, who do they show their world to?

You prepare them to be productive members of society, what products have did they create and send out to society?

You teach them to communicate, who do they communicate with?

You are planning lessons that will allow them to be prepared in the future for the “real world,” what lessons are you giving them in which they will leave being more prepared for today?

Real kids need real responsibilities…