tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70044618513153105622024-03-05T04:01:19.976-05:00MurphblogPaul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.comBlogger344125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-78155978803043334682022-04-17T16:55:00.001-04:002022-04-17T16:55:49.377-04:00How To Handle Principal Observations<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-83" height="613" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/observations-1-1024x613.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/observations-1-1024x613.jpg 1024w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/observations-1-300x180.jpg 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/observations-1-768x460.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/observations-1.jpg 1065w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="1024" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I know a lot of teachers who get nervous about being observed by their principal. With only a couple of observations each year, teachers put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform. They worry how a poor observation will impact their overall evaluation. Some are simply uncomfortable being observed and judged. The irony, of course–and it’s one recognized by even those teachers who feel this way–is that worrying about an observation is likely to lead to a worse performance.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">So how do you not stress over a principal’s observation? </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Any time you worry, it means you’re nervous. Nervousness comes from fear. So what exactly are you afraid of? If you wrote out a list, I think you’d find that every single item on it comes back to this: <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">You’re afraid of your principal’s opinion of your abilities.</span> If you didn’t care about that, you would no longer be worried. So how do you convince yourself to not care, or at least care a lot less?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Try telling yourself these four things:</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">My Opinion Matters Most</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">You have reasons for everything you do in the classroom and no one knows all of them except you. Anyone judging you lacks the necessary facts to make an informed assessment. Everyone has a right to their opinion, but you have the right, and usually the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">duty</em>, to ignore it. As Eleanor Roosevelt said:</p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-82" height="768" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/no-one-can-make-you-feel-inferior-without-your-consent-854.png" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/no-one-can-make-you-feel-inferior-without-your-consent-854.png 1024w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/no-one-can-make-you-feel-inferior-without-your-consent-854-300x225.png 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/no-one-can-make-you-feel-inferior-without-your-consent-854-768x576.png 768w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="1024" /></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So don’t give your consent. Set your own standards for professional success and judge yourself against them. Simply care less what your principal thinks about you. It’s nothing personal, you just shouldn’t give anyone that kind of power over you.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Garbage In, Garbage Out</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Observations are subjective. The truth is, nearly all of your evaluation is based on the opinions of a single person who watches you do your job for a total of maybe three hours out of the more than one thousand you will spend on it. While you might be able to watch <a data-id="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avuhCdT_H_U" data-type="URL" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avuhCdT_H_U" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">a single Nicolas Cage scene</a> and feel pretty safe concluding that he’s a terrible actor, I’d want a little larger sample size for most professionals.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Consider whether your school district would ever do the following:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">To prove to teachers how valid their administrators’ observations are, they put all of their principals in a room. On a screen, they show a forty-five-minute video of a lesson. Each principal uses the evaluation tool to rate the teacher across the zillion or so items they’re required to assess. And then, after they’re done, they all compare scores.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">How similar do you think those scores would be?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">How many principals would feel comfortable sharing their numbers?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">How many districts would dare reveal the results of such an experiment to its teachers?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I have a guess and it’s <a data-id="http://www.supercoloring.com/sites/default/files/styles/coloring_full/public/cif/2015/12/asl-number-zero-coloring-page.jpg" data-type="URL" href="http://www.supercoloring.com/sites/default/files/styles/coloring_full/public/cif/2015/12/asl-number-zero-coloring-page.jpg" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">very, very small.</a></p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">You Own the Moral High Ground</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">How many meetings have you attended where you were reminded that you, the classroom teacher, has <a data-id="http://www.namodemello.com.br/pdf/tendencias/whatmattersmost.pdf" data-type="URL" href="http://www.namodemello.com.br/pdf/tendencias/whatmattersmost.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">the greatest in-school impact on student achievement</a>? Eric Hanushek has even attempted to tie teacher effectiveness to future earnings for students. (Which I guess is what <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">really</em> matters???)</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Every time I hear this fact, I internally roll my eyes. What other <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">in-school</em> factor <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">would</em> impact students more? The quality of the food in the cafeteria? The size of the rooms? The cleanliness of the hallways? <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Of course</em> the person with whom kids spend six hours a day has the most impact.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But you can also use this finding to feel superior to your principal whenever you worry about her opinion of you.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">It is the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">teacher</em>, not the principal, who has the greatest impact on student learning</span>.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">That means that the person who is sitting in the back of your room evaluating your performance opted to take a job that has less impact on the only people who really matter in a school than the one you have chosen. Their reasons don’t matter.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Maybe they wanted to make more money. Perhaps they were frustrated by administrators when they were teaching and felt they could do better. Their talents could simply be better suited to leading adults than children. Or maybe they decided they didn’t want to teach anymore and there weren’t too many other jobs they were qualified to do.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Who cares. Choose whichever reason you like for them. It doesn’t matter if it’s accurate. Remember, you’re doing this to relieve <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">your</span> stress. So if it helps to imagine your principal as a completely ineffectual former teacher who got fed up, quit, and then decided to take out her frustrations on other teachers, go ahead and do it. Feeling superior does wonders for one’s self-confidence.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">If All Else Fails</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Remind yourself of this reality: the only thing that really matters about your evaluation is that it’s good enough for your employer to invite you back next year. Don’t get caught up worrying about your final score or whether you’re “effective” or “developing.” Who cares? Because guess what? Next year, you get to be evaluated all over again.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">How to Act</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Once you’ve convinced yourself that you don’t really care what your principal thinks of you, you can relax and perform. Make it a goal to appear even calmer than you normally are in front of your students. The biggest thing you want to convey during an observed lesson is <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">self-confidence</span>. Here’s why:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Confidence inspires confidence. During the 2017 Super Bowl, the Atlanta Falcons were trouncing the New England Patriots. Atlanta had a 28-3 lead in the third quarter, but the Patriots had the most confident player on the field. Even though it looked hopeless for the Pats, there wasn’t a fan who watched that game that didn’t believe Tom Brady could bring them back. Tom Brady exudes confidence, and his self-belief rubs off on those observing him.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When the principal walks into your room, project confidence. Keep your voice calm and even. Don’t gesture much. Resist the urge to put on a show. It will come off as inauthentic and overcompensatory. Respond calmly to students, including any misbehavior. The message you want to send is: I do this every day. It’s no big deal. I can handle whatever comes my way. Smile, tell a joke, move leisurely throughout the room.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">And don’t look at your principal.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">If you keep looking back at the principal, you are signaling a lack of confidence.</span> It shows that you care what the principal thinks. Every time you look, it’s like asking, “So what did you think of that? Was that okay?”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When a principal sees you looking at him, he thinks two things:</p><ol style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">You lack confidence.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">Your focus isn’t on the students, which is where it should be.</li></ol><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If a principal starts to think you lack confidence, his next logical thought is <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">why? </em>Followed quickly by: <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">If the teacher isn’t confident in her abilities, then why should I be confident in them?</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The principal won’t fear marking you down because you’ve already signaled self-doubt. You’re almost asking for it. It would be inconsistent of you to later stand up for yourself when you meet with him to discuss the lesson. People rarely act inconsistently.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Most people avoid conflict. Confident people send an unspoken message that if you jerk them around, they’re not going to accept it. That conversation will not be pleasant. Principals are far less likely to ding a confident teacher than a nervous, insecure one because they don’t want to deal with a possible future conflict. So even if you don’t feel confident, pretend that you do!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">———————————-</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">What do you tell yourself before an observation? What mental tricks do you use to stay calm and confident? Tell us in the comments!</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Like the post? Know others who might like it? Share it on Facebook, please!</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-55760487048080484112022-04-12T18:54:00.006-04:002022-04-12T18:54:56.620-04:00How Teachers Can Use Less Willpower<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-122" height="384" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cb5637fe-33d3-4bc5-a793-e80e3b1a49f9.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cb5637fe-33d3-4bc5-a793-e80e3b1a49f9.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cb5637fe-33d3-4bc5-a793-e80e3b1a49f9-300x150.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="768" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">In a previous post, I listed four things that contribute to teacher fatigue: <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">making decisions, using willpower, experiences high-intensity emotions</span>, and <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">worrying</span>. In this post, I addressed how teachers can make fewer decisions. Today, I will share how teachers can use less willpower so they have the energy to make good decisions, even after a long day at work.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">First, it’s important to understand that willpower is like a muscle: it can be strengthened with use, but it can also be overworked, leaving you unable to use it without recovery time.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Teachers, of course, use willpower all the time. Recalling last Friday, here’s a partial list of times I needed willpower:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Garbage truck in front of me on the way to work. I wanted to pass, but it wasn’t safe.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Arriving at work, I had a bunch of tasks to accomplish, most of which were tedious. I didn’t want to do them.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Resisted the temptation to snarkily respond to an email.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Donuts in the lounge at lunch.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Students playing with something in their desks instead of paying attention. Wanted to publicly scold.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Wanted to just sit and relax during my planning time, but forced myself to plan for the following week and prepare materials.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Lesson interrupted by the office PA system. Wanted to swear.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A student walked in late to class and interrupted. Wanted to lecture.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A student was on a game website instead of doing research. I wanted to take his Chromebook and throw it through a window, since this is the 100th time it’s happened with him.</span></li></ul><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">You get the point. I’m sure you’re already mentally making your own list. In every one of those instances, willpower was required. By using it, I depleted my store of it, making it less likely I would have any left at the end of the day and also seriously taxing my body. No wonder teachers are pooped.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So how can we use less willpower at work?</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Plan Ahead</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Most of the time, we can anticipate those things that will require us to use willpower. I know that certain students are going to press my buttons. I know that if I don’t work now, I’ll be stressed later and have to use even more willpower to accomplish things. I know that when I get on the highway at 5 pm, I am going to get frustrated with traffic and have to use willpower to remain calm at the wheel and avoid bad decisions. (Fun fact: <a data-id="https://coverhound.com/blog/post/what-time-of-day-do-most-accidents-occur" data-type="URL" href="https://coverhound.com/blog/post/what-time-of-day-do-most-accidents-occur" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">most car accidents occur between 3 pm and 9 pm</a>. You might attribute this to the high number of commuters, but those people drive to work in the morning too. Might it be depleted willpower that contributes to poor driving decisions?)</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If we can anticipate these events, then we can plan for them. This is exactly what Starbucks did when they introduced their <a data-id="https://heleo.com/charles-duhigg-draft-how-starbucks-reversed-its-customer-service-rut/1050/" data-type="URL" href="https://heleo.com/charles-duhigg-draft-how-starbucks-reversed-its-customer-service-rut/1050/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">LATTE training system</a> to improve customer service. Starbucks gave their baristas very detailed systems to use when dealing with stressful situations, especially for when their willpower was low.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">You can do this too. Prepare ahead of time for how you will handle behavior problems. Implement your classroom management plan with strict fidelity and calmness instead of anger. Leave work 15 minutes later or take a different route home if you know your normal path will frustrate you. Emails from your principal usually piss you off? Don’t read them until dismissal. Do you snack at night? Quit buying snacks and having them in your house. Does Kathy the science teacher annoy the hell out of you? Don’t go where Kathy goes. Identify your likely triggers, and plan ways to avoid or deal with them.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Distract Yourself</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If you’re a teacher you’ve likely heard of Mischel’s famous <a data-id="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment" data-type="URL" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Marshmallow experiment</a>. The “high delayers” resisted eating the marshmallow by distracting themselves, such as covering their eyes with their hands or turning around in their chairs so they couldn’t see the enticing object, or singing to themselves.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It might not be in many teacher training courses, but sometimes you just have to walk away or direct your attention to something else. Elementary teachers are masters at this. Instead of saying, “Steven, get your hands out of your desk! I’ve told you ten times already!” they will turn to angelic Sarah and say, “Sarah, I really like the way you have your hands folded in front of you.” If you make this a habit, you’ll use less willpower.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">You could also distract yourself by thinking about all the beer you’ll drink after work, but that might not be as healthy.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Delay</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Postponing can be effective if you’re trying to break a bad habit. In <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength</em>, Roy F. Baumeister explains that people who tell themselves “not now, but later,” are generally less tormented by the temptation of something they are trying to avoid. So if you find yourself using willpower to not check your email throughout the day because it usually stresses you out, then simply tell yourself you will check it at the end of the day.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Vent</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It takes a lot of willpower to suppress your personality, beliefs, and natural inclinations. Psychologist Mark Muraven and his team found that people who exert this kind of self-control to please others were more depleted than people who held true to their own internal goals and desires. When it comes to willpower, people-pleasers are at a disadvantage.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Instead of suppressing your desires, you need to get them out. But you can’t go around telling off Kathy and you can’t respond to the principal’s email with your honest opinion because that would get you fired. Here’s a method I’ve used:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I sometimes receive an email from a parent or supervisor that angers me. My instinct is to fire back. That’s a bad instinct, but that doesn’t mean I have to hold in those feelings. It also doesn’t mean I should vent to other teachers or my wife because they’ve got their own problems and nobody really wants to hear about mine. What I do instead is write my honest, no-holds-barred response into a Google Doc and put it in a file. It gets my anger out and it’s there for me to revisit. On those few occasions where I have reread it, my anger is gone and I wondered why I was so pissed off at the time. If you do this a few times, you begin to realize that your initial feelings are likely an overreaction and it becomes easier to avoid indulging them.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Other Ideas</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Other recommendations I have seen are getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising, and meditating. All of these things can help in any number of ways, but they’ve also been shown to help people manage willpower.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">What about you? What do you do to avoid using up your willpower? Tell us in the comments!</span></p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-59433959599975376602022-04-12T18:51:00.004-04:002022-04-12T18:51:38.673-04:00Why Teachers Should Help Less<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-95" height="277" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Blog-Post-Header-Image-1.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Blog-Post-Header-Image-1.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Blog-Post-Header-Image-1-300x150.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="554" /></p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">When Helping Isn’t Helping</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">There is an epidemic in our schools. Teachers are helping too much. Like most epidemics, it probably started small. A teacher somewhere in Kansas didn’t want Jimmy to cry anymore because he couldn’t solve a math problem, so she came to his rescue. She did the problem for him. Oh, I’m sure she told herself she was “teaching,” but we all know the truth. We’ve been there. Frustrated with a child’s struggles, worried that he won’t learn what’s in the standards before he leaves us, and fearing what might happen to his self-esteem when he realizes he can’t do it, we help. We reteach. We give hints. We take the pencil right out of his hand and show him exactly what steps to follow. We do the damn thing for him.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">For what I can only guess were misguided but honorable intentions, the helping spread. It’s everywhere now. In elementary classrooms from kindergarten to fifth grade. I suspect it’s spread farther than that, maybe even all the way to college lecture halls.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We’ve justified our actions along the way. We’re teachers, so we teach. If a kid doesn’t understand something, we figure it’s our fault, so we act to rectify the problem. We teach it again. Besides, what are we supposed to do, sit our desk checking papers while Julia scribbles away futilely or gives up in frustration?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Yes.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"> <br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />That’s exactly what we should be doing far more often. We should check papers, respond to emails, plan next week’s social studies lesson, or just sit and reflect on how things are going. We should get out of our students’ way and see what they can actually do on their own. We should stop coming to their rescue. This disease is highly contagious, and we need to self-quarantine.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">My daughter started playing softball last year. Like most people trying something new, she wasn’t very good. In her first game, she stepped to the plate, sort of swung the bat three times, and struck out. That’s how the game is played. Three strikes, you’re out. Don’t care how old you are or if you’ve got Coke-bottle glasses and a bad case of vertigo. Three strikes, you’re out. Now go sit down. Them’s the rules.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Everybody watched her fail. Her teammates, her dad in the dugout, her mom, grandma, and grandpa in the stands. How humiliating. And yet, she didn’t crumple into a ball in the corner of the dugout and cry. When it was her turn to bat again, she strolled up to the plate, a little less confident than before.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And she struck out again.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">My daughter didn’t make contact with the ball until the third game of the season, and that was a little nubber that squirted six feet into foul territory. She finally got a hit in the fifth game. When she did, she ran to second base on a throwing error, and once planted safely on the bag, threw both fists into the air, the universal gesture for victory. You should have seen the smile on her face. It almost matched my own.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s that smile, that sense of accomplishment, that ineffable pride (although if it was effable, it would probably sound something like, “Fuck, yes!”), that we rob students of when we swoop in to help.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">We’ve Created a Monster</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If softball leagues treated players as delicately as schools do their students, there’d be a rule about not striking out. After three strikes, they’d bring out a tee, or maybe the coach would go up there, take the bat out of the kid’s hands, and hit it for them. We’d tell ourselves we were protecting their fragile psyches, when in reality we’d be sending a clear message: You can’t do it, so I’ll do it for you.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">This is where learned helplessness comes from. And while many teachers complain about it, most of us have had a hand in its making. It’s everywhere in schools today. Well-meaning teachers, responding to external pressures, their own guilt, and an excessively literal interpretation of the verb “teach,” have caused the epidemic. I’m as guilty as the rest of you.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Teachers have this notion that to teach means we must always be doing something. If students are in the room, we have to interact with them. We gotta teach! <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">But sometimes, the best way to teach is to sit down and shut up.</span> The drama teacher leaves the stage, and it’s on the students to perform. The piano teacher lets her pupil sink or swim in front of everyone at the recital. The basketball coach rolls out the ball, stands on the sidelines, and simply observes.</p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-96" height="225" loading="lazy" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/no-help-300x225-1.jpg" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="300" /></figure><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Let Them Fail First</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Reformers have managed to get teachers to believe that a student’s failure is the teacher’s failure. We take it personally. So we want to eradicate it. But failure is part of learning. In fact, it’s the critical part. Sometimes, the best teaching is to let students flail, even fail. Because there’s more learning to be found in failure than there is in success. Thank goodness the rules prevented my daughter’s coach from interceding in her struggles. All she could do was encourage from the dugout. That’s what teachers should do, too.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“You can do it,” we tell them. And then we see if they can. But if they can’t, we let them fail. And only <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">after</em> they’ve failed, maybe a few times, do we reteach. We go back to the practice field the next day and throw them fifty more pitches. We correct their technique, we model, and they practice, practice, practice. Then we remove ourselves again and see what they have learned. No helping allowed.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Kids can handle failure.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We teachers need to let them.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-27071372684026500882022-04-12T18:50:00.003-04:002022-04-12T18:50:23.349-04:00Be a Better Teacher By Doing Less<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-304" height="432" sizes="(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Be-Better-Do-Less.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Be-Better-Do-Less.jpg 576w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Be-Better-Do-Less-300x225.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="576" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Like most new teachers, I read Harry Wong’s <i>The First Days of School</i> when I was starting out (I’ve also read it every August since). My favorite quote from the book is:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">“The reason teachers are so tired at the end of the school day is that they have been working. If I worked as hard as many teachers do, I’d be as tired too. But have you ever noticed what happens at 3 0‘clock when the students leave? “Yea, yea, yea!” Why are they so full of energy? Because they have been sitting in school all day doing nothing while the teacher does all the work. The person who does all the work is the only one doing any learning!”</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It took me years to internalize the truth of this. For most of my career, I have been the dominant presence in my classroom. My need to feel in control, my mistaken belief that my doing more would lead to greater student success, and the feeling that because I was the only one in the room getting paid to be there, I ought to be doing most of the work, all contributed. I was convinced that the more I did, the better teacher I’d be. I was wrong.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Doing less benefits me. It also benefits my students.</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Doing less work means I have more energy and more personal time. I get home early and eat an early dinner (as recommended in my book, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Teacher’s Guide to Weight Loss</em>. I achieve a healthy work-life balance by doing things I want to do instead of more work. I exercise, read, write, go to my daughter’s softball games, and just hang out with my wife on our deck. I get seven hours of sleep every night, and I return to work the next day recharged.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I’m in a better mood at work because I’m less stressed. My better mood means I’m more patient with students. Being well-rested means I’m less likely to make bad decisions and more likely to be calm, use humor, and build positive relationships with students and colleagues. It makes for a more pleasant environment for everybody.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">My well-being directly impacts my students.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">While doing less work benefits me, which in turn benefits my students, it also makes me a more effective teacher. That’s because when you do less, your students must do more, which means they’re more likely to learn. The person who does the work is the only one doing any learning.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Talk Less</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I used to spend large parts of my day talking at students. Now, I try to present information in other ways. Sometimes, I ask students to read the information. Other times, I assign videos that teach what I would have taught. It’s arrogant to think we’re the only ones who can provide students with information or model a process. For directions, I’m transitioning to putting most of them in written form in Google Classroom, so my students can start working without having to listen to me. In writing, I usually teach a short lesson, then let students actually write. They share their document with classmates. Those classmates are required to offer at least three comments about their writing. Instead of me giving all the feedback, I’ve shifted some over to the students.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Help Less</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">As<a data-id="https://teacherhabits.com/teachers-help-less/" data-type="URL" href="https://teacherhabits.com/teachers-help-less/" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;"> I wrote in this article</a>, I also try to help less. Helping less tells students that you believe in their abilities to figure out their own problems. It counteracts the helplessness many students have learned and empowers them to actually try. It allows students to fail, which allows them to learn.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Reduce Behavior Problems</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Stepping back from my starring role at the head of the class has also helped those students with the greatest behavior challenges. Many of these students have a hard time sitting and listening. They get bored and wiggly. To entertain themselves, they make noises, leave their seats, or start bothering others. Many of these students do much better when they have work to do. By curtailing my role and increasing theirs, I cut down on the number of times during the day when these students are asked to sit still and listen, which is often when they get in trouble.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Plan Less</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I’ve also tried to plan less. I used to do most of the work for students. I’d locate articles, copy them, require students to read them, and then ask them to respond in some way. I’d find exemplar texts for students to study before a writing unit. For a social studies unit, I’d locate all the texts, videos, and activities students would need. I’d compile a packet of worksheets. Then I’d guide students through each and every one of them.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But that’s now how anyone in the real world works. When I wrote my book <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Happy Teacher</em>, no one gave me a stack of articles and books to read. No one provided links to the best websites on happiness. I had to find them. I had to decide which ones best served my purposes. I had to select what information to use. I decided how much and what parts of each book to read. I had to evaluate the sources. This is the work students should be doing. When we do it for them, we miss powerful opportunities to teach authentic skills.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">This year, for a unit on Native Americans, I did less work. Students did more. They collaborated to create a Google Slides presentation about three Native American groups that lived in Michigan. I provided the guidelines and different colored index cards to record notes. I modeled some of the skills outlined above. Then I set out every resource I had in my closet and let kids have at it. I allowed them to search online for videos. My role was limited to offering guidance, getting kids unstuck, and teaching lessons on evaluating the resources for how well they helped students meet the guidelines.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Assess Less</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I didn’t do much assessment either. Students shared their slideshows with kids from other classes that had yet to study the topic. Those students were given a short form to complete that provided my students with feedback. They should know that my opinion on their work isn’t the only one that matters.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Some groups did well, others didn’t. They may not have all learned everything they were supposed to about Native Americans of Michigan, but they did all learn about working in a group, managing their time, evaluating resources, the importance of design in their presentations, and many other lessons that are more applicable to the real world that what kinds of houses the Chippewa built (wigwams, if you’re curious). And besides, they don’t all learn what they’re supposed to learn when I do all the work, either.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Enlist Their Help</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">In the last two years, I’ve also started to use student mentors. In math especially, there are students who are head and shoulders about their classmates. These students often finish early and need more to do. In the past I gave them busy work, let them read, or gave them some free time. Sometimes I offered enrichment activities (which they usually resented). Now, these students become “coaches on the floor.” When they finish their work, they let me know. I check it for accuracy and write their names on the board as my mentors. When students raise their hands for help, the mentors assist me in providing it. Sometimes, the students are more patient and do a better job explaining things than I do. It also gives the mentors a chance to solidify their understanding. We learn best when we teach others.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So as I start thinking about next year, I’ll be looking for more areas where I can pull back and ask my students to step forward. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-66573933470961472692022-04-12T18:47:00.002-04:002022-04-12T18:47:19.450-04:00We Don't Believe in Your Magic Bullets<p> <em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“We Won’t Get Fooled Again”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">–The Who</p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-279" height="391" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Messy-Classroom-2-1024x683.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Messy-Classroom-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Messy-Classroom-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Messy-Classroom-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Messy-Classroom-2.jpg 1200w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="587" /></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I was talking with a teacher who has a new principal this year. Her new boss is going to turn things around. He’s going to fix what’s broken. It’s a familiar story.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When I started my teaching career, I went to six nights of training in Balanced Literacy. It was the Next Big Thing.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">In my fourth year of teaching my district adopted a new math program that had been designed by some very impressive people in Chicago with PhD after their names. The program “spiraled,” and we were told this would raise those stubbornly middling math scores.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When large corporations started using SMART Goals, schools couldn’t wait to jump on board. If businesses were using them, they must be good!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Robert Marzano extolled the benefits of making your learning goals known to students, so it wasn’t long before schools started requiring “I Can” statements to be posted at the front of the room. This, we were told, was going to lead to greater student achievement.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Got behavior problems in your school? PBIS to the rescue!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Having a hard time differentiating? You need one-to-one devices!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Reading scores too low? This program sold by this huge publisher is bound to raise them!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Tired of achievement gaps and mediocre scores on international tests? Raise the bar! Tougher standards! Higher expectations! 100% proficiency goals! That will do the trick!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Once you’ve done this job for a few years, you start to feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. You’ve seen this script before, and you don’t particularly like the ending. Or the middle. Or that <a data-id="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyBSrBqogPY" data-type="URL" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyBSrBqogPY" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">damn song</a> that wakes you up each morning.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Don’t Believe the Hype</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I have no problem with new programs. I recognize that change is inevitable and that schools should constantly strive to improve. As someone who writes his own books, I don’t resent the peddlers of new initiatives for repackaging some stale idea and trying to make a buck for themselves. Most teachers I know are willing to give new things a go. We know our schools and classrooms are far from perfect, and we’re constantly on the lookout for solutions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But many administrators, in their desire to convince their staffs to buy in on the latest and greatest fads, go five steps too far. They promise too much, selling one magic bullet after another, as though teachers have a peculiar form of amnesia that wipes their memories clear of previous flops and lackluster results. Like the Super Bowl, the real thing hardly ever lives up to the hype.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">We Don’t Believe in Miracles</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Schools face complex issues. At best, problems can be mitigated. Success in most instances would be moderate, incremental improvement. But no one wants to hear that. So principals and other leaders zealously pitch their new ideas alongside the unspoken question made famous by Al Michaels, <a data-id="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2be4fOXBH6E" data-type="URL" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2be4fOXBH6E" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">“Do you believe in miracles?”</a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">No. No, we don’t. We don’t believe in your magic bullets. Because if magic bullets actually existed, we would have discovered them by now. <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">We would already be using them.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The overselling of new initiatives isn’t just harmless zeal. We shouldn’t simply forgive those who promise the moon when there is no moon to be had. Failures shouldn’t be dismissed as the folly of an overeager instructional leader. Nor should the responsibility for such failures be left to fall on the shoulders of those who implemented them. The damage is in the original lie, not the execution.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Every time some earnest and enthusiastic administrator tells his teachers that this new thing is going to be the cure-all we all so desperately want and it then inevitably fails to be such, that administrator loses credibility. Do it once and teachers might forgive him. Do it twice and staff begins to wonder. Do it three times and he better expect some serious skepticism and pushback. As George W. Bush <a data-id="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjmjqlOPd6A" data-type="URL" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjmjqlOPd6A" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">famously said,</a> “Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” Nobody likes to feel gullible.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">The Genesis of Cynicism</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It is this baseless conviction in the potential of new things that acts as an incubation chamber for the cynicism veteran teachers are often accused of. It’s not that those teachers are negative and unwilling to try new ideas; it’s that they’ve been there and done that, and like The Who, they have decided that they <a data-id="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHhrZgojY1Q" data-type="URL" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHhrZgojY1Q" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">won’t get fooled again</a>. Their cynicism is hard-earned.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">There’s a simple solution for principals looking to implement new programs. It isn’t sexy. Honesty rarely is. But the next time you want to try something you read about–the next time you want to hop on the latest bandwagon–don’t lie to your teachers. Don’t blow smoke up their hindquarters. Admit the truth: You don’t know if it will work. Concede that you cannot guarantee a solution to the problem. Acknowledge past promises and the uphill climb you face to gain your teachers’ trust. Make it clear that because what’s being done isn’t working, you’re going to try something else. Be up-front. Stop pretending you’ve loaded your gun with a magic bullet, when it looks the same as all the other ones teachers have seen slid into the chamber.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">__________________</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I left out about a 100 magic bullets. Share yours in the comments!</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-54503490137614461652022-04-12T18:46:00.003-04:002022-04-12T18:46:21.720-04:00The Myth of the Ideal Teacher<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-272" height="401" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ideal-Teacher-Myth-1024x683.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ideal-Teacher-Myth-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ideal-Teacher-Myth-300x200.jpg 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ideal-Teacher-Myth-768x512.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ideal-Teacher-Myth.jpg 1200w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="601" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I have a lot of problems with teacher evaluations. And while I appreciate the work of people like Robert Marzano, John Hattie, Charlotte Danielson, and others who take seriously the research on effective teaching, I reject how that research has been used to label teachers. And I abhor how it’s led to the myth of the Ideal Teacher.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The Ideal Teacher, we are told, is passionate about helping kids. She understands best practices and only uses instructional techniques that have been proven effective. She’s a disciple of John Hattie’s work and discounts anything below an effective size of .40. She wastes no time in class. She’s warm and caring and is a master at classroom management. She’s a guru of engagement strategies. She provides specific, timely feedback. She makes sure that students understand their learning targets and that they know where they fall on the success criteria. She’s enthusiastic, patient, and reflective. She is, by every observable measure, a phenomenal teacher.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">None of that makes her an ideal teacher to every kid sitting in her room.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Match-Ups</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">There’s a saying in sports that you’ll almost always hear during playoff time or college tournaments. Coaches sometimes use it to explain why their team was just upset by what everyone thought was a lesser opponent.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">It’s all about match-ups.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s true of teaching, as well.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s about timing: The teacher and student coming together at the perfect point in the child’s life and the teacher’s career. There are students who I have this year who would have benefited more from having me ten years ago, just as there are students I didn’t reach ten years ago that I can now.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s about personalities: Some teachers are great for a handful of students in their room, while that same teacher struggles to get through to others.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s about luck: Sometimes a teacher can give exactly what a student needs, often without realizing it.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Two Examples</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Oprah Winfrey has famously credited her fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Duncan, on more than one occasion. <a data-id="http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/meet-oprahs-favorite-teacher-mrs-duncan-video" data-type="URL" href="http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/meet-oprahs-favorite-teacher-mrs-duncan-video" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">She even had her on her TV show.</a> About Mrs. Duncan, Oprah said, “I know I wouldn’t be where I am today without my fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Duncan. She so believed in me, and for the first time, she made me embrace the idea of learning.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Actor Richard Dreyfuss also <a data-id="http://articles.latimes.com/1995-12-28/entertainment/ca-18463_1_exceptional-educators" data-type="URL" href="http://articles.latimes.com/1995-12-28/entertainment/ca-18463_1_exceptional-educators" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">credits a teacher</a> for where he ended up in life. He didn’t like Mrs. Wilcox. No many people did. But 20 years after sitting in her elementary school classroom he had the realization that a lot of the things he came to love in life, he learned from her: Shakespeare, literature, reading in general. Dreyfuss said, “She was a mean, impatient woman, who didn’t care about liking me or anyone else, and we didn’t like her. She was tough.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I have no idea how Mrs. Duncan would have been evaluated under today’s systems. My guess is she would have done well. She sounds like the kind of caring teacher that students and parents adore. But although Oprah credits her for her success, Mrs. Duncan taught hundreds of other kids. You’ve never heard of any of them. That’s not to dismiss her influence on Oprah. It’s just to say that while Mrs. Duncan was the perfect teacher at the perfect time for Oprah Winfrey, she wasn’t for lots of other kids.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But I feel confident in saying that Marzano and Danielson would not hold Dreyfuss’s teacher in great esteem. She was not well-liked by students, probably not respected by administrators, and I imagine barely tolerated by colleagues. I’m also quite sure that had any of the effective teaching researchers observed her, she would not have scored highly on many of their seemingly endless criteria. And she wouldn’t have given a hoot about Hattie’s meta-analyses.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But for one kid, during one pivotal year of his life, she made a huge impact. Without Mrs. Wilcox, who knows what happens with <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Jaws</em> and <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Mr. Holland’s Opus</em>.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Different Strokes</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The checklists, effect sizes, and evaluation tools all send the same message: You too can be an Ideal Teacher whose students will all make more than one year’s growth and who will then go on to live productive lives if you simply do the things you’re supposed to do. We believe that a teacher who checks all the boxes will always get better results than her colleague across the hall who only checks half of them.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But the kids sitting in front of those teachers don’t care about checklists or effect sizes. And it’s important to remember that not all of them care if you’re nurturing, or patient, or positive, or fun. They’re individuals, each blazing their own paths in this world, each needing something different at one particular place and time. And they will be influenced and inspired by things we can never know.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">There’s nothing wrong with reading the research and trying your damndest to be the best teacher you can be. Just don’t assume that because you can fill up a checklist you’re going to make a difference in the life of a child. And don’t assume that because you can’t, you won’t.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-3163021830239707802022-04-12T18:45:00.002-04:002022-04-12T18:45:09.580-04:00How To Feel Like Less of a Failure<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-235" height="582" sizes="(max-width: 499px) 100vw, 499px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Failure.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Failure.jpg 499w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Failure-300x292.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="598" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I have a few students who are very challenging this year. I’ve been unable to get through to them. The old tricks aren’t working. My principal has been supportive. The parents aren’t blaming me or the school; they’re doing what they can. But for these students, it has not been a successful year. In fact, it’s been disastrous. And it leaves me feeling like a failure at the end of many days, which makes it difficult to get up and beat my head into that wall again the next day. I’ve been looking for ways to feel like less of a failure, and here is what I’ve tried so far with moderate success:</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Taking Inventory</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When I think of my class, most of my thoughts drift to those students who are struggling behaviorally. This is expected. In order to hold things together, I spend most of my day focusing on them, so it’s not surprising that when I lie in bed at night or prepare for work in the morning I think of them. The thoughts are almost always negative, which is a really bad mindset to have. So one strategy I’ve used is taking inventory. I go through my class list and assess how each student is doing in school. It’s a subjective exercise, but I try to be as honest as I can. Most are having a good year. A few perform inconsistently. Only three are having big problems. Looking at things this way makes me feel like less of a failure.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Forcing Myself to Focus on Positives</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The reality is that most of each day is conflict-free and most students have very few problems. Most do their work. Most have positive attitudes. Most treat others respectfully. The incidents that cause me to feel like a failure are rare, but because they’re disruptive, stressful, and often emotional, they are sometimes the only parts of the day I remember.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So instead of thinking about only those students who don’t seem to be improving, I think of some that obviously have. Like the student who started the year not willing to try, but makes an attempt now. Or the kid who couldn’t control his temper, but hasn’t had an explosion in weeks. There are success stories, and acknowledging them is a good way to counter self-doubt.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">In my book Exhausted, I discuss one strategy teachers can employ to use less willpower, and therefore conserve energy lost because of the body’s stress response. Walter Mischel’s famous marshmallow experiment is well known in education circles. It’s often cited as evidence of the importance of self-control. But Mischel was interested in <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">how</em> students distracted themselves from temptation. And the lessons he learned from the kids apply here. When we focus our attention on negatives, we feel stress. We can reduce this stress by distracting ourselves. The kids in the marshmallow experiment covered their faces, turned to the wall, sang to themselves, and looked at their shoes. They did what they could to ignore the marshmallow.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I’ve tried doing this with my challenging students. Sometimes, their actions are cries for attention. I play into their hands by giving it to them when they make poor choices. And I also stress myself out and feel like a failure. Instead of noticing and reacting to their every misdeed, I focus elsewhere, calling attention to students doing the right thing.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Not Accepting Responsibility For Others’ Choices</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">My job is to make expectations clear, to be consistent with consequences, to build relationships, and to try to make my classroom a place where kids want to be. If I’ve done those things, students will make better choices. At least, that’s the theory. In reality, some poor student choices have nothing to do with me. This year, I’ve had to remind myself that once I’ve done my job, it’s on them. Each student is responsible for her choices. If they make bad ones, they alone should suffer the consequences.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I wrote more about this here: <a data-id="https://teacherhabits.com/best-worst-lie-teachers-tell/" data-type="URL" href="https://teacherhabits.com/best-worst-lie-teachers-tell/" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;">The Best and Worst Lie Teachers Tell Themselves</a></p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Embracing the Challenge</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I made a huge mistake at the start of this year. I had a fantastic class last year. I left work with plenty of energy, enough that I started this blog and published two books. I started to feel like I really knew what I was doing, that the success I felt at school was because I was a more skilled teacher than I had previously been. I thought I’d finally figured this thing out, and that from here on out things would be clear sailing.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I forgot a really important truth about teaching:<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;"> It’s damn hard.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And what makes it hard are students who don’t show up to school with everything they need. You know, the ones who actually need me.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I also need them. My challenging students are there to stretch me as a professional. They provide me with the opportunity to try new things. They force me to adapt, to leave my comfort zone, and try new things. And although most of what I’ve tried this year with those students hasn’t worked, I will show up tomorrow and try something else. I’ll look for incremental improvement, any sign that I’m making an impact. It is those moments, few and far between as they may be, that will help me feel like less of a failure.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Remembering the Past</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">These are not the only challenging students I’ve had the last 18 years. Far from it. It helps to recall former students who made me feel like a failure. There have been a fair number. I survived every one of them, and I became a stronger teacher because of the experiences. These students and their challenges will not be the last of my career. When I think about going back to work tomorrow or returning day after day for the next twelve or more years, I recall a favorite quote by Marcus Aurelius: “Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-17972720576571036112022-04-12T18:44:00.000-04:002022-04-12T18:44:05.846-04:00What's Wrong With "Doing What's Best For Kids"<p><br /></p><div class="content-area" id="primary" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; width: 524.312px;"><main class="site-main" id="main" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><article class="post-263 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-leadership category-policy category-uncategorized" id="post-263" style="box-sizing: inherit; padding-bottom: 4em;"><div class="entry-content" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-264" height="486" sizes="(max-width: 499px) 100vw, 499px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Best-for-Kids.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Best-for-Kids.jpg 499w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Best-for-Kids-300x292.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="499" /></figure><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">There’s a YouTube video called, <a data-id="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16v2eojZ_l8" data-type="URL" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16v2eojZ_l8" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">“The Most Unsatisfying Video in the World ever made.”</a> It lives up to its name. It shows people cutting tomatoes wrong, mixing M&Ms and Skittles, scraping utensils against the bottom of an empty bowl, and other cringe-worthy crimes against humanity. Each example in the video makes me reflexively recoil. It’s the visual equivalent of the many phrases in education that induce the same reaction:</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“Teach with strict fidelity.”<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />“College and career ready.”<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />“Unpacking the standards.”<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />“Jigsaw this article.”<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />“Let’s put that idea in the parking lot.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And also, <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">“Doing What’s Best For Kids.”</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone — usually an administrator trying to make teachers feel guilty for self-advocating — say that we all just need to Do What’s Best For Kids. The phrase tends to show up during contentious contract negotiations with regularity. That’s no accident, because all too often it means, “Do what we want you to do, and if you question it, then you’re looking out for yourself instead of your students.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Some teachers are guilty of using it, too. Questioned about why they made a certain choice, they will hide behind, “It’s What’s Best For Kids” without actually explaining why or how they know that to be true. It’s a way for anyone — teacher, parent, principal — to claim an morally superior position and send the message that their actions, unlike yours, have selfless motives. They’re doing things for the right reasons, while you may be not.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s almost always nonsense.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">The Problem</h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The problem with the phrase, “Doing What’s Best For Kids” is that it can be used to justify damn near anything.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“I’m spanking my kids to teach them right from wrong.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“I allow my son to eat whatever he wants because I want him to learn he’s responsible for his own choices.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“We’re taking away recess because students need more time on task.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“I’m not vaccinating my child because I don’t want her to get autism.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The phrase, then, is meaningless. But that doesn’t mean it’s powerless. It’s an ace up the sleeve, a flag planted firmly in the high ground, and it’s intended to be a conversation stopper. People on the phrase’s receiving end are supposed to look introspectively and question their motives. They’re supposed to think: <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">I should sacrifice more.</em></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">How can anyone argue that educators shouldn’t do what’s best for kids?</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Because it’s just not that simple. In addition to the fact that Doing What’s Best For Kids can be used to justify anything, there are three other problems.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Kids Are Different</h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">This should go without saying, but since the phrase keeps getting used, someone ought to point out that kids are different. What’s best for one is often not what’s best for another. My daughter, always a reader, needed only to be given time and books to improve as a reader as she went through school. Other students — reluctant to read and lacking basic skills — needed much more direct instruction. Examples abound:</p><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">Recess is great for some kids, but it’s a source of anxiety and a daily reminder of their lack of friends for others.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">Inquiry-based science is more authentic and engaging, but some students don’t learn the content they’re supposed to.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">Group work teaches kids to collaborate, but it also means some students do much more work (and therefore learn more) than others.</li></ul><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Additionally, what’s best for an individual might not be best for large groups. Ryan is continually distracting the class and making it impossible to teach. It’s certainly not best for Ryan to be kicked out of the room, but it might be best for everyone not named Ryan. Spending one-on-one time with a student will benefit her, but what about the rest of the class?</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Of course, a solution to this problem is to differentiate because giving kids what they need is what’s Best For Kids. But differentiation leads to a second problem:</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Beliefs Are Different</h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Not everyone agrees about What’s Best For Kids. That’s why we have standards. Teachers, once mostly left alone, taught whatever they thought was important. I learned about dinosaurs every year from age six to age nine (fat lot of good it did me, too). I know a former teacher who took time out of every day to have her students sing her favorite college’s fight song. Some teachers still waste class time teaching the dead art of cursive writing. All of these teachers tell themselves they’re doing What’s Best For Kids.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Many educators have diametrically oppositional philosophies about what school should even be. Should it be a place of rigorous work with the aim of producing young people who know things and can demonstrate their knowledge on tests? Should it be a place of wonder and discovery, where failure is encouraged? Should it reflect society or prepare students to shape a new, better world? Which philosophy is Best For Kids, and is that philosophy best for <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">all</em> kids?</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Sometimes, determining what’s best is actually choosing between two benefits, in which case the determining factor is almost always something other than What’s Best for Kids. Field trips are great for kids. So is time on task in the classroom. But if you do one, you sacrifice the other. And since field trips cost money, guess which one administrators think is Best for Kids.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">The Biggest Problem</h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But here’s my main objection to being reminded to Do What’s Best for Kids: It suggests sacrifice and that sacrifice, almost always, is supposed to come from one group of people: teachers.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Teachers, the people doing the hard work of actually educating kids, may have the only legitimate claim on the moral high ground, and yet they are often the ones accused of looking out for their own interests above those of their students. Politicians blame teachers’ unions for ignoring What’s Best For Kids, while turning a blind eye to a myriad of other problems. Administrators — people who have intentionally left the one place where they had the most direct influence on students — have the temerity to suggest to teachers — the people whose job is literally all about the kids and who have chosen to remain in that job despite stagnant pay, deteriorating working conditions, greater expectations, less autonomy, scapegoating, and being reminded to Do What’s Best For Kids — that they ought to sacrifice even more. And sanctimonious teachers wield the tired phrase to feel better about themselves, oblivious to the meaninglessness of their words but comfortable in their own moral superiority.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“Doing What’s Best For Kids” is a weapon. It’s the language of teacher-shaming. It’s manipulative. And when you hear it from an administrator, parent, policy-maker, or even a fellow teacher, prepare to be exploited. Because the insinuation behind this phrase is clear: Teaching is not your job; it’s your calling. And that calling requires you to sacrifice. It requires you to agree to whatever thing someone with more power believes is What’s Best for Kids. So sit down, shut up, sign the contract, and get back in your classroom. Go Do What’s Best For Kids. And if you can’t figure out what that is, don’t worry, someone will let you know.</p></div></article></main></div>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-57386541698145071042022-04-12T18:42:00.001-04:002022-04-12T18:42:12.995-04:00The Benefits of Doing Nothing<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-310" height="286" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/doing-nothing.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/doing-nothing.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/doing-nothing-300x150.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="572" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Walk into any classroom and you are likely to see the teacher doing stuff. They’re lecturing, meeting with students, conferencing, planning, assessing, entering data, designing units, or circulating throughout the room. Few teachers give themselves permission to do nothing. But they should. <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Doing nothing is important.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When I say doing nothing, I of course mean doing nothing <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">outwardly</em>. While it may appear that we our sitting at our desks and counting the ceiling tiles, our brains are busy at work.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">The reality is that teachers don’t spend enough time thinking because we’re so busy doing.</span></p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Our Best Ideas</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Our best ideas often come to us when we are idle. Before I started this blog, I was an aspiring novelist. In the course of telling a story, I’d often get stuck. I couldn’t figure out what should happen next. The worst thing I could do was think more about the problem. Usually, my best ideas came when I left the work alone and did something mindless. It’s hard to come up with great ideas when we’re under pressure to do so.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The same thing happens with teaching. I have very few innovative ideas in February. But in the summer, when my mind is rested and I’m not stressed out from long days in the classroom, I regularly come up with new things to try for the upcoming school year. Teachers need to set aside time to just sit and think.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Sitting and thinking, instead of always doing, provides teachers with the mental space to be creative. I keep a notebook where I write down things to try in the classroom, and once a month I force myself to just sit and think of stuff. Ideas can come from books, blogs, colleagues, social media, or my favorite place, left field.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Reflection</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Time to think allows teachers to actually reflect on what’s working and what isn’t. We’re all told how important it is to reflect on our lessons. It’s part of every teacher evaluation system I know of. But most teachers roll their eyes and think, “Yeah, right. And when am I supposed to do that?”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">They ask that question because they don’t give themselves permission to do nothing. For most teachers, the thought of their principal walking in and seeing them sitting down and staring off into space is scary. We feel like we must always be working, and we fail to realize that thinking counts.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Time to think and reflect also lets teachers revisit their vision for the classroom to see if this year’s group is still on track or if things have gone off the rails and a recommitment is necessary. Every year, I write down my personal goals and the vision I have for my room. But once caught up in the day-to-day grind, I sometimes find myself just plugging along without thinking about the big things I want my room to be about. Without time to sit and think, I lose track of where I’m supposed to be leading my students.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Time to think can also save us trouble down the road. Taking a few minutes to think instead of responding emotionally to a student’s misbehavior, or a parent’s disrespectful email, or an administrator’s new idea can mean the difference between having a job and not having one.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">When Helping Doesn’t Help</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Students also benefit from a teacher doing nothing. Especially at the elementary level, too many of us rush in to save a student from failure or even frustration. We don’t want our students to struggle, and when we see them doing so, we want to help. That’s how we’re built.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">But failure and frustration teach, often better than we do.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Stand back. Do nothing. Send the message to your students that they can do it without you.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I can always tell if I’ve helped too much when the state test rolls around. Since I’m not allowed to help at all, those students who I’ve not allowed to struggle don’t know what to do without my assistance. They don’t know how to solve problems because I haven’t allowed them to struggle with them. I’ve failed them, not only for that test, but in some ways, for life. There won’t always be someone around to help, and some problems just require that you sit there and think.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-50950167610825718112022-04-12T18:39:00.003-04:002022-04-12T18:39:47.446-04:00Proof Your Teacher Evaluation Is Meaningless<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-275" height="294" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/meaningless.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/meaningless.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/meaningless-300x150.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="587" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s bad enough that part of teachers’ evaluations are based on student growth. This growth, usually based on just a few poorly designed assessments and for which students are not personally held accountable, can be affected by a number of factors completely outside the control of the teacher, such as student attendance, motivation, technical issues, and whether or not a kid remembered his glasses or whether or not mom remembered his medication on the critical day.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But even more egregious is that a large percentage of a teacher’s evaluation comes from administrator observations.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">A principal is given a huge checklist of “best practices,” and is supposed to assess the teacher in real-time on each of them. They might do this a couple of times each year. Of the more than 1,000 hours that teachers do their jobs in a year, their evaluation may rest on just 80 minutes of observed teaching. In other words, a teacher’s entire year is judged on about one-tenth of one percent of her efforts.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">That’s not the worst of it. Because in the case of observations, it’s not what districts are doing that proves teacher evaluations are meaningless. It’s what districts are <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">not</span> doing.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">What Districts Won’t and Never Will Do</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">See if you can imagine your district doing the following:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">On a day in May, say a week or two before you are to receive your end-of-year evaluation, the entire staff is invited to a one-hour professional development session. The topic is “Why Your Teacher Evaluation is Credible.” You all gather inside the high school auditorium. A huge screen is hung over the stage. In the front row sits every administrator the district employs.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The Superintendent walks to the microphone and says, “Valued educators, we know that many teachers feel stress over their evaluations. Today, we are going to alleviate some of that stress. We want you to know that the tool we use to evaluate you produces consistent results, no matter who uses it.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">To prove it to you, we are all going to watch a 40-minute video of a lesson. In this case, you’ll be seeing a sixth grade social studies class. Each administrator will complete an observation–just like they do for all of you–while they watch the video. When the lesson ends, I will collect each principal’s observation and I will show them to you. That way, you will see that no matter who uses the tool it produces very similar results. You’ll know that your teacher evaluation is a true reflection of your abilities as an educator, and not the subjective result of an unproven process that encourages you to employ different strategies based solely on the whims and preferences of the person who happens to be your supervisor this year.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">At which point the video starts and the principals start tapping things on their iPads.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The fact that none of the above happens in any district I know of (and never will) tells teachers everything they need to know about the objectivity of the observations they’re forced to endure and are asked to believe in.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If you have a system that relies on the opinions and values of the individuals doing the scoring then you have a system that can’t be trusted.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Treat Teachers Like Gymnasts</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Gymnastics recognizes this. Gymnastics, like teaching, is more art than science. Two people watching the same routine can honestly disagree about which was better. That’s why gymnasts are scored by multiple judges who have deep knowledge of the sport and receive rigorous training on how to evaluate routines. They’re given strict guidelines and add points for required elements and difficulty, while deducting for execution and artistry.*</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And still they don’t agree. That’s why the high and low scores are thrown out and the rest are averaged. FIG recognizes that relying on the judgment of one person ruins the credibility of their sport. No viewer would trust the results of a gymnastics competition that was judged by a single person. The gymnasts wouldn’t trust those results, either.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Neither should teachers. It says something that we care more about getting it right for gymnasts than for teachers. It says something that school districts will never allow its teachers to see how subjective their administrators’ observations truly are. It says something that American teachers’ jobs are in the hands of one judge, who bases his or her evaluation on one-tenth of one percent of a teachers’ working hours.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">One judge.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Better hope you don’t get the Russian.**</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">____________________________</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">* I simplified <a data-id="https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/gymnastics-101-scoring" data-type="URL" href="https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/gymnastics-101-scoring" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Olympic gymnastics’ scoring</a> for ease of reading.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">** I’ve got nothing against Russians, except that they <a data-id="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/russians-long-history-benefitting-olympic-cheating-scandals/357916/" data-type="URL" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/russians-long-history-benefitting-olympic-cheating-scandals/357916/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">cheat in the Olympics</a>.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-76210334627074684932022-04-12T18:38:00.003-04:002022-04-12T18:38:31.713-04:00How Teachers Can Give Themselves a Raise<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-232" height="492" sizes="(max-width: 734px) 100vw, 734px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/raise.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/raise.jpg 734w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/raise-300x201.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="734" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Work fewer hours.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">That’s it, really. I probably don’t need to explain it, but you did click over here and you likely expect more than three words, so…</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Here is how working for others… uh, works. You agree to do a job. Your employer agrees to pay you. You come to an arrangement whereby you will work for a certain amount of hours, and in return, they will give you a certain amount of money. For teachers, the amount of work and the amount of money is almost always spelled out in black and white in a contract. For instance, mine says,</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; quotes: "" "";"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“The teacher’s normal day shall be seven (7) hours and six (6) minutes, unless permission is granted by the principal to leave earlier. Professional development half-days shall be three (3) hours and thirty (30) minutes with the start time to be determined by the building administrator.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“Teachers shall be entitled to a duty-free uninterrupted lunch period of not less than thirty-five (35) minutes.”</p></blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And farther down the document, there’s a salary schedule that states exactly how much I will be paid for my labor.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So it’s pretty cut and dry. There’s an exchange. Work for money. Tale as old as time.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Now, when it comes down to it, we’re all hourly employees. Your investment banker friend might pull down 100K but he’s also working 60-hour weeks. So while he drives a nicer car, wears fancier clothes, and takes cooler vacations than you, he also mostly drives that car to work and back, is only seen in his fancy clothes by other bankers, and doesn’t take many vacations because he works all the damn time. He’s trading additional time for more money, and as a result, his hourly rate would be something like:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">$100,000 divided by (60 hours/week x 50 weeks/year) = $30/hr + no personal life.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">You, on the other hand, made a different choice. You chose time over money (or at least, that’s what I did and what you should be doing). You make a much more modest income, but you also work fewer hours (and if you don’t, you should).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If you feel like you’re underpaid as a teacher, it’s probably because of one of these reasons:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">1. You’re young and pay for new teachers hasn’t moved in eons.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />2. You work in <del style="box-sizing: inherit;">Oklahoma</del> <del style="box-sizing: inherit;">West Virginia</del> Arizona.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />3. You work too many hours.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Let’s say you’re a mid-career teacher making $60,000. You work 10-hour days, plus you put in 10 more hours on weekends. Your hourly rate is:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">$60,000 / (60 hours/week x 38 weeks) = <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">$26.31</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">(And this assumes you don’t work over the summer. But if you’re working 60-hour weeks during the school year, I have a sneaking suspicion you’re not one to spend your summers on a beach, so your hourly rate will be even lower.)</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If you want a raise, there are only three ways to go about getting one (short of leaving for a higher-paying job, and good luck with that).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">You might work more, although you have to be careful. The math doesn’t always work in your favor. If your district is offering less than your hourly rate (which is likely), then it’s not really a raise. It’s just more work for more money, but not enough money to make it worth your while (unless you have no life and nothing better to do with your time, in which case, I’m sorry).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">You can stick around for another year and get a small raise (unless they freeze steps, which is certainly a possibility, isn’t it?).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Or you can <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">work fewer hours</span>, which:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">–boosts your hourly rate of pay.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">–gives you more time to do the things you really want to do in life.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">–is something you can start doing tomorrow.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So here’s how to feel richer than an investment banker:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Let’s say you’re not crazy and you don’t work 60 hours a week. You work fifty because you tell yourself it makes you a better teacher. So:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">$60,000 / (50 hours/week x 38 weeks) = <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">$31.58/hour</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">That’s investment banker money and you still get the summers, Spring Break, and Christmas off. Look at you, high roller!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But if you’re working 50 hours a week, then you’re donating more than 10 hours every week, or more than 380 hours over the course of a school year. If you don’t believe me, check your contract.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If instead, you work a reasonable workweek of 40 hours — which for many of you is actually <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">more</em> than what you’ve agreed to work when you signed a legally-binding document that governs employee-employer relationships the world over — then:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">$60,000 / (40 hours/week x 38 weeks) = <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">$39.00/ hour</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And you’ll also have a personal life (although you’ll still be tired and useless on Friday nights, no matter how quickly you get out of the building).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">So if you want a raise, stop working so many hours.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It sounds simple because it is, and yet so many teachers have a hard time doing it. If only there were a book that could help them…</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">(Disclosure: I wrote it):</p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-325" height="350" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Leave-School-at-School-3D.png" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Leave-School-at-School-3D.png 350w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Leave-School-at-School-3D-300x300.png 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Leave-School-at-School-3D-150x150.png 150w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Leave-School-at-School-3D-100x100.png 100w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="350" /></figure>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-12748498084504763262022-04-12T18:37:00.003-04:002022-04-12T18:37:37.630-04:00Teachers' Extra Hours Are Different<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-229" height="643" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/extra.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/extra.jpg 852w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/extra-300x226.jpg 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/extra-768x580.jpg 768w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="852" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">For something that should be relatively easy to calculate, there is a lot of debate about just how many hours teachers work. Read the comments on nearly any online article about teaching and you will be met with vigorous disagreement on the matter. Make the claim that teachers should be paid more and you can be sure that someone will point out our seven-hour days, summer vacations, and breaks for the holidays. Argue that teachers are overpaid, and you will be besieged by outraged educators who will tell you just how many hours they spend on the job each week, how even their breaks are actually just more work, and how, when they’re dead and buried, they’ll still find a way to grade papers.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The data isn’t particularly helpful, either. Like most topics people enjoy arguing about, you can find a study to support damn near any conclusion you want:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The<a data-id="http://www.nea.org/home/12661.htm" data-type="URL" href="http://www.nea.org/home/12661.htm" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank"> NEA reports</a> that teachers work an average of 50 hours per week.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The NUT teachers’ union, in <a data-id="https://www.tes.com/news/nearly-half-young-teachers-planning-quit-over-high-workload" data-type="URL" href="https://www.tes.com/news/nearly-half-young-teachers-planning-quit-over-high-workload" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">a survey of 3,000 of its members</a> who were age 35 or younger, found that 74% worked 51 hours or more each week.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">A <a data-id="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/survey-teachers-work-53-hours-per-week-on-average/2012/03/16/gIQAqGxYGS_blog.html?utm_term=.6abcfced0617" data-type="URL" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/survey-teachers-work-53-hours-per-week-on-average/2012/03/16/gIQAqGxYGS_blog.html?utm_term=.6abcfced0617" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">2012 report</a> from Scholastic and the Gates Foundation put the average at 53 hours per week.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Teachers self-reported working a mean of 43.7 hours on the Census Bureau’s Current Population survey.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And the <a data-id="https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/03/art4full.pdf" data-type="URL" href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/03/art4full.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>, employing time-use surveys, found that the average teacher works about 40 hours per week.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But whether teachers are working five hours beyond their contractual time or fifteen, what’s almost always left out of this debate is the fact that <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">teachers’ extra hours are different.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When a police officer works extra hours, she gets paid extra money. Same for nurses and nearly every hourly employee in the country. You’ll never see headlines like these about teachers:</p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Detroit police overtime pay up 136% over 5 years</span></h3><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Overtime allowed several East St. Louis police officers to earn more than $100K in 2017</span></h3><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">5 Lansing bus drivers made more than $100K in 2016</span></h3><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Outcry over firefighters making up to $400,000</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">There is no overtime pay in education. Teachers who work even one extra hour per week know they will get nothing in return.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Hard-working teachers also have no hope of being promoted. To what job would they be promoted? There’s no going to the principal, explaining how many hours you dedicate to the job and how your efforts have resulted in greater student achievement, and then asking for a raise. Teachers who work extra hours do so with the full knowledge that it will not lead to a better, higher-paying job.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">No matter how great a teacher you are, how much you improve test scores, how loved you are by parents and students, how respected you are by your boss and colleagues, and how much your contributions improve the performance of your school, you will not receive a year-end bonus check. There are no bonuses for hitting targets in education. Teachers who work extra hours to be successful with students will get nothing but satisfaction for their efforts.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Unlike small business owners, who are well-known for their long hours, teachers have no hope that their sacrifices today will lead to a brighter tomorrow. There’s no slaving away for ten years as you build your classroom practice with the hope that, eventually, it will all pay off in the end. Teachers start over every year. No one cares how effective you were if you no longer are. Extra hours early in your career don’t lead to riches later in your career.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">This is how teachers’ extra hours are different: <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">In literally every other field, the person who puts in extra work expects to benefit financially.</span> Only in education do we expect people to work more hours solely for the benefit of others. And that’s why whenever I read something that questions how many hours teachers actually work I want to scream.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Even teachers who donate a single hour of their time can claim the moral high ground over every other professional because teachers’ extra hours are, by definition, altruistic.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Merriam-Webster: <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Altruism</em> refers to a quality possessed by people whose focus is on something other than themselves.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Every time you see a teacher leave work thirty minutes after her paid day has ended, or take work home on the weekend, or check papers at her kid’s soccer game, you are seeing a person who is acting selflessly.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">No one will pay her for her time.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />No one will promote her.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />No one will slip her a bonus check at Christmastime.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />Most of the time, no one will even thank her.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Instead, they’ll hop on the Internet and explain how selfish and greedy teachers are for those pensions they’ll earn after working countless hours at no taxpayer expense over their 30-year career.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And if the ignorant carping weren’t bad enough, teachers who go the extra mile are often punished by their employers. In every other field, going above and beyond is rewarded. In education, doing more leads to more work. If you work hard to become an expert classroom manager, you can expect to get the toughest students. If you’re competent and conscientious, you get asked to lead school initiatives (usually with little or no extra pay). If you’re dedicated and hard-working, you’ll be expected to attend after-school events (again, without pay).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">With the exception of positions like coaching or department chair (which tend to pay peanuts), every hour — no, every <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">minute</em> — of time that teachers work beyond their contracts is given with absolutely zero expectation of it personally benefiting them.*</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Teaching is the only line of work where this is true, and that’s why teachers extra hours are different and it’s also why the argument about how many hours teachers actually work misses the point entirely.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">————————–</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">*Except in that warm fuzzy feeling kind of way we always expect should be enough for teachers, since they’re working with kids and the job is so meaningful and all that hoo-hah. Odd that we don’t feel like that’s enough for pediatricians.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-26790187942068152162022-04-12T18:35:00.004-04:002022-04-12T18:35:36.358-04:00At What Point Do We Stop Blaming Teachers<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-67" height="380" sizes="(max-width: 452px) 100vw, 452px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Blaming.png" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Blaming.png 452w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Blaming-300x191.png 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="597" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">At the beginning of this school year, TNTP released a report called <a data-id="https://tntp.org/publications/view/student-experiences/the-opportunity-myth" data-type="URL" href="https://tntp.org/publications/view/student-experiences/the-opportunity-myth" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">The Opportunity Myth</a>, in which they repeated a golden oldie from the reform agenda’s playlist: Public schools suck and it’s mostly because public school teachers suck. They didn’t come right out and say that, of course, but it’s hard to interpret the report’s introduction any other way. Judge for yourself:</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; quotes: "" "";"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Far too many students graduate from high school still unprepared for the lives they want to lead. They enroll in college and land in remedial courses, or start jobs and discover they’re missing skills they need. We wanted to understand why.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">To do this, we followed nearly 4,000 students in five diverse school systems to learn more about their experiences. What we found was unnerving: classroom after classroom filled with A and B students whose big goals for their lives are slipping further away each day, unbeknownst to them and their families—not because they can’t master challenging material, but because they’re rarely given a real chance to try.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">In fact, most students—and especially students of color, those from low-income families, those with mild to moderate disabilities, and English language learners—spent the vast majority of their school days missing out on four crucial resources: grade-appropriate assignments, strong instruction, deep engagement, and teachers with high expectations. Students spent more than 500 hours per school year on assignments that weren’t appropriate for their grade and with instruction that didn’t ask enough of them—the equivalent of six months of wasted class time in each core subject. And middle and high school students reported that their school experiences were engaging less than half the time.</p></blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The report is exactly what you’d expect if you’ve been in public education for any length of time, and if you’d like to read why you can safely ignore it, check out Peter Greene’s criticism <a data-id="https://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-opportunity-myth-myth.html?spref=tw" data-type="URL" href="https://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-opportunity-myth-myth.html?spref=tw" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">here</a> and Matt Barnum’s <a data-id="https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2018/09/25/a-new-report-argues-that-students-are-suffering-through-low-quality-instruction-and-classwork-is-that-true/" data-type="URL" href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2018/09/25/a-new-report-argues-that-students-are-suffering-through-low-quality-instruction-and-classwork-is-that-true/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">What strikes me is how reformers continue to shamelessly want it both ways.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">They have, for the most part, won. They rammed through the standards they wanted. Tenure protections have been decimated in many states. Schools are more “data-driven” than ever. School choice continues to expand. Teachers can now be held accountable for their students’ performance on a standardized test. Reformers have managed to <a data-id="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/the-education-perception-gap/533898/" data-type="URL" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/the-education-perception-gap/533898/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">convince</a> 7 out of every 10 Americans that our public schools deserve a C or D rating, even though most believe their children’s own schools are just fine.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">School leaders, in their quest to take individual teacher differences out of the equation and standardize lessons just as much as we’ve standardized tests, have adopted Common Core-aligned programs and required strict fidelity to them. They’ve done everything they can to take teacher judgment out of education, going so far as to forbid educators from using anything that hasn’t received prior approval from central office administrators. Some of these programs literally have scripts for teachers to read, and many districts require teachers to follow pacing guides to make sure they cover all the material before the big exam and to ensure continuity across the district. Because I guess that’s important.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The way schools are run today is different than they used to be run, and it isn’t because schools decided they needed to change or parents demanded it; it’s because those changes were forced on them by people with the same ideology as those who write reports criticizing teachers for their weak instruction, below-grade-level assignments, inability to engage students, and low expectations.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s the same thing that infuriates me whenever teacher effectiveness is discussed at a district level.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">As a teacher who has been told to teach a program as it’s written, how the hell is it my fault if the assignments students get are not challenging enough? I’m not the one who designed the assignments.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If you’re requiring me to read from some stupid script written by publishers who’ve never met my students, then how can you fairly evaluate my instruction? It’s not <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">my</em> instruction.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Should we be surprised that students aren’t engaged during a lesson that’s delivered by a teacher who had no hand in creating it and who sees it as the contrived lump that it is? I’m not a terrible actor, but hand me a lemon and I’m going to have trouble convincing even the most eager-to-learn student that I’m giving them lemonade.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Why would we expect students to be engaged when they’re walked through standard after standard with the goal of preparing them for a test? Last week, my third graders read an article (out of the district-mandated curriculum) on the transcontinental railroad. They were interested and asked lots of questions. I went rogue and showed an unapproved video of how it was built. They had more questions. I could envision us spending the next two weeks learning about westward expansion. We could discuss Manifest Destiny and investigate why certain large western cities are located where they are today. We could read about how the railroad affected the environment and how it upset Native American hunting grounds and led to the taking of their land.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Instead, I had to move on. I had to teach about sequence and cause and effect because I had a test to give on those skills and a new topic (completely unrelated to the American west or even American history) to start on Monday.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I had to do those things because that’s what’s in the standards these reformers so badly wanted and because my district needs data to make decisions and because I can’t be trusted to make decisions about how to best prepare my students for those tests, much less for anything more important than tests.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But TNTP wants to tell me it’s my fault students aren’t engaged?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If I’m doing what I’ve been told to do, then how do you evaluate my effectiveness? Shouldn’t you really evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum you’ve forced me to use?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">This is the educational world the reformers have wrought, and the one they still have the temerity to criticize. They created this mess, and now they’re pointing at it, holding their noses, and telling teachers to do better.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Please.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The reformers’ agenda has had a chance to work. If it isn’t — if kids aren’t being given grade-level tasks, if instruction is weak, if students aren’t engaged, if teachers aren’t expecting enough of them — then it’s long past time for the reform crowd to own their failures and stop scapegoating teachers, many of whom are doing nothing more than exactly what they’ve been told to do with the materials they’ve been told to do it with.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If students aren’t able to pursue their goals, it’s not because teachers have failed them. It’s because reformers have.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If you want to blame teachers, then you need to allow them to make some decisions. You need to give them some power. Blaming teachers for the state of education today, when teachers have lost nearly every skirmish with the well-financed reform movement, is straight from the reformer playbook, where all the plays are designed wonderfully, but the damn players don’t know how to run them.</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; quotes: "" "";"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If you want teachers to be nothing more than compliant replaceable parts, then you don’t get to blame them when your plans don’t work out.</p></blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The army doesn’t fire soldiers when the general’s plan is a disaster.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">NFL teams don’t swap out their entire rosters when the coach’s gameplans result in multiple losing seasons.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And reformers should no longer get to blame teachers when teachers are working under conditions created by those reformers.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-35810692945037239972022-04-12T18:33:00.001-04:002022-04-12T18:33:55.516-04:00The Teacher's Guide to Changing Careers<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-106" height="375" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Change-Careers.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Change-Careers.jpg 842w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Change-Careers-300x207.jpg 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Change-Careers-768x530.jpg 768w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="544" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">At the end of Dan’s last article, <a data-id="https://teacherhabits.com/quit-teaching-wont-go-back/" data-type="URL" href="https://teacherhabits.com/quit-teaching-wont-go-back/" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;">“I Quit Teaching and Won’t Go Back,”</a> he wrote:</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; quotes: "" "";"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When I made my departure official and announced it to the world, I was humbled by the response of kind words and expressions of sadness for losing what I had to offer the classroom. But I was also alarmed by the number of responses I received from teachers asking how I managed to do it. I received texts, emails, and phone calls from teachers all over the national network I had been a part of declaring that they wanted out, too…I began receiving messages from friends of friends and even a few strangers. I had somehow become the exodus guru. I still receive these messages with the most recent just last week from a woman I once met at a conference who found me on LinkedIn and wondered if I could give her friend some advice.</p></blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">This article, the third and final part in this series, is Dan’s advice.</p><div class="wp-block-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><figure class="aligncenter size-large" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; display: table; margin: 0px auto;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-107" height="281" loading="lazy" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/laird2-300x281-1.jpg" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="300" /></figure></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Dan Laird</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Since I was employed by the same district where I completed my internship, I never really experienced the whole job search process. I earned my place, but I certainly was lucky to be interning in a school with an opening. I now found myself looking for a job with no experience looking for a job. Obviously, I knew the basics, but I was now swimming in unfamiliar waters, waters that had expanded thanks to the internet.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Step 1: Update the Ol’ Resumé</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Since the last entry on my most recent résumé from 1999 was for being a delivery driver for Pizza Hut, I had some work to do. And since that résumé was stored on a 5 ¼” floppy disk, I found it best to simply start over rather than see if the Smithsonian offered computer time. Because I was keeping my options open, I realized that I would be tweaking my résumé and cover letter again and again to match the job for which I was applying. After all, I highly doubt that the folks hiring for the copywriting position I pursued were interested in my proficiency with Google Classroom. To handle the task of juggling multiple résumés, I paid for a monthly subscription to the résumé building site, <a data-id="https://www.myperfectresume.com/" data-type="URL" href="https://www.myperfectresume.com/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">MyPerfectRésumé</a>. It allowed me to save multiple drafts and focus on the content without the hassle of the formatting. (Helpful hint: I also discovered that if you pay for a month or two then attempt to cancel, the site will offer you a full year for the price of one month.)</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Every time I applied for a job, I made a folder on my computer for that application, résumé, and cover letter. In the modern tech age, it is easy to apply for jobs at a rapid-fire pace. Despite that, some companies will respond as if it is the only job you pursued, and, believe it or not, their initial correspondence may offer very little indication as to which job posting they are referring. If you are casting a wide net, it can be very easy to lose track of your applications and nothing is more of a turn off for potential employers than confusing one opening for another. Also, by keeping a file for each application, I could easily find the closest résumé version for adaptation that best fit the next job posting.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Step 2: Finally Learn About LinkedIn</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Despite being the butt of jokes for years, <a data-id="https://www.linkedin.com/" data-type="URL" href="https://www.linkedin.com/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> proved to have a place in the job search world. It turns out that employers may want to do their homework on you and this gives them a social media source to learn more about your professional accomplishments without having to sort through New Year’s Eve photos, your angry comments about being a cursed Detroit Lions fan, or hilarious cat memes. (Sidenote: You might want to check the privacy settings on your Facebook account). Since I was determined to go all out on this venture, I paid for the premium subscription during my job hunt which allowed me to see who was reviewing my profile. I was pleasantly surprised to find views from companies to which I was applying.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">In addition, many job search sites allow you to attach your LinkedIn profile to applications. Some even convert your LinkedIn profile information into the application itself. Since the résumé needs to be short, sweet, and right to the point, the LinkedIn profile allows you to really draw attention to work you want to emphasize.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Step 3: Find Your Source for Jobs</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Job search sites seem like a dime a dozen. It’s important that you do your homework and monitor your success rate so you know what works best for you. Check to see if the site allows you to apply on its page or if it redirects you to other sites. Remember that companies pay to post their jobs on these sites. If the site you picked isn’t taking the application directly, it probably isn’t being used by the company who posted the job, which means your application may be dead in the water and lost to the internet.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Most of my success came from <a data-id="https://www.indeed.com/" data-type="URL" href="https://www.indeed.com/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Indeed.com</a>. In fact, that is where I found my current job. Indeed provides a very quick application process. If you have your résumé and cover letter ready to go, you can send it with the click of a button. A nice way to tell if a company has invested its money with Indeed is to see if it has added on to the application process. Companies can use a default application or they can add their own questions to the process. If you see these extra questions, you know that the company has prioritized this hiring source in its budget. If you do see short response questions on an application, always save your responses in a separate document so you don’t lose them once you submit your application. If you apply for another similar position, you may find a similar question.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Step 4: Cast a Wide Net</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">One of the biggest misconceptions teachers have is that their qualifications lock them into a teaching role for life. It’s certainly what I thought. What else can you do with a history major and English minor? Curate a museum? Write the great American novel? Finding an open position with the former is about as likely as becoming a rock star and the latter isn’t exactly a financially sound decision for a 40-year-old with two children and a mortgage.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I learned to stop searching for jobs for which I thought I was qualified and instead to start searching for my qualifications. First, I searched for ALL jobs in my city and state. For years I had been telling my students that they may very well end up in jobs that haven’t been invented yet. Here was my chance to see what had been invented since I joined the workforce. Of course, there were jobs that sounded great for which I was nowhere near qualified. Still, those are options if you have a long-term plan that involves going back to school. So if you want out and can bear it a few more years, target one of these jobs and start taking classes now. But there were also opportunities for people like me looking to make an immediate evacuation. From there, I started looking for more jobs like the ones I stumbled upon. It was a domino effect of discovery. As it turns out, the world needs teachers in every corner of the workforce and not just for teaching STEAM.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Step 5: Don’t Wait. Keep Applying.</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Just because a position is posted, it doesn’t mean that anyone is in any hurry to fill that position. Nothing proves this point more than positions for the state. When you check your state government website for job postings, you will most likely find more postings than you have time to look through. After applying for a few state positions, I started to get the feeling that even the state didn’t want to look through all of them. Rarely did I ever hear back from one of these applications. A few times I was told a position was filled. Once I was told that the state changed its mind and eliminated the position. Most of the time, I heard nothing. The downside to fast and furious job application technology is that most companies now have to sort through applications from people who only applied because they had nothing to lose.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Step 6: Know What You’re Getting Yourself Into</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s a very exciting feeling to get called for an interview. While the interview is a great chance for the employer to get to know you, remember that it is also a good opportunity to learn more about the job for which you applied, sometimes without even asking a single question.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Not all job postings are specific. They may give you enough information to pique your interest, and hold back information that may cause you to look elsewhere. In addition, some job sites allow you to leave your résumé posted on a general “bulletin board” for any employer to see. This may lead to calls for interviews you didn’t expect, especially from insurance companies. Because I was keeping my options open, I attended some of these. A few of these interviews were located in bare offices that looked like they had been rented for the day. One interviewer mistakenly thought, ¨How would you like to live in Indiana?” was an enticing sales pitch. And one scheduled interview turned out to be a group interview with a dozen other candidates. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when asked what we were all looking for from this position, one applicant responded, “I want time to do my karate.” No offense to the karate kid, but I felt like I had a bit more to offer and was surprised we were up for the same position. It was clear that I was not invited there for my extensive résumé. Lower level employees were clearly mass-hired, disposable commodities.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Don’t be embarrassed about getting tricked by these “opportunities.” This process took me almost a year to get the hang of. As long as you’re not sacrificing something more important, you have nothing to lose by going to these interviews. Use the opportunity to brush up on your interview skills, learn to anticipate some typical questions, and, at the very least, give yourself an interesting story to tell. You never know when something might surprise you. In fact, before I took my current job, I was in the process of accepting a position with a financial company that happened to specialize in teacher 403b retirement funds. It was an unanticipated natural fit and the company was excited to have an actual former teacher on the team. I would probably be working there if my current job hadn’t made an offer right before I was to take my exams.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So, to recap:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">You have value outside of the classroom.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Your qualifications do not lock you into a teaching job for life.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Learn about expectations for résumés outside of education. They’re different. Then update your résumé. I recommend subscribing to a résumé building website.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Set up or update your Linkedin account. Learn about best practices that will help attract interest from employers.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Investigate different job search sites and determine which works best for you.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Search for all jobs in your geographical area. You’ll learn about jobs you didn’t know existed. The discovery process will help you figure out which jobs fit your qualifications.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Don’t wait to hear back because many times you won’t. Just keep applying.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Keep your options open. Attend interviews. You’ll become more comfortable with them, become better prepared to answer common questions, and learn what companies are looking for.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Be patient but persistent. Keep looking, applying, and interviewing.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Forgive yourself. I made lots of mistakes, but this was a new experience. Recognize that it’s going to take you a while to get the hang of it.</span></li></ul><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Good luck!</p><hr class="wp-block-separator" style="background-color: #bbbbbb; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: 1px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100px; opacity: 0.4; overflow: visible; width: 100px;" /><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Thanks for reading the series! Dan and I both appreciate your interest and we hope this has helped those of you thinking of making a change. For those who plan on persisting in the classroom for the next five or ten or fifteen years, I have a book called<a href="https://amzn.to/3jCnhak" target="_blank"> <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Leave School At School </em></a>that will help you cut back on hours without sacrificing your impact with kids. In fact, because you’ll be more focused, better-rested, and less stressed, you’ll probably be a <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">better</em> teacher.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-89049297517599771872022-04-12T18:31:00.002-04:002022-04-12T18:31:31.140-04:00I Quit Teaching and Won't Go Back<p> <em style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">“I Quit Teaching and Won’t Go Back” is the second of a three-part series written by Dan Laird, a teacher of 17 years who left education to work in private industry. Part one, <a data-id="https://teacherhabits.com/quit-teaching-17-successful-years/" data-type="URL" href="https://teacherhabits.com/quit-teaching-17-successful-years/" style="box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;">“Why I Quit Teaching After 17 Successful Years”</a> can be read <a data-id="https://teacherhabits.com/quit-teaching-17-successful-years/" data-type="URL" href="https://teacherhabits.com/quit-teaching-17-successful-years/" style="box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;">here</a>. Part three, <a data-id="https://teacherhabits.com/teachers-guide-changing-careers/" data-type="URL" href="https://teacherhabits.com/teachers-guide-changing-careers/" style="box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;">“The Teacher’s Guide to Changing Careers,”</a> can be found <a data-id="https://teacherhabits.com/teachers-guide-changing-careers/" data-type="URL" href="https://teacherhabits.com/teachers-guide-changing-careers/" style="box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;">here</a>.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Dan Laird</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It has been almost ten months since I started my new career giving me a chance to see the world from a set of non-teacher eyes. Each day, I’m happier I left. Each day, I want to lead everyone I left in the classroom on a revolt. The grass on the other side is greener. I’ve seen it.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Let’s “yada yada yada” our way through the obvious reasons why: the pay is better, the benefits are better, my retirement savings now grow three times as fast, I have an hour for lunch which gives me enough time to eat at home if I’d like, I can use the bathroom at any time without needing to find someone to sit at my desk while I’m gone, and my office building is modern and doesn’t smell like a gym locker. But you already expected that.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The real reason I will never go back to education is the culture. I discovered that teachers have been conditioned to believe that everything must be harder than it actually has to be. We are trained to think that the reasonable is unreasonable, that anything we are afforded should be considered a favor, that guilt should accompany permission for the most basic accommodations.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">As it turns out, the professional world does not operate like it does inside the walls of a school. In the first month of my new job, three events solidified my departure from education as one of the best events that ever happened to me:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">1.</span> Part of my job description includes the creation of digital interactive tutorials and the monitoring of the company’s learning management system. As if being paid to be creative every day isn’t monumental enough, that isn’t the most incredible part. When I asked my manager if I would have access to the designing software at home to continue working when needed, her response was, “The short answer is ‘yes,’ but we don’t expect you to take work home.” She went on to tell me that the company feels family is important and that an employee shouldn’t have to sacrifice one for the other. Now this doesn’t mean that I don’t have deadlines or that I still haven’t brought my laptop home from time to time. But I find that I accomplish more at work because I’m allowed to do my job uninterrupted, unlike teaching, where classroom instruction is the least respected part of the job.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">As teachers, there is an expectation that large parts of your required duties are to be performed on your own personal time. Not only are you expected to teach during classroom hours, you are expected to give up your lunch and planning hour if a student requests it. The request never seems unreasonable to anyone other than the teacher. Saying “no” is a guaranteed PR nightmare because, once again, not being willing to sacrifice on command clearly means you don’t care about kids.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">As teachers lose their planning time, their 25 minutes to shovel down a microwave meal, and their early mornings and afternoons in order to spend more time working with students, the other half of the job awaits them during their personal time, their time with family, their time to unwind. There is no such thing as “off duty” when you are a teacher. What you do to go above and beyond as a teacher quickly becomes the norm, which means you then have to figure out a new way to go above and beyond.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">First, it was important to have your grades prepared for report cards at the end of the trimester, then it was important to have your grades prepared for progress reports in the middle of the trimester, then we were required to send grade notices home to give parents a heads up regarding what they will be seeing on the progress report. Now all of a sudden, you’re unable to work on long-term projects because you won’t have a grade in time for the next update and we all know that if you don’t have grades, then clearly it’s because you’re lazy.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The same thing happens with parent communication. You update a website regularly with daily class information and downloadable materials? How am I supposed to know when it’s updated each day? Oh, you’ve added a class Twitter account to announce updates to the website? But I prefer text messages. Oh, you have a website, a Twitter account, and a Remind texting account? Well, we didn’t have time to check it. Can you just send home everything my child is missing?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">My work hours are a little longer now. Instead of 8 to 3, I work 8 to 5. But I wouldn’t say that my work <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">day</em> is longer. As a teacher, 8 am was the time work started but it wasn’t the time I started working. I was usually at school by 7 am at the latest (earlier if I didn’t have to take my kids to school or daycare) in order to get everything ready. And when 3 pm rolled around, I was packing multiple hours worth of work into my bag to take to my other office, also known as my dining room table.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">At my new job, an 8 am start means I leave my house at 7:40. And at 5 pm, my bag returns home as light as it left. Again, this doesn’t mean that my new colleagues and I aren’t working hard, or that we don’t bust our asses to go above and beyond expectations, or that we don’t still take work home with us. In fact, right now my work hours are a blur because of the extra time being put in to plan the company’s annual national conference in Orlando. (Did I mention my job includes an all-expenses-paid trip to Florida?) But in the world outside education, we sacrifice our time when <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">needed</em> as opposed to being expected to sacrifice our time as a matter of course.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">2.</span> In the year before I left teaching, my daughter started pre-school, so I enrolled her in the district where I taught. Of course, this meant that I dropped her off and picked her up from school. This created a problem when I had a staff meeting after school. The problem wasn’t picking her up. It was where to take her during my meeting. I asked if she could just sit at my desk since the meeting was in my room fully expecting a “no problem.” Instead, I was made to feel like the request was unreasonable, that an institution for teaching children was no place for a child. Instead, I had to find a student to babysit her in another room. Perhaps it was for the best. Who knows what could have happened had my 4-year-old daughter been privy to Homecoming planning details and SAT data.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When I started my new job, I was faced with a similarly difficult situation when our after-school care provider called in sick. My now five-year-old daughter couldn’t just stay at school for another two hours and she certainly wasn’t going to walk home by herself. I expected an awkward conversation with my manager. Instead, my manager and my team were practically giddy with excitement. They told me that I could work from home for the rest of the afternoon but that they would love it if I brought my daughter back to work with me.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“Are you serious?” I asked cautiously, as if this were a setup for being so gullible. I assumed the answer was “yes” since they immediately began planning activities for her. When I returned with my daughter, she was greeted by everyone with coloring pages, candy, and even a toy car with the company logo on it from the president of the company. Now my daughter always wants to know when she can come back to work with me. In that moment, I learned that respect for people’s lives outside of work exists. Way too often in teaching, teachers are treated as if caring for their own families means they are neglecting their students and that their job is putting everyone else’s children ahead of their own. It doesn’t have to be like that.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">3.</span> I’m not going to lie and tell you that a part of me doesn’t feel guilty about leaving. Public education is currently waging a huge battle for its survival and I walked away. Despite the way teachers are perceived and disrespected in a social context, it’s a little bit easier to stand up tall and declare you are a teacher when someone asks what you do for a living than it is with a job title that requires explaining. However, I don’t regret leaving for a single moment and I have the rest of my teaching colleagues to thank for it.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When I made my departure official and announced it to the world, I was humbled by the response of kind words and expressions of sadness for losing what I had to offer the classroom. But I was also alarmed by the number of responses I received from teachers asking how I managed to do it. I received texts, emails, and phone calls from teachers all over the national network I had been a part of declaring that they wanted out, too. These messages weren’t coming from young teachers who decided they couldn’t hack it for the long haul. These were established teachers, leaders in their field, authors of respected educational research. Many, like me, could even see the finish line of a retirement from education within the next decade but decided that it wasn’t worth it. The requests for information started spreading. I began receiving messages from friends of friends and even a few strangers. I had somehow become the exodus guru. I still receive these messages, with the most recent just last week from a woman I once met at a conference who found me on LinkedIn and wondered if I could give her friend some advice.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">With so many wanting out, my guilty feelings quickly subsided. However, I’m left with a fear for our education system. In my state of Michigan alone, enrollment in college teacher programs has declined drastically to the point where schools are hard pressed to find someone who will even be a substitute. For the last decade, teachers in my state have seen repeated attacks on their paychecks, their credibility, their voice, and the profession in general. We’ve reached an era where parents don’t have to dissuade their children from becoming teachers. Their kids no longer see any appeal. Pretty soon, the fight for public education might have to come from the outside because there will be no one left to throw punches on the inside.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I will continue to be one of those fighters on the outside, but I will also enjoy a well-deserved life outside of the trenches. Instead of phone calls to parents or stacks of papers to grade, my evenings are filled with time to play with my daughters. I use some of my new extra income to pay for those subscription home meal delivery kits and I’m learning to cook. I take a Florida vacation in the middle of winter at a time of my own choosing. I go to bed at a decent hour and have time to read a book before I go to sleep. It truly is amazing how stress-free my life has become. Part of me is pretty sure that my grey hair is getting its color back. While that might be a slight exaggeration, I do truly believe that I have drastically increased my odds of seeing my future grandkids grow up.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Whatever you decide to do with your future, whether it is holding strong in the trenches or seeking a more peaceful life, remember the most important point that I’ve gathered through this whole experience: <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">You have worth outside of the classroom.</span> In my case, I found a job that respects my professional accomplishments as a teacher more than those who employed me as one. You have not locked yourself into a career you can’t get out of. There are options. You just have to discover what they are. You may use this discovery to begin planning your exit. Or you may use this discovery to strengthen your resolve to fight for what is right in your school because now you know your school needs you more than you need it. For the sake of my children, one of which started kindergarten this year, I hope there are enough of you that choose the latter. But if you choose the former, I seriously doubt you’ll regret it.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-10387570447517393762022-04-12T18:30:00.003-04:002022-04-12T18:30:30.912-04:00Why I Quit Teaching After 17 Successful Years<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-42" height="403" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Quit-1.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Quit-1.jpg 842w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Quit-1-300x207.jpg 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Quit-1-768x530.jpg 768w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="585" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">This article is the first in a three-part series written by Dan Laird, a teacher of 17 years who quit at the top of his game and found success in private industry. In part one, Dan explains what led to his decision to give up on teaching. In part two, you will read why Dan will never go back now that’s he seen “the other side.” In part three, Dan will offer hard-won advice to any teacher who is looking for a job outside of education. </em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Dan Laird</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When I first decided to become a teacher back in the 20th century, my parents tried to talk me out of it. It wasn’t because they looked down on the profession. My mom is a retired teacher. My sister is a teacher. And some of my cousins are teachers. It’s in the genes. While I will also certainly make an attempt to talk my children out of becoming teachers, my parents’ reasoning was simple: There were more opportunities for success elsewhere.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Today, however, the reasons for avoiding the teaching profession are more serious. The pay has become a stagnant system of scratching and clawing for an occasional measly half-percent off-schedule “raise.” In many years, not taking a pay cut is considered a success. But there is a bigger issue. Teaching is demoralizing. The strain of unrealistic demands has made it even more exhausting than it already was. Sacrifice is now the expectation and that expectation is typically rewarded with criticism and a demand for more.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">The Beatings Will Continue</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When Detroit teachers walked out of their classrooms in 2016 to protest the <a data-id="https://people.com/celebrity/detroits-public-schools-are-in-crisis-rats-mold-and-no-heat/" data-type="URL" href="https://people.com/celebrity/detroits-public-schools-are-in-crisis-rats-mold-and-no-heat/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">atrocious working conditions</a> that included everything from overcrowded classrooms to mold and mushrooms growing on the walls and floor, I read comments on social media demanding that these teachers be fired and that they “<a data-id="https://teacherhabits.com/no-we-didnt-sign-up-for-this/" data-type="URL" href="https://teacherhabits.com/no-we-didnt-sign-up-for-this/" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;">knew what they were getting into</a> when they took the job.” Of course, there were also comments criticizing teachers for hurting kids by denying them an education and arguing that these teachers needed to go through the proper channels to effect change. These conditions were not new in 2016. Where were the commendations for using the “proper channels” in previous years?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The crisis in Detroit and subsequent ones like the lack of heat in <a data-id="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/us/baltimore-schools-winter-heating.html" data-type="URL" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/us/baltimore-schools-winter-heating.html" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Baltimore</a> this winter demonstrate two things: Drastic measures are sometimes needed to draw attention to the most basic of educational needs and drastic measures make it uncomfortably difficult for others to ignore the problem. Education professionals suffer when they don’t advocate for their students, but they suffer even more when they do. A friend of mine has a toy plaque with a pirate skull that says, “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” I can’t think of a more appropriate motto for the teaching profession.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">The Height of My Career</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I resigned from my teaching position in 2017 after 17 years. To provide some perspective, I spent all 17 years (plus an additional full year as an intern) in the same district. I was invested in the school. I put down roots. Leaving the teaching profession meant leaving much more than just a job. My colleagues were my family. An entire generation of parents in the community sent every one of their children to my classroom at some point. I was even starting to see the children of students from my internship year.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">My connection to the community wasn’t the only reason it was difficult. I was at the height of my career. I had just co-authored the book <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Real Writing: Modernizing the Old School Essay</em> with Rowman & Littlefield Publishing. I was presenting my work at national conferences in cities like Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. And I was collaborating on educational initiatives with teachers across the country through my work with the National Writing Project. I even earned my administration endorsement the year before I left. I was invested in advancing in my profession all the way to the end.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">This isn’t a story about one man hating his job for years until he finally had enough. There was no gradual decline. Quite the contrary. I loved teaching and spent countless hours advocating for it. I spent over half of my career as a building representative, vice-president, or president of my local education association. I marched. I picketed. I protested. I voted!</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">The Least Trusted Source</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">While I did love my time in the classroom — the connections, the light bulb moments of discovery — my workplace was becoming a constant reminder of what was happening to the teaching profession. New restrictions, meritless legislation, evaluation tools that hadn’t been properly evaluated themselves, mandated standardized tests that were thrown away or redesigned year after year while their results were nevertheless used to compare one year’s performance to the next, a demand from politicians and parents to “make our kids better, but don’t you dare tell them what to do.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Somehow, the professional became the least trusted source, and the growing trend for outsiders in showing they cared about education had become to point a finger. I think it’s fair to say that the emotional drain had surpassed the physical one. Something had to change. My change was to become selfish and walk away. I quit.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">A New Job</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I dipped my toes in the waters of a career outside of teaching when I created my own professional development consulting business. I formed an LLC, created a website, ordered business cards, and even hired a former student to create the logo for me. I sent promotional materials to just about every school in Michigan. It seemed like a logical fit. I’d get to continue in the world of education using all of the knowledge and experience I had gained in almost two decades of teaching. More importantly, I could enjoy focusing on instruction. No more grading papers past midnight, no more parent/teacher conferences, no more battles about sound educational practices with school board members who’d barely earned their high school diplomas, no more spineless administrators who pretended to be uninformed so they could avoid making difficult decisions. The thought of it was exhilarating.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But since making this my primary source of income wasn’t exactly the soundest financial decision, I started looking at job postings that could supplement the venture. Unfortunately for the business, it wasn’t long after all of the momentum started to build that I was offered a job as a Training and Development Specialist for a privately operated company that had nothing to do with education.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I accepted and within one month I discovered every reason why I will never return to teaching again.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-8141078286386448942022-04-12T18:28:00.007-04:002022-04-12T18:28:51.395-04:0010 Things Parents Just Don't Understand<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I’ve eaten at hundreds of restaurants in my life, but I’ve never worked at one. My wife was a waitress in college, so when we go out to eat and I complain about something, she’s usually able to offer me an explanation.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The table next to ours received their food first because they ordered soup and sandwiches and we ordered pizza.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">That family was seated ahead of ours because a table for four opened up, but there isn’t yet room for our party of six.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The restaurant may appear sparsely populated, but our food could be taking a long time because there’s a backlog of take-out orders. </p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Until you do a job, you can’t appreciate all that goes into it. It’s this fact of life that accounts for many of the misconceptions parents have about teaching. So here are 10 things parents might not know. </p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">We Have Less Control Over Things Than You Think We Do</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The state adopts standards that we have to teach. The Board of Education approves programs that we’re required to use. The district’s administrators are under pressure to improve test scores, and that filters down to us. We may be “there for the kids,” but we’re also employees. So while we may want to teach your child other things and in other ways, we usually have less discretion than you suspect. When you complain about our math program, you put us in a difficult position. We might very well agree with you, but saying so would be unprofessional.</p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">We Do It All Ourselves</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Teachers don’t have office assistants. We type all of our own newsletters and emails. Because we have many other urgent things to do, we likely typed that newsletter in ten minutes, while being interrupted three times, and then quickly read it over once before hitting print and running out of the room to pick up our students from some other class. Those typos aren’t because we’re idiots. They are the predictable result of never having enough time to do all aspects of our jobs at the level we’d like to. </p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">We Forget Stuff</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">There are a LOT of things that happen during the day. We may read an email from you right before the office interrupts with an announcement and a girl picks a scab and comes running for a Band-Aid. The contents of your email can quickly become forgotten amid the hustle and bustle of our days. We don’t recall everything that happens. If we send an email home explaining that Tommy had a rough day, don’t be surprised if we’re unable to recall the six things Tommy specifically did that led to the email. All we remember is he was disruptive. </p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">We’re Really Busy</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We don’t have office jobs. We have a computer, but there’s a very good chance we won’t sit in front of it the entire day. If you email at 10 a.m. asking us to tell Timmy to ride the bus home after school and you don’t get a response back, you should call the office. We either didn’t check our email or we read it and forgot (see We Forget Stuff above). </p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">We’re More Annoyed Than You About Buying School Supplies</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We don’t like asking you to provide notebooks, pencils, folders, Kleenex, hand sanitizer, and all the other things on those beginning-of-the-year supply lists. But our schools aren’t buying them for us, and <a data-id="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/teachers-school-supplies.html" data-type="URL" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/teachers-school-supplies.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">we already spend plenty of our own money</a> on things we shouldn’t have to. If you don’t want to buy the stuff on the list, that’s fine. But don’t complain to us about it. </p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">We Don’t Really Want to Take Your Kids’ Toys</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We know it’s unrealistic to expect you to double-check your kids’ backpacks every morning and that most toys arrive in our classrooms without your knowledge. But please understand that when we take your sons’ toys we’re doing it because they’re distracting, and if we allow one there will be ten more tomorrow. So please, if your child takes a toy to school and it’s taken away from him, don’t bail him out by coming to school and asking for the toy back. Let him learn his lesson, at least for a week.</p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">We Might Not Want Your Help</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Schools like to talk about how they want more parent involvement, and some parents generously offer to help in classrooms. Sometimes, it’s greatly appreciated. But other times, it’s more work for us. We’re used to doing things ourselves. We’re not very good at delegating. And if we know you’re coming every Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., we have to find something for you to do. We’ve also had parents who caused more problems than they solved. They joked around and distracted students, made too much noise when they were in the room, and modeled bad behavior. We don’t want to correct your behavior in front of the class, but we also don’t want our students disrupted. Sometimes, we don’t want to take the risk, so we don’t ask for your help. </p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">If We Meet With You Before or After School, We’re Working for Free (and We Might Resent It)</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If we need to talk to our doctors, we must do so on their time. If we call a business after it’s closed, we have to wait until tomorrow to get service. Even professionals like realtors or financial advisors who will meet with us after hours are doing so with the expectation of a pay-off in the future. If we meet with you before school, we’re probably thinking about all the things we need to do before students arrive. If we’re meeting with you after school, we’re tired and want to go home. We’ll be professional, but we’re no more happy about it than you would be if your boss asked you to stay and work for free. </p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">There’s Not Much I Can Do To Punish Your Kid</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Some of you want us to handle all things school-related, but there’s little we can do when your child regularly misbehaves. Our principals may think we’re ineffective if we send your kid to the office too often. Taking away recess is counterproductive and punishes us just as much as your child. Other more creative consequences may be met with criticism from you, despite your pledge to stay out of school matters. If your child isn’t doing her job at school, you’re in the best position to punish your kid because you can take away the things she really likes. You’ll send a stronger message by taking away her iPad, making her go to bed thirty minutes early, or not allowing her to attend a sleepover on Saturday than we will by giving her a lunch detention. If we’re telling you about your kid’s poor behavior, it’s because we want you to do something. </p><h3 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">We Sugarcoat</span></h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If we tell you that your kid was disrespectful to his classmates, we’re really telling you that your kid was a jerk. If we describe your child as “difficult to motivate,” we’re calling him lazy. If we say Jill had a difficult day, we mean she was a major pain in the keister. Whatever we tell you, assume it was twice as bad as it sounds</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-66168573392581310152022-04-12T18:27:00.000-04:002022-04-12T18:27:35.123-04:00The Best Way to Thank Your Child's Teacher<p> </p><div class="entry-content" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-171" height="275" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/thank-1.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/thank-1.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/thank-1-300x150.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="550" /></figure><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">School is out for the year in most places. Teachers are sleeping in. Parents have arranged for child care. Students are snapping chats, or playing Fortnite, or getting in my way at the zoo (I don’t really know what students do with their free time. I used to watch <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Matlock</em> in the summer). Many teachers received gifts from the parents of their students during that last week of school. I saw them on Facebook, and I don’t know a single teacher who doesn’t greatly appreciate them. In a world where genuine appreciation is as rare as political bipartisanship, even a token thank-you stands out.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Gift cards, coffee mugs, thematic baskets, chocolate, and thank you cards are all great, but there is one way parents can thank their children’s teachers that beats them all. Few teachers receive this gift, even though it costs nothing, takes only a few minutes to put together, has lasting positive effects, and you can do it at any point of the school year, even now, when it’s over.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">What is this wonderful, simple gift?</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">An email to the teacher’s principal.</span></p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Teachers Get Evaluated</h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Many parents may not be aware that teachers are evaluated yearly now. This is a relatively new thing, at least in practice. While there have always been teacher evaluation systems, the old ones were mostly formalities. The principal would let the teacher know he was coming, the teacher would teach, the principal would fill out a quick form that usually lacked teeth, and they’d all go on their merry ways.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Then, for l<a data-id="https://teacherhabits.com/the-real-reason-teachers-are-evaluated/" data-type="URL" href="https://teacherhabits.com/the-real-reason-teachers-are-evaluated/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">ots of mostly bad reasons</a>, politicians decided teachers were the main cause of society’s failures. They decided to weed out the bad ones. To do that, they needed some kind of system to identify the duds. They wanted to use test scores because test scores produce numbers and people like numbers. They seem objective. But then the forces of good convinced them that including principal observations should be part of the system, too.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So what does all this have to do with writing an email to the principal?</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Principals Are Human</h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The system described above is meant to be objective, but it isn’t. Humans are involved. Humans have values and prejudices and feelings and all kinds of other humany things that make objectively evaluating others impossible. Two principals watching the same lesson will judge that lesson differently. Two principals will measure the value of teachers in their buildings differently.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">In practice, the system actually works like this:</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">– For various reason –some good, some bad — principals like some teachers more than others.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />– Principals bring their biases with them when they observe teachers.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />– Charitable view: Although principals tell themselves they’re being fair, their preferences for certain teachers show through in their ratings.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />– Less charitable view: Principals decide beforehand which teachers are going to get lower scores and then, no matter what they observe, they rate teachers accordingly. In other words, they say to themselves, “Well, if the district is going to lay people off this year, I better make sure they lay off the teachers I’d rather not have around. One way to do that is to rate them poorly on observations.”</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Humans Can Be Influenced</h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It is human nature to complain about things that annoy us and keep quiet when we’re satisfied. That means that if principals hear anything about the teachers in their buildings, it’s likely negative. The feedback principals receive about teachers either confirms or challenges their opinions.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Fortunately, positive feedback works the same way. Most principals are unaware of much of what happens. They can’t be everywhere all the time. They may not know anything about how a teacher communicates with parents, or how a teacher inspired Timmy to read more at home, or the way a teacher makes learning fun. A principal might not notice the rapport a teacher has with her students. But if he receives three emails from parents praising the relationships their children have with their teacher, he’ll start to.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">All of us are influenced by the opinions of others. It’s what makes hit songs, bestsellers, and blockbusters. It’s why one restaurant thrives while others close. It’s why I don’t admit to people that I don’t care for Monty Python, Wes Anderson movies, or Meryl Streep. When you hear from lots of people about how great something is, you start to think you’re the weird one. You keep those opinions to yourself. You question them. You look for evidence you’re wrong.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">That’s why parents who are happy with their child’s teacher should email the principal. The more a principal hears good things about his teachers, the more likely it is he’ll start to believe them or at least question his own opinions.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Don’t Just Tell the Teacher</h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Most years, I get a card from a parent thanking me. Often, the card will say something like, “Ivy really enjoyed being in your class. She was nervous to have a male teacher but she had a great third-grade year.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I love getting these cards.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But I’d also love my principal to hear what parents appreciate about me, too.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Principals who hear good things about teachers will be less likely to evaluate those teachers poorly or consider moving them to a different position in their district. Upsetting parents who have proven they’re willing to write emails to school administrators is one thing most principals are reluctant to do.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So if you think your child’s teacher did a good job this year, write an email to the principal saying so. It’s fast, easy, free, and will help the teacher more than anything you can buy from a store.</p></div>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-5155070323252508122022-04-12T18:26:00.000-04:002022-04-12T18:26:05.271-04:00No, We Didn't Sign Up For This<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-117" height="298" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Sign-Up-For-This-1024x538.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Sign-Up-For-This-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Sign-Up-For-This-300x158.jpg 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Sign-Up-For-This-768x403.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Sign-Up-For-This.jpg 1200w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="567" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We teachers sure like to complain a lot. At least, that’s what I’m told by people who don’t teach. Here’s one comment left on an article I wrote:</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; quotes: "" "";"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“Quit complaining. Everybody has things they don’t like about the professions they chose but teachers are the biggest whiners.”</p></blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Here’s another:</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; quotes: "" "";"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“I know about a dozen teachers. Every single one of them knew going in how much education they’d have to invest and the amount of effort expected.”</p></blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">One of the most common refrains complaining teachers hear from non-educators is that we knew what we signed up for.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“Hey,” they say, “You knew the score going in, so no bitching about it now.” It’s an argument that, on its face, makes some sense. It’s true that teachers knew at the outset we weren’t going to get rich. We knew the job would be challenging. We understood that no matter how good we were, no one was going to build a monument to us.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">But the truth is, the job of a teacher has changed a lot in a very short amount of time.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I started teaching in 2000. I thought I knew what to expect. I doubt I’m alone. Since many big changes to education have happened in the last 10 years, there are likely millions of teachers who are currently doing a job for which they did not sign up. So when our critics tire of hearing us complain and tell us that we knew the deal going in, they are often wrong. <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">There is a lot of stuff we didn’t sign up for.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for a Department of Education that <a data-id="http://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Murray-vouches-to-fight-voucher-advocate-picked-10863869.php" data-type="URL" href="http://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Murray-vouches-to-fight-voucher-advocate-picked-10863869.php" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">doesn’t actually believe in public education.</a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for wage gaps and the “teacher pay penalty.” In 1996, while I was in college deciding to “sign up” to be a teacher, the average weekly wage of public-sector teachers was $1,122 (in 2015 dollars). In 2015, it had <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">fallen</em> to $1,092. (<a data-id="http://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/" data-type="URL" href="http://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">SOURCE</a>) Weekly pay for all college graduates rose by $124 dollars per week over the same period. I might have signed on knowing I wouldn’t get rich, but I sure as hell didn’t sign on expecting to be paid <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">less </em>after 17 years on the job.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Part of that declining pay may have something to do with diminished political clout. Because when I signed up to be a teacher, teachers’ unions still had power. In the intervening years, Republican-controlled legislatures have done everything they can to erode the unions’ influence. My state, Michigan, became right-to-work in 2012. State legislatures around the country have also removed tenure protections, curtailed collective bargaining rights, abolished last in, first out policies that protected veteran (read, more expensive) teachers, and attacked pensions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We also didn’t sign up for fewer resources. But according to the <a data-id="https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/most-states-have-cut-school-funding-and-some-continue-cutting" data-type="URL" href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/most-states-have-cut-school-funding-and-some-continue-cutting" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Center on Budget and Policy Priorities</a>, 31 states provided less per-pupil funding in 2014 than they did before the recession in 2008. In 15 states, those cuts exceeded 10%.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for increasing federal intrusion. No Child Left Behind was signed in 2001. Its goal of having all students proficient by the year 2014 was mocked by anyone who knew anything, but that didn’t stop the feds from doubling down with a piss-poor rollout of the Common Core State Standards and a bribery scheme called Race to the Top to get states to adopt those standards.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for high-stakes teacher evaluation systems that rely on crummy data and the opinions of administrators whose motives may not always be pure.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up to give students an ever-increasing number of flawed standardized tests that spit out unreliable data used to determine a meaningless teacher rating.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for value-added modeling, a statistical method used to evaluate teachers that the <a data-id="https://www.amstat.org/asa/files/pdfs/POL-ASAVAM-Statement.pdf" data-type="URL" href="https://www.amstat.org/asa/files/pdfs/POL-ASAVAM-Statement.pdf" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">American Statistical Society</a> says, “typically measures correlation, not causation: Effects – positive or negative – attributed to a teacher may actually be caused by other factors that are not captured in the model.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up to be scapegoated by politicians. The staff of Central Falls High School in Rhode Island sure didn’t sign up expecting the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education to <a data-id="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/education/07educ.html" data-type="URL" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/education/07educ.html" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">endorse their collective firing</a>. While we may have expected to be treated like dirt by Republicans, we didn’t sign up knowing the Democratic party would abandon us in such a publicly humiliating way.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for longer school years or balanced calendars.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for substitute teacher shortages.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for active shooter drills.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for higher poverty rates and needier students. In my state, there are <a data-id="http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/04/18/michigan-children-poverty-rate/100591748/" data-type="URL" href="http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/04/18/michigan-children-poverty-rate/100591748/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">15% more kids in poverty</a> today than there were in 2008.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for increased funding for charter and virtual schools. The same politicians who claim they can’t spend more on education manage to find billions of dollars for charter schools every year, in spite of their lackluster performance. Virtual schools are even worse, but legislators seem to love them anyway.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for declining autonomy in the classroom. We didn’t sign up to have our hands held — mistrusted, second-guessed, and told to toe the line, to teach this content at this time in this way. We didn’t sign up for pacing guides, scripted lessons, or strict fidelity to unproven programs.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up for less planning time.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We didn’t sign up to implement policies we know are bad for kids. We didn’t sign up for less recess, less gym class, less art, less music, and less fun.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We sure as hell didn’t sign up to give eight-year-olds reading tests that could result in their <a data-id="http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/08/testing_literacy_requirements.html" data-type="URL" href="http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/08/testing_literacy_requirements.html" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">retention.</a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We elementary teachers didn’t sign up to stress out nine-year-olds over their “college and career readiness” or to take the play out of kindergarten.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">There’s an awful lot about teaching today we didn’t sign up for.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">In spite of this, most teachers will continue to do the job. Most will do their best. I’m not naive enough to expect those who call teachers whiners to join us in fighting for change. I have no illusions about any of the things I didn’t sign up for going away anytime soon. I won’t challenge our critics to get in the ring and become teachers themselves. After all, they now know what they’d be signing up for. But I will ask them to believe teachers when they tell them what needs fixing. And if they won’t do that, then I will kindly ask them to shut up, and quit telling teachers that they knew what they signed up for.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">What do you think, teachers? What else didn’t you sign up for? What’s changed since you decided to become a teacher?</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-74985574472645072072022-04-12T18:24:00.000-04:002022-04-12T18:24:06.446-04:00Engagement Isn't Everything<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-158" height="558" sizes="(max-width: 499px) 100vw, 499px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Engagement.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Engagement.jpg 499w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Engagement-300x292.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="573" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The contrarian in me bristles whenever any idea achieves such widespread acceptance that those who dare question it are subjected to reflexive condemnation. One idea that has gained such universal popularity in recent years is the power of engagement. Spend any time among educators, whether in person or in digital form, and you will surely hear the following sentiments passionately expressed:</p><ul style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">Kids are bored because teachers’ lessons aren’t engaging.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">Kids act out when they’re not engaged.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">Kids cheat because the work isn’t engaging.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">An engaged student will never give you any problems.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">Kids hate school because they’re not engaged.</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So at the risk of being ridiculed by the Engagement-is-Everything crowd, let me say that I’m skeptical.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">We’re asking engagement to pull an awful lot of weight.</span></p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">It’s the Wrong Word</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">First, let’s clear up some terminology. People who talk about engagement are often not talking about engagement. Engagement means that a student <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">cares</em>, that she gives a damn. Engagement ultimately comes from the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">learner</em>, not the teacher. I don’t care a whit about needlepoint, and it won’t matter how much choice I’m given, how much technology gets incorporated, whether or not I get to work with my friends, how enthusiastic my needlepoint teacher is, or how much relevance she attempts to convince me needlepoint has to my life, I’m just not going to be engaged.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When some people talk about engagement, what they’re really talking about is <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">involvement</em>. Anita Archer, the Guru of Engagement, <a data-id="https://explicitinstruction.org/video-elementary/elementary-video-1/" data-type="URL" href="https://explicitinstruction.org/video-elementary/elementary-video-1/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">uses all kinds of involvement techniques </a>that have been mislabeled engagement strategies. She keeps a brisk pace and requires a high rate of response from every student in the room. She expects attention and participation. She keeps kids on their toes. But none of those things ensure that students <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">care</em> about what she’s teaching; only that they’re involved. Anita Archer doesn’t do engagement. She does involvement.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">The Student Owns the Learning</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Perhaps that’s because Ms. Archer understands that true engagement cannot come from her. She can get students to actively participate in her vocabulary lessons, but she can’t make them care about learning the words. She can lead the horse to the very edge of the creek, but she can’t make it dip its head to drink.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The problem I have with engagement — at least, how it’s used today — is that it conveys the message that a student’s failure is his teacher’s fault.</p><ul style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">It’s not a student’s fault for failing to do his job; it’s his teacher’s fault for failing to engage him.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">It’s not a student’s fault for skipping class; it’s her professor’s fault for not making her lectures more engaging.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">It’s not the salesman’s fault he didn’t sell anything; he just didn’t find the act of selling very engaging.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit;">It’s not the teacher’s fault for showing videos all day; she just doesn’t feel engaged at work.</li></ul><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s bull.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">There’s also this problem: What’s engaging for one student isn’t for another. I often see teachers on Twitter bragging about how hip they are because they incorporated fidget spinners or Pokemon Go or [insert current trendy item] into their lesson plans. But for every student who thinks a particular toy, game, or song is the greatest, there’s another who’s turned off by it.</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; quotes: "" "";"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">For every student who thinks a particular toy, game, or song is the greatest, there’s another who’s turned off by it.</p></blockquote><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">The Real Secret to Success</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Here’s an unfortunate truth about life:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">There are things we must all do even though they are not engaging.</span> Those of us who do these things have more success in life than those who do not.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">People who create and adhere to budgets have more money. Making and sticking to budgets requires self-control. Few would argue it’s engaging.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Buying groceries is almost always an awful experience, but if you don’t do it, you end up at McDonald’s, wasting money and getting fat.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Sitting through meetings requires self-discipline, and your boss may or may not care to make those meetings engaging. You better pay attention anyway.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Doing your taxes sucks. The government makes no attempt to make the process engaging. And if you decide to not file your taxes, you won’t be able to blame the government for failing to sufficiently inspire you. Sometimes, you just have to do things.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">In fact,</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; quotes: "" "";"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Much of life — pretty much everything between all the awesome, engaging parts — is about self-discipline, the ability to stick with or do something well enough even though we dislike the task or find it boring.</p></blockquote><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Not Everything Needs to Engage</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I’ve got nothing against making your lessons more fun or finding ways to involve your students more. There is no question that an involved student will usually learn more than an uninvolved one. Use whatever tricks you can. You can do a whole lot worse than Anita Archer when it comes to involvement.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Nor will I try to dissuade you from creating experiences for students that give them warm fuzzies, create indelible memories, and make you the kind of teacher students remember for the rest of their lives. Go for it. That’s what makes teaching and learning fun.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But let’s stop putting so many eggs in the engagement basket. Students who learn to do what needs to be done, regardless of how they <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">feel</em> about it, grow up to be adults who have the self-discipline to balance their checkbooks, do the laundry, get out of bed early enough to make it to work on time, get the oil in their car changed, shop for khaki pants (just me?), and clean everything from their teeth to their dishes to their toilets.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Instead of focusing so much on engagement — an endeavor that is, at best, a crapshoot — why not teach students what self-control looks like in different situations? Why not teach students that people with self-control lead more successful lives? Why not show them how to exercise self-control through talk-alouds and modeling? Why not even intentionally teach something that’s not engaging at all and explain to kids that successful people must sometimes will themselves to complete uninspiring tasks?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We don’t do students any favors when we send the message that they must always be entertained. And we’re sending our teachers the wrong message when we imply that every problem in their classroom comes back to their inability to engage their students.</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; quotes: "" "";"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We don’t do students any favors when we send the message that they must always be entertained.</p></blockquote>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-36252636901181592322022-04-12T18:22:00.000-04:002022-04-12T18:22:37.312-04:00Not Every Lesson is a Lexus<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-101" height="270" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lexus-1024x493.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lexus-1024x493.jpg 1024w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lexus-300x145.jpg 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lexus-768x370.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lexus.jpg 1202w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="560" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s the holiday season, which means you’ve no doubt been reminded about Lexus’s “December to Remember” sales event. The commercials have become as much of a holiday tradition as decorating trees, lighting menorahs, and racking up consumer debt.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I am sure it’s nice to own a Lexus. They seem like very fine automobiles. You can get one with steering assist, intelligent high-beam headlamps, a center-console app suite that allows you to check Facebook or local fuel prices, parking assist systems, ambient interior lighting, and genuine wood accents, among many other options.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Sounds nice.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">But nobody really needs a Lexus.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I have a car. It is not a Lexus. It’s old, paid for, and gets decent gas mileage. Most importantly, it reliably gets me where I need to go. Sure, the other stuff would be nice, but if the car doesn’t run, none of those options are going to matter.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It reminds me of lesson planning. Teachers sometimes get the message that every lesson has to be a Lexus. Teacher preparation programs are guilty. So are professional books on the topic. If you search online for lesson plan templates, you’ll get things like this (obviously created by someone who either never taught or who dropped dead from exhaustion):</p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-102" height="354" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/lesson-plan.png" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/lesson-plan.png 500w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/lesson-plan-300x212.png 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="500" /></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Lots of features. But none of them matter if kids don’t learn what they’re supposed to learn.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Not every lesson has to be a Lexus. Most of the time, a reliable old beast is just fine. Here’s an example:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">For the past couple of years, I’ve taught force and motion. One of the standards is for students to be able to understand the concept of balanced and unbalanced forces.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I thought tug-of-war would be perfect. So the first year I taught it, I planned out everything. I thought of the contests students would have and tried to push them into thinking of the same ones (shoes vs. socks, boys vs. girls, left hand vs. right hand, etc.). I decided on the teams ahead of time. I booked the gym and secured the rope. I typed up a list of expectations for behavior and we went over them before going to the gym. I noted what vocabulary I wanted to use with students. I created a worksheet for students to record the results, write down observations and explanations, and note any questions they still had. I created a rubric so I could grade them on their understanding of the concept. That lesson was a Lexus, baby!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And it went fine. But man, I spent a lot of time creating it. Which, if you’ve ever read this blog before, you know how I feel about that.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Teachers sometimes forget there are trade-offs to every decision. Sure, you can spend an hour designing and preparing for a single lesson. But is that the best use of your time? Are there ways you can cut your prep time so you have more time for other things, including your personal life? Will spending an extra 30 minutes designing a lesson actually lead to more learning? How much more? Is that much worth it?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Does every lesson need to be a Lexus?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We still do the tug-of-war lesson, but these days it takes about ten minutes of planning. The lesson is more like my actual car now. Not as impressive to outsiders but it gets the job done. After all, students just needed to understand the concept of balanced and unbalanced forces. Not exactly rocket science.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Instead of thinking of the experiments and trying to guide students to them, I just let the kids think of them to start with. This past year, they came up with one-arm vs two-arms and facing forward vs. facing backward, two ideas I wouldn’t have thought of.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Instead of creating a worksheet, they just take a notebook to the gym and write down the answers to my prompts and questions after each experiment.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Instead of a list of expectations, I basically have one: Stop on the whistle and then follow directions. If you can’t do that, I won’t pick you to participate in the rope tugging.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Instead of choosing teams ahead of time, I just pick them right there in the gym.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The fancy options aren’t important. The learning is what matters. And asking students to do more while I do less is a good way to increase learning while saving my own time and energy for other things.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Lexus’s slogan is “The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection.” Sounds good. But it’s exhausting. Your lessons can always be better. You can always do more. There are always more features you can add. But sometimes, you just need the thing to get you where you’re going.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-83722081637548140472022-04-12T18:20:00.002-04:002022-04-12T18:20:41.923-04:00Why Teachers Should Almost Always Be Calm<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-125" height="349" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Messy-Classroom-1-1024x683.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Messy-Classroom-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Messy-Classroom-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Messy-Classroom-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Messy-Classroom-1.jpg 1200w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="523" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Like most Americans, I associate success with passion and intensity. The Detroit Pistons of my youth would have never won back-to-back championships without the intensity of Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer. Indiana basketball would have never been Indiana basketball without the passion of coach Bobby Knight. Fiery speeches never cease to motivate me, whether delivered in person or on the silver screen. I admire outward displays of passion.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">This belief shaped my early years of teaching. I enthusiastically presented a lesson one moment, snapped angrily at misbehaving students the next, and passionately motivated my students to do their best on even mundane tasks. To be any good, I reasoned, I had to be intense. I had to <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">bring it every day!</em> Every lesson! I needed to be, as Anton Chekhov said, “an actor, an artist, passionately in love” with my work.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I have since come to believe that I was wrong. I now believe it is far better to spend nearly all of my teaching day in a consistent state of CALM. In fact, <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">I try to be calm 90% of the time.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Here’s why:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">In my article Why Teachers Are So Tired, I talked about four things that exhaust us: making too many decisions, using willpower, experiencing high-intensity emotions, and worrying.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">High-intensity emotions wear you out because they activate your body’s fight-or-flight response system. Your heart rate rises, your sweat glands activate, you startle easier. <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">This happens regardless of whether your high-intensity emotions are positive or negative.</span> So getting angry at Billy for sticking a straw up his nose for the third time is just as draining as passionately introducing a lesson on fractions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">There are many teachers (and non-teachers like Chekhov) who believe that the only way to be a good teacher is to be intensely passionate, to put on a show! If I suggested to Dave Burgess that it’s better to be calm than intense, he’d likely throw his book, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3jvxw0r" target="_blank">Teach Like a Pirate</a></em>, at me. Certainly, there are some teachers who can maintain a high amount of energy class after class, day after day. The rest of us are tired just thinking about it.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">A calm teacher benefits herself and her students in many ways. First, students tend to reflect their teachers. Calm teachers lead to calm classes, and calm classes allow for more focused work. When was the last time you tried to concentrate while feeling intense emotion? It’s not easy. In fact, brain-imaging research shows that when we are feeling intense emotions, our amygdalas activate. We need to then use other parts of our brain to calm ourselves enough to get our work done. Think of the last time you learned something new. Did you pump yourself up with some AC/DC? Did you do fifty jumping jacks to elevate your heart rate first? I doubt it. Those kinds of activities might be good before a football game, but they’re not very helpful if you’re trying to learn Portuguese.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Second, staying calm will allow you better self-control. People who are calm have the ability to choose their actions instead of reacting emotionally. If you think of the worst decisions of your life, I bet they were made when you were experiencing high-intensity emotions–both good and bad. By staying calm, we can react to anything that happens in our classroom in a way we won’t regret later. So when Billy shoves that straw up his nostril, you’ll be calm enough to smile at Billy and say, “Throw the straw away,” and not “For shit’s sake, Billy, how many times do I have to tell you to stop sticking straws up your nose!?”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">It’s easy to forget sometimes that we’re role models. When we seesaw back and forth between high-intensity emotions and when we react emotionally to events around us, we are modeling to students that it is acceptable to do the same. How many times have you told a student to think before they acted? Take your own advice.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Third, your emotional moments will have more impact. I’m not suggesting that teachers never show emotion. I am suggesting that we deploy emotions strategically for maximum effect. There are times when we need to be intense to get students’ attention or to get them excited about an upcoming lesson or unit. Go for it! That’s one of the joys of teaching! But there are other times–<em style="box-sizing: inherit;">most</em> <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">times</em>–when calm is the better choice. When you intentionally use emotion you’re still in control, and because you’re not always emotional, you’ll have more impact when you are.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The biggest reason to stay calm is your own energy. Remember, high-intensity emotions drain our bodies. When teachers get tired they do stupid things. They say things they regret. They damage relationships with students and colleagues. They fire off curt emails that they later wish they could retrieve from cyberspace. <a data-id="https://hbr.org/2014/05/in-the-afternoon-the-moral-slope-gets-slipperier" data-type="URL" href="https://hbr.org/2014/05/in-the-afternoon-the-moral-slope-gets-slipperier" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">One study</a> even demonstrated that, as the day goes on, people are more likely to engage in unethical behavior. They also burn out, and burned out teachers are far, far worse than calm ones.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So how do you stay calm? I use three strategies:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">1-</span>–Self-Awareness–I regularly check my own emotions at work. <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">How am I feeling right now? How’s my heart rate? Am I calm? Do I feel edgy?</em> I make it a challenge and see how calm I can be. When a student misbehaves, that’s when I really force myself to remain calm. A lot of the time, my seeming lack of interest has the effect of de-escalating the situation.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">2</span>—Deep Breaths and Perspective–When I feel myself feeling anything other than calm, I take some deep breaths and engage in self-talk. I like to use perspective, so I might say something like, “Is this really worth getting upset about?” or “In the grand scheme of things, does this matter all that much?” or “Just three more hours and I’ll be home with a beer in my hand.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">3</span>—Classroom Management Plan–The best thing I can do for my own emotions is have a classroom management plan that I consistently follow. When students misbehave, my plan tells me what to do. I don’t need to make decisions, and there’s no reason to be emotional. I just deliver the predetermined consequence and move on.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I also remind myself that while Bob Knight had 902 career wins, John Wooden, a much calmer person, won 10 championships. He also lived to the ripe old age of 99.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">What tricks do you have for staying calm in the classroom? Share in the comments so we can steal your ideas!</span></p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-67802784062171440382022-04-12T18:16:00.003-04:002022-04-12T18:16:48.017-04:00The Expectation of Free Work<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-150" height="432" sizes="(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/POST-TITLE-IMAGE.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/POST-TITLE-IMAGE.jpg 576w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/POST-TITLE-IMAGE-300x225.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="576" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I have a neighbor who’s a math teacher. He’s also the owner of a landscaping business. I figured the guy must really love taking care of people’s lawns to do it after teaching all day and on the weekends. Lawn care must be his passion to sacrifice like that. His calling in life, even. So I phoned him and asked if he could mow my grass once a week. He said sure. Then he quoted me a price.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“Oh, you misunderstand, I’m not going to pay you,” I explained. “I figured, since you obviously love it so much, you’d just do it for free.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">My daughter’s pediatrician’s office left a message on my voicemail the other day. She was due for a checkup. I scanned my calendar to find a convenient time to take her in. I had to work all week, so after five o’clock or over the weekend looked good. I told them that when I called. They said they closed at five and weren’t open on weekends. I waited.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“We can get you in at 11:00 am on Thursday,” the lady said.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“I’ll be at work then,” I told her. “Listen, I can get there by quarter after five. We’ll just meet with the doctor then.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">She didn’t seem to understand. I think I’m going to change doctors. This one’s obviously not very dedicated. Doesn’t she know she’s supposed to be there for the kids?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">My mom had to stay overnight at the hospital a couple months back following a surgery and she had this great nurse. Rachel was kind, patient, funny, and explained everything she was doing to everyone in the room. She was very attentive. Mom loved her. But then, around 8 o’clock, a new nurse popped in.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“What happened to Rachel?” mom asked.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“Oh, her shift ended at eight.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">We couldn’t understand. Rachel seemed so dedicated. She obviously loved her patients. How come she wasn’t doing everything she could for them?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I was in a golf tournament last summer to raise money for the local school’s athletic program. After our round, we were served an excellent dinner catered by a local restaurant. They had a number of employees there. There were a few waitresses walking around refilling drinks, a couple of people tending to the buffet line, and one of those meat carving guys. I was really impressed. As he was slicing off a slab of prime rib for me, I told him, “Wow, this is really great of all you guys to give up your Saturday to do this. Thanks for helping out the kids of our community.” He smiled and said thank you. But I learned later that he was paid to be there. Here I thought he was carving that meat out of the goodness of his heart.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When we expect people to work for free, to bend over backward to meet our needs, or even to donate their time in the interest of a worthy cause, it makes us, not them, look bad. It’s insulting to suggest others work for free. It shows exactly how much we value their time, their work, and their lives outside of work.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If teachers choose to donate labor that’s their business, but they should never be asked or expected to.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Lawyers charge, doctors keep office hours, cops and nurses get paid overtime. Taking advantage of a teacher’s passion, dedication, generosity, or sense of obligation is wrong.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If a committee is important enough to create, then it’s important enough to pay teachers to be on it.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If meeting with parents is a necessary part of the job, then those meetings should take place during paid hours.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">If teacher attendance at an after-school event is critical for the success of the night, then pay teachers to attend.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The fact that teachers are “there for the kids” doesn’t excuse mistreatment, it makes it worse. If the work teachers do is so important, they should be paid to perform it.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-20335112148307608572022-04-12T18:15:00.002-04:002022-04-12T18:15:50.778-04:00American Teachers Should Work Less<p> <img alt="" class="wp-image-111" height="353" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Work-Less-1024x683.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Work-Less-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Work-Less-300x200.jpg 300w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Work-Less-768x512.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Work-Less.jpg 1200w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="529" /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">A Facebook friend of mine (and former Superintendent) posted an infographic yesterday that compared the number of hours worked by an American teacher to the number of hours worked by other professionals. Here it is:</p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-110" height="1024" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/6d08f6b166926447de55d7bda23e25ff-796x1024.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/6d08f6b166926447de55d7bda23e25ff-796x1024.jpg 796w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/6d08f6b166926447de55d7bda23e25ff-233x300.jpg 233w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/6d08f6b166926447de55d7bda23e25ff-768x988.jpg 768w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/6d08f6b166926447de55d7bda23e25ff-1193x1536.jpg 1193w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/6d08f6b166926447de55d7bda23e25ff.jpg 1254w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="796" /></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I took some issue with the 53 hours listed for teachers and said that the difference between those hours and the 40 listed for other professionals is that teachers aren’t <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">required</em> to work 53 hours. In fact, we’re required to work fewer hours than almost every other full-time employee.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Lunch is not typically counted in the 40 hours for other professionals, so we should subtract it for teachers. My teaching day goes from 9:00 to 4:00 with a half-hour lunch, so that means I’m required to work 6.5 hours per day. Multiply that by five for 32.5 hours a week. So the infographic above suggests that teachers work an extra 20.5 hours a week, or about four per day, which seems high. But okay, throw in weekends and maybe.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The response to my suggestion, as I’m sure you can guess because some of you are mentally shouting a similar response at me right now, was that those extra hours may not be <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">required</em>, but teachers have to work them to do the job the “right” way.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And that’s the problem.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">If the only way a teacher can effectively do his or her job is to work an extra, unpaid 20 hours every week, then there is something seriously wrong with the system. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And the only way to fix such a system is for teachers, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">lots and lots of them</em>, to stop working so many extra hours.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Of course, making that suggestion sets one up to be criticized as lazy, cynical, lacking dedication, not being in it for the kids, et cetera et cetera.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Which is a huge problem. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><a data-id="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/09/oecd-teacher-salary-report_n_5791166.html" data-type="URL" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/09/oecd-teacher-salary-report_n_5791166.html" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">American teachers spend more time in the classroom than any other nation’s teachers. </a> So don’t tell me it’s necessary; other countries manage to educate their kids. All that time spent teaching means we have to do the other parts of our job at some other time.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Society’s expectations — including those of fellow teachers — that we should be expected to donate an extra 10-20 hours per week or risk being labeled lazy or ineffective, perpetuates the problem. It puts zero pressure on government to reform things. And it matters because unrealistic work expectations lead to burnout. We have <a data-id="https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/why-i-quit-my-teaching-job-mid-year/" data-type="URL" href="https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/why-i-quit-my-teaching-job-mid-year/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">good teachers</a> <a data-id="https://www.wired.com/2016/12/master-science-teacher-got-away/" data-type="URL" href="https://www.wired.com/2016/12/master-science-teacher-got-away/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">exiting the profession</a> at alarming rates and we have great students never even considering the job in the first place.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><a data-id="https://thejournal.com/articles/2011/11/03/teacher-burnout.aspx" data-type="URL" href="https://thejournal.com/articles/2011/11/03/teacher-burnout.aspx" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Teaching has the highest burnout rate of any public service job in America. </a> There are many reasons for it: loss of autonomy, bureaucratic nonsense, student misbehavior, bad bosses. But undoubtedly the stress of the job due to absurd workloads and the expectation that teachers give freely of their time is a huge factor. Many who quit simply say they were always exhausted.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Now you might be one of those teachers for whom the job is your passion. You bring high energy to your classroom every day. You attend every training you can. You look forward to professional development sessions. You spend your free time designing engaging units and interacting with other teachers on social media. You read professional journals. You coach, volunteer, and always go the extra mile for your students and their families.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Good for you. I mean that sincerely. The country is lucky to have teachers like you.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">But the data is clear: <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">you are the exception.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">And you don’t design a system based on exceptions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">When you do, the thing falls apart, which is what is happening in schools across our country right now.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The belief that teachers have “answered a calling,” as if we were somehow spoken to from some God of Teachers, is damaging. It’s this idea that we’re selfless martyrs who only exist to serve our students that has led to society’s unrealistic expectations for how we should do our jobs.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I attended a retirement luncheon a few years ago where a number of the district’s teachers were honored for their years of service. The entire district’s teaching staff was invited to the event and a principal said a few words for each of the retirees.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">One teacher’s principal spoke in laudatory terms about how the teacher’s car was always the first one in the parking lot in the morning and the last one to leave at night. She admired the woman’s dedication.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I thought it was the saddest thing. I vowed then and there that no one would ever say the same thing about me. I have a life to live outside of work. A family. Hobbies. Friends to hang out with. As the famous saying goes, no one on their deathbed ever said they’d wished they’d worked more.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">That principal’s message, that old industrial-era American reverence for slavish devotion to one’s job, is a damaging one, especially to young teachers. Here is the ideal, it says. This is what you should strive for. Here is what we want from you: Nothing less than large portions of your best years.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I guess if I owned a business, I’d want 20 free hours every week from my employees, too. And it would be even better if I could somehow establish that expectation as part of my company’s culture. And better still if that culture could spread across the entire industry.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Why, if workers felt like the only way they could be any good at their jobs was to donate 20 hours of work every week, and if their colleagues criticized them when they didn’t, I could ask them to work late, or come in early, or work on special projects, or…hell, I could ask them to do damn near anything and not have to pay them for all that extra work.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">What a deal.</p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7004461851315310562.post-57345732864984952282022-04-12T18:13:00.001-04:002022-04-12T18:13:38.060-04:00Dear Teachers, Please Go Home<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">There is one thing every teacher can and should do if they want to be less tired and use their time at work more efficiently:</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Quit working shortly after the kids have left. Go home.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">There are many reasons teachers stay late at school. Some feel a sense of pride at being one of the last to leave. They believe their late nights reflect a greater dedication to their students. They enjoy their reputation as a hard worker. Others feel guilty when they leave quickly. They keep working out of a misguided sense of obligation. They worry about what others will think of them, fearing they’ll be thought of as lazy and apathetic. Many teachers act as if they have no choice in the matter. They’re on committees, run after-school clubs, or just have so much to do that they have to stay after work to get it done.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">No matter the reason, all believe that staying late after school makes them a better teacher. But they are wrong.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Quitting, for lack of a better word, is good.</span></p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Quit for Your Health</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I was jogging the other day when my back started to hurt. I tried to keep going, but it got worse. So I quit running and my back instantly felt better.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Restaurants have gone crazy with the size of their nachos.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I mean, will you look at this thing?</p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-89" height="333" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" src="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/nachos.jpg" srcset="https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/nachos.jpg 500w, https://teacherhabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/nachos-300x200.jpg 300w" style="border-radius: inherit; border-style: none; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="500" /></figure><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">I get full about halfway through. So I quit eating them.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Smart people quit when their body tells them to. No one feels bad about it. But when it comes to work, we suddenly start believing we’re Superman and that no matter how tired we are we can and should just keep going.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Teaching is a unique job. One of the reasons it’s so exhausting is that we have to be “on” all day. To do the job properly, you need to be well-rested. You need to be enthusiastic and observant. Going home will help.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">No matter when I get home, I want to maximize the time I have for myself. On nights when I’m home by five o’clock, I’ve got six hours to do whatever I want. That’s a nice balance. Ten hours for preparing for work, commuting, and working, six for my personal life, and eight hours of sleep. Because I value my personal time, any day I get home late leads to a late-night and a lack of sleep.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Getting home earlier also means you can eat earlier. Your body will have longer to digest dinner before you go to bed, and eating early gives the food enough time to settle so you can exercise without discomfort.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Quit to Be a Better Teacher</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">A lot of teachers stay after school because they have work to do, but they’ve chosen the worst possible time to get it done. By the end of the day your willpower is <a data-id="https://teacherhabits.com/why-teachers-are-so-tired-and-what-to-do-about-it/" data-type="URL" href="https://teacherhabits.com/why-teachers-are-so-tired-and-what-to-do-about-it/" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;">exhausted</a>. Willpower is limited, and once it’s gone only eating and sleep can restore it. Willpower is what you need to make yourself check papers, read essays, plan lessons, and respond tactfully to emails. A lack of willpower means your after-school efforts are going to be inefficient. You’ll be more easily distracted, more tempted to check Facebook or gossip with colleagues, and more likely to head to the lounge to eat whatever you can find because your body needs fuel.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Parkinson’s Law is also working against you. It states that work will expand to fill the available time. I wrote and published my first two books, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3E9atBT" target="_blank">The Teacher’s Guide to Weight Loss</a></em> and <em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3JAMEUK" target="_blank">Happy Teacher</a></em> in two months each. I was able to do that because that’s how long I gave myself to complete them. Because of the topic of my next book, I planned an October release. I started working on it in May. The book is taking me longer because I gave myself more time to do it, so many days I don’t write much and on some days I don’t work on it at all (I write long blog posts like this one instead).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">This is Parkinson’s Law at work, and it will strike you as you sit at your desk after school. Instead of working until you complete a certain amount of work, give yourself 30 minutes. You’ll be more focused, your work will be of better quality, you’ll cut out any distractions or cute but unnecessary extras, and you’ll get it finished. Give yourself less time, and you’ll get more done.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Quit to Be a Better Person</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Psychologists discovered something they call the <a data-id="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797613498099" data-type="URL" href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797613498099" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">morning morality effect</a>. Basically, you’re a better person in the morning. Your body needs glucose for pretty much everything, including willpower and decision-making. Since teachers expend a lot of willpower and make a ton of decisions, we burn through glucose pretty fast. When it runs out we’re tired, cranky, impatient, have stronger cravings for sweets and other junk food, and we experience stronger emotions. All of which lead to bad decisions. The morning morality effect explains why you’re more likely to ruin your diet at night than in the morning, and why people are more likely to commit immoral acts like lying, cheating, and stealing in the afternoon. School is not a place you want to be when you’re more likely to make bad decisions. Go home.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px;">Quit Because Science Says To</h2><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Many teachers reading this will still stay after school because they believe it’s the only way to be effective at their jobs. They’ve fallen victim to the culture of overwork. So a fair question to ask is: Do longer hours make you more productive?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">The research is clear. More work doesn’t equal more output. In one <a data-id="https://hbr.org/2015/04/why-some-men-pretend-to-work-80-hour-weeks" data-type="URL" href="https://hbr.org/2015/04/why-some-men-pretend-to-work-80-hour-weeks" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">study</a>, managers couldn’t tell the difference between employees who worked 80-hour weeks and those who just pretended to (which actually sounds worse). Numerous studies have shown that overwork leads to stress that causes health issues, sleep deprivation, depression, heart disease, memory loss, and greater alcoholic intake. Researchers have also found that working too much impairs your abilities to communicate, make judgments, read others’ nonverbal language, and modulate your emotions.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">Also, your cat will miss you.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">So go home. Eat dinner. Hit the gym. Kiss your spouse. Watch Netflix. Play Uno with your kids. Leave work at work. Detach. Live your life. And when you’re tempted to choose more work over all those things, remember this Arianna Huffington quote:</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.7; margin: 0px 0px 1.75em; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; quotes: "" "";"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">“Have you noticed that when we die, our eulogies celebrate our lives very differently from the way society defines success?”</p></blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Libre Franklin", "Helvetica Neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;">You can read more here: <a data-id="https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/stop-working-more-than-40-hours-a-week.html" data-type="URL" href="https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/stop-working-more-than-40-hours-a-week.html" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgb(15, 15, 15) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Stop Working More Than 40 Hours a Week.</a></p>Paul Michael Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17318098111985714443noreply@blogger.com0