If I sing my instructions or dramatize a science experiment, am I practicing the art of teaching?

Does practicing the art of teaching mean that I have to do everything in a new, different, and creative way every year?Does it mean that I throw out anything premade or scripted?

For the sake of clarity, let’s replace the word “art” with the word “skill”. This gets rid of any notion of having to be an entertainer all day. Now let’s ask instead, What does skillful teaching look like in action? Not a simple question! Some might view a messy, boisterous classroom with many different activities going on as the sign of skillful teaching. Others might see a teacher leading a group activity with 100% participation as skilled teaching. The word “skilled” will bring up a lot of value judgments!

There are many aspects of skillful teaching. The ability to engage students in subject material, the ability to connect with students, skill in handling discipline… the list goes on.

I am going to touch on one aspect of skilled teaching that is usually overlooked. It’s based on the Flow Theory put forth by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Mee-hi Chick-sent-mee-hi). The Flow Theory is based on many years that Csikszentmihalyi spent studying thousands of people to find answers to the questions, “What makes people happy?” and “What gives meaning to life?” He found that people are happiest when in a state of “flow”. Flow is a state of consciousness when we are doing an activity that is challenging but not defeating for us. It’s the sweet spot between boredom and anxiety.

Flow can happen while playing a sport or game, working at a job, expressing creativity in some way, or having a good discussion, among many other possibilities. We can’t be in flow 100% of the time, but it’s a state of mind we can cultivate, which is what much of what Csikszentmihalyi’s writing is about.

I believe that the research around “flow”, which is considered very solid, is some of the most important research in relation to schools and student learning and behavior. When students are in flow, they are NOT bored or anxious, with all the negative behaviors that go along with those states of mind. If you are a classroom teacher, you have an immediate scenario of what bored and anxious kids are doing!

When students are in flow, they are engaged. However, engagement doesn’t always mean flow. If your students are engaged with coloring or watching a video, it may be relaxing but not challenging.

It’s also interesting to note that control isn’t “flow” either. Students being well-behaved and doing their work doesn’t mean that flow is happening.

To me, learning how to get this flow going for every student is at the heart of teaching. How do we have high-level thinking without leaving some students behind? How can we supply enough background knowledge to novice learners without boring the kids who already know a lot? This is the core of the art of teaching. We need curriculum that is designed to keep everyone in “flow”.

When teachers have great lesson plans, the true art of teaching can begin. That’s when we can hone in on individual students who need more help either with skills or with more challenge. Teaching becomes enjoyable and more of a flow activity for us!

If you want to learn even more about flow and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi click here.

Bodily health is key to mental health and to learning. So if your family’s lifestyle could use some tweaking, please hear me out and check out these links, which go a little deeper into the “why” of healthy habits..

First, sleep. Sleep appears to be doing nothing, right? In fact, inside your body, it’s just the opposite. Sleep is when your body gets to do stuff like clear your brain of toxins, rebuild cells, reset glucose levels, and much, much more. Before reading further, see this article for at least eight ways our bodies are being regenerated during sleep. Read all about the cool things that happen when you sleep here.

So if sleep is an issue for anyone in your family, see if you can find appropriate answers for your family though websites, your doctor, or books.

Second, eat real food, and make sure your kids do also. In fact, if you eat well then it’s likely that they will too. You will witness better behavior, health, and learning.

21 Things That Happen to Your Body When You Stop Eating Processed Food

Then, of course there’s the whole video game/screen time thing, which has a lot to do with the health of today’s families. It’s not just about the time spent in front of a screen, it’s about what the time is spent on. There is a difference between interactive, creative video games and violent ones. There’s a difference between talking to grandma on a video chat and texting during dinner. There are many conversations that families need to have around all this.

For starters, I really like this article because it’s realistic and not fear based. Instead of putting hours next to ages of kids, it takes into account the quality of different activities. And I love the input from kids. The main thing is, think about the purpose of each screen activity and what the benefits or detriments there are to each one. Figure out how much is too much for you and your kids and balance it with exercise and getting outdoors.

One more thing I want to add, which you won’t see as an immediate effect in the short term, but could effect your kids’ health later in life…

There is a lot of current research which shows that people (and especially kids) should never hold a laptop on their lap or a phone up to their ear. These devices emit radio frequencies that are harmful to the brain and body. The bad effects of these types of radiation are lessened in relation to how far the device is from the body. In other words, the farther away, the better, unless you purchase a shielding product, such as those available throughDefender Shield.

When I was growing up in houses and buildings filled with second-hand smoke, it wasn’t considered a big deal. Neither was lead paint or lead in gasoline. It takes a long time for research to overcome public perception and industry deception. The research is always there, decades before the general public catches on.

Please,  be in the first wave of people to be smart about this. If you want to learn more, the best book I’ve found on the topic (with 388 5-star ratings) is https://www.amazon.com/Non-Tinfoil-Guide-EMFs-Stupid-Technology-ebook/dp/B078KKQW6D

Here’s to happy, healthy homeschooling!

Why is it that a teacher can tell your kid what to do and they immediately comply? Whereas, the same request from you brings eye-rolling, foot stamping, and arguing? Well, part of it is that you and your kids have a history and that may include some “button pushing” that happens between you. This is normal. Part of it is the peer pressure in a group. But there is another part to the puzzle that may be helpful to know as you try to help your kids at home.

Since many of you parents have been thrown into the teaching profession in the time of Covid without signing up for it, I’m going to let you in on some things that good teachers do at the start of the year.

Trade Secret #1

Positive behavior starts with the environment. This is why teachers are found in their classrooms several weeks before school starts. We are making sure we have the right supplies, that it’s organized, and that there aren’t a lot of distractions. We are putting posters up with inspiring quotes and making bulletin boards with class rules. We are figuring out seating arrangements.

Considering that you are at home, within easy access of the kitchen, TV, toys, and maybe siblings, you can get better learning behavior simply by the old adage “out of sight, out of mind”. Carve out a space that is for school, with very few distractions. Maybe your dining room converts to a classroom. Maybe a bedroom corner is “school”. During school times the area should be organized and free of excess stuff, especially toys and TV. Keep all your kids’ school supplies and materials in that area. Make places for pencils, paper, laptop when not in use, markers, crayons, workbooks, etc. This will cut down on excuses (“I couldn’t finish because I couldn’t find the _____”) and wasted time searching for stuff. You can even put up some inspirational quotes or posters or have your kids design their own! If possible, have a bulletin board or white board with the daily schedule on it.

Trade Secret #2

Spend lots of time going over expectations and routines and have some fun and personal connection before starting academics. Great teachers know that the first few days of school are the most important days of the entire year. They set the stage for learning and relationships. The first few days of school in a good classroom are filled with class meetings, learning the expectations, practicing social skills, and getting to know one another.

Here are some conversations to have with your family in your first few days. How are we all feeling about doing school at home? What is hard? What will be good about it? (Adults should share their feelings, hopes and worries also.) What are some things that will make it work for all of us? You can brainstorm some ideas about what will make it work, and let these ideas morph into “rules”. This will work better than rules coming from the adults without any input from kids. You will get more compliant behavior if your kids understand your feelings and needs.

Other topics to cover in these first few days are:

What will the daily routine look like? What are the expectations for finishing work? What happens if work isn’t completed? Is your system time-based or work based (i.e. is math for an hour, or just until the lesson is completed, even if that only takes 15 minutes)? What are your expectations for completed work (i.e. should it be neat and tidy or just completed)? How and when is it okay to ask for help – especially pertinent if parents are trying to work at home also. What can your child do if help isn’t available right away? How will your child handle frustration? How will you handle frustration? What does respectful talk look like and sound like? (Teachers usually do some “role-playing” where students act out scenarios and practice the behaviors).

Now, put all of this into writing in the form of a contract or agreement. But also, plan to have a “class meeting” regularly to discuss how the rules and routines are working. Be flexible and make changes if needed. You may need to be stricter or more loose as time goes on. A lot depends on how you and your kids are doing. But if the rules do change, always discuss the reasons why rather than handing down the rule with no explanation.

The more your kids know what to expect from Day 1, and the more they have helped to shape the rules and routines, the less arguing there will be.

Trade Secret #3

Every good teacher uses some rewards and consequences. If your kids absolutely love school and academic learning is one of their favorite activities, then they are rewarded intrinsically (just by the good feeling of getting their work done) Other students would rather be doing something else, and they may need an extrinsic reward (something from the outside that they earn for working hard).

Is a reward the same as a bribe and aren’t bribes bad? Here is my distinction. A bribe is for something you would not normally do, which means that it would have to be high stakes and with a big prize.

A reward is recognition for doing something that is expected (i.e. schoolwork) and with a small recognition for a job well done. These rewards should be in relation to the difficulty of the task for each child. Some kids may not need any rewards at all to keep motivated while others who struggle a lot just to complete a small amount of work may need constant encouragement. Appropriate rewards should be small tokens such as stickers put on good work, praise, high fives, or points that add up to something at the end of a time period (an hour, a day or a week). Points could add up to a small treat, extra attention, a new book, or anything meaningful to your child. In my class, kids enjoyed simply a star on a card. Every ten stars moved them up a level on the “Super Improver” wall. Each level had a small reward and it took the whole year to get to the top. It always amazed me how thrilled they were to get a little star on a card.

You may or may not need a “system” like this for your own kids. Maybe the reward is simply a time at the end of the day for compliments and appreciation. But the more rewards you have, either verbal, affectionate, or small tokens, the less consequences you will need, and the more compliance you’ll get.

EdReports has given a partial thumbs-up to the ELA curriculum materials used in my district.

EdReports claims to be the trustworthy experts. They hire teachers to work in small groups for the purpose of examining every bit of a curriculum with a fine toothed comb. Evaluations are based on how closely the curriculum follows the Common Core Standards, text quality, building knowledge, and usability.

But here is the problem. EdReports first focuses on the written curriculum and puts Usability last. A program can get a high score in following the standards and text quality, and not be rated at all in Usability. It seems to me that usability should come first, because if you don’t have that, what’s the point?

Here’s a writing lesson from an ELA program that my school adopted. It is for Unit 1 Week 3 of first grade. Put on your rater’s “hat” and decide how Usable it is.

Arrow 1

CCSS means Common Core standard. But wait, this is a lesson objective, right? Are an objective and a standard the same thing? Hardly. A standard is an end of the year goal. An objective is a focus for a particular day or week. A lesson objective is a small stepping stone on the way to meeting a standard. Should EdReports even agree to look at programs without lesson objectives? (There is not a single real objective to be found in the entire curriculum.) You will see as you continue that this whole lesson is completely skewed, in part because it’s based on an end of year standard.

Arrow 2

The entire lesson on this page, which is quite extensive, is supposed to take five minutes. If you are looking at Usability first, you would probably say to yourself, “Why does it even matter if this is Common Core aligned? No one will teach it.” (Which actually turns out to be the case in my district) After you read through the entire page, decide if you think five minutes is a reasonable amount of time.

Before discussing arrows 3 and 4, I’m going to introduce you to some writing samples from beginning first graders. Remember, this lesson is designed for Week 3 of ELA , which would be September or October of first grade (depending when you start school). This is what first grade writing looks like around then.

Arrow 3

Students should “take notes about what they like most, questions they have for the author, and details they think the author could include.” Given these writing samples, which include typical developing 6 year old writers at the beginning of first grade, what do you think? Do the writers of this curriculum know or care that many beginning first graders cannot yet read? And even if they could read normal words, who could begin to decipher Student 3’s writing? As a teacher, I would put careful thought into what kind of feedback to give Student 3. And they are expecting a first grader to be capable of that?

Arrow 4

The CCSS begins “With guidance and support from adults…” So why, next to arrow 4, is there now an expectation that children will independently edit each other’s work? You can already see from their writing samples how that will go. In my mind it’s a crime to be making a profit off this lesson. Most early childhood teachers would take one piece of student work to display to the class and first compliment the student for what was well done, then ask for compliments from classmates. All of us, from age 2 to 92, deserve to hear what we did well before receiving suggestions. Then, this knowledgeable teacher would offer (or ask for) one or two suggestions about something the student could fix. That’s what guided and supported looks like.

I would argue that if anyone actually did try to teach this, they would be doing more harm than good, and at the very least, wasting a lot of time.

Why would EdReports post only part of a report? Why not look at the whole thing before even putting it online? Why was the usability left out? Are they trying to protect the big publishing companies that publish these crazy things?

It worries me that EdReports may be gaining a reputation as the go-to place for districts to get advice on what curriculum to adopt. If so, they have a major responsibility to report the whole truth. What I have given you is one small example. I could also point out major usability issues with the math curriculum I’m using, which is rated highly by EdReports. It looks good on paper, and aligns with Common Core, but it has major flaws relating to a certain thing called reality.

Come on, EdReports, give us the whole picture. Look at the whole truth, and report it.