Community Based – Page 3 – Sweat to Inspire

Dear Press Balanced Coverage Please

Posted on March 9, 2015March 9, 2015 by Sweat to Inspire

Dear Michigan Press:

Could you please cover education like you cover all other news sectors? Please have a more balanced focus. The stories that always make the news seem to be negative. “A teacher … ” “Bomb threat at ….” “Students behaved ….” The headlines sensationalize rare events in our educational world. Sure negative events happen in all sectors of our lives: Government, Business, Education and Entertainment. It seems these other areas get more well rounded coverage. For every negative story about GM’s recall there is a positive about their fund raising or the car show. The Entertainment sector seems to be loaded with positive stories to offset the occasional blunder by a star. Why is it that a single educator blunder makes the top of the news cycle while all the thousands of positive stories garner little or no coverage?

I always see live coverage of the great positive stories around metro Detroit: Auto Show, Woodward Dream Cruise, Winter Blast, Boat Show, Autorama, etc. Did you know there are two great event coming up about education? MACUL (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) will bring over 5,000 educators to COBO center in Detroit March 18-20. This would be an ideal time to do a live broadcast. The news teams could talk to educators from all over the state to hear about the latest and greatest practices going on in the classrooms. Ideas from Flipped learning, I-Books for education, to Twitter Chats for connecting teachers all will be discussed. The public needs to hear about what educators do to grow professionally. It might be more entertaining than the standard live remotes to cover March Madness that occur around this time of year.

If an educational convention is not deemed news worthy enough, check out ShiftMich Idea Slam March 19 7:30-11:00 pm at the Detroit Beer Company. The Idea Slam is a fast paced “pitch fest” and networking event for educators. Selected projects will be presented and attendees will vote on their favorite ideas. Winning projects will receive up to $1,000 towards their innovative educational idea. The rest of the evening is an informal meet-up with fun conversations and delicious offerings from the Detroit Beer Company. The concept of the Idea Slam was inspired by the Detroit Soup and TED Conference formats.

Be balanced in your coverage! Hope to see your coverage of these up coming events!

A Teacher’s Day

Posted on February 23, 2015February 27, 2015 by Sweat to Inspire

During a recent “Cold day” off from school, I meet a college friend for lunch. While walking in he said “Must be nice, to have a day off!” Yes, a day where I am not required to go into work and be in front of students is a welcome break. Everyone no matter what type of job needs a break from the norm to be refreshed and rejuvenated, As we conversed about our work and caught up on our lives, the comment began to sink in and make we reflect.

A teachers day is like no others. Having worked in the business world prior to going into teaching I understand this but doubt few who have never taught can imagine just how different a teachers day is to that in any other industry.

A teacher’s day starts like anyone else’s, Arrive at work but this is where the similarities diverge. Teachers arrive often arrive early to work (or stay late) because when the school bell rings to start the day, there is not time to gather materials, make copies or plan out the day, it all has to be done ahead of time. As the bell rings teachers are perched at their doors welcoming students to class for the day, smiling and giving gentle reminders: “Do you have a pencil? Did you finish your homework?” as 28-35 students file into a classroom.

As a middle school teacher, I teach 6 classes in a day. First hour is advisory to focus on student relationships. Then 4 hours of science and 1 hour of a technology elective. Each class is like a 56 minute sales presentation in front of 30+ customers all with different needs, questions and interest levels. For comparison when I worked in sales, I averaged 5 to 6 sales calls in a day with 1-5 customers in the meeting all with similar interest and knowledge levels. Most of these calls lasted around 30 minutes. As a teacher I have to closely follow up with each students with formative assessments. In sales I had to follow up too but 5 to 6 formative assessments were simple compared to the 150+ I have to do daily now.

In sales, I had time between meeting to reflect and perfect my craft. Having conversations with co-workers, updating the presentation. In the classroom, I have a 3 minute break to get a drink of water and use the bathroom, then on to the next educational pitch. When in the business world, I could often take the customer out to lunch to discuss ideas further. In the classroom, I have to invite students to return for 30 minutes of remediation. Customers were glad to enjoy the lunch, students often like the break from the cafeteria but have difficulty focusing on their learning needs. In the business world I often had hour or longer lunches (unless I wanted to rush), now I am often scarfing down food as I try to teach or prepare lessons. Many teachers (and administrators) go without eating due to time constraints of the busy job.

I am a lucky teachers, having a 56 minute preparation period. This time is often filled with meetings. Meeting with co-workers, administrators and parents. Yes, this time is similar to many other jobs. Our “break” time is like many people’s work. When I am lucky and don’t have meetings, I am busy planning, grading, updating website or making copies. Many teachers on the elementary level DON”T have preparation time every day often being limited to around 225 (or less) paid prep minutes per week. Imagine having to prepare the majority of your work on your time! Most teachers spend at least 2- 3 hours daily preparing for work on top of their daily teaching time.

Yes, the cold/snow days are a luxury. Teachers days are full of work unlike most others. Remember this before you are quick to judge. Teachers, I challenge you to share about your work day to let society know HOW much work we do in a day!

Below is Tony Danza’s message after spending time as a teacher:

2 Sides to the Education coin…

Posted on November 29, 2014November 29, 2014 by Sweat to Inspire

It is the best of times and the worst of times to be in education. If you read a newspaper you might be hearing many stories about the worst of times. Budget and program cuts, poor school performance, bullying issues and a glut of standardized tests. When you dig deeper beyond the headlines, glimpses of the best of times are evident with stories about Genius Hour, Hour of Code, Edcamp, Maker Movement, and connected educators. Where should the media focus?

It seems the negative stories seem to catch the media’s eye more often than the positive. Many educators tend to dwell in the worst of times world. Our minds like to complain and get drawn in by the negative. It sure can seem like the worst of times. Just walk in to a teachers lounge, complaining about the “Kids today” seems to come up.

Walk into an Edcamp or spend some time on twitter and the education story changes quickly. Hearing the positives starting a day with #BFC530 , a spark chat, starts the day with 1 question for you to ponder. Every day of the week an educator can see the wonderful positives that exist in education. On weekends educators can attend professional development for teachers by teachers in the form of Edcamps. Edcamps bring the positives from twitter to life in face to face meetings where teachers share what is working in their classrooms. At these events you can often overhear teachers explain how incredible “Kids today” can be!

Both of these worlds exist in education today. Teachers have to make a choice. Do we want to be a part of the negative or the positive story about education? Ultimately educators need to help each other realize that our story has two sides. If we spend too much time focusing on one side we forget the other exists. Our students need us to be balanced. Teachers need to advocate for less testing and more funding for student programs. Teachers also need to share the success stories. Our students do incredible things in the classrooms. It is the teachers job to share these stories for all to see. If we share enough, loud enough the positive stories will hit the mainstream.

Disservice of sub shortage!

Posted on October 6, 2014October 9, 2014 by Sweat to Inspire

Friday started like any typical school day, teachers slowly trickling into school as the first bell approaches. The copy machine running, students being dropped off out front. Then the PA booms “Teachers were are short on Substitutes today, Please answer the phone when it rings.” Teachers’ moods instantly change as “not again” is moaned by one passing teacher. The Technology Director walks down to one classroom doorway with sub folder in hand stating “Not what I was expecting to do, but it can’t be that bad!”

I hear of this scene all over Metro Detroit. I assume it is happening all over the country. School districts are faced with a growing problem. Substitute teachers are scarce! This problem does a disservice to all staff working in education! Administrators have to scramble to find staff to cover classrooms or cover the classes themselves. Teachers have to sacrifice their limited prep time to teach other classrooms. Support personnel have to abandon their caseloads for the day. Some districts are still struggling to fill full time teaching positions.

This problem most effects out students. How can learning happen when high quality subs aren’t available? or when class size inflate due to lack of teachers? It has gotten to the point where State Superintendent of Education is offering ways to address the “teacher shortage”. “Teaching is the most noble and important of professions and I have no doubt there are people out there who are willing to make a difference,” Flanagan said.

The Michigan Department of Education proposal offers up alternative certification and accelerated paths into teaching. I don’t feel this helps with the urgent need for substitutes around the state. It might help fill the vacancies in some districts. Schools need subs. There are a few ways to fill this need!

1. College Students- Every college of education student should be registered to be a substitute this way when there is a great need to them in schools, they can step up and help out. Great experience and every college student needs some extra cash.

2. Substitutes should get service credit- When I was a sub, my hours counted as service credit towards my retirement. This left a few years ago when school districts were encouraged to privatize their substitute services. Look where this has gotten us. I know many qualified teachers who refuse to sub for this very reason.

3. Community outreach- Districts need to reach out the the religious and other community service organizations to help provide guest teachers when they are short. Local businesses can take an hour or two and let employees help out in the community by teaching the next generation of employees.

The education of the children of our communities should be addressed by everyone in the community. WE all need to work together to solve this shortage. It should not just be pressed upon the school employees.

Reflective Teaching Day #30 – IF I weren’t afraid

Posted on September 30, 2014September 30, 2014 by Sweat to Inspire

Day 30- @TeachThough 30 Day Reflective Teaching Challenge

What would you do (as a teacher) if you weren’t afraid?

If I weren’t afraid I would start my own school. I feel the current path that public education is heading down is full of the best intentions but politics and funding seem to rule where the intentions end up. I want to build a school where the world is the classroom. Teachers are the guides. Learning is fun and engaging. Where students don’t have to ask why we are studying a topic because they picked it. Where teachers will show the relevance of topics. Student spend their days motivating teachers and never wanting to leave until sapped of energy instead of the other way around.

Desire to learn is a natural thing. Some how our current society/school model has drained this natural instinct. New schools need to be created without the old school norms. Free from being a political pawn each election season. Where learning is the focus, not day care and seat time. Where a culture of learning is cultivated with the growth mindset. Students will work at their own pace growing until skills are mastered.

This seems Utopian and full of “buzz words”. It does exist. We have to strive for it everyday. If I weren’t afraid I would stop trying to change my current school and go build a school every child, teacher and community deserves.

Summer is for adventure learning!

Posted on July 10, 2014July 10, 2014 by Sweat to Inspire

It is summer, how are you and your family learning together? What your kids aren’t in school? You are just enjoying vacation! Well summer is full of all types of learning activities often MORE, yes more valuable than school. Summer offers all of us unlimited self-paced learning opportunities. It is the best time of the year to show your children that you are a learner, and that learning in its purest form is FUN!! Summer also gives us the opportunity to learn together and show that no matter what your age is you can learn something new.

Since school was finished for us June 17th, our family has had numerous learning experiences. Some of them are simple, my 10 year old son is learning simple lawn mowing, chores and responsibility. My twin 5 year olds are learning to clear the table and be responsible members of our house hold. Since not every family has parents with as much unscheduled time as a teacher, make sure to take advantage of family vacation time to learn. We enjoyed our 4th of July in fabulous Boyne City. The 4th Parade allow them to ask questions about veterans and the political process. The fireworks created an entire discussion about safety and explosives. Spending days on a lake leads to numerous learning opportunities ranging from nature lessons about the ecosystem to boaters safety lessons. All my kids have learned so many boating skills their are too many to count. Gavin pictured on the sandbar above has become a fish and is upset when the weather is not favorable to swimming. Another favorite learning activity is tubing behind the boat. An understanding of physics is emerging in their developing minds. After a ride they want to know why they go faster coming out of a turn. When a wipe out occurs friction is discussed.

As parents we need to take advantage of every opportunity to learn with our children. We can show them the world. Yesterday when the weather was too cold for lessons on the lake, we moved the classroom to Petoskey’s waterfront pier and the Little Traverse Historical Museum. We learned together about the history of northern Michigan. Afterwards walking the docks of the marina to see all the different types of boats Enjoy your summer by getting out and learning with you children. Don’t leave them to find their own entertainment all the time. Learning is an adventure that schools can’t contain. Learning happens every minute of every day so make the most of every opportunity!

Take a moment look around and see what you can learn everyday. School do not hold the key to learn. Learning happens everywhere, everyday. Schools only provide a structure that formalizes learning. Life is a learning experince that never ends!

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