Be In The Moment

Teaching is very much a present profession. I read this the other day on Vicki Davis’ CoolCatTeacher blog. A simple phrase with myriad meanings that got me to thinking about being in the present. I am a follower of Thich Nhat Hanh, the Zen Buddhist monk nominated for a Pulitzer prize in 1967 by no less than Martin Luther King, Jr. I have a quote from him on my bathroom shelve that I see each morning, “The foundation of happiness is mindfulness.” Without pulling out the old Sanskrit, mindfulness means in the sense of one’s being in the moment.

So, what does “teaching is a very present profession” mean? It means being totally with the students in mind, body, and spirit. On the first day of school in September, looking out at the 30 or so eyes looking back, I pause briefly to be in the moment. At that moment, more than any other during the school year, I command the center of attention, something that I will not enjoy fully from that day on. The first thing I do is smile. Not just a pressed-lips-in-an-upward-curve look, but a genuine full teeth exposed, on the edge of a laugh, engaging SMILE. Why, because at that moment, we are all equally on the same ground, without baggage, with full trust accounts, awaiting that initial gesture of connectivity.

I read names on the roll, smile, look into the eyes of that specific student, shake his or her hand and ask or say something about them that gives us a connection with one another as well as with the course topic. It may be as simple as, “did you know your surname Smith pronounced in French is smeet?,” or as subversive as asking a question in French to gage their response. That really puts them in the moment. LOL.

Next, I redirect mindfulness to their classmates using a twist on Kagan. I have everyone line up alphabetically. Of course, they always say, “I don’t know everyone here.” To which I reply, “then you need to find out names so you will know where to sit.” Usually, they stroll in the direction of seating from A’s to Z’s. It’s hectic, but totally engaging, and let’s face it, it’s all about engagement, n’est-pas?

From that point on, it is up to each individual to be in the moment in my class. We necessarily move on to the first-day-of-class plan with all the syllabi, classroom expectations, and general housekeeping notes. Those are important, but not connective.

I know every teacher has his or her own particular special moment of engagement on the first day. I encourage you to tell us about those.

School bus art from http://testimonials.epromos.com/school-bus-resized.jpg

Low Scores = Poor Teachers

What a great vacation in the Outer Banks! Now, back to business.

If you look at the website links on the right, you will notice that I added two: Kids Count and The Broader, Bolder Approach to Education. Both are places that a teacher ought to visit. They speak to a question that we all have asked, “Who says it’s the teacher’s fault for low TAKS scores? “

First, visit Broader, Bolder Approach. Read the home page, then click on Read the Full Statement. Take your time to browse. You will find a comprehensive, research-based discussion about what we must do to improve our children’s education from a national perspective. It requires understanding and acting on the association between social and economic inequities and low student achievement. It shows what we as teachers already know, that school improvement alone is not the answer.

Next, visit the Kids Count site of the Center for Public Policy Priorities by clicking KIDS COUNT on the menu bar. This is a great site for information and, more importantly, data that shows the correlation in Texas between low socioeconomic issues and the disadvantages those create for our students. This site does not speak to education alone, but provides good information on all social and economic issues that affect Texas families.

Teaching Reading

Well, tomorrow is the first day of a long awaited six week vacation. Thursday ended my third year as the teacher of the high school summer Reading Academy. This program serves special education students who need assistance in improving their reading skills. They have taught me so much for which I am so thankful.

As a novice “reading teacher” I got to wondering about reading programs sanctioned by the state. Giving credit where credit is due (and this is difficult for me) then-Governor Bush’s administration mandated the Texas Reading Initiative (http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/reading/) in 1996 to combat the state’s 25% failure rate on state reading tests. A full frontal attack on illiteracy resulted in several programs that are notable and sustainable. The announcement of initial organizations agreement to approaching the battle was published in 1997 as Good Practices: Implications for Reading Instruction (http://www.eric.ed.gov/for the original). This contains a good overview of what the strategy for fighting illiteracy would look like.

This initial effort gave birth to several programs from Reading Academies to Reading Summits to Reading Spotlight Schools, to name a few. TEA teamed up with focused organizations that continue to play off one another for synergistically step changes in good practices. One only has to visit the website of Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts (http://www.texasreading.org/utcrla/) for proof.

Texas’ report card, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ ) shows 41% of fourth grade students in 2003 as below basics in reading. By 2007, those same students as eighth graders posted 27% below basics in reading. Seems like progress to me, but I’m not an educational researcher. I’m just a teacher with the desire to help one student at a time enjoy reading.

(Note: Bookbird clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com (http://discoveryeducation.com/).