The Bow Tie Teacher

No goals left behind

I like this time of year, December-February. I enjoy planning, thinking and setting goals for the year. I always set aside time during this season to just think, dream and plan. 5 out of 7 years I set and accomplish the goals I set. This year I'm going BIG. I'm going to accomplish 100% of my goals. And, I'm not going to set only 2 goals so I can get it done. I have 9 good, strong, SMART, life changing goals set out with a plan to get each of them done. There are 2 elusive goals, however that have evaded me for YEARS. This year the year I turn 40 I will see them accomplished. No goals left behind. Here we go. Want to know what my goals are for 2014? Just watch...you'll see them soon enough. 

Here's my plan. I will share my goals at the end of January. 

1. Research my goals. I like to know what I'm getting myself into. I'm not GREAT at research, but I'm pretty good. 

2. I Decided that either I'm going to obsess over this or not. If I'm not going to obsess over it, then I'm not going to do it. 

3. Reduce the picture. Small bite sized pieces, daily steps, weekly steps, monthly steps you get the point. 

4. Make it public. I chose to blog about it. You can ask me questions about my goals. I'll gladly share where I am. 

5. Seek accountability. I LOVE to surround myself with people doing stuff. I want them to intentionally and unintentionally prod me on. 

6. I now expect it to be hard, but along with the struggle I expect, seek, look for the strength to get this thing done! 

7. Encourage and seek encouragement. 

8. Visualize the goal completion. I spend a little time daily thinking what it will be like to be as fit as I can at 40, to be debt free, to make my job the career I never hat to work at ever again, to be a multi book author. I like the picture now I need do it so you can see it, too.  

9. Learn from failures. If the goal is worthy of my time then failure isn't a STOP sign. It's a This ain't the way sign. 

10. Focus on 1 goal at one time. I need help on this. I tend to keep my goals in a family so I can do more than 1 in at a time cause they're related. 

11. Practice walking goal out every single day. I have to obsess about being the man God wants me to go. It has to consume my thoughts, words, actions and deeds. Then it will become easy.

12. Take responsibility for all of it. It's all mine. The success, the failures, the set backs the set ups. They are all mine. 

Lucky Number 13. Celebrate cause the journey was well worth it. 

Merry Christmas!

It's here! Christmas break is finally here what took ya so long. This school year has gone so slow fast.  I can't believe it's only Christmas break. So much to do. So much done. 

Christmas is a great time to reflect, relax and recharge and not see your students for 2 weeks. The 1st Sememster has been good in a running a triathlon with a brick tied to your head kinda way. My students are fantastic in a herding cats kind of way. I'm really going to miss them over the break dear Lord, don't strike me for that blatant lie. 

Can't wait to just kick back on the couch with some hot chocolate and catch up on some grading, paper work and grades. No seriously most of us do school work on our breaks, that's not cool at all. For most of us this is a real time to breathe. The year sometimes goes so fast that it's hard to catch a breath, think and figure out what in the world am I doing fine details of life. 

Got my list of Christmas wishes, too

• That each of my students want to do better than they did the 1st part of the year. A full book bag would be nice, too! 
• Better organization system. Less paperwork in general, please
• Consistant parent involvement. Ok, I'll settle for working phone numbers
  
• Fewer meetings. No joke there. Fewer meetings, dear Jesus! 
• The perfect lesson plans. Just kidding my lessons are the best
  
• A steady stream of iced coffee pumped into my class at an ideal 40 degrees. I'll take freshly squeezed green juice in January and February, tough
• Some means to squeeze 2 more work home hours into the work home time
• A new pair of work running and lifting shoes 
• To be very comfortable with all my body weight workouts by dropping some bodyweight!

Ok, the last two had nothing to do with work, but they help me relax, relate, release so I can do my job. In all seriousness this school year's been a hoot and a holler. I expect some great things to happen in 2014 like Spring Break and Summer. 

I pray everyone has a safe and restful Christmas break. May all teachers experience 30 days worth or rest, relaxation and family. May every second of rest be better than 2 hours of work. Keep your head up and we'll see you in 2014. 

Merry Christmas I ain't politically correct and Happy New Years! 

 

My first book review

 

I'm a HUGE sucka for books with characters that look like my kids or students I teach. So you know I went all in on this book. It's very fun. The illustrations are fantastic. Just watch our family review of and and let me know what you think. 

4.5 bow ties for sure!

Bullying

It's been all over the news. It's been everywhere and it seems like it's getting worse and worse, bullying. When I was a kid it was called being a kid, but what's happening today is pretty rough. 

A parent came to me today to tell me her child was being bullied. I told her to have him stop by my room tomorrow and we'd talk about it. I chose to write out my thoughts cause I think this speaks to a much deeper issue in the Bully and those being Bullied. Here we go. 

    You are not going to like what I have to say. You're going to be mad and you're going to maybe cry, but I'm only telling you this because someone told me this same thing multi-decades ago. 

    You're a man. You may not like it and you may not feel like it right now. If the Lord allows, you're going to know that you are a man one day. And the only thing more sure than that is that Life is going to do her very best to kick your butt every day from this until the end. 

    You're going to have to resolve one day and it better be soon that you're going to stick in there and keep getting up and keep moving forward every time she knocks you down. Oh and she will. She's going to knock the wind out of you more time than you can count. You're just going to have to keep getting back up. 

    One day you'll have a family, kids, job and all those wonderful things that come with being "grown". Along with that you'll have scars, a lot of them. The thicker your skin the more surface those scars and the less deep wounds they'll be.

Some will hurt and some will cut you pretty bad. You're welcome to come to my class when they get real bad and we'll talk, heck we'll even cry about them. What you're also going to do is walk out of here, stand up and fight another day. 

People tend to want to delittle those they see as a threats to the norm or just "too big for their britches". You have a choice to let them drag you down into the small space they fill or to rise above them and shine like a star. I think you know what I want you to do. 

You're going to have to look many a person in the face and let them know who you are and who you're not. You're not defined by anyone, but yourself and your God. If you allow every person you meet to validate and define you, you're in for a life of struggle and pain with no growth or end. That would be hopeless and sad.

But if you know who you are then anyone else's definition of you can only be to small. You're so much more than what people see and because of that they have to try to box you, define you...contain you. 

Bullies are only powerful if we cheris their words. Actually, they're crying out for the same attention they want to give you. They need somone to validate, define, honor their words. You don't realize just how much power you have and your bullies DO! 

You're going to have to walk away from a lot of folk and stand up to some as well. You're going to ball your fist up and want to scream.  But this will still be true. You're a man. You're going to have to rise above this and whatever else comes at you. 

I hope I didn't undersell this. I hope I didn't make you think that this was a walk in the park. Lady Life has taken many a better man then me out. She does do her job well. You're better than you know and you're stronger than you figure. Stand up to her and her attack dogs. Let them know that you aren't some soft serve on a hot day. You're here and you plan to remain well after their words have faded. 

College road trip week

 

 

I've been having a ball during this College Road Trip week. My only goal is; to make college sound like an obtainable goal. I know it's a long shot and most of my kids have a rough time thinking past next week. But if there was hope for me, I can at least hold out hope for them. If nothing else my students won't pull one of these on me. (They don't have a choice, but know where I went to college.) 

To get the kids hyped up I mixed up our Class Dojo for the week. Everyday they want to earn 3 points (which should be pretty easy) to move to the next "grade". They seem receptive to it,which is a major plus! 

• Monday 3= Freshman
• Tuesday 3 = Sophmore
• Wednesday 3 = Junior
• Thursday 3 = Senior
• Friday Graduation Day! We celebrate my decorating these Class of 2027 badges I have and making Coke Floats for our science lesson. 

So far this is what I've done. 

Monday I wore my cap and gown around to tell them that they have to start today thinking about what they'll have to do to get to high school graduation in 10 years and college in 14. 

Tuesday I wore my Morehouse apron all day coupled with that gigantic flag I picked up last week. 

Wednesday I'm rocking the highly anticipated Morehouse bow tie.

Thursday I'm pulling out the Morehouse sweater. A true fan favorite. 

Friday I'm doning the cap and gown to celebrate our kids moving forward in life. I put it out there and I hope some of the other teachers wear their's as well. What else you going to do with it? 

Pictures will follow. I really wish I could've done more. I've already put in some ideas for next year. We do this again I'm going BIG or going home. 

College road trip is upon us

I'm very pumped up about a week of bigging up my Alma Mata. This is truly an investment. At best it will take 10 years for my current 2nd graders to enroll in a four year school. Let's see if we can muster some excitement about making the long haul to graduation. Maybe one day they'll mention me in their personal essay. 

I have one more big surprise for college day. The kids are going to flip. Pictures forthcoming.

A look at mentors

I have no issue saying that I don't know everything. This has been a HUGE turn around for me. I don't know everything. There are a few people I consider mentors. Some by design and others by default. 

One was a manager I had. I wouldn't consider him a mentor at the time, but his words were helpful. Granted I don't think he managed me to success, but that's neither here nor there.

After a sales meeting he pulled me aside. We discussed my progress and the last thing I remember him saying was, 

"Get out there and push somethings around. You're a young guy and you should push more and make things happen." Again, I didn't take it to heart when he said it, but later I thought about it. I really am not pushing stuff around like I could. I'm not forcing things to happen and seeing results. 

I'm teaching and organizing my class. I'm rocking and rolling, but I'm not seeing the results I expect. I need to push somethings around. There has to be a result that equals the kind of effort I'm putting into it. 

So this week I'm going to push and I'm going to push HARD. I have to get these babies excited about learning and exploring. They have to see that this is worth it. 

On to another topic. I've been practicing taking off from Friday evening to Saturday evening. It's some good ol' Jason time. Not sure why more people don't practice this self-regulated margin. I feel recharged and I'm ready for another great week of pushing and bow ties. 

The Longest days

The Longest days are those that the kids tend to grasp the least information. But also I'm teaching, grouping and talking a lot. I did not expect after this amount of time and practice my students would still be struggling with double digit addition with regrouping. It's tough. I just didn't think I wasn't reaching them that much! Wow! Got to moved on and start other skills, though. 

I'm amped up that we're doing a College and Career day in a few weeks. I've been gathering various college banners from friends. I'm decking out my classroom door to look like a huge Morehouse College application. I'm getting my Cricut ready for some grade A cutting. Got a lot to do in a few days. Pictures will follow. 

My foray into the 7 habits has been hit and miss. I'm not getting the students excited about anything. I've tried to review the 1st four habits a lot to no avail. I'm looking at me and my style to see why I'm not getting them on par. There are a ton of good, high quality excuses, but I have to find a better solution. We're just in November. 

How are you keeping the motovation high in your class? Are you? I'm putting up the SOS for new ideas and plans. 

Teachers UNITE!

So now the October stretch has started. This is the time when teachers (ME) question: 

• Am I making a difference? 
• Am I in the profession?
• What the HECK am I doing? 

This week has been a trip. Just a lot of off task-ness and refocusing. I even had a kid steal one of my fidget bands from off the bottom of a chair. #WhoDoesThat!? 

The super frustrating thing is that this week's lessons/content weren't very hard. It was more of a stretch week than a new subject. So there was a lot of room for the kids to grow and feel successful. Can't honestly say that it panned out like that. 

The feeling that I'm getting from the group is "Mr. Whitaker, you're cool and all and I'm going to let you finish this lesson. But you ain't speakin' my language and I don't care to learn yours." I'm starting to get a sense of what it's like for a person from another country to come to America. Total immersion. Is there a Rosetta Stone for teaching in the inner city? 

This week I knew thoughtI was killin' it on my imagery and word pictures. I thought I was breaking it down to the very last compound. I thought I was making my case for them to desire to learn like Johnny Cochran.  What I saw was my words fall flat like a tire. I'm just not speaking their language. Now we can certainly debate culture, but that's another blog post for sure. These babies just don't know how or want to learn. 

All Therosist need not apply. I don't care what a book says or some gal on Oprah. I want trench dwelling teachers to tell me what they do to motivate the unmotivated. Help!

I know a lot of my teacher friends read, but don't comment on blogs. I'd love to hear you thoughts. Pass this question on to others in your circle, cause I cherish the feedback. 

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This week's flip books

This week I rolled out flip books on my class. We're using them in different ways. The math place value book below is being used really for notes. The kids followed along with me as I created this book. 

This is an example of one of the inside pages. The kids enjoyed making it. One thing I'd change is next time I'll stick to the same number throughout the entire book. Thekids didn't stumble over my change. I just think that some of them might have grasped better if I used the same number. 

Should've kept the same number through the whole book. 

I made this huge flip book from some "ruined" poster boards. So each page I had the students follow along in their own smaller books. See the smaller book on the left. On the back of the whole book I had the students write the vocabulary words that they keep missing. Since we're focusing on the various kinds of conversions, this has come in handy.  

This is a fun book we made for show. We're discussing the various interesting things about this wonderful state. So I made these books to help the kids see how big/small our world really is.  We're going to display them when we're finished. 

Next week we're going to make a flip book on the regions of Georgia. We'll see how it goes.  How was your week? What worked well for you?