How many of us fell in love with our current hobby or interest because of a class we took during our school days? I did. Steve Jobs did too. He dropped out of college after 6 months because of a lack of interest in what he was forced to take, and the huge expense it was to his parents. He fell in love with a few classes he sat in on for free that shaped him, and the company he later started. He chose what he was interested in over what he was told he needed to take. And he says it made all the difference.
I feel that his view is SO RIGHT ON.
Jobs, one of my favorite people of all time.
Sometimes you stumble into things because of a curiosity you have, even if you know it might not have any practical application. And many times we are forced to learn in a one-size-fits-all approach, as in Common Core. But what of creativity or the arts? What if you miss the drama or speech class that may change your life? My favorite class in high school was drama class. How sad if I'd never tried drama because it wouldn't fit into my schedule? You may never find out you love learning to watercolor, or sing with a guitar, or make your own videos. These things you are exposed to, early in life, can make a huge impression on you!
All of my kids were exposed to every sport I could get my hands on in the Parks and Recreation system in our Lakewood, California town where they grew up. We lived 5 doors down from a city park and they attended T-Ball, baseball, football, soccer, basketball, and all sorts or classes and camps. Each one of them hated all group sports. Even though one of them was kind of gifted at sports, he didn't like the negativity and the teasing of the other boys. It was sad for me, their mom, because I loved going to the games. But funny thing is, how each of them, on their own, found a high school sport they loved doing, that was kind of off the grid.
My kids and my grandkids too have all been exposed to many, many types of learning; sports, music, arts, scouting, dance, and lots of different kinds of cultures and outdoor experiences. |
One of them was on the rowing team and swim team in high school and started programming at 15, taking his first college class in Java at the city college, with special permission. He was also in the band and played trumpet and french horn and took cartooning classes. One of them did track and field and was captain of the debate team and sang in the choir and still plays piano beautifully. He's an eagle scout. One of them did ice hockey and loved woodshop and was the best sketch artist of my entire family. I remember he would have Bevis and Butthead in the margins of all of his writing papers in 3rd grade and his teacher lectured me at conference time. He made beautiful things, but sometimes his teachers did not notice his gifts. My daughter loved math, music and reading. She was a true academic. She still plays violin and piano and was in the best orchestra in 5 high schools. Her favorite High School teacher was an english teacher. And she still reads several books a month. Her Kindle account is mighty.
We experienced muticulturalism in our city schools. Two of my kids' best friends were from India and Pakistan, because we lived in a multicultural, port city. They regularly hung out with kids of many cultures from Samoan and Tongan, Spanish and African American to Vietnamese and Cambodian. We went to church with a stake made up of all of these cultures. Imagine the pot luck dinners we had! I could tell you they were grand!
How sad if you never get that exposure, that variety of topics, and that talent tested though? What if you never get the teacher who notices what you love and what lights you up because she doesn't have time to? Or Because of somebody's box structure of education, or Common Core, that has been designed for everyone to fit into.
Because I've been trained in gifted and talented education, I KNOW how important it is to give kids lots of experiences so they can get a Renzulli type II interest sparked in their young lives. Like Steve Jobs did with Calligraphy and computers.
My granddaughters at age 3 and 4 and acting out what interests them. Magic wands and high heels....and crowns of course! |
I was told last year that my classroom had too much "calling out" because I have a risk free classroom. Kids can call out questions and I answer them. I have always taken pride in this. Silly me. Previous principals have commented positively on my classroom climate being "risk free." And, in my defense, I had 30 students 3 of which were "special needs" kids that would forget to raise their hands.
So I was surprised when I got marked down extremely low in classroom management during an official observation by a first year principal. She had only been a classroom teacher for 4 years herself (It was my 19th year). She was very young, maybe 29 or 30, hadn't raised any kids of her own, and only taught 1 grade. I've taught 4 different grades. She misspelled 2 words on my official evaluation. (chuckle).
For my first "coaching session" I was marched into the classroom of a teacher gifted in management who, no matter what time of day, you can always hear a pin drop in her classroom. I have never even thought personally, that this was healthy for young kids aged 6 and 7 to have total silence in their primary grade classroom. And although I admire her skills, I have had kids that came from her classroom into mine the following year. Parents have told me that their kids were scared to say a word for 3 months in her class, and after one day in mine they came home and said, "It feels just like home in Mrs. Moss' class." I felt that was high praise. Parents have always loved my classroom.
My goal is to be more like the unicorn. Unique. Not in the box. But still awesome. |
But now I was told I didn't fit the mold, I needed to get in a box. The "coach" told me "THIS is what your room needs to look like!" as she spread her arms around the silent room. Can you imagine? I was not only humiliated and confused, but I realized right then and there that I may never reach this level of silence in my room, EVER. It did not only seem unnatural to me, I didn't have a clue how to reach that kind of perfection. And the coach had no ideas for how to get there either! The topic was reading. You couldn't even hear any reading going on. Everybody was seriously whispering! What the heck is that all about? My kids read OUT LOUD in my reading groups. And that's a good thing!
Learn to adapt. But ALWAYS Be an innovator. |
So when my new admin asked me to present, I was quite flattered and excited. I know what I have learned in 20 years of teaching, and taking all kinds of classes in the best practices in the rules and patterns of spelling. I have an endorsement in Reading and ESL and in Gifted and Talented Education, and have studied brain research on how the brain remembers spelling patterns. I felt this all gave me a breadth of knowledge in this area that I was excited to share.
He doesn't look like he likes being put it a box either! |
I also had a "vowel teams"visual I had gotten from the Lindamood-Bell Reading Institute I attended in San Francisco, early on in my career that I've always used to quickly teach kids the vowel sounds and how they change according to rules of spelling. I had been asked by my California principal to be a specialist at our school's after-school reading clinic we started that same year. We had kids bussed in from all over the Long Beach Unified School District for 6 weeks at a time to attend my class and 5 other teachers' classes at the school in grades 1-6. We taught spelling, reading and some writing. We learned a lot at that conference that still informs my practice in teaching reading today.
Another awesome Innovation. Ever heard of the new PIZZA CAKE? Yum. Don't try to tell me you don't want to try it! |
I was not only offended, but kind of shocked. Did this mean that she believed there was only ONE proper way to teach kids to spell? Really? Were we all expected now to teach this way, like a robot or drone? Were we all a part of the Borg now? I was worried if I stayed at that school I might be assimilated into the Borg of that district's philosophies. Think Star Trek....The BORG.
It reminded me of a one-size-fits-all analogy. I saw it again and again as "routines" became a "do it this way exactly" practice. And you better be holding the book in your hand and reading the script while you are at it. Follow the "daily schedule" required up on the board for every half hour or else. And that concept board better look the same in each classroom in each grade level because people will be checking!
This is SO BILL GATES. And it is so NOT STEVE JOBS.
If you have admired a unique teacher who does things differently, creatively, changes it up, has lots of innovation and engagement, but gets great results anyway; you are looking at a Steve Jobs teacher. If you notice that all the teachers on the first grade team do everything alike, very little deviation, and not a lot of uniqueness, but above average results, you are looking at a BILL GATES team of teachers. That is the difference. But let's be clear. There is no room for much creativity and choice, or veering off into current events or the arts in a BILL GATES classroom. Although there is always time for testing!
There is no time if you are going to cover everything on the next page in the core curriculum on a lock-step schedule. But in the STEVE JOBS classroom you may skip an element of the core you think your kids already have grasped, compact some things, and instead teach something entirely new. Possibly something from another culture, something you saw another teacher in Georgia teach from reading her blog, or something that is just interesting to you like the Iditarod or the Northern lights for 30 minutes. Or create your own game using the theme of Columbus' Voyage to America or do an interesting writing workshop. Which classroom would you rather have your kids attend? Hmmm?
One size Fits All doesn't mean better education. It just means the same for all. |
I remember chafing a few years back when district leadership said they needed to update and get rid of classes such as Home Economics and sewing to make room for more tech classes. NO! We need all sorts of classes! Diversify! I wish I had been able to give more time to electives that interested me, but instead had to take many classes that did NOT interest me.
I don't give a rat's behind if I ever see or hear of syllogisms or sentence diagrams as long as I live. Or the fact that I can do them backwards to reach a proof. Stupid. And even learning how to pound a nail into a piece of wood in kindergarten, when all I wanted to do was go to the fingerpaint center? Well it still kind of chaps my hide! Do I pound nails nowadays, or do I paint? Take a guess? I'm sure there were some who preferred to pound nails. But we should have had some choice.
My sons' preschool classes (an excellent mommy-and-me preschool attached to a college) had 12 centers they could choose from EACH DAY after fulfilling some daily required tasks. And that is how I always ran my centers. Devin ALWAYS chose play dough. My other son, Danny, ALWAYS chose the outside physical activities, and Jeff ALWAYS chose computers. Those were excellent preschools, in my opinion. They had to do a few required activities, and then they chose the rest. It was the Montessori way of teaching. Very Divergent and student directed.
The last straw for me last year, was after I heard "Book Clubs are a thing of the past, we are dismantling the guided reading library". I wasn't sure I had understood correctly, so I asked in a leadership meeting for some clarification. "We have found reading a snippet of a book is just as good to teach a concept". I went out looking for a new job that very day. But heard the same thing from the first principal who interviewed me. She also mentioned something I'd heard before. "There is no time for long productions like Shakespeare at my school. No musical productions". That was it for me in my district.
Ever been to a book club where nobody actually finished the book? |
YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN READING WHOLE BOOKS NOW?!? That is just laughable. There is no way a snippet of a book is better than learning to love reading a WHOLE BOOK and having a discussion about said book. Period. The End. No wonder we have kids that never crack a novel after high school. And what student do you know who doesn't count their end-of-year musical production as one of their best memories of the year? Even if your part was "head tree". lol.
The first day in my current district I was told TWICE in meetings at a district and at the school level; "YOU are the Professional. YOU pick and choose from the curriculum we give you according to the needs of your students." Awwww (sounds of sighing) I'm HOME! And I can do a musical production OR a Book Club. (breath in...breath out). I'm a happy camper again. And Steve Jobs lives here!
Montessori schools pioneered giving kids choices in their daily activities.
Okay my rant is over. But as you can tell, I feel rather strongly about this topic. I think schools are going to disinterest themselves out of a clientele before too many more years, because doing the same exact thing every day is boring. Especially in middle school which is a disaster for some kids. It's where we have the checking-out going on most. I talked to an assistant principal once when I had switched one of my sons to a new middle school because of dissatisfaction with the old one. He said "Middle Schools are broken, and nobody knows how to fix them."!! That was startling then, and still is now.
If I was a parent of today, especially of a middle or high schooler, I might look into Kahn Academy, and online K-12 public schools, where you can pick and choose from the curriculum. Especially if you can't find a creative school of the arts, or a STEM (Science, Technology and Math) magnet school, or whatever your child is most interested in. Remember, one great teacher is all you need to make a great year. Charter schools are just public schools with a creative twist.
I remember ALMOST sending my smartest (highest IQ) gifted kid to a public high school within a college campus. He met all the requirements and would have flourished there. I chickened out, thinking he'd miss out on social events like football games and prom. He never went to prom anyway. I made a mistake there because he was so bored in high school he sort of checked out. But hindsight is always 20/20. Don't let that happen to your kids if their school is not meeting their needs. There are things you can do.
Our whole family enjoyed a musical at Tuacahn a few summers ago together, grands and all. I love that place! |
But as the academic leader in my family, I had the responsibility to expose them to all sorts of things. They can get what is lacking in their school day that way. I think it makes for a happy camper, and a more fulfilling life, to have lots of activities that interest you. And hopefully their teachers can diversify and differentiate the curriculum for them, going higher if your child needs it. If your kids are always saying, "I'm bored", you need to get them taking a class in something. Get out the Parks and Recreation catalog and pick something, anything to start.
A family bike ride we went on for my hub's birthday. He loves cycling. So we all did it with him. All the kids and all their spouses and all the grands. |
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