Whooping Cough and Bears!

I was thinking back to the end of last school year when I was asking myself, “where has the summer gone!” and thought, what an interesting end to the school year we had in May!  I had shared a few of the things that were going on with some Facebook friends, when one of them referenced whooping cough and bears, wondering what else could happen.  Bouncing from one thing to the next, I had missed the obvious . . . I have my title for “my book!”  Every educator references “the book” they could write based on the incredible things that happen each day in their classroom or in the school.  I had vowed that I would write those things down, but haven’t taken the time to do so.  However, now I have a title . . . Whooping Cough and Bears.  I think that has a hook that will lead people to at least pick this book up and take a look!

Every teacher has a story to tell, and just when you think you have seen it all, you get a phone call at lunch telling you that we are on lock-down because of a bear in the area!  Yes, my immediate response was, “What!?!?!?!”  Needless to say, that situation worked itself out quite well, and I didn’t need to heed the request of one of my hunter-staff members to position himself on the roof with a rifle to protect us!  The whole whooping cough thing had some many stops and starts that people around the building had a glazed look in their eyes wondering whether we were ever going to be "cough free."

My memory has never been really good on things like this, but how can I forget the first day of school my first year at North Fayette when the tornado sirens went off and we were pulling kids off the practice field and out of the volleyball practice and putting them in shelter, only to have staff members standing outside watching the funnels pass near by!  What the heck!  I was thinking these “noreasters” have a little different perspective on tornados than we folks from the western part of the state!

We are fortunate from time to time to see the clips of Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby interviewing kids, who say the darndest things, but through our careers as teachers we often have some of those same experiences.  There have been instances when students ask questions that leave us with our jaws dropped and that look that says, “What.  Are.  You.  Talking.  About?”  Unfortunately, few of us bother to write those down. 

As I reflect a little bit on this, I am pretty sure that I am short on subject matter for a book.  I do recall the time when one of my students fell asleep in class and we successfully evacuated the room without waking him up, turned the clock on the wall ahead a couple of hours, turned off the light, and waited in the hallway for him to emerge, thinking he had slept through the end of the day.  That look of panic on his face when he burst from the room thinking it was 5:30 and he had missed most of basketball practice was priceless!  Boy, I wish I had written more of those things down!

A Lot of Trips to Washington, D.C.

A few weeks ago I spent two-and-a-half days in Washington, DC in my role as NASSP State Coordinator for Iowa.  I was trying to count up the number of trips I have made in this capacity while I was there, and I believe it was my eighth I also thought it was my last with my term ending at the end of the upcoming school year only to discover that my term does not end until June 30, 2013.  So, thinking it was my last trip and last chance to meet with principal colleagues from all over the country to lobby our elected officials on behalf of education, I was a bit melancholy, but at the same time ready for it to be over.  Kind of crazy that I would be ready to end trips to our nation’s capital, or at least that is what a few of my friends and family think!  Well, maybe.

I have found it ironic that as a former social studies teacher, and as a person with an aunt and uncle who have lived in the DC area for over 40 years, I had not been there until I was 42 years old, when I first went out there in 2004 to receive an award.  However, in the past eight years, I have made eight trips to the capital city.  While I haven’t seen everything I want to – it is a big city after all – I have seen a lot.  The city oozes America and when you spend time on the mall at the monuments and stroll through the government buildings and museums, you really get a sense of our nation’s history and what makes this country great.  And, I have seen some incredible things that do not appear in the travel guides, such as the gentleman that I sat next to on a bench waiting in line to tour the capital who spoke passionately about constitutional abuses by Congress, the protestor who has camped out across the street from the White House every day since the conflict in Vietnam, and all of the homeless people in Lafayette Park, just steps from the home of the most powerful man in the world.

After my experiences, I do not believe that any American should wait until they are 42 to visit this great city.  Perhaps rather than require high school juniors to take all of these tests, maybe our political leaders should require them to visit Washington, D.C.  Real-life experiences beat the heck out of reading a textbook anyway!  Another of my observations during my visits to lobby with elected officials on behalf of School Administrators of Iowa is that an army of young people between 20 and 30 years of age is actually running our country.  Sending all of the high school juniors out there for a week might actually be a heck of a learning experience.  Maybe if all of those old folks that have become professional politicians and seem stuck in partisan gridlock would have to answer to a city full of 16 and 17 year-olds about their future, something positive may happen!

In late February I will return for my ninth trip when NASSP holds its national convention, and then my final trip as state coordinator will take place most likely in late June.  Between those two trips I hope to check those final few landmarks off my list, and more importantly, I honestly hope that the political climate becomes one where our leaders can actually act in the best interests of you and me.  I cannot believe that “compromise” has become a four-letter word, but I can always hope that at some point, selfish, partisan politics will give way to the cooperation that those fellas intended over 200 years ago when they wrote the script for this great nation of ours.

When Do They Get to Live Their Own Life?

When I arrived at North Fayette I learned about a commitment the district had made to Love and Logic, sending all of the teaching staff through training and implementing the practices in the classroom and buildings.  I had heard about this program, and because of the commitment of the district, decided to attend training in Chicago to be better prepared to use the various strategies when working with students.  At that time I also signed up for their e-newsletter, which I receive every other week.  In a recent newsletter, the following letter from an employer and Love and Logic devotee was included:

Dear Mr. Fay,

I have been to many Love and Logic trainings and have been passing along the lessons for some time. I just wanted to share with you a personal story of something that happened today which just proves what you have been teaching all this time. I thought of you instantly. I will keep all details out to protect the business and the person involved.

 At a current place of business, which is a corporate/professional level, highly skilled type business, a young (meaning twenty-something) gentleman showed up for an interview today with his parents. Yes, they really did sit in on the interview. No, he did not really need them there.

 Apparently, they were to help with his nervousness and morale, and they wanted to help him with the discussion regarding salary.

 Now here is the very definition of helicopter parents that do not have a grasp of boundaries and have enabled their "baby."

 Needless to say, this particular candidate was not the one chosen.

 Hope this story may help you during some presentation to get the point across that we are crippling our youth.

 Sincerely,

Marlene, a loyal Love and Logic advocate

Those of you who read my blog and newsletter regularly will recognize the term “helicopter parent,” as I have written about this “phenomenon” a number of times over the past few years.  It seems like today we have one of two extremes.  Unfortunately we have too many parents that have basically tossed their children aside and have little or no interest in what they do.  They could care less about their performance at school and they never show up for conferences or events.  This is tough to deal with, but there is one positive in many of these situations: the child is resilient and learns to stand on their own feet.  At the other end are the parents that are described in the letter above.  Can you imagine accompanying your child to a job interview?  Who would ever think about doing this?  Well, obviously someone!  Don’t get me wrong, there are times when a parent needs to stand by their child and offer support.  I have been impressed recently with some parents that have stood by their child’s side as the young men came forward to confront a difficult situation.  They still put the burden on the child to “come clean” and take responsibility for their actions. 

There is a balance, and we need to get back to the balance.  What made the men and women who made up the “Greatest Generation” great was that even at a young age they stood up and answered the bell.  Think about it.  In the early 1940’s, 18-year old boys stepped up, volunteering in waves, to serve our country.  They found themselves in horrific circumstances and prevailed.  I do not see that in our young people today, and I am not saying that we have to send them off to war to prove it.  What I am saying is that we need to give them the chance to take responsibility for their decisions.  Steve Deace, a conservative talk show host, said the following on air one day when I caught part of his show driving down the interstate: “Students need to experience disappointment.  It is part of life.  They need to learn to overcome adversity.  It is part of life.”  Unfortunately, helicopter parents are not allowing them to experience these very important life lessons.

The End is Near

I can’t remember an end to a school year that has moved so fast.  At the end of every year, there is a lot to do as far as getting things finished up before that last day.  In my seat, there are a lot of reports that have to be completed and other deadlines that have to be met because various agencies and departments we work with “close shop” this time of the year.  We do not have much of a luxury to put some of these things off until the students are gone for the summer.  There are other things that need to be done because many employees finish up a day or two after the students and are not around until they need to report in August.  What is troublesome for me is that at a time of the year when I really want to be out and about among the students, it is quite difficult. 

Compounding things quite a bit this year was the Pertussis outbreak that we had.  Every day we faced decisions relative to what we were going to do to hopefully contain it.  The stress on some folks around here was immense as we were hosting some major events and our students were also involved in activities that were at a critical point in the season.  There were many frustrations, but in the end, we got through it.  However, because of some of the steps we did take, things piled up even more at the end of the year.  For example, we had activities in the PAC four out of the five nights this week.  It’s great that it is being used, but we had a number of folks that were there all four nights!  That plays a little number on your mind when you are looking forward to the school year ending, you are tired, and yet you know that you must keep moving ahead.  My hat is off to those folks that dealt with so much unpredictability and demonstrated tremendous flexibility and patience.  In particular, the entire music staff – Doug Poppen, Ted Schacherer, Linda Johansen, and Leslie Poppen – were incredible.  And, I would be remiss if I did not mention how vitally important our school nurse, Trudy Campbell was in all of this.  Last and by far not least, the high school teachers and coaches were amazing.  Coaches had to deal with last minute lineup changes because they may find out an hour before a meet that a student could not be there.  Every day, teachers saw new empty seats, yet continued to do their job and at the same time help those kids that missed catch up.

Good luck to the graduating seniors.  I am confident that this particular group will do great things.  This is a group of tremendous potential and I look forward to learning about what they accomplish in life.  Goodbye to Mary Straate, who has impacted the lives of hundreds of North Fayette students.  Also to Trudy Campbell who is retiring as well.  And to Tammi Aldrich, who is moving on to a new job in Dunkerton.  All of you will be missed.

My hope is that everyone has a fun and relaxing summer, and I look forward to seeing students in the halls come this August!

What is Good Enough?

A few years ago I ran across a document that I have used in a number of different situations when discussing expectations and quality work.  The data is a little old, but what I have read on web sites is that many of the numbers would actually be higher.  However, the point is made when one looks at accuracy and excellence.

Over the years there have been numerous arguments regarding grading.  Issues like grade inflation different types of scales have been debated at length.  Teachers have often struggled with defining grades and quality standards.  There is no question in my mind that significant changes need to be made in the way we grade, and in fact, that is happening in a number of places.  However, that is a discussion for another day.

One aspect of the conversation is the issue of quality.  I hear teachers, parents, students and others make the comment “he just wants to pass” or “she is satisfied with getting by.”  I have students tell me “it’s good enough.”  I don’t understand the philosophy, but I also don’t understand why anyone would shoot any lower than the absolute best they can do.  This takes me to the data.  To introduce it, I will suggest that on a 100-point scale, a grade of A should be given for 99% and above.  Hey!  That’s too high, isn’t it?  Well, that actually may be a little low.  Why?  Let’s take a look.

If society, bosses, institutions, or whoever is in power is satisfied with 99% accuracy, then:

·      12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.

·      114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped each year

·      18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled each hour of each day

·      2.5 million books will be shipped with the wrong covers

·      103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly this year.

·      Two plane landings daily at O'Hare International Airport will be unsafe.

·      291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly this year.

·      880,000 credit cards in circulation will turn out to have incorrect cardholder information on their magnetic strips.

·      55 malfunctioning automatic teller machines will be installed in the next 12 months.

·      20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the next 12 months.

·      114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped this year.

·      107 incorrect medical procedures will be performed each day.

·      315 entries in Webster's Third New International Dictionary of English Language will be misspelled.

·      Every minute 1,314 telephone calls would be misdirected by telecommunication services.

·      22,000 checks would be deducted from the wrong bank account in the next 60 minutes.

·      12 newborn babies would be dropped on delivery each day.

·      Southwest Airlines would have 702 planes crash annually.

·      32,000 missed heartbeats per person per year.

·      268,500 defective tires would be shipped this year.

·      2,000,000 documents would be lost this year by the IRS.

So, when we look at expectations and set standards, where should the bar be set?  If we settle for anything less than the best, is that acceptable?  Certainly the words “I can’t” need to be removed from our language, but what can we expect from students who are stretched by taking eight classes and involved in a multitude of different activities?  By the same token, is that a good thing?  In education circles, the focus is on depth not breadth, with an emphasis on quality of learning over quantity.  At one time, Made in America was the best one could get.  If we are going to sustain our place in the world economy, that bar needs to be raised.