Single Smile

I like to stand out in the hallway, right outside my door between classes at the middle school in which I teach.  Although I have a ton of students, 171 to be exact, it gives me the opportunity to connect with those students that are not in any of my classes.  Each day, students go by me and we make eye contact, say hello, give each other high-fives or fist-bumps.

I know what it does for me- it brightens my day and makes me feel connected to humans. It makes me feel like I matter.  It also allows me to know that kids are okay.

Today.

I had a student come by with her head down.  I do not have this kid in any of my classes and I have no idea what her name is.  I said hi to her.  Nothing.  I told her to have a nice day.  Nothing.  I asked her if she was okay.  Nothing.

I went back to my class and taught my students for 44-minutes.  I noticed that reaction, or lack of a reaction from the girl was bothering me.  I made up my mind to see if I notice her in the hall again between the next classes and ask her if in fact, she was really okay.

After class, I went in the hall and due to some issues at the end of my class, I had temporarily forgotten the girl and my plan.  As I was standing saying hi to passing students, the girl appeared in front of me.  Still looking down.  I asked her, "are you okay?"

She look up to me with tears in her eyes and said, "I just found out we might have to move".

She stayed for a few minutes and told me the story.  She also introduced herself and I found out her name.

We need to remember that even a single smile to a student can have an impact.  They don't have to be our kids.  We don't have to know them. We just have to care. We just need to see the importance of the connection.  Sometimes, we are the student's only connection.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

Being human

I had a new student start in my class today.  He just moved into the district and lived in another, more prominent area before moving.  Due to many changes in schedules, the front office was unable to warn me about having a new student and thus, did not give me any information about him.

This class had 35 students, and now has 36.  The new student, I will call him Tom, begins the class by interrupting the class by explaining, in lecture form, how smart he is to the class.  I thought, okay…he is obviously outgoing and I look forward to having a student with higher academic abilities in the class as many of them struggle.

As my 7^th grade class continued, Tom spills out a load of small toys from his backpack.  I find this interesting, so I go and ask him to put them away as we have learning to do. Tom then stands up, and goes to the front of the class and says,

“I have to play with my toys.  My toys are my fidgets. I am an IEP with ED, LD, ODD, OCD, and of course, ADHD”.

He then goes back to his seat, faces the back of the room, and plays with his pile of toys.

Usually, I would have been informed about a student with these types of needs.  This however, is NOT my issue.

My real issue is that he has learned to identify himself as a series of letter. He is not a student, a capable student, but a string of letters. There is only one way that a 12-year old gets to the point that they identify themselves as a string of letters, that in their eyes represents what it wrong with them...they have learned that this is who they are. They have been told this, or at least have heard this enough, from adults.  My guess, they were adults that he expected to trust.

How can we allow this to happen?

How can we ever, in the world of education or working with kids, allow ourselves to distance our connection enough from kids that we describe them as letters. Letters of what the student can't do instead of what strengths they possess. 

I want to take Tom and teach him that he is so much more.

He is Tom.  He is worthy of a name.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy

@LevineWrites

Teaching the Tough

Ever since becoming a teacher, I have found myself asking for students that struggle with other teachers and authority figures.  It maybe because in another life, as a past career, I was a child psychotherapist that worked with the most troubled kids including gang members...or, I just really like a challenge.

I find that these students all tend to share one thing in common- they are missing something in their lives.  They are missing parents, a home, love, a sense of belonging, a sense of success, confidence, self-esteem, friends, and the list goes on.  Something is missing.

Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what they are needing from their teacher.  Although, I have found that many of my peers have kept their distance and went to some extreme measures to keep these students out of their classrooms.  As a middle school teacher, teaching in Teams...so to speak, I have made my share of enemies by requesting the type of student that I am talking about to be in my class.  If they were in my class, they would have to be in the classes of the rest of the team.

So...I eat my lunch in my classroom and don't spend time in the teacher's lounge anymore.

What it the answer then?

Care.

Care enough to work with the student and figure out what is missing.  Often, the student doesn't even know-yet.

But if this is our focus and we meet the student with a level of empathy and compassion, not sympathy... If we treat the student as a human with feelings and not as a pile of behaviors... If we try to help our students to get on the path to replace what is missing within them...

We might just help a student find their academic self-esteem enough to let go of the anger and hurt.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

For the Short Term

I recently had a lengthy conversation with an administrator that believed that critical thinking is the only thinking to be fostered in our students.  He went on the express his belief that there is no room in education, nor is it necessary to work with the use or practice of short-term memory (ie: Memorizing of materials).

As a history teacher, I have to admit, when I started teaching, and looking back at my personal experiences, there was a time that all learning felt like it was memorization.  As I became more mature as a teacher and understood learning better, critical thinking was obviously a next step for students as they reach their abstract abilities.

I  am working on a unit where some basic memorization is essential for my students and they are struggling with it.  They are wonderful and deep thinking and making connections and inferences with materials, both primary and secondary.  Ask them to memorize something, and they struggle!

These are the issues that I have recently run into.

* Students have a hard time organizing their memories.

* Students have difficulty studying for memory.

* Students need to tie what they are memorizing to stories.

* Students have difficulty in confidence in their recall.

*  Students have real difficulties with the memorization of numbers.

Interesting note: These students do not have to memorize their times-tables.

So...

I find this interesting.

Do I pursue it?  Do I simply appreciate their strengths in higher order thinking and use of higher level DOKs?

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

Skipping the Grade

I have been reading and reflecting on many articles about students doing work in class or for class without a grade lately.  I am a strong advocate for teaching students that there is value in learning and growing and the work that you do in the process should not have a "price" on it to be done.  In other words, I don't think students should need to be bribed and/or threatened with grades to get them to do work of substance and growth.

I personally experienced, as a student a long time ago, a grading system that rewarded compliance as much as it did achievement.  As we move away from achievement and towards a model of growth, I think it is very important to build life lessons of practice.  Practice is how we get to where we are going, to get our goals.  We practice to get better at something.  We practice for the big game or the band concert. The "work" is the practice.  It is the forming or formative work that brings us to our goals.  I am not sure that this type of work needs a grade.

Certainly, to promote growth, this work needs feedback. It desires coaching.  I requires some sort of guidance towards getting better or mastery.

The problem?

Changing the mindset.  For students AND parents!

Grades need to take on a different meaning. As a middle school teacher, I find this is the place to start this transition. Grades should be for the results of the practice. The game, the concert, the test, the final showing of mastery.

As I work though this, I will include my students' reflections in my considerations.  This will take conversations about change.

This will require trust.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

Noticing the Need

I have long been a

strict believer that students do not learn if they are not connected to their teacher and learning environment.  Students that do not feel good about their learning situation are distracted while students that feel comfortable feel free to be themselves.  There isn't a distractive awareness lingering over them as they try to focus in comfortable settings.  Students that feel confident that their teachers like and care for them can let go of fears and be at their best, unimpeded and ready for learning.

Many of us take this idea very seriously and are very reflective and aware that we are bringing our best selves to the classroom for our students. Most of us are caring by nature as that is simply who we are and why we are teachers of children.  We want all of our kids to be happy, successful, and feel excited to the best them possible.

I have been thinking of 8 students out of my 171 total students in the past week.  They struggle.  They struggle academically. They are disconnected with most of their peers.  They are noticeable to anyone that might come into my classroom when they are in class.  They are disengaged with learning, almost as if it was an allergy- as if they were allergic to learning and growing.  There are times that they seem to try, but little works for them.  They are constantly frustrating their teachers and in the end, they present themselves as behavioral problems and distractions to the classroom environment.

These kids are stuck.

We, their teachers, are also stuck.

I have to wonder, are they stuck because of us?

Have they had that many bad learning experiences that they have checked out and can't find their way back to the learning?  Has it been that long for them by 7th grade that they are so far behind their confidence is also lost?

Regardless of the why or the how...these are the students that need us the most.  The need the connections. These connections are frustrating to attempt for all involved. We have so many other students and obligations that there is only so much time that we can devote to them. We get frustrated that we are not reaching these kids and often give up early.  These kids expect to be given up on.

We cannot continue this cycle for these kids.

I am going to stay with these kids for as long as it takes. They deserve it.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites

From the Past

I had the great fortune of running into two students from the past today.  I had them in my middle school social studies classes over a decade ago.

Both of them were very nice and made similar comments about missing me and my class.  They also, both explained that my class...or I, made an impact on their lives.  They explained that I treated them like people, not like "stupid kids" even though they were not great students academically.  They went on reminiscing about how I cared about my kids- all of them.

I asked them how they knew I cared.

They were both eager to explain to me that it was the ways in which I knew them as individuals and paid attention to the details of their lives.  That I knew what was important to each student and how I noticed right away if a student wasn't okay.  One went on to say that my students felt "loved" my me in a way that their parents didn't always show them.

After I shed some tears and thanked them, I walked away and reflected.

I reflected on my students today.  I wondered if all of my students from 14 years ago until today also felt similarly.  I certainly hope that my current students feel somewhat this way.

As I go back to school this coming Monday, after break, I will be curious to know if I still have that ability, to make my students feel as I did so long ago.

My fears-

What if I don't?

What if I now try to push myself to be this way and I am not this way authentically?

I am a very real person, I don't want my students to see right through me.

I guess me answer to this issue is simply to be mindful. To just be aware of myself and my students. To authentically be who I am. To be the best me.

Thanks for joining me.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy

@LevineWrites