Author: Bret Olson

Living Life-Lessons to the Fullest

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Wow, I love that we just got back from a break and next week we’re already back off again!!  This is perhaps, other than summer, the best time of year…and…full of the most learning for our students!  I know, I know, they aren’t sitting in your classrooms but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still learning.  I don’t think I have to tell any of you where I am going with this but I will any way 🙂  Life lessons, travel, getting out into the world and experiencing all sorts of awesomeness!!

Our students have some of the coolest lives possible; the stories I heard from their winter breaks alone are incredible.  Sixth graders bungee jumping, scuba diving in exotic locations, traveling to new countries, and even the kids who stayed in Shanghai have great stories of the fun they had.  I know a lot of us are great about documenting and reflecting on our experiences, whether in a blog, on Facebook, or an old-fashioned journal.  However, what about our students?  What do they do to record these life-lessons, these experiences that will shape their lives?  I’m asking you today to simply encourage your students to record their awesome experiences.  When we return from break on February 10th we have a Dragon Time dedicated to e-Portfolios but as you know there won’t be much to do during that time…so, please have your kids create a new tab/page/link/section of their portfolio for journaling and recording their experiences.  They don’t have to travel to far away places to journal their lives, nor do they have to talk about what happened just recently but they should have a place to document their lives and what better place than on their ePortfolio?!?  Please help your students begin to record these experiences, after all they are waaaay more valuable than just two cents 🙂

Also, check out this page “Living Life to the Fullest” it has 30 ways to do just that and #1 is “Act Like a Kid!!”

Teaching Students to be Proud of Themselves

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As report cards go out and students see their marks for classes I worry a lot that students and parents (and perhaps us sometimes) put too much value into the grades on those papers.  I don’t think these kids really believe that the only reason they did all that work was to get one number printed out about them at the end of the semester.  However, at this time of year it certainly seems that way.  What are kids (and/or their  parents) so proud or disappointed about when they look at those reports?  Is it the number grade or is it the realization of how much they learned throughout the semester?  And what’s our role in that perception?  When students are assigned work, what message are we sending about the value of the work…is it about the learning or getting a good grade?  When kids have missing work…what do we threaten, lower grades or loss of learning opportunity?  We should think carefully about the message we are sending to our students.  We all want them to value what it is we are teaching but what incentive are we giving them?  Likewise, when they have done well how are we praising them?  When I was first starting out as a teacher I came across a way of speaking to my students (I can’t remember if I read it, heard it, or was told) and I’ve tried to internalize one phrase ever since, “You should be proud of yourself!”  Check out this article about helping students feel proud about themselves.  Our students need to learn that school is about the learning and that they should be proud of themselves for all the hard work they put into that learning!!  Enjoy your holidays, you all deserve it…but hey, that’s just my two cents 😉

The Homework Monster

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As the semester comes to a close and my, what the students are calling ‘naughty list’ (my list of students with missing work) grows, I’ve been thinking a lot about the work being assigned to our students.  For the most part I don’t chase kids for day-to-day homework assignments; in fact, almost all of what I am after is higher-stakes work such as projects, labs, or missing quizzes.  However, as I scan through the Power School/Grade Book I have begun to notice an overwhelming amount of missing ‘homework’ assignments…which has made me wonder, “Why are kids not completing their homework?”  I think the answer lies in two areas:  First of all, it seems that kids don’t understand the intended function of homework as practice.  Rick Wormeli, a name we’re familiar with at this point, goes so far in his classroom as to call homework “practice” and refers to it as such instead of using the word “homework.”  However, this isn’t just about what you call it; rather it is also about how you use it, is it valuable or is it busy work?  The second reason is, I believe, that our students begin to think that their teachers don’t value the work and therefore why should they?!?!  Check out this blog post…it is from a charter school I used to work for and is written by a friend and former colleague of mine, I think it speaks to this second point very well.  Finally, I’d like to hear your thoughts on these two ideas, especially as we start the second semester…I’m working to develop a plan for a number of our less organized students and your two cents will go a long way!

Thank you! Thank You!!

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Thank you! Thank you to all of you for all of the hard work and time that you dedicate to helping our students to be successful. I know that the countless extra hours you put into planning, grading, re-teaching, re-assessing, and everything else often goes unappreciated. The kids see it as annoying and bothersome, parents rarely communicate unless it is to complain, and too rarely do you hear the words “thank you!” As it turns out, not only is this unfair to you but it is unhealthy for those kids, parents, and well…everyone. According to an awesome article I read recently on Nautil.us “Since the year 2000, psychological research has tied gratitude to a host of benefits: the tendency to feel more hopeful and optimistic about one’s own future, better coping mechanisms for dealing with adversity and stress, less instances of depression and addiction, exercising more, and even sleeping better. ” So perhaps all those good feelings around the dinner table at Thanksgiving come from more than just full bellies and empty bottles of wine J The research also shows that all of this gratitude can come back around and benefit us too, “Gratitude is a sign of moral behavior and a motivator of others to behave morally towards us. Saying thanks often and loudly enough for others to hear thus translates into tangible rewards.” Again, thank you for all that you do!! On behalf of me and all of your students who may not say it…you’re appreciated!! I think this article is spot on, saying thank you feels good and it is certainly nice to hear as well…give it a try!!! Let me know how it goes, after all these are just my two cents!!

Nautil.us article

Teachers as Role Models

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Middle School is perhaps the most stressful time of a person’s life (at least until high school, ha!)…they are growing, changing, and trying to figure out who they are as people all while they are under constant pressure from their peers to “fit in”. How can they fit in when not one of them even knows who they are themselves?!? It blows my mind to think back to my middle school years and think that I even made it out alive, let alone somewhat normal 🙂 Which brings me to us, the teachers, the leaders at school, where do we fit into this messy and chaotic existence? I would suggest that it’s part of our responsibility to be role models and positive examples for these kids. They watch our every move, they mimic our language, they critique us, and they take countless unspoken lessons away from each and every interaction. Whether you know it or not our kids are paying attention, even if it seems like they’re not, they are! I’ll never forget the day (during my first year as a teacher) that I set my kids to the task of creating an acting scene to show their knowledge of vocabulary words…One brave group included a character called Mr. Olson…and boy was I surprised by the way they viewed me, some flattering, some indifferent, and plenty of humbling impersonations!! My point is that the kids have eyes and they’re always watching…what are we showing them, both intentionally and unintentionally? Are we reading during SSR and modeling? Do we have typos or grammatical errors on handouts or assignments? Do we speak with respect to students and/or other teachers? Overall, it goes without saying, we are amazing people and we are extremely good role models for our children but I also think that sometimes we let our guard down and we let the cracks show…and our kids don’t miss a beat!! What do you think I’d love to hear your thoughts? Enjoy my two cents and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

A couple takes: Teachers as role models blog and an awesome tip for parents that is worth reading for everyone!!

How we Teach the “Unteachable” Things

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I read an interesting article today and I think, as an educator, I was offended. The author talked about all of these “unteachable” lessons that we some how learn in life and implied that these were things he never learned in school but some how still learned. Well, maybe HE didn’t learn them in school but I would suggest that our kids ARE learning them…or at least learning the tools to develop the necessary skills. Okay, this seems out of context, have a look at the article for some reference. He sites six different examples and I would like to point out (for his benefit, of course you already see this!) how our students are learning, IN SCHOOL, the necessary skills to achieve these lessons. “Get involved”…it’s not clear what he exactly means; but our kids are involved in project-based learning, interactive projects, community service, house activities, etc. “Talk to people…” We teach our kids to work with their peers, people from different cultures, overcome language barriers, and we explicitly teach relationships and conversation skills in advisory. “Try new things and be bold” Ugh, I’m getting frustrated just thinking about it…our kids are asked to take risks daily, not to mention things like China Trips; plus they even have a risk taking goal that they are working toward! Okay, I’m going to leave it at that. Maybe I shouldn’t be frustrated by this guy’s view of it, perhaps I should feel sorry for him that he wasn’t fortunate enough to learn these things in school! Am I too proud of the work we’re doing, am I missing something? Of course there are things that we can’t ‘teach’ but his examples certainly didn’t convince me…Have a look at the article and let me know what you think; these are really just my two cents!!

Also published in SCIS MS Headlines on November 22, 2013.

Bret’s $.02

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Starting in August of 2013 I began writing a small piece for our weekly staff notes called “Headlines”. The not-so-clever name for this section became “Bret’s Two Cents” as it wasn’t a long write-up but rather some brief thoughts usually tied to a professional reading or video. These writings are my first foray into regular professional writing. At first I went looking for something to write about but that quickly changed as I began to delve more and more into different topics. The more I read the harder it becomes for me to choose just one topic to write about each week! I will post my $.02 writings on this blog and categorize them accordingly, along with the related resources…enjoy, and I’d love to hear your two cents worth of feedback 🙂

Working Out the ‘Tween Brain in the Classroom

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I’ve recently become active on Twitter and in so doing I’ve opened myself up to a whole new set of professional options to read, the best part is that I get the summaries in 140 characters or less 🙂 Recently I followed an interesting link regarding the ‘Tween Brain and how it works. What I found was a very interesting three piece blog post from author Heather Wolpert-Gawron. To be fair, she is working to sell a book about this topic but her research is very interesting! In her first post she works to convince the reader about the importance of understanding the ‘Tween Brain (kids in Middle School fall squarely in this category.) The second post clears up some of the technical vocabulary involved, my favorite definition is a good reminder for us all: “Dopamine: When a person feels pleasure, success, pride, dopamine is released into the brain and acts as a lubricant of sorts, increasing attention, motivation, and memory.” When you read that, what does it make you think about in regard to your classroom? The third post is the one I am going to link you to today, it is awesome! There are “8 Tips to Teaching Brain-Centric Activities” and they are fantastic…take a look and let me know what you think, are you using any of these? How do they work? If not, give them a shot and let me know how it goes…I’d love to hear your two cents 🙂

Heather Wolpert-Gawron’s 8 Tips to Teaching Brain-Centric Activities

Originally published in SCIS MS Headlines November 15, 2013.

Real Tips for Educators

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Last week I was fortunate enough to go to the EARCOS Leadership Conference (for those on Twitter, #elc13bkk, there’s some good stuff there!) I met Rick Wormeli who you may remember from the assessment and homework videos we watched earlier in the year. I held up my promise to you, I called him out (privately!) and asked his rationale for allowing homework to count in his class at all (he claims it counts about 1.7%) His response was honest…basically, he admitted that the pressure in his school district from parents and admin to count homework is strong and that he included it ONLY because of that fact. He encouraged me strongly to not count homework when assessing a student if at all possible and even offered to participate in a Google Hangout if we wanted to chat with him more as a staff…so that is on the table for the future if people are interested. I’ll write and share more about the ELC in the near future but for today I want to share a great article written by another great education mind, Alfie Kohn. One of the pleas I hear often from teachers, and one that I used to make myself, is “Just tell me what I can do!” Well I can’t do that but in this article Alfie Kohn outlines 12 core principles that are essential to success in the classroom. As I read through these I connected more to some than others but the three that hit me the most were numbers 5, 6, and 9. I especially like number 9 as it speaks directly toward the motivation piece that we so often struggle with in middle school. Have a look and let me know what you think…thanks for listening to my two cents (more like 3 or 4 cents this week!)

Rick Wormeli homework video

Alfie Kohn Article Link

Originally published in SCIS MS Headlines on November 8, 2013.

What Gets Parents Involved?

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Conferences this week were a huge success and all the parents were very pleased with their interactions with you. Of course, this isn’t a surprise to anyone! However, at the end of the two days I was a bit frustrated. You see, I had more parent interactions regarding student progress in those two days than I have had all year long; that was frustrating. I was a bit bewildered because it seemed that parents only bothered to come talk to me because they were already here; it felt like they only cared enough to talk about their kids when it was convenient for them. Anyway, it got me thinking about why our parent community, as a whole, isn’t more engaged in their children’s learning. It sent me searching and I turned up a good article outlining three things that lead to parent involvement. I believe that our overall culture is very inviting for parents and I know that you as teachers are most definitely inviting parents to participate in their children’s learning…that leaves the students. Are our students leaving their parents out of the loop? Is there something that we can to do help them bring their parents into the conversations about school? Or perhaps, I’m over looking something else…I’d love to hear your thoughts, after all, these are just my two cents 🙂

This article summary is from the Marshall Memo, an amazing professional resource!!

Originally published in SCSI MS Headlines on October 25, 2013.