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Welcome! This is a free newsletter on becoming a Response-Able Educator and developing Response-Able students.
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My mission is to inspire, encourage and uplift the spirits of educators so they can in turn inspire, encourage, and uplift the spirits of their students.
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"It is not our abilities that show us what we truly are. It is our choices."
----J. K. Rowling
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Did you hear about the ninth grader who said, "If somebody asked me what my, like, favorite class is, you know, I'd have to go, "Speech?'"
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As you struggle with this student today, ask yourself, "What have I forgotten?" and, "Is there something I am not remembering here?"
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Every day 399 children are arrested for drug abuse.
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Spotted on a Dodge Caravan in the Moore Hall parking lot at Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI:
"What if the hokey pokey is what it's all about?"
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"Creating an OUR CLASSROOM feeling takes an effort on the part of teachers to establish an environment, an attitude, and an atmosphere in which teacher and children experience unity and interrelatedness. It is a style of operating in which the teacher and students feel shared control, shared responsibility, and a shared sense of worth and belonging. It is a climate of caring, a laboratory for living and growing, and a time for experiencing the present."
If you enjoyed this quote, you will love the book "Our Classroom: We Can Learn Together." Call (toll-free) 877-360-1477 or email ipp57@aol.com to order your copy today.
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In the most recent issue of The Response-Able Educator Newsletter, I wrote about a discussion I had with my 15-year-old granddaughter Chelsea concerning the teaching of history. Her idea was that history is all fact with no room for opinion. I questioned that belief both with her personally and in my article.
In the week that followed, I received more responses to that article than to any other article I have ever previously written. Following are some of those responses:
"Is it that the current generation of high school students and some college students view history as fact-based only because our society has desensitized so many of us to actual events? We have so many fictional events thrown at us through television and video games and the like, that it devalues human life as it ought to be."
"History teachers do not teach opinions, observations, interpretations. Nor do they relate how different events are connected. This is one reason why history and social studies test scores are so low. School administrations think that all they need to do is teach the facts and the students will score well on the standardized tests. They couldn't be more wrong. In order for a student to truly understand and remember a fact, there needs to be something supporting it and surrounding it, namely an understanding of what happened, where it happened, why it happened, to whom it happened, and when it happened."
"I have found that there are a lot of teachers who are not very bright, which is not significant in itself except that they have never challenged what has been presented to them as fact because it's too much trouble to think about it. Many teachers who should be promoting questioning aren't smart enough to do it themselves."
"Facts are facts. How they are interpreted, of course, is full of opinion. As educators, we are taking a big risk when we 'interpret' history in a way that is different from the 'approved' text. If we're not allowed to teach values, then it's no surprise that opinions of historical events are also absent from the curriculum."
"I submit that history happened. Regardless of how you feel about it, it happened. History is the study of what happened in the past. It is only if you fully understand what happened and why it happened, without distorting the truth of what happened, that you can move on to why it happened. At 15 years old, a young person first needs to fully know the facts of what happened. A 15-year-old is not in a position to offer an opinion as to whether the act was just or not unless they know what happened and why and the full implications of the act."
"I see unquestioned obedience to facts in my college freshmen all the time. I have more difficulty inspiring healthy skepticism than anything else I do. Lack of critical listening and thinking skills leads to a blind faith that can be disastrous to democracy. I think our current brand of teaching in the public schools discourages original thought. I have been alarmed at the willingness of young people who are stepping out into the world to make choices like they have never done before to accept whatever they hear, as gospel-questioning is too hard."
"As long as teachers think that their job is to teach information and that they must impart answers to questions that exist somewhere within their control, our students will have difficulty thinking about more than memorizing facts. It is when we transform our understanding about teaching to an understanding of guiding another to learn that we can nurture our students to grow from memorizing to thinking."
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You know the staff development speaker bombed when . . .
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I recently heard a story about a beauty salon owner who prided herself in providing high-quality haircuts, perms, and stylings. She did excellent work, knew it, and charged accordingly.
A major challenge arose when a new enterprise opened across the street in a mini-mall. This low-budget firm placed a huge advertisement on a billboard out by the street. It said simply, "WE GIVE $7.00 HAIRCUTS."
Faced with the prospect of losing customers to the cut-rate enterprise, the beauty salon owner took action. She was confident of the service she provided, knowing it was high-quality work at a competitive price. She chose not to lower her price. Instead, she announced to the world what she thought of her business by creating her own advertisement. Placed directly across the street from her competition's billboard and designed using the same style and colors, her billboard announced, "WE FIX $7.00 HAIRCUTS."
Several times during the school year, I am called on by principals, staff developers, or curriculum coordinators to fix $7.00 haircuts.
"You've got to help me," pleaded a voice on the end of the telephone line recently. "My last inservice was a bomb. The teachers and superintendent won't let me forget it. The only way I can get past this is to provide something really good this time. Are you any good?"
This inquiry is not uncommon. I receive calls like this every year. Usually the call comes from someone who settled for a $7.00 haircut. Please don't settle when it comes to staff development. It's too important. Whether planning a five-day summer intensive, a back-to-school seminar, or a fall conference, GO FIRST CLASS. Hire a presenter or a trainer with a proven record.
Beware of inexpensive staff development. Presenters generally know what they are worth and charge accordingly. If you are not sure of their competence, ask for the names and phone numbers of their last three clients. (Don't ask for any three clients - they'll just give you their best three - be sure to ask for the last three.) Then check them out. In staff development, like anything else, you usually get what you pay for. If you do that and you're still unhappy, call me. I fix $7.00 haircuts.
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To find out more about books, tapes, and materials by Chick Moorman, contact him at (toll-free) 877-360-1477 or on the web at www.chickmoorman.com.
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comment to IPP57@aol.com
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To find out more about workshops, seminars, and keynote addresses presented by Chick Moorman contact him at toll free, 877/360-1477 or on the web at www.chickmoorman.com.
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Copyright 2003 Chick Moorman Seminars, all rights reserved. Share this with your circle.