Joel arrived home with his meat balls in a metal container, explaining that it wasn't the taste so much as the teasing that led him to shut the case and eat less for lunch.  Christy had assumed that Joel would enjoy something different; that at a younger age, different might be better or simply different.   And so, in first grade, we are already dealing with the dilemma of social conformity, social acceptance and finding one's voice.

It's a mess mystery that we haven't figured out.  Yet, it's only one of many paradoxes we experience:

• Stay safe but stay free
• Experience socialization while being a non-conformist
• Love as an act of both justice and mercy
• Developing convictions while understanding that morality is often contextual
• Guiding our children while also letting them be themselves
• Figuring out when motivation needs to be more push or more pull
• Learning to be both independent and interdependent
• When I lost all this free time, time itself became an act of liberation

I'm sure there are others.  Often, I miss the paradox until I find myself arguing a point too boldly or acting too much like an expert.  I step back and realize that I've lost my balance and I recognize that truth, especially profound, relational truth, often exists in paradox. 

So it has me thinking that if parenting itself is a paradox and our nation of childhood is mired in mystery, maybe we need to take a step back before making bold claims about what works for children.  I'm sure Alfie Kohn and John Holt and Robert Marzano and several other rockstars of various edu-streams each have something valuable to say about learning.  However, I never want to be fooled into thinking that there are experts out there who have it all figured out.

*     *     *

If you're interested, I just released A Sustainable Start: A Realistic Look at the First Year of Teaching.

 

I'd love your feedback:
Is this true?
What does this mean for a classroom teacher?

Also, if you're interested, I just released A Sustainable Start: A Realistic Look at the First Year of Teaching.

 

August 21
Education Rethink: From Homework to Home Learning

August 22
Education Rethink: Educational Dystopia -- It Can Happen Anywhere
Pedagogy of Jesus: John's Disciples (Part Two)

August 23
Education Rethink: iPods and Vocabulary
TeachPaperless: A Paperless Math Activity
Cooperative Catalyst: It Isn't Binary

August 25
Education Rethink: Note to Self
Pedagogy of Jesus: John's Disciples (Part Three) - Five Lessons 

August 26
Education Rethink: Social Media: Place or Tool
Teacher-Dad: Pixar Paradox

August 27
Education Rethink: A Sustainable Start Is Finally Here!
Education Rethink: Dad, We Spent the First Week Taking Tests

 

Note: This isn't meant to be a slam on Google.  I'm kind-of a Google Fanboy.  It's satire taking aim at privatizing schools.  I thought about using Microsoft, but it would have been way too easy.

Q: Why do we need to privatize our families?
A: Research has shown that millions of kids are being left behind.  Abuse and neglect is so rampant that we have government agents designed to deal with this abuse and send kids to, get this, new homes.  That's why we need Google to step in.

Q: So, shouldn't we fight to save families?
A: Families are the disease and not the cure.  And parents are to blame.  And why is this the case?  Because we're human.  We're imperfect.  But you know what's not? Algorithms.  Algorithms always work.

Q: Isn't the family a sacred social institution?  Isn't it necessary for our survival as a nation?
A: Look, the nuclear family is an outdated model.  It's a throwback to the industrial revolution.  Before that we had clans.  Whole extended families lived together.  Do you really want that?  That's why we have Thanksgiving.  It's a reminder to be thankful that you don't have to spend any more time with your aunts and uncles than once or twice a year.

Q: Some critics have pointed to the mistake of selling families to Microsoft.  Why will Google be any different?
A: Look, we know that Microsoft had their own issues.  Homes were left with broken windows.  Minivans were crashing unexpectedly.  But we're not Microsoft.  Back then, parents had to pay for an organizational system of folders.  Most just cluttered up their desktops.  Our system is based upon fool-proof algorithms.

Q: Can you describe the system in-depth?
A: Google plans to send out an Android to every parent.  Our family has one.  His name is Tim.  Great guy, really.  He plays catch with the kiddos while I relax and watch the ball game.  Over time, he has become more personalized, offering options that fit our family's desires.  Who knew that my daughter enjoyed painting?  I didn't.  Like most American fathers, I was too busy to find out.  But our android, Tim asked her and actually searched for a series of paint brushes.

Q: How does the android handle misbehavior?
A: Like most family reformers, we know it needs to mirror the business world.  So, we start with a system of punishments and rewards.  Children earn credits before they can eat a meal, take a bath or . . .

Q: But Google uses autonomy, creativity and meaning to motivate their own workers.  Why not try that approach?
A: We want things to mirror the business world, but not necessarily our business world.  Look, the world runs on economic norms.  Might as well train kids early that there are no free meals in this world and that things like water and a place to sleep are privileges and not human rights.

Q: What's the business model? How does Google profit from this?
A: Each Android is abel to mine the family for data.  Then, through a series of product-placement and conversational decisions, companies pay to advertise in a home.  You know, we had these crappy Monet paintings in our home.  They were dull and pastel.  Tim has replaced them with gorgeous paintings of old Coke bottles.  So, really, even the advertisements can be a work of beauty.

Q: Some would say that Google doesn't have the experience in parenting.  What's your response to this?
A: The average parent doesn't have experience in parenting, either.  However, unlike parents, the Android system has already been tested in 40 different markets.  The algorithms improve.  So, really, your android is a much more experienced parent than any parent around.  We don't make human decisions.  We make data-driven decisions.

 

I asked Joel what he thought of school and he said, "I love it.  We get to play.  We get to learn math.  I'm practicing reading real books."

"What do you mean real books?"

"It's like school finally started.  We spent all of last week taking tests."

"Crazy," I tell him.

"Yeah.  And they even test you on how fast you read instead of how good you are at reading," he shakes his head.

I shake my head with him.

*     *     *

Hey, check out A Sustainable Start: A Realistic Look at the First Year of Teaching.

 

$8.99 on Kindle

$18.00 on Amazon.com

The Journey
I was a new teacher, worried about the practical matters. How would I align the desks? How should I set up my rules? What procedures did I need? How would I do the bulletin boards? I wanted something practical. So, I sought out books geared toward first year teachers. I highlighted the texts. I wrote in the margins. I made lists. Then I made lists of lists. I felt comfortable going into the first day, because I had been so prepared.

Then I taught for a few weeks and I realized that I wasn’t prepared. I quickly realized that what I wanted to know wasn’t what I needed to know. I needed to learn how to lead rather than manage students. I needed a sense of paradox and nuance. I needed to build a better classroom community.

This book is a result of my journey. It’s the kind of new teacher book that I wish I had read before my first year. It may not be practical for everyone. However, I have a hunch there are others out there who will find themselves in tears during the first year of teaching. After reading so much about the first week of school, they question what it means to last for the next twenty-five years. This book is for the teachers who are saying, “I want to make it, but I’m wondering if I will.”

Description
Instead of providing a list of rules, formulas and steps that new teachers need to follow, the author tells stories, makes observations and provides practical advice. In a style that is both deep and conversational, the author provides insights often neglected in books aimed for new teachers, including the role of shame in teacher ide¬¬ntity, the use of professional learning networks for professional growth, the need for paradox, increasing a sense of awareness, the need for humility in classroom leadership and how to build a better relationship with students. The result is a book that is practical, philosophical and personal. It also includes a New Teacher Toolkit with 45 resources for teachers entering the classroom for the first time.


A Different Kind of New Teacher Book
I know that there are a ton of new teacher books out there, but there are a few things that make this one different (though not necessarily better):

• A different focus: Looking back, I thought I needed help with bulletin boards and teaching strategies. What I really needed was a hard look at discipline, shame, my mindset and my sens of awareness in the classroom. I cover a few themes that don't seem to be covered in most new teacher books.
• A different philosophy: Many of the new teacher books rely on a behaviorist, corporate management philosophy. This book is for those who yearn for student-centered, authentic learning with a healthy dose of realism mixed in.
• A different style: I use a more personal, narrative style of writing than many of the books written for new teachers. I write about my classroom experiences alongside stories from fatherhood and childhood. While I still offer some practical advice, I'm honest about my mistake and what people can learn from them.

Features:
This book is different than other books that I've written in that it's deliberately practical.  It is 8"x10" and written in a workbook style.  Here are a few features:

• Reflective journal for each chapter
• Specific, practical advice alongside stories and observations
• A New Teacher's Toolkit with forty-five resources that I've created

 

 

Note to Self:

It's not chaos.  It's not "controlled chaos."  It's natural.  It's necessary.  It took you way too long to figure out and you'll never completely let it go.  But you're hunch is more than a hunch.  It's a reality.  You can't have mental freedom if there isn't a chance for physical freedom.   The standing centers were a good start.  The hands-on projects and movement-styled debates were a good follow-up.  But maybe it's time to let it go entirely.  Movement is a good thing.

Sincerely,
John

 

Yep, it's Techno Tuesday, which means I go practical (far different from my last post, a podcast about why every system is broken). The following is a vocabulary exercise that worked well for me:

Apps Used:
Camera
Comic Touch Lite

Beginner: Vocabulary Slideshow
Students create a vocabulary slideshow using Comic Touch Lite.
Step One: Students draw a picture for each word.
Step Two: Students take a picture of each picture using the Camera app on the iPods.
Step Three: Students add each picture to Comic Touch Lite. (They import from the library)
Step Four: Students add one caption for the word and another caption for a definition in their own words.
Step Five: Students add a thought bubble, exclamation or dialogue box. This can be a great chance to use the word in a different verb tense ("It was scattered" versus "I am scattering these papers.") and thus practice using the verb tenses and following the rules of grammar.

Advanced: Multimedia Comic Book
Students draw the pictures and then develop their own multimedia comic book with all of the vocabulary words being used in context. They still follow the same procedure with regards to the dialogue, but the captions would relate to the story. When they are finished, they can annotate the story verbally using (program). In this option, the students get a chance to practice adding prefixes and suffixes, changing verbs to nouns, using root words and changing verb tenses within a more meaningful context.

 

I recorded this after reading a post where public school teachers were compared to slave drivers who refused to bow out to the better model of homeschooling along with a blog comment by an advocate of traditional education who lashed out in ALL CAPS. It has me thinking that we've all been wounded by broken systems.

So, check it out below if you want to hear a meandering podcast about dystopias and school systems.

 

Posted in podcast, podcastrethink | 5 Replies

"Can I tell you a story?" Joel asks.

"Okay."

"So Santa Claus is delivering gifts on Christmas when he gets stuck."

"He can't get stuck," Micah interrupts.

"No, he gets stuck . . . "

"He has magic."

"He's not magical enough to lose weight, Micah." That quiets Micah for a moment.

"So Santa gets stuck and his feet dangle down.  He kicks off his shoes and he's left there with his socks hanging down.  So the kids get up and say, 'Look, we have new stockings.' And when they look inside, they scream, 'Oh my gosh, these are feet! These are feet! Santa gave us feet instead of candy!'  So Santa starts yelling at them and they say, 'Wow, the feet are talking to us.'  They pull and they pull, but it doesn't work.  So they saw off Santa's feet. Then they never get any more stockings on Christmas, because they didn't listen to Santa Claus."

It's a violent story filled with irony and even a touch of justice at the end.  I admit that I'm a biased parent, but I think the story is clever.  It's possible that Joel is simply a smart kid.  If so, he inherited his intelligence from Christy.  Yet, it's also possible that young children are more capable of critical thinking, creativity and irony than adults assume.  

So, it has me thinking about the topic of homework.  Often, teachers send home practice worksheets for students to fill out.  It becomes a toned-down, boring version of a rote-memorization exercise in class.   I'm not opposed to children learning at home.  Playing the "how did you get to that number" game or the "tell me a story" game or "make up a story that has these four topics" are all examples of learning that we do at home.

We do science experiments.  At some point today, we're going to get a tub of water, weigh the tub and way an item.  Then we'll add the item to the water to see if a floating item increases the weight of the water by the same amount as the item.

What if schools redefined homework to home learning?  What if they sent students home with games, ideas and activities that parents could (emphasis on parent choice) use if they are struggle to engage their children in critical thinking?  I hate getting a packet of worksheets.  However, if the teacher sent my son home with an erector set (might be a little expensive) or a list of fun mental math games, I would embrace the idea.

 

A few other updates: I finished A Sustainable Start (a book for new teachers).  I added a 45 resource New Teacher Toolkit at the end, along with a reflective journal (sort-of workbook-style) to the regular pages.  It's much different than my other books.  Anyway, it's showing up as available on Kindle, but it's still not showing up as a traditional book on Amazon.com.

August 15th
Education Rethink: If Education Is Truly a Train Wreck . . . 

August 16th
TeachPaperless: From Differentiated to Customized Professional Development
Ten Ways Students Can Use iPods the First Week of School

August 17th
Cooperative Catalyst: Why One-Size-Fits-All Could Save Public Education

August 19th
The Pedagogy of Jesus: John's Disciples - Part One

 

People often mock me when I talk of paperless math (and rest assured, I still believe in using paper within a math class) and using mental math.  However, I see a real value in using student discourse, mental math and multimedia tools within a math lesson.  I used the following with a group of fifth graders and the students have been moving further toward meaningful dialogue and conceptual thinking.

Math Discourse / Mental Math

Types of Apps:
Drawing App
Voice App
Comic App
Camera
Survey / Forms
Bonus: Splice

Step One:
Mental math problem:
317+764

Step Two:
Have students write out their answers afterward using a drawing app. Let them explain, verbally, their process using a voice app.   

Step Three:
Explain the discourse process and then have them record the discourse with a partner.  

Sample Questions:

Clarifying
What process did you use?
Why did you choose to use that process?
Why did you choose that step? (find a specific step)
Can you explain what you were thinking?
What part was challenging for you?  How did you get past the challenge?

Analytical Questions
Why does your process work? Is there a scenario where that might not work?
What can you do to prove to me that your process was correct?
Is there another way to look at this?
How did you arrive at that conclusion?  
Is there a more efficient way to do this process?

Diagnostic Questions (If You’re Stuck)
What did you do to get to that point?
What part are you struggling with?  
Is there another strategy you can use from another math process?
Can you predict the answer and work backward?
What do you already know? Can you build on this?
What information are you missing?

Step Four:
Students can “bump” the audio with one another.  Then, individually, students now listen to the discourse and rate themselves on how they did as a pair (using a survey app)

	Falls Far Below	Approaches	Meets	Exceeds
Clarifying Questions: How well did you do at asking clarifying questions?	I asked one of the questions. I had a hard time figuring out what a clarifying question was.	I asked multiple questions using the guide that you gave me.  I tried to use a follow-up question.	I used the questions in my own words and asked follow-up questions.	I had a full conversation where we each talked about our process with questions and answers in our own words.
Analytical Questions: How well did you at asking analytical questions?	I asked one of the questions. I had a hard time figuring out what an analytical question was.	I asked multiple questions using the guide that you gave me.  I tried to use a follow-up question.	I used the questions in my own words and asked follow-up questions.	I had a full conversation where we each talked about our process with questions and answers in our own words.
Diagnostic (If You’re Stuck) Questions: How well did you do at helping one another when you were stuck?	I wasn’t able to determine when or how my partner was stuck.	I tried to ask diagnostic questions, but I couldnt find the mistake. Or I solved it for my partner.	I asked diagnostic questions that helped my partner figure out his or her mistakes.	My partner and I both used diagnostic questions to have a full conversation about how to solve the problem differently.
Answers: How well did you do at answering questions?	I used one-word answers.	I used complete sentences.	I used complete sentences and gave a reason why.	I used complete sentences and asked questions as well.
Math Vocabulary: To what extent did you use correct math vocabulary?	I didn’t use any math vocabulary.	I used one math vocabulary words.	I used several math vocabulary words.	I used math vocabulary words without even thinking about the fact that they were vocabulary words.

Step Five:
Try it again with a new partner.  This time, don’t use the rubric.

Step Six:
Reflection
Option 1: Using e-mail or a word processing app, describe, in a sentence how your process was similar or different from the process of your neighbors.  
Option 2: Using e-mail or a word processing app, describe why it’s important to think through one's process

Step Seven:
Using a video app, take your notes, images and audio and put it altogether into a presentation about how to solve this type of problem.  Send the final product to your teacher. Or you can create a slideshow using comic program and show the mental process with thought bubbles and character dialogue.

The following are a few ideas that teachers can use during the first week of instruction. I am a strong proponent of allowing students to bring their own devices (cell phones, smart phones, iPods, tablets, etc.) for the purpose of learning. I realize that this is not always possible on every campus, so you might want to ask permission and help create a plan for students who don’t have access to handheld devices. Many schools have iPod labs.

#1: Scavenger Hunt
Have students take a scavenger hunt of the school in order to make sense out of where things are located. This can include fire drill location, cafeteria, playground, electives and assembly location. Students can use the camera and then label the pictures with either Comic Touch Lite or Doodle Buddy. Afterward, have students analyze the way they use pictures to “capture” their world and the potential dangers in relying on the technology to frame our memories.

#2: About Me / Digital Storytelling
Students can use the iPods as an alternative method of telling their own story. One option is a simple podcast. Each student can create a simple life story using the Voice Recorder app. Another option would be to allow students to take pictures from their own world (in the class, at home, on the playground) and share information about the world using an app such as Comic Touch Light. Another variation of this is an About Me Metaphor Hunt, where students take pictures that represent themselves metaphorically. A possible tech criticism lesson here would involve students analyzing how the medium has shaped the concept of a digital story and a digital identity. I ask my students to answer: In what ways are you creating a brand? What are the dangers in branding?

#3: Multimedia Show and Tell
Students bring in an item from home and then create a short video about the item using the video recorder app. It works best if the students emphasize the deeper meaning behind the item. Afterward, students can "bump" and access one another's items. Another variation of this would involve students doing a Cribs-style video where they take the iPod Touches home and talk about their home, their environment and their family. Students can also use Splice and blend pictures and videos into one longer multimedia show and tell presentation.

#4: Survey
Students begin by creating a list of three survey questions. Teachers can specify whether this is an academic, critical thinking question (for example, a teacher might ask students to create a question about social issues) or a fun, team-building question (such as "What is your favorite food?" or "What was the best part of this summer?") Afterward, students use either the Camera app or the Voice Memos app (students might need to drag it out from the Utilities folder). As an added element of digital citizenship, students can answer questions about how interactions change when students answer questions on audio and video. Afterward, ask students to analyze how students act “in person” versus “on camera” or “in audio.”

#5: Interview
The interview project begins with a lesson on creating better critical thinking questions. Students use the video app to ask a question of the teacher, who pretends to be a celebrity. Afterward, students discuss what made certain questions good and certain questions bad. (One potential tech-integrated option here would be to use Google Forms and then look at a summary of responses or have students use a shared document or a Twitter stream to record quality questions) Next, students interview a partner using the video app and edit it with Splice. It helps to have students fill out a rubric for quality of questions and quality of answers (you may need to model it). When the video is done, students can write a newspaper article as their first narrative. This is a great chance to teach students to critique the way we edit words through media and the concept of the medium itself creating bias.

#6: My Life Concept Map
While presentation software works great for timelines, it can be powerful for students to think about how issues, ideas, events and people are connected to one another in a person's life. Using a program such as Idea Sketch, students can complete a "my life" concept map. When they finish with the concept map, they can explain it in a Voice Memo and post it as a podcast. When this is done, ask students if the mind is a web and whether or not the web metaphor is a result of the Internet as a dominant medium.


#7: Community Needs Assessment
Students use Google Forms to develop surveys regarding the strengths and weaknesses of their community. They can also use Voice Memo and Camera apps to take pictures of their community, interview people and create podcasts about the sounds and sights of their neighborhood. This can be an opportunity to get into how people act different on camera along with the pros and cons of using tools (such as spreadsheets) to quantify something as subjective as community perceptions. How does the notion of data collection potentially strip a community of its collective voice?

 

I'm pretty sure prisons don't let people bring lunch boxes to the cafeteria.

A few days ago, a stranger at a birthday party said, "The school system is a train wreck.  I'm thinking that if I ever have kids, I can't put my kid into that kind of place."

"So, you'll home school?"

"Yeah, or unschool."

I respect his opinion.  On some level, I even empathize with him.  I often have more in common with un-schoolers and home-schoolers than with those who support the status quo system.

However, if it's really such a train wreck, I'm wondering why my son comes home excited about all that he learned.  Don't get me wrong, I think it's a broken institution on many levels.  Then again, I also think he'd be dealing with a broken man from a broken world if I stayed at home and taught him.

But if he's right and if it's truly a train wreck then I can't imagine the solution is to run away from the wreckage.  If it's truly dangerous, I need to be in the system fighting to save lives.

 

It's no secret that I write at several different places.  I would post them all here, but I have a hunch this blog would get cumbersome to read.  With that in mind, I'm starting a Weekly Roundup post each Sunday, where I will link every blog post that I've written over the course of a week.

August 7th
The Cooperative Catalyst: Why I Accept Late Work

August 8th
Education Rethink: A Note to Myself As a First-Year Teacher

August 9th
The Pedagogy of Jesus: I Can't Be Your Savior
Education Rethink: I Was Wrong
Education Rethink: A Sustainable Start - What Makes This Book Different?

August 13th
Education Rethink: Throw Away Your Lesson Plans
Education Rethink: More Like a Park (also posted on TeachPaperless)

 

I remember thinking Brad the Philosopher was crazy when he advised me to throw away my lesson plans at the end of the year.

"Set them in the recycling bin.  Your better off letting the city recycle them instead of attempting to recycle them with a new class."

"What if it was really good?"

"Then try it again."

"But what if I forget the lesson?"

"Then it was a forgettable lesson."

I thought he was crazy, but I'm glad I took his advice.  Some would say I shouldn't reinvent the wheel.  But for what it's worth, I'm glad my car isn't rolling around on Fred Flintstone tires.

 

and less like a prison

(Note: this won't work in a feed, so you'll have to click on the actual site)

Sometimes I go back to old blog posts and I shake my head.  I've made bold statements about things that didn't matter.  I've made passionate arguments when I was uninformed.  More often, though, I've changed my mind.  I've seen the bigger picture, grasped more of a sense of paradox and altered my views on education.  So the following is a list of times I've been wrong:

1. Corporate-style Education Reformers: I've made some bold statements about specific individuals and their views toward students.  The truth is, I don't know their motives.  I don't know their values.  I don't know whether they are simply misguided.  I don't know.  Again, I don't know.

2. Isolated Workshops: In my gusto for promoting job-embedded, longer professional development, I failed to recognize the power of smaller workshops and conferences.  I've been to a few day-long sessions that changed my approach to teaching.

3. Charter Schools: Early on, I slammed charter school.  I regret this. Although I prefer to work in a traditional public school, I've met some really cool people over the last few years who have challenged my thinking about charter schools.  I've seen some authentic, project-based learning that I wish my district would adopt.

4. Practical Advice: When I began blogging, there were a ton of blogs advertising amazing programs, ten steps and five keys and whatnot.  I reacted strongly to this, hoping to see a sense of narrative and nuance.  I still believe in the power of story.  However, I'm recognizing that lists are sometimes a good thing and that a practical resource can help change teaching.

5. Getting Rid of the Teacher Desk: Russ Goerend challenged me on this a long time ago (I was a strong supporter of a separate teacher space).  Last year, I ditched the desk.  Russ was right.

6. Motivation: I've made bold statements about motivation.  The truth is that the heart can be deceitful.  Who can understand it? (I jacked that from a really old sage)

7. College: Like many edubloggers, I have had times when I slammed college.  The truth is that I learned some great theory that turned out to be true.  Complaining that there are holes in the framework of a home is ridiculous.  It's a framework, it's not a complete house.

8. District Office: When I first began blogging, I wrote some real pejorative posts about people at the D.O.  I had no idea how often the bad things that happened were actually the result of federal law.  As I've gotten to know folks in the "ivory tower," I'm often impressed by what they know and the sincerity of their convictions.  They want to change things.  They're working toward changing things.  However, the system is massive and sometimes change is difficult.

9. Oprah: I've pegged Oprah for being pretentious.  However, she's gotten people to read Jonathan Franzen and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  That's got to be worth something.  And though I still think she misses it, I have to admit that often I've missed it, too.

10. Television: I've mocked it before.  I've gotten really self-righteous about how seldom I watch television.  However, there's some great t.v. out there if I bother to look (Modern Family, The Colbert Report, Charlie Rose Show, America's Test Kitchen).  My preference for Twitter probably has less to do with shallow t.v. and more to do with my desire to interact with the medium I am using.

 

I plan to release A Sustainable Start on August 16, 2011.  Any Forty-Niners fan would tell you that 16 is a lucky number. I plan to keep this blog series going until August 1st.  I know that there are a ton of new teacher books out there, but there are a few things that make this one different (though not necessarily better):

• A different focus:  Looking back, I thought I needed help with bulletin boards and teaching strategies.  What I really needed was a hard look at discipline, shame, my mindset and my sens of awareness in the classroom.  I cover a few themes that don't seem to be covered in most new teacher books. 
• A different philosophy: Many of the new teacher books rely on a behaviorist, corporate management philosophy.  This book is for those who yearn for student-centered, authentic learning with a healthy dose of realism mixed in. 
• A different style: I use a  more personal, narrative style of writing than many of the books written for new teachers.  I write about my classroom experiences alongside stories from fatherhood and childhood.  While I still offer some practical advice, I'm honest about my mistake and what people can learn from them.

The following is a note I'm writing back to myself before entering my first year of teaching.  This might be a bit cheesy, but I do this every so often to think about my own journey.  I thought this would be a fitting post given the fact that A Sustainable Start will be out in a little over a week.

Dear John,

Right now, you're worried about bulletin boards and lockdown procedures and how to organize your papers the best.  You're worried, too, about whether the kids will like you.  I know, it's not supposed to matter, but it will.  It will always matter.  You won't tell anyone (perhaps not even yourself) that you're scared.  Really scared.  And rightfully so.  You're entering a difficult and important profession.

You want to be affirmed right now, but I'll warn you not to seek it out.  Principals will offer notes upon notes of positive feedback.  Some of it will be helpful, but ask the students.  They're the ones who know you best.  Then step away from the surveys and focus on what you know about yourself.  You're a teacher.  It's your identity.  You will fail more than you can imagine this first year and that's okay.  Really.  You're a teacher.

Teaching will force you to deal with your own humanity. You will yell at kids. You will shame kids. You will punish the whole class even when you promise that you'll never do that. But you will also apologize. You will offer words of truth that students have never heard. You will affirm not only their work, but also their character.  Don't let shame define you in those darker moments, John.  You're a teacher.  First-year failures won't change that.

Teaching will force you to cry.  After years of trying to train yourself to "man up" and avoid tears, this profession will peal away that mask.  You'll cry over your inability to be perfect.  You'll cry because you've used your words to hurt children in the name of discipline.  You'll cry because you'll feel raw and tired and worn-out.  You'll cry because you'll hear stories of tragedy and resilience and hope.  Students will trust you with "what's really going on" and you'll feel powerless when the only thing you can do is listen and pray.  But John, some of those kids will come back to visit.  They'll be high school and college students and you'll find out that listening and praying are far more powerful than you could imagine.

You have great ideas right now.  You have some great strategies.  You are an inherently creative, critical thinking, compassionate person.  You're going to get a chance to bring out some of those traits in students as well.  Don't shy away from hard questions.  Don't be afraid to integrate the arts.  Right now, you're already read to compromise what you believe.

You've heard too many veterans say, "forget everything you learned in college."  Don't do it.  They've already forgotten what they learned and that's why they shouldn't be teaching.  The Packet Masters and Worksheet Warriors are make-believe teachers.  And here's t  he thing: they don't even represent most teachers.  But they hold the loudest voice in the staff lounge.  Try your best to tune them out.  Cling to what you know works.  Take some risks, knowing that you will fail.

The system will try to acculturate you into a standardized approach.  Don't compromise.  Go ahead and do the Word Wall and the Blackboard Configuration and the lesson plan format.  You'll feel like a robot.  So be a Rebel Robot.  Teach critical thinking.  Integrate art.  Move from grades to assessments.  The authentic approach works and ultimately the people in power will see that it works.  When they do, they'll hail you as a Solution Guy.  Don't let that get to your head.  You're kind-of not a big deal and that's a good thing.

I wish this year could be easier for you.  As much as you will love the classroom, you'll have to grow into it.  Honestly, the growing pains will be painful (come on and show me that smile again) but I know you well enough to realize that even when it gets difficult, you will remain passionate.  You will wake up each morning feel like the luckiest man in the world.  You'll be right, too.  You're at the start of a really cool gig, John.

Sincerely,
Self