I can't imagine what these guys thought when they found a dog in a cave so far below ground, nor can I imagine what the dog thought when someone finally found it! Poor thing. Kudos to these guys, though, for helping her out.

I came across this book when I was reading the book I previously mentioned. If there is one assignment or technique that I loathe, it is the fiver paragraph essay. In fact, I wrote an essay on this practice, which I dubbed "The McEssay," which was published in the nonfiction collection Getting it in Writing: The Quest to Become Outstanding and Effective Teachers of Writing.

Now, I will be honest - I teach the five paragraph format. But I teach it just as one of many forms that students can choose from to write. The vast majority of professors I have had over the years have warned me to avoid this format for several reasons. First, it is simplistic in nature. Second, it's incredibly boring to read. Third, it leaves all the good stuff - the figuring out of the thesis statement - on the editing room floor. Fourth, well, you get the point.

What most people don't realize is that this format is a hold over from the ancient days of early university education where professors wanted students to regurgitate the content the professors delivered during lectures. By showing students how to formulate a thesis statement and support it quickly with three supporting paragraphs, the professors had a quick way to cross reference if the students were regurgitating what the professors want.

That last part doesn't sound much like what we are preparing kids for in the real world today. And that is what the author, John Warner, talks about at length. Our students need to know how to adapt form to content. They need to learn how to make wise choices in developing strategies and techniques. That is not what happens in the five paragraph essay.

Great teaching IS customer service

This is one of my favorite stories that I picked up from reading the iconic The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath. It’s such a powerful book that I re-read it every single summer.

A mom and her two children stayed at the Ritz-Carlton, renowned for their customer service. Their father couldn’t attend because he was on a business trip. When they all reconvened at home, they made a horrible discovery, one of the kids’ favorite stuffed animals, a giraffe named Joshie, had been left behind at the hotel.

Of course, the father reassured his son that Joshie was fine and just needed a bit longer vacation. Then he called the hotel, hoping against all that they could find his son’s beloved stuffed animal.

The Ritz-Carlton staff found him in the laundry room. Not only did they send him back to the family, but they sent him as part of a care package full of freebies (a frisbee and football as well as Polaroids capturing what Johsie did in his free time on his extra day of vacation - he was lounging on a chair by the pool, he was working out in the gym, he was getting a massage . . .).

Obviously, this is customer service that goes above and beyond. But more importantly, think that family will ever book a stay at the Ritz-Carlton again? Of course they will! They know they’re in good hands.

Now contrast that with a place that has terrible customer service, like Wal-Mart. I know it’s easy to bash on them, but why? Because they don’t even attempt to serve their customers (otherwise, why are the self-checkouts so popular?)! This is why if I can order something via Amazon Prime and get it the next day, I’ll gladly spend more money to do that than drive to Wal-Mart.

So, do you want to be the Ritz-Carlton or do you want to be Thought of as Wal-Mart? Serve your students and they will love your class.

This one is simple, but it never gets old: seeing a student's face light up when they see you outside of school.

I was on main street a few weeks ago (waiting at the stop light right by Ronnings). An SUV pulled up to the left of me, waiting to take a left. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. As I glanced over, it was a window in the second row of seating in the SUV rolling down.

As I glanced over, a face with a huge smile peered out. It was Josie, one of my LINC students from last year. I waved and suddenly I saw her talking to someone inside the vehicle. Suddenly the passenger side window rolled down and more students from her class began peering out and waving like mad.

It brought a huge smile to my face and reminded me of our core value - our work matters. Even over the summer!

Jennifer Gonzalez has not just an amazing podcast but a truly amazing website. One of the best tools is her yearly PDF document on the best tech tools to try. The PDF is well worth the money. In this podcast she outlines - with the help of some of her staff - the top six tools to try this year.

They are -

Frame

Google Arts and Culture Experiments

#1000BLACKGIRLBOOKS

Osmo

Everfi

Skew the Script

Adele had no idea that one of her former teachers was in attendance at her concert. When Adele sees her . . . well, that's not just the power of a great teacher. It's the power of building a relationship and having an impact on a student. "She made us care because we knew she cared about us."

Twitter is the best PD I've ever had. I learn more in half an hour on Twitter than I did in my first decade of school sponsored PD.

"Get to Know You Bingo."

I know that is the worst title of an assignment ever but hear me out. This is kind of an extension of last month's recommendation of using the 111 Things About You.

Now that you have the students spilling their guts via that assignment, take some of the more interesting content (with their permission first, of course) and use it to compile some facts or statements about each student in the class.

Then have students create a bingo card with a spot for each student (now, given how large classes are in our district due to cuts, this could be more difficult than ever and may require two or three bingo cards).

Then simply call out the facts or statements and have students cover up whatever specific student they think it is. Then when they have a bingo, have them call out the students' names who they have covered up and double check it against your list of facts or statements.

Trust me, this is wonderful and often hilarious.

For example, several years ago, in my CC 1 class I had a student write down, "I'm more of a War of Roses guy than a Battle of Hastings guy." Once I read that, everyone in the class knew who I was talking about. But the gold comes when students reveals something about themselves that they are safe with me sharing that no one ever has a clue about. I'll use me as an example, I often will share that I have four tattoos or that I played one year of high school hockey - my senior year (I was backup goalie)! Students are shocked to learn about this and want to know why.

That is the type of curiosity I want students to have for their classmates.

Give this a read. This is great.

And the first question just might be my favorite - "What is the best thing my child is going to read this year?"

How exciting is that?

And the last question is brilliant too - "What's the most important thing I can do to help my child be academically successful this year?"

Talk about building a partnership with the parent!

How important is choice to you? Really? Take a look at the image below.

here is last month's Teaching Thoughts newsletter.

I am married to the most amazing person in the world, Kristie. It was love at first sight. At least for me. And it still is.

We have four wonderful children, Casey, Koko, Kenzie, and Cash. And now we have been blessed with five grandchildren!

I also happen to have the greatest job in the world: teaching English to high school students.

I am in my 25th year of teaching at Lincoln High School. I graduated from Lafayette High School in Red Lake Falls in 1992. I decided to enter the field of education because of two amazing teachers, Mr. Mueller, my fourth and sixth grade elementary school teacher and assistant baseball coach, and Mrs. Christianson, my 9th grade English teacher.

I attended Northland Community College, and had my life changed by the amazing Dr. Diane Drake. Then I transferred to Bemidji State University in 1995. There I had amazing professors who further inspired me to teach English (Dr. Helen Bonner, Dr. Mark Christensen, Susan Hauser, and Gerry Schnabel). I graduated with my BS in English Education in 1997.

I student taught with the wonderful Lisa Semanko and then began teaching full-time at LHS in 1998.

I took a year's leave of absence in 2001-02 to return to BSU for my MA in English. There I had the privilege to teach and work closely with my greatest mentor, Dr. Mark Christensen. I earned my MA in English in 2006 and was honored with "Thesis of the Year" for my creative non-fiction, braided, multi-genre memoir, "Meeting Myrtle: A Biography."

In 2013, thanks to my dear friend and mentor, Dr. Jodi Holen, I was offered an adjunct teaching position fall semester at the University of North Dakota. Tuesday nights I teach Intro to Education: Teaching and Learning 250 from 5-8. Those three hours fly by in about ten minutes.

Then in 2016 I was blessed to win a WEM award (thanks to a nomination from a former student (and now an elementary school teacher), Ciera Mooney).

In 2017 I became part of the #pineconepd podcast club along with Brian Loe, Jeff Mumm, Kelsey Johnson, Kelly Weets, Josh Watne, Tevia Strand, Megan Vigen, Mariah Hruby, Laura Brickson, Loren Leake, Katie Hahn, Melora Burgee, and new members all the time. This has been one of the best forms of PD I've ever been a part of. They make me a better teacher every time we meet. Please think about joining us in the summer at the Pine Cone Pub from 6:30 - until we've solved all the world's problems. For that evening anyway.

In 2021, I became head coach of the Powler football team. It is a dream come true. I have an amazing staff and had an excellent mentor in two amazing former head coaches, Jeff Mumm and Bryce Lingen. I couldn't have asked for greater men to learn from.

Finally, thanks to the inspiration of Shane Zutz (our former principal) I devised this as a way to distribute my Teaching Thoughts and add more content to, hopefully, help out and inspire others.

Email: kurt.reynolds@myprowler.org
Website: http://teacherscribe.blogspot.com
Location: 101 South Knight Aver Thief River Falls MN 56701
Phone: 218-686-7395
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kurt.reynolds.5?ref=bookmarks
Twitter: @teacherscribe