I admit I'm a sucker for turtles. I've never seen one trying to cross the road where I live that I didn't pull over and help across the road . . . even the snappers!

This book is a recommendation from Dr. Ben Olson, one of my former students.

This books reminds me a lot of one of my favorite core principles: E + R = O. What that simply means is that we have events that happen to us. How we react is every thing, for our reactions determine the outcomes.

Holiday's book has the same premise, only he views how we determine the outcomes through three different lenses: Perception, Action, and Will.

My favorite part of this book is all the historical examples Holiday uses to illustrate his concepts of Perception, Action, and Will.

Week #24 – February 22-25 – P/T conferences

Teaching Thought #102 - If there is one good thing about Zooms . . .

It’s that it has allowed me to bring in more of my former students to speak to my classes. I’ve been blessed to be able to bring in some amazing individuals to speak to my classes over the years, but being able to Zoom now with so many other people has taken that to another whole level.

Just the past two weeks I’ve been able to bring in Mr. Koop who works for Hubbard Broadcasting in Brainerd, Ms. Nelson who manages the Grand Stay in town, and Dr. Olson, who is a PT doctor in South Dakota.

Not only have these former students inspired my current students through their success, but they have also reassured them that it’s okay not to have it all figured out, that life goes on with a less than ideal ACT score, and that - yes - everyone struggles and fails.

I couldn’t imagine not having these former students not Zoom into my classes in the future, and I’m already thinking of who else I can reach out to via Zoom to speak!

Teaching Thought #103 - Think About Keeping a Failure Resume

A what?

That’s exactly what I thought when last week’s guest speaker, Dr. Ben Olson, uttered that phrase to my College Comp II class. But I loved the sound of it from the start.

A failure resume is a record you keep of all the failures that lead up to a big success. Instead of starting - and celebrating - the big success (as if it was our first attempt or as if it didn’t take three years and thousands of hours of work), a failure resume is a record that celebrates all the inevitable mistakes that lead to your success.

Think of it this way - the opposite of anything on social media. Most people just want to show their pictures from the wonderful vacation or their marvelous house. But what about all the sacrificing and saving you did - not to mention showing everyone all the things you did without - in order to pay for the vacation and that house?

In other words, learn to celebrate the grit. Failure is vital. I just don’t think we acknowledge or celebrate it enough. A failure resume sounds like a fun way to change that. If you’re legit thinking about keeping one yourself or using one for a class assignment, check this out.

Teaching Thought #104 - Aim North

This is a great video about how not just to get the most out of people but also how to frame your goals.

Teaching Thought #105 - What is Your Biggest Lie (about Success)?

This week my College Comp II students wrapped up Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. Gladwell’s book is a deep dive into the counterintuitive factors that really lead to success (hidden advantages, extraordinary opportunities, and cultural legacies). In doing this, he spells out a lot of the myths or lies we are sold about success. You know the usually ones - your ACT score matters, IQ is everything, success is achieved alone, and so on.

One thing I love about teaching this book is sharing the lies I bought about success that have turned out to be totally bogus. I am talking about - just follow your passion. Now, most people will find this ironic as I’m known for my passion for teaching. But the truth is I hated my first year of teaching with a passion (ha ha, you see what I did there?). Seriously. I applied for the UPS part way through my first year, and if they would have called me back, I wouldn’t be teaching right now. It wasn’t until my third or fourth year where I gained some skills that I developed a love for teaching.

I’ve tackled the lie that your ACT score matters. Most recently, I tackled the lie that there is just one right college for you.

So what is the biggest lie you were told about success? How do you communicate that to your students so they don’t fall victim to it? I’d love to hear.

Just this morning I finished a letter of recommendation for a student. I spoke honestly about her work ethic, her excellent writing, and how kind she was.

When she read it, she had tears in her eyes! I never get tired of telling kids how awesome they are!

This podcast was recommended to me from a fellow football coach, who happens to be not just an amazing football coach (though he is from NDSU) but also happens to be - like me - a person growth junkie, Austin Farnloff. The Tim Ferriss Show is full of great thought leaders and inspirational guests.

The show I was immediately drawn to features one of my all-time favorite authors/bloggers/speakers/thought-leaders: Seth Godin. Ferriss interviews Seth about "The Game of Life, the Value of Hacks, and Overcoming Anxiety."

I mean what doesn't he cover in here?

* How a Toyota actually offers more 'quality' than a Rolls Royce.

* The power of magic in everything we do illustrated through the magic that Hamilton offers vs. West Side Story.

* The fact that writer's block is a real thing but it's really a myth. It's not like you can't write. Of course you can write. Write like you talk. No one ever wakes up with 'talker's block' and struggles to open their mouths and say that they need help! What the real fear is about is a fear of bad writing. Get over that fear. Every crappy word and sentence moves you toward something better. You don't have to share it with everyone. Do enough bad writing and enough good writing will slip through. Don't share the bad writing; share the good writing.

* How important it is to be a linchpin

What I love about podcasts is this - you get all this value for free. For free! That's amazing.

Sometimes it's important to focus on what we are not. Mr. Zutz shared this video with my College Comp 2 class, and I'm still reeling. Wow.

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.

#1, #2, #5, #11, #14, and #15 are vital.

I have never gotten so much feedback from one of these newsletters like I have on last week's newsletter where I wrote about the struggles of teaching kids via Zoom.

Everyone I know is struggling with it in some way. Personally, I'm struggling with it in these areas -

1. Zoom is really only effective with the kids who truly care about their education. I'd say that's maybe 15% of our student body.

2. Zoom is soul sucking for teachers. I gave my CC 2 and CC class a day off from Zoom last Friday and just gave them an old school distance learning assignment (start your rough draft on your rite of passage - if you have questions, share the draft with me and text me and I'll give you instant feedback and then read this short story and complete the reading guide). Then I could focus on 'teaching' the kids IN the room. I loved it.

3. Kids who need the engagement from me on a one-on-one basis are totally missing out on that.

This breaks my heart. But what a gift this man gave the boy's mother. What if we all found ways to add value and make a contribution like this to the lives of others?

This is why who you hire is so vital. As Dave Ramsey always says, "Turkeys don't hang with eagles and donkeys don't hang with thoroughbreds." And he is right.

I wish I would have had this wisdom under the yoke of NCLB. How this idea could have focused us with all that great data we got. Instead, as I was guilty of, very few (if any) of us looked at the data!

We just got ready for the next test and set of standards because there was always more being dumped on our plates!

The Progress Check/Goal Setting

I don't know where I found this. I am sure I didn't create it myself. But I use it from time to time with my students, especially when they are reading a book.

The format is simple -

Beginning of the block -

1. What I want to get done today:

2. What do I need to do in order to ensure that I get this done:

End of the block -

3. What did I actually get done:

4. Why?

I always try and model this for the students first and then with them throughout their free reading time.

For example -

Beginning of the block -

1. What I want to get done today:

I want to read at lest 45 pages of Thank You For Being Late during the block.

2. What do I need to do in order to ensure that I get this done:

I need to keep my phone in my desk and to close my laptop so I'm not tempted to check my email.

I need to read in silence because if I listen to music, I don't concentrate enough and if my door is open, I can hear other classrooms and that breaks my concentration.

End of the block -

3. What did I actually get done:

I read 40 pages.

4. Why?

I had two calls to my classroom phone, which took some time.

I Googled the concept of "Moore's Law" from the book and spent 15 minutes research that. This is okay, though, as it gave me a better understanding for the book, and it might be something I use in my final research paper on the book.

Over the years, I've found that this quick daily system of checks and balances - so to speak - really helped kids focus. And it held them accountable and gave them some tools to consider when trying to maximize their reading time in class.

Four reasons to start class with a poem each day.

It has long been my goal to do this, and for awhile, I did it in CC. But it's a lot of planning (to line up the poems) and then I always end up analyzing them with my students. I love that, but the point is to read a poem a day, not teach a poem a day. And I struggle with the difference.

There has been a steep decline in the poetry we teach. And I think it's reflected in our sub-standard scores in reading complex information.

For the record, I'm including one of my favorite poems just for fun -

“The Stump”

Donald Hall

Today they cut down the oak.

Strong men climbed with ropes

in the brittle tree.

The exhaust of a gasoline saw

was blue in the branches.

It is February. The oak has been dead a year.

I remember the great sails of its branches

rolling out greenly, a hundred and twenty feet up,

and acorns thick on the lawn.

Nine cities of squirrels lived in that tree.

Today they run over the snow

squeaking their lamentation.

Yet I was happy that it was coming down.

“Let it come down!” I kept saying to myself

with a joy that was strange to me.

Though the oak was the shade of old summers

I loved the guttural saw.

Have you ever heard of 'flash' fiction? I use a couple examples in class.

One is supposedly (though there isn't solid evidence of this) the shortest short story Hemingway ever wrote -

"For Sale:

Baby Shoes;

Never worn."

Those six words are a full story all on their own. My students and I have fun filling in the details.

I'm reminded of Mr. Sorenson and the shortest poem he ever shared with us -

"Fleas, Adam had 'em."

I didn't think much of it until Mr. Sorenson clued me in on the fact that the poem is referring to Adam in the Garden of Eden. Think about that for a bit.

Of course, my mentor, Mr. Dyrud, would talk about the shortest horror story - "The last man in the world sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door." And another variation of that, "The last man in the world sat alone in a room. There was a lock on the door."

The article below looks at some other great flash fiction pieces to use in class, or, better yet, to inspire students to try their own bits of flash fiction.

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 23rd 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.

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
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