What a hero! This lady pounds on the front door to get the family out before their roof collapses from a fire raging inside.

This book by Victoria Ott and Gloria Swanson is a great read. I only discovered this through an amazing teaching MN history grant I was in as part of the MNHS. A man from the MNHS came up and did a presentation from the point of view of the main character of the book, Fred Jones.

Jones was an African American who grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father left him with a Catholic church to be raised and educated. Jones was a born engineer and tinkerer. He eventually heard about a radical research farm in NW MN. It was run by the son (if I remember correctly) of railroad icon James J Hill.

Jones rode the rails up here and found a job in Hallock where he was exceptional. He is certainly a local legend for his inventions and incredibly ability to design and engineer almost anything.

Eventually he went to work for a company in Minneapolis that would go on to invent the ThermoKing. That is near and dear to my heart because my father drove truck for Stordahl's in TRF and then Hartz Trucking in TRF. So I can still hear the ThermoKings running on my dad's trailers.

For those who don't know, ThermoKing is a cooling system that keeps a truck trailer cold. This was radical when Jones invented it, for it transformed the economy and eating habits of America. Suddenly, you could get fruit all year long as you could keep it cool while you shipped it and it wouldn't spoil. This allowed major grocery store chains to emerge and grow.

Of course, Jones' invention also ended up in the hand of the military and NASA as it had a profound impact on their life support systems.

All because of a man who lived a majority of his life just a few miles away from where I type this now.

History is amazing!

Week #20 – January 26-29

Teaching Thought #84 - Three Lesson from Magnolia Trees

“Growth is the only evidence of life” - John Henry Newman. I love that quote and discovered it from John O’Leary and his amazing podcast, Live Inspired.

In episode 135, O’Leary explores the three lessons we can all learn from a Magnolia tree.

First, life is seasonal. This is a great point. I know some of us are struggling with the chaos of hybrid learning and all that the pandemic has brought upon us. But this too shall pass. I know some people - or at least from what I’ve see on social media - are frustrated by a clear goal we are moving toward or at least an end date that we can aim for. But pandemics don’t work that way. Once we get COVID cases under control and get the vaccine for everyone who wants it, that is the goal.

This is seasonal. This too shall pass. Have faith and work hard. Don’t you think the folks who survived the depression, polio, the Spanish flu, or Trump’s presidency (sorry, couldn’t resist. If that bothers you, just insert Obama for Trump then), felt the same way. But those did pass. This has just been one long season.

Second, death produces life. Now this is dark. I know. But O’Leary talks about the Magnolia trees they have had in their yards. In each case, from dead branches and buds comes new life every spring. Things rise and fall and rise and fall.

I am hoping that in the world of education, we can let a lot of our former practices and ideas (those that fall in the dreaded category of “Well, that’s how we’ve always done it around here”) die peacefully and replace them with more effective practices and ideas better suited for this new post-distance learning landscape.

Third, don’t miss it. Sometimes if you are too busy, you don’t have time to appreciate the beauty of the Magnolia tree blooming and flowering. The same way with school. I had this epiphany a few months ago when I decided to print out all 43 copies of my College Comp essays. I carried that stack of papers to my room and reflected how much I missed grading physical papers. Moreover, I was reminded just how fortunate I am to have students open their worlds and lives to me via their writing and share them with me. As an English teacher, it doesn't get much better than that!

Teaching Thought #85 - It’s Not Always About the Standards

Over the weekend I received an incredibly kind text from a former student. Apparently, it was four years ago that he and his classmates were presenting their final Linchpin boards. Basically, I had them focus on a possible future career. I give students old science fair boards to illustrate the requirements of the assignment. Then I turn them loose for a week to put it all together.

Then I book the Training Center and have students display them for other teachers.

The student mentioned how glad he was to have the experience and to be inspired and supported. I know standards are vital, but if you don’t craft an engaging experience around a standard, it’s a losing battle.

Teaching Thought #86 - Spend Less Time Grading

That is music to any English teacher’s ears. Or really any teacher if you’re caught up trying to give feedback on a daily basis. And if you’re any good, you are doing this. A lot.

This article offers four direct ways to grade less. None of this is rocket science, but sometimes it’s nice to hear others tell us that we can grade less and not feel bad about it.

Of the four ways to grade less (or faster), the fourth way is the most intriguing to me -

Use visual clues to speed up grading.

These are the cues I use:

• If a student writes something that impresses me or goes beyond expectations, I highlight it in green.

• If a student meets the criteria for a grade, I highlight that part of the criteria using a green highlighter.

• If there is an error, I highlight it in pink.

• If a key part of the criteria hasn’t been met, I highlight it in pink.

• In a section called Even-Better-If (EBI), students complete a short (closed-ended, self-marked) task that matches the kind of errors they have made. This task is linked to the part of the criteria that I highlighted in pink.

• In a section called Correct, I write a word that students have misspelled in the text, and they need to copy it out three times.

• In a section called Perfect, students complete a short, open-ended task that will prove to me that they have taken in my feedback.

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What I like about this last approach to speeding up feedback is that it puts the onus on the students to go through and decipher the feedback and then apply it to improving their work.

Teaching Thought #86 - Screen Time

As we transition back to hybrid, this is an interesting read to keep in mind as we are going to have students (and some adults too)struggling to break away from their screens.

I found this passage very interesting

Dr. Jenny Radesky, a pediatrician who studies children’s use of mobile technology at the University of Michigan, said she did countless media interviews early in the pandemic, telling parents not to feel guilty about allowing more screen time, given the stark challenges of lockdowns. Now, she said, she’d have given different advice if she had known how long children would end up stuck at home.

“I probably would have encouraged families to turn off Wi-Fi except during school hours so kids don’t feel tempted every moment, night and day,” she said, adding, “The longer they’ve been doing a habituated behavior, the harder it’s going to be to break the habit.”

We have gone to no device Sundays as a way of severing our tech addictions.

The article explores what parents worry about - what do we do without the technology? That’s where being a parent comes in. We have taken to playing hours of Scrabble, Uno, and Phase 10. We have watched more movies together (I know, more screen time). We have taken impromptu road trips.

But what can we do IN SCHOOL to try and teach without the screens? If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear!

Teaching Thought #87 - CCCP

Now that’s not the sign that I recall on the Soviet Union hockey uniforms from the olympics when I was a kid.

This is something totally different. In the Entreleadership episode 405, Chick-fil-A’s Competitive Advantage with David Salyers, Salyers unleashes some leadership and personal development gold.

Salyers shared a gem that he used in his performance reviews at Chick-fil-A. He developed a formula he calls C.C.C.P. that was effective in helping people not just get a promotion but to add value to the organization. The more value you add, Salyers argued, the more promotable you become.

So here is how he used his formula. (And think about how you can use this in your role as a teacher or coach and how you could get your students or players to use this too)

Competency - When Salyers first hired someone, the main thing he focused on totally was becoming competent in what Chick-fil-A hired them to do. Everything gets poured into that. If you’re hired to answer phones, then all your time and effort at work goes into becoming competent in answering phones. Once that happens, Salyers asks his employees in their review, “Are you doing A+ work at what we hired you to do?’

If the answer is yes, well then it’s time to move on to the next “C.”

Capacity - Once the worker was doing A+ work, Salyers worked hard with them to manage a way that they could do what they were hired to do - the stuff they are now a rockstar at - in 80% of their time. He believes that simply by becoming great at what you’ve been hired to do, you have increased your speed and efficiency at doing it. So maybe you did 150 calls a day three years ago, but now you’re so good, you get 150 calls in by lunch. Now, Salyers uses this freed up time to delve into areas that this person is truly passionate about.

So this person was hired to answer the phones, and they’ve become great at it. But maybe they also have a great passion for design or marketing or technology. Then Salyers finds a way to allow them to work on a side project related to that passion (in our world of education, this would be a ‘passion project’). Now, this project is still under Chick-fil-A’s umbrella, but now the worker is focused on doing something new that relates to a true passion of theirs.

Salyers found example after example where giving this ‘passion project’ that they are free to work on not only lights them up, but suddenly they take that extra time that was freed up to work on it and they become so much more efficient and productive with that extra time. They are more efficient and productive because they are now in their element (to borrow from the late Sir Ken Robinson), which is where someone’s greatest aptitude intersects with their greatest passion.

This leads to the third “C.”

Contribution - Here is where Salyers saw the compound effect of his workers being in their elements. Sure they had mastered what they had been hired to do (in this case we return to our original example of answering phones), but Chick-fil-A is wise enough to now develop their talent instead of just asking for more. A boss would just pressure this worker to keep grinding out the phone calls for the rest of their careers. No wonder 80% of the workforce hates their jobs! At Chick-fil-A, though, they free up time for this worker to grow. Now the worker - because they are so good can do the work they were hired to perform in a fraction of the time. Chick-fil-A allows them to maximize the capacity of their work by freeing up time for them to broaden their skills. This is where the contribution comes in.

Time and again, Chick-fil-A is impressed with the amazing breakthroughs and ideas that come out of these passion projects. Salyers employees are finding ways to contribute to Chick-fil-A whereas most bosses would only want their employees to contribute to their sole roles that they were hired for. That is just too short sighted. Again, no wonder most people dislike their jobs. But not a Chick-fil-A!

This is where the promotion comes in, which is the final “P” of C.C.C.P.

This is who Salyers gets people to work toward their dream jobs INSIDE of Chick-fil-A. That’s leadership gold.

Now, what happens after Salyer’s employee gets promoted? They repeat the C.C.C.P. process all over. They ask themselves in their new role or job, “What do I have to do to become competent at what they hired me for? That leads them maximizing their capacity which then leads them to contributing to the company in a new and better way and then a promotion happens. And the cycle continues.

That’s brilliant!

Over the course of the past two work days last week, I was able to visit with several colleagues. One we talked about teaching about controversial topics and how to battle hate. The second colleague and I just talked about curriculum and setting up our new classes. The third colleague and I started out talking about teaching but then ended up talking about coaching.

These conversations were the best form of professional development for me.

I know I wrote about Jennifer Gonzalez's Cult of Pedagogy podcast awhile ago, but this is the one podcast from her that I look forward to every year. There is so much great stuff here. I actually went ahead about bought her yearly tech tools for teachers pdf. So worth the $16.00.

For the record, here are the tools

1. Mote

2. AllSides (my favorite)

3. Google Lens (really cool)

4. Bulb

5. EmbraceRace

6. Prezi Video

Principles to live by.

"If you want to change the world, start by measuring someone's heart." I love that.

"Sometimes no matter how well you prepare, sometimes or how well you perform, you still end up as a sugar cookie." Watch the video to see just what a "sugar cookie" is in the Navy Seals program.

"Life is filled with 'circuses.' You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core. If you want to change the world, don't be afraid of the circuses." Again, listen to video and see what the 'circuses' are.

So much gold here.

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.

Play "get to know you" bingo. I know that's a terrible title, but just hear me out.

For every new class, I have students complete a list of 111 Things About Themselves. This gives me a ton of information about them and allows me to get to know them and tailor curriculum to their interests as best I can.

But one thing it also allows me to do is use it as a way of getting the students to know each other. So what I have come to do is take a few interesting facts about each students and create a bingo game off of them.

So what I will do is have students create bingo cards with the names of students in the class on them (provided there are enough spaces for each kid. If there are too many kids, I'll have them double up. If there aren't enough, I'll have them add in the names of teachers). Then I will read off random information about each student.

For example, "This students has been to 25 different states" or "This students has 8 pets" or "This student is a Subway Sandwich artist" or "This teacher is known for his corny jokes" and so on.

Of course, I don't share sensitive information that might embarrass a student. In fact, I'l let the students know that I'm taking things from their list so they can go back and remove anything they don't want to share.

From my experiences, the students love learning knew things about each other. Now, when students win bingo, I hand out either candy or "super duper" prizes.

More on what the "super duper" prizes are next week as that's an amazing thing to try in your classroom.

I'm rarely in a bad mood. I'm an internal optimist. In the very brief blog post below, Seth Godin asks a simple question - is our mood a choice or a result?

I think it's a choice. And one I make every single morning. Being positive and kind is a choice. But here's the catch, the more you do it, the more it becomes a habit.

I'm afraid the same is true for being negative and an ass&*le.

What a great site to help with formative assessment. This one is a really deep dive, but it has some incredible opportunities.

Just messing around with it, I was able to select standards - I used the ACT English standards from 2018-2019 . Then I created an assessment that students can then take. Now the best thing is that Edulastic will grade it, noting where students struggle and where students excel. The best part, it can even link to Google Classroom.

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
Location: 101 South Knight Aver Thief River Falls MN 56701
Phone: 218-686-7395
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Twitter: @teacherscribe