Kristi's Korner

It's easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.

--Mark Twain

Flat-earthers.....heard of them? They believe, as the name suggests, that the earth is flat. Their theory is that the earth is a disc with the Arctic Circle in the center. Further, they believe there is a 150 foot wall of ice around the rim of this disc with NASA employees guarding this wall to prevent people from climbing over it and falling off the Earth.

How about Wayfairgate? This had people speculating that Wayfair, an online store for home decor, was secretly using its cabinets as shipping containers for a child trafficking ring. The evidence included that some cabinets were selling for prices like $12,699.99 and that the cabinets were named with human sounding names like Alivya and Samiyah.

And if you want to go down a wormhole and eat up an afternoon....have you heard of QAnon?

Conspiracy theories are fascinating. There has been more than a couple in recent months regarding Covid. Did China purposefully unleash this on the world? Was it created to distract our focus from the election? And these theories are not just in the U.S. In Europe, people are setting fire to 5G mobile network towers believing that these are being built to spread the virus to the masses.

As I dug into the nuts and bolts of conspiracy theories, I found out that there are certain people that are more susceptible to them. Also, most conspiracy theorists adopt many fringe theories even when some of the theories contradict each other. And what about you? Don't feel bad. About half of all Americans believe in at least one conspiracy theory. So what makes them so prevalent?

It's a human tendency to lean into things we believe in and ignore anything that will counter that. The person who believes that St. Louis has the worst drivers will certainly find evidence to that each time they take to the roads. And the lady down the street who thinks teens today are nothing but trouble will only see those that confirm that.

And I am sorry to say, we educators are not immune to conspiracy theories. It's hard, if not impossible, to suspend our beliefs. Time and time again I have seen people discount data at a PLC attributing a high score to a lucky day or a low score to an anomaly depending on their belief of that child's ability. How many of us have ended a lesson feeling our students "got" it because we had asked two or three questions and they knew it? But wait, those were the two or three that had raised their hands. They helped confirm what we knew already, "That was a great lesson."

I challenge you to dig deeper and not just look for information that confirms your theories on students and lessons. While confirming our theories feels good, it doesn't serve why we are here. We must open our minds as we begin to look at data and see the story it is telling us. We must give exit tickets to see, "Did that lesson stick?" If we don't spend the time reflecting, we might end up in Area 51 lost and searching for the aliens.

And have you heard of the theory that Stevie Wonder is in fact NOT blind and has been faking it for years? I really don't think this very talented man needs a shtick.

8 Fun Activities for Virtual Learning: https://www.hollyclark.org/2020/04/21/virtual-learning-ideas/

17 Tech Tips from TikTok: https://www.weareteachers.com/teacher-tech-tips-tiktok/?utm_content=1601509140&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Ways to Check In With Your Students During This Stressful Time to Let Them Know We See Them: https://ditchthattextbook.com/sel-checklist/

How Mindset Can Help During a Lockdown: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/sep/26/dreading-a-dark-winter-lockdown-think-like-a-norwegian

Yvette Wren: What’s good? Some people might find it hard to answer this question as we look at what is happening around the world, our country, our cities and our communities but not me. As I sit and think about my life, I find that there are a great many things that are good.

1. I am working in a wonderful school with wonderful people who welcomed me with open arms. And even though we don’t see each other in person very often, I still feel like I am part of the Lawson family and I am thankful that I am here. I have a very supportive team and I am grateful to have them in my life.

2. I have a husband that loves me and supports me in everything I want to do and accomplish in my life. We are coming up on our 30 year anniversary and I am ready for another 30 years. My husband, Curtis, is the love of my life and I could not have asked for a better husband, father and partner.

3. My children. I have four beautiful, strong, intelligent, independent, creative children. They bring out the best in me. They bring me so much joy. I have three daughters and a son. My house was always filled with lots of love, laughter and fun. Now I am ready for the next phase of life called “grand parenting”. So you have to know how excited I was when my daughter told me she was engaged. We are in the process of figuring out how to have a small wedding ceremony during these Covid times. We are praying that things will be better next June.

Although 2020 has not been what anyone wanted or expected, we have to remember that “This too shall pass”.