This Georgia 8th grader can't contain his enthusiasm when he wins the school's kindness award. Gotta love his passion and enthusiasm! What if we brought it like this every day?

Permission to Screw Up by Kristen Hadeed. If you think you've screwed up in your life or career, give this book a read. It tells the story of Hadeed's success, namely how she went from a successful college student at the University of Florida who just needed enough money to buy an expensive pair of jeans to a savvy business vet who now does consulting and leadership work mainly.

Hadeed learned her lesson the hard way - through failing again and again.

Her first failure - she naively thought she could earn money by cleaning someone's house. Despite her lack of experience. What she thought would only take a few hours, took an entire day. Luckily for her, the owner of the house offered to teach her how to actually clean. And Hadeed took her up on that opportunity.

Her second failure - forgetting to take her advertisement for a cleaning service down - led to more chances to improve her skills, which she took full advantage of, so much so that she eventually had to hire a team of cleaners.

Her third failure - with her new hired team of cleaners, she acted like a boss. She let them all do the dirty work while she sat with her feet up. They hated her and soon quit in droves, leaving her to do all the work herself or fail.

This is when Hadeed learned something from her failure, you have to recover and grow from it. She invited all of her employees back to get their "final" checks and asked them what she was doing wrong.

And boy did she get feedback.

Best of all - and vital to her success - she actually acted on the feedback and changed and improved her business, which became Studentmaid.

Week #5 - September 30 - October 4

Teaching Thought #20 - Captain Fantastic

The book The Right - and Wrong - Stuff: How Brilliant Careers are Made and Unmade by Carter Cast is an interesting read that - I think - relates well to teaching.

Cast focuses on five archetypes of employees who - often unknowingly - sabotage their careers and never reach the heights they should. The first archetype is known as “Captain Fantastic.”

This person or educator is all about themselves. Their key features are arrogance, excessive ambition, defensiveness, insecurity, and lack of composure.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that we all have some elements of Captain Fantastic in ourselves. For example, I’m ambitious. I love a challenge. That’s why I went after my MA in English by taking a year’s leave of absence to see if teaching at college was what I really wanted to do. That’s why I leaped at the chance later in my career to teach as an adjunct at UND. That’s why I went after the WEM award for three years after I was nominated twice. That’s one reason I’m now on my fifth year of writing these teaching thoughts. That’s why I spend hundreds of dollars every single year on books . . . while that fuels me as a teacher, ambition in excess can ruin you OR it can make you insufferable to your colleagues.

Cast refers to the Captain Fantastic as a human wrecking back . . . who wreck themselves.

These are the folks whose sharp elbows bruise you on their quest for the Holy Grail of the corner office. They suffer from interpersonal issues because of unbridled ego drive and dismal listening skills, resulting in poor working relationships with coworkers. Captain Fantastics, with their mantra of “I-me-mine” may initially rise up through the organization, but, because they alienate others, when they’re placed in broader and more complex roles that require the support of others, more often than not, like Icarus, they flame out.

Do you know anyone who always seems to work harder than anyone else? Who never shares their ideas as part of a team - or worse - steals ideas from others and uses them yet never gives credit? Who is only looking for the next person to suck up to? If you do, then you’ve met a Captain Fantastic.

They are rock stars early on, but soon they wear on everyone and find themselves isolated or shipped out.

Teaching Thought #21 - Solo Flier

The book The Right - and Wrong - Stuff: How Brilliant Careers are Made and Unmade by Carter Cast is an interesting read that - I think - relates well to teaching.

Cast focuses on five archetypes of employees who - often unknowingly - sabotage their careers and never reach the heights they should. The second archetype is the “Solo Flier.”

Again, we certainly have components of the Solo Flier in us. In fact, I’d argue being able to tackle an issue without much assistance is maybe one of the best traits one can have. But Cast highlights some of the traits the Solo Flier has in excess that leads to their downfall: Over-managing, hiring poorly, inability to communicate effectively, failure to resolve conflict, inability to work with others, and not securing resources for their team.

Cast refers to the Solo Flier as a the person who is great at carrying out ideas and initiatives . . . as long as they are their own ideas or initiatives!

Solo Fliers not only deliver the bacon, they cut and wrap it as well. They are self-starting, self-contained, multi-talented achievement dynamos. But when they get promoted into managerial positions, they have difficulty building and leading teams and revert either to micro-managing or trying to do the work themselves. Their teams becomes dissatisfied and eventually there’s a coup d’état.

Do you know anyone who is a micro-manager? Who wants you to do a job . . . but only as they would do it? Who is frustrated that the task wasn’t done as they would have done it, yet they failed to explain to you how they wanted it done in the first place? An inability to develop anyone because they are too focused on doing the job themselves? These are the solo fliers.

Solo Fliers initially appear valuable because - let’s face it - they get work done. But soon they hurt the team or department because they aren’t willing to share Or if they do share, they are never happy with the work anyone else does.

Teaching Thought #22 - Version 1.0

The book The Right - and Wrong - Stuff: How Brilliant Careers are Made and Unmade by Carter Cast is an interesting read that - I think - relates well to teaching.

Cast focuses on five archetypes of employees who - often unknowingly - sabotage their careers and never reach the heights they should. The third type is Version 1.0.

These folks live the mantra, “if it ain’t broke . . . don’t fix it . . . EVER.” Version 1.0 people suffer from becoming too reliant on mentors or their boss, grow distrustful of change, are rarely curious about what could be done to improve, and become too comfortable and fail to ever push themselves.

Cast refers to Version 1.0 as inflexible and outdated.

These people, comfortable in their routines, are highly skeptical of change. They resist learning new skills that would help them adapt to the rapidly changing business environment. They resist using new technologies that could help them perform their jobs better and faster. When new management that comes into their company to shake things up they often form part of a rear guard resisting change. They may call themselves “traditionalists” but in reality they are overly-cautious.

Do you know anyone who is still using a flip phone or still showing VCR tapes? Know anyone who looked at the 1:1 movement as a threat instead of an opportunity? Know anyone who sits in the back of the room during an inservice or PD session and tunes out? Know anyone who teaches one great day a year . . . when they are being observed by administration (I didn’t come up with that one. Students told me that a few years ago. They actually knew something had to be going on because the teacher was “actually trying” (their words, not mine) that day . . . then they saw the principal walk in and take a seat and they knew what was up)? Know anyone who would rather go work at Digi Key than take on a new class? Then you’ve met a Version 1.0.

Verison 1.0s are great after awhile. Once that routine is establish, they are reliable and consistent. Both great traits. But the problem comes after a year or two when they can’t step outside of their routines and expand. They are like the dinosaurs . . . great until a drastic change happens. Then it’s all over. Worse yet, they fight any and all change to prevent their extinctions.

Teaching Thought #23 - One Trick Pony

The book The Right - and Wrong - Stuff: How Brilliant Careers are Made and Unmade by Carter Cast is an interesting read that - I think - relates well to teaching.

Cast focuses on five archetypes of employees who - often unknowingly - sabotage their careers and never reach the heights they should. The fourth archetype is the “One Trick Pony.”

We all start out (hopefully) as one trick ponies. Hopefully, though, once you master one skill, you move on to the next one. These folks are stuck in the fixed mindset. Cast notes how these one trick ponies fail to see the big pictures, instead getting mired in the details. They don’t seek out risks (or little bets and they certainly don’t strive to get to the cutting edge for the adjacent possible - see my earlier teaching thoughts). Their inability to grow and venture beyond their one skill set results in them becoming a liability because of their growing knowledge or skill gap as the rest of the department moves on without them.

Cast refers to the One Trick Pony as person who is great at one thing . . . but just one thing.

These folks are good at doing a good job at what they’re good at. The problem is they become so reliant on what they’re good at—a signature skill— that, over time, unbeknownst to them, they become one dimensional and non-promotable. While Version 1.0s resist change, One Trick Ponies don’t realize they need to change—that they’ve over-specialized and have become pigeon-holed into doing one thing for their firm. Their upward mobility stops because they’ve done the same thing over and over and haven’t had a diverse set of work experiences that provide them with a broad strategic perspective. They don’t understand how other departments function and don’t grasp the activities that drive value for their company’s business. They thought their belief that “we live in an age of specialization” led them to take the right approach, but came to realize that their careers are now limited because of their narrowness.

Know anyone who resists change at every turn? Who you have to basically twist their arm off to get them to sign up for a PD session? Who can’t see the strategic view of your department because they are caught up in the day to day operational details? These are the one trick ponies.

I was this way in college. I’m old enough to bridge the technology gap. When I was in high school we still hand wrote most papers or typed them up (I still recall Mr. Thompson’s typing room) or - if you had a study hall - you could venture to the library and type up your paper or assignment on the apple IIe that was their (provided you had a floppy disk to save your data on).

I became quite good at typing on my electric Signet. When I headed to college, my professors encouraged us to use the computer lab. I wanted nothing to do with that. I was comfortable with my Signet. But I finally relented and accepted the student newspaper editorship. That forced me to abandon my typewriter and learn word processing and desktop publishing.

I thought that was where my skills would end. But then I transferred to BSU and I had another professor demand we set up an email account. Really? This seemed like the most ridiculous thing. Then another took us down to the computer lab and showed us how to navigate the internet? Really? I had Sportscenter, my Sporting News subscription, and access to the A.C. Clarke library. Who needed the internet?

Luckily, I avoided becoming a one trick pony. How did you avoid it?

Teaching Thought #24 - Whirling Dervish

The book The Right - and Wrong - Stuff: How Brilliant Careers are Made and Unmade by Carter Cast is an interesting read that - I think - relates well to teaching.

Cast focuses on five archetypes of employees who - often unknowingly - sabotage their careers and never reach the heights they should. The last archetype is the “whirling dirvish.”

Cast refers to the whirling dervish as the first one who is all eager but is never the last one out. They get the party started and then sneak out and conveniently skip out on helping you clean up.

They run around the office like their hair is on fire, late for the next meeting and muttering to themselves about their workload. They lack planning and organizational skills; they’re often creatively-minded people with a host of ideas spewing out of their brains like a hyper-active geyser—but they have a hard time converting their ideas into action. Because they are known to over-commit and under-deliver, their boss and co-workers can’t count on them to complete their assigned tasks and eventually people try to avoid working with them.

These are the folks who tell you, “Yep. I’ll be there on Tuesday.” But they show up Friday. If you’re lucky! They promise you help and resources yet, somehow, fall off the face of the planet whenever you actually need them.

The whirling dervish suffer from an inability to plan and organize, have zero time management skills, fail to prioritize work activities, and can never disappoint anyone by telling them ‘no’ even if they know they’ll let them down in the end anyway!

These folks look great. On paper. However, over time, you catch on to their empty promises and never seek out their help intentionally ever again.

I teach for moments like this.

This text comes from a former student of mine, Sam Olson (who was recognized in last week's "Where are They Now?" section).

Moments like this are why I love teaching literature. It has the power of fix itself in our minds. Permanently. The best of it changes us and how we see the world.

The best thing is that I felt the exact same way when I read that story way back in 1989 (my sophomore year in high school) when I read it for the firs time in Mr. Sorenson's English class.

I still have gotten over it.

This one is relatively new. Aaron Manke, producer and host of Lore and The Cabinet of Curiosity, also produces this one, which is how I came across it.

As a history fan, I've always been drawn to the darker side of historical events. And that is exactly what this podcast explores. The first few episodes focus on none other than Marie Antoinette. And they're amazing.

Here is a blurb about the show -

"Noble Blood explores the stories of some of history’s most fascinating royals: the tyrants and the tragic, the murderers and the murdered, and everyone in between.

The world is full of ill-fated love affairs, bad decisions, and family drama, but for a monarch, the personal will determine the fate of nations.

And when you’re wearing a crown, mistakes tend to mean blood."

f history’

If you are looking to draw kids in to your content, seriously give the podcast page on iTunes or Stitcher a long look. There is a ton of a great content to be found.

I recently wrote about Hamish Brewer. Here is his story. Ready to be in awe.

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.

Dan Rockwell is one of my favorite follows on Twitter . . . for content just like this. If you're not adapting constantly, you're going to get left behind - or worse - become irrelevant.

Relationships. There should be a class on building relationships in college. It's a must.

The longer I teach, the more I find this to be true. Dr. Tim Elmore is another must follow on Twitter.

This is so true for the classroom too, not just teams.

One of my favorite teachers - and a former colleague - rarely posts on Twitter, but when Mr. Campoverde does, it's gold. I learned so much from our visits together at LHS.

Loop.

I just came across this tool via Free Technology for Teachers. This has real potential as a way to get feedback from your students. Of course, Richard, explain the tool via his blog post far better than I ever could, but what I like about this is that students can leave feedback not just with words but emojis too. That makes it a little bit different than a Google survey.

What else I like about it is that it allows you to ask follow up questions to specific students. So if you create a classroom via Loop and a student (I would have them do it anonymously for the best feedback) leaves some feedback that I want clarification on, I can respond specifically to just that student (even when that student responds to a survey sent out to the entire class). I think that has real potential as an evaluation tool or, at the very least, an exit slip.

This section is dedicated to former students who are now teachers.

When did you graduate high school and college?

I graduated from Lincoln in 2013, and then I graduated from MSU in Moorhead in December of 2017.

Where are you teaching now? For how long? What grades/subjects?

I am teaching 5th grade in Red Lake Falls at J.A. Hughes Elementary School. This will be my second year teaching and second year in Red Lake Falls.

I haven't taught anywhere else, but I was able to be apart of a study group that traveled to Finland to learn about their school system. We visited a few different schools while we were there and heard from different speakers. It was a valuable educational experience and I learned a lot from it!

What do you love most about teaching?

What I love most about teaching is seeing the growth in my students, educational and personal. Watching a struggling student have an aha moment is one of the best feelings as a teacher!

What made you want to be an educator?

Throughout my schooling I had certain teachers that made school memorable. I want to be someone my students can trust and make a difference in their lives, just like my teachers did for me.

This is gold. And it's never too late (or early) to start building relationships with your students.

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

I am about to begin my 22nd year of teaching at Lincoln High School. I graduated from Lafayette High School 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 Chirstensen. 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, and Laura Brickson. 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