Words of Wisdom from the Chief

     The first few weeks of high school for brand new Freshmen can be a bit traumatic.  Everything is so new, not only the surroundings, but also the atmosphere, increased freedoms and more responsibilities.  In middle school, these new 9th graders were the top-of-the-heap, the big-men-on-campus, but when they entered high school, they became the littlest fish in the pond.
    On the positive side of the spectrum there are those freshmen that handle this transition in stride.  Often they have received good coaching from their parents or a little help from an older brother or sister.  I often marvel at the composure and self control some of my students show after the first week when they see just how fast the work piles up.  You can see them focus, prioritize, and give the effort necessary to accomplish what needs to be done. “Good Work!”
    On the other side of the spectrum, there are those freshmen who enter high school and look like a deer caught in the head lights.  These are the students who did not attend Freshmen orientation because, “I don’t like school,” or “it’s not kool.”  On the first day they are lost.  They don’t know where their classrooms are, they show up without a schedule, nothing to write with and no paper.  In addition, they may have a negative attitude toward the entire concept of secondary education.
    When you teach freshmen, you get students for both extremes and in the middle.  One sad part of the teaching game is the students on the negative end of the spectrum get the majority of your attention.  You learn their names first.  You spend time developing a seating chart where you can have the most positive effect on them.  You spend more time watching them to make sure they are on task than you do the students on the positive end of the spectrum.
    So with that in mind, what can a teacher do to create a positive learning experience for all the new freshmen?

1. Create Structure:  If a student is able to establish a routine it creates a comfort zone.  Make your lesson plans have a structure that you can follow day to day and the students can anticipate.

2. Be consistent:  If it is good today, make the same thing good in May.  If you told them it was a classroom rule on the first day of school, make sure it still applies and is enforced, even when it is inconvenient to you.

3. Communicate: Communicate: Communicate:  Just because you say it, doesn’t mean they understand it.  You may have to explain things three or four times.  But, once you are sure they understand it, hold them to it.

    I am far from a perfect teacher, but I have studied the psychology of the 14 year old freshmen very closely for the last 14 years.  It takes experience and practice to know when to give tough love and when to give T.L.C. because every freshman is unique.
                                                      Nuff Said,

                               Chief

  Summer time and the living is easy. How often teachers hear the words, “the best thing about being a teacher is June, July and August.”  For many school districts that has become, “part of June, July and part of August, minus time spent on courses to keep certification.”   Last but not least there is always the “Honey-do list” of items you were unable to complete during the school year because you were busy with extra-curricula activities.     When school begins again in August, so do the 50 – 60 hour weeks.  Even more if you are a coach. When school begins again in August so does the grading of papers.  I usually spend one to three hours a night dealing with the paperwork.  When school begins in August so does dealing with students who have no desire to be in school and let you know at every opportunity.     OK, I know, “Stop Whining.”  I get paid for what I do.  We all know our fellow tax payers just love to shell out money for public employees who get June, July and August off.

Nuff Said, Chief

    Although teens who are close to their parents are less likely to engage in risky behaviors, ALL teens are at risk when it comes to drugs. It’s important for parents to talk to their teens and build open and trusting relationships. The more involved you are in your children’s lives, the more valued they’ll feel, and the more likely they’ll be to respond to you.

1. Establish “together time.” Establish a regular weekly routine for doing something special with your child even if it’s just going out for ice cream. Even a few minutes of conversation while you’re cleaning up afterdinner or right before bedtime can help the family catch up and establish the open communication that is essential to raising drug-free children.
2. Have family meetings. Held regularly at a mutually agreed upon time, family meetings provide a forum for discussing triumphs, grievances, projects, questions about discipline, and any topic of concern to a family member. Ground rules help. Everyone gets a chance to talk; one person talks at a time without interruption; everyone listens, and only positive, constructive feedback is allowed. To get resistant children to join in, combine the get-together with incentives such as post-meeting pizza or assign them important roles such as recording secretary or rule enforcer.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask where your kids are going, who they’ll be with and what they’ll be doing. Get to know your kid’s friends — and their parents — so you’re familiar with their activities.
4. Try to be there after school. The “danger zone” for drug use is between 3 and 6 PM; arrange flex time at work if you can. If your child will be with friends, make sure there’s adult supervision — not just an older sibling.
5. Eat meals together as often as you can. Meals are a great opportunity to talk about the day’s events, to unwind, reinforce and bond. Studies show that kids whose families eat together at least 5 times a week are less likely to be involved with drugs or alcohol.

Nuff Said;

Chief

  The necessity of education for the continued existence of a society is an undisputed fact.  What is disputed is the substance of that education.  There will always be arguments among educators concerning what subject or discipline is the most important within that education.  Is it mathematics, science, social studies, or language arts?
    In 1926, Thomas Dewey wrote in his Philosophy of Education that, “it is in the art of communication where all education should be focused.  Man, being a social animal lives in a community.  A community formed by what people have in common.  Communication is the way in which people come to possess things in common.  Such things as aims, beliefs, aspirations, knowledge, and understanding; our common culture and society.  These things cannot be passed physically from one generation to another.  They must be communicated.  They must be taught, so the next generation may carry on the cultural, intellectual and emotional dispositions so revered by past generations.”
    Nearly every class within the school system is designed to aid students in their ability to communicate.  Math teaches logical thinking.  Science teaches an understanding of our environment.  Social Studies teaches our culture and history and Language Arts gives us the ability to take what we know and communicate it to others.  The ability to transmit verbally, in writing or through symbol is no more important that the ability to listen, read or understand the body language of who you are communicating with.  If we graduate students who do not possess a well developed ability to communicate, we are sending forth students who are not ready to participate within our community.
    Even outside the classroom, communication is taught. A student once told me that it shouldn’t matter how they act in the halls during passing period because that wasn’t a learning situation.  My reply was, “you start learning from the moment you get on the bus, till the time you get back home.”   Communication is practiced more intensely during the ten minutes of passing period than any other time during the day.  The students only have a few minutes to talk with one another so they must be brief and easily understood.   During the lunch break they can have a leisurely conversation, but passing period conversations are communications on the fly.
    When adolescents have difficulties with their parents, the basis of this is usually a lack communications.  When a student is on rough times and is able to make a come-back and overcome their difficulties, it is usually communications that opens the door.  Often I find that one of the major differences between the honor student and the struggling student is their ability to communicate.
    I believe Thomas Dewey was on to something when he wrote, “education consists primarily in transmission through communication.  Communication is a process of sharing experience and knowledge so that it becomes a common possession.  It uplifts both parties who partake in it.  As societies become more complex in structure and resources the need for communication increases.”

Nuff Said,
Larry C. Ingram, ME, USN-Ret