i Welcome to the continuation Table of Contents by Date of Ernie’s Blog in a more condensed format 01: Responding to Feedback for the month of November, 2017. 02: Eliminate the “S” Word 03: My Life At the Moment 04: Comments Upon … a Chris Smither Concert 05: Education as Poetry 06: Reflection in Blue and Red 07: Letters to a Young Teacher [Quotes by Kozol] 08: Baseball Game as a Vehicle to Enhance Memory] 09: Wherever You, There You Are 10: Quotes Attributed to B. F. Skinner 11: Years of Knowing 12: What I Learned From This Class 13: Let’s Investigate the Versatility of Boomwhackers 14: Today, I listened to a Near Perfect Concert Video 15: Helping Children Succeed 16: Music for a Rainy, Dreary Drive to Work 17: In the Quiet Places – Parker Palmer 18: Creating a Positive Tone … a Planning Meeting 19: Quote by Kyle Maynard The purpose of this blog is to provide a 20: Framing a Student in a Positive Light commentary in essays, visual organizers and 21: When Will You Be Ready? poems on topics of interest that stem from the 22: A Missed Opportunity 23: A Thanksgiving Prayer courses I teach at Central Connecticut State 24: A REFLECTION on the Day After Thanksgiving University (CCSU). I hope that current 25: Pay Attention students and reviewers of this blog can stay 26: Personalized Icons for Self-Improvement Graph current on what I have to say on topics of 27: A Contribution to Statistics mutual interest. I consider this outlet to be 28: EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICES one of the main ways I can share my creative 29: Does Summative Assessment … in the Way? work with others. 30: A Journey From Then to Now 01 11/01/17 11/03/17 Responding to Feedback My Life At the Moment I thank all who have written comments to me I'm a bit behind in my postings in this blog since About what I have written and how I see 10/26/17. By the time many of you read this entry I A better day for students in our schools will have backfilled the previous days' offerings. I When teachers can teach without archaic rules have been without power for about 3 1/2 days due to Tied to high-stakes assessments and rigidity. a windstorm that raised havoc with power lines and Instead, we all need a dose of creativity. Students need encouragement to find their gifts TV service. I am devoting today's blog to a follow-up That no one else can do that lifts to an Idea Share on Writing Strategies in which I Them into the spotlight of competency and strengths participated last month. Specifically, I am thinking of Everyone can shine and advance to great lengths a high school student who may be a reluctant writer When we focus on talents, energy and wit but who has a passion for cars. I took a few minutes Engagement, connections, fun and grit. and looked up the makes and models of 30 or so Schools can be a place where everyone can learn cars and put them on a sheet of paper. Then, I And teachers can plan, grow and yearn composed a poem with the intention of inserting one To form relationships to build on and thrive vocabulary word from my list in each line. I was And make it possible for students to come alive; satisfied with the result as it addressed by intent this Awakening each day to each new possibility evening to attend a concert by singer and writer, Of becoming aware of each one's individuality. Chris Smither. I let you be the judge as for its creativity! If I shared my poem with the student I have in mind, I wonder what his poem might be with 11/02/17 the same title. Or, he could investigate his own vocabulary list from his own search of brands and Eliminate the "S" Word models of his own choosing. [vocabulary words and I received a link to a video clip that intrigued me about poem on the following page] not using the "S" word when communicating with a family who recently has a member with Down syndrome. If you prefer not to hear profanity, please do not review this clip. PSA Reveals The Word You Shouldn’t Say To Someone Whose Baby Has Down Syndrome 02 11/03/17 (continued) 03 11/04/17 11/05/17 Comments Upon Attending a Chris Smither Concert Education as Poetry The three professors went to a concert last night To hear Chris Smither in the Infinity Hall light And were not disappointed by what they did hear As the blues from his guitar entered each ear And the lyrics rang true telling of rights and wrongs We heard Blind Willie McTell as his closing song. A “sturdy” song is one that stands the test of time When many renditions don’t detract from the rhyme And meaning that the artist does write and sing - Dylan and Berry were mentioned who bring Such songs who are covered by many fine singers, Two tunes of which in my mind do linger Visions of Johana and Desolation Row to mention By Smither himself – in his own fine convention. I decided that this month I would not see Dylan on his tour As he makes his way to the Atlantic shore In Boston just a few weeks away It would have been my 29th such show, by the way And, instead, I sat in the second row of Infinity Hall To enjoy Chris Smither and to be enthralled By this special talent of incredible creativity Shared by three professors from the local university. 04 11/06/17 11/07/17 Letters to a Young Teacher [quotes by Kozol] Today I looked back on some quotes I extracted from a book a read by Jonathan Kozol. He has been a source of inspiration for what public schools should/could be, especially with urban youth. I will share these quotes with students in my current courses. I hope they have already been introduced to this author and educational reformer. 04 I’m often disappointed, when I visit some of the allegedly sophisticated schools of education, to recognize how very little of the magic and the incandescent chemistry that forms between a truly gifted teacher and her children is conveyed to those who are about to come into our classrooms. 14 I simply wanted to begin by teaching things I knew and loved and felt that I could talk about with genuine excitement, since I thought – and this turned out to be the case – that my own enthusiasm might well prove to be contagious. 15 Establishing a chemistry of trust between the children and ourselves is a great deal more important than to charge into the next three chapters of the social studies text or packaged reading system . 17 . the best defense is to be very good at certain other practices that matter greatly to the school authorities. 05 11/07/17 (continued) Letters to a Young Teach Quotes (continued) Chapter 05: Wild Flowers 19 That bond of trust and tenderness comes first. 45 Fred Rogers . “At quiet times,” he told me once, “young children give us glimpses of some things that 21 . build a good relationship with parents. It’s one of the are eternal.” most important challenges a teacher faces, and I think this is particularly so when racial issues are at stake 49 … “product” (one of a number of such terms within a school. imported into inner-city education from the business world) . “on task” 24 . their children’s principals, who were not always open with them about serious problems in a school and often 52 Once a child writes down something that she actually spoke to them in pedagogic jargon that was not cares about, it’s easy enough to go back through it informative but functioned as a barrier to real with her, word by word, to show her things that she communication. left out. 27 I got to know a lot about my students in these visits Chapter 06: The Little Piper: A Few Reflections on the (home visits). Kids Who Make It Clear That They’re Determined Not to Like Us Chapter 04: Teaching the Young, but Learning from the Old 67 None of us should make the error of assuming that a child who is hostile to us at the start, or who retreats I did not pick out a specific quote from this chapter, but into a sullenness and silence or sarcastic disregard Kozol talks about seeking out veteran teachers and for everything that’s going on around him in the letting them know that their years of experience amount room, does not have the will to learn, and plenty of to something worthwhile. Veteran teachers are the interesting stuff to teach us too, if we are willing to survivors and have seen many, many fads come and go. invest the time and the inventiveness to penetrate his They know the community and may have had the parents seemingly implacable belief that grownups do not of current students when they were students at that same mean him well and that, if he trusts us, we will school. He warns us not to assume that veteran teachers have nothing to offer beginning teachers. Even those probably betray or disappoint him. teachers who have burned out long ago have a perspective that can prove extremely valuable in our deliberations. Learn to separate out the forgotten from the begotten.