It's OK to Learn to Struggle

Some weeks I find myself bogged down in the management of the school and I don't get an opportunity to speak with someone, or read something that inspires my writing. Then there are weeks like this one where I have been overwhelmed with topics. Despite a myriad of ideas on education and where our school is going, I felt the need to write about seeing people struggle. Early in the week, I went to leave and I saw Rebecca Burris and Rachel Spooner helping Luci Sanchez change a flat tire. I did the gentlemanly thing and asked if they needed help. I was quickly hit with a response I did not expect. These ladies were quick to tell me that they did not need any help! They handled it on their own. It took a little struggling, but they got it. 

Later in the week, Coach Fulghum had arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Coach usually unlocks the building each morning, so on Thursday I rode out before 6:00 am to unlock the building, thinking that he he would be on the mend for a few days. At the front door I was met by Coach Fulghum. Less than 24 hours after his surgery, he had walked across the street to the school and had unlocked the doors as usual. He said that the doctor had told him to walk as soon as possible, so he got up and started walking. He may not have been as fast, but he struggled through.

When you're struggling through something, it feels bad. You want to get it over with, complete the task, or get better. But struggling can tell you a lot about yourself. It shows how willing you are to persevere or how quickly you will quit. We have to start teaching students that it is ok to struggle. Struggling makes us stronger and better the next time. It is perhaps our greatest teacher, because we are not quick to forget how we got through. Every day we see students give up. They don't understand a question, or didn't pay attention to directions, or just can't grasp a concept. Sometimes this even leads to behavior problems or dropping out of school. Coaching kids to struggle through things they do not do well initially may very well be the best thing we can teach them while they are with us. They may not use much of the content we teach each semester in their adult lives, but I can guarantee that each of them will encounter struggles. 

Reading Matters

This week our students took the Reading Inventory test and we have a first look at where they are in regards to reading growth. This is something that we pay careful attention to in Greene County in all grade levels. My own second grade child can quickly tell you her lexile and growth from the previous test. It's something all Greene County kids know. If you know me, you know that I'm always looking for an angle and a purpose on why we test. So how much does reading really matter? Consider these statistics:

In a study of literacy among 20 ‘high income’ countries; the US ranked 12th

Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 44 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children

50% of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level

45 million are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level

44% of the American adults do not read a book in a year

6 out of 10 households do not buy a single book in a year

3 out of 4 people on welfare can’t read

20% of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage

50% of the unemployed between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate

Between 46 and 51% of American adults have an income well below the poverty level because of their inability to read

Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year

School dropouts cost our nation $240 billion in social service expenditures and lost tax revenues

There is a correlation between illiteracy and income at least in individual economic terms, in that literacy has payoffs and is a worthwhile investment. As the literacy rate doubles, so doubles the per capita income.

3 out of 5 people in American prisons can’t read

To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests

85% of juvenile offenders have problems reading

Approximately 50% of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as reading prescription drug labels

Statistics like this do not just highlight just how serious our situation is, they are literally depressing. But there is hope. Over time, our students have started to get better at this. 40% of our students read at or above the proficient mark and another 30% are at the basic level. This leaves 30% below the basic level and by the measure of the statistics above, that means that we are making ground on the problem. While we should be proud and celebrate our achievement, this is something that we can never be satisfied with, no matter what the score may be. Keep pushing your students for growth at every level. Teach kids to never be happy with where they are and to always want more and better. Then teach them how to work for it. One day, your students will have children of their own and we will need them to be able to read to them, and to push them as well. Changing the literacy problem in our area and in our country will not happen overnight, but we can make it a little better every day.

Single Parent Households

For most of this week I have been a single parent. My wife took a promotion this summer and I'm tremendously proud of her. She's worked very hard and deserves it. It has brought about some changes in our home and for the first time, I'm feeling what it is like to be a single parent. Erika has been in California on a recruiting trip and I have been making lunches, checking all of the homework, getting the girls ready and putting them to bed each day. I have had the help of my parents a few times to make everything work, but I can tell you that it has been difficult.  The competition for attention between my children and my job has left both coming up a little short in a few areas.

While my wife's absence this week has made me appreciate her, it has also made me understand what many of our student's parents go through as well. 34% of today's students come from single parent households. That is a huge change from 19% in 1980 and just 9% in 1960. Some of you are a part of these statistics (and I sincerely applaud you for making it work).  I write about this, because it is another aspect for us to understand as we seek to connect with our student's families. Connecting with these parents can be challenging enough at times, but connecting with those that are managing life and a family on their own can sometimes be impossible.

This is probably the week when many of you have started making calls home about behavior or academics. As I do every year, I encourage you to try to make a positive call home as your first connection. Est
ablishing a rapport with a parent can be a bright spot in their day and can also help make it easier when you need their support later, especially if they have a lot of competition for their time.

Family

On Saturday morning I received a call from my dad. He told me that his oldest brother had passed away in his sleep Friday night. My dad was upset, but somewhat relieved. My Uncle Ray was given six months to live, about 20 years ago. On Wednesday I decided to make the trip up to Virginia to the funeral and I saw family members that I have not seen since I was a teenager. My dad's family is not very close and for a multitude of reasons, we do not get together much at all. It was great to see everyone and we got to relive some old memories with each other. On the drive home I had plenty of time to reflect. I spend a lot more time with all of you and with our students than I do with my own family. I guess that's somewhat normal for educators. We dedicate so much of our time to school. In a sense we become a family for one another. I saw members of our football team exhibit this on Monday as they carried flowers to the mother of a team member that had lost a parent over the weekend. It was a gesture that seems normal for families and it felt right for them.

Families come in many sizes and in many places. We build bonds with the people we spend the most time with and care about. Like all families, we get on each other's nerves, we can be reluctant to say 'thank you' as much as we should and we take each other for granted at times. At the end of the day, we still help each other and we move on. That's what families do. Sometimes, like it or not, we're stuck with one another. This week I wanted to tell each of you thank you for sticking with me and for being a member of our crazy extended school family. It's nice having each of you with us.

Classroom Culture

This week was by far the best opening of school that I have been a part of. (Hopefully by the time you're reading this, something strange didn't happen to make that statement false!) It was great seeing everyone back and so many of our students returned happy to see us. I was able to also meet up with some of our recent grads this week as they returned home from their first weeks of college. A couple in particular spoke about how easy some of their college classes had been due to what they had learned at Greene Central. That has to be the greatest compliment a teacher can receive. Another encounter I had this week happened at a volleyball game. The opposing team's coach came to speak to me and at first I did not remember her. She explained that she had interned here several years ago during my first year at Greene Central. She wanted to tell me how good of a job this school had done since she had left. She said that you could simply feel it when you walked in the doors. That is the definition of a positive school culture.

This week our students got the same impression from each of your classes. Every one of them learned to feel a certain way about that class when they made a first impression about you, the other students in the room, and how that class was going to go.  Every classroom has a culture. Just as a school's culture can change, so can a classroom's culture. Each day is a chance to reinvent your room. With the first week down, take a moment to reflect on what your classroom represented this week. If you're brave enough, ask your students to define your classroom in one word. No matter what tone you set in the first week, set a goal toward what you want it to become and work toward that goal incrementally. Who knows, maybe one day your students now might just return to visit and see just how much we have all grown as a result.