God and his sense of humor

This past week marked the point in my pregnancy that allowed us to have an ultrasound to see our growing baby.  A decision couples always have to make is whether or not they are going to find out the sex of the baby.  Unlike most individuals of the world, my husband truly believes that there should be a law against finding out the gender until birth.  Needless to say, he is a bit of a traditionalist. 

I on the other hand, typically have a modern attitude about most life events and my type A personality traits actually point to all signs of me finding out.  However it means so much to my husband not find out and it really is the most amazing surprise.  Therefore I go along with this idea of letting the baby’s sex be revealed at birth.  The fun for me is trying to figure out what the sex of the baby is without the doctor or ultrasound technician telling me or confirming this information. 

With the ultrasound of our first child, the hospital had just installed a new sonogram machine so there was nearly an entire hospital staff in the room with us.  Even though it was clear we did not want to know the gender, one the nurse’s looked at the screen and right away announced, “Oh, I see it, I know what it is!”  My thoughts were, seriously lady, I am not an idiot!  Therefore when Carson arrived, I was not entirely surprised he was a boy.  Although since we were not directly informed, there was still some element of surprise. 

 When our second child was born, we were truly uncertain if he was going to be a boy or girl.  I could not read any indications on the technician’s face, my doctor does not find out when the patient doesn’t and I did not catch anything on the ultrasound screen representing he was a boy. 

 Now with this third child, I did want to find out.  However I also wanted my husband to have his fun.  Therefore, my goal was to find out the gender of the baby without being told.  During our ultrasound, I studied the screen very thoroughly.  The baby was very energetic and bounced and flipped around the entire time….obviously my child.  I feel pretty certain that I saw the clue that this baby is a third boy.  Also when the doctor came in and we told her we were having another surprise baby she responded with, “I hope it is a girl.”  I immediately looked over at the technician to try to gauge her facial features and her eyes grew, indicating to me she did not want the doctor to say that again.   

There is still very much a degree of uncertainty of what the sex of our baby is going to be, however I am thrilled either way.  The baby is perfectly healthy and if God wants to give us another boy, he must think we are doing pretty well with the two we have or else he just has a hilarious sense of humor!

Rivals to built in best friends

     As a child, having siblings typically means being annoyed most of the time, having regular bruises, and of course getting in trouble for an offense you didn’t commit.  As I watch my boys grow, I try not to be too terribly frustrated when they have days when they argue and bicker continually.  Every single disagreement they have is basically the same scenario… Gavin irritates Carson by following, touching or copying him and then Carson hits or tackles Gavin, causing Gavin to end up crying and tattling.  Oddly when Gavin tattles, he never seems to remember what he did that caused Carson’s retaliation.

      Although I am now becoming accustomed to watching boys fight, I grew up with younger, twin sisters and when girls fight, it’s a form of art! Precious treasures mysteriously disappear, the light cryptically shut off while you are showering, and phone messages never make it to the recipient…weird, right?  For a period of time I had my sisters trading me dimes for nickels because I convinced them that the nickels were worth more because they were bigger. My sister Jennifer used to grow her finger nails out so she could claw when necessary and Julie actually chucked a dressed cheeseburger at Jennifer’s face once.  However after a period of time, this merciless torture transformed.

      Shortly after I entered high school and my sisters jr. high, the idea of making each other’s lives miserable began to lighten and although the challenge of giving each other a difficult time continued, it became clear, that although we can irritate each other, outsiders were not allowed to participate in the scrutiny!  One occasion I had an ex-boyfriend swerve in the road towards me and although he was not a serious threat, my little sister jumped on her bike, peddled to the grocery store where he worked and proceeded to read him his pedigree, completely humiliating him!  

        As adults, siblings become your built in best friends.  They understand your insecurities and are not afraid to tell you when you look hideous or are acting like a troll. They are always in your corner and always know just what to say. 

        I have shared some of these stories with my boys in hopes of not actually giving them more ideas of how to torture each other, but to teach them that even though they do  not realize it now, one day they will be grateful for each other.  I also share these stories with my students with embellished details, since they usually hear them through my writing.  And the fun part about sharing stories such as these with my students, versus my own kids is any ideas they develop are not my problem to correct….sorry parents!

TPCK+T

          Yes I know TPCK sounds like some sort of gang member’s name and you may be wondering where I am going with this acronym.  Actually TPCK is a teaching model I have learned about this summer.  It stands for Technology, Pedagogy, Content, and Knowledge. These are the essential elements for 21^st Century instruction and learning. 

          This model intertwines these four components of teaching in order to make the biggest impact on student instruction.  Although I agree with this model and find much validity in it, I think it lacks one descriptor, Theatrics!   

          The best lessons I have taught have a high level of knowledge about relevant content.  They use technology to facilitate this information using a research-based teaching strategy along with a huge punch of drama!  Once when teaching narratives, I wrote about being homecoming queen in college, wore a fancy dress and did a dramatic reading of my narrative. The kids loved it, the narratives the students produced were great and the best part of all, I got to wear a tiara for part of the day!

          As a parent think about potty training (content), you have the knowledge of the obvious benefit, you look up strategies on Pinterest (technology) but without the jumping up and down and cheering of celebrating this achievement (theatrics), the behavior isn’t reinforced. 

          Working and learning with kids requires drama and theatrics.  We all love to be entertained!  It helps a concept stick. I am currently working with my youngest child on not saying, “ain’t.”  In doing this, I correct him when he says it, remind him it is not a proper word and of course over dramatize how it sounds when he does say it. I use an exaggerated accent and respond, “You cant say aint ‘cause people will think ya don’t know nothing!”  He laughs because I sound ridiculous but he is finally starting to correct himself when he says, “ain’t; granted he is now saying isn’t when he should say aren’t and vice versa but I am picking one battle at a time! After all we are all a work in progress.

          In all seriousness, TPCK is an up to date model for teachers to examine when planning lessons.  Pair theatrics with knowledge, content, technology, and pedagogy/theory and you have a creative and memorable lesson to convey information.  Go TPCK+T!

 

The Importance of Improvising



      I recently finished reading a book by Tony Wagner titled Creating Innovators and it sparked much thought about the importance of teaching kids and giving them opportunities to be innovators, creators and simply presenting them with situations to improvise. 
     Being improvisers is something most of us probably do without even realizing. For example, this past spring after planting the garden, I was up getting ready for school when I noticed a couple of baby calves that managed to get under the fence and were tromping through my freshly planted lettuce bed. This sent my blood pressure into hypertension! My husband was not home, the garden was a mud pit from a recent rain and I was clothed in dress clothes and heels! Luckily when this opportunity to improvise presented itself to me, I reacted quickly by kicking off my heels, placing on my pink polka-dot rubber boots, shoved my pants into the boots, and hustled to the garden. As I reached the garden, I suddenly remembered that I had no idea how to herd cattle. So I began running towards the calves sinking into the ground with every step and clapping my hands in hopes of scaring or confusing the calves back under the fence and hoping to God that no one was witnessing this chaos. Shockingly enough this tactic worked and the garden was saved! However as I was walking back to the house I spotted my boys looking out the window laughing hysterically because surprisingly my method was not the technique their father uses while corralling cattle…I’m not sure why, it worked flawlessly!
     After this unique improvising experience, I used it in my writing that day at school and had my students laughing while they were describing a time they had to react quickly! Situations like this as well as observing kids when challenges are presented to them makes me think about the fact that students need more opportunities to problem solve and improvise. 
     This notion of course got me thinking about my own boys; so this past week I told my boys that I wanted them to water the chickens but they couldn’t use the water hose. They of course looked at me like I had two heads but after talking about it and getting a plan organized, they put buckets into their little John Deer Gator, drove to the pond below the house, filled the buckets and watered the chickens. Just by having to do this simple task, they had to form and execute a plan in a different format than what they usually would.
     Future jobs are going to require employees to problem-solve, collaborate, improvise and complete tasks that are not yet invented, therefore creating challenges for your students and kids is important to their development. If you don’t devise situations for their benefit, do it strictly for your own entertainment! It is fun to watch a young mind work and form ideas you would not even of considered.

Accepting Change

     I am fortunate in that I work in a district that is very progressive and embraces change. As a professional, I welcome change and attempt to grow daily.  Since my profession is personal to me, the two worlds constantly merge and change filters into both areas of my life as my ideas and opinions about various topics continue to mold. There are many examples of this from my life and many yet to come.

     Being married to a farmer, a change that has taken a long time to develop and still requires regular encouragement is mellowing my road rage when driving behind a tractor, trailer, combine or other insanely slow farm machine on the road.  Frustration flares because I am always in a hurry!  Just like every other working mom, my mind is constantly in a million places and I have a ridiculous amount of errands to run.  Of course living where I do, it is a common occurrence to be brought to a screeching halt when I come across a tractor on the road.  My sister-in-law has the perfect bumper sticker that puts this into perspective:  WTF-Where’s the food, without the farmer? After all, a girl’s gotta eat!  
     This comical, yet thought provoking bumper sticker helps put my rage at bay because everyone has a job to do and every job requires continuous change, development and hard work... at least to be done well.  As a teacher, the biggest change I have made is not only continuing to learn from other educators and reading various books but understanding that I can learn as much from my students as what they can from me.  Granted, the lesson contents are vastly different, knowledge is still exchanged.    
     Although I feel I am fairly welcoming to change, not everyone shares this sentiment.  For example my husband, Robert still uses a flip phone and actually sent a text to a friend who had texted him, “Bobby don’t text.”  Keep in mind this man’s wife is a teacher and tech coach!  
     Every teacher has been in the situation of attempting to understand a child, then meeting the parent and thinking,  “Ohhhh, now I get it,” which explains my children. While beginning the process of converting bedrooms for the baby on the way, my oldest son’s excitement quickly turned to tears as we began placing bunk beds in his room and he whined, “I don’t want things to change.” While my other son started jumping on the new mattresses, ready to move in with his brother.  
     These lessons help me understand as part of my job as not only an eLearning Coach, but apparently a mother and wife as well, I am going to need to continue to be receptive to change and help colleagues and my household members understand that change is exciting..... and only a little scary!

City to country

     If someone would have asked me 15 years ago to describe what my adult life would look like, I would describe it as teaching and living in a moderate sized city, residing in a suburb and married with two kids. I would not have describe it as living on a cattle farm with my husband and sons with a  baby on the way.
      Keep in mind prior to meeting my husband, I had never mowed grass, managed a garden, touched a bale of hay or even considered swimming in a pond; all of which I have nearly mastered in the 11 years my husband and I have been together.
      Despite the fact that I had never even started a lawn mover in my previous life, I am the primary grass mower and weed-eater of my household.  However my skills still need some development.  So far... just this year, I have have ran over a piece of farm equipment, a metal post and lots of gravel. Needless to say the blades on our lawn mover need lots of TLC each year.  However given my background and mowing experience my husband just smiles, shakes his head and regularly sharpens the blades.  Mowing is one of my favorite summer pastimes.  If there were Grammys given for lawn mower singing, I would be an assured winner!
         Another activity that I strangely enjoy is putting up square bales.  To me it is great exercise and I enjoy the bonding with family and friends.  Granted my sister-in-law says I do this ridiculous girly kick thing when I throw the bale, I still manage to get the bale where it needs to go! My boys love to run in the hay field or drive the truck between the bales.  It is truly a family event.
        My oldest son expresses to me on a regular basis how happy he is that we live on a farm; he is just like his father.  Although my life is nothing like what I would have imagined it to be, I would not change one aspect and even though you may find me in my kitchen canning or in my yard pulling weeds, I will likely have some type of fabulous shoes on and of course a stylish outfit.  You can take the girl out of the city but not ALL of the city out of the girl!

Know-it-all teacher to a work in progress

     I made the decision to become a teacher when I was in the 4th grade. Not the typical age to choose a career path I know but I do not usual stick to a traditional format of doing things.  During my senior year of high school, I shadowed a master teacher that also happened to be my 1st grade teacher and while other college students were spring breaking in their bikinis, I was observing and working in classrooms of well respected teachers.  Therefore when I finally graduated from college and was hired into my first classroom at the young age of 21, I was ready to change the world, one child at a time. .. I still thought teaching was about "knowing" and thought I knew it all.
     Along my professional journey, I have been very fortunate to have leaders and mentors steer me to the best books to read, the most dynamic workshops to attend and expose me to all of the best practice methods that are researched-based and sure to help a  kid make great academic gains.  However my best teachers have been and always will be, my students!
     Anyone can teach average, well-behaved students.  You teach them the material, they catch on at a normal pace and everyone moves on.  However contrary to popular belief, average students are the minority.  Most students are either strides above the "average" or on the flip-side, strides below.  Many students have behavior or emotional issues that make learning difficult. Teaching non-average students which is the majority and helping them make gains in all academic areas, earns you the honored title, Teacher.
        During my first year of teaching, I had a 4th grade boy that broke me in right away.  I wish a kid like him for all first  year teachers! He was highly intelligent but was a severely ADHD! He would draw on himself during a lesson, literally try to climb the door frame and of course sit in every position possible at his desk besides the intended posture.  My favorite story about this student is when he was using the restroom and of course anywhere this child went racket and commotion was the result.  I stood in the proper teacher position of the restroom, inside the door frame where I could hear everything but not see anything and hollered something teacher-like I am sure when I overheard him complain, "The one place a man can be a man and Miss Cutter has to come in here." Teaching this student was fun but challenging.  I spent hours directly with this child and many more studying how to make progress with him.  On the last day of school,  I cried when he hugged me.  By the end of my first year, I was beginning to realize that teaching is not about "knowing" but about "learning."
        Another student a few years later also had some attention issues but unlike the pervious student, struggled academically. He would work hard for me and stayed by my side the entire year.  I learned a lot from this student in order to help him make strides.  My favorite story about this student occurred when one of the girls in the classroom was speaking with a lot of attitude towards me and this young man replied to her with even more attitude, "Ba-by- you need Je-sus!" It took all I had not to completely lose composure! However that incident taught me to tap into this child's wit to strengthen his writing.
        Throughout my 11 years in the classroom, I have gained lots of knowledge about kids, learning styles, parenting and a multitude of other lessons.  However I have such a long way to go to be where I want to be.  Teaching is not about knowing it all, but about learning all you possibly can!