Mrvaudrey

Category: Education

  • Vulnerability – Teacher Report Card 2016

    Dear Claire,

    You and I haven’t ever talked about the use of the Teacher Report Card as a way to get feedback from students, but lemme tell ya; it’s one of my favorite things I do.

    Every students’ face lit up when I mentionedbbefore giving them the test on Wednesdayb”After the test, you’ll be given a link. That link takes you to a Teacher Report Card where you will gradeB me.”

    Whaaaat image: Viewminder
    “Whaaaat? Awesome! That’s weird. You get straight A’s, Mr. Vaudrey! I’ma fail you.”
    image: Viewminder

    “Listen, though. I want to be the best teacher I can be, so I’m asking you howB you think the class is going because you know best. Be honest with me. You will not hurt my feelings, I can take it. Here’s your test.”

    And they were honest, as only teenagersB could be. Here’s what happened:

    snip20161007_3

    Good Stuff First

    Quite proud of my top six.

    Stuff toB Ignore

    In previous years, makes me feel importantB also been my lowest-scoring question. It’s notable that most students in the latter half of myB careerB feel that I respect each student (#2), praise good work (#4), and try to see the students point of view (#5).

    Yet I still don’t make them feel important.

    Let me get developmental for a moment; I thinkB teenagers will always have a need to feel important, one that we should encourage and affirm as long as it doesn’t encroach on the importance of others. This is a life stage where the identity is forming, which is why haircuts, hair dye, piercings, changes in handwriting, changes in clothing, changes in language, love interests, sexuality questions, and asking their teacher if he smokes weed…

    …will always be natural parts of being a teenager. It’s developmental.

    So that question will probably always be my lowest.
    (If you also give the TRCB to your students, affirm or disprove my theory in the comments.)

    Stuff to Improve

    Yes, my lowest is still 85% positive.
    Yes, I still want to be the best I can, so I’m looking at the bottom.

    The questionsB above that I’ve shaded … what color is that? … copper?… The shaded items are my focus for the second half of my long-term sub assignment. Plenty of free-response comments affirmed that my classroom management is frustrating the compliant students, especially when it comes to covering the material.

    trc-collage-2016

    Rick Morris, one of the first to dramatically impact my classroom culture, had a clear and consistent classroom management (which he modeled for us in full day workshop). As we debriefed, he said something that has stuck with me for years.

    Shelter and protect the compliant

    Claire, in 6th period, thereB are two students. One consistently arrives on time, completes all her assignments, and volunteers to answer questions. The other students made nothing but negative or disparaging remarks for the first two weeks of school. (He’s better now.)

    When the compliant student asked to move seats, I did. She deserves to be sheltered and protected more than the knucklehead needs an elbow partner.

    Other Stuff

    On the list of “Ways Teaching is Different in 2016 than 2013” is the obsession withB phones. About 25% of students mentioned “phone” in their response,B and we use them for calculators sometimes and that’s pretty much it.

    Also dabbing is new and kinda fun.

    On Wednesday, students gave me their opinions. On Monday, I was more …B demanding… with the class following instructions quickly. Sixth period (of course) felt my wrath first, but quickly fell in line.

    Nobody likes hearing their teacher use the Grumpy Voice.

    Claire, I’m not saying I’ve solved the issue that students mentioned; I’m saying I’m improving.

    Next up, content. Teaching RSP 8th grade in the hood requires a different skill set (and a differentB pace) than teaching these students.

    ~Matt “Farther Up and Farther In” Vaudrey

    P.S. Notable in the student responses is the preference toward math class feeling like it’s always felt. A few students mentioned a preference for the typical math class; one even sat me down yesterday and asked why we don’t take notes and do practice like math class is supposed to. Change is hard. Math reform can’t be done on an island.

    The yellow paper that students mentioned is a handout we use to tackle Appetizers as bellwork everyday. That one student who complainedB can suck it up; it’sB an important part of building number sense and it’s friggin’ fun.

    If you’re interested in giving the TRC to your students, click here to make a copy of the Google Form.

    Andbin the name of vulnerability and transparencybhere are all the student responses.

     

  • Appetizers Take A Long Time

    Dear Claire,

    For the last three weeks, we’ve started class each day with an Appetizer; something quick and accessible to every student to get the math juices flowing.

    Last week’s Visual Pattern was a textbook example of how I hope Appetizers get students thinking critically, attending to precision, critiquing the reasoning of others.

    ...and some other stuff, too.
    …and some other stuff, too.

    Here’s the thing, though; we’re three weeks into class and beginning to settle into a routine (aided heavily by Music Cues). But… the routine is stillB really front-end heavy. When I timeB out each of class next week; I’m betting that the start-of-class routine still takes between 15 and 20 minutes (Work on Appetizer while I stamp HW, go over Appetizer, glue stuff into your math notebook, discuss last night’s HW, announce the daily Learning Objective).

    That’s… like… a thirdB of class minutes spent on the structure of the notebook and building critical thinking skills. Your teammates are leaving the freshmen to structure the notebook themselves; am I treating them too much like the 8th graders they were 4 months ago?

    I confess; I’m feeling some doubt.

    We took and graded a test on Thursday/Friday. I haven’t recorded scores yet, but my peeks over shoulders made me wince as I walked around. In 6th period, two students straight-up said, “Mr. Vaudrey, we didn’t get this far in class. Problem 10 goes into stuff we didn’t do, and I don’t think it’s fair to test us on that.”

    wince2

    In an attempt to model being wrong and keeping our class a safe place to speak one’s mind, I said, “Huh… yeah, you’re right. Let’s make this test out of 9 instead of 10.”

    They both got high-fives for respectfully standing up to an authority figure, but the sinking feeling of Guilt (one of my Three Friends) is making me wonder:

    Am I spending too much time on stuff that Mr. VaudreyB thinks is important? And not enough time on stuff that the math department and curriculum guide says is important?

    It’s easy to give excuses:

    The teacher editionB doesn’t match the student edition of the textbook.
    That chapter isn’t aligned to our pacing guide.
    We don’t have enough time to plan as a department.
    I’m just a sub; I can do what I want.

    The truth is far more haunting:

    These students are accustomed to straightforward instruction where they sit in rows and take notes.
    They will likely score better on tests that way.
    They will definitely be more pleased with the pointsB they earn that way.
    Claire, you might not do Appetizers with your class regularly.
    It’s way easier to march in-step than to drag 36 freshmen off-course forB 53 minutes every day.

    *sigh*
    Okay.

    Claire, I’ve written this advice in a book, on blogs, on tweets, and now it’s time I heard it myself:

    Yeah, it’s hard to change the culture. Our students need to engage math in meaningful ways, and for many, they haven’t before. They might revolt, parents might complain, and the pacing of the course may suffer, early on.

    But it’s worth it. I believe that chasing the SMPs is more important than chasing discrete skills, and they will be better prepared for the Common Core standards if math class is more… mushy… than it was back when it was Algebra I.

    Days, weeks, months, or years from now, these students will be more likely to persevere in their problem solving and theB rest of the content we cover in class will be easier for them and they’ll be more likely to dig in. Further, the “pure math” will come easier when they’re more motivated to tackle foreign-looking problems.

    Claire, I just hope I’m around to see it. You’re back from maternity leave in 9 weeks.

    ~Matt “Onward” Vaudrey

  • This is Fun! I have no idea what we’re doing in this class.

    Dear Claire,

    The title of this post is two real things that were written in students’ name tents this week. I saved them all, so you can learn a bit about your students when you return.

    The first week went off without a hitchb& mostly. The issue that I relayed to you over the phone has already been repeated enough by me. I’m bugging myself that I’m so quick to share that negative story, so I’ll keep it out of print here and focus on the positive:

    Students are beginning to understand that:
    A)B High school math is different and
    B) They will have to talk to each other in class. Quite a bit.

    "Now class, you may mumble, 'Fascinating!' as you return to your seats. In rows. No talking!"
    “Now class, you may mumble, ‘Fascinating!’ as you return to your seats. In rows. No talking!”

    I think I have done aB satisfactory job of framing the class as yours, with me as the long-term substitute. You are such a Classroom Chef, you will have no issueB taking over and adaptingB the class culture and routine to fit what you want.

    And it’s a mark of your own risk-taking nature that you’re willing to let another cook in the kitchen. Well done.

    Even after one week, the students begin to sort themselves based on the expectations of previous math teachers. Using the name tent, students were able to share information about their past math experience with me discreetly. I also got some great data from the math attitude survey, but I will save that for my talk at the CMC SouthB in November.

    Here's a hint.
    Here’s a hint.

     

    This week, I’m hoping to get students’ math notebooks started, begin a math journal (Fridays, maybe), and try the Double Clothesline for solving equations.

    This will be the first of hopefully many lessons that will either surpass my expectations or fail grandly with someone watching. Either way, yee-haw! Taking a risk!

     

    Unrelated: Since I’m still an instructional coach in addition to this sub gig, I got to walk classes the first week of school. After witnessing a classroom that’sB sure to make students hate school, I unloaded on Kris.

    In her usual composed, empathetic way, she patted my hand and encouraged me to “pick the battles worth fighting.”

    “But, but,” I stammered. “Like, you see and hear about bad teaching more often than I do, plus you sent two of your own kids through school! How do you not burn the classB down in frustration?” I pleaded.

    She grinned. “Sometimes, I do.”

    I love my department.

    ~Matt “Long-Term Sub, Long-Term Coach” Vaudrey

  • First Day of School 2016

    Teaching two periods of Integrated Math I while Claire Verti takesB maternity leave, these are my public letters to her, as part of a 12-week series. Hopefully, she starts a blog when she returns.

    Dear Claire,

    I’m sweaty. The air conditioning went out around lunch, so the temperature soared pastB 80B0 for sixth and seventh periods.

    My voice hurts. Leading a classroom based on discussion is stillB a lot of work.B It’s a lot of talkingB to do in the first day of school; even with only two periods, my teacher voice is a little horse.

    I’m busy. I’m wondering how I will be able to stay on top of the prep and still be out the door with time to play with my kids. That wasB kinda one of the conditions my wife laid out before we started this. It’s the same amount of prep for not much fudge.

    I’m a team player. I found out that our classroom is being used for fifth period, which is fine; it’s a great class and it shouldn’t sit empty half the day.B The bummer is that I only found this out when students began to line up at the door after fourth period. I had planned to use that time, instead I helpedB that teacher make a seating chart based on my desk arrangement, which you can see here.

    I’m annoyed. Adriana and I are still not listed as co-teachers for your class, which means we can’t take attendance or post grades. I think I just got an email from the IT guy. Hopefully there is some good news there.

    I’m giddy.

    I’m excited. Both classes took a survey on their math ability today. There were three or four students in each class that didn’t have a smart phone with them, which means (if I supplement with Chromebook and stuff) it should be encouraging when we try to do entry and exit checks later this year. The data from that math attitude survey will (hopefully) show growth when I re-survey them in late October.

    (I really hope it shows growth. I’m kinda presenting on that very thing at CMC-South the following week.)

    I’m pleased with myself. An enormousB freshman in seventh period was wrestling with the Open Middle problem, and he blurted, “This is harder than Pre-Calculus!” Now, there is no way heB could know that, but it felt good it just the same*.

    I’m feeling more and more confidentB in the classroom we’re constructing; itB shouldB be handed to you seamlessly in early November when you return. I’m figuring out ways to smoothly sample all students, use musical cues, and maintain a focus on the process of mathematics, not the result of the process.

    Andrea told me this weekend, “I am really glad you are not in the classroom full-time anymore. In the last two weeks, I’ve heardB you frustrated by a lot by things teachers can’t control. It’s one of many reasons I’m glad you’re a coach, where you have greater influence toB help kids learn.”
    She gets me.
    These next 12 weeks might shove me into in school administration credential yearsB soonerB than I expected.

    In all, you have 72 delightful students that should be trained well in the process of risk-taking, explaining their thinking, and working as a group.

    And a lot of them are white! My schools in MoVal and Pomona had a 6% white population; I am not accustomed to so many students named Madison or Jacob.

    We have four of each in our two classes.

    ~Matt “Another White Name” Vaudrey

    *I later found out, he’s a Junior, so… never mind.

  • Setting Someone Else’s Table

    Dear Claire,

    Yesterday was great. I had forgotten how fantastic it feels to put on some loud music and move furniture.

    That’s not to say that I’mB glad your entire class was boxed up and moved to the middle of the room; that was… not ideal. But it made our conversation necessary; weB had to ask the question, “What’sB the best setup to help kids learn?” Your attention to setting the table makes me smile, since we both know what a big deal it is for freshman on the first day of school. For your/our class to be a place where risks can happen, we have work to do before students arrive on Monday.

    And, thanks to the magic of FaceTime, you could give me directions from the comfort of your own home, comforting a squalling infant while I ditched the T.A. desk in the corner and moved the Algeblocks into cabinets.

    Oh… and the power went out

    Power Out Bub

    Yeah. Right in the middle of Principal Bub’s Welcome Back address, just BEEoooooo. Darkness. He rolled with it, though. The School Resource Officer (why do we have cops in schools?) had to leave to direct traffic, since the entire city of LaVerne lost power.

    Anyway, the real reason I’m writing is to reiterate what I mentioned briefly on the phone.

    I’m so stoked that we agreed on everything.

    It would have been awkward if you insisted on the desks in rows and plenty of counter space for worksheets. Absolutely, it’s your class and I’m just the long-term sub for the next 12 weeks, so I will do what you want. But it’s so much easier when you say, “Yeah, if we move that file cabinet, there’s more room for whiteboard walls.”

    If it wasn’t a FaceTime call, I could have hugged you. I’m so glad you recognize the need for the class to be an inviting place for students to learn, and even more excited you’re willing to sacrifice that tiny, black table whichB you’ve had forever in order to get there.

    Anyway, here’s the before and after for Day One. I had some help from Mr. Eckler, a fridge-sized ASB student named Logan, and Kendrick Lamar.
    IMG_4865

    IMG_4876

    I’ll let you know how the rest of the organization goes on Friday. Oh, and I haven’t even touched the syllabus yet; I’ve been so excited to set the table for your/my learners on Day One.

    Tomorrow will be colorful paper and positive-attitude phrases like “Be Sincere” and “Take a Risk.”

    More to come later as we get our kitchen ready. I’m getting hungry and Monday is getting closer.

    ~Matt “We Gon’ Be Alright” Vaudrey

  • Classroom Management

    After Fawn’s recent post about Jerks and some of the earnest frustration and heartache coming from the Classroom Chef book club on Voxer, I had a chat today with one of our administrators about some struggling teachers.

    These teachers have unruly classes that don’t cover the required content and regularly send students to the office for discipline issues.B Obviously, I won’t name those teachers or give any hints, but my chat with the Admin was meaningful, so I present portions of it here for your feedback.

     

    “If I had to boil it down to one thing,” Admin leaned back in her chair, “it’d be Classroom Management.”

    Having been in these teachers’ classes before, I cocked my head sideways and said, “Yeah… but that deficit looks different in each of these classrooms. I think–generally–effectively managed classes have three things.”

    High Expectations

    “Kids are smart,” I explain. Admin nods from her seat. “Kids will figure out exactly what the teachers expect them to do, and will rise (or fall) to meet the bar we set.”

    Admin exhales slowly, “Yeah, I’ve seen a few who truly don’t think their students can learn. It’s a real bummer.”

    Teachers who struggle with high expectations might say:

    “Ugh. It’s one of those years. I’ve got someB low kids this year.”
    “I don’t know what those <one year below> teachers are doing; these kids don’t knowB anything. They’reB so unprepared for <this grade>.”


    High Expectations     is first on my list; it’s theB entire reason we are teachers. Why on Earth would you sign up to help students expand their minds if theirB instructor believes they can’t?

    That sounds exhausting.

    Conversely, the best classes I’ve seen have teachers who are excited and energized by students’ ignorance. Huzzah!B these teachers cry,B I’ve found another place I can help my students!

    A class where the teacher expects miracles will likely garner a few.
    A class where the teacher expects “little monsters” will have dozens.

    Respect for Students

    “Why do you say it like that?” Admin asks me.

    “I taught in low-income, gang-affiliated neighborhoods and those students taught me quite a bit about authority and respect,” I said, closing her door. B “A common mantra among students was, ‘You gottaB give respect to get it.’ It was often just an excuse to be little turds to the teachers who treated them like… well… like little turds.”

    Admin laughed, “We have a few kids like that.”

    “But that same kid then comes to my class, puts forth effort, and speaks to me with eye contact in full sentences.” I paused, thinking about Eddie, who had his Mexican hometown tattooed on the back of his neck.

    I smiled, “And he only rarely asked stuff like, ‘Where the fuck is the Y= key on this thing?’ ”

    TI-83+

    Teachers who struggle with student respect might say:

    “*sigh* Well, I kicked Fernando out again. He’s just soB defiant.”
    “I had a parent conference for Erika from 3rd period on Tuesday. Surprise, surprise; her mom’s a hoochie, too.”

    Effective Use of Instructional Time

    “Omigod, yes,” Admin nodded fiercely. “There is so much wasted time in these classes.”

    “This is the big one,” I agreed. “A class where students go from task to task, bell to bell, is least likely to have those issues we talked about earlier. That doesn’t mean they’re wasting time doing boring work, the ‘effective use’ has to be based on high expectations and delivered with respect.”

    Admin leaned forward and pointed at my paper, where I’d sketched our conversation. “And all three of these go hand in hand. A really strong set of high expectations won’t be enough if there isn’t respect and good use of time.”

    I nodded, “Yep. Even a medium amount of all three is better than a bunch of one and none of the other two.

    Teachers who struggle with effective use of instructional time might say:

    “It’s so hard to get them motivated.”
    “Frank calls out, ‘Boring!’ right in the middle of class. What a little shit!”
    “They’re just so disrespectful.”

    Light to Drive Out Darkness

    Classroom Management is my favorite example of the duality of discipline; focus on decreasing negative behaviors doesn’t work. Focusing on increasing positive behaviors drives out the negative behaviors.

    12058866295_80d2eae7c8_o

    It’s easy to find stuff to hate when visiting classrooms or describing particular students. The challenge is finding what my psychologist sister calls the “positive opposite” and focusing on that, instead.

    When my 3-year-old daughter hits her brother, instead of saying, “Don’t hit!” we say “Use nice touches.”

    This morning’s podcast from Cult of Pedagogy had an excellent list of 10 Ways to Sabotage your Classroom Management, and #6 hints heavily at the focus above. It’s a clever twist that I’ve come to expect from Jennifer Gonzalez, the author.

    SabotageFullPin
    Click the image for a link.

    Your feedback is–as always–welcome.

    ~Matt “The Y= key is next to the WINDOW key, and watch your language, please.” Vaudrey

    P.S. Unfortunately, all of those quotes are from real teachers. Thankfully, I haven’t heard them in years, and thankfully, my professional circles now include several times as many awesome teachers as miserable ones.

    UPDATE 9 JUNE 2016: David Butler shares the new-teacher perspective on those three items, with some honest frustration and helplessness.

    These are all great points, but I think there are some (possibly a whole group of) teachers who they miss. When I was a teacher, I really really struggled with classroom management and Ibd say my big three issues were (based on your list):

    High Expectations of Myself
    Looking back, I did not have high expectations of my own ability to help all the students learn, or to help them manage their behaviour when they needed help to do so. It quickly became a vicious circle as the less success I had with classroom management I had, the less I expected myself to be able to do it.

    Respect for Myself
    I didnbt give myself the permission to change the classroom environment for my own teaching purposes. I didnbt respect myself enough to ask the students to stop or do other activities. I didnbt trust that the things I was choosing to do were necessarily the right things to do. When I did feel passionate about something that didnbt match with other teachersb way of doing things, I didnbt have the confidence to do it anyway. I didnbt respect myself enough to ask for help from other teachers or my superiors (partly because in my first school I learned no-one was willing to give me help). Without this respect for my own place in the classroom, how could the students respect me?

    Skills to make effective use of time
    I didnbt have a good feel for how much time an activity might take or how engaged students might be with it. I didnbt have a big enough repertoire of different activities to fall back on if my first choice fell through. And I didnbt have a list of routines I could fall into to help me and the students know what to do next. Often I felt over pressured to make my own resources rather than find out what existing resources were there or ask others to use theirs. (It didnbt help that at my first school I was explicitly told there were no resources and that I did have to make them myself.)

    If someone had told me to have higher expectations of my students, respect them and make more effective use of instructional time, I would have thought internally, bYes but how? I have to be in there tomorrow and I donbt know how.b What I needed was guidance in the day-to-day and a friend to help me learn, which for some teachers in some schools is not the easiest thing to find.

  • How Different Are Classrooms?

    This gem ambled across my Twitter feed this morning.

    Oh, baby. What a great question.

    How different are classrooms?

    There are nearly 500 classrooms I can visit on the clock. I’ve probably set foot in half of them, and I regularly hit the same 100, because as the onlyB EdTech Coach serving 13 K-12 schools, I go where I’m called.

    Three things are observable whether my jaunt in a classroom is 30 minutes or 30 seconds:

    Noise
    Productivity
    Mood

    Regardless of age, demographic, or ability, those three things let me infer something about the class.

    Noise

    class

    The door closes behind me and the class is noisy, yet calm. The talk I hear as I weave between student desks is littered with vocab terms mixed in withB casual language.

    “Yeah, but what about … theorem … mad at Mrs. Frizzle … Prussian independence … monksB built them to trade … article after the subject… no idea why… centered on the page … son las diecinueve de diciembre… the fuzzy part on the line.”

    Noise in an effective class is fine; it rarely rises above a hum when focused on the material. Seasoned teachers can tell when it gets too loud, and it’s usually due to one group that isn’t focused.

    Rather than yelling over the din, “Hey, I need you all to bring the noise level down!”, seasonedB teachers mosey over to Francisco’s group and just stand there.

    Conversation drops off asB all students silently stare at their desks. Maria picks up her pencil as the teacher asks, “Whatcha guys talkin’ about? Sounds fun.”

    ashamed-girl

    The girls avoid eye contact and Francisco grins, “We’re talking about how the verb in the sentence is jumping and we’re thinking about how to make a new sentence.”

    “Sounds great! Carry on,” and the teacher leaves.

     

    I’ve watched fantastic Kindergarten teachers herd a whole room of 5-year-olds to the carpet and read through a book, unbothered by their noise along the way.

    Teacher: On Monday, he ate one apple, but he was still hungry…
    Students: I don’t like apples. I had an apple for lunch yesterday!
    Teacher: On Tuesday, he ate through two oranges, but he was still hungry. Marco, keep your hands to yourself.
    Students: My gramma has an orange tree in her yard. My favorite car is orange. I’m wearing orange socks today.
    Teacher: On Wednesday…

    Noise is not the enemy, which leads me to number two.

    This class is very quiet.
    This class is very quiet.

    Productivity

    There are loud classes that are hard at work and there are silent classes bored out of their skulls and doing nothing.

    I walked through four classes this morning.

    1. Silent, diligently working on a computer assessment
    2. Loud chattering about a Twitter war between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton
    3. Light chatter, grading a sample student’s performance task in pairs*
    4. Cacophonous covers of Justin Bieber in “Modern Music” class

    Four very different noise levels, all with students focused on the task at hand, productive.

    Those four classes differed greatly in the Mood, though.

    Mood

    For the classes above, the mood was palpable in each case.

    1. Entered silently in a single-file.
    2. Tumbled in, got right to their seats, and took out their notebooks.
    3. Stumbled through the door, stopped at their friend’s desk to say hello, and ruffled the hair of their crush on the way to their seats.
    4. Digging out their song lyrics and iPods before they even entered the bandroom.

    The mood of a class is the toughest to quantify, but the easiest to notice.

    Teachers who had militant, Draconian mentors early in their career might have a mood that is subdued and frightened.

    Teachers with youth-ministry training might attempt to be “the nice teacher,” and get their ass kicked for the whole first year.

    But teachers who value student voiceB tend to be unbothered by noise.

    The Lesson

    Here is where many teacher preparation programs fall short. Pre-service observations focus on “noise level” and “students on-task,” but the third category directly informs the other two, and a focus on the classroom mood naturally leads the teacher to discover how much noise they prefer.

    And students will work hard in a room where they feel safe.

    ~Matt “The Nice Teacher…Usually” Vaudrey

     

    *Yes, grading a sample performance task. So they know how performance tasks are graded, so they know how to score highly on the performance tasks during the SBAC test. It was a real bummer.

  • Tough Questions

    After dinner, taking a swim in the Atlantic, stopping by the Carnegie debrief dinner, and strolling on the beach with some of the staff, I returned to the bar on a Thursday night after giving the keynote address that morning a few weeks ago.

    Around the table are some folk I’d met at the conference earlier that day.B One of themB had asked for some of my time, so I was glad to catch him in a social setting.

    After several minutes of me listening and nodding, the group finally asked me some hard questions.

    Questions that nobody in my current circle is asking me and questions that I won’tB likely answer how they expect. Questions that made me pause and write them down in a Google Doc titled “Questions to ask myself later.” Questions like:

    • Where do you see yourself in five years?
    • You just spoke toB a room of 150, how will you get to a room of 500? A thousand?
    • Do you want a drink? We have a tab open.

    Inigo-Montoya-okay sure why not

    Vision and Math

    My initial responses headed down the usual, paved path of most of the country’s educators:

    “In five years, I’d like to be in progress on an Administrative Credential. I could go for an Assistant Principal job, but probably not a Principal. Of course, I’d be happy to return to the classroom. I really love teaching; in fact, I may return to the classroom and retire from there.”

    The director-type on the end shakes her head and pounds her drink on the table. “Bullshit. You’re eyeing the classroom because it’s easy and you know you’d be awesome at it. Think bigger. What are some goals that scare the shit out of you? Get outside your comfort zone.”

    anchorman-well-that-escalated-quickly

    Boy, she pulls no punches.

    Am I scared of big goals?

    I don’t think so.

    The classroom is a comfortable place for me, but that’s where student relationships are the closest. Relationships are far more important to me than math.

    After attempting to communicate this, it becomes clear that they aren’t buying it.

    Next to me, a guy says, “You may have impacted… fifty teachers in the room? Let’s say fifty. Each of those teachers have, what… 150 students? Think of that impact; think of how many students you’ve impacted today.” He raises his eyebrows.

    From the end of the table, one of them says, “What would you do if you could impact aB million students?”

    “Look at it this way,” I clarify. “I may have impacted 50 teachers today to change something. That’s probably… at the most, a 5% impact on fifty teachers times 150 students. If I impact 40B teachers in my districtB at, say, 80%, that’s likely still a greater net impact than if I am a full-time speaker.”

    We debated for a while longer until IB noticed my flight was due to leave in 7 hours. I decide to leave on a high note.

    “Okay. The dream that scares the shit out of me; I’d like to start a Teaching School in the same vein as a Teaching Hospital, like a lab where pre-service teachers could observe, learn, and practice alongside veteran teachers in cohorts. Glass walls in the back of all classrooms and it’d be paired with a nearby university, just like a Teaching Hospital. The teacher candidates get tons of classroom experience and observation hours. Plus, it draws teachers and students to the school, who are certain that it’s a great place to be.”

    The director-type on the end raises her eyebrows. “Fuck. I would love that.”

    I strolled back to my fancy hotel room, my head spinning with new questions and new ideas for my own career, wondering if I could steal director-type to run this kind of school.

    There’s a lot to think about.

    lying awake

    Days Later

    I realize that there’s an easy way to compare the impact of various careers.

    I made a spreadsheet.

    It’s clear that there’s no contest. Even after adjustingB the numbers to be crappy curriculum vs. mediocre coach, it’s tough to argue against a curriculum writer impacting the most students.

    Screenshot 2015-07-13 at 9.26.30 PM

     

    Still not enough to make me pursue that route, though. While “student impact” is a strong enough statement for a business card or a grant proposal, I’m not convinced that it’s specific enough goal for me.

    Do More of What You Love

    This week at Twitter Math Camp 2015, keynote speakerB Christopher Danielson encouraged the attendees to figure out what we love, then do more of that.

    I love personal growth.

    Students slowly buildingB their risk-taking muscles.
    Friends having tough conversations that will strengthen a relationship.
    Teachers plucking up courage to try new strategies.
    SpousesB learning more about what makes each other tick.
    A group of pre-service teachers figuring out their own classroom management style and defining a classroom culture.

    I love these things because I love personal growth.

    AndB itB can be done with only one person; I don’t need a million.

     

    ~Matt “Teacher of Teachers… of Teachers” Vaudrey

     

    P.S. A few of these “lab schools” already exist. Some other dreamers and I are buying bricks to build one in Southern California.

    If you’re interested, let’s talk more about it.

  • Keynote, Carnegie, and Credibility

    Last week, I spoke to 170 teachers in Florida about Reaching the Unreachables.

    I really wanna talk about it.

    (Video coming soon)

    Honesty Time

    • Hitching an Uber to the airport while carrying a suitbag still feels very Metropolitan. I hope it always does.
    • It was a boost to my ego to have people recognize me from the bulletin while we sampled the open bar and seafood appetizers.
    • In jeans and sandals, I look like a 19-year-old undergrad hoping to pick up a few pointers at an ed-conference.1 Despite that, everyone I met was delightful, and they let me show pictures of my kids.
    And I sure do love pictures of my kids. Way more than my kids love 4th of July.
    And I sureB love pictures of my kids.
    Way more than my kids love pictures.

    Work

    6:20 AM Eastern: Wake before the alarm to get dressed and have a quick bite before heading downstairs to meet with the sound guys. I have two hours before my keynote address and I want everything to go well. Also, I’ve been adjusting my sleep schedule to Eastern time all week, so my body doesn’tB feel like it’s 3:20 Pacific.

    7:45 AM: Everything is looking good, so I have time to fill a plate with fantastic breakfast.

    7:50 AM: Nobody’s touched the fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice. What a shame. I’ll remedy that.

    8:00 AM: Three time-zones west of me, my wife wakes before her alarm. She tunes in to the live webcast and texts me that she’s watching. I’m comforted by the thought.

    8:30 AM: After a brief introduction, we’re off and running. A Lady-Gaga mic is taped to the hair on the back of my neck and I’m pacing back and forth like a chain-smoking fiction writer. My palms are sweaty and I note that my phone (from which, I’m running the slideshow and reading speaker notes) has a subtle shake.

    vaudrey keynote facebook

    In my head, the roomB was smaller and more intimate. In reality, they’re crammed eight to a table in a room the size of my dream home. Centuries of teaching experience stare back at me and I stutter a bit.

    But I quickly hit a stride and am impressed by the room of nearly 200 presenting their undivided attention.

    Nobody is texting, nobody is murmuring in the back or eating more breakfast. They actually… they actuallyB want to hear my message.

    That surprising fact steels my nerve and I slow down, speaking in a slow, even tone that belies the speed with which I’ve rehearsed. It helps that I know only half the time is me speaking, and the rest is “standB and talk” reflection for the room.

    [[NOTE: I’ve been promised access to the footage, which is fantastic. B I’ll add my slides and post it here when I have it.]]

    10:00 AM: Right on the downbeat of my 90 minutes, I close with the words of my mentor, Dr. Kimasi Browne, and give a room full of teachers this charge:

    All success is the product of thousands of failures, none of which matter after the success.
    Go forth and change the culture of your math classroom to make math meaningful.

    A round of pleasant applause and I’m done.

    10:11 AM: Several handshakes later, at least three attendees admit to paying closer attention to my deliveryB than my content. As P.D. Specialists–they point out–they recognize that teachers are a tough crowd and they picked up a few things from me.

    Cool.

    A few others are simply blown away by my use of my phone as a slide clicker. My quick scanB of the room at 8:15 noted that nobody brought a device and my crowd-sourced effort at note-taking may have been a flop.

    10:30 AM: The attendees trickle off into the first workshop. I hide in the lobby to make sure all my materials are ready for second and third period, where I am to give workshops. The note-taking doc has six pages; some people even googled images to go along with my content. Sweet.

    12:00 PM: Lunch with Rich and April, who both independently asked about an online math community. Luckily, that community organized itself into a system, so it took very little time to show them the hashtag, the directory, and the landing page for TMC. They also watched as I crowd-sourced the finding of a crowd-sourced movement. Very meta.

    1:00 PM: Thirty-five math teachers file into Salon 5 to discuss Appetizing Warm-ups. Essentially, it’s the first course of La Cucina Matematica, andB a great conversation spawned after this Would You Rather task.

    After a teacher attempted to explain the method she used to choose one fraction of pie over another, she murmured, “I don’t know, that’s just how the trick works.”

    denzel what

    In a room full of math teachers, that’s like saying, “I think Star Wars was just okay.” or “Birkenstocks are so uncomfortable.”

    What followed was a great discussion about teaching students atB every level theB why behind the tricks, so that they carry meaningful math skills with them, rather than a tool box full of metalB they don’t know how to use.

    Cathleen, I did the best I could to keep our colleaguesB civil, andB it appears you learned your lesson. For more on how tricks are harming our math students, read this.

    2:45 PM B I’m suddenly and acutely aware that I’m about to do a Google Drive workshop to a room that has a variety of devices and ability levels. That dude in the corner is making a Google account right now.

    On an iPad.

    At work, I do this workshop in the computer lab. Forty identical computers, all with Google Chrome.

    We move at a glacial pace through my Google 101 workshop, leaving nobody behind and I accidentally use some foul language as I describe the use of GAFE in the classroom. Not my best work, but the attendees were pleased, so a great day ends with a C-plus workshop.

    5:20 PM: Sara and Lisa meet me in the lobby to find some local dinner. The Village Eatery, a few blocks away, serves a sublime, mood-altering B chicken sandwich as we discuss the integration of technology into their classrooms. It was a fantastic meal with fantastic comrades; I’d be thrilled to work with either of them.

    7:04 PM: The entire staff of Carnegie is chatting and dining as I walk by, on the phone with my lovely wife. I weasel a chair between Janet and CassieB and B pepper them with questions.

    Putting my Prejudice Aside

    Teacher confession:

    We have regular discussions on Twitter, Voxer, on blogs, and at conferences aboutB The Dark Side of teaching.

    The scorn we visit upon non-teachers who talk about education is paltry compared for the ire we reserve for teachers who leave the classroom.

    For better or worse, there’s a hierarchy in the field of Education. It looks like this:

    Screenshot 2015-07-13 at 9.37.12 PM

    AtB every conference I’veB ever attended, there’s at least one Educational Company in the exhibit hall B with a plucky, well-groomed twenty-something asking me if I’m interested in reaching more students.

    OfB course I am. I’m giving up my Saturday to attend a conference.

    And yet, here in Fort Lauderdale, I’m surrounded by Carnegie staff and they’re all… knowledgeable. And friendly. And competent. And they like students. And love teaching.

    I was baffled.

    These two ex-teachers bookending me on the patio weren’t the first Carnegie employees to impress me, and now I’m curious about the textbook they produced.

    (Which I’ve never seen. That surprised a few people, considering I’m speaking at their national annual conference. It shows me that we agree on some stuff.)

    Leaving the Field

    Later that night, somebody pointed out that many charismatic ex-teachersB make a living doing keynote speeches for educational conferences, and are you interested in doing that?

    Despite a fantastic day, meeting new people, and getting questions that challenged and intrigued me (more on that next week), that profession strays too far away from the classroom for me.

    I’m not so much worried about how myB Ed Cred appears to others, it’s how credible IB feel.B

    So I’ll probably never go work for Carnegie.

    No hard feelings.

    ~Matt “Keynote to Quicktime to Final Cut with iTunes to Quicktime to Keynote” Vaudrey

    1. As a white, straight, middle-class male, I’m not about to complain about the one area where I’m occasionally maligned. It’s not anything close to “oppression”, it’s just a bummer.b)

  • Principal Vaudrey

    Stacy, one my teacher sisters, shouted across the playground, “Why don’t you ask him? Mr. Vaudrey! Mariah has a question for you!”

    It was the end of the day, and I was walking back to my car as Stacy’s 4th graders walked to the bus.

    Mariah blushed and squeaked, “What if you were our principal?”

    I grinned and said, “Maybe someday, but for now, you have an excellent principal.”

    After nine months as EdTech Coach of Bonita USD, I’m starting to smell an administrative credential in my future. My wife made me promise to keep a job for at least three years before chasing the next thing, and there are plenty of ways to grow that will take longer than three years.

    But it doesn’t cost anything to dream. So I’m dreaming.

    Usually, I dream of admin credentials and Alaska. *Gasp* What if I were an administrator IN Alaska?!

    Much like Mariah’s current principal, my style would be hands-off, empowering teachers to take risks and figure stuff out, knowing they have my support. I’ll be picky as hell in interviews, so over time, my staff will be full of people like Jo-Ann, Elizabeth, and Jed.

    However–since you’re reading–I’d like to share a couple things I saw this year that have no place in my school and that I would absolutely chastise immediately (but I can’t this year as a teacher coach).

    Bad Grammar

    Your an educator and your students are their to learn. You’re door should have correct sentence structure on it, so there always seeing good grammar modeled.

    If you noticed the problems with the previous paragraph, you may come work at my school.

    Being Mean To Kids

    During state testing, the bell rang for lunch. Two 3rd-graders whispered, “Yesssss!”.

    The teacher stood up straight and barked, “That’s three minutes off lunch, right there! You gotta be quiet during testing.”

    He has no place at my school.

    Months earlier–during a demo in a first-grade class–the teacher interrupted me and pulled a squirelly, excited, 6-year-old to the side of the carpet, directed him to sit, barking, “If you can’t sit still, you won’t get to use the iPad today.”

    And he burst into tears.

    crybaby-crying-kid-cry-tear-tears-Above-the-Law-blog

    It gets worse.

    Offensive or Ignorant Remarks

    It’s eight weeks into my new job as Tech Coach. I’m sitting in the lounge with the principal and three veteran teachers, pleased to have some camaraderie as I commute through the 13 district schools in my car.

    “My husband is a cop,” says Margie, swallowing a mouthful of spinach salad. “And he says that every time he pulls somebody over now, they’re filming on their phones!”

    “And thanks to Twitter, that video can be shared publicly, so everybody can tell their stories,” I added, acutely aware that the conversation was about to go horribly.

    “Yeah! The cops are tried in the court of public opinion before their shift is even over,” adds the Principal.

    “Like this whole Mike Brown thing!” Adds Paige.

    Uh oh.

    “This huge kid tried to take the cop’s gun, and now he’s like… some martyr!” Margie stabs another mouthful of spinach salad. “He’s a thug!”

    I freeze my expression and my toes curl in my shoes at the word “thug.”

    “There are a bunch of guys like that in jail,” adds Cynthia adds with a grin. “Let ’em rot.”

    Holy shit. I gulp the mouthful of banana that I forgot to chew, sit up straight, and take a deep breath… then I freeze.

    I just met these people. If I unload on them here, I’ll lose their respect forever.

    Exhale.

    If I say nothing and get to know them over the next few months, then our next conversation about race and privilege will be better received and might actually change their minds.

    I left the lounge and sat shaking in my car in the parking lot, not totally sure that I wisely handled this situation: playing the long game and tolerating racism in the meantime.

    I recounted the whole thing to Stevens via Voxer and he concluded that yes, that situation was fucked up, which is a phrase neither of us use lightly nor often.

    Except when people use their power for harming kids. Those people make my blood boil and have no place at my school.

    Confident Meanness

    “Matt! Can I borrow you?” A blonde, middle-aged teacher in the back row waves me over during a break in our curriculum training.

    “My students all recorded video reports for their biographies, and I want to put them into Google and print out a Q code that parents can scan during Open House. Can you help me with that?”

    I grin, “Sure! How about after all of this is over?” I don’t correct her vocabulary; she’ll figure it out eventually.

    “That sounds great!” She replies, “I’m a huge tard with this stuff, so you might have to go slow.”

    I wince visibly on the word tard, but I don’t know this teacher’s name and figure I must have misunderstood her.

    “You used the word tard before. What did you mean by that?” Playing confusion tends to gently remind, without telling her what I would like to say.

    “Oh, like a retard,” she declares. Nobody in her row of tables turns to look. “I’m really slow when it comes to tech stuff, but I do want to learn. I’m gonna write everything down.”

    I’m heading to her class after this. We’ll see how it goes.

    I doubt she’ll earn a spot at my school.

    ~Matt “Principal V” Vaudrey

    UPDATE 2 June 2015: Andrew respectfully pointed out the need of a Principal to be gentle when needed. We both agree that a relationship provides reciprocated input between admin and staff, and a Principal must be a listener first. My rant-like tone here is rooted in helpless frustration for the things I cannot change.