February 9, 2018

What we are learning...

Mr. John Rockne, Math Teacher

What is your favorite color? Green, the color of forests. 

What is your favorite book? David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens.
What is your favorite movie? "The Wizard of Oz."

If I hadn't been a teacher, I probably would've been... a house builder. 

What is your favorite song? Bob Dylan, "Ballad of a Thin Man."

If you could travel anywhere in space and time, where and when would you like to visit? I would travel to this great Pacific Northwest in the 1830s as a fur trapper.

Where were you born? Boise, Idaho.

Any interesting trivia about you? My middle name is Knute, and I am related to the famous coach of Notre Dame.

Where did you attend Middle School? Sacred Heart in Boise.

Who was your favorite or most influential teacher? P. Bede taught me Algebra, and K. Price taught me how to enjoy travel with children.

My 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classes are all now investigating the Concept of Relationships. Sixth graders are relating the variable x to y in equations and forming lines. Seventh graders have moved deeper into this x and y relationship so that the lines are now intersecting. Eighth graders have been optimizing linear relationships by graphing linear inequalities. These relations form the foundation for understanding natural and human worlds in powerful ways. For example, gathering data and relating it in a bar graph is a way to detect patterns and make reliable predictions. The justifications for things such as climate change or the use of investment strategies depend on these mathematical techniques. People who value the clarity that math can provide find a clear path forward into a future of independence and self-reliance. Inspiring middle school students to focus on math as a way to bring order to their lives is an enduring and elusive challenge that keeps my mind active.     

Don't Let Your Phone Control You

Last week, Common Sense Media published a brief article about the ways that smartphone technology and apps are designed to manipulate users' reactions, including our emotional responses. Tips for avoiding that manipulation and feeling of addiction to our phones include: 

• Turn off all notifications, except those from people. 
• Go grayscale. 
• Limit what's on your home screen. 
• Type to find apps. 
• Take social media off your phone. 
• Charge your phone outside of your bedroom. 
• Fight fire with fire. 

The last recommendation might need a little fleshing out. There are apps designed to manage the triggers built in by app and phone designers and engineers, and the site also provides a series of recommendations for kids to use on their devices that help develop time management and healthier habits. Apps range from task managers and anxiety-alleviating calendars to usage-trackers and homework tracking. If your student uses a device and struggles with the attachment to it, or if your student could use some help with time management or staying on task, take a look!

The most important piece of the article isn't necessarily the useful recommendations - it's the recognition that adults are susceptible of being attached to devices just as much as kids. What the article doesn't articulate, though, is the role of adults - parents, teachers, coaches - in modeling healthier use of technology. If we hope our students will develop skills to integrate technology to enhance their learning and their lives - and to avoid the rabbit hole of distraction that smartphones and other technologies invite - we need to model it ourselves. 

February 2, 2018

"The Danger of a Single Story"

In Wednesday's MS Chapel, the Hartmann Advisory introduced the February observance of African American History Month with some of the history of the observance and with Chimananda Adichie's influential TED Talk, "The Danger of a Single Story." Reflecting on her own experiences of being reduced to a "single story," and her own experiences reducing others to a "single story." "Single story" refers to defining an experience based on a single account that provides an incomplete, inaccurate, and potentially damaging understanding of others. It's easy to see the connection between single stories and the development of stereotypes and the marginalization and discrimination that might stem from them.

Certainly, Adichie's reflection speaks to the need to attend to and integrate a diversity of voices and perspectives in the course of learning. This is precisely the kind of work that our teachers do when they attend to diversity, equity, multiculturalism, and inclusion in their curricula and in their classrooms, and it also relates to the vision and initiatives of Teaching Tolerance and similar organizations. However, Adichie's message should also speak to each of us personally to ask critical and, sometimes, difficult questions about our points of view. How do we tell stories about each other? Do we actually seek multiple perspectives when seeking the truth? When we hear stories about others that are incomplete, untrue, or damaging...what do we do next?

Adichie closes her talk with a powerful summary. "When we reject the single story," she says, "when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise." As we continue to reflect on these insights and engage in learning about African American history and culture - not just throughout the month but throughout the year! - our students and we will begin to build "a kind of paradise."

Mind/Shift: Self-doubt and Learning

The Mind/Shift podcast and website explores current research, trends, and resources for understanding and promoting "growth mindset" in individuals. A recent article by Linda Flanagan on the site looks at the impact of self-doubt on one's mindset. High levels of self-doubt seem to correspond with fixed mindsets and the experience of stress. "Though common," she writes, "relentless suspicion about one's abilities corrodes confidence and limits learning, even when that anxiety produces successful outcomes." That doubt might translate into a persistent fear of failure or impeded clear thinking. Flanagan identifies these steps for parents and teachers to buoy students' well-being:

• Change the meaning of doubt. 
• Challenge the self-doubting thoughts.
• Step back in time. 
• Focus on process rather than results. 
• Visualize your successful future self. 

Visit Mind/Shift to flesh out what these recommendations mean and to find more resources for developing a growth mindset in your student...and in yourself!

What we are learning...

Dr. Vicky Lovejoy, Math Teacher

What is your favorite color? Alternating patterns of teal and purple. 

What is your favorite movie? "Out of Africa."

If I hadn't been a teacher, I probably would've been... a veterinarian. 

What is your favorite song? Brad Paisley, "It Could Get Better Than This."
If you could travel anywhere in space and time, where and when would you like to visit? I would love to visit New Zealand at a time before it was heavily populated. I'd love to see the native plants and animals as it is an entirely different evolutionary path.

Where were you born? Leavenworth, Kansas.

Any interesting trivia about you? I used to train and compete with horses, and now train and compete in performance sports with dogs.

Where did you attend Middle School? Colorado Springs.

Who was your favorite or most influential teacher? My Calculus teacher and my Physiology teacher both had a big influence on me.