MCC Friday Reflections

The brain is an amazing organ.  It controls the entire body and allows for learning to take place.  It's also a very particular organ.  Despite the fact that it has millions of tasks to accomplish every minute it grows bored.  Yes...bored. Part of my job as a teacher is to stimulate the brains of my students.  To capture their attention and cause them to seek more information, to explore beyond their comfort level, and to see the world in a slightly different way than they have before.  Knowing that the brain gets bored easily when subjected to redundancy, a teacher employs many different strategies to combat that boredom. A new perspective must be provided to spark the brain awake!  Think of Fall, or any change of the seasons.  The beauty of nature elicits creativity and a renewed sense within the brain.  Fall's colors, Winter's pristine snow, Spring's vibrancy, and Summer's green all provide a new perspective. This wee...

Each child has one.  They all carry one around with them.  Sometimes they take it out during school; sometimes it finds its way out at home.  There are times when the child tries yet cannot find it.  There are times when it shows up in the most unexpected places.  When pushed to extract it, they often resist.  When encouraged to experiment with it, they often oblige.  It what's inside all of them...all of us, for that matter. The inner writer. We spent a week with Lincoln School's beloved poet, Bill Buczinsky.  A man after the writings of a child's heart.  A man with exuberance, skill, talent, and energy.  He lights up the school with words, sparking the writer in each of our students.  He brings to the table a pencil and paper, mixes in some words, and dabbles with meaning.  He throws around metaphors while delivering the idioms, and he does it with fervor and a passion that's unmistakable. My students'...

I drove to work this morning at just about the same time as I always do…between 6:30 and 7:00am.  The roads were different this morning.  It seemed as though everyone was just a touch more polite; a tad more gracious; a bit more forgiving. September 11 th, 2001 remains in the hearts and minds of so many.  The common thread of 9.11 weaves its way through, around, and between us all.  During stop lights I would look to my right and left at the other drivers.  Most other days I would see people talking on their phones; either hand-held or through their Bluetooth.  I would see people singing along with their music or they themselves glancing around at the other drivers next to them.  This morning, however, I saw none of that.  Every person I saw this morning was strangely silent in their car.  Their faces showed thoughtfulness.  Their expressions were placid.  Their demeanor's were peaceful. The common thread seemed t...

They spend a lot of time in this room. They are here from early morning to mid-afternoon. They work here.  They eat here.  They play here.  They learn here. The find their place in the classroom; setting up their desks to their pleasure; arranging their books and folders in ways that make the most sense to them.  They become comfortable with their surroundings and begin to regard much of what they see as their own.  They share the space, much of the supplies, and the responsibilities. The responsibilities. School is a wonderful place to teach kids about responsibility...both individual and shared responsibilties.  We can elicit classwork, homework, and tests as a way to further develop individual responsibility.  We can look at their desks, their assignment notebooks, and their cubbies to help them organize themselves in a way that leads to success in the learning environment.  In terms of shared responsibility we look to th...

The first two weeks of school have come to an end. Week one was a period of first impressions.  Impressions of the self, impressions of the environment, impressions of how one might fit into a group.  Active games were played designed to elicit group participation, fostering "getting-to-know-you" agendas, and seeking to "break the ice" so a level of comfort can be ascertained.   It went well.   Week two rolled in quickly; bringing with it promises of curriculum work from the week before.  We dived headfirst into reading and writing, spelling and grammar, math facts and geography, not to mention a favorite--science.  We applied the ideas of responsibility, respect and kindness while we learned.  We took to heart the idea that there is a time to play and a time to work...and when those times came about, the kids responded appropriately.  We quickly found ourselves face to face with Friday...Assessment Day!! Every Friday bec...

Kids know they are supposed to do well in school.  They know that the expectations from the adults in their lives are to do well; do you best; be proud.  Each day they come to class they are prepared to accomplish the goal set forth.  Some days they shine like bright stars in the dark night while other days the shine is clouded over by frustration, exhaustion, and indifference. Despite the cloudy days the kids are to return to school.  They are to once again forge ahead with skills, strategies, and concepts that challenge their minds, their logic, and their understanding.  They learn to use resources available to them; they learn to ask questions designed to further their understanding; they learn how to learn. Each year my students set goals for themselves...academic and otherwise.  One such goal is a class goal known as "Unsolicited Compliments".  Each year, the class I have currently tries to beat the class record from the year b...

Running... Original post written on August 18, 2012. Minor changes for clarity made in Aug 2026. Twelve years. That's how long I have been teaching at Lincoln. Twelve years. That's how long I have taken the same route from my house to school. In that time I have seen many houses for sale, then sold. Some were torn down to make room for a new house, a new family, and new students. I've seen the streets that I traverse through Elmhurst being ripped apart and rebuilt to make them safer and more driver friendly, not to mention more car-friendly. Twelve years. I've seen high school kids standing on corners, waiting for the school bus to pick them up for school. Some of them recognize my car while others recognize me as their former teacher. Most of them, however, probably do not pay much attention to me as I pass by. Among all that I see, Monday through Friday mornings there is an unmistakable figure, usually two blocks ahead of me on Fairfield. He is a man. He has slightly ...