For a year now, I have been following, and am followed by my assistant principal. He's not a stalker, of course. This following business, for the unlikely few who are unfamiliar, is Twitter-related. Social media specialists point out that one's Twitter handle (a throwback to CB handles) should do more than identify one's name. It should also include some information that indicates who you are as a human being. I chose my Twitter handle in a way that would differentiate me as a professional educator from my home account which is related to my hobbies and my daughter's aspirations. So I have two accounts, two handles. 

For an entire year, I have erroneously interpreted the meaning behind my A.P.'s Twitter handle. I was sort-of correct, but did not see what was right in front of me. Today I had one of those V-8/smack my forehead moments. It was the kind of gears-clicking-into-place moment that I know many of my students encounter as well. The tiny bump of endorphins that I felt upon my realization is one I want to capitalize on with my students. My A.P., @jetteryderdad, is indeed a dad as his handle indicates. He is a family-first man. He also shares my brother's first name, so in that familiar sequence of letters, I did not notice the variation in spelling. For this to make sense, I need to get specific. Bear with me.

Jeff's full name is spelled Jeffrey. This is the more common spelling. My brother's name is spelled Jeffery. It is a small and almost unnoticeable difference. So when I saw Jeff the A.P.'s handle, I did not notice the location of the second e/r. In my mind, I reversed them. This is important to my story because I read Jeff's handle as "Jettery"...a child's pronunciation of Jeffery. I assumed that his young son had seen the name and tried to read/pronounce it. I envisioned Jeff's son saying, "You're Jettery! Der Dad!" It would make for a cute Twitter handle story, if it were true. Which it isn't.

Embedded in Jeff's Twitter handle are his children's names. Why I never saw that before is a mystery known only to neuroscientists who study how we catalogue information in our brains. But the experience helps me to remember that not all students will understand the information I am conveying the first, second, or even tenth time. At some point in the future, a child will be sitting in another class, the cogs will slide into place, and the endorphins will kick in. "AHA! There it is! I get it now!" the student will think. I won't be there to see it, but I can be comfortable knowing that I placed the foundation for it to occur. 

Everyone learns at different rates, in different ways. We are ALWAYS learning. Follow @jetteryderdad on @Twitter!

As the day turned to evening, the bubbling anticipation of opening day has me reviewing in my head what my day will be tomorrow. I also know that right now, in the waning sun of the late afternoon/early evening before the first day of school, my friend and colleague for many years will be packing her lunch for school tomorrow, our first day of the '15-'16 year. She has been packing her lunch in advance for many, many years. Her predictability is both entertaining and soothing. She is someone I can, and do, count on for emotional support. Her ear is the first to hear my frustrations. Her dedication to and passion for her chosen career is one that reminds me how noble and honorable the profession. She taught both my children, and I have attended her family's life cycle events. She knows how to laugh, even at herself. She works hard to remind me to balance my work and home lives as my "on/off switch" often gets stuck in the on position. So it is with deep affection that I realize how unique it is that I know she is packing her lunch right now. I even know that it will not be the usual fare as she is suffering with dental problems. But she will not miss the first day of school. Right now, she will be packing soft foods.

I also know that in my school, I am not alone in my blessing of such a trusted and loving colleague. I can think of many other teachers in our buildings whose closest friends are also on our payroll. I know for certain that we are unusual. This is because our school community nurtures the IDEA of community. What that word means in our environment has been the cause of both celebration and discord at times. But the fact remains that our leadership encourages collaboration, thoughtful discourse, play, and forward thinking. As a result, we care about one another. We are upset when an employee leaves, whether of their own choice or not. A physical break in the team's group impacts everyone in some way.

As human beings with personalities, adults with our own issues, we cannot be expected to pretend to be something we are not. Especially in education, serving as role models for our students is the most powerful tool we have. We must be authentic while simultaneously being kind. Although there are many teachers in our school that I would not choose to be close friends with, I cannot think of a single one I would not drop what I was doing to help in a time of need. I also know that if I put out a call for help or asked for feedback, that many would respond immediately. This is not the case in many schools but is an exemplar of what is possible. So, as another year begins, I hold in my heart deep gratitude for the blessing of community in all its forms that lifts me and carries me along.

I am posting a link to our upcoming garage sale. It seems an odd place to do so, but I want the "Upgrade" for the better ad placement from the site. The lines between personal and work spaces are continually blurring thanks to social media. If you are in the Atlanta area and have been looking for inexpensive, original artwork, come to the sale! I'm clearing out the studio - that's good news for you. We're also getting our house ready to sell. Lots of furniture and excellent condition items to choose from.

Come on by!

If you can't see the map, CLICK HERE

In the past, this time of year you would have found me wrapping up my list of end-of-school-must-remembers and building my list of to-dos for my days without schedules. This year I am reticent to make a list at all. I acknowledge my own need to embrace the slowness. I am in deep gratitude to Drew Frank @ugafank for sharing this one.

On a daily basis I struggle with the need to utilize every possible moment in my classroom, with students and without, while knowing that maintaining the rapid pace of work may be counter-productive. Today's educators are, more than ever, faced with never-ending decisions about what to include in curriculum delivery and what to omit. There simply is not enough time to teach every possible concept. As I prepare my students for what is to come, what concepts can wait? Which concepts will generate the most valuable "deep dive"? (A deep dive is my term for engaging in all levels with a concept, not simply teaching what it means, an example, and how to use it.) How much will students discover on their own in project based learning? Is it acceptable for one student to discover the relationship between the etymology, history, and culture of a word, while another is struggling with the mere meaning and part of speech? I know experienced educators will say that this is the benefit of differentiated learning. But the truth is that the teacher feels responsible to guide both of those children in a span of 45-60 minutes. Thus the quick "touches." The daily decision-making about what is critical is what I need a break from. I have a small inkling of triage. None of my decisions is life-impacting. However, I treat each situation with conviction. I need a break from the constant need to be "on." 

ELA teachers, in particular, spend more hours than others working beyond school hours, with the exception of athletic coaches and yearbook advisors. I speak from experience on that. Providing effective feedback for writing takes time. I won't short change my students by cutting back on the amount of time I spend reading and editing their work. So, my decision making spills over to my home life. I think humans must reach a saturation point at which making too many decisions creates the inability to make a decision at all. That's when it is time to step back and renew.

A student recently gave me a bonsai kit as a gift. How timely is this message she sent me. Bonsais require slowness and patience. So do I. I mis-read the instructions and soaked the seeds too long, so I am hopeful the little tree waiting to emerge will still be able to do so. The message of this gift is not lost on me. My to-do list will be much shorter this year. 1. Rest  2. Observe  3. Repeat. 4. Renew.

This week's lesson on the realities of time travel is one of my top three favorite lessons to present all year. Students are reading A Wrinkle in Time, a novel written at a time when our understanding of quantum mechanics was just beginning. When I was in college, a professor put a copy of The Dancing Wu-Li Masters in my hand. (Click this link to read it in PDF form, or find it at your local library, or even better, support Gary Zukav by buying a copy.) I still have it. My paperback copy is dog-eared and faded. It lost its place as my favorite non-fiction book when I discovered Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter. My utter fascination with how our universe is constructed will never subside. So my passion for this topic spills over into my classroom discussion about how this particular novel cannot be categorized. Is it science fiction? No - time travel, worm holes and dark matter are all quite real.  Is it fantasy? Well, one could argue this point merely on the basis of imagined worlds and beings. But the truth is that we have no idea what other life forms might exist in our infinity. Is it an adventure story? Yes, partly. Is it an example of bildungsroman? Yes. It is also a spiritual novel about the forces of good vs. evil. 

For me, one who does not particularly care for the fantasy genre, this book needs a new word. It defies description. It was ahead of its time. It still is. I suppose most ELA teachers approach this novel from the standard viewpoint of teaching. The unit plans that exist center mostly on "...critical thinking skills...comprehension activities, [assessment of the plot, character development], themes, and vocabulary. Through this story filled with beauty, truth and love, students will develop a keener sense of what these abstract ideas look like in the world around them and grow in their appreciation for literature."  (attribution: TeachersPayTeachers, The HOT Spot) This is where my creative brain kicks in. We covered all these topics earlier in the year. This book gives me the opportunity to show students how EVERYTHING they learn is connected. I know that many of my colleagues will think that sixth graders cannot possibly understand quantum mechanics. They would be wrong. Every year I teach this lesson, at least one (usually more) of my students leaps at the chance to explain the realities of time travel, not the Dr. Who version, but the REAL version, to his classmates. 

I get the unique opportunity to astound my students with the amazingness that is science. Doing so assumes I know what I'm talking about. Yes, I do. I am also able to talk about it in a way that makes sense to them. I love when the expressions on their faces change from glazed eyes to "MINDBLOWN!" One student actually voiced this reaction, "Mrs. Stein made my head explode today!" What could possibly be better than that? I WANT exploding heads! Kids were begging for more information. I have provided it to them: More here. This is what school is all about. It is entirely possible that with this one lesson, I engaged a future physicist. In language arts class. I also taught these young people that they are as brilliant as they choose to be. For those students who were not ready developmentally to understand the abstraction that is The Theory of Everything, they still understand that, by golly, this whole wrinkle in time business isn't as far-fetched as they thought. When we read the next novel, When You Reach Me , students have a different understanding of the plot. Suddenly, it is plausible. Not possible, yet, but plausible. We also have fun playing the $10,000 Pyramid Game. Read the book to find out why. 

Some would say this is a #tlap lesson. I'm not sure about that. I wanted to dress up in a spacesuit and cover my door in aluminum foil, but my week would not permit it. Maybe next year. The class began with the lights out as we listened (not watched) the Star Trek intro. I was so happy that some students knew what they were hearing! Yay! As the lesson progressed, I made connections for them that got their brains thinking, "What if?" That is the key. What if, rather than what is. I just love this lesson and am sad that it is behind me. The good news is that I don't have to wait an entire year to share more of my passion about knowledge and learning. I can do that every single day.  

     In the land of suburbia where I reside, the parental conversation most frequently revolves around children's futures. "How many AP classes is he taking?" "Is she dual-enrolling for calculus?" "Have you started thinking about colleges?" "What do you think he/she will major in?" I got this last one early. My daughter was in fifth grade at the time. No, I'm not kidding. I'm on the downside of the hill of life - I still don't know what I should major in, and I have two degrees. I cringe every time someone asks me where my son is going to college. He is a brilliant, creative young man who is not the right fit for the academic world. We knew this many years ago, but do not have the financial resources to send him to a school that would have been a better match. So he has stuck it out in public school, tolerating his classes, and venting about the ridiculousness of having to learn math via videos at home while he wastes his time sitting in classrooms with teachers who do not differentiate. We made an agreement that he would not be forced to take the highest level classes if he agreed to just graduate. He has been counting down the days and has no interest in participating in graduation. 
     Fortunately, he is a self-starter who has pursued his own interests rather than get involved with drugs or alcohol. If your interest is piqued, see the bottom of this post for a peek of his YouTube channel. It is likely he will get into video production on some level, but he really isn't sure yet, and by golly, he shouldn't have to know! There is no "alternative" college that teaches what he could offer. I'm confident, however, that this round peg (he is well-rounded, for sure) will find a hole via some zig-zagging path. He is a young adult who can carry on a conversation about football statistics (I don't know how he retains them all) in the same sentence in which he evaluates the camera angle of the play just witnessed while also offering commentary on the incorrect use of grammar by the announcers. Yes, he is diagnosed with ADD (inattentive, non-hyperactive) but he is also amazingly attuned to his surroundings. His mind is the one that will be able to offer creative solutions to problems. Those students who can only give the "right" answer to a question won't know what the heck to do when presented with an anomaly in analyzing data, whether for business, mathematics, science, or technology. This kid, however, will ponder for a moment, the neurons firing across all the various information he has retained from history, literature, math, science, graphic design, 3 languages, video editing and more...and will offer 'what if' alternatives.
     I was cheering when I read this article about the need for less specialization and more liberal arts studies. (Liberal Arts Article) CREATIVE problem solving comes not from studying and applying formulas and data, but from making connections between ideas that are not inherently related. Mere logic and application are not enough for us to tackle the future. If you are the parent of a middle or high schooler, I urge you not to pre-determine a path for your child simply when an aptitude for a topic presents itself. Just because algebra seems to be "easy" for him or her does not mean it should be a course of study. Students need to see the connections between ALL subject areas. This is the beauty of cross-curricular integration, PBL and Interest-based learning. When the students in my classroom read novels, we cover a wide variety of topical information, not just literary elements and devices. We've tackled physical and mental disabilities and how technology is helping, the advantages and disadvantages of uniformity on both large and small scales, high altitude climbing and the science knowledge needed to survive, political conflict and its causes, and soon...the realities of time travel and the math and scientific facts that support its possibility. I teach sixth grade, not tenth. A student who studies physics and quantum mechanics without reading A Wrinkle in Time, or The Time Traveler's Wife, or seeing Back to the Future (all three of them!) or Star Trek will have no understanding of the human variable that creates the STORY, and finds the solution to the "problem" whether it be fighting evil or finding a way home. We are all doing both every single day. 
     I wholeheartedly support teaching every child science, math, technology, and engineering. I also teach a computer-based graphics design course - to middle schoolers. But those same students need to know how to write, how to speak, and how to tell a story. BALANCE, as always is the key to it all. If we focus only on STEM in high school and higher ed, we will be ill-equipped as a nation to generate new strategies for problems we cannot begin to foresee. How can we plug in a formula when the variables are no longer recognizable? To make sense of the problem, we must first be able to interpret and understand it. More importantly, we must be able to communicate it to others. The world is our oyster - will our young people know what to do with the pearl?

===============================================================================================



Here's a taste of the kid, who is not a golfer. He's a tennis player and a pool shark and does all his own video and editing production.  

The past few weeks I have felt mounting frustration at my inability to participate in collaborative learning going on across the PLN-o-sphere. I had the best of intentions when I joined a group of writing teachers working to better approach the topic for today's learners. I have not, however, been able to read the required text nor complete the weekly "assignments." A second group, focused on global learning, seemed like it would be an easy way to further my connections across cultures and systems. Alas, the only way I can proceed with either group is if I eliminate one or more of the following:

• my family
• my students
• sleep

I was quite frustrated last week at what I thought was an inability to meet a commitment. I'm not a quitter, but that's what I felt I was doing. Additionally, I was doing a pretty darn good job of beating myself up for not having been able to participate in Twitter chats lately. Gosh, if my students would just quit doing the work I ask of them, I wouldn't have to review it! Maybe if my elderly father would just reverse his aging process I would have more time!

Reality check, please.

The truth is, we all want to grab on to the multitude of learning opportunities available to us. For educators, the vast majority of whom are warm, caring, sharing colleagues, the PLN has created an environment that presents more possibilities than one could every possibly hope to utilize. There is definitely a sense of urgency about online connection that seems fabricated yet true. It is happening NOW! The Twitter stream just keeps rolling along, but at 100X the speed of Old Man River. I just can't do it all, no matter how efficient I am. I am a person who is not willing to do something halfway. If I'm in, you've got me 100% or more. But I cannot keep up the pace and be a healthy, balanced being.

Ahhh...sweet revelation!

How grateful I am that I took a moment to stop whining and think about the positives of the supposed overload of information. Fortunately, the G+ world makes it simple for me to dip my toe in the learning stream whenever I am ready. If I want to participate next month, I can, and likely will, even if the "Learning Cycle" is over. For now, I can still lurk and see what others are doing. I can scan and let the participants' responses percolate for later. Somehow, the ideas that are worthwhile for my situation and student body will bubble up to the top of my consciousness and will make their way into my plans. Most importantly, I can let go of the need to do so much. Picking and choosing from the vast menu of possible choices means that there is a lifetime of potential learning available to me whenever I choose to grab it. I choose my own deadline and priorities. Number one on my list right now? Rest for body, mind and spirit.

My uncle, who loves to share his opinions with others, recently forwarded to me a message that is clearly a comment on the political climate, but is missing a point of reference. It is a broad generalization with an ambiguous message. Although there are many statements in this piece with which I take issue, one stood out fully. To see the first half of the article, which is the basis for what follows, click here. The email my uncle sent me contained the information in the link as well as what you see here, which sounds like Jeff Dunham's Walter:

All we will have left, that which can't be changed.......are our "Memories"
Logic is dead.
Excellence is punished.
Mediocrity is rewarded.
And dependency is to be revered.
This is present day America.
When people rob banks they go to prison.
When they rob the taxpayer they get re-elected.

Without a frame of reference this makes no sense whatsoever. However, I have thought long and hard about the statement, "Mediocrity is rewarded." I'm fairly confident that this statement is meant to apply to both the workplace (think U.S. Postal Service) and the educational system. As a teacher, I do not accept mediocrity from my students. In my world, doing so implies that the person has accepted the fact that he/she is not capable of more, whatever more may be. The bar in my class is high. And, gosh darn if kids don't stretch to reach it! Is there frustration? Yep. Is there failure? Yep. Are there setbacks? Yep. But we also have PERSISTENCE!

It is the journey. It is the journey. It is the journey. 

I am constantly whispering in many ways, "Yes, you can. I know you can. I believe you can. Take the first step."

The negative messages we are barraged with from social media, home, parents, and even "friends" and spouses seep through to each of us. Combating them is a daily battle. I readily admit my own escapes and self-soothing methods. Fight we must, if we are all to remain mentally healthy and successful in our socio-emotional lives. Consider then, how our young middle schoolers soldier on daily in the most difficult years of their growth. The environment is even more important than methods of curriculum delivery, confirmation of content knowledge, or foundation of skills that we claim as the goals in school.

Fortunately, I work in a school culture that supports the human being first, not the knowledge. The content delivery is secondary only to helping our parent community raise morally conscious, socially aware, self-driven young people who will take away with their diplomas the ability to make the right choices in their lives...every single time. Still, as educators we must balance experiences with evaluation. Back to this idea of mediocrity; how does it or does it not correlate with brain development? The measurement that defines mediocrity is standardized assessment, yet not all children develop at the same rate. Teachers know this. The expectation that some statistical percentage of the classroom population "should" be able to document understanding of specific concepts by a certain time defeats the opportunity for teachers to meet the students' individual needs. Consider the growth from birth to age four. The pediatrics profession has a range of developmental benchmarks. Some children are able to walk at age eight months (imagine my shock when my son crawled for merely a few days before walking unaided at 8 months) while others take longer to reach this kinesthetic milestone - even TEN MONTHS later! (see milestones) Yet our current educational system does not account for this huge variance in "normal" when it comes to academics.

The more important question in the field is not, "Are standards and NCLB eliminating opportunities for excellence?" The more appropriate question is "What are the benchmark and standards assessment truly measuring?" 

This has long been my torch to bear. Assessment, especially standardization of delivery for that assessment in schools, does not measure ability longitudinally. Schools, generally, do not evaluate students' incremental growth on testing year-over-year. Measurement is a snapshot in time. So what if a student experiences significant growth and understanding 30-45 days AFTER the test? Doesn't matter. This is an issue from pre-K through university level. Standardized testing measures whether students meet a specific benchmark AT A SPECIFIC TIME. This is ludicrous! The benchmarks being measured do not give us a real picture of whether there is potential mastery of a concept. Imagine if, when you had taken your baby for his one-year visit, your doctor said, "Well, he's not walking now. You'd better get some specialized help here." Imagine that your baby STILL wasn't walking four months later? Would you assume that this child would never be able to effectively use his legs? Of course not. So, why do we make these assumptions in the educational realm? What do these tests truly measure?

1) Executive functioning.
    Students who naturally excel in organizational abilities are able to succeed in school because the institution rewards such skill sets. These people turn work in on time, can find the papers and books to study when needed, can plan ahead, and can categorize information in their heads with ease. The most creative students are often weak in or lack this skill. Does that mean they do not understand the material? Not necessarily. Does it mean they cannot think through complex problems and processes? No, it does not. It means organizing, categorizing, and understanding time and planning do not come naturally to them. Processes can be learned over time.

2) Logical thinking, not creative thinking.
    Remember being taught how to use the process of elimination on a multiple choice test? Many standardized tests are designed specifically to test the student's ability to narrow down to two options and then choose the "correct" answer. I contend that often more than one answer is correct, depending on how the question is interpreted. "It depends" is often a valid answer. But standardized tests don't provide an answer with a caveat. Problems are designed to determine whether a student can follow a logical sequence of reasoning while applying a set of rules, mainly to make scoring efficient. This is a specific ability that is not as critical as creative, divergent thinking if we are to survive our future.

3) Rapid processing.
     Tests are timed. Why? Time is money. The business world seeks efficiencies in the form of more powerful computer algorithms, logistics for movement and delivery of goods and products, stronger accuracy at the cash register. The volume of tiny efficiencies adds to the bottom line of any business, including the testing industry. But education, originally designed as an industrial format, is not in the 'business' of generating income. Or, I should say, it shouldn't be. Money now dictates decision making in education, too. Logically, I understand this. The institution is caught between the need to run without a deficit, and the need to attend to its 'customers' as individuals. 
     But as a teacher, I also acknowledge that our human productivity has peaks and valleys. We are not machines who can maintain output at a specific level. Some days we are able to shutter the noise around us and plow through a mountain of work. Are we more intelligent on these days? No. Our intelligence has not changed - the socio-emotional environment has changed. What might happen if students who process information more slowly were permitted to take as long as they need to complete an assessment, even over the course of a few days? I'm willing to bet that in some cases, not all, the scores would increase. Some people's brains literally shut down with anxiety when faced with a ticking clock. Why do we equate processing speed with intelligence or ability? Creative people know that the PROCESS of establishing success via a series of setbacks and opportunities for learning cannot occur within a timeframe measured in sixty-minute chunks. It occurs over longer periods of time, when the chance to learn from process is more important than the product. I contend that the popularity of the maker movement and the hack-a-thons are the result of the human need to simply engage in individualized production which cannot be assessed. There is more than one way to create a closed circuit. There is more than one energy source to create the electricity in that circuit. There is more than one use for the energy. A test on circuits, however, would only permit one correct answer to questions related to this information, and would likely have a time limit.

4) Factual recall (facts, rules, trivia).
     Tests do not engage the ability to process new information, integrate it, and utilize it to problem solve. If our schools are measuring readiness for the coming centuries, counting how many automatic math facts can be accurately regurgitated utilizing a plethora of rules will not get us there. The new necessary is the ability to utilize resources and tease out verifiable data. Specifically with language (which I have discussed on this blog before) testing grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling is obsolete. The language, along with its rules, is changing. Grammar books will need to add a section on transforming nouns into verbs, now a commonplace occurrence. Think texting, messaging, and the like. 

Are students who score in a mediocre range on standardized testing truly mediocre learners? Perhaps the problem is not the learner. To be fair, tests do provide pertinent information, although I'm not exactly sure what that information is. Fortunately, my school looks at a wide variety of evaluative tools when making decisions about student learning, including instructors' observation over a long period of time. Potential and motivation are equally pertinent. Let's try some edumath:

Which equation will generate the greatest value for X?

1. X = student + ability + motivation (intrinsic) 
2. X = student + (ability - emotional deficits) + motivation (extrinsic/negative reinforcement) 
3. X = student + (ability -  insignificant brain development delay) + motivation (extrinsic/positive) 
4. None of the above, because a class of 35 students is impossible to manage successfully if our goal is to touch each child.

The truth is, of course, that testing is a poor predictor of LIFE success. The school environment does not mirror life outside of education. What needs our focus is our EXPECTATIONS, not our assessment. EXPECT mediocrity, and that is exactly what we will have. Teach to the middle stanine, and you will have a spread of average results.

Excellence + genuine (care+concern) + (environment*safety) + tools(traditional+technological) =  Productive member 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------             of society
                                                                        Maslow's Needs

Go ahead - try and put THAT in your test scanning device!

I always look forward to assigning our current project. An alternative method to assessing understanding of deductive reasoning and literature, the Mystery Box project has a student-directed learning piece that has a side-effect I secretly drool over. In addition to demonstrating understanding of plot structure and character development, this project, in which students present written information in a creative way, requires them to choose (almost) any topic related to the suspense/mystery genre, learn a bit about it, then present that information along with the required components. I provide a potential list, but students are permitted to choose an alternative that requires approval. Thus far, two students have chosen topics I cannot wait to read about. I get to learn something new!

One student asked if he could discuss cold cases. I asked him to narrow down his topic. After careful consideration, he offered to teach me, by way of this assignment, about the time period in which Agatha Christie was missing. I never would have thought to include something so...intriguing! Unusual! Mature! This will be fascinating. I will thoroughly enjoy reading about it. He, I know, picked up on my enthusiasm and is equally excited about his endeavor.

Another student approached me this way.
"Mrs. Stein, do you know about podcasts?"
"Yes, I do. Why?"
"Have you every heard of Serial?" (click on the title to learn more)
I practically startled him with my response. "OMG!!!! I listened to the entire thing!"
"Are you serious?"
"TOTALLY!!!" Yes, I was practically yelling.
"So can I talk about the case?"
"Oh man! You bet!"

I can't wait to see what he says. The simple act of restating the facts of the Adnan Syed case, in which Mr. Syed then a mere eighteen years old was accused of murdering his former girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, will generate a significant amount of higher level thinking in this young man. This is sixth grade. SIXTH GRADE! I never, in a million years, would have thought to include this topic for my students to study and share. But because he brought it to me, already knowledgeable about the podcast and the case, he will forge ahead massaging in his brain the facts in the Syed case having read And Then There Were None. Because he both read a mystery novel and listened to a radio broadcast, different parts of his brain will have been engaged. He will make connections that other delivery methods cannot begin to touch.

I'm so excited!!! It will be hard to be patient while the students work on the products in class. I love the happy, creative buzz that happens as glue, scissors, stickers and printed text start flying around the room. Students help one another; they watch one another as each approaches working on the project differently. I do my best to simply stay out of the way and answer questions as vaguely as I can. I want the students to drive their own decision making. This is a safe opportunity for them to take risks, learning as they go, opening doors to topics we don't have the opportunity to approach in the everyday curriculum. In researching the job of a real crime scene investigator, one student processed aloud how investigators in large metropolises such as ours are full-time employees rather than those in rural areas where lower crime rates permit part-time work. Another wondered aloud whether the encyclopedias her family has at home would have information about DNA evidence. She ultimately decided that because they were printed in the 1970's, she is not likely to find information there. Further conversation led us to consider whether dental records are trustworthy if fingerprints are unavailable. To what percentage is evidence OTHER than fingerprinting accurate, she wants to know? "You know, Mrs. Stein, that even twins have matching DNA." Yup, I know. My father is an identical twin. What a world of wonder this opens to us!

The best part about teaching? Learning! Bring it on!