WHY do I teach?

Yesterday was the College Station ISD Kick-Off rally where district employees gathered to be encouraged and challenged for the coming year.  Our new Superintendent, Dr. Clark Ealy, challenged us to think about our 'Why.'  Not the 'what' or the 'how,' but the core, deep, soul-centered 'why' we teach.  As the 1500 or so of us filed out, I was already thinking on this.  And when College Station High School convened on our campus, and our Principal, Mike Martindale, again challenged us to think of our 'why,' I decided this would be a great place to talk about my 'Why.'

I teach because I come from a family of teachers, and I married one.  They seem like great people.  

I teach because my high school AP English teacher, Jack Nims, taught me that the right answer is not always the best answer.  He taught me how to think, not just how to regurgitate information. 

I teach because the more I teach, the more I want to learn.  Just when I think I know all I can about a subject, a little breadcrumb promise of something more is dropped, and I chase it down, hungry for more.

I teach because I have seen the difference an adult can make in a child if they just pay attention.  I have seen the faces of parents who were just thankful I took the time to appreciate their child for who they are, and the face of a student who saw an adult besides their parent care.  I teach for those that have been missed.

 I teach because teenagers today impact our culture more than even they know, and I want to point them in the way that makes them the best they can be. I hate the phrase "Children are our future." They aren't.  They are our now.  They are shaping our music, our worldviews, our technology, our approach to life, etc.  Sometimes it is beautiful.  Sometimes it is terrifying.  Students need teachers that do not seek to make them better people- that would be social engineering.  Teachers should guide and encourage students to find who they are.  I teach to point students to find the best person they can be.

I teach history because I love to tell stories.  I teach psychology because I love to try to figure out the way people tick.  I teach them both because the stories of history and understanding people are my favorite way to point students toward that "best person they can be."

I teach because he moment of understanding is the most intoxicating thing there is on Earth.  Whether you teach Math, Science, English, Art, Football, Foreign Language, Social Studies, Philosophy, or Theology - the moment a student's face lights up with recognition or irreverently shouts out that they "Got it!," is the best feeling there is.  I teach because I am addicted to those moments, and want more and more.

I teach because I want my students to know I see them as people, and I care about them succeeding not because it makes me look good, but because it makes them stronger and smarter people.  I teach because I like my students- all of them.

I teach because teachers matter.  I teach because they are needed.  I teach because they are on the front lines of making a difference in the lives of millions.  I teach because I want to be a part of something that truly, positively affects the world.

I teach because it is-  So.  Much. Fun. 

How Do I Know?

When I step out the door, and look around, the tell-tale light of late summer serves as a reminder that the beginning of a new year is just weeks away. Days that were filled with watching TV and swimming and doing nothing are vanishing in the rear view.

To be fair, I also spent a good deal of my summer teaching summer school and attending trainings. And while my official start is next Friday, my days in my classroom are increasing in frequency and volume already.

I say this like its a burden- but it's not. As I sit in my chair and zone in on my latest Prezi for my new course this year, Psychology, I feel an almost rush of excitement. I know what this class has in store for my students, and I cannot wait to share it with them. I even find myself enjoying the tedium of redecorating my class. And I am looking at my class load filled with on-level classes instead of the Honors I so loved last year and seeing a challenge I plan to rise to.

In the midst of all this pre-year excitement, a question has floated up. I have tried to answer it on my own head, and come up with some answers, but in truth, they are not complete. It is question that I really feel each teacher MUST ask themselves regularly. (Side note, I am a huge fan of asking myself questions. Introspective questioning makes me a structuralist, I guess.) That question is this:

"How do I know if I am a successful teacher?"

You might argue that I should ask about bring an "effective" teacher, but I believe it is possible to be effective and still not a successful teacher. You can accomplish all you need to, but is that all it takes to be great?  No, but it meets the criteria for effective.   So, all great teachers are effective , but not all effective teachers are successful. Effective teachers are still doing awesome, but successful teachers do that elusive something "more."

I think.

Rather than get bogged down here, let me share my criteria that I have attempted to measure what makes someone great.

The most obvious is that their students excel. Scores and passing rates are high, success is the norm. But this factor relies on students as well. A teacher with good scores at a traditionally high performing school will measure success differently than a teacher at a traditionally low performing school. And what if a teacher has high scores, but students don't show continued growth?  Is that still success?  Or what if they show improvement, but the scores are still low- is that success?  I believe this measure has to be taken situationally. High performing students should continue to performing at higher and higher levels, and low performing students should continue to perform at higher and higher levels as well. Success may a hundred for one, and passing for another. But then what of those teachers who are able to draw the A out of the student who has never gotten out of the C's?  These are the ones that move beyond even successful to great teachers. I want to be one of those.  But how do  I know if I have become one?

I think one way they are able to do it is by relationships. A teacher who manages to connect with students will be able to get the students to dig a little deeper, work a little harder, push a little further. I feel pretty confident that I did well with relationships with my students this year. I was honest with them- I never cut corners with "little white lies" that made it easier to go my job. I also owned it when I messed up and readily acknowledged when I didn't know something. I also acknowledged when I knew even I had done a poor job. I think it's safe to say I enjoyed some popularity with my students. But that alone doesn't make me successful. There are plenty of "cool" teachers who don't do a very good job. Their students are poorly prepared, but they had a lot of fun. I hope that I was not- nor that I will ever be one of those teachers. I also do not want to go the other way and be the teacher that seems to enjoy making the students miserable. It is my job to challenge the students, and I believe the more they like- no, wait, that's not right. The more they respect and admire their teachers, the more they are willing to put forth their best effort.   These are the teachers that their students will still talk about in  five, ten, twenty years and more. And not because they were "cool," but because they were invested in their students, cared about their students, and their students knew it.   I want to become  one of these teachers. But how do I know if I've become one?

Maybe it's innovation. Successful teachers try new things. Actually, most teachers try new things. Successful teachers are not afraid to try new things and fail. Repeatedly.   They pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and press on. In a  modified direction.   It is not just using new tech or technique in class, it is finding the best way to fit those new ideas with their population. Innovative teachers also create new things- they are on the vanguard of strategies and projects. Some of their ideas are a mashup of other good ideas, some truly unique and original.   I want to become  one of these teachers. But how do I know if I've become one?

Those innovative teachers need support. From administration to the teacher across the hall, the successful teacher needs help. And is not afraid to ask for it. When they offer it to others, successful teachers are not condescending or holier-than-thou. It's easy to fall into the trap of playing "who knows more."  I know because I feel the tug to assert what I know in a prideful way-  and that's just in everyday situations.  To be a successful teacher, you must want your colleagues to succeed as much as you want to see your students succeed.   I want to become  one of these teachers. But how do I 
know if I've become one?

As I go through this year, I plan to repeatedly ask myself how I am doing in these areas. But I can be a bit biased, so I welcome other opinions as well. It can seem a bit self involved to be concerned about being a successful teacher- and hopefully done day a great teacher- but I know that I am one of THOSE kinds of teachers, it is the students who benefit the most. 

Year End Review aka Summative Blog-ference

So, the year- my first year of teaching is done.  How did it go?  Well let us start before the beginning...

I was surprised, but excited, to learn I would be teaching mostly Honors US History classes when I got this news a couple weeks before school started.  But I was soon after struck with the realization that while other teachers would be primarily concerned with their students passing the EOC (End of Course) test in May, I had to be concerned with getting more students to achieve commended or advanced status- so I set a vague goal.  I really had no idea how to reach that goal, but I surmised it would come to me at some point.  Or, more likely, someone would tell me.

The week before school started, I was approached by Mr. Martindale, the principal, about coaching the Speech team.  Now, I had always wanted to do this, and assumed I might get to at some point.  My first year was not that point.  But my weakness is not being able to say no to things I am remotely interested in, and I agreed to take a program and try to build it from the modest start it had from the previous year- CSHS's first in existence.  My goal here- have at least one competitor in each Speech event- except Cross Ex Debate and the pilot program for Congressional Debate.  Plus, I had to re-familiarize myself with the events after 15+ years away from competition.

With students, my goal was to challenge them and at the same time build relationships that mattered- relationships in which I earned their trust so that I could push them harder, and not alienate.  Relationships where they trusted me enough to share insight on the topic, and know I would not crush them for missing the point.  Relationships where I could teach them more than history, I could teach them how to better live their own lives because of the history they learned.

With my fellow teachers, I wanted to earn their respect.  Here I was, a new teacher who had not been to four years of college studying education and had gotten alternatively certified, and I was teaching alongside them.  I wanted to be a team player, to help the other teachers as they helped me.  I wanted to contribute to the overall success of the school.

If this were an actual conference, here is where you would ask me how those goals turned out.

For my first goal, while I feel I could really increase the rigor (aha- fancy teacher word for make it harder with a purpose), the students performed well throughout the year.  I learned from the first semester, and began increasing the depth of what we were learning in the second.  I think one of my favorite projects/lessons of the whole year was the last one.  Each class had five groups, and each group was in charge of researching, planning, and teaching a lesson over a topic selected by the class that covered our period in history.  Some examples where 1920's Crime, the Role of Music in the 20th Century, Inventions of the late 1800's-1900's, and Pop Culture of various decades.  They had to teach for the whole period.  Yes, there was an ulterior motive for doing this aside from letting students guide their own lesson.  I wanted them to see what teachers deal with daily.  Did it work?  Let's just say I am planning a way to introduce a similar lesson in the first semester.  Oh, and the EOC- I'm pretty sure my students did just fine, and I feel pretty good about my goal.

I was able to have not only one student on each Speech and Debate team, I had a full squad on three of the six teams, and I even had one Cross Ex team after all.  But this is where the awesomeness of CSHS students come in.  By the end of the year, our team had three district champions, four runner ups, we had six regional qualifiers, and that surprise Cross Ex Team advanced to state.  The team's success is contagious, and we will be adding a number of new competitors next year from students who were not even involved this year.  Our program is strong and growing.

Could I earn the respect of the students?  I am not a disciplinarian.  So I could not be the teacher that the students were scared of- that is just not me.  (Though I apparently scared one class enough that they were afraid to mis-pronounce my name.  So, they began to call me Coach.  It caught on.  Made it into the yearbook, and I was called Coach on occasion by other teachers and even administrators.  I protested, but eventually gave up.  "You are a man teaching Social Studies," several students explained, "It is just sort of expected that you are a coach.")  What happened with my students was something even I cannot explain.  They liked me.  They listened to me.  And mostly, they behaved and engaged in class.  They even asked me to take part in a fundraiser for a former CSHS teacher who was dealing with extensive medical treatments.  It resulted in this:

 If you don't want to watch it all, I will sum it up: I start with hair, and end with none.  I would challenge my students to excel on their EOC for themselves, their school, and, jokingly, for me.  One student wanted to start a Twitter hashtag of #doitforLehrmann.  I think I did OK here.

But the teachers' respect- that is the tough one.  I feel I worked hard to be a team player, supporting my fellow teachers in and out of the classroom.  I tried to be willing and able to help as frequently as I could.  When our academic UIL coordinator had a baby in the middle of UIL season, she asked me to fill in.  I did.  Then I made her promise to never have a baby during UIL season again.  I will stick with Speech and Debate.  The biggest sign, for me, was being nominated to be one of the teachers to receive the College Station ISD Teacher of the Month for March.  I am still humbled and honored to have been chosen.

So, that's my year.  I feel it was successful- beyond what I had hoped it would be in every way.  But I cannot take credit for that success- at least, I can't take credit alone.  Those people I set out to earn respect from- teachers, administrators and students- they helped me get here.  To be able to breathe a sigh of relief that I did not just survive, I thrived.  Those teachers supported me at every step, and the administration encouraged and equipped constantly (see the previous blog for more on these), and the students at CSHS are like no others.  Our principal has often said, "No one told them they couldn't win."  No, they didn't, and these students seem to only know and seek success.  My family deserves credit- Kristin has supported me and knew I could do this even when I wasn't sure.  Leslie and Kenna are already planning their CSHS Cougar careers as gymnasts/cheerleaders and/or Strutters.  They are still in Elementary school, plans are fluid.

I do have a concern:  when this year wrapped up, and I looked back over all I had experienced, I realized that it would be difficult to top it.  How can I achieve greater success with students in the classroom?  How can I achieve greater success with the Speech and Debate team when we are moving up to 5A from 3A?  How can I maintain the respect of my fellow teachers and students next year?  Is there a Sophomore Slump for teachers?

What I know for a fact is that I cannot be happier to be where I am.  I am confident that the team I work with is with me.  The students are great- academically and as people in general.  And my campus is beautiful.  I am not fearful of what comes next year- I am excited and eager to get started.  (Not so eager as to wish away summer vacation, though. :) )

I love my school.  I love my job.  I am a College Station High School Cougar- and proud of it.

It Takes A Team

Growing up in an educator family, I often heard how important the team of teachers and administrators one works with was to success. Success for the students, and success for the teacher.

I have seen the reverse of that truth as well. Friends and family that have limped or crawled to the end of their school year, feeling alone and abandoned by their peers and their leaders. As a new teacher this year, the prospect of what teachers and administrators I would work with weighed heavy on me. I had been fortunate to work with a great team in my year as an assistant at South Knoll Elementary last year, but being the "teacher of record" was going to be different.

I wanted a staff that supported me, and I wanted a staff that let me feel like I contributed and was not just the "newbie."  And I wanted a staff that I could hopefully be able to be of service to as well.

From almost the first day, I felt the support and encouragement of my fellow teachers- from my department head April to my mentor teacher Will to teachers in our department like Molly and Chris. They shared ideas and strategies and a listening ear. They were a sounding board , and when necessary a restraint from a well-intentioned but poorly thought out idea.

I found this same support and trust from my administration this year, from the start. I was allowed- and encouraged- to pursue new strategies and lessons. I learned that my principals were not just telling me they appreciated and liked what I was doing- they told others. From my fellow teachers AND my administration I found a level of support and trust I have never before experienced in my professional life.

One of the best examples was the day of District Cross-ex debate. An unexpected ice storm hit, and threw the day into chaos. I was able to sit down with my principal, Mr. Martindale, and he let me make the calls, and backed and supported my decisions the whole way. Meanwhile, my fellow teachers were standing by and offering help as needed. We made it to the meet that day, after support from all levels on my campus fought for our students to still get the chance to compete. Which they did and successfully advanced to State.

As the year has progressed, the support has increased. And in spite of being a first year teacher, I have never once been treated like a rookie.  Perhaps being "old" for a rookie helps, but the credit lies with my fellow faculty and their desire to see a successful campus- which means successful students. One look at College Station High School's two years of existence is enough to see that success is highly treasured. State champions, and champions at other levels, in athletics, academics, vocationals,  fine arts- you name it, CSHS students do well. It comes from talented students and a faculty that believes in their students and works together to make every path a way to victory.  I marvel at these teenagers and the teachers who are so excited for their success, even when that student has never set foot in their class.

My wife has disallowed me from complaining about my first year. Not that I would- or could- if I wanted to. A big reason is the people I work with. It is an amazing team, and it is the kind of place I want to be for a long time.

Here's hoping they feel the same way about me!

Is there an answer to test anxiety?

Perhaps the most frustrating problem I've encountered is test anxiety. Students who are clearly - and accurately- engaged in class who struggle on tests. Now, they don't struggle so much they always fail- they just barely pass. And often, that means we don't worry too much because they are not falling below that all important 70.

But I do worry.

I can see the frustration on the student's face every time I hand back a test that's a good 10-20 points less than they- and I- were expecting. I hate that look.

What I hate more is when the student has resigned themselves to the "fact" that that is just the way they are. It is not their fault, and it is not other teachers' fault, but we've all hit the same brick wall.

Maybe it is the new teacher naïveté, but I don't want to just resign myself to this "reality."  Just yesterday, I looked one of these students in the eye and told them "I'm going to try find a way to help you."  I refuse to lie to that student- or any other.  Just because they are not scoring as low as other students does not mean they are not just as much at risk. Just because they are passing does not mean that they are doing the best they are capable if- and it doesn't mean I'm doing the most I can.  

One reason I became a teacher was to offer students hope. I am not giving up on that.

So, teachers, any advice?

Teachers, Am I Doing This Right?

On August 26, 2013, I walked into a classroom and began a new career.  It was my job to educate High School juniors on the amazing stories and powerful lessons from United States History- 1877 to Present (And the Foundations of American Government).  I planned to blog about this new journey from day one, as a sort of journal about how much I was learning and being challenged.  It would serve as an inspiration- or cautionary tale- for new teachers and veterans alike.  But I very soon learned Teacher Lesson #1:

So, I postponed.

But there have been some great things happen.  And I want to be very upfront- to this point my "first year teacher story" is pretty atypical.  It's been awesome.  The challenges have been few.  I really need to knock on some wood before I continue...

Now, I have a moment, and I want to get this thing started.  The best way to do that is recap- bullet point style:

*The first moment I knew I was getting through to my students was the day, after the pep rally, a student showed me the sign he'd made for ESPN Gameday's show the next day ( it was the A&M- Alabama game).  It was a copy of the Declaration of Independence, with a giant Johnny Manziel signature.  He explained that since the DOI was a list of grievances against King George, he used the Johnny Football signature to illustrate that he had a grievance with ESPN's coverage of the signing controversy with Manziel.  I was too proud to tell him that ESPN would never get that reference.

*I made a student cry when she got back her test.  She expected greatness and got a D.  All sorts of accusations flew- that I didn't teach it right, that the review wasn't good.  I paused and asked what she did to study, then we worked out a plan of action to see that grade improve next time.  Next time, she got a high B.  The next test, a high A.  Ah, progress.

*My fifth period class began calling me Coach.  Nothing wrong with that, except I'm not one.  I coach Speech and Debate, but no one calls that guy "Coach."  I protested, but they kept calling me that.  Then, other classes started.  Then teachers.  Then, an Assistant Principal, in a staff meeting, called me "Coach Lehrmann."  I gave up as I learned Teacher Rule #2:

*Some days, you have no idea what you are talking about.  And the students will know it.  So just go ahead, acknowledge it, and work with the class so you all understand the lesson better.  My day was "US Acquires the Philippines."

*Some days, you will bore yourself with what you are teaching.  My day was "farming innovations of the late 1800's."

*It is a loooooong stretch from August to Thanksgiving when you have no holidays.

*No matter how tough you are, the first time a student says you are their favorite teacher, you will tear up.  Unless you can tell they are saying it for extra credit.  Ah, well, even then a little.

*Last but not least, be willing to embarrass yourself to make connections with the students.  I cannot dance.  At all.  Thanks to the Teacher Dance at the Homecoming Pep Rally, the whole school knows it.  I'm told there is a video.  I have been fearfully watching YouTube for it.  But the students know I will be there for them- even if it's painful to experience.  And watch.

Until the next time!