In an article that I saw on Facebook a former teacher turned administrator spoke of spending a day shadowing a student and taking part in all of the activities including doing labs, taking tests, and completing the homework. She found that this little exercise was a defining moment for her. Suddenly, by walking in the students’ shoes, she had a fairly good idea of what their school days were really like. Sadly her analysis was not particularly favorable toward the routine of classrooms.
The educator learned that during much of the day students spend inordinate amounts of time sitting and being urged to stay quiet. She found herself wanting to get up and stretch and the instinct to yawn was quite difficult to overcome. By the end of her experiment she was more exhausted than she ever imagined she might be but there was no rest for her weary mind because she still had hours of homework to do. All in all she developed a whole new attitude about the life of a student and wondered if we all too often expect behaviors from our young that we ourselves would not want to endure. Continue reading “Changing Places”
As educators we do our best but those of us who are honest know without a doubt that we sometimes make mistakes. Hopefully when we do so we are willing to admit our errors and redress them. Unfortunately that doesn’t always happen in our educational system. Children are sometimes unwittingly hurt and nobody does anything to step forward and change things. It’s difficult to upend the system. Most of society is unwilling to do so for fear of being thought of as rebellious or troublemaking. 
I collect quotations the way some people collect stamps. I purchase magnets, signs, and books filled with wise and witty sayings and then use them to inspire and motivate. I suspect that I knew that I was meant to be a Big KIPPster as soon as I saw some of my all time favorite quotes donning the walls of the buildings of KIPP Charter Schools on my first visit to the original southwest campus. My time in the KIPP world was brief in the grand scheme of things but just long enough to change me forever. It was in many ways the penultimate thrill of my career in education. I was mostly taken by the earnestness of the people representing the three pillars of the KIPP world, namely the parents, the teachers, and the students. When I recently heard the following words, “Learn to live above your circumstances.” I immediately thought of my days at KIPP Houston High School and the wonderful people that I had encountered there. Mostly I remembered the students, a group of young people eager to do the hard work necessary to defy their circumstances even on days when it seemed impossible. This past weekend I was lucky enough to be with three of them who had indeed excelled and changed the trajectory of their lives through their own hard work and the support of extraordinary adults. 
All It Takes Is A Little Love 