Language Arts may be the only subject where the teacher encourages the students to talk. The conversations are based on literature and proving their opinions. I always ask the class to back up there opinions with evidence. Opinions have no worth unless they have some backing. For each opinion stated, it must be backed by information in the story. This causes the students to scan throughout the text to find their clues.

Skimming and scanning are essential skills in today’s information world. There is so much information that comes at us that we must be able to process a tremendous amount. It is impossible to go through everything thoroughly.

Reading the story gives the class one exposure. Going back over the text, gives them that second view. On the second view, they are able to catch things that they didn’t see the first time around. It’s like watching a movie for the second time. We tend to see things and make connections which we didn’t do the first time around.

To enhance the process of skimming and scanning, I ask the class to work together in an open conversation to iron out their opinions, ideas, and support. Next, they take notes on what each other say. They may be in agreement or not, either way; they have been exposed to the process of reading, speaking, listening, and writing. You may recognize these out of order as the New York State standards for English/Language Arts…reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

All learning is contextualized. Instead of isolating these standards, I work them together so that there is meaning to what we do. Our world integrates all of the subjects taught in school. Presenting the material to the class in this format gives meaning to what they do. The jaws drop open when I announce that their work will be graded. I tell them that this is not a dress rehearsal. How you do anything is how you do everything. We set our patterns for success now through our everyday work. It is not often we are hit with a test on the job. However, it’s our day-to-day work that is evaluated. We don’t wait for the test. We know that everything that leaves our hands is a direct representation of who we think we are; that’s the test.

I want the class to see the direct correlation from their work to their performance. I told them that, “I don’t give out grades…I report them.” As you can see, I’m a bottom line guy. The bottom line is that we need to bring our A game to our days. We set our patterns and our patterns set our lives. It is my intention to build successful habits; so then we don’t have to spend the time or effort to change something that doesn’t work.

Until then,
Jim Guerci
TeacherGuy

The affective domain is perhaps the biggest gateway to the intellect of the student. If a student feels terrible about himself or herself then they are destined to follow that path. Many people feel like things are out of their control. The best way to approach this is what I call the paper plate approach. On a paper plate there is the flat area and then there is the fringes around that flat part. I ask students to draw a simple picture of themselves in the center. It doesn’t have to be fancy. I went to Catholic School and had art one time every other week. You can understand that my illustrations were less than detailed. I typically use the patented stick figure. Around that figure, I direct students to write words and pictures representing things that are in their “circle” of control. In the outer fringes, I have them write the things that are out of their control.

During this exercise, students will sometimes be mixed up about the things that are in their locus of control. It is a remarkable exercise of realization because the students are able to organize the thoughts that are around them.

After teaching some control skills, students are amazed in regards to what is in their control. The things they worry about are now defined in the area of out of control. The things that they can control are now under the category of concern. With concern, you can do something about it. With worry, there is nothing you can do about it. This area must be let go since it’s on the fringes, so to speak. Some let their faith fill that void, while others focus on the things they can control.

In the past, the self-esteem movement seemed to get a bit off course. It was all about building someone up with compliments, stickers and prizes. Many of these things were not necessarily earned. It was an idea moved by good intent but fueled by falsehoods and the students saw right through it. The fake monster morphs into a beast that needs reassurance at each turn. The students try to perform like trained animals during the show called schoolwork, sports, or any other event. The impetus for performance moved from internal motivation to external motivation. Some eastern philosophies teach us that what happens on the internal level is manifested in our external. They go on to tell us that if we do not go in, that is, inside ourselves for reflection, then we go without. When we rely on who we are from external sources, we train people to be a temperature gauge. How they are treated is how they feel.

The greater power is from an internal reference. It causes the individual to be a thermostat to their life. They set the happiness scale no matter what the conditions.

Abraham Lincoln was a person who was subject to severe depressions. He found by telling humorous stories, he was able to pull himself out of his sadness. From what Lincoln learned, he stated that happiness is a decision.

There was a study in regards to people who were clinically depressed. They had three groups, A, B, and C group. The A group took medication, the B group did nothing, and the C group where asked to stand in front of a mirror and force themselves to smile. The results where astounding. The C group found themselves in a much happier state than the medicated group. The answer is simple…they let their bodies lie to themselves.
There is a tenet in Neuro Linguistic Programming that states that the body leads the mind. This simply stated, your posture and actions of your body tell your mind how to think.

Just stop and think about an army. When the commanding officer enters the room he says, “Attention.” Everyone’s body becomes tense and strong giving them the ability to attend to the officer’s words. Biochemically, their bodies are releasing awareness chemicals all due to their body posture.

If we equip students with the tools to understand and organize what they control, they can find themselves “in control”. This means that internally they control things. Also, helping them understand themselves, helps students navigate their rough waters of experience and build their self esteme from the inside out. This is much more effective than the outside in approach that we were taught for years to do.

Of course, complements and praise do raise a students’ spirits. However, the internal voice will always dictate the direction of thoughts, feelings, and emotions attached to positive self-esteme.

Be the model of excellence.
Until then,
Jim Guerci
Teacher Guy

The more I work adolescents, the more I see the growing need for mentors. The family structure has been on an ever increasing change in this country. The informal mentorship of the past has given way to expanding hours at the office. With the advent of telecommuting, the “office” hours at home have infringed on the family life. Where is the line of office and home formed? It is formed within our intent and our priorities. We are operating so fast that we are neglecting the very beings we work for…our kids…our family.

Many of us are working ourselves to death. We forget that we make a living by working and we make a life with the relationships around us. There is no wonder that we are more disconnected and dissatisfied with our lives than ever.

Steven Covey, world renowned speaker and writer, states that technology is an excellent servent, but a horrible master. Many of us have become slaves to email, mobile calls, text messages and the like. They are quite literally interupting our lives. What ever happened to excuse me? Well, technology is not going to do that for us.

We are the ones who need to define our time. We need to define the home office hours. I can remember one thing from one seminar I attended on teaching children. The speaker told us that these little critters, as quiet or as loud as they may be, are recording and storing each experience. We are the models of behavior. Each action, each word uttered, each facial expression is recorded by our children and marked in a file called values.

Now the file called values begins to surface in their lives and ours. It begins its conflict as our children seek independence. What was modeled to them comes screaming and slaps us across the face. It has “you weren’t there for me” written all over it. It strikes our hearts and devastates our guilty minds. Our intent was to take care of our children when all we turned out to be were financial benefactors.

Our children love the benefactor for a time and then begin to seek what every human being wants…connection. We have to ask ourselves if we are connecting with our children. Are we modeling more than financial beneficence?

Most people I speak to want their children to be happy and respectful individuals when they themselves show that they are not happy themselves and do not respect the ones around them.

As we seek to define ourselves and bring that to a conscious level, we, in turn, give our children the permission to do the same. We sometimes forget that they are negotiating this world just like us. However, they lack the insights and experiences that we have to offer. Many times we have the informal chance to teach our children with words, actions, or both.

Most of the time we can do nothing but be there for them. It is in our being not our doing that makes us human beings, not human doings. We are the mentors of our children.

If we can’t mentor our children, then we need to make certain that the individuals who our children mostly encounter are in line with our values. Children need the skills to cope in this world. Other than the fortunate individuals, we learned from the college of hard knocks. Why would we like our children to be formed in an almost Dawinian concept?

Keep what you want in mind,
Jim Guerci
TeacherGuy.org