Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire (Chapters 6 and 7)

Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire:

Chapter 6 (We Won’t Get Fooled Again) and Chapter 7 (What a Wonderful World)

Chapter 6 of Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire is on standardized testing, and is chalk full of statements I think we can all agree with. Rafe asserts that, “the standardized testing obsession that has swept our nation’s schools is schools is detrimental to helping children reach their potential as students and human beings.”

Rafe acknowledges a need for exams to test knowledge, but points out several problems with standardized tests. He explains that students are burnt out and no longer care, because of how many tests they are given. They also don’t see their results for a very long time, and when they do, aren’t able to go over what they did right or wrong. He also notes that the tests are not truly “standardized,” as they are administered by a teacher in his own classroom. Some, he says, even help their students cheat by giving answers or more time. Perhaps most shockingly, he suggests that the testing services want the students to fail, as they profit off of the fear of failure.

Rafe outlines his tips for success with regards to testing. He mentions study techniques, consequences, and test taking skills. His most important points are that students should be taught to study effectively and apply good test-taking skills, parents and teacher should impress upon students that they will love them no matter the results, and students should know that these tests are only to measure a skill, and bad test results won’t ruin their futures. He also talks about how scaring children only serves to hinder their academic performance, and that test results don’t measure the most important things in life: “character, honesty, morality, and generosity of spirit.”

Chapter 7 makes a shift back to content. Rafe discusses history and geography, and how they are not taught nearly as well or as much as they should be. He comes up with several good suggestions for how to work it into curriculum. Some of my favorites include: talking to students about what holidays mean when they come up, discussing current events, and working in Geography with history.

It is important that young people understand the world around them, and outside of the bubble of their city, state, and even country. Rafe suggests www.worldatlas.com, as an excellent tool to help children learn to identify countries and continents. He also suggests using games (like one called “table points”), showing films, and playing speeches, which can often be found online.

He finishes up with fun projects that parents can do with kids, and a fun project teachers can do with kids. Parents who take their children on trips can purchase a little book called “Passport to Your National Park” on www.eparks.com, which helps young people learn about the United States. As for a class activity, Rafe explains that his classroom has a poster of all the state license plates with bits of the Preamble written on each one. His class makes their own license plates out of paper and do the same thing as the poster (based off an art exhibit) which helps them gain a better understanding of both the Preamble of the Constitution and the 50 states.

Month in Review: February 2017

With February over, I thought I'd show my planner pages for the month, just like I did in January. But, unlike last month, I thought it might be fun to include some of my personal highlights from February.

1. By far my favorite thing I did this month was go to LA during Valentine's weekend with my Valentine!

We ate delicious food:

Bought way too much candy at a magical candy store called It's Sugar:

And checked out this cute LA landmark (like in La La Land!):

2. I also had a lot of fun this month trying to make some cook/bake a little more! I've never spent much time in the kitchen, but my boyfriend and I whipped up 2 pizzas and a pie this month, and they were honestly pretty amazing.
(Blackberry pie)

(2 kinds of pizza!)
Pizza 1:
Alfredo sauce, pizza cheese mix, feta cheese, chicken, bacon.
Pizza 2:
Pesto sauce, pizza cheese mix, salami, bell peppers, Kalamata olives.

3. I've also had a lot of fun this month trying out a photo a day challenge on my Instagram for this blog! (@thewhimsicaleducator). One of my favorite bloggers, Scathingly Brilliant (@kategabrille on IG) posts prompts for each day on a monthly basis, and I've been keeping up as best I can! I started late in January, so I didn't get very many in, but in February I've only missed 3!

These were her prompts, and below are a few of my favorite pictures that I posted.

(Feb. 3: Something pink) 

(Feb. 12: A doodle)

(Feb 22: Bedhead)

It's something I really love to do, because I feel like it forces me to be at least a little creative every day! I'm going to try to not miss any in March, and hopefully keep it up for the whole year!

Outfits: February 2017

I really need to start taking more outfit pictures, because it looks like there were only 9 days in February!? Maybe I'll start doing 5 instead of 3 a week... that just seems so cramped to me though!

This month, I wore a lot of Valentine's themed clothes (hearts, flowers, and kisses!) as well as my go-to pastels. 

My Health and Fitness

My word of the month for February was "health", and I succeeded in making some small strides in the area of health and fitness, but I still have a long way to go! (In fact, I've decided to make my goal word for March: "exercise", to continue working but get a little more specific).

I've never been very good at being active, and I generally eat pretty healthy in the sense that I don't eat fast food or frozen foods, but I definitely enjoy a lot more cheese, bread, and sugar than I should. I've been trying to make small changes, that I can (more or less) stick to!

So far, here is what I'm working on changing:

Food:

I try to make my biggest meal breakfast, and gradually eat less throughout the day. This is hard for me, because I don't love breakfast foods like I love lunch and dinner foods, but since I have class in the morning every day, the energy breakfast gives me is necessary. It's also supposed to help you eat less throughout the day.

My breakfasts usually consist of:
- a breakfast sandwich (not great for you, but the cafeteria doesn't offer many choices). I get eggs, cheese, and bacon on an English muffin, so I feel like it's a good amount of protein.
- either yogurt and granola or fruit

Lunch/Snack:

I try not to eat a meal for lunch, and instead snack on something healthy after my class gets out at noon every day. This could be a few different things:
- a banana and peanut butter that I take from the cafeteria at breakfast and save. (Again, I acknowledge that the peanut butter probably isn't amazing for me, but I'm trying to keep my goals realistic).
- any combination of dried fruit, applesauce, and nuts. (Sometimes trail mix with chocolate in it).
- a green drink, at least once a day.

Dinner:

For dinner, I either go to the cafeteria again or have something else snack-y in my room. I stick to a few basics:
- a salad, or a wrap (just a salad in a spinach wrap).
- More fruit/applesauce/nuts
- a burrito (I only put rice, chicken, and cheese).

I really like these meals because I don't feel restricted at all - they're things I already like, and they're easy. On weekends, and whenever I'm with friends, I eat whatever I want. I feel like it's most important to enjoy your life! I'm just trying to be a little more conscious of what I eat, and attempting to cut out sandwiches, sweets, and sugary drinks.

Speaking of beverages:

I used to occasionally get coffee in the mornings, but only yummy kinds like mochas. And for night classes, I would often grab hot chocolate, to have something warm to sip on.
Now, I have a handful of cocoa nibs in the morning for energy (they're very bitter and meant for energy - they're not chocolaty or good tasting). If I want a warm beverage for comfort, I drink only hot tea. Besides that, all I drink is water. I aim for 8 glasses a day!

Exercise:

I sent my boyfriend this snapchat:

And being the angel that he is, the next thing I knew I had these!

So now I have shoes to work out in!

-I absolutely hate working out, but I don't mind running. I just hate to be seen running;) As a solution to this little dilemma, I've started running up and down my stairs. I live on the 3rd floor, and surprisingly few people take the stairs. So every day, I've begun exercising by walking down the three flights, and then running back up. I do this for as long as possible, which, as it turns out, is not very long. After about 15 minutes my legs begin to shake. Despite this, I think it's going pretty well. It's an excellent form of exercise, even for short periods. According to the Internet, climbing up stairs for 20 minutes burns more calories than running for an hour. Plus, I'm planning on doing it every day in March, so I have no doubt that I'll work my way up to longer periods of exertion!

- I've found that I can also work out in my room. I despise the gym because I hate having people around me when I'm all sweaty and out of breath, so all I do is push-ups and sit-ups in the privacy of my dorm. It's hard to make myself do it, so I tell myself that any time I watch something on the computer, I must do push-ups and sit-ups. I enjoy my Youtube and Netflix, so that rule has really helped.

General Changes

- I try not to eat past 7pm now.
- I always take the stairs, and the longest way to class when I have time.
- Water, water, water.
- Absolutely no soda or alcohol (empty calories, and not even satisfying!)
- I try not to eat until I'm full.
- I wrote "food is fuel" on my whiteboard, and it reminds me every day.
- I made a private Instagram account where I can track changes, but so far I only have one picture because I don't think I've made any improvements yet!

Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire: Chapter 5

Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire: Chapter 5 (Add It Up)

Rafe begins this chapter by saying what a polarizing subject math is – you either love it or you hate it. I must admit I have always been on the ‘hate’ side of this spectrum. Recently, however, I had a math professor who I loved, and who made math seem a lot less scary. I hope to make math less scary for my students, by employing some of the techniques that Rafe has laid out.

In this chapter, Rafe describes a game called Buzz. This activity was so enjoyable for his students that they even chose to play it in lieu of coloring, while waiting for food at a restaurant.

He also wrote about a woman named Marcy Cook, who is apparently fabulous at helping children understand math. He includes the address to her website (www.marcycookmath.com) and a quick visit proves that he was not lying when it comes to her genius.

The most important thing is to make sure that students feel comfortable with math, and to make sure that they understand the concepts so they can build on them later (instead of just memorizing tricks). My favorite idea in this chapter was when Rafe explained that he gives the students tiles to hold up during their warm-ups. They hold up what they think is the correct answer, and then no one has to be embarrassed if they are wrong. Nobody has to be randomly called on, but everyone participates. This eliminates a lot of unnecessary anxiety that only serves to hinder the learning process.

Teacher Clothes: Apples!

Apples are such a fun teacher cliche! Here's some inspiration for how to work them into your teaching wardrobe.
(Apple accessories are pretty easy to find, but not that many are cute. And apple-themed clothes are surprisingly difficult to come by!)

An Open Letter to my Victim-Blaming Professor

Recently, one of my professors made a comment that upset me so much that I immediately began writing her a letter she would never read. Although this is a little different than my regular blog posts, I thought it was relevant. As teachers, we must be aware of our great responsibility. We must strive not to alienate any of our students by shutting them down, or by making damaging remarks that could affect them for the rest of their lives.

An Open Letter to my Victim-Blaming Professor

I used to respect you.

I used to think you stood with minorities and women. You claimed to. You proudly announced on the first day, “I am a feminist!”

But then you stood in front of a class of almost 50 young people, and you said, “the only reason women ever get attacked is because they act afraid. I used to walk around New York City alone at night all the time, and nothing ever happened to me. If you act timid and quiet and make yourself small, of course you get harassed and attacked. I am confident. I walk like I’m going somewhere and I don’t take that from anyone. Be more like me.”

I temporarily stopped breathing.

You are our professor. Your words should be used to teach and instruct, not to spew your own misguided opinions. I want to raise my hand and say: “professor, the reason women are raped is not because they’re small and scared. The only reason women are raped is because of rapists.”

But I don’t say anything.

A girl in the front row – a braver girl – raises her hand and says, “it’s good to be aware that that kind of thing can happen, though. I’ve been followed multiple times, and because I was aware of it I was able to escape the situation.”

“No.” You say.

“No?” The girl, who just boldly shared her personal experience in front of a whole class of strangers, asks uncertainly.

“No. You were followed because you seemed afraid. You made yourself weak.”

Everything inside me screams that what you’re doing is wrong. You shut her down, just like you shut down everyone who has a different opinion than you – but it never bothered me like this until now. Now, I’m invested.

A couple of girls sitting around me try to raise their hands to speak, but you either don’t see their hands or pretend not to. Instead of hearing from the class, you proceed to spend what must be a good half an hour bragging about your strong stature and rough exterior. With a captive audience of impressionable 20-somethings at your disposal, you drone on and on about how you shut down man-spreaders on the subway by insulting the size of their manhood to their faces. You demonstrate your walk for us. You call everyone with a different personality than you weak.

I’m genuinely happy for you that you’ve never been harassed, or assaulted, or stalked, or raped, or attacked. That’s a rare feat, especially for someone who’s been on this earth as long as you have. But I have no doubt that many young women in that classroom that day have been. And for you to tell us it’s our fault for not being like you, is shameful. You should be ashamed of yourself.

I know you’re not, though. I’ll write about this in your teacher evaluation at the end of the year, and you’ll tell your next class about the girl who whined about victim blaming and they’ll all laugh. I know you’ll do this, because you’ve told us about everyone who’s ever written a negative evaluation of you – delegitimizing their earnest claims by mocking them cruelly. You’ll certainly do the same for me – maybe you’ll even wickedly laugh that I was “triggered” or in need of a “safe space,” but I don’t care.

I pray that the girl who spoke up won’t allow her experiences to be diminished because of how easily you dismissed her. And I thank God that we are a class of college students – not high school students. For if a younger group heard those words, they might believe them. They might believe that they were deserving of any incidents that may have happened to them, because of their demeanors. And young boys may have heard those words, and thought they made it okay for them to prey on scared girls too – okay because they were weak, after all. They did it to themselves.

I call my boyfriend after class, shaking with anger. “She’s right,” I tell him. “Someone like me may be more of a target than someone like her. But that doesn’t mean I have it coming.”

I make myself small when I walk and sit. I clasp my hands together, I cross my legs. I wear a lot of pink, a lot of dresses, a lot of bows. My voice is soft and girlish. I don’t cuss or strut like you do. But that does not make you any better or stronger than me.

Real feminism, I want to tell you, is not putting other women down to elevate yourself. It is not discounting other women’s experiences and bragging about your own. It is not slut-shaming and it sure as hell is not victim blaming.

You have a responsibility as a professor to, at the very least, accurately relay facts. You have power. We have to listen to you because our grades depend on it. You have the Ph.D. (as you are constantly reminding us) and some people may believe that makes you better than us – smarter than us. But it doesn’t.

I see right through you. I smile when you mention bands and shows from your generation, berating us for not knowing about them (even when we do). And I have to stop myself from openly rolling my eyes as you brag about how well-traveled and worldly you are, while showing us pictures from your Western European vacations.

I understand what you’re doing – you have three hours to stand in front of us and gloat about yourself. You picked the right profession.

But when I teach, I’m going to use my small platform differently. Teaching is not about you. You can’t ignore statistics because they don’t match up with your own experiences and beliefs. Attacks on women are extremely common. Much too common. And people like you are only making the problem worse.

I still think I have a great deal to learn from you, and I’m sure I will. But I will now take everything you say with a grain of salt. I know there is nothing that anyone can say to you to make you realize you are not the authority on every subject. Some people are just like that. But I beg of you, please stop calling yourself a feminist. Praising masculine traits alone and suggesting that possessing feminine traits makes a person deserving of oppression and abuse does not make you a feminist. You are the enemy of feminism.