What is wrong with me?

I'm being genuine with this post. I'm not looking for any back-patting or anything of the sort.

Here's the deal: I am done grading essays. Finally. It took way too long, and that's my own fault. I should have just cranked them out last week, but that's not the point.

Now that I'm done with these essays -- on New Year's Eve -- I just want to stay home, read some blogs, tweet around on Twitter, and get after the book-reading I should have been doing all break. Going out and being "social" is at the bottom on my list.

It's not just tonight, though. That's how I've been all school year.

I've been warned a few times this year not to get burned out. What I'm realizing, though, is that I'm the opposite of burned out.

I have finally -- finally -- after years of being told I wasn't living up to my potential blah blah found exactly what I am passionate about. And now, that's all I want. I want to learn and talk and chat and Skype and argue and be wrong and learn.

And it's hermitizing me.

One of our best friends asked my wife after our last group get together if something was "going on" with me. "He's been so quiet lately," she confided. Becky just shrugged and explained that "he's got education on his brain a lot lately and he doesn't want to bore people with it. I think he'd rather just listen and think."

It's true. It was a reaffirmation that she knows me so well.

I'm left wondering, though. Is this healthy? I can admit that the "You'll get burned out!" folks (said in the vain of "You'll shoot your eye out!") might finally be getting to me.


Will I get burned out? And if I do, is that bad?

How do you manage the feeling of not being able to stop thinking about education and just relax?

Site updates - new domain, lost comments, thank you, and some new shiny stuff

I've been messing with some stuff around the site lately and of course I broke some things, so I figured I'd let you all know what's working and what's not.

First off, if you haven't noticed, I moved from TAGmirror.org to RussGoerend.com. It was something I had been meaning to do for a while and when Matt Townsley sent me a note that there was a 99-cent sale on domain names I had to take advantage of it. TAGmirror.org was set to run out in March, so I figured I could use a couple months of re-directing from TAGmirror.org to RussGoerend.com. Also, to be transparent, going to RussGoerend.com makes it easier to find this place on Google. And really, I'm writing hoping there's an audience for my thoughts. If I didn't want an audience, I wouldn't publish in this space.

With the new domain name came the breaking. As of now, all the comments that were left before early last week are gone. Well, technically, there's still on the Internet somewhere, but they're linked up with the old TAGmirror.org URLs and they haven't been able to be transitioned to the new URLs yet. IntenseDebate, the commenting system I use, has been in contact with me and they're working on a fix. I appreciate all the help they've been so far. I don't know if it would have helped, but my only regret is not letting them know I was going to switch domains. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the comments yet as I can still access them in my comments history on IntenseDebate. I could take a screenshot of them and just update each blog post with that screenshot, but that seems like a big band-aid. I'm holding out hope that the folks at IntenseDebate get something figured out.

Speaking of comments...wow! It's been (relatively) lively around here lately! Thank you! Seeing the "20" beside the comments on the grading post from the other day is a place of pride for me. Not because of the number, but because of the conversation. My goal from day one was for this to be a place of conversation. I'm glad that people feel comfortable having conversations about the topics I've brought up. Seeing that happen makes me want to keep reflecting and writing. Thank you for continually pushing me.

Last, I installed a new toy tonight. It's shiny and I'm attracted to shiny stuff. I installed a Meebo Bar that hangs out on the bottom of your browser. You can use it to log into Meebo if you want and have your chat contacts there for you to chat. That's not that interesting to me. What is cool are all the sharing options. Grab an image or a video and you'll see the screen change into a sharing zone. Click the "share" button in the bottom left and you'll get some options to share the page. Click the "Twitter" button and you'll see a live feed of all the #Comments4Kids tweets. Click the "random page" button and it should take you to a random entry on my blog. I say should because it looks like it's not quite right at the moment. (I don't even see the "random page" button right now, so I know something's not right.) I'll turn some knobs and kick some pipes and see if I can get everything working the way it should.

That's about it. I just wanted to update you on some of the new stuff around here and especially thank you for putting in as much if not more hard work than I do around this blog.

Thoughts from the grading trenches

I'm supposed to be grading opinion essays right now. The rubric is right here. If I thought it was appropriate, I could leave my feedback to them as a comment, to go along with the feedback they're getting from their readers. Our revision policy is out there, too.

This is all public. The only reason I don't make my feedback to them public is because I like to be a little more ... nit-picky than what I feel is appropriate for a public comment. I could very easily email my feedback to parents so they can discuss it with their students.

So why have I been led to believe that if I give their essays a number along with my feedback, they will be more informed? What does the number add? If I just gave a number and no feedback, how many parents would complain? A few? But what if I gave feedback and no number?

What am I missing here?

I'm getting rid of my teacher's desk

After the last student ran out of my room yesterday, I took a quick survey of my room. I didn't/don't like how it looks. It's the perfect size for putting my desks in rows, but that won't be happening. I have 30 desks. Now, they're in 10 groups of 3. I like the groups, but they just don't fit in my room. My projector has to be in a weird spot to get on the screen and the screen is anchored into the wall. I don't have any walls that are white that I could use instead of the screen. As I looked around I realized what was in the way: my teachers' desk.

I was recently digitally introduced to John Spencer, a 6th grade (right, John? Why do I think you teach 6th grade?) teacher in Arizona. I love how this guy thinks. It's not because I agree with all of it, but John comes off honest and transparent.

Imagine my dismay when I read this in John's post titled "useless advice people give to new teachers":

2. Get rid of the teacher's desk.
It's a nice idea, but teachers need a work space.  There is a ton of administrative work and a desk is a great place to work (It beats using a TV tray or sitting at the student desks).  I recommend pushing the desk to a corner and using it only during prep.

Being a bit rash, I thought, Great, now I can't get rid of my teacher's desk.

Yes, that's how easily influenced I am -- at times.

After a little thinking, I realized that my reasons for ridding my room of my desk don't fit John's advice. For one thing, my desk is a monster. It doesn't fit into a corner. If it did, I wouldn't be moving it to make more room for my students. Also, there's a seventh grade Careers class in my room during my prep period. Combine that with the fact that my room doesn't have any windows and you'll understand why I normally skedaddle (had no idea how to spell that word) to a room with a view during my preps. I'm also not known for my organization skills, so I'm thinking (stay with me here) that getting rid of my teacher's desk will help in that area. File it under "less is more."

The biggest thing for me is how it will force me to roam. I teach Language Arts in an 84-minute block. The first 15-20 minutes are dedicated to the students free reading. They use their free reading for their Skills-based Journaling and this is the only dedicated free reading time they get all day. Why am I defending giving my kids time to read? The space my desk currently takes up is going to be replaced with a table where I'm going to do 1-on-1 conferencing.


I'm just trying to see what works. I started out the year with my desks in groups of five. That worked for about a week. After that I went to groups of 3 and the only thing that's changed is which kids sit in which desks. Now that I've actually been a classroom teacher for a little while, it was time for a change.


As always, be mentally prepared for me to be publishing a post titled "I'm bringing back my teacher's desk" in the weeks after Christmas break.

They'll learn it in pencil class

Imaginary conversation I had with myself this morning:

Me: "What would you say if I got rid of computer classes?"

My imagination: "When are they going to learn how to use computers?"

Do we do this with any other tools? Have any openings for a Pencils teachers?

(Hat tip to Matt Townsley for the all too appropriate example.) 

What are you learning?

What do you know better than most people?

What do you learn about on daily basis?

Here's a sampling of my list:

• Cell phones
• Tea
• Fantasy baseball
• Education
• Web tools
• Apple computers
• Nike Basketball shoes circa 1995-2002
• Settlers of Catan
• iPhone apps

What's your list? I'm always looking for new stuff to learn. What should I come to you for?


Update: My first thought when I read Alison's comment was "How do you learn this stuff?" So, if you take the time to answer -- and thank you to those who do -- how do you learn? 


Here's me:

1. I surround myself with ridiculously smart people with varied ideas and viewpoints. People that are smart enough to be continually learning. I surround myself with pushers and movers and shakers. 
2. I model myself after those folks around which I'm surrounded. I've been trying to push more lately. I'm trying to move and shake my way to the big people table. 
3. I use the tools that make it easiest for me to access learning. I subscribe to way too many blogs and podcasts. I go through 500ish items in Google Reader every day. (I know for some of you that's nothing...I'm looking at you, Richard.) I work to continually add learners to my Twitter network. If I find myself on a blog I've never visited before, I see if that person is on Twitter. If I find myself in a great face-to-face conversation, I ask (at the right time) if that person is on Twitter. Roll your eyes, whatever. Twitter is amazing. It's my smart blanket. 
4. I write this blog. I know I'm not super consistent, but knowing this space is here keeps me continually thinking of what I should fill this space with. I reflect and chew on all the information and ideas that are passing through me.
5. I model for my students. I say "learning" all the time in my classroom. I try to fill their brain holes up with that word. 
6. Repeat.

Education is a system. Learning is life.

Look, we have to separate the two, or at the very least recognize that they are not the same.


Education is a monster. Sex ed, character ed, drivers ed. As teachers in the education system, we've become parents. Why is that? Did we ask for it? Who transferred that stuff from parents to teachers? It's not that I mind, but it needs to be noted. That is our job.

Why do they (yes, they and no, not we, don't lump me in there) think that what goes on in the four walls of a classroom inside a school building is so much more important than the learning people do all the time all day long all over the place with all sorts of other people using all kinds of tools?

At the Will Richardson event I shared an analogy. Maybe it was an allegory. Is an allegory just a long analogy? Whatever.

When my wife found out she was pregnant, she immediately went into learner mode. We went to the library and she checked out books on pregnancy. She fired up PaperbackSwap.com and traded for some more books. She connected online with other pregnant ladies. She connected offline with mothers and mothers-to-be. The frequency of her trips to the doctor formed a bit of an upside down bell curve: twice in rapid succession, then once per month, building to what will be weekly visits in the month.

This is learning. It is not education. My wife is a learner. She is not a student. The doctor is a mature learner. She is not a teacher. My wife, the learner, contacted this doctor. My wife reached out to her. She wanted to learn so she connected to a master learner.

This is where we are. This is one of a million examples I can give you about learners connecting with learners. That's how life works. It's what you're doing right now, reading these words!

For now, that's not how education works. But the more I've reflected on it, the less worried I am. A calm came over me as I realized all we were talking about was being learner focused. I am a learner. So it makes me nervous for those who are not. Learners will continue to connect with other learners.

Education may go away, but learning won't. And that's all right for learners.

Teachers aren't leaders [Self-fulfilling Prophecies]

Now that's a self-fulfilling prophecy if I've ever heard one.

Scott Mcleod says he didn't invite teachers to his Will Richardson event (presumably about leadership if that's how the guest list was constructed) because they are not "leaders & policymakers who have influence/power." It seems if I want to be a leader, I'm left with 3 choices: become an administrator, figure it out myself, or stop wanting.

I want but I can't because I'm not.


I appreciate Scott's engaging in the debate, but he's stated that this is the way he sees it. It sure seems like Scott is saying that teachers are not in the category of "leaders." I'm not sure what else to infer from that tweet.
If the definition of "school leader" is limited to "administrator"...
If teachers are not given the opportunity to be involved in policy decisions...
If teachers' influence is minimized...

the status quo will continue.


What do you think? Can teachers be seen as school leaders without being invited to the leaders' table? Should they be seen as leaders? Let me know if I'm way off base.


Update: It looks like I had a fourth choice: make a big enough stink to get invited. I can sincerely say that being invited to Scott's Will Richardson event was not my intention in any of this, but I am excited to be joining the group Scott has put together. I'll be sure to report back with my takeaways from the event.

Catch yourself doing something worth sharing [21st Century Skills]

That was the advice I just gave one of my colleagues. Susan has been an invaluable resource for me during my first year. As an attempt at reciprocity, I've been showing her some of the tools I use in my day-to-day life, including Google Reader, Diigo, and Twitter.

Her most recent goal is to share someting using Diigo. Of course, that quickly led to a discussion about where to find that something that she wants to share. We talked about finding articles on Twitter and Google Reader. At this point, she got out her datebook and said she wanted to schedule a half-hour with me to make sure she was doing all of this right.

Right then I thought about a tweet Will Richardson sent out today:

Wondering: In the technology sense, is "Fix it Yourself" a 21st C. skill?

I sent back:

At the very least "try *something* before you call me" is.

I relayed that conversation to Susan. The light bulb turned on for her. She made the connection as a teacher that when kids come up to you with "I just don't get it" it's impossible to help them until you figure out either what it is they don't get or what it is they've tried so far.

So, I gave Susan some homework -- and if you know me, you know I don't give out homework very often. She's going to post an article to our Diigo group by Monday. We're considering it a pre-test.

She seemed so excited about trying it by herself, I brought up Twitter. She has updated her account infrequently since joining. She has mentioned multiple times, though, that she wants to be able to use Twitter to see what other teachers are doing. She wants to find resources from them. She's of the mindset that she doesn't have anything to share. As you may know, I'm an advocate for getting involved when you're using Twitter. It's not because I have anything against lurkers. It's because I think everyone has something worth sharing.

That's when I told her what's turned into the title of this post: Catch yourself doing something worth sharing. You don't have to tweet it or anything like that. Just start recognizing what's worth sharing. What are you doing that other educators benefit from?

Plenty, I'd bet.