Finding Inspiration in the Classroom: Matching Your Passion to Resources

Cathy Blackler is a wonderful friend of mine from Southern California. We first met, as I have with so many of my teacher friends, via Twitter, and have since shared many meals and stories together at NCTE.

At NCTE this past November, Cathy told me a phenomenal story about a way she was trying to fund a music program at her school. It was a story, as are so many of Cathy's stories, that was legendary. And on Thursday, it became more than just the stuff of legends. It became a reality. When Cathy posted this story, I asked if  I could also post it here because I didn't want her words to get lost in the ephemera of Facebook. I especially love that I can hear Cathy's joyful voice telling this story as I read her words

Thank you Cathy for your beautiful spirit and your passion for your students! I am honored to call you my friend. The first time I read this on Thursday I got all teary and did once again as I was putting this post together. 

Cathy's story is just another reminder of why teachers matter.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


I definitely found the joy today. Today was epic. It may very well have been the High Point of my Teaching Year. Let me tell you a story:

In September I took my husband on a date to a benefit concert for Jail Guitar Doors, founded here in the US by Motor City 5 member Wayne Kramer. I could not help but notice the similarities between Wayne's mission, to help prisoners find their voice through music, and the mission of our alternative high school and its music program. As we were in desperate need of new instruments for our program I figured I would contact Wayne, via Twitter, to see if he had any advice on how to acquire instruments. He graciously replied and we spoke on the phone, bonding over our passion for the populations we serve. While Wayne could not help me directly, he gave me a contact: Matt Sorum, former drummer of Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, The Cult, and current drummer and founder of the Supergroup, Kings of Chaos. Matt has founded a non-profit called Adopt the Arts. Their mission is to fund music programs in schools where said programs have been cut completely or where funding has dried up.

 So, of course, I penned an email and hit send, never imagining in my wildest dreams what would come of it. Two days later, I received a reply.

 Hi Cathy, How are you?

A rhetorical question, no doubt. How am I? Seriously, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Matt Sorum just asked me that question. Better yet, he replied that he would love to be involved with our program, AND could I take a phone call.

Why yes. Yes I can. A few phone calls, lots of emails, and a face-to-face meeting at The Adopt the Arts benefit last month eventually led us to today. Matt, along with Paul Ill (who served as his official photographer) arrived at our school along with a van full of instruments. A new bass, three new guitars, a new drum kit, keyboard, mics and amps were presented to our student body, along with a heartfelt message from Matt about the importance of music as a social equalizer. He also informed our kids that his "adoption" comes with a 5 year commitment from him.

 I tell my students every day that they have the power to change their circumstance. Hearing it from someone like Matt is something few of them will forget.

 And it gets better.

After listening to them perform two songs, one of which was an original, Matt sat in on the drums as the group played "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."

Seriously. This happened.

 I feel pretty bad-ass today.

I will be forever grateful to Matt for his generosity, his graciousness, and his genuine concern for our students and their future.

 Did I mention I love my job?





Photos courtesy of Cathy Blackler and Matt Sorum's Facebook page

Celebrate This Week was established by Ruth Ayres

Finding Inspiration in the Classroom: Danielle Kulawiak and her dog Tonka

On Friday evening I was perusing Instagram when I came across the following photo from friend and high school teacher Danielle Kulawiak:


I was both delighted and perplexed. Certainly bringing a dog into a classroom is a liability issue. How was Danielle able to allow her dog to interact with her students? After further probing, I found out that the beautiful Tonka is a certified therapy dog. I immediately wanted to know more, so Danielle was gracious to oblige my questions.


How exactly do you use Tonka in your classroom?
Mostly he's there as a comfort. Often my kids will hang out with him on the floor while they are reading or writing. He functions as class mascot, reading buddy, and teddy bear. I've seen kids who generally are quiet and sullen come to life when Tonka is in class. It's pretty hard to be sad or cranky when you've got him there cheering you on with a "woo-woo."


This makes me wish that more classrooms had therapy dogs!
Our district has been awesome about it. Last year, one of my student's older brother died while away at college. I brought Tonka in the week before Thanksgiving when many of the kids were talking about how excited they were to have their siblings back from college. This boy spent most of the day sitting on the floor of my classroom with Tonka quietly working. It's easy to forget sometimes with high school kids who are trying to hard to be "grown up" that underneath all that bluster they are simply vulnerable children in bigger clothes than the elementary school kids.


That must be so heartwarming to witness firsthand what a comfort he can be for your students. How often do you bring Tonka to visit?
I bring him in once or twice each month. 


What steps did you have to take to get him certified as a therapy dog?
He has been through obedience training and canine good citizenship training. Each state and organization has their own rules for what training and certification are needed and these rules vary depending on what types of things the dogs will be doing. The one thing that is consistent is the need to carry liability insurance on the dog. I would like to continue Tonka's training so that we can eventually make visits to hospitals. Any teacher thinking of using dogs should first check with their schools and then reach out to trainers in their area.


Did you intend to bring him to your classroom when you were putting him through training or did that idea come later?
We knew when we were looking for a dog that we wanted one who would be suited to therapy visits. I was inspired by seeing how the people in my grandfather's assisted living home lit up when my aunt brought her dog to visit. Then I read about dogs who visit libraries for read alouds and dogs who visit college campuses during exam weeks and it all just clicked.


I would imagine after a while, the kids start to ask when Tonka's coming back. :) 
They totally do! But I try to pick days that work out well for him, since we have a rotating block schedule, some days are more packed than others!


Thank you so much Danielle for answering my questions and for being the kind of teacher that proves education is more than just filling kids' heads with knowledge. You are clearly showing your commitment to educating the whole child and have greatly inspired me! Now I want to look into getting my dogs certified to be therapy dogs.

If you have been inspired by Danielle like I have and want more information about therapy dogs, visit the AKC website which will provide you with a listing of national and state organizations.

 

Finding Inspiration in the Classroom: Jessica Crawford

After my inspiring visit to Sarah Andersen's classroom last week, I was happy to keep the momentum going by visiting my friend Jessica Crawford's 10th grade English classroom yesterday.

From the moment I met Jessica three years ago, her love of books and sharing that love of literacy with her students was almost palpable. Being in her classroom yesterday was an absolute treat for me. I had the opportunity, in one short school day, to bear witness to book talks, sustained silent reading, reading conferences, and class book discussions. But above all the books and the required content,

Jessica confers with a student

what really stood out from my visit to Jessica's classroom was her genuine concern and love for her students. Teenagers are not always the easiest age group to share a classroom with, but even when things go awry as they sometimes do in a classroom full of 15-16 year olds, through it all Jessica still maintains her smile and composure. I witnessed a true joy and heart beating in her classroom yesterday and as a result, my heart continues to beat towards the hope of getting back into my own classroom next year.


Like last week in Sarah's classroom, I also had the chance to do a book talk for Jessica's students yesterday. I talked about the book Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, and as I talked about my love for this book and also the reasons for why Sepetys wrote the book, that feeling came back to me: the one where I'm in my element, sharing my passion for books with students. And the fact that Jess's students didn't just sit there and listen, but responded to my questions and as well as asked their own, made me feel like I was riding a bike: I may have been off of it for a while, but I never forgot how.

So thank you Jessica and Sarah for helping me to get back on the bike.

Finding Inspration in the Classroom: Sarah Andersen

Yesterday I had the honor and privilege of visiting my friend Sarah Andersen's high school English classroom. I have been saying since June that I wanted to spend this year visiting friends' classrooms to get inspired. I wanted to be part of a new conversation: one that celebrates teachers rather than casts aspersions on them.

Well, up until now I've kind of squandered that opportunity. I was taking a graduate class in the fall so a lot of my free time was spent doing research for that class. Then January began the snowiest winter on record in the state of Michigan. There was a new snow storm every week and as a result, schools are now having to scramble to add days to the end of the year due to the plethora of snow days that were being dished out. So needless to say, I wasn't very enthusiastic about making plans to visit friends' classrooms between the months of January and March because I knew I'd probably end up having to reschedule anyway.

So Sarah's classroom is the first one I've visited this year and it was the perfect one to start with. I am almost finished with my last class before I can take the test to add a high school English endorsement on my teaching certificate. Up until this point I've had an elementary certificate with a 6-8 language arts endorsement. I've always wanted to teach high school and now I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Sarah reads Boy 21 aloud to her sophomores

Beginning with her first hour class I could immediately tell that Sarah has an amazing group of students. Sarah began the class with a read aloud of the book Boy 21 by Matthew Quick. I was thrilled to see that despite the fact that Sarah teaches high school kids, she still sees the importance of reading aloud to build community and shared reading experiences. So often teachers stop reading to students once they reach middle school. It was wonderful to see a high school teacher embracing the benefits of reading aloud despite what many teachers of that age group might deem as a waste of precious time.

I was equally impressed with how Sarah's students truly enjoy being read to. When she opened the book and began reading, all students put down their phones, other work, even other books, and just listened to the story. One student in the front row even closed his eyes, as if he was trying to soak in every single word she was reading. I have to admit, it was quite soothing. I'm used to being the one doing the reading, not being read to so that was a nice change.

The rest of Sarah's day was spent with her seniors who were working on practicing their senior exit projects. I enjoyed watching her students present, and was equally impressed with the smart, concise feedback Sarah gave to her students. She wasn't just ticking off points on a rubric, she truly wanted to know more about her kids as people and what they plan for their future careers.

Bookshelves line every wall in sarah's classroom

Throughout the day, the thing that stuck with me the most was that I had the chance to bear witness to such a culture of literacy in Sarah's room, even when books weren't part of the day's lesson. The walls in Sarah's room are lined with bookshelves and baskets of books for students to check out, her whiteboard and decorations all shout "This is a classroom that loves books!", Sarah talks books with her students during downtime, and more importantly, the students talk books with each other.

If I had any apprehensions about teaching high school before yesterday, spending the day with Sarah helped squelch those fears. She proved to me that building relationships with your students and creating a classroom community always trumps content and curriculum. If I was looking for inspiration, I certainly found it. I only wish that the often ridiculous PD that districts force upon teachers could be

Bookish announcements

replaced with observing another teacher for the day. Teaching can be such an isolating job that we very rarely get to see other master teachers in action. So many of my friends are teachers and yet I can count on one hand the number of times I've been able to see them interact with their students.

After yesterday's wonderful experience, I am looking to fill my spring calendar with more classroom visits. I've already got another one planned for next week. At this rate, I will be ready and rarin' to teach come September!