Teacher Leader Coach

Image created using Sora.chatgpt.com How can you get a kid who would rather play Roblox than exercise to walk 5 miles with little complaining? How can you get a reluctant reader to deeply read nonfiction and enjoy it? By hiding what they don’t want to do within things they do. Just like hiding peas inside mashed potatoes! A recent vacation to Hawaii has provided the previous two examples for our family. Hiking around the stunning landscape of Hawaii Volcano National Park and asking our children to teach us about Hawaiian geography, history, and culture worked magically. Walking through lava tubes and across a volcanic crater is an incredible experience. One almost forgets they are trekking 4.5 miles with a 700-foot elevation change when they are imagining creating a Minecraft world that resembles the Kilauea Iki Crater. Reading aloud about what to expect during the drive to the national park, the type of volcano that makes up the Hawaiian Islands, and how the volcanoes have shaped the ...

My 10-year-old asked that question when we were fortunate enough to visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. His point was not that history class or school was irrelevant, but that he learned more from an hour at the memorial than any time in class discussing Pearl Harbor. I was proud of his insight, and it was not the first time experiences with my children have raised questions about what and how we school. Should we encourage days missed from school specifically for first-hand experiences? How do we make school as impactful as experiences such as these? I am a strong advocate for student attendance. The first key to success in school is being there. But, as educators, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that not all education comes from school. It is frustrating when parents pull students out of school for a week or more to go on a vacation. And if legitimately the only thing that happens is suntanning on a beach, then that week of school and education is lost. But when the ...