Mr. Mac...A (Retired) Teacher's Point of View

The kind of fun we had in my classroom every Friday at the end of the day!

2024-05-24T22:52:00.003-04:00

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7XuHGAso2nHMOahfUol41RfzFmuq3nSTfLQWo0/?igsh=MXJjNGk3aXRnbmh3aw==

A Mommom Memory❤️

2024-05-16T12:51:00.002-04:00

One time, when we were kids, a bat had somehow gotten into the house.

(True story!)

Mommom was visiting this one particular weekend. Suddenly, my Mom, and all my siblings started screaming upstairs!

Mommom and I bolted up the steps to find a bat flying up and down the hallway. Mom and my siblings were huddled behind the bed in a back bedroom, screaming away!

Mommom immediately snapped into action!

She told me to go downstairs and get her a broom, a pair of pliers, and a jar with a lid.

So I did.

When I got back with the items she pretty-much looked just like this (See the picture below, minus the mask, and add a veil over her head. This looks JUST LIKE HER! Not my picture. Credit goes to the anonymous artist).

She had somehow gotten the bat into the front bedroom.

She looked at me, and in all seriousness she said…

“I’m going in!”

I told her I was going with her.

We walked in, and shut the door behind us.

While in the room, Mommom stood near the center, in a perfect warrior’s stance…the broom wielded like Excalibur!

The bat is circling, and circling.

She swings, misses. She swings again, misses. She swings again and knocks that flittermouse into oblivion!

It bounced off the wall, and landed on the carpet. Poor thing didn’t know what hit it!

With the pliers, she grabbed it by the wing, and calmly lifted it. She gave it a look over, then placed the dead bat into the jar, and screwed the lid on tight!

“Go take this out to the trash,” she said.

Like the good squire that I was, I took it!

Such an amazing, unforgettable event! 🦇

The Deep-Quiet

2024-04-08T13:09:00.001-04:00

In a good classroom, and throughout the day, there is something called quiet-noise

This is a kind of white noise that is audible only to a teacher. When the students are all working and (To the untrained ear) not a sound can be heard...a teacher’s ear can detect the quiet-noise. One student moves in their seat, others are writing answers, someone sniffles, another scratches. It all culminates as quiet-noise. A teacher’s ear hears it well.

The BEST classrooms, now and again, experience something in addition to quiet-noise. Less often, but profound indeed…a DEEP-quiet can permeate our space. It shushes even the quiet-noise.

The deep-quiet is not only heard, but felt, and though it doesn’t last, it is incredible! For instance, it can happen during a novel read. As you read-aloud through a certain chapter, you feel the quiet-noise diminishing. The shuffling stops. The fidgeting stops. Everything completely stops, but anticipation. Then, you look out and see your students waiting, with bated breath, to what comes next. The deep-quiet is the best part of the day, the best part of the week.

There is no way to measure the deep-quiet, so some may ask the question…

“How can this be part of a school that mandates a data-driven classroom?”

I have no answer for that.

I can only say that there are many parts to a classroom. Some measurable and some not. The importance of the measurable is valid...sure. The importance of what is not measurable is...priceless!❤️

My son - Acrylic

2024-04-06T17:46:00.003-04:00

Self Portrait at 18 - Acrylic

2024-04-06T17:44:00.003-04:00

The Last Day - Acrylic

2024-04-06T17:42:00.005-04:00

Me! - Pencil

2024-04-06T17:40:00.005-04:00

Portrait of a Retired Teacher - Acrylic

2024-04-06T17:35:00.003-04:00

The Library of a Retired Teacher-SOLD

2024-04-06T17:32:00.003-04:00

Peacock - Acrylic

2024-04-06T17:28:00.002-04:00

The Raven - Acrylic

2024-04-06T17:25:00.003-04:00

There Be Cows - Acrylic

2024-04-06T17:22:00.003-04:00

Morning Roses - Acrylic

2024-04-06T17:20:00.001-04:00

Seascape- Acrylic

2024-04-06T17:18:00.002-04:00

Poe Himself. - Pen/ink/chalk

2024-04-06T17:16:00.004-04:00

The Black Cat 38”x48”

2024-04-06T17:12:00.003-04:00

Homage to Poe

2024-04-06T17:08:00.000-04:00

The Rosary

2024-04-06T17:05:00.003-04:00

Acrylic paint

2020-05-12T20:50:00.000-04:00

You know...for 20 years it’s been Mr. Mac’s Classroom. A place, a noun, a home away from home. If you were to visit you would see evidence of me everywhere, and the evidence of my kids...all of them.
Now, it is Google Classroom. A cyber-place in cyber-space. It is actually IN my home. It is still a noun. If you were to visit you would see me sitting behind a small chrome book, feverishly typing, linking, sending, zooming, attaching, emailing, zooming, texting, creating, zooming. Did I mention zooming? The evidence of my students are what is commented on, what is private messaged, and their videoed faces on a screen.
Still, a house is just a thing, but a home is where the heart is. So, I put my heart into this cyberspace classroom...my virtual home away from home. I take great strides in molding my Google Classroom into an internet version of Mr. Mac’s Classroom.
Just as Room 101 is mine, so is my Google Classroom...my own small bit of cyberspace.👍🏼

2020-05-05T21:50:00.002-04:00

Videos!

https://youtu.be/D3aw4U_GO4I POINT OF VIEW

https://youtu.be/xkjYbsANobE SUMMARIZING

2020-05-03T23:55:00.003-04:00

Video

https://youtu.be/8Kh5QmpU0yw Figurative Language

https://youtu.be/HlEpcDeVZi0 Context Clues

https://youtu.be/wXz3k_ji3ts Cause and Effect

https://youtu.be/fIB9QylMrwE Main Idea

https://youtu.be/XOrFuOwpXGY Problem and Solution

https://youtu.be/I7ZTyhjdKJw Sequence

Mr. Mac...A Teacher's Point of View: Lesson Plans and Newbies!

2015-09-06T16:08:00.001-04:00

Mr. Mac...A Teacher's Point of View: Lesson Plans and Newbies!: Your lesson plan should be a guide...goals to accomplish. Don't assign an absolute time frame; what is written cannot be timed. Di...

Lesson Plans and Newbies!

2015-09-06T16:01:00.000-04:00

     Your lesson plan should be a guide...goals to accomplish. Don't assign an absolute time frame; what is written cannot be timed. Dive in, infuse your words with humor. Elicit curiosity, encourage conversant exchanges. If a teachable moment presents itself...having nothing to do with your lesson...charge the mountain and teach it! Lesson plans are objectives separated by oceans of possibilities. Don't restrict yourself, but seize every moment to enlighten.
     College may have taught you how to write objectives, Newbies, but they cannot teach you HOW to be a teacher. This is all on you! As you teach your kids, you are teaching yourself.
     Remember...in the classroom nothing is set in stone! What worked one day, may not work the next. Be pliant, be adaptable, be able to change-it-up on the fly! Out of the seven hours you will spend in the classroom per day, only about half of that will be spent actually teaching, and even less time that that truly engaging the kids. Throughout the day you will hold your kids captivated for short bursts of time. Make the MOST of these times.
     Finally, never...I MEAN NEVER...forget to have some fun during class! Breath through everything. Happy kids are mountain movers!
     Have a wonderful year! The meme below is for shits-and-giggles!

There is Still Some Summer Left. In the Meantime...

2015-08-01T00:59:00.002-04:00

     I will write this as quietly as I can so as not to FREAK my fellow teachers out. We will re-enter our classrooms in about three weeks and get it ready for the first, official student day!
     If you are a new teacher, please pay particular attention. If you are a veteran...I hope that some of this will recharge your awesome engines!
     Take a moment and think about last year (Or...if you're a newbie...your student teaching experience). Think about the triumphs, the heartaches, the unforgettable moments, and the moments that you just wanted to rip your hair out! Think back to everything! Once you have done this...close your eyes and imagine a large wooden door, reinforced with iron bands. Open that door and place all of last year's memorabilia inside. Close the door and leave it all in there! Now and again have a peek inside at the awesome stuff, but let all of the bad lay in the darkness and rot.
     I say this because whatever happened last year, or the year before, or the year before that has nothing to do with, nor has any real bearing on, this coming new year. The slate has been wiped clean! Never allow yourself to get trapped in the I wish it was like last year, or the...GOD I hope it is not like last year mode. You will always end up disappointed, or so intimidated by the thoughts of catastrophe that you'll be downing Pepto Bismal, bottle after bottle, right up through Christmas! No two years are the same. My frame of mind is that they are ALL awesome, and with each coming new year, I am better equipped to handle whatever comes down the pike.
     If you are a newbie, or an old veteran with the same complaints year after year...listen closely to the following. Kids talk, kids chat, kids socialize, kids make
sounds, kids have to use the bathroom, kids talk, KIDS TALK, KIDS TALK!
     There is no such thing as a classroom where the kids are silent during every lesson. If you have heard that there are...someone lied to you and probably also believes that fairies exist in forested realms. Over the years, I have heard many teachers say My God, my class is so chatty!...or...I have never had a class that talked so much! (Bullcrapolla!) Umm...hello? They are kids (30 of them) bunched together in a small space! Socializing and communicating are hard-wired into each of them!.
     Newbies and Oldies...chatty kids are NOT the end of the world! If I ever had a class that listened intently to everything I said without so much as blinking, I would go in search of large alien pods out behind the school! Don't get frustrated if you have some talkers. Contrary to what you may have heard it is normal, and you will have talkers every year throughout your career!  Getting the kids focused is the challenge. Your style, your way will do this. If you have ten minutes of uninterrupted, non-distracted teaching...you are on the right track. A focused class happens in spurts throughout the day. It is within these spurts you WILL educate the kids. Refocusing kids is one of the very tip-top parts of our vocation. Don't be boring...as soon as you see the Zoners, or the Strayers, or the Chatterers engaged in unfocused behavior...CHANGE IT UP! Get them back and move on.
     Sometimes you will have to stray a bit from the path during a lesson yourself. If you have been banging away at some amazing lesson, and you begin to notice the telltale signs of the Zoners, or the Stayers, or the Chatterers sliding off task...simply stop the lesson! Be honest...tell the kids what you are seeing. Let them know that you are happy they hung tough for 10 minutes. Don't get angry at the kids, don't punish them...have about five minutes of fun! Yes, that is right...FUN! Get the kids energized again, get them laughing, get them moving. Once the energy is flowing, then get back to the lesson, and the next spurt of effectively teaching them something they never knew before! If you hold within you the expectation that all kids (Of ANY age) have the ability to keep themselves focused during every lesson...reevaluate your expectations. Hell, adults need a Call to Order throughout a workday too! Cut your kids the slack they deserve. If your class has given you 5 to 30 minutes (Time dependent on the age of your students) of focused energy, reward them by allowing them some time to RE-energize...have some fun! Lather, rinse, repeat throughout the day!
     Go in like a lion and STAY THAT WAY! Don't be afraid to have high expectations in your classroom. Be consistent, and make sure you follow your own rules, and that you measure up to your own expectations. In our school cell phones are forbidden (The kids can have them they just have to be in their locker). Every year I am amazed to see many teachers using their own cell phones in the classroom, or lunchroom in front of the other kids...checking personal email, Facebook, whatever! This shows the kids do as I say and not as I do! Anyway...YOU are the alpha from the first day to the last, and your classroom is YOUR HOUSE! The goal is for your kids to become your cubs, and to eventually take ownership of their classroom. Your classroom should be your home-away-from-home! If YOU feel at home in your classroom...your kids will too!
     ALWAYS be consistent in deeds and actions, and also keep your classroom's geography and placement of objects consistent. Before the kids arrive, set up your room the way you want. Set up the stations, put up your posters, establish your libraries and computer areas. organize a materials kiosk (Pencils, folders, erasers, etc.) and figure out where you will place a daily agenda, a word wall, and vocabulary wall spaces for whatever discipline you teach. Also, keep consistent where you will write your essential questions, even where you will hang a calendar! Once you have figured out where you will place all of this...LOCK IT IN! Your kids will soon learn where to go, and which way to turn their heads or focus their eyes when they need anything! On a personal note...I always leave a bit of wall space open. I have a soft spot for artists...this space is for them and their work!
     Don't expect your kids to do everything you ask and not get something in return. Incentives are AWESOME! Give more time for recess if half the class scores 90% or higher on a Math test! Double the recess if everyone does! I allow my kids to earn circles of free-time throughout the week. I circle equals 5 minutes of free-time! I do NOT use, nor have I ever used candy as an incentive. Anyway, the kids can earn a circle individually or as a class. The circles can be earned for adhering to the core values, doing something amazing, helping someone out, doing a chore, being honest, accomplishing something they never did before, etc. We let the Free-time build up, and use it at the end of the day on Fridays. Now...what has been given can be taken away. Believe me, the kids WANT to build up their free time!  To have it diminished by someone, or the class as a collective, hurts. Always give the kids something to work for or towards. The notion that a kid's education is the greatest reward of all means NOTHING to a student...no matter what the grade level is. We know that this is most important...this is why we teach! I know this sounds harsh, but to a kid...he or she just wants to get through it and move on. It isn't until the world starts knocking, or they are out IN the world that this educational credo matters.
     Establish trust by giving the kids opportunities to earn it. Every year I have one or more kids that spent more time in the Principal's office than the classroom during their fourth grade year. They enter fifth grade...my classroom...conditioned that this year is going to be the same as all the others. After the first week, or the first month, these kids realize/believe that this year is a whole new ballgame!  KNOW THIS NEWBIES...you will not only educate your kids, you will also un-educate them! Behaviors are learned...they can be UN-learned. Be patient, be strong when you need to be, and love always!
     Lastly, please have fun with your kids! Kids LOVE having fun. Fun doesn't have to interfere with instructional time, especially when you are instructing in a fun way! Be crazy!  Be a clown! Consider Shakespeare's All the world is a stage! Your classroom is your world...make every lesson a performance! A happy kid will move mountains! Will a bit of rain fall? YUP! Will thunderstorms rage? YUP and YUP! This is how life is too, right? Soon the sun will shine again...it always does. Take four minutes and rock out to a song...have the kids do the Harlem Shake on a boring Monday! Be a kid yourself for five minutes! There is more than enough time to establish yourself as the leader of the pack.  So, everyday...every now and again during each day...be a kid. Think like a kid and have some freakin' fun!
     I wish all of you an excellent year. I have a strong feeling it is going to be amazing!

Academics is the TOP goal in the Classroom. Really?

2014-04-20T00:56:00.000-04:00

Many years ago, just before I entered my first classroom, my goal as an educator was that of any novice teacher; I wanted to fill young minds with knowledge. By the end of that first year, the goal I had set went right out of the window! Well, not really out the window. I just packed it away in a safe place.

Filling young minds with knowledge sounds great, and is the expectation of what we do of layman out in the world. But, this goal is unachievable on its own. This is not to say that an educator won’t ever fill young minds with knowledge, rather…it simply can’t be an attainable goal right from the start. This knowledge acquisition can only be attained by students after much groundwork, legwork, blood, sweat, and tears! By October of my first year teaching I knew that in order for me to teach pedagogically, I had to first Unteach, engage, entertain, reconstruct, and inspire. Once all of this has been done (That first year), I unpacked my original goal.

UN-teaching begins the first moment of the first day of school. A handful of our kids enter our classrooms (Every year) very knowledgeable about how to work the system. The attention seekers, the bullies, the blurters, the note-passers, the chatterers, the I-will-get-sent-to-ISS-and-get-out-of-classers, etc. The behaviors these kids exhibit are learned, so they can be Unlearned. Shed light on the ugly, and shore-up the weak. Stand your ground, and draw the proverbial line in the sand. I could give much advice on how to handle this UN-teaching business, but it would all be MY way. You must find your own way. I do give some helpful hints in past posts if you are inclined to read them. Just remember, all of us have a core. The behaviors these kids exhibit surround who they truly are…their core. Never stop, never give in…find the core of your kids! Peel away the layers your kids have wrapped themselves up in! Until you do this, nothing else can happen. Nothing!

Engage your kids. Talk TO them, and not at them. Ask their opinion on things. Get them talking about something interesting to them. Allow them to teach you something? Validate that Math, or Social Studies, or Writing can be boring, and then show them how it’s not! Be proud-as-hell for every accomplishment they make. If they fall, encourage them to rise, then rise further! Gear your lessons towards your kids…we are creative, intelligent beings…we can make anything interesting!

If you have been teaching for a while then you know that deep inside you is a frustrated actor or a clown waiting for a chance in the big ring! You must be unafraid to make a fool of yourself. You must be prepared to laugh with your kids, and at yourself, but never AT them. Make‘em laugh, make‘em laugh, make‘em laugh! A happy kid will move mountains, and you will always have a captive audience if your kids know that when you are onstage…anything could happen! This aspect, when used in the right amount of doses at the right times, will not only captivate your kids it will energize them. Engagement goes hand-in-hand here!

Many of our kids enter our classrooms broken. Some have been abused, or bullied. Others come from families at a poverty level so low that food of any kind is a luxury. A few struggle and hate Reading, or Math, or getting up early because they were allowed to stay up till 3am playing video games. Some will have one or both parents in jail. Each kid you have has a story; some will have stories that will break your heart. We can never take the place of a parent, but we still must parent nonetheless. We must carry these kids, and work hard to establish trust. Most of these broken kids have learned to trust no one. We must make every effort to show WE can be trusted, and that our classroom is a safe place. Never think that by just telling a broken kid to trust you, or that your classroom is safe will solve the issue. Telling only works where time is concerned. Listen, watch, listen a bit more. It may not be possible to completely fix a broken kid, but you can plant a seed. Perhaps, when June comes around, that seed you planted will grow, and allow your kid to see some light at the end of the tunnel; that maybe there is some good in the world. Your efforts could cause a bit of reconstruction inside this kid! YOU could be the one to make a difference. THIS IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL!

Finally, you must inspire your kids. You must strive…everyday…to make your kids see that there is so much more inside them than what they came in with. A happy kid WILL move mountains, but an inspired kid will build empires! Give your kids a reason to want to push the barriers, and move outside of their comfort zones. Travel with them every step of the way. Take the kid that hates division, and show him that he hates it because of remembering the many steps it involves. YOU work with him, have a classmate work with him. Let him take the time he needs to get it. Once he does…applaud, then share the wealth. Have HIM help another student to learn it. Now he is the teacher! Get inside your kids, find them! I promise you…each kid (At his core) is a shining beacon of awesomeness!

Lastly, every year…at some point…I take out my original goal, dust it off, and put it into action. Once I have laid the ground-work, done all of the leg-work, shed some blood, sweated profusely, and squeezed out a few tears…I know that I will have a class that will absorb, and apply all that I have to teach them. Then, once June rolls around I pack it away again, and so it goes…year after year. Oh yeah...and the prayer that I have made some kind of a difference comes into play.

I remember about ten years ago a parent asked me,

“What is your goal in your classroom? Wait, I know…teaching Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.”

I told her, yes…I teach all of those things, but if I had a list of the top-ten goals in my class…academics would be number ten.

The look on her face cracked me up!