Magic of the Whiteboard
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Magic of the Whiteboard 〰️
15 October 2023
"If you need a presentation, you do not know what you are talking about." - Steve Jobs
After completing book studies through The Infinite Game, by Simon Sinek and Think Again, by Adam Grant this summer, I went into the 2023 school year with a transformed mindset around my office space. I stripped the walls of meaningless art and removed the 55 inch television. I had the custodian help me hang a dry erase board and I found four chairs to sit around my round table. Aside from a corner dedicated to charging my laptop, the room is an empty canvas.
Every situation involving humans is unique and must be approached with that in mind. Whether I am assisting peer remediations, brainstorming with teachers or dreaming up ideas to problems I have not yet solved, there is one constant... the dry erase board. It provides a visual space for people to process. It allows lists to be generated. It bends and molds at the will of the creator. The simplicity of the dry erase table, as well as the wall mounted and lap versions I utilize every single day, give me the freedom to problem solve in real time.
The magic of the dry erase surface has helped kids navigate social dynamics, develop their own behavior plans, set and reflect on goals and on and on. I will leave you with this... take whatever your next professional development or lesson that uses a presentation and replace it all with dry erase boards, markers and human ingenuity. I guarantee you will be impressed by the magic.
Bias Through Ubiquity
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Bias Through Ubiquity 〰️
30 March 2022
A couple weeks ago, as I was lesson planning in the library, I overheard a couple teachers talking... about students' inability to type. "It's ridiculous how long it takes them. And then I have to give them a bad grade because they can't type."
Hold the phone! These proclamations absolutely triggered me. Where on Earth in the state standards does it read "student must type." I let this conversation marinate for a few days. In fact, I lost sleep over it. My head was spinning. Then it hit me! Teachers are holding kids accountable for what they view is ubiquitous well beyond the appropriate time period. Typing is just one of the many "skills" that educators are using as a means to cripple a student's education. Typing a sentence as opposed to writing one, or even speaking and recording, are no more or less effective at demonstrating competency in sentence structure. As long as the student is showcasing evidence toward mastery of a state standard, then the means at which they do it should not be held against them. I mean, if an adult was judged on their ability to drive a manual automobile and they have been using an automatic their entire life, they might have a little more empathy for the kids in the classroom.
Fear in the Unknown
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Fear in the Unknown 〰️
12 January 2022
As I progress through my professional career, I find myself testing free agency more and more. Jobs are posted, and I cannot help but wonder "is the grass really greener on the other side?"
This has led to a multitude of interviews in varying districts across the state. Some offer the position and I do not pull the trigger. But many take the route of declining. "We love your ideas, but we chose to go in another direction. We have to think about the best fit for the team." Or most recently, "We are going to implement some of your strategies but we are going with someone who has more experience." Interesting... taking my ideas but not offering me the job.
Obviously they are not implying that I have an inability to work with others. But it has gotten me thinking. As I reflect on the numerous interviews I have completed during the past couple years, I am selling the right thing, but possibly explaining it poorly?
The kicker was an interview follow up where an assistant principal said to me "I'll be honest, David I did not understand half of what you were saying."
At first, I was disappointed. Leader after leader complimenting me but desiring to go in another direction. This led to a few thoughts:
1) When I graduated from the University of Northern Colorado, with a degree in history and teaching credentials, I was already embedded into project based and personalized learning, which has evolved well past both. I do not know any other way to instruct.
2) Many of the administrators on interview panels likely attained their principal licensure and Masters Degree before I even dreamt of becoming a teacher.
I am a constructive educator. I can get kids to think about learning in ways many of them have never experienced before. I love what I do and I am forward thinking. I am so knee deep in transformative education that I am starting to wonder... is it too much? Do I need to temper my understanding of the teaching pedagogy when conversing with others?
All of this reflecting brings up one influential experience I had while student teaching.
In a social studies class, I have the lesson ready to rock and roll. The 10th graders get into pairs, grab a few colors of Play-Doh and begin constructing their maps about the Allied and Axis powers during WWII. They follow this up by creating an analytical component and then travel from group to group in a museum like fashion to experience the thoughts of others. Class concludes with each individual writing a CER on the impacts of WWII on the entirety of Europe.
I absolutely crush it. Kids are engaged and learning is happening on small group and individual levels. "So I saw a lot of what the kids are doing. But I didn't see you teach anything." To this day, these words still ring, loudly in my head. The reverberations causing me to question everything I know about education.
A few weeks later, the academic advisor from UNC comes back to observe a follow up lesson. This woman is roughly 60 years old, with a sort of Dolores Umbridge vibe from the Harry Potter series. I know I am going to blow her socks off of her. I have the "best" lesson ready to go.
Class starts with me greeting every student at the door and pointing them to their seat. I pass out an article and piece of lined paper. I turn on the overhead projector... yes, the one you are envisioning from the 1990s... and get the article in focus on the screen for everyone to see. We read the article together, making sure to underline and bracket key information. Then I guide the students through the CER writing process. I call on kids to share their thinking and work. The period concludes with each student having a CER, and Mr. Popp demonstrating that he is a highly effective teacher candidate.
The review is in, and Umbridge raves about the lesson. But, especially now, thinking back on it, I sacrificed my morals. All of the skills I had been learning at UNC. All of the extra time to read about transformative and learning centered education. I threw it all out to appease someone who clearly failed to see the shift... someone mentoring educators from the very institution I attended.
The point I think I am getting at is there is a huge disconnect between leadership within schools and highly effective teachers. And I am not referring to okay teachers. I am referring to the teachers who are empowering all learners. The teachers who are not sinking during the pandemic. Should we not be free to express the learning centered and highly effective teaching to others within the profession? Should we avoid topics that are misunderstood by so many? Are we pushing the boundaries so far that we are intimidating fellow teachers and leaders? But hey, if anything, I have a great story about a student teacher to end every conversation with... and I can simply ask, "so which of these David Popp's would you want teaching your kids?"
Square Peg - Round Hole
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Square Peg - Round Hole 〰️
20 September 2021
Educators are constantly pulled in multitudes of directions. The pinnacle of these additions to their metaphorical plates occurs at meetings.
But what if the solution stems from a simple philosophical switch? What if, these meetings that feel like they are there just for the sake of having a meeting, change the questions that are posed to the audience?
Too often the meetings focus on negatives with students. This kid is never on time. This other student reads far below grade level. As a team, we need to target three kids... an arbitrary number decided by what? But if Doctor Alfred Lanning from I, Robot taught us anything, it is that we must ask the right questions.
If the lens switches from what a kid can or cannot do, to one that focuses on what teachers are doing to better their practice, then those educators are no longer in the cycle of negativity. They are instead in a realm that fosters growth, collaboration and creativity of their own craft.
This model can be directly correlated to Billy Beane's approach as executive of the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team. With one of the smallest budgets in all major sports, Beane has created a team that is consistently competitive and still holds the MLB record for most consecutive wins in a season. Although the Athletics have yet to win a World Series under Beane, he has famously said "My shit doesn't work in the playoffs," they promote a community of growth among the professional ballplayers. Everyone on his staff are making progress.
In the classroom, some are stuck on teaching to the test. They stress about state assessments. This is the World Series for many educators. But this lens can be shifted. We are not training students for a test, just as Beane is not creating a team to win the World Series. We are training kids to play in the majors. As the educator, our role is to make sure the kid can throw, hit, run and so on. Major league players practice, every single day. If teachers are sitting in meetings and trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, then kids will never reach the majors... life.
