Just Plain Bill

ADHD and Me

The other day, I ran across a San Francisco Chronicle article from August 23, 2015, entitled, Back to school with ADHD, with the subtitle “Here’s a road map for parents with trouble-making children.”

For some reason, I’d been saving this article, and with my return to the public school classroom after a hiatus of well over 30 years, it seems the right time to compare the ways schools deal with disruptive and/or “incorrigible” children with the ways used when I was a child.  

I attended public school a long time ago, in the days prior to medicating school children who did not “behave”, and even before the diagnosis of a condition known as ADHD. I imagine my school behavior caused my late mother incredible pain and angst, as, although I was bright, I just couldn’t stop talking or could not keep my hands “to myself.” Sometimes both. As early as kindergarten, I had my mouth taped shut, and my hands taped and placed inside a paper bag – teacher behavior that certainly would not be tolerated in this day and age – when the usual admonition “Billy, keep quiet”, or the irritating and consistent “shhh” didn’t work.  “Did any of that taping work?” you may ask? In reality, no, as it wasn’t until I was in high school that my need for attention (and recognition of any kind) stopped for reasons unknown.

I had a few students prescribed Ritalin when I started teaching (in the 60s). My initial reaction at the time was that although this drug allowed students to somewhat curtail their negative behavior while learning alternative ways to handle their problems, I felt that some children were “less than attentive, somewhat lethargic” while medicated. But that may have just been my imagination.

My recent experiences with students displaying behavioral problems reveal few changes since I started teaching nearly 40 years ago. “Send to the office” is the most common resolution I experienced and observed. For example, an assignment in a third grade classroom started by having one student immediately erasing most of the teacher’s message that had been written on the white board – erased by the student just because he “wanted to” erase it. Instructions left by the teacher suggested “having patience” with that student, but I really didn’t have a chance to demonstrate “patience.” It was clear the student didn’t want to be in class, so when the principal walked by, I suggested the student spend a little time in the office. An hour later, the principal returned the boy and we made it through the day by allowing him to work on a coloring activity that kept him engaged for most of the day, but resulted in him “learning” little, if anything at all.

So what’s next?

Just Plain Bill

Learning to Read

The other day, a friend was talking about her four-year old grandson loving to read. Our conversation reminded me of what I’d learned nearly 40 years ago in a San Francisco State University language arts course, as preparation for my California teaching credentials. SF State was known as a premier teacher preparation school, and continues to be so to this day.

Our professor assigned the book Teacher, by Sylvia Ashton-Warner. A New Zealand teacher, Ashton-Warner noticed her Maori students were not learning how to read using typical English school teaching methods. (Additional books assigned during this period of teaching introspection and revolution in the 60s, included Death at an Early Age, by Jonathan Kozol, and Summerhill, by A.S. Neill.)

What I learned from Ashton-Warner was the simple but effective act of transcribing, or recording children telling you a story. Although requiring a little more labor, transcribing by hand also models for the child the act of “writing”, a skill that can evolve naturally, if nurtured.  This is especially applicable when children draw pictures, having them tell you the “story” of what they are drawing.

This is an inexpensive, simple process, and I found the children were often able to read their own words, enriching their vocabulary in a natural way. (Research has shown that most children have a much richer vocabulary than that included in primary grade language curriculum.)

I’d love to spread the word about this fail-safe approach to teaching an invaluable, life-long skill. Help me spread the word!

The author is a credentialed teacher, with a Masters Degree in Elementary Education, with an emphasis in reading, with over 25 years of public school and higher education teaching, and over 35 years of experience and accomplishments as a trainer and course developer in the corporate world.

Just Plain Bill

Educational Benefits of Chess

I was taught the game of chess as an adult by a 14-year old boy, Leroy Reams, at the Oakland Boys Club, where I worked as an activity director. Leroy eventually became a professional baseball player whose career stats at the major league level total one pinch-hit plate appearance as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies back in the late 60s.

I played chess occasionally until I first taught school. In 1972, my class of fifth graders constructed a chessboard on our classroom floor, covering the 12x12 inch tiles with red and black construction paper, with chess pieces created from various sizes of plastic containers. (A visiting photographer posted a picture of our classroom game in the local paper while covering a school announcement.)

Upon returning to the public school classroom this year after a break of nearly four decades, I introduced chess as an enrichment activity for my third grade students during my nine-week long substitute assignment.

I also sent home an article from the John Hopkins School of Education on The Educational Value of Chess, providing a justification for including the chess in a young child’s education development. Specifically, one paragraph stands out that provides support for including chess for young children:

Chess has a unique and strong brand attribute, in that it is

generally perceived that playing chess and being smart are

connected. This can be very positive driver for young children,

who, rather than being intimidated as many adults are,

embrace the notion. As children get older, a stigma, or nerd

factor attaches to "being smart." But in the second and third

grade, kids want to be thought of as smart. It is also an

important age for developing an attachment to school. If kids

associate school and learning with fun, they will most likely

develop a stronger attachment to school.

I was amazed by the levels of interest and passion displayed, and especially appreciated the increased confidence in some students who were struggling in a few areas of our studies. In fact, the winner of our double elimination chess tournament was a student who was quite reserved, had a minor speech impediment, but was seen as a “winner” by his classmates after winning six of his seven matches.

I believe all of us in our classroom were winners and a game that goes back thousands of years played a significant role – check mate!

Just Plain Bill

Teacher Observations XIV–Journey’s End

And now my seven-week journey has come to an end – 35 school days as a long-term sub for a group of 25 third graders. And I’m sad to see the journey end.

I met my students following their Spring break, after they’d had four different substitutes (their permanent teacher had to deal with some health issues).

In addition to helping my students catch up on math and writing skills, my biggest challenge was to reinforce their belief in their own competencies. My strategy was to elevate and feature specific accomplishments by each, things they could feel proud in mastering.

Time was invested each day in classroom management. My students were able to sign up for a variety of classroom responsibilities where they were designated as “master” for a particular task, such as “Chair Stacker Master”, “Telephone Master”, “Attendance Master”, “Pledge Master”, “Homework Checker Master,” and so on, to where the classroom was almost self-managed. In addition to tasks, there was a “Math Master”, “Cursive Master”, and “Language Master” where students served as tutors and coaches for important parts of the curriculum.

Students were challenged to complete research on a topic of their choice. The choices were enlightening and entertaining. Examples include why Jeff Bezos chose Amazon as the name of his company, who invented “Spinners” (the “toy” so popular at the time of this writing), and the question shared in an earlier blog that arose when we were discussing robots and their abilities; HAL, the robot in the movie 2001, A Space Odyssey, did not let Dave back into the spaceship. HAL said, “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” One girl asked if robots had feelings, and if they don’t, why did HAL say that he was “sorry?”

My students could collect tickets for their completed challenges that could be exchanged for an item of their choice from the prize box. I soon discovered many students cherished the number of tickets they accumulated rather than exchanging them for something else.

I also introduced the game of chess as a free-time activity by purchasing eight chess sets that were used religiously, eventually resulting in a double elimination tournament. Several students researched various opening gambits, which significantly improved their skill in these activities, which has been proven to enhance and expand reasoning, planning, and focusing skills.

Together, we accomplished so much in our 35-day journey.

If you are considering a long-term substitute teaching position, please know that the benefits will not be found in the size of your paycheck. Understand that you are needed. Step into the role as a labor of love.  Grow your legacy!