Why I Keep Going Back

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you've figured out that teaching is filled with a lot of heartbreak, stress, frustrations, catch-22s, and puzzling contradictory demands. You might wonder: what's the point? Why do I continue to show up day after day, when many days I just end up beating my head against the wall? Days like last Saturday are the reason and I want to share it with you.

If you haven't already heard the great news, Kahuku High & Intermediate School once again captured the state title at the Hawaii "We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution" competition. I had the honor and pleasure of coaching 16 bright and hardworking juniors and seniors on to victory. Of course, I was just a little piece of the picture. Many other teachers helped coach the students, professors from nearby universities and expert readers from across the country and even abroad played a part! Not to mention the countless teachers who taught students the reading, writing, and history skills needed just to BEGIN the We the People program. Still, I got to play a very special role with these students and for that I am grateful.

We began on our journey back in late July. Students began examining the foundations of our democracy. They examined and considered the philosophers whose ideas are at the roots of our governmental system. The studied the history that positioned America's founding fathers to write our Constitution mindful of the unique circumstances they faced. We continued for months to examine the roots and evolution of our founding document: the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Bill of Rights that followed shortly thereafter, the emerging government, the changes came with the Civil War, the growth and industrialization of the nation of the 1800s, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Era, and the changes of the September 11th generation. In fact, we WATCHED TOGETHER and considered as the nation opened another chapter in its history with the inauguration of the first African American president.

As part of this journey, back in November, students began examining specific in-depth questions about issues relating to our Constitution. Together we engaged in countless hours of research, thinking, drafting, writing, re-writing, more re-writing, defending, modifying, and strengthening of arguments. And then practicing, practicing, practicing.

At last the February 7th competition arrived. With months of preparation behind us, there was nothing left to do but for the team to head into the competition and execute what they had prepared for. And they did that beautifully.

The Kahuku team and fans relax
before the competition begins.

For those of you not familiar with the competition, students sit in teams of 3 and present a short opening statement on their topic to a panel of expert judges. And when I say experts, I mean experts. The competition judges are real-life Hawaii Supreme Court justices, appellate judges, historians, professors, and practicing attorneys. There is no faking an answer in front of this crowd. After the opening statements, judges grill the students on any point they like: history, philosophy, law, current events, hypothetical scenarios...whatever they want. And the students have no prior knowledge of what the judges will ask.

Kahuku's Unit 2 Team prepares
to impress the judges (which they did!).

In the face of the judges, the students performed beautifully. They gracefully answered the most challenging questions, showed detailed knowledge of the historical events surrounding the Constitution and its evolution, and even avoided the judges' occasional attempts to "trap" students to expose gaps in understanding.

After a grueling competition morning, we enjoyed lunch, and did our best to relax, knowing that the students really had given it their best. Several students commented that they just didn't know what else we could have done. Actually, I'm impressed with how chill this group stayed. They know how to have fun, even in times of anxiety.

Students play a makeshift game of "Spoons"
while they await competition results.

At last the award ceremony came. Butterflies filled our stomachs. Students tightly held each others' hands, closed their eyes, and hoped they would hear the words they wanted so desperately to hear. So much excitement after months and months of hard work. And at last, the speaker proudly announced that Kahuku would once again represent the State of Hawaii at the National We the People Competition in Washington, D.C.

Cheering, tears of joy, hugs, jumping up and down, followed by text messages and phone calls to friends and parents and other teachers. Even a full week after the victory, I am still riding a bit of the excitement and happiness that resulted from the team's hard work. It was undoubtedly the highlight of my teaching career thus far.

Students pose for a team photo with
the State-Champion plaque in hand.

Liberty and Justice for All is by itself a thing of beauty. I can hardly express what it means to me to be able to share it and guide students through the beautiful journey of our nation that is ever approaching the dream of "a more perfect union." I have no doubt that with their enthusiasm, the next generation of Americans will lead us closer and closer to that dream.

The Patience for Seventh Graders

I've had a lot of frustration lately with my third-period 7th grade GENERAL social studies students. They misbehave. There are 33 of them. They ignore their work. Their reading ability is very weak. They lose their papers. I give them new ones. They lose those. They make me scream. They make my voice go scratchy from so much shouting over them. They make me crazy. They hate me. I wonder if I hate them. But its my job - and I care - so I keep going back. I try new tricks, I revise old tricks. I try incentives, I try scoldings. They write out their punishments. I give them points and prizes. Sometimes I wonder if I'm getting anywhere. I beg them to pay attention. I try to persuade them I want to help them, but I need their cooperation. Can they please cooperate? Pretty, pretty please?!? They give a mixed response. I leave class feeling like I have no clue what I'm doing. I wonder what can be done.

Fast-forward to my fourth-period 7th grade HONORS social studies students. They are angels. Seriously. They follow my directions. They work independently. They understand nuances of their readings. They pay attention. They make jokes at appropriate times rather than ALL the time. We laugh. We have fun. They spout off the details the day's lesson with ease. I leave class feeling like a great teacher.

Fast-forward to the evening. I'm grading papers. I'm grading my 7th grade HONORS papers. They did them all by themselves. The answers are correct. They spell the words correctly. The papers are beautiful.

Then I'm grading the 7th grade general papers. I walked them through the work, basically giving them the answers. But as I'm reading, I notice something. They really REALLY tried. I wrote answers on the board for them to copy onto their papers. They copied carefully. Their words are spelled correctly and every blank is completed. As much as they make me crazy, I have to acknowledge that with the very simple task, they tried. Its hard to guess how much they actually learned from copying answers and being fed everything. Still, the effort means something. I want to reward them and encourage them to press forward. I'm determined that they learn to READ their textbooks, not just learn from pictures and my explanations and dramatizations and dancing around the room. Words are power. Books are power. And I want them to have that power. HOW can I bridge this gap? How do I push them higher? And again has this simple task taught them ANYTHING?

These are the questions I ask myself every day when the bell rings at the end of 3rd period.

Here's to the hope that I'm getting through to them . . . somehow.