Uncommon Core

Uncommon Core

25 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in a Cookie Cutter Educational System

by

Pauline Hawkins

Published by WordCrafts Press for Smashwords

Copyright © 2015 Pauline Hawkins

Cover design by David Warren

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite online retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

To all my children:

The ones I gave birth to, and the ones I gave my heart to.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Teach Them to Listen

Teach Them to Follow Directions

Teach Them How to Communicate Their Thoughts and Feelings

Teach Them How to Talk to Adults

Teach Them to Respect Adults

Teach Them to Respect Their Peers

Teach Them to Be Kind without Being Pushovers

Teach Them to Apologize Sincerely

Teach Them to Tell the Truth

Teach Them to Stand Up for Themselves

Teach Them to Stand Up for Others

Teach Them to Be Proactive

Teach Them the Necessity of Working Hard

Teach Them to Be Problem Solvers

Teach Them to Believe in Themselves

Teach Them Patience

Teach Them to Pick Good Friends

Teach Them Thankfulness

Teach Them How to Be Happy

Teach Them Compassion

Teach Them Accountability and Responsibility

Teach Them Failing is Learning

Teach Them to Connect With What They are Learning

Teach Them to Love Learning

Teach Them to Be Curious

Appendix

About the Author

Acknowledgments

There are many people I need to thank, without whom this book would never have been made.

First, I would like to thank the Liberty High School staff and students for the eleven years of lessons, camaraderie, support and stories that changed my life. Within that group, I had many wonderful colleagues, but only a few I could truly call my friends: Karyn McWhirter, Sona Loomis and Rhonda Spradling stuck with me through some challenging times in my life. Without the three of them, I hate to think where I would be now. I was also blessed with some of the most amazing students a teacher could ask for; I am forever changed by having all of them in my life. They showed me what is important in and out of school. I especially want to thank my students from the 2012-2014 school years for believing in me during my last years of high school teaching and for sharing their hearts with me as we navigated through the minefield of public education.

Second, if it were not for Joanne Brokaw, I would not have had this opportunity to share my stories. We connected as friends and writers first, and then she helped me join the WordCrafts Press family and became my editor; she made my writing dreams come true. Mike Parker, my WordCrafts Press publisher and editor, believed in me and gave me this opportunity; my gratefulness transcends the cringe-worthy frustration that he took out all of my Oxford commas. Even though I will be suffering emotional damage because of this punctuation abuse for quite some time, I truly appreciate his vision for my book and his logical advice during the last emotional stages of the book.

A huge thank you to Karyn McWhirter, my friend and colleague, who read every word of this book without compensation; she is, and always will be, my first and best editor. She has stopped me from making a fool out of myself more times than I can count; this book was no exception.

Finally, I could not have even started this process without the love and support of my family and close friends. Ian Hawkins has inspired me to be the best I can be; his strength and perseverance has taught me that all things are possible - we just need to believe. Carol Linn Hawkins stood by me through thick and thin; her love and acceptance helped me through some painful days, weeks and months. Nicole Galovski encouraged me to take this leap of faith and give my writing career a year; I will never forget the confidence and courage she imbibed me with as we discussed my precarious future. Dennis and Lori McCarthy became part of my family and welcomed me with open arms; the hours of family gatherings, conversation, and encouragement did more for my soul than words can express. David Hawkins encouraged my writing goals in tangible and intangible ways; regardless of the nature of the catalyst, I would not have started writing without him. Eric Levin invested many hours in watching my son so I could write; the time he gave me was invaluable. Last, and most importantly, Ana Galovski is responsible for everything that I have today; for without her monetary and emotional support, I would not have been able to take this leap of faith; she is my rescuer, my confidant, my role model and my incredible mother. I love you!

Introduction

A Teacher with a Mother’s Heart

One of my former students recently asked me to help her with a college research paper. She is majoring in elementary education and needed to create a presentation on the teaching profession. I was one of five teachers she asked for help (the other four were family members). She sent me a list of questions to answer, which included: Why did you want to become a teacher, Why did you leave public education after eleven years of teaching, and What encourages teachers to become leaders?

I loved that Katie contacted me; it was an honor to have her reach out to me when she had a sea of former teachers she could have asked. Answering her questions was also a good reminder why I love being a teacher: Teaching is about investing in our future, and I will do everything I can to help current and former students, like Katie, pursue their dreams.

Here is how I answered Katie’s questions:

I became a teacher because I wanted to help children/teenagers become the best they could be. I had a few amazing teachers who changed my life, and I wanted to be that teacher for other people.

I decided to leave public-school teaching because I could no longer participate in the injustices committed against students and teachers in the name of educational reform. I could no longer work in an educational system that is spiraling downwards while it purports to improve the education of our children. The difference between my students when I first started teaching and my last year was unmistakable. Regardless of grades or test scores, my students from five to eleven years ago still had a sense of pride and self-confidence in their futures. Sadly, every year I saw a decline in student morale; every year I had more and more wounded students sitting in my classroom, more and more students participating in self-harm and bullying. These children were lost and in pain.

I had sweet, incredible, intelligent children sitting in my classroom who were giving up on their lives. They had been told they were not good enough by standardized tests; they had been told that they could not be successful because they were not jumping through the right hoops on their educational paths. I spent so much time trying to reverse those thoughts, trying to help them see that education is not punitive; education is the only way they can improve their lives.

I could no longer be part of a system that continues to do the exact opposite of what I am supposed to do as a teacher - I am supposed to help them think for themselves, help them find solutions to problems, help them become productive members of society. Instead, school has become a place where teachers must give students right answers, so students can prove (on tests riddled with problems, by the way) that teachers have taught students what the standards have deemed to be a proper education.

The government has created a perfect storm with legislation surrounding Common Core, high-stakes testing and teacher evaluations, and it is hurting everyone involved. I did not feel like I could safely speak out against this reform and keep my job. I made the only decision I could: I gave up job security so that I could defend my students’ rights. Students never have and never will fit into a standardized box. I refused to participate in that kind of teaching. My last year of teaching I boycotted proctoring the tests and opted my son out of the tests; ethically, there was no way I could conform nor ask my students to conform in support of these tests. I could no longer support a broken system that was hurting, rather than helping, our precious children.

In response to Katie’s leader question:

Being a teacher in itself is being a leader. We stand in front of the classroom and help a room full of people discover the beauty of knowledge, and discover who they are and who they can become some day. If teachers are not embracing their roles as leaders, then they are wasting their time in the classroom. Leadership means that we cannot be government puppets; to do so would be a mockery of knowledge itself. We also cannot be puppet masters of our students; we educate them so they can think for themselves, not to think the way we think. We lead as role models; we lead as educational coaches and knowledge facilitators; and when we see injustices in the world, we need to lead by example and take action.

After answering Katie’s questions, I was curious as to why Katie chose me out of all the teachers she has had in her life. This is what she told me:

"You were one of my favorite and most influential teachers from high school, and your passion for children truly inspires me! I loved your resignation letter because it showed how much you care about your students and what you believe teaching to be!"

Katie confirmed for me that I fulfilled my goals as a teacher. I know I have made a difference in the lives of my students, just as they have irrevocably changed mine. Teaching is the most rewarding job I have ever had. That is why it was so difficult to leave the profession and school that I loved. Liberty High School became part of my family, and I will be forever connected to that community for that reason. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to serve my Colorado Springs community as a teacher. I am forever changed by my brilliant and compassionate colleagues and the incredible students I have had the pleasure of teaching.

When my resignation letter went viral, it was many of my former students who made that happen. They saw in my letter the same passion I brought into the classroom everyday; they saw how long and hard I have been fighting for all of my students (not just the ones who were college bound) and for education. My students knew how much I cared about every one of them. They knew I was not just fighting for them as a teacher but as a parent; I cared about my students like they were my own children. My letter was a reflection of that motherly devotion to every child in my life.

My Classroom: The Portable Island

The first two years of my teaching career, I was inside the main building of the high school. My classroom was in the freshmen hallway, and students and other English teachers surrounded me. My classroom was a hub of activity. Many students sat in my room during EXCL, which was a break between first and second period that gave students an opportunity to get help from their teachers or to catch up on schoolwork, whether they needed help or not.

As our neighborhood community grew, so did the need for more classrooms at our school. The district ended up buying a trailer - or portable, as we referred to it - as a way to add more classroom space to the school until we could pass a bond to build an additional wing onto the school (something that never happened because of budget cuts). I begrudgingly moved out to the portable; I thought it would end my connection to students outside of class time. Students would have to leave the comfort of the school building to walk outside, 60 feet or so, to get to my classroom. I thought it would be a struggle for students to get to class, let alone for them to visit me during EXCL. I was wrong.

It was in my portable classroom that most of my stories in this book take place. The portable felt like an island in some ways; it did not connect to the traditional school building. My students took respite in the sunny, colorful windowed classroom from the cold, dreary hallways and rooms in the stone structure. It was in this room that we learned valuable lessons about life, literature and laughter - medicine for the weary soul. These are the lessons that have become the Parables from the Portable - lessons that I taught, lessons that I learned, lessons that I shared with my students, and now, the lessons that I share with you.

My hope is that my parables will help connect teachers, parents and students so that we can become collaborators in students’ educational success.

A Teacher, but a Mother First

After I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in English Education, I started working on my Master’s Degree in English. Throughout that time, I was a single mother, raising my daughter Nicole. During the three years I worked on my degree, I met my husband (who had two boys from his first marriage), married him, and we were expecting our first child together, Carol Linn, by the time I graduated. Even though we struggled financially, I decided to stay home with my girls rather than find a teaching position.

However, once they were both in school, I started substitute teaching. I only accepted jobs at their schools; I wanted to know their teachers and their friends. It was a wonderful and eye-opening experience for me as a mother: I worked in the elementary, middle and high schools in every subject and classroom experience possible. I learned so much about schools, education, teachers and students in those four years. What I also learned was how difficult the classroom experience can be. I had a newfound respect for my children’s teachers and for the profession I would soon join. I learned the importance of communicating often and well with their teachers.

When we moved out to