Education needs paper and pavement people

Pavement rubber band (Photo credit: nicolasnova)

When surveying writers, I always scrutinize their resume to see if the person is a paper or a pavement kind of person.

A paper person has read a lot of paper and perhaps written a lot of paper. He knows the theories and how things should work.She read a lot of studies and may know a lot of people. There is certainly a place for paper.

A pavement person hits the pavement every day. She is doing it. He speaks from experiences that are real and that happened yesterday or today. She is very practical.

I think that the most successful educators are paper and pavement. I know college professors who are always talking to teachers. Who are looking at research studies for practical applications. These professors care about their own teaching practice as well and are on the pavement teaching in their own class.

Paper Tigers can devour learning
When we have to be afraid is when paper rules the day. We have too much of this. WE literally have "paper tigers" (pardon the pun but it fits) who are telling us to do things in the classroom that we know won't work. I've seen lesson plans in books that I wouldn't dream of doing. All neat and tidy, I wouldn't even try it with my students.

Pavement people can be a bit more messy and kind of dirty. Their lesson plans may be messy but full of rich learning.

Misapplication of best practice
The danger of best practices is to lose the context of the teacher, student, and local school in the implementation. I may dive perfectly according to a best practice, but if I'm pointing the wrong way on the diving board, I'm going to hit the cement.

Questions for those who spend more time with paper:

• Do you have pavement in your paper? Are you reading relevant, practical examples from those DOING what you're studying?
• Are you reading across a wide variety of people doing the job (not just award winners)?
• Do you talk to or know people who do this job and listen to their thoughts?
• Are you willing to listen when people doing the tasks tell you that your paper doesn't line up with the practice they see every day?
• Do you treat "pavement" people in your profession with respect?

Questions for those who hit the pavement every day:

• Do you read paper and learn about best practice from others?
• Are you willing to integrate and learn from others?
• Do you look at the research and see what you can do better relating to that research?
• Do you know or talk to those who are "paper" experts who can help you see the big picture?
• Do you treat "paper" people in your profession with respect?

On paper... bumblebees can't fly. In the real world, they fly every day. 

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Spoon Chucking our Life and Learning out the Back

"Sometimes we throw more out the back door with a spoon than we can bring in the front door with a wheelbarrow," said my Poppa Adams. (My great-grandfather.)

I've been thinking about this saying and how it applies to my classroom, my pocketbook, my life. I guess it is another version of the "small holes sink big ships" kind of thinking.

Classroom

• Are we spoon chucking away our classroom time?
  
  Add up all the distractions: fire drills, testing (if you're stuck with mandatory testing), assemblies, kids leaving for sports and how much time do you really have to teach? Perhaps if administrators look at the classroom time that is being "spoon chucked" out the back door it will help improve learning because kids will have more time to learn.
  
• Are we spoon chucking away the time we do have?
  It is rare that I will end 5 minutes early. Multiple 5 minutes by 5 days and that is 25 minutes a week. Multiple that by 30 weeks and you have 750 minutes or 12.5 hours a school year. You could teach so much. If you HAVE to finish early, use this time for thought provoking conversations or something of meaning in your topic. You could do the same at the beginning of class if you don't start on time.
  
• Are we spoon chucking away our relationships with our students?
  Researchers have shown that even eye contact helps people feel more connected and that those who don't feel connected aren't as happy. That extra few moments at your desk grading while the students come in might be you spoon chucking away your relationship with your students. Perhaps you should be at the door making eye contact and calling them by name.

Pocketbook

• Are we spoon chucking away our money?

Every so often, I call and get a new credit card from the same company just so I can discontinue using the old one. That way, I have to consciously decide that I am going to keep spending on those debits on my credit card. Do I really need all those things I'm charging every month?

• Are we spending our money on the wrong things and spoon chucking away the happiness?
  
  A new study shows that we are happier when we buy experiences -- when we go places with people -- than when we buy things? Will that extra rug in the den make you happier -- no? But if you took that money and went out with your family, it might just. Things don't make you happy. Makes me want to live in a shack and travel the world when I think about it.

In Conclusion

Poppa Adams was a smart man and I am collecting the sayings that he passed down to my Dad (his grandson.) I'm pondering this whole thought in all areas of my life and putting up my spoons. Sometimes our solution is to get more wheelbarrows, when instead we should look at what is being thrown out the back door.

Photo Credit: Big Stock

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