Mentorship is a dare

It turns out that it is difficult to keep seventh grade students on task while a snake swallows a goldfish whole in the front of the classroom.

Student-teaching in a middle school was invaluable because goofy adolescents seem to dare their teachers more than other age levels. Middle school is that perfect blend of students appreciating risk and accepting those inevitable teaching failures. When I brought a small snake into a seventh grade English class to supplement our study of Aesop's Fables, it was more experiment than lesson plan.

While handling the small snake in class he got scared and bit my hand. It jolted me enough that I lost my grip and our scaly guest slithered through a sea of backpacks. The students standing on their desks screaming and pointing did not really help our snake posse track him down. Eventually, we managed to capture our lesson plan with an empty box, but it was not without drama. 

In the end, no people or animals were harmed (except the goldfish I guess) and I collected the most descriptive and powerful writing of the year. The classroom was electric that day.

That was the first time I got that unique teacher high I continue to chase every marking period.

My "teaching strategy" was also the target of criticism from a few students who thought we had inhumanely scared a snake under the guise of learning. They made good points and their speeches condemning my actions were articulated well. Other students broke through some walls and crafted poetry and impassioned narratives rich with detail.

This is the moment I point to when I talk about getting hooked on teaching.  It is a sacred breakthrough in education when a class truly acquires it - a blend of togetherness and chemistry where students bring out the best in their classmates and our best as a teacher. Once a teacher has that profound experience when a class evolves into a community and gels, the constant mission to shape a classroom into a robust learning environment is born.

With papers stacked to the ceiling and lesson plans that may as well have been scribbled on napkins, I knew right then that teaching was my calling. Teaching is still invigorating and exhausting at the same time.

The Teacher Who Dared Us to Be Great

My very first mentor Richard Mraz is the person I hold largely responsible for opening my heart to a fulfilling career in education. He dared to mentor six teaching interns that year and his involvement in my life has made all the difference in my career.

My mentor and friend, Richard Mraz

Michigan State University put him in charge of evaluating our growth throughout a year-long teaching internship. Richard kick-started my growth more than he evaluated it during my time at Owosso Middle School. He helped me discover teaching and he taught me what it means to truly care about young people. Most importantly, he helped me acquire a thirst to evolve as a teacher. He modeled a growth mindset and a positive culture of learning before those ideas were a thing.

Like so many of my good and bad days that school year, I called Richard to share the serpent experience. He laughed with me as I gave him the play-by-play. Richard had a way of incubating my enthusiasm and then encouraging me. With his support, a single idea would multiply into all kinds of new schemes. He took joy in my navigation and knowing he was invested in my success gave me the necessary freedom to fail.

Making Mentorship a Priority 

That was 15 years ago.

Now I am choosing to measure my success as a teacher in part by my influence on other teachers. Am I helpful? Have I taken a risk and served as a mentor? How well do I accept the help of others and open my mind to new approaches? How do I influence the education of our students beyond my classroom?

When I reflect on those questions I end up back at Owosso Middle School where my journey began as a baby-faced rookie wondering what in the hell I was doing.  When I tried to impart knowledge to a bunch of 12 year old kids I was reminded by my mentor that the learning had to be mutual. Richard had a knack for challenging me to re-think ideas on my own terms without telling me how poorly constructed those ideas were. He helped me reach higher and ultimately I was finding Mr. Gregory through the process. The good news is that the search continues.

The best mentors inspire.

Richard's brand of inspiration was subtle and unassuming. He cared deeply about our profession and our talks focused on finding human connections above everything and then applying pedagogy. His reach as a mentor was highlighted by his patience and the peace of mind he gained from more than 30 years in a classroom. He was a pro. My success as a beginning teacher was his success. He was invested in my growth. I picked up on the fact he cared about me at a self-absorbed stage in my life. Richard coached me to use my talents and my gifts to be a good classroom teacher and he understood that most of the essential skills needed as a professional required on-the-job training. He teamed with the lead teacher in the classroom and together they made my development a priority.

To this day, there is no one I want to share my exciting teaching days with more than Richard. I honor Richard's memory (he passed away more than a decade ago) by keeping students front and center. Even in my student-teaching experience when I was looking to merely get by from time to time, Richard pushed me to focus on what students needed, not what I wanted. He helped me become mindful before I even knew what being mindful meant.

Photo By Nick Gregory

Even now when I feel off, I think about some of the lessons Richard gracefully modeled. I loved learning with him by my side. In a career full of meaning, my relationship with Richard holds a special place as a lifelong treasure.

Those experiences with Richard are imprinted into my Teacher DNA. Regardless of how district policies, trends in best practice or teaching assignments change, my "genetic sequencing" as a teacher is firmly in place. Richard knew that many of those lessons I stumbled upon under his watchful eye would help me to eventually chart my own course. When I felt lost in my profession five years ago, I was hanging on to the idea that Richard is proud of me. Despite my insecurities and his death, he was still helping me push through and grow at a time when a part of me was ready to walk.

That's what the best mentors do - they help us find the tools we need to push through and grow. The best mentors care about people and they care deeply about our profession. The best mentors have a winning combination of the seven character traits below.

1. Authenticity Wins - Having a strong sense of self takes time and reflection. Good mentors encourage others to be themselves. The adage recited to new teachers, "Don't smile until Christmas" is older than chalkboards and pointless. Good mentors don't waste time on mind games and silliness that diminishes the true value of our profession. Be real.  
2. Always a Pro - Mentors are pros who encourage others in a quest that brings honor to the teaching profession. Being a pro is not about always being serious or maintaining appearances in an attempt to avoid mistakes. Being a pro is about serving students and families. I am talking about keeping the students as the focus and instilling an addiction to improvement in those around you.  
3. Achieve Vulnerability - Being vulnerable is an achievement in our profession when you consider the attacks levied on K-12 education from all directions. I am speaking of achieving professional vulnerability - the kind that allows one to take risks, re-think values and test strongly held ideas with student learning in mind. Vulnerability, in the right context, is necessary in order to reach new levels of awesomeness. Live there. Learn there. Grow there. 
4. Humility Breeds Confidence - It is easy for others to follow and want to be around you if they know that you know, 'It ain't ever about you. Never.'
5. Listen to Learn - The art of listening is a necessary gift in our profession and listening is not simply an exercise, it is at the core of teacher improvement. The best learn how to listen with their hearts and mind.
6. Sense of Humor  - Obvious, right. Laughter, especially at oneself, helps us maintain some perspective. Sometimes we need help getting there.
7. Trust Conquers Fear - Building trust and reserving judgement just makes sense when going through the challenges we tackle in K-12 education. Trust makes it okay to fail and trust encourages learning from those failures.  

I credit Richard with helping me understand the value in building positive relationships when I was most impressionable. Above everything, relationships are still the most important aspect of my career. I am lucky. Everyday at Owosso Middle School I worked with a veteran pro (Teacher Shirley Andersen) and with Richard's support, I always knew I had mentors invested in my success.

It made all the difference then.

And now.

Compliance is not engagement

The issues raised in this blog are not specifically motivated by the policies within my own school or within my district. I write about many topics that are often related to discussions with educators who do not work in my school district. This blog in no way is intended to reflect solely on any specific leaders or my place of employment. 


While discussing rules and expectations with students in our high school law class, Brooke* made the point that just because people comply with a rule or expectation, it does not mean that the expectation is valuable. Another student chimed in that expectations without merit are a waste of time and another student took us in the direction of all the things students do to pretend they are following some rules.

It's not just students doing these things. We all do some of this I suspect. And it's not all bad, but unfortunately our increased proficiency to jump through hoops in education comes at the expense of our students.

Think about that for a minute.

The more time we spend focused on trivial tasks or getting hung up on the mundane, the less time we have for critical issues related to student learning.

All professions have their share of compliance issues. It makes sense that education would be similar. After all, there has to be some accounting for student learning, teacher job performance and our responsibility to meet the needs of our respective communities. On the other hand, what should we do when the compliance topics requiring so much of our energy have little to do with student learning?

What I am talking about are the unique things schools begin to value above all else. I remember a period when meeting a deadline was celebrated at staff meetings and not meeting them could mean your name was on a widely shared e-mail reminding everyone of your failure. In some school communities there seems to be a disproportionate amount of emphasis on posting learning targets and not actually developing meaningful ones. Some school leaders are placing too much value on teacher compliance in the form of record-keeping and collecting evidence that is, at best, loosely connected to student learning.

How do we get our schools (teachers and students) to move beyond compliance and into the arena of determining the best ways we can work together for student learning and professional growth? 

Our student-led discussion about compliance in class reminded me of this valuable blog by Todd Finley from Edutopia. The blog lays out the research-based conclusion that teachers who engage students help students achieve more academic success, sense of belonging and the ability to persevere in tough situations. This may not be earth-shattering news to my readers, but think about the implications if we applied some of this reasoning to how we lead in our schools.

What if our schools were dedicated to teacher engagement and student engagement? (I know that some are - including my own school in some respects - and I hope you will comment below to share those success stories. We need them.)

Adam Fletcher’s definition of engagement applies to teachers in their work with school leaders and principals: "Students [insert, Teacher for Students] are engaged when they are attracted to their work, persist despite challenges and obstacles, and take visible delight in accomplishing their work." (Finley references this definition in his blog) 

The question, "Why is this important?" deserves an honest conversation for the things we emphasize in our schools. In my classroom I have sometimes failed to investigate whether my expectations and my lesson plans actually met their stated intentions. It happens from time to time and just as I expect from administrators leading a staff, I cannot keep plodding along not reaching my students simply because I have complied with some minimal expectation. I encourage my students to ask me why we do certain learning activities in class so we are constantly reminded of our learning objectives. I benefit from knowing that if I lose sight of what is important, my students have a way to nudge me in the right direction and we get back on course. Teachers do not always have constructive ways to voice concerns to administrators so we can stay on course. When there is a lack of teacher engagement with poorly designed professional development, staff meetings that only serve to fan out announcements or an increased emphasis on collecting evidence to show teacher effectiveness, students ultimately end up on the losing end in this culture of compliance.

Our school leaders need to stop and think about what we emphasize in our schools and also how we honor that emphasis through our interactions with students. A more meaningful school experience for teachers and students takes hard work and dedicated leadership. We also know it can be tempting to fall into completing checklists and moving on. One more thing done. Not much gained.

Wonderings  (using the terminology wonderings, which is employed in teacher observations by my school administrators)

1. How should the most important expectations be differentiated from the other business and emphasized for the school staff? 
2. What work needs to take place to shift the focus from compliance to a culture of learning in your school? What ideas do you have to improve the engagement level of the staff? Have you shared these ideas or do you have avenues to share them?  
3. What methods of motivation are effective in getting the school staff committed to working toward important school-wide and district-wide expectations? 

[Please share your ideas and results in the comments below or reach out to me privately]

Engagement requires more energy, expertise and talent than compliance. We know that the engagement of the teaching staff is critical to student success. We cannot afford to expend too much talent (teacher and student talent) in an effort to meet half-baked expectations and silly requirements.

No one remembers fondly the educator who expected students to blindly comply to constantly changing expectations. Likewise, we never hear about educators who retire and proudly claim it was their burning passion to be compliant that made their career special.

We need to be mindful of what makes teaching such a meaningful career and see to it that our school buildings reflect those values above all else.


*Name changed to respect privacy

DISCLAIMER: This blog includes ideas and topics serving as a composite of issues from various sources. The issues raised in this blog are not specifically or solely motivated by the policies within the author's own school district.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nick Gregory has been a social studies and journalism teacher at Fenton High School in Michigan since 2000 and he has been a National Writing Project Teacher consultant and a junior varsity basketball coach since 2003. He has exhibited photography related to Detroit and social justice causes since 2011 and he loves to travel. Gregory, who has a Masters degree in Educational Leadership, believes that building positive relationships helps students grow their passion for learning. Gregory is a member of the Michigan Education Voice Fellowship.

Practical Tips for Mindful Teaching

Conversations, by Nick Gregory

This past weekend I took some time to put the brakes on after a whirlwind start to the school year. A lazy Saturday drive led to this photo (right) and some time to just enjoy the ride without any plans.

In addition to teaching, I have been getting in on valuable Twitter chats, reading interesting education blogs and elevating my involvement within my school community. I am an adrenaline junkie who binges on big ideas and feeds off student energy every September and October. This past weekend though, I embraced the reality that teaching is a marathon and not a sprint. I know this from 15 years of experience, but in the past I would wait until a November crash to face my demons.

I cannot express enough how important it is to take the time before October hits to step back and breathe. Slow your roll. If we are not mindful, we can get sucked into the day to day without appreciating the important nuances of our craft. We get so busy that sometimes we substitute movement for meaning.

Four Tips to Remain Mindful as an Educator 

1. Breathe and observe 

Set aside five minutes per day for silent observation. Take in the learning that is happening all around you. With some patience and permission, you may be surprised by what you notice unfolding in your presence.

The Curious Walk, by Nick Gregory

The photo to the left happened because I set my camera aside and noticed surfers climbing a hill in the distance ten minutes prior. By the time they re-appeared there was a two second window to capture this moment with everything in harmony. In the classroom, we spend so much time trying to be "on" that we sometimes forget to appreciate the joy of just being.

To capture and live the moments that matter, it pays to slow down. When students are engaged and on-task, it is a credit to the expert in the classroom. Our default mode is programmed to juggle and multi-task. Choose to be intentional about noticing what is going on around you - the sounds, the sights, the feel. Live in those harmonious moments (Harmony can be many things in a classroom -  designed chaos, loud, messy or even quiet, low-key and deliberate, etc.) A positive classroom environment is to be appreciated, not taken for granted. At the very least, observe recess or the lunch room to breathe it all in. Be present. It works.

2. Make meaningful 1-minute impressions daily

Choose 5-10 students that you will get to know a little better each week. These will be those "1-minute moments" to listen with more intention as they are in group work or to read homework a little closer. Find your opportunity to dig a little deeper. Simply make a point to intentionally engage those 5-10 students more than normal. It could include reaching out to a family member, checking in with past teachers or noticing something unique and sharing your observation with the student. Whatever means you employ, take one valuable minute to personally connect and it will enhance the learning experience. By Thanksgiving you will have connected individually with all of your students in a meaningful way. If you have fewer students (elementary or special education come to mind), you could alter this idea to fit your classroom and maximize these personal connections early in the school year.

3. Connect your talents to your work 

Drifting Together, by Nick Gregory

Take something you already enjoy and build it into being a better educator and colleague. The connection can be loose, but it's a risk worth taking.

So for me, I enjoy photography and writing. Connecting for me means making post cards to share with colleagues (There are samples below from a gift set that I will give to some friends and colleagues). I even made business cards which fed into my interests designing. I intend to design stationery using my photography for notes to students, recent graduates, colleagues or families from time to time.

The idea is that you take interests you want to develop and play around with them. It is not a race. These initiatives bring you to a place where you are enhancing your experience in your professional life. Let's come to terms with the fact there will always be things we have to do, but applying your interests to your career is something you will enjoy doing. And besides, when you let people in and they learn more about who you are then a more meaningful work experience is right around the corner. We all have talents (fixing things, building things, planning things, organizing events, art, gardening, web design, writing, exercise, yoga, music, video, etc.) that inform who we are and match up with values within our profession. When we can sneak something personal into our professional life it brings us back to our center and it enhances the experience of others. It is worth the energy to experiment. Acting on this idea has brought me immense gratification. It is a win.

4. Seek the company of people who make you smile 

Sometimes we need to put the fun back into work. When the grind of education becomes a challenge, feed off others. Every school building has a zany goofball who is ready to supply a hearty laugh. Better yet, we all have students with this gift. Find them. Now. The gravitational force of helping others can create a roller-coaster experience and laughter can make for a lighter and more enjoyable ride. Seek opportunities to smile. We all know this is important, but the reminder never hurts.

#    #    # 

Honoring our craft (See No. 3 above)

The photographs included in this blog above represent a sample from a set of postcards I will pass along to others over the course of the school year. I have included a few more of the postcard photos below. Each card represents a big idea that is central to learning and the craft of teaching. On the postcards, the "big idea" is printed on the front of the card (listed in the captions for this blog post). The recipients can display them or they can pass them on to someone else. It is entirely up the recipient and it honors our profession.

Resilience, by Nick Gregory

Resting point, by Nick Gregory

Imagination, by Nick Gregory

Mindful, by Nick Gregory

Teacher Growth & Performance Evaluations - an Oxymoron?

The issues raised in this blog are not specifically motivated by the policies within my own school or within my district. I write about many topics that are often related to discussions with educators who do not work in my school district. This blog in no way is intended to reflect solely on any specific leaders or my place of employment. 

Dear School Leader,

Cartoon by Dan Piraro, Bizarro! 

You surely noticed the elephant at the the kick-off to the school year staff meeting. He was the one sighing as we moved through PowerPoint slides detailing the formula used to determine our effectiveness as teachers.

We have a teacher evaluation problem to deal with as a staff.

There, I said it.

Now, can we work together for teacher growth?

This letter is my invitation for you to begin talking to the staff about how we can make teacher improvement the linchpin of the evaluation process.

Whether you know it or not, your evaluation process is on the minds of a lot of teachers under your leadership. We don't know how to talk about it because it is a topic fraught with questionable methods and a flawed process. No one wants to sound like a whiner or be misunderstood so it has been safer to quietly comply and find ways to "score" better. We know that you too must struggle with what you are being tasked with as a school leader and it must feel overwhelming. Teacher evaluations and the talk surrounding them - in the media, the community, the hallways of our building - have changed our building climate in ways most of us did not see coming.

Teachers want to be invited into the conversation about how we can make the entire teacher evaluation experience meaningful. You want evaluations to be more useful and so do we, but starting that messy work is tough. Consider sharing my words with your staff and we can get the conversation started with our focus on WORKING TOGETHER.

GUMBY By Highlimitzz, Flickr

Your staff understands that you often find creative ways to adjust to the legislation out of Lansing and since you do not have a crystal ball, you have had to twist in more ways than Gumby to keep us in compliance. Thank you for steering the ship. Really, thank you.

As the winds of change continue to swirl around teacher evaluations, your teaching staff is your best resource when it comes to transforming the process into something that is robust and meaningful.

You may not have as much influence with legislators as you would like but you can influence your staff by broaching the topic of teacher evaluations with sincerity and sharing your expertise as an educational leader. It will help us understand you better and it will serve as a reminder that we are all on the same team. We need those reminders that you understand the frustration many teachers feel and that you are committed to supporting teachers with a teacher evaluation process that will serve students and teachers.

• Can we talk about the teacher evaluation process and what it means to you as a leader in our school district?
• Can we break down the walls, get past the legalize and get some assurances from your heart and your experience as an educator that we will use the evaluation tool to inform best practice?
• How can we re-think and use the mandated teacher evaluation process so that it helps teachers improve and helps students learn?

Our staff wants to hear from you and we want to know what you value and expect from our staff. You are an educational leader with expertise in leading teachers and running a school. Quality teachers are supportive of an evaluation process that promotes growth.  We are begging for an opportunity to be heard and to gain insight into your ideas about how we can build a growth mindset and a collaborative learning culture together. We understand that it will take work, teacher leadership and new ideas to make this process the best it can be for our school. Let's roll up our sleeves, potentially make a mess of it, grow with it and roll with it and do this together.

Our students and families will be the ultimate beneficiaries of our efforts and our staff will feel a greater sense of belonging. We need that sense of belonging now more than ever. Our profession has been under attack and funding has not kept up with the demands of twenty-first century student needs. The teacher evaluation process is a great opportunity to help teachers grow and improve. Let's do this. Together.

To the contrary, if we treat teacher performance evaluations as this thing we have to do then I am afraid you are telling me that it's just another thing I am subjected to and it has no real benefit for student learning. I may "measure up" in the evaluation, but what I am most interested in is measuring up for students and improving as a teacher. It is your responsibility to help me achieve and strive for improvement.

What this evaluation means to you is more important to me than what it means to the State of Michigan. You are a person I respect, see regularly and if I know precisely what you value and how you value, I am more likely to have trust that your evaluation of my teaching is intended to help me. I want to have more confidence in your evaluation and your feedback is critical to this process. I need to be reminded that we share goals and that you welcome risk-taking, encourage collaboration and you support me in my effort to put students first. I need to improve and I am counting on you to guide and help me be my best.

The evaluation should reflect all of this, but it can't until we talk about it.

Sharing your expertise and your stance will help your teaching staff understand that you too are navigating a windfall of challenges and your aim is to keep students as the top priority. The evaluation has to support that mission, both in theory and in practice. Teachers want to be part of meeting this important challenge.

• Can we invite teacher leaders to have some say in the evaluation process and to take some responsibility for making it better?
• Can we work together to re-frame the evaluation process as something that can help our staff and not divide us? We want desperately to give the process more credibility, and we also feel defeated using an evaluation tool that no one seems to understand and a process that is inconsistent.
• Can you help us understand the role of the evaluation process in our school? We get nervous about re-assignments or lay-offs based on evaluations that many of us fail to find professional value or understand.

You can't erase all of the anxiety surrounding evaluations, but simply knowing that we are tackling this challenge together will give us more faith that the outcomes can have relevance for teacher growth.  

I realize that the struggles with our process are not necessarily a reflection of you or any single leader. Despite that fact, our problems are still real and we have to stop pretending it will just be okay by saying little and doing even less to change the situation. We can do better.

Trust me, if we address the challenge of improving our evaluation process then more of our energy will be devoted to the craft of teaching rather than "acing" evaluation measures that we're not even sure translate to best practice. We want to believe in the process as an avenue for improvement. Even just a little.

In closing, teachers want to improve and we will thrive in a culture that supports teacher growth. We are better when we collaborate, take risks and occasionally fail. But you see, all of this talk about "highly effective" or "minimally effective" and [INSERT potentially arbitrary measure here] student growth are topics we desperately need help unpacking before we can move forward.

We respect that you have a unique set of challenges with teacher performance evaluations and teachers can help make this entire process better if you invite the conversation and lead. Educators and their leaders are creative and passionate about helping others. Those qualities will serve us well if we are serious about transforming teacher performance evaluations into opportunities that encourage risk-taking and collaboration rather than competition and completing tasks.

Invite the conversation.

You might be surprised by the sigh of relief from the staff and the results.

We got this.

Sincerely,

A dedicated and concerned teacher

Any School, Michigan

DISCLAIMER: This letter is a composite of topics that are not specifically motivated by the policies within the author's own school district. The author wrote this letter based on his own experience and after conversations with teachers in school districts across the State of Michigan. The letter is intended to serve as a notice that compliance is not a substitute for best practice and teachers can and should have a voice in the performance evaluation process.

Other Resources about Teacher Evaluation and Improvement:

• When Teachers Compete, No One Wins By Janet Allen
• Three Reasons Why Observations are a Waste of Time by Peter DeWitt
• The Accidental Community: Feeling the Love by Shira Loewenstein

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nick Gregory has been a social studies and journalism teacher at Fenton High School in Michigan since 2000 and he has been a National Writing Project Teacher consultant and a junior varsity basketball coach since 2003. He has exhibited photography related to Detroit and social justice causes since 2011 and he loves to travel. Gregory, who has a Masters degree in Educational Leadership, believes that building positive relationships helps students grow their passion for learning. Gregory is a member of the Michigan Education Voice Fellowship.

Purpose, Perspective & Mummifying Chickens

The issues raised in this blog are not specifically motivated by the policies within my own school or within my district. I write about many topics that are often related to discussions with educators who do not work in my school district. This blog in no way is intended to reflect solely on any specific leaders or my place of employment. 

Like most teachers, I am fired up to get back in my classroom. I keep seeing stories about going back to school (Funny back to school pep talks , Simple tips for a great start) and it makes me think about when I was a fearless teacher willing to try anything to engage my students in meaningful learning.

Looking back, mummifying those chickens in 2001 might be the best thing that happened for me as a classroom teacher. I discovered I had some unique "teaching tools" that I was unaware of at the time. 

Rolling my red cooler to the front of the classroom, I proclaimed to my underclassmen that it was time to really learn about the ancient Egyptian process of mummification. I decided that my world history class would benefit from a "hands-on" learning experience.

"There are enough chickens in this cooler for everyone to get involved in mummifying them over the next couple months," I said with a smile as I held a chicken above my head in my clenched right hand. "That nine-step mummification process you took notes on last class - well, we're going to do it and see how that whole thing works."

Now, picture one of those frozen chickens in the grocery store aisle being held up to the heavens by a baby-faced rookie teacher and you will understand the bewildered expression of my 14 and 15-year old students. Teachers know that that look when students are somewhere in the gray area of curious and extremely confused - that, "Has Mr. Gregory lost his mind?" look.

Yes, I had lost my mind. 

It was October of my second year teaching and I was still finding my way. My stubborn refusal to give in to to student boredom by watering down lessons or assigning menial tasks led me to the deli at my local grocery store on a Sunday afternoon. I strolled up to the counter and asked for a manager. The rest just sort of fell into place.

"Can you donate some expired chickens or turkeys for a classroom project?"

Turkeys were not an option with Thanksgiving coming up so a dozen expired chickens from the freezer were loaded into my car and we had enough so that each group of four students had a bird on the mummification table. Over the course of 7-8 weeks, we took time to oil, spice and wrap the birds. They hung from the ceiling of our classroom in between our rituals. (We adapted a process similar to this link) At the end of "our process" we buried them outside with caskets made in our high school wood shop. Inevitably, I run into some of my former students from those early years of my career and their memories are always the best among my former students. (Rumor is that a few kids tried to find the chicken mummies on the school grounds on the eve of their ten year class reunion)

My answer to their lack of engagement in world history class - and my own quite frankly - was to take away the option of boredom. This marked one of those turning points in my career when I decided it is up to me to take risks and trust my gut despite what might go wrong. In fact, once I got an idea in my head I did not waste time worrying about the potential fallout.

"Mr. Gregory, I am not touching a raw chicken," one girl claimed to the class. "There is no way!"

Some students agreed with her and made sure we all knew, claiming my idea was gross and ridiculous. "You want us to do what?" Others laughed and some probably feigned interest in order to avoid "academic" work.  I found out later many students thought I was joking or that I would turn away from my idea.

"You're serious - we are actually doing this?"

"We are, but Brittany raises a good point," I replied. "We need some gloves. Anyone's parents work in the food or medical industry?"

And with that, we began to plan together. Thank God those chickens were wrapped and frozen on the first day so we were able to ease into the idea and get that initial student buy-in before they thawed.

We spent a small part of most days invested in the ancient ritual of mummification. Quite honestly, it was a shared journey together and I clearly had not thought through all of the logistics beforehand. Students joined me in mapping out a plan that lasted a couple months and I think the whole "weirdness" of it all intrigued them. For me, it was energizing and refreshing to be so damn inexperienced and okay with being unsure of what I was doing. Unlike other challenges to that point, I embraced not knowing.

At this point in my career, I had the confidence teachers gain after surviving their first year of teaching. I had a middle school heart and a high school student roster. I was a rookie teacher trying desperately to make the most of teaching a subject that did not hold much interest for me personally. I broke out of the mold and followed my gut without much fear and without worrying about how it could be done. Bending some health code expectations and getting kids to believe this was a worthy idea made sense at the time. 

Each student group researched a part of the mummification process, the history of mummification and how the process fit into Egyptian culture. Each group taught the class about Egyptian royalty or some person that was mummified. We had to learn how the salt, spices and oils worked in the process so it turned into a quasi-science lesson and humanities all wrapped into our class (get the pun - wrapped). Sure, we listened to the Bangles, Walk Like an Egyptian  and we did the chicken dance a few days after the project ended. Most importantly, through the experience WE BUILT A LEARNING COMMUNITY. We got out of the book and as you would expect, students were mingling and sharing ideas as they hovered over their chicken carcasses. They asked great questions and brought in great information that we applied to our class. It was pretty magnificent to witness. The experience exceeded my expectations and was cited by students as their favorite class experience, barely beating out our one-act plays from Aesop's fables.  

So, this was all a masterfully designed plan that fit nicely into a predetermined unit of study, right?

No, not even close. And that is the point.

As a new teacher, there weren't really plans as much as there were ideas and what if's. I was consumed with the possibilities and trying to see what might work. I have to continually remind myself that sometimes the best classroom experiences happen by accident when there is a foundation for learning already in place. The part that was not an accident was my recognition that we were bored for far too long and that I had the ability to shake things up and make it better. And at the very least, I was committed to laughing my way through it. The chicken mummification experiment took on a life of its own and I squeezed every ounce of life out of my sense of humor in those first few years of teaching. My energy was welcomed by the staff and my genuine enthusiasm was valued by students. 

There were challenges that only an inexperienced and quirky teacher might miss though. After all, the classroom kind of smelled musty, but not offensive. The odor of chickens kept at room temperature was masked by the the smell of cinnamon, salt and all the other spices we had in class. At least that's what I kept telling myself so I remember it that way. We pulled together dealing with our new classroom environment and those hanging chickens were the source of a lot of conversations in and around Room 3-154. 

About three weeks into our mummification process the head of our Science Department peeked into my classroom, something that had never happened to that point. He heard what was going on I guess. When he opened the door, he saw an imperfect row of chickens hanging from fishline above the furnace register, dangling innocently with drip pans beneath. With the stern look he had mastered as an AP Physics teacher he said, "Ya know, there are airborne bacteria from those chickens all over this classroom."

Oops. 

Too late to do much at that point I remember thinking as I nodded back at him acknowledging I learned something new that day. I conjured up one of those purposefully unfinished responses like, "Oh, man" and then I carried on with my day without much care or concern. 

By then the mummy experiment had a re-defined purpose. It was uniting our class and bringing us  a little closer to our study of world history with some teamwork. One student brought in about 30 pounds of cinnamon and sugar that was swept up off the floor from a bakery. Other kids brought in vegetable and olive oil (important in the preservation process) and parents pitched in latex gloves, plastic table liners and cleaning supplies. We gained some needed momentum and it set us up for a successful school year. 

Learning could be fun, unpredictable and memorable it turned out.

The chicken mummy experiment comes to mind when I start a new school year. I try to recapture that exuberance that was so natural early on in my career. Recently when I read the Mind/Shift blog headlined, When Educators Make Space For Play and Passion, Students Develop Purpose I revisited a handful of other classroom experiences that also make me proud. There was the time we took a detour in class and worked on short films to enter in a statewide competition (we won first place!) or inviting my summer school students to bring their pets to class one day as part of a class activity. The summer school classes were the best for trying new ideas. I taught a class that was geared toward reconnecting students to their school experience and dealing with some tough personal issues. I had more than a few classes that used to visit a local assisted living home where we spent time singing, playing cards and walking to the park with residents.   

The Mind/Shift blog features Harvard education specialist Tony Wagner. He and I agree that unless the US education system helps students gain the skills listed below then we will struggle to graduate innovative thinkers who ultimately grow jobs. The skills he lists for our students to be successful lifelong learners turn out to be some of the same ones that organically happened in our classroom all those years back. Students (and teachers I would argue) need to learn how to:

1. Formulate good questions
2. Communicate in groups and lead by influence
3. Be agile and adaptable
4. Take initiative and be entrepreneurial
5. Develop effective written and oral communication skills
6. Access and analyze information
7. Be creative and imaginative

Perspective based on a career spent learning

Every year when we report back to school, I am reminded that the classroom experiences and the way kids feel become the meaningful impressions in a life spent learning. 

As a teacher, I feel fortunate to have a clear beginning and end every year. I get to hit the reset button every August. I get time to reflect and I make it a priority to get my energy and attitude in balance to kick off each school year. Some of the best colleagues and school leaders have helped me see the big picture more clearly and for that I am grateful. 

Most teachers are enthused about starting a new school year and we should be excited. While things change within and outside our schools buildings in regard to policy shifts and new expectations, the common denominator that remains most important continues to be students. This doesn't make the challenges go away, but it does shift my perspective back into place when I get off my game. While I obviously believe that we ought to advocate for what is in the best interest of students, I continue to believe that being focused on students has to be where my advocacy begins. 

Teachers are experts and we do our best to plug our individual strengths into the classroom experience. My expertise in teaching has been my ability to lead a positive classroom, encourage supportive relationships, gain trust and set high expectations. The chicken mummy lesson was one of my first in recognizing my unique "teaching tools" that can be used to help students learn. Anyone who knew me a decade ago would also say that I had a lot of growing and improving ahead of me, but it was that growth early on that shaped my purpose. 

I try to remain mindful of my purpose. 

My purpose. 

Not the purpose that others define for me, but mine. The purpose that I nourish, keeping my students front and center. This constant has helped me cope with unexpected teaching assignments and teacher evaluations that I felt were incomplete. This purpose I have continues to evolve and it probably took five years of teaching for my professed ideals and my on-the-job-training to align. 

My confidence as a teacher grew as one by one students followed in line with chickens in caskets hoisted above their heads and walking through our school's main hallway and out the back doors for the burial. Even today, I know when I manage to get a group of junior students to sing The Bill of Rights Song to our office staff and classes full of their peers, we have succeeded in making student engagement a priority. I am at my best when I make it a point to smile more often and appreciate student laughter.

On the flip side, having some wonderful experiences to draw from and some remarkable young people in my classroom has helped me become more aware when I fail to use my strengths to help our class. Down days and being off are part of the game and navigating those times takes patience and honest self-evaluation. It is a bit easier to cope with when I sometimes begrudgingly shift my attitude to the possibilities, something that was so natural to me back when I was desperate. 

Occasionally I miss that unbridled enthusiasm and naivety that came with my youth, but then I remind myself that since my rookie days I have amassed so many more "teaching tools" and experiences that can help students. There have been times in my career where I have had to re-learn how to laugh more easily because the newness kind of wore off. 

Now, I have a firm stance and purpose that I understand better and I try to keep learning from from the 2001 version of myself. I would not change a thing from my teaching career that has included seven different classrooms, eight different preps (classes) and a handful of wacky experiments because my experience has been deeply fulfilling.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nick Gregory has been a social studies and journalism teacher at Fenton High School since 2000 and he has been a National Writing Project Teacher consultant and a junior varsity basketball coach since 2003. He has exhibited photography related to Detroit and social justice causes since 2011 and he loves to travel. Gregory, who has a Masters degree in Educational Leadership, believes that building positive relationships helps students find their passion for learning.

Off The Streets And Onto The Syllabus: Baltimore and The Freddie Gray Course

Detroit, Mich. By Nick Gregory

I teach American Government and American Legal Systems and this NPR story (4 minutes) hits on increased student demand for education related to current issues. The class is intended to help law students understand the recent Baltimore riots and other urban challenges within a broader context. 

In the interview University of Maryland Law Professor Michael Greenberger provides a rationale for the class. This seems like the type of class that could help people see the big picture and begin to ask serious questions about the why and how of the recent #BlackLivesMatter movement and many other topics. Challenges with crime, policing, housing, employment and policies that encourage segregation are not topics unique to Baltimore. 

For more insight on these topics, I highly recommend,  The Origins of the Urban Crisis by Thomas Sugrue. This book sparked my intellectual curiosity about Detroit and served as a great source of inspiration in my story-telling about Detroit. (Link: My Detroit Photo Essays published on-line )

As an avid Detroit enthusiast, I wish I had been offered the opportunity to enroll in a college class about The Motor City when I was at Michigan State University or Eastern Michigan University. I grew up in the mitten and I never learned about Detroit beyond the automobile. When I discovered in 2005 this "untold Detroit history" I was amazed at how much was left out of my education as an undergrad preparing for my secondary teaching certification in social studies. 

To learn more, check these links: 

Detroit, A History of Segregation in the format of a photo essay (read the captions): Split Photo Essay about Detroit by Nick Gregory      

The Arc of Justice By Kevin Boyle.  A Must Read for anyone serious about Detroit History

August 22 NPR Story: "Freddie Gray's Baltimore: Past, Present, And Moving Forward."