The Flags of Our Community {which are International...}

My AP World History class is taking on a new cause.  We are purchasing flags for every country in which our students were born, to hang and display in our school cafeteria.

We started by reaching out to all of our faculty and staff, asking for help identifying students who may have been born outside of the United States. We learned that although our high school, like many in North Carolina, remains made up by mostly a homogeneous demographic of suburban and rural white families - our ethnic diversity is growing rapidly.


As a class that spends our time each week together studying how the wider world impacts us, and how we impact the wider world - it is clear that we need to celebrate the ties that bind our community together right here in Weaverville, NC.  And what better place to start than with an individual recognition of each of our students in this school - whether American, Guatemalan, Vietnamese, Mexican, or Chinese?

We are all North Buncombe Blackhawks here.

We currently have 18 different nations represented by our student body, and we will be proud to hang these flags, and raise our eyes daily to our global and local community.

Many of our international students, standing with their flags, February 2017.

Tool for a Better World.

Man, teaching history during presidential campaigns can be tough.  This year has been my 5th Presidential election as a teacher, and (as always), the passion bubble of everyone, despite political leanings, is near the surface.  And yet, I find myself filled with hope and optimism about my students, and about my work.


It is true that the development of democracy in ancient Athens coincided directly with the rise of compulsory education for citizens (best represented by Raphael's 1511 School of Athens).  And (possibly as a result of this) our democratic elections have a way of  reminding me why I started teaching in the first place.

School of Athens

When I look out at my classes, and see all the different classes of people, different ethnicities, and different political leanings - I see my role so clearly: to create a safe place for the exchange of important ideas, and model passion and positivity.

With the anti-establishment and anti-institutional mood so pervasive in our country currently, public schools can still be a force for good, and fertile ground for the development and creation of innovative ideas.  As so many adults essentially live in an echo chamber, most consistently hearing the voices with which they agree, at the expense of all opposing viewpoints - a classroom full of 30+ students (from widely different backgrounds) is a treasure that must be nourished.


We can learn together, and we can inspire each other.

Whether we are making women's suffrage posters, or writing an essay on the role of art and innovation in history - we are constantly in the act of discovering how we give our world meaning.

And it works!  We get smarter, we become more self-aware, we come to better understand one another.  And we get better, and our hope grows.

I am so grateful to believe in it, and I am lucky to have a job that I love, but that is also a tool for a better world.

Never Apologize for Your Enthusiasm

"There is nothing wrong with loving the crap out of everything. Negative people find their walls. So never apologize for your enthusiasm. Never. Ever. Never." - Ryan Adams

After a great summer filled with travel, family, books, and adventure - I am crazy excited to get back to my world/classroom for a new school year ( which is Mural-o-Rama thanks to my incredible students.)

Teaching is my passion, and I am nothing if not enthusiastic.  So this year I am absolutely chomping at the bit to do my thing. 

I just love it so much.

I am full believer of intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm, and even on the days when I am not at my best - it is my hope that I can still exude both of these to my students.  I am a social person, so teaching high school agrees with my general disposition - as I enjoy meeting new students and their families each year.  It is a humbling and exciting experience of discovery to get a glimpse of the group of people with whom I will be spending my school days over the next semester.  And it remains my hope to create an environment where curiosity, rigor, and enthusiasm are encouraged and the norm.

I am grateful for the opportunity to teach history.  Though it is a job, it remains a love for me - and I am excited about bringing my enthusiasm to my new student family.  

LETS.  GO.     

Can't Stop. Won't Stop.

Dear Lord I love teaching high school kids. I also love thinking about history, of ourselves, and of other people far across the world. And I love talking about it..with high school kids..because they are crazy, and it is fantastic.  And I have zero intentions to stop. Can't stop. Won't stop.

So this article was a good read for me.
Periodically I will come across articles such as these.  Essentially, this writer is explaining how the institutional nature of public schools, and its dependence on politics, creates an untenable situation for modern teachers.  That the static is overwhelming the signal in many classrooms. And much of this is true, and I have sometimes felt that the extraneous requirements of a public educator can make for long days.

So, maybe instituting the punk rock approach to teaching is even more urgent now than ever.  The true punk rock models that I have admired do not simply reject all elements of the mainstream institution - instead they use the institutional tools to create something new.  Both Chapel Hill's Merge Records, and Washington DC's Dischord Records continue to put  out amazing records by some incredible punk and indie rock bands.  And they have continued to thrive, and fulfill their mission by both sticking to their DIY ethos, while also adopting some elements of the modern music industry, including online purchasing - and the resurgence of vinyl.  Even Ryan Adams formed his own record label PAX-AM so that he could put out as many recordings as his heart desires (which, it turns out, is many).

These are pathways that we can emulate in teaching.  Large institutions like a public school system have much available space in which we can innovate.  Actually, in my experience, most leaders are looking for new ideas, and success stories - and unlike most jobs, teachers spend 6-8 hours a day in small workshop studios (classrooms), full of energy, that are begging for new ideas. We can use this space to cultivate and share ideas, and build a movement from the ground up. 

So, instead of leaving the profession - I believe it is time to double down on building relationships that inspire us to create. And let's invite the people to us, to witness our movement in these schools. Let's build something for us, by us - to serve our community with energy and enthusiasm. 

Costa Rica

There are many valid reasons to have year round school.  I actually am a proponent of the year round schedule, as I believe that it has the potential to create a more complete balance in our scheduling for time off - without losing so much content.  But, man I love having a true break in the summer months...

Tamarindo, Costa Rica

You see, it is no great secret that we teachers get paid less than most jobs that require a specialized college degree.  One of the reasons is that we work 10-11 months.  But, few other professional jobs require the level of performance/engagement/energy that teaching does, on a daily basis.  

Surfing-O-Rama

As a teacher - it is simply not possible to report to work, hunker down at the computer and crank out your obligations.  We walk in to a room with at least 25 people staring at you and challenging you waiting for leadership.  As much as I love teaching, the daily grind of it is truly exhausting.  So, taking care of myself is one of the most important skills that I have tried to learn.  The summer break is the best time to seek out my folly, and recharge. I always have a summer reading list that focuses my mind - but my favorite activity is travel.  This summer, my wife (with other friends) got the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica for a week.  I have written extensively about my constant need for travel, and our return to Latin America for the first time in 15 years (we visited Aruba in 2001) was incredibly exciting.

I love to see new places, and obviously have worked diligently to create more opportunities for annual student travel (Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans).  But most importantly, traveling abroad is just a great practice to place ourselves in new circumstances that create opportunities for growth.  This trip to Costa Rica absolutely checked that box for me, as our friends had done most of the planning - and we simply had to be open to the possibilities. 

Nuetstra Casita: best local Costa Rican food...ever

So, the new experiences were legion, and included some of these highlights:

• I actually had to have a lengthy conversation entirely in Spanish in order to buy my son a Costa Rica soccer jersey...and I pulled it off, barely (Thanks Senora Blythe!).
• I learned to surf from a guy named Gustavo. He was a great teacher, and I ended up going surfing again and again while there. 
• We watched a fair amount of The Firm in Spanish, while waiting in a shack to board a tiny boat to Bula Bula - an old hotel/restaurant a few miles up Las Baulas National Park Estuary (infested with crocodiles). 
• We found some amazing local eats at Nuestra Casita - where we dined on the local staple of Casado (rice and beans and fish).
• The sail boat ride out to a secluded bay - where we saw sea turtles, went swimming in the crystal blue Pacific, and ate Casado. 

So how has this trip impacted my teaching, which is my passion?

First: though international travel can be informative, and answer many questions- I feel that it mostly serves to illicit more questions. I came home from Costa Rica hungry to learn, see, and do more. So though I have gained more knowledge of this country that I can share with my students- my primary hope is that I can exude enthusiasm and curiosity for new places - and better show these ties that bind all of us together.

Champion's League

One of my mantras as a teacher, a parent, and a human is to praise the actions that I want to see repeated.  Dishing out compliments for work well done is one of my core beliefs, and being a teacher provides me with numerous opportunities to flex those muscles, as it were.

So, in my AP World History class (which is college level work), my students take 5 - 6 major exams throughout the year.  These exams count for over 40% of their term grades, and are crazy hard.   Scoring anything above a 90 is simply impressive, and should be rewarded.  Thus, these tests are often cause for anxiety and rigorous studying, so I try to provide some levity when and where I can.

2016 Champion's League

To that end, scoring an A on one of these exams qualifies each student for public recognition.  Each student's name is held up on the front board of the classroom for praise.  If a students can continue to achieve a level A on each of the exams, finishing with a 5-0 overall record - they join the prestigious "Champion's League."  (5-1 = All-American, 4-2 = All-State, etc.)

Champion's League membership is not a large club, as it is restricted to a small, elite group of students.  Out of 52 students this year, only four made the grade - and today we had a small ceremony for recognition.  Certificates, stickers, and yes, medals were distributed - epic scores were played, and photos were taken.

I love an opportunity to praise these kids for dominating academics.  I work hard to create a classroom environment where academic effort and success is seen as awesome.  Yes, it is cool to be funny, and to enjoy ourselves in class - but it remains our primary goal to be learners - and grow.  These Champion's League students represent the best of our efforts this year.

Great job kids!

Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.{New Orleans edition}

As I have written many times before, traveling is undefeated. Removing ourselves from our comfortable surroundings, and familiar haunts can immediately open our eyes to new perspectives in a wider world.

Over the past several decades, our society has become increasingly more polarized - and high schools most often reflect the communities that we serve.  So, the need for us (teachers) to take our students beyond the school walls, and into the wider world is more pressing than ever.

St Louis Cathedral, Jackson Square New Orleans

Last week's trip to New Orleans, Montgomery, and Atlanta illuminated a different world for many of us.  It is hard to find authentic culture in this globalized world where we can get anything we want (with two day shipping) from Amazon Prime.

So, sometimes you just have to get on the bus and walk the streets of a far away town...and experience it through the smells, tastes, and sounds - which (as of yet) Amazon can not provide.  So, eating beignets and drinking cafe au lait along the mighty Mississippi, smelling the gumbo and horses in the French Quarter, or hearing the brass band of a second line parade tearing down Toulouse Street brought it home.

Georgia Aquarium

We learned local history along our tours, and even paddled down the river on the Steamboat Natchez - but standing in Martin Luther King's home in Montgomery, where the floor of the front porch still has a hole in it from a bomb, is simply something that you can not get from a book or movie.  From walking down the same street, in the same Alabama heat, as all of the marchers did from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 - to tasting a greasy cheeseburger at Atlanta's Varsity, we were no longer bystanders to the forces of history and culture that have come to shape our world.

Selma to Montgomery March, Alabama State House

And, as always, traveling with these teenagers is undefeated.  They roll with the punches, make the best out of most things, and are full of spirit and energy.  I'm so incredibly grateful for this work, and for these kids, that it overwhelms me sometimes.  I return home with a full heart, and ready to plan a trip for next year.

This trip continually reminded me of the great Mary Oliver quote:
"Instructions for a life: Pay attention.  Be astonished.  Tell about it."

What new, incredible things will we experience?

Second Line Parade, New Orleans