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Craig Shapiro has been teaching for 30 years. He is a health and fitness instructor at William Tennent High School in the Centennial School District, PA. Craig also coaches Cross Country, Wrestling, and Track at William Tennent. Craig is the host the #teachpos on Sunday evenings at 7:30p ET, and, I have to say, Craig is one of the most positive people I know. 

Your background

I was in elementary school in Philadelphia, then in 5th grade, my parents moved to a suburb of Philadelphia where I lived throughout my high school career. I went to Penn State University and then Arcadia for Grad School in Educational Leadership. When I went to Penn State, my father wanted me to go into business. I didn’t know any better. At the end of my freshman year, I will never forget this, like one of those Karma moments. I was taking Economics and we were in this large lecture hall with 300 people. I was sitting in one of the top seats with one of my friends and the teacher was not there that day. The TA (teacher assistant) was teaching and I couldn’t understand him. All I remember him say was something about supply and demand. I turned to my friend and said, “there is no way I am doing this for the rest of my life!” I came home and told my parents that I wanted to be a gym teacher. 

What was it like for you as a student

I hated high school!  Boring every day and of little value. It wasn’t engaging to me.  I found it ironic that something I disliked I ended up doing for a career. I think it actually helped me because I knew when I became a teacher exactly what I didn’t want to do from my experience in high school. I loved sports and hanging with friends and my girlfriend. There were three teachers who had a positive impact on me.

In 5th grade, I didn’t know anyone being new to that school. We were playing kickball in the schoolyard and I slid into 3rd base. I thought I was safe and my teacher, Mr. Betz called me out. I was so upset. I’ll never forget what he said to me. “Craig, I’m so proud of you for taking that risk. Don’t ever be afraid to do that.”  

My high school Spanish teacher, Mr. Black, was also a neighbor of my relatives. He was just funny and would always tell a silly joke. He was so engaging and different from most of the other teachers who just wanted us to take notes or do worksheets. He cared about us. 

I had a calculus teacher at Penn State, Mrs. Gold, who probably had the largest impact on my teaching career. I wasn’t doing that well and we had this one moment where my friend and I were sitting in the back of the room and we had a laughing fit. Mrs. Gold said, “Craig, are you okay? It’s okay that you are laughing. If you need to go outside, go ahead and take a break.” 

Being in her class made me not want to disappoint her because she cared so much. Teaching 101 is not about teaching the objectives on the board, it is about making the class comfortable for the kids so they want to learn. We need to tailor our learning to kids, not have them tailored to us. We should be connecting to parents and their kids so they have the most positive experience in their lives. We need to connect with kids, encourage them to take chances, and reach out so they learn something new. Try to make this about discovery, not something they have to learn during the school day. You’ll not be able to replicate a school day. Let’s not make this more complicated than what it is. Reach kids and parents where they are and try to build a community of learners together. 

My focus as a teacher is not on what a person is doing wrong, it’s what they’re doing right. When you give your students something to do, are they happy to do it or are they just compliant? I want kids to do something because they want to do it not because I asked them to do it. 

Whatever we ask kids to do, it’s got to
be better for kids, not better for us.

Your family

I’ve been married for 23 years with 2 children: Alana, a freshman in college, and Cole, a junior in high school. Alana went into school planning to be a History teacher and at the end of the first semester, she decided I want my children to make a good living, get a good job, but above all other things, I want them to be happy. If you asked my kids if I ever had a bad day at work, they would say no. I’m doing something I love and also I believe I’m doing something that is making a difference for people. This is not just about me loving what I do, it’s also about helping others. Not just as educators, but as people. We all have choices. We can make the world a better place or leave it alone and do nothing or we can make it worse. In my world, I think we should make it better. If we’re not going to make it better, just don’t make it worse.  By the way, we also have three dogs – Boomer, Bella, and Zoey

Your view of teaching

My view of teaching whatever the time it is in, it’s all about kids and what is going to impact them and for them to enjoy the learning experience that is happening for them. I try to tailor my teaching to what I believe kids want. Instead of me saying we’re going to focus on this assignment, I try to give them choices that will help them still learn the material but learn it in different ways. They could make a video, PowerPoint, FlipGrid, paper, poster, and give as many options to make it as accessible to them and enjoy it. The quote I say to kids is…

 This is your class. Make your class special.

I say to teachers, remember there is one of you and there is a lot of them. Are you the person making the decision for all of your students when there is only one of you?  I’m not saying that they should make all of the decisions for children, but shouldn’t they have a voice in what happens in their class? I’ll ask my students, “what do you think of this?” Most kids because they were trained say nothing. I tell them that if they don’t say anything to me, then you are forcing me to do it the way I think we should do it. I think to teach especially when kids are older, there has to be this idea of giving kids options to be partners in learning. 

Teaching during the Pandemic

This is going to be challenging. I just went for a run with an administrator from another district and we were bouncing ideas off of each other. No district that I’m aware of has prepared for this. This pandemic is something new. We have to embrace this and realize there’s going to be mishaps. Learn from them. Make change. That’s going to fall on kids, parents, and all of us. I’m going to do my best to try to make parents and kids comfortable. 

Twitter chat #teachpos

I started #teachpos in November 2018. I had never been on Twitter and I became friends with a new librarian at our school. She recommended joining a Twitter chat. First, we tried it with some of the kids. It worked for some and not for others, but I loved the immediate feedback. So I decided to go online and looking at chats. I love education. It is a noble profession. I joined a chat at 7p on Sunday nights. After participating several times, the hosts recommended I host a chat right after their chat. It took me some time to figure out the hashtag but I was always talking about positivity so that’s how I came up with #teachpos. The first time flopped, but now I’m connected to all these amazing people. Because of the name #teachpos, it generally gets people who are positive about teaching to join in. 

So join in the conversations at #teachpos every Sunday at 7:30p ET

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I’ve been a teacher for three decades. It’s a choice that has totally shaped who I am as a person and something that I truly am grateful for each day. Besides teaching, I’ve coached about six different sports and still coach three today. A few of my passions are: exercise, writing, teaching, helping others, and trying my best to be happy each day.  

• Website: https://cmsdreambig.com/
• Twitter: @Shapiro_WTHS  #teachpos
• Facebook: wtcccoach
• instagram – wtcccoach

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Roman Nowak is a High School English Teacher in Rockland, Ontario in Canada. He is a Student Success Leader, an Agent of Transformation, and is also a fitness enthusiast. I am fortunate to know Roman because of Twitter as the host of BuildHOPEedu and also for sharing quotes about being kind and caring for each other. Roman and I had this conversation at the end of February before the stay at home order. His message is what we need now during the COVID-19 pandemic and after so we all build hope and spread kindness.

Your background

I am from a Polish background and there is no letter in the alphabet for “W” so my last name is pronounced “NOVAK.” Pronunciation of names is really important to me. I always give my students some history and background of my name and want to make sure I pronounce their names correctly. I live in Rockland that is northeast of Toronto. 

This is my 15th year in teaching with a varied background in the elementary yet mostly in the secondary system. Since French is one of our official languages, I’m a high school English teacher but in a French-language district. English is a second language for many of our students.  I was called a Student Success Teacher and was that coach who worked with students who were just on the cusp of failing. I worked with the teachers on how to be proactive and work on preventing failure. This is my second year back in a school system because I took a leave from my school. My district lent me out to our provincial government to work on policies and programs for three years to support student success for our twelve French-language districts. I missed the classroom a lot and came back to be a full-time classroom English teacher and do a couple of cooking classes here and there because that’s a passion of mine. So I’m having fun on a daily basis. 

Find the sunshine. Be the light. Help make the world a better place.

What it was like when you were a student

I came from a very conservative family with a religious upbringing. My dad used to be in the military. I’m a first-generation Canadian with my sister. Both of my parents are from Poland. I have always been taught to follow the rules. When I was a student, I a compliant student doing what was expected of me. There was a fear of not doing what I was told to do because of what my parents might say or do. I was that student who succeeded very well and followed the rules. 

Was I good at school or just good at following rules? 

I was an extremely shy kid yet won a public speaking contest. When I started teaching. I found students that didn’t fit that system. There are many people who don’t know how to use their voice. I’m going to try and be that model. I want to transform schools. I think there is some that works but a lot that doesn’t work. I’m not afraid to stand up when something doesn’t work. It’s not acceptable for students to not pass, not get their diploma, or not move on to the next grade. It’s important for us to put in the work for all children. We don’t need to have all the answers.

Your family 

My wife, Émilie, and my two daughters, Eva and Kaléa in grades 2 and 3, are my heart and who keep me going.

Your journey as a teacher

Early on, I wanted to become a teacher. In high school, I did have some teachers who tried to discourage me. I actually really wanted to go into dramatic arts. That’s where I found my voice. I took drama classes, did a musical, but to my parents, that was not a real job. They wanted my sister and me to have stable, traditional careers. That’s why I chose to teach and it all worked out for me. I bring in that drama outlook to my classroom every day. I volunteer with plays and have fun in class. Yet, I don’t push them to have a voice yet since English is a second language for my students. Many don’t want to speak out. 

FlipGrid came to my class when they were doing a tour of Canada. I use FlipGrid to get them comfortable using their voice and to let them talk and drive the class. If they deviate from a lesson, I let that happen. The worse thing is when students want to talk and we say it’s not time now or forget about it later, then what they’re learning is that no one wants to listen to them. I’m learning that I listen more and may learn some things that were not planned. Not all students like sharing or using FlipGrid because they don’t like looking at themselves mainly because they are afraid of the judgment of what others will say about what they said. I encourage them to work on getting comfortable with speaking so they want to share their voice when they need to. It is important to give students that window to shine.

This is Barbara: Instead of transcribing everything, make sure you listen to Roman’ sharing some of the things his students have been doing: 

• • The story of Cédrick becoming a member of @teamcanada
  • Pay It Forward project video
  • Spreading random acts of kindness
  • Independent Research projects – TedTalk style

Quotes you share on Twitter

It was a goal of mine to put up a quote every day. In June this year, I will have put up a quote every day for three years. It was a mission I gave myself when I started with Twitter and became involved in Twitter chats. I really wanted to do something that was important to me reflecting and having that positive outlook. Some quotes also are linked to posts I wrote.

“Sometimes We Need to Find the Light in the Dark”

“If you feel like you’re losing everything, remember that trees lose their leaves every year and they still stand tall and wait for better days to come.” -unknown

The host of #BuildHOPEedu

When I was working with policies and programs, I was involved with almost 22 Twitter chats a week. I grew so much as a person and loved it. I eventually wanted to write because it is a passion of mine. I like to speak and go to conferences to learn. With everything I was putting out with the quotes and posts, I also wanted to reflect and learn with people. Kindness was something I wanted to focus on, but there was so much that fit under building HOPE. So I created the hashtag #BuildHOPEedu look at what I wanted to learn. If we create hope for what education could be, we have compassion, empathy, and kindness. In March, it was my one year anniversary for that chat.

“Help others achieve their dreams and you will achieve yours.”
– Les Smith

Your WHY

If we really want our students to strive and thrive, we have to be there for them. We need to break away from this mass education where everyone has to follow the same lesson at the same time. We need to allow students to be empowered to learn and feel successful. Let’s get them to find that passion that drives them to want to learn. I try things and sometimes they don’t work out. I have bad days. My kids have bad days. There are always those moments especially now with this pandemic, but we can power through and keep trying things to be there for students. I’m also a Fitness Enthusiast. 

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Roman Nowak is an HS ELA Teacher in Rockland, Ontario, Canada. An educator for 15 years, Roman is passionate about student success, school transformation, and building HOPE in schools through authentic learning experiences. Husband, father to two beautiful daughters, educational leader Roman collaborates with educators from across the world to spread kindness, to build impact globally, and to tear down the four traditional walls of a school.

Twitter: @NowakRo #BuildHOPEedu
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roman-nowak-90972b126
Website: https://mrromannowak.wordpress.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roman.nowak/

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For all of the Rethinking Learning podcasts with Barbara Bray, click on the podcast tab at the top, the logo below, or go to https://barbarabray.net/podcasts/

make sure you go to the bottom of the podcast page to access the posts that go with each podcast. 

Go to this page for resources, questions, and more information about Barbara’s new book, Define Your WHY.

All of us have hopes and dreams. My friends on Twitter asked everyone to come up with our One Word for 2020. I reviewed what I wrote about for “My One Word for 2019” on how each new year holds endless possibilities. Instead of “Impossible,” I saw “I’m possible.” I didn’t see it until now. I love this word: “Possibilities” I see us considering “Possibilities” to achieve our hopes and dreams. 

Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I’m possible! ~Audrey Hepburn

Choosing My One Word for 2020 was an interesting exercise for me since I’ve been writing my book, Define Your WHY. My One Word for 2018 was YET and 2017 was Joy. I did learn that year the importance of a growth mindset and learned that adding YET on anything that I wasn’t sure about changed me. I wasn’t going to give up brainstorming ideas for one possible word for 2020: stories, hope, purpose, why, be, responsibility, and more. 2019 has exciting for me with the focus on WHY and stories. I wrote about a sense of wonder in my book and decided to share it to help me find my one word for 2020.

When we’re young, we have a sense of wonder. Everything is new and exciting.  I’ve heard this quote, “the world is your oyster.” I’m assuming that means that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. The world is there waiting for you. But it seems a little tougher and more expensive to live now. So what can we do if times may seem tough? I say it’s time to bring the wonder back. You see, attitude is everything. When times are tough and you don’t feel appreciated or valued, that’s when you need An Attitude of Gratitude. When I feel down or not sure about my day, I take out my gratitude jar and write something I wonder about or am grateful for. I found that you can’t be depressed and be grateful at the same time. Try it! If you can’t find something to be grateful for at the time, then write down something you wonder about. Push your thinking to do more wondering and find something you are curious about. Write it down!

I took out my gratitude jar and started reading what I wrote on the slips of paper in 2019. The first one I picked out of the jar was being grateful for my PLN. I read more and there were many people who were there for me. I couldn’t write my book, Define Your WHY without the support of my family, friends, and colleagues. I am so grateful. That’s it! My #OneWord for 2020 is GRATITUDE. 2020 will be the year I have an Attitude for Gratitude. My book is launching in February. I’ll be sharing excerpts from my book more often.

You can create your One Word for 2020 and include the hashtag #OneWord2020. 

• Think about your hopes and dreams.
• Come up with One Word for the new year and add the hashtag #OneWord2020.
• Create a graphic that depicts your One Word. I used Canva to create My One Word graphic. Another program I have used is Buncee to create interactive images.
• Share your One Word on Twitter and Instagram or whatever way feels good for you.

Write a post and share it on Twitter and tag me with my handle @bbray27. Over the next week,  Meredith Johnson @mjjohnson1216 of #BookCampPD will be adding graphics educators create of their #OneWord2020 You can view their creative designs at https://bookcamppd.com/oneword2020/

Go ahead can create your One Word and share it with Meredith. Let’s build our One Words together.