Lessons from The Derby

I love the Kentucky Derby and hope one day to be at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.  I don’t recall exactly when I became enamored with the Run for the Roses, but I know that it has been so long that I can’t really remember a time when I did care about it.

For those that care about such things, I thought that this year’s Derby was incredibly exciting.  While the horses did not come in as I hoped, I thoroughly enjoyed the tightly contested race.  In the hours leading up to this year’s race, I found myself thinking about the trainers and their relationship with their horses.  These trainers – teachers by another name, are tasked with preparing these marvelous young horses to achieve greatness.  Like any other teacher or coach, they must find a way to unlock the full potential of their charge, preparing them for a monumental test.

I understand that racehorses are bred to do what they do.  Thus, it makes it hard to make too many parallels with teaching children; however, I am awed by the way that the trainers speak of their horse’s personality and the way they must individualize their training based on that understanding to achieve peak performance.  I do think that this is a parallel that can be drawn from horse racing and is fully applicable to educating middle school students.  Rather than just giving their horses a cookie cutter approach to preparation, trainers develop a unique plan that fits the unique nature of their horse.  Obviously, horse trainers must work hard to figure out their horses, as horses are not only a different species, but they can’t speak.   While middle school students are not a different species, adolescents are not just younger adults.  They see the world differently and good teachers seek to understand how their students understand the world in which they live.  Even though a middle school student can communicate more than a horse, good teachers must seek to understand what is motivating behaviors and shaping perceptions.  Often it can be quite surprising and is almost always differs from an adult perspective.

In my estimation, good middle school teachers work just like champion trainers D. Wayne Lukas or Todd Pletcher.  They pay close attention - listening, looking, and doing all they can to figure out ways to help their charges find success.  The better they understand the student/horse they are teaching/training, they greater the likelihood of success.

Defying Expectations

The stereotype would have one believe that middle school students are not keen on interacting with adults, and when forced to, they are few words.   This is often reinforced by the afterschool drive-home “conversation” that starts with, “How was your day?” and concludes with, “Good.”

At The Beech Hill School, however, we try to help our students break from this expected behavior.  Because of our size, our students are always engaging with adults throughout their day.  Likewise, because our faculty do so many things, our students come to see them as multidimensional – human, even.

The students’ ability to interact with adults was on full display this past week, when BHS hosted over 30 local leaders to campus for a Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce event.  I had asked that our students volunteer to welcome our guests and to offer a brief tour.  I was overwhelmed to see that most of our students, representing all four grades, jumped at the opportunity.  They made an incredible impression on our guests, and clearly defied any preconceived notion of apathetic, meme-spewing teens.

I was so proud of our students at BHS, and more importantly, I could see how proud the students were of both their community and themselves!

A Good One

They say that it is a compliment when a person is considered to have forgotten more than others know.  Fortunately, I have a bookcase full of books that I consider to be important in my office. This helps me to be sure that if I forget too much, I can be reminded of the knowledge I once held.

As Head of School, one of the things I enjoy most about my job is meeting with parents to discuss their children.  Having worked in education for over 30 years, and heading BHS for the last 13, I have picked up a thing or two over the years.  Since adolescence is such a challenging time in a child’s development, I really enjoy sharing some of the things that I have gleaned through the years.

Much of what I have come to understand about adolescence has been learned through experience, however, it is the writing and findings of many great educators, researchers, and thinkers that have helped me put into context those experiences.  During a recent conversation, an inquisitive parent asked fme to recommend a book that I found especially helpful.  I had several recommendations on the ready, but soon realized that some of my go-tos were a little dated.  So, I decided to review a few and see which were still relevant.

One book that has really stood the test of time and has really helped me to make sense of adolescence is Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain, by Daniel Seigel.  Since reviewing that book myself, I remembered how chock full of useful information it is.  Furthermore, I have found it especially useful recently.  Hopefully, it will be sometime before I, again, forget what I have learned.

Surrender to the Flow

I came of age when the band Phish was just starting to emerge.  Through the years, I had the good fortune to see them several times.  While I was never a hardcore “Phish-head,” I have enjoyed both their music and their ethos.  Specifically, I love that they encourage their fans to “surrender to the flow,” freeing oneself to simply be in the moment enjoying the show.

While this certainly reeks of a patchouli laden, hippy-dippy philosophy, I think that it relates well to middle schoolers.  Too often, middle school students are far too aware of themselves, their peers, and their surroundings, keeping them from just letting go.  In the last two weeks, however, I have witnessed the joy students can feel when they truly “surrender to the flow.”

On the final Friday in February, I had the pleasure of joining the 5th Grade on their field trip to The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  The class had been learning about Ancient Sumeria, and our tour guide took us to a room at the MFA dedicated to Sumeria.  It was amazing to watch the students fully immerse themselves, asking our guide questions and looking at everything with a critical and inquisitive eye.  Though the Sumerian room at the MFA was rather small, the class spent an hour there!  Our tour guide was nearly in tears when she thanked the class for their interest, their curiosity, and their genuine desire to learn as much as possible.  As Head of School, I was extremely proud to see our students so fully and completely “surrendering to the flow.”

This Friday, Ms. Fries and the MathCounts students hosted our annual Pi Day celebration.  For two hours, students offered math themed programming for the entire school, and for two hours, the entire school was fully focused on the activities.  It was incredible!  The students got no grades - some students received small prizes – but for the most part, our students simply participated in math-based games.  There were no gripes, no students asking to use the bathroom for extended periods or other obfuscation.  They simply lost themselves in the moment and enjoyed the activities. 

I wish that every day at school could be like this, and for the most part, our students are great – however – adolescents are acutely aware of so much. When they are able to simply “surrender to the flow,” however, it is truly something special.

Ski Day II

The day before the second ski day of the year, I asked a 5th Grade student how he liked ski day.  He started off with an enthusiastic endorsement of the idea, remarking that it was so much fun.  Then, with a wistful look, he let me know that it was really different seeing everyone skiing and snowboarding.  I asked him to tell me more, and he said that at school, he knows what to expect, in general, but at the mountain, “different people are forced to do things in different ways, and that could be a little different.”

Last week I wrote about the opportunity that ski day provides to learn a new skill.  As the insightful 5th Grader observed to me, there is another reason that we do ski days at The Beech Hill School.  Ski days shake up the normal social structures of a school day, and our students are put in the uncomfortable position of negotiating this new environment.  While some students may excel in math class, or others in drama, some feel most comfortable on the mountain.  Likewise, others that may regularly feel on top of their game in class may feel discomforted on the mountain.

In the end, many of our students come to love ski days and the opportunity to spend the day with classmates with whom they may not usually socialize.  They learn to wait up for members of the group, to decide what trails to tackle and at times, even have to ride the lift with their Head of School.  While I am quite pleased that we remove the barriers that might inhibit our students from learning to ski or ride, I am also pleased to see that our students must negotiate the social challenges that arise from spending a day in a unique environment.