Set and setting

“I can’t do work at home. I only get work done at school.”

“Why’s that?”

“School is just so boring. I’d rather just play The Game–it’s way more exciting.”

“Right. But at this point in your life you have to do school, and when you’re at home it’s actually not that long. 3 hours, an hour break for lunch, then 3 more hours. That’s all it really takes to be decent at school, just pay attention for 6 hours a day, then spend 1 or 2 on homework. Then you can play all the games you want.”

“But The Game is right there on my desk. It’s hard to sit through a boring Zoom class when I could play League of Legends.”

“Wait, why are you working on the same desk your Game is on?”

“Where else am I going to work?”

We’ve been “learning” in a pandemic for a year, but nobody’s suggested to parents or students that studying in the same chair you game–with your controllers and console two clicks away–might not be a good idea. Perhaps a simple “online learning hygiene” conversation at the beginning of each quarter might boost scores more than three tests a quarter. Maybe even a later start time–no, that would be too much of a change for these kids.

Too much of a change. For these kids. Do you hear yourself?

Most of our pandemic adjustments have been illogical. Scolding kids for high-fiving friends they only get to see for an hour in school, where they mostly sit in silence on their computers, is inhumane. Treating them like cattle is inhumane, too. But that’s easier than hearing them out (they might just know something).

Teenagers are more depressed than ever before, but don’t talk to them about that. All you have to do is make sure they’re working and staying on task, course material only. And follow the standards. This pandemic will be over soon.

That’s what they said last year.

[Don’t] Be a Dog

We should be like dogs: curious, present, accepting, able to be trained, and satisfied with little.

We should not be like dogs: blindly obeying the master, easily triggered, distracted, rolling around in shit, overprotective of possessions.

Dogs can teach us a lot. Even more if we see both sides of them.

Personal Studies

History is called social studies in K-12 education to focus people over facts. Social studies teaches kids how the world works so that, one day, they can make it better. Regardless of titles, content is king.

Imagine if we spent less time learning about how the world works and more time learning about how we work:

What we like

What we’re good at

Why we do the things we do

Where fear comes from

Why I can’t get over my grandfather’s death 15 years ago

If class was designed to help students learn about themselves first and how photosynthesis works second, maybe they would be set up for future success instead of a future test. Educators have the chance to change this. Now is the time.

Now is your time.

Ping Pong

I’ve become obsessed. I just moved into a new community for the teaching program. There’s a table in the community room, so I folded it up and have been practicing. Every day. For about 2 hours a day. Just like Forrest Gump.

I play and listen to keynotes. I’ve listened to most Seth Godin talks on YouTube, and just today I listened to Charle’s Mann’s 1491 presentation. I haven’t found a better way to absorb information. It’s right up there with showering and driving. The ping pong table is my new classroom.

Where’s your classroom? Is it a place you can move, somewhere you can be stimulated so your brain and body both remember what you’re consuming? Or are you stuck at your desk, physically and metaphorically? What have you been learning?

The table is my new therapy, my new work station, my new brainstorming space, my new content absorption place in the universe. Where’s yours?

Classroom Rules

There’s going to be four rules in my classroom this year. They are:

  1. Do your best
  2. Tell the Truth
  3. Move Up! and Listen
  4. Don’t compare yourself to other people

These rules are straightforward, except for number 3. Move Up! and Listen means being generous enough to allow others to speak, and then give them the praise they deserve. Moving Up means not always being the one to talk but recognizing others have something to say, too. It doesn’t mean never speaking up, but only when it’s appropriate.

Could these rules be better? Absolutely. Should there be more rules? Probably. But as I see it today, these four guidelines are enough to make a classroom good.

It’s about creating spaces where people feel encouraged to learn. I’ve been doing this my whole life. Now I get to do it from behind a different desk.

Graduation

I’ve studied for 16 years to get to this point: college graduation. My entry way to the real world. Permission to use what I’ve learned and make life better for everyone.

I’ve studied for 16 years to realize I don’t need anybody else to give me permission to live my life. I can give myself permission, and I could have all along.

I’m deeply grateful for my education, but I’m more grateful for my love of learning. That’s more powerful than a piece of paper. That’s more enduring than a commencement address.

To the Class of 2020: you don’t need a commencement to make change happen. You just need courage, conviction, and the desire to learn. The rest will unfold when you give yourself permission.

The quarantine classroom

Here’s the understatement of the year: quarantine has changed a lot. It’s kept most of us at home, sparing essential trips, walks around the block, and, for the brave, runs across the township. For many, the greatest change has been the quarantine classroom.

I am the brave, and I just finished my first ever 30 mile week. The transition from sprinter to distance runner has been smooth so far. I enjoy it. My sanity needs the fresh air and open space.

Most collegiate distance runners I know don’t listen to music while running. I never cared for it, either. But since I’m not driving, my podcast consumption has plummeted. When I’m not feeding my psyche with positivity and new perspectives I tend to get stuck.

So now I run and listen to podcasts or audiobooks. Right now I’m listening to the great Zig Ziglar’s Secrets to Closing the Sale. Zig turns a narrow Douglass Township road into an open classroom discussion. His stories teach me more than most of my classes, and his wisdom makes me look differently at the people I run past.

The world can be your quarantine classroom if you want it to be. If you want it to be. If you want it to be…

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What are you learning?

This question can save you a lot of headaches.

As human beings, we want to have purpose. We want our lives to be meaningful, and we want to do work that matters. We want to be remembered for the great things we did.

When you realize you’re not living up to your potential, you’ll be upset. You may sink into a depressive episode and not recognize yourself. Menial tasks like emptying the dishwasher will feel daunting. You will feel like the things you do don’t matter.

In these circumstances, ask yourself this: what are you learning? Every moment proposes the opportunity to learn, and all tasks can be made meaningful if they have a purpose.

Let learning be that purpose. Learning is what makes us human. There’s always something to learn, always something to make you feel more human. Like you matter.

You definitely matter.

Learning and Execution

To be a human being is to learn. From birth to death, each day presents boundless opportunities to start learning new skills and fresh information.

But being human also means acting. Execution must be born from the learning, or else education is in vain.

The education system fails because it makes kids absorb information they don’t need so they can pass exams. But what if you learned about cooking in chemistry class and growing a garden in biology? How much would the world change if we stopped reading Shakespeare and started writing our own plays?

Learning is a waste of time without execution.

So fall in love with learning, but be diligent about executing. Consuming too much will cause you to overthink. I would rather know because I’ve lived it than wonder because I’ve thought about it.

Mr. Lemma

For the next two years I’m going to be a science teacher at a Catholic high school in Philly. This was made possible through ACESJU (Alliance for Catholic Education at Saint Joseph’s University). The only thing is, I have no idea how to teach young adults science.

At first I thought this would be a handicap. Then I realized it’s a superpower. Imagine a teacher who learns alongside his students and whose ego isn’t blasted when he isn’t correct. How different would a class be if the teacher encouraged students to ask questions he couldn’t answer?

What if, fresh out of college, this ambitious teacher didn’t teach kids science but taught them how to think and question and solve interesting problems? Imagine a teacher who made high school science what it always could’ve been: a chance to learn about how the world works so it could be changed by informed parties.

What if the focus was on learning instead of education?

Sure, every young teacher things they can change the educational system. I know I can’t. But I can help high schoolers realize what they’re capable of. I can help them change themselves for the better through curiosity and inspiring limitless potential.

We need some radical voices in every institution, working from the bottom up. This is how we can wake people up. This is how I can make a ruckus.