The LEGO Movie, Teaching, and Creativity *Now with BONUS Benny*

**WARNING- I'm completely going to spoil The LEGO Movie, up to and including the ending. Go watch the movie. Seriously. Go. This will wait. The internets are forever.**

Everyone watched it? You good? Because I need to spoil this thing to make the points I want to make.

The LEGO Movie is about everything that is happening in education right now. Obviously, filmmakers Chris Miller and Phil Lord didn't do this on purpose, and they probably don't even realize how wonderfully their message fits into the current climate of American education. But it does and that in and of itself says volumes about how smart this ought-to-be-really-very-silly movie is. 

The LEGO Movie's major conflict revolves around following the instructions (Lord Business) and building your world the way you see fit (The Master Builders). Lord Business plans to fix the LEGO universe in perfect place with his super weapon, the Kragle. The Master Builders are against this and act as the resistance. 

I'm now going to make a possibly unfair leap:

  

Arne Duncan is

Come on. Any teacher who saw the movie made this connection. The guy who wants everything to be standardized across the (Lego) board? The guy who sees Legos not as toys but as important building materials? The guy trying his best to bring about Taco Tuesday and, therefore, the end of the world as we know it?
Woah, slow down cowboy. Ok, that last one was too far. I'm in the moderation camp and I hate hyperbole that goes all the way to OMG COMMON CORES AMS THE END OF THE EDUCATIONS WORLD AS WE KNOWS IT ARGLE BARGLE!!!!11!!!ONE!!1!1. People who use hyperbole like that are literally worse than Hitler.

But the "Arne is Lord Business, Lord Business is Arne" business is only part of the education connection, and, because I'm a look at the positive kind of guy, it's the least important connection.

The important connections come with the movie's main theme of following the directions vs being free to do as you wish. 

Let's go back to the fiercely anti- Common Core teachers. Many love to talk about how the emphasis on testing will create a generation of zombie adults only good at bubbling in test questions and regurgitating learned information on command. Student like this-

And to those teachers I ask, What are you doing in your class? How are you having so little impact on your students that the only thing they learn is-

Teachers, we are the Master Builders. We are the creative ones, who can see all the pieces, who know the plans, and who can create new ones.

(I work with a lady who is Princess Unikitty)

And here's how The LEGO Movie is the perfect metaphor for education. The blocks exists for a reason. The instructions exist for a reason. Following the instructions (the standards) will net you exactly what you're looking for some of the time, without variation or flex. You want a firetruck? Follow these instructions and you'll get a firetruck. You want kids to be on grade level? Here, this book is specifically designed to do that. (I know the books don't actually do what they are advertised to do, give me a minute.)
What we learn from Emmett at the end of the movie, what we actually learn from the boy and his dad at the end (which was one of the best "WTF, really? You're going here?" moments of a movie in a long time) is that we can't build crazy interesting things without the standards, without the instructions. You need something to start with, a baseline.
Think about the submarine. When our heroes are escaping Bad Cop and his baddies they decide the best plan of action is to dive into the sea. So they all start using their Master Builder powers to build a submarine.
At the same time.
Each with his or her own vision.
Without talking to anyone else, aside from Batman, who "only works with black. Or very dark grey."
And what happens?

An adorable mess that almost immediately springs a leak and nearly kills them all.
Teachers, we need guidelines. We need standards and directions. To say the common core is completely without value is to throw away building blocks (pun!) we could use to build something great. Our students need guides. The real boy says that without his dad's Legos none of the world he created could have been possible. He needed something to start with, something to build from.
We are the Master Builders. We know the pieces and we know our kids and we know how all of those things can be put together. This kid needs a motorcycle. This kid needs a tower. The space cadet in the front row needs a spaceship. I know how to do that. I can use the book (see, told you we'd come back to it) as my instruction manual, as my jumping off point, to build those kids what they need. That doesn't mean I need to slavishly follow every single thing in it.

All of us have this kid. SPACESHIP!!!

There is no "right way" for students to learn. There is no "right way" for an education to be built. But there are tools that everyone can use. We need to stop looking at standards as a forced lock-step procedure* and start looking at them as the pieces we need to build what best suits the lesson we are trying to teach. Gluing down learning styles is a tragedy, and undoing that takes a lot more than some water. We need to work with and within what we are given. That is possible. We are the Master Builders, and we can do that. We need to help Arne see that the things we can build using his toys can be amazing.
The last lesson we all should take from The LEGO Movie is how amazingly fun it is. This is a movie that revels in joy. One of the main characters is a kitty that is also a unicorn! Another is Batman, but a Batman that sings this song. The LEGO Movie manages to whip a big lesson on the audience and keep us laughing and loving it the entire time. There are serious tear-jerker moments in there, the destruction of an entire world, and the death of a main character (which leads to a hilarious rebirth, but still). Heavy stuff. And yet the movie doesn't get bogged down in any of it.
We've got a lot to teach. Important stuff. Heavy stuff. Fractions. And in no way is any of that an excuse for school not to be fun. Teaching and learning should be a joyous overall experience. That is our job. Our students have to spend all day with us for 180 days. They are going through stuff at home, trying to figure out who they are (there's the WildStyle callback), and dealing will all kinds of Micromanagers. Heck, who knows what the dad in the movie is going through that this is his escape. Probably the chaos that is two small children (I love my kid, but he's El Destructo the Chaos Bringer).
Help your students see that education is a toy to be played with. Words are toys. Numbers are toys. Thoughts are toys. Put those things together in interesting orders and see what you get. Get a double-decker couch? Fine, at least you got something. And that's better than nothing at all.
There is no better way to close this and to reinforce the idea that all of this should be fun and we, the Master Builders, should be creative* than with the movie's main song, the earwormiest thing you'll hear all year.



*yes, your districts and principals have a lot to do with that. But in your room, you are the Master Builder. Act like it. Take control.

*Note: Love to Film Crit Hulk and his wonderful write-up about the movie. It's helped solidify some thoughts I was having.*

****EXTRA SPECIAL BONUS CONTENT BELOW****

 I was thinking about about Benny, the 80s Spaceman, who also is becoming one of the internet's (at least my little corner of the internet's) favorite stars of the movie. I can't disagree. "SPACESHIP," is a catchphrase I can get behind. This week I taught my kids about the Apollo 11 mission and had to resist shouting it at them every time the words "Eagle" or "Cololmbia" came up. And the joke I made in the original post about all of us having a Benny in our class still stands. It works and it's funny.
But there's more to Benny than that. So, using the power of the edit button, I'm giving all you wonderful people Extra Bonus Content Not To Be Found Anywhere Else.
Benny is stuck in the past. From his beat up spacesuit and cracked helmet to his inability to make current gen technology work.
Benny is a Master Builder. Benny is like a lot of the Master Builders I know in other classrooms. Master Builders who's building skills are fantastic, and they can make any lesson work with the tools they've been using. But throw something unfamiliar and new at them, from standards to technology, and their entire skillset breaks down in a tornado of button pushing and shouting at the infernal machine.
Benny couldn't adapt to use the computer in the film until the plot gave him 1980s technology to work with. A lot of teachers have learned this technology, and that's what they know and that's what they want to use. Not all teachers, but we all recognize that there are some. Some teachers have trouble with the evolution education naturally takes. The pendulum swings. I'd never argue every swing is for the better, but every swing is an evolution.
We can't be Benny, stuck in the past. We've got to move forward with the times, adapting to newer technology and newer ideas and using our Master Builder skills to make those new things work for us. We are not the slaves to technology or education theory. We are the experts, the Master Builders, using those instructions and tools to create something we thing will best benefit our students, our classes, and our schools.

Weird Teacher's Classcast Lesson 5- Read Alouds

The Weird Teacher gets his acting on and models how read alouds are done in room 8.*

*no, I don't know why that was in third person

Barnes and Noble Events

As you know, I've had two events recently at my local Barnes and Noble. Both went better than I expected, but that's because I'm kind of pessimistic about my ability to pull any kind of a crowd with just my name. Advertising is also scarce. I do what I can and spread the word through the venues I have, but a lot of it is hoping people who are interested happen to walk into the store at the right time.

Ok, so that's not entirely true. The first reading was during Barnes and Noble's Teacher Appreciation Week event, so my audience came to me. Like those of you who've read the book know, it's not just for teachers, but it does come off that way initially. The crowd for my Teacher Appreciation reading was mostly educators. Two or three were homeschool moms, and there was a little people teacher and an administrator from the Medford School district, which is the district right next door to mine. They weren't the only ones there, but they were the ones I talked to. Others drifted in and out as I read. Most who came late stayed, which is nice.

They were a great audience. I opened with the Peanut Butter and Jelly chapter, since that went over so well at my Bloomsbury reading. I also read the Bodily Functions chapter, which didn't go over fantastic last time but this audience had a few kids in it and they helped sell the grosser funny parts. Since I had the time and no one was asking questions, I thought the Distractions chapter who be a good one to read. That works better when the audience is teachers, since they can relate to the more classroom-centric chapters. And to close it out I read Sympathy for the Weird Kid. If there's one chapter that feels like a thesis statement for the entire book, that's it. It's about empathy and compassion and seeing everyone for who they are. It's an important one for me to read. Both readings, it's gotten a lot of quiet nods. Everyone is the weird kid to someone.

I was told that today's event was also going to be a reading. My contact lady told me I would be able to read or give a talk or whatever. When I got there Contact Lady wasn't working but Manager Lady was. Manager lady explained to me that, no, it was not a reading thing. It was a sit by the door with your books out and say Hi to customers and sign copies thing. Oh. Well, darn. That's way less fun. Oh well, I still get to have my book out in Barnes and Noble during the weekend, right by the door. I still get to sell the book I wrote and self published in a real brick and mortar book store. That's a cool thing and nothing to complain about.

I met a couple of very nice people, sold and signed four books, and had a nice hour. Sold two to one lady. She initially only wanted one, she was going to send it to someone she knows who is a teacher, but then she came back about five minutes later to get a copy for herself. She also works at the nearby Southern Oregon University, and she asked for my contact info. She wanted to share it with the dean of the education department. Said she thought I would be a great speaker for their students. I haven't mentioned it yet on the blog, but this is the third or fourth contact I've had with SOU people. Hopefully someone will come of it. I'd love to do a talk at the University. The other books were sold to a girl at the very beginning of her teacher education program and a guy who's wife is a kindergarten teacher.

I LOVE being able to sell the book. It is still pretty incredible that someone would buy something I wrote. Like, in a book store. Just walking through. Pick it up, read the back, and spend real American dollars on it. I give a ton of credit to Dorothy Dean's wonderful cover.

Next planned reading is at my alma mater, the University of the Pacific. I'll be speaking to a group of student teachers. Really excited about that.

Like always, thank you for reading. And if you've read the book but haven't written a review yet please head over to amazon, Barnes and Noble, Good Reads and/or iTunes and let everyone know what you thought.

Toof

I wrote about Toof in the book, but we're a few weeks into doing Toof Telling in class now so I thought I'd share a video or two my kids have done.
Yes, I've got permission from every parent to post these online. Really, they are impossible to find because they are Public But Unlisted, so the videos will only be linked to the class blog I keep.
First, an overview from the homework blog about Toof:
***

We have a new student in our class. Its name is Toof and it’s a monster (puppet). Toof lives in the classroom, but wants a change of scenery. Toof asked to go out and I’ve agreed. So it will be heading to the homes of the students of P5 for sleepovers for the rest of the year.

When Toof visits your home your student will need to write at least one page describing what they did together in Toof’s voice. This will help them write in first person, which is a challenge. (i.e. First person Toof-“ I got to go to Stu’s house this weekend. It was fun. We…”) They will then present this information to the class during Toof Telling Time, presenting using the puppet and whatever voice they feel Toof has.

Students will need to either bring in a photograph or a drawing of themselves with Toof doing something they talk about. With these plus the write-ups we will be able to make a Toof Telling memory book.

I think that this will be a fun way to get the students to write in the first person and to work on presentation and oral communication skills. By taking Toof home and having to remember to bring it back our students will also practice responsibility.

I will be choosing which student Toof goes home with and when. My choice will be based on responsibility displayed in class, completed homework, and behavior. Toof will travel with every student once. Trips will normally happen Friday to Monday and Monday to Weds. Please help your student remember to return Toof on the correct day so that it can go home with another student. Please, when Toof comes to your home, protect our small monster friend from curious pets and baby brothers and sisters. It would be a shame if Toof gets lost or damaged before all of our students are able to hang out with it.

Thank you for your help and for welcoming Toof into your home. If for some reason you would not like Toof to visit please let me know.

 Below is an example of a picture/caption-

Toof loves cake, because monsters love cake. Mmmm, cake cake cake
***

So that's what the deal with Toof Telling is. Now here's a few of the videos my kids are making. Note- they are simple sit and talk videos. No fancy editing. The purpose right now is just to get used to talking. Maybe when I get more time I'll teach them to use some of YouTube's tools. Again, yes I have permission to post these. Please be cool and don't spread the links around.



If you haven't left a review on amazon, Barnes and Noble, or iTunes please do that. It helps. 

Classcast Lesson 4- If You Want to be a Teacher...TEACH

I'm back after a holiday break and I've made a new classcast. This is me reading the response I wrote to the teacher featured in the Washington Post's "I would love to teach but..." article. Yes, I'm double dipping, but sometimes an audio and visual element help to make the point.

Barnes and Noble Readings (Yes! Plural!)

Backstory: A few weeks ago I swung by the local Barnes and Noble to see if they did local author readings. They technically stock my book, though just on Nook. If you ask for it in paperback in store (no I didn't...Angela did) they tell you it's order only and they'll send it to you. Makes sense, I can't imagine a giant chain trying to keep a bunch of self-published books in stock. Still, I'm doing everything I can to promote the book and I live by, "It never hurts to ask."* The dude I talked to said they do author nights sometimes and he took my contact info and promised to give it to the proper person. I never heard from that person and figured I got lost in the big business shuffle or they weren't interested and didn't sweat it.

Today, while I was teaching a very nice lady from Barnes and Noble left me a voice mail. She did have my contact information and was I willing to do some readings at the store. Not one reading, but TWO! Checking that voicemail made the end of the day go by quick and happy and I called her back as soon as I could.

Next week is Educator Appreciate Week and B&N is always good about teacher discounts and stuff that week. The Medford B&N hosts a Teacher Appreciation Event and she wanted to know if I'd be interested in basically being the entertainment. Come, read, do a Q&A, talk to teachers, try to sell the book. WHAT!? YES! Yes, I very much would! I'm in from 4:30 until I'm done. Event ends at 6:00.

And- AND- they are doing their Local Author Winter Readings Feb. 1st and would I be interested in participating in that? They give me an hour block and I do with it what I want. Of course I'm in. Noon to one.

Not only are these awesome chances to spread the Weird Teacher name and sell some books, they are also great chances to wake the B&N computers up to the book. Here's how sales for these events works- I bring in my own stock. Since the books are printed through createspace.com they are print on demand for B&N. That means non-refundable, which means if they order a bunch of books and don't sell them they are stuck with them. I understand. But when I sell a book at the reading it is sold through the B&N register. That means the computers see He's the Weird Teacher moving through their system, which means it lights up things which could eventually lead to carrying books in-store if it looks like the demand is there. And when I sell a book through B&N, createspace pays me for the sale and sends me a hard copy to replace the one I sold. So if I sell five book Tuesday, I get paid for five books, B&N sees that He's the Weird Teacher spike in sales, and I get five free books in the mail. Short version- That doesn't suck.

I'm crazy excited to be able to do this. I've got three readings booked now, these two and one at my alma mater, University of the Pacific, which I haven't written about yet but need to. I'm also working on getting another lined up at Bloomsbury in May.

Thank you for reading the blog and the book and telling your friends. It's been an unreal experience hearing from random corners of the internet and seeing messages and pictures pop up on the He's the Weird Teacher facebook page.

*Bonus example- I just sent the necessary paperwork to Heaven (aka Powell's Books in Portland) so that they'll consider stocking He's the Weird Teacher. They are an independent bookstore and do stuff like that. It might work. Couldn't hurt.

One Teacher's Response to "I would love to teach but..." from the Washington Post

Here is the article to which I'm responding. Read it first for context.

A lot of teachers feel this way and I've seen this article in a few places now. I think it's true that a lot of the problems in the system are hurting our ability to do our jobs, but if you're that upset by it then you need to either A) get out or B) decide forget all that noise and teach how you think you should teach. Let them fire me for being great at my job, because I will be as great as I can be in whatever situation you put me in.
I'm going to be as in control of my little universe as I possibly can. I'm going to get loud politically to be a force for change. I'm going to be involved in the decision making process at my school and go to district meetings. They will hear my voice.
Got a terrible admin? Move. Find someone better, because there are better admins out there. Be brave and take control of your life and your job. Remove an excuse. If you have the teaching gene you'll find a way to teach.
This teacher became the problem. She became a bad teacher. She let that happen. Look- " In the time to follow, I gave up. I taught the bare minimum and didn’t feel like my students learned anything of value, but they all got good grades." Wahhh, the grades I gave didn't change, so why try to teach? GRADES DON'T MATTER THAT MUCH! YOU'RE HURTING THE KIDS BECAUSE YOU FEEL SORRY FOR YOURSELF. An administrator dictating final grades does not remove your ability to do your whole job, just a part. Frankly, a less important part. You can still teach. You can still assess. You can still modify instruction based on assessment. You know, the point of assessments.
Wahhh, parents make the job hard and they complain and don't support me. Maybe. Some of them. NOT all of them. I've had plenty- plenty- of rock star parents. Dwell on the awful ones or rejoice in the great ones. Do what you can for the parents but at the end of the day you have that child for eight hours. Make the most of it despite the homelife. Stop finding the negative and focusing myopically on it.
She's part of the problem and this makes it worse, not better. She admits as much- "Could I be part of the solution? Of course." Then she makes excuses about how useless it is to even try to be part of the solution when no one listens to teachers. Meanwhile her letter goes viral. This only gives teachers more excuses, a greater feeling of institutional helplessness. I can't make a difference so why try because when someone else did try they couldn't. Like one person can't create change in the face of institutional distress. Teach that lesson during Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This attitude lets those above us feel like they are winning. Unions are broken and contracts are terrible because so many feel helpless because they bought the hype.
You teach because you have to. Because no matter the bull from above and below, no matter all the idiotic policy changes and political posturing, you have to teach. No matter the ignorant things people say about the job, you know they have no idea, and you have to teach. Take the opinions of morons personally at your peril. These opinions aren't new, you can just hear them better now. Focusing on the negative is a choice. But you won't, because you have to teach and you're too strong for the voices of the loud angry few to bring you down.
This is Not the way The Education System In This Country Is Now. It's not. That's the narrative you're being sold and helping to contribute to, but it's not it all. It's a narrow view of the ugliest things in education. 
She sounds like she was a great teacher until she gave up. We are stronger for losing her. We are weaker for her spreading her poison of helplessness. I'm not saying the problems she outlines aren't real. They are. I'm saying we all need to step up and fight to fix them, not lay down and complain. At every turn, every time this teacher was confronted with an obstacle, according to what she wrote, she gave up and got weaker and hurt her students and her school and her profession. 
Step forward. Teach because you have the gene, but fight and rally and push back and create change and find new avenues and impact policy and refuse to roll over when things get hard. Or get out. Because letters like this don't make our situation better. They make it worse. It creates nodding heads and grumbles and deeper helplessness, allowing us to be pushed around even more. 
Teachers, we need to recognize the problems. Then we need to get active to fix them. In our classrooms. In our schools. In our districts. In our states. In our country. 
We can. It's not easy. It's not fun. It won't be quick. But the bigger the groundswell, the better we can be. For our profession. And for our kids. 
In the end, we have to find a way for it all to be about the kids.