It’s really not. It’s a mirage that represents 2/3 of a yearlong fraction. But we are making progress. And I feel different in some way. Battle tested. Scarred. The Man in the Arena comes to mind; Teddy Roosevelt would be proud. We are a little tired right now. Do you think the popular shoe store in the mall would be called the Finnish Line in Finland? See, that’s proof we are a little weary. I am permitting a dad joke in this blog. Onward... I also feel like I accomplished something real. Looking at my paper... it holds up. Sure I need to look at it again for APA compliance. That is my last frontier. But I have legitimately busted my tail on it. It’s honest work. And I spent way more time on it than the minimum requirement for class hours, I promise that. We paid our dues in this program thus far. And I do think a contribution to the academic community is there. Yeah it’s small. But it’s there. It fits in nicely with what we think we know about feedback and it takes the idea into a small, relatively unstudied area. And it’s during COVID. I learned that students are more interested in where they are going than where they are at. I learned they truly want to improve. They want a voice in their education. And why shouldn’t they? It makes complete sense. And I learned we often do not permit them a voice in meaningful ways. I also learned that feedback *can be* as powerful from a peer as from a student. And by proxy, I have gathered that we as educators can be FAR more mindful of our work/life balance AND be as effective IF NOT MORESO for our kids. This is a huge takeaway. We can work smarter as we work hard. I’m really interested in this. I want to help teachers save themselves from burning out. And I want to help students have voice and academic agility in their own development. I am pretty sure I will continue to research and I may look to present someday in front of young teachers that want to save the world but misguidedly feel they have to give up their home life in exchange. And I might share my work with my English department, who work so hard that they even have special rolling cases that carry essays home for them... so they can spend all weekend commenting on them. It’s heartbreaking, especially when we know students don’t require it to grow. Additionally, I think I want to explore how whole-class feedback loops might work in the classroom. That would further what I have started by adding credibility to another critical feedback tool. Edit: So I just looked up Finnish Line. You’ll love this, from Urban Dictionary: “The Finnish Line marks the point at which all the alcohol in a household has been drunk and everyone is smashed.” And there you have it folks. You can’t make this stuff up (mic drop).
8 Comments
Laurie J. Gaynor
12/15/2020 08:51:18 pm
Reading your blog made me LOL. I love Dad jokes. And seriously we need to adapt to smarter more efficient ways of teaching. Zoom fatigue is real. So is compassion fatigue. Teachers do burn out. We have a unique opportunity to re-think our education system so that everyone benefits. We just have to find the will to look beyond our individual circumstances. We need to truly collaborate. Thank you for your perspective, I am so glad to have you as a colleague.
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Sheri Blades
12/15/2020 09:02:32 pm
Oh how I was entertained by your jokes! Thank you for your creative banter.
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Susan Craig
12/16/2020 08:28:03 am
Hello Jason,
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Lynda Tuttle Bergner
12/16/2020 08:33:11 am
I agree with your post wholeheartedly. Students do want and deserve a voice, and we need to help them get there. We need to help them learn to agents of their own learning and advocates for their needs. We need to help them see that it is what they do now that lays the foundation for what they want to do later.
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Erica Gysbers
12/16/2020 04:40:55 pm
I enjoyed reading your blog and your paper. It does have merit. What we do matters! I also think that what you uncovered is important, especially right now during COVID when our kids need all the help they can get, academic and otherwise. I look forward to hearing more.
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Erica REeves
12/16/2020 07:14:54 pm
First, I have not used Finnish Line enough, but that changes as of now!!! So when I go to the store I can say because I am approaching the Finnish Line and that is unacceptable!
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12/20/2020 12:24:01 pm
Oh how I love this post!!! We are a big advocate for dad jokes in the Magallano household. In fact, I bought my brother-in-law a dad joke book so he can really hone in on those skills. :)
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Minna Nummelin
12/28/2020 07:36:32 pm
Thanks for the great chuckle I got from reading this. I really love your study because it stares at the face of the elephant in every staff development room. There is not enough...dare I saw any? professional development on making this job manageable, even joyful. The joyful moments are there, anyone can experience them. But we can't let them get steam-rolled over by teacher burnout, especially when there are better ways of doing things. I can't wait to hear more about what you have done and will continue to do in the remaining 2/3rds of this program. But for now, rest. You did a good job.
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