I stand in the same place every day between every class. I see hundreds of kids file past me four times a day and I never thought they even noticed or cared. I say “hi” to kids who make eye contact with me and I smile a lot. I joke with kids who bump into me while they perform the dangerous “walk and text” maneuver. But overall, I doubt many of them even know who I am.

Shortly before the holidays, I was having one of those stressful days where it seemed nothing I needed to do was coming together and I was dealing with an above average number of interruptions. I dutifully headed into the hallways between classes, “did my time,” and came back to my office to continue plugging away. The day passed and — as they always do — things worked themselves out.

The day before we went on winter break, I was in my usual spot between classes smiling and joking with the kids as usual when a student I recognized but didn’t really know walked up to me. She always says, “Hi, Mr. Elias!” on her way past, but I didn’t know her name. She was just another in a sea of faces flowing past me every day on her way from class to class. That day, though, she stopped briefly. She smiled at me and said, “I’m glad to see you’re in a better mood today! The other day you just didn’t seem yourself. Is everything OK?”

I can’t tell you how shocked I was that this student not only noticed that I was there in the same spot every day, but she’d also noticed when I wasn’t my usual, goofy self when she passed by. It really made me start to think about how important it is to be cognizant of the “face” we present to our schools and communities. It’s one thing to be positive and upbeat at a faculty meeting or SAC meeting — times when you know you’re being watched — but it’s another thing completely to consider that you are always “on stage.”

That little experience really forced me to be more aware of how I was portraying myself to others at those less important times. And the funny thing is that when my mind is wandering to something that’s stressing me out, I’ve found that if I try pretending to be cheerful in the halls a strange thing happens: after a while I’m not pretending anymore.

Students who were recruited for the GiC class were not traditionally high-performing math students, but through the combination of relevant, hands-on experiences the students in the GiC class outperformed almost every other class in the building on Colorado’s state assessment (CSAP). The only class that outperformed the GiC class was the pre-IB Geometry class. A strong argument that given the right set of circumstances all students have the capacity to learn.

The teachers have put together a great website that describes the program and how it got started. You’ll also enjoy watching the short movie that they put together with the kids from last year’s class.

Once the cabin was completed, it was put up for auction and purchased by a family who plans to move it to some property in the mountains where it will be a vacation home for them. Not as bad way to sustain your program when you can sell the final product!

During the course of the week, all of us — administrative staff included — did the required “butt-time” during mandatory district inservices. While I’m not sure exactly who was really being “serviced” by all of this, I have compiled the list below in an attempt to move us beyond the cheesy (but well-intentioned), gimmicky quasi-motivational items that we seem to see year after year after year. I hope that folks will take this in the spirit it’s intended (it’s Friday and I need to de-stress a bit!) and feel free to add any that I’ve missed.

Here we go – starting with the one that makes me the most nauseous…

A Lesson from Geese

That Apple Teacher Video from 6 Years Ago

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Maurice Cheeks and Natalie Gilbert Singing the National Anthem

That “Shift Happens” Video

Kidding on the last one, of course. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention. I actually still like the reaction from people who are seeing it for the first time, but I think I’ve seen it almost as many times as I’ve seen the original Star Wars trilogy…