May You Have a Shay Day Each and Every Day

What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. "I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."

Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understoodthat if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay puton a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softlytowards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first!Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made itto first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielderhad the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay"

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators,were on their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world".

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

You now have two choices:
1. Forget about this story….it doesn’t have a thing to do with you.
2. Connect the example set by the baseball players to the relationship you have with each and every unique student and allow it to make a difference in your teaching.

May your day, be a Shay Day.

This story was sent to me through an email. You may have already seen it, but I felt it was important to share.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Here’s a scenario that happens everyday…a group of teachers sit down to plan a unit of study. The topic is Native Americans regions. They begin to brainstorm. The following plan is quickly formulated.

Students will create a diorama that recreates a scene from one of the Native American regions. Students will create dream catchers. Students will simulate a teepee village on the playground using canvas fabric and bamboo stalks. Students will choose a Native American leader and research a biography and draw an illustration. Students will read various trade books regarding Indian tribes. The chapter in the text will be read. Students will color a map depicting Native American regions. Questions at the end of the chapter will be answered. Students will take the test provided by the text publishers. A culminating activity will be a celebration of Native American foods (corn?) that everyone can sample.

When are we going to learn that activities are not learning. Activities without content don’t meet the standards/objectives. They are disjointed activities that are fun but have no learning value for the student unless accompanied by other components of instruction.

Every year it seems we have new catch phrases in education jargon. Some of the phrases are simply gussied up versions of edu-speak that have cycled through before. This year I am considered educationally literate if I can converse with other educators regarding differentiated instruction. This idea is taking a victory lap because it WORKS!

I was recently handed an article to review in our leadership meeting. My job is to review the article and pass it around to my team for their review. We are then to discuss the article at a team meeting. “Mapping a Route Toward Differentiated Instruction” by Carol Ann Tomlinson was first published in Educational Leadership in September, 1999.

In the article Ms. Tomlinson states that differentiated instruction is necessary to achieve equity and excellence in education. She also poses several questions that educators should ask themselves about the ways that we “do school” such as “Is it reasonable to expect all 2nd graders to learn the same thing, in the same way, over the same time span? Can we reconcile learning standards with learner variance?”

Differentiation occurs naturally in the classroom. We create seating charts based on the needs of the students. We group students for reading activities. We allow students choices in center type activities and choices of research topics. According to the educators in the ivory towers this is only scratching the surface of what is meant by differentiated instruction. As you can tell from my scenario I posed above I agree with them.

Ms. Tomlinson’s articles goes on to present two very different types of classrooms. One teacher is very linear in use of the textbook, notes, study sheet, and test. Another teacher uses graphic organizers along with text. Visual aides such as pictures and diagrams decorate the room to add to the unit. Special celebrations are included in the unit where students can dress to emulate the time period and certain foods are brought in.

Neither of these classrooms are using differentiated instruction. The methods employed do not include the two main ingredients for successful teaching---student understanding and student engagement. They must truly understand what they are learning and they must achieve satisfaction in what they are learning. In the first classroom described above students are getting content but are not engaged. In the second classroom students are getting some satisfaction, but they do not understand what they are learning.

In a true classroom where differentiated instruction is occurring careful planning has taken place to support student success. The learning styles of each student should be taken into account. At the beginning of each year I utilize a learning styles inventory like the one found here (look in the right top corner) to assess the learning styles of my students. Teachers should plan for what students should know, understand, and be able to do at the end of a sequence of learning. Learning is differentiated to facilitate the goal. After assessment further differentiation strategies may be needed. Students use the adopted text as well as additional resources. Students take notes using graphic organizers and review games are utilized. Questioning in classes should range from the familiar and concrete to the abstract and unfamiliar. Other “activities” should include whole group planning, working, reviewing, and debating. Students are given projects to complete that include tasks that are completed at home and in class that can related to the cultural and social interaction of a particular time period. Not only do teachers work with students on data collection for these projects they also work with students on the correct manner in which to synthesize the data into a manageable project.

Find out more information on your own regarding differentiated instruction here, here, and here. The website, “A Different Place”, provides performance based assessments here while these sites here and here provide reading ideas.

And remember…no more activities just because they’re cute!