The HOW and The WHY

Dr. Robert Marzano with his biggest fan (me!)

If you have heard me speak this year, more than likely I have quoted Dr. Robert Marzano's research on effective teachers and effective schools. I love his research because it supports my long held belief that "the teacher" is the most important factor in student learning. Today I was privileged to hear him speak in Wichita at the KSDC Conference and even got to have my picture taken with him AND talked to him for a few minutes. I had to confess that I have been shamelessly quoting his research at every event that I attend. He is amazingly gracious, personable, approachable - all the things you would expect from a caring educator. He shared research on effective instructors, his philosophy on grading, outcomes and the art and science of teaching. So today I learned more about the HOW of teaching. If you have not read his books, I urge you to do so. Classroom Instruction that Works was one of the first books that I read when I committed myself to improving my instruction for student learning.




(below: John Knapp and right: Holly Kimble)

So now this brings me to the WHY. Holly Kimble, Sam Neill, and John Knapp (my amazing colleagues at Buhler High) were presenting on 21st Century Skills in Communication Arts. I love supporting and learning from people you know and care about...but here is the cool part - they brought along about 10 students. And not just ANY students, but some of MY students (yes they are students of John's, Holly's and Sam's too) but when I see them, they are MINE. It has been too long since I have seen my students and I missed them so much. I wanted to just sit and listen to what they are doing, about homecoming this week, about what their senior project is going to be about, and how school is going. Although I have been enjoying meeting people and learning from great educators, I MISS MY STUDENTS! I was surprised by the amount of emotion seeing them brought on...yes, I cried a little. I will be back soon with them but right now 2 weeks seems like a long time.