My Addiction

“She says that all energy is borrowed; at some point you have to return it.” -Jake Sully, from the movie, Avatar

I admit it. While on the road and humming a familiar Willie Nelson tune, I’ve been feeding my addiction. For the past few months, Tabor Rotation has been shared with elementary, middle, intermediate, and junior high schools in south Texas, north Texas, and central Texas. I’ve had the honor of working with hundreds of educators who work in a variety of situations. Part of the work I do is in a workshop setting, but one of the best parts of my work is when I  “walk the talk” and show teachers what Tabor Rotation looks like with their students.

After one 5th grade demonstration lesson, a group of students was helping me carry my materials and bags back to the professional development room where the debriefing was about to occur. The students were extremely excited about the rotations in which they had been involved and were equally excited to be able to talk to me personally—without another adult listening. Their questions and comments were genuine and honest. Thought I might share them today. The next post will be dedicated to teacher questions and concerns.

“You get to work travel and work with kids. You must have the coolest job in the world!”

Yes, I answered, I do have the coolest job in the world! I go to schools all over the United States and help them improve the way they instruct math and science.

“What’s the coolest place you’ve ever been to?”

This may sound strange, but the coolest place I’ve ever been to was a basement apartment in the projects of downtown Baltimore.

“Yea, that is weird! Why there?”

I believe that anyone who has a desire to help a student learn can do it. My mission is to give them the tools to do it better. The apartment in Baltimore housed the Homework Hangout. It was a place where kids could go after school to get help doing their homework. The people I trained were mostly Baltimore residents who had, maybe, a high school diploma. But those people knew that they would make a difference if they helped a child. I was able to teach them some fun games and some great ways to teach help students learn concepts.  It’s also the only time I’ve presented and mice came running across my feet during the presentation.

“Are you coming back tomorrow? We promise there won’t be any mice! Will we get to keep doing math this way?”

I won’t be here tomorrow, but I came to show your teachers what Tabor Rotation looks like so they could do it on their own.

That was the end of our walk, but one student had one more question. She wanted to know why I starting doing it [Tabor Rotation]. I could have shared all the research-based reasons why I do what I do. Instead I told her the reason was simple…

I am addicted to the energy that is released when students are engaged and are making discoveries which I have helped facilitate. It’s my dream and my mission to help other educators become addicted, too. That’s why I do it!

“Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.” -Warren Buffett

“The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.” -Andrew Carnegie

I’m really excited about my continued work in Alvin, McKinney, and schools all over south Texas. Working with you has been a phenomenal experience!

See you in a few weeks, San Antonio! I’m looking forward to working with all of the elementary-level specialists. I’m going even further south right before Thanksgiving. I’ll be presenting at the RGVCTM Annual Conference (Rio Grande Valley Council of Teachers of Mathematics) on November 20. Would love to meet you and have you in one of my sessions!

And, last but not least, I’ll be heading to Florida next month. Can’t wait to see what happens when Tabor Rotation joins Algebra I at Lake Nona Middle/High School!