My hubby, the rightful driver.

Lori vs. Stick Shift

by Lori Sabo

If my life were a TV show, I'd like it to be an uplifting and inspiring series entitled something like, "Life with Lori". Truth is, it more closely resembles "I Love Lucy". I'll skip the story about how I discovered I'd worn my dress backwards to church last Sunday and get right to today's episode; Lori vs. Stick Shift.

I am home alone for a few days, stuck with my husband's car. Most of you, when you hear that it is a Nissan 350z convertible, will hardly be thinking, "Oh, poor Lori." However, when you realize that I haven't driven a stick shift for 35 years, you may sense the comedy that is about to ensue.

I entered the vehicle in our driveway this morning with an inspiring little pep talk to myself…."I can totally do this. It's just like riding a bike. There isn't a single hill between here and my meeting…etc." I stepped on the brake, pushed in the clutch, and slid the gearshift over and back. After carefully releasing the clutch and providing enough gas to get the rig going, I was greatly surprised by forward motion. "Hmm. That must not have been reverse." I tried again, and was propelled 3 inches forward instead of backward. Following one more of these little gallops, I now found myself about one inch away from the garage door. Refusing to let the little bucket of bolts beat me, but knowing I was endangering our home, I opened the garage door and tried again. Same result. I got back out of the car, moved an old toilet, bookshelf and lawn mower out of harms way and tried again- nope, moving forward.

I was completely stupefied. The position of the stick shift was CLEARLY on the R for reverse, yet I was not travelling that way. The car was now halfway in and halfway out of the garage. I called Joan because she has the tremendous ability of laughing with me and at me without thinking less of me. However, instead of just enjoying the folly of my predicament, she said, "Have you tried pushing down?" "What!?" "Try pushing down on the head of the stickshift when you move it over to reverse."

Oh my gosh! Newfound hope burst forth in my breast! Perhaps I wouldn't have to live like this, garage door up, for the next three days, exposing myself to burglars, killers and neighborhood questions and ridicule.

I tried the suggested idea and was elated to find myself BACKING UP! I blessed the sod Joan walks on and made it to my meeting in one piece.

It occurred to me later, how significantly my experience mirrors what happens sometimes in education. How often do we continue to try the same thing over and over while expecting different results? It seems so silly, yet in the throes of the experience, we just can't believe that what we are trying isn't working, so we do it again and again and again. We work really hard. We do everything we know to do. The result? Folly, frustration and failure to meet our goals. I'm not a bad driver. I'm actually a really good driver. But my knowledge base didn't match the vehicles need. Likewise, I am a good teacher. I work really hard. But if I am met with a child that my technique isn't working for, I can't continue to try the same thing over and over. I have to try something different. The good news is that something different might not even be difficult. We just have to reach outside the confines of our classrooms, confer with colleagues, and get back in there.

Until next time, Lori

FAQ

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http://www.TheDailyCafe.com/public/1101.cfm

Using Technology With Classroom Libraries (Website)

Emily, from Issaquah, WA, sent the following note and website to us. She gave us permission to share with all of you, since we think many of you may be interested in this technology as well.

I attended your Beautiful Classroom Design class earlier this week, and I wanted to pass along a tip that I thought might be helpful to others! On Tuesday you talked about creating an inventory list of all of the books in your classroom for student and teacher reference. Here's a link to a barcode reader that was designed to make this process easier!

http://www.TheDailyCafe.com/public/1027.cfm

Registration Information for 2010 Summer and Fall Workshops

Join us this fall in Arizona, Maine, or Florida beautiful places to learn together.

http://www.thedailycafe.com/public/754.cfm

New This Week For Members

Interested in becoming a member of The Daily Cafe? Click here for more information.

Daily 5™ and Literacy Cafe™ Launch - Part 3 (Article)

A Note from Gail and Joan ("The Sisters"): We are working on a new book about launching the school year, with much of the writing to be completed this fall and winter. As we work, we'll be sharing some of our drafts with Daily CAFÉ™ members. We'll start with a three-part excerpt from the beginning of the book which will run for the next few weeks. We hope it is just in time to help you think through the launch of your school year.

Part 3: Revising Expectations for Early in the Year

http://www.TheDailyCafe.com/members/1017.cfm

CAFE - NEW Books Added to the CAFE Menu

We are frequently asked for a list of books to go with the strategies, so we've added that support piece for teachers right here on the website. Under each strategy's hyper-link, you will now find some ideas for books to teach the strategy listed. More books will be added as time goes on. We'd like to caution you to consider these as possibilities only, since we believe you can teach CAFE strategies with just about any book. What you'll find are some great picture books that we love or that colleagues have told us are their "go to" books for different strategies.

http://www.TheDailyCafe.com/public/435.cfm

Math - Using the Math Daily 5 Board to Differentiate (Video)

In this video, Joan describes a simple management strategy for guiding student choices in order to meet their diverse individual needs. It's easy, inexpensive and really works.

http://www.TheDailyCafe.com/members/1032.cfm

Video Updates

With the addition of our new video players with higher resolution and full-screen options, we are reposting many videos in this new format. As we make these improvements, we'll announce them in the newsletter. Here is an updated video you may want to revisit. In this video we were completely blown away by Carlene Bickford from Waterville, Maine and her book totes. Not only are they sturdy, but we discovered treasures tucked inside.

http://www.TheDailyCafe.com/members/1024.cfm

Until Next Week!