Marathon Training and teaching kiddos math

The new teaching position started this past week. I am now teaching 9th grade math at Denver School of Science and Technology, an open-enrollment charter school in Denver. They have 100% of their first three graduating classes accepted into 4-year colleges, including Stanford and other major colleges. I'm pretty pumped to be in an environment of highly-driven, data-driven educators that develop the teacher.. who then lead students on their journeys.

Marathon training and teaching? Oh yes....

I set a goal for myself: run a marathon in 4:00 hours or less. I am training and sometimes running is the exact opposite of what I want to be doing. When I knew I had to run 4 miles today, I thought... man, I just don't feel like it. But I knew it was a small step in the bigger picture. I had a BIG goal, a 26.2 mile goal that needs to be achieved. I have high expectations for myself and I also don't want to let myself down. I am my biggest competitor. Plus, I am training with a friend and she relies on me to meet our mile per hour goal.

In my classroom... we look at our math learning goals and through some manipulation, we set a class goal. What should our average be on test? 80%? 90% 35%? If a teacher set their goal at 35% they are in the wrong place... or have tenure.
There are days when I see students trying to hide behind a teammate's back or avoid eye contact. There are days where students give off the "don't even mess with me today" look. And it is convincing. Not enough to deter me. I am relentless.
Why? Why do I allow myself a day off from a 4 mile run but don't let Maria take 20 minutes off of a 75 minute class period?
Perseverance. I suppose it is easier to set goals for someone else and hold them accountable. But I need to model what I want to see from them. Hopefully by making my marathon training goals transparent to my friends..and even those lovely, energetic and often rebellious teenage students, I can hold myself to a high standard and exceed my goals.

There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a student reaction to their amazingly successful test scores.
student, "Is that my score?" "is that what you gave me?"
teacher, "gave you?" " you EARNED that!"
student, "I have never gotten this high of a score in math. I did this?"
teacher, "you worked hard, and you practiced. that is your well-deserved score."
student, "miss, I think I get it. I know what I need to do now."

LOVE IT. I had a student share a story quite like this with me last year. She had NEVER earned passing test scores - why she was moved up grades, that is a public policy decision by our lovely and talented politicians. She experienced success in math for the first time in 9th grade. After that, she continued to work hard and persist, continuing to make improvements and rise to the expectations she set for herself. Sure, she experienced setbacks but that taste of earning high grades was fueling her ambition.

Marathon runners should be teachers. If you don't run, get out of the building. only kidding.... you can be a cyclist, or a swimmer, or a golfer (maybe)...

Setting goals. It changes lives :)