On a sunny afternoon on Friday, August 2nd, I almost died in the middle of a lake. For some reason that day, I found it provocative to enjoy the bliss of warm sunrays and dragonflies in the center of my own universe. Finding myself capsized under a boat with no one around for hundreds of yards, I came face to face with a very clear reality: Either I succumb to fear or I fight the perception of fear presented. Serving as a Teacher in the 21st century is very demanding work because it requires something greater than any job description can carry--vulnerability. As we grow in craft, through collaboration and innovation, our school will thrive. From experience, we know good teachers make ripples in lives and time. Great teachers make the impossible—possible! In order for us to transcend chatter of NCLB, AYP, Level 3, Turnaround, and the other “isms” of the work—we must engage with our students as the new leaders of the world. With daily training and experiences in thinking, innovating, and producing—our students will excel and elevate the levels beyond imagination. My life and death moment in the middle of that lake resonated a reality worth noting. Our children are surrounded by life challenges and experiences that can be insufferable. They may even feel like they are alone and that no one really understands their journey. However, I know and strongly believe they are extremely resilient and still believe in the majesty of possibilities. Perception is just that…Perception. Perception is never reality until we are taught that both are symbiotic. If we intentionally welcomed and engaged each soul we encountered as Brilliant, Bold, and Built to master challenges, we could…
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One of my biggest New Year’s Resolutions is to make sure that I reflect and blog/vlog more in the moment. I have not neglected the blog that I started. Many thoughts have been in my head and I will take a moment to make about ten posts around the key moments in my practice. A good friend of mine chastised me for not recording my thoughts more often on this very historic event in teaching males of color in an urban public school classroom. I have an I-Phone that does wonders…why not take a moment to record what my thoughts are and revisit when necessary. I shared that I was still having some esteem issues from seeing myself on camera. So, he indicated that I should just audio record and get over myself in regards to self esteem issues when video recording. “It’s not about what you look like, Craig! It’s about the key lessons you learned in teaching that day. Those are the nuggets of truth that the world will look for. “I am working on getting over myself and I have begun to record my thoughts and it has been rewarding. So, one of the biggest tools I would suggest teachers (emerging or seasoned) should do is record and reflect on their practice as often as they can. Everyone should have a “voice memo” or “voice record” tool on their smart phone that you can save and upload and/or email. You can also video journal using a webcam, smart phone, or digital camera as well. At first I thought that it was crazy to sit up and talk to my phone for three or four minutes about my day. However, when I go back and listen to what I was thinking about student interactions, lessons gone right/wrong, or staff events…it provided insight on what I could do differently when some of those same scenarios may show up again. I say…Don’t knock it until you try it. You never know what you will uncover in detecting the nuggets from reflecting! Be Well! One of the toughest days of my teaching career came shortly after I concluded reading Barack by Jonah Winter to my scholars. This children's biography especially projected the idea that President Barack Obama struggled with his identity in being both an African American and Caucasian American. Throughout the book, questions of "Who AM I?" and "Where Do I Belong?" resurfaced time and time again causing my students to furl in curiosity and angst. When I concluded with the image of Barack Obama winning over America in the 2008 Presidential Election, one of my students was sobbing. My boys began to open up deeply, "Mr. Martin, I have never met my father." "Mr. Martin, my mom and I go and see my father...he won't ever be able to come and see me for 25 years." "Mr. Martin, my father died when I was two." Before long, ten to twelve of my boys had revealed the painful reality that their biological father was non or ill-existent in the lives of the nine and ten year olds just as it was with President Barack Obama. The emotion quelled in my throat as I fought to find words to combat the harsh reality perched in our classroom like an owl in the moonlight. A warrior cry that trumpeted triumphantly from inside of me: "I am sorry that the very men you need in your lives are not present to provide you with the very love, care, and tools you may need to thrive today. No one will ever replace them, because every boy desires the love of his father. But, I must reassure you that your life is not over and you cannot give up on living the best life possible because he is not present. Barack Obama spent just a moment in his life with his and he became the President of the United States. So, that tells me that we all have a chance to live great lives and achieve big dreams!" At a 2008 Father's Day speech, President Obama encourages the nation to exposes the vulnerability that lies in the lack of fatherhood, "Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most important. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation. They are teachers and coaches. They are mentors and role models. They are examples of success and the men who constantly push us toward it. "But if we are honest with ourselves, we'll admit that what too many fathers also are is missing -- missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it. "You and I know how true this is in the African-American community. We know that more than half of all black children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled -- doubled -- since we were children. We know the statistics -- that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it. ... "We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child -- it's the courage to raise one.... "When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me -- how do I make my way in the world, and how do I become successful and how do I get the things that I want. Before long my boys got into small sidebar conversations about the revelations that stood thick in the air. And a question erupted from the back of the room, "Mr. Martin, did you grow up with your father?" I stood in silence, at a crossroads. I want to deeply empathize with the young males in my room who were torn with agony about not having their own and not flaunt my own truth. Yet, the truth was what I always promised my boys. Simply stated, I responded. "Yes, I have a father who has taught me strength, perseverance, and how to stand up for my community! And I will share with you the love and lessons that he taught me!" 2/11/2017 Generating Genius: Living the Dream of Educating, Empowering, and Elevating Brown Boys to GreatnessRead NowGenerating Genius Living the Dream of Educating, Empowering, and Elevating Brown Boys to Greatness! By Craig Martin, M.Ed I had to pinch myself when I realized that I was front and center stage with my dream of molding brown boy potential before an audience of the world. Granted, this may not seem so special when you acknowledge the great work being publicized about Urban Prep Academy in Chicago, The Eagle’s Academies for Young Men in New York, and Nativity Prep of Boston. All three educational juggernauts are positioning African and Latino American males to excel, flourish, and transcend stereotypes and statistics of the American Prison Pipeline. My dream cast happens to immortalize in a small public school urban classroom in Boston. Inside Room 204, 26 charismatic 3rd graders pour into our all-boys classroom only to drop their bags and dash into the class library where they can pour through Ripley’s Believe It or Not for the twentieth time. It appears they can never get enough of the man who had a 200 pound tumor, the man who can balance 20 soccer balls on his tongue, or the woman with the giant golf ball eyes. Others find themselves debating whether or not an octopus would beat a squid in a battle royale from the Magic Tree House Sea Monsters’ read for homework. And a number of others lie on the rug enjoying the new graphic novel additions of The Lunch Lady, Bone, Secret Science Alliance, and Geronimo Stilton, captivating them to a reading stupor. “Mr. Martin…I NEEEEEEEEED that new Diary of a Wimpy Kid!” cries Adam as he pulls out his collection of books one through six and begins to re-read his favorite section to a peer. My Architects of Change are in for a roller coaster of an experience, because for most of them, I will be their first male teacher, first African American male adult who is not a coach or administrator, and first African American male teacher who happens to lead an all-boys class to success. On the first day of school, as we rehearse how to walk quietly in a line and are cultivating ideas on what the number of the day could be, Steven quietly stops near me as says, “Mr. Martin, I like you…you embrace happiness like me. This is going to be my best year ever!” And he just walked past me through the hallways beaming with thoughts and emotions. My role in their lives is illuminating in possibilities as their surrogate father, coach, referee, counselor, cheerleader, mentor, and more. I represent a mirror reflection of who they could be and my main mission as their teacher is to pull out their best light and help shine it so that the world can see them as someone invaluable to the framework of our communities. “Mr. Martin, is everyone we are going to read about going to also be an ‘Architect of Change’?” queries Rafael, after we completed reading a fable on a little brown boy who sought knowledge from an elder who sent him on a mission to help out many members of his community in hopes of receiving the wisdom he so desperately wanted. From our discussions on 14 year old African American scholar, Tony Hansberry, who patented his own surgery technique, Damon Weaver, 8 year old African American news reporter, who interviewed President Obama, and even King Tut who became leader of Egypt as a teenager, I find ways to illustrate how each person can make a tremendous difference in some way. It is imperative that they witness and experience successes that counter the narrative that they will become victim to violence, illiteracy, and/or poverty. “Rafael, that’s a good question. Time will tell. But I think you may already know the answer. Let’s see what happens” I retort. This journey is grand with promise. My boys are the smartest in the city and they will work extremely hard to prove it. However, it will take reprogramming them to believe in who they are and who they can be. It will take facing years of people telling them they were stupid or slow or trouble makers. It will require pouring into them love, support, and advocating resources to stand in the gap when challenges arise. I look forward to what tomorrow will bring as I recount the daily recitation of our creed: We are Architects of Change! We believe in ourselves, our school and family, and in our potential! We are not statistics. We are the Standard! We will achieve, defy the odds, and fly high like eagles! We are brothers, bonded, built strong, and ready to make a difference in our community! We are ARCHITECTS OF CHANGE! Yes… We are Architects of Change! …and the world is ours! |
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October 2021
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