Category: Challenge

Posted in Challenge, Guest Post, Take Care of Yourself

The Take Care of You Challenge

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

I am happy to present Substitute Teacher Laura.  She has an awesome blog and her post here is amazing…so I will let her just speak for herself!  Enjoy!  And check out Teacher Laura’s blog!

Dear Teacher,

IT”S SUMMERTIME.  Summer is a time for rejuvenation and I am ready to be rejuvenated.  I have just experienced one of the most difficult years in my 20 year teaching career and I am so thankful it is over.   I am ready to put 2012-2013 school year behind me and look ahead to summer and I bet you are too.

It is summer and it is time to take care of YOU.  Teachers are so busy during the school year that we put off everything we need to do until the summer, like dentist and doctor appointments, cleaning and de-cluttering, reading good books, eating right and exercising and so much more.  I am here to give you a summer to do list that includes relaxing and reading.

1.  Get a Massage.  The first thing you should do when you finish the school year is get a massage. A massage is perfect way to begin to de-stress and relieve your muscles of tension.

2.  READ.  Stop at the library or bookstore and make your reading list.  This is important.  There are so many good books out there that you need to make sure to read the books that matter to you.  Be a Booksnob like me and read what YOU want, not what others tell you to read.  Summer is a time to be a little selfish since you spent the whole school year give yourself and your time to others.

I, myself am an avid reader and a book blogger for the last three years so summer reading is super important to me.  Here are some of the books on my To Be Read List this summer.

         A.  The Execution of Noa P. Singleton by Elizabeth L. Silver.  This book will be released on June 11th and is already the talk of book bloggers.  Noa P. Singleton is a 20 year old on death row in Pennsylvania.  This is a thriller that promises to keep you turning the pages.  I’m so excited to read this.

B.  Ask the Passengers by A. S. King.  Young Adult fiction.  I have been wanting to read a book by A.S. King for a long time. This book is on my camp readalot book list.  It is about a teen named Astrid who spends hours lying on the backyard picnic table watching airplanes fly overhead. She doesn’t know the passengers inside, but they’re the only people who won’t judge her when she asks them her most personal questions

        C.  Reclaiming Youth at Risk. Our Hope for the Future.  I teach in a very diverse inner city high school.  This year our staff has joined together to form book groups to read a book that will inform our teaching practice.  I chose to read this book.  I am very excited to read it.  I have met one of the authors, Dr. Martin Brokenleg and really respect his work.

      D.  A Choice of Weapons by Gordon Parks.  Autobiography.  This is the Minneapolis One Read book this fall and all of my high school seniors will be reading this as part of one my classes.   Gordon Parks was the first African American to write, direct and score a Hollywood Film.

E.  Steal Like an Artist. 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon.  I love to be creative.  In fact I am creative but sometimes, I forget how to include creativity in my daily life.  This book is awesome, I have already started reading it and it has started to work its magic on me.  Watch out world.  My creativity is flowing.

3.  Take Naps.  Seriously your deserve it.  Catch up on your sleep.  This is so important to de-stress and rejuvenate.

4.  Go to the Beach.  Enjoy the sun, sand and water.  Soak up the vitamin D.  Play a little.  Bring a book to read.  I spend my summer birthday at the beach every year and I can hardly wait to go.  The sun has been missing from Minnesota almost all Spring, so when the sun does shine, I will be going to the beach and so should you.

5. Travel.  Visit some place new.  See the sites in your hometown or plan a trip out of town.  It doesn’t matter where you go, or what you do as long as you are having fun and experiencing life.  I love to visit places close to the Twin Cities and learn about my hometown.   Ride your bike or take a hike.  Go see that waterfall or visit one of your State Parks.

7.  Try something new:  Learn something new.  Take up ball room dancing.  Try Geocaching.  Go camping.  Take a class at ITunes U.  Watch a few Ted talks, start a new TV series and watch all of it.  The possibilities are endless.

8.  Exercise.  Believe it or not this helps get rid of stress and helps give you energy.  I try to exercise during the school year but usually other things are more important and exercising gets pushed to the back burner.  Now is the time to enjoy the weather and free time by exercising. So get out there and take walks with your dog, run, ride your bike, play your Wii or Xbox Kinect and get your body moving to the music.

It will make you feel better and it is important that you feel good.  

9.  Enjoy your summer and your time off.  You deserve it.  You worked very hard all school year.

Thanks for all your hard work.  Now go and enjoy your summer.

Love Teacher

You can find me on my book blog this summer.  Visit me at Booksnob

Thanks for letting me be a guest writer at Dear Teacher/Love Teacher.

P.S.  That is my dog Titus.  He is modeling how to chill and relax.

Posted in Challenge, Guest Post, The Power of Creativity

The Imagination Box

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

The Substitute Teacher for today has also requested to stay anonymous.  This post is great.  It is a challenge.  It is encouragement.  It is a reminder to think outside a “box”…well, actually to think inside a “box”…okay, maybe you should just read it and see what I mean.  🙂

Read, enjoy, and apply it to your teaching vigorously!  Thank you for sharing this with us, Substitute Teacher!

Dear Teacher,

Today you are being given a very special item.  It may not look like much, but trust me, it’s value is truly priceless.
This unique gift is for recollecting your creativity.  Over time and frequent use your creativity box has been searched through, dug around in, and dumped all over everywhere.
It has been a well loved go to, or maybe a forgotten asset, but it is time to haul it out again.  Take advantage of the gift of your creativity.  Find things to put in your box that will inspire you, motivate you and make you laugh.  A teacher’s creativity is a vital tool.  It is what makes your lessons stand out, your activities fun and your students interact willingly.  
Stock your box with all the things you love and cherish the most.  Spend some time investing in your creativity every chance you get.  Your creativity is part of what makes you the amazingly awesome teacher you are!
Go on now, start hunting!
(c)DearTeacherLT (You may use this picture if you link back to this blog.)
(c)DearTeacherLT (You may use this picture if you link back to this blog.)
The box specially designed to expand exponentially with your imagination,
Have big fun loading it up!
Love, Substitute Teacher
For more hope and encouragement: @DearTeacherLT (Twitter) and Dear Teacher/Love Teacher Facebook Page.
Posted in Challenge, Guest Post

Teaching as a Lifestyle

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use this image as long as you link back to this blog.)
(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use this image as long as you link back to this blog.)

Dear Teacher,

This is the first in a series of posts by substitute “Love, Teachers”.  As you have probably read, I am taking a short hiatus from the blog (as well as anything else school-related).  I feel that this is important.  Despite popular thought, teachers do not stop for the summer.  Often times we work harder during the summer than during the school year.  We plan.  We go to trainings.  We go to workshops.  We teach summer school.  We tutor.  We do any number of things to help students and prepare for the next year.  For this reason, I think it is important to force yourself to take a break.  That is exactly what I am doing.

That said, let me introduce my new friend, Dubier.  Dubier is a Spanish teacher at an international school in Sweden.  Yes, with this post, my blog is officially international!  Dubier has a blog called I teach with IT.  The blog shares his experiences as a teacher that promotes flip teaching, the use of IT and motivation to improve the education for students.  Please check it out.  I asked him to guest-post because his blog is both encouraging and challenging.

I think this is a great and motivational message, and I hope you agree!  Without further ado, let me hand it over to Dubier.

To be a teacher is a lifestyle.

What does it means to be a teacher?  Are teachers only a person who goes to work Monday to Tuesday, planning their lessons, teach and goes home afterwards?  If I would ask many teachers, they would answer YES to that question. Understand me right, it is their full right to think so but I am of another opinion.  I would like to say that to be a teacher are not a role or job for me, to be teacher is a lifestyle. Lifestyle starts from the moment you wake up until you fall asleep.  Your lifestyle is not dependent on a location or time schedule, but it continues as long as you are awake.

Many teachers complaints are about the salary, time schedule and that they need to do some extra work for students. Think about teaching as a lifestyle and maybe you would think differently.  A lifestyle is something that you choose,  to feel good about yourself, and not something you choose to get something in return.  The greatest feeling is when you helped students to achieve something that they didn’t think they could just because you as a teacher didn’t just think about your schedule or salary but the student´s best.  That is worth all the money or time in the world. don´t you think?

Many teachers could feel very stressed when parents call after working hours.  To be honest I am one of them.  However we need think about it in another perspective.  They are calling us because they think that we are the only one that could help them.  They trust us with their children.  They are calling us after their working hours when they are tired.  They even call sometimes during weekends when they rather doing something fun.  What does that cost us? nothing. 5 minutes of our life…..that maybe could help the parents have a great weekend before they start over again on monday.  Do we get paid for that?  Yes, in satisfaction

To be a teacher is not only about the students and parents.  It’s also about your colleagues.  In my opinion your responsibility as a teacher is also to be available for your colleagues when they need support and help.  Not just during working hours but also outside.

This are few things that is included in my lifestyle. what is included in yours?

Thank you so much, Dubier, for your encouragement and challenge!  You are awesome!  You are awesome, too, Teacher, as always!  Keep on teaching, Teacher Dubier and every teacher everywhere!

Love, Teacher

For more hope and encouragement: @DearTeacherLT (Twitter) and Dear Teacher/Love Teacher Facebook Page.

Posted in Challenge, Reflection, Teacher

Closing Time…(you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here)

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Image found at http://joscafe.com/2012/07/08/closing/closed-sign.

Dear Teacher,

Today is my last day of the school year.  It is a teacher work day.  It is the day that I close the door on the school year.  I can call this one done and look forward to the next.

Part of me wants to say it is bittersweet, but it isn’t.  It is just sweet.  This has been a good year.  As a matter of fact, I can honestly say it has been the best since I have started this crazy teacher ride several years ago.  I choose to look back and only see the positives.   I can not let the stumbles and falls this year get me down.  I need to learn from them and keep running!

As a matter of fact, this new positive attitude is one of the reasons that this has been such a great year.  I have learned some vital things throughout the year that I think are necessary to be a teacher for the long haul…and that is what I intend to be.  I am sure you have heard these before, but so did I.  I think they just have to sink in.  Here is another chance for you to see them…maybe they sunk in for you this year like they did for me.

The Stuff I Learned That I Should Have Known:

  • It is not a sign of weakness to choose to be positive.
  • Staying positive can be a catalyst to changing the environment among students in my classroom…they learn by watching me…and THEY ARE WATCHING!
  • Everyone needs encouragement, especially teachers, and even if I am not getting encouragement I can always give it!
  • Say thank you more often…a thank you can change someone’s day, week, year, or even life!
  • Never give up doing what is right for others, I never know how far my impact will go.
  • I need to be the hope that others do not have…my hope can spread to others that then spreads to others…and so on…and so on.
  • No matter what happens today or happened yesterday, the next day (or next minute) is a new chance to start fresh.
  • Building relationships with students and fellow teachers is non-negotiable…I can not reach students without having a relationship with them, and I can not do this alone…I need other teachers!
  • Students can and need to be challenged…and they will rise to my expectations if I let them!

I will probably think of a thousand more things once I click publish, but this is probably enough!  Today, as I go in to shut the classroom down for the summer, I need to remember a couple of things.  I need to look at the year and choose to celebrate it.  I need to see the difference I made and be proud of myself.  However, I can not get comfortable.  I can not stay in the past.  I do not quite have to move on yet…I have the summer for that…but I do need to take stock of what went well and figure out how I am going to move on and move further using the lessons that I learned.

If you are at the end of the year, I hope that you are able to pack up what you have learned and then unpack it to use it to move even further next year!  The year is over and it is closing time.  You don’t have to stop being nostalgic (and “go home”), but you can’t stay in the memories.  Use them to make you even awesomer next year!

You are awesome!  I hope your day and weekend are wonderful!  You have done a great job this year!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

For more hope and encouragement: @DearTeacherLT (Twitter) and Dear Teacher/Love Teacher Facebook Page.

Posted in Challenge, Thank You!, You Are Awesome!!!

The Joy of Thanks Giving

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

(c)DearTeacherLT 2013 (You may use this picture if you link back to this blog)
(c)DearTeacherLT 2013 (You may use this picture if you link back to this blog)

Dear Teacher,

I bet you had to look at the title twice, didn’t you?  🙂  I know it is June and not November…this post is not about the holiday.  It is about thanks…giving it and getting it.  We all need a thank you and we all have many thank-yous to give out.

I warned you that most of my posts would be about looking back at the school year this week.  This one came from reflecting (or refracting) on the school year, but it does apply to everyone in any stage of a “teacher year.”  Thankfulness is an anytime kind of subject.  We all need to increase our thinking of thank-yous most of the time.

We all hate the feeling of not getting a thank you.  We don’t do what we do for a thank you, but it is so nice to hear one once in a while.  Thank-yous help us know that what we have done is appreciated and accepted by those for whom we are helping or doing something.  They validate the effort we give.  They help encourage us to keep doing whatever we are doing.  A thank you is just, well, nice.

Teachers do not get a lot of thank-yous.  We knew it was a pretty thankless job when we signed up for this.  We don’t complain about not hearing the words, but inside we secretly wish to hear one more often.  It is not a big deal, but it would just be helpful to hear.

Think about it.  If you feel that way, who around you might feel that way?  Sure, you are not getting a thank you right now, but could you give one?  You know your fellow teachers would like to hear one.  Tell them.  Find something to thank them for, and be personal about it!  Find something they did for you are that they are doing for a student and say thank you.  Say it.  Write it.  Buy a card.  You don’t know how much it will encourage them…actually, you know exactly how much it will encourage them!  So you be the thank-er at you school!

Thank other people, too.  Find some students that are doing great things.  Thank them.  Go to your administration and thank them for everything that they do.  You think you have a thankless job?  They hear it a lot less than you do!  Go to the school receptionist, administrative assistant, custodians, school maintenance, school nurse, cafeteria workers, and any of the other many thankless people at your school and say a big THANK YOU!  You know they would love to hear it!

You may not hear thank you enough, but are you giving them enough?  Who do you need to say thank you to right now?  Go do it!  Think of three people to thank today, thank them, and then come back here and tell us all about it.  You are awesome, so be awesome to others!

Before I close this post out, I need to give a thank you.  Last night, this blog officially crossed the Over 10,000 Views mark!  I started this blog/encouragement revolution just a little more than three weeks ago, and you all have already pushed it to that benchmark.  You all are awesome!  Thank you for sharing the blog with others!  Thank you for all of the “likes” and shares to other sites!  Thank you for all of the Facebooking, Tweeting, Edmodo-ing, Pinning, and emailing of this encouragement to others!  It means a lot to have this message of hope affecting and helping others remember why they teach and that they are good teachers.  I love sending this message…thank you for passing the message on!  Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

Teacher, thank you for letting me be a part of your teaching life!  Thank you for being the awesome teacher that you are!  Thank you for just being you!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

For more hope and encouragement: @DearTeacherLT (Twitter) and Dear Teacher/Love Teacher Facebook Page.

Posted in Challenge, Hope for Teachers

Homework of Hope

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

(c)DearTeacherLT2013

Dear Teacher,

As a fellow teacher, I would be remiss not to give you a little homework.  What is a teacher without an assignment to give?  This is, in a sense, happy homework.  I hope that you will give this challenge a try!

Let me give just a little background.  If you have been reading for the last couple of weeks, you know that this blog was born out of a project that I gave myself.  I challenged myself to write a personal note to each of my students.  As I wrote, I found myself wishing I had someone to write me some words of encouragement.  I realized that most teachers probably felt the same way, so I took on the grander challenge of trying to encourage as many teachers as I can…that can’t be hard.  Cheering up and giving hope to an entire group of people in potentially one of the most discouraging careers.  Piece of cake.  🙂

What I found though all of this, is that giving hope gives me hope.  It spurs me on to bigger and greater things.  Helping you helps me be better.  Talking about your awesomeness helps me feel a little more awesome.  This has led me to another challenge at school.  I hope to write an encouraging note to every teacher in the next two weeks before school gets out.  I want my school to have a climate of hope and encouragement.  Maybe I can be one of the catalysts for this!

That leads me to your homework assignment.  I want you to be a part of spreading the awesome around.  I want to help facilitate you as a catalyst of hope and encouragement where ever you are.  I know you can do it!  You can because you are awesome!

The Assignment:

  1.  Random Acts of Awesome: I want you to pick three fellow teachers and do something randomly great for them.  Write a note.  Bring them coffee.  Watch their students at bus holding.  Surprise them with awesome and then tell them it is because of how awesome you think they are, and then tell them to pass on the awesome.  You can do this even if you are out of school for the summer already.  Take someone to lunch.
  2. Share a Post:  I have had a lot of feedback about how this blog has encouraged people.  I want you to share this encouragement with as many people as you can.  Part two of your assignment is to pick your favorite post of this blog and share it somewhere.  Share it on Facebook with people you know need it.  Tweet it.  Share it in an Edmodo group or email it to teachers at you school.  If you were encouraged, it will probably encourage others.
  3. Tell Me About It:  The last step of your assignment is to come back here and tell me about it.  What did you do?  What was the reaction?  Did it spur on others to join the encouragement revolution?  The stories will very much encourage me and I can’t wait to read them.  If you do not want to post your story here, you can email me: dearteacher@outlook.com.

(c)DearTeacherLT2013

I was going to say that the assignment is due Friday, but take as much time as you need!  I can’t wait to hear about it!

Teacher, you are awesome.  Go out there and be awesome to others!

Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

For more hope and encouragement: @DearTeacherLT (Twitter) and Dear Teacher/Love Teacher Facebook Page.

Posted in Challenge, Hope For Students, Hope for Teachers, Note to Teachers

Pride Comes Before…Success

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

What effect does pride have on you?  No, not pride in yourself…though there can be power in that…I mean pride that someone else has in you.  What does it do for you to know that someone is really and truly proud of you?  How does it feel to hear that from them?  What good does it do your your heart, soul, and mind to have someone in your corner, cheering you on, beaming with pride?

Do your students have this in their life?

I am inspired to write about this because of my last class of the day yesterday.  As I looked around while they worked, and I had such a feeling of pride.  I am so proud of them.  I am proud of that class and all of my other classes.  They have risen up to meet my expectations this year…and I have very high expectations for my students.  I am really, and utterly proud of my students.  They are so AWESOME!

Can you look around at your students today and find things to be proud of about them?  I would challenge you to try.

And more than that, I challenge you to tell them.

As I looked at my class yesterday, it hit me that I am often struck by proud feelings about them but I do not say it often.  They should know how proud I am of them.  I need to tell them more often.  Pride changes things.  Pride helps you want to work harder.  Pride makes you strive for success.  I need to share how proud I am of my students, and in turn they will keep working hard for more success to make me even prouder of them.

I recently took on the task of writing a personal note to each of my students.  In it I tell them how proud I am of them and how awesome they are.  I have seen some changes in students just because of these letters.  They want to make me proud because I am proud of them.  Hope and pride is the light at the end of the tunnel.  My students are starting to see the light, and some are running for it as soon as they see it.  It is so cool to watch them run towards success and achievement.

Tell your students how proud you are of them today.  Write some quick notes.  Inject some hope into their lives by giving them some fuel that can ignite into the fire of success.  You are proud of them.  Let them know!

You are awesome, Teacher.  I am proud of you.  You do all you can to get your students to see and live up to (and past) their potential.  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

For more hope and encouragement: @DearTeacherLT

Posted in Challenge, Choose Positive, Hope for Teachers

The Choice

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

Last night, someone shared the Positive Teacher Pledge on an Edmodo.  This really spoke to me.  I know that I need to strive to be more positive in my classroom.  There are times that we all get lured to the dark side of negativity, if we are honest with ourselves.  Though, I have seldom thought about the choice between being positive and being negative.  It is a choice, however!

Every day, every hour, every second, we make a choice between giving into the stress that weighs us down on teachers and acting out of stress or in the opposite direction of the stress.  Often times, at least for me, I let the stress make the choice and it is usually in the negative direction.  I need (we need) capture every second of the day with our students!  We don’t have many seconds with them, in the span of their lives, so we need to make each one count!  We can’t afford to have many “bad seconds” with our students.  We are setting them up for the rest of their lives!  We have to take that seriously.

Today, will you…

  • Let your exhaustion show or be upbeat (or at least pretend to be energetic)?
  • Let that crummy email or phone call show or save your frustration for later and say something nice to a student who needs it?
  • Complain about a coworker or do something to encourage him or her?
  • Gripe about administration or ask them if there is anything you can do to help them today?
  • Get irritated with a student who is driving you insane or pull him or her aside, say something positive, and give a reason to do better today?

The list could go on forever, but I think you get it.  Lets try to make positive choices today!  We are worn out, beat up, and empty…but we have to keep moving.  You can do it, Teacher!  You can be positive today!  You are awesome!  I believe in you so much!

Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

For more hope and encouragement: @DearTeacherLT