Pep Talk – Page 9 – Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

[we and our students are] Meant to Live

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

Good morning. It is Monday. You know what that means! Weekly theme song. This one is one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands. I am not sure if that is telling too much about me out not! 🙂 I picked this week’s song because I am pumped up. I got through some difficult mental/emotional hiccups last week after a school meeting and learning the state test results last week, and now all of that is fuel for my personal teaching change and to help my students to fly next year! I know I can raise them (and me) up to more than they (and I) could be without a little change in me!

Without further ado. Click play (and skip the add if one comes up) and then keep reading.

Teacher, where ever you might be in the school year. You may be, like me, in the summer and it is approaching the end and a new school year is looming larger and larger on the horizon. You might be in the throes of the school year with things going great or not so great. You may be in another place in the school year, I don’t know.

And I don’t know how you are feeling. Are you excited? Are things going well? Are plans coming together and next year is starting to take shape? Are you students doing well and all of your hard work and planning is paying off? Or are you on the other side? Are you terrified or extremely nervous about the new school year and things are not coming together for you? Are you falling a part? Is the school year not going so well? Is all of your hard work and planning looking like a waste of time and your students are just not getting it? Do they just not want to get it?

You most likely have a mixed bag. That seems to be how most of us spend the school year. A little from columns A, B, C, and D. Some things are going well and your feeling good about how things look. Other areas are not so good and you are a stressful wreck. And with other factors you are just kind of in the middle. This is how I spend most of the school year and summer. I think we all do. We are teachers. We find a balance somehow!

No matter where you may be and how you may feel, I want you to stop, breathe, and relax. Now, think of the biggest boldest, most impossible sounding goals you can have for yourself, your classroom, and your students. Dream big. Where do you wish you and your students could be as teachers and learners? Who do you wish you could be as a teacher? What would you be doing? Who do you wish your students could be as learners and scholars? What is your most impossible. yet semi-realistic goal that you would like your students to meet? Teacher, I am serious. Think of one or two gaudy goals for you and your students (“gaudy goals” are an idea from the training I went to a couple of weeks ago). If you don’t have something to shoot for, how do you know where you are aiming?

Now that you have a goal in mind, find a way to get there. I am serious. What can you change? What can you do? Pick a handful of small things that you can do to try to move and find a path to those big, impossible sounding dreams. Everything was impossible for the first time they were done. There are some awesome examples of teachers who have done this and found their way to make the dreams reality. I hope to highlight some of them soon, but that doesn’t matter right now because you could be one of those teachers. Dreams are just dreams until we make them real. How can you make your dreams and goals the real world for you and your students?

Teacher, you and your students are meant for so much more. Do not be happy where you are with your students, where ever that may be. You are meant to live for something more. Your students are meant to live for something more. Be something more. Move your students on to be something more. You can do it! You can be more! Go be more! Don’t ride this feeling off. I know that something stirred inside of you while you thought of bigger dreams. Do it! Work at it! Make something more happen. Be the something more for yourself, your students, and your school! You are something more. Prove it this week!

You are awesome! You are the more! I know you will show it to yourself and the world at-large this week! Be the teacher you know that you always could be. Go big this week! I mean it! You are amazing! You will make a difference this week, and every week! Keep on going and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

PS…For those of you who use Edmodo, I have started an Edmodo Group for the daily updates.

Challenge, General Inspiration, Hope for Teachers, Pep Talk, Secret Occupations of Teachers

You, Teacher, Are a Flight Attendant

Posted on July 20, 2013July 20, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

Earlier this summer I did some traveling with my family. A part of that travel was a few trips on airplanes, and this was my preschool’s son first time going on airplanes. This let me think and view the trip from his perspective. There was a sense of wonder and awe with everything on the airplane and all of the aspects of riding on one. As I enjoyed sitting with him as he took it all in, it got me thinking and this spurred an idea in my mind. This idea is what became the Secret Occupations of Teachers (S.O.o.T.) posts.

Today S.O.o.T. is the one that started this idea in the first place. Teachers are like flight attendants. I know, this one is going to seem like a bit of a stretch, but just bare with me. I think it will make sense. 🙂

A flight attendant is an important part of a flight crew. Of all of the roles that are played on an airplane, the flight attendant is the most public, at least to passengers. Basically, they are the face of the flight. They are who set the tone before, during, and after take-off and landing.

The job of flight attendant serves two main functions: ensure that safety regulations are being followed and to make sure that passengers as as comfortable as possible during the flight. Everything that flight attendants do fall under those categories. CareerPlanner.com gives the following job description:

1) Announce and demonstrate safety and emergency procedures such as the use of oxygen masks, seat belts, and life jackets.

2) Answer passengers’ questions about flights, aircraft, weather, travel routes and services, arrival times, and/or schedules.

3) Assist passengers in placing carry-on luggage in overhead, garment, or under-seat storage.

4) Assist passengers while entering or disembarking the aircraft.

5) Attend preflight briefings concerning weather, altitudes, routes, emergency procedures, crew coordination, lengths of flights, food and beverage services offered, and numbers of passengers.

6) Check to ensure that food, beverages, blankets, reading material, emergency equipment, and other supplies are aboard and are in adequate supply.

To sum it up, flight attendants are all about passengers. To keep them safe. To keep them happy as possible. I know there have been some stories in the news where this did not happen, and most of us have had a bad experience or two, but for the most part we can probably say that a majority of flight attendants do the best job possible. Which would be hard, if you think about it. They know that they probably will not see the passengers again, and sometimes the passengers can be rude for a number of reasons. They put up with a lot, but they try to keep a smile on their faces as they pass passengers on from one place to the next as safely and comfortably as possible.

Acknowledgement

Teacher, you are a flight attendant. You have two main roles as a teacher, to ensure a safe environment for learning and to provide and atmosphere that makes learning comfortable (comfortable in terms of growing understanding, thinking skills/processes, independent thought, etc…). When the learning environment is safe and comfortable, thinking, understanding, and learning happens.

I know that I have shared this quote before, but what Albert Einstein said fits so well here:

I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide an environment in which they can learn.

We, as teachers, set the tone, atmosphere, and safety net for learning. We make sure that students feel secure. We make sure that they are safe physically, mentally, and emotionally. We make sure that they have what they need. We go over the procedures over, and over, and over, and over, and over…and then one more time. We provide for them. We even sometimes give snacks…on the longer flights of knowledge. And we put up with a lot…keeping a smile the best that we can.

Encouragement

The constant smile on your face comes with a cost…it is hard to do and sometimes almost hurts to take what gets thrown at you. Sometimes you do not handle it well, but those times are not often. You do your best to keep your cool. You do your best to keep a straight face as you go over the “safety procedures” while your student roll there eyes. You try to deal with disgruntled “passengers” the best that you can and keep an even tone. You do your best to work with your “passengers” even though the “pilots” may be making what you need to do difficult from time to time. You try to keep that smile and continue to keep your “passengers” safe and the learning environment comfortable.

You are awesome. People who think you do not do miracles every day just don’t know what you do. They don’t understand. Students, parents, administration, and anyone else who gives you negative feedback from time to time do not see your day-to-day and minute-to-minute. Take it with a grain of salt, change what you can change, and move on. You are amazing. Keep that smile up no matter what goes down. You are good at what you do and you are making a difference.

Challenge

Teacher, are you doing all that you can do to keep the learning environment as safe and comfortable as you possibly can? What can you do improve the atmosphere of your classroom and optimize learning every day? The challenge I would like to give to you is to find some way you can make a change. It can be a teaching strategy or a change in how you view thinking and learning. Pick one thing. Study it. Absorb it. Plan with it. Implement it. One thing. Summer folks, you even have a few weeks left to do this.

A couple of suggestions of things that I have pick as some of my “one things”:

Problem/Project Based Learning (PBL) – PBL is a buzzword (well, buzz-letters) you probably have been hearing about if you do not already know about it and use it. Basically, it is giving your content relevance to the students and teaching with an end in mind that the students buy into. The Buck Institute for Education is one of the best sources out there. Edutopia also has some great information and available resources for incorporating PBL. Project Based Learning has a self-guided mini-course you can work through to learn more, and this is the site that helped me the most.
Brain-Based Learning – as you can probably infer, brain-based learning uses current brain research to improve the understanding of teaching and learning processes and helps you change your teaching strategies in light of this. Teaching with Poverty in Mind by Eric Jensen, which I know I talk about a lot, was the beginning of my understanding and implementation brain-based learning. He also has several other books (Teaching with the Brain in Mind, Brain-Based Learning: The New Paradigm of Teaching, and Turnaround Tools for the Teenage Brain, to name a few…and no, they are not paying me for endorsements, I am just a fan!). There are other great resources out there, as well. There is a book that I plan to get soon that would be a great place to start, Brain Rules by John Medina (who is a molecular biologist who knows what he is talking about…he is not just a former teacher). Another great resource is How the Brain Learns by Dr. David Sousa (viewed as one of the leading experts on the brain and learning). You can do an internet search and find a number of online resources, as well.

Teacher, you are a flight attendant. It may seem like a lesser job on the flight crew, but it really one of the most important. What you do is important. Very important! You set the tone, atmosphere, and environment for learning. And you do it with a smile. You are awesome! Keep on smiling and keep on teaching!

Remember this, we are only flight attendants for our students on their way from one city to the next on their journey of life. Don’t waste the little time that you have with them! Now, please return your seats and tray tables to the proper, upright position. 🙂

Love, Teacher

PS…Thanks for reading through this one. It was long! I hope it was worth your time!

Oh, and for those of you who use Edmodo, I have started an Edmodo Group for the daily updates. This way I will be able to make the “Edmodo blasts” in the Communities few and far between…I don’t know that everyone “loves” them. 🙂

Friday Note, General Inspiration, Pep Talk, Reason for Teaching, Teaching Power, You Are Awesome!!!

Some [funny and inspiring] Thoughts on Teaching

Posted on July 19, 2013July 19, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

This week was full of some heavy posts…inspiring and encouraging, but still heavy. I thought I might make today a lighter day and celebrate some of what we love about teaching! And because my post have been longer this week, I am going to have you do more watching than reading. 🙂

Our job is difficult. We try to use innovative methods and strategies, but sometimes it just doesn’t seem like the kids are getting it. Sometimes it feels like this…you may or may not remember this Saturday Night Live sketch from the 90’s. If you have seen it, watch it again and enjoy. If you haven’t seen it, watch it for the first time and laugh your socks off! It is hilarious, but it is amazing how it actually feels this way sometimes! The only difference is that in real life you don’t give up…you don’t give up because you are AWESOME! 🙂

Now, unfortunately, the world at-large thinks that it is really always like this and that we are just flying by the seat of our pants. But we don’t. We plan. We fight. We do all that we need to do to make the biggest impact we can on students. It is hard work, and we don’t get paid enough to do it. That doesn’t matter to us, in the big picture, though because we know we do this for more than money. Sometimes it is hard to get other people to understand why, though. Here is another video you may or may not have seen; but you most likely have heard the dinner party story before. Taylor Mahi does an awesome job of telling the story and showing the passion of why we do what we do. Have a watch.

To round out this all out, I want to go back to the first video. That was a comical look at what we do, but I want you to see a teacher’s perspective, someone like us, on what we do day to day…and why we love it. I found this while I was looking for the Taylor Mahi video. This is another one by him, and I really think it sums it all up nicely.

You are so awesome. What you do is hard. It takes time, it takes heart, it takes grit. You are good at it. You are making a difference. You are a miracle worker, and you are amazing! Never give up and never surrender to stress that we swim in. Keep going and keep teaching, Teacher!

Wait…before you go. I want to give a weekend homework assignment. Homework over the weekend? Yes, home work over the weekend! I want you to go through and find three of your favorite posts here at Dear Teacher/Love Teacher and share them with someone (or a lot of someones). Share on Edmodo, Facebook, Twitter, email, or how ever else you can. Then come back here and tell us all the response. Encouragement is hard to find in our job sometimes, so when we find it we need to share it!

Thank you, Awesome Teacher! You are the best!

Love, Teacher

PS…Oh, and for those of you who use Edmodo, I have started an Edmodo Group for the daily updates. This way I will be able to make the “Edmodo blasts” in the Communities few and far between…I don’t know that everyone “loves” them. 🙂

General Inspiration, Pep Talk

Small Steps that make Big Differences

Posted on July 17, 2013July 17, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

I don’t know how this week has been for you, but it has been a tough one for me. It is only halfway through summer, but I am already getting a bit overwhelmed with everything that I need to get done before school starts (not to mention all of the summer chores to get done here at home). This is coupled with trying to pick myself back up after finding out the state test scores from last school year. I want it to be a motivation to try to streamline and learn from my mistakes for next year, but it still takes a bit of the wind out of your sails.

Have you been where I am? Excited about planning and setting expectations for the new year, but also a bit overwhelmed and pre-defeated by the staggering odds against you? It is hard. It is like setting a goal to climb a mountain, but standing at the bottom of it and seeing how impossible it feels to do so.

We make big plans and set huge goals for ourselves and our students for the next year. We get psyched up and amped up as we plan and see all the possibilities. Then reality hits us. We think about what hasn’t worked in the past. We start to wonder if our students will buy-in. We think of all the obstacles in the way of our goals. We start to wonder if the hard work of planning in a new direction is worth it. It gets hard to focus on the details needed because the climb seems so daunting. We won’t give up, but something inside wants us just to do what we did last year or wing it. I am at that point. How about you? I will push through it, but I am just there.

But I won’t give up, and I will keep going. So will you. And you know why? It is because we know a secret. It is this secret that we live by in these times, and it is this secret we hope to pass on to our students.

There is a often quoted, and probably cliche, Chinese proverb by Laozi that sums up the secret. Here is the traditional translation:

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Or, another translation:

The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one’s feet.

The secret is this. No matter the odds or the pain of disappointment, we keep moving. We set a destination and move towards it. We power through. We keep taking the steps. No matter the situation. We know where we need to go, and we keep trying to get there. Step by step. Even if those steps are baby steps at times, we keep going. We keep soldiering on!

In my case, I am looking for the little things I can do to push me forward. I am trying to break my big goals into smaller steps. I am finding little areas of planning that are very real and easy. This way, as I am pushing through the hard parts of starting the climb I am still moving in very real and measurable ways. In a few days or a week, I will be able to look back and see that I am actually gaining ground. That will push me to keep climbing!

What about you? What are you doing? Are you planning for the next year? Are you still teaching right now and in one of those spots that happen during a school year? What do you need to focus on? What little steps can you take to keep you taking the big steps?

Never forget…no matter how impossible the journey, JUST START SOMEWHERE! Each little step makes a big difference! And remember, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!

No matter where you are or how you are feeling, I know that you will press on. You are awesome! You are amazing! And you are making a difference! Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Challenge, General Inspiration, Pep Talk, Teacher Testimony

Teacher Rockstar: Jaime Escalante

Posted on July 11, 2013July 24, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

Today I want to build on my posts from a couple of weeks ago (It’s Not Me, It’s You; The Power of Real Encouragement; and Apple Influence) and talk a little more about change and the drive to change ourselves in order to spark change in others (namely, our students). To do this, I want to focus in on someone I would definitely call a Teacher Rockstar: Jaime Escalante.

If you are not familiar with Mr. Escalante, he is the teacher portrayed in the movie Stand and Deliver (if you haven’t seen the movie, you need to…great inspiration for teachers!). He taught at a high poverty high school in a Latino community in Los Angeles in the late 70’s through the early 90’s. At a failing school that focused on remedial and low level math, he pushed students to take AP Calculus. The students, starting in small groups and growing in the large groups (in the hundreds), succeeded in his class and passed the AP exam. There is much more to the story, but you can go to Wikipedia for that. 🙂

What makes Mr. Escalante a Rockstar Teacher is not his accomplishments. The results of his teaching strategies and methods were amazing, but they are not what makes him one of the great teachers of all time. What makes him special is his drive. It was his willingness to stand up and do more, to be more, to expect more. One of my favorite scenes in Stand and Deliver illustrates this drive perfectly. It shows in what he is willing to say (and backup with action) at a department meeting.

In a school of under-resourced, overworked, beat-up, worn-out, and burned up teachers with students that have a history of being under-performing students with the threat of losing district accreditation looming on the horizon, he stepped up and said, “I can teach more.” He volunteered to do more. To take on more students. To be more. I love what he said, “The students will rise to the level of expectations.” He looked resolutely at administration and expected more of himself and of the students.

His response to the question of what he needs in order to do more really shows his drive and why he had unbelievable success with students. “Ganas. All we need is ganas.” Ganas was the key for Mr. Escalante. Ganas made the difference.

According to Urban Dictionary, “ganas” is a slang word for desire or urge that is most likely based on the Spanish word “ganar,” which means to gain or win. Ganas is desire. For Escalante, it was a little more than that though. It was desire backed by the willingness to go after what you desired, no matter how hard you have to work to get to it.

He talks about it again in another quote from the movie, and this time he is speaking to his students:

You’re going to work harder here than you’ve ever worked anywhere else. And the only thing I ask from you is ganas. Desire… If you don’t have the ganas, I will give it to you, because I’m an expert.

He desired for his students to learn, achieve, and truly be successful. He expected his students to have that same drive for themselves. He did what he could to inspire that in his students. He worked hard at it. Year after year he took a look at his students and himself, and then pushed harder the next year to improve. He took a lot of flak. He arguably made a lot of risky choices and decisions, but it was his “ganas” that gave him the ability to focus on his students and their future success. That is what was in his blood. He passed this on to his students. So many of them went on to lead successful lives because of what he instilled in them.

I wrote a good bit and shared a lot from the movie about Jaime Escalante. Let me let him speak for himself. This was an interview he did while he was still teaching. It is so inspiring to me! I hope you feel the same way!

Now that you have learned more about this teaching rockstar, what can you learn from his example? Can you be one of the teachers in your school, in the midst of all of the finger pointing on what is wrong in education, to stand up and say, “I can do more,” and back that up with action? Is your teaching and relationships with students marked by “ganas” about their achievement and success? What can you do to be different and make an even bigger difference than you already do?

You are awesome! I know that you probably already think a lot like Mr. Escalante. Your students and their learning and success is of utmost importance to you. You do so much already and make a big difference! But can you do more? I know that I can!

You are amazing, and never forget it! Find the more that you can do, and do it! I know that you can! Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Challenge, Pep Talk, Quotes to Inspire, Uncategorized

It’s Not Me, It’s YOU

Posted on July 10, 2013July 10, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

I mentioned this briefly at the end of my last two posts, but I am at a workshop this week. What I did not mention is that I am at one of the most amazing workshops EVER! Well, at least the most amazing one I have ever been to. :). I am learning so much and getting to meet some awesome teachers from around the US and this corner of the globe.

The workshop is put on and led by Eric Jensen, who is the author of the book, Teaching with Poverty in Mind, which inspired the events in my teaching that inspired this blog (see my About page for that story). The workshop is called Teaching with Poverty in Mind, and it gets into the research behind the book in depth, but it has been mostly about how to use the research and giving very real strategies and practices that allow students, brains to change for the better. Basically, it is about how poverty changes the brain and what we can do about that as teachers.

The workshop has been wonderful, as I said. Everything being taught is being modeled ad we are helping each other practice. We are being given ways to take this all back to our campuses and to help other teachers apply the principles, strategies and research and spread the fire of change at out schools. We have been shown examples of what we are being taught working at schools like ours and being challenged to prove it can work at our schools. Have to say, I am quite fired up and there are still two days left! I can’t wait to take what I am learning back to my school!

I share all of this to talk about a theme and idea that has come up over and over. I am really buying into this idea, and I hope that it will inspire you and that you buy into it to. Something has been said over and over, and I bet it will be said more over the next two days: teachers are the key to change in students. Teachers…not the students, parents, administrators, legislators, etc…TEACHERS. If we make the needed changes in how we approach what we teach (not necessarily how we teach…a lot of us our doing the “right things” but our approach, reasons, and intentions need to be adjusted and tweaked) then we will start to see changes and successes in our students, especially the harder cases.

I won’t get into details here…I will leave that to Mr. Jensen (read the book and catch the workshop if you can)…but I want to focus in on the idea of change. No matter how good we are, we can find things that we can change and do better. It does nothing to lean back and just bemoan what is going wrong. One thing that has been repeated at the workshop is that “we need to stop pointing fingers and start holding up a mirror to see what we need to change.” I know that teachers are blamed a lot….I am not saying buying into that, but I am agreeing that we all need to stop pointing fingers and start changing what we can…and that starts with us.

Mahatma Gandhi is often misquoted as having said, “Be the change you long to see in the world.” Great idea, but what he actually said is even stronger.

“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.”

What he is basically saying is that change starts with us. We, as teachers, can’t wait for our students, the environments, or the education system to change. We need to hold up a mirror to ourselves and change what we can change for the better. We can then be an agent of change by spreading the changes to others. That is kind of what this blog is about…changing the climate of negativity towards teachers to an atmosphere of encouragement. We need to make the same adjustments in our classrooms!

So how are you doing, Teacher? Are you ready to hold up a mirror and let the changes start with you? Find a deficit or weakness in your teaching, find out ways to change it, makes some plans, and then make changes. Are you ready to start this? A know that I am!

You are so awesome! I know that you are going to take this challenge in stride! I believe in you and I know that this coming year (or current one) will be the best one yet! Keep on teach, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Get Psyched!, Pep Talk, Theme Song

Monday Morning Motivation: Here Comes the BOOM!

Posted on July 8, 2013July 7, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

For the last two Mondays, I have really striven to give you some motivation and get you pumped up for the week ahead. I have been posting theme songs for you to play while you read, and this has been extremely popular and well-received. I have loved doing this myself, and I the theme songs have stuck with me through the week. So, I think I am going to stick with this new trend I started. I have a week of training that I am excited about; it is training about poverty and brain research that I think is going to give a new edge to my teaching next year, and this song sums up how I feel about it. Play the song before you read on. It is an awesome song and a pretty funny video (you may want to watch it after you read, if you have never seen it before). Also, it is the theme song for the movie, Here Comes the Boom, which is a movie that centers on a teacher that is committed to the needs of students (namely the Arts Program).

(Disclaimer–if you have never heard this song before, there is a lyric you may think is saying something that it is not…the line is “big S.D.” for San Diego…not what it sounds like the first time you hear it.)

Teacher, you are awesome. This week is yours to own. Don’t let this week happen to you, happen to this week! Make a plan and stick to it. Follow through. Set a goal to accomplish something big, work at it, and accomplish that goal. You can do it! Tell this week that the BOOM is coming and you are the one bringing it!

No matter what you have ahead of you, you’ve got this. You are amazing. You can get through anything. You can do anything. You can achieve anything. You can do anything and get through everything, if you set your mind to it. Set your mind to it and do it!

For those of you teaching right now:

Get your plans together…make them happen.
When things get off plan, monitor and adjust like a champ. You can make anything work. Roll with the punches that come, and punch back with your skills, experience, and abilities.
Know where you want your students to be at the end of the week and get them there. Use what ever you need to use to get them there. You are awesome and know what to do. Do it.
DO NOT let the little things get to you. Stay calm, stay patient, and stay in charge. You are a professional and you know what you are doing. Rely on the fact the that little things do not mean much in the big picture. Work around them and do not let them get you frustrated.
Love your students above all else. Knowing and caring for your students is the most important thing you do. Encourage them and tell them how much you care. Tell them how awesome they are and why they are awesome.

For those of you on summer break:

Don’t let the summer get away from you. Make a plan to accomplish something this week and then accomplish it. It can be for school or otherwise, but do something this week. Get something done.
Read one thing to help you do even better next year than the last. Find a good article on teaching/education (Edutopia is a great source, my current favorite). Read a book. Find something. Hone your craft this week, Teacher!
Come up with one new goal for next year. Find a new place you want your students next year or a new strategy to try. I gave a similar challenge yesterday. It is so important to set new expectations for yourself to rise to higher heights and become an even better teacher!
Plan a lesson or unit for next year. Don’t put it off. Plan to do something for next year this week. The more you do now, the better off you will be next year!
Make a plan for getting to know your students and other teachers next year and plan ways to spread encouragement and hope. I know a good place that you can find notes to print and write on! 🙂 Know how you will get to know people and spread the Encouragement Revolution next year!

You are so incredibly awesome! This week is yours for the taking. Take it! Make it yours! Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

PS…While I am at a training this week, I need your help. Please share this link in your Edmodo communities and groups, share on Facebook, share on Twitter, and where ever else you can! Spread the encouragement because I can’t! Thanks! You are awesome! 🙂

Pep Talk, Reflection, Take Care of Yourself

Celebrate Teacher Times, Come On

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

For those of you on summer break, what have you been up to so far this summer? I have had a little break, as you know, but now I am back to work…at least the planning part of our job. My school is emphasizing planning over the summer, and understandably so. For this reason, this has been a week of intense planning for me. After a few days of hardcore planning like this, I feel very worn out. I don’t know how that goes for you, but it can get exhausting for me!

Or are you still in the let-last-year-fade-away phase of summer? It was a great year, or not so great, and you just need to let the memories slide away and relax a bit so that you can be ready for the next one. This is an important part of the summer. We can not carry all of the stress (good or bad) from last year into next year. A part of summer is to unwind so that you can get wound back up again. It is vital to your teaching heart to have a little time to let last year go! You have been emptied out and you need to fill back up!

To those teaching right now (especially the Southern Hemisphere-ers), how are things going for you? Are you still in the easier times of the year or is it the nose-to-the-grindstone time when the students are not as excited to be in school and you have a million things to do? Are you still pumped up and enthusiastic about all that you have to do? Or are you tired, beat up, and on the edge of burn out? Are you just somewhere on the roller coaster in between the too extremes?

Where ever you are in all of this, it is important to remember not to sweat the small stuff. Almost a month ago I posted about this and encouraged you to celebrate the small stuff. Today’s post is just a reminder to do just that! All of the little things that annoy us, wear us down, and beat us up little by little (including those held over from last year) can become a mountain that eventually falls and crushes us. We need to build a retaining wall against them…and we do that by celebrating all of those little things that are great every day, week, month, and year!

Another way to look at it is to think of the motivational poster I shared yesterday. As teachers, we really are a buoy in the water there to guide, protect, and lead our students to where they need to go. It can be lonely and hard as the “small stuff” comes in as waves and beat on us. The thing about buoys like the one in the poster, though, is that they are held in place by an anchor. Celebrating and remembering those little things that go well can be the anchor that holds us in place! The waves can come, but we know why we are there and why we became a teacher. To lead the way for a brighter future for our students!

(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use the picture only if you link back to this blog.)

So…

Summer planning teacher:

Celebrate what you have already finished!
Throw a party for the work you will not have to do during the year because you did it now!
Toast the great things that your students will be able to accomplish because you worked so hard to plan for them!

Summer relaxing teacher:

Celebrate those small changes you saw in your students throughout the year, especially the more challenging students!
Throw a party for the growth that you see in yourself as a teacher! You are an even better teacher than you were at this time last year!
Toast the accomplishment of a year well done, no matter if it was your best year, your worst, or somewhere in between! Teacher, you made it and now you are on the other side!

Teacher in the throws of teaching:

Celebrate those things that are going right! What is working well for you right now? Those are awesome! Celebrate them!
Throw a party for those students that are truly connecting to what you are teaching! This is why you do what you do! Have a 10 second party for these kids once in a while!
Toast the things that you have been able to notice that are not working and you have changed to teach your students better! How have you monitored and adjusted to improve student learning? Here’s to those things! Cheers!

Teacher, celebrate! Dig that anchor in deep and the sweaty small stuff won’t affect you as much! The celebrations are important. You need them. Don’t forget to celebrate a little something every day!

You are so awesome! You are a great teacher! You are making a difference! I truly believe in you! Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

New Day, Pep Talk, You Are Awesome!!!

The Eye of the Teacher…er…Tiger

Posted on June 24, 2013June 24, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

It is Monday. The start of a week. I don’t know about you, but I need to get a little psyched up for it. We need a theme song to start us up, don’t you think. Click play, and once the song starts, keep reading. 🙂

Teacher, this is your week. You’ve got this!

If you are still teaching right now, you are ready for this week. You have your plans. You have your ideas. You have your heart for your students.

Don’t worry about the little things. They are not important. Your students are important. You work hard for them. They need you. Remember why you do this! Now, get out there and teach your heart out!

Keep your eye on the goal of changing the future through your students. Look ahead at the potential they have. Help them see it. Give them the expectation and help them rise up to it.

You’ve got this! You are ready. Go awesome the heck out of this week! You will change lives this week! Go do it, Teacher!

If you are on summer break right now, you still have a battle to fight. Some of you need to relax and take a break. School stuff can wait. You need to wind down from the year. You need to disconnect, unwind, and let your mind and body heal from the year of a teacher. School things will still be here when you are done. Your students next year need you to do this…they don’t need a fried out teacher!

Some of you need to stop relaxing. Don’t get into the summer lazy cycle. Spend at least an hour a day on getting stuff prepared for next year. Get pumped up for everything you can do next year and start planning!

It is all too easy to put things off for later. Do a little every day. You will thank yourself later! You need to keep a little of that teaching mindset and don’t completely check out. If I am calling you out, don’t feel bad…I am calling myself out here!

Next year is coming. Your students need the best of you. Relax, if you need to. Stop relaxing, if you need to. You are going to have an AWESOME year next year…so this week needs to be an AWESOME week to help that happen. It will be an awesome week. You will be awesome. You are awesome!