Tag: dear teacher love teacher

Posted in General Inspiration, Get Psyched!, Hope for Teachers, Mondays, Pep Talk, Theme Song, You Are Awesome!!!

[Teachers] Like Us…

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

Welcome to a new week.  For the N. Hemisphere, the summer is about half over (or getting there).  The new school year is looming ever closer…and the great teachers are slowly starting to gear up for it.

For this reason, I decided that it is time to dust off the old favorite of my posting genres and put up a theme song for the week post.   I went looking for a song, and did I ever find one.  I think this song (and video—sans the product placements) is one of the best teacher theme songs ever.  I may adopt is as my theme song for the new year!  We’ll see.

For those new to this blog, click play and read on.  When you are done reading, you may want to go back and watch the video.  It is pretty cool if you think about it in light of our role as teachers.

Teacher, your job is hard.

Few people, besides fellow teachers, understand what it is like.

What we do is taxing all on its own.

Teaching and teaching how to learn while balancing the needs of individual students and their families is not a simple task, but it is one of the most important in the world.

We have a lot to think about.

We love a challenge, and our profession is full of them.

On top of this, though, we are also beat up and blamed for many of the woes of society.  People that do not understand what it is that we do make the choices about how we are to do it.  When things don’t work out, who gets credit for what is wrong?  Yup.  Us.

Yes, Teacher, your job is hard.

But you wouldn’t trade it for the world…most of the time.

Even when you are going through the toughest time in your teaching life and everything inside of you is telling you to quit…except that one small voice that tells you to go on.

Teaching is your blood and you know it is what you were made to do.

That one small voice is a powerful one.

The cool thing is that there is not just one small voice.

All great teachers have that small voice that urges us to go on.

The voice screams and reminds us why we do what we do.

Our students…the children…the young adults…the future.

When we see the faces, when we remember the challenges that will face those faces one day, we have the small spark to get our fire going.

And you are surrounded by other teachers with that same voice and that same spark.

Teachers like us are all around.

And when the fire that burns in all of us burns together…we are a force to be reckoned with.

I am not talking about the world and legislation and banding together over that…that is another story for another blog.

I am talking about being a force against the challenges of being a great teacher for our students, no matter what is said or done on the red tape side of teaching and the hardships that we face.

Teacher, no matter what you have gone through as a teacher, you can get back up!

You are surrounded by teachers like you to help you up.

The small voice inside of you is a crowd and a mob that is all around you.

Just look up.

Just keep going.

Teachers like us will make a difference.

Teachers like us will change the future for our students.

Teachers like us will keep going and keep our students going.

Look around.

Teachers like you are all around.

Keep going, Teacher!

Keep that fire going!

Do it for you.

Do it for your students.

Do it for and with teachers like you!

You are awesome!  Keep going, Teacher, and keep on teaching!

Love, Teacher

Posted in Challenge, General Inspiration, Hope for Teachers, Note to Teachers

New Start – New Year

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

(c)DearTeacherLT2014 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)
(c)DearTeacherLT2014 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)

Dear Teacher,

I know that you haven’t heard from me in quite some time.  I am sorry for that.  Know that I am still here and that you are still awesome!  I haven’t given up on you and I haven’t given up on me.  Time away was needed, but now I am back.

I know that it is summer (for my Northern Hemisphere teacher friends), but I also know that you are a great teacher.  You are already thinking about next year.  You have had a few weeks of a break and now you are thinking about the students that will be sitting in the desks that sit in your classroom.  This is what makes you great.

You can’t stop your “teaching brain,” and this is a good thing.

The other night, I was playing Jenga with my son.  We had some nice rounds of moving the blocks, but in the end the tower always tumbled.

When I looked at the pieces after one long match, it hit me that no matter how the game went it always ended but no matter how it ended we can always rebuild and start again.

Isn’t that the same with life?

No matter how things go, things always end.  No matter how things end, we can always start again.

This applies even more so with teaching.  Jenga is a pretty great analogy to our profession, if you think about it.

We start the year as a strong tower, ready to go.  Through the year we go through times of being taken apart and put back together.  In the end, no matter what, we feel like a puddle of bricks (in some way or another) ready for a reboot.  We take the summer and rebuild so that we can start again.

Teacher, I don’t know how last year ended for you.  I don’t know what kind of mess your bricks are in.  I don’t know how worn your blocks are.  But you can rebuild.  You can start again.  You will start again.

Take the rest of the summer and try to build your tower stronger.  Relax.  Reflect.  Rebuild.  Think about what went right and what went wrong.  Look for what you could do better.  Research a little.  Read a lot.  Find new ways to do the old stuff.  Be a better tower…even if you know it will just be blocks and bricks at the end of the next year.

This is what you do.  This is who you are.  And you are AWESOME at it.  Keep going and never give up!

Build, Teacher.  Build.

Your are awesome!  I totally believe in you!  Have a great rest of the summer and build that tower better than ever!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Jenga
Posted in General Inspiration, Hope for Teachers, Mondays, Note to Teachers, Picture Note, Poster/Graphic, You Are Awesome!!!

Big City Monday

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

It is Monday.  The start of a new week.  It is a fresh beginning.  You have arrived at the dawning of something that has never been before…this week.

Sometimes a new week of teaching can feel like coming to a big city for the first time.  It is overwhelming.  You know about the city and know where you need to go, but stepping on to the sidewalk can make you have to catch your breath at first.  It is big.  It is here.  It is real.  You have never navigated these streets before, and now you are here walking them.  It can be a bit much, but you keep walking.  You keep going.  You find your way.  You make it through.  You make it possible for yourself to get better and learn the places you need to go.  You press on until it is not a big deal anymore.

A new week can be very similar.  You know what is coming up.  You know some of what to expect from the week.  You also know that there are new challenges that await that you haven’t been made aware of yet.  If it is a big week, like state testing or something of that sort, it is even more daunting.  You go over in your head what you need to do, where you need your students to get to, and all that you have to get done.  Now it is Monday morning, and you are about to step into those streets.  You have to brace yourself and make yourself keep walking.

Deep breath, Teacher.  You’ve got this.  Step out.  Keep going.

You greet the week with all that you have.  You have done this before.  You have conquered other “big city” weeks.  This one will be no different.  You will do what you need to do.  You will get your students where they need to be.  You will take everything in stride and keep walking.  You will keep going.  You will survive.

This week has nothing on you.

Nothing.

Big cities are awesome.  Weeks can seem awesomely daunting.  But you are awesome-er.  Your awesome is bigger than the biggest city and the most difficult weeks.

You’ve got this.

Step out.

Keep walking.

(c) DearTeacherLT2013 You may use this image only if you link back to this blog and give credit to this blog. This note will be available soon at the Dear Teacher TpT Store. Find notes like this one by following the link.
(c) DearTeacherLT2013 You may use this image only if you link back to this blog and give credit to this blog. This note will be available soon at the Dear Teacher TpT Store. Find notes like this one by following the link.

You are awesome, for real!  You are amazing because you do keep going.  You know what your students need and you get them to succeed.  You are making a difference.  Keep walking and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Posted in General Inspiration, Get Psyched!, Handwritten Note, Hope for Teachers, Note from Student, Note to Teachers, Pep Talk, Picture Note, Poster/Graphic

An Infographic Note from your Students

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

If your students could make you an infographic note of your influence and the difference that you make, I think it would look a lot like this.

(c)DearTeacherLT2014 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)
(c)DearTeacherLT2014 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)

I hope that you realize how much you mean to your students, even though they can’t tell you yet.  You may never know your true effect, but you are changing lives and futures.  Keep fighting.  Keep going.  Keep teaching!

You are so so awesome!  Please remember that you are today.  When the going gets tough, awesome is still awesome…and you are awesome!  Keep on teaching, you amazing Teacher!   Oh, and share this with another teacher that you think could use this message today.  Pass on the encouragement!

Love, Teacher

PS…I am working on a better format of the picture.  This is the best I could do this morning because of scanner issues.  Sorry!

Posted in Challenge, Feedback, General Inspiration, Get Psyched!, Hope for Teachers, Note to Teachers, Pep Talk, Perseverance

Fed Back and Tested (get back up, Teacher)

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Made with http://www.mememaker.net.

Dear Teacher,

I don’t know about you, but yesterday was a rough one for me.  Not bad, so much, just rough.  You know those kind of days?

I gave a test.  I had high expectations.  It went horribly wrong.  My prediction of high averages were dashed on the rocks of reality.

I gave the students an opportunity to give me some feedback about behavior.  They rated me, themselves, and the class.  It is never nice to have to look into the mirror of perception!  Nothing surprised me too much, but it doesn’t feel good to know what you thought is true.

So here I am this morning left with two things to come to grips with:

  • The students didn’t learn what I thought they learned.
  • I have as much to work on in myself as I thought I did.

So, what do I do with that?  Do I beat myself up?  Do I wallow in it for a while?  Or do I pick my teacher hind parts up off the floor and get to work?

I have shared this quote before, but I love it and am going to share it again.  It is from Jaime Escalante, the teacher the move Stand and Deliver was about (I wrote about him here).  He said this:

“Life is not about how many times you fall down. It’s about how many times you get back up.”

It does not matter what a dose of real does to me.  It does not matter if it knocks me down.  It matters if I learn from it and change.  It matters if I find a way to make what I need to do or teach work.  It is more than an idea.  It is a necessity.

It is a necessity as a human being.  It is a necessity as an adult.  It is a necessity as a teacher.  But more than these, it is a necessity as a role model to my students.

I must get up.  I must brush myself up.  I must make changes.  I must try again.

I must because one day the must do the same.

It is not about me.

It is about them.

I will get up today.  I will brush myself off today.  I will make changes.  I will try again.

I will do these things because I am going to ask my students to do the same.  I ask them to do this every day.  They need to see me do it first.  They will see me do it today.

How about you?  What do you do when you are knocked down as a teacher?  How do you handle it?  How do you teach your students to get back up?  Do they see you do it?  Do the see you do it with grace?  Do they see you do it with style?  Will they and can they see you do it today?

I know that you get back up.  You are a teacher.  You have to.  Can you get back up better today than yesterday?  Can you show your students what it takes to bust through failure to get to success?

You are awesome!  You do get back up.  You do it with awesome.  Help you students to that with awesome today!  You are amazing!  You are making a difference!  Keep on teaching and getting back up, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

From venspired.com (shared by Edutopia).
Posted in Choose Positive, General Inspiration, Hope for Teachers, Note to Teachers, Pep Talk

Two Wonderful Minutes

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Garfield Friday – Image Found: http://www.xm105fm.com/2014/01/24/for-the-drive-show-on-your-friday/

Dear Teacher,

For two wonderful, glorious minutes I thought today was Friday.  Then like a slap to the face the shock set in that it was merely Thursday.  It was like a cold water wake up…but now I am away to my Thursday reality.

That reality is simple:

  • I am a teacher.
  • It is a school day.
  • I have a job to do.
  • I have minds to mold.
  • I have hearts with which to connect.
  • I have students’ needs to meet.
  • I have arrows to block from my students.
  • I have monsters that need to be fought for my students.
  • I have content to teach.
  • I have concepts to make real.
  • I have weight that I need to carry for others.
  • I have lessons that need to be lessened.
  • I have ideas that need to be thought.
  • I have thoughts that need to be communicated.
  • I have too much to do and prioritizing that needs to happen.
  • I have a future to affect.
  • I have a world to make better.
  • I have a difference to make.
  • I have students who need me.
  • I have me to be.
  • I am a teacher.

The thing is, no matter what day of the week it is.  You, I, and all teachers have one of the most important jobs in the world.  We need to embrace all that we are as educators.  I hear others (and myself) complain about all that we have to be for students.  I am not talking about standards and administration expectations…I mean all that we have to be for students.  We have to give them supplies.  We have to make sure the get to where they are going.  We have to remind, reteach, and re-give instructions until we  can’t take it anymore.  We have to be nurses.  We have to be moms and dads.  We have to be mentors.  We have to be protectors.  We have to be advocates.  We have to be forgiving.  We have to be patient.  Oh, and we have to be teachers.  We have so much that we have to be.  It is easy to be overwhelmed.

I need to spend more time embracing these all-too-many roles that I have.  I need to remember why I do what I do.  It is because I care for my students.  If they do not have what they need outside of school in these many parts we have to play, then we need to be those things and do so with pride.  This is why we are in this game to start with.  We are here to make a difference.  We need to make that difference and do so joyfully…even when we are too tired to do so much.

And even when it is not Friday.

You are so awesome.  I know you are better at embracing these things than I am.  One day I will be as good as you.  You are making that difference.  You are embracing those roles.  You are amazing!  Keep on teaching and making a difference, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Posted in General Inspiration, Get Psyched!, Hope for Teachers, Note to Teachers, Pep Talk, You Are Awesome!!!

Almost There…

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)
(c)DearTeacherLT2013 

Dear Teacher,

You are almost there!  You have almost made it!  Holiday break is just around the corner.  You can almost count the minutes!

You have worked so hard to keep students engaged.  You have poured your heart out.  You have put in the hours and the energy to capture their hearts and minds.  You have tried to make this time before break both educational and memorable.  And you have done it.  You have knocked it out of the park!

It may not have been perfect, you you have done well, my friend.  Great job!  Amazing!  You are such a great teacher!

The students may not always appreciate the work you do now, but you are making a difference.  You are doing so well.  Every minute may not be awesome, but your awesome never stops.  Nice job.  You have done what you do so well.  You are so awesome!

Thank you for all that you do.  Thank you for working so hard.  Thank you for caring so much.  Thank you for being you.

Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you!

I hope you have the best holiday break ever!  Take it easy.  Take a break.  Rest.  Relax.  Get charged up for the rest of the year!

You are so awesome!  You are so amazing!  Your students need you and you are making a difference in their lives.  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Have a great break, you have earned it and deserve it!

Love, Teacher

Posted in Pep Talk, Perseverance, Poster/Graphic, Theme Song

Standing Outside the Fire

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)
(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)

Dear Teacher,

Well, I am a day late, but it is still early in the week and I bet we could all use a theme song for it…especially those who had a day off yesterday.  So let’s get to it.  This song is going to be a “blast from the past” for a lot of us, but for some it may be the first time to hear this song.  Whether it is new to you or a reminder of more youthful days, this song is a great theme for teachers and one we should hear and think about.

Click play, get through the ad if there is one, and then read on.

Teacher, like it or not, we are heroes.  We fight battles, we run into danger, and we do the impossible.  If not literally, we all do this figuratively.  We take on the world of our students and help them through it and get them to the other side into adulthood and the future.

Not all teachers take this seriously.  Some teachers look at this as more as a job than a calling and desire.  They come in, survive the day, and put up with their students.  They tow the line.  They don’t step on toes.  They teach what and how they are told to teach.  They do little connect to students and see the student as the goal…the content is the goal and teaching it is success.

These teachers “stand outside the fire.”

That is not you, Teacher.

You dance within the flames.  You take what you do and what you are in stride and with confidence.  You know teaching is more than, well, teaching.  It is connecting.  It is getting to know your students.  It is understanding your students.  It is understanding the teaching and learning dynamic.  It is teaching skills outside of your subject area.  It is taking risks.  It is being bold.  It is being brave.  It is taking on the fight and being the hero that your students need you to be.

You are not content with the status quo.  You are not happy with just teaching your standards.  Your students need more.  You need more.

You are not afraid to step on toes when it comes to the needs of your students.  You know what they need, you know how they learn, you know what they are capable of and their potential.  You make choices for them, not for who is watching.

You get to know their families.  You help their parents and guardians know how to help them learn more at home.  You allow their family input on ways to help the student in the classroom.  You make it a team effort and don’t try to do it all on your own.

You look for help from the teachers around you.  You are not afraid to try new things in your classroom.  You look around and see what is working and not working and then seek out strategies from others for whom things are definitely workings.  You are not afraid to change.

You are also not afraid to reflect.  You take a look at students and what they seem to be learning and not learning, and then you make adjustments in you and how you are teaching.  You look at data.  You are not afraid of data.  You let data help you make instructional choices because it gives you a view of what your students need.

You are one of the great ones, Teacher!  You do not stand outside the fire.  You are in the thick of it.  You are dancing around with the flames jumping all around you, and you love every minute of it!  You are a hero.  You are a teacher.  Your students need you!

You are awesome and amazing.  Your “fire dance” is making a difference.  You are making a difference.  Keep on teaching and keep on running into the fire, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

PS …The poster/graphic this morning is one of a line of printable posters that I created and made available on the TeachersPayTeachers Store. They will be called “Motivational ABCs.”

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.