(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,
Today’s “best of” is made up of some of my favorite posts to write, and include some of my favorite all-time posts. Every once in a while we need to remember why we do what we do and get excited about it. We may be on the downside of the teaching roller coaster and a little boost of reminder is all it takes to be headed back up the hill. That is what these posts are about! They are supposed to remind you of the awesomeness of what you do so that you want to go out there and be awesome-er! Here is to being awesome-er!
Some of these are older and you may have definitely missed them. Check out as many as you can and let us all know your favorite (and why)!
Hopelessly Hopeful (one of the very first Dear Teacher/Love Teacher posts)
Fridays of More(what Fridays really mean for teachers most weeks)
Rock Star(this one is one of my top favorite posts, and it was an early one)
Well, I hope you are “pepped” after reading a few! Pick your favorite, tell us why it is your favorite, and then go and share the link to it! You can have more than one favorite, if you want. 🙂
You are awesome! Today is going to be a great day! You are going to have a great rest of the week! You are amazing and are making a difference for the future! Never forget that! Keep on teaching, Teacher!
Love, Teacher
Repeat PS from yesterday…I have an idea. I want to compile stories about teachers who have made a difference in peoples’ lives. It can be a story or a “Dear Teacher ___________” thank you letter. I want to share them on here and maybe in a couple of other ways (possibly a book). If you are interested, email dearteacher@outlook.com and put “Teacher Story” or “Teacher Thank You Letter” in the subject. Thanks. I am excited about this project! (I will post more details about this soon, but please send your story/letter if you can!)
(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use this picture if you link back to my blog.)
Dear Teacher,
For me, this is the last full week before teachers go back to school for the new year. I have so much planning and other things that I want to get done! I think I am going to have to chill it with the blog for this week. So…this week will be the “Best of Dear Teacher/Love Teacher.” I am going to post links to several posts from the last three months, and then I am going to give you a challenge. I want you to pick your favorite, share why it is your favorite, and then share it everywhere that you can (Edmodo, Facebook, Twitter, etc…).
Today is the best of the weekly theme songs. Because there have not been that many, I am going to share a link to all of them. Which is your favorite?
My favorite is Stronger. That song has been in my head a lot since I found out the results of the State Tests. I know that I can use the unmet expectations as fuel for next year. It is driving me to work harder to have things together for my students and to use what I have learned to be more effective in years to come. I am stronger, and I will continue to get stronger!
Which is your favorite? Why? Go out and share the encouragement!
You are awesome! You are amazing! This year will be the best one yet, I just know it! Keep on teaching and keep on getting stronger, Teacher!
Love, Teacher
PS…I have an idea. I want to compile stories about teachers who have made a difference in peoples’ lives. It can be a story or a “Dear Teacher ___________” thank you letter. I want to share them on here and maybe in a couple of other ways (possibly a book). If you are interested, email dearteacher@outlook.com and put “Teacher Story” or “Teacher Thank You Letter” in the subject. Thanks. I am excited about this project!
(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use the picture if you link back to this blog.)
Dear Teacher,
I am an admitted NASAphile. I have loved all things NASA for a very long time, and I even had a dream to go to Space Camp when I was younger. That dream was fulfilled twice as an adult when I was able to attend Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy and Advanced Space Camp once I became a science teacher. NASA, and space, in general was fueled by my love of science and technology. NASA has been and will probably always be on the cutting edge of innovation, and I think that has a lot to do with my fascination.
As teachers, we are asked to be innovators. To survive in the world of 21st Century education, we need to be at the pinnacle of current understanding of teaching and learning. We need to engage our students. We need to understand technology, at least in some form or at least know the technology our students are in to. We need to be able to monitor and then adjust at the drop of the hat. We need to be masters of our learning environment. We need to manage our classrooms with grace and efficiency. And we need to all of this, and more, in an ever-changing educational landscape.
I was inspired today by a post on Edutopia, called, “What You Need to be an Innovative Educator.” It was about, as you can guess, innovation in teaching. The surprising part of the article is that it was not about being the best with technology or the latest education trends. It was more about you, as a teacher, than about what you do. I highly recommend that you read the post on Edutopia, but I am going to use what it says to give us a quick little pep talk. I need it right now as I am getting bogged down in some detailed planning of big ideas for next year.
You Have What It Takes to Innovate
It is not about the latest and the greatest things…technology and strategies. That is not what your students need. It is not about the resources you may or may not have, it isn’t even internet or worksheets. Innovation is about you, Teacher.
It is about who you are and not so much what you do. It is what is in your heart and mind, and your heart and mind have what it takes to innovate.
You know how to prioritize and find what is important. You know it is more than the whats and the hows, it is about the process of figuring those out. You are a human strainer that lets standards and indicators pass through, leaving only the enduring understandings. You know how do do this, and it is in you, Teacher.
You also know that to teach well you have to be selfless. No one had to tell you that this is bigger than you are. You know that it is okay to ask for help and you always know when and how. You are even brave enough to sometimes even consider to allow students in on your planning.
You know that time and energy are more important than money and permission. Stuff is nice, but if you give things enough time you know that you can plan around the stuff. Energy is hard to come by, but you know you need to give it and somehow you always find it. Time and energy are the key and you always give these freely.
You are a teacher, and you have heard since the beginning that teachers beg, steal, or borrow. You are not too proud or afraid to beg, steal, or borrow. Sometimes you reinvent wheels, but this is few and far between. You look to models to work from and put your own fingerprints on.
You are more than willing to stick your neck out for your students. If you know that something could work beautifully but there is a chance it will blow up in your face, you take the chance for the sake of your students. You can always backtrack, but if your plan works out you may help your students leap ahead. You are willing to take the leap of faith to things you know will be best and you are not afraid.
Most of all your students trust you, and you trust your students. They will follow you where you lead them, especially if they think you are leading them where they need to go. You trust that what you think will work WILL, in fact, work and that your students can make it happen. Trust goes both ways, and you have confidence in this trust with your students.
Innovation is hard, even harder without stuff, but it isn’t really about stuff. The stuff will change. How we are asked to teach will change. Innovative teachers work within these changes, whatever they may be, and you have what it takes to be one of these innovative teachers.
So get out there an innovate!
(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)
I have no doubt that you are one of these innovative teachers! You are awesome! You work with in the medium you are given. You strive to be the best you can be. So get out there and be that “the best.” You have what it takes so go out and be innovate! You are amazing! Keep dreaming, innovating, and teaching, Teacher!
I am so sorry. I was not able to post my normal Monday morning post. Even though the weekly theme song is a day late, the week is still young. I chose this song because it is a powerful one sung by to powerful voices. I need this boost of inspiration this week, I don’t know about you. Click play (and skip the ad if one comes up) and then read on.
For those of us on summer break, it is slowly coming to a close. The days are soon approaching when you will be meeting your students at the door of your classroom. You will, once again, be that face of education for them. You will be the one that sets the tone for your class and the day for many of your students. What you say, do, think, and feel about them will help decide what they say, do, think, and feel about themselves.
Our job is hard, We have to plan curriculum, timing, assessments and the like. We have to implement and delver those plans we made. We have to manage the classroom. We have to help students on their good days and their bad days. We have to help students on our good and bad days. We have to deal with difficult students and find ways to bring them back into the learning environment. We have to keep students engaged. We have to find a way to help them learn. We have to ensure they are ready for success on state tests. We have to follow guidelines and expectations from the state, district, and administration. We have a lot of balls to juggle at once. It is hard to keep them all in the air most days.
And along with all of this, and probably above all of this, we are the key to our students’ attitude and belief about learning and education. The way we talk, carry ourselves, and visibly feel (feeling show) affect how they act and feel. Your attitude sets their attitude. Your tone sets their tone. Your expectations for them become the expectations that they have for themselves.
The best word that I can think of to sum this up is belief. I am not talking about spiritual belief (though important to most people), I am talking about belief in yourself and others. Beliefs are powerful. They affect you and those around you. What you believe sets the atmosphere of your classroom and the students sitting in it. Your belief in them and what you are teaching them becomes what they believe. If your belief about achievement is low, it will be low for your students. If it is high, it will be high for your students.
The amazing thing about beliefs is that you don’t have to talk someone into them. You don’t need “buy-in.” If you are bought in, your students will eventually be bought in. When someone truly believes in you, eventually you start to believe them and then believe in yourself. This is doubly true for your students. You set the environment of belief and they tune into it. Like it or not, this is the reality.
So…what are your beliefs for the coming year (or the year you are in if you are currently teaching)? What does your belief about your students, classroom, and school say to the students. Are your goals set unbelievably high? If they aren’t, they should be. Set them high and believe, truly believe, that your students can reach them. Make them attainable goals, but make them lofty. Once your goals are in place, communicate them constantly to your students. Then believe. Believe. Believe. Your students WILL buy in and start to believe themselves.
The song is so right. There can be miracles when you believe. Belief helps you to do things that you never thought you could do before. It makes you rise to heights you did not know you could reach. It makes you more than you could be.
A few posts back, I shared a bunch of clips. Two of them were from Taylor Mali. The last one is called “Miracle Workers.” In it he talks about teachers as miracle workers. He says this near the end of the talk/poem, “Education is the miracle. I am just the work. I am a teacher, and that’s what we do.”
Be a miracle worker. Set high goals for the year and believe, believe, BELIEVE!
You are awesome! I know this week will be great for you. I know this coming school year (or current one) will be great. Be awesome because you are awesome. If you need someone to believe in you, know that I do. I believe in you. Be amazing! Keep on dreaming and teaching, 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,
To get the title, you need to pronounce “fungi” as “fun guy.” I am a teacher and a fun-guy…get it? Okay, I know it is a little cheesy, but I have your attention now. That was the point. 🙂
If I haven’t mentioned it before, I am a middle school science teacher. I know, doubly crazy. You have to be a little crazy to teach science, and you have to be a lot of crazy to teach middle school! I do love it, though. I love teaching middle school students, and I LOVE teaching science. One of the cool things about being a science teacher is that we get to do a lot of fun and interesting professional development! I am on my last day of an in-district science workshop, and it has been a blast!
I bring this up because yesterday we learned about fungi. We learned more about this organism kingdom and new and fun ways to teach about them and tie them into other parts of our curriculum. I found out so many things I did not know before. I did not realize how fungus connects to so many parts of our lives! (Side note: I also learned about zombie ant symbiosis…very cool and creepy!)
I am going to talk a little “science,” but please keep reading…there is a point with some hope and encouragement in the end!
Fungi are a vital part of life. Really. Without fungus, life on planet Earth would probably not be here. They play a vital role in the ecosystem and environment. Decomposition is key to breaking down the “dead stuff” and bringing out the nutrients and minerals that allow “live stuff” to be alive. Things die, decompose, and new things are born, grow, develop, then die…repetition is necessary…the circle of life!
Fungi are a major part of that circle (I wonder if they were upset that their part was cut from the Lion King movie). They are one of the most important decomposers, right up there with bacteria. They break down dead things. That is what they do. That is what they literally live for…they live for the dead stuff. This is their job, and they do it well! Take a short walk through the woods, which we did yesterday, and look closely, and you will find that you are surrounded by fungi. It is everywhere. It needs to be. Imagine if they were not doing this…dead stuff everywhere…wait, let’s stop thinking about it!
(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)
Okay, think I have bored you with fungi enough. Why did I talk about them so much? Because sometimes we, teachers, are fungi, or at least we feel that way. Most people do not get all that excited about fungi (except science teachers). Actually, most people are the opposite of excited about fungi, unless they ordered it on their pizza. Dislike of fungi is understood and valid, though, being that many mushrooms and molds are nuisance and a health hazard. However, this does not change how vital they are and the need for them to sustain and continue the circle of life. Teachers are the same way.
Last month, I wrote about red pandas. Red pandas are a misunderstood animal, fungi are a misunderstood organism, and your have a misunderstood career. People, even in the education “business,” do not usually know all that we do or get why decisions that we make daily are so important. Like fungi, we are known about with out truly being understood. We usually take this in stride, hold our heads up, and stand tall. Other times it gets to us, especially in those times that we are overwhelmed with all that we need to do.
We need to remind ourselves of our importance. We need to remember that everything we do makes a difference. We need to know beyond a doubt that we are vital to the future…just like fungus.
We are the fungi that take what is good from generations current and past and pass them on to the future. We are the key to the circle of societal life. We are what drive the future. We do not make the future, but we pass the energy on from one generation to the next. Be proud of this. Be proud to be a fungus!
(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)
You are awesome! Hopefully this made sense and you get what I am saying! It has been a long week, and my brain is a bit tired. I hope this came across the way that I intended and encouraged you. You are amazing! You are important. You are needed. You are making a difference! Keep on passing on the good to the next generation and keep teaching, Teacher!
Love, Teacher
PS…Check out yesterdays post to learn more about a Teacher Rockstar who took his role as fungi seriously!
(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,
When I went to New York City for the first time this summer, there was a lot of things that I expected. I was not disappointed, and I mean this in a good way. However, it was the unexpected that blew me away and that I will always stick with me (and make me want to go back).
The major unexpected thing for me was that I absolutely fell in love with the city. I loved it! I loved everything about it! We were only there for two days, and I took around 500 pictures! I took pictures of anything and everything! You can probably tell. I have used the pictures on the blog a lot. 🙂 There are so many things that made me just love the city, but one of the big things was another unexpected thing, and that is the New York City Police Department.
I have heard that the NYPD has a reputation of love for their city and will do what they can to take care of the city and the people who call it home. There are stories (and movies) here and there of “cops gone bad,” but that is really few and far between. I believed the good things that I heard. I expected to respect the police there, very much. And I did. What I did not expect was the pride.
Pride is one of the only words I can think of the NYPD when I look back at our trip. Every NYPD officer that I saw showed pride. I do not know how to explain what I mean by that. The best I can say is that pride for themselves and the city was on them like a part of their uniform. They wore it and it shined off of them like the summer Sun off of something shiny. Pride oozed from their being. This was especially so the closer you got to the 9/11 Memorial site. They were proud of who they are, what they do, who they represent, and their city. And they made me feel that pride. It gave me a far deeper respect for them, and it does me great honor to talk about them right now. Their pride changes them, and I have a feeling that their pride is a part of why people fall in love with NYC.
I could talk more about this, much more. We had some cool encounters with some police officers while we were there, but I think you get the point. Pride is powerful. Pride for the right things is even more powerful. It makes people respect what you do, but more than that, it makes people want to be more because you are more. Pride is a part of the more that I wrote about yesterday. Pride changes lives!
Teacher, are you proud about what you do? I mean really proud? I am not just talking about the “yeah, my job is kinda important, I guess” kind of pride. I mean the pride that oozes from you. People know that you are serious about what you do, you take time and effort to get better at it every day, and it just shines off of you in all that you do (in and out of school). You are not ashamed to talk about what you do, and you talk to people about it you make them excited for you because your excitement for the beauty of education bubbles and bursts out of you in a geyser of pride.
Is this kind of pride for education something that people know you for? Are you like the police officer on the streets of New York that gives off a pride that you can feel from just looking at them? Is this you? Do you wear pride like a uniform? Do you put it on every morning…even on non-school days?
Teacher friend, think about it. You are a teacher. YOU ARE A TEACHER! You are an artist that works in the medium of minds and hearts. You get to help students have “aha moments” each and every day. You get to find new ways to show connections between ideas and contents. You get to help people think on their own. You get to show how you learn. You get to learn constantly. You get to make a plan, implement, evaluate, and then try again. You get new students every year. You get to be involved in their lives. You get to help them make decisions. You get to help them make decisions on their own. You get to mold and shape lives. You get to put your fingerprints on the future. The future will not be the same because you do what you do every day! You make a difference with every sec0nd of every minute of the time you put in!
Show some pride! You have the most amazing job/career in the world! Love what you do! Really love it! I mean REALLY, REALLY LOVE IT! Once you love it, let that pride ooze off of you and infect everyone you come in contact with!
Don’t begrudge planning, PD, PLCs, faculty meeting, seminars, parent conferences, student conferences, and all of the minutia of the day/week/month/year! Embrace them! They may be boring or mind-numbing, but they are the things that help you do what you do and make you better at it! Let your pride in what you do make those things less irritating! I know your job is hard, I am just like you, but look at those hard parts as things that can just make you better! Love what you do and let your pride shine!
You are awesome! You ARE making a difference! You do have pride in what you do. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be reading this! Find a way to remember what you love, embrace it, and start oozing pride today. I know that you will. You are amazing! Keep on teaching, Teacher!
Love, Teacher
PS… Let me share the comic version of the Taylor Mali poem that I shared last Friday. It was just created and released on Zen Pencils. Warning, there is just a little language in it, but I think it is worth it. It sums up what I wrote this morning and the pride we feel as teachers!
(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,
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.
(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,
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.
(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)
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. 🙂
(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use the image if you link back to the blog and/or give credit to Dear Teacher/Love Teacher)
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. 🙂
(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,
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. 🙂
Dear Teacher/Love Teacher 