Tag: Dear Teacher

Posted in Challenge, Guest Post, Take Care of Yourself

The Take Care of You Challenge

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

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

Dear Teacher,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love Teacher

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

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

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

Posted in Handwritten Note, Picture Note, Thank You!

A Personal Note to You, Teacher

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use this picture of you link back to this blog.)
(c)DearTeacherLT2013 (You may use this picture of you link back to this blog.)

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

Posted in Note from Student, Picture Note, You Are Awesome!!!

The Thank You Note You May Never Get

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

Your students love you and know that you care.  They think you are awesome, but sometimes they just don’t have the words or know-how to let you know.  So, because of that, I wrote the note that they feel about you but may never write.  They notice all that you do.  One day they will look back and see you as one of the main influences in their lives.  You may never get this card, but it is very true!  Please read and let it be from the students you have struggled with the most to reach, connect, and help them reach some of their potential.  Let this be their words to you.

You are awesome!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

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

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

Posted in Choose Positive, Hope for Teachers, You Are Awesome!!!

Celebrate the Small Stuff!

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Feel free to us this picture, but please link it back to this blog.
Feel free to us this picture, but please link it back to this blog.

Dear Teacher,

We, as teachers, are really, really, REALLY good at one thing…sweating the “small stuff”.  It is in our natures.  It is who we are.  It is a job requirement.  There are countless details, issues, and expectations that we juggle and balance ever second of every school day.  It is a part of the job, and we know this.  We take the “small stuff” seriously!  Sometimes, though, all of the little things overwhelm us and fall on us like a land slide…or at least this happens to me.

It has hit me recently, that I need to work against that happening.  I need something in place to keep that avalanche from overtaking me.  I need a retaining wall to keep my mountain of “small stuff” at bay so that it does not collapse and smother me!  And I accidentally found a way to do this…ironically, it involves using the little things to my advantage.

A stone or brick retaining wall can hold back a lot of dirt and sediments.  These walls support a hill so that it does not erode and fall apart.  The stones or bricks are stacked in a way that retain what ever is behind them…thus the name retaining wall.  🙂    However, one or a couple of bricks/stones do not do the job.  It takes a lot to have a wall.  Compared to the hill, one brick is small.  But an army of bricks can tame that hill and hold it back.

We need a retaining wall to hold back our millions of small things so that we can survive each day, especially when those things are teetering on the brink of falling down on us.  How do we do this?  We take some of our small things and build that wall that we need.  We need to celebrate the “small stuff”!!  We need to reflect and find the small things that we have succeeded will and have a mini-party and remember them throughout the day.  We need to bind a bunch of these together, see that we are making progress, and use them as motivation to keep chugging away and moving over our mountains of little things.

What can you celebrate today?

  • Find something in each of your students, or a difficult handful, that you can look at and see growth…and then tell them that you are proud of them for it.
  • Look at your to do list and be happy about the few things that you have gotten to-done.
  • Ask a colleague to tell you something that they see in you that is going well, and offer the same feedback to him or her.
  • Fix one thing you can fix today, fix it, and then let yourself smile about it.
  • Reflect and find one or two things you can be really proud of yourself for right now, and let yourself be proud…don’t let humble yourself out of a celebration.

These are just a few suggestions, can you think of more?  Please share if you come up with some cool things that me and other teachers can look to and celebrate so that we can all start building our walls!

I will practice what I preach right now.  Let me celebrate some of the “small stuff” about this blog that has happened in the three weeks since I have started:

  • There have been almost 8000 views in these three weeks!
  • Last Friday, there was almost 1000 views to the blog in one day!
  • The Homepage/Archives have been viewed over 1000 times!
  • Last Friday’s post, Friday of Awesomeness!,  had over 500 views, and most of them were that day!
  • There are 41 blog followers and 26 Twitter followers!
  • The blog and blog posts have been shared over 100 times!
  • One of my Tweets was favorited by @iamkidpresident.
  • There is now a Dear Teacher/Love Teacher Facebook Page.

I need to let myself feel good about these achievements!  And I need to thank you for making them happen.  Thank you, Teacher!  You are awesome!

Now, it is your turn!  Start celebrating your “small stuff” and build your wall!  I know you have a lot to celebrate because you are a great teacher, and you are AWESOME!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Oh yeah, do not forget to do your homework!

I will close with a video of a science teacher having a personal dance party…watch and enjoy…it is funny and fun even if you don’t teach science!

Love, Teacher

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

Posted in Challenge, Hope for Teachers

Homework of Hope

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

(c)DearTeacherLT2013

Dear Teacher,

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

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

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

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

The Assignment:

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

(c)DearTeacherLT2013

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

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

Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

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

Posted in Choose Positive, Hope for Teachers, Note to Teachers

Running on Empty

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

(c)DearTeacherLT2013
(c)DearTeacherLT2013

Dear Teacher,

How are you feeling?  Are you ready for this week?  If you are not on summer break yet, you are probably just coming off of a long weekend.  Are you ready for this week?  Are you rested and ready to go?  Are you prepared to meet this week head-on?

Several months ago, after a trip to the grocery store, I was looking at our refrigerator.  It is a wonderful feeling to have your cupboards and fridge stocked.  You know that you have enough food to last a while.  There is security and comfort in that.  You do not have to worry about having something to eat, at least not right now.  You are full and so is your kitchen.  It feels pretty good.

It does not take long for that to change.  You go back to the fridge, there is a lot less.  You look in the cabinents, and it is harder to find what you might want.  Supplies are becoming more limited.  You have food, but just not as much.  The securtiy and comfort there had decreased.

Then comes the point at which you go to get something, and there is not much left at all.  The fridge and cupboards are almost empty.  You look for what you are craving, but it is not there.  You make due with what you have, but it is by far not what you want.  Your rations are sparce.  The security and comfort is almost gone.  It is time to go back to the store and stock up all over again.  Your house is running on empty, and it is time for a fill-up.

This is the same way with our energy, enthusiasm, and excitement about teaching.  Sometimes we are full.  Sometimes we are empty.  And most of the time we are somewhere in between.

The full times are wonderful.  We are brimming to the top with ideas, patience, and love for our students.  Going the extra mile is easy becuase we have extra to give.  We are a full refrigerator ready to give out food and drink that fills other people up and gives them what they need to live and be vibrant, too.  We are roaring and ready to go.  We do not need a pep talk, we are the pep talk.  Maybe you are there right now, especially after a long weekend.  Ride out this high and enjoy it, Teacher!  Memories of these times are often what help us get though the low times.  Do good in your fullness and remember it well!

The empty times are awful.  They are, for the most part, the opposite of the full times.  You have nothing to give.  You are tired.  Patience is out of the window.  Excitement left a long time ago.  You are on the edge of burn-out or already fallen off of that cliff in to the abyss of teacher exhaustion.  You have nothing left in your tank, yet you have to keep on giving.  You are the scene in the inspirational education movie (e.i…Stand and Deliver) where the protagonist is ready to give up and call it quits.  You don’t know if you can keep doing this.  At least not this year.  Maybe you are there.  We have all been there.  Some of us get there once a school year. Teacher, don’t give up!  You can make it!  You ARE awesome and you ARE making a difference!

Then there are the highs and lows in the middle of these extremes.  You are up.  You are down.  You are all around.  We spend most of our time somewhere in the middle.  You are probably here right now.  Some days are better than others.  You get close to the top or close to the bottom, but you keep leveling out.  This is not a bad place to be.  This is where we pace ourselves as teachers.  Teaching is most definitely a marathon and not a sprint.  Keep pressing on, Teacher.

No matter where you are, remember why you are a teacher.  To make a difference in the lives of your students, both for now and their future.  If you are full, enjoy that awesome time of fullness!  If you are empty, remember you full times and find one or two students that you can focus the remaining energy on.  If you are somewhere in the middle…trudge through and press on.  Pace yourself and focus your energy where it will do the most good.  You can’t do everything!

Also, remember you students are people, too.  They are either empty, full, or somewhere in between, just like you.  You may or may not know what they have going on at home.  Try to work with them and be understanding.  Use your knowledge of them to judge whether or not you think they may be at an empty time.  If they are, use what you have to fill them up.  Teach them how to know and how to ask for help.  You are their model, and you are their grocery store.  Keep your students as full as you can!

Oh, and look out for your colleagues.  Help them through the empty times.  Glean off of them in their full times.  You are all in this together!

Teacher, thanks for reading this long post!  You are awesome!  I hope this gives you some hope and encouragement!  Pass this on to someone you think needs it the most.

You are a great and wonderful teacher, in full times and empty times.  Do what you do best!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

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

Posted in Memorial Day, Teacher

Don’t Forget to Remember

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

I realize that all of the readers of this blog are not Americans, but most are.  Today is Memorial Day here in the United States.  I know that most years, this day passes and I do not often think about the meaning of it.  It is a day off of teaching and a day to go to a barbeque and go swimming.  I do not want to do that this year.  Celebrating the nearing of summer and the warm up is great…but I do not want to let this day go by without doing what this day was set aside for: remembering.

I am inserting a video here that gives the history of Memorial Day.  It is from Whitehouse.gov.  No matter where you lie politically or philosophically, today is a day to set that aside.  We need to remember those that died for our freedom to disagree with one another.  They died for the freedom for us to think on our own, create, and to teach others.  Take a minute and check out the video.  By the way, this is kid friendly and something you could use in your classroom to make sure you students understand why they had a day off today.

Teacher, you have the freedom to teach.  You get to teach your students to learn.  You get to teach your students to think on their own.  Agree or disagree with war, people died for you to have the freedom to live your life in freedom and speak your heart and mind.  We live in an amazing country.  We need to remember those show gave their lives and gave their loved ones for those freedoms.

Thank about those who died or have lost someone.  Say a prayer for the families of those who are putting their lives on the line as you read this.  Lay some flowers as a memorial.  Thank someone who have lost a family member.  Most of all, just remember the high price of your freedom.

Enjoy your family.  Enjoy the warmth.  Enjoy the pool.  Enjoy your freedoms…but don’t forget to remember.  Teach your students to do the same.

You are awesome, as always.  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

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