Dear Teacher/Love Teacher – Page 10 – Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

The Best of the Picture Notes

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

Today’s “Greatest Hits” are messages that I have enjoyed creating for us. I say us, because sometimes I go back and look at them/read them for encouragement and inspiration, too. I started making the picture notes as a way to send a second message at the end of each day near the end of the school year. I know now that I can’t sustain two posts a day, so the picture messages are weaved into the daily messages.

What has been so much fun is finding new ways to make them. The phrase “There’s an app for that” has never been truer for something! I have found online and tablet apps that let me make fun picture messages to brighten our day or to encourage us.

Because I have started to write a little message along with the picture notes, I have decided to break the “best of” into two lists. Picture notes with no extra message and picture notes with extra messages. Check out as many as you have time for and enjoy!

Just a Picture Message

An Apple for You Because You Are Awesome! (the first picture message)
A Quick Note at the End of the Day (first hand-written note)
Week’s End Note (this was the first “outside of the box” hand written note…really fun to make…gave the post-its to a teacher at my school and she still has it!)
Day’s End Encouragement (the Playdoh note…the picture at the top of the post…really fun to make…my son helped me!)
The Empty Cup (one of the most popular picture notes, and my favorite)
Downhill From Here (really fun to make, too)
Day’s End Encouragement Note (another of my favorites, I put this picture on the post yesterday)
Desktop Time Machine (another of my favorites)
One of the many reasons you are AWESOME… (fun to make)
Encouragement for the tough days… (I like this one!)
Day’s End Poem (a poem for you)
Friday Freedom…Go home, Teacher! (another fun one to make and one of my favorites)
The Writing’s on the Board (yep, this was fun to make, too)
Scraps of Teacher Love (popular one and I loved making this one)
The Thank You Note You May Never Get (this is one of the most popular posts, in the top three)
How Are You Awesome? Let Me Count The Ways… (the last one in my classroom for the year)
A Personal Note to You, Teacher (a letter I wrote to you)
Always a Brighter Tomorrow (after my hiatus)
Wake of Awesome (this is probably in my top five…I have linked to it in posts a lot)
Teacher Superpowers – Super Vision (I really loved making this one!)
As You Face a New Week, Remember… (using a popular internet meme)
Yeeeaaah Buoy! (another one in my top five)
Teach with Ferocity (lesson from a lion)
The Sky is Not Your Limit (the most recent without an extra message)

Picture Note with Extra Message

New Day/New Week (the first picture note with an extra message)
Big Like New York (New York as a metaphor)
Teacher Superpower – Differentiation Control (pancakes and differentiation)
Apple Influence (Apples and your Influence)
Creativity and Cap’n Hook (lessons from Captain Hook)

Which ones are your favorites? Why? Why don’t you go share some of the links? 🙂

You are awesome! I hope you are having a great week! You are making a difference! Keep being awesome and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Repeat PS from Monday and 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!)

Best of Dear Teacher/Love Teacher, Theme Song, You Are Awesome!!!

The Best of the Weekly Theme Songs

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

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!

Dream Big, General Inspiration, Picture Note, The Power of Creativity

Creativity and Cap’n Hook

Posted on August 2, 2013August 3, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Continue reading “Creativity and Cap’n Hook” →

The Sky is Not Your Limit

Image• Posted on August 1, 2013August 3, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

General Inspiration, Pep Talk, You Are Awesome!!!

You Have What It Takes…to Innovate

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

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!

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!

Love, Teacher

Teach with Ferocity

Image• Posted on July 26, 2013July 26, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

General Inspiration, Pep Talk

I am a Teacher and a Fungi

Posted on July 25, 2013July 25, 2013 by 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!

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!

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!

General Inspiration, Get Psyched!, You Are Awesome!!!

Are You Oozing? You Should Be.

Posted on July 23, 2013August 3, 2013 by 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!

Get Psyched!, Pep Talk, Theme Song

[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.

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. 🙂