Tag: teacher encouragement

Posted in Quotes to Inspire

Quotable Quotes to End Your Week

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

On the Dear Teacher/Love Teacher Facebook page and Twitter feed I have start to share some cool and inspiring quotes about teachers, teaching, and education.  To end off your week, I thought it would be a nice end to the week to share them and some more that I have found.  If you are looking for a great source to find quotes, by the way, Brainy Quotes is the best source I have found online.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -Ben Franklin

“I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.” -John Steinbeck

“I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” -Albert Einstein

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” -Albert Einstein, again

“Love is a better teacher than duty.” -Albert Einstein (can you tell I am a fan?)

“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” -Robert Frost

“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” -Aristotle

“That is the difference between good teachers and great teachers: good teachers make the best of a pupil’s means; great teachers foresee a pupil’s ends.” -Maria Callas

“The greatest sign of success for a teacher… is to be able to say, ‘The children are now working as if I did not exist.'” -Maria Montessori

“The teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.” -Horace Mann

I also shared this clip of Helen Keller.  I thought it was amazing, so I will share it here, as well.  Watch and be inspired!

Read, watch, enjoy, and share.  You are awesome!  Pick one of these quotes to motivate you over the weekend to help you get ready for next week!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Posted in You Are Awesome!!!

Awesome Is As Awesome Does

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

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

Dear Teacher,

I don’t know if you have ever seen any of the space shuttles in person, but I have gotten to see three of them.  I have to tell you, they are truly as awesome as they seem to be.  Really.  Truly magnificent!

One thing that makes them awesome is the sheer size.  They are huge and hard to take in.  Awesomeness number two is the fact is what these shuttles did.  They went to space.  Vast and wonderful space.  They have carried people over and over to places that few people have ever been.  Awesome fact three is how long they did this.  They made trips to space for decades!  And lastly (at least the last piece of awesome I will be sharing) is the time, effort, knowledge, and care that went into the shuttles to do what they did for so long.

They are a connection to something most people will never be directly connected to…and loving care went into allowing the ginormous shuttles to do this for a very long time!

I share this to say something that I have said before.  Awesome is as awesome does (go ahead and hear it in the Forrest Gump voice).  Teacher, you are awesome!  You do awesome things!  Don’t lose this in the grind of stress of every day life!  You are awesome, so do awesome things.  You do awesome things, and that makes you awesome.  Be awesome!

You are amazing.  You are believed in.  And you are making a huge difference in the lives of your students.  Keep being awesome and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Posted in Dream Big, Facebook Page, Thank You!, TpT Dear Teacher Store, Twitter Feed

Practicing What I Teach

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

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

Dear Teacher,

Good morning!  Well, last month and yesterday I encouraged you to celebrate the little things about your teaching and students to help you stay focused when the going get tough.  When I first posted about this, I celebrated some of the “little things” about this blog, but I did not yesterday.  I really need to.  Now that I am in the heat of planning some big dreams for next year, trying to find fresh ideas to write is not as easy.

As a teacher, I am encouraged and all but required to be a data analyzer (it helps that this a part of science, and I am a science teacher).  So when I look at the numbers for the blog, Facebook page, Twitter feed, and Teachers Pay Teachers store, I tend to get to discouraged when those numbers are not growing consistently…which is the same thing I feel about student test scores and grades throughout the year.  The lack of growth adds to the stress of coming up with new and innovative ways to spread encouragement and hope to you and to others through you.

I need to stop stress and remember why I started this whole thing and then take a look at the numbers from that perspective and start having some little (and big) celebrations over those things.  I have only been doing this for about six and a half weeks, and the growth of this blog and encouragement movement in that little bit of time is phenomenal!  I need to just keep doing what I am doing and not care about the numbers!

That said, let me celebrate some of the “numbers” and good things that are going on with Dear Teacher/Love Teacher…

The Blog:

  • In just 6.5 weeks (1.5 of them I was gone for), the site is approaching 19,000 views…that is insane in such a short time!  Thank you for reading and sharing!
  • The Homepage/Archives, along, has had nearly 3,000 views!  That is huge!
  • One post, Why (Did I Become a Teacher)?,  has had 700 views by itself!  It was one of the guest blogs during my sabbatical time from the site.
  • The Thank You Note You May Never Get is another post that is nearing 700 views (and growing a little more each day)!
  • Two other posts have over 550 views!  (Friday of Awesomeness and The Eye of the Teacher…er…Tiger)
  • The blog itself (not counting Facebook and Twittter followers) has 79 followers (33 bloggers and 46 through email).  This does not count RSS followers, because I am not currently tracking that.  This is an amazing number!  Thank you for following and thinking this is important enough to follow!
  • There have been 279 shares so far (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Email, and WordPress Blogs)!  That is a big part of the success of the blog, your shares!  Thank you so much for sharing the encouragement with others!  That is kind of the point of this whole thing!

Facebook Page:

  • In less than a month, there has been 133 Likes for the Dear Teacher/Love Teacher FB Page!  Thank you!
  • The number of likes almost tripled over the weekend because of people sharing!  Thanks so much!
  • The FB page has allowed me to share other forms of encouragement besides blog posts, and that has given me some freedom from the stress of new ideas for the blog.  This is quite great for me!

Twitter:

  • There are currently 61 Twitter followers!  Thank you for following!
  • Twitter has given me new ways to connect with you and for people to share what is going on here!
  • I have also been allowed to find a great deal of sources to share with you to help give you hope, encouragement, and challenges to make you a better teacher.  I have enjoyed getting to know Twitter a bit!

Teachers Pay Teachers Store

  • Getting this set up and learning the ropes has been a slight challenge for me, but I think I finally have it figured out!
  • The Dear Teacher/Love Teacher Store is now officially re-opened!  It is a place for you to get some real resources to help you be a source and conduit of hope for teachers and students at your school and where ever you go!
  • All of my picture messages up until Tuesday (I think) are now available as a free resource at the store!  They are the original images that you can use to print and share with other teachers!
  • I have created an “Awesome Note” that comes in a variety of sizes (both b&w and color, too) that you can print and use to send messages of hope and encouragement to those who need them.  This is on sale for $1 for a limited time!
  • These are the only two available items right now, but I am working on more!

Well, all I can say is thank you!  This has been an amazing ride for the last six and half months, and I look forward to many, many more!  Thank you, again, for supporting and joining this encouragement revolution!

You are so awesome!  I am honored to help encourage you as you give out your awesome to others!  You are an amazing teacher.  As always, keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

PS…

Here some quick encouragement for you, since my post probably encouraged me more than you!  🙂  Thank you, Teachers!

 

Posted in Pep Talk, Reflection, Take Care of Yourself

Celebrate Teacher Times, Come On

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

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

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

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

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

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

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

So…

Summer planning teacher:

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

Summer relaxing teacher:

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

Teacher in the throws of teaching:

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

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

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

Love, Teacher

Posted in Note to Teachers, Teacher Testimony, You Are Awesome!!!

The Red Panda

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

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

Dear Teacher,

Wow, I picked a timely issue when I decided to write today’s post.  I have been sitting on this idea for almost a month, and I thought today would be a great day to write it.  When I looked up red pandas to get a little more background information, this news story about a Red Panda that escaped from the National Zoo that was found today!

Anyway, the Red Panda.

I have been interested in red pandas ever since I was a kid and heard about them and saw one for the first time at, of all places, the National Zoo in Washington, DC.  I really wanted to see the giant pandas that day, but Hsing Hsing and Ling Ling were in their buildings and did not come out that day.  My attention was brought to the red pandas.  I first I thought that they might be related to the panda bears, so I was excited.  That excitement waned when my dad read that they were not even bears but were actually more like the Chinese raccoon (because they are related to the raccoon and found primarily in China).

I was disappointed, but the red panda has stuck with me since that day.  I, like a lot of people, first heard the name red panda and thought it was a panda bear.  It turns out, according to Wikipedia, that the “panda” in the red panda’s name is from the word in the language of Nepal for “eater of bamboo.”  In terms of word meanings, the giant panda and red panda are related, but not else.  I was confused and let  down by the red panda because of this.

In the years since, I have grown to become affectionate for red pandas.  I have learned more about them and I have come to see that they are amazing animals.  They are beautiful, rare, and kind of fun to watch (when they are not sleeping…which the ones at the zoo where I live do a lot of).  They have an interesting history and background, and they are a just cool animal…even if their name is misleading.

I share all of this, because we teachers are red pandas.  So many people confuse and misunderstand what we do and who we are.  People here the name “teacher,” and they immediately think of teachers they have had in the past or the picture of teachers on TV, in movies, or on the news.  None of these media sources, or even memories of school years past, are an accurate picture of who we are today and what we do (and have to put up with).  It is hard to truly understand teachers and teaching until you walk a few thousand miles in our shoes.

Teacher, you are the Red Panda.  People may not understand you, but that is okay with you.  You are still an amazing and special creature.  You do what you do, and you do it well, no matter what other people think!  You are the Red Panda of the human world, and you wear that with pride.

Teacher Red Panda, be proud of who you are.  Be proud of what you do.  Don’t take the misunderstanding of teaching to heart.  Help people understand.  They will come to see how awesome you are!

You are awesome!  So awesome!  You are believed in and you are special.  You make a difference and you are changing the future!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Posted in General Inspiration, Picture Note, You Are Awesome!!!

Yeeeaaah Buoy!

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

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

Dear Teacher,

Be that buoy today!  Mark out where danger is.  Lead people to the shore.  Be a beacon of hope in troubled waters.  You are AWESOME!!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

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

The Eye of the Teacher…er…Tiger

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You have the eye of the Teacher…so live it out!  You are amazing!  You will make this week great!  You are awesome!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

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

Posted in General Inspiration, Teacher Testimony, Teaching Power

I Triple Dog Dare You…

Posted on by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

My post this morning did not really count as a post, since it was just an announcement, so I went looking for something to inspire and motivate your teaching senses this Saturday morning.  Boy, did I find something!  I still have a tear or two as I type this.  I triple dog dare you to watch this without tears and a having a renewed heart for your students and what you do!

Teacher, what you say and what you do has deep and lasting impressions!  You are changing the future every day!  You are so awesome!  Have an amazing Saturday!  Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

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