teacher encouragement – Page 2 – Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Stop Everything and Read this Blog Post Right Now!! Or don’t…

Posted on December 1, 2015December 2, 2015 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

I bet you might be thinking that the title of this note was just a gimmick to try to get you to read it. It wasn’t. Not that I don’t want you to read it…I do…I just have a point to make using the it. However, not yet. I want to tell you a little story first.

My little family and I had the awesome opportunity to spend Thanksgiving Break at the beach with my wife’s family. I am not much of a beach person, but there was something pretty great about being near the water, hearing the crashing waves, and being able to walk the beach with my sons and wife. I did, unfortunately, became a little obsessed with finding shells (and shark teeth).

There were plenty of common shells (clams, scallops, and the like), but I was after other game. I really wanted to find conch or nautilus shells…oh, and did I mention shark teeth? I kept looking for all of these, but all I found was a few broken pieces and thousands of common shells. I would see something out of the corner of my eye, veer of my path, and find it only to see it was more of the same.

I outlasted my boys and wife with each trip out. Still I couldn’t turn down the inner call to keep looking. I just knew I would find something!

I kept chasing the bits and pieces that I saw in the distance sure that I would find something rare and worried that I would miss out on it if I didn’t go after what I saw. No matter the disappointment, I kept chasing.

Until…

My oldest son kept asking me to go back. He wanted to just play in the sand. I could see the other family members down the beach having a good time together…and off the other way there was something that I just knew had to be what I was looking for. I had this moment where I knew that I just had to choose. Chase something that was not assured or savor the moments with my family.

A thought came to me…

There will always be another shell.

I talked back to that thought (not aloud, of course)…what if I miss out on something good.

There will always be another shell.

What if this is the shell I am looking for? What if it is a shark tooth?

There will always be another shell…and shark teeth aren’t that big, idiot!

I made a conscious decision to turn and go back. I go spend the quality time I always want to have with my family when I can’t have it. I went back with my son and had some fun on the beach. I dare say it was much better than not finding shells!

It hit me that this is something similar to what happens to us in education. I can only speak from a teacher’s perspective, but it seems like sometimes we are always chasing something off in the distance. The latest strategy, the newest assessment-style, or the latest book that will change everything in education. Not that any of these things are bad…they definitely aren’t…but it can be something we are constantly looking for all the while missing out on what is right in front of us.

Our students are here. Our students are now. They are why we do what we do. Despite the latest and greatest trends, what makes some of the biggest effects on how students learn is us and our relationships with them. We need to talk to them. Learn how they learn best. Help them learn how to learn on their own. This has to be our priority. It is the only way that true learning, understanding, and growth happens!

This means some serious thought into what we need to let go of sometimes. It can be a mere change of focus. It can mean putting things on the back-burner. It often will mean that we have to not always chase every “new” idea in education…some books may need to wait until summer to read, some conferences may need to be unattended, and some blog posts may need to be bookmarked for later. This doesn’t mean that these are not important things, it just means that some of them will have to wait for the sake of our students.

So. Back to the name of this post. It is so easy to get caught up in what we are told needs to happen right now. We can be led to believe that we need to stop everything to investigate what we might be missing. Just like me and the shell hunt, there may be something back in the other direction that is more worthwhile – quality time really getting to know and work with our students on their level.

Hitting pause on the things that seem vital for our growth as professionals can be quite difficult. But it is a reality that does occur (more often than we would like). As an educator, sometimes the hardest thing is letting go…but often it is the only way to move forward for the greater good of our students.

Remember…

There will always be another shell.

There will always be another book.

There will always be another PD.

There will always be another blog post.

There will not always be another year with the students you have right now. Don’t let it slip away!

If I know you, though, I am preaching to the choir. You do realize these things most of the time. That’s what makes you awesome and an amazing teacher! Keep on make your students the ultimate priority and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Theme Song

Fight Song [for Teachers]

Posted on September 18, 2015September 21, 2015 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

It is not even almost halfway through the year, but I am already tired. How about you? It gets busy fast doesn’t it? So much to do…

I think it is time for a little rally. There is a lot of year left and our students need us to be on our game. It is time for a theme song post, and I think I know the song we need right now. Click play and then read on.

Sometimes it feels so lonely as a teacher.

We are only one person, but we are trying to change the lives of our students each day. We are helping to shape and mold their futures.

We believe in them. We care about them. We know what we do matters. It is our nature, heart, and calling to do our best to make a difference.

We have ideas. We have plans. We have a drive. We are committed.

But we can feel so overwhelmed sometimes.

There is so much to do in order to do what we need to do.

Some of the the stuff to do is extra and not from us, but some of us is from ourselves because we want to do the best we possible can do for our students.

We want them to see how great that they can be. We want the experience in our classrooms to inspire them to move on and move deeper. We want them to become learners that never stop.

We can’t stop.

We have more to give.

We have more to be.

We have lives to change.

Teacher, you have fight in you. You have a warrior inside of you. You are a monster, in a good way. You have battles to wage for your students. They need you to keep fighting and keep going.

Motivational/Growth Mindset ABCs https://goo.gl/wU4BW9 — Motivational/Growth Mindset ABCs
https://goo.gl/wU4BW9

Find those reserves.

Remember why you are doing this…

You may only have one match, but you can make an explosion in the life of a students!

You have a lot left inside of you.

Keep going.

You’ve got this.

Never stop. Never give up. Never lose hope for the difference that you are making.

Keep dreaming. Keep moving. Keep going.

Don’t lose the part of you that realizes how important what you do is! I know that you have a lot to do. I know that you don’t love all of the aspects of your job…but your students need you! It is worth fighting through. It is worth doing all that you can to keep going. The little things you do matter more than anything. Remember why you a teacher…the students.

You are not crazy to keep doing this. Just focus on those lives behind the eyes that are looking at you. You have a purpose. You are needed. You are vitally important to the people in your classroom and the world.

Keep fighting! We all need you to! Keep breathing and keep going!

You’ve got this. I believe in you! You are amazing. You are making a difference. You really are. Keep fighting and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

General Inspiration, Hope for Teachers, More Than Scores, Pep Talk, Quotes to Inspire, Teaching Power, You Are Awesome!!!

The Easy Button for Increasing Classroom Engagement

Posted on September 11, 2015September 11, 2015 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Image Source: www.staples.com — Image Source:
http://www.staples.com

Dear Teacher,

If you have been teaching for any length of time, you know one thing to be true above most others…there are no silver bullets. There is no “one thing” that will be able to fix all things in your classroom or for your students. There is not a magic teaching pill that will cause all students to learn, grow, and find success.

No, you no the very real reality that teaching, learning, and education take work. And I am not going to go against that. Not one bit.

There is much truth in the fact that you have got to be an active learner yourself and find out best practices and new ideas. You have to practice those best practices. You have to know your content. You have to be creative. You have to figure out new ways to plan and facilitate learning in your classroom. You have to keep up with technology and how to use it as a tool to help students learn more effectively. Speaking of students, you have to do the very challenging and messy work of getting to know them and building rapport and relationships with them. The same goes with your students’ parents, other teachers and staff, and administration.

Teaching is work. Difficult work. Rewarding work, true, but hard work.

Um, so far this post is pretty much the opposite of your title…where is the easy button?

Everything said so far is what we know in our teacher reality. But…there is one thing that does make all of this a lot easier and will increase student engagement in your class.

Image Source: http://www.authormedia.com/mybooktable-1-3/

That easy button is….wait for it….

Oh no. Is this one of those times where you give the big build up and the one answer is me?

You guessed it. The easy button for making some of the hard parts of teaching and to increase engagement is, indeed, YOU!

Just like all of the other times I have set you up for a big secret in education, the key is you. Something inside of you and about you can unlock the easiness to making tough things seem less tough. One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Maya Angelou:

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

There is so very much that we can change about education and what needs to happen in our classroom. We can’t change the content we are required to teach. We can’t change the students (not directly, at least). We can’t change their parents. We can’t change their home environments. We can’t change expectations from administration, districts, and the state (again, not directly). We can’t change what needs to happen for teaching and learning to truly happen in our classroom.

No, there is not very much that we can change in education…but we can change ourselves.

There is a lot of ways that we can change our attitudes as teachers, but I want to just focus on one…above all else, we need to love what we do!

I am not saying that we have to love all of the bureaucracy, paperwork, and struggles with the harsh realities that our students have to deal with…no, I am not sure that anyone should love that. I am saying that we need to love the fact that we get to teach students and open them up to wonders of the world and the awesomeness of fighting to understand something new and the thrill of the moment when it all clicks. We also get to have the hope of being a part of changing the lives of our students for the better and helping them realize how learning new things changes possibilities! That is what we live for. That is why we teach.

We need to love what we do!

We have to be excited about what we are teaching in our classes. If you don’t love all of your content, be excited about the way that you are teaching it! Don’t love how you teach something? TEACH IT DIFFERENTLY! You are in control of that. You have got to find a way to love what you teach and how you teach it! You have to! This is what makes students take notice and want to be engaged in the process of learning.

It is our passion and love of the teaching/learning process that draws students in. That is the key. That is the easy button. Our engagement in the process makes them not want to miss out and be a part of whatever has you so excited!

Think about the great teachers you have had or that you know…they were passionate about what they do, weren’t they? I bet the answer is yes.

Teachers who love and are passionate about teaching breed students who love and are passionate about learning.

Teacher, love what you do! Let it show. Make it obvious. The students will want a sip of what you are drinking, I promise! They will be engaged!

You are awesome. I bet I was preaching to the choir the whole time, wasn’t I? You do love what you do. You aren’t afraid to show it. Remember to keep that passion for teaching and learning going! Help students be ignited by your fire and their passion for learning will be contagious to others! Keep on loving what you do and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

General Inspiration, Pep Talk

The Secret Ingredient to Being a Great Teacher…

Posted on September 3, 2015September 3, 2015 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

We live in an interesting time to be in the field of education, do we not? This is not a set up to talk about the trials and tribulations of being a teacher or administrator in this day-and-age, though there are a lot of difficult and harsh realities for us right now. There is another side to being an educator right now…

Resources.

We have some of the most amazing resources available to us. Some teachers have more than others, but we all have more than teachers had at any time in the past. We have the internet (if not readily accessible to student, you have access to it for planning…you are reading a blog right now, aren’t you?). We have technology (very few teachers do not have the availability of some kind of tech). We have each other (we can connect with educators around the world and collaborate and learn from each other). The list is endless.

We have so much.

Yet, do we have more great teachers than ever before? I am not sure about that. It seems like we should, but there is probably the same average amount of great teachers as there ever has been (which is a large number…I am not saying this to knock education). Great teachers will always be great teachers…no matter the resources.

So how do great teachers become and stay great teachers?

There are A LOT of factors here…

Studying education and the latest research
Workshops and staying in touch with other great teachers
Focusing on students more than content
Knowing when to teach more and when to teach less
Mastering the art of facilitation
And so many other things…

But there is one secret ingredient that I think matters the most and is common among most of the great teachers in history, and it is amazingly simple.

The secret to you being a great teacher is you.

What?

Great teachers know themselves. They know their strengths and weaknesses. They work on the weaknesses and play to their strengths. They do not deny who they are as people, and this lets their passions for teaching and for life play themselves out in the classroom. Their zeal for what drives them pushes students to strive harder and become interested and engaged. Because great teachers are keyed into who they are, their dreams are big and they fight to achieve them. They also know what they need and go after those things…for this reason fund-raising seems easy for them and “personal PD” is not a new idea because it has been a theme of their lives!

Great teachers are aware of themselves and this makes the more aware of their students and what needs to happen in their classroom.

Resources are not what make great teachers great…great teachers make all resources great because they are keenly aware of how to use them. The type of resource or school “realities” are not limitations…they do not really know limitations!

Great teachers know who they are and do not hide it.

Great teachers share their passions and interests and make them a part of their instruction.

Great teachers have a sense of what they need and this gives them a sense of student needs.

You are a great teacher…you just have to get to know yourself to bring the great teacher out!

You are the key to you being a great teacher!

You are a much greater teacher than you think you are! We can all be greater…so lets work on it. You are amazing! I know you are a great teacher! You are making a difference because you are completely awesome! Keep working at your greatness and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

General Inspiration, Hope for Teachers, Mondays, Note to Teachers, Pep Talk, Perseverance

[put your teaching heart in] Drive

Posted on August 17, 2015August 17, 2015 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

You know, what we do is amazing. We are teachers! We get to help students become the people they will be in the future. We get to live in the teachable moments of every day. It is a pretty great line of work!

I have shared it before, but last year was a tough year for me. I won’t get into it now, however it was a difficult year with students and then to top of it test scores might have been the lowest for me. Even though I felt like it may my best year as a teacher after working through the challenges, I can’t help but wonder if it was a net loss of a year. I don’t know.

I share that because I stumbled on a great song accidentally because of Twitter (by the way, if you aren’t using Twitter, you should be…I am working on a post on the whys…if you are on it, you should be following Sean Gaillard, Remind, Dear Teacher (of course), among many others!). Through a random set of events, I was introduced to the music of Shayna Leigh and the song I am about to share. When I heard it, I knew that I found the perfect song for the first theme song post of the new year! That said, let’s get to the encouragement!

If you aren’t familiar with how theme song posts work, click play on the song (get through any ads if they play first), and then start reading. Get it? Got it? Good. Let’s go!

We are teachers.

We carry so much with us from day to day, quarter to quarter, and year to year.

All careers have baggage, but probably none more than being a teacher.

We invest so much of who we are into what we do.

Sometimes it can be hard to recover from the hurt of some of the hard times that come with what we do.

That hurt can weigh us down and cause fear from stepping out to far outside of the box or outside of our comfort zone.

We fight against that fear, but it always seems to be there. It is just on the periphery. It stalks us. It taunts us. Occasionally, it overwhelms us. Other times it drives us to push forward and do more.

The anxiety does not define us, but it does hang out around us.

Some days and years are worst than others.

But there is a way to drive it away.

And it is so simple that it is hard to do.

Remember.

Remember who you were when you started teaching.

You were nervous, but when it came to students you were fearless.

Remember that new teacher that was ready to set the world on fire and change the future single-handedly!

That person is still inside of you. That person is still you. You are still fearless. You still have the fire.

Rekindle that fire and remember.

You believed every student mattered and you acted on that belief.
You did not care what other people thought, you did what counted most for students.
You did not worry about test scores because what really made the difference was your connection with students.
You focused on the teaching and learning process individually, not what you were being told worked best for all.
You let love and care for each of those people in your room drive your instruction and behavior.
You believed that what you did with each child truly made a difference.
You had confidence in yourself and your gifts/skills as a teacher.

All of those things are still true. That never stopped being true. The baggage of prior years and yesterdays mistakes do not define you. Your drive and love for students does…and that is still there. Remember it today!

Teacher, drive back to where you started. That is where you live as a teacher. And that is what will get you back on your feet to try again.

You are an amazing teacher! Never forget that! You are making a difference and what you do does matter! It matters more than you know! Keep on believing in yourself and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Challenge, Choose Positive, General Inspiration, Hope for Teachers, Mondays, Note to Teachers, Pep Talk

The Surefire Way to Make Any Day Better (especially Mondays)

Posted on August 15, 2015August 16, 2015 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

We all have bad days. We all have good days. And we all have lots and loads of mediocre days that are just kind of “eh.” That is just the way life goes, teacher or not.

I know I am stating the obvious, but the good days tend to be the ones we enjoy more. Duh, right? We get more done. We are happier. We feel more accomplished. But the good ones are not the majority of the days of our lives…life gets in the way and chokes out days from being memorable, let alone good.

We are busy – so much to do and so little time. So many responsibilities to stay ahead of as a teacher. There is school life. There is home life. The needs of your family. The needs of your students. The needs of you.

Not to mention, bad stuff does happen to good people. The smallest thing can send us in a downward descent from the pursuit of good days.

Stuff happens.

It is not reasonable to think that most days can be good. That is not realistic. And perhaps it is one of the reasons that good days are so good…they are rare and a treasure to find.

I get that. I do. I have been around long enough to know that it is true.

But…what if we could make any day better?

I am not saying make every day a great day, but I am saying you can make any day better. You can make bad days better days. You can make “blah” days less, well, “blah.” AND you can make good days great days! Bonus: it isn’t even hard to do and it is pretty much a guarantee (most of the time)!

I can make any day better? Please, do tell, Teacher. What is this simple way to make every day better?

Yes you can and yes it is very simple.

Get ready for it.

Here it comes.

Drum roll, please.

You can make any day better by making someone else’s day better.

I bet you have heard this before, but it is true. I can tell you from personal experience from practicing it in life, running this blog for the last couple of years, and using social media that helping others be encouraged, happy, or just less sad has the same effect on you as you do it. And it does not matter what kind of day you are having.

When you reach out to others, it does something inside of you. It lets you see a little more color in the world. It helps you to take the blessings and curses in your life in a different way. It gives you a fresh look at the world. It makes you more glad for the things that make you glad and less sad about the things that make you sad. It makes you feel, um, better, even if you where already feeling pretty good.

If you make a practice of trying to find ways to make the day better for other people, you’ll discover that most days are pretty good or close to really good. It’ s all about perspective. It is about seeing life as more than just about you and what is going on in your life. It is about being better to other people.

The cool part is, the people whose day was made better turn and do the same for others. Sometimes you even get to see Pay It Forward kind of miracles happen around you, especially with other teachers at school.

So what are some of the ways I can do this?

That is the best part, there are as many ways as there are people in the world…but I will give you a few ideas to try today. These are the ones I try to practice most, especially on bad days:

Smile more. Smiling does something inside of you that makes you feel a little happier, and the people you are smiling at feel a little better, too.
High-fives. More high-fives. Kid President talks about this often. “Let’s live in a world with more high fives.” I have been poked fun at for it before, but high-fives to make people feel better and helps you take yourself a little less seriously. Give at least 10 high-fives today…I bet you will smile a little more (back to Thing 1 🙂 ).
Tell someone how awesome you think something they are doing is. This one is guaranteed to make all involved feel better. Have a conversation with another teacher about something you think is amazing about how they teach or interact with students and ask them about it. Hey, this one counts as personal PD, too. Score!
Write a note to someone just letting them know what you notice and like about them. This one is great to do for other teachers and students. I have written to all of my students and other teachers at the school in the last couple of years (over time…not all at once). People really appreciate that. I find that when I did that for the most difficult students (or teachers) it helped me appreciate them more and helped build rapport and relationships. Write a note to a fellow teacher that needs encouragement today and one for a difficult student. Even good days get better with this one!
Write a note to yourself. This one is best on bad days. Write about what is going right. Write about how you are making a difference. Tell yourself a joke to make you laugh. Remind yourself of what makes you a good teacher and what you should be proud of about you. Keep the note and make yourself read it from time to time. Days will be made better, I promise.

There are many, many more, but this list will get you started. Little things make the most difference. I shared a video from Remind in the last post that was about the small things that teachers do that have the biggest effect on students. They refer to it as “teaching small” and have an initiative called #teachsmall. I love this concept so much, because it is so true. I will talk about it in a future post (because my mind was blown by the idea), but I bring it up now because making students’ and other teachers’ days better are one of the small things that we do that are so important.

teachsmall2 — Image Source: http://www.remind.com @RemindHQ

When you are having a better day, students are more connected to you and learning more. Other teachers having better days has the same effect for them. Most of all, when students are having a better day because of the influence of teachers, real learning happens and the world and future is changed for the better. So teach small today, Teacher, and make your day and world better.

You are an amazing teacher, even on a bad day! I know you try to make the best of every day…keep on doing that! You are making a difference. You are changing the world, I promise! Keep on making days better and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Hope for Teachers, New Day, Reason for Teaching, You Are Awesome!!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

This is it! Can you feel the excitement? There is electricity in the air. The sun is brighter. The colors are more vivid. The world just seems right! It is a new school year!

This is what you live for. This is what you do. This is who you are. You are a teacher!

Seriously, what better time of the year is there?

Your classroom looks amazing. You and the other teachers at your school are buzzing about all of the wonderful new ideas you have had and learned about over the summer. You have fresh supplies in your room…and not a pencil is missing yet!

Administration is happy. They are presenting the new goals and thoughts about school culture. PD makes sense right now! You have heard quite a few times about how awesome your plans for the year are. You feel supported completely (not that you aren’t later in the year…it just feels like more support now).

Oh, and I have failed to mention the students!

If they aren’t in your classes yet, they soon will be. They are ready. They are excited to be back. They can’t wait to meet you or are very happy that you are their teacher. They are expecting great and wonderful things. They want to learn right now! Aha moments are happening all over the place!

And the parents love you. They know you are going to make a difference in their children’s lives. They are ready to help from home and support what is going on in your class. They are happy to give their children over into your care (because they have a fresh understanding of what it is like to be a teacher because the kids have been home all summer).

Everyone is on the same page!

This is the sweet spot for us, Teacher. This is our time to shine. Enjoy this time. Take it in. Savor it.

The memories of now are what will help get you through the slump that comes later…but don’t think about that. Just bask in the glory of now!

Build those relationships with the staff at your school. Share your new strategies and plans. Help out another teacher in working through what they want this year to look like. Write some notes of encouragement to yourself and others for later in the year when it is not so great.

And take every possible moment that you can to connect to those new students of yours. It is worth it. Don’t let trying to get too much content covered here in the beginning get in the way of that. It is the relationship that matters. Build it now while it is the best time for it. The soil is ready. Plant the seeds of connection so that you will have something to expand upon and grow later.

This is your time, Teacher.

This is your moment.

Let your awesome shine!

And, Teacher, you are awesome! I truly mean that. You are an amazing teacher, and this is going to be the best year ever for you! Keep on reaching those students and making a difference! Oh, and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

PS…I want to close with a video that was share with me. It was created by Remind (something I definitely want to tell you more about later because it is even more awesome than I thought!). This video captures what I was trying to say today in an awesome way. It really shows what being a teacher is all about…especially here in the beginning of the year. Please share the video…it so needs to go viral! Teachers need the encouragement from it and the world needs to see what being a teacher really means. Enjoy!

Challenge, More Than Scores

More than Scores Image Round-Up

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

Can you tell that I have been on a #morethanscore kick? I just feel like it is an important message to get out right now. Please join me in spreading the word. Share the images and message here, or come up with your own. We have got to spread the word. Students, teachers, and education are more than scores!

You are so awesome! Keep spreading the word and keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Challenge, Choose Positive, General Inspiration, Hope for Teachers, Note to Teachers, Pep Talk, Perseverance

Am I Wrong [when the test scores fail]

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

I don’t know how your summer is going, but I have had quite a week. I have had great family time, presented at a conference, and got a good jump on something I am planning for next year. Overall, it has been a pretty exceptional week…but there is a heavy cloud hanging over me that I don’t know if I will shake for a while.

I found out how my students did on the state tests at the end of the year.

Needless to say, the scores were less than stellar.

Even though I thought that last year, by far, was my best as a teacher, the scores were lower than I think they have been for me. Their are A LOT of factors in play here…more than there have ever been in a year of teaching for me…but I can’t help but feel like I failed my students a bit.

Something tells me I am not the only one in this boat. Even if you don’t have your results back yet, I know you might be bracing yourself for the worse.

For this reason, I think it is time for a theme-song post.

I love these types of posts, and they always help me to gain perspective, and I hope it is the same for you. For those new to this blog, click play, get past any ads that might be there, and then read on while the music plays. You may want to go back and listen to the song and watch the video again after reading…I think I found the perfect song for today.

Let’s just start where it probably hurts the most…STOP DOUBTING YOURSELF!

You are a great teacher…nay, an amazing teacher.

Do not let the test scores make you think anything else.

You are bold and brave, and you care for your students like few others do.

You and I took risks this year.

We banked on what we know about our students, what we have learned about the learning process, and tried some outside of the box strategies. Our kids were engaged. They were learning. They were becoming better students and better people.

We were courageous in one thing more than others. We had the audacity to do something that seemed crazy in the high-stakes testing era…we didn’t focus on the test…we focused on each student.

We got to know each child in our classroom. We tried to find their strengths and weaknesses. We tried to accommodate every child and their needs, with or without a piece of paper that requires us to. We differentiated. We helped students to learn how to process content on their own. We slowly gave the reigns of their learning over to them so that they could be responsible for learning.

We laughed with them.

We cried with them.

We helped them grow.

We watched them change throughout the year.

We know more about them than a test will ever show. We saw students go from not wanting to try to begging for a chance to prove themselves. We saw students who hated school become students who couldn’t wait for Monday to come when Friday was over. We saw children become students and members of our school communities. We saw growth on almost every level. We saw magic.

We also saw the hurt that our students experience in and out of school. We saw the difficulties that they face at home. We saw pain. We saw hunger. We saw low self-esteem. We saw challenges for children that we could not even imagine. And we helped our students succeed despite all of this and helped them start to see how they can rise above it. Yes, I need to say it again…we saw magic.

There is not a test made that can prove how our students went from kids barely ready for the grade that we teach to being ahead of the game for the grade they are going into next year. There is not a test that takes into account the students that may have had to sleep at a friend’s house the night before the test or in a motel room because of something going on at home. There is not a test that can show how students finally came alive at the end of the year after you working with them for 3 1/2 quarters before you saw any growth.

There is not a test that proves the magic that we saw.

So, we did not focus on a test that does not show students overcoming obstacles in their lives. We focused on the child. We believed in them. We helped them strive in situations where everything was stacked against them. We made magic happen…and that is hard to do while teaching to a test.

We made a conscientious decision to think about our students as more than numbers. We decided that we want the students to know how to learn on their own and not need us there to help them after they leave our room. We decided to take into account what they may me going through in life. We decided to dig in and not give up on students that gave up on themselves. We decided to believe in something bigger than ourselves and trust in the magic that can happen in our classrooms.

Is that wrong?

Are we wrong?

Am I wrong?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that I can think of living in a world, especially educational world, where this is wrong. I chose to believe in my students and believe in educational magic.

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

So the test scores were not great. Is that what really matters? What can you look to that proves that there was more going on in your classroom than can be judged by the test?

Here is a test for you…with results to change your mood after learning about your state results:

Who is that student that was your your class that could not do anything on grade level and refused to try that ended the year trying their hardest just because you asked them to and they know you care?
Who is that student that you know had a rough go of it at home, but looked to your classroom as a sanctuary?
How did the atmosphere of the student interactions in your room change from being kids in your class to a classroom family?
How did each student you teach change from day 1 to day 180?
How did you grow as a teacher from day 1 to day 180?

Take some time and think through these questions. Write down your answers if you journal. I think that, if you do, you will start thinking less about your state scores (good or bad) and know how well you taught based on your students. After all, aren’t they the reason that you are there?

You are not wrong, Teacher, and you are awesome! Keep on believing your students matter more than scores. I believe in you as you keep believing in them! Keep on teaching, Teacher, and keep on making that magic happen!

Love, Teacher

General Inspiration, Hope for Teachers, Note to Teachers, Pep Talk, You Are Awesome!!!

Show ‘Em Who You Are

Posted on July 7, 2015July 7, 2015 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

You have a gift. You have something to say. You have something to offer. You have something that the world at-large needs.

You are not “just a teacher.” You are a great teacher. Nay, you are an amazing teacher!

You have a way of connecting with your students and getting them to connect with what they are learning.

You are special.

There is not a lot of teachers out there like you. There just aren’t. And that is a good thing.

You have something to teach others who teach. You have something to give back to the good of education.

Don’t be afraid to share the something that makes you great.

You have a spark to share that might ignite others to greatness in teaching.

Do not keep it to yourself.

Be proud and share it.

You will be nervous at first, but as you see the effect of your spark you will see that it will set others and their teaching ablaze.

Don’t hold back.

Share that uniqueness that is you.

You are awesome, never forget it!

Keep on teaching and sharing how you teach with others, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: