teacher encouragement – Page 9 – 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, Pep Talk, You Are Awesome!!!

The Best of the Pep Talks

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

Today’s “best of” is made up of some of my favorite posts to write, and include some of my favorite all-time posts. Every once in a while we need to remember why we do what we do and get excited about it. We may be on the downside of the teaching roller coaster and a little boost of reminder is all it takes to be headed back up the hill. That is what these posts are about! They are supposed to remind you of the awesomeness of what you do so that you want to go out there and be awesome-er! Here is to being awesome-er!

Some of these are older and you may have definitely missed them. Check out as many as you can and let us all know your favorite (and why)!

Hopelessly Hopeful (one of the very first Dear Teacher/Love Teacher posts)
Fridays of More (what Fridays really mean for teachers most weeks)
Rock Star (this one is one of my top favorite posts, and it was an early one)
Friday of Awesomeness (another Friday pep talk…this one, too, is among my favorites)
Pick Your Pep Talk (a choose-your-own-adventure pep talk…this one was fun to write)
The Ripple Effect (how the little things we do spread out to others)
Quotable Quotes to End Your Week (pep talk from the words of others)
Small Steps the Make Big Differences (words to help you when the teacher mountain looks too big to climb)
Some [funny and inspiring] Thoughts on Teaching (the title says it all…there are more videos than words in this one)
I am a Teacher and a Fungi (a pep talk from a science lesson…learn something about fungus and be inspired at the same time!)
You Have What It Takes…to Innovate (the most recent pep talk, based on a post I read at Edutopia)

Well, I hope you are “pepped” after reading a few! Pick your favorite, tell us why it is your favorite, and then go and share the link to it! You can have more than one favorite, if you want. 🙂

You are awesome! Today is going to be a great day! You are going to have a great rest of the week! You are amazing and are making a difference for the future! Never forget that! Keep on teaching, Teacher!

Love, Teacher

Repeat PS from yesterday…I have an idea. I want to compile stories about teachers who have made a difference in peoples’ lives. It can be a story or a “Dear Teacher ___________” thank you letter. I want to share them on here and maybe in a couple of other ways (possibly a book). If you are interested, email dearteacher@outlook.com and put “Teacher Story” or “Teacher Thank You Letter” in the subject. Thanks. I am excited about this project! (I will post more details about this soon, but please send your story/letter if you can!)

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

General Inspiration, Pep Talk, Theme Song

(there can be miracles) When You Believe

Posted on July 30, 2013July 30, 2013 by Dear Teacher/Love Teacher

Dear Teacher,

I am so sorry. I was not able to post my normal Monday morning post. Even though the weekly theme song is a day late, the week is still young. I chose this song because it is a powerful one sung by to powerful voices. I need this boost of inspiration this week, I don’t know about you. Click play (and skip the ad if one comes up) and then read on.

For those of us on summer break, it is slowly coming to a close. The days are soon approaching when you will be meeting your students at the door of your classroom. You will, once again, be that face of education for them. You will be the one that sets the tone for your class and the day for many of your students. What you say, do, think, and feel about them will help decide what they say, do, think, and feel about themselves.

Our job is hard, We have to plan curriculum, timing, assessments and the like. We have to implement and delver those plans we made. We have to manage the classroom. We have to help students on their good days and their bad days. We have to help students on our good and bad days. We have to deal with difficult students and find ways to bring them back into the learning environment. We have to keep students engaged. We have to find a way to help them learn. We have to ensure they are ready for success on state tests. We have to follow guidelines and expectations from the state, district, and administration. We have a lot of balls to juggle at once. It is hard to keep them all in the air most days.

And along with all of this, and probably above all of this, we are the key to our students’ attitude and belief about learning and education. The way we talk, carry ourselves, and visibly feel (feeling show) affect how they act and feel. Your attitude sets their attitude. Your tone sets their tone. Your expectations for them become the expectations that they have for themselves.

The best word that I can think of to sum this up is belief. I am not talking about spiritual belief (though important to most people), I am talking about belief in yourself and others. Beliefs are powerful. They affect you and those around you. What you believe sets the atmosphere of your classroom and the students sitting in it. Your belief in them and what you are teaching them becomes what they believe. If your belief about achievement is low, it will be low for your students. If it is high, it will be high for your students.

The amazing thing about beliefs is that you don’t have to talk someone into them. You don’t need “buy-in.” If you are bought in, your students will eventually be bought in. When someone truly believes in you, eventually you start to believe them and then believe in yourself. This is doubly true for your students. You set the environment of belief and they tune into it. Like it or not, this is the reality.

So…what are your beliefs for the coming year (or the year you are in if you are currently teaching)? What does your belief about your students, classroom, and school say to the students. Are your goals set unbelievably high? If they aren’t, they should be. Set them high and believe, truly believe, that your students can reach them. Make them attainable goals, but make them lofty. Once your goals are in place, communicate them constantly to your students. Then believe. Believe. Believe. Your students WILL buy in and start to believe themselves.

The song is so right. There can be miracles when you believe. Belief helps you to do things that you never thought you could do before. It makes you rise to heights you did not know you could reach. It makes you more than you could be.

A few posts back, I shared a bunch of clips. Two of them were from Taylor Mali. The last one is called “Miracle Workers.” In it he talks about teachers as miracle workers. He says this near the end of the talk/poem, “Education is the miracle. I am just the work. I am a teacher, and that’s what we do.”

Be a miracle worker. Set high goals for the year and believe, believe, BELIEVE!

You are awesome! I know this week will be great for you. I know this coming school year (or current one) will be great. Be awesome because you are awesome. If you need someone to believe in you, know that I do. I believe in you. Be amazing! Keep on dreaming and teaching, Teacher!

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!