One last quick post before bed, because I cannot rest until I recount this stupid idiot moment of my morning...
I was expecting a phone call from a parent about an incident that happened with her child Friday which resulted in him being sent to the principal's office. So when the phone rang at 7:50, I wasn't surprised. I picked up the phone, said good morning, and heard a fast "parent voice" say, "Hello Miss Teacher, this is Mrs. _______." Let me clarify the ______.
Miss Teacher hears: "name of parent she expected would be calling"
What the parent actually said: "name of completely different parent that only sounds SLIGHTLY similar"
You can imagine what ensued...oh, you can't? Let me elaborate: Miss Teacher proceeds to talk to the parent as though she was the parent of the Friday incident child, describing what had happened and growing confused when the parent knows nothing about this. Miss Teacher assumes the child simply didn't TELL the details, and is disappointed. Miss Teacher quickly begins to realize that the parent is confused, and says, "Wait, who is this?...Oh dear, I must have misheard you when you said your name..."
Yikes. Open mouth, insert foot. ANNND how's that for professionalism? :-/
Go ahead and laugh. I know, only I would do something like that...
September 13, 2010
Christmas for Teachers :)
I have a secret. Well, not so much a secret, but a confession. I love books.
Let me say that again a little louder: I love ADORE WORSHIP books. (Well, maybe that last one was a little dramatic, but you get the idea!) Years ago, like any other nerdy bookworm elementary school student, I looked forward to getting those crinkly scholastic book order fliers in my mailbox as school. I would pore over the pages and make my MANY selections, dreaming of ordering every book that peaked my interest (although of course my mother would always make me pare my order down significantly...). Then, I would eagerly await the day my teacher would receive the big red and white box in her classroom--the books!!
Now that I am the teacher, book order has not lost any of its appeal. In fact, I may be even more excited about it now. :) Why? Two words: BONUS POINTS. Who knew that teachers make out like absolute BANDITS when their students order from scholastic?!? I sure didn't! Last year I passed out book orders every month and usually scraped together a $20 order from my kiddos. Just enough to get shipping costs waived and usually enough to allow me to pick out a few titles for myself with bonus points. It was thrilling. :)
This year, I handed out a book order the first week of school and was SHOCKED and ELATED when the orders poured in! Tallying up the money last weekend, I couldn't believe that I was placing a $160 order!!! That happens all the time in my mom's classroom, but at my lower income school, it's pretty rare. Not only did that kind of order give me a TON of bonus points (I even had some coupons that doubled my points!), but the September order catalogs had tons of free book awards for orders over $20! Amazing. I was like a kid in a candy shop selecting my free books. And seriously, I was even more excited than the kids waiting for them to arrive. And arrive they did, in the biggest scholastic box I have ever seen. After I sorted out the kiddos' orders, it was time to take in my bounty:
Let me say that again a little louder: I love ADORE WORSHIP books. (Well, maybe that last one was a little dramatic, but you get the idea!) Years ago, like any other nerdy bookworm elementary school student, I looked forward to getting those crinkly scholastic book order fliers in my mailbox as school. I would pore over the pages and make my MANY selections, dreaming of ordering every book that peaked my interest (although of course my mother would always make me pare my order down significantly...). Then, I would eagerly await the day my teacher would receive the big red and white box in her classroom--the books!!
Now that I am the teacher, book order has not lost any of its appeal. In fact, I may be even more excited about it now. :) Why? Two words: BONUS POINTS. Who knew that teachers make out like absolute BANDITS when their students order from scholastic?!? I sure didn't! Last year I passed out book orders every month and usually scraped together a $20 order from my kiddos. Just enough to get shipping costs waived and usually enough to allow me to pick out a few titles for myself with bonus points. It was thrilling. :)
This year, I handed out a book order the first week of school and was SHOCKED and ELATED when the orders poured in! Tallying up the money last weekend, I couldn't believe that I was placing a $160 order!!! That happens all the time in my mom's classroom, but at my lower income school, it's pretty rare. Not only did that kind of order give me a TON of bonus points (I even had some coupons that doubled my points!), but the September order catalogs had tons of free book awards for orders over $20! Amazing. I was like a kid in a candy shop selecting my free books. And seriously, I was even more excited than the kids waiting for them to arrive. And arrive they did, in the biggest scholastic box I have ever seen. After I sorted out the kiddos' orders, it was time to take in my bounty:
A beautiful thing...
(Almost as beautiful as how good it felt passing them out to students during Daily 3 and telling them I just bought them and KNEW they would love them)
:)
September 10, 2010
Helping Kids Fall in LOVE with Science :) (or that's my goal at least!!)
I'm not exactly a scientist...in fact, I barely scraped a B- in high school biology, and that was only because I went in constantly for help from the teacher. But, that aside, I really do love teaching science--in fact, while I may not be good at learning science myself, it's probably my favorite subject to teach. There's just something magical about seeing kids ask questions about nature, conduct hands-on experiments, and grasp for the first time the science behind how things work in the world around them.
During my student teaching experience two years ago, my students loved science. Almost all of them were interested in learning more about the sciences and looked forward to our activities. It was exciting to learn and discover along with them, and so special to watch them become excited about the sciences. You can imagine my disappointment when, last year (my first year teaching), I read a shared reading story about the space program to my kiddos and asked, "Who thinks it would be exciting to be an astronaut?" and NO ONE raised their hands. I was completely taken aback! What, NONE of you thinks that would be cool??? Come on, I could barely make it through basic high school physics and would never seriously consider the career, but you have to admit it'd be pretty awesome! But nope, no interest. Nada.
This year, I am determined to "capture" my students' interests in science right off the bat. I had them do a fun activity called, "Who is a scientist?" that I dreampt up this summer based on bits and pieces of other sciency activities I stumbled upon this summer. I had the students draw a picture of a "scientist" including where they are working and what they're wearing. Not surprisingly, almost every drawing pictured a person wearing a white coat mixing chemicals in a laboratory. Many were "mad scientists," characterized by their fantastic hair styles.
Quote from a student while drawing "mad scientist": "How do you spell, 'Wahahahaha!'" :) amazing. (PICTURES TO COME!!)
Anyways, we talked about the pictures and what they had in common. Then, I showed them a picture of my brother and told them that he's a scientist (he's an aerospace engineer). Obviously he looks nothing like their drawings. I told him that he wears jeans to work, loves xbox and wii, plays hockey, and works mostly at a computer. But he's still a scientist! Then, the students took a science careers "interest survey" that described different career interests in some of the different fields of science. After they had selected the most interesting descriptions, the kiddos got to see which science career matched their interests.
I have to say, it was wonderful to see my students realize that they could be scientists too. It is heartbreaking to me when minority students or female students see certain careers as being completely out of their element. I wanted to drive home the idea that anyone can be a scientist, and that scientists do many, many jobs. Do I think they're all going to start doing science projects on the weekends? No. But just like the first step to classroom management is getting them to fall in love with me, the first step to teaching any subject is to get them to fall in love with it. :)
During my student teaching experience two years ago, my students loved science. Almost all of them were interested in learning more about the sciences and looked forward to our activities. It was exciting to learn and discover along with them, and so special to watch them become excited about the sciences. You can imagine my disappointment when, last year (my first year teaching), I read a shared reading story about the space program to my kiddos and asked, "Who thinks it would be exciting to be an astronaut?" and NO ONE raised their hands. I was completely taken aback! What, NONE of you thinks that would be cool??? Come on, I could barely make it through basic high school physics and would never seriously consider the career, but you have to admit it'd be pretty awesome! But nope, no interest. Nada.
This year, I am determined to "capture" my students' interests in science right off the bat. I had them do a fun activity called, "Who is a scientist?" that I dreampt up this summer based on bits and pieces of other sciency activities I stumbled upon this summer. I had the students draw a picture of a "scientist" including where they are working and what they're wearing. Not surprisingly, almost every drawing pictured a person wearing a white coat mixing chemicals in a laboratory. Many were "mad scientists," characterized by their fantastic hair styles.
Quote from a student while drawing "mad scientist": "How do you spell, 'Wahahahaha!'" :) amazing. (PICTURES TO COME!!)
Anyways, we talked about the pictures and what they had in common. Then, I showed them a picture of my brother and told them that he's a scientist (he's an aerospace engineer). Obviously he looks nothing like their drawings. I told him that he wears jeans to work, loves xbox and wii, plays hockey, and works mostly at a computer. But he's still a scientist! Then, the students took a science careers "interest survey" that described different career interests in some of the different fields of science. After they had selected the most interesting descriptions, the kiddos got to see which science career matched their interests.
I have to say, it was wonderful to see my students realize that they could be scientists too. It is heartbreaking to me when minority students or female students see certain careers as being completely out of their element. I wanted to drive home the idea that anyone can be a scientist, and that scientists do many, many jobs. Do I think they're all going to start doing science projects on the weekends? No. But just like the first step to classroom management is getting them to fall in love with me, the first step to teaching any subject is to get them to fall in love with it. :)
Sweet relaxing..
Sometimes, no matter what happened during the school day, it is absolutely NECESSARY to leave by 3:30 on Friday to grab drinks with teachers. NECESSARY. Such a good idea for one of the last summery days of the year... :)
September 9, 2010
Touching Musings from a Tough Child
One of my little darlings is quite the handful. (Well, MANY are handfuls, but one in particular keeps me up at night) This child has frequent "temper tantrums" throughout the day, triggered sometimes by the tiniest thing, and other times by nothing at all. He will throw his papers off his desk, slump down, and "grumble" to himself for about 5 minutes. I typically ignore, or ignore as best as I can...Anyways, this child can barely read. He has been at 8 schools by 5th grade and obviously has an unstructured home life to put it mildly. He is disorganized and easily frustrated. He does not have an IEP, although he would probably qualify for one, because he has never been in one place long enough to be truly evaluated. So you can imagine that, even when he drives me freakin' crazy, I have a soft spot in my heart for him. Deep, DEEP down.
Today he refused to start his writing. I gave him some time to start on his own, but then decided to try stepping in. With most "grumbly" kids, I would hesitate before offering them help mid-pouting, as it may inadvertently reinforce an idea that pouting will get them what they want. But I had a pretty good idea that this child had given school everything he had to give that day, and that writing was just too tough for him at that point. I offered to write the words for him if he would dictate, and he jumped at the chance. For some kids, the ones with serious decoding gaps, that is really what they need. Anyways, this child then proceeded to dictate paragraphs about how wonderful his mom is. He "wrote" that she is a single mom with three kids, and works so hard to support them. He wrote about how she gets them everything they need, feeds them, and supports them. He wrote about how much he loves her for all she does for him and his two siblings.
I was in awe of this child. Sometimes, in situations like this especially, it's easy to get caught up in how much there is to teach a child that's as behind as this one. We get so caught up in the daunting task ahead of us that we forget how much there is to learn as a teacher. There is so much we can learn from the children in our classrooms if we are open to it. Today I was in awe of a child who can barely read, who wants for so much, but who, at age 10, appreciates his mother in ways many adults never do. I am honored that this child trusted me enough to let me put his words to paper for him, and am humbled by the maturity he showed through them. He has experienced things that I will never know or understand. He has been let down by many, many people. Yet he still has faith in his mother, and realizes what a tough job she has. Even though the rest of our day together was anything but easy, it was all worth it to share this special moment. I teach for moments like this.
Today he refused to start his writing. I gave him some time to start on his own, but then decided to try stepping in. With most "grumbly" kids, I would hesitate before offering them help mid-pouting, as it may inadvertently reinforce an idea that pouting will get them what they want. But I had a pretty good idea that this child had given school everything he had to give that day, and that writing was just too tough for him at that point. I offered to write the words for him if he would dictate, and he jumped at the chance. For some kids, the ones with serious decoding gaps, that is really what they need. Anyways, this child then proceeded to dictate paragraphs about how wonderful his mom is. He "wrote" that she is a single mom with three kids, and works so hard to support them. He wrote about how she gets them everything they need, feeds them, and supports them. He wrote about how much he loves her for all she does for him and his two siblings.
I was in awe of this child. Sometimes, in situations like this especially, it's easy to get caught up in how much there is to teach a child that's as behind as this one. We get so caught up in the daunting task ahead of us that we forget how much there is to learn as a teacher. There is so much we can learn from the children in our classrooms if we are open to it. Today I was in awe of a child who can barely read, who wants for so much, but who, at age 10, appreciates his mother in ways many adults never do. I am honored that this child trusted me enough to let me put his words to paper for him, and am humbled by the maturity he showed through them. He has experienced things that I will never know or understand. He has been let down by many, many people. Yet he still has faith in his mother, and realizes what a tough job she has. Even though the rest of our day together was anything but easy, it was all worth it to share this special moment. I teach for moments like this.
Writing Workshop Fun: Looping Stories
Last spring I attended a fantastic workshop called 101 Writing Mini-Lessons that changed my entire concept of teaching writing. After I left, I vowed that this year I was going to teaching writing through a true Writing Workshop, using the Mini-Lesson, Writing Time, Sharing format. So far this year it has been going great.
Last year, my mentor, Mrs. H, stressed the importance of using the first month of school to lay the foundation with procedural lessons as well as "ideas" lessons. She said that before I worry about taking any pieces through the writing process all the way to publishing, I should get the kids started on a TON of pieces so they have an arsenal of ideas to pick up at any time. So, I've been doing a bunch of fun ideas lessons, and loving every minute of it.
Today's was one of my favorites, and one I took back with me from that workshop. It's called "Looping Stories," and is basically quick-writing with a twist. The students start with a 1 word topic and take 1 minute to write about that topic without stopping to think. (I tell them PENCILS MOVING, EYES ON PAPER!!!!) Then, when the minute is up, they need to stop writing and draw a line across the page sectioning that writing off from the rest of the page. They then look over their writing, select a word that they included in that writing, circle it, and write it at the top of the next section of the page, below the line. They take another minute to write about this new word/topic. Repeat about 4 times. After this they have 4 or 5 beginnings of stories/writing pieces. They should then reread them and choose 1 to write more about. Last year I had the kids cut that section out and tape it to the top of a blank page, but this year they just started it over on a new page. Both work. The kids like it though, and it's a great exercise in quick writing. It's also a lot of fun to see how your topics evolve from 1 to the next!
Today I modeled it by starting with the topic food:
Last year, my mentor, Mrs. H, stressed the importance of using the first month of school to lay the foundation with procedural lessons as well as "ideas" lessons. She said that before I worry about taking any pieces through the writing process all the way to publishing, I should get the kids started on a TON of pieces so they have an arsenal of ideas to pick up at any time. So, I've been doing a bunch of fun ideas lessons, and loving every minute of it.
My awesome Writing Workshop accountability chart, custom made by the wonderful Amanda :)
Today's was one of my favorites, and one I took back with me from that workshop. It's called "Looping Stories," and is basically quick-writing with a twist. The students start with a 1 word topic and take 1 minute to write about that topic without stopping to think. (I tell them PENCILS MOVING, EYES ON PAPER!!!!) Then, when the minute is up, they need to stop writing and draw a line across the page sectioning that writing off from the rest of the page. They then look over their writing, select a word that they included in that writing, circle it, and write it at the top of the next section of the page, below the line. They take another minute to write about this new word/topic. Repeat about 4 times. After this they have 4 or 5 beginnings of stories/writing pieces. They should then reread them and choose 1 to write more about. Last year I had the kids cut that section out and tape it to the top of a blank page, but this year they just started it over on a new page. Both work. The kids like it though, and it's a great exercise in quick writing. It's also a lot of fun to see how your topics evolve from 1 to the next!
Today I modeled it by starting with the topic food:
FOOD
My favorite food is pancakes. I especially like the blueberry pancakes that my dad makes. He used to make them every Sunday when I was growing up. I love to eat them/
____________________________________________
STOP!!! Even in mid-sentence. I went back and chose the word "Dad" to write about next.
DAD
My dad is one of the best people I know. He would do anything for me and my family. He always helps my mom around the house, and helps me with whatever I need. He is really good at/
____________________________________________
STOP!!! I chose the word "Family" to write about.
FAMILY
I love my family. I have two brothers, Kevin and David....
You get the idea :) I definitely recommend trying this activity to spice up writing instruction with something different!
Curriculum Night: Check!
Today was a looong 13-hour day at good ol' school. Thankfully, I no longer take days like that on a regular basis like I did last year, spending HOURS after school every day grading, planning, copying, and just processing everything that was going on in my room. Last year pretty much felt like one long marathon in which I was the dead-last runner, just trying to hold it together to make it to the finish. This year I am way more together as I've written a few times, although it is by NO means easy. In any case, I am doing a way better job of peacing out of school by 5 or 6 every night which is a HUGE achievement for me and a testament to how much more prepared I feel.
Of course every now and then in the teaching world there are those late night school events--thankfully not as many in elementary school as secondary! Tonight was one such event: Curriculum Night. A word on how that works at my school: Typically, a curric night involves the teacher presenting to a classroom of parents on classroom procedures, topics to be studied during the year, and the different curriculums being followed. Informative and important, but super intimidating. As my school tends to have problems getting parents to show up to evening events for a variety of reasons, we have switched to more relaxed approaches to things like curric and back to school nights. Tonight's event was a "scavenger hunt" through the school and classroom; kids led their parents around as "tour guides" and checked in with the classroom teacher, PTA reps, and specials teachers to get necessary information. I love that the kids are running the show, and it takes a ton of pressure off the teachers. I still had only about half of the families show up, but all in all the night was a success.
For me there were definitely a few highlights. Overall, the parents at my school are great. While many are uninvolved, most really respect the teachers at the school. It is always wonderful to meet parents who are kind and appreciative of the hard work we do!!!
Another highlight was talking to the "difficult" parent I wrote about at the very beginning of the year. It seems she has decided I am not all bad, young or not! We actually had a nice, albeit brief, conversation. I was incredibly relieved, as I was imaging being approached with another laundry list of complaints...
Last, the absolute best part of the night was watching one particular students show his mom around our room for upwards of 30 minutes! He literally walked her through an entire school day, shared the text books in detail, told her all about what he was reading and what we were learning, and was just so happy to share our classroom with her. This is so heartwarming and refreshing. 5th grade is sometimes the start of school apathy for kids--it's not "new" anymore, and many have decided they are "so over" school. (That's one thing I love about primary--most kids are just pumped to be there! Still don't want to teach a grade where I have to tie shoe laces and blow noses tho... ;) Anyways, this kiddo's pride in our classroom radiated from every pore as he paraded his mom around. I was overjoyed that I had the privilege of watching.
Anyways, I wanted to post a few pictures of the room all spic and span and ready to go for our special guests:
Of course every now and then in the teaching world there are those late night school events--thankfully not as many in elementary school as secondary! Tonight was one such event: Curriculum Night. A word on how that works at my school: Typically, a curric night involves the teacher presenting to a classroom of parents on classroom procedures, topics to be studied during the year, and the different curriculums being followed. Informative and important, but super intimidating. As my school tends to have problems getting parents to show up to evening events for a variety of reasons, we have switched to more relaxed approaches to things like curric and back to school nights. Tonight's event was a "scavenger hunt" through the school and classroom; kids led their parents around as "tour guides" and checked in with the classroom teacher, PTA reps, and specials teachers to get necessary information. I love that the kids are running the show, and it takes a ton of pressure off the teachers. I still had only about half of the families show up, but all in all the night was a success.
For me there were definitely a few highlights. Overall, the parents at my school are great. While many are uninvolved, most really respect the teachers at the school. It is always wonderful to meet parents who are kind and appreciative of the hard work we do!!!
Another highlight was talking to the "difficult" parent I wrote about at the very beginning of the year. It seems she has decided I am not all bad, young or not! We actually had a nice, albeit brief, conversation. I was incredibly relieved, as I was imaging being approached with another laundry list of complaints...
Last, the absolute best part of the night was watching one particular students show his mom around our room for upwards of 30 minutes! He literally walked her through an entire school day, shared the text books in detail, told her all about what he was reading and what we were learning, and was just so happy to share our classroom with her. This is so heartwarming and refreshing. 5th grade is sometimes the start of school apathy for kids--it's not "new" anymore, and many have decided they are "so over" school. (That's one thing I love about primary--most kids are just pumped to be there! Still don't want to teach a grade where I have to tie shoe laces and blow noses tho... ;) Anyways, this kiddo's pride in our classroom radiated from every pore as he paraded his mom around. I was overjoyed that I had the privilege of watching.
Anyways, I wanted to post a few pictures of the room all spic and span and ready to go for our special guests:
"Gathering Place" in our classroom library (aka my favorite spot in the room)
Alternate view of our badass library--can you tell I <3 books?!
Teacher Corner/Oasis :)
An entire classroom view is still to come...
September 7, 2010
Love & Logic Beyond the Classroom
True Life: Love & Logic even works when babysitting :)
My little sweetie: "Do I HAVE to eat brocoli?!?"
Me: (smiling sweetly) "Only if you want dessert!"
That's right. Love & Logic 1, picky child 0. ;)
My little sweetie: "Do I HAVE to eat brocoli?!?"
Me: (smiling sweetly) "Only if you want dessert!"
That's right. Love & Logic 1, picky child 0. ;)
Book Review: The Hunger Games Trilogy
Collins's writing transports the reader hundreds if not thousands of years into the future to the country of Panem, the nation that has risen up from the ashes of what was once the United States. Panem is divided into 12 districts by industry, all ruled by The Capitol, a ruthless government whose primary goal is to keep its districts in submission and to prevent any possibility of democratization on behalf of its citizens. In order to remind citizens that they are permanently under the Capitol's control, the Hunger Games are held each year. 2 "tributes" between ages 12 and 18 are selected from each district to fight to the death in a televised, gladiator-like pursuit in which only one victor will be crowned. As if it's not horrifying enough to have children seized from their homes to compete in this blood bath, their families are forced to watch their children either die helplessly at the hands of other merciless tributes, or, quite possibly worse, be transformed into heartless killers and manipulated by the games themselves.
Not only are all three books incredibly gripping action stories with twists and turns around every corner, but the intense plot is also intertwined with an equally as gripping love story that grows more and more complex in each book. Collins achieves that near impossible author task of getting her readers to fall completely in love with her characters, to a point that not only did I cry when they suffered or died, but I genuinely missed them when one of the books ended. What I think might be even more impressive than that, tough, is that Collins also manages to create a character as complex as Katniss for her protagonist. Too often young adult fiction falls flat with shallow character, or characters that are too perfect. As much as I love Harry Potter, at times Harry is just a little too much of a super hero for me. I think deep down every reader, especially the YA reader, wants to see a bit of themselves in characters. Katniss is truly a human heroine. She makes selfish choices at times (although she also risks her life to save her beloved sister), she can be unforgiving and holds grudges when deeply hurt, and she struggles with making decisions just as most teens do. Who couldn't identify with the broken shell of Katniss in Mockingjay who, after losing those things closest to her in the world, lies on the couch without so much as changing clothes (much less showering)? Collins captures genuine emotions in the 3 books with a rawness that we all can relate to.By far the best books I've read all summer, the Hunger Games books will certainly be added to my favorite books of all time. While a bit violent for my fifth graders (although the language is tame and the relationship details conveyed tastefully), I would recommend these books to grades 7-12 (and of course adults too!!). Hands down 5 stars.
What they remember
There is a saying, "People will forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel." I believe this is unbelievably true when it comes to students. I don't know why it still surprises me, but I am always partially shocked when my students don't retain information I gave them just days (or in some cases seconds) earlier. That's partly why teachers spend so much time and energy making lessons memorable and relatable. That's us saying, "PLEASE still remember this by the time ISAT tests roll around, I beg you!!!"
Anyways, I was thinking today about a couple memories I still have from elementary school. Honestly, my whole family makes fun of me for having the memory of an elephant--i remember trivial, inconsequential things from as young as age 3. I have lots of school related memories, but it's interesting when I think about why some little moments stand out in my mind years later. For example, I vividly remember how, when I lost a tooth at school in first grade, my teacher let me stand on a chair at her closet so I could see my new toothless smile in the mirror that was mounted inside her closet door. I felt so special. Also, I remember my second grade teacher who, when I told her I liked to save the stickers she put on my worksheets to put in my sticker book at home, would save me the backings off of sticker sheets so I could safely transport my stickers home. Sometimes, she would even leave a couple little stickers on the sheet for me to keep. :) what a special treat.
These are two incredibly tiny acts, but here I am, 23 years old, and I still remember. I remember how my first grade teacher understood how important it is for 7 year olds to be able to see how their smile looks minus 1 tooth RIGHT AWAY. I remember how my second grade teacher knew that a little thing like saving little sheets of coated paper could make an eight year old's whole day. And thinking about these special teacher moments, I realize more than ever that it's the little every day acts that sometimes have the biggest effects on students. Every teacher secretly hopes that she'll be the one to "save" the troubled child, or "turn around" the child with behavior problems. But really, sometimes it's those little things we do to show we care that kids remember.
Keeping this in mind, I'm going to make a special effort this week to connect on a personal level with each of my students and make them feel special, even if just in some little way.
Anyways, I was thinking today about a couple memories I still have from elementary school. Honestly, my whole family makes fun of me for having the memory of an elephant--i remember trivial, inconsequential things from as young as age 3. I have lots of school related memories, but it's interesting when I think about why some little moments stand out in my mind years later. For example, I vividly remember how, when I lost a tooth at school in first grade, my teacher let me stand on a chair at her closet so I could see my new toothless smile in the mirror that was mounted inside her closet door. I felt so special. Also, I remember my second grade teacher who, when I told her I liked to save the stickers she put on my worksheets to put in my sticker book at home, would save me the backings off of sticker sheets so I could safely transport my stickers home. Sometimes, she would even leave a couple little stickers on the sheet for me to keep. :) what a special treat.
These are two incredibly tiny acts, but here I am, 23 years old, and I still remember. I remember how my first grade teacher understood how important it is for 7 year olds to be able to see how their smile looks minus 1 tooth RIGHT AWAY. I remember how my second grade teacher knew that a little thing like saving little sheets of coated paper could make an eight year old's whole day. And thinking about these special teacher moments, I realize more than ever that it's the little every day acts that sometimes have the biggest effects on students. Every teacher secretly hopes that she'll be the one to "save" the troubled child, or "turn around" the child with behavior problems. But really, sometimes it's those little things we do to show we care that kids remember.
Keeping this in mind, I'm going to make a special effort this week to connect on a personal level with each of my students and make them feel special, even if just in some little way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
