If, in the end...

"More than that, I am grateful for the confidence you have instilled in...", from a former student's parent.  The line was tucked in a several paragraph, beyond kind, letter of appreciation and thanks.  One line that told me I had had a successful year.
No, these notes do not come often. But when they do, they reaffirm my choices, "my curriculum", me.

Te@ch Thought Day 6: Share a quote or verse that has inspired you and tell us why.

I have slaved over lesson plans, trying to get them just right to reach all of my students at their most reachable point.  I have taught the basics in writing, reading, math and social studies for many years.  But the best lessons are the unscripted ones, the on the spot, off track, important issue ones.  In my little universe (room 212) I call these "Life Lessons". No curriculum necessary. In fact, they often cause me to cut and paste the planned lesson into the next day.  I'm totally ok with this.  You see, I tell my parents at the beginning of each year that my job is to prepare their students for the middle school, and that I will do my best to accomplish this task.  BUT, dear parents, if, in the end, your child leaves this room feeling and believing they are a better person than when the year began, than I have done my job well. Because they will remember and take this with them into life. I am way more interested in making my students feel accepted, empowered, intelligent,....loved, than having them master a particular skill.
I am fortunate to have many students that come back to visit over the years (if you invite them, they will come).  I am forever amazed at their growth. They share how they are doing, and we reminisce.  And every single one will start to talk about something that occurred in room 212 that made them feel  ________.  

I start each day with Maya Angelou's thought in my heart ~ and I strive to make my students feel that at least to one person, in room 212, they matter...and they remember.

The Gift

Ribbons, and bows, boxes, bags, cards & tags, even newspaper. Teaching at the elementary level, one of the perks is being remembered for various holidays with tokens of appreciation from your students and their parents. Some gifts are handmade, home-baked, or handicrafts. Others are purchased, but with no less meaning to the giver. I could open a coffee shop with the variety of mugs that I have been on the receiving end of, and could hang original artwork, while lighting candles each day for a very long period of time.

These gifts brighten my days. I don't know anyone that doesn't enjoy an expression of love.

But of all the gifts I have received over the years, the one that is most meaningful isn't a tangible item that will eventually be set aside. It may sound hokey, but I truly believe the greatest gift is a parent's trust. 

Parents trust me to teach their child. They give me the gift of 9 months (funny, sometimes it does seem like a gestational period leading to the birth of a person)with the chance to spend more waking minutes than they often have with their children. 

They trust me with their greatest gifts - over 500 and counting.   

Proud Mom

    Before the days of Danielson, SGO's, PDP's, SGP's, and the many, many other acronyms of the present, our school used a satisfactory/unsatisfactory list of teaching attributes.  Our end of the year summative evaluation included this list as well as a narrative piece entitled Final Evaluation - Noteworthy Contributions. This was our place to share what we thought were our best teaching attributes and moments.  To say I struggled with this would be a major understatement.  I have always believed that if you were doing a good job, it showed to those it mattered to, so there was no need to "toot one's own horn". Call it humble, call it modest, call it for what it was - never feeling I had quite made the mark, reached the top, excelled.  I still struggle with this.  But today's question wasn't as much of a challenge as I thought when I first read it. Ready? Here it is:

Day 3: What are you most proud of to date in your teaching career?

      I believe I was fortunate to have the choice to stay home with my daughters, working part time, and then teaching at the pre-school they attended, prior to teaching full time. I began my full time position when my youngest was entering fourth grade, my oldest sixth. Like many, the adjustment was not smooth, (read 3 foot potholes with no shock absorbers) and I spent most nights wondering how to juggle everything and do it all well. When I was at school, I felt there was always more that I could and should be doing; when at home, same feeling for a different job.  I especially worried about my girls.  How was my working depriving them - as I was sure it must be.  Until....

until the day my eldest came home from High School with a writing assignment that posed the question, Who do you admire most and why?

I still get teary-eyed when I think of reading her answer. Yes, it was good ole' Mom. But better yet, her reason was centered on the fact that I worked as a great teacher, but had still always made time for her and her sister - attending every sporting, band, drama, scout, you name it - event, made sure they were fed, and always stopped to listen. She even called me a "role model".

      There is no place on our old evaluation or new, to check this off, but it truly is the proudest moment to date in my teaching career - the day I learned that all I have to do is love my kids the best way I know how at any given moment, and could still be a great teacher, too. Best. Mom. Ever. (still)<3

3:05 P.M.

3:05 P.M.

Our student school day runs from 8:25 A.M. to 3:15 P.M. each day.  There are high points and low points throughout the day. And some days, it's harder than others to find the high points.  But no matter how the day has unfolded, I find myself looking forward to 3:05 P.M.  I'm sure you are thinking this is because it is almost dismissal time and you would be correct. Yes, I admit it - I look forward to my students packing up and ending each day. But for a totally different reason than the expected. No, I am not one of "those teachers" - I don't count the minutes until my students are gone.  But 3:05 brings me more joy, more contentment, and more opportunity to teach than many of the hours I spend with my "kids". This is not to say that the other minutes are never filled with learning and joy - but these minutes, they are always the delight of my day. You see, at 3:05 my students come to my desk, and talk.  Yes, just talk. And I LOVE it!  This is when I learn about their interests; their latest book love; who might be feeling down; the goal or home run or touchdown, or award, or new dance move; the best movie to go see....I learn about THEM.  And trust grows. and love grows, and interests in books grow....most of all, my heart grows.  This is the time each day that, no matter how the day went, I am reminded of why I do what I do.  

Having your cake...

My Favorite Piece

Shortly after our first date, I was invited to my now husband's house to celebrate his birthday with the family.  Dinner was served, enjoyed by all.  A short time later, it was time for cake.  We all sang, candles were blown out, and then, finally, it was time to cut the cake. And that's when it happened...I heard his dad say loud and clear, "I want an end piece." Trying to be the respectful daughter my parents hoped I was, I said nothing, but thought, end piece? aren't they all end pieces? You see, I had only ever seen a cake, especially a round birthday cake, cut in wedges.  I was amazed, as I watched the cake cutting commence, to see that my husband first cut the cake down the center, splitting it in half.  He then began cutting slices, starting from the edge and going across the cake.  This made two "end" pieces, that were mostly icing, and many slices in-between that actually looked as if they had been cut from a rectangular shaped cake.  Who knew!?!

Two months ago, I challenged my teaching friends to accept the Te@ch Thought 30 day blog challenge.  My friend Susan took the challenge, and hasn't looked back.  My blog became another of those 'I'll get around to it' things, and I haven't gotten back around to it until today - thanks to Susan's challenge to her teaching friends for the month of November.  So here goes - challenge accepted...again.  

As I read today's prompt - What are the best aspects of teaching, I thought first of the usual, off the cuff responses - the kids, summers "off", touching the future....but after running through that list, I remembered cake.  No, not the cakes and cupcakes that have come into my classroom over the many years, but birthday cake.  You see, for me, the best aspect of teaching comes on the days where I become not the teacher, but the learner.  As teachers we spend a wealth of time planning our lessons, tweaking our curriculums, setting up our learning environments, so that our students might leave class having learned something each day.  But my favorite days are the ones where the plans go awry or end up pushed aside.  The days where my students teach me.  Recently these lessons have centered mostly around technology.  However, I have also learned facts about sharks, about fasting and the observance of Eid ul-Adha, that a student knows the rules of stick ball and what a pimple ball is, and that my students think all animal shelters should be no-kill shelters.  Learning - and still loving to learn. Now that's what I call having your cake and eating it, too.

Day Two

September 2

Write about one piece of technology that you would like to try this year, and why. 

Wow, how to limit it to just one?  And does this literally mean just to try, or does it mean to try and use successfully? Repeatedly? 

As a Digital Immigrant, there are days that I feel like I am mastering the language and customs of the land.  And then there are the days where I not only speak a foreign language, I believe that I am incapable of learning a new one. 

So, what technology for this year? I am fortunate to have a Promethean (form of Smart board) in my classroom.  This year I would like to learn to use it to its fullest capacity, rather than just a fancy electronic chalkboard and screen.  

 

"The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows."  ~ Sydney J. Harris

Rising to the Challenge

Pause to reflect every day during the first 30 days of a new school year?  I must be crazy! Yet, after reading the challenge offered on Social Media by the people of te@chthought and feeling strongly enough about its message to post it to my wall for later thought, I find myself intrigued. With a little nudge from a long time friend, Susan,  also a teacher, I have decided to rise to the challenge.  

Feeling the nudge to turn mirrors into windows, join the challenge at:  http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/reflective-teaching-30-day-blogging-challenge-teachers/

September 1st:

Write your goals for the school year. Be as specific or abstract as you’d like to be!

Our school year officially begins tomorrow, with two days of meetings, and then students will begin on Thursday. I begin each fresh school year with the same excitement and belief that this will be the year that my New Year's Resolutions will indeed be fulfilled and attained. These resolutions and goals usually fall by the wayside, or perhaps pushed and shoved are better descriptors, by the demands of the every day. So I set the following goals with intention and with hope, that by committing them to a public forum, I will feel the need to hold them close and see them accomplished.

  1. Have my students work harder than I do.

As a person that likes to be in control of all situations at all times, I struggle with giving my students the autonomy and responsibility that they often should have and need. From the setting of class rules to determining short and long time goals, I want to find ways to challenge my students and give them the opportunities to take the lead.

  2.  Incorporate higher level questioning.

As a district we have chosen to use the Danielson teacher evaluation model. One of the areas that I struggle with is consistently utilizing higher level questioning AND have my students ask each other challenging questions within a lesson. (See goal #1).  

  3.  Leave the bag at school, aka be present.

This is a personal goal for the year. Every year I stuff a ton of work into my bag, irregardless of the size of said bag or the after school commitments I may have, to work on at home.  This year I intend to work at work.  I long admired a now retired co-worker who set her work hours and did not carry her work home with her.  When I asked her about this, she said that she found that many a night the bag was just added weight - it traveled but never was opened once she arrived at home.  So she decided one day that she would no longer carry the bag, but would be present when at school, attending to school, and then present at home, attending to home. I, too, am guilty of carrying added weight. This year I am choosing to be present.

So - what are your goals?

29 to go!

#reflective teacher