Affirmations

The last two weeks have been long and arduous.  As we begin our journey on the state assessment train,  I was reminded by a colleague how important it is to teach children how to create affirmations for themselves and their goals.  Last Friday, while I was getting ready, I had an idea!  I decided that I would create an affirmation for myself.  I want all of my student to know that they have the potential and the ability to do anything they want, but more importantly, I want them to know that their value as a person is not a measure of the State Assessment.  

I think too often we place such a heavy burden on ourselves and our students to perform well in the "standardized realm."  But what about the other realms that a Standardized test DOES NOT measure?

What about Creativity?

What about Good Character?

What about Empathy for Others?

What about Effort?

What about Compassion?

Are these not a better measurement of a person's worth? I believe that if educators, the people who are in the classroom every day, place more of an emphasis on teaching these lessons, we can relieve the stress placed on our students and the unnecessary stress that we place on ourselves.

I am a good teacher because I work hard for my students and I care about their overall well-being; a standardized test will never measure that.  I hope that all of you know this as well.

Vision Board for the Next Few Months...

I was checking out my vision board just s minute ago; I have just been home from a movie with my husband.  I was looking at the stuff that I have posted and I thought how I might need to adjust some of the pictures and ephemera on the board.  It’s not that I want to take anything away, I just want to add some intentions about my goals for the remaining school year and then into the summer. 

Right now I have agreed to do three different training sessions this summer.  I’m really excited about this because, being an educational consultant is my ultimate goal.  I want to help people be better teachers.  In order to do this, I must be a good teacher. One part of that is getting experience training.  I have presented some training and had a session or two at different conferences, but I’m really excited about this summer’s opportunities. 

My first session will be on a mind mapping technique that I utilize for Science Literacy in my classroom.

The next session will be a full day that covers some of the Foldables that I have created in my classroom. (Pictures to come for those of you who love Foldables!)

Finally, I have agreed to present a three-day session on matter an energy which is a weak spot for me. This is going to take the most prep work and be the most challenging, but in the end, it will be the most beneficial to me.  I will have to get down and dirty with the content…

Back to the vision board…I want to capture my intentions for these trainings in a creative and meaningful way.  At the moment, I can’t think of anything in particular that inspires me; however, I know I will find it.  That said, let me share my current vision board with all of you in teacher land…I’ll post when I have an update.

The Beginning...

So today begins the initial post for an idea that has been a long time coming. My challenge is to illustrate and capture what it actually means to "teach your ass off."

We know that teaching is not an easy job; we know that there is nothing as intricate and complex. We know that being a teacher is exhausting, enthralling, and intoxicating in every minute that passes during the school day. When you find yourself in that "zone," "flow state," or what I like to call, "no instructional practice will ever top this lesson I've designed and I will most certainly be teacher of the year state," you will find that you are in fact, teaching your ass off.

So what makes today special? Nothing in particular.  There are only three school days left until Spring Break and I'm exhausted.  My back aches, my feet are swollen, I have a faint head ache, and I spent the majority of the day in the classroom due to the open house that was scheduled for this evening. But then I was thinking....

I thought about what was accomplished today.  I thought about how I did not feel like I was in my "Teacher of the Year State." Rather, today felt hectic and rushed; during each class period, I was being pulled from one group of students to another answering questions, troubleshooting faulty technology, helping make props for videos, and tutoring students for the dreaded STAAR assessment. It would seem as if today was a nightmare.

Instead, I think about how much fun I had going to Hobby Lobby to buy special props for students so they could dress up as black holes and protostars in order to role-play the life cycle of a star.  I am thinking about how much fun I had with my co-teacher during our STAAR tutorials when we gathered up groups of students and formed "human atoms." (I was lucky enough to be the "negative/ witchy" valence electron in the lithium model.)  I completely enjoyed watching kids allow themselves to step out of their egos and be part of the moment.  And I am even more impressed with how clever my dearest friend and co-teacher was when she had the kids speak lines of the persona of each subatomic particle. Brilliant!

In the middle of the day I watched two students include another student in their group project in an act of compassion and kindness.  They stopped everything that they were doing to include this kid and allowed him to experience the content first hand.

When the parents came to open house, every kid that walked through the door couldn't wait to show their parents what they had done in Science class today.  I had projects on the lab tables and a slide show running on the projector; it showcased the work we have done during the past few weeks. My favorite part of the entire day was meeting the parents of a student I have had for two years.  I was able to tell them that not only was this young man an exceptional student, but that he was a remarkable human being. And those were my exact words.

I will probably never forget how humble they were or the look on my student's face when I told him that he could do anything that he wanted.  I hope that he know it's true.

So even though my whole body aches, and I can hardly wait for Spring Break, and I feel like today was a whirlwind, I know that I taught my ass off.