It has been a long time since I last posted and that is partly because the start to the school year has been filled with challenges of a new class, a student teacher, and just trying to get a genuine understanding of how my schedule will allow for the ambitious hopes I have for my students. Over the summer I would often be struck with ideas about concepts I find important, something I wanted to share, but with the incredible hustle of the first few weeks of school I have had little on my mind accept keeping straight all of the tasks I have taken on to start the year. One such spark came to me this week, and it is something I hope I always keep in mind as I move toward being an administrator.
This week, as I began to settle in, and my student teacher has started to assert herself in the classroom, I was once again struck with something. Our school is undergoing significant changes. This year there are five new teachers (or at least new again...) or about 20 percent of the certified staff, we will welcome a new administrator for the first time in nine years, and there are new people beginning to emerge as leaders. One thing I have noticed thus far, is a positive energy from many of the people in the building. Another, is a higher level of communication between teachers.
When I discussed our new administrator's arrival (this Tuesday) with a good friend at work, I shared both my concerns and my hopes. This new arrival will be very difficult in many ways. The learning curve will be high, the atmosphere very different, and oh yeah... it is a contract year. The final concern is the greatest. With a new, eager administrator looking to get started, we could be in for any number of rustled feathers. How we as a staff react and welcome him, and his response in turn during this potentially tumultuous process will shape the future of the school, its staff, and the families that trust us with their students. It is a relationship that must build with trust and mutual respect in order for both sides to feel comfortable enough to promote growth while leaving neither so comfortable that the school remains stagnant.
As teachers, we will ideally extend our welcome beyond words and attempt to work with our new chief whenever possible. Contract negotiations can often inhibit the willingness of people to go out of their way to help (sad but true.)
This conversation led me however, to another equally important thought while shaping the future of our small school. Working well collaboratively is essential to improving school-wide instruction. Last year I had the great fortune of working with a tremendous educator for whom I have great respect. While I have worked with excellent educators in the past as grade-level partners, this year was different. It was different not because she was necessarily better than any other teacher I have worked with, it was different because I felt that by working together, we made each other better and ultimately it benefited our students significantly. There is something to be said for pairing teachers together that develop strong teaching chemistry. I hope that when I am in charge of teacher placements, I can remember to keep it in mind. Some people just work well together, while others do not. While I enjoyed the paradigm of collaborative teaching environments, two other teachers (both of whom I respect) experienced the exact opposite. Neither could agree on anything, and unfortunately their conflicting styles as teachers, and people, led to a lack of communication and collaboration that genuinely hurt the class. It was not that they were bad teachers, its that they were bad together. I have seen other teachers work great together in the past, while some typically do not. Much like mixing the ingredients of a recipe, the combination of teachers, students, and support from other areas can lead to a something genuinely magnificent when done correctly, while the wrong mix can be to the detriment of everyone involved. Ultimately, a good leader must be a master at understanding the people with whom they work. They must work well enough with each person to help bring out the best in them, whatever it is they need.
Creating competition in schools could lead to the destruction of these best types of these relationships, while fostering collaboration and careful understanding of the staff in your building can lead to amazing educational opportunities for all of our students. As teachers, we should be striving to learn how to blend our skills with that of those around us to provide the best opportunities for our students. As leaders, we should seek to know and understand the strengths of our staff in ways that enable us to create collaborative environments that inspire success.
Either way, starting next week, we will have a new leader in the school. By trying to create and foster a collaborative environment with him as well as the other teachers around us, we will find ourselves pushing the school forward in a most positive direction. My greatest hope, is that he continues to get to know us as both educators and as people, so that he can learn how to work with each person to bring out their best abilities.
Thanks for reading
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Teaching Terror: Putting 9-11 in Perspective for Primary Students
Twelve years ago now, a horrible, terrifying event took place that will be the defining event for people of my generation. Like those before me, from Roosevelt's death to VDay/VJday, to Kennedy and MLK, I will never forget the tragic, terrifying events that unfolded on September 11th, 2001. Like many other people the images and memories have been burned into my brain by the intensity of the emotion. I was fortunate not to lose anyone on that day, but I know several people whose world dropped along with the steel and glass that day. It is as important an event in American history as any our students will learn about because of how drastically it altered the landscape of the world. But ever since my first year of teaching, I have been required to teach students who were many years from being born about the significance of that day. It is difficult to imagine explaining the fear, concern, and devastation that rocked the country that day when speaking to 5 and 6 year olds the as,e way I will have to explain to my daughter one day.
Two years ago on the 10th anniversary, I finally realized what my purpose should be when teaching this tragedy to the future youth of America. The phrase "We Will Never Forget" has a lot of meanings and is a popular one for sure, but what does that really mean? In one way it is literal, we will always remember the images, feelings, and our personal stories from that day. But what does mystery teach a 5 year old? When I thought about this, I realized that sad as it is, we have already forgotten. My story is a common one. I was in college, got a phone call early in the morning, put on the news and then watched in horror, barely believing my eyes. But, within two hours, 20 of us that lived on a hall had decided to go donate blood to help out. We went to a local hospital within walking distance. When we got there, it was so packed with people hoping to donate that the hospital closed a section to create a makeshift blood bank. So many people wanting to help was amazing. As days went on there were many stories about the heroic first responders, the heroes on Flight 93, people volunteering to dig through debris or help look for loved ones, and of course countless others like mine. Also, people felt a pride in being American that I had never seen and I can only guess hasn't been shown since at best, the Cold War. Politicians worked together to get necessary things done, people were generally responsive to the needs of others, and Americans banded together from one coast to the other. In short, the attacks had the exact opposite result that their perpetrators had intended. We were stronger, more unified, and more caring for one another than ever before.
Those are the lessons that we should teach our young children: lessons of caring for each other, volunteering, and pride in the amazing nation we call the United States of America.
Fast forward 12 years and sadly it seems many of those lessons about the value of community and our great nation have dissipated. That short era of caring, community and cooperation has all but evaporated for every day life for many Americans. So as a teacher, a parent, and a member of the generation for whom 9-11 was a benchmark moment, I feel responsible for imparting on my young students those messages.
When I think of how I can best honor those who gave their lives and fight back against that kind of horrible terrorist action, the best way I can think of is to teach these children how amazing it was to be an American in the days and weeks following that horrible event. My goal every 9-11 is to try and instill my class with a sense of hope, community, and a little classic American Patriotism to ensure that not only will we never forget, but that as a nation, our future Americans will develop in such a way that defies the terror and embraces the great potential of the people of this country.
Thanks for reading.
Two years ago on the 10th anniversary, I finally realized what my purpose should be when teaching this tragedy to the future youth of America. The phrase "We Will Never Forget" has a lot of meanings and is a popular one for sure, but what does that really mean? In one way it is literal, we will always remember the images, feelings, and our personal stories from that day. But what does mystery teach a 5 year old? When I thought about this, I realized that sad as it is, we have already forgotten. My story is a common one. I was in college, got a phone call early in the morning, put on the news and then watched in horror, barely believing my eyes. But, within two hours, 20 of us that lived on a hall had decided to go donate blood to help out. We went to a local hospital within walking distance. When we got there, it was so packed with people hoping to donate that the hospital closed a section to create a makeshift blood bank. So many people wanting to help was amazing. As days went on there were many stories about the heroic first responders, the heroes on Flight 93, people volunteering to dig through debris or help look for loved ones, and of course countless others like mine. Also, people felt a pride in being American that I had never seen and I can only guess hasn't been shown since at best, the Cold War. Politicians worked together to get necessary things done, people were generally responsive to the needs of others, and Americans banded together from one coast to the other. In short, the attacks had the exact opposite result that their perpetrators had intended. We were stronger, more unified, and more caring for one another than ever before.
Those are the lessons that we should teach our young children: lessons of caring for each other, volunteering, and pride in the amazing nation we call the United States of America.
Fast forward 12 years and sadly it seems many of those lessons about the value of community and our great nation have dissipated. That short era of caring, community and cooperation has all but evaporated for every day life for many Americans. So as a teacher, a parent, and a member of the generation for whom 9-11 was a benchmark moment, I feel responsible for imparting on my young students those messages.
When I think of how I can best honor those who gave their lives and fight back against that kind of horrible terrorist action, the best way I can think of is to teach these children how amazing it was to be an American in the days and weeks following that horrible event. My goal every 9-11 is to try and instill my class with a sense of hope, community, and a little classic American Patriotism to ensure that not only will we never forget, but that as a nation, our future Americans will develop in such a way that defies the terror and embraces the great potential of the people of this country.
Thanks for reading.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
If At First You Don't Succeed...
So after just three days of having students, I realized something that although I have said, sometimes it is easy to forget. As adults, educators, and role models, we never get to stop learning!
Over the past few years I grown both more accomplished, and more confident as a classroom teacher. So much so, in fact, that I have often stated that I can fix any behavior problem, teach any student, and that there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome. I have lived that mantra and proved myself at least somewhat capable of it in the past. But after just the first day of school, I scratched my head a few times. I had two choices, go get a drink or take a nice long relaxing walk. We have most likely all had a day like this as an educator, but rarely have I experienced such a frustrating day on the first day. To top it all off, I had the good fortune of having my student teacher soak in the experience! I learned some valuable lessons by the next morning, and I went back to work refreshed and ready to try again.
Each of my three days has gotten better, leaving me much more hopeful for the year to come. But I wanted to share some things I realized in those three days that will make me, my student teacher, and hopefully others, a better teacher.
The First Day of school is slightly terrifying - There are few moments more exciting, exhilarating, and ultimately terrifying than that first moment when you close the door behind your brand new class, look out among the new faces, and realize that for the next 7 hours, these kids are yours and what will happen to them in the next year, and for many of them the rest of their lives will largely be impacted by the decisions you make and the things you can accomplish. I can only imagine it being something like the lead walking into a one man show on the stage on Broadway for opening night, only the audience is smaller and they don't always want to be there. 15 minutes into my "performance" I realized two things, first this year is going to provide a fresh set of challenges (which is in honesty a good thing in many ways) and second, I had failed to introduce the students in my room to the student teacher! I was so zoned into my "performance" that I neglected something I should have prioritized! It won't be the last time I do not get to everything I had planned but I need to say that in the combination of excitement and terror, I overlooked something important. In my zest for establishing the class as an amazing place for students to learn, I failed to hit an important point. My biggest learning point from the first 15 minutes of my day, is that no matter how prepared you are, you need to accept that you will never do everything you wanted. Instead, you must create and prioritize the important goals you have for the day, and get them in accordingly. On the other hand, it is NEVER TOO LATE to teach something that you feel is important!
Sometimes you need to have other people remind you of things you already know - This happens to us all the time. I was spoiled in the past four years that many of my challenges in the classroom were centered around overcoming either behavioral or academic issues, but rarely both. When being faced with new challenges, we as teachers sometimes forget that many of the tricks, tools, and strategies we need can be retread and combined with new research to come up with great ideas. In my classroom, I have a huge binder that I helped to develop during a PLT. In the binder, we included tracking pages, strategies, resources and more. Not one time in these three days have I opened that binder and looked for resources. It took some advice from another educator to remind me that some of the things I needed to get started were right there in on the shelf in my classroom!
Solving a problem comes from having the right attitude, being willing to try, and being open to ideas from anywhere- No teacher, administrator, or educator, should be so foolish to believe that they cannot get help from others. With any problem, we ought to be open to finding solutions wherever they may be. We must continue to try! The alternative to trying to fix a problem, is giving up on your students. While it is acceptable to be frustrated, disheartened, or even angry about something during your day, you must always step back, take a deep breathe and try again! No teacher can ever give up on a problem, so therefore we must continue to try and try again in as many different ways as it takes. If nothing else, you have helped to eliminate all the bad ideas for the next teacher that inherits those students that need your help. Finally, and perhaps the most important, is to have the right attitude. When I left on the first day, I didn't feel great. I was disappointed, more so with myself than the class. By the next morning I was back to my hopeful self, trying again as it were. The things that were not working on day 1, were better on day 2, but by the end of the day, I was still frustrated. I had failed to get across many of the lessons I had hoped to impress on the students and again my time disappeared before my eyes. On Friday morning, I came back, refreshed and ready to try again. Finally, it seemed like I was getting there. The morning went better than I could have hoped. I would love to say the day was perfect, but lets face it, it was not! Instead, it was just good.
Celebrate small victories- In three short days, upon reflection, I realized that despite my lofty expectations not being met, the week had produced a number of great outcomes. When I left that day, I told my student teacher to celebrate a little this weekend, she had made it through the first week and things were looking better each day. What I did not think about, was that I myself should celebrate the same. Things are looking up and we made it through this first week having accomplished a lot!
New challenges make us better - I always say that I do not envy those teachers who repeat the same subject, same lesson each day for the entire year. This week I was reminded of a valuable lesson I learned a long time ago: no two classes are the same, so no matter how great a lesson was the first time, the next time, it will need to be different. Those teachers that teach the "same thing" over and over, really are faced with new challenges each period rather than each day. Regardless, these new challenges provide us with opportunities to increase our knowledge, test our skills, empower us with positive attitudes, and find the best within ourselves.
Surround yourself with the right people - This is not just me! In this week I have had this discussion with several other people, each one of us at some point needing another person's positive attitude to help us reframe our thinking and regain the right frame of mind. There is no shame in needing a bump back onto the path every once in a while, and having those people around you will be a great step in that direction!
Finally: When you can laugh or cry... make sure that no matter which you do first, you finish with the laugh! While my students and coursework have provided me with some very frustrating moments this week (many of which are of my own accord) they have also provided me with lots of positives and some of the most lighthearted and enjoyable situations I have had in months!
I will leave you with this little gem from my room: (We are decorating with mustaches, a first grade favorite, and each child is taking a picture with a fake stache...)
Student Teacher: Move over there and hold your mustache up for the picture
Student: Up here? Look now its a unibrow!
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to laugh!
Over the past few years I grown both more accomplished, and more confident as a classroom teacher. So much so, in fact, that I have often stated that I can fix any behavior problem, teach any student, and that there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome. I have lived that mantra and proved myself at least somewhat capable of it in the past. But after just the first day of school, I scratched my head a few times. I had two choices, go get a drink or take a nice long relaxing walk. We have most likely all had a day like this as an educator, but rarely have I experienced such a frustrating day on the first day. To top it all off, I had the good fortune of having my student teacher soak in the experience! I learned some valuable lessons by the next morning, and I went back to work refreshed and ready to try again.
Each of my three days has gotten better, leaving me much more hopeful for the year to come. But I wanted to share some things I realized in those three days that will make me, my student teacher, and hopefully others, a better teacher.
The First Day of school is slightly terrifying - There are few moments more exciting, exhilarating, and ultimately terrifying than that first moment when you close the door behind your brand new class, look out among the new faces, and realize that for the next 7 hours, these kids are yours and what will happen to them in the next year, and for many of them the rest of their lives will largely be impacted by the decisions you make and the things you can accomplish. I can only imagine it being something like the lead walking into a one man show on the stage on Broadway for opening night, only the audience is smaller and they don't always want to be there. 15 minutes into my "performance" I realized two things, first this year is going to provide a fresh set of challenges (which is in honesty a good thing in many ways) and second, I had failed to introduce the students in my room to the student teacher! I was so zoned into my "performance" that I neglected something I should have prioritized! It won't be the last time I do not get to everything I had planned but I need to say that in the combination of excitement and terror, I overlooked something important. In my zest for establishing the class as an amazing place for students to learn, I failed to hit an important point. My biggest learning point from the first 15 minutes of my day, is that no matter how prepared you are, you need to accept that you will never do everything you wanted. Instead, you must create and prioritize the important goals you have for the day, and get them in accordingly. On the other hand, it is NEVER TOO LATE to teach something that you feel is important!
Sometimes you need to have other people remind you of things you already know - This happens to us all the time. I was spoiled in the past four years that many of my challenges in the classroom were centered around overcoming either behavioral or academic issues, but rarely both. When being faced with new challenges, we as teachers sometimes forget that many of the tricks, tools, and strategies we need can be retread and combined with new research to come up with great ideas. In my classroom, I have a huge binder that I helped to develop during a PLT. In the binder, we included tracking pages, strategies, resources and more. Not one time in these three days have I opened that binder and looked for resources. It took some advice from another educator to remind me that some of the things I needed to get started were right there in on the shelf in my classroom!
Solving a problem comes from having the right attitude, being willing to try, and being open to ideas from anywhere- No teacher, administrator, or educator, should be so foolish to believe that they cannot get help from others. With any problem, we ought to be open to finding solutions wherever they may be. We must continue to try! The alternative to trying to fix a problem, is giving up on your students. While it is acceptable to be frustrated, disheartened, or even angry about something during your day, you must always step back, take a deep breathe and try again! No teacher can ever give up on a problem, so therefore we must continue to try and try again in as many different ways as it takes. If nothing else, you have helped to eliminate all the bad ideas for the next teacher that inherits those students that need your help. Finally, and perhaps the most important, is to have the right attitude. When I left on the first day, I didn't feel great. I was disappointed, more so with myself than the class. By the next morning I was back to my hopeful self, trying again as it were. The things that were not working on day 1, were better on day 2, but by the end of the day, I was still frustrated. I had failed to get across many of the lessons I had hoped to impress on the students and again my time disappeared before my eyes. On Friday morning, I came back, refreshed and ready to try again. Finally, it seemed like I was getting there. The morning went better than I could have hoped. I would love to say the day was perfect, but lets face it, it was not! Instead, it was just good.
Celebrate small victories- In three short days, upon reflection, I realized that despite my lofty expectations not being met, the week had produced a number of great outcomes. When I left that day, I told my student teacher to celebrate a little this weekend, she had made it through the first week and things were looking better each day. What I did not think about, was that I myself should celebrate the same. Things are looking up and we made it through this first week having accomplished a lot!
New challenges make us better - I always say that I do not envy those teachers who repeat the same subject, same lesson each day for the entire year. This week I was reminded of a valuable lesson I learned a long time ago: no two classes are the same, so no matter how great a lesson was the first time, the next time, it will need to be different. Those teachers that teach the "same thing" over and over, really are faced with new challenges each period rather than each day. Regardless, these new challenges provide us with opportunities to increase our knowledge, test our skills, empower us with positive attitudes, and find the best within ourselves.
Surround yourself with the right people - This is not just me! In this week I have had this discussion with several other people, each one of us at some point needing another person's positive attitude to help us reframe our thinking and regain the right frame of mind. There is no shame in needing a bump back onto the path every once in a while, and having those people around you will be a great step in that direction!
Finally: When you can laugh or cry... make sure that no matter which you do first, you finish with the laugh! While my students and coursework have provided me with some very frustrating moments this week (many of which are of my own accord) they have also provided me with lots of positives and some of the most lighthearted and enjoyable situations I have had in months!
I will leave you with this little gem from my room: (We are decorating with mustaches, a first grade favorite, and each child is taking a picture with a fake stache...)
Student Teacher: Move over there and hold your mustache up for the picture
Student: Up here? Look now its a unibrow!
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to laugh!
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