To Young Teachers that Have Touched My Soul

Well, time sure flies when you are making relationships that touch your life forever!
Ten years ago, Dru Sjodin went missing and one of her very dear friends was student teaching with me.  This young teacher became part of my heart, soul and family!  Four years later, the fiance of Joel Lovelien was in my room with me.
These anniversaries have made me reflect on the amazing, let me repeat - AMAZING young educators that have graced my classroom:  Alicia, Erin, Joe, Mary, Rebecca, Heather, Brad, Laura.... I have been blessed by you all and have been so proud to call you friends... some have even become my extended "family" - I love them like siblings.  Lucky!  Yes, I am blessed!

So, with a new TEAM student starting in my classroom, I was reflecting on what I would tell a new teacher today.  And this is my list:

1.  There is more than one way to teach effectively.  You must determine what works best with your personality and your students while meeting the expectations of your administrator and school district.

2.  Get to know your students. Listen, empathize, and above all be patient. Your students are great people. Let them know that you care about them and their education.   

3. Teaching is hard work. It is much more work than you ever thought possible. It is essential that you are organized and use your time efficiently.  It is essential that beginning teachers give themselves sufficient time to plan as well as learn to be flexible.

4. Standards cannot be ignored.  Look at the standards as an aid to good teaching. Standards help you decide what to teach, support your decisions about what and how to teach, and focus curriculum so that you do not spend too much time on a favorite subject and ignore important concepts that must be taught.

5. Write objectives that focus on student learning.  Focus on what you really expect students to learn and to be able to do. Thinking about the criteria for student success before giving an assignment will help you determine your expectations.  Clearly stating your expectations upfront helps students to know what they need to do to be successful.

6. Smile, and do so frequently.  You may be the only adult who smiles or greets an individual student warmly today. You may never know the importance of those smiles or other expressions of caring. Remember, you do not know what has happened to your students before they entered your classroom.

7. Respect your students. Treat your students as intelligent humans beings.  Students can be taught responsibility for their own actions by following your example. This means you should always be prepared, return papers promptly, and provide feedback that is quick, helpful, and thoughtful.

8. Believe in your students even if they don’t believe in themselves.

9. Don’t isolate yourself.  It is essential that beginning teachers become proactive in developing a support system.  If possible, establish a mentor relationship with an experienced teacher. A mentor relationship encourages you to cooperatively seek solutions, increases your awareness of alternatives, provides a sounding board to vent frustrations, and allows you to learn from the experiences of a colleague.

10. It is not appropriate to teach the way we were taught. The world is changing quickly and the way that teaching and learning takes place should be completely different from the one you grew up in.

In summary, effective teachers are constantly learning from their successes and failures. To be effective, one must look back on their practices and assess what works well and what doesn’t.

More great advice:

How to Be a Teacher for More Than 5 Years Without Killing Yourself Or Others — Pursuing Context:

Parent-Teacher Conferences

I have been away from my blog for far too long.  I am busy getting to know my students, learning third grade curriculum and getting prepared for Parent-teacher conferences.  As I am sitting here at my kitchen table preparing for parent-teacher conferences, I have created my newest blog-post:  

Making the Most of Parent-Teacher Conferences

I spend the first month of school getting to know each child and gathering data.  I know I have a lot to share, and am excited to visit with parents!  Student teachers are always amazed at the time and energy put into these very short meetings.  But, getting to know your students not only prepares you not only for conferences; it prepares you for a successful year of responsive teaching.

Parent-teacher conferences offer great opportunities to deepen a working relationship with parents.  It is my goal to highlight their child's strengths, celebrate their gifts and interests, and discuss growth opportunities. 

A little planning is vital to effective conferences.

Here are some tips for new teachers:

Make an outline and gather materials and baseline data. A plan for how you'll divide up the time will help you stay on track:

5 minutes: Opening conversation

5 minutes: Report on academic progress, successes, and growth areas

5 minutes: Report on social progress, successes and growth areas

5 minutes: Summing up

·      I put all my baseline data in a quick table in outline format.  This is something the parents can read at a glance and take home with them.

·      If a parent raises an urgent issue or has concerns that need further discussion, it may be beneficial to schedule another conference or meeting.

·      In addition to writing an outline, you'll want to make notes for topics you want to cover, have student work samples, assessment results, and anything else you want to share with parents.

·      Invite parents to share their thoughts. As experts on their children, parents can share valuable insights.

·      As a team, set goals that are attainable within the school year.  We want each child to grow and learn the entire year.

Be Prepared for Surprises

·      Parents sometimes surprise us with negative or personal questions or comments.

·      Steer the conversation back to positives.

·      Focus on the child.

·      Listen with empathy.

·      Offer to get help.

Follow Up and Follow Through

If you offered to find resources, gather information, and so forth, make sure you do so—and share the results with parents.

Weekly or monthly newsletters are a great way to keep parent informed of what is going on in the classroom.
Send home a copy of the goals (adding a little thank you comment helps with establishing good rapport with the parents).

Each parent-teacher conference can be a powerful occasion for meaningful communication with families. Thinking ahead and following some simple guidelines will help ensure that conferences are positive and productive for everyone.

First Day in Third Grade

"Just Right Fit"

Today was the first day of  Third Grade for me and my students.  What a great discussion we had today about being a learner, our talents and things we would like to work on.  After the usual rules, procedures, Code of Conduct and general learning about how school works; I had a little circle time with my amazing class.  We all took of our left shoe.  We talked about how that shoe fit us, was easy to walk and run in, or fit our fashion needs.

I wore my favorite pink wedge sandles pictured above today.  LOVE these shoes for so many reasons - but most of all because they fit!  I handed my shoe to an adorable brown-eyed boy in my class.  I told him to give it a try.  I asked him "How do they fit?  Will they work for you?"  This very articulate boy told me they fit.  "However, they aren't very comfortable.  They are too high and don't work well with socks."

This pattern continued.  We passed shoes and tried them on.  Some were too tight and they pinched our toes.  Some were too big.  Some were a little big, but would work if we could get some help as we grew into them.  And, others fit but just weren't the right style.  As the discussion and shoe trading came to a close we discovered that it was PERFECT that we were all different!  

Just like our shoes are different, we know we are different learners.  I promised my students today that I will find the right learning fit for them, support them when they are growing into a new size and help them move into a new size when things seem too small or tight.

My children were able to tell me and each other that they know they need different things as learners - and that was music to my ears.  I promised that as their teacher, that it was my job to find the "Just Right Fit" that would support and challenge them as learners.

The kids get it!  They understand that "Fairness is not everyone getting the same thing, but everyone getting what they need."  (Tomlinson)

Here's to a year of "Everyone getting what they need" to be successful!

50 Common Core Resources for Teachers

The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, English Language Arts (ELA) and Literacy are rigorous, internationally benchmarked, and aligned with college and work expectations.  The standards set requirements for literacy across the content areas, including history/social studies, science, and technical subjects.

What are the shifts?

Click on this link for awesome resources for teachers:  50 Common Core Resources For Teachers

Next Generation Science Standards

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were released on April 9.  The new standards establish learning expectations for students K–12 by combining three important dimensions: science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts.  NGSS provides an approach to science instruction that will significantly change the way science is taught and learned.  North Dakota will explore adopting these standards this summer.

Click HERE for a quick video introducing the NGSS.

Click HERE to view the standards.

Click HERE to explore The NSTA Learning Center.

Dear Teachers Everywhere...

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week 2013, with Tuesday designated as National Teacher Day.  

This is the week that we celebrate our teachers for the gift of learning.  

Darlene Johnson shared this blog post with me, 

and I would like to share it with you.

Jen Hatmaker does a great job of explaining how teachers make a difference.  

Her words are far better then mine could ever be.  

Click here to read her letter:  Dear Teachers Everywhere...

Summer is just around the corner.... do you have your book list?

The snow is finally melting, the Red River has crested and we are looking at our May calendars.  Before we know it, May 24^th will be here and it will be summertime when the living is...a little bit easier.

We all look forward to the warm, lazy weekends and afternoons, the lure of the lawn chair, the deck, or chaise lounge.  Those are precisely the moments when you need a roundup of the season's most delectable reads for yourself, your children…. and don’t forget to recommend some to your students.

As an adult be sure to show children and young adults that reading is important to you.  In other words:  “Model, model, model”.  Children who observe adults reading become readers themselves.

Make summer reading a way to connect with others.  Encourage students to discuss books with others.  This can be with family, in a book club or on a blog.  Talking about books brings excitement to reading. 

Make time to read over the summer.  Encourage young readers to set aside an hour a day just for books.  Encourage them to keep a reading journal — even if it's just the book titles.

Listening to reading is a good way to enjoy a book as well.  Check out audio books from your library or download them into iTunes.  Listening to books on the car or on the plane is good way to occupy time during travel.

What to recommend?

Top 10 Best Selling Picture Books:

Steam Train, Dream Train, by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld

Peoms to Learn by Heart, by Caroline Kennedy. Illustrated by Jon J Muth

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld

The Dark, by Lemony Snicket. Illustrated by Jon Klassen

This is Not My Hat, by Jon Klassen

Press Here, by Hervé Tullet

Emeraldalicious, by Victoria Kann

Pete the Cat:  I Love My White Shoes, by Eric Litwin

Let’s Go For a Drive!, by Mo Willems

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, by Eric Litwin. Illustrated by James Dean

Top books for Intermediate Grades:

Wonder, by R. J. Palacio

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate

Timmy Failure, by Stephan Pastis

I Funny, by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

Chomp, by Carl Hiaasen

Out of My Mind, by Sharon M. Draper

The False Prince, by Jennifer A. Nielsen

‘Who Could That Be At This Hour?’, by Lemony Snicket

The Apothcary, by Maile Meloy

Young Adult:

The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

Divergent, by Veronic Roth

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

What Really Happened in Peru, by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

Insurgent, By Veronica Roth

Looking for Alaska, by John Green

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Paper Towns, by John Green

An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green

Legend, by Marie Lu

Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell

Series:

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

The Mortal Instruments, by Cassandra Clare

Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Big Nate, written and illustrated by Lincoln Peirce

Magic Tree House, by Mary Pope

The Infernal Devices, by Cassandra Clare

Percy Jackson & The Olympians, by Rick Riordan

Heroes of Olympus, by Rick Riordan

Kingdom Keepers, by Ridley Pearson

Good Reads for Teachers:

Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning, by Peter Johnston

Kindergarten Literacy, by Anne McGill-Franzen

Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension Grades 6–12, by Cris Tovani

Learning to Trust: Transforming Difficult Elementary Classrooms Through Developmental Discipline, by Marilyn Watson and Laura Ecken

The Reading Zone: How to Help Kids Become Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, Critical Readers, by Nancie Atwell

What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Literacy and Learning, by James Gee

The Disciplined Mind: Beyond Facts and Standardized Tests, the K–12 Education that Every

Child Deserves, by Howard Gardner

Schooling America: How the Public Schools Meet the Nation’s Changing Needs, by Patricia Albjerg Graham

The Wisdom of Practice, by Lee Shulman

The Educated Mind, by Kieran Egan

Mosaic of Thought: The Power of Comprehension Strategy Instruction, by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmermann

A Teacher’s Sketch Journal, by Karen Ernst

Wondrous Words, by Katie Wood Ray

Misreading Masculinity: Boys, Literacy, and Popular Culture, by Thomas Newkirk

When Kids Can’t Read—What Teachers Can Do: A Guide for Teachers 6–12, by Kylene Beers

6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide, Grades 3 and Up, by Ruth Culham

The Fluent Reader, by Timothy Rasinski

Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School, by Georgia Heard

Five Minds for the Future, by Howard Gardner

Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century, by Howard Gardner

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, by Thomas Friedman

The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life, by Parker Palmer

Teacher Man: A Memoir, by Frank McCourt