It’s October, Let’s Help Them Love Reading

It’s October, so I will read “The Witches” to my class. I don’t try to teach through it the whole time. I want to enjoy it. I want to change my voices, laugh, gasp, and cackle like a witch. I want to slow my reading down to a soft slow whisper to build suspense. I want to love every moment of this reading. I want my class to scream “NOOOOOOO!!!!!” when I stop. I want this moment because I feel it is the only 15-20 minutes of my day that I can honestly show my children what it is like to enjoy reading a book.

Shadowcasters

The noun definition of shadow is “a dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.” As I saw these shadows this morning at school, I thought of the verb definition which is to “envelop in shadow; cast a shadow over.” To envelop in shadow is to cover or surround. (I know, I’m on a rabbit trail.) Next, I started thinking about the shadow we are casting. How are we covering and surrounding our school? Our students? Ourselves? Our families? Our words and attitude create that covering and surrounding that envelop those things. They shadow them. I want to be clear, I don’t always cast such a great shadow. Some days, some moments, are better than others, but I always try to be cognizant of the fact that I am always shadowing. As teachers, as friends, as members of families, we are shadow casters.

Stories Still Speak In The Dark

I get to school early, like it’s still dark outside early. This morning I went to the library and sat down for a minute waiting for the copier to warm up and I glanced over at the books… which got me thinking. My thought was this, “Even when it’s too dark to read them, our stories still speak.” I love books, all I have to do is see a cover or hear a title of one I’ve read and my mind races into the book. I think of the characters, what happened, the lessons learned, and, today, I realized, that means I’m never alone. I always have my memories, of stories read and stories told. These are precious memories to be held on to. It also invigorated me. Our students. Some of them are filled with stories. Some of them are not. We must be doing more than the “reading curriculum” says. We must be exposing them to books, reading them to them, with them, and giving them time to engage with them themselves. They need to see characters like themselves, whether it be through their culture or just the same problem, struggles, and situations they face. (Yes, they may be able to see themselves in Frog and Toad.) We need to be very intentional about making sure our students have these experiences. They too need to be spoken to in the dark by stories read and know they are not alone.

Winter Landscape – An Art Project

I’ve had a few great helpers show up to help with so many of our Christmas art projects this year, that I wanted to do a little thank you project with them while my kindergarteners finished their last thing. We decided on a beautiful winter landscape using sharpies, oil pastels, tissue paper, water colors, and tempera paints. I think they enjoyed doing something a little more “grown up”

I really wanted to remember how we did this, so I thought I would keep the directions here, even if just for myself.

1. We drew a landscape line across the paper to define the snowy hill from the sky.

2. We used a light blue oil pastel to trace just below the line and a few other spots and rubbed them with our fingers for a snowy effect.

3. We decided what color(s) our sky would be and painted them with water colors.

4. While we were waiting on the sky to dry, we cut triangles out of cardstock to turn into trees and covered them with tissue paper, cutting off the excess.

5. After choosing an arrangement, we glued the trees on the painted landscape.

6. Finally, we wanted to snow on our paper. We used a watered down acrylic paint and dipped a paintbrush in it. We held the paintbrush over our landscape and tapped it gently snowing over our work. Warning, this can be messy.

The Sights and Sounds of Early Reading in Kindergarten

What does early reading look like and sound like for kindergarteners?

Here is a beautiful picture of two emerging readers in the midst of the process. They find words they know and connect those with the pictures to make meaning.

Meaning, or comprehension, is why they read and why we read.

Notice how the words they say don’t always match the words on the page. It’s very normal at this emerging phase. Their words do match the pictures though. This is some of the evidence that we need to be looking for. They are reading. They are making sense of what they looking at. It’s authentic.

I guess the thing I’m making myself remember is this, it’s not just about the words on the page. It’s about meaning.

I caught these two doing this earlier this week. They had no idea I was watching and admiring at how far they’ve grown as readers.

If We Want to “Motivate” Students, Start With The Environment You Create For Them

I was perusing twitter and noticed a conversation with a number of teachers talking about student motivation. They were giving suggestions about different tricks and gimmicks to motivate students,all with the hopes of getting them to try harder, do better, or make better choices. As I looked at a few of the things said I was reminded of this truth that I’ve learned. Gimmicks and such don’t work for long term change. Our students are not animals who need to hear a bell so they can roll over and get a treat. They are more. They don’t need a bell, they need permission and freedom to try harder, do better, or make better choices.

If we really want to “motivate” students, we need to start by cultivating an environment where they feel safe, cared for, and believed in.

By creating this kind of judgement free environment, they will be more willing to take risks and develop empathy. It’s at this place that students will do those things they wanted; try harder, do better, or make better choices. I believe that these are the kinds of students, actually, these are the kind of people we want to send out into the world. I think we all can agree that an environment where people feel safe, cared for, and believed in would be a pretty nice place to live. It doesn’t mean there aren’t natural consequences. Thomas Edison tried and failed many times to create many things. What he had was permission to fail. He felt safe in it because he knew it would lead him closer to his goal. This freedom he felt is the kind of environment I think we need to cultivate for our students.

Give Them Permission to be Good

Kids were coming in the door as I was up front this morning. I was talking to another teacher and greeting all the kids as they walked in and past us. Some stopped. Some kept walking. Some spoke back and some didn’t. She made a comment about all the relationships I had made and the way I was talking to the kids.

I made the comment to her that some of our students just need permission to show how good and great they can be.

I believe that all the kids have the potential, some just don’t show it every day. Why? They don’t know they have the right, the permission to do so. I may not know all the reasons why, but I’d guess that a lot of them don’t have the inner-voice telling them that they can or should be.

A hope I have is that I not only give them them that permission daily, but that I also urge and beg them to share it with others. A simple invitation can go a long way…

Strong is the New Pretty – a Birthday Review

Happy Birthday M! This book was a special find and one that I knew she needed as she gets older and continues to grow into an amazing young lady.

For any parents and teachers alike, this book is a must for your home and classroom. It completely redefines "pretty" and shows just how wonderfully unique we all are. The authors chose such a rich diversity of young ladies from a wide range of ages and cultures. Your girls will be able to find girls "who look like them" which is drastically missing from so much literature.

As I write this, I see one of my sons reading this book with my M. He is engrossed in it, just like her. On second thought, this gives another reason this belongs in your classroom. Our young men can see what makes our young lady special and worthy of their respect and admiration. It's message they both need to see.

What’s Your Superpower?

"Barry's real superpower isn't speed, it's hope. The kid's got an endless reservoir. Thinks it's all gonna work out!" ~ HR

I have a confession, I am a superhero junkie. I love watching superhero tv shows, movies, and even the cartoons with my kids. I love the idea of good vs. evil. I love the idea of a hero.

With all this in mind, this quote totally grabbed my attention the other night as we were watching The Flash on Netflix. HR, one of the characters, said that the Flash's superpower wasn't speed, but rather was hope. He said that Flash always thinks that things are going to work out. It struck me because his "superpower" wasn't something make believe. It was something we all can have.

This got me thinking about teachers. We all have this enormous amount of hope. We hope for our schools. We hope for our communities. We hope for our students and their families. (and some of us hope for tenure, let's be real!)

The idea of hope has weighed heavy on me these past couple of years. There are so many things I've hoped and wished for that haven't happened and there are some things that did. I wont pretend like the things that didn't weren't disappointing, they were. BUT, I try to maintain a hope that things will work out, that there is a bigger and better plan for me.

This year, as its start gets closer and closer, I want to remind us all to maintain our hope. Dream and hope for bigger and better things for yourselves, your families, your students, your school and your community. Instead of saying that being a teacher is your superpower, let's make it hope. I honestly think that this superpower is one we can pass on to those around us.

Flash image from http://media.comicbook.com/2016/07/the-flash-192898.jpg

You Are Enough, Eat The Waffle Fries

“You are enough, Eat The Waffle Fries”

I’m coining this quote as my own, but the inspiration came from somewhere else. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about podcasting and possibly starting my own podcast. My brother and his wife told me about The Popcast With Knox and Jamie, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-popcast-with-knox-and-jamie/id712316884?mt=2 because they had met Jamie over the summer. (and they had lots of nice things to say about her!)

After their endorsement, I immediately subscribed to their podcast and downloaded one of their first podcasts from 2013. They talked pop culture, actors and actresses, movies, and tv, but what inspired me was their conversation about social media. They referenced an article that talked about how depressing these sites and apps can be. Somehow during that conversation, Jamie referenced both waffle fries and the phrase “You are worthy.”

This got me thinking about a conversation I’ve seen multiple times. Teachers, and non-teachers, stop comparing yourself to others in negative ways. Notice I said “in negative ways.” This was on purpose because I don’t think comparison is always bad. For example, you make brownies from scratch, twice, and you notice that your second batch is better. Comparison as a form of reflection isn’t always bad. We can use it to set goals for ourselves and our students. 

Comparison in negative ways is never good. You see a picture on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, wherever and you think you’ll never measure up or that you’ll never be that pretty/strong/organized/together. This thought process is never ok. 

So, with all this in mind. Aim high. Try to be better. Reflect and move forward. Aim even higher. Do your best and then do better. You are good enough. You are accepted. You are loved. You are great today and you will be even greater tomorrow. It doesn’t mean you won’t mess up. Don’t let you mess-ups and mistakes define you. 

“You are enough, Eat The Waffle Fries”