Happiness: A Work in Progress

Love Love LOVE a teacher blog called It's Not All Flowers and Sausages. I've been following the blog for about a year now and find the blogger, Mrs. Mimi, interesting, somewhat controversial, and always funny.

Yesterday she mentioned The Happiness Project in her blog. I researched the project a bit, and I'm totally interested in how it can help me develop as a teacher. Now, I'm all for working hard developing new lessons, reflecting on student achievement, or collaborating with fellow teachers, but you should know by now that I am extremely invested in nurturing a teacher's spirit. (Refer to my mind, body, spirit posts if you need a refresher.)

Because I'm emotionally invested in teaching, I think it's incredibly important to keep myself healthy in every way possible. I think that many times, teachers neglect the "soul" part of staying healthy because honestly, it's the easiest part to overlook. I'd move to to argue that most professions neglect the "soul" part as well. It's tough to admit to others (and yourself) that you need some "soul work," but I've found that taking some precious time during planning to read a book like Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching is just as valuable as planning a lesson. It may not happen every day, but I'd like to participate in the Happiness Project just to give my teacher spirit a boost during the winter months.

Food For Thought

I came across this video while searching for new and exciting teaching strategies on YouTube. I can't say that I agree with the "what good teachers don't need" portion. I think that an outgoing personality, a master's degree, and teaching experience certainly add to a well-rounded educator, specifically when communicating with parents,  writing curriculum, or handling difficult teaching situations. But I do agree that making sure all students keep up, changing lesson plans as needed, and setting high goals are tremendously important for student achievement. In any case, it's good to see that teachers are being recognized for their outstanding work!

December Post Hiding in My Blog Drafts

Happy New Year! I found this little stinker hiding in my blog drafts this morning...I thought I'd published it, but in the chaos of pre-Christmas teaching, I neglected to double-check. Enjoy!

Don't take it personally.

These four little words used to make my blood boil. Truth be told, I used to be one of the most emotional, reactive, and sensitive teachers ever. Anything, EVERYTHING that happened in my classroom used to send me over the edge or melt me down. We're talking the good and the bad, here. You used a period after 6 months of run on sentences? I'm crying. You continue a disruptive behavior I've repeatedly asked you to fix? I'm yelling. Let's get honest, folks. I made my students' behaviors about me. Every choice they made was a reflection of me, of my instructional skills, of my worth as a teacher and as a person. So when colleagues told me "don't take it personally," I just couldn't understand. 

Over the years, I developed rationalizations for my distorted thinking. I told myself that it was okay to take my students' behaviors personally. I excused the ups and downs because "Hey, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and that's real." Other times, I told myself that "Nobody wants a Miss Mary Sunshine Teacher all  the time, especially if she's faking it." At the end of every day I'd mentally assign myself a grade based on the choices my students made. The grades were almost always negative because there was NO way all 24 of my students would do everything I wanted them to do every day. 

Let's get real, people. This is NO way to live, professionally or personally. I was torturing my fragile teacher ego on a daily basis. And like I've said before, my teaching and personal life is so deeply intertwined, there was no way to keep this habit from affecting my personal life. I'd cry on my drive to school, while my kids ate lunch, on my way home. Somehow, I had managed to break my own teaching spirit. (The negative environments I taught in didn't help, either.) The saddest part is, I'm not alone. Many teachers feel and act this way!

Luckily, I've turned things around this year. As I've been reading Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching, I'm reassessing some of the behaviors I've written off or rationalized. And although the advice this book offers is geared towards teachers, I feel like it's beneficial for anyone and everyone. The author, Angela Watson, writes:

"Recognize that the way people treat you is mostly a reflection of how they feel about themselves and their own lives."

This set me free! It gave me permission to stop judging, grading, hurting myself. Now, I'm also blessed with a wonderful class and school environment, but I have to give myself some credit. I try not to take things personally anymore. I don't make student behaviors about me. I make their behaviors about them. This in no way means that I'm tougher or meaner, rather, I'm more efficient. My students understand that I am here to help them. Ultimately, I realize that not taking things personally benefits me and my students' progress. 

Tuesday Rant

Dear Movie Industry,

I am writing to ask you for a small favor. Would you please stop turning all of my favorite children's books into movies?! Not only is it annoying to see my beloved storylines butchered, twisted, and revamped into crowd-pleasing screenplays, but you're ruining my lessons on prediction strategies! For instance, how am I going to set my students up for Violet Beauregarde's transformation into a blueberry (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) if they already know it's coming? 

You're robbing me of the joy of sharing one of my all-time favorite stories with my students. I don't get to see their faces light up the way mine did when my teacher read it to me. (Granted, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" starring Gene Wilder was out since the '70s...but I didn't see it until well after I was introduced to the book.) Every wintry Wednesday during "Morning Meeting," Mary, our head of school, would read a chapter or two of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I hung on her every word, the room was absolutely silent--she barely spoke above a whisper. Those read-aloud moments with her were magical, that's the only way I can describe it.

Well, Movie Industry, I can't really recreate that same feeling my own class, now can I?! Sure, I've got a few Roald Dahl favorites that haven't been turned into movies....yet. But so far you've covered: 

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• James and the Giant Peach
• Matilda
• The BFG
• The Witches
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Danny, Champion of the World

I'm telling you now, Movie Industry, if you even think about turning The Twits, Boy, The Magic Finger, or Esio Trot into movies in the near future, I WILL be knocking on your front door with some serious complaints. You've done enough, let's call it quits. I'd like to keep some magic and mystery in my read-alouds.

Sincerely,

Miss Boyd

Stand and Deliver

Almost two weeks ago, I attended the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Regional Conference in St. Louis. It was among one of the most profound teaching experiences of my short teaching life!

I always enjoy attending conferences, not just because I get the opportunity to be part of a grown-up world for a few days, but also because of that pesky "lifelong learner" habit I seemed to develop early on. I like challenging my beliefs as a teacher. I realize that my college education (M-I-Z...), although exemplary, may have provided me with only one side of an array of teaching and learning styles. It's also beneficial to have my beliefs reaffirmed by the big-wigs at these conferences. I don't need much reassurance as a teacher, but I do appreciate the validation at times. 

Although the entire conference was spectacular, I'd like to focus on just one aspect that made me cringe. 

I attended a conference session entitled "Quantity: A Gateway to Number Sense" that was supposed to focus on creating number sense for Kindergarten through second grade students. Now, at this point in the conference, I was still  reeling from the previous session on fact fluency that blew my mind. So I walk into this "Quantity" session with a pretty optimistic attitude and an open mind. I listened attentively during the presenter introductions and the opening statements...but after about 5 minutes, I was ready to leave.

The "Quantity" presenters were obviously prepared and organized for the session; they had packets and games arranged neatly at our tables as we walked in. They had a slide presentation, and many "make and take" activities prepared for us in the back of the room. Conversely, the "Fact Fluency" session I attended (the one that blew me away) was little more than a man lecturing at the front of the room with a PowerPoint presentation. He didn't even give us handouts. 

So what made the difference? Why did the "lecture" win me over and the "make and take" make me sleepy?

Well, I've been turning this situation over and over again in my mind, and the best possible explanation I have is that it all came down to the speakers. Sure, the "lecturer" didn't have any exciting games or activities to send us home with--just information and research about the latest advances in fact fluency. But you could tell just by listening to him that he was passionate about the subject, he believed in the research he was presenting to us and was proud of the results he delivered. 

On the other hand, the "make and take" ladies were incredibly concerned with everyone having the right materials, understanding the different games, and getting through dozens of activities in a short amount of time that I think they may have lost their passion along the way. 

So, how does this translate into my life as a second grade teacher? Well, I realize that it's great to have dynamic activities and engaging games that enhance the learning experience, but honestly, it's all about passion. If you can teach a concept from the front of the class and keep all twenty-or-so students hanging on your every word for the duration of your lecture, have at it! You won't sell me with your fancy song and dance unless YOU believe in it.

 Passion is the secret ingredient in performance. 

What did YOU learn today?

Let's be honest...how much have we learned since the last time we were in school?

After to talking to high school and college friends and a few family members (all in various professional fields), I've discovered that very few of my peers participate in "academic learning" after leaving academic institutions. Of course, they receive training and ongoing education in their professional fields, but I'm noticing that learning for the sake of learning isn't really a priority after we're issued a diploma. I'm guilty too.

My administrator sent out a link to the Khan Academy a while ago, and I've been obsessed with the website ever since. ANYTHING you want to learn about with math, science, or the humanities is listed on the site, with videos that explain everything. I watched a video about scale that blew my mind, and it got me thinking...maybe I should try to learn something new once in a while. Maybe not everyday, perhaps just once a week or a month. That way, I can still identify with my students in the sense that learning something new isn't always easy. I think that as adults, we forget that sometimes.

PROUDEST Moment of the Week (I know it's only Monday, but...)

Can I just say...this picture captures my PROUDEST moment for the week so far (and its only Monday!) Here's why:

1. This question directly connects to learning in the classroom.  Up until now, the graphing questions of the day have been pretty normal ("What's your favorite color? What's your favorite subject? What's your favorite animal?") and haven't really reflected anything we've learned about in class. We've been learning about different ways to add and subtract 2-digit numbers and practicing the various strategies every day in class.

2. My student came up with this graphing question on his own, which means he's internalized the vocabulary, math concept, and strategy enough to discuss it independently, without me having to prompt him.

3. My students are capable of some simple self-assessment. They didn't all choose the same strategy as their favorite, although "stacking" is the obvious front-runner. ("Stacking" is the traditional way most of us learned to add and subtract.)

I tell ya, it's moments like these that affirm my teaching practices...it's like a little voice saying, "Yes, what you're doing is important, it is working, and they are learning."