Tag: engaging with students

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In Praise of Teachers

Today was the last day of school for my kids. We attended kindergarten graduation for one of our sons, and while we were there, I popped into my other kids’ classrooms to snap a quick picture of them with their teachers and say one more “thank you” to them. If there’s one thing I know, it’s that teachers don’t get thanked enough, so I didn’t want to end the year without them knowing that what they do matters. 

I’ve thought back on the school year and have remembered so many instances where the influence of a teacher caused a positive change. Most teachers will never know just how deeply they have impacted their students, but the parents do, and the parents remember. The students may not always remember, but their growth is proof of good teachers.

To the teachers out there, doing their best, thank you!

Thank you for sacrificing your personal time to plan, prep, and grade.

Thank you for planning engaging lessons.

Thank you for making each student feel seen and loved.

Thank you for the endless hours you spend doing your job.

Thank you for encouraging your students and cheering them on.

Thank you for celebrating the wins, and comforting during the losses.

Thank you for remembering important things about each student.

Thank you for advocating for your kids— sometimes (sadly) you’re the only one who will.

Thank you for pushing your students to be better, do better, and learn more.

Thank you for protecting your students.

Thank you for creating a safe place for kids to be.

Thank you for taking time to communicate with parents and guardians.

Thank you for welcoming all students, regardless of their background or situation.

Thank you for never giving up.

Thank you for reminding students that they are amazing, capable young people.

Thank you for instilling in them a sense of goodness and kindness.

Thank you for loving and caring.

Thank you for what you do and who you are.

So from one parent who remembers, thank you. Thank you to all the teachers out there who work hard and spend countless hours planning, prepping, teaching, grading, and caring. Your job isn’t easy: it’s exhausting, you’re underpaid, and often times, overlooked. But please know that there are parents who do see you, and who are grateful for your efforts.

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Summer Reading Doesn’t Have to be a Chore

Summer is almost upon us, and that usually means less structure and less of a schedule. And let’s be honest, that’s a blessing and a curse. It can be tricky to find a good balance between order and chaos. If you’re like me, you find yourself hitting panic mode right about now because how are you going to entertain the kids all day and get your work done and keep up with laundry and dishes and keep your kids’ brains from turning to mush?? It can be a lot. Let me take some of the stress off with a few helps! I’ve made a couple of summer reading resources that you can use. I’ve created a summer reading challenge with fun ideas of places to read and different kinds of things to read. I’ve also made a reading tracker. Both are available in color and black and white. You can decide if you want to have an end reward for completing the challenge and tracker! 

Some kids will just automatically pick up books over the summer and will read for hours on end. Others need a little more encouragement. Either way, I hope these resources help your kids stay on track and keep their minds active over the summer. 

Teachers, feel free to print this out and hand it out to your students before they leave your classroom for the year.

** As always, these resources are meant to be helpful. Please do not sell them, modify them, or claim them as your own. **

Summer Reading ChallengeDownload
Summer Reading Tracker-2Download
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Teaching Kids About Courage

Trying new things is scary and hard sometimes! It doesn’t matter your age— the unknown can be intimidating. Picture books have a great way of teaching kids (and adults!) life lessons, including lessons about facing fears and having courage to try new things. While looking for some other books at the library the other day, I stumbled across a whole section of children’s books dedicated to this theme. 

So if you’re like me (or some of my kids) and need a reminder that sometimes being brave is scary, these books just might be for you! 

The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do by Ashley Spires

Lou is always up for big adventures with her friends… until they suggest that they play pirates up in a tree. Lou has never climbed a tree, and isn’t so sure about it. She finds all kinds of excuses to avoid climbing up to her friends, but when they all exclaim that the pirates need help, she knows she must give it a try. So she does, and she fails. After convincing herself that it’s not that she can’t climb the tree; it’s just that she doesn’t know how to yet. She decides that she will come back the next day and try again!

This story is perfect for talking to kids about being brave and trying again if it doesn’t work the first time. The illustrations are cute and well done.

The Magical Yet by Angela DiTerlizzi and illustrated by Lorena Alvarez

This book follows a young girl who just can’t seem to figure out how to ride a bike. She keeps trying, and keeps failing. She wants to give up… until the magical Yet shows up. With Yet, she can start to see that her dreams will come true, for Yet is a dreamer, maker, and one who finds a way. Yet is patient and encouraging when failures happen. Yet doesn’t give up! With Yet by her side, she learns to keep pushing forward and eventually gets to be where she wants to be.

This book is written in rhyme format, and is catchy and fun to read. The words flow well, and the illustrations are magical. It gives you the perfect dose of courage, knowing that your own personal Yet is right by your side as you try new things.

Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

Jabari, his dad, and little sister head to the pool. Jabari tells his dad that he is going to jump off the diving board today. His dad offers encouragement and cheers him on. As Jabari gets closer to the diving board, he realizes how high it really is. He begins to come up with excuses and reasons to not try. His dad gives him a pep talk and tells him to take a deep breath and tell himself he is ready. Jabari follows his dad’s advice and begins the climb up the ladder. He got to the edge of the board, took a deep breath, and told himself he felt ready. He took the leap and discovered it was really fun! The book ends with him telling his dad that he’ll do a double backflip next.

The pictures in this book are wonderful, and the story line is perfect for teaching kids about how to work up the courage to try something new.

Jabari Tries by Gaia Cornwall

Jabari is back, but this time, he is determined to make a little machine that can fly across his backyard. Everything he tries doesn’t work. He’s getting frustrated and wants to give up. When his dad comes and gives him a little pep talk, he tells Jabari to “gather up all his patience, take a deep breath, and blow away all the mixed feelings inside.” Together with his little sister as his helper, Jabari gets the courage to try again. He gives it one more try, and this time, it works! He is proud of himself for not giving up and for having the courage to finish what he started.

One of the most important lessons to learn as a child is to have courage and be brave. We’re all faced with tricky situations, but being brave can change everything. These picture books all do an excellent job of illustrating just that. These books would be great to read with a class at the beginning or end of the year as kids head into a new season and part of their life!

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What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?

How many times did you answer the question, “What do you want to be when your grow up?” as a kid? Can’t count all the times? Neither can I. It’s a common question to ask kids and teens, and it’s often a question that kids don’t know the answer to. There are so many jobs to choose from, and when your knowledge is limited, it’s hard to make a choice. Thank goodness the jobs we might have chosen as ten year olds weren’t set in stone, and we had the chance to change our minds. I mean, I’m pretty sure if they had been set in stone back then, the majority of my fifth grade class would have ended up being marine biologists— because that was a big thing in the 90s!

Kids and teens all seem to know about the community helper type of jobs— police, fireman, nurse, doctor, and teacher. What they might not know, are the subcategories under those jobs as well as so many other kinds of careers out there. Providing kids with knowledge about various career fields will empower them to choose a job that suits them best and fits their interests and skills. 

While kids need this knowledge, we can’t just expect them to know where to go to get it. As teachers, parents, and leaders, we need to provide opportunities for them to learn about all kinds of jobs. So how do we do this?

First, we can make it part of our curriculum when kids are young. If you’re teaching a unit on human body systems, you can include a little bit of information about the different kinds of jobs people can do that deal with body systems. If you’re teaching a unit on recycling and caring for the Earth, invite a sanitation worker to come in and teach about garbage pickup and recycling. For a music unit, invite a musician to come in and talk to the kids. 

Second, as kids get older and start to think more seriously about their careers, it might be a good idea to have a unit on different types of jobs and the kind of education you need to do them. When I was teaching junior high, my school held a school-wide career exploration day. People from the community would volunteer their time to come teach students about their profession. We had a wide variety of careers represented, making it an experience that every student would be able to benefit from. Students had the chance to choose four classes that they wanted to attend. Each rotation was about 20 minutes in length, and presenters used that time to talk about their job, what they do, what kind of education they obtained, and so on. Students were then given a chance to ask questions. With career presentations from bankers, authors, EMS personnel, business owners, animators, IT, and beyond, it was always a huge success.

Third, when appropriate, and at the right age, students can participate in a job shadowing experience. This is helpful because it allows them to see first hand the daily tasks and responsibilities of the job in which they are interested. This kind of hands on experience will provide more insight than simply reading an article about a job.

Another thing we can do to help students know more about potential careers is to have them take a career aptitude test. Typically, these are more beneficial once a student is a little older and has more of a grasp on their interests. I spoke with a vocational counselor, and he recommended My Next Move, which I tried. I also tried Career Explorer. Both assessments asked similar questions, though Career Explorer seemed to go a bit more in depth. Both gave career suggestions at the end of the survey, with links to click on to learn more about that career. Not surprisingly, my results on both tests suggested that I become a teacher or a healthcare worker, both of which I have done in the past, and both of which I have very much enjoyed. 

When we provide kids with options and resources to explore potential careers, they are able to make more informed decisions. Do they have to have it all figured out right now? No. But it never hurts to have a little head start!

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Out of Classroom Support

I remember my first year teaching— I was an intern, and I honestly was flying by the seat of my pants most of the year. I was still finishing up my college courses and trying to run a full schedule of 7 periods of junior high English classes. It was a lot. Ok, maybe that’s an understatement. It sometimes felt like I was drowning in a sea of teaching responsibilities, and the only thing being thrown at me to attempt to help me was a scraggly little piece of thread that kept breaking anytime I’d try grab on to it. 

However, In the midst of all of the chaos and learning, I learned to prioritize my students and my relationship with them. I didn’t want to just be a warm body standing at the front of the room; I wanted to be someone my students knew they could trust, learn from, and enjoy school with. I wanted them to know that I truly cared about them and their well being. 

Part of this process was learning about their interests, hobbies, and lives. It meant remembering to ask how their football game went, how play auditions went, and if they were going to try out for the basketball team. For one student in particular, it meant accepting an invitation to attend a horse-riding show she was going to be in. I will never forget how excited she was when I walked into the arena to watch her compete, nor will I forget how much it meant to her parents that I was there. 

As I continued my teaching experience, I attended many other school sponsored competitions, plays, games, concerts, and performances. I didn’t do it because I was bored or didn’t have anything else to do; teachers are busy people with lives outside of school. I did it because I valued my students and their interests. I prioritized building relationships and trust with them so that they knew I cared and that they would feel safe in my classroom. 

Now, as a junior high teacher, I had well over 200 students each year. There is no way I could possibly attend every event that each student had. But I did what I could, and made sure to be aware and ask questions so that they knew I cared, even if I couldn’t be there in person. 

Obviously there is a line to be aware of—avoiding attending events at a student’s home, or situations where you are one-on-one with a student is a good rule of thumb, as well as avoiding only picking one student to attend events for. You’d never want to put your job at risk— there are other ways to show your students you care about them. However, if the event is in a public place, and is a public event, attending their things can be a good way to show you care. 

Teachers do so much for their students inside the classroom, and it’s important to remember that there are ways to support them outside of the classroom as well. If your circumstances permit, try it. Buy a ticket to the school play and watch the amazing students perform. Grab your significant other and head to the homecoming football game. Take your sister or brother with you and grab a seat at the next orchestra concert. It will be well worth your time, and I can promise you that, even if they don’t show it, your students will be so happy you came to support them. Investing in the people you care about is a great way to spend your time and energy, and the pay out is immeasurable.

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Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills- Do Both Matter?

Schools are an excellent place for teaching important (some crucial), measurable skills like reading, math, science, other technical skills, and so on. These kinds of skills are called hard skills, and are pretty easy to track progress in— there are clear, definitive answers and methods to how these skills are learned and carried out. Other learned skills, however, don’t have answers and methods that are quite so cut and dry. These are referred to as soft skills— behavioral traits like leadership, time management, communication skills, critical thinking, and problem solving, among others. 

Should schools be responsible for teaching both kinds of skills? I think they already partially are. I believe that when you teach hard skills, the soft skills sometimes just naturally work their way into the teaching and learning. For example, if you are teaching a science concept, and students are put into groups to do an experiment, they will naturally be forced to use problem solving, team work, communication, and other soft skills. 

Soft skills are equally as important (if not more so in some situations) as hard skills are. In fact, many employers today tend to favor soft skill knowledge over hard skill knowledge. In a digital world where people are spending less time interacting face to face, employers today need people who can take responsibility, lead a team, communicate, and effectively solve problems. 

If employers are favoring soft skills over hard skills, then how do we as teachers ensure that we are providing opportunities for our students to learn these important soft skills that will aid them as they grow, progress, and eventually enter the adult world? Like was mentioned before, a lot of it stems from things that are already happening in our classrooms. So many of the activities and projects we ask students to take part in naturally lend themselves to teaching these crucial soft skills. Group work encourages communication and leadership. Reports and presentations give students a chance to practice leadership and communication skills. Word problems and other kinds of problems allow students to use critical thinking skills. Larger projects provide excellent lessons and chances to learn time management and organization skills. 

Soft skills can even be learned outside of the classroom, in places like home, church, or while doing a sport. Sports provide many valuable opportunities for soft skill attainment, and can teach those skills in ways unlike anything else. Parents can encourage their children to learn and practice soft skills within the walls of their homes by providing children with opportunities to lead family meetings, do chores, work as a team with siblings, or manage and balance their activities and time. Church groups can also provide great opportunities for kids to learn communication skills, leadership skills, and empathy.

While some children are seemingly born with natural soft skills, others need to be taught. As adults, we ought to do our best to encourage and teach the youth of today these soft skills that will greatly aid them in the coming years. Our future selves will thank us later.

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Another Non-Fiction Book That is Fun to Teach

A while back, I wrote a post about non-fiction books providing really cool teaching opportunities in the classroom, and highlighted one book that I had great success with while teaching junior high school. You can find that post here. Today, I thought I’d highlight another book I had great success teaching with my seventh grade classes: Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World by Jennifer Armstrong.

Shipwreck tells the story of Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men and their 19 month ordeal of being stuck in Antarctica. The story begins in 1914 as the crew sets sail from England, headed to Antarctica, hoping to be the first crew to cross the entire continent from one side to the other. Things go terribly wrong five months into their trip when their ship, The Endurance gets trapped in ice, and eventually is crushed and then sinks. The crew must face the harshest conditions, low food rations, and high emotions as they try to get to help. Miraculously, all 28 men survive the ordeal and make it home. It truly is an inspiring story of grit and determination.

To introduce this book, I would use an anticipatory guide where I told students they were going on a trip, and they could only take 5 personal items with them in their bag. They wouldn’t have access to power, there wouldn’t be cell phone service or Wi-Fi, and other technology would be limited. Food and sleeping gear would be provided, but everything else was up to them. They had to choose their items, then defend their choices. 

Following that activity, I would have them take a true/false “quiz” with facts about Antarctica. Students were always fascinated by the cool facts they learned about this giant ice continent. 

With that, we were ready to start reading! We would go one chapter at a time, and go over new vocabulary words as we read (there are LOTS of new words in the book). We would read the book during January, which is one of the coldest months where I live. I would always take my classes outside for a while (not long enough to harm them), so they could feel how cold it was, and remind them that what the crew felt was even colder. 

We did activities that involved map reading, learning about different kinds of ice, and comparing our diets and calorie intake to that of the crew, We tracked the crew’s expedition and charted it on a map, using longitude and latitude. We learned about the type of wildlife that lives down there. We compared facts about Antarctica with the state where we live– things like land size, wildlife, population, weather, etc. We journaled as if we were part of the crew, and learned about the kind of sailing technology they had. We measured out the size of their lifeboats and marked it with tape on the floor, then had several students fit inside the outline so that they could see how cramped it would have been. We would end the unit by watching a documentary about the expedition, the crew, and what happened to them after they made it back home.

I did my best to make the experience as authentic as possible so that students could really “feel” what it would have been like to be part of the crew of the Endurance. Students enjoyed the unit and had several hands-on opportunities as we read, which kept them engaged and focused on what we were reading. Because of the activities we did, we covered several other content areas like math, science, writing, and history. 

As an adult reading the book, I also found it fascinating and never tired of this unit. I looked forward to teaching it each year. It was definitely filed under my “Non-Fiction Books Don’t Have to be Boring” file!