Tag: engaging with students

Posted on

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!

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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!

Posted on

Kids Say the Darnedest Things, Part 2

Monday seemed like a good day to share part 2 of the funny things kids have done and said. Let’s jump right into it!

From a kindergarten teacher: “I was reading a book to students, in one of the pages a kid forgot to put his pants on and went to school in boxers.. all of the sudden a girl student starts laughing and says: just like my dad, he forgets to put his pants on everyday we have breakfast  she says- he’s always in his “calzoncillos” which is funnier when you say it in Spanish. (Her dad always came to pick her up after school, I just smiled at him that day)”

“I was kneeling down with a student when another student came behind me and whispered “Anaconda squeeze” before giving me a hug.” (1st grade)

From a fourth grade teacher: “I had a herd of students looking for the back of my earring… turns out it was in my hair.” (Even the teachers do/say funny things sometimes!)

“I had a student tell me the system was rigged. He wanted to come to school and hang out, not to learn!” (4th grade)

“I assigned the students to write a paper on something each felt they needed to improve. One student said that she’d always struggled with “low shelf of steam”.” (8th grade)

“I had a 4th grader who detested the novel we were reading– James and the Giant Peach. She refused to do the writing assignment because “James was an abomination and should be cast down to hell!” I let her, instead, write about all of the things wrong with the book as a VERY strong opinion piece!”

“I am a teacher and I had a student tell me they didn’t have time to do homework because their mom makes them clean too much.”

“I had a student in 7th grade come into my room with his mother for a parent-teacher conference. I smiled and greeted them. He turned to his mom and said, “I told you she always smiles at everybody. You should try to be like that!””

“A former sophomore who had been forced to pass tenth grade and endlessly exorted that he’d care one day that his dad had made him complete tenth grade came to visit. He said, ” you know how you would always tell me that one day I’d care?” I got a bit excited. “Yeah, well, I still don’t.”

He followed up with “but I can see that someday, I might.””

“I was saying a base word fury but instead of saying that I pronounced it as furry. Until I added the suffix. It was furious. I realized my mistake and tried yo play it off until my 3rd graders called me out. It was one of those days.”

Stay tuned for part 3— I’ve saved the best for last!

Posted on

What to do When Your Kid Won’t go to School

I have a kid who really struggles some mornings with wanting to go to school. Once he is there, he’s happy, helpful, and eager to learn. He has friends, gets along with everyone, and loves his teacher. It’s just the getting him there that is hard. I mean, I get it. Staying home and relaxing is pretty inviting— especially on these cold mornings! This particular child has struggled with this since preschool. I love that he wants to be home and wants to be around me, but I also know the importance of school. There is so much he gets from school that he wouldn’t get at home hanging out while mom works and does laundry. 

Last week I had to run something over to my preschooler at the school. I mentioned to the preschool teacher that I was frustrated with my second grader for refusing to come to school that day. She knew exactly what I was talking about— he was in her class when he was a preschooler, and she remembered many mornings when he fought going to her class. Without hesitation, she sprung into action. She asked who is current teacher is, and told me she would get in touch with her and make a plan. 

Today, I got an email describing a plan they had created that would hopefully help encourage my son to more willingly go to school. For every day that he goes to school without a fight, he gets to check off a box on a chart. Once he has filled in five boxes, he will get to spend 20 minutes in the preschool class helping the teacher and students. It’s brilliant! He is totally pumped about this plan, and is especially excited that he will get to go help in the preschool when his younger brother is there. It’s a win-win all around!

Now, I know this story is about my child, but I also know that I’m not the only parent who has a kid who struggles to want to go to school. I know my son’s teacher isn’t the only teacher who is trying to help their student feel loved and supported at school. I also know that coming up with a solution or a plan can feel overwhelming. Sometimes you don’t know where to start. 

So what do you do with a student or child who just doesn’t want to go to school? Below are a few ideas and steps to take if you find yourself in this situation!

  • First, find out why there is hesitation to go to school— are they being bullied? Are they scared or worried? Do they not understand what they’re being taught? Do they just really like to be at home? Are their favorite pants dirty and they don’t know what to wear? Did they forget to do their homework and are afraid of getting in trouble?
  • Once you identify the why, determine if the teacher needs to be involved. Obviously if there is bullying or curriculum concerns happening, contacting the teacher is crucial. 
  • Figure out what will motivate your child/student.
    • Create a sticker chart and work toward a reward.
    • Give the child a role or purpose at school that they need to be present for. 
    • Allow your child to take a “brave buddy” with them in their backpack— a small stuffy or object that will help them feel brave. 
    • Purchase or create some kind of matching bracelet or necklace— one for them to wear and one for you to wear so they can feel connected to you while they are away.
    • If you’re comfortable with it, draw a small heart or smiley face on one hand, and one on your child’s hand. Remind them that if they feel sad or miss you while they’re at school, they can look at or touch the little drawing and remember that you love them. 
  • Offer positive reinforcement and feedback! Praise your child for being brave and doing something that is hard for them. Make sure they know you are proud of them, and help them to feel proud of themselves.
  • Always listen to your intuition. Parents know their children best, and generally can tell if something is amiss. 

Having a child who fights going to school can be hard. It can be frustrating. I get it. But it is worth the fight to get them to school. Education is so important, and the earlier kids can understand that importance, the better!

Posted on

St. Patrick’s Day Free Printables

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner– time to prepare your leprechaun traps and gather your pots of gold! If fancy traps and extravagant celebrations aren’t your thing, it’s your lucky day! I’ve put together a couple of fun free printable I Spy games you can do with your students or with your kids at home. I’ve included both a color and a black and white version to fit all printing needs and capabilities.

**Free printables are only to be used for home or classroom use and must not be resold, distributed, or used as your own.**

Click on the links below to download and print yours!

St. Patty’s I Spy ColorDownload
St. Patrick’s Day I Spy BWDownload