See the Good-8.29.13

Little things can make such a difference. A few caring words, some hugs, etc. can make the world of a difference. I appreciate what people do for me.

See the Good-8.28.13

Helping others is one of the greatest feelings ever. I know I recently posted about this but here's a super quick disclaimer: I have yet to go back to any of my posts and read them.

The reason I write these is so that when I am having an extremely difficult time in life, I can come back and remember why I love what I have chosen to do. Thankfully, it has not reached that point yet, so a lot of these may be repetitive.

Back to what I was saying - if we're trying to "accomplish" a ton of things during the day, anything that was done for other people jus reaches the top automatically. It's amazing. 

See the Good-8.27.13

Friends are the greatest. I had dinner with three friends who just made my night. I've been so happy since. It's unbelievable because I should probably be stressed out at this point in my life but I simply could not be happier. Thank you to them :) 

See the Good-8.26.13

Creativity is the key to success. (Context: I've been drinking iced cold coffee for a week because PD without kids can get tiring. I've been wanting to have protein shakes but it doesn't help keep me up. Well, I decided this morning to combine the two and it was absolutely delicious. Now I can just have this shake for breakfast instead of having cereal and then coffee. Yay. :)

See the Good-8.23.13

Hugs are great.

That's all.

Just kidding. Additionally, when people ask me how I'm doing and actually want to know, it makes me feel so loved. I feel that sense of belonging at my school and am so happy.

See the Good-8.22.13

1) Helping out other people just brings out this unexplainable feeling inside.

It's as simple as that. I clearly remember having a discussion in 7th grade math about how there is no such thing as selflessly doing something for someone because even if you don't get anything tangible out of it, you feel "good" about yourself and that is ultimately your reward. And even if you aren't doing it to feel good, you end up feeling good so it isn't known as a selfless deed.

Well, I disagreed back then and I still disagree now. If your intentions are pure, and your actions follow suit, then you are golden.

2) You never know until you try. Today, I was in the elevator and this lady looks at me and goes, "miss, can I give you a flier for something? You don't have to come, but I just want to pass it along. It's really okay if you can't make it, I am not trying to force you to come." She passes the paper along to me and guess what?? It was for a back-to-school event at her church where they give free food, school supplies and clothes to children(!!!!!!!). I know I said I would not use exclamation marks because they come out weird but man oh man I could not hold in my excitement. I stepped out of the elevator to talk to her for a little while. I am so bummed that I have class during that time, but am extremely glad that she took a chance and gave me a flier. Really, you never know until you try.

See the Good-8.21.13

I missed a day because yesterday was chaos once I got home...and I am having the hardest time remembering what happened during the day. If I recall, I will come back. Promise.

See the Good-8.20.13

(I am not going to lie. Sometimes this is difficult to do. It has nothing to do with the people that I am surrounded by...it simply is because I am sitting in professional development every single day doing similar things.)

But today was a wonderful day. I learned about my health benefits at work. I sat in a session with one of the most inspirational beings at my school. And after that, I sat in a session given by the founder of my network. It was absolutely amazing (incredibly engaging) and much too short from my point of view. Lesson learned? If you have a shared vision, every second will become so precious. I can't really explain that right now but that really resonated with me today. 

See the Good-8.19.13

Today, I finally felt that role playing can be useful. I had a great partner, we took turns and it was great fun. If you do it with the right group, it can be extremely beneficial because you get to practice what you might say to scholars (or parents). Sometimes you realize that the first thing that came to your mind was ridiculous. Now imagine that being an actual conversation...

Take away point: ROLE PLAY :)

Side note: Weekends should be used wisely. REST up while you can! Monday is right around the corner.

Classroom Greetings

If you have morning meetings in your classroom (which you should, and I'll tell you why one day), then here are some greetings you can use for the classroom. As I learn and like more, I'll share them with you. For each of these, you are sitting in a circle at

• Buenos Dias - The two students who start the greeting turn to face each other, and make eye contact, shake hands. Student A says "Buenos Dias name" and then student B says "Buenos Dias name" back to his/her partner. Then student A turns to the 3rd student and they do the greeting. By the end of it, each student has greeted both of their neighbors. It's low-risk because they aren't getting out of their seats but they are all able to use their social skills. 
• Good Morning Everybody - Each person is required to say nice and loudly, "good morning everybody" in a sing-song voice, while doing a motion (dancing or simply moving their hands) and everybody repeats it saying "good morning name." while repeating the motion. It's high risk because there's a lot of movement but it's also tons of fun if expectations are set.
• What's the News? - Student A says to Student B "Good morning name, what's the news?" And Student B replies "Good morning name, the news is (the student shares something - they can say whatever they like or you can give a prompt)." Then Student B asks the same question to Student C and so on. (When we did it, Student B asked Student A first and then asked Student C, but personally I think it takes too long having each student share two things back-to-back.)  
• Say Your Name - This is another version (because I don't remember how ours went) but anything works. The whole class chants something like "Say your name and when you do, we will say it back to you." The student then says his/her name and the class says back "good morning name." 
• Exchange Greeting - The students each pick one shape (whatever manipulatives you have in the classroom). Once you say go, they walk around to find a student with a shape different from theirs. Each student says good morning and then names the shape and color of their manipulative. The students then switch manipulatives (exchange) and go to another student with a different shape and do the same thing. Students continue doing this until the teacher rings a bell, at which time they quickly and silently return to their seats.
• Shoe Twister - (I'm not sure how I feel about this activity yet, but everyone did end up having fun so I thought I would share it anyway.) Each person puts one shoe in the center of the group. The first student picks up a random shoe and then walks around until they find who it belongs to. Once they find the student, they say "good morning name" and they are greeted back with their name as well. This continues until everyone has their shoes back. 

I hope you like some of these ideas. But remember, always always always give explicit directions if you want these activities to go exceptionally well.

Have a wonderful day :)

See the Good-8.16.13

Videos are crucial to setting the mood. (Obviously not always, but bear with me here.) There are so many inspirational people out there that we might never be able to meet. But then, there are these GREAT videos out there that can inspire you without you having to leave your seat. It's so amazing and absolutely powerful. Here's one to check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAMLOnSNwzA (You will fall in love with this child.)

See the Good-8.15.13

ANYONE can create an amazing classroom learning environment if they want to. Put your mind to it, get some feedback, stick to your own words and you can do it. 

See the Good-8.14.13

This might seem extremely obvious but I would like to state it regardless. You can never learn enough! I've always known this, but something made it more clear today. I got extremely frustrated when I realized that I've been in professional development sessions for 8 weeks now, and still have 2 weeks to go. But then I realized that even though some parts are repetitive, they are all beneficial! I just have to have that positive mindset and I'll keep learning, which is in turn help my students. 

See the Good-8.13.13

Today, I saw the GREAT in others. I realized how much other people want to help me excel. I understood that they are willing to take out time to help me grow & develop as an educator. Now, it will be my responsibility to reach out to them and take their feedback gracefully.

Side note: if you have NOT seen this video, you have to watch it right now. Seriously. Right now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU

Did you see it? If not, seriously go back.

Well, isn't that the GREATEST video ever?? I hope to watch this again and again and again until I have my own response to questions like this. This is not to "prove a point" but to express my true feelings in an elegant manner with such passion.

See the Good-8.12.13

1. I met my colleagues and they all seem ambitious and inspired. I look forward to building authentic relationships with them & learning from them. There are many great educators despite what the world has to say. We just have to take out the time to find them, understand them and work with them. 
2. I officially met someone that I can see myself constantly looking up to (even if he isn't at my specific school anymore). This meeting validated my belief that he is a great human being (and educator), and that I should do all that I can to build a relationship with him if I want to be the best. 

Daily Goal

I have no quote for this one because I am falling asleep and simply need to tell you about two things.

1. My new blog goal is to keep my messages short and sweet. Hopefully, that will get me to blog on a more regular basis. If something needs clarification, then you can always ask. :)
2. My personal daily goal is to SEE THE GOOD every single day. Teaching can be tough. Teaching can be strenuous. No. Teaching IS strenuous. It wears you out no matter how much you love the students. (It's because you love them so much & invest so much in them.) But to make it in life, you have to see the good every single day. My hope is that I write it on here every day...otherwise I'll jot it down somewhere. 

Have a wonderful day. :) 

Sharing

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt

***

Although I would absolutely love to share my experiences from Teach for America Institute, I can't imagine having the time to do so. To quickly sum it up, let me just say the following:

• I met so, so, so many new (mostly great) people.
• I learned a lot about classroom management.
• I absolutely fell in love with my students. (Seriously, I love them.) 
• I got frustrated often at certain things because I was real with my feelings. 
• I learned a lot about myself. 
• I talked way too much about identity and reflection, but I do think that it will come in use soon. 
• I met my future colleagues. Although I did not get to know them well, I look forward to getting to know them better soon. 

Well, onto other things. Here is one thing that I was constantly reminded of this summer that I wanted to remind others of: teachers "steal" all of the time. I obviously don't mean stealing in real life, but in other ways. Teachers never create anything from scratch. Instead, they look for ideas that had been implemented by others. They then use them as a foundation and build off of them to make the ideas work for their classroom. 

I know this almost seems self-explanatory, but a lot of future teachers that I met had hoped to create everything on their own. They wanted to put their own creativity to use so badly that they didn't realize it was okay to take other peoples' ideas. Now that I'm learning to accept this concept, I love researching things online to work off of ideas. (One awesome link is Pinterest.) 

I apologize that this wasn't a deep and meaningful message but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Have a wonderful day. :)

New Ideas

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones." - John Cage

***

I am finished with week 1 of Induction and had a identity crisis last night. Today, I needed a break from everything TFA-related and decided to come visit my friend that lives nearby. Well, it did not help my "I don't belong" crisis in the beginning because all of her family was visiting for a graduation party. At first, I used time to relax and calm my mind from a week of absolutely extraordinary conversations that we had. I took time to gather myself and my thoughts. After that, I decided to step into their world and experience it for myself. No lie, it actually wasn't easy.

For the past week, I have had the easiest time chatting with strangers because we all have the same vision and goals in life. Here, they don't know who I am. They don't know what I do in life. They don't know why I'm semi-upset, semi-stressed out. They don't know why I keep talking to the children and observing them. But then, I decided to open up to them. I started talking to them about what I do, and they actually cared.

After they reacted well to my future goals, I took my notebook (that I carry everywhere now) and went upstairs to snap into my teacher mode. I sat in front of them and asked them for ideas that I can use in my classroom. I imagined that they would be super awkward about it, and would go back to their game. Instead, they all started shouting out things that they loved about their elementary school teachers. They were very helpful, and had fun while doing it. I was also able to create a bond with them, and had an amazing time.

What did I learn from this? Open up to people, no matter what. If they don't want to talk about themselves, that's okay. Talk about yourself and you never know what kind of conversations you can have.

But this is the point of this post: I start teaching summer school in about a week. Please send me ALL ideas so that I can implement them in my classroom. Thanks in advance.

Have a wonderful day. :) 

Meeting New People

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." - Anais Nin

***

I know that I mostly focus on what I intend to do in the classroom, but I think that my posts are going to shift to a new topic for the next few weeks. I am currently at Teach for America Induction (it just started yesterday). Before I continue with what I was saying, let me ask that you put your opinions about Teach for America in one corner of the room and ignore them. Please don't judge me as a person or as an educator because of this. Get to know me first, and then I guess it's okay if you "judge" me. Anyway, back to Induction. This week, we are getting to know each other by sharing our stories with one another in small groups, and discussing identity, community building, and leadership. 

One hour later: 

I know it makes no difference to my readers but I was just taken away to jump a car and this totally fits right into what I was about to say. I can't seem to contain my excitement. Okay so while doing all of the above at Induction, we are meeting so many people during meals, discussions, and on trips. Although we are sometimes forced to talk to these people, most of the time we are not. We could easily wait on a long line while talking to someone on the phone or checking out something on FaceBook. Instead, we choose to meet people. Why? Because the more we talk to one another and hear each other's stories, the more we realize how much we have in common. And with this awareness, we learn how to build communities together.

Before continuing, here are some opportunities that I was given to meet people:

• On the fingerprinting line (it was about an hour plus wait, so we had plenty of time to get cozy).
• In our suites. 
• At breakfast, lunch & dinner.
• At the BBQ,
• In our groups for Induction.
• On FaceBook, of course. 
• On the bus to our community visit. 
• And my favoritest of them all, while helping a fellow Corp Member jump their car after they requested assistance on FaceBook. I was so tempted to ignore the post and go on with my life since it's so late and I have so much to do, but I realized that I could easily make a friend by doing this. So for my own selfish reason, I went out and made not one, but TWO friends.

Anyway, why is all of this important? If we don't learn to take out time from our lives to understand others and hear their stories, then how will we work together to change the world? There is no way. As educators (and humans in general), it's very important to find a connection before deciding to work together towards a vision. During your teaching years, you will be meeting so many people that you have to get along with almost effortlessly, in order to truly make a difference. You have to work with your colleagues, your mentors/leaders, the parents, the students and other community members. Without learning to branch out and meet new people, it will be very difficult to connect with your students. 

Although I will talk more about this later (when I can gather my thoughts better and share what I'm learning) so that maybe one day we can continue a discussion about this in person. Remember, open dialogue and communication make all of the difference.

Have a wonderful day. :)

Communication

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." - George Bernard Shaw

***

There is a belief in the minds of many that teachers only have to focus on communicating effectively with their students. Even before stepping into a classroom, I can tell you that that is just not true. Here's a short list of a few others that teachers have to communicate with (and this is not by any means an exclusive list):

• Principal/School Leader
• Colleagues (Faculty & Staff)
• Community Members
• Other Teachers 
• Parents

Even though each of those lines of communication is extremely important, I want to focus my attention on the last one. Although I don't know my school policies yet, I want to make sure that I go above and beyond when it comes to communicating with the parents. I want to meet them all during an open school night or personal conferences in the beginning of the school year. I want to have their contact information on hand so I can call them to congratulate them on their child's successes. I want to have bi-weekly or monthly newsletters so that the parents can read about what students are doing in the classroom. I want to welcome parents into the classroom to share what they do during a career day. I want to invite parents to come in on holidays that they celebrate, and working with them to encourage our scholars to tolerate all beliefs. I want to invite the parents to visit if they simply want to see what is going on in the classroom. I want them to see the work that my scholars are doing, so that they can be just as proud as I am. I want the parents to chaperone field trips so that they can experience what the scholars do. I want students to put together plays to present to the parents. I want my scholars to host a small formal so that parents can get to know each other. I want my scholars to show off their talents at a talent show for the parents. I want parents to share things about their culture so that my scholars begin to embrace everyone.

I know that this all sounds ambitious, but I really want to put in all of my efforts to keep the doors open for my scholars' parents. I want them to be heavily involved with their children's success. If you have any ideas from your experiences, please share with me. As always, ideas are more than welcome.

Have a wonderful day. :)

We The Kids

"The human contribution is the essential ingredient. It is only in the giving of oneself to others that we truly live." - Ethel Percy Andrus

***

Everyone says that it's extremely important to "lay down the law" early in the year so that students know what is expected of them. I think this is a wonderful idea, and I will be sure to implement it. Although I know that I will have to follow school policies regarding this (makes sense after all), I want to make the students a part of this. I think it would be amazing if the students would be able to sit down in small groups and put together a class motto/goals that we can put up on the wall for the rest of the year. I am hoping that this will make them accept it more than one that I come up with on my own. It's a known fact that people are more likely to accept something if they contribute to it. :)

Although it is cheesy, I believe that we will start it with the words "We The Kids." If applicable, then I will use it as an introductory history lesson and include our country's preamble so that they have something to work off of. Here are some key words that I think should (or can) be included in it:

• Respect
• Responsibility 
• Don't give up
• Help each other (always)
• Give selflessly 
• Stay calm
• Do your best
• Think before you speak 
• Use manners
• Follow directions

Once I determine the class rules, I'll be able to separate the words into two lists (motto and rules) so that the students can make it as fun and helpful as possible. I can't wait to get started once I am placed.

Have a wonderful day. :) 

Bookworms

"The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." - Dr. Seuss

***

When I asked my cousin if he was a "bookworm," he gave me a look that said "I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't care to know." It really bothered me that he did not know what the word meant. I went to ask him if he read a lot of books on his own, and he asked me "why would I do that? We read enough in class." I was absolutely shocked. During my seven years in elementary school (Kindergarten through 6th grade), I remember teachers encouraging us to borrow books from the library and read them at home. Personally, I cannot imagine going through those years without all that I read. If I remember correctly, I read a minimum of 70 books outside of the classroom each of those years.

Without further ado, here is what I learned from my brief conversation with my cousin: I will make sure that my students are reading more in June than they were in September. In order to encourage reading in the classroom, I will try some of the following activities. 

• Have reading packets (in large Zipcloc bags) with books, worksheets and other activities prepared for students at different levels. Allow them to pick them up on a weekly basis after they have finished regular classwork. Have charts marking their progress. At certain "milestones," they will win prizes to acknowledge their accomplishments. 
• Hold a class, grade or school-wide competition to see who can read more. Make sure to have worksheets that they have to fill out (or conversations they have to have) to check that they read the books. 
• Start a book club (or a few) in the classroom, allowing time for them to discuss what they read with each other. Choose books that have movie versions and have a "movie night" inviting them to come in with their parents to watch it once they are finished with the book.
• Encourage them to pick up other reading material (magazines and newspapers are great) so that they learn to enjoy all types of reading.
• Invite a well-known author to the classroom (or school) towards the end of the school year. Encourage the students to read as many books as they can by that author, so that they are able to ask questions and discuss books with the person.
• Similarly, decide to celebrate a favorite author's birthday. Encourage students to read as many books so that they can figure out the best way to honor the author. 
• Decide to write a book (or books) as a class. Let students know that they will be able to come up with more ideas if they read more books (ex. mysteries, comedies, fiction, nonfiction, etc.).
• Tell the student about library programs going on that summer. Hand out brochures or tell them where they can go for more information. (Libraries always have the best summer programs.)

I am 100% sure that there are so many activities that can be done to encourage students to read. If you have some, please share them. If I find more, I will post them soon.

Have a wonderful day. :) 

Where Are My Students?

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength." - Corrie ten Boom

***

Today, I truly experienced what it feels like not knowing where a child is for a long period of time. Long story short: my brother had to stay after school for football, but he did not mention this to our Dad or me. After waiting and worrying for awhile, I proceeded to go to his school (which is huge) to search for him. The minute I laid eyes on him, I felt a sense of relief and was overcome by emotions. It was then that I knew I would have to have a method for knowing where all of my students are at all times if I want to avoid having mini panic attacks all day long. 

Out of all of the methods I found, I found that was my absolute favorite. I intend to use this if feasible in my classroom. Essentially, I would create a chart that would look like the following:

I would have magnets with each of the students names (or faces) on them. As the students exit the classroom, they will move their magnet to represent where they will be. This way, I will simply be able to glance at this chart and know where all of my students are. :)

I think this will be a great way to guarantee some peace of mind throughout the day.

Have a wonderful day. :)

P.S. I would love to give credit to someone for this idea, but I don't know who originally thought of this. I apologize. 

7 Habits (In Classrooms)

"To touch the soul of another human being is to walk on holy ground." - Stephen R. Covey

***

If you haven't read Stephen R. Covey's book titled The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People and don't intend to do so any time soon, I suggest that you check out this link right now. Unfortunately, I didn't read his book until my third year in college. I really wish that I had been able to implement his thoughts into my life at a much earlier point. 

No matter what grade I'm teaching, I hope to implement these 7 concepts into the lives of my students. If they are older, then I will use the book itself to help them understand them. If they are younger, I will use a site similar to this. Along with that, I will try to hang up posters or make bookmarks so that they can see the 7 habits again and again.

Here's a recap of the 7 habits: 

1. Be Proactive
2. Begin with the End in Mind
3. Put First Things First
4. Think Win/Win
5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the Saw

I hope that you're able to better your lives (or your families' lives) by making these 7 habits yours. 

Have a wonderful day. :)

-- -- --

"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." QuickMBA. QuickMBA.com. Web. 31 May 2013. <http://www.quickmba.com/mgmt/7hab/>.

"The 7 Habits of Happy Kids." The Leader in Me. Franklin Covey Education. Web. 31 May 2013. <http://www.theleaderinme.org/the-7-habits-for-kids>.

Promoting Diversity

"We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams." - Jimmy Carter

***

Although I know that my classroom will be more diverse than many other that I've seen,  but I want to make sure that I promote diversity in the classroom nonetheless. Again, I know that I have to wait until I have been assigned to a classroom to figure out exactly what will work in my class, but I want to put together a list of ideas so that I can refer to it at a later point. 

Here is a list of ideas that could work online, but I definitely want to research a few more. Some ideas that I've heard about throughout the years.

• Hold a cultural night where parents come in and celebrate their culture with the classroom. We could have tables set up with posters, food samples, etc. so that everyone can experience new things.
• Allow parents to come into the classroom major holidays that they celebrate so that the students can also celebrate.
• Have students select different countries that they can research about & then allow them to present what they learned in front of their peers. 
• Continue to mix up classroom groups so that students learn to work with everyone.
• Do my favorite stereotypes activity. I will post about this at a later point to explain it properly, but we've done this a few times and it works well for all ages.
• Invite people of all backgrounds at different times to visit our classroom so that my students can be introduced to people from all lifestyles. 

I want to make sure that I don't only focus on "cultural" diversity since there are so many other differences between all of us that we should embrace. 

Have a wonderful day. :)

-- -- -- 

"10 Ways for Promoting Diversity in the Classroom."Growing Up Bilingual Raising & Educating Bicultural Kids. World Press, 08 Oct 2011. Web. 30 May 2013.

Door Decorations

"I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened and I am not afraid to look behind them." - Elizabeth Taylor

***

I loved walking into the classroom every first day of the month and seeing how the teacher had decorated the door. I guess I never realized that it took planning & effort, but if I have my own classroom that I don't share, I really want to make the most of it. Here are some ideas that I'm looking into:

• September - Autumn
• October - Halloween
• November - Thanksgiving
• December - Holidays (Not just one), Winter Wonderland
• January - Winter Wonderland, The New year
• February - Valentine's day
• March - Spring 
• April - [The Students Can Come Up With a Theme!] 
• May - Memorial Day 
• June - Summer Fun

Most of these are super "cliche" so I'm hoping to come up with better ideas before the school year. If you have any, please share them.

Have a wonderful day. :) 

Birthday Fun

"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." - Oprah Winfrey

***

Think back to pre-school or Kindergarden...however far back your memory takes you. Do you remember celebrating your birthday every year? In pre-school, my mom came into the classroom and we had a delicious cake (well it looks delicious in the pictures) for the class. That day, I was given a crown to wear all day! In elementary school, I brought in cupcakes or munchkins or donuts every single year for my classmates. I was then allowed to select a friend with whom I would walk around the school, passing around my desserts to other teachers and faculty. I would always receive pencils, stickers and/or other goodies. 

Many years later, I realize that I really miss those days! As a teacher, I want to bring some of that back into my classroom. I know that I'll have to follow rules & regulations that my school has, but I want to make my students feel special. So far, I have purchased "Happy Birthday" pencils. :) I've thought about dorky hats, but I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. I guess it really depends on the grade I end up teaching. 

Although this is only the beginning of my brainstorming, here is a list of things that other teachers do in their classrooms. 

Of all the things that I am considering, there is one thing that I will most definitely not be able to do in this generation. In first grade, I had Ms. Hickman. On birthdays, she would have the birthday child bend over, while she smacked them on his/her butt with a bat. I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous but it's true. It happened. I can only imagine the parents that would sue me for something like that now! (And honestly, I can't even think about doing such a thing...) 

I welcome your thoughts. I'd love to hear how your teachers celebrated your birthday in the past.

Have a wonderful day. :)

-- -- -- 

"Fun Ways of Celebrating Birthday." . Scholastic Inc., Online Posting to Scholastic Instructor. Web. 30 May. 2013.<http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/fun-ways-celebrating-birthdays>.

Journals

"The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium." - Norbet Platt

***

I remember when my teachers had us write in a journal throughout the years. I never appreciated at the time, but looking back at it now, I'm so glad that they had us do it. I realized that it was a great reflective tool. Even then, I didn't think that I would have my students write in journals, but then I saw the movie Freedom Writers.

Have you all seen that movie? If not, you should go watch it right now. It's an amazing movie (based on a true story). I don't want to give it all away, but I was truly inspired by the work that Erin Gruwell did in her classroom. I definitely want to have my students write in a journal. Although I have not decided how often (since I don't know what grade or subject I'm teaching), I it to be a consisten activity in the classroom. Without going into too many details, here is a nice post written by Ali Luke that provides reasons for keeping journals. 

Here are some prompts that I'm thinking of using:

• Tell me about your favorite vacation. Where did you go? Who was there? What was your favorite part?
• Who is your hero? Who do you look up to? Why?
• If you had a thousand dollars, what would you do with it? (I know, a cliche!)
• If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Who would you go with?
• What are your goals for this academic year?
• Free response (once in awhile, just to give them the freedom to write anything!)
• Describe at least five things you want to be doing when you're 80 years old.  

I'm always open to more ideas.

Have a wonderful day. :) 

-- -- --

Luke, Ali. "Keeping a Journal Can Change Your Life."thechangeblog. N.p., n. d. Web. 29 May. 2013. <http://www.thechangeblog.com/keeping-journal/>.

Well, hello :)

"Life is not a dress rehearsal. Stop practicing what you're going to do and just go do it. In one bold stroke you can transform today." - Marilyn Grey

***  

Hello and welcome to my classroom blog. At this point, I can't really tell you what I'll be gearing towards in this blog during the next two years, but I can tell you this much: I'm extremely excited to keep track of the things I do in my classroom & to share things that I experience. I know that these two years will be very difficult, but I know that my support system (my family, friends, mentors & colleagues) will help me get through it.

For the time being, I'm going to use this as a forum to put up different ideas that I can try incorporating into my classroom. If you're a teacher or if you simply remember some fun activities that you did in your classroom as a student, I'd love to hear about them. I want to make my students' experience as memorable as possible.

Thank you in advance for your support and input.

Have a wonderful day. :)

P.S. I realized that I cannot use exclamation marks because they look like straight lines with this font. Look: "!". How sad. I guess I'll never seen so excited about something. Maybe I'll use a ton of smiley faces :)