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. :)