What was your favorite book to read growing up? What was your favorite read aloud?
Mine? I would read and reread “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type” by Doreen Cronin over and over again. I also remember my Dad reading “Goodnight Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown almost every night. Reading and being read too is so important for any age child! How powerful that I still remember those books to this day. And the list can go on. I love giving my students time to read. Seeing them cuddle up to a book they love is the best. Remember when it was below zero for those two weeks in January? I remember driving to work with a blanket on my lap and wishing I could just cuddle up in it all day in class. I thought of how cold my students would be getting to school and that they too would want to be wrapped in a blanket. I stopped my thinking… wait! Why couldn’t we? I messaged the parents and told them to send their child to school with a blanket. When the students came in with their blankets they were so confused: “Why do we have blankets?” “What are we doing with these?” “Are we taking a nap?”. I did not tell them until the end of reading. I put a fireplace video on the TV and told them to lay or cuddle into their favorite blankets and pick a book they want to read. A cozy reading party! They were thrilled! What I saw warmed my heart to the point where I forgot all about the cold. I saw students sharing their big blankets with others that did not bring one. I saw students leaning on each other, focused on their books. I saw students whisper reading to others that had a difficult time reading. I saw students jumping into their books laughing and smiling at what they were reading. What I didn’t see was their eyes leave the pages. We instill the idea that all students are readers. Ms. Kusel and I tell our students everyone should love reading, and if they don’t then they haven’t found the right type of book yet. Giving them that time gives them the opportunity to find books they enjoy reading, find an author they love, and or find their favorite book they will remember when they are an adult.
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Saturday Morning
Sun shines through the glass A sense of calm takes me over Ready for the day Thank you Courtney O'Connor for this idea. Writing comes in so many forms. I love everything about my job. I love it so much it is a part of my life, even when I leave. One thing I hate about my job is the amount of times I get sick in a year. The endless colds, flu that travels like the plague, and now strep throat. It is no ones fault, that's just the way it is. I can wipe down my table with disinfectant wipes every day, crank of the hand sanitizer battle all day long and wash my hands relentlessly... I will still get sick.
I am overly frustrated this time though. I was just sick with the flu about a month ago and had to take off a couple days to rest. I know my principal, coworkers and students are understanding, but I cannot help but feel like I am letting them down. I just hate taking off work (I guess that makes me lucky though right?). I feel as if I miss so much of my students learning. I had a meeting with my principal I was looking forward too all week. And I just love Fridays with those kids. It will all be there when I return on Tuesday. But I can't help think of them as I lay here in bed. See you soon second graders! Miss you all. My workout split goes as follows:
When I get home I eat a carb heavy meal to give my body some energy to fuel my workout. I eat right when I get home so this meal has time to digest. I change into my gym clothes. I go back downstairs to mix my BCAAs and Pre Workout Supplement. I get my gym bag together and throw my coat on. I chug my pre workout and head to the car. I blast some upbeat, fast paced music to get my heart pumping. Upon arriving to the gym I put my headphones in and hat on so I am distracted by no one. On LISS days I start my workout on the stairmaster at a steady state for 15-20 minutes. On HIIT days I start a slow jog on the treadmill working up to fast sprints; 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off for about 15-20 minutes. Once I work up a sweat I head upstairs to the weights. Everyday has a different start and its own rhythm to it. I have a separate love for each muscle group. Leg days are intense, challenging, and exhausting. But I walk away with an immense amount of pride in myself. Push days (shoulder, chest, and triceps) are a day I completely burn out my muscles. I can push myself more during HIIT and I have extra time for abs. Pull day (back and biceps) are a combination of the two. I have taken pride in how strong my back is and have a goal of building my biceps. I want to be able to complete 6 pull ups on my own, in order to do this I need to build the strength in my biceps. All of these combined make me happy. I am excited for the next workout. I want to push myself even more than the day before. Now I know what you are thinking... "How does she have so much motivation ALL the time?" Well I don't. I have my off days. Days I am emotionally fatigued. Days I do not want to be around people. Days I am exceptionally unmotivated. These are the days it is most important to go, though. I have never left the gym unsatisfied from going. I may have a bad workout, but I never regret going in the first place. I hope this shows people that this is a lifestyle. It is a part of my daily routine. I, too, can be unmotivated. BUT it is the times that you push yourself that you realize you can push yourself the same way in other aspects of your life, like teaching for instance. Continued…
WAIT?! How can any of us live our normal lives without the stress of this weighing us down? Well we have to stay positive. I have learned a lot in my life, but one thing that has taken me years to learn is to stay positive. You can be sad, angry, or upset in your initial reaction because those are normal feelings, but your long term reaction should be positive. Bad things happen to everyone, everyday. What matters is how you react to the situation. Sometimes you cannot change bad things, but you can change how you react to them. I chose to react with positivity. Telling my mom I love her more, helping her around the house more, telling her that no matter what life throws at us we just have to enjoy the time we have and love our lives. These little things add up. When you are surrounded by positivity, you are more likely to be positive yourself. Today is yet another check up, with more test to be done. I am praying for a positive outcome. If the outcome is not what we hope for, it will be okay because we will get through it. Despite surviving breast cancer, going through chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, losing her hair, feeling sick, wiped out, then completely healthy, and being told she would have to go through it all again, she still chooses to look at the positives. This one's for you Momma! Each year, in teaching, I seem to grow with one particular student. All of my students bring joy into my life, but this one student adds in a little, or a lot, of chaos. They struggle to adapt to the norms, which to others may look frustrating, but to me it says, “Challenge Here! Help Needed”. These are those students with behaviors they cannot control for reasons they may never understand.
I can think of a student from every year or placement that I have made this special connection too. They are the student that is so difficult teachers and parents are at a loss. Or they get no attention because people have given up on them. When I was student teaching I grew close to a young girl in 5th grade. She had a rough childhood, to say the least. She wanted no part of me when I entered the school. She would joke that I looked like a student, and why should she trust or listen to me? Her teachers did not care whether she roam the hall or sit there in class. They would send her to the instructional room, where I was teaching, for a break (for them or her?). By the end of that year we were both crying because I had to leave. I was graduating, and moving back to Illinois so coming back to visit wasn’t even an option. My first year of teaching I was in two different schools forming amazing relationships. Both classrooms I was in had a handful of students that changed my life. This year, my challenge accepted is one that makes me love what I do. He came in about 3 weeks into the school year not knowing how to “school”. He struggled making friends, following directions, sitting still, adjusting to routine changes, and so much more. One thing he was really good at, though, was coming into school with a smile everyday. My co-teacher, Rosemary Kusel, and I have made an immense amount of accommodations for this student to see him succeed. Some work great, others were a bust that needed to be tossed to the side, and a few are still being made today. This special student challenges me everyday with a new obstacle we both have to overcome. The practice and problem solving that occurs pushes me to be a better teacher. I am learning how to handle different types of situations everyday. These experiences are some that I will bring with me wherever I go. I might end the day completely mentally and physically exhausted, but I leave work knowing I will be walking in to that shining smile the day to come. To, my special student. I write my blog in the morning, at 6:20 am, right when I walk into my classroom. It is quiet, calming, and a perfect time to reflect. It is a time to reflect on my teaching and everything in my life outside of teaching. I start my day thinking of ways I can improve myself as a person, not always the easiest.
I’ve realized there is a process to the way I write my blog. This process is extremely similar to the writing process of my students. I didn’t realize this until I started reflecting on it all. I start off with what I want to write about. I think of all the things in my life that mean the most to me… Mom, Ryan, teaching, lifting, my best friend Morgan. Who will I chose to focus my reflections on today? This is just the process I have my students go through called brainstorming. Just like a heart map, thank you Marty Stachura. Once I chose my main focus, I start off with some sort of introduction. A question, painting a picture for the reader, a powerful word, a statement. I am still exploring different ways to start my blog. Introductions can be hard, but when you find something that clicks just stick with it. This is what I teach my students to do. With any type of writing, even a blog, you start off in a way to lure your reader in. Then, I just write. I don’t worry about mechanics or my sentences making sense, I just write. As I am writing I will often get up to take breaks. I get those ‘brain farts’ and that tells me I need to stop and walk away. When I come back to my seat ideas have magically popped in my head and I continue. I have walked away from this post 2 times so far. In my students writing world, these breaks come into play when we end the writing block. They can start fresh the next day with their writing. Crazy how my writing process and my students sounds the same so far, huh? Next, I find a way to end my writing. Sometimes this comes easy. I will type a phrase, thought, or word and it sounds great. Other times it takes me a little bit to think of a way to end all of my thoughts. I am exploring different ways to end my writing that I can relay to my students, because they too struggle with this. I found a cool resource to help with ending a blog (URL at the end of this post). Finally, when I am done with my post I go back and reread it about 4 times. I edit and revise my work. This is something I have been trying to be more clear with, with my students. Editing is going back into your work and fixing all the mistakes such as capitalization, punctuation, etc. Revising is going back in and adding or deleting parts of your writing to make it better. It is difficult for them and it really takes practice. Luckily, the computer does most of my editing. Revising takes some time. This is why I read it at least 4 times to make sure everything flows and makes sense to the reader. Reading my work out loud helps immensely. Once I complete all these individually important steps, I add a visual, then click POST. ^^^ What do you think of my conclusion? Comment if you thought of a different way I could have ended it. Comment which way you think I chose to end my post from: → https://hub.uberflip.com/blog/how-to-end-a-blog-post Open when you need a laugh. Open when you are crying. Open when you can’t sleep. Open when you are stressed. Open when you are mad at me. Open when you need a smile. The cards go on. When my Mom first started treatments for breast cancer I made her a set of “open when” cards to lift her spirits. There were about 20 personalized cards included in a basket of all the things she loves.
The response she had to one of the cards, the last card, is incredibly inspiring. On her last day of chemotherapy she came up to me and said, “I finished all your cards throughout this journey.” I smiled… she continued, “but I don’t think I will ever need this one.” She handed me the card - Open when you feel like giving up. Tears filled my eyes. I already knew she is the strongest woman in my life, I knew she was going to beat cancer, I knew she would never give up without a fight, what made me cry was that she believed all these things too. She believed in herself. She will never give up. It is an incredible relief knowing that your rock will continue being strong even when it seems the world is against her. I couldn’t imagine life without her, I can’t be without her. So to know her will to fight is stronger than the obstacles thrown at her, makes me feel safe and sound. The moment I lift up my blackout blinds my Saturday starts. I have the same routine every Saturday morning:
I am ready for the day. This Saturday is different though. I wake up at my best friend Morgan’s house in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. In college, Morgan and I started as Alpha Phi sisters and ended as roommates. We have countless memories I will always cherish. Morgan is the type of friend you are constantly thankful for. She is the definition of a ray of sunshine. She has a knack for adventure, independence, and laughter… I feel that my sentences are starting to get repetitive and I am not finished listing all the things Morgan is, so I am going to create a list:
Thank you for being my better half, my chosen family, and the great girls night Mo! Fridays are one of my favorite days of the week.
I am in a terrific mood and it reflects onto the students. We all come in smiling, excited for the weekend to come. I could have no plans or all the plans in the world and still be as excited as a kid in a candy shop when it comes to Friday. Once I walk out of school I feel like I have all the time in the world. I am not rushed and instantly relaxed. I take my time going home, listening to some upbeat music. I get to head to the gym later than a usual weekday, which is my absolute favorite because it is EMPTY! I practically have the whole place to myself. Once I am finished with a great workout, I head home to spend some time with my Momma and/or my favorite man. It is an all around good day that puts me in a great mood for the weekend. Happy Friday :) |
AuthorI am a second grade teacher at Irving Elementary School in a co-taught classroom! Archives
May 2019
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