Pay close attention to:
- Section 18 Thanks To You (page 55)--quite a tribute to you as an educator
- Section 20 Humor Homework (pg. 61)-- some great ideas to possibly implement as part of your final project.
- Section 21 Play Sheet--Ways to influence your classroom and school environment
- Please post AHAS and thoughts from these sections.
5 comments:
I just recently received my first thank you from a student. It was from an energetic and smart boy, Jake, that I had taught in 3rd grade. He is know a freshman in high school, and his freshman English teacher had her students pick someone who had influenced them in the past and write a thank you letter to them for those "influencing" ways. It astonished me to find out that Jake had chosen me some 6 years later. He could have chosen anyone...his English teacher did not tell him to pick a teacher.. just someone who had influenced him in his life. It was the nicest thing I had received in the mail. And yes, I did cry as it truly meant the world to me to know that I (just me...nobody special..I'm not a rocket scientist or a CEO of a Fortune 500 company) was the one to impact his life. I made sure to save that little 8X11 piece of paper. I think about that thank you letter every so often and make it my springboard to impact someone in the "here and now!"
Presently, I work with adults who have developmental disabilities. I hope I can impact their lives in a positive and warm way. Who knows, maybe one day I will get a thank you from them. But for now, I know their smiles when they see me and ask me, "How's Miss Lisa doing today?" is my "thank you" for doing what I am doing right now in my life...improving their quality of life for them.
The ways I have "lightened up" my office is by doing some simple techinques. One of which was to go to Staples (the office supply store) and ask for 6 of their "EASY" buttons for my program coordinators and office staff. When these "EASY" buttons are pushed, they say, "THAT WAS EASY!" I explained to my staff that when the day's work is getting a little too hectic and unbearable, to hit their 'EASY' button and life would definitely get better! You should hear the laughter from the other staff members when they hear that saying...they know someone is having a bad day and more often than not...someone comes to their rescue...usually with chocolate!!!
I was very touched by the thank you letter in section 18. It is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day work overload of teaching. It is important for us as educators to step back and take a breath now and then, allowing ourselves to feel good about the lives that we have made better. This is so much healthier than focusing on situations that cannot immediately improve due to time or lack of support.
In my five years of teaching kindergarten, I have rarely had a child say, "Thank you for being my teacher," but they have shown me their gratitude in many other ways. They show me in little ways like making me pictures and giving me hugs and smiles. They also show me in big ways by drawing upon the lessons I have taught them about putting their best self into their work and relationships, and respecting themselves and others.
The thank you note was such a wonderful thing. It is very special and makes you to stop and think how we touch the lives of the children that we teach. What a great letter for that student to have written.
Currently I am teaching preschool and usually don't get thank you's from the kids, but I do get a lot of hugs, masterpieces that they have colored, or other "special" items they want to share. I have had parents write me very special thank you's.
The thank you letter on pp. 55-57 was rewarding to read. I also have received letters from students thanking me for all I had done and I still get a feeling of pride and goose bumps when I read them. In fact my partner and I just finished conferences. We received so many thank yous from parents that we both are going on spring break energized because of these them.
Our whole school had to do speeches and I also did one to model for my students. My speech just happened to be about one of my funniest moments in teaching: Moving from fifth grade to second grade. I was scared to death even though I had taught for over 30 years. I thought they would eat me alive. Telling my students this made them laugh and I feel even made them more comfortable with me.
Also I like to play and use props when I teach or do funny experiments that teach. An example of one I do is with raisins and mountain dew. I also dress up like a sewer maintainance worker. I bring in some sewer water (mountain dew). I put it in a clear quart container. Then I drop in the sewer maggots (raisins)which move up and down with the carbon dioxide. I then pick out a maggot and eat it and take a drink of the sewer water. Boy do they giggle. Then I explain exactly why this happens.
I really have enjoyed the book and all the ideas presented inside. It has been helpful to bring humor into the classroom using these new ideas.
Post a Comment