~slow and steady~
The first 13 days of school have now come and gone. We've been busy, really busy as a matter of fact. There have been procedures to learn, names to recognize, schedules to follow, interruptions to get used to, safety drills to be proficient at, a new grading system to utilize, seating arrangements to be readjusted, problems to solve, meetings to attend, online programs to log onto, passwords and usernames to become familiar with, and a plethora of other things too numerous to mention. I know that the kids have to be exhausted by the day's end because for sure their teacher is. Oh to be a 20 something educator once again instead of the nearly 64-year old that I now am. But the truth is that I'm not, so I must learn to work with the person that I am and along the way to remember one thing.
~I need to stop being so hard on myself. Being my own worst critic is a character fault that I've struggled with for years.~
I have made several mistakes during the course of the past two weeks just as I knew that I would. Kids are very smart and they catch missteps along the way. When I used the wrong number in math one day simply because I wasn't looking at the correct line, they just went ahead to put the right number in on their own. No one made a big deal about it but when I realized what I had done, it was I who made the big deal comment instead. I have called students by the wrong name and it wasn't because I mixed them up with the classmate sitting next to them or a sibling who looks like them. Rather, it was because I have taught so many students over the last 40 years that some of them are starting to remind me of my current class of fifth graders. It's kind of a weird experience actually, to recall the face of a kid I knew 15 years ago and see their likeness in the face of a child sitting in my room this year. The kids have learned from day 1 that their teacher is a very fallible human being. Quite early in the year I have taught them a lesson that I teach every child each year that they are in my room.
I am working diligently to teach what I know must be covered by state testing time in the spring. I pour over the standards on a regular basis. There have been numerous occasions in the last few days when those standards woke me up at night and didn't allow me to return to a solid sleep. The stakes are high at assessment time, a fact I know all too well. It is what it is and when the scores come out for all to see, they don't belong to any other teacher.
They belong to me.
Yesterday during the last few minutes of class time as things were winding down at the end of the day, I took a look at the "acts of kindness" marble jar that sits on a desk near our classroom door. It was only a handful of marbles or two short of being filled to the brim. For some reason, the thought was placed into my heart to remember a young man in our classroom who absolutely would adopt any and all turtles in the universe. He's a great kid who knows way more about turtles than his teacher will EVER know. He has a spirit of benevolence to the creatures of the world, in particular the turtle. That's kindness of a special type so in honor of his humanitarian work on behalf of the slow moving turtle, I filled the jar up to the brim.
And the kids were so happy!
The first 13 days have been busy but even in their busyness I must never lose sight of the chance to teach children the things that we so proudly display on our classroom community bulletin board. To me it is crucial that I go back and reteach every day the concepts of kindness, integrity, honesty, leadership, reliability, accountability, and community service. It's imperative that I remind them that we do not leave anyone behind in our classroom, whether it's at lunchtime/recess or in our studies. To me this is a vital link to our own personal success as a classroom community of learners this year.
The kids and I are in this together.
On the last day of school, that's just how we will cross the finish line.
Together.
Just watch us and see!
~I need to stop being so hard on myself. Being my own worst critic is a character fault that I've struggled with for years.~
I have made several mistakes during the course of the past two weeks just as I knew that I would. Kids are very smart and they catch missteps along the way. When I used the wrong number in math one day simply because I wasn't looking at the correct line, they just went ahead to put the right number in on their own. No one made a big deal about it but when I realized what I had done, it was I who made the big deal comment instead. I have called students by the wrong name and it wasn't because I mixed them up with the classmate sitting next to them or a sibling who looks like them. Rather, it was because I have taught so many students over the last 40 years that some of them are starting to remind me of my current class of fifth graders. It's kind of a weird experience actually, to recall the face of a kid I knew 15 years ago and see their likeness in the face of a child sitting in my room this year. The kids have learned from day 1 that their teacher is a very fallible human being. Quite early in the year I have taught them a lesson that I teach every child each year that they are in my room.
"Kids, do you know what you do if you have a teacher who says they never make mistakes? Here's what you do. You find yourself another teacher."And they know exactly what I mean.
I am working diligently to teach what I know must be covered by state testing time in the spring. I pour over the standards on a regular basis. There have been numerous occasions in the last few days when those standards woke me up at night and didn't allow me to return to a solid sleep. The stakes are high at assessment time, a fact I know all too well. It is what it is and when the scores come out for all to see, they don't belong to any other teacher.
They belong to me.
Yesterday during the last few minutes of class time as things were winding down at the end of the day, I took a look at the "acts of kindness" marble jar that sits on a desk near our classroom door. It was only a handful of marbles or two short of being filled to the brim. For some reason, the thought was placed into my heart to remember a young man in our classroom who absolutely would adopt any and all turtles in the universe. He's a great kid who knows way more about turtles than his teacher will EVER know. He has a spirit of benevolence to the creatures of the world, in particular the turtle. That's kindness of a special type so in honor of his humanitarian work on behalf of the slow moving turtle, I filled the jar up to the brim.
And the kids were so happy!
The first 13 days have been busy but even in their busyness I must never lose sight of the chance to teach children the things that we so proudly display on our classroom community bulletin board. To me it is crucial that I go back and reteach every day the concepts of kindness, integrity, honesty, leadership, reliability, accountability, and community service. It's imperative that I remind them that we do not leave anyone behind in our classroom, whether it's at lunchtime/recess or in our studies. To me this is a vital link to our own personal success as a classroom community of learners this year.
The kids and I are in this together.
On the last day of school, that's just how we will cross the finish line.
Together.
Just watch us and see!
The ornate box turtle is the state reptile of my home state of Kansas.
It's a great reminder of the fact that slow and steady always finishes and wins the race.
The average turtle moves at a rate of 3-4 mph. Very lucky ones make it across the road alive.
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