Make Your Own Pointers

Pointers have endless uses in the classroom. They channel student attention, allow teachers to emphasize key skills, promote left to right directionality, and more. Mundane skills like practicing word wall words, reading the room, and reading the morning message are a little more exciting when students have the opportunity to choose a pointer and be the “teacher.” Incorporating positive feelings and utilizing novelty stimulate the brain and serve as a catalyst for learning.

Pointers are available commercially through many educational companies and discount stores. They are also easy to make. Making a special pointer is a fun way to incorporate a theme or highlight a sight word or letter. Wooden dowels can be purchased from discount, craft, or hardware stores. Simply glue an object (such as a foam shape, letter cut-out, spider ring, so on) to the end fo the dowel, and you are ready to roll.

The Gifts of Our Fathers

Sophomore English students are studying copyright laws and their evolution in our country. The conversation has carried into my classroom. We have reflected on the value our founders placed on creativity and the flow of ideas. It was apparent how closely they linked education, information, and liberty. The more we discussed; the more amazing our nation seems. Consider what these colonists were working with:

• Books were an expensive, luxury item. The family Bible was often the only book in the home. Many families were too busy working to focus on reading and education. Yet, those who sculpted our country thought to make provisions for the flow of ideas and information. These provisions still provide the foundation for today’s copyright laws.
• No internet. No phones (of any kind). No radio. No television. No telegraph. No national postal system. The colonists managed to Declare Independence, organize and fight a war, and create a new government. I wouldn’t be able to manage dinner.
• The most advanced transportation also created fertilizer.

Given enough time, it would be easy to fill pages with a list of barriers that the Revolutionists faced; yet, that’s not what we read about. These men and women had a vision, a passion so great; that they made it work. Countless men and women lost their fortunes, their security, their British citizenship, and their lives.

Do we honor their sacrifice? Have we extended their vision? When these men left their homes and families to form our government, did they intend for their descendants to invest these privileges in Cheetos and cable television? Do we have what it takes to maintain our nation’s ideals? Do we understand the meaning of discipline, honor, passion, and commitment? Perhaps this is one of history’s greatest lessons, we come from greatness; it is our responsibility to rise to the occasion.

Experiencing the Impossible

I can run, read, calculate, write, analyze, create, dig, cook, and run a blender. I can braid, hug, teach, clean, and blow bubbles. I cannot, however, dunk a basketball.

Standing at 5 foot nothing, dunking basketballs is not my thing. If you yell at me, I will not dunk a basketball. If you call me names, I will not dunk a basketball. You can offer to give me stickers and M & Ms . . . no dunking. Make me sit alone in a hallway, still no dunking. Have a meeting with my parents to discuss my refusal to dunk; probably won’t help. BUT . . . lead me to the gym, show me the basket, teach me to climb the ladder, hold the ladder while I climb, and I just might have the resources and confidence to climb that ladder and stuff the basketball in.

We ask some of our students to dunk basketballs everyday. We yell, belittle, bribe, punish, and discuss; but, still no basket. It isn’t until we take their hands in ours, lead the way, and MAKE them experience success that they will put the ball in. Can we do this for every skill in every subject? Of course not! Will we have to? Probably not. Most of us have hundreds of skills we are perfectly competent with, but there are some feats that seem insurmountable. This is when Vygotsky taught us to build a scaffold, lend a hand, and find a way to make it happen. It isn’t easy and sometimes it feels very unnatural, but that is what teachers DO. After it is demonstrated that a skill is possible, once they have tasted success, students can begin to build those scaffolds on their own. BUT . . . they must experience to believe.

I Get Where You're Coming From

I was a kindergarten teacher, and in kindergarten we had centers. Jason entered the classroom one morning and noticed a tray filled with purple tissue paper squares. With an alarmed expression, he exclaimed, “Teacher! Why you have rolling papers at school?!?” I calmly explained that there were many uses for tissue paper, and at school we used them to make flowers.

That night, I was on the phone with my mom. I shared the tissue paper story. Through giggles she said, “He thought you were going to give a PERM!” It took awhile for me to explain that Jason did NOT think we were going to give perms.

As professionals that build little brains, we seek to create connections. Linking concepts to prior knowledge requires a teacher to have an understanding of a child’s background and experiences. These experiences may not be ideal, but they belong to that child. We all want to be seen and heard. Acknowledging a child’s world is not only good teaching, it demonstrates caring and respect.

Time to Boogaloo

Empty the shelves. Order supplies for next year. Create your schedule. Finish entering grades. The end of the year checklist is exhausting. The children are counting the hours, and the staff is counting the minutes. Visions of summer are dancing in our heads.

Be kind to yourself as you approach the end and take a little time to boogaloo. Celebrate all you have accomplished. The words read and written, art created, games played, and friendship shared. Think of how special the year was, and the experiences we had. In the midst of the chaos and commotion, take a moment to reflect, smile, and shake your tail feather.

Meeting Every Need

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

~ Thomas Paine

The second tornado clean-up day was worthwhile and rewarding; but, somehow, there was not the gusto felt on the first. A little more time had passed, the weather was not as accommidating, fewer students were able to participate . . . there were many reasons.

Motivation can be a difficult current to sustain. The workout is less exciting as time goes on, the diet less motivating, the dress is no longer new. The publicity and the excitment passed, but the work remained.

School is an endless clean-up day for many students; six hours spent looking at an endless horizon. These children come to school and spend their day doing what is most difficult for them. They run into walls and stumble over barriers day after day without an end in sight. Assignments are much like the fields littered with debis, acres and acres of work.

Our community rallied around those impacted by the tornado. We helped, encouraged, and offered supports. Do we do this for our students? Do we provide bridges over barriers, yardsticks to measure progress, and the necessary tools for success?

My family’s farm was not in the path of the tornado. No one has arrived to clean our fields, and it would be ridiculous for me to expect anyone to do so; there is not a need. Why then, do we withhold needed assistance from students if we can’t provide identical assistance to every child? Is this not equally ridiculous?

The efforts of our community and schools after the recent disaster are uplifting. I was honored to witness and participate in these projects. Good thinkers are able to transfer skills to new situations. Let us take what we have learned in the fields and apply it in our schools.

Do You See What Hi-C?

A day in a minivan, three teenagers, and an unreliable GPS. . .

Is this the teaser for a horror movie?

Things I would like to return to Walmart?

A Monty Python sketch?

No! These were the ingredients for one of the best days I have had as a teacher. Three of my students and I attended Students Taking Charge training (thanks to our amazing school nurse). I had to get up at 5:00 am (not easy for Mrs. W), find student homes (REALLY not easy for Mrs. W), and negotiate unfamiliar roads (darn near impossible for Mrs. W). I should have been exhausted. I should have been cranky. I should have been miserable. BUT, thanks to some amazing students, I laughed until I hurt, did the driver dance, and learned the following:

• We have a deep set love of our school and want to find ways to make it even more “ours.”
• Our musical tastes differ, but we loved to sing together with the radio.
• Open-mouthed young men with their faces pressed to the window of the vehicle attract attention.
• McDonald’s does not sell Fanta, Pepsi, or lemonade.
• McDonald’s staff is very tolerant.
• Not everyone shares my appreciation for yard nomes.
• Everyone does share my appreciation for bobble heads.
• Why we think some people lie.
• There are limits to my Bieber tolerance.
• Why it’s wrong to steal.
• Some girls are good at shooting clay pigeons.
• It’s hard to change our patterns of behavior.
• We would rather look tough than vulnerable.
• Students do notice the things adults do. Adults are appreciated.
• It’s hard to talk in front of a group of strangers, but it’s rewarding.
• Mr. North can turn nearly anything into a song.
• We have a unique voice and something to offer.
• I REALLY like kids.

If you are interested in doing community service with kids (with or without the minivan), check out these sites:

Action for Healthy Kids http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/

Students Taking Charge http://www.studentstakingcharge.org/

Make It Personal

What is the best way to cultivate readers?

Share your love of literature and language.

My students and I love to have fun with reading. We videotape ourselves reading, use props, dramatize with puppets, and throw ourselves into books.

Celebrating favorite authors encourages students to l

ook forward to the next book and the next and the next. Kindergarten students through seniors helped me celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday and Read Across America. We created book videos, posted them on YouTube, and were amazed by the number of hits. We used Green Eggs and Ham to write our own class books during ELL inclusion time. The school newspaper made us famous!

“Funny” books are often favorites. When I think I have a student ‘pegged,’ I select a book that “I know he will love.” We talk about how fun it would be to read it to mom, dad, a sister, or brother. Once they come back ‘hooked,’ I feed them a steady diet from the same author or them. I am forever indebted to Doreen Cronin and the Click, Clack, Moo books.

My goal is for students to ‘get’ to take books home to read rather than books they ‘have’ to read. The David books by David Shannon and Yo! Yes! books by Chris Raschka are great fun. Simple text and opportunities for expressive language make them delightful for beginning readers. They love to read REAL books. Our local libraries are very generous and allow me to check these books out and send them home with eager students. We have to develop systems so that everyone gets a turn with each book. “I haven’t had it, yet . . . You had the last one first . . . “ What a wonderful problem to have!!!!

There's Nothing Like the Real Deal

There’s nothing like the real deal. My students have started a business. They are the Sultans of Smoothies (Smoothie Whisperers seemed like a ‘bit much’). Products include strawberry, banana, and yes, strawberry-banana smoothies. The team has passed out samples, perfected a recipe, created flyers, and developed a campaign to promote our product. They have a head of advertising, Blender Man, and a smoothie scrapbook committee. Students are budgeting, creating, adjusting, selling, working with the public, and cleaning up.

Must be worth a lot of points . . . nope . . . they aren’t earning a grade. Must be earning money . . . nope . . . all proceeds will go to buying more ingredients; if we make too much money, we will lower the price. Must need to complete community service . . . ah, good guess, but not this time. The work is being done because it’s authentic, it’s real, it matters, and it’s fun. There’s nothing like the real deal!

My Tribe

I have a secret, a wonderful secret. I am able to see the remarkable where others cannot. Amazing kids are my business. The “custom jobs” belong to me. Those students who are too big for the boxes society wants to put them in.

We rack up more than our share of detentions, visits to the nurse, referrals to the principal, incomplete assignments, and incident reports. In many ways, we are too much. My mission is to adjust the lens and to create a path that makes that “too much” into the incredible. Teaching is no longer enough, I want to lead a movement.

In his book Tribes, Seth Godin shares Senator Bill Bradley’s definition of a movement. A movement has a vision, a relationship between the leader and the members, and “something to do - the fewer limits, the better.” I have the vision, we have the connection; it is time to start building.

My tribe:

The Artist - bringing imagination to life with paper and clay

The Nurturer - building up everyone in her presence

The Spokesman - articulate and passionate

The Teacher - patiently leading another to understanding

The Sage - confident in her knowledge

The Rock - possesses amazing inner strength and endurance

The Dreamer - escape is only a daydream away

The Spark Plug - inspiring action

The Golden Retriever - her presence is accepting and comforting

The Firecracker - energy exudes from him

The Writer - can sculpt with words

The Professor - incredible memory and factual recall

The Parent - recognizes the physical and emotional needs of others

The Humorist - possesses a subtle, but powerful, wit

The list is endless, but I like making the list. I like my gift. I like to see, to lead. This is MY movement . . . this is MY tribe.

Keylin's Coffee House

Snooze. Snooze. Ugh . . . start the oatmeal, jump in the shower, wake up the kids. Floss, brush, start the crockpot, re-wake the kids. Hair fixed, make-up on, chase kids. Start the car, eat the oatmeal, dress Monster Queen. Load the bags (purse, laptop, phone!), brush little teeth, meds in little mouth, dress baby. Load car, strap in baby, re-dress Monster Queen, load Monster Queen. Drive to town, sing Wheels on the Bus, listen to the Cars, stop and unload at daycare. Drive to school, pray for parking spot, unload supplies, in the door, Hello Lori, get mail, Hello Jo, Hello Kari, Hello Rachel, Hello Kays . . . up the stairs AND into Keylin’s Coffee House.

Shoulders down, supplies released, breathing slows, “Good morning, Witham”; I am here, Keylin’s Coffee House. This is my place, our place, the home I have made. Finish homework, drink your coffee, serve yourself. Did you hear? Do you know? Can I have? It’s Keylin’s Coffee House. Sit around the circle, lie on the couch, work out the table. Talk, always talk. Smile, tease, laugh. Learn your way, find your place, you belong at Keylin’s coffee house.

Today, I will

Today, while some build houses and assemble cars; I will build tomorrow.

While some heal bodies and mend limbs, I will heal hearts.

While some drive highways and crunch numbers, I will crush ignorance.

While some are locked in prison and others fight crime, I will fight hatred.

While some sign paychecks and give tickets, I will listen.

While some preach ideals and legislate morals, I will live them.

Today, I will teach.