Is Teaching Good For You? Yes and No.

Is teaching good for your health? Yes and no. Mostly no. Why? Too much to do, too little time, too little support. So, take care of yourself, Teach, and you can reap the good side of teaching.

Illness 

Your lifestyle on teaching can create illness. Stress, sedentary classrooms, few bathroom breaks, ignoring healthy eating, limited sleep--you're writing a lesson plan for illness.

Germs! Germs! Go Away!

http://www.nea.org/home/37571.htm 

Taking Care of Teacher

http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2015/05/taking-care-of-teacher.html?spref=bl 

Depression  

Teaching is a full-on contact sport without time-outs. A teacher must deal with her/his personal life or the pushed-down emotions and thoughts will react. Although no one talks about it, going to counseling and getting help really works. Don't be too proud to get help.

Depression in Teachers Impacts Classroom Learning

http://www.livescience.com/49771-depression-teachers-impacts-classroom-learning.html 

Workplace Stress 

Teachers must function within a hierarchy that may or may not be conducive to peace of mind. All school workplaces are not equal.Every school has grumpy cats and sweethearts. Find your sweethearts, avoid the grumpy cats.

What Motivates Teachers?

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/07/30/whamotivates-teachers/


Long Hours


 A teacher doesn't have to be a perfectionist to get sucked into a 70 hour work week. A teacher is a teacher 24-7 just by definition of working with students--maybe we should be paid a consulting fee for using our expertise on problem solving; thinking about the kids away from school.  We do that even in our sleep. Ever dream about class? Be realistic, demand a life for yourself and your family.

American Teachers Spend More Time In The Classroom Than World Peers, Says Report

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/09/oecd-teacher-salary-report_n_5791166.html 

Job Insecurity 

Without tenure, I doubt I would have managed to keep teaching long enough to retire from a public school district. Why? When teaching in a district with the most challenged demographic (high poverty, violence, ELLs and Special Education high counts) all educational stratas are stressed from security staff to superintendent meaning it takes very remarkable administrators to keep everything going peacefully--just among the staff. At times, I was privileged to work under such administrators. 

My work was appreciated, other times,  it was completed under difficult circumstances. As a Special Education teacher, we were expected to complete services for twice the legal caseload. One time, the Union rep at my school told me with great disappointment, that a Grade 5 teacher would be RIFd rather than me because I was Special Ed. 

At times, the students and I had nowhere to test, and  not much room to meet for IEPs. But I prefer to recall the outstanding professionals I learned from, when we worked together as a team, students and families were helped. Many of those team members were General Education, and many brilliant professionals from the Special Education field. That was good for me, but when there was tenuous support from admin, lack of collaboration from colleagues--only tenure kept me going, watching the calendar until I could retire and start something new.

Job Insecurity: The False Dilemma of Teacher Tenure

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-strauss/job-insecuritythe-false-d_b_5555710.html

 

Educational Links 1/31/17

Handwriting Results Show Importance of Child’s Fine Motor Skills Development

http://ilslearningcorner.com/2015-10-what-your-childs-handwriting-and-fine-motor-skills-may-tell-you/

How to Help Students Crush Math Anxiety

https://www.middleweb.com/33974/how-to-help-students-crush-math-anxiety/

Are Kids Missing Out By Not Skipping A Grade?

https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2017/01/23/are-kids-missing-out-by-not-skipping-a-grade/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20170127

Reading Resources for Black History Month

http://www.kidsdiscover.com/teacherresources/black-history-month/utm_source=fb&utm_medium=Ad&utm_campaign=BlackHistoryMonth17_fb

At a Glance: Classroom Accommodations for Dyslexia

https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/instructional-strategies/at-a-glance-classroom-accommodations-for-dyslexia?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=understoodorg

Three Things Wrong with the U.S. Education System

http://www.bamradionetwork.com/teaching-teens-tweens/three-things-wrong-with-the-u-s-education-system

Using Technology to Inspire Independent Readers

https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-technology-inspire-independent-readers-jesse-buetow?utm_content=buffer2728e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

As teachers, one of our most critical jobs is to create independent readers. Getting kids excited about books is the first and most crucial step on this journey. The more passionate students are about books, the more they read, and the more they read, the better they get. Making book commercials—or persuasive pieces to inspire their peers—is one great way to help students share their excitement about books with each other and create a community of passionate readers.

Aww Garsh: Love Songs for Valentine's Day #8

 U2 - The Sweetest Thing 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib2zq-ev7tc 

  My love throws me like a rubber ball
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
She won't catch me or break my fall
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Baby's got blue skies up ahead
But in this I'm a rain cloud
You know she likes a dry kind of love
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
I'm losing you
I'm losing you yeah
Ain't love the sweetest thing
I wanted to run but she made me crawl
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Eternal fire, she turned me to straw
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
You know I got black eyes
But they burn so brightly for her
This is a blind kind of love
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
I'm losing you
Oh oh oh, I'm losing you
Ain't love the sweetest thing
Blue-eyed boy meets a brown-eyed girl
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
You can sew it up but you still see the tear
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Baby's got blue skies up ahead
But in this I'm a rain cloud
Ours is a stormy kind of love
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing
Oh oh oh, the sweetest thing

Counseling and Supervision; Supervision and Counseling

What to change in a school? I have reflected upon what change would have the greatest impact based just upon my own observations.

Counseling and supervision. More and more effective supervision and counseling. Kids learn better when their minds are focused. Internal and external conditions affect their ability to be successful in school, therefore counseling and supervision.

Counseling usually indicates a counselor working in scheduling classes and sometimes personal intervention with parents and kids. Of course keep this, adding more opportunities for individual students and groups to interact with trained counselors. Have a variety of topics, a variety of groups. Maybe even a club. A qualified counselor atevery school site.

Classes and class activities can  identify and/or aid in relief of tensions and stressors. Activities can give kids confidence and bolster their ability to learn.
One year when I was teaching a Special Day Class for the Severely Handicapped, a group of students from the student government class came once a week for a class period for peer interaction. My students and the gen. ed. student leaders interacted while I ran a very simple self-esteem class. The benefits? The gen ed. kids were exposed to new career choices (SPED teacher, counselor, etc.) and my students gained language and other academic skills, plus great self-confidence and new friends. It was like pouring Miracle-Gro on them.

Here are a few activities I developed to help students relieve stress:

Writing Prompts to Sooth Kids' Toxic Stress
http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2012/04/writing-prompts-to-sooth-kids-toxic.html

Books to Relieve Kids' Toxic Stress http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2012/01/books-to-sooth-kids-toxic-stress.html?spref=bl

Here are curriculum sources for self-esteem:
Discovery Education 
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/self-esteem.cfm

Writing prompts have therapeutic effects for students, too. The counseling comes in with discussion, either through teacher's written response or carefully guided group discussion. Kids are eloquent when narrating their own feelings and experiences. Teachers are professionals who interact with students at least 35 hours a week--we need to know them and how they are doing. Reading their thoughts in writing will do that. Then it is up to us to interact personally with them. Identify a student's internal stressor a student leads to getting them the help she/he needs.

Here are sources for writing prompts for self-esteem: 

Self Esteem & Confidence 52 Journal Prompts for Kids 
http://journalbuddies.com/journaling/self-esteem-confidence-journal-prompts-for-kids/ 

Reflective Journal Writing Prompts

 http://www.self-esteem-health.com/reflective-journal-writing-prompts.html

Supervision-oh my!  By my observation, only one school I taught with in the about a dozen in the past two decades actually followed the principal's directives on supervision consistently. On the playground, at the classroom doors before and after school, during assemblies. It was amazing. It was as though that principal had somehow cornered the teacher market on efficiency and cooperation. As a result, the kids were more secure, cooperative and generally happier. School rules were consistently enforced. The teachers were dependable in their appearances to supervise. At this school, the principal was also present on the campus, even making surprise visits to the classrooms, where he was welcome.

No teachers at any other school I encountered, except for the one above, even consistently enforced supervising passing time between classes. Every year the principal of these schools would announce the importance of teachers being at the door during this time, and in about a week most of the teachers stopped doing it. Why? Because people do what you inspect, not was you expect. The principals had no system to verify if teachers were doing this, except the increase of horseplay, fights  and other misbehavior in the hallways based on referrals. Parents of my students would tell me their child was afraid to go down the fall, to lunch or even to the restroom. 

Supervision, or lack thereof, enhances the student's learning environment or detracts from it. Personally, I believe the leadership in the admin. building needs to step up on this matter.

Just to put a chill down our spines.

FAILURE TO PROPERLY SUPERVISE STUDENTS

CAN LEAD TO EXPENSIVE LITIGATION 

 http://www.mymcharterlaw.com/pdf/Student_Safety_on_Campus_020808.pdf

 School Supervision Problem Areas

http://web3.esd112.org/docs/risk-management-matters/risk_winter_10_insert.pdf?sfvrsn=0 

 

Aww Garsh: Love Songs for Valentine's Day #7

John Lennon could be sweet, too.

The Beatles - In My Life

arts integration, john lennon, music, the beatles, valentien's day,

 

"In My Life"

There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

In my life I love you more

Educational Links 1/30/17

Tapping the potential of students with learning disabilities

http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/tapping-the-potential-of-students-with-learning-disabilities/education

[Infographic] Personalized Learning Can Benefit Students

http://edtechreview.in/data-statistics/1375-infographic-personalized-learning-can-benefit-students?utm_content=bufferf4900&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

'Why whole-class reading beats a carousel – and seven ways to ensure it is successful'

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/why-whole-class-reading-beats-a-carousel-and-seven-ways-ensure-it

7 Systems that Work for Outside-the-Box Learners

http://cultofpedagogy.com/underperforming-students/

How to Make a Keyhole Garden

http://www.gardeningchannel.com/how-to-make-a-keyhole-garden/

How to Start a Butterfly Garden

http://nababutterfly.com/start-butterfly-garden/

School Garden Checklist

http://www.letsmove.gov/school-garden-checklist

The school grounds can be: a source of food for improving children's diet and nutrition. a source of healthy influences -- physical activity, ingredients for school meals. an area of learning -- about nature, agriculture, nutrition, math, and other subjects.

Teaching Is...Learning Ed Tech II

The Teacher’s Guides To Technology And Learning

http://www.edudemic.com/guides/ 

An Introduction to Technology Integration

http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction-video 

 A Dictionary For 21st Century Teachers: Learning Models & Technology

 http://www.teachthought.com/learning/learning-models-learning-theories-index/

 25 Tips for Blended Learning Success

 http://online.getfueled.com/25-Tips-for-Blended-Learning-Whitpaper.html?source=eSchoolHP022015

Practical Ed Tech with Richard Byrne

http://practicaledtech.com/ 

Great GOOGLE CLASSROOM Tutorials by Early Access Testers 

http://www.mauilibrarian2.com/2014/07/11-great-google-classroom-tutorials-by.html 

Google Certified Teacher

https://www.google.com/edu/training/get-certified/?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3D%26esrc%3Ds%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D1%26ved%3D0CCMQFjAA%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252Fedu%252Ftraining%252Fcertifications%252F%26ei%3DA33bVN2jC8bqoATCi4GgAw%26usg%3DAFQjCNHq20M9v89eti-YjAtldkDMsbdI1A%26sig2%3DUp62teKVhWKGF_sRS4cZcQ 

 for Education

 https://www.google.com/edu/products/productivity-tools/classroom/