Everyone Has Value

Recently a student from thirty years ago connected with me and shared that she still remembered our class motto: I am a Born Winner. I replied and told her that she always was and always will be.

This reminded me how important it is to show people that I value them. It may be close family and friends but also people that somehow touch my life, even if it is only for a moment. Everyone has value. I think there is so much depression and negativity in the world because people have forgotten this very important value.

Our neighbors are constantly helping us with little things and I hope that we show them how much we appreciate all that they do for us.

Sometimes it is easy to take my family for granted. I want to make sure that I let them know how much they mean to me and how much I know and appreciate their love.

I’m making more of an effort to try to show people that they matter to me. When we ate out the other day, I made sure that I thanked the man who cleaned off our table. We also brought bottles of water out to the men who pick up our trash, It may not be much but hopefully, it is these little things that may make a difference in someone’s life.

It doesn’t have to cost much or take much time but showing appreciation can go a long way.

It is important to show everyone that touches our lives even in tiny ways, that they have value.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Worth

(During the summer months, I like to take the A-Z Challenge and come up with words alphabetically and see how they apply to education. I think it’s a great exercise for teachers and students to give this a try.)

Many of my students have failed so many times that they don’t feel like they have any worth. It is so sad to see a person so downtrodden at such a young age. They don’t have any hope and have such a lack of energy to even try to get better. They feel so lonely and just want to give up.

One of the first things I do in my class is to try to change this around. I don’t feel like we can move forward until I can show them that there is hope. They can succeed and I am here to help them. They are not alone.

I start off by introducing the class motto: I am a Born Winner! They have to write this on every paper they turn in for a grade. I start off the morning by having everyone say this together. Throughout the class, I may stop and ask individual students what our class motto is. Before they leave my class, everyone says this together. Eventually, they start believing it.

I also find out what levels they are learning at. At first, I may give an assignment that I know they can complete successfully. I may give several assignments like this so that they start having some successful experiences. Then I slip in some harder work and I stay close to help them navigate the work successfully. Eventually, I wean my assistance from them until they can do it on their own. Sometimes they don’t even realize that they have been successful. I tell them it is like learning to ride a bike. Sometimes there is someone holding their bike as they learn and then all of a sudden they can do it all by themselves.

I also try to learn something new with them. Sometimes I make mistakes but it is good for them to see this. I try to explain that making mistakes doesn’t change my worth at all. It is the motivation for me to not give up and to try harder.

I also explain that everyone has their individual strengths and no one is great at everything. Just because someone is better at something than I am doesn’t make that person better than I am. It is when we put our individual strengths together that make us stronger.

Once students start having hope that they can succeed, they are willing to take risks. Once they see that failure or success does not measure a person’s worth, they are more comfortable with trying new things.

How do you help students see their worth? Please share.

Photo by Sabrinna Ringquist on Unsplash

V is for Value

I believe that what we teach our students must have value. Without value, it is nothing but busy work and a waste of time for me, the student, and the taxpayers.

When planning lessons, I constantly ask myself what the purpose is for each activity. I need to make sure that each activity has value. One way that I do this is to brainstorm all the activities I can do to support a new skill or concept. Once I have the list, I will prioritize them by their value. Which ones will be the most effective? Which ones can be the most meaningful to my students? Then I try to choose the top three to five activities (depending on the time) to use in my lesson.

After I choose my activities, I try to write a procedure for each one. This helps me not forget all the steps involved. Sometimes I take it for granted that certain steps are known but usually find out that some students miss specific steps. This causes the activity to be either confusing or chaotic. By identifying all the steps needed, I can better meet the needs of all the students. I can even display the procedure to help students who need a visual along with the auditory directions. For students who know certain steps, they can move at their own pace without waiting for me to help them. Those students who need help can get it more easily since I will be available.

It is important for students to know the value of the lesson or activity. . Many times students get bored or shut down because they don’t understand why they are having to do something.

When students feel like there is some value to what they are learning, they are more willing to focus and apply themselves

How do you share the value of what you are teaching? Please share.

If My House Was On Fire

In If your house were on fire... from Blue Skunk Blog, Doug Johnson.

"If your house were on fire, what would you grab on the way out?"

When I first started teaching, it was drilled in our heads that if we lost our grade books, we would lose our jobs. Any time I left my classroom, I took my gradebook. It went everywhere with me, even the restroom!

Years ago, our house caught on fire in the middle of the night. While my husband ran around cutting off the breakers, I collected important things and left the house. The oil furnace caught on fire and the fire department put out the fire quickly. When they left, we stood in the driveway looking at each other, thankful that we just had smoke damage in the house. My husband asked me what I grabbed on the way out and the only things I had were my dog and my gradebook! For many years, that has been a standing joke.

Now that we are Red Cross volunteers, we have helped needy families and know what documentation is needed to get help.

Now I know that if we had a house fire, here are the things I would grab:

My purse which holds my driver’s license (which is proof of address), credit card, and check book.

My laptop.

My husband’s medicine bag.

As long as I have these three things, all other things in the house are sentimental. I would hope that we don’t lose them in a fire, but I could live easily without them.

I know that I have too many “things” that I think I value but when it comes right down to it, I value them because they make my life fun or comfortable. Yet many of the things I own are not necessary. They are true luxuries.

By thinking about these things, I really appreciate what I have more.

This would be a great lesson for our students to do. It would be interesting to see what things our students value most. I would have them list the things they would grab and give an explanation why these things are important to them.

What would you grab if your house was on fire and why?

Image: 'Neighbor's House on Fire'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47346767@N00/3030450667
Found on flickrcc.net