Beginning the Journey

On Facebook the other day, my friend Ginger asked,

“Do you think we should encourage kids to follow their passions and make it their life's work?”

My answer was this:

Absolutely! Through this journey they will learn their strengths and limitations but with a goal in mind, the opportunities and possibilities are endless!

I need to see my student’s abilities in a positive way. Instead of telling them all of the things they can’t do, I want to focus on the things they can do and encourage to follow their passion.

If a student has a passion for something and I can fine tune learning towards that passion, I feel my student is more willing to try harder and take risks. The student can see the relevance of the learning if it is tied to something that the student is passionate about.

This doesn’t mean that their current passion will be their final destination. It may change along the way as students gain more knowledge, grow in their abilities, and learn from their failures.

Too many times I see teachers use the excuse of following standards and core curriculum as a reason not to encourage students to follow their passions. It makes me wonder if maybe the teachers have forgotten how to follow their own passions. It seems that all this red tape and regulations have clouded our vision or purpose for the final outcome.

I think if we help students to follow their passions, it will help us map out a plan for the entire journey. Along the way there may be roadblocks or detours or we may even decide to head towards an entirely different destination, but that is okay. The main thing is to get started. Being that journey. Take that first step towards where we think we want to go. Isn’t that what learning is all about?

What do you think? Should we encourage kids to follow their passions and make it their life’s work? Please share.

Image: 'untitled'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29812035@N07/4783170326
Found on flickrcc.net

Say Yes More

Last week my husband and I visited my parents in southern Florida. While we were there, we went to the Wakodahatchee Wetlands. As we started up the boardwalk I noticed the signs telling us all of the things that we could not do. I noticed how the list told us not to do this or that but there was nothing that said what we should do. How much more inviting it would have been to have a lot more yeses mentioned. Some I thought of were:

• Yes, have fun!
• Yes, look for different wildlife!
• Yes, notice how wildlife interact with each other!
• Yes, learn how to identify flora and fauna!
• Yes, learn how conservation is important!
• Yes, look at the beauty of nature!
• Yes, share your love of nature with others!
• Yes, take lots of photos!
• Yes, enjoy yourself!

I understand that sometimes for legal reasons we need to post all the “no” things but maybe we should emphasize more of the “yes” things.

I see that many times in the classroom too and I don’t want my classroom to be filled with too many no things. My rules are written in a positive way rather than a negative way. Rather than saying “Don’t come unprepared to class,” I would say, “Be Prepared for class.” Rather than saying “No homework will be accepted late,” I would say, “Homework must be turned in on time in order to earn credit.” Instead of “No talking,” I would say, “Talking allowed for collaboration.”

There would be so many ways of turning negative statements into positive statements.

When I see all these negative signs telling me not to do something, I don’t feel very welcomed or encouraged. I don’t want my students to feel the same way when they walk in my classroom.

How do you handle the rules in your classroom? Do you state them with no or yes? Why? Please share.

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Having a Principal as an Ally

In 7 tips for making your principal your ally (for teachers) From Blue Skunk Blog by Doug Johnson shares,

“Teachers, you cannot afford to have an adversarial relationship with your principal. You cannot even afford a principal who is an "agent of benevolent neglect." You need an administrator who actively supports you, your projects, and your students.”

I found this out to be so true when I became more involved in my school. I think one of the major keys is to get involved. Throughout the years I heard so many teachers complain about the administration not understanding them or making decisions about them so I decided I needed to have a different perspective. I volunteered to be on some committees and started to work towards taking a leadership role. It did help that I had a principal who believed in me and encouraged me to do this but I needed to have the desire along with it in order to gain a real perspective. I think in order to truly make a difference and not just be whiny, I needed to be better involved. I don’t mean more involved because I think people can be involved in many things but still not have the right perspective. Instead I wanted to be better involved so I volunteered to be on committees that influence the decision making process.

Being on these committees helped me see problems from different angles and how they affected different departments at the same school. Suddenly problems didn’t just affect me but others too and I hadn’t thought about how it would. Discussing these problems helped me be more tolerant and patient when decisions didn’t go my way. I also saw that the principal would have to make hard decisions where he couldn’t please everyone so he had to make the best decision that would positively affect the most people. This was really hard to explain to others and people in my department would get frustrated with me because they felt I wasn’t advocating for my department enough.

I also have some suggestions to the ones Doug mentioned.

1. Take an active part on decision influencing committees. Be open minded that decisions can affect all departments in the school differently.

2. Talk to other departments when preparing to make a proposal to your principal. Be prepared for obstacles that might affect other departments and come up with a solution for them. During your proposal, acknowledge these obstacles and potential solutions.

3. Know your strengths and be a resource for your principal in your area of expertise. Offer to be available if any questions or concerns come up about your department or field of experience.

4. Ask your principal for advice. Tell your principal about your concerns without whining. Ask him if he knows where you can get more answers. There might be a simple solution that another department has already used or knows about.

5. Collaborate with others. Discuss solutions that might benefit more than just your department. When discussions begin, you can show how your solution can benefit the most people.

6. Support your principal when he makes the final decision. Don’t talk behind his back or whine that you didn’t have any part in the decision making process. This will come back to bite you later when you need help.

What would you add to the list? Please share.

Image: 'Panama Business and Investment'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23065375@N05/2235525962
Found on flickrcc.net

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 1/3/14

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels: E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Body Maps – “BodyMaps is an interactive visual search tool that allows users to explore the human body in 3-D. With easy-to-use navigation, users can search multiple layers of the human anatomy, view systems and organs down to their smallest parts, and understand in detail how the human body works.Using detailed 3-D models of body parts-including muscles, veins, bones, and organs-Body Maps offers a new way to visualize and manage your health. See how the coronary artery delivers blood to the heart, and learn how plaque build-up on artery walls leads to heart disease. Locate the exact location of a pulled muscle or broken bone, and find information on how to prevent injuries. View a cross-section of the human brain, and learn which areas control certain emotions and body functions.By offering rich, detailed anatomical images alongside links to relevant and useful health information, BodyMaps allows you to leam about your body and your health in a personalized and revolutionary new way.” (L:G; SA:S)

Curriki Geometry Course -   Curriki’s Project-Based Learning (PBL) Geometry curriculum will help your students build the skills and confidence that will help them conquer any mathematical problem and develop 21^st century skills such as communication, collaboration, and teamwork. And they’ll love coming to geometry class!” (L:G; SA:S)

All About Explorers – “All About Explorers was developed by a group of teachers as a means of teaching students about the Internet. Although the Internet can be a tremendous resource for gathering information about a topic, we found that students often did not have the skills to discern useful information from worthless data.So we set out to develop a series of lessons for elementary age students in which we would demonstrate that just because it is out there for the searching does not mean it is worthwhile.” (L:E; SA:SS, LA)

Cardwiki – Create flashcards for studying and you can collaborate with your classmates or others online. (L:G; SA:A)

Where Is? – A Geolocation game of places around the world. (L:M, H; SA:SS)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley

Goals for 2014

Yearly goals:
1. Try at least 12 new recipes (one per month)
2. Lose 10 lbs. by the end of the year.
3. Knit a Fair Isle vest.
4. Learn to chain ply some handspun yarn.
5. Dye yarn and fiber.
6. Spin my camel, yak, and cashmere fiber.
7. Nurture old friendships.
8. Review the last 3 books of the Little House Series.
9. Create at least 12 digital scrapbook pages (one per month).

Daily/Weekly/Monthly goals:
1. Daily - Read the bible and keep a log so I can tell how I am doing.
2. Daily - Do strength exercises for 30 minutes each day.
3. Weekly - Walk at least 10,000 steps for 4 days every week.
4. Weekly - Keep a journal and write down 5 things that I’m thankful for.
5. Monthly - Read one non-fiction book every month.

I plan on reviewing these goals each month to evaluate how I’m doing. (It really helped me last year!). I am going to look at my daily/weekly/monthly goals each day to keep myself on track.

Do you have any goals you want to work on this year? How will you keep yourself accountable? Please share.

Image: 'Goals' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68131855@N00/739519564
Found on flickrcc.net