Cultivation

As teachers it is our responsibility to cultivate our students experiences. 

Kids do not always come to us with the tools they need to learn what we have to teach them. They may not be cognitively ready or they may lack the language and vocabulary needed. Often they lack the back ground knowledge to always understand what we are talking about, especially when we are introducing new material. 
While they sometimes cannot relate to us, are they alone in misunderstanding? Student experiences often consist of things that we would rather not think about, never mind actually experiencing them. 
Abuse. Drug Use. Malnutrition. Neglect. Violence.
We cannot change what happens in these kids homes, short of reporting extreme neglect or abuse. But there are things we can do. We can give students positive experiences. We can show students that they are not alone, and that we care.  
 The definition of cultivate is prepare and use, for agricultural use. When you are cultivating land, you often have to add good things to the land that you've got. Fertilizer must often be added, along with water, and of course, seeds. While our students may not be where we need them to be when we get them, we need to add enough positive experiences, viable connections, and tools to prepare them to leave our classrooms.
As teachers, we have to help the students that we are given. We have to help our students to cope with not always perfect lives and teach them to cultivate their experiences, because only through experiences can true retained learning occur. 

Why watching Television can benefit your students...

When I come home in the evening and find myself lost in Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart, I am learning not to feel too guilty. I am a chronic workaholic, as most teachers probably are, because lets face it.. there is literally always something else your could be doing to better prepare yourself for your students.

My first year teaching, during our first staff meeting our Principal told all of us that we needed to take time to go get a pedicure. He was a 50's aged man with a coaching background, so needless to say, I couldn't take him seriously. But he was right. As teachers we all must take time for ourselves so that there is something left for our kids.

At the end of some days, you will come home physically and emotionally drained. You will have nothing left to give because greeting 200+ smiling (or not) faces everyday is hard work. That doesn't even take into consideration the actual teaching part. Knowing all of your kids strenghts, weaknesses, likes, dislike, modifications, accommodations, and people they will sit next to willingly while still working takes a LOT  of brain space.

So its okay to be tired. It is important to take time out for yourself. Take a bath, watch a game, go on a walk, water your flowers, or watch Comedy Central, because in the end, you cannot take care of your kiddos with out taking care of yourself too.

Why being Awkward is Excellent

I have always been awkward. It is pretty much the only thing that comes natural to me. I am perfectly ok with it, however other people often aren't.

This might help me to relate so well with the kids I teach, since they are essentially in the most awkward phase of their lives, (which also just so happens to be one of the most life deciding phases in their lives). 8th and 9th graders. Even the 'cool' kids are super awkward. I just love them.

I have learned to just embrace my awkwardness. It has taken me a really long time, lots of tears, and gradual acceptance of myself to realize being awkward is perfectly fine, if that is who you are. And if you are who you are... You are way happier.

Every day I witness my beautiful students battling with their own awkwardness, geekiness, dumbness, smartness, ugliness, all of which are self imposed titles because they feel they are supposed to be a certain way! How sad is this? That 12, 13, 14 year olds are throwing their perfectly perfect unique selves away to fit into a mold that is terribly worn out?  I am over it.

Is it hard to put forth extra effort to embrace the awkwardness? What a difference it could make to our beautifully imperfect children, to know that someone loves their awkwardness. They are appreciated for who they are when they come in the door.

I love the thing below... not sure who made it, but its awesome!

Planning for Success

That One Kid

That one kid. Every class has one (or five.) The kid that, even on the first day of school, is set that they simply do not want to be there and all of their actions are making sure that you know it.

Maybe they are excessively tardy on the first day, even though they have been at this school for three years. Maybe they sneak those head phones in every time you look away, sliding their cap back on for the fourth time this class period. Maybe they sleep through the syllabus you worked on all summer perfecting.

It happens. It's frustrating, but it happens.

These kids are the reason teachers are so important. You have a choice. Berate and tear them down on the first day? or Maybe smile and tell them how happy you are that they made it to class.

Maybe you'll be the reason they come back tomorrow.

Positivity: The main reason you shouldn't be negative.

With all of the excitement a new school year brings, it can also bring lots of intimidating changes. New administration, new co-teachers, new policies... All of which can be very scary, especially for more experienced teachers. There are really only two ways you can handle these changes: Positively or Negatively.

A positive attitude will render positive results. What is the worst that could happen? A negative attitude will ensure you are miserable as things around you evolve and change, and you, get left behind.

I am still a baby teacher. I am still learning and adjusting my practice and finding new ways to reach my little butterflies. But shouldn't we all be?

We preach to our kids about being  eternal learners and always searching to be better students. When did teachers become exempt from that?

Fresh and New!

The new school year is rapidly approaching, and as a teacher (and a dork) there is no more exciting feeling. I get to meet 120 (at least) bright and fresh new faces! I get to try out some new teaching techniques and perfect old ones. Construct new concepts to fresh, new minds. It is really just too exciting.

A new school year can also mean a fresh start, especially for students. Maybe some of our little butterflies are moving to a different campus, full of totally unfamiliar faces! Maybe they are adventuring into more advanced classes or looking to start fresh and improve on past performances?

The other Ag Teachers and I have decided to power wash and clean our almost 35 year old wood shop. After it is shiny and new, we are going to apply a fresh coat of paint, and display all of the awards our FFA chapter has accumulated over the past 87 years! Hopefully this will give a fresh new outlook and give that old shop some new opportunity! 

As teachers, I hope sometimes we can look at our students in the same way we are looking at our Ag Shop. They are not always polished or pretty. They are NEVER without an imperfection (or many), but it is our job as EDUCATORS to scrub past the years of bad experiences or lack luster performance.
We must give them an opportunity to start all over.

After all, it is a New Year.

Why FFA is so stinking IMPORTANT!

Prezi Guide to FFA

Online Professional Development (Two post in one day?! Whoa I am on a roll!)

I love the idea of teachers having access to professional development online. It is a way for teachers who want to reach out and LEARN to be able to! Today I watched to previously recorded sessions, and though I hate hate hate the boring slide format of both of them, I pulled tons of information from them. 

The first online PD I participated in was How to Fund Your Classroom Projects. This webinar coached teachers on how to use DonorsChoose.org. I liked it so much that you can access my own donorschoose.org proposal here. 


The second online PD I participated in was Breaking the Cycle of Underachievement, which is a topic near and dear to my heart. Because I teach in a school district who has lots of at risk or low SES kids, I found all of the information presented to be highly useful, and I recommend any teacher venturing into a title 1 School to look it up. I also recommend you read to completion Ruby Payne's book The Frame Work of Poverty. It really hits the nail on the head when it come to students from struggling backgrounds. 

I accessed my online PD from searching Pinterest... but I will post links to these two awesome opportunities!

Breaking the Cycle of Underachievement and loads more...

Getting Money for Your Classroom Projects!

PLN's and Why the Are SO Important

PLNs, or professional learning networks are one awesome tool for teachers, especially during those times of year where we begin feeling a little tired/burnout/undermotivated/overworked. This happens to even the best of us.

Sometimes teachers need a breath of fresh air. New Ideas. Some one else who understands! Professional learning networks can be all this and more. Now that summer has started, I am missing my classroom, my kids, and my routine. I am taking advantage of my awesome PLNs so I can begin planning out my next year. This helps build some excitement and can help ease the omg-so-much-to-do time of the beginning of August.

If you are wondering how to access a PLN, I can safely say you are already SURROUNDED! Twitter using the hashtag #educhat is a great way to start. Checking out blogs, (like this one) can also give you tons of new ideas!

Dive in, fear not, and build yourself and PLN!

What Teachers Learn.....

 Teachers learn some of the strangest lessons.

 This year, I have learned more from my students than I ever thought was possible! I have learned that students, no matter how they feel about school, will respond positively if you show them love and give them some where to belong! I have learned that if you have a rubber snake hidden in your desk, they will eventually stop opening your desk drawers! I learned if you give students a chance to help you decorate your room, they are less likely to help destroy it! I learned students love to surprise their teachers, like the time one of my boys hid in my cabinet before class. He then preceded to make me think they had hidden a squirrel in my room, because he was SO very good at mimicking one!

 If you give students ownership of their school they will have more pride. If you let students help choose what they learn, they get to learn they will be more likely to stay engaged. They want to feel responsible for their own futures, and they want to feel respected!

They just want to belong. They want to have purpose.

I also learned how to sound exactly like a squirrel.