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We All Need Some A.I.R.

2/27/2013

A couple of days ago, I was listening to Dave Ramsey's EntreLeadership podcast. The day's lesson was how important it is for leaders to recognize and appreciate their team members and employees. The guest speaker, Chris Hogan, suggested that the best way to increase productivity, loyalty and postive attitudes is to encourage and inspire employees, recognizing them for the work they do. He quoted that "encouragement is the oxygen for the soul" and it is as important to our well being as the air we breathe. He introduced the acronym: AIR which stands for Appreciation, Inspiration and Recognition. Now, he was aiming his podcast toward small and large business owners, but I found that this idea could also be used in the classroom.

Appreciation
It is very easy for a teacher to feel under-appreciated. With the overload of planning, grading, standards, testing and more, sometimes we just need a hug! But what about our students? Shouldn't we thank them for getting up and coming to school each day? For completing their homework? For sharing ideas during a class discussion? For helping out in the classroom? Sometimes teachers (myself included) feel like WE are the ones who need the thank you, but we can't forget to also thank our students. They need to know that WE appreciate THEM! How are you showing appreciation for the students in your classroom?

Inspiration
Our students need to be inspired. They need to know that the reason they come to school everyday serves a higher purpose in their lives. As teachers, we get to be that inspiration! We are the ones who can inspire and encourage our students to do great things and become great adults. What are you doing in your classroom that is inspiring children?

Recognition
Everyone needs to be recognized for the work they do and we need to recognize our students for the growth they make each year. Some students will not pass the state testing, but does that mean they are failures? No way! They may not have reached the goal set by the state, but chances are they HAVE made progess and are working hard in the classroom. We can recognize students for where they are and the progress they have made. We can let them know that hard work, and not just a test score, is also a measure of success. How will you recognize your students each day?

As my blog title suggests, we all need some AIR, so don't forget to appreciate, inspire and recognize the people who work with you. Your grade level teams, PLCs, co-workers and office staff all contribute to a well-functioning school. By increasing the AIR in your school environment, you might just make it a better place!

Share the ways in which you appreciate, inspire and recognize students and staff at your school! I'd love to have this conversation with you!

*To hear more business lessons from Dave Ramsey and his team, click here.

The Homework Plan 2

2/24/2013

The first week of the New Homework Plan was a success! Students did the homework each night and presented their projects on Friday. I was so proud of them!! Everyone had projects to share (except for two boys who left them at home and will present on Monday) and were very excited to do so! Before we shared our experiences, the students finished filling in the template rating their work habits and explaining what they learned. I guided the whole process and explained why we were doing each step. For this first week, I accepted whatever they turned in. I wanted my students to feel successful and encouraged to continue with the process. However, they know that as the weeks go on, the expectations will increase as to the quality of the work they bring in.

The presentations also went way better than I could have imagined! I divided students into small groups of 4-5 kids and each student had to present what they did and what they learned. After each student presented, he/she had to pass the plan to a friend and the friend gave him/her a score for the work. The students were very kind to one another. I heard lots of positive comments and encouraging statements. When students saw the work that their peers had done, some comments I heard were I'm going to do that next time, I need to add more color to my poster and Your story is really good!

Here is the Homework Plan template I created. Just click on the file and a link will take you to my store! The template comes in English and Spanish.

Here are some photos from Friday's presentations:

Here are pictures of the students' plans. This template was the originial one I made. The one above is the new version. I asked students to help me re-design the original but they liked it as-is so we only made a few changes. If you read Spanish, some of their responses are pretty funny!

Here are pictures of the actual presentations that students turned in:

The next step is to keep going with this New Homework Plan. This next week we will all do reading for the homework so I can give students some more direction on what I expect to see. I have a list of activities they can choose from for their Friday Presentation. Also we decided, as a class, to mount the homework projects each week on a section of the wall in the hallway called the "Homework Museum." The students thought that maybe if students around the school saw the projects, they might be inspired to do more homework too!

I will keep you posted on any more excitement around the homework plan. Soon I hope to have a booklet ready with different homework ideas to inspire students!

Thanks for reading!!

The Homework Plan

2/20/2013

I have decided that I really do not like homework. As a student, I don't like doing it and, as a teacher, I don't like giving it. It takes too much time to get ready and it becomes more of a hassle than a benefit because the kids who really need it never do it. To be honest, I send homework because that is what we have always done and parents tend to expect it. But what is the real purpose? Is there a benefit to sending homework home on a daily basis?

To foster a love of learning in my classroom, I need to inspire my students to WANT to learn. After reading a great blog post about homework by John Spencer, I became inspired to change my homework ways. And then, coincidentally, my own students gave me the courage to jump in and try something new! Here is what happened:

Situation #1--Last week a student brought the math homework back to school and the backside was covered with math problems. He had used repeated addition since he was not proficient with multiplication. He then proceeded to tell me (proudly) exactly what he had done and what he had learned. I was impressed. It was extra work that he had assigned to himself ! Hmmmm....

Situation #2--On Valentine's Day, a student gave me a book that he had written at home. It was awesome! It was a simple book, yet it had a storyline, dialogue and pictures--but most important to me, he had created it at home on his own time. For a boy who struggled in class and did not consistently return his homework, this was a big deal! He did extra homework to create a special book for his teacher?!? Wow!

So....this got me thinking. Why am I doing all the work in assigning the homework? Maybe if I gave my students a little guidance combined with a little freedom, they would produce way better homework than I could ever assign. So, armed with the blog post, my idea and crossed fingers, I announced the new homework plan to my class...and they loved the idea! They started shouting out homework topics faster than I could write them down. Here is what we came up with:
1. The focus is on Reading, Writing or Math (but other ideas may be accepted)
2. You have to create a weekly plan (using Mrs. Griffith's template)
3. Everyone must present something on Fridays
4. You can work independently or with a partner/team

Those are the basic rules but we will be adjusting them as we go along to see what does and doesn't work. Yesterday we filled out the template together and students chose their first project! Everyone was excited to get started!

I don't really know how this will turn out, but it feels good to be taking a risk and trying something new. This is real-life learning that will benefit them as they get older. Creating a plan, monitoring progress and evaluating results are things I do everyday. Why not start learning those skills in 3rd and 4th grade? And if I can inspire my students to continue their own learning at home, I feel THAT will be a true benefit of homework.

What are your thoughts about homework? Share your homework stories here!

*Updates:
Wednesday 5:40 pm--Great news! Day 1 of the New Homework Plan went GREAT! 100% of my students completed and returned their homework....and they were EXCITED! We still have a few kinks to work out with the template but the kids are loving the goal-setting part of the plan. They loved seeing that they met or even exceeded their homework goal. I cannot wait until Friday to see what the presentations will look like! I will post pictures and give another update on Friday!!

Thank You, Mr. Presidents....

2/18/2013

...for letting us celebrate your birthdays with a day off from school! I know that is probably the wrong thing to say, but it really IS nice to have a day off every once in a while!!

Teachers have a hard job: we have to be energetic, organized, creative and available. Getting an extra day off to slow down and recuperate is the medicine that lets us keep going! Since I usually spend part of my normal weekend doing lesson plans, getting this one extra day lets me play just a little bit longer. I get one more day to sleep in or clean the house or read my book or catch up on my tv shows or all of the above!

I am so thankful for the time off because this extra day will refresh and energize me for the week ahead. My plans will be organized, I will be prepared, and my students will reap the benefits of a happy, well-rested teacher!

So off I go, to read, watch tv, walk the dogs and vacuum the living room! I sign off as I started...Thank you, Mr. Presidents!!

How do you spend your days off from school? Share your stories here!

The Dead Cat

2/15/2013

I picked up my students from PE yesterday morning and we walked past the playground windows while the first graders were playing outside. All of a sudden, very calmly and matter-of-factly, one of my students said, "There is a dead cat outside." Well, that is not a statement that you hear everyday so, of course, I stopped, turned around and walked back toward the windows.

Sure enough, there was a cat sprawled out on the playground asphalt with kids running all around. I looked closer, not really believing what I was seeing, when the cat lifted its head and twitched its tail. I said, "Oh my gosh! That is NOT a dead cat! THAT cat wants to be petted!" My whole class rushed toward the windows and we wondered aloud why a cat was sleeping on the playground.

Then we had this conversation:
Me: If I was a cat, I wouldn't be laying down with all those first graders running around!
Student #1: Maybe you should just take the cat home with you. You like cats.
Me: I am not going to take someone's cat. It probably lives in one of the houses next to the school. Please make sure you treat it kindly when you are outside. We treat all creatures kindly.
Student #2: Yeah, teacher. Maybe the cat just wants to be here because he wants to learn. If we are mean to him, he will go away.
Student #3: One time a cat came into our kitchen. My mom left the door open and a cat walked in. My mom yelled and it ran back outside.
Me: A cat just walked into your kitchen?? That is funny!
Student #2: What if the cat walks into our classroom?? Teacher!! What if he follows us inside??
Me: Oh, that would be so fun!...but we are not bringing a cat into our classroom! So don't get any ideas! (Laughter)

This is one of the reasons that I love being a teacher! I love talking to my students and hearing what they think about. Maybe to some people, this would not be an interesting enough story to be worthy of a blog post. But to me, it represented a simple but precious moment when I got to just "be" with my class.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the pressures of standards and testing that we forget about the little people we spend time with everyday. They need these simple, relaxed moments too, to bond with their teacher and classmates. These small moments can combine together to create purpose in our working lives. Yes, my responsibility to teach students is one I take very seriously, but sometimes you just have to stop to see the "dead" cat.

How do you connect to your students? Share your stories here!

Valentines + Paint = ???

2/13/2013

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Every year it is the biggest holiday that we celebrate at school! Kids are so generous! They bring valentines and candy for their classmates and we write letters to one another during the school-wide letter writing week. I am always amazed about how important this day is for my students. All week they look forward to opening their valentine boxes to see what goodies await them...which brings me to the decorating of the valentine mailboxes.

Now I love art, I really do. But I was dreading this project. We were planning on painting and then decorating large cereal boxes that students brought in to use as their mailboxes. The project was going to be fun--but my goodness, my students have been bouncing off the walls this week! The last thing I wanted to do was pull out paint and let them have at it! But it was Tuesday and only two days left until the big day so I knew we had to get started.

Once everyone was seated with their boxes, we cut flaps in the sides, taped up loose ends and then got to work. Everyone had a paintbrush in hand and they rotated around the tables with their half-painted boxes as they looked for the perfect colors for decorating.....and quickly, my dread turned to joy--the paint project was a fabulous idea!

I realized that the exact thing that we needed at that moment was to paint ! Paint dripped off brushes and onto the tables, the floor, and of course onto arms, elbows and sleeves. But the happy noises of kids at creative work was so much fun! They were helpful and complimentary and shared ideas across the room. After about 40 minutes, we started collecting brushes and paint tins and everyone grabbed baby wipes and started to clean up the mess. After 5 minutes of chaos, the room was back to normal...except we had all these brightly colored boxes sitting on the tables! It was lovely!

So what did I learn? Maybe on those days when we just can't seem to settle down, when we feel frustrated and fed up, we just need to pull out the paint and let the students have at it! The best medicine might be a little bit of creativity.

Do you do art in your classroom? What is your favorite kind of art to do with students? Share your ideas here!!

**Wednesday PM: Here are pics of our finished boxes! They turned out SO good! I love the color combos that kids used! Today we added finishing touches with paint and kids decorated their boxes with heart and design cut-outs. Who would have thought that cereal boxes (and a few other random boxes) could look so good!!!

Website Updates

2/11/2013

First of all I regret to say that I missed my Friday blog posting! I had all the good intentions of posting three days per week, but then life got in the way. I was out late for our Family Literacy Night on Thursday night and I was tired. So, while I have every intention of keeping my promise to keep up with my blogging, I will also cut myself a little slack and say that sometimes I just have to go to bed!!

Update: Over the weekend, I made a few changes to my website that really improve its look and feel. So here is a mini-tutorial of what you will find:

Home
I added a "table of contents" so you know what to expect from the website! It has links to make cruising my site a little easier. I also included my Education Philosophy. Visit Home.

My Store
I did a little "cleaning up" so that you know what is available. You can also click on the links to go directly to the page you want. I admit the store is a bit empty right now, but I plan to add more products soon--so keep checking back! Visit My Store.

Teacher Resources
On this page I have included books, websites, blogs and articles that have inspired and motivated me. It is set up in an easy to read format and you can click directly on articles that are of interest to you. I also included links and blurbs about why I chose the resources I did. Visit Teacher Resources.

Character Education
I added the Citizenship Song.....remember, I am not a professional singer so don't judge too harshly! Students from my class were happy volunteers to be my back-up singers. I plan to upload the skits VERY soon! I will let you know when those are posted!

My Footer
At the bottom of each page are tools to make site navigation simple. You can tell your friends about me on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the icons, and you can contact me by email anytime--just fill in your name and email and leave me a message (these messages are not posted on the site).

Thank you for all the support you have given to me as I have jumped into the world of websites and blogging! I love the challenge of learning new things and I look forward to the next adventures that await me!

Thank you for reading! Tell your friends!

Good Mornings

2/6/2013

It feels good to be acknowledged. It makes a person feel noticed, special, liked. So one of the habits that I started this year is how I greet my students.

Each morning, the bell rings at 8:30, and as students enter the building, my class lines up in the hallway outside our room. I wait about one minute before I get ready to invite them inside. After I hear some happy chatter from the hallway, I emerge grandly with a big smile and say, "Good morning, my darlings! How are you today? I am so glad you are here!" Then I make a few quick announcements about the morning routines and ask them a "hook" question as I warmly invite them to enter our classroom. (The "hook" might be a clue about a special activity or visitor or about a change that was made since the day before.)

This daily grand invitation is met with big smiles, a few yawns and, my favorite: "Good morning, Mrs. Griffith! How are YOU today?" It seems a little cheesy, I know, and it may seem a little too perky for first thing in the morning. But it is a wonderful way to start off our day. My students know that they are special to me, that I like and care about them and that we are going to have a fabulous day!

Now, this is not always easy because some mornings I am tired and just don't have the energy to be so joyful. But on these days, the whole mood in the classroom changes and the students take on the attitude of their tired teacher. By the end of the day, we have a whole room full of Grumpy Griffiths. Yeah, not fun.

So I fake it. I force myself to be cheerful....and guess what? After a few minutes, I am! This positive attitude has changed the way my classroom functions. First of all, I do not hold grudges from the day before. Everyday we have a new opportunity to have a wonderful day. Second, by acting the way I want to feel, which is happy and energetic, I end up really feeling that way! By starting our day with joy, even rotten mornings at home seem to turn around by the time class actually starts.

In my opinion, the more grand and elaborate, but sincere, the greeting, the better! At first your students will think you are strange. And if you have older students, they might even roll their eyes and give you that look. But when I hear students greeting one another in the same way, it reinforces the fact that my classroom is a happy place to learn!

How will you greet your students this morning? Share your morning greetings here!!

Outer Order, Inner Calm

2/4/2013

Even though my next book is sitting on my nightstand, I am still inspired by the book I recently read, The Happiness Project. One of the suggestions that the author Gretchen Rubin makes is to clear physical and emotional clutter. She suggests that when your home (and life) is organized, it can bring a sense of calm and peace to an otherwise hectic and stressful life.

This is especially true for me. I like my house to be clean and organized. I like when everything has a place and objects are put away. I love the look and feel of a clean kitchen! So if this is appealing in my personal life, then why do I let my classroom (and especially my desk!) be a camping spot for paper, books, odds & ends and piles??

On Friday I was feeling especially frustrated by the clutter that had accumulated in my classroom. Since the beginning of the school year piles had begun to form--slowly at first, unnoticeable. But as the months went by and I made the choice to not spend weekends at school, the small, unnoticeable piles had grown to monstrous proportions. In fact, how many times this year had I proclaimed to a co-worker, "Has anyone seen my desk?"

So, in a fit of desperation, I went against my own rules and spent Saturday morning in my classroom. (I made it a special treat though--Einstein's bagel, coffee, and my favorite podcasts!) I got there nice and early. No one was there which was good because I didn't want any distractions. I started in on my desk area and meticulously worked my way around the room. I cleaned, rearranged furniture, moved my carpet area and got rid of extra desks that we weren't using...I even found and recycled papers that were from students from THREE years ago!

After four hours of non-stop, hard work, I turned around and saw the most lovely sight: a clean and organized classroom! It was wonderful! I left school that afternoon feeling light as a feather. All the stress of having piles of clutter was gone. There was no longer that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I had something to do. It even changed the whole rest of my weekend. I still had planning to do, but it didn't seem like such a chore knowing that I was going back to a clean classroom on Monday.

In closing, did clearing my clutter make me happy? YES!! Yes it did! I am very happy to have a clean classroom! My outer order has produced an inner calm! Now, the real challenge will be keeping it that way.

What do you think about clearing clutter? Does it make you happy? If you have a great organization story, share it here!

The Highs and Lows of State Testing

2/1/2013

It is the season of state testing. This is only my second year doing testing because 1st and 2nd graders (who I taught for so many years) do not take state tests, so I still feel new to the experience. I know I am supposed to hate it, but I try to see the positive side: it forces me to focus my instruction; it makes me analyze student work and practice tests to see what skills they lack; it challenges me and my students as we set goals for our teaching and learning.

That being said, the other reality is that state testing is stressful, demanding, time-consuming and heart-breaking.

Yesterday my class finished the first round in math. For the past few weeks we took practice tests, did study sessions and brushed up on weak areas. We discussed what it would be like (this was the first time for third graders to take the test) and reminisced with the fourth graders about their experiences last year. I was feeling good. We had been working hard and we were ready to do it!

We tested for three days. For all three days, I tried to take the pressure off of them and be positive. I wanted to calm nerves and encourage those who still struggled with concepts. My enthusiasm was sky high as we rounded the final bend. But yesterday, the final day, as students one by one came up short on the passing score, my heart dropped. The results were not what I expected.

That is the hardest part about high-stakes testing. You feel so confident as you lead your students into the computer lab. You feel so smart and lucky to have such a great group of kids. You buy special pencils for them to use as encouragement to do their best. It is like a kick in the gut, though, when it feels like all your hard work has not paid off.

Now, I don't want to sound too dramatic. There were some bright spots in the day: I had a few kids who Met and one Exceeded and a handful of students who Nearly Met. That is wonderful and I am so happy for them and the hard work they did! Another success is that many of the students who did not score as high still did a great job during the test. I saw them using the stratgies that I had taught so I know not all hope is lost. And it is only February 1. We have more than two months to prepare for Round 2 so I know we will have more successes to share by the end of the year. But is still stings.

I always want to improve my teaching and be more effective. I will look at my plans and see where I can make adjustments. I want to set high expectations and scaffold my instruction so students can be successful on tests and in life! I know that with hard work, a positive attitude and maybe just a wee bit of luck, we will find success!

What are your strategies for getting through state testing? Share your stories here!