BOOKS, BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS.

You'd think I would've had enough of picture books after so many years of teaching elementary school and raising 5 kids. I haven't. Here's the thing... even my kids still read [and love] the new picture books (and chapter books) I bring home. They have an opinion on all of them, too. 

My love of books, especially picture books, began young in the children's section of our local public library. My mom is an avid reader and library user. So, I've been going to the library from the time I was born. I've had a lot of 'favorite' books over the years, but you never forget your first real love. 

THE MARSHMALLOW GHOSTS WAS THE FIRST BOOK I FELL IN LOVE WITH.

It wasn't ground breaking, particularly moral instilling or really anything special in and of itself. Most kids my age probably never read it. It just captured MY imagination. So, I checked it out every time it was available for an entire year. My poor mother read that thing...

Every summer when my kids were little, they would head outdoors and investigate nature. So one summer, I made them a "field notebook and kit". Oh my goodness! Was this ever a hit in the neighborhood! 

Granted, we lived in Colorado where wildlife roamed, even through the suburbs. But my youngest still drags it out from time to time here in Florida. Your investigation site can be as small as a backyard or large as a park or beach. 

It's amazing what kids will find when they slow down and really look with an investigator's eye. These kits are easy to make and can be used with groups of students, sent home as a family project or used with your own kids. They're great for some summer learning that's still tons of fun, too. 

Here's my kit's contents:

• Zippered (heavy duty) plastic pencil pouch

• Local or regional field guide

• string

• scissors

• baggies- various sizes

• magnifying glass

• colored pencils + regular pencil

• sharpener

• eraser

• sharpie

• wet wipes (a...

Here's the deal....

Be honest. Do you really ever turn off the "thinking about school" part of your brain? I don't. I think I will, but I don't. I'm always thinking and applying my personal experiences to my work. 

I can't help it. I love what I do! Teaching is not a job for me. It's my vocation. I am passionate making education fabulous for both teachers and students. But, we all need to take breaks or we'll get burned out.

So...

Here are 5 simple (non teaching) things you can do this summer that will make you a better teacher. 

1. Take a break. No. I mean a REAL break. No school talk. No professional reading. No planning for at least a month.

2. Enjoy a hobby. Pursue your hobby, whatever it is, with passion. Get really good at it.  

3. Write. Write a book or poetry. Keep a personal or spiritual journal, field journal or write letters. Whatever. Just write every day. Think about your struggles as a writer. Note where you like to write and...

Have you ever felt under-valued? Written off? Several times in my life I have had people under-estimate me. Turns out, it was their loss. I know I'm not alone in this.

True story. 

My father was voted “Least Likely to Succeed” in his High School Yearbook.  He was poor, a bit of a punk, could barely read and only stayed in school because they let him play football. He left high school intending to work on the railroad. He was bored to tears. His very good friend came home for a visit from college and brought my father an application, bugged him until he filled it out and got the registrar at the high school to send his transcripts. I’ll be forever grateful to Eddy and the school registrar for believing in my dad. 

Success

Guess who was the most successful student from that class? My dad. He went on to earn multiple degrees, head up incredible projects, travel the world and became a well-known physicist with more than 25 patents in his name.  

Oh,...

As a teacher and a mom, I have a love-hate relationship with summer homework.

(Cue record scratching.) What?! I know, right?! But, it's true. The teacher side of me knows it's important to keep learning and staying sharp over the summer. But as a parent, I also know that family time and downtime are really important, as well. I know my kids are ready to go back to school when they finally get bored with downtime. 

Let's face it, these are kids we are talking about. First off, we know that our brains need a break. Shoot, teachers need a break by the time summer comes. Imagine what is going on in our students' immature brains. 

Have you ever felt like you just counldn't do one more thing?

My aunt used to be a long-distance runner. She told me there were times she just new she was done running for the day or the week. Literally, she couldn't take one more step. Her body and brain were done. The same is true for decision making. Some executives have a...

One of my commitments to myself each year is to read both professionally and for pleasure on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong, I love to read. I just don't always have a lot of bandwidth left by the time I sit down with a book in the evening. [Translation: I'm falling asleep more than I'm reading.] That being the case, I have had to be creative to fit my reading time in. I keep a book with me most of the time. Whenever I have a few minutes of waiting time, I read. Some days I'm inching my way through my book and other days, I'm flying. [It beats falling asleep and rereading the same page over and over.]  

One book I recently finished was Feedback That Moves Writers Forward by Patty McGee.

Oh my goodness! This is a must read for anyone who aspires to help children become amazing, thoughtful writers. This is one of those resources that does it all. It is informative, helpful and passionate. It is a must read for any teacher who teaches writing K-12. 

...

I have to admit. I'm stressed. As I hear of yet another school shooting this week, I am also heartbroken. As a teacher who was just a few miles away when Columbine happened, it hits me hard every time another school shooting happens. It's hard to see how to end these tragedies. 

Reform Alone is Not Enough

Yes, we need to have some reform around gun laws. I do believe there are people that shouldn't have guns simply because they are not emotionally stable. We need better background checks. And yes, I believe that assault rifles should not be available. However, that alone will not solve our troubles. Let's face it. We are in a fight for the hearts, minds and souls of our kids in America. It's good vs. evil and good must win. Every child matters. Every life matters.

Fencing Kids In

After the Parkland shooting, changes started being made at my son's high school. The gates have gone up a bit higher. The security has tightened. We are fencing our kids in tighter...

Problem solving is the great math nemesis for many students.

As teachers, we know problem solving to be where the rubber hits the road. Knowing how to problem solve and work word problems is where true understanding and application of math skills resides. It's the goal of all we teach in math. 

Often instruction in attacking word problems become a list of "key words". But, key words can and will be used against your students as real math is much more complicated than that. I believe that key words are a crutch we offer students when they struggle, a quick fix. They are nice to know but not the road to true understanding and confident problem solving. 

Here's an alternative. Teach students to be detectives and decipher each problem with code cracking skills. If students look at each word problem as a coded message that needs to cracked open, they are in a position of inquiry instead of answer finding. That is the right mindset for learning from and attacking...

“Perfectionism doesn't believe in practice shots. It doesn't believe in improvement. Perfectionism has never heard that anything worth doing is worth doing badly - and that if we allow ourselves to do something badly we might in time become quite good at it. Perfectionism measures our beginner's work against the finished work of masters. Perfectionism thrives on comparison and competition. It doesn't know how to say, "Good try," or "Job well done." The critic does not believe in creative glee - or any glee at all, for that matter. No, perfectionism is a serious matter.”

- Julia Cameron -

Teacher Perfectionism

As teachers, we work hard to make our bulletin boards and classroom displays beautiful. However, beauty is subjective. Do you only put up perfect or near perfect papers? What about those children that are improving greatly but, perhaps, don't meet the "perfect" mark? Making displays a celebration of progress, not perfection, reinforces the goal of progress to...

Why do we, Christians, celebrate Lent?

As we head into Lent, it's good to reflect and teach our students what these days before Easter are really about. Let's face it, sometimes kids get focused on "giving up" something and that's as far as they go in their thinking. They have no idea why they are doing it.

So what is the point of Lent? Put simply, Lent is a time we give things up that distract us from God. Filling that time back up with focus on God helps us as we lean on God to get us through our "desert". 

Lent is about... 

• preparing our hearts for Easter

• Imitating Jesus in his 40 days in the desert

• developing self-mastery and self-control

• re-aligning our lives and our plans with God's plan

• making more room for God in our everyday lives

• prayer + fasting + almsgiving

• forgiveness

• penance or making amends

• reflection

• evangelizing

• and much more

Making Room for God

Here's a simple way to teach younger students to make more room for God in...