Celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week

I have to admit as an elementary teacher I do love the presents that are handed to me by shy kindergarten students who are so proud of their present for me.  The surprise Starbucks gift card as a "just because" gift because they know I love coffee from there makes my day.  Teacher appreciation week is like another Christmas.  Our PTO goes all out to serve us lunches, breakfast, treat bags, surprise notes from past and present students and parents and raffles with nice prizes.  I read a great blog on the Homeroom Blog titled "Celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week dated 5/29/13 by a guest blogger.  One paragraph caught my attention. 

It states, "While the panel could have continued for hours, what resonated the most was the fact that as a community, we must make a concerted effort to support our teachers and leaders, to volunteer, engage, contribute to efforts to ensure all of our children and youth have the skills and opportunities needed to succeed in the 21st century global workforce and build a stronger economy for American families."

It takes a village to raise a child.  Our society as a whole needs to understand that teachers can't do it alone.  It is also important that we as teachers need more than a week of appreciation.  It should be every day...and I'm not talking about gifts, but about respect in general. 

I am very fortunate to work in a tech savvy district and we have been "thrown" the latest and greatest devices and programs that are out there.  Because we are an International Baculorate district, we must have k-8 student portfolios.  Some teachers were encouraged to digitize their student's portfolios on the e-backback system that we were converting to as a district.  I attended a union meeting last week to find out the e-backpack is going to be discontinued and all the documents must be transferred to another system.  One of my fellow teachers about fell off her chair because she had all of her second grade students load their portfolio onto e-backpack. It took her a month to teach them how to load e-backpack now everything has to be moved.  I read a great article titled "Using E-Portfolios in the Classroom" by Mary Beth Hertz.  In the article she talks about choosing the right tools for electronic portfolios.  It won't help my fellow teacher, but may be of help to someone.  I had to giggle because e-backpack is one of the options.  Here are some of her suggestions:

Some Options

Below is a list of tools that can be used to collect, organize and share student work. Those that are free are marked with an asterisk (*).

Project Foundry (3)

This tool organizes, tracks and shares learning in a project-based learning classroom. It includes standards-based grading tools and feedback tools. Teachers have the option to include a digital portfolio website for students.

Google Sites (4)*

Create a website to share classwork and projects. Potential users must be at least 13 to sign up. Students can use the "file locker" option to upload files.

Wikispaces (5) and PBwiki (6)*

These two wiki-creation tools allow students to create a website of their work. Due to the collaborative nature of the tools, student teams can build a workspace to showcase their work. The teacher can create student accounts without an email address. (Note: PBwiki is also known as PBworks.)

Dropbox (7)*

Students can create a public folder in Dropbox to share their work. This platform supports multiple file types and can be used collaboratively by sharing folders.

Evernote (8)*

Students can create "notebook" within their Evernote account for each class, and that notebook can be shared publicly. Students can upload files to their notebooks, including documents, photos and audio files.

eBackpack (9)

Teachers can assign, collect, grade and return assignments to students through eBackpack. Students can upload files to their digital locker to create an online portfolio for their course. Work uploaded cannot be seen outside of the closed system.

Here is a great teacher blog. His first graders make their own podcasts. How neat!

http://www.canandaiguaschools.org/webpages/rcolosi/index.cfm

Students we can't help

This post does not have anything to do with a response to a weekly reading.  This has to do with kids that we as teachers can't help.  I have had a student in my classroom since last April.  I had him repeat kindergarten because he did not meet standards.  He came to me from another district and came with an IEP for behavior.  He was violent at the other district . Medicine has controlled the violence, but there are other serious issues.  This child has some very lets say, challenging behaviors and nuances not normally found in 5 year olds. When he is in the room, the vibe changes and things can be very difficult.   After a long process, the district finally went through the testing process to try and find a diagnosis for this child.  He has finally been diagnosed EI, but the psychologist and I know there is something much more deeper.  He has issues that are beyond the scope of the public school system.  He is too young to label with the appropriate label.  We as a country, flow kids that have very deep emotional and psychological issues through a system not capable of supporting them.  We go through the process of teaching them, graduate them and release them to society.  This will happen to my student and I am fearful for him and others like him.  I am also fearful for myself and others that will teach him.  What have we come to in our country with helping kids who really need help?

Virtual schools, versus traditional schools.  I never thought that I would be a proponent of virtual or on-line schools. As my teaching career grows longer, I am beginning to realize that a traditional school is not for everyone.  I can see the struggles that some of my kindergarten students are having now and will probably only get worse.  An example  would be kids who are having challenges socially.  Kids on the spectrum or Asperger kids really struggle socially, and it does affect their learning. I work for a district that offers a tuition free on-line learning program.  Kids from all over the country are now part of the program.  Some kids live in remote areas and physically getting to school is a challenge.  Other students are that who have had issues socially and a traditional school did not meet their needs.  I work in the district, but never paid much attention to the academy until I had to do some research for a class.  I actually found lots of information on the website and even subscribed to their blog.  http://www.oxfordvirtualacademy.org.

We are in a time in history where technology is available to almost everyone.  With school funding dwindling and students issues increasing, Virtual schools are a wave of the future. 

Teacher Gifts

I just read an awesome article titled:  Parent Voice:  The Gifts that Teachers Appreciate by Joyce Slaton.  This article hit the nail on the head for me.  As a teacher I truly appreciate gifts that are given to me by students.  But as the years have gone by, I have accumulated quite an amount of trinkets, clothing and jewelry items.  While gifts are great and appreciated, personal items are difficult to by for anyone let alone a teacher that you don't know outside of the classroom.  This article really gives great ideas for parents to give teachers with out being too personal.  Here are some of her suggestions.  Some of them are even free and still meaningful.  Some are things that teachers can't afford to do for themselves. 

Gift cards, said a few of them -- Target, Michael's, Amazon, or cool local stores that sell groovy wares at prices that may be out of reach for a teacher. The teachers said even if they didn't want to use their cards for their own kicks, they could get something fun for the class and have a little treat.

Food or drinks, said other teachers. One said she loved getting gift certificates at the Chinese restaurant right near the school; she would use it for take-out and the occasional lunch out. A couple of others appreciated Starbucks gift cards, credit at the local anti-Starbucks coffee shop nearest the school, or just a nice hot cup bought for them in the morning and handed out at drop-off.

Parents often bring in home-made baked goods for Teacher Appreciation Day. Some teachers appreciate this more than others, but at least they can always be left in the staff room or passed out to the class.

Flowers, like baked goods, can also easily be passed on, or sit inoffensively on a desk for a couple of days before being discarded. They don't hang around and don't need to get dusted.

And finally, every single teacher mentioned one thing I hadn't expected -- what they liked best of all was a heartfelt, handwritten letter, card or note from students and/or their parents, a personal expression of thanks. Compliments! Nice words! I didn't know that teachers crave them more than pencil holders and potted plants. Now I can use my sweet, loving words to spoil my daughter's teacher, and give her something she can carry with her that doesn't need to sit precariously on her desk.

Something for parents to think about when shopping for their favorite teacher. 

Teacher Unions Under Siege

I get almost daily articles from our hard core union reps about legislation that is passing in Michigan to make our union even less powerful.  In an article from Education Week titled:  The Plight of Teacher's Unions, it states what we are all experiencing in the state.

"Teachers' unions are under siege nationwide. Criticism by political leaders and education reformers has snowballed. In recent years, government and unions have battled over tenure, teacher assessment, testing, the length of the school day, class size, school closures, and pay for performance. The hottest issues have dealt with reliance on teacher seniority as the basis for job assignments, retrenchment firing, and salaries—a traditional practice that raised few hackles in the past."  

Teachers work so hard and for so little pay, it is sad that we are being stripped of our right to bargain, keep our seniority or have decent benefits. Our government has taken away pensions for new teachers and reduced our pay while increasing our class sizes. I am so grateful to have a job, but some days I'm just dog tired.  Too tired to fight, and that is exactly what lawmakers want. 

How can I be a better teacher in the fall?  I looked at my current classroom and did some reflecting.  It was a very challenging year to say the least.  Lots of behavior issues and kids with learning disabilities...all belonging to parents who are in complete denial.  Instead of letting it get me down, I have decided to just look to the future.  We have 17 days left of school in our district.  While it was a difficult year, my students did learn.  It is now time to prepare for the fall.  I have aligned and organized all of my files with the new CCS standards. They are ready and set to go in the fall.  I cleaned out old files of work that I did not like.  I have been asking my kindergartners what their favorite parts of the year was.  So far, they loved parent run centers and parent volunteers who came in for small group work.  In the article, Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, How Can I be  A Better Teacher in the Fall, by Dr. Richard Curwin.  He give some great suggestions for preparing for the next school year. 
1.  Be in a frame of mind to change:  You can't grow as a teacher without trying new things and getting rid of things that don't work.  Keeping the "old stuff" because you know it does not help you or the kids.
2.  Prepare a master list:  Keep a running list of things you need or want.  Prioritize and make purchases over the summer when the deals are out.  If you are lucky like me, you may even get some PTO money for reimbursement. 
3.  Student Role play:  Break the kids into groups and have them role play being the student and teacher. You will learn a lot about yourself...good and bad.

This was a great article and really makes you stop, think and reflect about the year you have had and how to make the next one better.  You can't pick your kids, but you can pick how you teach them. 

Twitter, to Tweet or not to Tweet?  This week's homework assignment was to watch a video called "Twitter in Plain English."  Great video about what Twitter is really about.  I'm still rather slow to join all the new technology bandwagons.  Instagram still confuses me.  But once I saw the video, I realized that Twitter is a quick way...quicker than Facebook, to keep in touch with friends and families and what they are doing in their day-to-day activities.  Wonder if I can follow my kids on Twitter and not have them block me on that:)

This week our principal released a survey money that parents filled out a few months back.  Most of the results were positive in the question portion of the survey.  The written comment section of the survey was mostly positive, but one comment really bothered me.  A parent commented, "It should be the responsibility of the teacher to be sure that all parents are involved in their child's learning,  So, say I don't show up to any PTO meetings or parent/teacher conferences, the teacher should come and meet me at my home. Easy as that."  I was floored at that comment.  How can I force a parent to be accountable for being involved in their child's education?  I happened to read an article called "One Size Does Not Fit All: Engaging Families Next Year by Soliciting Feedback Now."  Here are some of their suggestions:

1. Two-way communication should be the default. Clear communication from educators on academic expectations, school policies and resources is important, but parents must also have the opportunity to bring their perspectives to the table.
2. Start by listening to and addressing key concerns. School leaders should identify the pressing concerns of parents to gain an understanding of how they think and talk about them. When parents know their chief concerns are being addressed, they are the most open to constructive involvement.
3. Approach parents with a clear request. Nearly one-quarter of parents surveyed say they haven't been asked to volunteer or help out at their children's schools in the past year. If school leaders want parent help, they should ask for it directly.
4. Provide many and varied opportunities to engage. When school leaders provide diverse opportunities for parental involvement, they have a greater chance of attracting parents of differing views and readiness.

What it actually comes down to is that schools need to give parents many opportunities to be involved and the parents have to actually WANT to be involved.  No excuses from either party.