Preparation

I must admit, I’m typing this hours before Hurricane Ian’s bands of rain start flooding Florida. It’s an unsettling feeling what the next hours and days will result in, but I’m ready for it the best I can be. That’s a good feeling knowing you’re ready and can get in your monthly blog before you likely lose power at some point. So here I am…

The warnings were out late last week that a storm could develop into a hurricane. Gradually, people have stocked up at the grocery stores with the necessities. For me that trip came Saturday morning. Wal-Mart was busier than normal, but I got the bread and water I needed to make it the next several days. Fast forward to now, people are urgently getting any last scrap they can find before we’re dumped with rain. I’ve heard the stories how packed supermarkets have been the last 48 hours, and thankfully, I wasn’t part of the rush because this time I was prepared.

 

Lately, (and surprisingly) I’ve been prepared. I’ve been more prepared in my running, in my classroom, and for this storm. At least for the first two, being prepared has made a huge difference. I’m optimistic for the last one too.

 

This school year, I’m working a lot smarter, not harder. The days and weekends of spending hours working away are over. (It only took me 6 years!) What happened? First, a teacher and I get to school early before anyone else. This allows us to make our copies without waiting in line and allows us to dash after school. Secondly, my team this year (kudos to them, they rock) create master copies of the assignments for each subject and keep the copies in their/my mailbox weeks ahead of time. This alleviates the need to print them myself and gives us time to get copies well ahead of time. Thirdly, the copies I make get put in a labeled weekday drawer and then when that comes, I put the copies for that day into each group’s magic boxes, then they get them out as I teach that subject. It's my newest idea and has saved so much class time! Finally, I’m studying my lessons well ahead of time. I’ve done this in years past, but with the consistency I’ve studied at, I’m picking up how to teach my lessons much faster than before. And…teaching year after year has helped too.

 

As for my running, it took a turn for worst in the summer. The injuries started piling up and it made me rethink what I was and wasn’t doing well. I was running great, but… I wasn’t taking care of myself afterward. Recently, I bought an ice machine (similar to Sonic ice that everyone loves) that will allow me to put bags of ice on my legs after runs, a balance board to strengthen my legs, and loaded my refrigerator up with drinks to replenish my energy after runs. I also had to say goodbye to constantly running super-fast every single run. I’ve refocused my goals on what I want to accomplish with each run and the results can speak for themselves. I feel so much better with the preparation I’m doing before and afterward, and I know my body is too.

 

In my general life, I have a big calendar that helps me prepare and make priorities. (The monthly blog being one of them.) Part of that list means creating categories that include must dos and if time allows. Gradually, both lists form and I put a checkmark as I finish off the items. I rarely check every item off those lists but putting checkmarks after small successes is still a great feeling! The older I get; it’s become more apparent I’m prioritizing things that are fun for me. No one ‘yes man’ all the time. I’ll say yes to things that bring me joy. By preparing ahead of time and marking it on my calendar I make it clear what’s important to me and what can wait. 

 

Preparation looks differently for everyone. For me, a big calendar and notepad with boxes helps me be my best self. For others, keeping a digital calendar on their phone with alarms keeps them successful. As the saying on my middle school track shirt goes, “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.” Prepare today! You got this!

Awesome August

My August started with this message…

 

“Hi I just found out that you are my son ____’s teacher this year. I wish I could have videoed ______’s response when I told him that you were going to be his teacher this year. He was overjoyed and excited because and I quote you are the coolest funnest teacher ever!”

            I’ll be 100% honest, this has been the best start to a school year I’ve ever had. I don’t understand how. I don’t understand why. But I’m going to keep riding this wave as long as I can!

 

            That message set the tone this year. I read the message when I got home and immediately lit up like a Christmas tree! If the mother couldn’t get a video of his response, she could receive one from me. I pulled out my phone, flipped the camera, and began filming how excited I was to have her son. The mother and son watched the video together. She immediately filmed her son’s response back to me. Tone Set. Let’s go!

 

            Fast forward to the first day of school. Balloons and red drapes decorated the outside of my door with the message, “Throw kindness like confetti!” That’s when it hit me at the last minute. I need my confetti! When the students arrived, I greeted them with a handful of confetti! The smiles went up just as the confetti did. It was a magical moment that I’ll remember more than the kids will. It made me think…imagine if everyday you were thrown confetti as you were welcomed to your job. How awesome!

 

            The magic continued: students adjectively described me by placing sticky notes all over. I even wore them all day (including my meeting with my principal). I can’t forget about our ant farm, daily lunch, the grand opening our library, the red carpet, Harry Potter welcome letters, book giveaways, daily read alouds, random drum parties, Go Noodle brain breaks, the science labs, beach balls, astronaut costume and more!

 

            We can’t do those things above without two things. The first is, buy in from the class. I’ve never heard so many kids tell me during the first days that they’ve wanted to be in my classroom. It made me so happy to hear that. The class is showed it with their attitudes and commitment with whatever I ask of them. Everyday is so special! Thank goodness I’m still doing my daily positive journal because this class is superb!

 

            The other thing is me. To do those magical things above it takes energy, cost, and commitment outside of school hours…but it’s always worth it. I want to do these things for my students. I recall of the days when I was a student and sat in a desk and felt like a ghost. I don’t want my students to feel the way I felt. I strive for the exact opposite. All kids deserve it.

 

            It’s not hard to greet students with a smile and high-five at your door. (Don’t forget to say goodbye to your students too.) I also don’t think it’s hard to go on YouTube, and chank music as students enter or softly play music while students work. While we’re at it, those science labs that look daunting are simpler than you think; just do them…your students will thank you. Stop working and make eye contact with a smile with that the student that always asks you questions at your back table that you love to see. 

 

            As much as my classroom set up, the crazy activities, and the goofy dress up days are for my students, they’re also for me. I want to have fun too! Teaching is more fun when you’re having fun! Playing with students at recess gives me energy and makes me feel young. Eating with students prevents teachers from gossiping to me and from me gossiping. If I expect my students to make eye contact with me and use their manners, then I should listen to them when they ask questions and want to share stories with me.

 

            All these things have been in prefect unison like no year before. I’m using my time more effectively before, during, and after school. My teaching has been better than ever, full of progress monitoring, Kagan strategies, and engagement. Whatever I’m doing, I’m going to keep doing it! This will be the BEST SCHOOL YET! What an Awesome August! 

 

Reset

There are a few times each year when my energy and passion are renewed. The first being New Year’s Day, the second being the week of spring break, the third, and my favorite of all, the days before the first day of school. All three periods are great resets!

        For me there is nothing better than the days before school year starts. The optimism is flowing through the air, the new student lists are being posted, and you’re setting up your classroom. It’s the ultimate reset!

 

That’s the great part of a new school year. No matter what happened last year, the challenges, the ups and downs, it’s all washed away. This school year for better (and hopefully not worse), will be different. How incredible of a feeling is that?! For teachers, that’s in August and September. It’s the perfect timing! 

 

Last year doesn’t define you as teacher. The year before doesn’t define you neither. Nor do the mistakes you made. The state scores, your previous students, your old attitude are all things that do not define you. Reset your mentality because this year…is going to be our BEST SCHOOL YEAR EVER! 

 

I always love coming back to school and seeing my colleagues after our summer breaks to catch up. The smiles are ginormous and our new coworkers who are equally just as excited. That’s not mention if your school is blessed with a first-year teacher, who have more energy than every teacher combined. For every person on staff, custodians and cooks included, the energy and passion has been reset. 

Then there’s your classroom. For most teachers, we return to our same rooms where the memories of what worked and what didn’t flood our mind again. For other teachers, they’ll move classrooms/schools and get a brand-new canvas to work with. To me, it’s all very exciting to made tweaks and reset the classroom. By moving all your teacher supplies and furniture it gives you a chance to reset the classroom even better than the year before! …(This year I made mistake of misplacing a bookshelf to the wrong location with the help of the custodians and guess what…I love the spot! It) 

Let’s not forget the most important people: the students! Most teachers will get a new class, while very few teachers will stay with their class, called looping. For me, I always build an unbreakable, life-long bond with each of my classes. It’s hard to see them move up grade levels. However, there’s just something about seeing new happy faces with all their school supplies enter your classroom for the first time. It’s a reset for teachers, students, and parents. 

 

My summers leading into the school year bring growth through books, professional development conferences, and time away from teaching. But the ultimate reset is when the doors open for teachers for the first time. Walls are repainted, floors are waxed, signs are hanging straight, teachers are full of energy, and there’s time to plan the most extravagant lessons! It gets me so exuberant about the possibilities! 

 

Whether you’re teacher or not, everyday has the potential to reset, realign, and restart. It begins with the first choice you make. If that choice wasn’t the right one, reset, realign, and restart again. Every day can have many opportunities to reset if you the day didn’t go as planned. But you must be mindful and alert during it because before you know it, the day is over. Reset, and keep going! 

Right now seems like a great time to reset! 

Book-mania

Another month…another book read, or two, or three, or TEN! June has been my record setting month for reading, but not too long ago it wasn’t always like that.

            Would you believe me if I told you my 8^th grade reading teacher threatened me with graduation and dance privileges if I didn’t meet my AR goal? Maybe you are/were in the same boat: a non-reader. I was that kid that pretended to read. You know, the one who stares at the pages, flips them over occasionally while daydreaming about anything except reading. No reading program or incentive could motivate me. Unfortunately, the threat mentioned above was the only thing that did. 

 

The same thing happened in high school and college, if reading textbooks and class novels was required, I’d do it begrudgingly. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t do it. I wasn’t a reader, nor saw myself ever becoming one. Then I became an elementary teacher. I was determined to make reading fun again! 

 

Right before my first year of teaching kicked off my mom recommended reading a professional development called Play Like a Pirate. The words ‘Play’ and ‘Pirate’ stuck out, along with the Legos on the cover, and I was enticed. For the first time in my lifetime, I read it cover to cover in a day! I was excited to teach! I was so excited that I bought Teach Like a Pirate at a higher cost that same day because I wanted to read the book immediately. I had to be sick. This wasn’t like me to read on my own. 

 

Then my first year started and my 3^rd graders were avid readers. They met their school-set AR goals with ease and earned their rewards. Teaching is e-a-s-y. A year later I moved to Florida and was shell-shocked. These kids struggled to read. I saw a lot of myself in them. I tried to give them motivational speeches and incentives, but nothing worked. When a girl asked me what I was currently reading, I didn’t have an answer. I was embarrassed and needed to change.

 

The next summer, I drove up to North Carolina to attend a Scholastic Book Conference by myself. I was nervous, anxious, and hesitant. I wasn’t a reader and now I’m surrounding myself with book-obsessed-nerdy readers for 24 hours. Fast forward 24 hours…that conference changed my life. By surrounding myself with educators who had a passion for reading or desired one, they instilled it in me. By the end, you can bet I was in all the autograph lines waiting to have my new books autographed. I went drove home and started reading.

 

What I’ve learned: let your students see you reading and be knowledgeable about books. The years following I’ve done a few different things. I read to my kids daily no matter how challenging the day is (even on field trips). My students get at least 10 minutes to read daily too. (This gradually becomes their favorite part of the day.) I also have gathered books from donors using companies like Goodwill, Donors Choose, and friends/family. Have a class library so they can see books. Lastly, I carry a book with me everywhere. My class does get incentives, but honestly those are just a bonus when I can afford them or get them donated. They also love the teacher punishments: sliming their teacher, pieing teacher in the face, water balloon fight, and taping their teacher to a wall. But do whatever works! Incentives are great, but nothing beats a teacher who is excited about talking about books! 

 

All those things work in the classroom, but what about at home? I have a large calendar that I use as a visual to keep me accountable. Every day I carve out 20 minutes or more in my day to read. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does, I notice my best days are when I’m spending a few minutes reading. A teacher donated a huge bookshelf that stores my growing collection. And of course, I have a never-ending Amazon list of books waiting to be bought.

 

For years, I struggled to read. It felt like a punishment. After studying best practices, surrounding myself with other readers, flipping my mindset, I now look forward to reading every day. I am now a reader and proud of it!

Trash

You know the saying, “Another man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” That might be true, but so is this phrase, “Another teacher’s trash is huge weight off their shoulders!”

 

I finally did it! I discarded about 10 trash bags of teaching materials (junk…fine I said it) that I had been hoarding since the beginning of my teaching career. 

 

My yearly organization came full circle a few days ago. Before I could enjoy my summer vacation, my apartment needed some TLC…a lot of it. The agreement was simple: reorganize the array of teaching tubs stored in my apartment and clean out my cabinets and closets. A process that takes an easy leisure 24-48 hours. What I didn’t expect was that I’d mount trash bag after trash bag. 

 

I’m a recovering hoarder. My hoarding consisted of teaching items dating back to 6 years ago. No, I’m not taking about student work or pictures. I’m taking about the pool noodles I used for a beach day in your classroom during your second year of teaching (4+ years ago) that have since survived two U-Haul moves and otherwise go unnoticed. Yep, that was me. Guilty. 

 

But something washed over me this time after sending the embarrassing before picture to a fellow teacher: I don’t need all those teaching items anymore. A few months ago, I trashed all the empty food boxes I gathered I thought I’d use for a cooking classroom transformation that has never happened. If I receive it, my brain typically wants to find a way to use it in the classroom, rather than for its other purpose: trash. I looked at the tubs and sporadically decided, I didn’t need all of them anymore. That was a good first step.

 

The more I started reorganizing bin after bin, the more I realized what I use yearly and what hasn’t been touched in ages. I made the decision to trash and donate the items that weren’t necessary anymore. It took a little longer than my younger purge. I was more strategic with what I was storing outside and inside, and needed stay or say goodbye to. 

 

To be honest, a year ago, I wouldn’t have trashed anything (hints why I still had the items in the first place). Saying goodbye to items that you had fond memories with is hard, but taking pictures keep the memories alive. The weirdest part, that wasn’t my plan in the first place. The more I added to trash bag or donation piles, the happier I felt. 

 

Looking at my apartment now, it feels lighter and breathable. The sun shines a bit brighter, the carpet looks better, and I feel lighter! My apartment normally is very organized, but this time just feels different. I feel happier and content!

 

Taking out the trash isn’t ever fun. Sometimes it accumulates for days, weeks, months, or years. Maybe its materialist items that you’ve been holding onto for years that lay waste in your garage. Or it might be a friend that you’re no longer interested in talking to. I promise you; you won’t miss that item, friend, or greasy desire as much as you think you will. Whenever the time is right, grab a bag or click the unfriend button and don’t miss your opportunity to get rid of your trash because you know deep down in the mounting pile it’s necessary for a better you! 

Growth

As part of our science unit, we’re going to grow plants and butterflies!

 

            When I hatched the idea of having chickens in our classroom, I didn’t know it would grow into something much bigger. Long behold, many types of plants, releasing butterflies, and hatching praying mantises. What’s come out of these experiments, have been much larger than I anticipated. 

 

            It starts with an idea. What we plant today, will grow into something much greater tomorrow. The time to start planting is right now; not tomorrow, not next week, not next month. That’s often the hardest part. If you want to change your future, the planting has to start today. 

 

            Preparation. What do you need to grow? Maybe that’s support from your friends, your family, your job, etc. Maybe it means getting off the couch. It might also mean actual tools. Maybe… for you to start growing it means creating a plan, being patient, or letting go of the past. Give yourself the necessary materials so you can start growing.

 

            Water. I can go often without water, but how little do I give myself water. Water is necessary! By water I mean a few things: forgiveness, patience, space, and peace. In order to grow you need to water yourself as needed. For everyone that can mean different things. For me, it means I need to run a few times a week, read often, experience a thrill, and literally water my plants. These things fill me up. Sometimes you’re going to need more water than other times, so fill yourself up when you needed. 

 

            Time. Give yourself time to grow. When I was an Africa a man told me, “Americans have watches, Africans have time.” He was absolutely correct. That sentence still haunts me because I’m its biggest offender. I’m always on time, looking at the time, racing the time, or trying to find more time. Rarely am I ever enjoyingthe time. Growth doesn’t just happen immediately, it takes preparation, water, and actual time. Give yourself at least that much. 

 

            Leaves. As you grow taller leaves form. These leaves might be new friends, passions, and ideas. All the preparation, water, and time you’ve put forth have now given you new leaves. Some leaves will stay and continue growing, while others will droop and die. Keep watering and let the necessary leaves live. Sometimes it’s necessary to let go of toxic friendships and habits for you to grow. it hurts in moment, but in the end the most important leaves will stay with you.

 

            Bloom! It’s a sight that you’ve been waiting for! It’s such a good feeling to feel good and see progress! You glow differently. The world is much brighter. You’re full of water and leaves. All the time and preparation paid off Everything seems just right! Enjoy it as long as you can and keep doing what made you bloom!

 

            In life, there will be days when we’re dropping ready to quit. While other times, we’ll be growing leaves and blooming! Sometimes these moments last days, months, or even years. With a little water, sunshine, and my favorite, time, you can experience more blooming more often than not. You got this! Start planting today! 

Happy New Year

Break out the champagne. Grab your friends. Set off fireworks because the celebration is about to begin. Say it with me, 3…2…1… 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

            You’re probably confused. Jordan…it’s March 31^st. The new year was three months ago. You’re correct, the new year did technically start January 1^st. For me, my new year starts the minute I get home on the day Spring Break starts.

 

            Does my new year actually start during spring break? Of course not, but every year teachers and students look forward that special week in March or April where we all sleep in, stay up late, eat whatever we want, and spend the time however we want. It’s a glorious time of recharging for the toughest months of the school!

 

            For years I never did anything marvelous during my spring break. Many times my spring break was either a day (when I was in Catholic School) or in college when I was on the track team. So last year I decided to change that. I gave myself a spring break to make up for the years I lost.

 

            It was incredible! Riding roller coasters at Busch Gardens and going zip-lining were just some of the highlights. So of course, I had to do it again this year. From riding the Velocicoaster at Universal Studios to driving to Jet Blue Park to see the Red Sox crush the Twins, my spring break lived up to the hype, despite the weather at times. More memories were made, and my soul was rejuvenated.

 

             I’ve made it a vow that every year I’ll continue to use my Spring Break as my new year. It serves as a reminder that there is so much out there waiting to be enjoyed. Teaching isn’t who I am, but what I do, and it’s okay if I don’t live it 24/7. Every day can offer new experiences; whether it’s with friends and by myself, if you’re open to them. 

 

            For me the hardest step is telling myself that I’m worthy of new experiences and joys that others around me have. Getting myself off the couch can be burdensome, but necessary if I want to break the habits and mindsets. Putting down your phone, turning off the television, and realizing what’s around you and what there is to offer is so important to be happy. I constantly remind myself that of how good the life I have is. 

 

            For some during their spring break, resting and relaxing is necessary. There’s nothing wrong with doing what’s best for you. For me, it’s a rebirth of adventure, thrill, and joy rolled into beach surfing, roller coaster riding, trail blazing fun! Happy New Year everyone!