Classroom Prep - Get Ready Now

We're all teaching from home now, and now is a great time to start thinking about your classrooms.

Believe it or not, I held a parent meeting where placement in a certain teacher’s class was protested due to its less-than welcoming walls. Basically, it was drab, therefore, move my kid out! This was a brand new teacher. Been there! The overwhelming feeling of creating a classroom environment that is colorful and cheerful, rich in print, comfortable, welcoming, and pleasing to the eye is no easy feat. And if you aren’t a visual person, then it is crazy challenging! On the other end of the spectrum, if you’ve taught for a few decades, you may not have evolved your classroom to reflect the needs of a 21st century learner.

A blank slate classroom is overwhelming. There are so many things to take into account.

1. Color
2. Design
3. Comfort
4. Functionality
5. Movement

There's also a lot of resources out there to explore:

1. Pinterest
2. Instagram
3. Bloggers
4. Colleagues
5. Target Teachers

It's important to ask yourself questions to prepare for the classroom:

1. Am I using research-based strategies?
2. Do I want a word wall?
3. Am I a sage on the stage or guide on the side?
4. How can I get more bang for my buck?
5. How do I promote literacy?
6. How do I promote math?
7. How can I show my creativity and spark creativity in my students?
8. How do I build a 21st century learner?

Other things to keep in mind are:

1. Brain research: you'd be amazed at how the developing mind interacts with the physical environment!
2. Be open to feedback! Don't be offended if your supervisor wants something to change in your room.
3. No one likes a boring room. Evolving the space throughout the year to meet the needs of students is important!
4. Interactive walls that serves a real purpose are better Pinterest cute!

Finally, create a space that you want to spend most of your day in. Use the Hygge method. Bring in some comfort items. If you like coffee, bring in a small Keurig. Post pictures. Ask students what they'd like to see in the room. This gives buy-in!

Positive Office Referrals

I don't know a single educator who loves discipline referrals. What a giant bummer. So in an effort to change the narrative of the office being a negative space, I saw Mrs. Carr's Corner on Teachers Pay Teachers had this Positive Office Referral! This is a game changer! I would rather highlight great behavior and fill student's buckets than have to handle defiance, class disruption, or fighting. These referrals are fantastic. I highly recommend using them in class or at the whole school level.

Service Leadership and Seeking Help

This video was sent to me and I'm forever grateful for Sydney Jensen. This TED Talk, which I've sent to the other leaders at my site, will be starting a conversation that needs to happen!

If you're in education, you know the emotional demands of the job. You hear about students' exposure to the hardship, pain, crisis, trauma, or suffering of their lives, sometimes daily. If you are in tune with your students and their lives, this can be so overwhelming.

We have access to child psychologists and counselors for our students.

What are we doing on-site to help with the emotional demands of the staff? 

I like what Sydney says about how we ask the adults, "if you need help, then..." Why do we need to wait?

What about self-care? What if you haven't found your niche? What if your definition of self care isn't enough? Do you even know if your insurance covers therapy or counseling? Do you have the courage to seek help on your own?

If you work in service leadership, how will you take care of yourself so that you stay emotionally fit?

Tips for Teachers#7: Uncommon Bulletin Board Ideas

There is no shortage of bulletin board ideas in the online realm. But, sometimes the sheer volume of ideas can be overwhelming. Where to start? And, maybe most importantly, how much do I have to spend to have my boards Pinterest-perfect?

The good news today is that bulletin boards don't have to cost a thing! You can use things you already have in your classroom, office, or supply closet.

I wanted to freshen up my office with a warm welcome off winter break. I remember seeing a bulletin board online that said "Welcome back! The books missed you!" 

Being a book lover, I wanted to bring this to my office. I considered how I was to display books... photocopy front covers? Tack actual books to the wall? Nothing was clicking, until I realized many of my hardcover books had dust jackets! I love books, but I find dust jackets useless, and I am embarrassed to admit I've often tossed them in recycle bins. Using the dust jackets on my bulletin board was the perfect place!

Below is the finished product! I can't wait to hear students look at the books!

Update: I had a teacher's daughter come in the office with her mom, and upon seeing the bulletin board, noted that she had never read the sequel to The Day the Crayons Quit, called, The Day the Crayons Came Home. I immediately went to my shelves and told her, YOU NEED TO READ IT!

She ended up finishing it before her mom was done making copies. She then asked for another book to read from the bulletin board. 

Dear reader: nothing excites me more than to hand a child a book and welcome them to the possibility of a truly wonderful story. So much of my life has been spent at a library or a bookstore, or with my nose in a book. The biggest impact I can make as an educator, in any capacity in a school, is to share books with students.

Sometimes, classrooms and offices will need a placeholder. I caution to not let walls go bare until the next time you have a bulletin board to put up. There are many free downloads available online that serve as placeholders. I found the one below on TpT and my mom created a cactus out of construction and butcher paper. Easy!!!

Ten Literacy Limitations

I love the library. I remember going to the public library with my parents growing up. I visited libraries in my college town, and later when I moved out of state. I loved being able to request a book and have someone deliver it to my library from a faraway library for me!  In adulthood, I visited libraries as I discovered more authors that I loved. I devoured all of their titles. As a teacher, if our school library was limited, I would pull titles from the city library, all in the name of getting literature in the hands of students. As a mom, I bring my children to the library, even though there are hundreds of books in my children's bookcases. Basically, I'm a fan.

The one thing I really did not care for was due dates. I was a chronic renewer. Even if I finished the book, I renewed just in case I wanted to read again. Or, I was reading so many books at once that it was impossible to finish before the due date.

I'm not against due dates, per se. I understand that a due date makes the book available for the next person to read the book. I've been that person next in line, obviously, so I get it.

Now, working in school administration, I see the inner workings of a variety of departments, one of which being the library. My brain seems to always be on the mode of making processes better, and the library is no exception. To be honest, I do not agree with limiting the number of books to check out. Those in education will agree, that when it comes to the amount of books that students should read, it's quantity over quality. I don't care if a student prefers comic books to the great American novel. I've never read Moby Dick and I'm doing just fine, thank you very much. The fact is that they are reading! I've been in parent meetings where I hear children being discouraged from reading Captain Underpants and though I'm not a fan of that series, let's ask, "Is your child reading? Yes? Okay, then we're good."

I don't need to delve into the research that proves reading to children helps with their language development, interest in reading, phonemic awareness, etc. You can Google that good stuff!
For next steps, it is important for me to write about limitations that come through advancing student literacy at school:
1. Technology (The Kindle exists but how many are using it??)
2. Checkout limits at the library
3. Books students can't check out because it is not "their level" - The day I was able to say the school wide reading program that assigned points and incentives to students' books read, was the day the heavens opened and angels sang!
4. Books students can't check out because they've read them before
5. Books students can't check out because they have too many pictures
6. Books students can't check out because they have too many words
7. No book checkouts before a school break
8. Books students can't check out because they have an outstanding loan
9. On the flip side, when books are used as a punishment - when students are in need of a consequence so either their book is taken away or they are made to read something they don't want to read
10. Books that are forcibly read - students can't choose a new book or are given an assignment on one particular book without choice.
BONUS: Assuming students are reading at home. Guess what? Parents assume their kids are reading at school.

Let's commit to giving up these limitations as soon as possible. Even if it is just one at a time.

Comment below your thoughts on making changes to these or other literacy limitations you've witnessed.