Ms. M's Tales of a Teacher: My Personal Teacher Blog

I hope my short blog today consoles all my fellow educators out there (including myself,) to keep pushing through writer's block, presentation pause, and imagination eraser.  Truthfully, the past few days of working have been stagnant on all fronts; presentations, my virtual classroom, creating newsletters, blogs, and working on my new article. I know I'm not alone, and I know this is natural (been through it many times before) however I worry when the creativity will spark again and my projects can get moving.  Then I wonder, why does this happen to begin with? Is it our energy runs low, our minds direct us to attention elsewhere, our subconscious demands a break and leaves? For all of those who read this and nod their head, you get it! I feel personally for me, what makes matters worse is my perfectionism gets the better of me. I start to get flustered, restless, and aggravated with myself.  Some experts say to listen to music, take a break, exercise, and eventually the...

This evening was a highlight for me. Although I wish I could say it included some form of adult beverage and fireworks at Epcot followed by extra magic hours at the Magic Kingdom, it didn't. However,  it was a close second. I had the privilege of meeting with my KDP chapter leadership team and our RCC to discuss plans for starting our academic year.  Granted this was a last-minute meeting with minimal prep, one would have thought it was a well planned example meeting for other chapters to witness what true collaboration, brainstorming, and decision making looked like. Secretly at one point I wished we would've recorded our session! There is no doubt that this upcoming year will present its challenges, but I received confirmation today that this team, my team, our team will be ready, and continue to deliver effective programing to our current/alumni members, and future initiates. Faced with last-minute changes, the leadership team had to re-invent the wheel for some of the req...

By glancing at the title can you guess what was running through my mind today as I listened to my webinar? I truly felt my mind being split in two as I listened. Although the focus of this webinar was making a read -loud engaging, there were points where I noticed "writing moments" that struck my interest.  Read-alouds offer many moments to focus on punctuation and even grammar with students. An author's story or information is after all, a work that is given through heightened word choice, dialogue, text-and-graphic features, and carefully managed thoughts. There's no way around composing a book without writing, and its conventions.  I advocate for using read-aloud time to have open discussions about writing. In order for students to enhance their own writing,  they must see model writing that targets specific skills through relevant examples. I personally use a non-fiction book series called If You Were A_____ (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) by Michael Dahl and Illus...

If I had to select a "word of the day," by far the winner today would be "mentor." My goal for my daily walk was to select a podcast that was not infused in literacy. (Strange for me I know!) I came across a small mini-series in the Stenhouse Publishers podcast on mentoring new teachers.  Anyone that knows me well can attest that mentoring early educators and pre-service teachers is another passion of mine. (You might be thinking, how many passions can one educator have? This is either madness or brilliance. Well it's ironic how often those two coincide ;) I eagerly downloaded it and off I went. What I appreciated most was it wasn't a panel of teachers sharing experiences and insight, but rather an actual conference with a mentor teacher and the mentee; a rare glimpse into how real teachers, both new and experienced talk and solve problems together! The new teacher started her first year of Kindergarten, and the mentor teacher was a classroom teacher for a ...

My history with writing is not full of rainbows and sunshine. In fact, although I've always enjoyed writing, I slowly grew a disdain for it when I was younger because of the criticism I received for my writing as I grew, and writing became more complex and demanding with time. In fact, my senior seminar paper for the English program was about 15 pages long. I submitted a draft to my professor in which he returned to me with all but three pages completely crossed out. He said, "your paper was good, now re-do it, make it great with some extended time and I'll submit it to the senior seminar writing contest." I still remember the day I sat in the lounge of the CAS building on the third floor on campus and cried. I called my father (who was always a bit more bleak with me) and he admitted it seemed extreme, but there was only one thing left to do... submit a better paper. No, I didn't end up winning the contest, however my professor did submit it. In fact, I received ...

I remember at several PD sessions with my pre-service teachers this past year (and even in years prior,) many would share with me that they do not feel adequately prepared to teach early childhood/elementary ELA. This of course piqued my curiosity to the point of a full-on adrenaline rush, so I sat down with many of these students to find out why, and what they felt was missing  As I listened intently, pen flashing across my notebook as if I just discovered a new idea for a book, or the winning numbers for the lottery, I realized that many of the same areas I felt I was lacking in as I graduated and set out to teach were exactly the same for these students today... Not surprised, yet still paradoxically puzzled, I posed a philosophical question to myself; Why haven't things improved since I was an undergraduate student? It's not like we lack research to back up best practices, or great professors to teach. So, how can there still be gaps in these areas? In the years since I...

This evening I had an opportunity to respond to an educator who has adopted the difficult task this summer of tutoring remotely. This teacher reached out for help on KDP Global; KDP's interactive forum where educators from around the world can reach out and seek advice, ask questions, share stories, and celebrate together.  Her story was one that I see far too often, and I just shake my head with a sigh asking "how does this happen?" Or more importantly, "how do we l et this happen?" This student comes from a difficult upbringing, but has still managed to continue through his grade level studies. He is 11 years old, and his tutor suspects he might be dyslexic. His adopted family has asked for an IEP and evaluations, however nothing has been done as of yet. They are considering alternate placement/schools in response. He is struggling with reading comprehension, and his tutor is not a highly trained reading specialist.  Why? How? What do we do? And no, it's ...

Today I'd like to take a break from my "mini-series" on Family Communication/Connections. My love for this topic has not faded (never fear!) but like all other things, taking a break is important, even from something you enjoy. The best part? I get to talk about something else that energizes me... non-fiction texts! I recently had a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with an editor for a parent article for Scholastic . Since the link is long, I will put it at the end of my post and in my links! Not only is this a great article for families to read, but it's also beneficial for early educators (1-3) years. Not many teacher preparation programs focus on certain elements of literacy (which could be a whole mini-series in itself!) that teachers use, focus on, and incorporate everyday.  Non-fiction, in my humble opinion, is still the harder of the two  main genres (fiction and non-fiction) to teach, and for students to develop comprehension skills for. In the article I ...

I wondered today if the presenters in my workshops are substitute mind-readers. (It could be possible!) As I rounded out the week of invigorating, challenging, and thoughtful professional learning, I felt (as a student would) my teachers intuitively knew what I needed today... I kept an eye out for sections, sessions, themes, and moments that pertained to school-home connections.  What I noticed today (besides everything) was the sequential idea of follow-up communication and community. My last blog focused around the ideas of anticipating what families will need, and to prepare ahead of time to get everyone started, so the [actual] start will function more smoothly than without any preparation at all.  In the live Parent Engagement Panel for TYHO conference, one presenter spoke from a parent's perspective. Her acronym of G.R.A.C.E is a great background to keep as your scenery in this story. Let me break it down for you:  Guidance Regular breaks  Ask families what th...

Please Know this blog was published 7/3/2020, however I received an alert on 7/17/2020 it did not.  Yesterday I didn't get a chance to do my daily writing for my blog. You know what that means? More thoughts for today! Truth be told, it was not a good day personally, however I was able to lean on the shoulders (and arms, hands, backs, ankles etc.) of a few friends that got me through. It also helped that I had a lot of work to do so I was able to stay distracted from the few personal issues that were occurring around me.  Today, I was lucky enough to take an adventure trip to the beach with a friend (much needed might I add!) to just kick back and let the sand sift between my toes. While we were there, we got into a conversation about a few things related to KDP, our beloved honor society.   Our discussion, if featured in a movie, was more like a car driving up and down hills, turning left and right, stopping at times, and then going full speed ahead. One of our main...

This is my second blog about family connections. If you missed the first, no worries, you can find it in the thread. As I continue to participate in PD sessions/conferences this week, I'm truly amazed by how many great educators and leaders we have in this profession. I'm always learning something new, even about topics I feel I know well, and the school-home connections is definitely one of them.  As I stated in my previous blog, I attended some great sessions this week at ISTE Summer Learning Academy, TYHO (Teach Your Heart Out) Conference, and newly added today, ASCD 's Virtual Conference, Respond, Reimagine, Restart.  These challenged my thinking for how to increase and improve my connections as an educator with students' families. This makes me joyful because I can share this new inspiration with other educators, and trade ideas that will benefit all.  One specific takeaway that's already causing my brain train to speed around the track is the idea of reaching ...

Hello fellow educator friends! Is it an understatement to simply say "wow!" from today's learning sessions at the TYHO Conference? Less is technically more right, so let's keep it at " wow !"  Since my article in the (KDP) The New Teacher Handbook: Curated Advice from Award-Winning Teachers focuses on Parent-Teacher Conferences (and the second article is teaching during the pandemic,) I'm like a sponge soaking up every drop of information, suggestions, experiential testimonies, and advice from other educators and, yes, parents ! The Parent Engagement Panel today was one of the best sessions I saw the past two days. From practical advice and considerations, to parental perspectives, it had it all!  With the upcoming school year being represented by a large question mark, there are many parts that teachers have to re-think outside the box on, including school-home connections. One thing that will  not change is the notion that establishing connections with...

Wow,  can we pause for a moment to reflect today? Yes, I'm feeling it too... tired, excited, inspired, hopeful. That's what you get for PD-ing yourself all day. (Yes I turned PD into a verb!) It was a long day in front of the computer, however, one of the most worthwhile days I've had in quite some time. Truthfully, the webinars I attended in April were pretty much attached to a race car in my brain, zipped and buzzed around the track, and came to an abrupt halt at the finish line where the press was waiting with their microphones anxiously asking me "how does it feel?" What was my reaction you ask? "Did I even win?"  I did attend other webinars and livestream sessions with some of my favorite organizations even after the "April race" that sent us merrily on our way to nowhere in particular. Some of these include IDA , KDP , and Learning at the Primary Pond. It wasn't until today however, I actually felt like a real teacher, with real a...

Yesterday I centered my focus on my newfound enchantment with podcasts. Today I recalled a podcast that I listed to recently and thought initially, why not do a follow-up to yesterday's blog? It would be a first for me to continue the conversation! I smiled to myself thinking I had my plan... I should've known myself better by now that "smooth sailing" is totally not me.  As I write this evening I'm thinking to myself, what label should I put today's blog under? I will mention KDP, Resources, speak generally and about literacy. If I were one of my students I would tell myself to write, as that's the most important move to make first. Detailed decisions can be made in a play later to help win the game. So, let the story begin:  I had the pleasure of working with one of my KDP officers this evening on a few projects that are on the high priority list. One being a presentation for Clinical 1 students next month to present the value of KDP and show our support...

For what seems like the longest time, I've always heard other educators talk about podcasts. Not quick to leap into a trend that I was confident I wouldn't use, I always acknowledged their presence and moved on. Much like shopping for a new handbag that I know isn't in the budget at the time, I look at it through the window, pause, notice it, and then continue walking (most likely with a tear running down my cheek!)  Podcasts were always there, and I knew they were, so why didn't I start using them? Frankly I do not have that answer. I almost wish there was a multiple choice test for that question so I could make it look like I have even a small clue. Fast forward to this summer, guess what?... I'm hooked! What could be better than free advice from expert teachers, specialists, authors, families, etc.?  I decided to take a few recommendations from friends, webinars, and websites/organizations I have memberships with. I find that I'm gravitating toward podcasts t...

I am one to be fully honest. Monday and Tuesday of this week felt like an unstoppable roller coaster. I could also safely make the parallel to a tornado, as both days seamlessly blended together. This of course leads to my explanation/excuse (insert whichever you prefer here!) as to why we wind up here together today (Wednesday) starting the week.  The good news is that this week so far has contributed a lot of learning experiences to my resume, work completion, and networking with others. I'm always amazed at the individual talents and contributions fellow educator colleagues possess. One of the best things about this profession is the endless potential of learning opportunities that arise. For some, learning halts a certain age or time, however I feel that the longer I remain involved, the more I encounter I want to learn and absorb.  One great resource a fellow officer and friend of mine from KDP shared with me is Canva . Now, full disclosure I have not made my account yet...

After pausing to consider my blog today, I made a decision about my blogs that I am excited to share. I think it would be worth while to use Fridays as "flashback" days to reflect on the week as a whole, my prior posts, and end the week with a reflection which can serve as an overview perspective to launch us into the weekend.  This week in particular has been quite busy. As I mentioned I am working on a rather large project with a dear friend of mine for differentiated instruction. I've been working diligently on my own personal article that I hope to see published by ASCD Express. I've been pondering my next steps in my teaching (and learning) journey, while considering some personal circumstances at home and with family that might result in a life altering change for me this upcoming year. I've been blessed to have seen a few of my friends this week who have either made me laugh with "giddy, go-for-it" remarks, moments to relax and stare at the ocean ...