Teachers' Favorite

 Greetings teacher friends! This week let's talk about favorites! 

We all have favorite things: a favorite book, movie, sport, song, color, food. No doubt our students also have their favorites, and they are always eager to share them! It's important for us as educators to connect with our students, and help them connect with each other. I think at times we either forget or feel uncertain to sharing experiences and what we like with our students. Let's not be afraid to do this, but rather embrace it as part of the classroom culture. Students are often fascinated by their teachers, and sharing makes for a perfect opportunity to gain their interest. The more we are open and share with our students, the more they will share with us and each other. This creates a climate of trust and respect- two keys we are always aiming for as teachers. 

There are many ways to weave in different favorites into the classroom. I say find your classroom theme and run with it! Play more music throughout the day- most students love it! Use your own experiences to help tell stories or use as math problems. Making connections makes all the difference. Share a piece of writing or art with them, and watch their interest rise as well as ideas for cross-curricular lessons. Having these favorites not only connects us with our class, but has the potential to connect us with other teachers. Using our similarities, we can collaborate with each other to create lessons with our grade level or related arts teachers, which not only results in engaging lessons, but shows students teamwork as well. Let's take some time think of our own interests and how we can incorporate them into the classroom and continue to connect with other educators and let the ideas flow!

When we work together we are building a solid foundation for our students, and we show them that we have more in common then we do different. Let's keep that momentum going!

Final thoughts: Keep incorporating your favorites into classroom activities and decor- it will "hook" your students in. Keep discovering what others's favorites are and embrace them... both students and teachers. Keep developing lessons that integrate other subjects and related arts. This is the beauty of teaching!