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

One of my favorite books to read to my class is "The Listening Walk" by Paul Showers and illustrations by Aliki. It is a great reminder to me every year that it's important to take time to conduct my own listening walk. Daily routines and busy schedules often muddle opportunities to simply connect with our senses and to take in what is happening around us. After listening to the book in class, I have my students close their eyes and simply listen for one full minute. We are all always surprised how many sounds we heard because we were purposeful in our quiet thinking time.  As educators its important to use short, quiet moments to reflect and think. We teach this to our students, and we need to lead by example. I realized in my reading and reflection time with my students this year that I need to tune into my senses more and use that time to my benefit. This is often the time where some of the greatest ideas are born. Big or small, these ideas can come from a tiny moment

Last week the leadership team of Delta Rho and I welcomed our newest members into our chapter of KDP.  I am very proud of the hard word and dedication the team put into this dinner/ceremony. This is the first in-person ceremony we've had since 2019, but just like riding a bike, we got into the groove and off we went!  We were able to celebrate our newest initiates, alumni members, honor an amazing educator who leads the Tomorrow's Teachers program at his high school, hear words of wisdom and inspiration from one of my fellow County Teachers, recognize a special para-educator for all her hard work, reflect on our grow as a chapter for this past year, and officiate our new leadership team.  What I enjoy most about our ceremony is sharing the history of the organization with our newest members, and reflecting on the ideas and purposes for which it was founded on. I've often quoted these in my own speeches and writings (giving credit of course!) because they have profound meani

 Greetings friends! Can you tell spring is in the air? We are seeing all the signs around us for sure! Normally spring is associated with new life and beginnings; a fresh slate to start with. While this may be true of the season, and we should definitely embrace this, I also want to challenge our thinking for a bit about the word spring.  Spring is a multiple meaning word. One definition obviously is the season. Another is a coil-like object that will resume it's position even if pressed or condensed down. The third definition is to move or jump suddenly or rapidly upward or forward. This is the definition I'd like to focus on today.  What are some ways we can "spring" ourselves forward and upward as we prepare for the last few months of school? For sure winter has been long and tiring, but now we have the sunshine and fresh air to breath inspiration into us. Perhaps your ideas will even continue your inspiration for next year! There's nothing like a traditional s