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

 Recently I've been learning and reviewing a lot of information about conducting a read-aloud successfully. From podcasts to reading, from reviewing notes and conferring with my great thinking partner Renee, I knew I had to reflect on this exceptional topic here~  Please visit  Read. Write. Think. With Renee  on Youtube to learn more about her and the amazing work she does with classroom teachers as they navigate through Readers' Workshop.  For me, a read-aloud has always been a part of my classroom literacy lessons. What I've been confirming is the importance (and more recently vital necessity) of exposing students to stories and hearing them out loud. Episode 8, November 2019 of The Reading Teacher's Lounge podcast was a clear reminder that selecting books is a notable part of a read-aloud. Educators need to rely on each other for title suggestions and testimony for a book's theme, topic, etc., that can be used. We serve as each others' greatest resource. With...

When I approach the writing of my blog, I always ask myself, "what can I share with my audience today?" I'm always eager to share new information, show my excitement through my writing, and challenge readers to think outside the box with their own teaching.  Truthfully today, I need to share my thoughts for me . While I hope that my words reach the eyes of all those who need to see them, today, I aim to provide myself support in a safe space to help me re-energize myself.  With the uncertain and complex opening of school quickly approaching, I have been attempting to prepare for next week. It's left me tired, less focused, and feeling overwhelmed at times. I look back at what I didn't do today, become more frustrated, and so the vicious cycle continues it's vacuous swirl, drying out my spirit, and my mind. I took a few minutes today to clear my mind and review my thoughts. I realized that there are two key components in assisting yourself with times like this....

Today I finally took another step to prepare and advance communication with families. I've presented on this topic, viewed the work of others, listened to other educators' suggestions, and reviewed all the information and ideas I gathered.  I created an initial parent survey to distribute next week. I created this in Google Forms, assuming all my families will have access to technology this year. I am prepared however, that I might have families that do not have this access, or have other preferences. I have plenty of envelopes and stamps readily at had to meet the diverse needs of new families this year- whatever it takes!  Taken from my newly acquired knowledge and recent presentation, I compiled a simple list with my top questions to select for a survey. Please note that just like each one of us, each family is unique, diverse, and has varying needs.  - How would you like to be addressed?  - Tell me something unique about your family. - Do you consider your child ...

I often think about the disconnect between what I hear and learn in many of my professional development experiences, and what's expected of me as a teacher in the classroom. From workshops to podcasts and webinars, the re-occurring theme seems to reflect how teachers need more autonomy in their instructional delivery. Educators need to be empowered and encouraged to be creative.  When we go to a doctor, we trust him or her to make the best decisions based on our individual, specific needs, and their knowledge base. So, why is it that teachers cannot do the same for their students? Truth is we can, however many educators do not feel entrusted to do so. So much of our work is mandated that finding time to try newly learning strategies, technologies, and lessons seems impossible. Isn't meeting the diverse needs of our learners what our collective goal is? I get to know my students, their needs, and make informed decisions for instruction from there. That's the purpose of diffe...

One of my earlier blog posts focused on finding the "why" in what we do. Based on Simon Sinek 's book Start with Why , he advocates that we must know what drives us to excellence in our field. Another voice that echos powerfully is Dr. Mary Howard . What I admire about her work is her focus on teachers, and the emphasis being on "if we as teachers are passionate about our work, our students will be too. " For example, if a teacher admits he/she is not a reader, how can we expect our students to be avid readers? It's just not logical. So much of what we do extends from our modeling, that we cannot rely on our words to inspire our students, but our actions! Our students deserve to have the best versions of us arrive into the classroom everyday. While I remain with my feet planted on the ground here acknowledging that we won't be perfect all day, everyday, it's still of vital importance that we find joy in what we do. That joy is what shines through and...

My blog post today is more of a personal story than it is a reflection on resources, strategies, or concepts. I want to show my readers that I, too, have my own struggles as a teacher. No doubt that challenge, struggle, and therefore resilience are all synonymous with what we do and the passion in our hearts for education, but sometimes... we fall. The key is to get up, better than before and continue forward.  Although I'm grateful for my experiences thus far in my career, various opportunities, and an amazing network of teachers (thank you especially to KDP for that!) I often feel... stuck. I smile thinking of the meme "there are two types of teachers" with the picture of the messy art cabinet, and the perfectly organized one. Those who know me well can attest that I could probably make the organized cabinet look messy if I had to... after all, I love a challenge! But for me, I'm always looking head at what's next for me. I am a perfectionist (as many are) and a...

 The concept of a web is a common image that is used to describe a variety of things. I find using a web as a tool to describe communicating with families to be valuable for teachers to use as a graphic organizer and a visual.  When I think of a communication spiderweb, I picture the smaller strands as our frequent correspondences: short messages, weekly reminders, simple Q&A. These strands however, pose an important necessity to maintaining consistent communication. Without it, the gaps between the larger strands would not be connected.  In a similar way, the larger strands are branched out- thicker and more sturdy. In my perspective, these thicker strands are the larger, more in depth communications that might demand more of our time planning such as conferences, Back to School Night, or other engaging events. Despite the time needed to plan and organize, the results of these are large, expanding the web further as families often look forward to these events/ times ...