This week I have found a number of great resources about professional practice and professional development. I have been inspired by these resources by amazing educators and wanted to share them with you. I hope you find them useful and meaningful as well.
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Thanksgiving the holiday is a little over a week away. Thanksgiving the activity should be an everyday occurrence. We should be thanking those around us for the support they provide, for the actions that bring us joy, inspiration, and challenge us to be the best we can be. There are people in our lives who help us do what we do and continue to do the awesome things we are able to accomplish. I came across a post the other day by Stacy Jennings @sjennINSPIRE where teachers created a video where teachers tell the students they work with how the student inspires them. I think this is a phenomenal idea. I know many teachers share with students notes or conversations letting the student know they are making good progress, or doing a good job. This was to me, a little different. It was about how the student inspired them. How the student has impacted their life. The conversations seemed focused on the student as an individual who has unique personality traits and behaviors that were appreciated. This went beyond academic or athletic performance and showcased the student as a powerful force of inspiration who made the teacher's life better. The video is below A number of weeks ago, I shared another example of celebrating others and giving thanks. This one was aimed at teachers, or colleagues and what they do that makes our lives better. I wrote about it in my post Superheroes. I had asked teachers to share how awesome teachers and their colleagues are. What do teachers do to help students, to support us, to challenge us to be our best? CHALLENGESo this week I want to issue a few Thanksgiving Challenges to you.
You can share these in tweets, infographics, or videos documenting your successful completion of these challenges. 1. Share with a student how/why they inspire you to come to school, to do your best, to teach, to learn and grow as an educator. 2. Share with members of your PLN how they help you learn and grow. How do they support and inspire you to to be the best you can be? 3. Share with members of your staff how they help you learn and grow. How do they support and inspire you to to be the best you can be? 4. Document and share your acknowledgements of colleagues here - https://flipgrid.com/3349de create a video expressing how you are thankful for and why. 5. Share a strategy, tool, technology, etc. that you are thankful you have learned as it has made a difference in your educational practice. 6. Share with a family member(s) how they have supported you and helped you succeed and why you are thankful they are in your life. 7. Add your own challenges to others. How do you create an environment where students feel respected, appreciated and cared for? This week I have met with several teachers and many of the conversations have had a common theme; teacher student relationships. There were some conversations where teachers expressed frustration with student behavior. Yes this happens. Students sometimes don't meet our expectations or behave in a way that can be frustrating. When this happens, how do we respond? Are we able to take a step back and deal with the behavior, or do we struggle to separate the behavior from the student? If we address the issue with the focus on the student rather than the behavior we can negatively impact our relationship. Tonight is about ways we can build a positive learning environment for our students. Join the conversation and share your strategies for making your classroom a safe space for students. |
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