Reflection

My principal asked me, what is something you learned during your 2014 Colorado Teacher of the Year?  My response, " the one person who knows what is going on in education is the teacher."

Teacher Leadership

        Teachers can find themselves working in an environment of isolation.  There are days that a teacher may not see another adult and this can be taxing on the teacher psyche. There are so many great effective teachers in our schools, but you would not know it unless you were in their classrooms.  This is where we as teachers can empower ourselves as teacher leaders.  Get out of the classroom and make an impact in our schools or even district, state or national level.
         Do you show these attributes or know a teacher in your building that has these attributes?  Teachers who exhibit leadership are good listeners, communicate well, experts in curriculum and instruction.  They are competent in the classroom, credible among their peers and most of all approachable.  These teachers are life-long learners, applying what they have learned in their classrooms.  Most of all they model leadership in their classrooms and create strong relationships in the school and the community.  If this is you, education needs you.  I understand it may take up time, time is precious but so is ensuring all students get the opportunity to be successful.  
         How can you utilize teachers who show attributes of leadership?  You can create professional learning communities within the school to allow these teachers to share their expertise in a casual setting.  Reach out to those teachers and ask for their expertise to help you become a more effective teacher.  It is imperative to use the resources we have.  You would be amazed at how much you can learn from the other teachers in your building.

Teaching is Challenging This Time of Year

Teaching is challenging this time of year, we are getting ready for state wide tests and we start to realize that there is only 4-5 months left in the school year.  These are added on top of being an effective teacher, keeping our relationships strong no matter the discipline problems that may arise, creating engaging lessons, meetings, grading papers, professional development etc…… This does not include our lives outside of teaching.  This is the time of year that we need to pay special attention to ourselves and how the stresses are affecting us.  Signs that the stress may be getting to you are finding yourself withdrawing from social interaction with colleagues, not sleeping well, a feeling of being overloaded, you become negative about situations, not enjoying activities that you normally would enjoy.  We need to remember to take care of ourselves, the 2014 Kansas Teacher of the Year, Jeff Baxter  compared self care with putting on an oxygen mask on a plane, put your mask on first before you help someone else.  Sometimes we forget about our well being because we are so concerned with everyone else.  This is a characteristic of being a teacher; this is why we are amazing people doing amazing things.  What we forget is how to take care of ourselves.  Make sure you take 30 minutes if not more a day for yourself.  If that be working out with a colleague, read a book (non educational), breath, take a walk, or call a friend.  We cannot be effective teachers if we do not take care of ourselves.  Take a minute and think about what you are doing for yourself.  If nothing, make that change today, your students are depending on you to stay engaged. 

Supporting Teachers

A shocking statistic in our profession as teachers; 40%-50% of new teachers leave the profession within the first 3-5 years.  WHY is this happening?  We are losing teachers because they do not have support or the support is inadequate. Teachers do not feel validated in the profession and new teachers do not have time to get things done.  They are expected to accomplish what a veteran teacher does everyday in the same amount of time. There are other reasons but these are the three main reasons my fellow colleges of the class of 2014 National State Teachers of the Year discussed.

What we need to be doing in our schools and districts in order to keep the best and the brightest in our profession is have the resources available to these teachers.  Mentors, teachers that help guide new teachers into the profession.  Have someone who is not in the same curriculum guide them so they are being mentored on classroom management and best teaching practices verses being critiqued on curriculum. Coaches, someone who asks questions and be a resource so the teacher can evaluate themselves instead of being told what to do.  We need to make sure our novice teachers an new teachers to a school or district feel like they have something to contribute.  Especially 1st year teachers who are coming into the profession with new eyes, new rigorous ideas and amazing energy and passion.  Give these teachers time to acclimate to the profession or new school.  We are asking novice teachers to jump right into the profession and be able to handle the load of a veteran teacher.  Give them a time to plan, research, watch other teachers teach with their mentor so they can collaborate on what is happening in the classroom being observed.   I feel that our system is set up for failure instead of success and I know we do not set our schools up for our students this way so why would we do it to our teachers.

Brain Break; Get Up and Move

You have just finished an intense rigorous lesson, student's minds are fatigued and you still have 30 minutes of instructional time left.  Renergize your students minds so they can continue to be engaged.  Have your students stand up and walk in place, increase speed to a jog.  Than move into standing jumping jacks, move into fast feet ( que them to be as quiet as they can but move their feet as fast as they can). Now start a cross over movement to engage both sides of the brain, criss cross foot slap; have students stand and using left hand to right bottom of foot behind their back and switch right hand to left bottom of foot.  Do movement multiple times then switch to the front of the body.  To finish out have them walk in place then stand with eyes closed and take deep breathes.  Now your students should be ready to be engaged.  Reminder do not let these activities last longer than three minutes, so you don't lose instructional time.

Active Body has an Active Mind

I have found some great information on the impact of physical activity on the brain.  It is so important that we get our students moving to ensure they are getting the best education possible.  Use this information to educate others.

The Link Between Physical Activity and Brain Activity!

The images are a composite scan of 20 students' brains taking the identical test. On the left is the brain activity from students who sat quietly prior to the test. On the right is from students who were active prior to the test, but the images showed their brains were more active as well!- Dr. Chuck Hillman, University of Illinois

Performance Of The Mind And Body Are Related

Researchers at West Virginia University evaluated the fitness levels and standardized academic scores of 725 Grade 5 students and re-examined the results two years later when they were in Grade 7. The study concluded that academic performance dipped when students' fitness declined but academic performance incresed when fitness improved.

Exercise is the single most powerful tool to optimize your brain function!

“Consistent Exercise, and certain types of specific exercises, can both temporarily and permanently affect the way your brain is able to focus, its ablitity to deal with stress and anxiety, and its ability to learn! ...Exercise is like fertilizer for the brain...it's so good, it's like Miracle Gro®.”
- Dr. John Ratey, Harvard Brain Researcher

Career Highlight

On May 11, 2014 I had the honor of meeting an extrodinary leader of our nation.  In the blue room of the White House I had the opportunity to shake hands with President Barack Obama.  Following my meeting with him I stood behind the president while he addressed the nation on the strengths in education.  I would not of been standing there if it was not for my hard work in education, tenacious spirit and above all the support of my family.  Thank you to all that made this journey happen.