Exactly!

Exactly!

Every once in a while you come across a video that makes you want to just yell, "Exactly!".

Here was mine today.

Do you know how many times I have been up at night thinking about students? 

Too many to count and this video put it into words perfectly. 

I know so many educators who feel the exact same way.

 I know that you have stayed awake at night for your students for these reasons. 

Best Quote:

Courage - UP!

What do you think of the video?

The Teacher Choice

The Teacher Choice

...that I almost missed

Rewind to ten years ago.  I look exactly the same as I do now. (Insert sarcasm tone with that sentence). I have graduated teachers college and I am working at Blockbuster Video. Yes, the family video store that we all know and love.

I liked working for Blockbuster. I really did. I was one of two assistant store managers.  I had a meeting with the District Leader (the boss of a few blockbusters) about having my own store to manage. 

This was a dilemma in my life at the time. Should I? I toyed with this decision for a while.  My colleague (the other assistant store manager) was shocked that I even had to consider it.

 He looked at me right in the eye and said, 

"Is this honestly what you want to do with your life? This is it?" As he was waving his arms around in the air at the store. Then his voice became real firm and he told me his plan to move out west. He told me that if he came back to Ontario and I was still working at Blockbuster that he would be mad at me. I laughed...uncomfortably. He stared me down and went walking away mumbling something about sitting on a degree. 

We were friends! 

How could he be so upset with this decision. A store manager is a great job. 

I had to ask myself why I wasn't sure about teaching. Didn't I want it? The answer was yes. I did want to teach. I wanted to teach badly. I envisioned myself standing with a group of students for picture day with the sense of pride and joy. I wanted it. 

Why was I hesitant then? Why was I willing to settle for something else? 

I was afraid.

There is no walking into a job teaching in Ontario. There just were not any jobs in my area. With small children moving to another province or another part of my province was not an option. I would have to take the leap of faith and supply. Hope for an LTO (long term occasional position) and eventually a contract teaching position.

Years later with my contract and at a school I love to teach at, I look back at that moment and sigh with relief. I liked working for Blockbuster but I LOVE teaching. 

I am a teacher.

It is not just a job, but a way of life.

For other people who are currently in Teachers College, supplying or on an LTO: Don't give up. The road may be long, discouraging and you will feel like giving up, but it will be worth it. 

Follow your passion!

 Follow your dream! 

Your day will come when you stand with your class on picture day and smile ever so big. 

You will get there! 

Side Note:  Life would prove to me once and for all that I made that right decision (not that I doubted) as Blockbuster Video closed the doors to Canadian stores in 2011.  If I had stayed in my fear I would have been out of a job. 

Silence is .... Golden?

Silence is.....Golden?

I haven't blogged in awhile. I finished the 30 day challenge and then silence. 

Quiet.

Nada.

Nothing.

I am still here. I have been reading on twitter. I have been reading your blogs. Yet, nothing has triggered me to write. Perhaps it was the month of prompts that fuelled my thoughts and now no prompts. 

Wait. Don't get me wrong. 

I do have thoughts. I do have opinions. 

This afternoon I read Krissy Vensodale's Blog post. This quote really hit home with me:

"And when I stop sharing. There is usually a reason.  Those moments in our lives when we want to hide from the world? Whether your struggle is big, or your struggle is small, you can share that, too.  Because somewhere, there is someone that it will impact or who can help you.  Sharing and connecting make a difference for you, for me, and for us all. Not because it’s easy to share, but because we are all human."

This statement forced me to reflect. (Thank you Krissy). Am I struggling? Is that why I have been so quiet? I think this is a question that I will need to ponder on a little while longer. I think one major contributor is my littlest human in the house has figured out how to move. He crawls, pulls himself up and climbs everything. Although I am extremely proud of his new skills it shortens my free time. 

Stop the press! I had free time before?

I think it is important to remember to not get overwhelmed. It is hard for me as my readers know to let go of my passion. I find it difficult to separate teaching from my life as I find so much pleasure in it. See my post about that here. I think in these last two weeks I have been taking the time to connect to myself, my humans in the house and my knight in shinning armour.

I am still connected to you. In a quieter manner. I read your blogs, tweets and reflect. Perhaps this is my own way of connecting with myself without going anywhere or laying in a hammock. Although a relaxing fall evening in a hammock with a stemmed glass of fermented grape juice sounds amazing. I have been taking the time to treat myself once a day to a me moment. Today my "me" moment involved a cup of caramel expresso in my penguin winter mug. 

It is important to take time for ourselves in the middle of year and the middle of the day. I think that Anne SchaeferSalinas said it best in her blog post: 

"So during Connected Educator Month, I would make an argument for making sure that you are connecting with all the important stakeholders in your world, including(perhaps most importantly) yourself.  You will be glad you did."

Thanks Anne! I couldn't have said it better myself. I agree! Make sure to take time for you this month.

Mentor, Inspirations and No Desk!

Mentor, Inspirations and No Desk!

Oh no! I have fallen behind on the blog challenge.

The weekend just got away from me!

I will do a quick catch up.

Day 6: "What does a good mentor do?"

What exactly is a mentor?

 I know but I thought I would take a look at meanings to be clear.

"Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be."

Eric Parsloe, The Oxford School of Coaching & Mentoring

Image from: YMCA

I love this image with the road way signs. I believe a mentor is a relationship that does offer help, support, guidance, advice and assistance. It is not telling someone how to be...but being a support for the direction that they are traveling in to be the person that they are wanting to be.

I often have said to my students that I am not just your teacher, but your mentor. I am here to help you on your journey to success not tell you the way to go.

A mentor does just that: supports the mentored on the journey to learning, life, job etc.

Day 7: Who was or is your most inspirational colleague and why?

This question really hit home with me. I am sitting here looking at my blog post and am thinking....do I really need to choose one?

I have been so fortunate in my career to have people who have inspired me at every school I have taught. I will choose two:

The first person is @ @SotoWE1  (Wendy Soto).

Wendy inspired me when I first started on my career path. In my personal life a bomb exploded and I truly had a difficult time balancing all of my emotions as well as being present in the moment.  She really extended her friendship and mentoring skills. She gave quiet moments of support, lunch dates and cheered me on. Literally. (She cheered when I confessed how hard it was to get out of bed and she cheered that I was at school and present!) 

Wendy continues to learn on a professional level constantly. She is willing to try new teaching styles and techniques. She has a passion to teach students and it is evident on a day to day basis. She also has this way about her to be professional at all times. I don't think I saw her loose her cool even when there had been moments when many other educators would have had steam coming out of their ears.  She models how to speak positively of those around her. She will not speak ill of other colleagues, parents, or students.  She honestly is the most professional educator I have met.
She inspires me even now when we no longer are in the same building. Sometimes I think:
Would Wendy have said that?

The second person is Laura Keeping.

Laura and I team taught together for only a year. Laura's passion for students is unbelievable.  She cares so much for each student who enters her classroom. She inspired me on a day to day basis as she continually found ways to incorporate technology into her lessons. She was the first person I had met who had an effective classroom website and used it daily to communicate with parents. She was ahead of her time and was building world connections with the students. It may be the buzz now but Laura was bringing the world into the classroom years ago. She motivated the students themselves to explore world issues and inspired them to be active and to do something about them.  

Laura's technological influence sparked a curiosity in me to continue to use technology daily and find new ways to use less paper.

Thank you ladies for the impact you have both had professionally and personally!

Day 8: What is in your desk drawer and what can you infer from those contents?

I don't have a desk.

 I used to have a big old wood desk in my room. It became a junk pile. I made a goal for myself two years ago to be more organized in the classroom and the desk was holding me back. I was not sitting at it anyway. I was up with the students in small groups, conferencing and observing. Why have such a large piece of furniture that is not functional in a small space to begin with? 

Away it went!

I personally love not having a desk in my room. I will not go back. It forces me to be more organized as I have to put things away as there is no where to pile them. I will not go back.

So with no drawer, no desk...what does that say about me?

I would hope it would say I am present in the moment with students.

 Have you ever thought about giving up your desk?

What do you love about teaching?

 What do you love about teaching?

This question can not be answered in one sentence. You see, teaching and I have a very intimate love affair. I am so passionate about teaching that at times it is my obsession. Last night, I tweeted in the ONedchat: 

MariaVerwey1 (@MariaVerwey1) A6: BALANCE! Teaching is not only my profession sometimes it is my hobby and addiction. I need to know when to say "no" sometimes. #ONedchat 2014-09-03, 7:45 PM

I am so love with teaching it truly is hard to say no. 

What do I love about teaching?

 Let me count the ways

I love the the moment the light and excitement appears in students eyes.

The laughter, connection and stories from children honestly bring me joy.

The struggles, the "I can't"s and "I don't know how", push me to try harder.

The back talk, sweet talk, chit chat, reflective moments and silence.

Teaching is ever changing and never stays the same.

I am my own boss and I set my own timelines, expectations of myself and rise to the occasion.

I am able to be a creative as I want to be, try to be and need to be.

Guiding young people to continue to love learning and to find their passions.

The thrill and the rush of reaching and impacting that one student who doesn't like school, teachers and learning.

I can honestly say that I coulnd't imagine doing anything else that satisfies me the way teaching does. I feel so very lucky to have a JOB that I feel so passionate about. What do I love about teaching?

Maybe it can be summarized with one word after all: 

EVERYTHING

Passionate Teaching

Passionate Teaching.....Do you have the PASSION?

While I am off on maternity I thought about using some of  my spare time to create.  

Spare time?  What is that?  

 I personally create many items in my classroom, share them and use them again.  I enjoy creating, brainstorming and seeing how it turns out with my students.

This past week and a half I have tried to expand some of my creativity to a primary french resource.  I thought to myself...hey...no problem....you speak french....you have taught primary.....how hard can it be?

Wrong. It took me soooooooo much longer to put together the ideas.  Seems silly when you think about primary and the concepts are relatively easy. I should be able to put together a little booklet no problem!  I couldn't believe that I was having this road block.  

Was this mommy brain I was facing?   I love to create right?  So, why then was this so difficult?

One word.  

PASSION!

I have no passion for primary. I don't do cutsy in my creations and I struggled with now adding the cute clip art, fonts and details.  I struggled with creating something that would be "out of the box". Is this creation of mine even useful to a primary teacher? I will get back to you on that as I have a classroom trying it out in the next couple of days.

I enjoy the teenage years.  I like the challenge of engaging them with technology or other creative ways. I enjoy thinking outside the box to reach students who at times don't want to be at school, don't have the materials they need or the motivation to finish a project to the end. That is my passion.  That is what gets me thinking.  

This ties back to the thought of the genius hour.  If it took me, an adult and a professional an extra week to find motivation to do something that I am not passionate about then just imagine what it is like to be a thirteen year old and trying to complete something you hate.  I realise we all have to do things we don't like at times but it gives me the motivation to try and find ways to motivate students.  

Are you passionate about your teaching?  Are you passionate about something in your life?

Yes! I am.  

I believe the next step would be to share your passions with your students.  Show them that you are human and have a desire to continue to learn, grow and create.  This too might motivate the students to learn outside of school and in school.  

Last year before my baby was born I decided that I wanted to learn to crochet. I watched a ton of you tube videos and taught myself some of the basic stitches.  I shared this little secret learning with one of my students.  She herself, laughed when she heard of my struggles with the tutorials because she could crochet.  She then opened up and shared with me that she had researched in her own spare time some art concepts and tutorials with youtube.  It was an amazing moment between teacher and student about learning.

Passionate learning takes time!

Here is a beautiful picture of my start of crochet experience.  It took a while to figure out how to crochet...straight.  

I persevered and I can now say I know a few basic stitches and how to crochet in a reasonably straight line.  Here is my finished blanket.

Finished product! A baby blanket for our new baby.

  

This learning did not occur in school.  It occurred outside of school, in my spare time about a topic I was passionate about. 

Could you just imagine what we would inspire students to do if they had the choice and the freedom to explore their own passions?

I get the goosebumps just thinking about it!

3 Cheers for great Admin

3 Cheers for great Admin

At the end of the year the Super of our area was making his rounds.  He stopped in my room and interacted with students and myself.  One of the questions that he asked me was, "What makes this school different from other schools? "

Now I am one for speaking the truth and I am not a fan of candy coating it either.  "Just say it like it is", is my philosophy. How was I going to reply to a question like that?

 The school that I am currently working at once upon a time had a terrible reputation.  It is true.  I would tell people where I work and they would cringe or apologise.  Having the intermediate students added the extra little bit of pity on the faces of other colleges who hear that news. About a year ago someone even whistled and stated, "Your are earning your strips there." We are one of the larger schools in our board and we are located in a town with lower socioeconomic status.I could tell you horror stories of student behaviour and sobbing stories of childhood heartbreak.

I will not tell you any of  those stories today because there has been a shift in the school. The attitudes of students are changing, parents are now involved, our standardised test scores have increased and teachers want to stay.  Overall the whole atmosphere of the school is an entirely different place.

When the Super asked me the question of what makes my school different from other schools my answer was really simple.

Admin.

I am not here to tell you that Admin is perfect. We all are not.  I am here to tell you that when you have a great leader in your school he/she can change the entire building.  In my case it is a male.  When he is not in the building due to meetings or illness. you can feel the difference in the kids, the staff and the general overall aura of the whole building.

I can tell you that if I ever have a problem with anything from reports to student behaviour he has his door open and is ready to brainstorm solutions to the problems. He has developed a positive rapport with all of the staff. He is completely passionate about his job.  He is so passionate at times he forgets to eat....forgets to sleep.  He is passionate about what he does.  Some tell him to slow down. Others tell him to take better care of himself.

Yet it is all paying off.  The scores, the attitudes, the parents, and the community are all changing.  He is successful at what he does.

 Having the passion in what you do, is evident to others around you.

I saw this video via a twitter feed.


The message reminded me of him.  Three cheers for the great Admin that I am so fortunate to work with again this year. Thanks for being a great leader and inspiring others around you to be successful. 

 How bad do you want success?  What is success?  This is going to be my kick off message to my grade eights this year as they come into the room on Tuesday.

What do they consider success?  How will they measure it? Steve Jobs explains the rules for success.


 

I am excited for this year to start. I am excited to share these and other videos I have found.  I really am looking forward to hearing what is it that they want to be successful at.  I think too many times we assume that all students want those academic goals.

What if their success is showing up on time every day?
What if their success if making a close friend?
What if their success is raising their hand once independently?

I know I have to complete reports but I am excited about the idea of allowing students to set their own success criteria for this school year.

I will keep you posted to how it turns out.

What is your passion?

Passion!

What is your passion?  I have been doing a lot of reading on other blogs and I am curious....what is your passion?  This video has had me thinking.....what is my passion?  

Passionate Teachers from Paul Bogush on Vimeo.


A few weeks ago my students enjoyed the pep talk from Kid president.  They have been saying quotes from his motivational speech.

Top 5 repeated quotes are:
5. “If there are two paths, I want to be on the one that leads to awesome”
4. “The world needs to stop being boring”
3. “Create something that will make the world awesome”
2.“You were made to be awesome”
1.“Don’t stop believing, unless your dream is stupid… then get a better dream and keep going, keep going, keep going…”






I wonder what path would lead them to awesome.  My student's "awesome" will be different from my awesome.  So what is awesome to my teens?  I believe somewhere in their awesome would be their passion.

I wonder what is their passion.  No matter how amazing my lesson is....how fascinating I can make history, math or science there still are students who are not going be intrigued because well quite frankly it does not interest them. It does not contain their passion. 

If I had a chance to be sitting in a classroom again. What would I want to learn?
Well, I can tell you.  I would want to learn about the "Genius Hour".

What is the "Genius Hour"? 
 I can tell you that I have been doing a lot of reading about it.  I have watched videos about it.  I can tell you that I want to know more....find out more...put it into practise.  Then I can tell you, show you, explain to you and explore more.

This very premise is the idea behind Genius Hour. One hour a week, I will give students a chance to explore what interests them.  There are not many weeks left in school so they have a few weeks to explore what ever it is that interests them.  It can be ANYTHING.

Freaky as a teacher to let go of one hour. One hour a week to actually research what it is that interests them.  The students will find their own injury question and dance with it.

Tomorrow they will be introduced to the idea.  Tomorrow the match will be struck!  Tomorrow they will be given the idea of Genius Hour and then time for the week to think about what question it is they want to discover.

 I will encourage my students to research their own passions, interests and what they want to learn about. 

 I am curious to see what their passions will be.

What is your passion this week?