Operation Hot Cocoa Disaster- TOP SECRET MISSION

Christmas Around the World

  The last week before Christmas break, the entire first grade does a Top Secret Mission from the elves to help Santa collect information about 8 different countries and how they celebrate Christmas. The purpose of this is to teach our students about other countries and the Christmas customs and traditions that they have. The kids learn about the country and do an art project that goes along with their traditions. Our hopes is that the students will understand, have respect and have fun with other Christmas traditions and celebrations.

When we do Christmas Around the World, each of us 8 teachers pick one of the countries to teach and our classes switch to "fly" to each of the countries. The kids make a Top Secret suitcase and we give the students an airline ticket and passport to make the journey realistic. When the students arrive at each country, they get a stamp to put in their passports. We talk about how you need this to travel to other countries and what it is like to go through customs at the airport. 

Each of us teachers, takes a country and the project and adapts it as needed. I taught Holland to the first grade students. When I am teaching about Holland, I try to make it as realistic as possible. I take have Google Earth up on the Smartboard on Delano, MN and then we pretend to fly to Amsterdam. I put on an airplane take off noise so it sounds like we are flying! I was in Amsterdam when I was in college, so I share my pictures of when I was there. The kids love to see me in some of the pictures and talk about my trip. I hope this encourages them to want to travel there some day!

The biggest tradition in Holland is putting clogs out on St. Nicholas Eve and in the morning they receive gifts and candy in their shoes. After last year, I decided to have the kids put their shoes in the hallway. After we did that I continued to teach them about Holland and we did our clog project. While I was doing this, I had a coworker put treats in their shoes. The kids were so excited and thought Sinterklaas had come to our school! Seeing their excitement, showed me that getting treats and adding this to the lesson, was totally worth it! 

Another thing I added was passing around real wooden clogs from Holland. One of my new coworkers had some, so I borrowed them for the lesson. The kids loved to feel them, hold them, and try them on. Having these real clogs allowed the kids to understand what they were really like instead of just seeing pictures. 

After the secret mission was complete, I had many teachers telling me how much their students loved Holland and how they kept talking about what they had learned. I believe that the real clogs and the treats in their shoes enhanced the lesson this year and made a positive impact on the students and their learning. This proved to me that they understood and remembered the Christmas customs of Holland and I will continue to do the same thing next year when teaching about Holland!   

Morning Meeting

Each day we begin with our morning meeting. This is a very important time of our day where we get to greet one another, share something, do a fun activity and read the morning message. We also go over the job chart so everyone knows who is responsible for what. I also go over the schedule and what our day will look like so the students know in advance what we will be doing.

Morning meeting is important because this is the time where we make connections with one another. I get a chance to learn about each student and understand the whole child. During this time, I learn about the student's family, their interests, and what they do outside of school. I find a way to make connections with each student and use that to build a relationship with them.

With one of my previous students, I learned that he loved playing basketball. During morning meeting, I found out that his parents coach, just like I do. I also learned that his aunt played for the gophers and was one of my favorite players! Right away we made a connection and built our relationship by talking about basketball and sports. From that moment, this little boy started to talk to me and share about his life. We built a trust between us which made school and learning enjoyable for him. I had this student two years ago and he still comes by my room almost every day to say hi and tell me about this life. I have also gone to watch him play at one of his basketball tournaments. He was so happy that I came to watch that we took a picture and he wrote me a nice thank you note. This student has made a positive impact on me and I believe I have made a difference in his life too!

My Active Encouragement

There are a few different events that come to mind that have been inspiration or
active encouragement in my life:

First, my sister studied abroad in London in college and I went to visit her. This trip was the first time I was out of the country. When I was over there, I was in awe of all things I saw and learned. I loved making connections with new people, learning about different cultures and exploring new land. This trip made me love traveling and want to see the world!


Next, I have been inspired to run a half marathon. I have not completed this yet- but I am in the process of finding a race to sign up for. I am encouraged to this because I was up in Duluth at Grandma's Marathon. When I was watching the marathon runners cross the finish line, I felt that I could do something like them. Their hard work and dedication inspired me to push myself and do a run. Since then, I have done a 15k and a 10 mile run. My 13.1 miles is on the horizon and I hope to complete one soon!


Lastly, I was encouraged by my coworkers to get my masters. Watching them complete theirs, inspired me to start mine. So, now here I am! But, it doesn't stop here.... This program has been encouraging me to continue my education after I graduate. Now, I am in the thoughts of getting a reading license or certification after my masters is complete. This program has reminded me how much I love to learn and challenge myself!

Thankful, Grateful and Blessed

I am grateful for many things in life, but the biggest thing is my family! I am grateful that I have an identical twin that I have shared much of my life with, a younger sister and brother who I've watched grow up and my mom and dad who have impacted who I am as a person since the day I was born. My family has always been there for me and has supported me through everything. I am thankful for my family because they have brought happiness, laughter and love into my life. Because of my family, I have a good education, the opportunity to travel, and a lifetime of experiences! A lot of things that I am grateful for in my life are because of my family. 

You Are an Artist

“If you work with your hands, your head, your heart and your soul, you are an artist.”

- St. Francis of Assisi

HANDS: When teaching my first graders, I think about teaching and learning with my hands by providing activities that are hands-on. Students are more engaged in their learning when they can use their hands to discover, create and problem solve. As a teacher, I use my hands to be creative and experiment. I try to provide my students with experiences to build and polish their problem solving and critical thinking skills.

HEAD: I am always using my head to think about what is best for my students. I differentiate my lessons to meet the needs of my students at all levels. I am constantly thinking about the whole student and what they need socially, emotionally, and academically. I adjust my lessons based off of their needs and emotions during the day. I remind myself about what is important at particular times of the day- it is important to get through the math lesson or address the bullying issue going on in the classroom? I am constantly asking myself what can wait and what is important. 

HEART: One of the main reasons I became a teacher is because of the love I have for helping and working with people. I truly love my job and look forward to making a difference in people's lives. I use my heart every day to show my students and families that I care about each person I work with. I put my heart into my work by understanding other's feelings and trying to help them. I also accept everyone for who they are and try to teach my students to treat everyone with respect and kindness. We celebrate our differences and use them to teach one another about who we are. I truly love teaching and am passionate about helping others learn and reach their full potential. 

SOUL: I put my soul into my career as a teacher. I chose this career to make a difference and feel a level of fulfillment in my life. I believe I am here to help others and what better way to do that than to teach. Each day I come to work with excitement and happiness to see and teach my students. I believe that I am an important role model for my students and want to inspire them to be the best person that they can be. I take this into consideration in everything I do. I know that my students are always watching me to learn. Teaching has truly fulfilled my life and I could not have found a better career to make me happy and give my life meaning.    

Reinventing Schools

After reading the article, Change as Collaborative Inquiry by Tony Wagner, I saw many connections to the problems we have in our schools today. The biggest connection I made was that our goals are usually "answer driven" instead of being based off of inquiry. Each year we have a list of about five things that are our district and school "improvement plan." When we have list of things set as our goals, we often touch briefly on each instead of taking the time to really improve one thing at a time. This also happens with initiatives we have going on each year. It seems it becomes a revolving door of trying one thing, then moving on before we master the first thing.


At my school we have a group of people that works on our school improvement plan each year. This group involves teachers from each grade level, specialists, administration, special education department, a paraprofessional, and a school board member. This group spends a day collaborating to come up with the school improvement plan for the year. The issues we face is that not everyone is a part of the process (only the group members) and that we usually have a list of about ten things in four different categories. In my opinion, that is a lot of goals to focus on in a year. Most of us teachers, do not refer back to this after getting the plan handed to us. What is the point of spending all of this time on a school improvement plan if we do not consistently reflect on meeting the goals?
As a staff, I think we need to limit our goals, so we can focus on mastering a few things over a period of time instead of trying to do it all at once. This will help us teachers focus on our goals and work at achieving them.

My action research that I have done throughout this masters program has allowed me to adapt my instruction and meet the needs of my students. I have set an individual goal for myself to focus on my math instruction and implementing guided math groups. Focusing on this one area has allowed me to spend time researching ideas, implementing different centers, and modify things that aren't working. I take time to reflect on my instruction and if it is successful and meeting the students needs. This allows me to adapt on a daily basis. This change has been a positive implementation in my classroom because the students are learning in a variety of ways (groups, partners, individual), are making choices for their learning, and are learning through hands on with manipulatives, games, etc. The students are also getting a chance to redo their work to show their progress, as they learn at different rates. This change was implemented to be more like the "real world" where you make mistakes, learn from them and try again. I want my students to know that they can learn and do things, but they might not be there quite "yet."

You Only Live Once....

This quote is important to me because it reminds me to live my life the way I envision it. It reminds me to do the things I want to do, treat people kindly, accomplish the goals I set, and enjoy the experiences and adventures in life. 

This quote has inspired me to do things I didn't imagine or plan on doing before; hiking for miles up mountains, paragliding, getting my scuba diving certification, doing community service in other countries, etc. 

 

 I look at fulfilling my life through experiences. I now take the time to travel, meet and connect with new people, learn about new cultures, and try new things. This has been the best way for me to learn, be accepting of others and have respect of our differences. 

Because I live by this quote, I set short and long term goals for myself. I write these goals down on paper and check in with them every so often. This reminds me of what I want to accomplish in my life personally and professionally and to keep working on attaining those goals. 

My life is all about experiences and trying to make a difference in the world. I became a teacher and a coach because it fulfills my life of making a difference. I choose to travel and try new things to give myself new experiences. These fulfill my life each and every day and is my right way of living.

My one life will be enough, because I am choosing to live it the right way.

Adaptation

Throughout my M.Ed. experience I have learned how to adapt to doing my own homework again, but also having more responsibilities as an adult. I have adapted to learning how to balance my teaching, family, friends, homework and coaching responsibilities. During these times I have had to think about what is most important and make decisions on what to cut out of my schedule. I struggle with saying no to people when it comes to helping them out or just getting together and have learned how to say no and be okay with it. This summer I  had to make sacrifices in my personal life to support my goals as an M.Ed learner and my summer plans have been made around my class times and the time I plan for homework. 

My family and friends have been very supportive and flexible as they have had to make plans around my schedule. I am very thankful that I have supportive people who are helping me achieve my goal of attaining my Master's Degree. Without them and their support, this would be a long and hard journey. 

This has been my busiest summer by far with my travels, coaching responsibilities and grad school. I have learned how to balance time, put forth what is most important to me, and achieve my goals. I have done this by adapting my schedule, time, and responsibilities. It has been a busy and fast, yet successful and valuable summer of learning. 

Introvert vs. Extrovert

Thinking about my personality, I tend to think that I am more of an extrovert. But, I do have a lot of times where I believe I am an introvert also. 

Most people who know me would say I am an extrovert because I love to work with people and talk! I am involved in many activities such as coaching sports, playing sports, and volunteering because I always want to be around people. I have recently moved back to the city because I like the all the different people and action that is going on. I really enjoy different social events and will get bored when I do not have something planned. I tend to live my life by diving right into things and choosing experiences with others over having alone time. I am a person that thrives off of taking risks and I make decisions quickly. 

Now there are times where I may seem that I am an introvert. There are days that I do like to have to myself because I don't do that often. I also may come off as an introvert if I don't know you that well. I do tend to be more quiet when you first meet me because I like to observe and decide if I'm going to come out of my shell. 

As an educator, I need to make sure that I am reaching, respecting and appreciating my students being both introverts and extroverts. I need to realize that a quiet classroom is necessary to have during parts of the day, so that students can use that time to think and focus. I also plan to set up my desks different ways throughout the year instead of always putting them in groups. If I put my desks in rows or have the option of an individual spot, I will reach those introverts. Having different sharing options will also reach both students. I will mix it up with partners, groups, recording with technology, whole group, etc. This way I will reach all student's comfort level of sharing. In first grade, we do a lot of group and partner work. I want to implement more opportunities to work independently first and then move to group work so again I am giving both introverts and extroverts their needs. I think it is important for both introverts and extroverts to be put in their uncomfortable situations to learn how to work through them, but I need to balance it for both personality types instead of leading my classroom for mainly extroverts. 

RADICAL LEAP LEADERSHIP

Steve Farber focuses on four main components of good leadership skills in his book, "The RADICAL Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership":

 1. Cultivate Love

2. Generate Energy

3. Inspire Audacity

4. Provide Proof.

When I was reading an article about this, I instantly thought of Tom Brady, the quarterback for the New England Patriots. If you were watching the 2017 Superbowl where the Patriots were down 28-9 going into the 4th quarter, you witnessed the best comeback of all time in Superbowl history. This comeback is not achieved without leadership on a team and the Patriot's biggest leader was Tom Brady.

Tom Brady cultivates love. He puts his whole heart into the game of football, his teammates, and his coaches. This has allowed him to become a great leader on and off the field. 

Tom Brady generates energy for his team and shows his enthusiasm on the field. If it wasn't for his energy, belief and vision, the Patriots may not have made this historic comeback. 

Tom Brady inspires audacity to athletes everywhere. During the Superbowl game, he did not let anyone's belief that the game was over get to him. He chose to change the game and that he did. Brady wasn't afraid of failure or mistakes, he went out onto the field, fearless. 

Tom Brady provides proof through his success. He proved to everyone that you should never give up and that the game is not over until the clock hits zero. His performance has shown everyone that if you try and work hard, anything is possible. Brady showed the world his fearlessness and determination to change the game and come out as a champion!

Tom Brady is a Radical Leader!  #GOAT

Summer Stretch- Community Service in Costa Rica

Community Service 

in Costa Rica

12 girls, 4 parents, and 2 of us coaches from the STMA High School Girls Basketball Program went to Costa Rica on June 5th-13th. During our time here we played 2 basketball games against the Costa Rica 17U International Team, performed 3 community service activities, did some fun adventurous activities, and were at the beach! Throughout the whole trip, my favorite part was going to the schools and children's center to work with the kids. We taught the kids some basketball skills, did an art project, and played with the kids. Most of these kids live in poverty or have drug infested homes. We donated old basketball jerseys, shirts, school supplies, toiletries, stuffed animals, and basketballs. The kids were all starving for love and attention and instantly touched our hearts. There were many tears leaving the schools and center, as we became so attached to the kids. Our hope was to help make a difference and we are seeing that through some of our families that have already stepped up to help donate to the places we were at. We are hoping to keep in touch with the people we met in Costa Rica

and keep helping and assisting in any way we can.This experience made me realize how easy my life is and how fortunate I am. This was a life changing and emotional time for all of us and we are already looking forward to planning our next trip with community service activities so we can help more people! #puravida 

             

    

The Courage to Say "YET"

The Power of Yet has made me realize that we are not failures at things, we just need more time to practice and get better. As a teacher, this had made me realize what that "F" on their test or homework tells them. Why should every person have to accomplish things at the same time? That is not realistic. I think about babies when they are learning how to crawl, walk, talk, etc. If a baby doesn't learn how to walk by the time they are a year old, we don't call them failures or give them an "F" on that skill. Instead we encourage them to keep trying and we know they will get the skill when they are ready. So why when we get older, do we find the need to tell people that they fail at something? 

Going forward as a teacher and giving grades, I would really like to give kids a "not yet" grade. This would tell them that they are working hard but have not accomplished the skill quite yet, which is okay! It will keep them motivated to keep trying and know that they are improving and getting close to achieving that skill. I would like to take off needs improvement, "F" or not satisfactory on the report cards because these send a negative message to the child. Having that "not yet" will keep it positive and inspiring that they will get it. 

When I face challenges, I want to remind myself to add "yet" to whatever I think I can't do. I want this to remind me to keep trying and not to give up. I usually strive on having a challenge because I like the feeling of accomplishment afterwards. Thinking of that moment of accomplishment will help me work through any challenge I face. I think about last summer when I was hiking with a friend in Glacier National Park in Montana. We got to this path that was called the Grinnell Glacier Overlook trail. It was only .6 miles but 900 feet climb in elevation. It is a very strenuous uphill climb. When I first saw it, I was thinking that I can't do it and we should keep going. But, my friend had said we are only here once, let's go! So I bucked up and we did it! When we got to the top- it was amazing! So worth the hard work that was put in to get there. The feeling of achievement was exciting and wondrous! I want to remember this feeling when I say "I can't" to help work through any struggles because if you don't work through them, you will never see or experience that moment of accomplishment and may miss out on something great. I am sure glad I overpowered my "I can't" and didn't miss out on this!

REMEMBER THIS MOMENT OF ACCOMPLISHMENT!

Golden Circle

Why? I am a teacher because I wanted my career to provide joy and fulfillment in my life by making a difference in other people's lives.  

How? I invest myself into my students lives by making connections and learning about each individual child on a daily basis. 

What? Everyday I build relationships with my students and teach them lifelong skills such as teamwork, collaborating, how to read, social skills, problem solving, etc. 

Each morning I have a morning meeting with my students to to provide joy and community in my classroom. During this time students are developing their EQs (emotional quotients), as we all learn about one another and make connections to greet each other, share, and play games. I want each child to know that they matter and are important.  Morning meeting is a time where the students are developing social skills such as listening, collaborating, working as a team, and being respectful. All of these skills will be important as they grow and are out in the real world.