Category: Teaching in General

So I am completely obsessed with teacher Instagram.. I can’t even deny it. I have an addiction! But it’s such a great one to have- I am constantly inspired. An awesome teacher (exceptionalelementary) shared three things that her first three years of teaching taught her. SO I wanted to share my own ‘fab four’ things that I have learned in my first 4 years. (I still can’t believe how fast 4 years have come and gone!)

1. Kids watch me 24/7. The way I act is contagious to them. They watch how I handle situations, they watch how I interact with other teachers.. they watch how to I respond to just about anything. They watch and they remember. Set the example.
2. I will not be everyone’s person & that is okay. I’m here for the kids. They are my ‘why’ to everything. I saw a quote on Twitter that said, ‘Be Bold. Be Brave. Be the best thing for kids.’ I’ve learned it’s okay to do something different or to just be different in general, especially if it’s what my kids need.
3. This job probably won’t get any easier, but every year I get better & better. My goal is to be better than I was the year before. I have learned to be competitive against myself. There’s a lot I can improve on. Focusing both on what has gone well and what can get better has really helped me every year.
4. I have the ability to make or break a kid. Even when there are circumstances I can’t control (home life for example), I actually have a lot I can control when they are under my care. This past year I learned to make every moment count & that actually impacts a lot more than I used to think. For those minutes they are with me.. I can control ALL of that.

What have you learned over the years? I would love to hear! xo Brooklyn

Did you know only 53% of children are read to daily by a family member?

 

I cannot take credit for this idea- the amazing kindergarten team at my school shared this with me. But I will take credit for trying to spread this idea as far as possible! Scholastic Book Clubs has a book every month for only $1. Each grade level basically has their own to choose from, so this is for anyone! I send out a memo at the beginning of the year & parents who are interested in participating sign/return. I had 20 students in my class last year, so if a parent sent in $20 every student in my class got a book that month! So essentially I only needed half of my parents to participate in order to have ‘book a month’ all year. As the memos were returned, I assigned a month to the family. It is SO simple. No plot twists. (; My kids LOVED building their own library at home. I also added a label on the inside cover to let everyone know which family sponsored this book. My personal favorite are these Avery labels.

I am so excited to begin this journey of blogging! This is something I wanted to start during my first year of teaching..  I quickly realized I was WAY too overwhelmed to even attempt it. My second and third year of teaching I was in grad school. Now I am done with that, and some of my coworkers began blogging this summer.. it felt contagious!

I currently teach at the elementary school where I attended. I’m a very sentimental person, so it’s been the perfect place to start my journey as a teacher. I will never forget the first day of school as a teacher. My boss saw me in the hall that morning and said, ‘Today’s the first day of the rest of your life.’ You really just aren’t the same after you have a group of kids to call your own. I didn’t realize how attached I would get to my class.. it sounds cliche but again #sentimental over here.

I was fortunate enough to attend the Ron Clark Academy early that year, and it really impacted the way I treated my students going forward. I realized that if you treat your kids like they are a million bucks, they sure do love you a whole lot more! I put more emphasis on my attitude towards them and it transformed our whole classroom culture. In fact, my goal now is to get my kids wrapped around my finger ASAP every year. I know at that point they will do whatever it takes to please me. I think this is the key to it all. You may have heard the quote about kids having a difficult time learning from people they don’t like. It’s kinda funny- and 100% true.

My second year was AMAZING. I think it could easily go down as my best year ever. I had an amazing group of kids, great parents, and can honestly say every day was just a good day. It was my second year with the same content, so I really knew what I was doing.. which was a wonderful feeling. I love teaching math & by the end of that year every single student I taught loved math too. Our grade level had the best math scores in the county and I was so proud to be a part of that. (There were only 4 math teachers in that group so GO US!) Most of my kids cried on the last day- me included- because we didn’t want it to end.

My third year brought lots of change. I was (surprisingly) moved down to 1st grade and the principal who hired me left for our middle school. Between the two changes, I felt devastated! Add the final courses of grad school into the mix & it was a LONG + growing year to say the least. I knew ZERO about phonics and managed to teach kids how to read. Looking back, I can say I didn’t do too bad for a rookie in reading. Luckily this upcoming year I can apply everything I learned last year, but have very high hopes to move up grade levels sooner rather than later. I miss my older kids so very much! (I think if all teachers are being honest, we have a preference of where we feel we belong and thrive.)

I’m looking forward to this ‘blog process’ most of all because collaboration is key in order for us to grow as educators. We can stay on an island (tempting, I know), OR we can branch out, see what others are doing, put our spin on it, & make some magic within our classroom walls. The man who hired me told me to always stay hungry. Never settle. I’ve got three years under my belt & I can say I am currently as hungry as I’ve ever been!

-Brooklyn

You don’t need a cape to be a hero. You just need to care. — Kid President