Blog Post #7
Authenticity & Grit
What is your go-to thing? Or, what could your go-to thing be? How can you connect this to the content you teach?
Blog Post #1
As author Julia Cameron points out in The Artist’s Way, “In order to do something well, we must first be willing to do it badly.” And as the authors of this book say, “Rookie mistakes lead to growth and mastery.” Describe a rookie mistake you’ve made as a teacher and the growth you experienced as a result. (This is an exercise in laying your inner Joker to rest.) In addition, please leave encouraging comments on at least two other participants’ posts.
My go-to is building relationships. They get to know me, and I get to know them... I look at this as I would my own children. I want to know them so well, when they walk into my classroom, I know what type of day we are going to have. Being hyper-aware of our students and becoming that advocate for them, no matter what they have going on, is key. I want my students to walk into my classroom and feel that safety net and be comfortable to have an open mind and open heart in order to learn as much and soak in as much knowledge as can be. With this comes classroom management, we must have good classroom control and foster a positive, respectful culture in order for students to feel safe, but also be expected to show respect to all.
ReplyDeleteMy go-to-thing is puzzles and brain-games, visual-spatial activities, movement, and baking/cooking. These all relate well to math, but which can be incorporated into other subject areas. I don't have a classroom at this time so work one-on-one with students and am able to play games with the kids and teach concepts individually .
ReplyDeleteMy go-to thing is sports, more specifically basketball. I played all four yeas in high school and two years in college. To excel in a sport or to play a sport, you have to continually practice to get better at it, but also you have to put in the time and effort to be good at it. I can tie this in resilience and grit with my students.
ReplyDeleteMy go to thing is creating art specifically related to my interest in tabletop gaming. I do incorporate it through a way to help students make decisions. Student have lists of “starting points” they can role the dice if they are low on ideas and mix and match ideas til they have something that inspires them. Within Graphic Design I teach about packaging and we create new packaging for a passion of theirs, my example is hot chocolate themed tabletop game. This keeps things relevant to them and they pour their passion into the work.
ReplyDeleteMy go to thing is baking! Over the past couple of years, I've really gotten into making different flavors of cheesecakes. In second grade students are introduced to fractions. You definitely use fractions when baking! I've started thinking about using baking in the classroom to correlate with fractions. I've already started thinking about simple recipes that can be done in the room, that don't require baking in the oven or the use of a stove top. I can't wait to try it out in the classroom!
ReplyDeleteMy go to thing is to be able to redirect my students when they are having a melt down. Redirect my students involves many different techniques which includes; taking a walk, going to the gym to shoot basketballs, swing, and talking one on one to the students on what made them melt down. Not all my techniques works, it depends on my student, so I build a good relationship with each one. I know their likes and dislikes and they know mine. With a good relationship it helps me recognize what will help this student get through this melt down.
ReplyDeleteMy Go-to thing is music. As a substitute teacher who doesn't do many long term jobs, my lesson planning is minimal. In fact, sometimes I don't know exactly what I'm teaching in the afternoon until lunchtime! However, that doesn't mean I can't apply my go to thing to routines in the classroom. I could create a song for lining up. I could create a melody to sing while they are cleaning up. I could create music for transition time. I could also sing a song for the end of the day. I like the idea of my own call and response as well. It could be a song/music related call and response that their teacher doesn't typically use. I could come up with my own brain breaks that combine music and movement. I usually do brain breaks along with my students so why not incorporate my own and go for it?
ReplyDeleteThe authors touched on the eight learning styles in their book that brought me back to my first psychology college class. I definitely can relate to all of them in some aspect, but the one that I connect with the most is bodily-kinesthetic. I love being able to go to the gym every week day each week. My go to thing has been movement and I was able to connect this with teaching with incorporating movement in my lessons. For example, getting students up and out of their seats to answer questions, play games, take a brain break, build models, rotate to different stations, as well as having some flexible seating. I feel as these examples I listed helped improve focus, build good classroom culture/engagement/management, as well as supported my students in different ways and made learning fun!
ReplyDeleteMy Go To THing in the classroom is Guided Practices I call "Desk Check". I use them at the beginning of each lesson as a mini-version of their main project. I present these in a quick, accessible way for all student to do and for me to check (formative learning). Student feedback is that thay like these little, risk-free practices. Sometimes just getting started is an obstacle for students and they do find success and confidence in the desk checks. My other Go To would be: Music. I love music and was a DJ at one time. I like to take time to make themed play lists for different projects to add another layer of learning and create an ambience in the classroom. Music and art go together so well and help to get into that "art zone" and right brain learning.
ReplyDeleteMy go-to thing is naturalistic learning—plants, animals, nature, ecosystems, and environmental stewardship. I connect this to Early Childhood Special Education by using nature as a hands-on way for students to explore, communicate, and build life skills. For example, students can observe plants growing, explore leaves and insects outside, or help care for a classroom plant or small garden. These activities encourage curiosity, sensory exploration, and language development while also helping students practice important skills like following directions, working together, and taking responsibility.
ReplyDeleteUsing nature also allows learning to be engaging and accessible for different learning styles, giving students opportunities to move, explore, and interact with their environment. Through these experiences, students not only learn academic concepts but also begin to understand their connection to the natural world and the importance of caring for it.
My go-to thing as a School Counselor is building connections and connecting with students through genuine relationship building and active listening. I prioritize establishing trust with each student and creating a safe space where they feel heard, valued, and supported. By taking the time to understand the student as an individual, what their experiences are, what their goals may be, and the challenges they face, I can better understand them. Connecting and building the relationship helps me to guide them more effectively through their challenges and decisions. Building relationships with students allows me to recognize their strengths and help them navigate goals and obstacles more confidently. Trust and connection are a great part of the foundation of what I do as a School Counselor. Empowering students to take ownership of their learning, personal growth, and post-high school planning is more easily achieved when based on a connection and relationship with trust. Through these connections, I hope to help students to explore their potential, reach their goals, and develop the grit and perseverance they need to succeed.
ReplyDeleteMy go-to thing I would say is animals, especially horses. I can connect many things to training animals/horses to my classroom. Many students have animals and live on farms in my area so connecting these things with my students can really build relationships. It also can bring our lessons to life as they can relate them to their lives.
ReplyDeleteMy go-to thing would be sports, basketball in particular. Implementing sports into the classroom would be so easy. Again, I am not teaching at the moment; however, I can see adding it into math by learning the time, length, story problems. Science by using the scientific method or laws of gravity or motion. Social studies could be paired with writing in learning the history of the sport or famous athlete. Actually, when I was reading chapter 8 and 9, Hope discusses the students that exited the game were using a frisbee to write answers on with dry erase markers and I was thinking, how fun would it be to tie that into frisbee golf. I love that I make connections off of others' ideas or stories. It makes me excited to try it out either when I go back to teaching or perhaps substitute teaching.
ReplyDeleteMy go to things is making connections with my students. I love to tell them stories about my life including my hobbies, trips I go on, my family and dogs. I love giving them a recap of my weekend or holiday by showing them pictures. They especially love pictures of funny things my dogs do. This opens up conversation to get to genuinely get to know them. They love telling stories about their lives as well. I think this makes them realize that I really do care about them and want to know them. Which in return allows for trust and good rapport. I think having these connections allows them to want to work hard and learn and share.
ReplyDeleteMy go-to-thing would be art. I love to find creative projects for the kids to do that have to do with the lesson, even if it is something as simple as coloring, or as complex as constructing something from scratch. Many of the lessons I teach have some sort of art or craft that can enhance them, and I find that in second grade, most of the students enjoy doing them. It gives them a real way in which to connect with the lesson, and often helps them to engage with the content and remember it later on. I've had many students tell me over the years, that one of the projects they made, sat on their nightstand or dresser all year. It was so meaningful to them!
ReplyDeleteI think I have a few go-to things that I use to connect with my students. I like crafting, fishing, and my dog! These are my main go-to things that I use in the classroom. If I'm trying to connect with a student who likes the outdoors, I relate things to fishing. If I know a student has a pet that they love to talk about, I bring up my dog. I can relate almost anything to crafts--maybe I have a student who seems to only care about his or her woodworking or welding class, I can relate that to a do-it-yourself craft.
ReplyDeleteMy go-to-thing is fishing. Fishing is Life. I fish in many different ways and I can always relate a concept, idea, or process back to fishing. When I was learning new things I needed to know and or teach regarding Technology, I would get very excited incorporating fishing into my projects, such Making a WebPage or a Publisher brochure. They were about fishing. PowerPoint, fishing. The list goes on and on like the line out of a fly rod seeking the swirl with the perfect dry fly presentation. Tight Lines Everyone!
ReplyDeleteMy go-to-things are music, photography, and the classic stories. I start with my favorite classic stories and as I get to know the students, draw on their likes and dislikes to connect to stories that they would be interested in. With those classics, we've done short plays, etc. If the story involves baking or cooking, I find ways to tie it into a Science lesson and actually prepare the food. Photography and music are hobbies that I can bring into different aspects of teaching as well. I have used music in the ways that Wade has mentioned. I've rewritten tunes to teach memorization. I've used photos for a scavenger hunt to teach lessons. The more alive I can make a lesson, the more the student retains for information.
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