Light One Fire At a Time

I was reminded recently, that just a few minutes of time can spark something in a student.

One of my students has a speech issue. He meets with a private speech therapist, so I don't get a regular update on his progress. The student and I have never talked about his speech issue,  but I know he is aware of it. From time to time, he must repeat himself because others don't understand him. During a recent parent conference, I asked about his progress. His parents reported that all is going well according to the speech therapist.

"Well, I am not hearing the progress in class," I said.
"We don't hear improvements at home either," his dad admitted. We agreed to keep an ear open and to do some research.

The student and his therapist work in an out of the way corner of the school. I've been tempted to interrupt a session, but I am always rushing to an after-school meeting or hurrying to get my daily tasks completed.

Tuesday I spied the two of them working in their corner and I headed down the hall. The thought entered my mind, "Go over there and check on him." Then I looked my phone. I had 5 minutes before my meeting was going to start.

I walked over and stood by the table. The therapist invited me to sit down and I said, "Tell me what you are working on." The therapist looked at the student and he started talking. He told me that he has a hard time saying some sounds. Then he modeled the way he is supposed to say the sounds. His teacher prompted him to explain all the ways the sounds are made and he did.

I sat there amazed listening to my student. He was making progress. I just don't see it in the classroom. After he finished, I reached out a gave him a big bear hug. He was grinning when I told him, "Great work. You taught me something today."

The next morning my student greeted me at the door with new focus and a little more articulation. As we moved through the day, I could tell he was working to form those sounds in his mouth. At one point he said something and then corrected himself. I caught his glance and he grinned at me.

Those few minutes sparked new effort.

Kid Watching as Self-care

Kid watching is a teacher task. We watch the students in our classroom. We see what they are good at and see places where they need to grow. But recently I learned kid watching is a self-care strategy too.

How is kid watching a self-care strategy you might ask? Here is how I realized it the other day.

It was one of those days. It had been raining all day, my class was wound-up, and the lesson was not going well. I was losing my patience and felt like I should go home because no one was listening or learning anything. I decided we all needed a break, so I told the class to stop their work. I asked them to take out their independent reading books and to read for a few minutes. Of course, getting them started took some coaching, but after a couple of minutes, the class settled down.

I was not very focused myself. I sat down at the work table, took a deep breath, and just watched my class reading. After a couple of minutes, I called one of my students over and asked, "What are you reading?" She shared the title and gave me a quick summary. I said, "Will you read to me from your book?" She said, "Sure" and started reading. I watched, listened, and noted that her oral reading was continuing to improve.

She went back to her seat and another student asked for permission to go to the library. I said, "yes," and noted that child has read more books than anyone else this year.

I got up from my seat and walked around the room. I noticed a student tracking his reading with a bookmark, I saw another student recording a book in her reading log, and I observed another student looking confused about his reading. When I looked closer, I could see he went back and read that section again. Then his look of confusion disappeared.

I sat back down at the work table and just smiled at their productive reading. That's when I also noticed my own feelings. My patience was returning. I was getting focused. I was starting to feel motivated and inspired again.

This moment taught me that everyone needs a break sometimes. And it taught me kid watching is a self-care strategy because it helps me reconnect with why I teach. I like being around kids. They are so full of potential. I like seeing their strengths emerge and discovering the things they need to develop. Kid watching is watching kids grow.

When you are feeling overwhelmed, try to remember this question. "What do you love about teaching?" And then take a few minutes to focus on that element of your day. It can be rejuvenating.

Grad School is Overwhelming

I am in my final semester of grad school. Teaching all day and then going to classes is exhausting. In the program, I have learned that my undergraduate education at Indiana University was way ahead of its time. My final project is about teacher self-care. Teaching can be a burn-out career. My hope is to find ways to help teachers take care of themselves, and maybe share them here.

I am posting here to see if I can use the blog I started several years ago.

Now it has a door and part of a wall.

Windows too

Roof Added

Frame almost done

The base

Taking off the walls

The original

Reports

My end-of-year reports are almost finished. Tonight I drafted the "difficult" one and sent it off to my partner to revise. Tomorrow we will have to look at it together and the annual end-of-school nightmare will be over. I have made myself miserable for the last 3 weeks worrying about them.

I feel better now that the end is really in sight. Now if I could just get the classroom cleaned up, summer would be here. Then all I have to worry about is the yard and that awful shed and the 90 degree heat.

Hannah, The Great

I first met Hannah about five years ago when my partner and I split up. I lived in the guest room at Hannah's house for a while. Each night I would climb into bed with my yearling, Grace, and start to cry. This would trouble Grace and she did not know what to do. So Hannah would nudge the door open, come over to the edge of the bed, and place her head near my pillow to check on me. She would lick my tears if needed and once she realized I was alright she would do a couple of circles at the foot of the bed and turn to face the door. She was determined that nothing else bad would happen to me.

In the morning, I would let Hannah and Grace out the back door and watch them race down the deck stairs. Then I would go back upstairs to pull it together for the day. I would be shaving and out the window I would see my yellow lab flash by, followed by the black and grey blur. Around and around the house the two of them would chase each other until it was time to come in and eat breakfast.

Time has taken a toll on the old girl. This weekend Matt, Jenny and I went on a walk through the brillant fall woods with Hannah and four of her canine friends. As we headed down the path, she started looking around as if she were working for the police department. When we got to a steep bank at the river, we let the the two Labs jump in for a swim. Hannah stood up on the bank, pulling Matt towards the water like a puppy, because she wanted to swim too, but we knew she could not get back up the bank. By the time we ended our walk she was dragging her feet through the pine needles and needed to be lifted into the back of a Surburu. This need for help was a far cry from her days of leaping into the bed of the F-150 pickup.

Hannah has been around for nearly fourteen years. It is good to see she still has a bit of the spice, love and spark that makes her Hannah, the Great.