Linda Conway once said, “It is not what is poured into a student that counts, but what is planted.”
Think about your class. What kinds of seeds are you planting for them? What kinds of opportunities are being provided for those seeds to blossom? What kinds of differentiated experiences are you providing to make sure that ALL students are successful?
Malcom Gladwell once said, “We learn by example and by direct experience because there are real limits to the adequacy of verbal instruction.”
Think about a typical day in your classroom. How many times are you “showing” students how to do something instead of telling them? What opportunities are you providing for them to interact with each other to explain their thinking?
Think about increasing the opportunities for peer-to-peer discourse activities in your classroom. What might that look like? Sound like?
As my holiday break came to an end, a friend commented to me about all the time off I get in the winter. While that sounded so nice to me at the time, I quickly reminded him that this is crunch time as we prepare for the Spring Testing Season.
In terms of a New Year’s resolution, I have promised myself to focus on each day at a time instead of being overwhelmed with all the little stuff. I have promised myself to note one 1-2 positive things that happen each day with my students and 1 thing I need to improve on the next day.
Think about your New Year’s Resolutions. What can you do to make your students feel more successful during this next stretch of learning?
Horace Mann once said, “A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.”
What opportunities are you providing for students to feel inspired? What are you doing to keep that sense of desire for learning alive in your students?
Goethe once said, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of becoming.”
What kinds of opportunities are you providing for students and families to let their true potential shine? How are you making sure that all of your students are capable of being successful?
Og Mandino once said, “Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in GIVING. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug.”
What are you giving to your students and/or parents? Make sure that you reach out, smile, and hug each and every day.
Richard Bach once said, “Learning is finding out what we already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, and teachers.”
What opportunities are you providing for students to learn and do? Have you created any opportunities for them to “teach”?
Forest Witcraft once said, “A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank….but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in the life of a child.”
Think about all the ways you have made a difference in the life of a child. Focus on one student this week and think about what you might do to make a difference for him/her.
Helen Keller once said, “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement, nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
What are you doing to promote hope and/or confidence for your students? Are you promoting a sense of optimism or defeat? Are you and your students feeling confident?
Confucius once said, “Every truth has four corners: as a teacher I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three.”
Think about the foundation that you lay for students, including expectations, at the start of each new school year. What kind of goals are you helping students set for themselves? Are they achievable? What scaffolds do you have in place for students to define their successes? Are you working to ensure that ALL students are able to succeed?
Teach or Reach 