Teach to Reach

A Teacher's Survival Kit for Everyday Living

TOOTHPICK
Reminds us to look for the good qualities in our students.
You may be the only teacher who says something positive to them that day.

RUBBER BAND
Reminds the teacher that they have to be flexible.
Things don't always go the way we plan,
But flexibility will help to work it out.

BAND AID
Reminds the teacher that sometimes we do more than teach,
That we help heal hurt feelings, broken dreams,
And lend an ear to a problem.

PENCIL
Reminds us to be thankful and we should list our blessings daily,
But also encourage our students to list their blessings
And to be proud of their accomplishments.

ERASER
Reminds us to allow students to know we are human
And make mistakes just like they do, and it's ok.
We must all be able to learn from our mistakes.

CHEWING GUM
Reminds us to stick with it
And encourage our students to do like wise.
Even the impossible task or assignment can be accomplished
By sticking to it.

MINT
Reminds us and our students we are worth a mint.
(We may not be paid a mint, but are worth one.)

CANDY KISS
Reminds us that everyone needs a hug,
Kiss, or warm fuzzy everyday.
(All teachers, students, parents, and even administrators)

TEA BAG
Reminds us we need time to relax,
Go over our blessing, and take time for others.
Family, husbands, wives, friends, children need quality time together.

A teacher must be willing to show their students how much they care!!!

Source: http://www.inspire21.com/stories/educationstories/teachersSurvivalKit
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My Teacher's Simple Three-word Phrase

By Stephen J. Hopson

My life was dramatically transformed because a simple three-word phrase was delivered at the right time in just the right way. When I was three years old, my parents discovered I was totally deaf, a situation which forced them to make crucial decisions about my education.

After consulting with numerous specialists and doctors, they made a decision that would forever alter my future. Instead of sending me to a private school for the deaf, they decided to "mainstream" me. All of my peers and teachers would have normal hearing.

Since I started going there in 3rd grade, I was the only deaf child at Blue Creek Elementary School in the small, quiet town of Latham, New York. From almost the first day there, the other kids taunted me and called me names mainly because of my hearing aid and the way I talked.

I remember thinking, "What have I done wrong?"

My hearing aid was a rectangular box that was harnessed to my shoulders and hung from my neck like an albatross. It created a big lump on my chest with wires running from the box to my ears.

I experienced great anxiety throughout elementary school because, in addition to the problems of "fitting in" with the other students, I also struggled mightily with most of my schoolwork. I seemed to spend every spare moment doing homework just so I could keep up. The teachers didn't know what to do with me.

Because of my hearing disability, I was constantly asking everyone, "What did he/she say?" But I worried that everyone would soon grow tired of repeating everything back to me. Since fitting in was so important to me, every time people around me laughed or smiled, I did the same even though I usually had no idea what was going on.

When the kids made fun of me, I internalized all of it. I was sure that I was a bad person; I felt I deserved their sneers. On the surface, I was gregarious, outgoing and happy-go-lucky, but in reality, my self-esteem was quite low. I saw myself as an ugly buck-toothed kid wearing a weird-looking box around his neck who wasn't smart enough to keep up with the rest of the kids.

Mrs. Jordan, my 5th grade teacher, changed all of that with a simple three-word phrase. A large woman with salt and pepper hair, and twinkling brown eyes, Mrs. Jordan had a voice that boomeranged off the walls of her tiny classroom.

One morning, she asked the class a question. I read her lips from my front-row seat and immediately raised my hand. I couldn't believe it -- for once I knew the answer. But, when she called on me, I was afraid. Here was an opportunity to impress the powerful teacher and show her I was worthy of her love. Maybe even impress my classmates a little. I didn't want to blow it.

Despite my fears, I felt uncharacteristically confident because -- for once -- I was sure I had the right answer. I took a deep breath and nervously answered Mrs. Jordan's question.

I will never forget what happened next.

Her response was explosive. It startled all of us.

Mrs. Jordan enthusiastically slammed her right foot on the floor and whirled her right finger in a full circle until it pointed directly at me.

With sparkling eyes and a wide smile she cried, "THAT'S RIGHT STEPHEN!"

For the first time in my young life, I was an instant star.

My heart burst with pride as an ear-to-ear grin filled my face. I sat a little taller in my chair and puffed out my chest. My confidence soared like never before. I decided right then and there that I would make a place for myself in this world. A simple three-word phrase delivered with incredible enthusiasm had totally transformed my young life.

"That's right Stephen!"

From that day forward, my grades and speech improved dramatically. My popularity among my peers increased and my outlook on life did a complete turnabout.

And it all started with Mrs. Jordan. "THAT'S RIGHT STEPHEN!"

Source:http://www.inspire21.com/stories/educationstories/my_first_teacher_three_simple_words

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What Teachers Make

By Taylor Mali


He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers:

Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.

I decide to bite my tongue instead of his and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests that it's also true what they say about lawyers.

Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.

"I mean, you're a teacher, Taylor," he says. "Be honest. What do you make?"

I wish he hadn't done that (asked me to be honest), because, you see, I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking: 
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor and an A- feel like a slap in the face. 
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence.

No, you may not work in groups.

No, you may not ask a question. 


Why won't I let you get a drink of water? 


Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.

I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:

I hope I haven't called at a bad time,

I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today. 


Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?" 


And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder,

I make them question. 


I make them criticize.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them write, write, write. 


And then I make them read.

I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful over and over and over again until they will never misspell either one of those words again. 


I make them show all their work in math. 


And hide it on their final drafts in English.

I make them understand that if you got this (brains) then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you give them this (the finger).

Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:

I make a damn difference! What about you?

Source: http://www.inspire21.com/stories/educationstories/WhatTeachersMake

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Who I Am Makes a Difference

A True Story by Author Unknown

A teacher in New York decided to honor each of her seniors in high school by telling them the difference they each made. She called each student to the front of the class, one at a time.

First she told each of them how they had made a difference to her and the class. Then she presented each of them with a blue ribbon imprinted with gold letters, which read, "Who I Am Makes a Difference."

Afterwards the teacher decided to do a class project to see what kind of impact recognition would have on a community. She gave each of the students three more ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony. Then they were to follow up on the results, see who honored whom and report back to the class in about a week.

One of the boys in the class went to a junior executive in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning. He gave him a blue ribbon and put it on his shirt. Then he gave him two extra ribbons and said, "We're doing a class project on recognition, and we'd like you to go out, find somebody to honor, give them a blue ribbon, then give them the extra blue ribbon so they can acknowledge a third person to keep this acknowledgment ceremony going. Then please report back to me and tell me what happened."

Later that day the junior executive went in to see his boss, who had been noted, by the way, as being kind of a grouchy fellow. He sat his boss down and he told him that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius. The boss seemed very surprised. The junior executive asked him if he would accept the gift of the blue ribbon and would he give him permission to put it on him.

His surprised boss said, "Well, sure." The junior executive took the blue ribbon and placed it right on his boss's jacket above his heart. As he gave him the last extra ribbon, he asked, "Would you do me a favor? Would you take this extra ribbon and pass it on by honoring somebody else? The young boy who first gave me the ribbons is doing a project in school and we want to keep this recognition ceremony going and find out how it affects people."

That night the boss came home to his 14-year-old son and sat him down. He said, "The most incredible thing happened to me today. I was in my office and one of the junior executives came in and told me he admired me and gave me a blue ribbon for being a creative genius. Imagine. He thinks I'm a creative genius. Then he put this blue ribbon that says "Who I Am Makes a Difference," on my jacket above my heart. He gave me an extra ribbon and asked me to find somebody else to honor. As I was driving home tonight, I started thinking about whom I would honor with this ribbon and I thought about you. I want to honor you. My days are really hectic and when I come home I don't pay a lot of attention to you. Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good enough grades in school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just wanted to sit here and, well, just let you know that you do make a difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life. You're a great kid and I love you!"

The startled boy started to sob and sob, and he couldn't stop crying. His whole body shook. He looked up at his father and said through his tears, "Dad, earlier tonight I sat in my room and wrote a letter to you and Mom explaining why I had killed myself and asking you to forgive me. I was going to commit suicide tonight after you were asleep. I just didn't think that you cared at all. The letter is upstairs. I don't think I need it after all."

His father walked upstairs and found a heartfelt letter full of anguish and pain. The envelope was addressed, "Mom and Dad."

The boss went back to work a changed man. He was no longer a grouch, but made sure to let all his employees know that they made a difference. The junior executive helped several other young people with career planning and never forgot to let them know that they made a difference in his life... one being the boss's son.

And the young boy and his classmates learned a valuable lesson.

WHO YOU ARE DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Source: http://www.inspire21.com/stories/educationstories/whoiam

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Dear Teachers, It’s Time to Reset

by Lauren Quinn

Dear Teachers,

I wanted to remind you of a few very important things. Some things you likely already know, but may have forgotten.

You have incredible power. Power to connect, to nurture, to ignite. You are one person capable of immense, noble, life-changing things. Ignore the dooms day news surrounding your career. Yes, Finland seems like a good place to live- or Canada even. Yes, the grass may be greener in another school, with another _____ (fill in the blank). Or not. Education is a messy business. Embrace it. When you start to feel despair creeping in, when you start looking at the scope of what you do on a grand scale, stop. Bring it back to the small space where teaching is about one teacher and one student and the human connection made here. Breathe. Love. Connect, one student at a time. No matter where education is “going”, or what a new initiative brings, don’t throw away the gift of now- the place you are right this very minute and what you CAN DO right now. You can be hopeful. You can be compassionate. You can be present.

Take care of yourself. Your students need you to do this. Put on your oxygen mask first so your teaching can be a gift of yourself to your students. They need your mind, body, and soul to be nurtured. You can’t give to them what you don’t have. Go to that one hour yoga class instead of grading papers. Go for that walk or that run. Stretch. Craft. Your impact in the classroom will be felt when you are giving to yourself outside of school hours. The papers can wait. You are more important. Give yourself permission to make self-care a top priority. Give yourself permission to slow down. Don’t wait for someone else to do this. You have virtuous and honorable work to do. Work that requires you take care of your whole beautiful self.

Ask for help. When you feel like you are struggling to close the “knowing/doing” gap, get support. Share your struggle. We need more honesty and vulnerability in teaching. We need you to be mission-driven, to take what you know and DO it, in the classroom, every day. All of those “best practices” and research based interventions you learn about on professional development days- yes, they can be overwhelming. Find a little bit of something and apply it in your classroom. Take the leap. Choose risk over complacency. It will be messy. You are not guaranteed success. We need you to acknowledge how hard this is, and show others how to lean into the hard, the uncomfortable. Your school community desperately needs your integrity, your willingness to show your commitment to your students, to best practices, to cultivating a love of learning- even if it means making mistakes, or even falling flat on your face. But don’t try to go it alone. No matter your school culture, there is at least one person you can reach out to. Reach out, ask questions, co-teach, share, plan together, reflect. Let yourself be seen. My advice here is the same for your colleagues: Breathe. Love. Connect, one teacher at a time. Laugh often. Remember your work is serious and it’s not. Take delight in your students, in each other.

Most importantly, choose hope. There are amazing things happening in classrooms all over the country, things that don’t often make the news. Be a part of this movement, a part of the solution rather than the problem. Ignore the curmudgeons- maybe they just need to see hope in action. Maybe not. Regardless, do your thing. Be this person in your school communities. Focus on what you can do, right now and connect with others who are doing the same. We need these hopeful little cohorts all over the place. We need them to grow and spread like wildfire. Can you see it? You have the power to start this fire.

Dear teachers, take good care of yourself over the holidays. Use it as a reset. Rest and refill your tank and start thinking about a sustainable way to do this into the new year. We have important work to do. The most important work- and we can do it, together.

Much Love,

Your Fellow Teacher

Source: http://www.proceedlightly.com/dear-teachers/

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Secret Teacher: we all feel like a failure sometimes, but we must have hope

Every teacher has moments when we question whether we’re cut out for the job. Don’t despair – it’s what you do with the bad days that really counts.

A view from a fortress in Germany. ‘It is in our despair that we can find our greatest teaching strength – the fact we care.’ Secret Teacher offers light at the end of the tunnel for those in the teaching slump. Photograph: Alamy

My first year of teaching is a bit of a blur. I remember the long days, my principal telling me to “go home, it’s dinner time”. I remember thinking that if only I worked harder this would be easier. The answers would come and I would not feel like such a fraud. When I reached for past experience, there was so little to grab that I worked every single day to fill the seemingly empty reservoir of knowledge, all to afford my students the chance of a great year.

I remember the first time I cried after a bad day. A lesson had not worked, and clearly this meant I was not cut out for the job. After all, the students were certainly not learning as much as their peers who had veteran teachers – they had it all figured out, they knew how to teach. I did not. I remember wishing for my first year to be behind me so that I would have the answers, so my students would leave every day having had the best possible learning experience, and I would never cry again.

But, that is not how it works. I have taught for eight years now and I still cry at times. There are still days where my best laid plans disintegrate and nothing seems to work; where my students stare at me as if I am from outer space, not even speaking their language. Those days come out of the blue; every little thing seems to pile up until you face the realisation that perhaps you are not as good a teacher as you were starting to think.

One day last December, I sat on my couch and cried, overwhelmed with the feeling of failure after an OK day at school. Nothing huge had happened, I just did not feel that I would ever be able to pull off being a 7th-grade teacher, no matter how many hours I spent planning and preparing. I needed to let all my frustration out to move forward. I blogged about it and watched as the education community told me that I was not alone, that there would be better days, and that I was making a difference even if it did not feel that way.

As the days passed, I slowly came around, restoring confidence in myself. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies, lacking the faith in our abilities that others see. But it is normal, even if it is hard. It is normal, even if you feel completely alone.

So for all of us who have felt the slump, who have felt like we are not good enough and our students would be better off with someone else – have hope. It is in our despair that we find our greatest teaching strength – the fact we care. We care enough to know that sometimes we are not at our best, no matter our intentions. We care enough to know that there will be good and bad days. What matters is what we do with those bad days. We embrace them as a means to reflect – what could have gone better? What could be changed to teach better?

I have learned is that this is not all on you, that when we teach we enter into a partnership with our students and we must discuss what they will be putting into the classroom too. They may have bad days as well, but they also need to use those bad days to reflect. The best teaching is one where students and teachers come together – not just sit back and wait for the teacher to put on a show.

I have learned in my years of teaching that I am not perfect. I will never be the perfect teacher, I will never have all of the answers and I will never be able to plan enough to avoid bad days. But I have also learned that the bad days are not quite as bad as they used to be. The reservoir of knowledge that we build up over the years teaches us that this too shall pass. Every teacher seems to hit a slump at least once a year, if not more. We all question whether we should be in the profession, but it is within that questioning that we strengthen our resolve to make a difference and grow from it, rather than let it drown us in a pool of despair.

There are no teachers who have perfect lessons every day, never doubting themselves. We teach children, after all, and children are not perfect human beings. So reach out to others, realise that you are not alone and that most teachers who seem like they have it all together probably have off days as well. Bad days do not define us, they are an opportunity to grow. We feel our bads so innately because we take pride in what we do – that is the mark of a great teacher who is making a difference. Even if it does not feel like it that day.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2016/jan/02/

             secret-teacher-feel-like-failure-sometimes-must-have-hope?CMP

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The Gift

By – Yvette Rivera

There are some students who touch your life in ways that you can never imagine. Students who do not even realize that they are having an impact on you. For me it was a student that I taught right out of college. After graduating college in May, I set out to teach junior high summer school. Not the ideal choice for a first time teaching experience, but I was young and enthusiastic. Well I did not count on the class I was going to encounter. My students were a rough bunch to say the least. A combination of every school in the district’s worst of the worst. Still I was positive that I could make a difference. By the fourth week of summer school I had given up on making a difference and just hoped that at least some of these kids could pass the course. Of course, no class is complete without a ringleader. Apparently “John” found pleasure in just driving people crazy. There was no logical reason for the way he behaved. He was an extra challenge in a room full of challenges.

I cannot tell you when and how something changed, but one day it did. John’s behavior was still atrocious, but something else in him changed. John became very close to me. He moved his desk right next to mine and he became almost like my personal assistant. John still did not like to listen, but he loved to talk. He would tell me many different stories about his life. One day he told me a story that forever changed my life. John asked me if I liked CK1 perfume. I said yes, not knowing where the conversation was going. He told me that his parents had an argument and his father brought the perfume to make amends. He said that his mother did not like the perfume and that she did not want the gift. He brought me the perfume and said it was because his mom did not want it. I accepted the gift from him after being sure he had gotten permission to give it away. A week later I was on the phone with John’s father. We were discussing John’s behavior again. His father started the conversation by saying, “since my wife passed away,” and before he could finish, I stopped him and asked him to explain. John’s mother had died the beginning of that year from cancer. The story about the perfume was true, but it happened almost a year earlier. John’s father insisted that I keep the perfume, stating that his son must have had a special reason for giving it to me. John and I talked about his mother, but we never discussed the gift. At the end of the summer, John was able to pass my class (barely) and move on the 7th grade. I never had an impact on John’s behavior; his grades barely improved. I didn’t make any of the impacts that teachers are expected to make. However, I made another impact that I never expected. On the last day of summer school, John who never liked to show feelings or emotions came back to my room to say goodbye several times. On the final trip to my room, John hugged me a long time and said, “Thank you Ms. Rivera. I love you.” Those words have changed my life forever. Those were words I know that child had not said in a very long time, but he felt that he could tell me. As I waved goodbye and assured him that I loved him too, I knew that I would never forget John. How can you forget the student that illustrates to you that teaching is more than just grades and books? Teaching is about those life altering moments you never expect. Teaching is about touching a student’s life and having a student touch yours.

Source: http://parents-teachers.com/cgi-bin/library/jump.cgi?ID=2267
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Find that blessing, no matter how small, in your lesson daily and you will realise that the things you do is worth your time.

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Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners.

5 Ways for Teachers To Be Kind To Themselves

When I was in my 20’s, I regularly startled awake with terror, grabbed a small paper bag, and hyperventilated into it until I began to feel myself become lightheaded. In my 30’s, I went to the emergency room twice for panic attacks so severe I thought I was having a heart attack. Is there a coincidence between the fact that I traded one high-stress job – journalism – for another: teaching?

I kept my panic and anxiety a secret, ashamed of the fact that “nothing was wrong with me.” Clearly, something was wrong, and the root of it was the driven nature of my personality. A driven nature rewarded for workaholism, yet had the side effects of severe anxiety and self-loathing.

Kindness was something I could give to anyone else but myself. And I see quite a few teachers who seem to have the same problem. Maybe it’s because the dark side of the profession can encourage codependency, martyrdom, toxic levels of guilt, and self-blame. Teachers, as a rule, aren’t kind to themselves.

In Othello, Shakespeare wrote: “Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners.” In other words, we are the ones who control what grows within us, for good or for bad. So, let’s start by being kind to ourselves. Without that base, it doesn’t matter what techniques you use, what strategies you employ – you’re going to burn yourself out like a played-out plot of land and be of no use to anyone.  

I resisted the temptation to write this post at the new year to keep it far enough away from Jan. 1 so as not to confuse it with a resolution. In February, it seems that diets die, all the Christmas bills come in, the weather turns nasty, and everything seems dark and depressing. Now feels like a  good time to prepare for the storms ahead, particularly the hurricane of stress that comes from spring testing.

Inspired by two writers, here’s a list of five concrete actions you can take to be kind to yourself that I’ve adapted for teachers. Each of the links lead to resources I’ve relied upon to keep me happier, more grounded, and more kind to myself – and others.

1. Schedule a conference with yourself.

Give yourself “planning & preparation time.”  Deliberately plan to spend 15-30 minutes at the beginning or end of your day on just you. Feed your head and heart by reading, listening to music or watching something that inspires you, or helps you to understand yourself, or points you to topics that make you wonder, make you curious, and make you know that there is goodness in the world.

2. Nurture your inner coach.

Most everyone has an inner voice that runs game tape on everything, pointing out failures and flaws. Few of us have an inner coach, a voice that cheers us on and points out what we did well. When faced with inner or outer criticism, try to cultivate a voice that reminds you how much better you’ve gotten since this time last year. It takes practice to nurture that positive voice, but imagine your coach having the voice of someone who’s always loved you. Ask yourself: what would that person say to you in tough times? Then have your coach repeat that to you.

3. Develop a reflective practice.

Use a digital or physical journal to process your day. I try to do this once everyone clears out of the building and before I go home for the day. Start by setting a timer for ten minutes then thinking through three questions:

• What went well?
• What didn’t go so well?
• What do I want to do?

The questions help you to remember your successes, which we often forget to credit ourselves for, plus ground you in the reality of what can improve. The final question keeps you from ruminating on what went wrong, cultivates a sense of hopefulness, and creates a more accurate picture of your practice.

4. Do something small and good.

Because teachers make hundreds of decisions each day, it can sometimes be paralyzing to make decisions for yourself. On those days when you feel, to paraphrase Herman Melville, a dark, gray November in your soul, choose one of these to take one step towards the light:

On your lunch break, go to your car, drive out of the parking lot, put on your favorite song, and sing. Sing like no one’s listening – because they aren’t.

Or, turn your lights off, shut and lock your door with you on the inside, then put in your headphones and your best dance mix. Dance like no one’s watching – because they aren’t.

If the weather permits, eat lunch outside. This is something my dept. chair used to do to give herself a break – and to make herself scarce for a bit so she could have some moments to herself.  

Don’t feel guilty – this actually makes you a better teacher, plus there’s research supporting small breaks.

5. Take a brain break.

I love videos of baby otters, of baby goats, or really any kind of baby. I also love clips from comedians who make me laugh, humor writers, and the pictures people send in to Awkward Family Photos. And I schedule 5 – 10 minutes to watch one in my day. Friends and students make suggestions, which introduces me to even more funny stuff, and the goodness of this is compounded when they’re watching and laughing with me.

When things get particularly stressful, I’ve noticed that even watching the video of the otter stacking cups for the 50th time can still make me smile, or that looking at really bad Christmas family photos makes me laugh. And again, science shows multiple benefits from laughter, so consider it a healthy practice.

Source: http://www.shannapeeples.com/?p=1167#prclt-5fS1vsUV