Know your students! Seek ways to support them!

Know your students!

This we believe (AMLE, 2010) gives us 16 characteristics to guide exemplary middle schools. I have selected three to focus on, one from each of three categories.

Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
*Educators value young adolescents and are prepared to teach them. Value Young Adolescents
Leadership and Organization
*Leaders are committed to and knowledgeable about this age group, educational research, and best practices. Committed Leaders
Culture and Community
*The school environment is inviting, safe, inclusive, and supportive of all. School Environment

My EDUC 320 (intro to middle school) students finished reading Sara Powell's Introduction to Middle School, chapters 2 (characteristics) 3 (diversity) and 4 (social contexts). I had them select an issue or topic they were interested in, find an article, and share it with the class including a definition of the issue, findings, what teachers can do, and pose a question. Two of the topics were trauma in young adolescent girls and media. I asked if I could share their ppts.

At Risk Females

https://docs.google.com/a/goldmail.etsu.edu/presentation/d/1Vw8wI-ZydsJbEA2eTTlkKKEXMZjdICD16GAKfnB7d_M/edit?usp=sharing

Social Media and Young Adolescents

https://drive.google.com/a/unca.edu/file/d/0ByrlIwQTLUA9dElBaVFVaks4bXhUaHRMaTlmVTRYblZUU1lZ/view?usp=sharing

Our students need teachers who care and are prepared to teach them. The more we know about our kids, the better prepared we will be. It is so important that we remember and pay attention to who our students are.  I find it inspirational that our pre-service teachers are showing passion and empathy and seeking paths of support. 

The Power of Disconnecting Electronically.

I was chatting with a colleague in Europe this week. In an effort to connect more middle level people we were chatting about contributing to a blog for middle level principals. She shared the following.

"I am sorry to admit that I have difficulty remaining current, with my usual correspondence for daily work...  I rarely have time to follow the multitude of streams...  I actually am purposefully having to make disconnect time to keep balance these days."

When my nephew was in middle school, I challenged him to not watch television for a week. (I bribed him.) He did it and I paid him off. I asked if he felt any different. He said, "No," and went off to, well, be a middle schooler. 


I wonder how many of us are over connected, and feel a lack of balance?  Could it be that all the cool stuff that is available to read and connect is causing more stress in our lives? Was it really that easy for my nephew to give up television? Would middle schoolers have more trouble today?

Like my friend, I too have been trying to wean myself from technology.  Last year when I was teaching 8th grade, I locked my phone in my car everyday. Currently, I purposely do not take my phone to class. A warm fire and a cup of coffee is my morning routine, when I am intentional. Does it help? I think so. But even my college students and colleagues have difficulty leaving the phone off during class or meetings.

If things are getting too stressful, take a moment to breathe, take in your world, turn the phone over, even if it is for 3-5 minutes...(: mindful minutes...
I asked if I could share her thoughts. She said yes and added the following:

In the morning, I had the habit of checking 'what was coming up' in terms of new work messages before heading out for my quiet dog walk and I have worked to stop that... to instead just have the outdoor, nature and morning light time with my pooch. 

Here's to disconnecting!! Here's to pooches; haha, as I  share it with the world! Happy weekend.

Mindfulness and the Groundhog Day 2017

"Mindfulness and the Groundhog"

How are you? I work with student teachers who are in their fifth week of student teaching. We use the same teaching phases to describe our week: anticipation, reflection, disillusion, survival, rejuvenation, and anticipation. Many were between disillusion and survival on the roller-coaster ride of teaching. Student teachers came to class Wednesday night (I know, it is a little challenging to work all week, all day, and then come to a night class for 3.5 hours.) and were wound up and weary. However, their wound-up energy was one of a spirit of "I am ready to be a teacher."  I remember that feeling. I remember feeling, 'Okay, I can do this, turn me loose.'

With the energy in the room being a little stressful (Okay, maybe more than a little stressful.) I decided to share a "mindfulness activity." Note: I had shared earlier that we were going to do a mindfulness activity. The activity was to sit with your feet on the floor, back straight, eyes resting and just breathe. Deep breaths bringing good energy in, slow breath release to let stress and worry out. We only did this for about three minutes. Ahhh.

The energy in the room changed. People relaxed, and I was able to engage them in a discussion about creating an "Impact on Student Learning" project. We talked about mindfulness and how stress is taking over.

So how does this relate to Groundhog day? Well, the little rodent saw his shadow. He does this every year for us. In a playful way, we look forward to the celebration of the community that surrounds Punxsutawney Phil's "prediction." We are all mindful for a minute. Perhaps in a playful way, we should consider taking a moment everyday to breathe and see if the sun is shining.

There are two websites I would like to share. The first is Mindful Schools. The website focuses on helping teachers become more mindful and the link is mindfulschools.org. The second is a Mindfulness in Schools website called Mindfulnessinschools.org. There is research associated with the impact of mindfulness and professional development opportunities for teachers and schools. I believe, as teachers, we need to be more mindful of our own needs. Mindfulness is a way to connect with our selves to bring us towards anticipation and rejuvenation on our journey.