Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

I hope this finds you all well. It is warming up in the south, which can be a bit dangerous in middle school classrooms. Breathe! And help them learn to breathe.  I have two things to share.

Yesterday, a committee of beginning teacher leaders in our region met to talk about what we are doing for beginning teachers. There is much research on the importance of mentoring and supporting beginning teachers. This blog, celebrates each of you where you are, where you have been, and where you are going on your journey. We want you all to know how valuable you are, how much we respect you, and we want you to know we care and believe that the children in this country are lucky to have you as their mentors. So, yes to mentoring one another whether you are in Year one or six, or thirty-eight!

The second thing is that at our meeting, the WRESA representative (WRESA - western region educational services alliance) contacted principals in our region to ask what beginning teachers need. Most years principals ask for more technology integration, diversity training, classroom management. And while those were mentioned she shared that principals overwhelmingly are asking for help enlightening teachers on mental health issues and how to create safe environments in the classroom. The social-emotional well-being of our young adolescents has been at the center of middle level advocacy since the beginning of this movement and my hope is that there is a revitalization of the sources and conversations that relate to making our classrooms safe. We have much to learn, and much to share. May we all take a breath and tune into the needs of our students, ourselves, and one another.

Finally, Happy Teacher Appreciation Day! You are loved! You are valued! And you are making a difference. We hope to see you at the middle school conference in November (amle.org. 10% discount with NR10). It is in Philadelphia! Wouldn't that be fun? As a gift, I have made and will share two short videos that relates to the ocean and young adolescents. The second one was completed by one of my students and relates the topic to rafting. The videos include references to student learning outcomes related to our diversity intensive, and it references characteristics of exemplary middle schools outlined in This We Believe. Enjoy your day!
Mine:      https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7Nv170QJF-jSE9iSDRkSkczTVE
Juliett's:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BypcbToN7db7d3MxVmFpY0x1Y2NOcWdNR05wM3dDOEs1Zi1R