I attended one of the best teacher conferences
ever! The Get Your Teach On conference
in Orlando, Florida was motivating, encouraging, and filled with ideas on how to
set the stage to engage my students!!
First I have to give a big shout out to my class that helped
me win the registration to the conference by submitting a video about why I
should receive a scholarship to the conference.
Thank
You to my Awesome First Grade Class!
I want to share my 10 takeaways with you!
10 Engagement
Enhances
We all know that everything can’t be a bucket of fun
when it comes to the content that we have to teach, however, there are little
things we can change that will bring excitement to each lesson. You may not want to undertake a large room
transformation but you are willing to bring in extra props to help engage the
students. Any of that EXTRA is
definitely going to help the kids remember the content just because you have
created a happy or funny memory.
9 There is a difference between a
worksheet
and a recording sheet.
I really enjoyed
Deanna Jump discussing the differences between the two. A recording sheet is meant to log the
students’ ideas and conclusions. A
worksheet is truly meant to fill time.
There is a time for both so don’t beat yourself up! It depends on what you want your students to
do.
8 Do you!
If you want to change your room to look like an excavation
site because you think it would tie in with a lesson you’re teaching on
fossils, then do it! Don’t let other
teachers try to dissuade you because it’s something they wouldn’t do. That’s okay.
Everyone has their own style of teaching and you should not feel bad
either way.
7 Laugh at your mistakes
I hate to say it but I’m a horrible speller! Sometimes I will get caught up in creating a
word bank on the dry erase board and forget to check my spelling. There are times when I have lined my students
up to go to specials and we walk to specials and then I remember there are no
specials that day, so I just tell the kids we went for a leisurely stroll. I flash a big smile and keep it moving. I truly believe that my students like the
fact that I laugh at things so much. Or
maybe they just think I’m crazy.
6 Become an expert in your
field
I don’t think you have to go back to college and get a
higher degree to do this. I believe
conferences and good professional development will help with this. You can also read books by authors who have
completed the research or have used a certain strategy in their own
classrooms. I think we need to be
constantly learning and improving. You
will never know it all! However, try to
stay abreast of trends and techniques that are changing in education. Keep
learning what works!
5 Connect everything
We have a lot of standards! On the
positive side, it’s a great way to integrate the subject areas. That’s
one thing that I like when I see teachers use room transformations and the activities
assess about 15 different standards from various subjects. That’s some major learning going on. Connecting the learning is not only efficient
but it just makes sense. We always want
to get more bang for our buck!
4 Know the why
There are days or maybe weeks when you
think to yourself, “What else can I do with this degree?” Go back to that moment when you wanted to
save the world by educating children. Remember
the reason why you wanted to become an educator. We know it wasn’t for the fame or
fortune. Find that passion again!
3 Approximations are
accepted and celebrated
Deanna gave an
example of how a parent responded when her child’s writing was not fully
corrected. I’ve had this happen to me as
well. I know from experience that my
students will shut down and their writing will come to a halt if they get held
up on spelling a word. Let them get
absorbed in the story!
2 Don’t hide behind I
can’t
This is another big one because I know I have
complained about too many standards that are taught too soon to kids that are
too young. I have not met a teacher yet
who just loves scripted curriculum or curriculum where one size fits all. I
always tell my students to solve the problem!
What can we change? How can I
take this boxed program and make it more engaging for my students? It can be done! Your superpower is your creativity!!
1 Choose joy
I know this almost sounds cliché, but it’s so
true. Wake up every morning and make the
decision that you will choose joy. Put a
smile on your face going into the day knowing you have bus duty, no planning,
and three parent teacher conferences when you know only one will show up. Count it all joy.
I learned so much at the conference. It was also the motivation that was needed and right
on time. I want to go back and attend
the 2-3 sessions. I didn’t know I was
being moved to second at the time of the conference so I attended the K-1
session. I’m almost sure that the 2-3
sessions will be just as wonderful as the K-1 sessions.
If you get the opportunity to go, check it out.
What conference or PD have you attended that motivated
and renewed your passion for teaching?
A new topic is introduced each week. I like to pick topics that we are currently
studying or may have previously studied.
I do have a collage of pictures and words to help with those writers who
have a hard time coming up with ideas. 
