Tharptown Elementary School
April
Week 5 of All This!
Unfortunately, we find outselves in a situation we cannot control, so we are forced to make the best of it. I encourage you to continue to reach out to your students to remind them that you are near and care about them very much. Celebrate their success with them and take every opportunity you have to praise them for what they are doing at home. Contact your coworkers just to check on them and see how they are doing. Perhaps, do a Zoom call or Google Meet so you can catch up on what is going on with your coworkers, friends, or family members and share ideas for making the most of this time. Send a note/card to someone to thank them or to someone who might need a little encouragement.
Regardless of how you fill your days, the important thing is that we just keep keepin' on and moving forward. We must continue to focus on the next steps and plan for better days ahead. We must keep shining our light of hope and happiness for the world to see. After all, we are educators, who make everything else possible!
Have a great week! Please stay safe and well!
How Do Teachers Make A Difference With No Classroom??
With all the changes over the last few weeks, you have been forced to abandon your traditional classroom setting and move to to a nontraditional platform of online learning. Without the human contact of a classroom, it can seem that your ability to make a difference to a student has been compromised. However, like the quote above states, it is not the actual classroom that makes a difference in the lives of students. It is the teacher who makes the difference! So how can a teacher make a difference, even though they are not face-to-face with students each day:
- Encouraging - You don't have to be face-to-face to encourage your students. This can be done by a simple text, call, or note and letting them know you are proud of what they are doing at home. A kind word, a positive statement, and even a simple thank you can make a huge difference in the life of a student.
- Inspiring - Teachers often inspire students through providing learning opportunities that develop into a lifelong passion. As you work to design online learning for your students, think about activities that require creativity, thinking, and problem solving. It doesn't have to be anything too technical, but can even be activities that require a student draw, design, or write.
- Motivating - I know, it is hard right now to really motivate anyone (adults included)...but students look to their teachers for motivation. Through a teacher's encouraging words and providing rewards and incintives for students, teachers can continue to motivate students to learn and motivate them to do their best.
- Role Modeling - Students learn by the actions and words of others. Even though you may not see your students every day, you still how the power to be a positive role model for them. Students see your kindness and thoughtfulness in your messages and words of encouragement each day. Through the things your are doing with them right now, they see your committment and dedication and learn the power of refusing to quit...even under challenging circumstances.
- Innovating - Over the last few weeks, you have shown both your students and parents that there is more than one way to do something. You have demonstrated that you can be innovative and creative in teaching and can adapt very quickly. Through what you have been doing with your students over the past few weeks, students will see that even the best laid plans can be interrupted, but it takes innovation to meet the challenges of change to keep the process moving forward.
The Power of Positive Thinking!
But....when we get like this, we have to work even harder to change our focus from the negative to the positive...even in the hardest times. When we focus on the positive, it actually helps us feel better physically, as well as mentally. As you see in the list above, not everything has been closed, cancelled, or taken away from us. There are many postive things that we can actually do or participate in while we are sheltered at home.
I vote, instead of focusing on the negative, we focus on the positive by counting our blessings. To name a few:
- As educators, we are able to stay at home in a safe environment while still getting paid.
- As educators, because we can stay at home, we do not have to find child care for our own children.
- As educators, we have been empowered to educate our student in the best way we possibly can.
- As educators, we can still be a positive influence on our students, our coworkers, and our friends.
- As educators, because we are home and have more time on our hands, we can take time to reflect on our school year, looking at things we believed worked and things we would like to change.
- As educators, we can participate in online professional learning oppotunities to improve our practices.
Through being optimistic and thinking positively, we demonstrate that we are looking forward to better and happier times and refuse to let the current problems and obstacles interfere with our happiness. When we are happier, we have the power to be more encouraging and motivating to those around us! Just keep smiling and celebrating the good!
Secretary's Day - April 22, 2020
So, even though we are not in our school building, I still encourage all of you to reach out to Cheryl this week to express your since appreciation for what she does and thank her for her hard work. Send her an email, a text, an electronic greeting card, a delivered "happy", or even an online gift card! No, we may not be able to see her in person, but that doesn't limit our options of reaching out to show her our love and appreciation!