Always a Chippewa

Gus  Macker Launch Party!

Last mid winter break I went to FL to visit my dad & stepmom. I had a good time, but it was not in the budget this year. Plus, my dad isn't in FL this year, so.... I decided to go back to my undergrad university to visit my youngest. She is about to be done with her time at CMU & I'm finding myself somewhat nostalgic about it, plus she and her friends are fun. 

We had fun, discussed that it was a little weird to hang out together at a college party, shared a few drinks and dinner & then I let her go on her way with some buds until 1 AM. This is one way I am NOT like a college student anymore. 

A little background. I went to CMU basically because my oldest brother had and it was the only real school I knew about in the state. I am from a tiny town ( 20 people in my high school class) and didn't get out much. Any way, CMU was a great fit for me and I enjoyed my time there immensely. Fast forward 30 years and my oldest daughter decided to go there as well. I was thrilled! 3 years later my youngest found her tribe there too. And now she is getting ready to be done with her time there. My connection will be gone(ish).  I guess I just won't have anyone to visit when I decide to get out of town for a day or a two. Another new phase of life. Just when I was getting comfortable with the last one. 

Loving my new Central Shirt
Fire up Chips!

Central Michigan University sits pretty much right next to a Chippewa Reservation, part of which I actually lived on during part of my time there. I've been telling my students about reservations, plus I love to drive around, so I went looking for the old haunts. They are pretty much gone. There is a casino resort nearby now, so the landscape has changed pretty drastically. I did find some remnant dilapidated housing units, but I was a little bit lost so I was intent on finding my way 👅

The campus has also changed dramatically. They just built a new biosciences building that I meant to visit and didn't really have time. I remember when the oldest went for orientation and I thought "If I can just find the library I will be able to orient myself on campus" Then I found the library and realized they had rebuilt it.



**UPDATE** I just found this entry from LAST year and realized I never finished or posted it. So indeed my daughter's time at CMU is done, although she won't graduate until May due to an internship requirement. 

Even though the landscape of Mt. Pleasant and the CMU campus has changed I know I'll always have a connection to the place that helped me and my two children come into our own. 

This year I have started handing out CMU t-shirts to my students who are really working hard. I tell them about what a great school it is and that I believe they can make it there if they try. Nothing would please me more than to discover in a decade that some of them decide to attend school there so that they too can have a reason to say 🔥↑ forever!

#3 Where do the ideas come from?

When I first started teaching, in 1989(!), We were given a teacher's manual for the subjects we needed to teach and expected to move through it from lesson to lesson. What we needed was all in there. Supposedly. Those lessons were often dull, disjointed and well, just not very good. So some teachers would try to enhance those lessons with cute & creative ideas. Changing bulletin boards was a monthly requirement and could be the most creative thing we had going on in our classrooms. Many of us saved those pieces for years, all laminated and cut out in their little envelopes ready for the next time.

Times have changed since then, thank heavens! I am a techy geek and like nothing better than to peruse blogs, podcasts and anything else that may lead me to the next cool thing to try with my kids. 

But by far, the best treasure trove of all is Twitter. Every day I see a link, a quote or a tweet that starts my mind spinning. Some days I pull up a picture for my students that somehow fits perfectly with my curriculum that day. Some days I send a link to a friend who I know can use the positive energy that a particular tweet seems to capture. No matter what I get from Twitter on a particular day, I know I have a globally connected personal learning network that will help me in any way they can.

Earlier this year I was trying to work out a way to administer my spelling tests through google forms. I was screen casting the spelling tests, uploading the videos to YouTube and then adding the links to the google form for the students to listen to before they typed the words into the form. It was awesome. Except for one small thing. You know how when you watch a YouTube video it brings up other 'suggested' videos for you to watch? Well let's just say it was bringing up suggestions that were *ahem* not quite appropriate for a 3rd grade audience. They were not terrible, things like cartoons of people on toilets and such. It was nothing that could have gotten me in trouble (although I had this little 'what if' in the back of my mind) but it was a concern and certainly not ideal. 

One Saturday morning at around 8am I sent out a plea to two of my Twitter guys about how to avoid all this. I am a YouTube novice and was not looking forward to searching for the answer all morning long. Within 20 minutes I had my solution. 20 minutes vs. hours. That is priceless, in my humble opinion.

That is just one example. I know I can turn to my PLN if I need ideas, help or encouragement. I am also willing to provide the same to anyone who reaches out that I may have a solution for. THAT is the beauty of Twitter. 

So where do the ideas come from? Twitter starts the process so often. People sharing tools and then pictures, videos and tidbits of how things are working for them and BOOM! I'm off in running with another idea. If you're not on board, your missing the boat. And probably working too hard. 

Tweet on!
Julie

#2 About Being a Parent

Spoiler alert....my kids are older. Two amazing young women who are making their way in this world. Most times they do fine without me or their dad. Occasionally they need us, and that is really nice. But I don't want to talk about them as the fabulous adults they are becoming. 

I want to talk about parenting young kids. Like, who thought it would be a good idea to make young adults (some younger than others) in charge of little humans who come into this world completely helpless? 

But here's the thing....how do we know how to do it all? Of course we are lucky if we have a support system, our parents, siblings or trusted friends to guide us. I don't believe it is an instinct, somehow we learn by doing. 

I have some dear friends who started out their married years by getting a dog. They said they were practicing for when they had kids. I have rarely seen a better behaved dog than that one was. Since, they have raised two great kids of their own. 

I remember when my kids were really young (like day care aged) ALWAYS being tired. From the moment I woke up I was running. Taking care of myself plus two little humans was exhausting. And I had help! I'm lucky that my hubs is a trained chef, so he has always been in charge of the food stuff around here. But having that partner also brings in other issues. We were raised differently, so we approached parenting differently. Throw in that one of us is a teacher, which by default means LOTS more kid experience, and another layer of issues arises. 

I have worked with people who are not parents. They can be quick to blame all of a child's differences/issues on the parent(s).  Working in education for 25 plus years,  I have met my share of whacky parents. But even the wackiest, I believe, were doing what they thought was best for their children. They were learning as they go and doing the best they can. Just like the rest of us. Exhaustingly trying to do our best to raise those littles into people who would make this world a better place. And guess what? Their reading scores, mastery of 'fast facts' and ability to write a complete sentence was NOT, for the most part, at the forefront of our minds. 

No, we were trying to help them be happy, kind, caring, strong, individuals and that is more difficult and harrowing work than anyone who is not a parent can understand. Just like anyone who is not a teacher cannot possibly understand the challenges of this wonderful, exhausting, challenging job we educators do. 

The only thing I can allow myself to believe is that those who do it well are just like any parent. Doing our best, learning along the way and doing what we believe is the best thing for each child. So there you have it. Parenting, like teaching, is them most satisfying terrifying thing a person can do. If we do it well, we end up with some great humans who can make this world a little better by being in it. 

A New Challenge

A great dojo/twitter friend @jellison23 has been publishing a 500 word a day blog for some time now. I've read many of her posts and it has inspired me to do it myself, so here goes.

I've been wondering how teachers (including myself) survived before Pinterest and TPT existed. I believe these platforms, along with Twitter, are where the beginnings of the grass roots movement to change teaching began. If you are not on Twitter, watching and participating in this movement, you are missing out. 

For me it all started with Pinterest. There I found a post about Class Dojo, which led me to Twitter chats, which in turn connected me to teachers & people concerned with education issues around the world. That sounds dramatic. In a way it is. It is the chain of events that revolutionized the way I teach and my attitude towards it every day.

Let me back up. I have been teaching for 26 years now. I started out as a special education teacher, working with what Michigan calls Emotionally Impaired students. To some of you that may be the students called Behaviorally Disordered. Yup. I worked with THOSE kids. On purpose. For 20 years. It taught me many, many things, but mostly that it is all about relationships. There is no way to make any headway with kids who cannot handle their emotions until you have a relationship with them. 

Then things changed in my district and I moved to an elementary school. I went from team teaching 9th and 10th graders to teaching 1st grade. To say that was a shock is an understatement. It was also the best thing that could have happened to my career at the time when I needed it most. (Funny how that happens, huh?)

At the same time, my oldest wonderful daughter graduated from high school and went off to college. (My alma mater!) My youngest wonderful daughter was a sophomore and the shift in our household was obvious, but good. 

It was strange to be the 'new kid' in school, but I was honestly so overwhelmed with the little learners I was in charge of that I didn't have much time to feel awkward about it. Plus, the staff I was now a part of was (is) phenomenal and made it as seamless for me as they could. I remember being so worried that I would mess up those little kids. It was the first time in my career that I was really worried that I was not good enough for them. First grade is SO important! What did I know about kids that age? Well, it turns out I did know enough, barely, and what I didn't know I got good advice about. That is when I discovered Pinterest. And TPT. I think I spent more on TPT that year than I did on food. Thank you to all those creative teachers out there with the time to create those resources. 

So how DID teachers survive without those things? I did it by keeping EVERY SINGLE THING that I created or another generous teacher shared. Man am I glad those days are over.

~ Julie

Who has the time to reflect?

We are almost done with our first marking period. That means report cards, parent teacher conferences, data meetings, professional development days and Halloween. So in the midst of all of this, who has the time to REFLECT?? 

We ALL need to make that time. This is my 3rd year in 3rd grade and I'm finally feeling like I have a clue about what 3rd graders 'look' like. I love them. They are curious, engaged, exuberant and chatty. They can also be challenging. Very challenging. 

So Reflection. Words that come to mind so far.

Thankful. My class has come together as a team very well this year. It's not because I have perfect kids or I'm a perfect teacher. The combination of my comfort and their desire is good this year. It's a blessing I count every day.

Appreciative. I have a fairly new team in 3rd this year and for the most part we are working well together. More on the "for the most part" later.

Blessed. With a good student teacher who is teaching me as much as she is learning, I think.

Frustrated. With a colleague who is very difficult to work with and makes things 1o times harder than they need to be. ALL.THE. TIME.

Angry. With a system that insists on overtaxing teachers (especially new ones) with kids who need more support than can possibly be given in a classroom with 20+ more kids.

Relieved. That the Michigan legislature has passed a bill to reduce the percentage of my evaluation based on student achievement from 50% down to 25%. Thank you.

Tired. There is never enough time to get it all done.

Grateful. That I am able to work in a building where risk taking is encouraged and the staff is the most supportive I've ever worked with.

Privileged. That so many parents trust me with their children and allow me to help guide their educational journey.

Proud. We are getting it done. Everyday. We are working within the tremendous amount of pressure and still enjoying our days together. That is an accomplishment.

So there it is. I need to reflect more often, but I will not beat myself up about it. That is a waste of my time and I am, like so many others, doing the best that I can. Every. Day.

Class Dojo just keeps getting better and better!

My love for Class Dojo is no secret. I am proud to work with and represent such an awesome, responsive company and to share that passion with anyone who will listen to me. They have been working tirelessly over the summer to roll out new features that will be of great use to teachers all over the world. In particular, this includes the ability to group students and award points to the groups as a whole quickly and efficiently. I haven't started the year yet, but I am looking forward to all the ways this feature will help me encourage positive behaviors.

Just in time for the start of our school year, the next new feature is ready to roll. It's called Class Story and is described as "a private Instagram for the classroom." This component will allow teachers to quickly post pictures and text to let families know, well, what the story is in the classroom! Imagine, being able to send permission slips and links to other important documents in an instant! Run to classdojo.com/classstory to check out more info.

Seriously? Imagine how cool it will be for parents to actually SEE what is going on in their child's classroom! Talk about changing that normal discussion: Parent: "What did you do in school today?"

Child: "Nothing"

SO much more powerful for the parent to be able to say "I saw a picture of a cool project you worked on today, tell me about it." 

Game Changer. Again. Thanks Class Dojo. You rock!

How Class Dojo saved my career.

Ok, I know that sounds dramatic. But it's true. If you haven't heard of or tried Class Dojo, I'm telling you it will change the way you interact with your students and their families. I found it at a time when I was feeling ineffective, having been moved around regularly and never feeling like I was very secure anywhere. One image on Pinterest caught my eye and BOOM! I was energized, involved, even innovative again!

Now I have the privilege to work with the CD team as an ambassador, which means I present about this awesome program when I can, get early info about new updates, participate in and moderate twitter chats and generally get to hang out (virtually) with an awesome group of people who believe in this product.

The Dojo team has released two cool new updates this summer. The first came out a few weeks ago & allows the teacher to organize students in groups! 

One of the things I love about CD is that the team really LISTENS to teacher feedback. This update is one I personally have been asking for, so I'm thrilled and excited with the possibilities for implementing it. If you want to find out more about how this update works, click here.

The newest update is being released today and is another one that brings much excitement and great implications. It's called "Class Story" and is a way for teachers to post pictures, messages, resources...you get the idea =) Again, this came as a result of many teachers asking for a way to make families feel more connected to the classroom activities. 

Class Story will be in beta testing for a while, but I'm hopeful that it will be up and running soon, as it will be an excellent, simple and comprehensive way to share our story with our families.

Oh, did I mention that Class Dojo is totally free, customizable to your needs and collects & displays all the data in easy to use reports? It is truly the tech that saved me from being that 'I'll just keep showing up" teacher. I'm proud to represent this product and hope that you'll check it out if you haven't already.

Happy Dojoing!