It is extremely important that we do everything we can to encourage our students to keep reaching for success. As they begin to blossom as learners, we can help inspire them to not only believe in themselves but expect more from themselves.

 

In order for our students to become better readers and writers, we have to find creative ways to teach them the fundamentals of learning. When children have FUN, they learn more. Our job is to get them to store as much useful information as possible. We can do that by building their mind skills. As we know, there are three areas of our memory:

1. The sensory memory (How we get the information. Ex. we either see it, smell it, taste it, touch it, etc)

2. The short term or working memory(what we do with the info that we receive. Ex. we either decide to keep the information and possibly store it or we let it go literally, “in one ear and out the other”.

3. Long term memory - this is the major storehouse - this is where we keep the information that is important to us or the information that we can possibly use at a later date.

 

Perhaps the working memory is the most valuable to your students because this is where teachers can get in and make imprints in the mind. When I talk about imprints, I’m talking about the things you can do that will make children say, “That was fun, I think I’ll remember that!!” When things like that begin happening, we have a better chance that students will store this in their long term memory. Some of you may refer to this as “teachable moments”. It’s like taking a coin and pressing into a piece of clay, the image is etched into the clay. When something interesting or unique happens to us, we can make those etchings in our memory. For this reason, it is vital that the activities and lessons that we share with students are fresh, interesting and worth remembering. I realize that sometimes it is hard to make a boring subject interesting but if given to the wrong teacher an interesting subject can quickly become boring!!! Think about the way you teach and if you are making it as great as it can be.

 

The following suggestions will help you find the energy and enthusiasm to lead your students daily:

1. Wake up with a positive attitude - each day is a gift, treat it as such!!

2. Greet each of your students with a positive word of praise - negative statements can tear you down and ultimately destroy the day!!

3. Greet your co-workers with a smile. When a whole staff works as a team, great things will happen. The old saying, “One bad apple can spoil the whole barrel” is very true. Don’t be a bad apple!!

4. Plan each day as if it is your first - in other words, still look for fresh ideas that you can share. Don’t get stagnant - when this happens, you loose your zest for teaching.

5. Step outside of the comfort zone!!! Do things that you wouldn’t typically do. In other words, don’t be afraid to try a new project, even if it fails - so what- you can try something different.

6. Really listen to what your students have to say - a lot of young people often complain that adults, “just don’t understand”. If you teach yourself to listen more, you’ll learn more!!

7. Have faith. If you believe that you are doing the best that you can, you won’t get so frustrated. Know that you are an educator because you CAN make a difference. Have faith in yourself and in your students.

8. Work hard - teaching is not an easy job, but it is a rewarding job. The pay may not reflect the invested time, but the residuals you receive are never ending!!!

 

These are a few of the interesting and inspirational tidbits that you will find in my newsletter each month - take a few minutes now to sign up for the free newsletter - it will continue to motivate you!!!! Also you will find interesting activities to try with your students. These activities will help promote reading and writing excellence!!!