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Illustrated Basketball Sports T-Shirt (4 × 5.5 in) (Facebook Post)

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Free Google Templates for Teachers! - Tarver Academy

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Illustrated Basketball Sports T-Shirt (4 × 5.5 in) (Facebook Post) (1)

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1. Kelsey Horvath
2. Elmwood
3. Second Grade
4. Moving, grad school, friend'  wedding, baby showers, Minnesota, Virginia!

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1. Kathy Hagstrom
2. John Mills
3. First Grade
4. Enjoying all things Summer! Family Vacation, Pool, Parks, etc...

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1. Mandy Sage
2. John Mills School
3. Math Specialist
4. Vacation with my family, hangout with my 3 daughters, soaking in all the summer fun!

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1. Matthew Lerner
2. Elmwood
3. Principal
4. Baseball/Softball/Bocce/Pool - and some work.

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John Mills

Reading Specialist

Disney for a friend's 'Bibidi Bobidi Bachelorette'

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1.  Sarah Rippe
2.  Elm
3. ELA
4. Vacation with my family, reading many books, and enjoying as much outdoor time as I possibly can.

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John Mills
ELL
baseball, family reunion, road trips, more baseball

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⭐️ Instructional Specialist for the District
⭐️ Road trip through 3 states with 2 toddlers 😬, lots of summer activities with family and friends, making time for me 🙃

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2. Elmwood Park High School
3. Business Teacher (11-12th grade)
4. Fun summer plans:  Visiting family in Guatemala in June, visiting Spain for the first time in July for 3 weeks and going to Washington DC for one week in August.  I am looking forward to all the family time.  This will be my first summer off ever!

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2. EPHS
3. English Teacher
4. Teaching summer school and going to lotssss of weddings

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1. Kate Woods  2. Elm  3. 6th Grade ELA (last 2 years)  4. Summer = Freedom and extra family/friend/dog time!!  WHOO, HOO!!!! 

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1. Kate Woods  2. Elm  3. 6th Grade ELA (last 2 years)  4. Summer = Freedom and extra family/friend/dog time!!  WHOO, HOO!!!! 

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Lisa Marsicano

Elmwood Park High School and Elm Middle

MTSS Specialist

Checking out, SUN, family and pool time, settling my oldest in for freshman year at the University of Kentucky, and Orlando trip for my daughter's volleyball!

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1. Dana Karmon
2. EPHS
3.  School Psychologist
4. Family time, travel, PDs, reading.

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District-wide
Instructional Specialist
We are going on a road trip to South Dakota!

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👩🏻‍🏫 Districtwide
💬 Language (EL) Coach
🚘 Road trips and Relaxing!

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2. Elm Middle School
3. 7th/8th Engineering
4. Going to Disney in June!

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John Mills
3rd Grade Teacher
Spending time with my babies and taking them to DC to visit my parents for the 4th. 🇺🇸

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Elm Middle School
Speech-Language Pathologist
3 vacations since 13 weeks off! (Three Oaks, MI, cottage on Silver Lake, Traverse City, MI, canoe/camping trip St. Croix, Mn, Mall of America, visit 3 year old and 6 month twin cousins), tball, soccer camp, pool trips, day trips to Railway Museum, Botanical Gardens, zoo, festivals,etc. Relaxing and having fun!

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Molly Hong
Elm;8th grade ELA
Traveling, reading, biking and relaxing

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District-wide
Instructional Technology Coach
Just got back from a quick road trip to Colorado to visit my sister. Rest of summer...pool, drinks by the pool, catching up on all the things I've put off for the past 6 months, and most importantly relaxing..as much as I can with two teenagers.

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1. Nora O’Mahoney
2. EPHS
3. Social Studies-teaching Introduction to Psychology, AP Psychology and Criminal Justice next year
4. Going to Florida in July

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1. Every lesson is one that could have been better and more engaging for students. This year I took the students outside to demonstrate perception. I thought being outside and taking pictures would be fun. I need to improve this next year.
2. Nothing hold me back more than time. When I find something fun, I include it in the lesson. Three things I can do are a. Ask students about what a fun lesson they did in another class b. Give students self choice c. Incorporate fun and classroom community building with the expectation that every class needs something a little different.

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Thinking back to when I was in the classroom, time was one of my biggest barriers. I felt pressured to "get through" the chapters, but fun and engagement were at the top of my priority list when it came to lesson planning. I found that when you think you will "save time" by just quickly disseminating the information to students, you are actually doing quite the opposite. Without engagement, buy-in, scaffolds, and a little fun, I would end up having to reteach the lesson to a large portion of my class. I also found it helpful to think of the big skills I was trying to teach to students instead of the content.

Something else that was a barrier when I first started teaching is something I like to call "worst case scenario". Early in my teaching career I would hesitate to do something fun in fear of that one student who I thought couldn't handle it. I learned quickly that you shouldn't plan your lessons based on the worst behaviors in your class. Set clear expectations and hold students to those expectations. Better yet, have the students set the expectations!

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When thinking about some of my past ELA lessons, I really wish I sould have brought in more "real world" perspectives to my students. If we were reading about social justice? Jump on a Google Meet with a community activist. Looking at a historical fiction piece during the Great Depression? Invite an older relative in to talk about their childhood experiences. The list goes on and on. I need to be better about this.

What holds me back is.... time. I know lessons that I've done in the past "work" and they are already planned out. Why mess with that? These past few years have been very draining, but I need to get some fun back in my and the students' lives.

Some easy things I can do to bring back the fun is thinking of some call-response attention getters (90's R and B anyone?), fun ways to illicit responses (throwing a beach ball, ball of yarn), and maybe even connecting with other classrooms in the school (buddies!). Let's do this. It's time.

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A lesson that could have been taught better was one on fractions. I should have had more hands on time for them and less talking from me.

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A lesson that could have been taught better was one on fractions. I should have had more hands on time for them and less talking from me.

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Nothing is holding me back from having fun with my students! Fun is my middle name. ; ) However, to get to that point, I like to make sure I have a lot of student and teacher expectations and norms set. I have experienced where sometimes students get too comfortable and need to remind them there is a time and place for everything.

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Ch. 1 -
I am sure there are many lessons I could have taught better.  At this time my lesson on human impact on the environment could have been better. I felt I rushed the information and did not dig deep into it with the students. I wish I would have allowed more time at least another day for students to interact with one another and allow them to give more peer feedback in terms of their presentation. Also I would have the students do maybe a comparison of their work to their peers and find the differences and similarities in terms of what types of solutions they came up with that  would be best to prevent the further loss of biodiversity.
Ch. 2-
In terms of what holds me back from incorporating fun in my classroom is the the fear of what might happen. In teaching middle school I often try to limit activities  that I fear might be a behavior issue.
1. Go outside more - weather permitting .
I think the change in the learning environment will make class more fun - in Science we can adapt many lessons to work outside.
2. Play more games- my typical go to is kahoot but maybe try a new platform or create a new game myself to intro vocab words or concepts
3. Do more peer instruction - let the students be the teacher. This can be done with reading assignments.

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1. As I read this chapter, I thought more about the year as a whole versus a specific lesson. In previous years I tried to build in more and more student leadership. I tried multiple times throughout the year to build leadership into our routines, and this group was tougher with the social/emotional maturity versus previous years, but I was frankly burnt out and it was easily to be the structure myself. I think I spread myself too thinly with other responsibilities with the combination of a tough group. I've let go of some heavy time commitments, so I can have more energy to put towards my students next year.
2. Time and Energy: I look forward to redirecting my time and energy towards planning. I would like to include more student lead activities, music, family involvement, and provide more creative ways for students to explore and demonstrate their learning!

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Chapter 1- I think there were many, many lessons that could have gone better.  That is part of teaching, constantly reflecting about how things went and what can be done differently.  Having four sections of ELA each day, something was changed each class period to get closer to meeting the needs of those particular students.
Chapter 2- Fun, not something I always associate with my class.  The pressure to introduce, cover, and have students master the many standards makes each and every minute spent critical. Three things I can incorporate more are games, more student choice on activities, and more rewards.  I used rewards more frequently when I was at the elementary school, but I haven't used them as much with middle school students.  Something to try to bring more "fun" into the classroom.

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There are several lessons that I could have done better last September by allowing myself the EXTRA time needed to have students learn H-O-W to work well together in the quads I had set up last August. Instead, when my 6th graders struggled to work well together in the first 5 weeks of school and were unable to complete the in-class activities in the time projected on my screen, I quickly switched to partners on October 1st. What was holding me back is the stress I placed on myself when my ELA class time went from 80 to 50 minutes daily this past school year. I can totally incorporate more fun into my classroom by using warm-up jokes/ cartoons that students share with me to allow their brains to relax more and be more receptive to the in-class learning. It will also give me more insights into what each group finds humorous. I can also do WAY more team-building work next August and September to allow for my students to be more comfortable working in quads, and by allowing them more "buy-in" on how the work is completed :).

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One lesson that wasn’t as much fun as it could have been was when we read vignettes from House on Mango Street. We were rushing through it and it would have been better to slow down and do less rather than charge ahead and create stress reading it. Also, being even more deliberate about connecting how Esperanza (and other characters) feel with how they feel and people from movies or shows feel would probably make the vignettes more meaningful and fun.

What is holding me back is time. Some activities take 2 hours to create and last 20-30 minutes. Having students help with these kind of activities is something I would like to do more. Also, I want more variety for how ideas and learning are presented.

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1. Including more coloring and diagrams into class - Psychology & Doing more labs where students can work with each other to collect data - Psychology
2. Safety, trust, calm, introspection, and interest are five words I want to build into my culture in my classroom. As an elective teacher I want to mirror the career traits of someone in the field of psychology in my class.

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As a school psychologist, I have the opportunity to observe how lesson plans go. I am trying to look for the essential ingredients of a good lesson plan and how the students respond to the lesson plan. The basic ingredients of a good lesson plan include (you are welcome to update this list) presenting the objective of the lesson, connecting to the previous lesson and/or students' previous/general knowledge/interests, providing whole class instruction (visuals, discussion), transitioning to learning activity/peer-work/group-work, and summarizing/assessing the knowledge gained through short quiz/ discussion etc. at the end of each class.

I had some teaching experience in the past, so I know how it can be tricky to meet the lesson goals and keep it engaging and fun. You need to have a backup plan if the lesson plan doesn't go as expected. Some kids struggle with sustained attention and some struggle with transition, whether the transition is too fast, or it distracts them. Those are not excuses nor reasons; these are structural issues that can not always be addressed/ are known before the school year starts. However, with team collaboration and school support, most teachers provide engaging and meaningful learning to their students despite the structural issues. We should acknowledge the teacher's obstacles and, at the same time, help them to work around those issues.

From my observations in classes, fun is important, but when the teacher connects to the student and the student's interests - the lesson becomes exciting. You can see the students' eyes light up.

During the Meet the Author session on Friday, the author repeated his suggestion mentioned in his book about what to do if someone did not read the chapter: be the first to participate when asked about opinion. I wonder if this "definitely not educational" trick came from the author's need to help those who are not "good students" more than him giving us advice on avoiding a learning task. I have observed students who cannot read the assigned text participate when the teacher connected the text to their everyday knowledge. I don't think they did that on purpose, to mislead the teacher about their reading ability. Most of the time, the students seemed grateful for the opportunity to share their knowledge and engage in class despite their disabilities. It also seems to make them more attentive to the lesson.

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I can relate to these two chapters and the discussion questions when I think about my work with therapy groups. Structure is important. It reduces anxiety. Students need to know how we start and how we end our meeting. Part of the structure is an activity- and this is the place to be creative and explore new ways that allow the students to connect to the subject. The difference between a classroom and group therapy is that in group therapy, we study the fit of a student to a group, and we dedicate the first three sessions to learning about the group culture and increasing familiarity among the students. Unfortunately, teachers cannot spend their first three classes only on building a group, nor can they choose the students. I think that the old suggestion “don’t smile for the first…” has some merit. Teachers should smile. Smiling reduces stress and communicates that everything is ok. I think the idea is to set clear rules and expectations, follow routines, and provide consequences, and only after a while, be more flexible. I think students feel better when they “made” the serious teacher laugh or listen to their idea than when they think their teacher is too friendly and lets them go their ways. The students often become disrespectful, and then it is too late to set boundaries.
Building trusting relationships by checking in, paying attention to what the students say (such as asking about an event the student previously shared about), and being supportive and affirmative when needed can help regulate the class culture.

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I think all my lessons can always benefit from changes and each group of students requires different types of engagement.  What works one year may not always work the next year.  Personally, I think I need to incorporate more visuals in each lesson.  Less print is always beneficial for the primary students, especially in the beginning of the year.  Visuals also are more engaging because they help the students connect with the lesson at their individual level.

Similarly to what others have been saying, time seems to always hold us back from doing everything we want during each lesson.  Something I can try is having more student created visuals, this would certainly help improve engagement and would also help free up 'my time' to do more during the lesson.  I've started to save visuals and laminate them as we are creating anchor charts, this helps year to year, but they aren't as authentic.

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I liked the idea of finding 10-15 class favorite activities and using them when you feel the class is on autopilot.  Many times I find that structure and consistency is helpful for students because many students thrive on knowing the routines, but I do find there are times when it seems like we need to break up the monotony.  Student choice for routine activities often help, but creating a bank of class favorites could definitely work for those days when we all feel a change is needed!  One time during my day when this can work, easily without a lot of extras, is during our calendar time. Small activity changes can result in better engagement for everyone!

In no particular order: Safety, Acceptance, Positivity, Trust, and Engagement

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Routines....kids need them, they create order and organization, they allow for smooth transitions and establish norms, but they can also become mundane, boring, and create ruts.
As another participant mentioned, incorporating the 10 activities your students enjoy into lessons is a great way to break up the same old routine.  Allowing freedom to choose, is very powerful for students and teachers.  The author emphasizes "engagement"  when he discusses discipline, and creating lessons where students feel engaged is critical.

5 words:  Safe, Exciting, Fun, Acceptance, Trust

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Ch 3 - To keep mine and my students' brains off autopilot, I'd like to try to continue what I thought about last week. More ideas to bring in authentic voices and visitors to my classroom. I'd like to venture inward and look at what people we have within district that could potentially come to be guests in class. The 401 communinity has a lot to offer!

Ch 4 - Trust, Safe, Engaging, Open, Rigorous

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Ch. 3 - I think one of the things I would really like to do is incorporate different bell ringers for each day of the week. This way we’re still keeping a schedule but there’s a new thing to get excited about each day.

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Ch 3.
This chapter was eye opening in terms of introducing the thought that we are in autopilot. Humans are truly creatures of habit and we often do the same things over and over again because it is easy. I would like to introduce a variety of a "segments" into my classroom. I think I would like to like to have all students answers with the use of mini white board. This will also be a way from me to do an informal check to see students level of understanding. I would also like to do more lesson that involve movement, such as learning stations.
Ch. 4
Five word that I want to define the culture in my classroom are : Purpose , Belonging , Safety, Support, & Challenging

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The most recent lesson was one I did with 1st graders on non-sense words.   We were working in a small group with 4 kids and I could sense that two of them were not focused or paying attention.  As I reflected on what was distracting it was that I was not clear and communicated the expectation (I figured the knew what to do). The next lesson went much smoother BUT I feel like every lesson could always go a better.  I don't think there is a such a thing as a perfect lesson.  We as teachers should always be reflecting and tweaking our plans.
As for fun, it is important to have fun in your lessons and day. The kids need to know that we work hard and play hard (have fun). There is an absolute time for both for everyone - even adults.

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A lesson that I would do over would be my synonym penguin lesson. I thought that it was engaging for the students but some of the synonyms appeared too easy and others appeared to hard, I like to balance between something the students are successful at and something that is more challenging. I also threw in having the students say grammatically correct sentences for the words, This appeared difficult for the students. I realized that  I needed to provide them with more examples.

I feel that I am always challenged to do something fun with my students. They really like and seem more engaged if I incorporate games and real life experiences. The challenge that I have is that it takes more energy and work to come up with creative activities. Also, some of my students have diff iculty handling their behavior with something out of the ordinary

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I feel that my students thrive on routine. They seem to like the routine of checking in, knowing what the objective of the activity is, performing the activity, rating how they did on the actvity and summarizing what they learned. To change it up, I always try to present the material in a different way to hopefully capture the audience of all my students.

Words about the culture of my classroom include
Respect, openness, risk taking, kindness, and community.

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Q.1.  I like routines, but do not like being on "auto pilot". I think using some of the templates from the Coaching Corner website, changing groups/pairs daily or weekly, or letting students create part of the work is a great way to give variety.
Q.2.  Comfortable (physically and mentally), Respect, Safe, Fun, Supportive

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Q.1.  A rule that seems to be broken a lot by some (not all) is going on sites that they are not supposed to be on while working, for example YouTube, but should be on Go Math.  One way I could change that is to allow some free online time at the end of class, or end of week, or as some type of reward.
Q.2. As a math teacher, all I do is model that it is ok to fail. I literally will sometimes purposely answer a problem wrong, get the students to solve correctly for me, then remind them that everyone makes mistakes sometimes. I have a sign: M-Mistakes A-Allow T-Thining to H-Happen. MATH!

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LOL I love this scene!!!!!!!!!! #smilingsmyfavorite

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LOL I love this scene!!!!!!!!!! #smilingsmyfavorite

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A rule they break... sometimes they check out--it's not a "rule" it's bigger than that. They just aren't with me. And I know this happens for a lot of reasons. I love the SNL reference--I think this is something I will remember for a long time. The idea of having 10-20 go-to activities and they don't have to be crazy fun--they just have to be different. I've already been working on different ones. I think students feeling like they do the same thing all day is a big issue so changing things up and creating more opportunities to be in engaged is so important.

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Chapter 5 - One rule they break and I mean its not so much a rule but more of an expectation is to not release the outlet cords quickly. Otherwise it goes flying through the air banging into things and sometime wrapping around the beam. Or the force of impact on the little weight gets moved up and then I could no longer reach the cord to pull down for any one. I guess I could have them not put them back up but then I feel it could be a safety issues with the cords in the way unless  I have them gentle place them on the table. #scienceteacherproblems
Chapter 6 - I model failure all the time. I make mistakes almost daily but I own them. I then praise students who catch my mistake. I let them know I am not perfect and still learning myself. The mistake may be in the daily check in or during a discussion I may misspeak and say something that might not be right. I continuously tell my students its okay to make mistakes , since from them we learn and try not to make them again. Also being a science teacher I feel student learn through failed experiments and get the explore different concepts in doing so.

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1. The Class/ Group Rules poster often looks like a wishlist. Many rules sometimes imply a high level of anxiety from breaking the rules. However, we need to set boundaries, especially regarding safety rules (like violent language or behavior and low attendance). Students are more responsive when the rule and the consequences are meant to increase a safe environment than as a "vindictive" response to the student's behavior. Also, students appreciate reminders even if the rule is written on the classroom wall. Either way, the classroom climate matters more than the rules on the wall. I see teachers use fun and short active listening activities (such as turn and tell) to practice this important skill. We all know these kids that cannot really stay quiet for long. Therefore, these activities are more effective than reminding them of the "crime and punishment."

2. I think the question about failing relates to the discussion about lying. People lie because they cannot cope with the truth. They cannot cope with a failure, disappointment in self and others, and/or the consequences. A safe learning environment also reduces "hiding from myself and others" behaviors. In a safe environment, the students teach us what they need, what works, and what doesn't during the learning process. Nevertheless, we should do our best to prepare for most of the challenges. I also liked the suggestion about providing tools for problem solving and supporting their need for autonomy (Self-Determination Theory of Motivation).  We should always lay down the groundwork for student success and create climates where errors are opportunities to grow.

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1. Using the word g*y as an insult or slur. It does happen every day-with high school, I don’t seem to have rules that get broken every day every period in 45 minutes. Every time I hear it I stop class, explain why I am personally offended-and tell them I don’t want to hear the word used in a derogatory context ever again. I’m not changing the rule. I will repeat myself as many times as necessary.
2. I use the first period I teach a lesson to get feedback and keep a post it note so I can adjust for the next class. I also explained the “why” behind the directions -I think this is important because I can tell my students why we aren’t doing it another way (because it backfired, it was confusing, I received feedback on an easier way).

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1. My favorite thing about connecting with students is just that, connecting with students. We made a connection, maybe it was personal, maybe it was academic, maybe it was social, or productive but it was a connection. Sometimes it’s the student initiating, sometimes it’s me, sometimes it’s a situation that allows a connection-but all of them are my favorite. It’s the reason I come to work every day.
2. I control my frustration because they are kids, I am the adult. It is up to me to set the tone and climate for class. If someone is “out of line” and honestly, I’m not sure what that even means anymore, I ask myself a few questions- Is there some kind of structure I neglected to set up? Am I missing something the student needs? Do they trust me? What’s really going on here? Sometimes I find an answer sometimes I don’t. But that’s in my power.

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1. My favorite thing about connecting with my students is exactly what Nora said here (well said, Nora!), and I feel so lucky as an ELA teacher because the students share so much (sometimes too much...hahaha!) while we are reading, discussing & sharing from the current texts, poems and the SEL work we do daily.  The students' courage whenever they willingly share their insights and connections to the current class text is really my favorite part of the day and it makes forever connections, too, I find.

2. To control my frustration, I box breathe for 4 counts & repeat the Haim Ginott teacher quote that Dr. Sam Vaccaro gave each of us on staff my first year at Elm 30 years ago, "I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate.  It is my daily mood that makes the weather.  As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration . . . "!!!  The Elm kids around me are mine and I need to be the best role model in the room for all 176 days, as best as, humanly possible anyway :).

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Chapter 7
My favorite thing about connecting with students is finding that common ground. It is true,  different people mesh differently.  This was something I learned this year. I am not going to be loved by ever student and that's OK. I treat all students the way they need to be in the given time I am with them. Some students need more attention than others. Each students come with a burden at some point.  I try to check in with my students daily to see how I can help them in their time of need. Some times they need to be shown grace other times I might need to hold them accountable. Everyday is  different but everyday is a chance to make a new connection and help students .
Chapter 8

Just breathe. That is how I plan to control my frustration. Let's face it. They are kids and will be kids. They will do things to get attention good or bad.  I just need to remind myself I can't control what they will say or do but I can guide them to where I need them be. It's not a one size fits all deal and I need to work with them to set the tone. One could only hope they can get on board with what needs to happen.

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1. My fav thing about connecting with them, is seeing them get more and more comfortable with me.  When I had a homeroom, the connection usually (with the exception of one school year) happened very quickly. I use a lot of joking/sarcasm (not directed towards them) to connect. This year, I would just always try to make small talk with the students and ask questions to get them to open up and talk so that I eventually learned things about them to try to connect with them more.
2. I control my frustration by taking a moment to breath, remembering they are just kids, and think about how I would want a teacher to respond to my own children if they were behaving in a certain way.

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1. Like our relationships with our parents/ spouse/ children, the relationships with our students go through several phases that may include the honeymoon phase, the doubt/conflict phase, the disillusionment phase, and the acceptance of self and other phases. With students, we sometimes start at the conflict phase since it is hard for many students to feel that they are in need of something. Sometimes they will try to make you their friend, or they will disrespect you in their attempt to cancel the fact that they need you. My favorite part about connecting with students is, of course, the acceptance phase. When they feel accepted by you, they accept who you are (not perfect), and hopefully, they accept themselves. Regarding teacher-student relationships, this process is apparent when you hear a teacher/ a student complain about each other at the beginning of the school year and say the same thing with a smile at the end of the year/ group. Being yourself doesn’t mean being unprofessional. It means to check yourself and your responses. For example, to be able to admit that you made a mistake.

2. When things are not going as expected, we feel alarmed. Our primary three automatic responses to a perceived threat (a student disrespects us, for example) are fight, flight, or freeze. What helps us cope is breathing and reframing the situation. As others mentioned, reminding ourselves of our role and responsibilities helps us avoid a power struggle. We can always tell the student that we will address/discuss the situation when the time and place are more appropriate (after class instead of in front of the whole class, for example). We can also use the time to consult with other staff members who know the student better (move our thinking from an emotional/automatic response to a more rational and understanding response.)

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1. As discussed, making connections to students’ past knowledge/ personal interest/ future goals should be part of any lesson plan. The instruction is more effective when those connections are made throughout the lesson, not only at the beginning of the class. During private conversations, when students consider dropping out of school to work full time, I also suggest to the students that they think about the consequences of their present decisions on their life ten years from now and encourage them to “keep the door open.” We might also discuss the difference between a job that anyone above 18 can do vs. an occupation that will make it easier for them to find a job with less competition. Also, they won’t have the level of academic support they receive now. For some students, school is just hard (due to academic and/or emotional challenges) and they need acknowledgment of how hard it is for them; they need support and hope to help them get through these years, together, not alone.

2. Regarding building rapport, I don’t think that there is a winning formula (though the one suggested is, generally speaking, good). For example, there are students that perceive talking about their families as something private. I also had students that didn’t understand why I (part of the school staff) cared about their hobbies. Asking about future goals can help those who do not feel comfortable to share about their current life situation. Each student has their own pace, their own past experiences that affect their ability to build rapport (especially students from the at-risk population). However, all students appreciate the care and the opportunity to reach out for help or just connection when they feel ready for it.  They also appreciate that you know when to “back up” when they don’t feel comfortable. Either way, many students seem to feel close to teachers that make them feel successful and knowledgeable. They appreciate the ones who make the academic journey with them.

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1. I valiantly try to make my weekly ELA lessons more relevant by connecting the current text & vocabulary to the students' hobbies (i.e., music, sports, the arts, travels, & even to former novels/texts they told me they really liked at the elementary level, as well as, current events that the students are talking about!) as it helps them to build stronger connections using already established schema.

2. As mentioned above, I try to build stronger rapport with all my students' by getting to know them through their weekend stories (which I do for Mondays' Warm ups) and shared hobbies which I do at the beginning of every school year, and by also sharing my own stories, hobbies, and following the Brene Brown B.R.A.V.I.N.G to make all students feel more comfortable about sharing, too, eventually!

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1. In psychology, I try to focus the information on self reflection based on the different concepts. This single aspect allows me to make the information relevant to the students’ most favorite topic, themselves. Each unit has an final project where the students think about themselves. In world history, I try to focus on travel and using the students’ personal experiences. Students want to figure out themselves and want to travel in the future. These are small ways that I make things relevant.
2. Rapport is built over time. I don’t rush it. I used to try to rush it, that didn’t work. Now I take it slower and realize that not every student wants rapport with me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try. Honestly, I didn’t know that what I did was the FORD method. When I was reading that I thought, wait, doesn’t everyone do that? The one that helped me a lot this past year was “r”. My advisory had a love of Marvel movies and stories. I had no background knowledge-you laugh but it’s true. Well, they took it upon themselves to educate me over the course of the year about Marvel. They were very patient with me and explained everything. As a result of that it was easier for them to open up with the “d” part. I don’t know everything and the students love to let me know what they know. I’m genuine in my interest.

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1. Confidence, humility, organization, honesty, knowledge of education
2. The last thing I complained (in my head) about was general colleague negativity. Here’s what I did, I said “I want to talk about something else.” and “I am going to focus on what I can control.” I know I can’t change the thoughts of other people but I can model my thought process. I can listen but I can’t solve problems. I’m not always in a place to listen to complaints, these two statements give me a reality check and ground me in what I can control.

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1. The qualities I appreciated were positive and encouraging attitude, knowledge of many theories and strategies to support students, and the ability to tailor a different intervention plan to each student based on specific needs.

2. To communicate issues related to confidentiality and testing space, I asked for my mentor and colleague’s support, since I realized that not everyone is aware of my profession's legal and ethical restrictions. That help was effective. Positive school climate is not only about students’ and parents’ attitudes towards school, but also staff’s (not only the teachers') attitudes about school. There should be a mutual effort to directly communicate perspectives and needs and to avoid gossiping.

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At the beginning of the school year, my students collectively put together "rules to follow". I then post them up in the classroom. The students often will refer to them when they feel that they may be bending one of the rules. The one thing that I want the students to do after a presented lesson is self rate how well they know the material. I often forget to have them self rate and sometimes the students will remind me. I have a visual I use with the students and I may remember more if I post it on the wall

I am constantly making mistakes and letting students know that it's OK to make mistakes and we learn from our mistakes.

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My favorite thing about connecting with my students is that I feel I'm getting to know them better. At the beginning of the year, I do an All About Me activity where the students get to know about other students and me. They love when they identify something we have in common. They are also always excited to tell me what they have done on weekends and want to know what I have done.

I always try to keep my cool when students are acting out of line. I will take a couple of breaths and argue with the student. I will talk to the student about their behavior when they have had time to cool off.

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1. I used to work very closely with parents who referred their children for an evaluation or therapy. It was always interesting to see how those parents, with similar challenges as their child, were able to build a (seemingly satisfactory) personal and family life. Their self-belief, self-esteem, and hard work seemed to be the key to their personal victory. When students meet me for an evaluation or reevaluation, they also meet with their pain if it is due to their learning difficulties, emotional needs, physical disability, or all of the above. They live in the present, when every day is a struggle, and every day is colored by their specific disability. For those who seem to keep struggling with self-acceptance, I try to offer a more complex and positive view of self, others, and the future based on my experience. I am always grateful to those students and parents who taught me the endless future possibilities that await everyone who is willing to see them.

2. Working with people requires creativity. You cannot problem-solve if you are stuck on one solution only. Usually, we need the time and space to be able to think of other solutions. When I have the opportunity, I encourage students to consider other points of view of things.

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Chap 9- The lessons I am doing now are, for the most part, really foundational math skills that they need in order to move on to higher skills, so I try to make sure the "basics" are being covered and also explain how/why they connect to future skills. Sorry for the run on sentence. ; )
Chap 10-I think the FORD method is a good method, and one people are probably using all the time to build rapport, without putting name it. Building rapport is soooo important so students feel comfortable learning from you, expressing themselves, making mistakes, etc. I try to always ask them random questions about things they do outside of school, what they ate for dinner, etc just to get the conversation going and then it builds from there.

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Chapter 11-Qualities I admire in staff member:- sense of humor with staff and students, being open to both giving and receiving support to colleagues, willingness to always learn more.
Chapter 12-the last thing I complained about, in my personal life, is how I am always tired. Two solutions: try to go to bed earlier/have more a routine in the summer, alternate waking up with kids with my husband in the mornings.

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1. I agree with the author regarding the importance of presenting scientists that are as diverse as our society, especially in this era of globalization. I can say that I  have seen teachers embedding diversity in their lesson plans in our district.  Each of us has more than one culture that affects how we think, feel, and behave. It takes time to know someone’s dominant culture, so we should give the students opportunities to reveal their main culture.

2. Empowering students is part of the 21st-century skills that teachers integrate into their lesson plans. Some students are more proficient in initiating and completing projects, being creative, and presenting their work in class. However, others still need step-by-step support and prompting during the first project. Either way, all students should receive the level of support they need to gain these important skills and meet the objectives of the lesson plan.  I have noticed teachers provide that level of support to those who needed it.

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Ch 1 -
It was my first year working with the LLI intervention, and though my students really enjoyed the texts we read, I think there could be ways to incorporate more engagement within the scripted intervention. I would love to incorporate more hands on/manipulatives into the phonics lessons. Often they are written as the teacher creating an anchor chart on the board. Having the students utilize magnetic letters to create and rearrange the patterns could create a stronger connection between the kinesthetic and long term memory.

Ch 2 -
The 3 main obstacles I see when incorporating fun include: scripted curriculum, time, and money. Interventions are such short and intense bursts of instruction, that can also get cut short for many reasons. It's hard to stay on track with such little time. Manipulatives can also be expensive.
3 Fun Ideas:
1. Incorporate manipulatives (magnetic letters, play doh, sand)
2. Utilize Flipgrid to have students practice fluency outside of group but also interact with one another to share their reading
3. Challenge: I'd love to incorporate some sort of challenge where they have to find one of the skills we are working on from their reading in class/at home (ie snapped a picture and highlighted examples of -at words in their library book)

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1. I try as much as possible to relate what we are doing to the "real world" and let them know the reason why we are learning certain things.  For example, we talk about the importance of speaking clearly and using appropriate grammar so that they can be better understood when applying for a job.  We talk about the qualities that are looked for when applying for a job and the better that they are able to present themselves, the more qualified they will appear and have a chance for a better job.  We talk about the importance of using different vocabulary to enhance our writing so that when we write our work sounds interesting.  We also talk about current events and how speech/language skills are present in those events.

2. I think that it is very important to have a great rapport with students.  It really shows that you value them as a person and care about them outside of what they are doing in school.  We always start off our sessions with talking about what we did over the weekend and/ or the night before.  Students are often excited to tell me what they did over the weekend and will often ask what I did over the weekend.  I think that some of the students get a kick out of knowing what I have done on the weekends.  Many students think that it is funny that I am taking ice-skating lessons.  I do sometimes have students tell me that they don't want to share what they did on the weekend.  I respect that and let them that that it is okay, but if there is anything they ever feel like sharing, that they can.

I guess I kind of do use the F.O.R.D method. I don ask about their family, things they are involved in, what they like to do for fun, and about their passions.

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1. The qualities that I admire include: sense of humor with staff and students, but also knowing when to act more professional, taking into account all aspects of problems and listening for ways to solve problems, calmly handling situations that arise, focused on what is best for students, and fair with everyone.

2. The last thing that I complained about (personally) was that the drip system to our raised garden wasn't getting enough water. To solve this problem, more holes were added to the drip system so there would be more water flowing and changed the amount of time that the water dripped on the plants. I have also decided to periodically check the garden and if it seems dry, add a little bit of water.

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1. I try to influence the students by letting them know as long as they try their best at something than they can feel proud of themselves.  I remind students that they have a lot of potential and that they need to work up to their potential.  If they are not working up to their full potential, then they are short changing themselves.  I let them know that it is ok if they are not getting all A's and B's in their classes as long as they have worked up to their full potential and are trying their hardest.  Sometimes I'm not sure if I have an influence on the students, but then they will repeat back something that I said or remind me that we talked about a certain topic.  It makes me then feel good that they were actually listening to some advice that I gave them.
I agree that sometimes just one conversation can change the course of a student's self-confidence.

2. I consider myself creative. I like to come up with fun, interesting, captivating lessons and activities for my students. The problem is that it often takes me awhile to think of a creative activity and I stress out that I won't have an exciting activity for my students.

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1. I think that it is very important to incorporate diversity within the classroom setting.  If students are comfortable talking about their culture and traditions, I have them share with the other students.  I think that this helps to empower the students and feel that all cultures and traditions are important.  I feel that students learn a lot from each other when they are given the opportunity to ask about others cultures and traditions.  This helps students realize that there are different ways to celebrate life.

2.
I think that it is very important to empower students. As mentioned in this chapter, " If we want to build lifelong learners, we have to start training them to learn on their own." I try to incorporate into lessons with the students explaining the answers (e,g, explaining multiple meaning word, figurative language, grammar word order, sequence of events). Also, as stated in this chapter, "They will gain a deeper understanding of the material through the process of explaining it to someone else." This also helps me to know if the students truly understand the material. I feel that the students feel proud of themselves when they get to explain for their peers.

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1. In this chapter it talks about "Leaders for bad can be leaders for good" and "connect with the leaders in your classroom."  I think a lot of time that I am thrown off by a student who is trying to lead the class in not the most respectful way and I tend to be thrown off by them.  I think that maybe if I work more with this group of leaders to make their leadership more beneficial to the whole class environment it could be a win win situation.

2. I like the idea that you're not bad at anything, but you are getting better. I think I have to keep remembering this and giving myself peptalks that I'm doing ok. I am always constantly trying to improve my teaching style, so I should start framing it as "I'm not bad at______, I'm getting better.

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1. The discussion about leadership abilities reminded me (again:)) of the work with groups. What I like about small group settings is the opportunity for every student to shine and practice leadership qualities.

2. I think that as adults, we usually know the things we are bad at and need to improve. For our students, it's our job to find ways for them to meet the standards and means to demonstrate progress. Otherwise, they might develop learned helplessness, which will impede their progress.

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I would like to thank the team for this opportunity to learn from those who make a direct impact on future generations. I learned a lot from our community members regarding ways to implement and incorporate great ideas into lesson plans. Thank you!