Moving Beyond for Multilingual Learners: The Blog

I had a lot of questions on this from my post  Empower Students By Publishing their Words (in 20 Seconds or Less)! , so I figured I'd make a separate post here. When I was a third grade teacher, we created a classroom space that they were completely in charge of. We called it our Inspiration Wall. Anytime we were reading a book or an article, or listened to great music, or heard a quote from a video- the students were able to call out "WOW! Those words moved me. Let's put it on our Inspiration Wall!" It was so cool to have them become aware of words that carry power for them and make them feel a certain way.  The students were in charge of the space. They chose where it went in our classroom and even what colors we used. We included pictures, quotes, song lyrics, photos from home, and much more. We even included funny memes that we found online. We hung up pictures of ourselves doing science experiments, too. When we received college mail (more details on the College ...

 As we begin to prep for the school year, we are gathering resources and materials to support students during those first few days. Consider keeping a small collection of items as you are gathering/prepping these things for students who may arrive "new" in the middle of the school year!  Many of us have resources that we print in bright colors that say things like "Welcome to 7th Grade!" or packets of information about the school year. We include things like our classroom schedules, teacher information, or important phone numbers for the school.  Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi: https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-and-gray-scissors-2831794/ We also prep for those first family events, "back to school" nights, or Curriculum Nights. As you gather those materials and resources, create a few extras to distribute to new families later on in the school year.  Now you have an instant kit to welcome students & families later on! 

 Help your students recognize how powerful and wonderful their words are! When I was a third grade teacher, we created a classroom space that they were completely in charge of. We called it our Inspiration Wall. Anytime we were reading a book or an article, or listened to great music, or heard a quote from a video- the students were able to call out "WOW! Those words moved me. Let's put it on our Inspiration Wall!" It was so cool to have them become aware of words that carry power for them and make them feel a certain way.  I realized after a few weeks that their words were missing from our Inspiration Wall. While it's great to be moved by others (authors, celebrities, athletes, civil rights leaders, etc.), I wanted them to see that their words were just as powerful and just as valuable as the words of their heroes!  I started to listen more intentionally for their great "quotables" throughout the day. I would say "WOW! What you said was so cool! Let...

 I always was dedicated to learning all of my students' names on Day 1. I did everything I could to help me with this! I studied pictures in our school's information system before the first day. When the first day began, I would try to be sure that all of us knew each others' names before lunch - or at least, I made sure the efforts were all there. Most often, I would have kids go around and share their name or preferred nickname, how to pronounce it, and share something they liked that start with the same letter. For example, "My name is Carly. CAR, LEE. I like candy." Then, each of us would continue in the circle, trying to name each student and their preferred food before us. However, by doing this- I missed the mark.  The purpose was to build community and help us learn each others' names, BUT I should have paused and asked myself some questions - like, what was the rush? And also, is there a more authentic, meaningful way to do this? Kids in all grades a...

  *FREE TEMPLATES: Linked here! * As we get to know our students and families, it's important to be mindful of the ways that we celebrate. Often, we celebrate birthdays, achievements, and milestones based on our own preferences, cultures, and experiences. W e cannot assume that everyone has the same preferences! Truth be told, I hated the panic of having a student walking into my classroom and announcing "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY" when I didn't have anything prepared or ready for them. So one summer, I spent hours on Pinterest looking at fun, inexpensive ideas of things that I could share with a student to celebrate their birthday. I ordered materials and prepped all of my students' "birthday" materials and stored them in a cabinet in my classroom. I plugged dates into my Google Calendar so that I could have the items ready to go on their desk when they walked into the room.  In schools, many times we desire to acknowledge students publicly on their bi...

Start your next team meeting or staff meeting in a way that can help lift your system and build a happier and healthier culture & climate. Check these out! 1. Compliment Snowball Fight: Ask everyone to look around the room and write one compliment about a teammate. Then crumble it into a "snowball" and throw it into the center. Once all the snowballs are in the center, each staff member needs to find one and read it. Then, ask them to keep it with them and deliver it to the recipient sometime within the next week! 2. Shout Out: Allowing time & space for staff members to give each other a quick shoutout is a positive way to recognize a colleague for something they've noticed, observed, or appreciate. The rule? Keep it SHORT & SWEET! 30 seconds or less! 3. Positive Calls Home: Ask everyone to pull out their phones and make a positive call home to a student's family. Alternatives to this are to pass out postcards and have teachers fill out a positive message ...

8 ways to ask for help from your teammates, leaders, or administrators.  File this under " Things I wish I would have learned earlier in my career! "  Sometimes as educators, we find it hard to ask for help. Or perhaps, we were burned once (or twice...or more) in the past when we DID ask for help with something. Asking for help is a LIFE SKILL (one that way we often encourage our students to do), but it doesn't mean that it comes easy for us when we are adults. Asking for help out loud can also encourage others around us to do the same. It helps nurture a growth mindset amongst our colleagues as we all seek to continuously improve our own practices. Here are 8 sentence stems to get you started!  I really need support with ______.  I would like to learn ______ to help me _______. I'm struggling with _________.  Can you help me find resources to help me with _______.  Is there someone I could observe who _______ really well? I'd love to see it in action....

 Throughout the school year, my students would frequently add to a space we designated in the classroom. We called it our Inspiration Wall. On it, we would add pictures, song lyrics, quotes, parts of text we really loved, and even family photos. When we received mail from friends across the US, we would sometimes add those as well. We became really good at reflecting and noting when things felt good to us. We became inspiration seekers throughout our days together. Kids started to design their own Inspiration Walls at home, too!  Doing this was great, but I started to realize that we weren't always tapping into the inspiration we all had within ourselves. We have powerful words and ideas and creations that also inspire others. We had conversations about our gifts, talents, and our message(s) that we often shared with others around us. We engaged in reflective conversations about positive self talk.  Weeks went by and the students started to play with their own affirmation...