
Monday Mornings: Proverbs, Quotes, and More
“Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.”
–Robert Henri
“Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.”
–Robert Henri
“Sometimes God brings times of transition to create transformation.” –Lynn Cowell
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” –F. Scott Fitzgerald
After an extended break from blogging, I am starting back up with some Monday inspiration and post on education. I hope these help!
The new school year is well under way, and educators have been working hard! This is a because of a process called front-loading.
Front-loading, in education, is a process where teachers allocate extra energy at the beginning of the school year. We do this to have a smooth rest of the year. Some examples of front-loading in education are:
Front-loading takes a lot of energy It takes a lot of time thought to have a well-run class, but setting up and diligently enforcing classroom standards at the beginning of the year sets the tone for the entire school year. It’s exhausting, but well worth it!
If you are a teacher, mid-June and on is a happy time.
This is, of course, because most of us are on summer break!
Summer break refreshes you, and gives you time to process and plan in a relaxing setting–the beach being ideal! Come August, I will start up blogging again. For all those teachers and school professionals, have an amazing break!
As an educator, I’ve always tried to teach my students the importance of persistence in following your life dreams. This last year, I have been purposefully trying to practice what I teach, as I have been working diligently on my first book. I am super excited to let you know that it’s now out!
Lavalino Finds His Forever Home was just published and is available on Amazon and elsewhere as both an ebook and a print version (it is also in the Amazon lending library until March). It’s been such a passion project of mine, particularly because the central character is based on a cat who was important to our family, and I put a lot of love and work into it.
This is the first book in a series, The Adventures of Lavalino, and it introduces the scrappy and loveable street kitty as he searches for a forever home. The story is set in Sicily, Italy, and readers, parents and teachers get a flavor of the country’s people and culture. The colorful watercolor illustrations add to the story’s appeal. The back contains a glossary of the Italian phrases used throughout the book, and gives a touch of the language for young readers.
Please check out the book and let me know what you think. Positive reviews are helpful and welcome! Thanks so much!
One of the questions I like to ask parents at the beginning of the school year is:
“How does feel your child best learns?”
The choices are: auditory, visual, kinesthetic, multiple modalities.
I ask this question because if you have a dominant learning style, it is best to tap into that.
In the classroom, as multiple students have multiple learning styles, it is best to try to cover as many learning styles as possible in your lesson planning/presentation.
Here is a concrete example:
There are some great educational YouTube videos on the internet, but perhaps you are worried an unseemly political ad will pop up during your presentation. Not to worry!
This summer I took a technology course for educators, and learned how to safely share videos. Simply go to the link for Safe Share TV and run the video through that program. If you want to chop a video, I recommend Tube Chop. See links below.
When I was in graduate school, during my first couple years of teaching, a professors said, “An organized teacher is a good teacher.” For some reason, this statement really stuck with me. Now, nearly fifteen years later, I can truly appreciate her meaning. To be clear, I don’t think you have to be organized to be a good–or even great teacher, but it sure does help.
Here are some reasons why I agree being an organized teacher helps you and your students:
I added the last point, because I want to emphasize that organized does not equal boring; it equals prepared and thoughtful. I hope this helps!