Inspiration

The opening activity in health class today was to read through a list of inspirational quotes and choose one to record in our health journals. Here's my pick from an unknown source. Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

Room With a View

A common question teachers are often asked is, what do you like about teaching? The obvious answer is the kids. After all, we wouldn't get much satisfaction from teaching if we didn't like spending time in the company of children or teens. But now that I am back in my own classroom after having 10 years without one, I realize one of my favorite things about teaching is having my own classroom. It's so much more than an office. It's like having a second home. You decorate, you arrange the furniture, you create a family in the space. It's a little like an artist's canvas. It displays each teacher's unique vision. I design my space so it fosters creativity, encourages teamwork, and provides a safe place to make mistakes and learn from them. I'm comfortable in it and I hope my students are. I have had 7 different classrooms since I started teaching in 1978. My first was a spacious room overlooking the Yukon River. I didn't think it could get any better than that. But 6 rooms later, I have the best classroom ever. Four full kitchens, sewing machines and yoga mats in the cupboards, and a big window overlooking the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. Teaching heaven!

Happy New School Year!

Achievement: I've remembered to take attendance every day. Respect: I know all the names of students in my health classes. Now I'm working on learning all the names k-4. Fun: listening to students, planning lessons, writing on the whiteboard, walking the track, snack time...it's all fun. Freedom:having a classroom again.

Highlight of the Week

The 8th grade health class did community service at the nursing home today. Chair yoga with the residents. It was absolutely amazing watching the 14 year olds sitting next to 90 year olds, stretching and breathing in unison. And as always, the residents were so happy to have the company of young people to brighten their day.

Achievement: I completed my online counselor supervisor training today. I have had the honor of supervising a counseling intern this spring. Next school year, she will continue her internship at our school and I look forward to continuing the mentorship. Working closely with first year teachers, student teachers, or counseling interns is simply a joy. They bring fresh ideas, positive energy, and an enthusiasm for learning. They often challenge the status quo and cause me to reflect on my own work. I get to observe their growth, glean from their education, and celebrate their successes with students.It's win-win-win! Respect: Practiced one person speaking at a time with the fourth graders. They all got to say one job they might want to do when they grow up. If the listeners wanted to say something like, " That's stupid," they just had to think it. Fun: Making birthday cupcakes. Freedom: When I went to the post office to buy stamps the clerk said, "Flags or something pretty?" When I answered "pretty" she rummaged through her drawer and pulled out six different beautiful designs to choose from!

Crayfish Races

Ready Set...

GO!

Finish Line!

Science ARFF

What an honor to be in the canoe with Steve and these two brilliant 7th graders. The day was gorgeous, conversation was enlightening, and the science was all new to me. Dropping some sort of device at various depths to collect water samples. We took turns paddling, dropping the submersible, taking the temperature of the water and recording it on the JUNO(GIS tracking device). These boys were our teachers, Steve and I the students. Another perfect day of teaching and learning thanks to GIS instructor, Hans Bodenhammer.

Facebook finally!

Ok. Now I get it.facebook is totally ARFF filling. Once I joined I had instant ARFF! Achievement: quickly learned a ton of new skills like how to like something, post photos, tag photos, find friends, request friends, link to websites. And there's more to learn! Respect: people ASK to be my friend. Fun: It's all fun. Checking on friends, looking for photos to post, daily surprises. Freedom: I can spend as much or as little time as I want, just browse, make silly comments, share a joy, comfort a friend. Now what am I going to cut out of my day to make time for this?

Another Group Activity

The topic of this week's student support group was on how thoughts and perceptions can influence our outlook on life. We considered how insecure thoughts can interfere with our ability to make healthy choices, while positive, self-affirming thoughts can develop the ability to deal with disappointments and traumas in a healthy, common sense manner.

Each group member was asked to write a statement that would help them through a present challenge in their lives. Here are some of those statements. Some have been authored by group members, others are anonymous quotes members have used to maintain a state of health and well-being.

* There are people who love and respect me for who I am, not who they want me to be.
* I may not be able to heal others but I can always heal myself.
* No smile is more beautiful than the one that struggles through the tears.
* Giving up doesn't always mean you're weak. It sometimes means you're strong enough to let go.
* I am powerful to create my own life.

Do you have a poem, a verse, a song that helps you shift your thinking when you are facing a life challenge?

Student support groups are effective because the activities are designed for self reflection, healthy communication, and the development of problem solving skills. Today's group activity is a good example. It consists of three questions.

1. Think of a time in your life when someone tried to control your thoughts, feelings, or actions. Use one word to describe how you felt.
2. Think of a time when you tried to control someone else's thoughts, feelings, or actions. What happened?
3. Have you ever taken control of some aspect of your own life? For example, decided to stop a harmful behavior, chose to stop worrying?

After answering these three questions, we discovered some simple but powerful truths.
The only person you can ever control is yourself.
You have the power to choose your thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
We can care about those we love, but we can't control them.

These truths have implications for educators. We may want to control the behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of our students. But if we resort to control, we actually lose our ability to be a positive influence in our students' lives.

So how do we influence others?
Build trust. Be an inspiration. Encourage thinking. Model hard work and perseverance.

How do you influence others?

Hope

Occasionally there are days, weeks, sometimes seasons where everywhere I turn I see pain. Illness, abuse, self harm, despair. Hurting minds, hurting bodies, hurting relationships. What do we do with that?

Being aware of our own pain can help us gently touch the heart of one who is in despair. And if we can, we introduce hope.

That's what I see happening in student support groups. Rather than numbing out, kids become more aware of their pain. The healing process begins. Healthy hearts learn to empathize. And compassion replaces judgement.

Every group brings me hope. For them. For our school. For our community. For our world.

Spring Break

"Take care of yourself...
then give yourself to the WORLD!"...D.M.

This is the time of year when many of us are feeling the effects of the dark days of winter. In Alaska it was literally "Cabin Fever". Tough mountain man types who had managed to make it through the winter in a cabin all alone suddenly went crazy and had to be shipped out of town to a "facility." Spring Break-up didn't just refer to the ice going out on the Yukon. Come spring, it was common for couples or families to break up as well.

If we haven't taken care of ourselves through the winter months, this can happen here too. We start to feel down in the dumps, easily irritated, discouraged. It's hard to teach and hard to learn. Hard to love and hard to deal with everyday challenges.

So time to find some sun, ramp up the exercise, and spend an extra amount of time doing something fun and relaxing with those we love.

Spring Break here we come!

Had a great ARFF filled day on my day off today! After waking up early to take Jess to work, I had a day full of Achievement, Respect, Fun, and Freedom!
A: got my errands done before 8:30 AM, got to practice piano and record drums, and washed a load of dishes.
R: had three great lessons with my students who all worked hard this weeks and played great!
F: browsed the web and played Nintendo in between bouts of practicing.
F: impromptu movie date after a last-minute lesson cancellation!

Achievement: I supervised the 8th graders as they took their tests this week and it was impressive to watch their concentration and hard work. I remember what they were like as 6th graders and love seeing how they have matured. Many of them are teacher aides this year and excel with the younger students.
Respect: I had a group of girls in my office yesterday who are going through some tough times. They took some time to encourage one another and after a simple writing exercise all left saying they felt so much better, and were ready to go back to class.
Fun: Words With Friends
Freedom: being sequestered in a testing room has actually given me some time to gets caught up on lesson planning and paperwork.
No interruptions!

Achievement: meeting with all 8th graders to introduce them to Upward Bound. The presenters talked about how important community service is not only for getting scholarships, but for personal development in general. I posted a question on the student government blog regarding community service and I'm hoping the students come up with some ideas for a project all of BMS can participate in.
Respect: today was physical therapy day and I love going because Mike Close and his staff are always so welcoming, encouraging, and fun to be around.
Fun: sharing my new favorite chocolate ginger cookies from the Gingerbread Cookbook.
Freedom: Lunch at Great Northern Foods. It's fresh, affordable, and you can get there, eat, and be back in a half hour.

Achievement: Led a serious conversation with an out-of-hand class. It went wonderfully and they responded very well. Feel like a real teacher !

Respect: Seth woke up before 6am and made me breakfast! Best hubby :)

Freedom: Upon arriving home from school I promptly put on pajamas, grabbed a cup of tea and ignored the dishes.

Fun: A little sparkle can brighten any day.

Achievement: career fair sign ups
Respect: yoga with friends
Fun: pizza and a movie
Freedom: plans for sleeping in

Achievement: confirmed with all the career fair presenters.
Respect: message from Seth that a birthday gift is on its way to me!
Fun: played truth or dare and ended up with pink and green marker colored fingernails.
Freedom: thinking of all the possibilities for my 3 day weekend...

ARFF journal

It's been a while since I've posted and so I want to look back on the past few months and record some of the highlights.

Achievement:knitted scarves and mittens and wristers, sewed a set of placemats, sent out Christmas cards BEFORE Christmas, made a two day trip across the prairie in the middle of winter, lined up presenters for career day, started support groups, made it to the top of chair#2 and back down the mountain in one piece, survived an MRI, and braved acupuncture.

Respect: spent time with much loved family and friends, got an iTunes song and flowers and chocolate from my valentine, received lots of helpful feedback from student focus groups, sweet cards and notes from students.

Fun: exploring new trails and snowshoe treks, walking on Austin Lake, waking up in a cabin in the north woods of Wisconsin on Christmas morning, ringing in the new year with games, laughter, and fireworks.

Freedom: taking personal days to eat and ski and relax with family.