Mining For Hidden Gems

Photo by Alex Guillaume on Unsplash At first it was just a game to have a brain break and use up the last few minutes of class before going to lunch. But as I observed my fourth graders playing, I saw an opportunity to learn about what makes for a productive conversation, in class or outside; now as ten year olds or later as adults. The object of the game is to count from one to ten in order, as a group, without knowing who goes next. One person will say "one",  another will follow with "two", and on we go untill we reach "ten". If two people talk at the same time, we start over. It is almost impossible but it is fun and when we finally get to ten, there is loud cheering. The first few rounds we couldn't get past one because the same two or three kids wanted to be the first to start. These were the same students that always raised their hands to participate in class discussions, the same ones who initiated the group work. They are proactive and their ...

By: Susan Hansen and Andrea Greene In 2016 Andrea and I and Carolyn Pierce presented a session on the Power of Expectations at our school district's professional learning conference. As part of that presentation, Andrea tried to synthesize her own experiences as a teacher who sees greatness in every child, with the acronym RELATIONSHIPS. For years we have been wanting to expand on these thoughts as a way to demystify what it means to truly have high expectations and believe students into becoming their true selves. Here is a beginning. Joing us at our monthly Recharge Your Teacher Soul event to contribute to this conversation. ****************** What we fundamentally believe about human nature determines how we treat each other. All the world’s spiritual teachings tell us that humans are created in God’s image, that they are “mines, rich in gems of inestimable values”, that there is gold buried in all of us. When a teacher steps into a classroom with this belief firmly held, it is ...

This has been a hard year for teaching and learning. In the Fall, every week seemed like the first week of school and every teacher felt like a first year teacher. To the normal anxieties of teaching (Am I reaching all of my students? Is there enough time to plan for everything? Have I done all the proper paperwork to get the right kind of help for each kid?) were added some new ones: What if I get sick? What if I bring the virus home to my own family? What do I do with my own kids who are learning remotely when I am asked to teach in person? What about all the kids I cannot reach, physically or emotionally because they are muted behind a black Zoom square on my computer screen?  In the midst of all this, I had a new job. I had gone back to instructional coaching after three years in the classroom. I was excited to be part of offering the dual language program in two of our middle schools for the first time. I had an awesome team of four teachers to work with. But this was not the ...