Saturday, May 23, 2015

Saturday Sayings: Time to Celebrate




I saw this on Twitter yesterday: 35 Things Every Teacher Should Do Before the School Year Ends. Number two stuck with me. 


2 - Celebrate success. Forget everything that you'd consider a failure, and focus on the successes in your class and at your school. Now, share them with everyone.

I needed number two. I've been feeling the burden of what I would consider failure in certain areas of school life. I want to be pro-active about those issues and develop some solutions for next year, and I'm bound and determined to do just that, but I can see how dwelling on it right now isn't the best option. I need a clear vision of all that went beautifully this year, so I can authentically celebrate with my students before I have to send them off. That's how I want to say farewell to the last nine months.  Celebrate.


Now, to share those successes with everyone.

  • I had a dreamy class.
  • It was Halloween before I heard a complaint or tattle about someone else, and they're still few and far between.
  • I never missed a day of beautiful things. I took three pictures of my students using their superpowers of character and shared them on my class website every night.
  • I eventually put the kids in charge of also finding beautiful things. They took this job seriously and were able to identify and celebrate each other. I shared those on my site too.
  • I shared videos of my kids talking about their math solutions on my class website to help educate parents about math instruction.
  • I often found my students walking around with books in their hands around school. How many times did I hear, "Can I take this book to recess?" 
  • I discovered ways to integrate the number line into unexpected math standards.
  • I taught place value and the power and friendliness of ten better than ever.

Anyone else feel like making a list? It's time to celebrate.


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8 comments:

  1. You accomplished a lot this year girl! :) I love your sharing beautiful things everyday-what a great way to make kids more aware of looking for the small moments to remember. If I were an administrator I would make all my teachers do a reflection like this!

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    1. Miss Trayers, finding the beautiful has been one of my favorite things this year. It needs to become a tradition now.

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  2. You have a lot to celebrate! So much greatness going on in your room under your leadership. As teachers, we can be pretty hard on ourselves sometimes with all that we want to accomplish and all that needs to be done. Congrats on all that you have done!
    Lori
    Conversations in Literacy

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    1. Lori, thank you for believing in the greatness in my classroom. Your support is always appreciated.

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  3. That's a fabulous list, very celebration worthy:)

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  4. Such a great reminder to celebrate! Thank you! Love the idea of kids finding beautiful things. I'm going to be looking for those next year, I'm sure!

    Crystal
    Teaching Little Miracles

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    1. Crystal, they were so good at finding the beautiful things too. I'll definitely be making this part of my practice each year.

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