Saturday Sayings: Disguised as Weaknesses

My memory isn't great, but from what I hear, my mother did not enjoy taking me clothes shopping.  From a fairly early age, I stubbornly wanted nothing to do with what might have been fashionable. I preferred polos and pants.  (I'm not sure how they got me into ruffly tops that exposed my whole mid-section in the early to mid-70s.)  Some of that same stubbornness has followed me into my adult years.  How long have skinny jeans been back in style?  I just bought my first pair in November.  (But I refuse to wear them without boots.)  That stubborn streak, which seeps into other areas of my life, can be a weakness of mine, but could it also be a strength?

The quote I shared above could send me in one of several different directions, but my current situation is pushing me to one particular place of thought.  One of my newest additions brought with him many challenges.  One morning before school, a voice in my head and heart said, "You've got to find his strengths."  The mere fact that the thought made itself known proves the strengths weren't easy to spot.  

A few weeks ago I read a newsletter by Choice Literacy.  It shed some light on my search.  What seem like this child's flaws are also most likely his strengths.  So I have seen his strengths.  I just thought they were only his weaknesses.  I must change the lens with which I view him.  In fact, the same can be said for others in my classroom.  The bossy one has potential leadership skills.  The slow one is detail-oriented.  The one who's always trying to do things for those who need to be more independent has a motherly heart.  Their weaknesses are their strengths, as are mine.  I don't mind being my own person and coming into the fashions at my own slow pace.  I'm typically very comfortable looking and thinking like myself, even if I'm the only one.  The challenge is to focus on the strengths and be willing to acknowledge that they're sometimes found disguised as weaknesses.

The wonderful Choice Literacy newsletter I referred to can be found here. 

Dippity Doo Dah

Last week I shared a few of my favorite things to do during transitions at the very beginning of the year.  Check them out here.  I think it's important to mix up the transitions though and sometimes curriculum can help me decide which ones to use next.  Here are a few that I like to do that build better phonological awareness as we transition out of alphabet review.  I did not make these up and unfortunately can't remember where I found them.  Happy transitioning!

Click here for your own copies.

Thanks Barb for inviting me to link up!

Alphabetic Transitions

Good transitions are life-savers.  If you're interested in knowing how I keep track of them in my lesson plans, look here.  I have a few favorites that I use at the beginning of the year when reviewing the alphabet.  The kids enjoy them too, especially when it comes to Batman.  By the way, I did not make any of these up and unfortunately don't remember where I found them all.  Regardless, enjoy.

For your own copies, go here.

Finding More Minutes

Have you ever felt like you could perform magic in that classroom of yours if you either had more time or fewer students?  I've definitely dreamt about both.  I don't see either necessarily happening, at least for myself.  In light of this, I like to teach with a sense of urgency as recommended by my all-time favorite teacher guru, Regie Routman.  

Last year a new teacher in my building came to me one day and told me she'd noticed how quickly I get my kids in from recess and transitioned into learning.  She'd even done the math and figured I created about 20 extra minutes of teaching time each day because of that one strategy.  I hope it's okay I shared that.  I don't mean to pat myself on the back but to make the point that every minute does count and they might be found in unexpected places.  Sometimes we can tighten things up when we're searching for more minutes to teach all that's on the agenda.  

What do you think about these little nuggets? 

(my favorite)

Recently I found these great thoughts by way of a short and sweet, but powerful blog post titled "Maximize Your Time."  (Click on the graphic below to read it.  I'd highly recommend it.)  

During your visit, you'll also be able to read an excellent pdf about maximizing time, which is where the quotes above came from.  It's a great resource that you'll definitely want to check out.  (If you have troubles tracking down the pdf link, just holler.)

I believe that maximizing time, especially in my transitions, is so important that I even incorporate them into my weekly lesson plans.  Go here if you're interested in reading about that.  I hope something here has helped you track down a few unexpected but handy minutes of your own.

With a Sense of Urgency

Regie Routman talks about teaching with a sense of urgency. I suppose that could be interpreted many different ways. One of the ways that belief has found its way into my classroom is in my transitions.  I don't like to waste time during those parts of the day, and if you teach in an elementary classroom, you know there are about a million of them a day.  (Okay, so there might not be a million, but when my students use that word, it basically means "lots," so there you go.)  

In order to make the most of transitions, we sing, count, recite poems, etc.  I purposefully give them something to do, but in order to use the time effectively, I have to be prepared and know what I'm going to expect of them.  Here's how I make that happen.  I have a section in my weekly lesson plans for what I want to do during those times.  (Does everyone already do this?  If not, I'd highly recommend it.)  I do this on a week-by-week basis, because the things I want to do differ depending on the time of the year.  This is a picture of the transitions I was doing during the second week of school.

Whether you understand what all those transitions are or not isn't the point of course.  Staying organized and teaching with a sense of urgency is.  It's sure helps me!

A Little Song About Names

My kids aren't often required to turn in papers, but when they do, there's always a possibility one or two or three could find their way to me without a name.  This little song helps remedy that problem.  It's also a useful management tool, because they know their names need to be written before we finish singing it.  I'm all about streamlining transitions!  (I apologize.  I don't know where I found this song.)

Here are the words just in case you didn't catch them all and would like to make this part of your classroom routine.  

(Click on the picture for your own copy.)

Happy singing!

That's What It's All About

We sing our way through the day it seems.  It's such a great management tool, especially during transitions.  As you know, there are so many throughout the day that they can really eat up instructional time if you're not careful.  Many years ago, I borrowed the following idea from a brilliant teacher friend of mine.  Take a listen.

(I wish I could have shown their singing faces, but alas, I don't have permission.  I hope it's okay that one little face snuck into the picture for a split second.)

It works wonders and makes for efficient transitions.  We like to change the words for most anything they need out of their desks.  Pencils, crayons, you name it.