Happy New School Year! (Part One)

Happy New Year! School year, that is. Are you excited? Maybe you’re a bit sad to see Summer wave, “So long.” I am . But here in Texas, we’re pretty ready to boot summer out by the end of August. At least, we want to show the heat out and show the Autumn  cool in.

If you teach in the classroom, at home, or both (That’s me!) it’s time. We teachers lead the way.

Here is one of my all-time favorite quotes for educators:

“I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate.  It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous.  I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or deescalated, a child humanized or dehumanized.”

quote by Haim Ginott  Teacher and Child (1976)  Avon Books

We have to come in with a positive attitude. And we owe it to our students to be prepared. One of my favorite books on getting the school year off to a bright start is: The First Days of School (How to be an Effective Teacher) by Harry K. and Rosemary T. Wong.

This book shows teachers how to bring their best professional educator selves to the classroom. You will find a treasury of tips on running a successful classroom. These tips include: preparing yourself and your environment, lesson planning, and teaching procedures. If you are clear in explaining exactly what you want the children to do, and you are consistent, you will be your most effective self in the classroom.

Happy Teaching, where ever that may be for you!

🙂 Karona Drummond

We Can All Be Bucket Fillers

 

“All day long, everyone in the whole wide world walks around carrying an invisible bucket.” That is how this wonderful book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today?, begins.  This bucket, according to author Carol McCloud, contains good thoughts and feelings about ourselves.

How do we keep our buckets full? By filling other people’s buckets. How do we fill other people’s buckets? By our kind words and deeds. What if someone tries to dip into our bucket by being unkind to us? We close the lids of our buckets to the unkind individual.

I stumbled upon this beautiful concept picture book while shopping for school supplies at Mardel. I bought the book right then and there. I shared Have You Filled a Bucket Today? with my family, fellow teachers, and the director of the school where I teach. We are going to spend this school year learning how to be “bucket fillers”.

There are other related books, and free activities at the bucket fillers website: www.bucketfillers101.com  .

Also, take a look at Pinterest. Check out the way other moms and teachers have implemented bucket filling into their homes and classrooms.

Now go forth and be bucket fillers! 🙂

Karona Drummond