What's Up Wednesday

Welcome to What's Up Wednesday! This is just a little glimpse into what has been up during the first few weeks of school! 

What I'm Working On

I am really loving this whole blogging thing! It's a great outlet for reflection and I love that I will be able to look back at this a few years from now to see what the trends were in education, what I was up to, and what my fellow teachers were up to. I am going to start a segment soon called Teacher Tuesdays. I will be highlighting some of my AMAZING colleagues and their dedication to their craft. My biggest problem is, who on earth do I choose first?!?!?! What a great problem to have! I am surrounded by the best of the best!

 Check out these amazing educators who grew up in this district, graduated from our high schools, and decided to come back to teach here. If that doesn't speak volumes about the legacy this district leaves in students' hearts, then I don't know what does! I am proud to be one of the educators who decided to call this district home again. 

I went to school here from Kinder-12th grade and this is my 12th year as an educator in the district, so I have been a part of this amazing community for 25 years!! Wait, does that make me old?

Heard Around the Halls

I asked a Kindergarten class if they knew what my job at school was. One little girl replied, "You are the person who puts a band-aid on our hearts if we don't feel so good inside." Perfection!

A Counselor's Life

I keep a jar of candy in my office for people who just need a little pick me up throughout the week. Here's the thing, I filled this jar up on the first day of school and it is GONE! I hear ya, teachers. Nothing puts me over the edge more than putting up a bulletin board and labeling every single thing in your sight. I feel your pain! Unfortunately, so does my mom. I think the biggest melt-down I ever had with her was over a bulletin board. I support your need to self-medicate. I guess it's time for another trip to Costco. 

P.S. Don't throw away any unwanted Halloween candy, you can donate to my "Staff Stress Relief Fund"

Technology Tip

I really struggled with organizing my office last year. I spent a ton of time looking for books that I knew I had, I just didn't know where. I started thinking, "there must be an app for that"! I did some research and downloaded about 5 different apps before finally settling on my favorite, Book Buddy! Now, I don't think I could live without it! 

This app lets you create your own categories based on your library collection. I spent a lot of time going through my books and finding categories that would work best for me. 

When I need to find a book, I choose the search icon (magnifying glass) and search for the book by title or author. Once I find the book, I check to see what category it is filed under. In the example below, you can see that the category listed at the bottom is "Friendship".

Then I go over to my bookshelves, find the friendship books, and my book is in that file. It's magical!

Book Buddy has saved me from buying multiple books because I didn't even know I had them. Adding your books is super easy and can be done by scanning the barcode into the chosen category. I even had some student helpers who did most of this for me after school.

P.S. There is a free version that holds 250 book titles. I went ahead and paid the $5 for the unlimited version because I also cataloged all my books left over from my first grade days. 

Something I am Listening to

In the morning, I really need to listen to people talking. I typically start with Ron Corning on Channel 8 and then listen to the Kidd Kraddick Show in the car. Lately, I have been needing a little something more than depressing news stories and celebrity gossip. Don't worry, I still get plenty of gossip from my pal Andy Cohen on WWHL. Anyway, I found #edchatradio on itunes podcasts and I love it. The segments are short and sweet (about 10-12 minutes) and really get me pepped up and ready for the school day. They also have a website which I have used on my school computer from time to time.  

This week on the way to work, I was listening to a chat about the shift from teaching kids what to learn to teaching them how to learn. Yes, students need curriculum and content. Yes, educators are also evaluated on this content through state and district assessments. However, students must know how to learn in order to succeed in basically any profession you can think of. It was definitely not curriculum I learned in high school or even college, that prepared me to problem solve on a daily hourly minute by minute basis in the classroom.

Business professionals were asked what skills they valued the most in the workforce. Their lists of skills included positive personal habits, strong communication, meaningful relationships, effective collaboration, and conflict resolution. HELLLOOO counselors, I think our jobs are safe for awhile. I am proud of our district for including Social Emotional Learning in the curriculum and of our teachers who constantly work on building classroom communities. Our staff uses teachable moments to work through those important life skills. I only get to see each class every other week so, I love when I teach a lesson and later hear a teacher referencing it during a class discussion. Music to my counselor ears!   

UPlifting Inspiration

This fits perfectly with the #edchatradio from above

  

Happy Wednesday