Category: Teaching & Education

Posted in Teaching & Education

My Students Need YOUR Help

Posted on by babbles&brains

I can usually handle everything with any materials I have in my classroom, but there’s a few things my student’s are not able to do their best without.

I’ve made a DonorsChoose project to get some Kindle Paperwhites. These are wonderful devices (I have one myself) and so useful for my students who struggle reading because of visual impairments or specific learning disabilities like dyslexia. We tried to get some for my students through the district, but we were rejected. So I’m here to ask for help getting these things for my students.

Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com

The features I find on the Kindle Paperwhite that are useful for my students are the ability to change the font style and size, high contrast mode, and the capability to listen to audiobooks. All of these cool features would be life-changing for some of my students who have a hard time reading and understanding texts. Though my district can purchase large-font texts of the books we are supposed to read, it’s just not enough to meet the needs of all of my students. The students do have Chromebooks, but with the limited ability to adjust many things on the Chromebook due to district settings and the constant glare of the computer screen, it does more harm than good for some of my students. Plus, the screens are so small, and even with changing the zoom or font size, it’s still to hard for some of my students. Kindle Paperwhites are small, but the font size can be set big enough for any of my visually impaired students to read.

Having Kindle Paperwhites for my students will help so many more than just one kind of special learning disability. All I need is five of them. The e-books to download are so much more affordable than the large font books, and often free. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good paper book, but for some of my kids, they need better options for accessibility.

If you find it in your heart to donate any amount of money for my 7-12th grade students to get these great tools for learning, please click on this link donorschoose.org and donate as soon as possible.

My students will appreciate it so much. I’m excited to see some of them finally enjoy reading instead of seeing it as something too difficult to do.

Thank you in advance and see you next time,

Babbles&brains

Posted in Teaching & Education

Focusing on the Good: Teaching in Fall 2020

Posted on by babbles&brains

We all need some good news right now, so all I’m going to focus on in this post is all the good things that are happening right now while I’m teaching during this pandemic. Today marks the third week of real distance teaching, and these are the good things I’ve chosen to focus on so far:

My students. I cannot get over how awesome my students are. They’re all ready and WILLING to learn. It is truly amazing and beautiful. Not even kidding I could brag about them all day. I am SO PROUD that my students are on top of things, and it makes keeping them accountable so much easier. I think they all miss being in school and want to be part of it even if it’s distantly. It makes my heart full. I know it’s not the same for all the grade levels, and Pre-K to 3rd grades really need all the community building time they can get and in-person instruction. I hope we can all get that soon. I am so happy that my middle and high school students are stepping it up to be their best.

Quiet time. I’m always available for my students during school hours, but during school hours it’s been so nice to give direct instruction and then let them do their thing while checking in. The kids like being able to have the opportunity to go and focus on their work and not get distracted by others. It’s not the same for all households, but they are getting into the groove of finding their perfect school area at home to learn. I have a few students who struggled last year who are absolutely killing it because they’re figuring out what works for them. Also, I can get my grading done much faster, which is the bane of my existence.

Helping out. Family is super important to me, and I have two nieces enrolled at my school. So I get to have them over a few times a week to work on staying on top of school during distance learning, as they both struggled a lot last spring. I am excited to give them a space to learn and grow during a pandemic. Plus, it helps my sister out while she is working to have someone to look out for her daughters. I’m more than happy to help whenever I’m needed.

Time to Calm Down. I get myself really busy, but being able to work from home has given me so many opportunities to work on my mental health and working on self-compassion. I know other teachers in other places don’t have the opportunity to work from home right now, but getting this time, even if it’s not going to last forever, has been such a blessing to my head space. Most of the time, anyway.

My Students. Did I mention them already? Because I LOVE being their teacher no matter what. Getting to teach them new things and interact at their level has been a really great learning experience.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the good things. The silver linings. The bright side. Positive vibes.

Do me a favor, and thank a teacher for persevering, for being tenacious, for caring. They need that right now. Make their whole week by just saying something kind.

Until next time,

Babbles&brains

Posted in Teaching & Education

Being a Middle School Teacher

Posted on by babbles&brains 
"That must be so difficult!" 
"I'll pray for you."
"I could never!"
"You must be a saint!" 
"I'm so sorry!" 
"Wait, you chose to teach middle school?!"

When people ask me about my profession, these phrases most often follow my reply. I sort of get that they’re trying to tell me my job is important. However, it also sounds like middle school kids are the absolute worst people in the universe.

Unpopular opinion: I don’t actually like when people say these things about my job, about my students. What, because they’re developing critical thinking skills and asking questions about their world and their truth they’re terrible? Are they presumed to be awful because they know how to post Tiktoks and keep streaks on Snapchat? I don’t agree with vilifying tweenagers. In fact, I am actually really lucky to be teaching middle school.

Here’s what is true about my students:
You can actually talk to them. Because seventh and eighth graders are older and developing critical thinking skills, we have many conversations about real-world experiences: how to vote, economics and taxes, health and well-being, family struggles, et cetera. They are curious about these things, and they want to practice having conversations with people about these things because they already know they will have to face these conversations as adults. Treating them as if you wouldn’t want to voluntarily go near them is actually harmful to their critical thinking skills and emotional state. I’m so lucky I have a group of students who want to have real conversations with me. I’m so lucky I don’t have to teach kids who don’t really understand what adulthood might be yet.

They are still adorable. Probably not in the same way as a roly-poly cuddly toddler, but they can still be just the cutest things ever. Examples: An eighth-grader yelling at someone to get tissues right away because they saw a seventh grader crying under a table outside, catching a seventh grader who hates reading completely engrossed in a book you recommended, a wiggly tween bouncing around on a yoga ball while intensely working at their desk, and watching all of these kids from different backgrounds actually caring about each other and becoming true friends. I’m lucky I get to witness how cute they are and be a part of their formative years.

They aren’t evil. Sure, I get some days of attitude and exaggerated drama. I get tattle-tales and sidekicks (those who decide to like to say “Yeah, Mrs. Huft said _____” after I correct a student). They’re still young, and they are learning how to socialize. They’re learning how to process their emotions. They’re learning how to create lasting bonds. I’ve got two students who I would have never imagined being the sweetest and hardworking students ever calling me “mom” because even though they put up their hard walls with attitude, I didn’t back down and cared instead. How could someone say “I’m sorry” that I teach middle school when they are all learning how to be loving and kind? I am so lucky that I get to teach students right at the age where they are trying to figure out who they truly want to be and help them get there.

My job is awesome. I love my students.

Until next time,
Babbles&brains