Monday Mash-Up: Of Smirkers and Sportsmanship

It's been a while since I put together a Monday Mash-Up, but I've been saving posts as they come along, so this one has some real gems for you!

They really have no common theme, but they're all pieces I thoroughly enjoyed for one reason or another- and hope you will, too.

• "Winning, Losing, and Loving It: Have We Taught Sportsmanship?"  from Daydreaming in Maths, deals with something I preach to my students constantly.  Joanna coaches the chess team for her school, and I coach an academic competition team.  I've always thought I wasn't a "good coach" or "coach material" because I'm not angry when they lose.  In fact, I really could not care less.  What I do care about is that my team conducts themselves like ladies and gentlemen.  I loved reading that someone else feels the same.

• Love, Teach, as always, is a favorite blog of mine.  "Smirker, Round Two" is a hilarious piece about the frustration of dealing with those general bad-attitude kids.  We've all had 'em.

• Elizabeth of E, Myself, and I wrote beautifully about "What I Want My Own Little Monster to Know About Dreams, College, and the Future,"  and though it's written for parents, it's another great teacher-read.  Elizabeth's goals for her adorable little boy Sam are some of the same goals I have for my students: that they have someone who loves and cheers for them, that they don't stress out about the little things, and that they are able to pick themselves up after making mistakes or failing.  If only all our students had parents who loved and supported them like this.

• "To the teacher who didn't leave me behind" is a piece that appeared on The Roanoke Times.  It's a great inspirational reminder to not give up on our kids, even if they're not being sportsmanlike or if they smirk or if they just aren't very resilient.

• Finally, who doesn't love a good lesson plan that's already done?!  I'm teaching both Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar right now, in two different English classes, and this one, "Serving Up Tragedy" from The Curly Classroom, is pretty awesome.  It uses paper plates to help students study and compare the elements of tragedy and comedy-- cheap hands-on learning always rocks my socks!

My next Better Together linky party will be up in one week-- get your posts ready!  The focus this month is on "Fun in the Classroom." 

Monday Mash-Up: The Real World

Happy Monday morning!  I am thrilled to call my first linky, Better Together, a success.  I needed help, so I reached out to my blogging friends for advice.  I love collaborating with other great teachers, and I can't express enough how much better we all are together.  I had four great entries- check them out!

1. "Collaboration=Creative Genius," from Katie @ The Oatmeal Chronicles contributed lots of great ideas: paired work, tiered questions, extension cards, and "switching students" in co-teaching settings.  I am especially excited about the extension cards, and am working on a set of those for my room today!  (And I used her narrative-songs-for-plot-structure lesson plan Thursday with great success!)

2. "Teaching Tuesday: Classroom Management," from Elizabeth @ E, Myself, and I discusses mutual respect, tough love, and being a team player.  My favorite part?  

"If you call me a b*^#@$, I'm giving you detention and calling home.  Every.time.  Period.  BUT, I'm not going to cause a scene about it, and I'm NOT going to hold a grudge.  The next morning, I will greet you with a smile.  When it's done, it's done."

3. "Better Together," from Suzanne @ The Curly Classroom offers some great advice for co-teaching, which I'm new to this year.  While I feel like my co-teacher and I are off to a great start, I definitely hope to start planning more together.

4.  "Stayin' Alive: My Classroom Management Survival Strategy," from Joanna @ Daydreaming in Maths has some good classroom management tips for surviving with those "trouble-makers."  I love the bit about spending quality time with them and getting to know their "why."  Plus, it's kind of awesome that Joanna is from Cape Town, South Africa!  

Keep your eyes peeled for my next Better Together Link-Up in October.  I'd love suggestions for topics!

Now, on to some of my other favorites from around the blogosphere this week-- which all seem to revolve around the real world.

"The 'Real World,'" from Josh @ Stump the Teacher is a deep inspection of what those two words mean.  Every teacher likes to think that s/he is preparing students for the real world, but what exactly does that entail?  We may not realize it, but many kids are already living in a world that's all too real.  

"Why I'll Let My Kids Get Teased at School," by Adriana Velez for The Stir is another one of those for-moms-but-could-definitely-be-for-teachers-too posts.  I have said for a long time that rather than constantly harping about eliminating bullying, we should spend as much time teaching our kids to develop a thick skin and react appropriately.  There will always be bullies in the real world, even in adulthood.  We choose to give them power over us-- or not.  Please know, I'm not in the business of ignoring bullying.  I just really like what Adriana has to say about the importance of letting kids learn to deal.

Similarly, "Have We Made Things TOO Easy for Today's Kids?" by Bill Ferriter for the Center for Teaching Quality focuses on the fact that teachers are working much harder than students in many classrooms today.  He compares modern classrooms to the ones he attended as a student, and the results are obvious.  Again, I'm not calling for a return to teachers who do nothing but lecture and dole out classroom spankings, but I do think it's time we give kids some responsibility.  After all, isn't that our job-- to prepare them for the real world?

Finally, a look into a classroom where kids are learning in the real world:  Katie @ A Hundred Affections has put together "A Crazy Idea That Just Might Not Be So Crazy After All."  In order to help her students connect to their American literature studies in a real way, Katie has devised a heartwarming, beautiful, educational service-learning project for her students.  They'll be writing a memorial book, creating a memorial garden, and even marching with The Wounded Warrior Project.  This is the kind of service-learning kids will never forget, and I can't think of a way to better connect classroom learning with the real world.  Major kudos!

Monday Mash-Up: Teacher Moms and Tin Foil

Good Monday morning!  It was a beautiful autumnal weekend at my house- so beautiful, in fact, that I'm not sure I'm ready for Monday to be here.  Alas, it is-- so here's some good reading to brighten your Monday.

"6 Words You Should Say Today" by Rachel Macy Stafford for HuffPost reminds us of the importance of encouraging words. Although written for mothers, this post (like many other mom-blogs) speaks to me as a teacher, too.  Take a look at these six words, and I think you'll understand.  Phrases like "I love to watch you write" and "I love to hear you read Juliet's part" come to mind.

"Character Foils-- That's a Wrap!" from Lori at The Curly Classroom brings dramatic foils to life with a hands-on activity involving real aluminum foil.  I love the creativity involved here, and how a few rolls of aluminum foil could easily cement a literary term in the minds of my students.

"Domestic Enemies of the Teacher Mom" from Rants from Mommyland is hilarious and oh-too-true.  I have taught lots of my colleagues' children over the years, and I know it isn't fun to be a "teacher's kid."  This piece focuses on the other half of that partnership-- the Teacher Mom-- and all the struggles involved in having two incredibly tough and important jobs.

Morning Meetings with Jesus: 180 Devotions for Teachers, by Susan O'Carroll Drake, isn't a blog like most of my Monday Mash-Up pieces; it's a book.  I have to share even if it breaks format. I found it while surfing for a few new Kindle books, and I love it.  Each devotion (one for every day of the school year) is short and to-the-point, and comes across as uplifting, not "preachy."  I read one each morning while I get ready, and I find that they're an inspiring start to my school days.

Finally, "No Defense for Webster's 'N' Word," from Secondary Solutions, is a great read for teachers and students.  English teachers encounter this word in lots of great literature. (Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn come to mind immediately.) It's always uncomfortable and can spark some heated discussion among my students, so I like to address it up front with the kids.  This article links to a great PDF, written by Earl Ofari Hutchinson, that I plan to share in class this week.


Did I miss anything great this week?  Please share fantastic "teacher-reads" in the comments. And-- don't forget to link up with me this week to share some tips for Better Together!

When It All Goes Wrong: Monday Mash-Up

Happy Monday!  I have just a couple of favorites to share this week, but they're both true gems.  For me, the first few weeks are always difficult.  I am tired, I don't know all of my kids well yet, and I'm adjusting to a new schedule.  The best laid plans of mice and teachers . . . well, you know the rest.  Both of my Monday Mash-Up honorees this week address what it's like when things just go wrong.

1. "They Can't All Be Great," from The Curly Classroom, describes my nightmare classroom scenario.  It has happened to all of us:  you've planned a fantastic lesson that should inspire critical thinking and personal connections with a text, only to see it fall flat.  

2.  "How a Rough First Year Became a Career," by Justin Minkel for The Center for Teaching Quality, describes my career perfectly.  I have to say, my first year was straight from hell in many ways.  I went through some personal issues that year, and added to the stress and struggle of being a brand-new teacher, I would never have made it without lots of support from my teacher-friends.  But, as Minkel writes, I learned from it and grew into a better person and educator.

Monday Mash-Up: Character Education Edition

The first few days of school kicked my butt, y'all.  And of course, teaching comes first-- so my apologies, but I missed my Monday Mash-Up last week.  So to make up for it . . . I lumped all my favorites from last week in with this week's.  Take a look!

1. An Open Letter to Parents from Your Child's Teacher, from A Hundred Affections, tells it like it is.  Honestly?  It should be required reading for all parents.  Every August.  

2. 23 Things I Want My Kids to Know, from Finding Joy, is a poignantly written piece about teaching kids what's really important in life.  Although it's written by a mother (and probably for mothers), it made perfect sense to me as a teacher.  Some key "things" that stood out:  

           7. Help others. Volunteer.  Give of               your time.

           14. Seek to understand.

           18. Always be willing to learn.

Character education at its finest: this is one mom who doesn't need to read the Open Letter.  She already gets it.

3. Lord, Miley Cyrus caused a bit of a stir this week with her VMA performance.  Parents (and teachers) shuddered across America.  And the internet exploded.  Dear Students, Never Feel Like You Have to Be Miley Cyrus, by Eat.Write.Teach., speaks to our kids about self-respect.  I love that this post doesn't focus on the negative, but goes on to name a long list of celebrities who do set a positive example.

4.  And finally- a different view.  The beautifully named She isn't a hurricane. reminds us all that Ms. Cyrus is indeed a human being.  Kudos to the talented Hannah Brencher for gently and poetically shaming me out of my mean-girl judgment and into the compassion Miley probably really needs from the world right now.  

Monday Mash-Up: From Apostrophes to Bayside High

Busy week, everybody!  Open House today, one more glorious lunch out with my teacher-friends work day, and then it's ON.  The kids return Wednesday-- so let's celebrate with my favorite blog postings of the week.

1. "Keeper of the Knowledge" from Erika at Something Beautiful
I love this blog.  Erika's not a teacher, but man, is she hilarious!  I have to include this one because of her side-splitting rant about the erroneous use of apostrophes in plural words.  Preach it, sister!  The English teachers of the world are behind you.

2. "The truth about homework in schools" from Life of an Educator by Justin Tarte
Disclaimer-- I am not sharing this one because I agree with everything Justin says.  I am sharing because, as a teacher who believes in homework, I do think we need to more carefully consider the purposes of our assignments.  Take a look at the comments for thought-provoking, intelligent, respectful conversation among educators.

3. "Schools Need More Zach Morris and Less Jessie Spano" from The Nerdy Teacher
A vlog, this one is an ode to the students who aren't perfect.  Sadly, there are those in the world who'd rather just teach student-council member honor students and forget the rest.  Where's the fun in that?  As a student, I was a Jessie Spano-- but some of my favorites people are Zach Morrises.(Major bonus points for connecting it all to my favorite childhood tv show!)

4. "Five Pesky Classroom Behaviors I Don't Allow" by Ariel Sacks at the Center for Teaching Quality
Ariel provides a list of unspoken rules she keeps in her classroom, and a great explanation for each one.  As I read, I was thinking about my own "not-allowed pesky behaviors."  I think my biggest pesky behavior pet-peeve is desk-tipping.  


And a reminder-- TeachersPayTeachers is having their Back-to-School sale right now-- up to 28% off everything when you use the code "BTS13."  Sale ends at midnight tonight, and they even accept school purchase orders as payment!

Monday Mash-Up: From Mommy Guilt to Bear-Maulings

Welcome to my first-ever Monday Mash-Up!  I read so many words of wisdom from other bloggers, and it's time I started sharing.  Soooo- starting now, every Monday I'll share my favorites of the week, in what I'm calling the Monday Mash-Up.

Some of my favorites from last week:

1-
It's back-to-school time, which means a lot of stress for every teacher. In "Mommy Guilt," Ms. Understood deals with a special kind of stress-- the heartbreak a teacher-mom feels when it's time to go back to school and leave her little one at home. 

2- "Why Teaching Is So Doggone Hard," from Enjoying the Journey, is something I stumbled across on Facebook, and I'm glad I did! We've all had those people (even those who love us) who can't understand the workload involved in education.  Jennie explains perfectly why it's so frustrating when people just don't get it-- and why we're in this anyway.

3- 
My county starts the usual round of pre-school professional development activities tomorrow, and we all know that those sessions are sometimes fantastic and sometimes, well . . . not-so-much.  Here's a laugh to get you through it: "If I ran professional development," from Love, Teach.  {And lunch girls?  No more pulling hair and kicking.  Where can we find a bear?}  ;)

4- 
I don't care what you say about yours, my school has the best office staff in the entire world.  Really.  Our two ladies traverse the battlefield that is a high school office without ever breaking a sweat, and do it all with a big smile on their faces.  And a bottomless bowl of desk-candy for the teachers.  This post, "Hangin' in the Office," from Hangin' with Hekken, reminded me to say thanks.