Cultivating Relationships with Diverse Learners

"Learning something new gives us the opportunity to reflect upon the challenges and fears our students face daily; the stress and threat of failure, peer or teacher criticism, material presented outside of student learning styles, and grades given before the material is mastered." (Bonnie M. Davis)

I feel one of the best ways to welcome students into my class is to be prepared. as the students enter the classroom, I am ot organizing paperwork or otherwise distracting myself. I want my full attention to be on greeting students, measuring the emotional levels and actively listening during conversastions with students. I greet as many students as possible. A few years ago, our middle school began the tardy sign-in system. If the students enter late, they merely sign the ledger then the office will make attendance adjustments later. This helps the student enter the classroom without notice which allows a more welcoming attitude.

I understand that greeting the students is an important component of cultivating relationships. Leaning into a conversation helps me to focus on what the person is saying. I will look into having someone video tape my welcoming procedures, but that may be a challenge to make happen. People who I enjoy spending time with normally do not cross their arms, they listen without interrupting the conversation, they do not text friends when spending time with me, they are not judgmental and they smile a lot. I try to do as many of these behaviors as I can. I can improve by speaking louder and not interrupting the conversation.

Finding a way to measure the emotional climate in a classroom is important. I have a poster that says "How are you feeling today?" that was displayed in my classroom each year. I also have an 8 x 10 of the poster that I make copies of give to the students. There are faces on the poster that reflect different emotions and the students can look at them and give a word matching their feelings. Effective teaching and learning can be accomplished when emotional needs are met, so if the students come into the classroom after recess and are all charged up they need some down time. Teachers can provide that needed time if they consider the emotional needs of the students.

There are many ways to build relationships with students. I try to get to know their names as soon as possible and try to attend as many of their events as possible. Administratively, we post dates of games, events and activities and encourage attendance. Our service projects with community organizations, offer students opportunities to participate in authentic projects. They are given opportunities to serve the homeless, elderly and disabled. Within our school community, the Green Team paper recycling team gathers, sorts and recycles paper products for the middle school and high school library. Last year the campus recycled almost 15 tons of paper much of which is from the efforts of the students. Their accomplishments are given notice in the home-to-school newsletter, online newsletter and end-of-year celebration.

Edu-Speak Inspiring Diverse Learners to Love Reading and Writing

"Writing gives us power--the power to influence and change our world, the means to ameliorate friendships through written communication, the tool to understand our inner selves." (Bonnie M. Davis)

"For too many students, reading is just "eating" words with no time to savor them." (Bonnie M. Davis) Understanding our own level of readership is the key to motivating our students to read and incorporating more reading and writing into our subject areas. Too often, my students read just to cover the material. The demands of extra-curricular activities, homework and lack of organizational skills can all impact the quality time students spend reading. By taking time to analyze my own reading habits, I gain a better understanding of the reading patterns and challenges my students may be experiencing.

I am an avid reader. I choose books that cover my specific subject area, but have also been fortunate to have students who share their books with me. I know what books are on the best seller list and often read them myself - the TWILIGHT series - for example. My reading history reflects the strong emphasis I have put on reading. Growing up in a household of books and magazines, I was always reading from lots of different sources. My grandmother, who was Polish, would sit in her rocker chair and read the Polish newspaper each week. As a child, I would check out books from the library, read books found in boxes in the attic and devour the celebrity magazines my aunt would bring over. My mom would ask me to spell words as I was falling asleep (no kidding!) So, reading, writing and spelling have been a part of my life for well over fifty years and I am so glad to be able to say that.

A classroom where all student love to read is filled with artwork, quotations, collages and summaries about topics of interest to the students. I imagine classical music played in the background and over-sized comfy chairs in the corners of the classroom. I might simulate a classroom like that by providing a space where students who are finished with their assignment can go to read or give them a library pass to check out books or do research.


I know it is very important that students know how to effectively communicate in writing both formally and informally. I am a writer. I have a blog spot and regularly update Facebook. I communicate regularly using email and frequently use snail mail around the holidays. At school, I created our seventh grade newsletter including articles from our faculty team.

In a classroom where diverse learners read and write, I envision posters reflecting a student's cultural background on posters, essay, and pictures. I hear students reading selections in their native language. I see myself researching books and magazines that reflect the cultural diversity of my students. Bulletin boards would include words and phrases from many languages. I'd also like to invite speakers to the classroom to speak to students about their experiences learning about science. It is important to read aloud to the students. There are many writers like Isaac Asimov who have interesting novels and short stories that the students would be interested in reading aloud. By using a variety of techniques, we can easily incorporate enriching reading and writing projects to reach our diverse learners.

based upon the book HOW TO TEACH STUDENTS WHO DON'T LOOK LIKE YOU - Bonnie M. Davis

Great Tech Resource

Native Plants for Intermountain Landscapes

Intermountain Native Plant Grower's Association
"Utah's Choice"

Plants for Shady Spots
Firechalice
Fernbush
Golden Currant
Maple Mallow
Sticky Geranium
Whipple Penstemon
Creeping Oregon Grape





Drought-hardy shrubs provide year-round interest
Cliffrose
Apache Plume
Oakleaf Sumac
Utah Serviceberry
Green Mormon Tea
Littleleaf Mockorange
Mountain Big Sagebrush

Ornamental grasses add texture and structure
Alkali Sacaton Grass
Indian Ricegrass
Little Bluestem
Blue Grama

Low-water-use perennials in a rainbow of colors
Gooseberryleaf Globemallow
Firecracker Penstemon
Desert Four O'Clock
Wasatch Penstemon
Palmer Penstemon
Indian Paintbrush
Utah Sweetvetch
Little Beebalm

Low-growing plants for sunny city strips
Fragrant Evening Primrose
Sulfurflower Buckwheat
Sundancer Daisy
Showy Sandwort
Utah Penstemon
Utah Ladyfinger
Dwart Yucca
Shadscale
Desert Sage

Water-wise native trees - ideal for home landscapes
White Fir
Pinyon Pine
Gambel Oak
Bigtooth Maple
Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany

Property Crimes on the Rise with Economy on the Decline

That is a headline in our local newspaper.
What can we do? Caroline Kingsley reports:

1. Keep personal information safe.
2. Check www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com where you can learn about the circulating Internet scams and how to avoid them.
3. Auto theft - lock car, hide valuables or don't leave them in the car.
4. Close garage doors and lock doors.
5. Always report crime.
6. Get to know your neighbors and watch out for each other.

Home Decorating

Oh, to decorate like Mother Nature......

I admire people who can decorate with style. Looking through magazines and watching HGTV presents lots of how-to ideas. The ideas motivate me into action. Yesterday I bought a curtain rod that spans my living room window. It measures over 70 inches. I nailed the hinges 4 inches above the frame and 4 inches to the right/left of the frame. Did I mention I am not too handy with tools? I love trying to do things like this. So, gather the tools grab the kitchen chair to stand on and away we go. I measured, drilled the holes, input the plugs, inserted screws into brackets and placed the rods on the brackets. Voila! Round two is buying curtains. Today I will venture out and look for a sale. Wish me luck!

Rain, Rain....don't go away!

June in Utah... I love the rain. It is energizing and if nothing else a topic for conversation. In a few weeks, our beautiful state will be blessed with sunshine, heat and more heat. This weekend marks the formal beginning of summer and I am ready. Each day is a gift.

She's Baaaacccckkkkk

She's Baaaaacccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkk,
Wonder where I have been? I will catch you up over the next few days.

Creative Artwork Blog

Hello Everyone,

Visit http://allgoodart.blogspot.com to see some awesome artwork created by
a local Utah artist.

Enjoy this brisk winter day and God Bless!

Remember to recycle paper.

Peace,
em :)

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Have you heard about this?

About 500 miles west of San Francisco lies the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). It is a point in the Pacific where the water currents converge in a vortex of swirling waters. Amidst this lie Legos, plastic bags, plastic bottles, garbage, and assorted trash. "The enormous stew of trash - which consists of 80% plastics and weighs some 3.5 million tons - floats where few people ever travel," said Marcus Eriksen, director of research and education at the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. His group has been monitoring the patch for 10 years. It covers approximately ten million square miles, about the size of Africa.

As if that was not bad enough, there are two other patches - one growing off the coast of Chile and the other near Antarctica.

Chris Parry says "the patch has been growing tenfold every decade since the 1950s." The majority of the trash is generated onshore, so it is preventable if we all think about where our trash ends up after we throw it in our waste cans. Even though this problem has been around for lots of years, early trash degraded at a higher rate than our current plastics as we manufacture them to resist breaking down.

The GPGP is so dangerous for birds and marine life. Birds will eat the plastic bits as they appear to be bits of food for the birds. Entanglement is also an issue. Plastic can kill sea life.


Please recycle your plastic water bottles and other items. Remove the lid for easier processing at the plant. It is well worth all of our efforts.

April 2009, the Plastiki, a 60 foot catamaran, will sail almost 12,000 miles from San Francisco to Sydney. The vessel is made of plastic water bottles. David deRothchild hopes his voyage will call attention to the GPGP and raise awareness of the importance of recycling. You can follow his blog at www.theplastiki.com . The blog will begin in April, but if you go to the site you can find out more information about Adventure Ecology. We will be following the progress in my science classroom.

PLEASE RECYCLE!

Spring

When is spring coming? Today is so cold and rainy... brrrrrrr.