Teachers: Keep making a difference!

Teachers should be looking forward to make a real difference in our students' lives... leave a lasting impact on them even if they are the one causing us the most trouble. 

Growth takes time... but we plant the seed in our students’ young hearts and minds so it will grow and bring fruits (although sometimes we might not see it). There are students who actually care, students who are grateful; learning and growing even if they never let us know.

Those long hours and the shed tears we have to deal with... our biggest frustrations and our deepest hurts, and still... we put so much thought and effort into doing our best for our students and being the best teacher we can for their sake. We, teachers, should emphasize the kids’ needs above our own.

In the midst of the busyness, the frustration, the chaos, we should take a moment and remember the real reason why we are teaching; that satisfaction of awake the joy in creative expression and knowledge, the inspiration we become for the students.  We work to influence our students and we live for that moment in which they will tell us “because of you, I didn’t give up”.

It doesn’t matter what’s happening around us.

Teachers, don’t give up, don’t quit, and keep making a difference.

“A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind and touches a heart”

Do we really need to enhance student’s self-esteem?

Self-esteem is how we see ourselves, the value we give to our personal characteristics. We build a self-esteem once we’re born, and we know it is impossible to turn back time and change things from our past that affected us in anyway. But yes we can influence the development of self-esteem on our students. They are easily mold, and it is important to realize that what we teach today will influence them tomorrow. When our students learn to build self-esteem from a young age they are doing an investment in  their present and future happiness. 

As teachers we should always beware of the negative comments we might say to our students. YES we have to tell when they have done something wrong, but in a way they don’t feel accused. We can tell them "you're wrong ", but we should never say " you're stupid " or "you don’t do anything right ".

Students should be able to discover, explore, create, have their personal space, and learn from their mistakes. They should feel secure to discover things and get to answers, with teacher’s approval and support. Overprotecting, giving them the answers, and putting them in the easiest situation can make their confidence about themselves weak and their ability to use their own knowledge and reasoning will be below expectation.

The nonverbal communication has to be consistent with what we express verbally. Teachers have to let students see a smile, a sincere gesture of approval or a hug to build self-esteem more than anything else. We have to show them how proud we are, not only for what he or she does well, but the whole person.

Students are frighten and afraid to make mistakes or fail… There is nothing that limits us and affects our learning skills more than be afraid of being wrong . The best way to help them go through mistakes is to calmly explain how to avoid making it again in the future.

Something we, as teachers, should always do, is to encourage their sense of self-efficacy. Whenever we can say, "You can do it", " you are unique, special", we should say it. To show students that we trust them; we help them believe in their capabilities. If they complete assignments correctly, we should make them feel proud… if they make a mistake and they face it, we should make them feel way much better and show them how proud we are.

TEACHERS, WE HAVE TO ATTEND THEIR EMOTIONAL NEEDS. We have to be aware of students emotions and always keep in touch with their parents. Students know they can trust their teacher for whatever they need when we give them the approval and demonstrate them that we care about their feelings. We are that person that can listen to them and give them attention. The emotional support is one of the strongest roots of self-esteem, and it will develop a trust in others and in themselves.

We should never underestimate students concerns. We might see the magnitude of the problem very different from the point of view of our students. We should give importance the situation, and listen to what he or she has to say without ignoring what it can bring them. The student has to feel his or her opinion is valid.

It is important for teachers to detect self-esteem issues. We have to be aware of the areas in which our students 's self-esteem may be faltering (social, academic, physical... ) in order to work with them. We are molding a person who will be productive, and effective in a not so far future. The more self-confidence gained, the easier it will be for the child to face the world and its challenges. We all have an important role in this process. Lets enjoy it and work with parents on it!

You're free to speak.

        Educate, shape, mold productive entities for an eminent and effective future. All these concepts can't be linked to the development of individual personalities. Every child is different, learns differently and enjoy things in different ways.

        For children to learn, they need to internalize and capture the information so that they can adapt it to their reality. As a teacher, we use to present a small structure and we try to stick the child to a paradigm without having the opportunity to get his or her own reasoning.

         We're all adapted to a sad and boring standard of living. A way of life that makes you vulnerable to depression and  makes your life a nonsense waist of time. You find yourself at a comfort zone where you prefer to stay for "security"... thinking you're doing something good for you, working as hard as you can... WELL... think again! You are only completing a schedule and following a regulation based on the immediate benefits of authorities. You're not standing up for yourself declaring why you don't agree with your boss, or why you're mad at your partner who's always right even when he or she is wrong. Well, we can blame this on education. The lack of "think by yourself"... giving students the answers to questions not allowing them to develop or get to the answers by thinking. ACTUALLY USING THEIR BRAIN.

        An unfair world where children are educated as robots without freedom to think , criticize , analyze and especially apply concepts to their daily situations, problems, or realia. What if we stop this established methodology? Every child, as an special and unique entity, can develop an overwhelming intelligence and a desire to express thoughts, feelings, believes, disagreements, and so on. We all have the right to say how we feel and what we believe... We learn and grow from those mistakes we face. 

Each child should be treated as a special and individual entity. Now days, teachers spend most of the time yelling at students and not wanting them to move from their chairs. As a teacher we can't force them to be seated , but if we get them interested in the class we're teaching, that is a satisfying victory. A subtle and effective way to get their attention is to apply it to their daily basis and what they see every day. Present what we teach with an everyday situation and children will feel comfortable because they know what they're talking about, they will compare and contrast, they will see familiar terms,  they will internalize meanings, and the best reaction you will get, is their confidence to give an opinion and speak their mind.

Inspire with the environment!

Ohhhhhhh classroom decorations, a pain for some teachers, a therapy for others... a MUST for me! Students spend most of their time in a classroom... teachers can influence in students desire to learn by making decisions about the classroom layout. A classroom can say a lot to students and parents about us as teachers. We can let students know what we expect from them, let them know how exciting learning can be, and get them inspired on great things! That special place where students learn, that’s my classroom... And I think it’s very important to put an effort into preparing it because at the end it will always be worth it.

Desk organization also influences in students motivation and speaks about your teaching style. For example, depending on the grade level, if you organize desks by two they will know they’ll work in pairs, as a team with others, or if they will work by themselves. The traditional organization of rows of individual desks is boring, they get really excited when they get to the classroom and chairs are already fixed in a different way as it was before. Of course it all depends on the class you’ll be teaching and what works they will be doing during that day.

So this is what I’m doing this school year, and my students are very happy!

I’ve been planning in decorating my class with Dr. Seuss theme for a long time... I finally did it! Here are some pictures of my classroom.

A walk through students with learning disabilities head...

There are several indicators of disabilities presented in early childhood. Starting with coordination problems, unaware of physical surroundings, difficulty in learning new skills, or memorizing class, remembering things that happened, confusing basic words, lack of concentration, troubles with phonetics, reading errors such as inversions, transpositions, substitutions and letter reversals, problem solving simple math problems, impulsive behavior, and so on.

Disabilities are qualified in different types:

Dyslexia: The student has difficulty learning to read.

Dysgraphia: Is a deficiency in the ability to write primarily in terms of handwriting, but also in terms of coherence.

Dyscalcula: Students have problems reasoning and solving math problems.

These disabilities affect students learning skills directly, through study skills, reading and writing skills, oral and social skills, and math skills. They are unable to finish assignments on time, and they have frequently grammatical errors. They might have impulsive behavior and disoriented in time. Teachers need to be patient. There is also ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), which is the behavioral condition also associated with learning disabilities because kids with this condition present difficulties concentrating enough to learn and study. They are easily distracted and have problems focusing. They are very active and can’t control their impulses.

Lets put our selves in this student shoe. First of all they know that they are different than the others and they cannot control their situation. “Learning disabilities are problems that affect the brain’s ability to receive, process, analyze, or store information” according to The Nemours Foundation. These problems don’t let students with these disabilities learn at the same rhythm as a regular student. These students get frustrated because friends are playing while they have to read over and over again being unsuccessful in learning, understanding, or memorizing what they are reading. They think is unfair, and they get appointments with the psychologist, teachers, and parents, not understanding why they can’t be like the others. Once they know that they have a problem they will probably feel worried, and they are going to ask themselves if they are going to be that way forever, and if they will always be unsuccessful in life.

Now days, there are a LOT of students affected by many kinds of learning disabilities, some of the students have more than one kind. Researchers have some theories, but we’re not exactly sure of what causes it. The theories they developed are basically three: Genetic influences (it runs in the family), brain development (brain development before and after birth, with low birth weight problems, lack of oxygen, head injuries and so on), and environmental impacts (environmental toxins, poor nutrition).

Guess what? Learning disability can be controlled! 

Once we diagnostic a student with these kind of problems, we implement strategies and they get some medicine treatment to help them cope with the disability. While going through the process, students are going to restore their self-esteem and confidence.

Lets give it a try! 

Put yourself in those children shoes!