Motivate My KID....Effectively, Please!

As an educator and a mother, my view of teaching and learning has grown and developed throughout the years.  I continue to learn from other educators on how to engage, educate, and empower students effectively.  And, I have to be very honest in the fact that being a mother has made me see my role as an educator in a deeper way.  As a mother, I want the best for my children and I want them to have a successful life that is fun and filled with happy and healthy moments.  I want my children to believe in their ability to succeed and to make their dreams come true. And, I cannot set high expectations and expect them to just happen because I said so!  We all know saying something doesn't make it happen.  Leading by example definitely does make an impact.

So, here is my wish for all teachers (especially teachers who teach my own children):

Please Motivate My KID Effectively.

• Don't expect my child to just learn by sitting in a chair all day and listen to a lecture
• Don't expect my child to understand all the concepts the very first time you teach them
• Don't expect my child to like you if you don't respect my child and treat him/her with kindness
• Don't expect my child to learn when you don't give the option to revise work or accommodate for an extra day or two of learning
• Don't expect my child to listen to you if all you do is admonish the mistakes
• Don't expect my child to enjoy being in your class if you don't enjoy being in class

I know that teachers work hard and they have a lot of expectations and goals and obligations.  Trust me, I know.  I'm an educator and I know that my day doesn't start at 8 am and stop at 3.  My day begins hours before the school day and ends hours after the school day.  And, I'm usually up planning or grading or emailing after my own children go to bed.  And, yes the weekends are not my two days off....I'm usually doing something school/work related those days.

But, I BEG you to please make all that hard work worthwhile.  Please make all those hours you plan and grade meaningful.  Please know that everything you do in the classroom and for my child MATTERS.  How you grade and how you communicate with my child does make a lasting impression.  

Here is my simple list of 3 requests for my KID as you have him/her in your class all day:

Kindness Matters

Inspire Don't Ignore

Develop Relationships

Please show KINDNESS to my KID.  I know kids can be imperfect and test our patience. Trust me, I know my children and they can do or say things that frustrate me.  Yet, I LOVE my children unconditionally and I want them to always learn to be respectful and kind and courteous even in tough situations.  Please take the time to be KIND to my KID. You are the educator and you are the adult, so please show my KID how successful adults behave.  Be a positive role model and always show kindness.  If my child forgets something, make it a learning moment, which doesn't always have to be a punishable moment.  Forgetting something has a natural consequence and every child needs to learn those consequences.  But, can you make it a teachable moment in a KIND manner?  If you see my KID being sad or lonely or even burst into tears, can you please take the time to figure out what's wrong?  Please don't ignore my child. The behavior might be a way to get your attention.  I'm sorry if it's not always positive, but kids are human and they make mistakes. Can you please take a moment to show you care and figure out what's happening?  Can you please try to make him feel better?  

Please INSPIRE my KID.  I want my children to believe in themselves, to want to accomplish all their dreams, and to reach for the stars.  Please stop saying YOU CAN'T.  Kids are curious and they want to try and explore and experience, so please give my KID some of those opportunities.  Please share inspirational stories or motivational tales with my children.  Please help them see that life is beautiful and filled with amazing possibilities.  I want my children to wake up in the morning and yearn to go to school because they can't wait to learn with their friends and with you.  I want my child to enjoy learning and being in your class.  Please give my KID some inspiration. Please don't Ignore your power.  You have the power to inspire awesome or awful from my kid.  I'm always hoping for awesome; yet, I know what could happen to make the situation awful.  Please prevent that from happening by inspiring my kid to do the right thing and to behave with respect and dignity. Please lead by example.

Please take the time to DEVELOP relationships.  Do you know how my child learns best?  Do you know that he/she might take longer to grasp a concept in one subject but master something else in a different subject?  Do you know that he/she has an allergy or a disability?  Did you ever ask my child about his/her favorite books, sports, colors, movies, songs, etc? Can you please share what you do in the classroom with me? Is it possible to send a weekly email or a monthly newsletter or share a link to your classroom website?  Can you take the time to see my KID for the amazing person he/she is and the potential that is within his/her body?  

I appreciate educators because they spend hours with my children and the goal is that my children come home with more knowledge and experience and skills than they had before they left the house that day. And, I yearn that my children enjoy learning, so please be that educator who is KIND, INSPIRES, and DEVELOPS relationships with my children.  It Matters.  It really does.

I know I'm more aware of how I educate my students and how I treat them because I always try to ask myself:  Would I want my own children to be in my class? I'm not perfect, but I try to be an educator who Motivates her students.  Please try to be that educator. You have a LOT of power in your hands everyday.  YOU have the power to MOTIVATE and INSPIRE my child to love learning or to hate going to school.  Please, I beg you, don't show him how to hate school.  I know you were motivated to be a teacher for a great reason.  And, I know you have it in you to be awesome.  Please be that Awesome everyday.  You deserve to love teaching and all the students deserve a teacher who is inspiring and empowering.  Thank you for all you do. Make every day AWESOME for every KID!

MOTIVATE is my ONE Word for 2016

It's February 1st, which means an entire month of the new year 2016 has come and gone.  Many of us look back to January 1st as we made our New Year Resolutions. Do you recall what you resolved to do in 2016? Did you create a long list of goals you have for the year?

Are you still working hard at achieving your goals and making sure your resolutions are truly going to happen?  Or, are you disappointed that you have already given up or failed at your resolutions?

Well, I hope you are happy and healthy and not holding yourself hostage to a long list of resolutions that you may or may not be able to accomplish.  We all fail at something; and, it's okay.  We learn from our failures to become better.  Don't give up on yourself!

That's what I'm telling myself right now as I type this blog post.  Don't give up.  Just try harder and plan on succeeding.  Yes, I'm telling myself to believe in myself and in my abilities to be successful and to accomplish what I need to accomplish. So, how am I going to do it?

My friend Bethany Hill (@bethhill2829)  reminded me of the great book One Word That Will Change Your Life by the authors Jon Gordon, Dan Britton, and Jimmy Page. 

It really motivated and inspired me to truly think about my goals for 2016. As I looked back at some of the happy times as well as the sad times of the past few years, I know that I am blessed.  I don't try to compare myself to people who have more than me because there will always be people who have more of something, like money or cars or purses or shoes or vacations, etc. I try to count my blessings and to be grateful for what I do have in my life and for who I have in my life.

So, this leads me to my ONE WORD for 2016.........MOTIVATE!

Here is what I hope to accomplish in 2016:

• I will MOTIVATE myself to always try my best to appreciate what I have.
• I will MOTIVATE myself to pull myself away from work and spend more time with my children and my husband and my family and my friends.
• I will MOTIVATE myself to find some time for myself by reading a book I love, for pampering myself to a massage or pedicure or manicure.
• I will MOTIVATE my children to be more focused, to have more fun learning, to have more fun playing, to be kind to others, to appreciate life, and to always try their best.
• I will MOTIVATE my husband to take care of himself some more. He always gives so much to us to make sure we have everything we need and want; and I need him to do what makes him happy.
• I will MOTIVATE my students to never give up, to make good decisions on assignments, to revise their work so they learn from their mistakes, to collaborate with one another, to be kind to one another, to show appreciation to others, to love themselves, to respect society
• I will MOTIVATE my colleagues to get out of their comfort zone and make a difference, to reach their potential and share their talents with their students and with the world.
• I will MOTIVATE educators to keep learning and sharing and growing and making a difference because KidsDeserveIt and because our society deserves to be blessed with individuals who truly understand that educated people are empowered people who will improve the world.
• I will MOTIVATE myself to make every day count and to enjoy life because I know I am making a difference and I know my life is meaningful, just like I know all of you reading this post are special and unique and help bring meaning into the world. 

So, yes, my word is MOTIVATE and I hope that I can make it count in 2016 and beyond!

Thank you Bethany Hill (@bethhill2829) for reminding me of the ONE WORD challenge because I truly believe that "To the world you may be one person, but to that one person, you are the world" (I'm not sure who said that first....but I love the message). Thank you for all you have taught me and continue to teach me.  It's an honor being a part of your PLN.

Thank you Angela Maiers (@angelamaiers) for inspiring me.  Viewing your TEDTalk back in 2013 inspired me to be a better, more effective educator. Your passion for education and for students has instilled a deeper motivation in me to make a difference in the lives of my students and in the lives of other educators.  I want to be that educator that shows her students that learning matters and that learning should be fun and have purpose and it is meaningful.  Thank you for reminding me why I became a teacher and why my profession is so essential; and, it is extremely important that educators truly understand the power we have in spending the day with other people's children.  We make a difference and it is our responsibility to make it a positive difference. It does MATTER!

Thank you Garnet Hilman (@garnet_hillman) for helping me see the major difference between grading and learning.  Grades don't matter, but learning truly matters.  I'm so proud to call you my friend for many reasons, but most of all for your passion to reach as many people as possible on how important it is for education to be about learning.  You motivate me every day because your heart is filled with genius and when you share your passion for making sure that educators truly understand the impact that a grade makes on a student and to encourage teachers to realize for themselves that there is a fine line between harm and hope.  Students don't want to learn from an educator who punishes with grades; students want to learn from an educator who believes in the potential for learning and gives multiple opportunities. We are all different and we need to be taught differently. Every child can learn; and it's up to the teachers to teach effectively.

So, what is your ONE WORD for 2016?  

What do you want to accomplish this year?

How will you make it happen?

I would love for you to share....cause sharing is caring :)

P.S. One of my goals is to MOTIVATE myself to blog more this year.....I might need some outside MOTIVATION....so please help any chance you get ;)