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For TEACHERS Only
2 Teach Is ...

2 Touch Lives

4 Ever!



PRAYER MEDITATION
You will find a new prayer meditation here each week from Recess or Chalkdust, the writings of Elspeth Campbell Murphy, a teacher-author who shares experiences that are unique to teachers only.

When a Child Comes Back to Visit After Many Years

We sat at lunch around the table, Lord, when another teacher, beaming, came in and exclaimed, "What a boost!"

He was having a bad day in a bad year with a rough bunch of kids and little to show for all his time and work.

He'd been spending a frenzied lunch time alone in his room where the principal found him and smiling said, "You have a visitor waiting for you in the office; come on!"

The teacher, wondering, hurried there and saw a gangly, awkward, eager teen aged boy. And flashing back eight years, he saw and exclaimed, "Tony!"

The mother laughed with pleasure. "Wow! I'm impressed! Do you remember all of them like that?" "Oh," said the teadher, "I couldn't forget not Tony!" But I might have, he thought, the way I blank out on names. By what grace did it come, was sent, to my lips just now? "Tony!"

Eight years ago in the life of a child is forever. Eight years ago and a thousand miles to this meeting.

The mother laughed again and said, "You're all he's talked about for months ever since we planned to come back home to visit. 'Will he still be there?' he asked, 'I have to go and see. Will he remember me? Will he?'" The teacher remembered a bright but struggling little boy ror whom the weight of the world was packed in just two words: First Grade.

By what grace, the teacher wondered, did I sense to kneel beside him long ago, to rub his back and whisper that it would be all right? What angel restrained my anger at his tears?

Now Tony, tongued tied, stood before his friend and smiled that well remembered, winsome smile. His mother said, "You see he's shy, still shy." The teacher said, "I, too, am shy. It's okay to be shy." And shyly then they all shook hands.

The boy had asked a thousand times, "Will he still be there?" And the teacher thought, I was here! I was here!

We sat at lunch around table, Lord, and thought about how much we influence these lives. Exultant thought! Yet frightenting, too. Lord, help us not to be afraid, but trusting, teach them by your grace.



SEVEN QUOTES ON THE ART OF TEACHING
Note: Look for a new quote at the top of this list each week, and please send your favorite so we can include it!

1. "I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework."
---Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

2. "Modern cynics and skeptics... see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing."
--- John F. Kennedy

3. "If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job."
--- Donald D. Quinn

4. "Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions."
--- Author Unknown

5. "In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years."
--- Jacques Barzun

6. "The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth.'"
--- Dan Rather

7. Teacher to parent: "If you promise not to believe everything your child says happens at school, I'll promise not to believe everything he says happens at home."
--- Anonymous



APPLES FOR TEACHERS

A Bushel of:

Stories,

Poems,

--- and Prayers

written by Colleen L. Reece and Anita Corrine Donihue

(Look for a new picking here each week.)

THIS WEEK

YOU NEVER KNOW

The story is told of a doctor in Wales who was called to care for a desperately ill child on a terrible night. Devotion to duty and love for God's children forced him to brave one of the worst storms the countryside had ever seen and respond to the call. Years later, the child he saved rose to high places. Many times the old doctor shook his head and marveled. There had been no way for him to know the far reaching effects of his actions. He had faced the wild storm to care for the child of a widowed mother, a child he believed would become a common laborer.

In so doing, the doctor actually saved the life of a future Prime Minister.

LAST WEEK

WHAT MATTERS

Some rely on stocks and bonds
In order to gain security.
Others invest in children's lives
And are builders for eternity.

Father, keep me focused on what really matters.



ATTENTION! The following teacher items will be rotated from bottom to top each week and new items will always be added at the top. Hopefully this will assist those who do not have time to read everything in one sitting.

SOMETHING SPECIAL

It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders, but there are some good ones nonetheless. A first grade teacher collected well known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of a proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. Their insight may surprise you.

Never underestimate the power of............termites
Don't bite the hand that....................looks dirty
No news is..................................impossible
A miss is as good as a......................Mr.
If you lie down with dogs, you'll...........stink in the morning
The pen is mightier than the................pigs
An idle mind is.............................the best way to relax
Where there's smoke there's.................pollution
Happy the bride who.........................gets all the presents
A penny saved is............................not much
Two's company, three's......................the Musketeers
Don't put off till tomorrow what............you put on to go to bed
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and.......you have to blow your nose
Children should be seen and not.............spanked or grounded
If at first you don't succeed...............get new batteries
You get out of something what you...........see pictured on the box
When the blind leadeth the blind............get out of the way

A Teacher's Story

There is a story many years ago of an elementary teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson. And as she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around."

His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well-liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle." His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class."

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume. She stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to." After the children left she cried for at least an hour.

On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets."

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, second in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life. Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer. The letter was signed,
Theodore F. Stollard, M.D.

The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he'd met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom.

Of course, Mrs. Thompson, did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Teddy whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."

Angels In The Classroom

A Pastor read a letter from an elementary school teacher who attends East Hill Church. The gist of the letter was as follows:
Last school year, her classroom was made up of little third graders of which every one of them came from either a single parent family or a dysfunctional family. Some of them were undernourished and/or not cared for. Also, there were some that lived in an abusive home in which they were beaten, bruised, or raped by a family member. One little girl's dad died of aids, and the list goes on. Her heart bled for these kids.

Before the 1999-2000 school year started, she and her husband went to her classroom and prayed over each desk in the room. They prayed that God would place an angel behind each and every child throughout the coming year to watch over them and protect them.

A month or so after the year had started she gave the kids an assignment to write about what they would like to be when they grew up. Everyone was busy with his or her assignment, when Andrew raised his hand. When she asked him what he needed, he asked how to spell mighty.

After telling him how to spell mighty, she asked him why he needed to know, and Andrew said it was because when he grew up he wanted to be a mighty man of God.

When he said this, little Mark sitting next to him asked," So what's a mighty man of God?"

The teacher, swallowing back her tears, and knowing she could not say anything in the classroom about God, told Andrew to go ahead and tell Mark what it was. So Andrew said," It's a man who puts on the armor of God and is a soldier for God."

After observing some conversation between Andrew and Mark, the teacher, with a lump in her throat, started to walk away when Andrew motioned with his little finger for her to come closer. He whispered to her, asking if she believed in angels. She told him yes, she did. Then he asked her if she thought people could see angels,and she said she thought some people probably could. Andrew said that he did, and he could see an angel standing behind each kid in the room.

I don't think there was a dry eye in the church that night. We need to remember to pray for all of our teachers and educators; that although there is no prayer in school, that they are dedicated enough to pray for protection of God's angels over the lives of their students.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to pray for angels at your work, too.
---Author Unknown, found at ByGodsGrace.net

THE WORLD NEEDS MORE MEAN* TEACHERS!

A MEAN teacher insists that each student do the best s/he is capable of doing.

A MEAN teacher insists that students hand in their assignments on time and takes off points for late assignments.

A MEAN teacher does not accept incomplete assignments.

A MEAN teacher requires each student to think carefully and to make her/his own decisions.

A MEAN teacher holds each student responsible for her/his own behavior.

A MEAN teacher makes students keep the classroom, themselves, and their belongings neat and clean.

A MEAN teacher does not allow free time in class until all class-work is done.

A MEAN teacher gives homework regularly, sometimes even on weekends.

A MEAN teacher calls on students who don't raise their hands to answer questions.

A MEAN teacher requires all students to treat each other with respect.

A MEAN teacher makes life miserable for students by insisting that they always tell the truth.

A MEAN teacher produces students who are respectful, responsible, and successful.

By Laura M. Staunton/New Jersey
Barb Erichson/Michigan

*Mean= Making Excellence A Necessity

TEACHING TIP: TEACHER GOALS

Once you start the process of developing or enhancing a teaching style which will help you make your job more effective and enjoyable, you might consider some of these goals:

1. Be in command, in charge, and supremely confident in the classroom. You are a PROFESSIONAL, after all.

2. Never lose your temper. Be firm, perhaps, but don’t ever lose control. Deal with explosive situations at another time or another place.

3. Talk to students as if they’re human beings, not predatory devils. A little respect for students goes a long way and doesn’t stop you from providing advice and guidance.

4. Have a sense of humor. Be ready to laugh even at yourself at appropriate moments.

5. Be fair. "Fair" is probably the most commonly mentioned trait students use about teachers. It may be the hardest thing to do. Work at it. Ask for help from fellow teachers, administrators, and students.

6. Be a mentor or get a mentor. Find someone on the faculty you can trust to bounce ideas off of.

7. Be organized. Read any book on how to be organized that looks like it might help.

8. Try not to take problems home. Work, yes, but problems, no. Resolve them before you leave for the day or at least develop a plan for resolving them tomorrow.

9. Be prepared. Not necessarily in the Boy Scout sense, but have ready all you need for teaching before school starts. Have your lessons planned, make sure all materials are in place, and check the VCR before you show that video.

10. Be the professional with parents and administrators. Consider the concerns and requirements of others, but remember…you’re a trained professional.

11. Give a little of yourself. Arrive a little early, stay a little late. Everyone on the faculty knows who comes in at the last minute and leaves just as the final bell tolls.

GUIDELINES FOR HELPING The Compulsive Talker:

Have you ever had one in your classroom? A compulsive talker loves to talk, and engages in the practice with one and all constantly. Talks to teachers continually. Talks to other students continually. Will even talk to him/herself. A compulsive talker is often a poor listener, often does not realize that he/she is talking, often has a short attention span. Craves attention.

WHAT TO DO:

Remember, this is more a social problem than a discipline problem. If treated as a discipline problem, it may become one. The ability to talk is not a negative—nor is it a liability. It’s an asset which the student must learn to manage for personal benefit. Be aware that this is often a compulsive behavior. It lies between assertion and aggression in a person with a low self-concept. Remember, your relationship with one student affects your relationship with all students. How you handle this student can damage your relationship with other students. Don’t show a side of you that you don’t want other students to see.

*First, react consistently—and never punish irrationally. Don’t "get on" the talker one day, and ignore him/her the next.
*Equally important, don’t criticize publicly. You will never solve this problem during class time. Private counseling is a must. Approach talking as a social problem, not a discipline problem. This is a counseling situation that requires a plan to change behavior.
*Look for the reason for the talking. If you cannot or will not meet the student’s needs, you will not change the behavior. The talker has a strong activity need.
*Give this student small tasks and responsibilities daily to fulfill this need. Tell the student you will call on him/her during class discussion. You may even tell the student the question you will be asking.
*Seat the talker near quiet and serious students.
*Station yourself next to this student’s desk during presentations. This will keep him/her from talking. When this student is talking, don’t stop class or say a word. Rather, walk toward his/her desk. This will stop the talker. Likewise, look at this student often.
*Develop a set of hand signals to remind the student when he/she is talking. Don’t stop class and reprimand, however.
*Capture and hold attention by calling on the talker often.
*Challenge this student. Never forget, the articulate are often high achievers. The talker should be a good student.
*Reinforce positive behavior and contributions in class.
*Provide alternate materials that can interest this student and that are still class oriented. Try incentive programs to encourage attention and preparation.
*To encourage the talker to participate positively, allow him/her to take roll, pass out papers, etc.
*In a private conference, tell the student, "The ability to speak is your asset. Therefore, use it wisely by following some tips.
First, think before you speak so that you gain a reputation for being a thinker rather than a talker.
Second, speak slowly so that people can absorb what you say.
Third, speak quietly and gently to gain the reputation of being a person of depth.
Finally, limit your talking. Remember, you can always add a comment, but you can’t withdraw one.’’
*Discuss the behavior with parents.
*Find time to listen.

WHAT NOT TO DO:

Common misjudgments and errors in managing the child which may perpetuate or intensify the problem.
*Showing anger and frustration. This does nothing to help the situation. In fact, it may make the talker anxious and nervous—and cause him/her to talk even more.
*Saying things like "Shut up" or "Keep your mouth shut."
* Interrupting class to reprimand.
*Attempting to belittle or shame the talker, or being sarcastic.
*Punishing the entire class or creating peer pressure.
*Making rules and regulations for the entire class because of this one student.
*Assuming classmates are disturbed by the talker—or acting on such an assumption. Classmates might not even hear.
*Reacting inconsistently—and punishing irrationally.
*Overreacting by immediately rearranging the seating chart or issuing threats or ultimatums.
*Isolating this student. The talker’s need for attention or security will not allow his/her personality to take isolation.
*Becoming so frustrated that we say and do things we’ll wish we hadn’t.
*Failing to look for reasons behind the constant talking.
*Assuming the talking is directed against us personally or against class work, or that the student is uninterested, or that the talking is intended to be disrespectful.
*Assuming there is a short-term solution.
*Allowing talkers to visit after finishing lessons for the day.
*Restricting the talker to the point at which he/she isn’t making a contribution at any time.
*Trying to humiliate the talker, calling attention to the behavior, or trying to get the student to be quiet by placing emphasis on the behavior.
---modified from article at teachingtips.com



































 
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