Well, I am on a roll with my digital camera and the power of photography. Rather than try to keep all the artifacts that I have been collecting in drawers, closets and files here at school I have decided to take pictures of it THEN I can file it in the cylindrical file next to my desk. How many of you hate to throw things away? I know! Well take a digital pic of it and the pic files so much easier. The district will have to build on to the school just so I can keep everything!
On the first day of school I like to leave the teachers a little motivational poem/story to get them excited for their day. As teachers, we have everything set up just exactly how we want it and have a vision of how our day is going to go. Then…………the children show up and it goes out the window. Perspective my dear! Perspective!
I cannot share this year’s poem/story because some of my teachers are very sneaky and found this blog! Maybe I have one and maybe I don’t?! They will have to wait until the 1st day of school.
Our theme last year was a camping theme so I used an outdoorsy border paper. There is a little bead in the shape of diamond in the little bag to the right of the letter. I put these on teachers desks the night before the 1st day of school or early that morning. Here is a copy of the poem:
“Diamonds in the Rough” ‘It can be said of most, if not all, children with whom we work, that they are “diamonds in the rough.” Underneath even the most cautious, guarded-with-defenses exterior is a child with talents, skills, and dreams looking for a place for the sparkle to emerge and be seen. Some diamonds are camouflaged better than others. Even so, diamonds are still present. All children have ‘sparkle’ no matter how tarnished they may appear. Our tasks as educators include looking for, finding, and affirming, (polishing) “diamonds in the rough.”’ Enjoy today! Enjoy the children, enjoy each other, and know that you are making a difference. You are going to be one of the most important people in the lives of your students starting 
today. Embrace that and “polish” each and every one of them. They are all lucky to have the master teachers we have at Willard East!!!!This is the picture of a teacher’s bulletin board and you can see the poem posted. At first I was just shocked that they kept it all. Then to actually post in their room made me feel really good.
Disclaimer: Now you have to tell me your motivational and inspirational ideas for the beginning of the year. I didn’t share this to brag, but to get your juices flowing so you can give me some ideas too. 🙂
Enjoy and pass along! I am running out of beginning of the year poems/stories!!!
Being a media specialist, I, of course, have a book to suggest. I love the story Girafffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae. It has an inspirational message for anyone who has dreams of greatness. It is also a gentle reminder of the fact that we as teachers must always help children find the “music” that makes them dance.
I enjoy reading your ideas. Keep up the good work! Also, congrats on the W.O.W. 2.0 show! Does that officially make you a celebrity now?
I love reading all of your ideas. I am a new Principal, just starting my second year, so I appreciate any ideas! This year when I gave my teachers their class lists I gave them a framed copy of the poem Kids Who Are Different by Digby Wolf.
Kids Who Are Different
Here’s to the kids who are different,
The kids who don’t always get A’s
The kids who have ears
twice the size of their peers.
And noses that for on for days…
Here’s to the kids who are different,
the kids they call crazy or dumb,
The kids who don’t fit,
with the guts and the grit,
who dance to a different drum…
Here’s to the kids who are different,
the kids with the mischievous streak,
For when they have grown,
as history’s shown,
It’s their difference that makes them unique.
-Digby Wolf
I just posted this year’s poem. Thanks for ready and especially sharing your idea. That is what this is all about. I love getting other people’s ideas.
My friend and I were recently discussing about how we as a society are so hooked onto electronics. Reading this post makes me think back to that debate we had, and just how inseparable from electronics we have all become.
I don't mean this in a bad way, of course! Ethical concerns aside… I just hope that as the price of memory drops, the possibility of transferring our memories onto a digital medium becomes a true reality. It's a fantasy that I dream about all the time.
(Posted on Nintendo DS running [url=http://cryst4lxbands.blog.com/2010/01/31/will-the-r4-or-r4i-work/]R4i SDHC[/url]NDSBro)