Thoughts & Prayers for My "Flyover State"

My “Flyover State”

The flooding in Nebraska has hit close to home. I was born and raised in Nebraska. The state slogan, “Nebraska-The Good Life,” could not be more true. I can't even imagine growing up anywhere else. The wide open spaces, the gorgeous sunsets, baby animals every spring, the flower and vegetable gardens my mom so lovingly tends to, riding my horse in the hills around our family farm. Sounds picturesque, doesn't it? I had the BEST childhood ever!! My parents still live on our family farm.

The devastation caused by both the flooding and the blizzard in the western part of the state is nothing short of catastrophic!! It will take years for our nation to recover.

Nebraska produces 27% of the nation's beef. It is calving season. Hundreds of calves have been lost to either drowning or freezing to death...hundreds!!

If you don't know a farmer, I can introduce you to several. They aren't thinking in terms of last finances. They think in terms of loss of life. The loss of life of any farm animal those farmers take to their very hearts. It takes a special man to want to be a farmer. A man who put in incredibly long hours caring for the land and the animals he raises. A farmer's heart is undoubtedly larger than other human's. He is the caretaker of God's land and it's animals. That takes a big heart.

Nebraska is also a leading producer of corn...the ethanol that you all put in your gas tanks, the food on your table. All of this has been dramatically compromised! Your produce prices are sure to go up. That's the process of supply and demand. It's not what a farmer thinks about. A farmer is concerned about feeding his livestock, of being able to care for those animals who count on him every day. If you have never fed an orphan calf from a bottle or let a calf such on your fingers with it's rough tongue, you are really missing out!

 

Then there are the roads and bridges. Nebraska's very infrastructure has been decimated! Bridges that have withstood waters for years have been completely washed away. Highways are half to mostly gone.

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Do you know that if I wanted to go back to the farm today, I couldn't get there from here in Kansas, unless I flew in to Sioux City, IA and came back into Nebraska from the north, and maybe not even then, but that would be my best bet.

The farmsteads that have withstood centuries of families who want nothing more than to work the land and care for God's creatures are gone. Yes, gone! Washed completely away! Centuries and generations of family farmsteads just gone. The pictures do not tell enough of the story. So many people are displaced. So many people have lost everything. (That's ice chunks in the photos below)

 

It's hard for me to even wrap my brain around.

I can't begin to tell you how sad I am for the good people in my “flyover state.” There are no words.

When Life Throws You a Curve Ball

Things are just clicking along, running fairly smoothly, and BAM! Life throws you a curve ball. 

 It happens to everyone at some point in time, often several times in one's lifetime. How you respond to those curve balls defines your character. 

You could curl up and ignore the world, hoping it will go away. However, the damage is done and nothing can change that. 

You could be pissed off and angry at the world. What's that going to solve moving forward?

Or, you could accept it as one of life's many challenges, learn from it, and move forward. As quote from Winston Churchill says, “If you're going through hell, keep on going.” Rodney Adkins even made it into a song.

Make your peace, scream, cry. Do what you need to do to come to a resolution in your own mind, but never give up!

The Kansas Division for Early Childhood Conference

Whenever I go to a conference or workshop I like to post about it, so here goes!

On February 28^th & March 1^st I went to the Kansas Division for Early Childhood Conference with two other preschool teachers in our district. The keynote speaker was from the University of Washington and spoke about a project there dealing primarily with children who had been identified and placed on the Autism Spectrum. Following her address, there were breakout session the rest of the morning.

The first session I went to talked about the positive aspect of flexible seating, which I would LOVE to incorporate into my classroom environment somehow. I am currently researching the cost and feasibility of this idea! Next, it was time for lunch.

After lunch, we thought we would attend a session entitled “Move & Grow Together: Creative Movement Groups for Young Children. We thought it might get our blood pumping after a delicious lunch. We were sadly mistaken. While the information shared was good, it did not involve attendee participation.

The next session I attended was “From Frustration to Success: A Social-Emotional Journey.” I was thrilled to hear the speaker talk about all of those piece of classroom practices that are near and dear to my heart. In addition, she mentioned my three edu-heroes: James Moffett for Derby Hills Elementary School in Derby, KS, Jim Sporleder my guru from Walla Walla, WA, and Rebecca Pancratz-Lewis from ESSDACK, right here in Hutchinson!!

The last session of the day that I attended was “Strategies to Meet the Social and Emotional Needs of Early Childhood Students. This covered some of the same ideas and strategies I already use in my classroom, as well as some other ideas I may look in to.

The next day there were just two sessions: “Beyond the Typical Preschool Classroom” and “Exploring Kansas MTSS and Alignment Through a Preschool Lens.” The one about beyond a typical preschool classroom was amazing and interactive! We learned about different ways pf engaging families, implementing flexible seating, and STEM activities for Preschool. So much fun!!

The last session we attended was, honestly, a stab in the dark, but we were so glad we went to it! The facilitator talked about how preschool is foundational in the public school setting. Since we will be having a district preschool meeting this next week, we are taking the ideas shared in this session to that meeting.

Reflecting on those two days, I would have to say that I learned a great deal, my brain is spinning, and I was blessed to spend two days with our fabulous preschool team...even though I missed my students terribly!!

It's Hard

Teaching is hard work. Teaching Preschool is even harder. Let me share with you some bullet points about why I believe this to be true.

• For many families, this is their first public school experience. Even if it's not, the teachers vary from year to year with the high rate of teacher turn-over.
• There are rules, policies, and expectations that need to be enforced for the safety, protection, and education of all.
• It's a learning curve for everyone; students, their families, the teachers, the school, the bus drivers, the custodians, the cooks, the school nurses, etc. Every child that walk through the school doors has their own uniqueness about them. EVERY.ONE.OF.THEM. Let that soak in for a second; 300-500 unique people all in one place, for 7 ½ to 8 hours each day.

Hear me out. We WANT your kids in school. We look forward to seeing their smiling faces each day. We look forward to the stories the share with us and their bright, eager, ready-to-learn faces. Here's the thing, though; not at the expense of the other children entrusted to our care each day. That's where the policies and procedures come into play.

The school district and it's board of education have put into place a huge notebook of policies and procedures that make the day-to-day functioning of the district's buildings as fair and as equitable as humanly possible. It is the responsibility of the classroom teachers to, besides teaching your children, enforce these policies. No ifs, and, or buts. A great deal of time, effort, and discussion was put into making these policies. They are not up for interpretation. They are there for the safety and protection of the students. Period.

So, if a parent receives a call from the nurse's office, saying that their child is running a fever, the correct response is, “I'll be right there.” The policy says “fever/symptom free, without medication.” That doesn't mean a parent can give the child a fever-reducer and send them to school. That medication will wear off before the end of the day, and the parent will receive a call to come and get the child. It also doesn't mean, when you come to pick your child up, you ask if they're sure they're sick. They are running a fever. They are going home. It's the policy.

Here's where communication comes into play. If the parent has a child who typically runs a normal temperature higher than 98.6., tell someone-the nurse or the teacher. If the child has an inhaler or epi-pen at school, the teacher should know that, as well. If the student has been on an antibiotic for an ear infection, strep, etc., let the teacher know. Teachers are not mind readers. Parents need to communicate with their child's teacher, not post a rant on social media.

Parents! You know your child better than any teacher could ever hope to. However, you have to communicate with the teacher so that he/she can be the best teacher possible for your child. If your child has had a rough night, tell the teacher. If the child is pretending to be sick so they can come home, tell the teacher. If the child is struggling with a peer, tell the teacher. Sometimes there are things we miss. It's human nature.

Bottom line: We're all on the same page, only wanting the best for each student in our classroom. Teaching is hard. Not only do we teach the child, we teach the parents, too. This is a partnership and will be for the rest of the child's formal education. The sooner we all work together as a team, the better it will be for all of us.

"You Can't Save Them All"

“You can't save them all.” In my thirty four years of teaching, I've had not one, but two administrators say this to me about one of my students. I can't begin to tell you how this statement angers me! What is our job as teachers? I believe it is to impact our students so that the world will be a better place, To teach them empathy, social skills, peaceful conflict resolution, and a whole host of other soft skills, on top of the academics.

My job IS to save them all! If I don't believe this with my whole heart, then I'm in the wrong profession. I need to love them fiercely, regardless of their idiosyncrasies, their gender, their race, the socio-economic place in society. Accept them where they are, as they are. That's our job! So when an administrator says, “You can't save them all,” I think it's time for that administrator to step away from public education.

I am reminded about a poem, first brought to my attention by a fellow teacher, very good friend, and simply amazing human being! In her address to the district upon being named the Elementary Teacher of the Year for the district, Holly Schreiber shared this story with the rest of us. It touched me then, just as much as it continues to touch me and I try to emulate the idea behind it. I will share here:

The Legend of the Starfish

A vacationing businessman was walking along a beach when he saw a young boy. Along the shore were many starfish that had been washed up by the tide and were sure to die before the tide returned. The boy was walked slowly along the shore and occasionally reached down and tossed the beached starfish back into the ocean. The businessman, hoping to teach the boy a little lesson in common sense, walked up to the boy and said, "I have been watching what you are doing, son. You have a good heart, and I know you mean well, but do you realize how many beaches there are around here and how many starfish are dying on every beach every day. Surely such an industrious and kind hearted boy such as yourself could find something better to do with your time. Do you really think that what you are doing is going to make a difference?" The boy looked up at the man, and then he looked down at a starfish by his feet. He picked up the starfish, and as he gently tossed it back into the ocean, he said, "It makes a difference to that one."

     This is how I feel teaching should be, to make a difference to that one.

God Knows...

God Knows...

After posing last night, I went back to reading one of the books I'm on now, “Shattering the Perfect Teach Myth,” by Aaron Hogan who is an assistant principal in Texas, and a Twitter-Teacher that I follow. His book has been suggested by several people in Twitter-verse.

Anyway, last night's post was kind of a downer and I was doubting my efficiency as a teacher on many levels. Then I come to chapter nine in the book, entitled, “When We're Not Enough.” Friends!! This was just what I needed and God knew I needed that chapter then and now! Let me share with you a few of the quotes from Aaron's book, chapter nine:

• “We have to remember that our efforts have their limits and that our students ( and their parents) are the ones who must take final ownership over their decisions....” .”...we cannot make the choice for the students (or their parents.” Powerful stuff!!
• “I would go so far as to say I felt called to this profession, even designed to do this. And in many cases, I felt like I did this well.” Preach!
• “...I felt a little hopeless and started questioning myself.” Me. Last night.
• “Educators should feel okay to be worn out by their job. They should be okay with recognizing that at times, we have to pull back to recharge. And they should know that their work is tough and they don't have to be Superman and act like it's not weighing on them.” Thank you, Aaron, for this!
• “As an educator, our work is absolutely going to push us to our limits. We discover those limits by giving every last bit of ourselves to the students (and families, I might add) that we serve.”

Aaron goes on to give some tips of what we can do. He says we should:

• Set a goal of relentlessly pursuing and pushing students toward success.
• Believe that all you have to offer is enough.

He goes on to say, “Every kid deserves to be known and served well at school.”

Aaron quotes psychologist, Brene' Brown as saying, “When we make the transition from crazy-busy to rest, we have to find out what comforts us, what really refuels us, and do that.” For me, it's reading. Escaping into a good book. And I thank God that's what it is, especially last night, when I needed these words the most.

Aaron also says, “...we are not enough on our own to be everything that every student (or their family) needs. We have to be okay with that.” “We cannot give our all to everything. There's just not enough of us to go around.” He gives some ideas to combat that:

• Identify your pitfalls
• Define your priorities
• Gut check regularly (preferably with someone you trust who will be honest with you)

He says, “The work you are doing and your relationships with others are too important to pretend that you can simply press on without limits.” He goes on to say we need to, “...identify what really got us into education, and find ways to do that valuable work we know to be so important for students and teachers.”

“...take care of yourself.”

“...your job is the hardest job I know of.”

Thank you, God, for giving me this chapter when I needed it most. Thank you, Aaron, for writing this book! God bless you!

There Are Some Days.....

Not all blog post can be good ones. This is one of those...

As positive as you try to be, there are just some days where the blahs get to you. This week, things began piling up, and today is one of those days. The kind of day where you begin to question everything....

Am I doing enough to keep my students safe, happy, and healthy?

Am I being informative and kind enough to the parents of my students?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Am I doing my best to uphold the district policies and procedures?

It's Friday night and I feel like I'm drowning...

****I know it will get better, but...