Category: Teacher Appreciation

Linda Markley

Resources and Support

calling to make a difference, creating community, Essential questions, Maslow before Blooms, Resources, Teacher Appreciation, teacher resources, teacher struggles, teacher support

More and more funding for resources and support for teachers is being reduced, or worse, eliminated altogether.

Teachers have always had to buy materials and supplies and pay for them out of their own very tight personal budget.

Teachers have always had to write grants and jump through fiery hoops of paperwork and accountability just to get money to fund everyday needs in the classroom.

Why???

And I SHOUT more loudly WHY???

We are a wealthy nation capable of providing for teachers.

So, why are teachers taking their precious time, money, energy and other resources to seek the support they need to teach?

Why do so many reply on social media to The Spirit of Teaching’s post to share their Amazon Wish List for back-to-school?

And, they share with heartfelt pleas and deep gratitude for “anything you can do to help out my kids is greatly appreciated!”

I don’t see any other employees in my community of businesses purchasing their own supplies, resources and begging for support in order to do their jobs.

So, once again, I ask WHY??? 

Do you have an answer or solution?

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Linda Markley

Place Value

calling to make a difference, Spirit of teaching, Teacher Appreciation, teacher support, teacher value

Teacher Appreciation Week was just celebrated last week.

What did you do for a teacher to show them how much you appreciate and value what they do?

What value do you place on education and the educators that do so much to make a difference in the life of a child, and therefore, this world in which we all live?

To explore this very critical topic a little, I want to play around a little with these two words:  PLACE and VALUE.

In Math, place value refers to the value of a digit based on its position in a number.

For example, in the number 463,  the digit 4 has a place value of 400 because it is in the hundreds place. The digit 3 has a place value of 3 because it is in the ones column.

Sometime I think about place value in terms of how we rate, rank and value teachers in the education profession.

I could change the syntax of the words and ask “what VALUE do we PLACE” on teachers?

This totally changes the meaning, doesn’t it?

When we place a value on a teacher based on their student test scores, it seems like we are just ranking them and putting them in a place among other numbers and digits.

So, a teacher whose student test scores are ranked 26th out of 30 schools in the district will not have much value placed on what they have done and on who they are as a teacher.

There are so many mitigating circumstances and uncontrollable variables that can affect those scores, and therefore, that ranking. 

Zero is the absence of value, and is just a placeholder. 

YET, it can seem to add great value to a number.

For example, 5…50…500…and so on.

Which has more value?

It seems to me that the more zeros, the more value???

Wait, what???

That’s not how math works!

The more zeros a student has, the more value?

Hmmmmm, I say, scratching my head!

What do I mean by all this? (more…)

Linda Markley

Are You Listening?

calling to make a difference, communication, creating community, Learning Lessons, making connections, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Podcasting, professional development, Resources, Spirit of teaching, Teacher Appreciation, teacher hero, teacher self-care, teacher vulnerability, Wholehearted teaching

Along with all of the resources provided by the Spirit of Teaching, I have also been doing a podcast called Teacher Tales.

The purpose of the podcast is to let teachers share their stories or “tales” of teaching with the hope that their stories, insights, words of wisdom and experiences will serve as lessons as well as sources of inspiration to other teachers.

It is also a form of advocacy and legacy-building effort for the profession as these stories serve as insights to what it is really like to be a teacher. The public often has a skewed viewpoint, and the podcast can help those who are not teachers see things more clearly and realistically.

As each podcast guest teacher shares their story, a theme of main ideas and some really inspiring lessons seem to come through for the listener.

For example, in Teacher Tales Episode #5, I talk to Meredith, a dear friend and fellow conference “junkie”. Meredith is an amazing teacher and human being whose positive energy, authenticity and sense of humor lifts you up and takes you away on a magic carpet ride to a “whole new world” of teaching (a little Aladdin-style), but at the same time she reminds teachers to stay real and set one priority in this moment that will help us find balance and sustainability in what we do.

It is a little like reminding us that wherever we go, Abu is always along for the ride. You remember Abu, right? That mischievous little monkey who is a kleptomaniac, gets frustrated rather easily and hates to be made a fool of. At the same time, Abu is loyal, unselfish, big-hearted, empathic and benevolent.

Hmmmm, sounds like a metaphor for teaching. As teachers, we want to take those students on that magic carpet ride of learning. We want to help them see the world in a whole new perspective that will uplift their efforts and their view of themselves.

However, we also need to remember Abu is always with us on that journey.

What, you say? How is that? (more…)

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Linda Markley

Please help a Teacher

calling to make a difference, Can do's, creating community, Joy, making connections, Passion, Purpose, Resources, Spirit of teaching, Teacher Appreciation

It is that time of year when teachers and children are going back to school.

A new school year.

A new beginning.

When we start something new, we may need help, support, encouragement, inspiration, resources and materials.

We are building bridges to new connections, new relationships, new learning adventures, new pathways, new opportunities…and so on.

And we may need help doing this.

Teachers do this every.single.year.

They have a reset, restart, renewal to start building those bridges, connections, relationships, etc. again.

They need help. They are “looking for the helpers”, as Mr. Rogers says, for support, encouragements, inspiration, resources, materials, and so on.

Please HELP A TEACHER.

Here are some suggestions:

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Linda Markley

Cherished Memories

calling to make a difference, Can do's, creating community, Intention, Joy, making connections, Maslow before Blooms, Passion, Purpose, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Teacher Appreciation, teacher hero, Wholehearted teaching

There is no doubt that the impact a teacher has on the life of a student, and eventually on the world, is inestimable.

The impact can be positive or negative and last a lifetime…for better or for worse.

When children come to the classroom, teachers have the opportunity to create a bond and nurture a relationship with each and every child through the choices we make and the experiences we create through the lessons and activities in which we actively engage those children.

Teachers feel this in the heart and soul of their being. It can be quite a burden to carry, but it can also be the most uplifting, invigorating and everlasting joy they can experience in life!

When we decide to become a teacher, our hearts enter into a lifelong commitment…for better or for worse…to love each and every child, unconditionally. 

It is not always easy, loving or joyful, and many, MANY days our commitment may begin to wain and our hearts begin to shrink a little and have less capacity for joy, passion and love.

Nonetheless, it is ALWAYS there, just like our founding love that helped create a bond in any relationship or “marriage” of connection to another.

There are always cherished memories that we create with others through our bond and connection that will live in our hearts forever.

So, we need to keep reminders and mementos of them close by to help us come back to our heart center and remember the WHY in what we are doing and the choices were are making.

How do we do create and keep 
those cherished memories near and dear to our hearts?

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Linda Markley

Let’s Celebrate!

Can do's, communication, creating community, i am enough, Intention, Introspection, Passion, Purpose, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Strategies, Teacher Appreciation, Wholehearted teaching

As an extremely difficult school year for all comes to a close, I call everyone together to CELEBRATE.

(key up the Celebration song by Kool and the Gang???)

The end of the year does signal a feeling of “good times” coming…a.k.a. = the summer!

Well, for some maybe. I know many school districts are having summer school to help those students who have a “learning gap” or are somehow considered “behind”.

Many teachers are celebrating because they are leaving the profession all together and don’t have to put up with the stress and unreasonable demands that are causing them poor mental and physical health.

Seniors and their families are celebrating because they have reached a milestone in their educational journey and are graduating from high school.

The etymology of the word celebrate is from Latin celebrare meaning “to assemble to honor and sing praises of”

No matter how teachers, parents, admin, students, districts 
or anyone else may view this past school year, 
there is always something to celebrate!

Let’s honor and sing the praises of all the teachers, students, parents and everyone in the educational system for getting through the school year the best way they knew how, with the circumstances and obstacles they faced and with the limited resources of time, money, energy and sometimes support that they received.

Celebrate, honor and praise all the little things that became big things like:

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Linda Markley

Place Value in the Classroom Today

calling to make a difference, creating community, making connections, Passion, Purpose, Spirit of teaching, Teacher Appreciation, Wholehearted teaching

Place value is truly an educational term that gets emblazoned into our brains very early on as we learn numbers and how they operate in mathematical equations.

According to the dictionary, “place value is the numerical value that a digit has by virtue of its position in a number”.

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, and so on.

And the Mayans came up with the concept of the absence of value, which they represented by the number zero.

Hmmm, so this is all great. I used to teach math once upon a time. 

However, nowadays,  I am thinking about place value in the classroom in other terms. (more…)

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Linda Markley

Joy

calling to make a difference, Can do's, communication, creating community, Essential questions, i am enough, Joy, making connections, Maslow before Blooms, Purpose, Spirit of teaching, Strategies, Teacher Appreciation, Wholehearted teaching

Do you remember the song, Joy in My Heart?

It starts like this:  “I’ve got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.” 

So many teachers and students do not feel the joy down in their hearts these days.

It is a struggle now more than ever for everyone because of the pandemic. Joy seems to have left the classroom like “Elvis has left the building”. Especially at this time of the school year, there is a prevalent feeling of “the music has stopped, and the concert is over!”  A mood of “I’m done!”

I won’t go into detail and describe the atmosphere and culture of current feelings in the classroom because I think everyone already knows and understands what it is like. 

I want to focus more on how we can dig deep down in our hearts and find that joy again.

This is what Maya Angelou has to say about joy:

“Joy is a freedom. It helps a person to find his/her own liberation. The person who is joyous takes responsibility for the time he/she takes up and the space that he/she occupies.You share it! When you continue to give it away, you will still have so much more of it!”

There is an overwhelming cry from the hearts of teachers to be free. “I just want to teach.” has become an ironic cliché in education. Teachers feel so burdened and overwhelmed and unappreciated and unsupported and….(name the emotion).

So, how can we bring forth more joy into the classroom, and why is it so important?

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Linda Markley

Tribute to Teachers on Labor Day

communication, creating community, i am enough, Maslow before Blooms, Spirit of teaching, Spirit practices, Teacher Appreciation

Labor Day is an annual celebration of workers and their achievements. It originated during the late 1800’s in America during the Industrial Revolution when working conditions were atrocious, requiring people to work excessive hours, seven days a week and for very low wages.

According to history.com, “people of all ages, particularly the very poor and recent immigrants, often faced extremely unsafe working conditions, with insufficient access to fresh air, sanitary facilities and breaks.”

Hmmmm, that sounds familiar for teachers, especially in this current pandemic! However, we cannot allow teachers to believe that they must suffer these labor injustices in order to be effective, worthy teachers!!!

Teaching is a labor of love … unconditional love! 
And this Labor Day, I would like to 
recognize, honor and celebrate what teachers do 
unconditionally every day!

Labor Day did not become an official holiday until almost the turn of the century when President Grover Cleveland signed it into law. During the time leading up to this, there were many labor strikes, rallies, protests and events that took place to raise awareness to the atrocious labor conditions.

Limitations, boundaries, clear expectations and best labor practices were set. 
Maybe teachers need to set some "conditions" like these as well!

(more…)

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Linda Markley

Teacher Appreciation

calling to make a difference, Teacher Appreciation, teacher hero

Appreciate…from the Latin word appretiatus meaning “to set a price”.  Other meanings have evolved over time as “to value highly” or “to rise in value”.  Geesh, have we seen this come true during the recent developments due to COVID-19?!  Although there has always been discussion around paying teachers a salary more commensurate to jobs with similar requirements for education and skills needed, never have we truly considered the true value of a teacher beyond the monetary value attached to them.  Students, parents, administrators…well, basically, just about every human being on the planet, is finally waking up and recognizing the real value of teachers in this world.  Their value is now being measured in the currencies of relationships, connections and heart and how much value they add to society, community and family.  (more…)

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