I have been talking about doing this for some time now. I love to write and explore ideas for reaching kids through a variety of learning modalities and have enjoyed the success of sharing my Silly Songs for Sight Words with Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers across the state of CA. When I go to conferences, I am energized by my conversations with passionate, dedicated teachers, committed to using an ever-growing toolbox of creative teaching strategies. I enjoy the open collaboration, and the process of shared insight into the complexity of meeting the needs of so many different learners. Not only do we have the challenges of children whose basic needs are often neglected due to the social and economic issues of their families, but we have cultural and language factors that impact us in a huge way. What amazes me is the growth and resilience of children as they come to school each day truly wanting to learn. Sure, we all have our challenges, those who inspire us to talk under our breath: the ones who jump off cabinets and throw chairs! We have the hygiene issues, anger issues, emotional rollercoasters, along with the incredibly hopeful moments when we see the lightbulb go on and we witness the "aha" moments of learning. My goal for this blog is to explore how using kids strengths can help them become successful, independent, engaged learners. I look forward to collaborating with other teachers; there is definitely a synergy that comes from sharing experiences with fellow teachers. We must always remember our potential impact on the precious young minds on loan to us each day; we are important and it's not only what we do, but how we do it that impacts our students. It's both a gift and a responsibility to be a teacher. Here is what one of my heroes, Carl Gustav Jung has to say about teachers: "An understanding heart is everything is a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child." - Carl Gustav Jung
