1.04.2011

Examples of Life Lessons - Great Way to Start 2011

Happy 2011!    
See below for a May 24th Update for the Blog Hop "Linky Party" started by Karla from Life in Special Ed...


It's a new year, and at my school, it's a new semester, which means a fresh start. This is always a good time to get to know your new  students and find out even more interesting things about the students you've had for the past semester.  Kids--no matter what their age--are very revealing when I use my life lessons activity with them. So today I learned that some students had some mishaps with motorized vehicles over break, some were very angry that their family members (mostly dad, by the way) ate their Christmas candy, and it seems there was an incident with some of the boys streaking...  Some things I just don't even ask because I don't want to know!




I included a few pictures of how I collect & store the life lessons that students have shared over the years.  I recycle a laundry detergent booster container and have students put their responses in the container when they are finished. I also just use index cards or scrap paper cut in squares. Each year I add them to my big binder of responses. I think this year I will have to start another new volume. But they are wonderful to read year after year and bring back some fun and heart-warming memories. Because we all know that we need to remember those on those bad days! :)
 
You can purchase the little book that inspired this activity here: Live and Learn and Pass It on: People Ages 5 to 95 Share What They'Ve Discovered About Life, Love, and Other Good Stuff (Live & Learn & Pass It on) (v. 1)



Florida teacher Amy Cobb has a wonderful blog she shares with her students and she utilized the life lessons activity for online responses. What a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom! You can see her prompt and the responses here:

http://writeoutloud.edublogs.org/2010/12/31/remembering-2010-live-and-learn-and-pass-it-on-and-looking-back-ahead-to-the-60s/

UPDATED May 24th, 2011...
So, another school year is over and as part of a blog hop (see below), I'm adding lessons I've learned this year...

1. I've learned that no matter how much I bend over backwards to help students succeed, some are completely satisfied with failing or barely passing.

2. I've learned that unless my principal gives me an exact date when things are due to him, I probably won't turn them in on time.

3. I've learned that I have way too much junk and I'm going to turn into one of those hoarders if I don't do some major pitching of things in my classroom cupboards and cabinets.

4. I've learned that no matter how many things are on my to-do list, I have a hard time completing them all.

5. I've learned that sometimes the students who frustrate me the most at the beginning of the year are usually not the same ones I want to strangle at the end of the year (Just for the record, that is figurative language; I would never inflict harm on any student).

6. I've learned that the days I have a lot to do at school will fall on the same days that I can never stay late.

7. I've also learned that the days I'm running late are the same days my dog will run after a squirrel or rabbit and I'll be even later to school.

8. I've learned that if I do not accept late work, over 50% of my students would fail.

9. I've learned that I must accept late work if I want to stay on the good side of my principal.

10. I've learned that even though teaching in a 1:1 classroom has its share of frustrations and challenges, I wouldn't go back to no laptops in a million years.

Thanks to Karla from Life in Special Education for starting this Linky Party! Keep it going by linking your post, as well. It's so nice to read all the different things we've learned this year. I must say mine sound a little negative as I look back at them. Perhaps I shouldn't have written them on the last day when I still had a ton of grading and lots of cleaning to do before I left! ;)


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