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Teacher Appreciation Day
National Teacher Appreciation Day is today! It's so awesome that so many people appreciate just how important it is to be a teacher. How do you show appreciation? How do your students show their appreciation? One of the most powerful ways to be grateful is to tell that person just how grateful you are. It may be in the form of a card, a gift, a special hug or an audio recording. "Adding a Voice" to presentations is a great skill to teach children. Equipped with headsets and big imaginations, they record their messages in audio or video format and demonstrate their understanding of a concept. Why not consider having them create an audio recording of what they learned this year. That would be one of the greatest appreciation gifts because you can hear in their own voices what kind of impact you have made. Have a great week and make sure you spread the appreciation to your colleagues also. This is a special appreciation card I made for you at the Jacquie Lawson website.
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Discovery Education is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week. Edutopia is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Day. Reading Rockets has some great ideas on how to celebrate Teachers. I really like Edutopia's You Tube Channel with a variety of videos created for Teacher Appreciation Week. My favorite so far is Taylor Mali's "What Do Teachers Make?" During this Teacher Appreciation Week, please be sure to celebrate by encouraging your colleagues, paraprofessionals and administrators on your campus also. Teaching is an incredible profession and worthy to have a national day of recognition. I am also hosting daily blessings on the 16-9 Movement blog in honor of all the great things teachers do. |
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I recognize that none of us go into teaching for the recognition or the salary, but it does feel great when your students come back and tell you how much they appreciated you. There's really nothing like it. Have you considered letting your students know how much you appreciated them this year. In these last few weeks, we tend to forget the gains and the progress made, the relationships formed and the intense amount of time we spent with them. Why not frame your last days around appreciation for them? Why not tell them what you would like them to remember this school year? If we don't remind them of all the good things that happened, there is little chance they will come up with it on their own. If you have a special way of showing appreciation to your students, let us know what you do by posting a comment on my blog.
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How do you make an audio recording for your students? Think about the power of putting a message to your students in your own voice. Even if you took time in class to remind the student about all the good things you did as a class, they are so ready to bolt out the door that very little, if any, may be absorbed. What if you wrote out a heartfelt script, then recorded your message on an mp3, Smartphone, in Audacity or GarageBand and saved it as an mp3 file? You could give the students access to a website where they could download the file to their computer or mp3 players (don't worry, they will figure it out) and then they can listen to your closing message whenever, wherever and as many times as they choose. It may sound selfish to remind them of why your class was so important this year, but isn't that our job? Isn't that the whole reason we poured our heart and soul into everything we taught them this year? How could we not remind them? Don't worry about a professional format. So what if it has a few bloopers in it? It's a message from the heart that they may treasure for years.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Day!
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| What is "tuesdays with Karen"?
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"tuesdays with Karen" is a weekly newsletter/blog designed to encourage, equip and empower teachers to be creative with educational technology. Please add your technology comments to my "tuesdays with Karen" blog. |
