Education Blog
Let the kids PLAY!
Well there you have it. Week one of school is over for my two sons. In case some of you were wondering about how my kindergartner’s first week went, he has flown threw delightfully. By morning two he pretty much rushed out the door without remembering to say good bye. I guess that’s a good thing? Today he’s having hot lunch: shrimp poppers. Each little milestone has some significance, today’s being his first exposure to shrimp.
Each day ends of course with mom and dad asking, “How was your day at school?” Our 4th grader is able to give a pretty good account of the minutiae that makes up a day at school. The kindergartner? Not so much. We’re not really sure how’s it going. He hasn’t really told us.
But we do hear about recess.
The boys have a bit of overlap at recess, which means that our younger son immediately ditches his classmates and runs over to join in with his brother and his friends.
Read More >>First Day of School: The Saga Begins
I’d post about educational policy or workplace climate or some other topic. If I could form a full sentence. But I can’t. My younger son is halfway through his first day of kindergarten, and I can’t stop thinking about him.
He got on the bus today with his 4th grade brother, eyes full of nerves, excitement, confusion, and maybe a tinge of sadness. All of this was apropos, considering my wife and I had a similar melange of emotions running through us – especially the sadness part.
I remember when our first son went onto the school bus for his first day of kindergarten. Someone had told us that the years leading up to school sort of crawled by and that once school years started time would fleet by alarmingly quickly. Considering he’s now starting 4th grade, that has certainly held true.
We were also told that he would somehow be different at the end of his first day of school than he was at the beginning.
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Top 12 Ways to Be Your Summer Self All Year Round
Hello everyone. Below is an article that I guest wrote for a wonderful website, Teachhub.com. Visit the site and poke around. It’s really well done.
The article I wrote is titled Top 12 Ways to Be Your Summer Self All Year Round. Here it is:
With summer ending and a new school year beginning, the change of pace and lifestyle can be pretty jarring. However, with some mindfulness and personal commitment, you don’t have to say goodbye to summer entirely just because school has started.
1. Stayin’ Fit & Lovin’ It
Summer is often the time teachers get back into a working out routine. You had the time to do it, the days were beautiful, and you weren’t squeezing a run or walk or swim onto your never-ending to-do list. Chances are, it felt pretty good and gave you energy.
Now that school has started, finding the time is hard and exercising can be the first thing to go.
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Self-efficacy
Lately, I’ve been reading about self-efficacy, the idea that our beliefs about our abilities influence the outcome of an event. Briefly stated, when you believe you can do something, you are more likely to work hard, persevere when the task becomes difficult, attempt multiple solutions… you’re more likely to succeed.
Self-efficacy can be a powerful tool in our classrooms. As educators, we deliver messages to students each day that either affirm or challenge their beliefs in their abilities. A primary influence is what others tell us about our abilities. This resonates with what we know about assets… When we focus on the strengths of young people, we promote thriving behaviors.
One of the really neat things about self-efficacy in the classroom is that it applies to us as well as to our students. The beliefs we have in ourselves as educators, in our peers, and in our school influence our behaviors and the actual outcomes of our actions.
Read More >>The Postcard Project: Goals for a New School Year
Ah! That new school year smell!
To those of you finishing your first week or two back at school – congrats! To those of you about to start back up – congrats! It’s time to reflect on the new year ahead.
I’m a bit of a baseball nut. I love the Minnesota Twins something fierce. One of my favorite things about baseball is Opening Day. Regardless of what reason and logic might say, every Opening Day comes with that hope that this year is the year. Pitching will be spot on, hitting will be consistent, and the Twins will claw their way to a World Championship. Every year I believe this. It’s one of the wonders of baseball.
A school year can have that same energy. We come off summer full of hopes and dreams for the year ahead. We’ve set goals for ourselves and our students. We’ve thought about how this year will be different or better.
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Recent Entries
As a former teacher, I’ve seen first-hand the issues that educators face every day. I hope that by writing this blog, I can share some insights (as well as a sense of humor) on teacher job satisfaction and school climate, and spark conversation about how to improve our schools.
—Nathan Eklund, M.Ed
Senior Education Consultant
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