Unlike many bloggers,
I don’t write reviews about my year.
I don’t have lofty goals for the New Year.
My joy comes from the little things everyday,
because these are the big things,
and become my landscape, my portrait.
Writing a kindness letter
Making a class Brown Bear, Brown Bear book.
Making a robot (stay tuned!)
Am I looking forward to the New Year?
You bet I am!
Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Jennie
The day after Christmas
was a full moon to the east
with a deep blue sky.
I thought about the Christmas Star
and stopped to remember the Three Wise Men.
To the west was a beautiful sunset and a contrail.
Vertical and horizontal, together.
I thought about people and opposites,
getting along.
The sky was telling me so.
Then, I passed by my favorite barn.
I have no words, just beautiful feelings.
Somehow I know the ‘day after’ was special,
perhaps hollering,
“Look at me.”
Thank goodness I did.
Jennie
The last day of school before Christmas.
Pajama Day!
Everyone is excited.
A child rushed up to give me a big hug.
“I love you, Jennie.”
“I love you, too.”
The ‘I Love You Rush’ began.
I knew exactly what to do, sing the book.
We danced and sang.
It was what the children needed.
They’re beyond excited, and if love pops out,
I respond in the best of ways,
singing and dancing.
All you need is love!
And at the end of the day, there was more love.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Jennie
Christmas lights and decorations are up. It feels so good. Light is joy and hope.
After dinner I put on my jammies and settled in to read my fellow bloggers’ posts. I had ‘The Sound of Music’ movie in the background. Every time a song came on, I had to stop and sing (in my heart).
Meanwhile, Hubby had been in his office watching the Science Channel. He came into the living room just as Edelweiss was playing.
Hubby stopped. He was glued to the song. We both smiled all the way through. Then I told him something about me and music in the classroom:
Steve, this is one of the songs I sing at school all the time. I sing this in the bathroom changing diapers. I sing this on the playground. I sing everything. Everything.
I tell the children that music goes into your ears, then travels to your brain and to your heart. I ask them if music makes them feel good. Of course it does, because the look on their faces tells me so, loud and clear.
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the wind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” ~Plato~
Jennie
#1 I went to a Book Fair and found a remarkable new book about the American flag that survived the 9/11 attack, 30,000 Stitches.
It is the story of the 9/11 flag, how it was saved and how it was mended. I did not know about the many people who tenderly repaired the flag, and how that flag traveled to all 50 states. Stitchers are heroes.
#2 Pearl Harbor Day is December 7th. I remember the date every year, because of my parents and their Greatest Generation. This was the day that made heroes and united the country.
#3 The Army-Navy game was played this week. It inspires me every year. I was lucky to attend one game when our son was a Midshipman. The experience will never be forgotten. These are heroes on and off the field, a true ‘band of brothers’.
Army-Navy Football, It’s Far More Than a Game
Three patriotic heroes in one week is a ‘hat trick’ and a very good week.
Jennie
Barb Taub shares stories of Polly, the ‘best’ teacher her children had, the one who made a difference, and transformed their lives. Polly had one classroom of children from age 4 to first grade. Thank you, Barb.
I wore this heart pin to school today. I needed to wear it, and I knew what would happen. Children asked me about the pin.
“Jennie, I love your heart.”
“Thank you. I do, too. Do you know why I wore this? Because I love you.”
The smiles were as big as sunbeams. Love has been, well, everything this year.
This school year has been a change, as the children are younger. It took a month to adjust my expectations to their abilities. Can they scissor cut? No. Can they draw people? Barely. I was spending nearly as much time in the bathroom changing diapers as I was teaching. Once we became a family (I love when that happens) it became clear these children may not be artists or builders, but they are passionate book readers. They are singers and caretakers of of our dolls – especially Gloria. She has spent every single weekend with a child. Lunchtime always has a Jennie Story or a Fairy Tale. The favorite is my version of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” – “Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs.”
It finally dawned on me why everything is exciting and fun, albeit a young class. Love. That’s it. I love these children, and they love me. Everything falls into place once there is love.
A former student moved away recently, and someone said they would not miss him. It was mater of fact, not unkind, yet it made me look at my class and realize all that really matters is love. Learning happens after love. That’s why I wore my heart pin to school today.
I want to share with you my teacher hero. Her story is in my well worn copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul. She gets it:
A college professor had his sociology class go into the Baltimore slums to get case histories of 200 young boys. They were asked to write an evaluation of each boy’s future. In every case the students wrote, “He hasn’t got a chance.” Twenty five years later another sociology professor came across the earlier study. He had his students follow up on the project to see what had happened to these boys. With the exception of 20 boys who had moved away or died, the students learned that 176 of the remaining 180 had achieved more than ordinary success as lawyers, doctors and businessmen.
The professor was astounded and decided to pursue the matter further. Fortunately, all the men were in the area and he was able to ask each one, “How do you account for your success?” In each case the reply came with feeling. “There was a teacher.”
The teacher was still alive, so he sought her out and asked the old but still alert lady what magic formula she had used to pull these boys out of the slums into successful achievement.
The teacher’s eyes sparkled and her lips broke into a gentle smile. “It’s really very simple”, she said. “I loved those boys.”
Love means supporting children along the way. I support my children. So does Rita Pearson. When she heard a colleague say, “They don’t pay me to like the kids”, her response was “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.”
All you need is love. Really.
Guess what book I’ll be singing to the children…
Jennie
This is what happens when teachers read aloud:
It begins with a child, grows into groups of children,
and then the children ‘take over’, reading on their own.
Reading one-on-one
Reading in groups
The more I read aloud, the more I empower children to read. I don’t teach children how to read. I give them them the passion to want to read. And they do, long before they know how to read.
I catch them reading to Gloria, and reading to each other.
I catch them setting up chairs so they can read on their own.
Chapter reading comes next. There are no pictures, the words become the magic that make the pictures. Chapter reading ‘sticks’ more than picture books. It’s what children remember most of all. Really!
It’s what parents tell me, and they continue reading aloud.
I have often told the story of my first day teaching, when my head teacher put a picture book in my hands and asked me to be the one who reads to children every day. As soon as I read that book to children – Swimmy, by Leo Lionni – I was hooked, and I knew I had been given a great gift.
Reading aloud is more than just reading a book to a child. For most parents, it is a pleasurable and bonding time. But, that’s the tip of the iceberg. The more words a child hears, the better s/he will do in all academic areas in school. All. Now, doesn’t that make a parent want to run to the library? As the number of words a child hears continues to grow, so does the need for reading aloud. Sadly, many parents stop reading to their children once their child is able to read on their own.
The mind of a child can understand and process far more of the subtle underlying messages of a book when hearing the words, rather than reading the words. That’s why I can read Charlotte’s Web to preschoolers; they understand far more with oral words. Parents and teachers should read aloud to their children long after the children can read on their own. Reading aloud Because of Winn-Dixie and The Wild Robot should happen in every elementary school classroom. Reading aloud Wonder should happen in every upper grade classroom. If a teacher cries, all the better, because that’s a subtle message – one that’s not directly written – and becomes a beacon of understanding. The head of the English Department at the Prep School in town reads aloud to her high school seniors. Lights off, heads down on desks, just like I do at chapter reading in my preschool class.
I know how hard it is to make the time for reading aloud at home. Here is a new toy that gets my vote. It’s called Toniebox. It reads stories, tells stories, and lets children record their own stories. It has classic and popular books, plus characters children love telling stories.
Today at school I read aloud a classic, favorite book, The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson. Next, children could listen to the story read aloud on their own. All they had to do was put the Gruffalo character on top of the Toniebox.
Children get to hear the words, much like in chapter reading. The quality of sound and ease of use is terrific. We love it in the classroom, and recommend it to parents.
Jennie
A Teacher's Reflections 
My children have had several wonderful teachers, but the one who was absolutely life-changing was Polly. Their school went from age 4 to first grade. All in one classroom, with the children learning from each other. She didn’t teach any of them to read or to write. They instantly became readers, and they taught each other to write. Polly saw her role as being the one who arranged for each and every child to do the things they most wanted to do. She said anyone could be a good teacher, but to be a great one they needed to have passion about something in their lives. She herself had been a dancer, and that was the passion she drew upon.
A child wants to tell a story? She would listen, help write or transcribe, and then suggest they make it into a play. (That child became an international correspondent for PBS, now with his own weekly show.) A child wants to write a fairy tale? She sent that story to a national children’s magazine for publication. (That child, my daughter, now has won Emmy’s as a TV writer, plus has authored multiple best-selling books.) A child likes to know how things work? She brings in everything from toasters to computers for him to take apart. (That child, my son, is now an engineer at an international aircraft maker.) A child likes to sing and dance? Polly helps her create a show, recruit her classmates, and perform for families and friends. (That child, my daughter, performed the lead in her highschool musicals. Eventually, she became a developer in one of the world’s biggest software companies, a young woman in a male-dominated field with the confidence she got from Polly’s encouragement.)
Teachers can shape lives. A very few teachers — teachers like you Jennie — can transform them. The children in your class have hit the jackpot, and their lives will never be the same.
Jennie