100% Effort

I handed back the first math test of the year to my students about 2 weeks ago.  Overall the grades were pretty good, but that isn't what made me happy.  What made me happy was how many of my students had improved from the pretest to the posttest.  AND, most of them had improved significantly!

However, as I was sitting in my room reflecting on their performance, one of my students came into the room and looked very unhappy.  I was concerned, so I asked her what was wrong, and she said, "I got a B on my test, and Bs are not ok".  While on one hand I was happy because she wanted a better grade, but on the other, I was upset at the fact that she thought Bs were not ok.  So I prodded her for some more information; I said, "Why is a B a bad score? Didn't you work your hardest on this test and study your hardest for it?" She said that she had, but that "Bs are what dumb people get".  This last comment caught me WAY off guard.  

I have always preached EFFORT to them.  "Give me 100% effort all the time, and I will give you 100% effort all the time.  If we both do this, then YOU will learn a ton this year, and will become a better student and person."  I thought that this was sinking in, but I guess there are a few that I still need to reel in.

I told her that a B was just fine as long as she worked her hardest and truly gave it everything that she had.  I also said that there were a few things that she could learn from this experience.  She didn't know what she could learn from it.  So we spent a minute discussing what she could do differently/better in preparation for her next test.

Even if my student didn't learn anything from this experience ,(although I suspect that she did, she just didn't want to say so) I did. I learned that I need to continue to preach to them that effort is the key to success, and that great things will come to you (them) when you give it your all.

Until Next Time,

Mr. Ryan

Never Forget, You Are Special!

Confessions of a Classroom teacher is the name of my blog, but what I have noticed is that I have not been holding true to that title.  I have been confessing and talking an awful lot about my life outside of school, but not about my life at school.  So figured that it is about time for me to start holding true to my blog title. (On a side note, I think I am going to start another blog that will talk about my non-school life and concentrate and being a dad, husband, and regular guy, FYI).

Only 3 days left until summer break begins.  Wow, just 3 days! (If you are already on summer break, you stink!) When you walk into my school you can feel the excitement about the upcoming summer.  There are more field trips and assemblies.  Students are getting away with some things that they couldn't have a few weeks ago (teachers kind of over looks small things at the end of the year).  You are hearing students and teachers talk about what they are going to do this summer.  There are even count downs on the chalk/white boards in almost every room.  It certainly is a fun time for everyone at school.  Well, almost everyone.

Almost everyone? Some of you are probably wondering how anyone could not be happy about school ending and summer break beginning.  I remember counting the days when I was younger, hell, when I was in college I counted the days.  Even as a teacher, I am counting the days.  But there are students, about 3 of my 26 kiddos to be exact, that are NOT excited about school ending.  Can you guess why?

I know that they first thought that came into your mind was, "Because you are an awesome teacher Kirk, duh!" Ok ok ok, maybe that wasn't your first thought :)  But what I have gathered from my conversations with these students is this; "School is where I can escape my regular life Mr. Ryan" or "I truly feel loved by you Mr. Ryan and I don't at home".  My heart truly breaks for these kids that don't want to go home.  I am even shedding a tear right now for them.  I often wonder about what I could continue to do for these students after summer break starts. What I keep coming back to is something small, but incredibly huge, that I have done with them all year. 

At the end every day my students and I have a saying before they are allowed to leave my classroom.  I cannot claim that I came up with this saying, but I love it.  Right after the bell rings I say, "Never forget" and my students say, "We are special".  And they truly are, every single one of them.  If I could only choose one thing for my students to learn from me all year, it would be that. That they are truly special, and they should never forget that.

Until Next Time,

Mr. Ryan

Back on the Wagon

Needless to say, I have not kept up on my resolutions the last few weeks.  It hasn't been that they are hard to do, it has been me being lazy!  So I thought it was time to hop back on the wagon.

I paid $5 to the swear jar today.  Now don't go thinking that I was swearing up a storm, but I haven't paid up in a few weeks, so I figured that I owed money+interest, for not paying on time. Seem fair? (Yes that seems fair.  Wooow, did I just answer myself? Nah)  

Over my last few posts I have challenged you, and myself, to follow the golden rule and to give strangers and friends compliments.  I believe I have lived up to my challenges.  In retrospect, the golden rule and compliments go hand in hand.  Whether it is a "Nice hat" to "Keep up the hard work" or a "Thank you" to  holding a door open.  Just making an effort to make someone feel better not only puts you in a good mood, it puts (might put) them in a good mood too!

Speaking of good moods.  I have two wonderful friends whom I work with (you know who you are).  Whenever we see each other we always smile and say, "There's my positive friend!"  It doesn't matter how bad of a mood I am in, they always make me smile and remind me to stay positive (There are many other people in my life that make me smile and feel good, but I don't work with you(: ).

Staying positive, what a hard thing to do sometimes.  I have no idea why it is so easy to get in a bad mood.  Maybe it's because the news usually reports negative things or that our society has "programed" us to think about the negative before the positive.  But what I do know is that when you try to see the positive side of negative things, you start to get in a better mood.  Now I am not foolish enough to say that looking at the positive side of things always works, but it is one "tool" that you can have in your toolbox.

Another "tool" that you can add to your toolbox takes some effort, but it is worth it.  Find a positive minded friend or family member and talk with them often.  Just talking and/or being around them can lift your spirits!  Even if you call them in a bad mood, let them know that you need some cheering up and they can help you.  Friends and family are wonderful "tools" to use when you are feeling down.

The last tool requires the most effort, but it is extremely effective! To find out what that is read this post. http://confessionsofaclassroomteacher.blogspot.com/2011/02/run-yourself-dead-to-be-alive.html

So when you are feeling down, go to your "toolbox" and "fix" yourself.  You can even use me as a tool, if you want a positive person to talk with :)

Until Next Time,
Mr. Ryan

P.S. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!!! Hooray Beer!!!

The Golden Rule

I hope everyone had as great a Valentine's Day as Katie and I.  AND I hope that some of you followed my advice and made a gift for your significant other.  Katie and I both made gifts for each other and we both loved them! Plus, we didn't break the bank (bonus!).  She wrote me a wonderful and heartfelt card, made me a CD of songs that remind her of me and us, and bought me an apple pie! Did you know that she is a fantabulous wife?!  I gave her a card, flowers (tulips), 2 prenatal massages, and made her a book out of a deck of cards about the 52 things that I love about her.

Regardless of whether you made or bought (or both) gifts for your special someone, I bet you were really appreciative of what they gave you.  You most likely said "Thank you" and "Your welcome" (or some form of those words) to them.  If not, shame on you :)

However, what this brings me to is the infamous Golden Rule  (like how I put it in gold?).  "Treat others the way you wish to be treated."  Haven't we heard this since we were in kindergarten or even before that? Yet, I see people every day doing nasty things to each other.  I see this in my elementary school as well.  Students continue to bully each other, and instead of turning the other cheek and showing them love and understanding, they bully them right back.


Now I understand that I am talking about young children, and I know that sometimes they are irrational and retaliate before thinking through their actions.  BUT, I have also come to understand that they mimic adults more and more the older that they get.  So what does this say about us as adults and parents?  Why do we find it so hard to show our bullies (I wanted to use enemies, but I thought that might be a little strong) how to treat other people?  Why do we choose to yell, or swear, or hit, or degrade each other instead?


Don't go thinking that I am excluding myself, because I have done my fair share of bullying.  But, I need to do more showing, and less telling, of the Golden Rule, especially to my students.  I need to learn to have more patience with them when they become difficult.  I need to show them how to control their frustration and channel it into appropriate responses and actions at ALL times.  I feel that I have done a better job with this aspect of my teaching this year compared to last, but it is no where near where I want it to be.


So, will you take another small adventure with me, and try to show people how to love their neighbor and model the Golden Rule for everyone?  I hope that you do, because their are a lot of people out there that need to be shown the way.


Until Next Time,
Mr. Ryan

Too Much Money = No Love

UPDATE: Swear Jar total = $12.75 <---- Not too bad!! I have gone days without swearing at a time! Progress!!!

So it has been a bit since I have posted, but that also means that I have a lot of things on my mind.  I have been extremely busy with school, birthing classes, and randomness around the house.  However, that does not mean that I have not noticed that Valentine's Day is right around the corner.  Now I know that many of you believe that Valentine's Day was created by the candy companies, myself included, but that does not mean that we can't take advantage of a holiday that celebrates love.

She's my best friend and the love of my life!

Fellas, we could spend hours talking about all the money that we "have" to spend on the women that "demand" these gifts from us every year.  But, if we took the time to actually listen to the #1's in our lives we might hear what they want us to hear.  It doesn't matter how much you spend, it's how much thought that you put into it.

I can already hear what you are saying, "Ok Kirk, that is what they say, but not what they mean. They want a lot of flowers and expensive jewelry."  Now there might some women out there that will truly judge you by how much you spend on them, and if you are with a woman that is like that, do you really think a shallow person like that is worth being with?

I can honestly say that I don't remember what I did for Katie last year, other than the fact that I gave her flowers.  I also asked her if she could remember, and she couldn't.  THAT is how memorable our Valentine's Day was last year.  THAT is how memorable my gift was.

This year is going to be different.  I have learned that when you put your time, love, and effort into a gift people tend to remember it.  I have been working on a gift for Katie has taken some time, thought, effort, and love.

Now, of course I am not going to tell you what it is, because she will most likely read this (Hi Sweetie!).  But what I am trying to do is help all of you figure out some ways to show the love of your life how much she means to you without breaking your wallet, but also making your gift(s) memorable!

Flowers - Don't go with roses, they are expensive and overrated.  Go with some exotic flowers that POP! Plus, sometimes they go on sale during Valentine's Day.

Chocolates - Buying a box of chocolates is expensive! A better idea is to make your own chocolate treats.  Maybe make some chocolate covered strawberries, pineapple, or cherries.

Gifts - There are so many ideas out there (google it).  But some ideas off the top of my head are: Make her a special dinner, a picture frame with a picture of the two of you, or a short poem.

Whatever you decide to do, even if it is just flowers, make sure that she knows how much she means to you.

Until Next Time,
Mr. Ryan

An Amazing Feeling

When I got home the other day, I had an email from my principal that was entitled, "compliment".  When I opened it up and read it, she told me a compliment that a fellow faculty member said about my teaching.  Now, I am not going to tell you what the compliment was, because that is besides the point.  But what I will tell you is the feeling that I got when I read the compliment.  A feeling of accomplishment, happiness, and pure joy over came me.  I have no idea who gave me the compliment and it doesn't matter.  What does matter is that they saw something that they thought was worthy of a compliment and made sure that it made its way to me.  For this, I thank that person (whom ever you may be).

But the reason I am telling you about the email is this; I want you to think about the last time you received a compliment and remember how it made you feel. (pause for thinking time :)  done? good)  Now, I know you remembered good feelings.  Because of that, I am challenging myself, and all of you out there, to give someone that same feeling this week.  Go out of your way to compliment someone for something that they have done or did, no matter how small.  However, there is one twist to my challenge.  This person should not be someone close to you, like a husband, wife, girl/boyfriend, or close friend.  Try to compliment a stranger or someone that you are not very close to.  If you compliment someone who is not "close to you", the feeling that they will feel will be that much stronger!  But if complimenting a stranger is "not your thing", then at least compliment someone.

Until next time,

Mr. Ryan

SNOW DAYS!!!

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 7PM FRIDAY NIGHT

Those are the words that I read in the bottom right hand corner of my TV screen last night.  What is the very first thing that comes to mind when YOU see that warning on your TV?  My thoughts exactly, SNOW DAY! (Well, you might have had that thought if you were a teacher)  But, I am NOT a fan of snow days, because unlike senors in high school, I still have to make them up! I would rather have more summer days than winter days, but that's just me.

However, what I AM in favor of are late starts and early outs!  And I got my wish today, an early out! (Let alone on a Friday!)  But what this first, hopefully not last, early out really has me thinking about, besides an early drink, are the days of old, my childhood snow days.

Weren't those the best days?  You would wake up early and watch the TV to see if school was cancelled. (Which wasn't very often for me, because Des Moines stinks when it comes to snow days!)  Then it would scroll across the bottom and you would start jumping up in the air.  Then you would start thinking about all of the adventures you were going to have in the snow.

One of my favorite snow days was when I lived on 29th street in DSM.  The day started off with a big breakfast with eggs and bacon (thank you parents!).  Then I was off to go sledding with one of my best friends, Tommy.  The hill we sledded on was no ordinary hill.  It was the MONSTER of all hills.  Which means that by the time you were halfway down it, you were already going 55 MPH! (I don't over-exaggerate at all)  

Drake University used to dump all of the snow that they took off of their campus into the parking lot, which happened to be right next to the MONSTER hill.  So, when we got board of sledding, we would make forts in and around the mountains of snow.  Once our forts were set, we would have amazing snow ball fights.  Sometimes they would last for hours, or what seemed like hours.  When we finally were too cold to stay out any longer, we would move inside to have some hot cocoa and watch some TV.

Those days are long gone, but my inner child will never be gone.  In fact, I think I need to go dust off my sled and go find another MONSTER hill.  I hope that you find your inner child too!

Until Next Time,
Mr. Ryan

Never Forget.....

"I love you.  I think you are a good kid.  I may get frustrated with you and I may discipline you, but that does not mean that I don't love you.  That does not mean that I think you are a bad kid.  Never forget, you are special."

That is what I told one of my students last Thursday.  He had been having a rough morning, behavior wise, and had to go to the office.  Once he was up there, he and I had a talk about how he should be acting in class.  Then, out of the blue, he started crying and absolutely broke down.  I had no idea why (at the time).  When he finally calmed down a little, he told me why he was upset. "They are fighting again," he said. The "they" that he is referring to are his parents.  As I continued to talk with him, I found out that he felt that his parents were blaming him for fighting, and that he could do nothing to get them to stop.

When the conversation was over he felt better, but was still very upset, and rightfully so.  My heart goes out to him.  He should not feel like that.  He should be a happy go lucky kid, with no worries.  But that is not reality or how the world works.  Sometimes kids see, hear, and feel things at a much too young age.  Most of the time, however, it is NOT their fault.  It is the parent(s) fault.

Undoubtedly, Katie and I will eventually have a big argument (I will continue to hope not however).  But when/if that happens, I will NOT let my children think that it is their fault.  If I have an suspicion that they think it is their fault, I will talk with them about it and help them see that it isn't their fault that Mom and Dad had an argument.

I am not a parent yet, and do not presume to have all of the answers.  I will make mistakes.  But I just hope that I do a good enough job, so that my children grow up to be accepting, truthful, and loving people.

Until Next Time,
Mr. Ryan

Teardrops...

The past few days have been a major improvement over the first few days of the swear jar.  Only $0.75 total the last 3 days! Now I need to get that down to $0.  Baby steps.  Baby steps.

I am lucky enough to have a smart board in my classroom (it is basically a 5ft x 4ft Ipad).  Because of that I am able to have a class message every morning on it for my students.  It usually consists of reminders and some small things that I want them to accomplish that morning.  But I also have a "quote of the day" section.  In this section, not only do I put a quote, I put a picture of the person and some life information about them.  Every morning (or almost every) we spend about 2-3 minutes talking about the quote and what it means to them.  So, needless to say, I am always looking for quotes for them.  If you have any suggestions, post them please.

But what that leads me to this; have you ever listened to a song or read a quote that just makes you think about life?  I recently downloaded the new Coldplay CD (yes I know what that makes me, via the movie the 40 Year-Old Virgin), and found a fabulous song that just makes me think about life.  The song is called Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall.  I can't really explain the feeling the comes over me, but it is a great one.  But what I really love about it, are the lyrics.  The lyrics bring the song to life.  To me this song makes me want to help people and try to be the best person I can, which fits right into my resolution!

So I hope that you enjoy this song as much as I do.  Don't just "hear" it, actually "listen" to it, and let it take you over.

Until next time,
Mr. Ryan

No Love Lost

$2.75
That is the amount of money that I had to put in the swear jar yesterday.  However, as of 2:00 PM today, $0 is the amount! Small improvements, but improvements none the less.  Hopefully I can keep it at $0 for the rest of the day.

Yesterday my parents, Katie, and I went to DSM to help my grandparents organize their basement and to have dinner with family for my Aunt Connie's birthday (Happy Birthday Connie!).  We had a wonderful time helping family out and enjoying each other's company.  However, Pa Walt and I got into a relatively strong argument.

SIDEBAR:  Pa Walt used to have his own construction business, and I worked for him.  While working for him, he and I would would sometimes get into small arguments and yell at each other.  But no love was ever lost.  Then, a few years ago, he suffered a stroke and has never totally been the same.  At times he is his normal self, but at other times he is somebody completely different.  Often times I have struggled with the fact that I can no longer interact with my grandpa like I have always known.


Having said that, the topic of the discussion doesn't matter.  But what does matter is that I lost my patience.  I should have kept it much longer than I did.  And that disappoints me.

After the argument, I couldn't help but get incredibly upset with myself.  I also wasn't understanding why I was upset.  I had never really gotten upset with him before over a worksite argument, so why now?  But, looking back at it, I now know why I was so upset.  It was was the first time that Pa Walt and I have yelled at each other since his stroke.  I am incredibly afraid of losing him, because I love him so much, and I don't want to have something happen to him, especially if we hadn't resolved an issue that was between us.

After we left Pa Walt and Grandmommy Kathleen's place I got a phone call from Pa asking if Katie and I were coming back to their house.  I told him no, but hopefully soon.  When I asked him why he called, he just wanted to give me a movie that he thought I might like :)  When we hung up, I knew that no love was lost and that I had made a big deal out of a small argument.  The argument truly was just a worksite one, and, in a weird way, having an argument with him made him feel like he was back on the job.

Love you Pa

Until next time,
Mr. Ryan

HELP!!!!

Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink. That would be the sound of a quarter hitting the bottom of the swear jar.  Needless to say, I have not been doing a very good job on cleaning up my mouth.  This is proving much harder than I thought.  Not that I thought it would be easy!

I was talking with a fellow teacher after school this week, and we were talking about what we have been doing well and things that we need to work on.  When we were done, we were just shooting the s*** (clink), and I told her about my blog and how I am trying to reflect on what I have been doing well and what I need to work on.  I also told her about trying to clean up my mouth.  She was hilarious in the fact that she rolled her eyes and gave me a look that said, "About time!"  But she also gave me a good idea, a swear jar.  Every time I swear I have to put a quarter in the jar.  So I think I am going to run with it!

HOWEVER, I have absolutely no idea what to do with the money that goes into the jar.  That is what I need help with.  Any ideas????

Did That Just Happen?

"Get up off the couch!"

I'm good.

"Come on Kirk, it's not that hard."

I know, but I am comfortable, and wanna watch the game.

"You can get updates on the game at the gym.  Better yet, there are TVs there so you can even watch it while you are lifting weights!"

True. True.  But then again, I would have to leave the comfort of my couch and go out into the cold.

 "GET UP!!!"

This is an example of one of the internal conversations that I had with myself yesterday (and yes, I did answer myself, but not out loud, so it is ok!).  If you didn't realize, there was a lot of football on yesterday, and all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch it.  Unfortunately, that is basically all that I did.  At least until I had enough of my internal self bugging me (internal conversations suck!).  So I ended up going to the rec center and playing 2 1/2 hours of basketball. Which I loved!

That story brings me to a point (obviously).  When I was playing, I was playing with a lot of young fathers, who happened to bring their young children to the gym (not a smart move).  Needless to say, while we were playing, a lot of profanity was used, myself included.  I didn't really notice it until I saw a young father swearing up a storm (F*** this, F*** that) while he was changing the diaper of one of his children, and then proceeded to yell profanity and his 5 (about) year old son for not doing what he asked!  All I could think while observing was, "What the F*** is he doing?" (get the irony?)

I know that I have a potty mouth, but have usually been able to use it when it is appropriate (and yes I know that some of you think that NEVER is an appropriate time).  But now that I am going to be a dad, I am starting to look at situations in a totally different light.  "What if I talk like that around my child?"  

That question scares me a little bit, because I don't want to teach my child language like that.  I will leave that up to my great grandfather, Pa Walt (he taught me (: ).  But seriously, I want to be a great father and role model, just like I had! (Thanks Dad, and MOM!)  So now I am going to try and clean up my mouth.  I know this is going to be hard.  But if it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing.

Until next time,

Mr. Ryan

And It Begins...

And so it begins.  With a new year comes many new things, and, like I talked about last time, resolutions.  I have had some time to think about what I want my new years resolution to be and I have come up with one.  But before I tell you, I have one last thing to say about resolutions.

I received a comment from a friend that got me thinking about deeper resolutions.  He, Jay, said that he feels that people don't achieve their resolutions because they only reflect on themselves, and decide to make a change, once a year.  He's right!  If people reflected more than once a year, maybe they would have a better chance of reaching that goal and truly changing themselves for the better.

As teachers, Jay and I, find ourselves reflecting on daily basis about our teaching.  We do this in order to improve our teaching and to best help our students learn.  Now if I could only do that more in my daily life; and that is what I am going to do.

My New Year's resolution this year is to reflect daily on how I live my life and the choices that I make.  Now some of you might think that this is not a good resolution, because it isn't something concrete that I can achieve (like losing a certain amount of lbs).  But what I like about it, is the fact that I am going to be making an effort everyday to reflect on what happened that day and how I could have acted/reacted/listened/etc. more or better.

I am going to be doing this through my blog, along with thoughts on things and events that happen outside of my direct life.  With that being said, my first challenge to all of you is to join me in my journey. Comment on my blog posts about how you have reflected on your life and tried to change for the better.  I will be here to give you my thoughts (if you want) and listen to you.

Make sure to become a follower of my blog. :)

Until next time,

Mr. Ryan