Schools Out For The Summer

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Hello Friends,

Today was my last day of school. I now have 24 years of teaching under my belt. This year was challenging, tiring, and fulfilling all wrapped together.

I wish you all a great start to your weekend and summer. You deserve some hard-earned rest and relaxation.

In today’s newsletter…

• Teacher turnover rates have a negative impact on students and their communities.
• Exit tickets can provide valuable insights into student learning and lead to reflective growth.
• Book clubs can promote emotional and social growth, create a safe space for sharing ideas and feelings, and foster healthy relationships with adults.

The News

Here are some articles that grabbed my attention.

• Teacher Turnover - I have now watched two teaching teammates retire (Thanks for the wonderful years, Laura and Joan ♥💪.) The expertise and wisdom that are lost when veterans retire are immeasurable. Teacher turnover rates have a negative impact on students, particularly those who need the most support. Relationships with students and their families are lost, and the connections that teachers have built with the community are gone. To address this issue, improving working conditions, building strong communities, and preparing school leaders are crucial. Experienced and highly valued teachers are beneficial for both students and communities.
• Exit Tickets - Do you use exit tickets with your students? Do they give you valuable insights into student learning? A well-designed exit ticket can tell you how effective each lesson is and also provide a catalyst for reflective growth. They can also help you adjust upcoming lessons based on information gathered from your students. Exit tickets can be as simple or complex as you want them to be, but the key is to make them specific and actionable.
• Challenges - Top teachers across the US are facing major hurdles in the classroom, including staffing shortages, low pay, and addressing students' mental health. The most common issues cited by respondents in a recent ABC News survey were meeting students' social, emotional, and academic needs and solving the staffing shortage. Despite recent cultural flashpoints in the classroom, such as instruction on LGBTQ topics and critical race theory, the teachers instead pointed to student mental health, low pay, and burnout as causes for concern.
• Social Emotional Reading - Book clubs can not only foster a culture of reading but also promote emotional and social growth. They also create a safe space for sharing ideas and feelings and creating healthy relationships with adults. Sharing book club responsibilities among your teaching staff can make the process more manageable.

Growth

Personal Development and Wellness Resources

• Sleep Languages - If you're struggling to get enough quality sleep, it may be helpful to identify which of the five "sleep languages" you speak, according to sleep psychologist Shelby Harris. These languages categorize sleep habits based on the obstacles that prevent people from getting good rest. The five sleep languages are the "Words of Worry" sleeper, the "Gifted" sleeper, the "Routine Perfectionist" sleeper, the "Too Hot to Handle" sleeper, and the "Light as a Feather" sleeper.
• Break the Silence - Talking to strangers is a cheap form of therapy. It can be good for your mood. It’s also a way to combat feelings of loneliness. Next time you're out running errands or taking a walk, try striking up a conversation with a stranger and see where it takes you.
• Anti-Goals - Do we really need goals? What if we focused on what we don't want to become instead? Anti-goals can help us figure out what we truly stand for and where we want to go. I’m not ready to give up goals altogether, but knowing what you don’t want to become can help you notice when you’ve gone off track.

Inspiration

"Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Favorite Things

• This Day in History - American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Bo Diddly passed away. His use of a syncopated beat (known as “hambone”) unleashed a new type of rock and roll.
• Gadget - Glassy Girls Teacher Off-Duty Tumbler *

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