What's Saving Your Life This Spring?

I hear you... counting down the days...days till the next break...days till summer...days till retirement. Been there, done that! And now, looking back at our teaching life from retirement, I hear Joni Mitchell singing in my ear, "I've looked at life from both sides now..." The view from here isn't all sunshine and roses, but I can make a few observations with most of the emotion now stripped away. I adore my teacher friends, still in the classroom, and still making a tremendous contribution. I have former students, children of my heart forever, now working as teachers or just entering the profession. I want only the best for each of them and you, and I hope this post will have a little something to ease you on down the road to summer! 

This is an idea that comes from an idea that one of my fav bloggers revisits every year. If you haven't read posts by Modern Mrs. Darcy, I highly recommend her blog. She has so many ideas for lifelong readers and book lovers, like us!  

According to Mrs, Darcy, "The idea comes from Barbara Brown Taylor’s wonderful memoir Leaving Church. In it, she tells the story of how once, when she was invited to speak at a gathering, her host gave her this instruction for her speaking topic: “Tell us what is saving your life right now.” She said the genius of the question is that though most of us know exactly what’s killing us, it’s harder to name what’s saving us. It’s too good a question not to revisit from time to time, and so we’ve done it annually at the midpoint of winter. (Or, in 2024, thereabouts.)" 

And so, my darlings, here we go! Onward to Teacher Appreciation Day, with each of us indulging in a little self-appreciation in the days ahead.

Currently Saving My Life

Pink - Pink saves my life. Deeply affected by Barbie, the movie, just that bright, saturated Barbie pink color saves me every day. I surround myself with touches of it, and gazing at them makes me happy. Clothing, nails, shoes, Zumba shoes, ink, markers, acrylic paints, glitter (sorry, not sorry), drinking cups, and my favorite song by Pink herself, "Never Not Gonna Dance Again". Wait till you see my new pink dress that I am saving for Mother's Day! I will wear it all day whether I am alone or with family. Because it saves me. 

Dance - Dancing saves my life. I love going to Zumba class with all the sweet young things. I tell them that I have returned to stumble along behind them, but after a few short minutes (maybe a song or two into the hour), I feel that I am actually doing something that approximates dancing! Can't find a class near you? Make a playlist on Youtube. I love the routines by ZumbaDaze! Try it! I promise you'll love it, and it just may save you, if only for an hour a day! Dance like no one is watching. Because they likely are not!

Cooking - Creative cooking has always saved my life. Due to hubby's recent lifestyle changes required for his health, I have temporarily suspended my love of trying new recipes and especially exploring Korean cooking, as I've done for the past year. If you are interested in dabbling, I started with Eric Kim, but then found Maangchi's blog. Maangchi saves my life. Her love of cooking is infectious! Also, Molly Yeh from Girl Meets Farm is magnificent in the way she blends Asian and Midwestern cooking. And her kitchen...Sigh...Don't get me started!

The way I'm saving my life with cooking has boiled down (😂) to simplicity. We eat mostly protein and veggies now. Could get boring, but some easy things that you and your family might love are: Egg Roll in a Bowl (recipes everywhere)! Who ever thought of cooking cole slaw mix? Brilliant! I expanded that idea to cooking various bagged salad mixes, adding spices, flavored oils, or sesame oil, light soy sauce, whatever, and adding cooked protein - chicken, beef, turkey, shrimp, or tofu. Yummy and done in a hot second!

Reading - But of course! I am and always have been all about the books.

Currently loving: 

Museum of Failures by Thrity Umrigard 

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

For more and detailed suggestions for reading for you and your students, check out this post:

What's Saving Your Life Right Now?

As you continue the countdown mentioned above, save your teaching life with some ready-to go Spring lessons and activities from Rainbow City Learning!

I would love love love to hear what's saving your life right now! Please answer in the comments below!

For more Spring classroom ideas, don't miss these great posts by our awesome members of Teacher Talk!  

If you would also like to be a part of Teacher Talk, we are a group of teacher bloggers who share posts

that are heavy on the ideas with just a little selling of our educational materials at    TeachersPayTeachers.com.  For more information about joining The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative, go to https://bit.ly/3o7D1Dv.  Feel free to email me at retta.london@gmail.com if you have any questions.

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Create a Zen Classroom

Full Moon ahead? Major school break coming up? Too much excitement for students in the class before yours, or on the bus ride to school? Yikes! That could mean that your day is set up for major headaches, much waiting for quiet and attention, and a constant struggle to get through the lesson plan.

But what if you could bring an atmosphere of calm and peace to your classroom each and every day, no matter what may be happening just outside your door? Welcome to the Zen Classroom! Here are some easy-peasy ways to bring back the calm and get on with the learning:

Of course, we all have heard of brain breaks, and many teachers are already making great use of brain breaks and brain gym activities on a regular basis. I'm wondering if you've tried just breathing at the start of a lesson, after a transition, or when things get a little out of control. You can bring your class right back to center and focus with just a minute or two of focused breathing. Have a sign ready that says, "Breathe". Have a pre-agreed posture that kids automatically get into because they've learned it. It can be sitting up straight in their chair, criss-cross applesauce on desktops, or on a pre-designated spot on the floor. My students often enjoyed taking a seat on the floor under their desks to find a quiet personal spot.

When the sign is displayed, students can engage in one of several types of breathing. Simple and slow  in through the nose and out through the mouth, one of many yoga breaths than can be learned and at the ready for these moments, or whatever breath helps each child to slow down and get calm. Different kids will have their favorites, and one or two that will work best for them.

Just a minute or two spent breathing in this way will restore peace and calm to each student in your class. Because I love you, and because I really want you to try this, here's a free poster for you! Just click, download and print!

                      

Try setting up a yoga poster or two at each of the stations (math, writing, etc.) in your class. Set up a routine with kids that before attempting each academic station, they will practice a pose and/or a breath. Kids and you will see a definite upswing in success, I promise! It's just a great way to clear your head and to save a space in your brain for the learning to sink in. Try it with those dreaded times tables or even a passage from Shakespeare! You just may be surprised!

The most wonderful benefit of starting some of these practices with your kids is that they are truly life practices. Kids will remember and even automatically start breathing or assuming certain positions in stressful or difficult situations or even when preparing for a test, first date, or job interview in the future. You will have given your students a gift for a lifetime by starting some of these habits now in your classroom.

Here's another great use for those yoga posters or yoga cards!
Set up a series of yoga mats, or bath/beach towels, or just areas marked off by tape around your room (or playground!). Place a yoga card/poster at each area. connect the course with yoga straps stretched out (or tape) or yoga blocks laid in a row (can also be stepping stones from the garden or paper stepping stones). I love to use paper stepping stones with messages written on them like, "Just Breathe!" or "Find Your Focus!" or "Be Calm!" or even "Chill!" Laminate them and tape to the floor or ground. Instruct students to follow the paths you have set up from station to station where they will  spend from three to five minutes practicing the postures and/or breaths posted there.

If you make setting up the obstacle course a class job, it will be a very easy and short setup for you, and a yoga obstacle course can be done as frequently and easily as a brain break. Definitely try it outdoors in the Spring for a calm and organized recess with a purpose!

Individual sets of yoga pose and breath cards in each student's desk make it possible for individuals to use these relaxation techniques whenever the need arises. That might not be at the same time for every student! When students have quick access to visual cues, they can try out some new or trusted poses or breaths whenever they need them. A new way of redirecting behavior for you just might become, "Try a card!"

Try hole-punching and adding a "ring-it" to individual decks. Kids can cut out the cards, hole-punch, and assemble themselves in third grade and above. Don't make more work for yourself by creating all the decks yourself when kids can give some zen back to you by doing it themselves. (Of course, cutting and assembling does have its rewards. Try binging on Netflix while cutting!)

 In my classroom, a very popular volunteer position was "CPA Parents". These wonderful (usually full-time working) parents would check their kids' backpacks each night for bags of materials from me to "Cut, Paste, Assemble" (CPA). All the work would usually be completed that evening and returned to school the next day. It's like having a team of fairy godmothers and godfathers just waiting for you to make a wish! Bibbidy-bobbidy-boo! It's an easy way for parents who must work, but want to volunteer in the classroom to take part.

Coloring books and zentangles of all kinds have been increasing in popularity for several years now, and it's no wonder! Focusing in on coloring changes your breathing and is a calming and restorative practice for kids and grownups alike. Using different colored pencils, crayons, markers, and even touches of watercolor adds to the experience. I love using coloring pages with a message. Kids will internalize the message as their fingers make strokes inside and outside the lines. Try printing posters (your choice - make them yourself or make it easy and purchase some) in black/white or grayscale for kids to color in. You can add to your classroom decor with posters personalized by your students. A win for all!

I hope that some or all of these suggestions will help you to create the kind of space in your classroom that will make you feel peaceful and happy while traveling to work to each day, looking forward to teaching and learning as you have always hoped it would be!

You might find some of the resources in these two bundles helpful in your journey to zen:

For more Spring classroom ideas, don't miss these great posts by our awesome members of Teacher Talk!  

If you would also like to be a part of Teacher Talk, we are a group of teacher bloggers who share posts

that are heavy on the ideas with just a little selling of our educational materials at    TeachersPayTeachers.com.  For more information about joining The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative, go to https://bit.ly/3o7D1Dv.  Feel free to email me at retta.london@gmail.com if you have any questions.

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Celebrate Reading

Bringing back a favorite post to help you plan ahead for "March is Reading Month".

"It's always something." (Gilda Radner as Roseanne Rosannadanna) Every day that we show up at school, ready to learn, is a cause for celebration. "...and everywhere was a song and a celebration." (Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young. Woodstock, baby.) Seriously, teachers, we can find something to celebrate in class every single day. The biggest celebration, of course, is when the imaginary light bulbs flash with new learning, with a newly converted reader for life, budding author, artist, mathematician, researcher, or maker. As teachers, we are part of those amazing moments all year long. And yet, if we seek other celebrations to bring a learning theme to our students, the calendar is filled with them. Here's a year-long resource for an author birthday focus every month.
                
Read Across America Day was originally conceived to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss. You might have been wearing out your "Cat in the Hat" striped chapeau for all the Marches for as long as you've been teaching. Maybe your school focuses on Dr. Seuss, or maybe you just enjoy that celebration in your classroom. Maybe your own teacher tied a red bow around her neck every March, and the memories are filled with warm fuzzies. Or...maybe...you are ready for a new idea?

Did you know that Leo Dillon's birthday is March 2 also?  With his wife, Diane, Leo Dillon was the author/illustrator of forty beloved children's books. Many of the books will bring the concepts of diversity and world peace into your classroom. What a beautiful segue from February is Black History Month! Why not kick off March is Reading Month this year with a fresh focus?

A favorite Dillon book of mine is If Kids Ran the World. My students were so fortunate to have the chance to meet this gentle and lovely couple before Leo's death in 2012, when they visited our school.  The mentoring for our future authors and illustrators was off the charts! If Kids Ran the World was the book they were working on at the time of Leo's passing.

In addition to the beautiful illustrations and words showing how the world would be a better place if we all cared  for others in the way these children do, this book effortlessly becomes a mentor text. Click below to learn more:

Some other authors whose work will make for great sharing and inspiration any time of the year: Patricia Polacco, Eve Bunting, and Jacqueline Woodson. These are a few of my favorites, and my students have enjoyed many lessons for reading and writing led off by the works of these writers. 

Try The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco to see how the author's own mother was encouraged to love reading!

Share a read-aloud of The Wretched Stone by Chris Van Alsburg to prompt a discussion of all the things we might enjoy if we give up a little screen time. 

Of course, no month-long celebration is complete without a few official school-wide or grade-wide or even class-wide activities. Some of my favorites:

Hold a Read-In

In no way should this be confused with a clean your desk, grade papers, and enter data day. Wipe that thought from your mind. It's tempting for sure, but a read-in day where you participate right along with the kids is a golden opportunity to encourage a lifelong love of reading (like yours!). Only you can be the role model for that in your classroom. Sleeping bags, blankies, jammies, and pillows optional! My kids always liked making little fort areas under the desks for uninterrupted reading bliss!

Who doesn't love a Parade?

Ask your students to bring in their Radio Flyer or Little Tykes wagons to use as float carriers for a Parade of Books! (Think Macy's Thanksgiving or Disney any day, or The Rose Bowl Parade, but with books!)  Kids work in teams to create a float display (think giant diorama!) of a book. The team members dress as some of the characters as they accompany their float in a parade for school and community!

Spotlight on Books

Create a display with a fun place to leave comments/reviews about a book that the class shared as a class novel, book club choice, or read-aloud. Place a book cover in the center of the display, and kids write comments all around. Examples of fun places to leave comments: black construction paper with colored chalks, small white boards with wipe-off markers, plexiglass with window markers, fabric with glitter pens. I know your kids can  help you think of more! 

Recommended in Rainbow City

That's what we called ours, anyway! Start a weekly or monthly newsletter or blog section where kids can review books they have read and loved. It's a great resource for your students to clip and keep on hand for when they are browsing for new books to read. 

Book Trailers

Use your technology (iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or your favorite movie creator) to have your students create exciting trailers to "advertise" their favorite books. So many resources, directions, and examples of book trailers for kids in this post. (Just click on the director below!)

I loved sharing ideas for March is Reading Month with my podcasting friends, Tracy, Deann, and Kathie. Tune in to "We Teach So Hard" Episode 28 to hear what we came up with!

Happy, happy March! Hope you get to read something you love this month, too!

If I can do anything else to help make your job easier this year, please let me know in the comments below! If I use your idea for a new blog post, you will win a TpT $10 gift card. If I create a new resource for Rainbow City Learning based on your idea, you will win a free copy of that resource to use in your classroom! (Note: all comments are reviewed before appearing on my blog. It may take a few hours for your comment to appear! Thanks for your patience!)

For more thoughts on teaching as we wait for Spring, don't miss these posts by our awesome members of Teacher Talk!  

If you would also like to be a part of Teacher Talk, we are a group of teacher bloggers who share posts

that are heavy on the ideas with just a little selling of our educational materials at    TeachersPayTeachers.com.  For more information about joining The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative, go to https://bit.ly/3o7D1Dv.  Feel free to email me at retta.london@gmail.com if you have any questions.

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A Read Aloud for February

She climbed in my lap, her fluffy curls tickling my chin, and grandsweetheart #6 and I began to devour our latest new book, Have I Ever Told You? by Shani King. What a delicious and inspirational read for home, with your own precious babies, or at school with your also precious students. (No longer an affiliate. I recommend this book purely from the depths of my heart!)

As we turned the pages, each one beginning with the words, "Have I ever told you..." or "Have I told you...", and she answered in her sweet and bell-like voice, "Yes, you have!" or "No." or "Just now!", my mind was buzzing with the reach of this idea far beyond a bedtime story. What a beautiful read for February, the month of love, this month of remembrance, of honoring the achievements of African Americans, of looking forward to honoring the achievements of women in March. If I still had my classroom, I would definitely be dancing down the hall with this one this week, ready to share with my class! Yeah, I love sleeping late and not even worrying about snow days, but I would give it all up to share this with some kids! As many as possible, so teachers, please help me out with this!

Each page reaches deep within your soul and far beyond your own existence to all the possibilities that just being human can offer. It lets the child know that he/she is special, loved, can be anything, and should reach out to others on so many levels. It reminds with each new page that as teachers, as parents, and grandparents, aunts, uncles, caregivers and keepers of kids in any way that rings true for you. that we teach what we are.

We teach what we are. The kids are always watching and listening. The best things we can model are love and compassion for others. No fancy props or complicated lesson plan is ever necessary for this. You don't need to write notes or start your class valentines with, "Have I ever told you?" (although what a great mentor text lesson you might do with this book!). Some key management decisions that you might make for your classroom could easily send that message.

Simple things like letting your class plan the Valentine party and how Valentines might be distributed and shared would send the message, "Have I ever told you what great ideas you have?"

Establishing a class government system in which every child has a voice and a personal  stake says, "Have I ever told you that you can make hard choices and live with them?"

Infusing multicultural studies throughout the year, not just during a designated month or week or holiday, will be sending the clear message, "Have I told you how important it is that we all feel honored, loved and respected? All of us!"

Showing students the future career possibilities of work that they are doing right now will say, "Have I told you that you can be anything you choose as you prepare for life as an adult?" Letting your kids respond to lessons in multiple ways or to craft responses using their current strengths will tell them that you value their strengths and make them unafraid to try new things and respond in other ways as well.

This is a perfect time to stretch our wings with some additional modeling. If we are teachers who respect others, show compassion for all, and truly believe in our kids as learners now and citizens in the future, let's teach it through the opportunities we provide.  Love is in the air in the days ahead. Let's sprinkle in some positivity, compassion, belief in each other, and trust with what matters. The air has plenty of room and can hold all that and more! Start with a great read-aloud!

Click on links above for ideas from Rainbow City Learning on adding more to the air than love next month!

For more great ideas for the month ahead, be sure to visit all the blogs of Teacher Talk!

If you would also like to be a part of Teacher Talk, we are a group of teacher bloggers who share posts

that are heavy on the ideas with just a little selling of our educational materials (to make your teacher life easier) at TeachersPayTeachers.com.  For more information about joining The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative, go to https://bit.ly/3o7D1Dv.  Feel free to email me at retta.london@gmail.com if you have any questions. 

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