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Author: awood

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The First Three Years PodcastIn this episode of The First Three Years, join us as we search for joy around Jordan School District. Listen and reflect as we interview several teachers about the joyful moments they have found in their classrooms during a pandemic. We hope you can take a minute to reflect on what has brought you joy this year as well!

Special thanks to Ryan Behmer, Spencer Duncan, Troy Jensen, Suzette Johnson, Jennifer Knowles, Rebecca Lee, Shannon McDonald, Dr. Shelley Nordick, Amber Thomas, and Tanner Wilson for sharing their joyful moments with us!

Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

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An old Chinese Proverb teaches:

If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else.

Providing service in a pandemic might seem a little crazy, but there are still plenty of ways for us to serve and find that happiness that comes from helping others. The Girl Scouts of San Jacinto have a guide that they created with several ideas of how to help others during the pandemic. Here are some of them:

  • Donate to and/or volunteer at the food bank
  • Donate blood
  • Donate to a homeless shelter
  • Spread kindness and uplifting messages
  • Be tech support 
  • Consider fostering an animal or donate pet food and supplies for owners in need
  • Be a good neighbor
  • Be prepared, but don’t hoard

For more ideas, see their handout: 

https://www.gssjc.org/content/dam/gssjc/documents/our-council/covid-19/GirlScoutServiceIdeasforCOVID19.pdf

We hope you are able to find happiness through this holiday season as we finish2020 and move into 2021!

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The First Three Years PodcastIn this episode of The First Three Years, we interview Wyatt Bentley about some of the state licensing changes impacting provisional teachers. We also discuss self-care as we approach the holiday season.

Music: https://www.purple-planet.com/

Licensing Documents:

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The First Three Years PodcastIn this inaugural episode of The First Three Years podcast, we will talk about changes made to JPAS for provisional teachers. We also share ideas for meditation and resetting our minds.

Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Working with special education students in your classroom is the norm; however, we can sometimes be overwhelmed with the challenges they may present. We realize that people are more alike than different and that including children with disabilities and special needs is beneficial to them as well as to the other children in your classroom. 

JPAS Domain IV Indicator 56 helps you maximize your understanding of individual learner differences and allows you to demonstrate a curriculum that meets the needs of varied students.

Here are three thoughtful articles that may help you make their lives and yours easier this year. You may feel an article is aimed at one specific age group, but all the suggestions listed in each article are excellent suggestions for all ages and classes.

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I am grateful for the hard work teachers do to provide wonderful learning experiences for students every day. I appreciate the kindness, generosity, and patience of teachers. They never give up; they are wiling to try new things; they do creative things to reach every student. Teachers do not stay on the sidelines; they are part of a team, making a thousand decisions a day for benefit of students.
--Dr. Anthony Godfrey

This is the value of the teacher, who looks at a face and says there's something behind that and I want to reach that person, I want to influence that person, I want to encourage that person, I want to enrich, I want to call out that person who is behind that face, behind that color, behind that language, behind that tradition, behind that culture. I believe you can do it. I know what was done for me.
—Maya Angelou

The power of an effective teacher is something almost all of us have experienced and understand on a personal level. If we were particularly fortunate, we had numerous exceptional teachers who made school an exciting and interesting place. Those teachers possessed a passion for the subjects that they taught and genuine care for the students with whom they worked. They inspired us to play with ideas, think deeply about the subject matter, take on more challenging work, and even pursue careers in a particular field of study. Some exceptional teachers achieve celebrity status, such as Jaime Escalante, the math teacher who inspired the
film Stand and Deliver, but thousands of unsung heroes go unrecognized in their remarkable work with students on a daily basis
-- Pamela D. Tucker and James H. Stronge

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You have been amazing during this very unusual teaching moment. Your websites, Canvas classes, blogs, Zoom meetings, parades, lawn posters, and all the incredible technology you have used to instruct and stay connected to your students has been a monumental effort. We applaud you for finishing strong and caring so much about student success. 

Have a safe, restful summer!

With Gratitude: your JSD Mentor Teacher Specialists

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“When you know yourself well--when you understand your emotions, social identities, core values, and personality--you gain clarity on your purpose in life and in work. Being anchored in purpose makes you able to deal with setbacks and challenges.”

-Elena Aguilar, Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators

As we finish the school year and move into summer, take time to ground yourself in who you are--your values, your purpose in teaching. Try some of these reflective activities: