My mom was also a high school teacher. She started teaching secretarial skills, everything from typing to shorthand, but evolved into a computer teacher. This was taken at her retirement party. That's my girl, Grace, when she was a baby!

When you think about appreciating those who have taught you well, do you also think of your mother?  I do! She has taught me so much.  I think of all the lessons she has modeled for me throughout my life in topics from boys to academia to love in and of family to the meaning of true success.  I looked to her (even as a slightly rebellious child) for a standard of morals, I asked for her assistance in grammar when typing up an essay (even through college), and now I heed her lessons in balancing my life, work and passions (even if I think I can do it all myself.)  All the while, she is my teacher, one with the honored and sacred name of Mother.

When I think about how I am the first teacher to my own children, I have to pause and process that.  Not only am I (along with my husband) their first, but we are also their most consant teachers.  That age-old teaching practice of modeling for my students is also played out daily with my own children.  Just like my students in class, my children take in bits and pieces of what I’m teaching them by my words and my actions.

There is a lot of talk at school about the importance the family has in relation to students’ success.  We also know how vital it is to create and sustain a positive collaboration between school and home.  As my students left me yesterday afternoon, Mexican inspired Mother’s Day cards in hand, I couldn’t help but think about how much those boys and girls look up to the woman in their lives: mothers, grandmothers, even aunts and big sisters.  They are our students’ first teachers.

Sunday, I will celebrate Mother’s Day with my extended family at my house complete with cook-out, birthday celebrations and lots of flowers.  Through this busy time getting ready for this fun event, it’s important for me to stop and think about my mothers: my grandmothers, my mother-in-law, and my one and only Mom.  They all play such a large role in who I am.  They help to shape me through what they have taught me and continue to teach me each day!

To all the Mothers – I wish you a wonderful week end!

~EMP

Related posts:

1. Teachers We Have Had
2. What Teachers DO When They are NOT with Students
3. Arts Teachers

Today,  Renée Peña joins us as a guest blogger sharing her expertise in the importance of play.  She has some great suggestions of how to incorporate play into our daily lives with children.  So, please read, enjoy and share your suggestions too!   You can follow Renée on Twitter @enrichingkids. ~EMP

Someone once said: “Play is the beginning of knowledge.” Recently, I hosted a Twitter Party on the importance of play. My reason for hosting the party was to start a conversation on why play is important in our lives.  As we tweeted we were all in agreement that play is an important life skill.  It helps us with our problem solving and language development.

As a preschool teacher and owner of an enriching babysitting service, Creative Sitters, I have seen many parents who are concerned about their children, worried that their lives were being over scheduled.  They fear that their child is missing out on their childhood but feared even more that their child would be behind academically. Understandably so as the National Standards are higher and based on test results that decide your child’s future, thanks to tracking.

So then what is parent, teacher, and child to do about the importance of play in our chaotic lives?  Try to integrate it in our daily lives as my sitters do with the children they sit for.  But how in our busy lives do we integrate it into our daily routine?  I would like you to consider the following list:

1. Schedule playtime in your calendar and make it a point to follow through. The first thing, as they always say is being aware.

2. Make homework time fun and interactive by making the lesson come alive for your child.

3. Take a walk and turn it into a I spy or treasure hunt (everyone loves making a silly pirate accent.)

4. Create your own art gallery out of everyday objects.

5. Make up your own language with your child.

6.  Use your camera to take pictures of what you view as interesting along your journey to school with your child.  And later create a slide show to show the rest of the family.

7. Tell a story with your child. You can start it and the child can finish the ending of the story. This can be done through pictures as well as words.

8. Make shopping a joy by creating a fantasy world. For example, tell your child that you are getting ready for a ball and have to shop for everyone in the kingdom.  “So what meals shall we chose for the ball?”

9. If your child is old enough, have them join you in the kitchen as your sous chef.  Cooking is a great version of play and has such a yummy result.

10. Laugh at mistakes, use them as a learning tool of play to solve the issue at hand.

Looking forward to reading your comments and hearing your suggestions too.

Happy Playtime, Everyone!

Related posts:

1. PLaiC – Process, Play and Balance
2. Reflection Time

Tomorrow is Mothers’ Day and what better time to celebrate how many woman teachers, working women, share their lives and experiences with their students. (Don’t worry Dads, your day is coming too!) On a day such as this, I am reminded about how becoming a mom, made me a better teacher and how being a teacher makes me a better mom.

In education, we are taught the theory of child development and strategies to bring out the best in our students. Even years before I was a mom, as I sat in my education classes in college, I often thought of how I was being trained to be a good parent. Now, after 11 great years of teaching, I know that I am still learning from my students. My fourth graders are gearing me up for when my own children are 9 and 10 years old and my experience in teaching middle school was surely an education in things to do and not to do with my own kids. (The biggest lesson – Communicate with your child at home: question them and listen to them!)

The first weeks getting back to school after my maternity leave, I looked at my students very differently. They no longer were kids I enjoyed teaching, they were also other people’s little angels. I listened to them more gently, was a little bit more patient and communicated with parents more effectively. It’s almost as if my teaching had a new dimension to it. Of course, it was not easy leaving my own 3 month old child. In fact, it was the hardest thing I had to do! But when I came home from work, I loved my son and later daughter more intensely and was even more thankful for them.

Now, I happily share my experiences with my students about being a mom. They like that. They enjoy knowing that I am a caring mom at home and am not just their teacher. And at home, my children love hearing about my students at school. They understand that I work hard all day and then get to come home and work hard at loving them! It give them a new dimension to me

No matter how you celebrate Mother’s day – by being a mother or loving a mother, have a great weekend!

Fourth Assignment:
Being a working mom is rewarding and challenging no matter what profession you are in…cudos to all working women!
Please share your thoughts by adding to this Wallwisher! (It’s an online bulletin board.) You can double click into this right here or click this link to make the Wallwisher full screen.

DUE: I know you are busy, so do it right now!

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