This post right here describes my life (and probably yours) at the current moment. LOL! Can you relate?

Courtesy of Facebook.
Nevertheless, work must be done, if we plan to continue growing and learning together.
Therefore, let’s continue with DAY EIGHT and the SECOND HALF of the “What is a R.E.N.E.W.E.D. T.E.A.C.H.E.R.?” Series. To access the first 7-posts on the essential elements to being a RenewED Teacher, feel free to click here.
As a quick review, R.E.N.E.W.E.D. T.E.A.C.H.E.R.S consciously and intentionally choose to:
Remember Their Why
Exercise Their Minds, Bodies, and Souls
Never Give Up
Educate Themselves
Work With Families
Entertain Their Students to Entertain Themselves, and
Dare to Be Intentional
The T in T.E.A.C.H.E.R. is an important component to anything we do in life.
As a RenewED Teacher, we ALWAYS:
TRY NEW THINGS

Have you ever been bored in your classroom teaching the same old lessons that you have taught year after year? Do your students seem bored and disengaged as well? Is this starting to frustrate you? Are you losing hope in yourself and perhaps your students? Have you become complacent and seem to just be going to work for the paycheck (especially if you have reached that top step)? Are you just going through the motions? Are you burned out?
Listen, don’t feel bad if you have answered yes to any of these questions. I once answered yes to them all.
If you have answered yes to any of these questions though, trying something new may be just the thing you need to shake things up a bit. But this cannot be a one-stop-shop. We must be committed to being consistent with this new thing.
Why Try New Things
Trying new things can be daunting, but they can also be fun! In the classroom, trying new things is rarely about us as the educator though. Trying new things is about making an impact on the education and lives of the children in our classrooms by motivating, encouraging, inspiring, and even transforming them to learn and put forth the consistent effort to do so. We want to help them use their efforts and abilities to achieve the greatest academic success possible. If we want our students to try new things (new math concepts, science experiments, reading strategies, historical concepts, etc.), we need to be willing to share with them the new things we are trying.
Where To Begin?
I personally love attending conferences, but I have not been to any in a few years. However, in the past, if I learned something new there, I tried it in my class immediately, and most times I have been pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I also enjoy professional development workshops. I am currently enrolled in a math course at our local intermediate unit, and the ideas and strategies that I have learned there over the past two years, have really helped me to value and appreciate the CRA model (Concrete-Representation-Abstract Model for teaching math. Click here to see a short video on CRA.). Wait for it… At one point in time, I did not think it necessary for 5th grade students to use manipulatives to study and solve math problems. 😮 (CRA article and examples).
Social Media has given me a whole new world of ideas. Between Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you can probably find a new idea for every lesson that you currently teach! It can be overwhelming seeing what all these other teachers are doing, but you cannot compare your Monday with someone else’s Friday, so pick and choose wisely by focusing on your time, creative genius, hobbies, and personality.
When?
RIGHT NOW, if you answered yes to the questions above. LOL! But seriously, why wait? Try something new as soon as possible.
New Things I Have Tried
Did you know I was trying something new when I created this blog? Yep! I was considering quitting teaching. I was burned out, frustrated, unsupported (in my opinion by my administrator), my students did not behave the way I expected them to, the families were not as involved as other families had been in previous years, and nothing I did seemed to work. I felt like a failure. I felt like I was not good enough. I was ready to leave this profession.
With this blog, one of my personal goals was to renew my passion for teaching!
YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED!!!
OMG, it actually worked!
Let me put it to you this way. Had I not started this blog, and took the time to develop and practice what it means to be a R.E.N.E.W.E.D. T.E.A.C.H.E.R., I would probably quit teaching right now. YES, I said it! Right now!
This year, is just as challenging as the year I considered quitting during my 4th year of service. The difference now, is that I do have a supportive administrator, BUT, yes there is a big ol’ BUT, I have also learned to prevent and react to burn-out and frustration in effective ways. I have a set of skills that have helped me become a stronger teacher and to overcome adversity. Trying new things is one of those essential elements.
Something else new I tried is attempting to become a National Board Certified Teacher. I began in Fall of 2014 when I was 6 months pregnant! I still do not know what I was thinking! I completed the final component in May 2017. I will learn if I am certified come December 2017. Whether I earn it or not, I do believe that my teaching practice has been enhanced immensely. However, I welcome any and all prayers and words of encouragement as the certification season nears.
One thing I have always wanted to do in my classroom is write songs. In particularly, remixes to popular songs my students know or their families may know. As a child, my sister and I did this all the time, and we got it from our father. He taught us our zip-code by singing it to the tune of “Beauty and the Beast.” LOL! I still remember it. My dad would have been a great teacher.
Music, is the great equalizer, and has proven time and time again to be effective in helping students to learn and remember things. Greg Coleman, the author of Mr. Elementary Math, has a really cool post titled The Power of Teaching with Math Songs, where he talks about why this is important, some tips on how to implement songs, and he even provides some great resources. I created a Division Remix to Whatever You Need by rapper Meek Mill featuring Chris Brown and Ty Dolla Sign. My students learned what a quotient was from the song, and my two year old knows the chorus! LOL! Click here to view.
Keep in mind that many of us learned the 26 letters of the alphabet with a song, right!? Many advertisements use music and lyrics to persuade us to buy whatever it is they are selling. Listen, whether you use Nationwide Insurance or not, almost everyone knows the slogan that is hummed or sang by Peyton Manning, “Nationwide is on your side!” (Did you sing it or say it? LOL! Share in the comments.)
I have wanted to create songs this since my first year teaching, but I was too worried about and afraid of what my colleagues would think. I mean none of them were doing it. I was afraid of being different. (Don’t let fear get in your way.) I never thought to ask if any of my colleagues wanted to create a song until about 2-3 years ago when my fifth grade team and I created a remix to Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars titled Fifth Grade Funk! It was so much fun! Something we and our students will always remember.
With that in mind, I created three new songs this year, and shared them with my students. (A future goal is to create one with them). I took a huge risk this year with my new students. I was so nervous for the first day of school, that I decided to do the Bodak Yellow Challenge Teacher Version, and create a welcome back to school song for my students. Click here to listen. The other song is a transition song sang to Bruno Mars’ What I Like and is sang to the chorus of the song:
“It’s time for us to focus,
So Mrs. Smith can teach us.
I’m here in school so I can learn,
so I can learn!
I’m gonna go and zip my lips
to learn some tips!” (2x)
Now granted I love music, and I am somewhat musically inclined. I sang in my church choir, played a lead and semi-lead role in some musicals back in the day, so I can hit a note or two, but I am no Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, or fill in the blank. I can even bust a move here and there.
Guess what? I use this to my advantage in my classroom when it is effective for my students. Not only am I entertaining my students, I am entertaining myself (Day 6). Everyone is having fun! Teaching is much easier when we are all having fun, and learning at the same time.
As RenewED Teachers, we need to think about all the things we love to do. With so much teacher autonomy being taken away from us, we have to fit it in somehow to keep teaching fun for us so that we can make learning fun for our students. We need to base what we try new on the students in our room, at this time, based on what they need, and their interests while also considering how our strengths, passions, and hobbies can be merged into our classrooms to engage our students.
As we continue to learn and grow together, please share what you will try or have tried new in your classroom this year. Share your hobbies and perhaps how you can merge them with your students’ interests. Leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments! I cannot wait to hear your ideas!
Until then, Happy Teaching!
Krystal L. Smith
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