Category Archives: blogs

I Refuse to Be Remembered as the Teacher Who Had it All Together

I am more aware of bias, unequal power, and injustice recently. This is a post I extracted from an article. I strongly believe that Teachers are the authority without authoritarian power. Therefore, as a culturally responsive teacher, I want my kids to feel SAFE in my classroom and know that they own the learning agency in their hands.

I truly believe that sometimes the BEST teachers are the ones who look the worst on paper.

Once I let go of “perfect”, I found something better. I found more TIME for the things that mattered, like really LISTENING to my students and meeting their needs. Once I stopped stressing over lesson plans and bulletin boards, I found a newfound love of teaching. I no longer “looked” like the perfect teacher, but I became a BETTER one.

I refuse to be remembered as the teacher who had it all together. That’s not the title I’d wear with honor. Rather, I want my students to remember how they felt safe in my classroom; I want them to remember that they felt like they could ask questions in my presence. I want, more than anything, for my students to remember MY class as a gentle and creative learning environment. Forget perfect.

Reference: https://www.boredteachers.com/post/the-teacher-who-had-it-all-together?fbclid=IwAR2rU1hWdLji42QAGEz40hsApZvqIpG9URkKs-8YtblMwBA0-dzNH5kDK7A

Be Like Nature: Mindfulness for Young Children

After taking the course of The Foundation of Cultural Foundation, I become aware of culturally responsive teaching and love the idea of inclusion and being “soft piece of the heart”.

As a teacher who have been educated to now the importance of individual difference and inquiry-based learning, I prefer learning from the nature and I think that kids should be exposed to the nature environment and explore in it. This experience empower them to observe and learn from the places closed to/around them.

When I was pursuing my master degree in SUNY Albany, my professor asked us to pick up two leaves belongs to the same tree, observed , and write a reflection on how this can be applied and affect our instruction. This was the first time I learned from the nature and realized the importance of differentiated instruction.

Planning For It

When You Might Use This Practice

  • As part of a environmental science unit
  • Daily, for at least one week or longer
  • On a sunny day
  • At the start of a school day, to close a class, at the end of recess
  • When you or your students are experiencing tension, anger, or anxiety

Time Required

  • 10-15 minutes

Materials

  • The outdoors: trees, the sun, the wind

Learning Objectives

Students will:

  • Learn to become mindful of their bodies as trees and their breath as the wind
  • Learn to extend kindness to themselves and others by sending good wishes and smiling like the sun

Additional Supports

SEL Competencies

      • Self-Awareness
      • Self-Management

Instructions

Getting Started

        • Note: This practice takes place outside.
        • Begin by asking students about their favorite parts of nature. How does being in nature make them feel? Tell them that they’re going to imagine what it’s like to be some of their favorite things in nature.

The Practice

Have students sit upright without touching their neighbors. Say:

When we go outside, we can see and feel so many wonderful things. Things like trees, and the wind, and the clouds, and the sun.

In many ways we are like these beautiful parts of nature, and for this exercise we’ll be like the tree and the wind and the sun.

Our body is like a tree. It grows and it is strong.

Our breath is like the wind. It flows in and out.

And the sun is like the part of us that is warm and kind.

So let’s lower or close our eyes and sit tall like a tree. We extend our hands way out and stretch our fingers, like branches and leaves. Let’s squeeze our fingers together and then let go and feel them wiggle, like they are blowing in the wind.

And now, with the wind blowing, let’s be like the wind and take two big, slow breaths. Breathing in…and breathing out, blowing out the wind. Breathing in…and breathing out, blowing out the wind.

And now the sun comes out and warms the tree and the wind. As it shines on the tree, we feel our body. Can you feel your fingers and feel your toes? What else can you feel—just by noticing?

And as the sun shines on the wind, we feel our body breathing. Can you feel your belly moving up and down? Can you feel the air flowing in and out of your beautiful body?

And with the sun up high in the sky, brightening and warming the whole world, you too can warm the world—with your kindness!

Think of someone who can use a little kindness—like your sister or brother, or a friend, or your teacher. And as you think of them, wish for them, “May you be happy,” imagining them smiling like the sun.

You deserve happiness, too. So now wish for yourself, “May I be happy,” and smile like the sun.

And as you smile like the sun, feel your body sitting tall like a tree and feel your breath blowing like the wind.

And then gently open your eyes and look around. You are amazing!

Closure

  • Ask students how this practice made them feel. Which part of nature do they like to connect with most–the trees, the wind, or the sun? Why?

The Research Behind It

Evidence That It Works

While research on the effects of mindfulness on children is still in the early stages, a 2016 review of 12 studies suggests some promising outcomes for young children relative to attention, self-regulation, and motor skills. A 2014 meta-analysisthat focuses on 24 studies of K-12 students demonstrated changes in students’ attention and resilience to stress, including positive emotions, self-esteem and self-concept, and well-being.

In addition, studies with diverse student groups have found that children receive psychological and physical benefits from being exposed to nature, including better attention, self-discipline, cognitive development, decreased levels of stress, better sleep, and lower blood pressure.

Why Does It Matter?

“Mindfulness,” present moment awareness that is both curious and kind, can be difficult to teach as a concept. However, this practice prompts children to gently focus their attention on their bodies, their breath, and their smiles as they relate to elements in nature (e.g., trees, the wind, and the sun). In this case, young children learn about mindfulness through a concrete and kinesthetic experience grounded in their experience of the natural world.

Reference: https://ggie.berkeley.edu/practice/be-like-nature-mindfulness-for-young-children/?fbclid=IwAR0ni0IBzJUYplSousPjco0nC38fN1Hfr62gLn4XC442rba9nU33UgDiOMc#tab__1

100 Teacher Jokes You’ll Want to Steal For Your Classroom

Thanks to whoever helped me during these few days. It was a ridiculous story going on, but with all your help, I cope it well. After struggling these few days, I decided to laugh more : )

1. Grammar Jokes

  1. What do you call Santa’s brothers and sisters? Relative clauses.
  2. “A woman, without her man, is nothing.”
    “A woman: without her, man is nothing.”
    Punctuation is important.
  3. A man went into a fish shop and said, “Can I have a tail end, please?”
    So the man behind the counter said, ‘And they all lived happily ever after.’
  4. Whoever put the “b” in SUBTLE deserves a pat on the back.
  5. The past, the present and the future all walked into a bar. It was tense.
  6. Double negatives are a big NO-NO.
  7. Teacher: “Name two pronouns?”
    Student: “Who, me?”
  8. What’s the difference between a cat and a comma?
    One has claws at the end of its paws. The other is a pause at the end of a clause.
  9. 5 vowels, 8 consonants, a comma, and an exclamation mark appeared in court today. They’re due to be sentenced some time next month.
  10. What do you say to comfort a Grammar teacher? There Their They’re.
  11. Never date an apostrophe. They’re too possessive.
  12. “Can I go to the toilet?”
    “I don’t know, can you?”
  13. “Can I ask you a question?”
    “You just have.”

2. Math Jokes

  1. Parallel lines have so much in common.
    It’s a shame they’ll never meet.
  2. “What can you tell me about angle c?”
    “Hmm, it’s acute?”
    “No, it’s a small island off the north coast of Wales.”
  3. There’s a fine line between a numerator and a denominator. Only a fraction of you will get this.
  4. A farmer told his dog to find the sheep and round them up. When the dog came back he asked how many sheep there were and the dog said “50”. The farmer said “Hmm, that’s funny. There were only forty-seven this morning.” The dog replied: “You said round them up.”
  5. Why do teenagers always travel in groups of three?
    Because they can’t even.
  6. Went to Fibonacci conference last week, was as good as the last two put together.
  7. Why is the corner always the hottest part of the room?
    Because it’s 90 degrees
  8. Do you know what’s odd?
    Numbers that can’t be divided by 2.
  9. Why was the fraction skeptical about marrying the decimal?
    Because he would have to convert.
  10. Why is the obtuse triangle upset?
    Because he’s never right.
  11. What do you call an empty parrot cage?
    A polygon.
  12. What do you call a group of friends who love math?
    AlgeBROS.
  13. Nelson’s Column is 15 ft tall. Nelson was 5 ft tall. That’s Horatio of 3:1
  14. What type of snake measures 3.14159 meters long?
    A pi-thon.
  15. You know what’s odd? Every other number.
  16. What does the 0 say the 8?
    “I like your belt.”
  17. I went on holiday last week. I got an odd-job man in, gave him a list of ten jobs to do while I was away. When I got back, he’d only done jobs 1,3,5,7, and 9.
  18. Where are all the top mathematicians buried? In the Symmetry.
  19. I always give 100% at school. 30% on Mondays, 25% on Tuesdays, 20% on Wednesdays, 15% on Thursdays and 10% on Fridays!
  20. In the Periodic Table class, teachers have been warned not to let iron and carbon sit beside each other due to their tendency to steal.
  21. What do you call a ruler, protractor and a compass all hanging out together? Weapons of math instruction.
  22. What did the acorn say when it grew up? “Geometry” (gee-I’m-a-tree)
  23. What do you call an adorable angle… Acute angle!
  24. Why don’t mathematicians sunbathe? Because they can use sin and cos to get a tan
  25. When teaching how to tell the time:
    “What’s a dentist’s favorite time of day?Tooth-hurty!
  26. My math teacher asked me why I was doing my sums on the floor.
    I said: “You told us to do them without using tables.”

3. Science Jokes

  1. ‘Geology Rocks!’
  2. What does the thermometer say to the cylinder?
    “You may have graduated, but I sure have more degrees than you.”
  3. What do you do with a sick chemist? If you can’t helium and you can’t curium then you’d better barium
  4. What do you call an acid with an attitude? A-mean-oh acid.
  5. Why do geographers find mountains so funny?
    Because they’re hill areas.
  6. A photon walks into a hotel and asks if he needs any help with his luggage. The photon responds: “No thanks, I’m traveling light.”
  7. Never trust an atom.. they make up everything.
  8. Chemists are always great at solving problems because they have all the solutions.
  9. Reading a book on antigravity at the moment… I just can’t put it down.
  10. A neutron walks into a bar, and ask the bartender for a drink. The bartender responds: “For you, no charge.”
  11. I heard that Oxygen and Magnesium were dating and I was like “OMg”
  12. One tectonic plate bumped into another one and said: “Oops, my fault!”
  13. Why did the cloud date the fog?
    Because he was so down to earth.
  14. Since light travels faster than sound, people may appear smart until you hear them speak.
  15. What’s your favorite element? Helium. I can’t speak highly enough about it
  16. What’s the ratio of an igloo’s circumference to its diameter?
    Eskimo Pi.
  17. Pascal, Newton, and Einstein are playing hide and seek. Einstein is counting. Pascal runs and hides but Newton draws a 1m square around himself. Einstein finishes counting and says: “Newton, found you.”
    “No no, Einy. You’ve found one Newton per square meter. You’ve found Pascal!”
  18. There are 10 types of people that understand binary. Those that do and those that don’t.
  19. XX female
    XY male
    YYY Delilah
  20. An atom was sitting by the side of the lab crying. A second atom came over and asked if the first atom was OK. The first atom replied “I think I’ve lost an electron,” to which the second atom asked, “Are you positive?”
  21. Be like a proton, always positive.

4. English Jokes

  1. Last night I dreamt I wrote The Lord of the Rings. Then I realized I was just Tolkien in my sleep.
  2. Why does Sweden have barcodes on all of its ships? So they can Scan-di-navy-in.
  3. What pencil did Shakespeare write with?
    2B.
  4. Who’s the King of the classroom? The ruler.
  5. I’m close friends with 25 letters of the alphabet… I don’t know Y.
  6. I avoid clichés like the plague.
  7. Last night my classroom was broken into and all of the dictionaries were stolen. I’m lost for words.
  8. I’ve never met a three, but I have… metaphor.
  9. You can throw an envelope as far as you want, but it’ll still be stationary.
  10. I’ve been working on a Scandinavian joke. But it’s not quite Finnish.
  11. What do you call a belt made from watches? A waist of time.
  12. Why can’t you run in a camp site but only ran? Because it passed tents.
  13. “I’d like to start this lesson by showing you a small clip” *pulls out a bulldog clip from pocket* “Here it is!”
  14. What do you call an alligator in a vest? An investigator!
  15. Why did the scarecrow win a Nobel Prize? For being “out standing” in his field.
  16. What do you call a Frenchman in sandals? Philippe Philoppe.
  17. How do you get Pikachu on a bus? You poke him on.
  18. A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but you mean your mother.
  19. How many eggs do French folk have for breakfast? One. Because one egg is un œuf.
  20. I don’t think I deserved zero on this test!
    Teacher: I agree, but that’s the lowest mark I could give you.
  21. I will always tell you to follow your dreams, but I’ll never let you sleep in class.
  22. What did the ghost teacher say to the class? “Look at the board and I will go through it again.”

5. History & Geography jokes

  1. Why did Henry VIII put skittles on his lawn? Because he had to take Anne Boleyn.
  2. I like Geography. You know where you are with Geography.
  3. A Roman walks into a bar. He holds up two fingers and says, “Five beers, please!”
  4. Why were the early days of history called the dark ages?
    Because there were so many knights.
  5. Who invented fractions?
    Henry the 1/4th.
  6. What did they do at the Boston Tea Party?
    I don’t know, I wasn’t invited!
  7. What did Mason say to Dixon?
    We’ve got to draw the line here!
  8. Where was the Declaration of Independence signed?
    At the bottom.
  9. How was the Roman Empire cut in half?
    With a pair of Caesars! 
  10. Why was WW1 so quick? Because they were Russian.
    Why was WW2 so slow? Because they were Stalin.
  11. On a scale of one to invading Russia in winter how bad was your idea?
  12. Where did Nicholas Romanov II get his coffee? Tsarbucks.
  13. What did Richard III say when a planning proposal was submitted for building a car park? “Over my dead body.”
  14. Walk into the 18th-century club like “Whatup I died of a cough.”
  15. A globe means the world to a Geography teacher.
  16. April showers bring May flowers and Mayflowers bring smallpox.
  17. How did I get from Iraq to Pakistan at record speed? I-ran
  18. Who led the Pedants’ Revolt? Which Tyler.
  19. A man knocks on the door of the Kremlin. “Is Lenin?”

Reference: https://www.boredteachers.com/post/teacher-jokes-for-your-classroom

Happy Double Tenth Day Taiwan!

In order to celebrate our national day, Double Tenth Day, here are some meaningful pictures. As I recently took the classes of the Cultural Foundations of Education, I am more aware of my identities and social justice. Therefore, Happy Birthday, Taiwan, my origin! I cherish the freedom, democracy, my rights, and my choice I have now!

Look at today’s Google. It is a Taiwan bear!