Reflection is a MUST!

Congratulations! You have just finished another hard year in education. While you may NOT want to think about school at all (I truly get it; avoidance can be amazing), I urge you to pause. And reflect. Reflect means to think deeply or carefully about something. You care deeply about teaching, otherwise you wouldn't be in this profession. So...before you completely block out the year ask yourself these questions. 

What do I want to keep doing next year because it worked?

What do I want to stop doing next year because it didn't work? 

What do I want to start doing next year because you have always wanted to do it?

What do I want to change next year because it didn't quit work but it has potential? 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/blavandmaster/51360759097

I actually reflect on these questions throughout the year as well. I have a running list titled "Next Year". But you gotta start somewhere. Please pause. Today is a great day to start. 

Happy reflecting! :) 

Did you know there are 44 phonemes in the English language?

The answer is most likely, nope! And, you may not even know what a phoneme is. Guess what? That is a-ok. You weren't really taught what a phoneme was in your undergrad unless you have a speech and language degree. 

A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound heard by our ears. We associate phonemes or sounds with letters. Wanna know something else? Those letters that spell the phonemes are actually called graphemes. Here is an example. The short /i/ phoneme can be spelled with the grapheme i as in pig. The long /I/ phoneme can be spelled with the graphemes i, igh, ie, and then of course iCe like in the words hi, light, pie, and nice. 

Students need to know all 44 phoneme sounds and their corresponding graphemes in order to spell and read. Here is a great 2-pager that lists the most common phonemes and their corresponding graphemes. How many did you know? How many do your students know? 

Happy Learning!