Shelly Fryer's Blog Review
This week we were to read and review Shelly Fryer's blog posts on her website. And wow! Shelly Fryer’s work simply blows my mind! What a challenge it would be to do what she does, but she makes it look so easy and she clearly loves what she does. I can't imagine how rewarding each and every day must be. I have navigated to her site before, in a previous week. My review over her site can be found under the "reviews" tab, titled "Positive Tomorrows." Growing up, I was very fortunate to have hard working and passionate teachers, which is one of the many reasons that has encouraged me to pursue teaching as my career. And not to take away from what my previous teachers did for me, but what Shelly Fryer is doing is above and beyond what most teachers are doing. While exploring her site, it brought me tears on more than one occasion. It is so touching to read what she is doing for her students and it motivates me to be the kind of teacher that my students need, one that encourages, empowers, and inspires.
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I want to highlight a few things I found of Shelly Fryer's, one of which was the one titled, "Inspired by Dwayne Reed: Welcome to Room 108." I think this is such a unique idea that is so worthwhile! If I did this or something similar in my own classroom in the future, I know they would love it. Hearing their own voices and seeing their own pictures throughout the music video will make them feel accomplished after completing an entire school year and give them a sense of pride. This would be an excellent end of the year presentation. One that can be shown to other classrooms, administrators, and parents to demonstrate all that has been accomplished over the past year. This has given me so many ideas on how to do something similar in my own classroom! I have shared to the left, the video Shelly Fryer put together using their own version of Dwayne Reed's song, "Welcome to the 4th Grade." Her classroom's version is called, "Welcome to Room 108."
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The second thing I want to highlight is a video I found on Shelly Fryer's YouTube Channel, titled "#Room108 Students Respond: 'I Have a Dream...' (Short Version)", which I have attached to the right. Watching this video was eye opening for me. I've always known that there is more to teaching than just reading and writing, but this extended that idea even further for me. As a teacher, it is essential to realize what is important for your students. And of course, it's important for them to get a solid education, as that will set the foundation for many things in their lives. However, if you watch this video, none of the students said that their dream was to memorize the Periodic Table or to be able to calculate the speed of light. All of their dreams were related to real life outside of school. I think it's so so so important for teachers to realize that our jobs aren't JUST to teach the common core subjects, but also to act as a mentor, an advocate, and an encourager.
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Lastly, I would like highlight the NPR story over Shelly Fryer, written recently on June 19, 2017 by Katie Hayes Luke. I think this article demonstrated so well what Shelly Fryer does. And, it also describes to other teachers reading the post, what it means to be a good teacher and how important it is to act as more than just a teacher. One of the many things that stood out to me was this:
"These kids are like other kids. They come to school and they are ready to learn and excited about learning... Wherever their mom is, wherever they are staying, that is home."
- Shelly Fryer |
After reading this post, it amazes me that there are so many students are homeless or below the poverty line. 5,400 in the past year in Oklahoma City alone to be exact, according to the article. And Positive Tomorrows only can take in 75 of them. Although there are a handful of other schools similar to this one across the nation, I still feel like we need more. If students come to school hungry everyday, sleep deprived, and worrying about where they will sleep the next night, they will not learn adequately in an environment that does not support such circumstances. These students would progress much further, much faster, if they were in an environment that accommodates to their personal lives and can offer the correct support needed for these children.
Here is the NPR article over Shelly Fryer: www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/06/19/531930470/a-school-that-provides-the-one-constant-in-homeless-childrens-lives?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social
Here is the NPR article over Shelly Fryer: www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/06/19/531930470/a-school-that-provides-the-one-constant-in-homeless-childrens-lives?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social
Overall, Shelly Fryer is a phenomenal person and educator that every teacher can benefit from. She inspires me to be a better teacher than I even ever hoped to be! There are often negative associations with education, but this makes me proud to be a future teacher!