Great find!!
While doing some much-needed research for my up-coming Literacy Webinar at my favorite local Starbucks, I found a site that just might save me (and hopefully, many of you!) from creating or re-using question banks and passages for Pre- and Post-Assessments that our districts and administrators want us to do for that ever-present DATA. I’ve already created a Reading Assessment for non-fiction/informative for my ELD and ESL Literature students and it took about ONE MINUTE!! So. . .try it out, let me know how helpful (or not) it is,...
read moreThe “G” Factor
The returning to work in the Fall (or Summer, for our year-round teacher friends) brings many things. However, this school year brings a surprise, and unwanted, new ingredient: Guilt. As many of us return to jobs, we feel twinges of guilt when we run into those teachers who have been laid off, transferred unwillingly, received reduced hours, or had to change subjects or levels of teaching. If we were one of the “lucky” ones who returned to a relatively unchanged job situation, we might feel a cacophony of emotions when we happen upon one...
read moreBuilding Relationships
I have to say that my biggest “secret” to whatever success I’ve had is because I’m all about relationships. Whether I’m training teachers or teaching students, I’m all about making sure that I get to know them as much as possible in the time that I’m working with them. Some ways to do this are: Telling them a little about yourself. This isn’t a group therapy session, but it’s important that they know a little of your background. Asking questions. Even in a class of 40, if you ask questions regularly, you’ll get to know...
read moreSetting Expectations Early-on
We’ve all had to take Classroom Management classes when earning our teaching credentials, and some of us have even had to attend additional trainings and workshops on how to manage our students and our classrooms. However, I’ve learned that clear, concise, condensed expectations are better than a ton of rules and regulations. Clear: it is important to explain your expectations to your students, and to include them in the syllabus. I don’t usually have wall space to put them up in poster form, but I find that if you enforce the...
read morePlanning for a Successful Year
To begin planning, it is important to know what’s been happening in education over the summer. Most states (see diagram: http://www.corestandards.org/in-the-states) have adopted Core Standards for Language Arts and Math. If your school is in one of those states, then you can begin looking at the Core Standards Website for more information. You will save time and frustration if you start off the year using these instead of having to go back and add them in. If you’re sitting at your computer right now thinking, “Sweet! I...
read moreIt’s a Brand-New School Year!
It might feel like the “same-old, same-old”, but the 2011-2012 school year is a new year—a new year to try something different, a new year to learn something new, a new year to take your teaching beyond what you thought was possible. The easiest way to begin? With a strong start. A strong start to the new year encompasses several things: Planning: outline the year; be aware of National, State, and District Standards that you are expected to cover; revisit old assignments and cull out those that won’t help your...
read moreCooperative Learning from Edutopia
Check out this great example video of cooperative teams and establishing expectations at the beginning of the year. This is a 5th grade class out of...
read moreTechnology and Confidentiality: New Teacher Tip
There are often stories in the news about teachers using social media to discuss their classes and students. I recently tweeted about one teacher who lost her job for tweeting about her “lazy” and delinquent students. She was later reinstated. What’s the take away here? Realize that all content you put on the internet can be seen by the public. Be cautious. Do your posts come across as whiny or complaining? Or are you positive and supportive of your students? Even if you’re not concerned about your current job, consider that some day...
read moreBest Practices as Education Reform
As a proponent of education reform, Steve Denning’s recent Forbe’s article, What’s Involved in Reinventing Education was particularly interesting to me. Our education system, from the funding to the output, is still a factory model. I completely concur that this model no longer serves us, as our students and teachers are tired, disengaged, frustrated, and seeing limited success. Steve states that there are five components necessary for change, and that all of them together are necessary for change. The components are: The goal of...
read more6 Hints for Getting School Supplies
It’s a sure sign that summer is coming to an end when the school supplies start hitting the shelves at local stores. In America, we can pretty much tell our seasons by what is on sale. While many people are still thinking of summer, there are back to school deals to be had. Do you know what type of supplies you will want in your classroom? Do you have an idea of what your school has in stock and what you will need to buy yourself? I don’t recommend breaking the bank, but there are a few things you can do on any budget. Here are six hints...
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