10 Things You Can Do To Spend Less Money This Summer Personal by Joel Wagner - June 30, 20097 A friend from college recently posted the following on her Facebook status:How do teachers not spend so much money over the summer???I threw a quick response in my typical list-type style, but then I realized these things might benefit some of my readers as well. So here's the list I gave her:Go to dollar movies (actually first run movies are $3 where I live)Find a friend who works on the country club and go play golf for free on his days offPractice guitar (for church) and trumpet (for mariachi)Go to the park (disc golf is cheap)Budget and use cash for all purchasesOur bowling alley has $1 Tuesdays and buy one get one free on Mondays -- there may be similar
Transitioning To A Teaching Career And Making Ends Meet General by Joel Wagner - June 28, 2009June 28, 20097 I recently got an email from a reader who found my blog and is looking at moving into the teaching field. This individual has been in the business world for over two decades and has recently been laid off. Last month I was laid off from my position with a multi-billion dollar company as a national recruiting manager. I have a friend that went through iteachtexas.com last year and is finishing her first year as a middle school teacher [in Texas]. Talking to her has really made me think hard about teaching. In almost every job I have held, I have found a way to teach someone something. I have taught martial arts and have over a decade of experience working with teens in church. I love
Just What Is A Good School Inspiration by Tom Anselm - June 28, 2009June 30, 20104 This is a guest post by Tom Anselm. His book, You're Never Too Old For Space Camp is available in Ebook or Paperback formats from Booklocker.com. "My kids go to a good school" What parent doesn't want to be able to say this about the bricks and mortar location where they entrust their offspring for 7 hours a day, 180 days a year, again and again. And for that matter, what teacher worth his or her salt doesn't want to be able to say with some conviction, "Yeah, I work in a good school." This word "good" when used in the context of quality holds so much meaning. It brings us to the question of this article. "What is
Teacher Burnout: 20 Insights From a 17-Year Veteran Teacher On The Brink of Burnout Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - June 26, 2009June 30, 20103 In rereading the last about teacher burnout, I was struck by a handful of things that my reader mentioned in the email. I thought it was powerful enough that it was worth digging into deeper, and yet I didn't want to dilute the conversation that might come as a result of the emotional impact of the reader's email. With that being said, here are 20 insights from a 17-year veteran teacher about things that teachers ought to be doing. Take care of your body Avoid whiners Get more sleep Accept imperfection from yourself Don't expect to make everyone happy Don't abuse your sick days, but do use them Relax more Have trusted friends who can smack you upside the
Teacher Burnout: A Sad Story Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - June 26, 2009June 30, 20107 About a month ago, I received this email in my Inbox: After 17 years of teaching, I was diagnosed with 'burnout' and needed to take some time off. I fought it, but when the lab results showed body systems shutting down, I complied... for awhile. Part-time only made it worse. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I LOVED my job, my students, my teaching. I dreaded the politics, the nay-sayers, the whiners. Still, how could I be burned out? I thought that only happened to folks who hated what they were doing or had been there too long. It seems remaining a teacher at the top of your game requires more than 3 hours of sleep per night,
How To Use Twitter In The Classroom [VIDEO] Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - June 18, 2009June 30, 20100 I recently came across a video on TwiTip about Monica Rankin, a professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, who was using Twitter in one of her classes this semester. The video is below. I emailed Dr. Rankin to see if I could get some thoughts on the experiment following the completion of the semester. She told me that she is in the middle of several research projects presently, but she did send me to a page on her website that summarizes the experiment. The site also includes some other links of interest at the bottom. If you're interested in learning more, check out Some general comments on the "Twitter Experiment."
MusicEdMajor.Net Music Education by Joel Wagner - June 15, 2009June 30, 20100 Andy Zweibel (whom I've been following on Twitter for a while now -- @Zweibz7) just started up a blog specifically focusing on topics concerning Music Education students. The blog is MusicEdMajor.net. Andy is currently seeking contributors for the site, and I think this is definitely a worthwhile endeavor. Hopefully we can get in touch with some music education professors and those who have influence in the music education world to try to get more people on board. I know a handful of musicians and music teachers are subscribed to my blog and I hope they will give Andy some encouragement, links, and just send people his way. I also would like to add that he has chosen a very nice,
20 Great Websites for Teachers Blogging & Technology by Karen Schweitzer - June 14, 2009June 30, 201010 This is a guest post by Karen Schweitzer who writes about online colleges for OnlineCollege.org. Teachers who are interested in implementing technology in the classroom and in their own personal lives can find plenty of free resources online. Here are 20 websites worth visiting today: Shmoop - Shmoop is a great new site that is becoming very popular among teachers. The beta site dedicates itself to making reading and writing more fun for both students and teachers. ClassMarker - Teachers can create professional looking online quizzes on this website. The quizzes can be taken and graded online. LectureTools.org - This site can be used to create student-friendly slide presentations and lectures. Other interesting features include the ability to check
Who’s Looking For A Job This Summer? New Teachers by Joel Wagner - June 12, 2009June 30, 201025 Are you looking for a new job this summer? I know some people are sticking it out in their current district just because of the insecurity with the recession and current economic situation. I also know that some people have graduated from college and are moving into the world of education. Others have chosen to leave the teaching profession entirely. Are you looking for a new job this summer? Care to comment about your questions/fears/experiences?
Farewell To Teaching: An Ode To dy/dan Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - June 12, 2009June 30, 20100 Many of my readers have left comments or sent emails asking me if I have more information about transitioning from teaching to another field. Unfortunately the answer for them is simply that I don't. But I think I can finally refer you somewhere that should help out. If you stick with teaching (which is sometrhing I highly encourage you to do), you can at least perhaps see what it's like vicariously. I was somewhat confused this morning when I opened up Twitter and started reading some disconcerting comments to @ddmeyer referring to him leaving teaching. I tracked back, and found it. So that's that. This year was far and away the most fun I've had in a classroom, which definitely
20 WordPress 2.7 Plugins You Can’t Live Without Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - June 6, 2009June 30, 20105 I have gotten questions from time to time about what plugins I use on my blog. I've posted some plugin lists in the past, but sometimes plugins are no longer supported by their author or else the functionality is duplicated in later WordPress versions. So here are 20 WordPress 2.7 Plugins You Can't Live Without. Advanced Excerpt Excerpts allow more articles to show up on the home page, while still not allowing too many links (Search Engines don't like more than 100 links on a page) or too much clutter. Advanced Excerpt lets me customize how many words or characters appear before the cut as well as letting me choose which HTML elements to strip from the code entirely.
Almost Finished Personal by Joel Wagner - June 2, 2009June 30, 20100 We are halfway through the Total Teacher Transformation series. I've been pretty much forced to take a break from it because of the busyness of the end of the school year. It will resume next week. This week, I plan to do a wrapup of the 08-09 school year. I just thought I should drop all of you a note to thank you for continuing to visit and link to my blog and also let you know I am still alive...