3 Keys To Line Up A Killer Job While Still In School General by Joel Wagner - June 26, 2007May 30, 20163 I was reading through messages on TeacherLingo.com and came across this post by Erin. I’m not yet a teacher but am researching the possibilities. I’m thinking about teaching history at a private school … What i would like to know is, what are the pitfalls? Is there a great deal of red tape? Do incoming teachers have to kowtow to the upper echelons or is it more egalitarian? How does the hiring process work and what are they looking for? What can i do now, as I’m still in school, to make myself a more attractive candidate? MY RESPONSE: I believe that the answers to these questions all depend on the specific school you end up teaching in. The last question you asked
Is Education Really That Important? (Part 2) Inspiration by Joel Wagner - June 25, 2007July 5, 20103 After my first post this morning, I realized that I actually met a few high school dropouts yesterday. One was mentioned in the previous post. On the flip side were two other young ladies I had lunch with. These women were 22 and 29 years old. One finished 11th grade and the other was kicked out of school after assaulting a teacher and principal in 8th grade. Both of them met while living in a rehabilitation type home run by people from a local church. Admittedly, they grew up in the inner city, while the other young lady grew up in a South Texas Border Town. Environment was different from that standpoint. But demographically, they would all be listed the
Is Education Really That Important? (Part 1) Inspiration by Joel Wagner - June 25, 2007July 5, 20102 I met a high school dropout yesterday. We talked for something like an hour and a half or two hours. It was very revealing and confirms a lot of my thoughts about education. Beware as you read this. If you're comfortable thinking that everyone needs to go to school, get a degree, and get a safe secure job, then this article will challenge you. She is 17 years old. She came to my door to talk with me about switching my electricity provider. I have been thinking of doing the same thing anyway, and the rates are lower than my current provider. The reason I haven't is because my landlord's name is on the bill and I didn't want to
Arguing Is Normal, Isn’t It? Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - June 21, 2007July 20, 20161 Most students argue. It's a fact of life. So it shouldn't be a concern when our students argue with us. Or should it? Great teachers don't have arguers Have you ever noticed how you can walk into a classroom and hear the teacher talking, and the students being quiet? They are given directions, and nobody challenges the assignment. What is it that makes that happen? One of the keys to keeping students quiet is to present the concept that every action is the result of a choice. Based on some customer service books I read last summer, I began the year with a sign at the entrance and front of the room. The sign said simply "CHOOSE YOUR ATTITUDE" and also had happy
9 Reasons To Quit Teaching (And 10 Reasons To Stick) Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - June 18, 2007August 9, 201679 Life as a teacher can be awfully challenging. While the challenges change as we gain experience, there are always new ones. It can be an awfully lonely time for many teachers. This article looks at 9 reasons to quit teaching and also raises 10 reasons to stick with teaching. Think of the many reasons you have to quit teaching Bad students Bad administrators Bad curriculum Too much paperwork Too much negativity Too much responsibility Not enough time Not enough credit Not enough PAY Face it, you are not as good of a teacher as you could be. You're not living up to your potential. Nobody is. Where am I? Seth Godin says that you are in The Dip (What's The Dip?). This is that place
Why School Dress Code Is Important [VIDEO] General by Joel Wagner - June 18, 2007July 5, 20101 How many guns do you see? This is an amazing video that demonstrates the violence that can result simply by a school's failure to have an enforce a no-tolerance dress code. I have watched this video numerous times to check and recheck how harmless he looks at the beginning of the video. Truly amazing and frightening at the same time.
Where Have All The Good Teachers Gone? Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - June 17, 2007July 5, 20109 There is a dearth of good teachers throughout the world. And I'm not just talking about those of us who make a living working with kids in schools, either. Teachers are everywhere. Bad teachers are almost everywhere. Great teachers are exceedingly difficult to find. That is why we, as potentially great teachers, need to seek out those teachers who have figured it out. To seek out great educators who truly aspire to inspire. John Carlton writes in his blog: I found ONE teacher who actually taught me something as a young man coming out of the public school system. I could’ve easily lumped her in with all the others who’d wasted my time… but I’m damned lucky I allowed her
Clarity Leads To Organization Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - June 15, 2007July 5, 20100 In my last post Organization Leads To Sanity, I wrote about how I personally get organized at work. In this post, I am going to give some pointers that I have and that I plan to begin implementing that will allow anyone to get and stay organized much more easily. These tips apply both to the physical workspace as well as the digital workspace. I am going to spend the next few weeks implementing them in my home as well in an effort to bring me a greater sense of purpose in everything I do. Declutter I touched on this one recently, and I seem to touch on it frequently, because it is vital. Eliminating clutter will
Organization Leads To Sanity Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - June 14, 2007July 5, 20102 After a conversation with another teacher last night, I started looking through the archives. I realized that I have written a few times about having a clean desk and a clean desktop on my computer, but I have never really given a step-by-step guide of how I got there and some of the things I do to maintain that. If you are not yet familiar with David Allen's Getting Things Done philosophy, it is a book that covers many personal productivity issues. I have not yet read it, but have read numerous blog posts about it. The most thorough I've seen so far is here at the GTD FAQ from Zen Habits. If you have never heard anything about the
Questions That Will Save Your Career General by Joel Wagner - June 13, 2007August 6, 20171 This article features links to other articles in a series called "Questions That Will Save Your Career." These are all considerations that I have made as a teacher that helped me stick to it and survive in the business when I was first starting out. As I have mentioned before, my priorities as a first year teacher were a little bit off. It wasn't until the end of my second year before I began to really "get it." I still don't get it, but I have begun to. What I learned in the last two and a half months of that second school year was that I needed to ask questions. But not just any questions. Over time, I have learned that a lot of
How Do I Keep My Sanity? Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - June 13, 2007May 29, 20160 This article is part 7 of the series Questions That Will Save Your Career. Please read the other articles in the series. How Do I Keep My Students Quiet? How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? How Do I Keep My Students Interested? How Do I Keep My Students Learning? How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me? How Do I Keep My School Administration Happy? How Do I Keep My Sanity? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Quiet? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Interested? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Learning? 10 Years of
How Do I Keep My School Administration Happy? (Or At Least How Do I Keep Them At Bay) General by Joel Wagner - June 12, 2007June 13, 20125 This article is part 6 of the series Questions That Will Save Your Career. Please read the other articles in the series.How Do I Keep My Students Quiet?How Do I Keep My Students Engaged?How Do I Keep My Students Interested?How Do I Keep My Students Learning?How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me?How Do I Keep My School Administration Happy?How Do I Keep My Sanity?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Quiet?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Engaged?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Interested?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Learning?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me?10 Years of
How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me? (4 Tips To Establish Boundaries) Personal by Joel Wagner - June 11, 2007May 29, 20161 This article is part 5 of the series Questions That Will Save Your Career. Please read the other articles in the series. How Do I Keep My Students Quiet? How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? How Do I Keep My Students Interested? How Do I Keep My Students Learning? How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me? How Do I Keep My School Administration Happy? How Do I Keep My Sanity? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Quiet? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Interested? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Learning? 10 Years of Teaching:
How Do I Keep My Students Learning? Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - June 10, 2007May 29, 20162 This article is part 4 of the series Questions That Will Save Your Career. Please read the other articles in the series. How Do I Keep My Students Quiet? How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? How Do I Keep My Students Interested? How Do I Keep My Students Learning? How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me? How Do I Keep My School Administration Happy? How Do I Keep My Sanity? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Quiet? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Interested? 10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Learning? 10 Years of
How Do I Keep My Students Interested? General by Joel Wagner - June 9, 2007June 13, 20120 This article is part 3 of the series Questions That Will Save Your Career. Please read the other articles in the series.How Do I Keep My Students Quiet?How Do I Keep My Students Engaged?How Do I Keep My Students Interested?How Do I Keep My Students Learning?How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me?How Do I Keep My School Administration Happy?How Do I Keep My Sanity?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Quiet?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Engaged?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Interested?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Learning?10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Away From Me?10 Years of