But I Don’t Have Time To Subscribe To Your Blog! Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - September 8, 2007July 5, 20106 I knew of RSS about five years ago, but only in the context of news sites. I started seeing the little icon popping up on more and more sites, but I thought very little of it. It wasn't until around a year ago that I was introduced to Google Reader. It revolutionized the way I get information online. If you have never really dug into RSS feeds much and you like to get information online, then it will do the same for you too. I didn't want to spend the time figuring out why I should be interested in this stuff. Then I found out that it's incredibly simple! Getting started in the world of RSS can all be explained
Weekend Wrapup 09/03/07 Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - September 3, 2007July 5, 20100 Labor Day edition. It's raining. I'm catching up on housework. And falling WAY behind on blogs. I am going to trim my RSS subscriptions this week so I can get through them more quickly. I hate it when Google Reader says I have 100+ articles to read every day. Life is too short to squander it all online. I have fallen out of touch with other bloggers because of time commitments. What I'm going to do with today's wrapup is send you to some friends around the web. Leave comments on their blogs. I find that leaving good comments on other blogs really helps out my blog as well. With this being said, I have turned comments off for this
SYWTT’s Job Search Resource Page Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - August 23, 2007July 5, 20100 It's nearing the end of August. Hopefully, you are not looking for a new job this early in the school year, but studies say that 60% of people are thinking of switching jobs at any given time. If this is you, you may want to check out The Ultimate Job Hunt Guide over at Chief Happiness Officer's blog. I've written a some on the topic of switching jobs before. Here are some good articles to get you started. Invalid Reasons Teachers Quit Valid Reasons Teachers Quit 9 Reasons To Quit Teaching (And 10 Reasons To Stick) The Total Résumé Makeover Polishing The Résumé
Weekend Wrapup 08/13/07 Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - August 13, 2007July 5, 20102 Another week begins. Now that Summer Band is in full swing, I am reminded how difficult and full my schedule is during the fall. My blogging will come when it comes. :) Now on with the wrapup... CaliforniaTeacherGuy has accepted a position in Small Desert Town. He recently received a letter from the superintendent. One of the huge advantages to a small district is that the administration is more involved. I once interviewed in a district where the principal taught history, and the superintendent taught math. He actually came into the interview when he reached a break from mowing the football field! If you get in today or early tomorrow, My Education Junction has a contest. I realize that by
Anxiety Sets In As The New School Year Looms Ominously Close General by Joel Wagner - August 11, 2007June 25, 20160 The new school year is two weeks and two days away. This time last year, our week of inservices was well under way. Thanks to the Texas legislature, we will not begin staff development until August 20th and are not allowed to begin school before August 27th. That's fine with me, but I am ready to begin the school year. We started our middle school band camp this past Monday and it is so much fun there. As I've mentioned before, these are students that I taught in 6th grade. I am moving from the sixth grade campus to the 7th & 8th grade campus this year. It's so much fun for me to see all of these kids whom I
Weekend Wrapup 07/30/07 Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - July 30, 2007July 5, 20101 This is my second installment of the weekend wrapup. I wanted to focus on some great articles I saw this week that relate to writing and blogging. Mystery Teacher has written about the lack of good writing and grammar that has become so common throughout our society. Using the English Language lately? Copyblogger has an article about editing. I don't edit enough. When I do edit on this blog, it is usually after I have published. We could all use help on getting anyone to read every word we write. Eric writes about the seeming lack of college education majors who blog. I wonder if this is because people are scared to start a blog for fear of not
Valid Reasons Teachers Quit Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - July 8, 2007July 5, 201034 For another look at quitting teaching, see my article 9 Reasons To Quit Teaching (And 10 Reasons To Stick). One of the most popular search queries that has sent people to my blog lately has been "why do teachers quit?" Doing a quick search of my site tells me that I have a number of articles that reference this idea, but have not yet explored exactly why it is that many teachers choose to quit teaching. This weekend, I will write two articles on that very topic. Today, we'll consider the question Why Do Teachers Quit? and explore some valid reasons they do so. Yesterday, we considered the same question and explored some of the invalid reasons for quitting. Next
Invalid Reasons Teachers Quit Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - July 7, 2007July 5, 201020 For another look at quitting teaching, see my article 9 Reasons To Quit Teaching (And 10 Reasons To Stick). One of the most popular search queries that has sent people to my blog lately has been "why do teachers quit?" Doing a quick search of my site tells me that I have a number of articles that reference this idea, but have not yet explored exactly why it is that many teachers choose to quit teaching. This weekend, I will write two articles on that very topic. Today, we'll consider the question Why Do Teachers Quit? and explore some invalid reasons they do so. Tomorrow, we will consider the same question and explore some of the valid reasons for quitting.
Redeeming The Cesspools Of Public Education General by Joel Wagner - June 29, 2007July 5, 20101 This is the first time I've heard about this and thought it interesting to pass along. According to Mike in Texas, there was a school in Denmark (isn't it always in Denmark?) where the students have an end of the year tradition of stripping for the faculty. This fact is not the concern or the issue at question. The problem is that some of the girls evidently got carried away and, in the words of the principal, "I think they forgot what they were doing and where they were. But my concern now is not to punish anyone, but protect the girls who are now all over the internet." Read the entire post on Mike's blog. In his blog, he
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
06-07: What Worked Well General by Joel Wagner - June 2, 2007July 5, 20100 As we begin the summer vacation, I am looking back on what went really well this year, what didn't work so well, and what needs to change for next year. Below are some of the positives about this year: Having a plan before the year beganEven before the school year began, I had a pretty decent idea of what music I wanted the kids to perform throughout the year. What this ended up doing is that it allowed me to gear the daily teaching to make sure that those goals could be accomplished. I had an idea of what Christmas music we wanted to do. That helped us to determine what skills were absolutely necessary, and which ones could wait