How to Empower Your Students Inspiration by Kelly Curtis - July 28, 2008July 1, 20105 (Guest post by author/educator Kelly Curtis) Sometimes when I speak to fellow educators about youth empowerment, the idea of following student leadership on a project is seen as a complication in an already burdened schedule. In certain situations, this may be true -- and it's a valid concern. But it doesn’t have to be the case. Obviously it depends on the project, and it may not work with much of the standard curriculum. But in my experience – as well as that of educators I interviewed in the course of writing my book -- sometimes the process of empowering young people can make special projects more efficient, more meaningful, and less work for the educator. As a school counselor,
Are Classroom Rules Needed? Classroom Management by Dr. Pezz - July 26, 2008July 8, 201618 Thanks to Joel for allowing me this opportunity to post an article on his excellent site! In my short time as a blogger I have written a few posts which have elicited quite a few e-mails, These include posts about the fish bowl lesson, how teachers may create student failures, and ideas about teaching denotation and connotation. However, my post regarding the need for classroom rules has brought in more e-mails than any other. I actually ran a small in-service at my school for some of the new teachers about why I don't have classroom rules, and I think a couple were shocked that rules may not be necessary. This may sound overly simple, but I tell my (high school) students that
Repiteaching General by Jason Oller - July 25, 2008July 1, 20107 This article was written by Jason, a high school junior high school student. The term repiteaching was created by Mister Teacher. I think the perspective that Jason takes here is interesting. Repiteaching is the act of reteaching something already taught according to Mister Teacher. It is annoying to students and teachers alike. I admit I need some repiteaching in English but it is annoying in Math. It's boring after the teacher explains it about three times. Some people in my Honors class don't pay attention until the review before the weekly test. That takes about half the class time and the class is usually shortened due to the weekly pep rallies in football season so we have little time due to the
Make Love not War – How to Control an Unruly Class Classroom Management by Heather Johnson - July 25, 2008June 16, 20162 This article is contributed by Heather Johnson, who regularly writes on California teacher certification. She invites your questions and writing job opportunities at her personal email address: heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com. Teaching children is arguably the most taxing job in the world -- it demands a great deal of patience and tolerance all through the day, every day of school. A good teacher takes the extra effort needed to ensure that the children understand what's taught, not just in the way of lessons but in the way of life too. Sometimes a teacher's patience is put to the test in the form of difficult students, those who will just not fall in line with the rest of the class. And at
Literacy and Power Music Education by Susan Biggs - July 24, 2008July 1, 20104 This is a guest post by Susan Biggs I’ve been meaning to take some time to reflect in writing about the conversation I’ve been engaged in recently with a cohort of National Writing Project colleagues concerning Content Area Literacy. I’m a former H.S. English teacher who now works in professional development with my local writing project, the Western Massachusetts Writing Project, working with teachers to improve learning in our schools. The opportunity to guest post here on Joel's blog seemed like the right time. Power. I can’t stop thinking that it is all about power. This thought surfaced after reading the article, “Why Content Literacy is Difficult to Infuse into the Secondary School: Complexities of Curriculum, Pedagogy, and School
10 Reasons to Love Rural Schools Inspiration by Waski the Squirrel - July 23, 2008July 1, 20106 This is a guest post by Waski The Squirrel. Joel's invitation to be a guest-writer here was a prime opportunity to advertise the joys of teaching in rural America. I run a small blog on Townhall. Rural America is an ignored sector of education, except in the occasional news article about poverty. I can't really contrast rural America with anywhere else. I've always taught in rural schools: first in Pennsylvania and now in North Dakota. My current school educates about 450 students who come from an area of just over 1000 square miles. When I first moved to North Dakota 10 years ago, I discovered that "rural" is a relative term. The school where I student taught back in
Gone Wild: Classroom Jobs Classroom Management by Miss A - July 23, 2008July 25, 201613 Hello, Readers. I decided to take Joel up on his offer of EduBloggers Gone Wild. My name is Miss A and you can find me at Confessions From the Couch. I am beginning my 4th year of teaching in an urban school district and no longer under new teacher status. I feel like I’m at a place where I must CONTRIBUTE to the edublogging community. As I enter into the this new phase of my career, I am using blogging as a reflective and personal growth tool-with limited complaining and griping-because I love my job and the impact it has on my life. My goal is to share my ideas as well as solicit the ideas of other teachers out
Might As Well Face It-I’m Addicted to Blogs! (and listservs and podcasts…) General by Head Monkey - July 23, 2008July 1, 20101 This is a guest post by Tracey, aka The Head Monkey at Middle School Monkeys www.mrsbowes.edublogs.org aka Trixie at TrashyTvTalk at www.trashytvtalk.blogspot.org My apologies to Robert Palmer for stealing his little ditty from the 80's, but it seemed so appropriate! (I refuse to dress like the zombies in the video, though.) Now that school is out and I have waaaay more free time, I really thought I would be a "good wife/mother" and dedicate myself to domestic responsibilities. Well, the jury is still out, but I'm pretty sure I lost the "Mother of the Year Award" already and Better Homes and Garden is not returning my calls for the 4 page spread. I hired a cleaning lady to do the spring cleaning I never did and my
10 Things To Do While Joel Is Gone General by Mister Teacher - July 23, 2008July 1, 20100 This is a guest post by Mister Teacher of Learn Me Good. Hello everybody! Since Joel made this forum available, I thought I'd jump on board while the iron is hot (not to mix metaphors or anything). Also, since Joel's vacation and mine (leaving at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow morning for Comic-Con in San Diego) pretty nearly coincide, I figured I should do it sooner than later! For anyone who doesn't know me, I am Doctor Teacher. (Of course, everyone who DOES know me, knows full well that I am not a doctor.) I run a quaint little site called Learn Me Good, which you are all certainly more than welcome to check out, subscribe to, and idolize. Per
Bloggers Gone Wild!!! General by Joel Wagner - July 20, 2008July 1, 20102 I am on vacation from July 21st through July 30th! I'll be going to visit my parents, some friends, cruising Texas, and end up at the Texas Bandmasters Association convention. I'm conducting an experiment while I am out. I'm calling it Bloggers Gone Wild. I will not write a comment or post on the blog for the duration of my trip. I will read comments and posts on the blog from time to time. I will check my email periodically. I don't get it Of course you don't get it. There is more. I will create user accounts if you email me and ask for one. Once your account has been created, you will receive an email
Student Absences & Make-Up Work…What Do You Do? General by Joel Wagner - July 15, 2008July 1, 201011 This article was recently featured in the Carnival of Education, #180. Check it out if you haven't already! I was recently asked about how I handle student absences and make-up work. As a band director, generally an absence simply means they missed out on a rehearsal and we don't have a lot of make-up work to assign. This gives me limited experience dealing with the issue. I am confident that most of the readers of this blog have far more experience in this realm. So it got me thinking, and I want to throw some questions out you you. How do you handle make-up work for students? What steps do you take for students with excessive absences? What
Nobody Works Harder Than Teachers! You Sure About That? Personal by Joel Wagner - July 13, 2008August 5, 201629 I recently wrote the most-commented article on this site to date about the number of hours teachers work and comparing those to standard business world people. As I write this one, I’m sure it will stir up just as many responses, though many of them will surely be in disagreement with me. Just keep reading, and tell me where I’m wrong at the end! One of the comments to that article said something to the effect that “nobody works harder than teachers do!†While I agree with the sentiment, I think it’s possible for our own passion to cloud our word choice at times. Comments continue coming in about that article, and I saw an email right before I went to be last
20 Books Everyone Should Read Personal by Joel Wagner - July 12, 2008July 1, 201012 Summer is a great time to read and catch up on reading. I have a bookshelf full of books, but very few that I have read really jump out and grab me as being amongst the greatest. But a handful do. These books have, in one way or another, changed the course of my life. I recommend each and every one of them to you now, in no particular order. We'll start 10 spiritual books. After that, we'll go to 5 personal growth books, and finish up with 5 teaching books. 10 Spiritual books that everyone should read The Bible Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Howard Taylor
10 Awesome iPhone 3G Apps (Band Director Style) Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - July 11, 2008July 1, 20106 For an updated list of iPhone apps I actually use in band class after over year of use, check out 20 Ways I Really Use My iPhone To Teach Band Class I haven't gotten a new cell phone in the last two years, so I am excited about this opportunity to upgrade. My decision to buy an iPhone was anything but spur-of-the-moment. In fact, I have been planning on getting one for just about 5 months. I was going to get it shortly after my band earned Sweepstakes at the UIL Concert & Sight Reading contest back in April. But I heard rumors of a new version of iPhone coming out then, so I waited. I have been eagerly
10 Teaching Myths [Infographic] General by Joel Wagner - July 10, 2008July 29, 20160 Last week, I wrote an article called 10 Teaching Myths Busted. Those myths were: Teaching preparation programs produce prepared teachers When I get my own classroom the students will respect me Students come to school primarily to learn I teach an elective class, surely all of my students want to be there If I have problems with a student, [SOME ACTION] will solve everything If I have problems with a student, I can request a schedule change The best teachers treat all students equally Teachers get three months off in the summer Teachers don't get paid well Standardized tests are horrible for education I decided to take a risk and design my first infographic based on this article. Please share your thoughts on this in the