The Wait For Your Own Classroom General by Jennifer Wilson - December 6, 2010May 30, 20164 This guest post is by Jennifer Wilson, who is in her second year as a 2nd grade teacher. She blogs sporadically at her blog Annecdotes. My mom went back to school full-time when I started college, and we both graduated last year with degrees in Elementary Education. Despite having 5 years of experience as a special needs paraprofessional and a teaching degree with a high GPA, my mom was stuck substitute teaching last fall. She then switched to a paraprofessional position before finally getting a maternity leave spot. Unfortunately, she'll be on the job hunt again for this fall. Meanwhile, I found a teaching position as an Interventionist. I was still compensated as a teacher, but I helped to run a Lead Teacher's classroom
Is The Next Bill Gates, Your Class Clown? Inspiration by Maria Rainier - November 29, 2010May 30, 20162 This guest post is contributed by Maria Rainier, she writes on the topic of online education. John Jacob Astor, multimillionaire businessman. John Jacob Astor was America's first multimillionaire. He was also a high school dropout. Woody Allen once said “I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics final. I looked within the soul of the boy sitting next to me.†Woody Allen really was thrown out of NYU after just a single semester for poor grades. If you’re an educator or thinking about becoming one there is no doubt that you have run into the disruptive, irritating, distracting, wisecracking and sometimes funny class clown. We all have either been sitting in class with one, have taught one or have been one. When researching this
In Demand Teaching Jobs & Degree Options Blogging & Technology by Brian Jenkins - November 26, 2010June 19, 20160 Brian Jenkins is a member of the braintrack.com writing team. He contributes content on a wide variety of college and career-related subjects, including information about high school teaching education programs and careers. In Demand Teaching Jobs and Degree Options In some areas of the country it's difficult to find a teaching position because of large scale layoffs, hiring freezes, and dwindling student enrollment. Some areas have a surplus of elementary school and social studies teachers. One way to increase the chances of obtaining a teaching position is by entering a high-demand teaching field. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has forecasted a 17 percent employment growth rate from 2008 to 2018 for special education teachers, a rate which is faster than the
Tips For Talking To Your Kids About Tough Stuff General by Courtney Bishop - November 25, 2010May 30, 20161 Courtney Bishop is a lover of all things creative. She likes to write, and has an obsession with crossword puzzles. She’s recently started blogging, and you can follow her on Twitter @cbishopBG. Kids and Parents are Both Human The first thing that many people forget in regards to children is that they are miniature but complete human beings. They read people very well and are particularly keen when they know that something is being intentionally kept from them. In sensing both intuitively and by astutely observing the behavioral cues from the adults around them that something is awry, they are likely to feel a lack of control and a resulting sense of fear when the issue is continually kept from them. It is best to give
It’s Not Our Beliefs That Transfer…It’s Our Passion Inspiration by Joel Wagner - November 25, 2010June 16, 20160 A friend recently mailed me a copy of the book The Line and the Dot: Alternative thoughts on vision by Paul Gibbs. The book intrigued me because there is very little information on the outside of the book and I trust my friend's recommendation. So I began reading a little bit. Tonight I came across the following excerpt: During my time as a school pupil, I had learned a valuable lesson. In the religious education I'd received, I had two different teachers. They both taught me about Christianity, but one turned me off of God, and one turned me on to God. The first taught the program. The second taught passion. The head of PSE agreed and gave me opportunities to teach
5 Classroom Management Skills Every Teacher Must Have Classroom Management by Carrie Oakley - November 24, 2010August 9, 201625 It’s one of the most underrated professions in the world – most people assume that you don’t need any special skills to be a teacher, yet few realize that it takes a great deal of effort and ability to handle a classroom full of students. You not only have to be thoroughly knowledgeable in the subject you’re handling, you also need to know how to control a class and maintain discipline and order in it. In short, to be a good teacher, you also need the following classroom management skills. 5 classroom management skills every teacher must have 1. Authority Some teachers command authority through the way they look – their very appearance makes students give them the respect they deserve. Others invite sniggers and giggles because they look
Make Learning Fun: Pacing Your Classes, Teaching Lines and Spaces [AUDIO] Music Education by Joel Wagner - November 17, 2010November 17, 20101 Ramona's comment inspired me to write 15 Tricks To Transform Yourself From Classroom Bully Into A Favorite Teacher a few days ago. Yesterday, it inspired Joey to leave a comment. The excerpt that jumped out at me was this: In response to Ramona’s post, I see 680 students some twice a week, some once every other week each as a class (30-35 students.) I found the best thing to do is to have generalized rules and consequences posted up and always refer to the posters. If I notice the class is coming in wild I start by reviewing them. I have what we should do posted up, and in my time out spot, I have the consequences. I found most
Lesson Planning 101 General by Joel Wagner - November 9, 2010November 20, 20100 On this post, Karen comments: I need help. I've been teaching in NYC alternative high school for 9 years. I can't get my act together. I can't plan lessons, it just seems like such torture. my mentor(thank you UFT) keeps telling me to keep the objective in mind...well, I can't seem to do it, am I in the Dip or am i just a dip? I don't know where I would go if I didnt teach, but how can I get 20 lesson plans written each sunday? I can't keep it straight, any suggestions? Before I respond, I think you are in the Dip and need to press in a little bit further. You've made it through the tough part.
15 Tricks To Transform Yourself From Classroom Bully Into A Favorite Teacher New Teachers by Joel Wagner - November 6, 2010November 20, 20108 Ramona writes: I am a first year teacher struggling with classroom management at the elementary school level. I have some logistical challenges because I don't have my own classroom and travel between classes and schools with a cart. I also have almost 300 different students I see every week. But mostly my problem is that I don't like to humiliate children and make them feel bad, which seems to be what most classroom management looks like. Of course a child feels embarrassed if you administer some kind of punishment to him or her in front of the whole class. But it seems like if I don't do that, the kids will walk all over me and I will quit (sooner rather
Quick List of 50 Teaching Tips General by Joel Wagner - October 14, 2010November 20, 20102 I have had countless discussions lately with some of the newer teachers around me about some general concepts. This is just a random list of a few of the suggestions I have passed along to some of them that might be helpful to you or someone you know in some way. And it comes you way free of charge. Choose your battles Bite your tongue When someone offers you unsolicited advice, give them the impression that you are listening When someone offers you unsolicited advice, listen to them and apply the advice as quickly as possible Most unsolicited teaching advice is given because of a perceived urgent deficiency in your teaching When talking with students about negative behaviors, don't chase other adults away, they could be
Where Have YOU Been? Personal by Joel Wagner - October 13, 20100 This school year is turning out to be pretty crazy in a lot of ways. I'm now in my ninth year of teaching and am working firsthand with a third year teacher on a regular basis teaching 6th grade beginner band. I also have the opportunity to work alongside a first year strings teacher, a second year choir teacher, and also in the same district as a first year band director. So my hands have been pretty full trying to fill the role of mentor in some ways with these folks.In addition, my efforts at running have slowed down substantially as I got a stress fracture on my foot in July, continued trying to run despite the pain (and reduced
Early Childhood Education: What Makes a Great Teacher General by Courtney Bishop - September 27, 2010June 25, 20164 This guest article by Courtney Bishop is a lover of all things creative. She likes to write, and has an obsession with crossword puzzles. She's recently started blogging, and you can follow her on Twitter @cbishopBG. There are many indisputable opinions from people who feel that great teachers are born, not made. Teaching is certainly something that most anyone can do; but teaching effectively and creating a thirst for knowledge in students is undoubtedly a gift that few people possess. Early childhood education is a breeding ground for sparking enthusiasm and creativity in the minds of youngsters. The teacher is likely the one who initially exposes the child to new concepts and makes ideas clearer and brighter to their young minds. This is
What To Do When Students Flagrantly Disregard The Rules Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - September 24, 2010September 24, 20108 The following comment was left yesterday and I thought it was worthy of its own article as I have seen numerous things of this type happen over the years: This is my first year as a professional teacher; I have three (90-minute block scheduled) enthusiastic groups of students who have begun to test their boundaries. I love the students, and I want to keep them secure and in control. Perhaps someone might have some advice on a discipline problem I encountered yesterday: Yesterday, almost half of my last class left two minutes before the bell rang. The chaotic clean-up process, which I will adjust, contributed to their opportunism, but I was shocked, angered, and embarrassed that this happened. I took
Rookie Mistakes New Teachers by Joel Wagner - September 22, 2010September 25, 20102 This year I am in the position to be able to work relatively closely with two first-year teachers and a second-year teacher. I also am working full time with a third-year teacher. One of my primary objectives this year is to be able to talk through some of their challenges and hopefully offer some suggestions for how they can better grow as teachers through the process. I see them making a lot of the mistakes that I used to make. In my discussions with some of the more experienced folks around me, I hear them refer to these as rookie mistakes. We all make mistakes in our jobs on a daily basis. Some mistakes that we make are more normal than
Check-In: How Was Your First Week? General by Joel Wagner - August 28, 20104 So this week that just passed was my first week of the new school year. It was pretty much amazing. I have a new completely positive approach. I am a brand new Joel this year. There are two things that are paramount in my mind as I stand in front of the class every day. I want the band to have:A culture of encouragementAn expectation of excellenceIf I can model those two things, I am convinced that I can ensure the rest of the students follow suit. We don't criticize other students, we encourage them. We don't laugh at mistakes, we learn from them. We don't point out problems, we provide possible solutions. As I've said before, when things settle