Super Powers General by Joel Wagner - August 18, 2010August 18, 20107 This totally has nothing to do with teaching, but it's an interesting question. If you had one super power, what would it be? How would you use it? If you're wondering where this question comes from, I was listening to the latest podcast of This American Life about Superpowers and it struck me as something interesting. I thought I'd see what my readers thought. Plus it's a nice change of pace from the beginning of school and inservices and all of that stuff. Go check out more about the podcast here. So again I ask; if you had one super power, what would it be? How would you use it? Discuss in the comments...
Planting Seeds of Belief New Teachers by Shelly Sanchez Terrell - August 16, 2010August 15, 20102 Shelly Sanchez Terrell is an English teacher living in Germany. She is also the co-organizer and co-creator of the educational projects, Edchat and The Reform Symposium Conference. Find more of her challenges on her education blog, Teacher Reboot Camp or in her free e-book, The 30 Goals Challenge. Find her on Twitter, @ShellTerrell. I remember having a lesson observed for my teacher certification. The lesson didn't go well and my observer made it a point to let me know how miserably I failed. I have gotten critiques before, but this one was different. I felt like a failure. My observer had not liked one thing I did in my lesson. I felt as if I wasn't a good teacher. No teacher likes that feeling.
Words Inspiration by Joel Wagner - August 15, 2010August 15, 20100 I just listened to a recent podcast of Radiolab entitled Words. They included a bonus video along with the podcast. Powerful images and sounds here. The video is below. If you haven't listened to Radiolab, now is a great time to start. As I approach my ninth year of teaching, I have begun to wonder about the effectiveness of my classroom management plan. A brief summaryWhen I first started out, I allowed way too much stuff to go on. In the middle of my second year, I cracked down like nobody's business and began what I might term my "dictator days". Basically, I was a bully and made sure I was in charge of my classroom. I still wholeheartedly believe
How To Make This Year The Best of Your Career New Teachers by Atticus Parker - August 4, 2010August 31, 20104 This guest post was written by Atticus from www.atticusparker.com/education I was chuffed earlier this month when Joel asked me to write guest post for his edublog SYWTT. I was however also nervous. Joel has created an enviable web presence with SYWTT through an obvious passion for teaching, hard work and obvious dedication. I didn’t want to let him down. The topic he suggested was 'How To Make This Year The Best of Your Career'. Wow, I thought. A topic like that calls for an action plan. A list. So I have resorted to an old favourite of blog readers - the list article. Many blog articles today feature a list. Do Lists.
This Year Will Be The Best School Year Ever New Teachers by Pat Hensley - August 3, 2010August 3, 20102 This is a guest post by Pat Hensley from the blog Successful Teaching. As we gear up for the upcoming school year, So You Want To Teach? is featuring articles about making this school year the best year ever. I have been teaching about 30 years now and I still love teaching! I have taught all grade levels including the university level and I still feel the same way. After teaching special education classes for 28 years in public schools, I now teach teachers getting their master’s degree in special education and write a blog called Successful Teaching. I really appreciate Joel for giving me the opportunity to be a guest writer on his blog. Of course, at the beginning of the year,
Fun Back to School Activities General by Carol Brooke - August 2, 2010September 3, 20120 Carol Brooke, M.S., M.Ed. -- has worked as a K-2nd grade teacher and middle school counselor. She is currently an editor with Teaching Resource Center, an on-line teacher store. Visit Teaching Resource Center for back-to-school teacher supplies, free classroom crafts, and teachers' lesson plans.School is starting in just a few days. I've stocked up on teacher supplies at the teacher store, organized my classroom and planned my curriculum. Well, as much as I possibly can. As I look at my lesson plan book, I stop on the first day. What should I do on the first day of school?Good news! The fun back-to-school activities below require little preparation.Teachers, get ready to hit print on your browser. You'll want to make
Five Ways To Survive the First Day of School General by Kelly Wilson - August 1, 2010June 14, 20103 This is a guest post by Kelly Wilson, an editor for Teaching Resource Center. Teaching Resource Center has quality teaching materials at discount prices. The first day of school for me traditionally starts with decaffeinated coffee. Not my first choice, but I don’t need any extra stimulation. I usually haven’t slept the night before due to anticipation and excitement, but because of the adrenaline pumping through my veins, I feel pretty jazzed up. Over the years, I’ve learned to control my stress level by being prepared. Fuel Up My school starts around 7:45, and I find that I’m starving by 9:00 on the first day. All of the excitement takes a toll on our appetites. Pack a variety of high-protein,
Texas Bandmasters Association 2010: Miscellaneous Thoughts Day 2 & 3 Music Education by Joel Wagner - July 29, 2010May 29, 20160 This week, I went to San Antonio for the Texas Bandmasters Association convention. I attended some really good sessions and took a few notes on my iPhone. Without spending a lot of time to expand on these notes right now, I thought I would post them so maybe someone else can benefit from them. After the convention, I'll sit down later and flesh them out a bit more. Here are the notes from Days 2 and 3. Meet with parents prior to testing 5th graders Parent orientation at beginning of year 4-6 weeks into school year Take a class period to discuss procedures Teach basic reading skills and introduce counting system early (8th notes asap) Open cases on the floor –
Texas Bandmasters Association 2010: Miscellaneous Thoughts Day 1 Music Education by Joel Wagner - July 27, 2010July 27, 20101 This week, I am in San Antonio for the Texas Bandmasters Association convention. I attended some really good sessions and took a few notes on my iPhone. Without spending a lot of time to expand on these notes right now, I thought I would post them so maybe someone else can benefit from them. After the convention, I'll sit down later and flesh them out a bit more. Here's Day 1. Raise your level of absurdity. If something doesn't sound stupid, you won't address it.Come up with a warmup rotation. Same concepts per day of week. Lip flexibility, scales, tone production, articulations, intervals/listeningSame with journals. Music appreciation, rhythmic dictation, music/rhythm copying, free writing, theory exercisesAll bad behavior is fear-based. Fear
Creating Really Useful Educational Opportunities General by Joel Wagner - July 25, 2010July 25, 20101 If you've read much on my blog, you know that I do not have the traditional mindset of most educators. I have no problem with kids dropping out of school as long as they are doing so as a means of furthering their education. I don't think that a college education is essential for success in the world. In fact, I know that it's not. I recently was watching to a TED Talk by Cameron Herold (@CameronHerold on Twitter) that challenged me and also reinforced some of my previously-held views and articulated them in a way that shed new light on them. The talk was entitled Let's raise kids to be entrepreneurs. You should watch it. If nothing else, you
Don’t Quit Teaching… Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - July 24, 20104 Don't quit teaching. It could be that every single struggle you've ever faced as a teacher has been leading you to an amazing breakthrough that will happen this year. Make it happen!There may come a time in your life when you just get burned out from teaching or you come to realize that teaching people is not your gift. I won't argue with you, but I do want to encourage you to stick with it. It's a common desire, and I think that all educators have flirted with the idea of, packing the bags and moving to Argentina just to escape our chosen profession. Or maybe that's just me. But whatever the case, now is not the time!FearI'm not a
My (Totally Unexpected) Love Affair With Running Personal by Joel Wagner - July 6, 2010July 6, 20106 I used to hate running. But I tried it this year and have become convinced that running is the gateway drug of the fitness world. You can walk forever without feeling the need to do anything more. I find it exceptionally difficult to make a concentrated effort of running and not have visions of marathons, triathlons, or being in South Africa playing for a World Cup team. Back in January, I came up with this crazy idea to set out to run a 5K. I say it's a crazy idea simply because I was somewhere around 100 pounds overweight. Simply the thought of running anywhere was absolutely unreal. But I have a handful of friends who run marathons and I
Do We Even Know How Most Outsiders View Our Jobs As Teachers? General by Joel Wagner - June 30, 2010June 30, 20107 This morning I allowed a guest post to go up on this blog that many readers felt was inappropriate for this blog. In it, the author listed three reasons mothers should become teachers: You’re assured of more than two months of vacation every year Your schedule is perfect when it comes to looking after your kids The stress level associated with the job is minimum Now, anyone who has actually been a teacher (whether a mother or not) knows these reasons are ill-conceived at best, and mostly offensive. I am reminded of two years ago when a troll called J Frap came over and posted a comment wherein he asserted that one reason people should be a teachers
3 Reasons For Moms To Become Teachers General by Anna Miller - June 30, 2010June 30, 20106 This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topic of online degrees . She welcomes your comments at her email id: anna.miller009@gmail.com It’s a job like no other because it involves both change and routine – you follow a similar routine every day and year after year, but you also see change in the form of different students and a new class every year. It may not be the highest paying job, but teaching at a school is probably one of the best options for most people because it not only allows you to grow as an individual, it also brings you a great deal of satisfaction because you know you’re making a significant difference in
How You Can Tell If You’re Cut Out For Teaching Why Teachers Quit by Thomas Warren - June 28, 2010June 30, 20100 This is a guest post by Thomas Warren, a content writer for GoCollege, one of the oldest and most trusted resources to guide students on how to finance and succeed in college. We all have knowledge and ideas that we would love to pass on to others. Is there any better legacy to leave than that of learning? And yet, not all of us are cut out to be teachers. Just because you have something to say doesn’t mean 1) people need to learn it, 2) you can relate it effectively, and 3) you actually want to teach. If you’re considering becoming a teacher, you should take a long hard look at yourself; your talents and your motivations. Here are a