Integrating Classroom Safety with the Youngsters General by Aileen Pablo - June 29, 2016July 28, 20160 In this article, Aileen Pablo examines the issue of classroom safety, especially regarding younger students. So often, we take basic safety knowledge for granted and forget that we learned those lessons at some point. Teachers and schools aren't just responsible for educating children; when kids are in their "custody" for the school day, they are also legally tasked with keeping them safe. Unfortunately, that's sometimes easier said than done when you've got hundreds of excitable little ones who are far more interested in playing around. And with the youngest kids, they may not even have a sense of basic safety or know how to keep themselves out of harm's way. Because of these things, it’s all too common for children to put themselves
Jeopardy Champ Has Shocking Plan To Overhaul Education, And It Just Might Work! General by Mister Teacher - June 28, 2016July 3, 20161 This article by John Pearson will leave you scratching your head to figure out why you never thought of this simple solution before. With schools and students increasingly getting technology and finding themselves "on-line," it's probably time that we as educators start adapting our academic"hooks" to fit the times. Since so many ads and sites shamelessly use clickbait headlines, I thought it would be a good idea to start a little list going of similar approaches we could take. Please feel free to add your own Here's a homework sheet with 10 word problems -- Number 5 will shock you! The cafeteria served smiley-face potato wedges. You won't believe what happened next! This video will prove you've been estimating wrong your whole life!
Adieu, Homework: Let’s Explore Alternatives to Traditional Homework General by Ethan Miller - June 27, 2016July 10, 20163 This article explores some of the history of homework and also a few homework alternatives. If you end your class with homework and you hear groans, it may be time to stop and ask why. Of course, this is nothing new and it knows no boundaries, geographically at least, from what I hear from colleagues. Homework and a collective groan following its announcement have been around for many years now, since formal schooling began. If you are surprised to hear this because your students always respond enthusiastically to assignments, I’d like to buy you coffee and grill you! I am sure everyone would like to know how you do it. I was reading about the pros and cons of homework, and I want to
How To Actually Enjoy Teaching A Class You Don’t Want To Teach General by Joel Wagner - June 23, 2016June 23, 20160 You want me to teach what? Imagine my surprise the first day of my job one year when I found out that I was teaching Music History and that there was no curriculum for the class, no budget for it, and no textbook. The class was used to fulfill the fine arts credit that student needed to graduate, so I could reasonably expect that less than 25% of the students had any kind of working knowledge of music. In fact, most of them would inevitably want to listen to exclusively hip hop music and complain about anything that was produced more than 5 years earlier. Other teachers who had taught the class explained to me that they just show movies, or spend a semester teaching music theory and then a
Weekend Reading 6/18/16 General by Joel Wagner - June 18, 2016June 19, 20161 I found some great stuff going on out there in the world of education blogging this week. Here is a summary of what I found and shared on Twitter (follow @sywtt). this week. Growth Mindset: Clearing Up Some Common Confusions Digital transformation in eduction: from challenge to opportunity What's so sexy about math? How I teach kids to love science 10 Open-Ended Questions for Teachers' Reflection and Summative Evaluation 5 Common Teaching Practices I'm Kicking to the Curb When Everyone Owns the Place of the Arts I'm A Teacher Who Loves Quizzing; But Does Quiz Format Matter? Are We Too Preoccupied with Teaching Techniques? 7 Shifts To Create A Classroom of the Future 6 Apps That Can Help with Student Assessment
Quitting Teaching, A View From A Former Teacher General by Lucas Allen - June 13, 2016July 10, 20162 In this article Lucas Allen, a former math educator from Illinois writes about his experience quitting teaching and the transition into the corporate world. Why I Left About 18 months ago, I quit teaching for a job in the corporate world. This wasn't a decision I made lightly. I had been a high school mathematics teacher at a couple of different schools in downstate Illinois over the course of 13 years. Lest you think I was longtime disgruntled employee of the public school system, let me assure you that was not the case. Over the years, I had thrown myself into numerous school activities, coaching the chess team, the volleyball team, and my favorite, the math team, eventually coaching my team to the 2012 Illinois
Weekend Reading 6/11/16 General by Joel Wagner - June 11, 2016June 11, 20160 Over the past two weeks, I have jumped back into blogging. This week, I jumped back into Twitter (follow @sywtt). There's some great stuff going on out there in the world of education blogging. Here is a summary of what I found and shared this week. Response: Blended Learning Is 'the Next Generation of Education' 41 Books Worth Reading What Makes a Good Teacher? 36 Edtech Tools I'm Using Right Now in My Classroom and Life Blooming teachers 'Being a "sergeant major" teacher has been my most effective behaviour-management strategy 10 Ways to Flip a Kid and Turn Their Day Around “What Is My Job, Anyway?†Teacher Hindsight From a Multi-Classroom Leader Is your school’s “digital citizenship†practice
60 Very Practical Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Started Teaching General by Joel Wagner - June 7, 2016June 15, 20162 While I've had my ups and downs over the years as a teacher, my first two years were extremely challenging. Many of these pitfalls were avoidable. If I were going into a middle school band class as a first year teacher today, knowing what I know now, I would approach things differently. Here is an unsorted list that I have brainstormed of things I would like to have known before the first day of school. Begin class on time, every time Even though attendance is computerized, come up with a simple written system of checking role and do it consistently Run through each class period in your mind and take notes of questions you have; address those before the first day The more procedures
New Teacher Survey General by Joel Wagner - May 7, 2016July 29, 20160 A previous version of this article did not include the link to the survey. That has been updated to simplify the process. I'm working on a project. If you are going to be starting your first or second year of teaching and would like to help me out by answering 5 questions for me, please complete this survey. I'll share the results and the project with you when I'm finished. If that's not you, please pass this on to your new teacher friends. photo credit: 2016 Commencement via photopin (license)
Let’s Talk About…Finding A New Teaching Job General by Joel Wagner - July 2, 2014July 29, 20160 Talk amongst yourselves This weekend, let's discuss finding a new teaching job. It's summer (in the northern hemisphere) and many of us are out of school. With the summer also comes many newly certified teachers, as well as veterans who are seeking greener pastures. Lots of us are looking, even if we are not seriously considering moving. So let's talk about it. I'm asking you to help out by contributing comments. I know, I know. Blogging has changed. People rarely ever leave comments any more, they just look for the like button or share it with their social media friends if it's a great post. Well, let's leave some comments and answer this question: What are some key elements to successfully finding a new teaching job?
5 Reasons I Loved Teaching Middle School General by Joel Wagner - February 9, 2014July 3, 20161 This past summer was a whirlwind tour for me and someday I may share a bit about the amazing experiences I had traveling by myself across the country (including three nights stranded in airports, a fourth of July parade in a small town outside of Boston, following my beloved Texas Rangers to Saint Louis, New York, and Baltimore, a ride to the airport from Shelly Terrell, and an amazing time in some of this country's finest cities). But now is not the time for this. Now is the time to address the biggest change in my educational life. After 11 years of fighting in the trenches, I have finally moved on to the major leagues. I moved on from my previous
Top 10 Ways To Improvise Your Way to Being A Better Teacher General by Joel Wagner - June 24, 2013June 8, 20162 This summer I made the decision to go on a somewhat extensive tour of a few of the major cities in the Northeast United States. During the process, I reconnected with my friend Nelson, with whom I marched drumcorps 17 years ago. I haven't seen him in the intervening years and so it as been great to catch up with him the past few days. It turns out that he has spent the last few years doing comedy in and around the Chicago area. We went to The Second City Comedy Club last night and watched a completely improvised musical about a Golden Fleece. We have talked extensively at meals over the last few days as well. Some of our conversations
Work from Anywhere, And Touch Other Lives by Teaching English Online General by Aileen Pablo - September 29, 2012August 2, 20160 People get into teaching for a variety of reasons, but two of the biggest are the ability it gives you to personally connect with students and continue learning and growing yourself. At first glance, becoming an online ESL teacher might seem like an odd way to do this. How can you connect with people when you’re not even in the same room? Are you really going to learn anything new when you’re teaching your native language? But people who think this way don’t understand how online teaching works. Unlike 15 or even 10 years ago, lessons aren’t conducted just using email and written tests, or even recorded video where you lecture students using a static script and lesson plan. Online English language
10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Sanity? General by Joel Wagner - June 13, 2012May 28, 20161 Five years ago, I wrote a series of seven articles called “Questions That Will Save Your Career†that still remain among the most visited articles on this site. When I wrote those, I had successfully completed my 5th year in education. This summer, after 10 years, I am revisiting some of these older concepts. Today, I revisit How Do I Keep My Sanity? 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
10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My School Administration Happy? General by Joel Wagner - June 12, 2012July 1, 20160 Five years ago, I wrote a series of seven articles called “Questions That Will Save Your Career†that still remain among the most visited articles on this site. When I wrote those, I had successfully completed my 5th year in education. This summer, after 10 years, I am revisiting some of these older concepts. Today, I revisit How Do I Keep My School Administration Happy? 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: