10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Learning? General by Joel Wagner - June 10, 2012July 1, 20160 Embed from Getty Images 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 Students Learning? 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
10 Years of Teaching: How Do I Keep My Students Engaged? General by Joel Wagner - June 8, 2012July 1, 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 Students Engaged? 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
Benefits of Teaching English Abroad General by Sanjay Bojan - April 12, 2011July 3, 20161 Teaching is an art, a skill and a challenge that can sometimes be more difficult than aiming in archery. In this article we discuss on the various benefits of teaching English in a foreign country. A lot of teachers prefer working abroad for different reasons. Some common reasons behind teaching abroad are learning the new culture and the language, gaining professional success, earning and a lot of other opportunities as well. Many teachers who prefer to go abroad are English teachers as the language (English) commands a very high respect demand all over the world. In countries where English education is compulsory, one expects teachers to have advanced degrees and to be a native English speaker. The Political Effect on the language A lot of non-English-speaking countries that want to maintain
Top 10 Ways To Make A Living While Making Music General by Taylor Forcier - April 11, 2011June 19, 20160 Many musicians fall into the incorrect assumption that the only way to make money in music is to be a famous performing artist. There are many other lucrative careers which can be pursued in the music industry. These should not be taken for granted. Music Production Music producers are responsible for coordinating all elements in a recording session. They listen to the musicians and point out any mistakes that need correcting. Music producers also work with the recording engineers and often are in charge of mixing the final product after the recording session is finished. They occasionally have to rearrange parts of songs to make the recording smoother. Since music producers are involved in a large amount of specialized tasks, most
Watch, Practice, Learn Almost Anything — For Free [VIDEOS] General by Joel Wagner - March 12, 2011May 30, 20160 The principal at the middle school where I used to work emailed us a link to a great website. It doesn't really apply to band or music education, but there are a TON of topics covered on this site. So what is it? The Khan Academy is an organization on a mission. We're a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere. All of the the site's resources are available to anyone. It doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. The Khan Academy's materials and resources are
Bill Gates on State Budgets, Education, and Economic Hardships [VIDEO] General by Joel Wagner - March 5, 2011March 5, 20110 The good news: Texas is ranked #1 in the country as far as education spending goes. The bad news: Many school districts are on the brink of cutting numerous jobs to keep their budgets in line. * Additional bad news: Texas is #50 as far as Medicaid spending goes. The worse news: Not all of you are fortunate enough to live in Texas. I see news articles posted on Facebook every week about the impending job cuts that are in the plans for next year in the Dallas and San Antonio areas. I'm sure this is a pretty universal thing this year. I know the budget shortfalls have been a big problem in recent years, but I guess I have been more or less
The Value of A Great Teacher General by Joel Wagner - March 3, 2011March 3, 20110 Back in January, NPR's Planet Money podcast ran an episode entitled How Much Is A Good Teacher Worth? On the episode, they argue that the difference between the best teachers and the worst teachers is huge in terms of earning potential of the students over the course of their careers. While some of the findings may be questionable as far as correlating grades and test scores with future success, as a general rule, I think the concepts do hold true and definitely worth a listen. On today's podcast, we consider a plan to dramatically grow the U.S. economy. The plan has nothing to do with banks, stimulus, tax cuts or the Federal Reserve. Instead, the plan focuses entirely on — public school
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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...
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