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
Seven Years Later: 7 Things I Would Do Before My First Year As A Teacher If I Knew Then What I Know Now New Teachers by Joel Wagner - March 21, 2009June 30, 20107 My Twitter friend @MissCalcul8 recently posted on her blog soliciting help from her readers about how to prepare for her first year as an official teacher. She has been subbing some this year. I thought it was a great question, so I wanted to post my responses here as well as send you over to her blog to offer up some more suggestions (and perhaps subscribe to her RSS feed!). So without further ado, here are 7 things I would do before my first year as a teacher if I knew then what I know now. Figure out a classroom management plan (with or without rules) that works well for you. Make friends like crazy with other teachers. If
The Twelve Days of Teaching General by Joel Wagner - August 12, 2007July 5, 20104 EDIT: I replaced the original image I had on here. This one was taken from Transitions Abroad's website. It's a classroom in Guatamala. I so desperately want to go overseas (at least out of the US) and teach for a summer, or even for a year. That has nothing to do with the remainder of the article, but I thought I'd throw it in there. On the first day of teaching, my Teacher gave to me: A classroom management plan [...] On the twelfth day of teaching, my Teacher gave to me: Twelve (+3) tips to stay positive Eleven (+4) survival tips Ten Reasons to teach Nine (+1) organization tips Eight recruitment keys Seven career savers Six
Habit 2: Classroom Habits Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - July 10, 2007July 5, 20103 This is the second in a series of articles entitled 5 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers. Classroom Procedures The procedures that you lay out in the classroom are the most outwardly evident procedures that you have in place. For this reason, they are key elements of your overall classroom management plan. Much of the procedures really depend on the age-group you teach. Since I teach middle school, my procedures are very middle-school oriented. These procedures can be broken up into three categories: Beginning of class Middle of class End of class Beginning of class The tone of the entire class is established before the students walk in the door. We've all heard the old adage, You never get