Reader Appreciation 2008: Scribbler Reader Appreciation by Atticus Parker - November 10, 2008August 3, 20103 November is Reader Appreciation Month at So You Want To Teach? This year’s focus is First Year Teaching Tips. There’s still room if you want to participate! Contact me and let me know your answer to this question: What are some things you wish you had known before you started your first year of teaching? Today’s response is from Scribbler, the author of Scribbler's Den. This has been a great exercise. I have so much to write about now! A school's focus on student results and grades is not necessarily a focus on their education. You should focus on their education. The structure of the school year into units, terms and semesters mean the years will
150 Subscribers Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - January 15, 2008July 2, 20102 Thank you so much to everyone who has subscribed. You people are awesome! I want to challenge you to invite one person you know who is either a great teacher or an aspiring great teacher to check out So You Want To Teach? for themselves. Email Updates Did you know that email subscriptions are available? Even if they aren't familiar with blogging, you can sign up to receive the updates via email. Could you sign up with your school address, and begin sending articles around to your colleagues? I want to see how quickly we can build our "class size" to 200. Will you help me by inviting one friend? :)
Self-Sufficient Students General by Joel Wagner - January 11, 2008July 2, 20107 Recently, one of the other teachers sent the following email out to everyone at my campus: Self-sufficient – able to take care of your own needs without help from others Colleagues, over the next several weeks I will be using some of my sponge time to explore the idea of self-sufficiency in school and at home. We have already learned the definition and brainstormed some examples. Now I am soliciting ideas from you. If you had to name one or two ways in which you wish your students were more self-suffcient, what would it be? If you have been successful in teaching your students to be more self-sufficient in school, what method did you use? My personal
Calling Home Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - September 14, 2007July 5, 20102 I just recently read NYC Educator's article entitled, Startup Tips. Great stuff there. Neither she nor any teacher of education ever advised me on classroom control. The standing platitude was “A good lesson plan is the best way to control a class,” but I no longer believe that. I think a good lesson plan is the best thing to have after you control the class. ... The best trick, and it’s not much of a trick at all, is frequent home contact. It’s true that not all parents will be helpful, but I’ve found most of them to be. When kids know reports of their classroom behavior will reach their homes, they tend to save the acting out for your
How To Cope With Tragedy General by Joel Wagner - August 22, 2007July 5, 20100 Last week, Michelle wrote that she learned that one of her colleagues recently passed away. She writes a popular blog on blogging and was wondering if she should take some time away or just how to handle her desires to grow as a writer, generate income with the blog, and also just get a chance to deal with the emotional heaviness of the situation. Last November, I went to the first funeral of a former student of mine. She was a high school tuba player in the two years that I knew her. She graduated in 2004. She lived down the street from me. She washed my car for a quarter once. We traded movies during the summer, and
Weekend Wrapup 08/20/07 Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - August 20, 2007July 5, 20102 Happy Monday morning. I begin staff development this week. School begins in Texas next Monday. This spring, I began to make myself familiar with the Getting Things Done (GTD) approach to personal productivity. My views on effectiveness went into overdrive this summer as I read The 4-Hour Workweek. Timothy Ferriss has recently posted The Not-To-Do List, 9 things to make you more productive. Just a Substitute Teacher points us to an article in USA Today that has a great list of things that some school districts or schools do to get more subs. Check out How to Lure Substitute Teachers. Athena gives us a list called 10 Things I Learned In My First Year of Teaching. How many of us
15 Tips To Stay Positive Inspiration by Joel Wagner - July 17, 2007July 5, 20106 I recently read an article entitled Is Positive Possible? by Samantha on TeacherLingo.com. In the article, she writes in part: Why are we so depressed? Why do we only feel needed and understood when we are griping together? I think about this a lot. It is as if we are all addicted to the frenzy, the wretched wreck of it all. "Who said this? Who is quitting? What are they making us do now?" If you say anything good-everyone looks at you like you've got to be kidding. My response to her was: Dave Ramsey says "If your broke friends are making fun of your financial plan, you're on the right track." Similarly, if your miserable colleagues are making fun
The Vitality of Collaboration Music Education by Joel Wagner - May 30, 2007July 5, 20100 Most of the band staff went to lunch today. We spent about an hour and a half at a pizza buffet, mostly talking and not eating pizza. Collaboration is a good thing, if done correctly. Here are some key elements that I observe when I work with colleagues: Have fun Relax Focus on positives Don't spend all the time talking about work Don't spend much time talking about negative things Do spend time discussing teaching strategies that work for you Don't take yourself too seriously Learn something from everyone you can, even if you learn what not to do Planning is good. Planning as a group is one of the most effective ways to plan. No matter how