July 2016 On SYWTT Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - August 1, 20160 July 2016 was a great month as I continue getting back into the blogging groove of things. Below are some highlights. I discovered Pinterest and began to see that many of the articles on my site don't look so great on there. As a result, I began making images to go along with my new articles. Additionally, I have begun going back through the archives to create images for some of the more popular older articles. As time progresses, I will get to more and more of them. Along with that, I continue going back and adjusting formatting of old articles, as web standards have changed quite a bit since 2007. I have also started work on curating some of the articles by creating resource
Professional Email Etiquette For Teachers New Teachers by Vera Marie Reed - July 29, 2016July 28, 20162 As an educator you know that in this increasingly digital world, email is a primary source of communication between colleagues as well as with students. Communication through email is no longer a luxury but a necessity for working. We often create and respond to emails without considering the appropriate etiquette involved with professional emails. Being familiar with the professional email etiquette is necessary not only for your professional relationships as a teacher but is also useful for teaching to your students. Many students do not consider their emailing etiquette especially when communicating with their teachers. Teaching students the correct forms of email etiquette can help them carry over these habit into their own professional lives. Whether you are communicating with a
No Kidding… General by Joel Wagner - April 1, 2010June 30, 20101 Sorry, no April Fools Day jokes from me this year. But I am actually posting a little bit. Last night, I took my band to the UIL Concert and Sight-Reading contest and we got a Sweepstakes trophy. This means that at least two of the three judges for our concert program and two of the three judges for our sight-reading agreed that our band played superior and earned a first division. I'm so proud of them! Contact me via email and ask me for the link to the recordings. I have done a ton of thinking about this blog lately and I am determined that I will once again enable comments soon. I have the old ones, but I am
Can Wii Do It? Personal by Joel Wagner - January 4, 2010June 30, 20100 Carol Richtsmeier made me do it. She has pretty much shamed me (guilted me perhaps?) into blogging through my weight loss this year with her. I'm doing it because I want to run a 5K. She's doing it because she's tired of dragging along the extra baggage. Well, me too. She's done all of the legwork and I'll do some design work when I get a chance, but she's set up a blog call Can Wii Do It? to track our progress. I suggested there might be others who would be interested in blogging through their journey (either with a Wii or without). If you are, she would probably be the person to contact since she's doing most of the
Google Wave Will Revolutionize Online Classroom Instruction Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - September 30, 2009June 30, 20105 Today is the day. Thousands of new users will be presented with the opportunity to get their hands on Google Wave. What is Google Wave? Google Wave is a brand new technology that positions itself as the way Email would have been made if it were invented today. (Watch the 1:20:12 long video clip) Imagine a combination between Email, IM, Twitter, Facebook, and Skype all bundled into one. Now imagine it being drag-and-drop easy, live-updated, and being constantly improved. Then throw on top of that an eager community of developers seeking ways to make it even easier to use and more powerful. Cool, but what does it look like? I haven't gotten my invitation yet, but am eagerly awaiting
See…There Is Hope After All! Inspiration by Joel Wagner - September 28, 2009June 30, 20101 I got an email from a reader this morning and she sent told me that I might appreciate her latest blog post. She writes: I read your blog. I also write my own blog. I started my blog when I wanted to quit. I spent about a year thinking about that. I realize now that I don't want to quit anymore. I thought maybe my latest blog about why I don't want to quit anymore would be of interest to you or your readers. So I jumped on over to check it out. What an inspiration it was, too! Her blog Teacher, I Don't Get It has been up for a little less than a year. I was indeed impressed by her latest
Social Media Update: Become A Facebook Fan Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - September 5, 2009June 30, 20101 I don't use a whole lot of social media outlets, but I know a lot of my readers do. Over the last few months, I have added a few things to make sharing SYWTT articles easier. I've also added some rating type things where you can tell me how bad (or good) an article is. I find that Facebook and Twitter are by far the websites I spend most of my time on when I'm online. In fact, I mostly use Facebook at home and Twitter on my iPhone while I'm out. Up to this point, I have used them mostly for personal things. I have also noticed, however, that my use of Google Reader and other RSS type things
But Wait, That Wasn’t In My Job Description! Music Education by Joel Wagner - August 16, 2009June 30, 20106 "Welcome to education." "Deal with it!" "Didn't they teach you in college that you need to be flexible?" 'What do you want me to do about it?" "Wow, I wish I had it that good my first year!" So you graduated and then spent all summer looking for a job. You got your job, get to the school, and suddenly the classes or students you have bear no real similarity to what they told you in the interview. The good news is that you're not alone. The bad news is that this is probably what you are going to be dealing with all year. I recently got an email expressing a similar situation: I'm a first year who was hired
Teacher Burnout: A Sad Story Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - June 26, 2009June 30, 20107 About a month ago, I received this email in my Inbox: After 17 years of teaching, I was diagnosed with 'burnout' and needed to take some time off. I fought it, but when the lab results showed body systems shutting down, I complied... for awhile. Part-time only made it worse. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I LOVED my job, my students, my teaching. I dreaded the politics, the nay-sayers, the whiners. Still, how could I be burned out? I thought that only happened to folks who hated what they were doing or had been there too long. It seems remaining a teacher at the top of your game requires more than 3 hours of sleep per night,
Recession 2009 And Its Impact On Teaching Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - March 23, 2009June 30, 201027 When I entered the field of education, I was well aware that I wasn't going into teaching because of the prolific amount of cash I could accumulate from the career. I entered education basically because it's a good thing to do and it's something that I absolutely love doing. Last week, I posted a question about when the right time to relocate to a different teaching job might be. I received some great responses (in the comments, through Twitter, and in email). However, some of the comments sort of caught me off guard. A few of the comments referenced the Recession of 2009 as being a reason I might want to stay in my current teaching situation (despite the social
New Theme – SYWTT 2009 Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - February 28, 2009June 30, 201010 I have been working together with developers at Dizzain.com to create a brand new, professionall designed) theme for So You Want To Teach? We are just about finished and plan on launching it sometime in the first week of March. I’d like to take this opportunity to ask you, my loyal readers, to leave your email or RSS reader, go to the website (www.soyouwantotteach.com) and let me know
Falling Behind Personal by Joel Wagner - January 25, 2009June 30, 20105 I have an admission. If you've emailed me in the last year or so, you may have caught on. The thing is...I am behind. On like everything. With work, church, and mariachi, I tend to remain pretty busy. But when I'm home, often I will sit here looking at blogs, playing catchup in Google Reader or my email, checking my blog stats, checking out Facebook, chatting with friends, and doing all sorts of time-wasting things. These things are all right in and of themselves, but when combined, they lead to me neglecting things such as basic housekeeping, laundry, filing my bills, cooking, and even sleeping. Then I find a burst of energy, sit down, start sorting through my emails, and
52 Teachers, 52 Lessons Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - January 19, 2009June 30, 20100 My buddy Mr. D who writes I Want To Teach Forever has started up a little project this year that I hope lasts all year. He is asking teachers to email him and write a guest post for him about "What is the most important advice you can give to other teachers?" The project is 52 Teachers, 52 Lessons. I will obviously be submitting an article to the project (I had intended to do so before the end of December, but it didn't work out). I wanted to provide him with a larger audience of people who might potentially write an article for him and get featured in this project that is sure to be a valuable addition to the
Are You Student Teaching Next Semester? Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - December 7, 2008July 1, 20105 If you are going to be student teaching in the spring semester of this school year, I want you to contact me. Before the end of this month. I am beginning work on a major project that will benefit you (and other students) tremendously. Either comment or email.
Thank You! Personal by Joel Wagner - October 16, 2008July 5, 20103 I told one of my former college professors about my blog shortly after it first started back in 2007. She liked what she saw and decided to use some of my material in one of her classes. In fact, she used So You Want To Teach? as an assignment for one of her classes this semester. Each of the students was assigned to leave a comment on something that I posted on here. Imagine my surprise when I got an email from her last week asking for my mailing address so that her class could send me a card. The card came in the mail today and I want to thank Dr. Witt for her wonderful work and inspiration as