It’s Not Our Beliefs That Transfer…It’s Our Passion Inspiration by Joel Wagner - November 25, 2010June 16, 20160 A friend recently mailed me a copy of the book The Line and the Dot: Alternative thoughts on vision by Paul Gibbs. The book intrigued me because there is very little information on the outside of the book and I trust my friend's recommendation. So I began reading a little bit. Tonight I came across the following excerpt: During my time as a school pupil, I had learned a valuable lesson. In the religious education I'd received, I had two different teachers. They both taught me about Christianity, but one turned me off of God, and one turned me on to God. The first taught the program. The second taught passion. The head of PSE agreed and gave me opportunities to teach
The Years Are Building Blocks: Part Five New Teachers by Drew - June 11, 2010June 30, 20100 This is a guest post by Drew, who currently teaches 7th Grade Texas History in the San Antonio area, where he has taught since 2004. Maybe this job doesn't pay enough for those with heavy material needs. But, working here has helped me with the most important part of my life. 10. Family – My comfort level with my material for class has improved each and every year. I spent Friday nights, usually until the wee Saturday morning hours, setting up lesson plans for the next week. I was never able to get ahead on my work. I had two preps and no lesson plans from other teachers to guide me. By November
7 Ways To Impress Your College Professor New Teachers by Liz Cutten - February 21, 2010June 30, 20100 This is a guest post by Liz Cutten, who helps run FindCollegeCards, a college student blog that helps students learn about everything college. All college professors are different, but what you’re going to find out is that all of them are human, and many of them are going to be impressed by the same things. I went to college over 6 years, and what I had found out is that most professors will honestly look at the good students in a different way, compared to those that are bad. Now, I know when you read the title, you’re probably thinking, “I don’t want to be suck up!”, and that’s fine. I’m not writing this to show you
Get Ready For Reader Appreciation Month 2008 Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - October 28, 2008July 1, 20101 Thanksgiving is a holiday for remembering what we have and giving thanks to our God for His blessings. I like to spend the months of November and December reaching out and giving. I practice giving as a regular habit throughout much of my life, but I specifically focus in these two months on giving back to my blogging community. Last year I highlighted a number of readers with Reader Appreciation Month. At the end, I did some great summaries: 50 Classroom Management Tips I Have Learned This Month 47 Blogs That My Readers Are Reading Top 5 Character Traits Of Great Teachers 50 Reasons To Love Your Job As A Teacher I recently created a list of 10
So You Got A New Job! Should You Go Out And Buy A Bunch of New Crap? Personal by Joel Wagner - September 27, 2008July 1, 20102 Just because you have a new job doesn't mean that you need to spend everything you make. Just because you got your first paycheck doesn't mean you need to spend it all. The temptation is there. Don't do it! Listening to Dave Ramsey, I frequently hear him take calls from listeners who have racked up tens of thousands of dollars of credit card and/or student loan debt as well as having car and mortgage payments that they simply cannot afford. This is a trap that all too many people fall into. Ask how much, not how much down Aim to not carry any debt. That may mean that it takes a bit longer for you to get something than you
Life Lesson 1: Experience Is The Best Teacher Personal by Joel Wagner - August 12, 2008August 5, 20163 This article is the first in a series of "life lessons" exploring some of the things that I have learned over the years. In this one, we explore the concept that experience is the best teacher. Life has with it certain milestones that we reach and we stop briefly to analyze where we are going and where we have been. I recently turned 30 years old and have been thinking quite a bit about a great many topics. I think I will occasionally share some with the readers of So You Want To Teach? as I think they may prove helpful for others. Experience is the best teacher As much as we like to claim otherwise, most of the greatest learning that happens in
50 Reasons To Love Your Job As A Teacher Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - November 30, 2007August 5, 201612 In November of 2007, I had Reader Appreciation Month. During the course of that month, I interviewed a number of my readers and gained some powerful insight into what makes teachers tick. This article summarizes 50 reasons to love your job as a teacher. As we come to the conclusion of Reader Appreciation Month, I want to summarize some of the things that we have learned. Today, I'll focus on some of the reasons my readers have shared with me about why they love their jobs. Edutopia put together a slide show of 20 Inspiring Reasons Why You Love To Teach. But here are my 50 reasons to love your teaching job. 50 reasons to love teaching Sharing my experiences Helping inexperienced teachers solve problems The
Reader Appreciation: Athena Reader Appreciation by Joel Wagner - November 16, 2007July 5, 20100 November is Reader Appreciation Month at So You Want To Teach? Today's featured reader is Athena. Name: Athena Location: South Texas Occupation: ELA 9th & 10th grade Blog: http://athena81469.blogspot.com/ Tell me some of your favorite things about your job I like the freedom of the job. I used to be in a cube job where I had to punch a timeclock all the time. Every moment of my job was timed. I sat and stared at 4 grey fuzzy walls everyday. Now, I come to work at my own time. Nobody is watching. Plus, I have control over my job. I decide what and when I teach. I decide if I am going to stay late. I can
Less Stress: Increase Healthy Foods Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - October 4, 2007July 5, 20100 Now that you have eliminated junk foods from your diet, it's time to replace them. So what kinds of foods should you replace them with? Well, I guess it all depends on what your goals are. I personally try to eat as many fruits and vegetables as I can reasonably get into my body each day. This means that I eat a salad or two nearly every day. Either for lunch or dinner, I will get one. Just that one simple step really helps me out as far as my mindset goes. For me, I have debated the idea of eating "sugar free" foods, but I just don't want to. I eat fruits as desserts and they do a good
All Work And No Play Makes Joel A Dull Boy Personal by Joel Wagner - July 24, 2007July 5, 20107 I live in a relatively small town that is more than 20 minutes from the next closest smaller town, and more than 2 hours from the next closest larger town. I try to get involved in the community here, but I also want to maintain my own privacy. As a band director in a small town, I automatically achieve, at least minimally, some sort of celebrity status. It is difficult for me to go to the grocery store or a restaurant without seeing at least one family I know. I try not to let that really bother me, but one of the nasty side-effects of that is that I end up spending WAY more time at school than is really