4 Digital Safeguards For Modern Teachers Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - August 6, 2017August 6, 20171 I started my teaching career in 2002. Our world and the digital landscape have changed dramatically since then. Navigating this new landscape can be challenging for teachers who want to engage students with the latest technology, but also protect themselves from some of the pitfalls that this always-connected world brings with it. Here are four digital safeguards you can easily get started on this week that could help your teaching life. 1. Create a free "school-only" Google account "But my school provides me with an email address, why would I do that?" That's a great question. Why should we even bother doing this? Once upon a time, this was a non-issue. Now, the idea of opening a browser window on a projector in
5 Tips For Effective Parent-Teacher Communication General by Tess Pajaron - August 18, 2016August 18, 20162 One of the major downfalls for young teachers is poor parent-teacher communication. Too often we forget that parents can be some of the best allies we have in reaching our students, and that we all have a common goal. Early positive communication is the single most effective way I have found to avoid later conflicts down the road. In today's article, Tess Pajaron tackles the issue of effective parent-teacher communication. While it might be the kids that you see every day, parents are a huge deal when it comes to doing your job effectively. A parent can be an ally behind the scenes, supporting our work and encouraging their children to trust in us and take our lessons seriously. Getting a parent on board requires
10 Mistakes New Teachers Make (And How To Avoid Them) New Teachers by Joel Wagner - August 8, 2016February 6, 202025 If you're anything like me, you gained a great deal of academic knowledge about your content area in college and very little actual knowledge about getting students to stay quiet long enough to learn from your abundant knowledge base. Over the years, I have observed young teachers enter the profession and make many of the same mistakes. I have compiled a list of 10 mistakes new teachers make. Nobody makes all of the mistakes, but invariably we all go through a few of them within our first few years of teaching. Mistake 1: Many new teachers try to be "the cool teacher" and end up being "the pushover" I get it. We all want to be liked by our students. The mistake many teachers make is that they
Level Up Your Teaching: Engaging Students Through The Power Of Classroom Games General by David Reeves - August 5, 2016August 4, 20162 Learning only happens when students are engaged, but unfortunately, teachers continue to struggle with engagement, especially when children enter middle school. One way to keep kids engaged and improve student retention is through classroom games. Games — in the classroom and outdoors — that incorporate an educational component get kids excited about learning, and are a great tool in the arsenal of teachers of any grade level, but especially when students are nearing or in middle school. Here are some tips to help make your classroom games effective. Take Advice From Game Designers As a teacher, you know that classroom time is valuable. You don't want to fill it with anything that is wasteful, so are games worthwhile? Games are effective at motivating,
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
10 Things To Do Before The First Day of School New Teachers by Joel Wagner - July 28, 2016August 9, 20160 As the new school year approaches, many new teachers find themselves entering the ranks of professional educators for the first time. Maybe that's you. Or maybe you're a college student beginning your student teaching process. Or a new teacher who experienced a bit of frustration last year. Whatever the case may be, the new school year brings with it a certain sense of excitement and nervousness. This article explores 10 things to do before the first day of school. If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail Any experienced educator can tell you that the best school years are those that start off on the right foot. And those same people have just as many horror stories of problems that stem from poor planning. As
30 Twitter Tips for Teachers Blogging & Technology by Karen Schweitzer - May 26, 2009August 4, 20163 There's no question that Twitter is a wonderful resource for building your personal learning network. If you've never used Twitter before, have no fear. Karen Schweitzer is here to get you up and running in no time with 30 Twitter Tips for Teachers 30 Twitter Tips for Teachers Twitter can be a great resource–if you know how to use it. Here are 30 tips for teachers who want to learn how to use Twitter to network, teach, and share information: Determine your purpose Before spending any amount of time on Twitter, you should decide what you want to get out of it. Do you want to meet people who share your interests? Do you want to promote something? Do you want to update