“You’ll understand when you’re older.” We tell that to our students, and they don’t like. We hear it when we start out in the teaching world and we don’t like. I remember an experienced band director told me once that he would tell me how to be a better teacher if he knew. He just … Read more
This summer has been the best summer of my teaching career so far. Unfortunately for you, I haven’t blogged about it a whole lot. As I get back into the routine of things a little bit more, I will have some more time and energy to begin writing about some of the things that I … Read more
This is an article in the Total Teacher Transformation series. Click here for a complete table of contents. Let’s play a game I want you to think about your classes right now. Think about the four biggest trouble-makers on your roll sheet. Now imagine, what it would be like if they all got sent to … Read more
Go read my first publicly available narrative account of my teaching career. The Great Guest Fiasco of 2009 was just posted at Learn Me Good.
This is a guest post contributed by Heather Johnson, who is an industry critic on the subject of university reviews. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com. For those of you who are not on summer school duty this year, you are probably bursting at the seams in anticipation of your three-month break. Yes, you need … Read more
By the way, yesterday’s article about quitting? Not true. April Fools. Thanks for all the wonderful comments. And I’m sure most of my regulars figured it out. But, as Waski pointed out: The things [I] describe do turn many good teachers off on teaching. With some of the silliness I’m presented with, I wonder at … Read more
Check this stuff out! Are there any of you out there who actually do cool stuff like this? If so, let me know. If not, then find a way to do one experiment/demonstration like this each month for the rest of your teaching career. It will change lives.
This is a guest post by Jane Little of My Many Colored Crayons. Jane teaches third grade in Los Angeles, CA. I teach in a school that has more than it’s share of challenges. Low morale is just one of them. About a year ago I started blogging with this post. It was a raw … Read more
Today is the first day of school in Texas. Even though the school year starts later, the football season doesn’t. I’m sure some of the kids have already begun to burn out because of so much practicing for the last four weeks or so. But the high school band has a football game to play … Read more
As my fifth year of teaching came to a close, I began thinking back on my teaching career. When I student taught, I had wonderful teachers to work with. I got to conduct a piece on the Christmas concert (in the semester I was supposed to be observing), and even got to fully rehearse one … Read more