The last time I shared with you dear readers, I was deeply immersed in reacquainting myself with high school culture. As I said before, the experience, both being new to teaching and rising early in the morning, was a shock to my system. Since, I have adjusted to my new early-morning schedule and have left what had become the familiar foundation of high school to the often warbling ways of the middle school.
I remember the first conversation I had with an inquiring person in reference to my teaching pursuit:
Person: “So, what do you want to teach?”
Me: “English and Social Studies.”
Person: “How nice… what grade level are you thinking?”
Me: “I think I would be a great fit in a middle school.”
Person: “Middle school?! I could never do that! No way.”
This is an exchange I have encountered many times since. So I have been left questioning myself: “Why does the mere mention of middle school carry such a stigmatized reaction?” (more…)
Category:
student achievement, teaching strategies |
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Tags: boring middle school, Middle school, teaching in middle school
As part of my student teaching experience, I am teaching a unit on world religions with a focus on the Abrahamic Faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam). From this, we are narrowing in on the conflict in Israel and Palestine and examining conflict resolution. We are then exploring how this can be tied into Romeo and Juliet (the other unit I am teaching) and the feud between the Montagues and Capulets.
With that being said, I felt compelled to write about an experience I had while teaching this unit that I found to be unique to the type of school I am teaching at. During our examination of the beliefs and practices of the Abrahamic Faiths, I arranged a field trip for our class to visit the places of prayer and worship of these faiths. We visited a Jewish synagogue, Islamic mosque, and Eastern Orthodox Church, and religious leaders in each very graciously hosted us.
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Category:
student achievement |
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Tags: charter schools, church and state, community learning, conflict resolution, field trips, Israel, Joshua Tabshy, Palestine, place-based learning, religion in the classroom
Throughout my teacher training program, I had visions of beautiful, engaging work samples. I would teach my favorite novel using every technological trick in the book; I would use music in class every day; my classroom would float around on a magical cloud of academic fairy dust. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my seventh graders barely knew how to use spell check, let alone write a topic sentence. Culture shock was quick to set in. I had assumed that I wouldn’t have to teach basic skills. After all, didn’t they take care of that in the seven-and-change years of school they had before I came on the scene?
Turns out, they did, but ever-changing young brains aren’t quick to retain organizational skills and linguistic conventions. My cooperating teacher reminded me that we will spend most of our careers re-teaching things that they have already learned, especially at the middle school level. My students are a great bunch, and they can remember everything about LeBron James and L’il Wayne, but trying to get them to hold onto what goes into an annotated bibliography is like trying to stuff a sock in someone’s mouth.
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Category:
teaching strategies |
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Tags: Kristie Stevens, teaching the basics
I recently went back to high school—this time as a teacher. While many of the strategies we use in other grade levels are still highly effective with this age group, here a few tips to take with you should your find yourself back in the belly of the (teenage) beast.
1. Dress to impress. When I was in high school, there was never any doubt as to who was a teacher and who was a student. The style (or lack thereof) of clothing of my high school teachers was a stark contrast to the styles of the students–and it’s not that they dressed professionally: they dressed “old.”
While leggings, mini dresses and lace-up boots (don’t get me started on UGG boots) might be both comfortable and attractive, they don’t do much to lend credit to you as an authority figure.
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Category:
teaching strategies |
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Tags: dressing for success, Emily Hensley, Feris Bueller's Day Off, professionalism in the classroom, The Goonies
In reflecting on my practicum experience at the high school level, the one thing that stuck with me above all else did not involve grading, lesson plans, or even classroom management. It was something that went beyond the curriculum and beyond the standards. It was something that even in my relatively brief teaching career will forever change my own perception of myself as an educator. It was a connection. A connection between a teacher and his students, which, in turn, fostered a similar connection between the teacher and his students’ parents—a mutual respect that blossomed through the desire to go above and beyond.
As I sat in the classroom, anxiously awaiting my opportunity to sit-in on my first parent-teacher conference, a myriad of thoughts swirled through my mind. What if they ask me how their son is doing in class? “Why is my daughter scoring so low on your quizzes, and what are you going to do about it?” or “my Johnny is not being challenged in your class.” Granted, I was only observing, but what if? In reality, this was most likely going to be a fairly dull two hours with discussions about absences, missing assignments, and low test scores. I was sure there would also be highlights about aced quizzes, perfect attendance, and “what a joy Lucy is to have in class.”
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Category:
parent involvement, student achievement, student success, teacher appreciation, teacher effectiveness, teaching strategies |
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Tags: Joshua Tabshy, parent teacher conferences
“Draw a crazy picture,
Write a nutty poem,
Sing a mumble-gumble song,
Whistle through your comb.
Do a loony-goony dance
‘Cross the kitchen floor,
Put something silly in the world
That ain’t been there before.”
― Shel Silverstein
I have officially been observing and teaching in a high school classroom for nearly three weeks now. I have to say, despite the fact that I rise much earlier in the morning, have upped my daily intake of strong black coffee, and find myself struggling to remember what I should do if technology fails me (this happened while conducting a poetry lab and I couldn’t for the life of me get Pandora to operate at the “music station”) or kids become rambunctious; I feel surprisingly upbeat, optimistic and excited to get in front of the classroom and teach.
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Category:
professional development for educators |
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Tags: Jamie Kimmes, Shel Silverstein
Observe other teachers.
Good or bad, in your content area or out, at your grade level or not, observing other teachers is the single best way I invigorate my teaching practice. After a particularly disastrous transition from rural Mississippi to Oakland, California, I dedicated my prep period once a week to observing strong teachers around the city. Someone, somewhere, was teaching my students successfully, and I was determined to find them and learn what worked. These observations helped fine-tune my practice by showing me ways to use time effectively, give regular student feedback, and improve my classroom management. Sometimes my only take-away was “Well, I’m definitely not going to…”
Read a book.
Not an education book, though. A book about leadership or psychology or time management. Teachers are leaders and we should investigate [at least some of the] literature available about motivation. From Carol Dweck’s Mindset and Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers to Stephen R. Covey’s The 8th Habit and Robert K. Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership, we don’t have to re-invent the wheel when trying to motivate ourselves and our students to achieve excellence.
Category:
professional development for educators |
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Tags: Cassie Duprey, observation, teacher prep
Emotional. Inspirational. Exhausting. Invigorating. And most of all, OHHH SO MUCH FUN! These are just a few adjectives that describe my first week as a substitute elementary school teacher.
Emotional: The week started off with heart-breaking news. One of our first grade students had fallen into the Clackamas River over the weekend while playing in the snow with her parents and siblings, and was missing. Search and Rescue teams were scouring the water and surrounding area searching for Vinesa with no avail. Teachers and staff were notified, and the district’s “Flight Team” was already stationed at the school to help students and staff cope with the devastating news. No words can describe the atmosphere at the school that week. Although I never had the opportunity to know Vinesa, I did have the privilege of working with her older brothers and sister, and mourned for the family’s loss. No teaching prep class or book can teach you how to deal with the death of a student and the ways in which it impacts the classroom dynamic. The teachers at Mill Park handled the situation with tremendous sensitivity and professionalism, and demonstrated the great necessity of having close, open and trusting relationships with students. Although the event was horrific and heart-breaking, it was important to maintain a sense of normalcy and security throughout the week for the students in the school. The school will continue to deal with the loss in a myriad of ways, and there will surely be waves of emotions to follow. (Side note: If you’re interested in knowing more about Vinesa and ways you may be able to help her family, please visit http://www.helpfindvinesa.com/)
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Category:
Early Learning, teaching strategies |
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Tags: Aika Krecek
As a teenager, there was nothing I hated more than icebreakers. I used to dread the first week of school; it was inevitable that we’d be slogging through some folksy getting-to-know-you activity in every one of our six periods. You know the ones—Two Truths and a Lie, toss a ball, learn a name. Couldn’t we all just sing that song from The King & I and call it good?
We use icebreakers on the first day of class because it’s tradition. We did it in school; teacher preparation textbooks encourage us to do it. Fortunately, the Southwest Washington high school didn’t know or care about my long history with those cutesy games. Without meaning to, they softened my longtime cynicism. They invited me to Challenge Day.
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Category:
professional development for educators, teaching strategies |
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Tags: acceptance, challenge day, icebreakers, professional development, safety, students
Sam Leach is a third grade teacher at James John Elementary School in St. Johns. He is an extremely passionate individual, who through empathetic listening and creativity, aims to equip his students with the ability to identify and develop their strengths as they uncover new and unique pathways to learning. Mr. Leach uses his classroom blog to chronicle the work of his students and also as a resource for families to stay up to date with classroom happenings. Take a peek at his blog and follow him on twitter.
Below is an interview highlighting Mr. Leach’s work with social media, blogging and technology in his classroom.
Chalkboard: When did you start actively using social media and blogging as a tool for elementary education? What is your specific goal? Do you use your blog and twitter to showcase student work, as a resource for parents, or as a way to keep track of your work as a teacher?
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Category:
teacher appreciation, teaching strategies |
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Tags: iPads in the classroom, James John, Sam Leach, technology in education
