Open Source Learning Website

Here is an incredible open source, free link.  If you teach Math, Science, Humanities, work with test prep or have your own high school student this is a fabulous site to pass on.  If students have Facebook or Google accounts they can access the exercises that are in a game format.  It is pretty extensive and very impressive. Check it Khan Academy (at home or on your smart phone).

Excellent Vocabulary Tool

A teacher friend sent me a link to Quizlet.  I’ve been using ever since.   According to its website:

Quizlet is the largest flash cards and study games website with over 2.5 million FREE sets of flashcards covering every possible subject. It’s the best place to play educational games, memorize vocabulary and study online.

Check out the Vocabulary Instruction  page for more resources and strategies!

Have a good weekend!

Breathe and Find your Balance

Teaching is a demanding profession.  The perception that teachers work only 6 hours a day and have plenty of time off is NOT REALITY.  Teachers pour our hearts, souls, and, sometimes, our whole lives into educating our future.  Teaching can quickly become all-time consuming.  We can find ourselves (over) committed to school committees, coaching, assisting at sporting events, running after-school clubs, chaperoning dances, tutoring, advocating for education reform, reaching out to parents, participating in professional development, and so on.

Beginning teachers, for numerous reasons, want to get involved at school, drenching themselves in the school culture and all that comes with it.  Be careful novice teacher.  There is a balance that we all must find between our personal and professional lives, and this balance is different for each of us.  My advice is to take time for yourself and family, relax a bit, and reflect what your balance is.  Achieving balance among all aspects of your life: family, friends, love, hobbies, etc., is a struggle, but worthwhile.  Having a centered life will sustain you for the long-term, avoiding being burned-out or having troubles at home.  Ultimately, this balance will lead you to be a more effective teacher based on the premise that our personal and professional lives are – at a basic level – interwoven and trouble in one area will eventually affect other parts of our life.

Remember in these hectic days of September and October to keep perspective and acknowledge that it’s okay to put yourself first.

Web Tool: Google Alerts

Google Alerts can be a useful tool for current teachers and job seekers.  Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Some handy uses of Google Alerts includes:

• monitoring current on education initiatives, trends, and reform, and
• keeping tabs on your school or schools (districts) that you would like to work in.  Knowing this information may give you an advantage over another job applicant.

Go to http://www.google.com/alerts to sign-up.

Homework – Don’t Get Me Fired Up

Few subjects get teachers fired up more than discussing homework policy.  Should you give homework?  How much?  How often?  Should parents be involved?  What about late penalties?

Here’s a good post on teachers’ perceptions of homework.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/2010/07/fair_and_unbalanced.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TeacherInAStrangeLand+(Teacher+in+a+Strange+Land)

Math: Eyes Wide Shut

I bunkered down in the elementary school library to catch up on some reading.  Shortly thereafter a veteran teacher guided a young student to a table and chair about 20 feet from me.  I continued to read, but listened to the student – teacher exchange.  The student was learning about math, receiving remediation during summer school.  The student looked up to the teacher- eyes wide open – and excitedly inquired: “Wow.  How many books do you think are in here?”  The teacher responded, “Not sure.  Start your math worksheet.  Hang tight and I’ll be back.”  The student exhaled and just stared at the worksheet.

What happened?  Teacher, you missed a fantastic opportunity  to engage the student in the world of math.  Why didn’t you launch an investigation based on the students’ inquiry?  You could’ve incorporated exactly what the student was learning in meaningful way, assisting the student in unraveling the importance of number sense (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and estimation).  You missed the beauty of taking a real-life problem, and then COACHING the student through PROBLEM-SOLVING.

I couldn’t resist.  Once the teacher left, I jumped in.  Within minutes the student and I were plotting our journey to figure out the number of books in our library.  This made me reflect on how many “teachable” moments we miss as teachers, AND how we – all educators – frame and project our views of math to the students.

Check out this video:

My book was chosen as TheApple’s April Monthly Book Giveaway!

Visit TheApple.com to enter to win my book, Road to Teaching: A Guide to Teacher Training, Student Teaching, and Finding a Job.  It’s really simple.  Good luck!

This a great book for aspiring teachers, student teachers, and job seekers.

Book Description

Maximize your teacher training, excel at student teaching, and find your ideal teaching job. This book addresses these unique stages of becoming an educator by providing 50 valuable strategies and insightful advice, allowing for a smooth transition from student teacher to exemplary teacher. Learn how to differentiate yourself through your coursework, create a positive relationship with your cooperating (master) teacher, establish effective classroom management, perform well in your interview, and much more.

Book link: Road to Teaching: A Guide to Teacher Training, Student Teaching, and Finding a Job

School is Lame

I learned a valuable lesson this week: sometimes it’s best not to constantly fight a student to do his/her work, but rather just listen. Case in point, is a student in my computer class. His attendance is atrocious, missing more than 60% of class. When he arrives he does nothing. He is polite and when given direction he’ll do some work, but the second you walk away it’s over. He knows the game. His grade is, as you can gather, a F. Yet, I don’t want to give up on him, especially because he has moments when I see his intellect shine.

I decided to take a new approach – just shut up and listen. I asked the student why he won’t work and what his plans were. He explained that school bores him and he has never been successful within the traditional school model. He went on to say he is signed up for Job Corps and he will be leaving in a few weeks. He said that he learns best with his hands, and he wants to open his own business at some point. I told him that I understand and that I am glad that he is joining the Job Corp versus just dropping out of high school. I asked him what he wanted to learn from our curriculum to be successful in the Job Corps and eventually open his own business. He said, “Excel.” “Okay, Excel is what you will learn then,” I replied. Being this is computer class, Excel is eventually covered. Therefore, I told him that he can create his own projects with Excel and I will be there to guide him when he needs me. He agreed that this was a good idea. For this entire week, he worked on and learned Excel. He even smiled when I showed him how to drag the formulas and create a chart. My only regret is not having an in-depth conversation with him earlier.

Super Quick Teacher Tip – Give Instruction Before Assigning Groups

TIP – If placing students into groups either 1) give instructions BEFORE assigning students to groups, and/or 2) provide written instructions once students are placed in groups.  This will eliminate the need to raise your voice above the chatter,and repeat instructions a million times.  In the end, you maximize your precious instructional time.

Effective Vocabulary Strategy – Flash Vocabulary Game

A quick, fun and engaging activity to have students learn and practice using vocabulary is a game called Flash Vocabulary. In this game students are paired up. Using a document camera or overhead projector, teacher places a vocabulary words down, showing the words on a screen or wall. Teacher can also just write the words and cover them up as well. One student has their back to the vocabulary and one student is facing the vocabulary (the direction of the screen). As the teacher flashes the vocabulary, the students facing the screen have to describe the vocabulary word or define it WITHOUT using the vocabulary word. As you can guess, students with their backs to the screen have to guess the vocabulary word.

To step it up, teachers may throw down a list of words. The goal then is to be the first pair to identify all the vocabulary words.

This game can be spur-of-the-moment, part of an anticipatory set, or break-up a long day of instruction.

RESOURCES

Improving Student Learning through Effective Vocabulary Instruction page

Resourceful Book for Student Teachers and Job Seekers