Do you have any tips to add to my New Teaching A-Z List?
A-Always exhibit an interest in what you are teaching. If you think its important ~ your students will~ too. Have an assessment for how to grade your students.
B- Be prepared with your lesson. Have bell ringers to keep students on task when you are collecting papers~ etc. Its better to have MORE than not enough for each days lesson.
C-Try to make connections with other areas of study with cross curricular activities...
Need a fun reading on the first Thanksgiving? I wrote a short story about a substitute teacher that takes her students back to witness the first Thanksgiving with purple adventure goggles. I also developed a webquest on the Mayflower and Pilgrims~ a short webquest on Turkeys and lots of links to other materials you might find of use during this month~ including a short read on "What Became of the Mayflower?...
I want to share a project that has helped my improve my students' writing ability as well as help foster creativity and develop a passion for writing itself. It involves students writing a full-blown screenplay. Using computers~ my students spend an afternoon or two aweek writing a screenplay. They are required to follow the exact format of a screenplay~ which I teach using a video from Discovery Education. Once they have the format down~ they come up with a genre and a...
Greetings!
I want to share a technique that has really helped my students not only learn the required material but also practice public speaking skills and build confidence. It comes down to one word:
Teach.
That's right. I believe teaching is one of the best ways to learn anything. Think about a subject you had to learn in order to teach it. You probably flipped through the teacher's guide for math or science~ trying to understand the material. But it...
Classroom management styles can greatly differ. Some rule with an iron hand; others are fairly lax. Most teachers are somewhere in between.
It wasn't until I met one of my early mentors~ Rafe Esquith~ the nationally recognized teacher based in Los Angeles~ that I began to look at my management styledifferently.
He told me that~ at the start of each school year~ he mentally divides his students into three categories. The "ones" are those students that totally get it...
Editor's Note: Today's guest post comes from Dr. Matthew Lynch, an assistant professor of education.
School-based management is another means of increasing parental involvement in the educational process. Proponents of this approach believe it is better for schools to create a managerial group, which possesses most of the decision-making power to influence the learning process of students at schools, rather than this power residing...
Greetings~
I want to talk about what I think is one of the best ways to improve as an educator. It boils down to two words:
TAPE YOURSELF.
Or rather have someone videotape you teaching. Tape yourself in action for at least 10-20 minutes then sit down and watch it. You will be amazed at how much you learn! I have taped myself a few times this school year and~ though I think I have improved in some areas~ Ilearned things about myself I would have never seen without...
You have to try this idea!
Let your students write on their desks using dry erase markers. Yes~ that's right. Ditch the pencil and paper and let them write~ draw and create on their desks or tables. Don't worry it comes off.
I tried this a year ago and was amazed at how much more engaged my students became when I let them work math problems on their desks. I was tired of wasting time getting paper out and sharpening pencils so I said "just write on your tables using...
Greetings~
I want to share a creative way to motivate and focus your students during math instruction. I call it Kung Fu Math.
First~ I created a series of belts or levels that the students aspire to and have them write it in their notebooks.
Then~ I tell them that everytime they get a math problem correct they earn a tally or "notch" towards the next stripe or belt. Everytime a student earns three notches they move up a stripe or belt (my...