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15 Tools to Help You Go Paperless

Kelly Tenkely | TheApple.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:21:00 -0700

Schools are notorious for enormous copy budgets. Between parent/home communications, student work, and staff communication, schools are drowning in a sea of paper. Transforming the school into a paperless environment is eco-friendly, budget friendly, and can increase productivity. With all of the free online options, going green is easier than ever.

Paperless students and teachers:

1. Spelling City www.spellingcity.com

Spelling city is a free online environment where students can practice and study spelling words. Instead of handing out a paper spelling list at the beginning of each week, give your students a link to Spelling City where they can find the weeks spelling words. Sign up as a Spelling City teacher (free) and enter spelling lists. Students can get onto Spelling City and find spelling lists by searching the teacher name. Spelling city will teach your students the spelling words by saying the word and then using it in a sentence. Students can practice their spelling words by playing games with the words, there are several games to choose from. Spelling city will even give practice spelling tests to students. For a small fee, teachers can set up record books and give the final spelling test online. Put an end to copies of spelling lists and send your kids online. You will save trees and students will get great practice with their words.

2. Tut Pup www.tutpup.com

Every month teachers all over the world print out hundreds of fact practice worksheets. Tut Pup is an outstanding free math-fact practice website. It is a competition between students from around the world. As students practice their math facts, they can see how they measure up with other students, motivating them to work at their math-facts and speed up. Students are matched up with other students from around the world where they play fact games and compete in real time to see who best knows their stuff. There is nothing more motivating than a little healthy competition! The site doesn't collect any personal information from students, they are provided generic login information. Tut Pup helps students build math fact skills in the areas of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, algebra, or a mixture of those skills. Tut Pup is highly motivating, takes into account different learning levels, and builds a variety of math-fact skills. Each student can work on math facts at their ability level. Lower level students are engaged and feel successful, and higher level students are challenged. This site will have your students asking, "can I play this game at home too?" When have you ever had a student ask to practice math facts at home? Students truly love the competition of this site and get the added benefit of increasing their math-fact recall skills without running up the copy quotient.

3. Popling www.popling.net

Popling's motto is "Learning without studying". This website allows you to create virtual flash cards that pop up on a computer screen every few minutes (teachers determine how often) while students work on the computer. Classroom computers can be set up with Poplings about any subject. As students are working on the computers they can also be practicing math facts, vocabulary, geography, etc. These flash cards are a great way for students to study without creating sets and sets of 3x5 notecards.

4. Knowtes www.knowtes.com

Knowtes is a flash card based learning community that allows teachers and students to build flash card decks online. The flash cards can then be studied online. When cards are added to a Knowtes deck, it becomes due at optimized intervals. The Knowtes 'Adaptive Learning Engine' adjusts how frequently cards should be studied based on how well students know them. Knowtes decks can be easily shared between teachers, students, and peer groups. Each student gets their own study room where they can organize their decks and study. The study rooms include helpful tips for studying. Cards can be created with text, images, audio, and video. This is a great way for students to study sans 3x5 note card. These are truly smart flash cards, if a student consistently gets an answer wrong, it requires them study it more than those that they consistently get right. What paper note card can do that?

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5. Soshiku www.soshiku.com

Soshiku is a web tool for students that helps them manage their assignments. Soshiku keeps track of when assignments are due and can even notify students by email or SMS (text message). With each assignment students can save notes, manage tasks, attach files, and share messages with assignment partners. Soshiku is organization for this generation, paper planners are so 1996.

6. mySchoolog www.myschoolog.com

mSchoolog is a free web-based application that helps students organize their school life easily. Students can organize and share notes, to-to lists, appointments, store documents and files, and add lessons. Students learn valuable responsibility and organizational skills without toting around extra papers and purchased planners. Students won't have the "I lost my planner" excuse any more!

7. Live Binders www.livebinders.com

Live Binders is an online 3-ring binder. It allows students and teachers to combine web content with PDF and word documents in an online binder. The binder can be organized into tabs and subtabs and be embedded on blogs and other websites, or downloaded to a computer desktop. Live Binders can be used as an online digital portfolio for students. Because the Live Binder is online, students can access their binder from school, library, home, or any Internet connected computer. Teachers can use Live Binders to create classroom 'textbooks' that combine relevant online content, teacher created worksheets, and notes. Assignments can be added to classroom Live Binders that contain all of the instructions, related materials, and links to related content. Students can easily access the binders from home, no more lost papers or assignments turned in looking like they went through World War III. Students can create a Live Binder to keep themselves organized as they complete a research project. When the project is finished, students can turn in the final project as a Live Binder that includes all web research, notes, and the final written work. School handbooks for staff and parents can be saved as a Live Binder. Rather than making paper copies of school handbooks, they can be distributed by a single link and easily updated as needed.

8. Zoho www.zoho.com and Google Docs www.google.com/docs

These online services allow teachers and students to create and share documents online. They also provide the ability to collaborate on documents. Online document creators are fantastic for student writing and lesson planning. There are no papers to store and sort through, and they can be easily accessed by any Internet connected computer.

Paperless communication:

9. Sign app now www.signappnow.com

Sign app now makes it easy for schools to create online signup sheets. The site is so simple to use; in 3 easy steps teachers can create signup sheets for classroom volunteers, field trips, lunch orders, school duties, committees, and a myriad of other tasks that require a signup. Create a sign up sheet by giving the sign up sheet a name, filling in the email address that the signup sheet should be sent to, and your name. Sign App Now creates a unique link that can be emailed to everyone that has the option to signup. When parents or other staff members receive the form, they click on the link and fill in their name. That is it! An email is sent back to the signup sheet creator with those who have signed up. No more shuffling paper signup sheets around!

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10. R Campus www.rcampus.com

R Campus is a great one-stop shop for everything school related. R Campus is a collaborative environment that utilizes the Open Education Management system that makes it easy to build personal and group websites, manage courses, e-portfolios, academic communities, build rubrics, connect students with tutors, and host a book exchange. All of these tools are completely free for students and faculty to access. R Campus is an excellent way to organize classroom life and to help keep students organized. Everything in R Campus is integrated, making management seamless. Students stay well informed and communication opportunities grow...all without paper! Students can showcase their learning with the e-portfolios. Teachers can easily communicate, assist, and assess throughout the year as the e-portfolios grow. Rubrics creation is fast and can be shared online with both students and other teachers. This collection of resources is excellent for communicating with parents and students, grading, and organizing your classroom without hundreds of copies.

11. Twitter www.twitter.com

Twitter has become more popular lately with the addition of tweeting celebrities. Twitter can also be used as a communication tool between home and school. Create a classroom Twitter account where students and parents can quickly get information about your classroom. Tweet homework assignment directions, reminders about upcoming class events, short memos about the happenings in your classroom, etc. Twitter should put an end to the little paper notes that travel between school and home. Those little notes often get lost in the shuffle anyway! Twitter is also an outstanding place for teachers to build a network of educators that share ideas and best practices in the classroom.

12. School Notes www.schoolnotes.com

Teachers can use School Notes to quickly create notes for homework and class information and post them on the web in seconds. Parents and students view notes by entering the school zip code. This is a great way to stop the flow of little notes that get sent home for daily updates.

13.Qlubb www.qlubb.com

Qlubb will change the way you communicate and interact with parents. Qlubb is a free site that features event calendaring, signup sheets, to-do lists, automatic event and task reminders, photo sharing, member rosters, and a bulletin board. Everything is very intuitive to use, parents and teachers will have no problem jumping in and using Qlubb for home/school communication. This all inclusive communication site will keep you from sending papers home.

14. Shelfari www.shelfari.com

Shelfari is a virtual bookshelf where teachers can recommend books to their students. Instead of sending home paper reading lists, create a virtual reading list with a virtual bookshelf. Shelfari goes beyond book recommendations, it is a great way to discover new titles, discuss books, start an online book club, and share what you are reading with others. Teachers can share lists with students. Students can create bookshelves of their own where they can display what they are reading, leaving comments and a rating for the book. Shelfari is the perfect place for students and teachers to connect about reading without paper reading logs.

15. Engrade www.engrade.com

Engrade is a free online gradebook and record keeper that allows teachers to manage their classes online as well as post grades, assignments, attendance, and upcoming homework for parents and students to see. The Engrade suite provides a gradebook that automatically calculates grades and provides tools for custom grading scales and weighting assignments, an attendance book that automatically emails parents with absences, a homework calendar for students and parents, and online reports where students can view their grades, homework and attendance in real time. With paper versions of gradebooks, assignment and attendance keepers, the printed copy is the final word. Because Engrade is web based, teachers can update grades and homework assignments from any Internet connected computer. Less to carry between school and home equals happy teachers. Engrade is a secure, password protected site so there are no concerns about privacy or security of grades.

Going paperless doesn't have to be a chore, in fact these tools will make classroom management and communication significantly easier to keep track of.

How do you go paperless? Share your ideas below!

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Poll Reveals How Americans Prioritize Education

Patrick R. Riccards | TheApple.com — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:17:00 -0700

For as long as I can remember, we have always cited that "education" is a top three issue in the eyes of the American people. While we may debate whether it is a subject on which we cast our votes (and there is little to show that education policy has any effect on national campaigns), it is supposedly an issue that we hold near and dear. So much so that just last year the Gates and Broad Foundations used Ed in 08/Stronger American Schools to try and push education through the win/place/show list to make it THE major driver in the 2008 presidential elections.

Funny how quickly things can change. Education may have long been a top-three concern, but according to a recent national poll, it is now barely making the top 10. Rasmussen recently surveyed Americans on their priorities, asking the question, "How important is it for the nation to face these issues ..." One could answer "very important" to any and all of the categories. Following are those issues that scored very important (and how many of those surveyed thought so):

Government ethics and corruption — 83 percent

Economy — 82 percent

Health care — 73 percent

National security — 67 percent

Social Security — 65 percent

Taxes — 62 percent

Education — 59 percent

War in Iraq — 49 percent

Immigration — 49 percent

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That's right, education now comes in seventh place. Fewer than six in 10 people believe that education is a very important issue for our nation to face. Makes you wonder about the 23 percent of those surveyed who are worried about the economy, but don't see that a strong public education is a primary driver to economic improvement. Or the 14 percent who fail to understand the correlations between healthcare (and healthcare costs) and education. (Of course, I am even more startled that government ethics and corruption comes in at the top of the list, when we haven't had a truly good scandal to rock the United States' perception of those pulling the levers and writing the checks. I suppose this is in response to the banking crisis and the bailout dollars).

If these numbers tell us anything, it is we cannot perceive education as an activity that occurs in a vacuum. The quality of and access to a strong preK, K-12, and postsecondary education links virtually everything in our lives. it effects jobs, tax revenues, and the economy at large. It impacts healthcare, justice systems, and the environment. It effects every American, regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status, or zip code. But somehow, it is an "also ran" when it comes to the important issues our nation faces.

If we are to make real, lasting change to our educational systems, we need to build a sense of urgency and demand for such improvements. Without that demand, it is going to be hard to move audiences to change their thinking, change their behaviors, and change our spending priorities. Moreover, it will be harder for some to make the intellectual investment in education, particularly when they have five or six issues that are viewed as more important in the grand scheme of things.

With all of the time, effort, and money spent on education debates and school improvement efforts, why aren't we breaking through? Is it the message or the messenger? Clearly, we are missing something.

Related Discussion: Is education your number one priority?

Behavior in the Classroom: What's Going On?

Heather Galladora | TheApple.com — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:37:00 -0700

At the close of each school year, we all find ourselves doing what all good teachers should: reflecting on what we did well the past year and on what we can do differently in the future to heed more positive results. This year, I find myself taking extra time thinking about how I can improve the behavior in my classroom. I’ve always felt that classroom management is one of my biggest strengths, and so it wasn’t easy having a year full of discipline problems, individual behavior plans, and parent conferences. What I find even more mind-boggling is that I’m not the only one who struggled with behavior last year. At the end of the year, I noticed many other teachers complaining about the difficult behavior in their classrooms and the stress that it was causing them. Instead of focusing on the progress achieved throughout the year, or how much our students have grown and matured, the overriding question seemed to be, what is going on? And more importantly, how can we prevent this stress next year?

First, take time for yourself outside of school. Whether it be vacation or a weekend, put work aside and focus on you. Do what you enjoy doing, whether it be working in your garden, catching up on some good books, or redecorating your home. Spend extra time with your family and relax some on your own. Good teachers have a well-balanced life and focus on more than just work. When it comes time school, remember the proactive strategies that will help to prevent distracting behavior.

Setting up the classroom

Make sure that your classroom is appealing to students, but that it isn’t so busy that it overstimulates or distracts students who are less able to stay focused. The classroom needs to be neat and organized, and there should be a designated area that is quiet for the child that needs to regroup and refocus on his own.

Rules, rules, rules

Make sure that you involve the children when creating classroom rules. Keep in mind that there should not be a laundry list of rules, but three or four basic rules that would summarize all of the small notions. Having your class involved in the rule-creating process makes them identify several rules, why it is important to have a safe and loving environment, and that one rule does encompass many different behaviors.

What is strict?

At the end of last school year, I had a very funny conversation with one of my students. One morning he asked me what the word "strict" meant. He didn’t quite understand the meaning of the word, but decided after our conversation that his mother was quite strict. When I said that many people also consider me strict, he replied, “No way! You’re too nice to be strict.” I had to laugh to myself, and reconsider my own definition of the word. I don’t believe that a teacher needs to be a drill sergeant, but I do believe that a good teacher sets high expectations, and is firm and nurturing at the same time. I find that students crave a challenge, and when they have high, yet attainable expectations, they rise to the challenge.

Routine

In addition to teaching my children how to predict in reading and in writing, I also make sure that they know what to expect when they come to school each day. If a child knows what to expect, they can behave in a manner that yields the desired result.

Create a schedule that is as consistent as possible from day to day. Review and revisit the class rules and the importance of these rules often. Have a plan for when the rules aren’t followed and stick to that plan (of course a change during the year is acceptable if you realize your plan isn’t working and the children are prepared for the new plan). A punishment should not be a surprise, but a child that misbehaves in class should be prepared for whatever form of discipline results.

It’s normal to have a child or two that often challenge your ability to remain patient and calm. When that does happen, there are many strategies to follow. Always remember to reflect on the atmosphere in your classroom, and decide what is going well and what could change. Talk to your team and other teachers in your school to get ideas that may be helpful. Teachers like to share lesson plans and teaching strategies, but I find that sharing behavior strategies can be the most helpful of all.

I don’t know that there’s ever been a perfect class or a perfect year, but when behavior isn’t an issue, your teaching can really take off and learning can begin. Now, and throughout the year, don’t forget to take time for yourself and relax outside of school. Having a positive attitude and being well-rested is an equation that often results in a great day at school.

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The Powerful Bond of Teachers & Students

Robert Wilder — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:40:00 -0700

I was checking my various email and social networking sites this past July during a break at the College Horizons program, when I stumbled upon some horrific news: four teenagers from my hometown of Santa Fe had been killed the night before in a drunk driving accident and another was in critical condition. I had personal connections to all these kids but two of them, Kate Klein and Alyssa Trouw, had been in my class only six weeks prior. Reading those names on the Santa Fe New Mexican website broke me in half, but one of the girls’ classmates and my student, Mary, was also at College Horizons, and I knew that she was unaware of what had happened. Gathering myself as best I could, I called Carmen, the program’s director, and relayed the horrific news. She immediately came over to meet me at the Whitman College student center, and we decided the best thing to do was to ask Mary to leave the session she was attending and tell her before she received a text or heard the same way I did.

I realize as I read this first paragraph over that I sound quite calm but I was far from it. I felt extremely restless and anxious. My hands shook; I paced when I wasn’t sitting, and my eyes had a hard time focusing on one object. Losing a student is never easy, but I was particularly close to both Kate and Alyssa in very different ways. Kate had been my Creative Writing student and apprentice teacher for our school’s community service component. We spent hours together every week before she ever entered my classroom junior year and her time in my American Literature course only deepened our relationship. She was a hungry and talented writer and natural teacher, often suggesting topics the class really wanted to learn. Sadly, she was also my eight-year-old son London’s piano teacher, and my thirteen-year-old daughter Poppy had been in the class that Kate and I visited on Thursday afternoons for our community service. Her death was a blow to my entire family.

Alyssa didn’t allow me to get very close, but we communicated through her writing and reading. She was a very smart student and her prose was sharp and infused with a mature intelligence that was rare for someone her age. In the beginning of the year, she didn’t seem to want to be at school and I had to give her some very low grades. An avid reader, it was impossible, however, for her to hide her intelligence during discussions of books like The Great Gatsby and Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Seeing that kind of intellect go mostly unused made me a pebble in her shoe for three straight quarters. I tried to give her pep talks, sent her emails, and loaned her some contemporary fiction I thought she might enjoy. For some reason, she decided in the third quarter that she wanted to stay at our school with her friends, but moreover, she realized that being intelligent wasn’t such a scary thing, and it could help her gain that independence she sought through less desirable ways earlier in the year. She went from a D to an A in my class, never missed a day, and her results in other disciplines were similar. As a high school teacher, it’s rare to see that type of dramatic turnaround in such a short time and I, along with many others, was so excited to see what she’d do next.

We pulled Mary out of the meeting and led her to a quiet alcove decorated with comfortable chairs and potted plants. I don’t remember who broke the news but upon hearing about her lost peers, Mary dropped her head and uttered, “Oh, man,” in a way that’s hard to describe. Just the day before, Mary had seemed happier than I’d ever seen her because she’d been reunited with all her old friends from the Santa Fe Indian School. Part of the joy of students like Mary who attend mostly Anglo schools feel during College Horizons comes from being surrounded and supported by Native students and faculty. I knew this news would split her the way it was splitting me, only more so. I told her that I was glad that she was in Walla Walla with me, someone to share collective memories of Kate, Alyssa, and school life back in Santa Fe.

“If you ever need to talk,” I said, stifling tears. “Come find me. Anytime.”

“You know,” she said, looking up. Her face was still. “You can come talk to me, too.”

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For the rest of the week, I felt as if my head was in many worlds. I had decided that the best way for me to deal with the loss of these two students and their bright futures was to help the students in my group at College Horizons with their futures. I put everything I had into those one-on-one college essay sessions and I hope I was helpful. Outside of those meetings, I was a mess. Each morning, I rose early, strapped on my iPod and wept as I walked from the Whitman campus to downtown Walla Walla to open Starbucks at six a.m. I was teaching at a writers’ conference after College Horizons, and I had hundreds of pages of manuscripts to read whether I felt up to it or not. Any free time I could steal, I called home to talk to my wife, Lala, who had always considered Kate one of the most uniquely beautiful girls she’d ever seen. My daughter Poppy’s view of the world had shifted greatly and couldn’t understand why someone as kind as Kate could leave the planet so young. My son London understood that he wouldn’t have another piano lesson at Kate’s house again.

Because I was so far away, I followed the story of the accident on the internet: how Avery, the surviving teen, was faring in an Albuquerque hospital; viewing photos of all four teens that passed; reading information on memorials, further details of the wreck, and the arrest of the drunk man who had committed this most terrible crime. One warm afternoon, I was emailing some of Kate and Alyssa’s close classmates when I glanced outside. Across the street, Mary and all her friends were gathered in a circle, playing some sort of a game in a large stone fountain. They all held hands as if they were enacting “Ring Around the Rosie”, the same way London and Poppy did when they were younger. Each of Mary’s friends was pulling her up out of the water and she was laughing, her clothes drenched. I could tell her friends were holding her up, trying to keep her spirits high.

That evening was traditional night at College Horizons, a time where students share expressions of themselves as individuals or part of their tribe and culture. I’d heard that the event was very moving and I looked forward to watching these amazing kids dance, sing, or present traditional clothing or skills they’d learned from their families or elders. A few hours before the event, Mary came to see me. I had just finished a meeting with a student from Hawaii. We hadn’t really spoken since she’d been pulled out of her session. We’d called her mother who asked that Mary pray with the resident elder, and I’d kept on eye on her, but we had tried to give her some space to enjoy her time there.

“Hey Rob,” she said, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “The pueblo kids from New Mexico are doing a throwing tonight.” She tilted her head. “You know what a throwing is, don’t you?”

I’d heard of it but didn’t know the details. She explained that throwing was a tradition where on saints’ days or feast days, certain members of the pueblo throw items down from the roof of a house as a way to give back to the community. Mary and her friends had walked downtown that morning and bought candy, water, and other things to end the ceremony with that night.

“Wanna do it with us?” she asked.

I hesitated since the event was usually reserved for Natives and students, two categories that I didn’t belong to.

“It’s ok,” she said, sensing my awkwardness. “You’re from New Mexico, right?” She hit me playfully on the shoulder.

I knew what Mary was doing. I was isolated from the community I desperately needed, the one that was grieving back home without me, so she was inviting me into hers. Normally, I’m very careful when I trespass into other cultures, but I couldn’t turn down this invitation. Mary was honoring me at some risk to herself. Undoubtedly her friends would question my inclusion, but I knew from our relationship and her writing that she had a rare gift of uniting different types of people. Much like her friends had done to her earlier in that fountain, she was pulling me up. I agreed to throw.

To say I felt inessential and inarticulate standing at the end of a line of Native kids from New Mexico in front of an audience would be an understatement, especially after I had to introduce myself and my supposed tribal affiliation. On stage that night, however, as I was throwing handfuls of Skittles to a screaming crowd, I couldn’t stop thinking about how rare it is for a student to take care of a teacher, and even though transitioning back home would be rough, how lucky I was to be on the receiving end of such kindness.

6 Ways to Beat Back to School Jitters

Heather Galladora | TheApple.com — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:54:00 -0700

I was recently eating lunch with a group of my closest girlfriends, who also happen to be my coworkers. We started talking about the topic that is clearly unavoidable: the beginning of the school year. Since most of us have been spending the past few weeks at the pool, on family vacations, cheering our kids on at swim meets, and the like, we found ourselves overwhelmed with all of the hard work that goes along with the beginning of each year.

It’s funny to me that as a child you can’t help but have a bit of nervousness built up about the first day of school. Each year you probably asked yourself questions like: Who will be in my class this year? What will my teacher(s) be like? I wonder what we’ll learn about. Will I have a good year? Those don’t seem too different from the questions that we were all asking each other at lunch. Teachers get jitters about the first day of school, too! Here are a few ways to prepare for and cope with the beginning of a new school year.

1. Adjust to your schedule early

Just like the children that will be coming into our classrooms this fall, it’s likely that we’ve all allowed ourselves to fall into a different regime over the summer. Instead of waking up at 6:00am and getting ready for work, I catch myself staying in bed until 8:30 each morning. If you start adjusting to your new schedule now, it won’t be so difficult once school does begin.

2. Be prepared

Start planning your first few days of school early. As much as you want to stick to a routine from the very beginning, we all know that the first day tends to throw a few curve balls at you. Plan greetings and activities that will help the children become more comfortable with you and one another, but also plan to be flexible. Have many extra activities for those first few days, just in case your new students work faster than you originally expected.

3. Welcome your students early

Make sure your classroom is in working order when your students come in for open house. When the children arrive with their parents that day, welcome them and invite them to explore their new classroom. If the children can acquaint themselves with you and their new environment for learning, they will be much more relaxed on that first day. Relaxed children equals a much more relaxed you.

4. Know their names

I always find that I’m much more at ease on the first day of school if I’ve already tried to learn my new students’ names. Take a picture of each child as he arrives at open house and take note of his or her name. Those next few days, make a point to try and learn the children’s names on your own, and that’ll make the first day much easier (I know, of course you can’t go wrong with name tags on that first day too).

5. Bring your lunch

As silly as it seems, bringing your own lunch from home can save you a lot of time on those first few days of school. You can expect the children to need your help as they go through the lunch line for that first week, and if that’s the case, your lunch break will be drastically shortened. I also enjoy bringing my own lunch so I can sit with my new kiddos and learn more about their personalities and habits. Of course the staff in the cafeteria loves an extra hand in reinforcing the cafeteria rules as well.

6. Expect to go with the flow

As much as you have planned, something will probably not go exactly as expected. Since good teachers perfect the art of flexibility, why not start on the first day? Expect that a child will forget his lunch, that you’ll be a few minutes off of your ideal schedule, or that an activity doesn’t go well. Expect it, roll it off, move on, and chalk it up to a learning experience. At the end of the day, you will have survived the dreaded first day of school and you’ll that much more prepared for the following days. Take a deep breath, and get ready to do it again the next day!

What Teachers Can Learn From Billy Mays

Tom DeRosa | TheApple.com — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:56:00 -0700

Of all the celebrity deaths over the past few months, the one that hit me the hardest was TV pitchman extraordinaire Billy Mays. Mays was the one who I always thought had the most to teach us, because when you break our profession down to its core, we are all salespeople. The only difference is that instead of selling OxiClean, Kaboom, or Mighty Putty, we're selling linear equations, Shakespeare and the Civil War.

There's a reason that Mays quickly outgrew his infomercial roots and became a celebrity, and that's because there was an equal mix of sincerity, enthusiasm, and volume behind every product he was given. Mays believes in these products, I thought, and he just reaches out and grabs you through your TV. I thought I might be crazy until my suspicions were confirmed by watching him on his tragically short -lived reality series, Pitchmen. The lessons for those of us in the classroom were crystal clear:

You have to believe in what you're selling.

You have to use it, know it, understand why it's important and worthy of someone's attention. You have to be willing to do crazy things to prove what you say is true.

You have to present it to them with a high level of enthusiasm.

You have to be willing to poke fun at yourself.

And finally, you have to project everything clearly in your teacher voice!

What unlikely source have you learned a professional lesson from?

5 BEST Virtual Field Trips

Kelly Tenkely | TheApple.com — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:58:00 -0700

Field trips can be amazing learning experiences. They provide students with the opportunity to actively participate in education, offering learning possibilities that aren't readily available in the classroom. Unfortunately, it isn't always practical or possible to take students on field trips. Tight budgets, location, transportation, time, and resource restrictions can keep your students school-bound. Virtual field trips can fill this void. Virtual field trips have come a long way from the page of links they used to be. Now students can explore the world with simulations that are so realistic, they will believe they have left the classroom. Below are five of the best virtual field trips on the web:

Virtual Field Trip #1:
Smithsonian Museum

Not all cities have access to an incredible natural history museum like the Smithsonian. This virtual tour is the next best thing to taking an actual field trip to the Smithsonian.

The Smithsonian Virtual Museum is truly remarkable. Students can 'step' into the exhibits and take a tour through the entire museum in a 360 degree environment. The virtual museum is made up of panoramic pictures of the actual exhibits inside the Smithsonian. Using their mouse, students "walk" through the museum room by room. They can zoom in, look left and right, look up and down, and walk forward or backward. Camera icons throughout the museum show students hot spots where they can get close to an exhibit panel. As students explore the museum, they will see: the ocean hall, ancient seas, dinosaurs, early life, fossils, plants, mammals, African cultures, the Ice Age, Western cultures, reptiles, insects, butterflies, bones, geology, gems, and minerals.

Students can explore the various exhibits on individual computers in a computer lab setting or life size with an interactive whiteboard or a projector. Split your students into groups and assign them an exhibit to explore and take notes on. After students have explored and become the 'expert' on their exhibit, project the Virtual Smithsonian Museum on an interactive whiteboard/screen. Explore the museum as a class. As you enter an exhibit, invite the group who explored the exhibit to act as tour guides.

Even if you have access to a natural history museum for field trips, the Smithsonian Virtual Museum is still incredibly useful. Prepare for a field trip to your local history museum by visiting the virtual museum. After the field trip, students can compare and contrast what they saw at the local museum with the Smithsonian.

Virtual Field Trip #2:
UPM Forest Life

A field trip to a forest is a wonderful way to learn about tree species, ecosystems, habitats, and animals. The UPM Forest Life virtual field trip will have your students believing that they are actually in a forest smelling pine trees.

UPM Forest Life aims to teach about forest sustainability. It does this by inviting students to take a virtual hike through a forest. The forest is made up of panoramic pictures of an actual forest. Students can zoom in, look up and down, left and right, and 'walk' through the forest with their mouse. Students start their field trip with a virtual tour guide. As students 'hike' through the forest, they will click on hot spots that reveal videos of forest life, pictures with information, and sounds. Throughout the forest are opportunities for learning about forest planning, harvesting, regeneration, re-spacing, thinning, transport, recreation, training, berry picking, bird watching, hunting, fishing, natural forests, valuable habitats, deadwood, forest structure, water, native tree species, and the various animals that call a forest home.
This virtual field trip is impressive on individual computers and amazing when viewed as a whole class on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector. Allow students to take turns acting as forest rangers. They can click on various videos, pictures, and information embedded in the forest. Students can record their observations of the forest, trees, animals, and sounds they experience in an observation journal.

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Virtual Field Trip #3:
Moon in Google Earth

The moon is no longer off limits for field trips! Students can visit the moon virtually using Moon view in Google Earth. Google Earth makes for excellent virtual trips around the world; in Google Earth 5.0 you can also take your students to the moon.

Moon in Google Earth makes it possible for students to take tours of Apollo missions to the moon, from takeoff to landing – all narrated by Apollo astronauts. Students can explore 3-D models of landed spacecraft, zoom into 360-degree photos of astronaut footprints on the moon, watch rare TV footage of the Apollo missions, and, of course, explore the surface of the moon. Take your virtual field trip to the moon as a class with an interactive whiteboard/projector, or send students on their own mission to the moon using student computers. Assign groups of students to an Apollo mission to explore. When the 'astronauts' return to earth, they can tell other students about their mission to the moon or write a newspaper article about their journey.

Virtual Field Trip #4:
Planet in Action

Real field trips don't allow for adventures like a helicopter ride above the Grand Canyon, an expedition to Mount St. Helens, or a helicopter tour of Manhattan or Disneyland Paris. Planet in Action makes all of these possible with the help of Google Earth.

Planet in Action is an outstanding way to bring learning to life. Students can take a guided tour of the Grand Canyon, Mount St. Helens, Manhattan, or Disneyland Paris or take control and explore on their own. These journeys are incredibly lifelike on an interactive whiteboard/projector. Take your whole class on a virtual helicopter ride above famous landmarks that they are learning about in class. First, watch the recorded tour and discuss the different landmarks as you see them. Then 'hire' a student helicopter 'pilot' who can navigate a trip for the class. On individual computers, students can create postcards of their virtual field trip or create their own virtual tour that can be saved and shared with others or with Planet in Action. As students fly above the landmarks, a Google Map will show them exactly where they are in the virtual tour.

Virtual Field Trip #5:
AR Sights

Most students probably won't have the ability to travel to the pyramids or the Eiffel Tower for a field trip.

Augmented Reality makes it possible to see these landmarks, and more, using Google Earth in 3-D.

Augmented Reality requires a webcam, browser add-on, and a printout provided by the AR Sights website.

After a simple graphic is printed out, it is held up to a webcam. Students will see a landmark spring to life right before their eyes on the computer screen. As the printout is tilted, twisted, and moved the landmark moves accordingly. Students can view the famous landmark in 360-degrees, 3-D, and up close. It is truly incredible!

AR Sights makes it possible to view Google Earth right in a web browser and then zoom into places of interest, looking at them in 3-D with Augmented Reality. Students can 'fly' around Google Earth, when they find a place of interest, they will hold the printout up to the camera and explore the landmark. This is an amazing visual method for learning about geography and famous landmarks. If you only have access to one webcam, use it with a computer connected to a projector or interactive whiteboard for whole class exploration.

Geography, budget, and time are no longer field trip restrictions. With virtual field trips, students can explore the universe using a computer. These simulations are so realistic that your students will believe they have traveled the universe, actively participating in their learning.

Should You Go Back to School During a Recession?

By Jacob Milner, Monster Contributing Writer — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:21:00 -0700

On the heels of more than 10 years as a professional journalist, Heather Lalley has found herself back in class.

After taking a buyout from The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, then moving to Chicago to work as a freelance writer for a year, Lalley decided it was time to go back to school -- this time to become a classically trained baker.

In April 2009, Lalley, 33, took a major step toward pursuing the career she has always dreamed about by enrolling in a two-year bread-making and pastry program at the Washburne Culinary Institute.

“Freelancing was not something I saw myself doing for the long term,” says Lalley, who has baked bread on her own for years. “When I started thinking about what else I wanted to do, I settled on baking and realized that in order to do that, I’d need to go back to school.”

h4. Recession Prompting Career Reconsiderations

In the current recession economy, millions of laid-off workers nationwide are also rethinking their career choices, leading many to go back to school.

Why? To acquire a new skill set, for one, as well as to constructively wait out the economic downturn. The challenges? Coming to terms with the reality of changing careers and recognizing that starting anew can, at times, feel pretty overwhelming.

“It’s never too late to learn something new,” says Marci Alboher, author of One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success. “Besides, for many people, going back to school is a chance to pursue the career they always hoped they had tried for in the first place.”

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Numbers reflect this trend. According to a March 2009 survey conducted by the League for Innovation in the Community College and the Campus Computing Project, 28 percent of the 120 responding community colleges reported enrollment increases of more than 10 percent from January 2008 to January 2009. Anecdotal evidence from four-year schools reveals similar trends.

Mitch Weisburgh, vice president of Academic Business Advisors, a consulting firm specializing in the higher-education market, says that in general, higher- and continuing- education enrollments skyrocket during a sagging economy.

“When people get laid off, the first thing they think about is acquiring additional skills, and the first place they want to go is back to school,” he says. “For many people, the current climate presents them with no options but to figure out what’s next, expand their horizons and start over on something entirely new.”

h4. Coming Up with the Tuition

The government is offering support for workers who want to retrain. The $787 billion stimulus bill signed in February 2009 by President Obama includes $1.7 billion for adult employment services, including training.

Many state budgets include similar funding. Through its No Worker Left Behind program, Michigan, which posted the country’s highest jobless rate -- 14.1 percent -- in May 2009, offers unemployed and underemployed adults up to $5,000 per year for two years of retraining at a community college. Full-time college students and recent high school graduates are excluded.

Still, the overwhelming majority of returning students are paying their own way. Such was the case for Charles Villano III of Mission Beach, California. In July 2008, after a year of unemployment, Villano decided to go back to school for a graduate certificate in marketing to add to his MBA in finance.

Villano, 37, who previously worked as a manger in the pharmaceutical industry, said some of the cost of his continuing education was defrayed by the fact that he went back to his MBA alma mater, the University of San Diego. As a returning student, courses cost $1,100 per unit, as opposed to $3,300 for new students. Still, Villano had to borrow money from his parents.

“Whatever it ultimately costs me, the return trip is worthwhile, because I’m learning what I want to learn on my own terms,” he says. “At a time like this, with the economy doing badly just about everywhere, any money you can reinvest in your own skill development is going to be money well-spent.”

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Budding baker Lalley agrees. Lalley, who aspires to open her own bakery when she graduates, found some scholarships at FastWeb.com, a Monster company, and applied for others through national nonprofit food organizations such as the James Beard Foundation.

She also planned to work out a quid-pro-quo arrangement through which she could receive reduced tuition for doing some marketing for the cooking school itself.

“If you have a useful skill that can work to your advantage as you seek training for a second career, use it,” says Lalley, who blogs about her experiences at flourgrrrl.blogspot.com. “Just because your old job isn’t necessarily relevant to the new one doesn’t mean you can’t leverage that experience to get ahead.”

h4. Work-to-School Transition Tips

It’s not easy making the transition from full-time worker to full-time student. Here are some tips from Lalley and Villano:

• Establish a Goal: Ask yourself what you want to do next. Research the degrees or certificates that will make achieving that goal easier.

• Look for Creative Ways to Pay: Paying for retraining can be challenging, but not impossible. Check out scholarships, but also see if you can leverage a skill the school needs into reduced tuition.

• Don’t Let Fear Stop You: Yes, it’s scary to start over and go back to school. But don’t let fear force you into giving up and doing something you don’t want to do.

• Keep Networking: You never know when a contact (or a contact’s contact) might lead to a job interview and, eventually, a job. Cultivate both online and offline professional networks while in school.

Highest Ranked Public High Schools in U.S. (2009)

Jill Hare | Editor, TheApple — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:35:00 -0700

The importance of a good high school didn't hit home with me until just recently. My husband and I are relocating and had to think about where our daughter, who is only 1, would ultimately go to high school. This kind of list is not only important for parents, but for teachers who strive to find a work environment that is top notch. This is not to say that high schools who didn't make the list are not great, but not all could be named. Jay Matthews from the Washington Post has devised a system for ranking the top 1500 public high schools: the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2008 divided by the number of graduating seniors.

Most Appearances in the Top 100

Focusing just on the top 100, some surprising states control a large percentage. Florida appears the most in the top 100, with 22 high schools making the list. Second is Texas with fourteen schools, followed by California with nine, New York with eight, Virginia with six, and North Carolina and Washington each with five. There's a smattering of other states sneaking a school or two into the top 100.

The Top 20

1. Talented and Gifted: Dallas, TX

2. Science/Engineering Magnet: Dallas, TX

3. Jefferson County IBS: Irondale, AL

4. Stanton College Prep: Jacksonville, FL

5. BASIS Charter: Tucson, AZ

6. Paxon School for Advanced Studies: Jacksonville, FL

7. Suncoast Community: Riviera Beach, FL

8. Corbetter: Corbett, OR

9. North Hills Prep: Irving, TX

10. Preuss UCSD: La Jolla, CA

11. International School: Bellevue, WA

12. Academic Magnet: North Charleston, SC

13. City Honors: Buffalo, NY

14. Classen School of Advanced Studies, Oklahoma City, OK

15. School for Advanced Studies: Miami, FL

16. Oxford Academy: Cypress, CA

17. Communications Arts: San Antonio, TX

18. Interlake: Bellevue, WA

19. The Early College at Guilford: Greensboro, NC

20. Eastside: Gainesville, FL

Read the full 1500 schools at Newsweek.

10 Vital Tips from a Substitute Teacher

MissCal.Q.L8 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:45:00 -0700

The top 10 things I've learned from being a substitute teacher.

10. You can always be more organized.

9. You can never be too detailed in your sub plans. Don't assume subs know anything. Seating charts, bathroom breaks, teachers they can ask for help, students who know what's going on, switching classes, phone and computer use, school rules, are just examples of things substitutes would love to know.

8. Having things in your room clearly labeled and all in their place makes life easier for the teacher, the students, and the substitute.

7. School secretaries are your best friends.

6. Substitutes should leave notes of the students' behavior for the teacher: good or bad. I like to write something for each period and mention specific names if needed. Duh, teachers love feedback.

5. Posting common class procedures is a great first week of school idea but is also a lifesaver for the substitute who is clueless as to how you work.

4. Being flexible and creative is a vital characteristic for teaching. As a substitute, you have to make something out of nothing. You have to stretch things out to last longer, manipulate it to fit your personality, and yet it still all has to make sense to the kids.

3. Breaking the ice with students makes your life easier. If you ask students about activities going on at school, sports, what they're wearing, what's for lunch, or anything other than class the students immediately are more interested in what you have to say. In the school I'm subbing at, I generally know a lot of the student's parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, etc. Letting them know that sometimes makes them easier to handle.

2. School and students are unpredictable. You have to make split-second decisions constantly and not lose it when your plans get messed up. Go with the flow, be flexible, and make things work. Maintain order even if it's not your order.

And the number one thing..

1. Never sub for Kindergarten teachers the day before Valentine's Day! Their job is no joke. The academic material is not challenging. That's because if teachers had to deal with challenging academics and challenging behavior, they would die. Die. Combine this with a ton of candy, rub-on tattoos, cakes, cookies, Valentine's Day cards, toys, balloons, flowers, and tons of cellophane and you have a recipe for heart-shaped disaster!!!

Related Top 10 Lists:

10 Things a Teacher Should Never Do

10 Things to Do When You Only Have 5 Minutes Left in Class

Top 10 Technology Tips for Teachers

9 Reasons to Quit Teaching and 10 Reasons to Stay

Your Behavioral DNA without a Swab

About U — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:44:00 -0700

Do you know what your true talents are? What really motivates you? Why you can’t figure out the “right” job or career? Or how can YOU make your work more rewarding? Learn more

Familiar questions? The vast majority of us have asked them from time to time. Now how and where to find the answers that fit YOU is the real question.
The answers are available in a personality assessment that examines your basic motivational needs called The About U ReportSM. And it is available to members at www.about-ureport.com. The About U Report is the only instrument “out there” that actually gets at your underlying behavioral DNA and therefore does not change over time or situation.

After you complete a short (30-plus minute) assessment online, you immediately receive your own unique About U Report with a MP3 explanation. Your Report contains 5 sections.
First, you get to see how motivated you are when doing different tasks, your Areas of Interest. The Report contains 10 and measures now important each is in your life. They point to your basic talents. Ask yourself: “Is your current situation one in which you spend time in these areas or not??”

Interests:

What: Each of us has interests, passions that motivate us and are a critical part of our lives. The Report contains ten and measures how important each is in your life.

Why: Interests are the motivators that get us up in the morning and keep us percolating throughout the day. Your high interests may help you in your career; they will certainly influence how you succeed in it. And they may be paramount interests that give richness to your entire life.

Next your Report shows you the kind of environment that both supports who are you and motivates you to behave effectively rather than reactively. And you get to see yourself from three different perspectives.

h4. A. Effective Behavior:

What: Every person has a unique style, a preferred way of dealing with people and situations. The Report identifies eleven unique ways in which you interact with people. They are your public face that people see.

Why: Your public presence is how people perceive you, which means that is what they expect from you. If you’ve ever been curious about how you are perceived by others the eleven different effective behaviors in the Report will give you that answer.

h4. B. Underlying Motivators:

What:We all have expectations of how we want others to behave and treat us. Our expectations affect how accepting, or not, we are of others and the social and business conditions where we operate.

Why: Knowing what our underlying motivators are will tell us what kind of environment we need in order to be effective. Some environments can be toxic, some supportive; know which is which, and why, is one factor that leads to success. Like Effective Behaviors, the Report contains eleven Underlying Motivators.

h4. C. Stress Behaviors:

What: If the Underlying Motivators are not present in our environment it can result in stress: behaviors that are not effective and don’t serve our best interest.

Why: Unless we understand what causes stress we have no method for dealing with it. We become reactive, rather than responding effectively. Your Report describes eleven different Stress Behaviors with things to avoid and help in managing them.

The third section of your Report goes on to show you how all your motivational areas of interest and 11 elements of behaviors interact to give you your unique perspective on issues and how these color your perception of how the world works. Often these, too, are not visible to others and can be a surprise to you.

h4. Organizational Focus:

What: Each of us views the world, and approaches problem-solving, working in a team, and dealing with co-workers in a unique way. The approach we take is determined by our Interests, Effective Behavior, Underlying Motivators, and Stress Behavior.

Why: Unless we know how we approach the world, we will not be able to appreciate how others do. And the knowledge of our approach to the world will give us an appreciation of how we can work with others and use our strengths to be more effective.

The Fourth Section provides the top 7 Job Families with which you most align and the bottom 3 Job Families which you probably should avoid. You also get a dictionary which shows you jobs within these families to further explore.

h4. Job Families:

What: Using all the data you have supplied about yourself, the Report goes on to assess which seven (out of twenty) job families you most closely align with. And the measurement indicates not only the alignment, but its intensity.

Why: Knowing your alignment will begin to confirm – or not – your career selection.

The fifth section is a one page summary that can be shared with significant others in your life and work. It is the one which should resonate with who you are and validate all the data in your Report. As As mentioned earlier, your Report measures you at the DNA level. This means you receive an individualized report on who you are at your very core. It is a report that is relevant for the rest of your life.

h4. How I Want Others To Treat Me:

Is a one page summary of your entire report. You can use it as a summary and to share with co-workers, your boss, or your direct reports.

Go to www.about-ureport.com to take the online assessment. This will take about 30 plus minutes. When you finish, you can immediately download your report along with an MP3 explanation of your report.
The cost of the About U Report is $149. You pay for the report online by credit card (on a secure site) and are immediately taken to the assessment site.

When you are ready to receive additional feedback on your report from a certified About U Advisor, you can either purchase that service at the time you take your About U Report, or return at a later time.

There is an abbreviated version of the report – the Fast Look @ U Report – available for $19.95. This option gives you just a taste of who you are, but not enough to really provide the insights needed to move forward in your career and life. It is there for those who prefer an appetizer before getting the entire meal. You take the assessment one time and can always upgrade to the About U Report and About U Report with an Advisor at a later date.

The web site www.about-ureport.com contains more information on the reports, including complete examples of both. Click on the site, explore, and see what really motivates you and how to use your internal motivators to create your future, answer your questions and reduce your uncertainties.

Lessons Learned from Master Teachers

Kelly Tenkely | TheApple.com — Tue, 19 May 2009 08:31:00 -0700

Last week was teacher appreciation week. Each year when this week rolls around, I am reminded of the amazing teachers I had in my life who helped shape me into the learner I am today. In my life, my favorite teachers always seemed to land on the odd grade levels. My first, third, and fifth grade teachers were particularly memorable. These women were master teachers. They taught me some important lessons and modeled what it means to be a teacher.

1st Grade Mrs. Hebert

Mrs. Hebert was a young teacher. I am fairly sure that she was just out of college. She had classroom management down to an art (a difficult feat with six year olds). Mrs. Hebert made everything we learned an adventure. One Monday morning, we walked into a darkened classroom to find an UFO at the center of the classroom. It was flashing and making sounds, it was amazing. There were glow in the dark stars scattered around the classroom. She immediately had our attention and had us intrigued with the learning that was to take place that day. We sat around the strange UFO in a circle and Mrs. Hebert led a conversation about where we thought the UFO could have come from. We noticed strange purple rocks scattered all over the classroom and talked about what they could be. One of the boys in the class spotted a book that had a rock that looked the same on the cover. A few of us suggested that we read the book for clues about the strange space rocks and UFO.

Mrs. Hebert handed out a class set of books (Space Rock by Susan Schade and Jon Buller) so that we could all read. We read through the book together and discovered where the space rocks had come from. Each one of us got our very own purple play-dough pet space rock. We were thrilled. I still have my space rock. As an adult looking back I realize that Space Rock is a leveled reader, there is nothing really special about this book at all. It is a cute story but if we had just read the book in a reading group and answered some questions about it on a worksheet, I would not remember anything about this book. With a little extra effort and preparation, Mrs. Hebert made the lesson memorable.

What we learned that day was more than whatever phonemic awareness skill that was being touched on with the book. We learned to love reading. We learned that books can be enjoyable and answer questions that we have and make us use our imagination in new ways. 20 years later I remember a lot about this lesson and many lessons that Mrs. Hebert taught. She was doing more than teaching us content skills, she was developing a love of learning.

3rd Grade Mrs. Graybill

Mrs. Graybill started every year by sending her new students postcards telling us how excited she was to be teaching us that year. She often bragged that she had the very best class in the school (I am positive that she told every class this same thing every year). An amazing thing happens when you are told that you are the best class in the school, you start acting like the best class in the school. We strived to please Mrs. Graybill. Throughout the year Mrs. Graybill had us write her notes in our journals. Sometimes she offered a suggestion on something we could tell her in our notes but we could write anything we wanted. She responded to each and every note every week. I remember reading Judy Blume's the Pain and the Great One in class one day and writing Mrs. Graybill a note about how I feel like the Great One and my little brother was certainly a Pain. She wrote back a thoughtful response about her brothers and how she didn't always appreciate them when she was a kid but as adults they are great friends. Mrs. Graybill made connections with her students. She knew about our likes and dislikes and what made us nervous or scared. She was able to tailor lessons to fit our needs because she truly knew our needs. She made everyone feel like the most special member of the class. At the beginning of fourth grade Mrs. Graybill sent each of her students a postcard telling us how much she enjoyed teaching us and how much she missed us. Mrs. Graybill instilled a sense of self worth in us. She made us believe that we could do anything.

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I don't remember doing a lot of worksheets in Mrs. Graybills class. Third grade can be a turning point in many schools where desk work increases. Mrs. Graybill always found interesting ways to teach. When we learned cursive handwriting she could have just given us practice worksheets, instead she wrote riddles on the board. We would copy down the riddles in our notebooks, in our best cursive, and try to guess the answer to the riddles. There was a riddle for each letter of the alphabet. We absolutely loved this exercise and looked forward to handwriting practice every day. At the end of the year we had a book of riddles to stump our families with. I still have this riddle book that I made in third grade (thanks to mom for realizing its value and saving it) and I use it to this day to stump my students with riddles. The kids love it; it's become part of our daily routine. Mrs. Graybill taught me that with a little creativity, mundane tasks, like practicing handwriting, can be fun and worth while.

5th Grade Mrs. Nelson

Mrs. Nelson was amazing in so many ways. Like Mrs. Graybill she constantly told us that we were the best class she had ever had. We worked to make her proud. Mrs. Nelson taught us important life lessons in unexpected ways. One day we came in from recess to find loaves and loaves of bread piled high on her desk up front. Behind the loaves were jars of peanut butter and jelly and several plastic knives, plates, and napkins. Fifth graders are always thrilled when food is going to be involved. Mrs. Nelson asked us to each write in our journals directions for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When we were finished, we would read our directions to her and she would make us a sandwich that we could eat. The first student got up and eagerly read his directions for Mrs. Nelson, "Put peanut butter on the bread, then put on some jelly. Put the pieces together."

Mrs. Nelson followed our directions exactly (think Amelia Bedelia here). First she wiped her nose with her hand, then she stuck her fingers in the peanut butter and slathered it on both sides of the bread. This was followed by a licking of the fingers and then a dunk into jelly to wipe on another piece of bread. We were shocked to say the least. As the class watched what she was doing we scribbled frantically in our notebooks to give more specific directions. Wash your hands first. Use a knife to spread the peanut butter on one face of the bread. Put the peanut butter and jelly sides of the bread together. Don't lick your fingers. It was great fun to see how everyone's sandwiches turned out. Some were more edible than others. Mrs. Nelson taught us to be specific and intentional in our writing. She made us think about processes and instructions.

Mrs. Nelson always read us a chapter book after recess. She had us enthralled with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Wish Giver, Wayside School is Falling Down, and many more. We begged Mrs. Nelson to keep reading (she usually only read us a chapter a day). She helped every one of her students develop a love of reading and stories. She modeled reading for fun and enjoyment. The librarian always knew what book Mrs. Nelson was reading to us because requests for that book skyrocketed.

Master Teachers

I have many great memories of my first, third, and fifth grade years of school. These teachers went above and beyond the call of duty. They put a lot of planning and love into their classrooms. The payoff was incredible, a class of students who all felt like they were the best and brightest, who loved to learn, explore, and read. I constantly use these incredible examples in my life to teach my students. I don't remember a lot about my second, fourth, and sixth grade years. This is not because I wasn't learning, but because the learning wasn't as memorable and engaging. It is my hope that every child gets to experience life with a master teacher (hopefully many of them). To all of the master teachers out there, thank you! Your impact reaches farther than you will ever know.

Discuss now:

What teacher made the biggest impression you?

It's Not All About the Technology

Kelly Tenkely | TheApple.com — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:12:00 -0700

This may seem like a strange title coming from a technology evangelist and integration specialist. But it is true, it isn't all about technology in classrooms. Don't get me wrong, technology can and will do amazing things to increase student learning, differentiate instruction, and meet students where they are.
Understand, technology alone can't do this, it isn't the golden ticket that when plugged in solves all educational problems. I see many schools who purchase the latest-and-greatest technology,
software, and infrastructure only to have the technology collecting dust a few years later when it didn't solve the education problems of the school. This isn't the technologies fault, it doesn't mean
that the technology has failed to deliver. What schools often miss is that it isn't really about the technology at all. There is a foundational level that needs to be addressed in schools first.

Many classrooms still look the way they did in the 19th century. The teacher is at the front of the classroom giving students facts to memorize, rules about grammar, math, and science. The role of
the student is to take it all in, memorize, and regurgitate the information back in the form of an essay, worksheet, or test. The teacher marks up the student work, puts a grade at the top, and
returns it to the student. The process repeats itself as the teacher works to squeeze in all of the curriculum before the end of the year. Technology can't improve this learning environment. In fact, technology will feel forced and unnatural in this classroom model. Technology invites students to problem solve, create, think critically, and collaborate. The focus is not on memorization and testing but on discovery and creativity. In this classroom model, technology may be used to replace the chalk board with a PowerPoint presentation. This may be more visually appealing, but it doesn't change how students are learning. The teacher is still the center of the classroom and students are still taking it all in and regurgitating back on worksheets and tests. Learning hasn't really changed so the results continue to stay the same.

Students learn by doing. Students learn through making connections to things they already know. Students learn through discovery. Students learn when they are the center of their education. Technology lends itself naturally to this type of classroom. Technology enhances learning exponentially when introduced into a classroom where students are at the center of learning. Think about the most popular technologies with students today outside of the classroom. For elementary students those that top the list are Club Penguin and Webkins. For secondary students they are Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, and Twitter. What do these have in common? They are all social. Each of these tools invites communication and collaboration. Students aren't interested in technology for the sake of technology, they are hooked by the increased ability to communicate ideas and work together. In the traditional classroom students complete work for one person: the teacher. There is very little communication after the paper has been handed back. What can technology do to make learning more of a collaborative effort? Web 2.0 tools (those online tools that invite communication and/or collaboration) make learning collaborative.

Blogs, wikis, videos, slideshows, and websites can be used in the classroom as a place for students to create and share their work with a wider audience. This audience could be as small as a classroom and parents, or as large as the whole world. These online spaces make students the 'experts' and put them in charge of their own learning. They have a sense of ownership in their education. It isn't about the teacher, it's about them. Technology invites students to discover learning. Students today find very little value in memorization. It is no wonder that this is the case, many of them walk around with smart phones in their pockets. At any given time they can Google anything and be given thousands of resources that will answer their question. This introduces a new requirement of education. We must teach students to think critically about the information they find. Yes, they can Google anything, but will they know what information
is factual and what information is bad? Technology allows students to experience things that they may not other wise have the opportunity to experience. For example, taking a virtual field trip to Egypt to see the pyramids, hear an archeologist speak, and ask the archeologist follow up questions. These experiences help students to make connections to their own lives that would not have been possible with note taking followed by a quiz.

Technology alone will not change education and student learning. First, the classroom environment needs to change. We need classrooms that value student centered learning, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity. We need classrooms that value learning. Our goal as teachers should not be to get our students to pass a test, but to teach them how to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Regardless of the technology being used in the classroom, students need these foundational skills to succeed in life. When partnered with this type of classroom, technology will increase student learning and performance. Before any school looks at hardware or software for the classroom, they need to set up a solid educational foundation. The expectation needs to be set that students will no longer be memorizers, they will be thinkers and creators.

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Is Teacher Effectiveness Linked to Teacher Training?

U.S. Department of Education — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:16:00 -0700

Every year, thousands of new teachers pass through hundreds of different teacher preparation programs and are hired to teach in our nation’s schools. Most new teachers come from traditional route to certification (TC) programs, in which they complete all their certification requirements before beginning to teach. In recent years, however, as many as a third of new hires have come from alternative route to certification (AC) programs, in which they begin teaching before completing all their certification requirements (Feistritzer and Chester 2002). AC programs have grown in number and size in recent years in response to a variety of factors, including teacher shortages and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which requires that every core class be staffed with a teacher who has obtained full certification or, in the case of alternative routes to certification, is enrolled and making adequate progress toward certification through an approved program.

Despite the expansion of these new routes into teaching, there exists little research to provide guidance as to the effectiveness of different teacher training strategies. The increased variation in teacher preparation approaches created by the existence of various AC and TC programs offers an opportunity to examine the effect of different components of training on teacher performance. For example, some AC programs require less education coursework than TC programs. We can exploit this type of variation to examine whether the form of training is associated with differences in teacher performance.

The potential advantages and disadvantages of the various routes to certification have been debated, and the amount of coursework required by AC and TC programs is critical to issues of certification and teacher effectiveness.

This study is intended to inform this effort by rigorously examining the effect of AC teachers on student
achievement and classroom practices compared to the effect of TC teachers in their same school and grades. The study also provides suggestive evidence about what training and pretraining characteristics may be related to teacher performance.

Both the AC and the TC programs with teachers in the study were diverse in the total instruction they required for their candidates. The total hours required by AC programs ranged from 75 to 795, and by TC programs, from 240 to 1,380. Thus not all AC programs require fewer hours of coursework than all TC programs. The degree of overlap in coursework requirements between AC and TC programs in the study was dictated by variations in state policies on teacher certification programs. For example, in New Jersey all AC
teachers were required to complete fewer hours of coursework than all TC.

_Continue reading on the next page or browse the topics below._

Who participated in this study?

5 Important Findings about Teacher Performance & Links to Teacher Prep Programs

Teacher Prep Program Experiences for Both Types of Teachers (TC & AC)

Summary: How Teacher Prep Programs Impact Students & Final Conclusion

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h4. *Who Participated in This Study?*

Participants: Schools that had recently hired alternatively certified (AC) teachers were recruited to participate in the study. If the AC teacher was teaching the same grade level as a relative novice traditionally certified (TC) teacher, the school was eligible to participate in the evaluation. The evaluation included 2,600 students in 63 schools in 20 districts.

Research Design: In the study schools, every grade that contained at least one eligible AC and one eligible TC teacher was included. Students in these study grades were randomly assigned to be in the class of an AC or a TC teacher. The random assignment ensured that, within each teacher pair, the students in each classroom were similar on average. The pairing of an AC teacher to a TC teacher in each school and grade level constituted a separate miniexperiment. Students were tested at the beginning of the school year as a baseline measure and at the end of the year as an outcome. Classroom instruction was observed at one point during the year as an outcome.

Analysis: In each school grade, the outcomes of students who were randomly assigned
to an AC classroom were compared to the outcomes of students who were assigned to a TC
classroom, generating an impact estimate for each teacher pair, referred to as a miniexperiment.
The overall impact was calculated by taking the average of the impacts from all mini-experiments. The mini-experiments were also divided into two approximately equalsized subgroups based on the amount of coursework that was required (low or high) by the AC teacher’s program, and the impacts were averaged separately for each group. Lowcoursework AC teachers were defined as teachers whose program required 274 or fewer hours of coursework, while high-coursework AC teachers were defined as teachers whose program required 308 hours or more of coursework.

_Continue reading on the next page._

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h4. *5 Important Findings about Teacher Performance*

1. While teachers trained in TC programs receive all their instruction (and participate in student teaching) prior to becoming regular full-time teachers, AC teachers do not necessarily begin teaching without having received any formal instruction.

Overall, low-coursework AC teachers in the
study were required to take an average of 115 hours of instruction—64 percent of the total amount of instruction they would receive—before starting to teach, and high-coursework AC teachers in the study were required to take an average of 150 hours—about 35 percent of the total amount they would receive—
before starting to teach. Nine AC teachers in the study, seven of them from New Jersey, were not required to complete any coursework before becoming regular full-time teachers.

2. There were no statistically significant differences between the AC and TC teachers in this study in their average scores on college entrance exams, the selectivity of the college that awarded their bachelor’s degree, or their level of educational attainment.

Both low- and high-coursework AC teachers
were more likely than their TC counterparts to identify themselves as black (40.5 percent versus 17.5 percent and 32.4 percent versus 7.5 percent) and less likely to identify themselves as white (50 percent versus 75.5 percent and 40.5 percent versus 70 percent). In addition, the low-coursework AC teachers were more
likely than their TC counterparts to report having children (70.2 percent versus 28.3 percent).

3. There was no statistically significant difference in performance between students of AC teachers and those of TC teachers.

Average differences in reading and math achievement were not statistically significant. Furthermore, students of AC teachers scored higher than students of their TC counterparts
in nearly as many cases as they scored lower (49 percent in reading and 44 percent in math). The effects of AC teachers varied across experiments, and nonexperimental correlational analysis of teachers’ pretraining and training experiences explained 5 percent of the variation in math and 2 percent in reading. Therefore, the route to certification selected by a prospective teacher is unlikely to provide information, on average, about the expected quality of that teacher in terms of student achievement.

4. There is no evidence from this study that greater levels of teacher training coursework were associated with the effectiveness of AC teachers in the classroom.

The experimental results provided no evidence that students of low-coursework AC teachers scored statistically differently from students of
their TC counterparts, nor did students of high-coursework AC teachers compared to those of their TC counterparts. Correlational analysis similarly failed to show that the amount of coursework was associated with student

5. There is no evidence that the content of coursework is correlated with teacher effectiveness.

After controlling for other observable characteristics that may be correlated with a teacher’s effectiveness, there was no statistically significant relationship between student test scores and the content of the teacher’s training, including the number of required hours of math pedagogy, reading/language arts pedagogy, or fieldwork. Similarly, there was no evidence of a statistically positive relationship between majoring in education and student achievement.

_Continue reading on the next page._

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Teacher Prep Program Experiences for Both Types of Teachers (TC & AC)

AC Teachers’ Program Experiences (Alternate Certification)

The AC teachers were required to take varying amounts of instruction in their programs, ranging from 75 to 795 hours. For analytical purposes, we divided AC teachers into two groups: the 47 who were required to complete 274 hours of instruction or less formed the low-coursework group, and the 40 who were required to complete 308 hours or more formed the high-coursework group. The low-coursework AC teachers’ programs required an average of 179 hours of instruction (with a standard deviation [SD]of 54), while
the high-coursework teachers’ programs required, on average, 432 hours (SD of 112). Assuming that a typical college course involves about 45 hours of instruction (3 hours per week for 15 weeks), these means represent the equivalent of 4.0 and 9.6 courses, respectively.

Low- and high-coursework AC teachers also differed in the amount of coursework they were required to complete before, during, and after their first year of full-time classroom teaching, as shown in Exhibit 2.9 For example, high-coursework AC teachers had to complete, on average, 150 hours of instruction during their first year of teaching, which translates to about 17 hours a month, compared with 63 hours, on average, among lowcoursework AC teachers, which translates to about 7 hours a month.

h4. TC Teachers’ Program Experiences (Traditional Certification)

TC teachers, like their AC counterparts, received varying amounts of instruction, ranging from 240 to 1,380 hours. On average, they completed a total of 642 hours of instruction (SD of 225), equivalent to 14.3 typical college courses. This mean was more than double that of the AC teachers.

_Continue reading on the next page._

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h4. Summary: How Teacher Prep Programs Impact Students

Students of AC teachers did not perform statistically differently from students of TC teachers. Although average differences in reading and math were generally negative, they were not statistically significant. We found no evidence that AC teachers had a different effect on their students’ math or reading achievement for different grade levels. There were no statistically significant differences between the lower elementary grades (K to 1) and the upper ones (2 to 5) for either the high- or the low-coursework AC teachers.

We found no evidence that students of AC teachers with less experience (1 to 2 years) had statistically significant different math or reading achievement, relative to their TC counterparts, than those with more experience (3 to 4 or 5 or more years).

h4. Final Conclusion

This study found no benefit, on average, to student achievement from placing an AC teacher in the classroom when the alternative was a TC teacher, but there was no evidence of harm, either. In addition, the experimental and nonexperimental findings together indicate that although individual teachers appear to have an effect on students’ achievement, we could not identify what it is about a teacher that affects student achievement. Variation in student achievement was not strongly linked to the teachers’ chosen preparation route or to other measured teacher characteristics.

Constantine, J., Player D., Silva, T., Hallgren, K., Grider, M., and Deke, J. (2009). An Evaluation of Teachers Trained Through Different Routes to Certification, Final Report (NCEE 2009- 4043). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences,
U.S. Department of Education.

Read the full report.

How Important Are Grades?

Laura Owen | TheApple.com — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 07:43:00 -0700

Report cards have been a part of the educational experience for decades. They are essential to informing parents of student progress and traditionally serve as the overall measure of assessment of a child’s success in school. Currently, the teachers and administrators at my elementary school are taking a closer look at our report cards. Elementary school report cards often include a list of subjects, work habits, and conduct areas followed by the letter grade the child earned in each area. Schools may require a teacher to attach comments, but these comments typically vary in length and thoroughness.

Some schools have moved away from using letter grades, instead reporting progress through teacher composed narratives. These schools often have specific guidelines for teachers to assure that all areas are addressed in the narrative. In trying to determine what format best fits my school’s philosophy and population, we have begun to analyze the necessity of letter grades. This process has sparked a conversation about what we truly believe about assessment. In many current education models, assessment is part of a cyclical model serving as part of the learning process.

According to leaders in the field, the true purpose of assessment is to evaluate a student’s level of understanding, and should be used to provide appropriate feedback and guidance in planning future instruction. I agree with these views, and use day-to-day assessments in this way in my own classroom. However, I have never stopped to consider whether traditional letter grades on a report card would conflict with the notion of assessment.

In my reflections, I have found myself getting stuck on a couple of questions that challenge the traditions of report cards to which I have grown accustomed: Should we be reporting letter grades and what do they really mean? If a child receives and “A” on his report card, what does that tell me? Does an “A” indicate that the child has mastery of everything covered during the grading period? Maybe. Does the child have strengths that brought the grade up and areas of weakness that a parent may benefit from knowing?

What about a “C”? Does that mean that the child partially understands the concepts or does the child have mastery of some concepts and not others? If that is the case, what doesn’t the child understand? Or, if we actually looked in the teacher’s grade book, would a “C” instead mean that the child bombed a few tests or failed to turn in some assignments? And, to complicate matters further, we all know that an “A” in one class could mean something totally different than an “A” in another. How far does subjectivity encroach upon the grades that children take home on their report cards? I pose all of these questions without answers. However, I think it is something worth exploring more closely.

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I have always struggled with the theory that we need to do away with traditional grades in order to lessen competitiveness and protect a child’s self-esteem. I believe that children and parents need honest feedback on school performance. However, I question whether letter grades should be used as the primary method of communication. I also believe that because our society is accustomed to letter grades, parents and students have a general understanding of what each grade means. However, I wonder if just a general understanding is acceptable.

Although I understand the benefits of omitting letter grades, I can’t help but consider how I would feel as a parent if my child brought home a report card with only a long narrative of teacher comments. I know that I would appreciate the insight and the effort of the teacher, but ultimately I may be left wondering what letter grade my child actually earned.

What do you think about grades? Share your comments below.

Taking Care of Teachers

Kevin Bibo | TheApple.com — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:26:00 -0700

A dear friend once asked me this question: “If you and the person most dear to you were on a sinking ship and there was only one life preserver, would you give it to your loved one, or keep it for yourself?” Taken aback I thought for a moment, and then replied, “give it to my loved one?” His response, “then you both drown.” (Isn’t that a pleasant thought?) So, I asked, “Why?” My friend explained that if I gave away the one thing I knew would save my life then I would be forfeiting not only my own life, but my ability to save my loved one’s life as well. If I kept the life preserver for myself, then I would ensure that we both would successfully make it to safety. What does this have to do with teaching? Teachers need to wear the life preservers in their classrooms.

That’s a funny visual, and obviously I am writing metaphorically here, but you get my point, right? If the teacher is not taken care of, how can he or she successfully provide for the educational needs of the students? Some teachers are forced to teach in rat-hole classrooms, with substandard lighting, poor electrical, exposed asbestos, and broken windows that will not open or close. (Actually, I just described my classroom before modernization.) With all of the money being spent on education, I wonder how much of it will go towards simply making our classrooms safe to occupy? Will there be a focus on ensuring a truly safe learning environment for kids that won’t make inhabitants sick? I recently wrote about shopping for an expensive new teacher chair. A blog reader noted that I shouldn’t have to pay for my own chair in my own classroom. I forgot.

However, a teacher’s comfort in the classroom is critically important. Comfortable clothes, comfortable (but fashionable) shoes, and a working heating and cooling unit with an adjustable thermostat are all vital for the teacher’s comfort. Comfort alone is not enough; teachers need support. Support from administrators, support from the district office, and most importantly support from the parents of our students. I am one of the few who feel that teachers don’t need much support from either the state or the feds. Too many teachers feel unheard, unappreciated, and un-respected. Voices from outside of education penetrate our world. They tell us that we stink at what we do and can do it better. That’s sort of like me telling my brain surgeon how to operate on me while he’s operating. Teachers are professionals who have spent their entire lives involved in their profession.

Teachers should be happy. Crabby teachers are no fun. They are fun to pick on and make fun of, but no fun to be around. Sure, a crabby teacher can offer excellent lessons, but that’s only part of the teacher’s job. A happy teacher can do that, and make the students feel wonderful about learning, about school, and about themselves. I believe that happy teachers are better teachers than crabby teachers because they not only instruct, but inspire. They not only enlighten students, but encourage. They not only assess students, but also assist to improve the lives of each individual pupil. Plus, almost everyone enjoys the company of happy people. I believe that it is possible that the demeanor of the teacher in the classroom can attract more students to learn, regardless of the subject matter.

Last summer I was asked to write 16 exclusive articles for The Apple. This is number 16. I have written and shared my thoughts about and experiences with many teacher topics that I hope the readers have found to be useful. As I shared my own reflections on teaching, I hope that above all I have encouraged other teachers to take time to reflect on their own teaching. Reflection is an invaluable process that, in my humble opinion, is also the most effective way to improve as a teacher. I believe that spending time reviewing our personal successes and failures in the classroom can lead each individual teacher towards more prosperous pupils and a more thriving teaching career. Teachers are special and unique people who are real heroes to their students because they actively contribute towards making the world a better place both to live in today and for tomorrow.

Teaching: The Power of Service

Kevin Bibo | TheApple.com — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:57:00 -0700

My writing about teaching started while I was substitute teaching. I drafted a list of 10 to 12 rules for subs. My list included things like, “Don’t read the newspaper in class,” and, “Be prepared to DO SOMETHING when the lesson plan is missing.” I’ve long ago lost the file, but I vividly remember number 1 on the list, “It’s not about you.”

Teaching is complicated and complex. It is a service that requires one who is willing to think deeply about and respond appropriately and accurately to the needs of the students. Teachers must be willing and able to focus both on the needs of the individual and the needs of the class as a whole. Then, the teacher has to figure out how to serve both needs, sometimes at the same time and usually without assistance. This requires hours upon hours of preparation before class, and usually a significant amount of time after class spent on assessment. I honestly believe that teachers are heroes, but it’s not the superpower of powerful lesson planning that is our greatest strength. Rather, it is our willingness to be selfless in our service to each and every student that is super. Super teachers make every single student feel special and help them reach their goals.

However, a teacher who turns the focus of their efforts on themselves is doing their students and the teaching profession a real disservice, no matter how talented or seemingly effective the teacher may be. While regular personal teacher reflection is vitally important, shared publicly or not, the public presentation of the teacher as an “expert,” or “guru,” or even a “rookie,” or, “newbie” has no bearing at all on their effectiveness with students and classes as a whole. Even the most accomplished teachers sometimes fail their students, and a completely floundering new teacher can often inspire a student who appreciates the teacher’s effort, however unrefined. It is the selflessness of the act of teaching, the teacher’s willingness to meet students at any level, and the ushering of students toward success that makes the real difference in life.

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Teaching is evolving. Individual needs are growing and expanding in ways that make the old shotgun approach to teaching miss most of the targets- the students. While I have no crystal ball, and I cannot read any educational tarot cards, I have a sense that the way teachers provide service to students is about to dramatically change. Right now, most teachers teach in a way that is comfortable for them; this is not a bad thing. I do it. However, with the aid of technology in the classroom (for those schools with the budget to take advantage of it) teachers can now focus more specifically on serving the individual needs of students. Computers can distribute information, which frees up teachers to be the “guide on the side.” I teach in a computer classroom, so I know first hand what its like to be the second most impressive disseminator in the room.

Of course, teaching aids of many types have been available as long as teachers have taught. Gizmos and gadgets cannot, and will not, replace a caring individual willing to take time to listen to, understand, and assist a young mind in need. Our focus as a professional learning community of educators should always be to provide service to the needs of our students, no matter how diverse or challenging those needs may be. While I am willing to admit that I teach for myself because I enjoy teaching and I love to spend time around young people, I am not the only reason I teach. The time I spend in the classroom teaching is not about me; it’s about the students.

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A Day in the Life of a Third Grade Teacher

Laura Owen | TheApple.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:39:00 -0700

Every year in late January or early February one of my favorite milestones in the academic calendar occurs – the day when you realize that your instruction has finally taken effect. At this point in the year It is suddenly apparent that the hard work of the past five months has paid off and the pieces have fallen into place. This milestone just passed for my third grade students, and here’s what happened on that day.

7:50 a.m.

The day started as it usually does: the students entered the room with a slight buzz, checked the board for directions, and moved about the room completing their usual morning responsibilities. The morning routine has been in place all year, and the students had become increasingly independent. However, this morning I noticed how all the students, even the ones who had trouble hanging up their book bag the first few weeks of school, could get through the routine without needing me.

8:15 a.m.
Our first subject was Reading. We just finished reading Stone Fox, which is a perfect vehicle for analyzing characters. Stone Fox, the stoic Native American, says only six words in the story, but his character is fully developed through descriptions and actions. My students’ comprehension of inferences and implicit details really started to blossom, and they loved every minute of our study. Because the novel ends abruptly, our culminating project was to write another chapter to the book. After preparatory discussions and careful planning with graphic organizers, the students finished their rough drafts on this February morning. As I read each of them, I was almost in tears. The student with horrible spelling and punctuation had actually reread her work and made corrections using the dictionary and applied the rules we learned in class. The student who I had pushed to develop her ideas further had written four full pages with beautiful word choice and clear events. Most impressively, a quiet student whose writing was usually a bit immature had produced a story where each scene was slowly developed with descriptions that sounded like a budding author. Writing is a difficult subject to teach, and requires patience and persistence. With a topic of high interest and understanding, and months of practice, my third graders wrote unbelievable stories. I am aglow just thinking of it.

10:00 a.m.
We have just started having class meetings and our guidance counselor is wonderful enough to come in each week and lead these for us. This morning we were focusing on how to communicate our feelings – something that is difficult for adults, but almost impossible for third graders. The guidance counselor provided some examples of “I statements” and then asked the students to try it. We went around the circle and I was amazed to hear some of my students share their true feelings. It was an enlightening moment for me to see how empowered the students felt from using their words, and how powerful the statements were because they started with “I”. Of course, I had heard this strategy for conflict resolution many times, but its true effectiveness became evident. When it was my turn, I shared, “I feel disrespected when you play with materials instead of looking at me when I am teaching.” I felt liberated. This meeting helped me see how to better communicate with my students and help them communicate with each other. I felt I had just arisen from the couch of a long therapy session!

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11:00 a.m.
After a long morning, we headed out to recess. The football game on the playground had become a problem over the past few weeks. Several athletic and competitive boys were controlling the teams, only passing to certain kids and hassling those who didn’t make a good play. I prefer to let the children solve their own problems on the playground, but we had reached the point where the teachers needed to get involved. A wise colleague had told a few boys to walk away from the game if they got frustrated. And today, they did just that. What was most surprising was that others followed, including one of the “leaders”. The boys spent the rest of recess happily building forts and digging in mud just as nine-year-old children should.

12:30 p.m.
In math we were studying fractions. Fortunately, my school uses a program that frequently uses manipulatives in a way that lets the children’s understanding of concepts develop. The shortcuts to solving problems are introduced after the concept is understood. Today, we were working with parts of a group so the counters came out. I had joked with the students that the jingle of these counters was haunting me in my sleep because they couldn’t seem to avoid messing with them throughout the lesson. Today, after the counters were out and on the desk, the noise ceased. I said nothing, but smiled on the inside. After many examples, the students seem to understand how to find the fraction of a group, and were actually able to transfer this to written problems. When a math lesson with manipulatives works in this way, I know that I have taught a concept the way it should be taught to young, exploring children.

3:15 p.m.
The rest of the day went on with no other major epiphanies, but no disappointments either. At 3:15, as I said “good-bye”, I knew I wasn’t watching the same group of kids that I met in August walk out the door. My group had turned a corner, and I know the rest of the year will be spent moving swiftly beyond the point we reached this day.

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6 Great Learning Games to Fill Time

Laura Owen | TheApple.com — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:15:00 -0700

Sponge activities came about in response to teachers’ need to fill time when left with just a few minutes before transitioning. We have all faced those moments, and if you are like me, the perfect sponge activity never comes to mind. The easiest trick for me to pull out of my bag is a simple game.

Although the students never sense it, these “go to” activities actually require critical thinking, listening, and, best of all, self control. Some of the ones I’ve suggested must be played in the classroom, while others can be played almost anywhere…in the hallway while waiting for that P.E. teacher that always says you are early, or in the parking lot as you wait for the field trip bus driver to return to take you back to school. Most importantly, these are fun ways to keep your students entertained and in control.

1. Buzz

As soon as students learn their multiplication facts this is a great game which is actually entertaining for students up through high school. You first choose a target number – let’s say 4. The first student starts counting at one and then others follow. When a student reaches a multiple of 4 or a number with 4 in it, he or she must say “buzz” or they are out of the game. The pace must be fast. To advance the game, you can also require students to say “buzz” if the digits add up to the target number.

2. Going on a Picnic

This game can only be played once with a group of students because the purpose is to solve the trick. Invite the students to go on a picnic with you, but tell them that each person can only bring certain items, which are actually items that start with the same letter as the first letter of their first name. Tell them what you are going to bring and then start asking students to join you. If they happen to say something that fits the criteria, let them know that they are welcome to come, otherwise tell them that you are sorry. If no one catches on the after first round, give a few clues. “Haley you cannot bring potato chips, but you are welcome to come if you bring hamburgers.” Eventually, some will catch on and help you bring the others in on the secret.

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3. Green Glass Door

This game is similar to “Going on a Picnic.” This time students can only pass through the Green Glass Door if they bring things that have a double letter in the spelling of the word. Once you have played this game, you can easily vary the rules: On the Huge Blue Plane you can only bring items that have a silent “e” in the word, the Main Suite only admits words that have homophones. Students go crazy for these and they are actually fun to try with adults.

4. 20 Questions

I love this timeless game that actually requires a great deal of critical thinking. The classic method can be played almost anywhere, but a great way to draw students into this game is to let them bring in an object. Each student gets to take home and return the “mystery box” with an item for questioning. They love the opportunity to answer the questions and show off some of their own possessions. Students will usually want to go well beyond 20 questions to solve the mystery.

_Continue reading on the next page._

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5. Split

This game is fairly advanced and probably most appropriate for students in 5th grade and above, and is best with 4 players. The object of the game is to avoid spelling a word. The first person in the group says a letter and must have a word that starts with that letter in mind, but does not say it aloud. The next player adds a letter to the original and, again, must have a word in mind that starts with those two letters. This continues until someone has to spell out a word. At each step, if a player is able to add a letter without spelling a word, he or she must have one in mind. Other players can call “split” and challenge a player. If no word is shared, that player loses the round. When a round is lost, a player must take the letter S, then P, and so on until SPLIT is spelled.

Example: Player 1 begins with “S”; Player 2 adds “P”; Player 3 adds “R”; Player 4 adds “I”; Player 5 adds “N”; (at this point most are probably think they have trapped Player 6 – but Player 6 is thinking “sprinkle) Player 6 adds “K”; Player 7 adds “L”; Player 8 adds “I” (thinking “sprinkling”); Player 9 adds “N”; and Player 10 must add “G” and lose the game

6. The Sad Truth

This game was actually one I played with myself for years. I have always searched for signs where people have made blatant grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors. I finally started sharing these with the students and they loved it! I turned this into a game by posting a picture of my findings or writing the incorrect phrase on the board when we have a few minutes to kill. The students must find and correct the mistake on a note card. I keep a running tally of the leading grammar busters. The students find great humor in others’ oversights and actually become much better grammarians in the process. Since finding enough to fill a school year may be impossible, here are a few resources that I have used in the past:

• http://www.illiteratebusinesses.ca - this blog frequently posts business signs with spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

• Lynne Truss, the author of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, has written several children’s books that provide numerous examples highlighting the importance of correct punctuation.

• Consumer Reports – Each month the last page of this magazine is devoted to signs and advertisements with incorrect grammar or usage that could be seriously misinterpreted. Although some may be to advanced for young students, I usually find a few goods ones to share.

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A Day in the Life of a Multimedia Teacher

Kevin Bibo — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:43:00 -0800

I teach college prep, advanced, and certification computer multimedia courses to 9th through 12th grade students in a 1:1 computer classroom. Every day is different when teaching high school. There are so many activities, meetings, and events going on before, during, and after school that it is impossible to keep up with all of it. Here is my schedule for a typical Monday.

7:00 a.m. Arrive at school.

I like to schedule at least a half an hour before school to prepare for the day. Early on I would spend this time reviewing lesson plans, writing outlines on the whiteboard, and making sure that all of my lecture notes were in order. These days I use this time to check email, chat with my neighbor teachers, and relax.

7:30 a.m. First period begins.

My first three periods are the same Multimedia CP course. Unfortunately, my first presentation of the day’s materials is rarely my best. Not that I am careless, but that it usually takes me an hour to warm up, and, if something is going to go wrong with my demonstrations, it goes wrong during first period.

8:34 a.m. Second period begins

By second period the caffeine is in full effect and I’m rockin’ and rollin’. I generally reserve Mondays for introducing new material, so by second period I’ve already worked out the kinks and my presentation is more polished and refined. The student are more awake and responsive as well.

9:29 a.m. Break

I like to eat some trail mix about this time.

9:42 a.m. Third period begins

By third period I’m interacting more with the students. Even when I have to spend the day presenting new material, I give the students significant amounts of time (5 to 10 minute intervals) to ingest and digest. Later on in the week I will devote nearly whole periods to independent work time, but not early on in the year.

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10:46 a.m. Fourth period beings

This is my Advanced Multimedia class of mostly juniors and seniors. The kids work in two “production companies” to produce a 10 minute “Friday Show” leapfrogging every other week. These students are self-directed. The fact that their work gets shown publically at school and to the world on the web is great motivation to keep them on task.

11:43 a.m. Lunch begins

Monday is the leadership meeting for the Christian Club that I co-advise. This is a wonderful time of renewal for me as I both get to leave my classroom, and I get to hear a message on leadership from one of our local youth pastors.

12:31 p.m. Fifth period begins

Back to Multimedia CP. Early in the school year I do more demonstration while the students follow along to reinforce the building of computer and art skills. Later in the year the classes are divided into small groups who work together to create their video projects. I have developed a very accurate grading method for group work that rewards hard working students without penalizing them for working with those students who are less motivated.

1:35 p.m. Sixth period begins

I’m going to be honest here, a sixth period class is a sixth period class regardless of subject, location, age group, or teacher: they are tough to teach. I’m exhausted, the kids just want to go home, and after having taught the same thing for four periods, I’m not as dynamic.

2:45 p.m. Seventh period begins

After another 15 minute rest the certification course begins. This class is comprised of 23 students who are focused on learning how to use an industry standard video editing application. In June those who are ready and willing will take a certification exam. This is the first year I am teaching this course so I am learning right along with the students. We only meet formally on Mondays until 4:15. The rest of the week the students work independently on their assignments.

4:30 p.m. Leave to go home.

Some may think that elective teachers work less hard or fewer hours then core teachers. It’s true to a point; I don’t spend hours every weekend grading essays. But elective teachers often work six-period days (or seven like this year) because we are lone riders at our work sites and the demand for our courses is often high. I actually really enjoy my schedule and even though Mondays are challenging, knowing that the students I teach are learning and growing because of my efforts makes the time I invest worthwhile.

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15 Tools to Help You Go Paperless

Paperless students and teachers:

1. Spelling City www.spellingcity.com

2. Tut Pup www.tutpup.com

3. Popling www.popling.net

4. Knowtes www.knowtes.com

Continue reading 4-9 on the next page...

5. Soshiku www.soshiku.com

6. mySchoolog www.myschoolog.com

7. Live Binders www.livebinders.com

8. Zoho www.zoho.com and Google Docs www.google.com/docs

Paperless communication:

9. Sign app now www.signappnow.com

Continue reading 10-15 on the next page...

10. R Campus www.rcampus.com

11. Twitter www.twitter.com

12. School Notes www.schoolnotes.com

13.Qlubb www.qlubb.com

14. Shelfari www.shelfari.com

15. Engrade www.engrade.com

How do you go paperless? Share your ideas below! Related Articles: 5 Best Virtual Field Trips 10 Technology Enhanced Alternatives to Book Reports Top 10 Technology Tips for Teachers

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Setting up the classroom

Rules, rules, rules

What is strict?

Routine

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4. Know their names

5. Bring your lunch

6. Expect to go with the flow

What Teachers Can Learn From Billy Mays

You have to believe in what you're selling.

You have to use it, know it, understand why it's important and worthy of someone's attention. You have to be willing to do crazy things to prove what you say is true.

You have to present it to them with a high level of enthusiasm.

You have to be willing to poke fun at yourself.

And finally, you have to project everything clearly in your teacher voice!

Related Link: 20 Career Lessons from Celebrities

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Virtual Field Trip #1: Smithsonian Museum

Virtual Field Trip #2: UPM Forest Life

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Virtual Field Trip #3: Moon in Google Earth

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Your Behavioral DNA without a Swab

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1st Grade Mrs. Hebert

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Master Teachers

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It's Not All About the Technology

Is Teacher Effectiveness Linked to Teacher Training?

Who participated in this study? 5 Important Findings about Teacher Performance & Links to Teacher Prep Programs Teacher Prep Program Experiences for Both Types of Teachers (TC & AC) Summary: How Teacher Prep Programs Impact Students & Final Conclusion

1. While teachers trained in TC programs receive all their instruction (and participate in student teaching) prior to becoming regular full-time teachers, AC teachers do not necessarily begin teaching without having received any formal instruction.

2. There were no statistically significant differences between the AC and TC teachers in this study in their average scores on college entrance exams, the selectivity of the college that awarded their bachelor’s degree, or their level of educational attainment.

3. There was no statistically significant difference in performance between students of AC teachers and those of TC teachers.

4. There is no evidence from this study that greater levels of teacher training coursework were associated with the effectiveness of AC teachers in the classroom.

5. There is no evidence that the content of coursework is correlated with teacher effectiveness.

Teacher Prep Program Experiences for Both Types of Teachers (TC & AC) AC Teachers’ Program Experiences (Alternate Certification)

Read more. 50 Things to Love About Teaching 15 Reasons Teachers are Great Discuss: What Makes a Great Teacher?

How Important Are Grades?

What do you think about grades? Share your comments below.

How do you go paperless? Share your ideas below!

Related Articles:

5 Best Virtual Field Trips

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Top 10 Technology Tips for Teachers

Government ethics and corruption — 83 percent

Economy — 82 percent

Health care — 73 percent

National security — 67 percent

Social Security — 65 percent

Taxes — 62 percent

Education — 59 percent

War in Iraq — 49 percent

Immigration — 49 percent

Related Link:

20 Career Lessons from Celebrities

Virtual Field Trip #1:
Smithsonian Museum

Virtual Field Trip #2:
UPM Forest Life

Virtual Field Trip #3:
Moon in Google Earth

Virtual Field Trip #4:
Planet in Action

Virtual Field Trip #5:
AR Sights

Related Top 10 Lists:

10 Things a Teacher Should Never Do

10 Things to Do When You Only Have 5 Minutes Left in Class

Top 10 Technology Tips for Teachers

9 Reasons to Quit Teaching and 10 Reasons to Stay

Discuss now:

What teacher made the biggest impression you?

Who participated in this study?

5 Important Findings about Teacher Performance & Links to Teacher Prep Programs

Teacher Prep Program Experiences for Both Types of Teachers (TC & AC)

Summary: How Teacher Prep Programs Impact Students & Final Conclusion

Teacher Prep Program Experiences for Both Types of Teachers (TC & AC)

AC Teachers’ Program Experiences (Alternate Certification)

Read more.

50 Things to Love About Teaching

15 Reasons Teachers are Great

Discuss: What Makes a Great Teacher?