TheApple

Do you find it all too easy to get in a rut while you are planning lessons? One way to keep your instruction interesting is to brainstorm a master list of activities to keep in your plan book. When you find yourself struggling to create interesting lessons, you can flip to this handy list for inspiration. 1. Write exit slips 2. ...

Enjoy this month-long lesson about trees. h4. Week One The real thing. Let's start with real trees, the ones that surround us but that we barely notice. 1. Have your students look closely at the bark of trees on their way to school. They should stop and make crayon rubbings of some of the trees. Did they notice which trees have ...

If you're looking for a job in a public school, you'll need to acquire certification for that state. We've put the requirements for all 50 states here together for easy reference. Just click on the state of your choice and find all the information you need! "Alabama":http://www.alsde.edu/html/sections/section_detail.asp?section=66&menu=sections&footer=sections "Alaska":http://www.eed.state.ak.us/TeacherCertification/ "Arizona":http://www.azed.gov/certification/ "Arkansas":http://arkedu.state.ar.us/teachers/teachers_licensure.html "California":http://www.ctc.ca.gov/ "Colorado":http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeprof/Licensure_main.asp "Connecticut":http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2613&Q=321230 "Delaware":https://deeds.doe.k12.de.us/default.aspx "D.C.":http://www.k12.dc.us/dcsea/certification/licensing/licensing.html "Florida":http://www.fldoe.org/edcert/ "Georgia":http://www.gapsc.com/TeacherCertification.asp "Hawaii":http://www.htsb.org/ "Idaho":http://www.sde.state.id.us/certification/ "Illinois":http://www.isbe.state.il.us/certification/default.htm "Indiana":http://www.doe.state.in.us/dps/ ...

Education conferences are a great way to connect with other educators, learn new ideas, and visit someplace new. Our conferences are organized by date. Where available, TheApple has provided a link to learn more or register for a conference. h4. November 13-14 Critical Incident Response to School Violence "Active Shooter & Bomb Threat Management":http://www.patc.com/training/detail.php?ID=48797 Birmingham, AL h4. November 19-20 Critical Incident ...

"How we teach respect, confidence, and languages at the same time." Jennifer is a bright, confident second- grader whose parents are both well-educated professionals. Yet I often see her seeking academic help from children whose parents are much farther down the social ladder. That’s because I teach in a two-way Spanish and English bilingual immersion program, which I believe brings out ...

Manage the classroom with language that entices kids to learn In Anya's Bell, a made-for-television movie, the main character is a vision-impaired woman who never leaves her house out of fear of doing so. Her friendship with a 10-year-old boy with dyslexia who is determined to help her take on the world outside her home results in a two-way deal. The ...

Don’t Be Left Behind As reauthorization approaches, NEA leaders focus on essential changes. We don’t know how many innings there will be in the contest over reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB), but this high-stakes game has definitely started. NCLB, the current incarnation of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, expires in September and leaders of the House ...

h4. Teaching students how to pose questions is a critical reading comprehension strategy At the start of the school year the media usually raises the issue about the increasing number of students who are failing to learn to read. The interesting thing is, there is no evidence that standards of achievement in reading are declining. In fact, the evidence shows that ...

Battling cliques can be a painful challenge - here's how to help your students get along Social cliques start around fourth or fifth grade and get worse through middle school and beyond. The cool vs. the uncool. Nerds, jocks, popular kids and outsiders – students are categorized by their peers and excluded by those different from them. Students who are not ...

h4. First graders become experts at monitoring and managing their own behavior with these fun, yet reflective activities. I looked up from my first grade reading lessons and cringed as I heard the familiar words: "I'm telling!" They were followed by the two words I hear even in my sleep: "Mrs. Boyyyd…" I had reviewed "good character" and behavior expectations with ...

Once again, we come to the end of the school year. Once again, the air is filled with headlines and recriminations about the quality of our schools and whether our students can compete in the world. Is all this bemoaning about American education justified? Studies are unclear about this. What is clear is that when it comes to education, there has ...

A buzzed-about U.S. Department of Education study released this month found that some popular software programs schools use to teach math and reading are pretty worthless. I'm a chump for any pedagogic tool that beeps or lets me click on animated bunnies, so I was ready to write skeptically about the study. Then advocates for the industry that sells many billions ...

President Bush urged lawmakers yesterday to renew No Child Left Behind, his landmark education initiative, but one of his biggest political liabilities in achieving that goal comes from an unlikely source: his former aides. Five years after they helped craft and implement the initiative, senior administration officials from Bush's first term are speaking out against the law with increasing boldness. The ...

They all voted for it, but that was then. Democratic presidential candidates came out swinging Monday, not at each other but at the No Child Left Behind law. They spoke at the annual convention of the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union. While the candidates received a warm response in the City of Brotherly Love, mere mention of President ...

After growing weary of hearing how students weren't ready for kindergarten, these educators came up with a plan – and the funds – to partner with parents. Kindergarten isn't what it used to be. Just ask any veteran kindergarten teacher and he or she will verify that the demands placed on kindergarten students today are greater than at any other time. ...

h4. Making it Personal In the new movement to keep kids in school, every educator has a role to play. We are in the midst of a school dropout crisis. According to estimates, about a million students fail to graduate every year. Roughly half of Black and Hispanic students graduate on time with a standard diploma, and less than half of ...

Here's an online resource with everything you'll need for mentoring, including a first-day-of-school checklist Are you anticipating your first day of your first year of teaching? Are you an experienced teacher, but new to your school district? Are you a lead teacher, department head or staff development facilitator responsible for the mentoring program in your building or district? A wealth of ...

The first step in getting (and staying) organized may be to create a Personal Teaching Record Did you already vow that this year would be better than the last? Did the summer fly by so quickly that you never even had time to consider making changes? You're not alone and you're not too late to initiate one simple habit that will ...

Being a teacher also means being part visionary - here's some food for thought at the start of a new year Each fall, millions of young people enter school anticipating the very best for the year. You can see the hope in your students' faces and smiles and perhaps even in their hidden fears. It's an awesome responsibility to be the ...