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beegee - Are you middle school or elm teachers?
Lobster - are you elementary or middle school teachers?
teach704 - im middle school
Lobster - first grade
Sher - elementary
teach704 - 6th grade Reading
teach704 - what about u beegee
kim - i teach 1st grade
Sher - second grade
beegee - 6th grade sci
tami - 4th
teach704 - hi sher, kim, tami
Sher - anyone start yet?
beegee - Our kids return on the 20th- what about you?
tami - yes....since mon
kim - I started this psst Monday.
teach704 - yes i have.......4th day for students tomorrow
Lobster - we start tues. with workshops and the kids come on the 29th
kim - What state are you all in?
Sher - We start September 7th
tami - IN
Lobster - nh
teach704 - im in GA........atlanta
beegee - I'm in Tampa, FL.
Sher - I'm in NJ
kim - Florida
beegee - wow! what variety!
teach704 - yes it is
Lobster - i love tampa--every feb. vacation when we need sunshine!
teach704 - how long have u all been teaching
kim - If no one minds me asking, what are your approximate slaries?
beegee - teach704- I started my career in Dekalb Co.
Sher - 15 years
teach704 - 25 yrs here
kim - This is my 6th year.
Lobster - 25 yrs.
teach704 - really beegee?....my kids used to attend school in dekalb co
beegee - 26 yrs.
tami - 5th year
kim - Please excuse my typos, I am tired.
Sher - after 15 years and masters about 50K what about you?
beegee - Columbia Elm- but long abo when hubby was in Law School at Emory.
Lobster - 45K
teach704 - i have 25 yrs and just hit 50K
kim - Only 25K
teach704 - ok beegee
Sher - where are you?
kim - Columbia County
kim - Florida
Melissa - hi kim and teach
teach704 - ok folks i have to finish lesson plans......lol
Melissa - any specific topic?
teach704 - pe to chat with u all another time
beegee - teach- bout the same for me- Some of my years were in private school- so pay was lower.
Sher - Kim where in Florida?
kim - Melissa, where and what do you teach?
tami - do any of you have to do lunchroom duty?
Melissa - 1st grade in Michigan
kim - Fort White, close to Lake City and Gainesvillwe
Sher - no we hire moms
Melissa - how bout you kim? sorry if you already said it
kim - We do not have to do lunch
kim - 1st in Florida
Melissa - hm kim...haev yo started school yet?
beegee - tami- we do our own lunch duty(private school) Public school teachers have duty-free lunch
kim - yes, the 13th and you
Melissa - not till 27 th
Melissa - care to share you first/day week ideas?
Lobster - We have duty teams and choose how we want to cover all duties-I do recess and afterschool bus
Sher - anyone do anything interesting the first day?
kim - I could have used some more time. This group is my worst so far.
Melissa - oh no
tami - we were doing duty last year, our lunch room was out of control... but this year we do not have to do it..yeah
beegee - We do teambuilding on the first day. Kids will make newspaper shelters for their teams.- It's fun!
kim - We just started Saxon Math and Saxon Phonics
tami - Neat first day idea... I went to crossword.com and made a cross word using my kids names..they loved it
Melissa - ahhh
Melissa - i have no idea of my curriculum
Melissa - xcpet for guided reading
Sher - anyone doing guided reading?
Melissa - new to the school district
tami - yes
Sher - crossword sounds good
kim - we are doing guided reading with Wright Group books.
Sher - we ha
Melissa - dont think my kids would get crosswords
Sher - we have all different series
kim - good luck Melissa!
Melissa - thanks you too!
tami - I also had a bag that I filled with five items about me and they had to guess what they were
Melissa - kim do you have talkers?
Sher - Melissa-lots of luck
kim - I have having trouble fitting the reading into my schedule because the Saxon phonics takes so long.
Sher - tami-how did they do?
Melissa - yeah it's a great district..im lucky to have gotten in...but I just talked to my friend at the school i previouly worked at
Melissa - ey only have 16 kids!!
Sher - we use a book called month by month phonics
kim - Mel- 15 out of 25 talk all the time
tami - wonderful... now the student of the week has to do the same thing
Melissa - kim...lol...i know the feeling
tami - I love the month by month phoincs
Melissa - i had VERY social kids last year
Sher - when i start i will have 17
kim - Who publishes the Month by Month
Sher - i love m-m phonics and we use making words too
Melissa - Could anyone share a balanced literacy block?
tami - I think it is pat cunningham... It is a 4block book
Melissa - h time do you spend on each component
Melissa - I've never taught guided reading
Melissa - this is cutting off my letters
Sher - yes you can find the book and any teacher's store
Lobster - i use m x m phonics,too-great book
tami - I do word wall everyday... and then choose a word building act. to do
kim - Usually, about 30 minutes for math, 30 for phonics and 1 hour for reading
Sher - we do word wall too
Melissa - what do you do for word wall?? tap words,etc?
Melissa - I'm so lost
Missy - Hey guys! I am looking for a heading for a bulletin board using a dog with bones. Does anyone have a catchy phrase for back to school
kim - has anyone used the Sing, Spell, Read and Write program
Sher - other activites too
tami - macarena, boogy, kick, ect
Melissa - this is going to be a dog-gone good year
tami - "Dog Gone Good Group"
kim - that's cute tami
akaivyleaf - I like that tami.
tami - We had a dog gone good summer.... then do a writing act
Sher - me too tammi
kim - hi 1 grade
tami - Any one have any english as a second language children?
Sher - yes
Melissa - hi 1 grade...do you have any first day/week activities to share?
tami - how is it?
1 Grade - i have ESL students
Melissa - tami i did last year
tami - I have 18 out of 25...
Sher - these kids catch on quickly
kim - i have had esl training, 300 hours!
Sher - wow that is a lot. Where from?
tami - I need it...haha
Melissa - ack 300!
kim - where are you tami?
tami - Indiana
kim - The training was stupid, it was normal things we do for first and K students.
1 Grade - melissa-we do Venn Diagram with class partners to see likenesses and differences, we will also write sentences strips , "Thi summer I____" and then on the 2nd day illustrate to make a class book.
Lobster - what is their first language, tami?
tami - mostly spanish,
tami - however, I do have some bosnian
kim - wow, that surprises me for In.
1 Grade - I will also be wrapping up a yummy treat for them, but they must ask questions and work as a team to guess what the surprise is
tami - meat packing plant came to town
kim - like the book idea, 1 grade.
Sher - we have a lot of asian students
Melissa - cute idea thanks
1 Grade - most of our are Spanish speaking
kim - Sher, sorry, where are you again.
tami - 1st day idea... I read Oh, the places youll go and then they wrote goals for the year.
Sher - nj
Melissa - 1 grade what did you wrap up?
Sher - tami great book
kim - thanks.
1 Grade - Melissa-haven't wrapped it yet, first day is Aug. 27th
kim - Mel- we put mini candy bars in a bag and did 20 quesstions to figure it out.
Sher - the black lagoon books are great for the beginning of school
1 Grade - tami-that's one of my favorite books
kim - 1 grade where are you?
Melissa - oh ok...don't have any ideas yet...just curious
Melissa - ooooo yum
akaivyleaf - I love to hear all of your ideas. They sound great.
kim - Junie B. Jones books are great!
1 Grade - IL
1 Grade - dido Kim..i totally agree. My kids love those too
akaivyleaf - I've heard so much about Junie B. Jones Books. What grade level are they on?
Sher - leaf-where are you?
akaivyleaf - GA
tami - does anyone use Scott Foresmans reading series?
kim - The are written like a kindergartener talks. They are about her year in K.
Sher - good for 1st and 2nd
1 Grade - in Sept. another Junie B book is released..she's going into First Grade
kim - We have Silver burdett
Melissa - how long are the books...can they sit for them?
kim - Yes, Sher. We are hoping the author movess her on through the grades.
Melissa - Aren;t they chapter books?
kim - They take a few days, unless you and your class really get into them. Then they take about 45 min.
1 Grade - by mid-end of the year some of mine can read them on their own, but I'd read a chapter or two to then entire class during story time
akaivyleaf - Books that they can read daily? For 20 minutes of reading at home?
Melissa - I'll have to check them out
kim - yes,
kim - you will love them!
1 Grade - they are also for sale in Scholastic order forms..I had 1/2 my class order the Junie B Jones box sets..helped get us lots of points =)
akaivyleaf - How many books (approximately) would you say there are in the series?
Ariel - hello all. Wondering if anyone teaches Middle School.
akaivyleaf - Hi Sharon and Juststoppingby
1 Grade - This past year we hada graduation party for Junie B Jones after reading "Junie B Jones is a Graduation Girl".. It was great =)
kim - I would like to try and set up some emailing between my kids and other kids. Anyone interested?
Tammy - I teach sixth grade
kim - I teach first.
1 Grade - i belive there are 15 right now, with another due out in Sept.
Melissa - 1st here
kim - 1 Grade you are an expert.
Sher - anyone teach 2nd
1 Grade - no, my kids really like their books..( and so do I)
akaivyleaf - I don't actually teach anymore Kim but I am an educational consultant and I work with a private school in GA who would be interested in e-mail pen pals.
kim - I meant that in a good way.
sharon - Has anybody been to KinderStart.Com? It like a search engine for teachers of young children?
1 Grade - oh okay =)
akaivyleaf - I have taught 2nd Sher and I am homeschooling my daughter in 2nd Grade this year.
kim - My email is khbaker1@aol.com, just let me know.
akaivyleaf - What e-mail service do your children have? There are about 18 students in the 1st grade at this school.
1 Grade - kim- do you know if Barbara Park (author of Junie B books) ever does classroom visits?
Sher - I have mixed feelings about that. Don't you like your district?
kim - we are hooking up to FIRN, a state thing, but I do not have that address yet. I can send it to you at a later date.
kim - I don't know if she does, but we would be interested in that to. Pamela Duncan Edwards and Mr. Cole came to our school last year.
akaivyleaf - The concern the school has is the quality of the e-mail service. Whether children's e-mails would be subject to SPAM so I'm looking for a screened Internet provider for the school.
1 Grade - how much did they charge?
kim - I am not too literate on all this computer stuff so I wouldn't be of any help there, leaf.
Sher - we had Herman Parrish visit. He took over for his aunt's Amelia Bedelia books
kim - I don't know the cost, our Title 1 paid for it.
akaivyleaf - Ok. When I get it set up, I'll e-mail you to see if you're still interested.
kim - Sounds great leaf.
1 Grade - Amelia Bedelia--other great books!
Ariel - Tammy, I am teaching 5th right now in a summer program but am hoping to teach 7th or 8th grade language arts in the future
kim - I'll stick with the little kids!
Sher - me too
1 Grade - dido
akaivyleaf - Speaking about books... I purchased a level 1 DK Book for my daughter to read to herself or out loud for me, and the book had the word pee in it. I didn't think that was appropriate and was shocked that DK would use such a word. Wouldn't expect slang. Am I being a prude? I taught for 10 years in public and private schools and never recalled such.
Sher - junie b jones is full of slang
kim - Nice talking to all of you. Good luck in the upcoming year. Hope to chat again.
kim - six oclock comes early.
akaivyleaf - it sure does come early.
akaivyleaf - What part of Iowa Angie. I used to visit Davenport, Waterloo and other cities in Iowa when I was in college.
sunnflwr - can i ask y'all a question? What is the purpose of labeling things around room. Ex: clock, door, desk
sunnflwr - i have seen classrooms with labels on them around the classroom
sunnflwr - TN
bigjohnson - memory and association
sunnflwr - does it really help that much?
akaivyleaf - associates the letters and words with the object. So when they see clock, they will spell clock and when they see the word clock, they will have a mental picture of a clock. I think it helps a lot.
bigjohnson - yes it does
sunnflwr - should i use colored or white note cards
akaivyleaf - I used different colors for different items. For instance Proper Nouns were one color, objects were another.
akaivyleaf - I had pictures of the president, MLK, JFK in my room as well as objects.
bigjohnson - where are you from sun you sound like a first year teacher
sunnflwr - TN
akaivyleaf - Those words would appear as bonus words on my spelling tests. Those children that caught on quickly learned that they could look at the object if they associated it to the word and receive bonus points.
Ariel - Does anyone want to talk about writing
bigjohnson - good idea leaf
sunnflwr - the thing is, I had a pretty bad student tecahing exp. (the other tecahers in the first grade dept. were fighting with each other ALL the time..made me apprehensive about asking questions and talking to people)
bigjohnson - yu are an experience teacher
akaivyleaf - You have a question about writing Ariel?
sunnflwr - so i appreciate your willingness to help answer my question
bigjohnson - what about writing
akaivyleaf - I can understand that sunnflwr. Keep in mind that you are there for the children primarily and don't let your relationships with other teachers interfere in that.
sunnflwr - yeah..that's what my college advisor said
bigjohnson - anytime yu need help sun dont hesitate to ask me it has been a joy to help yu
akaivyleaf - Its sound advice. I know it makes it difficult, you think that your peers would be more receptive to assisting you, but they might have lost their focus.
bigjohnson - hang in there sun
sunnflwr - yeah..and i was coming froma private college and sent to a school where teachers used language and name calling that i would never use
Ariel - I am still in school and this was my first head teaching job. I want to teach middle school language arts and am very interested in the Donald Graves, Lucy Caulkins approach. Trying to write with the kids this summer did not go over so well
bigjohnson - ariel have you ever heard of power writing
bigjohnson - if not it is very effective
akaivyleaf - Writing per se isn't really taught in class. Copying from the board, Language arts rules etc... but writing for content and expression isn't stressed
bigjohnson - leaf please let me take this one because i am more experienced in this matter
bigjohnson - ariel my program is very effective
bigjohnson - power writing is the key
Ariel - I am open to ideas. Ok, I'll bite. What is power writing about?
bigjohnson - ok here it goes
bigjohnson - first, there are four powers
Ariel - Also,leaf, I am interested in getting children excited about writing
bigjohnson - on a piece of paper have the students write power 1 this will be their intro . sentence
akaivyleaf - Well they have to be interested in reading.
bigjohnson - next is power 2
bigjohnson - yu can have has many power 2 has yu want
Ariel - Leaf, I had difficulty getting them enthused about reading as well. It was such a let down because I am passionate about reading and thought it would come across.
akaivyleaf - Did they express interest in reading Ariel? Patterning their own writing after what they read? Poems, Limiricks etc.
bigjohnson - let them pick a book that interest them
bigjohnson - have them write a summary on the book
Ariel - Sam what grade do you teach?
akaivyleaf - Since they aren't pleased with reading, you will have to start there to spark an interest in writing.
MamaT - Ariel, what is your social studies curriculum?
Ariel - What do you suggest as a beginning to spark interest in reading?
Ariel - Mamat, I am a new teacher, teaching in asummer program. We had themes each week that covered social studies as well as other areas
MamaT - Ariel, I tell my students that I can turn them on to reading with just one book. You just have to find that one book. Have you read True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle?
MamaT - Does anyone in hear use Accelerated Reader with their students?
Ariel - No. What is it about and what grade level is it for
MamaT - Oops! I mean in "here"
shannon - need some advice from an experienced teacher out there
MamaT - Ariel, A.R. is a computer program that is geared for Kindergarten on up. A child reads a book and takes a comprehension test on the computer. It's great!
MamaT - Shannon, I guess you could say that I'm an experienced teacher. I've taught 11 years.
akaivyleaf - I would say to spark interest in reading, find what they like to hear. Start out by reading to them, even in 5th grade. Books on science fiction are interest sparkers, Harry Potter etc.
akaivyleaf - I've heard a lot about AR but haven't the opportunity to use it.
Ariel - My kids are fanatics about being on the computer. It is one of the only things they get excited about
MamaT - Ariel, where do you teach?
akaivyleaf - online books? what about that? AR would allow them to take tests on the computer about the books they've read.
shannon - This is my 7th year teaching k and 1st. I am completley burnt-out and thinking of resigning...but still not completley sure
MamaT - akaivyleaf, that's a great suggestion. It's also good to find books that interest them that are in a series.
MamaT - Shannon, where do you teach?
Ariel - In Princeton, NJ. A wonderful academics based summer program.
MamaT - Ariel, you should talk to your curriculum director about A.R.
akaivyleaf - why are you so burnt out? bureaucracy? Limits on what you can do with your students?
akaivyleaf - Ariel... I think that writing goes much deeper than a book report or summary paper.
shannon - I teach in NC. Burnt-out because of the salary, and not respecting my principal
akaivyleaf - I resigned shannon so that I could homeschool my daughter. I miss being in the classroom though and having so many eager students. I've been homeschooling for 2 years now.
akaivyleaf - Could you go to another school or another school district?
MamaT - Shannon, I have taught for principals that I very much respected, and I have taught for one that I didn't respect at all. Try another school, maybe another grade.
Ariel - I agree. Leaf, how do you find homeschooling and why did you chooose to take that route?
shannon - I am single and thousands of dollars in debt because of my salary.
akaivyleaf - I chose homeschooling because I would give my all to my students. I truly wanted them all to excel in their education and try as I might I wasn't reaching them all because I didn't have very much individual time with them.
Ariel - Shannon, I've wanted to give up so many times. Hang in there. Another school sounds like it might be a good idea.
akaivyleaf - When my daughter went to K, she was at the same school as I, and I noticed that her teacher was a very sweet person, but also didn't have the time to devote to individualized instruction. I was horrified that my daughter might not be getting everything she needed. I resigned at the end of that year and decided that if I failed my own child, I wasn't meant to be an educator.
akaivyleaf - I'll probably go back to teaching at some point when I'm sure her foundation has been solid.
MamaT - Good luck to all of you! have a great and productive year.
akaivyleaf - Another district might have a higher pay scale?
Ariel - Sounds like a very admirable and well-thought out choice. How do you compensate for socialazation. Curious.
akaivyleaf - Ariel, another thing that might spark writing Ariel is watching the dreaded black box (tv) and writing about a specific show. I sent home TV as an assignment frequently in my language arts classes.
shannon - No, not in North Carolina. The pay is pretty much the same. I just cannot support myself.
Ariel - Shannon, what about private school
akaivyleaf - I am an educational consultant now. I work for a number of private schools in the area in the technology field and my agreement with the schools is that my daughter come to class with me. She has a network of friends from everywhere.
akaivyleaf - We also are very active in our church. I dare say she has more friends than I, and her social calendar... I barely have time to do what I want to do for her activites.
Ariel - Leaf, interesting idea to use the TV in that way. Normally, I'd steer clear of it.Sounds like your daughter is getting the best of both worlds
shannon - Actually , those schools pay less than public. I would like to branch-out in the private sector, but I am not sure by doing what.
akaivyleaf - With the TV... the children are assigned a specific show to watch, and then write the next episode as an assignment. I give them the weekend to do the assignment.
Ariel - Shannon, do you already have a position for the fall?
shannon - Yes. My first little group of students came in today.
Ariel - This week in my program, it was theater theme. We saw a play and the kids had the idea to write a scary skit. We're limited on time, but I did see a bit of a spark in them.
Ariel - Shannon, What grade again? So you will be working out the year at least?
akaivyleaf - It's the same principle Ariel. The characters are already there, the plot was started, they just have to have the spark to finish it.
Ariel - Leaf, thanks for all the feedback, I've enjoyed chatting. It's bedtime. Shannon, good luck.
akaivyleaf - Can you tutor for extra money Shannon?
shannon - Kindergarten. I am not sure I can make it the year. This Friday past, I was in my principal's office crying. That's how bad it is. She told me I had to get it together.
akaivyleaf - oh my. . . I would say you do have to get it together. Crying never solved the problem but can make us feel better.
akaivyleaf - Some people can mistake our tears for weakness and use that against us.
shannon - You are very right about that
akaivyleaf - I would look into tutoring or mentoring as a way to boost your salary.
akaivyleaf - I would be hesitant to break your contract. That might hinder you from getting future employment in educational circles.
shannon - If I didn't care, I wouldn't be crying. Why do teachers have to always be perfect?
akaivyleaf - Perfect? Ha, I'm far from perfect and most if not all teachers are imperfect.
shannon - I am already tenured, so if I left I would just lose my tenure.
akaivyleaf - We are an underpaid, under appreciated breed of people. We have to have the self esteem to know that what we do is beneficial for us as well as our students.
akaivyleaf - If you broke your contract you would lose tenure and credibility right? You just can't leave after the school year starts without an emergency right?
shannon - Shouldn't we want more in life than to be underpaid and underappreciated. When do you say enough is enough? If I gave my 30 days, I would be fine.
akaivyleaf - You have a great contract then. We should want more in life. I am an idealist and when I made the decision to be an educator, it was for self and for others. I understood the risks but have tried to carve a niche out for myself as well.
akaivyleaf - I had the strong desire to give back what I had received and I thought that I could do so with education. I loved school. I can honestly say I didn't do it strictly for the money
shannon - I know I influence my children in more ways that I will ever realize. I have always wanted to be a teacher since a young child. I have a very giving personality and am not sure if an office job would suit me. I knew going in that there would not be a lot of money in the profession
akaivyleaf - Then stick with it. I've resigned to the fact that I will owe someone even in death. Debt is a part of life. I shouldn't say that, but if I have nothing but a phone bill and gas bill when I die, my loved ones will still have to pay my final bill.
akaivyleaf - As long as you can eat and provide for a roof over your head, the other bills will work themselves out.
akaivyleaf - You'll live longer and be happy doing something you love.
shannon - I did not know, however, that after 7 years I would be in so much debt. I cannot go in a store and buy clothes or shoes. I haven't been on a vacation in years. My bills don't work themselves out. They are a constant struggle for me because I can't get ahead-ever.
akaivyleaf - I know it's a lot. I've been there, believe me, I've been there! I know it's hard to have a part time job or summer teaching? Consult with a private school while teaching? I'm trying to think of ideas which might be helpful.
akaivyleaf - I've heard that NC salary's were low. What is your degree in? Any chance of moving into the college realm? Teach teaches how to teach?
akaivyleaf - I hate to leave you, but it's getting late. If you want to talk more and feel that I could help you, e-mail me at akaivyleaf@hotmail.com
shannon - I think a year off would be a healthy release for me. Your point is right. It is hard, too hard. Your torn between doing what you love and taking care of yourself emotionally and financially. That is most important to me. You have been a big help. Thank you for the talk and support.
