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posting check

by Cal-Kid

Jan 8, 2018

The retired teachers board has posting problems. Just attempting to see if I can post here.

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Apple Seed for Monday, 08 January 2018

by Barb S. hs/ret

Jan 8, 2018

Dreams not only come true, they can exceed your wildest expectations.

~ Tiffany Loren Rowe

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Coworkers passing off your ideas as their own

by PREKCATEACHER

Jan 6, 2018

I am a prek teacher at a small private school. I recently found out that one of the teachers at my school has been passing off my curriculum ideas as her own.

This is really bothering me for a couple of reasons. I want to have a unique classroom and it hurts me to know that all the time I spend planning and creating new ideas is being pas...See More

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men52 I just came out of "retirement" to teach at a small preschool that has only 3 classrooms. My adult children are older then most of my co workers and my total years of teaching is probably equal to the total years of the youngest teachers. I am only saying this to let you know my perspective is coming from a different direction then yours.

...See MoreI just came out of "retirement" to teach at a small preschool that has only 3 classrooms. My adult children are older then most of my co workers and my total years of teaching is probably equal to the total years of the youngest teachers. I am only saying this to let you know my perspective is coming from a different direction then yours.

I come from a very different training and teaching philosophy then where I am now. I find this type of teaching as much more demanding time wise due to lesson planning. I was used to setting up my environment each fall and letting it evolve following the children's development and interests. Here I am expected to follow a different theme each week and teachers change things often even daily. I would have disliked this way of teaching if I didn't have on line resources like Pinterest to go to. From what I can see, the other teachers all seem to get their ideas from there, too. I really don't think there are really that many unique ideas out there anymore.

I came from a teaching background that seemed to relish the sharing of ideas for the good of the children we were guiding. As part of our training we adults had to look within ourselves to make changes to be giving and happy people. It took years to drop negative feelings about things I couldn't change about others. Although all of us teachers had the same training and philosophy, even in the big school I taught in, I still stood out as the teacher the parents asked for their child(the school had to drop the parents being able to request a teacher after that like most schools do now). I am a naturally competitive person so secretively I enjoyed that role, but I was always happiest teaching in my own schools where any notion of being compared to others didn't exist.

Where I am at now the teachers have a lot of flexibility to teach the way we want as long as we present a copy for each day that week lesson plan. At our school the two teachers in each classroom share the leading. In mine my co teacher leads for four weeks and then I lead the next four weeks and alternate through the year. After decades of shouldering that responsibility on my own with twice as many students that we have here, it is wonderful. As co teachers we are very compatible, but we found a lot of differences in how we do things. I have found that she loved my ideas and has been implementing quite a few of them during her teaching times. She didn't ask me and to tell you the truth, I felt honored that she is doing so. I think it is because I know my ideas have been so much better for the children and respectful of our time as teachers.

So, ideas I spend time developing for the themes don't bother me when other teachers use similar projects. This is because there is already someone out there in cyberspace that already had the same idea. I am happy that my co teacher is using my classroom management ideas because doing it the way I do makes so much more sense and is better for the children. She said speakers at the early childhood conferences are always telling the participants to do the things I do, but they don't really say HOW to do it. She is excited to see those ideas implemented and working in a classroom.

At this school they keep copies of the lesson plans for each theme in a classroom filing cabinet. These go back for many years. I could use these for my planning but I haven't. However, my ideas are going in there like all the other teachers' ideas after me. All of us have the freedom to look at the lesson plans of any of the teachers in the other classrooms. There isn't a feeling of any teacher being better or having better ideas. They embrace the unique talents and skills of each of us. It's not our ideas we decide on for our classrooms that make us stand out individually. It's the attitude of being our own unique selves and implementing the ideas to make the classroom environment the best it can be that is important.

I understand what you are feeling as I remember when my daughter first started having friends that were always copying her. She was so annoyed. I remember telling her that those friends were insecure with their own ideas. I like to think that adults who do that are either insecure or admire my ideas so much that it is an honor to be copied. I guess it takes an attitude adjustment from ourselves.

Just remember that your students are receiving the best of your time and effort. If more students are getting the same benefit then think of that as a positive, too. Enjoy the rest of your school year with your little ones!

Jan 7, 2018

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Novel Haven't read the previous answers but I would be perfectly prepared to share resources BUT would share with EVERYONE at the same time so they all know I did the work. I might even copy in my line manager with my name clearly displayed so they can see it too. Sharing is an important part of being a member of a teaching team. Hopefully, your example ...See More

Jan 7, 2018

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Apple Seed for Sunday, 07 January 2018

by Barb S. hs/ret

Jan 7, 2018

What great thing would you attempt if you knew you would not fail?

~ Dr. Robert H. Schuller

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Apple Seed for Saturday, 06 January 2018

by Barb S. hs/ret

Jan 6, 2018

There comes a time when you roll up your sleeves and put yourself at the top of your commitment list.

~Marian Wright Edelman

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I need to interview a primary ESL teacher ASAP

by Kimberly R.

Jan 5, 2018

I have two weeks to interview a K-8 ESL teacher and write a 9-12 page paper about my interview. I had someone lined up but she had a death in the family and was unable to participate. Is there anyone who could possibly help me with this? In the interest of time I could just email you the questions and you could answer from home and send them back. ...See More

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Apple Seed for Friday, 05 January 2018

by Barb S. hs/ret

Jan 5, 2018

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art - write or draw or sing or live only as you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

~ Neil Gaiman

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Apple Seed for Thursday, 04 January 2018

by Barb S. hs/ret

Jan 4, 2018

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: to rise above the little things.

~ John Burroughs

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HELP NEEDED PLEASE!!!!

by Maria Pena

Jan 2, 2018

Hello I am an English high school SDC teacher and need help in regards to finding good novels to use in my classroom. The current curriculum that I am using is extremely hard for my students and need to start looking for other resources. My students reading levels is between 3-6th grade. Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thank you

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Cayce Poppy by Avi is a good one and you could use it to bring in a little biology. When we did it as a book club, we ordered owl pellets and let the kids dig out the bones. I think it's 4th grade level. A fun one on a 5th grade lexile is Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein.

Jan 4, 2018

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EXERCISE ROLL CALL - Monday

by Bev-MI

Jan 1, 2018

Happy New Year! I hope this year will be the best for everyone. I have laid off exercise for a few days. Enjoyed being home with dh (ds and hubby up for as few days to give me a break), dinner out last night and enjoyed the "black-eyed peas" for good luck today!

Counting steps tomorrow! Back to it! Let's keep movin' and groovin'.

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Elaine/ret/IN Bev, black-eyed peas sound yummy. Any day. I hope your hiatus refreshes your soul. You'll beer frequenting the PT place for sure in this weather. Men, you'll enjoy those few days at the end of the week. Catching up on exercise and little jobs will feel good. I love your Jack London reference. No exercise for me lately. We had constant and now we're...See More

Jan 2, 2018

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men52 I am adding onto this thread although it's Wednesday. It felt like spring this morning since we were above 0 degrees. I put in 19 miles on the bike and am ready to relax the rest of my he day. School starts back tomorrow so we might try to get one more sledding hour in.

I have three more non school days before I go back in, but I have to ...See More

Jan 3, 2018

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