Student Teaching Chatboard

Aug 6, 2015

Before jumping from one strategy to the next, consider these myths...

The url to share is http://gazette.teachers.net/gazette/wordpress/barbara-blackburn/four-myths-of-student-motivation/ [hyperlink below]

Learning Students’ Names: Fun, Fast, Easy and Important

Aug 5, 2015

Learning students’ names is a crucial first day step toward a caring relationship and toward building a classroom learning community.

The URL to share is http://gazette.teachers.net/gazette/wordpress/bill-page/learning-your-students-names-fun-fast-easy-and-important-2/ ... [hyperlink below]

The Most Dangerous Phrase in Education

Aug 2, 2015

The Most Dangerous Phrase in Education

You are about to be exposed to a highly dangerous and contagious phrase. These words, when used together in a sentence, can be toxic to others, and cause damage that can take years to repair.....

Clearing teaching credential without a permanent position

by Sandra Walker

Jun 26, 2012

I have preliminary teaching credentials (earned in April and June of 2011) in english and french, but despite going to about twenty interviews for permanent positions, some of which required an hour-long commute each way, I have not been hired, allegedly owing to my 'lack of experience'. I was hired by three districts as a substitute, but despite w...See MoreI have preliminary teaching credentials (earned in April and June of 2011) in english and french, but despite going to about twenty interviews for permanent positions, some of which required an hour-long commute each way, I have not been hired, allegedly owing to my 'lack of experience'. I was hired by three districts as a substitute, but despite working an average of 2 or 3 days per week in two of the districts (the third district has given me no assignments, and I feel tempted to ask them to refund what I had to pay for fingerprint processing when I was 'hired') I am not considered to have had any teaching experience. I might add that the entire credential course I endured at a California State University was similarly frustrating. Many of our 'assignments' required cooperation from schools and their teachers, many of whom did not even have teaching credentials because they entered the profession when teachers were in great demand and were given 'emergency credentials' which they have never been required to upgrade. The cooperation was non-existent except for those uncredentialed students who were already working without credentials and were co-workers with teachers who were willing to support them. All of us who were not in that situation had to literally beg, steal and borrow the information we needed in order to satisfy our professors, most of whom played favorites and passed their chosen ones even when they did not do the assignments!

The question I need to ask at this point in my potential teaching career is how do we unemployed teachers do the necessary BTSA course being given to the teachers who have found employment (usually because they are math or science teachers, and not necessarily good ones, or because they were already working in schools before they got their credentials and have simply been kept on). In a nutshell, if I do not find a permanent post sometime within the next four years (since a year has gone by), and since my preliminary credentials cannot be renewed, how can I continue as a credentialed teacher? Is the money we are now repaying on our student loans being essentially stolen by the U.S. Dept. of Education because it allegedly offered us teacher training but with this Catch 22 hidden in the program which was not explained to us before we took out the loans? Or for those who had the money to pay their school fees directly but who have not found employment yet, is said money being stolen? Please advise!!

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mssumshine On 7/07/12, When the deadline looms, you can apply for an extension wrote: > on your preliminary credential. You are NOT the first teacher > in CA to be stuck in this position, so the law's been relaxed > to give you several extra years of breathing room. > > You can't do BTSA without being Teacher Of Record in a school > classroo...See MoreOn 7/07/12, When the deadline looms, you can apply for an extension wrote: > on your preliminary credential. You are NOT the first teacher > in CA to be stuck in this position, so the law's been relaxed > to give you several extra years of breathing room. > > You can't do BTSA without being Teacher Of Record in a school > classroom. First of all, the reflections and portfolio and > other such stuff are all centered around what's going on in > YOUR class from day to day and week to week. But mainly, the > state funds your district's BTSA program by headcount, and the > state won't pay for substitute teachers to do the program. > > So if you haven't found a permanent gig in three years or so, > go to the CTC website and apply for the extension. It's not a > complicated process. > > What the state OUGHT to do, of course, is streamline the > credential process so that there aren't two separate processes > involved. Either you've got a credential or you haven't; > either you're cleared to teach school or your not. LOL...but > then the education colleges would fight tooth and nail to be in > charge of the WHOLE enchilada; they'd love to see BTSA go away. > > > On 6/26/12, Sandra Walker wrote: >> I have preliminary teaching credentials (earned in April >> and June of 2011) in english and french, but despite going >> to about twenty interviews for permanent positions, some of >> which required an hour-long commute each way, I have not >> been hired, allegedly owing to my 'lack of experience'. I >> was hired by three districts as a substitute, but despite >> working an average of 2 or 3 days per week in two of the >> districts (the third district has given me no assignments, >> and I feel tempted to ask them to refund what I had to pay >> for fingerprint processing when I was 'hired') I am not >> considered to have had any teaching experience. I might >> add that the entire credential course I endured at a >> California State University was similarly frustrating. >> Many of our 'assignments' required cooperation from schools >> and their teachers, many of whom did not even have teaching >> credentials because they entered the profession when >> teachers were in great demand and were given 'emergency >> credentials' which they have never been required to >> upgrade. The cooperation was non-existent except for those >> uncredentialed students who were already working without >> credentials and were co-workers with teachers who were >> willing to support them. All of us who were not in that >> situation had to literally beg, steal and borrow the >> information we needed in order to satisfy our professors, >> most of whom played favorites and passed their chosen ones >> even when they did not do the assignments! >> >> The question I need to ask at this point in my potential >> teaching career is how do we unemployed teachers do the >> necessary BTSA course being given to the teachers who have >> found employment (usually because they are math or science >> teachers, and not necessarily good ones, or because they >> were already working in schools before they got their >> credentials and have simply been kept on). In a nutshell, >> if I do not find a permanent post sometime within the next >> four years (since a year has gone by), and since my >> preliminary credentials cannot be renewed, how can I >> continue as a credentialed teacher? Is the money we are >> now repaying on our student loans being essentially stolen >> by the U.S. Dept. of Education because it allegedly offered >> us teacher training but with this Catch 22 hidden in the >> program which was not explained to us before we took out >> the loans? Or for those who had the money to pay their >> school fees directly but who have not found employment yet, >> is said money being stolen? Please advise!! I have heard of induction program at Azusa, Claremon, and UCI extention but they are expensive and you need volunteer in a classroom.

Nov 13, 2012

Alex Delgado Actually, clearing a credential is possible for substitute teachers, ymca employees, assistant teachers, even school volunteers. You just have to find a program that allows "unemployed teachers", and pay for it out of pocket of course. A good option is UCLA. And since they have 100&37; online classes, anyone can do it. It takes at lea...See MoreActually, clearing a credential is possible for substitute teachers, ymca employees, assistant teachers, even school volunteers. You just have to find a program that allows "unemployed teachers", and pay for it out of pocket of course. A good option is UCLA. And since they have 100&37; online classes, anyone can do it. It takes at least 3 quarters at about $2500 per quarter On 6/26/12, Sandra Walker wrote: > I have preliminary teaching credentials (earned in April > and June of 2011) in english and french, but despite going > to about twenty interviews for permanent positions, some of > which required an hour-long commute each way, I have not > been hired, allegedly owing to my 'lack of experience'. I > was hired by three districts as a substitute, but despite > working an average of 2 or 3 days per week in two of the > districts (the third district has given me no assignments, > and I feel tempted to ask them to refund what I had to pay > for fingerprint processing when I was 'hired') I am not > considered to have had any teaching experience. I might > add that the entire credential course I endured at a > California State University was similarly frustrating. > Many of our 'assignments' required cooperation from schools > and their teachers, many of whom did not even have teaching > credentials because they entered the profession when > teachers were in great demand and were given 'emergency > credentials' which they have never been required to > upgrade. The cooperation was non- existent except for those > uncredentialed students who were already working without > credentials and were co-workers with teachers who were > willing to support them. All of us who were not in that > situation had to literally beg, steal and borrow the > information we needed in order to satisfy our professors, > most of whom played favorites and passed their chosen ones > even when they did not do the assignments! > > The question I need to ask at this point in my potential > teaching career is how do we unemployed teachers do the > necessary BTSA course being given to the teachers who have > found employment (usually because they are math or science > teachers, and not necessarily good ones, or because they > were already working in schools before they got their > credentials and have simply been kept on). In a nutshell, > if I do not find a permanent post sometime within the next > four years (since a year has gone by), and since my > preliminary credentials cannot be renewed, how can I > continue as a credentialed teacher? Is the money we are > now repaying on our student loans being essentially stolen > by the U.S. Dept. of Education because it allegedly offered > us teacher training but with this Catch 22 hidden in the > program which was not explained to us before we took out > the loans? Or for those who had the money to pay their > school fees directly but who have not found employment yet, > is said money being stolen? Please advise!!

May 22, 2015

Wait for It… (to Nurture Student's Curiosity)

Mar 9, 2015

Wait for It… (to Nurture Stduent’s Curiosity) by Abigail Flesch Connors in the March issue of Teachers.Net Gazette

If your teaching style were a movie genre what would it be? Try this one...

70 Ways to Keep Students Engaged

Feb 22, 2015

Pedagogy of Engagement - Compiled by Debbie Ann from Teachers.Net chatboard posts is a popular list. Take a look, and be sure to share the link.

Fun with education classes..

by me :)

Dec 25, 2014

I had to give my opinion on the hardest part of dealing with cultural differences in a class and explain why we said what we did; fine :). I said the hardest issue is knowing where to draw the line between "cultural differences" vs. unacceptable behavior.

Examples: I support religious freedom! But does that mean I have to accept...See More

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Nope.. The assignment wasn't "in the classroom"; it was in general. 90&37; of people said "Accepting that my culture isn't the only valid one". On 12/25/14, me :) wrote: > I had to give my opinion on the hardest part of dealing > with cultural differences in a class and explain why we > said what we did; fine :). I said th...See MoreThe assignment wasn't "in the classroom"; it was in general. 90&37; of people said "Accepting that my culture isn't the only valid one". On 12/25/14, me :) wrote: > I had to give my opinion on the hardest part of dealing > with cultural differences in a class and explain why we > said what we did; fine :). I said the hardest issue is > knowing where to draw the line between "cultural > differences" vs. unacceptable behavior. > > Examples: > I support religious freedom! But does that mean I have to > accept that in Saudi Arabia women can't even drive > because "that is the religious rule in that culture"? No. > Some laws are unacceptable. And I'm with Bill Mahr and > Sam Harris, too :).. people in free societies should > speak up against human rights abuses in Muslim countries > that are committed in the name of Islam; that doesn't > make us anti- Muslim. > > I am getting certified to teach Spanish; I learned > Spanish by teaching abroad. But jobs are unprofessional, > so I gave up that career. > > To get a job in Latin America you need to: > graduate from college > > sink 3 grand into a teaching certificate for ESL > > get a short term visa for your country of choice (so you > can get hired) > > fly to your city of choice > > job hunt plus get yourself settled--i.e. find a place to > live > > once you are hired, get a long term visa--completely at > your expense > > file and pay taxes > > This is the only way you can get a job; almost no schools > will hire foreigners not living in their local area. And > these jobs pay FOUR up to (maybe..if you have an MA and > experience) 15 dollars an hour! AND most visas are not > actual work visas that give us the full legal working > rights in the country--i.e. we don't work legally. > > That's not okay because "that's how that culture works"; > it is stupid and dangerous to just move to a city in > Latin America knowing no one and just start job hunting, > and due to this system teachers are guaranteed to lose > thousands of thousands by "working abroad"-- if they can > even find a job. I think Americans (and other native > English speakers) are almost equally at fault for the way > this system has evolved; we are willing to just move half > way across the world to just job hunt and then take > literally any job offered to us. So why should schools > hire from abroad, pay for visas or pay us a fair wage if > they can just rely on gringos to come a knocking monthly. > > Guess what? I hate all Muslims and I am incapable of > accepting that he Hispanic culture isn't just like my > culture. Cool, huh :)? > > This is 100 yypical of the nonsense (to say it nicely..it > is Christmas, after all :)) of education classes.

Jan 4, 2015

Education classes.. We don't learn how to actually plan..we spend whole weekend writing a plan for one day in our class in a way that pleases x teacher; y teacher will demand a totally different plan. It doesn't matter if the plan would actually be usable..we just have to fill in 8 pages of boxes describing everything from what technology we'd use to why this lesson &...See MoreWe don't learn how to actually plan..we spend whole weekend writing a plan for one day in our class in a way that pleases x teacher; y teacher will demand a totally different plan. It doesn't matter if the plan would actually be usable..we just have to fill in 8 pages of boxes describing everything from what technology we'd use to why this lesson "hits" every one of the multiple intelligences.

We learn that 100&37; of classroom management is caused by bad teaching; engage the kids and the issues will automatically go away.

We don't learn anything about how to create grading systems that work, how to organize a classroom, what to do if half the class fails a test or what to do if parents are against our teaching methods.

And we wonder why we can't recruit or retain talented teachers!

On 1/04/15, Nope.. wrote: > The assignment wasn't "in the classroom"; it was in > general. 90&37; of people said "Accepting that my culture > isn't the only valid one". On 12/25/14, me :) wrote: >> I had to give my opinion on the hardest part of dealing >> with cultural differences in a class and explain why we >> said what we did; fine :). I said the hardest issue is >> knowing where to draw the line between "cultural >> differences" vs. unacceptable behavior. >> >> Examples: >> I support religious freedom! But does that mean I have to >> accept that in Saudi Arabia women can't even drive >> because "that is the religious rule in that culture"? No. >> Some laws are unacceptable. And I'm with Bill Mahr and >> Sam Harris, too :).. people in free societies should >> speak up against human rights abuses in Muslim countries >> that are committed in the name of Islam; that doesn't >> make us anti- Muslim. >> >> I am getting certified to teach Spanish; I learned >> Spanish by teaching abroad. But jobs are unprofessional, >> so I gave up that career. >> >> To get a job in Latin America you need to: >> graduate from college >> >> sink 3 grand into a teaching certificate for ESL >> >> get a short term visa for your country of choice (so you >> can get hired) >> >> fly to your city of choice >> >> job hunt plus get yourself settled--i.e. find a place to >> live >> >> once you are hired, get a long term visa--completely at >> your expense >> >> file and pay taxes >> >> This is the only way you can get a job; almost no schools >> will hire foreigners not living in their local area. And >> these jobs pay FOUR up to (maybe..if you have an MA and >> experience) 15 dollars an hour! AND most visas are not >> actual work visas that give us the full legal working >> rights in the country--i.e. we don't work legally. >> >> That's not okay because "that's how that culture works"; >> it is stupid and dangerous to just move to a city in >> Latin America knowing no one and just start job hunting, >> and due to this system teachers are guaranteed to lose >> thousands of thousands by "working abroad"-- if they can >> even find a job. I think Americans (and other native >> English speakers) are almost equally at fault for the way >> this system has evolved; we are willing to just move half >> way across the world to just job hunt and then take >> literally any job offered to us. So why should schools >> hire from abroad, pay for visas or pay us a fair wage if >> they can just rely on gringos to come a knocking monthly. >> >> Guess what? I hate all Muslims and I am incapable of >> accepting that he Hispanic culture isn't just like my >> culture. Cool, huh :)? >> >> This is 100 yypical of the nonsense (to say it nicely..it >> is Christmas, after all :)) of education classes.

Jan 4, 2015

Making deals with students

Teachers are loving people who come into the profession to make a difference in the lives of children. Their intentions are good, but when misbehavior occurs, some teachers will, out of sheer frustration, resort to making deals with the students just to survive. You may find some of the following actions by teachers silly and funny, but they are a...See More

Dec 3, 2014

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Reality check.. I have NEVER seen or heard of an elementary school teacher who doesn't give students "free time Friday" if they behave (and do their work) of have a "treasure chest" system of some type. I have been both an aide in a K-8 school for many years; I have always floated from classroom to classroom. I have also been a floating Spanish...See MoreI have NEVER seen or heard of an elementary school teacher who doesn't give students "free time Friday" if they behave (and do their work) of have a "treasure chest" system of some type. I have been both an aide in a K-8 school for many years; I have always floated from classroom to classroom. I have also been a floating Spanish teacher where I went into teacher's classrooms and done some K-6 subbing.

Know what? You can't teach at least K-8 and even many high school classes with no deal making! Even saying "if you don't want detention, you need to follow the school rules.." is deal making; admittedly students can't just "reject the deal", but the deal is there: follow the rules and you won't get detention. And that's how the adult world works, too.

To equate telling 5th graders that "if you behave all week and do your work, then on Friday you can have free time for 20 minutes..but if your work isn't finished you'll have to finish it, and if you have misbehaved this week you'll sit out" to "screaming racial slurs at students" is insane!! One is abusing children for what they can not change and should never be ashamed of anyway and will get you fired; the other is a 100&37; acceptable way to encourage students to try their best and behave all week. In one case teachers are trying to control their own classroom effectively; in the other they are just being a--holes for no reason.

Even as an aide I make deals often: If you stay on green (we have a color system for behavior..green is good), I'll eat lunch with you tomorrow.

If your teacher says you were good, yes you can help me pass out balls at recess.

I want to help you, but I won't help you with this if you don't try..try again.

I am not just "not ashamed of this"; it's what I should be doing!

In high school it's not acceptable to give kids every Friday off from class just for having 4 good days, but deals are still not just acceptable but an important part of teaching. I am not necessarily in favor of deals like "if everyone does their homework all week on Friday we'll have 15 minutes of free time" at the 7-12 level, but "if you fail the test I will give you the option of a re-take.. but you have to come after school and do the re-take-- and the new grade counts even if it's lower than the first grade" is a good example of a useful deal. Even my graduate school teachers made deals like "if you do the presentation early I will grade it more leniently". That's how a normal classroom works.

I have been a teacher, and I once had a super smart student let a dumb kid copy off of him. I told him "I gave you the A you had assuming you didn't cheat; in exchange you are going to give me a recess (this school had brief recesses in secondary) and we'll chat..okay?" He "accepted my deal" and I convinced him cheating is bad :); he has told me that he's been asked to cheat but he thinks of me and refuses! NO ONE can tell me the fact that I "made a deal with a student" in this case means I suck as a teacher!

On 12/03/14, Teachers.Net Gazette wrote: > > Teachers are loving people who come into the profession to > make a difference in the lives of children. Their intentions > are good, but when misbehavior occurs, some teachers will, > out of sheer frustration, resort to making deals with the > students just to survive. You may find some of the following > actions by teachers silly and funny, but they are all actual > events that have been observed in the classroom.

Dec 26, 2014

Writing is Learned, Not Taught. Here's how

Nov 2, 2014

Students learn to write by writing. E Gads! What a concept! Next thing you know someone will try to convince us that kids learn to walk by walking and learn to read by reading. It is presumptuous to think one can teach writing.

So in answer to the question, “How Do teachers teach kids to write?” the answer is...

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