Student Teaching Chatboard

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.....

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

Math

by Mrs. James

Dec 10, 2014

Students, Please email me at: hcps-[email removed]

How the Teacher Stole Christmas-5 Lessons from the Grinch

Dec 10, 2014

Jennifer Davis Bowman writes:

We're all familiar with the story of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and thus, it is the perfect opportunity to uncover the “teachable moments” within the text.

Quotes from the infamous story along with 5 lessons that may inspire us as educators...

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

I really could use some help plz

by Blaine

Nov 30, 2014

Hello Everyone,

I hope this reaches you in good health and well being. I am currently on my last week of student teaching and I am seriously stuck. Sometimes I even feel like I want to cry. I have been working day in and day out, long days and even longer nights to become a successful teacher, however, it seems that all my hard work has be...See MoreHello Everyone,

I hope this reaches you in good health and well being. I am currently on my last week of student teaching and I am seriously stuck. Sometimes I even feel like I want to cry. I have been working day in and day out, long days and even longer nights to become a successful teacher, however, it seems that all my hard work has been for nothing since my current status in the course is an F. I have reached the point where I'm so scared to even write a lesson plan. Let break down my situation to you.

I got into student teaching late, about four weeks into the semester because I had some clearance issues that need to be cleared. ultimately, I did get into a neighborhood middle school that is among the bottom ten schools in Philadelphia. As you can imagine, the classrooms I was assigned was two out-of- control classrooms. Immediately I did what I had to do to give the classroom structure so that I can evidently demonstrate the University Standards for Skillful teaching. I built relationships with the students, gave them praise that reflected their positive specific actions, and even managed to create opportunities for students to help make decisions that in-turn created an atmosphere of cooperative and active learning. Over the few months I have been teaching, faculty and other teachers have noticed a surprising improvement in the students overall participation. The classroom went from a loud rowdy out-of- control classroom to a note-taking, listening, completing activities, fairly structured classroom. Unfortunately, the biggest problem I have is with my Mentor teacher. My mentor teacher has been no help to me what so ever. He lacks classroom management skills, unorganized, and sometimes even curses at the students. It has reached the point where many of the students cant wait until its science time so that I can teach them instead of him.

I am not trying to make myself sound like a Golden Egg because I am not. I admit that i have sometimes handed in poorly written lesson plans and even sometimes sent them in late, but thats really only because I am doing all this work by myself. My university did not prepare me enough in classroom management, especially for a classroom that is out-of-control like these two. Now, that the semester is almost over, I was speaking with my university coach and she told me that my mentor teacher thinks that I should receive a Failing Grade...... This is what really blow me away. I feel so wronged and oppressed, that now I dont even know what to do. I know it would be silly of me to even rely on any type of help from the students voicing their opinions, but I really have no idea what to do. Like how can I be failing, if the class is progressing and receiving a valuable education. What should I do?

mentor sought for final practicals

by tadpole

Nov 25, 2014

Hello all, where may i find a friendly mentor for the last practical in my course do you think? any suggestions of kindly folk in Sydney area who might mentor? many thanks :)