I am interested in hearing from anyone who has used Study Island for MAP prep. I would especially like to hear from anyone who has used it more than this year and what effects you saw on last year's MAP. I linked it in case people hadn't seen it and wanted to know what it was.
CarrollOn 2/15/10, Jerry wrote: > Now, after a few years using Study Island, what are the opinions > of teachers who use it? How has your district used it? Did MAP > scores show any differences for classrooms who used it more?
MAP scores actually went down. Teachers not teaching, kids playing games. What else is new?
Developed by the American Anthropological Association in collaboration with the Science Museum of Minnesota, this is the first national exhibition to tell the stories of race from the biological, cultural, and historical points of view.
Click below for information about dates and features of the Illinois event.
Has anyone added additional certification by taking one of the Missouri MEGA exams? Apparently, according to DESE, you can choose to take an online test for a fee to gain additional certifications. I'm considering it, just wanted some feedback as to what they are like. Thanks!
I have recieved a job offer for teaching 5th grade this coming school year. I have accepted the job but I am really nervous about teaching. I'm having doubts about classroom management, creating lessons, paper work, and other things it's almost making me feel like I may not like teaching at all. I don't know if this is normal or not, but I'm not sure on what to do. Thanks for any help!
I will be teaching special Education this coming fall as a first year teacher and I am interviewing for a Teacher Consultant position! I am so worried about the paper work that I don't know ho I'll even do at the interview!!!! Any suggestions on how to get over the first year teaching gitters????
I am an experienced teacher and I want to reassure you that we all felt this way at the beginning of our careers. Each school district has it's own new teacher training program and the ones I have completed have been excellent. What is most important is to seek out that one person in your building who is positive and helpful. Hopefully it will be your mentor, but if you don't connect with that person you can find your own informal mentor to give you the support that you will need that first year. There is no doubt that there is plenty of paperwork, but it's not the paperwork that will be your biggest challenge. You'll get the hang of that pretty quick and develop a system that works for you. What's most important is that you never lose sight of the fact that you want to help each and every child achieve his or her personal best. You probably all said something to that affect in your interview, but it's only when you get your own classroom that you really understand what that means. Try to get to know your students on a personal level. Learn from previous teachers which students were the greatest challenge and make it your mission to learn what makes them tic....what their interests are, etc... and make them the leader/helper in your class right away. Don't let parents' get you down. I remember crying my eyes out so many times early in my career when parents were unreasonable or just downright mean. They may be distrustful of you at first because you are new. But if you start the year off with a phone call to introduce yourself and personally invite them to open house and if you communicate weekly with them how their children are doing in a Friday or Monday folder and have them sign off and return. And if you call them at the earliest sign of problems and not wait until conferences, you will do just fine. Most importantly, take care of you. I got sick a lot my first year of teaching building up my immune system. Take time to take care of yourself. And many districts offer free counseling programs that do not report your name back to the district, so if you are having a rough time, use your resources. You won't believe how fast your first year will fly by and you will feel like you are by the seat of your pants most of the time. But you will get the hang of it and if you use your reflection skills as you go, the next year gets better and each one thereafter. I used my planner as a journal. After I wrote my plans and implemented them, I went back in and made notes to myself of what worked and what didn't. I constantly checked my temperature with other teachers...where are we supposed to be in the Math book? What's a really good way to introduce this skill? Ask, ask and ask some more. Good new teachers ask lots of questions and realize that they have lots to learn. Good luck to you and enjoy those kids. Keep a little file of positive things you get...notes from kids, parents, administrators, peers. Pull it out and read it every time you have a bad day. It will get you over the hump. Most of all, make sure that you love what you do. It's not about who has the prettiest bulletin boards with the most clever sayings. For administrators it's about who has the highest test scores...ha ha. But really, it is really about relationships with kids. Eating lunch with them. Talking with them and getting to know them. That is really the key. Take care.
I hope there are some art teachers out there who can give me some words of wisdom. I just moved here from Wisconsin with 5 years of experience teaching art at the elementary level. I have about 20 awesome recommendation letters from former principals and colleagues. (I've just received my Missouri license.) I have been on 4 job interviews so far but haven't had an offer. I felt very comfortable and confident on the last interview I had, yet I just got a call they are "going in a different direction". I know it's always possible I may not be interviewing as well as I think. What is the market like for art teachers here? Are there too many candidates for too few positions? Thanks for listening.
On 5/12/06, Linda Wein wrote: > I hope there are some art teachers out there who can give me > some words of wisdom. I just moved here from Wisconsin with > 5 years of experience teaching art at the elementary level. > I have about 20 awesome recommendation letters from former > principals and colleagues. (I've just received my Missouri > license.) I have been on 4 job interviews so far but > haven't had an offer. I felt very comfortable and confident > on the last interview I had, yet I just got a call they are > "going in a different direction". I know it's always > possible I may not be interviewing as well as I think. What > is the market like for art teachers here? Are there too > many candidates for too few positions? Thanks for listening.
Welcome Linda, I am an elementary art teacher. There are several positions still open. A site for you to check would be the [link removed]!!!
This is an invitation to participate in a totally free event that will take place on September 11 and that will be, I believe, of special interest to teachers and librarians. As we are a public library in Illinois with absolutely no budget to give this event the publicity it deserves, we are hoping you will share the information with anyone you think might have an interest.
On September 11, 2006, the Bensenville Community Public Library District (a Chicago suburb) will present Marion Blumenthal Lazan live and in real time to anyone with an Internet connection. To participate, you merely install a small program (it loads in about 20 seconds), turn on your computer's speakers, then sit back and listen to Marion. If you also have a microphone attached to your computer, you will be able to speak with her and ask questions directly.
As a girl, Marion and her family were trapped in Hitler's Germany, and they spent six and a half years in refugee and concentration camps, including Westerbork in Holland and Bergen-Belsen in Germany. They were in a cattle car on their way to Auschwitz when they were finally liberated by Russian troops.
Now in her seventies, Marion is devoting the rest of her life to telling her story. She knows that in a few years there will be no Holocaust survivors left, yet what happened must never be forgotten. Her story does not dwell on the horror of what she experienced. Instead, her message is one of hope and optimism in the face of extraordinary hardship. She implores us to be kind to one another, to embrace diversity, to always retain hope, to respect one another, and to never look away from intolerance and cruelty. Could there be a more powerful or appropriate message on September 11?
Marion will speak to the children of the world on September 11, 2006, at 2:00 p.m., eastern time. She will speak for about 30 minutes, and she will then take questions. She will be speaking in an online auditorium, and there is no charge whatsoever to listen. Our hope is that thousands of children and their teachers will spend that hour on September 11 with Marion. She will tell a story of courage, hope, and the will to survive. Your students (and you) will be mesmerized and inspired.
For more information, including directions for registering for the program and logging onto the website where the online auditorium is located, please just reply to this message to: [email removed]].
If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to me, Bill Erbes, [email removed].
We believe there will be much interest in this event if only we can get the word out that it will be happening. Any help you can offer in spreading the message will be most appreciated.
Thank you.
Bill Erbes Assistant Library Director Bensenville Community Public Library District 200 S. Church Road Bensenville, IL 60106 (630) 766-4642
MAP scores actually went down. Teachers not teaching, kids playing games. What else is new?