I would like to hear from teachers who have taught, or are teaching, in Nebraska rural schools, such as those near Valentine, NE. I am very interested in relocating to that area, and I would like to know more about how the rural schools are operated, what additional duties teachers in rural schools have, and what are the major advantages and disadvantages of teaching in a rural school which has multi- grade classrooms? Any input would be greatly appreciated. I have a strong feeling that teaching in the rural schools would be a perfect fit for me!
Thank you so much for responding to my post. I am currently teaching in an inner-city school whose students are primarily poverty-level, and who are from very dysfunctional families who live in a dangerous, crime-ridden neighborhood. Although I truly love my students, and all of the students at my school, I am still hoping to find a teaching position in a rural school My current position is in central Illinois.
As far as boring goes, I could use boring compared to the hectic, fast-paced existence I am now living. Although I live in a rural area just outside a village of 1200, I currently have a fifty-minute drive into the city to work. I could use some boring!
I have taught third grade and kindergarten (my current position), and student-taught sixth grade, so I am pretty much open to any grade level so long as it's in a rural area.
If you hear of any openings in your area, please let me know. Again, thank you for your response.
Barbara
On 3/02/08, rural profe... wrote: > I teach in a small parochial school in exactly the area > you're looking at (not Valentine, but nearby). What you will > find, especially with the elementary schools, is that every > teacher has a rotation of duties (like supervising lunch or > recess) on a daily or weekly basis. Pay is not great, but > since the cost of living is quite low, you can live > comfortably on what you get paid. > You'll also find an obsession (even as early as 5th or 6th > grade) with sports, sports, sports!! Not to say that we > don't have fine arts, because we do, but the school play > and the band concert don't usually get quite the same level > of support that the Bball team does from parents and > community. > You won't find much cultural or ethnic diversity, and > children are often quite isolated from exposure to people of > different cultures/racial groups. Sometimes this is > frustrating for me as a teacher, because they seem to think > the world drops off at the county line. > But on the positive side, crime is very low, violent crime > even lower. I'd say the worst crime problem we have is > recreational drug use, and that's primarily amongst adults, > not kids and teens. Most kids out here come from families > that are stable and supportive. Fights in school are a > rarity. Life is pretty calm out here--calm to the point of > boring, but it's all good. The discipline issues I face with > my kids are nothing compared to what my friends who teach in > the inner city deal with. > I don't know where you're moving from, but if you're from a > big city (by which I mean somewhere with a population of > 25,000 or more, LOL), realize that it will be a VERY long > drive for any sort of shopping and some specialized medical > care. Your food and household necesities are available > locally, but you may not have a large choice of brands. > There is not a lot of entertainment, and if you "ain't from > around here" it may take a while to find friends--but since > good teachers are hard to find, once you establish yourself > as a caring teacher, most parents will appreciate you and > try to keep you in the community. > > Rural Nebraska has its plusses and minuses, just like any > place, but if you're looking for a slower pace in life and > don't mind some inconveniences, I think it's a pretty decent > place to live.
Our group needs Nebraska to help complete our postcard exchange. You will be responsible for mailing a postcard to each state and you will receive one from each state. If you are interested, email me directly at [email removed]
I am a graduate student at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. I am conducting research for my master's degree in Curriculum & Instruction, specializing in math. Specifically, I created a survey regarding the role of virtual manipulatives in today's mathematics classroom. I am in the process of distributing this survey to as many mathematics teachers as possible. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Below is a direct link to the survey:
[link removed]
PLEASE forward this e-mail on to any teachers you know who are currently teaching mathematics-- elementary, middle, or high school. With your help, I hope to receive results from all over the country.
Any help you can provide in publicizing this survey is greatly appreciated.
If you are a teach students in grades 4-9, we invite you to participate in a special pilot study for a federally funded research project, the e-Learning for Educators Initiative.
The Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative (inTASC) at Boston College is conducting a pilot study to examine the characteristics of test items that will be used in the large-scale research project and you may be eligible to participate in this pilot study. You will only need to complete an online survey, and administer two online tests to your students, and you will eligible for a $100 stipend.
ELIGIBILITY
In order to be eligible you must: • Be a teacher in grades 4- 9 • NOT be a teacher in the following list of states. (The larger research study will occur in these states and thus these teachers cannot participate in the pilot study). o Alabama o Delaware o Kentucky o Mississippi o Missouri o New Hampshire o Pennsylvania o West Virginia • Be able to administer an online test to a class of students.
COMPENSATION
All teachers who participate will receive instant feedback about student performance. You can use this feedback to assess your students and inform future instruction.
In addition to the feedback about your students’ performance, the first 140 teachers to complete the requirements (10 in each sub-content area) will receive $100 for each sub-content area. Completing the requirements means taking the teacher survey and administering both tests to your students.
REQUIREMENTS
You can participate in multiple sub-content areas (listed below). Participation requirements are:
• You will take one online survey, estimated to take 30-45 minutes to complete. • You will administer two online tests to a class of at least 15 students. Each test takes one full class period; the total amount of participation time needed from your students is two class periods. You will need Flash v8 or higher to administer the students tests. This software is free for download at [link removed]
These requirements are for each sub-content area chosen. The sub-content areas are:
4th and 5th Grade ELA sub-content areas: • Vocabulary • Reading Comprehension: Narrative • Reading Comprehension: Expository • Writing 5th and 6th Grade Math sub-content areas: • Fractions • Algebraic Thinking • Measurement
7th and 8th Grade ELA sub-content areas: • Vocabulary • Reading Comprehension: Narrative • Reading Comprehension: Expository • Writing 8th and 9th Grade Math sub-content areas: • Proportional Reasoning • Functions • Geometric Measurement
For more information about the study and to sign up, please visit:
[link removed]!”
Once you sign up, you will be directed to the Teacher Management Page. Here you can download the files “Pilot Instructions” and “Stipend and Contact Information” for further details.
You can also contact the researchers at efe.[email removed].
If you teach students in grades 4-9, we invite you to participate in a special pilot study for a federally funded research project, the e-Learning for Educators Initiative.
The Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative (inTASC) at Boston College is conducting a pilot study to examine the characteristics of test items that will be used in the large-scale research project and you may be eligible to participate in this pilot study. You will only need to complete an online survey, and administer two online tests to your students, and you will receive a $100 stipend.
This study will conclude on Friday, December 8, so sign up now and participate! We need your help to collect data for this important study! For more information, or to sign up, please visit [link removed]
ELIGIBILITY
In order to be eligible you must: • Be a teacher in grades 4- 9 • NOT be a teacher in the following list of states. (The larger research study will occur in these states and thus these teachers cannot participate in the pilot study). o Alabama o Delaware o Kentucky o Mississippi o Missouri o New Hampshire o Pennsylvania o West Virginia • Be able to administer an online test to a class of students.
COMPENSATION
All teachers who participate will receive instant feedback about student performance. You can use this feedback to assess your students and inform future instruction.
In addition to the feedback about your students’ performance, the first 140 teachers to complete the requirements (10 in each sub-content area) will receive $100 for each sub-content area. Completing the requirements means taking the teacher survey and administering both tests to your students.
REQUIREMENTS
You can participate in multiple sub-content areas (listed below). Participation requirements are:
• You will take one online survey, estimated to take 30-45 minutes to complete. • You will administer two online tests to a class of at least 15 students. Each test takes one full class period; the total amount of participation time needed from your students is two class periods. You will need Flash v8 or higher to administer the students tests. This software is free for download at [link removed]
These requirements are for each sub-content area chosen. The sub-content areas are:
4th and 5th Grade ELA sub-content areas: • Vocabulary • Reading Comprehension: Narrative • Reading Comprehension: Expository • Writing 5th and 6th Grade Math sub-content areas: • Fractions • Algebraic Thinking • Measurement
7th and 8th Grade ELA sub-content areas: • Vocabulary • Reading Comprehension: Narrative • Reading Comprehension: Expository • Writing 8th and 9th Grade Math sub-content areas: • Proportional Reasoning • Functions • Geometric Measurement
For more information about the study and to sign up, please visit:
[link removed]!”
Once you sign up, you will be directed to the Teacher Management Page. Here you can download the files “Pilot Instructions” and “Stipend and Contact Information” for further details.
You can also contact the researchers at efe.[email removed].
Every teacher is entitled to a duty-free lunch and planning and preparation time. Except for a few minor changes made in the 1995 rewrite of the Texas Education Code, the statutes have essentially remained the same.
Duty-free lunch – Texas Education Code, Sec. 21.405 By law, each classroom teacher and full-time librarian gets at least a 30-minute lunch period “free from all duties and responsibilities connected with the instruction and supervision of students.” According to a Texas Attorney General opinion, the term “duty” would include a directive that teachers remain on campus during lunch, because it would relate to student instruction or supervision. Districts cannot require teachers to stay on campus during their 30-minute lunch even if the campus is “closed” for students.
The law provides exceptions—personnel shortages, extreme economic conditions or unavoidable/unforeseen circumstances—which give districts the right to require teachers to supervise lunches, but not more than one time per week.
The rules adopted by the commissioner of education set the bar very high before a district can assign a teacher to lunch duty. Scheduling problems do not create unforeseen circumstances. They exist when an epidemic, illness, or natural or man-made disaster leaves no one available to do the duty. An extreme economic condition exists when hiring a person to supervise lunch would cause the district to raise taxes to the extent that the district might face a tax roll-back election. A personnel shortage exists only after all available nonteaching personnel—superintendent and business manager included—have been assigned to the duty and the district has diligently recruited community volunteers to help.
Planning and preparation time – Texas Education Code, Sec. 21.404 The law entitles every teacher to planning and preparation time, during which the district can require the teacher to engage in no activity other than parent-teacher conferences, evaluating student work, and planning. Teachers must have at least 450 minutes of planning time every two weeks in increments of not less than 45 minutes within the instructional day.
Examples:
A teacher could have five 90-minute conference periods within a two-week period, instead of a 45-minute conference period each day. A district can provide 50- minute blocks of planning time daily, and exceed the minimum requirement, but it could not provide 50 minutes one day and 40 minutes the next.
A district cannot schedule a 7:45 a.m.-3:15 p.m. instructional day, and then give teachers 3:15 p.m.-4:00 p.m. to plan after the students leave.
Conference period cases often involve requirements for group planning or staff development during planning periods. According to the commissioner of education, if a district gives teachers no more than the statutory minimum planning time, the district cannot ask teachers to engage in group-planning during one of those planning periods.
Example:
A district that schedules 50-minute planning periods every day could ask teachers to plan as a group one day every two weeks, but the district could not take one planning period for group planning and another for staff development.
Teachers are needed near beatrice nebraska for summer science elementary enrichment programs.You do not have to be a science major.Rate of pay is $30/hour.We train you in these hands on fun workshops.Sciensational workshops has been running programs for many years and will expand into beatrice nebraska area.Send resume to [email removed]
The International Student Film Festival is accepting submissions for the 2007 competition. Deadline for entries is May 31, 2007. You can be any age to participate but must be a student when the film/video was produced.
Visit [link removed]
Good luck to all student filmmakers and film instructors of course! This is a great way to put your school on the map.
Chrissy Strassburg Festival Coordinator - Santa Barbara 5296 El Carro Lane Carpinteria, Ca. 93013 USA (805) 566-0198 (805) 566-9171 [email removed]]
Spouses to Teachers is a Department of Defense Program available to spouses of Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve for the reimbursement of teacher certification examinations up to $600 from the date of registration forward. Please go to [link removed].
Thank you so much for responding to my post. I am currently
teaching in an inner-city school whose students are primarily
poverty-level, and who are from very dysfunctional families
who live in a dangerous, crime-ridden neighborhood. Although
I truly love my students, and all of the students at my
school...See More