The day has finally arrived...I found a 6th grade position at my son's elementary school. I am so excited!! I am also a bit nervous since I've only student taught in 3rd grade...any suggestions for those who have taught 6th grade?
I've taught 5th. Students are very chatty so you really have to train them when/how to talk, when/how to whisper, and when/how to work silently. I would not expect silent work more than once or twice a day (perhaps some silent reading and writing, and during tests or when you're reading aloud). Teach them cooperative learning techniques. Lots of silence is just unrealistic.
They're saavy about things like fairness, respect, etc., so treat them as such. They have a lot of friendship crisises (moreso the girls, but even the boys) so you might train them on conflict mediation and consider how much of your free time or their recesses you're willing to help mediate or cousel.
Like younger kids they love art, hands on stuff, etc. They will still need to be taught organizational skills.
In 1990 I visited and was charmed by Silver City. Within a year my family will be moving and have considered Silver City as a possible relocation site. But, recently I heard from a friend in Las Cruces that Silver City is not a very friendly place for people who move in. She's heard from friends that it is a town of gossip and exclusion. On the other side I heard that Oprah listed Silver City as a really cool place. Can anyone give me insight?
Silver City is charming. I have been there and found people to be okay. There are lots of hippies, though:) Nice place. Las Cruces is getting snobbier each year, or so I've heard. It's becoming a retirement community for the rich from California and other super expensive/uppity cities.
On 8/20/05, curious wrote: > In 1990 I visited and was charmed by Silver City. Within a > year my family will be moving and have considered Silver > City as a possible relocation site. But, recently I heard > from a friend in Las Cruces that Silver City is not a very > friendly place for people who move in. She's heard from > friends that it is a town of gossip and exclusion. On the > other side I heard that Oprah listed Silver City as a really > cool place. Can anyone give me insight?
Hi! I was reading through this sight because I am job hunting. I came upon your question and I felt guided to post a response. I came to Silver in 1991 to go to school at WNMU which is an excellent University. I have been hunting work here for a long, long time. Your friend and Oprah are both right.....for very different reasons. Oprah is refering to the fact that twice in the last 15 years Silver City has been voted in as one of the top ten places to live due to culture and climate......it is a great retirement town. ON THE OTHER HAND.....your friend did let you in on a little known secret.....the local powers that be do not like outsiders. Silver is an old mining and ranching area and they really like to keep what jobs they have filled by the local families. Yes...it is very gossipy and it can be very negative. I have lived here a long time because it is beautiful and I had money when I came in. Now I am broke...but educated ..... and the lack of work is driving me to look for jobs out of the area on this sight. If I can save anyone else the heart break an outsider experiences here.....well....I will. If you know some of the local families here....you will do well...if not...it is very hard, if not impossible. This all happens because otherwise the local families would not have jobs for their own children to come home to.....the closing of the mines around here have really hit this area hard. I don't blame the locals...but it is the way it is. Hope this information helps in some way. May God Bless!
I have 10 years of experience and a valid license in 2nd Eng ED from another state, but the state of NM told me that I would have to be a student teacher if I wanted to teach in NM. The program I went through was lateral entry program so I did not have to do student teaching because I was already in the classroom. Have you ever heard about a situation like this? I cannot afford to go back to school for a semester. Also I feel like my 10 years of experience should count as some form of student teaching. Any words of advice or sharing of an experience like this would be helpful.
On 8/21/05, NM wrote: > I have 10 years of experience and a valid license in 2nd > Eng ED from another state, but the state of NM told me > that I would have to be a student teacher if I wanted to > teach in NM. The program I went through was lateral entry > program so I did not have to do student teaching because I > was already in the classroom. Have you ever heard about a > situation like this? I cannot afford to go back to school > for a semester. Also I feel like my 10 years of > experience should count as some form of student teaching. > Any words of advice or sharing of an experience like this > would be helpful. > > > Thanks, > > Just Want Be Back In NM
Sorry about the errors. I didn’t review my first draft. :)
I have never heard of such a situation. While many universities here require 3 semesters of student teaching, I did 1 semester out of state and they counted it.
They are picky, though, in what they count. I do know people that teach special ed on waiver can't count the years towards the salary scale-- you have to have the license.
Perhaps you can find a cheap program somewhere that will let you student teach?
I've been a teacher for 15 years in the State of North Carolina and got a tempoary certificate for Texas. Seems like im having difficulty passing the test, but haven't been in school for some time. Anyhow, they want to hire me as a sub to do a teacher's work. I live in the North East section of El Paso and I heard that New Mexico takes my certificate. Can anyone give me any suggestions of schools that I might be able to apply for. My area is 6-12 mathematics, but for the last nine years I have been teaching middle school.
I am in your area! I know for a fact that NM accepts TX licenses and gives the reciprocity license. You can find out about NM taking NC license by checking the website for NM Educ. at [link removed].
Here's my districts website: [link removed])
Math teachers are always in demand. Do you have a Master's? UTEP is hiring lecturers for Math. [link removed]
I am considering teaching in New Mexico after I retire in Oklahoma. I would like to know from New Mexico teachers would this be a good state to come to for a second teacher retirement? I will be 52 when I retire and plan to teach for 10 more years after that. Has anyone done any extensive research on which states have the highest retirement calculation in the benefits estimator. So far, I have found 1.75, 2.0. 2.2, 2.035, etc. I am looking for a state that has 2.5 and pays social security benefits.
I'm not sure what your numbers mean. It differs by district how many previous years of experience outside of the state they'll count towards retirement, and it can be pretty limited. Then some of them have a rule (like a rule of 75-- that is, you can retire when your age plus number of years of service = 75, or after 25 years of in-district teaching). The relatively low cost of living and good weather make it a decent place to retire in general, but I have heard teachers complain about how few out-of-state years can count.
On 9/03/05, Mark Allgood wrote: > I am considering teaching in New Mexico after I retire in > Oklahoma. I would like to know from New Mexico teachers > would this be a good state to come to for a second teacher > retirement? I will be 52 when I retire and plan to teach > for 10 more years after that. Has anyone done any > extensive research on which states have the highest > retirement calculation in the benefits estimator. So far, > I have found 1.75, 2.0. 2.2, 2.035, etc. I am looking for > a state that has 2.5 and pays social security benefits.
My name is Courtney Wright and I am a graduate of Peabody College of Vanderbilt with secondary certification (7-12) in English. Currently, I am a graduate student at Northwestern University working under the direction of Dr. Michael E. Roloff in the Department of Communication Studies with a concentration in Interaction and Social Influence. For my 2nd year project, Professor Michael E. Roloff and I are conducting a research study entitled, Classroom justice, principled dissent, and tenure status: Instructor reactions to perceived unfairness (IRB Project # 0423-055). The purpose of this research study is to explore instructor perceptions of, and reactions to, justice violations within school policies and procedures.
I am in desperate need of a population to sample and thus I am asking you, my fellow educators, if you would be willing to volunteer for my study and complete a questionnaire (the link is provided below). I am very interested in having your viewpoints included in this study and would greatly appreciate your being willing to spare a little bit of your time (approximately 45 minutes) to help a fellow educator and hardworking graduate student. The Northwestern University Institutional Review Board (IRB) has approved this research study and your participation will be completely confidential.
Please be gracious enough to complete and return the questionnaire [link provided below] via email. Directions to guide you through this technological process are included below. Because this is a “snowball” survey, we (Professor Roloff and myself) would appreciate it if you would forward this email to at least two fellow educators, one with tenure status and one without. We will appreciate any, and all input we receive regarding instructor perceptions of justice violations in school policies and procedures. Thank you in advance for your support!
Feel free to email me at c-[email removed].
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael E. Roloff, Faculty Investigator m-[email removed]
Courtney N. Wright, Co-Investigator c-[email removed]
Please click on the link below to access the survey for the research study conducted by Courtney Wright under the direction of Dr. Michael Roloff entitled, Classroom Justice, Principled Dissent, and Tenure Status: Instructor reactions to perceived unfairness. Once you have accessed the website follow the below instructions:
* Read the enclosed informational letter and consent form
* Click FILE ---> EDIT WITH MICROSOFT WORD to begin completing the survey
* Make the appropriate changes to reflect your responses to the questions (i.e. type open-ended responses, place appropriate number in space provided, etc.)
* Click FILE ---> SAVE AS and save your completed survey to your computer
* Send the saved version of the questionnaire as an email attachment to c-[email removed]
I am about to graduate in May from a Texas college with a degree in early childhood education. I will be married soon after and will be moving to Alamogordo with to be with my husband to be. I will have a certification in Texas and have been looking into NM certification. Since all of my education has been about Texas and the way it's done here, I'm very curious about the differences between here and NM. I'm curious about the testing, curriculum requirements, if there are any curriculm frameworks like the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills TEKS in Texas? Is there a website that I can look at to learn more about how things are done in NM. Are there books I can buy? My concern is that I won't know how to do things in NM like I do Texas. For example lesson plans. In Texas we have to site and use the TEKS in our lesson plans. I am fairly familiar with them. If there is something similar in NM that I can start reading up on I'd like to know. Any help will be greatly appreciated. vmm
Thank you rw for your help. I'm still a few questions about New Mexico teaching and testing. What is it called? Who is tested and when? Are all grades tested or just certain ones? What kind of subjects are tested? As for teaching in New Mexico, I would greatly appreciate any pros and cons you might have for teaching here. I know teaching in Texas means you teach for the test. Are there any sort of cons for teaching in New Mexico? Any input is greatly appreciated vmm
On 9/23/05, rw wrote: > We don't have a test quite as "high stakes" as the TEKS, but > we do have tests. A big thing here (and, I'd imagine, all > over the country) is "Standards based" > learning/teaching/testing. Be ready to show how you will > design lessons to meet the state standards. You can get a > copy of the standards for each subject on the New Mexico > Department of Education website. > > ESL and Bilingual Education are also big. If you know > Spanish or Navajo, you might try to get a bilingual > endorsement once you're here. If you don't, you might try to > get the ESL endorsement added to your license. It can help > you get jobs and in some districts slightly higher pay. It's > about an extra 6 or 7 university courses. > > Different districts will use different curriculum. In > Albuquerque, the reading programs are "Balanced > Literacy," "Success For All" (usually at the poorer schools > or ones with bad principals), or "Four Blocks." Math is > often "Everyday Math" or "TERC Investigations" or other > programs that teach both concepts and computation. It may be > different in other cities. > > Good luck! > > > > On 9/21/05, vmm wrote: >> I am about to graduate in May from a Texas college with a >> degree in early childhood education. I will be married > soon >> after and will be moving to Alamogordo with to be with my >> husband to be. I will have a certification in Texas and >> have been looking into NM certification. Since all of my >> education has been about Texas and the way it's done here, >> I'm very curious about the differences between here and > NM. >> I'm curious about the testing, curriculum requirements, if >> there are any curriculm frameworks like the Texas > Essential >> Knowledge and Skills TEKS in Texas? Is there a website > that >> I can look at to learn more about how things are done in >> NM. Are there books I can buy? My concern is that I won't >> know how to do things in NM like I do Texas. For example >> lesson plans. In Texas we have to site and use the TEKS in >> our lesson plans. I am fairly familiar with them. If there >> is something similar in NM that I can start reading up on >> I'd like to know. Any help will be greatly appreciated. >> vmm
The testing is changing...kids used to take the "Terranova" test. Now the tests are called something like "New Mexico Standards Based Assessment" and it is a statewide test, not one of those national ones. Sometimes there are other tests, too, but I don't know the names because they're only some grade levels or the state transitioned to a new one last year.
What grades are tested can change year to year, although I think 3-5 had to take the Standards Based tests. The middle and high schools have different tests, too.
Whether you teach for the test here depends on the district and school...you know, what the principal promotes. I mean, everyone teaches to the test, but there are places here where it is not as extreme as it is in Texas. I have a Leave of Absence this year, but last year while I had to do certain things to prepare kids for the test, I also had a lot of freedom in my teaching.
Pros to teaching in NM: there are some places you can do a literature based curriculum, lots of cultural diversity (which can also be a challenge), a new salary scale that is good for newer teachers (but bad for those with 20 years of experience), health insurance premiums are okay (at least in Albuquerque).
Cons: high poverty state, and so some schools have the difficulties that come with that; lack of materials in some schools; in Albuquerque the huge district size-- over 100 schools-- brings with it some chaos and craziness like large class sizes in certain areas of town for months or lack of materials; it can be more challenging to teach if you have students who just moved from Mexico and don't speak any English (although the district values it if you have an ESL endorsement).
I'd teach here over Texas anyday, but that's because I can't stand the politics of Texas.
On 10/06/05, vmm wrote: > Thank you rw for your help. I'm still a few questions about New > Mexico teaching and testing. What is it called? Who is tested > and when? Are all grades tested or just certain ones? What kind > of subjects are tested? As for teaching in New Mexico, I would > greatly appreciate any pros and cons you might have for > teaching here. I know teaching in Texas means you teach for the > test. Are there any sort of cons for teaching in New Mexico? > Any input is greatly appreciated > vmm > > On 9/23/05, rw wrote: >> We don't have a test quite as "high stakes" as the TEKS, but >> we do have tests. A big thing here (and, I'd imagine, all >> over the country) is "Standards based" >> learning/teaching/testing. Be ready to show how you will >> design lessons to meet the state standards. You can get a >> copy of the standards for each subject on the New Mexico >> Department of Education website. >> >> ESL and Bilingual Education are also big. If you know >> Spanish or Navajo, you might try to get a bilingual >> endorsement once you're here. If you don't, you might try to >> get the ESL endorsement added to your license. It can help >> you get jobs and in some districts slightly higher pay. It's >> about an extra 6 or 7 university courses. >> >> Different districts will use different curriculum. In >> Albuquerque, the reading programs are "Balanced >> Literacy," "Success For All" (usually at the poorer schools >> or ones with bad principals), or "Four Blocks." Math is >> often "Everyday Math" or "TERC Investigations" or other >> programs that teach both concepts and computation. It may be >> different in other cities. >> >> Good luck! >> >> >> >> On 9/21/05, vmm wrote: >>> I am about to graduate in May from a Texas college with a >>> degree in early childhood education. I will be married >> soon >>> after and will be moving to Alamogordo with to be with my >>> husband to be. I will have a certification in Texas and >>> have been looking into NM certification. Since all of my >>> education has been about Texas and the way it's done here, >>> I'm very curious about the differences between here and >> NM. >>> I'm curious about the testing, curriculum requirements, if >>> there are any curriculm frameworks like the Texas >> Essential >>> Knowledge and Skills TEKS in Texas? Is there a website >> that >>> I can look at to learn more about how things are done in >>> NM. Are there books I can buy? My concern is that I won't >>> know how to do things in NM like I do Texas. For example >>> lesson plans. In Texas we have to site and use the TEKS in >>> our lesson plans. I am fairly familiar with them. If there >>> is something similar in NM that I can start reading up on >>> I'd like to know. Any help will be greatly appreciated. >>> vmm
I recently read that a Capstone Course from a college will substitue for the Dossier needed to move from one level to another in the teacher licensure system. I will be taking just such a course to finish my Master's degree soon, and wondered if any one else had heard of this option? Thanks for any help!
I have not heard of that. If it's an option, then it's new. It surprises me. Make sure you find some validation from the State Department of Education that this option is real.
Actually, I'm slightly upset if it is because I did my MA with a capstone course AND wrote a freakin' dossier!
Alas. Let us know if you find out for sure that it's really an option.
Yay!
I've taught 5th. Students are very chatty so you really have
to train them when/how to talk, when/how to whisper, and
when/how to work silently. I would not expect silent work
more than once or twice a day (perhaps some silent reading
and writing, and during tests or when you're reading aloud)....See More