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Top 10: How to Take Control of Your Teaching

heather — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Occasionally, I repost this article so that new readers can find it more easily. Based on some very enthusiastic feedback, it has since morphed into a book proposal called The Top Secret New Teachers Handbook. I’ll share more as it evolves…

I’ve been developing this Top 10 list of ways to take control of your teaching even in the face of, well, teaching. It’s an advice list on how to encourage respect, and, if necessary, how to demand it as a means to make sure you aren’t being taken for granted.

Let’s face it, if you are feeling appreciated, you will be happier in this difficult job. Consequently, your students will be happier, and quite frankly, if they are happier, they will be more successful. After all, an unhappy teacher’s room has the smog of misery in it, and for a student, it hovers like a stench that affects their own victories. And while it benefits a school to keep its teachers happy, it is a teacher’s responsibility to demand those things that make this challenging job better than tolerable.

I think that finding those tricks or strategies to keep in your pocket is important in any career; but in education you need them even more so. Otherwise, the day-to-day duties of the job will eventually grind your enthusiasm to a halt and it won’t just be you who is affected, your students will be affected as well.

I will be expanding on each of these over time, but in a nutshell, here’s my TOP 10:

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Post tags: 100% accountability, 2008, achievement gap, America's Choice, Art, assessments, blog, budget, Careers, carnival of education, Character Education, collaboration, competition, CORE, CST, CUE, curriculum design, curriculum development, data, differentiation, Ed Tech, ELA, failing, induction, integration, iPods, k-12, k12, LA Times, Language Arts, merchandizing in schools, merit pay, middle school, MP3, NCLB, new teachers, New York Times, ny times, online, performance pay, PI, podcasting, powerpoint, Proficiency, reform, school accountability, school funding, teaching, technology, Technology Entertainment and Designers, TED, Title I, TLN, top 10

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Judging Websites for History Day

heather — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:08:02 +0000

Yesterday I was proud to judge a number of our group website entries for our History Day competition. Three of our history teachers use History Day as a project-based learning opportunity for all of their students. These students have their projects judged in their different categories by going through the process of oral presentation in front of a panel of teachers and administrators. From this group is selected those who will represent our school at the next level of the competition.

It was fascinating seeing my own students through a different lens. Groups of students came in front of my panel, some in suits, and some in the tuxes they perform in for orchestra, to present their websites. The theme this year was “Actions and Legacies: Individuals in History.” We saw websites about everything from Rockefeller to Ho Chi Minh.

The students for the most part used either Google or Synthesite to develop their free websites, which in regards to a competition is a little bit of a concern in that many competitors use more elaborate, paid-for sites that look far sexier. But our kids did what they could with what they could and the sites, for the most part, look good. And considering that they probably taught themselves how to create the site, the students should be commended.

We evaluated everyone’s site based on the visuals and the content. In general, there were notes that we gave that were universal. For one thing, the use of visuals to highlight specific points was an important concept the students needed to understand. Without multi-media, for instance, a website might just as well be an essay. It’s the visuals, the links, and the multimedia aspect of them that make them websites. Timelines, for instance, that combine both primary sources and links, are a great opportunity for visual impact.

In regards to content, there seemed to be an overarching lack of commentary. For middle schoolers, writing personal response can be hard. But what we’re trying to emphasize is that just delivering the facts is not an analysis. And if we’re looking to teach high-level thinking, there must be present that next step of information delivery – the evaluation.

Many of the students delivered the facts, but added no judgment. They were missing the higher levels of Bloom’s. They neglected the commentary.

When teaching history, it is vital that a teacher not just teach the facts, but give guidance in pulling back the lens and evaluating the bigger pictures. How did this figure fit into history and amongst their contemporaries? What is the impact that they made on those who followed them? What is your opinion of their contributions given your expertise in their accomplishments?

Commentary comes in many different ways, but including it is the difference between information regurgitation and true, deep comprehension.

© heather for tweenteacher.com, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blog, Character Education, commentary, competition, CUE, digital natives, history day, internet literacy, k-12, k12, Language Arts, online, teaching, Title I, tween, UCI, Writers Project

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Fundraising Mafia

heather — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:14:30 +0000

I’m being stalked by two of the tiniest, cutest 7th graders I’ve ever seen. Big eyes. High voices. You know the type. They are apparently the heavies for Yearbook, sent out into the wilds of 8th period to swing open classroom doors and announce, “You owe Yearbook $12.50.” Yes, the Yearbook Mafia Family is after me.(...)
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Post tags: blog, carnival of education, Character Education, competition, fundraising, k-12, k12, middle school, writing

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NCLB? How ’bout B-studentsLB

heather — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:14:36 +0000

I’ve been reading a lot of headlines lately about NCLB leaving out the over-achievers and potential leaders in our schools. Joanne Jacobs mentions it in her article, “What About the Smart Kids?” and the NYTimes and the Common Core blog both have touched on this latest Fordham report that claims that the achievement gap is closing, but from the bottom up.

Nobody can deny that this is happening, but there is also another symptom of NCLB that has slowly passed like a plague of yore over our schools, the disappearance of electives from the schedules of the middle-ground students. (...)
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Post tags: 100% accountability, 2008, achievement gap, blog, competition, credential, critical thinking, education, education policy, ELA, electives, equity, fundraising, integration, Joanne Jacobs, k-12, k12, middle school, NCLB, New York Times, ny times, reform, teaching, Title I

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How To Get a Job in Education That You Love

heather — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:37:08 +0000

The Pre-First Step in How to Take Control of Your Teaching is actively seeking out the right school for you.

GOAL: To love where you work and enjoy what you are doing

Too many teachers are miserable. Some of that can be attributed to the difficulty of the job, but a lot can be blamed on the fact that many teachers take what they can get because they are so grateful to have a job. That’s no way to be happy, and that’s the teacher’s fault.

OK, kiddos, it’s not too early to start the process of looking for a job. Whether you are unhappy in your current position or you are a newbie looking at the world of education with wide-eyes and bushy tails, you are entitled to work in a place that “gets” you, and wants what you have to offer.

In fact, the springtime is perfect for those who are looking for the best positions out there. So if you’re interested in being the one in control of the interviewing situation, start now. Looking for a job in education in the spring signals to a potential employer that you are NOT the bottom of the barrel. Yes, there are great teachers out there who get hired two days before the start of the fall semester, but if you want choice yourself, get going now.

Here’s a step-by-step guide in how to get a job in education: (Note, this is not for the faint of heart or for those who need to follow the system set up by the districts. This guide is only for those maverick job-hunters out there.)

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Post tags: 2008, achievement gap, blog, btsa, budget, Careers, Character Education, competition, computers, credential, curriculum design, curriculum development, differentiation, Ed Tech, education, employment, firing, interviewing, jobs, teaching

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Make an Offer They Can’t Refuse

heather — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:45:56 +0000

The Washington Post reported that the Washington Teachers’ Union is “proposing a three year contract…that would eliminate seniority.” This would allow administrators to retain newer but more effective teachers while relocating more veteran teachers to positions seemingly more suitable for the needs of the district as a whole. .

Now, while I would be totally devastated if I had to uproot and move my middle school life into another school in the district, the fact is that the union needs to have some flexibility here in giving administrators a modicum of power over their staff positions, even those with tenure.(...)
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Post tags: 2008, achievement gap, competition, credential, differentiation, education policy, ELA, employment, learning, Math, middle school, performance pay, school accountability, school funding, standardized testing, teaching, tenure, Title I, Washington Post

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Competition in Schools: Comment on Nancy Flanagan’s article

heather — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:09:23 +0000

I was reading Nancy Flanagan’s blog, Teacher in a Strange Land, for theTeacher Leaders Network. Apparently, her hometown paper reprinted a recent article she wrote for her blog some time ago. The letters mailed in reaction to her opinions about competition in education were interestingly explosive and quite “anti-Nancy.” I commented on her article as follows:

This article is dead on. I also think that some of this attitude is well intentioned but very outdated. I say this because I recognize it in some of those I love. It kinda relates to the debate about monetization. ”Why do you post your curriculum on your website?” asks my father. He spends time over Friday dinner fretting that I’m not competitive enough as if, because I collaborate or teach teachers, I am, somehow, not business savvy enough…(...)
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Post tags: competition, education, k12, nancy flanagan, teaching, TLN

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