Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Refocus Area
teachersintiaras:
The purpose of a refocus area is to redirect students when they are misbehaving in class. Students are first given a verbal warning. If they do not listen the first time, I (without saying anything) walk to their desk and place a refocus worksheet on it. This signals to students that they are to quietly stand up and move to the refocus area. The worksheet consists of questions like: “What behaviors are you exemplifying currently that are disrupting the learning in the classroom? How is this behavior influencing your learning? How is it influencing your peers learning? How is it affecting your teachers ability to teach?” At the bottom of the worksheet is a place for 3 signatures (parent, teacher, student). I do not always send them home, but I do if it is not taken seriously or a student is constantly being moved to refocus.Really good idea that I will be implementing.
Okay! So, that all is pretty common. I think the best part is the actual refocus area! It is a tri-fold display board that is painted blue (calming) with clouds (I am blessed to have a very creative family that helps me out!). Then the 1st week of school I ask students to brainstorm different quotes or words of encouragement that they would like to hear or have someone say to them when they were having a difficult time. (Students DO NOT know that this is for the refocus area!) Then, once they are finished I create a collage on the refocus board! That way, when students are sitting there, filling out the worksheet and chilling out— they get to be silently encouraged by their peers!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Vision Boards
“A vision board (also called a Treasure Map or a Visual Explorer or Creativity Collage) is typically a poster board on which you paste or collage images that you’ve torn out from various magazines. It’s simple.
The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires.”
From Christine Kane's blog
This will be my kids first week of school activity. The goal will be for them to use the boards as reminders of what they want to accomplish during the year. This will be a fluid activity and new boards will be created through out the year. I want them to understand that it's okay that your dreams and desires might change.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
You Just Never Know!
This story was read to us at the Teacher Appreciation luncheon this afternoon. I couldn’t find the entire story online, but here is a part of it. I think it made all of us cry.
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. “Really?” she heard whispered. “I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!” and, “I didn’t know others liked me so much.” were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn’t matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose.The students were happy with themselves and one another.
That group of students moved on. Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student.
She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature. The church was packed! with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her.
Were you Mark’s math teacher?” he asked. She nodded: “yes.”
Then he said: “Mark talked about you a lot.”
After the funeral, most of Mark’s former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark’s mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.
“We want to show you something,” his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. “They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.”
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark’s classmates had said about him.
“Thank you so much for doing that,” Mark’s mother said. “As you can see, Mark treasured it.”
All of Mark’s former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, “I still have my list It’s in the top drawer of my desk at home.”
Chuck’s wife said, “Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.”
I have mine too,” Marilyn said. “It’s in my diary.”
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. “I carry this with me at all times, ” Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: “I think we all saved our lists.”
That’s when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don’t know when that one day will be.
Remember, you reap what you sow, what you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. “Really?” she heard whispered. “I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!” and, “I didn’t know others liked me so much.” were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn’t matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose.The students were happy with themselves and one another.
That group of students moved on. Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student.
She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature. The church was packed! with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her.
Were you Mark’s math teacher?” he asked. She nodded: “yes.”
Then he said: “Mark talked about you a lot.”
After the funeral, most of Mark’s former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark’s mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.
“We want to show you something,” his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. “They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.”
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark’s classmates had said about him.
“Thank you so much for doing that,” Mark’s mother said. “As you can see, Mark treasured it.”
All of Mark’s former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, “I still have my list It’s in the top drawer of my desk at home.”
Chuck’s wife said, “Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.”
I have mine too,” Marilyn said. “It’s in my diary.”
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. “I carry this with me at all times, ” Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: “I think we all saved our lists.”
That’s when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don’t know when that one day will be.
Remember, you reap what you sow, what you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
Courtesy of http://allyreinovated.tumblr.com
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Good information on using interactive notebooks in the classroom.
Overview for Interactive Notebook
Left Side
Student Process New Ideas
Right Side
Teacher Provides New Information
• Reorganize new information in creative
formats
• Express opinions and feelings
• Explore new ideas
• Class notes
• Discussion notes
• Reading notes
• Handouts with new information
Materials Needed – colored pencils and markers, scissors, glue stick, rulers, etc.
Interactive Notebook
Notebooks have a “left-side, right-side” orientation to help students record, organize, and process new
information. Much of the classroom and homework will be done in the interactive notebook.
Left-Hand Side Right-Hand Side
The left side of the notebook (the “output” side) is
primarily used for processing new ideas. Students work
out an understanding of new material by using
illustrations, diagrams, flow charts, poetry, colors,
matrices, cartoons, etc. Students explore their opinions
and clarify their values on controversial issues, wonder
about “what if” hypothetical situations, and ask
questions about new ideas. They also express their
feelings and reactions to activities that tap into
intrapersonal learning. And they review what they have
learned and preview what they will learning. By doing
so, students are encouraged to see how individual
lessons fit into the larger context of a unit.
The left side of the notebook
• Stresses that writing down lecture notes does not mean
students have learned the information. They must
actively do something with the information before the
internalize it.
• Clearly indicates which ideas are the teacher’s and
which are the student’s. Everything on the left side is
are student ideas and belong to the student.
• Gives students permission to be playful and
experimental since they know the left side is their page
and they will not be interfering with class notes.
• Allows students to use various learning styles to
process social studies information.
The right side of the notebook (the
“input” side) is used for recording class
notes, discussion notes, and reading
notes. Typically, all “testable”
information is found here. Historical
information can be organized in the
form of traditional outline notes.
However, the right side of the notebook
is also an excellent place for the teacher
to model how to think graphically by
using illustrated outlines, flow charts,
annotated slides, T-charts, and other
graphic organizers.
Handouts with new information also go
on the right side.
The right side of the notebook
• Is where the teacher organizes a
common set of information that all
students must know.
• Gives students the “essentials” of
the social studies content.
• Provides the teacher with an
opportunity to model for students
how to think graphically. There are
many visual ways to organize
historical information that enhance
understanding.
Why Interactive Notebooks engage students:
• Students use both their visual and linguistic intelligences. The left side of the notebooks allows
visual learners to use their best medium to explore and share ideas, and encourages nonvisual
learners to become more proficient with graphic approaches in a nonthreatening way. Both types of
learners will work with their writing skills.
• Note taking becomes an active process. These notebooks invite students to become engaged in their
learning. Students will spend some time passively recording ideas from a lecture or the board, but
most of their time doing something with ideas-putting them into their own words, searching for
implication or assumptions, transforming words into visuals, finding the main point of a political
cartoon, etc. This is especially true of the left side of the notebook, which is reserved for their active
exploration of social studies ideas.
• Notebooks help students to systematically organize as they learn. With the teacher’s
encouragement, students can used their notebooks to record ideas about every activity they engage
in during a unit. Have them use a variety of organization techniques-topic headings, colored
highlights, different writing styles-to synthesize historical concepts and make coherence of what
they learn. The notebook permits assignments to be kept together in a regular place and in logical
order.
• Notebooks become a portfolio on individual learning. These personal, creative notebooks become a
record of each student’s growth. The teacher, students, and even parents can review a student’s
progress in writing, illustrating, recording, thinking, and organization skills.
Components of Interactive Notebooks:
• Cover – encourage students to create colorful covers that reflect the topics and themes that are being
learned. This makes the notebooks their own creation that they can take pride in; it also reduces the
number of lost notebooks throughout the school year.
• Student Guidelines – decide in advance what students should have in their notebooks and clearly
communicate those expectations. Most teachers create a list of criteria, e.g. when the notebooks will
be graded, the criteria for grading, what percentage the notebook will count for the social studies
grade will by the notebook. Ask students to attach that list to the inside cover of their notebooks.
Some teachers also include directions for specific types of notebook assignments, class rules, and
their grading policy.
• Table of Contents – have students create a running table of contents for their notebooks. In addition
to the list of assignments they have to complete, the teacher may also add comments or scores for
each assignment. This will help the teacher when it comes time to grade the notebooks.
• Author Page – let students create a page about themselves at the front of their notebooks. The
author page could include a photograph and personal information such as age, height, favorite foods,
and family members. Personalizing the notebooks helps to ensure that very few will get lost.
• Work in Progress – ask students to tape of staple a manila envelope to the inside of the back cover
of the notebooks as a place to keep “work in progress.” Once an assignment is completed, then it
can be placed in the appropriate place in the notebook.
• Grading – create a system that allows the teacher to easily grade the notebooks every grading
period.
• Lost and Found – keep a master copy so that if a student does lose a notebook, he can review the
master notebook so determine what needs to be redone. The master copy can also be used by
students who were absent or pulled out of class during the class period.
Ideas for Interactive Student Notebooks
(from History Alive)
1. Advertisements – design advertisements to represent migration, settlement, or the significance of a
specific site.
2. Annotated Classroom Maps – create annotated classroom maps after Experiential Exercises to
show how classroom experiences relate to historical situations.
3. Annotated Illustrations – make annotated illustrations to recount a story of travel or migration, to
represent a moment in time, or to label architectural features.
4. Annotated Slides – use simple sketches of powerful images, accompanied by annotations, to help
students understand difficult content.
5. Book or Compact Disk Covers – design book or compact disk covers to highlight and illustrate
important concepts.
6. Caricatures – draw caricatures to present the main characteristics of a group in history or how an
individual or group was perceived by another group.
7. Eulogies – write eulogies to extol the virtues of prominent historical figures or civilizations.
8. Facial Expressions – draw facial expressions to summarize the feelings of groups who have
different perspectives on a single event.
9. Flow Charts – create flow charts to show causal relationships or to show steps in a sequence.
10. Forms of Poetry – write various forms of poetry to describe a person, place, event, or feeling of a
moment.
11. Historical Journals – assume the role of a historical figure to keep a journal that recounts the
figure’s feelings and experiences in language of the era.
12. Illustrated Dictionary Entries – explain key terms by created illustrated dictionary entries. Write a
definition, provide a synonym and an antonym, and draw an illustration to represent each term.
13. Illustrated Outlines – use simple drawings and symbols to graphically highlight or organize class
notes.
14. Illustrated Proverbs – create illustrated proverbs to explain complex concepts.
15. Illustrated Timelines – create illustrated timelines to sequence a series of events in chronological
order.
16. Invitations – design invitations that highlight the main goals and key facts of important historical
events.
17. Making Connections Outside the Classroom – after completing an activity, find examples outside
of class of the topic or concept studied.
18. Metaphorical Representations – create metaphorical representations to explain difficult or abstract
historical concepts.
19. Mind Notes – draw and label outlines of the heads of important historical figures. Fill in the
outline with quotations and paraphrased thoughts from the figure.
20. Mosaics – synthesize information from a broad content area by creating mosaics. Use visuals and
words to represent similarities, differences, and important concepts.
21. Perspective Pieces – design drawings or write newspaper articles to represent different
perspectives on controversial figures, events, and concepts.
22. Pictowords – create pictowords (symbolic representations of words or phrases that show their
meaning) to help define difficult concepts.
23. Political Cartoons and Comic Strips – create political cartoons and comic strips to provide social
or political commentary on important historical events.
24. Postcards – after studying specific content, write postcards to summarize information about places
or events.
25. Posters – draw posters to emphasize key points about political ideas, a political figure’s point of
view, or reasons behind important historical events.
26. Provocative Statements – have students react to provocative statements to introduce historical
themes or to critically assess a historical period.
27. Report Card – used graded evaluations to assess the policies of leaders or governments.
28. Sensory Figures – create sensory figures (simple drawings of prominent historical figures with
descriptions of what they might be seeing, hearing, saying, feeling, or doing) to show the thoughts,
feelings, and experiences of historical figures.
29. Spectrums – place information on spectrums to show multiple perspectives on a topic or to express
an opinion about an issue.
30. Spoke Diagrams – create spoke diagrams as a visual alternative to outlining.
31. T-Charts – create T-charts to compare classroom experiences with historical details, to look at
advantages and disadvantages of a topic, or to compare and contrast two different items.
32. Venn Diagrams – create Venn diagrams to compare and contrast people, concepts, places, or
groups.
33. “What If?” Statements – use “what if?” statements to apply newfound knowledge to hypothetical
historical situations.
Left Side
Student Process New Ideas
Right Side
Teacher Provides New Information
• Reorganize new information in creative
formats
• Express opinions and feelings
• Explore new ideas
• Class notes
• Discussion notes
• Reading notes
• Handouts with new information
Materials Needed – colored pencils and markers, scissors, glue stick, rulers, etc.
Interactive Notebook
Notebooks have a “left-side, right-side” orientation to help students record, organize, and process new
information. Much of the classroom and homework will be done in the interactive notebook.
Left-Hand Side Right-Hand Side
The left side of the notebook (the “output” side) is
primarily used for processing new ideas. Students work
out an understanding of new material by using
illustrations, diagrams, flow charts, poetry, colors,
matrices, cartoons, etc. Students explore their opinions
and clarify their values on controversial issues, wonder
about “what if” hypothetical situations, and ask
questions about new ideas. They also express their
feelings and reactions to activities that tap into
intrapersonal learning. And they review what they have
learned and preview what they will learning. By doing
so, students are encouraged to see how individual
lessons fit into the larger context of a unit.
The left side of the notebook
• Stresses that writing down lecture notes does not mean
students have learned the information. They must
actively do something with the information before the
internalize it.
• Clearly indicates which ideas are the teacher’s and
which are the student’s. Everything on the left side is
are student ideas and belong to the student.
• Gives students permission to be playful and
experimental since they know the left side is their page
and they will not be interfering with class notes.
• Allows students to use various learning styles to
process social studies information.
The right side of the notebook (the
“input” side) is used for recording class
notes, discussion notes, and reading
notes. Typically, all “testable”
information is found here. Historical
information can be organized in the
form of traditional outline notes.
However, the right side of the notebook
is also an excellent place for the teacher
to model how to think graphically by
using illustrated outlines, flow charts,
annotated slides, T-charts, and other
graphic organizers.
Handouts with new information also go
on the right side.
The right side of the notebook
• Is where the teacher organizes a
common set of information that all
students must know.
• Gives students the “essentials” of
the social studies content.
• Provides the teacher with an
opportunity to model for students
how to think graphically. There are
many visual ways to organize
historical information that enhance
understanding.
Why Interactive Notebooks engage students:
• Students use both their visual and linguistic intelligences. The left side of the notebooks allows
visual learners to use their best medium to explore and share ideas, and encourages nonvisual
learners to become more proficient with graphic approaches in a nonthreatening way. Both types of
learners will work with their writing skills.
• Note taking becomes an active process. These notebooks invite students to become engaged in their
learning. Students will spend some time passively recording ideas from a lecture or the board, but
most of their time doing something with ideas-putting them into their own words, searching for
implication or assumptions, transforming words into visuals, finding the main point of a political
cartoon, etc. This is especially true of the left side of the notebook, which is reserved for their active
exploration of social studies ideas.
• Notebooks help students to systematically organize as they learn. With the teacher’s
encouragement, students can used their notebooks to record ideas about every activity they engage
in during a unit. Have them use a variety of organization techniques-topic headings, colored
highlights, different writing styles-to synthesize historical concepts and make coherence of what
they learn. The notebook permits assignments to be kept together in a regular place and in logical
order.
• Notebooks become a portfolio on individual learning. These personal, creative notebooks become a
record of each student’s growth. The teacher, students, and even parents can review a student’s
progress in writing, illustrating, recording, thinking, and organization skills.
Components of Interactive Notebooks:
• Cover – encourage students to create colorful covers that reflect the topics and themes that are being
learned. This makes the notebooks their own creation that they can take pride in; it also reduces the
number of lost notebooks throughout the school year.
• Student Guidelines – decide in advance what students should have in their notebooks and clearly
communicate those expectations. Most teachers create a list of criteria, e.g. when the notebooks will
be graded, the criteria for grading, what percentage the notebook will count for the social studies
grade will by the notebook. Ask students to attach that list to the inside cover of their notebooks.
Some teachers also include directions for specific types of notebook assignments, class rules, and
their grading policy.
• Table of Contents – have students create a running table of contents for their notebooks. In addition
to the list of assignments they have to complete, the teacher may also add comments or scores for
each assignment. This will help the teacher when it comes time to grade the notebooks.
• Author Page – let students create a page about themselves at the front of their notebooks. The
author page could include a photograph and personal information such as age, height, favorite foods,
and family members. Personalizing the notebooks helps to ensure that very few will get lost.
• Work in Progress – ask students to tape of staple a manila envelope to the inside of the back cover
of the notebooks as a place to keep “work in progress.” Once an assignment is completed, then it
can be placed in the appropriate place in the notebook.
• Grading – create a system that allows the teacher to easily grade the notebooks every grading
period.
• Lost and Found – keep a master copy so that if a student does lose a notebook, he can review the
master notebook so determine what needs to be redone. The master copy can also be used by
students who were absent or pulled out of class during the class period.
Ideas for Interactive Student Notebooks
(from History Alive)
1. Advertisements – design advertisements to represent migration, settlement, or the significance of a
specific site.
2. Annotated Classroom Maps – create annotated classroom maps after Experiential Exercises to
show how classroom experiences relate to historical situations.
3. Annotated Illustrations – make annotated illustrations to recount a story of travel or migration, to
represent a moment in time, or to label architectural features.
4. Annotated Slides – use simple sketches of powerful images, accompanied by annotations, to help
students understand difficult content.
5. Book or Compact Disk Covers – design book or compact disk covers to highlight and illustrate
important concepts.
6. Caricatures – draw caricatures to present the main characteristics of a group in history or how an
individual or group was perceived by another group.
7. Eulogies – write eulogies to extol the virtues of prominent historical figures or civilizations.
8. Facial Expressions – draw facial expressions to summarize the feelings of groups who have
different perspectives on a single event.
9. Flow Charts – create flow charts to show causal relationships or to show steps in a sequence.
10. Forms of Poetry – write various forms of poetry to describe a person, place, event, or feeling of a
moment.
11. Historical Journals – assume the role of a historical figure to keep a journal that recounts the
figure’s feelings and experiences in language of the era.
12. Illustrated Dictionary Entries – explain key terms by created illustrated dictionary entries. Write a
definition, provide a synonym and an antonym, and draw an illustration to represent each term.
13. Illustrated Outlines – use simple drawings and symbols to graphically highlight or organize class
notes.
14. Illustrated Proverbs – create illustrated proverbs to explain complex concepts.
15. Illustrated Timelines – create illustrated timelines to sequence a series of events in chronological
order.
16. Invitations – design invitations that highlight the main goals and key facts of important historical
events.
17. Making Connections Outside the Classroom – after completing an activity, find examples outside
of class of the topic or concept studied.
18. Metaphorical Representations – create metaphorical representations to explain difficult or abstract
historical concepts.
19. Mind Notes – draw and label outlines of the heads of important historical figures. Fill in the
outline with quotations and paraphrased thoughts from the figure.
20. Mosaics – synthesize information from a broad content area by creating mosaics. Use visuals and
words to represent similarities, differences, and important concepts.
21. Perspective Pieces – design drawings or write newspaper articles to represent different
perspectives on controversial figures, events, and concepts.
22. Pictowords – create pictowords (symbolic representations of words or phrases that show their
meaning) to help define difficult concepts.
23. Political Cartoons and Comic Strips – create political cartoons and comic strips to provide social
or political commentary on important historical events.
24. Postcards – after studying specific content, write postcards to summarize information about places
or events.
25. Posters – draw posters to emphasize key points about political ideas, a political figure’s point of
view, or reasons behind important historical events.
26. Provocative Statements – have students react to provocative statements to introduce historical
themes or to critically assess a historical period.
27. Report Card – used graded evaluations to assess the policies of leaders or governments.
28. Sensory Figures – create sensory figures (simple drawings of prominent historical figures with
descriptions of what they might be seeing, hearing, saying, feeling, or doing) to show the thoughts,
feelings, and experiences of historical figures.
29. Spectrums – place information on spectrums to show multiple perspectives on a topic or to express
an opinion about an issue.
30. Spoke Diagrams – create spoke diagrams as a visual alternative to outlining.
31. T-Charts – create T-charts to compare classroom experiences with historical details, to look at
advantages and disadvantages of a topic, or to compare and contrast two different items.
32. Venn Diagrams – create Venn diagrams to compare and contrast people, concepts, places, or
groups.
33. “What If?” Statements – use “what if?” statements to apply newfound knowledge to hypothetical
historical situations.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
What I Know
I care about my kids
Sometimes they will lie about what happened during the day
I care about my kids
There is a lack of parental support; therefore I will be buying the supplies and any snacks
I care about my kids
They don't always care about the academics or understand the life lessons I am trying to teach them
I care about my kids
They can be rude to me and their classmates
I care about my kids
There moods, especially the girls are always changing
I care about my kids
Testing sucks the life out of all us
At the end of August, my heart beats a little faster and my palms get sweaty
I care about my kids
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Some Days!
For Teacher Appreciation Week, I got an apple and this beautiful wind chime. My student was soooo excited to give it to me. He started talking about my surprise on Wednesday. This morning he made me close my eyes and hold out my hand, then he gently put the handle of the bag on on fingers. When I opened my eyes, he had this big grin on his face.
Some days make it all worth while!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tumblr
Tumblr: "On Tuesday, Skype launched Skype in the Classroom, a dedicated teacher network.
Using the platform, teachers can create profiles that describe their classes and teaching interests. They can then search a directory of teachers from all over the world by student age range, language and subject, finding classrooms that match theirs. This will allow teachers to connect with other classrooms around the globe, bring in guest speakers without asking them to travel, and take virtual field trips. "
Using the platform, teachers can create profiles that describe their classes and teaching interests. They can then search a directory of teachers from all over the world by student age range, language and subject, finding classrooms that match theirs. This will allow teachers to connect with other classrooms around the globe, bring in guest speakers without asking them to travel, and take virtual field trips. "
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Breaks Over!
I have noticed a lot of complaining from teachers about going back to school tomorrow. I just want to say, put your big kids pants on and be glad that you have a job to go back to. I loved my two weeks off with the two extra days because of snow, but it’s time to do what we are paid to do. The kids need us, and for some of them, we represent a safe alternative to their lives.
So when my alarm goes off at 5:45 I will rise and greet the day with a sense of hope and gratitude.
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