Final Entry

Last Posting:

a. What you would tell others when joining a teacher listserv, discussion board or Blog?

In my experience this semester, Teacher Blogs have become a very helpful advantage within the teaching world. It’s nice to speak to other teachers, whether new or experienced, to gain their opinions and advice. I had asked a lot about classroom management and I cannot explain the responses I had gotten. It seems like every teacher out there is willing to help you in some way to become a better teacher. They offer you advice on what to do, but instead of leaving it be and saying “Good luck!” they ask how the new implementations are working. I got a real sense of community from these teachers, and it was a comfort to know that advice can be found anywhere.

I would tell new users that it is worth it just to take a look at what these sites have to offer. Just browse around and look at the different threads and comments made by different educators, and see if any of the subject matter relates to what you feel or something that you might need. A lot of the teachers that you will be in contact with are willing to help, and they offer great advice. Even if you don’t actually join a teacher blog, or a board, you can still get good ideas that might help you in the future. Teaching is always a learning experience.



b. How the experience compared to your expectations?

To be honest I wasn’t excited to join teacher boards at all. I am a part of a writing board now, and I had my expectations that it would not be the same. I thought that teachers would simply post what they were doing or some worksheets that they had used for their classrooms and that would be all.

I never expected it to be what I saw. What I had joined was not an internet board where people posted ideas, advice and chatter, but I had become a part of a community of people that shared a common love of teaching. I learned many things from the threads that I joined and it was defiantly a lot more interesting… and fun… than I thought it would be.

IEPs + Math = New post

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  Topics Discussed with dates spanning discussions:
  

Special Education is a hard field to get into these days. Most teachers have to really love working with those types of children since they are very needy, and they need to look for diverse and functional ways to teach these types of students.
I know for a fact that teaching mathematics is not an easy thing to do, and let’s on the idea of teaching students that have an IEP. How do you reach these students? Is there a way to help them? This post was asking fellow teachers how you reach students with special needs in the math realm. In this current teaching era, mathematics has taken big steps and the work has gotten much more difficult. Is there a way to help these students that are struggling in one of the most difficult core subjects we have to teach?


· Explain areas of agreement, disagreement, concerns, advise, etc.

Most of the teachers have had experience with similar situations, and have different advice on teaching students with IEPs or in a resource room/AIS setting. The first idea is to establish where these students are academically. What level are they functioning on? This can give the teacher an idea of where to start with each individual student. It’s easier when most of the students are working on the same (or close to) level, meaning that the teacher can simply work with them as a group. If it so happens that the students are not on the same level, this makes things a little harder. Some of the teachers indicated the use of an assistant within the class. If there happens to be one, have the assistant take a group of students, while the teacher works with the other.

An idea that was interesting to me was the use of a daily do now. While this specifically is not completely new to the classroom, the idea was to have 5 examples up on the board and have the student pick two or three. These questions can me from state tests, or from textbook work that they have done. The do now’s should be refreshers, and can be done as a whole, individually, or in groups. It gives the students a boost of confidence, showing them that they can do math.

One teacher happened to bring up a series on the computer. I enjoyed this idea, but it would be hard since not many schools have a lot of computer access. She indicated a program that would help students work out problems step by step, and had a feature where the teacher can control (or basically lock student computers from outside interference) and show them via the computer how to solve a problem.

• Include any follow up of activities that you tried with your students that you hadlearned about from the list, shared with other teachers, or used for another graduate course.
  

I feel like I am teaching AIS and resource a lot of the time within my classroom. Sadly enough, while this teacher says that she has an hour with each class (6th and 8th grade) I only have 40 minutes. As much as I would enjoy doing a lot of these activities with my classes, I feel that they lack a lot of the motivation to do so. As we all know from past posts, my students aren’t the most well behaved classes.

However, from reading the posts from different authors and gaining their advice I am trying to find ways to get through to my classes. I have gotten many comments and words of wisdom, mainly on keeping them quiet, and I know I will try to implement them more into the future. Hopefully things will work out for the better.

More troubles?

Do we talk too much?

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When teaching, we all hope for that special class that’s perfect. Students work hard, there is a limited amount of discussion, and they are respectable students toward all people that walk within the classroom. And, let’s face it, as a teacher that would be a complete blessing.
But that’s hardly the case, and, especially the upper grades, it’s hard to keep children focused and quiet. Over the years, teachers have gone from pure yelling to more advanced methods of reverse physiology and detention. But what about those starting teachers that are finding their way amongst the sea of misbehaved students? The author is a starting out teacher, as me, and has posed the same question to those aged teachers. She is afraid of writing up her students, and inquired if there were any other methods to keep her rowdy classes silent.

• Explain areas of agreement, disagreement, concerns, advise, etc.
  

A lot of teachers had say in what would help in that situation. Naturally they suggest time to find and develop your own teaching methods, but in the mean time they suggested some of the following:
· Move closer to students causing the disturbance while still teaching the lesson.
· Keep them in during lunch time and have them make up work missed.
· Speak to students after the bell to discuss misbehavior.
· Call parents, but only when necessary, to schedule a meeting where the student explains what happens in class.
· Post consequences in the classroom and online if necessary. Make sure that you stick to them no matter what.
· Don’t yell over students. Instead, try to make them realize what they are doing. Stand quietly and resume when they are silent.
· Have a reward for student who behaves at the end of the week as it gives them something to work toward.

• Include any follow up of activities that you tried with your students that you had
  learned about from the list, shared with other teachers, or used for another graduate course.
  

Once again it is my students. All of my 5th -8th graders, especially my 6th homeroom and my 7th grade, seem to have caught diarrhea of the mouth. My problem is relatively simple. I have tried most of the ideas that the teachers have posted: calling parents, referrals, strict classroom management (although I am trying to figure that one out better), and reward at the end of the week. Still they talk and worst of all they have an extreme attitude problem. The parents that I speak to do more damage than help, and the administration is just completely non-existent.
Sadly this is a school-wide problem, and it’s not looking like it is going to be fixed anytime soon. It is almost Thanksgiving and I know two other teachers that are counting down the days like me. I posted my problem on the board and await to hear what some of the teachers have to say about my “discipline problems”.

Is it too late?

Where to go?

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It’s hard to find a place these days. With the limited amount of jobs out there, teachers (especially newer ones) have a hard time finding the grade they want. From the starting teachers I have talked to they always have a particular grade that they are dying to teach. “Oh I would love a Second grade class!”, “Me? I’d like a higher grade like Seventh.” But is it really all it’s cracked up to be? Are those student teaching memories nothing like the real thing?

One teacher explains her difficulty with teaching the 5th grade. She explains that even through it is her second year of teaching that stage, she doesn’t know if it’s the right age for her. She taught younger grades, and felt as if those subbing days were going to be anything like the real thing. In her short post, she asks for the advice of her fellow teachers on what to do.

• Explain areas of agreement, disagreement, concerns, advise, etc.

Most teachers agreed that they too had other grades they would like to teach, but have found a home in the grades they are in now. A lot of the teachers that responded have been teaching a long time, and have had their pros and cons about each grade.

Some advice was what level of independence you prefer. Were there a lot of hands on play that you would like to do? Did you want to teach the basic levels that prepare students for the later grades? Did you enjoy a certain level of independence? Those questions were a lot of the advice that fellow teachers said that you should ask yourself to verify where you would feel most comfortable.

There was one teacher however, who had been teaching quite a long time, that gave a great piece of advice. He stated that no matter what grade you teach, you need to establish a clear set of rules and be *consistent* with them at all times. Also, if teaching in a K-5 building, go around to the other classrooms and see what happens there. You might be luckier than you thought.

• Include any followup of activities that you tried with your students that you had

learned about from the list, shared with other teachers, or used for another graduate course.

I am in the exact same position that the author is in now. I am currently teaching in Middle School and I am not enjoying myself at all. Honestly, I am counting down the days until June. Many of the teachers I work with feel frustration within my school, and tell me that I am young enough to where I have a lot of freedom still. I go around and check out my school on a constant basis, and still feel the same lost feeling as I do within my own classroom. It could be just the school I am at (since I really enjoyed my experience last year in a different school), and next year could be a completely different tale.

I am close to completing my Master’s, and a whole new door can open for me once I am certified in High School. Though I know those students have their own quirks, I have a feeling I will like it better.

Always organize

TeacherBlog: http://www.teachercreated.com/blog/?p=31

• These include descriptions of classroom activities, resources (books, Web sites, books, magazines, etc), and issues that were discussed.
  

As a first year teacher (well technically second but it’s my first year teaching a core subject) I am starting to get a better understanding on how to run a classroom. What management strategies can help benefit a classroom and students, how to successfully work out your plans for the week, and even how to work with colleagues on how to gain resources to benefit students.

But in a world full of papers, tests, assignments, and books, how do we manage to organize it all?
The author discusses the benefits on organization inside the classroom. With everything in its right place, the author says that organization will not only benefit the teacher but the students as well. How the teacher organizes their room is a clear sign of what she expects from her students, in both organization of their own and behavior wise. Students seem to respond better in an environment that is clean, safe, and predictable.

The author also describes the benefits toward a teacher:

The immediate benefits of a well-organized classroom to the teacher are clear—less wasted time and therefore more efficiency. Not so immediately apparent, perhaps, are the following very significant elements:

• reduced teacher fatigue

• improved student-teacher relations

• improved parent-teacher relations

• increased job satisfaction

• increased enthusiasm for professional growth

• increased student academic progress

• Explain areas of agreement, disagreement, concerns, advise, etc. Go beyond just summarizing what was posted. Remember the reader was not part of the discussions so provide necessary information.
  

I have to agree with this completely. I remember when I first started and how hard it was to actually put things into place, watch my students, and give out the next assignment. Now I have come to learn that having everything, almost every detail, put in a place where I can remember is so helpful. I can hand out assignments quickly, and I’m not scrambling for last minute things.

• Include any follow-up of activities that you tried with your students that you had learned about from the list, shared with other teachers, or used for another graduate course.
  

I know how important organization is to me, and I stress it very heavily on my classes. I check to see if everything is put away in their desks and cubbies, and that nothing is left behind. They understand that the first step to accomplishment is to be organized in your work.

Topics Discussed with dates spanning discussions:

Power Teaching

• These include descriptions of classroom activities, resources (books, Web sites, books, magazines, etc), and issues that were discussed.
  

I work in a very hard school. The students are difficult with behavior problems and, quite frankly, they are not the most motivated children to learn. Most of the forty minutes I have with my classes is either trying to enforce the rules I set into my classroom, or less time teaching them the information that they need to know. What could be an effective way to help them learn, even if they don’t know they are learning?

When I read the posting on “Power Teaching”, I’ll admit I was more skeptical than curious. But, as a new teacher, I figured it was better to try and broaden my teaching horizons and see what else was out there. It was interesting, to say the least. “Power Teaching” is a method of teaching by using the one idea that teachers want most, yet when it is given to the class sometimes havoc ensues: fun. Students learn best when they are enjoying themselves, which is true, and that is one of the bases of “Power Teaching”. This method also believes in a structured and orderly classroom to make certain that the fun does not get out of hand. The creators of “Power Teaching” have five simple rules that are to be followed at all times: raise your hand to speak, raise your hand to get of your seat, always think before you say something, follow directions, and make your teacher happy. The method uses fun games and activities, along with collaborative learning, that help students gain the motiviation that they lack.

• Explain areas of agreement, disagreement, concerns, advise, etc. Go beyond just summarizing what was posted. Remember the reader was not part of the discussions so provide necessary information.
  

Though there was no comments as of yet, I am interested in what other teachers would say. Clearly it is a form of technology, but (as in case to where I am now) not all schools have technology available. Can it be used in a traditional classroom? Can it work for all students? Does it promote higher learning to all students, even those who have IEPs and learning disabilities? c.

• Include any follow-up of activities that you tried with your students that you had learned about from the list, shared with other teachers, or used for another graduate course.
  

I am actually hesitant to try this with my students. I have instituted a “Fun Friday” with my classes, and even then it tends to get a little crazy. I have to be very strict with my classes, and I honestly believe that I would share this with those teachers that are in the younger grades rather than higher education. There are two teachers in mind that I’ll recommend this to, both with technology readily available, and I will have to ask them if they would be interested in giving it a try with their students.

One of the joys of teaching...

Lists Joined and Date Joined or for Blogs and Discussion Board. Name and brief dec-ription of the list(s), blogs, and discussion boards.

TeacherLingo.com.

Topics Discussed with dates spanning discussions: This will be the bulk of your Blog. Summarize discussion without using quotes of what you read.

It's Not All Flowers and Sausages

• These include descriptions of classroom activities, resources (books, Web sites, books, magazines, etc), and issues that were discussed.
  

In this blog that I have read, it wasn’t so much a resource that a teacher uses to help a student read, or a brand new method that show a third grader how to multiply two whole numbers. It was about the one thing we as teachers have trouble with the most. Parents. Basically the author was “venting” stress about all the excuses and stories that parents will give when their child is put into a rather bad light. “Oh, well he never does this at home,” is a classic line that most parents give just to prove the educator wrong. And sometimes, even if there is evidence that the child is incorrect in the situation, the parents will still defend up to the very end.

It has always been an issue dealing with parents, and I know as a teacher myself that we try to accommodate the parents as much as we can within the barriers of our classroom. But where is the line? True that a parent knows their child best, but as teacher we are trained for at least four years to better the education of every child that walks within our doors. So where do we tell parents enough, and yet still keep a working/functional relationship?

• Explain areas of agreement, disagreement, concerns, advise, etc. Go beyond just summarizing what was posted. Remember the reader was not part of the discussions so provide necessary information.
  

There wasn’t much disagreement within the comments that I read. After all we all have been a part of what the author was saying. We all have stories, and if we don’t they are sure to come soon.

However, the advice that was given was truly amazing. One author wrote:

When parents say "he doesn't do that at home" I always say, "Great! Tell me some of the strategies that work for you so we can apply them here at school!" I also tell parents that the demands at school are far different than the demands at school, so we would likely see different behaviors in both. Then we get off the "no he doesn't" "yes he does" debate.

This was a good piece of advice because it doesn’t put the child in a bad light and it doesn’t give the parents a chance to argue. Most of commentary that was given agreed that most parents are going to defend their children no matter how wrong they might be. This could simply be because they don’t want to see their children fail, or that they do not want to be looked at as “bad parents” because their child is having difficulty. Advice and strategies such as the one listed above gives an added chance for teacher and parent to work together.

Another author wrote:

One thing I like to do to alleviate this problem is have student-led conferences, in which the CHILD explains what's going on. (Here's a link that explains what to do: http://www.TheCornerstoneForTeachers.com/documents/parent conf questions.doc). That prevents the teacher from having to be the bad guy and defend herself. Also, parents are less likely to lie when the kid is sitting right there ("I don't read Harry Potter, mom! You never took me to the library!"). Asking a series of questions (instead of listing a series of problems) will usually cause parents to come to the correct conclusion themselves. Usually. Some parents just aren't going to get it, even if you bang them over the head with their child's twenty-three inch thick cumulative records.

I plan on trying this within my own teaching career. Nothing tells the truth like the student him/herself.

• Include any follow-up of activities that you tried with your students that you had learned about from the list, shared with other teachers, or used for another graduate course.

I’m still early within my teaching life, but I really would like to share this blog with fellow teachers so they have strategies to help them deal with parents and also get them ready for the road to come. The next time that I have a parent conference, I know to have my ducks in a row.