Teacher World

I had an epiphany this summer which will change how I teach history! Let me explain what happened and how it will affect my teaching in the fall.

A dear friend of mine told me about a genealogy book of his which was important to him as it delineated all of his ancestors and even included his own immediate family. I told him I would love to look at, and he graciously lent it to me. My initial exposure to the book left me cold, as it seemed to simply go through each family line and contained, to me, boring facts about marriages, children, time of death, etc. But, when we agreed to meet for lunch, and he asked me to bring the book along, I decided I’d better make a gallant attempt to read as much of it as I could so that I could tell him I had read it.

And that is when it happened! Upon further scrutiny, I happened upon a story at the bottom of the blah-blah-blah facts about an event in the lives of the children being described. Apparently, they were waiting for their school bus when one of the girls realized she had left something at home and ran back to get it. When she came back, the bus was already there filling up with children. In her hurry to get on the bus, she dropped something she was carrying on the ground by the front wheel and bent down to get it. Tragically, the bus driver had not seen her at all and accidently ran her over and killed her. From that moment I was captured because it was a real story about a real event that was so sad, and it had me searching for more personal narratives about these people described in this book. There were plenty. I began reading from the beginning and found a rich account of the patriarch of this family and why he came from Europe to this new land. I read about another early member who was a frontiersman like Daniel Boone and some of his adventures. I read from cover to cover, not the boring facts, but the personal stories, adventures, and tragedies of these people I knew nothing about, but found so intriguing.

And that’s when it hit me! We love anecdotes. We live for the stories that make a recounting of chronological facts take on a life of their own. And so do kids. That’s when I knew what would be different about my teaching of history this year. Most students do not like history. They find it boring and totally insignificant to their own lives, just as I found the ancestral book boring at first, too. But if I can spice up my lessons with actual stories about things that happened to real people during the historical time periods we are studying, isn’t it possible that I might capture them, just as I was captured by the personal anecdotes I devoured? And with the internet, it should be relatively easy to find a multitude of stories that will capture the imagination of my students and draw them in to history. Who knows, they may even learn to love history as I do.

My job is to lead my students to water, but my new plan is to make them so thirsty along that journey that they will long to drink, and drink deeply. I can’t wait to spin the stories that might capture their hearts and minds.

Teacher-World's Blog, teaching strategies antidotes, history, stories, students, teacher

I am here to tell you that I love co-teaching! Now that the intervention specialist and I are more aware of what we should be doing and we are trying correct approaches to co-teaching, we firmly believe that it is the best way to service most special education students, and I am so glad to be involved in this experience.

Since participating in the class taught by Marilyn Friend, we have been experimenting with different techniques. My team teacher, co-teacher, paraprofessional, and I blocked off the whole morning one day last week to set up six stations, three in each classroom, to do a variety of math and reading activities that would reinforce and/or review concepts we have been teaching. Students circulated in groups that were strategically planned to provide a heterogeneous mixture and a blending of the two classrooms. The activities were fun but content aligned. The students loved it and expressed their desire to do this again. So we just finished stations with activities to reinforce the differences between homophones, homonyms, and homographs. Again, the activity level was high, kids were physically and mentally involved in each station, and the day was a success.

The intervention specialist and I have also been utilizing parallel teaching. The benefits I see to this technique are numerous. It is advantageous to the students to work in smaller groups allowing us to better determine understanding of the concepts we are covering. There is better opportunity for students to get their questions answered. The movement from group to group provides a break between activities which many of our students really need. The intervention specialist and I have learned that we need to watch our volume when we teach. There are times I find myself listening to what my co-teacher is saying rather than to my students, and she admitted the same to me. So this is something we will continue to work on. 

We have a long way to go, but this is so exciting! We sense it, and so do the kids. We are on the right road, and working hard to make up for lost time. And my fervent hope is that I will be able to do this again next year. Now that we know what we are doing, you’d better believe we will do whatever it takes to get it right!

Changes in Teaching, Teacher-World's Blog, special education, teaching strategies co-teaching, co-teaching training, students, teacher, teaching strategies

It’s that time of the year again; the time to consider what changes we need to make in our lives for the New Year. It’s the perfect time to turn our attention to work resolutions, too. So, let me share a few teacher resolutions for my New Year with you.

My Teacher New Year Resolutions

* To begin each day with a smile and a sense of humor
* To be patient even when my students are at their worst
* To always be willing to go that extra mile for any student who needs that extra mile from me, even when they are not very gracious about the extra mileage I am chalking up on their behalf
* To work tirelessly to find alternative ways to present curriculum in order to meet the various learning styles and learning difficulties in my classroom
* To be willing to share what is effective and admit what is not to my co-teachers in order to foster an atmosphere of collaboration
* To show my gratitude to those parents who teach their children the need to put their education and school work first and extracurricular activities second
* To commend parents who understand the difference between directing their child to find answers rather than directing them to write down the answers they are freely giving them
* To strive to be more forgiving of interruptions to my teaching day
* To be willing to volunteer my time to serve on committees but only for those activities that I am passionate about
* To do my best to make subject matter relevant and interesting
* To take the time to show my concern for my students both academically and socially
* To do my best to leave each day with a smile and a sense of humor

I hope you and your family have a wonderful New Year! May this be an awesome year for you at home and at work. Good luck with your resolutions, and I’ll see you in 2010!

Teacher-World's Blog New Year Resolutions, parents, students, teacher

How many of you have ever had a student return after an absence and ask this most annoying of questions: “Did I miss anything yesterday?”

The evil side of me wants to reply in the most sarcastic tone I can muster, “No, we put education and all educational pursuits on hold while you were gone. School just isn’t school without you, and we spent the seven hours you were home mourning your absence. Lucky you! You have no work to make up as we accomplished nothing all day!” Of course, I refrain from such unconstructive comments and direct them instead to copy another student’s assignment book and give them the work they missed. I remind myself that kids believe that the world revolves around them, thus it is only natural for them to think that nothing could possibly transpire without their glowing presence.

Just as I am licking my wounds and practicing my counting to ten and breathing deeply routine, they hand me a letter from their parent. Assuming that it is the explanation for their recent absence, I curiously open the missive only to release a pained sigh. Because clutched in my unbelieving hand is the same inquiry that was so boldly asked just moments ago by their unsuspecting progeny. Can this parent really believe that in a seven hour time period nothing of consequence occurred? If the roles were reversed and I sent a letter to their place of employment asking them if they accomplished anything at all the day before, would they not be insulted? Now, the counting to ten and breathing deeply routine is simply not enough. I move to phase two in my calm-down routine. Making a quick excuse, I move to the hallway where I can sputter and spew to my heart’s content. Then I count to ten, breathe deeply, and return to my desk and the letter that requires a carefully constructed and very diplomatic answer. I forgive the cause of the sputtering and spewing as I need to get on with the work at hand because, in spite of rumors to the contrary, I actually have educational plans for the day.

Pet Peeves of Teaching, Substitute Teaching educational plans, parents, pet peeves, student absences, teacher

Okay, forget about teacher’s pets. Let’s talk about the real issue; pet peeves. Has something like this ever happened in your classroom?

Bear with me as I set the scene for you. I’m teaching an economics unit, and today’s subject is competition. To hook my students, I decide to use Mario (whose name has been changed to protect the innocent) because he works at his family’s pizzeria most weekends (a subject we have discussed often as we feel strongly that we should be given the opportunity to sample their product). I inform the class that I have decided to open my own pizzeria just four blocks away from Mario’s. The question is posed: How do I draw customers from Mario’s restaurant to mine? I watch as the wheels start slowly turning and a student calls out, “Offer deserts, too.”

The class shows unanimous support of this idea, and I turn to Mario. “What are you going to do, Mario? Your customers are coming to me because I offer a wide variety of scrumptious deserts to compete for your business?” He ponders this briefly and says, “We’ll add a salad bar!”
The class can tell he’s very proud of himself, and now I see the light bulbs go on as they realize that this is going to be fun. The volley of ideas proceeds like a tennis match, back and forth. After several rounds, my ego is building. I am every teacher’s dream; a shoe-in for best teacher of the year.

The blood is pumping now as I inquire again what I should do next. A normally shy student calls out, “Offer sandwiches and appetizers.”

Without a second’s hesitation, Mario says boldly, “Patio and pasta!”

“Wow!” I think to myself. “This was an awesome idea. They are engaged. They really get it. This is what teaching is all about!” On a wave of euphoria, I turn to the class to hear what innovative ideas they have for me next. Susie (whose name has been changed to protect the guilty) is wildly waving her hand. I am amazed, as she is normally almost comatose in class, and with bated breath, I say. “Susie, what should we do to top that?”
As the whole class turns in shocked anticipation, Susie loudly asks, “Can I go to the restroom?”
Bam! Forget competition in the marketplace. Now, all my students can think about is competition in the peeing place. All eyes watch her leave wishing it was them, and so begins a steady stream of…well…pee-ers. And as I remind myself that we really were on a roll for awhile, I think to myself, “I think I have to pee, too!”

Pet Peeves of Teaching Add new tag, class, competition, economics, pet peeves, teacher