100 Essential Blog Posts for the First-Year Teacher

Check out the article: 100 Essential Blog Posts for the First-Year Teacher. There is a great list of articles to read, not just for the first year teacher, but for anyone who may learn something new. They included my article on “Catch Them Doing the Right Thing.” The articles are listed in categories of Working with Students, Teaching, Classroom Management, Technology in the Classroom, Resources, Going Green in Schools, Education Reform, and The Future of Education.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'overview'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59432011@N00/3839519283 by: Liz

Doing the Best I Can

As a teacher, I look at many great teachers and want to replicate what they are doing. I want to teach the way they do and have the students brag about what a great teacher I am. I want to have the enthusiasm about the subject like these great teachers do and teach it the way they do. But when it comes down to it, my personality and way of teaching can’t be done the same way as others. I need to find my own purpose. By imitating them, am I really doing what I set out to do? What is my own purpose?

Recently I have seen some of my friends start this program to “Read the Bible in 90 days.” At first I thought about joining because I have been trying to read the bible in one year but I am still working on it several years later. I thought if I joined the group, then I too could have the whole book finished. Then I stopped to think about my purpose. Did I really just want to read the words of the Bible in 90 days? My answer was no. I am reading it in small sections and thinking about it and really trying to comprehend what I’m reading. I think if I tried to rush it in 90 days, I would not get as much out of it as I want to. Maybe for other people this might work but I know it won’t work for me. I would be more focused on covering the assigned pages than I would be in concentrating on the meaning of the words. My purpose may be very different from others and I need to do what works for me.
 
I used to be really interested in hiking the Appalachian Trail as a thru hike. This means hiking all 2200 miles at one time over six months. I bought the books and planned it in my head, waiting for retirement. Over the years, we have hiked sections of it and seen a lot of the pretty places. Now that I have retired, I realize that I really don’t want to do the whole trail as a thru hike. Maybe at the time I wanted to brag to others that I could do it and go the distance. Now I look at the trail and think that I only want to do the pretty parts and enjoy it. I don’t want to brag about the hardships and the miseries but want to relish in the joys and miracles of nature. I need to do what works for me and not what other people are doing.

I think it is important to find my own purpose each day. Maybe today I will want my class to work towards one objective and maybe tomorrow it will be different. I need to figure how to mesh what is required by the school with meeting my students’ needs. This may be different in other people’s classes because their makeup is different than mine. The pace I need to go may be different than another teacher’s pace. Like fingerprints, no two classrooms will ever be the same. And even though I may teach a subject or a lesson more than once for different classes, it will never have the same results every time. If I tried too hard to imitate another teacher exactly, I would be too focused on matching the pace rather than making sure my students were achieving the desired outcome. This is not what I want my purpose to be and would feel very disillusioned and frustrated.

So even though I admire these great teachers and want so much to be like them, I need to do what I think is best. I need to make the best decisions that I can at the time and not second guess my actions. After all my training and preparation, sometimes experience is the best teacher. I might want to use some of another teacher’s strategies but I need to tailor it to my class’s needs. I might revise my actions the next time around after reflection but at this very time, I will do the best I can. And I will recognize that I am doing the best I can at that time. I’m not saying that I can’t do better or improve the next time but right now, I am doing well. This is the way I work towards having a successful experience in the classroom.

How about you? What works for you?

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'Bible with Cross Shadow'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68278595@N00/337522540 by: David Campbell
Original image: 'Hiker'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89831068@N00/2672043528 by: Andrés E. Azpúrua

Where to Find Free Teaching Worksheets for the Classroom

Printing worksheets off the web can allow teachers to make more time to do what they do best: teach. Worksheets are also a great way to give students extra practice at home. Here are 10 websites that offer free teaching worksheets and worksheet generators.
Super Teacher Worksheets - Dedicated entirely to printables, Super Teacher Worksheets is a good place to find free worksheets for students of all ages. Covered subjects include math, reading, writing, spelling, phonics, science, and social studies.
abcteach - This site features 5,000+ free printables and worksheets as well as several custom worksheet generators. Teachers who become members of the site can also gain access to additional resources.
About Homeschooling - The About.com Guide to Homeschooling provides a wide range of printable worksheets and projects for home use. Worksheet categories include science, geography, history, math, language arts, health and nutrition, physical education, holidays, seasons, and animals.
SchoolExpress - With more than 16,000 free worksheets, SchoolExpress is an excellent place to find free printables online. Worksheets cover a wide range of subjects, including math, reading, writing, language arts, science, social studies, and geography.
Schoolhouse Technologies - Schoolhouse Technologies sells several products for a fee, but they also offer two no-cost worksheet generators for math and vocabulary. Both generators can be downloaded for free with no strings attached.
Dad's Worksheets - Operated by a dad with two daughters, this site provides thousands of free math worksheets on nearly every topic imaginable. Dad's Worksheets also offers free graph paper and handwriting paper.
Math Fact Cafe - Math Fact Cafe offers hundreds of free, pre-made mathematics worksheets for grades 1-4. The site also provides a free worksheet builder that creates printable worksheets and answer keys.
Discovery Education - Teachers can find a wide range of science worksheets on the Discovery Education website. Worksheet categories include anatomy, biology, chemistry, earth science, general science, physics, and astronomy.
Handwriting Worksheet Maker - This simple worksheet maker can be used to create customized handwriting practice worksheets for letters, names, words, and sentences. The maker works for print and cursive worksheets.
Armored Penguin - Armored Penguin is a no frills but popular site with several free generators for students and teachers. The generators can be used to create word searches, word scrambles, crossword puzzles, and math worksheets.
Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online degree reviews for OnlineDegreePrograms.
Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).
Original image: 'Worksheets from this week's Thursday folder at school'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31442459@N00/3390500351 by: Wesley Fryer

Blog Theft Part 2: A Learning Experience

Thank you so much for the help and support you gave me about my blog theft. I started to name everyone who has commented on this blog, plurk, twitter, and facebook but there were so many, it took up half the page so I decided against it. So many of you have given me great suggestions and even went so far as to help investigate the perpetrators. Please read on to see the suggestions from Richard, the response from Hostgator, and at the end, my own response.

Here are some details that Richard was so kind to share with me. I also want to thank some others who had sent some of the same information also but his added comments also helped me and I think others would benefit from this information too.

“1. Try to determine if the person is doing it maliciously or innocently. This is important because it influences how I take my next steps. Determining this can be tricky, but generally if the blog reusing your content doesn't allow comments, uses a lot of inappropriate advertising, or uses a proxy server to register their domain they are intentionally stealing your content. In some of my cases I've had teachers/ principals reuse my content innocently because they didn't understand fair use.”
2. Run a WHOIS search using Go Daddy (or other sites according to another email from Richard)) to see who has registered the domain. In your case the person used a proxy to hide their contact information. Legitimate bloggers don't use a proxy for registering domains. When there isn't a proxy in place it's easy to locate the contact information for the person who registered the domain.”
3. If you can't get a response from step 2, do what you've done. Publicly "out" the content thief. I've only once had to do this, but it was effective. My content was removed from the blog thief’s page.”

Hostgator response to my email:

“To file a notice of infringement with us, you must provide a written communication that sets forth the items specified below. Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is infringing your copyrights. Accordingly, if you are not sure whether material available online infringes your copyright, we suggest that you first contact an attorney.

To expedite our ability to process your request, please use the following format (including section numbers):

1. Identify in sufficient detail the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed upon (for example, "The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http://www.hostgator.com/tos.shtml") or other information sufficient to specify the copyrighted work being infringed (for example, "The copyrighted work at issue is “Intellectual Property: Valuation, Exploitation, and Infringement Damages” by Gordon V. Smith, published by Wiley, ISBN #047168323X").

2. Identify the material that you claim is infringing the copyrighted work listed in item #1 above. You must identify each web page that allegedly contains infringing material. This requires you to provide the URL for each allegedly infringing result, document, or item.

An example:

Infringing Web Pages:

http://www.thewebsite.com/directory/

http://www.thewebsite.com/something/blah.html

3. Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you.

4. Provide information, if possible, sufficient to permit us to notify the owner/administrator of the allegedly infringing webpage or other content (email address is preferred).

5. Include the following statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above as allegedly infringing is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law."

6. Include the following statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed."

7. Sign the paper.

8. If via postal mail, send the written communication to the following address:

HostGator LLC

Attn: Abuse Department, DMCA Complaint

11251 Northwest Freeway, Suite 400

Houston, TX 77092

United States of America

OR fax to:

(281) 476-7801, Attn: Abuse Department, DMCA Complaint

Regardless of whether we may be liable for such infringement under local country law or United States law, we may respond to these notices by removing or disabling access to material claimed to infringe and/or terminating users of our services. If we remove or disable access in response to such a notice, we will make a good-faith attempt to contact the owner or administrator of the affected site or content so that the owner or administrator may make a counter notification.

We may also document notices of alleged infringement on which we act. As with all legal notices, a copy of the notice may be made available to the public and sent to one or more third parties who may make it available to the public.

In order to ensure that copyright owners do not wrongly insist on the removal of materials that actually do not infringe their copyrights, the safe harbor provisions require service providers to notify the subscribers if their materials have been removed and to provide them with an opportunity to send a written notice to the service provider stating that the material has been wrongly removed. [512(g)]

If a subscriber provides a proper "counter-notice" claiming that the material does not infringe copyrights, the service provider must then promptly notify the claiming party of the individual's objection. [512(g)(2)] If the copyright owner does not bring a lawsuit in district court within 14 days, the service provider is then required to restore the material to its location on its network. [512(g)(2)(C)]

If it is determined that the copyright holder misrepresented its claim regarding the infringing material, the copyright holder then becomes liable to the OSP for any damages that resulted from the improper removal of the material. [512(f)]”

My thoughts and response:

After talking this over with my husband and reading the many responses I had about this, I have decided to let it go. I know that by doing this, I’m letting someone get away with stealing my stuff, but life is too short to let this blip control my life and emotions. I feel energized and inspired by the people who encouraged me to continue writing so I will keep plodding on. I realize that I was not losing any money, and this thief was not making any money from my posts so I really was not “damaged” financially, other than my feelings were hurt and I felt violated.

Yet, I learned so much from this experience. I learned that I have many friends out there who shared this hurt and were so willing to help me. I learned that many people value what I’m writing which I guess was surprising to me. I learned that obviously someone/something felt I had written something of value if it was worth stealing. I learned that blogging fulfills a need that I have to share my experience and knowledge and no one can steal that feeling from me unless I let them.

So, there aren’t words that express my appreciation to all of you who have read my blog, sent your prayers my way, and went out of the way to offer help. Thank you!

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'And then, our train was robbed.'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98037056@N00/3412380199 by: Joe Philipson

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 1/8/10

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my Personal Learning Network (PLN). As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

You Are Here – free website; “You are welcome to use the resources and activities on this site to teach kids about today’s marketplace. The site is intended for students in 5th through 8th grade and can be used to complement lessons in critical thinking, writing, language arts, media literacy, business, civics, and social studies.”

Cash Cab Quizzes – fun quizzes to use in the classroom.

LoudLit.org – “LoudLit.org is committed to delivering public domain literature paired with high quality audio performances. We pair together great literature and accompanying audio. Putting the text and audio together, readers can learn spelling, punctuation and paragraph structure by listening and reading masterpieces of the written word. Read and listen via your web browser or on your mp3 player. Regardless of how you enjoy the audiobooks (audio books), they are free.”

Kideos – videos for kids; “the premier destination for kids to safely watch videos online. Each video on Kideos has been screened by our Video Advisory Council before it makes it onto our site. Our goal is to empower parents to feel comfortable allowing their child to spend time on Kideos, while also making sure children have a thoroughly entertaining experience.”

Communication4all – created by a teacher who offers classroom resources to support inclusion