Furman Volleyball 2013

This year I had a volleyball player in my class and my husband and I decided we wanted to support the team. So, we tried to go to as many games as we could and even went to one away game. We have had such a great time watching the games, the fans, and meeting some parents.

I think it is so important that as educators we support out students in and out of the classroom. Teaching is not all about inside the four walls of a room. I think it is important for students to see educators outside of the classroom and I think it is important for parents to see that educators care about their children.

Teaching is not all about what goes on in the classroom but I can learn a lot about my students when I see how they are outside of the classroom. It is interesting to watch my students interact with others and see the group dynamics of their friendships. It also helps me find a connection that I can use in the classroom when I’m teaching.

I have been to football games, basketball games, volleyball games, baseball games, softball games, recitals, and plays. I believe the students appreciate it and have had them come and thank me for being there. We will continue to support the students outside of class because I feel it makes a difference. It makes a difference how I perceive them and how they perceive me. It builds a relationship so that when I need to ask them to try something difficult, they trust me to give it a try. When I believe they can do something that they don’t think they can, they are willing to risk failure because they know I care. 

If you are interested in seeing any of the many (yes, I mean MANY) pictures I’ve taken of our wonderful team, you can click on the links below.

9/28/13 and 10/2/13

11/1/13 and 11/2/13

11/8/13

11/9/13

11/22/13 – Southern Conference Tournament

11/23/13 – Southern Conference Tournament

Do you support your students outside the classroom? If so, please share what activities they are!

Original Photos by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 11/22/13

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my 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!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels: E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Media History Digital Library – “Online Access to the Histories of Cinema, Broadcasting & Sound” (L:M,H; SA:A)

Quotes Daddy – “is the largest online archive of famous quotes, featuring over 1,000,000 quotes from famous individuals throughout history, using a fast and intuitive search function with a variety of user options.” (L:G; SA:A)

Math Live – Math lessons for elementary school students (L:E; SA:M)

JST Virtual Science Center – Interesting science lessons from a Japanese science site. (L:E,M; SA:S)

Perfect Pitch – Get to know the instruments in an orchestra (L:G; SA:FA)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley

A Good Teacher Is…

In What Makes a Good Teacher? From Tinkerings, Tim asks,

“What makes a good teacher?”

I’m nearing the end of the semester with my class and even though I’m enjoying teaching this class, I have had some challenges.

Since I’m a big fan of lists, I thought I would answer this question with my list of what makes a good teacher. These are not in order of priority but rather as I thought of them.

A good teacher is:

• Flexible. It is important to be able to adjust to what is going on in the here and now without getting upset and rattled. Students pick up on these emotions and it could set the tone for the class.
• Prepared. Nothing is worse than being unprepared. This invites a lot of misbehavior, boredom, and loss of time. A teacher who is prepared is setting a positive example for the students.
• Sincere. Students know when the teacher is sincere is faking it. I hear students talk about teachers they feel are teaching just for the money (which I assure you is not a lot!). They don’t feel the teacher enjoys teaching or the subject and really doesn’t care about the students.
• Happy. I’m not saying that teachers need to be happy all of the time but overall happy with the career they have chosen and happy with their life. This shows in their body language and in the tone of their voices. It is what helps them “shine” when they are in a group of other teachers.
• Knowledgeable. A good teacher knows their subject and can answer questions. Students know when the teacher is fumbling around guessing and has no idea what they are talking about.
• Organized. Organization is key to an orderly classroom. Again this sets a good example for the student. Teachers who can’t find anything, loses things constantly, or piles things up in a haphazard fashion is going to have a hard time keeping up with the endless paperwork deadlines or other responsibilities that come up every day. It is better to stay ahead of the paperwork before it becomes overwhelming.
• Open minded. Teachers need to be open to other opinions or other solutions to problems. Always insisting that there is only one right way or one right thought narrows the possibilities.
• Committed. Teachers understand that they will put in more time than an 8-5 job. They understand they will do a lot of work at home, make phone calls on their personal time, and be involved in extracurricular activities outside of the classroom. They also understand that they will never be paid for what they are really worth. But all this doesn’t matter because it is all worth it.

What would you add to this list? Please share.

Image: 'Flexible'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90935137@N00/351684037
Found on flickrcc.net

Make the Memories Last

My husband and I have done a lot of traveling lately and recently went to Epcot. We enjoyed walking through the World Showcase and it brought back lots of great memories of places we have been.

We went through the China exhibit and saw places we actually visited in 2000. There were many cities, cultural, and historical sites that we saw in person! The movie we saw made us want to go visit again!

When we saw the Eiffel Tower, it brought back memories of our trip to Paris. I remember going to the Louvre and Versailles.

As we walked through Norway, I remembered learning a lot about the Scandinavians when I was in school as a child. My husband learned about them too and we grew up 800 miles apart!

When we started talking about what made some things more special than others, we realized it was because we actually saw things in person that we remembered studying when we were in school. It was so exciting to see these things in real life! But if you had told me as a child that one day this information would be important to you, I wouldn’t have believed it.

My husband remembers his third grade teacher making them memorize the poem “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer. Whenever we are in a forest or he is impressed with the trees that surround us, he begins to recite that poem. It has stayed with him for over 50 years!

So when I am teaching a student something, I need to think about what future ramifications this information may have. They might not recall this information after the test, or even in the next five years but who knows when they may remember it on future travels or interactions with others. Hopefully they are studying places, people, or ideas that might impact them later in life. It might just help them when they visit places as a tourist, or actually help them with their jobs. I need to share with them how this might not seem important or relevant right now in their lives but it may be useful later on.

It makes me excited to think of possibilities for this information to travel across space and time.

Isn’t it great to be a teacher!

Image: 'Grande Muralha - Great Wall'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30578078@N00/247113681
Found on flickrcc.net

Suggestions for a Frustrated Teacher

Recently on another site for special ed teachers who knit and crochet, someone asked the following questions. I thought I would share my answers.

· How do you keep control over your classroom? How do you deal with a couple of kids who act out on a regular basis, while not neglecting the others?
A: Have a behavior plan in place and be consistent. Stick with this plan for at least a month even if it seems like it isn’t working because students will test you to see who can give in first. Consistency is the key. I would call parents on a regular basis (at least every other week) and brag about their children when they are doing good things. I would also just touch base to see if they had any concerns and tell what we were working on. I would come into class and tell the kids that I called some homes to brag about them. The kids who act out always ask why I wasn’t calling their homes and I would tell them that if they were good that day, I would call home to brag and I would. This made them try harder to act appropriately.

· How do you keep them on task? E.g., for a fidgety student, a case manager recommended some silly putty to keep his hands busy. Instead, it just keeps him fully engaged in playing with the putty (which is a tolerable result because at least he’s staying in the classroom and isn’t disturbing others), but usually ends up with him throwing pieces across the room (then the putty is taken away, he starts throwing things, and has to be removed from the room).
A: I have used the rubbery squishy balls for a student to manipulate while I am talking. This has helped. I also allowed students to stand up in the back of the room as long as they weren’t disturbing anyone.

· How do you let your kids know that failure is ok? One or two go into anxiety attacks at the thought of getting even one question wrong, to the point where they not only refuse to try to answer it, but also refuse to move on to the next problem.
A: I would start off with some activities I knew a student would be able to do. The more successful they are, the more likely they are to attempt harder stuff. I also told my students that on some things, even if they got all of the answers wrong, I graded for effort and they wouldn’t fail. I also said that I could tell if they gave full effort or not and if they didn’t, they would fail.

· When situations are spiraling out of control, how to you break the cycle? A kid acts out, teacher reports it to mom, the kid becomes resentful and acts out more, teacher has to tell mom, to the point where even when the teacher want to email the mom about positive behaviors the kid panics.
A: This is why contacting parents on a regular basis is so important! Once you get in a routine about giving attention to the positive behaviors, many of the negative behaviors will fade. Check out Classdojo.com which is a free program on PC and free app for Ipad. It is fun and easy to use for behavior management.

· How do you manage all of the bureaucratic paperwork? Keeping track of unique IEPs for each student, teacher evaluation requirements, etc.
A: I have a spreadsheet with all of the things that have deadlines and list the deadlines. Each day I make a list of what needs to be done that day and then prioritize. It is important to stay ahead of the paperwork so I don’t get overwhelmed.

· Any other advice?
A: Exercise, take vitamins, and drink plenty of water. Stay healthy. When you get run down, you feel miserable and unhappy with yourself, your job, and others. Ask the students which teachers they like the best and then go observe these teachers. Ask other teachers who they think are the best and go observe these teachers. Both observations will help you see how other teachers do things and help you see strategies in action. Find a hobby outside of teaching so you can get some distance and perspective about your teaching. reading.

Do you have any other suggestions to any of the questions? Please share!

Image: 'Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! .....' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53211846@N00/404625070
Found on flickrcc.net