Archive for September, 2011
Posted by teacher on
September 12, 2011
This fun cork board is disguised as a school locker door! Simply open the door to expose the cork board – it’s a great way for your kid to keep things neat and tidy the homework desk.
Basic Items Required
1. 17″x12″ sheet of green craft foam
2. Cork bulletin board (ours was approximately 16″x11″)
3. ½ sheet of orange craft foam
4. ½ sheet purple craft foam
5. 2 large black craft foam circle
6. 1 medium green craft foam circle
7. 1 small purple craft foam circle
8. White craft glue
9. Black fine tip marker
10. Blue glitter glue
11. 1 self adhesive hook and loop circle
12. Shipping tape
How To make IT
1. Place bulletin board onto green foam sheet. You want to trim the foam to fit the bulletin board, leaving about ¼” overlap of foam. (See photo.)
2. Set the bulletin board aside for now. Cut 6 strips (8″ x ¼”) from orange felt. Glue three strips toward the top of the green foam, and three toward the bottom, spacing them about ½” apart, to create the locker slats. (See photo.)
3. Cut a strip of orange felt 3 ½” x ½” for the locker handle. Glue it to the right side of the green craft foam.
4. To make the combination lock, place one of the large black circles on the work surface and glue the medium green circle to the center of it. Next, glue the small purple circle to the center of the green circle.
5. Cut the remaining black foam circle in half. You will only need one of the halves, save the other one for a different project. Cut the half circle in half again. Next, trim about ¼” of the border off of both pieces. You will use the two border trims for the combination lock handle.
6. Cut a triangle from purple felt measuring 9″ x 9″ 4 ¼”.(See photo.)
7. Without using glue just yet, position the lock handle and the lock itself just below the orange locker handle. When you have it where you want it, glue it in place. Use a fine tip marker to add lines around the green circle of the combination lock. (See photo.)
8. Glue the purple triangle to the front of the locker so that the point of the triangle is pointing upward at about a 45 degree angle. Do NOT decorate with glitter glue yet.
9. Position the “locker” on top of the bulletin board. Use clear shipping tape to secure the left side of the locker to the left side of the bulletin board. Open the locker door and lay it to the left. Tape the inside of the locker door to the bulletin board. (See photo.)
10. Close the locker door and attach a self adhesive hook and loop circle to the right border of the bulletin board, around the middle, somewhere near your combination lock. Attach the other side of the hook and loop to the locker door. (See photo.)
11. Decorate the purple triangle with glitter glue. You can write your name or something more general such as “RA RA” or “GO TEAM.”
12. Place your completed project somewhere out of reach for at least 4-5 hours to allow the glitter glue to dry completely.
Source
Posted by teacher on
September 10, 2011
Posted by teacher on
September 10, 2011
Parents, you know, it’s OK for your child to get in trouble sometimes. It builds character and teaches life lessons. As teachers, we are vexed by those parents who stand in the way of those lessons; we call them helicopter parents because they want to swoop in and save their child every time something goes wrong. If we give a child a 79 on a project, then that is what the child deserves. Don’t set up a time to meet with me to negotiate extra credit for an 80. It’s a 79, regardless of whether you think it should be a B+.
This one may be hard to accept, but you shouldn’t assume that because your child makes straight A’s that he/she is getting a good education. The truth is, a lot of times it’s the bad teachers who give the easiest grades, because they know by giving good grades everyone will leave them alone. Parents will say, “My child has a great teacher! He made all A’s this year!”
Take a step back and get a good look at the landscape. Before you challenge those low grades you feel the teacher has “given” your child, you might need to realize your child “earned” those grades and that the teacher you are complaining about is actually the one that is providing the best education.
And please, be a partner instead of a prosecutor. I had a child cheat on a test, and his parents threatened to call a lawyer because I was labeling him a criminal. I know that sounds crazy, but principals all across the country are telling me that more and more lawyers are accompanying parents for school meetings dealing with their children.
Posted by teacher on
September 9, 2011
ONE - Good teaching is as much about passion as it is about reason. It’s about not only motivating students to learn, but teaching them how to learn, and doing so in a manner that is relevant, meaningful, and memorable.
TWO – Good teaching is about substance and treating students as consumers of knowledge. It’s about doing your best to keep on top of your field, reading sources, inside and outside of your areas of expertise, and being at the leading edge as often as possible. But knowledge is not confined to scholarly journals. Good teaching is also about bridging the gap between theory and practice.
THREE – Good teaching is about listening, questioning, being responsive, and remembering that each student and class is different. It’s about eliciting responses and developing the oral communication skills of the quiet students.
FOUR - Good teaching is about not always having a fixed agenda and being rigid, but being flexible, fluid, experimenting, and having the confidence to react and adjust to changing circumstances. It’s about getting only 10 percent of what you wanted to do in a class done and still feeling good.
FIVE - Good teaching is also about style. Should good teaching be entertaining? You bet! Does this mean that it lacks in substance? Not a chance! Effective teaching is not about being locked with both hands glued to a podium or having your eyes fixated on a slide projector while you drone on. Good teachers work the room and every student in it.
SIX – Good teaching is about humor. It’s about being self-deprecating and not taking yourself too seriously. It’s often about making innocuous jokes, mostly at your own expense, so that the ice breaks and students learn in a more relaxed atmosphere where you, like them, are human with your own share of faults and shortcomings.
SEVEN – Good teaching is supported by strong and visionary leadership, and very tangible institutional support — resources, personnel, and funds.
EIGHT – Good teaching is about mentoring between senior and junior faculty, teamwork, and being recognized and promoted by one’s peers. Effective teaching should also be rewarded, and poor teaching needs to be remediated through training and development programs.
NINE - At the end of the day, good teaching is about having fun, experiencing pleasure and intrinsic rewards … like locking eyes with a student in the back row and seeing the synapses and neurons connecting, thoughts being formed, the person becoming better, and a smile cracking across a face as learning all of a sudden happens.
TEN – Time is one of the most precious resources a teacher has. Good teachers have learned to use this resource wisely.
Posted by teacher on
September 8, 2011
A teacher can be a friend off the class hours. She can help the students by counselling them, helping them with their problems, advise them to be a good human being. A teacher can be a guide, help the students to find the right way in life, discuss the future and nature of jobs one can get after studies, can help the student find a path through a meshy future dilemmas. A teacher is a philosopher who make understand the good and bad of life, quoting some real life characters (sometimes this is boring) but can make it more interesting by quoting animated characters, some filmy characters who gain more attention than the leaders. The ultimate is, the student should be able to understand the facts of the life not not get submerged into the fantasy part of the character potrayed……A teacher is complete only when she is a freind, guide and philosopher.
