Archive for October, 2011
Posted by teacher on
October 31, 2011
The parents of a child with epilepsy should notify the school of their child’s epilepsy and how best to respond if a seizure occurs in school. Consistency in the response to a seizure both at school and at home increases the child’s sense of security and avoids sending the child mixed messages about what a seizure is and how to deal with it.
Parents should also encourage school administrators to contact the local epilepsy organization to request a School Alert program. If administrators express any hesitancy in doing so, parents can offer to contact the epilepsy group to schedule a program. This approach demonstrates the parents’ strong desire to have the program and a willingness to work with the school.
Posted by teacher on
October 28, 2011
Teachers, indeed, as the Minister of Education recently stated, have to understand their true and complete role as educators. But the process does not begin in the teachers’ training school; the process has to begin with teachers being given the recognition that would allow them to be motivated to practice being true and complete educators.
This true role as educators is not something that can be taught in a classroom setting. It is something that must be instilled within the very young, so that they can look up towards their teachers and have respect for them. Helping teachers to understand their true role as educators has to begin with the appropriate recognition for the value of service they provide.
For some time now, the service provided by teachers has been undervalued. Teachers are being derecognized in this country, by virtue of the importance that is being paid to their well-being and the lack of appreciation and respect that is being shown to them by parents and students alike.
It is a depressing situation which began with the decline in the economy in the early eighties. The economic hardships of that time forced some teachers to take items to school to sell in order to make ends meet. It also pressed them into offering extra lessons so as to supplement their income.
But things were not always this way. There was a time when students looked up to teachers to the extent that teachers often set the fashion of the day.
School girls were often seen whispering to one another about some lovely skirt, dress or shoes that a teacher wore, and some male teachers dressed so impeccably that even some of the female students developed crushes on them.
The teacher was a symbol of respect. They were admired. They were role models for the children, sometimes simply by virtue of their appearance.
However, there was a time when the economic crisis took a toll and some teachers began to wear shoes that were tired at the front and worn at the heels. Their clothes became shoddy and the children therefore had less to admire than before. Being children, the appearance of these teachers soon became the object of ridicule and even of the coining of false names.
Posted by teacher on
October 25, 2011
1. Establish an in-school PLN
Create a ‘personal learning network’. Connect with other teachers/learners at your school and share ideas, bounce off each other, listen to each other, criticise each other, learn together.
2. Interact with someone who thinks differently than you do
Work closely with someone who doesn’t always think like you. Listen to their perspective. Share yours. Provoke each other. Argue. Defend your opinion. Compromise. Don’t compromise. Learn from each other.
3. Listen to TED talks
Keep up to date with TED talks. There are some incredible, inspirational thinkers and presenters on TED. Watch the ones that are not about education to broaden your learning and thinking. Consider how you might be able to apply the ideas in education.
4. Make global connections
Learn about other people, other schools, other cultures. Connect with them online. Be a learner first. Then make global connections for your students too.
5. Join Twitter
Find someone to help you get started (I will, if you like). Follow topics, not just people. Participate. Ask for help and offer help. Be patient, it takes time to build an online network.
6. Create your own opportunities
Be a risk taker. Start a focus group. Participate in online conferences. Explore new ideas. Experiment with new tools. Initiate something new in your school. Do something that’s not in your job description.
7. Subscribe to blogs
Set up an RSS feed for educational blogs you find interesting. Or start by subscribing via email. Ask for recommendations. Comment on blogs you read and get involved in conversations.
8. Write your own blog
Seriously, anyone can do it. It’s great for reflection and helps synthesize and clarify your thoughts. It’s not about the readers as much as the process.
9. Work in an IB school
Teaching through the PYP makes you think. It challenges the way you do things. You shift from facts and topics to conceptual ideas. You plan collaboratively across disciplines. You become an inquirer.
10. Be part of a learning community.
Or three. Learn from and with your students. Learn from and with your colleagues. Learn from and with other educators online.
Posted by teacher on
October 24, 2011
1. Make sure they have choice in what they learn and how they learn.
2. Ask their opinions and listen to them.
3. Care about what they say.
4. Don’t make all the decisions.
5. Provide a safe environment for experimentation with ideas.
6. Teach them that mistakes are part of learning.
7. Encourage them to follow their interests and their passions.
8. Provide opportunities for creativity.
9. Create a culture of thinking, where everyone’s thinking is valued.
10. Don’t expect them to do things without knowing why.
Posted by teacher on
October 22, 2011
1. Teachers know all the answers.
2. Teachers have to be in control of the class.
3. Teachers are responsible for the learning.
4. Students are obliged to respect teachers.
5. Learning can be measured by a letter or a number.
6. Teachers should plan activities and then assessments.
7. Learners need to sit quietly and listen.
8. Technology integration is optional.
9. Worksheets support learning.
10. Homework is an essential part of learning.
Posted by teacher on
October 20, 2011
1. Is this good?
I don’t know. What do you think?
2. How do you want me to do it?
How do you want to do it?
3. What’s the right answer?
I don’t know. What do you think?
4. How do you do this?
What possibilities can you think of?
5. The computer isn’t working. What should I do?
What have you tried?
6. Do you like what I wrote?
Do you like what you wrote?
7. Is this enough? How long should it be?
How much is enough? Have you said everything you want to say?
8. Can I try something different?
Isn’t that your job as a learner?
9. Do we have to do it?
Maybe not. Do you have a better idea?
10. Is this a silly question?
There are no silly questions… Oh, wait, there are.
Posted by teacher on
October 19, 2011
1. Don’t make all the decisions
Allow choice. Encourage students to make decisions about how they learn best. Create opportunities for them to pursue their own interests and practise skills in a variety of ways. Cater for different learning styles. Don’t expect everyone to respond in the same way. Integrate technology to encourage creative expression of learning.
2. Don’t play guess what’s in my head
Ask open-ended questions, with plenty of possible answers which lead to further questions. Acknowledge all responses equally. Use Thinking Routines to provide a framework for students to engage with new learning by making connections, thinking critically and exploring possibilities.
3. Talk less
Minimise standing out front and talking at them. Don’t have rows of learners facing the front of the class. Arrange the seats so that students can communicate, think together, share ideas and construct meaning by discussing and collaborating. Every exchange doesn’t need to go through the teacher or get the teacher’s approval, encourage students to respond directly to each other.
4. Model behaviors and attitudes that promote learning.
Talk about your own learning. Be an inquirer. Make your thinking process explicit. Be an active participant in the learning community. Model and encourage enthusiasm, open-mindedness, curiosity and reflection. Show that you value initiative above compliance.
5. Ask for feedback
Get your students to write down what they learned, whether they enjoyed a particular learning experience, what helped their learning, what hindered their learning and what might help them next time. Use a Thinking Routine like ‘Connect, extend, challenge’. Take notice of what they write and build learning experiences based on it.
6. Test less
Record student thinking and track development over time. Provide opportunities for applying learning in a variety of ways. Create meaningful assessment tasks that allow transfer of learning to other contexts. Have students publish expressions of their learning on the internet for an authentic audience. Place as much value on process and progress as on the final product.
7. Encourage goal setting and reflection.
Help students to define goals for their learning. Provide opportunities for ongoing self-evaluation and reflection. Provide constructive, specific feedback. Student blogs are great tools for reflecting on learning and responding to their peers.
8. Don’t over plan.
If you know exactly where the lesson is leading and what you want the kids to think, then you‘re controlling the learning. Plan a strong provocation that will ‘invite the students in’ and get them excited to explore the topic further. But don’t plan in too much detail where it will go from there.
9. Focus on learning, not work.
Make sure you and your students know the reason for every learning experience. Don’t give ‘busy work’. Avoid worksheets where possible. Don’t start by planning activities, start with the ‘why‘ and then develop learning experiences which will support independent learning. Include appropriate tech tools to support the learning.
10. Organise student led conferences
Rather than reporting to parents about their children’s learning, have student led 3-way conferences, with teacher and parents. The student talks about her strengths and weaknesses, how her learning has progressed and areas for improvement. She can share the process and the product of her learning.
Posted by teacher on
October 18, 2011
One of the points which raised problems for some people was my suggestion that students are not obliged to respect teachers. I do think mutual respect between any human beings is important. And I understand that there might be differing cultural expectations when it comes to respecting teachers. But I still think it’s important for teachers to think about whether and why they deserve respect automatically.
1. Respect your students
Don’t talk down to students. Model mutual respect. Don’t have double standards. Give what you’d like to get back. Know every child’s story and treat each as an individual. Cater for different learning preferences, strengths and weaknesses.
2. Have a class agreement, not top-down rules
Ask what helps them learn and what hinders learning. Use that as a basis for establishing an essential agreement as to how the class will run and what behaviours will be evident. Have everyone sign it. Put it up on the wall. Refer to it constantly.
3. Be part of the learning community
Don’t be the boss of learning. Encourage kids to take ownership of their learning. Be an inquirer too. Don’t pretend to know all the answers. Learn with and from your students. Divide your groups in a variety of random ways, so that everyone learns to work with different people.
4. Acknowledge their physical needs
Allow students to drink water and even to eat if they hungry. Don’t try and control when they go to the toilet. (If your classes are engaging, they will only go when they need to.) Provide opportunities for standing up and moving around during learning.
5. Be fair and reasonable
Don’t show favoritism. Expect everyone to stick to the agreement. Don’t allow put-downs between students. Accept legitimate excuses and even some that might not be. If the homework comes a day late because they had something else to do, it’s not the end of the world.
6. Have a sense of humour
Laugh with your students but never at them. Laugh at yourself. Show firm disapproval if they laugh at each other. Don’t take school too seriously. Take learning seriously. But make learning fun too.
7. Provide a secure learning space
Provide opportunities for risk-taking in learning. Create a safe environment where learners don’t fear failure. Be supportive of creative thinking and new ways of doing things. Make very student feel validated.
8. Be sincere
Talk to students in a normal tone, irrespective of their age. Students see through adults who aren’t sincere very quickly. Don’t pretend. Say what you mean. Mean what you say. Show that you care… but only if you do. (If you don’t, why are you a teacher?)
9. Be human
Acknowledge when you’re in the wrong. Apologise when you make a mistake. Admit you’re impatient because you’re tired today.
10. Let go
Don’t be in charge of every situation. Ask yourself ’Is it important?‘ before you react. Don’t make all the decisions. Provide opportunities for choice. Show that you value initiative above compliance.
Posted by teacher on
October 14, 2011
1. Have not figured out what exactly they want and don’t want – a root cause of much of what follows.
2. Overpraise students for doing what is expected.
3. Don’t know the difference between praise and acknowledgement and when each is appropriate.
4. Fail to do effective long-range and daily planning.
5. Spend too much time with one student or one group and not monitoring the entire class.
6. Begin a new activity before gaining the students’ attention.
7. Talk too fast, and are sometimes shrill.
8. Use a voice level that is always either too loud or too soft.
9. Stand too long in one place (the feet of clay syndrome).
10. Sit too long while teaching (the posterior of clay syndrome).
11. Overemphasize the negative.
12. Do not require students to raise hands and be acknowledged before responding.
13. Are way too serious and not much fun.
14. Are way too much fun and not serious.
15. Fall into a rut by using the same teaching strategy or combination of strategies day after day.
16. Ineffectively use silence (wait time) after asking a content question.
17. Are ineffective when they use facial expressions and body language.
18. Tend to talk to and interact with only half the class (usually their favorites, and usually on the right)..
19. Collect and return student papers before assigning students something to do.
20. Interrupt students while they are on task.
21. Use “SHHHH” as a means of quieting students (one of the most annoying and ineffective behaviors).
22. Overuse verbal efforts to stop inappropriate student behavior – talk alone accomplishes little.
23. Settle for less rather than demand more.
24. Use threats to control the class (short term, produces results; long term, backfires).
25. Use global praise inappropriately.
26. Use color meaninglessly, even to the point of distraction (I know you’ve seen this happen).
27. Verbally reprimand students across the classroom (get close and personal if possible).
28. Interact with only a “chosen few” students rather than spreading interactions around to all students.
29. Do not intervene quickly enough during inappropriate student behavior.
30. Do not learn and use student names in an effective way (kids pick up quickly on this and respond in
kind).
Posted by teacher on
October 13, 2011
1. Always do your homework. It doesn’t matter if all the answers are correct, but handing it in on time shows that you’ve committed yourself to your work. Teachers never tell you off for getting questions wrong. Always at least make your best attempt. They will correct you and still helps you learn.
2. Pay attention in class. Show that you are at least trying to learn the material. Don’t talk to your friends when the teacher is talking; this can be a huge pet peeve for teachers and they remember. It will end up on your report card if you do this often.
3. Take notes. Taking good notes is a very important part of being a good student. It will also show that you are trying to understand what he or she is teaching. When it is not necessary to take notes, make eye contact with the teacher.
4. Always bring school supplies. It’s okay if you forget once or twice, but if you are always asking for a pencil or a piece of paper, your teacher is liable to get angry. Or ask a friend before class!
5. Always be on time. Just as with the school supplies, it is okay to be late once or perhaps even twice, but the teacher is liable to get angry. Get a watch if you are regularly late.
6. Ask questions. Teachers don’t mind questions, in fact, they show that you are at least learning something. However, make sure that the question is relevant to the topic. Idiotic or random questions will surely not fly, and don’t ask questions that you already know the answer to, because that will just make you seem like you are asking questions on purpose so that you’ll seem really smart. If you ask a question and are told to sit down and figure it out, give it one more try. If you ask again and the teacher won’t help, be sure to ask a parent or other teacher for assistance. Some teachers think that if you keep trying you will “get it”. This isn’t always the case, and you should have help when you need it. Never be afraid to ask questions, because if you don’t actually know the material you will be in an even worse position. However, do not ask questions that the teacher has already answered.
7. Be polite. Refer to them as “Mrs.” or “Mr”. Call them “sir” or “ma’am”. A lot of teachers are sticklers for politeness. Give it a try.
8. Don’t argue. As rude or unfair as teachers can be, don’t argue or talk back to them. Arguing is futile. It’s not like the teacher will simply admit they were wrong because you said so. If they yell at you, simply apologize, and promise it won’t happen again. To deal with unfairness, rather then arguing, talk to your parents or guidance counselor about it. But in some cases if they are a bit understanding state your point even if you think they won’t agree with it, they might cut you some slack.
9. Speak gently, and concisely. Using gentle, kind words can help your teacher realize any faults within his or herself. Thinking before you speak, and thereby eliminating any “um…” or “uh…” sounds makes you sound mature and under control, which can help the teacher learn to like you.
10. Go the extra mile. When seeing the teacher in the hallway or outside of class, smile and greet them politely. If you really want to make an effort, say ‘Hello’ and ‘Good-bye’ each time you enter or leave the classroom. Before holiday breaks, bring your teacher a small gift, such as a baked goods. The gift can be a major turning point in your relationship with the teacher. Try to do things for your teacher. Stay after school and help them clean up, organize books without being asked, etc. Never gossip about your teacher because somehow, this gossip will always reach the ears of the teacher.
