September 2009 Blog Posts (134)

It's harder to have a bad attitude...

I think it's hard to be a teacher with a bad attitude... at least I think it's harder to be a teacher with a bad attitude than it is to be a teacher with a good attitude. And yet, why does it seem as though a whole buncha folks in our profession choose to have such a cynical outlook on their school/job/profession/kids/lives? (And yes, I do believe attitude is a choice. Read some Viktor… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 12, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Cooperative Learning

I have just begun to research cooperative learning. I remember getting wonderful cooperative learning ideas in the past that I implemented in my classroom such as think-pair-share and jigsaw. According to research done by Richard M. Felder and Rebecca Brent, cooperative learning is not just a way of grouping students together, but it must involve positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face promotive interaction, appropriate use of collaborative skills, and group… Continue

Added by Ashley Willson on September 11, 2009 at 10:27am — No Comments

Tips To Improve Study Skills

Learning strategies or study skills determine the approach for achieving the learning objectives. The strategies are usually tied to students needs and interests to enhance learning and are based on many types of learning styles. However, not all of our students develop strategies to deal with their studies spontaneausly. Sometimes teachers need to make students learn how to learn. Here are some strategies that can help your students be successful in their studies.… Continue

Added by Mohammed Rhalmi on September 11, 2009 at 8:36am — No Comments

September 11

I was in my classroom when the second plane hit the World Trade Center in 2001. I heard about the first plane as I drove into work, turned on the tv in my room and then watched the second plane hit.

And that day, all we did in my class was watch the news and talk. I remember telling my kids, "You just saw the world change." I didn't know how, I didn't know in which way, shape or manner, but I did know that right then, our world had changed.

And it… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 11, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Will You Listen: Chapter 1

For those of you following are video series, here is the next… Continue

Added by Joe Fatheree on September 10, 2009 at 8:32pm — 1 Comment

Wireless Access Points?

I'm currently trying to force my school system to buy better wireless network hardware. Our wireless access points are horrible. If any one has experience with wireless network implementation and hardware that would be the best to use in a domain environment please help. All suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks,

Kevin Messick
Crenshaw County Schools
kmessick@crenshaw-schools.org

Added by Kevin Messick on September 10, 2009 at 9:08am — 2 Comments

We don't have enough______________________!

So the school year is a few weeks in now and we just had one of those big, long English department meetings. You know the kind, where people gripe, complain, moan, go off topic and stray into conversations about how they are the best educational practitioners ever and back in 1981 I was doing this and blah, blah, blah.

Put it this way, if you do not know what type of meeting I am talking about, consider yourself blessed. We have good peeps on our staff and we are all… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 10, 2009 at 6:30am — No Comments

Presentation Opportunities at CLHS and CLMS in 2010

I also shared this opportunity with colleagues elsewhere and thought it would be good to share it with you here as well:

Hello again, colleagues. I'm once again pinging you on behalf of the California League of Schools, which is moving to pull together promotional material for the California League of High Schools (CLHS) annual conference January 15 - 17 (in Monterey) and the California League of High Schools (CLHS) annual conference February 25 - 28 (in Sacramento). They generally… Continue

Added by Mark Wagner on September 10, 2009 at 1:00am — No Comments

Laptop Labs in the Monterey and/or Sacramento Areas?

I just posted this message to some list-servs I belong to and thought I’d share it here in case someone in my wider network might be able to help:

Hello, colleagues. On behalf of the non-profit California League of Schools (CLMS, CLHS, and now CLES), I’m looking for a friendly school district (or other institution) in the Monterey, CA area that might be willing to provide a laptop lab for the CLHS annual conference January 15-18. Please let me know if you (or any of your colleagues)… Continue

Added by Mark Wagner on September 10, 2009 at 12:27am — No Comments

Are Non-verbal Cues all that important?

Last week the Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com - Mark Bauerlein) had an article about Gen Y not being able to "read" each other. Which got me thinking "Is non-verbal communication" all that important? Is the sound of a person voice or the smile on their face needed? Nielsen Mobile reported late last year that teenagers on average sent and received 2,272 texts per month. A year earlier the National School Boards Association estimated that middle and high school students devoted an average of 9… Continue

Added by Jodi Harrison on September 9, 2009 at 2:43pm — No Comments

You have the right to refuse to apply your rights because it is your right to do so! (Right?)

So the Marxists didn't take over, the commies didn't infiltrate, the youth of this nation weren't indoctrinated unwittingly into an irreversible cult of personality and North Korea's heinous government regime didn't supplant our own now that Obama has addressed the kids of this nation with a "you should to do well in school" speech.

But ooh, we were so close to imperialistic calamity, were we not?

Obama talked about hard work. Obama talked about personal… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 9, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

how many to a class?

Just a few thoughts - interested to find out ...

If you teach a language in Stage 5 and 6, what is the minimum number of students expected in your class so the class will run?

What are the restrictions/expectations put on you? How do you surmount these?

If you teach other subjects, what are the numbers expected? Does it sometimes prove difficult? Are you fed up teaching junior students year in year out?

Added by Marie Ange Lewis on September 9, 2009 at 1:20am — No Comments

The role of the teacher: to teach, to guide, to cheer?

When I think about what education should look like, and more specifically what my role as teacher looks like, I wonder if my philosophy lines up with my teaching strategies. So much of what I'm reading these days speaks of the teacher guide rather than the teacher. Truthfully, I like this approach. I think it makes sense in this world of information where, God forbid, I should be the holder of all truth to be shared with the masses (or at least my students). But I wonder, what does many of… Continue

Added by Sharon Axthelm on September 8, 2009 at 7:38pm — 2 Comments

As we all know, gerunds save lives.

A few weeks ago I talked about H.R. 1895 and The Stand Up Act in regards to providing more strict guidleines for teen drivers.

It just smacked of complete common sense. Well, banning txting and driving is next up. This seems, to me, to be another one that just elevates itself to the level of NO-BRAINER.

See, when I click on this article and see a picture… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on September 8, 2009 at 3:03pm — No Comments

Social Media Reading List! EXCELLENT Compendium of Adoption Persuasion!

I've been away a bit, laid low by a bad bad chest cold and back trouble, all at once, and I am immensely aware of my mortality. While I've been down, I've been delving into a really remarkable tome suggested to me by friend Cathy Walker of MUVErsLLC, Jump Point by Tom Hayes. I refuse to review it before I have finished the whole thing, but wow, why on earth did that book not cause the kind of stir rukussed up by The World is Flat, or Here Comes Everybody?… Continue

Added by Scott Merrick on September 8, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

First week of Ed Tech.

It took me four days to get on this website. Now I am by no means a tech guru, but I am confident in my skills to navigate a simple web browser. But like Prof. said in class- Technology is made by humans, who make mistakes. So technology will never be perfect.

This got me thinking, "How can I use something in the classroom that will consistently provide me headaches?" I've been a student long enough to see how faulty tech can drain an instructor's patience while simultaneously… Continue

Added by Gabriel Lutz on September 8, 2009 at 12:02pm — 2 Comments

The Weekly Update: August 31 - September 6

Check out the most interesting blogs from last week... MORE

Added by Shawn Roner on September 8, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

Test

Test to see if blogging still works.

Added by Dave Eveland on September 8, 2009 at 8:48am — No Comments

Web Tools for Teachers

You might be interested in this article from Mashable featuring some new web tools for teachers....

Added by Jennifer Stadtmiller on September 8, 2009 at 12:08am — No Comments

To tweet or not to tweet

To tweet or not to tweet... that is the question! Let's face it, you hear about twitter almost daily on the TV. Online, countless "follow me on twitter" banners, logos are seen on most sites now. Twitter has been become one more way to communicate for the world at large. So do we tweet or not tweet?

Of course, like everything else, it is a personal choice of communication. Like other technology tools, many love it... some don't get it...

The world loves cell phones.… Continue

Added by Stacy Bodin on September 7, 2009 at 11:17pm — No Comments