I write because….

This video would be helpful to show and then discuss in a classroom of students involved in writing. I found it at the ELA 101 blog.

If you cannot see the video link, pop on over to my blog site and find it there.

I have never thought of myself as a writer, but now that I have started this blog, I am a writer.  I may not be the most concise writer, nor the best, but I am learning my craft.

As a teacher, I need to practice my writing skills so that I can model writing to my students. 

There are many reasons to write, as demonstrated on the video.You need to ask yourself, and your students….

Why do you write?

Technorati Tags: writing,blogs,I write because,education,teachers

Wordle – We Can!

Just had to showcase this wonderful Wordle from Kathy Cassidy’s Grade One class blog.

A great use of a Wordle. 
Every class, every child should be able to make one of these themselves. Think of the self-esteem created here!

Do you know what Wordle is? 

You take some text, whatever words you want to use, (the text from a blog post, the text from the Declaration of Independence, the text from a story a child wrote, or the text from a book, etc.) Then you insert the text into the “Magic Wordle Maker," (click on the link Wordle to get to the website) and Voila! You have a Wordle that makes words that appear most often in the text bigger than words that appear less often.  There are also tricks you can use to add special effects and finagle the way it looks and works!

By the way, did you know that the maker of Wordle, Jonathan Feinberg, listened to educators?  Teachers were cautious using Wordle with students because there are some Wordles that others have made that may not be acceptable to children viewing.  Now when you go to Wordle, you automatically get to the "Create a Wordle" page, not the page that showcases the most recent examples of Wordles that have been made!

How have you used Wordle in your classroom, with your colleagues/teachers, in your blog, in a presentation to other teachers/administrators?

Please share those.

Technorati Tags: Wordle,teachers,first grade,Kathy Cassidy,education

Challenging their Professional Identity

Wesley Fryer, of Moving @ the Speed of Creativity, is one of my favorite blogsters to read.  He always has interesting information, ideas, and insights.  I like how he also involves his children and their technology activities, sometimes, in his blogs. He seems like such a kind, generous, mild mannered person and then suddenly…

He makes some VERY CHALLENGING (but true!) STATEMENTS:

Wesley says, “To ask an educator used to lecturing every day to give it up for vodcasting, and instead to both craft and lead highly-interactive, engaging face-to-face discussions with students is tantamount to challenging their professional identity and raison d’être.”

Read the whole blog here.  He started the whole story with talk about the “Teaching Naked” controversial comment/title in an article about Dr. José A. Bowen of Southern Methodist University.

Because so many teachers of today are the BABY BOOMERS, who are getting ready to retire, as soon as their teacher pensions will allow them to retire (in this economy), there is little (if none) desire to “re-work” lectures and lesson plans by MANY teachers, but this is not everyone in the profession. 

Now I have to qualify myself here.  I, too, am a BABY BOOMER, who currently is out of the classroom. (I thought I’d retire and then along came the recession and all of its negative impact on my financial security!)

But I am trying to get back into teaching in the classroom because…  I WANT to do this type of teaching.  I personally am a lifelong learner plus technology and collaborative learning are exciting prospects for me.

True, I am at the elementary level, not high school and college, but the statement above by Wesley Fryer is still pertinent in the elementary education classroom as well.

I also have another question that may or may not be related to this whole topic. You decide.

Are we teaching the future teachers how to teach in this “new” manner or are they just learning the “same old ways” we BABY BOOMERS were taught in the late 60’s and 70s?

Tell me what you think. And if you think we are not teaching them in the “new” manner, what needs to be done? What can we do as leaders?

[As always, in my author quotes, the underlines, color changes, and bold type is mine, not the author’s.  I do this so often, I should probably put a disclaimer to this effect at the bottom of every blog!]

Technorati Tags: Wesley Fryer,Moving @ Speed of Creativity,Dr. José A. Bowen,Baby Boomers,teaching,life long learning,new teachers,challenges,professional identity,vodcasting,collaborative learning,technology,elementary education

If You Give a Teacher a Mouse...

Another cute video...

Teachers Are People

Long time no see, here at the BLOG.
I must show you this great Cartoon.

How can you hire "the right" teacher?

I was reading Larry Ferlazzo's blog and happened upon his reference to an article from the New Yorker about how to find the best teacher from a group of "recruits." It is hard to find the answer to this question before prospective teachers have been in the classroom.

Tenure, I believe, creates average or below average teachers.

Teachers, in their first years, can either do really well, or sometimes, really poorly. Some teachers take longer to get "grounded" in what works for them. So the first 2 or 4 years, whatever is required for tenure in a district, isn't always a "true value" of a teacher's worth. Also, the number of years a teacher has taught does not necessarily make a good or bad teacher. A teacher who has taught for 20 or more years who is still teaching exactly the same way s/he started out is not always a good teacher.

Teacher's unions and tenure help make teachers feel too complacent in their position. If a teacher is a good teacher, s/he doesn't need tenure.

I have been told that the original reason tenure was developed was to allow for college professors to test the waters in what was happening/what they were teaching without fear of reprisal from the authorities/the "powers that be" in the college hierarchy.

Even in the elementary and secondary schools there can also be power struggles. You can have a poor administrator/principal who is resentful/afraid of a teacher who is exceptional and well-liked by the students/parents/school board.

Nevertheless, I still believe, as I have often said, teachers really should be paid according to what they are worth, yet is hard to determine "what they are worth."

We need to concentrate on finding the way to determine what teachers are worth. The answer is not based solely upon the test scores of their students. Teachers teach and students learn much more than any test scores will ever show.

Only then we will improve our schools and the education of our youth.

That's where the money needs to be spent. On the teachers - the good teachers.

Good teachers succeed no matter what the challenges are, but they shouldn't have the additional challenge of not enough money for basic educational supplies.

(Editorial comment: Sorry I couldn't resist...When banks, Wall Street firms, and car manufacturers get bailed out, but schools receive little or no financial help our priorities are out of whack!)

What do you think?