A Teacher's Daze

"Moving on up...." "My 'Teacher's Space'" This is a simple canvas of city lights that I enhanced by using an old desk lamp with a bendable neck.  It's perfect to spotlight this scene! Growing up watching the sitcom, The Jeffersons, I couldn't help but think of this song when creating my "Big City View" or "Going Places" theme for my middle school classroom.  In fact, the theme song to this sitcom has been stuck in my head, for days.  :-D...  I find myself singing "Moving on up/ to the East side...... I finally got a piece of the pie...."  If you aren't familiar with the show, then it is hard to imagine why this song fits perfectly with the underlying idea behind this classroom theme. First, I have to admit something.  I didn't start out thinking, "Okay, I'm going to create a theme that shows big skyscrapers, bright city lights, and famous places across the world."  Actuall...

I do not pretend to know the answer to my own question.  I do not know "exactly" where to start.  What I do know is a "start" is needed; therefore, I chose to begin reading historical fiction, which is a good transition from fiction to non-fiction, in my humble opinion.   After teaching English for 22 years, it's easy to get boggled down in doing what I've always done.  It's easy to rationalize that what I've always done has brought about, for the most part, effective results.  However, it is folly to imagine that there is not room for improvement.  So, I'm beginning in a way that I see as profitable.   Most teachers will agree that the more one knows the subject matter they teach, the more effective their teaching.  There is, obviously truth to this.  It's not the only way a student learns, however.  A teacher who can whet the appetite of young readers with books and stories that appeal to their curiosity will go on to read books that t...

As I was checking out at a store, I noticed these little packaged boxes with "Boogie Board" written on it.  (okay... OKAY... I admit it... I fell victim to the oldest trick of getting people to "notice" things for sale:  Putting it near the check-out counter....)  Anyway, in this case I consider it to have been advantageous, not just for the store owner, but for me, the consumer.   Basically, a "Boogie Board" is about a 1/4 of an inch thick board a little bigger than a 5X7 photograph.  It comes with a stylus, a screen cleaning cloth, and a clip-on for the stylus.  Also, it features an ion battery that never needs replacing.  The way it works is very simple.  You write something on it, and then you push a button, a light flashes, and you have a "clean slate."   Possible uses in the classroom quickly came to my mind, as I was standing there at the check-out counter.  So, what do I do?  I buy it.  The more I got to thinking...

Using quizlet in the classroom is one of the most effective tools that I have used.  It works for any subject and on any grade level.  The picture below shows my students acting out their vocabulary list for the week.  After uploading the pictures to the site. the students could go to a computer or smartphone to study their weekly vocabulary test.  Using the students' ideas to act out the words made learning their vocabulary a cinch!   It's super easy to get started.  It literally takes minutes to post an entire list of words for students to access.  You don't have to use pictures, but if you want to, but don't have any of your own, quizlet has a variety of ones to choose.   If you haven't tried this, this is a MUST TRY!!! I've used it for two years, now, with both a senior English class and a middle school class.  It really works!!! Check it out!