This isn't a fully fledged lesson plan, but just a few ideas and some resources that I had that I wanted to share with you all. Every once in a while I get some politically or religiously charged emails from my family members. And while I hate receiving them, I always think how great they would be to use in a classroom to teach media literacy. After all, the average person often gets forwarded emails in his or her inbox, takes the information at face value, and then forwards it on to the dozens of other people on his or her email list who might be as equally un-critical of the information they're receiving. But as teachers, it's our job to make our students more media savvy.
Here are three examples and my ideas for their use.
RTI resource guide: section 1 covers the basics of what RTI is and section 2 covers some good, research-based interventions (phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).
Wordsmiths, writers, poets . . . or, teacher education students who have a lot to say! . . . this post is for you.
curryed away is looking for 2 current teacher education students to be guest bloggers for Fall 2012. We are seeking 1 student in the midst of the pedagogy coursework (1st year PG/MT or rising 4th year BA/MT) and 1 student preparing to begin the teaching associateship experience. Because curryed away is a blog co-operative, each student would add a blog post only twice a month.
If this mini-limelight and story-sharing sounds interesting to you, email currypedia@virginia.edu with the following:
Your name
Your expected graduation year and Curry program
fifty words or less on why you’d like to be a guest blogger for curryed away
three proposed imaginary blog titles (for example: “Earthquakes and General Shakiness: my first day of student teaching”; “Why Recess is N(r)eccessary”; “On Paulo Freire and Pedagogy of the Oppressed“)
Applicants should send emails by Monday, May 14th. We look forward to hearing from you!
If you haven’t heard of the Ron Clark Academy yet, then you have to check this place out! It’s a private, non-profit middle school in Atlanta, Georgia that’s got a pretty fun take on education. A coworker of mine recently shared this video with me, and it shows some pretty enthusiastic teaching (and learning) going on!
So what do you do after you’ve spent two years of your life and $60k+ on a master’s in teaching when your significant other tells you that he/she has been offered a job in Germany?
You drop everything and move, of course!
All romantic notions of Europe aside, though, it’s kind of a terrifying — and exhilarating — decision. After all, it’s not like moving to a different state where that teaching license you’ve been working so hard for will *hopefully* transfer. It’s a whole OTHER COUNTRY with different rules…and students…and do they even have jobs there for American English teachers?
In fact, they do. Which is probably why I was able to justify the move so easily. Read More
This past semester I decided to apply for a paid internship at a local student travel company, mostly because I needed the money. As it turns out, the work I’ve been doing has been extremely fascinating and is providing me a view of education outside of the classroom. My job is two-fold: I upload coursework for students to take online after their travel experience, and I write some of the coursework that they’ll take. I tend to separate the two, because they require two different areas of focus. The first requires me to think about what looks good for a consumer (the student), and how I can make the delivery of content engaging. The second part of my job requires me to come up with lessons that extend their traveling experience and challenge their thinking using information and assessments that are both diverse and accessible. The later, of course, is the more traditional roll of a teacher. Read More
To Sir With Love. Dead Poet’s Society. Stand and Deliver. Dangerous Minds. Freedom Writers. Mona Lisa’s Smile. While Hollywood has screened no shortage of feel-good teacher films, those movies usually portray one fantastic teacher rising above all circumstances (and, importantly, battles with other teachers) to carry her/his students to greatness.
Behavior management is often the most difficult aspect of teaching for new teachers. You can read as many books as you want for what to do and what not to do, but often it just takes time, trial and error, and lots of reflection about the kind of teacher you want to be. I’ve got two great sources for tips that I’d like to share with you. Read More
