Wendy Says

As a teacher, you are normally defined as someone who teaches in a classroom; some will move on to become administrators.The vast majority of teachers will always be in the classroom, but sadly, many leave, opting for professional jobs that will both pay more and offer greater benefit packages. Many gifted teachers are lost to education because of this, but what if there was a way that the love of teaching could be combined with something that offers a creative challenge as well as more pay? Meet the teacherpreneur!

The teacherpreneur merges the image of the innovative classroom teacher with the risk-taking and entrepreneurial leadership that we commonly associate with those who create their own place in the professional world. This is an exciting change in the educational world, as this allows those highly motivated and creative teachers an opportunity to help their schools perform better, while developing methods and approaches that help other teachers bring out the best in their students. 

School districts around the country are slowly realizing the potential there is in hiring or designating a teacher in this entrepreneurial role, and the benefits are proving to outweigh the cost. Federal grants are also making this unique roll possible, as teacherpreneurs are showing that they can make a difference in helping both students and teachers achieve higher goals. 

Part of what makes teacherpreneurs unique is that they are still in the classroom—they don’t just talk about theory, they are creating innovative methods that they can share with other teachers in the school/district after having tested them in their own classrooms. They may teach on a part-time basis, using the rest of the day to formalize their ideas into something that can be shared. 

Teacherpreneurs are, first and foremost, imaginative teachers. They have created a classroom culture of creativity and reflection. They think beyond the classroom in terms of how to make lessons meaningful, and in so doing, might see a need elsewhere in school that their innovation can address. I know that teachers of this caliber need to be creatively challenged and allowed to act on that creativity if they are going to be happy and remain in education. Forcing teachers to conform to a set standard can be stifling and even demoralizing. 

Much has been written about how different students are with regards to how they learn coupled with their wide range of capabilities, and yet, this understanding often doesn’t extend to the faculty. Teachers were once students themselves, and who better to understand those differences than they? By allowing an atmosphere in which teachers are allowed to expand and grow, magic can happen in the classroom. 

Teacherpreneurship is a topic I want to explore in the upcoming few months, as I consider it to be one of the most important and exciting changes to come into the educational world. This is a way to keep some great teachers in the system and allow their innovations and expertise to benefit students and faculty alike. Our rapidly changing society and technology demand new and fresh ways in teaching  the academic basics.

Stay tuned! 

Teachers, we are on the verge of a revolution—not the type you hear about on the world news, but in your classroom. Many of the stock items we expect to see in a classroom, such as storybooks, textbooks, and reference books, are gradually becoming a thing of the past. The advent of computers has essentially made reference books obsolete in many schools, for no school budget can compete with a computer when it comes to keeping up to date with research and current events. Hard-bound encyclopedias are gone, but online access to some are currently available through a subscription service sponsored by the school or public library. 

Over the last ten years, electronic versions of textbooks have become increasingly available in colleges due to the reduced cost of purchasing the digital version. Textbook companies make a lot of money by consistently updating books every other year on average, and as a teacher, you want your students to have the most current information possible. Hard copies are very expensive, and when you consider that thousands of textbooks are annually budgeted for each year, there goes a huge portion of the school’s operating costs. The more expensive hard copy textbooks become, the more inviting digital versions are. This is already trickling down into elementary and secondary schools.

Libraries, as we have known them, are changing due to the digital world. Money, that would have previously purchased hard copies of novels and other literature, is now being used to buy access to digital reading programs. Many books are only available for use on a reading device, such as a Kindle or a Nook Book. Libraries will always be the last bastion for hard copy books, but as those books fall apart and have to be discarded, they will most likely not be replaced. 

A growing trend we have seen in the elementary classroom has been the elimination of teaching cursive writing, the reasoning being that people are writing less and using the keyboard more. Children are now being taught keyboarding at younger ages, and many schools feel that the sooner they are taught this basic skill, the better able they will be to meet the technological challenges ahead of them.

The increasing use of technology in the classroom is going to demand a teaching force ready to do this. Cell phones, iPads, and e-readers are going to become the most important school supplies students can have. These devices are already being incorporated into teaching in the elementary levels, but they are only following what the secondary and college levels have done previously. 

As teachers, you are going to be required to know how to use mobile devices as educational tools. There will undoubtedly be many workshops held in every school district designed to train you both on the device as well as on the programs you will be using. You are part of the changing face of education, and while a bit scary, it is exciting. You can do this! 

Hello, Teachers! Can you believe that it’s already well into May, and the academic year is already over for some of you and almost over for the rest of you! Now is the time to think about what tools worked well for you and which ones should be discarded, particularly with regards to your class website. It doesn’t seem to matter how much tweaking you do, as there is always something that can be improved or replaced for better functionality. Throughout the teaching term, you discover things that you don’t like, but once the semester is up and running, you have to stay with what’s there to avoid unnecessary confusion for your students. 

Ask yourself some questions, such as these:

•  What did like? Why?
•  What didn't I like? Why?
• Was I able to perform the functions that I wanted, such as posting pictures/videos?
• What do I want to do on my website?
• Are there ways to encourage parents/students to look at the website?

In most cases, you already have a mental list of many of these things, so now is the time to write them down. By seeing them on paper, it is much easier to sort them according to the types of solutions that are necessary. 

• Are there technical problems that prevent you from performing tasks?
• Are you suffering from inadequate training on how to use your website?

It doesn’t take long to analyze your website, and it is worth the effort to pinpoint those things that you like or don’t like. By doing this at the end of the semester, you are in a better position to find the solutions you need so that you can be ready for the next semester. 

This is my first academic season writing this blog, and now I am asking you for any suggestions of topics you would like to see me address. My goal is to make this a meaningful place where you can find help and answers to your situations, as well as learn about tools to make your job easier and more efficient. Teaching is a difficult job on its own, and if I can contribute in some way to making things easier, then I have achieved my goal.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Spring is often the time of year when “teacher fatigue” can strike. After struggling through the winter months with obstacles of all sorts, energy levels can run low. The end of the school year is in sight, but that last leg can be rough! Your creative juices have dried up, and you’ve run out of ideas to help teach certain concepts to those students who need more help.

By nature, teachers are a creative bunch, but it has only been recently in which there has been a forum where others could share ideas. In 2006, Paul Edelman, a former NYC public school teacher, decided to create an open online marketplace where teachers could buy, sell, and share original educational materials in downloadable formats. He was the first person to launch this idea, and it has exploded around the world. We know it as Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) , and if you haven’t heard of this site yet, I will be glad to enlighten you. 

In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, computer equipment was becoming commonplace in the classroom, but the use of the internet as a teaching resource was still in its early stages for the general populace. Online teaching was rudimentary at best, but once begun, it was like an online conflagration for the next best thing to improve the experience for both the student and the teacher. No longer was an online classroom static, as tools were created to make it possible to simulate an actual interactive classroom. Connecting with the online world has become an integral part of learning and teaching.

Mr. Edelman saw a need for there to be a place where teachers could connect and share ideas, but he took it a step further by making it available for teachers to sell some of their ideas at a nominal cost and earn some extra money in the process. How many times have you worked hard to come up with an idea to help teach a particular concept or idea and created a great teaching method that proved successful? By taking this one step further, you could share this idea on the TpT website and earn something for your effort. 

There is no cost involved in registering to be part of the TpT community, and you are even allowed ten free downloads from an extensive list of products just for signing up. There are many free features to take advantage of, but if you want to become actively involved in the selling aspect, you will need to become a paid member. Everything is explained on how to do this, but you are free to participate however best suits you.  There are 1,600,000 registered members with over 90,000,000 page views made each month! 

The website covers all aspects and levels of teaching, so there is something for everyone, ranging from teaching ideas to making money by selling your ideas through the marketplace. Pinterest has several pages that show you the wide variety of topics that are available. Take the time to browse through some of the offerings, and be sure to check out their blog--you will be amazed!

Happy 2015, teachers! You’ve survived the freneticism of the holiday season, and now, the New Year is officially here! I have always felt that this part of the school year is the most challenging, as there are fewer distractions due to holidays and breaks, and it seems to last much longer than the first part of the school year. This is the perfect time to learn about a tool that many of you already have in your classroom but are only casually acquainted with—the Smart Board.

The Smart Board is the high-tech version of the old-fashioned white board. It looks like a normal white board, but this one is powered by your computer; this is technology at its finest in the classroom. I was using the Smart Board to help teach English grammar and medical transcription more than ten years ago, and even then, I could recognize its incredible capabilities in making learning an interactive and fun process.

By doing a simple Google search, I found some websites that help illustrate the Smart Board’s potential in the classroom.

•    Using Smart Boards in the Classroom--This site provides a good overview of the capabilities and possibilities of using a Smart Board in the classroom. It also allows you to subscribe to their newsletter to get free updates on tools and ideas for the teacher.
 
•    Smart Boards for Dummies--It seems that the older we become, the more hesitant we are about learning new technology. Thankfully, the people who have put together the “Dummies” series on practically everything you want to know, have done one for the Smart Board, part of which is posted online and takes you through step by step 

•    Smart Board Training--This site emphasizes how training is absolutely essential in learning to make the most of your Smart Board.

•    If you want visual training, go to YouTube and input “Smart Boards” into the search bar. You will find numerous useful topics that will help you to become more proficient in using this tool. 

Make this one of your New Year’s resolutions, to learn some new tricks on using the Smart Board. Don’t be timid--find out how it can make learning fun and interactive in your classroom. You can “read” a book together, perform fun language or math exercises, and play other interactive games on it. You can even save some of these in video format which allows you to post the link on your classroom website for your students to access from home.

Our young students are often more savvy than we are when it comes to technology, so let’s step up and show them how fun learning can be by using techniques they can relate to. 

Welcome to 2014! One of my favorite things about returning from winter break is that my students always seem ready to buckle down and work. They’re over the holiday excitement and just a little bit wiser and more mature. I like to take the first week back to reevaluate learning goals with them—look at how far they’ve come and discuss where they can (and should) be by the end of the school year. Here, I’ll share with you my strategy to setting, and meeting, year-end learning goals.

How far have you come?

When setting goals, I think it’s important to first take a look at how far students have come since the beginning of the school year. If your district or school is like most, students likely took a beginning of the school year pre-test, plus additional assessments at the end of each quarter. With two quarters under their belts, students have a great picture of how much progress they’ve made. In my classroom, we create bar graphs with these benchmark test scores, to really drive the data home for the kids. It’s a great visual and they love to see the progress they’ve made. And, of course, we share this information with parents as well, either on my website or in a conference with the parents.

Where do you need to go?

Whether your students are ahead of the game or struggling to catch up, setting realistic goals will help them get to where they need to go academically. I like to sit one-on-one with students to develop these goals. We discuss what they’re doing to progress toward year-end success, and what they could do to garner even better results. For example, setting a goal for a student to earn an 80% on a year-end math assessment isn’t necessarily realistic if they scored a 38% on the last one. Take into account the amount of support available at home, the resources available at school, and the child’s motivation to improve. Maybe improving to a 55% is more realistic, making sure that the student and parent understand that the goals have been modified to the ability of the student.

How will you get there?

This is the key to success, and one that requires accountability from student, parent, and teacher. With the child (and parent, if possible), document what is required of each party to ensure the success of the student. What does the parent need to do? What should the child do? What will you do? Success is truly a partnership among all three, and getting buy-in from home often involves documenting your own piece to the puzzle. Be specific about how all the pieces fit together.

Reevaluate

I like to reevaluate strategies and goals on a regular basis, especially when I see that students are struggling or frustrated with their progress. Take the time to meet with students occasionally to discuss their progress and to ensure follow-through at home. It’s okay to change goals when needed, but be sure you’re not doing this because of a lack of support. This would be a time to involve your administration or child study team.

Setting goals is a necessary function in classrooms today. Without them, you’re simply pushing a cart forward with no destination in mind. You would never begin a trip or a race not knowing when or where you will stop. Students must know where their target is so they can celebrate small successes along the way. This will help give them the momentum to continue along the path to success in this school year and beyond. Happy new year!

It’s back to school time again and after all of the first days of school activities have ended it’s time to get into the curriculum for the new school year. Like every other year, you’ll likely start with a review of last year’s material. If you’re tired of the same book work you’ve been using for years, try a hands-on approach to reviewing essential skills before diving into this year’s content. Both you and your students will have more fun, and they are likely to retain the material a whole lot better!

A great resource when looking for review games is the trivia game Eggspert. Simply customize your own questions and create teams of students to play a Jeopardy-type game. No time to create questions for your review? Borrow the year-end review from the grade below you! As the students are answering, you can assess them orally or keep track of answers on a spreadsheet to identify which concepts are strengths or weaknesses for your students.

Another game that is very popular with the older students is called Ask the Expert. This game requires five student experts. These experts go separately to the front of the room to be questioned by the other students. Tell students what topic their questions should be based on and remind them of how to ask higher level questions. Then choose one student at a time to ask one of the experts a question. If the expert answers correctly they get to stay at the front of the room. If he gets it wrong, the person who asked the question gets to take his place. This game is individually competitive but it allows the teacher to see truly what the kids know and where they are weak within the standards because they are working individually.

SmartBoard games are also an easy way to do a quick and easy assessment of students and a free account with Smarttech gives you access to thousands of ready-made lessons and interactive quizzes. If available in your school district, SmartBoard responders can enable the teacher to quickly determine which students still need more practice on last year’s standards after a quick interactive quiz. 

Reviewing last year’s material is an integral, though not always exciting, part of the teaching process. You can use these activities this fall or any time during the school year to ensure student growth and academic success.

In today’s technology age, using the Internet to communicate with parents is paramount to keeping your classroom running effectively. With your own classroom website, whether through MyTeacherSite or elsewhere, you’re able to keep parents informed of special classroom events, homework, topics of study, and so much more. You can also acknowledge your amazing parent volunteers and, with parent permission, exceptional students.

As you head back to school this fall, there are a few things you should make sure you have posted and ready to go in the first days or weeks of the school year.

• Your contact information and background. Who are you? What is your professional experience? Where can parents reach you and when? It doesn’t matter what grade you teach; parents want to know about the person charged with educating their child. Share some information with them, but be careful you’re not sharing too much personal information.
• Your class schedule. If you teach primary grades, be sure to list your special area schedule as well as when you teach specific subjects. If you are departmentalized or teach middle and high school, your class and prep schedule is important to parents.
• Classroom expectations. What do you expect of parents and what do you expect of your students? Also include what your parents should expect from you so there aren’t any surprises later in the school year.
• Classroom procedures. Every teacher has their own style of teaching and their own procedures for their classroom. In order for a classroom to run effectively, you practice these with students. It’s also important to let parents know about these procedures so they are also aware of expectations and can talk to their child about them.
• Information about homework. Every parent wants to know: How much time will my child spend doing homework each evening? While this varies from child to child, a general overview of the regular homework expectations is helpful for parents to have up front. And having an updated calendar of homework assignments will help your students be more accountable.

Whether your school or district requires it or not, using a classroom website is a great way to build a community that your parents can be a part of. And if you’re going to take the time to establish this community at the beginning of the year, be sure to take a few minutes each week to grow that community and keep your website updated.