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Guest Post: the Pencil

Jennifer Wagaman — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:35:08 +0000

I am an elementary school pencil. You might think my life is quite boring, but on the contrary, I live a very interesting life and have often wished for the opportunity to share some of my experiences with the teachers at my school. Here is my chance, so thanks for reading!

I often find myself being squeezed so tight I used to think that the child wanted to squish the lead out of me. As time went on, though, I realized that the child was in fact concentrating so hard on making me move in just the right ways. It makes me wish I could help a little, just to provide a bit of relief from the stress that the child feels.

When the teacher responds with comforting words and help, the pressure often lessens some, but all too often the well-meaning words don’t provide the help necessary and my point cracks from the pressure.

Another common experience I have is the inevitable tapping from a bored student. Thankfully, the tapping is usually on my eraser side, so I don’t generally lose my point over it, but sometimes it is on my point and I find myself making tiny dots all over a paper, book or the desk. If only the lesson were more interesting…

Speaking of making dots, teachers, please check the pictures that some of the students are drawing! My goodness, some of the things I find myself making are amazing! The talent that these kids have, and inevitably the reward the kid gets is a chastisement for not paying attention. It’s too bad you can’t find a way to use that drawing talent to enhance the lessons somehow.

While I am thinking about it, I wanted to say a quick thanks to those teachers who monitor the pencil sharpener – I hate it when I am wasted by being sharpened down to a tiny nub, and the poor fingers that try to hold me as a tiny nub, oh my.

Well, thank you for taking the time to read this, I will see you soon!

-The Pencil

The Controversy of Year-Round School

Jennifer Wagaman — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 21:48:24 +0000

Understanding the Basics of Year-Round School

Going to school year round does not mean that students will end up with no summer break, or that they will attend school more days during a single calendar year. Schools that provide year round school simply attempt to balance the calendar in order to minimize student learning attrition over the long summer break by providing shorter, more frequent breaks.

First, let’s look at a typical 9 month school year calendar:

School usually starts in August after about 60 days off for summer vacation. Thanksgiving break provides 3 days off, winter break (or Christmas break) provides approximately 10 days off and spring break (or Easter break) provides students with approximately 5 days off. The long summer break is well known for causing students to forget or lose ground, often referred to as the “summer slide”.

Balancing the calendar so that the long summer break is minimized is thought to help eliminate this “summer slide” and results in what is termed “year-round school”. This method has students only off for 30 days during the summer. Fall break is added to the calendar at about 15 days, Thanksgiving remains at about 3 days off, and winter and spring break are extended to be approximately 15 days each. This helps to spread out the time students have off of school and provides less time for losing ground, allowing students to gain more ground in their studies.

Does Year-Round School Work?

There are many reports provided on the NAYRE website that show various groups and organizations that are advocating for a balanced school calendar, and research shows that students in a low socio-economic status lose more knowledge over the summer than their high SES counterparts, emphasizing the need for something to change over the summer.

There will always be proponents for and against year-round school. Both sides of the argument will be equally passionate about their stand. The very fact that public education is a democracy run by the government will cause any major changes like this more difficult to standardize, but I ask one question:

If you agree that something needs to change in order to improve schools, why shouldn’t a radical change like this be considered instead of rehashing old ideas of teacher education/test scores/incentive pay/etc.?

Back to School List for Teachers

Jennifer Wagaman — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:03:39 +0000

Introduce yourself to parents and students

New Teacher Introductions to Parents

Back to School Night

First Day of School activities

10 Things to Remember for the First Day of School

How to Get Ready for the First Day of School

First week of lesson plans

Making a Curriculum Map

Lesson Planning Mistakes for New Teachers to Avoid

Prepare the classroom

Preparing for the First Day of School Important for New Teachers

Preparing Your Classroom For the Start of School

Prepare a routine

Teacher’s To Do List for Friday

Organization and Time Management for Teachers

Determine classroom management plan

Classroom Management Tools for New Teachers

Five Common Classroom Management Myths

Prepare Classroom Library

Books for a New Teacher’s Classroom Library

Creating a Classroom Library

Purchase necessary supplies

Necessary Supplies for the New Classroom Teacher

Make a Word Wall

The Basics of a Word Wall

How to Make an Interactive Word Wall

How to Get a Job as a Teacher

Jennifer Wagaman — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:20:48 +0000

Becoming a teacher is becoming more and more difficult as the economy struggles to rebound. Teachers are still being let go and wages continue to not only be frozen but to be cut with furlough days. Still, many dream of making a difference in the life of a child and indeed good, dedicated teachers are more necessary now than ever.

Here are some tips on how to become a teacher, from preparation to accepting a position in a school:

First, in preparation, a teacher candidate needs three things:

A professional portfolio

Character Reference Letters

A Professional Resume

Once these are prepared, then it is time to apply for open positions. It is vital to keep the job search organized because teacher candidates are likely to need to send in many applications. Here are some helpful tips.

Organizing Your Job Search

Once the prospective teacher has secured an interview, it is time to prepare to wow the administrative staff who will be conducting the interview. Preparation is important at this stage as well.

Interview Help for Teachers

Interview Questions for Teachers

Once you have received your first job offer, accepted a position and signed the necessary paperwork, your job is not finished yet. Until you are tenured, you will be the first to go when budgets are squeezed and cuts must be made. Find how how to keep your position.

How to be the Best Teacher Candidate to Get or Keep a Position

Not enough info? Find out more!!

Getting a Job as a Teacher

Bulletin Board Ideas

Jennifer Wagaman — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:15:30 +0000

Creating a bulletin board in the classroom is time consuming and yet necessary to complement lesson plans and add to the student learning experience. Here is a great collection of bulletin board ideas:

Seasonal Bulletin Board Ideas:

Holiday Specific Bulletin Board Ideas:

Valentine Bulletin Board Displays
Black History Month
Thanksgiving Bulletin Board Ideas
Christmas Bulletin Board Ideas

Other Bulletin Board Articles:

The Importance of Creative Bulletin Boards

Student of the Week Bulletin Board

Making the Most of In-Service Days

Jennifer Wagaman — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:47:42 +0000

Many teachers struggle to enjoy in-service days and school development meetings, considering them to be boring or a waste of time. While some of these meetings may indeed be a waste of teacher’s time, they are important to attend and learn from in order to improve teaching skills and understand new school and district policies.

Applying New Information by Taking Notes

When at a school meeting or in-service, the biggest thing that all teachers can do to help pass the time more quickly, is to take notes. Instead of simply taking down information that is spoken, try to apply the information to specific skills or teaching strategies. Notes can include presentation methods demonstrated by the principal or other person in charge of the meeting as well as ideas that come directly from the topic of discussion.

Teachers can attempt to come up with specific examples of how and when they will use a specific tip or strategy in the classroom and write down that example in their notes. Not only will taking these notes help pass the time, but it will impress administration and the teacher may actually learn something at the same time!

Extension Ideas for Lesson on Obama’s Speech

Jennifer Wagaman — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:14:00 +0000

On September 8, 2009, President Obama will be speaking live to the students of the Nation. This is a highly controversial event, but one that teachers can take advantage of. It seems from the information provided, that President Obama will be speaking about goal setting for the school year, and striving to meet those goals. After the speech is over, how can teachers take this speech and provide extension activities for students?

Extension Activities for Obama’s Speech

Have students write an essay about one specific goal that they have for the school year. They should include details as to why they have this particular goal and exactly how they plan on meeting this goal.

Students can work together as a class to create a list of “class goals” much like teachers allow students to create “class rules“. Have students share lots of ideas for goals and then condense them into 3-4 really important goals. Once these are decided on, write them on a large piece of paper and have all the students sign the paper, promising to try their best to meet these goals.

Students can create a piece of artwork (coloring, painting, tissue paper art, etc.) that shows the outcome of meeting goals for the school year. Knowing what they are shooting for in the end will help to motivate them to work hard towards that goal.

For lesson plan ideas on preparing students for the speech as well as information on how to listen to the speech, visit Lesson Plan for Obama’s Speech to Students.

Read more extension ideas that will help teachers use President Obama’s speech to bring more appropriate student behavior to the classroom.

Swine Flu a Concern for Schools

Jennifer Wagaman — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:39:41 +0000

School is back in session for many teachers and students and the swine flu is still a huge concern. Recent news reports say that half of the population of the United States will become infected with the swine flu and that it will likely kill twice the number of people as the flu typically kills in any given year, with one scenario predicting up to 90,000 deaths.

What can teachers do to prevent the spread of Flu in their classrooms?

Teach proper hygiene. Teaching students to sneeze into their elbows is only part of the issue. If that student then wipes his elbow with his hand and grabs the ball at recess, those germs are still being spread. Look for creative ways to teach lessons about germs. Check out the germy potato experiment!

Keep disinfectant handy. Each afternoon when the students go home, teachers should disinfect each chair, desk, door knob and other materials that were handled by students. Have students use waterless hand-soap upon entering the classroom.

Felling ill? Stay home! While this may be increasingly difficult for a teacher, it is more important than ever for teachers not perpetuate the spread of any illness. Students need to stay home too, even if it means parents must lose a day of work or call in a babysitter.

It is true that the Swine Flu is simply another strain of the flu and many feel that the concern is overblown. Unfortunately, the flu does kill people, and with the numbers of diagnosed flu cases as high as it is already, outside of the flu season, some concern is warranted. Vaccines will become available, but not until October with the bulk of vaccines not available until November.

Back to School Specials

Jennifer Wagaman — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:59:24 +0000

The back-to-school sales are here! While it is still summer, it is time to start thinking about getting ready to go back-to-school. Amazon has set up a great back-to-school sale for parents and teachers to take advantage of now!

Here’s what you can find:

Back to school savings

Savings on everything you might need from classroom supplies to extra curricular supplies and more.

School shopping by grade

Check out the grade your child is going into for a check list of everything you need.

Backpack bundles

Find cool new backpacks already packed with great school supplies.

Looking for that perfect backpack? Look no further than:

Bags and backpacks

College students, looking for school supplies?

Check out college essentials.

Find the textbooks you need here:

Amazon textbook store.

Teaching in an Inclusion Classroom

Jennifer Wagaman — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:24:42 +0000

As we get ready for the new school year, many new teachers are finding themselves preparing for an inclusion classroom for the first time. While many teaching programs help prepare new teachers for the challenges that they will face, these programs can fall short when it comes to giving a clear picture of how to handle the difficulties of an inclusion classroom.

The number one important thing to keep in mind is to remain flexible. Working with children who have disabilities will provide an extra challenge and there will always be something new and different to face each day and each lesson. Remaining flexible will help the new teacher sift through each issue as it comes up and adapt to the necessary changes.

Read more tips on teaching in an inclusion classroom.