September 15th, 2007 walkere
No Child Left Behind has been a major topic of discussion for educators for years. Every faculty meeting has something to do with test scores, AYP, and improving performance.
Now that NCLB is coming up for renewal, it’s returning to the public discussion, too. So what do we do with the law?
Undoubtedly, some educators would like to scrap it altogether. That might not be such a bad idea. It’s bad PR, though. Even though we know that NCLB is a poor measure of student achievement and school success, the public (i.e. the media and politicians) perceive it as a real way to enforce accountability on corrupt and ineffective schools.
Rather than completely scrap the law, we need to look for other ways to enforce accountability. The proposed changes to the law, that would allow for different measures of student success, is a step in the right direction. To be truly effective, though, the law needs to move away from standardized tests and move towards authentic assessments.
In my opinion, electronic portfolios are the way of the future and they should be the way to go. Check out my article No Child Left Behind: The Needs of Children Vs. Politicians to get a better idea of what I mean.
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September 15th, 2007 walkere
There are countless ways to write up your lesson plans. Some teachers and administrators like long, detailed lesson plans complete with an outline of information to be delivered. Others like the short and sweet one week summary, with objectives, activities, and assignments.
No matter what type of lesson plan you prefer, it will help make your life easier to have en electronic template (probably in MS Word or Excel) to begin with. This way you can type up your lesson plans, save them to your computer, and avoid making countless copies of a blank template that you got from a co-worker four years ago.
Here are two different blank templates that you might find useful.
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September 15th, 2007 walkere
There is a lot to be done in the first few days of school. Contact information needs to be collected, schedules need to be ironed out, and procedures need to be learned. It’s common to spend a few days on non-sequitor “back to school” lessons before diving into the “real” curriculum.
I developed this particular lesson plan for the second or third day back at school. I used it in a US I course, but it could be easily adapted to US II or World History. The driving concept behind the lesson is that students don’t like the idea of memorizing lots of dates, but they need to have a relative idea of when things happened. Solution? Create a short timeline (10-12 major dates) within which students can organize events they learn later.
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September 14th, 2007 walkere
When I graduated with a Masters of Ed in May, I didn’t think I’d have that hard of a time finding a job. I had good credentials (M. Ed from Rutgers). I graduated with honors and aced the Praxis exam. I also wanted to work in an urban district, which I thought would cut down on the competition a lot.
I was a bit surprised when August rolled around and I hadn’t gotten a single interview. I finally got a call back from one district (the one that hired me) in mid-August and one other call back a few days later. Why was this process so drawn out and tough? Was it something I did, or is there something wrong with the system?
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September 13th, 2007 walkere
Next week, my US I class will begin looking at the British colonies. Jamestown, the first lasting British settlement in North America, is naturally our starting point.
I was looking for some kind of activity to have the students do when I stumbled upon a great website - Virtual Jamestown. I haven’t worked out the entire lesson plan yet, but I’ll probably post the outcome when I’m finished.
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September 13th, 2007 walkere
An examination of US History naturally begins with an examination of Pre-Columbian America and the initial contact between Columbus and Native Americans. There is a lot of misinformation out there in textbooks, students’ minds, and even teachers’ minds.
As we started talking about Columbus, one student offered up the old myth that everyone thought the world was flat until Columbus sailed west and proved them wrong. When I tried to explain that many people in Europe, especially educated and experienced navigators, knew otherwise, she replied “But Mr. So and So told us it was true!”
It’s kind of funny that students will forget all kinds of things you tell them, but they’ll remember some of the most outrageous and flat out wrong information that they hear. For that reason, it’s important that you know what you’re talking about and that you don’t repeat myths and falsities that have lingered for years. That’s where James Loewen’s book Lies My Teacher Told Me comes in…
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September 12th, 2007 walkere
In the first few days of school, there’s been a lot of absenteeism. Many of the veteran teachers said that this was normal - they said many of the kids wouldn’t show up until Monday, the third day of school.
This seemed a bit odd to me, so I thought I’d write down some statistics and share them.
On the first day of school, here are the number of absent students in each of my classes - 8/26, 5/14, 7/20, 10/18, 6/17.
On the second day of school, here are the number of absent students in each of my classes - 8/26, 6/14, 3/20, 7/18, 6/17.
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September 10th, 2007 walkere
Despite the scheduling chaos, I survived Day One. I went home, I relaxed, I got ready for a new, hopefully better day.
Was Day Two any better? I’m not so sure…
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September 10th, 2007 walkere
The first days of school. I remember reading about them in college. I remember preparing classroom management plans, and discussing how to make sure the day went smoothly.
Well, I just attended my first day of school as a full-fledged teacher. I was a bit nervous, but I felt I was pretty prepared to handle the kids and get settled into the year’s routine.
Sure enough, the classes went smoothly. What I didn’t count on, though, was the pure and utter chaos of mis-scheduling.
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September 9th, 2007 walkere
After a long summer of no replies, I finally landed a job teaching high school social studies. You can expect to read all about my experiences through this first year, and I’m sure I’ll need a place to vent and relay my frustration. Since everything I say may not be flattering to the school district, I’ll keep it and all of the administrators/faculty anonymous. Better not to stir up too much trouble.
Here’s an overview of the situation, though.
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