November 26, 2008

The Evolution of a Teacher

Filed under: New Teacher Diaries by Peace in the Classroom @ 3:41 pm

[Peace in the Classroom is the pseudonym of a fourth-year teacher in a New York City elementary school. She blogs at Peace in the Classroom where this post originally appeared.]

Everyone says that it takes five years to be a really good teacher. I think this is absolutely true and motivates me to keep going to reach that milestone. Technically, I have been teaching for five years, but I spent my first two years teaching at a private school abroad. I don’t count those years because they weren’t even half as demanding as what I am facing in the New York City public schools and I didn’t have my teaching degree at the time. Those two years gave me some experience planning curriculum and pacing lessons, but I didn’t go “deep” into teaching. I have taught for three full years in the NYC public schools and am well into my fourth. The following outlines my struggles and accomplishments in each stage of teaching. (more…)

Save The Life Of Iranian Teacher Farzad Kamangar

Filed under: Education by Leo Casey @ 9:15 am

Save Farzad

Education International (EI), the international union body of educators to which the American Federation of Teachers belongs, has been informed that Farzad Kamangar, the Iranian Kurdish teacher and social worker sentenced to death on “absolutely zero evidence” according to his lawyer, could be hanged on Wednesday Nov. 26. (more…)

November 25, 2008

Grants For Web-Savvy Teachers

Filed under: Education Funding by W.J. Levay @ 4:58 pm

Teachers Network

Teachers Network is sponsoring grants for teachers who use the Web in their classrooms.

The Teachnet Disseminator Grants will be “awarded to public and charter school teachers in grades pre-K through 12 who design outstanding curriculum units that integrate the Internet into an original project for the classroom.” Successful applicants receive $500 and publication on teachersnetwork.org.

The deadline is Jan. 20, 2009.

Grant FAQ | Online Application

Behavior Management 101

Filed under: New Teacher Diaries by Miss Frazzled @ 12:58 pm

[Editor's note: Miss Frazzled is a third-year teacher in an elementary school in the Bronx.]

Last year, my first full year as a teacher, was a crash course: Behavior Management 101. I had 21 children, 11 IEPs (all speech and language). And then there was this:

“Wait till you get him,” the other teachers would say. “He tried to burn down the school.” (more…)

November 24, 2008

A Thanksgiving Day Lesson

Filed under: Education by Ron Isaac @ 3:52 pm

Thanksgiving Day stands alone among American holidays. Its inspiration is timeless and universal and it lends itself to teaching across all curriculums and cultures. There’s nothing about that holiday that is irksome to anybody regardless of national, political, or religious ideology.  And its original meaning has not been eroded by entrepreneurs or braggarts of any stripe. (more…)

A New Hope

Filed under: New Teacher Diaries by mich-igan @ 10:55 am

[Editor's note: Mich-igan is the pseudonym of a second-year teacher at a middle school in Manhattan.]

Just over a year ago, I started out my mathematics teaching career at a small middle school in East Harlem. I was hired late, so there wasn’t much room for me. I had one math class (a double period) and then I did academic intervention services (AIS) for the rest of the day.

In December or January, we were told that the elementary school was closing at the end of the year and the middle school would be phased out. Immediately, there were a flurry a rumors as to who was staying, who the administrators would be in the coming year, and if our own jobs were safe.

In March and April, a large percentage of the middle school staff was excessed. (more…)

Elephants In Drag

Filed under: Education by Leo Casey @ 8:53 am

A sign of the times: far right conservatives attempt to feed their anti-teacher, anti-union hemlock to the Democrats.

UPDATE:

Andy Rotherham finds the smoking piece of elephant dung: the dalliance with one Rudy Giuliani, before getting dressed up in blue.

November 19, 2008

UFT, DoE Agreement Addresses ATR Educator Issue, Saves Money For Schools

Filed under: Education by Leo Casey @ 10:46 am

In an important agreement that addresses the underlying causes of the placement of growing numbers of New York City public school educators in the ATR pool, the UFT and the DoE have established a protocol to improve dramatically their placement in regular assignments. The agreement creates substantial financial incentives for schools to hire ATRs, replacing what were heavy budgetary disincentives. (more…)

Does Testing Equal Teaching?

Filed under: New Teacher Diaries by miss brave @ 10:31 am

[Editor’s note: miss brave is the pseudonym for a second-year elementary school teacher in Queens. She blogs at miss brave teaches nyc, where this post originally appeared.]

scantron

I recently spent an entire week grading my students’ TC assessments. Back in September, they took these new Teachers College spelling assessments. We were told we would eventually get together as a grade and go over the procedure for grading them (it’s not as simple as “correct” or “incorrect”; they actually get points for various word features like initial consonants and short vowel sounds).

The giant pile of assessments sat on my desk for a month, until one day, when we had our meeting where we learned how to grade them and were informed that our administration would like us to finish grading them by Monday so they can be plugged into the computer. Excuse me? (more…)

Audio: Weingarten On “The John Gambling Show”

Filed under: Education by W.J. Levay @ 10:30 am

This morning, Wednesday Nov. 19, Randi Weingarten spoke with John Gambling on his WOR News Talk Radio (710 AM) show about the new ATR agreement, teacher tenure, and her recent speech in Washington.

Listen to a recording of the interview.

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