Teacher's Resolutions: 2015

This is the January blog carnival from the RTT Teach Abroad Blog Carnival. The next blog carnival host is Sharon Couzens, so be sure to check out her blog around February 5th to see everyone's great posts! If you’d like to contribute to the next Blog Carnival, please get in touch with dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com to get in the loop!

The New Year is always a reminder to get, "out with the old and in with the new." We take the time to try and get rid of old bad habits and start new great ones!

This blog carnival has links to blog posts from different English Language Teachers who write about their plans for the New Year. Many of them have stuck to a strictly educational perspective, whereas others have included their personal goals. Take a moment and check out these great blogs! Get inspired by their resolutions, or help them out by giving them tips. Most importantly, have a great 2015! 

New Year, New Goals

Who: Sarah is a New Hampshire native and a proud graduate of the University of New Hampshire. She taught at a high school in New Hampshire for a year, then decided to move to South Korea.  She is currently teaching in South Korea with amazing co-workers and students alike. She enjoys the challenges, surprises, and lessons that come with living abroad, and couldn't be happier about moving to Korea!

What: Sarah learned a lot of lessons the hard way during last semester, and is looking forward to improving her teaching, traveling, and preparing for her life after Korea in the upcoming year.

Check it out: http://lasarahgoestokorea.blogspot.com/

New Year, New Potential

Who: Holly was bitten by the travel bug in her early teens and has long since rejected the idea of spending her entire life in Canada!  Having volunteered in Honduras, backpacked around Southeast Asia and studied in Australia in the past, she now calls Seoul home for the next year.

What: After four months of teaching, I no longer fear I’m on the verge of getting fired, and I’ve found my own groove, but there’s always room for improvement.  This year, I plan to get more creative, ensuring I’m teaching effectively, and focus on what really matters- my students!

Check it out: https://adventureswithholly.wordpress.com/

Teaching and Travel Resolutions for the New Year

Who: Abigail prefers walking to motorized vehicles and likes the idea of slow travel, getting to know a place by building up a routine that absorbs the new culture. Her interests include illustration, editing (film & writing), reviews, boston terriers, artist books, and iPhonography.

What: Three lists of general teaching, teaching ESL in Korea, and personal travel resolutions for the new year, as well as a teaching history from Abigail of Bodging for Apples II.

Check it out: http://bodgingforapplesii.blogspot.com/

New Year Travel Resolution

Who: Dean has been traveling for around 3 and a half years now with a small stint back in his home country. He's from the UK and began his teaching career on the island of Bali. Then he made the move to Taiwan where he currently resides.

What: Dean's blog delves into the rewards that can come from learning another language. He focuses on the challenges that had so far, as well as the hopes had for the future. Mandarin is not an easy language to learn. But the best rewards come from those that demand the hardest work.

Check it out: http://www.reachtoteachrecruiting.com

Travel and teaching resolutions in 2015 

Who: Rebecca Thering is a freelance writer and editor who has lived abroad teaching ESL in Spain and South Korea. Valuing education and things that aren't things, she inspires and helps others by writing about her experiences abroad, cultural insights and self-improvement pursuits at her personal blog, Rebe With a Clause.

What: Rebe does not currently have an ESL teaching position, but she's discovered that she has done a decent amount of teaching since leaving her elementary English classroom in Korea this past fall. Here's her new angle on teaching, plus how she resolves to improve and grow her teaching and traveling in the new year.

Check it out: http://www.rebewithaclause.com

Teaching Goals  

Who: Carissa has been teaching abroad for many years and finally made the move back to San Diego. She loves trying new things in the classroom and is slowly embracing the crazy cat lady status she earned by bringing her Mexican cat over the border to California.

What: Adjusting to a new school and different classes can be difficult. By making five simple changes Carissa hopes to become a more productive teacher.

Check it out: http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com 

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed! For those of you who were unable to contribute, feel free to post your blog link in the comments, or just list your resolutions there. I look forward to reading them :)

My Teaching Christmas Gifts

It has been said that when people give you gifts, you should look at them as reflections of how others see you.

That's why I enjoy getting teacher themed gifts from friends and family over the holidays. Here are some of my favorites from December 2014.

I am a bit sad that we aren't allowed to wear t-shirts to school because this gift from my boyfriend's parents is a keeper. It reads, "I am not crazy because I teach. I am crazy because I like it." Oh how true that is! I often say that by definition if you choose to teach for a living, you have to have a little insanity in you.

I don't know where they found the shirt, but I found a similar version here. You can also see the t-shirt on the right hand side.


I am a big Whovian, which means I like the television show Dr. Who. I got this great mug that I plan on keeping at work. Since I can't machine wash it, this will be a great mug for me to keep at work and wash by hand. Coffee is definitely a vice I plan on keeping for one more year, and this mug will be a fun way to do it!

I've seen these mugs all over the place above is a pretty good picture and you can buy Doctor Who's Disappearing Tardis Mug here as well.

At this job I have business cards. I always joke that I don't really know what to do with them because as a teacher I don't really hand out cards to people. At least now I have a Mahogany Business Card Holder Wooden Case to put them in. I can't find the one that I was purchased online, but here's an equally pretty one.

In addition one of my friends thinks I am the best teacher! I am not sure that my students would agree, but it is a great gift to grab for any teacher! I have also seen the ornaments for 2013, so I am sure in 2015 they will have a new one too! It isn't too late though, you can still buy the  "Best Teacher 2014"  Ornament for anyone in 2014.


Finally, as a joke, my boyfriend got me Bad Teacher as a joke. I have never seen this movie, but I'll give it a shot!


I also got some random things I wanted to have around the classroom, some magnet clips, stamps, etc.

What about you? Did you get any fun teaching gifts this year for Christmas?

2015 Teaching Goals

This post is part of the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival. The host for January is me here at mELTing Activities, so be sure to check out this link: http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2015/01/teachers-resolutions-2015.html  to see everyone's great resolutions! If you’d like to contribute to February's Blog Carnival, please get in touch with dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com to get in the loop!

This was me in my Mexico office with my Mexican coffee

2014 was a wild ride. I finished up my three years teaching at a University and High School in Mexico and have moved back to San Diego where I got a great job at a private school near the Mexican border. I teach a diverse group of students including students from Brazil, China, Mexico, and Lithuania.

In addition, I work with the entire student body after school where I supervise the tutoring center. I get to help students with math, science, Spanish, English, and pretty much anything they need help doing.

While I love my job, I feel like I am doing about a million things at once (although I think that's normal).

Following are my resolutions. Some are pretty boring, but I hope by writing them down, I'll be more likely to accomplish them.

1. Have More Patience
• I feel like I use all of my patience up by the end of the week. I am going to try to have more patience with my students. I think that I will be able to accomplish this if I sleep more, start exercising again, and have really well planned lessons.  
2. Include More Fun

   

   I am spirited! Me on a school spirit day.

• I used to do tons of fun and games with my classes, but this year I feel like there just isn't enough time to do everything I need. Plus, I think I am having, "new teacher syndrome," where these classes are pushing me to see how far they can go. As a result, their behavior doesn't merit having fun and games. However, I think that if I make more of an effort to find ways to make class more fun, their behavior may improve as well. 
3. Support Extra Curricular Activities
•  I love supporting my school, yet, as stated above, I already work after school. That means while other teachers get out at 3:00, I am at school until 4:30pm. Because of these lengthy hours, I often find myself going straight home and not watching students sports events. I really feel that teachers who make an effort to go to these, are seen my the students, and that it is appreciated. I hope to attend at least one event every other week. 
4. Eat SOMETHING that school
• I have a thirty minute lunch. I usually use it as prep time for my next class. The problem is by the time I get home (again, usually after 5pm) I am starving! This cannot be healthy. I vow to eat something every day. Even if it isn't lunch. Maybe a granola bar, or an orange Anything to keep my body fueled. 
5. Be sure to have ME time
• I think I am becoming a workahaolic! I don't want to be addicted to my job, and I don't want to burn out my first year back in San Diego. Instead, I vow to take at least... thirty minutes a day... for me. Just me. I may take a walk, watch a TV show, or grab coffee with a friend. In these thirty minutes, I don't need to think about work or lesson plan. I LOVE my job, but burning out as a teacher is a serious issue that I hope to avoid. 

So there we are, my five resolutions to make me a better teacher.

If anyone has any tips or tricks on how I can accomplish the previous, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Maybe you have an awesome time management tool, a great and easy snack for lunch time, or fun games that students love and are behaved while you do it. Please share in the comments.

Remember, if you have created any resolutions you too can join the blog carnival. Just post them in your blog and get the link to me before the 5th. I'll compile a list and post the blog carnival January 7th!

Help a class plan a trip!

He has a learning chart

He leaves notes

My friend is an awesomely creative third / fourth grade teacher. Her class has a third grade student named Alex. He is like many other students in her class. He forgets to use apostrophes and struggles to get stars on his learning chart. He is also imaginary.... I told you she was creative.

Right now, Alex is planning a trip around the world to go with the term theme of journeys. She is looking for help from around the world, and I think this is an AMAZING opportunity for you to be part of an authentic exchange.
Basically, she is looking for people to convince Alexander to come and visit where they live.

As a class, you could: Write him a letter, make him a video, or send a postcard telling him why he should visit where you live. Messages might include: 

• What cool sights he would see? 
• What food would he eat?
• Where might he sleep? 
• Would he see any cool parties or festivals? 
• What languages would he hear? 
• How would he need to dress? 
• Does he need different money? 
• What do you think is different where you live than where he comes from?

Whatever you send, he and the class will send you back in kind. That means, if you send them a letter, they will send you a letter back!

If you send them a video...they will send you a video! I am sure you get the idea here. The messages can come from one person or a group of people.

You may send messages via snail mail to:
Alexander Jackson
Summers Knoll School
2203 Platt Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
USA

Email and videos can be sent to ajackson@summers-knoll.org

They are available on SKYPE between the hours of 9:00 am and 3:00pm EST. (9:00-15:00 New York time) Username: andaiye.spencer

The class is going further than just reading your messages. They are also taking this information and using it to plan Alex's trip! They'll create a route, figure out the price of traveling (tickets, etc) and budget Alexander’s money, as well as learn about different cultures around the world.

What an AWESOME way to make school come alive!

Share your teaching resolutions!

I am really excited to be hosting January's Blog Carnival for RTT. It is a great chance for you to share your blog with a different audience and really get the word out there! Carnivals are one of the highest viewed posts on my blogs, so we hope to get everyone some new readers.
Since the blog will be posted on January 7th, the topic is timely. You've taught for all of (or part of 2014)! Maybe you have a new class, or are in a new country. Now that 2015 is rolling around what's the resolution that you will make for your teach year of teaching (or traveling)?

That's it!

• Do you want to try more of a new teaching method?
• Give a new website a try?
• Make students work with different people?
• Get guest speakers to come to your class?
• Have more (or less) patience with the students?
• Introduce an imaginary student to your class?

Whatever it is we'd love to read about it. Of course, if your post is more about YOU, that's fine too!

• Travel more
• Grade less
• Get a teaching certificate

Any questions be sure to ask!

To participate, I'll need you to e-mail or tweet me a link to your blog article by January 4th (just in time since my school year starts up January 5th) 

Be sure to include:

-The link to your blog post

- A short description of your entry. 

- A short bio of themselves

- A picture if you wish (otherwise I'll just use a screenshot of your blog)

To be sure others can participate please include an introduction that includes the following information (reword as you wish)

This post is part of the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival. The host for January is Carissa Peck over at mELTing Activities, so be sure to check out her blog January 7th to see everyone's great resolutions! If you’d like to contribute to next month’s Blog Carnival, please get in touch with dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com for information on how to participate!

I hope that everyone is having an AWESOME December, and that you will have an even better 2015.

My New Reading List

I've been lucky when at raffles lately. The last conference I went to I won two books! 

Ashfall and Rigorous Reading
Ashfall is a young adult fiction novel centered around our world after a super-volcano erupts. I am really glad I got a chance to read it, as I think my students will really enjoy this addition to our classroom library.

Rigorous Reading is part of my ongoing Professional Development. My supervisor and I are reading the chapters together and we have monthly meeting to go over what we've read. It's a great way to be sure that we are using the same vocabulary and background when designing our plans.

Yesterday I had a chance to attend a conference on understanding and creating Essential Questions to help students learn and understand more effectively. My luck kept up and I brought home a baggie of goodies. In addition to a cell phone charger and a USB, I received a whole bag of books which have now been added to my, "to read" list.

Grading Smarter Not Harder,  Essential Questions, How to Design Questions and Tasks to Assess Student Thinking,
and Learning From Coaching,  

 





I look forward to getting a chance to read these, and share the ones I find the most useful!

Has anyone read any of these? Any recommendations on which ones to read?

Pizza Project (Paragraph Writing)

I am all about playing with words and enjoying a pun, so when I began my unit on Julius Caesar, I immediately wanted to implement this pizza project using Little Caesar boxes.

What is the Pizza Project? I've seem them done a few different ways. With my high school students, I use them as a way to practice finding concrete details (or specific examples) from texts.

Essentially, students were each given a Little Caesar's pizza box. I think technically these cost $.45 cents each (plus tax), but if you politely explain that this is for a school project, then you may get your boxes for free.

"Project Pizza," as a call it, is composed of three distinct parts:The Pizza Box, the Pizza Slices and the Pizza Presentation.

The Pizza Box is the part with the simplest directions. Students decorate the pizza box ti reflect the themes and characters they choose to discuss on their pizza slices. 

Since, these boxes are from Little Caesar's and we were reading Julius Caesar, most students chose to keep at least some of the box visible.

Clearly, if your topic was unrelated to the name of your pizza chain you would have them cover all of it, but you can get creative. Pizza Hut could be used for The Painted House, The House on Mango Street. Da' Boys for The Body, or any other book about a group of boys.

The next part is more complicated. The Pizza Slices of course can vary based on your preferences and the level of your students.In this case, Each group received eight slices. They had to create individual slices of pizza. Each slice has a crust (the topic) and toppings (quotes, pictures, and other general facts).

As for topics. I have students choose from themes, characters, motifs, conflicts, the setting, and anything else that interests them. In the case of Julius Caesar this could be anachronisms, fashion, battles mentioned, historical inaccuracies, or anything else in the story that intrigues them.

I don't grade my students on artistic skill, but I do let them know that they will be graded on effort and appearance.

Finally, my students had a Pizza Presentation. For this students chose three of their slices of pizza and shared the information with the rest of the class. The topics were pre-approved to avoid listening to the same concept over and over again.

This acted as a great review and a way for my students to practice presentations.

You can make this more specific by having students replicate paragraphs more closely.

Hopefully you're inspired to have your students make their own pizzas!

If you want to see exactly what I did, I'll be sure to upload some worksheets later, but for now, here's a  Pizza Graphic Organizer: Only $.80

Teachers Pay Teachers December 2014 Sale

Many of my blog readers know that I offer many of my teaching worksheets and plans on Teachers Pay Teachers.

To celebrate all that I am thankful for, I've been offering all of my products (usually under $2) 10% off! This sale will last until December 1st!

That's not all! December 2nd all of my products over $2 are 20% off!

THERE'S MORE

Teacher's Pay Teachers is holding their Cyber Monday sale December 1st and 2nd.You get an additional 10% off using the code TPTCYBER

That means if you shop on the 2nd and use the code you'll save 28% off the normal price!
 

 

What;s my best selling product? All Summer in a Day Reading Packet normally $2.50, on Monday it is $1.80 if you use the coupon

For those of you who are strapped fro cash, I also offer quite a few products for free: This worksheet on phrasal verbs, and this great BINGO game with minimal pairs are always free.

If you don't already have an account sign up here, and let me know if you have any questions.

Guest Post: Using Technology to Teach Writing

Guide for Teachers: How to Teach Writing Through Technology?

As a teacher, you can either choose to assign pointless papers to your students or inspire them to think and facilitate their ability to write. The current writing crisis in our schools comes from one main cause: academic writing being taught as a mechanical process of research, writing and editing. If you want to teach your students to start learning through the writing process, then you need to adjust your teaching style to their needs and learning potential.

As part of every student’s life, technology should not be excluded from the teaching process. By forcing your students to research the library and neglect online tools and resources when writing papers, you are making the entire process boring right from the start. Since your students are being engaged by infographics, videos, hyperlinks and images, you should infuse that digital world to bring some fun and more effectiveness into the classroom.

Although technology doesn’t have all answers to the writing crisis, the right tools can still help you inspire your students to write more and write better. These awesome tools will help you start the revolution:

TitanPad

Your students will love collaborating on writing projects through this platform. The features for instant editing and sharing make the process easier than ever, and you can join the process and monitor their progress in real time. There are eight distinctive author colors to choose from, so the input of each student will be clearly recognizable.

NinjaEssays

As a teacher, you can also rely on the assistance of NinjaEssays when you need to create perfect coursework material.Carissa's Note: I would NOT give this site to students as they essentially are given the option to buy essays.

Zoho Docs

This is another online tool you can recommend for collaborative work. It enables the users to perform bulk uploads and save a lot of time on the go. The other features include: secure file sharing, online file storage, presentation, file synchronization, spreadsheet, Word document, task management, and more. 

Google Docs

Even though there are many writing tools and platforms you can start using, sometimes it is better to start from the basics. No, that doesn’t mean Microsoft Word! Google Docs has a simplistic, clean interface that makes the writing process distraction-free. In addition, your students can also use Google Docs to collaborate on a team project in real time. 

Edublogs

Your students love reading blogs about the things that interest them, so why not use that potential to teach them something really useful? Edublogs is a student-friendly blogging platform that can replace the paper newsletter. You can inspire your students to find interesting online material associated to the concepts they learn at class and write weekly blogs. That is the best way to inspire your students to write, but you’ll also find that the best blogs will lead to fantastic discussions. 

Glogster EDU

This is another great platform that enables its users to explore and create educational content online. You can use some great posts from Glogster to show your students that writing can be fun, and then inspire them to create their own blogs. You can also create teams and assign blogging as a team project.

Improve your teaching methods with the help of technology!

Educational technology offers endless benefits for both teachers and students. It’s no secret that today’s schooling system is burdening students with more writing assignments than they can handle. The only way to help them approach academic writing with enthusiasm is to start relying on technology and infuse some elements of fun and effective collaboration throughout the process.

  

Robert Morris is an English teacher from New York. Find him on Google+.

                  

Top Ten WORST Class Management Techniques

I write a lot about classroom management because I feel it is an important topic for so many teachers. If you are a great teacher, but you can't control a classroom, your students will never learn. If you are an adequate teacher with great classroom control, then your students will probably learn more.

I know it can be frustrating. I am not a big praying person, but when I teach...I pray about twice a day. Once is usually a devotional, it tends to be positive, "Bless this room and all who walk in it to open them up to learning."Then, there are the prayers that are a bit more negative, "Dear Lord give me the patience not to react to this students goading. Help me understand that they are young, and I am the responsible adult who should not react poorly."

I have posts about great classroom management books, props to use, and general ideas to quiet a room. This post is different. This post will tell you what NOT to do. It uses examples found online via newspapers.

1. Don't use fear! There are reports of some students who were told there was a monster in a closet and then locked in their when they misbehaved. The students often shouted and cried (sometimes to the point of puking) while the teacher kept the door shut. See the related news piece here

2. Don't threaten to get physical Even if you have no intent of following through this is not why you want students to listen. One teacher was put on probation for threatening to stab her students with a fruit knife she kept in her desk drawer according to this article.

3. Don't get jokingly physical! Even if you are trying to be amusing, slapping or hitting a student is NEVER acceptable. In this article the teacher actually slapped a student several times trying to allude to the recent movie Bridesmaids.

4. Especially don't get seriously physical. I know that violence can seem like the best answer in the heat of the moment, but how can we expect our students to pick another path if we ourselves can't. Here's one example of a student who was punched by his teacher.

5. Don't spit on them ... really? I need to say this? While it can be hard sometimes, spitting is never the answer.

6. Don't duct tape them to the chair. I know most teachers have that one student that just can't stay still. I understand how duct tape can, at times, be tempting, but more than one teacher has tried using duct tape in the class. One was accused of bullying, the other teacher was just said to have used an inappropriate technique.

7. Don't put them in a bag and leave them in the hallway. You can call it a "therapy bag," if you like, but putting students in a bag and then putting them out of your eyesight is not the best way to help a situation!

8. Don't have them wear a doggie cone. I see some online memes that joke about this too, but I think we can all are that there are better options for classroom management before even considering a doggie cone.


9. Don't strip search them. When I was in high school one of the dress code rules was no thongs. This was clearly rarely enforced as no teacher was going to request to see your underwear. One third grade teacher felt strip searching a student was acceptable.

As you can see this list is only at nine right now. If you have another technique you have read about, seen or heard about let me know! I'd love to get your feedback.