|
Day
One and Beyond: Practical Matters for New Middle Level Teachers -- We can't imagine any teacher new to the
middle grades passing up a chance to read Rick Wormeli's useful book
(Stenhouse, 2003). This link leads you to a page at the publisher's
website, where you can browse the entire book online. Decide for yourself!
First-Year Teaching /
Part Two: A MiddleWeb Listserv conversation -- We asked veteran
teachers on the MiddleWeb List to share three or four pieces of "top
advice" to beginners. Don't miss this collection of distilled wisdom!
New Teacher SOS
-- We turned the tables and asked new middle grades teachers to describe their
biggest problems after a few weeks on the job. Veteran teachers at our
MiddleWeb Listserv offered suggestions.
First-Year Teaching / Part One: A
MiddleWeb Listserv conversation -- If anyone doubts the
power of listserv conversation to support teachers and good teaching
practice, they only need to read this string. This chat began when Phyllis
wrote about her struggles as a first-year teacher. As the conversation
progressed, the discussion turned to talk of self-videotaping as a method
of improving one's practice. And a spinoff conversation took up the topic
of teacher induction and mentoring programs. New teachers are always welcome at the listserv to ask for advice and
share experiences.
More
advice from our MiddleWeb Listserv discussions -- On this page
you'll find links to several recent discussions, most of them instigated by
new teachers. For example, in "Classroom
Routines and Procedures," veterans share their ideas about moving
students about the classroom, walking in the hallway, and passing out
papers and books. There's also an emphasis on the practical in our
discussion about "Getting the
Attention of Students." And you'll find much more by browsing our
entries.
Advice for
New Teachers from the "Sophomores" -- Education World
asked the "sophomores" who faced -- and survived -- that dreaded
first year to reflect on their successes and failures. First-year teachers,
here is their best advice for getting through it.
Phi Delta Kappan's New
Teacher Connection -- "As the world's leading
professional organization for educators, we know that thousands of new
teachers are entering our schools this year, and that they will be hungry
for quality resources, support, and information. It is our mission to
provide these resources and support." See, for example, the "Ask the Teacher Across the
Hall" feature and the First Year Teacher Journal.
The Teachers' Lounge
-- This teacher-created "ThinkQuest" is designed to offer tips
and advice to new teachers. Get a cup of coffee and come on in!
Discipline and Classroom Management
Big List of Classroom
Management Resources -- This
"really big list" of classroom management resources was
originally developed by graduate students at Monmouth University graduate students. There are classroom
management techniques tailored to elementary and secondary education,
discipline ideas for new and experienced teachers, tips for handling
special education, suggestions for getting organized, strategies for
preventing behavior problems, sample classroom rules, ways of creating a
caring community, and more.
Classroom Management: Looking for
Answers -- MiddleWeb diarist Ellen Berg offers her
reflections on classroom management -- drawn from a summer workshop she
led. "At the core of what works for me," she writes, "is not
some magic set of tricks or one particular discipline system. If discipline
systems worked all on their own, all teachers would adopt one and classroom
management and discipline would cease to be the most requested topic for
professional development from our district's teachers. No, what works for
me is my belief system behind the practices I employ." See the overheads from Ellen's
presentation.
Preventing Your Rules
from Falling Apart -- Excerpt from Preventing Classroom
Discipline Problems by Howard Seeman.
A Primer on
Classroom Discipline -- Tom McDaniel offers eleven techniques that
you can use in your classroom that will help you achieve effective group
management and control. Also see the related article, Discipline Techniques That
Backfire.
MiddleWeb
Listserv Discussion of Classroom Management -- Veteran teachers
and principals share advice and experiences with new teachers looking for
help. We talk about this topic regularly! Here's our second conversation.
Classroom
Management Tips from Education World -- 12 quick tips
to help make managing your classroom a breeze! Included are tips for
getting to know your students, communicating with parents, getting your day
of to a good start, and more.
Discipline
Tips from a Teacher-Survivor -- This message from a
veteran teacher to the MiddleWeb listserv describes the discipline and
classroom management system that saved her career.
Preventing Classroom Discipline
Problems -- A book and video package by an experienced
educator. Find several questionnaires at this webpage, plus a table of
contents, some excerpts, and reviews of the book.
Know When to
Discipline! -- An Education World e-Interview with
classroom management expert Howard Seeman, Ph.D. When is a discipline
problem really a discipline problem?
"You Can Handle Them All"
- This site shares a step-by-step approach to handling misbehavior at
school and at home. An overview examines the causes of misbehavior, the
core needs that motivate humans, and a four-step discipline model. A
behavior index applies the model to over 100 specific misbehaviors.
Discipline as a
New Teacher -- One of the best pages on the "I
Love Teaching" website. The author is a five-foot-tall high school
teacher, but the advice and anecdotes will be useful to middle school
teachers, too. Here are some of the most useful links (according to our
in-house veteran teacher): concepts to keep in mind as you Start Developing
your Own Discipline Plan as a New Teacher; read some Good Discipline
Stories; soak up some Helpful
Tips for Classroom Survival; and consider some Discipline Issues.
Taking the Bully by the
Horns -- Kathy Noll and Dr. Jay Carter have written a
book and developed a website to help young people deal with bullies, child
violence, and self-esteem issues. The website includes an article about how
adults can help "prevent children from becoming a statistic on school
grounds," and offers "Bully Advice" for kids & young
teens.
Classroom
Management -- For a treasure trove of tips, visit Scott
Mandel's Teachers Helping Teachers site. Includes a beginner's skinny on
grading, including thoughts about what to write on papers. Be sure to
scroll down the page. You'll find a varied selection of brief articles,
including "Guidelines for Good Classroom Management Practice."
How
Has Classroom Management Evolved? -- This article from
the McREL education research lab traces the history of classroom
management, examines recent changes in the field and provides concrete examples
of new approaches.
Discipline
Advice from Veteran Teachers -- A collection of e-mail
advice collecting from the Middle-L listserve.
Dealing with Tardy
Students -- Receiving consistent attendance and
punctuality from all your students may prove to be even more of a daunting
task than it sounds. Also read these teacher ideas about improving
attendance. And these classroom
management tips from teachers. Finally, here are some ideas about
managing bathroom
breaks.
A Great
Tool to Connect with Parents at the Beginning of School -- "This is the most valuable thing I've
ever done with my students," one middle school teacher wrote about the
"Million Words" assignment. "I've built an instant bond with
parents," said another. Find out how it works from teachers who are
using this terrific strategy!
"The
First Days of School" -- It's a rare college
student-teaching syllabus that doesn't include Harry and Rosemary Wong's
"The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher." See
the contents of the book
here. You can order the book from any on-line bookstore, including amazon.com.
($20). This teacher has summarized some of Wong's key points
on her site.
In this column at Teachers.Net, "Your First
Day," the Wongs summarize their most important ideas. They
emphasize the point in this article, "There Is Only One
First Day of School." Also see "The First Five
Minutes Are Critical," an article by Wong. And another article, "How to Start a
Class Effectively." The Wongs write a column at Teachers.Net -- search there to find tips on many
different classroom management topics.
Here's a
review of the book by a middle school teacher, who says "The First Days of School is the best
book I have found for new teachers." More recently, the Wongs wrote a
column that includes a "script" for
the first day of school.
Here's an interesting list from the Wongs' book:
The seven things
students want to know on the first day of school:
1.Am I in the right room?
2.Where am I supposed to sit?
3.What will I be doing this year?
4.How will I be graded? (here are some grading
resources)
5.What are the rules in this classroom?
6.Will the teacher treat me as a human being?
7.Who is the teacher as a person? (here's an idea)
To go right to the source, visit the
Wongs' website. Lots of additional resources.
Icebreakers
for the First Days of School -- Each fall Education World offers
icebreakers that can help teachers get to know their new students -- and
help students get to know one another. On this page, you'll not only find the
current icebreakers list, but links to seven previous volumes. Also see
EW's collection of class management tips from teacher listservs and
bulletin boards, which they've titled: "Teachers, Start Your
Engines."
Planning
for Your First Day at School -- Another useful article from
Education World. Includes a checklist and online resources for a variety of
back-to-school planning needs, including welcome letters, bulletin board
ideas, and back-to-school activities.
Ten
Ideas for Establishing Classroom Rules -- Many teachers involve
students in establishing classroom rules, says Education World editor Gary
Hopkins in this useful article. "Surprisingly, student-created rules
are often much the same as - or even tougher than - rules a teacher might
create." He summarizes 10 activities teachers are using to involve
students in creating a positive classroom environment. See all of EW's
classroom management resources.
101
Things You Can Do the First Three Weeks --  This list, developed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Teaching and Learning Center, comes with a recommendation from one of our favorite teachers.
That may seem odd, since the list is directing at college teachers and
their 18+year-old students. But our teacher friend says middle grades
teachers can cull many good ideas from the list. See what you think.
Have your students
write brief biographies of one another -- Here's a
great beginning-of-school activity from the excellent language arts site "Outta Ray's Head." Small groups
create a list of six questions that will elicit the maximum amount of
information from a person being interviewed. Then they pair off, conduct an
interview, and use the information they gather to write a biography (or
short story, or newspaper/magazine piece, etc.).
Good books for
the first days of school -- Middle school teachers
suggest several fun books to read to kids during the first days of school,
including "The Teacher from the Black Lagoon," and Dr. Seuss'
"Oh, the Places You'll Go." (from Education World -- also see
their Icebreakers
2000 article, and scroll down to find icebreaking ideas from earlier
years.)
A Middle
School Teacher Gears Up for the School Year -- No
matter how much or how little experience a teacher has in the classroom,
getting ready for a new school year takes a lot of work, says this article
in Education Update ("Get Ready, Get Set," August 2000). Middle
school teacher Dorleen Kauffman starts early. "In June, instead of
just wrapping up, I'm thinking of the next year based on the needs I had
this year," she says. "I'm continually reassessing my teaching
strategies and motivational techniques."
Good
Book for Your Kids -- Free Spirit Publishing's book,
"Too Old For This, Too Young for That," is aimed at kids in
grades 6-9. Subtitled "Your Survival Guide for the Middle-School
Years," the publishers promise the book is "comprehensive,
interactive, friendly, and fun." Survival tips cover the physical and
emotional changes and how to cope, dealing with family, friends, and
school, to taking charge of your life through good decision making and goal
setting. Download a sample from the book at this page. (200 pages, $14.95,
)
Making a
Good Start -- In early September, as both educators and
learners head back to school, many teachers feel anxiety about getting the
year off to a good start. Here's some advice from three award-winning
veteran teachers on how to set a positive tone for learning that will
persist for the rest of the year. From ASCD's Education Update newsletter
(September 1997). Includes bibliography.
"Making
Your Classroom a Home Away from Home" -- Savvy
tips from a veteran middle grades teacher. It begins with a sign over the
door: "Kids Are People Too." (from Classroom Leadership On-Line, August
1999)
Make It
Great: Tips for a Successful, Fulfilling School Year --
ASCD editor Karen Rasmussen writes: "As you think about your goals for
the next 10 months, consider this advice for a successful school year,
which we have compiled from teachers representing a variety of backgrounds
and experiences," including a middle school teacher in San Antonio,
who has tips for organizing a teacher's busy life.
"Parents
Have Homework, Too" -- This back-to-school handout
written by a South
Carolina
middle school teacher was a big hit on the Middle-L listserve and may be
something you want to share with parents as school begins.
First-Day
Strategies -- These first-day activities of Laura
Versaci, an English teacher at Decatur Middle School in Indianapolis, are included in an issue of the on-line magazine
Teacher Talk, which also offers teachers an activity that will help them
determine their classroom
management profile. Also see these tips on first-day
and first-week activities at Kim's Korner for Teacher Talk.
Open
House -- Some schools have an open house for parents
the first week of school. Here's a teacher discussion on the topic.
Take Photos of Your Students
-- Several good ideas for starter-uppers, including this one: "I like
to take snapshots of my students on the first day of school. With today's
disposable cameras, it's even easier; plus you can have them developed
directly after school at one of the one-hour photoshops. The next morning I
arrive at school a few minutes earlier than usual to post the photos on my
door. What a nice surprise for the students when they arrive! I later use
these same photos to place on the covers of their Language Arts
portfolios." This reminds us of another idea: creating a billboard
about yourself - "I was a kid, too!"
Tips for
Getting the Year Off to a Great Start at TeachNet.com. Success in
dealing with those first days of school depends on planning and organizing
now, and a number of Teachnet readers have shared ideas for doing so.
Icebreakers
-- A half-dozen ideas from Teacher Talk, an on-line magazine. Here here's
another batch of "icebreakers
and energizers" from Kim Steele's similarly named Kim's Korner for Teacher Talk
site. And here's a fresh article "Beat
the Summer Heat: Plan Ice Breakers for Fall" from Teach.Net!
First Day Chat --
At Teach.Net, where you can browse the middle grades chatboards and find
lots of new-teacher discussion -- including tips from the veterans. You can
also ask your own questions.
Getting
Parents Off to the Right Start -- The Parent Institute
offers a set of quick-tip brochures, the "Motivating Parents Pack
(Middle School)," that includes titles like: "Ways Busy Parents
Can Help Children Succeed in Middle School," "How to Work with
Your Child's Teacher," and "Teachers' Learning Secrets to Use at
Home." Schools that are serious about forming stronger partnerships
with parents may find these brochures a worthwhile investment. Ordered in
quantity, a set of six brochures would cost about $1.80. Available
separately and in Spanish.
Assigning
Classroom Chores -- Short on time? Get your kids
involved.
|
