Sunday 7 February 2016
RSA Animate: Changing Education Paradigms
Wow! I just watched the following video created entirely by animation. It was very cool and so informative. I was hooked from the beginning. It really does make you think about our education system. I read some of the comments too about ADHD students and how ineffective Ritalin is and all the problems associated with it. Despite my 17 years of teaching, I don't have much experience with students who need medication to stay focus. It's really a tough position to be in. I would try all other methods first if they were my own kids.
Blog you later,
Three Tips to Make School Life Better
Hi again. I recently read this article from Education Week that I found interesting and relevant in my profession. Three Ways Teachers Can Make School Suck Less
I agree with all three tips that the writer, Justin Minkle, shared.
1. Don’t take away recess—especially for the kids who didn’t do anything wrong.
I teach high school students so we don't have recess. However, I have heard of secondary school teachers who keep their students in for part of their lunch because some students were loud or unproductive. It really isn't fair to those quiet students who were working well independently.
We have to find ways to discipline the students without punishing the good students.
2. Talk less. Listen more.
Students want to voice their thoughts and ideas too. Sometimes, I get too caught up in the teaching that I forget to ask for their thoughts. I don't want to always be "lecturing" and talking at them. This is something that every teacher needs to focus on. Listen more and let the students speak.
3. Don’t yell.
I admit that I have yelled at my students in the past. Whenever I do, I also realized my mistake and apologized to them afterwards. I let them know that we, teachers, can make mistakes too.
One of the rules that I try to enforce in my class is respect... respect for the teacher and respect for one another. In turn, I treat them with the utmost respect too.
The writer shared a technique to gather student opinions by giving them a “stoplight” sheet to complete. It is a way to obtain feedback where the students list one thing they want you to start doing (GREEN), one thing they want you to keep doing (YELLOW), and one thing they want you to stop doing (RED).
Teaching is the toughest and most demanding job I know. On the best days, it is pure joy when we can inspire our students to reach their goals. On the worst, pure frustration and despair. On those bad days, we have to reflect on the many good ones and remember that we have chosen this profession that matters to so many people. Thinking about the positive and making an effort to talk less, stop yelling, and be fair can only make our days and our students' days brighter.
Until later,
I agree with all three tips that the writer, Justin Minkle, shared.
1. Don’t take away recess—especially for the kids who didn’t do anything wrong.
I teach high school students so we don't have recess. However, I have heard of secondary school teachers who keep their students in for part of their lunch because some students were loud or unproductive. It really isn't fair to those quiet students who were working well independently.
We have to find ways to discipline the students without punishing the good students.
2. Talk less. Listen more.
Students want to voice their thoughts and ideas too. Sometimes, I get too caught up in the teaching that I forget to ask for their thoughts. I don't want to always be "lecturing" and talking at them. This is something that every teacher needs to focus on. Listen more and let the students speak.
3. Don’t yell.
I admit that I have yelled at my students in the past. Whenever I do, I also realized my mistake and apologized to them afterwards. I let them know that we, teachers, can make mistakes too.
One of the rules that I try to enforce in my class is respect... respect for the teacher and respect for one another. In turn, I treat them with the utmost respect too.
The writer shared a technique to gather student opinions by giving them a “stoplight” sheet to complete. It is a way to obtain feedback where the students list one thing they want you to start doing (GREEN), one thing they want you to keep doing (YELLOW), and one thing they want you to stop doing (RED).
Teaching is the toughest and most demanding job I know. On the best days, it is pure joy when we can inspire our students to reach their goals. On the worst, pure frustration and despair. On those bad days, we have to reflect on the many good ones and remember that we have chosen this profession that matters to so many people. Thinking about the positive and making an effort to talk less, stop yelling, and be fair can only make our days and our students' days brighter.
Until later,
Something to Blog About
Blogging is something I have never done before. The creation of my first blog post was not as hard as I initially thought. Thanks to various YouTube videos and tips from other websites. I especially enjoyed watching the videos by The Blog Beautician which gave me clear instructions on how to beautify my blog post. From the following video, I learned how to set up my layout and setting. I also signed up with Wordpress and have been receiving tips on blogging. I was quite happy with my first video that I embedded. There will be more!
I have decided to blog about school-related articles and posts that I have read about in news articles, Facebook posts.
Until next time,
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