Blogs on Teacher Development

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Ben JohnsonSeptember 21, 2012

Rarely will a new principal leave things at a school just as they are. Sometimes those changes do need to happen, but the teacher perspective might be the principal is coming in and trying to fix things that aren't broken. Instead of saying, "Throw the bum out!" I have some suggestions to help teachers get off on the right foot with a new principal. (As a principal new to a campus and recently experiencing this.)

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José VilsonSeptember 19, 2012

Believe it or not, I had a bit of a freak-out before the first day of school. All summer, I had prepared my curriculum, re-thought my lesson plans, reflected on the energies I would put out to my students, and got plenty of professional development (specifically in science and math integration). Yet, a few hours before I went to bed, I posted on Facebook, "Always nervous about the first day of school with the students. Not because I'm scared of them, but because I want to do right by them." Despite my best efforts, I always feel like I can do better. Then, on the first day, I received a text message from one of my former students saying how much she missed her teachers -- including me.

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Elena AguilarSeptember 12, 2012

I knew I wanted to get to know my students. I wanted to hear about their lives, look through their eyes, experience the sounds of their world, and survey their emotional landscapes. I also knew I needed to do this in order to be a more effective teacher: I could tailor instruction to draw on what they already knew and bridge curriculum.

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Danielle Moss LeeSeptember 10, 2012

Even though I haven't been a student or a classroom teacher in a long time, the beginning of a new school year still fills my stomach with butterflies. For me, September still signifies crisply ironed clothes, spotless new shoes, and clean loose-leaf paper in an as-yet-untarnished new binder. As a teacher, the summer vacation gave me the time I needed to recover from the insatiable demands that being alone in a room with 20 or so burgeoning adolescents inevitably placed on me. I spent the last weeks of summer dipping into my own pocket to make sure that my classroom was beautifully appointed with pictures, posters, and various sundry learning tools; and that my bulletin boards stood at the ready -- waiting to showcase the brilliance that was sure to emerge from my students in those early months of the school year.

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Ben JohnsonSeptember 10, 2012

This week, I watched a science teacher use sticky notes in a very creative way. To check for understanding, the teacher gave each student a sticky note and asked each of her science students to give concrete examples of the vocabulary that they had learned in class. As the students exited the classroom, they placed the sticky note on the door. After the students all left the classroom, the teacher collected the sticky notes and was able to tell right away which students understood the concepts and which ones needed some targeted assistance.

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Andrew MillerSeptember 6, 2012

As educators, we are always looking for management strategies to try in the classroom. Note I said "strategies" -- not "solutions."

Many Edutopia bloggers have written about strategies and ideas for classroom management. I've also written a blog on PBL management strategies, but many of those same strategies can be used in non-PBL contexts.

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Bob LenzSeptember 6, 2012

"What does it take to get really good at something?" Envision Schools teachers and leaders were given this driving question, launching our 2013 school year professional development. In this workshop, we asked our staff to be learners in a "Slice of a Project" -- facilitated by the Envision education support leaders, including yours truly.

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Suzie BossSeptember 4, 2012

With the presidential election dominating the news between now and November, there's no shortage of timely material to bring into classroom discussions. If used as the starting point for project-based learning, the 2012 election can engage students in thinking critically about everything from media messages to voter rights to public opinion polls.

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Lisa Michelle DabbsSeptember 4, 2012

Every Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT, 8 p.m. ET, I host New Teacher Chat (#ntchat) on Twitter. It's a time for new and pre-service teachers, as well as supportive administrators and experienced teachers, to gather online and have discussions about topics that are practitioner focused and supportive for the soon-to-be teacher.

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Rebecca AlberAugust 31, 2012

I've had first days in the classroom that were pure poetry and others that were pure... well, you know. There's things out of our control that can make that first day a tough one for sure. But there's also things we can do beforehand to set the stage for success.

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