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Blogs on Teacher Development

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The Secret to Making It a Great School Year

Elena AguilarAugust 30, 2012

Tags Teacher Development

If I could, I'd lay money on the claim I'm about to make: If you do the one little thing I'm about to suggest, you will have a great school year. Here it is:

For the Sake of Student Learning: Putting Our Voices Aside

Heather Wolpert-GawronAugust 28, 2012

Tags Teacher Development, All Grades

I'm a teacher, a mother, a wife, and a blogger. I also just happen to be Jewish. I work in a Title I school in a Los Angeles community that is not home to many Jewish people. It's primarily a Latino and Asian community, with the students in my middle school knowing far more about Moshi than Gefilte.

Cheat Sheet for the First Days of School

José VilsonAugust 27, 2012

Tags Classroom Management, New Teachers, Teacher Development

For those of us in the field of educating young minds, we often find that summer does two things rather well. First, it helps us remember a time when our first names weren't Mister or Miss for the majority of the day and when we didn't have to break out into a vibrant soliloquy whenever the tenor of a room didn't feel right. Secondly, it abruptly breaks us out of our own routines for how we go about our days. We don't follow the bells or the crowds swooshing past the hallways to their next stations.

Experienced Teachers Reflect on Their First Year

Judy Willis MDAugust 23, 2012

Tags Classroom Management, New Teachers, Teacher Development

This year I had the opportunity to work with many educators in national and global workshops. On two of these occasions, I asked the teachers to share their wisdom by answering the question, "What I know now that I wish I had known as a first year teacher is . . . "

Starting a New School Year: Nine Tips for Collaboration

Terry HeickAugust 21, 2012

Tags Best Practices, New Teachers, Professional Learning Network (PLN), Teacher Development, All Grades

Late August or early September is a make-it-or-break-it time for educators. The non-stop, brutal schedule that is a school year starts with all the finesse of trampling elephants, and doesn’t relent for the next nine months (not coincidentally, the same amount of time it takes to gestate a baby). That makes starting the year right important -- and there are few more critical pieces to an educator's success than collaboration.

Middle School's Role in Dropout Prevention

Anne OBrienAugust 21, 2012

Tags Dropout Prevention, Teacher Development, Middle (6-8)

Our nation is on the right track when it comes to high school graduation. The graduation rate is the highest it has ever been (75.5% for the class of 2009), and between 1990 and 2010, the percentage of dropouts among 16- to 24-year-olds declined from 12.1% to 7.4%. While there are still racial and socioeconomic gaps in these areas, improvement is happening across the board.

The Power of the Positive Phone Call Home

Elena AguilarAugust 20, 2012

Tags Parental Involvement, Teacher Development, All Grades

When I first started teaching and was overwhelmed by the demands and complexity of the job, my survival strategy was simply to take all the advice that came my way and implement it. So when my wise mentor suggested that after the first day of school I call all of my second grader's parents, I did so.

Connected Educators: #140edu

Mary Beth HertzAugust 10, 2012

Tags Professional Learning Network (PLN), , Teacher Development, Technology Integration

I had the honor of attending and presenting at the #140edu conference put on this week by Jeff Pulver and Chris Lehmann. It was the perfect kick-off to what the U.S. Department of Education has deemed Connected Educator Month. The conference schedule read like a who's who of educators who use technology and social media to spread ideas and engage and empower young people. We were also blessed with a generous amount of student voices through both panels and individual speakers. Rather than go into detail about the conference itself, I decided to look through my own tweets and pull out gems from both days. Below are some quotes, ideas and nuggets.

The Butterflies of August

Nicholas ProvenzanoAugust 8, 2012

Tags Mental Health, New Teachers, Teacher Development

As I gear up for my 11th school year, I start to get the same butterflies in my stomach that I did getting ready for my first. The uncertainty of the type of students I'm about to get and the inevitable administration curve balls hang on my mind as each day passes. Over the years, though, I have learned to do a few things that make the nerves rest a bit. Here are some simple tips to cure the pre-school butterflies as the school years draws closer. Read More

Five Tips for New Teachers to Become Connected Educators

Lisa Michelle DabbsAugust 7, 2012

Tags Media Literacy, New Teachers, Professional Development, Professional Learning Network (PLN), Teacher Development

This month, the U.S. Department of Education kicked off Connected Educator Month, with engaging keynotes, panel discussions, book chats, and more. During this month, educators in the U.S. and globally will have opportunities to connect themselves and their communities, online and in-person, to support their professional practice. The timing couldn't be better, as most teachers are preparing to hit the ground running as they gear up for back-to-school!