Teacher’s Lounge Blog

Learn more about teacher preparation, test tips, online learning, professional development, and a variety of other valuable teacher topics.

Using Social Media in the Classroom

April 15th, 2021 | Comments Off on Using Social Media in the Classroom | Inclusive Teaching, Remote Learning, Teacher's Lounge Blog, Teaching Licenses

If you teach young people ages ten and up (and often younger), it is a given that they are attached to their phones at every opportunity. Why not take advantage of social media in and out of the classroom to engage your students in a different and exciting way?

Many educators view social media as a nightmare to be tolerated, but it can be useful – and promote learning – in the proper context. Try one or more of these recommendations to tickle the interest of your students in a new way. It is an excellent opportunity for students to interact who may not feel comfortable speaking up in class.

Create a Class Blog
For a twist on traditional writing assignments, have students share their writing online in a class blog. Writing online where everyone in the class sees it can foster classroom community and teaches online communication basics in a blog format. Require classmates to comment on posts.

Write Twitter Summaries
With a limit of 280 characters in 2021, it can be challenging to get your point across via Twitter. Sharpen your students’ writing skills by having them “tweet” a summary of a poem or chapter, answer a question, or write a really short story within the character constraints.

Classroom Facebook Page
Although Facebook is no longer the “in” social media platform for most youngsters, use it to create a class forum by posting homework assignments, school activities, and contact information. Include parents, too.

Social Media Profile
Make history come alive by having students create social media profiles for historical figures, whether they are handwritten or posted to Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Classmates can post comments and ask the person questions, requiring the poster to have extensive knowledge of the historical figure.

 

As with all online communication, it is essential to ensure that everyone follows the school’s rules for acceptable use policies. It may also be prudent to download monitoring software to notify you of at-risk behavior and protect students from cyberbullying.

Since students are online so much anyway, why not incorporate it in the classroom? It is easier than you think, and your class may surprise you with their creativity.

Professional Development for Teachers – COVID Edition

March 29th, 2021 | Comments Off on Professional Development for Teachers – COVID Edition | Certification Prep, Inclusive Teaching, Remote Learning, Teacher's Lounge Blog, Teaching Licenses

Not only has the pandemic affected instructors, students, and families around the world profoundly and unexpectedly over these last 12 months, it has created a multitude of other educational concerns. From computer access and proficiency to lack of socialization to innovations in teaching safely in-person, online, and in a hybrid setting, many issues must necessarily be addressed sooner rather than later.

One problem directly involving teachers is continuing education or professional development credits. Opportunities for district and state workshops, conferences, seminars, and retreats have been limited or altogether canceled over the last year, which may cause challenges for many teachers who do not have enough credits for their upcoming recertification.

The specific number of professional development hours required by state varies but may range from 50 to 120 credit hours over a five-year period. If you are one of the teachers who tends to wait until the last minute, you may be worried about how you will get in the hours you need before your time is up.

Fortunately, there are continuing education options online. Subjects are diverse and include core subjects like reading, writing, and mathematics, and working with students with disabilities in an inclusive classroom, as well as a myriad of other topics. You will find these options through many universities or companies such as PrepForward (www.prepforward.com).

With uncertainty still looming for the rest of this school year and, indeed, for 2021-2022, now is the perfect time to explore professional development options. Take a few minutes to browse online to find subjects that interest you and that will help you be a better educator.

Sign up for a course or two now or plan for the summer to ensure you have the time you need to register and complete a class and gain the hours necessary to maintain your certification status.

Does Technology in the Classroom Help or Hurt Students?

January 23rd, 2020 | Comments Off on Does Technology in the Classroom Help or Hurt Students? | Remote Learning, Teacher's Lounge Blog, Teaching Licenses

Most students in elementary, middle, and high school today use some form of technology in the classroom. Computers and iPads are pretty much commonplace. Are they worth the hype or do they inhibit learning?

Education reform over the past decade or so has taken the form of school choice or improving teacher quality. While there has been some progress in these areas, many educators feel that utilizing advancements in instructional software and the one-on-one benefits of online tutorials can help students even more.

Most teachers are enthusiastic about using technology in class. There is some discrepancy, though, about the effectiveness of computer use. While there have been some improvements in math scores after using computers, there is a decline in reading levels. According to OECD, reading scores of fourth graders who use tablets are virtually one grade level lower than students who do not use computers as often.

There also seems to be a high discrepancy between lower income students and those with more advantages regarding technology. Disadvantaged students tend to spend more time using computers in class but do not perform as well in reading and mathematics.

It’s likely that less information is absorbed by reading from a device than from paper, probably because computers can be a big distraction. Learning from a person who asks questions engages a student more than responding to questions provided on a computer. There is a relationship factor.

Computers also take away from learning communally. It’s helpful for many students to learn from one another rather than simply responding to commands on a screen.

If computers provide information that does not meet student needs or is not presented in a logical format, it does not benefit them. Therefore, it usually works better for math than for reading or the social sciences.

Since one of the most important aspects of reading comprehension is background vocabulary and knowledge about a topic, success rates for checking reading comprehension online don’t work for most children, as their backgrounds vary widely.

Computers may be better suited to reinforce concepts already taught in the classroom instead of teaching new ones, to ensure that students fully understand.

Teacher Appreciation Week

May 6th, 2019 | Comments Off on Teacher Appreciation Week | Teacher's Lounge Blog, Teaching Licenses

Teacher with student

Have you ever thought about Teacher Appreciation Week? When did it start? Who initiated it? What does it mean? Your school district likely follows countrywide norms and honors its teachers during the first full week of May, with National Teacher Day on Tuesday of that week.

History of the Event

Discussions about recognizing the important work that teachers do began in 1944. The 81st Congress proclaimed National Teacher’s Day in 1953 at the behest of Eleanor Roosevelt. Officially, the first National Teacher Day was established on March 7, 1980, and the first Tuesday in March was set aside to acknowledge educators for their efforts. In 1985, the National PTA initiated Teacher Appreciation Week in May, with the NEA voting to make Tuesday of that week National Teacher Day.

What happens during Teacher Appreciation Week?

Many retailers, restaurants, and other establishments offer discounts and free goodies to teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week. Generally, you must show your ID to qualify. Local PTA organizations often spearhead specific activities in their schools for teachers that may include gift-giving, a celebratory luncheon, or another special event to recognize the staff.

Many local groups within individual schools create their own “Thank a Teacher” GoFundMe operations where donations match campaigns that directly benefit teachers.

Is it a good or a bad thing?

There is surprisingly quite a bit of controversy regarding Teacher Appreciation Week. While a time set aside to honor educators for our often challenging and time-consuming work with children and young adults should be cherished – and is, by numerous teachers – others disagree.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with a free meal, a discount at a favorite store, or a heartfelt surprise from a student during Teacher Appreciation Week, but many teachers aren’t interested in being “buttered-up” once a year. Instead, they want to be respected for what they do, have enough funding to educate students with the most up-to-date technology and other educational materials, have fair evaluation standards and job protection, compensation worthy of the profession, and a voice to help make policies that support teachers and the families of the children they teach.

Teacher shortages are more common than ever, and teacher morale has continued to drop. Although teachers appreciate what parents do for us during this week, what we really want is to be trusted and respected as professionals in the educational field. Allowing us to have autonomy in the classroom and letting us influence policies that affect us directly would go a long way in bringing more teachers into the profession and boosting spirits. The students will be the real beneficiaries.

Of course, we love hearing “thank you for what you do,” and receiving tokens of gratitude during Teacher Appreciation Week. Hopefully, these positive feelings can be extended throughout the entire year. 

Have a Great Summer!

May 29th, 2018 | Comments Off on Have a Great Summer! | Teacher's Lounge Blog, Teaching Licenses

Teacher summer Break

“Have a great summer!” I love those words. They hold the promise of quiet, travel, and a break from the daily monotony of scheduled everything. But, can I tell you a secret? I also love teaching.

Despite feared transitions in the U.S. Department of Education, the staggering emphasis on testing, and teacher walkouts in multiple states, university students still flock to education majors. Why? Because surreptitiously behind closed doors, so many of us know that teaching is the profession where we belong—the profession where we find happiness.

Since teaching is in my heart and soul, here’s what I’ll find myself doing this summer….

I’ll pin classroom ideas. When I’m on Pinterest, looking for travel journal ideas, I’ll inevitably stray to education boards and start pinning ideas for my classroom in the fall. I’ll remember Dee Dee and how she struggled. I’ll come across another teacher’s strategy for empowering young readers, and I’ll pin her ideas.

I’ll shop for supplies. I’ll remember May when only my red dry erase marker still worked, when not one student had a pencil longer than his finger, and when coloring a world map was a group activity because each student had only 2-3 broken crayons. I’ll have a little stash of supplies so that when next May rolls around I can awe my students with a new box of crayons.

I’ll talk shop with my teacher friends. Some of my closest friends are my colleagues. We understand each other. We have the same interests that drove us to the same career. Now, we’re bound together as survivors; so, when we get together, we’ll share our passion.

I’ll rejuvenate. I won’t deny that teaching is exhausting—physically, but more so, emotionally. I’m so very responsible for the students. It takes a toll on my family, as I work long hours and short change family dinner. This summer, we’ll grill and picnic, and I’ll look long into their eyes, and I’ll find new energy.

Don’t get me wrong, I laugh at and connect with all the teacher summer vacation memes. I’m guilty of everything that is mocked. But, let’s own it. We have a great life. To my teacher friends everywhere, “Have a great summer!”

“Yes! You will use this!”

January 8th, 2018 | Comments Off on “Yes! You will use this!” | Teacher's Lounge Blog, Teaching Licenses

Teacher Inspiration

Any student of history can recognize the connection between productivity and reward in the establishment of the American way of life. And what about today? Is the tight connection between work and reward lived out in your classroom?

Far too many of our students question the benefit of school. They make Google their best friend and preface every assignment with, “Am I ever going to use this?” Quite honestly, if they’re not going to have to find the volume of a sphere and if they can Google the majority of the content on your test, where does hard work fit in?

I recall that my sixth-grade teacher always had challenges around the classroom. Periodically, one of her challenges came with an enviable “five minutes free time” certificate. The first of her hundred plus students to solve the problem earned the reward. On occasion, it took weeks for anyone to find a solution, but we did it—every one of them. She not only held us to the highest of standards every day, she gave us opportunities that made us want to work even harder.

This year, have a classroom where productivity is prized. It starts with you.

  • Prepare. Teachers know which students did their homework, and the opposite is also true. Students know which teachers did their homework.
  • Create. Don’t be that teacher that downloads too many lessons from the internet.
  • Inspire. Find a way to make obscure, seemingly useless lessons relevant.
  • Require. Everyone gets an equal opportunity to excel.
  • Personalize. No teaching over the top of the head; every student deserves eye contact and a smile.

I would challenge you to go beyond an elementary-style behavioral system where the average student who humdrums through the day with minimal effort, all the while avoiding disturbance to his classmates, can achieve top rewards. While not to be discredited for its infinite value in maintaining a healthy learning environment, I’m not sure this system instills the benefits of academic achievement. Be the teacher who day after day after day shows students the connection between working today and living the life they want in the future.