I've been pretty blessed as a teacher.
Almost every single time I have asked to attend a workshop or conference, I have been granted professional leave time from the classroom. At my new school last year, I attended the IAGC conference for high ability education, as well as NWP's annual meeting and NCTE's national convention... in Vegas, no less. I met some fascinating people, helped greet attendees, gave a presentation about writing camps, and soaked up new ideas that sparked my creative energies.
I came back with a different eye for engaging my students. I started thinking about video games as narrative. That was an enormous leap for this Pong player but also a blessing. Because I get bored teaching in the same old way. And I have to believe that my students get bored learning in the same old way, too.
Many teachers aren't as lucky. They are stuck in their classrooms teaching the same old material year after year, without getting a chance to shake it up and learn something new- such a mistake by administrators who are tight fisted. The best educational ideas I have ever had were ignited by reading a professional book or attending a conference.
So with the encouragement of new and old friends and colleagues, over the course of the school year I'm going to share more of my work from the past fifteen years. My files are bursting with ideas I've tweaked to teach seventh through twelfth grade language arts.
I will be sharing some of them through my blog and a wonderful Internet resource called Teachers Pay Teachers. Some materials will be free; others will be for sale. I invite you to browse. See what other teachers are doing. See how you might save time by using someone else's great plans or ideas. Maybe you have some ideas to share, too.
Here's a sample of what I've been working on this week. The Best Reading Strategy I Ever Used- FREE
Let's get posting!
Almost every single time I have asked to attend a workshop or conference, I have been granted professional leave time from the classroom. At my new school last year, I attended the IAGC conference for high ability education, as well as NWP's annual meeting and NCTE's national convention... in Vegas, no less. I met some fascinating people, helped greet attendees, gave a presentation about writing camps, and soaked up new ideas that sparked my creative energies.
I came back with a different eye for engaging my students. I started thinking about video games as narrative. That was an enormous leap for this Pong player but also a blessing. Because I get bored teaching in the same old way. And I have to believe that my students get bored learning in the same old way, too.
Many teachers aren't as lucky. They are stuck in their classrooms teaching the same old material year after year, without getting a chance to shake it up and learn something new- such a mistake by administrators who are tight fisted. The best educational ideas I have ever had were ignited by reading a professional book or attending a conference.
So with the encouragement of new and old friends and colleagues, over the course of the school year I'm going to share more of my work from the past fifteen years. My files are bursting with ideas I've tweaked to teach seventh through twelfth grade language arts.
I will be sharing some of them through my blog and a wonderful Internet resource called Teachers Pay Teachers. Some materials will be free; others will be for sale. I invite you to browse. See what other teachers are doing. See how you might save time by using someone else's great plans or ideas. Maybe you have some ideas to share, too.
Here's a sample of what I've been working on this week. The Best Reading Strategy I Ever Used- FREE
Let's get posting!
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