Reflections of an {almost} Mentor Teacher

So, yesterday at 3:45, I was asked to take the training to become a Instructional Mentor to our Resident Educators.  Today I am sitting in a hotel two hours from home - having completed our first full day of training. 

I love learning new things, and this is right up my alley! 

But, holy cat, has education changed a ton since I started teaching more than 15 years ago! 

Back in the day, there weren't mentors.  No one was really worried if I was stressing out, or would even know unless I freaked out in the teachers' lounge (which happened a bunch my first couple of years!) 

I was so fortunate to work with teachers who were more than willing to help me out when I needed it.  At some point during those first few years, I made a nuisance out of myself to nearly every teacher in our building!  I remember crying more than once over kids' bad behavior or particularly hateful parent letters.  I also remember the joy with which I told every teacher who ever helped me out how great a certain kid did on his latest math test!  Those friendships have survived the test of time - they are some of the women I call "besties" to this day!

I also had great classes my first few years who made it easy to hone my skills.  I started teaching my first year at the end of first quarter when a teacher suddenly quit.  Let me tell you, folks, this was such a blessing!  All of the decorations were up, the gradebook was set up, there were discipline procedures in place, and (best for me, even though I feel a little guilty about it) the parents were so glad to see the previous teacher leave, they love, loved me!   It was like when I was little and my sister got in trouble; for a while I got to play the favorite child, you know what I mean? 

One other factor that I believe helped me a ton was my professional history up until that point.  I left school with a teaching certificate, but didn't use it for about 5 years.  When I went back to the profession, I started as a sub.  The lessons I learned from subbing were invaluable!  I kept a notebook with good/bad ideas of the teachers' for whom I subbed.  Taking on the responsibility for 28 kids at age 28 was, for me, a lot more successful than it would have been when I was 23.  There's something to be said for life experience!

I'll be able to write a more comprehensive post about the RE process after tomorrow's class, but today I just felt like sharing a quick reflection.  With almost 50% of all new teachers leaving within 5 years, it was an interesting trip down memory lane to see what caused me to stay.

So, then, I'm curious about your journey.  What factors have influenced your path in education?

Teaching Channel

I just came across this site and felt the need to share!  And in a shameless effort to attract new followers, I am linking this post to the weekly

Have you seen this??

Teaching Channel is a video showcase -- on the Internet and TV -- of innovative and effective teaching practices in America's schools.

Not my TV, though.  It airs on PBS, but the local PBS station doesn't carry it.  *Bummed*

However,
there are plenty of great resources on the internet channel.  "Videos, Common Core Resources and Lesson Plans" to be precise!  I am afraid to add up the hours that I have spent exploring this site!

I was looking for inspiration for a lesson I have to teach later this week during an interview, and I hit the JACKPOT when I came across this site.  I watched this video and was able to use her ideas as a springboard for my own Main Idea lesson plan.




Seriously - check out this amazing resource!

What Teachers Make

I first saw this video years ago, but I had forgotten about it. I love it! Especially the part about scaring parents with calls home! The best part of my week is when I can call home about something great that happened!

Classroom Management Secrets

What a busy, busy week in room 102!  Our first week back after Christmas break was packed full.  I have to admit I was worried that it would be the longest week in the history of school after not being there for two full weeks.  But the week flew by!  I love weeks like that; when Friday comes and I hate to see the momentum of the week end.  Does that ever happen to you!?  Definitely a week for my new Year of Blessings Jar (a la Pinterest, of course!).

I wanted to share one of my secrets to great classroom management.  It isn't fancy, and many of you probably already know about it:  Smart Classroom Management.  Each week I get an email with helpful hints, practical advice and real-life solutions to classroom issues.  I save every email, and whenever things are going badly in my classroom, I take the time to reread the applicable emails.  Turns out, it's almost always my fault that things are going wrong!  Let me explain:

Do you ever watch Supernanny or Dr. Phil?  If you do, you know it's usually the parents' fault that their kids are so out of control, right?  Well, just like parenting, how you communicate with your students affects the atmosphere in your classroom.  I guess we all know that already, but I find it very helpful to have a reminder when I need it.

If you are not already receiving these weekly reminders of what great teaching looks like, sounds like and feels like, sign up here.  I'd love to hear about your classroom management tips!

Early Mornings & PD

Boy! Is it me, or are mornings earlier in August than any other time of year?

Do you enjoy PD as much as I do?  I love learning new ideas, new technologies and anything else that I can implement in my classroom!  Today I spent the day at a technology conference.  The day was broken into four sessions.  I went to sessions called ActivInspire, iPads for the Intermediate Teacher, Digital Storytelling, and ActvInspire and Elmo. 

The first one was not good.  It was really for beginners, so I didn't get much out of it.  In fact, I started writing this post during it.  Here's what I wrote:  Just a quick post today.  I'm at a technology inservice, and usually I love these kinds of things.   So far this morning - not so much.  This first session is using ActivInspire; not much new.  But I'm hoping for good things in the next sessions.  Fingers crossed!

Fortunately the day got better!  (And the sessions weren't as long as I thought, which is why that's as far as I got when I was feeling icky about the whole day.)  Anyway...  the conference turned out to be well worth the extremely early morning drive and the rough start!

My favorite session was Digital Storytelling led by Stephanie DeMichele, M.A.  She is the technology teacher at St. John of the Cross School in Euclid.  And let me tell you people - this woman is amazing.  This session could have gone on all day long, and I wouldn't complained.  Her passion for digital storytelling came through in a big way.  She has so many great ideas and resources to share.  The best part was that she had practical ways to incorporate Digital Storytelling into real lesson plans with examples from 1st grade up to middle school.  And she was very clear that these technologies don't eliminate the need to teach the writing process or the content areas; it's just a way to enhance and motivate the students to do it better!  By giving them an audience of more than just one (the teacher), students are motivated to impress their peers, their families, etc.

Stephanie shared a webpage she made for just this conference that is chock full of resources.  She included some great technology blogs (Just what I need, more blogs to follow! Who can resist, though?),  sites to get free pictures, music and sound effects, and tutorials.  She has also included practical pages for creating storyboards, links to great sites for both Mac or PC, and even rubrics.  Click here to check out this amazing site!

All in all a very successful day!  I love Professional Development that gets me fired up and excited!  I'm off now to explore and try to create my own digital story to share with my students and their parents.