Inside the School Articles

Managing the Stack of Ungraded Papers July 26th, 2010

I have a collection of old student essays that makes me smile. One of those essays is, “Taxidermy Changed My Life,” by Pete. (I am not making that up.) Another gem is from Kevin who wrote about wanting to become a math teacher. Kevin wanted to teach math because he could leave work at 3:30 and be at the country club for a round of golf by 4 p.m.

Kevin didn’t stick around after school long enough to see the lights on at 8 p.m. in his teachers’ classrooms, didn’t watch as the teachers left the buildings with their briefcases full of papers to grade, and didn’t come to school on the weekends when teachers set up labs or planned lessons. Kevin was a smart kid, but he had an inaccurate picture of what a teacher’s workday looks like (and paycheck, too).

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How Do You Handle Extra Credit? July 19th, 2010

I’ll be honest. I don’t handle extra credit well. In fact, I’m so lousy at it, I offered just two projects each year. If you’ve ever tried offering extra credit, you know the problems it can cause:

• Students might focus all their energy on the extra credit project and neglect their everyday work.
• Students will ask for extra credit projects the night before grades are due.
• Too much extra credit can skew a student’s grade to the point where you’re not sure if she mastered the material or just knew how to play the game.
• You get slammed with extra credit projects in addition to your end-of-quarter grading and have no time to sleep.

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No Big Deal: Providing a Classroom Environment Where It’s Safe to Participate July 12th, 2010

I remember sitting in my high school chemistry class and praying that the teacher wouldn’t call on me. I made no eye contact, sunk low in my seat, and tried to hide behind my long hair. It worked pretty well. The times that the teacher did call on me, I was so hopelessly lost that I just mumbled some answer. He learned not to ask me questions and I learned how to master that queasy feeling in my gut. Chemistry? I didn’t learn very much of that at all.

As a teacher, I know better. If I have a student who’s hiding from me and unwilling to answer a question, I have a problem. That’s not a kid who’s learning; that’s a kid who’s miserable for an hour each day.

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Want to Boost Test Scores? Wish Your Students Good Luck July 7th, 2010

Ben Goldacre is a medical doctor in the U.K. who writes a column in The Guardian called “Bad Science” and has a blog of the same name. Goldacre takes pride in debunking the pseudo-scientific claims from the dietary supplements, baby genius, and cosmetics industries.

Despite the fact that Dr. Goldacre doesn’t believe in the amazing health benefits and antioxidant powers of chocolate, I think that his conclusinons are sound, expecially those about the mind’s incredible response to belief.

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Upcoming Seminars

• Ways to Improve Staff Culture to Benefit Teaching and Learning July 12, 2010
• Helping Beginning Teachers Succeed: 5 Strategies for Induction August 9, 2010
• Dealing with Difficult Parents: 2-Part Series August 16, 2010
• Breaking Barriers: Reducing Gang Violence, Improving Security and Creating a Culture of Learning in Schools August 19, 2010
• Helping All Students Navigate the Path to College August 26, 2010
• Classroom Management Tips September 2, 2010
• Dealing with Student Discipline September 9, 2010
• Developing Higher Order Thinking Skills for Educationally Disadvantaged Students September 16, 2010
• Electronic Data Security for School Administrators September 20, 2010
• Breaking Barriers: How Teachers Can Help Black Males Achieve September 23, 2010
• A Dozen Mentoring Strategies to Help the New Teacher Next Door September 27, 2010
• Middle School Classroom Management September 30, 2010
• Electronic Data Safety for Teachers October 4, 2010
• The Perfect E-Storm Emerging Technologies, Enormous Demand, and Erased Budgets October 7, 2010
• 5 Ways Teachers Can Close the Achievement Gap October 14, 2010
• The Sexting Problem and Possible Responses October 18, 2010
• Discipline with Dignity October 21, 2010
• Ten Things that Successful New Teachers Do October 25, 2010
• Prepare for Natural Disasters and Outbreaks with Blended Learning October 28, 2010
• The Broadband Act: Protecting Children & Teaching Online Safety November 15, 2010

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