Teacher Lingo

Do You Believe In Me?

droberts — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:31:00 GMT

If you don't believe that students' voices should be included in a dialogue about educational professional development, it's time you tuned in to this fifth grader. AWESOME! It's Time To Believe...(read more)

Thursday October 9th and Friday October 10th

AlcottHeartsChem — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:49:00 GMT

Level 1
On Thursday we completed the analysis of the data on Magnesium reacting with Oxygen and on Copper reacting with Oxygen. This data should support the ideas of the Law of Definite Proportions and the Law of Multiple Proportions. The data also supports Dalton's Atomic Theory.

On Friday we discussed three important experiments in the development of the atomic model:

J.J. Thomson, The Cathode Ray Tube and the Plum Pudding Model
R. Milliken and the Oil Drop Experiment: Determined the Charge (and mass) of an electron
E.Rutherford, Gold Foil Experiment, nuclear model of the atom.

H.W. was the questions at the end of the chapter relating to sections 4.1 and 4.2

HONORS
On Thursday we disccused how a Mass Spectrometer works and how data from a Mass Spec. supports the notion that not all atoms of the same element have the same mass, but most elements have a number of naturally occuring isotopes. We also completed an activity with teh CRC handbook investigating different isotopes of the elements.

On Friday we took the History of the Atomic Model Quiz and then discussed the important vocabulary that has been covered this week.

H.W. was to Look up a current topic related to Nuclear Chemistry and come up with 5 questions that you have about the topic.

Multi-Step Equasions

romainbertrand — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:11:00 GMT

Here's today's classwork. Don't forget today's homework is page 510 numbers 15,18,23, and 28. Juhi Patel

Happy birthday to me!!!!!

If you catch a parent doing their kid's homework, what do you do?

teachhub — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:40:00 GMT

Take the poll...(read more)

Proctoring Tests

lfox368806 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:35:00 GMT

If there is a more boring activity than proctoring a PSAT or other standardized test, I don't know what it is. At least I had a good time in the last two classes of the day - I finished the DVD "October Sky". I don't recommend it if the class is immature, because the language from the father is a bit rough in spots. However, it is a class-A story, with an exciting approach to showing science as a cool activity. I'd love to have the time and money to set up a rocket club. I'm feeling overwhelmed about...(read more)

Day Two -Confidentiality

buch.david — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:39:00 GMT

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I received this email a couple weeks ago.

Dear Staff,

I received notice on Friday, September 26th that we should no longer use student names or initials in ANY of our emails sent out. Please begin this process immediately. I understand that this will make our job a bit more difficult, but we need to find alternative means to communicate.

This decision was made in response to litigation. Lawyers were able to use teacher emails in court, so now we cannot email student names...

How do you deal with difficult parents?

Teachhub — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:29:00 GMT

Parent-teacher conferences on the horizon. In a dream world, all parents are understanding, calm and helpful, but that just isn't always the case. Here are a few resources to help you prepare for meetings that may be less than ideal or complete nightmares. Read More......(read more)

Forms and Policies with Clubs

Cahoju — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:26:00 GMT

As the year progresses I'm finding myself underneath a bigger pile of paper and more demands on my shoulders. Yesterday I found out that I'm supposed to be the advisor for yet ANOTHER club. That puts me in 3, not counting my concert band, which is enough Read More......(read more)

Life Lesson 5: Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:00:20 GMT

Today is Blog Action Day. The topic of choice for this year is poverty. I want to approach it from a completely different viewpoint than most of the bloggers are. I want to look at the spiritual aspect of poverty. And seeing the multitudes, [Jesus] went Read More......(read more)

Ten Letters on my Toes

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:20:57 GMT

I wrote this simple book for children who were learning numbers and letters. Here’s how to use the book: During the first reading, read the story to the children. Point to the words as you read them and ask the children to do the same. After reading Read More......(read more)

a commercial

John Spencer — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:13:00 GMT

This evening while watching television, I saw an ad by our self-proclaimed King of Arizona. It wasn't for or against any particular candidate. Instead, it was aimed to gain him publicity by inspiring fear against immigrants. Using words like "illegal" Read More......(read more)

My first Blob entry.

Education-Plan — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:25:00 GMT

Hi this is my first blog entry. I am the principle of Wilson Bourough Elementary School In Easton PA. I Love learning new things and being in my school system. I find it fun to sort letters when i get in in the morning. It is very fun when problems that only i can fix. Hope you like me!

Introduce Your Child to a Foreign Language! Here’s One Reason Why.

Admin — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:53:11 GMT

As a career language teacher, I have read all sorts of research that strongly supports introducing children to foreign languages. Now that my oldest child has officially entered our local public school system, I’m collecting research and study results Read More......(read more)

Obama vs. McCain

drpezz — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:05:36 GMT

Education has been relegated to a backseat role in the Presidential elections, but you may be curious how the candidates differ on educational issues. Read this article to see some of the differences. The chart at the end of the article is especially Read More......(read more)

Inaugural Post

j_m_dubiel — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:43:00 GMT

Our purpose with creating this blog community is for us not only to be able to use technology in the classroom, but also to communicate with each other and work through problems of student teaching and on. It is obvious that digital technology has become a big part of the classroom today, but it can't always be used to teach our students because it isn't always accessible. However, it is accessible for us to use as teachers, so why not use it to transfer ideas to each other? We can talk about problems we are having in our classrooms and offer advice/encouragement, but we can also send each other lesson plans and ideas.

Cahoju — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:12:00 GMT

Posted with LifeCast Read More......(read more)

Feeling Defeated

Miss A — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:05:04 GMT

I received a forwarded email (for the entire staff) from my principal that was sent to him by the district office. I immediately called Miss CF to voice my concerns about the email. I summed up everything I had say about it by saying: I feel defeated. Read More......(read more)

Life Lesson 4: Choose Your Battles

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:33:56 GMT

Everybody loves being right. Everybody loves to win an argument. What if we change our mindset completely? What if we aim not to win outright, but to win by letting the other person win? There are some situations where winning is vital. And there are Read More......(read more)

Long time gone

Karebear — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:14:00 GMT

Sorry readers (all 1 of you) for my extended abscence. I started teaching last week and have been trying to catch my breath ever since! Between coming in after the year had started, having the entire school be behind because of our friend Hurricane Ike and being a first year (i.e. clueless) teacher it's been a good time.

Regardless, I have a wonderful class! I feel truly blessed that I have (no bias, really) the best behaved group in the entire grade. It was love at first sight and things are going well. Now if I could just get my reading assessments done and learn how to fit everything I'm supposed to get done into one day I'd be golden (and close to retirement)

I do have one burning question though....when will my feet stop hurting?!?

Wednesday's teacher is full of woe

misterteacher — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:55:00 GMT

Ah, precious Tuesday... Enjoy it while you can, Dallas teachers. May I humbly suggest that you check out this week's Mr. Teacher column on education.com, titled "Benchmark This!!" It is of course all about the frustrations of district benchmark testing, which we underwent last week.

Also, for anyone who has not yet signed it, I've got a really nifty piece of gadgety Guestbook down at the bottom of my page. All you folks coasting in to read, please sign it before you head out!

Now down to brass tacks...

Tomorrow is going to SUCK. It is going to be atrocious. Hellacious. God-awful. Battlefield Earth-esque.

Tomorrow is the day that the news comes down about who stays, who moves, and who loses their job.

The other day, one of the kids in Mrs. Math's class asked her what was going on, since his parents had been talking about the news. So Mrs. Math explained how the district had made some mathematical mistakes when adding money. The student said, "But we've been adding money all week! Why can't THEY add money??"

There's been a lot of speculation and rumors about how things are going to play out. They range from the wildly fanciful --

"I heard that teachers will be taken down to the principal's office, told they're out of a job, and then beheaded right there!!!"

"I heard they're breaking out the tar and feathers!"

"I heard that they would be fired and then forced to eat those Halloween Circus Peanut candies, which I swear are just orange spray painted styrofoam!"

To the mundane --

"Teachers will be told and then they have to go right back to their class and keep teaching."

To the utterly ridiculous --

"Teachers that are reassigned to another school are expected to be at that school, teaching their new class, on Thursday."

I know someone at another school who says that teachers who are let go will be escorted from the building right then and there, subs will cover those classes, and the teachers will not be allowed back until after school.

I hate to think that these poor teachers (who have done absolutely nothing wrong other than to work for a district that can't handle money properly) would be shown such little dignity or respect, but it may just happen.

For anyone NOT going through this right now, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers...

Learn Me Good

Shameless self-promotion....

doyle — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:26:00 GMT

For those of you who know me in real life (all seven of you), I've started a blog on various organisms we find in Cape May. Horseshoe crabs, sea slaters, cabbage head jellies, cow-nosed skates, croakers, razor clams, quahogs, whelks, grackles, hummers, Read More......(read more)

What the possum must have thought

Betty — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:05:36 GMT

My knowledge of science, or shall I say lack of knowledge, prompted me to yell out in a meeting when I looked out a glass door and found a cute little creature staring at me. I was sitting with a group of adults and was probably the oldest person in the room. I was truly delighted to see the animal and felt that everyone else would want to see him too. Luckily, the meeting hadn't officially started, but I immediately felt like an unruly third grader.

I wasn't even sure what it was. I've never come face to face with a possum before. My excitement wasn't shared by the rest of the group. They called the creature nasty and not so cute. The person in charge contacted maintenance to come and remove the unwanted possum from the grounds.

Of course, I would have reacted differently if I had been outside without a protective barrier. The possum's tail must have been about two feet long and looked a lot like a rat's tail. Although this one looked sweet to me, it probably had some pretty sharp teeth and a mean bite to match.

The whole experience reminds me of the spontaneous enthusiasm of small children. They hold nothing back and don't worry about how others might perceive their reactions. I also thought about how it feels to not fit in and be the one looking in from the outside. The poor possum was probably as shocked and surprised as I was. At least he didn't embarrass himself in front of his peers.

There's a writing prompt in there someplace.:)

HW 10/14

MrStrauss — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:21:00 GMT

NOTE: The information listed below is subject to change. When in doubt, refer to the Binder Reminder for clarification.

The homework for tonight is...

English

Study for Vocab Test on Friday: (Review 30 Word Study Guide)

Math

Worksheet

Science

Bring #2 Pencil and book to read for benchmark tomorrow

History

Benchmark Test Review

two blog posts

John Spencer — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:06:00 GMT

For the second time in a row, I am posting a link to two student blogs (rather than writing my own). The first is part of our new Social Soapbox blog: a change in direction The second is part of our Face the Issues blog: a letter to McCain Read More......(read more)

We don't cancel school for ANY reason...

MysteryTeacher — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:22:00 GMT

Quite a few of the posts have brought up memories of past adventures in teaching. So, since my kids are at lunch, I just took a quiet walk down Memory Lane.

I remember when the water was so bad that the county (before we were incorporated) had to come and close the drinking fountains and tell everyone not to drink the water. We had to provide drinkable water for all the kids. It was summer and hotter than Hades too.

I remember when we had a micro-burst over our school and the roof blew off our wing. I lost quite a bit of things and the school would not reimburse us because it was personal property. I taught in the Library for a month and a half until they got my roof fixed and my room dried out. That meant that no one could use the library while I was in it too. We used the teacher's lounge, nurses office, closets, every place we could find that wasn't flooded.

About 2 years before I began teaching at my school, there was trememdous rain and a dam broke on the river. The water flooded across the plains, across the feed yards and into our school. It was a month before the water receded enough to shovel out the classrooms, scrub everything down, replace all the floors, replace the damaged books (with outdated ones) and wash the furniture. The teachers worked side by side with the convicts from the county prison. They had to drive 50 miles out of their way to get here because the other roads were all closed. Everyone got sick because of the sewage in the flood water. You can still see the flood lines on the walls and it has been 25 years.

I remember having recess every morning and afternoon. We didn't count before school or lunch as recess. We even had trees on the playground and water fountains out there too. The kids could sit on the grass and read if they wanted to.

I remember having an entire wall of windows across the side of the room. Then they came and bricked them up so they could put air conditioning into the rooms. When they did that, they also removed all the book shelves that were under the windows. We ended up with no storage space. Our new school is more like a prison on the sides and back. There are almost no windows in our building now too. We have them in the Library, I have tiny ones way up high, but most of the classes are on the inside of the walls and don't have windows. No way to watch the world go by.

The road to this town used to be a two lane road. It had huge dips in it. And wild horses ran freely across the road whenever they wanted to. Then, they fenced off the road and made the horses change their route. They were running into cars and trucks. Later, they began to widen the road into a four-lane split highway with bridges and everything. It is quite a high way now. Then they began developing our town. Where-as then we had 1500 people in town, now we have 1500 people in the high school. It is absolutely amazing. From small town to big city in 5 years.

I miss the past...