Test-Taking Tip
As my loyal readers may remember, I passed the dreaded CTEL test last June. Having a CLAD certificate (which passing the CTEL gives you) is the only way to remain employed as a teacher in California, and a lot of teachers are going through a lot of stress these days as the deadline for passing [...]
Dot Dot Dot (Also: 4.7 miles!)
Back in the day, the San Francisco Chronicle had a columnist named Herb Caen. With the exception of eight years or so in the 50’s when he jumped ship for the Examiner, he wrote a daily column for the Chronicle from the 30’s until he died in 1997. He’s the one that invented the [...]
Out of Bounds
I know it’s been a week since our last session. (Wait a minute! That sounds waaaaay too much like what we were taught to say in confession back at St. Mel’s: “Bless me Father for I have sinned; it has been _____ weeks, months, years since my last confession…” I’d always end up committing more [...]
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Mr. Coward has been teaching on the beautiful central coast of California since 1989.
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- Meg commented on Grandma’s HoseThanks for the advice! I appreciate it!
- Meg commented on Permanent RecordDo you have any tips for dealing with grade-grubber students AND parents? I've got a whole class of them. So bad that I abolished extra credit entirely to stop the "I have 103% and you only have 101%" arguments.
- Heather commented on The Timer ReduxI've been using your timer for about a year now, but had a student fall out of her chair because of the scream for the first time yesterday
- Kara Hatfield commented on IntegralWhere can I get the full text of Skeleton? I have tried unsuccessfully to find it online.
- Meg commented on No, You’re Not.That's because Huck Finn was a true rebel! These kids are wannabes in most cases. I student taught in a rural school in Oregon and had the 9th graders telling me they were true 'gangsters' one day. It took everything to hold back my laughter until the end of the period.
- mrC commented on No, You’re Not.Another classic seventh grade three-word phrase. You just reminded me of two more four-word ones I've been using a lot lately: "Pick up your feet," and "Hitch up your drawers" (when they say huh: Pull up your pants). Did you know Huck Finn was sagging his drawers long before these "gangstas" started doing it? More
- Meg commented on No, You’re Not.HAHA!!! It's SO true! Just like their reflexive "reason" for doing anything. I had a group of my sevies shuffling around like direction impaired penguins the other day. When I asked about it they said they couldn't lift their feet off the ground until lunch. The 'reason': "Because it's fun!"
- mrC commented on 600 Words!? Every Week?!! Wha? (Part I)Thanks for the kudos. Everybody who does this gig (willingly) has his/her own shtick to keep the kids in the game. Luckily I also have an actual stick. The kids will learn quite quickly how easy it is to write 600 words/week. Some will even, gasp, grow to like it. I'm glad to have been
- Amy Hostetler commented on 600 Words!? Every Week?!! Wha? (Part I)This year, I just started teaching seventh grade again after taking nine years off. Thank you so much for your ideas (120 sec presentation, Outsiders stuff) but especially your humor. It helps to know I'm not the only teacher with some four-word lines (I also stole some of those as well). I just gave my
- Mrs. M~ commented on Workshop?Awesome! That is almost as good as my colleague who was subbing in a PE class and could not stand the noise. He shouted, "Everyone, hold your balls!"
- Meg commented on Workshop?Wow... Thanks for the laugh! I needed it today with all of the students wired from Chinese New Year break.
- John Burgess commented on Workshop?CPS software records the last answer received before you end a question. If students are getting points for their answers and you're getting a lot of monkeying around, end the question. They lose their points and they will stop messing around. The green occurs when the student sends the same answer and the yellow occurs when
- mrC commented on Everybody’s Special Now. (EInstruction Rules!)Thanks again for the great service. We also found out today that they sometimes work through certain people's heads. Scary thought, that.
- Lindsay C commented on Everybody’s Special Now. (EInstruction Rules!)I remember your call! I was pointed to this post by my manager. I'm glad the kids like their new clickers!!! And the Popple is so cute! ~Lindsay
- mrC commented on “You don’t look as mean!”Mushroom! OMG. I love it.
- Meg commented on “You don’t look as mean!”I got that a lot last year when I would get my haircut. Like volume 11 6th grader calling across the courtyard: "Miss Jones! You look like a mushroom!" or "Wow.... You look like a guy." or the one girl who stopped, gasped in horror and then said through clenched teeth
- mrC commented on Shmart?I'm starting to agree. Once you get past the whoa factor... I'm not seeing an indispensable tool. Like my overhead. I have this Shmartboard, and a giant 32 inch monitor, and I have an LCD projector. If I could only keep 1 piece of "technology" it would be my overhead projector. (Well maybe the clickers
- Eric commented on Shmart?Dan Myer described SmartBoards as "a VERY expensive solution to a problem that we haven't really defined yet."
- Amy commented on Shmart?A school district in Wichita, Kansas has their lessons posted online. Wide variety from which to choose. http://technology.usd259.org/resources/whiteboards/smartlessons.htm There are many more, but are bookmarked on another laptop.
- mrC commented on Seventh Grader with a BadgeRe: "Monsters..." in the anthology. When we first got our most recent anthology 6 or 8 years ago, I was going to use it for reading the play. I was reading through the TE, looking what kinds of questions they thought should be asked, and I noticed that the version in this book was different
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