I’m quite pleased with this.
Rapping this out loud in my empty classroom like swag.
WALK INTO THE CLUB LIKE WADDUP I AM A BIG SCOT
I’M SO PUMPED ABOUT SOME VISION THAT THE WITCHES GOT
I WILL BE THANE, SO SAYS THE PROPHECY
THAT PEOPLE LIKE “DAMN, MACBETH DESERVES GLORY”
OMG, so fun! Some high school English students would take this and fly with it!
(via rareandradiantmaiden)
Consider how textbooks treat Native religions as a unitary whole. The American Way describes Native American religion in these words: “These Native Americans [in the Southeast] believed that nature was filled with spirits. Each form of life, such as plants and animals, had a spirit. Earth and air held spirits too. People were never alone. They shared their lives with the spirits of nature.” Way is trying to show respect for Native American religion, but it doesn’t work. Stated flatly like this, the beliefs seem like make-believe, not the sophisticated theology of a higher civilization. Let us try a similarly succinct summary of the beliefs of many Christians today: “These Americans believed that one great male god ruled the world. Sometimes they divided him into three parts, which they called father, son, and holy ghost. They ate crackers and wine or grape juice, believing that they were eating the son’s body and drinking his blood. If they believed strongly enough, they would live on forever after they died.” Textbooks never describe Christianity this way. It’s offensive. Believers would immediately argue that such a depiction fails to convey the symbolic meaning or the spiritual satisfaction of communion.
(via purpleishboots)
Rita F. Pierson: WATCH: How A Teacher Encouraged Her Students With An ‘F’
(Source: world-shaker, via rareandradiantmaiden)
Sometimes students finish their quizzes early and doodle on the back of the paper. I always write back.
I will definitely do this!
(via theartguy)
I asked my library’s nerdfighter club to design bookends for the YA section. Are these not the best things ever? I can’t wait to put them on display tomorrow.
I LOVE this idea and stealing it for my library.
Oh. My. God.
Perfect .gif is perfect.
A great, talented, and dear friend of mine is about to begin her fourteen week teaching internship at an elementary school. I remember the time before I began student teaching as exciting and extremely nerve wracking. It seemed so long, and, honestly, I really didn’t know what I was doing. Presenting a lesson in front of your college Curriculum class is totally different than actually teaching it to children. By the end of my internship, I was a different person, and all for the better. Here are some words of wisdom to hopefully ease the nerves. You’ll be great.
1. Learn from as many people as you can and ask lots of questions. Every teacher has their own style and methods. Get to know them so that you can create your own style and learn how you best teach. Usually elementary schools only have one art teacher, so look for advice in other places, as well, such as: the kindergarten pod, library, and music room. You can learn from everyone.
2. Give lots of hugs. Love your kids. Make them feel special. Because they are.
3. Imagination! Elementary children love to use their imagination and play games. It is such an effective way to teach.
4. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Everyone messes up at times and wishes they responded to a situation in a different way. Just like a cross country workout that didn’t go as planned: learn from it and move on.
5. Write down everything because you will forget the advice from other teachers, the lesson ideas that pop into your head in the middle of the night, and all of the cute things the kids say. Buy a notebook now and take it with you everyday.
6. Understand that you have to work in someone else’s environment for a long period of time, and you probably won’t be able to fully develop your own teaching style. That’s okay because you are learning. Eventually you will get a job and have your own space to teach your own kids in your own way.
7. Take pictures! Of artwork, children working, the classroom, you teaching, and events. All of this can be put in your portfolio so that you can show your future interviewer who you really are. And teachers know showing is much more effective that telling.
8. Search blogs. I have learned so much about this profession from teachers who I have never met. Look up lesson plans, discipline plans, bulletin board ideas, and everything in between. Write it down.
9. Towards the middle of your internship, ask your principal to observe you. It is not required in our program, but he or she knows the school and the kids like no other. The principal will be able to give you invaluable advice. If you have the observation in the middle of the fourteen weeks, you will probably be pretty comfortable teaching and you still have time to put the advice into action. A nice written evaluation also looks very good in your portfolio.
10. Know the school’s emergency plans. Where do you take the kids during a fire drill? What is the system for reporting all kids present and who do you let know that you are missing kids? What happens during a lockdown and tornado drill? I had a lockdown and tornado drill on the same day and I was with a substitute who was unfamiliar with the procedures. Thankfully, the school staff found me and let me know beforehand what I needed to do. I never would have guessed that I needed to take my kids down to the kindergarten wing.
11. Be prepared for your lesson. Know your materials, know your kids, know your lesson plan inside and out. But also be flexible and don’t be afraid to change a lesson on a whim. Know that nothing ever works completely as planned. When the bulb in the projector goes out right before fourth grade, what do you do?
12. Get plenty of sleep. Expect to be exhausted by the end of the day for a while. Think Art Camp, but for more than two weeks and 10x the kids.
13. Have fun. Seriously, you have the best job in the world. You get to work with creative, funny, crazy, compassionate, young artists and show them what you are passionate about. You will also be surrounded by the most genuinely kind, supportive, and caring coworkers and people you will ever meet. What could be better?
“My local library branch started doing this “Blind Date with a Book” thing, thought you guys might like it. The shelf was full when we got there, but was like this as we were leaving. The books are wrapped in paper and have different designs on them, and then a few words vaguely describing the subject matter of the book. Things like “Drama”, “Plot Twists”, “espionage”, etc. The only thing exposed on the book is the barcode that you use to scan the book out. I thought it was a pretty cool idea.”
(via otherearthly)
Everything from flowers picked from the bushes outside my classroom to drawings, stickers, and hugs.
(Source: from-student-to-teacher)
(Source: from-student-to-teacher)
