Search Results for: blog teacher merit pay

Tips for Teachers: Keep All Notes Sent to You by Parents

Today I am adding another article to my Tips for Teachers section. I think that it is very important for teachers to learn from the mistakes of other teachers. My tip today is about paper work and noting keeping. It is very important to create a file for each child in your classroom. You can then add all of the notes from and to parents to the file. I keep all notes that are sent to me from parents no matter how simple or small they may seem. This I am thankful for doing. Last year I had a parent … Continue reading →

Our Traveling Art Teacher

Every school in my county does not have an art teacher. Some schools leave teaching art and art activities up to the classroom teacher. Other schools have part time art teachers. By part time, I mean that the teacher travels from school to school on alternating weeks. My school is one that shares an art teacher with another school. Every other week, the art teacher is at my school. On her off week she is at another elementary school teaching art. Due to the addition of more teachers and classrooms, the art room at my school this year was needed … Continue reading →

Tips for Teachers: Managing Student Supplies

In my last Tips for Teachers article, I offered advice on using glue in a kindergarten classroom. In this article, I would like to address the management of student supplies in younger primary classrooms. Throughout most days, students will need crayons, scissors, glue, and a pencil. How the teacher distributes these items can vary from class to class. Some teachers allow the students to keep a box of the items in their desks. However, many primary classrooms are equipped with tables rather than desks. Therefore the challenge becomes even greater. Some teachers make or purchase seat sacks to go on … Continue reading →

Tips for Teachers: Glue

Previously, I introduced a new section that I am adding to the education topic at Families.com. This section, Tips for Teachers, will highlight some tips that I have learned from experience and veteran teachers. One thing that has taken trial and error for me over the past couple of years is the purchasing of student supplies. When teaching eighth grade, supplies were not as big of a deal. However, student supplies for kindergarten students take some creativity. The supplies need to be accessible to the students and easy to use. Students should be able to use the supplies without a … Continue reading →

Introducing Tips for Teachers

Experience is very valuable when you are a teacher. The college experience can never prepare you for the real classroom setting. No matter how much you have read or researched, there is nothing like trail and error to see which methods and techniques are best for you. During your first year of teaching you will find out that some things work and some do not. You will revisit and revise ideas. Some you will throw out completely and vow never to repeat. Others you will write down and carry out for years to come. Each year of teaching, you will … Continue reading →

Bloomberg’s Performance Pay for Teachers Plan

The mention of merit pay for teachers has been on the voices of school and government leaders for some time now. Most teachers and teacher unions are against paying teachers based on student performance. The fear is that the teachers would no longer work together and instead been working for themselves. However, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City has devised a plan that might be agreeable to all. In his plan, individual teachers are not targeted. In 2002, when the mayor took over the public schools he decided to make performance pay a priority. In his plan, individual teachers are … Continue reading →

My Inner-City Story: 3 Types of Teachers

I have been living, tutoring, teaching and working with families in the inner city now for ten years. I have seen many teachers come and go. I have seen teachers come in to “rescue” the poor inner city children and I see teachers who feel like they can really make a difference. And they soon discover that they can’t–at least no with that attitude. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start with a disclaimer. I know that in one sense my inner city experience is unique. It’s unique even than other parts of New York. But there is … Continue reading →

Merit Pay and Special Education Teachers

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As I was reading another blogger’s blog yesterday, I became all fired up about a topic that was just starting to be discussed towards the end of my teaching career. If you read Valerie’s blog from yesterday about merit pay for teachers, you can see what got me all riled up. You see, I am an ex special-education teacher. I taught kids my entire ten-year career that didn’t learn as fast, or had behavior problems that interfered with their learning. When our school administrator let the staff know eventually the state of Iowa was planning on implementing some form of … Continue reading →

Grant and Scholarship Advice for Homeschoolers

As the costs of state colleges continue to rise deeming them unaffordable, I am becoming worried about how my homeschooled kids will pay for college. While it is a known fact that homeschooled kids have no problem getting into college, getting scholarships without the help of student advisers can be quite a challenge. So what is a homeschooling parent to do? Homeschooling parents must go the extra mile beyond being the child’s teacher, to also being the child’s guidance counselor as well. As guidance counselor to your child, you must find out everything you can about not only college entry, … Continue reading →

Obama’s Education Plan

As a mother of four and a certified teacher, the education plans of the candidates are always a big subject with me. This is a concern for families around the country as well. Barack Obama has come out with a three point plan to reform and improve education in the United States. The plan is broken down into early childhood, K-12 education and higher education. The early childhood education plan is called the “Zero to Five Plan”. The focus is on improving the quality and expanding Head Start and help states with funding to offer voluntary, universal preschool. This would … Continue reading →