Thursday, September 29, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Teaching Tools - Special Needs
By Karla Banks
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Karla-Banks/Products
Teaching presents many challenges even for veteran teachers. Special education teachers have even more challenges to prepare for than your typical teacher. They need many tools to be successful teachers who enjoy their job and want to continue teaching. Special education teachers must be all of the following:
3. Behavior Specialists:
The hardest lesson learned has also been the most valuable: behaviors of students cannot be forces to change. If I don’t like how my students are behaving, then I must figure out how to change my behaviors so my students will also change. Find ways to use meaningful praise with your students because they respond the most to positive feedback. Get to know them and their situations by inviting parents in and speaking with them, which gives an indication of what the family believes is “normal” behavior. If you can build a relationship with the child, they are more willing to try things your way whether it is behaving or learning.
Karla Banks has been teaching special education for 12 years in a Title One, urban school. The first 5 years were in a pull-out resource classroom. The last 7 years have been spent in a self-contained k-5th grade classroom with students of various disabilities.
Related Products at Teachers Pay Teachers:
Buggy Boogie Counting to 100 $2.00
Card Games for Centers $4.00
Goin’ Fishin’Game Free!
Lesson Plan File Folder $2.49
Classroom Management Forms and Tips $3.95
Share Your Knowledge $2.00
Teaching presents many challenges even for veteran teachers. Special education teachers have even more challenges to prepare for than your typical teacher. They need many tools to be successful teachers who enjoy their job and want to continue teaching. Special education teachers must be all of the following:
1. Actors :
Teach the same skill in multiple formats. All children need lots of practice to master any new skill. Special education students need to be able to practice a skill in many formats. They may need to act it, draw it, sing it, dance, read it, play it, and any other way you can think of to teach it to them. The more they practice it and connect to the skill, the more likely they are to master the skill.
2. Flexible:
Evaluate students’ understandings during lessons. Sometimes, even the most prepared lessons fail, even those hugely successful with other classes. You may have to change gears in the middle of lessons. Always have a back-up plan. The key is to be flexible and meet the needs of your students. Their needs will change frequently especially when you take into account home situations and medication issues.
Class behavior plans work wonders. Try to focus on the positives as much as possible. My students begin each day with 100 points. Their job is to keep all 100 points. The more points they keep, the more privileges they are able to earn. If the students are misbehaving, I brag on others’ appropriate behaviors. If students misbehave, I tell them, “You are failing to earn your points.” The point system is a great motivator to encourage students to behave and treat classmates/teachers with respect.
4. Paperwork Extraordinaire:
Invest in a good clipboard that has a compartment on it. All important papers go into the clipboard: emergency info, parent notes, etc... I keep a three ring binder for everything else sectioned by: blank spreadsheet (planning and differentiation), different days for special area classes, IEPs, standards, scheduling, students’ homerooms, teaching evaluations, etc…
5. Detectives:
You will constantly be searching for solutions to various problems: how to teach students to read, do math, write, speak, behave, cope… The best resources you have are the other teachers in your building, so ask for their advice. When in doubt, go with what feels right
6. Learners:
A good teacher is always learning. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from your students. Take classes, read and share as much as you can. Support each other and develop a real network of people you can confide in.
7. Mothers:
You will fix boo-boos, comb and style hair, wash faces, explain the facts of life (even in 1st grade), buy shoes and socks, teach children how to cook simple meals in the microwave, and so much more. Without building this caring relationship, the children will have no reasons to do any of the foreign things such as finding nouns and verbs.
The hardest lesson learned has also been the most valuable: behaviors of students cannot be forces to change. If I don’t like how my students are behaving, then I must figure out how to change my behaviors so my students will also change. Find ways to use meaningful praise with your students because they respond the most to positive feedback. Get to know them and their situations by inviting parents in and speaking with them, which gives an indication of what the family believes is “normal” behavior. If you can build a relationship with the child, they are more willing to try things your way whether it is behaving or learning.
Karla Banks has been teaching special education for 12 years in a Title One, urban school. The first 5 years were in a pull-out resource classroom. The last 7 years have been spent in a self-contained k-5th grade classroom with students of various disabilities.
Related Products at Teachers Pay Teachers:
Buggy Boogie Counting to 100 $2.00
Card Games for Centers $4.00
Goin’ Fishin’Game Free!
Lesson Plan File Folder $2.49
Classroom Management Forms and Tips $3.95
Share Your Knowledge $2.00
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Featured Teacher: Ann Marie Smith
Featured Seller
1. How long have you been on Teachers Pay Teachers? What made you decide to be a part of it?
I joined TPT as a Seller this past June 2011! I have accessed TPT for a couple of years, purchasing great products. While I had some major down time for a week this summer, I was searching around on TPT and decided, "Why not sell too?" So, I signed up.
2. When did you know that you wanted to be in education?
Around my sophomore year in high school, I decided I wanted to teach. I was actually encouraged to explore other options due to the fact that teachers just don't make much at all, especially in Mississippi, but I was determined to do it anyway! Glad I did...
3. How are you currently involved in education?
This is my 11th year in the classroom! I started out in Kindergarten and have spent a year each in K, 2nd grade, and 5th grade. I decided I wanted to move to middle school and taught 3 years in 7th grade and this is my 5th year in 8th grade. I have taught Language Arts throughout the time I've spent in 7th and 8th grade.
4. What would be your advice to people who are considering joining Teachers Pay Teachers?
Be willing to collaborate with others, seek advice, share ideas, and enjoy learning how to be a better teacher!! Have patience and determination, as well as an imagination.
5. What has been a highlight, thus far, about being on Teachers Pay Teachers?
I've learned so much in the way of networking, blogging, collaborating, etc. TPT has motivated me to be a better teacher in the classroom because I'm so much more eager to try new things. I spend more time "outside of the box" now.
6. What is something fun about you that other teachers don’t know?
I love, love, love animals (I have 5 dogs) and acrylic painting. And, funny, I guess would have to be that two of my colleagues and I always have silly competitions amongst our classes. We always show off our students' work and presentations to each other's classes. All of our students expect us to "one up" the other!! Our students actually love visiting our three classrooms too. It keeps the students motivated as well as ourselves! We are the same way when it comes to fundraising and Spelling Bees....always a competition, but all in good fun!
7. Do you participate in education outside of the classroom? In what type of role?
For two summers, I had the summer job of grading a component for National Boards. I plan to seek the opportunity again after this school year. Currently, I am not involved with additional education.
8. What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
Sometimes I contemplate counseling, although as a counselor in education. I get so attached to my students. I think I'd enjoy being a counselor.
9. What profession would you not like to do?
I would hate to have any "cubicle" job.....no matter the work.
10. Who is your favorite author? Favorite educational author? And why?
I have two favorites at the moment, Suzanne Collins and Stephanie Meyer. I absolutely LOVED the Hunger Games Trilogy and the Twilight Saga. I own all the books, in their pretty hardback versions :) I have been to see the Twilight movies and anxiously await the Breaking Dawn movies and The Hunger Games!!! I love books about vampires (weird, I know) and have several series of books on them; The Hunger Games books sucked me right in with its extreme measures and unpredictable plots! I can't name a favorite educational author because of the number of resources I truly think are awesome and all by various authors.
By Ann Marie Smith
One creation is a Literature Activity Printables pack that I posted. We do several rounds of literature circles over the course of the year and have so many book titles that I needed a versatile tool that catered to text structures and literary elements for any novel/story. I love using them in my class.
Literature Activity Printables
Literature Activity Printables
Another is my holiday poetry writing because it creates such a festive mood in my classroom during December!! My students love it every year. We display their poems and ornaments with lights in the classroom!
Holiday Poetry Packet
Holiday Poetry Packet
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Grab Your Sweet Smile, Fedora, and Tights...You're Teaching Pre-K and Kindergarten!
I think there is no better job in the world than being an early childhood educator. It's a job that requires you to take on many different roles. As I was thinking about the various parts I play every day in the classroom, I began to think of teaching tips that could be associated with 3 inspirational movie characters. My husband, the movie buff, would be proud. Here's a little bit of inspiration to start your school year.
Teaching Tip #1: Be Miss Honey. The best advice I ever received when I started teaching was: "Every child wants the pretty teacher. Be her." This teacher went on to explain what she meant by "pretty." Every child wants a teacher who is professionally dressed and well-groomed, one who smells nice and smiles a lot, just like Miss Honey, the nurturing, inspirational teacher from the movie, Matilda. Every child wants and deserves a teacher who comes to school every day with his or her best foot forward: well-prepared, patient, and enthusiastic. I remind myself every day that my students are worthy of the best me I have to offer.
Teaching Tip #2: Be Indiana Jones. If you teach preschool and kindergarten, you are not merely a teacher, but an explorer. The world is vast and wide and full of adventures these little ones are just beginning to discover. I have a colleague who is one of the best teachers I have ever seen. I think one reason why is because she doesn't merely teach her class, she explores with them. This teacher recently discovered a baby bird while on an outing with her preschoolers. As they watched the tiny bird, you could see the fascination in their eyes, taking it all in with a sense of childhood wonder. I strive every day to be part teacher and part tour guide, assisting my students in their journey of discovery.
Teaching Tip #3: Be Robin. Just as the sun rises every day, so are there constant playground disagreements. Nine times out of ten, problems arise simply because someone doesn't want to take second billing. All the girls want to be the mommy, not the baby. All the boys want to be the Red Power Ranger for Halloween. (And get quite upset to find that more than one such outfit exists!) But, as a teacher, I have to remember that my job is to be Robin, not Batman. Let me explain. Another great teacher I know often says, "Sometimes helping isn't helping." He means that our job is to know when to step back, to assist if necessary, then move out of the way so the child can shine. If you have ever read some of the literature on scaffolding, you know exactly what I am talking about. Our task as teachers is to help each child remain in his/her zone of proximal development, the place where he/she needs only a little help to succeed. Sometimes, in order to be a better teacher, I find myself placing my hands behind my back, resisting the urge to do something for a child, watching them struggle, finally accomplishing the task on their own.
I hope you keep these 3 characters in mind as you return to work with some of the smallest students. Let their archetypes inspire you to be the best teacher you can be, each and every day.
By: Teacher Tam
Related Items from Teachers Pay Teachers:
Let's Learn Our ABC's Work Stations for Pre-K, $10.00
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Featured Teacher: Michelle Heisler
1. How long have you been on Teachers Pay Teachers? What made you decide to be a part of it?
I have been selling on TpT since June 2010. I have been selling my teaching resources since 2003 on other websites but when I learned about TpT and started selling here it quickly became my 'home' selling site.
2. When did you know that you wanted to be in education?
As long as I can remember I wanted to be a teacher. I loved school as a child. I had many wonderful teachers over the years that inspired me to want to be 'just like them'!
3. How are you currently involved in education?
At the current time creating and selling teaching resources is my main focus with education. Due to a disability I am no longer able to work as a regular classroom teacher. Creating new resources and being a part of the TpT community allows me to stay active and current in my field.
4. What would be your advice to people who are considering joining Teachers Pay Teachers?
Take the plunge! Join in the forums and learn from all the outstanding people there. You will learn as you go to make your products more appealing to the mass market and you will make many great friends along the way!
5. What has been a highlight, thus far, about being on Teachers Pay Teachers?
The highlight for me at TpT has been the camaraderie amongst the people in the forums. I have learned so much and am in awe of the vast talent that is there.
6. What is something fun about you that other teachers don’t know?
I am a Disney World fanatic! I love all things Disney and I just feel 'at home' when I am there.
7. Do you participate in education outside of the classroom? In what type of role?
I am an active volunteer in my children's classrooms. It is very interesting to be on the other side of the desk and observe how other teachers do things. I have been very impressed with the skills and talent of all the teachers I have volunteered for.
8. What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
I love science. I am fascinated with the jobs on shows like CSI. Very intriguing! Being a veterinarian would be a fantastic job too. I also think it would be interesting to be in the law profession.
9. What profession would you not like to do?
A job I know I could not handle is nursing. My hat is off to the wonderful men and women that can do it, but I know it wouldn't be for me.
10. Who is your favorite author? Favorite educational author? And why?
Overall my favorite author is J.K. Rowling. I adore the Harry Potter series. She is a genius in the world she created and how she had the entire series planned out. I read many educational authors but I do not have a specific favorite. Actually many of my favorites are fellow TpT sellers who have blogs. I love reading what everyone is doing, the great ideas and opinions!
The Teaching Bank ~ Michelle Heisler
The first unit that I created as a teacher was for the Charlotte's Web book.My favorite area for writing curriculum is novel units. I would have to say Charlotte's Web is my favorite because that is where it all started!
The other item that is a personal favorite is my Alien Text Talk Activity. I had great success in the classroom using Daily Oral Language methods and I was able to translate those skill activities to a method that is current and fun for the students where they can legitimately use their texting knowledge.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
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