See Me After Class by Roxanna Elden

The Best Advice for New Teachers (Larry Ferlazzo)

roxannaelden — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:55:46 +0000

Larry Ferlazzo is an award-winning ESL teacher, advice columnist and famous maker of a long list of over helpful lists for teachers. I’m excited to announce that several of my columns are featured in his Best Advice for New Teachers list.

2012 Excel Column Award for Class Dismissed!

roxannaelden — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:15:13 +0000

Association Media & Publishing chose one of my Class Dismissed! columns, Is There Life After Lesson Planning? for a 2012 Excel Award.

Yay! Here’s a complete list of award winners.

Your Principals Vs. Your Principal: How to Speak Up and When to Shut Up (Educational Horizons)

roxannaelden — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:32:36 +0000

In college, students are encouraged to share their opinions, keep debates lively, and play the devil’s advocate. You have probably noticed this is not the case at your school’s faculty meetings.

In fact, one of the most common mistakes new teachers make is showing up on the administrative radar too early, too often, and for the wrong reasons – but a tough conversation doesn’t have to mean making enemies in the main office. Read this season’s Class Dismissed column in Educational Horizons magazine for more information.

Panel Discussion at the Education Writers Association Conference

roxannaelden — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 22:42:19 +0000

Last week, I got a chance to be part of a panel at the Education Writers Association’s Diving Into Data Conference. It was a great experience. The reporters asked just the right questions, and I am proud to say I managed to sneak three Kim Kardashian references into my speech – probably a record for a panel on education data. I also made a few other points, summarized below.

Teachers are increasingly worried that the push for data-driven decision-making is causing schools to make shortsighted decisions. Data can be helpful in some contexts. However, the push to translate everything that happens in schools and classrooms into track-able numbers is combined with a push to attach high stakes to these numbers. The result is often measurements that affect instruction more than they reflect instruction.
Even though data is often used to make judgments about teacher quality, teachers are almost never asked to make judgments about data quality.
Half-true political talking points are increasingly presented as data-based “facts.” In addition, many “data-based” talking points are phrased in such a way that anyone who argues with them seems lazy, racist, or incompetent.
There is a sense among teachers that we are simply out-gunned when it comes to knowing how talk to the media. Teachers are often reluctant to talk to reporters and comment on record in stories because our reputations are fragile. Especially in today’s climate, teachers are terrified of answering a reporter’s questions and then being used as the example of the bad teacher who is “leaving children behind” and “making excuses” about it.

In true teacher form, I made a handout of common talking points that rely on the assumption that there is valid data to back them up. It explains what each point is meant to suggest, what it might be leaving out glossing over, and what follow up questions journalists may want to ask. You can download it here.

Data Based Talking Points That Should Prompt Follow Up Questions (26)

Before You Hit on me Again, Let’s Talk (Phi Delta Kappan)

roxannaelden — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:46:54 +0000

Phi Delta Kappan is a professional journal that focuses on service, research, and leadership. They published an adapted version of my (kind of) love letter from teachers to education technology in their March, 2012 issue. Here is a link to the abstract on the Kappan website. Kappan subscribers can read the whole article. Non-subscribers can see the original version here on Rick Hess Straight Up.

Parent Communication for the Twenty-Two-And-A-Half-Year-Old Teacher. (Educational Horizons Magazine)

roxannaelden — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:34:46 +0000

Ten years from now, you’ll love it when people assume you are young. Early in your teaching career, however, comments about your age can feel like thinly-veiled doubts as to whether you know what you’re doing. The last thing you want is for students’ parents to describe you as adorable or call you “sweetie” during a conference.

Read parent-communication advice specifically for cute inexperienced adorable non-authoritative younger teachers in my spring Class Dismissed column for PDK’s Educational Horizons Magazine.

Classroom Management Suggestions from Larry Ferlazzo’s Classroom Q&A

roxannaelden — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:38:07 +0000

Here is some good classroom management advice collected from teacher-authors on Larry Ferlazzo’s Classroom Q&A EdWeek column. I’m in good company with one of my other favorite teacher-authors, Gary Rubinstein.

Complaining About Work: How Much Is Too Much? (And When Can We Start?!) (Educational Horizons)

roxannaelden — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:33:07 +0000

My newest column in Educational Horizons explains why complaining about work is a little bit like drinking.

Before Thanksgiving Comes the “Disillusionment Stage” for New Teachers (NPR and StateImpact Florida)

roxannaelden — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 21:27:18 +0000

StateImpact Florida is a collaboration of local public radio stations and National Public Radio. Reporters John O’Conner and Sarah Gonzalez travel the state to report on how education issues affect you. I am a big NPR listener and was happy to be invited to write a post about the “New Teacher Disillusionment Phase,” which lasts from around Halloween until… 3:30 PM the day before Thanksgiving weekend.

New Teacher Disillusionment – The Thanksgiving Edition

roxannaelden — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 21:15:08 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s a quick rundown on the new teacher “disillusionment phase,” which runs from some time around Halloween until… 3:30 PM the day before Thanksgiving weekend.

This should help you explain to non-teacher friends and relatives why their well-meaning teaching suggestions sometimes make you burst into tears. Or whatever.