Mentors and supervisors of first-year teachers:

Now you can download discussion and reflection questions for rookie teachers from the downloads tab on the left.

These chapter-by-chapter questions are for teachers reading See Me After Class during or immediately after their rookie year. As you know, this means they’ve already learned some of the lessons in the book the hard way. These questions will help you help them help themselves help their students. Everyone benefits when teachers learn from each other instead of trial and error.

Professors… or anyone using See Me After Class to train pre-service teachers:

Now you can download discussion questions for undergraduate and pre-service teachers from the downloads tab on the left.

This chapter-by-chapter guide is specifically tailored to readers preparing for the first year of teaching. The Microsoft Word format is easy to modify as needed, leaving you more time to develop that lesson on Bloom’s Taxonomy.

This came from a creative writing assignment I did with my class: Students can write whatever they want, but the title must be “My Biggest Test.” Bonus points for NOT writing about the %&%&$% state exam.

Here’s my poem. Does this have anything to do with teaching? You decide.

They say the journey of a thousand miles
Begins with a single step
Yet here I am 900 miles in
And I’m a mess
One point left to pass my biggest test
Immobilized on the doorstep of success

I’ve been following one yellow brick at a time
Letting the road lead the way
And now I’m at the door
And don’t know what to say
Worried the Wizard of Oz
Will laugh and turn me away

People keep telling me to
Breathe…
But I forgot how
I’ve been waiting years for one moment

And it’s now.

New teachers: Chances are you’ve had plenty of website recommendations from other teachers…  maybe too many. If you are like me, you made a mental note to check out each site, then forgot, then found yourself wishing for a website that could help you plan-your-math-lesson-find-videos-buy-cheap-books-make-up-songs-for-your-preschoolers-etc.

Click here for a list of websites for teachers, pre-screened, organized by grade level, and ready to help you find the sites you need, when you need them.

My advice: Don’t try to visit every listed site right now. Save this list as a “favorite” on your computer, and use it to find websites as needed.

Excerpt:

“…These constant panic attacks
Frantic packing
Of standardized practice facts

Keep teachers fighting
Biting each other in the backs
Like rats
Packed into the back of a classroom
And trapped…

A storm is forming
With each teacher cheating the next
Sweat dripping
From eye sockets and necks…
No time to rest

All we hear about IS this test….”

Download the full poem from the “Downloads” tab on the left.

… STUDENTS TYPING IN GIANT

 LETTERS BECAUSE THEY THINK

IT LOOKS LIKE THEY DID MORE

WORK?

Download the “Correct Lettering Format” paper on the downloads tab to the left, and pass it out before major assignments. On the due date, compare the lettering on the paper to the lettering on students’ papers and hand back the ones that don’t match. Students can fix papers and hand them back the following class for a lower grade.

It’s a weird name, I know.

But it’s a relevant, funny blog and now an excellent book. “Mrs. Mimi” shares her adventures teaching second grade in Harlem. She addresses day-to-day teaching annoyances (unsupportive parents, uncooperative copiers), and larger political issues that affect all teachers (school districts demanding a share of the profits when teachers sell lesson plans. What?!) As someone who taught at an elementary school with many of the dysfunctions she describes, I really enjoyed the book, which lead me to the blog, which I have spent quite a few hours reading while I’m supposed to be grading papers. (Don’t act like you don’t know.) So please, check out It’s Not All Flowers and Sausages.

I have to grade these papers now. Really.

One of my coworkers at school, which she calls, “Happy High School” (to protect both the innocent and the guilty) is Ms. Ana Cristina Simon, English teacher, reading teacher, book reader, book club sponsor (are you noticing a pattern here?) and blog writer. Oh… and borderline psycho fan of Stephanie Meyers’ Twilight series.

She blogs a lot. Especially about books, and especially about the Twilight series many of your high-school and middle-school girls are probably obsessed with right now. And okay, maybe even some of your adult friends. And okay, maybe even you.

Here are the links to her blogs:

Threads That Are Golden – This one is a collection of random thoughts, including, but not limited to, rants about teaching. There are some funny cat pictures on here, also.

Tampa Bay Books Examiner – A great variety of book reviews, plus author Q & A’s… especially with other Twilight bloggers. I hear these interviews are really popular, and Ms. Simon’s combined experience as teacher, blogger, and fan guarantee that it’s okay to recommend it to your teenage students.

The Danger Magnet – This one is ALL about Twilight. Maybe even too much… Just kidding, Ms. Simon. I know. There’s no such thing as too much about Twilight. Also, Danger Magnet is home to several guest bloggers, including my favorite voice, Gracie Wynn, who does the Saturday posts.

If you are a teacher in South Florida, you’ve probably already heard of the Miami Book Fair. What you may not have heard is… I WILL BE PRESENTING AT THE MIAMI BOOK FAIR!!!!

When, you ask? Saturday, November 14, 2009. 10:30-11:30 AM.

Where, you ask? I’ll be in room 7128 (1st Floor of Building 7, AKA “The Parking Lot Building.” )

The Fair itself  is held at Miami-Dade College’s downtown Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave. Miami, FL. 33132. Click here to visit miamibookfair.com.

This poem came from an assignment I gave my creative writing class, “Fill in the blanks of this sentence:
Life is too short to ______. Life is too long to _____. That’s the title. You write the poem.” It must have been during test-prep month, and what can I say? I got inspired…

Read the questions carefully, kids.
Circle all the keywords.
Fill in circles neatly.
Erase mistakes completely.
And don’t make any stray marks.

Is this what I’m here to teach you?