on the other side of the river

required: this year compared to last year

2008-08-06T21:42:04Z

Last year I was freaking out all day on my first day. Anxiety, anxiety, anxiety. I was sweating like crazy, nerves totally shot, my feet were aching and I was moving a mile a minute. I couldn't think clearly about anything -- I was simply plowing ...

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begin again

2008-08-05T19:31:00Z

The two-month hiatus finally over, I am heading back into the classroom and onto the blog.... I am teaching English I (freshmen) all classes, all day this fall. I am slightly nervous about teaching younger students -- for a number of reasons. You...

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required: advice for the first-years

2008-08-04T18:00:52Z

I feel a bit repetitive writing this blog, because I gave a lot of advice this summer about the first few weeks of school. There were three things that kept coming up -- things that I learned after they had mentally, emotionally, and even physical...

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to test prep or not to test prep

2008-06-24T13:49:57Z

There was an interesting editorial in the New York Times a few days ago about ACT test preparation in Chicago. A study came to the conclusion that test prep was taking away from class time, and NYTimes editors concluded that this was disasterous. ...

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required: personal teaching performance

2008-06-22T14:19:51Z

One of the reasons I find this blog hard to write is that I didn't do a very good job setting 'learning goals' for my students. I was so preoccupied with keeping my head above water all year, that I had a hard time trying to think ahead - and cre...

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dear first year teacher

2008-06-20T12:54:03Z

TMAO writes an incredible blog: a letter to a first-year, Teach-for-America-type teacher, describing in detail how life is about to change. I am practically speechless at the perfect way he has captured so many of my own thoughts and feelings - I...

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required: teaching the teachers

2008-06-15T18:50:48Z

I really enjoy the role of "instructional coach". It seems to perfectly bring together two things that I love: helping people, and analyzing situations to come up with solutions. This is something I could certainly see myself doing more of in the ...

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addendum to classroom managing

2008-06-13T00:03:01Z

After realizing that I didn't give much in the way of tangible advice, (and, getting inspired by Karl's advice) I am adding one last piece of advice for new teachers: Use rewards. First semester I refused to give rewards. I thought it was childi...

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classroom managing

2008-06-10T22:29:43Z

Although my specific techniques for classroom management changed subtly over the course of two years, each change would fit within the same basic philosophy. In managing my classroom, I aim for the following: Give students plenty of choices to do...

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struggling

2008-06-10T01:57:28Z

In five Mississippi counties, the average resident spends more than 13 percent of their income on gasoline. According to the graphic, one of them appears to be mine.

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