Julia G. Thompson

January 1, 1970

November Thankfulness

One of the nicest things about the month of November is that even the most jaded teacher can take a moment or two to look around a classroom and feel thankful.

First of all, we can be thankful that we are employed. Moreover, we are employed in a profession that does good in the world. Not every professional can claim that.

We can also be thankful that there is so much information available to us as teachers. The electronic resources that we can access with just a click of a key are astonishing. Even if there are never enough computers for our students, if you are reading this, at least you have found the time and the means to search for information that will help you be a better teacher in your classroom tomorrow.

We can also be thankful that no matter where they are or how tough they seem, most children are just that—children. The mistakes they make are not evil ones filled with malice (even though you may have a really rough bunch this year!), but are almost always the mistakes made by a very young person who is trying to find his or her way in the world.

We can be thankful for our colleagues—the ones who take our duty stations when we have to attend meetings, the ones who have a cheerful word in the lounge, the ones who offer tried and true lesson plans and sensible advice. We are fortunate to have coworkers who choose to make a difference in the world—one classroom at a time.

Finally, we can be thankful for those teachers in our nation’s past who have paved the way for our twenty-first century careers—the teachers who met their students in a one-room schoolhouse, the scholars who founded our nation’s colleges, the educators who strove to convey the importance of learning during wars and depressions and epidemics and times of great trouble. We rise today because of them.

Be full of thanks.

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” ~John C. Maxwell

You May Be the Cause

Ever have one of those moments when your students are misbehaving and you have the uneasy realization that you caused the problem? Sometimes even the best-intentioned teacher can cause discipline problems. By paying attention to what you do as you plan lessons and interact with your students, you can avoid making many of the mistakes that can befall well-intentioned teachers. Use this list as a guide to make sure that you are not the cause of a discipline problem in your class:

• You are too permissive, too willing to be a “friend” to your students.
• You overreact to a small problem, causing a bigger disruption than the problem itself.
• You threaten your students in an attempt to force compliance.
• You don’t gather enough information about an incident of misbehavior involving several students before you act.
• You look foolish because you do not present yourself in a professional manner.
• Your expectations for student behavior are not clear.
• You do not actively monitor students all class period.
• You embarrass a student with a confrontation in front of classmates.
• You ignore the school rules you don’t like.
• You allow your students to ignore you when you are giving directions.
• You attempt to put an end to a behavior without determining the underlying cause.
• You set an unpleasant tone with too many negative directions.
• Your consequences are not appropriate or do not help students control their behavior.
• You have no alternative activity planned for those students who finish an assignment early.
• You allow students to have free time with nothing to do.
• You do not contact parents or guardians when a problem is still small and manageable.
• You plan lessons with little intrinsic appeal for your students.
• You try to bluff your way through a lesson because you are not fully prepared.
• You do not encourage your students by helping them see a purpose for their work.
• You give unclear directions.
• Your class lacks routines and procedures for everyday activities.
• You enforce class rules inconsistently.

“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” ~Ken Blanchard

What Your Students Really Want to See

Many teachers make the mistake of purchasing many expensive posters to decorate their classrooms. While your students may enjoy looking at glossy, mass-produced posters, nothing will be as interesting to them as their own work. Here are some guidelines to help you decorate the room with your students in mind:

• Display work from every student. If you include work from all students and not just the very best, you will make each child feel important.
• Be respectful of students who may be sensitive about the quality or subject matter of their work.
• Display a variety of assignments. Brief artwork assignments can be incorporated into a wide range of subjects. Students also enjoy seeing assignments such as reports, paragraphs, quizzes, and solutions to difficult problems on display.
• If your students can handle the stimulation, cover lots of wall space with their work.
• Be sure to change the display of their work often enough to keep the room fresh and students interested.
• To avoid posting graded work, you can either display it first and then grade it later or grade it on a separate sheet that you can share with students while their work is on display

“Whatever you are, be a good one.” ~Abe Lincoln

Try These Free Rewards!

You do not have to spend a fortune on rewards for your students. The most effective rewards are activities that students enjoy. Instead of going shopping for stickers or other prizes, offer students some of these free rewards:

• An educational computer game
• Extra time on the computer
• Being team captain
• Time to work on a puzzle
• Bookmarks made by other students
• Extra credit points
• A walk for the entire class
• A bulletin board featuring their work
• Having their name displayed on a wall of fame
• Having their work displayed
• Watching a film
• Using the library during free time
• Time to do homework for another class
• Being on a class honor roll
• Being the Student of the Week
• Participation in a paper airplane contest
• Extra time to complete an assignment
• Borrowing a book from the classroom library
• Time for independent reading
• Encouraging notes on their work
• A free pass to a school sporting event
• A positive note from you to take home
• Having you call their parent or guardian with a positive message
• Having their photograph in a class newsletter

“Even the clearest water appears opaque at great depth.” ~Anonymous

Some Very Quick Tips for Teaching Spelling in Every Class

Even though you may not be the teacher who is responsible for teaching lists of spelling words to your students, all teachers have to deal with spelling issues no matter how old their students are. Even for those teachers fortunate enough to have students with access to word processors and spell checkers, teaching spelling is still a classroom issue because not every paper will be written electronically and not every spell checker is perfect.

To help you cope with the issue of spelling in your class, skim through these quick tips to refine your thinking about how you teach spelling in your classroom.

• Kids need to know why spelling is important and not just a chore designed by a mean teacher.
• Strive to have the work be enjoyable—involve student interests when possible.
• Should involve as many learning style preferences as possible—too often we have relied on visual learning only to teach spelling.
• Don’t take away the funky new spellings which reflect the changes in our fluid language. Instead, talk about them and then stress the importance of using conventional spelling in appropriate situations.
• Strategies need to be balanced amounts of drill, memory, and thinking it through.
• Repetition is important—so is exposure. Make it part of the classroom environment—post the words around the room for students to see.
• Teach pronunciation of words so that kids know what it is that they are learning to spell.
• Pay attention to the most common words—try a Frye list and other sight word lists so that students can spell common words.
• Play games such as matching and sorting, spelling bees, and interactive computer games,
• What does it rhyme with? Rap and hip-hop lyrics are good gateways to talk about how words are spelled.
• Have them work in pairs to discuss the words they missed and explain why they spelled it that way.

“Reinventing the wheel is a process.” ~Rashid Elisha

A Double Writing-to-Learn Activity

Because students tend to engage their minds when they engage their pencils, one writing to learn activity that many teachers have found successful is to ask students to take a stance on a topic and write an explanation of their belief. While this is useful for students to clarify their thinking, the important step comes when you ask them to write again—only this time, ask them to take the opposing stance as they write. This activity forces students to think more deeply than if they were to only consider one point of view.

Four Nifty Web Sites to Keep You Going Strong

Try www.stickersandcharts.com for free printable stickers, free printable sticker charts, incentive sheets, stamp sheets, and printable seals.

Try www.webenglishteacher.com for lots of varied information, plans, and resources. Interdisciplinary study units are outstanding at this site.

Another terrific site for students of all ages to try is www.agameaday.com. It has various levels of interactive games that your students will enjoy as they learn.

Finally, if you are interested in having your class participate in creating a wiki, try http//: jottit.com. This is an easy-to-use and free site for teachers.