Motivational Videos {For the Teacher}

What are the problems with our current education system?  Is it too much testing, or not enough?  Is it a lack of funding or an excess of paperwork or too many required workshops on those professional development workdays? Is it the over-zealous, but out-of-touch, government or the central office?

Do we need better plans and more workshops to make our education system more effective and productive? Or does the answer lie in something else entirely?

Take a minute to watch the following clip from a leadership seminar for educators, and let us know what you think. The speaker is Todd Whitaker, with Eye on Education, a fantastic resource for professional development.

{Subscribers need to click through to the site to view the above video.}

Thoughts, teachers? Do you think the answer for a better educational system is in better plans or better people? Have you been frustrated with your school system’s ever-changing programs? Examples?

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Energizers!

by Laura Parker on March 15, 2012

Teaching Tip {And-It’s-Not-Even-a-Tuesday}:  Energizers.

Looking for some fresh ideas for classroom energizers?  Need an activity that refocuses your students and provides a fun way to get out some of that extra energy that seems to be coming between them and their math problems?

Consider the following several ideas from an excellent resource called Responsive Classroom. Their youtube channel is fantastic, with a host of ideas for positive classroom management. I’ve posted a few of my favorite energizers here.  Choose your favorite to put in your back pocket for the next time your students need to take a break from studying for the end- of- year tests . . . it’ll make your classroom a more enjoyable place to be. {And I promise, in the long run, that is worth the five minute break.}

- Laura Parker 

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In the Face of Failure

by Laura Parker on March 11, 2012

Sometimes even teachers fail.

We try a lesson plan that leaves students more confused instead of more enlightened.

We attempt to reach out to a student, only to have our efforts slapped back in our faces.

We launch a new idea that crashes and burns.

And, if that happens to be you today, perhaps the following will serve as an encouragement–

To keep on trying, and to continue the pursuit of excellent teaching.

Even when you fall down.

{The above video would be an excellent one to show your students, as well, for a lesson on the importance of perseverance in life.}

Related Posts. Teaching Personal Responsibility. A Lesson in Changing the World. A History Lesson on Being Unique. A Character Education Lesson on Kindness. Ways to Make Your Class a Kinder Place.

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Teaching Tip Tuesday: How to Organize a Teacher’s Desk

March 6, 2012
Teaching Tip Tuesday: How to Organize a Teacher’s Desk

Organization is important to effectiveness in the classroom, and there’s no place that seems to gather the mess like a teacher’s desk. Pens and broken pencils. A parent’s note that came with Johnny last Tuesday. A flier about the upcoming bake sale. Lesson plans and worksheet copies. And piles of this. And piles of that. [...]

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Dear Teacher: Be Remarkable Today!

March 1, 2012
Dear Teacher:Be Remarkable Today!

“Have you ever felt that You were supposed to do something amazing, important, outstanding? That only you can do and that you were destined for greatness? Remember when you thought…anything was possible? It is!” A few years back I found this amazing video on the website of Naomi Harm. Although designed to encourage building a small [...]

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Having Students Do Their Own Classroom Management

February 23, 2012
Having Students Do Their Own Classroom Management

We talk lots about positive classroom management around My Teachers Lounge, because, let’s face it, if your classroom is out of control, then learning becomes about as fictional as a flying unicorn. And so often, our default as teachers {and as parents!} is to LECTURE when the class begins to spiral into bad behavior. We [...]

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Expect the Unexpected

February 10, 2012
raising student expectations

Oftentimes, one of our greatest mistakes as teachers is that we set our expectations too low for our students. We buy into the image they are projecting as the sullen teen or the “cool” middle schooler or the trouble-making 4th grader, and we give up the fight to call them into their natural giftings. Sometimes, [...]

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Teaching Tips Tuesday {Getting Class Attention}

February 8, 2012

We all know what it’s like to walk into a class and do a song-and-dance-routine to get students’ attention. We know the frustration felt when we repeat the same directions twelve times because Johnny was flipping paper at Sam,  Tracie was whispering a BFF secret across the aisle to Sharie, and only 4% of the [...]

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Justin Bieber Visits a Needy School

January 4, 2012
Justin Bieber Spreads Inspiration to a Needy School

If you work with students in any capacity, you know Justin Bieber.  Our family is homeschooling in Thailand, and we even have a cat named after the guy. {Bieber is a cute kitty name, is it not?} Much to my surprise, and to the delight of my eight-year-old daughter, I came across this inspirational story [...]

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