Teachers


Social Media and Blogging in Kindergarten [Guest Post]

Social media and blogging in kindergarten is where I begin to model explicitly how I get my students and their families connected. Through social media, my students and their families experience the benefits of being a digital citizen and its positive impact on our learning.

 

I model right on the first day of kindergarten how to tweet and what it looks and sounds like. I start with inviting my parents to follow our classroom on Twitter and/or set up a Twitter account for themselves. When this happens, our conversations begin. I ask parents that I know are familiar with Twitter to tweet at us during the day. Through this type of modeling, my students begin to understand the value of connecting online, but also begin their digital journey with a familiar “face.”

Right away, I have an opportunity to model the importance of being a safe, kind and responsible digital citizen. My students understand that when we tweet it is just like we are having face-to-face conv…

 

Turning Struggling Students into Superheroes: Comic Books as Teaching Tools

The following guest post is an excerpt from Michael Strom’s graduate thesis Finding Comfort in Comics: Using Comic Books and Graphic Novels to Reach Struggling Male Readers. Strom is a graduate student at C.W. Post where he is pursuing his Masters of Science in Literacy.

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The Hero’s Journey

I don’t remember what it was about reading that got me hooked so young. Did I really enjoy it, or was I pressured into it from my mom? Either way, I didn’t fight it. Reading was the ultimate adventure, and I was the hero in that journey.

The structure of a hero’s journey is outlined in Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell argues that the fundamental structure of a hero’s journey (or “monomyth”) is found…

 

Teachers are America’s Superheroes: Honoring Sandy Hook One Year Later

“Real heroes don’t wear capes. They work in America’s schools.”

The above-mentioned quote was taken from Nelba Marquez-Green’s open letter to our nation’s teachers, shortly after the tragedy that took the lives of 26 children from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut last December. Nelba’s daughter, Ana Grace, was one of those 26 children. Her letter is an equally heartwarming and heartbreaking dedication to the people she sees as America’s true heroes - our teachers.

The tragedy that shook Newtown undoubtably raises a number of issues, including that of mental health awareness, school safety, and gun control. However, as we approach the one-year “a…

Keeping Students Safe in the Wake of a Tragedy

Sandy Hook students recently returned to school at a new location, with therapy dogs waiting and positive messages displayed on large posters throughout the building. The New York Timesreported that parents were understandably nervous and teachers were eager to return to their jobs, while simultaneously mourning the loss of their colleagues and students. One parent, Mr. Murray, said, “I was kind of happy, but I sort of felt like I was going to throw up,” in response to his son’s return to school. Through it all, staff, students and community members have shown incredible resilience.

How Schools Give Back: An Interview with the Principal of Makefield Elementary

Yesterday, Teach.com interviewed Harrison Kratz, founder of Operation: Social Santa, to kick off our week-long series about giving back during the holidays and how teachers can organize toy drives, food donations, and service projects to teach students the importance of giving.

In our interview with Operation: Social Santa, we learne…

Meeting Their Needs: A Guide to Individualized Education Plans

Special education is a rewarding field, helping students with special needs reach their goals and become as independent as possible. To be an effective educator, good communication must be maintained with all of the team members and the Individualized Education Plan(IEP) must be followed at all times. IEPs are essentially the blueprint for a student’s education, so creating one is not a process to be taken lightly. Since the IEP requires careful planning, considerations and a team-based approach, here is some information on how special education teachers can help develop truly individualized educati…

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