#4

http://k6educators.about.com/b/

The author of this blog definitely has some interesting things to say about a lot of educational issues and issues related directly to the job.

I like her list of hints for being a successful substitute teacher, since I, like Beth, will be graduating mid year and will likely have to resort to substitute teaching that. And, fingers crossed, I'm hoping that will lead into a job. I like Beth's idea of having business cards or letterhead made to leave in each classroom. I also thing her tip about starting off the day by laying out your expectations and discipline plan is helpful, because some students take advantage of substitute teachers who do not appear, at first glance, as authority figures. Many students expect to have a "just-for-fun" day when their teacher is gone.

I also support Beth's idea of banning certain words from her student's writing. At times I find myself reusing the same boring cliched words in my own writing and search for more creative and interesting synonyms. I like her idea of working with the students to create lists of synonyms for banned words and posting them around the room. I think this will encourage students to think outside of their restrictive writing boxes and expand their vocabulary. And hopefully this is a trend that will be extended into students' speech as well.

I really enjoy the link Beth gives to the article about the benefits of having recess before lunch. It appears that this practice results in less food waste and less visits to the nurse later in the day. Plus, it gives teachers ten-fifteen extra minutes of valuable teaching time in their day. This has been implemented in Montana and Arizona and although there are logistical issues that need to be mulled over, the switch has seemed to go pretty smoothly in most places.