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Are you hard-working or workative?

April 27th 2009 15:38

So we have been working on using "juicy" adjectives in class recently and my grade three class have been working on writing descriptions of their mums. Now I am not claiming that my kids are Shakespeare, but even Will had to start somewhere right? Well, one of my boys came up for me to check his work and he had written that his mum is "workative".

I love it. He hadn't intentionally created a new word (my guys are using English as a second language), but I think it is awesome and I encourage everyone here-to-forth to be workative, rather than hard-working!

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Posted By: Rachel Moore - Category: No Category

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Getting their attention

April 26th 2009 15:30

One of my classes is super "movido" as they say in Spanish, to English speakers it means they can can't sit still or listen for more than a nanosecond. So I happened upon this idea, which I have been putting into action for the last two weeks in class and it works like a charm.

Da, da,da, dahhhh - A tally board of my class versus me. When I want their attention I start counting to 5. If I get to five and the whole class is listening and looking at me then they get one point. If they are not all actively listening I get a point. I keep a tally on the board. Then on Friday if they have more points than me then we run outside and play a game for about 15 minutes.

I have saved so much time in class and my voice box is thanking me for using it less too.

It is an absolute ripper of an idea.

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What kind of fool am I?

April 4th 2009 02:21

I am in the midst of the grade three sleepover. Remember the last post when I said I was now loving grade three? Well I am revising that view right now.

My voice is on its last legs and I am ready to pass out on my feet. The 160 grade three kids on the other hand have had a ball.

Overall I think it is a worthwhile experience and they will get a lot out of it. I hope that they wake up tomorrow with new bonds formed in their class and knowing each other better. I just hope I get a teensy bit of sleep tonight.

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Maths teachers

April 3rd 2009 02:42

Just a thought to throw out there. As a kid I hated maths, but as an adult I love teaching it. I think that is because I can empathise with the kids who are not "naturals" at maths and struggle with it and I try really hard to make it fun and easy to understand.

So my question is this - Do teachers that are not good at maths themselves make better maths teachers, or do mathematically minded teachers make better maths teachers

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Hiatus - adjusting to change

April 3rd 2009 02:37

So it has been a while since my last posting and much has happened. I have changed jobs from one international school to another. Included in the job change was a jump from teaching sixth grade elementary to third grade.

Now I have never really taught little ones before (except for a week prac during university when I also caught head lice from the little charmers). That experience, needless to say, kind of put me off the little kids

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The 12 Days of Christmas

November 7th 2008 15:11

A Christmas activity that I find my elementary students enjoy is to re-write the 12 Days of Christmas.

I`m Australian and I teach at an international school in Peru. We read or listen to the original version and then read the Aussie version Really Long Link and then they have to write a Peruvian 12 days of Christmas

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I`ve been slimed!

November 7th 2008 15:06

Silly putty, flubber, slime; whatever you call it, is so much fun to make with your students. You can use it for just about any unit of study. At Halloween it can be monster mucous, at Christmas it can be reindeer booger, we did a pink one and called it fairy snot etc. Little kids love gross stuff, so they get really excited about this class craft exercise. It is easy for them to make and doesn`t require any cooking.

I have tried a few recipes, but this one that follows is the best

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Even better than the real thing

November 7th 2008 00:30

You know, I remember as a kid joking about teacher breath. It always smelled of coffee. Now I know why. Man, is teaching hard work. I survive on about 4 cups of coffee throughout the work day. I don`t think I could do it without my caffeine shot. Wheatgrass would probably work better I guess, but it just doesn`t taste as good coming out of a thermocup.

What is it about teaching that makes us soooo tired? I think it is so tiring because it is like being on stage 7 hours a day. I always think of myself as a bit of an actor as a teacher. I know that kind of contradicts my last blog about being "real" in the classroom, but I think you become an amplified version of yourself. Even better than the real thing

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Not just a teacher

November 6th 2008 19:27

How many times have you had a student call you "mum" accidentally? It happens all the time, right? I think little slip-ups like this really demonstrate the importance place that we, as teachers, occupy in our students`lives.
We should never underestimate the influence that we have on them. I am always blown away at parent-teacher nights when parents say to me how much their kids talk about me at home. Earlier this year I met the father of one of my kids. Previously I had worried about this boy. He is extremely bright, but very highly strung and tense. In class we often seemed to butt heads and I felt that I didn`t have such a strong connection with him. The father told me that at home he is always talking about me and the things we do in class.
Our role is not only to teach them academically the "stuff" they need to know, but to guide and nurture them. We should also remember that sometimes we might be the only stable influence in their lives. That`s why it is so important that we develop strong personal relationships with our kids and get to know them as little individuals: their interests, their dreams, their realities, their strengths, weaknesses and fears

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April 2009

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