I am a certified secondary science teacher. I have 6 years of teaching experience in the Mountain Brook School System in Birmingham, Alabama.  I have been a stay at home mom for the past 4 years, but intend to return to the class room within the next 3 years.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Podcast for Dumbies

No, I am not calling you a dumbie! I wanted you to know that anyone can podcast and this tool can be used in sooo many ways by teachers. The more creative the teacher, the more creative the possibilities. One reason I am excited about podcasts is being able to have important lecture material available for students when they are studying, doing homework, or have been absent. The student can listen to your podcast from that days lecture and review the material or get help with homework. They may hear something that they did not hear in class. Podcasting is a great way to reinforce what was taught in class. If I used podcasts for just this one reason I think the investment would be well worth it. Other ways to use a podcast would be to welcome students and parents to a new school year, and go over rules and expectations. Student podcasts could be available when you have class presentations. I am sure the kids would go crazy over something like this. I am very excited about using podcast in the classroom and on my blog.

BLOG-errific!

Every teacher should have a blog. They should not be forced to have one. They should be so excited about the endless possiblities of using blogs that they have to set one up right away. As soon as I get back in the class room I will have a blog ready to go. The lines of communication are wide open with blogs. A few things that are must haves on my teacher blog are going to be: a calendar that has due dates, test dates, and fun dates, topics covered, additional helpful links, podcasts of important lectures, a what's going on section for parents to view pictures and samples of work that are being done in class, supply list, and review games for exams. I had a teacher website when I taught in Mountain Brook, but a blog is more practical and efficient. I can view student or parent comments and get instant feed back from them or to them. Blogging is the most exciting tool that increases a teacher's ability to communicate better with students, parents, and other teachers.

Techno Kids

When I look around my house I realize how technologically savy my children are and will be. I have a 5 year old that can use a laptop better than me and I dare not challenge him to a game of Mario Kart. He can also manipulate my husband's iphone and is already in computer class in kindergarten. Old school teaching is nearly a thing of the past. Kids need technology. They understand it better and it can help them understand things better. For example, when I taught science there was one section I hated teaching. The elctromagnetic spectrum was the most difficult topic to explain. We can only see a small fraction of it with our eyes. I needed to find a great way of getting it across to them. I decided to make a webquest. A webquest is a web based research project that can incorporate as much technology or as little. I have never had so many students excited about learning this topic. Because I brought technology into the equation they were all about learning more. Podcasts, Blogs, websites, webquests, facebook, imovie, interactive games, distance learning labs are all important tools for teachers to know about and use. Our children are not going to become less technological. Their tech-awareness is what is going to push teachers to learn more and do more. As a teacher I am thrilled about all of the technology available and I look forward to learning about and using these fun new tools. And maybe will discover a few new ones along the way.

I hate Make-up Work!!

The biggest headache of being a teacher is make-up work. I hate it! It is hard to give out, it is hard to grade, and it is hard to keep track of. I hated it until I found a great way to take care of it. I put all the responsibility on the students, and it made my life so easy. So here is how it worked. I made a bulletin board specifically for make-up work. On this board I posted generic assignments that could be done in the place of an assignment missed (example: section reviews, end of chapter reviews, internet searchs on certain topics). Different assignments were worth different points. There were 1 point, 5 point, 10 point, and 20 points assignments. The students would pick the appropriate amount of points needed in order to make up the assignment they missed. The instructions for completing and turning in the work was posted on the board. So when a child missed school they knew where to go for make up work and what to do. The only time I dealt with the issue of make-up work was when I had to grade it. I made sure that my parent knew about the board also. This idea can easily be translated to a blog and would be easily accessible and make-up work could be done before returning to school.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Teaching boils down to one word: Respect. I learned this the hard way. My first year teaching was not easy. I was told to start off hard nosed and no nonsense (which is the complete opposite of my personality). I was 21 years old, I had no teaching experience, and was scared to death. So I took the advice and suffered an entire year because of it. My first year taught me so much about being a teacher, about students, and about myself. I realized that 7th graders are people too and they deserve as much respect as I think I deserve. So I stayed afloat my first year, and decided to be true to myself and to my students. The next school year would be different, I told myself. Summer finally arrived and I had made it through the first year, and I was still alive. But I knew that summer would give way to a new school year and I knew what lie ahead. I changed my entire approach to teaching in my second year. First day of school I had my "talk" rehearsed and ready to go. I was hoping to talk with my students, not over them. Here's my speech in a nutshell: I am not going to spend my first day with you telling you what you can and can not do in my class. There are rules and expectations that exist and will help you have a good time in my class, but there is something far more important that I would like to talk with you about. I want to talk about respect. This small word holds so much importance in my life and in my classroom. I just want to let each of you know that even though I don't know you..yet...I respect you 100%. Why shouldn't I? So there it is...you have it and it is your job this year to keep it. I want you to know that I respect you as an individual that has his or her own ideas, thoughts, and opinions. And I am happy to listen to them with all my attention when the time is right. All I ask in return for this is that you give me your respect and I promise with all my heart that I will work as hard as I can to keep it. I will be understanding, considerate, and fair in all ways that I can. I promise to be the best teacher I can be...all I need is for you to try to be the best student I know you can be.

My second year was no cake walk, but compared to my first year it was much more peaceful. I learned a valuable lesson the hard way. It is something I heard a million times as I was growing up: Do unto other as you would have them do unto you...and that is so true...even for teachers.

A Bit About Me

I never thought about being a teacher when I was growing up. I always knew that I wanted to be a mommy and stay home with my children. But as a high school graduate I knew I was going to need to do something useful with my time until the mommy thing came to be. I thought about careers that would fit being a mother, and school teacher was the best fit. I attended Faulkner State Community College in Bay Minnette, and transferred to the University of South Alabama. I received my Bachelors of Science in General Science/Secondary Education from the University of South Alabama in December of 1998. My degree allows me the flexibility in teaching any science course in middle or high school. I taught 7th grade science for 6 years in Mountain Brook, Alabama. In those 6 years I learned the difference in being a teacher and being a great teacher. I also learned a great deal about myself and developed my philosophy about teaching. My last year teaching I received the highest honor a teacher can receive. I was voted as Mountain Brook Junior High School's Teacher of the Year. I was the youngest recipient (I was 26 years old) of this award in the history of the school. I began working on my masters degree the two years of employment with the Mountain Brook School System. I worked very hard to earn my Masters of Science in Geosciences from Mississippi State University. After 6 wonderful years at Mountain Brook and a newly earned masters degree my husband and I decided to move back home to Foley, Alabama. We have been back home for 4 years now and my goal of being a stay at home mom has been realized. I stay home with my 2 boys, and know that being here is the hardest yet most important thing I have ever done.