Daily Assignment #75: Planning the 1st Day

The first few days are always a challenge to prepare for.  I hope the suggestions in this video help with your planning.
Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.  If you haven't already, consider becoming a "Follower".
Best Effort,
Linda103


http://youtu.be/j5E0wIFvElw

Daily Assignment #74: Classroom Design

Setting up a classroom can be a daunting task. To begin you might want to draw a floor plan and use pieces of paper to represent the furniture, this will not only save your back but give you a starting point.

In this video I offer some ideas to consider as you begin your planning.

I hope you find this helpful.

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.

If you haven't already, consider becoming a "Follower".

Best Effort,

Linda103

http://youtu.be/28zbYMyPww0

Daily Assignment #73: 1st Communication with Parents and Students

Hello Everyone,
I am experimenting with new ways to present my blog.   So, for the first time I am including a webcam video of myself. Hopefully, this works.  Best Effort to me!!
Linda103

http://www.youtube.com/user/dailyassignment#p/a/u/0/NdbaatyzZPE 

Daily Assignment #72: Begin Again

Hello Everyone,
Welcome back to another school year.  I'm sure it feels like the summer zipped by.

I know that some of you have started thinking about the upcoming year and some of you are still in a vacation mode.  So as not to overwhelm you, at this time with a new strategy, I am going to do a bit of a book promotion.

Here goes------

To all teachers, seasoned and new, I have published a very helpful resource book:  Daily Assignment:  70 Effective Teaching Strategies At A Glance.  It's a great book to remind you of those strategies that you may have forgotten, or have never tried.  The perfect book to keep on your desk as a reference for the effective strategy needed to clarify or improve instruction. 

I hope you will take the opportunity to visit this site:   :http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/daily-assignment/126409.  I know you will find the book useful in the upcoming year.  (It also makes a wonderful gift for the new or seasoned teacher that you know.)

Best Effort,
Linda103

Daily Assignment #71: Legacy

A dear friend, and colleague, (Jane), asked me what I wanted my legacy to teaching to be when I retired.  I believe it is the hope of all teachers that something taught, or done through the years, impacts a student, or colleague, in away that the spirit of the lesson/experience carries on years after we have left the profession.  However, for me, I couldn't figure out what that was.

After watching this video, by Sir Ken Robinson, I realized what I would like to be my legacy.  I want people to say that, "Linda taught the total child."  When I reflect on my 34 years of teaching, I recognize that I not only taught the core content areas, but I included ceramics, orienteering, recorders, ballroom dancing, dramatizations, plays, knitting, singing, art and things I can't even remember.  Please know, I did not do this alone, parents and volunteers supported my classroom on a regular basis.  An amazing parent,(Barb), volunteered to teach orienteering for many years, as did a parent, (Lucia), who taught ceramics, and a group of mothers, who came in once a week, to teach knitting, to mention a few.  So, you see, it does take a village.

I hope by watching this video you will become, if not already, more cognizant of how you integrate music, art, physical movement, or whatever else you can do, to tap into a child's interest, strengths, and most importantly, the creative part of their brain.

This video is 19 minutes long.  It is well worth your time.  It is humorous, while making an important point.  So, please take the time to watch.

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iG9CE55wbtY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

On another note, this will be last blog until August 21st.  Please make sure you rejoin this site at that time.  I am planning to experiment with new ways to share strategies with you beginning in August.
Having said that, as you start planning for next year, I hope you will use this site as a reference.

Now, go and have a wonderful, relaxing and well deserved summer vacation.  Remember to use sunblock, laugh, do something kind each day and smile.  You are an amazing person because you are a teacher and you do make a difference!!!

Please continue to share this link with colleagues and friends.
Become a "Follower" so you will know when the new blogs are added.
Thank you for your support AND
Best Effort,
Linda103

Daily Assignment #70: 7 Qualities of Highly Effective Teachers

As the end of the school years nears, I would like to share with you some inspirational/motivational pieces I have found beginning with 7 Qualities of Highly Effective Teachers by Linc. Fisch.

Highly effective teachers care. They care about their students, their work, and themselves. They treat others with dignity; they respect others' integrity. They give high priority to benefiting others. They affirm others' strengths and beings; it's a kind of love. Highly effective teachers share. They share their knowledge, insights, and viewpoints with others. Their willingness to share is a way of life for them. They don't withhold information for personal gain. Highly effective teachers learn. They continually seek truth and meaning. They seek to discover new ideas and insights. They reflect on their experiences and incorporate the learning into their lives. They are willing to upgrade their skills. They continue growing and developing throughout their lives. Highly effective teachers create. They are willing to try the new and untested, to take risks for worthy educational outcomes. Anything worth doing is worth failing at. They are not discouraged by an occasional failure; they reframe the error as an opportunity to do better as a result of the experience. Highly effective teachers believe. They have faith in students. They trust students and are willing to grant them freedom and responsibility. They hold high expectations for their students, as well as for themselves. Highly effective teachers dream. They have a vision of success. They are driven by an image of excellence, the best that their innate abilities allow. They always seek to improve, never being content with just "gettingby" in teaching or in any other endeavor. Highly effective teachers enjoy. Teaching is not just employment to them; it is their Work. They throw themselves into it with vigor. They gain major satisfaction and joy from it. And that joy often infects their students.

I hope this inspires you and reaffirms all the hard work that you do.
Please share this link with colleagues and friends. If you haven't already, consider becoming a "Follower".Best Effort,Linda103

Daily Assignment #69: Best Effort

Several Followers have emailed and have asked why I close with "Best Effort."  I have learned, and believe, that everything we do is based on the effort we put into it.  If we, and our students, want to learn and be successful we must put in our best effort.  Best effort includes time, practice, focus, effective strategies, resourcefulness, using feedback, and determination.

When learning something new we must use effective effort to build capacity.  Example:  Learning to ski,  we must put incredible effort at the beginning and as we become better at skiing we put in less effort because we have built capacity.  For our students, learning any piece of content requires a lot of effort at the beginning, e.g. learning to read, memorizing the multiplication tables, learning the Periodic Table, Pythagorean theory, etc...

I no longer say to students "Good Luck" on a test, project, presentation, sport, etc...  I always say, "Best Effort".  Luck means outside influences lead to success.  Luck, good or bad, applies to the lottery, and we all know how that works.  Luck does not apply to learning and has no place in the classroom. "Best Effort" means success will be the result of the effort put into the test, project, etc...

I hope you will think about the language you use with your students in reference to effort and success.
So,
Best Effort,
Linda103

P.S.  Please share this link with colleagues and friends.