Tuesday, February 18, 2014

15 Things New Teachers Understand

Thanks to http://www.giphy.com/ for the gifs for this post!
















15. The fury associated with the age-old question about your age...

Parent: "It's nice to meet you, too. Are you old enough to be a teacher?"
You:
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14. The better-go-hide feeling of getting observed for the first time...
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13. The excited, nervous feeling that comes once you've finally mustered up the courage to ask for something...
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"There's this new research-based decoding curriculum on the market, and..."

12. Finding out there's a cute teacher in the school...
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11. Your really awkward first phone call to a parent, where you can't quite form a sentence...
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This feeling also applies to your first IEP meeting or parent conference.

10. The relief and elation of making a teacher friend...
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9. The terror of finding out the students have a crush on you...
Students:
 photo hotforteacher2.gif
You:
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(Don't read the notes you intercept...)

8. The excitement that comes with access to new bulletin board supplies, laminators, the Ellison machine, door displays...
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7. The joys of staying up late and waking up early to write IEPs, lesson plans, grading, etc...
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6. The feeling you get when you have a really great new idea, and another teacher doesn't like it...
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Wahh. Okay.

5. The awesome knowledge that your students think you're young and cool...
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4. The incredible feeling you get when you've finally mastered the art of classroom management...
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Haven't gotten that yet? Follow my blog for ideas!

3. The startling realization that you simply can't eat some of the food that students bring for you...
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2. The sheer pleasure of finding food in the faculty room...
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Or sneaking it out of your classroom snack cabinet... (Shhhh...)
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1. The spark of your passion for teaching, which keeps you going each day. With your ability to accept challenges, you can answer most questions with,
 photo yougotitdude.gif

And eventually, you'll be able to look back and feel content about the whole journey.


Have anything to add to this list? Please share in the comments below!





A Peach for the Teach

Monday, February 17, 2014

Social Skills Rock Star Hall of Fame: Social Skills Report Card Insert, Standards, & Motivator

Wrapping up our most recent marking period, I really wished that I had a social skills report card insert. I teach social skills daily, but it's not something that's easy to grade. I wanted to have some sort of records for assessment, to give myself an idea of how well my students were applying the social skills we had learned across contexts.

I came up with an idea for a report card insert that is aligned with the PDE SAS interpersonal skills standards. I also made a checklist and a rock star hall of fame motivator out of it.

Check out the details here:


How do you assess and report social skill progress? Please share in the comments below!






A Peach for the Teach