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How Leadership Can Make or Break Classroom Innovation

How Leadership Can Make or Break Classroom Innovation
The leaders of a school or school district play a big role in setting the culture and work environment for teachers. And when it comes to trying new things, the attitude of principals and superintendents can sometimes make or break a teacher’s willingness and ability to weave new ideas and methods into the teaching practice. In most schools, strong, effective leaders can make all the difference. In addition to setting the tone for nimble and progressive teaching that’s geared towards what students need most, school leaders can also find ways to integrate technology in smart ways that work on the same goals. “A key leadership role is to try to build a shared vision for blended learning,” said Eric Williams, Superintendent York County School Division in Virginia. Williams also tries to model blended learning for his staff, to help them get acclimated to an idea that didn’t exist throughout most of their careers. Williams has worked to set policies that allow for new approaches. Related

GrimmFairyTales.com Making a Great First Impression - Communication Skills Training from MindTools Getting off to a Good Start Learn how to make a great first impression, in this video. It takes just a quick glance, maybe three seconds, for someone to evaluate you when you meet for the first time. With every new encounter, you are evaluated and yet another person's impression of you is formed. So, whether they are in your career or social life, it's important to know how to create a good first impression. Be on Time Someone you are meeting for the first time is not interested in your "good excuse" for running late. Be Yourself, Be at Ease If you are feeling uncomfortable and on edge, this can make the other person ill at ease and that's a sure way to create the wrong impression. Present Yourself Appropriately Of course physical appearance matters. But it certainly does not mean you need to look like a model to create a strong and positive first impression. No. Start with the way you dress. And what about your grooming? A Word About Individuality A Winning Smile! Be Open and Confident

Anchor Charts Here are some other Pinterest ideas that I have made into small anchor charts. I don't know about you, but my classroom is limited on space to display all the charts that I would like to. I made this alphabet because I'm tired of the one in my classroom that takes up so much space. I hope this will be a better fit and give me room to display my sound cards as well. I got this idea from Pinterest a couple weeks ago. Wanted I just finished reading Daily 5 and I'm gearing up to start it at the beginning of next school year. Good Fit Book Free English Teacher Resources This page contains materials I've used at conferences and inset sessions - including the PGCE course at the University of Cambridge, Lighthouse Training, SSAT, the DfE, Leading Edge, Gaining Ground, ARK, Teaching Leaders, ASCL, the National Association for Teachers of English, the National Association for Advisers in English, and schools and academies around Britain. Teachers of English may be interested in the Pick 'n' Mix site where I post occasional articles and other documents that may be of interest to students (and teachers) or A-level English Language. Note that files are all uploaded chronologically, so the most recent additions are at the bottom of the page. All are free of charge. If any of it doesn't make sense, email me. 1: English Association Conference (October 2000) "85 Things to do with Non-Fiction Texts". 2: Three documents I use in my 'Teaching Tension' talks: 3: Teaching Writing at KS3 (Suffolk Heads of English Conference) 4: Whole School Literacy (October 2001)

Movies and famous people lesson plans Page Design Peter Snashall Copyright 1999 ESL Lessons for Teaching Movies/Theatre <span><a target="_blank" href="/search.html">Search</a> | <a target="_blank" href="/PreIntermediateLessonPlans.html">Past, Present,Future</a> | <a target="_blank" href="/describingplaces.html">Lifestyles/cities/houses</a> | <a target="_blank" href="/futuretenselessonplans.html">Plans/Predictions</a> | <a target="_blank" href="/complaintsandrequestslessonplans.html">Complaints/Requests</a> | <a target="_blank" href="/interculturalcommunication.html">Intercultural Comm. Movie worksheets and exercises Famous people/celebrity lessons for ESL students

Teacher HACKS: Innovative Teaching Tips and Strategies Teachers these days have a tough job (was it ever easy??). So we reached out to dozens of teachers and asked them for their favorite “hacks” that help make their lives easier and their jobs more manageable. So what’s a hack? A hack is an actionable tip or suggestion that doesn’t fit the norm for time and resource management skills. What we’ve put together is a list of our favorite hacks that can instantly breathe new life into old routines that haven’t gotten the attention they might deserve. Behavior management Address the students who need more attention, and reward those who positively contribute. Stamps for behavior management: When the classroom gets too loud, go around to the students working quietly and give them a stamp. Attendance/time management Making sure time is on your side, around the clock. High school Spanish: Take attendance using a ball. Organization/grading Keeping your classwork, homework, and work-work on track and in the right place. Classroom tips User-provided hacks

ESL Classroom Fun Teaching Tools - Game Count Down timers Free ESL/EFL Online & Classroom Games ESL Games World is the ultimate English learning fun lab with lots of interactive exercises for teachers and students of English. This site is brought to you free of charge by the same team that brought you the ESL-galaxy.com, englishmedialab.com and esltower.com. We are committed to making teachers' & students' lives a lot easier by providing useful free esl resources for teaching and learning English as a Foreign or Second Language. We have no doubt that you will find this website a handy tool for your teaching and learning of English. ESL Powerpoint (PPT) Games If you are the type of person who prefers to have games on powerpoint or as printable handouts, we have been thinking of you. It is total fun and highly engaging fun lessons with these resources. Printable ESL Board and Card Games We offer a variety of printable ESL board games and card games to help give your students lots of communicative practice.

Insights- A New Educational Tool for Creating Paperless Interactive Lessons June 25, 2015 The popular educational app TinyTap has recently released a new tool called Insights. This is basically a data management tool to help teachers access real-time analytics on data related to classroom teaching such as which lessons students completed, how they scored on them and how they are improving. Insights is designed to help you engage your students, improve grades, and save valuable time. Here are some interesting video tutorials to help you make the best of Insights. Curriculum Guides Featured Curriculum: Understanding News Media The goal of Understanding News Media is to help young people think critically and act responsibly as they navigate communication media. The features and graphic organizers were created for middle school students but with modification could be used by younger or older students. Courtesy of the New York News Publishers Association NIE Program. New York Times NIE Curriculum Guides These New York Times curriculum resources are made to be used with any daily issue of The Times. English Language ArtsWriting Skills and StrategiesGrammar RulesThe Careful ReaderCurtain Up, Teaching About TheaterSAT Success History, Government, Social StudiesGlobal EconomicsChecks and BalancesGeography ThemesHuman Rights in History and Today ScienceCurrent Knowledge InterdisciplinaryLiteracy Skills Across the CurriculumElementary Enrichment Document-Based Units of Study Developed with CUNY and LaGuardia Community College

Five Ways to Create More Teacher Rockstars in Your School “Rockstar” is a term that is being thrown around among educators lately. A few teachers and administrators who try new instructional practices—many that inevitably involve tech tools—earn that rockstar praise from their connected colleagues online. But, teachers are driven by the same thing at their core: they want to do what is best for kids. If that is true, then they all deserve to feel like rockstars! They all deserve to feel the rush of knowing that they took a risk and it paid off in their classrooms. Here are five ways school leaders can create a culture that motivates all teachers in your school to take a risk and try something new. 1. We have all heard it while crowding around the microwave waiting to warm up lunch or pacing the playground for recess duty. School leaders can tap into those smaller conversations and spread that excitement. Open staff meetings with 3 quick stories from teachers about something positive that happened in their classrooms recently. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Kids.Gov Teachers Resources Skip to main content Kids.gov A safe place to learn and play Next Teachers and Parents, get e-mails from Kids.gov Enter Your E-mail address: Learn About Your State Most Popular Kids Should Eat Healthy Kids.gov is the U.S. government's official web portal for kids Powered by Learning Doesn’t Stop At 3 O’Clock – Tools to Maximize Communication | Teachers Matter Learning Doesn’t Stop At 3 O’Clock: Four Reasons Teachers and Students Need a Class Blog Last March I received an email from my superintendent thanking me for my outstanding work. At first I was a bit confused. It was spring break and class was not in session. I wondered what he was referring to until I saw the forwarded message attached to his email. Four Reasons Teachers Need a Class Blog 1. 2. 3. 4. Click this link to access the Pearltrees collection of tools introduced in this post. Like this: Like Loading... About Lee Araoz K-12 Technology Coordinator, instructional coach, staff developer, speaker and author. This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Classroom, Common Core, Ed Tech Apps, Education, Educational technology, Educators, ELA, Highly effective, Instructional Strategies, K through 12, Student, Teacher, Tech for Teachers.

Teachers for Global Awareness | Blog Details By Sharon Hill, The Windsor Star The cheery yellow background of the quilt block belies the jarring image of a man running away from his wife and children. The woman walks leaning on a tall stick, and in Uganda where disability can be seen as a curse, she is one to be abandoned. But she is not forsaken by Windsor’s Dane Macri. He gathered the stories of northern Ugandans facing disabilities and discrimination quilt block by quilt block in 2012. “It’s just trying to give a voice to those who have a voice but their voice isn’t being heard,” Macri said this week. People with disabilities in developing countries are the most marginalized, he said. “There’s a pervasive lack of accessibility,” Macri recalled from his visits in 2011 and 2012. A second accessible facility has been added since his visit but still it means travelling five to 15 kilometres by wheelchair to find an accessible toilet, he said. Denish Opoka Ojara is in his early 20s and had polio.

The 35 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools Chosen By You If you’re not an avid follower of #edchat on Twitter, you may be missing out on a great opportunity to learn about some new Web 2.0 tools that are currently being used in classrooms around the world. That’s because @chickensaltash posed a simple question to the PLN and there has been a huge swell of support as hundreds of people have jumped in to answer the question about which 5 Web 2.0 tools teachers are using in classrooms. The Best of the Best You can view the live stream of #edchat here and see what people are saying at the hashtag #chickenweb2tools here. We scoured hundreds of responses and have come up with the following list. Made at Tagxedo – it’s in this list! The List Glogster Great way to share posters and images you’ve made with friendsEdmodoSocial learning environment and one of the best ways to teach with techBubbl.us Free application to brainstorm onlineTwitter The micro blogging service that many love or hate.WordPress Content publishing system. Add To This List

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