First Day of School

This blog post might be better titled, "First weeks of School."  Here's a round-up of past blog posts that I would definitely incorporate into my first weeks back to school.  I use these each year with my new crop of students.  Teachers make the best recyclers.

(Capri Sun Wallets by Jen and lil O)


• The Typxwritxr - This quick overhead (or handout) brings home the idea of "we are all in this together."  You can use this ditty with multiple age groups in any subject area or discipline.
• Captain, Crew, Cargo Metaphor - This metaphor never goes out of style with students and it sets the stage for the rest of the school year.  Plus, you get the message when a student tells you they feel like "cargo."
• The Icon Finder - If you haven't jazzed up your e-learning presence yet, absolutely use Icon Finder to do so.  See the cute Facebook and Twitter icons I used on the right side of this blog?  Fun, eh?  Icon Finder is loaded with engaging icons for any occasion or subject.
• DIY Artwork - Speaking of making things engaging, did you decorate your classroom yet?  If you still have bare walls, see if this do-it-yourself decor might work for you and your students.  Plus, it makes great gifts.
• Relate, Create, Donate/Lesson & Project Planning - For some school districts, lesson planning is prescribed or pre-planned by someone other than the classroom teacher.  For the rest of us, try using this easy model from the great state of Maryland for lesson and project planning.
• Mod Podge for Education - I return to school next week.  For my post-Labor Day-back-to-school goers (yes, you detect a hint of envy there), you still have time to craftucate!  See what you think of this Mod Podge project from lil O and I.  Send pics of your creations to entertain us.  After all, lil O is one of those post-Labor Day-back-to-school goers.

Lucky kid,

Jen

Long term thinking (or how teachers, like me, think)

I am a teacher.  I have been for the past 15 years.  It all started as a sleep-away camp counselor at Camp Highlander (see happy, smiling me below) outside Asheville, North Carolina.  Actually, it probably started when I was five years old playing "school" with my sister, Dana. 

 

Teaching has gleefully taken me to suburban Denver, the Navajo Nation, Quito, Ecuador, inner-city Baltimore, the slopes of Aspen Highlands, ropes courses around the U.S. and now to a fantastic community college and university in the Maryland-Washington, DC area.

I think like a teacher.  Act like a teacher.  Enjoy being a teacher.  That means for me, long term thinking happens in "semester" increments.  Either 9- or 15-weeks at a time.

One day, I will think in school years.

Long term, for the next 15 weeks, I will tackle blogging.  Upcycled education is my theme - taking vintage teaching & learning ideas and freshening them up for the 21st century.  Sit back, enjoy, put these into practice and do leave comments when you have something to say or add to the conversation.

Who doesn't love a new teaching & learning idea or a vintage one with a fresh, 21st century spin?

Ready to spin,
Jen