Rachel Said:

Why do substitute teachers get little to no respect by both the faculty, staff, and administration?

We Answered:

I agree...our school system is having major issues and they have let go EVERYONE that isn't tenured, so I had to be a sub for awhile. The teachers are soooo unfriendly till they need you. And let me say...I have been (and am again) a classroom teacher and a sub. Being a sub is a LOT harder, and they deserve the respect of all the teachers in the school.

Michelle Said:

Does anyone have an idea about how to teach respect of others and respect of property to kindergarteners?

We Answered:

Hi! I teach Kindergarten as well. I experience the same kind of struggles. I have 20 students, 12 Spanish speakers, 8 English speakers - all low socioeconomic.
One thing I do is have "class meetings" once a week or as needed. We start by sitting in a circle and singing the "I love You" song (yes, from Barney! Cheesy, but they really like it!) Then we talk and share. I usually start by saying "We are having a problem in the class." Then describe the problem. Then we go around the circle and everyone gets to share (takes a while for the shy ones to feel comfortable to do this) how we can help the problem, or say what the appropriate this do is, or one way they can treat each other nicely (or whatever the problem is). This by all means has not solved the problem completely in my classroom but has helped. And anytime we are having a problem for a few days in a row and I am getting frustrated, I STOP right there and have a "class meeting".
We also end the class meeting by singing the "I Love You" song.
Hope this helps!

Geraldine Said:

College Essay/Interview question?

We Answered:

Typed account is a typed paper.
You need a typed paper of question and answers in a QA format example:
Q: What is your preferred teaching method?
A: I prefer teaching using this method

You provide a summary of the questions you asked the teacher in the interview and his/her responses (not a QA form, but rather ex: When asked what her preferred teaching method is she responded that she enjoyed teaching this way because it was beneficial to her students) Also a summary of what you thought of watching them teaching in the classroom, i.e examples of teaching method, responses of students, you thought it was un/succesfsul.

That is how I would go about doing the assignment anyways. Good luck!

Suzanne Said:

Could you proofread this for me?

We Answered:

This is awesome!

Mark Said:

How do you teach little kids how to ski who have never skied before? HELP?

We Answered:

I ski instructed for 5 years, I feel your pain! And teaching IS different from being able to ski yourself...plus that age bracket already puts you at a disadvantage. Here are my tips for you:

1) No poles...somebody mentioned that, absolutely, I agree.

2) Kids love games. Make a game out of everything. Example:

All right: who can get around that sign over there and back first, with one ski only? Make sure to give EVERY kid congrats, especially the last one - high five's all around.

3) If your ski area doesn't have a little kid-land set up, invent one with some spare bamboo, hula hoops, whatever. Duck under, hop over, dive through. Kids 3/4 don't have to be on skis to have fun, and that's what it's about. Boot skiing, snow angels, tug-of-war, etc.

4) Once you are on the chair though, it's a little different. You can't lose any of them, and you don't want them all over the place. I'm sure you have learned lots of little things in your clinics, such as airplane turns, and the like, use those things. Ask veterans for other ideas that they use.

5) Don't think of it as a "lesson plan", even though it is. Have a general idea of some games in your head, and do those that feel right. Young kids don't need to follow a rigid progression anyways.

6) You had some specifics, such as duck walking. Well, a game. Have them pair up, play follow the leader, one behind the other. I use that drill when coaching varsity soccer, the kids love it. I call it truck and trailer. Make sure they quack, then switch leader to follower after 30 seconds. That forces them to work on direction changes, and is much more fun than marching up a slope all in a line! You could also play duck duck goose. Not sitting though. Then after a few rounds, take the skis off and play "real" duck duck goose.

I used to use red light, green light for stopping. Have them line up at the top of a gentle slope, turn around, call green light. Then RED LIGHT, make sure not to turn around to quickly, cause most of them will take a little bit to stop!

For turns, just set up a little cone course. Kids love "racing" around cones, makes them feel like pros.

One important tip, perhaps you know this already. The attention span of that age group lasts about 3 minutes or so. Don't do any one activity for too long. That will take the fun out of it. Once you have a decent set of games put together, you can easily fill an hour or more, and those kids should be turning and stopping in a wedge in no time.

Hope those ideas helped. Just use your imagination. Remember when you were a kid, you wanted to play, and have fun. Well, it's the same with your "students".