Ethel Said:

Last week I visited school kids my teacher want to all student write report about that but I cant understand a

We Answered:

Buddy your spelling and grammar is just like mine.Thank goodness I got spell check.I think I am this way though because they tried to teach me stuff like this.

Lynn Said:

How do you achieve good classroom management?

We Answered:

I am a recently retired elementary principal and teacher from Wisconsin. Very early in my career I spent two years teaching English and History to 7th and 8th graders in a parochial school setting. I wanted you to know my background before commenting. I really do not have an experience close to that of yours. So take my advice with whatever grain of salt you think is appropriate.

First understand, among 10th grade boys, there is never going to be a good, all quiet, all the time, classroom. Sophomore boys tend to act up just because of the age they are at. The well-used term, 'sophomoric humor' has been around for a long time, and it most certainly exists for good reason. So, do not be too hard on yourself. I am sure you are doing much better than you think! It is never going to be like a library in a classroom when it comes to 10th grade boys, no matter what!

With the aforementioned now said, my experience tells me that all good classroom management begins with a good relationship between the students and the teacher. There is an old saying that goes like this, "I never really cared how much my teacher knew, until I first knew how much she cared." I think this is true in most educational settings, and becomes more so as the students grow in age. Start with evaluating your person to person relationship with each student, especially the ones that seem to be the peer leaders. However good you judge these relationships to be, consider trying to improve them further. You can do this by just finding out more about them as people (e.g. family members, interests, concerns of day to day life etc.) Just asking them about themselves indicates a interest level that does have some intrinsic meaning for each of your students. If you can in some manner help them with some of their concerns, this goes a long ways to establishing respect and a great reputation among your students, as well.

Next, know that displaying a good sense of humor, especially a self-deprecating sense humor, will humanize you more to the eyes of your students.

Being positive both orally and in written form when assessing the learning efforts of your students, helps to have them see you in a good and respectful light.
Always error on the side of being positive.

Demonstrate a willingness to be flexible in words and deed. Give deserving students a second, third, fourth chance etc. Remember, in the end a teacher's true success is not in how he or she teaches to the letter of the curriculum, but instead can only be measure in how successful the students become under his/her tutelage. You can teach scintillating lessons with magnificent command of the material, but if no one learns much, you still have failed as a teacher.

Remember, that matching the correct form of reinforcement with the situation that calls for it, is important as well. You might recall from some of your basic psych studies, that generally speaking, there are only five different schedules of reinforcement. They are as follows, Continuous Reinforcement, Fixed Ratio, Intermittent Ratio, Fixed Interval, and Intermittent Interval. When you need to shape behavior of a couple of students or that of an entire class, select and devise a schedule of reinforcement that meets your needs from one of these five.

Be unpredictable. Your sophomore boys, whether they admit it or not, will like you for it. This will promote their overall interest and authentic participation in your class.

Teach with a creative flair, whenever possible. Creativity promotes interest too!

Be open to their honest expressions and try to always to extend yourself to them, whenever and wherever possible.

I think, if you can infuse some of the above suggestions in appropriate ways, your concerns over classroom management will fade in time. But remember this does take time. Be patient with yourself and your students. They are not expecting perfection from you and don't expect perfection from them. Your relationship with these students will always evolve. Take care and good luck to you now and in all your future endeavors.

Jean Said:

What do you think of my cv?

We Answered:

very comprehensive.
the only alteration i would consider is to change 'references' to 'referees' and give two names, titles and contact details.
in the weeding out process, often an employer will contact a referee. if there is none given, they may well discount application, especially if there are many applications!!~!

Ella Said:

substitute teacher with a question on classroom management?

We Answered:

sometimes you just gotta shout, "LISTEN IM DOING THE BEST I CAN NOW PLEASE PAY ATTENTION AND KEEP QUIET." or, try to keep their attention by making jokes throughout the lesson. i know my favorite teacher in forever would be the most boring thing, but he kept your attention by making jokes or just being a goofball. you sound like a really nice teacher and i hope things go good for you. maybe you could try coming to ohio! ;) kids are semi-nice here. thats really all i can do from a students standpoint, but i hope things are better for you and i hope you get it down. good luck!

Audrey Said:

Can someone here please critique my resume... be honest, not mean?

We Answered:

Things that jump out to me:

Under your qualifications, your tense changes a few times, I see filing, answer and dispatched - it would read better if it were consistent (and to be honest seems to contradict the point about attention to detail).

Also, under qualifications I think there are a few points that are repeated in your last point. I would take out the repetitive items:

General office knowledge including but not limited to: keyboarding, 10-key, data entry, multi-line phone skills, and the ability to operate and troubleshoot most types of office equipment including fax and photocopier.

Also - did your job at the realtors end in August 2004, or is that where you are currently employed? If the latter is the case, I would put August 2004 - present.

In terms of your listing of dates for previous employment, I am confused by the following: January 1998 / August 2004
Does this mean that you worked there for the month of Jan 98 and Aug 04 but not in between?

You list one job as having worked there from February 1996 – February 2002, so again I think consistency is needed if the above job was from Jan 98 to Aug 04. And personally I think the dash looks far better than the slash to separate your start and end dates.

Good luck in your job search!

Nora Said:

for all teachers:please be honest!aren't the majority of behaviour issues down to 'less than competent' staff?

We Answered:

Sorry, but it scares me that you are an English teacher! What would your students think if they saw your question? Kids learn by example.

Behavior issues are the result of a combination of factors, not the least of which is the fact that teachers have virtually no rights as compared to the "rights" of their students. Students aren't punished effectively. I remember there being a wooden paddle in the principal's office, and it was a place you did not want to go. Now, as punishment, students basically get free time, aka "in school suspension," or if they are really bad, they get sent home to play video games for a few days. Another factor is the law-suit happy society, and parents who do not back teachers up. I grew up in a home in which being in trouble at school meant being in trouble (REAL trouble) at home. I also think that students are saturated with examples of bad attitude in today's media.

I have my degree in elementary education and my teaching license as well, and sometimes I wonder why I bother to keep recertifying, because I would rather do anything than teach.