May 23rd, 2013
Advice to Education School Graduates – View from the Bronx: An Urban Teacher’s Perspective – Education Week Teacher via kwout
In her Education Week blog View from the Bronx, English teacher Ilana Garon writes this week about advice for new teachers. The post caught my eye because I was just thinking and writing about new teachers and school librarians here, but I think her advice is even helpful beyond the new teacher audience. Teaching assignments and school administrators shift so regularly, there are almost always new people to meet, welcome, and “live with” as neighbors and colleagues at school.
New teachers, people who aren’t “new” but new to a building, and educators welcoming new colleagues and administrators should remember – and when possible, reach out to others to support – Garon’s smart, succinct strategies like, “find yourself a mentor teacher,” “find yourself a friend,” and “be yourself.”
As educators, we usually focus on what students need to be successful– their learning and thinking skills, their social interactions and compassion for each other, their cultural awareness and understanding, their ethical sensibilities. I read Garon’s blog post as a reminder of something we tend to forget or push aside: that it is important to take some time to focus on yourself and your success. Your “success” as a teacher ultimately enables your students to succeed.
–Rebecca Morris
Posted in School community, Teachers | No Comments »
May 21st, 2013
Recently here on the SLM Blog and on Twitter (@rebeccajm87) I posed the question, “#WhatWorked this year,” curious to know – in 140 characters – what strategies, ideas, or assignments were effective this year in your classrooms and school libraries. I tend to be reflective to a fault myself, so the challenge to hone in, describe, and concisely celebrate something good is a thing in itself. (When I think of reflecting on teaching, I’m always reminded of the time I went into my school principal’s office for my first year-end evaluation as a school librarian, arms full of binders and newsletters, and he asked- what’s all that stuff?)
But thankfully, there are librarians and teachers who can be reflective AND succinct, and the responses and retweets are starting to trickle in! Here’s a great one:
@Labellamedia the 9th grade Book Blast with red carpet, balloons & cookies is #whatworked this year. Almost 100% initial checkout w/ freshmen
I love this idea! We often hear about ninth grade library orientation. I don’t know about you, but in my memories of these, it seems like introducing policies, talking about databases, and explaining how many students may sit at a table or visit from study hall tend to be the more pressing topics. Why not welcome the kids, show that they’re special and that they belong in the library, and check out some great books?
#WhatWorked for you? Keep the tweets coming!
–Rebecca Morris
Image: Balloons at Friendlys, by ewan traveler on Flickr. Used with a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.
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May 17th, 2013
I’ve seen a few tweets lately from teachers on the topic of “what worked this year” in their classrooms. I wondered if it was an ongoing conversation in Twitter, but I didn’t find any consistent themes or hashtags. So I posed this question today:
I’ll let you know what happens! Tell me here or tweet me @rebeccajm87 if you know about other social media exchanges on this topic.
Whether this catches on today or in another form, I like the idea of reflecting in 140 characters- quick, concise, meaningful. That’s not to say there isn’t value in lengthier reflections or goal writing, but a tweet about what worked feels to me like an elevator speech: ready to be shared, easy to talk about, and prime for generating deeper conversation and questions, because the heart of the matter has been distilled to an understandable but intriguing few lines.
So, SLM Blog readers, either in the comments or in the Twitterverse, #WhatWorked for you this school year?
–Rebecca Morris
Posted in Reflection, Teachers | No Comments »
