Parenting has changed, huh? Let’s see . . . take me back . . . when was parenting “great”? Was it in the early 1900s when kids were working, earning? Was it before child labor laws and child welfare laws? Was it when many kids didn’t persist past 8th grade? When teachers were simply high …
The first year I taught kindergarten—my first year out of college—I had two classroom parents die. Another child would barricade himself in the bathroom and refuse to leave when his parents arrived. And I tried to restrain a five year old girl with a seated bear hug from behind only to have her drag me …
First, it is super to debut a guest post on TII. This work matters and is changing conversations for education and ambitious teachers. “Tag Parents, You’re It.” It is probably already, or otherwise soon approaching, summer for your students. While the hugs and tears and genuine statements of pride and hope are all present at …
Jen NewtonJen Newton, PhD is an assistant professor in early childhood/early childhood special education (isn’t that a lot of words for what should be one field??). I talk a lot and have strong opinions – or so I am told. teachingisintellectual.com
When I was a child, my mother would take me to swimming lessons at the local pool. After she dropped me off, I would watch through the changing room window for her to drive away. I would then quickly leave and run home. She would complete some errands and I would be waiting at the kitchen table for …
Reposted from https://hawkhopesblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/15/unteaching-and-unlearning-is-intellectual/ The “apprenticeship of observation,” introduced by Dan Lortie (1975) provides a lens through which we can consider why preservice teachers (and the general public) may feel they know all they need to know about teaching and learning. They went to school, kindergarten through 12th grade, at least, and have had numerous teachers across their …
We know students don’t really read the assigned reading, right? There are loads of reasons for that. Textbooks are cost prohibitive, the reading is cumbersome, too long, irrelevant from the student perspective, it’s tedious . . . just to name a few. As instructors, we implement various strategies to encourage, incentivize, motivate/manipulate students into doing …
A little about me in the month before my first year begins To be perfectly honest, I’m nervous about my first year of teaching. I’ve spent the summer reviewing learning theory and teaching strategies, reading radical books about equity and power dynamics in the classroom, building an elaborate teacher emergency kit filled with everything from …
Build relationships, you say. Teach the behavior I want to see, you say. Build community, you say. Haven’t I been doing that?? Often, the draw to visible behavior management systems for teachers is the act of doing something. Let’s take a common example in any classroom: A learner is talking while the teacher is talking. What …
Three Things You Can Do Tomorrow To Build Classroom Community Read More »
Even the youngest of children are more perceptive than you think. They are watching. They are listening. They will mimic the people in their surroundings. Be an example. Young children can’t be “MEAN”. For toddlers there is a difference between compliance and understanding. Young children may follow directions but this does not mean they understand …
