Your First Year As a High School Teacher


Book Description

Survive & Thrive in the Classroom From Day One! Teaching high school students is the toughest job you'll ever love. Of course, often it is an acquired love. You must learn to manage your students' education and play parent, counselor, police officer, and mentor. Wow! Now relax—it doesn't have to be overwhelming. With a little preparation you can ensure that you and your students get the most out of your time in the classroom and enjoy it! Full of real-world advice and answers for the complex issues facing today's high school teachers, this down-to-earth and witty book will teach you how to create an atmosphere of cooperation, learning, and respect within your classroom. Use this helpful guide as your personal mentor to achieve a successful and satisfying career as a high school teacher. Earn straight A's your first year by knowing how to: ·Create an attention-grabbing and interactive teaching environment ·Manage difficult students and unique teenage problems ·Communicate, educate, and have fun with your students ·Balance the demands of old-school administrators and pushy parents ·Fairly assess, grade, and evaluate students ·Develop effective and engrossing lesson plans "Straightforward, up-to-date, and engaging. I've seen a lot of resource books for new teachers, and this is the best of the bunch." —Wendell Geis, continuing education administrator, University of California, Davis




The Knowledge Gap


Book Description

The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.




Making Your First Year a Success


Book Description

"Provides tools that give new teachers the confidence to face complex classroom challenges. When teachers have a successful first year, they are more likely to return and continue making a difference for children." —Catherine H. Payne, Principal W.R. Farrington High School, Honolulu, HI "Provides specific and practical advice, from how to create wonderful lessons to dealing with difficult parents, all geared to the needs of new secondary teachers." —Catherine Kilfoyle Duffy, English Department Chair Three Village Central School District, Stony Brook, NY A practical guide to overcoming the challenges of your first year. You′ve completed the course work, student teaching, and interviewing. The job is yours. Now what? The first weeks and months of a new teaching position can be the most demanding of your entire career. In this new edition of their bestseller, veteran educators Robert L. Wyatt III and J. Elaine White share a combined 50 years of teaching experience as well as insight and advice from hundreds of teachers in the field they have personally trained. Comprehensive yet concise, Making Your First Year a Success, Second Edition is expressly tailored to assist secondary teachers. Updated topics in this thoroughly revised second edition include: Integrating technology into classroom activities Connecting lesson planning and standards Incorporating differentiation into the secondary classroom Dealing with stress and nurturing yourself emotionally and physically Whether starting fresh with your first group of students or revitalizing your commitment to the profession you entered many years ago, this handbook will easily become the well-worn reference you turn to again and again for quick tips, practical applications, and words of encouragement.




Grown and Flown


Book Description

PARENTING NEVER ENDS. From the founders of the #1 site for parents of teens and young adults comes an essential guide for building strong relationships with your teens and preparing them to successfully launch into adulthood The high school and college years: an extended roller coaster of academics, friends, first loves, first break-ups, driver’s ed, jobs, and everything in between. Kids are constantly changing and how we parent them must change, too. But how do we stay close as a family as our lives move apart? Enter the co-founders of Grown and Flown, Lisa Heffernan and Mary Dell Harrington. In the midst of guiding their own kids through this transition, they launched what has become the largest website and online community for parents of fifteen to twenty-five year olds. Now they’ve compiled new takeaways and fresh insights from all that they’ve learned into this handy, must-have guide. Grown and Flown is a one-stop resource for parenting teenagers, leading up to—and through—high school and those first years of independence. It covers everything from the monumental (how to let your kids go) to the mundane (how to shop for a dorm room). Organized by topic—such as academics, anxiety and mental health, college life—it features a combination of stories, advice from professionals, and practical sidebars. Consider this your parenting lifeline: an easy-to-use manual that offers support and perspective. Grown and Flown is required reading for anyone looking to raise an adult with whom you have an enduring, profound connection.




How to be Successful in Your First Year of Teaching High School


Book Description

Teaching can be a very stressful profession, one that causes worry in everyone who steps in front of a classroom for the first time and for a new High School teacher especially it can be downright overwhelming. The high turn- over rate of new teachers and the stress involved with such low pay can be an immediate deterrent, but in most cases, the biggest problem is that new teachers are just not prepared for their first year in the role. This book, written for every new teacher who is stepping into a classroom for the first time, is designed to be that initial introduction every new high school teacher needs. Within the pages of this highly researched new book, first-year high school teachers will learn how to deal with supplies, planning, parents, overcrowded classrooms, the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, piles of paperwork, money shortages due to budget cuts, negativity from students and other staff members, at-risk students, students who are capable but choose not to work, and special needs students. You will learn how to ask principals and administrators for help, how to memorize names quickly, how to create seating charts, how to write lesson plans, how to follow a daily routine, how to help struggling students, how to gain respect from teenagers, finding a mentor, how to develop and implement a grading system, how to discipline older students, how to create assessments, how to find free things for teachers, and how to build your confidence. Perhaps most important of all, you will learn everything you need to know about how to deal with your students and the issues they face in their crucial teen years, from racism to low self esteem or abuse. In addition, you will read about where to go for support, mandated tests, technology solutions, and behavior management skills. We spent countless hours interviewing second year high school teachers in a number of subjects, as well as veteran teachers, and have provided you with their proven techniques and strategies for surviving your first year as a high school teacher. With the help of this book, you will ace your first year in front of the class and be ready to become the role model you always wanted to be in your second year. Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president's garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed. This Atlantic Publishing eBook was professionally written, edited, fact checked, proofed and designed. The print version of this book is 288 pages and you receive exactly the same content. Over the years our books have won dozens of book awards for content, cover design and interior design including the prestigious Benjamin Franklin award for excellence in publishing. We are proud of the high quality of our books and hope you will enjoy this eBook version.




The Together Teacher


Book Description

An essential guide for over-scheduled teachers Maia Heyck-Merlin helps teachers build the habits, customize the tools, and create space to become a Together Teacher. This practical resource shows teachers how to be effective and have a life! Author and educator Maia Heyck-Merlin explores the key habits of Together Teachers—how they plan ahead, organize work and their classrooms, and how they spend their limited free time. The end goal is always strong outcomes for their students. So what does Together, or Together Enough, look like? To some teachers it might mean neat filing systems. To others it might mean using time efficiently to get more done in fewer minutes. Regardless, Together Teachers all rely on the same skills. In six parts, the book clearly lays out these essential skills. Heyck-Merlin walks the reader through how to establish simple yet successful organizational systems. There are concrete steps that every teacher can implement to achieve greater stability and success in their classrooms and in their lives. Contains templates and tutorials to create and customize a personal organizational system and includes a companion website: www.thetogetherteacher.com Recommends various electronic or online tools to make a teacher's school day (and life!) more efficient and productive Includes a Reader's Guide, a great professional development resource; teachers will answer reflection questions, make notes about habits, and select tools that best match individual needs and preferences Ebook customers can access CD contents online. Refer to the section in the Table of Contents labeled, Download CD/DVD Content, for detailed instructions.




The Professor Is In


Book Description

The definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their Ph.D. into their ideal job Each year tens of thousands of students will, after years of hard work and enormous amounts of money, earn their Ph.D. And each year only a small percentage of them will land a job that justifies and rewards their investment. For every comfortably tenured professor or well-paid former academic, there are countless underpaid and overworked adjuncts, and many more who simply give up in frustration. Those who do make it share an important asset that separates them from the pack: they have a plan. They understand exactly what they need to do to set themselves up for success. They know what really moves the needle in academic job searches, how to avoid the all-too-common mistakes that sink so many of their peers, and how to decide when to point their Ph.D. toward other, non-academic options. Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.’s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers. Now, for the first time ever, Karen has poured all her best advice into a single handy guide that addresses the most important issues facing any Ph.D., including: -When, where, and what to publish -Writing a foolproof grant application -Cultivating references and crafting the perfect CV -Acing the job talk and campus interview -Avoiding the adjunct trap -Making the leap to nonacademic work, when the time is right The Professor Is In addresses all of these issues, and many more.




First Year Teacher's Survival Guide


Book Description

The best-selling First Year Teacher's Survival Kit gives new teachers a wide variety of tested strategies, activities, and tools for creating a positive and dynamic learning environment while meeting the challenges of each school day. Packed with valuable tips, the book helps new teachers with everything from becoming effective team players and connecting with students to handling behavior problems and working within diverse classrooms. The new edition is fully revised and updated to cover changes in the K-12 classroom over the past five years. Updates to the second edition include: • New ways teachers can meet the professional development requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act • Entirely new section on helping struggling readers, to address the declining literacy rate among today’s students • Expanded coverage of helpful technology solutions for the classroom • Expanded information on teaching English Language Learners • Greater coverage of the issues/challenges facing elementary teachers • More emphasis on how to reach and teach students of poverty • Updated study techniques that have proven successful with at-risk students • Tips on working effectively within a non-traditional school year schedule • The latest strategies for using graphic organizers • More emphasis on setting goals to help students to succeed • More information on intervening with students who are capable but choose not to work • Updated information on teachers’ rights and responsibilities regarding discipline issues • Fully revised Resources appendix including the latest educational Web sites and software




Finding Mrs. Warnecke


Book Description

Finding Mrs. Warnecke tells the inspiring story of Cindi Rigsbee, a three-time Teacher of the Year, and Barbara Warnecke, the first-grade teacher who had a profound and lasting impact on Cindi's life. Cindi, an insecure child who craved positive attention, started her first-grade year with a teacher who was emotionally abusive and played favorites in the classroom. Two months into the school year, her principal came into the classroom and announced that half the students were being moved to another classroom--a dank, windowless basement room, with a young and inexperienced teacher. This change turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to Cindi. Her new teacher, Mrs. Warnecke, made learning come alive for her students. She went overboard caring for each child, made her classroom "magical," and encouraged students to pursue their dreams. Although Cindi was reluctant to explore her creativity as a student, Mrs. Warnecke encouraged her to read and write poetry, which became a lifelong passion. The two kept in touch for several years but lost track of each other when Mrs. Warnecke moved out of state. Cindi spent many years trying to reconnect so she could thank Mrs. Warnecke for making such a difference in her life, but to no avail. Eventually Cindi became a teacher herself, and thirty years later she has taught more than 2,000 children and been named Teacher of the Year for her home state. She later came to realize that all those years she wasn't really trying to track down Barbara Warnecke, but rather, she was trying to "find Mrs. Warnecke" within herself. In Fall 2008 Cindi and Barbara were reunited on Good Morning America; the show's producers had tracked Barbara down and brought both women on-set for a tearful reunion. Barbara was floored at this attention--she had no idea she could have made such an impact on a former student's life. As Cindi travels around talking with new and veteran educators, she is always approached by audience members who are moved to tears and want to share the story of the "Mrs. Warnecke" in their own lives. Finding Mrs. Warnecke not only tells the story of this teacher who made a lifelong impact on her students, it illustrates the importance of the teacher/student relationship in the classroom, and offers principles for other teachers to follow to make a positive impact in their own classrooms.




Success from the Start


Book Description

This book highlights how students learn math and the pedagogy behind it. Using vignettes based on real classroom discussions, the authors illustrate effective teaching practices to support math learning. Success from the Start: Your First Years Teaching Elementary Mathematics acts as a supportive and reassuring companion that you can return to throughout your journey as an elementary mathematics teacher. As a beginning elementary mathematics teacher you might already be asking yourself these questions: How can I differentiate my teaching to meet the diverse needs of my students? What assessments best advance student learning? How can students understand math if I do not show them different strategies and tell them about the underlying mathematical structures and properties? What advice do I give parents about how to support their children’s math learning?