School Year Starting

I'm still really excited about the new semester starting. I feel as though I have had enough time off, even though I know I could always use more rest.

One of the interesting things I have set up for all of my courses are the assignments already listed in Gradebook. Gradebook is a tool that is part of Blackboard that has become the electronic way to do everything from having a virtual classroom, sending out email to the class, sometimes even taking glances of students' pictures before the class starts. It is wonderful to have this technology as part of teaching these days. They did not have anything such as this while I was in school.

Another thing I have set up is that all of my lesson plans for the semester are prepared. When I was a waitress, as well as art model at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto, there was this great woman I met there who used to teach at Seneca College. She still teaches art at the Arts and Letters Club I believe. She gave me a hint about being organized that has truly helped me out and made it possible for me to teach so many courses such as I do.

She said she would prepare all of her lesson plans before the semester starts. I thought at the time and still do think this is brilliant. The reason why is because before I knew about this, my weekends would be devoted to preparing lesson plans for the upcoming week, as well as marking. This meant I would have no social life at all. With this woman's excellent tip - I have still found it possible to do some social things, as well as write on the weekends and the early mornings, plus the occasional evening.

If you find this information helpful which I hope you do - please feel free to take full advantage of it. You can also find more information about teaching in my book The Education Generation which can be purchased along with other books at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged. Enter "LULUBOOK" on checkout and you will receive 10 per cent off for this month.

The Perils of Freelance Teaching

It is a good thing that I keep my eggs in more than one basket. This fantastic course I was so psyched about teaching at one of the schools I am at needed to cancel the course due to low enrollment. Now, because the chair of the program is a good person, she offered me another section of the course to teach. This was extremely - and I mean extremely kind of her. The problem is that I do wear a lot of hats and I am already booked for a job that pays better in a similar time slot. It's a shame because I would have loved to teach that course and I hope it works out for the winter.

So, all this to say that now I'm teaching nine courses instead of 10. Oh well, this will give me more time to write for sure and look out for more books from me soon.

Gearing Up for Fall

I will be teaching 10 courses this semester and it is a lot of preparation in the works. Someone who will be coming in as a guest speaker at one of the colleges I teach at said to me that many people do not know how much work teachers actually do. This is absolutely true.

In most situations, not only am I preparing the lesson plans before classes start so I can create some kind of life for myself throughout the semester, I am also coming up with specific assignments, doing pre-readings of textbooks to see which one to adopt as either the required or supplementary texts, answering a lot of email and sending out a lot of email to keep in touch with students and colleagues, creating course outlines - at times in consultation with colleagues and in one case a co-teacher, going to professional development workshops...the list goes on.

It is demanding work, however extremely rewarding. When you see the results of dealing with a class that is less knowledgeable about a subject at the beginning of the semester, then you see their eyes light up from time-to-time and that special "a-ha" moment near the end when many of them cannot deny that they did learn something - it is an amazing feeling. Oh, and I cannot forget to add how much I learn from them - this is enormous too.

I would not trade in the work I do for anything. I hope you enjoy your day.

The New Semester

I'm gearing up for an exciting new semester. I will be teaching six courses at Seneca College, two courses at Centennial College and two courses at Trebas Institute.

Since Trebas starts near the end of September, I will not be in the full swing of 10 courses for the fall until that time. It will be exciting and I am looking forward to it. Last semester, a year from now, I taught nine courses and that went well. I am looking forward to this extra work and the challenge of it.

The courses I will be teaching are two sections of news announcing I, one section of news announcing II, two sections of reading and writing skills, one section of English for academic purposes, global citizenship, beat reporting (where the students will be putting together an online magazine), plus the broadcasting industry and communications I. I'm really looking forward to teaching all of these courses.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION GIVES MONEY

More than a million dollars will be shared between schools in Kansas, Florida and New York. The money will be given by the U.S. Department of Education to help character development and citizenship responsibilities in students. This was announced by the U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings on Friday.

The grants are called Partnerships in Character Education Program awards that will last up to four years. They are eligible to state and local education agencies to put together character education programs that teach children about civics, citizenship, justice, responsibility and respect for others, as well as for themselves.

Recipients of the grant need to show how they have implemented these core values into teacher training, as well as into classroom instruction.

The program also must involve parents, students and the community as part of the process.

The aim of the project to help students develop positive character, reduce discipline problems and improve academic achievement.

SOURCE: http://webclipper.handsnet.org/2008/06/us-department-o-8.php

Tougher Physical Education Standards in Florida

Florida students will now be required to do 30 minutes of daily exercise according to a bill signed by Gov. Charlie Crist.

Beginning in fall 2009 middle schools will offer daily physical education to sixth to eighth grade classes.

Known as the “Don Davis Physical Education Act” is named after a Jacksonville representative who died from brain cancer.

A similar bill was passed last year, however was not enforced. This bill was created to toughen up the original bill and to make sure that students receive the exercise they need.

Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jrivPx1NxYHV_1dmSwFCalmI5EdwD9123KHG0

Technology in the Classroom

There is no way to escape it. Technology is making a big splash in education. It will be coming to classroom near you if it is not there already.

Many classrooms are going digital by replacing old chalkboards with electronic podiums that teachers and professors can use, as well as the students when they are doing presentations.

At the click of some buttons, electronic screens can be lowered, projectors can be turned on and PowerPoint presentations of lesson plans can be displayed to the whole class. Many of these electronic podiums also have the capacity to show VCR tapes, DVDs, play audio from the Internet, hook up a laptop and hook up a video camera. Gone are the days of the slide projectors and green, black or white chalkboards that are still in some classrooms.

This technology is making it possible for all kinds of wonderful things to happen in the classroom. Many schools also have a system called Blackboard where it is possible to post previous lesson notes to students, register the grades, create discussion forums, perform podcasts and audio assignments. Things are a lot different for students now a days than they were when many of us who may teach were at school. Things are a lot different than they were for many of us who are paying for our children to go to school.

The advances in technology will not stop. There will be many more in the making as changes are happening all the time. Many people in schools are looking forward to the day when every classroom has access to computers for the students. Some people who teach do not like this idea because computers can sometimes be a disruptive element in the classroom. With the advent of Facebook, MySpace, MSN Messenger and other social networking sites, some students spend more time communicating with their friends online than actually listening to what is going on in class. Somehow a balance between the advantages and disadvantages of technology in the classroom will be struck.

Source: http://gminks.edublogs.org/2008/06/13/technology-must-be-transparent/