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| Al Gore says several times in his movie “An Inconvenient Truth” that global warming is not a political issue, but a moral issue. Mr. Gore couldn’t be more correct. Global Warming is something that we as teachers, have a moral obligation to teach about, regardless of what we teach.
In “An Inconvenient Truth”, former Vice President Al Gore brings to the big screen the message he’s been carrying for three decades about the dangers of global warming. Gore uses an awesome combination of charts, graphs, videos, and even cartoons to illustrate what global warming is, what causes it, and what we can do about it.
I’ve always admired Al Gore and appreciated his enlightened, progressive policies regarding foreign policy as well as the environment, but I’m convinced that Al Gore missed his true calling by going into politics. Al Gore is a fantastic teacher. His delivery and timing are perfect, and his use of multi-media is masterful. In one scene in which he is illustrating the rising carbon dioxide levels, Gore jumps on a lift that raises him above his giant projection screen to the “extension screen” needed to illustrate his point.
I was sure my students would be bored silly with the movie, but I was determined to show it anyway, giving them a detailed worksheet to insure their attention. As it turns out, I didn’t need it. The students hung on his every point because they understood, in no uncertain terms that their future is in peril.
While some of my students had already seen the movie in the most natural of disciplines Earth Science class, they didn’t mind watching it again. I showed it in my US History and Government class by mixing it in with my unit on the Industrial Revolution, illustrating how, even today we struggle to control the effects of our industrialization. In English and Language Arts the movie can be used as a powerful example of persuasive speaking. It doesn’t matter how many times the students see the movie; its message is WELL worth repeating.
The movie is not without political bias however. There are several scenes in the movie that focus on Gore’s life and experiences, and these segments are the very reason many people tend to dismiss the movie’s tremendous environmental message. If this is a concern for teachers, these scenes are easy to seamlessly fast-forward through. Omitting the political issues the movie raises allow students to focus on the moral implications of ruining our environment.
The movie underscores the importance of our mission as teachers. We teach in one way or another to make the world a better place for our children. By showing “An Inconvenient Truth” we not only contribute to making the world a better place, but we also help to improve the chance that to the world will be habitable for our children and grandchildren.
For more information visit climatecrisis.net
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| The superintendent of my school district recently retired, and not so much out of choice but as the result of a settlement. The details are irrelevant.
Bygones.
The Queen Bee was by far the best superintendent our district ever had, and probably will ever have. Although her stepping on toes led in great part to her undoing, her willingness to not just step, but stomp on a few toes was her greatest virtue as superintendent.
Superintendents need to have vision and the political will to see that vision through despite some very vocal opposition. Many of my former Superintendents have been wonderful people with the best of intentions, but they sought at all costs to maintain the status quo. When, in an aberrant moment someone deviated from the status quo, they sought to smooth the ripple and placate the public at all costs.
Our district has always done well on relative terms, but never really done great in a lot of aspects. Really good is okay to be, but, to quote Bruce Cockburn, “the trouble with normal is it always gets worse.” When Her Majesty came she made it clear from the start that we wouldn’t be pursuing business as usual. She pushed for our graduation rate, which hovered around 90%, to go even higher. She pushed our technology, which was just short of adequate, up to beyond outstanding.
Superintendents, like politicians, seldom say what they’re really thinking, and when they say they’re going to do something, they do so with cautious and politically correct steps. Not much gets done this way.
Not so with the Queen Bee. When she was unhappy with something she said so in no uncertain terms. By doing so she inspired action. When she gave orders, she also made sure the people under her followed through.
Her Majesty stepped on quite a few toes, including mine. When I took over as chair of my department I had the dubious pleasure of feeling her wrath more directly. I questioned her philosophy of providing students with multiple opportunities, but she explained it in a way that made sense to me. Even if I didn’t believe in it wholeheartedly she always had a rationale that was rooted in what was best for the students of the district.
I don’t think my district will ever again hire someone with her guts candor or her delightfully effective Machiavellian streak. The district will find someone who communicates in vague politically correct edspeak instead of laying it all out on the table. They’ll find someone who gently prods the champions of the status quo, even if it’s flawed, rather than giving them the good swift kick in the ass they so desperately need.
While my toes will be safer for having her gone, I’d much rather take the risk for the sake of the kids. Good leaders are willing to take risks, and those who follow a good leader are better off for it.
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| Exam week is a strange time of the year. At the secondary level anyway, the students come in only when they need to, and though we have a lot of work to do, we usually do it together and we get a lot more time to be colleagues and have a little fun outside of our usual isolation.
The biggest advantage of exam week is that when we don’t have exams, we don’t have to dress up for school. It’s all jeans. I don’t even shave. I’m trying to start a tradition, at least among my male colleagues not to shave until after we’ve finished grading our exams. Perhaps this will be a way of improving student performance.
Also, being Social Studies teachers and reading student essays, we get to read some really funny stuff. We see fantastic revisions and distortions of history that get better each year. Martin Luther King leads the protestant reformation, Rosa Parks refuses to the move to the back of the Underground Railroad train and Gandhi hangs out with the Buddha. After several hours of exams we’re usually so punch drunk that these things have us in tears.
The bad part of exam week, whether it’s midterms or finals, is that it’s the time of year when we need students to be the MOST motivated and, in fact, they’re the least motivated. There are very few good teacher centered review activities, but students only want to be spoon fed the information, thus requiring the least amount of thought on their part. Thus before exams, no matter what our level of experience is, we get nervous as hell.
The truly ugly part of the exam is the statistical dissection of the tests. Which questions did the students miss? What answer distracted them the most? Why did students write what they did on the essays? How does this compare to other teachers’ students? How does this compare with how students did statewide? What are the implications for our instruction? In our district, administrations requests answers to these questions at least 48 hours before we’ve actually graded the exams.
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| By Carole Fawcett
The politics of any work environment can be a challenge from time to time. Most of it is due to stress in the workplace. The higher the stress, the higher the incidence of stress related behaviours or illnesses.
We work in environments where expectations and rules change at an alarming rate. Technology has apparently brought progress, but at what price? A financial institution in major city requires their employees to take distance ed courses at night, after a long day at work. Some of these employees having been with the company for decades, are now in their late 50’s, but are expected to add to their days work and to their stress level. They are required to take three or four of these courses in the next four years. If they don’t, they could lose their jobs.
Have you looked for work recently? Even for the lowest paying job the interview process can be quite silly. At a well known coffee chain they do two or even three interviews with one person.
For some bizarre reason resume formats keep changing and there are people with four year degrees, hired by the Government teaching the most basic skill of resume writing. We have taken something that should be straight forward and we have made it complicated.
Another phenomenon is occurring. People are so geared to working alone at their computers, that we are losing the ability to communicate effectively with one another. We are not only working in our own head space, but in our own physical space as well. I believe the term is cocooning.
There is a new phrase out there these days. It is called “self care”. In former times, we didn’t have to think about this. It just happened naturally as we came home from work. We would visit with our family, maybe play some physical games with the kids, walk the family dog, take a short nap or read a book. It was called relaxation and it was assumed we could all do this. Now, with computers and televisions we are not without this isolating technology in many rooms of our homes. So, we not only cocoon at work, we come home and continue to do so for the evening as well.
We don’t laugh as much now as we did in the 1950’s. We used to laugh for 20 minutes each day and now we are lucky to squeeze in 6 minutes of daily joy. In our quest for success and at the expense of our happiness, we have foolishly changed attitudes and become extremely serious in all aspects of our lives. Simply put, we have forgotten how to play and have fun. Despite this, our minds and our bodies are wise beyond our comprehension and this fact is now being proven on a scientific level. If we choose to laugh more and be more joyful, our bodies response is immediate as blood vessels open up, blood pressure drops, pain lessens and we feel happier. Amazingly and quite wonderfully, we are still in control of how we choose to work and to play. Help yourself and make smart choices for your life. If you need some suggestions about self care activities, visit my webpage and click on the tab that says “Laughter Facts” – then scroll to the right.
Laugh, smile at everyone you come in contact with and inject some play into every day. It will make a huge difference in your quality of life and will help to alleviate the effects of stress. That’s a promise.
Carole Fawcett is a Canadian Stress Management expert and a Laughter Therapist. Her joyful energy is contagious and she is passionate about what she does. She is also teaches therapeutic hospital clowns and is a published free lance writer. See her website at http://www.afunnybusiness.ca
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carole_Fawcett
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| I spent many of my formative years as an army brat. For those unfamiliar with the term, that means the child of a soldier. Being an army brat had a great influence on my development. Of course, my relationship with my father was critical to my development also. Unlike my two older brothers, I actually got to be one of his “troops” as he transitioned from Command Sergeant Major to Hardware Store Manager and pillar of my home town’s business community. I don’t think I would have appreciated his accomplishments as much if I hadn’t had the opportunity to see his leadership on a day to day basis.
While in the Army, my Dad spent his entire career as an enlisted man. An enlisted man is a soldier who has little or no training before hand, and does all the hard, dirty work for the army. Dad progressed up the ranks from Private, to Sergeant, to 1st Sergeant, then to Master Sergeant. At that point, Dad went to the Sergeant Major’s academy, where he learned important skills for his next step as a leader among enlisted man. Dad retired at the prestigious rank of Command Sergeant Major – the highest rank any enlisted man can reach, although only a select few actually do.
If I told a civilian that my Dad was a Command Sergeant Major, it probably wouldn’t register. If I’d said he was a Colonel, it would register. When I mention this to any former soldier that my Dad was a CSM, it elicits something close to awe, more than a colonel or maybe even a general.
Most people unfamiliar with the army often ask why my Dad, and other career enlisted men, never became officers. There’s a big difference between the two. My dad, when he became a 1st Sergeant, joined the ranks of non-commissioned officers. These are the people who actually lead the troops in their day to day duties, combat or otherwise.
A commissioned officer arrives at his position either by attending West Point, or some other military college, or by going to R.O.T.C. training in college. They begin their careers with a higher rank than all enlisted men, although they’ve seldom, if ever, done the work of an enlisted man. Some enlisted men decide early in their careers to become officers, and if they qualify, they can go for special training to become officers. Few soldiers take advantage of this though, since many aren’t accepted socially in the “elite” officer’s circle.
An officer’s career begins as a 2nd Lieutenant. These men and women, with few exceptions, begin their career perpetually clueless. Those that succeed and eventually earn the respect of the enlisted men are the ones who eventually get a clue. Those that aren’t successful are like the ones who were “fragged” in Vietnam. “Fragged” means to be killed by one’s own men for egregious and life-threatening incompetence in battle. Other unsuccessful Lieutenants thankfully get out of the army. Those that are successful work their way up the ranks.
Officers and enlisted men including NCO’s are pretty strictly segregated. Officers make a lot more money and live in better housing. Thus, officer’s kids and enlisted men’s kids seldom, if ever played together.
Thus, although my Dad was a decorated war veteran who had lots of official looking certificates and honors, throughout most of my formative years I didn’t really distinguish him from all the other Dads of all the other kids that I played with until he got promoted to Command Sergeant Major. I remember having to get dressed up in my best and most uncomfortable clothes to go to a parade. Almost all the troops at Fort Carson were in the parade, and they all marched to where we were sitting and saluted. Then it dawned on me…. This whole parade was in HIS honor. All the troops were saluting him, and were now under HIS command. And I later understood that he was the man they looked up to, far more than any officers present at the parade.
My Dad retired a few years later, and after a short time in the ranks worked his way up to manage a local hardware store. As I worked for him, and watched him lead his employees and conduct his business, I was inspired, and wanted somehow to follow in his footsteps. The Army wasn’t for me though, and my father realized that, jokingly threatening me that if I joined the army he would break my legs.
It wasn’t until very recently in my career that I realized I’m finally following in his footsteps, although I’m going up the very different road of education.
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| By Frank Holes Jr.
It’s parent-teacher conference time! Some are positive experiences where teachers are able to make great connections with parents. And yet other meetings are foretold by apprehension and met with strife. Over the years, you will encounter the gamut of positive and negative experiences, and everything in between. However, there are strategies you can use to make the best of any situation.
It is extremely important to make a good first impression (even if you already know the parents). Make eye contact with them, and greet the parents with a firm handshake. No weak grips! If you’ve never met the parents, stand up to introduce yourself. Welcome them with a smile. Remember that you are building relationships, and setting the tone for the conference.
A good way to open the conference is to ask how the student is doing in other classes. Ask about their other grades, and start building an overall picture. You will often find the student’s strong and weak areas, and you may even find surprises. I’ve found students who were failing every class but mine. And I’ve found the opposite too. A good overall picture can really give you a new perspective on your students.
Always try to say something positive. Even in the cloudiest of situations, you should find some ray of sunshine. And if you do have bad news to share, opening with good news can help ease the transition.
Be objective with bad news. Give truthful and accurate facts, and keep from making speculations. Make sure you have your facts straight! Work with parents, and try to offer suggestions. Most parents will look to you for ideas. Plan what you’ll say ahead of time. If you’ve taken the time to get to know your students well, you’ll find the conferences easier.
Positive parents are what we all expect and hope for. They come in with an open mind, are pleasant, and are willing to both listen to your comments and help with solutions to problems that do occur. These are often very short conferences at the middle and high school levels. The parents have heard the stories all before, and with good reason; students whose parents regularly attend conferences have higher grade averages and fewer instances of behavior problems than those students whose parents rarely interact with school personnel.
The truth be known, many parents are intimidated by teachers. Many do worry that their concerns and critiques will be turned around and used against their kids. Even though teachers find this entire concept laughable and preposterous, it does, nonetheless, cross many parents’ minds.
So, what do you do with a hostile parent? Diffuse the situation by being patient and listening. Sometimes its hard to just listen while parents are going off on you. They may be right or wrong, misinformed or even plain out of line. It is only a mistake to interrupt them, especially if they are on a roll. Stop yourself, focus on what they’re saying, even take notes to show you’re listening, and let them burn themselves out. Sometimes the hostile parents are looking for an audience, and sometimes they just need to vent. By giving them the time to ‘get it all out of their system’, you allow them to calm down so you both can reasonably discuss the situation.
Be sure to stand when they leave, again this is being courteous and polite. Thank them for attending. And let them know you’ll contact them if anything changes. Parents generally want to be kept informed about their kids, both the good and bad.
For this article, and more on teaching and education, be sure to check out our website:
http://www.starteaching.com
Frank Holes, Jr. is the editor of the StarTeaching website and the bi-monthly newsletter, Features for Teachers. Check out our latest issue at:
http://www.starteaching.com/Features_for_Teachers_2feb2.htm
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frank_Holes_Jr.
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| As my career in education has progressed, and I’ve reached the erstwhile age of 40, I often see parallels between my career in education and my father’s career in the Army. As I get older, I realize that I’m following in my father’s footsteps, although they progressed in widely varied directions.
I’m often struck by the similarities between the field of education and the military, and those comparisons have really started to sharpen in the past few months as I’ve gone from regular teacher to the Chair of my department. My district actually uses the word “Liaison” but I think “Chair” sounds much more official, and that’s the word I use when I’m talking to people outside the district.
I want to capture some of these comparisons at this particular time for a few reasons. First, my father’s birthday is coming up next month, and he likes when I write nice things about him. I use the comparison between the Army and Education to illustrate some of the differences between teachers and administrators by showing the differences between enlisted men and officers. I’d also like to acknowledge the great work of a select few administrators that I respect. Finally, it’s a way to put my own career up to this point in perspective.
There’s four parts
1. How the Army Works: Enlisted Men and Officers
2. How Education Works: Teachers and Administrators
3. Becoming an Non-Commissioned Officer in the World of Education
4. Administrators: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
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| After being interviewed by the school administration, the eager teaching prospect said:
“Let me see if I’ve got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning.
And I’m supposed to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity, modify their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and even censor their T-shirt messages and dress habits.
You want me to wage a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for weapons of mass destruction, and raise their self esteem.
You want me to teach them patriotism, good citizenship,
sportsmanship, fair play, how to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook, and how to apply for a job.
I am to check their heads for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of anti-social behavior, make sure all students pass the mandatory state exams, even those who don’t come to school regularly or complete any of their assignments.
Plus, I am to make sure that all of the students with handicaps get an equal education regardless of the extent of their mental or physical handicap.
And I am to communicate regularly with the parents by letter, telephone, newsletter and report card. All of this I am to do with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a big smile AND on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps!
You want me to do all of this and yet you expect me……
NOT TO PRAY!!!!!!!!!!!
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| Performed by: Green Day or The Who
Lesson Topics
History
- The Great Gatsby
- Catcher in the Rye
Notes: I used to use Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” for my lesson on the 1920’s, then it occurred to me that just about every new generation in the 20th Century (and eventually the 21st) does a lot of things that annoy the older generations.
Lyrics:
People try to put us d-down (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
People try to put us d-down (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Just because we get around (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Just because we get around (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
This is my generation
This is my generation
This is my generation, baby
This is my generation, baby
Why don’t you all f-fade away (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Why don’t you all f-fade away (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
And don’t try to dig what we all s-s-say (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
And don’t try to dig what we all s-s-say (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I’m not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I’m not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I’m just talkin’ ’bout my g-g-g-generation (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I’m just talkin’ ’bout my g-g-g-generation (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
This is my generation
This is my generation
This is my generation, baby
This is my generation, baby
Why don’t you all f-fade away (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Why don’t you all f-fade away (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
And don’t try to d-dig what we all s-s-say (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
And don’t try to d-dig what we all s-s-say (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I’m not trying to cause a b-big s-s-sensation (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I’m not trying to cause a b-big s-s-sensation (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I’m just talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I’m just talkin’ ’bout my g-g-generation (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
This is my generation
This is my generation
This is my generation, baby
This is my generation, baby
Quiz questions:
List five complaints that old people have about “your” generation.
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| By Jean Morgan
If you’ve ever left a lecture and wondered why you couldn’t remember anything your teacher just said or wished for an illustrated textbook to help some information sink in, you’re not alone. We all learn in various ways and knowing the different learning styles and where you fit into them is crucial in receiving a good education.
Most people will fall into one of the different learning styles, visual, auditory or kinesthetic. If you do not know which of the learning styles best fits your needs, you will waste both time and energy trying to learn in a way that is not conducive to you. Once you do know which of the different learning styles will work for you, you can start altering the way you do your studying to help increase your comprehension.
If you’re a visual learning, you like to watch the way your teacher expresses themselves when they talk and learning from visual displays will work best for you. Each of the different learning styles come with their own set of suggestion on things you should do to help your mind absorb information faster and with newfound ease. You might want to try illustrating your notes with pictures and images relating to the topic you’re learning, study in a quiet place, sit in the front of the classroom and used color to highlight important information.
Another one of the different learning styles is auditory. This type of learner is best able to listen to information rather than read about it. They will do best in a discussion, lecture or debate atmosphere and they may have trouble absorbing information when it is read. The auditory learner should tape record lectures, read text out loud and create musical jingles to help them memorize information.
The third of the different learning styles discussed here is kinesthetic. This means that moving and touching is essential. This type of learner just can’t sit still and they really need the hands on approach to studying and learning before they can take in any information. Out of the three different learning styles described, this person will need to take more frequent study breaks and possibly even work in a standing position. Listening to music while studying could be helpful for this type of learner as well.
If you aren’t sure which of the different learning styles applies to you, don’t worry. It’s very simple to find out, but you can do a basic analysis on your own as well. Stop and think back to your time spent in class and studying. You probably can recall times when you felt extremely frustrated and stressed out, right? Now, try to figure out the reason for these emotions and see if they had anything to do with one of the different learning styles. Think about the differences between all three and the descriptions each one has. Which one most aptly describes you?
You can purchase books on the different learning styles or search the web for additional info. Another great idea is to talk with your school counselor to see if they offer any free tests or questionnaires that could help you determine which of the different learning styles best fits you.
J Morgan is a leacturer in Business and Management. She also owns a number of information websites http://www.businessstudent.co.uk, http://www.myinternetmarketingresources.com, http://www.managementstudent.co.uk
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