Being an Elementary School Teacher

Teaching is a very interesting and rewarding calling. That being said, it's not for everyone. If you're looking for more information about teaching and what it might entail, then this book is for you. This book was recommended to me by one of the editors of citytowninfo.com. You can get your copy here: Being an Elementary School Teacher

I've had a chance to check out the book (it's free), and find that it offer's several interesting perspectives on teaching in an elementary school. There are 25 stories from all different kinds of teachers - special education, PE, music, etc... I found the it very thoughtful and useful information. It talks about the rewards, as well as the difficulties of teaching. I found it was very truthful and didn't hold back on what is hard about teaching. If you know someone who is considering teaching and might want some insight into the career, please share this with them. Or maybe you just need something to remind you why you still teach, or just want some inspiring stories. Whatever your reason, please check it out.

Being an Elementary School Teacher

Patrick

Share this

Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers

WatchKnow.org

WatchKnow.org is a great new website from the creator of Wikipedia. It is a huge collection of educational videos from all over the net. WatchKnow does not host videos, but collects links and shares them. All the videos are pre-approved for content and appropriateness. Here's a short video about WhatKnow.

One of the best features is that you can sort videos by name, age, and curricular content. I've used it on several occasions, and it is expanding everyday. You can suggest videos to add to the site. Check it out the next time you need a video!

-  Patrick

Share this
Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers

Merry Christmas!

I'd like to take a moment to thank all my readers and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thank you for reading Teaching All Students!


Photo Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons: Stuck in Customs

Patrick

Share this
Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers

#EDYELP

I've just started listening to Rodd Lucier, The Clever Sheep, and his Teacher 2.0 podcast and have really come to like his style, and quick ideas for utilizing web2.0 and 21st century skills in the classroom. Yesterday, I came across his idea for #EDYELP, and it was great! Basically Twitter tracks topics and they get added to a trending topics list. Right now, even though educators are using Twitter like crazy, it never makes the list. So Rodd thought it would be a good idea to get on the Trending Topics list.

Here's the idea, with every Tweet you make today, include the hash tag #EDYELP. That way you can see who is following, what they are talking about and we can get our word out there! Check out his post on the subject - Yelp! (I love his reference to Horton!). Let's make our voices heard today!

Patrick

Share this

Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers

New App: Percentally

I excited to announce that Percentally for the iPhone & iPod Touch has been released! Eric Sailers of Speech Language Pathology Sharing developed the app with Jason Rinn. This is a simple, yet powerful app that allows you to take data. Here's the description from the iTunes Store:

Percentally is a tally counter that automatically converts tallies to percentages. It enables progress tracking in education, athletics, and other activities.

Percentally can track progress on educational goals. It is currently being used to measure special education goals including percentage accuracy of a student’s “s” sound, comprehension of questions, and the number of times a student interrupted. Percentally can also be used in extracurricular activities like sports. Measure the percentage of football passes completed, free throws made in basketball, or the number of putts in a golf round.

Percentally provides options for customizing and sharing. Create a cool appearance by customizing the colors for tally background and numbers. Tally clicks can be silent or can provide audio feedback. Data is easily shared via a clipboard, Google Spreadsheet, and email. The sharing options make data transfer an efficient process.

FEATURES:

* Color-coded single and dual tallies
* Copy the data and paste in another app
* Create spreadsheets w/ Google Docs
* Share data in an email
* Add and edit folder and tally title
* Re-order and delete folders and tallies
* Organize tallies in folders
* Reset and undo tallies
* Configurable clicking sounds
* Text-based notes

REQUIREMENTS:

Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch
Requires iPhone OS 3.1 or later

I've had the opportunity to test out Percentally, as a beta tester, for several weeks now and find it an incredibly useful app. It easily takes data with a tap of your finger. With the addition of copy & paste to other program or a Google Doc you have an easy way to track data. This app has become my go-to app for taking quick and dirty data on behaviors and academics! The app is $2.99 and worth every penny. Please check it out today!

Patrick

Share this

Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers

Vote Now!

Voting for the 2009 Edublog Awards ends in 2 days. Please take a moment, head over and vote for your favorite blogs. While Teaching All Students was not on the list this year, I encourage you to look for some of the blogs I've talked about like the A.T. Tipscast, Free Technology for Teachers & Free Resources from the Net.

Patrick

Share this

Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers

Impromtu Stylus

Lifehacker has quickly become one of my favorite blogs! They always have great ideas, and some of their ways to to things are just ingenious. Recently they had a few ideas on alternative access for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

First, how to use your iPhone/iPod Touch in the winter with gloves on - Conductive Thread. It seems like a very simple hack to sew in some thread so you don't have to take off your gloves to use your device.

They also showed that the flat end of a small battery can be used to access your device - Battery. I can see this being used to help some students access a iPhone or iPod Touch. Attaching a short stick to the end would even make a quick, easy stylus. There are styluses available for purchase, one being the Pogo, but if you need something quick, try out this idea.

Any other ways you have to access touch devices? Leave a comment below!


- Patrick

Share this
Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers

50 Best Blogs for Special Ed Teachers

I'm honored to report that Teaching All Students has been included in a list of the 50 Best Blogs for Special Ed Teachers! Also included in the list are several of my favorite blogs - TLWMSN, SMD Teacher, Free Resources from the Net, Christine Southard, EdTech Solutions, and Speech Language Pathology Sharing.

Please check out these bloggers and all the others on the list!


Patrick

Share this
Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers

Vital Information for Students to know!

A while ago (I'm ashamed to admit at least 2 months ago) a reader forwarded me a link to this article: 50 Things Your Child Should Never Know. I'll admit the title kinda turned me off, but I decided that I would get a chance to read it and offer my opinions, and I'm glad I did! It was an insightful and useful post and I suggest that you read it. I do admit that I don't agree with all the statements (The Holocaust is something all children should be taught about), I do think it brings some very interesting points to consider.

It got me thinking about what information children should know. Especially for students with more significant cognitive disabilities that raises a very interesting question. I personally can remember learning my address, phone number, police & fire phone numbers (I lived in a small town, and we didn't get 911 until I was in middle school) in Kindergarten. Now, as a teacher I teach these items to my students - name, address, phone number, school, age, birthday, etc... I even encourage parents to get dog tags, bracelets, or something to help the children remember these items. Students with disabilities must be able to effectively communicate this information in case of emergency.

Even as I write this, I know that there are problems with teaching them this information. I know that by making it easy for my students to give the information, it makes them easy victims! I know my students will trust just about any adult that comes up to them, and give them the information freely. I do my best to teach them safe persons to talk with, talk to them about strangers, but I don't know if it works. Even with all this, I still do it...mostly because I am hopeful that good people are out there! I can't send them out into the world without knowing their vital information, so I have to hope that nothing bad will come of it.

It's not perfect, I'm curious if anyone else has faced this problem? Have you had any solutions that have worked?


Patrick

Share this
Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers

Differently-Abled Kids Catalog

Did you know that Toys-R-Us put out a catalog for Differently-Abled Kids each year?  I actually had no idea this existed until @miahysteria posted her Examiner Articles.


This guide divides normal toys into specific categories:

• Auditory
• Creativity
• Fine Motor
• Gross Motor
• Language
• Self Esteem
• Social Skills
• Tactile
• Thinking
• Visual

By clicking on a category, you can find toys available online or in the store that meet your need.  You can also sort them by price, age, gender, and more!  It's a great way to see the different ways toys can be used, and what needs they can satisfy.


Patrick


Share this
Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers

Edublog Awards

It's that time of year again, the Edublog Awards! Here are my nominations

For Best use of Audio - The A.T.Tipscast by Chris Bugaj. This podcasts has tips for every teacher!

For Best Resource Sharing - Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne. Multiple posts a day, many of them free, great stuff!

Best individual Blog - Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs by Kate Ahern. Excellent blog for any teacher who works with students with significant cognitive disabilities.

Best Education Technology Blog - Talking SMARTBoards by Anne Marie. She does a great job of sharing materials and ideas to use with any interactive white board.

Best Individual Tweeter - Web20classroom or Stephen W. Anderson. He shares wonderful ideas, and is one of the moderators of the #edchat on Twitter each Tuesday.

Each of these individuals has increased my knowledge in many different ways, make sure to check them out.

Patrick

Share this

Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers

SuperTeacherTools

I heard about a fun site from Angela Maiers (@angelamaiers) on Twitter.

SuperTeacherTools is a site for easy to use, flash games and utilities.   It includes Flash Jeopardy,

a seating chart generator,

a random name generator


and several others.  It's easy to use, customize and free!  I was able to set up a class list within minutes and start using the site.  Have fun checking this one out!


Patrick

Share this
Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful?  Please forward it to them.  Did somebody forward this post to you?  Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free.  If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers