Have you read The Ten-Minute Inservice yet?! It is great! I am so excited to be teaming up with these amazing ladies to bring you a book study on it!!
The second section of the book is all about Teaching Practices! I LOVE these! This is where we get to figure out how we can become better teachers! Isn't that what we all strive to be, the best teacher we can?!
The first two inservice ideas jumped off the page for me! You are going to have your teachers take a test to determine if they think the teaching strategy is effective, or NOT effective. Then you are going to have them pick one or two of those areas and have them work on them for the week to see how they can improve them! I LOVE this idea because it is giving them something tangible to work on. Then they will know that they shouldn't begin a lesson with please open the book to page 20. I think it would be AWESOME if we were able to go through these things together, with your principal, so you would know exactly what your principal thinks are effective strategies or non-effective strategies.
When you plan your lessons do you plan from bell to bell!? This was a great inservice idea on how to discourage distractions from happening in your classroom. When you have overplanned or planned out enough that there is not time for students to have down time, then you will limit the distractions in your classroom. When students know that you have high expectations for what they are going to get down, and that you have another great activity planned for them, they are going to rise to the occasion and work from BELL to BELL!! I LOVE this idea!!
How many games have you been to where you see the coach sitting on the sideline not paying attention to what is going on out on the court or the field? Anyone? I don't think that I have ever been to a game like that and I know I didn't coach like that either. So then, why is it that teachers find their desks so important in their classrooms!? Now I know that we all like to be organized and have somewhere to keep all of that stuff that we have. But, does that mean that you should have a super comfy teacher chair too!? I don't think so, because you shouldn't be in it unless your kids AREN'T in your classroom. Now I know I am guilty of this too, but I plan on tackling the fourth quarter with a new mindset! A great coach doesn't sit on the bench and watch the game. A great coach is UP and MOVING around during the game! He is helping his players out and giving pointers. What a great idea, to be a great teacher you can be a great coach.
I firmly believe that school should be FUN!! Yes, you should have structure, and yes you should teach BELL to BELL, but that doesn't mean it has to be boring! As the teacher you need to set the stage and share the excitement! I don't know anyone who doesn't this better than
Hope King!! I am sure that most of you know who she is, but if you don't, please go RUN and check her out!!
You need to be excited about what you are teaching! Sure, it may not be something that you love, but if you aren't showing an excitement about what you are going to teach, then WHY are your students going to be EXCITED?!
If you want to check out more about the book, feel free to check out these other bloggers to learn more great tips and inservice ideas!
Check out Part I - Classroom Management
Check out Part III - Improving School Climate on March 19
Check out Part IV - Learning from Others on March 26
Check out Part V - What Makes a Great Teacher?! on April 2
