5 tips for teachers to start the school year

With the start of the school year almost upon us it is worth reflecting upon what we do, and how we do it.

These five tips may be of use to both new and experienced teachers to keep in mind facing the challenges of a new group of students with new needs, skills and challenges.

I am sure that you have many pearls of wisdom that may add to these so be sure to add them below.

1:  Be enthused

Enthusiasm, and a passion for what you do are infectious.  You students will feed off of your energy, and the effort they put in will come back to you in spades. 

Speak with vigour and confidence.  Have fun with your kids but also make them aware that the classroom is a ‘sacred’ space for teaching and learning, and threatening that environment will not be tolerated. 

Take no shame in letting your students know you put a lot of time an effort into your job do because you love it, and expect everyone in the room to respect that.  Your students may not love everything you teach, but as long as they put in a genuine effort they should gain your respect in return.

2:  Be organised:

You can wing the occasional lesson here and there, but be cautious that in time your students will lose respect for you if you provide them a disorganised learning space and curriculum too often.

You, and your students should know where things are when needed.  Your students should expect to be challenged and engaged throughout the day, not just filling time.

Poor organisation can be terminal in building a good teacher student relationship as you can appear incompetent.  Furthermore, you may struggle for credibility when your students replicate this poor modelled behaviour. 

3:  Lay ground rules early:

Without entering the realm of classroom rules and what they might consist of, remember the key is to have something in place.  Keep it simple.  Be firm, but fair and always make students aware of poor behaviour before acting upon it. 

The flip side of this is praising and rewarding those who are modelling positive behaviour.  Personally, I am not a fan of tangible rewards, but in certain environments you need to cast a ‘hook’ that will attract good behaviour.  It will be different nearly every year.

Rewards tend to work well when they benefit the entire class, but once again everyone’s clientele and circumstances are very different.

4:  Consistency

This is the toughest of all in my eyes as life is impossible to get everything right all the time.  Furthermore, it is this area your students will constantly remind you about if and when you fail to deliver.  

Have a small set of non-negotiable behaviours and actions in your room and try and explain your actions to the group when an incident occurs. Be transparent.  Try to never get into a position justifying your actions to a single student one on one.  This is dangerous territory. 

You may aspire to be your students ‘best friend’ and on many occasions this is a great place to be when the going is good.  Never forget your role and responsibility as the caretaker and leader of your students.  This doesn’t mean being a dictator, but understand all good teachers are required to be the ‘bad cop’ on occasion.

Balance is key.  You don’t want to be known as ‘The Fun Killer’ but students will always try and push the boundaries of teachers that can’t stand up for themselves.

5:  Don’t lock yourself away.

This one is simple.  Even if you are the greatest teacher in the world it is imperative that you share your successes and failures with others.  This can happen inside and outside your school via professional development coaching or a range of other methods depending on what you have available to you.

Get to the staffroom when you can for a cuppa to have a formal and informal discussion about what’s been happening in your classroom.

Don’t forget also sites like this, Pinterest and thousands of others  are packed with great ideas from teachers all around the world so be sure to regularly use the web to your and your students advantage.

How to connect your Apple TV to a VGA projector with Audio

The Apple TV unit is a must for any classroom using iPads.  The ability to share screens via AipPlay with others makes teaching and learning a far more communal experience, and at $99 it is just too good to pass up.

Unfortunately, most classroom are not equipped with a brand new HDMI enabled video and audio inputs that exist on the Apple TV as the majority still utilise VGA data projectors.  

Many teachers in this situation who have purchased an Apple TV are somewhat disappointed, as they sacrifice functionality or mobility in an effort to project iPads to the big screen due to the incompatibility of new and old technology.

Yes, there are multiple alternatives to get around this but if you want high quality video, and audio to your existing old school speakers and full wireless mobility then this is the easiest and cheapest solution that just simply works.

The Kanex ATV Pro adapter is the ultimate solution to this problem offering full functionality with a traditional VGA projector and also enables audio through a standard headphone jack.  This device will also allow you to work wirelessly.  

There is no power required, and at under $50 it is an essential item for any classroom in this situation.

I have installed this device in a number of schools.  It takes minutes to setup and you can forget about it from there on in and just get on with teaching. 

Great video to change perceptions of technology in education

I was at a parent information session last week in which a principal shared a video which highlighted how reactive we had been over time to adopt change in the way we teach. 

I found the video very relevant and eye opening as it pointed out some of the staples of teacher and student tools as being perceived as counter productive when they were introduced.

It was great starting point to then discuss how we are taking a similar approach to computer technology in the classroom. 

Anyhow take a look for yourself and feel free to leave a comment below. 

5 YouTube Tips for Busy Teachers and Students

YouTube is one of the most underused teaching resources on the web.  It offer millions of hours quality viewing made by some of the biggest names in the industry for free.  

As a teacher it is your job to sort the good from the bad and define a purpose for this medium; which is in most cases a pretty simple task.

Below I have put together my top five tips for teachers to help them get the most out of YouTube as a powerful teaching learning tool.

Create a YouTube Channel of your own.

Let’s get one thing straight you don’t actually need to create your own videos to create a channel you simply need to add videos to your channel.  This is really handy for teachers because it allows you to organize your favorite YouTube clips exactly how you would like them and you can invite visitors, pose questions and share comments without the rest of the world having their say. watch the video below.

Download your videos to watch offline in HD quality

You can download practically any video stream off the web with RealPlayer basic.  In HD too.  Install the program, and every time you load a YouTube clip it will have the option to download it locally to your PC.

Embed YouTube into PowerPoint Slides and web pages.

This is really easy to do.  If you have a web presence or a presentation simply follow these guides below to ensure your video is accessible via your website, blog or presentation.

Add Quizzes to your Videos

“Now kid’s today we are going to watch a documentary.  Please ensure that you take notes as there will be 5 questions you need to answer throughout the clip via a quiz.”   This really enhances student engagement and gives teachers a greater purpose as to why you are watching a clip.  Click here to see how to do it.

Add annotations, links and subtitles to your videos.

So you’ve just uploaded a YouTube video but forgot to add subtitles or annotations.  Don’t worry; you can do all of this directly from YouTube by following this guide.

20 Google Docs Secrets for busy teachers and students.

​Google Docs for Teachers and Students

Google Docs has revolutionised the way we create and edit content on the web.  It is a genuine collaboration tool like nothing that has come before it.

Up to 50 people can simultaneously edit a spreadsheet, presentation or document at no expense, and it is available on all mobile and desktop platforms.

Today we are going to look at 20 great tips every teacher and student should be using to get the most of the collaborative learning opportunities Google Doc’s offers.

Allow editing without signing in: If you’re sharing a document with classmates who don’t have a Google login, just make it available to edit without signing in.

Chat away: In Google Docs, you can see anyone who is currently editing the document, and if needed, send a message to chat with them.

Embed Docs anywhere: Get a link to your document or spreadsheet, and you can embed or publish it anywhere, including Facebook or a class blog.

Insert facts: Using Google Spreadsheet, it’s easy to insert facts, like a countries’ population, which is simply pulled through the Google search engine.

Create graphs: Visuals are great tools for getting your point across. Using charts in Google Spreadsheets, you can create your very own information-sharing graphs.

Create forms: Gather research information; ask for opinions, and more by creating Forms in Google Docs.

Convert PDFs to images and text: Use Google Docs to make PDFs easily editable.

Save to different file types: You can easily save your documents and spreadsheets to commonly used file types like DOC, XLS, CSV, and HTML.

Automatically add email addresses: If you have Google Apps, the email addresses of the people who fill out the form will automatically be saved.

Hide chat: Keep everyone quiet during your presentation by clicking the left side of the chat module.

Track edits and changes: In Google Docs you can go back and forth between edits that you or collaborators made.

Remove collaborators: If you want to take someone off a project, click none next to the name of the person you want to remove.

Turn it into a webpage: Download your document in HTML, and you can share it as a webpage with a minimal amount of hassle. A great starting point for students wishing to create a website.

Change ownership: Switch ownership of Google docs as project leaders change.  You might need to transfer ownership of a document to a staff member or student.  It’s easy.

Share an entire folder: If you’ve got a collection of documents to work on together with students or staff, just open up a shared folder that everyone can access and contribute to.

Adding video: Remember Google owns YouTube, so they know video.  You can embed video in documents, slides, and more to dress up your presentation.

Track visits: Using Google Analytics, you can track how much traffic a published document is receiving.  This is really useful if you need feedback on whether your audience is actually getting involved.

Revert back to old versions: If your group doesn’t like a certain set of changes made, it’s very simple just to revert back to automatically save previous versions in the revision history.

Get Google Drive – Google Drive is the central place to manage all of your online profile with Google and syncs with a number of devices.

Google Docs and Google Drive is an ever-evolving product that has provided heavy competition for products such as Microsoft Office.  I am sure there are many other useful tips you might be ware of and would love you to post them below.

Understanding Professional Learning Communities

In education circles, the term learning community has become commonplace. Used to mean any number of things, such as extending classroom practice into the community; bringing community personnel into the school to enhance the curriculum and learning tasks for students; or engaging students, teachers, and administrators simultaneously in learning 

AllthingsPLC site is a collaborative, objective resource for educators and administrators who are committed to enhancing student achievement.

AllthingsPLC invite you to share your knowledge, ask questions, and get expert insight into the issues teachers face each day in the classroom.

 Please be sure to take a look at this site to develop an understanding and gather resources for creating successful Professional Learning Communities

How to create a digital newsletter for schools.

Let's face it, newsletters, school bulletins and the like are an essential part of communication between the school and parents to keep them aware of events and activities that effect their children. 

When I speak to schools about how they communicate with parents it really surprises me how many still rely on six year old children sticking a sheet of scrunched up paper in their bag in the blind hope that it will make it's way into into parents hands.

The facts are that this process is an unreliable, expensive and environmentally damaging habit to which there are superior alternatives such as creating an e-bulletin system for your school.   

Some schools shy away from digital newsletters because they find it too confusing, possibly unreliable and daunting to introduce even though they offer faster and more reliable communication between schools and parents.

Today I am going to share with you a fully working solution to an e-newsletter tailor made for education  that will ask yourself why you ever did it any other way.  This system also serves as an instant communication system also for important unplanned events such as an emergency between the school and parents.

“Think about this. If a school of 500 students produces 350 3 page newsletters for 40 weeks of the year. This will generate 42,000 sheets of paper that needs to be grown, processed, manufactured, transported, printed and then recycled.

The carbon footprint on school newsletters is immense. Not to mention the financial cost at approximately 5 cents per sheet for paper and printing will set every school back at least $2,100”

So what's the alternative?

Many schools have taken a step towards creating a paperless solution such as posting their newsletter to their website or creating  email lists.  This is a great step, but unfortunately you are still hoping that your newsletter is being read with no real accountability of who, and how many are being read.

From my own experience of using email bulletins for over 4 years, AWeber offers the best solution for schools to create paperless bulletins parents can opt in and out of at their discretion.  They are instant.  They are reliable and They are personalized. 

AWeber is the biggest distributor of email on the planet and offers a complete school newsletter solution priced between $1 and $19 per month depending upon the size of your school,  Yes it will cost you a little but both the financial end environmental savings are far greater.

Not only can you to send electronic bulletins and emails in a professional manner en masse to your school community. AWeber offers rich reporting and analytical tools to determine how many people are actually opening your messages, clicking your links and reading them.  This is crucial information and the sole reason I am recommending AWeber over any other service as for me this is a non negotiable for schools and exclusive to AWeber. 

AWeber also have seamless Facebook, Twitter and school website integration that will ensure your newsletter and messaging has the best coverage across the digital spectrum.  This may appeal to some schools but you can opt in our out of social media at your leisure.

Yes... Aweber is a paid product however the cost their service is significantly lower than a paper based solution and a saving to any school budget.  Please note that this not a PAID or Sponsored article.  Just a great product for schools.

Setting up your AWeber School Newsletter in 5 simple steps

This is the beauty of AWeber.  Pretty much everything is already done for you due to their vast array of flexible templates.  It is simply a case of tweaking a few elements to match your schools needs and running with it.  AWeber has also got the whole sign up and subscription process for parents covered too.  But we'll get to that later.

So before we get started we are going to assume that you have the following. 

• An existing school website.
  
• A copy of your newsletter saved as a PDF, Word document or something similar.  (Click here for instructions if this is foreign to you.)
  

Step 1:  Signing Up

Simply head to AWeber.com and sign up for their $1.00 plan for the first month.  This will give you access to the entire suite of features.  Fill out all of the form details and ensure that you include an image of your school logo or a photo in the add a logo section as this

Step 2:  Creating a template and your regular message.

Okay. so AWeber is generally used by companies and websites to keep customers and  clients in informed of  the latest news and upcoming events.  They have numerous templates that can be used  straight out of the box, but we don't want to make our school newsletter look like a commercial product so take a few moments to change colors and images to match your school.

As you can see there are plenty of templates to choose from and customization is dead simple.

From here we are going to write a short generic message that will simply remind parents to click on the link to access the latest school newsletters.

Such as this example.

"Hi Jenny

Our latest newsletter is available to read about what is happening in and around our school at the moment.

Please be sure to take a look at it to ensure that you are aware of all of our important dates and events that are happening.

Click here to view our newsletter.

Have a great day

Principal Skinner."

Obviously you can customize this to meet your schools needs and you will have noticed that AWeber can personalize all of your emails to address parents by name .  Detailed info on personalizing messages can be found here.

Personalizing messages takes seconds, and it will really make parents feel more connected.

Personalization is taken care of when the parents sign up for the newsletter.  AWeber takes note of their name and allows you to use it in your messages automatically.

Now the choice is yours.  This message can be set up to be an automated process say every Tuesday at 3:30p.m.  Or you can write a personalized message each week and send it at your discretion.  This model may include key dates and events for that week.

Scheduling for the future is a great option for those that want to set it up and forget it.

Some schools enjoy the simplicity and confidence of an automated process others like the fact they can personalize it.  It's your Choice.

From here we are going to include a link in our message either back to our school website where all of your newsletters are stored online as PDF's or alternately we can just add the newsletter as an attachment. right here and now.

For those of you that do want to insert there newsletter into the email. The instructions are here and it is a very simple process also.

I would recommend that every school has a page with there newsletters on it and parents can access it from there as some parents smartphones and computers will discourage them on occasions from downloading an attached file such as a PDF.  Generally computers of any sort will never stop them linking to your school website.  Remember that we want to make this as seamless as possible for parents.

The other benefits of linking to your schools newsletter page is that you will never have to alter or touch that Introductory message ever again.  Simply create your message schedule dates and a time and forget about it.  As we'' explain later -  the link should always point to your schools website newsletter section.

Inserting a PDF file is as simple as drag and drop into the browser.  But the simpler option is to create a link to your schools website.

Step 3:  Linking to to your school website or another location.

I won't go into great detail about this as there are so many different options for schools to do this, but essentially you just want to have a page on your school website that links all of your recent newsletters as PDF files.  Here is the perfect example of what I am suggesting.,

This is pretty much ideal.  A single page that contains that last few newsletters.

If for some reason your school does not have a website or you can't manage to do this task AWeber have got you covered with a free location to store your newsletters.  Detailed instructions can be found here.

Step 4:  Creating a sign up form for your school website

Okay so this is the final link in the chain.  We need to create a sign up form which will appear on your school website that will allow parents to sign up to your school newsletter.  Once again this is a very simple task full of great looking templates that you can simply customize again.  You will see an AWeber form on the right hand side of this site.

Once again the form creation can done in less than 5 minutes, and they look great too.

Detailed information on customizing your form and adding it to your site can be found here.

Step 5:  Promoting your new online newsletter to parents and tracking how many people are reading it.

For some, this can be the toughest part of the entire process.  When and How?  The great thing is that AWeber gives you the security of knowing if your online newsletter is hitting or missing the mark.

I am sure every school will have their own schedule for removing their paper based newsletter.  But this is a proven winner.

Around 6 weeks prior to launching your digital newsletter start running both the online and paper based versions together, but every week somewhere include a brightly colored slip or banner on the front of the print newsletter that boldly says.

"We are moving to a paperless newsletter system on June 30, 2013 in an effort to better communicate with parents and remove waste.  Please fill out newsletter subscription form on our website to ensure you get our newsletter sent to your computer or smartphone every week."

Following that 6 week period you stop handing newsletters to students and have maybe 30 copies available for parents or students to collect at the school office.  This covers anyone who has not signed up yet, but will also give your office staff the chance to verbally inform them of how to sign up online.

Parents can opt out ant any time by unsubscribing at the bottom each newsletter.

I hope you have found this tutorial simple to follow and please don't hesitate to add any comments if you have done a similar thing or know of any other great alternatives for communicating with parents.

Better Teaching Through Effective Classroom Management

Teaching can be difficult when students disrupt your lessons simply to get a reaction.  Keeping the lessons and discussions rolling can be difficult when you keep getting interrupted. 

It’s lose / lose scenario in most because you aren’t getting your message to those who need it in your class, and you often lose face when students take control of the behaviour of the room.  This can be especially difficult for a graduate teacher to get on top of, but there are strategies available to you…

Classroom management refers to how teachers make sure that lessons continue even with disruption. Classroom management helps teachers deal with issues about motivation, discipline and respect.  There are different strategies and techniques that teachers use to make sure that their students are inspired, motivated and well-behaved.  Of course, techniques would depend on the teacher’s preference. 

The best time to let students know about your rules is during the first day.  Even before classes start, you would have to know what to expect from students and how they can meet those expectations.  So, when explaining the classroom rules on the first day, make sure that they understand it clearly and they know the consequences for not abiding the rules.   If you fail to explain or provide punishments or consequences of violating classroom rules, then students would get confident not to follow them at all.

Make it a part of your course or subject syllabus.  Discuss the rules, point-by-point if necessary.  Just like what you do in academic topics.  This would help clear out any misunderstanding and wrong interpretation.

Students who tend to become unruly are pushed into doing disruptive behaviour because they are bored.  It is best to avoid an hour-long lecture.  If you continue to do that, your students would sleep or play with their cellphones and other gadgets.  If you notice that it would take an army before your students could remain strapped in their seats within the next hour, then incorporate different kinds of activities. 

For most teachers, they would have three activities in a forty-five minute period.  The student get to release their energy and at the same time learn something.  If your students are trying to deviate the discussion into something completely irrelevant, then do not say that straight.  You can try connect it and then start to get back to the original topic.  If your students are becoming confrontational, then do not argue to make them agree with you. They would resist more if you force them.  Let them see what are the consequences of their bad behaviour. 

 If you are having problems with specific students and they are becoming too much for you to handle, do not force it into yourself.  There are many aspects or people in the school administration that could help.  You can talk to the guidance counsellor and ask for any ideas on how to face or handle the issue.  If the student will cooperate, you can have them meet the counsellor themselves.

Another strategy that teachers use is making their students feel that they genuinely care for them.  You could ask them how they are whenever you see them.  If they are really unruly, you could pull them out when everyone is busy and ask him what is wrong.  Sometimes, students will tell you some problems they have encountered at home or at school. 

Bottomline is students also have pent-up energy inside them.  Those energy if unused in their lessons will explode in other ways.  As a teacher, you would have to make sure that those energy is spent in a useful way.  Teachers are not only concerned with academic teaching, but making sure that the students’ energy are put into positive and productive use.