Diary of a Public School Teacher!

The Rewards of Teaching!:It’s Not About the Money, Honey!

Oldschoolteach — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:00:49 +0000

Don’t get me wrong. I like getting paid to teach. Now if someone offered to cover the mortgage …READ MORE… Filed under: Blogging about Education, Education Blog, Elementary Education Blog Tagged: end of the school year, letters from students, love of teaching, rewards of teaching

Where Does Data Come From? : Replacing “Teach”er with “Test”

Oldschoolteach — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:00:52 +0000

Data can guide instruction. I get it. I have used data to guide instruction, and it works. But just like anything else, too much of a good thing makes it… too much! READ MORE… Filed under: Blogging about Education, Education Blog, Elementary Education Blog, Teacher issues Tagged: data in the classroom, data overload, using data

What is a Great Teacher?: From the Mouth of My Babes!

Oldschoolteach — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:00:18 +0000

Their assignment: In two or three sentences, tell me what a great teacher is. So, we shared a Google document, and they added their thoughts.Of course I got “the teacher lets me go out for extra recess”. I also got some the “teacher doesn’t give a lot of tests or homework”. But below […]

Damult Dice!:A Math Game Everyone Will Love!

Oldschoolteach — Tue, 28 May 2013 12:58:21 +0000

What is Damult Dice? During #5thchat, a ”tweecher” tweeted about Damult Dice. My immediate reaction was, “What’s Damult Dice?” Amy sent me all the info I needed to play this game and I was hooked. I shared it with my students the next day. I shared it with a few teachers. Yes, I was that […]

No Money for Schools..But Money for Pearson?

Oldschoolteach — Tue, 28 May 2013 01:48:31 +0000

The content of this article, “Schools Add to Test Load, Just to Test Questions”,. How our students are being used as guinea pigs to field test future tests. But then, this jumped out at me, ” The (NY)state currently has a five-year, $32 million contract with Pearson, a testing company.” READ MORE.. Filed under: Blogging about Education, Education Blog, […]

Why Can’t We Keep the Music Teacher?: Losing Arts in Schools.

Oldschoolteach — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:18:58 +0000

I sat, mesmerized, as the music teacher coaxed the most beautiful songs out of 30-40 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. This was not the first time. I have been to many of her concerts, and I am always amazed. READ MORE Filed under: Elementary Education Blog, Standardized Testing, Teacher issues Tagged: arts in the […]

Vocabulary and Spelling City: Lovin’ It One Year Later!

Oldschoolteach — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:12:41 +0000

It’s been a year since I began using SpellingCity. I have to say that my students and I really enjoy using it. Not only that, but SpellingCity keeps finding new ways to keep my students engaged with added features, all beneficial to the classroom. These are the features I loved a year ago, and thankfully, still […]

Teachers, Targets, and Test Scores!

Oldschoolteach — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:00:20 +0000

My stomach is in knots and I want to scream. I want to hit something. I look at my students’ test scores, the growth they have made,and I am proud of them. I refused to teach to the test, and they still kicked DCAS ! I looked down the AYP column on the all-glorious data […]

Appreciating Teachers!: My Top 10!

Oldschoolteach — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:00:49 +0000

Chocolate, gift certificates, and lunch are great! I really do appreciate all the thanks I have received during the week. But I’d like to share some tips on what would REALLY make me feel appreciated! This goes out to anyone who interacts with teachers,in no particular order:READ MORE Filed under: Blogging about Education, Elementary Education […]