Elementary Teacher Blog

Guest Post: APA Style and MLA Templates

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:37:00 +0000

APA Format

When writing research papers, it is very important to use the proper writing style to reference your work. APA Style (American Psychological Association) is necessary when conducting formatted research papers, but is often difficult to properly use. APA style consists of a strict set of rules, especially when citing your references. Since it is often confusing to follow, many people tend to use an APA template.

MLA Format

Following the right APA style format is often tricky to follow as well. MLA style is used by many researchers, schools, and academic administrations. The MLA style of writing is another strict writing form that involves precise punctuation within the references section, and a strict format to follow.

Templates

Finding an APA template or MLA template can make writing research papers a lot easier. Using a template allows you to focus more of your attention on the quality of the actual material, and relieves the stress of making sure that you are following the MLA or APA style properly. An APA style template will make everything flow easier, and assure you that you’ve followed the APA style properly. Likewise, an MLA template will allow you to follow the MLA style easily and you will be able to focus on your research, rather than following the proper style. Overall, templates are a good idea to use in your research paper.

What do you know about multiplication by 0 and 1?

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 02:46:00 +0000

To the following prompt...
What do you know about multiplication by 0 and 1?

I got the following response...

Experiments with Sick Days

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:06:00 +0000

I'm home sick today for the third day in a row. I go back and forth between freezing shivers and feverishly sweating buckets. I'm more coherent today, but still not ready to go back. It's early in the morning - I just finished writing four pages of lesson plans for my substitute and putting out fires/calling in favors via email. All of this thinking, working, and communicating at a time I shouldn't be thinking, working, or communicating has me wondering: What is the best way for a teacher to handle and be prepared for absences?

Experiment 1: Sick? Go to work anyway.

Pros: When you're there, you don't have to write sub plans. But then again, when you're not all there, can you really teach?

Cons: I risked getting my students sick, and we all know the quality teaching that happens when the teacher doesn't feel well (evidenced by the plopping in of a video). A substitute would do much better.

Experiment 2: Write emergency plans.

Pros: Having a set of flexible emergency plans is a great way to prepared for sickness and emergencies. These options are open-ended and easily understood, unlike confusing lesson plans written by a sick teacher in her pajamas whose brain is so foggy she doesn't notice typeos. Emergency plans should contain important information, like daily routines, special ed. schedules, trustworthy students, locations of materials, etc.

Cons: Emergency plans are a broad set of options the sub can choose from, and are therefore really just filler. They also take a LOT of time to prepare, and must be updated every year to include current information. They also have to be updated when your routines change. I haven't used emergency plans for 2 years because I never seem to get to updating them until it's too late and I'm already sick.

Experiment 3: Go into school early and prepare everything for the sub.

Pros: This option gives you a chance to physically prepare materials, which is hard for a substitute to do for you. A sub won't have your passwords, know where you keep your teacher's editions, or know what you had in mind for the dependent/independent variables in a science investigation.

Cons: You run the risk of having to talk to people if you go to the building. Not only will you have to explain to each person that you're sick, you'll also have to hear their remedies. You might get them sick as well. This option also has you getting dressed when you should be in your pajamas, driving when you shouldn't be driving, and working when you shouldn't be working.

Conclusion: Given the options, I'm thinking I need to go back to emergency plans. Now, to find time to write them...

Maybe I'll do it today. My brain is starting to function again.

Email

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:08:00 +0000

I got this email today from my administrator:

A pair of orange handled scissors and two black sleeves were found in the boys' bathroom. If you're missing a pair of large scissors, let me know. They may lead to the person who is doing a wardrobe change in the bathroom.

If I Were President

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:27:00 +0000

To the paragraph writing prompt, "What if you were president?" a third-grade student of mine wrote:

If I were president, I would make people go to jail forever and make taxes 100,000 dollars and let lizards loose in Oregon. Then I would let people have piranhas and take star fish for one day. The I would make sure we are safer than ever and no guns if people are felons.

Forget wonderful Mr. Obama...this kid is gonna make REAL change.

What are the rules?

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Before starting in on a new topic, it is important to build students' background knowledge. You can list what they know, show a short video clip, lead a hands-on discovery activity, or any other of a variety of brain-activating tasks.

For this purpose, before starting a unit on government, I asked my students, "What do you think are the rules in our country?"

Here are the results:

When we finished, we ranked them in order of importance. Note that murder is less offensive than stealing.

Reader's Theatre is Saving my Life

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:14:00 +0000

For anyone that has been following this rarely updated blog, number one, thank you. Number two, you know that I've made a school and grade change recently, and it has been a doozy.

Prior to this, I taught 4th grade, which while not that far off from 3rd, it actually represents a huge developmental and curricular jump. In 4th grade, the focus begins to shift from core instruction to content areas like social studies and science. In third, it's reading, reading, reading, and hardly anything else. I was in for a big surprise when I endeavored upon third grade with an attitude and toolbox meant for fourth, but it is now December and I'm (close to) adjusted.

One thing that has saved my life is Reader's Theatre. For those of you unfamiliar with this reading strategy, Reader's Theatre is a way to increase interest and motivation around reading, and gets actively participating in their learning. It is a social activity, which is a plus for young kids, as well as a motivator to perform. It improves reading fluency, by giving multiple opportunities to practice aloud, as well as comprehension, by providing a forum for visualizing the details of literature. There are no costumes, sets, or memorized lines - It is acted out and read simultaneously. The only expense is copies!

The scripts I use are adapted, usually by me, from stories we read in class. Recently, we read Marvin Redpost: Why Pick on Me? While the reading level of the story was below grade level, the story was of high interest to students (it's about nose picking!). This choice accomplishes two things: 1. It involves all of my readers, high and low, and 2. Keeps all students interested. The next book we'll read is a Jigsaw Jones book about snowboarding - another topic of interest to third graders, including the boys, which are often reluctant readers because teachers choose books that are so girly.

How Create It - First, I made scripts of two of the chapters in the book, converting dialogue with quotations into a play format. I took liberties, such as eliminating characters with only one line, or giving that line to a character that is more involved. In one of the scripts, Marvin gives a speech to the class, so there is a part titled, "The Class." This means that in any given reading, any child that isn't given a part, is part of "The Class." Remember, the point is to read, and read, and read, and read.

If you don't want to make your own scripts, there are tons out there. Google for them, or order a book full of scripts. The advantage of writing your own is that you can tweak the number of parts, easily choose relevant topics, and choose readings that will supplement what kids are reading in class. When I taught 4th grade, for example, I wrote a reader's theatre about westward migration, which gave me the freedom to emphasize content that I determined was most relevant, integrate reading with social studies, and tailor the speaking parts based on my class size.

How to Teach It - It's as easy as passing out the script. Print one per child, one sided only for quick flipping between pages. Cuddle up on the floor, or read at desks. Choose parts before reading, and don't assign parts...It's better to change things up. Plus, you'll have less struggles over who does and does not get the most popular parts.

After several runs sitting down, change things up by acting in front of the class or splitting into small groups. One teacher in my school gives out one script per week and video-tapes the performance at the end of the week. She posts these online. This is a bit too much for me, but I would most definitely do it if my readers weren't responding and needed a dose of audience and purpose. I've also thought about audio recording the performances and posting them as podcasts...Maybe an old radio drama style web site is in our future!

You can spend one day or two weeks on the same script, so long as you keep the parts and structure in constant rotation. Try it! Have fun. It seems like a lot of work to type out the parts, but it honestly takes twenty minutes for hours of effective reading practice.

Changing Schools...Scary!

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:15:00 +0000

After three years in my first teaching position out of college, I am moving on. I'm a bit nervous about the change, but I'm sure all will work out.

Upside:

Newer building
Rectangular room (unlike my old one, which was an irregular octagon shape and so difficult to set up!)
Similar student population
Located in a town I have lived in before, and love

Downside:

Technology is lacking in comparison...I'm used to a document camera and digital projector and must go back to an overhead. I think my teacher computer is an iMac from the 90's. Hopefully not!
Grade change...I'll be switching from 4th to 3rd
Unknown...I don't know if the staff in the new school will get along as well or have as little politics as I have had
Less pay...the school is in a higher competition area, so I'm taking about a $2,000 pay cut

Overall, I think it will be a good change, but again, change is scary. As I told many people during this transition, risk is life. I will never know what is out there unless I dive into it. I have to believe that there are other schools that I could love as much as my current school.

Stay tuned!

Reading For...Enjoyment?

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:33:00 +0000

My school rewards kids that read 20 minutes per night for a month with an assembly. It's your average chaotic school event: Ice cream, raffles, cheap useless prizes, etc.

A student returned from his first reading reward party last Thursday, beaming. His eyes were just about popping out of his sockets and the creases in his forehead were cavernous. He cornered me and rambled for some time about what he was going to read next, and how there's no way he'll miss the next party, and other such "And then...and then...and then..." fourth grader speak.

On the way out the door, shortly after, he said to me, "You know, I'm not in it for the prizes." I smiled, thinking what was coming would be a brownie-point winning, "I'm in it for the enjoyment of reading," or "I just like to read."

Instead, he finished, "I'm in it for the ice cream."

Sigh. Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss.

..........

In response to a question, the images I use are mostly my own, carefully cropped and sometimes annotated with Photoshop. A few are just pulled from google images.

What, Vagina?

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:58:00 +0000

My student teacher had high hopes for reaching the kids through hands-on dramitization. On this particular day, she had orchestrated a plan for kids to act out the digestive system beginning with the teeth and the mouth and ending with the anus.

Yes, anus.

You can't go around saying things like 'anus' in a 4th grade room without some build up and preparation. With the entire class enraptured in the dramitization, the dialogue whent like this:

Student Teacher: Okay, and where does the food go after the small intestine?

Class: The large intestine. (Calls up a student to be the large intestine, whose job is to remove chemicals and send the food to the colon to collect waste for sending out of the body. Student mimics pulling chemicals out of food.)

Student Teacher: Okay, the last step is when the waste goes out of your body. You need to be mature fourth graders to say this word, so let's practice saying it maturely. Do you know what it is?

This year's Ralph Wiggum of my students (you know the one) pipes in...

Ralph: What, vagina?

After that, anus was the least of our worries.

No Mercury Problems

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 01:03:00 +0000

No, my school was not the one with scary levels of mercury in the gym floor. It was another one in the state. My kids only suffer the toxic levels of stink from the Clorox wipes I use constantly to make their germiness go away. My kids are gross, but their brains are not mercury affected, only anal-retentive-germ-freak-teacher affected.

Lonely Teacher, New Town

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 04:31:00 +0000

I will post, although I have nothing exciting to share, really. I am the most boring, destitute person ever. So, let's see...what to write? How about ten things that prove how boring I am, and how lame my life has become...

I work 12 hours per day. Not exaggerating.
Working 12 hours per day has no ill effect on my social life because I don't have one.
My mother visiting for three days over Thanksgiving is the highlight of my recent social agenda.
Yesterday, I watched re-runs of Ellen on T.V.
I talk to my cats. A lot.
The most wildlife I've seen in a while is a nutrea crawling out of the wetland behind my classroom.
In conversations, I have nothing to talk about except my job.
My latest culinary creations have all been white pasta-ish things or ramen.
I spend a solid half-day cleaning my house from top to bottom every weekend.
I hang out with my one girlfriend in town once or twice per week to do my laundry and complain, or wrestle around with her 2-year-old (which is actually pretty fun).

Self-Guided Reading Assessment

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 04:37:00 +0000

I'm going to start using my digital tape recorder today for something other than recording my friends and me singing karaoke. I'm going to create a self-guided oral reading assessment for the kiddos. They'll take the tape recorder into the hall, press record, introduce themselves, then start reading a short, grade level passage of text. This way, I don't have to give the other kids busy work so that I can give the assessment, and I can go home and wear pajamas while I listen to and analyze the recordings for miscues.

Update, December 22:
This was the best idea I ever had! In addition to recording themselves reading, the students also answer a series of comprehension questions. I've adapted the grade 4 passages and assessment protocols from Reading Inventory for the Classroom. I also made a set of illustrated directions using photocopies of the front, side, and back of the tape recorder, which was very helpful. When kids need help, they ask other students to help them with it. My reading groups don't get interrupted, and I get all the assessment information I need. Oh, and I've been storing the files on my computer until I get one from each student (per reading passage), then burning it to a CD to back up.

Awesome.

I Teach Engrish.

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 04:34:00 +0000

I'm an ESL teacher so I'm allowed to laugh.

You will too. Click here.

External Parasites

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 04:35:00 +0000

Six of my students had head lice last week. I freaked out and made the district treat my room, most likely with nasty chemicals that will drastically impede learning, but...At least we have no external parasites.

Halloween Survival Tale

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 04:36:00 +0000

They haven't found me yet.

I survived my first Halloween of living in the neighborhood where my students also reside...By hiding out at my girlfriend's house across town. Literally. I took a six-inch stack of papers to her house and graded them all night, comforted by the facts that my cats were inside, my front porch light was off, and my students still don't know where I live.

The Transparency of 4th Grade Dishonesty

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 03:43:00 +0000

This week one of my kiddos was talking excessively during quiet work time, so she had to fill out a letter to her mom explaining what happened. She filled it out (and spun details the story to reduce impact at home) and took it home that night to get signed by her mom.

The next morning as she came in the classroom door, she told me a very off-topic comment about how her aunt (guardian) had never graduated from high school or college. I smiled and nodded and thought she was just telling me some random story until later, when I looked at the signature on the letter she had brought back. Not only did it only have her aunt's first name, it was written in very awkward, unpracticed cursive, and the first letter in her aunt's name were crossed out and re-written.

Obviously the child had written it herself, and she'd even gone as far as to plant a story about her aunt's never graduating, so that I might believe that that 4th-grade scrawl belonged to an adult. Needless to say, I made a call home and informed Auntie of what happened.

Moral of the story - If you are a 10 year old attempting to forge your parent or guardian's signature, remember this:

1. Adults write their first AND last names in their signatures. That's what a signature is...your WHOLE name.

2. Adults have written their signature so many times in their lives that they don't mess it up anymore, so we will know something is funny if a signature is partially erased or scratched out.

3. Before writing on the actual paper that needs a signature, it's better to practice on scratch paper until you get the signature completely right.

4. When you're not in very much trouble, it's best not to make the problem worse by being dishonest. Adults hate it when kids are sneaky, so you'll get in TONS of trouble for the sneakiness part, not the original thing you did.

Hot Glue Story

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 03:45:00 +0000

The kids aren't even here yet and I have face blisters.

The stupidity reflected here is mine and mine alone, and you will laugh at my expense. I give you permission.

Yesterday I was hot-gluing tiny pieces of velcro onto a chart that my students will use to check in as they arrive to school. Just as I put glue on a piece and picked it up, ready to stick it to the chart, I had to sneeze. So I put it down and quicky moved my and to my mouth to cover the sneeze. The little velcro piece (covered in hot glue) had attached itself to my thumb by the little strings of glue that glue gun makes when you release the trigger. The hot glue landed on my upper lip and firmly attached itself. So yes, I burnt my lip with hot glue.

I now have a nasty looking burn on my lip. And I meet parents today. Here are some reasons I could tell to explain it:
- Leprocy
- Herpes
- Cold Sore
- The real story
- Or I could just not say anything and let people make up their own stories

Gross. Oh well, it doesn't hurt as bad today, and I might be able to cover it with makeup.

New Job, New House, a MILLION Things to Do

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 03:47:00 +0000

Here are five things I LOVE about my new school/living situation:

1. Sweet Digs. My building is new, so everthing is beautiful and high tech. I have four computers (plus one teacher computer) in my room, and my I.D. badge opens the doors.

2. Killer Staff. The staff is AWESOME and they are all very helpful, not to mention upbeat and kind. My principal is fantastic...very funny and easy going. You can tell she has not lost sight of the purpose of her job.

3. Mo' Money. I got a $400 budget for supplies, which is virtually unheard of these days. My classroom is looking awesome! I'm also getting a real paycheck soon, so creditors, please be patient!

4. Curriculum: The math program is one that teaches high-order mathematical thinking, which rocks. The reading program is the one I used when student teaching, so I am familiar with it.

5. MY HOUSE! I found a gigantic three bedroom house five minutes from school that is a STEAL! I have so much space it's ridiculous. I have a bedroom, guestroom, office, huge living room, garage, and huge front and back yards.

Over the line!

noreply@blogger.com (E-Teacher) — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 02:12:00 +0000

I hereby renounce the historical ills of my profession.

I've officially crossed a line, over which I cannot return. I have been given the proverbial teacher's coffee mug, and this morning, I used it. At home. With many a coffee mug to choose from.

In this profession of mine, where tackiness knows no bounds, I am willing to make a few compromises. I'm willing to accept Hallmark gifts adorned with apples. I'm willing to own and sport three different t-shirts bearing my school's logo. I'm even willing to ooh and aah at my colleague's holiday sweaters and their arts and crafts ideas involving macaroni.

I am not willing, however, to cross whole-heartedly into the dark side. In honor of the new generation of educators, and in an effort to revolutionize the tact of my profession, I hereby vow to never do the following:

1. Wear a dress, jumper, or overalls to school. It goes without saying that the dress, jumper, and overalls I will not be wearing will most certainly not be made of denim or corduroy. It also goes without saying that the dress, jumper, and overalls I will not be wearing will most definitely NOT be adorned with embroidered pictures of Winnie the Pooh or any of his cuddly pals.

2. Decorate my classroom with Suzy's Zoo characters. The classroom of my student-teaching mentor was haunted by these characters. How is it that a duck, a frog, a bear, a badger, and more can hang out and be so happy together without wanting to eat one another? If given the benefit of the doubt, one could consider the cartoon a riveting social commentary about overcoming the obstacles of diversity, and loving every person unconditionally. If not given that benefit, it is simply puke-worthy.

3. Own a holiday sweater. Or wear a holiday sweater. Unless you are entering this profession as an elderly woman, there is no excuse for tacky holiday sweaters. Furthermore, I will never own multiple holiday sweaters. I recently discovered that a first grade teacher in my school owns fifteen plus holiday sweaters so that she can wear a different one EVERY DAY IN DECEMBER. This, I vow to you, will never be me.

4. Fear technology. To some teachers in my building, computers are fearsome all-powerful beings that can destroy lives with the touch of a button. I will never adopt the learned helplessness that has been validated in so many of the teachers I have worked with that have all, at one point or another, told me something to the effect of, "Oh, you know me and computers. I'll never get them figured out." They are just machines, people.

I can't speak for the entire generation of up and coming teachers. Sadly, I went to college with girls who already dress like they're pushing retirement. I've crossed a line already, and maybe I've crossed over the line of propriety by openly speaking out against teacher-tackiness. Ignoring the problem will not make it go away. I have to work here too, and I will defend my right to be tactful.

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