Gladly Would I Teach

Over my long career, I have been astounded by how much technology has advanced and enhanced my ability to teach.

For example, when I first started teaching in 1977, it took an hour to read through a huge catalogue and select a movie to show to my class, another hour to complete the proper form and mail it, and weeks before the movie arrived in the mail. When it arrived, I usually had two days to show the movie before I had to pack it back up and return it. I don’t even want to describe the frustration of learning how to thread the movie through the projector and create the proper loop so the movie would not pop throughout the viewing like a “silent” movie in the 1920s.

Years later, VCRs and video cassettes replaced movie projectors.

Years later, DVD players and disks replaced VCRS.

Now, we have moved on to digital downloads. Who knows what will be next?

No aid, device, or piece of technology, however, has made my job easier than a course website that contains information about my class, due dates, information for parents, links to websites that provide additional help, and most of the assignments that students must complete in my class.

I created my first course website about 8 years ago and suffered through learning FrontPage. Today, I use a blogging platform (WordPress) that allows me to add information through pages. This process allows me to post updates and add new information in only minutes.

As the years go on, I keep adding and refining what I have on my website. When students needed more examples, I started posting papers from previous students (with their permission). When I create new assignments, I add a new page and show the assignment. When I stop using an assignment, instead of removing it from the website, I simply type the note “We will not complete this assignment this month.”

Many teachers who look at my website express the idea that they do not have the time or the skills to create a comparable site. What they may not understand, however, is that I built my site a little at a time over the years.

Today, as I prepare for a new semester, all I will have to do is update my syllabus and due dates and make the changes on my website.  I will then direct students to the website, teach them how to use it, and explain that they will need to print assignments when we get to them. I save myself hours simply by reducing the number of assignments I have to duplicate for students,

If you don’t have a website for your class, it’s an idea you might want to consider. Course websites increase communication between teachers and students, teachers and parents, and teachers and other teachers. Each week I receive one or two emails from new teachers who ask permission to use my assignments or who just express thanks. We are all accustomed to sharing ideas with the teacher down the hall. Course websites allow us to share ideas with teachers across the globe.

Here’s the link to my AP English Language & Composition website:

Parrott\’s AP English Language and Composition

The Creator of Wikipedia Turns to Education Videos

Although this is a new video site with a limited number of videos, I suspect it will become a treasure trove for teachers and students in the next few years.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS Sir Ken Robinson: We're born with great natural talents. He says schools systematically suppress many of those innate talents. Schools use testing and other systems to narrowly assess students. He says they devalue forms of creativity that don't fit in academic contexts

via www.cnn.com

If you have not seen this 18-minute video about creativity, please set aside time to watch it. As teachers of academic subjects, it is easy to lose sight of the idea that we all excel in different areas. 

What a simple, fun, and interesting website to help students write poetry.

ShapePoems

via shakespeare.emory.edu

If you teach Shakespeare, please take a look at this wonderful site by Harry Rusche, an English professor at Emory University in Atlanta. The site contains links to hundreds of illustrations of Shakespeare's plays and characters.

I always enjoy giving students treats or small gifts at opportune times during the semester. Sometimes I just distribute candy when we need a little excitement or fun Sometimes I bring in a cake and congratulate my seniors at the beginning of the school year. As the year progresses, I love to give individual students books that I have inscribed for a specific occasion because I think it's fun to surprise kids with small gifts to commemorate their accomplishments.

I suspect most teachers would like to reward students like this, but who has the money?

I absolutely love TEACHERS pay TEACHERS because I am able to earn money that I can turn around and use for classroom items, curriculum materials, and gifts and treats for my students. If you are not using TpT, you are really missing a great opportunity.

Paul Edelman, a former New York City teacher, established TpT in 2006 as an open marketplace for teachers to sell their original assignments to other teachers. I first heard of TpT in July of 2006 and started uploading assignments that I had created through the years. In the beginning, I wasn't so interested in making money. Instead, since I was nearing retirement, I loved the idea that I could pass along my assignments to other teachers for a nominal fee, and I didn't have to do anything extra to send the files to individual teachers. In the first few months, I earned little money, but my earnings have grown steadily since then. Today, I have roughly 60 assignments on TpT that sell from $2 to $9, and I earn between $200-$400 each month, a nice stash of money that I can use to buy items for my students and for my classroom.

In addition to providing a great place for teachers to sell materials, TpT is also a wonderful and inexpensive place for teachers to purchase materials from other teachers. It can be a tremendous time saver, particularly for teachers who may be teaching a unit for the first time. For example, if you need a test, search for one on TpT and you may be surprised that you can find exactly what you want for under $5 and then download it immediately. What I would have given for such a service 30 years ago when my only option to obtain materials was to pay $25 or more for published materials when I may have only used one or two assignments from the book.

If you are looking for a place where you can buy and sell teaching materials, take a look at TEACHERS pay TEACHERS. Whether you use the site to help you acquire new teaching materials, sell items to make money for your students, or sell materials to make a little extra cash for yourself, I don't think you will be disappointed.

In the past few months, I have painted my classroom, purchased new rugs and bean bag chairs for students, and bought and distributed books for individual students, all paid for through my earnings from TpT.

Don't miss this opportunity!