Creating a dialogue about what it’s like to be a new teacher.

The Rookie Teacher


Teaching a Combination Class: The Lounge: Episode 12 0

Posted on May 07, 2013 by Natasha

On today’s show, Andrew and Natasha join up for the long awaited return of The Lounge Podcast.  It has been a while, but as many of you know, life as a teacher is hard work…and can be quite busy too!  This episode features conversations about life as a combination/split grade teacher.  Listen in to hear about tips, tricks, must-do activities, and more!  Read the show notes below and don’t forget to download & subscribe to the podcast on iTunes today!

Photo via: Sanya Khetani, articles.businessinsider.com

SHOW NOTES
Each episode features three segments:

  1. Topic Discussion
  2. Quick Tip for Tomorrow
  3. The Rookie Resource Bank

Topic: Teaching a Combination Class

Quick Tip for Tomorrow:
Something you could do the next day in class with little or no prep and is applicable to most grade levels.

  • Andrew: Inside/Outside Circles or Concentric Circles
  • Natasha: Food Bin

The Rookie Resource Bank:
Any electronic, print, or event resource that we found helpful in our first few years of teaching.  Of course, these are all applicable to all teachers.

  • Andrew: Ontario Curriculum Unit Planners (link)
  • Natasha: Knowing What Counts Series (Anne Davies)

Quick Shout Outs

  1. We want to take a moment and thank everyone for continuing to support our site – we have reached over 10,000 visitors. Thank you !
  2. We hope you continue to watch for Natasha who is co-moderating the #ntchat with Lisa Dabbs – on Wednesday nights at 8:00pm EST
  3. Please join us and 248 others on Facebook.com/TheRookieTeacher
  4. We are also spending time gathering some great ideas for the classroom on Pinterest (http://bit.ly/rookiepins) – we are up to 2742 followers on our collab board – let us know if you’d like to contribute.
  5. If you believe in what we’re doing & want to support our team, we have buttons available – send us a FB message, tweet, or email and we will get one out to you ASAP!
  6. Watch for our Lounge Express Series – starting soon!

Like what you’ve heard? Have more questions? Contact us:

Andrew: I blog at TheRookieTeacher.ca, or email me Andrew@TheRookieTeacher.ca, I am currently focusing on pinterest as my social media project

Natasha: I blog at TheRookieTeacher.ca, follow me on twitter @yoMsDunn, or email me Natasha@TheRookieTeacher.ca

RookieTeacher Online
We are always looking for ideas, feedback, tips and tricks of the trade.  Find us on Twitter @RookieTeacherCA, Facebook.com /TheRookieTeacher.  If you are looking to get involved with our team, please contact us!

 

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Growing & Supporting PLNs 0

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Natasha

**note: this is based on US research**

Recently, I was contacted by Erika Phyall, a member of community relations at USC, who was able to pass along some great research and fantastic #infographic called How to Save Our Educators: The Teacher Turnover Problem.  Here’s what she had to say:

We offer teachers and aspiring educators the opportunity to earn an online Master’s degree in Teaching or Education. My team and I recently launched an infographic, How To Save Our Educators, which gives an overview of the teacher attrition rate problem and possible solutions that can be explored. We understand that having great teachers in the classroom is as much about retaining them as it is about hiring and training them.

What I particularly liked about this was:

1) It was an infographic! [I really need to get the kids making these - what an informative and visually appealing way to share research!]
2) It provides teachers with *solutions* – something that is often missed in research.

Besides the obvious solution….funding…collaboration, mentoring, and professional development are all viable solutions on this list.  If you’re reading this blog, you’re already participating in all three!  The Rookie Team is always here for you.  We will try our best to answer your questions or connect you with the right folks to help.  I also encourage you to continue building your PLN.  It’s so easy to do online (Pinterest, TeachersPayTeachers, Facebook, and more!) Above all, I would recommend checking out the New Teacher Chat (#ntchat) that happens every Wednesday night between 8:00-9:00pm EST.  You can follow this chat two ways: (1) join twitter and the discussion by following the hashtag #ntchat, (2) point your browser to Twitter Chat’s #ntchat feed and read along (this option restricts you from commenting live).

If you would like to get in touch with Erika – visit her blog post and watch for her on #edchat on Twitter.

Natasha Dunn, OCT [@yoMsDunn]
The Rookie Teacher, co-founder 

Special thanks to our friend & mentor Lisa Dabbs for connecting Erika with the Rookie Team.

via: http://rossieronline.usc.edu/how-to-save-our-educators-infographic

via: http://rossieronline.usc.edu/how-to-save-our-educators-infographic

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Natasha joins Lisa Dabbs for Classroom 2.0 Live Webinar 0

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Natasha

webinar set upThis past Saturday (April 13/13), Natasha [@yoMsDunn] joined New Teacher Chat (#ntchat) founder Lisa Dabbs (@teachingwthsoul), and co-moderators Jamie Vandergrift (@JamieVanderG) & Dean Mantz (@dmantz7) to discuss the benefits of building a PLN and participating in Twitter chats (like the ever popular, #ntchat).

If you missed joining us on Saturday, you can listen to iTunes Audio ow.ly/k5J9j & watch iTunes Video ow.ly/k5JaV.

Thanks to Classroom 2.0 Live for allowing us to participate.

 

 

 

 

Webinar Screen Shot

From Classroom 2.0 Live‘s website:

Join us for this show where Lisa Dabbs and a couple of teachers from her New Teacher Team will share their experiences mentoring new teachers in the New Teacher Community and weekly Twitter Chat (#ntchat). About Lisa: Lisa is an Education Consultant, Speaker, Presenter, Resident Blogger/Social Media Marketing Support/Group Moderator for Edutopia.org. ( Also a wife and a mom.) She was a former Elementary School Principal with a B.A. in Child Development and a M.Ed in Educational Administration. She started her career as a Kindergarten teacher then was promoted to Project Director of a Language and Literacy program. She served as an elementary school principal for 14 years…a challenging position that she really loved! During that time she recruited, hired, trained and mentored over 200 new and veteran teachers at her school sites where she observed the power of mentorship in teaching success. She is a recent employee for Kaplan K-12 Educational Corporation as a Middle School Instructional Literacy Coach in Los Angeles Unified and was newly appointed as Vice President for Literacy on her local non-profit board. Lisa blogs at http://teachingwithsoul.com She founded (and moderates) a chat for New and Pre-Service Teachers on Twitter: #ntchat. The chat occurs every Wednesday at 5PM PDT/8PM EDT. It’s supportive and practitioner-focused with discussions that resonate with new teachers in the field. Classroom 2.0 LIVE is an opportunity to gather with other member of the community in regular “live” web meetings. Special thanks for this go to our sponsor, Blackboard Collaborate, for providing the service that allows us to do this! Details to join the webinar: http://live.classroom20.com Follow us on Twitter: #liveclass20 Thanks so much for being a part of this community!

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Win a Rookie Teacher.ca Button! [#swag] 0

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Natasha

Rookie Buttons

#SWAG

Our Rookie Teacher Buttons and business cards have arrived! 

Because I’m a sucker for humour…share a funny story from your first few years of teaching and WIN a Rookie Teacher Pin!  Comment below, on our Facebook Page, or send us an @RookieTeacherCA message on Twitter.

Winners will be announced on Monday, March 25, 2013!

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Rookie Team now on Teachers Pay Teachers 1

Posted on February 06, 2013 by Natasha

Yesterday – Rookie co-founder Natasha posted our very first PDF on TeachersPayTeachers.  We are going to give TPT a shot in the hopes to bring collaboration to the next level.

Have you downloaded any good freebies lately?  Or have you made a purchase you are proud of?

Post a comment below and share your TPT site, one you follow, or just a great tidbit!

Teacher Pay Teachers - Screen shot

Teacher Pay Teachers – Screen shot

DOWNLOAD SCIENCE LAB REPORTS FOR KIDS (Grade 4+) today! (for free)

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From all of us on The Rookie Teacher Team 0

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Natasha

We Wish You A Very Happy Holidays!

Scout and Lucy by the Tree

Happy Holidays from Scout & Lucy

We would like to take this time to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.  For some this is known as ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’  Last week on #ntchat with Lisa Dabbs (@teachingwthsoul), we spoke about what it meant to be #grateful at this time of year (archives).  The Rookie Team would like to take this time to thank everyone for reading the blog, listening to The Lounge Podcast, joining the discussion on Twitter & Facebook, and Following our Pins on Pinterest.

Our readers have made 2012 a great year!

Thank you, we are humbled and grateful for your support.

We couldn’t leave you without some food for thought over the break…here are  3 Quick Tips for rookies and veteran teachers alike:

  1. Rest up & Rejuvenate: you don’t have to pay big money to rest & relax…have a nap, find a good book, sleep in, spend time with family and friends, have another nap, catch up over a beverage or two, sleep, nap, sleep, and nap
  2. Read a book for PD: as Rookies, it’s tough to catch a break, we are always so eager to continue learning and developing our strategies and classroom routines – if you must think about work over the break – grab an EDU, children’s, or young adult book (we recommend: Words That Start With B by Vikki VanSickle, Smile by Raina Telgemeier, Divergent Series by Veronica Roth, Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire by Rafe Esquith, Tribes by Seth Godin, The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller, Guiding Readers: Making the Most of the 18-minutes Guided Reading Lesson by Lori Jamison Rog …)
  3. Recharge: this may seem a lot like #1…but it is so critical for new teachers to keep up the energy we give off at school.  Sleep, rest, and gather new energy to make 2013 the best it can be!
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Engage Students in the Classroom: The Lounge Podcast: Episode 11 0

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Natasha

On today’s show, Andrew and Natasha are up at their home away from home…Glen Mhor, their old #summercamp.  We were happy to have Chantal Jackson, one of the camp’s co-directors, join us today to speak about how she keeps her staff and her campers engaged during training, playing, and day-to-day life at camp.  These techniques can also be used in the classroom.  Listen in for some tips, tricks, and the value of multiple intelligences and differentiating instruction.

Many thanks to Chantal “Match” Jackson!  A true gem in summer camping.

Summer Camp

Summer Camp By Hunter-Desportes, flickrcc.net


SHOW NOTES
Each episode features three segments:

  1. Topic Discussion
  2. Quick Tip for Tomorrow
  3. The Rookie Resource Bank

Topic: Engage Students in the Classroom

Quick Tip for Tomorrow: Something you could do the next day in class with little or no prep and is applicable to most grade levels.

  • Andrew: Milling to Music
  • Natasha: Drink Water! 
  • Chantal: Strategy – WIBYT (Write It Before You Talk) <Michael Brandwein>
Nalgene Water Bottle

Nalgene {flickrcc.net, by: By Chealion}

The Rookie Resource Bank: any electronic, print, or event resource that we found helpful in our first few years of teaching.  Of course, these are all applicable to all teachers.

 

Like what you’ve heard? Have more questions? Contact us:

Rookie Teacher Online
We are always looking for ideas, feedback, tips and tricks of the trade.  Find us on Twitter @RookieTeacherCA, Facebook.com /TheRookieTeacher.  If you are looking to get involved with our team, please contact us!

Early apologies for the audio on this episode, it is not as clean as usual, we were working with a different mic.

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A listening exercise to change the world 3

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Sarah

Okay, maybe the title is a bit ambitious haha. But I would very much appreciate you taking the time to listen to a radio program I made in my Popular Culture, Media & Education course this term at OISE.

The course examined what messages are embedded in our media that maintain power structures and marginalize the voices of many. Our assignment was to create a 10 minute radio segment voicing a story that isn’t covered in mainstream media. We must ensure that definitions of cultures are being defined by themselves and not a dominant narrative, often times the privileged white male.

This is a great exercise to bring into the classroom. Let your students tell their stories and create alternative media, whether a magazine, a video, a website, music or radio. Radio has an interesting way of telling stories allowing many people to hear it at the same time and teaming up with a community radio station is a great learning experience for students. Help them examine the messages that are being sent, why they are being sent in that way and empower them through highlighting choice. We are active recipients of media and if we don’t voice our opinions the capitalist-agenda will continue to manipulate and distort our reality.

Audacity is a great free program available for download that you can use but I made this program with Garage Band.

Please don’t hestiate to ask questions if you have any!

 

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FREEBIE D/L: Patterning Task: Role-A-Rule 0

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Natasha

Spice up your patterning unit with this fun game…err…task.

[[[Patterning-Role-A-Rule <download PDF>]]]

Use it as a sand-alone task or add it to your math centers!  Enjoy :)

- Natasha

Preview

Preview

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Bits From Books: A Thought Experiment 0

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Sarah

“Can a stable, fair, and peaceful world be created in practice — and in time? Can people change their thinking and behavior from today’s selfish and self-centered material-gain and power-oriented wats to cooperative and sustainable ways? The answer is yes: through conscious change by a critical mass. But can conscious change be embraced by a critical mass before current trends and problems become intractable? The answer is still yes: by accelerating the spread of the consciousness that’s already emerging at society’s creative edge. The rapid spread of an evolved consciousness is a basic precondition of moving toward and effective and timely WorldShift.”

Ervin Laszlo, WorldShift 2012, p.71

“A handbook for conscious change that could transform the current world crisis into planetary renewal.”

 

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