Courtney Kowalczyk, M.Ed. asked:


It is hard to believe that 2009 is already here! The holidays came and went so quickly, and now we are on to bigger and better things in the New Year. As a teacher and consultant, I believe that starting a new year is always a great time to put into action our personal New Year’s resolutions. Now, many of us typically think about and plan our personal resolutions; but have you ever thought about making resolutions for yourself professionally as well? Making changes for the better in our professional lives is just as important as in our personal lives. As teachers, we know there are so many things that we need to do day in and day out to keep our classrooms working efficiently and effectively. Planning lessons, managing schedules, and keeping up with grading are just a few of the daily activities that we are required to do. As you move through the rigmarole of our professional lives, do you ever stop and think about what you are learning or gaining from your professional experience? Have you learned a new strategy and implemented it in the classroom? Is teaching still fun, or have you fallen into the rut of the day in and day out routine? Here are a few simple suggestions and ideas for New Year’s resolutions for teachers that will help keep you fresh and moving forward in your professional career.


Read a new strategy book or article for teachers. It is important for teachers to keep up on their reading and understanding of educational practices and procedures. Every month, new strategy books and research articles that share research based best practices come out for teachers. You can find these materials online through your preferred search engine or database. It is amazing to see all of the materials that are available today!

Subscribe to a teacher friendly website. The internet holds thousands of teacher websites that are available to assist you with learning new methods, gaining lesson ideas, and managing your schedule and routines. It is important for you to take the time to find a site that can benefit you and use it frequently throughout the week.

Take a college class. Universities and local intermediate school districts frequently offer classes for teachers. Attending a class or college course is a great way to freshen up on best practices, as well as meet and socialize with fellow teachers.

Visit a fellow teacher’s classroom. It is really amazing to see all of the different ideas that teachers use in their classrooms. By visiting fellow teacher’s classrooms, you can gain some wonderful insight and ideas to use with your students as well.

Read an inspirational quote every morning. At the beginning of everyday, it can be very inspirational to read a quote to yourself or to your class as a whole. Quotes can be a great tool to keep you fresh and ready for the day ahead. You can find calendars with daily quotes on them, as well as a many quote resources online.

Take care of yourself. Lastly and most importantly, teachers need to take care of themselves personally and professionally. Try to leave your work at school, at least a few nights a week, so you can rest and relax once you get home. Plan a date night with your spouse or significant other, and plan not to talk about work. Find things that you enjoy, and be sure to participate in them frequently.



As teachers, it is important for us to make positive changes in ourselves personally and professionally. Our student success will depend on the best practices we are using, and our enthusiasm for teaching. Make 2009 the best year yet for yourself, your family, and your love of teaching!



REYNALDO

Stacy Andell asked:


An Overview of Summer Heat 2006

Miami Schools are offering a range of summer professional development courses for its public school teachers and administrators in order to help teachers meet federal requirements and learn new methods and approaches to teaching. Teachers are eligible to take one Summer Heat course. These courses will be offered during June and July. Most courses last about a week and meet from 8:15 AM to 3:15 PM daily.

The teacher must attend every day of the session in order to receive Master Plan Points. The Miami - Dade County School District’s Master Plan Points Program help teachers earn the graduate level credits that they need to meet the Highly Qualified Teacher Status outlined by the No Child Left Behind Act. Six Master Plan Points per day are awarded for all the courses with the exception of those that grant actual college credit.

Professional Development for Teachers

Miami - Dade County School District teachers benefit from a range of courses that help focus their teaching on special at - risk groups as well as providing instruction in key subject areas. Many courses focus on the needs of children with Limited English Proficiency. These courses help teachers improve literacy of Limited English Proficiency students as well as learn culturally sensitive techniques for including such children in the general classroom. Other special groups include children with autism and children with behavioral problems.

In addition to these special groups, Miami - Dade County School District teachers have the opportunity to enrich their teaching of various core subjects. Courses abound in all aspects of literacy and mathematics as well as science, the arts, and social studies. Both elementary and secondary education is covered, including preparation for teaching the Advanced Placement (AP) Examinations at the secondary school level. On the other end of the spectrum, special attention is also given to the design and implementation of Pre - Kindergarten curriculum. Miami - Dade County School District teachers are also given the opportunity to explore general instructional methods to promote leadership in the classroom, including the Continuous Improvement Model (CIM), Object - Based Learning, and many others.

Professional Development for Administrators

Miami - Dade County School District administrators also benefit from the Summer Heat course offerings. Principals, Principal Trainees, and other support staff have opportunities to learn how to improve their own performance and to help motivate the teachers on their staffs. The Principal Preparation Program runs courses for Principal Trainee both in their first and second year of training. Several meetings of the Assistant Principal Academy are scheduled to help teachers make the transition to administrative roles. In addition, the role of the school psychologist and the teacher - counselor are also explored in various course offerings. The School Support Team also has a variety of courses to choose form in learning how to implement school reform.

University and Community Partnerships

Miami - Dade County School District teachers and administrators rely on the support of many university and community partners. Courses take place at many Miami - Dade County area schools in addition to universities and private businesses. Barry University, the University of Miami, the University of South Florida, and Florida International University all offer their campuses for professional development courses. The Miami Lakes Educational Center also plays a vital role in providing a location for Miami - Dade County School District teachers and administrators to meet and share ideas.



TOMAS

Stacy Andell asked:


Teacher Advancement Program

Three Cincinnati Schools have volunteered to take part in a new program next school year that is aimed to improve the school’s instructional strategies and increase professional development. The aim of the program is to illustrate the connection between effective teaching and the student’s academic performance. The Cincinnati Schools involved in the pilot program are John P. Parker School in Madisonville, South Avondale School in Avondale and Whittier School in Price Hill. These schools cover kindergarten to eighth grade. These schools were chosen over other Cincinnati Schools due to each school’s rankings within the federal No Child Left Behind Act and their potential for growth. The Teacher Advancement Program is a research based school reform program that is designed to retain the best teachers in the profession in the schools. The Teacher Advancement Program was created in 1999 by the Milken Family Foundation. A major goal of the Teacher Advancement Program is to reverse the tendency of gifted young teachers leaving schools for other work by turning teaching into a worthwhile career choice. Teacher Advancement Program is endorsed by the Ohio Department of Education as a new restructuring program and by Cincinnati Schools’ teachers’ union, the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers. Teacher Advancement Program focuses on four areas of teacher development and student achievement:

• Ongoing, applied professional growth — Teachers are given time each week during the school day to work with teachers in the same grades or subjects to match instructional practices to student needs.

• Multiple career paths — Each school offers mentors and master lead teachers to meet regularly with teachers to plan and reflect on instruction.

• Instructionally focused accountability — Teachers will focus on student data to

improve instruction and on feedback from observations by the mentors, master teachers and principals.

• Incentive pay — Following negotiations with the CFT and CPS, incentive pay for teachers could be added for student achievement, professional growth and/or instructional growth.

Cincinnati Schools Set Five Year Plan

Cincinnati Schools have initiated a five year progress plan beginning this coming school year. The plan known as Building Futures: Every Student… Every School… Every Day has been recently approved by the Cincinnati Schools Education Broad. The plan aims to be students centered and sets high performance objectives. The plan wants to foster stronger links to families and community members with Cincinnati Schools and increase professional development among the teachers, staff and administrators. The plan also sets clear accountability measures. The plan was developed based on input from individuals and groups representing parents, community members, school staff, students, elected officials, business leaders, civil-rights organizations, faith-based associations, and others. This plan is divided into ten strategic areas. The plan sets improvement goals for all ten of these areas:

1. All pre K-12 students meet or exceed high academic standards.

2. All students graduate and are prepared for postsecondary education, successful careers and productive citizenship.

3. Schools have autonomy and effective governance, and are held accountable for results.

4. Schools are safe, supportive and family friendly.

5. The district supports schools and is accountable for results.

6. The district employs a highly qualified, diverse workforce that engages in continuous improvement through ongoing, high-quality professional development.

7. The district implements a systemic leadership development program.

8. State-of-the-art school facilities are designed to support student learning in a standards-based environment and are constructed meeting diversity-participation goals.

9. The district and schools are fiscally responsible and allocate resources equitably to support student learning.

10. Community partnerships strengthen the connection between schools and neighborhoods while supporting student learning and family engagement.



DEVON

Patricia Hawke asked:


The Dallas Schools presented a budget to the trustees that may have teachers receiving raises as high as $5000 next school year. The proposed $1.16 billion budget contains nearly $31.5 million for salary increases and new incentives for educators and support staff of the Dallas Schools. The Dallas Schools will also cover the rise in health insurance costs for its employees, instead of passing that cost on through higher premiums, which means lower pay checks.

Budget Impacts Sizes of Dallas Schools

The budget for the Dallas Schools also contains funding for the effort to have smaller class sizes in middle schools, and more arts teachers in the elementary schools. Added funds will also give the high school teachers an additional planning period. These are the things that teachers in the Dallas Schools say are important to them. These three efforts alone, proposed and encouraged by the teachers and administrators of the Dallas Schools, could take a $17.1 million bite out of the proposed budget. But all involved say that the pay off is well worth the cost. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa of the Dallas Schools called the plan a “robust, teacher-friendly” budget. Educators laud his long-term vision in an era of high-stakes testing. There is a national battle on where to spend scarce educational funds.

Pay Packages for Teachers in Dallas Schools

On average other school support staff such as administrative employees will see about a 3% raise. The Dallas Schools will create incentive stipends to encourage principals and teachers to move to “hard to staff” schools. Within the Dallas Schools there are three area high schools and two middle schools considered “hard to staff’ due to their location in low income and high crime areas. Those willing to move there could get anywhere from $6000 for teachers, to $10,000 for principals. The details of that incentive plan are still in the planning stages, but administrators in Dallas Schools feel that this will attract experienced quality teachers and administrators to the areas where their skills are the most desperately needed.

The trustees of the Dallas Schools are scheduled to vote on the budget at a meeting in June. The overall spending in Dallas Schools is expected to increase by about $38 million; however the Dallas taxpayers will not see an increase in their contribution. They will actually see a lower tax rate because of a growing tax base, increased aid for schools from the state, and lower interest payments on the 2002 bond program. Dallas Schools Teacher Union President, Aimee Bolender, said that the proposed salary increases are “more than fair, and that the other initiatives – smaller classes and more planning time – will benefit educators. More importantly it will have a positive impact on the education of the students of the Dallas Schools that we serve”.



BLAKE

Paul M. Jerard Jr. asked:


Do you think the high cost of becoming a Yoga Teacher is too far out of reach? Will you have to sacrifice your family’s life savings to become a Yoga instructor? How will you be able to justify the time off from work needed to gain your Yoga certification?

There are cost-effective, and less expensive solutions, to learn to teach Yoga by becoming a certified Yoga instructor, without the cost of an “arm and a leg.”

Recently, I was talking to an intern from an outside Yoga Teacher Training program, which had paid nearly $10,000.00 for on-site training, on an exclusive tropical island. He was upset, since he had borrowed tuition costs from his parents, and possibly sacrificed his job, in order to become a certified Hatha Yoga Teacher.

He visited my web site for a Yoga teacher correspondence course and discovered my course was a fraction of the cost he and his family paid. He asked me how this is possible. I explained that we do not need to feed, house, or supply hundreds of Yoga interns. On top of that, there are no transportation costs to be concerned with, when using a Yoga home study course. The only cost is for materials, tutoring, and Yoga teacher certification.

Further, I explained that to be trained in a face-to-face setting, by a Master Yoga Teacher, is more expensive due to the “hands on” time spent with his teacher. After all, we have an onsite Yoga Teacher program that is more expensive than our correspondence course.

Time spent learning Yoga from a Master Teacher, or a Guru, is a valuable service. Our course is designed for an experienced Yoga practitioner who doesn’t need as much hands on help or who has a local Yoga teacher for guidance.

He continued the conversation to ask me about technical support, and I explained that we handle it by Email, over the phone, and some interns stop by for our Yoga teacher workshops. We have had Yoga teacher trainees visit us from California and Great Britain to attend a workshop. By the sound of his voice, he seemed depressed, and I asked him, “What is wrong?”

He told me that he hadn’t been taught anything about the marketing involved in the Yoga business or about business in general. He felt it would take a long time to pay his parents back and didn’t know if his job would still be available to him when he gets back home.

Then, I explained that we have Yoga marketing and business tools in our standard course and as a separate course for experienced Yoga teachers. I invited him to come to a Yoga marketing workshop when he gets back to the States, and, we both, made a new friend.

We all feel a “calling” to do work that gives us satisfaction. It helps to have a passion about our work and to know that you are helping others along the way. This is one of the many benefits of teaching Yoga, but I advise you to research the cost of Yoga instructor education, and to be careful not to put yourself too far in debt. Otherwise, your passion for Yoga could turn into a financial worry - well into the future. This would make it difficult to teach the benefits of Yoga to your students, while you are stressed out over your bills.

© Copyright 2005 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications



RANDALL

Stacy Andell asked:


Charlotte Jaycees Award Charlotte School Teachers

The Charlotte Jaycees have awarded three teachers in the Charlotte Schools on their annual Ten Outstanding Young Charlotteans list. The teachers named are: Emma Barnes, Hawk Ridge Elementary; Jeffrey Joyce, Northwest School of the Arts; and Mary Katherine Patton, Selwyn Elementary. The Ten Outstanding Young Charlotteans list honors area residents ages 21 to 40 who have shown outstanding performance in personal improvement, financial success or economic innovation, social improvement, philanthropic contributions, politics or government service, scientific or technological contributions, legal reform, cultural achievement, academic leadership, moral and religious leadership, athletic accomplishment, success in the influence of public opinion.

Mrs. Barnes is a second grade teacher at the Hawk Ridge Elementary in the Charlotte Schools. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree and is on the Advisory Board for Reach Out and Read Charlotte. Mrs. Barnes was named to the list for her work in establishing a book drive at Hawk Ridge to collect gently used books for Reach Out and Read Clinics. Her book drive has now been developed for all Charlotte Schools’ elementary programs.

Mr. Joyce, a social studies teacher at the Northwest School of the Arts, is an active participant in the Yale Teaching Project. Due to his work on this project, Yale has made him their local recruiter and hopes he can expand the program throughout the Charlotte Schools. He was named to the list for his work in the relief efforts for Tsunami and Katrina victims.

Ms. Patton is a second grade teacher at Selwyn Elementary and is the former recipient of the First Year Teacher of the Year at Selwyn Elementary. She was named to the Ten Outstanding Young Charlotteans list for her work in Katrina and Rita relief. Through Ms. Patton’s efforts, two Charlotte Schools Billingsville Elementary and Selwyn Elementary raised $25,000 for the Red Cross. She was also able to help convince Lowe’s to issues a matching donation, as well.

Charlotte Schools Continue to Raise Test Scores

High schools in the Charlotte Schools have continued their five year trend of higher test scores. The results of the end of the course test for the 2005-2006 school year show that a higher percentage of students performing at or above grade level this year compared to last year. Charlotte Schools’ high schools now have 64% of all students performing at or above grade level. The greatest improvement in scores was seen at three Charlotte Schools, East Mecklenburg High School, Independence High School and Vance High School. Each high school had an approximate increase in scores of 6%, raising each well above the 50% of students at grade level performance. Other high schools in the Charlotte Schools that have shown improvement include Garinger High School, West Charlotte High School and West Mecklenburg High School. However, none of these high schools reached the 50% mark. It is believed that these improvements are the result of Charlotte Schools’ reforms over the past few years. School reforms have aimed to place more resources in the classroom, use a lead teacher model in the schools, improve the schedule to allow more time in core subjects, and improve overall teaching standards. Some schools in the Charlotte Schools system have introduced additional measures, such as after school study groups and Saturday tutorials. Others have begun to divide the high school into small specialized sections that can give greater focus in core areas.



ROCCO

Stacy Andell asked:


Detroit Schools’ Teachers Delay School Starts with Strike

There has been a slow and turbulent start to the Detroit Schools ‘ new school year. In a battle over contracts, some 7,000 teachers and 2,000 staff members refused to start school in September. These contract disagreements lead finally to a court battle. The contract disagreement began on August 28 after the Teachers Union rejected a two year contract that included salary cuts of 5% and increased health insurance co-payments. Detroit Schools wants an $88 million concession from the Detroit Schools’ Teachers’ Union to help with the $105 million deficit to its $1.36 billion budget.

On September 16, Detroit Circuit Court Judge Susan Borman ordered that the 7,000 striking Detroit Schools’ teachers return to work. After this order, Detroit Teachers’ Union president Janna Garrison read the order aloud to 3,000 Detroit Federation of Teachers members but did not comment or give any instructions as to whether the order should be obeyed. The vast majority of the teachers did not return to work.

Detroit Schools’ spokesman Lekan Oguntoyinbo stated that under state law teachers who defied the order could face penalties which include fines and other actions. Oguntoyinbo said that Detroit Schools would go back to the courts and request that the order be enforce. As of the 18th of September, teachers had not returned and Detroit Schools has not decided what action it would take.

On the official first day of school, the 130,000 students in the Detroit Schools were greeted by their teachers not in the classroom but protesting outside. The picketing teachers were most of the teachers, only about 9% of Detroit Schools had returned to work. The Detroit Schools Board of Education worried that the strike would cause students to pull out of the Detroit schools and that their families will leave the city, however most parents support the teachers.

Detroit Schools’ Teachers Return to Work

Even though the contract issues have not been fully resolved but the Teachers’ Union has announced that the teachers returned to work on September 20. This was mainly due to pressures from the court and not due to reconciliation between the Detroit Schools and the teachers.

Many Union members, parents and other supporters of the teachers do not want the issue to remain tabled. These supporters want the Detroit Schools system revised. They claim the administration is top heavy and each position should be justified in some way. Others want the Detroit Schools to consider the consolidation of schools. This idea has fewer supporters because it would involve school closures that would greatly affect parents and neighborhoods. Even though this would be the most drastic of the possible ways to change the Detroit Schools, it may be the most cost effective. Like all issues there are many sides. Some wish the Detroit Schools top be run more like a business, which would include offering teacher buyouts, others believe education should be the main focus no matter what the costs.



KEN

Amaya asked:


I’m having a presentation in class next week and my teacher told us to dress appropriately for the occasion. Does he mean to dress more formally? If so, does he mean semi formal or something more casual (but still somewhat formal), like skirts?
Oh…sorry. I haven’t gotten the semi formal, formal, etc definitions straight in my mind yet. I wasn’t planning on wearing anything short or revealing. I was just wondering what I should wear.

HUGH