26letters

Student Teachers…step three

26pizbicki — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:42:14 +0000

Ok, so you are continuing to read and getting familiar with technology in the school you will be teaching. Keep it going, don’t stop those two important aspects of teaching, and I don’t mean for the time you student teach, but for the remainder of your career. Once a teacher, forever a student!

Now, tip for week three. There are no sites, no Youtube videos, actually this is probably something that no student teacher has ever heard. Why? Well, because it’s not politically correct to say. So why am I saying it? Well, some one has to….

Ok, here it is, the big news…YOU DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING! Keep your opinions, judgements, and confidence to yourself. No one, not your cooperating teacher, the teacher down the hall who has been teaching for 20 years or the teacher upstairs who has been teaching for one day, cares what you think. I know, that’s harsh, but I’ll tell you, no one, NO ONE, likes a know-it-all. And I can tell you, I don’ t care where you came from or what you’ve learned in your higher learning, it means nothing until you have experience, and right now, you have NONE! You are here to learn, this is your lab, and you better take advantage of it, because once you get into a classroom, you will be all alone! You may get mentor support, but from 7-3 you will have your students to yourself and YOU will be making all the decisions. Do you know how IEP’s work, do you know how testing works, where grades go, what the library procedure is, who to cal when a child throws up, what to do if there is a child hurting himself or others, what to teach, how to modify it, what the teacher “lingo” means, do you know who Fountas and Pinnell are, how about reader/writers workshop, do you have duties, what is your responsibility…I could go on for days.

You are practicing your profession, so act like a professional. Do not get into the gossip, do not become a “nay” sayer, do not talk about those that you need to learn from. You can learn from EVERYONE! There comes a point in every teacher’s career where you can jump on board with the complainers or walk a very tough lonely road and in most cases teachers come to this crossroads very early in their career, like in student teaching. So make a good choice.

So, remember your passion, remember that you are becoming a professional, remember to keep your ears open more often than your mouth, and last but not least, remember that YOU DO NOT KNOW IT ALL…

…and you never will. If you stick to that, you will be a wonderful professional. Teaching is a profession, act like a professional.

Student Teaching…step two!

26pizbicki — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:48:43 +0000

Welcome back student teachers! Hopefully you’ve begun to read some great literature both professional and for fun! You will be teaching literacy in some profound ways and it only strengthens your teaching if YOU are an experienced reader! Keep it up!

Your job for the next week is to get familiar with technology in the classrooms. Find out what your district has to offer you for technology, if there are requirements (standards) that need to be met, what possible technology you might bring into the classroom (even if it’s only a camera), and begin to think of the possibilities. I cannot stress enough the importance of technology in the classroom and again, with the Common Core State Standards coming in 2014 (at this point you will have your own classroom) you will be responsible for using technology, it is embedded in the standards.

Take a look at the Youtube video below. It is true, it is inspiring, and it should motivate you to begin this journey of using technology in a way that will expand the learning of your students (technology does not take the place of the teacher, it compliments and expands the learning taking place)!

Best Librarian Blogs ever…

26lettersbooktalk — Sun, 29 May 2011 02:42:23 +0000

When I’m not reading my favorite crafty blogs… I am trolling the web looking for inspiration and new ideas to bring back to my library. One of the best ways to do this is to tap into some of the amazing resources out there… librarian bloggers (and I threw in a couple teacher bloggers for good measure too)!! I’ve compiled a list of some of my faves… subscribe to their feeds and devour.

Warrior Librarian who doesn’t love some library humor?

The ‘M’ Word: Marketing Libraries in a time of slashed budgets… this is a must read.

Kimbooktu gadgets for booklovers

It’s Not All Flowers and Sausages freaking hilarious teacher blog

The Reading Zone keep up with the latest books your students will want to read

The Tech Savvy Educator a practical guide for integrating technology into the classroom

Eliterate Librarian a middle school edtech geek librarian

Information Tyrannosaur a tech loving librarian

The Daring Librarian this woman is amazing and always has the latest greatest info for your library and school

Calling all student teachers!

26pizbicki — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:23:54 +0000

Looking for some advice on student teaching? Keep up with the blog because I will be checking weekly to help with any troubles and will be giving some resources and advice that I wish I had when I began my journey as a teacher. Start slow and do one thing at a time. First tip…student teaching is not far away, before you get settled with your cooperating teacher and begin to feel overwhelmed, use your summer to do three things…read, read, read! Catch up on children’s books (in the grade level you will be teaching), professional books, and anything standards based in the district you will be teaching (it wouldn’t hurt to go to the district’s home page and read through it all). The First Days of School by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong is a great title to get you started. Good luck on your journey, post questions, and keep checking, more advice and resources to come…

Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry

26lettersbooktalk — Sat, 21 May 2011 11:01:45 +0000

Recently I read Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to Write Poem by Jack Prelutsky (c2008). If you have not picked this book up to read to your class/library before you begin a poetry unit, you don’t know what you’re missing! Prelutsky offers writing tips to students when writing poetry and covers a variety of poetry including haiku and creating verse. There is a glossary of terms in the back students can refer to and a small section of poem starts to help get kids going. The BEST and most hilarious part of the book is in the meat of the book. Prelutsky tells the reader where the ideas for his poems came from. He tells hilarious stories of his childhood (like stealing his Dad’s underwear and drawing on it with markers because he thought they were too boring and his father’s not-so-amused reaction to it). With each chapter he provides a writing tip, the story where his idea came from and the final result… the poem. Kids crack up laughing and the most reluctant readers and writers start asking to borrow the book, even more than the Wimpy Kid books (seriously, I’m not exaggerating). My fifth graders come into the library asking to borrow this book every day since I introduced it to them. The book is suitable for grades 3 and up but my fifth graders really seem to enjoy it the most. Hope you get yourself a copy or two or three…

Common Core State Standards

26pizbicki — Thu, 19 May 2011 00:43:10 +0000

Interested in comments, concerns, conversation about the new Common Core State Standards. 48 states have adopted the standards and they will begin implementing these standards in the year 2014. I feel like I have a grasp on the literacy standards, I understand what the expectations are (for example what “type” of teaching is NOT going to work), I am confused with the Math standards…anyone know where they are going with these…ideas for they “type” of teaching these standards will require? Interested in conversation? Let’s chat…

Bringing the FUN back to teaching…

26pizbicki — Thu, 19 May 2011 00:34:50 +0000

I always hear that the “fun” has been taken out of teaching, so as a literacy coach, my goal was to get some “fun” back into the classrooms. So, we began author studies as our last genre study for the year and I got 7/9 teachers to participate in some kick off activities! Some were studying Allen Say. So we did a scavenger hunt (I made a bunch of posters with his lifetime timeline, reposted an interview with him, and made another poster with his new book information on it) the kids then had to museum walk (quietly walk around and read all the posters) before beginning the scavenger hunt. We went on computers and learned about Japan (Allen Say’s home country), browsed all his books, and made origami. It was a great background knowledge builder for the study and the students were so excited to participate!

In another couple of classes we were studying Chris Van Allsburg. To kick off this wild author, we also did a scavenger hunt and played on his website which is VERY cool. We then studied his illustrations and tried to mimic his art. Finally we browsed his books and did some readerly and writerly noticings. We used all our ideas to make a fun bulletin board for the whole school to view!

The fun is not out of teaching! It’s still there, sometimes we just need to work together to bring it back!

Free educational website… it’s interactive too!

26lettersbooktalk — Thu, 05 May 2011 16:02:28 +0000

This is my new favorite Smartboard website! You MUST try it if you haven’t already.

Although there are advertisements on the site which can be slightly distracting to students… (I’ve had a few shout out “SPONGE BOB!”)… The website is free, interactive, Smartboard friendly, easy to navigate, and covers a wide variety of topics. The content is delivered in an easy to understand format which my K-5 students love… what are you waiting for? Check it out!

Introduction to research and report writing for kids

26lettersbooktalk — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 14:05:34 +0000

I’m always looking for new ways to introduce kids (grades 2 and 3) to the research process and report writing. I also want to make it fun, engaging, and creative… sounds tricky right? Well, I’ve found an online resource to accomplish all of these things. Yay!

The subscription site abcteach has created a resource called a lapbook (look for the “how to fold” example to get the best idea of what a lapbook is). There are many templates to choose from and are ready to print but there is also a blank template to create your own. I love these lapbooks and see them as a valuable resource for students to be creative while learning the beginnings of the research process. These would also be useful with additional grade levels if used for book reports, biographies, or any other creative use for displaying student learning. Many of the lap books are free and additional books do require the abcteach subscription. I have a subscription and consider it well worth the price.

In addition to lapbooks, here is a short list of other valuable websites I’ve found for research and report writing:

Time for Kids
Report templates from Enchanted Learning
Enchanted Learning graphic organizers
Scholastic book report sandwich
Interactive book report generator
ReadWriteThink report writing (this is interactive and VERY cool)

World Read Aloud Day

26lettersbooktalk — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 02:45:49 +0000

March 9th is World Read Aloud Day and LitWorld has lots of resources to use in your classroom or library. Other simple ideas to celebrate could include:

Create a morning announcement to read to the entire school explaining World Read Aloud Day
Skype with another school or classroom in the world and share a story
Invite a community member or local celebrity to read to your classroom or school
Encourage faculty members in your school to share their favorite story or book on a bulletin board

For more great ideas, check out these sites and blogs:

And don’t forget to participate in the Facebook event and post how you plan to celebrate!