Designated Doodler

Here are the important tips about teaching art that you won't find in your first year teacher's survival guide. 1. Only leave out on the table the supplies that you want each grade to use. Little kids are like bloodhounds that can find a marker in a crayon stack, and it only takes one marker to mess up a project! 2. Never give your kids the color black, unless you are using it specifically, or their work will be 90% black. I'd also go ahead and pop out all of the black cakes in the watercolor palettes. 3. Demonstrate how to do absolutely everything, from using a glue stick properly to how to do the project, step by step. 4. Start the year off by immediately telling the kids that they will always, ALWAYS, only get ONE SHEET OF PAPER. Unless you want to singlehandedly destroy the rainforest, do not hand out paper like it's candy. Instill in the kids that their work is precious and should take time and care. And if they make mistakes, they need to think of ways...

With the passing of the summer solstice I've come to accept the end of summer, which most teachers would be sad about. But having worked six days a week all summer long, I don't feel as though I'm losing a break at all, but gaining one. And oh what a summer it's been. I found the love of my life, moved into a great place, got a new vehicle, thrown several parties, created curriculum, positively impacted the lives of high school students, made new friends, and finally got into the school district that I've been trying to get into for years. I'm thrilled to finally be able to teach art, although I've noticed an absurd bias in that some apparently believe that art "isn't important." But you can't be mad at ignorance. To that I would reply that it teaches cooperation, nurtures creativity, provides an outlet for stress and frustration, teaches fine motor skills, connects to the content in the classroom and opens worlds of possibilities. ...

If you are a student in the United States, your intelligence is measured only through standardized testing. Upon finishing high school and college I realized that I had been trained for sixteen years to take tests - and that my skill in doing so had no real-world application. I became a teacher because I'm good at it, I enjoy teaching others and watching them grow. However, I believe that one reason the teaching turnover rate is so prolific is because once inside the system, teachers recognize all that is amiss with it but are powerless to change it. We are so powerless in fact that even if we have children of school age, we aren't allowed to protest the fact that the Texas Education Agency dissolved the modified version of the STAAR test, leaving kids with learning disabilities or handicaps in the dust. Related article: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20140502-special-education-teachers-staar-questions-unanswered.ece This is just one issue among many....

I teach high school English and I also tutor elementary and middle school students. No matter what the age group, I see a common and alarming trend among children. They can't focus! These kids, our kids, are being affected by two pervasive things: instant gratification and constant stimulation. They get what they want, when they want. So when they come to school, they expect to run the show, which just isn't how it works - at school or in life. They talk back to teachers, question why they have to do assignments, argue about their grades, turn in assignments late and detest having to focus. It's no wonder that teachers are jumping ship right and left. Believe it or not, there once was a day when kids were respectful, did not question their assignments or grades, did not badger their teachers to grade faster, did not bring weapons to school or start fights, did not wage an electronics war or refuse to work. As teachers we receive absurd amounts of training on be...

1. You know that terrified feeling you get when you start your first day at a new job? Yeah, well that's what subbing is like...every single day is your first day (unless it's a long term sub job). 2. Let's pray that the teacher has their kids seated alphabetically, it will make my life soooo much easier. 3. Nobody talks to you at lunch because you're just a temporary fixture. 4. It is inevitable that you will walk into a classroom where the teacher has no plans for you whatsoever. 5. The kids will test you...every minute...of every hour...of every day. This includes them switching names on you, switching seats, trying to sneak out of class, trying to get in verbal battles with you and doing anything and everything except for their classwork. 6. There will be a point when you ask yourself...why did I take this assignment? 7. You will be up at 5am looking for jobs for the day if none were posted the day before, and you really want/need ...