Helping You Become a Successful and Confident Classroom Teacher

Welcome!

I'm Dorit Sasson, freelance writer, ESL teacher, and creator of the New Teacher Resource Center, your online new teacher support site dedicated to helping you develop strategies for taking control in the classroom.

Here you'll find a wealth of information on lesson planning, classroom management, learning styles and teaching methods, and many other issues new teachers face. Take time to look around, and please leave a comment.

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Tricks of the Trade:
How to Become a Successful & Confident Teacher
Jun 30

Tricks of the Trade: Learn to Write for Children in Just 6 Weeks!

Suzanne Lieurance, Uncategorized, course, writing for childrenNo Comments


coverI’ve just signed up for a fabulous new course called Tricks of the Trade: Learn to Write for Children in just 6 weeks. The course tutor, Suzanne Lieurance, is the author of more than a dozen published books for children and the founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center. She’s also the coaching coodinator for the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and a former instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature.

Over the years, Suzanne has learned the tricks of the trade for children’s publishing, and now she’d like to share those tricks with you.Each lesson includes both an audio file and a pdf (text) file, so you can read AND listen to the information presented.

In this 6 week e-course, you’ll learn:
1.The 10 most common mistakes made by new children’s writers and how to avoid them
2.How writing for children is much different than writing for adults
3.How to correctly format manuscripts for agents, editors, and publishers
4.How to keep from writing unpublishable “incidents” instead of full fledged marketable stories
5.How to write winning query letters to sell your work
6.Simple self-editing techniques
7.How to track submissions
8.How to land assignments with children’s magazine and book editors
And much, much, more

Plus . . . perhaps the best part of this convenient e-course is that you won’t have to leave home for your lessons. You can jumpstart your writing career while relaxing in your pjs or bathrobe, if you like.Plus . . . these lessons are very affordable at an incredibly low price of just $147.00 for the complete 6-week course.

BONUS!
When you register for the course right now, you’ll also receive 2 months membership in the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club (a $54 value), which will give you the opportunity to have at least one of your manuscripts professionally critiqued once a week every single week for two months. As a member of the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club you’ll also receive email invitations to weekly teleclasses presented by successful published children’s book writers, illustrators, editors, and publishers.
If you’re interested in signing up for the course, click here for more information about cost (it’s very reasonable!) and application.

Jun 27

Three Tips for a Successful Parent/Teacher Conference

parent-teacher conference tipsNo Comments

contributed by Theresa Schultz of the Stress-Free Parent

The parent/teacher conference is one of the most important interactions you will have with your child’s teacher during the school year. It is during this brief meeting that you will set the goals and expectations you have for your child. Follow these three tips for a successful and productive conference that will help you and your child start the school year off right.

1) Show up on Time and Come Prepared

You may only have fifteen minutes allotted for your conference, so do not arrive late. Likewise, if the parent and child ahead of you are running into your time, poke your head around the corner and let the teacher know you are there. You have a right to your full conference time, especially if you have more than one to attend; a gentle reminder that your time is limited is all that should be necessary.

Come prepared with a list of questions or concerns you may have regarding your child’s progress in school. If there is a special problem or obstacle to surmount, email the teacher in advance of the conference to give her a head’s up. That way, she will be ready to address the issue and can better suggest ways to deal with the situation.

Clue the teacher in on any problems or special concerns you might have; however, if your child attends the conference with you, be sure that you do not embarrass him. Those private emails might work better for informing the teacher of your concerns.

2) Let the Teacher Set the Tone

Whether or not your child attends the conference with you is up to your teacher, and you need to know this ahead of time. A lot of teachers prefer to have the child present, so you can all work as a team to set goals for a successful school year. Sometimes, though, your teacher may not choose to have your son or daughter present. She has a particular reason for this, so be respectful of that.

If your child does come with you, let the teacher set the tone. She may wish to speak directly to the child, letting the parent assume the role of supportive listener. This is fine; she’s trying to give your child a sense of his responsibility in the matter. If she solicits your opinion, by all means, give it, but let your child have his say too. This way he knows this is about him and he is an equal member in this partnership. Ask the teacher any questions you still have when she and your child have finished.

3) Set Goals at Home and at School

The purpose of the conference should be to set goals for the coming year. The teacher should have made clear her expectations for classroom behavior, attendance, homework and study habits at Back-To-School Night. This meeting is an opportunity for your child to set specific goals, to stretch himself to become a better student, either academically or in terms of behavior or leadership.

This is also where you let your child know your expectations for his success at school, including things like where and when to study, what kinds of letter grades he will shoot for, and how extra-curricular activities will come into play. Get these agreements in writing before school gets under way. You can revisit them during the year and see how well your child has done, reevaluating the contract as the year progresses.

This is especially important if you have older children. Many middle and high schools do not hold parent teacher conferences, because your child has several different instructors. While a teacher will always meet with you when there is a problem, you may not have an opportunity to say anything other than ‘Hello’ at Back-to-School-Night. In this case, it is absolutely vital that you set some goals with your child and then hold him accountable.

Jun 27

Links from Teachers For Teachers

UncategorizedNo Comments

We can create a supportive community even under our tight time and curriculum constraints.

Thank you, Sara Cove from Israel for these very helpful links!

Advice About Homework

Summer Basic Reading and Alphabet Activities (interactive games)

Jun 27

Hey Teachers - Write Your Heart Out This Summer!

Uncategorized, summer vacation for teachers, writing for teachersNo Comments


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One of the best ways to get a better perspective about any situation, teaching or not, is to simply write about it. Writing offers uninterrupted and creative space for teachers to explore their ideas and passions.

There are many ways you can use your teaching in your writing. For example, if you’re an aspiring children’s writer, you can use some of the dialogues that you hear from students all day. If you are a freelance writer, you can write a magazine article using ideas you work with all the time.

Take advantage of the summer months to really improve your craft of writing either through a writing workshop or course. Maybe even a convention? Some teachers I know work with a writing coach. In fact, I am writing a book and Suzanne Lieurance, the working writer’s coach is coaching me through summer boot camp.

Listen to my testimonial about Suzanne Lieurance’s products and services

Writing is also a great form of professional development. If you don’t know where to begin, simply start with a daily journal. Over time, you will see real growth and development.

So what are you waiting for?

Write your heart out this summer!

Jun 25

Free Teleseminar On How to Make Money From Tips Booklets and Other Info Products Using Your Teaching Experience

Uncategorized, informational products, tips bookletsNo Comments

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On Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 2:00 PM eastern, I’ll be interviewing Paulette Ensign, founder, Chief Visionary, and Booklet Queen at San Diego-based Tips Products International.

Many educators and small business owners cringe at the idea of marketing what they offer. You may be one of those people, no matter where you are professionally.

If you’re looking for good ways to expand your income, with whatever bits of time you have using your teaching experience, this FREE teleclass will give you all the information you need to know to turn that all around. If you’re one of those people who thinks that marketing has to be difficult, time-consuming, expensive, and anything but fun, you’ll be guided in an informative step-by-step way through easily leveraging your expertise as a teacher with tips booklets and other related information products, some of which will cost you literally nothing to produce.

Learn simple ways to transform what you know into products to use for motivating and making money, while marketing yourself in the process. This entertaining and information-packed session will prompt a new way of thinking about opportunities, many of which are delivered to you throughout your week.

Enjoy a large return on your minimal investment of time and money. Get your juices flowing and your actions moving toward successfully developing and promoting your wisdom and teaching experience with tips booklets and other information products.

Click here to register for this special teleclass with Paulette Ensign. When you do, you’ll receive the call-in information you’ll need on the day of the call.

Jun 22

6 Tips for Using Blogs in the Classroom

classroom blogs, teaching tipsNo Comments


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written by contributing writer, Caitlin Smith

Whether you teach young kids or those on their way to college, technology has become an ever present force in their lives and yours. Why not bring a little of this into your lessons as well? Many teachers have begun incorporating blogging into classroom projects, giving students a chance to learn how to use the web for practical purposes (rather than just to social network or chat) and share their hard work with people from all over. Here are some tips to help you get started using blogs as part of your assignments.

1. Give students immediate feedback. One of the great benefits of blogging is that you can give students feedback right on the content they create. You can send it any time and they can read it at any time. Take advantage of this, as it may help kids get excited about the process.

2.Avoid singular class blogs unless all students can participate. The point of blogging isn’t just to get kids using the net, it’s to teach them how it works, how to communicate in text and what information is appropriate for the public sphere. Students may be better served by creating their own blogs or by working in small groups where each student takes a turn at the blogging wheel.

3.Assign a specific purpose. Don’t just let your students blog as they please, make sure that blogging in your classroom serves a specific purpose. Whether you want them to record their daily activities or create weekly reports about an in-class science project, make sure the boundaries of a blog are clearly outlined.

4.Use good blogging tools. This is one area where you want to make sure you use the best tools out there for blogging, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the intricacies of technology. The good thing about this is that many of these are free, at least in a basic form and it won’t cost you a thing to set up accounts and learn more about their features.

5.Consider class RSS feeds. This way, students will be saved the work of checking for updates on their classmates or classroom blog. They’ll have an automatic listing of every time something is updated, making it easier to keep up with the project and get involved on a more personal level. If you have a smaller class, you may even want to consider creating a single aggregation blog that can be a central location to direct students.

6.Tailor it to your own needs. Some teachers state never to use blogs as discussion forums while others encourage it heartily. The reality is that things like this are entirely up to you. If you feel it’s more beneficial to your students one way or the other, it’s up to you to decide, regardless of what any other educator thinks. You know your lesson plan and your students better and can make an informed decision.

Most of all, remember that like any new technology, learning how to make the most of it in the classroom may have a bit of a learning curve. The best way to find out what works is to try new things, so be patient with your blogging endeavor.

This post was contributed by Caitlin Smith, who writes about the accredited online universities. She welcomes your feedback at CaitlinSmith1117 at gmail.com

Jun 21

Ideas For Summer Fun!

Usborne BooksNo Comments


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Usborne has lots of books and activities to make traveling hours pass quickly. Click on summer fun for some suggestions.

Then, check out the on-line instructions for drawing a frog from the best seller I Can Draw Animals. Read a book online or play with optical illusions.

Print a free dot-to-dot page. Experiments, art projects, recipes, brain teasers and much more when you click on Hands on Fun at my Usborne Books Store.

Click here for the Usborne Books on-line catalogue!

Jun 21

Get Their Attention in 5 Easy Steps: Tips for Teaching Reluctant Readers and ESL Students

ESL students, Uncategorized, reluctant readers, teaching tipsNo Comments


1159730_yell
This article originally appeared in Teacher and Principal Quarterly, Fall 08.)

There are few things more challenging than motivating a student who doesn’t want to learn. But as all good teachers know, no such student really exists.

Many of my reluctant ESL students became passive when faced with a reading text. Simplifying the texts and giving them a choice in assignments did not help with motivating them. So here are 5 easy tips you can do to help with that problem.

Tip 1: Teach topics that are motivating. Interest and topic are key. As Richard Day points out in “Selecting a Passage for the Reading Class,” relating to student interests has implications for facilitating second-language acquisition. Part of getting students interested in reading is to expand their knowledge on topics they enjoy.

Tip 2: Choose Your Text Carefully. Always look at the texts from the students’ perspective. Not all texts are exploitable. To evaluate texts, consider the following questions:

1.Lexical exploitability: Do the texts offer an opportunity to acquire some new vocabulary?
2.Structure exploitability: Can students explore text meanings by how the text is set-up?
3.Thematic exploitability: Does the text have the potential to lead into some aspect of discussion?
Don’t limit your students’ reading experience. Let them read non-fiction and fiction. Poetry offers an almost musical quality to the written word.

I love when I read a “chapter book” to the children from the Usborne book collection. The first time I do this they often say “You forgot to show the picture!” It is with this statement that the book is put aside as we create the images that are missing; I tell them this book does not have many pictures and I ask them what it is they would like to see. In response, I get a description of the people and places created by the children. It is with their imagination that the story comes to life.

Tip 3: Create step-by-step lessons. Start small by using bits of text such as word clues, titles and subtitles. Important vocabulary used in a pre-reading activity can serve as a lead-in to the topic.Encourage predictions whenever possible.

Tip 4:Identify phonic and phonemic skills. Word and letter recognition is the foundation for future comprehension. Once students can decode the words, introduce those words to students and then only in short passages. This builds up their confidence and gives them a reason to continue reading.

Tip 5: Emphasize authentic and meaningful language communication. Students remember targeted words and chunks of language when they are taught in a meaningful way.

Remember, fluency will not occur on its own. Reluctant readers/ESL students need a variety of exposure to and practice with texts that are motivating if they are to become fluent readers. Meaningful vocabulary and comprehension activities help complement the text so that students become motivated and engaged.

Jun 18

Rainy Days Go Away - Super Fun Summer Ideas from Usborne

Usborne BooksNo Comments


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Maybe it’s me, but it doesn’t feel like summer here in Pittsburgh! I’m captive indoors due to all this rain!! If you are tired of the rain & gray skies or excited to kick off summer - I have some exciting titles to get you and the kids back in the spirit of summertime!

Now through the end of June, I am offering 20% off your order (phone or e-mail me your order - click here for my contact information) - in addition, I’ll also mail the kids a cute, summer goodie box to help chase the rainy day blues away (min. order $30)!

TOP TEN SUMMER IDEAS

1. Teach your child to swim $12.99 - great resource for any parent with children learning to swim (even if you know how - it’s a good brush up - in usual Usborne fashion, each step discussed has an illustration to accompany it.

2. 100 Things for Little Children to do on a Trip $9.99 - This should be titled “for little children to do - period” - features dry erase marker & wipe off cards - endless activities for ages 3-7+ while waiting at a restaurant, at the doctors, in line at the amusement park, etc… I hole-punched mine & keep it in my purse for fun on the go!

3. Learning Wrap-Ups $9.99 - a great tactile learning tool that utilizes both sides of the brain - Addition, Division, Multiplication, States/Capitals, Subtraction.

4. 365 Things to Make & Do $24.99 - There you go - an activity a day for a year… what a bargain!

5. Sticker Dolly Dressing - Go On Vacation or Summer Sticker Book $8.99 - we took this one to the pool with us last year and immediately had a group of kids all wanting to help “do stickers!”

6. Planning a trip to the beach, lake or pool? Get kids interested with any of these titles: click here On the Beach Lift-the-Flap, Under the Sea Lift-the -Flap, See Under the Sea, On the Seashore, Under the Sea, Sharks, Seashore, 1001 Things to Spot in the Sea, The Great Under Sea Search, Dot to Dot Seashore, Puzzle Ocean, Little Encyclopedia of Oceans and Seas, Whales & Dolphins, etc…

7. Cooking Cards - Easy / Healthy / Yummy - $9.99 Set of 30 cards for step-by-step instructions for cooking with your children - I prefer the cards to the books because I can weed out the recipes that I don’t want to do or we don’t have the ingredients for - that way they still feel like they have a choice in what we are concocting!

8. I can draw Animals or People - $4.99 - These books are awesome! My 4-1/2 yr old loves the satisfaction of drawing things outside of his expertise (rainbows and stick people) - pair this book with a bucket of sidewalk chalk & you have a wonderful summer birthday gift!

9. 100 Science Experiments - $15.99 - Cooking in the Sun, creating crystals, sprouting seeds, etc…way better than Noggin!

10. 100 Things to Spot in the Night Sky - $9.99 - grab these spotter’s cards, throw up a tent, gather round the campfire & see if you can find the constellations!

Click here at my Usborne books store to view more summer titles.

Remember, my offer is now through the end of June, I am looking forward to hearing from you. I have some super home show deals also. Let me know how I can help you build your library FOR FREE!! Thanks & here’s hoping for some sunshine and summer fun soon!

Jun 17

New and Exciting Changes from the National PTA - What This Means For Teachers and Parents

national PTANo Comments


PTA logo

The National PTA wants to inform parents and teachers about new and exciting changes happening this month.

The National PTA is definitely in an era of change! An organization once known as the Congress of Mothers will now be lead by two men! For the first time in its 113-year history, the National PTA will install a father as its National President. That’s why PTA is offering an exclusive LIVE webcast to you so you can be the first to meet the new National PTA President, Chuck Saylors, who will be installed at the PTA national convention on June 28th in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

The webcast will also feature Byron V. Garrett, the organizations first-ever male CEO, and offer the opportunity for parents who can’t attend the convention to reap the benefits of asking each expert questions via email and have them answered during the live webcast!

As new online strategies take the world by storm, Saylors and Garrett will focus many of their upcoming efforts on getting parents and teachers involved with new tools by offering conversation and updates on Facebook and Twitter, engaging National PTA members with these new Social Media platforms. The webcast will also offer information on important topics such as:

1. Strategic planning and priorities for the National PTA for the next two years

2. How National PTA is working with the Obama Administration and reauthorization of NCLB

3. Positive impact of male involvement and ways in which men can get involved

4. Summer tips to stay ready for back to school season

5. And so much more!

Join the National PTA on June 24th to watch and get involved in this exclusive webcast event. To register and secure your spot, click here.

Hope to see you on the webcast!

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