Teaching is a work of art and science. Today's teacher must be intelligent, organized, creative, reflective, technologically savvy, and a learner by nature. Demands on the teaching profession have increased with standardized testing, changes in our knowledge about how children learn best,and the competition of ever increasing visual media. Follow me into the blogosphere of teaching, learning, and best practice.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Friday, December 7, 2012
WARNING: Copyrights & Trademarks
Here is the scoop on what is acceptable and what crosses the line:
- If you find a free downloadable resource, you cannot post it on the Internet unless it is specifically stated in the terms of use. This includes posting it to your school website or district servers. You can provide a link to the original source. Please don't download a free resource from a site that doesn't have permission to post it. Just because it's free from the author and / or publisher, doesn't mean it's free to post online without permission! You can link, but you can't post.
- If you purchase a resource, it's generally for classroom use only. Read the terms of use. You cannot give copies to your colleagues or post the product on the Internet without express written permission from the author and / or publisher.
- If you want to brag about a product or book on your blog or website -go ahead! Post a link to the original source and give the author the credit, but don't post any of the pages without the author's (or publisher's) permission. Teacher-authors and children's authors are usually thrilled when other teachers brag about their work, so take a moment to contact them. They might even agree to guest blog!
- You cannot post pages or texts of picture books or novels on the Internet. I've actually run across teacher websites with entire copies of picture books copied into PowerPoint slideshows. That is illegal! It's generally accepted that you can post the cover of a book if it links to a site that sells the book (like Amazon or Barnes and Noble). Side note: If you are a teacher-author or blogger, you can set up an associate account with Amazon. You can legally post book cover pictures that link to Amazon within your product, or from your website, blog, or electronic newsletter. This is the best way to get access to legal copies of book covers for your literature units.)
- Yes, you can use short quotes from text. Cite your source!
- If in doubt -write the author and / or publisher and ask for permission.
- You cannot post graphics or clipart for free or in a commercial product unless you have rights (it's public domain, or you purchased rights of use or commercial rights). This is one of the reasons many teacher-authors sell their products as PDF files. They purchased the right to use the graphics in paid products, but only in a secure form!
- Here is a sticky one: reader's theatre. You can write (to use, give away, or sell) an original reader's theatre, but you cannot write (to give away or sell) a reader's theatre that is a retelling of a story protected by copyright. A retelling of a story that is not in the public domain, and is still protected by copyright is considered a derivative work. Reader's theatre scripts that are retellings of a story are considered derivative forms. You don't have the right to post derivative works in print or online, for free or as a paid commercial product. That's essentially plagiarism! Only the copyright holder has the right to create a derivative work. You can use a public domain story (like a fairy tale) as a reader's theatre (which is really a play, but that's another blog post for another day).
- And a bigger sticky one: You cannot use anything that is trademarked without the express written permission of the trademark holder, including Daily Five, anything Dr. Seuss (even the word "Grinch" is trademarked), Disney, Pete the Cat, Rovio, Angry Birds, The Daily Cafe, and Thinking Maps. I think you get the picture. If it's under trademark, you can't create free or paid resources in association with it without permission. This includes making a hand drawn (or computer drawn) picture of the Grinch or Mickey Mouse to hang in your own classroom. I know...ouch!
- You can create (to give away or sell) literature units (original materials based on the book), as long as you don't violate the copyright of the book (like copy large chunks of text, or include whole text in your materials). The exception is books with trademarked titles or characters (like Dr. Seuss and Pete the Cat).
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Christmas Resources for Elementary Classrooms
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| 50 TPT Teacher-Authors 50 Teaching Tips 100 FREE Classroom Resources |
Sunday, November 25, 2012
The Ballet of Writing
Teaching writing is a lot like teaching ballet. I've watched for years as my daughter has grown up in the ballet world, and there are some similarities in the finer points of teaching ballet that I can't help but compare to teaching children to write.I'm somewhat disturbed with the "just get something on paper" trend with younger writers. It's a lot like let's "just learn a dance for the recital" mentality. For years, my daughter danced at a school that focused on preparing for two yearly recitals. As a mom, I had no idea that not all ballet instruction was created equal. It wasn't until my daughter expressed the desire to dance professionally that we sought out a pre pro ballet school. What a shocker!
In a true pre professional ballet school, children spend the majority of their time focusing on technique. It's not about putting on pretty tutus and dancing on the stage. It's about hard work and discipline. As a writing teacher, I've noticed that children who come to me in the upper grades with a strong foundation in skills knows how to put a piece of writing together -whether it's an essay or a fiction story. Just like dancers who focus on technique first can pick up on choreography, writers who focus on skills first can write.
One of the major things I noticed when my daughter changed schools was the difference in the quality of dancers the school turned out. The dancers were not only technically better, they also learned and remembered choreography quickly, and were able to choreograph quality pieces by themselves! The focus on technique isn't always fun, but the results are amazing.How can a student write an essay if they can barely put two sentences together? We expect this of kids, but how much time has been devoted to building a strong foundation in writing? We certainly don't want to squash a child's imagination and creativity, but who is to say that a writer won't write simply because they were asked to write a complete sentence before they wrote a fiction story? My daughter's creativity and imagination as a choreographer has blossomed since she has focused on technique and put more dance tools in her toolbox. She has the tools required to choreograph a piece. Writers need to learn the tools first, so that they too can choreograph a piece of writing on their own. Writing is a ballet of words, an art form that is both imaginative and built on a foundation of skills. Let's not let our student's writing skills slip through an hour glass filled with sand.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Teachers Are Appreciated
School is winding down. Now is the time to clean up, throw out, and refresh. Take advantage of TPT's Teacher Appreciation Week 3 Day Sale May 6-8 and pick up the resources you need for the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.
Everything in my TPT store is 20% off for 3 days only! On top of that you can use the promo code TAD12 at checkout to receive up to 28% off of your purchase. Check out the link ups below to see all of the TPT stores that are hosting additional sales along with promo code.
Simply make a copy of this End of Year Memory Book for each of your students and let them capture their 2011-2012 school memories as a keepsake forever.
Check out the Back to School section of my TPT store for classroom themes, printables, stationary and more! Classroom theme packets include binder cover, job cards, mini chocolate candy bar wrappers, bookmarks, folder labels, name tags, desk plates, incentive chart, blank calendar, and more! Current themes available include: Hollywood, Rock n' Roll, Western, Camping, Frog, Garden, Chocolate, Space, Farming, and Americana. I will be adding new themes this summer. If you are looking for a specific theme, please email me with your ideas at effective teaching solutions @ yahoo dot com (close the gaps to the email address).
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Six Steps to Superb Writing
Helping foster positive writing skills is an important pursuit. The Superb Writers' Blogathon, hosted by Grammarly grammar checker, offers practical advice for aspiring writers of all age-levels.
Whether you are a writer, or a teacher of writing (or both), you can improve your writing (or your student's writing) by following these six steps:
Step 1: Read Like a Writer
How does a writer read? They pay attention. Think about what you would do if you wanted to landscape your yard. You would check out every yard you passed. You would notice the types of plants and flowers used in other people's yards. You would pay attention to how the landscaping is designed. You would notate the details of ideal yards. The same goes for writers. Writers pay attention when they read. They notice the subtle crafting, how a plot twists and turns, and where a comma is placed. Every book in a classroom or library is your personal mentor text.
Step 2: Write
There isn't any getting around this one. Writers write. The only way to get better at something is to do it over and over again. Writing volume increases fluency. Students should be given the opportunity to write freely in a journal every day, even if only for a few minutes per day. Encourage your young writers to write at home. Set goals, such as daily word counts. Adult writers often set their word count goal at a thousand words per day. This sounds like a lot, but once you get going, you will discover that it's not much at all. The important thing is that you write.
Step 3: Study the Craft of Writing
Whether you study the craft of writing in school, workshops, or by reading books, a writer needs to build on their foundation and learn their craft. As a writer, you are composing something out of nothing. You must learn how to take the seed of an idea and develop it in detail, how to craft a plot, organize an essay, structure a sentence, and choose your words carefully. And yes, you need to learn the basics: grammar and conventions.
Step 4: Read, Write, and Study Poetry
Poetry teaches a writer many things: how language is constructed, how to write precise and concise, figurative language, and how to create a mental image in the reader's mind. In order to get language out, you must first get language in. Reading and writing poetry year round is one way to take your word smithing to the next level.
Step 5: Request and Accept Feedback
Ultimately the writer writes alone. It is your story or article, but an effective writer understands the power of feedback. Step back from your work and let beta readers or critique partners take an objective look at your piece. Critique partners are peer writers who ideally write in the same genre. They give you feedback on everything from plot to misspelled words. Beta readers are people who read your work and give you feedback based on their natural reactions to your work, and questions you pose prior to their reading it. You make the final decision about any changes you make in your piece, but feedback can help you to see the things you missed. It's hard for writers to be subjective about their own work because they are so close to it on an emotional level.
Step 6: Self-Assess
In school, teachers use rubrics with defined criteria to assess young writers. The most effective way to use these assessments is to allow the writer to self- assess their own work using the rubric. As an independent writer, you can devise your own criteria or checklist to help you stay focused during the revision and editing process. Self-assessment is the key to growing as a writer. You need to identify your strengths and weaknesses, and create a specific set of goals for yourself to grow as a writer.
Rinse and Repeat
Learning to write is never done. Each new writing project is a journey to self-discovery. If you want to write, then continuously engage in all six steps for never-ending growth. A well-rounded writing curriculum puts all six steps into place in order help writers improve the quality of their writing.
Whether you are a writer, or a teacher of writing (or both), you can improve your writing (or your student's writing) by following these six steps:
Step 1: Read Like a Writer
How does a writer read? They pay attention. Think about what you would do if you wanted to landscape your yard. You would check out every yard you passed. You would notice the types of plants and flowers used in other people's yards. You would pay attention to how the landscaping is designed. You would notate the details of ideal yards. The same goes for writers. Writers pay attention when they read. They notice the subtle crafting, how a plot twists and turns, and where a comma is placed. Every book in a classroom or library is your personal mentor text.
Step 2: Write
There isn't any getting around this one. Writers write. The only way to get better at something is to do it over and over again. Writing volume increases fluency. Students should be given the opportunity to write freely in a journal every day, even if only for a few minutes per day. Encourage your young writers to write at home. Set goals, such as daily word counts. Adult writers often set their word count goal at a thousand words per day. This sounds like a lot, but once you get going, you will discover that it's not much at all. The important thing is that you write.
Step 3: Study the Craft of Writing
Whether you study the craft of writing in school, workshops, or by reading books, a writer needs to build on their foundation and learn their craft. As a writer, you are composing something out of nothing. You must learn how to take the seed of an idea and develop it in detail, how to craft a plot, organize an essay, structure a sentence, and choose your words carefully. And yes, you need to learn the basics: grammar and conventions.
Step 4: Read, Write, and Study Poetry
Poetry teaches a writer many things: how language is constructed, how to write precise and concise, figurative language, and how to create a mental image in the reader's mind. In order to get language out, you must first get language in. Reading and writing poetry year round is one way to take your word smithing to the next level.
Step 5: Request and Accept Feedback
Ultimately the writer writes alone. It is your story or article, but an effective writer understands the power of feedback. Step back from your work and let beta readers or critique partners take an objective look at your piece. Critique partners are peer writers who ideally write in the same genre. They give you feedback on everything from plot to misspelled words. Beta readers are people who read your work and give you feedback based on their natural reactions to your work, and questions you pose prior to their reading it. You make the final decision about any changes you make in your piece, but feedback can help you to see the things you missed. It's hard for writers to be subjective about their own work because they are so close to it on an emotional level.
Step 6: Self-Assess
In school, teachers use rubrics with defined criteria to assess young writers. The most effective way to use these assessments is to allow the writer to self- assess their own work using the rubric. As an independent writer, you can devise your own criteria or checklist to help you stay focused during the revision and editing process. Self-assessment is the key to growing as a writer. You need to identify your strengths and weaknesses, and create a specific set of goals for yourself to grow as a writer.
Rinse and Repeat
Learning to write is never done. Each new writing project is a journey to self-discovery. If you want to write, then continuously engage in all six steps for never-ending growth. A well-rounded writing curriculum puts all six steps into place in order help writers improve the quality of their writing.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Starting from Scratch (40 Scenes in 40 Days)
I'm making some changes to my plot. I'm adding an unexpected twist and a new conflict, but I still have one more important piece to my plot puzzle to figure out. I've been thinking on it for a few days now. I realized that this story should be told in first person, so I'm ripping my beginning and starting from scratch. I can either push my deadline into May or play catch up on the weekend. Considering that I'm in testing season (writing this week and reading coming up at the end of April), I'm inclined to push my self-imposed deadline out, rather than push myself while I'm tired from my school day.
Writing is hard work. Sometimes it feels as if you are giving blood, sweat, and tears to your manuscript. At times like this, I think about how kids feel. One page (which is equivalent to approximately 150-200 words) seems like a mountain to a nine year old -a mountain built by hand from the bottom up. It's not just the writing that makes it hard, but the thinking. You have to exercise the creative side of your brain, yet your story still needs logic, so both sides must work together. My students have to write to a prompt on demand Tuesday and Wednesday. Every time I go into state testing, I feel as if I'm taking 45 tests (2 classes) with no control over any of it. No wonder I'm exhausted from watching kids test all day! At least I can think on testing days (since I can't do anything else), so I will think about Melody and her journey, and perhaps I will figure out something new about my character and plot.
Writing is hard work. Sometimes it feels as if you are giving blood, sweat, and tears to your manuscript. At times like this, I think about how kids feel. One page (which is equivalent to approximately 150-200 words) seems like a mountain to a nine year old -a mountain built by hand from the bottom up. It's not just the writing that makes it hard, but the thinking. You have to exercise the creative side of your brain, yet your story still needs logic, so both sides must work together. My students have to write to a prompt on demand Tuesday and Wednesday. Every time I go into state testing, I feel as if I'm taking 45 tests (2 classes) with no control over any of it. No wonder I'm exhausted from watching kids test all day! At least I can think on testing days (since I can't do anything else), so I will think about Melody and her journey, and perhaps I will figure out something new about my character and plot.
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