Mr. Bryan's Classroom

We continue our insightful interview with teacher and author Robert Ward. On part two of this program we discuss more topics from his book The Firm, Fair, Fascinating Facilitator: Inspire your Students, Engage your Class, Transform your Teaching

Robert's resource's can be found on Amazon and his blog is at https://rewardingeducation.wordpress.com. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RewardingEdu

No smiling till Christmas? Are you acting like a drill instructor for the first few weeks of school? Should we post consequences in our classroom? What about that student who lies and says he is innocent?

There are many misunderstandings when it comes to being a firm and fair teacher. Fortunately, we have an experienced educator, mentor, and author to help us reflect on how firm and fair we are in the classroom.

Fellow teacher Robert Ward(@RewardingEdu) brings over two decades of classroom experiences to our show and his book: The Firm, Fair, Fascinating Facilitator: Inspire your Students, Engage your Class, Transform your Teaching is currently available wherever books are sold. 

"The purpose of this book is to illuminate and equip both current and prospective educators with the necessary knowledge and skills to at long last become that spectacular and satisfied teacher that they had always envisioned themselves to be and that their students so desperately need them to be."

For more about Robert Ward, his books, and contact information visit https://rewardingeducation.wordpress.com

Bryan retired The Teachers Land Podcast a few years ago. However, he is surprised after all this time many people are still checking out the old episodes! 

Bryan recently celebrates 20 years of classroom teaching by looking back at episodes that were recorded earlier in his career. Do those shows stand the test of time? Years later, Bryan offers his commentary about what was said. 

The first episode is the series premiere. Originally entitled, "Carpe Diem" Bryan feels it's important to look back and understand why we wanted to enter such a challenging field. We can also see growth and improvement when we look back. Did we turn into the experienced teachers we envisioned at the start? 

Joining us for this special two-part interview is Erin Gruwell. Her teaching story was made into a book, then a movie! By fostering an educational philosophy that valued and promoted diversity, she transformed her students’ lives, most of whom were seen as "unteachable". She encouraged them to rethink rigid beliefs about themselves and others, to reconsider daily decisions, and to re-chart their futures. With Erin's steadfast support, her students shattered stereotypes to become critical thinkers, aspiring college students, and citizens for change. Also, Erin shares how the publication of her student's world "The Freedom Writers Diary" came about and became a best seller.

Please share your thoughts at [email protected] or call the voicemail line at 770-322-4160.

This is the time of year when we might start exploring other opportunities in the teaching field. One of the disadvantages of our profession is that teachers have a very small window of time to interview and be hired. Recent layoffs and budget cuts has made it much harder for prospective teachers to find work. With so much competition, you want to make sure your interview goes well.

Join experienced teachers Bryan, James, and Evelyn as we hope to make that job interview a positive experience. 

Please share your thoughts in the comment section or call the voicemail line at 770-322-4160.

It's election day here in the United States. The countries citizens are turning up and casting a vote for the next president of the United States.

This election we are voting for a business man who has never held office or a woman. Two unlikely candidates several years ago. It makes you wonder...will we ever see a teacher run for President? While its highly unlikely anytime soon, here are some fun reasons why teachers could possibly be a great candidate for the presidential office.

http://www.weareteachers.com/reasons-we-need-a-teacher-as-president/

"We’ve never had a teacher as President of this country, possibly because teachers—surprisingly—do not earn the vast millions needed to stage a campaign. I’ve been thinking about this lately. Like many people, I find myself unusually stressed out and afraid this election season. I’ve found a great way to cope with it, however. I never watched the show West Wing when it was on, but it’s streaming on Netflix. So every time there’s distressing election coverage, I kick back and watch President Bartlet and the gang run the United States government with ethics and dignity and a sense of humor. I generally wind up feeling pretty hopeful about the political situation in our country after an episode or two. Thanks, fictional characters!

The more I watch, though, the more time I spend reflecting on the skill set needed for a President.  And I’ve decided that what we really need to do is elect a teacher. Here are some skills a President has to have:

Well, Jesus definitely took Juan’s pencil, but it may or may not have been justified. First of all, Juan stole his marker during art class and never even gave it back, and second, Jesus asked if he could borrow the pencil and felt that consent was implied when Juan didn’t answer. Now the pencil is in basically a hostage situation and tension has risen to nuclear levels. Teachers have the ability to use diplomacy—with force as a last resort—to restore the pencil to its rightful owner and negotiate a cease-fire.

Mary got her period for the first time during math class! Without going into too much detail, it’s an unpleasant situation. A teacher has to be able to get Mary out of class without other students noticing, make sure she arrives safely at the clinic (without ever leaving students unattended), clean up any remaining mess, and get the rest of the class focused back on fractions, preferably without wasting any class time.

School policy mandates that teachers include the following information on the board for every class they teach: standard, essential question, learning goal, agenda, starter activity, early finisher activity, vocabulary, extension questions, and homework.  Some teachers have four different classes.  The ability to somehow meet these ridiculous demands and still preserve space for, you know, teaching class shows an impressive ability to work within constraints without being bogged down by minutia.

Middle school girls can spread news faster than the speed of light—a fact inexplicably neglected by scientists thus far. How to handle it? Face-to-face meetings? Whole school press conferences? Imprison the rumormongers (in silent lunch) for libel and slander  It’s a delicate situation.

Ask any teacher who’s given up their one day of no lunch duty to help kids study for a quiz retake. We’ve got this.

At some point, a kid will fart—loudly—in the middle of a really serious class discussion, or right at the saddest part of a book. If a teacher has mastered this skill, not a single student will respond through the mere force of Teacher Look. Can you imagine how helpful this skill would be for the President of the United States?

I think we’re unlikely to see a teacher candidate in any election soon, but it’s a shame. Teaching is basically the perfect preparation for our nation’s highest executive office, honing a unique set of skills that our country desperately needs in the White House. Maybe someday. Until then, we’ll continue soldiering on, managing the rumor mill, elucidating homework policy in State of the Union-worthy speeches, and calming tensions between hostile parties over important issues like who was sitting at the lunch table first. It’s a crushing responsibility, but we can handle it."

B​logging is an effective classroom tool used to exceed learning objectives beyond traditional methods. It offers more than just a platform for writing and sharing ideas. It is a means for teachers to assess, connect, empower, and understand their students.

On the season finale, we talk with KidBlog co-founder and teacher Matt Hardy. KidBlog is the world's largest student blogging platform designed for teachers to use in the classroom (including my own).

• Kidblog provides teachers with the tools to help students publish writing safely online.
• Kidblog offers a kid-friendly publishing experience suitable for any K-12 student.
• Kidblog gives students’ writing a meaningful purpose and an authentic audience.

• Re-imagine writing instruction. Built by teachers, for teachers, Kidblog’s platform is deeply rooted in the pedagogy of writing. Engage students in the process of pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, publishing, and commenting — Kidblog facilitates feedback and moderation at all stages.

Set up your class for free in 30 seconds at kidblog.org

Leave your comments and opinions on our new voicemail line at 770-322-4160. Your feedback may be used on a future broadcast! If you value what this program does, please support the show with a review on I-Tunes or a donation via PayPal.

Thank you and have a great summer!

A lot of teachers have followed their heart when they went into teaching. Unfortunately for many, reality broke their heart and shattered their expectations. Many people are not cut out for the profession and leave. Others, really have a passion for education, but could use a different environment that will give more job satisfaction.

Regardless, if you are not happy in your current profession and hate waking up in the morning, please make a change. Life is short and death is coming. We spend much of our lives working. So why not do something you enjoy?

On one of the last episodes of the season, we discuss making changes when our heart tells us its time to move on.

 Also,  leave your comments and opinions on our new voicemail line at 770-322-4160. Your feedback may be used on a future broadcast! If you value what this program does, please support the show with a review on I-Tunes, an email at [email protected] or a PayPal donation of any amount at teachersloungeshow.com .Thank you!

You might be wondering how to keep students engaged and focused, especially towards the end of the school year. In this episode, you not only learn about how to keep them engaged and focused, but also how to get them to want to come to class. Classroom management towards the end of the school year is extremely difficult. However, we encourage you to thrive and not just survive in these final weeks. 

Check out Chris Cannon's YouTube video at https://youtu.be/b-39RPNvmoE and his website at http://fighting4youth.com/

Also, the end of the year can be a great time to try some new teaching strategies and resources. Don't just survive till the end of school but thrive. Use this time of the year to experiment so you can be a better teacher next year!

Please support the show with a comment on I-Tunes, an email at [email protected] or a PayPal donation at teachersloungeshow.com Thank you!