Talks with Teachers

 Apple Distinguished Educator, Chicago’s Tech Innovator of the Year  Elementary Teacherwww.kristinziemke.com

@KristinZiemke

Segment I – Background and Inspiration  

Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?    – This is her 14th year in education. She is currently a first-grade teacher and Technology Integrationist. She has fallen in love with urban education as is passionate about helping all students reach their potential. 

Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher?  – Both of her parents are teachers. SHe comes from a teaching family, thus her first courses in education came at the dinner table. She also is thankful for the help that Stephanie Harvey and Smokey Daniels provided over the years.

It is important for other teachers to know that we all have had setbacks in the classroom. Identify an instance in which you struggled as a teacher and explain what you learned from that experience. – Many lessons fell flat, but as she evolved as an educator, Kristin saw those experiences as opportunities. Once she was trying to get her first-grade students to use Edmodo, the wi-fi went down at school. She remembers sweating in that moment, trying to give support to as many students as she could. Instead, she transitioned to annotations on sticky notes.  

What is the challenge in teaching on the elementary level?  – The biggest challenge is that you are teaching the whole child at that moment. It is not about teaching the subject, it is nurturing their academic, social, emotional needs. It is also setting the tone for all future learning. So much time is spent developing a vision of who students are as readers, writers, and thinker. 

What is one thing that you love about the classroom?    – Kristin loves the struggle of meeting the many needs of students. That makes it so rewarding. She also loves developing a community of learners, shifting their mindset, making them realize that there is not just one teacher in the room, there are 34.

Segment II —

What book do you recommend to a teacher that wants to develop?  

What is one thing a teacher can do outside the classroom that can pay off inside the classroom? -- Make connections that really matter. Her best advice to any educator is to build a network -- develop a personal PLN. Conferences are also a great place to meet people.

Is there an internet resource that you can recommend which will help teachers grow professionally? -- The internet can be like drinking from a fire hose. There are a number of different blogs that she reads like:

Chris Lehman's blog

Provide a writing practice that is effective?  – Give them consistent, sustain opportunities to write. Find the chunks of time to make writing meaningful. 

Update the cannon. What books belongs in the 1st grade classroom?  

The post Teaching the Whole Child with Kristin Ziemke (Apple Distinguished Educator) appeared first on Talks with Teachers.

2014 Florida Teacher of the Year

ESOL 

Orlando, Fl 

Segment I – Background and Inspiration  

Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?    – Dorina is an ESOL teacher as well as the 2014 Florida Teacher of the Year and a finalist for the National Teacher of the Year. She is the daughter of a business teacher and began her career in Massachusetts. 

Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher?    – Her mother, a business teacher at a Title I school on Long Island, the head of the Applied Linguistics department at the University of Massachusetts, and her assistant principal at Westridge Middle School, Cynthia Haupt.  

It is important for other teachers to know that we all have had setbacks in the classroom. Identify an instance in which you struggled as a teacher and explain what you learned from that experience.   – In trying to infuse every culture her students possessed into a lesson, it ended up being a miss-mosh. The assignment was a persuasive essay and in that moment she realized that sometimes less is more. Her students noticed that she was trying too hard.

What is the difficult of teaching ESOL? – The biggest challenge is having students from 17 different countries, 11 different languages in one classroom. It is also the cultural differences and differing backgrounds in one room -- one student did not know how to hold a pen. 

What is one thing that you love about the classroom?    – The kids. She gets emotional because she has got 160 of them every year. She loves them so much. 

Segment II —

What book do you recommend to a teacher that wants to develop?  

What is one thing a teacher can do outside the classroom that can pay off inside the classroom? -- Most of Dorina's classroom exists outside the classroom.  Dorina believes that community service should be an essential part of her students' education. 

Is there an internet resource that you can recommend which will help teachers grow professionally?

teachertube

Provide a writing practice that is effective?  – Formulaic writing. It provides structure for students that need it. is a process, not a product. ne minute of conferencing is worth 15 minutes of comments on the paper. 

Update the cannon. What book, written in the last 10-15 years, belongs in the classroom? -- Dorina allows her students to read books from their native countries.  

The post #28: ESL on Fire with Dorina Sackman — 2014 Florida Teacher of the Year appeared first on Talks with Teachers.

TWT #27 -- Genius Hour

Watch this for an introduction to #GeniusHour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMFQUtHsWhc

Show Notes

How to engage more readers

#Geniushour LiveBinder

Visit Joy's Blog

The post Genius Hour with Joy Kirr appeared first on Talks with Teachers.

Josh Parker

English teacher -- Baltimore, Maryland

2012 Maryland Teacher of the Year

 Segment I – Background and Inspiration

Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught? 

– Joshua initially wanted to be a professional basketball player despite coming from a family of teachers. He worked in sports but did not find it fulfilling. He ended up substitute teaching and then decided to go back to school to obtain his teaching certification. He has been teaching in various capacities in Baltimore since and was named the 2012 Maryland Teacher of the Year.

 Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? 

– 3 people

1. His department chair -- Mandy Shanks

2. his principal 

3. Dr Alfred Tatum who writes a lot of books about teaching African-American males how to read. 

It is important for other teachers to know that we all have had setbacks in the classroom. Identify an instance in which you struggled as a teacher and explain what you learned from that experience.

– He taught Accelerated English and it was for students that failed the test and needed remediation. It was a class that had a scripted program. He went against his instincts and trusted the book and the script. Along the way he learned to not to trust the script so much as to trust his knowledge of students.  He also learned how to match real-time data with real-time metrics. 

How do we develop a love of reading?

– 6 things:

1. relevancy -- don't throw out Shakespeare but add Walter Dean Myers Langston Hughes

2. We need to understand the differences in boys and teach that way. Sometimes boys don't have great attention spans so we have to chunk the reading.

3. Make the case -- sometimes students don't know how important reading is until they hear the statistics of illiterate or disfunctional readers

4. Allow time for expression --the students have to be able to speak what they read, speak their ideas, speak their stories.

5. Embrace their out of school reading styles -- some students will read comic books or sports stories. Celebrate that and share it in your classroom.

6. Model reading yourself -- Carry books wherever you go.

What is one thing that you love about the classroom? 

 – The energy, the synergy, the anything-can-possible-happen. Having the rapt attention of 25 adolescents is one of the best feelings that you can have.

Segment II — Digging into the Teacher Bag of Goodies

What book do you recommend to a teacher striving to improve his or her craft?

-- Two books: The English Teacher's Companion by Jim Burke and Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males by Dr. Alfred Tatum.

What is one thing a teacher can do outside the classroom that can pay off inside the classroom?

-- A teacher has to discover themselves and pouring that energy into that and then bring it into the classroom. Joshua loves to play basketball and enjoys bringing that passion into the classroom. 

What sites are valuable on the internet?

-- Teaching Channel and the English Companion are the tried and true sources for Joshua.

Provide a writing practice that is effective?

 – Shorten and simplify the rubric. 

Update the cannon. What book, written in the last 10-15 years, belongs in the classroom?

-- The Other Wes Moore. Fist, Stick. Knife. Gun. by Geoffery Canada. is another. 

The post Inspiring Students to Read with Joshua Parker appeared first on Talks with Teachers.

TWT #25

Maia Heyck-Merlin has over a decade of experience juggling high-volume roles in results-oriented organizations. She most recently served as Chief Talent Officer and Chief Operating Officer for Achievement First, a charter school management organization running 20 schools in Brooklyn and Connecticut. During this time, she oversaw teams that led recruitment, human capital, operations, and development and evaluation of school leaders and teachers at Achievement First. She currently continues to work with Achievement First in a part-time capacity.

How to manage your time and all the stuff that goes along with it.

The post #25 The Together Teacher — Maia Heyck-Merlin appeared first on Talks with Teachers.

Julie Hiltz is a media specialist at Lutz Elementary in Hillsborough County, Florida, and a National Board Certified Teacher with 12 years of experience. She is also a 2013-14 Center for Teaching Quality Teacherpreneur, who is spending half of her workweek this school year engaging colleagues across the state in teacher evaluation and Common Core reforms.

To win a copy of Teacherpreneurs: Innovative Teachers Who Lead But Don't Leave 

take two simple steps:

1. Share your idea of what #teachingis on Twitter in 140 characters or less

2. Record your #teachingis tweet with Talks with Teachers by clicking on the voicemail option on our homepage.

In this episode Julie and I discuss:

the role of a media specialist

The post #24 #Teachingis Campaign with Julie Hiltz appeared first on Talks with Teachers.

Julia Thompson

English teacher -- Vriginia

Author of The First Year Teacher's Survival Guide

 Segment I – Background and Inspiration

Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught? 

– Julia has taught for 37 years. She teaches 9th grade English at a high school in Fairfax Co., Virginia. Even though she has taught all kinds of subject and all kinds of grade levels, she is a high school English teacher.

 Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? 

– She has had so many wonderful mentors over time. She believes we all need them no matter what stage of our career we are in. There was one mentor that changed her career, though, and that was her first principal. He stayed with her through the first few years of her career. He gave her solid advice every day, taking Julia under his wing. Whenever Julia needed him, he seemed to be a guardian mentor to help her. He even got her the job that she has now in northern Virginia. What she cherishes is that he could see past the silliness of her youth. He gave helpful advice, practical advice. 

It is important for other teachers to know that we all have had setbacks in the classroom. Identify an instance in which you struggled as a teacher and explain what you learned from that experience.

– Julia has had 10,000 lessons that have gone wrong. Now thing that is nice about education is that there are so many opportunities to learn from your mistakes. 10 years into her career she was transferred from a small suburban school to an inner-city school. Her first day she heard more swear words that she had in her entire. She learned you can not force students to do anything.. especially one with parole officers. She learned how important a good lesson plan is. She learned that the most important thing she could do was connect. Connect, connect connect. She also learned to be super organized because she couldn't turn her back on kids. She also learned the very worst students in the room deserved the very best from her. 

Why are the language arts and literacy important?

– English is about life. It is about how to live your life. Even though we teach skills, the most important thing that we we do is teach students about the civilized world. We teach about the big issues -- love, the true price of immortality, justice, how to build a family.

What is one thing that you love about the classroom? 

 – Julia loves the kids. You would think that after all these years, nothing would surprise her. Yet, every day the students show her something new.

Segment II — Digging into the Teacher Bag of Goodies

What book do you recommend to a teacher striving to improve his or her craft?

-- New teachers are Julia's speciality. Her book The First-Year Teacher's Survival Guide: Ready-to-Use Strategies, Tools and Activities for Meeting the Challenges of Each School Day

-- Julia believes that you can be a part of professional organizations such as NCTE to get quality materials that you can then use in the classroom.

Provide a writing practice that is effective?

 – Julia believes that we you assign something to students, they will immediately move to the final draft. Give them time to brainstorm, organize their ideas, and find some focus and clarity before they write. 

Update the cannon. What book,

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Visit Tom's Blog

Tom is a a retired Adjunct Professor of Education at St Joseph’s College in New York, having taught for 6 years.  I came to that position after 34 years as a secondary English teacher in the Public School system. I was also a leader in my New York State United Teacher Locals for 30 years. I have founded a number of Educational Groups on Linkedin including Technology Using Professors Group.  I have been recognized with an Edublog Award for the most Influential Educational Twitter Series, Edchat, which I founded. Additionally, I host The Edchat Radio Show for the BAM Networkk and available as free podcasts from K-12 education at the Apple iStore. I have contributed articles to several education journls and I have been a guest Blogger with contributions to The Royal Treatment and Teacher’s Reboot Camp. I Created the Ning site, The Educator’s PLN. http://edupln.ning.com/ 

The post #22 Connected Education with Tom Whitby appeared first on Talks with Teachers.

Renee Moore

English teacher -- Cleveland, Mississippi 

2001 Mississippi Teacher of the Year 

Resource of the Week:

Brian's Post on Edutopia                           

Talks with Teachers has developed a new way to help you. Sure we’ve got this podcast that’s great to listen to. Sure there are valuable lessons on our website for all levels that can help your teaching. But the one thing that has been lacking is COMMUNITY. We have a loyal following of listeners, Tweeters, and contributing teachers that have all interacted with us. Yet, we have not allowed you to interact with each other. 

That’s where the Talks with Teachers 4-Week Challenge comes in. We want you to do something small each day to grow as a teacher. We’ve got readings, videos, fun, little projects lined up to foster your love of teaching. And best of all, there will be a community forum for you to share your success and encourage others to find purpose and joy in teaching.

 Segment I – Background and Inspiration

Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught? 

– Renee teacher English full time at Mississippi Delta Community College. She initially was a journalist in her hometown of Detroit but when she moved to Mississippi to return to her husband's home state she switched careers and began teaching English. She taught English and journalism for over 26 years before she switched to the community college setting. 

 Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? 

– Mrs. Dorothy Grennell was a veteran English teacher, who taught for 46 years. Renee took over her position when she retired. Mrs. Grennell took her under her wing because her house was across the street from the school. Renee would visit her after school and could cry.  Dorothy gave her the materials that she accumulated over 46 years of teaching. Renee has also been a part of many teaching networks of her career such as the National Writing Project, the Bread Loaf Teaching Network, and the Center for Teaching Quality. 

It is important for other teachers to know that we all have had setbacks in the classroom. Identify an instance in which you struggled as a teacher and explain what you learned from that experience.

– She taught at a small school and had students that would often loop -- she would have them in 9th grade and later on in 11th or 12th grade. She had a grammar lesson that she had taught to students when they were in her class previously and now that they were being asked to recall that content, it went incredibly bad, so bad that she felt compelled to write about it in her teaching journal. That lesson turned in to an action-research project that lasted 10 years all because she questioned why students struggled with grammar. It became a major paper, a website, one of the most fantastic learning experiences she's ever done and chapters in books that she would eventually write. Sometimes the things that pose the greatest problems become the greatest learning experiences for teachers.   

Why are the language arts and literacy important?

–Even though the label on our content is English, she considers herself a teacher of communication. To be able to communicate is the most fundamental human skill of all.

What is one thing that you love about the classroom? 

 – Renee averaged 100-150 kids a day and if you multiply that by 25 years you see the impact she had on student lives'. Most of all, she loved learning new things. It happened even the day this interview was recorded.  

Segment II — Digging into the Teacher Bag of Goodies

What book do you recommend to a teacher striving to improve his or her craft?

Renee likes The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of ...