Teacher's Lounge Radio Episode 11

Book of the Week
How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students by Susan M. Brookhart

Management Magic
Give your students a brain break!

English Language Learner Strategy
Three Step Interview

Website of the Week
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

Feature Teacher Blog

First, some basic information: How long have you been teaching and what levels have/do you teach and where do you teach?

I am in my 9^th year of teaching.  I was a kindergarten paraprofessional for two years, taught second grade for 3 years. I am now in my fourth year of teaching fourth grade!

What inspired you to begin your blog?  How long have you been writing?

I was inspired to begin my blog when I began reading other teacher blogs.  After several months of reading, I thought I had some ideas I could share too!

I launched my blog in February 2012.

What is the best part of being a teacher?

The best part of being a teacher is seeing the light bulb go on for a child.  I love the “ah ha” moments when you find that strategy or trick that finally makes a concept or idea click for that particular child.  Also the hugs are pretty awesome too!

What do you find is the most challenging part of our job?

The things that keep us from teaching or planning for teaching…those tasks that are a necessary evil like money collection, RTI, lunch count, and all that other paperwork stuff.

Also, seeing a child struggle due to circumstances beyond their control.

What advice do you have for fellow teachers?

Don’t sweat the small stuff!  We have so much on our plates…so many mandates and requirements, and demands, but when it comes down to it, do what you feel is best for children!  Just close your door and teach!

Do you have a favorite professional book?

I am constantly reading professional books, so I have many, many, many favs!  For math, one of my favs is Number Talks: Helping Children Build Mental Math and Computation Strategies, Grades K-5 by Sherry Parrish.  My  language arts favs are Igniting a Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers by Steven Layne,The Daily Five and The CAFE Book: Engaging All Students in Daily Literary Assessment and Instruction by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.

Best read aloud?

One of my favorite read alouds to share with my students is Rules by Cynthia Lord. I often have an inclusion class, and this book helps to teach students respect and tolerance of others’ differences.

Any other information you want to share?

I enjoy teaching all subjects, but my absolute favorites are math and social studies--math because I want to help my students understand number concepts that I didn’t when I was in school…and social studies because 4^th grade is American History, and I love the exciting adventure of our countries founding!

Song of the Week

The Sing & Read Number Collection CD by Frog Street Press