My Future Goals

My Future Goals

I am currently working on my Masters in Educational Leadership, and hoping to move into an administrator role in the next 3-5 years.  I would like to one day work as a principal and then possibly move into curriculum development for the state department of education.

Classroom Management Tips

Classroom Management Tips

#1) Use a normal, natural voice

Are you teaching in your normal voice? Every teacher can remember this from the first year in the classroom: spending those first months talking at an above-normal range until one day, you lose your voice.

Raising our voice to get students' attention is not the best approach, and the stress it causes and the vibe it puts in the room just isn't worth it. The students will mirror your voice level, so avoid using that semi-shouting voice. If we want kids to talk at a normal, pleasant volume, we must do the same.

You want to also differentiate your tone. If you are asking students to put away their notebooks and get into their groups, be sure to use a declarative, matter-of-fact tone. If you are asking a question about a character in a short story, or about contributions made by the Roman Empire, use an inviting, conversational tone.

#2) Speak only when students are quiet and ready

This golden nugget was given to me by a 20-year veteran my first year. She told me that I should just wait. And wait, and then wait some more until all students were quiet.

So I tried it; I fought the temptation to talk. Sometimes I'd wait much longer than I thought I could hold out for. Slowly but surely, the students would cue each other: "sshh, she's trying to tell us something," "come on, stop talking," and "hey guys, be quiet." (They did all the work for me!)

My patience paid off. Yours will too. And you'll get to keep your voice.

#3) Use hand signals and other non-verbal communication

Holding one hand in the air, and making eye contact with students is a great way to quiet the class and get their attention on you. It takes awhile for students to get used to this as a routine, but it works wonderfully. Have them raise their hand along with you until all are up. Then lower yours and talk.

Flicking the lights off and on once to get the attention is an oldie but goodie. It could also be something you do routinely to let them know they have 3 minutes to finish an assignment or clean up, etc.

With younger students, try clapping your hands three times and teaching the children to quickly clap back twice. This is a fun and active way to get their attention and all eyes on you.

#4) Address behavior issues quickly and wisely

Be sure to address an issue between you and a student or between two students as quickly as possible. Bad feelings -- on your part or the students -- can so quickly grow from molehills into mountains.

Now, for handling those conflicts wisely, you and the student should step away from the other students, just in the doorway of the classroom perhaps. Wait until after instruction if possible, avoiding interruption of the lesson. Ask naive questions such as, "How might I help you?" Don't accuse the child of anything. Act as if you do care, even if you have the opposite feeling at that moment. The student will usually become disarmed because she might be expecting you to be angry and confrontational.

And, if you must address bad behavior during your instruction, always take a positive approach. Say, "It looks like you have a question" rather than, "Why are you off task and talking?"

When students have conflicts with each other, arrange for the students to meet with you at lunch, after or before school. Use neutral language as you act as a mediator, helping them resolve the problem peacefully, or at least reach an agreeable truce.

#5) Always have a well-designed, engaging lesson

This tip is most important of all. Perhaps you've heard the saying, if you don't have a plan for them, they'll have one for you. Always over plan. It's better to run out of time than to run short on a lesson.

From my own first-hand experience and after many classrooms observations, something that I know for sure: Bored students equal trouble! If the lesson is poorly planned, there is often way too much talking and telling from the teacher and not enough hands-on learning and discovery by the students. We all know engaging lessons take both serious mind and time to plan. And they are certainly worth it -- for many reasons.

Share with us your classroom management experiences: What specific challenges are you having? What strategies have worked well for you and your students?

Tips for New Teachers

Tips for New Teachers

1) Listen to advice (your mentor, teachers in the lounge, etc) -- but trust your gut. Your goal is becoming an authentic teacher, one with autonomy, mastery, and purpose. You will inevitably build a practice by stealing ideas from hundreds of people. The concepts you retain and embed into daily work are those that align and resonate with your core beliefs about education, which will change over time. Learn to trust the little interior voice that tells you what “works” for your colleague — her behavior rewards system based on Jolly Ranchers, say -- may be totally wrong for you, in spite of the fact that her class walks quietly in a straight line and your kids are straggling and blabbing.

2) Don’t wear your really cool clothes to school. Don’t read articles, either, which suggest it’s easy or essential to find discounted designer items for your stylin’ school wardrobe. Your go-to daily wardrobe will consist of items that are comfortable, have pockets, do not reveal flesh (attractive or unattractive flesh) and are impervious to all bodily fluids and getting snagged on the pencil sharpener. Shoot for: neat, clean, kind of boring. Avoid: sexy, luxe, casual chic. Corollary: never store your designer purse in your desk drawer.

3) You’re the adult in the room. Don’t get into power struggles with students, where you feel compelled to come out ahead by cracking down (this applies to first-graders as well as seniors). Remind yourself: you’ve already won--you’re the teacher. You can afford to be magnanimous, to decide on outcomes that benefit all kids (even kids you don’t like), rather than gratifying your ever-present sense of control / retribution. You’re the adult. Repeat three times.

4) Watch other teachers teach. You will probably have to arrange this yourself. But do it, even if it means taking a fake sick day in November to watch colleagues in another school. Do it during your planning period, too. Good teachers will be flattered when you ask permission to sit in their classes for a half-hour. Once you watch a dozen other teachers, you’ll have a baseline for measuring your own successes and screw-ups, plus a basket of field-tested techniques.

5) Most important people to get on your side first: custodians. Make cleaning up at the end of the day a habit for students and yourself — out of genuine respect for custodians and their work. Keep your room tidy, and extend honest friendliness to cleaning staff. It’s good karma--and it means the custodian will hustle to your room when someone throws up.

6) Stuff is not teaching. I knew a teacher who had 25 pre-laminated, super-cute bulletin boards--which she kept filed, by month, in color-coded rolling crates. She did all her Xeroxing before school started. Her book baskets had perky bows and her door had gingham curtains. And her teaching was rote and sterile.

7) Don’t patronize teacher stores. Nobody needs expensive bulletin board borders or retail-priced “Good Job!!” stickers. Anything you find at a teacher store can be purchased for less, elsewhere — without cloying commercial images of school. Invite kids to answer questions on your (chart paper-covered) walls. Snag 75%-off calendars in February, then cut them apart as artwork displays. Buy Dora the Explorerbandaids to acknowledge emotional boo-boos or outstanding work (even HS freshmen love them), dollar-store scissors and remnant-bin books. Be funky, creative and cheap when stocking your classroom.

8) Set aside a weekly prep time. Extremely disciplined teachers might choose Friday afternoon, but the advantage of waiting until Sunday evening is that you can work with a glass of wine in hand, feet up in a recliner and awesome music playing. In 31 years of teaching, I never abandoned the Ritual of Sunday Night. The planning and prep work you do may evaporate by Tuesday, but knowing you’re all set when you arrive at school Monday morning is priceless.

9) Just as broken bones are stronger where they heal, fractured relationships with students can turn into improved communication with your whole class. You will undoubtedly have it out with certain students, over time. You’d be surprised how often they minimize incidents that haunt you for days. You’d also be surprised at how much they want to be on your good side, once you offer them the chance, in public--and how their classmates will respect your forgiving nature.

10) Expect to make hideous mistakes. Expect to have crushing disappointments. Expect to feel like quitting, at least a dozen times. Expect to anticipate vacations with pathetic longing. And know that veteran teachers also experience these things, Just ask them.

What is Fashion Marketing?

How do the clothes reach the public and the target consumers after they are designed and fabricated? That is where the Fashion Marketing team comes in. Fashion Marketing combines the elements of advertising, design and business administration, as well as a solid understanding of the fashion world, in order to take a new clothing line and get it the attention it needs to be successful.

Who would be more interested in a red A-line skirt with blue embroidery: a new mother or a 15 year-old girl? These are the questions a good Fashion Marketer must be prepared to ask and answer when working with a new clothing line. Fashion Marketers have a good sense of popular culture and on what will be stylish in the future. In a sense, they are the visionaries of the field who not only recognize what will be successful and which consumer group will be the most interested, but know how to market the clothes to these target groups.

Most of Fashion Marketing is behind-the-scenes: keeping abreast of fashion trends and consumer buying habits; putting together advertising campaigns that target specific consumer groups and appeal to their tastes; being mindful of the broader picture of the fashion world and what new style innovations are being introduced into the field. Fashion Marketers are the savvy idea people, the connectors between the designers and their public.

YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGrTOuVX3i0

More Information: http://berkeleycollege.edu/academics_bc/school_of_business/degree_program_1499.htm#page=overview