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FEATURES FOR TEACHERS |
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Ideas and
Features For New Teachers |
Volume 2, Issue 6
March 2006 |
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Although high school is tough, college is tougher and more though will need to go into choosing a place of higher education. College or university is a place where you or your child will be refining their talents into a career so it needs to be able to teach them everything that they need to know. Locale: Putting learning and career needs first In terms of getting the best education for the budget that you have, many local universities and colleges can offer everything a new college student needs. They shouldn't be discounted if the student doesn't have to live on campus to go there. Alternatively, you might choose a university a long distance from home, if the area enhances long-term career prospects. This gives you or your child exposure to part-time job assignments, placing you straight into a ready job-market scenario on graduation. Budgeting concerns With college bills on the rise, you can look at some alternative ways to funding higher education. You might try the colleges you like, to see if you can qualify for any scholarships and grants offer. They can really help! you don't have to repay either on graduation, even if you get a job start to earn. Try Federal loans as well. You will need to make repayments on them, but they usually at low interest rates and so they are manageable. And do examine the college study program. You might find you can delay quite a few of the costs associated with courses till later. What's important When looking into the higher education options, you may want to think about the things that are truly important to the student's education. If they're going into the health care field, does the school have access to newer technologies and advances? Are they able to teach the student about newer trends? It's not about the fun perks of a school that should influence the overall decision. Having a recreation center and swimming pool is great, but the higher education itself needs to be able to truly teach the student about their chosen field. Otherwise, college isn't about learning, it's about wasting time. To be sure, make a comparison of the universities you are interested in to determine the caliber of their graduates and their success rate in finding employment. This will give a good idea of their ability to produce quality education. And it is a good indicator of their success as an educational establishment. At the end of the day the recreation between your classes doesn't really count -- but your future career rests on the success of your university.
Mazi Capane operates the web site ROP Education which is a top resource on the Net for education information. ropeducation.com accepts article submissions. Get your article archived on the Internet with a link to your site here: http://www.ropeducation.com/articles/
PowerPoint is a fantastic program that can make your classroom presentations come alive. It is at a basic level an interactive slide show. For advanced users, it can include timed transitions, video clips, and audio elements. A digital projector and a computer can enliven your presentations and make note taking easier. The use of technology also captures and keeps the students (or your audience's) attention. PowerPoint (or a comparable software product) allows information to be displayed in a fun, interactive manner. It ties text, graphics, and animation seamlessly in an easy to use format. You have total control, from choosing text sizes, fonts, and colors, to creating graphics of all shapes and colors, and even to adding pictures, clip art, sounds, and animations. You also determine the page layout by simply moving any item wherever you want on the slide. You begin with a blank slide on which you will arrange your data, whether it be text or graphical elements. Having used PowerPoint for many years, I have some suggestions for you.
The program also includes several templates where you can just click and insert the text or graphics you want. The best way of gaining proficiency is to play with the program. That's right, pretend you're a kid and try everything out. There's no way you can break it. Check out all of the menus and buttons. If you do become confused, find a third grader who can help you out (at that age, many kids are already proficient and still love to show you how to do it). There are many tricks, shortcuts, options, and neat ideas you can try. You'll find ones you like and that fit your personality or your presentation. Most of the 'equivalent' programs for various platforms (Mac/Windows/Linux) are close enough for you or your students to be proficient on any machine. At our school, we regularly switch between Macs and Linux computers, and our students have quickly mastered both the basics and more advanced techniques. Remember, you as the teacher don't need to know exactly every detail of the program. You can rely on (or challenge) your students to find the little intricacies of the program. The big thing is for you to have your students use the program, and you'll learn alongside the kids. PowerPoint is very easy to use. With just a little bit of computer familiarity, you can be creating professional and creative presentations.
This is it, the big one, the indispensable one, THE BOOK for teachers, regardless of what area you teach, what age or grade level, or what school you teach in. This book is for the brand new teachers and student teachers, and yet it has all of the important aspects of teaching that veterans know and understand. Even for 'seasoned' teachers, reviewing the ideas and concepts in Wong's book each year reminds us and reaffirms us why we are in the educational profession and how we make such an important impact on the lives of our students. Each chapter includes many pictures, illustrations, graphics, and quotes to give simple directions for becoming an effective teacher. Step by step instructions help to guide new teachers into setting up their classes, developing effective discipline systems, and professionally developing themselves. It definitely is the most important book any new teacher can get his or her hands on! Regardless of what subject matter, what grade level, or whatever school I'm at, there will always be a copy of Harry Wong's book on my school bookcase. I look it over each summer before school starts, and I will constantly use it as a guide and handbook through the year, even after my many years of teaching.
Have you read The First Days of School? Do you have comments you’d like to share with our readers about this book? Email your responses to editor@starteaching.com. Please type in BOOK CLUB READER RESPONSE in the subject line. Responses will be posted on our website with the StarTeaching Book of the Month Club. All responses will be proofread, and may be edited for content and space before publication.
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