Month: April 2020

Elementary, My Dear Teacher: Teaching with Mysteries

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it can also peak the interest in your students and engage them in your lessons!

If you didn’t catch the Sherlock Holmes movie over the break, you probably saw the commercials. The world’s greatest fictional detective lives again for a new generation of movie-goers. Why does Hollywood keep recycling him every few years? Because mysteries are universally appealing.

Teaching Strategies about Healthy Eating

Part of the responsibility residing in teaching is creating informed citizens: Citizens that make informed decision, whether it be with regards to careers, politics, and even eating.

With that in mind, today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Janelle Cox, herself a seasoned educator based in Upstate New York, illuminates us on some teaching strategies to get kids interested in healthy eating. Janelle’s ideas include:

  • Food Diary
  • Taste Test
  • And More!


Janelle finishes up her article like this: “A unit on nutrition must emphasize healthy eating without overemphasizing a diet that is too restrictive.  Remind students that being fit and eating right is important, but it has to be done the right way. Essentially, it is their responsibility for keeping themselves healthy. So as much as students may love to eat their sugary sweets, it all has to be in moderation.”

Do you have any fun activities to promote health and nutrition that you would like to share?

Get our classroom activities about healthy eating habits>>

STEM Education in the Elementary Classroom

It’s never too early to begin teaching kids about STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), according to frequent TeachHUB.com contributor Janelle Cox, who notes that our national economic prosperity depends on it.
Janelle also notes that one way to give kids the opportunity to explore a real-world scientific problem is to give them a hands-on experience. 
Begin this process by:

•    Identifying a real-world problem.
•    Asking questions to explore the problem (and potentially solve the problem).
•    Developing solutions.
•    Exploring a hands-on activity.
Learn More About Teaching Elementary School-Aged Kids STEM Topics >>
Laws, Policies for Using Social Media in the Classroom
Once upon a time, using social media like Twitter and Facebook in the classroom was a no-no. 
But now, the cultural landscape has been fundamentally altered, and districts that once banned social media are figuring out how to us it in a safe, effective, and even educational manner.
Today, we outline some uses and limits for teachers to abide by when utilizing social media in the classroom.

THE DANGERS OF FOLLOWING THE HERD: IS THE PERFORMANCE REVIEW REALLY THE PROBLEM?

Deloitte did it, and so did Microsoft and Accenture. They\’re the vanguards of a growing coterie of organizations choosing to ditch their yearly performance review and ratings in favor of more continuous feedback.
The club of performance review ditchers is expanding rapidly. According to a recent international study by insight and technology firm CEB, 21 percent of organizations have either dumped or plan to dump their performance management rating systems and another 28 percent are considering it.
The bandwagon for ditching performance ratings seems as unstoppable as the bandwagon for adopting performance ratings once was. But is getting rid of reviews not a case of \”out of the frying pan into the fire\” — or at least into another frying pan? In a decade\’s time, will we be shaking our heads in disbelief that our HR elders thought this was a good idea?

The Case Against Performance Reviews

The case against ratings is certainly a strong one. Ratings are pretty much despised by employees, managers and the HR staff who have to chase managers for appraisals.
Insights from research show that being rated has a negative impact on employees, demotivating them and reducing productivity — both those who do well in ratings and those falling below par react negatively to being ranked.
Research also suggests that we all display what\’s called the idiosyncratic rater effect, which means rating systems say more about the views of the manager than the performance of the employee. What we think of as objective measurement is actually highly subjective.
The alternative is often presented as more continuous feedback — but I think it might be bigger than that. Companies like Deloitte who have switched to this second strategy have shown is that it\’s not that ratings are inherently bad — it\’s that putting a lot more time, thought and effort into performance management as a whole is good.

Identify the Real Problem

There\’s a danger in the rush to get away from the canker of ratings. Not enough effort is put into thinking about how its replacement will work. Because it\’s not just a new system that\’s required, it\’s a change of behavior and culture. That\’s a much trickier beast to manage.
Indeed, the CEB report found that when there wasn\’t enough support given to changing the behavior of managers and employees, performance and engagement fell up to 10 percent. More employees (8 percent) felt that their pay rises were unfairly allocated and fewer than 5 percent of managers felt able to manage employees without ratings in place.
It\’s all very well saying that yearly appraisals should be replaced by informal regular \”check-ins,\” but there has to be a mechanism in place to ensure that happens, and managers need the support to be able to change their behavior.
If a yearly performance review is swapped for a monthly or weekly check-in where managers aren\’t clear of the purpose of that chat, then this is not going to work any better than a ratings system.

Take a Closer Look at What You Rate and Measure

Perhaps the problem lies not so much in having a ratings system itself, but in what\’s rated and measured. There\’s too much focus on past mastery or failure of a task and not enough on how to improve future performance. Those reaping the success of ditching the yearly appraisal review still measure performance success, but they have changed what they value and how they evaluate that.
Ousting performance ratings may well be the right answer for some companies, but that is not a given. Continuous feedback and yearly performance ratings are not mutually exclusive – there may be situations where the two can and should coexist.
The key is to keep an eye on the end goal of what this should all be about: driving better employee performance. Ratings may prove to be a symptom rather than a cause of poor performance management.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

The First Day of School in a Whole New World

Today on TeachHUB.com, noted blogger Myree Conway takes a look at an idyllic, make-believe, magical school where “The pleasant aroma of freshly baked cookies coffee would waft from the teachers’ lounge, where your colleagues would be working harmoniously side-by-side as perfect-pitched, singing butterflies gently hovered over their heads.”
It’s a fantasy, of course, and Myree quickly segues to the harsh realities she’s facing, including the lack of professional development opportunities available to her and other teachers working in cash-strapped districts.
Lastly, Myree encourages her fellow educational colleagues to band together as a team. “Know that we are all in this together and we’re fighting the good fight.”
Read More About an Ideal Teaching World >>
Teaching Strategies & The Value of Self-Reflection
Elsewhere on TeachHUB.com today, frequent TeachHUB.com contributor Janelle Cox encourages her fellow educators to embark upon the process of self-reflection, and she spells out how that activity can impact a classroom.
Janelle notes that the beginning process of self-reflection begins with figuring out ways to collect information about the effectiveness of your teaching, including:
Start a Self-Reflective Journal
Video-Record Yourself Teaching
Have Students Observe You
Self-reflection is a technique that can measure your teaching, and you should strive to use it whenever you can. By next year, you’ll have a much better wider toolkit to pull from when it’s time to teach the next gang of students.
Learn the Value of Self-Reflection and How to Use it to Evolve Your Teaching>>
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The Attention Dimension

Why teachers are key for ADHD students – and tips for helping 
Ever wonder what to do with kids in your classes that have ADHD? They can be frustrating, for you and the other kids in your class. Often, they can derail an entire class for an entire hour – or for an entire year.
Also, it’s important to note that approximately three kids is each class have been diagnosed with ADHD, and only half get treatment – if they are identified at all.
Today on TeachHUB.com, new contributing writer James Paterson looks at some teaching strategies educators can use to help them get ADHD-afflicted kids to coexist and even flourish in your class.
James offers up 12 tips today, including:
Report your concerns
Collect data
Consider seating
And more!
In a paragraph devoted to seating arrangements, James writes: “CHADD (Children and Adults with ADHD) recommends seating these students away from distractions and not paired with another student who is distractible. The organization also suggests seating near the teacher or a responsible classmate, and other arrangements that may help in a class where attention issues arise.”
James’ last paragraph reads lime this: “Teachable moments. Find time to teach these students basic organizational skills that they have never had an opportunity to try or practice. Using a planner is key. DuPaul says new research shows such times spent by teachers on these skills can pay off dramatically for students with attention issues, especially those in high school and middle school.”

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

Post-Holiday Classroom Activities

Many teachers struggle with re-energizing their classrooms after the holidays. Students are excited to be back with their friends, for sure, but they’re also still stuck in that twilight zone of late bedtimes and altered eating times, among other changes that happen anytime a lengthy break from school occurs.
Today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Janelle Cox illustrates how educators can design some classroom activities that incorporate what students did over their holiday breaks into the curriculum, so that students can quickly get back on track and get motivated to learn once again.
Some of these tactics include:
  • Make New Year’s Resolutions
  • Play a Fun Game
  • Host a Party
  • And More!

Do you have any post-holiday classroom activities that you would like to share?
Learn more about post-holiday classroom activities that will kickstart your students this new year>>
Top 12 New Year\’s Resolutions for Teachers
We recently compiled a list of the top resolutions for teachers – a list definitely worth revisiting this time of year. Our list includes:
  • Spice Up Your Classroom Routine
  • Get Your Work/Life Balance in Order
  • Plan Your Move Up the Payscale
  • And More!

“Don’t underestimate how felling good in your clothes and wearing something you love can lift your mood and start your day on a positive note. Grab a few new, fun pieces to add to your typical work outfits and turn those hallways into your own personal runway!” our writer encourages.
What resolutions will you bring to your classroom in the new school year?
Get the top TeachHUB.com-recommended new year resolutions for 2015>>
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The TeachHUB.com weekly e-newsletter is the best way for you to learn about what’s new on TeachHUB.com any given week. It’s a top-to-bottom rundown of the best articles we’ve published every week, and it’s delivered straight to your inbox every Friday – for FREE!
By subscribing, you’ll receive the latest, cutting-edge educational news, free lesson plans, and more! 
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Top 12 Olympic Lessons & Classroom Activities

To help you make the Olympics a learning experience in your classroom, I thought I’d share my favorite Olympics-inspired ideas for lessons, classroom management techniques and fun activities.

Olympics Poetry – Language Arts/ English
List 7 pairs of Olympic-themed rhymes. It could do with your sport, athletics, competition, international relations, patriotism, etc.

Use those rhymes to write an Olympic sonnet (14-lines). Remember that the last couplet usually adds a twist to the poem’s meaning.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

Overcoming Barriers to Technology in the Classroom

It’s important to have parity in your school, and in your class, especially with regards to technology in the classroom and the use of it. The problem resides in that some classes and schools simply don’t have all the technology in the classroom resources that others do.
Today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Janelle Cox, who is a seasoned elementary school educator based on the East Coast, takes a look at the barriers preventing some educators and their charges from fully realizing (and utilizing) all the technology in the classroom bells and whistles that some classrooms are enjoying.
Janelle’s barriers preventing widespread usage include:
  • Lack of Effective Training
  • Budget Constraints
  • Students’ Computing Skills
  • And More!

Janelle sums up her article thusly: “As teachers and a society, we will continue to try and dissolve the barriers to adopting ed-tech into our classrooms. As technology continues to grow, the conversations about this topic will continue. As a society in whole, we need to ensure that our children in the school system will have access to the tools that they need in order to grow their knowledge.”
What do you think is the biggest barrier to technology in the classroom? Do you and your school district face any of these issues? Please share your thoughts in the comment section, we would love to hear your thoughts.
We take a look at the biggest barriers affecting technology in the classroom, and how to overcome them>>
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Top 12 Ways to Start the School Year Off Right

As you gear up for the new school year, you have a chance for fresh positive start that will motive students and get you, your students and their parents working together from day one.

Whether you want to inspire your students, encourage reading, reach out to parents, or form a better bond with your students, check out these innovative ideas.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

WHAT HOLLYWOOD CAN TEACH YOU ABOUT ORGANIZATIONAL REDESIGN

Hollywood can teach you a surprising amount about running your business.
When a blockbuster film is produced, a team comes together to go all-in on the project—and then they move onto separate projects after it’s finished. While it may seem disjointed, this approach actually allows producers to create the ideal team based on skill, working style and interest. And the shared sense of purpose and energy enable the team to create a great final product.
Software developers have been following this “agile working practice” for years. Developers work in small teams, potentially with people dotted the world over, in a series of sprints with short-term targets that build towards an end goal. When the project ends, the team disbands and members join other teams and projects.
According to Josh Bersin, principal of Bersin by Deloitte, this model is closer to the way we actually work today. A combination of digitization, globalization and increasing VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) in the world are driving the need for greater innovation, better performance and the ability to become more customer-centric to stay competitive. Rather than fixed, hierarchical silos and departments, companies are increasingly operating in what Bersin calls a “network of teams,” each of which is small, nimble and productive.
SOURCE: BERSIN
But such a shift in existing organizational structures won’t happen overnight. Deloitte’s 2017 Human Capital Trends report finds that just 11 percent of respondents feel confident that they know how to build the organization of the future. Here are three key areas of business HR leaders will need to rethink when designing for the organization of the future.

Recruiting

In a traditional company, job descriptions are static and clearly defined: someone is hired for a specific role with specific responsibilities. But in this team-based world, employees will not stick in one role, but move between teams, requiring HR leaders to rethink who and how they recruit. So when it comes to recruitment, HR needs to create job titles and descriptions that are much broader to reflect the fact that people may work across different teams.

Leadership Competencies

The traditional command-and-control leadership style, where leaders set goals and standards for staff, doesn’t fit within this new framework. Instead, organizations have to create room for decisions and goals to be made at the employee and team level. This could mean creating two streams of managers, suggests Bersin: traditional style managers who focus on an individual’s career and development, and a project manager who oversees and develops them for that particular mission.

Performance Reviews

Assessing performance and rewarding staff are also changing: yearly reviews are being scrapped for a culture of continuous feedback and evaluation. People are measured according to how they perform in their teams in addition to more standard individual feedback. In this team-centric organization, companies need to target their performance reviews around not just what the manager thinks, but also how their peers’ view their work and attitude.
Bersin’s ideas about the new way of working in networks of teams will no doubt take time to implement , but it’s also compelling. The organizational change is highly disruptive and exciting—just like the best Hollywood films.

Teaching Strategies: Qualities of Effective Educators

When you look back at the teachers you had growing up, what qualities did the better educators exhibit?
Chances are that the most memorable teachers from your youth, according to TeachHUB.com writer Janelle Cox, demonstrated a combination of the following traits and teaching strategies:
Personal traits:
  • Caring
  • Respectful
  • Fair
  • And more

With regards to qualities for instruction, Janelle points out several more characteristics of an effective teacher:
  • Employs strategies
  • Utilizes technology
  • Has high expectations
  • And more!

Janelle also lists out some classroom management characteristics that engaging educators employ.
Janelle sums up her article thusly: “An effective teacher has a true understanding of the content that they teach. They challenge their students and push them to work hard and be successful. The most effective teachers are the ones who are usually the students least favorite, but are later remembered as the ones who prepared them for their future. Being an effective teacher is not always easy, you may not always be liked or the student’s favorite, but you will be the one that they will want to thank later in life.”
What qualities do you think effective teachers should displa

5 Tips to Get a Summer Teaching Job

Although most of you are enjoying summer break, quite a few of you might be looking for a way to earn some extra money by obtaining a summer teaching job. It’s a great way to earn some extra cash, and it’s great experience to call out on your resume!

But how do you go about finding a summer teaching job? It’s not as easy as you think.
With that in mind, today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Janelle Cox, herself a seasoned elementary educator based in Upstate New York, takes a look at five ways to get a coveted summer teaching job.

Janelle’s ideas include:

  • Update Your Resume and Teaching Portfolio
  • Where to Search for a Teaching Job
  • Consider the Alternatives
  • And More!


Janelle sums up her article thusly: “Research shows that when teachers enrich their minds in the summertime, it will help them grow and become better educators for our children. Just as we don’t want our students to get that dreaded “Summer slide,” we, as educators, need to keep our minds as sharp as possible too. Taking on a summer job will help will help keep your mind busy while making some extra cash for your wallet.”

Do you have any tips on how to get a summer teaching job? Please share your thoughts and ideas, you never know, you may just be the person to help a fellow teacher out.

Get our tips on obtaining a summer teaching job>>
Get a Teaching Job: Common Interview Mistakes
For a while now, we’ve focused considerable effort on TeachHUB.com toward helping current and potential teachers to get a teaching job. It’s never easy, and in these days of budget cutbacks and leaner staffing trends, it can seem near impossible to get a teaching job. And if you do land that coveted interview, you can bet that those doing the hiring will be looking to pounce upon any mistake, perceived or real, to eliminate those they deem unworthy from the process.
So today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Janelle Cox, herself a seasoned educator based on the East Coast (specifically, New York state) tells our audience about common interview mistakes that job candidates need to avoid.
Specifically, Janelle mentions that during an interview, potential teachers should not:
  • Be Arrogant
  • Talk Excessively
  • Dress Inapprpriately
  • And More!

In summation, Janelle’s words ring true: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression. In order to land that teaching job of your dreams make sure that you dress to impress, arrive early and shake hands with each person on the interview panel, utilize your teaching portfolio when answering questions, be confident, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. You have done your homework and you know that you are qualified for the job, now all you have to do is make sure that you avoid these common interview mistakes, and you will ace that interview. You’ve got this!”
What do you think are some common interview mistakes that teachers make? Do you agree with the ones that are listed above?

Osama bin Laden Killed Video Writing Prompts

6-8: Impact of 9/11
How have the 9/11 attacks impacted the way you see the world? What does it mean to you that Osama bin Laden has been killed?

9-12: Results of bin Laden’s death
How do you think the death of Osama bin Laden will affect United States citizens? Consider how this will affect public safety, the war in Afghanistan or the economy. How does it personally make you feel to see the world celebrating a man’s death?

Classroom Games to Improve Students’ Memory

We hear from many teachers who encounter lapses in short-term memory, also referred to as working memory. Kids who have stronger short-term memories are able to stay focused and on task, follow step-by-step directions, and apply their prior knowledge to new situations.
But as kids get older, their working memories can be negatively affected by distractions or information overload.
To combat this memory phenomenon, today on TeacHHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Janelle Cox, who is a veteran teacher based on the East Coast, offers up some classroom games and strategies that will impact your kids’ memories.
Janelle’s ideas include:
  • Card Recall
  • Mix Them Up
  • Teach Students to Visualize
  • And More!

Janelle sums up her article like this, in a paragraph with the subhead Teach Students to Visualize: “Encourage students to use their visualization skills. For example, let’s say that students are learning about Rosa Parks. Have them close their eyes and visualize Rosa Parks sitting on the school bus. Tell them to come up with a picture of what they think that looks like in their head. Then have them draw the picture that they came up with on paper. Once students get used to visualizing, they will be able to use their words to describe what they are imagining instead of drawing you a picture.”

Do your students have any issues with their memory? What kinds of strategies and games to incorporate in your classroom? Please share your thoughts!
Get our memory-enhancing classroom games>>

Our Top 10 Songs About School
Songs about school have been a pop culture touchstone since the early 20th century. Indeed, although the specific topics vary from song to song (love, cars, emotions about various items on the curriculum), you can bet that at any moment, there’s probably a song about school live on the airwaves right now (or on a closer friend’s playlist).
In a fun piece today, frequent TeachHUB.com contributor Jordan Catapano (who’s also a high school teacher in Illinois) calls out the most memorable tunes about school, including:
•    Van Halen, “Hot for Teacher”
•    The Police, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”
•    The Beatles, “Getting Better”
•    And More!
Overall, songs about school culture have been a staple in popular music forever. The themes these songs address are universal – perhaps that’s why songs about school are always close to the top 10.
What other songs should be on our list? What will songs of the future sing about school?