A Teacher That Can't Read?!?!?!?

I heard this guy on my drive home from school today on the radio and I could not get over his life. John Corcoran, a college graduate and retired teacher, could not read, write, or spell until his late 40s! He taught high school for over 17 years. When I finally got home, I googled him and found this article on his life. It truly is amazing. Has anyone ever heard of him before or read any of his books? Very interesting stuff. Let me know your thoughts.

http://www.10news.com/news/15274005/detail.html

Free Rice

I hope this link works....I used the journal search through the SPC account. For those of you that cannot access the link, I will briefly summarize it. Basically, research has shown that male students perform better with male teachers while female students perform better with female teachers. This news was astounding to me. I was under the assumption that it would depend on the teacher him/herself, compared to the gender of the teacher. Also, they had a website on their called www.freerice.com that donates 20 pounds of rice through the United Nations Food Program. If you teach middle school or high school, this is a great way for students to study vocabulary for SATs in addition to helping feed the hungry people across the world. Take care.

http://216.44.254.21:2052/ehost/pdf?vid=50&hid=115&sid=449f1e7c-5eb4-4d90-ae51-e53bb3065891%40sessionmgr109

Reaction to Spelling Video

As a high school teacher I see just as many errors as the elementary school teachers. Spelling words correctly is, in my opinion, a lost art. I am just as guilty of it as the students are at times. I am amazed on a daily basis how many common words that are used often in our dialogue are often misspelled. Through time, we as a society have relied on word processors (i.e. spell check) more often than the good old dictionary. However, some of the tips in the video were definitely helpful for all teachers that stress spelling words correctly or teachers that still use spelling tests.

Why we spell check...

Tip #4 stuck out in my mind as a helpful tip/tool that all teachers can and should use. Tip #4 explains that teachers should present words in chunks. For example, the word together should be shown to the students as to-get-her. This may help some students that find it difficult to remember the entire spelling of a word. Remember, this may not work for all words.

One tip that I have used in the high school setting is simply spelling the words on the board that I know students will have a difficult time spelling before my lecture. That way, I will not have to stop the lecture to spell a word such as Dien Bien Phu or Ho Chi Minh.

As far as penalizing students for misspelled words, I have not enforced point deductions on in-class essays since student teaching. I have noticed that students are better served seeing the misspelled word circled on their essay rather then having points deducted for every word or every five misspelled words. For essays that are completed at home, points will be deducted because students need to be held accountable for checking over their work before turning in final drafts. These are some of my suggestions/comments, but I am looking forward to what everyone else does in their classes. I guess I better spell check this to make sure I have not made any mistakes. Take care.

Reaction to the Letter Writing Video

As a high school teacher, it is very difficult to give any type of input (good or bad) regarding this video. However, I spoke with a kindergarten teacher that is always looking for new lessons and methods to teach letters. One of the biggest problems that she faces as a kindergarten teacher pertains to the different levels of her students. She has a number of students that understand the letters to the alphabet, but then there are a handful of students that cannot comprehend what a letter actually is. She said that she is going to try this activity with her students. Separating the students by level will be the best way to get her students to understand the letters. Has anyone else tried this?

Ron Clark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozxu5q0YD5w&feature=related

I'm not sure if everyone is familiar with Ron Clark or not, but if you are not, this is a short video of an amazing teacher and author. I believe a few years ago he was awarded the Teach of the Year Award through Disney. Clark had the ability to motivate the students that many of their previous teachers had given up on. He set the bar very high for the students, but at the same time, never let them give up on their goals.

Clark created 55 rules or goals that he wanted his students to achieve by the end of the school year and use throughout their lives. The goals were created to shape the students into mature, respectful men and women. Eventually, Ron Clark wrote a book that explains his life experiences and the challenges he faced as a teacher. Matthew Perry, also known to many as Chandler Bing, portrayed Clark in a made for tv movie which aired on USA a few years back.

If you ever get the chance to read his book, The Essential 55, or watch his movie on youtube, I would greatly reccommend it.