From Susan Coons, a teacher in Indiana:

Having a student teacher is a great learning experience. Here are some hints to help make that experience great.

1. Make sure that you communicate your expectations for classroom management (rules, attendance, parent contacts, etc.) and for student learning expectations before classes begin.
2. Have a clear focus for student learning and a goal or an assessment you will use that will focus lesson plans.
3. Create, use and tweak lesson plans together; always debrief the day's lessons, reflecting on what worked and what didn't.
4. Welcome your student teacher to your shared class, and communicate professionally with his university supervisor.
5. Model what a good teacher does, let him/her practice with guidance, and then turn the student teacher loose.

From Jim Falbo, an electrical program teacher at Grundy Area Vocational Center in Morris, Illinois:

"Instead of Microsoft Word, I now use Google Docs with all of my students. Google Docs will work with any web browser, there are no updates, there's nothing to download, it auto saves, and it allows for accountability with a date of completion. The collaboration feature allows students to develop Online teams to complete projects and I can monitor who does what and when in the assignment. I also use Google Spreadsheets for shared online rubrics with each student. Have students sign up for Gmail at the beginning of the school year. I suggest in the format Last Name.First Name @ Gmail.com. Take advantage of Docs, Spreadsheets, and the (shared) Calendar which is great for lesson plans. Google Applications is a bonus plan that lots of schools are using. There's control, added features, and it's free!"

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From The Worker Bees:

It's time to celebrate the end of school! How does your school or community recognize graduates at all grade levels?

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From a seventh grade teacher:

"I feel that sending home mandatory summer reading can turn away the kids who don't like to read. I don't particularly enjoy starting my year correcting summaries or book reports either. I suggest possible family trips and projects such as a compiling a photo essay, designing a poster, sending me a post card and researching the trip destination. The student could plan the itinerary, budget and map. I also let my students know the type of genre I'll be reading the next year (sci-fi, poetry and historical fiction) and the topics that will be covered in social studies and science. I do that in case some would like to read up on a particular topic or do some non-fiction reading. They can create a book marker or concept map to share their reading. They can also do plain old reading for fun! Summertime is fun, and kids can enjoy what they read by having free choice. I just provide a guide not an assignment. Bonus points are given to those who, with parent signature, participate in the activity."
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From Lisa Kanute, a high school English teacher in Tucson, Arizona:

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From an anonymous reader:

From the Works4Me Worker Bees:

"As the school year is winding down, what are your helpful ideas to expedite closing down your classroom? What steps can teachers take so they can actually be dismissed on the last day of school instead of coming back on their own time?"
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From Kathy Snyder, a fifth grade teacher at Norwood Public School in Norwood, New Jersey:

"Subs need to establish a goal/reward system during their day or even one class period. I have used 'Toothy' with elementary classes. Draw a smiley face on the board with a big toothy smile. Though the face works best on a black board (because the teeth are black), it also works with white boards. Color in one tooth for good or helpful behavior. At the end of the class or the day, if the smile is white, leave a positive note or bring a reward of stickers, etc. 'Toothy' works in maintaining control while the teacher is away."
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From Michelle, a sixth grade science teacher:

"I have been using clickers [sometimes referred to as an 'audience response' system] now for about 2-3 months and have seen a vast improvement in my students’ test scores. At the end of each lesson, I have a 5-8 question clicker quiz. This assessment allows me to generate the much needed data that we as teachers are being called upon to have, and it allows me to tailor the review for each unit to the specific class. My students who struggle in other ways in the classroom have become more confident about science because they know we have a daily review. We also used the clickers with the math review we did leading up to our state testing with a small group of identified students from our roster. The students looked forward to having their quiz once a week in small group, and it allowed us to regroup the students as needed. All in all, the system is a great tool for me as a teacher."
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From Sharon Fedoruk:

"This year a few of my students and I tracked the participants in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. Each team is equipped with a tracking device. We would log in several times a day to track the mushers' progress. There is also a web cam set up at the finish line. It is updated each minute so we could plan when a musher was going to finish. We saw the anticipation at the finish line, and the next minute the crowd congratulating the finisher."
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From the Works4Me Worker Bees:

"We're always looking for ways to cut down on classroom expenses, whether that's by getting free supplies, recycling used items, or re-purposing old items for new uses. How do you cut down on expenses for your classroom decorations, supplies and/or equipment?"
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From J. Hamblin, a third grade teacher:

"My students absolutely loved a lesson on Shape poems using the Shape Poem tool that is on the readwritethink.org Web site. The Shape Poem tool was very easy for the students to use and encouraged creativity. Readwritethink.org also has online student tools for other poem types, though I haven't had the chance to use them yet. I plan to use the Acrostic Poems online tool as part of a center during Guided Reading. Readwritethink has lots of lesson planning ideas."
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From Coleen Walker, a teacher at Miami Middle School in Fort Wayne, Indiana:

"Recently, one of my colleagues remembered a neat way to help students understand how to write a short answer. She used it at a previous school and couldn't quite remember the exact words, but we call it RAT. Our version stands for Restate the Question, Answer the Question and Tie it to the Text. We have not taken the standardized test since we have taught this concept, but we are very hopeful. We have been practicing answering questions using the RAT method. I give them a short reading and then give them an open ended question to RAT. They write their answers, and I ask for volunteers to read them. As a class, we talk about what grade we give would and why. We need more practice, but I think (and hope) it will make a big difference on the ISTEP test."
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From the Works4Me Worker Bees:

"The Global Positioning System (GPS), a worldwide radio-navigation system of 24 satellites and their ground stations, is captured through low-cost GPS receivers that display basic geographic information like latitude, longitude, elevation, direction, and bearing. Higher quality receivers include altimeters, magnetic compasses, detailed topographic and city maps, and other points of interest. Are you using this technology in your classroom? Share some lesson ideas and tips and tricks with your colleagues."
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From Carla Winters, an English and speech teacher at Cobden Unit District #17 in Cobden, Illinois:

"I have tried to get my students to stop using tense shifts for years. I finally found a way: remove 'ing' verbs. This suggestion forces students to write either in present or past tense. Most scientific journals follow these rules and limit 'ing' verbs. It has worked with my freshmen and sophomores, and we have now implemented this rule across the curriculum. Try it, and be surprised!"

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From Donna Dinizo-Ruhl, a teacher at Roosevelt School in South Plainfield, New Jersey:

"To foster a love of reading, I show my class books that I am reading on my own time. They are thrilled by the size of them! In class, I made a large race track out of bulletin board paper and had the kids color in race cars that I printed from the Internet. I gave them all a sheet to keep track of how much time they read outside of class which the parents initial. Their goal is to make it all the way around the track, which is labeled by minutes. Once they have all made it around, we have an ice cream party. They can't wait to move their cars everyday!"

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From the Works4Me Worker Bees:

"Are you great at setting up your classroom -- seating, bulletin boards, storage, display of student work, etc.? What suggestions would you give new teachers who are setting up their learning environments?"

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From the Works4Me Worker Bees:

"NEA celebrates Dr. Seuss's birthday each year with Read Across America, the nation's largest reading celebration. It's a special day, to be sure, but many of us like to encourage reading all year long. How do you foster a love for reading among kids and teenagers? Do you organize book clubs? Recommend books to read outside of class? Send information home to parents? Share with our readers your true-tried tips and best ideas and for encouraging young people to read."
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From Jenny Smith, a teacher in Miami, Florida:

"On Dr. Seuss Day [also known as NEA's Read Across America], we volunteer to read to children at one of the big malls. We ask parents to stop for a few minutes and allow us to read a book to their child. The children are given a ticket after listening to the reading and then allowed to pick a free book from our table of books. I'm not sure where or how the books are purchased, but I'm sure that something is worked out with one of the book companies. The reading is an awesome experience for me; it's great to share my love for reading and to watch the children's expressions as they listen."
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From Barbara Kruming, a kindergarten teacher::

"Our entire K-6 school reads the same book, and parents are invited to read it too. At the end of the month, we have an evening discussion of the book in the auditorium. Of course, we serve refreshments first. There are some books that work well for both primary and upper level students. Two different books by the same author have also been chosen in the past. Our parents are very excited about sharing in the reading and discussion. The younger siblings of the older students feel proud of the fact that they can talk about the book too! I am a kindergarten teacher, so I read the book with my class, but also encourage my parents to read it themselves."
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From the editors at Works4Me:

Internet giant Google announced recently a doodling competition, Doodle 4 Google, "which offers young artists the chance to play around with the Google logo and perhaps have their artwork seen by people all over the world."

The graphic designers at Google often play around with their logo, tweaking it to fit various holidays and other days of note on the calendar. Here's what they do for National Teacher Day:

Now your students have a chance to do the same, only...

...the stakes are bit higher: "The National Winner will win a $10,000 college scholarship to be used at the school of their choice; a trip to the Googleplex on May 21, 2008; a $25,000 grant towards the establishment/improvement of a computer lab for their current school; a laptop computer; and a t-shirt with their Google Doodle printed on it. Their doodle also will be displayed on the www.google.com home page for one day." The deadline is April 12, 2008.

Forget the aimlessness, the preoccupation, the idleness. For once, doodling actually matters.

Happy Scribbles!

From the editors at Works4Me:

Check out this activity in which grades 8-12 "use an Earth image database (Space Shuttle images) to find places on Earth where there is ice and snow": Search for Ice and Snow.

Students use online images of the earth's surface -- found on such Web sites ad NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the National Space Science Data Center -- to search for geographic locations that have ice or snow.

The activity makes use of images from these Web sites

• Office of Earth Sciences
  At the Office of Earth Sciences there are nearly 400,000 space photos made by astronauts with hand held cameras.
• Welcome to Earth (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
  At the Welcome to Earth site, there is a small collection of Earth images put together by the folks at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory).
• NSSDC Earth Photo Gallery
  At the NSSDC Earth Photo Gallery site, there are Earth images acquired by spacecraft other than the Space Shuttle.
• Earth Observation Mission Menu

From the editors at Works4Me:

National Geographic has a quick and helpful interactive introduction to the human brain. Nifty animation makes it easy for students to explore the brain's anatomy, to see how common diseases affect specific regions of the brain, and to understand how specific stimuli -- the sound of applause, eating an apple, or seeing a flash of light -- activate certain parts of the brain.