Welcome to your student teacher blog!

Welcome to the University of South Alabama blogspot. In this blog you can create original posts to share information (i.e. minor and major victories) and concerns (i.e. blow off steam).

This is also the place where you will respond to the reading assignments from, the First Days of School.

I look forward to blogging with you this semester and hope that you find the readings and comments as enjoyable as I do.

Each time you post look at what others have posted and try to comment on at least one other post to create a sense of community.Best of luck on your incredible student teaching journey!

Unit A: Basic Understandings -- The Teacher (How to understand why you're teaching in the first place)

The five chapters in Unit A are primarily concerned with how to become an effective teacher. "Effective teachers affect lives," say the Wongs.

How do you see their advice impacting you as a teacher? Respond and comment on at least two other classmate responses.

Unit B: First Characteristic -- Positive Expectations (How to motivate and inspire your students)

To be successful, the authors say, students must begin each school year with expectations of success -- expectations fostered by the entire educational community. "Celebrating the 'First Day of School' must become a tradition of all educational systems," the Wongs say.

How do you see their advice impacting you as a teacher? Respond and comment on at least two other classmate responses.

Unit C: Second Characteristic -- Classroom Management (How to manage a classroom that is uncontrollable)

The ten chapters in Unit C focus on the characteristics -- and benefits -- of a well-managed classroom. The effective teacher, say the Wongs, begins the year not with an activity, but by establishing classroom management procedures.

"Student achievement at the end of the year is directly related to the degree to which the teacher establishes good control of classroom procedures in the very first week of the school year," they say.

How do you see their advice impacting you as a teacher? Respond and comment on at least two other classmate responses.

Unit D: The Third Characteristic -- Lesson Mastery (How to have your students do their assignments and pass their tests)

This unit is concerned with how effective teachers ensure student achievement. "Student success in the subject matter," say the authors, "will be the result of how well the teacher designs lessons and checks for mastery.

How do you see their advice impacting you as a teacher? Respond and comment on at least two other classmate responses.

Unit E: Future Understandings -- The Professional (How to cope with the years still ahead of you and retire with dignity)

Unit E emphasizes the personal benefits of becoming an effective teacher and explains the difference between a teacher and a professional educator. "A professional," the Wongs say, "is defined not by the business a person is in, but by the way a person does business." A professional educator, they note, says, "What do I need to know in order to do what I need to do?"

Once again, the Wongs' advice is based on specific techniques, rather than educational buzzwords. To be a professional educator, they say, teachers must "constantly learn and grow."

How do you see their advice impacting you as a teacher? Respond and comment on at least two other classmate responses.