"Teacher's Hefty Salaries..."

I found this amazing post circling around few months ago and have no idea why I didn't share it. It is totally worth a read!

"Teachers' hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do - babysit! We can get that for minimum wage. That's right. Let's give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That...would be $19.20 a day (7:45 to.....3:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch and plan -- that equals 6 1/2 hours). Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now how many students do they teach in a day...maybe 30? So that's $19.50 x 30 = $585 a day. However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations. LET'S SEE...That's $585 x 180 = $105, 300 per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries). What about those special education teachers and the ones with the Master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an hour. That would be $8 x 6 1/2 hours x 30 children x 180 days = $280, 800 per year. Wait a minute -- there's something wrong here! There sure is!

The average teacher's salary (nation wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days = $277.77/per day/30 students = $9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student -- a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your kids!) WHAT A DEAL!!!

Heaven forbid we take into account highly qualified teachers or NCLB...

Make a teacher smile; re-post this to show appreciation!"

19 Storytelling Techniques

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I have been meaning to write a post about storytelling techniques for quite sometime. I have finally gotten a few minutes in my super busy schedule to come up with one! Here is a list of a few techniques I have used and some I haven't (but learned about them when I was doing my undergrad). Enjoy! Oh, and please post some other ideas that you know of or use in your classroom!

Felt Stories

Tell a story using felt! It allows for great visuals especially for books that may have patterns. An example of how I did a felt story can be found here: Silly Sally - Felt Storytelling Technique

Finger Puppets

http://www.csc.gov.sg/html/newsletter/aug2006/augpictures/FINGERPUPPET.jpg

Using finger puppets are so engaging! Use them while you are reading or tell a story without the book. Works wonders each way! A fun story that I always like to do is The Three Little Pigs. 

Puppet Show

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Oh my! What a fantastic idea to create your own puppet theatre! Use one of those 3-panel presentation boards (they cost around 8 dollars from Staples)! Got this picture from Google images and has now inspired me to create my own puppet theatre!

Stick Puppets

http://www.thevirtualvine.com/images/nurseryrhymes/heydiddlediddle/stpup.jpg

Tell a story with stick puppets. Just as much fun as any other technique! Remember, any of these techniques work with poems and songs as well!

Cut a Story

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As you read the story, cut out a shape that may represent the shape. For example, "The girl was waiting for a valentine to arrive"; You can cut the shape of a valentine as you tell the story.

Draw a Story

and

Create a Class Story

Okay, I LOVE using this technique. That is a story that I drew in my classroom this year on the whiteboard. It can also be done on chart paper and then posted in the room. I chose to do it on the whiteboard. My students actually came up with this whole story on their own. Each child was given the opportunity to create the story. We started in a circle. One student gave one sentence. And the next student gave the next sentence of the story. We came up with this class story. Then they went to the desks and drew a picture of what their creation of the story was. It also became a class storybook! 

Real Props

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This is one my most favourite stories! I have used this technique many times during my teaching experience. I used the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. I bought all the props (from the dollar store) needed from the story and put them in order of the story in the basket. As I read the story, I pulled out the item/prop and laid it in front of me. The kids love it and so do I!

Role Play

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Role play the story! You can add students as you go along. I did it with my students and they loved it! Caps for Sale is awesome to read! Grab a bunch of hats as props and you're good to go!!! Here we can build role playing and theatre skills!

Storybox Technique

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Fun way to have a few props in the box. An easy carry-with-you-anywhere box with all the things you need for the story. Check out my post Moosetache to find out how I did mine!

Musical Instruments

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http://studio3music.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/mortimer.jpg

Simple! Use musical instruments while you tell your story. Mortimer is a great one to use. Check out my post to learn more about how I used Mortimer in my classroom. 

Clothesline

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https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYtAljoZzFP268vrL8f4PizjKIyNdlVMK2q6pIRBc-G2uBvhzvHConQAzZ1qsNaoT1a8LAKGyatacghWofiaaFxkpD3yl4jkJiCaXLiOoNbpbb8lJp8EnEk50OTYfqQSJX07Bk9EIGyWL/s1600/Mrs+McNosh+007.JPG

Get a strong clothesline. Buy some clothespins. Get pictures for the story (make from felt or photocopy the pages of the book and laminate them for forever-use). As you read the book, ask a child to put the corresponding item on the clothesline. This book is fantastic for it! 

Flashlight Fun

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Reading a story is SO much fun with the lights turned off and blinds shut. Make the room dark and turn on a flashlight!!! I love this technique. So much fun to do at any time of the day. Gives children a change and lets them know that reading can be done during the night as long as you have a flash light!!

Large Books

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Large books are great because the kids can see the pictures and words in a much bigger size! Awesome to listen to!

Other techniques can include: Singing chants during a story/song (We're going on a bear hunt), Physically participating (stamping feet, clapping hands), Use stuffed animals to tell a story, Word Cards/Pictures (when they hear a part of the story, they hold up their card/picture), and Hear and Respond (every time they hear a certain word, they must respond with an action/chant. Ex., "little frog" say ribbit ribbit or jump 3 times). 

Happy Teachers' Day!!!

Source: http://www.prrdweb.com/images/pages/World%20Teachers%20Day%20Online%20Image.JPG

October 5th is World Teachers' Day! I just want to thank all teachers out there who make a positive difference in every child's life. Teachers are probably one of the most under appreciated people of all the time all around the world.  And please remember that anyone that has taught us anything is a teacher. Whether it be parents, family, friends, co-workers, etc. So thank you, thank you, thank you to all!!

Here are a few pictures that help teachers feel better about what they do. Enjoy!!!

Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4zWt3TTzwvPf7rtt_rYAJeWwO1_XfxQdt-DLcXdsV1Ezc9zrQLFrQq8ezeMG-tuB9RHNQlJf9rx94O_0CxLZm8EGyoX-iVDYtrLv20fKFouMDWn12o2hDgqvL9Xl_Vty7mOlKjUMRsGw/s1600/modernteacher.gif

Source: http://wikinewstime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/World-Teachers-Day-Card-2012.jpg

Source: http://vincentloy.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/teachers-day-sms-masseges.jpg

Source: http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/c78.0.403.403/p403x403/523113_10151017799633639_2111779300_n.jpg

Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhidRXHTj55ZP421tADPyM_MT432Iik2J3nIX31_qqEfks_cpfG3XHq_ea7xh6Q6sCrDmL70lKUDfDCAMjeEkWUm053uCxos5uGbWOp8RVzZrsf3euizf0EoPKz9DgEIv5oNrJIEkj2QU4/s1600/Teachers+Day+Wallpaper3.jpg

Banning Teachers From Striking?

Source: http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/image1.jpg%3Fw%3D620

According to statistics (which I don't have), Ontario is the largest province with the most amount of debt. To fix this problem, a review of the public services was to be done by a hired professional. This professional was Don Drummond, an economist, who conducted a report and called it 'The Drummond Report'. 

This report was over 600 pages long, released in February 2012 and talked in detail about all the public sectors that could need some tweeking. The teachers of Ontario were part of this report. The Drummond Report said to freeze teachers' wages for two years without being able to climb up the salary grid even after additional qualifications. It also wants to take away the sick days from 20 and push it to 6.

The government now is not budging from this and is even imposing a bill to ban teachers from striking and forcing them to take this contract with wages frozen and less benefits. The government is using many reasons by using statements such as the teachers are getting paid too much money and they get lots of time in their summer. A friend of mine sent me this piece of article from an Orillia newspaper that defends the teachers. I think it is worth a read. Here it is:

Clarifications in this teacher/government dispute. Please read.

An Editorial from the Orillia newspaper .....
There is a lot of misinformation about teachers these days. Premier Dalton McGuinty, Education Minister Laurel Broten and Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak are all trying to paint teachers as greedy, bad guys, but here are the facts:

Teachers and the federations accepted a wage freeze months ago. It’s a non-issue.

...Teachers are concerned about the grid (that only helps younger teachers) and the fact that the government is beginning to withdraw from the pension-plan agreement.

What teachers are most concerned about is that this is actually a union busting. It is a way to end collective bargaining. Teachers have not threatened to strike or take any action, but the government is proposing actions to take away teachers’ right to strike. They have not sat down at the table to negotiate. They basically said, “This is what teachers are going to get, and if they don’t accept it, the government will take away their right to oppose us.” That’s not fair and it’s not democratic.

Very, very, very few teachers actually make $95,000 per year. Most teachers who are at the maximum place on the grid actually make $92,000; however, these are teachers who have two degrees, are specialists in their field of endeavour (like special education) and have taught full time for about 15 years. The average pay of a teacher is about $50,000. A constable first class (college diploma) with the OPP makes $83,000 after three years. A university professor makes about $120,000. The high-end pay for a college teacher is $102,000.

Also, teachers cannot increase their pay through overtime. They can only increase their pay by getting another job. Many others, like the police, can get hired on for extra duties (like chaperoning dances, where the teachers are working for free).

Teachers do not get summers off. They take a 20% pay cut throughout the year to pay for the time they are not employed during the summer. If parents and their offspring want to go to school all summer, then let’s talk about year-round school and stop acting like teachers are getting some free ride.

Teachers do not get paid for after-school programs like councils, meetings, sports, clubs, exchange programs or after-hours field trips. Teachers are paid from the start of the school day to the end of the school day. Everything else is a gimme.

Something else that many don’t realize is that because teachers are not working during the summer, most of them are the backbone of summer and community programs.

The Mike Harris government made a complete mess of education and, in many ways, school has never really recovered. For example, arts programs are still running on shoestring budgets and are slowly falling apart. Mr. McGuinty is pretending that he is the one who has created success in our high schools. Despite all of this nonsense, there’s only one person standing in front of the children on the first day back and it isn’t a politician, a trustee, a superintendent or a principal (all of whom make a lot more than a teacher).