The Bus Stop Blog by STEDI.org

It's true that most students text - a lot. One of my student's said her friend had 15,000 text messages in one month!! She had upwards of 3,000 and that was fairly common among all of my students. Sometimes it is hard to communicate with students because the way they communicate is so different.

Here is a website that might help you come a little closer to effectively communicating with students.

Have you heard? There's a new product on the market this week, it's called the iSub. The iSub is completely versatile to adapt to any difficult situation. Some of the iSub's best features include:

1. The iSub is always pleasant and happy to help wherever needed.
2. The iSub treats even the most troubled teenagers with respect and admiration.
3. The ideal iSub can walk into any class and have an activity ready to implement and get each student on task.
4. The iSub is a splendid mix of confidence, happiness, eagerness, willingness, capability, as well as a sense of humor.

Nothing phases the iSub. This amazing new product will be available for the 2010-2011 school year.

A couple of weeks ago I posted a video of a turtle to the blog. I found this turtle so entertaining, watching him trap himself after trying to get out of a huge blue bowl is still so hilarious to me.

After watching it a couple of times, I realized that sometimes teachers are like this turtle - well at least I was. We work so hard to improve student behavior, but sometimes we end up trapping ourselves once again. We trap ourselves because we break down the rapport that we work so hard to establish.

Have you ever heard of the Kahn Academy? I just learned of it recently and I'm so impressed with the idea behind it. Salman Kahn, from a closet in his home in California, records 10-12 minute videos and posts them on YouTube. These videos explain anything from Chemistry to Pre-Algebra concepts.

This last week I had the chance to listen to a retired high school principal speak. His energy and enthusiasm for the classroom was very apparent. He said something that has stuck with me and I have thought about it a lot the last few days.

For those who have taken the SubSkills Training Course or read The Substitute Teacher Handbook you will be familiar with the idea that it is easy for a teacher to fall into traps. Those traps include the questioning trap, the threat trap, and the despair and pleading trap. These are labeled as traps because teachers often think they are encouraging students to get on task, when in reality they aren't.

There are other traps that are easy for teachers to fall into that don't necessarily have to do with classroom management. Allow me to explain two of them.

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to those who attended the 7 hour training at Box Elder School District yesterday. It was a great day and I was impressed at the quality of substitute teachers that attended.

We had a great day and learned a lot. Thanks for letting me come!!

This website has great resources for your SubPack!