Blog
Harnessing the Power of AI Tools for Teachers
By: Teacher.org Staff | Apr 11, 2024
For most teachers, the initial reaction to artificial intelligence was horror. After all, if AI was able to write assignments in an instant, or pass standardized exams, the possibilities for students cheating skyrocketed.
But on reflection, AI has more to offer to teachers and students through legitimate educational uses than illicit ones.
The key challenge for teachers today is to identify those uses and ...
6 Questions to Tackle When Engaging Students in Learning
By: Jon Konen | Dec 18, 2017
Argumentatively the most important aspect of teaching today: keeping students in engaged. Others would argue that classroom management is the ticket, while myself and others would state, “If you have effective engagement strategies, you do not have classroom management or discipline problems.” It is true, effective instruction can cure a ...
5 Questions to Tackle in Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques
By: Jon Konen | Dec 17, 2017
No will argue that questioning and discussion drive instruction. They are instructional strategies that should be in every lesson. Yet, it is a component that most teachers do not spend much time perfecting. If you ask a teacher if they remember the questions they asked in a lesson in a ...
10 Reasons Why Experienced and First Year Teachers Have the Same Struggles
By: Amy Konen | Nov 27, 2017
As I reflect on my career as an educator, I am reminded that I am a type of teacher who likes to move around and teach different grade levels. What I realized about myself was that I truly love kids. I love all the different age groups for different reasons. ...
6 Questions to Tackle in Being Exemplary When Communicating with Students
By: Jon Konen | Nov 27, 2017
Actions speak louder than words! To connect with our students we must think about the words and the actions we take in and out of the classroom. One of the first education books I read was Harry Wong’s 1997 book titled, The First Days of School: How to Be an ...
7 Questions to Ask in Managing Student Behavior
By: Jon Konen | Nov 27, 2017
One of the qualities that will get you hired faster than anything else is the ability to manage a classroom full of students. Administrators shy away from hiring new teachers that have a difficult time managing students. The amount of time an administrator must put into teaching and training a ...
5 Questions to Tackle in Organizing the Physical Space in Your Classroom
By: Jon Konen | Nov 21, 2017
Five rows with six desks in each row…each row is two feet from the next with every desk pointed to the front of the room where the chalkboard and teacher desk are located. Does this paint the picture of the standard old school classroom? Starting in first grade, I could ...
10 Strategies to Assist in Developing the Soft Skill of Note Taking
By: Amy Konen | Nov 21, 2017
Do you have students in your class that become frustrated when they are asked to take notes on the material you are presenting? Do they try and write every single word that you say and ask you to repeat your words to try and capture it all? Do they become ...
How Can Parents Explain Episodes of Gun Violence to Very Young Children Without Filling Them with Fear?
By: Jon Konen | Nov 14, 2017
I am a principal of a K-6 school in Great Falls, MT (65,000). We are a rural state with many conservative (Republican) viewpoints on gun legislation. In the city I preside, predominately Democrat, there are different viewpoints than the rest of the state. This has been a question we have ...
6 Questions to Tackle in Managing Classroom Procedures
By: Jon Konen | Nov 14, 2017
How can Finland students, touted as one of the highest-ranking OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries in education, score as high as they do on the PISA (Programming for International Student Assessment) data when they are in school 400 hours less than students in America? This is answered ...
11 Total Participation Techniques That Involve Movement
By: Amy Konen | Nov 8, 2017
“Simple biology supports the obvious link between movement and learning” (Jensen, 2005).
Jensen explains that oxygen is necessary for brain function, more blood flow equals more oxygen and physical activity increases blood flow (2005). Other outcomes of increased movement are: more cortical mass, greater number of connections among neurons, and gene ...