TEACHER RESOURCE CENTER

Authored by Veronica Rowland, University of California Irvine

Preparing for the Praxis Exam
Before you can obtain a teaching license or certificate, you will be required to take some form of standardized testing. Although state requirements for teaching certification vary, most states require that teachers take part of the Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers. The Praxis Series provides information for use by state education agencies in making licensing decisions.

Visit the links below for more information about the Praxis exams.

• The Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers

http://www.ets.org/praxis/index.html
This home page links to all the information you need to know about preparing for and taking the Praxis exams.

• Educational Testing Service Online Store

http://www.ets.org/store.html
Click on the "Teaching and Learning" link in the menu to access a Praxis study guides ordering page.

• State Requirements

http://www.ets.org/praxis/prxstate.html
Visit this link to find out about certification or licensure requirements in your state.

Guidelines for Lesson Planning
Developing well-prepared and thoughtful lesson plans is one of the most important aspects of instruction. With a well-planned "road map," teachers can set clear learning objectives and then provide students with learning experiences and resources necessary for reaching those outcomes.

Although each school district typically offers its own lesson plan outline, most are similar. Review the items below for key components to keep in mind when developing your own lesson plans:

• Goals/Objectives

Good lesson plans begin with identifying your goals and objectives. What knowledge, skills, and/or dispositions do you want your students to possess as a result of your lesson?

• Individual Differences

Whom will you be teaching? Grade level? Readiness levels? Interests? Special needs? Learning styles?

• Materials

What materials will I need? How will materials be distributed, managed, collected, and replaced (if necessary)?

• Time and Space

How much time do I have? In what ways can I arrange the classroom space to better accommodate the lesson?

• Prior Knowledge

What do your students already know? Are you going to need to address students' misconceptions?

• Instructional Strategies

What teaching methods will work best to achieve the objectives given this group of students?

• Assessment

How will I know students have achieved the objectives? Which type of assessment is most appropriate for this lesson or project? Traditional testing? Performance assessment? Self- or peer assessment? What is my scoring rubric?

The World Wide Web offers an abundance of high quality classroom activities in all academic subject areas. Visit the links below for examples of exemplary lesson plans and projects:

• Education World: Lesson Planning Center

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/
These lessons are continuously updated with activities that reflect current events and are archived by subject area.

• PBS Teacher Source

http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/
Offers 3,000 standards-based lesson plans.

• Discovery School Lesson Plans Library

http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/index.html
Provides lesson ideas in a broad range of traditional and non-traditional subject areas, including contemporary studies, economics, and forensic science.

• The Kennedy Center: ArtsEdge Teaching Materials

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/teaching_materials/artsedge.html
Offers standards-based K-12 curriculum units, lesson plans, activities that integrate the arts into academic subject areas.

• Scholastic: Lesson Plans and Activities

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/home.jsp
In addition to lesson plans and projects, this site offers instructional tools to create a classroom Web page and a teacher planning calendar.

• Teacher Vision: Lesson Plans

http://www.teachervision.com/tv/curriculum/lessonplans/index.html
Browse the lesson plan archive by topic, theme, or grade level.

• Smithsonian Institute Lesson Plans

http://smithsonianeducation.org/
Features educational materials that emphasize inquiry-based learning with primary sources and museum collections. Photographs and reproductions, lesson plans guidelines, and links to other online resources are provided.

• TEAMS Electronic Classrooms

http://teams.lacoe.edu/
Offers numerous resources, including lesson plans, information for beginning teachers, and links to online libraries.

• National Geographic: Education

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/
Provides lesson plans and projects with extensive supplemental materials, including printable maps, online adventures, and digital and audio files.

• MarcoPolo

http://www.marcopolo-education.org/
This educational clearinghouse connects its lessons and projects to national standards and provides links to state standards. Most activities are embedded with links to relevant online resources and supplemental materials.

Communicating With Parents
Work on building positive school-family relationships from the beginning. Phone calls, written notes, and digital newsletters can foster greater parent support and participation in your classroom. When you communicate frequently and comfortably with families, you show students that you respect and value them. This will make events such as parent-teacher conferences and open houses more productive and meaningful for everyone involved.

The following Web sites offer tips and guidelines for communicating with parents in a variety of situations. Be prepared and be positive!

Encouraging School-Family Communication

• Communicating with Parents and Families

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4135
Teachers offer their advice on how to successfully communicate with parents.

• Parent-Teacher Relations

http://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-4549.html
Offers ideas for reaching parents who show a lack of support or who seem disinterested. Also includes strategies for communicating with parents of children with behavior or learning problems.

Email

• Sample E-mail Guidelines for Parents

http://www.tesd.k12.pa.us/emailparents.htm
Features a set of school district guidelines for using e-mail as a parent-teacher communication tool.

Conducting Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences

• Parent-Teacher Conferences: Five Important Questions

http://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-3683.html
Prepare yourself for parent teacher conferences by thinking about what information parents really should have.

• Parent and Teacher Conferences: Tips and Resources

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/teacher-parent-conferences/resource/3713.html
Features a series of professional articles. Also includes a "Parent Conference Form" and "Teacher Conference Form" to help focus attention on specific areas of student achievement and need prior to the conference.

• Toward More Productive Parent-Teacher Conferences

http://www.npin.org/pnews/1998/pnew1198/int1198c.html
Provides ideas on how to skillfully talk to parents when their child has learning difficulties, behavior problems, or "no" problems.

Student-led Conferences

• Caity's Conference: Student-led Parent Conferences

http://www.nwrel.org/nwedu/fall_96/article4.html
This article illustrates how several schools successfully conduct student-led parent conferences.

• Student-led Conferences: A Growing Trend

http://www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin112.shtml
Shows how students prepare for the conference and also discusses the benefits and disadvantages of conducting student-led conferences.

• Student-led Conferences Hold Kids Accountable

http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr323.shtml
Shows how one teachers uses a series of forms to assist students in preparing for their student-led conferences.

Classroom Management: Prevention Strategies
One of the most effective ways to manage your classroom is to use strategies that are "preventive." In other words, teachers can try to prevent problems BEFORE they even happen. Some prevention strategies include: conduct positive and welcoming "back to school" activities at the beginning of the year; focus on teambuilding and positive student interaction; create upbeat bulletin boards and a positive classroom climate; and involve students in developing classroom rules and goals. Visit the following resources to discover specific prevention strategies to try in your classroom.

The Beginning of the Year

• Increase Parent Involvement with First Day of School Activities

http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin177.shtml
Discusses "first day" activities that can build parent support, including bilingual workshops, literacy seminars, and community parades.

• Back to School Teacher Tips

http://atozteacherstuff.com/tips/Back_to_School
Provides ideas for "icebreaker" activities, room décor, and welcoming students.

• Fourteen Great Activities for the First Days of School

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson074.shtml
Offers teacher-submitted, field-tested ideas for the first days back to school.

• Bulletin Board Ideas

http://www.theteacherscorner.net/bulletinboards/index.htm
Features innovative bulletin board ideas categorized by month, subject, and theme.

• 101 Things You Can Do the First Three Weeks of Class

http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/101thing.htm
This website offers a fresh list of activities in such categories as: "Helping Students Make Transitions," "Directing Students Attention," and "Encouraging Active Learning."

Developing Classroom Rules and Goals

• Creating a Positive Classroom Community

http://www.etfo.ca/Publications/Voice/Documents/Creating%20a%20Positive%20Classroom%20Environment.pdf
Shows how the key to creating a lively, caring classroom is setting the tone in the first weeks of school.

• Developing Classroom Rules

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?BenchmarkID=7&DocID=293
Discusses the importance of developing rules, respect, relationships, conflict resolution, and active learning in the classroom.

Teacher "Voices from the Field"
Each teacher creates a unique learning environment by bringing his own personality and style into the classroom. A teacher's strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and insights all provide valuable learning experiences for new teachers entering the field.

• Education World: Voice of Experience

http://www.education-world.com/a_issues/archives/voice.shtml/
Check out what these teachers have to say about their own classrooms, students, and learning experiences.

• Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory: Voices from the Field

http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/voices/
This website features stories of school reform in the voices of teacher practitioners.

• New Teachers: From Surviving to Thriving

http://www.nwrel.org/nwedu/2001w/index.html
This collection of stories documents the experiences of new teachers in the Northwest.

• First Year Stories

http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/newteachers/firstyear.htm
Includes brief clips that offer advice, tips, and personal reflections from new teachers.

• INTIME: Integrating New Technologies into the Methods of Education

http://www.intime.uni.edu/
With extensive use of video, this US Department of Education grant-funded project takes us directly into teacher classrooms to observe exemplary instructional practices.

• Education Week: Professional Development

http://www.edweek.org/context/topics/issuespage.cfm?id=16
Discusses current challenges in teacher professional development and provides links to dozens of related articles.

• Critical Issues in Professional Development

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/pd0cont.htm
Features articles that address such issues as teacher evaluation, finding time for professional development, and training in technology and student diversity.

• High-Quality Professional Development

http://www.nwrel.org/request/june98/
This online journal discusses the professional development landscape, identifying features of effective and ineffective continuing education for teachers. Highlights alternatives for "one-size-fits-all" training workshops.