How to be an Effective Teacher: Part 1 of 3

Hello,

Today I will be sharing with you some key concepts and ideas on How to be an Effective and Successful Teacher. I recently had the opportunity to attend Dr. Harry K. Wong's and Dr. Rosemary Wong's keynote presentation on How to be an Effective and Successful Teacher. I have also been collaborating with him over the summer on a few ideas. To see his latest article for August 2010, please double click on the picture below.

Harry K. Wong is possible the most motivating, exciting and dynamic speaker in education today. His presentations result in a positive behavioral effect on his audiences world wide. he leaves his audiences with practical and useful techniques on how to be a successful teacher. He has given more than 3,000 presentations to nearly a half million people in America and Canadian provinces and in South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Dr. Wong's expertise is in classroom management and student motivation. He has been an excellent teacher who has shared his success wit thousands of teacher worldwide. Dr. Wong has won numerous awards and was also featured in a story by Reader's Digest.

During more than 33 years in the classroom, He has developed methods that resulted in having a zero dropout rate, no discipline problems a 95% homework turn-in record, and the ability to demonstrate master level learning by each of his students.

Instructor Magazine (March 2006) announced a reader's poll of the most admired people in the world of education. Harry Wong was on the list along with Maya Angelou, Laura Bush, Bill Cosby, Hillary Clinton, Ron Clark, Marva Collins, Howard Gardner, Mel Levine, and Oprah Winfrey.

Dr. Wong has over 30 publications including the best selling book in the world in Education. He has sold over 3.5 Million books as of 2010. Soon there will be a Chinese and an Arabic Edition; possible a French addition. What's the name of his best selling book? It is called The First Days of School. He also has an award-winning video series, a CD set and an e-Learning course in classroom management. He also writes a monthly column on http://www.teachers.net/wong

What is the secret to be an effective teacher? Here it is get you pen and paper ready. According to Dr. Wong, you steal. Well it's not really called stealing. It's called research. You walk into teachers rooms and you look around and look around for great ideas that you can use in your classroom. It's also called sharing and collaborating with effective teachers.

There is only one way to improve student learning and it is by having an effective teacher. You want to have a positive effect or produce a result with your students. According to Dr. Wong, you need the mastery of the following as a teacher:

1. Excellent Classroom Management Skills (Unit C in book)

2. Lesson Mastery (Unit D in book)

3. Positive Expectations (Unit B in book)

For more information on these key ideas, please refer to the newest edition of The First Days of School, which was published in 2009.

I hope these resources assist you in becoming a great teacher, role model and leader in your school or community. Next week I will be sharing with you parts of my PowerPoint on procedures and routines on the first day of school that was featured in his keynote presentation. I will also be sharing with you the 7 questions students want to know when they walk in your room on the first day of school. Now if you can't wait until next week, you can always refer to the book. See you next week.

Here is part 2 of the article: How to be an Effective Teacher: Part 2 of 3

How to Turn any Room into a Presentation Room with Your Computer Part 1

Hello,

Today I am blogging about how to set up a microphone PA system in your classroom. You can turn any room into a presentation room by using your computer, and your computer speakers.

 I think teachers should create a Great Experience for their students, and having a microphone, and speakers in their room does that. You can have students give presentations, and they can hear their voice amplified over your speakers. You can teach your students interview skills, and presentations skills. You can also teach them how to defend proposal, and premises in front of the class.

From my experience of visiting different elementary schools, I am finding about less than 1% of the teachers use microphones in their classrooms. So this can be a great way to help your students in having an unforgettable experience that they will never forget, while teaching them presentation skills at a young age.

It is as easy as connecting a microphone to the back of your computer through your sound card. You want to make sure you have computer speakers connected to your computer, so the sound can come through them. As you can see in the picture, you connect the round metal tip to the back of your sound card. At the end of the cord, it is usually color coded to match the color of your jack input in your soundcard. If it is not, then you are looking for an imprint or picture of a microphone on the back of your sound card.

Your other options are to buy a USB Microphone and just plug in the Microphone into a USB port. Many USB Microphones come with software you have to install before you connect the microphone to the computer. Once you do this, then all you have to do is to go into your sound and audio devices in your settings on your computer to turn on the microphone. To do this you have to left click on your green start button on the bottom left side of your computer screen. There are two views you could be using on your computer. (To enlarge the pictures you need to rapidly double click the pictures with the left side of the mouse)

The first view is the classic start menu and the second view is the new start menu. Let’s go over the first one, the classic start menu. Older computers have this menu and it looks like this Click on control panel and you are looking for an icon that says Sounds and Audio Devices Once you find it, rapidly double click with the left side of the mouse and you will see a menu like this

The second view is the newest view for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. Left click on the green start button on the bottom left of your screen. You are now looking for this button on the right side of the start menu. You will need to left click on the control panel button. Next, you will see this menu You will need to rapidly double click with the left side of the mouse on the Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices. This is the next menu you will see after you have opened up your Sounds and Audio Devices Options. You will be on the sounds tab button. You can place a check by the Place volume icon in the taskbar and then you want to click the button below that Advanced and you will see a menu like this You will want to uncheck the box that says Mute under the button that says Microphone, so you can hear sound coming out of your microphone. Do not worry about the other checks. You can close the Playback Control box and close the Sounds and Audio Devices Menu. You should now be able to talk with your microphone and hear the voice sounds projecting through your computer speakers.

Hope this helps if you have any other challenges while setting this up, please visit this following resource site: http://atr.k12.hi.us/tutorials/tutorials/sound/soundpt1.htm#one We will see you next week with part 2 on how to create set up a four professional wireless microphone system in your room for under $200. That's right I will be giving you all the details of where I purchased my professional wireless microphone system fron under $100. See you next week!