Teacher Resources

The spring and fall of 2009 have been trying times for California teachers. Even those with several years of experience entered the month of March on an anxious note, with their jobs in jeopardy amidst news of statewide budget cuts. As the temperatures of summer rose, so, too, did the number of pink slips handed out. And while some teachers who lost their positions were eventually rehired in the fall, many weren’t. The result: a lot of highly qualified teachers who are now sleeping nearer to their cell phones, waiting for an early-morning employment opportunity. This is the life of a substitute teacher.

As the husband of one such teacher, I get to experience the daily uncertainty firsthand. And the intrigue only begins when my wife (let’s call her “Mrs. M”) gets that 6:00 a.m. phone call. What school? What time? What grade level? Will she be singing and teaching sight words to excitable kindergarteners, or will she be multiplying fractions and discussing ancient civilizations with sassy sixth-graders? Either way, her workbag has to be packed and her clothes have to be hanging on the door, ready to go. That 6:00 a.m. phone call sometimes doesn’t come until 7:15.

When she arrives at the school, there are more questions in need of answering: Where is the classroom? Does she have bus duty? breakfast duty? recess duty? lunch duty? And, most importantly, of course, just who are these 30 small people with big personalities who are about to walk through the door?

A clue to how the day will go usually comes in the form of the notes the teacher has left. Are the lesson plans for the day included? Do copies need to be made? Did the teacher leave instructions about the classroom policies for bathroom breaks and pencil sharpening? (Maybe. Probably. Almost never.) And will the activities scheduled for that day actually take up the allotted time? Here’s where being the wife of an editor of educational materials can be a real bonus.

Two series of books that Mrs. M swears by are the Mind Twisters series and the Mastering Skills series. The Mind Twisters books give her plenty of ready-to-use, content-based time-fillers that get students to use their critical-thinking skills. Best of all, the students like doing these puzzles, riddles, and mazes so much that Mrs. M can use them as rewards for good behavior. The Mastering Skills books are handy because they’re great for reviewing grade-specific, standards-based skills.

The single most valuable resource Mrs. M has at her disposal, though, could be the Substitute Teacher Handbook. This one-stop guide is brimming with teaching strategies, classroom-management tips, and emergency curriculum, and it includes entire sections on working with special populations and being a professional substitute teacher (including FAQs and legal responsibilities).

While there is nothing that can make a substitute teacher’s job easy, there are resources like these that can make the substitute teacher more prepared. And you don’t have to be an expert in fractions or the Peloponnesian War to know that being prepared is at least half the battle.

You might already be aware that Senate Resolution 310 declares October 20, 2009 as the National Day on Writing. I read the whole resolution (you can read it here). The part I particularly like reads, “the National Day of Writing highlights the importance of writing instruction and practice at every educational level and in every subject area.” All I could think of were all the opportunities for writing that exist without our schools. From kindergarteners to seniors in high school, the chances to write are endless. They can be structured or open ended. They can be done with crayons, elementary pencils, and sleek ballpoint pens; on laptops and white boards. The writing can tell stories, fill out forms, give directions, share common experiences, say thank you, or remind someone about homework. The list goes on and on.

Reading the resolution also made me take a look at some of my favorite TCR writing books. Through the years I have worked on a goodly number of them. For the youngest writers, I’ve always liked Emergent Writer’s Workshop and Beginning Writing. I like the practice that these books allow our littlest scribes. For all grade levels, our Meeting Writing Standards books are excellent. Featuring straightforward lessons and activities for writing stories, reports, poetry, letters, and narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive pieces, these books are comprehensive in their coverage of the various types of writing. Meeting Writing Standards books help students to hone their authoring skills. For lots of fun and getting kids involved, Get Up! Get Noisy! Get Writing! has all types of engaging writing lessons. My favorite lesson in this book is called “Picky, Picky! Just Pick One!” It turns fiction writing into a game of chance as students draw their story elements, including characters, setting, and objects, from a grab bag.

So grab hold of the opportunity to celebrate the National Day on Writing, no matter what subject or grade you teach, by giving your students the chance to write.

When I’m not busy at TCR I can often be found dancing. My husband and I have become enamored of ballroom dancing., with the tango being our favorite. Had you asked me a few years ago if this would have been the case, I probably would have laughed out loud. And yet now, the tango has filled many hours of my nights and weekends. It has taken me over a year to even begin to understand it and to get my body to go along with the rhythms. We have gone to lessons, workshops, and competitions to hone our skills. We go to classes and then come home and practice. We listen to music to decide if it is right for the dances we want to do. Then we practice to it. We critique our work, looking in mirrors as we twirl around then practice yet again. We learn a new step and then practice it. We begin to master new things. Then we test out to the next level and begin the whole process anew. In short, we have become students.

The questions asked of our dance lessons,– “What will I learn in this lesson? How can I understand all this new material? Is it at the right skill level for me? Will it capture my interest?” — are the same questions that students can ask of any lesson that comes from our books.

After the questions comes the practice — be it for dance, multiplication, or handwriting. Then there’s a whole new set of questions: “Do the lessons have meaningful practice? Is there enough practice for a specific skill? Are the standards being met?” The list of comparison goes on, but the lesson that I have taken from this is that my being a student has informed my work as Editor in Chief in an educational publishing house.

It’s not the dancing, which is great fun, but the process that I have to go through, just like any child in a classroom, that has brought a new dimension to dance. It is rather exciting to realize that something that I’m enjoying so much has brought me to a new level of thinking about our books. The lessons in our books need to continue to reflect this process so students can continue to learn at the highest level possible.

Have your teaching buddies told you that you have a fabulous lesson plan for a specific topic? Then they ask “Why haven’t you gotten this published yet?” Your reply is something like, “Ah, well, ah, I don’t know how to do that.” Ah, well, read on and you will.

As Editor in Chief, I am always on the lookout for new material. At TCR we look for standards-based lessons that are presented in a clear-cut, easy-to-follow way. They need to be educationally sound and classroom-ready. So if your lessons meet this first criteria, read on.

Before you submit anything to any publisher, you need to do your research. If you are interested in getting something published, here’s your assignment. Read the following. Answer any of the questions.

1. What are the current trends in education that you are on top of in your own classroom? What do you currently teach that can be a book?

2. Study the market before submitting anything. The best way to do this is to visit your nearest teacher supply store. Spend some time there looking through books. Which publisher does the type of book that yours is the closest to? You might want to buy a few and look at them for format, page counts, and writing style.

3. Before sending your manuscript, find the publisher’s submissions guidelines. Ours are located here. There is a one-page description about how we best like to see material submitted.

4. Know that you may have to kiss a lot of toads before your book gets published. If your book is rejected, it is oftentimes because the company already has something similar. You might want to try another publisher.

5. Keep track of who you have sent your manuscript to. It takes time to read through all the submissions. It may take up to six months until you hear from someone. Most publishers have a review process, and it may be that you have just missed the last one. Practice patience.

Do your homework. A little time well spent by you will save you time. And trust me, the person on the receiving end who is responsible for acquisitions will remember you with fondness for having completed your homework.