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Rachel Ernst
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Rachel Ernst's Discussions
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As a 4th grade teacher, I think there are so many other sci-fi, fantasy books that are more appropriate to this grade level than the Percy Jackson series.
In this case, it sounds more like the librarian was taking into account the maturity level an…
I'm an American living in Germany and at our school, teachers are allowed to work a second job as long as it doesn't interfere with their teaching job(i.e. planning your consultation during your Period 3 class). I think Mr. Gozaydin is making vast g…
Alan,
I was so engrossed reading about your publishing process that I didn't realize how long the post was until you mentioned it. Thanks so much for sharing!
Congratulations!
I was a big Sesame Street and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. In fact, I ended up doing a 9 year stint in middle school and high school as a puppeteer doing competitions and such. Sesame Street was a big factor in that.
This is one of my favorite bits. W…
I was very lucky to go to a university that requires a host of classroom experiences. Every single education course, I was spending significant time in the classroom. By the time I reached my student teaching, I had taught in 7 classrooms from 2-8th…
You got me with the title, Alan. I did my English minor thesis on Eliot. Although I have to say, when I taught in Arizona where the state testing happened right smack in the middle of April, April was, in fact, the cruelest month.
My fall break sta…
My own mother went through a very similar experience with the feelings of losing control over her own curriculum.
Her district is in severe financial trouble, they fired several beloved teachers, teachers felt like they had price-tags on their foreh…
Profile Information
- Where do you work?
- Starting in September--International School of Augsburg-ISA - gGmbH
- Choose all that apply to your job
- Elementary Teacher
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- 4th grade teacher; PYP teacher
Rachel Ernst's Photos
Shakespeare Theme Posters
Added June 4, 2009 at 9:28am 1 Comment
Renaissance Day
Added May 15, 2009 at 12:05pm
Idiom Projects
Added May 15, 2009 at 11:44am 1 Comment
Shakespeare Day
Added May 15, 2009 at 11:43am
Rachel Ernst's Blog
Daniel Pink's TED talk--"If/then rewards, often destroy creativity"
Daniel Pink may be in the business section of your bookstore, but his research and ideas are firmly rooted in educational practices.
Thanks to Jim and Miss Stewart for giving me the heads-up! Here's Daniel Pink's amazing TED talk about motivation:
Favorite quote from the talk: "Science confirms what we already know in our hearts."
After watching the talk here are some of my thoughts and ponderings:
1. "… Continue
Thanks to Jim and Miss Stewart for giving me the heads-up! Here's Daniel Pink's amazing TED talk about motivation:
Favorite quote from the talk: "Science confirms what we already know in our hearts."
After watching the talk here are some of my thoughts and ponderings:
1. "… Continue
Posted on August 29, 2009 at 1:20pm — 2 Comments
A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink--Educators Discussion Guide
Daniel Pink's book A Whole New Mind, although geared toward the business world, is an amazing book for educators. After years of waiting, Pink has released a great discussion guide for educators!
You can find it here.
For those of you who have not r… Continue
You can find it here.
For those of you who have not r… Continue
Posted on July 5, 2009 at 6:15pm — 1 Comment
Annotation in Fiction--does it really help?
I had a curious thing happen to me this week.
I had requested the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer from my local library and was ready to check it out when I thumbed through the pages.
To my horror (only an English teacher could find this type of terror in a library), the book had been highlighted, written in and had several pages with sticky notes all over it. A library book! I immediately showed it to the librarian so that I wouldn't be charged for the… Continue
I had requested the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer from my local library and was ready to check it out when I thumbed through the pages.
To my horror (only an English teacher could find this type of terror in a library), the book had been highlighted, written in and had several pages with sticky notes all over it. A library book! I immediately showed it to the librarian so that I wouldn't be charged for the… Continue
Posted on May 14, 2009 at 10:00am — 6 Comments
Welcome to "Engrish" Class: Shakespeare
I took the plunge.
A mere five weeks from the end of school my classes started Shakespeare.
The system was fairly simple:
1.Each class was split into groups (each group with a different play based on reading ability)
2. Individual students would read their abridged play at home.
3. Groups would perform a scene in class using the original text
4. Group would work on a theme poster (pictures and explanation coming soon).
Today was our last performance day and it was big for everyone. Hamlet, Ma… Continue
A mere five weeks from the end of school my classes started Shakespeare.
The system was fairly simple:
1.Each class was split into groups (each group with a different play based on reading ability)
2. Individual students would read their abridged play at home.
3. Groups would perform a scene in class using the original text
4. Group would work on a theme poster (pictures and explanation coming soon).
Today was our last performance day and it was big for everyone. Hamlet, Ma… Continue
Posted on May 7, 2009 at 12:00pm — 1 Comment
Welcome to "Engrish" class--Expectations
It was my second day on the job and there was already an administrator in my room.
Not good.
She sat in the back, taking detailed notes of everything I said. The second day of class I'm teaching ground-breaking things such as, "How to turn in homework".
I got the observation sheet the next day. The only odd comment: You talk too fast. Slow it down for ESL learners. They have trouble understanding your fast English.
Okay.
Next day, S raises his hand.
Me: Yes, S.
S: Where are you from?
Me: Cali… Continue
Not good.
She sat in the back, taking detailed notes of everything I said. The second day of class I'm teaching ground-breaking things such as, "How to turn in homework".
I got the observation sheet the next day. The only odd comment: You talk too fast. Slow it down for ESL learners. They have trouble understanding your fast English.
Okay.
Next day, S raises his hand.
Me: Yes, S.
S: Where are you from?
Me: Cali… Continue
Posted on March 5, 2009 at 12:17pm — 1 Comment
Comment Wall (13 comments)
- At 3:25pm on August 3, 2009,
Larry Ferlazzo said… - Thanks, I hope the book will meet your expectations!
Larry
- At 8:05pm on May 27, 2009,
Steve Shann said… - Thanks for the lovely comment on my blog Rachel.
Good luck in Germany! How come you're going there? Family?
- At 7:54am on April 20, 2009,
Cynthia Webb said… - Thanks for the welcome -- I'd love to hear how your adventure goes!
- At 11:05pm on April 5, 2009,
Jaime Anastasiow said… - Hi! Thanks so much!
- At 6:00pm on March 20, 2009,
Jim Burke said… - Thanks so much for the posting about the lesssons from the Ning, Rachel. Made my day.
- At 12:16pm on March 12, 2009,
Beth Imming said… - Dear Rachel,
Thank you so much for teaching the teachers!
We love you!
Beth
- At 2:19am on February 28, 2009,
Karenne Sylvester said…
- Hi again,
Just saw you're reading TRIBES - fantastic book - I think it needs t become my daily dip-in and remind myself book ;-) K
- At 2:18am on February 28, 2009,
- You're welcome - I hope they were useful, or at least inspired your own approach ;-)
K
- At 4:14pm on February 26, 2009,
Susanne Nobles said… - Rachel,
I just checked the privacy and realized I had closed down the nings -- oops! They are both now open to see the front page. If you wish to see more, please send a join request :)
Susanne
- At 2:07pm on February 26, 2009,
Susanne Nobles said…
- Rachel,
Glad the ideas helped. Could you see my ning though? I thought I had it set to where someone could see it but not participate ... I can let you join if you were unable to see it. As a fellow teacher, I know you would not be a stalker of my students :) Let me know what you could see, or if you want to request to join, I'll get that request too.
Susanne
About
Latest Activity
Michael writes:
Most often it's [constructivism in practice] not that extreme, but usually it tends to share in the general progressive antipathy to "mere" knowledge and hostility to the "sage on a stage" or any sage anywhere.
This is mere caricat…
It seems like a lot of kids don't care for details. Spelling, anyone? I have had the same problem especially with the transfer. You would think that after teaching students how to use parenthetical citation and then correcting their mistakes on thei…
I believe comedy is underrepresented. My students often complain about the depressing works we read (12 grade, but they also say that about previous English courses). We added Much Ado About Nothing a dozen years ago as something of a balance to Ham…
Hi Pat, I have never done these myself, but there are some great examples at VocabAhead Vocab Videos which also contains links to digital resources to help students create their videos. While most of the videos are done professionally, there is at l…
Hi Pat, I have never done these myself, but there are some great examples at VocabAhead Vocab Videos which also contains links to digital resources to help students create their videos. While most of the videos are done professionally, there is at l…
Thanks for your reply -- it was very helpful. I think I understand what you are saying -- kids do try to craft a dazzling sentence, rather than one with insight. And something simple can be insightful. But my concern is really the thinking behind th…
I would say comedy is underrepresented. My students have nicknamed my class "AP Sex & Death" as we tend to go to the dark side. I do try to use some comedy in preparation for a Q3 comedy prompt. We do use A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Color Purple…
Your "rambling" is fantastic. So much good advice. You know, I'm actually looking forward to writing now. I feel like I've got a handle on it.
Thanks for all of your comments.
I really like "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse. It is short and I think very accessible for struggling students. It won the Newberry Medal. Not only did it help me understand what the big deal was about the duststorms of the time, I thought it told…
And what about the fact that often writers don't know what their thesis is until they begin reflecting in writing about a subject or occurrence? Happens to me all the time.
Thank you so much everyone! I definitely have a better feel for how essential questions work. I've been able to brainstorm a few and included a few here. Feel free to tell me if I am way off base.
What does it mean to be an “Outsider”?
What makes…
Judith--
One opportunity is Teen Ink (http://www.teenink.com). This is a publication for teens only, ages 13-19, to submit and publish their work. The one draw back I found is that once accepted, Teen Ink keeps all rights to the work. This means ki…
Bill,
You have it wrong. I didn't say the theory has not had wide influence. I never said anything like that. I agree that it has had wide influence. What I said was I've never heard of teachers labeling themselves as constructivists or nonconstruct…
The Ugly Truth is that my number one goal for my students right now has to be to raise their 2010 standardized test scores.
I find it disturbing, off-base, heart-wrenching, and almost something shameful to admit. However, NCLB has my entire school'…
I am in search of a novel set during the Great Depression/Dust Bowl era. It will be used in a 10th grade history class; most of the students are struggling readers. The teacher would like to stay away from the "big name classics." He wants something…
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