This post was originally part of a speech I gave for the Kappa Delta Pi Induction Ceremony at Molloy College on March 14, 2016.
I’ve compiled a list of statements offering new teachers advice as they enter their first year of teaching. It is my intention that these suggestions will dispel many of the myths pre-service teachers encounter as they complete their training programs.
Click this link to continue reading.
Parent-teacher communication has always been a cornerstone for success in education.
For decades, schools have attempted to build and maintain this crucial bridge to lasting learning. Research shows that the stronger the connection between home and school, the greater the academic achievement can be for students…
via App Smashing For Educators: Leveraging Tools To Maximize Communication | Imagine Easy Blog.
Have you ever wanted to be in two places at the same time? Do you often feel as if you’re being pulled in three directions? In my roles of teacher, technology staff developer and father of four I frequently feel this way. Saturday was a good example of this as there were two education conferences in the NY Metropolitan area that I really wanted to attend…
via The Power of Twitter: Personalized PD At Your Fingertips | The Golden Age of Education.
Last March I received an email from my superintendent thanking me for my outstanding work. At first I was a bit confused. It was spring break and class was not in session. I wondered what he was referring to until I saw the forwarded message attached to his email. It was from a parent of one of the students in my ELA class. She wanted the superintendent to be “aware of the lengths your staff is willing to go to help their students.” The pleased parent went on to describe a Quizlet (online flash cards) I had created of literary terms in order to assist my students in completing a reading comprehension practice packet. She felt that my “dedication should be noted.” As I smiled with pride, I realized that I owed it all to my newly created CLASS BLOG.
1. “We’re open all night.” – With a classroom blog and an excellent notification app like Remind, students have 24/7 access to learning. Teachers can upload lesson materials so that students can access them at home and send Remind text notifications announcing their posts. Study guides, class lesson notes, Quizlets with key vocabulary words, project description sheets are just a few examples of materials that can be quickly and easily uploaded to a class blog. Virtually anything handed out in class can be accessed through your class blog. In fact, I just put a link to my RAFT Short Response Writing Strategy PowerPoint on my blog last week so students can view the presentation from the comfort of their own homes. Say goodbye to the days of students using the excuse that they left the sheet in their locker or that they lost it and couldn’t complete the assignment at home. And you can even assign new learning activities on Snow Days! 
2. “That’s not the way the teacher wants me to do it, Mommy.” Learning expectations are clarified for students AND parents with a class blog. Teachers can post lessons on their class blogs using a wide variety of free web-based applications. Educreations is an awesome app that allows teachers to create and share amazing video lessons using an iPad, tablet or desktop computer. Instead of struggling with argumentative children during HW, parents can direct children to check the class blog in order to see EXACTLY how the skill was taught in class. Click this link: Dividing Fractions to see the lesson I posted on my class blog last Thursday. 
3. “Every Day is Earth Day” – Class blogs are environmentally friendly. Teachers can save reems of paper by posting important documents like homework packets, project description handouts and other important lesson materials on their class blogs. With budgets being cut nationwide, many school districts have begun to limit the amount of paper teachers can use. A class blog allows teachers to drastically cut down on the amount of paper used for unnecessary copying. Save a tree…start a class blog 🙂 
4. “There are so many choices!” – There are a number of free, web-based blogging applications the new blogger has to choose from. WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger and LiveJournal are just a few of the more popular options available to teachers. It has become easier than ever to start and maintain your own class blog. One of my favorite and FREE blogging applications is Kidblog, a blogging application built by teachers, for teachers. They offer “safe and simple” blogs for teachers and students. I easily created my own class blog in minutes using this tool. The user interface is extremely easy to use and I was able to upload pictures, files and links quickly. Students can be added without the need for emails and they can start blogging as well. I highly recommend giving Kidblog a try. You can visit my class blog by clicking here: Mr. Araoz’s Class
Click this link to access the Pearltrees collection of tools introduced in this post. 
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For my friends in Buffalo. Stay safe!
Last night and early this morning we got our first big snowfall of the year here in New York. When I awoke, there was over six inches of the powdery white stuff blanketing everything. After it finally stopped snowing, my wife and I got the kids suited up in their snow gear and began the dreaded task of snow removal. Everyone in my family, young and old, worked together to clear what Mother Nature had so generously dropped from the sky overnight. If my kids want to play in the snow, they must help to clear the snow.
This practice has been passed down to me by my parents who, from an early age, instilled in my sister and me a work ethic that sadly seems to have been forgotten by many parents in America today. Helping our parents around the house was mandatory in my day. There was no…
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Many schools do all these things thanks to Common Core, Race to the Top and our nations obsession with high-stakes testing. So sad…
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