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| Young, Questioning Faces |
I walked into the classroom, looked around, and saw all the young, questioning faces. The students behind these faces are so much younger than I am, and I know that they look to me to lead and assist them. As I sat down, one of them moved a little closer to me and asked why I decided to teach. Though his level of interest and curiosity are what I hope to see in my future elementary students, this particular student is a classmate in one of my teacher education courses. He is the “typical” student, while I am the “trending” student—a middle-aged adult, changing careers, entering a master’s degree program alongside students young enough to be my children. As an older student returning to school, I’ve come to realize that no matter where in the degree program the “more mature” student like me is, he or she is expected to know better—or more—due to life experiences. We are visibly older, which means that we ultimately become mentors and peer-editors for the younger generation sitting next to us. These younger students learn with us and from us. Yet teaching is new to us. We came from other professions, ready for a change and a chance to give back to the world around us through teaching. My personal journey was not as far afield as some; before my career change, I worked as a paraprofessional in a school district. In that role, I assisted classroom teachers with instruction, small group work, and modifications. These teachers had told me I was good at being able to detect the small struggles of each student, and I accommodated each one of them with appropriate tools and teaching techniques. One day a Special Education Teacher with whom I worked took me aside and told me that she thought I should apply to a Master’s program in Education. Though I had considered going back to school, I was set in my life routine of going to work and returning home in the evening, so adding homework and a drive to campus seemed out of the question—until I began receiving letters of recommendation and program applications. Soon I was on my way to graduate school and its various courses like the one with the young man who wondered about my path into teaching and was awaiting my response. “I am not sure whether I chose teaching or it chose me,” I told my classmate, “but my resolution came in the form of a boy in my third-grade classroom.” Danny, as I’ll call him, had been diagnosed with Asperger’s and functioned well below grade-level. He especially struggled with math. And then one day something changed. Following a lesson I taught that introduced division using Skittles and the book The Doorbell Rang, by Pat Hutchins, Danny came up to me, smiling. “Mr. DiLeo,” he said, “I just wanted to tell you, I understand it now.” “That is why,” I said to my younger classmate, “I am a teacher.”Andrew DiLeo MS Elem Ed Candidate Eastern Connecticut State University Willimantic, Connecticut President of Epsilon Nu Chapter |
| Learning to Appreciate the Little Things |
I have to confess. I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed. The holidays are approaching, the 2010–2011 school year is in full swing, and I can’t seem to find any time to sleep! Over and over the same thoughts enters my mind . . . teachers are overworked and underpaid—what was I thinking getting into this profession?
“Dad?” Immediately catching himself, he said, “I mean…Mr. Ruiter . . ..” and continued with his question. Though he was obviously embarrassed to have called his teacher Dad, to me it was the ultimate compliment. That my students might view me on the same plane as their parents is monumental. It made me realize just how much I am loved, trusted, and relied upon by the 20 9-year-old children who walk into my room every day. They expect me to be there, just as they expect their parents to be there for them when they get off the bus every afternoon. Later in the week, a colleague was telling me a story about her daughter, who recently was hired as a school psychologist. She explained that her daughter struggled in school and many of her teachers gave up hope on her. But one teacher worked with her and pushed her to succeed. After getting her job, she wrote an e-mail to that teacher, explaining how his love, confidence, and unwavering faith in her helped her get where she is today. Apparently he was so overwhelmed with emotion, it too him several days to respond. I hope, many years from now, my own students feel that way about the time they spent with me. As stories often do, I was prompted to think about my own experiences as a student and why, among all of my Christmas cards to be addressed, was one for my 7th- grade English teacher. She is the woman who taught me proper grammar and how to write responses to literature. More important to me personally though, she also helped me through my parents’ separation. She allowed me to stay after school with her every single day of the school year, lending an ear to listen and a caring heart, no matter how busy she was. She got me through some of the toughest years of my young life. And here I was, 15 years later, a teacher myself, still in touch with her and, I hope, emulating the same compassion to my own students that she showed me. When we became educators, we willingly signed up for what many people call a “thankless job.” The thankless part is probably what was getting to me. Feeling overworked and underpaid, just as the poem said, my focus was on what was hard and seemingly unrewarded. But then I took a closer look and began to appreciate the little signs, the glimmers each day that make what I do worth it. Every time there is a “Dad” slip up; a student has an “Ah-ha!” moment or a student flashes a smile my way, I will remember that poem and just why I do this job. Teaching is not about standardized tests and meeting AYP alone, it is also about the support, love, and consistency that every child needs, expects, and secretly appreciates, which I can give them each and every day. Keon Ruiter Second Grade Teacher Ware, Massachusetts |
| Staying out of the Bog |
Most of us are well rested and relaxed after the summer vacation and ready to approach the new school year and all of the work it entails. After the first few weeks, this refreshed feeling slowly begins to wear off as we become bogged down with all of the schedule demands and deadlines of the semester. Work Early in the Morning When You Are Refreshed Find a Quiet Place to Work Don’t Push Yourself beyond Your Limits |
| Pursuing an Advanced Degree |
 Most master’s and doctoral students are full-time classroom teachers. Many of them seek these degrees primarily to improve and hone their craft, though there are financial incentives as well. To augment their learning experiences, navigate through their coursework, and gain maximum benefits for their own teaching, advanced-degree seekers—in whatever program they have chosen—need to develop a “practitioner’s lens.”
Practitioner’s Lens When teachers who are seeking advanced degrees develop a practitioner’s lens for viewing their coursework, they can draw from their expanded learning to focus in on their craft and create immediate connections between that knowledge and their practice as classroom teachers. Trying out these suggested steps helps develop the practitioner’s lens for a clear focus on learning that educators can apply right away in their classroom instruction. |
| KDP: A Community of Educators |
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It is August already! In just a few weeks, we will find ourselves back in school, sharing the same destiny—taking our places in a learning community. Whether we sit in a lecture hall or stand in front of students, we are about teaching, learning, and developing relationships within an educational setting. Yet, our teaching and learning connections can extend further, growing us professionally, inspiring us personally, or simply offering us a sense of belonging. One of these important connections is your honor society, Kappa Delta Pi. So, as you step onto your college campus or into your classroom this year, I urge you to keep KDP close to your heart. Focused on our studies and gaining certification, many of us view our membership in KDP mainly as an academic achievement. It is something we worked hard for and were proud to attain while in college. Following graduation, though, many KDP members let their membership lapse, thinking that it is only for people involved with university study. This simply is not true. Too often, graduating members see KDP only as an honor society, and they overlook its benefits beyond their undergraduate years. I know from my personal experience—as well as from my colleagues on the National Graduate Student Committee—that Kappa Delta Pi truly is more than an honor society for undergraduate and graduate students. It is a community of professional members as well, and making this message known is important. There are many benefits to retaining membership in KDP during graduate study and even after graduation. Here are a few assets I found through my continued membership: |
| • | As a graduate student, I found tons of online resources to take advantage of—and they are free only to members! |
| • | For both graduate course work and my classroom, I accessed teaching resources and podcasts on topics applicable to my studies and teaching needs. |
| • | Through my involvement in the Graduate Student Committee, I explored publishing opportunities that resulted in collaborative authoring of four articles with one of my KDP colleagues. |
| • | Using tips and examples available at the online career center, I polished my résumé. |
| • | Both as a student and an educator, I have had access to funding possibilities through scholarship opportunities and Classroom Teacher Grants, again available only to members. |
These are the benefits I realized; you may find many more. Explore the vast wealth of information, resources, and opportunities through your professional association at KDP Online. Stick around after you graduate; professional members enjoy plenty of benefits! Apply for a Classroom Teacher Grant and get mentoring advice. When you have three years of teaching under your belt, apply to become a KDP Teacher of Honor. As a grad student and a teaching professional, you may continue to access the Career Center and add to your repertoire of teaching skills through professional development opportunities. However, beyond these benefits, being a member of KDP is valuable because you are part of an international community of educators where collaboration, networking, and professional growth abound. Not only do I urge you to continue to enjoy the benefits of KDP, but also I ask that you talk about KDP to your colleagues. Encourage your graduate student peers and faculty members to join KDP. Let the teachers in your school know about the valued resources you find at KDP Online and how they can join KDP as professional members. It is never too late to join. Visit the About Membership section of KDP Online for more information and a membership application. Help the Kappa Delta Pi community grow and flourish. Make it known that KDP is more than an honor society—that it is an ever-expanding resource for graduate and professional members. Keon T. RuiterM.A. Elementary Education 3rd Grade Teacher Stanley M. Koziol Elementary Ware, MA |
| Scrapbooking Your Research |
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A little something here, a little something there . . . a little something everywhere and soon any graduate student can be buried under notes and behind on writing or coursework. Then, to top it off, when at last the grad sits down to write, it seems half of the time is spent looking for a particular article or note jotted down a few days earlier. It’s easy to find oneself in that situation. Yet there is hope and help! Even the organizationally challenged can incorporate steps and strategies that will help bring their materials together without enrolling in a project management class. |
| Dissertation Scrapbook Linear organization works for some, but certainly not for all. Ideas and plans can occur randomly, so the trick can be finding the best and most “organized” way to capture them. For example, one of the greatest things a professor ever did for me was to bring into class her “dissertation scrapbook” that she compiled during the process of developing her dissertation. This huge dinosaur of a three-ring binder represented this professor’s dissertation work. It was somewhat cluttered, and its clippings and idea-punctuated pages throughout the overstuffed volume probably made it seem more like a wedding-planner notebook than scrapbook. However, it contained all of her thoughts and findings. Research can be a messy process and this was what worked for her. It let her capture the various items that she thought would be useful to her work. Scrapbooking your research, notes, ideas, and next steps can be a good place to start. Grad students craving a greater degree of organization may find themselves fine-tuning their scrapbook as they move through the dissertation process. Divide and Conquer Whether a grad student’s preferred research is qualitative, quantitative, or mixed method, it’s best to create a sectioned notebook right away. It becomes the established repository for notes-to-self, thoughts to explore, ideas to consider, as well as gathered articles and researched facts. Then, when it is time to sit down and write, all the materials are in one place for quick access, as well as categorized. Sections grad students may consider include: Field Work Digital Back-up It is a good idea to invest in an external hard drive or—at the very least—a flash drive, to back-up “digitally scrapbooked” research. Either one can store important Web links, critical data to be analyzed, scanned documents or images, interview recordings, etc. Be sure to purchase plenty of storage because some files, especially graphics, are quite large and can use extremely large amounts of memory. I prefer the Seagate FreeAgent portable hard drive because I learned it was easy to use from computer to computer (i.e. from work to home to laptop to university computer lab and back home) without having to install anything on every computer along the way. Now, whenever I come across something I need, I simply pull out my hard drive that’s a little larger than my cell phone and viola—it’s saved! With one full terabyte (1,012 gb) of memory, I also have plenty of room for a relaxing playlist of music or even a comfort food recipe to keep me stress-free throughout the research process! Jessica M. Hester M.A. Ed., Early Childhood Education and Instructional Technology Doctoral Student in Educational Leadership Texas A&M University–Kingsville |
| The Grad Student and the KDP Community |
In 2005 I was initiated into the Mu Chi Chapter at Texas A&M University and immediately took on the role of Treasurer. That role marked the beginning of my relationship with and service to this organization. That year I attended Convo for the very first time—in Orlando, Florida—and what an impact it had on me! I was overwhelmed by the sheer grandeur of the event. There were so many eager young teachers, college students, and faculty at this conference! Surrounded by so many enthusiastic educators, you absolutely could feel the love of education in the air. Later I became president of my chapter and a member of the Graduate Student National Committee, which works with KDP Headquarters to bring more focus on the graduate sector of membership and improve the resources for these students. It was great to work with other graduate students to create a strand of graduate-student workshops at Convo. The opportunities to work with a community of educators and expand my experiences in the field of education continued as I was elected in 2008 to serve as Student Representative on the KDP Executive Council. My very first Council meeting, held at Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, was an eye-opening event. I went back home to Texas with a new appreciation of how “big” KDP actually is! Headquarters is staffed by amazing people who care about the organization. I truly have to say that serving on the Council was a privilege. KDP serves more than 45,000 members, which made me realize that my position on the Council was a huge responsibility—my votes and decisions would affect all members! To best serve these members and address their needs and concerns throughout their lifetime career, the Executive Council carefully weighs every issue. Actively supporting educators and increasing the vitality of education excellence for members and the profession is the impetus behind many of the Council’s decisions. To sum up my experiences over the past five years, I have learned that as a member of KDP, I am (as you are too) part of a huge family. Each one of us can play an active role in this community, and each of us has an important responsibility to the field of education. We owe it to the school children of this country to stay active in our professional development and to constantly seek ways to improve education for all children. As a graduate student, you have the power to do amazing things with your education! You can research and present your findings at Convo, pursue publication in one of KDP's journals, volunteer to be an officer in your chapter, run for a position on the Executive Council, or serve on the Graduate Student National Committee. I encourage all graduate student members not to take this role lightly! Remember that you are a part of a long history and legacy of excellence. You, like John Dewey, are a KDP member, and that is pretty inspiring! Thank you to KDP, the staff, the Council, the committees, and my Mu Chi Chapter, as well as the professors who guided me and encouraged me to be a member. I enjoy every second of this experience and feel honored to have served both locally and nationally! Heather K. Caldwell, PhDAssistant Lecturer Student Learning Center Texas A&M University |
| On Your Mark, Get Ready…Write! |
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You are in graduate school, pursuing a master’s degree or a doctorate, and only one semester or a few credit hours away from the completion of your coursework. Thanks to the help of your faculty advisor, your thesis or dissertation topic is narrowed down and your committee has accepted your proposal. Now it’s time to get started writing. I suggest breaking up your work into manageable chunks and trying the following tips to help you through the process and ensure timely completion of your project. |
| Comfort While conducting research, gathering data, and writing your thesis or dissertation, you will spend hours in front of your computer screen. For that reason, you may want to consider investing in a comfortable office chair. Trust me, you do not want to deal with back pain to completing your project. Clear Timelines In order to complete your project in a timely manner, you must have a clear plan of action. I have found the University of Minnesota’s dissertation calculator to be a very useful tool when planning to write a thesis or dissertation. Simply enter your desired completion date, and the calculator breaks down the tasks that you need to accomplish into separate stages. It’s a great organization tool. Resources Available Check into all that your university library offers. You may want to meet with a librarian or media specialist when you enter grad school to not only learn the full scope of the library’s collection, but also how to best use the library in person and online. Library personnel are there to help you learn how to request books or journal articles from libraries across the nation through Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad) and Digital Interlibrary Loan. Data Storage
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| Organization—The Key to Success |
| Can’t find the syllabus from the beginning of the semester? Have you lost your list of ideas for your thesis? Not sure what time you planned that meeting with your advisor? You are not alone, but wouldn’t you feel more in control if situations like these occurred less often?
Graduate school teaches academic information significant to your future career, but little guidance is given regarding the true key to career success—organization! At first thought, organization may not seem that important. You may have made it through most of your school years without being organized; however, you’re on a new level now, and without preparation, you will waste a lot of time that you probably won’t have. Time spent searching for the notes on your thesis eats up the precious time you have to work on it. There’s no question, it is well worth making time to get organized, no matter where in the thesis, dissertation, or teaching process you are. The following tips can help you organize for school, as well as for your future career. Make a To-do List Organize Papers Put Class Notes in Order Organize Work Spaces Happy organizing!! Erica Mastromarino Master’s in Special Education Manhattan College Manahattan, NY |
| Tackling the ABD (All But Dissertation) Ghost! |
7th Grade Language Arts Teacher Geneva Middle School South Geneva, IL |
Full-time educators who pursue Master or Doctorate degrees face the constant dilemma of finding sufficient time for thesis or dissertation writing. Even with the best intentions and plans, chunks of time to devote to writing never seem to materialize. Most graduate students in education must juggle the responsibilities of their own classrooms with personal life responsibilities, which leaves little room for the challenging process of writing a thesis or a dissertation. How does one to get it done?| The ABC’s of Creating a Syllabus |
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Grad students often are asked to teach a college course once they’ve received a graduate degree. That certainly was true for me. My first opportunity to teach at the university level came up just a couple of weeks after I received my master’s—and only a few days before the class began. |
| When the College of Education at my university asked me to step in to teach a summer class in my area of expertise, I realized that one of the first items on my To Do List was to create a class syllabus. Looking back, I wish someone had sat me down and said to me, “Now this is how you make a really good syllabus.” As an elementary and junior high school teacher, creating a syllabus was not in my realm of experience doing, so I found myself in a real pickle of a situation. Luckily, I rummaged up an old syllabus from a prior instructor, used university guidelines for assistance, and quickly threw one together just in the nick of time. But that is not my style! I am not a throw-it-together-just-to-get-it-done type of person. Yet my lack of expertise in creating a syllabus, as well as minimal advanced notice for teaching the course, left me no other tangible option. Since then, I’ve learned the elements of a good syllabus that I’d like to share with others so that they can avoid hot-off-the-copier syllabi that leave students less than clear on your expectations. The basic elements of your syllabus should remain consistent with university policies, but you certainly can personalize pieces within the syllabus to make it uniquely yours. Have you ever received a syllabus that was about as easy to read as hidden words in alphabet soup? Remember that, to students, your syllabus represents a first impression of your class, and it is always important to make a good first impression. Though you will find many new methods and helpful Web resources for making a good syllabus, here are a few tips I found particularly helpful. They are good starting points for your first syllabus. |
| • | Find out what resources your university already offers. Many universities offer their own syllabus-building sites that include templates. There are some great choices because more and more schools are requiring you to publish that syllabus on the Web. |
| • | Empower your students. Some universities encourage professors to involve students in creating the syllabus. Working with students on a syllabus gives them partial ownership in the goals of the course and helps build rapport right away. Having students assist means the syllabus won’t be ready on the first day of class, so be sure to check with university policies first. |
| • | Study Judith Grunert’s Six Techniques for Creating Learning-Centered Syllabi: |
| 1. | Do some scholarly reflections in advance by asking yourself questions about the learning you want to take place. | |
| 2. | Set reasonable expectations for your students. | |
| 3. | Look for a conceptual framework that can serve as an organizing structure to tie together the course’s information. | |
| 4. | Choose reading materials carefully; consider quality over quantity. | |
| 5. | Strive for congruence between goals and methods by carefully asking yourself whether your methods of instruction are compatible with your goals. | |
| 6. | Now you are ready to make your syllabus. Read more about creating a learning-centered syllabus. |
Even if you are not yet teaching a college course, it’s a good idea to brush up on your syllabi-creating skills. A smart, prepared syllabus, with a well-planned agenda, helps students plan ahead and aids your teaching throughout the semester. |
| Mastering Your Publication Manual, Sixth Edition |
‘Upgrade’ Successfully! Graduate students, get ready for a change! For the first time in almost 10 years, the American Psychological Association is releasing a new edition of its Publication Manual. Used frequently throughout the field of education, this “formatting bible” serves as a critical guide for theses, dissertations, and published articles. If any edition of this manual is unfamiliar, you will be pleased to know that you can get the basics of APA style through an online tutorial. It’s a great place to start when writing research papers or teaching students how to document research reports. Learn structure, how to cite references, and the best ways to incorporate others’ research in your work without plagiarizing. With the summer release of the sixth edition, there appears to be trepidation from graduate students and faculty planning to use the newest manual in their fall classes. In my work with both master’s and doctoral students, I am hearing concerns about changes made to the manual and its organization. Many students want to know how to hasten the learning curve. To quell these concerns, I have found several practical Web sites that should help them—and the readers here—get a jump-start on this new publishing bible. These sites include chapter-by-chapter changes, free tutorials, guidelines for blogs, keys to learning APA style, as well as products for purchase. Graduate students and faculty alike will benefit from these online resources, quickly identify what’s new in the sixth edition, and ready themselves for a successful “upgrade” this fall! |
| • | What’s New in the Sixth Edition? |
| • | All About the Book |
| • | APA Style Blog |
And for those who use Chicago Manual of Style . . . Established in the 1890s by the University of Chicago Press and now in its 15th edition, the Chicago Manual of Style remains the publishing guide for scholarly books and journals. It is, in fact, KDP’s referencing guide for its books and journals. If you plan to submit manuscripts to KDP Record or The Educational Forum, you may want to look over CMS’s citation and reference styles. For example, unlike APA, CMS does not place parentheses around the publication date in the list of references. Incidentally, CMS also includes style guidelines for various other publications, such as magazines, corporate reports, and electronic publications. |
| • | CMS Citation Guide: Check this site first for citation guidelines. |
| • | CMS Home |
| • | About CMS |
Tackling either manual is only a few keystrokes away! Keep these links in mind as you successfully format your thesis or dissertation and future publications! Elizabeth A. Wilkins, Ph.D.Northern Illinois University |
| Lazy Summer Days, Not So Lazy |
The summer months are ahead of us and, like many others, I am looking forward to warm days at the beach, family picnics, and fun vacations. However, from experience I have learned how valuable extra time can be and how to use it productively. The following tips for summer activities can bring you through to September feeling rested and accomplished. Get a jump on class: We all know how hectic the school year can be. You may feel like there is barely time to breathe given all that you must accomplish. Therefore, if you already are enrolled in graduate classes for the fall, see what you can do to prepare for the work requirements in any or all of your classes. In my experience, professors are more than happy to send you a tentative syllabus so that you can begin to prepare for their classes. Find out the textbook and chapters to be read and take it with you to the beach! Getting a head start on assigned reading will free up a little time in the fall. Look into programs: If you are not enrolled in a graduate program, summer is a great time to look into a program that suits you and your goals. Check out our Graduate/Doctoral Programs section for aspects you should consider when selecting a graduate program. You also may want to search for programs using different criteria through Gradschools.com. It is a comprehensive source for graduate school information. It is important to take that extra summer time and use it to find a program that is perfect for you. Make time for you: Most importantly, be sure to take time for yourself. Summer should be rejuvenating and enjoyable. Pursue the things that make you happy and refreshed. Enjoy your relaxing and productive summer!Erica Mastromarino Manhattan College |
| Finding Resources |
Have you ever felt stuck when doing your research? I know I have! Because I was at a relatively small, remote university in South Texas, and the library was slow getting journal and reference requests, I tried a multitude of resources to gather data, especially online. My solution was to find online databases for quality research. My favorite research tool was HighBeam™ Research www.highbeam.com because it is loaded with millions of articles. That’s not an exaggeration! Also, it is easy to use and an annual subscription is not very expensive. Named the “Best Online Reference Service” by the
CODiE Awards, HighBeam is a fabulous online library for
research, facts, and articles. Resources include newspaper articles
from The Washington Post and The Boston Globe,
magazine articles from publications such as The
Economist and Newsweek and
journals such as the Journal
of Research in Childhood Education, all in a single Web
site. Its archive of newspapers, journals, and magazines are current
and date back more than 20 years, which is great for research purposes!
New articles are added daily to HighBeam. |
| The Graduate Student National Committee Works for You |
Happy fall, Graduate Students! This month, many of us are gearing up for Convocation in Orlando, which takes place October 29–31. Many exciting opportunities are available for graduate students, including a grad student lounge, interesting workshops and sessions, and networking opportunities. For those of you going to Convo09, please visit the Graduate Student Booth to pick up program materials and meet your colleagues. It will be easy to spot the Graduate Student Committee members—just look for a green sofa on our name tags. Say hello or ask a question; we would love to visit with you! For those of you not attending Convo, you still can say hello and ask a question! Simply send an e-mail to gradcomm@kdp.org . A committee member will get back to you. Committee members communicate regularly as a group to brainstorm and carry out ideas for KDP and its graduate student members. We want to meet your needs, so please look around KDP Online to see all that is available to you. You should find links on finding a job, alternative education programs, graduate work and classroom teaching resources, research reports, scholarships, publishing, and presenting. Start your search in the Graduate section, and venture from there to find what you need most. KDP is a family of professionals that will support you throughout your career. So, check out what KDP has to offer post graduation. You may even think about starting a professional chapter in your area or school. A professional chapter is perfect for post-grads and professionals who still want to network and share ideas. You can learn more about it here, or contact KDP for more information. Assistant Lecturer Student Learning Center Texas A&M University Tel. 979.845.2724 E-mail hcaldwell@tamu.edu | Web slc.tamu.edu |
| A Personal Glimpse of Convo and KDP |
Greetings fellow Graduate Kadelpians! Convocation 2009 was a huge success—in general and for me personally. Destination Inspiration was my first Convo, and it was truly a wonderful experience. Not only was Convo a learning experience with a plethora of workshops on a variety of topics, but it was also enjoyable because I had the opportunity to meet and network with so many people. The KDP Graduate Student Committee worked very hard over the past two years to provide a valuable resource for graduate students in KDP. Hopefully you stopped by the Graduate Student Booth in the main concourse at Convocation to check out resources and chat with one of the Graduate Committee representatives. If you were not able to get to Convo, try visiting the Graduate section. You can find resources related to finding jobs, scholarships and grants, tips for writing and publishing, and links to other helpful Web sites. Start looking for what you need. If you missed Convocation, keep your eye on the KDP Web site—highlights of Convocation as well as workshop supplements and presentations will be posted soon. Whether or not you attended the workshop, these members-only downloadable documents are great information sources to assist you in the classroom. For example, I attended the workshop, What’s in Your Strategic Reading Toolbox?, and immediately brought the strategies and techniques into my own teaching repertoire. I hope you find these resources as useful as I have. Another resource I urge you to take advantage of—the eChapter Webinars. These one-hour online and phone-in meetings cover a wide range of topics. Many of the Webinars focus on current classroom issues and practices, so I can put the ideas and strategies to use right away. For example, one recent eChapter Webinar focused on RTI (Response to Intervention), a method of helping students who struggle with learning, which my school district is implementing this year. I found the information presented pertinent and helpful, and it couldn’t have come at a better time! You can find the 2009–2010 Webinar calendar in the eChapter section. Get to the calendar by choosing Communities from the KDP menu on the left-hand side of the Web pages, or simply click on the eChapter graphic on the KDP home page. Attending the Webinars allows you to ask questions; however, if you miss a Webinar, you can listen to its podcast after the presentation; they are all posted to the eChapter Webinar section. KDP is a wonderful resource for graduate students and post-graduate students. Take full advantage of the opportunities offered through KDP. If you ever have any questions or would simply like to chat with a KDP Graduate Student Committee member, visit the Graduate Committee page where you’ll find a link to contact us via email. Keon RuiterSecond Grade Teacher Ware, Massachusetts |
| Put Punch in Your Presentations |
By Marisa Cohen |
| • | Provide students with the slides. It is often helpful if you post the presentation on a class Web site, such as BlackBoard, or send the PowerPoint slides to your students via e-mail. Making the slides available helps students follow along and listen during the lesson, rather than spending time copying down the information. |
| • | Keep it simple! Don’t overload your slides with information, or students will spend more time reading the slides than listening to you. Just highlight necessary points and concepts. |
| • | Do not read directly from the slides. Reading the information directly from the slides bores students, and their minds begin to wander. Because key points already are presented, sharing anecdotes and examples enhance your instruction and drive home those key points. |
| • | Be creative. Make the most of the technology by adding pictures, video clips, and sound bites to connect your students with the lesson and motivate them to learn. |
I hope this information has been helpful. I wish you all a happy, healthy holiday season! |
