Intermediate Teacher Career Guide and Counseling

Question: Need help from intermediate elementary teacher!? I am a new teacher and am being observed for the first time tomorrow. I am doing a reading lesson and teaching about the 5 W's (who what where when why) and How in fiction stories. Does anyone have any interactive ideas to incorporate into this lesson?? HELP!

Answer: Here are a few: http://www.kidzone.ws/plans/view.asp?i=6… http://www.newspapersineducation.ca/eng/… http://www.teachersnetwork.org/NTNY/less…

Question: For those over 18, who was your meanest teacher in either intermediate school or high school? Do not use real names of teachers of course.

Answer: My 3rd grade teacher she was evil she grabbed a girl by her pont tail one day and pushed her in the corner and she didnt even get fired and her name was MRS. ELLIS thats right I said it old bat

Question: I need help writing a good apology letter for a teacher? I need help writing a good apology letter/email for a intermediate school teacher. What happened to the person was they downloaded a racing game onto their school computer without permission and got in quite a bit of trouble. (The school have 1 to 1 laptops) It needs to be quite sincere but not too sincere and it needs to be about medium length. This is for a 12 year old (I'm not 12 and I'm not that person) Some ideas on what to write please! Thanks!

Answer: I would suggest an honest direct approach. I am writing to say that I am really sorry about disobeying the school rules and downloading a game onto the school computer without permission. I didn't really think about how doing this sort of thing would risk damaging the computer and I was only thinking of myself. I promise to try and consider how my actions will affect other people or things in the future.

Question: Need a catchy saying for a teacher appreciation gift? I have purchased pens to give to all the teachers at our Intermediate school. I would like a catchy phrase to attach to the pens. Something having to do with teacher's appreciation. Any Ideas?

Answer: Tape each to a banana (bananas are inexpensive, after all) with a little note stating: "thanks for being one of the best in the bunch" ... creative humor is almost always appreciated and by stating "one" of the best in the bunch, no one will get their feelings hurt wondering who is the "best" in the bunch!

Question: ESL teachers, what is your best strategy or teaching tip for intermediate and advanced students? I am the ESL coordinator for an intermediate school in Texas. We serve 5th and 6th graders. Most of our ESL students have reached an advanced level of proficiency, so they are mainstreamed in regular classes. I teach the beginners and some intermediate students. I like to send out strategies and tips to the mainstream teachers, usually about once a week, to help them with their advanced level students. Please tell me your tips, strategies, suggestions, etc. They could be content specific or just some general. Thank you so much!!! Also, if you'd like to be added to my email list, add you address here.

Answer: Here are some ideas I use in my own classroom: Praise-Question-Polish (PQP)-PQP is a framework used to assess understanding and evaluate learning. It has three columns for student responses to specific lessons, texts, topics, or focus studies. The praise column is for positive comments, the question column is for recording ideas that are not clear, and the polish column is for suggested changes to improve understanding. Literature Study-Literature discussion groups give students a chance to talk about their perceptions and interpretations of a selected text. After reading the selection and responding in a literature log, they meet to discuss ideas and insights. After discussion, group members decide how far they will read and what they will consider for the next discussion time. Different students serve as discussion leaders. Text Sets- The text sets used in literature study circles are usually multiple copies of the same text to provide a focus for shared meaning. However, text sets may be a collection of different books on a related topic. Using sets of different texts encourages students to compare, contrast, and make connections in a reading discussion group. Related poetry may be included as text sets as well as different versions of particular fairy tales or collections of books by the same author. Say Something-this a reading activity that invites conversation and discussion by partners or small groups of students. Each person receives a text for reading and responding. The participants decide cooperatively how far to read before stopping to talk about the author’s ideas. Someone is designated to speak first, or to say something related to the text. Each person listens and responds with comments, reactions, or questions. They may reread the text to clarify understanding or answer questions. Partner Reading-Partner reading encourages the sharing of ideas. Sometimes partners take turns talking about their perceptions, questions, and insights. Partners of different ages and abilities work well together. The teacher may be a student’s partner to assess individual needs and strengths. Reciprocal Teaching-Reciprocal teaching is an instructional activity that takes place in the form of a dialogue between teachers and students regarding segments of text. The dialogue is structured by the use of four strategies: summarizing, question generating, clarifying and predicting. The teacher and students take turns assuming the role of teacher in leading this dialogue. Additionally, you might find some ideas at this link: http://bilingual.dadeschools.net/BEWL/pd…

Question: teaching resources for teaching teachers with intermediate level English to teach using English? I have been asked to investigate setting up a course for teaching primary and secondary SCIENCE teachers to teach their subjects using English. At present, these teachers have intermediate level (or higher) English skills. Can anyone advise on starting points, textbooks, science reading and writing textbooks, web addresses etc...? Is there anyone doing the same kind of thing who would be willing to discuss methodology, approaches, problems etc.?

Answer: I recommend total immersion techniques. They are available online. A good model is Pueblo Ingles ( English Town) in Spain. You might find similar enterprises in your location.

Question: What is the difference between intermediate and advanced violin music? I played the violin years ago. I am not sure of the difference between intermediate and advanced music. I am pretty sure that my very conservative teacher had me playing intermediate concertos as I entered advanced etude work but, I need a definition before I can be positive.

Answer: It depends on what level of playing your trying to achieve. In my opinion beginner would be like Suzuki books 1-4 which I think have the Vivaldi and Seitz Concerto in them. Intermediate would be like Bruch Concerto 1st mov. Lalo Symphonie Espagnole, the Mendelssohn, Mozart Concerto #3. For Etudes I would say Fiorillo, Krekreutzer and Dont are intermediate. Advanced Concerto's would be the Beethoven Concerto, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and Prokofiev are some of the hardest. Paganini and Ernst Etudes are considered the hardest. I hope that helps. I can be more specific if you need. It would help if you could post what you played. : )

Question: Any creative ideas to teach intermediate adults English? I am an ESL teacher and I am going to teach an adult intermediate class next week. I am looking for good ideas for age and level- appropriate lesson plans. Also, any links to good ESL teaching websites, other than David's cafe?

Answer: I always bring a folder of (full page) pictures from magazines with me to class. If you need a practice task, you can have students tell what they see in the pictures. You can have them work in groups on one picture and then share their ideas with the entire class. The instructor (you) is able to control the time and level of difficulty by asking follow-up Qs, for more details, what will happen next, etc. This will give you a chance to note new vocabulary or grammar weaknesses. Also this is excellent for when the main part of the lesson has been completed but there is still 10 or 15 minutes of teaching time. Another thing I do is have one student make a sentence. The next student must make it longer (by adding an adjective, time, giving more detail, etc. When it gets too long or difficult, start over. If students do this every class for 5 minutes, soon they will be making long complex sentences (and gain confidence).

Question: Can anyone recommend a cello teacher in Toronto? I am an adult planning to take private cello lessons (Intermediate level). I am having hard time choosing a teacher. Can anyone recommend a teacher? Thanks

Answer: I would visit your local music shop. They will know of surrounding strings teachers and the majority of them will be honest on recommendations. Many teachers also put up ads on music shop bulletin boards as well. If you have a university close by, you could visit their music department strings faculty. Often there are strings students (if you're comfortable being taught by undergraduate or graduate students) who give lessons, heck, maybe even the faculty might be willing. If not, they can also give you great recommendations.

Question: How can i find a picture or contact information of my teacher from 2005? I had the most amzing teacher in 2005 who taught me at intermediate. and i would love to get back in contact with her. we use to email all the time. but it just stopped. please tell me anyway i can contact her again ?

Answer: 1. ratemyteacher.com 2. Your school's website 3. Google her name and the school you attended 4. Email her if you still have her address