Well something had to give.  It was the blog. I'm back, but with no promises except one.  I will post good stuff here when I post.  With that being said. Here is a preview of topics to come in future videos about connecting students with the community in a meaningful way.   This is taken from a group of essays I wrote last year.  I hope you find it useful.  As teachers it is our job to ensure that education transcends the classroom. There are as many ways to connect students and the community as there are teachers to teach them. When done successfully the impact on students is powerful. In addition to, and through a subject's content Teachers should encourage and equip students to be their own educational advocate by being aware of and able to successfully navigate the educational landscape leading to their success.  Students who attend any class should learn the roles, function and purpose of administrators and counselors.  Rather than waiting for a teacher to

One of my goals during this extended summer break was to start a Patreon for this "Free Teacher Information" project.  That goal has been reached.  As of this moment, I am live and running with a new Patreon site. Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=7201221 Feel free to check it out.  My other sites are Twitter:          @lifelearner_17 Pintrest:         https://www.pinterest.com/lifelearner17/ Blogger:        https://ilearnwelearn.blogspot.com/ Google +:     Things That Work Gmail:          Lifelearner17@gmail.com FaceBook:    https://www.facebook.com/secondarysecrets/ There you Have it.  Enjoy Chris

It's been a while since my last post.  I have survived a hurricane and still have not started school yet.  Other than that everything has been going according to schedule.  I have managed to keep up the video end of this project over the past few days.  Amazingly I still have not missed a day.   I officially posted the Classroom setup video today.  You might want to check that out.  I also managed to record segments on seating arrangements, The unfairness of grades, and Student empowerment.  I have started working on my Patreon page for this project as well.  In the future, I hope to offer lesson evaluation and presentation tips as well as other helpful tools to aid teachers in their craft.  I will continue to keep things up to date here as best I can.  Hopefully, we are done with hurricanes for the year. I enjoy learning and teaching with you.   Together we can take over the world. Chris

Before I dive into this weighty and very important topic I will announce now that the first week of my vlogging project is complete.  Please come by and take a look at The Daily Lesson .  Be sure and hit the thumbs up so it becomes easier for other teachers to find this information.  Also If you want to know when I post and have access to the future "Teacher's Lounge"   be sure and subscribe. I posted a video that prompted some private discussion about the adversarial relationships in the education system; student and teacher, teacher and parents, teacher and administration. Here is an essay I wrote on the same topic.  I hope it helps shed some light on what I consider to be one of the biggest problems facing education today. How often do we hear things like,”Students in public education are different than they were when I was in school.  They are disrespectful.  They simply will not follow directives.  They treat teachers and other adults with disdain. ”

today was a very productive day.   Here is the video I posted .  Hope you find it useful Chris

The first vlog entry is up.  Now that that is over I can focus more on my delivery which will improve the quality of the entries.  I also am not committed to the "Daily Lesson" title an approach for this part of my project.  thanks, in advance for viewing and hitting the thumbs up button.  See you tomorrow I am tired. See the entry here. I enjoy learning with you, teaching with you and together we can take over the world. Chris

Tomorrow is Day 1... I have managed to push out 26 informational videos, I have several in the cue.  I will make the first Vlog entry tomorrow, assuming all technology works as planned and I can get it uploaded as I envision.  If you are starting tomorrow, I wish you well.  I hope each and every one of you has the best year you have ever had. I hope you have the best students you have ever had.  I hope that as the year rolls on you will be able to feel the same fulfillment that I have found. See you online.  If you haven't already, please subscribe to the channel and "thumbs up" a few videos. Check out the current videos. I enjoy learning with you.  I enjoy teaching with you, and together we can take over the world. Chris

Looks like I will be reaping the benefits from being well rested two weeks prior to the start of school like I talked about in the Back To School Tips video .  Hopefully, not many of you are getting to deal with the sleepless nights like I am,  I go back Monday.  Well sort of.  As I mentioned before We have two weeks of in-service, so I will not have students for another two weeks, but my body has decided to get all keyed up. So here I am typing out a quick blog entry before I try to relax and maybe sleep.   Today I officially passed the link on to one of my colleagues who serves as the Curriculum and Instruction Coach for our English department.  She was very complimentary and even showed her own kids some of the videos.  I have deliberately chosen a slow unveiling of this project.  Until now most all views have come from outside sources and been products of my posting discussion boards etc.  I also have a Facebook page now.  I even experimented with post boosting a little bit.  I

Today I learned where my new room will be.  I had the chance to look around a bit at my new "home" and did some initial video of its current condition. It has three accordion walls.  this is not my favorite thing, but I will make it work.  That's what I do. I really enjoy this time of year.  In our district, we have two weeks of in-service prior to the arrival of students.  The first week is district curriculum and content based.  The second week is focused on our home campus and taking care of all of the nuts and bolts that go into making a campus run smoothly. My curriculum week is highly structured and very organized. It provided much-needed information and solid tools to help us succeed as teachers.  I enjoy this week.  It is like a week long convention of teachers networking and sharing ideas, techniques and theories all focused on the same content area.  It's free to attend, I get to sleep in my own bed and I get go home at night. My Vlogging will begin wi

Everyone has dreams.  This is one of mine.  I have been sitting on this phase of my project for a while now.  It takes courage to ask for help.  And that is all this is, ask ing for help.  I am asking with absolutely no expectations.  Everything will continue to run as it is.  I will continue to put out quality information in the best way I can.  I am only posting this because I believe in what I am doing strong enough that I believe it is a disservice to the project not to post it. There are no expectations here.  I am simply providing an option for anyone who might want to help provide the same services I am working on.

 I tried something new today.  I reviewed the music service Spotify.  The format I used was the same that many gamers and software trainers use.  The viewer watches the software being used while the instructor is located in a smaller window narrating what is being done on the computer, usually in the lower right of the screen.   Checkout the current videos https://goo.gl/EEpJhd It was not a colossal fail.  It was good enough to post.  I also included an interactive survey at 4:30 into the video that simply asks if I should try this format again.  I hope people take the time to check an answer. Finding ways to interactively communicate with your audience is difficult.  the options are limited and my experience is in this is lacking.  That is life's little Catch 22.  If you want to be good at something you have to continue being sub par as you gather the needed experience, or in a more eloquent but less original way of saying the same thing,  "Good judgment comes from exp

It's getting close!  Less than seven days before I start this insane project of one post a day. Not sure where this will go, but I am committed to this.  I am still wrestling with whether or not I will post every day or just record every day and post once a week. Time will tell.  I predict I will start posting every day and with in a month or so I will discover that recording every day and posting once a week will be easier. Check out the current videos. Things That Work Today I had the privilege of attending CHAMPs classroom management system sessions.  There are so many things I can use and will share with you as the year moves on.  Search up CHAMPs on line see what you can find.  It's worth a look. Either way, this is going to be one crazy ride. Remember, I enjoy learning with you, teaching with you and together we can take over the world. Chris

I have 15 informative videos banked for the year.  I hope to have over 20 by August 14, when I go back to school.  that way I am guaranteed to put one information video up a week in addition to what ever posting schedule I end up with doing the Vlog project.  Those twenty videos will take me to Christmas Break.  Then I have two weeks to make 20+ more for the rest of the year.  Actually, if I play my cards right I will continue to create the occasional informative video throughout the first semester and then add what ever I create to the growing pool.  This is my ongoing plan and commitment to seeing this project through.  While I am only aiming for a year of Vlogging I plan on continuing to post solid helpful information for as long as a possibly can.   Check out the current videos. Things That Work Just a little glimpse into the future.  While doing these videos I have had friends and colleagues ask things like, "Don't students need tips for being successful too?&quo

I am banking information videos so that I will be able to release one a week along with the daily Vlog entries I plan on doing.  This morning I videoed 15 new segments, including four parts of a new series focused on strategic goofing around with your students, "How to Be Cooler Than Your Students." Each installment will offer something you can do to deliberately make yourself more accessible to the students' minds and help them see you as the human being you are. I am gearing up for a busy year and I want to continue to bring quality information to you and other teachers.  Keep watching and commenting, please. The more viewers make comments, subscribe to the channel and watch entire videos the more easily the channel and videos will be found in search engines by other teachers.  Your participation helps others. Check out the current videos. Things That Work Enjoy the last few days of summer, and if you are already back at work, enjoy your year. I enjoy learnin

I am looking forward to the next year.  I am still wondering how the "vlog" will play out.  It's funny how I have chosen to fixate on how often I will publish.  will I be able to publish each day or should I wait and publish five entries at the end of each week?  I have no idea.  I could speed things up by using my phone or computer to record the daily entries, but quality will suffer.  I could use a combination of phone, computer and camera over a period of time. That would offer a varied view and feel from day to day depending on what I choose to use for the day. Check out the current videos. Things That Work Two weeks.  The start day for the "Vlog" is August 14.  That is the first day back for content in-service hours. From that point through June 4, 2018, I will be taping something every day. I am looking forward to seeing how this will all look as it grows. Chris

Hello again.   Be sure and  Check out the current videos. Things That Work I find it interesting how much our behavior as teachers can, at times, mimic that of the students we teach.  Unfortunately, this phenomenon tends to favor attributes that are less than endearing. For instance, here is an excerpt from a video script focusing on tips for the first day of school that I am working on. Dress as professionally as you can. Students will only take you as seriously as you take yourself.  I do not get to go with the tie and coat until day 2 because our campus is required to all wear the same red polo staff shirt and black slacks or skirt.  It looks good, and that is all students have to go on is how it looks.  Day 2 I am dressed to the 9s.  I stay in a tie for most of the first grading period. I have presented this to other teachers in private conversation and in group settings. Invariably I am met with rolled eyes from some and many excuses why this does not work and c

Take some time and  Check out the current videos. Things That Work today was "not" my first day back to work. It was, however, vertical alignment day for the whole district.  All team leaders and department chairs got together and worked on attaining a common vision and a collaborative set of goals etc. As a large group, we looked at the first two chapters of The Practice of Authentic PLCs  by Daniel R. Venables.  I really liked his approach to meeting agendas.  It was affirming to see that I was on the right path last year during my first year as a team leader.  MY idea of handling housekeeping and other nuts and bolt issues through email or face to face casual meetings leaving team meeting time open for model teaching and other more productive work. I look forward to implementing much of the structure that Venables presents when we return to work in a couple of weeks. I hope you all are enjoying your last few days of summer.   Chris

So in the last 24 hours, I have completed 5 short videos.  Admittedly one is a short push for this BLOG site, but it still required editing and making it look good, which takes time.  I am pushing my abilities because I want the transition into the school year and my making vlog entries to go as smoothly as possible.  Check out the current videos. Things That Work Of all the four videos I posted today, my hope is that the "Danger: October is Coming" video will help the most people. October is a scary month. My first year was almost my last because of events that unfolded in October, and I knew about the "October Blues" in advance.  I hope this helps some one some time.  If not, I will never have to say, "I wish I had told people what to expect in October while teaching." Enjoy your day I like learning with you.  I like teaching with you, and together we can take over the world. Chris

Welcome to the "Things That work: Classroom Connections" companion blog.  I am assuming that you have seen the information about this blog on my youtube channel.  SO here is some additional information about the bald guy with a beard that you have been watching on   Things That Work I started working with teenagers and their families when I was 19.  That's right, I was still a teenager myself.  I turned 50 this year.  You can do the math and see that I have had a little exposure to the craziness that comes with those developmental years we call adolescence.  On top of that my wife and I have two young men of our own who are forging lives on their "own".  I started my transition into teaching public school ten years ago.  I started as a substitute teacher (guest teacher).  As with many things in my life my timing was not the best.  The economy of my area was such that the district I was serving as a guest teacher was in the midst of a hiring freeze.  I was p