cmnt3’s Neighborhood

Volleyball

Photo from the MTC Summer Volleyball Championship Series, first-year Courtney Dauwalter:

Dauwalter

Staff

MTC Summer Staff members Meredith Horstkotte and Jeremy Fiel.

Love

Article in today's Delta Democrat Times, based in Greenville, about young teachers who move to the Delta and fall in love, with quotes from MTC alumnus Joe Sweeney.

More Advice

A few days ago I offered some advice to the first-years about the first days of school without kids. Now for some advice for the first days of school with students:

1) Don't say much. Words are power. The more words you say, the less power you have.

2) Have assigned seats (alphabetical is the easiest) when the students come in on the first day.

3) Once you've reviewed the class rules nail the first student who breaks a rule. It will be hard, but force yourself to do it (each year, I estimate about half of the first years follow this advice and half don't. If you don't, brace yourself for a long semester).

4) When in doubt, consult Delta Autumn, First Days of School, your MTC mentor, a second-year, or a veteran teacher at your school.

Violence

Write-up of a study, courtesy of Freakonomics, that examines the educational impact of domestic violence:

The costs of this dysfunction are even more profound. Kids exposed to domestic violence definitely do have lower reading and math scores and greater disciplinary problems. But the effects of this dysfunction are not limited to the direct victims of this violence: kids exposed to kids exposed to domestic violence also have lower test scores and more disciplinary infractions.

Advice

Just about all of the first-years are starting "teacher-only" days at their respective schools this week. Here is some advice for the first few days without students:

1) Do not ask any questions during any staff or group meetings. If you have a question, ask it later, one on one. There is nothing veteran teachers hate more than listening to a no-nothing first-year asking a stupid question.

2) Do not offer any advice. In fact, unless spoken to, do not speak.

3) Go out of your way, I mean ridiculously out of your way, to ingratiate yourself to the support staff. Bring flowers or chocolates to the secretaries. Bring a candy bar or lunch plate for the janitorial staff. Do it again the next day.

Follow Your Themes

Team Vox
Jul 28, 2008
8 comments

At Vox, we believe that change is a good thing. After all, you wouldn't wear the same t-shirt day in and day out, so why should your blog have to suffer the same fate? Give your blog a new look with one of our latest themes (found under "New"), or pick from any of our hundreds of themes designed with your passions and personality in mind.

Vox Themes July 08

5 comments

L to R: Anchored, by Wolfsavard; Feel the Sun, by gollykim; Dare to Inspire, by Teresa Jones; Magic Night, by valuexofxpain; Like a Loving Fish, by lilfairy; Neue Hass, by Jesse Gardner.

And, on the off chance, you do wear the same t-shirt day after day after day? Well... That's another post for another day.

Until then... Enjoy!

-daisy

Become a Vox Fan on Facebook

Team Vox
Jul 22, 2008
21 comments

Facebook

6 comments

Gimme a V! Gimme an O! Gimme an X! What's that spell? VOX!

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Once you're a fan, you can also add photos and videos to the page, write on the wall, and connect with other Voxers in ways you may not have previously. Plus, it's a great opportunity to let people know about your Vox blog, or start discussion topics. To become a fan, just visit the official Vox.com Facebook page and click the "Become a Fan" button in the upper right hand corner.

Once you've joined, why not post a response to the current discussion topic? Just post a link (and a brief description, if you'd like) to what you consider one of your all-time best Vox posts.

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