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Dear Teachers,
It was my 4th day of my first year as a teacher in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. Before we knew what was happening, we smelled it — that unforgettable acrid smell that permeated the air on 9/11 and for many days more. From the 4th floor of our school, we could see the towers on fire. Everyone was scared and confused, the students and the staff, but it was our job to keep our kids calm and reassured (even if we ourselves were not) until they closed school down and sent everyone home shortly after the towers fell.
In times like this, teachers rise up and out of their lesson plans and into the moment, adapting on the fly to the situation. A 9/11 event is rare, thank god, but there are countless times in the course of almost every day when teachers use this same skill. An unexpected outburst. An unexpected question. An unexpected answer. How you respond is crucial -- your students are watching and learning a lot from what you do and say.
On this 10th anniversary of 9/11, much will be said in the media. But what you say in your classrooms will have more of an impact.
This week's teaching tip is in the same vein, from TpT'er
Hilary Lewis, "Be gentle with the ones you teach... words are powerful... will your words crush a child's spirit or lift it up?"
We hope you find the 10 free downloads below useful as you get settled into the 2011/2012 school year.
Teach and be well,
Paul Edelman
Founder, TpT
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TpT SPOTLIGHT
One of our own was in the news again! It's a really great write up and an amazing story called Teachers Cash in on Their Own Expertise. If you like it too, please hit the FB or Twitter share buttons and spread it around!
There's a free 9/11 download below but you can also find additional 9/11 materials using our Google search function. If you haven't noticed, on every keyword search results page, there's a "See results by Google" link in the upper right. If our own search engine is having trouble with your keywords (ie, "9/11" ) you can always click there and get additional targeted results.
Meet BritLitWit, a teacher of, you guessed it, British Literature at the high school level. BritLitWit recently upgraded to a Premium seller account and it has made a huge difference in her earnings. Check out her store if you're about to teach Beowulf or MacBeth, etc.
Ms. Lies has a well-done product out called 9-11 Fireboat Book Study and Literature Circle Activities. It's for elementary students and costs $4.00.
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