Anxiety can look like a kid who refuses to listen or someone who needs a little push to speak up. Once you recognize the signs of this mental health challenge, you can make sure your students get the support they need. If only you could spend your day teaching—just that, not all the other parts that come with the job. Paperwork, meetings, lunchtime supervision. The list keeps growing longer. Classroom teachers are the first line of defense for noticing when kids need outside intervention.

Anxiety is the most common mental health complaint for young people. The Child Mind Institute estimates 31.9% of those age 13 to 18 suffer from anxiety, with almost 8% experiencing significant impairment. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America says one in eight kids will deal with anxiety.

The best thing a teacher can do for young people struggling with anxiety is be informed. Knowing the warning signs of an anxiety problem means you can refer a child to counseling, bring up the issue with parents, and help your student tackle the problem.

One of the best resources around is this article called Anxiety in the Classroom. Whether you are a new teacher or veteran, you are sure to relate to something here. There’s a new report out on schools and mental health that provides a big picture perspective, including ways education is changing in the face of this growing problem.

What It Is

The National Institute of Mental Health defines an anxiety disorder as worry or fear that doesn’t go away and gets worse over time, with effects on other parts of life.

Signs of Anxiety

• Compulsive behaviors, like hand washing or simply a very precise arrangement of objects on the desk.
• Clinginess, to parents, friend, or even you.
• Unwillingness to speak up or answer questions.
• Lip biting, hair sucking, or other similar behaviors.
• Fear of failure: wanting to study extra, erasing and rewriting repeatedly to try to make handwriting perfect, etc.

Any of these actions on their own is part of being a kid. When there is a change or when behaviors are getting in the way of other things, that’s when you want to get an outside party involved.

Family therapist Kathleen Mates-Youngman says there are some other behaviors that can be tired to anxiety but don’t look that way. “Uncontrollable restlessness, irritability, fatigue or difficulty concentrating, might appear as fidgeting and lack of seriousness.” This is a time when work with a counselor can give you a heads up to what is going on behind the scenes and leaking into classroom life.

Tips for Day to Day

The ADAA has a list of general strategies to help kids with anxiety. Elementary school teacher Michelle Gomez who has herself struggled with anxiety, says that clarity is key. When kids aren’t sure about classroom procedures or assignment instructions, that’s when anxiety can ramp up.

Worry Wise Kids can provide a framework for conversations, with examples of classroom success stories as well as a parent perspective.

Anxiety is a form of disability and can require accommodations through an IEP. Talking to the special education personnel on your campus is a great idea. Even if a child doesn’t receive services, these folks will have insight into talking to parents or strategies to try.

Youngman has a few other suggestions that can benefit anxious kids and their peers alike.

• Help children see their anxious thoughts as separate from themselves
• Encourage youth to take small steps toward facing anxiety-producing tasks and situations
• Incorporate moments of calm, teaching deep breathing and relaxation techniques

The U.S. arose as a global leader due to its innovation in science and technology, and to maintain its competitive position in the world, this country is depending on the future innovations of upcoming scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. These innovators study in STEM: an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math disciplines in academics.

But unfortunately, the number of students in STEM majors are decreasing. Compounding that issue, the number of teachers who are competent in these STEM subjects are also lacking. The good news is, for qualified job candidates, this shortage of viable candidates to makes STEM industries great opportunities to find jobs. It's bridging that gap between open positions and qualified candidates that can be an issue. So how to get kids on a track to a solid job that makes a difference?

The answer may be: start them early, and make it fun.

In a study from the National Center of Education Statistics conducted on 7,750 children from kindergarten to the end of eighth grade, researchers found that the amount of general worldly knowledge in kindergarteners were a strong indicator of their science achievements and knowledge in later grades. These achievement gaps begin at a very early age and stabilize from third to eighth grade. As such, there is no such thing as beginning to learn too early. The earlier a child engages him/herself in STEM, the more likely they are to continue to stay interested and excel in it.

One of the primary ways to acquaint a child with the underlying foundational concepts of STEM subjects is by playing. It exercises problem-solving and creativity, two characteristics that are crucial in STEM. Playing is very important for a child’s early learning in physical, sensory, social, and intellectual development. Playing allows children to learn by doing and directly experiencing the real world around them and sates their curiosities through investigation. For teachers and parents who wish to encourage and nurture these foundational skills, below are five ways to learn through play:

Hot Wheels Speedometry

In order to teach physics to fourth graders, Hot Wheels created a classroom kit featuring their signature Hot Wheels car toys, to recreate situations of real-world problem-based learning. In a two week-study involving 1,800 fourth graders in 59 classrooms, they found that girls had decreased negative emotions about science and math, higher performances in students who participated in Speedometry, and greater engagement and positive emotions during these play-based lesson plans.

LEGO

In structured block play, a child must draw on skills that are crucial in many aspects of STEM subjects. Unsurprisingly, many current engineers fondly remember how construction toys, such as Legos, have inspired them to enter their field. Children observe and analyze the whole object and then how individual pieces join together to create the finished product. With this understanding, they should be able to recreate the object. Legos are a great way to practice structured block play, which offer bricks of different colors, sizes, and shape, further challenging children and adults alike.

Roleplay

Through the use of role playing and imagination, students immerse themselves in a scenario which exercises various skills heavily used in STEM subjects. An example of this is S.E.E.D. (Story Engineering and Enabling Device), an immersive role playing simulation created by Game Changer Chicago. In the scenario, students wore lab coats and pretended to be a group of scientists who were traveling to the future. Check out their blog for other projects and news.

Retro/Simple Toys

Despite the vast offerings of complex toys and educational tech tools that are being introduced into the learning sphere, the good old basics may still be the best choice. These open-ended toys, such as a rubber ball or wooden building blocks, allow for children to command the toy rather than the other way around. They’re cheap and can be used for multiple types of play, requiring more imagination to bring these simpler toys to life. Check out these eco-friendly sustainably-harvested wooden toys from Bella Luna Toys!

Cooking/Baking

Though we don’t think about it, cooking and baking is just a series of chemical reactions. Actions such as measuring out a tablespoon, mixing ingredients together, and watching something brown in the oven are small, but powerful steps in conducting daily science experiments at home. Approaching cooking from a scientific standpoint is not only fun, it also allows children to think about other everyday objects and activities from a scientific standpoint as well. Check out these Kitchen Science Experiments from Buzzfeed!

--Sarah Liu, Teach.com

When it comes to the conversation of children and video games, we always tend to find negative backlash towards the idea of kids playing video games. Research has been conducted for years when it comes analyzing the negative effects of video games; some studies claiming that gaming can lead to depression and aggression in children. Yet, we rarely hear the good side of this argument to balance out society’s perception of video games.

The truth is, video games can play a major role in the learning cycle of a child’s life, and can bolster a wide array of cognitive skills in students. Since gaming has successfully played a major role on how children gather new information, I wanted to speak to this and share a few ways that gaming can help enhance the way today’s kids grow and learn.

Gaming Increases Problem Solving Skills

Studies have shown that children who participate in playing strategic video games have proven show enhanced signs of problem solving skills. Many mainstream video games include puzzle-based tasks or levels that require a great deal of critical thinking, and this widespread characteristic in gaming has allowed children to acquire fantastic problem solving skills quite early in life.

Gaming Fights Depression

As many of us know, playing video games can be quite a joyful experience. However, gaming has been scientifically proven to cause positive effects on dopamine production, which can trigger positive emotional responses in children when tasks are successfully completed within a game. Video games are mean to be a learning experience. Implementing this type of hands-on learning in children can drastically improve the way today’s kids grown.

Gaming Bolsters Social Skills

As technology grows, so has the gaming industry. With this growth, individuals now have the ability to connect with each other in multiplayer games within virtual, online worlds – creating a large influx in online social communication. This feat within gaming has opened many doors for children to extend their social circles beyond what has been possible in the past. This type of communication has shown to enhance leadership skills, and how to work together as a team to make split-second decisions.

Gaming Reduces Stress

Although, there are a few games floating around that could be referred to as “stress causers”, this is not the case all of the time. Overall, playing video games can greatly reduce an individual’s stress levels. This characteristic of video games can make a learning environment much more manageable for both the learner as well as the instructor.

Overall, the realm of video games holds many positive outcomes in the world of education. These games can put a positive twist on the way a child learns. As we talked about, playing games can reduce stress, teach social skills, increase problem solving skills, and even fight depression. However, there are an endless number of additional benefits of gaming in a child’s life. It is important to take these features into account when teaching a child how to succeed in life.

Taylor Tomita is a writer from Boise, Idaho. Focusing largely on the education and business worlds. When not writing, you can find Taylor traveling with his band or hanging out with his cat. Follow him on Twitter!

They're our favorites--who are yours? Share below!

Steven W. Anderson/@web20classroom

Followers: 137K

Follow for:

• Education technology
• Student development
• Teaching methods
• Social media how-to's
• Edchats

Steven is a speaker and author, a former public school teacher and Director of Instructional Technology, and a self-proclaimed learning evangelist who works with teachers and school leaders to help them learn and understand technology better. He's the author of The Relevant Educator, Content Curation, and The Tech-Savvy Administrator--so follow him on Twitter for posts on improving classroom discussions, troubleshooting lesson plans, and leading in education.

Kasey Bell/@ShakeUpLearning

Followers: 19.8K

Follow for:

• TED Talk recommendations
• EdTech tips
• Teacher inspiration
• Educational resources
• All things Google

Kasey Bell is an award-winning digital learning consultant, speaker, and blogger with a passion for technology and learning. Kasey’s website and blog, ShakeUpLearning.com, provides teachers and educators with digital learning resources, tech tips and tricks, and classroom technology integration ideas.

As a skillful facilitator, Google Certified Innovator, Google Certified Trainer, and Amazon Education Thought Leader, Kasey has led a variety of digital learning workshops, including presentations at ISTE, Google Summits, and iPadpalooza. Kasey received a Digital Innovation in Learning Award given by EdSurge and Digital Promise, in the “Sharing is Caring,” category, and she was recognized as a Top Ten EdTech and E-Learning Influencer for her work sharing educational resources on her blog and across social media.

Jim Burke/@englishcomp

Followers: 21.3K

Follow for:

• Common Core
• High school English
• Writing instruction
• Book recommendations
• Reading skills

Jim Burke is a high school English teacher and is an author of more than 20 books, including The Common Core Companion series (Corwin) and The English Teacher’s Companion.In his free time, he runs a blog, where he discusses issues that crop up in academic literacy in the classrooms. He has received many awards for his contributions, including the Distinguished Service Award from CATE, Exemplary Leader Award from the Conference on English Leadership, Best Social Network for Educators as moderator of the English Companion Ning, and the Intellectual Freedom Award from NCTE.

Sue Gorman/@sjgorman

Followers: 19.6K

Follow for:

• Educational apps
• Education news
• Technology in classrooms
• Google tools
• Teacher tips

Sue Gorman is an Apple Distinguished Educator and Google Certified Teacher who runs a website to inspire teachers to redefine and transform their classrooms. She’s passionate in engaging classrooms that inspire inquiry, visible thinking, student voice and choice, and global collaboration.

Jessica Lahey/@jesslahey

Followers: 18.4K

Follow for:

• Parent-teacher relationships
• Psychological side of learning
• English lesson plans
• Podcasts
• Student development

Jessica Lahey is an English teacher and New York Times bestselling author of The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed. She writes for The Atlantic and The New York Times and is a commentator for Vermont Public Radio. She also has a podcast about writing and runs a blog on her website.

Amy Mascott/@teachmama

Followers: 37.5K

Follow for:

• Book recommendations
• Poetry reads
• Learning resources
• Recipes
• Fun facts

Amy Mascott is a Reading Specialist, literacy consultant, and a writer who runs a blog at TeachMama.com, where since 2008, she has shared tools and resources parents can use to become the best teachers they can be for their children. Amy’s work has been featured in Scholastic Parents, PBS Parents, readwritethink.org, PBS Digital Studios, and she recently published her first book: Raising a Rock-Star Reader: 75 Quick Tips for Helping Your Child Develop a Lifelong Love for Reading.

Allison McDonald/@NoFlashCards

Followers: 19K

Follow for:

• Early childhood learning
• Hands-on activities
• Lesson planning
• Arts and crafts
• Book recommendations

Allison McDonald is a pre-school teacher, mom, author of Raising A Rock-Star Reader, and runner. No Time For Flash Cards is a website filled with early education ideas, hands on crafts, and book lists to make learning fun and easy for everyone.

Ross Morrison McGill/@TeacherToolkit

Followers: 133K

Follow for:

• 5 Minute Lesson plans
• Educational technology
• Learning resources
• Classroom management
• Data & statistics

Ross Morrison McGill is the most followed teacher on Twitter in the UK. He is an deputy headteacher, blogger, and author of 100 Ideas -- Outstanding Lessons and Teacher Toolkit: helping you survive your first five years. He also writes for Schools Week newspaper and for Guardian Education. Ross was nominated for ‘Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School on London, 2004′ and listed as an ‘Education Reformer of the Year in 2014′ by The Education Foundation Think Tank.

Jeff Utecht/@jutecht

Followers: 19.9K

Follow for:

• Technology integration
• Global education
• Student connection
• Media in classrooms
• Teacher development

Jeff Utecht is an educator, consultant, and author. He's also quite international, taking on several administrative roles as a Technology Director in Saudi Arabia and elementary technology teacher in Shanghai. He currently runs a blog called The Thinking Stick, and travels around giving keynote presentations, consulting services, and workshops.

Joyce Valenza/@joycevalenza

Followers: 26.6K

Follow for:

• Information literacy
• Librarian studies
• Library issues
• Book recommendations
• Digital literacy

Joyce Valenza is an Assistant Professor in the MI Program at Rutgers University SC&I, having worked as a teacher librarian in K-12 education for 25 years. She has been a school, public, reference and special librarian, and her Library Technology Report on Social Media Curation for ALA Editions was published in October. She is a Milken Educator, a Google Certified Teacher and an American Memory Fellow, and in her free time, she writes for School Library Journal’s blog on a never ending search for information literacy and librarian studies.

J. Crew

On top of the usual 15% discount for teachers with a valid ID in store, J. Crew is ramping up its discounts to 20% off purchases for teachers from May 3-4.

Chipotle

Chipotle’s bringing back their BOGO burritos, bowls, salads, or order of tacos for Teacher Appreciation Week! Just bring in a valid ID to a U.S. Chipotle store on May 3 to claim this offer.

Barnes & Noble

B&N Educators enjoy 20% off their purchases all year around, with up to 25% off during Educator Appreciation Days! Sign up to receive email offers and information about special Educator events.

Chick-fil-A

Enjoy a free Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit or Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich for Teacher Appreciation Day on May 3! Call your local Chick-fil-A to see if they’re participating. All you need is a valid ID and limit one per person.

Scholastic

For Teacher Appreciation Week, make sure to visit Scholastic’s website to redeem 100 free printables, including graphic organizers, bulletin board ideas, writing resources, and much more! In addition, Scholastic is also providing 5 free printable posters that you can enlarge and laminate for your classroom.

Jo-Ann Fabrics

Teachers get 15% off every purchase all year long with a Teachers Rewards Card! Get additional discounts during Jo-Ann’s Teacher Appreciation Days!

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LOFT

Join the LOFT Loves Teachers program to get special discounts, including 15% off full-price purchases everyday, seasonal style guides featuring real teachers and more!

ATG Stores

ATG Stores, a Lowe’s lighting, furniture, and home-goods online retailer, is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Day with a 10% sitewide discount to all teachers. You will need your school email to access the coupon code.

Bruegger’s Bagels

For Teacher Appreciation Week, Bruegger’s Bagels is honoring educators with a week-long discount on Big Bagel Bundles. Sign up to receive a coupon for a Big Bagel Bundle, which includes 13 fresh-baked bagels and two tubs of 100% Made in Vermont cream cheese for $9.95. The offer will be valid at participating bakeries from May 2-8.

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse

Redeem this $10 off $35 coupon on BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse website to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Day. This offer is available until May 4th and one offer valid per table, per party.

Know of any deals we don't have on here? Link us in the comments!

--Teach.com

Taking homework online, however, eliminates many of these problems: students can’t leave a Google Doc at home and you can’t lose a blog post on your way to the car. There are also many apps that make grading and organizing online homework assignments faster and easier.

Like any technology integration, however, this can seem like a daunting task: Where do I even start? This transition can be as simple or involved as you want; use these tips as a guide.

Just Get Started

The best way to transition to online homework is to simply do it. But getting started doesn’t have to mean going in all at once. Start small, with just one homework assignment a week. This will give you and your students a chance to adjust.

Create an Organized System

Before giving any online homework assignments, make a plan for how you’ll organize the process. If you work in Google Classroom or Google Drive, this will be relatively simple. Here are a few tips for organizing homework assignments with the tools available through Google Drive:

• Create folders for each of your classes. If you just have one class, create a folder for each block, subject or section of class. Google Classroom automates a lot of this organization for you.
• Once students share their homework with you, highlight each assignment and click “Add to My Drive” in the top right menu (Drive icon with a plus sign). This way you can then organize them into the appropriate folders.

You can make your life easier by choosing add-ons that help with grading as well. A few add-ons to consider are:

• Flubaroo: Have math assignments auto-graded based on your specific requirements.
• Orange Slice: Google Docs built-in rubric.
• Doctopus: Mass homework sharing, assignment organization, and grading management.

You can also use an LMS if your school already has one or a tool like LearnBoost, which can be used within your classroom; it doesn’t have to be implemented at the school level.

Assign Homework Through Specific Tools

If you start with just one or two online homework assignments a week, you can make that homework specific to an app or digital tool. Here are a few that can be used for completing homework at home:

Whooo’s Reading

This online reading log, a web-app, can be accessed anywhere there’s an Internet connection. With it, students can log their reading and answer standards-aligned, higher-level thinking comprehension questions. Those questions are delivered to your in-tray, where you give them a score.

Use: Daily or weekly

The Homework: Log reading once a week and answer 1-3 questions.

MindMeister

This mind mapping software can also be used anywhere there’s an Internet connection and is perfect for brainstorming and connecting ideas and thoughts.

Use: As needed

The Homework: Ask students to create a mind map of the chapter they read that week, the science lesson you gave, and more. When done, students can share their mind map link with you for review. Students can even work in groups with remote collaboration features.

Posterini

This website allows students to make posters that show what they know in almost any subject, in a more creative way.

Use: As needed

The Homework: Have students create a movie poster for the movie version of the book they’re reading, including images of main characters or depicting the climax scene.

Teach Students in Class

Finally, make sure that students understand how to use the various tools and systems that you put in place. Make time in class for a tutorial and practice, this way students have no excuse for not doing the homework or turning it in.

Jessica Sanders is the Director of Social Outreach for Whooo’s Reading, a San Diego-based education organization that motivates students to read more every day. It’s available to teachers, schools and districts. Jessica grew up reading books like The Giver and Holes, and is passionate about making reading as exciting for young kids today as it has always been for her. Follow Learn2Earn on Twitter and Facebook, and check out their new ebook, How to Bring Technology Into the Classroom, just $2.99 on Amazon.com.

In a 2013 study executed by Jaison R. Abel and Richard Deitz, they found that only 27% of college graduates held jobs that were directly related to their major. Is this the case with teaching degrees? Absolutely! Things don’t always worked out as initially planned--and that’s okay. If a detour means finding a career that truly fits you, deviating from your original path is a trip worth taking. Here are five common alternative career paths to pursue with a teaching degree--which could you see yourself doing?

Entrepreneur

Take everything you loved about an education major and carve your own niche in your own business...or not! It’s one of the joys of being your own boss: having the flexibility and freedom to do what you want. Take Sheila Jane, for instance, one of our past guests from the 8 Questions series. She left the classroom and started three businesses, including a website to promote teacher wellness, a monthly membership plan for teachers, and a six week online course to empower teachers to achieve their business dreams.

Average Salary: It varies.

Instructional Designer

An instructional designer develops instructional theory and methods for teachers to ensure that students have the best tools available to learn effectively. In other words, you’re teaching teachers to teach students! If you’re interested in impacting students but do not want to teach in a classroom setting, traditional or online, this is one way to still meaningfully contribute. Check out our interview with Travis Thurston to find out more about being an instructional designer and how he made the transition with his education degree.

Average Salary: $63,000

Online Instructor

If teaching in the classroom isn’t your thing, a virtual classroom may be more suitable for you! With the benefits of added flexibility, cost savings, and the comfort of teaching in your own home but still being able to impact students, teaching may no longer be a deal breaker.

Average Salary: $1,250-$1,500 for one accelerated five-week term course

Other Roles in Schools

So teaching is not your thing--but taking on a different position within a school’s organizational structure may be a better fit! Some of these roles include: guidance counselor, principal, and school business manager.

Average Salary:
Guidance counselor: $45-095-$53,610
Principal: $98,151
School business manager: $58,330

Librarian

If you enjoyed the organizational and management roles that teaching provided along with an interest in Literacy and media, you might be interested in becoming a librarian or librarian consultant. Organizing and cataloging books, answering readers’ questions, and managing/training other staff are a few roles and responsibilities of librarians.

Average Salary:
Librarian: $56,170 or $27.01 per hour
Librarian consultant: $74,854

Hopefully these five alternate career paths give an idea of how versatile an education degree can be. Whether you wind up teaching in a virtual classroom, cataloging books in the library, or guiding students as their counselor, you’re sure to find a career that fits you best and makes you happiest. If you’re interested in the specifics of how real teachers transitioned their teaching careers into something a little different, check out our 8Q’s interview series to see how they paved their career paths.

--Sarah Liu, Teach.com

Many people made cards (with our generator, which you can still use!), but were reluctant to share them publicly. Teachers, more than anyone, are aware that there's always more work to do: a new unit, another test, graduation followed by college acceptance worries, and all those recommendation letters to write. Who has time for a pat on the back? Why celebrate a job that's only partly done? What else is in the pipeline?

That's exactly why need Teacher Appreciation Month.

In honor of the month (May), week (May 2nd through 6th), and day (May 3rd), we asked our Teach100 mentors to share a story of a time another educator did for them. That's an easier task--to notice the work of someone else and give them credit. So enjoy these stories, but remember to let the teachers in your own life know how much their work matters to you. They work incredibly hard. Let's hear it for great teachers!

Who's a teacher who had an impact on you?

“As an angsty college English major, my Creative Writing prof. would gently write in the margins of some of the poems I turned in "Try again, Mel." Thank you for gentleness, Sister Mary Patricia.” Melanie Link Taylor, MzTeachuh

“Tom Davis was a teacher I had who made an impression on me. He encouraged me to explore my curiosities, supported me with my struggles, and celebrated my successes. He cared about me, my learning, my life, and he wanted me to find happiness within myself in order for me to be capable of helping others." Mike Lerchenfeldt, The Light Bulb

“It's hard to lower it down to one, but passionate teachers are always the most inspiring. Often, I didn't share their passions, but they really cared about what they were teaching and it would rub off on me! Professor Beach focused on Nonverbal Communication with a gusto few have for anything. Professor Osborn whose carefully planned lessons were made better by his face lighting up when discussing topics I knew he loved. In appreciation of all of these teachers, I try my best to share my passions with my students and convince them to apply their passions to my class assignments.” Carissa, mELTing Teacher's Activities

“My son has a learning disability. Reading in school as always been a issue for him. When he has in second grade, he had the most wonderful teachers who gave he time to make him feel confident in his work. She instilled in him a passion for learning that still hasn't faded as he finishes up his 6th grade year. We will forever be indebted to Mrs. B from Huron Elementary.” Todd Bloch, Sweat to Inspire

"My mother-in-law was a kindergarten teacher and she has many stories about the funny things that little children say and think. My favorite story is one day she was in the hallway of her school walking from the front office to her class. She had just picked up her paycheck and was carrying it in her hand. She came across a former student who was now in third grade. The student asked, "What's that in your hand?". She replied, "This is my paycheck. It is money that I earn for the work that I do." The student said, "Where do you work?" I think this story is interesting because it suggests that elementary students view teachers as permanent fixtures in the school who do not have a life outside of school and who do what they do just because that's the way the world works."" Peter Cincotta, Blog Title What's So Good about Public Education in America?

“My son had an excellent first grade teacher who always went above and beyond. She knew that I was going through a divorce and always went out of her way to make sure we were both informed, even calling us on the weekend to ensure we were up to date on his progress or any changes in his behavior or emotional state. I always appreciated the time she took to care for my son and to make sure not only his educational needs were met, but his emotional ones were as well.” Starr Sackstein, StarrSackstein.com

Want to become a Teach100 Mentor? Submit your blog to the Teach100 and sign up for our monthly survey and newsletter:

8 QUESTIONS is a series of interviews with teachers who have effectively transitioned their classroom skills into new and exciting careers in the field of education. We at Teach.com believe that teaching is a rigorous and diverse classroom in and of itself; the skills learned “in the trenches” can translate into an exciting portfolio of professional options. From education tech to consulting, the only “X factor” is where you want to go — our interviews hope to shine a light on the steps it takes to get there.

1. What’s your name, location and current profession?

Shannon McClintock Miller. Denver, Colorado. I am a speaker and consultant…I work with schools and organizations around the world within the school library and education fields. I am also the teacher librarian advocate for Mackin Educational Resources and a consultant with Cantata Learning, a children’s publishing company that creates books paired with wonderful music for our young learners.

2. Where did you earn your teaching certification and where did you go to school?

I went to Iowa State University Design School for 2 years. I then transferred to the University of Northern Iowa where I majored in elementary education and art education. I also received my masters in library science from UNI.

3. How long were you a teacher for?

I was the teacher librarian at Van Meter Community School in Van Meter, Iowa for 8 years.

4. What was the most rewarding part of being a classroom teacher? What about classroom teaching did you find most challenging?

The most rewarding part of being a teacher librarian…Definitely the people, the students, the teachers, the parents, and others we connected with around the world, and the community we created within the library through these very special relationships. I also loved being able to do new things everyday…I could try out anything and the kids knew they could too.

The most challenging part…Not having enough time to do everything we wanted to do.

5. Why did you decide to transition from classroom teaching to your current profession?

About 4 years into my job, I started presenting about what we were doing at Van Meter and the library program that we had created within our school. Along with these speaking and consulting opportunities, I also had many opportunities to collaborate with publishers, companies, School Library Journal, and others. I really enjoyed how I was able to collaborate and help others in so many places….I knew that could make a difference, just as I did at Van Meter. Also, I enjoyed the flexibility these opportunities would bring to my schedule and allow me to be there for Hagan at school even more. I was a stay at home mom when Brianna and Brady were young….until Brianna was 13, so I really missed this over the last few years with Hagan. It was time and I had the perfect opportunities in front of me to make this transition easy.

6. What is the best part of your job?

The best part of my current job is that it gives me the opportunity to spend as much time with my family as I can…I love that part best of all. I love being able to travel around the country, and even throughout the world, to help others make a difference within their libraries, school, and lives of the students they work with. Also, I love the work I am doing with Cantata Learning. I am able to use my creative side as I work on projects with them…And this week I shared that I will be writing 8 children’s books with them all about the library! This is a dream come true for me!

7. What skills did you gain from classroom teaching that have allowed you to excel in your current profession?

Being able to collaborate effectively is a skill that I worked on everyday as the teacher librarian. Communication and organization are so key to this…And having a patient, open mind are as well. This definitely helped me excel within my current profession and I get to help others learn about collaboration too. Also, I learned a lot about every grade level and course in kindergarten through 12th grade. This really opened my mind to these different grade levels and subjects…It gave me the best sense of the school and curriculum as a whole.

8. What advice would you offer a current teacher who is looking to make a career change to outside of the classroom?

Oh, let’s see…I think the best advice I have would be to do something you love and that you are passionate about…always. I miss the students so much but I am constantly looking for ways to continue to work with kids. You need to continue with the things you love even within your current job in anyway that you can…This is important to your happiness and to the success in your new job.

Another thing that is very important…Try something new out while you are still in your current job. I was a consultant first while I was teaching. I then went part time at Van Meter, so I could also travel, consultant and write. This helped me with the transition when I did change careers.

Shannon, a mom of three wonderful children and fiancee of Eric Fitzgerald (who also works with school libraries as the vice president of Capstone Publishing), is a teacher librarian and technology integration specialist. She was the K-12 district teacher librarian at Van Meter Community School District for 8 years. Shannon now speaks and consults around the world on education, librarianship, technology, social media, and making a difference in education and the lives of others.

Shannon is Mackin's Teacher Librarian Advocate. She is also a teacher librarian consultant for Cantata Learning. She is part of Best Keynote Group and EduSpeakers. Shannon is the author of the award winning The Library Voice blog and enjoys writing for various blogs, journals and other forums. In 2014, she was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker. She can be reached through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin.

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TEFL Tunes





Plenty of scientific research has shown that many people learn best when their lesson is set to a tune. TEFL Tunes has lessons based on songs that help students to understand grammatical concepts such as the present perfect tense. Their free section has a wide variety of works by artists ranging from Beyonce to the Beatles.




The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)





The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a great educational resource for adults and students. It provides creative writing prompts that encourage learners to use English to express their thoughts and opinions. This resource also provides quizzes, games, and tutorials to help people learn how to write longer essays in English.




ESL Galaxy





ESL Galaxy has an incredibly wide variety of ESL lesson plans for both adults and young kids. Altogether, they have over two thousand worksheets that ESL teachers can print out for their classes. The worksheets often take the form of crossword puzzles or other simple games that make learning fun without being juvenile.




Teaching English at British Council





Here you can find a variety of articles about English lesson plans. A creative teaching idea for classes can be spotted throughout the blog posts. You can find a range of stories in the world of second language teaching. That said, not only you are able to add value into your lesson plan, you can also develop your skills in language teaching.




Breaking News English





Their website may not be flashy, but it provides breaking news articles that can be viewed in a variety of different learning levels. Breaking News English helps to provide real information and give students a chance to discover useful terminology instead of just reading endless paragraphs crammed with vocabulary words. Adult students will appreciate ESL lessons that do not make them feel like schoolchildren.




ESL at About





The main goal of ESL at About is to promote communicative ESL skills. They provide excellent techniques for both educators and learners. This site is a good place to read articles about education trends and ESL Issues. There are also many worksheets with talking points and discussion questions that can lead a class to discuss interesting and stimulating topics.




TEFL.net





The main benefit of TEFL.net is that it is extraordinarily customizable. Teachers can generate their own worksheets and quizzes quickly and easily. Though the website does provide many ready-made worksheets and lesson plans, it is nice to be able to create your own unique teaching resources.




Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab





This website is useful for students who are trying to better their listening and speaking skills. Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab provides listening quizzes for several different learning levels, from beginning to advanced. The listening quizzes are extremely valuable for ESL classes with less literate people, and they also provide useful information about common conversations that ESL students will encounter.




BBC Learning English





This website provides a vast amount of resources for adult ESL teachers. The lessons are based on life skills, such as finding an apartment or using a subway, and BBC Learning English also provides lessons on business English. They even have humorous online television series centered around various grammatical concepts.




ESL Games World

If all of the students in your class have access to computers, this is a fun website for everyone to visit. ESL Games World has interactive computer games, such as Snakes and Ladders or Wheel of Fortune, which also teach English. The site’s wide variety of games includes ones for children and ones for adults. In addition to the online games, teachers can also print games for classroom usage.

These resources will ensure that your students get all of the instruction and information that they need to learn English. The websites within this list provide everything a teacher needs to share with students, including grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and even life skills. The internet is a wonderful source of knowledge that makes learning English fun and interesting for ESL students, and the vast collection of lesson plans and worksheets are extremely helpful for an ESL teacher.