Punctuation Day

Last week was "Punctuation Day". The Talking Teacher missed it, as he was not aware of it, but yes, last week was "Punctuation Day". This was taken from the L.A. Times. Do you know where your comma is?
The book Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss made at least a few people take more notice of punctuation. Click here to test your punctuation skills with the quiz from the publishers of this book.

But you're probably mistaken if you think normal activity for the fifth annual National Punctuation Day today will stop.

And everyone can take heed from the example of a Canadian company. A misplaced comma in a contract cost it $2.3 million when a judge ruled the agreement was not ironclad, as was believed. The judge said bad punctuation was no excuse.


"Punctuation has been devalued by a generation of computer wizards who ask, 'What's the point? Nobody writes in complete sentences anymore,' " says Jeff Rubin, founder of National Punctuation Day. "But the rules of proper punctuation haven't changed just because of computers."

So, think twice before you place your punctuation in that sentence. Happy punctuation day.

Mr. Worrell and Ms. Tucker share their thoughts on teaching

Episode 4 Season 2

Click here to listen as Ms. Ngina Tucker and Mr. Shuab Worrell as they share their thoughts on teaching.

BBC- Pupils 'do not understand' maths

This is an interesting audio interview dealing with maths education in England. Almost half of England's schools are not teaching maths well enough, and they are putting too much emphasis on passing tests, a report by Ofsted inspectors says. Miriam Rosen, director of education at Ofsted, discusses whether the criticism is justified. Click here to go to the post.

Leave a reply, tell us what you think about this topic.

A great book

This past show we mentioned a great book,"Yardsticks", by Chip Wood. This is a wonderful resource for anyone working with children aged 4 to 14. It offers insights into the development of various age groups, and the book is conveniently divided by age. So, if you are working with seven-year-olds, you simply go to the section labeled "Sevens" and you can read about their cognitive abilities as well as physical attributes an average child of this age has.

Click here to go to their blog.

The first episode of our second season- click to listen

Click here to listen to Episode 3 from season 2- Tips for Teachers

Tips for teachers- Episode- 3

This past show had us hearing from Mr. Anthony Crichlow and Mrs. Marion Dyer. They shared with us some tips for teachers, things that teachers can do to become better at their trade, here are a few:
1. Know why you are there-know your purpose.
2. Prepare- there is nothing worse than walking into the class unprepared.
3. Be consistent- in your methods, your correction, your everything, nothing beats consistency!
4. Listen to the children- they do have something of value to contribute, and they are people, not robots.
5. Keep the lines of communication open, between the parents as well as your fellow teachers.
6. Encourage community in your class.
7. Create empowered students- an empowered student is an independent learner and one who is getting prepared for the world.
8. As a teacher, you don't have to act as if you know everything- thee is nothing wrong in telling your students that you don't know and will do your best to find the answer.
9. Reinvent your classroom every now and then.-switch things up!
10. Mingle with your students- be friendly, but not familiar.

Have a great year!! Enjoy yourself as you empower your young scholars!

Labour Day March

The Talking Teacher must post his thought on the past Labour Day celebration. It was interesting to see who turned out for the march held EVERY year, rain blow or shine. The Talking Teacher was saddened to see that there were not many people out, and those who were out, were retired, or nearly there. Now don't get me wrong, there were other ages there, but the majority of those present were not representative of the younger generation. In fact, in some cases, there were only two people there holding the banner. Interesting....


What has happened? A few weeks ago, hundreds descended upon parliament to show support and solidarity for all things that were presented to the Government as grievances, but at the march, there were so few. In fact, if it was not for the majorettes, and the Bermuda Regiment Band, it would have looked really bad. Is there not a need for a union now? Is that what we are saying? The interesting thing is that the Unions in Bermuda have been synonymous with the civil rights movement here. Now that our rights, for the most part are not being trampled upon, it seems as though support for the unions has diminished.

Now when I say support, I mean in the good times as well as the bad, good times for a union are bad times...let me explaining, when things are not going well for the workers, the union, any union has majority support in meetings, rallies, you name it, people are there. As soon as things get "better" for the people, union support dwindles. I can think of many of those who paved the way for us, they were pro union in the good and bad times. Somehow we need to get this same passion back to our people, the passion that makes people support any union whenever there is anything being put on by the union. Maybe the thrust has changed a bit from times past, but the need for support of the union is always there. Many do not realize that they are the union, let me type that again...YOU ARE THE UNION!!!!! Your union is no stronger or no weaker than what you make it.....let us pull together- support, stand in solidarity!!!!

Interesting Times

Here in Bermuda, there are many interesting things going on in the educational realm. The interesting thing is that many teachers, those who are on the front lines feel as if they are being left out of the equation. The Talking Teacher read with great interest the article in the Royal Gazette on Saturday the 13th of September, speaking of how there is to be a Joint Select Committee on Education. This is a bipartisan committee and aims to produce a report for Parliament by November on how successfully the ten key recommendations in the infamous 2007 Hopkins report on public schools have been implemented.

Hmmmmm....all I am asking is that some teachers be able to be allowed to become a part of this committee, not past teachers, not those who may have experienced a teacher, but current teachers, those who are on the front lines....those who are in the classroom, those who are working to get the best out of our young scholars.

Welcome Back

Well, here we are again, at the start of a new school year and yes it is amazing how fast time flies when you are having fun. It seems that we just got out for summer holidays!! WOW!!!!! No worries, we here at Teacher Talk hope that you are ready for the new year and are rearing to go. The summer is a great time to reinvent oneself and come back with some new tricks under your belt, refreshed and ready to go. So we hope that you are ready, energized and refreshed. Have a great year. Please take note that we have moved another day and another time, so instead of Tuesday evenings, we are now on every Thursday from 6-7 in the P.M. Tune in and please feel free to call.