A Tale Of Teacher Inspiration

A SPECIAL INVITATION FOR TEACHERS...

LessonPlansPage.com would like to take a moment to let you know about Concordia University's new Master’s Degrees in Education that you can complete online in just one year!

Available Master's Degrees in Education include:

Curriculum & Instruction: Reading
Curriculum & Instruction: Methods & Curriculum
Curriculum & Instruction: English to Speakers
of Other Languages
Educational Leadership

These programs can help you:

Open the door to a variety of school leadership career opportunities like higher education teaching, department chair, ELL consultant, literacy coach, or curriculum coordinator
Complete your degree in one year, on your schedule,
from the comfort of your home
A Master's Degree could mean an automatic salary increase in your school district!

A national university system with 10 campuses throughout the United States, Concordia was founded more than 100 years ago and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

I am presently teaching 8th grade English at Albritton JHS on Fort Bragg in North Carolina. I started teaching in my own classroom in 1979, at Welch JHS in Welch, WV. The three years I spent there will remain in my memory forever.

I taught 7-9th grade Remedial reading in a school with no textbooks - just supplementary materials. This was my first full-time teaching experience. The students in my class had reading levels from Pre-Primer stage to 6th grade. I had my work cut out for me.

There is one student who stands out more than most. His name was "John." "John" was the best checker player I had ever encountered. He could barely read on that Pre-Primer level at age 14, but he could play a mean game of checkers. He absolutely hated to be beaten - especially by me. I realized I could use this to my advantage.

I made up some checkerboards that had reading skills on each square. I put things like; "Give me a word with a short a sound", Which word has a long e sound - bet, beet, bat", and so on. The rule was - before "John" could make a move, he had to perform the task. He had problems at first, and I would beat him every time. Eventually, "John" got to where he could perform the tasks, and was back to winning. I would let him keep those tasks he mastered on the boards for a while so he could beat me. Then I would replace those with harder skills.

I am proud to say that after two years with me, "John" was able to read on a third grade level. We played checkers like this at least twice a week. I don't know if he ever got any better with his reading as I have lost contact with him since I moved away. I will always remember the checker king, and I hope that he has continued to be a successful reader.

LessonPlansPage.com would like to take a moment to let you know about Concordia University's new Master’s Degrees in Education that you can complete online in just one year!

Find Out More!