Baggetta

Baggetta_Ware Ramblings September 1, 2007
Volume IV

Hi, folks. It seems like it was only a few hours ago I was working on Rambling III and saying that summer was just getting started, and now most of you are probably already in the classroom starting another exciting year of teaching. I hope you all have a successful year, and I'll try and keep in touch through this newsletter. This month is generally accepted as the start of school month, so you will have to get to know a whole bunch of new names. I offer a remedy I used for learning names and a couple of ways to connect with your new students. When I was teaching I coined a new word FROSON for my classes, and you'll learn how you might use this term and activity to lighten your work load. Richard Lederer is our featured teacher writer this month and I'll introduce you to some of his amusing works that might prove entertaining and educational for your classes. Of course, I have another free monthly software download to tell you about: School Supply Costs can help you keep track of your classroom expenditures -- from the tissues and bandages in your desk to the doodads and trinkets you might buy for your bulletin boards. It's available now at our website. Writer's Almanac alerts you to eight writers who were born in the month of September. Also, there's an interesting contest on the web for student digital photographers that we want to lead you to. We also have news about our new Writers Picture and Bio Gallery -- come and see who is writing for Baggetta_Ware, and maybe you can even join us. We also have a new Lesson on our Video Page (even though it's not a video as such) that will show you the secrets of downloading and saving YouTube files you can use in your classes. So, let's get the year rolling, and come and visit us at Baggetta_Ware whenever you can.

Send your emails to abaggetta@comcast.net. Read on and see what this rambling is all about.

Have a great summer.
Best,
Al Baggetta

Getting To Know Your Students the Fun Way

The start of a new class at the beginning of the year always gave me trouble with remembering student names. Students would often get angry (although they might not directly show their anger) because the teacher doesn't know their names yet. They always had the advantage of course because they would only have to remember one name in class -- mine. I would have about thirty in each class and my mind apparently wasn't made to store that many names, right away.
I found that one way to get to know names is to play games right from the start, so I devised this little contest where I would have to go around with the seating chart identifying each student by name, a couple of times. Then I would try it without the seating chart. Pretty soon I was able to master most of the names with little trouble, but I didn't let them know about it. I'd play this little game at the start of each class for the first four or five session, but then I would purposely make mistakes -- mispronouncing, wrong person, etc. It got to be quite a bit of fun at the start of each year, so I kept it in. And you know what? I actually started to learn the student names a lot faster, and my students got to know me a lot better, too.

Using Classroom Row Leader

    Maybe you already do this, but I found in my high school English classes that it was very helpful to assign row leaders. I started by asking students: "Who would like to be a row leader?" Well, most of them were a bit wary of this job so they asked what it entailed. I told them they would have to take attendance in their row each class, hand out papers to the class, alphabetize papers on the student last names when they were collected, and some other minor jobs as they appeared throughout the year.
    Once the information was given to them, they immediately identified it for what it was -- WORK, and they were all in agreement -- they didn't want the job. So, I decided to treat the situation like a real job. I would "pay" the students. Notice the word pay has quotation marks around it. That means I wasn't really going to pay them with money. But for those who agreed to do the job there were little perks. They would get so many extra credit points added on to their grade, if they did a good job. They had the prestigious position of Row Leader (which when dramatically played up, sounded pretty good). I even gave them a title FROSON. The FROSON was the Front ROw PersON. At one point I even used my computer to make up a special card they could carry which acknowledged them as a FROSON for Baggetta. Now this might sound a little Middle-Schoolish -- but you'd be surprised at how the more mature kids loved it.
    Well, when I made the job more palatable, I had lots of students that wanted it, so I had to change FROSONS each term, just to be fair and keep everyone happy.

You might give this a try in your classes. It saves a lot of time on menial tasks, it adds a bit of humor to your classes, and makes for an all-around better classroom environment.

The Things You Learn Sometimes.

You might want to try this with your students. For years as a teacher I loved giving spot quizzes. Usually a five question quiz made up on-the-fly and based on a previous day's work or a reading assignment (I guess I liked them because they were easy to correct,also). I didn't want to waste paper and make a big deal out of this, so I would use scrap paper (8 1/2 x 11) sheets of paper I kept -- perhaps with old tests or other work written on one side. I would take two or three of these sheets together, fold them in half, place the papers down on a desk and quickly rip along the seam. After about 10 years of doing this (actually before) I got pretty good and was able to do a quick tear with a nice straight edge, tearing the paper into quarter sheets. Just the ideal size for a short quiz.

One day one of my student watched me do this just before a quiz and asked if he could try. Well I didn't think it was such a daunting task so I let him give it a spin. Well, no matter how much he tried he couldn't get a nice edge on the cut. In fact he could hardly help but reduce each cut to a pile of rubble.
Some of the other students got sight of this and had a good laugh at his expense, so I started letting my row leaders take on the job instead of me. After a short while I discovered something interesting. None of the kids could do it. Were talking high school age here, folks. Sort of gave me a feeling of superiority, and they seemed truly amazed at my "skill."

Well, I soon gave up the idea of having my row leaders try the cut. It was taking too much time so I returned to doing that menial job. My kids would ask how I developed the ability to tear three sheets with such a straight edge so quickly. I told them I practice on telephone books before class, but I don't think any of them bought into that.

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Important News: Baggetta_Ware now supports instant downloads when you order programs using Pay Pal or your credit card via Pay Pal. Now you don't have to wait to get your programs. Click "RETURN TO MERCHANT OR RETURN TO BAGGETTA_WARE" and you will be delivered to a page from which you can download your purchase immediately.
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Richard Lederer -- In the Classroom
Wikipedia describes Richard Lederer in this way:

Richard Lederer (born 1938) is an American author and teacher best known for his books on word play and the English language, and his use of oxymorons. His column, "Looking at Language", is syndicated in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States.

If you are a Language Arts teacher you will want to become familiar with this man. If you get a chance to see him perform live, jump at it. He's really quite amusing and extremely informative (sort of reminds me of that old comdian/ex-teacher Sam Levinson -- Only the older generation will know of whom I write).
If you are not familiar with Richard Lederer, you might want to pick up one of his books or audio tapes. He approaches the English language from a fun point of view. Words are games to be played and sentences are tournements to be enjoyed. You might even want to steal some of his ideas and make lesson plans out of them. It's okay to steal (steal is such a nasty word -- maybe borrow would be better) -- he said so at one of his conferences. Paraphrasing: If you find an idea that someone else had that will help you teach in the classroom -- steal it.

     Well I'd like to introduce you to one of Richard Lederer's books called The Play of Words. It's typical of the books he produces, and you can even convert much of his material into English lessons you can use in class. Here's what one teacher has to say about the book.

    This book is full of great ways to have fun with the English language. I have used it during my teaching practicum to teach my students (grade 8 & 12) basic poetic terms. The games are great fun and a wonderful way to start class everyday! The kids keep asking for more & I don't think there's anything better than that. Lederer spans the language from sound devices, to metaphors, to names, to language logic. It's one book I wouldn't want to teach without!

    You can find Richard's books at Amazon.com and in most bookstores, so take a look at what he has to offer.

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Important News: Baggetta_Ware NEVER charges for UPGRADES. If we fix or improve a program you can
download it for free with proof of purchase. Most companies thrive on the money they make from upgrades, but we feel you should have the security of a well running program from the start, so we offer upgrades and fixes at no charge. Hey! We make mistakes like everyone else, but we also make amends.
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School Supply Costs -- Free Program of the Month
I was recently reading an item on an educational website where teachers were talking about the amount of money they spend on their classes. Their money, mind you, not budgeted finances supplied by a school system. They weren't begrudging doing this, but they found it interesting that teachers do spend quite a bit (sometime unconsciously) to make their teaching experience more interesting and more effective.
    I got to thinking how true this was of my own classroom experiences. Sometime is was just easier to go out and buy something I needed in the classroom rather than going to the bean counters and begging for money. I can't think of how much my wife and I spent on keeping our rooms stocked with Kleenex for the kids to use, not to mention lots of other items.
    Well, it seemed like a good tracking program would be in order for the start of this school year so I fired up my computer and came up with a simple Windows program that you are all welcome to download this month for free. I call the program School Supply Costs: A Teacher's Record Keeper.
    Keep this handy program on your Windows desktop (it stores on the Taskbar when minimized) and click it whenever you make a purchase. You can list the item, cost, date of purchase, and location of purchase.   Click the accept button and you have a running record of all the items you buy for your class. You can see the list alphabetically at any time and even send it off to the printer, along with the total you have spent.
    Maybe someday schools will see that they should reimburse teachers for the money they spend out of pocket, but for now you can at least document your expenditures for your own satisfaction. Come and download this program now at our website Baggetta_Ware Teacher Tech -- www.baggetta.com.

WRITER'S ALMANAC
This is a partial list of some of the more well-known authors born in the month of September. Familiarize your students with them.

Leo Tolstoy 1828 - 1910
D. H. Lawrence 1885 - 1930
Roald Dahl 1916 - 1990
Stephen King 1947
F. Scott Fitzgerald 1896 - 1940

William Faulkner 1897 - 1962
T. S. Eliot 1888 - 1965
Truman Capote 1924 - 1984

Digital Photography Contest
Technology & Learning has an interesting contest you might want to involve your student in, if they have an interest in digital photography. Here's their blurb.

Technology & Learning's Digital Photo Contest for Kids
Sponsored by Adobe Digital Kids Club

DEADLINE: OCT. 19

Technology & Learning invites K-12 students to participate in the sixth annual digital photography contest. The competition, open to all K-12 students, challenges you to capture - and share - your unique vision of the world in a "Digital Diary - Through My Lens." If you have an artistic side, you also have the option to digitally enhance your photos with your favorite imaging software. The best digitally enhanced photo wins a special prize from Adobe. Other prizes include a digital camera, Adobe Photoshop Elements, and more!

Speaking of Pictures
We've set up a Writer's Picture and Biography page on Baggetta_Ware. You can go there now and see the people who are writing text material for Baggetta_Ware programs -- Interactive Literature, Test Generators, etc. The bio page is just getting started and we will be adding pictures and details of more of our writers as they come in, so check back and get to know us. If you think you'd like to write text questions and answers for our test generators, make money part time, and be a part of Baggetta_Ware, drop me an email at abaggetta@comcast.net with information about yourself and the subject you teach, and we'll get back to you with the details.

New Instructional Step-By-Step Videos Now Available for Download from Baggetta_Ware – No Charge.

We have some instructional videos on our website, so if you'd like to view them, go to the Baggetta_Ware Computer Lessons via our main page. Just click on the logo and start viewing. You can download the files to your machine if you like (use right click and Save Target), and you can even download a printed version of the video, if you need to slowly study it. Most of the material is relatively simple and geared toward new users of Windows and our programs, but anyone is welcome to view and comment.

New Instructional Video This Month: Saving and Viewing Educational Videos From YouTube
There are lots of great educational video clips that can be used in your classroom, on the popular YouTube.com site. Just about any topic can be searched and found from Shakespeare plays to Mathematical formulas explained. Unfortunately these videos don't always stay put, but if you know the tricks of the trade you can Download just about any clips from the site and save them to your Windows machines or burn them to DVD for portability in your classrooms.
This month's lesson will show you how to Download and Save the .FLV files (Flash video) and how to get a free player that will allow you to save and manipulate these files. Toss out that old movie projector and those expensive rental films. Soon you will have a large library of film clips you can use to enhance all of your lessons.
To view this month's instructions go to our Video Lesson Page at Baggetta_Ware. Click on Lesson #5.

Another Shameless Plug for Baggetta_Ware
Well. This brings us to another conclusion of my Ramblings. Hope you enjoyed this issue, and please send me your comments and ideas for future issues. Remember to come and visit us at Baggetta_Ware. We have lots of interesting Windows software for student reading and teacher Classroom Management. Also be sure to check out our Literary Test Generators -- the programs that will allow you to quickly generate hundreds of tests or worksheets and variations as well. We also have Social Studies, Grammar, and the versatile Anything Academic Test Generator, for teachers of any subject. For those who need ready-made tests, take a look at our newest section called Literary Exams with dozens of tests ready to go.

We'd like to spread the news about Baggetta_Ware and we hope that you will help us. We also have another software gift for you, if you recommend our site to one of your colleagues or friends. Just click the button on our main page and you can fill out the simple form. We won't nag your friends, but if they are interested they can come and visit us too. Thank you for your help.