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    Classroom Success Through Creativity
    Classroom Success Through Creativity
    Classroom Success Through Creativity
    Ebook206 pages1 hour

    Classroom Success Through Creativity

    By Lee Gabor

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Lee Gabor, M.Ed., is a national award winning educator. In August of 2002, she became a teacher at Silberstein Elementary School, Dallas ISD, Dallas, Texas. She had owned and operated her own business for 25 years before being drafted to teach. During the first week in the classroom of her Title 1 school, she was lecturing to students in the way she had learned to do. A 6th grader called her Ms. Ga-boring. She immediately knew lecturing would not work with her mostly second language students. Ms. Gabor sought help from other educators as well as put her creative right brain lobe to work. She came up with ideas for stuffed characters and robotic toys who would become the teachers in the classroom. She also borrowed all the computers she could for students to use for creating PowerPoint presentations and providing lessons to their classmates. This book outlines, with photographs, the many ideas used in her two 6th grade and two 5th grade classes. Hands-on activities, songs, and dances, and technology used also are described. Ms. Gabor bases the measurement of her success on the fact that, to her knowledge, only one of her students quit high school before graduating despite predictions that half would do so.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLee Gabor
    Release dateJun 2, 2012
    ISBN9781476247724
    Classroom Success Through Creativity
    Author

    Lee Gabor

    I am first and foremost inquisitive, always wanting to know what goes on globally and locally and wanting to understand WHY! Being a newspaper reporter was the career with which I began. Then, as a pianist and vocalist, I spent a number of years entertaining throughout the U.S. I also owned a talent agency during that time. After those 25 years, my next career was in public education, which was something I never intended to do. Getting "drafted" into teaching and the time I spent as an Academic Coordinator were very interesting and I do so love the students and teachers, administrators, and staff members I met. I'm very proud of our students. After six years, I left teaching and moved near my son and his family. I became a Master Gardener and Master Composter, joined local organizations, and have been able to enjoy more time with my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I am thrilled that my professional focus now is limited to writing. I will be publishing both fiction and non-fiction works and begin that in new venture in 2012.

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      Book preview

      Classroom Success Through Creativity - Lee Gabor

      Classroom Success Through Creativity

      By

      Lee Gabor, M. Ed.

      Published by Aquarian Age Incorporated at Smashwords

      Copyright 2012 by Lee Gabor and Aquarian Age Incorporated

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is free for the first three months of publication (June through August, 2012). Even though free, it is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person during the first three months, please direct them to Smashwords so he or she can download his or her own copy. If you are a school administrator and interested in providing a copy to your teachers, please contact Mark Coker at Smashwords regarding the download. After the three months expire, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not download it free or purchase it or it was not purchased for your use only, please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Cover Layout by Lee Gabor

      Also by Lee Gabor and Published at Smashwords:

      Cowboy Jesse and the College Girl, a contemporary romance novel of 103,000+ words

      Pig Tales: Volume 1 - The Stinky, Skinny Wolf, an educational children's book of 5000+ words

      Love Never Dies, a Christian-based romance novel of 180,000+ words

      Chicamauga: The Battle of The Blue and The Gray, a poem with Civil War battle details

      Southern Cooking: Recipes for Fried Foods I'll NEVER Prepare or Eat

      Southern Cooking: Recipes for My Favorite Fried Foods

      Astrology Fun Sun Sign Song Parodies with Birthdays of Famous People - lyrics to old tunes

      Free ebook - A Tribute to the PIGs Club of Madison, Wisconsin and Houston, Texas

      Free ebook - A Tribute to The Cellar Door Piano Bar on Stella Link, Houston, Texas

      Thank you for downloading my ebook. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Your comments are welcome. My goal is to provide you with an excellent reading experience. Your support and respect for this property is greatly appreciated.

      This book is a guidebook and is non-fiction. Other than the author's personal experiences, persons, living or dead are not named in this book. The locale named is Dallas, Texas, which is a large city.

      To find out more about me and see other titles I've published, please visit http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/LeeGabor

      Please Review This Book

      Dear Readers, please take a moment to return to the site where you downloaded this book and leave your opinion. Your thoughts will help other readers decide whether to obtain a book. Authors, including myself, appreciate your support.

      *****

      Table of Contents

      Dedication

      Introduction

      Chapter 1 - Objectives, Essential Questions, Rubrics, Grade Logs

      Chapter 2 - First Day of School

      Chapter 3 - Diversity in the Classroom

      Chapter 4 - Elaine the Brain's Thinking and Learning

      Chapter 5 - Classroom Management and Behavior

      Chapter 6 - Using an Agenda

      Chapter 7 - Teaching State Curriculum

      Chapter 8 - Characters for Teaching Critical Thinking Skills

      Chapter 9 - Reading

      Chapter 10 - Characters for Reading and Language Arts

      Chapter 11 - Math

      Chapter 12 - Science

      Chapter 13 - Social Studies

      Chapter 14 - Test Taking Strategies

      Chapter 15 - Technology

      Chapter 16 - Other Ideas and Social Networking

      How This Book Came About

      A Future Book

      About Me

      *****

      Dedication

      This ebook is especially dedicated to my students at Silberstein Elementary School in Dallas Independent School District (ISD), Dallas, Texas. They were 6th graders in classes 02-03 and 03-04 and 5th graders in classes 04-05 and 05-06. I am so proud of all of you, especially for sticking in there to earn those high school diplomas and moving on to college or to the workplace. Your good citizenship is appreciated. You all are the future of our country.

      It also is dedicated to the wonderful teachers, staff, and administrators with whom I worked in public education during my four years in the classroom at Silberstein and two years as a school-wide Academic Coordinator, at Silberstein and Henry B. Gonzalez Elementary School.

      And, the book would not exist without the efforts of Suzanna Brown, my dear friend, who is a great asset to Planet Earth. It was Suzanna who encouraged me to accept the teaching position and who attended the Field Day activities with me that spring I was hired.

      *****

      Introduction

      My formal school picture

      In the Classroom

      Before adding my reason for writing this ebook, I wanted to comment on why it is free for the first three months of publication (June through August, 2012). I do have to make a living and I am hoping that readers who enjoy this as a free resource will purchase one (or more, of course) of the novels I've written or the Children's educational series, Pig Tales. Those ebooks are priced very reasonably and your purchase can help me financially. There is no obligation, of course.

      It seemed the right thing to do to offer this book free for an introductory period because I believe children need a print rich and fun classroom in which to succeed. This is especially true in elementary school and can make a great impact on second language learners. What better way for me to emphasize that than to try to ensure each elementary teacher has access to the ideas in this book? It is my belief that among all the text and photos, every elementary school teacher may find at least one that can help his or her students to better grasp and comprehend and REMEMBER a lesson. This is my contribution to making the world better through education.

      Last night, May 29, 2012, we had our First Annual Silberstein Student-Teacher Get-Together and I had the wonderful experience of seeing students who are now grown. It was so dear to me to listen to them talk about how the characters you will meet in this book helped them in and after they left 5th or 6th grade. They could remember the characters and the lessons that accompanied the stuffed animals or robot toys, etc. If it worked for my students, I know it can work for yours.

      Please let me make it clear, when I taught school, my own children were grown and I was single and not in a relationship. Therefore, I had lots of time to devote to teaching and I also could use all my spare money to buy items for the classroom. Most teachers are not in the same situation.

      However, even a few items purchased for $1 at a dollar type store or a garage sale can add a lot of fun to a classroom. I hope teachers can find a little cash to make the environment more inviting to students. Even most adults don't enjoy a sterile environment. We add art and plants and decorative items to our homes to make statements about who we are.

      Students typically will become excited about bring their own characters to help with teaching. Technology is especially important.

      This ebook includes techniques, ideas, and tools I used as a 5th and 6th grade classroom teacher in Dallas. Rather than any interest about me and how this came about, you may prefer to skip the rest of the Introduction and go right to the meat of this book. That's fine. I simply wanted to explain the evolution of my move from the business world to education and, more specifically, to show my apparent failure at the beginning of my classroom experience and how adding fun items made such a difference.

      Together, students and I created the fun environment that led to success for students' learning. The remainder of this Introduction offers that explanation.

      I didn't anticipate being a public school teacher, but had closed the talent agency and academy I owned and operated. I was on a listserv (Moonlady) in Dallas and one day in May of 2002, I noticed a request from Mrs. Hester for items that could be used in an elementary classroom.

      Since I had placed many business items in storage, I contacted her and learned she taught at Silberstein Elementary School. The school had been rated by the Texas Education Agency as Academically Unacceptable and Dallas ISD had brought in Principal Bob Fonseca to redirect the focus and improve the rating. Mrs. Hester and I discussed what I could contribute. During the conversation, she stated what the school really needed was a 6th grade teacher for the fall of 2002.

      I laughed and told her I had gotten a degree in elementary education many years before and explained to her that the college at which I finished did not have a journalism degree, which was

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