master teacher assignment

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

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25 Tips, Tricks, and Techniques From Master Teachers

We asked veteran teachers to share their best advice, and here’s what they said.

Want to sharpen your master teacher skills? Capella University has a new online MEd in Teaching and Learning that provides tangible tools to make an immediate impact on your classroom. Learn more here.

Everyone can use advice from a trusted friend, relative or colleague from time to time. Whether you’re taking up a new hobby or honing your skills at work, it makes sense to learn from people who have a lot of experience. That’s why we recently sat down with a group of veteran teachers to hear some of the best classroom tips, tricks, and techniques they’ve learned over the years. These wise owls have more than 100 years of combined experience to share. You’re welcome!

Ann Boles is the second grade team leader at Harrington Elementary in Plano, Texas, and has 15 years experience teaching.

• Stay relevant. Boles says that to be a great teacher, you must constantly stay relevant. When she goes to a professional development workshop or conference, she makes a commitment to try something she learned there the very next day she teaches.

• Connect with families. Boles is a huge believer in creating positive relationships with families. “I live in the neighborhood where I teach, and I love that!” she says. “It’s one more way to connect with the families. I like parents to call me by my first name and I do the same with them.”

Carrie Fruin has 25 years of experience teaching chemistry, physical science and physics in K–12 classrooms. She is currently the program manager for Capella University’s School of Education , where she’s helping to develop the Education Innovation and Technology master’s degree specializations.

• Be a passionate advocate. Communicate with administrators in a professional and rational way—with passion but not too much emotion—to make your leadership team aware of your students’ needs.
• Be authentic. Your students are the first to know when you are faking it, burned out, fed up or unprepared. Owning up to your weaknesses helps build a solid relationship with your students and will actually foster their own internal motivation.

• Forget about the curriculum during the first week. Instead, focus on building a relationship with your students, making sure they know your classroom is a safe place and that they can trust you.
• Never stop learning. Your excitement for learning spreads to your students when they see your genuine curiosity to try new things. Model that same love of learning that we encourage our students to adopt.
• Admit when you’re not the expert. Just because you are a content specialist or veteran teacher doesn’t mean you’re expected to know everything . Sometimes your job is to switch into facilitator mode to encourage students to ask questions and be curious about things you haven’t considered. Say, “I don’t know, let’s look that up!”
• Pay it forward. Our classrooms are our labs. Every year that we spend with a different group of students is a year we spend researching and refining our techniques. Use your professional practice to grow, develop and become a better teacher. Practice what you learn along the way, and then pay it forward by sharing your best results with your colleagues.

Catherine Coleman has been teaching seventh- and eighth-grade Gifted English/Language Arts at Evans Middle School in Newnan, Georgia, for seven years.

• Let students create your quizzes. When using teacher-created resources like online games (think: Kahoot!), have the students create the game or quiz. Instead of spending hours each night making quizzes for students’ vocabulary words, Coleman asks her students if they’d like to make one for extra credit. She says you’ll be surprised at what a great job they’ll do, and you’ll be spared hours of work.
• Use technology for book chats. Coleman sets up different Google Classrooms for students who are interested in different genres (e.g., Romance Readers Classroom) and has all students who love a particular genre add themselves to the corresponding Google Classroom. She asks every student to join at least one “genre class” and make at least one post and two responses each week. This helps students get book recommendations while engaging in conversations about books.
• Learn one fact about each student each year. At the beginning of the year, Coleman gives her students a “getting-to-know-you” assignment. She writes down the facts, and by Christmas, she says she has at least one thing memorized that she can ask each student about as they walk into her classroom (e.g., “Good morning! How is your cat, Snuffles, doing?” or “How is your baseball team doing this season?” or “Do you practice or condition for soccer in the off-season?”). If the things become stale, ask new questions to gather more information.
• Remember that everyone forgets! As adults, we often forget to charge our laptops or tablets, turn in a paper to administration or turn off our cell phones during a meeting, says Coleman. Show empathy to the students in your classroom when something like this happens. If it’s their first time, let it slide. Remind them that everyone forgets, but they shouldn’t let it happen again.

• Read YA literature. Coleman recommends that all teachers, no matter their content area, pick up some young adult fiction from time to time. Your favorite bookstore (and often even your school or public library) has a section of popular young adult literature. If you’re a math teacher, for example, after you learn about Katniss Everdeen, the teenage protagonist from The Hunger Games , or Greg Heffley, the main character from Diary of a Wimpy Kid , you can use their names in your word problems instead of generic ones. It’s pretty easy to do, and you’ll be surprised at how much your students’ engagement soars.

• There’s an app for that! Don’t be afraid to look for apps or programs to help with your day-to-day classroom annoyances. There’s an app for just about everything! If you find yourself giving multiple-choice tests, you may want to check out ZipGrade , an online tool that quickly grades multiple-choice questions with your phone. If you want your students to make flash cards, look into Quizlet , an online flash-card app. If you want your students to keep a portfolio, use Seesaw , which allows them to take pictures of work and store it. Do you want to remind your students of the test they have tomorrow via text? Try Remind , a school communication app. If you aren’t sure what you need, Google “best apps for teachers” and take a few minutes to explore. You never know what you’ll find.

Aubrey-Jordan McGee has been teaching kindergarten for five years and is now a team lead at Orlando Science Elementary School in Orlando, Florida.

• Try “turn and talks.” For lesson strategies, McGee found a lot of benefit with “turn and talks,” also called “think-pair-shares.” Kinders love to talk, and it gives them a positive outlet to do so. It takes a lot of modeling and practice at the beginning of the year, but they catch on quickly. It also gives them a break from hearing the same voice (yours!) all day long.
• Create cultural awareness. McGee does a culture project with students every year. They all get a blank paper doll to take home to decorate and dress according to their culture. They also do a small poster about their family culture to share with the class. It’s really eye-opening for the kids to learn that some customs and traditions are shared with their peers as well as to learn about some new ones they’ve never heard of before. McGee’s students are always fascinated with the various cultures, and she says that she learns something new every year too!

Sheryl Knapp is the math department chair at Indian Mountain School in Lakeville, Connecticut, where she’s taught middle school for 16 of her 35 years as a math teacher.

• Make real-world connections. Knapp likes to show her math students real-world applications of the geometry and algebra they learn in her class. When her school was building a new student center, she invited the construction manager to class to illustrate how he uses math every day on the job to calculate angles, make precise measurements and estimate the cost of supplies. Her class also toured the construction site to get a firsthand look at right angles, geometric shapes and level planes in the structure.

Wyceta Thompson is a 14-year veteran of teaching high school English and teaches at Frederick Douglass High School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

• Take videos. Thompson takes video of oral presentations and then uses them for kids to evaluate themselves and their classmates. She recommends introducing the evaluation criteria prior to the assignment and then having your students critique one another. They can submit their evaluations via Google Classroom to share their responses.

• Draw pictures of everything! Pictures are easier to remember than long strings of words. Carraway recommends having students draw a picture of the main character in a book on a sticky note and place it at the end of the book. As they learn more about the character, have them add details and descriptive adjectives to their drawing. This helps students look for character details and analyze the characters as they read.
• Get moving. Exercise primes your brain for learning, and when you and your students exercise before learning, says Carraway, it helps information stick better. Exercise also helps students reduce anxiety and quiets a noisy brain when kids have lots of thoughts and worries bouncing through their minds.

Join our Facebook group WeAreTeachers—First Years! to connect with other new teachers, and learn more about how you can navigate your classroom and life.

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Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)

This program is awaiting NYSED and MSCHE approval.

Welcome to a New Chapter: Starting June 1*, Siena College is honored to carry forward the legacy of Clarkson University's Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program, promising a future of continued excellence and innovative education.

Siena’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program prepares you to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing education field. Districts and schools all over seek out creative and dynamic instructors ready to take charge, encourage change and deliver results, and Siena’s MAT program teaches you to do  just that. 

Hands-on experience is a key part of our program — immediately immersing our students in a year-long residency or internship assignment. During this assignment, you will experience what it is like to be an educator through lesson plan creation and classroom management. Along the way, an experienced mentor-teacher observes and directs your progress.

At the heart of our MAT program lies our faculty — bringing a wealth of experience to the classroom including mentorship and support. Every member of Siena’s MAT faculty has secondary teaching experience. As a result, our teachers are sought-after in urban, suburban and rural school settings.

Our blend of coursework with hands-on classroom experience forms educators who can make a meaningful impact in their communities. 

Ready to show why the best teachers are Saints? 

Courses include:

• Curriculum and Methods of Teaching
• Effective Teaching for All Learners (3 credits)
• Essential Reading Literacy
• Professionalism in Teaching
• The Modern Teacher (3 credits)
• The Psychology of Teaching
• Business and Marketing
• Computer Science
• Earth Science
• Mathematics
• Social Studies

CHOOSE THE PATH THAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU

MAT, Adolescent Education - includes grades 7-12 certification pathways in Biology, Business and Marketing (K-12), Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics, Computer Science (K-12), Mathematics, English, Social Studies, Technology (K-12), Chinese, French, German, Greek, Latin, Russian, or Spanish. 

Advanced Certificates: Certificate of Advanced Study in Curriculum & Instruction; Certificate of Advanced Study in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Extension Programs: Middle Childhood Extension; Coordinator of Work Based Learning Programs Extension; Foreign Language Elementary School (FLES); General Science; Bilingual Education Extension

SUCCEED AS A SAINT

The MAT Program has a 100% placement rate of graduates since 2016.

*Subject to NY State Education Department approval.

Related Programs & Majors

Educational Studies

Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction

• Sourcebook Home

Science Teaching Series

• The Sourcebook for Teaching Science
• Hands-On Physics Activities
• Hands-On Chemistry Activities

Internet Resources

I. developing scientific literacy.

• 1 - Building a Scientific Vocabulary
• 2 - Developing Science Reading Skills
• 3 - Developing Science Writing Skills
• 4 - Science, Technology & Society

II. Developing Scientific Reasoning

• 5 - Employing Scientific Methods
• 6 - Developing Scientific Reasoning
• 7 - Thinking Critically & Misconceptions

III. Developing Scientific Understanding

• 8 - Organizing Science Information
• 9 - Graphic Oganizers for Science
• 10 - Learning Science with Analogies
• 11 - Improving Memory in Science
• 12 - Structure and Function in Science
• 13 - Games for Learning Science

IV. Developing Scientific Problem Solving

• 14 - Science Word Problems
• 15 - Geometric Principles in Science
• 16 - Visualizing Problems in Science
• 17 - Dimensional Analysis
• 18 - Stoichiometry

V. Developing Scientific Research Skills

• 19 - Scientific Databases
• 20 - Graphing & Data Analysis
• 21 - Mapping & Visualizing Data
• 22 - Science Inquiry & Research
• 23 - Science Projects & Fairs

VI. Resources for Teaching Science

• 24 - Science Curriculum & Instruction
• 25 - Planning Science Instruction
• 26 - The Science Laboratory
• 27 - Science Reference Information

Observing Master Teachers

Purpose - The purpose of this assignment is to learn teaching strategies from experienced teachers in secondary school biology, chemistry, physics, earth science and health classrooms. In addition, you may find a teacher whom you would like as a master teacher for 554 or 555. Note: If you are an intern, you can observe three other science teachers at your school instead of three master teachers from our list.

Read these documents first

• Student Teaching Handbook
• Responsibilities of Master Teachers for 554 and 555
• Note, all who earn general science credentials are qualified to teach all middle school science courses in addition to their specialty. For example, a holder of a Science:Biology credential is qualified to teach earth science, life science, and physical science at middle school, as well as college preparatory biology at high school and non-college preparatory science high school classes. By contrast, a holder of a specialized credential is only qualified to teach the specific science. a Biology:Specialized credential authorizes you to teach all life science courses at middle and high school.

Visit Master Teachers

Observe three (3) or more master teachers. Select master teachers who are at schools that will be conveniently located for for your student teaching placements.

• Read information on Placements
• Read material on preparing for a visit.
• errors - Note any teachers who have retired or moved, or changes to subjects taught
• email - Provide email addresses for master teachers
• suggestions - Suggest potential master teachers
• Observe each master teacher for at least one full class period. Take notes on at least three teaching strategies employed by each teacher. Discuss the effectiveness of each technique. Submit your work using Moodle .
• Norman Herr, Ph.D.

Helpline PH

Tips on how to prepare documents for the ranking of master teacher promotions.

The secret to promoting master teachers will be determined by how you store your paperwork in your home or classroom cabinets. We may believe that those papers are unimportant, so we toss them in the trash or dispose of them at a landfill. However, that is a big mistake. You should save all those documents, even if they aren’t particularly significant to you, because you will find that those papers are very useful in filing for promotion. Keeping papers is like keeping someone alive in your heart. You keep it even if you don’t think him/her too important because of her/his appearance or social status in life, but time comes, you will realize how important she/he is.

Well, restoring papers is good practice, whether you will file for a promotion or not. Sooner or later, you’ll need them if you want to be promoted, but not all applicants are willing to restore their papers because they don’t have any to be restored. That’s why you should be careful of dishonest applicants. Don’t have too much faith in the company or a group of people. Whether they perform miracles or idiocy in their documents, there will be sabotage or agreement within the group of pals. For them, equality is not a good idea. When a group of friends has a strong reason for their own interest, bias applicants succeed. The documents that have been filed are coming from the wind. Have you grasped what I’m getting at? That paperwork is generated, but the applicant does not perform or does not perform his/her duties completely. It is only designed just to get the position. The teacher friends can speak about the unfolding story behind the magic or dishonesty in their actions. There was a conspiracy that happened when a group of teachers had a strong interest in the position. In other words, the assignment was not assigned to her/him, which can be portrayed by an incompetent, self-centered leader. This type of promotion is now prevalent in a prejudiced system.

Let’s move on to the documentation required for Master Teacher promotion, which may be found in the Master Teacher’s Criteria. However, here are some pointers to help you get started, particularly if you’re a new teacher in the field:

1. A. INTRODUCED ANY OF THE FOLLOWING WHICH HAS BEEN ADOPTED OR USED BY THE SCHOOL OR DISTRICT/DIVISION

• Make a club or organization for your school, as well as a project. You put this in writing by submitting a project proposal. Ascertain that your project will generate revenue and that it will be a worthwhile income-generating project (IGP). This IGP has received 20 points if your proposal is comprehensive, signed by the superintendent, and includes signatures from the project’s stakeholders. Make sure you’ve worked as an adviser or coordinator in the organization for at least two years, as it takes two years for your IGP points to be counted. Keep in mind that your project must be completed in order for you to receive full credit for this project. There are four in the list of criteria, but you must choose one.

A. Curriculum or instructional materials

B. Effective teaching techniques or strategies

C. The Division’s higher officials recognize simplification or work as in reporting systems, record keeping, etc., or procedures that recruit in cost reduction.

D. A worthwhile Income Generating Project (IGP) or pupils are given due recognition by the higher officials of the division.

All four criteria should follow the same procedure as the Worthwhile Income Generating Project (IGP), except for two of them: work simplification and the income generating project’s necessity to produce money in order to continue.

There are documents that must be prepared in this column of the criterion. You can inquire about the criteria for master teacher ranking from your school’s principal or the teachers in charge of the ranking.

2-B. SUBJECT COORDINATOR

• Make sure you’ve spent at least one year at your school as a Subject Coordinator, Grade Chairman, or member of any type of school club or group, and that you’ve completed such tasks satisfactorily for at least two (2) years while doing so. This section of the criteria carries a score of 12 points. In the Master Teacher Criteria, you’ll find the documents you’ll need to prepare.

3-C. CHAIRMAN OF A SPECIAL COMMITTEE

• See to it that you are assigned as Chairman of a Special Committee in your school, district or division to develop instructional materials corroborated by five (5) teachers and duly notarized. These learning materials are utilized in your school to aid students in their learning. For example, instructional materials in their learning such as short stories, charts, draw well, iplan, self-learning modules, test papers, questionnaires, or any kind of instructional resources relevant to your class signed by the principal or supervisor.
• You can also support your claim by citing your position as Grade Chairman/Year-Level Chairman. Follow the sample documents for this Master Teacher criterion. I believe you should inquire about the qualifications with your principal, as the standards vary by location.

4-D ACTION RESEARCH

• To gain 12 points on this criterion, make sure you initiated, led, or participated in an educational research initiative that was duly sanctioned by educational authorities for the purpose of improving instruction, community development, or teacher welfare. Teachers must engage in the Division Research Study with an approved letter from the superintendent of the school division to perform Action Research , as well as an approved Research Proposal, a Research Report, and an Accomplishment Report (Narrative Report and Pictorials).

5-E COORDINATOR OF A COMMUNITY PROJECT

• Making this community project of a program of another agency or coordinator of a rural service improvement activity in a community for at least two (2) years, such as feeding, nutrition, agro-industrial fairs, etc. In order to feed, you must have a certificate as a Community Project Coordinator for at least two (2) years, a Memorandum designating you as a Community Project Coordinator, an Approved Letter Request by the Barangay Captain to conduct a Community Project, an Approved Project Proposal, and an Accomplishment Report (Narrative Report and Pictorials).

In groups such as the Philippine Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, or any other organization where you can run a program like “Bundle of Joy” for your students from low-income families, or as a member of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4 Ps). For the assessment of the giving of joy to the impoverished families in the target barangay, you should coordinate with the Rural Health Unit (RHU) or the Barangay Health Worker (BHW) in your barangay.

Showing a one-night presentation of the barangay’s fiesta celebration might also earn you points in the school club or performing arts organization. The paperwork that must be prepared is identical to that required for the feeding program.

6-F IN- SERVIVE TRAINING/SEMINAR- WORKSHOP/LAC SESSIONS

• How can you get involved in this in-service training? You should be sent to a seminar on the subject or activity you’ve been assigned. During the In-Service Training, the principal and supervisor will allow you to speak for the teachers’ orientation. Furthermore, if the school head or supervisor believes you have the ability to facilitate the topic, you can be a speaker. Aside from your potential, if you are the school coordinator in that area of specialization, the principal and supervisor have delegated you to be a speaker. To become a Master Teacher, you only need the appropriate documents listed in the qualifications

7-G MERITORIOUS ACHIEVEMENTS

• One approach to obtaining these praiseworthy achievements is to participate in various contests with your students, such as being a trainer or coach to a contender who earns awards, commendations, or any form of recognition, or places first. Academic, socio-cultural, community-based, or sports competitions that are not part of a normal class or activity, such as exceptional teacher/MT/Best Performing Teacher/MT, are examples of contests. The claim is backed up by a certificate of appreciation or recognition that specifically names the claimant as the sports coach of prize-winning athletes or teams. Each of the criteria has a maximum point value. It depends on the level of competition you and your students achieve, whether regional, divisional, Congressional, Sub-Congressional, or District. The documents required are related to the Master Teacher requirements.

8-H AUTHORSHIP

• Being the author of a book requires more time. Candles were lit solely to finish the writing. Being a writer is a magnificent gift from the Almighty Father. To avoid wasting your articles or books, you should publish them so that you can get points. For example, a book is worth ten (10) points, and each article is worth one (1) point if it is regarding education. The points are awarded based on whether the author is the sole author or a co-author. Copy of the published articles, publisher certification, authorship of a book-copy of the certificate of copyright registration and deposit of the published book issued by any authorized office, and copy of the published books are all required papers.

9-I DEMONSTRATION TEACHING

• There are master teachers promoted even though they are not demonstrators in a school, district, division, or region. Maybe it depends on the points you earned during the ranking. To be promoted and capable of being an MT, you should be a demonstrator either in the school, district, division, or region. Prepare your lesson plan to be signed by the principal and the supervisor who will observe you during the demonstration. Record your lesson demonstration and put it on a CD. Include it with your documents.

I believe I have already provided you with information on the documentation required to compete for Master Teacher status in your school and division. I wish you all luck in your job search. Remember that if you want to be promoted, you must work hard and persevere. – Doki | Helpline PH

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