8 Things to Look For in Today’s Classroom
As I think that leaders should be able to describe what they are looking for in schools I have thought of eight things that I really want to see in today’s classroom. I really believe that classrooms need to be learner focused. This is not simply that students are creating but that they are also having opportunities to follow their interests and explore passions.1 The teacher should embody learning as well. Will Richardson recently wrote this in a comment on one of my recent posts on what teachers need to be like in our current day and the focus that needs to be on learning: …we need teachers who are masters at developing kids as learners who are adept at sense making around their own goals.
Curiosity killed by class?
When you become a father you get used to being asked endless questions about the intricacies of our complex world. The road is paved with unending questions. Why does this…? How does that…?
Ahead Of The Caldecott, 8 Picture Books That Make Us Wish We Were Kids Again : Monkey See
Update: On Jan. 27, the American Library Association awarded the Caldecott Medal to Locomotive by Brian Floca. Three Caldecott Honor books were also named, including Journey by Aaron Becker and Mr. Wuffles! by David Wiesner.
How to Revitalize Your Students
Have I let "instructional weeds" infest my classroom? I went out into my backyard today and was astounded about its condition. The hibernating Bermuda grass was yellow-brown as it should have been, but salt-and-peppered throughout the yard were bright green dandelions with the "I dare you to stop me" fluffy white seed flowers that had not been there in the fall.
The Best Infographics About Teaching & Learning English As A Second (or Third!) Language
I thought readers might appreciate this collection: Learn English with Kaplan How to learn English via Kaplan Blog Love learning English with Kaplan
Pearson Prentice Hall: eTeach: Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension
by Patricia Babbitt Introduction Most Effective Strategies Practical Applications of Reading Strategies Summary Resources Remember the adventures that lived and breathed between the pages of a really good book when, as a young reader, you slipped away undiscovered into your own magical world?
Time Management: Planning for the Adventure
Image credit: iStockphoto As we leave summer and approach back to school in a frenzy, the "To Do" list can become overwhelming. As teachers, we find ourselves pulled in different directions -- setting up our classrooms, learning student profiles, meeting with parents, lesson planning, collaborating with administrators -- the list seems eternal! There is one important element that we sometimes forget: focus.
Review of Throwaway Daughter by Ting-Xing Ye with William Bell
The central story of Ting-Xing Ye’s ambitious novel involves that quintessential adolescent quest to discover “Who am I?” Ye, born in Shanghai, and now living in Orillia, Ontario, is the author of an acclaimed memoir and three children’s books. For most of her life, teenage Grace Parker has adamantly rejected her Chinese origins.
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning: 10 New Educational Web Tools to Try Out
March 8, 2014 Once every two weeks I feature here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning a list of some of the new educational web tools I have been bookmarking. These are basically tools other teachers and edubloggers have reviewed in their websites and blogs and which I think are worth sharing with you and keeping you posted about the latest in the world of educational technology. 1- Exam Time ExamTime is changing the way students learn by providing free study tools for students and teachers. ExamTime has been developed to help students make studying more than just a mind exercise.
Photo Collages as Writing Prompts
In a post on Android for Schools I wrote about using Pic Collage on my Android phone to create a collage to summarize my day. Pic Collage is a free app available for Android and iOS devices. The app allows you to quickly arrange pictures on a wide variety of canvas designs, add text to your images, and add stickers to your collages. From the app you can share your collage to Google Drive, Instagram, Facebook, Dropbox, and many other file sharing services. Applications for Education Students who struggle to get started on a descriptive writing assignment could benefit from first creating a photo collage about the event or concept that they need to write about. In thinking about the images that they select, they're also thinking about what they will say about each image.
Study Skills Guide: Improve Reading Comprehension Skills
Good reading comprehension comes only with practice. The basic aspects of reading, such as word recognition, phonetics and fluence, can be mastered in just a few years. However, throughout this process reading comprehension must be emphasized. Students may be able to eloquently repeat the words that the see on a page all day, but without reading comprehension skills, they're unable to fully understand the content, predict what will happen next, recognize characters, gain insight or understanding to build upon, or relate what they're reading to their own life's experience.
Addressing Our Needs: Maslow Comes to Life for Educators and Students
In the mid-1950s, humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow created a theory of basic, psychological and self-fulfillment needs that motivate individuals to move consciously or subconsciously through levels or tiers based on our inner and outer satisfaction of those met or unmet needs. As a parent and educator, I find this theory eternally relevant for students and adults, especially in our classrooms. After studying it over the past couple of years, my graduate and undergraduate students have decided that every classroom should display a wall-sized diagram of the pyramid, as students and teachers alike place pins and post-its on the varying tiers based on their own feelings, behaviors and needs. What do actual brain-compatible strategies look like on this pyramid? Tier One
Book Ge3k: I am not Esther by Fleur Beale
I am not Esther by Fleur BealeRelease Date: July 1, 2004Publisher: HyperionGoodreads: 3.71 out of 5Pages: 258Buy It: Amazon Imagine that your mother tells you that she is going away. She is leaving you with relatives whom you have never heard of-and they are members of a strict religious cult.
