Monthly Archives: July 2014

Workbook Update

Finished! My Educating America Workbook (for teachers wanting to consider inviting adult assistants into their classrooms) is now ready. Next up: determining how to share the workbook ideas in a meaningful way. The workbook contents include: Things to consider before you invite adult into your classrooms Tasks to turn over to assistants Organizational meetings Planning and evaluation… Read More »

Informational Literacy

Kids love nonfiction books: snakes, space, baseball, insects, dinosaurs. That’s perfect because the Common Core stresses reading nonfiction for developing informational skills. What are some of the things we must remember to do to foster nonfiction reading? 1. Be a nonfiction reader who shares their love of learning new things by exploring information and sharing it aloud… Read More »

Critical Thinking in Elementary Classrooms

Critical thinking skills need to be provided for all children if we want to stir their curiosity and create life-long, curious learners in the process. What are the 4 main/best approaches to critical thinking with young children? How to they ‘look’ in classrooms? 1. Inquiry – allowing students to explore materials and ideas to build… Read More »

Review of Article on STEM

One of the newest educational acronym is STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The premise of STEM is that education needs to address these 4 topics with deeper understanding to gain employment and to compete in world markets. In an Education Week Teacher online article dated June 17, 2014, Anne Jolly, a former middle school science teacher and current… Read More »