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 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 »
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 »
As you know I’m an advocate for people helping in classrooms. To that end, I decided that maybe educators needed ways to help them get started. My soon-to-be-completed workbook suggests ways to think about taking the step to include outside help in classroom. Now is your chance to suggest ideas/concerns/issues that you’d like addressed. So far I’ve included… Read More »
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Anne Frank It’s true, there is no need to wait. Even small positive steps bear positive results. So, today my goal is to suggest that while you may be on vacation, relaxing and restoring your energy, that you… Read More »
I’m totally aware that I’m not a good juggler. If I’d been able to keep 3 blogs moving while marketing my debut novel, 84Ribbons, this site would have remained active. But it didn’t and I apologize. Now I’m back and I’m completing my Educating America Workbook for teachers who are considering inviting volunteers into their… Read More »
There are 2 types of learners: analytic and global. We are both types of learner, but each of us tend to lean toward one more than the other. Here are the traits of an analytic learner: 1. Prefers true-false and multiple choice test questions. 2. Sees things separately rather than as a general idea. 3. … Read More »
YOU are the key. Whether you are the teacher, para educators or classrooms volunteer, you create a fantastic support system for everyone who sets foot in the room. Think of each new trained person as extra brain power, extra hands and extra possibilities to break down activities into smaller groups or the chance to create… Read More »
This time of year, well all year for some children, young kids are unable to sit quietly and work. They wiggle and twitch, fall out of their chairs, drop pencils, crawl under the table… you get the picture. They need to move. So, let them. Build in ways for these wigglers to have a chance… Read More »
Cloud clusters. Web organizers. Both are great ways to help students get organized. For that matter, they are great ways to get me organized! Test out these organizers before you use them with students. All start out on a single piece of paper. Their intent is similar: to organize ideas and information. Their appeal varies by… Read More »