Looking to invite volunteers into your classrooms? Educating America Workbook, Getting Started: A Teacher’s Planning Guide for Including Adult Assistants is my a new resource and your answer! This a step-by-step approach that will save you hours of planning and organizing. It answers questions you may not have thought to ask yourself! Plus, the forms… Read More »
As the school year begins, consider this checklist for working with your school-age children. 1. Chores. Give kids doable, significant chores. Expect those chores be done on time and as completely as possible. 2. Backpacks. Kids can pack, unpack and repack their own backpacks if you show them when, where and how you want it… Read More »
A consistent schedule for home and school tasks is a key to establishing life-long work habits. This includes: * setting up meaningful jobs (emptying the trash, setting the table for family meals, feeding pets,carrying dishes to be washed, straightening bed covers, etc.) Individual value increases when all members of the family unit contribute to the family’s… Read More »
It’s important to select activities you are comfortable handing over to an assistant. Check out my book , Actively Igniting Your Classroom with 101 Strategies for Adult Assistants, for extensive details on using adult assistants. Then decide: do you see any actitivities as a small group task? a mini-course? a procurement function? a classroom housekeeping… Read More »
It’s a giant step and a lot of work to invite adults into your classroom as assistants. Your day is already filled with curriculum planning, school meetings, and evaluating student work. How can you possibly do any more? Find a way; it pays off quickly. 1. Look to small changes, jobs adult helpers can handle without extended… Read More »
Learning takes many forms. Each of us have favorite ways of taking in information. The following 3 are common for many students. To reach them, you will need to vary the way you present information so you incorporate more than one way to learn during each activity. Verbal-Linguistic Learners These learners take in information through language. They… Read More »
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 »
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 »