During a recent client faculty meeting, we continued our discussion on the Power of Teacher language (from Responsive Classroom). One focus was on Active Listening. You may be surprised in a Book Study of language that the idea of listening comes up in every chapter. Active Listening defined by The MINDUP Curriculum: “Being able to listen in a focused way to what others say and to…
Twice this week the idea of managing time has been a discussion that I have been a part of. Both of these discussions have mentioned the idea of what a time frame feels like.
Short cuts. We all want to take short cuts. And sometimes short cuts are useful. Don’t we love when we learn a new short cut to drive to our favorite places. But most of the time, a short cut does not help. This is particularly true in school. Students often love short cuts, like when they use the computer to find math or social studies…
Recently my thoughts have turned again to tenacity. Tenacity can be defined in one of three ways: Each of these definitions really come down to one thing, not giving up. Not letting one thing, one conversation, one event stop one’s forward progress. Why have I been thinking about this? Mostly from some student observations and conversations I have had with parents and colleagues. A while…
The Nantucket Sea Monster by Darcy Pattison A Fake News Story Nerdy Bird Tweets by Aaron Reynolds Social Media Two Truths and a Tall Tale by Sandy Silverthorne Fake News Once Upon a Time Online by David Bedford Digital Commerce Online Safety #Goldilocks: A Hashtag Cautionary Tale by Jeanne Willis & Tony Ross Social Media Digital Tattoo For the full ever expanding list: bit.ly/etedigcitbooks Or…
As we start this school year, what are you planning to explicitly teach your students for a successful year of growth? How to line up for recess? Where to find materials in the classroom? How to move from their seats to the community area? I am guessing these and many more. When coaching teachers about the start of the school year, I encourage them to…
At this time of the summer, social media, blogs, bookstore and library displays are filled with back to school literature ideas. I love looking at the ideas to see what Literature Lassos (books) I should add to my office library. I took a look at the books I wanted to showcase for the faculty at the start of a school and found a set of…
An End of Year Reflection This year for my annual school end reflection, I have decided to write myself a letter. In fact I am having my whole faculty writing themselves a letter. So let’s start. Dear Me, I found this year harder than last school year. Last year, was tough with plastic shields, masks, no sharing, lots of Clorox wipes. But everyone was mostly…
Want to get better at something? Then practice it! Been feeling a bit frustrated that some educators and parents seem to think that students will improve in reading just because we are assessing their reading skills. No. Some think that students will improve their individual reading skills because they are reading short passages in an anthology once or twice a week. No. Just like all…
This reminder popped up on my daily desk calendar earlier this week. It made me stop and think. I often find myself feeling busy but am I being productive? I have a terrible habit of “doing” multiple things at once. But am I really doing multiple things at once? This article in Forbes magazine from January 2020 (https://bit.ly/multitaskingSW), cites studies and authors that declare that…
