A Summer for Teachers: How to be Purposeful

As a fellow teacher, I understand the desire to kick up your feet and just RELAX. And what I'm about to share will still allow you to do that, as it is just as important to be well taken care of as it is to be purposeful. The summer before my first teaching job, I spent most of it looking for a job and then purchasing anything that I thought might make my classroom community-like. As a first year teacher, I think this is very necessary, but there are additional ways to start preparing for the new school year.

1. Relax- It's definitely your vacation as well, so take some time during your summer to do a few things that are both enjoying and revitalizing.

2. Read- Just like how we encourage our students to read, we should be demonstrating this. Whether it's new books for the following school year that you will be teaching, New York Times Bestsellers, or educational books, pick up something and get to it. It so rewarding to be able to read that book that's been on your nightstand for the past year waiting to be opened.

A few great reads to look at:

The Learning Habit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Different Learners

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ADHD Does Not Exist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dylexia Empowerment Plan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Light We Cannot See

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rosie Project

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Professional Development- As I'm writing this I am listening to a webcast for  "Cool Ideas to Teach Independent Reading," put on by edWeb. There are a lot of different resources that are available to teachers that are free. Most won't allow you to get credit, but I find it's better to be ahead of the game and help others understand, then feel frustrated and overwhelmed when new ideas are being discussed. I also took the Google Education Conference over that summer that was wonderful! A few other places to look are

4. Start Planning- Purchase your Erin Condren Teacher Planner and start to it. Of course some of you teachers work in groups and may wait until the first few weeks of August to start planning. I still recommend working on classroom management ideas, book groups, and anything else that you can do. This will make those first few weeks a dream.

5. Remember how amazing this profession is- I understand that year after year of teaching can be physically and emotionally draining, take a few minutes each day to find something that you love about education. You never know, it just might spark change next year.

Hopefully we all relaxing and enjoying our summer, don't let the next school year sneak up on you.

Book Review: Different Learners

Book Review: Different Learners

What a wonderful book. This is truly a gift to parents and educators. Different Learners is a book about how students learn differently and also the reasons for what may be causing the increase in students being diagnosed with special needs. I'd say that the book is split up into three sections: (1)About learning styles, (2) How the brain functions, (3) Research on what may cause an rise in special needs.


I really enjoyed reading this book and found the research to be on target. I have found that in my parenting world, I have allowed media to take more time than I'd like. It's a fine line that we walk living in a world where technology provides most of our jobs. How do we teach our children literacy with technology, but continue developing patience and persistence in lifelong skills like with reading books.

As an educator, I found the classroom is no longer just a chalkboard and chalk where students are learning reading, 'riting, and 'rithmatic. It seems that the list goes on an on: science, reading, writing, grammar, social studies, art, music, physical education, character development, organization, health, personal management, technology, test taking, and thinking skills. Creating lessons and learning in the classroom can be challenging when we as educators are up against unrested students. Healy addresses this in her book, how adequate sleep and reduced television time can help develop the brain and increase successful learning. This is one aspect that I definitely agree with and have tried to implement into our home.

I enjoyed this book and appreciate Healy's work on informing parents and educators about how environment can have a very powerful impact on our lives. Not just being aware but also taking action will be most beneficial.


Would this be a book of interest to you?

Book Review: The Learning Habit

This week I finished reading The Learning Habit, for a small book it took me a while to finish reading it. It was packed with information, but most nonfiction books take me a week or two to finish. Although I thought this book would solely be about how to learn, I found that it actually was more of a parenting book. I really enjoyed the helpful stories and illustrations the author used to highlight each point in the book.

 

 The book is titled so because of a study that was conducted on what made "good learners." Essentially the book discusses what the findings were on creating good learners with grit, focus, and structure. An approach called Empowerment Parenting develops kids who are capable and confident. It stresses the importance of having a structured environment: chores, solid 8 hours of sleep, a designated homework time, limited media consumption, and family time. It also encourages parent to praise effort and not the child so instead of saying "Great Job Dana," "That was a great try at shooting the basketball," is a preferred compliment. This way it is encouraging the behavior that you want in you child.

 

The topic on media consumption was particularly interesting. I have strived to limit the exposure of TV with Peanut, but every so often I give in whether it be due to sickness or me being exhausted. This book really created an impact for how damaging prolonged exposure to media can be.

 

 

I found this book to be a great read and full of wonderful information. Each tool that is encouraged is followed with several short stories to help readers understand how to approach Empowerment Parenting.

 

What is on your Summer Reading List?

 

Google Apps for Education Seminar Review

A few weeks back I attended a virtual seminar put on by the good people at Google. How wonderful it was to be able to listen to gifted speakers and teachers discuss technology in education. I learned a whole lot and was encouraged by the move that education is making toward incorporating technology into the classroom and school.


It has always been a difficult line to walk advocating online participation with the popularity of social media and privacy issues. I remember as a child practicing my typing skills at home as I created birthday cards for friends. A few times I played online games, mostly Solitaire and Mine keeper, but for the most part stayed out of chat rooms due to their "potential" of danger.

I find now as a parent the hard line of incorporating technology skills into her learning, but also minimizing the addition portion of it. I've been reading several books that link hours of technology use to decline in student's performance and ability to attain to tasks.

I felt that this seminar did a great job of showing educators and others, how to positively set up classrooms that use different modalities of learning and encourage students to have idenpendent learning. I enjoyed a concept where students have shared tablets, but have their own passwords which allow them to have their own 'playlist' of activities that is tailored to their learning style and needs. I find this to be especially beneficial because creating a community where students are all working on different things allows there to be more acceptance in the classroom.

I'm also really excited about the new Reading Rainbow program that is put on by Skybrary.

 

 

 

There are so many exciting things that educators are now able to do and parents as well when blending learning with technology.

 

 

What educational apps do you find to be the best (We love Endless Alphabet)?

 

 

 

 

Keeping the Learning Going

With school getting out and summer plans upon us, I thought it be a good time to talk about some ways to keep learning going. Of course we hear our student's teachers encouraging our kids to keep reading, but is that all we can be doing.


1. Check your local library: Many library offer reading programs and incentives as well as fun events for your kiddos. Allow your student to choose ANY book, where they are picture books or chapter books you can read to them. The benefit of them not liking it is that you can always return it. Being hyper focused on reading level, allow them to experience a love of reading.

2. Community events: Many community events are free or have free activities. These can be especially beneficial especially if your community has a festival.

3. Trying new things: Believe it or not but experiencing new foods or activities continue to develop resilience and create new memories. It can be especially powerful when traveling to a new place.

4. Developing some themed activities: You don't have to create a massive curriculum or buy one, but you can easily come up with themed ideas. There are lots or resources and blogs available that offer themed weeks and we all know how AMAZING Pinterest is. I often will plan a month in advance and pin on my boards activities. You can see them here :  Little Learner

5. Family Game Night: Plan on having at least one 30 minute game night with each other. It can be puzzles, trivia, or board games. It's amazing all the things you learn from your children while being in a different environment.


These are just a few ideas to encourage growth with your littles. Enjoy those vacations.

ABC's of Education

It's been a while since I've been able to get on the blog. I have been busying with birthdays and holidays. Tomorrow you will see more about Lil's birthday's party (Hint Hint "Poor Nana.").
















AP (Advanced Placement): Created by the College Board, these are classes in high school that allow students to qualify for college credit. Typically, student's must test well enough to get into these classes. They are college level, so the workload is must more challenging than typical non-AP classes.

IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act): Legislation that allows students with special needs to receive fair and equal education like those in mainstream education.

IB (International Baccalaureate)- Started in Switzerland and based on eight learner profiles (Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded
Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced, Reflective). A program that incorporates learning and character development.

GAFE (Google Apps for Education): An approach to incorporating technology into the classroom.

LRE (Least Restrictive Environment): A part of IDEA, it requires that each student is placed in a learning environment that is least restrictive. Essentially it boils down to placing students with special needs in mainstream or special day classes. This legislation allows for each IEP to be individualized so that parent teacher teams can decide which classroom setting(s) are most beneficial to the individual with special needs.

NCLB (No Child Left Behind): A program implemented in 2001 by President Bush, an approach to making sure that all students were given an opportunity to achieve high standards. Schools were held accountable for their students' performance on state standardized tests by withholding funding from low performing schools.


PD (Professional Development): Teachers are required to continue their education through the method of acquiring professional development.



Let me know if you have any other vocabulary that is puzzling to you.

Creating Discovery Time

As an educator, I place endless pressure on myself to have a child that is high performing in everyway. Like I mentioned in previous posts, being a parent requires you to have a thick skin and trust your instinct versus jumping on the bandwagon and going with the flow. I've  always been a believer that play is more educational than any program I can create at home.

Discovery time is an environment that I've created for my daughter. I created themed weeks this year that begin with basic concepts (shapes, numbers, colors, etc) as well as creative themes (holidays, seasons, time of year events). This has not only made learning more meaningful, but my days as a parent purposeful. I typically begin the week with vocabulary words or a book we can talk about that is focused on the theme. My daughter was 2 years old when I began this and it is more about exposure than her acquiring skills. Last week we discussed art, I'm not expecting her to even remember what we did, but purely for the fun of trying new things and approaches. I have also found that incorporating Montessori activities has been great for fine motor and attention development. I put together a bin with a few colored cotton puffs and had her use a spoon to transport  the puffs from one bin to another. This was very entertaining for her. I've also created matching boards for her using old boxes from Costco.

I think it is important to develop a love for learning at home. As children develop, it becomes more and more crucial for them to be self motivated learners. Although learning at school can be intense and stressful at times, begin finding what activities and hobbies your child enjoys and finds entertaining. This will prove much more beneficial than whatever cartoon is on or phone app is available. Until each student is provided a laptop at school, there is much we can continue to do at home to cultivate a love for learning. Games and family activities are a great way to grow, bond, and have fun learning new things. I believe my intense love for learning was developed at home when my dad purchased me an old college math textbook and told me I was smart enough to do the work in the book. We also played Jeopardy each night, so trivia is the way to my heart. I looked back at my childhood and realized how those little things taught me to constantly strive for new knowledge. I hope that my own kids will find that thirst quenched as well.

 

Whatever you decide make sure that not all the time spent learning is structured. Children learn through play and it's important to have that time, whether it's building blocks, dressing up, or creating skits for the family, encourage your children to be imaginative and problem solvers.

 

 

How do you develop life long learners?

The ABC's of Education Part 2

 

Authentic Assessment: An assessment that is taken informally and usually shows how the student is progressing. Many times teachers will use a student work sample or the student will choose a piece of work that they are proud of. There are four levels of understanding ranging from Recall/Reproduction, Skill/Concept, Strategic Thinking, and Extended Thinking. It is a goal to be able to achieve Extended Thinking.

Collaborative Learning: Students work in groups and are encouraged to work together to share concepts. A classroom is based on appreciating student's differences and the belief that collaboration is not only developing character, but students are teaching each other and each possesses a sense of power when doing so.
 

Depth of Knowledge (DOK): A resource to showcase student's level of complexity. It is used now to help students in advancing in higher levels of thinking, as seen in Common Core (similar to Bloom's Taxonomy).
 

Formative Assessment: These assessments are used during student learning to help teachers create groups based on strengths and/or needs. It also can help a teacher differentiate instruction in a class. Using these formative assessments allows teachers to see students individually in a daily classroom activity (Reading Samples) than a summative assessment, which shows what the student did learn. This can help catch holes in student' s learning to help them better understand concepts.
 

Montessori Method: Founded by Maria Montessori, a philosophy that encourages play for learning. Students learn at their pace and are encouraged to develop skills through discovery. As students develop they learn life skills such as sweeping, tying shoes, stringing beads, and pretend play. These are much more important skills the acquisition of reading.
 

Thematic Lesson Planning: Teachers plan instruction based on one idea and all subjects are woven into the theme. For example, if the theme is centered on Spring, students science lessons may be on weather changing or oviparous animals. All activities will be cohesive with one another and build upon each other.

Summative Assessment: Assessments taking place following concepts learned, such as test and final exams. Smarter Balanced, PARRC, as well as state testing are categorized as summative assessments

Unschooling: The belief that students learn best at their speed and students choose their emphasis of learning. Students are natural learners and will be drawn to ideas and concepts that are innately unique to each child (bugs versus animals, or space versus biology, etc,). It is the understanding that children will understand more when they are seekers of knowledge versus being taught it as the same speed and style as other children in the classroom. This style of learning is found mostly in homeschool settings.

Whole Child: The belief in teaching all aspects of a child, emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. It is understood that a child needs to be well rounded in order to be successful in their education. Students will not be able be successful if their other needs are being met (lack of sleep, change at home, etc).

 

What educational jargon have you found interesting? Comment below to share your thoughts.

Purposeful Play With Your Toddler: When Things Don't Go According To Plan

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Purposeful Play with Your Toddler Part 11: Pumpkins

 Pumpkin book

 Pumpkin painting

Pumpkin stamping

 Dot Markering (aka Lego stamping)

Pumpkin Carving

 

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