Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids | Video on TED.com
"...the world needs opportunities for new leaders and new ideas. Kids need opportunities to lead and succeed. Are you ready to make the match? Because the world's problems shouldn't be the human family's heirloom."
Take a few minutes to be inspired by a young person with big ideas. While every child we teach may not be a 'prodigy', they
all have something to teach us if we are prepared to listen.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Good teaching is good test prep!
ISAT and Terra Nova testing is months away (at least a few). Still, teachers are continuously preparing their students for all manner of assessments and laying the groundwork for testing in the spring. Good test preparation arms students with strategies that will help them reduce stress and perform their best on test days. These strategies are also strongly linked with solid instructional practice.
Check out the following article by Nell K. Duke and Ron Ritchhart from Harvard. They include ways to help students navigate different formats, to use specific strategies for math and reading, and to ease their stress.
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4006
Six Tips for Nipping Test Stress in the Bud
1. Don't Skimp on Practice Tests: They are vital to helping students understand the mechanics of the tests. Call your test company to request samples.
2. Promote Positive Attitudes About Testing: When discussing tests with students, make three recommendations: Be serious, confident, and strategic.
3. Deal with Basic Roadblocks: Do your best to circumvent problems such as inadequate breakfast, lack of sleep, and chronic tardiness prior to testing week.
4. Plan a Fun Day-of-Test Activity: Avoid academic activities immediately before testing. Instead, try something less stressful, such as Simon Says.
5. Look Out for Daydreamers: Seat easily distracted students in cubicles and corners. Encourage them to stay on task by checking off each line they read.
6. Talk About Those Last Few Minutes: The final moments of a test period are valuable for checking work and guessing on remaining questions.
Check out the following article by Nell K. Duke and Ron Ritchhart from Harvard. They include ways to help students navigate different formats, to use specific strategies for math and reading, and to ease their stress.
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4006
Six Tips for Nipping Test Stress in the Bud
1. Don't Skimp on Practice Tests: They are vital to helping students understand the mechanics of the tests. Call your test company to request samples.
2. Promote Positive Attitudes About Testing: When discussing tests with students, make three recommendations: Be serious, confident, and strategic.
3. Deal with Basic Roadblocks: Do your best to circumvent problems such as inadequate breakfast, lack of sleep, and chronic tardiness prior to testing week.
4. Plan a Fun Day-of-Test Activity: Avoid academic activities immediately before testing. Instead, try something less stressful, such as Simon Says.
5. Look Out for Daydreamers: Seat easily distracted students in cubicles and corners. Encourage them to stay on task by checking off each line they read.
6. Talk About Those Last Few Minutes: The final moments of a test period are valuable for checking work and guessing on remaining questions.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Prezi: Present Information in Dynamic Ways!
Check out this tech tool that allows you to present information in a non-linear format. Gain student attention and present content in a way that allows for flexibility.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
What Kids Can Do
What Kids Can Do
Posted using ShareThis
Hearing directly from middle school students can be enlightening! They remind us that what we say and how can have a tremendous impact, even when it may seem they don't care about what adults think. Even tweens and teens seek encouragement and straight-forward talk.
Check out an excerpt from the latest book from WKCD authors Kathleen Cushman and Laura Rogers, Fires in the Middle School Bathroom: Advice for Teachers from Middle Schoolers (New Press, 2008).
Posted using ShareThis
Monday, March 1, 2010
Teen brains: They really are wired differently!!!!
So, that 7th grader with the surly mood and questionable judgment is merely a product of a poorly connected frontal lobe? While there are certainly a number of factors affecting the personality and performance of teen students, our understanding of development and the brain can explain a lot.
Check out NPR's Morning Edition and the story of Frances Jensen, a pediatric neurologist at Children's Hospital in Boston. Her study of teen brains has helped her better understand her sons' behavior and helped them perform better in school. Having your neuroscientist mom tell you that studying and then getting a good night's sleep will actually help move the information from your short term memory to your long term memory proved to be pretty handy.
Understanding the teen brain a bit more won't solve all your challenges, but at least you can see it's not all in your head...it's in theirs.
Teen Brains Are Not Fully Connected
The brain's "white matter" enables nerve signals to flow freely between different parts of the brain. In teenagers, the part that governs judgment is the last to be fully connected.
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