Archive for April 2015
Jenny's Lesson
From the desk of Carol C. . . “Learning should be a joy and full of excitement. It is life’s greatest adventure.” –Caldwell When I first started teaching, kids didn’t take any End of Grade tests. Instead, they took the California Achievement Test (CAT). I don’t know what it was like at other schools, but…
Read MoreMindful and Meaningful
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . All week I worked with a student on being “mindful” about his words and actions. I had encouraged him to stop and truly focus before completing a task, answering a question, or reacting to a classmate. Then I was challenged to take an “Awareness Test” and…
Read MoreNo more busy work.
From the desk of Katie… Highschool. Large classes, playing sports, clubs, social events, wanting to sleep late and stay up even later, driving, prom, and college applications. Highschool is supposed to be busy but not miserable, we should be able to have a life outside of school and homework, and that just isn’t possible if…
Read MoreMaking Feedback Meaningful
From the desk of Carol C. . . “We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.”- Bill Gates “Please help us serve you better. This survey will only take a few minutes, but it will tell us how to improve. Please give us your opinion.” Everywhere we seem to be inundated…
Read MoreFor the Love of the Arts and Learning
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . “With a subject matter as broad as life itself, the arts easily relate to aspects of almost everything else that is taught.” – Charles Fowler I love to draw. Even when I am reading, I paint pictures in my mind of characters, setting, and events. Almost…
Read MoreMeaningful Math
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . “The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple.” – Stanley Gudder Math can be a pretty complicated subject, so I am a great believer in math talk in the classroom. Having a meaningful dialogue about reasoning and…
Read MoreTextbooks Are an Option
From the desk of Carol C. . . Over the course of the last decade or so, textbooks have gotten a bad rap. Many teachers have been convinced, persuaded, or told to put their textbooks on the shelf. It’s true there is a disconnect when what you are to teach is not what the book…
Read MoreERG Announces Summer 2015 Workshops!
ERG will offer two workshops this summer! August 4th: Strategies for Reading Acceleration August 5th:Creating Meaningful Literacy Work Stations Click ERG Summer Events 2015 for all the details and registration form.
Read MoreMaking Writing Meaningful
From the desk of Carol C. . . I love to teach writing! From the thrill of seeing students grow as writers to the reading of their work each day, it’s all exciting to me. I’m not a great writer, but I enjoy reading my personal writing to students to show them the struggles and…
Read MoreRaving Fans
From the desk of Alice… I read a book called Raving Fans by Kenneth Blanchard when we first opened the doors of ERG in 2004. With limited background in business at that time, I tried to make the most of the content and have carried it forward through the 10 years of our work. Recently,…
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