Authentic Learning
Spreading a Feast of Ideas
From the desk of Leigh Ann… “Our fault, our exceeding great fault, is that we keep our own minds and the minds of our children shamefully underfed.” – Charlotte Mason This summer I became inspired by the work of educator Charlotte Mason. Her life was dedicated to improving the quality of education for children at…
Read MoreUse it or Lose it
It used to be that the word data merely meant something that was stored by a computer. Miriam Webster lists this as one definition of data and the other is “acts or information used usually to calculate, analyze, or plan something.” In our schools and classrooms, we are bombarded by data. Reading data, math data,…
Read MoreThe Tribe
This: “Four Lessons for Life, Leadership, and Learning: A Tribute to the Late Grant Wiggins” by Stephanie Malia Krauss In 2015, we mourned the loss of Grant Wiggins (blog). Over ten years ago, we were introduced to the writing and thinking of Grant Wiggins before Education Resource Group was ever dreamed about. Whenever we saw…
Read MoreChoice Can Make a Difference
From the desk of Carol C. . . A few weeks ago my friend, Jan, asked me to come into her classroom and videotape her students working on math projects they had designed. All of the projects centered around what her students had learned about geometry; however, each project was different. One group chose to…
Read MoreAll Means All
From the desk of Hope… Several weeks ago as I checked in with my social network accounts I noticed the hash tag #ALLmeansall. This phrase caught my attention and I paused to think about the meaning of – “ALL means all”. All, as in all children?, All of what? I asked myself as I tried…
Read MoreImportance of Choice
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . “The 3 C’s of Life: Choices, Chances, Changes. You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change.” – Unknown The children in our classrooms make choices all day long. They choose to obey or ignore the rules, say kind or…
Read MoreThe Power of Losing Control
From the desk of Monica… Choice helps students. Really, it does. I admit it. I am a control freak. If I could, I would control every part of my life, my circumstances, and my career. All of it. And as I get older, I realize that the quote from that 1990s racing movie, Days of…
Read MoreBored into Wisdom?
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . “Those books that I have learned most from have been those which have entertained me. No one as yet …has been bored into wisdom.” -Erik Haugaard – author and illustrator As an early childhood teacher one of my utmost goals is to get children excited about…
Read MoreIgniting the Reader Inside You
From the desk of Keela… Everyone’s book is out there somewhere. You know, the book that ignites the reader inside of you. Some discover it at a young age, others later in life, while others may never discover it. I feel one of my responsibilities, as a teacher, is to help create life-long readers by…
Read MoreHour of Code
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . “An understanding of computer science is becoming increasingly essential in today’s world. Our national competitiveness depends upon our ability to educate our children – and that includes our girls – in this critical field” – Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook To develop globally competitive students…
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