Learning
For 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 MoreIndependent Learners, Part I
From the desk of Carol C. . . During the month of March we’re looking at the idea of autonomy in education. This week I want to look at some of the characteristics of autonomous learners. First, simply put, autonomy is the ability to take charge of our own learning. Autonomous learners are capable of…
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 MoreGrab Their Attention
From the desk of Carol C. . . It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.~ Albert Einstein Sometimes it’s just downright hard to be enthusiastic. Think about your classroom. Do you ever feel less than enthusiastic about the lessons you will teach? Do you sense that…
Read MoreRevisiting Touching the Soul of a Child
From the desk of Carol C. . . There was quite a bit of feedback from my post “Touching the Soul of a Child”. A common question was “Do teachers still go above and beyond as this teacher did?”. My answer is…Yes. In this day and time for a multitude of reasons teachers may not…
Read MoreImproving the Quality of Literature Circles
From the desk of Carol C. . . Do you ever feel the literature circles in your classroom could work better? A higher level of learning taking place? Responses from more students? Sometimes we don’t notice the positives that are taking place in lit circles, so we aren’t able to take advantage of those aspects. …
Read MoreStart a Reading Movement
From the desk of Alice… I recently went to my child’s bookfair and came across the book Igniting a Passion for Reading by Steven Layne. I read this book several years ago and loved it so I picked it up for one of my ERG principals because I thought she would really appreciate it. We recently…
Read MoreTouching the Soul of a Child
From the desk of Carol C. . . My friend is a voracious reader. She reads, remembers, and seems to understand everything in print she comes across. Her vocabulary is amazing. Reading is her passion. Now go back 30 years and look at my friend. She would have been in first grade. It would be…
Read MoreChanging My Mindset
From the desk of Carol C . . . A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a colleague, Katy, about what she did to make math so interesting for her students. “Oh, I just let them play games,” she replied tongue in cheek. Well, I knew better than that. Katy is an excellent math teacher…
Read MoreDrawing to Enhance Understanding
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . During a recent literacy lesson, I had the opportunity to work with a group of fourth graders who were reading a piece of historical fiction. They were working to construct a character analysis and decided to create some drawings to show their understanding of the text.…
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