Promoting Independence

From the desk of Leigh Ann… “To find yourself, think for yourself.” ~  Socrates   This week I have thought a great deal about how to make our kindergartners more self-reliant learners.  As a teacher I want to facilitate learning, model appropriate behaviors, and guide students in developing strategies that help them become competent readers,…

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Burkins & Yaris: Reading Wellness Workshop

Join us in July to spend the day with Jan Burkins & Kim Yaris! Their workshop will be focused on Reading Wellness: Lessons that Teach Independence and Proficiency Thursday, July 24, 2014 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM (Registration & continental breakfast at 8:00) at The McKimmon Conference & Training Center, NCSU Campus, Raleigh, NC Click…

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Respect

From the desk of Carol C…  The school year has started for most teachers and children.  Open House is over, and now it’s time to begin to establish a positive relationship with our students and their families.  I believe it is our responsibility in cooperation with the families to establish a relationship of trust.  This…

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Realistic Goals

From the desk of Carol C… Summer Goals:  clean out my closet, donate clothes to charity, clean out dresser drawers, come up with an organizational system for all of the “stuff” I have, wash the windows,  read 6 novels I’ve been meaning to read, throw out from under every sink in my house what I…

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Your Morning Routine- at HOME

From the desk of Carol C… Being in a profession which involves working with people of all ages all day requires lots of  energy and being in good health.  Easier said than done in most cases at least on a consistent basis, but a few months ago I read an article about the importance of…

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Where We Need the Best of the Best

From the desk of Alice… “Gentlemen, you are the top 1% of all naval aviators — the elite, the BEST of the best. We’ll make you better. Fly at least two combat missions a day, attend classes in between, and evaluations of your performance. Now in each combat sequence you’re going to meet a different…

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Rigor

From the desk of Carol C… Let’s be honest- why do we suddenly care about rigor?  Most of us would say “because it’s in the new Common Core”.  Understandable.  After all, how often was that word mentioned before the introduction of the CC?  Almost never.  So are there reasons besides the CC that we should…

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These Kids

From the desk of Alice… It’s the spring semester and even though the weather says it is still winter, many schools I work in have their eye on the end of the year.  Specifically, the end of year assessments that are high stakes.  This year, the assessments are a little fuzzy… we have the Common…

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Journey To Becoming a Better Math Teacher

From the desk of Carol C… I have always enjoyed teaching math.  There are clear systems to use, right and wrong answers, and constants.  Algorithms are wonderful.  Math:  teach by using the textbook exclusively,  hand out worksheets that are correlated to the pages studied, and teach what a few key words found in story problems…

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Teachers Helping Themselves

From the desk of Carol C… There is so much negative press about the state of public education these days. Everywhere you turn there’s another article or speaker on the topic of the effectiveness of teachers.  Talk about a demoralizer! There are lots of ways that we can combat the negative images that people have…

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