Thursday Thoughts November 7
This week I have really been thinking about the concept of "fair" especially as it relates to education. Often times educators will hesitate in providing a special treat or reward for a student because it would be unfair to the other children who won't get the reward. In fact, when we have to accomodate some children in ways that the others do not require, that may seem unfair. I have been reflecting on this simple truth: children come to school with all sorts of life circumstances that aren't fair. Whether it is a disability, home situation or behaviors that they are ill equipped to control, children are dealing with the hand that they have been dealt and it is unfair. As adults, we know that life isn't fair. I think that is why we try so hard to make things fair for our students. Maybe instead of focusing on making everything fair, we can focus on leveling the playing field for all students. Thank you for making sure that all students are supported in many different ways so that they can be successful and prepared for a world that is unfair.
Staff Spotlight:
This week I would like to shine the spotlight on Janie Massey. Many of us have students that we send to Janie to "catch up". I marvel at how Janie can work with a child and get him/her on grade level in a matter of months. Janie uses a variety of strategies to help ignite students' passion for reading AND increase their ability to read proficiently. Janie also works with teachers to provide strategies that are helpful in the classroom. Not only does Janie work with students in grades K-5 but she also works with teachers in the New Teacher Mentor Program. Janie spearheads this program and checks in with the mentors to provide support that can then be passed along to new teachers. I appreciate Janie for her passion for teaching and learning and her dedication to supporting our struggling learners and new teachers.
4C's: Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking Skills
The Inquiry Process Explained Visually for Teachers
www.educatorstechnology.com
Learning is all about being curious and inquisitive. It is a process in which learners explore the unknown through their senses using both sensory and motor skills. Being involved and engaged in the learning task is the key to a successful learning journey and to elicit this kind of engagement from learners, teachers need to nurture a learning environment where students take responsibility for their learning and 'where they are only shown where to look but not told what to see'. Such environment definitely requires a solid approach and an informed strategy to learning one that is dubbed: inquiry-based learning.
Inquiry-based learning is essential in developing the most solicited 21st century skills : problem solving and critical thinking.As a teacher, you might be wondering about ways to inculcate the precepts of strategy into your teaching and lesson planning. Here is for you a an excellent visual about the inquiry process created by educators from Australia and which I discovered through Mindshift.
Technology Tidbits: (If you have websites to share please email me and I will share with all)
Check out the following website:
Great for creative hands on science and social studies activities
http://www.stemcollaborative.org/STEM interactive activities for upper grades (Resources tab has ideas for lower grades)
News & Notes
Open enrollment ends tomorrow November 8. All your enrollment elections must be complete no later than 5:00pm.
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