For the Love of Teaching

Using Data to Drive Meaningful, Targeted, Brain-Based Math Instruction

2013-04-14T12:36:00.001-05:00

Imagine a student's face lighting up upon seeing a math quiz, running home to excitedly show their parents the current math homework, or begging for more word problems at the teacher table. Now envision your own contentment at knowing the math they are excited about is targeted directly to the needs of those very students. I want to share how I create this excitement in my class using data.

Tips for Productive Math Groups

2013-02-23T11:49:00.000-06:00

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Reading Thinking Stem Guide

2012-11-25T10:43:00.000-06:00

Get your free download in my TPT Store! The Math Thinking Stem Guide in my last post was so successful, I decided to create a guide for the Reading Thinking Stem as well. As I have posted quite a bit about thinking stems already, I will not go into detail about them other than to say that my students have shown significant growth in their reading, their ability to use metacognition

The Math Thinking Stem Guide

2012-11-10T19:05:00.003-06:00

This poster is available for download in my TPT store. Encouraging students to THINK is a large part of what I do in the classroom. I don't want my 2nd graders to recite facts back to me...I want them to think, analyze, infer, compare, contrast, etc. (I do, however, want them to remember their math facts!) It is relatively easy to facilitate higher level thinking in reading. I've blogged

Metacognitive Thinking Skills for Life and Learning, Part Two: Listening

2012-08-09T17:43:00.000-05:00

This is part two in my Thinking Skills for Life and Learning series. Part one explored practical optimism. (Part one: Practical Optimism) Part two will focus on the skill of listening. Listening Donna Wilson of BrainSMART defines listening as, "The skill of hearing and attending to the words of others," (Wilson and Conyers, 2005, p. 12). Listening is a basic

Metacognitive Thinking Skills for Life and Learning Part One: Optimism

2012-07-04T14:57:00.000-05:00

This is the first in a series of thinking skills for life and learning. Those of you who follow my blog know the dramatic successes I have had in my class since implementing these BrainSMART strategies. My goal is to provide the reasoning, and practical implementation ideas for each strategy so that you can apply them in your classroom or individual teaching situation. Optimism

Plasticity of the Brain: Spread the Word!

2012-06-28T09:54:00.001-05:00

English: PET scan of a normal human brain (Photo credit: Wikipedia) They rang my doorbell about 5pm yesterday. Two high-schoolers from an underprivileged part of the city selling candles to earn money. I ended up doing a sales pitch to them about the incredible potential of their futures. Poor kids...I probably seemed like a crazy old lady to them! I wanted to make sure they

Ways to Beat Brain Drain this Summer

2012-06-27T18:58:00.000-05:00

Another excellent guest post by: Melissa Crossman! Students lose as much as three months of learning during the extended summer break. Free from the discipline of the classroom, students experience what many educators call “summer brain drain.” While year round school could eliminate this loss, most schools follow a traditional September to June calendar year. What can parents,

Positivity: An Important Component of Brain-Based Teaching

2012-06-01T18:23:00.000-05:00

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Anchor Charts in my Classroom

2012-05-17T19:26:00.002-05:00

With only nine days left in the school year, I am reflecting on what worked best on my classroom walls. What anchor charts worked well...and what didn't. I believe classroom walls should be usable...not just frilly decorations. Beyond that, students should be involved in the creation of anchor charts that hang in the room. Here are the anchor charts I saw students referencing most throughout

K5 Summer/Home Academic Support

2012-05-13T08:11:00.001-05:00

Parents usually want to supplement their child's learning at home, but don't know where to start. It is confusing to decide for example what phonological skills are weak, or what math skills need to be built. Then there is the summer slump. Children tend to lose about 6 weeks of academic growth over the summer! That is tremendous. K5 Learning is a program designed specifically to address these

Bloomington, Indiana's Brain Extravaganza in Full Swing

2012-05-11T18:26:00.000-05:00

Guest Post by Melissa Crossman! A fun and exciting exhibit is in place across Bloomington, Ind. and the Indiana University campus. The Brain Extravaganza, sponsored by Jill Bolte Taylor BRAINS Inc., IU Health Proton Therapy and a host of other sponsors, aims to raise awareness and knowledge about the brain while entertaining viewers with artistic presentations. Jill Bolte Taylor, a

Shout-out to Frisco ISD in Texas!

2012-05-06T09:44:00.000-05:00

The old water tower in downtown Frisco, Tx, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) If you want to find an exemplary district full of enthusiastic and dedicated teachers, administrators, and support staff, take a look at the Frisco ISD in Texas. Not only are they finicky/picky in their hiring, but they continue to grow and develop their teachers through fabulous professional development. Not

Daily Science Warm-ups - an Excellent Resource!

2012-04-02T00:02:00.002-05:00

I recently wrote about my search for the Arithmetic Developed Daily (ADD Math) series and the treasure trove of resources I found as a result. I've tried out another one of the resources and want to share my discovery. This one is called Daily Science Reinforcers. I've been using the Daily Science in class for just over a month now. I have found these quick daily activities to be excellent for

K-5 Learning Review Invitation for Bloggers

2012-03-25T20:20:00.006-05:00

K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students. I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program. If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their open invitation to write an online learning review of their program. I'm going to start using it tomorrow with a couple of my students and I'll let you know what I think!

I Turned My Projector into a Smartboard Today!

2012-03-19T18:26:00.000-05:00

I moved to a new district this school year. I've been going through painful withdrawal pains without a Smartboard. Ouch. One day I saw an article about a "Wiimote hack" that could turn a projector into a Smartboard. Johnny Chung Lee of Carnegie Mellon University came up with this brilliant idea. I watched the video below...but I thought it sounded difficult. (Don't worry though, I found the

Our Brain Awareness Week Activities

2012-03-10T10:19:00.001-06:00

Participating in Brain Awareness Week is important because kids who understand their brain are more likely to take care of it and GROW it. I learned in BrainSMART that our brains are exciting and changeable...the more we know, the more we can learn! Our Brain Awareness Week My class enjoyed Brain Awareness Week! I downloaded the free Mindboggling Workbook from The Dana Foundation as the

Arithmetic Developed Daily

2012-02-26T15:11:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you just know something is missing in your instructional day. I moved to a new state last year, so I am still adjusting to the new district's curriculum. We have a great math curriculum, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Then it hit me. I remembered a program we did in my last district called Arithmetic Developed Daily (ADD Math). It only takes 5-7 minutes a

How One Teacher Changed a Life

2012-02-20T21:27:00.000-06:00

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Review: Raising the Standards Through Chapter Books: The C.I.A. Approach

2012-01-15T16:47:00.000-06:00

I found another book that really speaks to my teaching heart. Specifically to my “students should get to read chapter books and learn their 'thinking for reading skills'” heart. This book is called Raising the Standards Through Chapter Books: The C.I.A. Approach, by Sarah Collinge. (C.I.A. stands for Collect, Interpret, and Apply.) In her book, Collinge shares the research behind the C.I.A.

Teach Thinking Skills to Increase Learning in Class and Life

2011-12-29T14:36:00.000-06:00

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Book Review: Changing Kids' Lives One Quote At a Time

2011-12-26T11:06:00.001-06:00

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The Educational Pendulum and the Controlling District

2011-12-26T10:00:00.001-06:00

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How to Introduce Thinking Stems to Your Class

2011-10-22T18:30:00.006-05:00

Last year Angie Rumsey introduced me to the concept of Thinking Stems. In a thinking stem, students write their thinking strategies about their reading. It turned out to be a fabulous tool to encourage students to dig deeper and really THINK about the books they read. I noticed a marked improvement in reading, writing, written expression, punctuation, and grammar. Several teachers have asked

The Marriage of Thinking Skills and Blogging for Students

2011-09-25T10:00:00.005-05:00

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