Susan Fitzell - Educational Consultant & Speaker

Please Help Me With My Homework – Spanish Translation

Susan Fitzell — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:50:46 +0000

I've had my book, "Please Help Me With My Homework: Strategies for Parents and Caregivers" translated into Spanish. I was advised to have it translated into Castilian Spanish so that it would be universal. So, that's the dialect the book is presently in. I am not Spanish speaking. I had the book translated because of the need for Spanish speaking parents to have a resource to support their students. I do a lot of work with schools that have a significant bi-lingual population and believe this book may help some familes. [...]

About Types of Intelligence

Susan Fitzell — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 04:15:52 +0000

As long as classroom instruction is primarily geared to reach only one or two of these different intelligences, a lot of kids will struggle to process the information being offered them and experience a serious disadvantage in achieving [...]

Co-teaching? Consider Flexibility as a Co-teaching Tool

Susan Fitzell — Sat, 15 May 2010 17:01:28 +0000

In essence, if you and your co-teacher can come up with some kind of a flexible plan that would meet the requirements of kids with an IEP and, at the same time, meet the requirements of the regular education kids, you're going to have an easier time making it happen in your [...]

A Dove Dark Chocolate moment

Susan Fitzell — Sat, 01 May 2010 00:21:26 +0000

So, I’m literally pondering, “How can I make a bigger difference in the world” as I proceed to unwrap a Dove Dark Chocolate …and the wrapper says, “Shape the future by dealing with the present”.

Administrator Recognizes Teachers!

Susan Fitzell — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:48:30 +0000

On January 4th, 2010 I had the pleasure of presenting a seminar on teaching strategies to over 150 teachers from Havana School District 126 in Havana, Illinois. The Superintendent, Dr. Mark Twomey, was there too meet me before the session started, he not only introduced me, he STAYED for the entire presentation. It’s not [...]

Schoolhouse of the Past… Schoolhouse of the Future

Susan Fitzell — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:29:16 +0000

Though many of the buildings still stand—including several here in New Hampshire—and a few are still in operation scattered around the United States, the one-room schoolhouse is pretty much a vestige of the past as an educational model. It was far from ideal, of course, with limited resources and curriculum, entirely dependent on the education [...]

Does Co-teaching Work?

Susan Fitzell — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:05:17 +0000

Well, here's the nitty-gritty: No matter what the research says, the label is often wrong. What I mean by that is: School districts who put two teachers in an 'inclusive' classroom can CALL it co-teaching, yet, it may not be CO-teaching at all. And, if it is called co-teaching on paper simply because two bodies are in the room and it doesn't work, it's decided that Co-teaching does not work. Read the article for what does [...]

What I Learned about Teaching from Studying Martial Arts

Susan Fitzell — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:11:48 +0000

Excerpt from a 1993 journal entry:

I wrote a note to my building principal to update him on my progress in Kung Fu since the “Kung Fu Parable”. I told him that my experience in Kung Fu will make me a better teacher. It has reminded me of what it feels like to be a “kid/student” [...]

The Power of Songs for Memorization

Susan Fitzell — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:25:06 +0000

Using singing and music to help students remember material can be one of the most powerful tools in your teaching toolkit for reinforcing memorization and [...]

Disability, Difference, and Diversity

Susan Fitzell — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:01:43 +0000

The goal—that is, the content to be learned--is still the same for all students, but the path to learning can become much more varied and responsive to the different learning styles and levels of the students in the classroom. Once the basic concepts are understood, though, there are many simple and effective techniques for implementing differentiated instruction in the classroom. Introducing pictures and images, movement-based exercises, cooperative projects, and color-coded instruction aids are four teaching strategies that target the special needs of diverse learning styles, while still benefiting all the students in that [...]