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Selecting and rewarding star students in your music classroom
Aileen Miracle EducationLooking for a great way to keep students engaged and focused during music class? In this article, I’m writing about one of my favorite classroom management strategies: choosing star students. A star student, in my classroom, is a student who has showcased exemplary behavior during music class. Perhaps this child was participating quite a bit, or was singing his/her best, or was helping another child. This child is chosen at the end of the class, and is given some kind of reward.
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How to encourage your ELLs
Douglas Magrath EducationThe success of students in acquiring a new language is related to the learning environment. As I wrote last June, in addition to classes and activities, the overall learning environment is a factor in retention and student progress. Students need to feel like participants in the program rather than just observers. Each student needs to be more than just a number. Giving encouragement and avoiding hurtful comments go a long way in keeping students on track in their ESL program. As teachers, we can lower the affective filter for our ELL students by making them feel safe, welcome, and comfortable in our classrooms.
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Engaging students through events: A school counselor’s perspective
Sweety Patel EducationAs educators, we have many external expectations placed on us, which often makes it difficult to pursue projects we are passionate about. In school we get caught up in a routine, and our students can end up doing the same. Routines can be productive, but once they become monotonous, that can be the opposite of what the educational experience should be or could be. A planned (but for the students, unexpected) experience can provide an antidote. Such events are often the most memorable experiences that students have while in school.
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Pediatricians key for critical early intervention in speech, language impairments
Sheilamary Koch Medical & Allied HealthcareSchool and social successes hinge more on language ability than any other factor for the vast majority of children. Pediatricians and family doctors who have regular contact with infants and their parents are uniquely positioned to help identify young children who demonstrate delayed development within the speech, language and hearing realm. A quick referral to a corresponding specialist for evaluation can make the difference between these infants and toddlers experiencing years of struggle and having the tools to navigate the normal challenges of childhood.
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Great new approaches to teaching — until they’re not
Patrick Gleeson EducationSocial science and technology research offer teachers many promising new ways of educating but not always with a lot of certainty about how well these new approaches work. New teaching methods are generally welcomed, but "innovative" past teaching practices have not always ended well. This is not intended to be a survey of all the teaching methods that didn't work out — that would be more like a book. Ample documentation of failure already abounds, such the federal government’s own 2018 study of 67 federally funded teaching innovations that shows that only 18 percent of them had a measurable positive impact.
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Stopping the spread of hate in schools
Brian Stack EducationIt seems these days that every news broadcast starts with a look at a hate crime happening somewhere in our world. These crimes could be as big as the recent attacks in New Zealand, where dozens were killed in the Christchurch mosque attack, or as small as a hate crime story happening in the town next door. America's youth are growing up in an age where they are seeing these instances of hate on a constant basis, and it is our job as educators to help them process, reflect, and take action to turn the tide on this awful trend for their generation.
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Economy rebounds to add 196,000 jobs; unemployment steady at 3.8%
Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementThe March jobs report shows that nonfarm payroll employment rose 196,000 from 20,000 new jobs in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. March’s rate of unemployment of 3.8% matched February’s rate of 3.8%. "To be really clear — today's jobs report inspires a bit of a sigh of relief relative to the disastrous February jobs number — but the economy is definitely going to grow a lot more slowly in 2019 than 2018," said Josh Bivens, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. March marked the 102nd consecutive month of expansion since the end of the Great Recession.
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Video: What’s the difference between a school counselor and a guidance…
Angela Cleveland EducationIn the past, the title "guidance counselor" was used to describe counselors working in a school. Their role was primarily focused on "guiding" students to post-secondary education and scheduling. Their days were filled with tasks like sending out transcripts, writing letters of recommendation, etc. The title "school counselor" today recognizes that counselors address the needs of the whole student. They are proactive, data-informed leaders in the school community. Watch this video to learn more about the difference in roles.
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Teaching the major scale in your music class
Aileen Miracle EducationLooking for fun ways to teach about the major scale? If you've taught fa and ti to your students and would like to teach about the major scale, folk songs can be a great way to reinforce these concepts! One of my favorite singing games is called "Chumbara," a French-Canadian singing game. In this article, I'll also detail a hands-on way to teach the major scale and how to use instruments to deepen students' understanding!
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Teaching and coaching in a multigenerational setting
Rey Hernandez EducationI retired from coaching in 2012 after 36 years on the sideline coaching high school football, and in 2017, I retired from teaching. In order to stay busy, I decided to do some substitute teaching and agreed to join the varsity coaching staff at a local high school. During my time away from football, I saw many changes in the high school game. Some of these changes came in the form of administrative directives and legislative mandates that were enacted in response to growing safety concerns related to on-field concussions. Those changes were accompanied by a decrease in the number of students participating in football.
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