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Differentiation in the music classroom
Aileen Miracle EducationThe term "differentiation" has been used more and more often in education lately. What does it mean? How does it apply to the music room? According to Carol Ann Tomlinson — an expert on differentiation — differentiated instruction is defined as factoring students’ individual learning styles and levels of readiness first before designing a lesson plan. So what does this look like in the music classroom? I've heard many music teachers say that differentiation happens naturally in the music room. I agree...to a degree.
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Utilizing experiential learning in a university context
Jesica Nkouaga EducationI had the privilege of teaching English Language Learners (ELL) in an English Language Program (ELP) at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for two years from 2016 to 2018. I taught a class entitled Special Topics that employed Experiential Learning in the form of field trips and guest speakers, with the objectives of helping students build relationships in the community, find a sense of place, and build practical English skills in the four skill areas of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The class was taught to beginner- through advanced-level students from a variety of countries, and the class can be adapted to cater to mixed-level abilities.
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What’s the best way to teach children to read?
Patrick Gleeson EducationThe two most often-used ways of teaching children to read are phonics and whole language. Each of these methods has committed advocates and both teaching methods are currently used, but according to The National Assessment of Educational Progress, more than half of fourth-grade students in the U.S. read below grade-level standards. What are we doing wrong?
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Does your school facility need a makeover?
Brian Stack EducationDoes your school facility need a makeover? According to this 2012 report by the National Center for Education Statistics, 53 percent of American schools are due for such an upgrade. Upgrades can be done in ways to fit almost any school budget. The key for school principals is to stretch the financial resources they have to provide the biggest rate of return possible to enhance student learning and overall school culture.
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How schools are going solar
Bambi Majumdar EducationThe Solar Schools 2025 initiative seeks to target 50 schools each year to go solar. The initiative, launched by the nonprofit Renewable Nation, encourages K-12 schools to increase photovoltaic panel usage. Many schools and districts are willing but administrators are unsure about the process, time frame and costs involved. Nine out of 10 schools in the U.S. that are solar-ready have not yet gone solar yet. Therefore, there is immense potential to be harnessed. Studies show that if 450 U.S. school districts install solar, they could each save more than $1 million over 30 years.
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Don’t swim alone
Debra Josephson Abrams Education"Don't swim alone. Use the buddy system so someone always knows where you are and can get help if needed," warns a standard water safety tip. Educators need buddies, too, because it is dangerous to swim alone in the often deep and treacherous waters of teaching. As we saw previously, mentoring has its specific place in addressing the needs of teachers who are young and new to the profession. There are other approaches to help educators, regardless of their age or their experience, one of which is a buddy system. Unlike mentoring programs, which situate an experienced professional in a hierarchical position above the new and inexperienced teacher, the buddy system relies on buddies as equal partners though with roles different from one another.
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6 ways to end music class
Aileen Miracle EducationPondering the best way to end music class? In today's post, I'll write with my favorite ways to end music class before another class walks through the door! For example, a simple but fun way to say goodbye to your students is to sing goodbye to them. If your first-graders are working on sol-mi, you could sing "Goodbye first grade," on sol-mi-sol-mi, and they could sing back "Goodbye Mr./Mrs. ________." Then, you could sing "Have a good day," and they could echo that. You could even sing to individual students and have them sing solos back at you.
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Maintaining student progress
Douglas Magrath EducationAs I wrote in October 2017, "The concern among those serving international students is shifting from recruiting to retention. Student retention is especially critical at the college level, because there are many programs from which students can choose." To be ready for college, students need to have a variety of skills, behaviors and other characteristics. ESL students in particular face a variety of obstacles. Teachers and administrators need to monitor students and give them encouragement to keep them on track. Recent arrivals to the U.S. go through several stages of culture shock.
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Teachers in America: A present-day overview
Bambi Majumdar EducationUSA Today's story on days in the life of 15 teachers has ignited serious debate. But it's not about teacher shortage or hardships, because we know these problems exist. It’s about a profession in crisis and whether we can do anything to save them. Each story is harrowing. There is no escape from the gloom and hardships our public school teachers face today. In a new development, the nation is talking about their pressures and frustrations.
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Umbrella skills for expressive language
Sheilamary Koch EducationCan you say "Kwuggerbug?" Not knowing how to rhyme and change first sounds of words would put Dr. Seuss readers at a loss. Fortunately — thanks to their phonology skills — successful readers possess the ability to break an unfamiliar (or in this case a nonexistent) word into parts and to rhyme an unfamiliar syllable with a familiar one to sound out words they’ve never seen previously. Phonology, a set of expressive skills needed for learning to read, is the final umbrella skill belonging to the framework we have followed for this series on expressive language from an SLP perspective.
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