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Puzzling for learning: Create a word for it
Debra Josephson Abrams EducationIs there a word for the mark made when someone falls backward in snow? Is there a word for the idiom "hanging by a thread"? Is there a word for melted snow? Or a tangled lock of hair? Or the pricking, tingling, or burning sensation on the skin? Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes!
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Where is the talk about public education?
Bambi Majumdar EducationWhen election time rolls around, candidates spar over a wide range of issues. However, it is rather strange to see the absence of heated discussion about public education in this year's presidential race. As Joel Gagne put it in his recent article for The Huffington Post, public education seems to have taken a back seat in this election. Furthermore, there are two distinct trends we notice about the education world now: a lack of reform efforts and a tendency for administration-bashing whenever the opportunity lands itself.
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Brain-based strategies for English learners
Erick Herrmann EducationIn the past two decades, knowledge of how the brain functions has increased tremendously. New, less invasive technologies such as PET scans have helped scientists determine various ways people learn and how to facilitate learning through using brain-based teaching techniques.
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Fostering a relationship of caring
Pierre LaRocco EducationSchool counselors must have many tough conversations with students. However, if we do some ground work in creating a caring relationship with students, then those conversations become much easier to have. What is a relationship of caring? I consider it a relationship of mutual respect where one party (the student) knows the other party (the counselor) has the student's best interest in mind even when the latter is holding the student accountable for his/her actions.
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Critical factors in helping struggling learners to remember
Howard Margolis EducationIf you teach special education or have a child in need of remedial or special help, you may soon start asking “Why does he keep forgetting? What’s wrong with him?” Maybe he forgets because he doesn’t attend to or understand the important information, concepts or processes. And maybe, in full or part, he’s a struggling learner with memory problems. But physically, directly, legally and morally, you can’t get into his brain to rearrange his memory cells and synapses as he’s a real child, not an android in a bizarre science-fiction movie. So, you’re helpless. Right? Wrong. You’re not.
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A flipped approach: Bringing the school to the parent
Brian Stack EducationOne of the most critical dilemmas that school leaders face is how to get more parents involved at their school. One North Carolina middle school may have found a unique solution that could serve as a model for other school communities – bring the school to the parent. According to this Winston-Salem Journal article, Philo-Hill Middle School Parent Involvement Coordinator Javier Correa-Vega recognized that a lack of transportation was one of the biggest reasons parents didn’t engage with his school.
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Allow your district’s IT department to have a relaxing summer: Automate…
Dean Wiech EducationAs summer is upon us, not all school districts employees are looking forward to relaxing for a few months. System administrators often need to prepare during the off-student months for the new school year by making all the appropriate changes to their network, including upgrading software and changing their systems. As is often the case, hundreds of students need to be added to the roles and have accounts created for them, while hundreds more move up to different grade levels, and still hundreds more graduate out of the system.
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The application of linguistics to ESL: Part 2
Douglas Magrath EducationIn the first part of this article, we looked at how the grammatical description of a language is conveniently divided into two complementary sections: morphology and syntax. Here we will look at some of the systems English uses for communication and analyze the structure of English sentences. This information is designed to aid ESL teachers.
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Strengthening the memory of struggling learners: Starting points
Howard Margolis EducationNo doubt about it. Most struggling learners have a strong propensity to forget, no matter how many times teachers and parents tell them something. This adds tremendous complexity and uncertainty to teaching while frustrating teachers, parents and learners alike.
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Entrepreneurship to empower K-12 education
Bambi Majumdar EducationFrederick M. Hess first published his book "Educational Entrepreneurship" in 2006. Needless to say, it has had quite an effect with its avant garde ideas and suggestions for the future of American education. Some thought it was too foreign a concept, some thought it was too complicated, but a small group of individuals found it inspiring. Thanks to these enterprising minds, the last decade has seen small and steady changes in the way education and its future is perceived. Entrepreneurship is now an increasingly significant part of K-12 education, offering better career and technical education and more engaging school models every day.
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