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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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The application of linguistics to ESL: Part 1
Douglas Magrath EducationThe grammatical description of a language is conveniently divided into two complementary sections: morphology and syntax. The relationship between them, as generally stated, is as follows: Morphology accounts for the internal structure of words, and syntax describes how words are combined to form phrases, clauses and sentences.
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Summer reading for special education teachers
Savanna Flakes EducationSchool is winding down for many educators across the country. Summer is a much needed time for teachers to rejuvenate, reflect and rebuild. Contrary to popular belief, educators are not truly off in the summer. What other professions are responsible for 30-150 human beings' emotional, mental and academic needs during 10 out of 12 months, or are constantly thinking about standards, tests and meetings in the shower, and are planning exciting activities during their dinnertime?
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Is summer vacation a relic of the past?
Brian Stack EducationThis is the time of year when Alice Cooper's song "School's Out for Summer" can be heard playing on public address systems in schools from coast to coast. I am reminded of the days of my youth, busting out the front doors of my elementary school and charging into the streets of my Haverhill, Massachusetts, neighborhood filled with mixed emotions of what my life without an academic structure would look like for the next two months.
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Tablets: Tools for learning or distracting toys?
Cait Harrison EducationClassrooms have come a long way since the days of pencils, paper and textbooks. Now many school districts are trading those tools in for new ones — the latest tablets and laptops, to be exact. So what kind of impact is all this technology having on students, for better or for worse?
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