Is handwriting still important?

If you teach languages, you have likely had the conversation with other teachers about whether or not to teaching cursive handwriting. In our digital age, is this still a skill we should prioritize? Research suggests there is an important relationship between the mind/memory and handwriting, yet teachers speculate if they should justify the time it takes for students to learn this skill. I wonder if it should be taught in art instead? This video challenged my thinking and it may challenge yours too.

How do we handle expectations?

Do you understand how your students manage your expectations? Or ever wonder why your colleagues manage staff and work expectations differently? And which of these four temperaments do you see in yourself?

As Socrates said, "Know thyself" and consequently, learn to know others too. This information might help you change some of your students' habits (and perhaps your own). No matter what you learn, note the emphasis on compassion and understanding.

A Compassionate Stance

Is compassion a matter of reacting to situations or is it about how intentional you are? This short video may make you rethink your definition of compassion and how to apply it to your life, or teach it to your students.

Child's Play?

Many of us heard this when we were children: "Well, you certainly have a good imagination!" Such a great compliment! But imagination is definitely not so-called child's play. It's a strength we teachers can empower in any and every student at any age. Why? Science says it literally builds the brain. Watch the video for the latest research and consider using visualization techniques in your classes to enhance that brain-building. Plus, it's just fun.

Think Left & Think Right

Dr. Seuss taught many of us as children to "think left and think right, think low and think high, oh the things you can think, if you only try."

Teaching students to think means teaching them to self-assess. This requires a clearly defined process that can be repeated to mastery. No matter the grade, the process is essentially the same. This Arts example provides some great direction regarding that process.

For more information and resources, click here.

What IS confidence?

Who doesn't need a confidence boost every now and again? Sometimes risks lack the expected rewards. Sometimes we can't help but compare ourselves to others seemingly more successful. Sometimes we experience a string of failures. No one can be confident all the time. But we teachers are very skilled at solving problems. Like this short video suggests, to boost our confidence we should start with this question: what exactly is confidence?

Not Child's Play

Ever ask your students to represent their thinking with a cartoon? It's definitely not child's play. A worthy challenge, it can be fun too.

 "Inside a Cartoonist's World" by Liza Donnelly

How do we create life-long learners?

Teaching curiosity is key to creating life-long learners. The links between curiosity and creativity and critical thinking are undeniable. This short video poses some interesting ideas and strategies for teaching all three. What will you inspire your students to be curious about this year? And how will they inspire you?

Creating Learners

Recently, we coaches spent a day with all the Junior High teachers in our school division. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk to them about building a collaborative culture and we feel immense gratitude for their insights and ideas. They have such an important job!

One of our activities was to define the ideal skills and attributes of a student. Using a bit of backwards design, we hoped to encourage teachers to visualize the type of learner they, through their influence, want to create. The wordle says it all.

What kind of students do you want to create?

TL;DR? No prob.

SMMRY

Internet slang has a clever word for it: TL;DR (too long; didn't read). We agree. That's why we teachers need options for summarizing digital text. The screen snip explains it all. Check out the link. It's magic!

Remember books?

Need a laugh? This video might help with that. For junior/senior high teachers this video might also engage your students' critical thinking skills and open a good conversation about technology or literacy. And if you teach irony or satire or debate, this video asks a great question about our modern society: what are we forgetting how to do? Maybe even have your students create a how-to parody video of their own. What would be the topic?

Got Test Anxiety?

Many of our students experience test-anxiety or lack confidence when faced with any type of assessment. These issues speak to the need for students to learn about perseverance and problem-solving and develop personal strategies around them. One such strategy might be a brain purge (sometimes called a brain dump) Despite the odd name, it could really be quite helpful.

 

So how does it work?

After learning new material over a period of time, have students do a "brain purge" on a blank page. Essentially, they dump everything they know about what they've learned. This has many uses:
1. It helps students articulate their learning.
2. It allows teachers to see "gaps" in learning.
3. It allows for teacher/peer feedback.
4. It creates a study guide before tests.
5. If done for a few minutes immediately before a test, it becomes the study guide during the test.

All of these approaches may be quite useful in removing anxiety and developing confidence in learning and assessment. What do you think?

Find out more information here at Edutopia.

Who's Yours?

You are pretty special. Believe it.

Every kid has a champion right? A vigorous supporter? Someone in their corner, cheering? We certainly hope so. On his blog, Stony Plain Alberta principal George Couros posed these thoughts...

"Doesn’t every adult need a champion as well? I guess they don’t need a champion, but wouldn’t it make what we do that much better? Does it not make a difference when you know that the people you work with value and promote the great work that you do?"

We totally agree; all adults should have champions too. That's why we think you should consider these two essential questions:
1. Who are you a champion for?
2. Who's your champion?

10000 Ways that Don't Work?

Source

Formative assessment provides time for trial and error and thus encourages students to takes risks to achieve more. Even though it's time consuming in our classrooms, just imagine what the world would be like without it. Think about Thomas Edison. What if he hadn't been allowed to redo, rethink, and revise his work. What if he hadn't persevered? It's a "dark" thought, isn't it?

Scientists estimate that Edison's light bulb wastes 95% of the energy it creates. If so, I guess one could say his bulb still doesn't work perfectly and yet look at how it has dramatically changed our lives and the world.

Maybe there's another Thomas Edison in your classroom right now. Hmmm. Maybe finding 10,000 ways that don't work is actually pretty darn good work.

Inquiry Minds Want to Know...

Source (and great resource): What Ed Said Blog

     "Inquiry is the process of finding answers to questions. The skills of science inquiry include asking questions, proposing ideas, observing, experimenting, and interpreting the evidence that is gathered.
     An inquiry may be...based on a question brought to the classroom by a teacher or student; or it may arise out of an activity, an interesting observation, an unexplained event or a pattern that appears worth pursuing." ~Alberta Education Science Curriculum Front Matter (c) 1996
     And speaking of the unexplained...what makes the world's largest volcano invisible?

But is there a format for teaching inquiry? Or a procedure that could be used as an anchor project? Consider using the F.E.R.A. cycle...

F-FOCUS on a topic generating interest and engaging a student's background knowledge.
E-EXPLORE objects, organisms and scientific phenomena that build on that prior knowledge.
R-REFLECT on observations and data, revisit prior ideas and develop or refine explanations.
A-APPLY understanding of science concepts to new situations and prepare to repeat the learning cycle.
-strategy developed by the Smithsonian Science Education Center 

P.S. Get your "science fix" here.

Math: Three Different Ways

Exploring all techniques, exploring all answers, these Grade 3 math students are problem-solving without anxiety in an inclusive learning environment. Cool.

Motivation and Mindset

In the words of classic underachiever Homer Simpson, "the first step to failure is trying." Yup, it makes us chuckle too. Yet, how often and to what depth does this sort of negative self-talk impact our students and even ourselves? It's classic fixed mindset thinking.

One of the leading researchers in the field of motivation, psychology professor Carol S. Dweck's book Mindset has real insight on how to increase motivation in our classrooms--a very big challenge that all teachers face. How many of your students give up? How many persist? And why? Teachers need strategies to create growth mindsets and build perseverance.

Using information from Dweck's book, the following prezi (free to share created by Jen Schones) has motivation strategies for teachers that can help students improve their mindsets.

Students "Make their Mark" with The Dot

September 15 is International Dot Day. Are you ready?

In the spirit of creativity and innovation and just plain fun, one of our favourite authors is getting globally connected with International Dot Day.

The Dot is the story of a caring teacher who dares a doubting student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to “make her mark”. What begins with a small dot on a piece of paper becomes a breakthrough in confidence and courage, igniting a journey of self-discovery and sharing, which has gone on to inspire countless children and adults around the globe.

An annual event, students all over the world are "making their mark." Find resources here. The video below, a "motion piece" by Pat Malley, was inspired by the book by Peter H. Reynolds.

Is the correct answer the best answer?

Both key 21st Century competencies, creativity and innovation are real-life, value-transfer skills too. This video suggests that sometimes, searching for the correct answer can stifle creative thinking. What do you think? And how might this apply to creating a competency-based classroom for your students?

Plus, wouldn't this be a fun activity in your class?


"When There is a Correct Answer" by Elad Segev & Odelia Kohn-Oppenheim

Got Grit?

If you're interested in teaching your students about grit, perseverance, resilience, determination, goal-setting and more, consider sharing this video with them. Plus, not only is it inspirational for them, it's inspirational for us teachers too.