by Cindy Jones
My grandson, Charlie is thirteen and in 8th grade. He is a good student and generally likes school, but he has been diagnosed with ADHD and has problems with paying attention and organizational skills. The Covid 19 pandemic has made the problem much worse. Today, many students have increased frustration due to changes in school structure and instruction.
My daughter really wanted to help Charlie, but had no idea where to start. After some research, she discovered the book, That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week, by Ana Homayoun. The author is a specialist who works with teenage boys who struggle with organizational and time management issues.
The tech tool Padlet might be a great fit for silent discussions. Padlet is an online bulletin board that can be used in many different ways. It is free to sign up; however, you can only make three Padlets before you need to upgrade to a monthly or yearly subscription. Teachers can get a 30-day free trial before upgrading to the monthly or annual plan.I definitely think it's worth the monthly subscription. I use it to streamline communications with learners.
By Ann Elise Record
In my consulting work, I’m frequently asked about how interventionists can structure their limited time with students to be the most impactful. There are two areas of content that I think are often not given enough instructional time that can be incredibly powerful and positively affect students’ achievement as well as their disposition: fluency and word problem structures. It’s all about finding out the students’ strengths and then building on them. In this post, I’ll be focusing on fluency and next month I’ll delve into word problem types.
By Cindy Jones
Some students enjoy “pushing our buttons”. It is very entertaining for them when we lose our cool and get frustrated. So, when you are verbally intervening with a student, do not get into a power struggle.
By Ann Elise Record
Whenever we explore math concepts with students, having students see representations concretely, pictorially, and abstractly is so important for their brains. I have many math manipulatives that I love, but I think one in particular has the power to move our students forward on their math journeys from counting reasoning into additive reasoning and then, in grades 3-5, into multiplicative reasoning: CuisenaireⓇ Rods.
By Randi Anderson
For the first major writing project of the year, students are creating an argumentative essay inspired by Ted Talks. At the end of the projects, students will present their talks to a live audience. We've decided to call our argumentative talks “Panther Talk Days” (similar to a Ted Talk).
By Ashley Taplin
According to Professor John Hattie’s Visible Learning research, Teacher Clarity is one of the top influences that can greatly impact student achievement (Visible Learning, John Hattie). Teacher clarity focuses on intentional learning targets and success criteria.
Looking for great read alouds for the first weeks of school? Here is a link to a padlet I created with the help of a lot of friends!
By Ashley Taplin
Jamboard: Google Jamboard is a great tool to use both synchronously and asynchronously to enable students to display their thinking and foster collaboration. The board includes virtual pens and highlighters, text boxes, sticky notes, and uploading images/gifs.
By Cindy Jones
Students’ behaviors have changed a lot in the past ten years. Today’s educators need specific strategies to help keep students engaged and learning. These strategies, which are based on current brain research, also reduce boredom and acting out behaviors.
