In Classroom Instruction That Works (that is, real strategies for real learning) Robert Marzano's research shows that identifying similarities and differences is one of the most powerful thinking strategies we can teach. Helping students compare, classify, create metaphors and similies, and use analogies can boost student achievement up to 45 percentile points.
Tired of the ubiquitous Venn Diagram? Try these tech sites for a few fresh ideas:
1. Out on a Lim by Janice Lim, Michigan edtech expert
2. Analogix, an interactive site for older students
3. Similes and Metaphors on BrainPop (intermediate grades)
M.E.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Take-out & Take-aways
It has been 20 years for me now. 20 years in public education. I can't believe it! Seems like just yesterday when, as a nervous 22 year old, I walked through the doors of Holly Hill Elementary to inquire about my first teaching job.
Weird things have happened along the way, such as critical school levies, bus strikes, new standards and programs, large class sizes, cutbacks and changes in administration, to name a few. Every so often, however, and in the most unexpected ways, I'm reminded of what matters most: the child.
Tonight I visited my local Mexican restaurant to pick up some chips & salsa. While waiting I noticed a small sign behind the counter. It read:
"What is a customer?
A customer is the most important person to pass through these doors.
Not an interruption to our work, but the purpose of it.
Without the customer, there is not a purpose for us."
Let's change "customer" to "child" and do a rethink.
"What is a child?
A child is the most important person to pass through these doors.
Not an interruption to our work, but the purpose of it.
Without the child, there is not a purpose for us."
So...tonight I got some tasty take-out, along with a delicious take-away.
Weird things have happened along the way, such as critical school levies, bus strikes, new standards and programs, large class sizes, cutbacks and changes in administration, to name a few. Every so often, however, and in the most unexpected ways, I'm reminded of what matters most: the child.
Tonight I visited my local Mexican restaurant to pick up some chips & salsa. While waiting I noticed a small sign behind the counter. It read:
"What is a customer?
A customer is the most important person to pass through these doors.
Not an interruption to our work, but the purpose of it.
Without the customer, there is not a purpose for us."
Let's change "customer" to "child" and do a rethink.
"What is a child?
A child is the most important person to pass through these doors.
Not an interruption to our work, but the purpose of it.
Without the child, there is not a purpose for us."
So...tonight I got some tasty take-out, along with a delicious take-away.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
A PLAYful Idea
I'm watching the Tony Awards tonight. Now here's a novel idea. Actually it's a PLAYful idea. For this summer's reading I going to read...some plays. Here's a terrific article I read this morning about the joys of READING drama. I love to watch the playwrightt's words come alive on stage. So I haven't read drama since I taught ninth grade English (Romeo & Juliet, anyone?).
But Dwight Garner inspired me to try reading some drama again. He says, "To encounter plays on paper is to encounter them in their platonic form. You’re glued to the playwright’s words, not sitting in Row K jostling for an armrest. While reading, you can submit more perfectly to the author’s spell and, what’s more, you are your own casting director." Convinced! I'm off to order Yasmina Reza's Tony Award winner God of Carnage.
But Dwight Garner inspired me to try reading some drama again. He says, "To encounter plays on paper is to encounter them in their platonic form. You’re glued to the playwright’s words, not sitting in Row K jostling for an armrest. While reading, you can submit more perfectly to the author’s spell and, what’s more, you are your own casting director." Convinced! I'm off to order Yasmina Reza's Tony Award winner God of Carnage.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Why We'll Blog
Okay westcler teachers and friends. Here's the deal. How do we communicate news and views about teaching and learning in westcler with more of you (teachers) and fewer of us (T&L staff)? And how do we make this news a give and take? Jodi D took a bold step this year and starting blogging with her fourth graders. It's easy. They love it. And we hope you will, too. Check out Sachi and Lee LeFever 's "Blogs in Plain English" on TeacherTube.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
perfection vs. persistence
"There's no such thing as the perfect lesson, the perfect day
in school or the perfect teacher. For teachers and students alike,
the goal is not perfection, but persistence in the pursuit of
understanding things."
Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe
in school or the perfect teacher. For teachers and students alike,
the goal is not perfection, but persistence in the pursuit of
understanding things."
Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe
It's Closing Time
It's the end of an era for Jay Leno. Seventeen years ago, Jay succeeded Johnny Carson as the host of The Tonight Show. Now the baton will be handed to Conan O'Brien, and Jay will move to prime time. As I watched The Tonight Show earlier this week and listened to Lyle Lovett sing "Closing Time", a certain sadness came over me. Not a tear-your-heart-out sadness. Not an all-hope-is-gone kind of sadness. I guess I would describe it as a little bit of melancholy tinged with sentiment. Almost the same feeling I get at the end of the school year when the bulletin boards are dismantled and the last child gets on the bus, waving out that little rectangular bus window.
Now don't get me wrong. When I was a classroom teacher, I was filled with joy at the prospect of endless summer days, not wearing a watch, and visiting the bathroom whenever I wanted to! And even now, in my work as a support for classroom teachers, I look forward to family vacations and late nights around the fire pit.
But for me, there is still something sad about the end of the school year. Maybe it's the wish that I had been more patient with that child who constantly tugged on my shirttail. Or with that colleague who always talked too long or complained too much. Or perhaps in my reflection about the year I tend to magnify my mistakes and minimize my triumphs.
Do you feel the same? Is the end of the school year bittersweet for you, too? If so, I think we're among the lucky ones. Our sentimentality tells us a lot. It means we are reflective. It means we want better for ourselves and for our students. It means we still care, after all these years.
So here's to you at closing time. Stack up those chairs and say your goodbyes. By the time Independence Day rolls around, you'll be full of plans and dreams for next year. And so will I.
Now don't get me wrong. When I was a classroom teacher, I was filled with joy at the prospect of endless summer days, not wearing a watch, and visiting the bathroom whenever I wanted to! And even now, in my work as a support for classroom teachers, I look forward to family vacations and late nights around the fire pit.
But for me, there is still something sad about the end of the school year. Maybe it's the wish that I had been more patient with that child who constantly tugged on my shirttail. Or with that colleague who always talked too long or complained too much. Or perhaps in my reflection about the year I tend to magnify my mistakes and minimize my triumphs.
Do you feel the same? Is the end of the school year bittersweet for you, too? If so, I think we're among the lucky ones. Our sentimentality tells us a lot. It means we are reflective. It means we want better for ourselves and for our students. It means we still care, after all these years.
So here's to you at closing time. Stack up those chairs and say your goodbyes. By the time Independence Day rolls around, you'll be full of plans and dreams for next year. And so will I.
Friday, May 22, 2009
In Flanders Fields
Do students memorize poems any more? Beyond primary grades, I mean. Tanny inspired me a few weeks ago--it was "poem-in-your-pocket day," I recall--to memorize some poetry. So for this weekend, I'm working on "In Flanders Fields" by Lt. Col. John McRae.
It's Memorial weekend and our pool opens for the summer! A group of us were talking about our plans...travel, family, picnics. Hurray for Willowville Elementary's Memorial Day parade. It's become a community tradition, but most importantly, it teaches our children that Memorial Day is more than just the beginning of summer. Let's carve a few minutes of this weekend's fun to remember the origin of the holiday and to salute all fallen soldiers.
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
It's Memorial weekend and our pool opens for the summer! A group of us were talking about our plans...travel, family, picnics. Hurray for Willowville Elementary's Memorial Day parade. It's become a community tradition, but most importantly, it teaches our children that Memorial Day is more than just the beginning of summer. Let's carve a few minutes of this weekend's fun to remember the origin of the holiday and to salute all fallen soldiers.
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
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