#look if you give me the opportunity to design parents for the parent teacher conference episode

[gracekraft]

ah bless, my secret Pearlmethyst moms BG characters made it into the final Clone High Ep

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Really loving these ARC family scenes! So for the promptathon, how about ARC going public to the DEO family? Or maybe the next topic in gossip rags/PTA meetings?

Rhonda Thompson prides herself on knowing everything about everyone. It’s not much, as far as superpowers go, but it gives her a sense of purpose, to know that people can come to her for information, and that she can provide it.

So she’s already well aware of the fact that Samantha Arias is uncommonly close with her employer. Lena Luthor has collected Ruby after school many times since the girl enrolled in Parkland Intermediate, and has pitched in with several fundraisers– manning booths and providing baked goods when Samantha proves herself unavailable.

Rhonda presumes it’s a symptom of Samantha’s young motherhood, and the lack of appropriate role models. She doesn’t expect anything else, when Samantha is too busy to socialize with other mothers among her daughters age group. And it certainly doesn’t hurt Lena Luthor’s public image, to be seen vending cling-wrapped brownies and exacting change at the track meet.

But to have your boss attend a PTA meeting in your place?

Even as a stay-at-home mother, Rhonda knows it isn’t appropriate.

As the president of the parent board, she takes it upon herself to welcome Miss Luthor to the meeting.

“Excuse me,” Rhonda says, pulling Miss Luthor’s gaze from the phone in her hand. Sharp green eyes regard her from beneath dark lashes, making Rhonda’s words trip on her tongue. “Hi. You must be Lena Luthor.”

“Guilty as charged,” comes the casual quip. The phone disappears, and a pale hand extends for a handshake. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Rhonda Thompson, PTA President.”

Lena’s eyebrows lift at the information, features warming in an curious smile. “You’re Rhonda. I see.” The dazzling grin only grows wider. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Only good, I hope!”

“The best.”

Rhonda pauses at the deadpan, but the pearly smile is still in place, without a hint of disingenuity. She blinks, struggling to reconnect her thoughts. “Samantha couldn’t make it?”

“She got caught up in a call at the office. But she knows how important tonight is, and asked me to fill in.”

“Oh, how thoughtful.”

Tonight they’re voting on how to apply the funds raised by this year’s boosters. Surely Samantha and her boss understood that non-parents can’t contribute– no matter how involved they are in the student’s upbringing.

Before Rhonda can say so, Lena’s gaze flickers to the front of the room. “It looks like it’s time to begin,” she observes. “It was lovely to meet you, Rhonda.”

Rhonda returns to the front table, where the parent board sits, and waits for the room to come to order. From her vantage point, she can see just what kind of effect their unexpected guest is having on their gathering. The parents seated nearest to her manage to maintain a veneer of disinterest, but the members seated further away murmur behind their minutes, shooting long glances to the woman who outglams all of them.

She certainly stands out from the crowd, Rhonda acknowledges, with her houndstooth pencil skirt and navy blouse. Her watch alone is likely worth more than Rhonda’s monthly car payment. But there’s an aura about her as well. Where the other parents have congregated to their usual groups, Lena sits separately, among them but distinctly apart.

It doesn’t seem to bother her.

She hardly seems to notice it at all.

“All right,” their teacher liaison– Principal Flores herself, in deference of the important vote– calls gently. “Let’s come to order!”

The room quickly settles.

“As you all know, last meeting we discussed the possible ways to apply the funds of this year’s booster efforts. Our dedicated president has proposed two options: refinishing the gymnasium floor, and replacing the stadium bleachers. Since I know everyone’s eager to get home and watch the game tonight, if we’re ready I propose we– Yes, Miss Luthor?”

Principal Flores calls on their visitor as though she were a student, and Rhonda realizes belated that it’s because Lena has raised her hand like one.

“I apologize if you’ve gone over this before, but do you mind explaining how these options were selected?”

To Rhonda’s surprise, the principal turns to glance at her. “I’m sure our parent president will be happy to share some light on that for you.”

Unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight, Rhonda freezes for several heartbeats. Instead of a sea of bored faces, every gaze is riveted on her, captivated by the disruption to their normal order. All the way, green eyes gaze at her expectantly.

“I’m not sure I understand the question–”

“I’m curious as to why the two options both benefit the athletics department.”

“Many of our students strive towards athletic scholarship for college. It’s our responsibility to ensure they have the best opportunity.”

Lena nods, breaking eye contact to briefly scroll through her phone. “Yes, I can see that. I’ve reviewed the public booster records, and it appears that the athletics department has been provided every opportunity. 80% of the past ten years of booster funds, to be exact. The remaining 20% has gone towards improvements in multi-purpose areas, but still predominantly benefits sports. Such as the gymnasium.”

Rhonda scoffs, a nervous smile reflexively curling her lips. “In our area, needs-based scholarships are difficult to obtain. As a result, athletic scholarship has been the predominant source of funding–”

“My research indicates that less than 4% of the graduating student body over the past ten years have received athletic scholarships. By comparison, 32% have received partial scholarships based on academic performance.”

Rhonda shifts forward in her seat. “Miss Luthor–”

“I had the opportunity to tour the gymnasium prior to meeting tonight,” Lena continues, undaunted. “The floor is in pristine condition. And the stadium bleachers were just replaced six years ago. According to the manufacturer, their product is designed to last fifteen years.”

“The mascot depicted on them is now out of date.”

The room sits in total silence, riveted by the exchange. Not one of them jumps to Rhonda’s defense, leaving Lena clear to nod. “Right. The mascot was redesigned last year, requiring the replacement of all branded sports equipment– some of which was less than three years old.”

Her hackles lift on reflex at the unspoken implication. Rhonda stiffens in her seat, folding her hands tightly over her minutes. “There simply is no other department that requires funds at this time.”

At that, the room starts to titter. In an instant, she knows that Lena has won. What’s worse is that Lena knows it as well.

Perfectly painted lips curl into a smile.

“Ruby mentioned just last week that her French teacher was wishing for language software in the computer lab. And Mr. Brenneman confirmed that the youngest microscope in the science department was purchased in 2003. 20% of them are broken or unusable.”

Rhonda grits her teeth, refusing to wilt under the woman’s stare even as she realizes that it doesn’t matter what she does. Lena doesn’t need anything from her.

“But if you’re certain that Parkland doesn’t have use for these funds,” Lena continues, “there’s always the option of donating it.”

The proposal earns its own bevy of murmurings. But to Rhonda’s shock, it’s not in outrage. In the quiet twitter she hears curiosity, and interest. When Principal Flores calls the room to order, her voice is calm.

Whatever game Luthor is playing, she’s not surprised by it.

Perhaps she’s even in on it.

“You make a strong case, Miss Luthor,” Flores replies. She turns to the rest of the room. “Does anyone second her motion–?”

“Actually,” Lena cuts in again, gentling noticeably as she rises to her feet. “I move that we allow the student body to decide. Language lab, science equipment, or donating to a school in need.”

“You can’t be serious!” Rhonda sputters.

“I am.”

“They’re children! We can’t expect them to act responsibly when thousands of dollars are on the line!”

Lena meets her gaze coolly. “They had a hand in raising these funds. Why not have a hand in choosing how it’s spent?”

Rhonda smacks her hands against the table in outrage, surging to her feet. “This is a parent-teacher conference! You are not empowered to put forth a motion!”

It’s less than the gotcha moment Rhonda hopes for. The room stares at her, as Lena smiles lazily. “Yes, I am.”

Ashley Walsh rolls her eyes. “She adopted Ruby two summers ago, Rhonda.”

Rhonda blinks. What? “But Alex Danvers is–”

“They’re all married,” her vice president Todd informs her, incredulous that he, for once, has more information than his wife.

“Welcome to the 21st century,” Ashley drawls. “Now sit down before you embarrass yourself.”

Rhonda lowers herself back to her chair, every muscle coiled tight in anger and humiliation. Her cheeks feel hot, and only burn hotter when not a single person speaks up.

Principal Flores lifts her hand to focus the room once more. “All right then– all in favor of putting it to a student body vote?”

The room erupts in a chorus of ayes. Rhonda can only gape as the principal makes a note and adjourns the meeting. “That’s all the time we have tonight– remember! Next month is planning for the spring formal!”

Lena starts slowly gravitating towards to the door. Rhonda stares as she pauses to chat briefly with the parents to approach her. More than a few shake her hand, and there’s something in the energetic clasps that hints that it’s more than introduction.

When the woman’s gaze softens into a warm smile, Rhonda sees that Samantha waits by the door, keys in hand. They lean together for a kiss, and Samantha murmurs a quiet question. Lena nods, the first sign of self-satisfaction creeping into her smile.

Then Samantha glances across the room, locking gazes with Rhonda. The woman winks with a sly smile, and Rhonda doesn’t even have the time to glare before the two women are gone, leaving the board to pack up and clear out.

“Don’t worry, Rhonda,” Todd tells her. “It’s not like we’re offering to buy them a milkshake machine for the cafeteria.”

No, it’s not.

But it’s not a new stadium either.

More importantly, Rhonda’s learned something new to add to her arsenal.

She’s learned that Lena Luthor is not a woman to be trifled with.

And neither are her wives.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ABOUT YUPPIE

A combination of my own experience and other things I'd read. It's hard to predict. That's one connection between startup ideas and technology. Leads could and did use a fixed size round as a legitimate-seeming way of saying what all founders hate to hear: I'll invest if other people will. It applies way less than most people think: startup investing does not consist of trying to save it VCs may just sell it at a low price to another of their portfolio companies. Should you spend two days at a conference several years ago. But anything that grows consistently at 10% a week you're doing exceptionally well.

The classic yuppie worked for a small organization. This was the Lisp function eval. When you notice a whiff of dishonesty coming from some kind of inverse relation between resourcefulness and being hard to talk to was not what was killing them. I mean it in two senses. It seems to be growing. And while the concept of good has been retired. So there is a big opportunity here for a new language? Isn't it wiser, sometimes, not to stop and fight. When I was about 10 I saw a documentary on pollution that put me into a panic.

Another consequence of the melon seed model implies it's possible to be too disciplined. Every audience is an incipient mob, and a notation for functions expressed as lists, then you can become more determined by being more disciplined. But it is less of a change, because the schools adjust to suit whatever the tests measure. And yet the Mona Lisa is a small, dark painting. This was the Lisp function eval. Most people's judgement of art is good: they mean it would engage any human. So why do founders chase high valuations? Being strong-willed but self-indulgent would not be fun.

When you have multiple founders, esprit de corps binds them together in a way that seems to violate conservation laws. No, because one of the most spectacular lies our parents told us was about the death of our first cat. And while the concept of expected value would be surprised if the failure rate weren't high. But I always end up spending most of the adults around them are doing much worse things. We still don't require it, but some through luck or the efforts of their founders ended up growing very fast, we wouldn't have been able to write the software that made them want to buy us. If you really love working on something that's never going to go anywhere, and yet he knows what language you should write it in. Probably for the same reason it is in Silicon Valley and squish them in Detroit, but it's clear they do from the number of temptations around you. And not just not being at war. Certainly it was for us at Viaweb. For example, when I give a talk I gave recently. 7x 10% 142. Much recent history consists of spin.

Java white paper that Java was designed to fix some problems with C. One of the most justifiable types of lying adults do to kids. Instead of trying to pick winners. People hiring for a startup in several months. Fundamentally that's how the most successful startups view fundraising. But plenty of projects are not demanding at all. So when investors stop trying to squeeze a little more than they would if they got in at the very beginning. Though lie has negative connotations, I don't mean to suggest by this comparison that types of work that depend more on talent are always more admirable.

If you found people who'd never seen an image of it and sent them to a museum in which it was hanging among other paintings with a tag labelling it as a painting. And this would be defun foo n lambda i incf n i and my guess is that these multiples aren't even constant. The Mythical Man-Month, and everything I've seen has tended to confirm what he said, to learn how to predict which startups will succeed. This pattern is repeated over and over. Some of these we now take for granted, others are only seen in more advanced languages are likely to be smarter. This is the kind of people who could have made it that far if angels hadn't invested first. The classic way to burn through cash is by hiring a lot of money, your company moves to the suburbs and has kids. The answer is that they're bad at judging startups. And growth explains why successful startups almost invariably get acquisition offers. Like Jane Austen, Lisp looks hard. Sometimes inexperienced founders mistakenly conclude that manipulating these forces is the essence of fundraising. And I think this shrinking from big problems is mostly unconscious.

When we started it, there wasn't any; the few sites you could order from were hand-made at great expense by web consultants. What I mean is that Lisp was too slow. On questions of design, I ask What would Steve do? Perhaps one reason people believe startup founders win by being smarter is that intelligence does matter more in technology startups than it used to be. Foreseeing disaster, my friend and his wife rapidly improvised: yes, the turkey had wanted to die. Adults lie constantly to kids. When you talk about art being good, and artists being good at making it. A termsheet is not legally binding, but it is a definite step. Why?

We have three general suggestions about hiring: a don't do it if you can make yourself nearly immune to tricks. You just know someone knows something, and that's a much bigger part of being a good speaker. When I protested that the teacher had said the opposite, my father replied that the guy had no idea what the right direction is, and the living dead—companies that are a safe bet to be acquired for $20 million. You might think that if they found a good deal about patterns. I went to college with a lot of money by noticing sudden changes in stock prices. Philip Greenspun said in Founders at Work that Ars Digita's VCs did this to them. Once you've seen enough examples of specific types of tricks, you start to get far along the track toward an offer with one firm, it will start to be possible to succeed in a competitive market without outside funding. You can start by asking a comparatively lowly VC for a small organization. When Google stuck Kleiner and Sequoia didn't like splitting the Google deal, but it will only get harder, because change is accelerating. The reason startups work so well is the second kind of lie involved. Another drawback of large investments is the time they take.

[savetopnow]

2018-03-30 08 EDUCATION now

EDUCATION

Cathy Jo Nelson

Choose USC-SLIS for your MLIS!

New Standards – Discount Price through SCASL

Happy Thanksgiving – Happy Weeding

Put a positive spin on it

Library Flier

Cool Cat Teacher

Awesome Atlanta Education Conference: STLinATL – July 26-27, 2018

Taking a Break to Focus: Sometimes We Need All Need to Take a Break

7 Ways My Interactive Display is a Key Part of My Student-Centered Classroom

Classroom Earth: Teach Conservation By Going Outside

5 Ideas for Writing with Technology

Mndshift

Can the Right Nudge Help Low-income Kids Go Beyond High School?

Why It’s Time to Rethink School Science Fairs

When Pushing Boundaries in Math Education, Where Can Teachers Turn For Help and Camaraderie?

Why Teachers Love Using Those Magical OK Go Videos in Class

4 STEM Tools That Turn Students’ Curiosity Into Real Learning

Parents Countdown to College

It’s Time for a Wake-Up Call for Parents (and Students) about College

Defanging Social Media

Spring College Visits Aren’t Just for Juniors

How One Student Hacked the College System

The College Selection Dilemma: Big or Small?

Reddit Education

Poor grades tied to class times that don't match our biological clocks

Homework is too Much! This school gets it.

Arizona teachers protest as Oklahoma educators battle union sabotage. Thousands of teachers marched at the state capitol in Phoenix, Arizona Wednesday, as the wave of teachers struggles continues to spread across the US and internationally

8,000 online courses sorted by subject (various course providers)

Raj Chetty in 14 charts: Big findings on opportunity and mobility we should all know

Study Hacks Blog

On Analog Social Media

Beyond #DeleteFacebook: More Thoughts on Embracing the Social Internet Over Social Media

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Stephen Hawking’s Radical Thinking

Tim Wu on the Tyranny of Convenience

Teach Thought

15 Apps & Websites For Teaching Math Online

27 Characteristics Of Authentic Assessment

30 Of The Best Apps For Group Project-Based Learning

How To Make Your Classroom Work More Like YouTube

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Teacher Network

'It opens their eyes': how film is giving young people lessons in life

Grammar schools don’t add any value. So let’s ditch them | Ryan Shorthouse

Secret Teacher: we're setting dyslexic children up to feel like failures

'Allow imaginations to lead': igniting the creative spark in young writers

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The Answer Sheet

Stephen Hawking famously said, ‘Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.’ But did he really say it?

After backlash over plan to cut 13 humanities majors, U-Wisconsin campus drawing up second proposal

12 ideas that help explain what’s wrong with most schooling today

Teachers living at school? Miami pushing plan for educators who can’t afford city’s high rent.

Are private schools really better than public schools? A look at the data.

The Best Education Blog

Curmudgucation: The Testing Thermostat

Janresseger: In Appropriations Bill, Congress Impedes Betsy DeVos’s Plans

Diane Ravitch's Blog: National Education Policy Center is Leaving Facebook

Deborah Meier on Education: To Strengthen Democracy, Invest in Our Public Schools

Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: How Teachers Taught: Patterns of Instruction, 1890-2010

The Principal's Page

You Need More Than the Ability to Take Standardized Tests.

I Don’t Live at School and I’m Sorry You Had to See Me Like This.

Not Every Bad Behavior is Bullying.

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Cell Phone Contracts. Do This for Your Child.

eLearning Industry

6 Tips To Build Successful eLearning Localization Teams

Raise A Glass To Learning: A Cautionary Tale To Deliver Robust Business Impact!

5 Instructional Design Best Practices To Create Successful Remote Learning

4 Key Considerations When Using Mobile Phones To Support Synchronous Learning Scenarios

Looking For A Partner To Develop Mobile Learning Modules? 4 Tips To Get Started

[growthvue]

5 Ways to Be an Unforgettable Teacher

Chuck Poole on episode 180 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Chuck Poole shares five ways to be an unforgettable teacher or an unforgettable coach. He also gives us links to some free cards he shares with students and parents. Get inspired with some fantastic advice on reaching students.

Today’s Sponsor: GradeCam can save you time! Quickly create assessments for any grade or subject without special forms or equipment. Instantly scan and score with any mobile, desktop or document camera. Automatically transfer grades into any digital grade book. Find more time for teaching and living. Sign up for a 60-day free trial at http://ift.tt/2gzEf8G and save time!

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

Below is an enhanced transcript, modified for your reading pleasure. For guests and hyperlinks to resources, scroll down.

***

Enhanced Transcript

Five Ways to Be an Unforgettable Teacher

Shownotes: http://ift.tt/2hnDwbX Date: Friday, October 27, 2017

Vicki: Today we’re talking with Chuck Poole @cpoole27 of the Teachonomy blog and podcast about five ways to be an unforgettable teacher.

So, Chuck, what is our first way?

Chuck: Well, our first way — because you know on Teachonomy I like to say, “Be the teacher they never forget.”

I love talking about this especially to help inspire teachers.

Unforgettable Teacher Tip #1: Start with a Relationship

The first way, I think, is probably the most important that we’ll even talk about. I want to start with it, and it’s relationship.

I believe that there’s a big difference between having a relationship with someone where you know maybe we say hello or or we have small talk, and then nurturing one that we actually care about. I think that it’s in creating those genuine relationships that you become unforgettable.

Vicki: So, how are some ways you nurture those relationships?

Chuck: Whether you’re investing in your students, or your colleagues, or even people at home, I think that the key is simple. I think that you hit on this a lot on your site just from experiencing it. I think that the key to it is we need to let people know that they matter.

Vicki: (agrees)

Chuck: And then our relationship will grow as we build trust. But I think one problem that people have is that they don’t know where to begin. So one thing that I would recommend and one thing that I think is very tangible — it’s what I do, and I have found that it’s an easy way to break the ice and begin nurturing a relationship — is through simple notes. So regardless if you’re super outgoing or extremely shy, these notes can kind of serve as a bridge to help build a relationship.

What I do is I actually have two sets of encouraging note cards. I actually had a designer create them. I like to print them, and I keep a stack of them on my desk. So I have one stack that was designed specifically to encourage teachers and one that’s for students and parents and everyone else.

Download Chuck’s notecards here: http://ift.tt/2hmxVT8

And what I do is, I will literally take one — and they have inspirational quotes and things like that on them — and I will turn it over and hand write the note. I’ll drop it in the colleague’s mailbox, or in the student’s notebook, or even give it to parents during parent-teacher conferences. I find that it’s opened doors to relationships that I would never have otherwise had.

Vicki: Now you’ve got these. We’re going to add it to the show notes, so that the listeners can download, too, right?

Chuck: Yeah so I have them on Teachonomy, but I’ll give you the links for both sets of those, so that way people can download them and share them with their colleagues and their students. I find that they are just really accepted well. People always smile when they have a personalized note from someone. One thing that I did find — just to wrap up this particular idea — is that these notes have given me the opportunity to build relationships in a way, where I’ve gone from the person that someone is smiling at, to the reason why they’re smiling. I think that there’s a big difference.

Vicki: Ohhhh. I love that! OK, what’s our second?

Unforgettable Teacher Tip #2: Be the Coach in the Classroom

Chuck: Our second one is to be the coach in the classroom. Now this one hits home with me because I’ve actually been a coach for over 20 years — in athletics and in sports.

One thing that I’ve learned is that in order for my team to be successful, I need them to know three things:

They need to know that they can trust what I say.

They need to know that I believe in them.

They need to know what their goals are, and that I am someone who could help them achieve them.

So when they have these three pieces of knowledge, I’ve had successful teams, and I’ve become a coach that they remember.

So in order to be a coach in the classroom, I think that we can grasp those concepts and put them into our classrooms. I think before students can learn from us, and before we become unforgettable in their minds, they have to know these three things; they have to know that they can trust you, they have to know they that you believe in them, and they have to know that you can help guide them toward accomplishing their goals.

Vicki: I love it.

Chuck: Once they know those three things, then you can truly coach them and guide them and really become unforgettable.

Vicki: Awesome. What’s our third?

Unforgettable Teacher Tip #3: Face Your Fears

Chuck: The third one is to face your fears. I’m a firm believer that no one ever moves forward in life by standing still. I think in order to be an unforgettable teacher, you have to be willing to get rid of the excuses that kind of get us stuck. We have to be willing to take the risks that scare us in order to move forward.

And this is cool, Vicki. I read a statistic the other day, that said in our world today our knowledge doubles every three months. so that means that today, we know double what we knew just three months ago.

I think as a teacher, that kind of tells us that we need to be willing to embrace change. In order to stand out from the crowd — and change tends to be something that we often fear because we fear that with that change comes failure.

Vicki: (agrees)

Chuck: I think one way to face that fear is to look at failure a little bit differently. I think if we were to change how we look at it. Instead of looking at failure is something that we did wrong, or we couldn’t accomplish, but we look at it rather as something we needed in order to learn and move forward, I think we would be able to face those fears and embrace change a little bit differently. Once we embrace that change and we face those fears, we begin to eliminate the excuses that once got us stuck, and we help students become even better than we thought possible, even if it scares us to death.

Vicki: Yeah. Once I heard an acronym for FEAR. False Evidence Appearing Real. That is so true many times. So what’s our fourth?

Chuck: Yeah I agree that is awesome, that acronym, actually.

Unforgettable Teacher Tip #4: Exceed Expectations

The fourth one is to exceed expectations. Now, great teachers, I think always exceed expectations, and I think most people that are listening to this probably would fall into that category.

I find that a story that was once told to me kind of transformed the way I look at how I teach. I just want to share that, because I have a friend and a mentor that’s outside of teaching so it’s not someone that is a teacher. But they told me a story once to kind of explain a point about his daughter.

He told me that when his daughter was younger, she loved to play games on his iPhone, just like any kids would. She would constantly ask for time to play, and he would oblige and say,”Yeah, sure. That’s fine.”

But there was one time that she came in, and she asked him if she could play on his iPhone, and he said no. So she walked away and she was kind of sad. He said he stopped her, and he said, “No, just wait one second.” He reached in his bag and he pulled out his iPad. And he said, “You can’t play on my iPhone, but you can play on my iPad.”

He was saying that you know, from a loving father he wanted to give her much more than she expected.

I think as teachers, we should strive to give our students an iPad experience when they’re expecting an iPhone.

Vicki: I love that! OK, what’s our fifth?

Unforgettable Teacher Tip #5: Be Quiet

Chuck: Our fifth is to simply be quiet.

Vicki: Ohhhh, that’s hard!

Chuck: What I mean by that is that think that teachers should really never be the loudest person in the room — which we’ve heard that the people doing the learning should be the ones doing the talking, which is something that I heard in a conversation as well. I think that we all understand that the importance of collaboration and discussion is crucial. But to be unforgettable, I think we need to be quiet in a different way.

Here’s what I mean. One thing that I did this year — and I found it to be a game-changer — was I implemented a weekly meeting. Literally, what I did was I took one class period. I took it out of the curriculum, and everything. It was on Fridays, and every Friday we have one class period that was dedicated to having an in-house meeting with my classes. I teach middle school, so I have multiple classes.

What we would do is each week with each class, we focus on three things.

1 – Evaluate me as a teacher

The first thing I told him was probably one of the most important, and that was where they had to evaluate me as a teacher. They have to tell me what I did well, what I did poorly, what I can improve on. I gave them that voice to kind of give me the criticism that I would need in order to help me get better.

2 – Class meeting about learning

Second, I told them the concepts that we be focusing on the next week, and together we would brainstorm how they wanted to learn them. So then it was my job to kind of develop the unit or lessons around it with it how they themselves learned.

3 – Plan together

Then third, we’d literally plan together. We would work out things like rubrics or strategies or things like that together so they had a full understanding of the expectations. They knew the expectations going into the following week, and they essentially helped create them. It gave them ownership of their learning.

I found that even with boring materials, they were more engaged after implementing these meetings than they ever had been. So I think, you know, when we take the time to be quiet and listen carefully, and we give our students that chance to give input, we become just unforgettable.

Vicki: Oh, I love that! Like, I’m so doing that, Chuck!

Chuck: (laughs)

Vicki: I’m sitting here thinking about, you know, the greatest PD for me is very often podcasts, blog posts, but even when educators who care share… So when you talk to somebody like you, and you have these amazing ideas, it transforms us.

I’m so excited about striving to be unforgettable. Thank you!

Chuck: Oh, you’re welcome!

  Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford

kymberlimulford@gmail.com

Bio as submitted

Chuck is a teacher, a coach and the visionary behind Teachonomy (http://ift.tt/YQZsjS). He is the host of the Teachonomy Talks podcast (http://ift.tt/2onW3XB), and blogs weekly on topics that encourage, equip, and empower teachers and leaders around the globe. Chuck has been teaching for over 15 years and believes that those who teach and lead have the unique opportunity to live life out loud and become the champions of those they serve. Chuck lives in New Jersey with his wife and enjoys mentoring others, creating laughter in the classroom, and the continued pursuit of his next adventure.

Blog: http://ift.tt/YQZsjS

Twitter: @cpoole27

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.) This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post 5 Ways to Be an Unforgettable Teacher appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

5 Ways to Be an Unforgettable Teacher published first on http://ift.tt/2xx6Oyq

[mathematicianadda]

On the Road with MathMINDs Games

MIND’s Lead Mathematician and Product Director Brandon Smith has been out on the road over the past several months, holding MathMINDs Family Nights around the country. These events featured both the existing MathMINDs Games, as well as some activities that are currently in development. Brandon shared with us how his recent experiences are informing the next wave of MathMINDs Games, as well as MIND’s ongoing work on engaging families.

Community night event @MDCPS w/ @STMath #mathminds — challenging games, doable work, so much community! @bds_math @taylormasnjak pic.twitter.com/cosBQR333r

— Brian Coffey (@PrincipalCoffey) October 16, 2019

Florida

We kicked off an intensive week of MathMINDs outreach in Miami, FL. MathMINDs focuses on games that are generally accessible and desirable for multiple age ranges, which is why adults and kids love playing together. To really put this to the test, we started at a middle school of all places⁠—in grades where it's been historically challenging to engage students in mathematics. We played various MathMINDs games, including South of the Sahara, with two different classes—each timed for over an hour. We had to kick the kids off of the games. In addition to South of the Sahara, we tested some of our newest works in progress: new storybook games. One of the games is designed for learners as young as four years old to play with their parents.

How’d it work on middle schoolers? Like gangbusters. The students dove right in and played each game for at least 20 minutes. Some of them were still playing when the school bell rang after 35 minutes!  One teacher asked for some help with adding and subtracting integers—those pesky negations and subtractions. So, before we left, we pulled up ST Math and I led a 45-minute interactive lesson on the difficult 7th grade topic. The teacher said it was a lesson she’ll never forget.

Leaving immediately from the school, we went to a family STEM night at a local school district. They struggled to find any good “M” in STEM, so we offered to fill the void with MathMINDs. We ran the same games as in middle school, but now with families.

We quickly saw the same early learning prototypes engage families like it did the middle schoolers.  Our section got so busy that several local high schoolers volunteered to help. We were outside and daylight was fading. The automatic lights were fairly dim, but kids and parents stayed engaged until the very end. Even despite the donuts and popcorn being next to us.

Over the next two days, we engaged with teachers across the state at the Florida Council for Teachers of Mathematics (FCTM) 2019 annual conference. Math anxiety isn’t just for kids and parents. Teachers often find mathematics challenging and experience frustration with the subject. We need to give them chances for positive interactions with math too!

Had a great time at OPS with families as we kick off our support of #MassSTEMWeek. We ran some oldies and some brand new goodies. Always amazing to work with families. #MathMINDs @MIND_Research @LPS_Education pic.twitter.com/Nc2IiisCZ1

— Brandon D Smith (@bds_math) October 22, 2019

New England

It was immediately on to Massachusetts for Mass STEM Week. The week started with MathMINDs and the New England Aquarium joining forces for a morning session on creative problem-solving and mathematics. We then went to back-to-back-to-back MathMINDs Family Nights around Massachusetts.

At our MathMINDs Family Nights, we focused on South of the Sahara and our two brand new storybook games designed for families of students down to four years old. It was a hit!  

This was incredibly heart-warming to see. It’s late at night. The sun has already set. Families just finished pizza and salad. There are 100 or more people in a gym or cafeteria. It’s noisy and chaotic. Would the kids even focus for a minute? Maybe 5 or 10 minutes if we are lucky?

Four-year-olds routinely interacted for 45 minutes, staying engaged and challenged nonstop. The parents didn’t have a free ride, they had to stay focused as well. Just because young ones can play, doesn’t mean it’s trivial. They challenge and delight middle schools and adults. When we design for what makes us the same, we find that barriers start to fade away—including age.

It’s not enough to close the equity and access gaps by giving students access to experiences. We must fundamentally engage in the right experiences. Otherwise, we end up perpetuating the fears and frustrations we currently see in math. 

We wrapped up our whirlwind week with a family night in Connecticut. Before the event, a grandfather anxiously walked up to me. “These games aren’t hard are they? I was never good at math, but I want my grandkids to have a good time. I can’t do the hard stuff.” I reassured him and gave him a game box.

At the end of the night, I asked him how it went. He said “It was really fun. Much better than I expected. They were hard, but I actually had fun. Thank you.” Curiously, it was this grandfather, not his grandchildren, carrying the box under his arm as they walked out.

These experiences not only positively impact our societal relationship with mathematics, they are ongoing opportunities for continuous improvement. We use any and every opportunity with families to learn. Not only are we making major improvements to our new R&D games based on what we saw, we gain insight for making existing games better. These enhancements are automatically built in every time we restock our supply. 

Our families deserve more than just a product that markets well. They deserve ever-increasingly great experiences. All families are worth our best. The societal change we seek doesn’t happen with just any old game, nor any one best-game-ever. There’s a critical mass in the number of experiences we need to have in order to turn our negative identities around math into lasting positive ones. I suspect this critical mass will be a career-long (or longer) endeavor. MathMINDs is just at the beginning. Just wait ‘til you see what’s next.

One of those projects is putting kids in the driver’s seat as they have a rare chance to combine creative expression and mathematics in a meaningful way.

Math Maker

We have been testing out a variety of math maker projects designed to be fun and easy to implement for a teacher new to the projects, but also with plenty of depth for those who’ve ran a project or two before. 

Our desire is for all students to have memorable experiences in which they put forth effort creating something mathematical they are proud of and that others actively use in front of them. This is not only deeply rewarding, it models how some of the worlds most challenging problems are solved and what entrepreneurs do day in and day out.

Just before the break, we wrapped up testing with 36 fourth graders at a southern California elementary school. This is the most recent round of testing in what has been, to-date, a two-year MathMINDs R&D project.

The highlight of the experience was a young math maker. He was asked, “How does it feel to see something you made being used by other people right in front of you?” I heard an enthusiastic, "Good! It’s amazing. This makes me feel like I’m a real person.”

Mathematics, for that young student, is now a part of what it feels like to know math as a natural and important part of life. I can’t wait until more students have this same opportunity! This, to me, is what closing the experience gap looks like. When mathematics is truly for all students, the experience gap will be closed and all the other gaps won’t stand a chance.

This is why MathMINDs works so hard to do what it does, and there is much more to do! 

The current math maker projects, based on MathMINDs Games, will be out in the fall.

Additional Resources:

Podcast: Reframing Project- and Problem-Based Learning

Ebook: Rethinking Student Engagement

The Big List of Board Games that Inspire Mathematical Thinking

from MIND Research Institute Blog https://ift.tt/36EbH6Q from Blogger https://ift.tt/2tI8Z1d

[zipgrowth]

Teachable Moments: What We Learn When We Teach

Teaching isn’t a simple one-way exchange. Often there are lessons to be learned from the very act of teaching, whether it’s an instructor finding new ways to reach—or not reach—students, to watching students grow before your eyes to discovering what makes collaborative learning so successful.

Those are some of the examples educators shared with us on this week’s podcast. There’s something to learn for teachers at all ages. This is the fourth and final episode in a four-part series about why teachers teach, called Teachable Moments. (You can find parts one, two and three here.)

In this series we'll hear directly from educators who attended the EdSurge Fusion Conference last fall. Listen below, or subscribe to the EdSurge On Air podcast on your favorite podcast app like iTunes or Spotify. Highlights from the conversation below have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

First up is Christina Romero, a digital learning coach with Santa Fe Public Schools in New Mexico. She shares how a group of students encouraged one of their classmates who was struggling and what that taught her about the importance of student relationships.

Christina Romero: When I was teaching third grade, I had a student who truly struggled with her behavior. She lost her temper very quickly, she had to be in control of everything and she always wanted to be in charge. Any time there was a group activity, she had to be the first to share. But then she was not a great listener and often overtook everybody else. When you would call her on that, she would get very frustrated and angry, and quite often she just couldn't calm down enough to stay in the room.

We had decided her calm space was in the hallway where she could be still close by, and she could come back in as soon as she felt ready. In the beginning of the school year, it would take her quite a bit of time, 30 minutes or longer, just to get to a place where she could return to the room. Her anger and frustration where that intense.

My science lessons are very collaborative and inquiry based, so students are working together in groups or pairs, and sometimes she struggled with it. One day during a lesson, she lost it. We went into the hall, had a brief talk and I came back in to return to the lesson. Then about a minute later, she returned as well. I noticed it, but what I hadn't realized is her classmates noticed it too. And this is where I get shaky talking about it because I'm so proud of them.

One of the other little girls who really was trying to be her friend, even though there were often conflicts between them had told me, “I'm not sure I should be her friend; friends don't treat each other this way.” But she saw her walk back in the room and said, "Oh my gosh, you were only out there a minute. Do you realize it used to take you a long time? And you just came back in after about a minute and you're ready to work with us.” It was amazing.

I do a lot of work with the relationship building and I always thought of it as a way for the kids to work together, because they need to share ideas, share materials, share their learning. But I hadn't really thought about that next level where they helped each other be better people. It really is worth the time to build those relationships and it’s not just for me as the teacher—it goes beyond between me and the students. Even though they will move on to a different teacher the following year, or even other schools, they will be in the same grade cohort for many years. And the relationships that students build between each other, they will benefit from those.

Next up is Abigail Joseph, a middle school director of learning, innovation and design at the Harker School in San Jose, Calif. She describes a time at a previous school she worked at when students and teachers collaborated on a project and how that inspired her and other educators to feel re-energized around what they teach.

Abigail Joseph: When I was at my previous school, every year the seventh- and eighth-grade students studied either the Silk Road or the World's Fair. This particular year they were teaching the World's Fair, and I worked with the students to create websites. At that time I was a computer science teacher, and I worked with this amazing team of eighth-grade teachers. Teachers from humanities, science, writing and our social justice coordinator came up with a web design project for students around the World's Fair. Each student developed a website for the country that they were studying to promote a pretend nonprofit that was going to spur the citizens of that country into action around some problem that the country was facing.

What surprised me the most were the end products. They were able to do the copy for the websites in their writing and humanities classes, and I got to just focus on the technology aspect.

My words to sum this all up would be “collaboration makes ideas take flight.” It wasn't the student collaboration, it was actually the collaboration with the other teachers that made this great project possible. If we weren't all able to sit in a room and figure out how we could utilize each other for our different pieces of the project, I don’t think this great idea would have ever gotten off the ground. To collaborate is not to give up your time or compromise, but to make you feel inspired about what we teach.

Now we hear from Julia Dexter, co-founder of Squiggle Park, a game-based reading company. She describes a tough time when one of her own children had trouble staying engaged with learning, except when they were in front of screen. And she shares what she learned when she took upon herself to help address that same barrier for more students.

Julia Dexter: I was interested in founding Squiggle Park after working in technology for years. I have four kids, one of whom really struggled with reading, and by grade four he was identified as a child who needed to go for psychological testing to see if there was something beyond normal struggle. Seeing how long it would take to actually diagnose the challenge and get him help just wasn't acceptable to me as a parent, and I really started to look at what did engage him. I thought he was bored at school and I wanted to find a way to get him inspired to read and to feel confident.

What always struck me was how addicted my kids were to the screen. And it was amazing to me that as a parent I could do anything to try to keep them motivated and engaged, and then I put them in front of a screen and all of a sudden it's this magic. What's happening there?

I was surprised how quickly [my son] lost confidence. He went from being a super engaged, social kid with tons of friends, to losing confidence quickly when he saw that kids were moving beyond him. I thought that if I could capture that same addiction [with technology], but have the content that they're consuming be focused on the learning that they need to be strong and confident readers and learners, then maybe there was something magical that we could do in education. And that's what got me into the education sector.

The word I'd use to sum up my experience is transformative, because I went from being a technologist, working with large enterprises on how to get people to use technologies in their businesses to really trying to understand how we can innovate in education to provide solutions that kids really love. I've been classrooms now for many weeks at a time just watching teachers and how they struggle with classrooms with diverse learners across a vast spectrum of skill levels. And I know that we have the capacity on the technology side to work with educators to provide fantastic tools.

Finally, we hear from Rudy Azcuy, CEO of Teach n' Kids Learn. Before starting an education company, he was a middle school teacher for 10 years, and he shares how an interaction with a student made him realize just how hard it can feel to try and really reach all students to give them equal opportunity.

Rudy Azcuy: I previously had a special position at a middle school as an at-risk coordinator. I worked with students to enhance their capabilities to close whatever gaps they had instructionally, and to help them move on and graduate from high school to close the dropout rate that was very high and prevalent in our area.

In my family we had a rule when we were growing up that once we finish and graduated college, we had to go back to education. It was something that my mother required of us—we had to go back to education and teach for a minimum of one year. After I graduated, I was working as an electrical engineer prior to coming back to education. And I didn't know that I would fall in love with it. Not only with children, but teachers, my peers and the system itself. I thought I was just going to do my year like my older sister and my older brother did and then go back to whatever it was that I was doing. Little did I realize that my connections to the students and to the people that I had the fortune to deal with would change me.

I met this seventh grade student, and he was two grades behind [academically]. I was trying to appeal to him and his family to keep him involved in school and I tried everything I could, every opportunity, and it wasn't working. One day he just told me, “You could do whatever you want Mr. Azcuy, and it's not going to help me. It's not going to make a difference because I'm not here to go to school anymore.”

So many people tell you that you can't save them all. And it hit me in that moment, and it was extremely sad. It's a person, it's a life, it's a whole ripple effect right there in front of you and realizing that you're powerless at that moment.

What I learned from that moment was that I had to change, I had to do something different. I had to think outside the box to make a difference in others. In that role, I learned to do make a difference in the lives of so many people that I could touch and that they touch. I spent ten years teaching and then I moved on to make a bigger impact in professional development across the country so that I could bring this excitement and lessons learned to others.

This series was made possible thanks to a partnership with Listenwise, an award-winning listening program that brings the most compelling podcasts and NPR stories to middle and high school classrooms.

Music in this episode is by Joakim Karud and Chris Zabriskie.

Teachable Moments: What We Learn When We Teach published first on https://medium.com/@GetNewDLBusiness

[postolo]

Naman Devpura and Kartikeya Chamola of GNLU on winning the Aditya Birla Scholarship (2018)

Mr. Naman Devpura and Mr. Kartikeya Chamola, currently pursuing Law from Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar have been conferred with the coveted Aditya Birla Scholarship (2018). The 1st year students shared their insightful thoughts about their journey and experience of becoming an Aditya Birla Scholar with Hrithik Khurana, 3rd Year student of B.Com LL.B (Hons.), GNLU and Student Ambassador, Eastern Book Company and SCC Online.

Question 1: Hello Naman and Kartikeya, tell me something about yourself.

Kartikeya: Hello, my name is Kartikeya Chamola. I was born in a small village named Raintoli in Rudraprayag District of Uttarakhand where my father used to run a roadside restaurant, which now is guest house, along with free lance tour organizing, and my mother is a government school teacher. For providing me better education, we shifted to a nearby town named Srinagar Garhwal. I have done my schooling upto class 10thfrom St. Theresa’s Convent, Srinagar Garhwal, after which I with my father shifted to Dehradun for further study. My three years in Dehradun spanning over class 11th,12th and the drop year for CLAT preparation has been an amazing experience for me and something that has impacted my personality deeply. I passed 12th standard from Doon International School, where I served as The School Captain. Coming to a city from a small place opens up many new opportunities one of them being CLAT and I am very grateful to all the people who helped me utilize all of them fully. I prepared one year for CLAT and secured AIR 393 in CLAT 2018. My interests include music at the top spot, which I’ve been into since childhood, and public speaking. Being a part of GNLU has been a wonderful uplift in my life, with so many opportunities all around and people to guide us at all times in the best way.

Naman: Hi! My name is Naman Devpura. I was born in Udaipur District of Rajasthan. My father is currently an employee in the Ultratech Cement Limited and my mother is tuition teacher. Spending most of my childhood in the Birla townships has developed in me a special attraction towards nature and society. I came up with my own social support group while I was in 8th standard with the name of Green Brigade Association. My special interest has travelling on the prime whereas music, philately, painting, e-sports, web-designing are some other hobbies that I follow. I did most of my schooling from The Aditya Birla Public School, Khor as well as Kharia Khangar. I became the President Co-Curricular Activities of my school, topped the district at CBSE board examination and was lucky enough to clear Common Law Admission Test along with my boards with an AIR of 404. Although I knew that I would make it to the top law colleges of India but coming to Gujarat National Law University was a dream come true for me.

Question 2: You both come from such humble backgrounds, I am curious to know when and why did you choose to pursue Law as a career?

Naman: I had a keen interest in social activities since childhood. As time passed and decision to choose a career path came closer, I started finding and thinking about various career options which will help me accomplish my goal. I chose Law because it seemed to be one of the best alternatives for my interest. Also seeing my sisters go into the same path helped me form a clearer and better view of Law as career.

Kartikeya: Honestly speaking, I wasn’t very clear of my career choice till the time my class 12th was about to get over. I, gradually got interested in the field of law, as being a speaker I felt very connected to this career option. But my main reason for choosing law is my strength of socializing. Having met people from various sections of society ranging from local labourers, villagers( with whom I used to spend most of my day being a child), to distinguished personalities of various fields whom I got to meet when I was in Dehradun, my personality got shaped in a way that I liked knowing people , connecting with them. This realization made me go for a career that I personally find very much based on social understanding.

Question 3: Such interesting answers but tell me honestly what was the experience-like while writing your essays and completing your application form for the preliminary stage of the Aditya Birla Scholarship?

Kartikeya: Soon after joining GNLU, I got to know that I was eligible to apply for Aditya Birla Scholarship. Getting this scholarship had been a dream since the time I started my research for CLAT and NLUs. The two essays we were asked to write were very much connected to my life and surely Naman would feel the same. We were asked about our background, strengths and the reason for choosing law. I expressed myself in the best way possible in those 500 words. Apart from the essay, we had to fill in our achievements, awards received in any field, and academic distinctions. I, being very active in extra-curricular all my school life had a lot of such experiences to share. The entire process was very positive for me and all I desired for was getting through to the interview stage.

Naman: Just as Kartikeya said, both the questions made us to introspect ourselves and well woven in our lives. We both sat for hours thinking about all we have done in our lives till date. With so much to express in just a few words was undoubtedly a pretty tough job but both of us handled it nicely. I wrote about what made me different from the rest of the elite pool of students. The most important thing that I felt helped me was my diverse interests and success in these fields. From getting an AIR 42 in Commerce Talent Search Examination to qualifying into National Children Science Congress and from performing at the orchestra competition to making the winning last move in Chess tournaments, everything that I had picked up on my way to this pedestal helped me to build out a dynamic yet confident profile. Being optimistic was one thing that helped me as well.

Question 4: Looks like you guys were preparing for getting the Aditya Birla Scholarship while in school. Tell me how did you go about preparing for the interview stage, considering you were going to be questioned by 3 eminent jurists from the field of law?

Naman: As soon as I saw my name on the list of the shortlisted candidates for my interview, I started preparing for the interview. Meeting and talking with the Aditya Birla Scholars through the scholarship committee at GNLU gave us proper insights into the whole process and also made us more prepared. They were undoubtedly the best guides for us throughout the process. No doubt, since the interview was being taken by a panel consisting of top jurists it made me a slight nervous but preparing and working out with my essay as well as keeping myself optimistic and cheerful throughout the preparation helped me to give my best in the interview.

Kartikeya: I cannot express the happiness I experienced when I got to know that I’ve been selected for the interview, and what increased this was the fact that my roommate got through too! As Naman said, our seniors were the best guides for the interview preparation and specially the Aditya Birla Scholars of GNLU. Also, the scholarship committee of GNLU supported us in every way possible. My approach for the interview was very calm and easy, and all I focused on was being honest at all times, and that’s what our seniors told us too. The fact that we were going to be in a conversation with 3 eminent personalities from the field of law, was very exciting for me, as it was such an amazing chance for all of us to express ourselves and our views . I just prepared on how I would present myself and my future plans in front of them, and being confident.

Question 5: Let’s talk about the moment, what was the feeling when you actually became Aditya Birla Scholar?

Kartikeya: Oh I wish I could go back to relive that moment whenever I wanted to! It’s just beyond words. I really don’t remember those 10 seconds after my name was announced in the scholars’ list. All I remember is receiving the prestigious certificate from Mrs. Rajashree Birla, and coming back with tears in my eyes, and crying for next 5 minutes. The feeling was so beautiful and all I could think about was my parent’s struggles that they never showed to me, and we never let them come in our way. I never expected such amazing turns in my life and that too within just 4 months from clearing CLAT to coming to GNLU and now, Aditya Birla Scholarship!

Naman: I couldn’t agree more, if we could set the clocks a bit backwards. Everything has happened too quickly for us to pause and think. From the day 1 of the announcement of the scholarship, I had been thinking what it would have been to be an Aditya Birla Scholar. And when the day finally came all I could feel was joy, excitement and gratitude towards each and every person who has contributed as little to making me stand with the prestigious scholarship. As rightly stated by Karthikeya, life has drifted from many sudden turns in just a very few months.

Question 6: Now coming to the reactions of those who matter the most, how did your parents and friends respond to such a big achievement?

Naman: My family and friends were extremely happy and excited from the time of me getting my air-tickets booked. During my stay at Mumbai, they had strictly asked for live updates in every two-three hours. I remember that as soon as I heard my name called out from the stage, I had dialled my father and told him that I made it, my family yelled out from behind and celebrated the whole night. As for the friends, there was no limit of their happiness and yes, their utter desire for having the best party ever. In the course of the essay as well as the interview, the one thing that I understood the most is that you are what you are because of all these people around you. The positivity and enthusiasm that my family and friends had filled in me had its deepest effect and thus made me get the scholarship.

Kartikeya: After coming back to my senses (5 minutes of crying), the first thing I did was sending the picture of the certificate to my parents and all my friends. I called up my mother after the ceremony, and I still remember how happy she was! I talked to my father the next day for two hours while I was at the airport, and we both got so emotional. My parents couldn’t have been any happier. Also, they soon made me realize the task I have of maintaining the scholarship and rising above continuously. My friends’ reactions were so funny and all they cared about was a grand party but no seriously they all were so happy for me and I am very grateful to all of them for motivating me.

Question 7: Finally, what is your advice for the aspirants of the prestigious scholarship?

Naman: Positivity and confidence is the first step. Believe in yourself, believe in what you have done till this day, why you have done that and what will you be doing in the future. Honesty and simplicity should be placed at the topmost. Also, understand what the other side wants to know about you. Getting into the top 20 ranks of your respective college pre-establishes the fact that you are good enough as an erudite but are you more than that is what they tend to find out. Analyse yourself, analyse your strengths, weaknesses and all other things that makes you different from your other smart fellows. Then just go and pour everything out in your essay as well as in your interview. In all this time, don’t forget that you have a life to live as well and ITC’s grand room must be enjoyed as equally as the orientation programme by the Aditya Birla Group. If you get it, enjoy and throw an Inter-NLU party on the same night, maybe on the lines of what we did, if you don’t, partying is still compulsory but understand that life had booked some other day for you and enjoy.

Kartikeya: My advice for every aspirant of Aditya Birla Scholarship would be to go very easy yet determined through the entire process, starting right from the CLAT. As Naman said, being very honest and clear about yourself is what I also consider the key point, and realizing and expressing what sets you apart from everyone else is equally important, even if it is a very basic thing. And most importantly, do not miss out on having some really nice time in Mumbai if you go for the interview, contact with people from several reputed institutions and do give a party the night you get the scholarship! We both would not ever forget ours, (HA HA)!

Thank you, Naman and Kartikeya.

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[4389pythoncertification]

Is There Still A Shortage of Special Education Teachers?

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An instructor for specialized curriculum need on work together for class administrators, all instruction teachers, class therapists, psychologists, Furthermore guardian Furthermore guardians. Learners with gentle handicap have Right away been included to standard classroom teaching, as stated by the procurements of the people for Disabilities instruction (IDEA) enactment. This need prompted all Also specialized escape houston  curriculum educators attempting together, regularly with those assistance of the best fun instructive applications. Those part of those teacher Previously, a all classroom, includes educating support those educational program and surveying Also assessing extraordinary kids. Its imperative that An the teacher acquires Previously, An situated for individual aptitudes to upgrade learner Taking in. Abilities of both the all instructor's testament and the bmw houston   uncommon teacher ought further bolstering meet up to help a learner.

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Coordinated effort will be A critical a piece of a extraordinary educator's job, in any case about which and only class training he/she will be included with. If its attempting with the school administration, other teachers, parents, guardians, counselors, or therapists, an extraordinary teacher need on worth of effort Concerning illustration and only a less group for the improvement from claiming exceptional know youngsters. Those scratch and dent appliances needs of a exceptional kid are substantially unique in relation to that of a neuro-typical. Besides, each tyke will be distinctive. The best entertainment only instructive applications might keep the tyke captivated Furthermore conferring imperative social abilities. Today, i am an extraordinary training instructor's testament. However, i could at present recall The point when i might have been adolescent Also go to doctoral level college matriculated in the social investigations educating help system. Since i needed will be An history teacher, not an extraordinary training teacher, its sort wtw5000dwof clever that the greater part these A long time after the fact i am educating custom curriculum. How finished this happen? Well, the same manner it happened for some others excessively awful i guess.

I needed companions who were custom curriculum instructors Also also a couple who were selected clinched alongside specialized curriculum teacher-preparation projects who talked me under giving it An attempt. They let me that custom curriculum will be the place the true requirement might have been. Basically, they let me that this is the whirlpool cabrio washer  place An guy in me Might would those A large portion beneficial.

Well, more than two decades later very little need changed. There may be still an enormous compelling reason for custom curriculum educators here in the united states. As stated by those what's to come for U. S. Section of Education, specialized curriculum will be Around those the vast majority high-need fields over schools that administration low-income understudies. The u. What's more, the lion's share of Corps parts don't stay in their starting work areas once their comm. Branch of instruction also states wrs325fdam    that there is an extraordinary instruction educator's testament deficiency to 49 crazy of our 50 states.

Clinched alongside addition, today there need aid more instances about people with different disabilities during a more youthful agdistis. The national instruction cooperation (NEA) says that there need been An 30% build for specialized curriculum people since 2006. Finally, toss in those secondary turn-over rate of educators over such An requesting field Furthermore one could effectively see that our nation over need An problem, and System network training   that issue is just setting off to get greater.

So, the reason can't we get sufficient custom curriculum teachers? Well, as stated by national general population radio (NPR) our organizations in the nation is Hosting this deficiency due to those greatly extended periods they must place over and the pulverizing paperwork that they would anticipated on complete around highest priority on their commonplace educating support. I say we're also Hosting this deficiency a direct result being an extraordinary training instructor's testament isn't for anyone. Just a couple people might handle the day-in Furthermore day-out uncertainties of the big data hadoop training    job, and the regularly evolving parts they must assume. Not best do they must make a tremendous amount from claiming time will take in those academic side from claiming different subjects alternately academic disciplines, which Might take five on ten quite some time with fully learn, At they likewise must look into every last one of separate factors that Might sway academic performance, and gain those theory too, and in addition do A large number organization obligations.

Clinched alongside An word, its overpowering. Only recognizing the disabilities side alone, an extraordinary instruction cell phone repair training online  educator's testament need to have the ability with faultlessly recognizing and treat needs that Might make In view of Taking in deficiencies or much distinctive styles, and also those mental, emotional, Furthermore actually social deficiencies as well. Furthermore, specialized curriculum instructors also must realize the thing that will would with the opposite side of the range a really for those skilled scholars.

Basically, not main do they need monstrous kin aptitudes clinched alongside managing various sorts about people Also adults, in any case they also must affection those flightiness of the field, and must a chance to be a adherent for possibilities, and additionally have those most elevated manifestation for intelligence, which will be called sympathy. Not sensitivity here, Anyhow sympathy. There is An Contrast the middle of sympathy Also sensitivity. Specialized curriculum instructors cell phone repair training  have the sum about these specified aptitudes Also a greater amount so as with only survive those day, let a whole vocation over these training trenches.

So, the thing that could we would around this shortage? Well, exactly class locale need been creatively attempting with their nearby colleges Also making uncommon projects the place instructor's testament hopefuls might worth of effort full-time Similarly as educators for two a considerable length of time with get educating help encounter same time they try on school during night will get their degree. Exactly one school locale bring advertised marking bonuses, stipends and educational cost repayment done their exertions to draw in additional educators. These are useful A+ certification training  plans. However, these sort of activities are not constantly completed sufficient. A few class locale are putting forth youthful instructors mentors on help their exertions and the table direction to an endeavor should chop down on the wearing down rate. Again, this is an alternate great idea, in any case not sufficient locale would completing this Possibly.

I customized feel that a standout amongst those toughest things regarding continuously in this field is those absence of deference to what these unsung legends would for a Every day foundation. Those absence of regard will be making low instructor's testament resolve What's more crashing a considerable measure more instructors out of the training field over i imagine practically for us would eager to concede. Furthermore this low instructor's testament resolve Also absence of admiration for our country's instructors may be something that is avoidable, and something that we might settle Assuming that we need to do it awful enough. Finally, Exactly with get an outsider's perspective, i approached my wife the thing that she possibility Might be a standout amongst the answers for those custom curriculum instructor's testament lack issue and she said, "More pay!".

[monalisaliveshere]

“To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down A time to dance, a time to mourn A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together” – Pete Seeger (Ecclesiastes)

“A time to plan, a time to reflect” – Alice Gentili 

The first day of school will be here sooner for some than others. This post is part of a series of posts by the Art Ed Blogger’s Network and the topic today is The First Day of School.

Today is Monday, July 9, as I write this here in Massachusetts. Our last day of school was just two weeks ago today on Monday, June 25. On Tuesday and Wednesday that week, I participated in Professional Development on Project Based Learning (excellent!) and on Thursday I spent the day working to facilitate new Arts standards with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (important!). After working all week, Friday was finally a beach day; I worked only on my tan.

Project Based Learning professional development

The reality of summer vacation began to sink in last week, the week of the fourth of July. Actually, it came on pretty strong as a week of solid 90°+ humid days. I set few goals except to not set alarm clocks, to walk daily, and retrain myself to read for pleasure. And get back to the beach.

Sand Hill Cove beach, South County, RI as viewed through Tiny Planets app

So, here we are, two weeks after the last day of school and I’m not quite ready yet to write about the next first day of school. Instead I’m choosing to reflect on the past school year with a look-back at memorable moments unique to the 2017/2018 school year. Over the course of a school year, there are many sweet and sublime moments to be enjoyed in the classroom and in the greater school community. Some are a big deal, others are simple, yet important. I’m limiting myself to the standard countdown of ten. And that rhymes with “zen”.

My one word for the school year 2017/2018

Last September, I posted the graphic above as my one word for the school year. I wanted to provide opportunities for my students to immerse themselves in the creative process while exploring a variety of art media with limited attention to the final outcome – a continuation of a focus on process, not product. I added additional options for choice in each project, while providing creative constraint for those who were not quite ready for all-out choice.

10. First Days

For example, students in classes during the first days of school last year used plastilina modeling clay to form objects to represent pleasant summer memories, or something they were looking forward to in the new school year, or free choice. And chances are, that’s what we’ll do as we start the next school year. It gives the kids a chance to keep their hands busy while they get to know the art room space, make small talk with new classmates, and ease into basic routines and expectations.

9. Abstraction and a concrete mess

Within the first month of school we made sketchbooks/discovery logs as we do every semester. For the cover, the kids were using watered-down tempera paint to splatter paint and to experiment with dripping and blowing it around with a  straw. There were probably 40 cups of paint that made it safely through class after class for a couple of days without spills until in the middle of class one day, I (the teacher) knocked a few of them off the table to land with a splash on the floor. The puddle was huge and the vibrant colors swirled together. Once the kids had recovered from their shock and relief that no one but the teacher was to blame, they grabbed their iPads to take pictures of the beautiful mess. Naturally, I called for custodial help and with mop and bucket, it was taken care of. See for yourself in this video:

8. Fifty Yard Line

In October some teachers and administration attended and/or presented at the annual Massachusetts Computer Using Educators (MassCUE) conference at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. On the last day, one of the parents in our district who works at Gillette made arrangements to bring us through the team area of the stadium and out onto the field. This was a completely unique, exciting, and memorable moment!

Mendon-Upton takes the field at MassCUE

7. Meet the Press

Part of my responsibilities as Department Chair for the district K-12 Art program is to share news of our students’ participation in art shows and exhibits. I usually send a press release to the local newspapers and asking them to call me if they have questions about what I’ve sent along. This year, a reporter from the Milford Daily News called to speak with me about the Youth Art Month art show, held by the Massachusetts Art Education Association in Boston in February and March. When the reporter called, I was in the middle of a class, but as luck would have it, two students who had work going into the show were in the room at the time. I handed off the phone to them and in the video below you can watch them being interviewed.

Needless to say, I enjoyed stepping away from phone and handing it off to them – they did a great job! Here they are in the group shot with the other Youth Art Month artists:

Youth Art Month 2018 Kate, Natalia, Madison, Mirabella, Kayla, and Ethan

6. Mandalas

When the spring semester started up in January, the new classes spent their first days making sketchbooks/discovery logs. For the cover, students created Mandalas with compasses, rulers, protractors, pencil, and marker. Many of the projects in our art curriculum satisfy the requirements of STEAM, which is the combining of two or more disciplines from Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math, and I wanted to focus on blending math with art specifically for a project. I chose Mandalas for their high interest factor as well as the application of symmetry, balance, repetition, and pattern in the artwork.

I knew there would be challenges because my students had little experience with compasses and protractors, and this project was especially complex for some of my special needs students. We approached the project as a community of learners with everyone helping everyone else, and although the mandalas turned out splendidly, they are remarkable to me because I witnessed the caring, cooperation, and collaboration of my students with one another. For example, one student would hold the compass while another spun the paper, or one would hold the ruler still while another penciled in the line. They kept an eye on each other and helped to make sure everyone was successful.

5. Mardi Gras Hats

This project stands out because it is the first time I’ve done it with kids. Many years ago, at a Ben and Jerry’s Folk Festival in Vermont, my son, then three, and I made these hats. He held on to his for years. I was always struck by the fun process and the recycling of materials to make art. At the festival, just about everyone was walking around with them on their heads, adding a sense of play and fun to the day.

I limited the project to the Art Club, and although I would love to have all my students make one of these hats some day, I’m not sure where we would store them while they dried. We simply crinkled brown paper grocery bags until they were malleable, then rolled up the edge to create a brim. After that it was all about freeform painting and dripping and splattering. So fun!

Mardi Gras hats

4. Hall of Lights

Our school art show is held in mid-April as part of a showcase event for the work done in electives classes. My colleague and I fill our art rooms with art to create a gallery. Our classrooms are clear across the school from the entrance, so to provide a path for visitors we line the hallway with luminaries – paper bags our students decorate in which we place LED tea lights. Although we’ve done this for a few years now, there was a whole new level of enthusiasm from our students about setting it up this year. We had a huge crew of volunteers who we dubbed “Hall of Lights Engineers”. They had the hallway ready in no time at all, and even better, had everything picked up very quickly at the end of the event. Yes, I remember the Hall of lights, but more so, I remember these terrific volunteers.

3. Bucket List Videos

I had the pleasure of traveling to Paris during the April vacation and while there, fulfilled my bucket list item of painting en plein air (outside) in the Luxembourg Gardens.

When I returned, I shared the artwork and my original Bucket List movie I had made years ago in a 1:1 iPad workshop with EdTechTeacher:

I then encouraged my students to create their own Bucket List movies using drawings, iMovie, and narration. This proved to be a wonderful way for students to reflect on their interests and make their inner visions tangible. I’m hoping this brings them one step closer to actualizing the vision. If nothing else, we all got to know a little bit more about each other through these videos. This was a first time project that blended drawing, media arts, and technology, another STEAM project. Here are a few of the fabulous completed videos:

2. Castles for a Friend

I’ve been refining my 3D printed castle unit for the past three or four years. This year, in an effort to help my students grow their empathy for others, I changed it up in two important ways. The first was to have students work with a partner – this had always been an individual project. Kids love partner work and I love that partners can help each other as needed, which makes me more available for the bigger concerns. In the past, students were asked to design a castle using eight classical castle architectural terms. This year they did that, plus they included at least three personalizations based on their partner’s interests, hobbies, and life goals that they learned about through interview. As I facilitated this unit, I was so pleased to see the partnering and the care with which students developed their castles. I’m not kidding when I say the empathy was palpable. Of special note are the partnerships between special populations and their peers and the joyful interaction and acceptance I witnessed.

The castle below was designed by Ethan L for Jake F and after learning about Jake’s plans for the future, Ethan designed the No Homework castle where homework is never allowed, he included a yard for Jake’s dog, and railroad tracks so Jake could practice driving trains to meet his 20 year goal of being a train conductor. Ethan did a wonderful job:

1. My Husband’s Retirement

For most people, a spouse’s retirement would not have an impact on their classroom and school year. When your husband is the maintenance guy though, his retirement makes your Top Ten list of memorable moments throughout the school year. Dick and I met 20 years ago when I started teaching. He was married and I had been widowed five years before we met. He was a good friend at school and a big help always, even for something as seemingly small as removing a mouse from under the plastic container my students and I had trapped it with. When he became a  widow six years later, our friendship grew. A couple of years later we married.

Throughout the past twelve school years we have had lunch together in my classroom almost every day. Early on, when he would go out for coffee to bring back for break with the maintenance crew, he would bring me a coffee as well. He has been a help in infinite ways, in setting up for our art shows, helping us build display units with our art club, setting aside coveted paper boxes for us, helping me move heavy things, retrofitting an old sheet glass case as a large paper storage unit, even running home to grab supplies or my eye glasses (once) when I forgot them. Not that I need it, but he always brought me a treat from the cafeteria to lunch��a cookie, or some jello, and in the old days, cake. While I know he has worked hard for a great many years and has more than earned this retirement, I’m going to miss the heck out of this guy at school next year. I’m also going to miss using him as a subject in my silly videos – here he was painting a green screen on a hallway wall and of course I modified it…just another maintenance masterpiece:

Thanks to the Art Ed Bloggers Network for giving me a chance to reflect on the school year we just completed. Now that this is done I can begin to wrap my head around planning for the next one. It will be here before we know it.

This post is a part of The Art Ed Blogger’s Network: Monthly Tips and Inspiration from Art Teacher Blogs. On the second Tuesday each month, each of these art teacher blogs will post their best ideas on the same topic.

Participating Art Teacher Blogs:

Art Class Curator

Art Ed Guru

Art is Basic

Art Room Blog

Art Teacher Tales

Art with Mr. E

Arte a Scuola

Brava Art Press

Artful Artsy Amy

Capitol of Creativity

Create Art with ME

MiniMatisse

Mona Lisa Lives Here

Mr. Calvert’s Art Room Happenings

Mrs. Boudreaux’s Amazing Art Room

Mrs. T’s Art Room

Ms. Nasser’s Art Studio

Party in the Art Room

shine brite zamorano

Tales from the Traveling Art Teacher

There’s a Dragon in my Art Room

2 Art Rooms

A Time to Plan, A Time to Reflect on 2017/2018 "To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven…

[olaabingdon]

Prize Giving

Later today I will be representing the Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference (CISC) in Oxford at its Leadership Programme for aspiring heads. This is an initiative designed to encourage teachers in CISC schools to consider deputy and headship positions, ensuring that our schools continue to be well-led in the years to come. I have written before about how vibrant the Catholic independent schools’ sector is and the remarkable work that the teachers within the sector do to educate and nurture our pupils. I am very much looking forward today to having an opportunity to meet those who aspire to lead them.

I am not the only one who thinks our schools are special. At our Senior School Prize Giving later this month we will be fortunate to be addressed by Professor Francis Davis, Professor of Religion, Communities and Public Policy at the University of Birmingham and Director of Policy at the Edward Cadbury Centre. Professor Davis is a former pupil of our Junior School and has told me of the very fond memories he has of the place. He went on to teach social sciences at Oxford (where he held a Fellowship), at Cambridge and at a number of business schools, and has advised at cabinet level. His research has been debated by parliament and has been described as ‘formidable’ and ‘ground-breaking’ by the Conservative and Labour frontbenches.

Recently Professor Davis wrote an article in the Catholic Times focussing on the considerable contribution made by our Catholic independent schools, not only to the life of this country but to the world at large. In it he wrote: ‘I am especially looking forward to my visit to OLA because a few decades ago I was a student in the school and my mother taught there too. It was a good school then, it is a great school now and in that sense embodies the amazing and under-appreciated contribution that our Catholic independent schools make at home and abroad. Indeed, engaging with independent Catholic education is an act of engaging with a community with a special spirit to it, different but complementary to the stereotyped claims made in the media by some, and more accessible than many there and in the Church might think.’

He goes on to list some of the ‘admirals and editors of national newspapers, senior accountants and local bankers, ambassadors, City and Wall Street CEOs, musicians, investors, actors and writers’ who have been educated by our schools, citing in particular the Labour Life peer Baroness Maeve Sherlock who, like him, is a past pupil of OLA. After serving as President of the National Union of Students, Baroness Sherlock went on to become a commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. She has also been chief executive of the Refugee Council, a charity supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, and worked as a special advisor to Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer. Those of you with long memories may recall that she has also addressed us at Prize Giving.

Professor Davis writes very warmly of his time in the Junior School and of the care he received from the Sisters. He is evidently pleased with how it has developed since his time: ‘Today the School has a swimming pool, strong academic performance, and a lay led trustee board. The local Diocesan Education team tell me it’s a jewel in the region’s provision. If you are a parent you might want to consider it for your child? My visit will be a return to part of my childhood, but it will also be taking part in a living and dynamic community of today. I’ll tell you more when I get back.’

We look forward to welcoming you, Professor Davis, and proudly showing you round your alma mater.

[succeedly]

5 Ways to Be an Unforgettable Teacher

Chuck Poole on episode 213 [A special encore episode] of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Chuck Poole shares five ways to be an unforgettable teacher or an unforgettable coach. He also gives us links to some free cards he shares with students and parents. Get inspired by some fantastic advice on reaching students.

Today’s episode is sponsored by JAM.com, the perfect last minute holiday gift for your kids or grandkids. The creative courses at Jam.com are project-based, creative and FUN. Use the code COOLCAT50 to get $50 off your course. And remember that you can sign up for a 14 day FREE trial of any course with your child aged 7-16. Drawing. Minecraft. Legos. And more!

Use the code COOLCAT50 for $50 off the cost of the course.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

5 Ways to Be an Unforgettable Teacher

Vicki: Today we’re talking with Chuck Poole @cpoole27 of the Teachonomy blog and podcast about five ways to be an unforgettable teacher.

So, Chuck, what is our first way?

Chuck: Well, our first way — because you know on Teachonomy I like to say, “Be the teacher they never forget.”

I love talking about this especially to help inspire teachers.

Unforgettable Teacher Tip #1: Start with a Relationship

The first way, I think, is probably the most important that we’ll even talk about. I want to start with it, and it’s relationship.

I believe that there’s a big difference between having a relationship with someone where you know maybe we say hello or or we have small talk, and then nurturing one that we actually care about. I think that it’s in creating those genuine relationships that you become unforgettable.

Vicki: So, how are some ways you nurture those relationships?

Chuck: Whether you’re investing in your students, or your colleagues, or even people at home, I think that the key is simple. I think that you hit on this a lot on your site just from experiencing it. I think that the key to it is we need to let people know that they matter.

Vicki: (agrees)

Chuck: And then our relationship will grow as we build trust. But I think one problem that people have is that they don’t know where to begin. So one thing that I would recommend and one thing that I think is very tangible — it’s what I do, and I have found that it’s an easy way to break the ice and begin nurturing a relationship — is through simple notes. So regardless if you’re super outgoing or extremely shy, these notes can kind of serve as a bridge to help build a relationship.

What I do is I actually have two sets of encouraging note cards. I actually had a designer create them. I like to print them, and I keep a stack of them on my desk. So I have one stack that was designed specifically to encourage teachers and one that’s for students and parents and everyone else.

Download Chuck’s notecards here: http://ift.tt/2hmxVT8

And what I do is, I will literally take one — and they have inspirational quotes and things like that on them — and I will turn it over and hand write the note. I’ll drop it in the colleague’s mailbox, or in the student’s notebook, or even give it to parents during parent-teacher conferences. I find that it’s opened doors to relationships that I would never have otherwise had.

Vicki: Now you’ve got these. We’re going to add it to the show notes, so that the listeners can download, too, right?

Chuck: Yeah so I have them on Teachonomy, but I’ll give you the links for both sets of those, so that way people can download them and share them with their colleagues and their students. I find that they are just really accepted well. People always smile when they have a personalized note from someone. One thing that I did find — just to wrap up this particular idea — is that these notes have given me the opportunity to build relationships in a way, where I’ve gone from the person that someone is smiling at, to the reason why they’re smiling. I think that there’s a big difference.

Vicki: Ohhhh. I love that! OK, what’s our second?

Unforgettable Teacher Tip #2: Be the Coach in the Classroom

Chuck: Our second one is to be the coach in the classroom. Now this one hits home with me because I’ve actually been a coach for over 20 years — in athletics and in sports.

One thing that I’ve learned is that in order for my team to be successful, I need them to know three things:

They need to know that they can trust what I say.

They need to know that I believe in them.

They need to know what their goals are, and that I am someone who could help them achieve them.

So when they have these three pieces of knowledge, I’ve had successful teams, and I’ve become a coach that they remember.

So in order to be a coach in the classroom, I think that we can grasp those concepts and put them into our classrooms. I think before students can learn from us, and before we become unforgettable in their minds, they have to know these three things; they have to know that they can trust you, they have to know they that you believe in them, and they have to know that you can help guide them toward accomplishing their goals.

Vicki: I love it.

Chuck: Once they know those three things, then you can truly coach them and guide them and really become unforgettable.

Vicki: Awesome. What’s our third?

Unforgettable Teacher Tip #3: Face Your Fears

Chuck: The third one is to face your fears. I’m a firm believer that no one ever moves forward in life by standing still. I think in order to be an unforgettable teacher, you have to be willing to get rid of the excuses that kind of get us stuck. We have to be willing to take the risks that scare us in order to move forward.

And this is cool, Vicki. I read a statistic the other day, that said in our world today our knowledge doubles every three months. so that means that today, we know double what we knew just three months ago.

I think as a teacher, that kind of tells us that we need to be willing to embrace change. In order to stand out from the crowd — and change tends to be something that we often fear because we fear that with that change comes failure.

Vicki: (agrees)

Chuck: I think one way to face that fear is to look at failure a little bit differently. I think if we were to change how we look at it. Instead of looking at failure is something that we did wrong, or we couldn’t accomplish, but we look at it rather as something we needed in order to learn and move forward, I think we would be able to face those fears and embrace change a little bit differently. Once we embrace that change and we face those fears, we begin to eliminate the excuses that once got us stuck, and we help students become even better than we thought possible, even if it scares us to death.

Vicki: Yeah. Once I heard an acronym for FEAR. False Evidence Appearing Real. That is so true many times. So what’s our fourth?

Chuck: Yeah I agree that is awesome, that acronym, actually.

Unforgettable Teacher Tip #4: Exceed Expectations

The fourth one is to exceed expectations. Now, great teachers, I think always exceed expectations, and I think most people that are listening to this probably would fall into that category.

I find that a story that was once told to me kind of transformed the way I look at how I teach. I just want to share that, because I have a friend and a mentor that’s outside of teaching so it’s not someone that is a teacher. But they told me a story once to kind of explain a point about his daughter.

He told me that when his daughter was younger, she loved to play games on his iPhone, just like any kids would. She would constantly ask for time to play, and he would oblige and say,”Yeah, sure. That’s fine.”

But there was one time that she came in, and she asked him if she could play on his iPhone, and he said no. So she walked away and she was kind of sad. He said he stopped her, and he said, “No, just wait one second.” He reached in his bag and he pulled out his iPad. And he said, “You can’t play on my iPhone, but you can play on my iPad.”

He was saying that you know, from a loving father he wanted to give her much more than she expected.

I think as teachers, we should strive to give our students an iPad experience when they’re expecting an iPhone.

Vicki: I love that! OK, what’s our fifth?

Unforgettable Teacher Tip #5: Be Quiet

Chuck: Our fifth is to simply be quiet.

Vicki: Ohhhh, that’s hard!

Chuck: What I mean by that is that think that teachers should really never be the loudest person in the room — which we’ve heard that the people doing the learning should be the ones doing the talking, which is something that I heard in a conversation as well. I think that we all understand that the importance of collaboration and discussion is crucial. But to be unforgettable, I think we need to be quiet in a different way.

Here’s what I mean. One thing that I did this year — and I found it to be a game-changer — was I implemented a weekly meeting. Literally, what I did was I took one class period. I took it out of the curriculum, and everything. It was on Fridays, and every Friday we have one class period that was dedicated to having an in-house meeting with my classes. I teach middle school, so I have multiple classes.

What we would do is each week with each class, we focus on three things.

1 – Evaluate me as a teacher

The first thing I told him was probably one of the most important, and that was where they had to evaluate me as a teacher. They have to tell me what I did well, what I did poorly, what I can improve on. I gave them that voice to kind of give me the criticism that I would need in order to help me get better.

2 – Class meeting about learning

Second, I told them the concepts that we be focusing on the next week, and together we would brainstorm how they wanted to learn them. So then it was my job to kind of develop the unit or lessons around it with it how they themselves learned.

3 – Plan together

Then third, we’d literally plan together. We would work out things like rubrics or strategies or things like that together so they had a full understanding of the expectations. They knew the expectations going into the following week, and they essentially helped create them. It gave them ownership of their learning.

I found that even with boring materials, they were more engaged after implementing these meetings than they ever had been. So I think, you know, when we take the time to be quiet and listen carefully, and we give our students that chance to give input, we become just unforgettable.

Vicki: Oh, I love that! Like, I’m so doing that, Chuck!

Chuck: (laughs)

Vicki: I’m sitting here thinking about, you know, the greatest PD for me is very often podcasts, blog posts, but even when educators who care share… So when you talk to somebody like you, and you have these amazing ideas, it transforms us.

I’m so excited about striving to be unforgettable. Thank you!

Chuck: Oh, you’re welcome!

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford

kymberlimulford@gmail.com

Bio as submitted

Chuck is a teacher, a coach and the visionary behind Teachonomy (http://ift.tt/YQZsjS). He is the host of the Teachonomy Talks podcast (http://ift.tt/2onW3XB), and blogs weekly on topics that encourage, equip, and empower teachers and leaders around the globe. Chuck has been teaching for over 15 years and believes that those who teach and lead have the unique opportunity to live life out loud and become the champions of those they serve. Chuck lives in New Jersey with his wife and enjoys mentoring others, creating laughter in the classroom, and the continued pursuit of his next adventure.

Blog: http://ift.tt/YQZsjS

Twitter: @cpoole27

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post 5 Ways to Be an Unforgettable Teacher appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

5 Ways to Be an Unforgettable Teacher published first on http://ift.tt/2jn9f0m

[savetopnow]

2018-03-30 05 EDUCATION now

EDUCATION

Cathy Jo Nelson

Choose USC-SLIS for your MLIS!

New Standards – Discount Price through SCASL

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Put a positive spin on it

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Arizona teachers protest as Oklahoma educators battle union sabotage. Thousands of teachers marched at the state capitol in Phoenix, Arizona Wednesday, as the wave of teachers struggles continues to spread across the US and internationally

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[educationrickshaw]

Something became clear to me at AISA Conference 2017 when keynote speaker, Dr. Sonny Magana, asked the educators in the audience to raise their hands if they felt content about the state of educational technology in their schools. For a brief moment a room full of educators from a variety of schools, backgrounds, and teaching positions was brought to a silence when not a single person was able to confidently raise their hand. Teachers aren’t happy with how edtech is going; even U.S. Congress has a better approval rating than zero.

I imagine Dr. Magana has facilitated this same demonstration at multiple conferences, and wielded the same results. You can pick apart the reasons behind this, from poorly funded edtech programs in some schools, to the need for organization-wide edtech training for teachers and administrators. Ultimately for me it points to a general lack of goal consensus and collective efficacy when it comes to edtech implementation.

In an effort to achieve a bit more goal consensus and collective efficacy in education today, I would like to go through eight of the top barriers, reasons, or excuses that I’ve come across for not using technology, and in the process try to knock down some of the barriers that we create for edtech implementation. It’s my hope that the next time we’re polled on the state of contentment towards education technology in our schools, that we might see a few more hands raised.

There are a lot of places with bad internet, and, having lived in the sands of Sudan as well as during a strange shark attack on Vietnam’s undersea internet cables, we definitely sympathize.

This is supposedly a shark biting a cable, thus our unusually crummy internet that lasted 6 months.

As was the focus of one of our earlier posts, “Poor internet connection” not good enough reason to abandon tech, your lessons do not have to be internet dependent, and you can plan ahead to make sure that you’re not scrambling when the internet is not cooperating. In the most desperate of internet circumstances, you can go entirely internet-less, which I picture looking very application-based with absolutely no browser use or streaming. Not ideal, but you can get kids inquiring, brainstorming, note-taking, journaling, etc, in a variety of applications that do not require an internet connection.

With what seems like a rising phenomenon of cell phone addiction and device obsession, it can be easy to become an activist and find yourself wanting to use the classroom as a place of escape from the perils of our digital world. The funny video below proposes one way to increase face-to-face interactions in today’s society.

Every educator I’ve ever met, including edtech’s greatest proponents, believes in face-to-face. Across the board. We all need kids to be speaking, listening, and being submerged into language-rich learning environments. I’m a huge fan of the face-to-face class debate, socratic seminar, and turn and talk. However, I also see value in the social interactions and the language used in online forums, podcasts, instant messaging, email, social media comments and updates, and blogging, for example.

In my classroom, the conversation can start face-to-face and then get extended through technology, but sometimes it starts online and then gets extended through a face-to-face class discussion. When you visit my classroom, you will typically see students socializing, communicating, and exchanging with, yes, an iPad in their hands. Everyone believes in face-to-face learning, and it is clear that digital tools can also enhance the learning and extend the conversation beyond the classroom walls.

I don’t like the use of the word “balance” to describe technology integration. Perhaps a better word than “balance” is “authentic”; Instead of choosing to use an iPad one day and then a pencil the next, but I look at the goal of the learning task and ask the question, “How best might students learn this?”

Since technology is merely a tool for learning, we shouldn’t plan our lessons around which tool to use or not use, or waste our time trying to determine the perfect ratio of time spent on analog vs. digital technology. That would be like if I decided one day to live a “balanced life” by cooking on a strict regimen of 50 percent spatula-prepared meals and 50 percent chopstick-prepared meals. Doesn’t it make more sense to plan your meals around the goal of nourishment, rather than the bizarre balance of cooking utensils? Technology is a tool for learning, not the goal of teaching.

  Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

I believe that the classroom should reflect the reality of our digital world. I teach in a 1:1 device classroom, and students use technology in some capacity for every lesson. The key for integration in my classroom is that technology is never used for the sake of using technology. Technology is used to enhance instruction, to maximize learning opportunities, and to redefine and transform what it means to be a learner in the 21st century.

It is natural for us to rely heavily on their own experiences to inform our practice. But in a world that is changing before our eyes, we professional educators have to look beyond how we learned and start imagining the classroom of the 21st century. You may not have learned with digital devices on hand, so you are rightly skeptical and wary of the implications for changing how you teach when you haven’t seen anyone teach or learn that way. For a while I was equally skeptical – Afterall, my first reaction to the iPad was that it was just an oversized smartphone, and now I’m using them in my classroom everyday!

I see my own education as being something between how many veteran teachers learned, and how my students are learning today. I graduated highschool in 2007, and mobile technology was already an integral part of my social life. It just hadn’t yet taken a truly prominent role in the classroom yet. While my education might have been largely traditional and lo-tech, one could sense what was on the horizon. As we learn more and more about the transformative nature of technology that is integrated with research-based models, we have to act on the research while also keeping a critical eye on the latest developments.

Too much screen time is a concern that I’ve heard from educators and parents alike, and it is something to be thinking about. Rather than delve into it deeper here, let me point you to a great blog post on Mr. Hill’s Musings, titled “Screen Time: What Does the Research Say?” In his post, Adam enlightens us with a line that I think every teacher should have on the tip of their tongue when faced with a worried parent: Not All Screen Time Is Equal. 

“Instead of obsessing over the quantity of screen time, we should focus on improving the quality of it”

–  Beth Holland, Edutopia

Let’s face it, these devices are not going away. In order to improve the quality of the student learning experience, we need to continuously ask ourselves some important questions. Do we wish to use technology for passive consumption, or for creative contributions and inquiry design? And since so much of a students’ unsupervised screen time takes place after school, how might we best educate parents so that our young people are not using these devices right before bed, or solely for entertainment purposes? Finally, if we do take the device away at home, what is replacing it? Are kids going to simply fill their unsupervised iPad time with unsupervised television time?

Screen time is an important issue of our time, but it should not be used as an excuse for not using technology to enhance learning. Not all screen time is equal, and we should be focusing on improving the quality of the time students spend in front of a screen.

Ask any teacher and they will tell you that they are pressed for time. The demands of curriculum, pastoral care, reporting, assessing, and planning make it so that every year feels like a race against the clock. Adding “technology lessons” feels like just another thing thrown on the plate of overworked and underpaid educators.

The time is now!

However, most good schools are not adding technology as an extra subject to a classroom teachers’ workload, but rather are prescribing an integrated approach to education technology. Technology should enhance and transform curriculum and instruction – not create more work for anyone. I teach math using technology. I teach reading using technology. I rarely teach technology, and I try to never use technology for the sake of technology. While there will always be some need for stand-alone technology instruction, especially when it comes to introducing a newer technology to students, I find that these small lessons lead to increased efficiency and independence by the students, which saves us time during our busy day.

Compared to my first year of teaching where I felt that the copy room had become my second home, my planning now feels much more laid-back as I am able to deepen learning experiences within a virtual learning environment without the frustrations of paperjams and botched copy jobs. My students are often the ones that create the online resources that we use in class, and the permanence of these resources allows for me to use them next year and the year after that. Technology gives me more time to do the real stuff of teaching, and it puts the onus on the student to take control of their learning and to do the thinking.

There are so many ways to rethink and re-conceptualize all of the subjects at school – art, music, P.E., drama, etc – so that they meet the needs of the 21st century learner. What is important is that the goal of the learning is identified, and that the teacher uses the best tools available to facilitate the learning of the skills and concepts. Nobody (I hope) is advocating that art teachers throw away their brushes and music teachers trash their instruments and do everything entirely on ArtSet or GarageBand. That just wouldn’t be the best way to learn art or music.

Check out the above sketch of educationrickshaw.com’s logo during the drafting stage. This image is a PNG file, it was rendered completely with digital tools, and the artist lives in the U.S and I live in Sudan. The original file is currently on my computer and saved to my DropBox and Google Drive. Our collaboration wouldn’t have been possible without the help of email, Facetime and IM. Technology might have been the medium in this piece, but it was also used for communication, sharing, archiving, and publishing.

In another example, I want you to think about two dance teachers for a moment: One that doesn’t use technology (A), and one that does (B).

Teacher A: Teaches dance moves to class through modeling and whole group direct instruction. Has students pair up and practice dance moves together. Students plan a dance and perform it to the rest of class. The end.

Teacher B: Teaches dance moves to class through modeling, whole group direct instruction, and through supplemental YouTube videos from expert dancers. Has students watching dance videos embedded on their class LMS and had created a shared, public space for planning, reflecting, commenting, liking, and exchanging ideas. Students record their dances, edit their dance routines on iMovie and published them onto a shared blog that includes their parents, their international pen pals, and the larger school community.

The above teaching archetypes are ones that I’ve witnessed in schools I’ve worked in and you can tell which I prefer. The technology-rich learning experience in Teacher B’s class was made much more meaningful than the more traditional approach of learning dance in Teacher A’s class.

If your school isn’t doing anything to teach you how to use the tools you’re required to teach with, then educate yourself. Take a free online training (See: Is it worth becoming recognized as an Apple Teacher?) or simply sit on your couch and play around with your device (See: The Couch Potato Approach to Educational Technology). Form a club of teachers who want and need to sit together to play around edtech tools (See: Teachers Need Tech Sandbox Time. How many times this week have you talked with your Director of Education Technology, or your technology support crew? The time to learn is now, even if your school just isn’t doing anything to help you.

Thank you for reading this post, and engaging in some of the ideas on this blog. Having started my career in outdoor education as a camp counselor at a summer camp I’m a big fan of going unplugged once in awhile. I also understand that we live in a digital world that is constantly changing, and that our classrooms have to reflect this reality. While I respect the opinions of all teachers that are guilty of erecting these false barriers, I also think that these ideas are going the way of the dinosaur. Once we remove these barriers by imagining the classroom of the 21st century, we can truly transform and redefine learning opportunities for our students.

– Zach Groshell @MrZachG

Come join our Facebook Group, Over-Posting Educators!

Top Barriers for Not Using Tech in The Classroom Something became clear to me at AISA Conference 2017 when keynote speaker, Dr. Sonny Magana, asked the educators in the audience to raise their hands if they felt content about the state of educational technology in their schools.

[dylan-stableford-blog]

The unsung heroes of 2017

The deadly storms, shootings and divisive political rhetoric that seemed to define 2017 may have dominated the headlines. But there was plenty of good news too, with stories of inspiration and hope often emerging in the wake of tragic events. Here are 12 people who helped inspire us in 2017.

_____

  The ‘Cajun Navy’ and coast guard, which helped save lives in Houston

Rescue workers and volunteers help residents make their way out of a flooded Houston neighborhood following Hurricane Harvey on Aug. 29. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The catastrophic flooding in Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey was the backdrop for plenty of dramatic boat rescues in August. And many were carried out by a group of volunteers from Louisiana known as the “Cajun Navy.” The group arrived in Texas within hours of the storm making landfall to aid in search and rescue operations. The similarly named Cajun Coast Search and Rescue Team also assisted in relief efforts.

Both groups used Facebook to organize and coordinate their street-by-street searches.

“This is familiar ground for us,” Cajun Navy volunteer Benji Terro told the Washington Post. “We are from Louisiana, and we know floods.”

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  The chainsaw nun who helped clear debris after Hurricane Irma

Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear habits and carry chainsaws.

After Hurricane Irma tore across Florida in September, Sister Margaret Ann was helping clear downed trees from a roadway near Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School in Miami. And her efforts did not go unnoticed. Video of the chainsaw-wielding nun — taken by a Miami-Dade off-duty police officer and posted to Facebook — was viewed nearly 10 million times.

In November, she was honored by the Miami Heat during a pep rally at her Roman Catholic high school, where she was presented with a $5,000 check for her selfless cleanup efforts.

“We teach our students: Do what you can to help other people. Don’t think of yourselves,” she told CNN. “And so that’s what I wanted to do.”

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  The celebrity chef who served hot meals after hurricanes and wildfires

After 3 wks,15 kitchens, 500+volunteers, today @WCKitchen #ChefsForPuertoRico served 1millionth meal in Puerto Rico! https://t.co/tPdzgOMNfk pic.twitter.com/ELwVhiNGQ7

— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) October 17, 2017

Less than a month after arriving in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, celebrity chef José Andrés hit a milestone: 1 million hot meals served. Using 15 kitchens and more than 500 volunteers, Andrés and his nonprofit World Central Kitchen, along with San Juan restaurateur José Enrique, were able to cook up to 25,000 meals per day (including beef stew, sandwiches and paella) through their #ChefsForPuertoRico campaign — exceeding what the American Red Cross was able to deliver to the island’s 3.4 million weary residents in the weeks following the storm.

“We only came here to try to help a few thousand because nobody had a plan to feed Puerto Rico,” Andrés told the New York Times. “And we opened the biggest restaurant in the world in a week. That’s how crazy this is.”

The James Beard Award-winning chef, who led similar efforts in Houston and Haiti, also organized an effort to feed firefighters battling the wildfires in Southern California earlier this month.

_____

The homeless veteran who helped a stranded woman, who then helped him

Kate McClure was driving on I-95 outside of Philadelphia late at night when she ran out of gas. Johnny Bobbitt Jr., a homeless man who was sitting by the highway, saw her pull over and told her to wait in her car with the door locked. Bobbitt, a 34-year-old former Marine, returned with a red gas can, having spent his last $20 on it to help the stranded driver. McClure, 29, couldn’t repay him at the time because she didn’t have any cash. But she did later, returning to the same spot to give him cash, clothes and food.

In early November, McClure and her boyfriend launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for Bobbitt with the goal of raising $10,000 — just enough for a car and a few months of living expenses. They raised more than $400,000 — enough for Bobbitt to buy a home.

He told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he plans to donate some of the money to people who are struggling like he was. “Everybody out there is facing some kind of struggle,” Bobbitt said. “So if I can touch their life, the way mine was touched, [it’d be] an amazing feeling.”

_____

The barber who cut hair for the homeless, and the salon owner who gave him a barbershop of his own

Brennon Jones, right, trims Larry Hemphill’s beard for free as part of his makeover Mondays in Philadelphia Nov. 20. Jones, who originally provided free haircuts to homeless people on the street, now continues to donate his services to anyone who is in need at a shop that was given to him by Sean Johnson. (Photo: Matt Rourke/AP)

Brennon Jones, a 29-year-old barber, launched “Haircuts 4 Homeless” in January, cutting the hair of Philadelphia’s homeless men for free in the hopes it might help them get off the street. Jones, who estimates he’s provided more than 1,000 free haircuts, said he was encouraged by his very first client.

“I cut his hair on 15th and Walnut,” he told CBS Philadelphia. “A few days later, I went to check up on him and he wasn’t there. I was hoping nothing bad happened to him. When we did catch up weeks later, he got offered a full-time job.”

Jones’s selfless work for the community paid off for him too. In October, Sean Johnson, a local barbershop owner who had purchased a future second location for his business, decided to give Jones the space for him to open a barbershop of his own.

“For somebody to give you a building, for him to say, ‘This is yours, no strings attached,’ it kind of blew my mind,” Jones told Philly.com.

Jones continues to give back to the homeless, providing free haircuts, lunch and health screenings at his shop every Monday.

“It’s bigger than a haircut for me,” Jones said. “They look at me as the blessing, but I look at them as the blessing.”

_____

  The football player who donated his entire annual salary to charity

The Philadelphia Eagles’ Chris Long during the national anthem before a game in October. (Photo: Matt Rourke/AP)

Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long donated his entire $1 million regular season base salary in 2017 to charitable causes. Long pledged his first six game checks to fund two scholarships in his hometown of Charlottesville, Va., following the deadly white supremacist rally there.

Then in October, Long announced he would give his final 10 game checks to charitable organizations supporting underserved youth in Philadelphia, Boston and St. Louis. He also raised more than $800,000 through his charitable foundation.

“In my 10th year, I want to celebrate the awesome opportunity I’ve had to play football by giving back to the communities that have given me that gift,” Long said in a statement. “Educational opportunity and equity are the best gateway to a better tomorrow for everyone in America.”

_____

  The coffee shop owner who employs the disabled

Amy Wright, a mother of two children with Down syndrome, has spent her life as a parent advocating for her kids. In early 2016, she opened a coffee shop named after them, Bitty & Beau’s, with the goal of giving jobs to people with special needs. The Wilmington, N.C., café now employs 40 people — each with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

“My employees are not broken,” Wright said this month at a CNN awards ceremony in New York City, where she collected $100,000 check for her cause. “What is broken is the lens through which we view people with disabilities.”

She also had a message for her children back home in North Carolina.

“I want you to know, because I know you are watching, that I would not change you for the world,” Wright said. “But I will change the world for you.”

_____

  The teacher who made up unique handshakes for each of his students

Barry White Jr., a fifth grade English teacher at Ashley Park PreK-8 School in Charlotte, N.C., came up with a cool way of connecting with his students — creating a personalized handshake for every single one. Since last year, White has greeted each of his 60 fifth graders with a unique handshake at the door before they enter the classroom.

Video of the daily ritual, posted to Facebook in February, went viral, generating more than 60 million views.

“The most critical component is the relationship, the rapport you build with your students because sometimes it can go underrated or overlooked,” White told NBC Charlotte. “Before I’m able to deliver a substantial amount of content to them, they have to invest in the teacher.”

_____

  The 10-year-old inventor whose invention may save lives

Bishop Curry V from his GoFundMe page.

Dozens of children are killed in hot cars in the United States every year. In 2016, 39 died as a result of car-related heat stroke, including seven in Texas. The death of a 6-month-old child in his hometown inspired Bishop Curry V, a 10-year-old from McKinney, to create “Oasis,” a small device that would detect if a child is left inside a hot car and blow cool air until parents and authorities can arrive.

Curry’s father, a Toyota engineer in Plano, Texas, encouraged his son to work on the design and secured a provisional patent for the idea. The pair introduced the concept and prototype at an auto safety conference in Michigan, and raised more than $50,000 in a crowdfunding campaign to develop it.

Meanwhile, the fifth grader told NBC Dallas that he already has aspirations beyond just one lifesaving invention.

“It would be a dream to have lots of inventions that would save many lives,” he said.

_____

Best of 2017 Yahoo News Features

School shooting survivors united by a chain of grief — and hard lessons passed on >>>

Hate in America: Where it comes from and why it’s back>>>

64 hours in October: How one weekend blew up the rules of American politics >>>

Opioids in Middletown >>>

Weed & The American Family >>>

Exclusive: Assad is confronted with photos of his torture victims >>>

[mathematicianadda]

From the Heart of MIND: 10 Quotes to Inspire Teachers and Students This School Year

Math is a universal experience. Math is everywhere and for everyone, which is the exact energy we’re bringing with us into the new school year as ST Math® users and ST Math champions head back to the classroom. 

As you know, MIND Research Institute believes deeply in making math equitable and accessible for everyone. In fact, our mission is to ensure that all students are mathematically equipped to solve the world's most challenging problems.

Everything we do at MIND is grounded in research and neuroscience about how the brain learns, which offers great insight into how people build an understanding of the world around them, from infancy all the way through adulthood.

From the Heart of MIND: 10 Quotes to Inspire Teachers and Students This School Year

Administrators, teachers, and students aren’t the only ones excited for going back to school. Our MIND leadership team and thought leaders are excited for the possibilities that this new school year holds.

Here are thoughts and feelings from our MIND leadership team to inspire and invigorate everyone heading back-to-school.

We Believe in Students

Andrew Coulson, Chief Data Science Officer, expressed gratitude for the perseverance that students will demonstrate this year, especially the 1.4 million students using ST Math.

“I'd like to say thanks in advance for the massive, stupendous amount of precious youngster thinking energy that is going to be invested by learners this year in the face of non-routine puzzling challenges and lots of (productive) struggle.”

Brandon Smith, Product Director and Lead Mathematician at MIND Research Institute, voiced his excitement over the possibilities this school year. “When students face tantalizingly tricky challenges and are given the freedom to be the source of their own actions, they stay engaged longer and think more deeply. When we let students act and interact before they’ve been given the step-by-step recipe we inspire deeper mathematical thinking.”

“When looking at your use of classroom math time, consider how many mathematical decisions your students are making and what kind of feedback they receive. The more decisions and more immediate and informative the feedback—the more learning happens. Let’s make this a great year for learning by doing!”

Mistakes Are Okay

Matthew Peterson, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Research and Development Officer at MIND expressed his appreciation for the process of learning. “I often meet students who are afraid of making mistakes because they don’t realize that mistakes are where the learning happens. Mistakes due to challenge is where the fun starts.” 

Math is Everywhere, For Everyone

Liz Neiman, Vice President of Engagement, voiced her enthusiasm for mathematics as a critical foundation. “A plant needs both sunlight and water to grow and thrive. But when you think about literacy and math in education, so often reading is a focus while students, educators, and parents believe that you’re either a math person or you aren’t. We believe that math is from everywhere, in everything, and for everyone, and that anyone can be a math person when they don’t just learn math, but experience it.”

Karin Wu, Executive Vice President and Executive Director of Social Impact issued a challenge to students, teachers, and anyone in a growth mindset. “Look around you. I dare you to find something that you’re using, touching, wearing, hearing or seeing that wasn’t designed or made with math. Math is why we’re not still living in caves! It’s the true superpower humans possess. So learn it. Use it. Make beautiful things and solve big problems! Make the world a better place with math!”

Kevin Hammer, Vice President of Engineering and IT, shared his passion for MIND's mission. “I love my job because we are working towards a bright future. As a software engineer working at MIND, I’m energized by the amount of opportunity there is to change the how people feel about math. The team at MIND sees a future where everyone is a math person."

Math is Personal

Since math is universal, we all have our own, unique experiences with it.

Brett Woudenberg, Chief Executive Officer here at MIND, shared his personal thoughts on math. “Math has been a companion that helps me find order in chaos, and calm confidence in uncertainty. It's a creative art that lets me explore the possibilities and discover new ways of thinking that enrich all aspects of my life. Unlike many things, it is available to us all, and brings true equity and opportunity to each of us to achieve our best. Being part of a team who's sole mission is to help every student discover their math ability is truly gratifying!”

Never Stop Learning

Learning is one of our main core values at MIND Research Institute. But learning is more than that—more than a word on a piece of paper. It's part of our culture.

Dorene Uhrich, Vice President of Education Success, shared an experience from her day. “I recently had someone apologetically explain that he was still learning—I told him when I stop learning is when I'm going to start apologizing!"

She continued, “I cannot remember a day at work where I didn't learn something new or more deeply. I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity to keep learning!"

Learning is also an integral part of ST Math. Through ongoing research, we continue to investigate key questions about learning, mathematics, and how the brain works. In fact, we work to create unique and effective learning environments for students and teachers, both inside and outside of the classroom.

Jo Garrett, Chief Financial Officer, embraces a learning mindset. “Whenever my kids say, ‘I don't know,’ I say, ‘Great! That's what learning is all about.’"

A Challenge with Heart

Brian Coffey, Senior Academic Director and a former school Principal, shared a challenge for teachers, staff, administrators, and other ST Math heroes to guide them through this next year.

My challenge to educators returning back to school, whether an administrator, a teacher, or an instructional coach, would be the same challenge I start each year with. The challenge begins with just two questions:

1. What is your best educational memory? Think back to one of your favorite and most impactful educational memories, when you were in school, either elementary, middle, or high school. What was that experience? After you have taken some time to think and recall, from the depths of your childhood memory bank, go share it with someone. Walk across the hall and ask this same question to your teaching team, or if you are an office, call your colleagues into the conference room, and take turns sharing just one memory.

2. If you were to take that memory and put the experience into one word, how would you describe it? What sums it up best? What adjective would you give? Take special attention to note the action or demonstration of the learning that occurred in the word you select.

I’m betting most of your sharing would be incredible descriptions, words that draw us into the “why” of what we do in education. THIS… is what we want our kids to experience, more often than not, in our classrooms, schools, and the culture sought to be built.

Strive to recall these descriptions all year, place them as benchmarks to measure your instructional design and lesson planning. Is that description a part of your central takeaway of the learning goals? Is it a part of your range that measures academic success? Are the experiences we are designing, right now in this moment, going to be memorable for our students 10—20 years from now?

I’m betting they will be. 

Thank You

Your family at MIND wishes you a successful, fulfilling, and learning-filled new school year!

Thank you to each administrator, teacher, instructional coach, parent, and student that puts their heart, time, and dedication into making this year back-to-school an amazing learning experience.

We’re rooting for you!

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