I just read an article from the Washington Post describing how a middle school in Northern Virginia will be piloting a voluntary program wherein students will attend single sex classes in the core academic areas. I laud this effort. Many students, both boys and girls, will – in my opinion – likely flourish in this [...]

I don’t know when they began calling critical thinking skills “21st Century Skills” – I used them and taught them plenty during the 20th century, but no matter. It seems to be the educational buzzword of the day. And if the trend results in teachers and parents focusing more on communication, collaboration, critical thinking, problem [...]

Engaging the student, utilizing knowledge of various senses, taking advantage of free online tools, my son’s fourth grade social studies teacher did all these things when she showed the kids the following in class today:

I read an interesting blog post by Dan Brown, a teacher and author of The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungle. He is the also the author of an education blog called Get in the Fracas. Here is an excerpt: “I have a clutch of students who read for pleasure, yet [...]

I was talking with a parent of a fifth grader who is attending our local “gifted zone center” program. Her daughter was assigned a paper that needed to be two pages, double spaced. Her daughter does not type well, so this assignment was taking a while. At one juncture, the parent noticed that her daughter [...]

I love this – it has all the elements of perfect learning: 1. Science tools. 2. Dirty kids. 3. Excitement. 4. Mystery. 5. Discovery. 6.Higher-Level Thinking. In fact, one student said, “This is probably the best science class ever,” (Angus Stewart). What is all this referring to? One teacher teaching science the way it should [...]

Does your child have a ‘seed’ journal? This is a simple concept, but can grow into wonderful pieces of writing! Simply have your child keep a journal of interesting events, people, descriptions, ideas, etc. – any “seed” that he or she may one day use in a piece of writing. The seed journal can be [...]

Better Lesson is a social networking site for teachers and other educators – including home educators –  to share curriculum material. In fact, an educator can upload and share a full 180 days worth of lessons. Check it out, and avoid re-inventing the wheel! This site looks great and seems to have great potential. DISCLAIMER: [...]

As we quickly approach the upcoming school year, think about creating a space in your home that is a designated “quiet space” conducive to studying and reading. In these days of pervasive media, it is difficult sometimes to ‘turn it all off’ and focus. Your child should have an area that is dedicated to his/her [...]

This list from an article in the July 2009 ASCD Educational Leadership magazine includes books by age level that are good for teaching social responsibility. If anyone has used any of these or done any specific activities with their kids to encourage social responsibility, I’d love to hear about it! – Heather