As a teacher, I am constantly being told (by non-educators!) that I must “motivate” the students. What they usually mean is: make lessons entertaining. They think it should all be fun and game-like. It is similar to the now-passé concept of “learning styles” (link opens a new tab and directs to a study released in […]
Category: Learning Styles
Stepping Forward, Stepping Back: The dance of change
In the wake of the fire, Tom and I are still working on finding equilibrium. The size of the apartment, the distance from my gardens, the lack of comfortable space and privacy, the noises of the city — and our neighbors — all conspire against the comfortable routines and patterns we used to have. He […]
A really good teaching moment…
I was in a friend’s elementary classroom for a couple days, and was able to create a couple lessons (one social studies based, the other language arts) in advance. They were engaging and most students were very successful. I will probably repeat those lessons in other classes since they worked so well. Perhaps because I […]
Teaching, Learning, and Growing
Now that I am officially a teacher, it was time for me to something about the professional development plan I wrote at the end of the Master’s program. The first component of my plan is intended to help me get a better handle on both differentiating instruction for special needs as well as on developing […]