Archive for the ‘Think Tank’ Category
Friday, October 22nd, 2010
Maybe you don’t watch Oprah. Or perhaps you are not a big fan of the Huffington Post. Chances are, however, that if you are an educator you have heard and may have seen “Waiting for Superman.”
I had the opportunity to view the movie last night with the University of San Diego’s School of Leadership and Education. After leaving “Waiting for Superman,” I felt both emotionally stripped and emotionally charged. This documentary provides snapshots, glimpses into the problems that I have observed for the last 13 years of working in the field of education. Wearing the caps of both educator and parent, this film reinforced my desire to be a change agent in the field of education.
Tags: education, Educational reform, Educators, Geoffrey Canada, Harlem Success Academy, Michelle Rhee, No Child Left Behind Act, Preuss School, State school, Waiting for Superman
Posted in Think Tank | 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
At the beginning of this blog series, I talked about what I believe makes a reader passionate about books. In a follow-up, I challenged YOU to come up with the books that made you feel passionate about reading when you were a child. Thank you to all that participated in the discussion. Here is the list:
Betsy-Tacy Series, Maud Hart Lovelace
Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowlings
The Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle
Running Out of Time, Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Trixie Belden Series by Kathryn Kenny.
This is a preview of
Ready to Read Part I: A list for the reluctant reader
.
Read the full post (462 words, 1 image, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)
Tags: Add new tag, Arts, assessment design, assessment design california, Bridge to Terabithia, Children, Children's literature, consulting, curriculum, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, differentiated instruction, educational blogs, Educational consulting, Gone Away Lake, Lemony Snicket, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Literature, New York Times, Reading
Posted in Think Tank | 4 Comments »
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
John Scieszka, brilliant children’s author and first National Ambassador for Young People and Literature, has spent his tenure trying to reach the reluctant reader. He states in his blog on the Huffington Post:
- Let each child choose what she or he wants to read. I’ll never forget my own son’s reaction reading Little House on the Prairie (a favorite of many readers): “Are they really going to spend this whole chapter making a door?”
- Expand the definition of “reading” to include non-fiction, humor, graphic novels, magazines, action adventure, and, yes, even websites. It’s the pleasure of reading that counts; the focus will naturally broaden. A boy won’t read shark books forever.
Tags: Add new tag, blogs, Child, Children's literature, consulting, curriculum design, education, educational blogs, educational training, Literature, Little House on the Prairie, Reading
Posted in Think Tank | 13 Comments »
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Happy 2010! January is always a time for resolutions and my five-year-old has made hers… “to learn to read really well and to work without distractions.” In honor of her very admirable goals (she is only five after all), I am going to dedicate the next few blogs to the topic of reading. I suspect that many of the students that you have out there have a strong internal desire to be good at reading. As an Educational Consultant here in San Diego, much of the work that I do is to support education that will foster excellent reading strategies and skills.
This is a preview of
Ready to Read Part I: What makes a child love to read?
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Read the full post (1016 words, 2 images, estimated 4:04 mins reading time)
Tags: assessment, assessment design, assessment design california, assessment design la jolla, Betsy Ray, Betsy's Wedding, Betsy-Tacy, blogs, consulting, curriculum, curriculum design, education, educational blogs, Educational consulting, educational training, Harry Potter, Maud Hart Lovelace, Scholastic Corporation
Posted in Think Tank | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
I am always fascinated when researchers discover something new about the way humans learn. I was especially interested in an article published in the New York Times yesterday, outlining new insights into math development in preschoolers. The research shows that humans are born with a simple “number instinct”–that is even at a young age, children can distinguish between “more and less” concepts easily. Infants can even distinguish between one and two, even to three in some cases. What research is showing is that with experiences in linking physical quantities with higher abstract symbolic representation “7″ and the word (seven), the brain of preschooler can master these concepts. This numeric “trinity” is critical for mathematics success in kindergarten. Furthermore, students must cement these concepts so that they become automatic in order to find rapid success with addition and subtraction. Imagine the frustration of a 5-6 year old in trying to figure out a simple addition/subtraction problem without this type of rapid connection. When you think about it, is actually not that surprising that preschoolers can deal with larger numbers. After all, Sesame Street has spent thirty years building sound/letter relationship understanding in preschoolers. It is not a leap to see how a sound and abstract letter representation is close to a number/quantity relationship outlined above.
Tags: assessment, assessment design, assessment design california, assessment design la jolla, Cognitively Guided Instruction, consulting, curriculum design, differentiated instruction, education, educational blogs, Educational consulting, educational training, Everyday Mathematics, instructional seminars, learning, Math, Mathematics, New York Times, Sesame Street, University of Chicago
Posted in Think Tank | No Comments »
