Perhaps it is the spring in the air or the sweet sounds of birds chirping. Perhaps I am grateful that my home/office has not been shaken into the Pacific Ocean. Or perhaps it is because my kindergartner is home from school for Spring Break and I have escaped for a few minutes of peace and serenity into my office under the guise of work. I’ll never tell. However, regardless of the motivation, I am feeling generous today and so will begin a serious of little gifts to my loyal blog readers. But first, a little about our philosophy on instructional seminars.
I will never forget a mathematics instructional workshop I attended as a third year teacher. When I attended the seminar, I was working on my portfolio to gain tenure in my district, co-directing a musical for 200+ second through fourth graders, supervising a student teacher, and oh yes, teaching. I was stretched thin. However, as a teacher that was looking for ways to bring mathematics alive, a workshop entitled, “Mathematics Games that Develop Concepts” seemed like a great opportunity (oh how I wish CGI mathematics had been at my school). And it was a great opportunity. I spent a day at in a hotel ballroom in northern New Jersey, munching the continental breakfast and learning all sorts of marvelous games and activities that would bolster my students’ learning. I left the seminar pumped–ready to hit my classroom the next day and start using the activities. The next morning at school, after reviewing the notes my substitute teacher had left me and frantically getting organized for the day, I finally flipped through the workshop binder, ready to select one of these fabulous and exciting activities to share with my classroom. The workshop materials read like an encylopedia. I found lesson plan after lesson plan described in finite detail, but not one actual example of the game pieces or game boards. I would have to create them myself. The binder slid back on my shelf and surprisingly I never really got around to making the really cool fraction game that required me to create, copy and cut out a class set of 72 cards, spinners and game boards. I wonder why.
At EEC, we offer a full range of instructional seminars that can be tailored to meet the needs of any school. During our seminars we focus on both the pedagogical underpinnings of instructional activities, but also on providing teachers with materials they can use the very next day. If you are like me, you abhor attending workshops that are full of great ideas but require you to go home and spend hours/days creating materials. When you attend one of our instructional workshops, we will provide you with every worksheet, poster, material you will need to implement our techniques and lessons the very next day.
The tips we offer on this blog are no exception. These are tried and true ideas, techniques and mini-lessons provided by myself and other experienced educators. However, not only we will give you the philosophy behind it, but we will also provide you with the materials required to make this happen in your classroom tomorrow.
Enjoy this quick writing tip for students
Today we will focus on what was one of my greatest pet peeves as a writing teacher. Two little words written as one were enough to make me bonkers. “A lot”. Except that when many students write these words, they write “alot.” Don’t ask me why. It makes no sense, but it is as if the world’s strongest electromagnet had locked those two little words together. I understand that this common error was not designed to send me into a tailspin, and perhaps I am the only one who gets so crazed by seeing this common English error pop up in every journal entry, story and essay I reviewed. I racked my brain about how to make my little charges understand that these were two separate words.
Fundamentally, there are some children can memorize spelling and grammar rules. And there are some children that simply can see words in their heads. Alright, so 5% of a class is taken care of under those categories. But what about the other 95% of students? Here is where the need to examine multiple intelligences and differentiation comes into play. Try using a physical reminder to help students understand that these two words are separate. Download a copy of the EEC “a lot” posters. Place one of the posters on one wall of the classroom. Place another poster on the opposite wall of the classroom. When students come in that morning, point out the posters and remind them that the words “a lot” are separate! That physical separation will get the point across.
So, happy spring! Enjoy the gift and let me know how it works in your classroom!
Quick Tip Materials:
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=552947e9-d5cf-41ec-8deb-de7d0166e7ee)
Tags: assessment design, assessment design california, consulting, curriculum, curriculum design, education, educational training, English language, instructional seminars, mini-lesson, Products and Services, quick tips, School, spelling, Teacher, teacher tips, Writing