I found another book that really speaks to my teaching heart. Specifically to my “students should get to read chapter books and learn thinking for reading skills” heart. This book is called Raising the Standards Through Chapter Books: The C.I.A. Approach, by Sarah Collinge. (C.I.A. stands for Collect, Interpret, and Apply.) In her book, ...

“Never question ability, always improve strategy.”  That is my favorite quote from the book: BrainSMART 60 Strategies for Boosting Test Scores.  I received this book as part of the BrainSMART Masters Degree program (through Nova Southeastern University), but I noticed it is also available through Amazon… so just had to share!! 60 Strategies ...

“I’m sorry, but we have to stop for recess,” I explained.  The response from my students was a resounding, “AWWWWWW, can’t we finish this first?!”  Wow, what a great thing to hear from 2nd graders! The Lesson The lesson began with a review of what students already know about how the brain learns and remembers.  I reminded them how the brain ...

Image via WikipediaI got a bright idea today! (My partner-teacher always gets nervous when I say that.) I was thinking about metacognition and how to make that concept concrete for my 2nd graders.  The corresponding bright idea came while watching one of my BrainSMART videos.  The presenter, Dr. Donna Wilson, was teaching a 2nd grade class about ...

“Why do you say ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘yes sir’ to us?”  The student looked puzzled as she asked me the question.  Several interested faces turned toward me, curiosity knitting their brows.  I smiled warmly and answered, “I do that to show you respect, just like you show me respect.  I can’t expect you to show me genuine respect if I don’t treat you ...

I learned that the old adage ‘a little dab will do you’ also works with shaving cream.  Let me paint the picture for you… The Idea I got the bright idea from a first grade teacher (you know who you are!) to let students spell their names out in shaving cream.  She said to put some shaving cream on each desk, let them smooth it out, then let ...

I used to be the school secretary.  My office was across from a second grade classroom.  Every great now and then, the teacher would step out of her room, crazed grin on her face, and ask if I had seen her patience.  She’d look down the hall one way, then back the other, sigh, chuckle, and return to her room.  It always got a good laugh.  She had ...

I’ve mentioned before that I am getting my Masters degree in Brain Based Teaching.  It is the BRAINSmart program through Nova Southeastern University in Florida.  This week, among other things, we learned about the modular brain and it’s connection to Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences.  Following is a snippet of what I ...

My sons both struggled through school with dyslexia and ADD.   At the time I didn’t think it was severe enough to warrant medication (although in retrospect that was probably a mistake), so we soldiered through.  At one point, a reading tutor recommended a rather expensive supplement (expensive for us).  My older son was in 4th grade.  After a ...

This is my second post about the online components of Everyday Math.  The first reviewed how to sign in and set up classes.  This post will detail how to set up your online lesson plan. One of my favorite components of EM online is the ePlanner.   Just input the date range and lessons you want to cover and your lesson plan will be generated.  ...