Leadership is all about finding the right balance to help those we lead to grow. As a teacher we lead our students and they, in turn, develop their skills (including their own leadership styles) from our modeling. Every one of our actions are observed and repeated.

What kind of a leader are you? How do you help your students to improve upon their work?

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Providing learning choices gives students a sense of autonomy and voice. When students are offered choices in structuring their academic activities, they frequently select those options that make their learning easier and more manageable.

One efficient way to promote choice in the classroom is for the teacher to create a master menu of options that students can select from in various learning situations. An instructor, for example, may teach the class that during any independent assignment, students will always have a chance to:

• Choose from at least 2 assignment options,
• Sit where they want in the classroom, and
• Select a peer-buddy to check their work.

Student choice then becomes integrated seamlessly into the classroom routine.

What are some of the learning choices that you can give students in your classroom?

Learn More… Take this course: Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies

Students with autism often benefit from social or procedure stories (such as “checking back”) that illustrate how to act in certain situations. These resources are ways for teachers to create simple stories that can be written and illustrated by anyone who wants a student with autism to learn quickly.

Following is an example of a storyboard for checking back:

Dan’s teacher, Ms. Lee asks Dan to feed the hamster. She asks him to check back with her when he is done. When he checks back, she will know he is finished. Dan takes the bowl from the hamster’s cage and puts in one scoop of food. When he is done, he checks back with Ms. Lee so she knows that he is done.

Building and using cartoons are also ways for helping students to manage social situations. MakeBeliefsComix and ToonDoo are two online tools that teachers can use to create their own comic books and cartoons.

How would you encourage other to understanding better how to teach children with autism in your classroom?

Learn More… Take this course: Introduction to Autism

A DRTA may be used for an individual separately, for a small group or even the class as a whole. When used with a group, it helps develop communication skills in the students, not just reading skills.

There are four steps to the DRTA process:

• Introduction

It sometimes helps for the student to talk about what he or she already knows about the subject that they will be reading. This helps them put everything they know on the subject out on the table before they start reading and pushes them to discover new information on the topic.

• Predict

Encourage the students to predict the story after reading the title. They may also predict the story based on the pictures included. Tell them that there is no wrong answers but they need to justify their answers.

• Modify Predictions

Start reading the text. After each section, provide the students an opportunity to change their predictions.

• Reflect

After the entire selection has been read, encourage the child to reflect on his or her predictions and the reasons they modified their earlier predictions. Help them understand the value of thinking about their text.

Choosing the text

The text that is used for this activity must be selected carefully. A badly selected passage can dull the activity and prove disappointing. Some of the elements to consider while choosing the text are:

• Familiarity

You need to ensure that none of your students have read the passage earlier. Students will not be able to predict their way through the text if they know what happens next.

• Prediction points

Another element that helps is to pick a passage that has definite prediction points. This ensures that predictions are made with greater ease.

How can you do a Directed Reading Thinking Activity in your classroom?

Learn More… Take this course: Tackling Tough Text

Sploder
Create custom puzzles and games.

Lessonopoly
Helps to organize activities inside and outside the classroom, create and share lesson plans.

File Dropper
Upload and share big files, up to 5 GB, with colleagues and students.

RESOURCES

States of matter
Reinforce the concept of matter using this fun physical activity.

Ultimate Excel Periodic Table
A periodic table with all the basic chemical information such as atomic number, block, mass etc… It also includes crystal structure, the medical role and the biological cellular role of each element.

Exploring Literacy in Cyberspace
Educate students to read online text meaningfully.

GIVEAWAYS OF THE WEEK

Flip Camera
Enter to win a pocket sized HD video camcorder.

DVD: Tom & Jerry – Around the world
Here is a chance to win a Tom and Jerry DVD.

Book: Dinosaur Train – Guess Who, Buddy!
Fill in the rafflecofter to win this book.

As always before using tools or resources be sure to conduct due diligence regarding alignment of the material and content with your local values and standards.

Over the years, as I have met and worked with different people, and clearly, some people are just not perfectionists. They usually have other strengths- they may be very artistic, creative or out of the box thinkers.

It’s important give each person tasks that match their strengths. There are jobs that require perfectionism. There’s no point in asking someone who is not a perfectionist to write a computer program or edit something. They would probably struggle, and still end up not doing a great job. Do you know the perfectionists in your classroom? The earlier students understand their own strengths and areas for growth, the better they become at collaboration and teamwork.

How do you help students understand their strengths and build on them?

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At the same time, it is imperative that teachers do not attempt to diagnose any student. Only a trained person can do that.

ADHD is a disorder with many degrees ranging from moderate to severe. Students can have problems with attention from time to time without having ADHD. Impulsivity in ADHD students is a common trait. Some of these behavioral patterns may include:

• Act without thinking
• Guess, rather than take time to solve a problem
• Blurt out answers in class without waiting
• Not wait for their turn in line or in games
• Say the wrong thing at the wrong time
• Often interrupt others
• Intrude on other people’s conversations or games
• Find it a challenge to keep powerful emotions in check, resulting in angry outbursts or temper tantrums

How can you positively tap the impulsivity in ADHD students?

Learn More… Take this course: Understanding ADHD

Children who are twice exceptional struggle with the following:

• to become proficient in English
• come from an impoverished family
• lack cultural assimilation
• have a learning disability
• work with an Attention Deficit Disorder
• need adaptations for a physical handicap
• are among those with other other learning challenges, such as ADD/ADHD or Asperger’s Syndrome
• underachieve

The good news is that parents and teachers can employ effective strategies that maximize student learning if they know how to recognize and make adaptations for learners who might be twice-exceptional.

How can you identify twice exceptional students in your classroom?

Learn More… Take this course: Differentiation for Gifted Learners in the Classroom

http://RaiseBullyProofKids.com

How to Raise Bully Proof Kids

During childhood, children learn and practice the skills they will need in their adult lives. Bullying is an unpleasant but inevitable part of life that happens in virtually every social group. If children don’t learn how to deal with hostility in their formative years, how will they manage when they grow up and have to face hostility from their co-workers, bosses, spouses and children?

Fortunately, the solution to bullying has been known for thousands of years. It is known as the Golden Rule and has been taught by wise people throughout history. The Golden Rule is the solution to being a victim. When people – both kids and adults – understand the practical application of the Golden Rule, no one can bully them and they can even turn their bullies into buddies.

Learn from national bullying expert Israel Kalman at this unique opportunity for parents, teachers and anyone helping children with bullying.

Israel (Izzy) C. Kalman, MS, is a nationally renowned expert in teaching people proven methods to deal with bullying, anger, sibling rivalry and relationship issues. Mr. Kalman earned an M.S. in clinical psychology and is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, as well as a member of the International School Psychology Association, the New York State Association of School Psychologists, the Richmond County Psychological Association, and the International Society for Research on Aggression.

Mr. Kalman is an author of training programs, curriculum, books, articles, CDs and DVDs. As an expert on bullying, Mr. Kalman leads mental health professionals, schools, businesses and other organizations while presenting workshops, speaking at professional conferences and appearing in the media both nationally and abroad.

Here is a chance for you or your organization to support parents and educators in our community learn ways to help children handle bullying in their lives. Sponsor the event and have your logo here and at the event. Email events@professionallearningboard.com to discuss sponsorship options for this event.

One of the attempts to bring business to education involved setting up individualized computer work stations and private cubicles for students. This resulted in a great deal of unwarranted autonomy for unprepared high school students. As far as attempts to educate business, well, let’s just let it suffice to say that that didn’t go so well either.

Failures are a part of growth and every failure helps us learn lessons or gives us new direction. As a result of my failures at that project, I became a more realistic goal setter. I also found new direction, that helped me become who I am today.

We as teachers come across a lot of situations where our students face failure. It may be a game, an expected behavior or a test. How do we ensure that each of these experiences results in growth for our students? What kind of response can help turn a seemingly bleak situation into a learning opportunity?

Helping students talk about and analyze the causes of their failure empowers them and enables them to think logically. It helps them understand that their actions eventually add up to a result. This is true of success too. Talking about what helped them succeed will help them repeat those actions, and be successful again.

How do you help students turn failure into success?

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