January 2011 Blog Posts (46)

I am passionate about Leadership!

I spent 14 years as an Elementary School Principal and 5 years as a Project Director of a Title VII Language and Literacy program. 19 years in Leadership that were exciting but often times, very challenging.

In that time, as a building, program and instructional…

Stress causes changes in the body-brain system and actually inhibits learning.  John Medina states on his website Brain Rules that, “Stress damages virtually every kind of cognition that exists. It damages memory and executive function.” This has tremendous implications for teachers.

What Happens in the Brain

You are probably already aware of the physical…

http://standtallsteve.blogspot.com/2011/01/swept.html

Parent Teacher conferences. Twice a year,(or more), we sit down with our students’ parents and relay the good or bad news about their child. A parent teacher conference can go two ways, productive or non-productive. I recall many conferences, and many types of parents. The wonderful, supportive, parent, the hostile parent, the parent that won’t leave no matter how many times you stand up, the ones who just nod, the appreciative parents, the ones who share every aspect of their lives,…

This free 5 week session will take a look at the current situation by clarifying the concepts of personal learning environments and networks (PLNs). Participants will learn by doing, creating their own Personal Learning Environment and adding tools relevant to their individual needs as the 5-week session evolves.

JOIN US…

In my previous post I talked about the idea of using iPod Touch and iPad for the whole process of shooting, editing and posting a video (on YouTube, for example).  A few teachers were interested in more details of the process so that they have a better idea on how to implement it in their classes... …

We all know that what we need to develop in children more than the hability to memorize contents, skills that give them the opportunity to know and do more things. Today teachers are facing a changing world where children want to do, more than to learn how, they got skills and want to practice them. They handle digital devices, smartphones, tablets, videogames, and sometimes teachers are not at that pace. Our classrooms need to be transformed in motivating places where children have fun and…

Metacognitive Strategies for Reading Comprehension

Students who are taught reading comprehension strategies aremore successful readers.  Whilesome students may eventually learn some of these strategies on their own, theycan be taught quite effectively in the early elementary grades.  Here are ten reading…

Over the last few weeks I've been guiding teams of teachers on reflective classroom walkthroughs. During the course of one of our "hallway discussions" I asked a social studies teacher, "who's the historian in your classroom?" After a bit of give and take, we concluded that in the traditional classroom, the students get to watch (and listen) to the teacher be…