Category Archives: practical ideas
One Degree of Change
modified original image credit: Wikipedia
Although its a New Year, and we start with the best resolutions that will make our lives so much better! But even the best of intention resolutions go by the way side, and often become lost in the miasma of life. Why?
Well, because more often than not, we feel in order to make a change in our lives, we feel we have to change the course of our ship 180 degrees….turn it around completely for that new goal, that new life, in order to achieve our new life.
There is one rule of life that I remember learning when I first became a teacher. It had more to do with helping students, or improving my classroom in some way, or my teaching strategies….something like that. BUT, this rule actually applies to more than that. It applies to the universe…the very core of our existence. READY FOR IT? Here is goes:
CHANGE IS CONSTANT
The only thing constant in our lives, IS change. We can not stop change, it happens on a universe level, in happens on a cellular level, or even smaller, atomic level. As long as time moves on, CHANGE happens. Even if we stand still, we breath, changing or exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide. The very root of BREATHING is change. Okay, I think you got the idea!
So what does that do with my New Year resolution? Everything!
If you want something to change this New Year, or don’t worry, it will. You’ll get older, your children, your pets. Your job will change, new clients, new people to interact with, new rules, new clients. What if you don’t have a job, a stay at home parent….oh, things will change there too! House gets dirtier, clothes get dirtier, yard grass and plants grow. Family changes too, as parents get older, babies are born, relatives move away or closer. There really isn’t a way to get away with change. It is how we adapt to the change that makes the difference.
Adapting to change: You get older….looking in the mirror, wow you’ve changed! Do I put on makeup to hide the change, the wrinkles, the puffy eyes, the sagging jawline? Children…oh, children change so much more quickly. Time to buy new clothes, new shoes, haircuts, braces! The job, what you do for a living, to earn a wage, to support your family….maybe it is time to make a change there too? Not meaning quit, but refocus, re-frame, set different priorities.
So from the title of this article, I think by now you might be saying….okay, what is one degree of change then? Well, let’s go back to the course of the ship. First it takes a long time to change the course of a large ship, so much slower than changing the course of a car! Picture a ship leaving from New York, heading to Europe. The captain sets course, due East. At first, the ship pulls out of the harbor and gets lined up on the destination. Ships have specific headings as they travel the seas, routes is a better word. As they move along their route, seas may be calm, but a storm in the distance may be challenging. The captain changes course to avoid the brunt of the storm. Because they are looking ahead, changes don’t have to be drastic, the change just a little, because by time they get into the area where the ship will be affected by the storm, the ship has moved away from the area by many, many miles.
You and I are a lot like that captain, but we are captains of our own ships. When we see storms ahead, or events that we don’t think are good for us, we begin to change course. A super simple example in your own home. The dirt dishes are piling up. We see, if we don’t wash them, several things may happen: 1. We run out of clean dishes to eat on, cook on or bake with. 2. Food scrapes begin to attract flies and other insects that aren’t good for our health. 3. Large mammals, ie rats, begin finding their way into our homes, and spread diseases. 4….well, you get the idea. SO, to change course, for #1-4 not to happen, we wash the dishes. If we wash dishes immediately after we dine, the change isn’t dramatic….less than 10 min, all is clean. If we wait until the next meal or the next day, change must be larger, 30 minutes or more, to stop #1-4.
Let’s move to a larger scale of change and possibly more difficult or complex. One very popular course is to STOP ______________ (fill in the blank). In our example, I will choose smoking. Smoking is an activity that may people do and many people want to change. If one smokes, then there are consequences (or results). (Just letting you know, I don’t smoke. I once did when I was younger, and mom found out, and she made me change with one slap…that was my change!). But another family member does, and that is their choice, not mine to change them, but they have a lot to think about. 1. They don’t like the way their breath feels/smells. The breath mints or gum proves that. 2. Their clothes have an unpleasant odor that often they themselves can’t detect, but people around them certain can. 3. Laws or becoming more and more restrictive on where you can smoke in our society. 4. Housing landlords, hotels, prohibit smoking in the buildings which reduces that housing opportunities, or many cold nights standing on the porch for the “last smoke” before heading inside. 5. I won’t even get into the health aspects of smoking, as I would like you to be able to read this post in under 15 days, but ultimately, the smokers health effects all the family members around them, either indirectly, or after the smokers untimely illness and death, directly, as they deal with not having that loved on in their lives anymore. And I won’t even get into the financial impact this activity. To say the least, it is one that I have heard many want to stop. An entire billion dollar industry is based on the notion, that their “product/alternate activity” will help them STOP. But who really has the ability to make the change? Ultimately, only you. Many try a 180 degree change. They stop, as we call it, cold turkey. I have know someone who has succeeded by changing this way, and he was more determined to continue not smoking, every time he looked at his daughter. But many aren’t able to make 180 degree change and stay the course.
A personal example that I made a one degree of change in my life, that has completely changed me physically and mentally, is my weight loss. Two years after having my last child, I noticed my weight had not gone back to where I started before I became pregnant. For two years I said it was “baby weight”, and I had to eat well (alot) to continue nursing. Well, that was a year after I stopped nursing….do you get the idea? I was using my children as a reason for not making a change. I decided to make a change, a small change, a one degree of change. And this is what the change was: When my children wouldn’t finish their food that I had prepared for them to eat, I would finish it, as I didn’t want it to go to waste. Well, in a way, it went to waist…get it? Sorry, couldn’t resist! I decided my change was going to be, stop eating the children’s left overs. That one degree of change, made me aware of what other things I was putting into my mouth. And it was much more than I had originally thought. In less than 6 months, after that one degree of change….that one decision….I lost 40 pounds. I then became more excited about the change, and made several more “one degree” changes in my life. For example, I began taking my dog for a LONG walk, once a week. The chain reaction of one degree of change, increased to nearly 45 degrees, then 90 degrees! That was nearly 10 years ago. I have kept the weight off, because I haven’t made the one degree of change BACK to the original path I was on, of eating my children’s leftover food.
Again, lets go back to the ship.
Ships can’t make a 180 degree turn. Titanic tried….
best example yet, huh? SO what is a captain, you, to do? Make a small degree of change. Make a one degree of change. If you change your course, that you are one, by just a very small amount, by time you reach your destination, you will have put yourself in a very different place then when you started. You won’t even end up close to where you were originally headed, in fact, over the course of many days, years, or life time, your destination will be the new goal you were seeking, and you will have arrived there.
What does a one degree change look like? It starts with a decision of looking down the road, on the radar, on the map of life (sorry, I know that sounds corny), but it is true. Where are you headed? What do you want to achieve? Where do you want to be at the end of this New Year? Don’t make several goals for yourself….just one…..you can take on the others when you are on the right course of this one. Where can you find your inspiration? Who else has achieved what you would like to achieve? How did they do it? Connect with others, learn from others, then take on your own goal, by making a one degree of change, one decision, one small habit, that will grow into a completely new life.
Affective Marriage
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46325849@N03/5718623025/
Close to 30 years in one monogomous relationship, I often wonder, when can you proclaim that you have a successful marriage. I have heard of couples getting divorced within a year, and even after 36 years. After a 36 year marriage, that ends in divorce, can you say that was a successful marriage? I came to the conclusion that the only way you can proclaim you have (had) a successful marriage is if you are a widow or a widower. One partner died, and you can say, “yes, it was successful, because we were still married when the partner died”. I am not looking forward to that proclamation by either myself or my husband.
So, what is an affective marriage? Affective is the domain of being motivated and inspired. I would then conclude that an affective marriage is a marriage that motivates and inspires you to be the best you can be. Do you get motivated by your partner’s actions? They are trying to “get healthy”, so it motivates and inspires you to “get healthy too”. They or you are learning about a new subject or topic, or have taken up a new interest or hobby. Does that motivate you to join in? Or at least ask about their new interest? It should. I never knew so much about James Bond, military airplanes or motorcycles until I entered a relationship with my husband. He in turn knows alot more about dog and horse breeds, my culture and country and Journey (the greatest rock band ever!).
I found this quote that I especially enjoyed tonight:
Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they cannot be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them.
Sydney Smith
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_marriage2.html#gVHoKVjALFDwrxmV.99
Come together, and go apart. Be your own blade, but stay connected, and have similarities. AND always, punish anything that gets between you….You will then have an Affective, and Successful Marriage until the of time.
Blame It On Your Cerebellum!
This week, my science students just finished up learning about “Communication and Control” Systems….basically our brain (Central Nervous System) and how it interacts with it’s environment (Sensory Systems). An interesting thing about the brain, is it is divided up into 3 parts: The Cerebrum, Cerebellum and Medulla. The Medulla runs all our ‘automatic-involuntary systems’ like heart beat, breathing, blood pressure etc. Our Cerebrum is the learning, talking, hearing, and those kinds of things. But our cerebellum, which is our second largest part of the brain, helps with balance…yes, walking upright, not falling, and allowing us to move about in our environment.
Many years ago, my boss called me into his office, and we had a conversation, that looking back on it now, has 20:20 clarity. He said he admired how I kept my life in balance. Between putting in many hours at work as a new teacher and having a young marriage that needed nurturing. He asked “how do you keep it balanced, making sure you aren’t putting in too much energy into one, and neglecting the other”. I didn’t have much to say besides, “you just have to”.
When I teach about the brain, I think about everything that it has to sort through in a normal day. From information, memories, decisions, reflecting (which the cerebrum has to do), to keeping an organism alive(my body). But the cerebellum, it has the toughest job, it has to keep me balanced.
Currently I don’t get paid my educational worth, so I work a second job. I don’t see my husband much because he works a second job too. Between rising costs of daily neccessities and cuts in pay, we try to give our children a life of more experiences than just going to school, and coming home. We don’t do movies, go out to dinner, or have new clothes, or new cars, or go on any vacations or even have cable TV (plus cable is a rip-off anyway). It’s no better or worse than many of my other fellow middle class America. The point is, do I still have balance in my life?
I do. For balance in your life is not: do all areas of my life have equal percentage of my time and attention? But instead: Do the areas of my life have equitable needed attention. Equity being: What attention is needed so the relationship is healthy and productive. I keep a balance by reading at night to my children, talking while in the car, swimming with my kids instead of watching them while I read a book, sending emails of “sweet nothings” during the day to my husband, and many other “small things” that don’t seem like much, but it keeps the camel’s back from breaking.
What small things do you do that helps you keep balance in your life?
photo credit: perpetualplum via photopin cc
A Bike Ride?
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After a long day working, and school, many look forward to coming home and “collapsing” in front of the “entertainment -de jour”. That is how I felt today. Unfortunately, we noticed our “exercise” routine has greatly wained during the winter months, and we are feeling (and seeing) the results. To get motivated, we went down and joined the health club, (we were members last summer because of the swimming pools…less expensive than monthly pool service). Being excited to begin, the very next day the weather turns rainy, cold, cloudy, and windy….not condusive to swimming. Trying to ride the waves of motivation of joining the club, we watch the weather for improvements “tommorow”.
Isn’t it always “tomorrow” when one plans to begin a new routine…? Well, today, coming home (no pool only entertainment -de jour” waiting for us)..So I quickly throw out “why don’t we go for a walk?!” GRUMBLE>>>>>>>>is echoed…… “Oh come on….a short walk”….One child says “okay”, husband says “okay”, and it forces the other child to say…”okay-fine”!
By the time I turned around, bikes were pulled out, and the dog was leashed! We all headed down the road, like we had a mission. A few quick turns, and several blocks later, we were heading home. Nothing too long, we were back home in 25 minutes. The reluctant child said “that was actually fun!”.
I’m still waiting for the weather to be better tomorrow….maybe? But at least we didn’t sit around waiting for it to come.
What April Fools Does For A Child…
…actually there is only one word to use….. “nothing”
Children are often subjected to the whimsical humor of adults by being the “butt” of a joke. Children’s sense of humor is much different than an adults. Unfortunately, you would think that everyone would say “well, duh, of course it is”, but yet, on “funny days” like April Fool’s, children don’t laugh when they are made fools of, only the adult laughs.
Case in point, a kindergarten teacher thought it would be fun to spray paint some ordinary rocks, “gold”. Then she handed the “gold nuggets” out to her children and told them she found gold and wanted to share it with her class. My son came home (we had been gold panning, and he knew what gold nuggets meant) and was SOOOO VERYYY excited that his teacher gave him gold nuggets, and we were rich now. The heartbreak when we had to tell him, that his teacher was playing a trick on him, was horrific. He was 5 years old. He trusted his Kindergarten teacher….his FIRST teacher! He didn’t understand her “joke”.
Fast forward to 2013, now he is ten. The first day back to school after the spring break. Excited to see his teacher, his friends and to be back at school. His teacher told the class that they would get brownies today. Big brownies…each student. Oh, they were excited. But they had to wait a little bit, after another subject, of course, the anticipation grew. Later in the day, when the teacher began handing out the “brownies” it turned out to be brown construction paper cut out in the shape of the letter ‘e’ (brown – ees), the children’s heart’s sank. My son said, she just stood there “cackling at us”. All the students were upset, and none of them understood why she would have done that to them.
The humor of practical jokes, is a sense of humor that is developed over time. As we mature, and begin to understand that “no harm is intended”, we begin to accept that sometimes it’s okay to laugh at ourselves. Some adults, and we all know many, who still cannot ‘laugh’ at themselves.
But children are different. They trust us to guide them, support them and most of all be honest with them. And when we break that trust, we take away a little bit of their childhood, and force them to grow up faster and face the “reality”.
Some people might argue that stories of Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, little green elves and tooth fairies is the same thing, that we are playing a practical joke on the children when we tell them these stories of fantasy. My arguement is this: Once the child figures out there is no Easter Bunny, adults don’t stand and cackle at the child because they believed, and thus the child can grow up at their own pace when they are ready to face reality.
IF you want to play a practical joke, play it on an adult who understands that a practical joke is just for fun. You wouldn’t do a practical joke on an adult who “couldn’t take it”, why are you doing them on children who don’t know “how to take it”. It teaches them nothing by cynasism.
photo credit: Dave Bezaire & Susi Havens-Bezaire via photopin cc
photo credit: yum9me via photopin cc
5 Reasons to enroll your child into public school
In yesterday’s post I promised I would give the other side of the coin to the debate, public or private school. If you missed yesterday’s blog, please take a moment and read it. But basically, I have experienced both worlds as a teacher and a parent, and see the positives and negatives of both choices. Since I focus on the positive, I want to give my 5 reasons to choose a public school. Maybe the private school’s can learn a little from them too.
1. It’s Free. That is the bottom line in many parent’s decision. The fact is ‘I can’ or ‘I can’t’ afford it. Through our tax system, our society supports and education system that offers learning to every child. We as a society, want an educated public. I will not be able to work very well past 60’s/70’s, so I want the younger generation working, helping support me in my golden years through work and taxes, instead of going into the criminal system. Do I like the public system? Of course, it has a very important place in our society.
2. Teachers as well as administrators are educated to specific standards. They must go through schooling, rigorous testing, continued professional development to not only gain their positions, but to keep their positions (up until tenure). Public school teachers are required to be abreast of the education systems’ standards, implementation of these standards, state adopted (approved) curriculum and testing of students.
3. Facilities are more condusive to a learning environment. This is an interesting point that I never thought about as a public school teacher. The facilities are required by law to accomodate ADA, updated safety features, and security. Now that doesn’t mean that private schools aren’t held up to fire safety codes, on the contrary, they are inspected and specific laws (room occupation etc) must be obeyed. But more and more private schools (and public charter schools) are being established in strip malls, business buildings (complexes) and older school buildings and grounds that have been abandoned by public schools. Play areas (playground and athletic fields) are smaller, sometimes non-existant, and buildings are subpar (in need of paint and windows). A charter school with a local public school was offered an old school grounds that was abandoned for use with children, and turned into a storage facility. The charter group and parents wanted success so badly, that they went on their own time to clean the facilities, fix up the grounds and try to restore order to the facility. Needless to say it wasn’t longer than 2 years that the charter group dismantled.
4. Transportation. More often than not, even if parents have to pay a dollar or two a day for the convenience, public schools have the ability to transport the children to and from school. Some children, depending on the needs of the students and requirements of federal laws, have buses that will take them miles and miles and miles, just to get them to the ‘correct’ school to give them the education they are guarenteed by law. One district I personally knows will spend an excess of $35,000 just for transportation to take a special needs child to a school 20 miles away from his home to the school that can meet his individual needs.
5. If parents are STRONG advocates for their children, and know their child’s rights, they can get the public school to jump through hoops! The school district won’t like it, admininstrators and teachers will grumble and talk, but they must comply. This is one thing, considering you are paying taxes to support this system, if you know how to use the system, you can get them to provide MANY services for your child. One parent used to call meetings and bring a tape recorder to play for his lawyer everytime we met. Was it upsetting as a teacher?….of course, was it smart on the parent’s part? Absolutely, because if this parent wanted something done for his special needs child, it was done. But your child isn’t a special needs student? You would be surprised how easy it is to get them “designated” and then have the law on your side. One parent I know had the district buy her child a laptop (way before laptops were inexpensive and easy to come by), because she had a medical doctor diagnose him with a condition that he couldn’t write fast enough to keep up with lecture to take notes by hand. Yeah….
So if you have the “fight” in you, and the deligence to stay on top of the system, it can be quite advantages. Is this a good thing?….I don’t know, it is your child, you decide what is best for you and your child.
Now you have both sides of the private/public school debate from someone who has worked and parented in both worlds, with 20+ years of experience in the public schools and private schools,(including public and private university level courses), hope I gave you some insight.
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5 Reasons To Enroll Your Child Into Private School
The other day I was reading a post from a fellow blogger, and as I do respect her/his opinion, I am glad that we live in America, where we still have academic choice for our children. She/he advocated that just because someone has money, they shouldn’t have the option of their child getting a different education than “all the rest” of the children, because it isn’t ‘fair’. That is like saying we all have to drive the same cars, because the guy with more money shouldn’t be able to drive a more expensive car (Porsche, Mercedes Benz etc), because that wouldn’t be ‘fair’. Now of course, you can argue that children are different than cars, and every child deserves an equal opportunity in life. To me this sounds like a debate between “getting an education and not getting an education” as many other parts of the world experience (especially girls, special needs children or children of low economic/social status) a complete LACK of education to the point they seek education under the threat of death. Fortunately here in America, that debate is mute, everyone can get an education. But why, when someone can afford to give their children a different option, it is looked upon as they are evil, and they hate (insert group name here). For now we will leave the debate on the fairness of education in our society for another time.
I have worked in public school and in private school and I have seen both worlds. I came up with 5 reasons to enroll your child into private school. Public schools should take a look at these 5 points, and maybe implement them?
1. They COMPETE for your business. When a private school forms, it needs to attract clients to it’s school. As other great businesses do, they most successful businesses are those with great customer service. A parent can take their child out of the school at anytime, and save lots of money, so it behooves the school to cater to the parents to keep their business. This desire to keep clients is lacking in public schools, and I personally have witnessed MANY times when a principal says, “well, if you don’t like it, take them to another school”. This doesn’t mean catering to the money, it means you need to listen to the ones making you successful.
2. Better contact with the teachers. This is an extension of the customer service. I will venture to say that ALL parents want their children to succeed, be happy and enjoy learning. Because of this reason, parents want to hear when their child is learning well, where they are successful, and when they are struggling and need extra support. At a local public middle school, a parent said she needs to make an appointment with the teacher, several weeks in advance sometimes, just to have a conversation. They are lucky if they hear anything, and the only way they know of successes or struggles is what is on the report card, or if their child tells them. Private schools expect teachers to communicate often, to keep their clients informed.
3. Teachers are responsive to parent concerns. Another extension of #1. Private schools often have committes of parent involvement, advisories and information meetings. They tend to be more active in the school volunteering time, money and other needs of their children. One might argue, well the rich parents don’t have to work. On the contrary, most parents in the private schools work to earn a dual income to be able to afford the school, even taking side jobs or building a small business for extra income. (I don’t have statistics here, strickly my personal experiences and speaking with parents who’s children attend private school that I have been involved in across California). I am not saying that public school parents don’t volunteer, or donate time and money, they do, (so don’t get mad!), but the percentage of parents is greater at a private school.
4. Curriculum is more flexible for individual students needs, including advanced skilled and low skilled students. Often, (not all the time), class sizes are smaller and longer instructional minutes (day) mean students with individual needs can be addressed much easier. I teach 85 students per day in my science class, where the local public school teacher teaches 180+ per day (average 40 x 5 periods). With such a large number of students it is nearly impossible to cater to academically advanced students as well as academically challenged, often leaving the task to tutors or academic camps (Lego camps/ competitions, space camps, museum art camps) to help enrich the child’s learning. Most if not all private schools have become more focused on state standards, and now with Common Core Standards, the entire nation is getting aligning on an agreed upon learning focus that all students must achieve by their grade’s end. And with job shortages, the agruement of “non-credentialled teachers is nearly non-existant.
5. Additional Activites. Often, private schools are stepping up to “compete” with public schools in afterschool care, extra-curricular activities (clubs, music lessons, sports) and homework help, (all part of tuition or a little extra), that students are able to stay “in a safe school setting” much easier.
This is a quick list of 5 Reasons to enroll you child into private school….all private schools aren’t the same, and just as public schools, parents should shop around, visit schools, meet the administration, meet the teachers, and ask LOTS AND LOTS of questions. Good luck in your decision.
I will soon post “5 reasons to enroll your child into public schools”
Photo: copyright Affective-Learning.com
Project Based Learning…What???
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Student made scale model of the planet Uranus, showing solid core and liquid/icy mantel with blue gaseous core.
I’m tired of learning about the planets….same thing….year after year….
My 6th graders needed a challenge. Reading the textbook is one thing (boring too)…but bringing the planets into our classroom was another. I wanted the students to understand the scale of the planets and the solar system, along with exhibiting the core of the planet. They came up with many clever ways to show the exterior and interior. Once planets were built to scale, the classroom was turned into a scale model of the solar system, with the sun being the front door. From there, the planets were measured by Astronomical Units (AU) from Earth being one AU to Pluto, Charon, Quaoar, and Sedna being 45 AU’s away.
Student created Neptune planet with “window” into the core and mantle.
While students were constructing their planets, and scaling out the classroom, they were also researching and writing up a report about their planets. Once the planets and solar system was complete, classes from within the school were invited to “Tour the Solar System”, and each sixth grader gave 4-5 minute oral presentation from their research about their planet. The entire “tour” took 20 minutes, but the presentations were “out of this world”.
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student contructed Saturn with rings around the planet. The other half (unseen) is the core and mantle.
Students were graded not only on their presentations, research, and construction of planets, but on collaboration and cooperation between peers. Some students obviously had smaller planets, (like Venus, Mercury, and Mars) and other students had enormous planets (like Jupiter and Saturn). Through daily observations of students, I watched how students volunteered to help eachother and work together, to finish the project together. It was a wonderful process to watch and facilitate. I can’t help to think my sixth grade students learned so much more about our planets and solar system doing this project, that they ever could have from the textbook.
Project Based Learning is a way to facilitate student learning, by putting the responsiblility of learning on them. As you can see by these projects, the unit was a success.
You can see by the 6 foot ladder that the planet is perched on, the planet is enormous.
DIagram of the interior of the planet.
Using Technology To Motivate
One of the most difficult tasks a teacher may have is to motivate an unmotivated student. There is an endless desire to reach students who don’t want to be reached. The teacher investigates every avenue they can think of to come up with an idea that will help. Getting into the student’s world, finding relavence, and using tools they are comfortable with, are all commonly mentioned techniques a teacher can use. But how to learn about students whose generation is 20, 30, 40 sometimes 50 years younger?
step in the latest technological device that every 12 year old clings to like a life saving machine.
A few years ago, my husband and I purchased an MP3 player….not because we wanted to have an MP3 player, but because we knew that the technology was moving so fast, that if we didn’t stay familiar with it, we would be dependant on our 5 year old to teach us how to run our Blue Ray. Now, with clouds and other ways to store information, MP3 players are nearly irrelavent. My students can absorb the new information and technology much quicker than (older) teachers. My advice for teachers: Do not be afraid of new technology, instead, purchase, practice and stay familiar with the new developing world around you…it may even motivate you to learn more….that is why I started this blog.
photo credit: rAmmoRRison via photopin cc
Flipped for Flipped Learning
Ever hear of Flipped Learning? I have been hearing about teachers who are using technology in a constructive way, instead of just games. I didn’t know it had a special name, but I knew the technique. Students access the next day’s lesson the night before at home through video, podcast or other such visual demonstration. Students can view the lesson several times at their own comfort and convenience. The next day when the student goes to class, they “practice” the information they learned the night before. In class, the teacher can work with small groups of students who need extra instruction and/or they can go help students practice their new learned skill. Now, what I just discussed is a very “generic” version. I began investigating this technique and came across “Flipped Learning”. The idea is students learn the concepts at home, and then practice in school. I did more investigating and found the “Flipped Learning Network”. There is a link in my BlogRoll.
It is free to join. Learn and practice a new philosophy on how to increase practice time in your classroom, and how to differentiate learning for all the learning levels you may have in your class. Their are webinars, discussion groups and support if you have questions. Please comment about your experience with flipped learning, or if you have even heard of it….it may motivate you! It motivated me to try….but I need to learn more…..how about you?
Affective Learning 