Teaching
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Stretching Your Intelligence
I’m a huge fan of Kagan’s Multiple Intelligences teaching model. It’s based on the theory that students are smart in different ways. Kagan’s Multiple Intelligences teaches teachers to engage all their students through instructional strategies that target many of the intelligences at the same time. For a list of the intelligences check out one of my previous posts. What’s Your Strongest Intelligence? My strongest intelligence is Intrapersonal or as Kagan describes it: To Know Thyself Philosophers, poets, political leaders, religious figures, theologians, and visionaries have a strong intrapersonal intelligence. One of my weakest intelligences is Visual Spatial. People who appreciate architecture, arranging, decorating, painting, drawing, graphing, building models, solving jigsaw puzzles, people…
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FCAT Stress
FCAT Stress There are four letters that when placed next to each other are sure to cause stress in teachers. FCAT stress is running high this time of year. I see it on the teacher’s faces when I go into schools. FCAT Florida Writes is next week followed by math, reading and science FCAT in April. I have been there done that and I can say it was one of the most stressful times of my life. I loved being with the kids, had many supportive parents, but the pressure of the test was with me from August through March. Believe me, if teachers were allowed to spend more time creating their own lessons…
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Fear and Exhilaration
Here I’m showing the kids my mad illustration skills. Thank goodness Mina Sanwald was the illustartor for the map and Timothy Banks the illustrator for the cover. This past week I found myself fluctuating between extreme fear and exhilaration. The date was set for me to have my first author visit in a school. For years I’d dreamed of when I could be in front of students as an author instead of a classroom teacher. Now it was really happening. Really happening!!! My stomach was churning all week. My gym workouts were easy. I had enough nervous energy to run for miles! I created a PowerPoint, packed extra books of mine,…
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Information and Inspiration
Information and Inspiration Do you know how when you take on a new project around your home like cleaning out a closet, painting a bedroom, or planting flowers, all the other jobs such as cooking dinner, doing dishes or vacuuming still have to be done and you can feel happy that you’ve accomplished something new but overwhelmed because your laundry is sprawled over a bed or bureau? Well, that’s me right now. Happy and overwhelmed. If you have no idea what I’m writing about and your laundry is always folded and put away right out of the dryer then you might want to stop reading right now because you’re about to…
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Believe in Magic
It took becoming a teacher and discovering how much I loved getting kids interested in reading to understand that my path was leading me to write. “She might even be your lovely school-teacher who is reading these words to you at this very moment. Look carefully at that teacher. Perhaps she is smiling at the absurdity of such a suggestion. Don’t let that put you off. It could be part of cleverness. I am not, of course, telling you for one second that your teacher actually is a witch. All I am saying is that she might be one. It is most unlikely. But–here comes the big “but”–not impossible.” ― Roald Dahl, …
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Eric Greitens
I was in my hotel room in Illinois. I switched on Book TV and heard a man speaking. His name was Eric Greitens and his words caught my attention. The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Eric Greitens www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive He spoke about his Navy Seal training and how one evening they were all standing on the beach watching the sunset. While they stood there they listened to the leaders tell them how difficult the night was going to be. Eric Greitens explained that it was at this moment the greatest number of trainees dropped out of the program. Where previously no…
