Month: June 2016

Elephant Meditation

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Lilac/Blue/Black/White Mandala spoke to me and this is what it means about me: Clairvoyant, depth, intuitive, inspired, artistic, awareness, communicator, empathetic, inspirers, intuitive, leader, performer, philosophical, psychic power, philosophical, spiritual growth, visionary, dreamer, imaginative, vitality, stability, idealistic, musical, magical, harmony, devotion, tranquility, limitless, expressive.

Responsive Classroom Spaces

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With the past year fresh in my mind, now is a good time to reflect on what makes any classroom a great space for learning, how well my classroom worked this year, and what I’m trying next year. Here’s what I’ve come up with! Ditching desks, decluttering work spaces, walls and bookshelves, drawers with community supplies, family style tables to work at, living room spaces to snuggle into learning.
 
7 wonderful donors have given, but I’m not quite fully funded, “YET”. Please help share via FB, email, twitter, etc. and/or donate!
 
Thanks! Love ~ Me xoxoxoxo
 
If you’d like to read more about Responsive Classroom practices this is a great article that just came through my email this morning! http://bit.ly/1YwkBL2

Current Events Jump from the Mundane to the Mesmerizing

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Newsela Blog

Step into my classroom during our weekly Current Events segment, and you might see students standing in opposite corners debating whether or not colleges should base acceptance on kindness. You may find students using Play-Doh to sculpt their own ideas for testing the speed of snakes.  There might be even students using their sweatshirts and a marble to mimic a “closed time-like curve.”

Screen Shot 2016-05-20 at 1.29.53 PMI first implemented Current Events five years ago. Back then, it was a pretty lackluster undertaking. Students would choose an article, often cutting it out of our local newspaper, which offered stories about road repair and sports victories – hardly fodder for meaningful conversation. They would summarize the article to the class and then ask two “discussion” questions. The entire process left the class withdrawn and bored.

So what has caused the huge shift from detached reading to relevant interaction?

First, I found Newsela. Here is a website that…

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