Best Method of Teaching

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"Christ adopted the teaching procedure of close personal contact because that remains the best method of teaching. Cold print separates precept from example, the style from the man; the greatest teachers convey their knowledge on a person-to-person level, and leave the books to the scribes."

- Dennis Duffy. Canadian Writes: A Subseries: Marshall McLuhan. McClelland and Stewart Limited: Toronto, 1967 pg 24-25

Parents and Teachers - A Good Team

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"Do parents have a role in backing up teachers?

Absolutely.

Adults should act as a team if kids are to learn  the lessons of self-discipline and self-regulation.

The traditional teamwork between parents and teachers has deteriorated in the past generation as society has become more adversarial.

While it is appropriate for parents to advocate for their children, they should do it in a way that does not undermine the teacher.

It's most helpful if you can go into these situations expecting teachers and other school professionals to be part of the team for your child.

Our kids need to see a more unified front.

- David Walsh, PhD. No: Why Kids - of all Ages - Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It. Free Press, Toronto. 2007. pg 41

Doesn't Need a Response

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With an older child, a certain amount of mouthiness is to be expected.

Just don't respond, or else say, "I know this is hard for you, I don't expect you to like it, but the family rule is..."

- David Walsh, PhD. No: Why Kids - of all Ages - Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It. Free Press, Toronto. 2007. pg 41

Nice Advice!

Teachers can use the same script but replace "family rule" with "class rule."

Know The Ledge

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"Kids with brains that make self-regulation difficult or impossible cannot control themselves once they get past a point of no return. I call this point 'the cliff.'

Once they go over the cliff they are incapable of managing the free fall.

The goal, therefore, is to prevent them from going over the cliff in the first place."

- David Walsh, PhD. No: Why Kids - of all Ages - Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It. Free Press, Toronto. 2007. pg 207

Kids Need Stress

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"Good stress is energizing and motivating. We know this when it comes to muscles but we somehow forget when it comes to building self esteem.

Muscles grow more powerful when we use them. Each time they recover from stress, they get stronger and more responsive.

Self-esteem works the same way. Kids need some stress to develop their psychological muscles of resilience, stamina, determination, commitment, confidence, diligence, and perseverance."

- David Walsh, PhD. No: Why Kids - of all Ages - Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It. Free Press, Toronto. 2007. pg 41

Don't Rush In and Rescue

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"Kids need to figure things out for themselves. When parents rush in and rescue them, thinking that we are helping them on the road to success, we are actually teaching them a kind of helplessness"

- David Walsh, PhD. No: Why Kids - of all Ages - Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It. Free Press, Toronto. 2007. pg 63

I completely agree with this sentiment.

Kids need to make mistakes.
They need to find their own path.
If we help them too much, they will never be able to do so.

Windows of Opportunity for Readers

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"This window of opportunity also explains why one of the strongest predictors of a child's reading ability in school os the amount of one-to-one conversation between caregiver and child in the first three years of life.

The ability to differentiate sounds is the first crucial step to the path to associating sounds with letters. Kids who don't learn to distinguish sounds during that time usually have trouble learning to read later on.

Reading's first lessons don't happens in school: They happen in the crib during that important window of opportunity."

- David Walsh, PhD. No: Why Kids - of all Ages - Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It. Free Press, Toronto. 2007. pg 45

Teachers Suck

- Tom Green "Teachers Suck"

It's almost back to school time.
Thought I'd share this with you.
Love this track (which is weird since I am a teacher)
But it's funny.

Professors Are Salesman.

Professor: "Ya know, professor's aren't teachers, they're salesman."

Student: "Okay. What do you sell?"

Professor: "You to you."

- Lion for Lambs, the film by Robert Redford.

Moving On

"The only thing worse than feeling you can't move on, is the moment you realize you can."

- Tommy from the television series Instant Star


I completely identify with this sentiment. I'm going through this exact thing right now, which you would know if you read my main blog Silent Cacophony or if you follow me on Twitter. 

It's a scary thought, thinking you can't move on, and even scarier when you realize you can.

It's funny how everything that has been happening lately, even watching a random episode of this show, which I normally don't watch, ends up speaking to me.

It's like it's just the time for me to move on and the world is letting me know.

Teaches Greatest Gift

"Giving children something with which to surprise their parents is one of the greatest gifts a teacher can bestow."

- Richard Dawkins

Classroom Consequences

We had some professional development this week at school. I really liked what this speaker had to say about discipline. I hope you do too.

"Severity of the consequence is not important. Just the fact that you addressed it is."

- Eric Corvers

Teachers Think Weird

"But she's a teacher, and teachers think all sorts of weird things are interesting."

- Martha Speaks

Martha Speaks is an animated PBS program about a dog that can talk. The premise is that the household pet ate some alphabet soup but somehow all of the letters of the alphabet ended up in her brain instead of her tummy and it allowed her to start talking.

The one thing I like about this show is that it introduces new vocabulary in each episode. There are several new words for kids and they are repeated several times throughout each episode.

It can be funny for the parents as well. Good children's programming needs to offer something to the parents as well. This show manages it.

If you have kids, it's worth checking out.

What Singing in a Choir does.

Gareth Malone talks about the power of singing in a choir and what it can do for you.

"It's about opening your whole self up emotionally and spiritually. I've seen it bring people together and change their lives."

- Gareth Malone on The Choir

If you haven't seen this excellent series on the BBC, please click on the link above to find out more about it. I found this choir master to be very inspiring and the show to be heartwarming.

Assessment Can Be a Learning Opportunity

This quote is for all the teachers out there. I got it from a workshop I attended in the winter.

"Every time you do assessment, it is not a decision point - it can be a learning point."

- Dr. Lorna Earl

When Things go Wrong...

"When things go wrong, don't go with them."

- Anonymous 

(taken from 443 Character quotes and words of wisdom... compiled by Deb Austin Brown in Growing Character)

This is one book that every elementary school teacher should own. Not only does the author share with us 99 strategies to use in our classroom but she also ends the book with some amazing quotations.

Enjoy!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Remarkable Teacher

"I'll tell you something, it's the teachers that get you who are good. It's the teachers who understand and recognize you as an individual and say, 'I understand how this kid's working and this is how he needs to be spoken to.' It doesn't work when they clump you together and try to make it formulaic. That's not how the world works."

- Russell Peters. comedian from the article "Remarkable Teacher Fred Kolar is still an important person for Russell Peters." from the magazine Professionally Speaking.

Happy Monday everyone!

This one is for the teachers out there and the students who appreciate all that they do.

Find Another Way

"There will be times when things don't seem to be working out, but don't give up. Student attitudes may be less than positive and student achievement may be at an all-time low. There will be days when student apathy seems to be the prevailing mood and other times when your students seem to be making bad decisions about their studies and their behavior. All teachers run into ruts and slumps at some point during the school year. At these times we just need an extra push and motivation to spur us on.
. . .
So when you are faced with the challenges of day-to-day teaching and you students challenge you at every turn, remember the words of Satchel Paige and find another way. What will be the choice for the students in your life? Will you nag them or cheer them on?"

- Deb Austin Brown. Growing Character

This is an excellent book that every teacher should own. It is sub-titled "99 Successful Strategies for the Elementary Classroom."

My day today was a lot like the one she describes above. I thought I'd share this quote now to help remind me that we can have days like this. It is normal. Tomorrow will be a better day. I will try something new to reenergize us all and get us back on track.

Stories Empower

“Stories are the most helpful tools a child has for sorting this all out. Stories have authority. Stories normalize. Stories model behaviour and feeling. Stories model the power to make stories – a power that children must develop in order to manage their own particular individual worlds, the ones seen through their own unique eyes.”

Joseph Gold. Read For Your Life: Literature as a Life Support System. Fitzhenry and Whiteside: Markham, 1990. pg 153

Alive Through Story

"Children prefer concrete images because they have not yet learned the language of abstraction. When they do they will have lost a powerful human response-code for describing and making sense of their world, unless they keep it alive through story."

- Joseph Gold. Read For Your Life: Literature as a Life Support System. Fitzhenry and Whiteside: Markham, 1990. pg 162