from Edutopia
Edutopia shares words of wisdom to re-ignite your passion for education.
Outstanding in Your Field: What It Takes to
Be a Great Teacher
Ben Johnson ponders what it means to be excellent in education.
Why Do You Teach? What Sustains Us in
Our Work
Elena Aguilar reflects on what keeps educators in the classroom.
Just Get Out There!
Andrew Marcinek reminds us to put aside excuses and take a risk or two.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Summer Reading Lists – A Way To Stay Cool On Hot Days
It's finally getting hot outside. If the kids are indoors cooling off, here are some books and activities to keep them reading. This website, education.com, provides grade level reading lists for preschoolers through third grade. They also suggest several fun activities such as creating a kids' book club, having children illustrate a famous book, and pretending to be characters in the story they're reading. There are also tips for parents to help “sneak and asked her reading.”
Research shows that students who do not engage with books during the summer often halve “summer learning loss.” This tends to be more true for students who do not have access to books, or, simply take a break from school during the summer. Our Fairfield Public Library is a wonderful resource for summer reading materials and activities. Parents, family members, and family friends can encourage students to read in everyday situations. Young students often use context clues, the beginning letter of words, in the shape of words to guess what word is. For example, children recognize signs, advertisements, and labels of common household items, and often infer what word is. This is a great strategy!
It is also important for children to interact with other types of print such as magazines and books. In primary grades, teachers assess “concepts of print.” Here are some examples and questions you can ask your child regarding concepts of print.
Feel free to stop by the school Facebook page and share what you're reading! Maybe you'll find others with similar interests who are looking for a good book. Have a great summer! Mrs. Schloss
Research shows that students who do not engage with books during the summer often halve “summer learning loss.” This tends to be more true for students who do not have access to books, or, simply take a break from school during the summer. Our Fairfield Public Library is a wonderful resource for summer reading materials and activities. Parents, family members, and family friends can encourage students to read in everyday situations. Young students often use context clues, the beginning letter of words, in the shape of words to guess what word is. For example, children recognize signs, advertisements, and labels of common household items, and often infer what word is. This is a great strategy!
It is also important for children to interact with other types of print such as magazines and books. In primary grades, teachers assess “concepts of print.” Here are some examples and questions you can ask your child regarding concepts of print.
- Does the child recognized the front of the book?
- Does the child know that the print, not the picture, is what is to be read?
- Does the child know that print is from left to right?
- Does the child know that at the end of the line they should return to the next line?
- Does the child have one-to-one matched with voice to print?
- Does the child understand the concept of first and last?
- Does the child know that the left page is read before the right page?
- Does the child know the meaning of a question mark?
- Does the child know the meaning of a period?
Feel free to stop by the school Facebook page and share what you're reading! Maybe you'll find others with similar interests who are looking for a good book. Have a great summer! Mrs. Schloss
Related Sites
- http://www.education.com/seasonal/summer-reading/?cid=55000.0066263073&s_kwcid=TC|8363|elementary+summer+reading||S|b|3490238845&gclid=CMa8v7-04KkCFQvKKgodhRptXw
- http://www2.youseemore.com/fairfield/default.asp?
- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Washington-Elementary/113499418712782?ref=ts#!/pages/Libertyville-Elementary/164305143594642
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Lifeguard Visit Thrills Campers at Camp Courageous
Washington Elementary student, RJ Hawkins, loves helicopters. His teacher, Jen Christensen, and flight paramedic Ben Schloss came up with the idea to see if Lifeguard Air Ambulance from St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids could fly in and land while the students were attending Camp Courageous.
Camper RJ got to sit in the Pilot’s seat with his teacher Jen Christensen with the help of Pilot Skip Barthle.
All the students from Fairfield got to see the helicopter up close with the help of its crew.
There was time for a group photo before the crew took off. From left to Right: Washington Teacher Jennifer Christensen, Flight Paramedic Marni Wacha, Flight Nurse Vicki Petersen, Student RJ Hawkins, Pilot Skip Barthle and Craig Willoughby.
Thank you to Jeanne from Camp Courageous, Debbie from Lifeguard, Mrs. Christensen and Mr. Schloss for making this dream come true!
Camper RJ got to sit in the Pilot’s seat with his teacher Jen Christensen with the help of Pilot Skip Barthle.
All the students from Fairfield got to see the helicopter up close with the help of its crew.
There was time for a group photo before the crew took off. From left to Right: Washington Teacher Jennifer Christensen, Flight Paramedic Marni Wacha, Flight Nurse Vicki Petersen, Student RJ Hawkins, Pilot Skip Barthle and Craig Willoughby.
Thank you to Jeanne from Camp Courageous, Debbie from Lifeguard, Mrs. Christensen and Mr. Schloss for making this dream come true!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Congratulations Teachers, We're Almost at 100%
Out of the 30 teachers serving Libertyville and Washington Elementary schools, only 6 do not have blogs. This means that 80% of teachers have blogs to share information with families, communities, and their students. What an awesome job you have all done! Just remember, "Don't be afraid of bronze!"
"They say that bronze will revolutionize they way we hunter gather,"
"They say that bronze will revolutionize they way we hunter gather,"
From Airhead to Genius
I have always wanted the same things for my children that other parents want - for them to grow up to be good adults - kind, caring, helpful, smart, witty, responsible and adaptable. As our children made normal "kid" mistakes, we used the lens of "raising good adults" to make decisions about how to address their behavior.
It can be especially tough for teenage girls. I hope that the video below can help inspire teenage girls to give up the facade of being "airheads" and put the on the armor of being "genius"!
It can be especially tough for teenage girls. I hope that the video below can help inspire teenage girls to give up the facade of being "airheads" and put the on the armor of being "genius"!
Watch the full episode. See more NOVA scienceNOW.
Yoky Matsuoka, A former tennis prodigy aims to create advanced prosthetic limbs controlled by human thought.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Only a Few Days Left for ITEC Proposals
The deadline to submit a proposal to present at ITEC has been extended to April 30th. ITEC stands for Iowa Technology and Education Connection. The ITEC Board and other volunteers host a yearly state conference that includes a schedule packed full of sessions delivered by classroom teachers, administrators, technology directors and other educators. The link for the submission by educators is:
http://center.uoregon.edu/
(Thanks to Jason Kurth, FCSD Technology Director) for sharing this!)
(Thanks to Jason Kurth, FCSD Technology Director) for sharing this!)
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