I read this sweet story and it reminded me that we are often blessed by unexpected friendships that can grow into more, simply by taking the time to step outside the normal expectations that others set for us....so take a few moments to feel good this Friday about someone special in your life.......and then let them know how you feel! This is a story of TRUE brotherly love! An abandoned puppy and kitten found each other at a shelter and when they did... they instantly knew that they were meant...

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I'm going to try and start sharing a story every so often on Fridays that illustrate how powerful we can impact our world when we get personally involved in someone else's struggle.  My heart beats a little faster when I read or hear about stories, especially those involving children, that share how a person (or group of people) stepped out of their own comfort zone(s) to make a difference in the lives of other people.  I hope these stories inspire you too! Today's story is about a...

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  Leaders for Learning Education ought to teach how to be in love always and what to be in love with. The great things of history have been done by great lovers, by the saints and men of science and artists, and the problem of civilization is to give every man a chance of being a saint, a man of science, or an artist.    (A. Clutton Brock) - Retrieved 4/12/12 from The Painter's Keys Resource of Art Quotations. Free at http://www.painterskeys.com Jeff Gottfried Students...

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Leaders for Learning Jami Lovelady Who says that high school students have to sit in straight rows to review for mastery learning? Not in Jami Lovelady’s Geometry classes! In an adaptation of the vocabulary review activity “I have ___, who has the word which means _____?”, students scurry around the room looking for answers to problems posted on copy paper and record the answers on their “ small-group” answer document, then work the problem beneath the answer and...

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The following excerpts are from the e-school news article, How to be an effective 21st-century education leader Article ed By eSchool News Staff On March 30, 2012 (8:47 pm) In Featured on eSchool News, Featured Superintendent's Center, School Reform Video, Superintendent's Center   “Being tech savvy today means not just understanding the need to support technology and keep systems up to date; it also means having the skills to communicate this need to board members and the community,...

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Published Sunday, March 25, 2012 12:08 AM CSISD to increase digital offerings By CASSIE SMITH cassie.smith@theeagle.com What do you do if your child is struggling with math homework and it's been a few years since you were in school? College Station school district employees have found a way to assist students and parents when a child needs additional help with schoolwork.  It's called Success 24/7, a website covering core classes in high school. It will offer pre-recorded lessons of...

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What children can do together today, they can do alone tomorrow.     Lev Vygotsky, 1962 Celeste Parrish                “Friends let’s say this all together,” is the prompt that Mrs. Parrish uses to get her students to work collaboratively to determine how much money they see represented in the pictures of coins on her flip chart. Learning communities are not uncommon in most elementary...

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Long Ago In a far, far Corner of the Galaxy.... Actually, it's a close as your fingertips Check out this blog describing how to use TAG http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=3506 I especially liked one of the comments:   This tool is incredible! I am a first grade teacher in Las Vegas and I cannot wait to share this with my students. I am also currently a grad student studying technology in the classroom and was just reading an article written by Dr. David Thornburg titled “Technology...

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Socratic questioning is a well-documented strategy for encouraging student to develop critical thinking skills, and I’ve had the privilege of observing several master teachers using this strategy over the years, but I got a treat today to see a twist on Socratic questioning in Kathy Howell’s 5th period Pre-algebra class at Glen Rose Jr. High School. The most common implementation of Socratic questioning involves having a leader “lead” the pathway of thinking for his or...

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Please share a “Power line” that resonated with you from the text and why you found it powerful.

Please share a “Power line” that resonated with you from the text and why you found it powerful.

In 2000, in a report published by the National Research Council, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, 3 strategies for supporting learning were suggested.  A short summary of the 3 strategies (in my own words) includes 1. Create learning opportunities that incorporate students' prior knowledge, 2. Organize learning around concepts, and 3. Use metacognition (meta= self-awareness, cognition = thinking) to empower students to analyze their own learning styles,...

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Trial and error, problem solving, and creativity are key skills that teacher candidates must learn and bring into the 21st Century classroom. In this video, see how ACU helps teacher candidates prepare for the reality of integrating technology in the classroom. In teaching how to adapt digital learning in diverse and often unexpected settings, their lessons go beyond tutorials to explore real-world technological hurdles, related behavioral problems, and varying scenarios to prepare teacher candidates...

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